Note 2 — Chapter II
Reading edition
The noted corsair Dragūt is said to have been the author of this defence, and two forts which were situated near the sea are also attributed to this person.
But Leo Africanus, who flourished at the same period with Dragūt, at the beginning of the 16th century, has mentioned the walls of Tripoly as being high and handsome, though not very strong; and as the existing walls of the town, if they be really those of Dragūt, bear all the appearance of having once been very solid, we may perhaps suppose that those mentioned by Leo were standing before the present ones were constructed.
The greatest length of the city, including the walls, may be said to be about 1360 yards, and its extreme breadth about a thousand yards.