CHAPTER XI.

FOOTNOTES:[1]The stade of Strabo has been estimated by Major Rennell, in his admirable treatise on the itinerary stade of the Greeks, at 700 to a geographical degree; and 930 stades will, on this computation, be equal to 100½[a]Roman miles, or 80⅒ geographic miles. While the dimensions of the diameter, 1500 stades, will be equal to 162½ Roman miles, or 128⁵⁷⁄₁₀₀ geographic.[a]The geographical and Roman miles differ (says Shaw, on the authority of D’Anville) as 60 is to 75½, that is, 60 geographical miles and 75½ Roman miles are equal to one degree of a great circle. The Roman mile is consequently one-fifth less than a geographic mile.—Vol. i. p. 30.[2]Ἡ δε μεγαλη Συρτις τον μεν κυκλον εχει σταδιων εννακοσιων τριακοντα που· την δ᾽ επι τον μυχον διαμετρον χιλιων πεντακοσιων· τοσουτον δε που και το του στοματος πλατος.—Lib. xvii. p. 385.[3]In the second book, however, the measurements given by Strabo are more consistent; for he tells us that the circumference of the Greater Syrtis is (according to Eratosthenes) five thousand stadia, or 428⁴⁵⁄₁₀₀ geographic mile[a]; and its depth, from the Hesperides to Automala, and the limits of the Cyrenaica, one thousand eight hundred, or 154²⁹⁄₁₀₀ geographic miles. Others, he adds, make the circumference four thousand stadia, 342⁸⁸⁄₁₀₀ geographic miles; and the depth one thousand five hundred stadia, or 128⁵⁷⁄₁₀₀ geographic miles; the same, he says, as the breadth of the gulf at its mouth.—Lib. xi. p. 123.[a]At the rate of 700 stades to a degree.[4]This estimate of the circumference is deduced from the camel-track, corrected by observations; and the accuracy to which this mode of computation may be brought by care and attention, and by making the proper allowances, will be seen in the examples which we shall hereafter submit of it.[5]If, however, we take the measurements just quoted from the second book of Strabo, as those which he intended to be received in the present case, we shall find that the 428⁴⁵⁄₁₀₀ miles, resulting from the 5000 stadia of Eratosthenes, come very near the truth. The other measurements, however, are far from correct. It will be observed that the diameter given in this place is the same with that mentioned in the second book (1500 stadia).[6]Inde Syrtis Major, circuitu DCXXV. aditu autem, CCCXIII. M. Passuum.—Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 4.[7]Nec procul ante Oppidum (Berenice) fluvius Lethon, lucus sacer, ubi Hesperidum horti memorantur. Abest a Lepti CCCLXXXV. M. P.—(Lib. v. cap. 5.)[8]Sesostris is said to have recorded his march in maps, and to have given copies of them not only to the Egyptians, but to the remote and uninformed inhabitants of Scythia, who viewed them with the greatest astonishment. The expeditions of Alexander furnished the materials for an interesting survey, a copy of which was given to Patroclus the geographer; it was from the work of Patroclus that Eratosthenes derived his principal materials in constructing the Oriental part of his map of the world, and it is frequently quoted both by Strabo and Pliny.Many tolerably accurate surveys resulted from the conquests of the Romans; and we learn from Vegetius that their generals were always furnished with the maps of the provinces which were to be the scenes of their operations. Julius Cæsar ordered a general survey to be made of the whole empire, which occupied twenty-five years; and the Itinerary of Antonine, as well as that which was constructed in the reign of Theodosius the Great, commonly called the Peutingerian table, are well known as valuable authorities.“The expedition of Alexander” (says Major Rennell, in the preliminary remarks attached to his Illustrations of Herodotus,) “besides theéclatof the military history belonging to it, furnished in Greece and Egypt anepochof geographical improvement and correction, which may not unaptly be compared with that of the discoveries of the Portuguese along the coasts of Africa and India; or of that of the present time, in which geography has been improved in every quarter of the globe.”“To a philosopher,” (observes the same author,) “the changes in the comparative state of nations, in different ages of the world, are very striking, and lead one to reflect what may be the future state of somenowobscure corner of New Holland or of North America; since our own island was known only for its tin-mines by the most celebrated of ancient nations, whose descendants, in turn, rank no higher with us than as dealers in figs and currants!”[9]“Variations ever did and ever will exist (continues the Major) on computed distances; instances of which existed on our own public roads previous to their improvement, and which do yet exist on many of the cross-roads.” “It is probable,” he adds, “that Herodotus, Xenophon, Nearchus, Strabo, &c., all intended the same stade, but may have given occasion to different results, by reporting the numbers on the judgment of different persons.”[10]Hipparchus of Nicæa (“who can never,” says Pliny, “be sufficiently commended,”) appears to have been the first who united geography with astronomy, by determining the position of some of the places which he described, according to theirlatitudeandlongitude[a]. He died about one hundred and twenty-five years before Christ, and his important discoveries remained neglected, or at least unapplied, for nearly three hundred years, till they were adopted by Ptolemy in his Geographical Treatise.[a]See Ptolemy, Geog. lib. i. c. 4, and Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. ii. c. 12—26.[11]——— Una campagna diserta et aspera, dove non si trova nè acqua nè terreno da coltivare.—(Leo Afr. in Ram. 5taparte, p. 72.)[12]Prima che gli Arabi venissero in Africa fu il detto diserto dishabitato: ma poi che, &c.There can be no doubt that the desert of Barca, here described, is the whole tract of country bordering on the Mediterranean, from Mesurata to Alexandria; for, after having described Mesurata as situated on the coast, the author proceeds to observe—“This desert (that of Barca) begins from the confines of the district of Mesurata, and extends itself eastward as far as the confines of Alexandria, a space of about one thousand three hundred miles in length, and about two hundred in breadth.” The dimensions of Barca here given appear to be as singular as the description already noticed of it which follows; for besides that the length is much too great, the two hundred miles of breadth which is allotted to it would carry us far to the southward of Augila, into the desert of Libya, which does not seem, from other passages, to have been intended by Leo. We were ourselves, at one time, in passing along the eastern side of the Gulf of Syrtis, only four days’ journey from Augila; and it then bore to the eastward of the south; so that it could not be anything like two hundred miles from the coast, even reckoning from the most northern part of the Cyrenaica.The place mentioned by Strabo in the following passage, as beingfourdays’ easy journey from the bottom of the Syrtis, could scarcely be any other than Augila.Τεταρταιους μεν ουν φασιν απο του μυχου της μεγαλης Συρτεως τους κατ᾽ αυτο μαλακως βαδιζοντας ως επι χειμερινας ανατολας αφικνεισθαι. Εστι δε ο τοπος ουτος εμφερης τω Αμμονι, φοινικοτροφος τε και ευυδρος.—Lib. xvii. p. 838.Procopius also (de Ædificiis, lib. v.) makes Augilafourdays’ journey from Borium, (the BoriumOppidum, at the bottom of the Gulf.)[13]Ουτο μεν μεχρι της Τριτωνιδος λιμνης απ᾽ Αιγυπτου νομαδες εισι κρεοφαγοι τε και γαλακτοποται Λιβυες· και θηλεων τε βοων ουτοι γευομενοι, &c.—Melp. ρπςʹ.[14]Melp. ρπζ.—Sallust has observed of this coast and its inhabitants:—“Mare sævum, importuosum. Ager frugum fertilis, bonus pecori, arbori infecundus: cœlo, terraque penuria aquarum: genus hominum salubri corpore, velox, patiens laborum: plerosque senectus dissolvit, nisi qui ferro, aut a bestiis interiere. Nam morbus haud sæpe quenquam superat, ad hoc malefici generis plurima animalia.”—(Bell. Jugurth. § 17.)This account agrees very well with that of Herodotus; but the description which Sallust afterwards gives of the country where the Philænean altars were placed, conveys too much the idea of a flat sandy plain.[15]That is, on the surface; for in most sandy deserts water may be found by digging.[16]Ουτοι μεν ὁι παραθαλασσιοι των Νομαδων λιβυων ειρεαται. υπερ δε τουτων, ες μεσογαιαν, η θηριωδης εστι λιβυη· υπερ δε της θηριωδεος οφρυη ψαμμης κατηκει, παρατεινουσα απο θηβεων των Αιγυπτιεων επι Ηρακληιας στηλας. (Melp. ρπαʹ.)[17]Strabo seems to place the Nasamones farther inland, whither they were probably driven by the Cyreneans subsequent to the account of Herodotus.Την δε υπερκειμενην εν βαθει χωραν της Συρτεως και της Κυρηναιας κατεχουσιν ὁι Λιβυες παραλυπρον και αυχμηραν· πρωτον μεν ὁι Νασαμωνες, επειτα ψυλλοι και τινες γαιτουλοι, επειτα Γαραμαντες· (Lib. 17. p. 838.)[18]The want of accurate information which has hitherto obtained, respecting the Gulf and the Shores of the Greater Syrtis, has not only occasioned their being incorrectly laid down in modern maps, but has necessarily subjected the observations of modern writers upon them to errors which would not otherwise have been made.In alluding to the breadth across the mouth of the Greater Syrtis, Major Rennell has remarked as follows:—“Scylax reckons it a passage of three days and nights across its mouth; which, however, measures no more than one hundred and eighty geographic miles on the best modern maps. This allows about sixty miles for each day and night collectively.”But the actual distance across the Gulf, from Mesurata to Bengazi, is two hundred and forty-six geographic miles, instead of one hundred and eighty, and this would give a rate of eighty-six miles per day (considered as twenty-four hours).Again—the same author observes—“Strabo says that Cato had ten thousand men, which he divided into separate bodies, that they might more conveniently obtain supplies of water in that arid region. That they marched on foot, and completed the tour of the Syrtis from Berenice in thirty days. Those who examine the distance will find that the rate of marching was eleven and a half geographic miles in direct distance, or about one mile above the mean of ordinary marches, which is 10.6.”But as the circumference of the Greater Syrtis is ascertained (as above stated) to be four hundred and twenty-two geographic miles, it will follow that the rate of marching must here have been, in actual distance, about fourteen geographic miles for each day.[19]Ἡ χαλεποτης δε και ταυτης της Συρτεως, και της μικρας, οτι πολλακου τεναγωδης εστιν ὁ βυθος, κατα τας αμπωτεις και τας πλημμυριδας, συμβαινει τισιν εμπιπτειν εις τα βραχη και καθιζειν· σπανιον δ᾽ ειναι το σωζομενον σκαφος. Διοπερ πορρωθεν τον παραπλουν ποιουνται, φυλαττομενοι μη εμπεσοιεν εις τους κολπους υπ᾽ ανεμων αφυλακτοι ληφθεντες. (Lib. 17. § 20.)The word σκαφος here used, though it means literallyboat, appears to be applied in this passage to vessels in general.[20]Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 164.[21]Major Rennell has noticed a parallel instance in our own country. “There can be no doubt” (he observes) “of the increase of the Goodwin (sand) at the present moment, and of its slow progression towards the state of firm land. Let those who doubt the facts here set forth attend to the changes at Ephesus, at Myriandrus, in the Gulf of Issus, and various other places.”[22]In a note the author adds, “possibly with an exception to Scylax as a professed guide to others. The observations of Polybius would probably, had they come down to us, have saved us much conjecture.”[23]When Nature’s hand the first formation tried,When seas from land she did at first divide,The Syrts, nor quite of sea nor land bereft,A mingled mass uncertain still she left;For nor the land with seas is quite o’erspread,Nor sink the waters deep their oozy bed,Nor earth defends its shore, nor lifts aloft its head.The site with neither and with each complies—Doubtful and inaccessible it lies;Or ’tis a sea with shallows bank’d around,Or ’tis a broken land with waters drown’d;Here shores advanced o’er Neptune’s rule we find,And there an inland ocean lags behind.* * * * * *Perhaps, when first the world and time began,Here swelling tides and plenteous waters ran;But long confining on the burning zone,The sinking seas have felt the neighb’ring sun:Still by degrees we see how they decay,And scarce resist the thirsty god of day.Perhaps in distant ages ’twill be found,When future suns have run the burning round,These Syrts shall all be dry and solid ground:Small are the depths their scanty waves retain,And earth grows daily on the yielding main.—(Pharsalia, Book 9.)It here seems evident, that the Gulfs of Syrtis in Lucan’s time were believed to be growing shallower, and the land advancing upon the sea. This is certainly consistent with the present appearance of the Greater Syrtis (as contrasted with the accounts of the ancients respecting it,) and, from all that we have been able to learn, of the Lesser Syrtis also. It must, however, be recollected, that this accumulation of soil is only observable in the low grounds, where the sand is constantly heaped up by the sea; for in other parts (as we have already stated) the sea has gained upon the land. The advance of the sea, which may be considered to be equally certain with that of the land, will serve to prove how rapidly the soil must have been accumulating in the lower parts of the Syrtis; since there is reason to believe that (notwithstanding the rise of the Mediterranean on these shores) they were formerly covered with a greater body of water than at present.[24]We allude here to the vessels of the country, which we were told at Bengazi usually gave the Gulf a wide birth; thus realising, in modern days, what Strabo mentions of the vessels of the ancients.[25]——— importuosus atq. atrox, et ob vadorum frequentium brevia, magisq. etiam ob alternos motus pelagi affluentis ac refluentis infestus. (De Situ Orbis. Lib. 1. c. 7.) This is said of the Lesser Syrtis, but the Greater Syrtis is stated, immediately afterwards, to be nomine atque ingenio par priori. Pliny also mentions both these peculiarities very briefly but decidedly; he speaks of both Gulfs as beingvadosoacreciprocomari diros. (Lib. v. c. 4.)[26]From συρειν, to draw, or drag along. Sallust’s words are “Syrtes ab tractu nominatæ.” Shaw has quoted Solinus, c. 6, and Dionysius Periegetes, 1. 198, as suggesting the same derivation. As if (he adds) “a συρω, quod in accessu et recessu arenam et cœnum ad se trahit et congerit.” (Vid. Eustath. Comm.) Travels in Barbary, vol. 1. p. 211.[27]Viaggio da Tripoli, &c. p. 62.

