|2S A L G I 
walls, and as often diflodged ; but the place nmft have in 
the end fubmittea, had not Hallan been obliged to raife 
the fiege in hafte, on the news that the famed Genoefe 
admiral Doria was approaching with confiderable fuccours 
from Italy. The fleet accordingly arrived foon after ; but, 
milling' the Algerine galleys, bore away for Pennon de 
Valez, where they were fhamefully- repuifed by a handful 
of Turks who garrifoned that place ; which, however, was 
taken the following year. 
In 1567, Hallan was again recalled to Conftantinople, 
where he died three years after. He was fucceeded by 
M hornet, who gained the love of the Algerines by feve- 
ral public-fpirited actions. He incorporated the Janua¬ 
ries and Levantine Turks together, and by that means put 
an end to their difTenfions, which laid the foundation of 
the Algerine independency, on the Porte. He likewife 
added fome confiderable fortifications to the ci ty and caftle, 
which he defigned to render impregnable. But, while lie 
was thus (tudying the intereft of Algiers, one Gafcon, a 
bold Spanifh adventurer, formed a defign of furprifing 
the whole piratic navy in the bay, and fetting them on fire 
in the night-time, when they lay defencelefs, and in their., 
firft fieep. For this he had not only the permifiion of 
Philip II. but was furnifhed by him with proper velfels, 
mariners, and fire-works, for the execution of his plot. 
With thefe he fet fail for Algiers in the mod proper fca- 
fon, viz. the beginning of Odtober, when mod, if not all, 
the (hips lay at-anchor there; and ealily failed near enough, 
ilnfi-ifpefted, to view their manner of riding, in order to 
catch them napping, at a time when the greater part of 
their crew were difperfed in their quarters. He came ac¬ 
cordingly, unperceived by any, to the very mole-gate, and 
difperfed his men with their fire-works; but, to their great 
furprife, they found them fo ill mixed, that they could 
not with all their art make them take fire. In the mean 
time, Gafcon took it into his head, byway of bravado, to 
go to the mole-gate, and give three loud knocks with the 
pommel of his dagger, and to leave it fixed in the gate by 
its point, that tlve Algerines might have caufe to remem¬ 
ber him. This he had the good fortune to do without 
meeting with any dilturbance or oppofition ; but it was not 
fo with his men ; for no fooner did they find their endea¬ 
vours unfuccefsful, than they made fuch abuftle as quickly 
alarmed trite guard pofted on the adjacent baftion, from 
which the uproar quickly fpread itfelf through the whole 
garrifon. Gafcon, now' finding himfelf in the utmoft dan¬ 
ger, failed away with all poflible hafte : but he was pur- 
fueJ, overtaken, and brought back a prifoner to Maho¬ 
met ; who no fooner got him into his power, than he im¬ 
mediately caufed a gibbet of confiderable height to be 
eredted on the fpot where Gafcon had landed, ordering 
him to be hoifted up, and hung by the feet to a hook, 
that he might die in exquifite torture ; and, to fiiew his 
refentment and contempt of the king his mailer, he or¬ 
dered his commillion to be tied to his toes. He had not, 
however, hung long in that ftate, when the captain who 
took him, accompanied by a number of other corfairs, in¬ 
terceded fo Ilrongly in his-behalf, that he was taken down 
and put under the care of fome Chriftian furgeons; but 
two days after, fome Moors reporting that it was the 
common talk and belief in Spain, that the Algerines durft 
not hurt a hair of Gafcon’s head, the unfortunate Spa¬ 
niard was hoified up by a pulley to the top of the execu¬ 
tion-wall, and let down again upon the hook, which in 
his fall catched him by the belly, and gave him fuch a 
wound that he expired without a groan. Thus ended the 
expedition of John Gafcon, which has procured him a 
place among the Spanilh martyrs ; while, on the other 
hand, the Algerines look upon his difappointment to have 
been miraculous, and ow ing to the efficacious protection 
of the powerful faint, whofe prayers had before railed 
fuch a terrible dorm againft the Spanilh fleet. 
