This territory, from the manner in which it projects into the Mediterranean, is peculiarly favorable for carrying on the trade of that sea, and comes also into closer contact with the European powers than any other of the Barbary states. Upon these advantages were founded the rise of Carthage, the first commercial state of antiquity. The dreadful imprecations of their eternal enemy the Romans (says an able journalist) have been strictly fulfilled against this devoted city. In vain does the inquisitive traveller seek in the neighbourhood of Tunis for the triple wall with its lofty towers, whose capacious chambers contained stalls for 300 elephants, and stables for 4000 horses, with lodgings for a numerous army—in vain does he look for those safe harbours and sheltered receptacles-for those 2000 ships of war and 3000 transports which carried Hamilcar and his warriors against Syracuse a few remains of the public cisterns and the common sewers are all that are left to point out the spot where Carthage, with its 700,000 inhabitants, once stood.' Though Carthage, however, was razed to the ground, the Romans made its territory the centre of their African dominion, and covered it with magnificent monuments of their taste and wealth. In the irruption of the barbarous nations upon Rome the Vandals were the first who seized upon Africa, where Genseric erected a powerful piratical dominion, whose fleets on one occasion took and sacked the capital of the Roman empire. All other occupants, however, were destined to give way before the torrent of Saracen conquest. Sidi Occuba, a lieutenant of the caliph Othman, conquered all this part of Africa and erected it into a kingdom, of which Kairwan, or Cairoan, was the capital. After many revolutions, in the end of the twelfth century, the dynasty of the Almohades was established in Morocco, and Tunis was governed by a viceroy. Under Charles V. this city was the theatre of contention between the troops of that emperor and Barbarossa the celebrated pirate. The Spanish expedition was completely successful; and a treaty was concluded, stipulating for a general liberation of the captives, and for a free intercourse between Tunis and the European states. This continued till 1574, when the expedition sent by Selim, under Sinan Basha, drove the Spanish garrison out of the Goletta and annexed Tunis to the Turkish empire. It was governed for some time by its viceroys, called deys; but the people, or rather the soldiery, soon acquired the privilege of electing their own dey; and that officer may now be considered entirely independent of the porte. The chief danger of the Tunisian state arises at present from the Algerines.

TUNIS, a large city of Barbary, capital of the foregoing territory, is situated at the bottom of a bay, about ten miles south-west from the site of the ancient Carthage, of which it may properly be considered as the successor. It is situated on a plain, surrounded on all sides, except the east, by considerable heights, but so encircled by lakes and marshes that it might be expected to be very unhealthy; yet from some cause not fully ascertained this effect does not take place. The city is large, being supposed to contain

12,000 houses, and 130,000 inhabitants. Of these 30,000 are Jews and about 1500 Christians, of whom 1000 consider themselves the subjects of France; the rest, with the exception of the consuls and their suite, are Tabarca families who were driven out when the Genoese republic became annexed to France. Tunis is built in the most irregular manner, and the streets so extremely narrow and filthy that they can with difficulty be passed. Though large sums have been spent in the construction of forts, and in surrounding the city with a high wall, it is by no means a strong place. The citadel, called El Gaspa, begun by Charles V. and finished by John of Austria, is much out of repair, and commanded by the neighbouring heights; there is also a rising ground on the north of the town, which commands both it and the fortified palace of the bey two miles west. There is one great mosque and a number of smaller ones; and near the centre of the city a piazza of vast extent, said formerly to have contained 3000 shops for the sale of woollen and linen manufactures. The finest present structure is the new palace of the bey, in the Gothic or Saracenic style; neither pains nor expense have been spared in its decoration. The houses belonging to European consuls are all insulated habitations, and rather resemble prisons than the abodes of those who are to represent the dignity of great nations. The Moorish houses are only one story high, with flat roofs, and cisterns for the purpose of collecting the rain water. The city, however, is well supplied from a neighbouring spring, which is conveyed into it by a fine aqueduct built in the time of Charles V. There are a few colleges and schools, it being customary here, as in other parts of Barbary, to instruct all the youth in the knowledge of reading, writing, and the koran; and the police was never so well regulated as at present. About ten years ago it was scarcely possible for a Christian to walk the streets without being insulted.