FOOTNOTES:

[1]The stade of Strabo has been estimated by Major Rennell, in his admirable treatise on the itinerary stade of the Greeks, at 700 to a geographical degree; and 930 stades will, on this computation, be equal to 100½[a]Roman miles, or 80⅒ geographic miles. While the dimensions of the diameter, 1500 stades, will be equal to 162½ Roman miles, or 128⁵⁷⁄₁₀₀ geographic.

[a]The geographical and Roman miles differ (says Shaw, on the authority of D’Anville) as 60 is to 75½, that is, 60 geographical miles and 75½ Roman miles are equal to one degree of a great circle. The Roman mile is consequently one-fifth less than a geographic mile.—Vol. i. p. 30.

[2]Ἡ δε μεγαλη Συρτις τον μεν κυκλον εχει σταδιων εννακοσιων τριακοντα που· την δ᾽ επι τον μυχον διαμετρον χιλιων πεντακοσιων· τοσουτον δε που και το του στοματος πλατος.—Lib. xvii. p. 385.

[3]In the second book, however, the measurements given by Strabo are more consistent; for he tells us that the circumference of the Greater Syrtis is (according to Eratosthenes) five thousand stadia, or 428⁴⁵⁄₁₀₀ geographic mile[a]; and its depth, from the Hesperides to Automala, and the limits of the Cyrenaica, one thousand eight hundred, or 154²⁹⁄₁₀₀ geographic miles. Others, he adds, make the circumference four thousand stadia, 342⁸⁸⁄₁₀₀ geographic miles; and the depth one thousand five hundred stadia, or 128⁵⁷⁄₁₀₀ geographic miles; the same, he says, as the breadth of the gulf at its mouth.—Lib. xi. p. 123.

[a]At the rate of 700 stades to a degree.

[4]This estimate of the circumference is deduced from the camel-track, corrected by observations; and the accuracy to which this mode of computation may be brought by care and attention, and by making the proper allowances, will be seen in the examples which we shall hereafter submit of it.

[5]If, however, we take the measurements just quoted from the second book of Strabo, as those which he intended to be received in the present case, we shall find that the 428⁴⁵⁄₁₀₀ miles, resulting from the 5000 stadia of Eratosthenes, come very near the truth. The other measurements, however, are far from correct. It will be observed that the diameter given in this place is the same with that mentioned in the second book (1500 stadia).

[6]Inde Syrtis Major, circuitu DCXXV. aditu autem, CCCXIII. M. Passuum.—Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 4.

[7]Nec procul ante Oppidum (Berenice) fluvius Lethon, lucus sacer, ubi Hesperidum horti memorantur. Abest a Lepti CCCLXXXV. M. P.—(Lib. v. cap. 5.)

[8]Sesostris is said to have recorded his march in maps, and to have given copies of them not only to the Egyptians, but to the remote and uninformed inhabitants of Scythia, who viewed them with the greatest astonishment. The expeditions of Alexander furnished the materials for an interesting survey, a copy of which was given to Patroclus the geographer; it was from the work of Patroclus that Eratosthenes derived his principal materials in constructing the Oriental part of his map of the world, and it is frequently quoted both by Strabo and Pliny.Many tolerably accurate surveys resulted from the conquests of the Romans; and we learn from Vegetius that their generals were always furnished with the maps of the provinces which were to be the scenes of their operations. Julius Cæsar ordered a general survey to be made of the whole empire, which occupied twenty-five years; and the Itinerary of Antonine, as well as that which was constructed in the reign of Theodosius the Great, commonly called the Peutingerian table, are well known as valuable authorities.“The expedition of Alexander” (says Major Rennell, in the preliminary remarks attached to his Illustrations of Herodotus,) “besides theéclatof the military history belonging to it, furnished in Greece and Egypt anepochof geographical improvement and correction, which may not unaptly be compared with that of the discoveries of the Portuguese along the coasts of Africa and India; or of that of the present time, in which geography has been improved in every quarter of the globe.”“To a philosopher,” (observes the same author,) “the changes in the comparative state of nations, in different ages of the world, are very striking, and lead one to reflect what may be the future state of somenowobscure corner of New Holland or of North America; since our own island was known only for its tin-mines by the most celebrated of ancient nations, whose descendants, in turn, rank no higher with us than as dealers in figs and currants!”

Many tolerably accurate surveys resulted from the conquests of the Romans; and we learn from Vegetius that their generals were always furnished with the maps of the provinces which were to be the scenes of their operations. Julius Cæsar ordered a general survey to be made of the whole empire, which occupied twenty-five years; and the Itinerary of Antonine, as well as that which was constructed in the reign of Theodosius the Great, commonly called the Peutingerian table, are well known as valuable authorities.

