Chapter V

Arrival at Zelīten — Description of the Village and District of that name — Harbour of Zelīten — Remains in its neighbourhood probably those of the Cisternæ Oppidum of Ptolemy — Tomb of the Marábūt Sidy Abd el Salám — Respect shewn to it by our party in passing before it — General appearance of these Structures — Arab credulity and superstition — Leave Zelīten — Remains between it and Selīn — Arrive at Selīn, the Orir, apparently, of Signor Della Cella — Proceed to Zoúia — Ports called by the Arabs Mersa Gusser and Mersa Zoraig — Arrive at Mesurata, the Western Boundary of the Greater Syrtis — Description of the Town and District of Mesurata — Account of them by Leo Africanus — Visit from the Shekh of Mesurata — Splendid Costume and Equipage of the Shekh compared with that of our Bedouin Guide, Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah — Allusion to the report mentioned at the end of the Third Chapter — Great demand for Medicine at Mesurata — Considerate conduct of Mr. Campbell — Speedy success of his treatment in many difficult cases — Miraculous cure of a young Arab woman by an itinerant Sherīf and Marábūt — Detention of the party at Mesurata — Observations on Cape Mesurata, considered as the Cephalas Promontorium of Strabo — Remarks of Signor Della Cella on this subject — Alterations proposed by that gentleman in the punctuation of a passage in Strabo descriptive of the Promontory — Actual appearance of the Promontory sufficiently consistent with the account of Strabo — Well-founded Remarks of Signor Della Cella on the extension of the Gharian Chain, &c. — Extensive View from the Sand-hills at the back of Mesurata — Singular contrast presented by the view over the dreary wastes of the Syrtis compared with that over the plain of Mesurata — Hot wind, and swarm of locusts accompanying it — Alarm of the Arabs of Mesurata — Precautions adopted by them on the occasion — Destructive consequences (mentioned by Shaw) resulting from the visit of a flight of Locusts which he witnessed — Remarks of Pliny on the same subject — Arrival of the Camels, and departure from Mesurata.

On our arrival at Zelīten, we found barley and oil in abundance, and much cheaper than in the neighbourhood of Tripoly; we availed ourselves, accordingly, of the favourable state of the market, to replenish our supply of these articles with the produce of the district of Cinyps. Herodotus thought it necessary to observe, in describing the fortunate region here alluded to, that “it _rained_ in this part of Libya[1]”—and we had also, in this instance, full reason to acknowledge the accuracy of the father of history: for our stock of provisions was so much damaged by the rain which had attended our passage through the country, that we found it necessary to expose it a second time to the sun, before we ventured to secure it more effectually in the baskets.

The village of Zelīten contains from three to five hundred souls (as Shekh Benzahir, who presides there, informed us); and we were indebted to him, besides, for the honour of a visit, and a present (no less valuable) of some excellent Fezzan dates, which are thought to be superior to those of the country. The _district_ of Zelīten, he further informed us, which extends from Wad’ el Kháhan to Selin, contains no less than fifteen villages and ten thousand inhabitants. The houses are built with mud and rough stones, the mud, on most occasions, preponderating, as it generally does in Arab buildings; the roofs are formed of mats and the branches of the palm-tree, on which is laid a quantity of earth. The villages of Igsaiba, Fehtir, Irgīg, and Snūd, all smaller than Zelīten, but built after the same fashion, may be said to be appendages to that place. Each of these villages, as well as Zelīten itself, is surrounded by plantations of date-trees and olives, and presents a tolerable show of cultivation. The produce is more than the inhabitants consume, and the overplus, together with straw mats and earthern jars, manufactured in the place, are disposed of to Bedouin traders, or carried to other markets for sale. There are two springs of very good water near Zelīten, which supply a small pond; and in this place the ladies of the place are accustomed to wash and cleanse their wool, their clothes, and, occasionally, themselves, before they fill their jars for home consumption.

The port called Mersa Zelīten is an insignificant cove, that would scarcely afford shelter to a boat. It is formed by a few rocks above water; may be about one hundred yards across, and appears to have no more than five or six feet water in it. Here also are two springs of good water, which would afford a constant supply, if the Arabs would take the trouble of excavating a cistern, and of protecting it from the surf. To the N.E. of the Mersa, at the distance of from half a mile to three-quarters of a mile off shore, the sea broke over sunken rocks: the cliffs are of sand-stone, and about thirty feet in height.

The many ruins which exist in the vicinity of Zelīten, and the frequent appearance of building-stones, and shafts of marble columns, protruding through the mud walls of the village, contribute decidedly to point it out as an ancient site, and it was probably the Cisternæ or Cinsternæ Oppidum of Ptolemy; which is the first town mentioned by this geographer after the Τριηρων ακρον—the Cephalas Promontorium of Strabo—in the tract of country between that point and the Cinyphus.

Among the sand hills which almost surround the village, we found several imperfect ground plans; and near the beach is the tomb of a Marábūt, supported by marble columns, which however are of very trifling dimensions: there also we noticed several fragments of marble columns, and a considerable quantity of pottery and glass. Among the sand hills are likewise some remains of Arab baths, built of stone and cement; and about them are scattered the ruins of walls and buildings, as though the village had once been there, but having been deserted was gradually covered with sand.

