A Short History of Algiers; With a Concise View of the Origin of the Rupture Between Algiers and the United States to Wich Is Added a Copious Appendix ... M'shane, and Sundry Other American Captives - Softcover
Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1805. Excerpt: ... are natural curiosities. The principal one is twelve feet square and four dtep. The water is very hot, and when it has filled the larger bason, runs through into another of a smaller size, where the Jews bathe, as they are not permitted to use the same bath with the Mahometans. These hot fountains are conjectured to proceed from the great quantities of sulphur, nitre, and other inflammable substances in the bowels of the earth. To this cause likewise have been ascribed those earthquakes, to which the whole country, and Algiers in particular, are frequently subjected. CHAP. IL Customs. Religion. Government. Land Forces, Corsairs. THE present inhabitants of the territory of Algiers are composed of a multitude of different nations. Among these are the Moors, or Morescos, who were driven out of Spain about the end of the sixteenth century; and the Arabians, who trace their descent from those disciples of Mahomet who formerly subdued thiscoun. try. Levantines, Turks, Jews, and Christian slaves, with a croud, formed of the posterity of all these different people, make "fcp the rest of the population. The Moors and Arabs are the most numerous. The former compose the great body of the inhabitants of the towns. But it may be readily supposed, that amidst such a variety of different races, immense'numbers cannot be aid to belong to any particular tribe or nation whatever. In this country there are maay wandering bands of shepherds, who live together in camps, and remove from one place to another as they want pasture for their herds and flocks, or as any other accidental circumstance happens to make it necessary. They sometimes pay rent to landlords, in corn, fruit, honey, wax, and other productions of the same kind. The dey likewise demands a tribute. The excellenc...
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