After the death of Dragut, the Porte continued to send Governors to Tripoly under the titles of Sangiac and Bashaw; and the castle was garrisoned by Turkish troops while the Moors inhabited the city. At length, in the year 1714, it was finally rescued from the oppression of the Turks by the great-grandfather of the reigning Bashaw; who, having contrived to assassinate the whole of the garrison, took the reins of government into his own hands, and obtained the title of Hamet the Great. From that time to the present it has remained under the government of the Moors, although the supremacy of the Grand Signor is still acknowledged, and tribute is paid to the Porte. We may say, in allusion to the actual state of Tripoly, that it appears to be making some advances towards civilization, and is beginning to feel the good effects which result from a state of security and tranquillity. Indeed, when we reflect upon its deplorable condition at the time of the accession of Sidi Yusuf, and look back upon the horrors of civil discord and contention to which it had been for more than eight years exposed—impoverished at the same time by indiscriminate extortion and plunder, and subjected during the period of these heavy calamities to the dreadful effects of famine and plague—we may venture to assert that the present state of Tripoly is far better than might have been expected. It is now secure under the protection of an established government, property is respected, and commerce is improving; its markets are well supplied, its manufactures are encouraged, and its population appears to be increasing[10]. A considerable portion of the revenue of Tripoly was formerly drawn from the plunder obtained by her corsairs; and a very lucrative branch of her commerce consisted in the traffic of slaves. The humane interference, and the decisive measures, of England, have contributed to check, if not quite to abolish, these execrable sources of profit. Piracy, so far at least as we were able to learn, has been wholly superseded by commerce; and when the Tripolines find that it is more to their interest to give up their traffic in human kind than to continue it, we may hope to see this also relinquished. It may, however, be added (we fear) that _till then_ such a consummation must not be expected, however devoutly it may be wished. Indeed, we cannot reasonably expect that it should; for the feelings which result from a high state of civilization will never be found to precede civilization itself: and humanity, however strongly we may believe, or may wish to believe, it is implanted in the breasts of all mankind, has not often been found to weigh very heavy against the scale in which interest, or inclination, has been opposed to it. GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS ON THE TOWNS AND DISTRICT OF TRIPOLY.