Our tents at Zelīten were pitched upon the sand hills close to the tomb of a celebrated Marábūt, called Sidy Abd el Salám, much respected by all the Mahometan population[2]. The Arabs of our escort were particularly desirous that we should show some marks of attention to the remains of this holy personage, by passing his tomb at a slow and solemn pace, and at a respectful distance; and though it may be imagined we had no great faith in the sanctity of this venerated Shekh, and as little in the miracles which were attributed to him, we complied with their pious request. The tombs of such Marábūts as have acquired any tolerable celebrity, present a singular appearance, in the motley collection of votive offerings and deposits which are displayed both within and without the holy structures; and bundles of wood and long grass, ploughs, mats, jars, and shreds of old garments, are seen mingled with rusty firelocks and pistols, saddles, stirrups, and bridles, and chaplets of beads, and rubbish of almost every description.

The more useful offerings of vegetables and fruit may be sometimes observed in the collection[3]; and the appetite of a saint, who has been dead fifty years, is often revived and miraculously exerted on these very tempting occasions. A large portion of food very soon disappears from the board of a living Marábūt, but the heaps which are consumed by a dead one of any celebrity are perfectly astonishing to unbelievers.

The credulity of the Arab has, however, no bounds; and it rather, indeed, appears to increase, in proportion as the marvellous tale which is related is more inconsistent and extravagant.

Marábūts are allowed the most unlimited freedom of access, from the palace and presence of the sovereign, to the tent of the meanest Arab; and their persons are considered as sacred and inviolable, even after the commission of the most unjustifiable outrages. The last-mentioned privilege is not confined to the living; for the tomb of a Marábūt is as inviolable as his person, and affords a sure sanctuary to the worst of criminals, in defiance of law and authority[4].

To return to our subject, we may remark, in conclusion, that a very considerable part of the population of Zelīten are Jews; and we were informed that the manufactures of the place are chiefly in the hands of these people: we found them uniformly civil, obliging, and industrious, and though much persecuted by the Mahometan inhabitants, they appear to support their ill fortune contentedly.

On the morning of the 18th we left Zelīten, and entered immediately upon an extensive plain, for the most part overrun with squills and brushwood. Two roads cross this plain, one to Mesurata, the other to Benioleed: we took the former, as nearest to the sea; and at the distance of a few miles beyond Zelīten, we observed several scattered heaps of ruins on either side of the road; most of these have been built on artificial mounds, with trenches round them, and appear to have formed parts of a military position; but everything was so much mutilated and buried, that much time would have been necessary to make out their plans, which would scarcely indeed have recompensed the labour of excavation.

At sunset we arrived at Selin, where the tents were pitched near an ancient well, forty feet in depth, and containing a good supply of sweet water. At the distance of about two hundred yards from the well, we perceived upon a hill the remains of what appeared to have been a fort; and many fragments of buildings were discernible here and there in the neighbourhood. This place seems to be the Orir of Dr. Della Cella, but we could perceive no traces of the Mosaic pavement which he mentions, nor anything to mark the spot as the site of an ancient city. The Doctor has fixed upon Orir as the position of Cinsternæ; and the circumstance of its occurring (in passing from west to east) immediately before the promontory which forms the western boundary of the Greater Syrtis, would, in truth, seem to favour the idea. But Zelīten appeared to us more adapted for the site of a city, and the remains of that place had more the character of parts of a town than those which were observable at Selin. We should conceive that the ruins to the eastward of Zelīten were those of a connected series of forts, and that no other buildings had been attached to them than such as are usually found in the neighbourhood of a military position. Cinsternæ, however, was a town of so little importance, that whether its site be fixed at Zelīten or Selin is a matter of very trivial consideration.

On the evening of the succeeding day we reached the little village of Zoúia, which is somewhat resembling, but very superior to, Zelīten. After quitting Selin we had divided our party, and leaving the camels to pursue the direct road, we proceeded along the sand-hills which flank the beach, and arrived at an inconsiderable collection of hovels situated immediately on the coast. This place is called Zoraig, and contains, we were told, about an hundred persons, who cultivate just sufficient ground to supply themselves and their families. They were, however, provided with several wells of good water, which they distributed by means of troughs over the cultivated ground. We here dismounted to partake of some dates and water, which were cordially offered to us by an old man of the village; and we soon learned from him that the Adventure had been there several days, and that a party of the officers had been on shore. Two little ports, if such they may be called, are here formed by reefs of rocks lying off the village, and the natives have dignified them with the titles of Mersa Gusser and Mersa Zoraig[5].

On the following day we entered Mesurata by a circuitous route shaded thickly with date-trees, and enclosed between well-furnished gardens.

We had now reached the eastern boundary of the cultivated districts, where they terminate on the margin of the Syrtis; and as this was the place where we were to change our camels, we pitched the tents in a garden near the town, and proceeded to make the necessary arrangements.

The town of Mesurata is built with tolerable regularity; its streets cross each other at right angles, and near the centre stands the market-place, which, like most others in this country, is half occupied by a pool of green and stinking water. The houses are only one story high, and are built with rough stones and mud; the roofs are flat, and formed with slight rafters, covered with mats and a quantity of sea-weed, over which is laid a thick coat of mud, smoothed and beat down very carefully. They are fortunate who can mix a little lime with the mud which forms the outer part of their roof; for without this addition it is wholly incapable of resisting the heavy rains which assail it in winter, and a thick muddy stream never fails to find its way, through the numerous mazes of sea-weed and matting, to the luckless inhabitants below: the white-washed walls are in consequence usually marked with long streaks of this penetrating fluid, and present a singularly-variegated appearance. The greater part of the town has been built upon a hard rocky incrustation, about two feet in thickness; the soil beneath is soft and sandy, and, being easily removed, is excavated by the Arabs into storehouses for their corn and dry provisions. Some of these have in the course of time fallen in, and the streets are in such places not very passable.

