somely rewarded. The plaintive vocal musick of Cairo, and the agreeable sensations which it excites, have often been remarked by travellers. The dancing girls are last introduced. These form a distinct class, and are always attended by an old man and woman, who play on musical instruments, and watch over their conduct, lest they should bestow their favours for an inadequate reward. Their forms are elegant, and their faces rather expressive than beautiful. Their dances exhibit all that the most luxurious imagination can conceive. They fascinate, by their ordinary exertions, the eye of the multitude in the public street, and display the most laboured blandishments of their art in the palaces of the great. The Cophts and the Arabs compose the bulk of the population: the former, the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, are an ingenious people, but of a very swarthy complexion, and in general without any claim to beauty. The Arabs are also swarthy, which is indeed an unavoidable consequence of the heat of the climate. These are divided into two classes, the Arabs settled in the towns and villages, and the rambling Bedouins, who have no home but the deserts; no possessions, but their flocks and herds; who are robbers by profession; and whose hand, like true descendants of Ishmael, is against every man, from whom they can expect any booty, although, notwithstanding their rapacity, they do not appear to be either vindictive or cruel. It is not amiss to observe, that in Egypt, the cultiva tors of lands are properly farmers, and not attached to the soil. National character.]-The Egyptians, as already observed, were always noted by the Romans for a sullen inflexibility of temper. Their history shews how reluctantly they submitted to a foreign yoke. But subjection has been, during, so many ages, their destiny, that the present Cophts have lost all idea of independence; and the Greeks and Arabs, who have been successively their conquerors, have long groaned under the same galling yoke of oppression. The national character of the Egyptians is now described as rapacious and treacherous, the natural consequence of their degradation. * Browne's Trav. p. 90, 91. † Denon's Trav. vol. 1. p. 206. Browne's Trav. p. 68. Volney has exhibited an obscure and inac curate view of this subject. Ammian, Marcellin. lib. 22. STATES IN THE NORTH OF AFRICA. CHAP. I. Situation....Extent.....Boundaries.....Face of the Country.......Mountains...... Rivers......Canals.....Lakes......Mineralogy.....Mineral Waters.....Soil..... Climate......Vegetable Productions.....Zoology..... Natural Curiosities... Antiquities and Artificial Curiosities. NORTHERN Africa, extending from Egypt along the Mediterranean as far as the Atlantic Ocean, comprehends the States of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, reckoning in a direction from east to west. Their respective limits, however, are little known, and ill defined. Extensive deserts intervening between Egypt and Tripoli, no precise boundary seems to have ever been settled. In the midst of barren deserts, a few miles of frontier is of little value; and the sands of Barca seem to be abandoned to the wandering Bedouins. The inhabited country shall be displayed in a general view, as all the circumstances, both physical and moral, of the different states, are nearly similar. They have generally shared the same fortune, and their affairs are included in one portion of history. Face of the country.]-Except near the coasts, those regions have been little explored. The country, as far as it is known, is a diversified champaign, without any feature particularly striking, containing neither mountains of extraor dinary elevation, nor rivers of great magnitude or length of course. Mountains.]-The famous Atlas of antiquity, fabled by the ancients as supporting the heavens, appears to be a chain of no great elevation. Its general direction is north-east and south-west, extending from the kingdom of Tunis, where it is a ridge of inconsiderable height,* to Cape Geer, on the Atlantic Ocean. The highest part pervades the kingdom of Morocco; and a branch called the lesser Atlas, seems to extend from Cape Cantin to the district of Tangier.† Rivers.]-None of the rivers of northern Africa are any more than inconsiderable streams descending from Mount Atlas, and running into the Mediterranean on the north, and into the Atlantic on the west. Of the former, the chief is the Majerda, in the kingdom of Tunis, the Bagrada of classical antiquity: the latter are in Morocco. No canals are men tioned by travellers. Lakes.-There are several small lakes, and one of considerable extent in the south of the Tunisian territory. In the country of Algiers is seen a sandy plain, which absorbs five small rivers, and being sometimes overflowed, presents the appearance of a lake.t Mineralogy.]