On Saturday the 12 of June laſt, early in the morning, we entred the Paſſage into the Streights, between Cape Spartel and Cape Trafalgar, in one of His Majeſties Frigots: from the Cape to Tangier, (the wind blowing freſh from the Land) a moſt odoriferous ſmell, like to the Fume of Cedar or Juniper, entertain'd us; which I conceive to be a mixture of pleaſant ſents ariſing from the variety of ſweet Trees and Herbs growing there wild: the Coaſt rocky, rugged, and full of Hills, yet very ſafe for Ships, very green with Graſs and Herbs, and full of Trees. When we came into the Bay of Tangier, there fell a moſt vehement ſtorm of rain, which continued an hour, and (as it is ſaid) was more than was ſeen at that time of the year in any mans memory. Being ſaluted with a thouſand ſhots of great Guns from the Mole, the Caſtle, the Forts, and the Ships riding in the Bay, we landed, where we were met by the Mayor and Corporation in their Gowns, and conducted through a Guard of Souldiers from thence to the Caſtle.

The City of Tangier is in the Latitude of 35 deg. 35 min. ſituated very pleaſantly about the middle way between the Entrance and the Mouth of the Streights, in a large Bay like a Semi-Circle, in plain ſight of the Coaſt of Spain, being leſs than ſix Leagues diſtant from it: the weather naturally very hot and ſcalding, but ſo temper'd with Friſcoes and Breezes both from Land and Sea, that the Air is rendred very tolerable; the Sky alway bright and ſerene, no Rain (nor hardly a Cloud) being ſeen there for three parts of the year: the Levant-wind, (which blows very often and very ſtrong, eſpecially during the months of July and Auguſt) as it makes the weather more cool, ſo, beſides its unkindneſs to Ships, it is not very agreeable to Health; many people, eſpecially ſuch as are sickly, being then faint, and more diſ-compoſed. The City ſeems to have been one of the greateſt in the World, which is apparent by the old Walls and Ruines, extending S. E. about two miles, as far as old Tangier, (where ſtands a heap of ruined Buildings, a pleaſant River, wonderfully ſtored with ſeveral ſorts of good Fiſh running near it, and a large Stone-Bridge over it, but now broken) and ſtretching N. W. near three miles, and beyond Teveot-Hill, (ſo called from that Renowned Perſon the Earl of Teveot, who there was cut off the by Moors) and a pretty Brook, called Jews-River, running about the middle way. I dare not take upon me the part of an Hiſtorian, or go about to give an exact Account of the Annals of this Place; but only in a few words to deduce the Summary Hiſtory of its ſeveral Owners, till it came into the Hands of His Sacred Majeſty, (whom God long preſerve over us, and that City under Him.)

Tangier, or Tingis, was firſt built (as ſome ſay) by thoſe fugitive Canaanites, who in the Fields adjoining erected Pillars, with this Inſcription in the Phoenician Language, importing in Engliſh, We flee from the face of the Son of Nave, the great Robber: Or, as others, by Tinga, Wife of Antaeus, ſlain by Hercules. I ſhall not mention what Leo Africanus ſaith of it, becauſe himſelf allows it fabulous. It was a City of great note and eſteem, when the Carthaginians contended with the Romans, and gave Name to all the adjacent Country, but is ſaid to have been buried by Caeſar in the Ruines of Juba its King; but by Claudius (who firſt made Mauritania Tingitana a Roman Province) to have been reſtored, and made a Colony, called Traducta Julia: From thence it continued the Metropolis of Mauritania, until Conſtantine the Great laid it to the Dioceſs of Spain; in which condition it continued during ſome time of the Empire, until about the year 642. Suintilla King of the Goths in Spain, added it to his Dominions. So that they ſeem to err, who report, this City, and its dependant Country, to have been poſſeſſed by the Vandals, invited into Africa by Boniface, in the Empire of Valentinian the third. It continued ſubject to the Goths, longer than Spain did: for though Oſman, the third Caliph Succeſſor