CHAPTER X.

The extensive plain in which the town of Bengazi is situated, is bounded to the southward by the range of high land, on whose summit Cyrene once stood so conspicuously; and the whole of the plain at the foot of this range is covered with vegetation from the hills to the sea. The sight, we believe, was refreshing to all parties; for our very horses and camels appeared to partake of the pleasure which we could not avoid feeling ourselves in contemplating so agreeable a scene. One of our party was dispatched in advance to Bengazi, accompanied by the Bashaw’s Chaous, to apprize the British resident of our approach, and to concert with him such measures as might be necessary for our accommodation in the town, where the violence and long duration of the winter-rains would oblige us, we well knew, to remain for some time. It was night before they reached the salt lake by which Bengazi is nearlysurrounded, and which it was necessary to cross before they entered the town; the rains which had already fallen had swelled it more than the Chaous had anticipated, and the darkness of the night rendered it difficult for him to find the spot at which it was necessary to ford it. After wandering about the banks for some little time in uncertainty, and trying several plans without success, they at length reached the opposite shore; though not before their horses had plunged into several holes, from which they could only extricate themselves by swimming. On the following day our whole party arrived at Bengazi, and were received with every mark of attention and politeness by Signor Rossoni, the British Vice-Consul, to whom the necessary instructions from Mr. Consul Warrington had already been forwarded. We found that Signor Rossoni was already in treaty for the house of an Arab Shekh, one of the best which the place afforded, and only waited our arrival to arrange the terms on which we were willing to take it: these were soon settled, and we took possession of our new abode the day after our arrival in the town, and began to make ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would allow, under the disadvantages of a rainy winter, at Bengazi.

Bengazi is allowed to have been built upon the site once occupied by the town of Berenice, the most western city of the Pentapolis; but before we proceed to describe this part of the Cyrenaica, it will be proper to look back upon the tract of country already before the reader, and, in taking a general view of the gulf and shores of the Greater Syrtis, to bring together some of the most prominent remarks of ancient writers respecting it.

