Licensed Febr. 21. 1675 6. Henry Oldenburg THE PRESENT STATE OF Tangier IN A LETTER To His GRACE THE Lord Chancellor of Ireland And one of the Lords Justices there To which is added The PRESENT STATE of ALGIERS LONDON Printed for Henry Herringman at the Sign of the Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange MDCLXXVI THE PRESENT STATE OF TANGIER In A LETTER To His GRACE The Lord Chancellor of IRELAND c. May it please Your Grace BEing conscious to my self of my own very great incapacity to render such an Account as may be delightful and satisfactory I am ashamed so unprofitably to divert you from better imployments and so palpably to discover my own weakness in the following Description of the City of Tangier and the Territory thereunto belonging wherein howsoever I had rather bewray my folly in this abrupt Narration than administer an occasion to be suspected in my readiness to obey your Commands and therefore I presume to present to your Grace these hasty Notes resolving to deal truly and impartially according to what I have seen and observed and what hath been related to me by credible persons On Saturday the 12 of June last early in the morning we entred the Passage into the Streights between Cape Spartel and Cape Trafalgar in one of His Majesties Frigots from the Cape to Tangier the wind blowing fresh from the Land a most odoriferous smell like to the Fume of Cedar or Juniper entertain'd us which I conceive to be a mixture of pleasant sents arising from the variety of sweet Trees and Herbs growing there wild the Coast rocky rugged and full of Hills yet very safe for Ships very green with Grass and Herbs and full of Trees When we came into the Bay of Tangier there fell a most vehement storm of rain which continued an hour and as it is said was more than was seen at that time of the year in any mans memory Being saluted with a thousand shots of great Guns from the Mole the Castle the Forts and the Ships riding in the Bay we landed where we were met by the Mayor and Corporation in their Gowns and conducted through a Guard of Souldiers from thence to the Castle The City of Tangier is in the Latitude of 35 deg 35 min. situated very pleasantly about the middle way between the Entrance and the Mouth of the Streights in a large Bay like a Semi-Circle in plain sight of the Coast of Spain being less than six Leagues distant from it the weather naturally very hot and scalding but so temper'd with Friscoes and Breezes both from Land and Sea that the Air is rendred very tolerable the Sky alway bright and serene no Rain nor hardly a Cloud being seen there for three parts of the year the Levant-wind which blows very often and very strong especially during the months of July and August as it makes the weather more cool so besides its unkindness to Ships it is not very agreeable to Health many people especially such as are sickly being then faint and more dis-composed The City seems to have been one of the greatest in the World which is apparent by the old Walls and Ruines extending S. E. about two miles as far as old Tangier where stands a heap of ruined Buildings a pleasant River wonderfully stored with several sorts of good Fish running near it and a large Stone-Bridge over it but now broken and stretching N. W. near three miles and beyond Teveot-Hill so called from that Renowned Person the Earl of Teveot who there was cut off the by Moors and a pretty Brook called Jews-River running about the middle way I dare not take upon me the part of an Historian or go about to give an exact Account of the Annals of this Place but only in a few words to deduce the Summary History of its several Owners till it came into the Hands of His Sacred Majesty whom God long preserve over us and that City under Him Tangier or Tingis was first built as some say by those fugitive Canaanites who in the Fields adjoining erected Pillars with this Inscription in the Phoenician Language importing in English We flee from the face of the Son of Nave the great Robber Or as others by Tinga Wife of Antaeus slain by Hercules I shall not mention what Leo Africanus saith of it because himself allows it fabulous It was a City of great note and esteem when the Carthaginians contended with the Romans and gave Name to all the adjacent Country but is said to have been buried by Caesar in the Ruines of Juba its King but by Claudius who first made Mauritania Tingitana a Roman Province to have been restored and made a Colony called Traducta Julia From thence it continued the Metropolis of Mauritania until Constantine the Great laid it to the Diocess of Spain in which condition it continued during some time of the Empire until about the year 642. Suintilla King of the Goths in Spain added it to his Dominions So that they seem to err who report this City and its dependant Country to have been possessed by the Vandals invited into Africa by Boniface in the Empire of Valentinian the third It continued subject to the Goths longer than Spain did for though Osman the third Caliph Successor of Mahomet conquered the rest of Barbavy yet Tingitana was still held by the Goths and afforded retreat and shelter to the Sons of Vitiza the true