tan, a descendant from the family of the Sherreefe. The tradition is, that the ancestors of the reigning prince, coming from western Africa, invaded and conquered Fezzan, about 500 years since. The sultan is absolute; but holds his dominions of the bashaw of Tripoli, to whom he pays 4000 dollars as a yearly tribute. Horneman estimates the population at 75,000. The revenue arises from taxes on gardens and cultivated lands; from arbitrary fines and requisitions; from duties on foreign trade, paid by the several caravans; and from predatory excursions. The expenditure consists chiefly in the maintenance of the sultan, his court, and palace. The cadi and each one of the royal family has a district assigned for his support. Mourzouk, the capital, is in lat. 27 23 N. and in lon. 15 40 E. 420 miles in a direct line S. S. E. of Tripoli. Zeula lies about 70 miles E. by N. of Mourzouk. The commerce of Fezzan is considerable. From October to February Mourzouk is the great emporium for the caravans from Cairo, Tripoli, Gadamis, Bengasi, a town on the N. coast, Soudan and various others. The inhabitants of Augila carry on the trade from Cairo; those of Sockna, that of Tripoli; and the Kolluvian Tuaric, that of Soudan. Slaves, ostrich feathers, ribette, tiger skins, and gold come from Soudan; copper from Bornou; siks, melayes, (striped blue and white calicoes,) woollens, glass, mock coral, beads, and East-India goods from Cairo; tobacco, snuff, and sundry Turkish wares from Bengasi; paper, mock coral, fire arms, sabres, knives, and red worsted caps are brought from Tripoli, and Gadamis; butter, oil, fat, and corn by the smaller Tuaric and Arab caravans from the W. and senna, ostrich feathers, and camels, by those from the S. The climate is at no season temperate or agreeable. AUGILA is a small, but celebrated territory, nearly midway between Egypt and Fezzan. It is about 165 miles from the coast, in lat. 29 30 N. and lon. 23° E.; and is 450 miles, in a direct line E. N. E. of Mourzouk. It is an oasis, flat, well watered, fertile, and surrounded by arid deserts, either sandy or rocky. Its dates are celebrated. These and its gardens constitute the chief culture. There are three towns, Augila, Mojabra, and Meledila. Augila, well known in the time of Herodotus, covers a space of one mile in circumference. It is badly built. The streets are narrow and dirty. The houses are of one story, of limestone, with an open hollow square in the centre. Augila is governed by a vicegerent for the bashaw of Tripoli. SIWAH lies 210 miles a little S. of E. of Augila. It is 150 miles from the Mediterranean, and 260 W. S. W. of Cairo. Siwah is a small independent state. The territory is of considerable extent; its principal and most fruitful district is a well watered valley, 50 miles in circuit, hemmed in by steep and barren rocks. It is supposed, with great probability, to have been the ancient Oasis of Ammon; and a pile of ruins on the W. of the capital are said to be the remains of the celebrated temple of Jupiter Ammon. They are all Mahometans. Siwah, the capital, is nearly in the centre of the valley. It is built upon a round mass of rock. The houses might be taken for caves. The streets are so narrow, that the houses almost touch each other. Many stand on the declivity of the rock. It resembles a bee hive in its shape, and in the buzz of its streets. At the foot of the rock are erected stables for the camels, horses, and asses, which cannot ascend to the town above. The Siwahans are great thieves. Many of them are rich. Lach individual has one or more gardens, and these it is his whole business to water and cultivate. The soil is a sandy loam, yielding corn, oil, and vegetables, but the chief produce is dates. These are all kept in a public storehouse. N. W. of the capital there is a stratum of salt, extending a full mile, and near it salt is found on the surface, lying in clods, or small lumps. AFRICAN ISLANDS. MADAGASCAR. THIS noble island, one of the largest in the world, except NewHolland and Borneo, lies between lat. 11 22 and 25 42 S. lon. 4t 14 to 48 14 E. Its length is about 980 miles, and its mean breadth is about 250. It lies in the Indian ocean; and the channel of Mozambique, 90 leagues across, bounds it on the W. and separates it from the continent of Africa. It is divided into 28 provinces. On the 18th of February, 1811, this island surrendered to the British. Its population is reckoned, by Rochon, at 4,000,000 souls. The language of all these islanders is nearly the same. The inhabitants