of Mahomet, conquered the reſt of Barbavy; yet Tingitana was ſtill held by the Goths, and afforded retreat and ſhelter to the Sons of Vitiza, the true Heirs, during the Uſurpation of Roderic the laſt King, and alſo ſome years after his ſlaughter, and the ſubverſion of the Gothiſh Kingdom in Spain, by Muſa and Tariffe, Lieutenants to Ʋlidor Ʋlit, the Saracenical Caliph. The Moors, when they held this Town, had here a Publick School or Univerſity, where their Youth were taught Letters; as alſo an Hoſpital liberally endowed by Joſeph a Ben Teifin, the ſecond of the Almora Vides, who founded Morocco, conquered Fez, and ſubdued all the Mooriſh Roytelets in Spain, adding this to his large Dominion. Under his Succeſſors of the three Races, (the Almoravides, the Almohades, and laſtly the Merines) Tangier was their chief Port for Spain; for in this Bay, and that of Alcazzer, not far from the Point, did Alboacen embarque his Army for Spain, confiſting of 400000 Foot, and 70000 Horſe, who were diſcomfited by the Chriſtians at Salado near Tariffa: by which blow, the power of the Miramemolins was ſo broken, that their Empire declined very faſt both in Spain and Africa, their civil diſſentions alſo haſtning their downfal; in which decay of the Merin Family, Tangier was deſerted by the Moors, as moſt of this Coaſt was, on the approach of Alphonſo the fifth, King of Portugal, who took poſſeſſion of it An. Dom. 1472. whoſe Succeſſors held it with continual Wars, and various Succeſſes with the Xeriſſes, until the year 1669. when it was delivered to that excellent and much-lamented General, the Earl of Sandwich, for the uſe of CHARLES the Second, King of Great Britain. But whoſoever deſires a more particular and ſatisfactory account of theſe things, may conſult Herodotus in Vita Cambyſis, Procopius, Enagrius, Joſephus, and Bochartus his Phaleg, Plutarch's Sertorius, &c. the Hiſtories of Spain, written by Mariana or Turquet; of Portugal, by Oſorius, &c. of Africa, by Leo, and others.

It is certainly a very ſweet and well-choſen place, at the foot of a very great Hill, on which the Caſtle ſtandeth, on a Declivity, but yet inſenſible, of an irregular ſquare, and fenced with a high, thin, oldfaſhioned Wall, (much like to that of Droghedah in Ireland) having only two Gates, one toward the Country, called Port-Catharina, a wonderful ſtrong, and well-contrived Entrance; the other to the Sea, called the Water-Gate. The Streets are extreamly narrow, (which is abſolutely neceſſary in all places where the Sun is ſo much Vertical) which makes the Town ſeem much ſmaller, and leſs conſiderable than it is: but were they extended at the rate of the new Streets in and about London, it would take up a great deal of Ground, and appear a very large Town. The Houſes are low, and generally little, with Spaniſh Roofs, almoſt flat, (which is the cauſe that it makes the leſs ſhew) the Walls generally of Stone and Mudd, the covering crooked Tiles, the In ſide and Cielings of Slit Deal, or Pine: There are many of the Officers and principal Townſmen, who have fine, large, commodious, and well-furniſhed Houſes and Gardens; and indeed the Houſes are for the moſt part very pretty and convenient, hardly any without a little Garden, but extreamly beautiful and delighting, full of ſweet Herbs, and pleaſant Trees, eſpecially Vines, which running up upon Pillars made of Stone, and Eſpaliers made of great Reeds, (which for that purpoſe they commonly Nurſe in a corner of the Garden, and annually cut down for that uſe) all their Walks, and Back-ſides, and Spareplaces, are covered and ſhaded with Vines, mightily loaden with excellent Grapes, of divers ſorts, ſizes, and ſhapes, and ſome very early ripe. The Air, taking one time with another, exceeding temperate, not ſo ſultry as many times of the day in Ireland, nor ſo ſharp as many of the nights there. It is obſerved, that the Inhabitants here (as of the adjacent Country) are much ſubject to ſore eyes, which I am apt to impute not to any innate quality of the