FOOTNOTES:[1]In this neighbourhood was the cave of the formidable Lamia, so much dreaded by the children of the ancients. It is described by Diodorus as situated in a deep valley formed in the rocks which occur soon after Automala; that is, in passing from east to west, for such was the course of the army of Ophellas, which is stated by the historian to have passed it in their route to join the forces of the tyrant Agathocles. The account which he gives of this afflicted royal lady, whose misfortunes at length rendered her so savage and remorseless, is such as to render it probable (if the story may be relied upon) that she really at one time existed in this part of Africa. At least the mode in which the fabulous parts of her history are accounted for appears to be sufficiently rational, and the place of her residence is very decidedly pointed out.—(See Diod. lib. xx. p. 753—4.)[2]Ιδρυμενον κατα τον μυχον του κολπου παντος·—Lib. xvii. p. 836.[3]Inintimo sinufuit ora Lotophagon, &c.—Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 5.[4]Ho pure fatto attenzione in tutti questi giorni se scorgera,anche in distanza, alcuna schiera di monti che da ponente si protendesse al levante, onde riconoscere se la giogaia dell’ Atlante realmente si prolonga ne’ monti della Cirenaica, o bensì se rimpetto al Golfo della Gran Sirte fosse interrotta. Ma nulla ho osservato che possa confermare questa prolungazione. (P. 91), Ital. edition.[5]. . . Giacchè in quest’ ultimo recinto del Mediterraneo nonho visto che sabbie ne altri monti che di sabbie. (P. 92.)[6]The Psylli we are told by Pliny, on the authority of Agatharcides, were so called from their King Psyllus, whose tomb is said to have been somewhere in the Greater Syrtis. They were remarkable for their power of charming serpents; and possessed some innate quality of body which was considered to be destructive to these reptiles; so much so that the very smell of them was supposed to lull a serpent asleep. They had a singular custom of exposing their children to the most venomous kinds of serpents, in order to convince themselves of their legitimacy. If the serpents, on whom the trial was made, did not fly from the children exposed to them, it was concluded to be a proof of decided illegitimacy, since the animals, they imagined, could not avoid doing so, had the infants been really descended from this gifted tribe.It has been observed by other writers, that the Psylli merely cured the bite of serpents by sucking the poison from the wound, and that they were therefore more indebted for their reputation to their courage, than to any peculiar qualification of nature.[7]Ed io inclino tanto più a credere quest’ ampia depressione di suolo giungere fino al gran deserto, poichè per quanto posso congetturare dal cammino fatto non sarebbe improbabile che l’estremità del golfo si prolungasse assai più a mezzodì di quel che trovasi nelle migliori carte, nelle quali non saprei sopra qual fondamento è stata stabilita. È per me di qualche peso la relazione del Cap. Lautier, il quale non navigò certamente oltre il 30° 27′ 11″ di latitudine, ma da questo punto non iscoprì il fondo del golfo, nè v’ era apparenza di prossimità al continente. Ho ferma credenza che migliori osservazioni confermeranno questa mia congettura.—(p. 94.)[8]For Strabo tells us (lib. iii. p. 171), in alluding to the custom practised by the ancients, of erecting columns on particular occasions, that the monuments raised to the memory of the Philæni were situated nearly midway in the Syrtis—at least, such is the sense in which we must take this passage, to make it at all consistent with the position allotted to the Philænean altars in the seventeenth book. Although we may certainly read in the passage we are about to quote, above mentioned, “midway in the countrybetweentheSyrtes”—for the Syrtes are here mentioned in the plural—and this circumstance would otherwise rather tend to confirm the position of the altars in the table of Peutinger (as mentioned by Cellarius, lib. iv. cap. 3, sec. 3.) which is between the two Gulfs of Syrtis. “At, in Peutingeriana tabula vetusta, (says Cellarius) redactæ hæ aræ sunt fere ad minorem Syrtim, ut dubitare possis de situ et positione ex tot auctoribus jam descripta.” Strabo’s words are—και ὁι φιλαινων λεγομενοι βωμοι, κατα μεσην, που, την μεταξυ των Συρτεων γην.[9]Bell. Jugurth. (79.)[10]Major Rennell has observed on this subject—“At the date of Hannibal’s expedition to Italy, B. C. 217, the Carthaginian empire extended eastward to the Philænean altars, which stood at the south-east extremity of the Greater Syrtis. The story of the Philæni, as it is told, is in some points very improbable. It is said that the parties set out from their respective capitals, Carthage and Cyrene, and met at the place where the altars afterwards stood. Now the altars were situated at about seven-ninths of the way from Carthage towards Cyrene; and the deception would have been too gross had it been pretended that the Carthaginian party had travelled seven parts in the nine, while the Cyrenean party had travelled no more than two such parts of the way. Would either party have trusted the other with the adjustment of the time of setting out? Perhaps they mutually set out at the opposite extremes of the territory in dispute, and not from their respective capitals.”[11]That is, if we may read the passage in the third book of Strabo, quoted above, in the sense which we imagine he intended; if not, he contradicts himself.[12]Ειθ᾽ οι φιλαινων βωμοι και μετα τουτους Αυτομαλα φρουριον, φυλακην εχον, ιδρυμενον κατα τον μυχον του κολπου παντος.—Lib. xvii.[13]We have adopted the positions assigned by Strabo to these places, as being more exactly defined; and because it may be presumed that he saw the objects which he describes, with the exception of the altars of the Philæni, which he has stated to have been no longer extant in his time.[14]Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 5.[15]Ejus promontorium est Borion, ab eoque incipiens ora quam Lotophagi tenuisse dicuntur, usque ad Phycunta (et id promontorium est) importuoso litore pertinet. Aræ ipsæ nomen ex Philænis fratribus traxere, qui contra Cyrenaicos missi, &c.—De Situ Orbis, lib. i. cap. vii.[16]Vide Procopius (De Ædificiis, lib. v.)[17]. . . ωδευσε δε πεζος εν αμμω βαθεια και καυμασι.—Lib. xvii. p. 836.[18]Pharsalia, lib. ix.[19]Ager in medio arenosus, una specie; neque flumen, neque mons erat, qui finis eorum discerneret, &c.—(Bell. Jugurth. 79.)[20]The water is, however, more frequently found among the sand on the beach than elsewhere; but it scarcely seems necessary that the whole extent of the sand-hills should be traversed by the army on this account. Their guides must have known where the water was to be found, without the necessity of traversing so many miles of sand-heaps in search of it.[21]We have already assumed that the greater number of the forts in the Syrtis have, in our opinion, been constructed by the Romans.[22]A few miles inland of Braiga, at a place called Attallàt, are the remains of a castle, whose outer walls are still standing to a considerable height; it is a quadrangular building, surrounded by a trench; and within it we observed the remains of an arch constructed without a key-stone, in the manner of one at Tabilba, which we shall allude to in describing that place.[23]Αυτομαλα φρουριον, φυλακην εχον, &c.It appears, upon the authority of Diodorus Siculus, that the fortress of Automala was already erected when Cyrene was first occupied by the troops of Ptolemy Lagus: for the army which was led by his general Ophellas to the assistance of the tyrant Agathocles, then at war with the Carthaginians, pitched their tents, we are told, in the neighbourhood of Automala, having consumed eighteen days in their march to that fortress from the Cyrenaica.Οκτω και δεκα μεν ουν ημερας οδοιπορησαντες, και διελθοντες σταδιους τρισκιλιους, κατεσκηνωσαν περι Αυτομαλας.—Lib. xx. p. 753-4.If it could be positively ascertained from what point of the Cyrenaica the army of Ophellas set out on their journey across the Syrtis, we should have the position of Automala sufficiently well ascertained; but the historian merely states, that when everything was prepared for the expedition, Ophellas set his army in motion, without mentioning the precise point from which they set out, and that the distance which they accomplished in eighteen days, as far as Automala, was three thousand stadia. Had there been any point in the bottom of the gulf which could be decidedly fixed upon as the μυχος, or innermost recess of it, in which Strabo has placed Automala, there would be no occasion for any other evidence of its position; but the coast is so straight at the bottom of the gulf, that it is not possible to fix with accuracy upon any one point which may be taken as the μυχος in question. Sachreen is certainly the most southern point, but the difference of latitude between this place and the other parts of the coast which form the bottom of the gulf is so trifling, that it can scarcely be said to amount to anything at all.Braiga is the nearest place to Sachreen where any remains are found which will answer to Automala, and that is twenty miles distant from it, in making the circuit of the coast.[24]It may be added, that the forts in the neighbourhood of Braiga and Tabilba, erected among the hills a little inland, are very interesting, and much more perfect than usual. A fortnight or three weeks might be very profitably and agreeably spent in making out the interior ground-plans of these buildings.[25]Εχει δε το μεταξὺ διαστημα και λιμενες ου πολλους, υδρεια δε σπανια.—Lib. xvii. p. 836.[26]That of Aspis—καλλιστος των εν τη Συρτει.[27]It must be observed, that an old wicker-basket is by no means an unsavoury dish for a hungry camel, and the animals in question had already dined off much tougher materials; for the date-stones which we had occasionally given them, in the absence of other tenderer meat, were eaten up with a relish which left little room for doubting the speedy disappearance of hampers and baskets, whenever we might afford to serve them up as entremets.[28]Nel fondo di questo seno v’ ha un pozzo di acqua dolce, ove si attinge a una grandissima profondità, sopratutto in estate. È rotondo, con una scalinata interna, per la quale vi si puo facilmente discendere. Ad ogni dieci scalini vi si trovano scolpite inscrizione in Greco. Furono impiegate nel mese di Settembre ottanta tre braccia di corda per attignerle l’ acqua.—(Della Cella: Viaggio da Tripoli, &c. p. 220-21.)[29]At the foot of the sand-hills at Carcora there are some springs of fresh water, remarkably sweet and good, within a few feet of an extensive salt-marsh, and on the same level with it. The circumstance is worthy of remark, although there are other instances of similar occurrences.[30]The horses, when we stopped, were ranged in a line along a thick cord, to which their fore legs were fastened; and a smaller cord was passed from this to one of their hind legs, to prevent them from kicking one another.

FOOTNOTES:

[1]In this neighbourhood was the cave of the formidable Lamia, so much dreaded by the children of the ancients. It is described by Diodorus as situated in a deep valley formed in the rocks which occur soon after Automala; that is, in passing from east to west, for such was the course of the army of Ophellas, which is stated by the historian to have passed it in their route to join the forces of the tyrant Agathocles. The account which he gives of this afflicted royal lady, whose misfortunes at length rendered her so savage and remorseless, is such as to render it probable (if the story may be relied upon) that she really at one time existed in this part of Africa. At least the mode in which the fabulous parts of her history are accounted for appears to be sufficiently rational, and the place of her residence is very decidedly pointed out.—(See Diod. lib. xx. p. 753—4.)

