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plundered repeatedly, and again recovering its former splendor, it was finally taken by Omar's general, and its library, consisting of 700,000 volumes or rolls, was burnt by order of the bigoted Mahometan. For six months, these books supplied fuel for the public baths. Since that time the city has declined. It contains now about 15,000 inhabitants, who carry on some commerce with Asia and Europe.

831. Manufactures and Trade. Among the manufactures of Egypt, are sugar, ammony, glass lamps, saltpeter, gun powder, red and yellow lether, and fine linen. Before the navigation to India by the Cape of Good Hope, the commerce between Europe and Asia was carried on through Alexandria and Cairo. The latter is still the center of the trade of Egypt and the neighboring countries. From Yemen are imported coffee, drugs, perfumes, and some gems; from Hindoostan are brought muslins, cotton and spices; from Sennar, the caravans bring slaves, gold dust, ivory, horns of the rhinoceros, ostrich fethers, gums and drugs; from Tunis and Tripoli are brought oil, red caps and flannel; from Syria, cotton, silk, sugar and tobacco; from Constantinople, iron, copper and brass wares; and from Circassia or Georgia, white slaves, the noted Mameluks. Formerly Egypt exported wheat to Rome, and rice is still exported from Lower Egypt.

832. Curiosities. The Pyramids of Egypt are the greatest wonders of human labor, and the more remarkable, as no historical records remain by which we can determin the era when they were erected, or the purpose for which they were designed. They are square piles of stone, rising to a point, standing about 12 miles from Cairo, on the west of the Nile, and at some distance from the site of Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, which no longer exists. Three of the pyramids are very large, and the largest is 600 feet square at the base, and 500 feet high. There are steps by which one may ascend them, and some of them having been opened, are found to contain stone coffins, which has led to a belief that they were erected for the burial places of kings. More pro

bably they were raised as temples to the sun, în early ages, when the sun was worshipped as a deity.

NUBIA.

833. Nubia. Between Egypt and Abyssinia lies Nubia, anciently called Ethiopia, a country about 5 or 600 miles in extent. It is penetrated by the Nile, but a great part of the country is a sandy desert. The most valuable provinces are Donogola on the north, and Sennar on the south. The people are represented as deceitful and ferocious. Their dress is a long blue shirt, and their chief food millet. The country contains cattle, and good pasturage in some places, but in general is a miserable country, inhabited by a miserable people.

TRIPOLI.

834. General Description. Tripoli, one of the states on the northern coast of Africa called Barbary, extends westward of the desert of Barca about 900 miles. The inhabitants are in general poor, being oppressed by the exactions of the government, which is vested in the Bey, but tributary to Turkey. The inhabitants of the interior cultivate the earth, but those on the sea coast live by piracy. The capital, Tripoli, is situated on the Mediterranean, surrounded by high walls, flanked by pyramidical towers. It has narrow dirty streets, and is in a state of decline. It has no fresh water, except what is collected from rains, and kept in cisterns. Corn is scarce, but dates are plenty, and the fruit of the lotus supplies" great quantities of food. Its commerce consists in stuffs, saffron, corn, oil, wool, dates, skins and ostrich fethers.

TUNIS.

The state of Tunis lies on north west of Tripoli, and It was formerly a king

835. General Description. the northern shore of Africa, is about 300 miles in length. dom, but is now a republic, or rather an aristocracy, under the protection of the Turks, to whose Bashaw it tribute. The soil is in general dry, but the western and central parts are fertile, and tho corn is scarce, dates, figs and other fruits are in abundance. The inhabitants are

pays

Moors, Turks, Arabs and Jews, chiefly Mahometans, who practice piracy, and keep a considerable number of christian slaves. The capital, Tunis, stands on the Gulf of Goletta, about 8 miles from the site of ancient Carthage, the ruins of which are still to be seen. The houses are of stone, surrounded by high walls, and flanked with towers. Here the Bey resides in summer, but in winter he retires to a lake in the south. Through this territory runs the large river Mejerda, the ancient Bagrada, and the country produces the fruits common to the mild latitudes.

836. Inhabitants, Manufactures, Trade. The city of Tunis is computed to contain 50,000 inhabitants, a considerable number of whom are Jews. They manufacture velvets, silks, linen and woollen cloth, and red caps, which are worn by the common people. They carry on considerable trade in woollen stuffs, red caps, gold dust, lead, oil, and morocco lether. The inroads of the Arabs oblige the inhabitants to sow their grain in fields inclosed with high walls. The people of this regency are said to be the most civilized of any on the northern coast of Africa.