Air, but to the dryneſs and continual brightneſs of it. New-comers are welcomed conſtantly with ſtrange Bliſters and Pimples, like to the Small-Pox, which is generally attributed to the biting of Muskitoes, (which are juſt the Gnats in ſome parts of England, but a little more pert) and Chinches, (which much reſemble Ticks, but that they leave ſo intolerable a ſtink when they are killed) but I rather think it to proceed from an Ebullition of the Blood, upon change of the Air, it happening moſt ſeverely to ſuch as drink much water at their firſt coming. There can be no place in the World better accommodated with Water, and the beſt that can be taſted; no Garden in the Town (at leaſt on the North-Weſt-ſide) but hath a Well, and ſome many; and in the Market-Place is a handſom large Conduit, with a very fair Ciſtern, and a Cock continually running on each ſide: the Water is brought to the Town in moſt admirable and coſtly Aqueducts, made formerly by the Romans, and ſaid to come from the Foot of Mount-Atlas; but where the Paſſages are, no man can diſcover, till you come within two hundred paces of the Lines, and there they may be ſeen, curiouſly made of Brick and Stone; and at every twenty yards, or thereabout, a little Well, into which the Gravel, Mudd, or any other Filth doth fall, and when they are filled, it is eaſie to empty and cleanſe them. I have often wondred that the Moors (ſuch inveterate Enemies and Haters of all Christians, eſpecially the Tangerines) ſhould forbear cutting and ſpoiling the Aqueducts, or poyſoning the Water; till I underſtood, that it is a point of their Law and Religion, not to deſtroy any thing that is made for the natural and neceſſary uſe of Mankind, (which is the cauſe that they ſo curſe and exclaim on the Chriſtian-Dogs, when a Party hath been ſometime ſent out of this Gariſon to burn their Corn.) The Land about the Town is very rich and pleaſant, abundantly luxuriant in the production of fine Flowers, (as Narciſſus, Crocus, Iris, &c.) and ſweet ſmelling Plants, which with ſo much care and coſt are nouriſhed and reared in the Gardens of Europe; ſo that the Hay made there by the Gariſon, is only a wither'd Noſegay of Roſemary, Thyme, Marjoram, Pennyroyal, and other ſweet-ſmelling Herbs. In the Gardens are very good Peaſe, Beans, Artichokes, (Aſparagus growing wild in the Fields) Strawberries, Lettice, Purſlane, Cucumbers, &c. but Melons, ſo plentiful, ſo various in the ſhape and kind, and ſo delicious, that it cannot be deſcribed to underſtanding and belief. The common Fruits of this Place are Apricocks and Peaches, (which I cannot ſay are ſo good as in England, and I conceive the cauſe to be, that they are Wildings, and not mended by Inoculation) Figgs, which bear twice a year, and Mulberries, (much better) Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Citrons, Pomegranats, Plumbs, ſome Cherries, but not worth eating, ſome Pears and Apples, but very ſcurvy, (which probably ariſeth from the cauſe before hinted, that no pains are taken in Grafting;) but the Grapes are certainly not to be parallel'd in any place of the World. They ordinarily uſe Calabaſhas, a kind of a long Pompion, and Simnels, in ſtead of Cabbage and Turnips, but they are no way comparable to either of them. The Fields about the Town were heretofore much more delightful, when they ſtood full of Orange-Trees, Lemons, Olives, Pomegranats, Figgs and Mulberries; but ſome time ſince, there being no timely proviſion made for Firing, the Souldiers were neceſſitated to cut them down, and burn them, for want of other Fewel. There is a very great and curious Wood near the Town, green all the year, which I daily ſaw out of my Chamber-window; and though I did not hold it convenient to take a nearer ſurvey of it, I was told, by ſuch as in time of Peace have been in it, that it is a raviſhing Wilderneſs of Oranges, Lemons, Figgs, &c. Scarlet-Oak, and Cork-Trees; and in ſtead of Bryars and Thorns, thickned with Damask Roſes, Groves of Myrtle, Jaſemine, and Buſhes of Roſemary.