Heirs during the Usurpation of Roderic the last King and also some years after his slaughter and the subversion of the Gothish Kingdom in Spain by Musa and Tariffe Lieutenants to Vlidor Vlit the Saracenical Caliph The Moors when they held this Town had here a Publick School or University where their Youth were taught Letters as also an Hospital liberally endowed by Joseph a Ben Teifin the second of the Almora Vides who founded Morocco conquered Fez and subdued all the Moorish Roytelets in Spain adding this to his large Dominion Under his Successors of the three Races the Almoravides the Almohades and lastly the Merines Tangier was their chief Port for Spain for in this Bay and that of Alcazzer not far from the Point did Alboacen embarque his Army for Spain confisting of 400000 Foot and 70000 Horse who were discomfited by the Christians at Salado near Tariffa by which blow the power of the Miramemolins was so broken that their Empire declined very fast both in Spain and Africa their civil dissentions also hastning their downfal in which decay of the Merin Family Tangier was deserted by the Moors as most of this Coast was on the approach of Alphonso the fifth King of Portugal who took possession of it An. Dom. 1472. whose Successors held it with continual Wars and various Successes with the Xerisses until the year 1669. when it was delivered to that excellent and much-lamented General the Earl of Sandwich for the use of CHARLES the Second King of Great Britain But whosoever desires a more
Algiers So having been two years in the Camp he returned in great triumph accompanied with all the popular applauses imaginable But all this could not secure him from the secret conspiracy of his Kia who having had the sweetness and benefit of the pay in his absence made a faction against him murdering him in the Bettistan or Market-place in the year 1642. Since which time though they have received the Bashaws sent by the Grand Seignior yet have they never admitted them to sit in the Divan or to meddle with Publick Affairs but they have been muzled receiving only their ancient allowance the extraordinary Revenues being wholly taken away so that this place being not of so great profit as was formerly it has not been so greedily sought for at the Ottomans Porte witness this present Bashaw called Ismael who has lived here now near fifteen years After the said Rebellion there has been a person chosen out of and by the Divan to sit over the pay and had the Title of Governour To his care was committed the receipt and payment of all money brought into the Publick and his presence required at the pay of the Souldiers which is every two months Thirteen persons have succeeded in this Office of which but one is found to have died in his bed the other having been poisoned or murthered by some means or other The last that served in that Office was Ally Aga who was cut in pieces by the Souldiers in the year 1672. after their Ships were burnt in Bugia When the said Ally Aga came to the Government the Divan consisted of Bulga-Bashaws Geo-Bashaws and Youde-Bashaws in all above one thousand Persons besides that the Souldiers would come into the Divan upon any Foreign Affair that was to be debated so that it was a rabble of people and a confused multitude until he found a way to reduce them to forty eight of each quality beforementioned viz. 144 persons in all whereof himself was the head The day that he was murthered all the Souldiers were in Arms in great confusion some that were of his party fled and escaped others were kill'd in the Streets and in their Houses the Bashaw then brought out the Grand Seigniors Bandera and made Burgone That all Souldiers should come under it which they readily submitted to so that it was believed the Bashaw would be brought into the Kings House or place of Judicature and the former Authority of his Predecessors not only restored but also the Keys of the Cassale given him when in the middle of the tumult a bolder fellow than the rest cry'd out to bring in Mahomet Raise Treig formerly Admiral Present Government but at that time in disgrace this cry was seconded by all the Sea-faring people and in less than half an hour it was determined to fetch Treig to the Kings House The Old Man knew not whether they came to Kill or to Crown him But so soon as he came there he was given to understand that they had chosen him Governour which he obstinately refused until some that had occasioned his coming thither cryed Father Will you let us suffer by your Humility Upon which he made a bold speech to the Souldiers telling them If they gave the Government into his hands he would be absolute and no ways controuled by the Divan whose Counsel he would willingly adhere unto but the Decisive Vote should be left to him They unwilling to refuse him any thing at that time did above all this deliver unto him the Keys of the Cassale never before in the possession of one man but kept by Eighty Bulga-Bashaws that attended there by turns Eighty every week going up and exchanging the other Eighty and so they proclaimed him by the Name of Dey making him Superintendent over all the Militia by Sea and Land Director of the