between soldiers or sailors. Civilians, on the other hand, are said to gratify their resentment against each other by administering poison in a cup of coffee; and this mode of removing an enemy or a rival has become so common, that when any person dies suddenly, people say, "He has taken his coffee!" The medicated beverage is sometimes given with the view of producing instant dissolution, and at others with the intention of prolonging the victim's miseries for several months.

But it is admitted by all travellers, that the distant view of Tripoli, especially from the Mediterranean, is grand and not a little imposing. Previous to entering the bay, says an author who spent several years in Northern Africa, the country is rendered picturesque by various teints of beautiful verdure. No object whatever seems to interrupt the evenness of the soil, which is almost white, and interspersed with long avenues of trees; for such is the appearance of the numerous palms, planted in regular rows, and kept in the finest order. Their immense branches, coarse when near, are neat and distinct at a distance. The land lying low and very level, the naked stems of these trees are scarcely seen; and the plantations of dates seem to extend many miles in luxuriant woods and groves. The whole town appears in a semicircle some time before reaching the harbour's mouth. The extreme whiteness of the buildings, flat, square, and covered with lime, encountering the sun's fiercest rays, is not less striking than oppressive. The baths form clusters of very large cupolas, crowded together in different parts of the town. The mosques have in general a small plantation of Indian figs and date-trees growing close to them, which, at a distance, appearing to be so many rich gardens, give to the whole city, in the eyes of a European, an aspect truly novel and pleasing. On entering the harbour, the town begins to show what it has suffered from the destructive hand of time-large hills of rubbish appearing in different parts of it. The castle or palace in which the pacha resides is at the east end, within the walls. This edifice is very ancient and well-enclosed. It has, however, lost all symmetry on the inside, from the innumerable additions made to it with the view of accommodating the different branches of the royal family, none of whom are permitted to live else

where. In fact, it has gradually increased to such an extent as to have assumed the appearance of a fortified village.*

This description coincides exactly with that given by Captain Beechey. He tells us, that the outline of Tripoli is extremely irregular, and that, though the walls which encompass it seem to have been very strong, they are fast falling into ruins. The ramparts are provided with a few guns, which, however, are for the most part unserviceable, and more likely to injure those whom they are meant to protect than to annoy an enterprising enemy. In truth, the pacha does not rely upon the artificial defences of the place for security against the aggressions of a European fleet. He has much more confidence in that jealousy which has hitherto prevented the great Christian governments from cooperating together for a common object, and, more especially, for establishing colonies on the shores of Barbary, though their own reputation, and the lives and properties of their subjects, require that they should at all hazards attain an undisputed ascendency over those piratical tribes who have so long infested the Mediterranean.

The grand mosque, in which the pacha's family are buried, is said to have a very handsome exterior. It stands in the main street, near the southern gate of the city, and almost opposite to the palace. Before the entry there is a species of portico fabricated of lattice-work, curiously carved, and two folding-doors of the same material; while a great number of beautifully coloured tiles, with which the bottom of the lattice-work is set, give it an appearance of neatness very pleasing to the eye. Over the doors of all the mosques are long sentences from the Koran, cut in stone and painted. Those on this edifice are not only more richly gilt and coloured, but the sculpture is also much handsomer than on any other in the town.t

The principal specimen of antiquity now remaining is the triumphal arch already mentioned, built of fine marble and ornamented with sculpture and inscriptions. The greatest part of this beautiful monument is buried in the earth, which reaches nearly to the middle of it; and the upper part has received considerable damage from the accidents of war and