The Hay-Harveſt uſeth to be about the middle of May, and is compleatly made in two days. Barley and Wheat are cut down in June; the Grain trodden out by Oxen, laid up in Caves, and the Straw kept for Food for Horſes and Cattle: And in the Month of Auguſt, the Stubble through the whole Country is ſet on fire, partly to deſtroy the Vermine, which otherwiſe would become inſupportable, and partly to inrich the Ground, there being no other manure uſed. The Seaſons ſeem to be oppoſite to thoſe in England and Ireland, and quite inverted: for whereas there from May to All-Hallontide, the Ground is green, and pleaſant, and covered with Graſs, and from thence to April dry, white and withered; on the contrary, all the Verdure and Sweetneſs in Barbary, rank Graſs, and variety of Flowers and Herbs, is from November to April; but from thence to November, the Ground dry, white, wither'd, and burnt with the Sun; this I mean of the Country, but the Gardens are perpetually green, and produce two Crops in a year of almoſt all Garden ſtuff and Sallads: nay, the Cows, Aſſes, and Horſes, (directly contrary to the uſage of England) do live all the Summer upon Hay, and chopt Barleyſtraw, (which is brought in Barca-luengos from Spain) and upon Graſs in the Winter. If a Peace were made with the Moors, all manner of Freſh Proviſions would be as good as in England, and as plentiful and cheap as in Ireland: the Beef and Mutton is not ſo generally fat, but as ſweet and juicy as in any other place: Hens, Chickens, Capons, Geeſe and Turkies, are extreamly plentiful, and very good; the Pigeons very large, and very fat; but the Ducks are certainly the beſt in the World: for being kept from Puddles and dirty feeding, and fatned with Oatmeal and Peaſe, the Fleſh of them is quite changed in colour and taſte. I have eaten here Plover, Curlew, and Buſtard, and very good; the Partridge, though much larger, doth not pleaſe me ſo well as thoſe of England and Ireland: but here are a ſort of Birds about the bigneſs of a Pheaſant, the Spaniards call them, Peſones de Campo, which I muſt commend above all the Fowl that ever I taſted. In the mean time, no place under Heaven, perhaps, is better furniſhed with excellent kinds of Fiſh, and great plenty; here are (beſide Soles, Gurnets, Mullets, Turbets, Lobſters, Eels, Shrimps, &c. in common with England) Cod-fiſh, Bonito's, Old-women, Porgo's, Salmonetto's, Rock-fiſh, Star-fiſh, and many other, for which they have no name. The Caſtle of Tangier is ſituated moſt ſecurely and moſt delightfully upon a very high Hill, overlooking the Town, Country, and Harbour; Fortified, beſide its Foundation, on inacceſſible Rocks, by four the moſt regular, high, and well-built Baſtions that can any where be ſeen; ſeveral excellent, and inexhauſtible Wells within it; and is, in a word, to all appearance, a place impregnable; all the Store-houſes of Ammunition and Proviſion, many Houſes, Streets and Gardens contained within it, and very near the third part of as much Ground as is in the whole City, being divided from it by a Wall that reacheth to the Sea. The Upper-Caſtle, or the Governours Houſe, is very noble, large and commodious, and owes its beauty and conveniences to the care and generoſity of that excellent Perſon, the Earl of Middleton, late Governour, and doth afford a moſt incomparable Proſpect, all Ships that paſs to or from the Mediterranean ſailing under the ſight of the Windows: out of Foraging-Port, the Gate that looks to the Sea, an even, plain, and very pleaſant Walk leads to Charles Fort, a ſtrong and well fortified Place, and Commanded by Captain Charles Daniel, whoſe Ingenuity I muſt not forget, that hath ſo curiouſly beautified the Fort, without impairing the Strength, having on one ſide made a moſt delightful Walk between the Wall and the Graft, about twelve foot wide, and near two hundred yards long, curiouſly Gravelled, and covered cloſe with Vines, which run up upon Pillars, and afford a cool ſhade on the hotteſt day. On another ſide he hath his Melon-Gardens, and not far from thence his Garden for Flowers and Herbs; ſo that Charles Fort, which is the great terrour to the Moors, and which they dare not come near, is the greateſt delight of the Inhabitants of Tangier, and continually viſited