22 
JOURNEY FROM 
Hamet the Great. From that time to the present it has remained 
under the government of the Moors, although the supremacy of the 
Grand Signor is still acknowledged, and tribute is paid to the 
Porte. 
A\^e may say, in allusion to the actual state of Tripoly, that it ap- 
pears to be making some advances towards civilization, and is begin- 
ning to feel the good effects which result from a state of security and 
tranquillity. Indeed, when we reflect upon its deplorable condition 
at the time of the accession of Sidi Yusuf, and look back upon the 
horrors of civil discord and contention to which it had been for more 
than eight years exposed — impoverished at the same time by indis- 
criminate extortion and plunder, and subjected during the period of 
these heavy calamities to the dreadful effects of famine and plague — 
we may venture to assert that the present state of Tripoly is far 
better than might have been expected. It is now secure under the 
protection of an established government, property is respected, and 
commerce is improving ; its markets are well supplied, its manufac- 
tures are encouraged, and its population appears to be increasing *. 
A considerable portion of the revenue of Tripoly was formerly 
drawn from the plunder obtained by her corsairs ; and a very lucra- 
* Before we take leave of Tripoly it may be proper to recommend, for the information 
of those who may hereafter visit that country, the useful pi'ecaution of not subjecting 
themselves to the fluctuation which is usual in the exchange of the place. Money, in 
Tripoly, is in the hands of a few ; and its possessors, who are by no means unacquainted 
with the most profitable methods of laying it out, are not at all times particularly re- 
markable for a liberal treatment of strangers. We found the exchange get more un- 
favourable as our demand for money increased ; and having been obliged to make some 