[2]Ιδρυμενον κατα τον μυχον του κολπου παντος·—Lib. xvii. p. 836.

[3]Inintimo sinufuit ora Lotophagon, &c.—Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 5.

[4]Ho pure fatto attenzione in tutti questi giorni se scorgera,anche in distanza, alcuna schiera di monti che da ponente si protendesse al levante, onde riconoscere se la giogaia dell’ Atlante realmente si prolonga ne’ monti della Cirenaica, o bensì se rimpetto al Golfo della Gran Sirte fosse interrotta. Ma nulla ho osservato che possa confermare questa prolungazione. (P. 91), Ital. edition.

[5]. . . Giacchè in quest’ ultimo recinto del Mediterraneo nonho visto che sabbie ne altri monti che di sabbie. (P. 92.)

[6]The Psylli we are told by Pliny, on the authority of Agatharcides, were so called from their King Psyllus, whose tomb is said to have been somewhere in the Greater Syrtis. They were remarkable for their power of charming serpents; and possessed some innate quality of body which was considered to be destructive to these reptiles; so much so that the very smell of them was supposed to lull a serpent asleep. They had a singular custom of exposing their children to the most venomous kinds of serpents, in order to convince themselves of their legitimacy. If the serpents, on whom the trial was made, did not fly from the children exposed to them, it was concluded to be a proof of decided illegitimacy, since the animals, they imagined, could not avoid doing so, had the infants been really descended from this gifted tribe.It has been observed by other writers, that the Psylli merely cured the bite of serpents by sucking the poison from the wound, and that they were therefore more indebted for their reputation to their courage, than to any peculiar qualification of nature.

It has been observed by other writers, that the Psylli merely cured the bite of serpents by sucking the poison from the wound, and that they were therefore more indebted for their reputation to their courage, than to any peculiar qualification of nature.

[7]Ed io inclino tanto più a credere quest’ ampia depressione di suolo giungere fino al gran deserto, poichè per quanto posso congetturare dal cammino fatto non sarebbe improbabile che l’estremità del golfo si prolungasse assai più a mezzodì di quel che trovasi nelle migliori carte, nelle quali non saprei sopra qual fondamento è stata stabilita. È per me di qualche peso la relazione del Cap. Lautier, il quale non navigò certamente oltre il 30° 27′ 11″ di latitudine, ma da questo punto non iscoprì il fondo del golfo, nè v’ era apparenza di prossimità al continente. Ho ferma credenza che migliori osservazioni confermeranno questa mia congettura.—(p. 94.)

[8]For Strabo tells us (lib. iii. p. 171), in alluding to the custom practised by the ancients, of erecting columns on particular occasions, that the monuments raised to the memory of the Philæni were situated nearly midway in the Syrtis—at least, such is the sense in which we must take this passage, to make it at all consistent with the position allotted to the Philænean altars in the seventeenth book. Although we may certainly read in the passage we are about to quote, above mentioned, “midway in the countrybetweentheSyrtes”—for the Syrtes are here mentioned in the plural—and this circumstance would otherwise rather tend to confirm the position of the altars in the table of Peutinger (as mentioned by Cellarius, lib. iv. cap. 3, sec. 3.) which is between the two Gulfs of Syrtis. “At, in Peutingeriana tabula vetusta, (says Cellarius) redactæ hæ aræ sunt fere ad minorem Syrtim, ut dubitare possis de situ et positione ex tot auctoribus jam descripta.” Strabo’s words are—και ὁι φιλαινων λεγομενοι βωμοι, κατα μεσην, που, την μεταξυ των Συρτεων γην.

[9]Bell. Jugurth. (79.)

[10]Major Rennell has observed on this subject—“At the date of Hannibal’s expedition to Italy, B. C. 217, the Carthaginian empire extended eastward to the Philænean altars, which stood at the south-east extremity of the Greater Syrtis. The story of the Philæni, as it is told, is in some points very improbable. It is said that the parties set out from their respective capitals, Carthage and Cyrene, and met at the place where the altars afterwards stood. Now the altars were situated at about seven-ninths of the way from Carthage towards Cyrene; and the deception would have been too gross had it been pretended that the Carthaginian party had travelled seven parts in the nine, while the Cyrenean party had travelled no more than two such parts of the way. Would either party have trusted the other with the adjustment of the time of setting out? Perhaps they mutually set out at the opposite extremes of the territory in dispute, and not from their respective capitals.”

[11]That is, if we may read the passage in the third book of Strabo, quoted above, in the sense which we imagine he intended; if not, he contradicts himself.

[12]Ειθ᾽ οι φιλαινων βωμοι και μετα τουτους Αυτομαλα φρουριον, φυλακην εχον, ιδρυμενον κατα τον μυχον του κολπου παντος.—Lib. xvii.

[13]We have adopted the positions assigned by Strabo to these places, as being more exactly defined; and because it may be presumed that he saw the objects which he describes, with the exception of the altars of the Philæni, which he has stated to have been no longer extant in his time.

[14]Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 5.

[15]Ejus promontorium est Borion, ab eoque incipiens ora quam Lotophagi tenuisse dicuntur, usque ad Phycunta (et id promontorium est) importuoso litore pertinet. Aræ ipsæ nomen ex Philænis fratribus traxere, qui contra Cyrenaicos missi, &c.—De Situ Orbis, lib. i. cap. vii.

[16]Vide Procopius (De Ædificiis, lib. v.)

[17]. . . ωδευσε δε πεζος εν αμμω βαθεια και καυμασι.—Lib. xvii. p. 836.

[18]Pharsalia, lib. ix.

[19]Ager in medio arenosus, una specie; neque flumen, neque mons erat, qui finis eorum discerneret, &c.—(Bell. Jugurth. 79.)

[20]The water is, however, more frequently found among the sand on the beach than elsewhere; but it scarcely seems necessary that the whole extent of the sand-hills should be traversed by the army on this account. Their guides must have known where the water was to be found, without the necessity of traversing so many miles of sand-heaps in search of it.

[21]We have already assumed that the greater number of the forts in the Syrtis have, in our opinion, been constructed by the Romans.

[22]A few miles inland of Braiga, at a place called Attallàt, are the remains of a castle, whose outer walls are still standing to a considerable height; it is a quadrangular building, surrounded by a trench; and within it we observed the remains of an arch constructed without a key-stone, in the manner of one at Tabilba, which we shall allude to in describing that place.