The extent of the _district_ of Mesurata, according to the report of its Shekh, is from Selin to Sooleb, a place in the Syrtis, two days distant to the southward of the town; it consists of the villages of Ghâra, Zoúia, Zoroog, Gusser Hámed, Gezir, &c., and is said to contain 14,000 inhabitants, including those of the town of Mesurata; the population of the five villages which we have just named amounts to about 1250 persons, supposing the estimate of the Shekh to be correct, from whom this statement is derived. The gardens, which extend from Zoúia to Marábūt Bushaifa, produce dates, olives, melons, pomegranates, pumpkins, carrots, onions, turnips, radishes, and a little tobacco and cotton; among these may be mentioned the palma christi, which we frequently observed in this neighbourhood. Many of the gardens are raised from six to eight feet above the road, and are enclosed by mud walls, or by fences of the prickly pear and wild aloe. The dates, which are of several kinds, are in great abundance, and the olives yield a plentiful supply of oil: these, with barley, which is also very abundant, are carried to various markets for sale; for the home-consumption of the place consists chiefly of dates and dúrrah, and the greater part of the barley is exported. The principal manufactures of Mesurata are carpets, the colours of which are very brilliant, straw mats, sacks of goats’ hair, and earthen jars. The market is in general well supplied with meat, vegetables, the fruits of the country, oil, manteca, and salt; the latter is procured from some very extensive marshes a few miles to the southward of the town[6].

Mesurata (or “Mesarata,” as some authors write it) has been described by Leo Africanus as “a province on the coast of the Mediterranean, distant about an hundred miles from Tripoly.” He states it to have contained many “castles and villages, some on heights, and others in the plain;” and adds that the inhabitants were excessively rich, on account of their having no tribute to pay, and the attention which they bestowed upon commerce. They were in the habit (he continues) of receiving foreign wares, which were brought to them by the Venetian galleys, and of carrying them to Numidia, where they were bartered in exchange for slaves, civet, and musk from Ethiopia; these they carried into Turkey, and made a profit both in going and returning.

In the lifetime of the late Bashaw, Mesurata was in a very disturbed state. The inhabitants had refused to receive Sidy Yusef, and it was only by the assistance of Shekh Haliffe that they were at length reduced to obedience[7]. The place is not now so flourishing as it is stated to have been in the time of Leo, and its commerce appears to be trifling.

Soon after our arrival, the Shekh of Mesurata, Belcázi, came to pay us his visit of ceremony. He was accompanied by Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah, and attended by a train of mounted Arabs, tolerably well armed with long guns and pistols. The splendid attire of Shekh Belcázi, displayed to advantage by a large and handsome person, threw far into the shade the less imposing costume and figure of his companion. It consisted of three cloth waistcoats, richly embroidered with gold, and a pair of most capacious crimson silk trowsers, bound tight round his waist, which was none of the slenderest, by many an ell of handsome shawl. Over this, notwithstanding the heat of the day, he had thrown, in ample folds, a large white barracan, and above this a heavy red cloth burnoos, the hood of which was pulled over eight or ten yards of muslin rolled round his head as a turban. The eyelids of the Shekh had been carefully painted with the sable powder usually employed for that purpose, and which is considered, even by men, in the regency of Tripoly, to be absolutely requisite on occasions of ceremony. The tips of his fat and gentlemanly-looking fingers were at the same time stained with hénnah; and, as the dye had been recently and copiously applied, would decidedly have made those of Aurora look pale.

While the Shekh had been thus minutely attentive to his own person, that of his horse had been by no means neglected; for his bridle was of crimson silk embroidered with gold, and his scarlet saddle-cloth displayed a broad edging of gold lace: the saddle itself was of rich crimson velvet, and the high back and pummel, which appeared through the saddle-cloth, were also thickly embroidered with gold. A broad band of gold lace was stretched across his chest, and a large and thick tassel of crimson silk and gold (which might have served a Grand Cross of the Bath), together with a numerous collection of charms, were suspended from the neck of the animal. The large gilt Mameluke stirrups, kept in constant motion by the rider, flashed gaily in the beams of the sun, which were glanced off in many a brilliant sparkle from this glittering assemblage of precious metal. If Phœbus himself had appeared in all his splendour, mounted on one of his gayest chariot-horses, he could scarcely have been more an object of admiration and wonder in the eyes of the humble and unassuming crowd of Arabs which had assembled to witness the show, than Shekh Belcázi and his charger were on this occasion.