Six miles westward is the Goletta, the cele-brated harbour and citadel of Tunis, and the great naval and commercial depôt of the state. A basin has been formed here sufficiently spacious to receive all its vessels of war and merchant ships; and considerable quantities of timber are brought from Tabarca. The Goletta is strongly fortified towards the sea, but is commanded by a hill to the north, at the distance of not more than 3500 yards. A large lake, separated from the sea by a very narrow isthmus, extends from Tunis to the Goletta.

The bey of Tunis enjoys the same absolute power as the other Barbary sovereigns. Although Tunis had almost entirely thrown off its dependence on the Porte, yet the troops by which its despotic power was supported consisted of Turkish recruits, whom they were allowed to draw from the different ports of the Levant; when the treatment of these becoming severe the number could not be kept up by voluntary enlistment, and they are obliged to have recourse to artifice and kidnapping. A general revolt therefore took place among the Turkish soldiers to the number of 6000; and, having seized the citadel of El Gaspa, they would probably have maintained

themselves, had it not been for Mr. Egan, a young British officer, who organised and led on the troops of the bey, and at length compelled the insurgents to fly or surrender. Since that time the Turks have enjoyed very little of the confidence of the government. Grain, the exportation of which in the other states on this coast is absurdly prohibited, forms here the principal staple. It cannot be exported without licence from the bey, and the payment of duties to the amount on wheat of twenty-two piastres and a half (£1 10s.) on the caffees (equal to two English quarters), and half that amount on barley. A temporary rise is sometimes capriciously made; but the French merchants, by bribing the bey's officers, contrive to ship a much greater quantity of corn than is named in the licence. The Tunisians also heap all their measures. The principal port for shipping grain is Biserta. Olive oil is the next staple. It pays two piastres and a half (3s. 4d.) per metal of forty English pounds. The principal ports for shipping it are Tunis, Soliman, and Susa, the last of which is the best. The Tunisian oil does not become rancid so soon as the Italian oils, and they have an excellent mode of packing it. Wool and soap are also exported in large quantities. A considerable quantity of sponge is collected on the shore, between Sfax and Jerbi, which, though inferior to that of the Black Sea, finds always a ready market in the Mediterranean. It may be obtained at from 30s. to £2 2s. per cwt. The caravans from Tombuctoo, which arrive in June, furnish the Tunisian merchants with gold dust, ivory, and ostrich feathers: the other imports consist of all kinds of European manufactures, colonial produce, and East India cottons. The species of British goods chiefly demanded is that species of woollens called scarlet long ells, which the caravans carry in large quantities into central Africa. France, however, when the intercourse is open, has obtained a preference in the Tunisian trade, though it often secures the sale of its manufactures by giving them the name of Londras. The best time to send a cargo to Tunis, especially of woollens, is in September or October. Provisions, particularly beef and flour, may be had good. Long. 10° 20′ E., lat. 36° 44' N.

TUNIS, BAY OF, a bay of the Mediterranean, comprehending a coast of 120 miles, in the interior part of which is the city of Tunis. It is bounded on the east by Cape Bon, and on the west by Cape Farinas. It is one of the safest in the Mediterranean.

TUNNEL, n.s. & v. a. From TUN, i. e. a tube to fill a tun with. The shaft of a chimney; sage for smoke or liquid; a funnel: to tunnel is to form like a tunnel; to reticulate.

It was a vault ybuilt for great dispence,' With many ranges reared along the wall, And one great chimney, whose long tunnel thence The smoak forth threw.

Spenser. For the help of the hearing, make an instrument like a tunnel, the narrow part of the bigness of the hole of the ear, and the broader end much larger.