[23]Αυτομαλα φρουριον, φυλακην εχον, &c.It appears, upon the authority of Diodorus Siculus, that the fortress of Automala was already erected when Cyrene was first occupied by the troops of Ptolemy Lagus: for the army which was led by his general Ophellas to the assistance of the tyrant Agathocles, then at war with the Carthaginians, pitched their tents, we are told, in the neighbourhood of Automala, having consumed eighteen days in their march to that fortress from the Cyrenaica.Οκτω και δεκα μεν ουν ημερας οδοιπορησαντες, και διελθοντες σταδιους τρισκιλιους, κατεσκηνωσαν περι Αυτομαλας.—Lib. xx. p. 753-4.If it could be positively ascertained from what point of the Cyrenaica the army of Ophellas set out on their journey across the Syrtis, we should have the position of Automala sufficiently well ascertained; but the historian merely states, that when everything was prepared for the expedition, Ophellas set his army in motion, without mentioning the precise point from which they set out, and that the distance which they accomplished in eighteen days, as far as Automala, was three thousand stadia. Had there been any point in the bottom of the gulf which could be decidedly fixed upon as the μυχος, or innermost recess of it, in which Strabo has placed Automala, there would be no occasion for any other evidence of its position; but the coast is so straight at the bottom of the gulf, that it is not possible to fix with accuracy upon any one point which may be taken as the μυχος in question. Sachreen is certainly the most southern point, but the difference of latitude between this place and the other parts of the coast which form the bottom of the gulf is so trifling, that it can scarcely be said to amount to anything at all.Braiga is the nearest place to Sachreen where any remains are found which will answer to Automala, and that is twenty miles distant from it, in making the circuit of the coast.

[23]Αυτομαλα φρουριον, φυλακην εχον, &c.

It appears, upon the authority of Diodorus Siculus, that the fortress of Automala was already erected when Cyrene was first occupied by the troops of Ptolemy Lagus: for the army which was led by his general Ophellas to the assistance of the tyrant Agathocles, then at war with the Carthaginians, pitched their tents, we are told, in the neighbourhood of Automala, having consumed eighteen days in their march to that fortress from the Cyrenaica.

Οκτω και δεκα μεν ουν ημερας οδοιπορησαντες, και διελθοντες σταδιους τρισκιλιους, κατεσκηνωσαν περι Αυτομαλας.—Lib. xx. p. 753-4.

If it could be positively ascertained from what point of the Cyrenaica the army of Ophellas set out on their journey across the Syrtis, we should have the position of Automala sufficiently well ascertained; but the historian merely states, that when everything was prepared for the expedition, Ophellas set his army in motion, without mentioning the precise point from which they set out, and that the distance which they accomplished in eighteen days, as far as Automala, was three thousand stadia. Had there been any point in the bottom of the gulf which could be decidedly fixed upon as the μυχος, or innermost recess of it, in which Strabo has placed Automala, there would be no occasion for any other evidence of its position; but the coast is so straight at the bottom of the gulf, that it is not possible to fix with accuracy upon any one point which may be taken as the μυχος in question. Sachreen is certainly the most southern point, but the difference of latitude between this place and the other parts of the coast which form the bottom of the gulf is so trifling, that it can scarcely be said to amount to anything at all.

Braiga is the nearest place to Sachreen where any remains are found which will answer to Automala, and that is twenty miles distant from it, in making the circuit of the coast.

[24]It may be added, that the forts in the neighbourhood of Braiga and Tabilba, erected among the hills a little inland, are very interesting, and much more perfect than usual. A fortnight or three weeks might be very profitably and agreeably spent in making out the interior ground-plans of these buildings.

[25]Εχει δε το μεταξὺ διαστημα και λιμενες ου πολλους, υδρεια δε σπανια.—Lib. xvii. p. 836.

[26]That of Aspis—καλλιστος των εν τη Συρτει.

[27]It must be observed, that an old wicker-basket is by no means an unsavoury dish for a hungry camel, and the animals in question had already dined off much tougher materials; for the date-stones which we had occasionally given them, in the absence of other tenderer meat, were eaten up with a relish which left little room for doubting the speedy disappearance of hampers and baskets, whenever we might afford to serve them up as entremets.

[28]Nel fondo di questo seno v’ ha un pozzo di acqua dolce, ove si attinge a una grandissima profondità, sopratutto in estate. È rotondo, con una scalinata interna, per la quale vi si puo facilmente discendere. Ad ogni dieci scalini vi si trovano scolpite inscrizione in Greco. Furono impiegate nel mese di Settembre ottanta tre braccia di corda per attignerle l’ acqua.—(Della Cella: Viaggio da Tripoli, &c. p. 220-21.)

[29]At the foot of the sand-hills at Carcora there are some springs of fresh water, remarkably sweet and good, within a few feet of an extensive salt-marsh, and on the same level with it. The circumstance is worthy of remark, although there are other instances of similar occurrences.

[30]The horses, when we stopped, were ranged in a line along a thick cord, to which their fore legs were fastened; and a smaller cord was passed from this to one of their hind legs, to prevent them from kicking one another.

CHARTShewing the difference between the coastlines as delineated in former charts and that obtained by the late Survey the shaded line representing the latter made in 1821 & 1822.By Captn. F. W. Beechey R.N.J. & C. Walker Sculpt.Published as the act directs, April 1827, by J. Murray, Albemarle St. London.(Large-size)

(Large-size)

OBSERVATIONS ON THE GULF AND SHORES OF THE GREATER SYRTIS.

The Dimensions of the Gulf, according to Ancient Writers, considered, and compared with those resulting from the Observations of the Expedition — Difference in the Statements of the several Writers quoted — Reasons why a Difference may be expected in their Accounts — Observations of Major Rennell on the Measurements of the Ancients — Ptolemy’s Outline of the Gulf more correct than any hitherto given — Number of Square Miles of Error in modern Charts of the Greater Syrtis — The Ideas of Ancient Writers (Herodotus excepted) with respect to the Nature and Resources of the Syrtis (theTerritory, not theGulfof the Greater Syrtis is here meant) more erroneous than the Dimensions which have been assigned to the Gulf itself — The General Character of the Syrtis not that of a Sandy Plain — Incorrectness of the Arab Accounts of what is termed by them the Desert of Barka — Account of Herodotus considered — Apparent Accuracy of his Statements — Inferences drawn from them — Ancient Accounts of theGulfof the Greater Syrtis, dimensions excepted, very correct — Accumulation of Soil on the Shores of the Gulf accounted for — Apparent Elevation of the General Level of the Syrtis — Advance of the Sea on the Northern Coast of Africa — Appearance of the Coast at Alexandria and Carthage consistent with that of the Shores of the Greater Syrtis and Cyrenaica — Observations of Major Rennell and Dr. Shaw on the Elevation of the Coast of Tunis, and the Advance of the Sea in that quarter — Observations of Lucan on the Level of the Greater Syrtis — Dangers of the Navigation of the Gulf of Syrtis considered — Inset into the Gulf still existing to a great extent — Flux and Reflux of the Sea mentioned by Strabo and Mela considered — Remarks on the Derivation of the termSyrtis.

