Note 10 — Chapter II

Before we take leave of Tripoly it may be proper to recommend, for the information of those who may hereafter visit that country, the useful precaution of not subjecting themselves to the fluctuation which is usual in the exchange of the place. Money, in Tripoly, is in the hands of a few; and its possessors, who are by no means unacquainted with the most profitable methods of laying it out, are not at all times particularly remarkable for a liberal treatment of strangers. We found the exchange get more unfavourable as our demand for money increased; and having been obliged to make some comparatively heavy payments in Spanish dollars, the value of them rose in proportion as it was known we had occasion for them[a]. In order to remedy, or rather to prevent impositions of a similar nature, it would be advisable for travellers to take with them, in Spanish dollars, the amount of the sums they may have occasion for in Tripoly; for even if the exchange should be good on their arrival there, it would most probably lower as they were known to have occasion for money. Should this be inconvenient, bills might be drawn on Malta, and the money in Spanish dollars[b] forwarded by the first secure vessel which might be sailing from that port to Tripoly.