believe in a Supreme Being, whom they call Zanbare, that is, Creator of all things. They have no temples, no idols, no priests; but make sacrifices of sheep and oxen. They believe the soul immortal, but suppose the wicked and good rewarded in this life. They are a friendly, intelligent, excellent people, possessing a quick sense of honor and gratitude, far less mindful of injuries done themselves, than of those offered their family. They are portly in their persons, and rise above the middle stature. Writing is not unknown. They have some historical books in their own languages; but their men of learning, use only the Arabic character. That language has made some progress in the N. of the island. Their hospitality is worthy of notice and imitation. The traveller, though a stranger, enters the cottage, sits down with the family, and partakes of their repast. This custom is general. The oaths, which these islanders are not know to violate, are taken in a solemn, impressive manner. They have physicians to visit them when sick. These amiable people were formerly torn from their country, their families, their parents, their children, their lovers, and soid in thousands, in the French colonies, and more cruelly treated than beats of burden. These people have manufactures of iron and steel. They are ingenious goldsmiths, potters, joiners, carpenters, rope-makers and Their linens are woven by women; they are very fine, and beautifully colored. weavers. The climate of Madagascar is healthy; the heat is not excessive, being in some parts tempered by land breezes, from sun-setting, till 10 or 1 o'clock in the morning. They live in towns and villages. The towns are surrounded by a ditch and pallisadoes, guarded by 10 and 20 soldiers. The houses of private people consist of a convenient cottage, surrounded by smaller ones for their wives and slaves. They are of wood covered with leaves or straw. The houses of the wealthy are spacious and divided into several apartments. The princes have buildings of taste and beauty. This island is watered by a great number of considerable rivers, which form at their mouths many bays and gulfs, in which are found good roads and harbors. Foulepointe is the port most frequented on the N. coast. The country produces oxen, sheep, goats, and cotton in abundance. Ebony, gum guttæ, cucumbers, peas, beans, barley, rice, and citrons, are plenty. Cardaman plants, banana, and orange trees flourish. Rock crystals, copper, silver, gold, iron, and precious stones are found here. A great variety of ornamental plants, of fruit trees, and valuable timber, grow on this island. SMALLER AFRICAN ISLANDS. PORTO SANTO is a small island, about 20 miles in compass, in lat. 32 55 N. and 125 leagues W. of cape Blanco. It has one good harbor, safe from all winds but the S. W. Here the India ships usually stop to refit, both going and returning. The island is inhabited by Portuguese, and is very rich. MADEIRA is a triangle of 150 miles in circuit, lying in lat. 32 30 N. and lon. 16 50 W. 120 leagues W. of cape Cantin. It is divided into two provinces. The population is said to amount to 70,000. Funchal, the capital, is in a valley, on the S. coast. The town contains 6 convents, as many churches, and about 15,000 inhabitants, Portuguese, French, English, Irish, mulattoes, and blacks. The climate is agreeable, and the soil very fertile. The chief exports are Madeira wine, 20,000 hogsheads, and sweet meats. Every specics of tropical fruit grows to perfection. CANARIES. These are a group of 13 islands lying off cape Non, or Nun, between lat. 27 15 and 29 50 N. and between lon. 13o and 17 30 W. Six are small and uninhabited. The religion is the Catholic. The bishop has a revenue of £10,000, and is suffragan to the archbishop of Seville. A tribunal of the inquisition is established at Palma, the capital. The government is vested in a governor and royal audience. The audience sit at Palma, the capital of Grand Canary. The population of the whole group is stated at 196,500, distributed as follows: These islands yield a revenue to the crown of about £60,000 sterling. The inhabitants are chiefly Spaniards. Most of them are poor, and are tenants. Bread is eaten only by the rich. The poorer sort subsist on goffio, a parched grain, ground by a little hand-mill. The commerce with England, Spain, and Spanish America, is important. The exports to Spanish South-America, in 1788, amounted to £88,255 sterling, and the imports to £71,586. Wine is chiefly exported from the islands of Teneriffe