Inconsidering the dimensions which have come down to us of the Greater Syrtis, those allotted to it by Strabo (in the seventeenth book) are so singularly inconsistent with each other, that there appears to be no possible mode of reconciling the measurements he has given of its diameter, with those which he has in the same place ascribed to its circumference, without material alterations in the text. “The circumference of the Greater Syrtis” (observes the geographer)“is about nine hundred and thirty stadia[1]; and its diameter, at the bottom of the Gulf, is one thousand five hundred stadia: the breadth of the entrance (or mouth) is about the same[2]:” that is, about fifteen hundred stadia. Here we have a circumference considerably less than its diameter, and no way of getting rid of a difficulty so formidable to mathematicians, without making such decided alterations in the text as no sober-minded editor would hazard[3]. Various readings have been given, by different commentators, of this passage; but it will be useless to compare their several merits; since both the measurements in question will be found to be no less inconsistent with the truth than they have been seen to be with each other. For theactual circumference of the gulf of the Greater Syrtis may be estimated at four hundred and twenty-two geographic miles, and its diameter at two hundred and forty-six[4]: so that it would be necessary to alter both the circumference and diameter given by Strabo before any use could be made of his dimensions; and then the measurements must be taken on the authority of the commentators, since they would be no longer those of the geographer. In short, the difficulty appears to be scarcely surmountable; for though it is evident that the passage is not as Strabo left it, we have no sufficient data for deciding what it really was originally[5]. The measurements given by Pliny are somewhat nearer the truth[6]; indeed his diameter of the gulf may be considered as remarkably accurate; for it is stated at three hundred and thirteen Roman miles, equal to two hundred and forty-eight and a quarter geographic miles, and there is consequently no more than two miles and a quarter difference between these dimensions and the actual diameter. His circumference, however, is not by any means so accurate; it is given at sixhundred and twenty-five Roman miles, which are equal to four hundred and ninety-four geographic miles, and will therefore leave a difference of seventy-two geographic miles between this measurement of the circuit and the actual one. The difference also exists on the wrong side; that is to say, the whole distance of Pliny is not only much more than the actual distance by observations, but much more than the actual road-distance, which is the longest which can be allowed. The diameter of the gulf, already stated, of this author, will be found to coincide remarkably well with the measurement which may be deduced from the distance he has given us in another place, between the cities of Leptis Magna and Berenice, of three hundred and eighty-five Roman miles[7]: for the distance between Lebida (Leptis Magna) and Mesurata, the western extremity of the gulf, may be reckoned at fifty-eight geographic miles, equal to seventy-three Roman miles; so that this being deducted from the whole distance given, of three hundred and eighty-five M. P. we shall have a remainder of three hundred and twelve of the same for the distance between Mesurata and Bengazi, leaving a difference of only one mile between the diameter of the gulf thus deduced and that above stated of three hundred and thirteen. But although we may infer, from the coincidence of the two measurements, that the three hundred and twelve miles in question may be taken as distanceacrossthe gulf, they are by no means stated to be such in the text; and if they had chanced to coincide with the circumference insteadof the diameter of the gulf, they might just as well have been taken for the road-distance between Mesurata and Bengazi; the measurements which we find in the Itinerary of Antoninus, of the distance between Leptis Magna and Berenice, come nearer to the actual road-distance between these places, by one hundred and thirty Roman miles, than that which is obtained by adding the seventy-three miles between Lebida and Mesurata to the circumference of the gulf given by Pliny; for the whole distance of the Itinerary from Leptis to Berenice is not estimated at more than five hundred and sixty-eight Roman miles, while those above mentioned being added together would make no less than six hundred and ninety-eight. So that the circumference of the gulf which may be deduced from the Itinerary differs only from the actual circuit by road-distance in thirty-seven Roman miles, or twenty-nine and a half geographic.

But instead of being surprized at the differences which obtain between the measurements which have descended to us from the ancients, we ought rather, perhaps, to wonder that they do not differ even more than they are usually found to do from each other. It is true that abundant materials were furnished to the early geographers, by the numerous military and naval expeditions which enterprizing or ambitious states had fitted out for the purposes of conquest or discovery[8]; butthe maps and charts which resulted from them were laid down without the aid of astronomy; and the distances between the places described in them were either measured or computed along the roads which the armies traversed, or deduced from the track of vessels along the coast. Major Rennell has observed, that the difference which will generally be found between the measurements of Eratosthenes and Strabo, and those which appear in modern geography, will be that which exists between the measure of adirectline, drawn from one place to another, and that of theroaddistance between them. “Nothing can speak more strongly to this point,” (says the well-informed and intelligent writer here quoted,) “than the circumstance of Strabo’s giving the number of stades in Nearchus’scoasting navigation for the lengths of the coasts of Persia and Caramania[9].”

In fact it was not till the time of Ptolemy that geography began to be placed upon that solid basis on which it now stands so conspicuously; and it certainly appears somewhat singular, that the writers on this subject who flourished between the time of Hipparchus and that of the Alexandrian geographer (among whom were Strabo and Pliny,) should not have availed themselves of the discoveries of the former to check the measurements which appear in their works[10]. Various errors have been pointed out in the geography of Ptolemy; but as it can scarcely be supposed that he had sufficient observations to regulate the position of all the places which he has laid down, we ought not to be surprized at this circumstance. His outline of the Gulf of Syrtis, though it cannot be called correct, is notwithstanding more so than those which have since been given of it; and the prolongation of the gulf at its southern extremity, so erroneously markedin modern charts, as well as the inlet called the Gulf of Zuca, which we have stated does not exist, are neither of them laid down in it at all. It may therefore be said, that the true character of the gulf is much better preserved in the loose outline of Ptolemy than in any other of which we are aware. Whatever may be the reasons which have induced modern geographers to introduce into the Gulf of Syrtis the errors which we have alluded to, it is certain that the best chart which they have hitherto produced of it must undergo a correction of ninety miles in longitude, and upwards of thirty miles in latitude, that is to say, it must part with nearly six thousand square miles of ground, before it will be consistent with the truth.

