FEZZAN' (more correctly, FESSnN), an extensive oasis in the n. of Africa, in 24° to 31° n. let., and 12° to 18° e. long. It lies s. of the regency of Tripoli, and has a population variously estimated at from 75,000 to 150,000 souls. The n. is for the most part hills, but the hills are composed of perfectly bare, black quartz sandstone, with no rivers or brooks among them, and the s. is ntainlya level waste of dry sand. Not more than a tenth of the soil is cultivable. In the neighborhood of the villages, which are situated mainly in the wadies, wheat, barley, etc., are cultivated. Camels and horses are reared in considerable numbers. Lions, leopards, hyenas, jackals, wild-cats, porcupines, vul tures, ostriches, buzzards, etc., are found in abundance. The inhabitants are a mixed race, of a brown color, in many respects resembling the negroes, but are generally well formed. The original inhabitants belonged to the Berber family, but since the invasion of the country by the Arabs in the 15th c., the traces of this native north African ele ment have gradually become very faint. The language spoken is a corrupt mixture of Berber and Arabic. The people are far behind in civilization, and occupy themselves
with gardening and the manufacture of the most indispensable necessaries of life. Considerable trade is carried on by means of caravans between the interior of Africa and the coast. F. is the Phazania of the ancients, against which the Romans, under Cornelius Balbus, undertook a campaign about 20 B.C. During the classic period, as well as in the middle ages, it was governed by its own princes, who were at first inde pendent, but afterwards became tributary to the pashas of Tripoli. In the year 1842, F. was conquered by the Turks, and is now attached to the government of Tripoli. Mur zuk, the capital of F., is a well-built town, with broad streets and a population of 3,000. Merchandise valued more than £21,000 annually changes hands here, and of that amount the slave-trade forms seven eighths. Murzuk is now the great starting-point from the n. for the interior of negroland. Compare Barth's Travels en Central Africa (Lond. 1857), and also the descriptions given of Fezzan by Denham, Clapperton, Oudney, Richardson, Dr. Vogel. etc.