TUNIS.

(AFRIKIJA.)

Bey.

Sidi Ali, son of Bey Sidy Ahsin, born October 5, 1817. Succeeded his brother, Sidi Mohamed-es-Sadok, October 28, 1882.

The reigning family of Tunis, occupants of the throne since 1691, descend from Ben Ali Tourki, a native of the Isle of Crete, who, by force of arms, made himself master of the country, acknowledging, however, the suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey, in existence since 1575. As such the family assumed the title of Bey,' or Regent. This suzerainty remained in force, with short interruptions, till the reign of the last Bey, who succeeded in obtaining an Imperial firman, dated October 25, 1871, which liberated him from the payment of the tribute paid by his predecessors, but clearly established his position as a vassal of the Sublime Porte.

Government, Revenue, and Army.

After the French invasion of the country in the spring of 1881, the treaty of Kasr-es-Said (May 12, 1881), confirmed by decrees of April 22, 1882, placed Tunis under the protectorate of the French. The French Resident is called Minister Resident, and with two secretaries practically administers the government of the country under the direction of the French Foreign Office, which has a special 'Bureau des Affaires Tunisiennes.' From January 1884 French judges superseded the Consular Courts, and to this arrangement the Great Powers have given their adhesion.

French Resident General--M. Massicault.

The estimated revenue for 1887-88 (Oct. 12) is 863,6257., which is exactly balanced by the estimated expenditure. The direct taxes amount to 295,2501.; customs to 80,000l.; monopolies to 172,500; surplus from previous budget to 162,500l. Among the expenses the largest item is under the head of the ministry of finance, 436,834. including 262,8131. for interest on debt; the general administration costs 116,8051.; on public works the expenditure is 249,6931. The ministry of war entails a charge of 45,2937., 25,000l. of which is incurred for erecting military posts in the south of the regency, the first time since the occupation that expenses for French troops have been charged on the Tunisian exchequer.

Under the arrangements made by the International Finance Commission, the total public debt of Tunis stood fixed in 1884 at 125,000,000 francs, or 5,000,0007., the whole bearing interest at five per cent., besides a floating debt of 822,4681. By a decree of the President of the French Republic of May 28, 1884, and a similar decree of the Bey of Tunis of May 27, a loan was guaranteed by the French Government by which the Tunisian debt has been consolidated into a sum of 125,000,000 francs, or 5,000,000l., and the floating debt 17,550,000 francs, or 702,000l., or a total of 5,702,000l. The loan was emitted as a perpetual 4 per cent. rente of 6,307,520 francs, or 252,300l., divided into 315,376 obligations of a nominal capital of 500 francs. These were to be sold by preference to the holders of 5 per cent. Tunisian obligations at the price of 462 francs. The International Commission has been succeeded by a staff of French civilian controllers.

The general administration of the country costs far more than it did before the French occupation, when the total was set down at 60,0537. The corps of occupation numbers about 10,000 men. The cost of maintaining this force is borne by the budget of the Republic.

Since the occupation Carthage has been erected into a Roman Catholic See, to which has been accorded the Primacy of all Africa. The Regency is administered ecclesiastically by the Archbishop of Algiers.

Area, Population, and Trade.

The kingdom or 'Regency' of Tunis, formerly one of the so-called Barbary States, comprises the tract of country included in the ancient Roman provinces of Zeugitana and Byzacium. It takes its present name from its modern capital Tunis, the Roman Tunes, the Xevký Τύνητα of Diodorus of Sicily. The present boundaries are, on the north and east the Mediterranean Sea, on the west the FrancoAlgerian province of Constantine, and on the south the great desert of the Sahara and the Turkish Pachalik of Tripoli; and reckoning its average breadth from west to east to be 100 miles, it covers an area of about 42,000 English square miles, including that portion of the Sahara which is to the east of the Beled Djerid, extending towards Gadamés.

The number of inhabitants is only known by estimates, no attempt at enumeration having ever been made. It is stated in the 'Almanacco Tunissino' for 1877, that the total population is calculated to number 2,100,000, comprising 2,028,000 Mahometans, 45,000 Jews, 25,100 Roman Catholics, 400 Greek Catholics, and 100

Protestants. But according to other and more trustworthy reports, there are, at the utmost, 1,500,000 inhabitants. According to all accounts, the population, which numbered 17 millions in the tenth century, and 5 millions in the middle of the eighteenth century, is gradually decreasing. The majority of the population is mainly formed of Bedouin Arabs and Kabyles.

