SHAW. 
one above another. The upper order has tum- 
bled down ; and Mahomet Bey, in using it as a 
fortress, blew up four of its arches ; in other re- 
spects this magnificent edifice is nearly entire. 
At Kairwan is a mosque, the most magnificent as 
well as sacred in Barbary, composed, in a great 
measure, of the remains of ancient edifices. The 
number of granite pillars was reported by the 
natives (for no Christian is allowed to see it) to 
amount to five hundred. 
Shaw, who did not observe the most westerly 
ranges of the Atlas, conceives the elevation of 
that chain to have been exaggerated. In skirting 
the territories of Algiers and Tunis, it does not 
rise above the loftier eminences in our own coun- 
try ; and the greater part of its declivity is plant- 
ed with vines and olives. On the southern side 
it slopes downwards into a region, called the 
Bled-eLJereede, or Dry Country, unfit for grain, 
and almost solely employed in the production of 
dates. It is remarkable, although the want of 
water be so characteristic of this territory, that, 
on digging to a certain depth, that element is al- 
ways found in such abundance, as to be called 
the " sea under ground." The inhabitants con- 
sist of various tribes of Arabs, who are but half 
tributary to the neighbouring governments of 
Algiers and Tunis. The cultivated land of Bar- 
bary, called commonly the Tell, does not usually 
