Kentucky Gazette

The Algerines were assisted in their defence by some Europeans, chiefly French, among whom are reckoned 56 officers of artillery, and 18 engineers; but nothing could withstand the destructive fire of the cannon, the bombs, and the rockets showered upon the place by the British men of war.

The principal inhabitants of the kingdom of Algiers are Arabians, Moors and Jews, estimated at about 200,000 souls, who are lorded over by 12,000 Turks, conscious of the malice the people bear them as the tyrants of their country—These Turks are a set of desperate men, originally collected in the Levant, who form the army, hold the reins of government, and keep the rest of the people under tribute. The cruelties and atrocities of all kinds the latter experience from their masters, can only be equalled by their conduct toward Christian slaves.—The inhabitants of a Moorish town tremble at the sight of a Turk. It is natural, therefore, to suppose that they are always anxious and willing to be freed from these intruders, who have usurped authority over them by murdering their lawful princes, filling their country with carnage, and thus uphold themselves by terror and oppression. The Beys of the interior are degraded vassals, and there the Turks only hold sway by extreme vigilance, by disarming the people, by a severe police, and by keeping garrison in the towns and commanding ports.