The small red and blade West India bean, so well known in England, is here named Ain el deek, (or cock’s eye,) and is .the half Kharouba. The boxes containing the gold weights have also a small spoon for the dust, and a trying stone.—The measures at present in use are, Ghefeese, 24 Khail; half ditto; Webba Fezzan, 8 Kail; half ditto; Kail, 8 Saas, equal to 8 quarts; Saa, a quart. This last measure is divided into halves and thirds, for which there are small baskets made to contain that quantity; these are, by particular ways of placing, the hand, again divided into fourths and sixths. The current money of the country is a Spanish dollar; the smaller payments are made in corn. A comparative idea of the value of the above measures may be obtained by knowing that one dollar is generally worth one kail and a half, or three gallons of corn. A quart, or saa, is therefore worth fivepence. Dates average twenty-four kail, or a ghefeese for a dollar. The government of Fezzan was once hereditary, in a black family, which above 500 years since took possession of the country. They were Shreefs, and of a tribe near Fez, in the kingdom of Morocco; but the intrigues of Mukni have succeeded in destroying them all, and the public offices, government, and revenues have assumed entirely another form. Mukni is absolute while in his hired government, though in Tripoli he is considered only as a private individual. He derives his power from a few armed followers, of whom I have spoken, and from the fear which the people have of the Bashaw in their present state of weakness; but above all, from the great dread they have of himself. He •governs with a rod of iron, punishes most severely, and his opinion is the law; money is his chief aim, and he leaves.no means untried to extort it from his miserably oppressed subjects. No one has the least voice in the state but himself, and such of .his favourites as have gained some ascendency over him; but their interest with him is very precarious. All weighty matters, such as wars of consequence, are submitted to the Bashaw, though Mukni always acts before he has time either to receive instructions or permission. The Kadi, being supreme head of the law and of the church, or nominally so, is rather more privileged with the Sultan than others are; but his opinions are always expected to assimilate with those of his master. In Morzouk there are some white families who are called Mamlukes, being descended from Eenegades, whom the Bashaw had presented to the former Sultans. These families and their descendants are considered noble; and however poor and low their situation may be, are not a little vain of their title. There is no such thing as nobility, except with these people and the Shreefs, who are, throughout the Mohammedan world, highly privileged; yet are, generally speaking, not better men than the rest. The Kadi, Sheikhs of districts, Kaids, or Governors, Chowses, Hadjes, Mara- boots, and all who have money, possessions, and, above all, fine clothes, are considered great people, and respected as long as their situation, money, or garments hold ou t: but in the event of any failure in these uncertain advantages, they become as low and unnoticed as slaves. The office of Kadi is hereditary, and has been in the same family for 150 years. Talents are by no means necessary in this high officp; the ability to read is all that is required, and the next in the family, after the death of a Kadi, is, whether wise or foolish, immediately vested with the: authority. The Kadi of Morzouk is a black man, named Mohammed el Habeeb; he is able to read pretty fluently, is very superstitious, and writes charms of more efficacy than any other man in the country. All the principal towns have Kadis; but the office is not, as in the capital, hereditary. The better class of the people, or those who have some property,
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