We dare not guess how the lady of our honest friend the Dúbbah would have supported this splendid exhibition, in which her husband was so completely eclipsed; but we thought that the eyes of Shekh Mahommed himself did occasionally wander to the shining masses by his side, with something like an expression of jealousy. If it were so, however, the glance only found its way through the _corners_ of the Dúbbah’s orbs of vision; for his head kept its post with becoming solemnity, and was never once turned towards those objects of his envy, to which all other eyes were so fully directed. It must at the same time be allowed, that the toilet of Shekh Mahommed had been much more attended to than usual. He had made a temporary adjournment from his usual _only_ garment to a white cotton shirt of very decent exterior, over which he had carefully arranged a clean-looking white barracan; and he had drawn from the innermost recesses of his saddle-bags a new white burnoos of no ordinary texture, which he persuaded himself to substitute for the old and coarse brown one he had hitherto worn on the road[8]. His saddle-case was now observed to be of crimson morocco, a circumstance with which we were not before acquainted; for it had hitherto, on the journey, been turned inside out, or more properly speaking, with the outer side in, to prevent it from being soiled, and from fading in the sun. His saddle-cloth also, which had hitherto consisted of a dirty piece of white flannel, was now of bright scarlet cloth; and, besides the embroidered covers to his silver-embossed pistols, he had carefully suspended from different parts of his body a great variety of little bags, of different colours and sizes: these were the repositories of his powder and ball, and carried tinder, flints and steel, money, nails, and tobacco, with sundry other little matters too numerous to mention. By his side also hung a neat little smàat, or goat skin, with the long black hairs left to ornament and protect the outside; and which, properly speaking, was meant to hold water, but which likewise served indifferently for holding milk, oil, or butter, or any other substance which it might be necessary to carry in it. We should state that, under all this variety of ornament, Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah sat with dignity upon his mare, a recently-acquired present from the Bashaw, whose spirit had been prudently roused on this occasion by the stimulus of an extra feed of corn. The display of Arab horsemanship which concluded the procession, received additional éclat from this precaution; and the Dúbbah’s mare, after manœuvring her head to admiration, first on one side and then on the other, and prancing, and pacing, and rearing, to the delight of the assembled spectators, no sooner felt the angle of the spur assail her sides, than she sprang forward with a bound in advance of the party, and being suddenly pulled up with a powerful bit, was thrown back upon her haunches within a foot of our tent-cords. The old Dúbbah looked round to enjoy the applause which he felt he had deserved, for his horsemanship and his mare, from the crowd who had witnessed the exhibition; and the two Shekhs alighted and entered the tent, each apparently well pleased with himself.

Within they found everything arranged for their reception: the dusty ground had been previously adorned with a mat, over which had been spread some small carpets; and we had taken care to have coffee and sherbet in readiness, which were served up as soon as they were seated. Shekh Belcázi was introduced to our acquaintance by the Dúbbah, who took care at the same time to inform us of his rank and importance; accompanying his harangue with a profusion of fulsome Arab compliments, which were received by Belcázi as a matter of course, and appreciated by us as they deserved. As soon as the usual salutations were over, and the coffee and lemonade had been disposed of (though not before Belcázi had satisfied his curiosity with regard to the several uses of every object in the tent), we began to make arrangements for the number of camels which would be necessary for our journey across the Syrtis. The Shekh of Mesurata undertook to provide them, and freely offered his assistance in any other way in which it might be serviceable to our party.

The camels could not be procured on the moment, but it was settled that Belcázi should let us know the next morning how soon he would be able to collect them. The Dúbbah, in his turn, now began to expatiate upon the attention which _he_ would shew us when we reached the district of Syrt, over which he presided as Shekh; and to enumerate the various excellences of the fat sheep and lambs, of the milk, and the butter, and the water we should find there; assuring us that he would consider it his greatest pleasure, as well as duty, to take care that we were well supplied with all these valuable commodities. He then began to state the great advantage of his protection, and how impossible it would have been for us to cross the Syrtis without him. As we suspected that the report which had been mentioned to us by the Consul was invented by our worthy friend the Dúbbah, we took this opportunity of relating it to the Shekh of Mesurata, and of asking his opinion with regard to its probability. Belcázi shook his head, and very confidently assured us that he did not believe there was any foundation for it whatever: it was true, he confessed, that a few years ago such an interruption might easily have occurred; but since the Arab tribes had been reduced by the Bashaw, the communication between Mesurata and Bengazi might be considered as tolerably certain.

Shekh Mahommed, however (whose large and round eyes had been during this discourse very attentively fixed upon those of the Shekh of Mesurata), still insisted upon the existence of this horde of _sbandūt_[9]; and even asserted that he was himself well acquainted with all their favourite haunts and retreats. Some of his party, he added, had tracked their horses’ feet from the well which they had recently visited, and had informed him that their troop was very numerous. But he knew, he continued, all the wells which they frequented, and would himself ride before, to reconnoitre the ground when we arrived in the neighbourhood of those places. He then assumed an air of amazing importance, and putting one hand upon the head of a pistol at his side, and stroking with the other his grey bushy beard, bade us not be alarmed at any danger which might threaten us while we were under the protection of the Dúbbah! We were now quite convinced that our valiant old friend had himself been the author of the report, in order, as we then thought, to enhance the value of his protection; and we afterwards discovered the reason why he wished to have an excuse for riding on occasionally in advance of the party. It was, however, not our wish to hurt the old Shekh’s feelings by a disclosure of these suspicions, and it was certainly not our policy to do so; we therefore acquiesced in his remarks upon his own importance, and assured him that it was really our firm belief that no _sbandūt_ would be daring enough to enter into his presence. After some little further conversation with the Shekhs, from whom we obtained all the information we could, we reminded Belcázi of his promise to collect the camels, which we told him we wished to have as speedily as possible, and he soon after rose to take his leave, and retired with the formidable Dúbbah. On the following morning he sent his son to say that we should have the camels in three or four days, and we took the opportunity of making the youth some few presents, with which he was highly delighted. In the evening we returned Belcázi’s visit, and were received with a good deal of that easy politeness, which the better classes of Turks and Arabs know so well (when they choose it) how to practise. We here perceived that the fashions of Tripoly had travelled eastward for green tea was served up with the sherbet instead of coffee, very sweet, and very highly perfumed. On taking our leave, we were again assured by the Shekh that he would send us the camels very shortly; but although we had every reason to be satisfied with Belcázi, so far as professions and civilities extended, we had already seen enough of the Mahometan character to know that his promises should not be depended upon.

