[2]This officer holds the second place in the Regency, and is invested with the supreme power whenever His Highness is absent.
[3]Tully observes, “We entered these gloomy passages, which always seem as if they led to some dreadful abode for the purpose of entombing the living.”
[4]Reis Moràt, we believe, is a Scotchman, and was formerly mate of a merchant vessel; but having embraced the Mahometan faith, and entered the service of the Bashaw, has now, through his naval skill and abilities, arrived at the head of his profession, and is much considered by His Highness.
[5]Tea is very generally used by the higher classes throughout the Regency of Tripoly, and coffee but rarely.
[6]This young man, who is the second son of Sidi Mahommed d’Ghies, and is also named Mahommed, is an admirable example of true devotion to the religion of his country, united with the more extended and liberal feelings of Europeans. He daily visits the public school where young boys are taught to read the Koran; and superintends the charitable distribution of food which the bounty of Sidi Mahommed provides for the poor who daily present themselves at his gate. Besides his acquaintance with the English and French languages, he is able to converse with the slaves of the family in several languages of the interior of Africa; and when it is considered that Mahometans in general seldom trouble themselves to speak any language but their own, this proficiency is greatly to his credit; we should rather, perhaps, say, to the credit of his father, under whose eye he has been hitherto brought up, and who is himself well acquainted with the French, and we believe with several other languages. The elder son of Sidi Mohammed was in England while we were at Tripoly, and must be remembered by many of the first circles in London.
CHAPTER II.
General description of Tripoly; its Castle and Port — The Buildings of Tripoly commended by Leo Africanus — Present condition of the City — Its existing ancient remains — Burial-ground of the ancient City — Sepulchral urns of glass discovered there by Mr. Consul Warrington — Remarks of Leo Africanus on the soil and level of Tripoly, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries — Accumulation of soil since that period — Advance of the sea, mentioned by Leo Africanus, still observable on the coast of Northern Africa — These appearances adduced in confirmation of Major Rennell’s remarks on the Lake Tritonis and the Lesser Syrtis — Historical sketch of Tripoly — Its actual state and improved condition under the present Bashaw — Abolition of Piracy, and partial discontinuance of the Slave Trade.
The town of Tripoly has been built on a foundation of rock, and is washed, to the northward, on two sides, by the sea; while the remaining parts, those to the southward and westward, are bounded by a large sandy plain, which is notwithstanding partially cultivated[1].
The form of the town is very irregular, but it is completely surrounded by high and thick walls, which appear to have been once very strong. They are now falling fast into ruin; yet wherever any part of the old work is seen, through the mud and irregular fragments of stone, with which the ravages of time have been partially concealed, it appears to be solid and good[2]. The walls are besides provided with ramparts, on which are planted a number of guns quite sufficient to make themselves tolerably respected, were it not that the impertinent interference of rust, and the occasional want of carriages for the guns, might contribute to prevent their effect. The castle is built at the south-eastern angle of the city, close to the water’s edge; and may be said to connect the line of ramparts along the beach with that which encloses the town to the southward. The walls of the castle are unusually high, and have been fortunately made to incline a good deal inwards: we say fortunately, for so bad is the state of repair, in which the exterior is kept, that without this convenient inclination to the centre, they would not probably be standing at all. Yet they are certainly of considerable thickness; and it is owing to the very unworkmanlike manner in which the building has been from time to time augmented, for we ought not to call it repaired, that its strength has been materially diminished[3].