“The expedition of Alexander” (says Major Rennell, in the preliminary remarks attached to his Illustrations of Herodotus,) “besides theéclatof the military history belonging to it, furnished in Greece and Egypt anepochof geographical improvement and correction, which may not unaptly be compared with that of the discoveries of the Portuguese along the coasts of Africa and India; or of that of the present time, in which geography has been improved in every quarter of the globe.”

“To a philosopher,” (observes the same author,) “the changes in the comparative state of nations, in different ages of the world, are very striking, and lead one to reflect what may be the future state of somenowobscure corner of New Holland or of North America; since our own island was known only for its tin-mines by the most celebrated of ancient nations, whose descendants, in turn, rank no higher with us than as dealers in figs and currants!”

[9]“Variations ever did and ever will exist (continues the Major) on computed distances; instances of which existed on our own public roads previous to their improvement, and which do yet exist on many of the cross-roads.” “It is probable,” he adds, “that Herodotus, Xenophon, Nearchus, Strabo, &c., all intended the same stade, but may have given occasion to different results, by reporting the numbers on the judgment of different persons.”

[10]Hipparchus of Nicæa (“who can never,” says Pliny, “be sufficiently commended,”) appears to have been the first who united geography with astronomy, by determining the position of some of the places which he described, according to theirlatitudeandlongitude[a]. He died about one hundred and twenty-five years before Christ, and his important discoveries remained neglected, or at least unapplied, for nearly three hundred years, till they were adopted by Ptolemy in his Geographical Treatise.

[a]See Ptolemy, Geog. lib. i. c. 4, and Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. ii. c. 12—26.

[11]——— Una campagna diserta et aspera, dove non si trova nè acqua nè terreno da coltivare.—(Leo Afr. in Ram. 5taparte, p. 72.)

[12]Prima che gli Arabi venissero in Africa fu il detto diserto dishabitato: ma poi che, &c.There can be no doubt that the desert of Barca, here described, is the whole tract of country bordering on the Mediterranean, from Mesurata to Alexandria; for, after having described Mesurata as situated on the coast, the author proceeds to observe—“This desert (that of Barca) begins from the confines of the district of Mesurata, and extends itself eastward as far as the confines of Alexandria, a space of about one thousand three hundred miles in length, and about two hundred in breadth.” The dimensions of Barca here given appear to be as singular as the description already noticed of it which follows; for besides that the length is much too great, the two hundred miles of breadth which is allotted to it would carry us far to the southward of Augila, into the desert of Libya, which does not seem, from other passages, to have been intended by Leo. We were ourselves, at one time, in passing along the eastern side of the Gulf of Syrtis, only four days’ journey from Augila; and it then bore to the eastward of the south; so that it could not be anything like two hundred miles from the coast, even reckoning from the most northern part of the Cyrenaica.The place mentioned by Strabo in the following passage, as beingfourdays’ easy journey from the bottom of the Syrtis, could scarcely be any other than Augila.Τεταρταιους μεν ουν φασιν απο του μυχου της μεγαλης Συρτεως τους κατ᾽ αυτο μαλακως βαδιζοντας ως επι χειμερινας ανατολας αφικνεισθαι. Εστι δε ο τοπος ουτος εμφερης τω Αμμονι, φοινικοτροφος τε και ευυδρος.—Lib. xvii. p. 838.Procopius also (de Ædificiis, lib. v.) makes Augilafourdays’ journey from Borium, (the BoriumOppidum, at the bottom of the Gulf.)

[12]Prima che gli Arabi venissero in Africa fu il detto diserto dishabitato: ma poi che, &c.

There can be no doubt that the desert of Barca, here described, is the whole tract of country bordering on the Mediterranean, from Mesurata to Alexandria; for, after having described Mesurata as situated on the coast, the author proceeds to observe—“This desert (that of Barca) begins from the confines of the district of Mesurata, and extends itself eastward as far as the confines of Alexandria, a space of about one thousand three hundred miles in length, and about two hundred in breadth.” The dimensions of Barca here given appear to be as singular as the description already noticed of it which follows; for besides that the length is much too great, the two hundred miles of breadth which is allotted to it would carry us far to the southward of Augila, into the desert of Libya, which does not seem, from other passages, to have been intended by Leo. We were ourselves, at one time, in passing along the eastern side of the Gulf of Syrtis, only four days’ journey from Augila; and it then bore to the eastward of the south; so that it could not be anything like two hundred miles from the coast, even reckoning from the most northern part of the Cyrenaica.

The place mentioned by Strabo in the following passage, as beingfourdays’ easy journey from the bottom of the Syrtis, could scarcely be any other than Augila.

Τεταρταιους μεν ουν φασιν απο του μυχου της μεγαλης Συρτεως τους κατ᾽ αυτο μαλακως βαδιζοντας ως επι χειμερινας ανατολας αφικνεισθαι. Εστι δε ο τοπος ουτος εμφερης τω Αμμονι, φοινικοτροφος τε και ευυδρος.—Lib. xvii. p. 838.

Procopius also (de Ædificiis, lib. v.) makes Augilafourdays’ journey from Borium, (the BoriumOppidum, at the bottom of the Gulf.)

[13]Ουτο μεν μεχρι της Τριτωνιδος λιμνης απ᾽ Αιγυπτου νομαδες εισι κρεοφαγοι τε και γαλακτοποται Λιβυες· και θηλεων τε βοων ουτοι γευομενοι, &c.—Melp. ρπςʹ.

[14]Melp. ρπζ.—Sallust has observed of this coast and its inhabitants:—“Mare sævum, importuosum. Ager frugum fertilis, bonus pecori, arbori infecundus: cœlo, terraque penuria aquarum: genus hominum salubri corpore, velox, patiens laborum: plerosque senectus dissolvit, nisi qui ferro, aut a bestiis interiere. Nam morbus haud sæpe quenquam superat, ad hoc malefici generis plurima animalia.”—(Bell. Jugurth. § 17.)This account agrees very well with that of Herodotus; but the description which Sallust afterwards gives of the country where the Philænean altars were placed, conveys too much the idea of a flat sandy plain.

[14]Melp. ρπζ.—Sallust has observed of this coast and its inhabitants:—

“Mare sævum, importuosum. Ager frugum fertilis, bonus pecori, arbori infecundus: cœlo, terraque penuria aquarum: genus hominum salubri corpore, velox, patiens laborum: plerosque senectus dissolvit, nisi qui ferro, aut a bestiis interiere. Nam morbus haud sæpe quenquam superat, ad hoc malefici generis plurima animalia.”—(Bell. Jugurth. § 17.)

This account agrees very well with that of Herodotus; but the description which Sallust afterwards gives of the country where the Philænean altars were placed, conveys too much the idea of a flat sandy plain.

[15]That is, on the surface; for in most sandy deserts water may be found by digging.

[16]Ουτοι μεν ὁι παραθαλασσιοι των Νομαδων λιβυων ειρεαται. υπερ δε τουτων, ες μεσογαιαν, η θηριωδης εστι λιβυη· υπερ δε της θηριωδεος οφρυη ψαμμης κατηκει, παρατεινουσα απο θηβεων των Αιγυπτιεων επι Ηρακληιας στηλας. (Melp. ρπαʹ.)

[17]Strabo seems to place the Nasamones farther inland, whither they were probably driven by the Cyreneans subsequent to the account of Herodotus.Την δε υπερκειμενην εν βαθει χωραν της Συρτεως και της Κυρηναιας κατεχουσιν ὁι Λιβυες παραλυπρον και αυχμηραν· πρωτον μεν ὁι Νασαμωνες, επειτα ψυλλοι και τινες γαιτουλοι, επειτα Γαραμαντες· (Lib. 17. p. 838.)

[17]Strabo seems to place the Nasamones farther inland, whither they were probably driven by the Cyreneans subsequent to the account of Herodotus.

Την δε υπερκειμενην εν βαθει χωραν της Συρτεως και της Κυρηναιας κατεχουσιν ὁι Λιβυες παραλυπρον και αυχμηραν· πρωτον μεν ὁι Νασαμωνες, επειτα ψυλλοι και τινες γαιτουλοι, επειτα Γαραμαντες· (Lib. 17. p. 838.)

[18]The want of accurate information which has hitherto obtained, respecting the Gulf and the Shores of the Greater Syrtis, has not only occasioned their being incorrectly laid down in modern maps, but has necessarily subjected the observations of modern writers upon them to errors which would not otherwise have been made.In alluding to the breadth across the mouth of the Greater Syrtis, Major Rennell has remarked as follows:—“Scylax reckons it a passage of three days and nights across its mouth; which, however, measures no more than one hundred and eighty geographic miles on the best modern maps. This allows about sixty miles for each day and night collectively.”But the actual distance across the Gulf, from Mesurata to Bengazi, is two hundred and forty-six geographic miles, instead of one hundred and eighty, and this would give a rate of eighty-six miles per day (considered as twenty-four hours).Again—the same author observes—“Strabo says that Cato had ten thousand men, which he divided into separate bodies, that they might more conveniently obtain supplies of water in that arid region. That they marched on foot, and completed the tour of the Syrtis from Berenice in thirty days. Those who examine the distance will find that the rate of marching was eleven and a half geographic miles in direct distance, or about one mile above the mean of ordinary marches, which is 10.6.”But as the circumference of the Greater Syrtis is ascertained (as above stated) to be four hundred and twenty-two geographic miles, it will follow that the rate of marching must here have been, in actual distance, about fourteen geographic miles for each day.

