Tripoli.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 November 1911, Page 4

Tripoli.

THE TURKISH PROVINCE WHICH ITALY DESIRES. (Express' Correspondent). Tli<! vilayet of Tripoli, with, the administratively independent su'bprovince of Bengazi, of Barca, forms at present the only part of the once extensive African Empire of Turkey over which the Ottoman Government exercises effective control. The country is little known to Europeans, " who are forbidding, unless granted a special permit, to travel m the interior In deed tho presence of Europeans s resented in' many of tho roast xnvns, and perfectly innocent archaeilogical investigators Ivavo been prolihvtod f rom exploring the ruins }f tho ancient Greek cities which -Mice flourished along tho Bengizi littoral. Tripoli, Bengali, and tho hinte-r----land, inclu-'hng Fessan, cover about 100,0(10 square' miles. Half of this area is pure desert part of the Sahnra. Bounded on the west by Tunisia and on the East by Egypt, the vilayet extends indefinitely southward, until, in fact, it meets the outmost posts established by the French Congo administration. It is an agricultural and trading country, destitute of any manufactures of importance, and with no exploited minerals save a littlo. salt. Several good ports exist, however, and in Tripoli proper—a stretch of country extending along the coast from the Tunisian frontier to t-'w* Gulf of Sidra, and having a depth inland of some eighty mihs— as well as in Bengali (the ancient Cyrenaea), climate and. soil are alike favourable to European settlement, though in places to the west of the city of Tripoli the desert .almost reaches to the shores of the Mediterranean. C.vrcne, indeen, was tho site of the "earliest European colony in Africa, having been founded by tho Greeks in the middle of the. seventh century B.C. It became the capital of a flourishing settlement, which included four other cities, of which the most noted was Berenice;

whence the modern name Bcngazi

The city of Tripoli is still more ancient. Tt owed its foundation to the Phoenicians, " who .settled there even, before the Greeks colonised Cyrnoica, and its present name cora-

memoiiatcs the threo Phoenician cit

ies which stood along tho coast between the Gulfs of Sidra and Gahes. "Under Roman rule the province continned to prosper. All this is very ancient history, but it is worth while recalling as evidence of the wealth and importance- of the country under good government. Since, however, tho A:a'b conquest in the seventh century the land has greatly deteriorated under progressively worse administrations, though the traveller, even in tho reinotor region of Fozzan, can -till find plenty of evidence of its former fertility. As in all tho other lkrlwry States, tho aborigines of the Vilayet are of the Libyran or Berber stock; but in Tripoli, much- more than in Morocco, Algieria, and Tunicia, the original inhabitants have given place to Arabs, and of the 1,500,000 or so persons who now form tho ],opulation the majority are of Acsib blood or are else highly Arahised Herl.'LMS.

The Turks, tho governing race, arc not numerically numerous—if one excludes the garrison of 25,000 men. This is due to the weak hold

that Turkey has had on the vilayet

Though conquered from the Hafsitn of Tunis early in tho sixteenth century, Turkish rule soooi became alir:;st nominal, and a practically independent and piratical dynasty established, itself in the oigihtee.it! l century. It was only in 1885 that -the Ottomans, taking advantage of a civil war, re-c.stahii.shed their direct nuthoi itv.

.During Alxlul Hamid's reign the country- largely used -as a place of exile for Young Turks and other hI'ectionablo personages—reached 'ts low; -t depths of depression. >:ev-crtb."le-«s in favourable years a good deal of barley was exported, and recently there has been s<:me a'ctiv ty in the export; of esparto grass :uid in cuttle. Tripoli dates are ftiso justly famous Though tho exports go ohiefly to Malta-, Egypt Tunis, and Lewi ton, the shipping trade for a number or years has been mainly in the hands of Italians, the tonnage of French and British' shipping coming second and third respectively. Tho annual value of the trade is about £1,~00,000. It is done chiefly through the ports of Tripoli, Bengazi, and Derna to and from which places tho Italians have regular sailings.

The European' population is practically confiiv d to the city of Tripoli, where, according to the latest available statistic, there are living

about 4000 Maltese and 1000 Italians.

Being in the Mediterranean end of the best-known route across tho Sahara to the fertile of the Central Soudan (such as Northern Nigeria and' Bagirmi) i Tripoli City formerly carried on "an extensive trade in slaves, ivory, gold dust, and ostrich feathers. From Wadai to Bengali ran another route across the Sahara, and by this way. until within the last couple of years, slaves and eunuchs were supplied for the households and harems of the East. The occupation

of Wadai by France in 1909 put an end, however, to_ this trade, while other reasons, political and economic' havo reduced the Nigeria-Tripoli cairavans to insignificant proportions. Since the occupation of Tunisia by the French in 1881 the Turkish Government lwis shown mucin apprehension of French designs in the Tripolitan hinterland and along the Tusjslan frontier. - It has exhibited

gi'eat activity in pushing outposts into the heart of tho Sahara. Thus, when the French, advancing upon the Niger, reached the oasis of Bilma in

1906, they were surprised to find a Turkish garrison in occupation of that place. Remonstrances to Constantinople secured the withdrawal of the Turks, but shortly afterwards disptes arose as to the Tunisia Tripoli and Algeria-Tripoli frontiers. Various unpleasant incidents led to the appointment of_ a FrancoTurkish commission, which has satisfactorily settled the Tunisia-Tripo-li boundary, but is still at variance as to the frontier in the ihinterland

of Alberia.

In any case, it appears certiin that the position of Turkey in Tripoli was never stronger than it is at the present moment, and .any invading force which attempts to do more than seize the seaports will have an exceedingly difficult task—though as long ago as 10 B.C. a Roman <army penetrated into the heart of Fezzan.