a town of the kingdom of Tunis in Africa, seated on a gulf of the same name, in E. Long. 10° 40'. N. Lat. 37° 20'. The gulf is a very large one, and the Sinus Hippomenes of the ancients. It is formed by the Capes Blanco and Zieheb; and has a beautiful sandy inlet near four leagues wide, which once admitted the largest vessels, but through the negligence of the Turks can now admit only those of the smallest size, and is in danger in a short time of being totally choked up. Some remains of the great pier of Hippo are still extant; by which it appears to have run out into the sea so as to break the north-east wind, and make this one of the safest and most beautiful havens in these parts. On the south, this gulf hath a communication with a lake of the same name, so as to form a kind of canal between it and the Mediterranean sea. Through this canal a constant stream is observed alternately discharging itself from the sea to the lake, and from the lake to the sea, in the same manner as the Atlantic ocean is observed to do in the Mediterranean, and back again; so that what the lake loses by exhalations is soon recruited by the sea, which in hot seasons runs into it with a very brisk current to keep up the equilibrium. The town was formerly very considerable; and, though not above a mile in circuit, is said to have contained 6000 houses; whereas both it and the villages under it now scarce contain that number of inhabitants. It has still, however, some strong castles and batteries to defend it, especially towards the sea. There are also two very capacious prisons for slaves, a large magazine or ware-house for merchandise, and two towers with some other outworks to defend the entrance of the haven. The city, though so near the sea, is well supplied with fresh water from springs that surround it on every side towards the land. It is likewise well furnished with variety of fish from the adjacent lake. Most of the inhabitants of Biferita, as well as of the adjacent country on both sides of the canal, are employed in the fishing trade, which begins about the end of October, and ends in the beginning of May; for the rains then sweetening the waters, make the fish come into it in vast quantities during that season; but afterwards they either disappear, or grow lean, dry, and unfit to eat. The people here are extremely poor; yet very proud, ill-natured, and faithless; insomuch that Muley Hafun Bey, one of their sovereigns, used to say, that none of his subjects deserved his resentment so much as they, since neither fear nor love could keep them faithful. Biferita hath about eight villages under its government; a large plain called Matter or Mater; and the territory of Choros, the Clypea or Corbis of the ancients. This is a tract of great extent, and would be very fertile were it not for the frequent incursions of the Arabs. The people are very poor, live meanly, and go worse clad. Their choicest dainty is their couscouf, a kind of cake made of flour, eggs, and salt, which they dry and keep all the year round. Their dress is nothing else than a piece of coarse cloth wrapped round their bodies, and another round their heads by way of a turban; and most of them go barefooted and barelegged. The poorer sort have nothing but a few skins laid on the floor to sleep upon; but the rich have narrow couches fixed against the wall, about five or six feet high, to which they mount by a ladder. They are very expert horsemen, as most in these countries are, and ride without saddle or bridle; nor do they ever shoe their horses. They are still more miserable from the neighbourhood of the Arabs, who living altogether by plunder, robbery, and murder, oppresse the poor inhabitants with their frequent inroads and cruel exactions. The Biferitines, both of the city and country, are the most superstitious people in Barbary, scarce going anywhere without hanging a quantity of amulets about their own, or, if they ride, their horses' neck also. These amulets are only scraps of parchment or paper with some strange characters written upon them, which they sew up in a piece of leather, silk, &c. and imagine when worn about them to be a preservative against all accidents.