In alluding to the breadth across the mouth of the Greater Syrtis, Major Rennell has remarked as follows:—

“Scylax reckons it a passage of three days and nights across its mouth; which, however, measures no more than one hundred and eighty geographic miles on the best modern maps. This allows about sixty miles for each day and night collectively.”

But the actual distance across the Gulf, from Mesurata to Bengazi, is two hundred and forty-six geographic miles, instead of one hundred and eighty, and this would give a rate of eighty-six miles per day (considered as twenty-four hours).

Again—the same author observes—“Strabo says that Cato had ten thousand men, which he divided into separate bodies, that they might more conveniently obtain supplies of water in that arid region. That they marched on foot, and completed the tour of the Syrtis from Berenice in thirty days. Those who examine the distance will find that the rate of marching was eleven and a half geographic miles in direct distance, or about one mile above the mean of ordinary marches, which is 10.6.”

But as the circumference of the Greater Syrtis is ascertained (as above stated) to be four hundred and twenty-two geographic miles, it will follow that the rate of marching must here have been, in actual distance, about fourteen geographic miles for each day.

[19]Ἡ χαλεποτης δε και ταυτης της Συρτεως, και της μικρας, οτι πολλακου τεναγωδης εστιν ὁ βυθος, κατα τας αμπωτεις και τας πλημμυριδας, συμβαινει τισιν εμπιπτειν εις τα βραχη και καθιζειν· σπανιον δ᾽ ειναι το σωζομενον σκαφος. Διοπερ πορρωθεν τον παραπλουν ποιουνται, φυλαττομενοι μη εμπεσοιεν εις τους κολπους υπ᾽ ανεμων αφυλακτοι ληφθεντες. (Lib. 17. § 20.)The word σκαφος here used, though it means literallyboat, appears to be applied in this passage to vessels in general.

The word σκαφος here used, though it means literallyboat, appears to be applied in this passage to vessels in general.

[20]Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 164.

[21]Major Rennell has noticed a parallel instance in our own country. “There can be no doubt” (he observes) “of the increase of the Goodwin (sand) at the present moment, and of its slow progression towards the state of firm land. Let those who doubt the facts here set forth attend to the changes at Ephesus, at Myriandrus, in the Gulf of Issus, and various other places.”

[22]In a note the author adds, “possibly with an exception to Scylax as a professed guide to others. The observations of Polybius would probably, had they come down to us, have saved us much conjecture.”

[23]When Nature’s hand the first formation tried,When seas from land she did at first divide,The Syrts, nor quite of sea nor land bereft,A mingled mass uncertain still she left;For nor the land with seas is quite o’erspread,Nor sink the waters deep their oozy bed,Nor earth defends its shore, nor lifts aloft its head.The site with neither and with each complies—Doubtful and inaccessible it lies;Or ’tis a sea with shallows bank’d around,Or ’tis a broken land with waters drown’d;Here shores advanced o’er Neptune’s rule we find,And there an inland ocean lags behind.* * * * * *Perhaps, when first the world and time began,Here swelling tides and plenteous waters ran;But long confining on the burning zone,The sinking seas have felt the neighb’ring sun:Still by degrees we see how they decay,And scarce resist the thirsty god of day.Perhaps in distant ages ’twill be found,When future suns have run the burning round,These Syrts shall all be dry and solid ground:Small are the depths their scanty waves retain,And earth grows daily on the yielding main.—(Pharsalia, Book 9.)It here seems evident, that the Gulfs of Syrtis in Lucan’s time were believed to be growing shallower, and the land advancing upon the sea. This is certainly consistent with the present appearance of the Greater Syrtis (as contrasted with the accounts of the ancients respecting it,) and, from all that we have been able to learn, of the Lesser Syrtis also. It must, however, be recollected, that this accumulation of soil is only observable in the low grounds, where the sand is constantly heaped up by the sea; for in other parts (as we have already stated) the sea has gained upon the land. The advance of the sea, which may be considered to be equally certain with that of the land, will serve to prove how rapidly the soil must have been accumulating in the lower parts of the Syrtis; since there is reason to believe that (notwithstanding the rise of the Mediterranean on these shores) they were formerly covered with a greater body of water than at present.

[23]

When Nature’s hand the first formation tried,When seas from land she did at first divide,The Syrts, nor quite of sea nor land bereft,A mingled mass uncertain still she left;For nor the land with seas is quite o’erspread,Nor sink the waters deep their oozy bed,Nor earth defends its shore, nor lifts aloft its head.The site with neither and with each complies—Doubtful and inaccessible it lies;Or ’tis a sea with shallows bank’d around,Or ’tis a broken land with waters drown’d;Here shores advanced o’er Neptune’s rule we find,And there an inland ocean lags behind.* * * * * *Perhaps, when first the world and time began,Here swelling tides and plenteous waters ran;But long confining on the burning zone,The sinking seas have felt the neighb’ring sun:Still by degrees we see how they decay,And scarce resist the thirsty god of day.Perhaps in distant ages ’twill be found,When future suns have run the burning round,These Syrts shall all be dry and solid ground:Small are the depths their scanty waves retain,And earth grows daily on the yielding main.—(Pharsalia, Book 9.)

When Nature’s hand the first formation tried,

When seas from land she did at first divide,

The Syrts, nor quite of sea nor land bereft,

A mingled mass uncertain still she left;

For nor the land with seas is quite o’erspread,

Nor sink the waters deep their oozy bed,

Nor earth defends its shore, nor lifts aloft its head.

The site with neither and with each complies—

Doubtful and inaccessible it lies;

Or ’tis a sea with shallows bank’d around,

Or ’tis a broken land with waters drown’d;

Here shores advanced o’er Neptune’s rule we find,

And there an inland ocean lags behind.

* * * * * *

Perhaps, when first the world and time began,

Here swelling tides and plenteous waters ran;

But long confining on the burning zone,

The sinking seas have felt the neighb’ring sun:

Still by degrees we see how they decay,

And scarce resist the thirsty god of day.

Perhaps in distant ages ’twill be found,

When future suns have run the burning round,

These Syrts shall all be dry and solid ground:

Small are the depths their scanty waves retain,

And earth grows daily on the yielding main.—(Pharsalia, Book 9.)

It here seems evident, that the Gulfs of Syrtis in Lucan’s time were believed to be growing shallower, and the land advancing upon the sea. This is certainly consistent with the present appearance of the Greater Syrtis (as contrasted with the accounts of the ancients respecting it,) and, from all that we have been able to learn, of the Lesser Syrtis also. It must, however, be recollected, that this accumulation of soil is only observable in the low grounds, where the sand is constantly heaped up by the sea; for in other parts (as we have already stated) the sea has gained upon the land. The advance of the sea, which may be considered to be equally certain with that of the land, will serve to prove how rapidly the soil must have been accumulating in the lower parts of the Syrtis; since there is reason to believe that (notwithstanding the rise of the Mediterranean on these shores) they were formerly covered with a greater body of water than at present.

[24]We allude here to the vessels of the country, which we were told at Bengazi usually gave the Gulf a wide birth; thus realising, in modern days, what Strabo mentions of the vessels of the ancients.

[25]——— importuosus atq. atrox, et ob vadorum frequentium brevia, magisq. etiam ob alternos motus pelagi affluentis ac refluentis infestus. (De Situ Orbis. Lib. 1. c. 7.) This is said of the Lesser Syrtis, but the Greater Syrtis is stated, immediately afterwards, to be nomine atque ingenio par priori. Pliny also mentions both these peculiarities very briefly but decidedly; he speaks of both Gulfs as beingvadosoacreciprocomari diros. (Lib. v. c. 4.)

[26]From συρειν, to draw, or drag along. Sallust’s words are “Syrtes ab tractu nominatæ.” Shaw has quoted Solinus, c. 6, and Dionysius Periegetes, 1. 198, as suggesting the same derivation. As if (he adds) “a συρω, quod in accessu et recessu arenam et cœnum ad se trahit et congerit.” (Vid. Eustath. Comm.) Travels in Barbary, vol. 1. p. 211.

[27]Viaggio da Tripoli, &c. p. 62.

Plan of thePORTandNEIGHBOURHOODofBENGAZIBYCaptn. F. W. Beechey R.N.J. & C. Walker Sculpt.Published as the act directs, April 1827, by J. Murray, Albemarle St. London.(Large-size)

Plan of thePORTandNEIGHBOURHOODofBENGAZIBYCaptn. F. W. Beechey R.N.

