TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 17

tlie pontificate and under the protection of Leo the Tenth,) that

there was at all times a scarcity of grain in Tripoly, and that the

country about it was incapable of cultivation ; but it will appear from

the passages which we have quoted below, as well as from the actual

state of the place, that it is merely the want of rain (which is occa-

sionally experienced) that now prevents the soil in question from

producing good crops very regularly *.

^'l^hen we inquire into the cause of this difference, a more inter-

* “ Til our way home” (says the artless and amiable writer of Tully’s Memoirs) “ we passed through a street noted for its corn-wells, or rather caverns, dug very deep into

the earth. They are situated on each side of the street, at about thirty yards’ distance. They were designed for magazines to lay up corn in, wliere they say it will keep perfectly

good for an hundred years. Happy were it for the inhabitants of this country if these

caverns were filled now as they formerly when the country was so rich in the pro-

duce of corn, that it was from hence exported to many parts of the world, and prized

almost above any other. The barley when sown here yields twice as much as it does in

Europe. When it grows properly, they reckon thirty and thirty-five ears for one an

ordinary produce ; while in Europe fourteen or fifteen is considered as a good return.” In dry seasons, however, which frequently occur, the case appears to be far otherwise.

“ The times are so much altered now,” (continues the authoress above mentioned,)

“ that corn is imported at an immense expense. This melancholy change is attributed

to the want of rains, which have failed for several years past. There have not been

more than one or two good harvests for thirty years. If cargoes of wheat do not soon

arrive from Tunis, the state of this place will be dreadful beyond description.” — Tullfs

Narrative, p. 49. — Again, the same writer says, p. 67, “ It has been ascertained by the Bashaw to-day, that there is only barley for sale at two bazars, or market-places, left

in the place. A few years since the barley here grew so favourably, that it produced in return three times as much as in any part of Europe. Such quantities of it were

exported, that Tripoly was enriched by its sale ; but the failure of rain has left the

country for several years without one good harvest.”

This account is consistent with the above, and we have here some idea of what may be

meant by the vfovd formerly , in the passage first quoted, which is certainly somewhat indefinite.

D