1800.] 
dia, is the capital of the whole province, 
and the refidence of the Bey. Its ruins 
till thew what it once had been. Part of 
the city is built ona fteey eminence, from 
which criminals are thrown down headlong. 
Next to Algiers, Confiantine is the moft 
populous city in the Algerine dominions, 
In the Sabra, behind Mount ddas, or 
Teil, lies the diftiiS& Zaad, belonging to 
the Province of Conffantine. The people 
of Zaab ave free, and pay no tribute: they 
are poor and indigent, as it may be ex- 
pected of the inhabitants of fo barren a 
foil. Dates are their principal article of 
food; tor they have beautiful and exten- 
five plantations of palm-trees. ‘From the 
nature of the country, only a few can be 
employed in agriculture and pafturage. 
They carry on fome commerce in negroes 
and oftrich feathers, Small troops of the 
pooreft of them every year wander forth 
to the capital and the larger cities of the 
‘kingdom, where they are employed in fer- 
vices fimilar to thofe performed by the_ 
Savoyards in Paris; and, having in the 
courfe of two or three years accumulated a 
capital of from fx to ten zechins, return 
home, and are reckoned among the wealthy 
of the land. In the capital, they are 
known by the name of Bé/caris, and con- 
ftitute, under a common head, a kind of 
diftinét corporation : they have even a com. 
mon treafury for the purpofe of mutually 
relieving each other. They are the only 
clafs of free fervants, and are highly 
efteemed for their fidelity. In winter as 
well as fummer,they fleep wrapped in rags, 
on a kind of benches before the fhops ; 
others place themfelves at the gates of the 
different roads, and open them to the 
guards, and to other unfa(picious perfons, 
Experience has proved, that they are de- 
ferving of the confidence repofed in them: 
for they are indefatigable and of a placid 
and obliging difpofition. Thofe among 
them who are guilty of any breach of truft 
are punifhed by their chiefs. They are 
likewife employed as fervants in the houfes 
of the Europeans, and are very ufeful to 
them ; as, betides the language of the coun- 
try, they fpeak the Lingua Franca. Con- 
formably to the cultom of the ancient Car- 
thaginians, all the inhabitants of Zaab are 
dog-eaters; and, in general, neither {cru- 
pulous nor f{yueamifh with regard to their 
food. The villages which the B:/caris in- 
habit in their naive country, are {mall, all 
fimilar to one another, and remarkable 
only for dirtine/s and poverty. The chief 
place of the diftriét is the old decayed town 
ef Bifeara, from which this clafs of men 
probably derived their name. 
Analyfis of the ‘Ffournal de Phyfique. 
‘993 
On the Algerine coaft neither ebb nor 
flood is perceptible, and there is a want of 
good and fecure harbours, and likewile of 
convenient landing-places; for the fhore 
is for the moft part high, fteep, and rocky, 
Oran is, beyond doubt, the beft harbour of. 
the whole kingdom ; the harbour of Ar/eo 
is indeed equally convenient, deep, and 
fafe ; but lefs capacious. The harbour of 
Algiers is fmall, thallow, infecure; and 
moreover, when a {trong north wind biows, 
the entrance into it is attended with the 
greateft danger, on account of the nume- 
rous rocks lying in its neighbourhood, 
The harbour of Bugia is fater, deeper, 
and more capacious than that of Algiers ; 
but its entrance is equally dangerous, and 
it is not much frequented by Europeans, 
‘Bona and La Calle icarcely deferve the 
name of harbours; as, befides having all 
the defeéts of thofe already mentioned, 
they are capable of admitting only fmall 
veflels, fuch as draw five, or at molt fix 
feet of water. 
j 
— ie 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
There are few periodical publications on the 
fubje&s of Natural Hiftory and Experi- 
mental Piilofophy, that have acquired a 
higher reputation both on the Continent 
and in this country, than the Journal de 
Phyfique, and its continuation the Sfournzal 
de Rozier. Mott of the eminent phiiofo- 
phers of Europe, during the very intereft- 
ing period of 21 years commencing from 
1771, appear among the contributors to- 
this work; it’ therefore contains a vaft 
number of original memoirs, together with 
judicious felections from the Tranfadtions 
of the various philofophical focieties of 
England, Germany, Italy, and France. 
The memoirs in this valuable repofitory 
may be divided into three ciaffes. 1. Thofe 
whofe utility is only local. 2. Thofe 
whofe utility is fuperfeded by more recent 
difcoveries, and which now, therefore, only 
ferve as hiftorical documents of the progrefg 
and former {tate of fcience: and 3. Thofe, 
whofe value is either eflentially perma- 
nent, or which at leaft have not yet pafled 
into the pee clafs. From thefe latter 
alone fhall we feleé&t the articles to be laid 
before our readers for fome fucceifive 
months; in doing which, we fhall be cares 
ful to make choice principally of thofe 
which treat of fuch foreign manufactures 
and procefl-s, as may furnifh hints oe 
improvement of ourown. We thal] ex 
cife the difcretion of abridgement in all 
cafes where it can be done without injury, 
and fhall infere, at the end of each article, 
fuch obfervations, if any occur to us, as 
may tend to promote the object which we 
have in view. ; 
J. The 
~ 