(Large-size)

The Rainy Season sets in at Bengazi towards the middle of January, and continues with little interruption till the beginning of March — Miserable Condition of the Town during that period — Construction of the Houses — Improvidence of the Arabs — Dirty state of the Streets — Swarms of insects which infest them — Position of Bengazi — Description of its Harbour — Castle of the Bey — Visit to Bey Halīl — Friendly Reception of our Party by his Excellency — Occupations and arrangements during the Rainy Season — The Shekh el Belad Mahommed — Jews of Bengazi — Trade of the Town — Produce of the Environs — Wretched state of the Bullock Vessels — Mahometan Inhabitants of Bengazi — Alarm of the Lower Classes during our residence there — Confusion resulting from it — Mob collected at our door on this occasion — Narrow Escape of Mr. Giacomo Rossoni — Friendly Conduct of our Mahometan Acquaintance — Parley with the Arabs — Dispersion of the Mob — Prejudices of the Arabs respecting the Treatment of Diseases — Fatal Effects of this species of Folly at Bengazi — Prevalent Diseases in Bengazi and its vicinity — Singular cause of Alarm among a Party of Arab Shekhs — Arab notions of decorum and propriety contrasted with those of European Nations — Bengazi supposed to occupy the Site of Berenice and Hesperis — Existing Remains there — Little regard manifested by Turks and Arabs for the relics of Antiquity — Probable Limits of Berenice — Quarries, and singular Chasms in its Neighbourhood — Gardens of Hesperides — Position of the Gardens according to Scylax, Pliny, and Ptolemy — Conjectures of Gosselin and others respecting them — Circumstances which appear to favour our position of the Gardens — Lakes and Subterranean Caverns in the Neighbourhood of Bengazi, (or Berenice) — Concealed Body of Water observed in one of the latter — Examination of the Caverns — Remarks of the Bey respecting it — The Subterranean Stream in question considered as the River Lathon, or Lethe — Testimonies of the Ancients on this point — Supposed Communication of the Subterranean Stream with the Lake adjoining the Harbour of Bengazi — Signification of the termLathonalluded to — Further Remarks in confirmation of our suggested Position of the River, and of its probable Communication with the Lake above mentioned — Remarks of Strabo and Cellarius on the subject — Temple of Venus, and Lake Tritonis of Strabo — Remarks on the nameBerenice— Total ignorance of the Arabs of Bengazi with respect to the former celebrity of their City — Pleasing little Fable of Kazwini, on the changes which take place in the Nature and Appearance of Places, and the little knowledge which remains, after a lapse of time, of their former Condition, even on the spots where they existed.

Onthe 12th of January our whole party arrived at Bengazi, having employed on the journey two months and seven days from the time ofour departure from Tripoly. Shortly after our arrival, the heavy rains commenced, and continued with little interruption, until the beginning of March, accompanied with constant gales of wind from the north-east and north-west. The state of the town during this period may truly be said to have been miserable; the houses being chiefly put together with mud, were continually giving way, and falling in; and we were frequently apprized of occurrences of this nature, in our own immediate neighbourhood, by the shrieks and cries of women, whose families had been sufferers on some of these occasions.

The streets during part of the time were literally converted into rivers; the market was without supplies, owing to the impossibility of driving cattle into the town; and the number of sheep and goats which perished in the neighbourhood of Bengazi, from the extreme inclemency of the weather, amounted (we were informed) to several thousands. For ourselves, we were fortunate in having one room in our house which was capable of resisting the rain, the terrace on its roof having been cemented by one of the Beys, who had occupied it a short time before; and this, we really believe, was the only room in the town which could be fairly considered weather-proof. The court-yard round which our apartments were built (if they may be dignified with so imposing an appellation) assumed for a long time the appearance of a pond, and a narrow space was only left here and there on its borders, by which we could pass from one room to another.

From the state of our own house, which we have already saidmight be considered as the best in the town, the condition of other parts of Bengazi, during the rains, may be in some measure imagined; although it will scarcely be possible for the inhabitants of civilized countries, unacquainted with the nature of Arab towns, to conceive half the wretchedness and the utter want of comfort which they present on similar occasions.

The houses of Bengazi are built after the usual manner of Arab buildings, that is to say, with rough and unequally-shaped stones, put together with mud instead of mortar; they generally consist of a ground floor only, built round a square court-yard, which is exposed to the weather, and into which the doors of the chambers open, which seldom communicate with each other: the court is not paved, and in houses of more than ordinary consequence, there is sometimes a well in the centre. The roofs are flat, and are formed of rafters (chiefly of young pine-trees from the neighbouring forests) over which are laid mats, and on these there is generally a quantity of sea-weed, or other vegetable rubbish; over the whole is spread a thick stratum of mud, which is beat down as hard as Arab laziness will admit of at the time when the terrace is made[1].

They who can afford it (and there are very few so fortunate) spread a preparation of lime over the mud; which, as the cement is usually well made, forms a surface impervious to the weather, while the coating remains in good condition.

The rain which falls is in these cases highly beneficial, since it iscarried off by spouts into some general reservoir, or is collected in large earthern jars for the daily consumption of the house. By far the greater number of houses are, however, unprovided with any defence of this nature; and if the precaution of beating down the mud which forms the terrace, sufficiently hard to make the water run off, be not adopted at the commencement of the rains, it is more than probable, that the whole of the building so neglected will disappear before the season is over. As the religion and the laziness of an Arab equally prompt him to depend more upon the interference of Providence, than upon any exertions of his own, this precaution is often neglected; and after having borne, with exemplary patience, all the dirt and inconvenience occasioned by the passage of the rain through the mud over his head, he is roused from his lethargy by the screams of his wife and children, alarmed, or badly wounded by the fall of the roof, or by some serious accident from a similar cause, by which he is a sufferer himself. Many persons were severely wounded at Bengazi in the winter during which we were confined there; and it is probable, that there are accidents in the town every year, occasioned by similar neglect.

When a house falls, it is generally left in a state of rubbish and ruin, and the survivors of the family remove to another spot without troubling themselves further about it: the consequence is, that the streets are often nearly blocked up by mounds of this nature disposed in various parts of them; which form in the winter-time heaps of mud and mire, and, in the dry weather, scatter thick clouds of light dust in the faces and eyes of the passengers.

As these masses of rubbish also serve at the same time as general receptacles for the superfluities of the city, groups of half-famished dogs and myriads of flies are invariably collected about them; in the midst of which are seen lying very contentedly, or rolling about for diversion, swarms of little naked children, regardless of either, which one might almost fancy were actually produced by the fertilizing qualities of these heaps of putrid matter, as the monsters of old are asserted to have been from the slime and the mud of the Nile. There is, however, nothing singular or peculiar to Bengazi in the scene which we have just described; for every Arab town and village will be found, more or less, to present to us a similar spectacle. Filth and dust, and swarms of insects of every description, must inevitably be the consequences of this continued neglect; and we accordingly find that these several annoyances, together with the scattered groups of lean dogs and naked children, form the principal characteristics (in the estimation of their European visitors) of these enviable places of abode. We say, in the opinion of the natives of Europe, because an Arab or a Moor sees nothing remarkable in any of the objects here alluded to, and would consider it a mark of affectation or effeminacy to be annoyed at any similar objects or inconveniences.

In addition to the nuisances already enumerated, the open spaces in Bengazi are usually ornamented by pools of stagnant, putrid water; and that which is in the market-place is rendered more particularly offensive, from the circumstance of its being the common receptacle of the offal and blood of the animals which arekilled there, and which may truly be said to realize the words of the poet in “making the green one red.” It may readily be imagined, that in the heat of the summer these places are not very wholesome, and they are probably often the causes of fevers, especially during the prevalence of southerly winds. That these sinks of corruption should ever be bathing-places will not perhaps be so easily conceived; but they are nevertheless often used for such purpose; and the children of the town will very frequently adjourn from the dust-heaps already described, to cool themselves (we cannot in conscience say to clean themselves) in the green and red pools here alluded to. With so many objects to attract and encourage them, it is not to be wondered at, that Bengazi is proverbial for flies; and every part of the town, both within and without the houses, may truly be said to swarm with them. Among the various annoyances with which the place abounds, these are, perhaps, the most serious of any; or, at all events, they are those from which it is least possible to escape; there is, in fact, no chance of avoiding them; they follow you everywhere from place to place, settle on every part of the arms, legs, and body, which the heat of the weather obliges you to leave uncovered; creep obstinately into the corners of the eyes, and up the nostrils, into the hollows of the ears, and the corners of the mouth when it is closed, and often fly down the throat, nearly choking you, when it is open; at meals every part of the dishes and their contents are covered as soon as they are produced, and every fluid becomes a trap for as many of these insects as can crowd themselves over its surface. In short, there is literally no riding or walking, no readingor writing, or eating or resting one’s-self, in any part of Bengazi in comfort for them; and if at night they take up their accustomed position on the ceiling, and give place to the fleas and mosquitos, the first dawn of morning finds them on the wing, and all alive to recommence their operations. They are at the same time so watchful, and so quick in their motions, that it is difficult to succeed in killing any of them; we often caught thirty or forty fleas in a morning on turning down the bed-clothes with a little attention, and as many during the day on different parts of our dress, particularly about the legs and ancles; but the whole collection of flies which we could kill in a week would scarcely amount to this number; unless we except those which were caught in the traps which we were usually in the habit of setting for them. All hot climates are more or less subject to these nuisances; but it is probable that no place on earth will be found to abound more in flies than Bengazi; we might perhaps say, that few places could be mentioned where so many of them will at any time be observed.

The situation of Bengazi is, however, much better than so filthy a town may be said to deserve. It is built on the coast, close to the sea, at the extremity of a beautiful fertile plain, extending itself to the foot of a long chain of mountains about fourteen miles distant (in this part) to the south-eastward. Plentiful crops of corn and vegetables are afforded to the town by the cultivated lands in the neighbourhood, and the supplies of beef and mutton are in general very regular and abundant. The harbour of Bengazi appears to have been formerly capable of containing good-sized vessels, and, even in the recollection of some of the present inhabitants, theBashaw’s ships were accustomed to lay, where now only boats can be accommodated.

At present it can only be entered by small vessels, drawing seven or eight feet water, and that merely in moderate weather. It is well protected from the sea by reefs of rocks, between which the entrance is so narrow as to render a pilot necessary.

