It is not possible to form a correct estimate of the population of Barbary ; but it has been conjectured, that it is not above one-fifth of what the country ; could support. The inhabitants are a very mixed race ; and may be distributed into different classes ; such as Turks, Moors, Arabs, Berebbers, Shellichs, Negroes, Jews.
Of these the least numerous are the Turks ; but they are nevertheless to be considered as the sove reigns of North and East Barbary. They are in ge neral a very abandoned race, the refuse of Turkey, chiefly composed of pirates and other banditti, who have either enlisted in the service of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, or who have fled from their country to escape the punishment of their crimes. " Yet these recruits," says Dr Shaw, " after they have been a little instructed by their fellow soldiers, and have got caps to their heads, shoes to their feet, and a pair of knives to their girdle, quickly begin to affect grandeur and majesty ; expect to be saluted with the title of efondi, or your grace; and look upon the most considerable citizens as their slaves, and the consuls of the allied nations as their footmen." These Levant Turks generally intermarry with the native lkfoors ; and their descendants, called Cologliss, or Coloris, form a very numerous 'class, active, and intel ligent, but extremely turbulent and ambitious.
The Moors, who may be considered as the de. scendants of those, who were driven out of Spain, re side chiefly in the towns and villages. They have a sallow complexion, an aquiline nose, good teeth, black eyes, manly features, but frequently a very fe rocious expression of countenance. Their limbs are clumsily shaped ; their stature is commonly above the middle size ; and their whole figure has rather a commanding appearance. They are naturally of a grave and pensive disposition, indolent to an extreme, and roused only by such violent passions as avarice and hatred. They have little curiosity or ambition after knowledge ; and no spirit of enterprise; indus try, or improvement. Their natural sagacity degene rates into duplicitx, and they are guilty of the meanest acts of imposition ; yet, with all their selfish cunning, they are often very improvident ; and, with all their haughty appearances, they are capable of the most abject submission. They have been described by a wry accurate observer, (who seems to have been suf ficiently inclined to give as favourable a picture as possible), as ignorant and contemptuous of other na tions, cruel and rapacious towards each other, living in continual suspicion and distrust, strangers to every social tie and affection, and scarcely susceptible of one tender impression ; unparalleled .in arrogance, . insatiable in sensuality, and addicted to the most un-. natural and degrading propensities. Some of the better educated among them, however, are courteous and affable in their capable of much self command in conversation, and slow in taking of fence ; but very noisy and implacable, when once they are irrituted. They all possess one very noble trait
of character in a most eminent degree, namely, for titude under misfortune. Resigned in all things to. the will of God, the Moor never despairs; no cala-. nifty or bodily suffering can make him complain; but he waits in patient hope for an amelioration of his condition. The character of this people, in short, is a very inconsistent combination of the savage and civilized state; and may be attributed, in a great de gree, to the united influence of their education, go vernment, and religion.
The Arabs of Barbary are partly the descendants of those, who at first over-ran the country, under their Mahommedan leaders, and who have still kept themselves distinct from the other inhabitants ; and partly emigrants from Sahara, who advance into the more northern districts, whenever the depopulations OT the plague, or other calamities, afford admission to a new colony. They are divided into an infinite number of tribes, which never mingle by intermar riages, and which are almost continually at war with each other. If united among themselves, they would be more than a match for any of the Barbary states, to which they are tributary ; and in order to keep them more easily in subjection, it is the practice of these states to encourage mutual acts of hostility among their Arab subjects. They live in tents; and generally form their encampments at a considerable distance from any town or village. Their occupa tion consists in taking care of their flocks and herds, and in raising a little wheat or barley. When the land, around their residence, has become less produc tive, and their cattle have consumed all the pasture ; they strike their tents, and remove to a more fertile spot. They are generally obliged to procure per mission, from the bashaw of theprovince, to settle in any particular place, in return for which indulgence they engage to pay a certain portion of their pro duce. The Arabs bear a great resemblance to the Moors, in their general character ; but they are a more meagre, indigent race, frequently covered with rags and filth. Those among them, who live nearest the coast, are more hospitable and inoffensive ; but it often requires blows to excite their respect, or to procure from them any accommodation. Those, again, who reside in the interior of the country, and especially on the borders of the desert, are lewd, cruel, and treacherous ; habitual robbers, and coward ly assassins; who will indeed consider the person of a stranger as sacred, while he remains within their tent, but who will not scruple to murder their last night's guest, before he has well passed the bounds of their encampment.