We had scarcely been a day at Mesurata before the report of our having a tibeeb (or doctor) in our party soon brought us a multitude of visiters; and the demand for medicine became so extensive, that the contents of twenty medicine-chests, such as that which we had with us, would not have satisfied one-half of the applicants. By far the greater number of those who presented themselves had nothing whatever the matter with them; but there were still many cases of real distress which required and obtained assistance. The most prevalent diseases were those of the eye, and there were many very alarming cases of dysentery; but Mr. Campbell’s attention and medical skill soon began to produce very favourable symptoms, and as much of the medicine as could possibly be spared was administered to and distributed amongst those who required it. As is usual, however, in barbarous countries, there were many simple beings whom it was impossible to convince that the powers of medicine are limited, and they were so fully persuaded of Mr. Campbell’s omnipotence, that he soon found it useless to deny it. To meet this emergency he found it better to make up some little harmless ingredients for their use, and to tell them that the rest was in the hands of the prophet, who had alone (under Allah) the power to cure them completely. With this declaration, and the medicine together, without which they would by no means have been satisfied, the petitioners used to retire well pleased with their physician, and convinced that the draught or the powders which they had received would infallibly remove their infirmity, however incurable it might be.

A young woman, in the mean time, who resided near the tents, was attacked, after eating a quantity of bazeen[10], with a violent headache and pain in the stomach; and a celebrated Marábūt, who had lately arrived at Mesurata, was called in to administer his assistance. The holy man did not refuse to comply with the summons; and when he made his appearance at the door of her tent, Mr. Campbell, and such of our party who were near, were led by curiosity to the same place; and taking up, unperceived, an advantageous position, were able to understand, with the assistance of the interpreter, the whole of the conversation which ensued.

The Shereef (for he claimed, or possessed, the distinction) was no sooner made acquainted with the case than he assumed a most mysterious air; and began by declaring to his suffering patient that she was possessed by an _underground spirit_. He then proceeded to state, as the cause of this misfortune, that before doing something (which our party could not distinctly make out) she had omitted to say Bismillah! (in the name of God) a form always used by good and pious Mahometans to draw down a blessing upon whatever they are about to do. This omission (he declared) had been the cause of her dropping some water upon the head of the spirit’s child, who was passing beneath her (under ground) at the time; and the justly-enraged gnome had in consequence leaped into her, and was now in the act of tormenting her for the crime. Our party of listeners could hardly contain themselves at this most ingenious discovery of the Shereef; but all the Arabs within the tent believed it most fully, and the poor girl herself began to cry bitterly and to bewail her hard fate and most unlucky omission. The Marábūt, however, now bade her take comfort, and assured her that the case, though undoubtedly a serious one, was not altogether without a remedy. He accordingly called up a severe and commanding look, and, in a tone of authority, ordered the spirit to leave her. As the pain still continued without intermission, it was evident that this personage was not inclined to obey; and the holy man then pronounced him a most obstinate spirit, and told him that he knew of his having entered the woman long before she had sent for his assistance: he added, however, that he was determined to conquer him, and would not quit his patient till morning. At the same time he acknowledged that the task would be difficult, for he could clearly perceive that the woman was wicked: he knew it (he said) by the breadth of her shoulders, and the uncommon blackness of her large rolling eyes, which were even larger and blacker than those of one of his own wives, whom he knew to be a very sinful woman. In the morning it happened that the poor girl was better, and the fame of the Marábūt was widely diffused; but whether her recovery was owing to the holy man’s exertions, or to a copious draught of medicine administered by Mr. Campbell, we will leave to the decision of our readers.

During our stay at Mesurata, where we were detained several days, in consequence of the non-appearance of the Shekh’s promised camels, we took the opportunity afforded by the delay, of visiting the places of most interest in the neighbourhood.

Bushaifa Bay had been stated by Captain Lautier to afford good anchorage for shipping, and seemed in consequence to call for some examination; but we must confess that it did not appear, upon inspection, to deserve the character which that officer gives it. Of the protection which may be afforded by breakers we cannot venture to speak, Mesurata not boasting so much as a single boat, but it is certain that the land does not give the shelter required, as will be seen by a reference to the chart. On the point of the bay, where is the best landing-place, there has formerly been a fort, which is now entirely destroyed.

As we had arrived on the confines of the Gulf of the greater Syrtis, the position of the promontory, which had been stated by the ancients to form its western extremity, was a most important object of inquiry. Between the town of Mesurata and the sea there is a high range of sand-hills, rising far above the heads of the tallest date-trees about them: and beyond these is a promontory of soft sand-stone[11], which may be (at a rough estimation) about an hundred feet above the level of the sea. This high land is divided into three distinct heads, or capes, and is described by Captain Lautier as having the appearance (from the sea) of three[12] hills in the form of as many islands. The low ground at the back and to the south-east of these capes is thickly covered with date-trees, but their summits are now bare of wood and destitute of any vegetation: the sand-stone in fact is fast crumbling away, and the height of the promontory is every day diminishing. The appearance of this triple cape coincided so well, in our estimation, with the description given by Strabo of the Cephalas Promontorium[13], that we have not hesitated to pronounce it the same with that headland. It does not however form the precise point, or western extremity, of the gulf, which is in fact a low rocky projection, scarcely above the level of the sea, about four miles distant from the cape: but this point is too low to be remarked from the sea, and Strabo, when he observed the cape from his vessel, may well be excused for having overlooked it.

The Τριήρων ἄκρον, or Triærorum Promontorium of Ptolemy is no doubt the same with the Cephalas of Strabo; and being laid down a little without the gulf corresponds more exactly with the actual nature of the ground. Strabo certainly describes his promontory as forming the beginning or western extremity of the Syrtis; but the circumstance above mentioned of his having seen it only from the sea, may be easily imagined to have occasioned this little inaccuracy, if such it may indeed be termed.