There seems to be little doubt that the harbour originally communicated at all times with the lake to the southward of the town, as it does at the present day in the rainy season; but owing to the accumulation of sand from the sea, and of alluvial deposite from the lake, the communication is now, during the summer months, wholly interrupted. At the entrance of the port is the castle of the Bey of Bengazi, constructed on the ruins of an ancient building, part of which is still visible at the base of the castle next the sea. The existing structure is built with small stones and mud, so slightly, that when the Adventure made its appearance before it, the Bey requested Captain Smyth would dispense with the usual salute, as he feared the concussion would otherwise bring down a part of the walls. Its form is square, with a round tower at each of three angles; the fourth, which fronts the entrance of the harbour, being occupied by a pile of building, appropriated to the harem of his excellency.

If the gallantry of Mahometans has been doubted or denied, here is surely a proof of its existence; for the angle given up to the service of the ladies is almost the only one which could prove of any annoyance to vessels entering the harbour; and, while the three turrets mentioned are provided with guns, this angle is left without any. The fair inhabitants of the harem are in consequence favouredwith a view of the “dark blue main,” and the grated windows of their apartments command at the same time a view of the entrance to the harbour.

The cool sea-breeze enters freely, and the ladies may sit with the lattice spread open to enjoy it, without incurring the danger of meeting the gaze of any vulgar or sacrilegious eye. The dashing of the waters against the base of the castle may also serve to lull them to sleep; but candour, at the same time, obliges us to state, that it may also serve to waken them rather too abruptly on no very distant occasion. Were it not that the lower part of the structure is (as we have before mentioned) ancient, and consequently strongly built, the interruption to which we allude would have happened long before now; and Neptune, as if encouraged by the daily glances of so many soft dark eyes, would have washed away the barrier which so cruelly interposed itself, and carried off the lovely inhabitants of the harem to enliven his submarinesoirées.

Besides the harem of the Bey, the castle contains the officers and chaouses of his household, and a numerous body of troops might be lodged within the limits of its walls. In time of trouble, it is the only place to which he could retreat with any safety, and it forms the only ornament and the only protection which the town of Bengazi possesses.

The Bey, whose name is Halīl, was once fortunate enough to possess a daughter of the Bashaw as his wife, a circumstance which secured for him a good deal of influence (or at least a great portion of the royal favour) during the life of his consort. He was not, however,destined to enjoy his good fortune long, for the princess died a short time before our arrival at Tripoly, and with her highness departed that portion of influence which Bey Halīl through her means had obtained. The profits arising from the government of Bengazi would have been sufficient to enrich its possessor, had he been allowed to enjoy them; but the demands which were continually made upon him by the Bashaw became so heavy after the death of his wife, that the surplus was very inconsiderable. Besides this, the collection of the tribute from the Bedouin tribes in the neighbourhood was often attended with difficulty, and must have made the receipts uncertain; but no allowance is made in Mahometan countries for casualties of this description; the will of a superior is a law, and his demands must be punctually complied with, (whatever may be the means of satisfying them,) if the office, and often the life of the person upon whom they may be made, are valued by him. The consequence is, that extortion in the heads of departments is the cause of extortion in subalterns; and he who has no power to avail himself of tyranny, is generally doomed to be the sufferer himself, for not being able to do more than his resources will allow him to accomplish. Many a well-meaning man who would have acted with propriety, had the alternative been less severe, is thus obliged to commit acts of cruelty and injustice which his nature would not have inclined him to; the force of habit and example at length subdues his better feelings, and necessity is so often made the excuse for tyrannical conduct, that it not only becomes a plea where it actually obtains, but is urged as such eventually on occasions where no necessityreally exists, to justify private acts of caprice and oppression, which have themselves only resulted from the long-indulged habit of executing similar outrages for others.

The Bey having been officially apprized of our arrival, and that we were desirous of paying our respects to him, appointed a day to receive us; and when the time arrived we proceeded to the castle, accompanied by Signor Rossoni, the British vice-consul at Bengazi, and his brother, Mr. Giacomo Rossoni. We found the Bey in a plain whitewashed room of unimposing dimensions, but cool and tolerably clean, seated upon cushions spread round a niche which had been formed in the wall for the purpose. On each side of this recess, or alcove, were ranged the principal officers of the household, the chaouses, and several shekhs; other parts of the room were occupied by slaves and persons of inferior condition. There was much less ceremony in the court of Bey Halīl than in that of the Bashaw at Tripoly, and the conversation appeared to have been pretty general before we entered the apartment in which he received us.

The hum of voices subsided all at once as we made our appearance, and every person’s eyes seemed determined to exert themselves in proportion as his tongue was laid under restraint; for the steady gaze of all present was fixed upon our party as we took up our stations near the Bey. We found his excellency a good-looking, well-formed man, who, apparently from inactivity and good living, had attained to that state of dignifiedembonpointat which persons of inferior consideration in Mahometan countries are very seldom destined to arrive. A Georgian by birth, Bey Halīl possessedstrongly the Asiatic cast of countenance and features, and an expression of unassumed and unreserved goodnature gave a pleasing character to his sharp, black eyes. His reception of our party was in unison with his appearance; and the formal inclination of the head, usually made by Mahometans to strangers whom they honour with their notice, gave place to a hearty English shake of the hand; while a cordialBon giorno! Ti sta bono?was substituted for the grave and ceremonioussalam, which, whenever it is offered by the faithful to unbelievers, is almost invariably dictated by politeness or policy merely.

Near the Bey stood his secretary, Hashi (whose pale and thin countenance, and weak, inflamed eyes, appeared to testify that his place was no sinecure); and two of his head chaouses, one a native of Constantinople, a short, corpulent, sleepy-looking personage; the other a tall, raw-boned, hard-featured Arab, who had shewn great bravery and activity in petty wars with the Bedouin tribes, and whose shattered hand bore testimony to his exploits.

Several persons came in from time to time, and having kissed his excellency’s hand, and made the appropriate salams, squatted themselves down in different parts of the room, according to their rank and station, and began with great attention their survey of our party.

The objects of the expedition had in all probability been made known to the Bey before our arrival; but we thought it proper to state them in general terms to his excellency, through the medium of Mr. Giacomo Rossoni, in his official character of interpreter.

This was no sooner done than the eyes of the spectators, whichhad hitherto been actively employed, were relieved for a short time by their organs of speech, exerted in ill-suppressed whispers. From their gestures, and a word or two which we caughten passant, we could perceive that very few of the Arabs assembled believed a single word of our statement, (so far, at least, as the motives for the expedition were concerned;) for they could not at all imagine why persons should be commissioned to make researches of such a nature as those which they had just heard proposed, where money was not in fact the real object of inquiry.

His excellency the Bey, though he received the statement graciously, and offered his assistance very freely in facilitating the operations of the mission, was scarcely himself convinced of the sanity of a government which could concern itself with science and research, particularly if no considerablepecuniaryequivalent was likely to result to His Majesty’s treasury for the expenses incurred by its expeditions[2].

We had brought with us several papers for Bey Halīl from the Bashaw, all of which, when presented (with the exception of one), he put into the hands of his secretary Hashi, his excellency not being himself quiteau faitat deciphering the contents of his letters. The paper retained was the teskeré from the Bashaw (already mentioned) for five hundred dollars; and it is probable that the frequent arrival of similar orders had rendered their appearance so familiar to Bey Halil, that he was able to distinguish them without the assistance of his secretary, though he could not read a word of other matter.

A slight change of countenance, when he first cast his eyes upon the teskeré, was, however, the only visible effect which it produced on the exterior of the Bey of Bengazi; and his good breeding did not allow him to manifest in any other way that our visit was not in all respects perfectly agreeable to him. We may add, that the sumwas punctually paid to us, after some little (possibly unavoidable) delay, by the hands of secretary Hashi; and the credit of his excellency was in no other way diminished, than by the discharge of the five hundred dollars at several times, instead of being made at one payment. Had we known at Tripoly so much of the Bey’s private history, as we have already stated above, this teskeré might have been spared him; for we should certainly not have been induced to accept any order upon him, however trifling, could we have supposed that its payment might be inconvenient.

Soon after we left the coast of Africa, Bey Halil was removed from the government of Bengazi, and it is probable that he had reason to rejoice at his dismissal; for had he remained there much longer than he did, the continued demands for money and cargoes, so unmercifully made upon him by his Highness, could scarcely have failed to ruin him. In addition to these, he had sustained a considerable loss in the capture of one of the vessels which he had freighted, by the Greeks, as we were informed, at Bengazi; and also in the destruction of the jewels and wardrobe of his wife, which the Bashaw had ordered to be burnt (it was said) after the death of that unfortunate princess.

In compliance, we presume, with the practice of the court of Tripoly, tea was served to us with the sherbet, instead of coffee, at the interviews we had with Bey Halil; as we have already mentioned it to have been in that with the Shekh of Mesurata.

In the course of our first visit, we took occasion to mention to his excellency the careless manner in which Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbahhad fulfilled the injunctions of the Bashaw; and to enumerate a few of the impositions, the unnecessary delays, and privations, to which we had in consequence been subjected; acquainting him at the same with the loss of property which we had sustained, from the thievish disposition of the Dúbbah’s people. We hoped by this complaint to get back a pocket compass, and some other articles which we could ill spare, which had been stolen from our tents on the journey across the Syrtis. Bey Halil was, however, either unwilling or unable to assist us in the matter; and after shrugging up his shoulders in dignified silence (as if he had expected nothing less), he summed up the whole of his displeasure in the single exclamation of—Arab! By which he seemed to imply, that, as one of that race, the Shekh could not be other than a rogue[3].