Bacon.

The water being rarified, and by rarification resolved into wind, will force up the smoke, which

TUNNELS, for the conveyance of water and passengers, are not of so modern a date as is generally supposed; though but little public interest was excited by any work of this kind prior to the commencement of the great undertaking at Rotherithe. The earliest tunnel for the purpose of internal navigation was executed by M. Riguet, in the reign of Louis XIV. The object was to forward a public work, beneficial in its tendency, the canal of Languedoc, by conveying it through a mountain near Bezieres. This required no inconsiderable art and labor: it is cut into a lofty arcade, and lined with freestone the greatest part of the way. Towards the ends it is only hewn through the rock, the substance of which is of a soft sulphureous nature.

The first excavated in this country was by the ingenious Mr. Brindley, on the duke of Bridgewater's navigation near Manchester. The next was the justly celebrated tunnel of Harecastle Hill, in Staffordshire, excavated also by Mr. Brindley. The plan and execution were masterly and admirably suited to the purpose. It passes more than seventy yards below the surface of the earth, and is carried through a variety of strata, quicksands, &c.; its length is 2880 yards. The object was to pass a canal through it from the Trent to the Mersey; this has since been called the Grand Trunk.

Another work of prodigious difficulty, and a great exemplification of ingenuity, was the tunnel of Sapperton. Much ability appears in the execution of this design. The tunnel here was carried through two miles of solid rock; its extreme length is two miles and three-quarters. By conveying an inland navigation through it, the river Thames and Severn were united.

In the Great Drift, or tunnel, about four miles above Newcastle, the art of excavation may be considered as having ascended to the highest state of improvement. This was finished in 1797, and is three miles and a quarter in length; a great part is perforated through a hard rock of whinstone, nearly equal in density to the hardest flint. It reaches from the banks of the river Tyne to near Kenton.

The

The

The underground communication between Rochester and Gravesend is especially worthy of attention. It is eight miles in length, and has been twenty-five years in progress. sections of this tunnel are of different curvatures, part being parabolic and part circular; the crown of the arches all coinciding. intrados of the vaulting presents a surface consisting partly of brick, and partly of chalk, in alternate lengths, of various dimension, according to the strength of the material, which appears to have required support more in some places than in others. The width at the springing is about thirty feet; out of which a commodious towing path six feet wide is reserved, leaving about twenty-four feet water-way. The crown of the arch is about fifteen feet above the surface of the towing path. The latter is

guarded by a strong oak rail, bolted to cast iron supports, which are firmly connected with stone bearers, bedded in the chalk. The width of the water-way will not allow barges to pass each other; they are, therefore, only allowed to enter either end at certain periods, so as to prevent the possibility of an encounter: at one end, for instance, all barges arriving at the tunnel, during a period of one hour, are permitted to enter, and another hour is allowed for the passage; during which period of two hours all barges arriving at the other end remain stationary, and then take their turn, while those which may now arrive at the opposite end are detained for a similar period of two hours; and so on alternately. The whole length of the tunnel is rather more than two miles and a quarter; and at mid-day there is light sufficient in the middle of its length to read large print, a circumstance owing very much to the reflective power of the chalk; against which the light, striking by alternate angles of incidence and reflection, is conveyed to so considerable a distance. The difference between the brick and the chalk surfaces, in this respect, is striking observable as you traverse the tunnel; the former absorbing, and the latter reflecting, the light. The tunnel is perfectly dry throughout, excepting one part at the Frindsbury end, where the water drips through in small quantities. The reflection of the chalk on the clear surface of the water (more distinctly visible as you approach either end), apparently doubling the magnitude, and the entire absence of every sound but that of the slow and measured footsteps of the quadrupeds employed in towing the craft, stealing on the ear at a distance, and becoming gradually louder and louder as it reverberates through the tunnel, combine to produce an emotion of sublimity which enhances, not a little, the interest with which this work will be contemplated by the intelligent passenger.