Should we pass from the measurements to the general character of the Syrtis, we shall find that if the ancient authorities have erred in their dimensions of it, they have been no less deceived with regard to its nature and resources. The whole country from Bengazi to Mesurata appears to have been generally considered by the writers of antiquity as a dreary tract of sand, without water or vegetation, and swarming with venomous serpents. But we have already shewn that there are spots in this tract where vegetation is very luxuriant, and where water may be readily procured; and although the extent of marshy ground is in many places considerable, yet the proportions between the barren and the productive parts of the Syrtis are not so little in favour of the latter as appears to have been generally imagined. The whole tract is so thinly inhabited, that a very trifling portion of it only is cultivated; but this circumstance is owing more to the character of the Bedouins who frequent it, and to the governmentto which they are subjected, than to the incapacity of the soil itself.

The Bedouin, though active, is far from industrious; and if he can gain a livelihood from the flocks which he possesses, he will seldom trouble himself to cultivate even the most productive soil; indeed, if he were to do so, he has in general no security that any part of the produce or the profits of it would be his own. His tent and flocks may be removed at a few minutes’ notice, but his crop of corn or vegetables could not be so disposed of; and they who came as his friends, for the purpose of collecting tribute, or as enemies, for the purpose of spoliation, would take care to be with him before his crops were cut, and make sure of the object of their visit. We remember asking an Arab, in the district of Syrt, why his tribe would not trouble themselves to dig a few more wells in a place which they frequented, where there was plenty of water, at no great depth from the surface of the soil: his answer was that, if they were to do so, the Bashaw’s troops who collected the tribute would more easily overtake them, when they chose to run away, than if the supply of water were more scanty: for without a good supply of water the troops could not advance more than a short distance into the interior, and would consequently be less likely to overtake them in their flight. This reason was sufficient in his opinion to account for the circumstance; but it is probable that, if there were no grounds for apprehension on this head, neither our friend himself, nor any Arab of his tribe, would have had resolution enough to sink a single well, however much they might chance to be in want of it; and that they wouldhave preferred removing their whole establishment to another place, which might be better provided with water, to the trouble of digging for it where they were.

It is not only in the works of early writers that we find the nature of the Syrtis misunderstood; for the whole of the space between Mesurata and Alexandria is described by Leo Africanus (under the title of Barca), as “a wild and desert country, where there is neither water nor land capable of cultivation[11].” He allows, however, that the country was inhabited,afterthe occupation of Africa by the Arabs, though not before that period; and tells us, that the most powerful among the Mahometan invaders possessed themselves of the fertile parts of the coast, leaving the others only the desert for their abode, exposed to all the miseries and privations attendant on it: for this desert, he continues, is far removed from any habitation, and nothing is produced there whatever. So that if these poor people would have a supply of grain, or of any other articles necessary to their existence, they are obliged to pledge their children to the Sicilians who visit the coast; who on providing them with these things, which they bring with them from Sicily, carry off the children they have received. Here we have the whole of the Syrtis and Cyrenaica described as a desert tract of country; and although the same author states, that “Sert was an ancient city, built, as some think, by the Egyptians, and, as others believe, by the Romans,” he informs us that the country inwhich it was situated was uninhabited, from Mesurata to Alexandria, before the arrival of the Mahometans in Africa[12].

It must, however, be confessed, that the half-starved Musselmen with whom he has peopled it were scarcely more deserving of our commisseration than the “vastæ Nasamon populator Syrtis,” or any other of the very respectable personages of antiquity who are said to have inhabited this coast. The Sicilians were most probably aware of the character of their customers before they exacted from them the hostages above described; for Leo goes on to say, that these Arabswere the greatest thieves and the most treacherous people to be found in the whole world. They ranged the country round, as far as Numidia, attacking and plundering the poor pilgrims who were unfortunate enough to meet them; and not contented with taking from them everything that was to be found upon their persons, they made them swallow a quantity of hot milk, and then shook them about till it acted as an emetic, so violently as to leave nothing whatever on the stomach.

This was done lest the poor unhappy patients, to whom the medicine was administered, should have taken the precaution of swallowing their money to prevent its being taken from them by their assailants. “Perciocché dubitano queste bestie (says our indignant author) che i viandanti, come s’appressano a quel diserto, inghiottino i danari perchè non gli siano trovati adosso.”

It appears to be chiefly from Leo Africanus that modern historians have derived the very unfavourable idea of what they term the district and desert of Barca. Yet the whole of the Cyrenaica is comprehended within the limits which they assign to it; and the authority of Herodotus (without citing any other) would be amply sufficient to prove that this tract of country, not only was no desert, but was at all times remarkable for its fertility.

We find on the same authority, that the Libyans (or Africans) who inhabited, at an early period, the southern shores of the Mediterranean, were divided into pastoral and agricultural tribes; and that the former, most of whom were inhabitants of Barca, were by nomeans in the miserable condition in which they have been by some represented.

They are described by Herodotus as living on flesh and milk; and the prejudice which they entertained for what Englishmen would term cow-beef, could scarcely have existed among a people who were scantily provided with the necessaries of life[13].

With regard to the present inhabitants of the district of Barca (we mean the part of it comprehended in the Syrtis and Cyrenaica), we should certainly call them a healthy and good-looking race; and not at all the ugly, meagre, grim-visaged people, which they have been described to be in some of our best received accounts of them. We allude in particular to the Bedouin (or wandering) tribes, which are those more immediately in question; and who are generally a finer people, both in character and appearance, than what are termed the more civilized inhabitants of Arab cities. Whatever may be the descent of the present inhabitants of this part of Africa, they appear to lead exactly the same kind of life, and to have as nearly as possible the same resources, as the early possessors of the regions which they occupy.

The penetration of Herodotus has not failed to discover among the African tribes which he enumerates, that they were a very healthy race of people; and the practice of cautery, still adopted by their Mahometan successors, and to which he is uncertainwhether or not to attribute the healthy appearance of the Libyans, is mentioned by this author as one of their peculiarities[14].

