This prince, equally just and pious with his father, reigned for some time very peaceably; and from his exemplary conduct would have continued to do so to his death, to the increasing prosperity of his subjects, but for his brother, Muley Arshid, an ambitious prince, who, endowed with an intelligent mind, equal to the vast project he had in contemplation, raised a rebellion, with a view to seize on the sovereign power. At the head of a numerous party, in a pitched battle, he was however defeated, and taken prisoner, by his brother Muley Mahomet. But he recovered his liberty, by the aid of a negro slave, whom he rewarded by striking off his head at the very instant he had enabled the monster to recover his liberty.

After wandering about for some time, stirring up the minds of the people to revolt, Muley Arshid fled to the mountains of Rif, where he offered his services to the Sovereign of those districts, who, unfortunately discovering the abilities of the stranger, confided to him the administration of his territories, when, after having by stratagem and prodigality gained the troops and the people to his interests, he dethroned and inhumanly butchered his royal benefactor. He then defeated his brother Mahomet, and closely besieged him in Tafilet, whence that good prince died of grief. To enumerate the bloody exploits of this prince would extend my letter to a volume; suffice it therefore to say, that his reign was short, and the remembrance of it never to be effaced. He died in 1672 of a fractured skull, in consequence of a fall from his horse.

He was succeeded by his brother Muley Ishmael, who distinguished himself by some brave actions; and his reign would have formed a grand epoch in the history of this country, had he not stained it by a succession of tyranny and cruelties, too shocking to dwell upon. He died in 1727 at the advanced age of eighty-one, leaving behind him a numerous offspring. This prince, in order to ensure his despotic and arbitrary power, contrived to form a regular army of foreign soldiers, which he effected, partly from the negro families, then settled in Barbary, but principally from a vast number of blacks which he obtained from the coast of Guinea.

Muley-Achmet-Daiby, one of the numerous sons of Ishmael, ascended the throne of Morocco, and, after reigning two years, died of a dropsy. His successor, Muley Abdallah, by far surpassed all his predecessors in point of vices and cruelty. His conduct was so flagrant, that he was deposed no less than six times, but as often re-elected. Amidst civil wars, divisions, and devastations, the plague again made its appearance, and committed the same dreadful ravages as in the reign of Ishmael. Being reinstated for the sixth time, Abdallah took advantage of the troubles occasioned by this