We are at a loss to imagine what the promontory can be which Signor Della Cella has identified with that of Ptolemy (and which he states to have been _two hours_ distant from Mesurata) unless the Cephalas itself be intended, or, in other words, the cape which we have supposed to be the Cephalas[14]. For, with the exception of this, there is no other high land which will in any respect answer to the triple cape of Ptolemy; and this is not more than half an hour’s ride from the town, and is not in the route which the army must have taken in marching from Mesurata towards the Syrtis, as will be seen by a reference to the Chart. At the same time, we can neither persuade ourselves that Strabo would have instanced an accidental range of sand-hills as a promontory; nor that the word υψηλη, applied by this geographer to the Cephalas, can be supposed to mean _distant_, or _deep_, instead of high, as Signor Della Cella has imagined; notwithstanding the passage cited from Homer, which the Doctor reads in favour of his argument[15].

When we consider that the cape which forms the Cephalas Promontorium is, at least, as we have stated, an hundred feet high; and that, from the soft quality of the stone, which is continually crumbling away, it may have been in Strabo’s time considerably higher, we may fairly conclude that the term υψηλη (or _high_) is not quite so inapplicable to it as Signor Della Cella has asserted.

It is true that compared with high capes this elevation may appear to be trifling; but it seems quite sufficient when contrasted with the land about it, and particularly with the low and level surface of the Syrtis. The highest parts of the Cape, as we have mentioned above, are not at the present time wooded, whatever they may have been formerly; but the land at its base, to the south and south-east, is thickly covered with date-trees and olives: and, without allowing so much for the changes which time might be supposed to have produced, as would be readily granted to us by the most tenacious of naturalists, we may venture to assert that this cape, under its present appearance, answers sufficiently well to the description of Strabo, to authorize its being identified with the Cephalas.

The observations, however, which Signor Della Cella has made on the map of Northern Africa by Arrowsmith, respecting the extension of the Gharian chain towards the Greater Syrtis, and the omission of the low range which actually branches off from those mountains, are certainly very correct[16]. For a minor branch of the Gharian detaches itself from the chain, and runs down to the sea in the neighbourhood of Lebida; and another part of the same range extends itself from Lebida towards the Syrtis Major, gradually declining as it approaches that place, both of which are omitted in the map to which the Doctor has alluded[17]. The eastern extremity of the Gharian chain appears also to be carried too near to the Greater Syrtis, from no part of which (so far as our experience went) could any portion of this chain be perceived.

We were unable to discover any remains of antiquity at Mesurata; but its remarkable position between the fertile regions of the Cinyphus, and the barren dreary wastes of the Greater Syrtis, cannot fail to make it an object of more than common interest to those who witness the singular contrast.

From the high range of sand-hills, which we have mentioned above, between the town and the sea, an excellent idea may be formed of this striking peculiarity of situation; and we often toiled up their steep and yielding sides to enjoy the singularity of the prospect.

At the foot of these masses, to the southward, and to the westward, are the varied and cultivated lands of Mesurata[18]: there are seen endless groves of palm-trees and olives, among which are scattered numerous villages and gardens, rich tracts of corn land, flocks of sheep and goats, and everywhere a moving and busy population. To the eastward[19], a tenantless and desolate waste, without a single object rising from its surface, lies stretched in one long, unbroken, line, as far as the eye can range. Not a single tree or shrub is on that side to be seen; not a single house or tent, not a single human being, or animal of any description.

In fact the effect of the Greater Syrtis, from this place, is that of a dreary moor—a wide tract of level, waste land—without anything to distinguish one part of it from another but the windings of a marsh, which threads its dark surface, and is lost in different parts of the unbroken horizon[20].

Two days before our departure from Mesurata, a strong scirocco wind set in, and brought such myriads of locusts, that the air was literary darkened by them. The inhabitants in consequence remained out all night, keeping up a continued shouting and firing of muskets and pistols, to prevent them from settling on the gardens and cultivated lands. They who were not engaged in this occupation, employed themselves in collecting the locusts which had been beaten down, and carrying them off in baskets as articles of provision: so great was the quantity collected on this occasion, that we observed many asses, heavily laden with these insects, driven into the town and the neighbouring villages. The destruction occasioned by a large swarm of locusts can scarcely be imagined by those who have not witnessed it; and the account which we subjoin of them, extracted from Shaw, may not perhaps be unacceptable to our readers[21].

After this interesting description, the Doctor proceeds to observe—“The locust, I conjecture, was the _noisome beast_, or the _pernicious destructive animal_, as the original words may be interpreted, which, with the _sword_, the _famine_, and the _pestilence_, made the _four sore judgments_ that were threatened against Jerusalem, Ezek. xiv. 21.”

“The Jews were allowed to eat them; and indeed when sprinkled with salt, and fried, they are not unlike in taste to our fresh-water cray-fish.”

“The Acridophagi[22], no doubt, were fond of eating them; in so much as they received their name from thence.”—He further adds—“The ακριδες, which St. John the Baptist fed upon in the wilderness, were properly locusts; and provided they appeared in the holy land during the spring, as they did in Barbary, it may be presumed that St. John entered upon his mission, and that _the day of his shewing himself unto Israel_ (Luke i. 20) was at that season[23].”

Pliny has informed us that the locusts lay their eggs in autumn, which remain all the winter in the fissures of the earth, and come forth in the shape of locusts in the following spring; being, at first, without legs, and obliged to creep upon their wings. He tells us that they invariably choose tracts of level country in which to deposit their eggs, as being most full of crevices and fissures, and hence, if it chance to be a rainy season, the eggs never come to perfection; but, on the contrary, if the early part of the year should be dry, vast numbers of these insects may be expected in the summer ensuing.

