m exceeds
fourscore or a hundred miles. The eastern division was considered by
the Romans as the more peculiar and proper province of Africa. Till the
arrival of the Phnician colonies, that fertile country was inhabited
by the Libyans, the most savage of mankind. Under the immediate
jurisdiction of Carthage, it became the centre of commerce and empire;
but the republic of Carthage is now degenerated into the feeble and
disorderly states of Tripoli and Tunis. The military government of
Algiers oppresses the wide extent of Numidia, as it was once united
under Massinissa and Jugurtha; but in the time of Augustus, the limits
of Numidia were contracted; and, at least, two thirds of the country
acquiesced in the name of Mauritania, with the epithet of Caesariensis.
The genuine Mauritania, or country of the Moors, which, from the ancient
city of Tingi, or Tangier, was distinguished by the appellation of
Tingitana, is represented by the modern kingdom of Fez. Salle, on
the Ocean, so infamous at present for its piratical depredations, was
noticed by the Romans, as the extreme object of their power, and almost
of their geography. A city of their foundation may still be discovered
near Mequinez, the residence of the barbarian whom we condescend to
style the Emperor of Morocco; but it does not appear, that his
more southern dominions, Morocco itself, and Segelmessa, were ever
comprehended within the Roman province. The western parts of Africa are
intersected by the branches of Mount Atlas, a name so idly celebrated
by the fancy of poets; but which is now diffused over the immense ocean
that rolls between the ancient and the new continent.

Having now finished the circuit of the Roman empire, we may observe,
that Africa is divided from Spain by a narrow strait of about twelve
miles, through which the Atlantic flows into the Mediterranean. The
columns of Hercules, so famous among the ancients, were two mountains
which seemed to have been torn asunder by some convulsion of the
elements; and at the foot of the European mountain, the fortress of
Gibraltar is now seated. The whole extent of the Mediterranean Sea, its
coasts and its islands, were comprised within the Roman dominion. Of the
larger islands, the two Baleares, which derive their name of Majorca and
Minorca from their respective size, are subject at present, the former
to Spain, the latter to Great Britain. * It is easier to deplore the
fate, than to describe the actual condit