Cadees and Head of the Divan To his assistance they joined Babba Hassan The Divan is reduced by this Governour to 24 Yeo-Bashaws 24 Bulga-Bashaws 24 You-Bashaws in all 72. one that married his daughter a stout Turk and well learned in the Mahometan Law to his charge is committed all Receipts and Payments so that he hath the same Office former Governours had he is intituled the Dey's Lieutenant and General of the Army without the City he acts in all respects with as absolute power as the Dey himself and neither of them makes use of the Divan for any thing but trifling affairs The Aga. THere is also an Aga or Lord Mayor of the City exchanged every two months This Office is taken gradually as will be seen in the manner of the Militia He is attended by eight Grand Chomes and several other Officers hath Drums and Trumpets and other Musick allowed him and twelve thousand Doubles to defray the charges of his Agaship He is the second person in the Divan Caya or Kia and hath a Kia that acts like a Chamberlain of the City and decides all Differences that happen between one Inhabitant and another unless it be some criminal cause and then he carries them to the Deye or a cause in Law about the Title of Houses and then he sends to the Caddee who is to determine the matter gratis All other Places of Trust Civil as well as Military are wholly in the disposal of the Deye or his Lieutenant Bobba Hassan who so well understand each other in the Government that hitherto nothing has been contradicted which one hath proposed or acted The City consists of divers sorts of people as I. Cololies Cololies or the Sons of Turks born there which for the most part are brought up to Handicraft-Trades for since the time of Maharam Bashaw which was in the year 1625. the Cololi made a conspiracy against the Government and seized on the Cassale and blew it up wherein was by estimation five hundred Barrels of Powder hoping by this means to bring the Government into their hands but they were presently overcome and it was then decreed that none of the Cololies should ever be capable of any Publick Office by Land for the future yet they are continued in pay and may rise to forty Dobles per month according to their merits II. Jews THe Jews whereof there are two sorts the Natives consisting of thirteen thousand Families which for the most part are Handicraft-men and Brokers the other Christian Jews so called because they are bred up in Spain Portugal and Italy and go habited like the people of the Country from whence they came these are for the most part Merchants and cunning fellows above the rest III. Tagareens THe Tagareens are banished Moors from Andalusia of which there is about eight hundred Families they are the principal people that deal in Slaves and are great Armadores to fit out Ships against the Christians being for the most part very rich IV. Jerbeenes THe Jerbeenes so called from the Isle Jerbis near Tunis these are all Merchants or Pedlars and may be about three hundred Families besides
which are yearly relieved To each of these Camps is a Bey or General that Farms the Contribution The first Camp is called the Churke Mahallas Commander Harradien Bey and rangeth all the East as far as their utmost bounds to the Eastward His Army consists of fifty Tents in each Tent is forty Souldiers he pays five hundred thousand Dobles per annum The Bey is usually a Person of Noble Blood bred among the Moors of which is many so esteemed by them He hath an Aga in the Camp as the Ships have at Sea and the Souldiers are as much or more obedient to the Aga than the Bey The second is Mahalla Titera or the Southward Camp they consist of fifteen Tents and two hundred Spahees they are Commanded by Dell Bey who gathers Contribution sixty days journey Southward from whence he brings many Negroes of Angelo and sometimes Gold having farmed it for one hundred and fifteen thousand Dobles per annum The third is Carpe Mahallas or the Western Camp they consist of sixty Tents and gather Contribution within two days journey of Fez and all the Westward part from Algiers This Camp is commanded by Ben Ashia Melias Brother to the Captain that was taken in the Algier-Frigat He pays the Publick five hundred thousand Dobles per annum Besides these Revenues this City of Algiers receives from the Handicrafts-men eighteen thousand one hundred and eighty Dollars per annum The Jews pay two thousand eight hundred and eighty six Dollars per annum The Farmers of the Wax and Hydes pay eighty five thousand Dobles per annum The French pay for the Coral Fishing at Bastion twenty five thousand Dobles per annum The Genoveeses pay for the Priviledges they enjoy upon Tobacco ten thousand Dollars per annum The Custom of Goods may amount to twenty thousand Dollars per annum Moreover if any Turk dies without any Heir lawfully begotten his whole Estate goes to the Publick If he hath one or more Daughters the Goods of the Turk are given her but of a Moor the Daughter cannot inherit This brings in an unknown and vast Revenue it having been computed some years to amount to four hundred thousand Dollars From the poor Slaves there arises no small profit to the Publick for after the