to have bet.ii buried in the city, serve them for
a pretext to forbid its entrance to Jews and Chris-
tians ; and an order from the emperor is necessary
to gain admission. Arabic is hptter spoken here
than in other parts of the empire; and the rich
Moors send their children to the schools at Fez,
where they gain more instruction than they could
do elsewhere. Fez is the centre of the trade of
this empire; and hence caravans go to Mecca,
carrying ready-made garments, leather, indigo,
cochineal, and ostriches feathers, for which they
bring in return silks, muslins, and drugs. Other
caravans go to Tombuctoo, and the river Niger.
They travel over such dry barren deserts, that
every other camel carries water. Their com-
modities are salt, cowries, wrought silk, British
cloth, and the woolen manufactures of Barbary.
Fez is seated in a circular valley, watered by a
river, and surrounded by mountains, 160 m. S. S.
W. of Gibraltar, and 240 N. E. of Morocco.

₄ Long. 4. 45. W., lat. 33. 40. N.

Fezzan, an interior kingdom of North Africa,
lying between the great deserts of Zahara and
Libya bounded on the N. by Tripoli to the Ba-
shaw of which province Fezzan pays an annual
tribute of4,000 dollars. It is an extensive plain,
encompassed by mountains, except to the W.;
and to the influence of these heights it may be
owing, that here, as well as in Upper Egypt, no
rain is ever known. Though the character of
the surface (which in general is a light sand) and
the want of rain, may seem to announce sterility,
yet the springs are so abundant, that few regions
in the N. of Africa, exhibit a richer vegetation.
The greatest length of the cultivated part is about
300 m. from N. to S., and 200 from E. to W.
From wells of 10 or 15 feet deep, with which
every garden and field is furnished, the husband-
man waters the productions of his land; among
these are the date tree, the olive, lime, apricot,
pomegranate, fig, maize, barley, wheat, pompions
or calabash, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and gar-
lic. Among the tame animals are the sheep,
cow, goat, camel, ass, and a species of the domes-
tic fowl of Europe. The wild animals are the
ostrich, and antelopes of various kinds. A mul-
titude of noxious animals infest the country; ad-
ders, snakes, scorpions, and toads, swarm in the
fields, gardens, and houses ; the air is crowded
with mosquitos; and persons of every rank are
over-run with Vermin. The heat of the climate
in summer is intense, and the S. wind is scarcely
supportable even by the natives; and in winter
a penetrating N. wind prevails, which drives to
the fire even the natives of a northern country.
Tempests of wind are frequent, which whirl up
the sand and dust so as to give a yellow tinge to
the atmosphere. The towns are chiefly inhabit-
ed by husbandmen and shepherds; for though
they also contain merchants and artificers, yet
agriculture and pasturage are the principal occu-
pations. The houses are built of clay, with a
flat roof composed of boughs of trees, on which a
quantity of earth is laid. The natives are of a
deep swarthy complexion; their hair a short curly
black, their bps thick, their noses flat and broad,
and their skin emits a fetid effluvia; they are
tall, and well shaped, but weakly, indolent, and
inactive. Their dress is similar to that of the
Moors of Barbary. In their common intercourse,
all distinctions of rank seem forgotten ; the she-
reef (or governor) and the lowest plebeian, the
rich and the poor, the master and the servant,
converse familiarly, and eat and drink together.

Generous and hospitable, let his fare be scanty or
abundant, the Fezzaner is desirous that others
should partake of it; and if twenty persons were
unexpectedly to visit his dwelling, they must all
participate as far as it will go. When they settle
their money transactions, they squat upon the
ground, and having levelled a spot with their
hands, make dots as they reckon : if they are
wrong, they smooth the spot again, and repeat
the calculation. Gold dust constitutes the chief
medium of payment; and value in that medium
is-always expressed by weight. In religion, they
are rigid, but not intolerant Mahometans. The
government is monarchical; and its powers are
administered with such a temperate hand, that
the people are ardently attached to their sovereign
Mourzouk, is the capital.

Fiano, a town of Italy, in the patrimony of St
Peter, on the Tiber, 15 m. N. of Rome.

Fianono, a town of Istria, on the S. W. coast,

17 m. N. of Pola.

Fiascone, a town of Italy, in the patrimony of
St. Peter, noted for fine muscadine wine ; seated
on a mountain near lake Bolsena. 12 m. N. W.
of Viterbo.

Ficherulolo, a fortified town of Italy, in the
Ferrarese, seated on the Po, 12 m. W. of Fer
rara.    

Fichtelberb, a mountain in Franconia, one of
the highest mountains in Germany. It extends
from near Barenth, to Eger in Bohemia, about 16
m., and is covered with pines and other trees.

Fieleicier, an island near the W. coast of Nor-
way, 22 m. long and 4 broad, with a town of the
same name, 48 m. W. N. W. of Drontheim
Long. 10. 40. E., lat. 63. 44. N.

Fife, a maritime county on the E. coast of
Scotland, forming a peninsula between the frith
of Forth and Tay, it extends from the mouth of
the river Forth, in a N. N. E. direction, about 40
m., and is about 12 m. in mean breadth. Some
linen manufactures are carried on in the S. W.
parts of the county, (see Dumfermtiru), but as a
whole it is an agricultural rather than a manufac-
turing district; it produces coal and lime in
abundance, and copper, lead, iron, and other
minerals are also found in different parts of the
county though but partially worked; a beautiful
grey marble, cornelian, agates, and jasper, are oc-
casionally met with, and fishing on its coasts and
its rivers is assidiously pursued by the inhabit-
ants. For divisions, rental, population, &c. see.
Scotland. Cupar is the assize town.

Figaruolo, an island in the gulf of Venice, near
the coast of Istria. Long. 13. 47. E., lat. 45.18. N.

Figeac, a town of France, in the department of
Lot, with a Benedictine abbey; seated on the
Selle, 22 m. E. of Cahors. It is the seat of a
prefect, and in 1825, contained 6,153 inhabitants

Fighig, or Fihig, a town of Barbary, in Bile-
dulegerid, at the foot of the mount Atlas on the

S. The inhabitants carry on a great trade with
the merchants of Morocco and Fez, and with the
negroes. It is 240 m. E. S. E. of Mequinez.
Long. 1. 5. W. lat. 32. 20. N.

Figueras, or St. Fernando de Figueras, a strong
town and important fortress of Spain, in Catalo-
nia. It surrendered to the French in 1794, with
out firing a shot. It is 10 m. S. by W. of Roses,
and 25 due S. of Perpignan.

Figuero dos Vinhos, a town of Portugal, in Es-
tremadura, celebrated for its wine; seated among
mountains, near the frontier of Beira, and the
river Zezere, 22 m. E. of Thomar.