No allusion is made by Herodotus to the parched and barren sandy soil which later writers have bestowed upon the country in question, described by Leo Africanus as a region “dove non si trova ne acqua ne terreno da cultivare;” and we may safely affirm that the impression left upon our minds of this part of the coast and its inhabitants (after reading the account of Herodotus) would be much more consistent with the appearance and peculiarities of both, in their actual state, than that which would result from the descriptions of any succeeding writer.

The parts which are nearest the sea he describes as inhabited by Nomadic, or pastoral tribes; and the inference is, that where there are flocks and shepherds, there is also pasturage and water. The country inland of these, and immediately adjoining them, he states to be abounding with wild beasts; and for these animals, also, more shelter and moisture is necessary than could be afforded them in the burning sands of a desert: we may therefore conclude that the partswhere they are found would most probably contain caves, or woods, which might serve them as habitations and places of retreat and security. This tract we should consequently imagine to be wild and stony, unadapted to cultivation, and affording little or no pasturage, but certainly not wholly of sand, or altogether unprovided with water. The third region, mentioned by Herodotus as succeeding to the two before enumerated, and placed farther inland than either, is the sandy tract of country usually, though not necessarily, implied by the term desert, in which there is neither water, nor vegetation of any kind; nothing, in fact, by which life could be sustained[15]. This tract he merely states to be a long ridge of sand, extending itself from Egypt to the pillars of Hercules[16]. It is but justice to state, in confirmation of the account here submitted to us by the father of history, whose veracity has been so much called in question, that (so far as our own experience, and that of the Arabs whom we have questioned on the subject, has enabled us to judge) it is perfectly consistent with the truth. What was beyond the sandy desert was little known to Herodotus, and must not therefore be adverted to in considering this description.

With regard to the water afforded by the Syrtis, we find the Psylli inhabiting a tract of country inland of that possessed by theNasamones, who occupied the south-eastern coast of the Gulf[17]; these people must therefore have been provided with water, though they were nearer to the sandy desert than the Nasamones; and if we are told that, in consequence of their supplies being dried up, they were compelled to emigrate, and perished in their journey to the southward, we must at the same time conclude that, previous to this accident, they had water enough to support them at home, though it might not have been very plentiful. On the whole, we may observe, without entering further into this subject, that the district of Barca, including all the country between Mesurata and Alexandria, neither is, nor ever was, so destitute and barren as it has been represented; that the part of it which constitutes the Cyrenaica is capable of the highest degree of cultivation, and that many parts of the Syrtis afford excellent pasturage, while some of it is not only adapted to cultivation, but does actually produce good crops of barley and dhurra. We may remark, at the same time, that the proportion of sand which is actually to be found in the Syrtis will by no means authorize us to call it a sandy region, and that the proportion of water which it actually possesses will not justify us in asserting that it is unprovided with that necessary. We may observe, too, that the number of serpents and venomous reptiles, so freely bestowed upon the Syrtis by Romanwriters, and by others who flourished after the occupation of Northern Africa by Roman colonies, appears to be greatly exaggerated: that it possesses, in fact, no terrors peculiar to itself, at least, not that we are acquainted with; and no difficulties which may not be readily surmounted by those who are acquainted with the nature of the country, and will adopt the precautions which are necessary[18].

From the regions of the Greater Syrtis let us pass to the Gulf itself; and of this we may remark, that the accounts which have come down to us of its peculiarities do certainly appear to be much better founded than those which we possess of the country along itsshores. Herodotus, although he has minutely described the people who inhabited the coasts of the Syrtes, has left no account of the Gulfs; but we learn from Strabo, that the dangers which presented themselves to navigators, in the Gulfs both of the Greater and Lesser Syrtis, were occasioned by the frequent occurrence of banks and shallows, formed by the flux and reflux of the sea, on which vessels were continually striking, and it rarely happened that any of them were got off. “For this reason,” he adds, “it was usual to keep away from the coast, in order to avoid being embayed[19].”

What we must here understand by the flux and reflux of the sea, is not (we should imagine) the usual action of the tides, which is very trifling in the Mediterranean, compared with that which is observable in other seas; but the inset occasioned by violent winds blowing for any long continuance on shore, and the subsequent reaction of the sea in regaining its original level.

As northerly winds are very prevalent, and very strong on this coast, which fronts the widest part of the Mediterranean, they might no doubt occasion the accumulation of soil alluded to in this passage of Strabo; and we certainly find that a great part of the coast is so exceedingly shallow as to make the landing very hazardous and difficult. It is probable, also, that this accumulation ofsoil has raised the level of the low lands in the Greater and Lesser Syrtes much above what it formerly was, and that both these regions were once covered with water to a greater depth than at present.

We have already observed that the sea appears to have made great advances on the whole line of coast of Northern Africa; and this fact seems to be proved from the circumstance of our finding the remains of ancient towns, along its shores, at present under water to a considerable extent. We may now pass in boats over the ruins of the northern part of Alexandria, (as many travellers of our time can testify); and remains of the city of Carthage, “for the space of three furlongs in length, and half a furlong, or more, in breadth,” are well known (on the authority of Shaw[20]) to be at the present day “entirely under water.” In the intermediate space, we may instance the maritime towns of the Cyrenaica, where the sea has made considerable advances; those parts of the Greater Syrtis which are not exposed to the accumulation of sand, and the town of modern Tripoly, the northern part of which (as we have already stated in the words of Leo Africanus) appears to have been in his time under water.

This rise in the level of the Mediterranean could scarcely fail to have occasioned an overflow in the low grounds of the Syrtie, to a much greater extent than formerly, if it had not been accompanied by, at least, a proportionate accumulation of soil: but it will rather appear that in these regions the land may be said to have advanced upon the sea; since we find their ancient ports now filled up withsand, their lakes to have taken the character of marshes, and their quicksands (if ever they had any) to have become solid and firm[21].

To these remarks we may add the observations of Major Rennell, on the actual and former state of the Lake Tritonis and the Lesser Syrtis, which we will give in the author’s own words.

