TUNIS, a large city in Northern Africa, and capital of a territory of the same name, is situated at the bottom of a bay about ten miles south-west of ancient Carthage, and is about three miles in circumference. It stands on a plain encircled by considerable heights on all sides but the east, and is surrounded with lakes and marshes, which do not produce insalubrity, an effect which is ascribed by Baron de Tott to the depth of the valley, which obstructs the vapours of the channel and the lakes, and prevents them from putrefying, while Dr. Shaw attributes it to the number of aromatic trees which are used to heat their ovens and their baths.
The town is built with the greatest irregularity, and the so narrow and dirty as to be al most impassable. The principal buildings are a great mosque, and a number of a smaller size; but the grandest building is the new palace of the bey, which is a Gothic structure of great beauty. The lower part consists of a variety of fancy shops, which are rented from the bey, and contain the produc tions of Tunis. The houses of European consuls are more like prisons than residences, and the Moorish houses are only a storey high, with flat roofs. The old fortified palace of the bey, called El Bardo, encompassed with walls and flanked with towers, stands two miles west of Tunis. There are here a few academies and schools, where reading, arithmetic, and the Koran are taught. The harbour
and citadel of Tunis, called the Goletta, is situated six miles to the west. There is here a basin capable of containing all the vessels belonging to Tunis. Between Goletta and Tunis there extends a lake, separated from the sea by a narrow isthmus. It serves as a canal between the city and the harbour, and affords an ample supply of salt.
The citadel, called El Gospa, and the high walls which defend the city, form a very insufficient pro tection to it. The former is out of repair, and is besides commanded by the neighbouring heights. Near the centre of the city there is a piazza of great extent, which is said to have once contained 3000 shops for the sale of woollen and linen goods manu factured in the city. Besides the public buildings we have mentioned, there is an exchange, a custom house, and an arsenal. The principal exports from Tunis are wheat, barley, olive oil of excellent qua lity, wool, soap, sponges, and Orchilla weed. The imports consist of all kinds of European manufac tures, West India produce, and cotton from the East Indies.
The population of the city is estimated at 12,000 houses, and 130,000 inhabitants, of whom 30,000 are Jews, and 1500 Christians. East Lon. 20'. North Lat. 44'. See Shaw's Travels in Barbary, and our article BARBARY, Vol. III. p. 250, for gene ral information respecting Tunis.