The extent of the _district_ of Mesurata, according to the report of its Shekh, is from Selin to Sooleb, a place in the Syrtis, two days distant to the southward of the town; it consists of the villages of Ghâra, Zoúia, Zoroog, Gusser Hámed, Gezir, &c., and is said to contain 14,000 inhabitants, including those of the town of Mesurata; the population of the five villages which we have just named amounts to about 1250 persons, supposing the estimate of the Shekh to be correct, from whom this statement is derived. The gardens, which extend from Zoúia to Marábūt Bushaifa, produce dates, olives, melons, pomegranates, pumpkins, carrots, onions, turnips, radishes, and a little tobacco and cotton; among these may be mentioned the palma christi, which we frequently observed in this neighbourhood. Many of the gardens are raised from six to eight feet above the road, and are enclosed by mud walls, or by fences of the prickly pear and wild aloe. The dates, which are of several kinds, are in great abundance, and the olives yield a plentiful supply of oil: these, with barley, which is also very abundant, are carried to various markets for sale; for the home-consumption of the place consists chiefly of dates and dúrrah, and the greater part of the barley is exported. The principal manufactures of Mesurata are carpets, the colours of which are very brilliant, straw mats, sacks of goats’ hair, and earthen jars. The market is in general well supplied with meat, vegetables, the fruits of the country, oil, manteca, and salt; the latter is procured from some very extensive marshes a few miles to the southward of the town[6]. Mesurata (or “Mesarata,” as some authors write it) has been described by Leo Africanus as “a province on the coast of the Mediterranean, distant about an hundred miles from Tripoly.” He states 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[7]. 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.