The tunnel at Rotherhithe was commenced in 1825. The preparations for constructing the shaft consisted of a circle of piles of large scantling, bounding a very stout timber curb, shod with iron (on the under side) and securely bolted together. This timber curb was three feet six inches wide, and fifty feet in diameter, forming the base for a circular brick structure, which was three feet in thickness, and was built up forty feet in height. The brick work was set in Roman cement, and was well secured by horizontal band hoops, let in the courses at short intervals from each other, and was bound vertically by means of forty-eight iron ties, the aggregate strength of which was more than sufficient to carry the whole structure, although its weight would exceed 1000 tons. When the structure was completed to the height of forty feet, the interior was excavated, and it sunk by degrees, and by its own weight, to the depth of about thirty-four feet, but would not go lower, owing to the outside friction. It then became necessary to build up from the bottom of the shaft, as the further excavation was being effected, in order to unite the whole with the structure already sunk, and by this means an admirable piece of workmanship was accomplished.

The tunnel, when completed will be about 1300 feet in length, and consist of two arches, in order that there may be no obstruction to carriages; but, the estimated expense having considerably exceeded the sum originally proposed, the whole work is remaining in abeyance till fresh funds are provided.

TUN'NY, n. s. Ital. tonnen; La.. thynnus. A sea-fish.

Some fish are boiled and preserved fresh in vineCarew. gar, as tunny and turbot.

TUNQUIN, or TONQUIN, a large kingdom of Eastern Asia, bordering on the Chinese provinces of Quangsee and Yunan, and separating that empire from Cochin-China and Cambodia. It surrounds a gulf of the Chinese Sea, at the mouth of which is the island of Hainan. The frontier to the north and west consists of mountains of considerable height, the breezes from which, and from the sea, preserve always a tolerable degree of coolness. The central part of the country consists of a vast plain, traversed by numerous rivers, chiefly tributaries to the great one called Saigong, which flows through the whole breadth of Tunquin, and on which all the principal towns are situated. The rains which fall between April and August cause these rivers to overflow and inundate a great part of the country. The plains, thus covered with copious moisture, yield ample crops of rice and other tropical productions. Some parts of them are rescued from the sea and rendered capable of cultivation by artificial barriers. Rice is almost the only grain cultivated; but potatoes, yams, and other roots, furnish a large share of the popular subsistence. The usual tropical fruits abound; and the orange of Tunquin is said to be the best in the world. The tea tree is almost as common as in China.

Tunquin, originally a portion of China, was detached from that empire in 1368. The patriarchal forms of government were, however, still observed, and were administered by Mandarins, among whom letters formed the chief road to distinction. By degrees, however, the commander of the forces having rendered his office heriditary, succeeded in attracting all the power to his own person, and left to the original dynasty only an empty shadow of royalty. Of late years the government of Tunquin, having been involved in war with that of Cochin-China, has been entirely subdued, so that with Cambodia and all the countries between Siam and China, it is united under one empire.

The trade of Tunquin is not considerable, and scarcely any part of it is carried on by the natives themselves, but almost the whole by merchants from China and Siam. The attempts made by European merchants to establish an intercourse have been transient and unsuccessful. The chief commodities to be obtained here are silks and lacquered ware. The silks are both raw and wrought, their pelongs, gauzes, &c., being very beautiful and cheap, while the lacquered ware is considered scarcely inferior to that of Japan. Gold may also be procured in considerable quantity. Minor articles of export are, earthenware, drugs, Chinese paper, dyeing woods, musk, rhubarb, tortoiseshell,

ginger, and cassia. The native merchants being very poor, Europeans on their arrival must advance a third or a half of the future cargo, and must wait till it is brought down from the country. No customs are charged, but a Mandarin comes on board, examines the vessel, and takes whatever he pleases at his own price. The little broad cloth accepted of must be red, black, grass-green, or blue. They take also pepper, saltpetre, ginghams, chintz, guns, and some few other commodities. The price of silver varies. according to the quantity in the market; and, though theirs is frequently alloyed, they will not admit any deduction on that account.