The capital, the city of Tunis, is situated 10 miles southeast of the site of ancient Carthage, built on the western side of a lake, some 20 miles in circumference, which separates it from its port Goletta. The city walls measure five miles in circumference, and the inhabitants are variously estimated from 100,000 to 145,000, comprising Moors, Arabs, Negroes, and Jews; there are 25,000 Christians.

The bulk of the commerce passes through Goletta. The number of vessels entered at the eight principal Tunisian ports in 1886, was 5,752 of 1,301,695 tons; and cleared, 5,592, of 1,292,275 tons; three-fourths of the tonnage was French, Italy coming next, and Great Britain third.

In 1885 the exports were valued at 882,9467., and imports at 1,098,0477. In 1886 the values of the total exports and imports, and of the principal articles exported and imported were:--

Of the above exports 359,2121. were to Italy, 202,3127. to France, and 141,5977. to England and Malta. Of the imports, 271,315! were from England and Malta, 192,000l. from France, 180,000. from Germany, 132,000l. from Austria, 104,000l. from Belgium, 85,000l. from Italy.

The commerce of Tunis with Great Britain has been as follows, according to the Board of Trade returns for the five years 1882

The principal articles of export from Tunis to Great Britain in the year 1886 were esparto grass and other vegetable fibres for making paper, of the value of 67,5931., and olive oil valued at 29,4347.; while the principal article of import of British produce consisted in cotton manufactures, of the value of 62,3371.

Tunis has several lines of railway, running from the capital to Goletta, and other places in the environs, with a line to the Algerian frontier; in all 256 miles.

There were 2,000 miles of telegraphs in operation at the end of 1885.

British Consul-General for Algeria and Tunis.-Lieut.-Col. Sir R. Lambert Playfair, K.C.M.G., residing at Algiers.

Consul at Tunis.-T. B. Sandwith, C.B.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Tunis, and the British equivalents, are as follows:

The Piastre, of 16 karubs.

MONEY.

average value 6d.

The gold and silver coins of France and Italy are in general use.

The pic, or principal long measure, is of three lengths, viz., 0.7359 of a yard for cloth; 0.51729 of a yard for linen; 0·68975 of a yard for silk.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Tunis. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Correspondence respecting the establishment of French tribunals, and the abrogation of foreign Consular jurisdiction in Tunis. London, 1884. Journal Officiel of Tunis. 1887.

Report for 1886 on the trade of Tunis, in No. 206; and on the Finance of Tunis, in No. 242, of Diplomatic and Consular Reports,' 1887.

Report on the Forests of Tunis, in No. 63; and on a Consular Tour in Tunis, by Sir Lambert Playfair, in No. 35 of Report on Subjects of General Interest.' 1887.

Trade of Tunis with the United Kingdom; in ‘Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions, for the year 1886.' Imp. 4. London, 1887.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Broadley (A. M.), Tunis, Past and Present. London, 1882.
Charmes (Gabriel), La Tunisie et la Tripolitaine. Paris, 1883.

De Flaux (M.), La Régence de Tunis. 8. Paris, 1866.

Dilhan (Ch.), Histoire abrégée de la Régence de Tunis. 8. Paris, 1867. Hesse-Wartegg (Chevalier de), Tunis, The Land and the People. London,

1882.

Leroy-Beaulieu (Paul), L'Algérie et la Tunisie. Paris, 1887.

Michel (Léon), Tunis. 2nd edition. Paris, 1883.

Playfair (Lieut.-Colonel Sir R. Lambert), Handbook (Murray's) for Algeria and Tunis. London, 1887.

Playfair (Lieut.-Colonel Sir R. L.), Travels in the Footsteps of Bruce in Algeria and Tunis. London, 1877.

Reclus (Elisée), Geographie Universelle. Vol. XI. L'Afrique Septentrionale, Paris, 1885.

Rousseau (F.), Annales Tunisiennes. 8. Paris, 1864.

Tchihatcheff (M.), Algérie et Tunis. Paris, 1880.

Temple (Sir G.), Excursions in the Mediterranean. 2 vols. 8. London, 1856.

Tissot (Charles), Exploration Scientifique de la Tunisie, 2 vols. Paris, 1884-87.