“From the authorities which we shall presently adduce, we can suppose no other than that this Syrtis” (the Gulf of the Lesser Syrtis) “did once enter much deeper into the land; and that it even formed a junction with the Lake Lowdeah within it—the Tritonis Palus of the ancients. Otherwise we must not only reject the reports of Herodotus and Ptolemy, but that of Scylax also, the writer of a periplus, and who ought to have known the truth.” Again, after a learned and ingenious discussion—“In effect the ancients, as Dr. Shaw justly observes (p. 213), seem to have described this quarter from report, or uncertain information only[22]; and therefore we can hardly expect consistent, much more critical, descriptions. They appear, however, to have furnished us with very good grounds for believing that the Syrtis and Lake Tritonis communicated in former times; and that the communication continued even to thetime of Ptolemy. We think it equally probable that the river Triton flowed into the lake, and that the island called by some Triton, by Herodotus, Phla, together with the temple of Minerva, (in which the Triton is said to have deposited Jason’s tripod) was situated near the mouth of it: moreover, that the island in question is now a part of the sandy plain in which the rivulet of Hammah, the supposed river of Triton, loses itself. For it appears to us that the difference between the present state of things, at this place, and the ancient description of the lake and Syrtis, may be reconciled, by merely adverting to the changes that have taken place on other sandy shores; and more particularly at the head of a gulf where the tide exerts its greatest power of casting up the sand to a higher point. That which has happened at the head of the Red Sea may be adduced in point; and, as the shore of the Syrtis is much flatter than the other, the operation has probably gone on with greater rapidity.”

Lucan (as Major Rennell has justly observed) “appears to believe that the bottom of the Syrtis” (that is, the Greater Syrtis) “was growing firmer, and the water shallower; and surmises that it may hereafter become dry and solid.” “What changes” (he continues), “in point of form and extent, they may have undergone, or if any, we know not: but it is certain they have hitherto preserved their original properties.”

We insert below the lines of Lucan alluded to, from Rowe’s translation[23].

It will be seen that the principal danger of the Syrtes, according to the passage above quoted from Strabo, consisted in the difficultyof what is termed by seamen working off a lee-shore, for which the vessels of the ancients were very ill adapted; and we can readily believe, from what we have seen of the coast, that (under the influence of the heavy surf which rolls over the shallows when the wind blows strongly on shore) few vessels which chanced to strike could escape. The inset into the gulf, at the same time, being great, (when the north and east winds blow strongly against the coast,) it must have been extremely difficult for vessels of this description to avoid being drawn into its vortex; and indeed we may observe that few ships will, at the present day, sail from Bengazi, westward, when the wind is blowing strongly into the gulf, on account of this consequent indraught[24].

“The improved state of navigation” (Major Rennell very justly observes) “has, however, stripped the Syrtes of the greatest part of their terrors;” and it is probable that the report of them which we shall have from Captain Smyth will in consequence prove to be much less formidable than the accounts which have descended to us from the ancients.

It appears, from Mela, that the Syrtes were not only considered to be dangerous on account of the frequent occurrence of shoals, but more so in consequence of the flux and reflux of the sea which we have already mentioned above[25]. This rise and fall (as we havestated) can scarcely have been the customary motion of the tides; but it may reasonably be supposed that the reaction of such a body of water as must (under the influence of violent and continued winds) have been driven over the low lands of the Greater Syrtis, was occasionally very considerable. This may have been the reflux (we imagine) alluded to; while the inset into the Gulf, caused by strong winds blowing into it, may have been the rise which is mentioned as the flux.

Of the indraught in question there can be no doubt; indeed, we may remark that a rise of this nature is more or less observable in gulfs in general; and when we consider that an unbroken sweep of level ground, very slightly raised above the surface of the sea, will be found extending itself on the western coast of the Greater Syrtis for the space of a hundred miles in length, and occasionally as much as fifteen in breadth, we may easily allow that the reflux of the water, driven over a tract of such dimensions, may well be considered as formidable.

It appears to be from the effect of the flux and reflux alluded to, that the names by which the Gulfs of Syrtis are distinguished have been derived; that is, if we may suppose them to be of Greek origin, as Sallust and others have asserted[26].

Cellarius has, however, been censured by Signor Della Cella for having ventured to adopt this derivation, and for “not knowing that Sert meant desert in Arabic, and that this name is still preserved in the bottom of the (Greater) Syrtis[27].” But were we even to agree with Dr. Della Cella, that the district called Syrt is a desert, (which our friend Shekh Mahommed, who lives there, with many others, very comfortably, would be very unwilling, and very ungrateful to allow,) there does not appear to be any reason why the regions in question should be particularly distinguished as deserts, when the country which bounds them to the southward, and which is much more entitled to the appellation of desert than they are, was never called Syrtis either by ancients or moderns. The term existed, it is evident, in the age of Scylax and Herodotus, both of whom we find to have used it; but, in enumerating the several tribes which inhabited the shores of these gulfs, it by no means appears (as we have stated above) that the latter of these writers meant to characterise their country as a desert, or that he was aware of any such meaning implied by the term in question, Syrtis. If, therefore, we suppose the word to be of oriental origin, we should rather look beyond the language of the Arabs for its root; and as the Phœnicians were well acquainted with these shores at a very early period of history, we might suppose, with some appearance of probability,that the term has originated with them. As the peculiarities of the Gulfs of Syrtis appear to be more striking than those of the territory within them, it is also probable that the country would have been named from them, and not the gulfs from the country; particularly as the Phœnicians were a naval nation, and may be supposed (at the early period to which we allude) to have been better acquainted with the Gulfs than with the country here in question.

The Phœnician (or Hebrew) words from which the term Syrtis might originate, are probably the roots of the Arab phrase Sahara (صحرا), to which Signor Della Cella appears to allude; but instead of applying them to the country of the Syrtis, as expressive of its barren and desolate appearance, we should rather apply them to the Gulfs themselves, as expressive of the violent storms of wind which are known to prevail in them, and of the agitation and confusion resulting from their influence.

The terms to which we allude are the Hebrew words Saar (סַעַר), or Saàrat (סַעַרַת), signifying whirlwind, or tempest; and the root Sàar (סָער), from which they spring, expressive of agitation and disturbance; Soarah (סֹעַרח), tempest-tossed, is also another derivative of Sàar.

We have very slender pretensions to any skill in Hebrew, and merely offer the above suggestions for the consideration of those who may be inclined to reject the Greek origin of the term Syrtis; which, for our own part, we are very well contented to allow, on the authority of the writers already quoted, and on inspection of one of the places in question. It may be possible, however, that somePhœnician term, like those we have instanced, may have descended from that people to the Greeks, and afterwards through the latter to the Romans, who may have looked for the origin of it in some word of the Greek language which appeared to them expressive of the qualities of the Gulfs, without considering that the Greeks might themselves have received it from others.

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