several masters, was finally subdued by the Saracens We tasted the waters of the Salt River, and found it had not retained this name, for so many ages, undeservedly; for, though habit reconciles the Arabs to its flavour, we thought it very disagreeable. The Sinan falls into the Salt River, and glides, in beautiful windings, through this fruitful district. It was on the banks of this stream that the elder Barbarossa made his last effort to retard the pursuit of his enemies, by strewing the ground with his treasures, but without success; for, contemning the snare, the Spaniards overtook him, and delivered his subjects from this monster of cruelty and deceit.

Tremesen, or Tlemsan, is the capital of the province bearing the same name: it stands.below a range of rocky precipices, and has few objects that deserve remembrance, except a large square bason, of Moorish workmanship, supposed to have been a reservoir, to contain water, in case of a siege.

The city of Oran is strongly fortified by nature and art, and well supplied with water. Several handsome churches, and other edifices, built by the Spaniards, in the Roman style, still remain.

Five miles from the seacoast are the salt pits of Arzow, which, under a free government, would be an inexhaustible source of wealth to the neighbourhood.

Musty-Gannin is a city built in the form of a theatre, facing the sea, and backed by a range of hills; about fifteen miles from this town we crossed the

Shellif, which is one of the largest rivers of the kingdom of Algiers.

Shershell, formerly celebrated for its steel manufacture, was overthrown by an earthquake: its ruins bear ample marks of its ancient grandeur. Fine pillars, capacious cisterns, and beautiful mosaic pavements, abound here, and cover an extent of ground equal to that of Carthage. It was supplied with water by a noble aqueduct, several fragments of which are still to be seen in the neighbouring valleys, which are of extreme fertility. Peaches, apricots, and other tempting fruits, invite the hand of the traveller, whilst diversified prospects charm his eye, and would render his journey delightful, were not his fears excited by the continual apprehension of robbers and assassins. Piunder is the fashion of the country. The sovereign and his officers fleece the people, and they, to indemnify the loss, cheat and rob those who are unable to defend themselves.

On a mountainous part of the seacoast, I was struckby the appearance of a singular monument, called the Sepulchre of the Christian Women; but, from its antiquity, it is more probable that it was the burying place of the Numidian kings. It is of a circular form, resembling a pyramid, and, as near as I can. conjecture, a hundred feet high.

We now approached the capital of the kingdom, Algiers, surnamed, in the Arabic, the Warlike; which it deserves, from having braved the greatest powers of Europe for several ages; though, in the present

improved state of military science, it could make but a weak defence against a regular siege. The environs of this city are eminently beautiful; consisting of hills and valleys, covered with the white country houses of the wealthy citizens, surrounded by gardens, luxuriantly planted with fruit trees and shrubs, watered with rivulets, and commanding a fine prospect of the sea.

The city is built on the declivity of a hill, by the seaside; rising in the form of an amphitheatre, one street above another, the roofs of the houses being flat and white, strike a stranger's eye with a singular appearace at a distance. All the streets are narrow but one, which contains the shops of the principal merchants, and is the market for corn and other commodities. The walls, though high, would be a poor defence against cannon balls. The chief supply of water (an important article in this sultry climate) is from a spring, conveyed by pipes to a great number of fountains, to each of which a bowl is fixed, for the use of passengers, between whom there is no distinction, except, that a Turk is first served, and a Jew. last.

There are five gates, that are shut at sunset, and seven forts without the gate, well supplied with great guns. The mosques are numerous, and some of them large. Besides three principal colleges, there are many inferior schools. The houses are built much in the same style as those at Fez and Morocco. The population is computed to amount to a hundred

thousand persons, of whom five thousand families are said to be Jews. The manners of the people incline to those of the Turks, which may be attributed to their intercourse with the soldiery, who are all of that nation, and who domineer, with unlimited tyranny, over the Moors. They are fond of bathing, and have separate public bagnios, for men and women.

At meals, the Algerines sit, crosslegged, round a a table, four inches high, and use neither knives nor forks. Before they begin, every one utters this ejaculation, "In the name of God." When the repast is finished, a slave pours water over their hands, and they afterwards wash their mouths. Water, sherbet, and coffee are their usual beverage, wine being forbidden by their religion, though some of the least scrupulous will take copious libations in private.

The dey is elected, in a tumultuous assembly of military officers, called the Douwan, where they express their disapprobation by hideous growlings.

The reign of the new sovereign generally commences by putting those to death who opposed his election, and as he has been raised to the throne by tumults and bloodshed, he has no security in the affection of his subjects, and most frequently is deprived of his power by revolt and treachery, and pays the forfeit of his crimes by an untimely death. The spirit of the government is tyrannic and ferocious, and the punishment of criminals extremely cruel. Their foreign trade is carried on by the Corsairs, who, either

by traffic or piracy, supply the country with a great variety of manufactured goods and other articles.

The kingdom of Algiers is divided into three

vinces; the eastern, which is the most considerable; the western; and the southern, where the people live wholly in tents.

The inhabitants are composed of a mixture of different nations, but the Moors and Arabs are the most numerous. Jews, Christians, Turks, and Berebers, a distinct race, of uncertain origin, subdivided into many tribes. The generality of the people are tolerably fair, and those of the higher ranks suffer their beard to grow, and wear clothes of very rich materials. The Moorish ladies are mostly very handsome; but the Arabian women, who work extremely hard, and are exposed to the sun, have coarse features and swarthy complexions. The custom of tinging their eyelids, with lead ore, gives a peculiarity to the countenances of the female Moors, and is of the most remote antiquity, like the rest of their fashions and habits, which never change.

When a person dies, the corpse is carried to a mosque, and afterwards accompanied to the grave by the greatest part of the congregation. The procession is not attended with that solemnity that funerals are with us, they proceed as fast as they can, singing verses, selected from the Koran. The female relations, for two or three months, visit the grave once a week, to lament and perform certain ceremonies. A few persons excepted, who are interred within the sanctuaries