Slaves are sold at the Badistan or Market-place they are carried to the Kings House and entred again where every farthing that is offered for them more than was in Batistan turns to the benefit of the Publick besides every Slave pays to the Publick fifteen Dollars for his head and ten per cent for so much as he is redeemed for Add to this the ⅛ part of all Prizes and what else is exacted by the Revenues laid upon all sorts of people which all amounts to a vast unknown sum of money Every two months they pay their Soldiers No Person is permitted to go into the Treasury and what money remains is sent up to the Cassale from whence they have never yet taken any thing so that the mass of Wealth that is believed to be therein might very well defray the charges of an Army fit to take both that and the City when it was blown up by the Collolies that part stood where the Treasure lies and received little or no prejudice Their Trade THe Trade of Algier is the most inconsiderable of any great populous City in the World depending chiefly upon the success of their Pyrates among the Tukrs I do not find ten Merchants and they only use to Tunis and Alexandria from whence they are supplied with Linnen Cloth Coffee and other Merchandize The Handicrafts-men are chiefly Collolis or Sons of Turks who being uncapable of Preferment in the Government are brought up to earn their bread and are well improved in their several Arts. Every Trade and Profession hath an Emeene or Master of the Company whose care is in effect the same as the Masters and Wardens of a Company in London but more absolute it being in his power and also incumbent upon him to chastise any of them with blows when they shall deserve it or lay what forfeit he sees cause upon any misdemeanor to force them to pay their debts if for any Commodity belonging to their Trade and to demean themselves civilly Each Trade lives in a Street by it self The Power given the Emeene is no small ease to the Governours They have a Fabrick of Cloth and Linnen and almost all things necessary for Mankind so that the Manufactories they stand in need of from Christendom is so often supplied by Prizes that the Consumption of the place supplyed by Merchants is most inconsiderable Of English the Goods brought hither is chiefly Cloth of which four hundred pieces per annum is the greatest Consumption some Iron Lead and Tin but in all not enough to employ one good Ship to make two Voyages a year The current money of that Country is Aspers of which 232. make a Ryall of 8 8 a Coyn that is altogether unfit for any other Country being not full three quarters of an Ounce of Silver in a Dollar of Ryall 8 8. They Coyn also a Substance of Gold which is the just weight of an Hungarian and is worth two Ryalls 8 8 and three quarters in Aspers so that a Merchant that brings his Wares hither by selling them for the money of the Country finds loss of twenty per cent to the pound in the exchange of Spanish money that it hath much discouraged all Trade hither The greatest production of Merchandize to be transported of the growth of the Country is Wax about three hundred Kintals per annum Hydes about twenty thousand and nothing else worth noting but of Prize-Goods no small quantity having been as I have particularly noted one hundred eighty and seven Prizes brought in in less than two years and an half All Goods that are not contrabanda to be brought from Spain and Italy pay 11 1 2 per Custom a Ship pays fifty Dollars Port-charges and a Barrel of Powder to the Cassabe The Weights and Measures are no ways altered since the time that several have undertaken to give an accompt thereof A LIST of the Ships in Algiers Ships Names Captains Men. Guns What in their Stern Marygold Aly Rais Canary 350 40 Marygold The Lyon  350 40 Lyon Red The Citron Tree Hamet Lagere 350 40 Citron Tree The Orange Tree Sampson Rais 350 40 Orange Tree The Moon Regip Raise 350 40 Half Moon in a Ring The Sampson Asaph Race 200 40 Sampson The Seven Stars Buffon Race 250 36 Seven Stars The Fountain Baker Oggia 250 36 Fountain The Lemon Tree Ally Raise 250 36 Lemon Tree The two Lyons Biram Raise 250 36 Two Lyons Muskitto Assaine Raise 250 34 Stambol Church and 2 Calabashes Pine Tree Mahomet Torsett 250 30 Pine Tree The Sun Cornet 200 28 The Sun Blew Yellow Rose Topall Oggia 200 26 Yellow Rose The Sun Fortass 200 24 The Golden Sun Three Roses Mustap. Chelett 200 24 Three Roses The half Moon Biskaine 200 24 The half Moon The Flower Pot Mustapha Raise Canary 300 34 A Golden Flower Pot The Green Rose Corally Raise 200 20 Green Rose  Mustap Reis Genores 250 30 A new Ship The Star Mustap Reis Greek 250 30 The Star Sun and Pearl Hassan Raise 200 24 Sun and Pearl A Carvel Over Raise 150 16  The Pearl Ashatt 150 16 Pearl The two Stags Mah. Rais Malles 200 20 Two Stags The great Pearl Abducadre Rais 200 24 Great Pearl The little Lyon Mustaph Raise 150 16 Lyon Rose and Pidgeon Bostanges 150 18 The White Rose and Pidgeon Pearl and 3 Roses Taggarin 80 8 Pearl and 3 Roses Settia Vsuph Raise 80 8  Settia Regip Raise 80 8   Mahamel Raise the Deys Son 400 50 2 new Ships  Bashaw Ship 400 50 2 new Ships Seven Brigantines and three Galleys FINIS