TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 91 it to have contained many “ castles and villages, some on heights, and others in the plain and adds that the inhabitants were excessively rich, on account of their having no tribute to pay, and the attention which they bestowed upon commerce. They were in the habit (he continues) of receiving foreign wares, which were brought to them by the Venetian galleys, and of carrying them to Numidia, where they were bartered in exchange for slaves, civet, and musk from Ethiopia ; these they carried into Turkey, and made a profit both in going and returning.

In the lifetime of the late Bashaw, Mesurata was in a very disturbed state. The inhabitants had refused to receive Sidy Yusef, and it was only by the assistance of Shekh Haliffe that they were at length reduced to obedience*. The place is not now so flourishing as it is stated to have been in the time of Leo, and its commerce appears to be trifling.

Soon after our arrival, the Shekh of Mesurata, Belcdzi, came to pay us his visit of ceremony. He was accompanied by Shekh Mahommed el Ddbbah, and attended by a train of mounted Arabs, tolerably well armed with long guns and pistols. The splendid attire of Shekh Belcazi, displayed to advantage by a large and handsome person, threw far into the shade the less imposing costume and figure of his companion. It consisted of three cloth waistcoats, richly embroidered with gold, and a pair of most capacious crimson silk trowsers, bound tight round his waist, which was none of the * See Tally’s Memoirs, passim.