GOVERNMENT. 
501 
tants of Northern Africa. The manners and in- 
stitutions, however, of these southern tribes, ma- 
terially differ from those on the opposite side of 
the continent. The Boshuanas, the Kaffres, and 
the Hottentots, form the leading divisions among 
the inhabitants of this part of Africa. Upon the 
subject of these tribes, there seems nothing to add 
to what has already been observed under the head 
of Travels in Southern Africa.* 
In the political state of Africa, much variety is 
observable. The profession of Islamism, establish- 
ed over all the northern parts of the continent, is 
scarcely compatible with any regular and legiti- 
mate freedom. The power of the sovereign is 
restrained by no fixed laws or institutions ; but it 
is rendered extremely precarious by the turbulent 
habits of the people, and the absence of all regard 
to hereditary succession. A long reign, and a na- 
tural death, are considered as singular phenomena 
in the history of a Barbary prince. The yoke of 
the Turks, however, has been entirely shaken off. 
In Morocco, and, to a certain extent, in Tripoli, 
the sovereign power is now in a great measure 
maintained by a military force composed of ne- 
groes, brought as slaves from Soudan. 
The native tribes, situated in the mountainous 
and desert tracts, exhibit some traces of republi- 
* Book II. chap. v. 