-Of the mineralogy of northern Africa, little can be said from modern information; nor does it appear to possess any ancient fame. Iron, copper, and lead, however, are found in Mount Atlas. Soil. The soil partakes of the general character of Africa, being light and sandy, except the valleys of Mount Atlas, and the lands bordering on the rivulets, which present in màny places a deep and rich mould. Climate.]-The climate in these countries between Mount Atlas and the Mediterranean, is in winter temperate and pleasant but in summer the heats are sometimes excessive. In general it is reckoned salubrious. Vegetable productions.]-In the Roman times, Northern Africa was famed for its never failing fertility. At present agriculture is greatly declined, and the quantity of productions consequently diminished. They are, however, far from being inconsiderable. Morocco is the most fertile of all those regions, and, together with Algiers, supplies the garrison of Gibraltar with considerable quantities of provisions. Corn of * Shaw's Trav. p. 20, &c. † Strabo mentions Mount Atlas only as situated to the south of the pillars of Hercules, lib. 17. Lempriere, p. 163. Shaw's Trav. p. 114. ZOOLOGY....NATURAL CURIOSITIES, &c. 221 all kinds is plentiful; and the wheat is of an excellent quality. All these countries produce excellent fruits, as well as flowers of the greatest beauty and fragrance. Zoology.]-The domestic animals are in general the same as in Europe, with the addition of the camel and dromedary. The cattle of Tunis and Algiers are small and slender; and the horses are degenerated.* In Morocco, the cattle and sheep are small, but their flesh is excellent. Fowls and pigeons abound; but ducks are scarce, and geese and turkeys unknown. Various kinds of wild beasts infest the interior of the country, especially the southern ridges of Mount Atlas, and the borders of the great desert. From these countries the Romans were chiefly supplied with lions, leopards, &c. for their public exhibitions in the circus. Natural curiosities.]—We hear of no natural curiosities of such importance as to merit a description; and of such as are said to exist, the accounts that we possess are obscure and doubtful. Artificial curiosities and antiquities.-These countries exhibit no specimen of modern art; and the monuments of antiquity that still remain, are mostly in a state exceedingly ruinous. The ruins of Carthage, a few miles north-east from Tunis, have been carefully surveyed and accurately described by Dr. Shaw. In other places are seen some remains of the Roman magnificence, and also of that of the Saracens ; but nothing striking is presented by these remains of antiquity, their history being obscured by time, and their grandeur defaced by barbarians. They only serve to excite a faint recollection of the ancient splendour of those countries in their flourishing state; first as the seat of the Carthaginian power, and afterwards as a Roman province. Some of the sheep of Tunis produce wool little inferior to the Spanish; but it is much longer, and has a silky appearance. Jackson's Comm. Mediter. p. 71. † Some remains of Roman temples and a triumphal arch are yet seen at Sufetula, 150 miles to the south of Carthage. Shaw's Trav. p. 118, &c. Except some arches of an aqueduct, scarcely any remains of Carthage are now to be seen. Shaw's Trav. p. 80. In proceeding from east to west, a direction followed in speaking of the different kingdoms, Tripoli must be first mentioned among the cities, being the most easterly, and the nearest to Egypt. This city, the capital of the state of the same name, which extends to the borders of Egypt, and comprises the ancient Lybia, is situated in a low plain, bounded on the south by hills and plantations of dates, which in some degree enliven the environs. In the time of the Romans Tripoli was a considerable city, and its strong fortifications enabled it for some time to resist the assaults of the Arabian conquerors: At present it is greatly declined; and although about four miles in circuit, contains only a small population. Tunis.-The next city of note on this coast is Tunis, not far from the scite of the ancient Carthage. It is about three miles in circuit, and is said to contain about 50,000 inhabitants, although perhaps the calculation may be exaggerated. Tunis is the most commercial town on the African coast, and its inhabitants the most polished of all the Mahometans of that quarter. This town had some time ago a considerable trade with France. Algiers.-Proceeding towards the west is that noted nest of pirates, Algiers, which, according to Dr. Shaw's account, must be considered at present as the principal city on the African coast. This city is not more than a mile and a half in circuit; but its population is computed at above 100,000, a number absolutely inconsistent with probability. The deys of Algiers have never given much encouragement to trade. Piracy has • Lucas in Proceed. Afric. Society, p. 48. Jackson on the Comm. of the Mediterranean, p. 55. &c. |