TUNIS. 



to be ratlier more than three miles in circumference, and 

 the number of houfes 10,000 or 12,000, and of inhabitants 

 about 50,000. But Bruns, on the authority oi Sprengel, 

 reckons the houfes at 12,000, and the inhabitants, by an 

 exaggerated itatement, at 300,000 or 200,000, of whom 

 more than one-half perifhed by the plague of 1789. There 

 are few buildings of any magnificence, except the great 

 mofqne, the bey's palace, called Barda, at fome dillance 

 from the city, encompaffed with walls and flanked with 

 towers, and a few others : there are five gates, but none of 

 them grand. Near the centre of the city is a piazza of vaft 

 extent, which is faid formerly to have contained 3000 (hops 

 for the fale of woollen and linen goods ; in the manufafture 

 of both which this city has been long famous. Here are 

 feveral colleges and fchools, with many learned men and 

 doftors of the Mahometan law, partly maintained by the 

 public ; the janizaries are quartered in barracks : other 

 public buildings are, an exchange, a cuftom-houfe, and an 

 r.rfenal. On the fide of a canal is the fortrefs of Goletta, 

 but not carefully fnpported. The chief defence is the 

 caftle. In 1655, Tunis was bombarded by the Englifh 

 under admiral Blake. N. lat. 36° 44'. E. long. 10° 20'. 



Tcxi";, the central region of Northern Africa, ufually dig- 

 nified with the title of kingdom ; bounded on the north and 

 eaft by the Mediterranean, on the fouth by Tripoli, and on 

 the weft by Algiers. This is the weftern part of the proper 

 Africa of antiquity, and was formerly the chief feat of Car- 

 thaginian power ; and in the middle ages, Tripoli was 

 fubjecl to Tunis, whic'h was feized by Barbarofla in 1533. 

 It is now about 200 miles from north to fouth, and 120 

 from eaft to weft. According to Desfontaines, this king- 

 dom begins in the eaft at the ifle of Garbi, and terminates in 

 the weft at the river Zaine, called alfo Tufca or Sufca. 