• Tully's Letters, vol. i., p. 16. † Ibid., p. 14

the ignorant curiosity of the natives. It was erected by the Consul Scipio Efritus, in the days of Pius Antoninus, and afterward dedicated to the honour of his successors. We

are told that it is esteemed by all good judges as more striking than any of the most celebrated in Italy; as the temple of Janus at Rome, though constructed of marble, and regarded as one of the finest of these edifices, has only a plain roof. It does not appear so high as it really is, owing to the great accumulation of sand carried thither by the winds; and this is the reason why there is as much of the structure now under the surface as can be seen above it. The stones of which it is composed are so extremely large, that it seems wonderful how they could be conveyed from the quarry; and, in a country and an age so destitute of mechanical means, it is perhaps not less surprising how they were raised to such a height from the ground. No cement has been used to fasten them together; yet, so solid are they, that, so far as the ravages of time are considered, the pile may be pronounced quite uninjured. The ceiling is of the most beautiful sculpture, a small part of which only remains in view, as the Moors, blind to its beauties, have for some time filled it up with rubbish and mortar, to form shops or warehouses in the interior of the arch. On the outside are enormous groups of whole-length figures of men and women, exhibiting allegorical scenes, or, it may be, representing some of the more important facts of history. Europeans, it is said, are often tempted to bring these antiquities to light, and they might doubtless make great and useful discoveries; but the jealous Turks will not permit them to disturb a stone, or move a grain of sand, on such an account; and repeated messages have been sent from the castle on these occasions to warn Christians of their danger.*

The inhabitants may be divided into Moors and Arabs, the former having a fair complexion, while the latter are in general dark and sallow. They are all remarkable for regular and athletic forms, and a cripple or deformed person is rarely seen among them. There are, besides, some Turks and Jews, together with a certain proportion of negroes and European renegadoes. As the pacha affords little countenance to the Moors, who have, therefore, but a very small

* Tully's Letters, vol. i., p. 18.

chance of rising in the offices of government, they apply themselves to trade, to manufactures, and even to agriculture, whence many of them have acquired considerable wealth. The cut inserted above represents a couple in this class of society, who, by their dress and appearance, afford some indication of the opulence to which they have attained.

The Turks spend much of their time at a bazar, where excellent coffee is prepared, and nothing else. No Moorish gentleman enters the house, but sends his slave to procure a cup of the favourite beverage, which he drinks at the door, seated on a marble couch under a green arbour. These benches are furnished with the richest and most beautiful mats and carpets. Here are found, at certain hours of the day, all the principal persons of that class, sitting crosslegged, with dishes of coffee in their hands, made as strong as the essence itself. On such occasions they are always

attended by their black servants, one of whom holds his master's pipe, another his cup, and a third his handkerchief, while he is talking. During conversation the hands must be free, being quite necessary for the purposes of discourse; for the speaker marks with the forefinger of his right hand upon the palm of his left, as accurately as we do with a pen, the different parts of his speech, a comma, a quotation, or a striking passage. This renders their dialogue very singular in the eye of a European, who, being unused to the manner, has great difficulty in following the argument or narrative to which his attention may be invited.

The Arabs in the regency of Tripoli form three classes; the first, those who come from Arabia; the second, the Arabs of Africa; and the third, the wandering Bedouins. The two former are said to be equally warlike, handsome in their persons, generous in their temper, honourable in their dealings, grand and ambitious in all their proceedings when in power, and abstemious in their food. They possess great genius, and enjoy a settled cheerfulness, not in the least bordering on buffoonery. Each of these tribes is governed by a chief, or sheik, by whose laws all those under him are directed, judged, and punished. Their trade is war; and, as auxiliary troops, they serve with due fidelity the master who pays them best, so long as their contract continues.

The Bedouins are hordes of petty merchants wandering over the country, and trading in what they can carry from place to place. In the spring of the year they advance to Tripoli to occupy the plain, or Pianura, as it is usually called. Here they sow their corn, wait till they can reap it, and then disappear till the following season. They pitch their tents under the walls of the city, but cannot enter it without leave; and for any misdemeanor they may commit their chief is answerable to the pacha. Both the Arabs and Bedouins still retain many customs described in sacred and profane history, and are in almost every thing the same people that we find mentioned in the earliest records.

In some respects, also, these migratory herdsmen bear a certain resemblance to the Scottish Highlanders. The men, for example, wear a thick dark-brown baracan of wool, five or six yards long and about two wide, which serves them as their whole dress by day and their bed by night. They put it on by joining the two upper corners with a wooden or iron