Unsatisfactory as this administration of justice may appear, it did not seem probable that we should obtain any other; and having one means of punishment, at least, in our own hands (that of mulcting the Shekh, whom we had not fully paid, to the amount of the property stolen), we did not press the subject any further with his excellency; and after having made known to him our intention of remaining during the rainy season in Bengazi, and of proceeding afterwardsto the eastward, we concluded by requesting his assistance and protection, in furtherance of the remaining objects of the mission, and took our leave under the most decided and friendly assurances of having everything arranged as we could wish.

As soon as this visit of ceremony was over, we began to employ our time, which, on account of the heavy rains, was necessarily passed in doors, in putting together the materials which we had collected on our route, in making some arrangements for improving the condition of our horses, of which they stood much in need, and in preparing provisions and other necessaries which were required for our journey to the eastward. In these pursuits we were materially assisted by the vice-consul and his brother, Mr. Giacomo Rossoni, to both of whom our thanks are particularly due, as well on these as on many other occasions. Our time, though we passed it as agreeably as we could, nevertheless often hung very heavy on our hands; and we soon found that Bengazi was a residence which we should quit with very little regret. There is not a single place of public resort or amusement in any part of this gloomy abode: its inhabitants idle or sleep away the greater part of their time, without appearing to entertain the slightest desire of improving their comfortless and miserable condition, or of enlivening the monotony of their pursuits. Turkish towns are not in general remarkable for gaiety, and we did not expect to find theatres or assembly-rooms; but there is usually a good deal of amusement to be derived from occasional visits to the coffee-shops and bazaars, and not unfrequently some useful information. These resources, however, were not afforded us at Bengazi; for there is nothing of the kind therethat we felt an inclination to visit a second time. Strangers who arrive there may indeed find a shelter from the weather, in a place well known to Mahometans as the Fundook, a temporary place of reception and partial accommodation. We once, and once only, took occasion to visit this place; and on entering it through the aperture of a broken door, we found ourselves in a long arched room, in which there was scarcely sufficient light to show us where to place our feet, a precaution which was nevertheless highly essential. Here we perceived the remains of a charcoal fire, which had been kindled on the well-smoked capital of a marble column, and a greasy Arab stretched close to it on the ground, snoring amid the folds of his barracan. The building itself was of some antiquity, though not apparently older than the worst time of the lower empire, the roof being supported upon small columns of execrable taste, and the other parts of the building in no better style. The exterior had undergone some repair from time to time, but no attention whatever had been paid to the chamber within, not even that of removing the dirt and filth which was collected there; and the consequence was, that the level of the floor reached two-thirds of the way up the columns. We need scarcely add, that whatever attractions this place may have had for an Arab, it had little allurement for us; and we should have laid ourselves down, without the least hesitation, to pass a rainy night in the street, rather than subject ourselves to the punishment of taking shelter for an hour under its roof.

The house in which we had taken up our abode was the property of the Shekh el Belad, a very worthy person, much respected by allwho knew him: he soon made us acquainted with the principal people of the town, from whom we collected what little information they could afford us, respecting the country, and the several objects of our mission[4]. We were informed that Bengazi contained about two thousand inhabitants, a large proportion of which were Jews and negro slaves; but the number of persons residing in the town is continually varying, owing to the circumstance of many persons removing to the country, whenever the weather permits, where they establish themselves in tents, or in huts made of palm-branches and dhurra-stalks[5]. The Jews of Bengazi are a persecuted race, but uniformly steady in their pursuit after riches: as is usually the case in Mahometan countries, they are (with the few exceptions we shall presently mention) the principal merchants and tradesmen of the place; and their well-directed and unremitted industry alone enables them to meet the heavy exactions which are made upon their purses and property by the adherents to the religion of the Prophet. Their houses are generally cleaner and better furnished than those of most of the Mahometans, and we never entered any of them without finding the whole family employed in some useful occupation.

We found them invariably civil and obliging, and apparently contented with their condition; which proves how much habit willreconcile us to evils, which, to those not inured to them, would be intolerable. The “fierce impatience” which formerly characterized the Jews of the Cyrenaica has disappeared with the probability of its being successfully exerted; and poverty is now almost the only evil to which they will not quietly submit[6]. The trade of Bengazi is not, however, wholly confined to the Jews; for, besides the Bey himself, who may be considered as the first merchant, there are several other very respectable Mahometan traders[7]; the Bazaar, notwithstanding, presents little more than the articles in greatest request among the Bedouins; amongst which may be seen bundles of rusty nails, horse-shoes, musket-balls, and large flints, which form the chief objects of their visits, and are exposed for sale, on boards, at the doors of a few of the most industrious Arab inhabitants of the town, and bargained for with as much seriousness and vehemence, as if they were the most costly goods. The produce of the interior consists chiefly in corn, wool, and manteca, with which the merchants freight the different foreign vessels which purposely touch at Bengazi. This is done in preference to employing the small vessels of the country; first, because the foreign vessels are much better navigated, and secondly, because in sailing under Europeancolours they are less liable to molestation from the Greeks. Besides these articles, oxen are well known to constitute a great portion of the trade of Bengazi, and many vessels are kept constantly employed in transporting them to Malta and other places during the summer months. If the wind prove favourable, and the passage be quickly made, the profits to all parties are great; but it sometimes happens that, from violent or contrary winds, or from the vessel being ill calculated for the cargo, and more frequently from there being too great a number of these poor animals crowded inconsiderately together, that so many oxen die from thirst and suffocation, from bruises, and occasionally from drowning, as to render the profits of the voyage very trifling.

The cattle are chiefly driven from the neighbourhood of Cyrene, where their original cost is from six to eight dollars a head; some expenses, of course, are incurred on the road, but these are amply covered by the price of ten and thirteen dollars, at which sum the oxen are furnished to the captains of the bullock-vessels: the master, again, being fully compensated by a contract of about eighteen dollars a head at Malta.

The prospect of fine weather very often induces the captain to take on board as many as there is standing-room for in his vessel, on both upper and lower deck, in both of which the poor animals are jammed as close as they can possibly be stowed. The sufferings of the oxen in hot and oppressive weather, taken at once from the invigorating atmosphere of their native mountains, and exposed to the thick and almost suffocating steam (proceeding from their ownbodies) which they must necessarily breathe in the place of their confinement, will be more easily deplored than described. So oppressive is the heat, on many occasions, in the lower deck of the bullock-vessels, that the men employed to look after the unfortunate animals can scarcely stay more than ten minutes there, except immediately under the hatchways; and such of the oxen as chance, from their situation, or other causes, to be more affected by the closeness of the atmosphere than the rest, are obliged to be dragged up continually to the deck above, to prevent them from dying of suffocation.

We are sorry to say that our own experience enables us to speak decidedly on these points; for as there was no other vessel in the harbour of Bengazi, when we left the coast, than a bullock-vessel, and no other expected to arrive, we were obliged to take a passage in the only one of them then remaining. As we experienced, nearly the whole voyage, the most provoking calms, our passage was an unusually long one; and independently of the extreme inconvenience (to use the mildest term) which we experienced ourselves, we had to witness a scene of suffering which we shall never forget, and which we would willingly have gone through much more than we experienced to have avoided. It is indeed scarcely possible to conceive that human nature could be really so degraded from its rank in creation, as it appears to be in the persons of those who form the crew of a bullock-vessel.

And yet many of them are not, on other occasions, cruel men—but the constant habit of witnessing and inflicting sufferings, whichthey seem to think matters of course, has so blunted their kinder feelings in the discharge of this particular duty, that one might almost blush (on witnessing their conduct) at being classed in the same species with them[8]. The horrors of slave-ships are happily for the most part abolished, through the humanity and the influence of Englishmen; and if the government of Malta were acquainted with the horrors of bullock-vessels, they would surely take means to prevent the recurrence of them. Let us hope that some Martin may arise in the Mediterranean who will exert himself in bringing this about; we will answer for it, he will never sit down to a piece of beef without feelings of more than usual satisfaction.

Among the persons to whom we were introduced by Shekh Mahommed, there were several whose good sense and good feeling would have done credit to a more civilized people; and the time which we spent in their society was often very agreeably passed. They were able to afford us a good deal of information respecting the country to the eastward, and in the interior, which we afterwards found very useful; but they were generally shy in giving an opinion upon affairs of a political nature. They would, however, talk freely of the exploits of Mahommed Bey, who was so instrumental in reducing the country to its present state of tranquillity; and whose sanguinary measures alone procured for Bengazi the security which itnow enjoys[9]. We often conversed on the subject of the existing war with the Greeks, and they manifested at all times extreme curiosity to know what part we should take, in the event of the arrival of any Greek vessel off their port. Our answers were always satisfactory to them; and a report of the English being favorably inclined towards the Porte having by some means reached them, we were in subsequent interviews addressed as Sahab, or ally.

This confidence in our intentions was not, however, so strongly felt among the lower classes of people; at least it did not appear to have been so on the occasion which we are about to mention.