like Spring-Garden. There is another Houſe of Pleaſure within the Lines, which they call by the name of White-Hall, a place where the Ladies, the Officers, and the better ſort of people, do refreſh and divert themſelves with Wine, Fruits, and a very pretty Bowling-Bare. The Mole is in its deſign the greateſt and moſt noble Undertaking in the World, (all other Moles, as at Genoa, Malaga, Algier, &c. not deſerving more than the name of a Key, in compariſon of it) it is a very pleaſant thing to look on; and if it may be finiſhed according to His Majeſties purpoſe, who hath ſpared no coſt upon it, it will not only ſecure the Bay and Ships in it, but in time render Tangier very conſiderable and advantageous to His Majeſty and His Kingdoms: It is now near four hundred and ſeventy yards long, and thirty yards broad, ſeveral pretty Houſes upon it, and many Families; on the inner ſide twenty four Arched Cellars, and before them a curious Walk, with Pillars for the Mooring of Ships. Upon the Mole are a vaſt number of great Guns, which are almoſt continually kept warm, during fair weather, in giving and paying Salutes to Ships which come in and out: for the moſt part of the year there are imploy'd in this work three hundred Men, and ſeveral Carts with good Teames of Horſes continually going with Stone and other Materials between the Mole and Whitby; which is a little Engliſh Hamlet, planted by that induſtrious and ingenious Gentleman Sir Hugh Cholmely, where are about twenty Families, beſide at leaſt an hundred Labourers and Souldiers lodge there every night, and are ſufficiently defended by Guns and Forts from any Attaque of the Moors. It is very pleaſant to ſee how buſie every man is there in his ſeveral Trade; the Smiths, Carpenters, Sawyers, Coopers, Wheelwrights, Carters, Maſons, Miners, Drill-men, Quarry-men, and Stone-cutters, making a pretty confuſed Muſick, and very pleaſant to ſuch as do not pay for it. There were in Tangier, when the Portugueſes left it, ſeventeen Churches and Chappels; but now there are only two; one whereof, with a large ſcope of Ground, a Convent, and Lodgings for the Church-men, and very commodious Out-houſes and Gardens, is left to the Portugueſe Inhabitants, and is indeed a fine Church, delicately beautified all round it with neat and coſtly Altars: the other, a pretty plain Chappel, formerly dedicated to St. Jago, and now to Charles the Martyr, is the Proteſtant Church, and very well filled on Sundays. There is alſo an Hoſpital for ſick and wounded Souldiers, very well provided for; and an Exhibition of 200 l. per ann. for maintaining and breeding the Orphan-Children of Souldiers or Townſ-men.

Tangier, and the Territory belonging to it, is at the preſent governed by the Earl of Inſiquin, a Perſon of very great Abilities, and immoveable Loyalty. In whoſe time though it unluckily fell out, that a party of men were cut off by the Moors, yet it ought to be no Impeachment of his Prudence and Conduct. For the Gariſon being extreamly ſcarce of Proviſions, the Stores exhauſted, and nothing to be had from Portugal or Spain, (whither he ſent Veſſels with ready money to buy Meat, but could get none) and the Corporation by a Remonſtrance laying before him how ill the Stores were furniſhed both in quantity and quality, he called a Council of War, by whom he was with one conſent adviſed and intreated to ſend a Party out to fetch in a Prey of Cattle; and accordingly on the 19th of September he ſent out a Party of 500 men, under the Command of Sir Palmes Fairborn, (being the rather induced to it by the encouragement of James Hamet, a Renegado-Moor, recommended to the Governour as a fit perſon to be a Spy) the Forlorn conſiſting of 100 Souldiers, and about 35 Voluntiers, marched two miles beyond the Body, and were ſuddenly encompaſſed by a great Party of Horſe, who lay in Ambuſh, and all ſlain, except Captain Alexander Mac Kenny, who commanded 15 Horſe-men; and being diſmounted, lay among the dead bodies, till he found an opportunity to ſteal into the adjoining Wood, where he lay that night, and attempting to return to the Gariſon next day, he was met by the Moors, and carried priſoner to Tetuan: He gave an account by Letter, that ſitting in a Tree, he ſaw the Moors gather 80 bodies