Some writers (he adds) are of opinion that locusts breed _twice_ in the year, and that they perish as often; the first supply dying in the heat of the summer, and the second immediately succeeding them. The mothers die as soon as they have brought forth their young, by reason of a small worm which breeds about the throat, and ultimately chokes them. The same author informs us that _it is said_ there are locusts in India so much as _three_ feet in length; and that the people of the country use their legs and thighs for saws, after they are properly dried! Pliny mentions, at the same time, their flight across the sea, over which they are carried by the wind, and where they usually fall, and perish in heaps; although this is not always of necessity the case, as early writers (he says) have remarked, because their wings are wet with the dew; for they have been known to pass over extensive tracts of sea, and will continue their flight for many days without rest. Locusts, he adds, are gifted with the power of foreseeing an approaching famine, and will take the precaution, on such an occasion, of transporting themselves into distant countries. He mentions also the noise which they make with their wings, and that they are sometimes mistaken for flights of strange birds: that they darken the sun in their flight, as if a heavy cloud had passed before it, and spread terror and consternation wherever they make their appearance; eating up everything which comes in their way, and even gnawing the very doors of the houses. Italy, on this writer’s authority, was so much infested with locusts from the opposite shores of Africa, that the people of Rome, alarmed at the idea of their producing a famine, had been often obliged to consult the books of the Sibyls, to discover by what means they might avert the wrath of the gods which they considered to be falling upon them. He tells us that in the Cyrenaica there existed a law, obliging the inhabitants, every third year, to wage a regular war with the locusts: on such occasions they were ordered to seek out their nests, to destroy the eggs and the young, and afterwards to proceed to extirpate such as had already come to maturity.

A heavy punishment, at the same time, was inflicted upon those who neglected this useful precaution, as though they had been guilty of an unpardonable crime against their sovereign and their country. In Lemnos, also, there was a measure established to regulate the quantity which each man should kill; and every person was obliged to give in his account to the magistrate, and to produce his measure full of dead locusts[24].

It may easily be conceived, from these relations, what consternation and dismay is excited among the inhabitants of a cultivated country by the appearance of a large swarm of locusts. The mischief, however, occasioned at Mesurata by those which we have mentioned above, was not by any means so great, we are happy to say, as might have been reasonably expected: and the Arabs of the place were soon as busily employed in eating their formidable invaders, as they had at first been in preserving their crops from experiencing a similar fate.

On the 2nd December, after repeated promises and disappointments, our camels at length arrived; and having made suitable presents to Shekh Belcazi and his son, we prepared to continue our journey. We had few difficulties to encounter in our dealings with the people of Mesurata; and we must confess that we found in their Shekh, notwithstanding his occasional evasions, more openness and honesty than are usually met with in the inhabitants of Mahometan countries.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Υεται γαρ δηταυτα της Λιβυης.]

[Footnote 2: The saint and his tomb are thus mentioned by Captain Lyon:—

“This place (Zelīten) is particularly blessed in possessing the remains of a great Marábūt, who is buried in a really handsome mosque, ornamented with minarets and neat cupolas, and whitewashed all over. His descendants are much respected, and are called Weled el Sheikh, sons of the elder; they think themselves authorized to be the most impudent, begging set of people in the whole regency of Tripoly.” (P. 335.)]

[Footnote 3: It must be observed, that the opportunity of being buried in a mosque does not offer itself to many Marábūts—their tombs in general are small, insulated buildings, surmounted with a single cupola, having nothing to recommend them, in point of appearance, beyond the neatness and regularity which usually distinguish them. They are commonly built on eminences.]

[Footnote 4: A criminal who may not be forced from a Marábūt, may, however, be starved in his sanctuary; and this is often effected by surrounding the tomb with troops, thus preventing the escape of the prisoner, and the possibility of his being supplied with food. An occurrence, however, took place at Bengazi in the year 1817, which serves to prove that this species of blockade is not always sure to be effectual. Some Arabs of the Zoàsi tribe, who had escaped from Bey Hamed after the massacre of their companions in the castle, took refuge in the tomb of a celebrated Marábūt, situated in the vicinity of the town. The Bey could not venture to force the sanctuary which they had reached, but took every means in his power to prevent their escape, or their communication with any person without. He had closely blockaded the tomb with his troops; and flattered himself that they must shortly perish with hunger, or be reduced to the necessity of surrendering themselves to the soldiers. In either case the object of the Bey would have been accomplished, and he confidently waited the result; while the anxiety of the people and neighbourhood of Bengazi, who pitied the unfortunate fugitives, was raised to the highest pitch. Every one was expecting some horrid catastrophe, for the destruction of the prisoners, by famine or the sword, appeared to be now inevitable; when the timely interference of the departed Marábūt was miraculously exerted in their favour. On the third day after their arrival at the sanctuary, to the astonishment of the assembled spectators, a stream of water was seen to issue from the tomb, and the ground all about it was observed to be strewed with dates and other articles of food for the refugees!!!

It was clear that no other than the Marábūt himself could have afforded this providential supply—(λεγομεν δε τα λεγουσι αυτοι Λιβυες, we tell the tale as it was told to us)—for the place had been watched day and night by the troops, who had been carefully and regularly relieved; and every Arab of Bengazi and the adjacent country can still testify the fact as it is stated!

The same story may be found in the work of Dr. Della Cella, who informs us that the miracle took place during his residence at Bengazi.]

[Footnote 5: Mersa is the Arab term for a port or harbour.]