 After the decline of the Roman empire, this country 

 came imder the power of the Vandals and Goths ; and after 

 them, under the Saracens, when they were governed by 

 viceroys, called emirs. It afterwards became fubjeft to the 

 emperor of Morocco. For a fpace of time it was an in- 

 dependent and powerful kingdom. In the year 1538, it 

 was overrun by Barbarofta ; and notwithftanding the endea- 

 vours of Charles V. and his fucceflbrs, the kingdom was 

 made a province of the Ottoman empire, under the dominion 

 of Selim II., by Sinan, bafhaw of the Levant. At prefent 

 the whole kingdom is divided into two circuits, the fummer 

 and the winter, which the bey makes in perfon through his 

 dominions at thofe two feafons. The fummer circuit, or 

 northern diftrift, is by far the moft pleafant, fertile, and 

 populous, and has the greateft number of cities, villages, 

 and dowars, and carries the faireil appearance of plenty, 

 profperity, and cheerfulnefs of the two ; advantages owing 

 to the mildnefs of its government, and its being freer from 

 tyranny and oppreflion than that of Algiers. The Tu- 

 nifians, in general, are like the Algerines ; a mixture of 

 Turks, Moors, Kabits or indigenous inhabitants of the 

 mountains, Arabians, Jews, and Chriftians, merchants, and 

 flaves ; with this difference, that they are here polite and 

 civilized. Thev are much more kind and humane to their 

 flaves, in general ; though they treat the knights of Malta 

 with greater feverity. In other refpefts, the Tunifians are 

 courteous to ftrangers ; and all affairs with the regency are 

 tranfafted in a very friendly manner : the confuls that refide 

 here are treated with greater affability and condefcenfion, 

 juftice, and difpatch, than in any other court on the African 

 coafts ; in a word, this nation hath, for many years, been 

 more intent upon trade, and the improvement of their manu- 

 faftures, than upon plundering and cruifing ; upon which 

 account, it hath cultivated the alliance of many Chriftian 



powers. The drefs of the Tunifians, of both fexes, is much 

 of the fame falhion with that of the Algerines. The women 

 are handfome, neat, and more famihar : they go, indeed, 

 veiled out of doors, but are allowed to be feen and converfe 

 with ftrangers, their hulbands not being tainted with fuch 

 jealoufy as reigns among other Africans. The rehgion is 

 the fame as that of the Algerines. This kingdom, as well 

 as Algiers, and others along the Barbary coaft, are very 

 fubjeft to earthquakes, which commonly happen after heavy 

 rains, at the end of the fummer, or in autumn, and are 

 often felt at a great diftance from land, where the depth of 

 water hath been above 2co fathoms : in other refpefts, the 

 country is, for the moft part, as healthy and fertile as any 

 under the fame climate. The northern parts, which are the 

 beft cultivated, enjoy a wholefome temperature. The 

 fouthern part is fandy, barren, and parched by a burning 

 fun ; that near the fea is rich in olive-trees, and prefents a 

 great number of cities and populous villages. But the 

 weftern part abounds with mountains and hills, and is wa- 

 tered by numerous rivulets ; its environs being extremely 

 fertile, and producing the fineft and moft abundant crops. 

 The foil is in general impregnated with marine fait and nitre, 

 and fprings of frefti water are more rare than fait. The 

 chief river is the Mejerda, or ancient Bagrada, which in 

 fummer is not navigable. The chain of Atlas feems here to 

 terminate in Cape Bon, being called the mountains of Me- 

 gala, Uzelette, &c. The winds are moftly from the fea, 

 confequently refrefhing ; but thofe that blow from the 

 fouthern fandy deferts are quite fuffbcating, efpecially as 

 they prevail moftly in July and Auguft : if they continue 

 five or fix days fucceffively, the inhabitants are obliged to 

 keep themfelves cool by fprinkhng their floors with water. 

 The fea-winds, that blow weft -north-weft and north, bring 

 dry weather in fummer, and rain in winter ; but the eafterly, 

 as well as the foutherly, are for the moft part dry, though 

 attended with a thick cloudy atmofphere in moft feafons. 

 Their firft rains commonly fall in September, and fometimes 

 in Oftober ; about three weeks after which, the Arabians 

 break the ground, fow their com, and plant their beans, 

 barley, lentils, and garvancos ; their harveft ufually begins 

 in May, or the beginning of June, according to the quality 

 of the preceding feafon. The Tunifians are much more ad- 

 difted to agriculture than their neighbours, the Algerines, 

 and are for making the moft of every inch of their ground. 

 Mines of metal and minerals they difregard ; though Dr. 

 Shaw obferved, among the mineral produftions of Tunis, 

 alabafter, cryftal, boles, plumbago, iron, and lead. The 

 cattle are fmall and {lender, and the horfes have degenerated. 

 Here are lions, panthers, hyenas, chakals, and other fero- 

 cious animals. The manufactures are velvets, lllks, linen, 

 and red caps worn by the common people. The govern- 

 ment of Tunis at prefent, like that of Algiers, is altogether 

 defpotic ; but with this diff^erenee, that there it is eledlive, 

 and here not only hereditary, but the bey hath power to 

 name which of his fons he pleafes for his fucceflbr, without 

 regard to elderfliip ; or, in cafe he doth not think him 

 worthy, he may appoint a brother, or a nephew, to the 

 fuccefiion : in all other cafes, likewife, they are equally ab- 

 folute and independent, either on the Porte, or the Douwan 

 or Divan. They were once, indeed, under the proteftion 

 of the former ; and the rapacious extortion and tyranny of 

 its bafhaws had, in fome meafure, obliged them to fliake off 

 their yoke, and form a government of their own, which 

 they fettled in fuch a manner, that their deys, as they were 

 then called, could do nothing without the advice and con- 

 fent of the Douwan or Divan ; but they have found means, 

 m time, to rid themfelves of this uneafy clog alfo, though 



they 



