STATES OF BARBARY, ik 



sed to be the original inhabitants, but are now blended with the Arabs, 

 and both are cruelly oppressed by a handful of insolent domineering 

 Turks, the refuse of the streets of Constantinople. 



The dress of these people is a linen shirt, over which they tie a 

 silk or cloth vestment with a sash, and over that a loose coat. Their 

 drawers are made of linen. The arms- and legs of the wearer are bare> 

 but they have slippers on their feet ; and persons of condition some= 

 times wear buskins. They never move their turbans, but pull off their 

 slippers when they attend religious duties, or the person of their so= 

 vereign. They are fond of striped and fancied silks. The dress of the 

 women is not very different from that of the men, but their drawers 

 are longer, and they wear a sort of cawl on their heads instead of 

 a turban. The chief furniture of their houses consists of carpets 

 and mattresses, on which they sit and lie. In eating, their sloven- 

 liness is disgusting. They are prohibited gold and silver vessels ; and 

 their meat, which they swallow by handfuls, is boiled or roasted to 

 rags. 



Cities, chief towns, edifices. ...Mention has already been made 

 or" Morocco, the capital of that kingdom ; but now almost in ruins, 

 the court having removed to Mequinez, a city of Fez. Incredible 

 things are recorded of the magnificent palaces in both cities ; but by 

 the best accounts the common people live in a very slovenly man- 

 ner. 



The city of Algiers is not above a mile and a half in circuit, though 

 it is computed to contain near 120,000 inhabitants, 15,000 houses, and 

 107 mosques. Their public baths are large, and handsomely paved 

 with marble. The prospect of the country and sea from Algiers is 

 very beautiful, the city being built on the declivity of a mountains 

 but, though for several ages it has braved some of the greatest powers 

 in Christendom, it could make but a faint defence against a regular 

 siege ; and it is said that three English fifty-gun ships might batter it 

 about the ears of its inhabitants from the harbour. The Spaniards, 

 however, attacked it, in 1775, by land and by sea, but were repulsed 

 with great loss, though they had nearly 20,000 foot and 2000 horsej 

 and 47 king's ships, of different rates, and 346 transports. In the years 

 1783 and 1784, they also renewed their attacks by sea to destroy the 

 city and gallies ; but, after spending a quantity of ammunition, bombs, 

 &c. were forced to retire without either its capture or destruction. 

 The mole of the harbour is 500 paces in length, extending from the 

 continent to a small island where there is a castle and large battery. 



The kingdom of Tunis, which is naturally the finest of all these 

 states, contains the remains of many noble cities, some of them still in 

 good condition. Tunis, built near the original site of Carthage, has 

 a wall and fortifications, and is about three miles in circumference . 

 The houses are not magnificent, but neat and commodious ; as is the 

 public exchange for merchants and their goods : but, like Algiers, it 

 is distressed for want of fresh water ; that of rain, preserved in cis- 

 terns, is chiefly used by the inhabitants. 



The city of Tripoli consists of an old and new town, the latter be- 

 ing the most flourishing ; but great inconveniences attend its situa- 

 tion, particularly the want of sweet water. The city of Oran, lying 

 upon this coast, is about a mile in circumference, and is fortified both 

 by art and nature. It was a place of considerable trade, and the ob- 

 ject of many bloody disputes between the Spaniards and the Moors.. 