and Palma. Tropical fruits are raised in great abundance. The climate is temperate and mild. The soil is generally fertile. The articles of culture are the vine, sugar-cane, cotton, wheat, barley, and rice. All the islands are well supplied with cattle. TENERIFFE is 70 miles west of Grand Canary. Its length is 70 miles. Santa Cruz, the capital, on the S. E. has a good harbor, and is a handsome, populous town. The governor resides here. No soil is more fertile than that of this island. About 40,000 pipes of wine are made annually. The climate is remarkably healthy. The celebrated Peake of Teneriffe is a well known land-mark, visible more than 120 miles. FERRO, OF HIERRO, is the most western of the Canaries, and the most western land known to the ancients, constituted, for several centuries, the only first meridian of geographers. The longitude of its west coast is 17 46 W. CAPE VERD ISLANDS. These are a cluster of islands, 150 leagues W. of cape Verd, between lat. 16° and 18° N. The principal ones are St. Anthony, St. Vincent, St. Nicholas, Bonavista, and St. Jago. They have long belonged to the Portuguese. The inhabitants of all are said to amount to 100,000. The manufactures of leather and salt form the principal riches. The soil is indiffer ent. ST. HELENA. This is a beautiful island, 20 miles in circumference, belonging to the English East-India Company. Every valley is watered by a rivulet, and the island can support 3000 head of its small cattle. The number of inhabitants does not exceed 2000, including near 500 soldiers and 600 slaves, who are supplied with all sorts of manufactures by the company's ships, in return for refreshments. It lies between Africa and South-America, about 1200. miles west of the former, and 1800 east of the latter, lon. 5 49 W. lat. 15 55 S. BOURBON is 60 miles long, and 40 broad, 370 miles E. from Madagascar. The island is difficult of access. St. Dennis is the principal port. It has lately been taken by the English. The island has now, according to St. Pierre, 60,000 blacks, and 5000 other inhabitants lon. 55 30 E. lat. 20 52 S. MAURITIUS. This island, 150 miles in circumference, lies E.. N. E. of Bourbon, and 400 miles E. of Madagascar. The French held it till 1810, when it was taken by the English. The climate is healthy; but the soil not very fertile. The number of inhabitants on the island, exclusive of the military, is 8000 whites, and 12,000 blacks. Lon. 57 28 E. lat. 20 9 S.* COMORA ISLANDS are in the Indian ocean, between the coast of Zanguebar and the N. part of the island of Madagascar. They are 4 in number, viz. Johanna, Mayotta, Mohilla, and Comora, which last is 6 leagues long and 3 wide, and gives its name to the group. It has no safe harbors. The Arabs settled on these islands are clothed, and in some degree civilized; but the aborigines, about 7000 in number, who inhabit the hills, and who are often at war with the Arabs, go naked, are of a dark complexion, and stupid. In the interior of the island is a lake, held sacred by the natives, in which are ducks, which are also venerated. The East-India ships often touch here for refreshment. The Arabs, some of them, speak broken, but intelligible English-preserve the manners of Arabia, and are not so dark as the natives. These isles lie between 11° and 13° S. lat. and 44° and 47° E. lon.t SOCOTRA is a large island, 25 leagues from cape Guardefan, and 80 from Arabia. It is 75 miles in length, from E. to W. and 50 broad. It has a fine bold shore, and many excellent harbors. It is fertile and populous; and is governed by a prince, who is tributary to the Sheikh of Keschin, a town of Hadramaut in Arabia. The inhabitants are of Arabian descent, and are Mahometans. island is very productive. INTERESTING TABLES, The CONCERNING THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. Population. THE inhabitants of the union consist of three classes: 1. Europeans and their descendants; 2. Africans and their descendants; 3. Aborigines. The last are not included in any of the following estimates and enumerations. The amount of provincial population in 1701 and 1749 was estimated at the time as follows: Estimate of provincial population in 1701 and 1749. Provinces. 1701 1749 Provinces. 1701 1749 N. Hampshire 10,000 30,000 30,000 100,000 New-York 30,000 100,000 Georgia 7,000 New-Jersey 15,000 60,000 S. Carolina 30,000 6,000 Pennsylvania 20,000 250,000 Southern 77,000 251,000 Total 262,000 1,046,000 • St. Pierre. Pennsylvania included Delaware till the revolution. Capt. Ham, Walker, Grose. |