A colony of Carthaginians settled here, and it is most probable that a
flourishing trade was carried on by them, as the situation of Tangiers
is extremely well adapted for that purpose. Indeed the name _Tingis_,
in the language of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, signifies an
_emporium_. When the Mauritaniæ became subject to the Romans,
in the reign of Julius Cæsar, Bocchus, the son-in-law of
Jugurtha, having defeated Bogud, the king of _Mauritania Tingitania_,
he became possessed of that country, and Augustus, or, as some say,
Octavius, confirmed this acquisition to him; and the inhabitants of
_Tingis_ were allowed the privileges of Roman citizens.

I cannot discover any thing further remarkable of Tangiers from the
time it became a Roman colony, and during the period it was possessed
by the Saracens, till the latter end of the fourteenth century, when
it was taken by the Portuguese, who erected fortifications and other
public works. It continued in their possession for nearly two
centuries; and was at length given to our King, Charles the Second, as
part of the dowry of his consort Catharine, We did not keep it long;
for, owing to the little harmony that subsisted between that Monarch
and his Parliament, it was ceded to the Moors in 1684, after we had
blown up all the fortifications, and utterly destroyed the
harbour. Since that event, it seems to have been gradually dwindling
into its present insignificance.

I have before observed, that the situation of Tangiers is well adapted
to the purposes of commerce, being about two miles within the Straits
of Gibraltar (or Hercules); but the ruins of the fortifications and
harbour have rendered the anchorage in the bay of Tangiers very
unsafe. This is a great obstacle to trade; very little is carried on
there at present, and that little is by a few Jews, and lately, by a