from among the dead, of ſuch as were moſt conſiderable among them, and having laid them in a Funeral-Pile, and performed their accuſtomed ceremony in howling and lamenting, burnt them, leaving a great number of the ordinary ſort mingled among the dead bodies of our men: In the mean time the main Body, being divided into two parties, one commanded by Sir Palmes Fairborn, the other by Captain James Leſlie, made a ſafe and honourable Retreat, though furiouſly attacqued on all ſides by a great number of Horſe and Foot, performing their parts even to admiration. This action was a very great terrour to the Moors, who never loſt ſo many men, ſince the Engliſh poſſeſſed the Place; and thereby were feelingly convinced, that the Chriſtians would fight for their Lives, which before they would not ſeem to allow, all the former Loſſes having happened upon treacherous ſurpriſes, and at ſuch times when our men were not provided for a fight. The Garriſon conſiſteth of 1440 Foot, and 30 Horſe, and is certainly a Body of as brave, bold, well-trained men, as are to be ſeen any where in the World; they are paid 6 d. per diem in meat, and 3 d. in money. The Town is for the moſt part peopled with His Majeſties Subjects, who live neatly and pleaſantly, and are generally of a kind and hoſpitable diſpoſition: The Corporation conſiſteth of a Mayor, ſix Aldermen, and twelve Common Council-Men, all annually elected, and then approved and ſworn by the Governour. Every Sunday the Mayor and Aldermen in their Scarlet Gowns, and the Common-Council-Men in Purple, do pay a civility to the Governour, coming up to the Caſtle, and from thence attending him to the Church. There are in the City about 200 Families, beſide Officers (who have, and keep very good Houſes) and Souldiers, who have very convenient Quarters aſſigned them, Strangers, the Inhabitants within the Caſtle, the Dwellers on the Mole, and at Whitby. Among the Inhabitants there are ſome few of ſeveral Nations, as French, Spaniſh, Portugueſes, Italians, and divers Jews both of Barbary and Europe, who are great Dealers in Trade, and have their ſeveral Synagogues within the Town: I ſay, ſeveral, for although they agree in the common Reading and Veneration of the five Books of Moſes, their Denial of our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, and their Hatred to Chriſtians; yet they are not free from their little Schiſms, as appears by a paſſage ſince my coming hither, which may perhaps be worth the relating.

On the 9th of July laſt, a Petition was preſented to the Governour by Joſeph Artnitel, Samuel Mexias, Joſeph Benjamin, and Moſes Benazara, in the name of the Barbary-Jews reſiding in Tangier, ſetting forth that Abraham Cohen, an Amsterdam-Jew, did continually affront, moleſt, and diſquiet them, that they could not attend their Callings: whereupon Abraham Cohen, and the European-Jews, being ſummoned, and the matter heard, it appeared that they were on both ſides in Faction and Fire, for that the ſaid Abraham Cohen and his Fellows did drink Wine, and traded in Swines-Fleſh; for which cauſe the Tangier-Jews had made their complaint to the Sabios of Tetuan, who had actually Excommunicated the ſaid Cohen, and the reſt: but the Governour perceiving knavery in the buſineſs, and that the inhibiting the European-Jews to bring Pork into the Town, might be out of deſign to hinder the bringing in of Proviſions; and that their Appeal to the Mooriſh-Jews at Tetuan, and the publiſhing of an Excommunication, was a very great preſumption, and an affront to His Majeſties Government; commanded the Barbary-Jews within a few days to diſſolve the Excommunication, and to renounce the Authority of Tetuan, or any other Power, but of the King of England; or elſe he would turn them and their Families out of Town: which took good effect, cauſed a Peace among them, and no more was heard of it. The following Addreſs was made to the Mayor of Tangier by Abraham Cohen, &c.

Upon an Order from the Mayor, the Decree was produced; which, for the ſatisfaction of your Grace, who may be pleaſed with ſuch a curioſity, I have ſet down, as it was Tranſlated out of the Hebrew Language into Engliſh.

There remain in Tangier many marks of the Roman Greatneſs, Ingenuity, Arts, and Architecture: as,