TUNSTALL (James), D. D., a learned English divine born in 1710, and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge. He became rector of Stwimer, in Essex, in 1739, and public orator of the university in 1741. He wrote Academica, or, Discourses upon Natural and Revealed Religion, and several other works; and died in

TUR'BITH, n. s. mercury precipitate.

Lat. turpethus. Yellow

I sent him twelve grains of turbith mineral, and purged it off with a bitter draught. I repeated the turbith once in three days; and the ulcers shelled soon off. Wiseman's Surgery.

TURBITH MINERAL. See CHEMISTRY. TURBO, the wreath, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of vermes tastacea. The animal is of the snail kind; the shell consists of one spiral solid valve, and the aperture is orbicular. There are 116 species, of which the most remarkable are, 1. T. clathrus, or barbed wreath, has a taper shell of three spires, distinguished by elevated divisions running from the aperture to the apex. There is a variety pellucid, with very thin edges. It is analogous to that curious and expensive shell the wentle trap. 2. T. littoreus, or periwinkle. They are abundant on most rocks far above low-water mark.

TURʼBOT, n. s. Fr. and Belg. turbot. A delicate fish.

Some fish are preserved fresh in vinegar, as turbot. Carew.

Of fishes you shall find in arms the whale, the Peacham.

as the Turkish turbans.

From utmost Indian isle, Taprobane,

Bacon.

I see the Turk nodding with his turbant. Howel. Dusk faces with white silken turbans wreathed.

Milton.

Some, for the pride of Turkish courts designed, For folded turbans finest Holland bear. Dryden. TURBAN, the head-dress of the eastern nations. It consists of two parts, a cap and sash of fine linen or taffety, artfully wound in divers plaits about the cap. The cap has no brim, is pretty flat, though roundish at top and quilted

The

with cotton; but does not cover the ears. sash of the Turk's turban is white linen; that of the Persians red woollen. These are the distinguishing marks of their different religions; Sophi king of Persia, being of the sect of Ali, was the first who assumed the red color to distinguish himself from the Turks, who are of the sect of Omar, and whom the Persian esteem heretics. TURBETH MINERAL, yellow-deutosulphate of mercury.

TURBID, adj. Lat. turbidus. Thick; muddy;

not clear.

Though lees make the liquid turbid, yet they refine the spirits. Bacon.

The brazen instruments of death discharge Horrible flames, and turbid streaming clouds Of smoke sulphureous; intermixed with these Large globous irons fly.

Philips. The ordinary springs, which were before clear, fresh, and limpid, become thick and turbid, as long as the earthquake lasts.

Woodward's Natural History. TURBIDO (Francis), an eminent Italian painter, born at Verona in 1500. He studied

Nor oysters of the Lucrine lake My sober appetite would wish, Nor turbot.

TURBOT, in ichthyology.

NECTES.

Dryden.

See PLEURO

barous nations of the north. There is a very rapid river called Turk running into the Caspian Sea, from which some suppose the Turks to take their name. They made no figure in the world till towards the seventh century; about the beginning of which they sallied forth from the Porta Caspiæ, laid waste Persia, and joined the Romans against Chosroes king of Persia: In 1042 they subdued the Persians, in whose pay they served, and from whom they derived the Mahometan religion; and afterwards pouring forth overran Syria, Cappadocia, and the other countries of the Hither Asia, under distinct heads or princes, whom Ottoman subduing united the whole power in himself, which to this day continues in his family, and who fixed his seat of empire at Prusa in Bithynia. His successors subdued all Greece, and at length took Constantinople in 1453, which put a period to the Roman empire in the east, under Constantine XIII. There is a standing tradition among the Turks that their empire will at length be overturned by the Franks or Christians.

