Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1815-03-22
From the Democratic Press.

War having been declared by the Alge
rne Government against the United States
of America and the United States having
determined to repel the war hus waged, we
have thought il would interest our readers
to present them with a summary view of the
country and city of Algiers, their climate
and population, strength and resources, and
of the several expeditions which have sat
down before it, to the end that they may
prcS'erlv appreciate the enemy! We fer,
vently hone, Tor divers good reasons, that
the Algerine War will not be suffered to lin.
ger ont tedious and in active existence Of
years, as did the War of Trpoii. the fol-
lowing are extracts from Brookes' Gazet-
teer:
ALGIERS, one of the states of Barbary,
bounded on the L. by Tunis, en- the NJ bv
the Mediterranean on the by Meuat AT
las, and on w by Morocco. It extends 600
miles from T.. To West The air is very
temperate. and the land toward the north
turtle in corn. The valleys are full of frui,
but great part is dry mountainous AID
barren. The melons have an exquisite
taste some OF which are ripe in simmer,
and others in winter. The stems of the
vines are so large that man can hardly
grasp them with his arms and the bunch
es of grapes are foot and half long. Il
is divid ed into three provinces, namely
Tiemsam on the w. Titterie on the ). and
Constantia on the T.. Of the city Of Algiers
The Turks, who have the government in
their hands, are not above 70C0 in number
and yet the Moors. or natives of AREA,
have no share in it. 1t is onlv kind of re-
public under the protection OF the grand
seignior, and il IS governed by a sovereign,
called the Dey, VINO however, can do noi
thing Of consequence without the Council
ofthe Janissaries. The Arabs, who live in
tents, are a distinct people, governed by
their own laws and magistrates, though the
Turks intsrpose as often as they please
The Dey Of Algiers is an absolute monarch,
but elected by the Turkish soldiers, and
frequently deposed and put to death by
them. The revenues of the government, a
rise from the tribu' paid by the Moors and
Arabs, a detachment of the army being
sent into each province every year to col =
lect il and the prizes they take at sea
sometimes equal the taxes they lay upon
the natives. fhe Dey has several thousand
Moors in his service, both horse aud foot +;
the DeYs or vice roys of the provinces, have
each an army under his command. The
religion is INSTRUMENTATION, and their Ian"
guage dialect OF the Arabic. They have
likewise a jargon, composed OF Italian,
French, and Spanish, called Lingua Franco,
that is understood by the common people
and merchants. The complexion of the
natives is tawny, and thS are strong and
well made.
ALG1ERs, a large and strong town of
! Africa, in Barbafy, he capital of the coun
try Of Algiers II is built on the declivity of
| a mountain, and is in the form Of an Am
phitheatre next the harbDr; insomuch that
the houses appearing one above another,
make a very hnc appearance from che sea
The tops of the houses are all Fat, tor which
reason they walk upon them in the evening
to take the air besides, they are covered
with earth, and serve for a sort of gardens
The streets are narrow, and serve TO keel
of the extreme heat Of the sua. TDe mol,
of the harbor is 500 PAGES In length extend
ling from the continent to a small island
where there IS a castle and large batter,
Of guns. The number of inhabitants is salt
to be 10000 Mahometans, $1,000 Jews
and q 600 Christian slaves. Their chic
subsistence is derived from their piracie.
for they make prizes Of all Christian ship
that are not at peace with them The coun
try about Algiers is adorned with garden
and fine villas, watered by fountains and r
vulets and thither the inhabitants resort
the hot seasons. Algiers has, for age
braved the resentment Of the most poweril
states in Christendom. The Empero
Charles V.lost a fine fleet and army, in a
expedition against 1t, IN 1871. The Englis
burnt their vessels IN the harbor of 1855 an
1910. 1t was bombarded by the French j
, 1888. In 1775, the Spaniards made d.
r scent near the city, with formidable ARM
h,.f dol xuff -