RECENT NARRATIVES. 
^55 
Oppressive monopolies. His ministers and favour- 
ites, as happens usually in such barbarous despo- 
tisms, are drawn from the very dregs of the peo- 
ple. The Zapatapa, or keeper of the seals, and 
the commander of the army, are both Georgian 
slaves ; and the guardian of the captives, a post 
of great profit and dignity, is a Neapolitan rene- 
gado. 
Tripoli groans under a much severer tyranny* 
At the commencement of the present century, 
Hamet the Great freed that state from the Turk- 
ish yoke, by an indiscriminate and barbarous mas- 
sacre of all the chiefs of that nation. His vigor- 
ous and active administration not only rendered 
Tripoli independent, but established its power 
over the neighbouring tribes. The crown became 
no longer elective, but descended in a regular line 
through his family. At the time when Mr Tully 
and his family resided there, the Basha had reign- 
ed in a very mild manner for nearly thirty years, 
and Tripoli had assumed, in a great measure, the 
tranquil and orderly aspect of an European state. 
The seeds of disorder, however, were already at 
work. The Basha's eldest son, called the Bey, 
w^as of a mild and respectable character ; but a 
younger brother, Sidi Useph, or Jassuf, was deep- 
ly stained with all the vices of treachery, avarice, 
and cruelty, which spring so copiously in this re- 
gion. He rendered himself formidable, by select-" 
4S 