TURCOMANIA, a province of Asiatic Turkey, comprehending the ancient kingdom of Armenia, or that part of Armenia which belongs to the Turks.

TURCOMANS, or TRUCKMEN, a Nomadic Tartar race, who fill with their hordes many districts of Western Asia. Their native seat seems to be east of the Caspian, in the vast plains between it and the Aral. Being conquered by the Kalmucs, at the beginning of the last century, they took refuge in the Russian governments of Astracan, Oufa, and Orenbourg, and have continued to reside there ever since 1770, when the body of the nation threw off the Kalmuc yoke. They live in tents of felt, and have no fuel but twigs and dried cow dung. Their food consists in horse flesh and sour milk. They are particularly dexterous in the use of the bow and arrow, arms which they take great delight in ornamenting. They wear also very rich sabres. They are all Mahometans, and are polite, friendly, and communicative.

TURF, n. s. & v. a. Sax. tỳnf; Belg. and Swed. torf. A clod covered with grass; a part of the surface of the ground: to cover with

Yet shall thy grave with rising flowers be drest, And the green turf lie lightly on thy breast. Pope. TURDUS, the thrush, a genus of birds belonging to the order of passeres. The bill is straightish, bending towards the point, and slightly notched near the end of the upper mandible. The nostrils are oval, naked, or half covered with a membrane; the corners of the mouth are furnished with a few slender hairs, and the tongue is slightly jagged at the end. There are 136 species, of which seven are British; viz. all the following, except the polyglottus :—

1: T: iliacus, the redwing; a very near resem blance to the throstle but less. 2. T. merula, the blackbird, when it has attained its full age is of a fine deep black, and the bill of a bright yellow; the edges of the eyelids yellow. When young the bill is dusky and the plumage of a rusty black, so that they are not to be distinguished from the females; but at the age of one year they attain their proper color. This species is of a very retired and solitary nature; frequents hedges and thickets, in which it builds earlier than any other bird. It lays four or five eggs of a bluishgreen color, marked with irregular dusky spots. The note of the male is extremely fine, but too loud for any place except the woods; it begins to sing early in the spring, continues its music part of the summer, desists in the moulting season, but resumes it for some time in September and the first winter months: 3. T. musicus, the throstle, in length nine inches, in breadth thirteen and a half. In color it so nearly resembles the missel (No. 8.) that no other remark need to be added but that it is less, and that the inner coverts of the wings are yellow. 4. T. pilaris, the fieldfare, is in length ten inches, in breadth seventeen. 5. T. polyglottus, or the mocking thrush, a native of America. 6. T. roseus, a native of Great Britain. 7. T. torquatus, or ring-ouzel, superior in size to the blackbird; the length is eleven inches, breadth seventeen. 8. T. viscivorus, the missel, the largest of the genus. Its length is eleven inches, its breadth sixteen and a half. The bill is shorter and thicker than that of other thrushes; dusky, except the base of the lower mandible, which is yellow. The irides are hazel. Head, back, and lesser coverts of the wings, are of a deep olive brown. The lower part of the back is tinged with yellow.

TURGID, adj. Lat. turgidus. Swelling; bloated; filling more room than before.

The spirits embroiled with the malignity, and drowned in the blood turgid and tumified by the febrile fermentation, are by phlebotomy relieved. Harvey on Consumptims. The instant turgescence is not to be taken off, but by medicines of higher natures.

Browne's Vulgar Errours. A bladder, moderately filled with air, and strongly tied, held near the fire, grew turgid and hard; and, brought nearer, suddenly broke with vehement noise.

Disburthen thou thy sapless wood

Of its rich progeny; the turgid fruit
Abounds with mellow liquor.

Boyle.

Philips.

Those channels, turgid with the obstructed tide, Stretch their small holes, and make their meshes wide.

Blackmore.