ALGIERS.

837. General Description. Algiers, one of the piratical states of Africa, extends along the shore of the Mediterranean, about 460 miles, between Tunis and Morocco; its extent north and south is various, but not exceeding 100 miles. In climate and productions it resembles the adjacent states; the summers are hot, the winters so mild that frost is seldom seen, and all the tropical fruits, lemons, oranges, figs and dates, flourish and abound. The vast barren wilds in the south are the nurseries of ferocious animals, lions, tigers and wild boars, with ostriches, buffaloes, and other wild animals without number. There is a mountain of salt near Marks.

838. City of Algiers. The city of Algiers is situated on the declivity of a hill, in the form of an amphitheater, facing a good harbor. The walls are 30 feet high on the land side, and 40 next to the water, the lower part of hewn stone, the upper part of brick. The ditch is 20 feet

broad, and 7 feet deep. Like other cities in that country, it has no water, but in cisterns, which is generally bad, as rains are not frequent; except the water conveyed in pipes from a single spring. The city contains ten large mosks, fifty small ones, three colleges, or public schools, and many smaller ones, with 50,000 inhabitants, one fourth of whom are Jews. The houses are of stone or brick, with a square court in the middle, and galleries all round.

839 Inhabitants. The inhabitants are mostly Mahometans, who, in their contempt of christians, and in their manners, resemble the Turks. They eat sitting cross legged round a table about four inches high, using neither knives nor forks. When they have done, a slave pours water on their hands to wash them. Their drink is mostly sherbet, coffee and water, but notwithstanding the prohibitions of the koran, wine is drank by some to excess. They have bagnios, or public baths, as in Turkey, the females separate from the males.

With

out the city are numerous sepulchers, and cells, or cha pels, dedicated to marabouts, or reputed saints, which are visited every Friday. The Turkish soldiers are great tyrants, driving people out of the way as they pass, and even travelling about the country and living on free quarters. The lowest soldier domineers over a Moor, and takes from him his horse, if he likes him better than his own. But with all their bad qualities, they, in some respects, may make christians blush, for they never gamble, nor profane the name of God.

840. Manufactures and Commerce. The Algerines manufacture some silk, cotton, wool and lether; also, carpets and coarse linens. But they have no manufac tures of ropes, sails, nor iron. Their piracies are vexatious to all christian countries, and they have more shipping than any other piratical state. When they tako captives, they reduce them to abject slavery, and compel their friends to redeem them at an enormous price. Their exports consist of ostrich fethers, copper, ruggs, silk sashes, handkerchiefs, dates, christian slaves, and sometimes wheat. Their corsairs import various stuffs

and cloths, spices, tin, iron, cordage, ammunition, tar, sugar, alum, rice, aloes, and various other commodities.

MOROCCO.

841. Situation and Extent. The empire of Morocco lies west of Algiers, and extends along the African coast to the south west, upon the Atlantic, about 590 miles in length, with a various bredth. It consists of a number of petty kingdoms or principalities, as Fez, Tremosin, and others, comprehending a great part of ancient Mauritania. It contains many barren heaths, and here the celebrated Atlas displays its lofty summits, some parts of which are covered with snow in summer.

842. General Description. The inhabitants of Merocco are Moors and Arabs, who are Mahometans, and Jews, who carry on most of the trade. The natives are a tawny race, robust, and good horsemen. Their chief food is coscosu, which is a mixture of bits of paste with meat and vegetables, cooked by steam, and served up in an earthen dish, with butter and spices. The people are said to be superstitious, deceitful and cruel. The Arabs live under tents in moveable villages. Trade is carried on with the southern Africans by caravans, which travel over barren deserts, and barter cloths, silk, salt, &c. for slaves, gold and elephant's teeth. Their other commo dities are red lether, indigo, cochineal and ostrich fethers. The chief Mahometan port is Teutan, and the Spaniards possess Ceuta, on the Strait of Gibraltar.

843. Towns and Customs. The city of Morocco is in a large plain, diversified with shrubs and clumps of palm trees, and watered by streams from the Atlas. It is of considerable extent, surrounded by strong walls, containing the royal palace, and several mosks, which are squares with porticoes, the climate not requiring covered edifices. The ladies paint their cheeks and chins with a deep red, with a long black mark on the forehead, another on the tip of the nose, and several on the cheeks. Caravans, consisting of thousands of camels and dromedaries, annually travel to Mecca, with merchants, and devotees to the prophet, Mahomet, In Morocco live the

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