Mahomet, being foon after recalled, w'as fucceeded by 
the famous renegado Ochali, who reduced the kingdom 
(if Tunis { which, however, remained fubjedtto the vice- 
E R S. 
roy of Algiers only till the year r5S 5 ’, when a bafbaw of 
Tunis was appointed by the Porte. 
The kingdom of Algiers continued to be governed, till 
the beginning of the feventeenth century, by viceroys'or 
baffiaws appointed by the Porte ; concerning whom we 
find nothing very remarkable, farther than that their ava¬ 
rice and tyranny was intolerable both to the Algerines and 
the Turks themfelves. At laft the Turkifli Janifaries and 
militia becoming powerful enough to fupprefs the tyran¬ 
nic fway of thefe baffiaws, and the people being almoft 
exhaufted by the heavy taxes laid upon them, the former 
refolved to depofe thefe petty tyrants, and fet up fome 
officers of their own at the head of the realm. The bet¬ 
ter to fucceed in this attempt, the militia fent a deputa¬ 
tion to the Porte, to complain of the avarice and oppref- 
lion of thefe bafiiaws, who funk both the revenue of the 
ftate, and the money remitted to it from Conftantinople, 
into their ow'n coffers, which fliould have been employed 
in keeping up and paying the foldiery. They reprefented 
how much more honourable it would be for the Grand 
Signior to permit them to choofe their own dey or go¬ 
vernor from among themfelves, whofe intereft it would 
then be to fee that the revenue of the kingdom was rightly 
applied in keeping up its forces complete, and in ('apply¬ 
ing all other exigencies of the ftate, without any farther 
charge or trouble to the Porte than that of allowing them 
its protedlion. On their part, they engaged always ro_ 
acknowledge the Grand Signiors as their ibvereigns, and 
to pay them their ufual allegiance and tribute, to refpecl 
their bafhaws, and even to lodge and maintain them and 
their retinue, in a manner fuitable to their dignity, at their 
own charge. The baffiaws, however, were, for the fu¬ 
ture, to be excluded from aflifting at any but general 
douw'ans, unlefs invited to it; and from having the li¬ 
berty of voting in them, unlefs when their advice was 
afked, or the intereft of the Porte was likely to fuffer by 
their filence. All other concerns, which related to the 
government of Algiers, w ere to be wholly left under the 
direction of the dey and his douwan. Thefe propofals 
having been accepted by the Porte, the deputies returned 
highly fatisfied ; and, having notified their new privileges, 
the great douwan immediately proceeded to the election 
of a dey from among themfelves. They compiled a new 
fet of laws, and made feveral regulations for the better 
fupport and maintenance of this new form of government, 
to the obfervation of which they obliged all their fubjefls 
to fwear; and the militia, navy, commerce, &c. w'ere all 
fettled pretty nearly on the footing upon which they now 
ftand ; though the fubfequent altercations that frequently 
happened between the baffiaws and deys, the one endea¬ 
vouring to recover thSir former pow'er, and the other to 
curtail it, caufed fuch frequent complaints and difcon- 
tents at the Ottoman court, as made them frequently re¬ 
pent their compliance. 
In the yea}- 1601, the Spaniards, under the command 
of Doria the Genoefe admiral, made another attempt upon 
Algiers, in which they were more fortunate than ufual, 
their fleet being only driven back by contrary winds, fo 
that they came off without lofs. In 1609, the Moors, being 
expelled from Spain, flocked in great numbers to Algiers; 
and, as many of them were very able failors, they undoubt¬ 
edly contributed to make the Algerine fleet fo formidable. 
In 1616, their fleet confided of forty fail of ffiips between 
300 and 400 tons, their admiral 500 tons. It was divided 
into two fquadrons, one of eighteen fail, before the port 
of Malaga; and the other at the Cape of Santa Maria, 
between Lifbon and Seville; both of which fell upon all 
Chriftian ffiips with whom they pretended to be in friend- 
ffiip, as well as upon the Spaniards and Portuguefe, with 
whom they were at war. 
The Algerines were thus become very formidable to 
the European powers. The Spaniards, who were mod 
in danger, and lead able to cope with them, folicited the 
afliftance of England, .the pope, and other dates. The 
French, however, were the firft to fliew their refentment 
of 