Some vague reports of the successes of the Greeks, and their merciless treatment of the prisoners which they had taken, having reached the people of Bengazi, they became, on a sudden, uncommonly nervous, and were in momentary apprehension of an invasion, and of an indiscriminate slaughter of themselves and their families. The appearance of the Adventure, about this time, on their coast, which had not been visited by a man-of-war for a long time before, together with the arrival, soon after, of our party, whose real objects were for the most part unintelligible to them, added to the circumstanceof their having seen us employed in making plans and drawings of their fort and harbour, all contributed to strengthen their suspicions and their fears; and they soon began to consider our residence among them as, in some way, connected with the Greeks. While their minds were thus prepared, it unluckily happened one evening just before sunset, that some hard clouds had formed themselves on the horizon, into shapes which they conceived to resemble ships under sail; the appearance soon excited the greatest alarm, and many an eager eye was fixed upon the formidable armada which imagination had suggested to the terrified Arabs[10]. Before they could be satisfied that there was no foundation for their fears, it was too dark to distinguish anything more; and the greatest confusion very shortly prevailed in every part of Bengazi. The men now began to prepare their fire-arms, and the signal to assemble was everywhere repeated; the women and children running about in the greatest terror, calling out that the Christians were coming to murder them!

The disturbance was not long unknown to our party, for our door shortly became the centre of confusion; a mob of Arabs was very soon collected about it, who manifested the most hostile feeling, and the street rang with invectives against the Nasáras[11]. It would have gone hard with any Christian who had been found unarmed inthe streets at this moment; for even Giacomo Rossoni (the brother of the Consul), who was a great favorite with the Arabs, and who chanced to be out just before, very narrowly escaped with his life in making his way to take refuge in our house. We had every desire to act as conciliatory a part as possible, but finding our doors assailed in the manner described, we armed ourselves, with the intention of defending the house to the last, should the Arabs proceed to extremities. At this difficult moment Shekh Mahommed and his brothers, accompanied by some of our other Arab friends, made their way through the mob and arrived just in time to prevent an immediate attack upon our quarters; and we afterwards learnt that one of the Shekh’s brothers had been felled to the ground, for his remonstrances in our favour, before he could reach our door. A parley was now begun with great vehemence on both sides; but before any measures could be determined upon, an alarm was excited that the Greeks might be landing while this discussion was pending, and the whole party of rioters hurried down to the beach, leaving none but the women and children in the town. Muskets were now discharged in various directions, without any person knowing what they were firing at, and the whole strength of the place was drawn up on the beach in momentary expectation of being attacked by the invaders. At length, after a lapse of several hours, they conceived that sufficient time had been given for the approach of the vessels, if Bengazi had been really their object; and after inquiring of one another what grounds there had been for all the disturbance they had been making, without any one being able to give a satisfactory answer, thewhole party retired very quietly to their houses, and nothing more was ever heard of the formidable invasion which had excited such alarm and confusion. In the mean time Signor Giacomo, who had been some time in our house, became anxious to relieve his family from the apprehensions which they could not but have entertained for his safety; but his European dress being likely to attract attention, and expose him to danger or insult, we offered our services to accompany him; and on reaching his house in safety, he learnt that the Consul had been obliged to shut himself up with his family, and that they had been in the greatest alarm for him. Thus ended a panic which arose from the most trifling circumstance, threw the whole town into serious confusion, and threatened the lives of all the Christians in the place, without having the slightest foundation.

It was singular to observe, during the whole of this affair, the total want of system and discipline which prevailed; each person hurrying he hardly knew where, because he saw others in motion, and leaving his home, with his family and property, at the mercy of any one who might invade it. A handful of men might have taken the whole town, which was left for several hours without any defence, and carried off their plunder beyond the reach of pursuit before the inhabitants knew they had been there. This was the only molestation we ever met with from the people of Bengazi; and, to do them justice, we must allow that it proceeded rather from their ignorance and their fears, than from any decided hostility or ill-will towards ourselves. On all other occasions we found them civil and obliging, and usually inclined to be of service to us when they could.With regard to the manners and customs of the people of Bengazi, we saw nothing in which they differed materially from those of Arabs in general; and it would merely be repeating what has been often observed by others, were we to give any detailed description of them. It is well known what reliance is placed by the Arab on the efficacy, we may say, the infallibility of charms and family nostrums, and how much they are averse to calling in medical aid till they have repeatedly tried their own remedies without success. We saw a lamentable instance of this adherence to popular prejudice and superstition, in the case of an interesting girl of Bengazi, the daughter of one of the Arabs of the town. As Mr. Campbell was standing at the door of our house, in company with some others of our party, an old woman hurried towards him, and eagerly seizing both his hands, conjured him to come and visit her daughter, who she said was very ill with a swelling in the throat. Mr. Campbell immediately complied with her request, and accompanied her, together with one or two of the other officers, to the house where the patient was lying. On entering they found the poor girl we have mentioned, extended upon the floor, in a state of delirium, while her sister, on her knees by her side, was endeavouring by means of a fan to keep away the myriads of flies from her face, with which the room as usual abounded. Her throat was soon found to be so much ulcerated and swelled, as almost to prevent respiration; and it seemed but too evident that the hand of death was already lying heavily upon her. She had been ill for nine days with a typhus fever, and the usual charms and remedies had been employed by her parents, who onlycame to Mr. Campbell for advice when all their own prescriptions had failed. The violence of the fever had now subsided, leaving the unhappy girl in a state of exhaustion, and a mortification appeared to have taken place. Every means were of course resorted to which our medicine-chest afforded, and every possible attention was paid to the comfort of the patient; but all our care was unavailing; the disease was too far advanced to be subdued by medical skill, and the poor girl shortly expired, a victim rather to ignorance and superstition, than to any fatal symptoms in the disease itself, had the proper remedies been applied in time.

Through a similar infatuation, the son of our worthy landlord, Shekh Mahommed, who was in other respects a very sensible man, had nearly fallen a victim to the prejudices of his father. He had, unknown to us, been for many days dangerously ill of a fever; during which time his father kept him shut up in a dark, close room, and almost smothered him with blankets. When we heard of the circumstance, Mr. Campbell immediately offered his advice and assistance; but both were civilly declined, the good Shekh observing, at the same time, that if it were the will of God that his favourite son should die, no exertions of any one could save him, and he himself had only to submit, without repining, to the visitation which heaven had been pleased to bring upon him. We, however, at last succeeded in prevailing upon him to accept of Mr. Campbell’s mediation, and, in the course of a few weeks, we are happy to state, the boy completely recovered. Some other cures which Mr. Campbell was enabled to make at length gained him a great reputation, and someof the operations to which he had recourse at once delighted and astonished the Arabs.

A man much emaciated, who had been long afflicted with the dropsy, was persuaded to submit to the operation of tapping; and when his numerous Arab friends, who had assembled to witness the ceremony, saw the water streaming out from the abdomen, they were unable to restrain the loud expression of their surprise at the sight; and lifting up their hands and eyes to Heaven, called Allah to witness that thetibeeb[12]was a most extraordinary man[13]!

Dysentery and liver complaints were very common in Bengazi, but we did not observe so many cases of ophthalmia as we had found at Tripoly and Mesurata. Cutaneous diseases of the most virulent kind were very prevalent, as well among the people of the town, as among the Bedouin tribes in the neighbourhood; indeed, we found that these disorders prevailed more or less in every part of the northern coast of Africa which we visited. The inhabitants of the Cyrenaica suppose them to be chiefly occasioned by handling their cattle, but it is probable that unwholesome food and water, to which they may be occasionally subjected, and the little use which they make of the latter for external purposes, contribute more effectually to engenderand encourage these diseases, than the circumstances to which they attribute them.

Among the numerous instances, which we observed during our stay at Bengazi, illustrative of Arab character and prejudices, we may notice one which occurred in the skeefa (or entrance-hall) of our house, where aselect partyof the inhabitants of the town usually assembled themselves when the weather permitted. On this occasion, the women of England formed the principal subject of conversation, and the reports of their beauty, which had reached some of our visitors, appeared to have made a great impression in their favour. One of our party then produced a miniature from his pocket, which chanced to be the resemblance of a very pretty girl; and he roundly asserted, as he handed it to the company, that every woman in England was as handsome. We have already observed, that the subject was a very pretty girl; and they who are unacquainted with the force of custom and prejudice, will hardly conceive that an object so pleasing could be the cause of a moment’s alarm. But truth obliges us to add, that the first Arab of our party, who was favoured with a sight of the lady in question, started back in dismay and confusion; and all his worthy countrymen who cast their eyes upon the picture, withdrew them, on the instant, in the greatest alarm, exhibiting the strongest symptoms of astonishment and shame. The fact was, that the young lady who had caused so much confusion, was unluckily painted in a low evening dress; and her face was only shaded by the luxuriant auburn curls, which fell in ringlets over her forehead and temples.

There was nothing, it will be thought, so extremely alarming in this partial exhibition of female beauty; and the favoured inhabitants of less decorous, and more civilized countries, would scarcely dream of being shocked at a similar spectacle. But to men who inhabit those regions of delicacy, where evenoneeye of a female must never be seen stealing out from the sanctuary of her veil, the sudden apparition of a sparkling pair of those luminaries is not a vision of ordinary occurrence. At the same time, the alarm of the worthy Shekhs assembled, which the bright eyes andnakedface (as they termed it) of our fair young countrywoman had so suddenly excited, was in no way diminished by the heinous exposure of a snowy neck and a well-turned pair of shoulders; and had they been placed in the situation of Yusuf, when the lovely Zuleika presented herself in all her charms as a suitor for the young Hebrew’s love[14], or in the more embarrassing dilemma of the Phrygian shepherd-prince, when three immortal beauties stood revealed before his sight, they could scarcely have felt or expressed more confusion. Every Arab, who saw the picture, actually blushed and hid his face with his hands; exclaming—w’Allah harám—(by Heaven ’tis a sin) to look upon such an exposure of female charms!

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