[Footnote 6: Some account of the government and resources, as well as of the trade, of Mesurata, may be collected from the work of Signor Della Cella, pp. 55, 6, 7.]

[Footnote 7: See Tully’s Memoirs, passim.]

[Footnote 8: A coarse brown barracan is on most occasions the only habit of a Bedouin Arab; but as the rainy season was approaching, Shekh Mahommed had allowed himself the additional covering of the old burnoos we have mentioned. Shirts are seldom worn but on gay occasions.]

[Footnote 9: The term applied by the Arabs in the regency of Tripoly to marauders of every description, and which is evidently corrupted from the Italian.]

[Footnote 10: Bazeen (the composition and manufacture of which is well described by Captain Lyon, p. 49) is the common food of the lower classes of Arabs in the regency of Tripoly, and appears to have been a very ancient one; for we find it mentioned by Leo Africanus as being in use among the same people, in his account of Tripoly.—(5ta parte, page 72.)]

[Footnote 11: Dr. Della Cella has confounded the sand-hills with the promontory, the latter of which he asserts is composed entirely of sand; they are however as distinct from each other as sand-stone may be said to be from sand. The sand-hills are, besides, at some distance from the sea, and the promontory immediately upon it.]

[Footnote 12: Il Capo Mesurata, a tre circa leghe di distanza, si mostra sotto l’ apparenza di tre monticelli a foggia di tre isolotti.—See Lautier’s Memoir, attached to the Viaggio da Tripoli, &c., by Della Cella.]

[Footnote 13: Ειτ᾽ ακρα υψηλη και υλωδης, αρχη της μεγαλης Συρτεως, καλουσι δε Κεφαλας· Lib. 17, § 18.]

[Footnote 14: Dopo _due ore_ di cammino giungemmo all’ estremità del Promontorio che sporge in tre punte divise da seni di mare: ond’ è che il nome di capo Triero con cui è chiamato da Tolommeo ne esprime la forma.—Viaggio da Tripoli, &c., p. 60.]

[Footnote 15: The observations connected with the transposition of the comma recommended by Signor Della Cella, are at the same time, we must confess, rather singular: for it does not clearly appear how the removal of a comma from a place which it never occupied, and the insertion of it in a place where it always existed, can be said to amend a defective passage. A comma is placed after υλωδης, in all the copies of Strabo with which we are acquainted, but none after ακρα although there might be without impropriety; and it seems more consistent with the Doctor’s translation to suppose that he meant exactly the contrary of what he has recommended; that is to say, that his real intention was to remove the comma from υλωδης, and place it after ακρα. We might then read, by giving to υψηλη the sense which Signor Della Cella requires for it,—“Then comes the promontory, which forms the _distant_ and woody extremity of the Greater Syrtis,”—instead of—“Then (comes) the high and woody promontory, which is the beginning of the Greater Syrtis.” We must, however, confess that we do not see any difference in the sense of the passage in question, whether a comma be placed after ακρα or not, provided that after υλωδης be allowed to keep its place: but by the change which we propose, the Doctor’s punctuation will at any rate correspond with his version, which, as it stands, it does not.

We give the observations and the passage together in Signor Della Cella’s own words.—“Con questa avvertenza io crederei doversi intendere un passo di Strabone molto diversamente dal penso che gli è dato da tutti i traduttori; parlando del Capo Cefalo, questo geografo così si esprime—ειτ᾽ ακρα υψηλη και υλωδης, ακρη (αρχη of course is intended) της μεγαλης Συρτεως—che tutti traducono—indi (viene) il promontorio alto e selvoso, che è il principio della gran Sirte.”

“L’esattezza di questo illustre geografo puo esser salvata _togliendo_ la virgola dopo ακρα e _transportandola_ dopo υλωδης, e traducendo—quindi viene il promontorio, che forma l’ alta e selvosa estremità della gran Sirte—dovendosi riputare quell’ alto non all’ altezza del capo, che non quadra col vero, ma alla _distanza_ che divide l’estremità della gran Sirte dal suo fondo. In questo stesso senso la voce υψηλη trovasi spesso adoperata da Omero per dinotare _gli sfondi del mare nelle terre_.”

. . . ως οτε κυμα ακτη

Εφ᾽ υψηλη οτε κινηστει Νοτος ελθων, &c.—(V. da Tripoli, p. 54.)

]

[Footnote 16: Sopra questa osservazione converra correggere la bellissima carta di Arrow-Smith, ove la schiera de’ monti del Goriano son disposti in maniera de far credere che tra il capo Mesurata, ove in quella carta si pretendono è la piccola Sirte, vi sia un’ ampia e non interrotta pianura. Ora, non solo da questi monti si stacca un ramo che la interrompe, e viene a cadere scosceso sul mare a Lebda; ma di più, il loro prolungamento fino al Capo Mesurata è falso.—(p. 53-4.)]

[Footnote 17: In illustration of these remarks, we need only refer our readers to the chart of the Expedition prefixed, which we may add has been carefully made; but we must observe, in justice to the compilers of those excellent maps which are published in the name of Mr. Arrowsmith, that no blame can be reasonably attached to them, either for the extension or the omission alluded to. They could only avail themselves of the best authorities hitherto existing, and ought not to be made responsible for more than these actually contain.]

[Footnote 18: The rocky land which we have mentioned, and the sea, form the boundaries of the sand-hills to the northward.]

[Footnote 19: The south-eastward would be more correct, for the coast there begins to trend to the southward.]

[Footnote 20: A more comfortless scene can scarcely be imagined than is presented by the opening of this celebrated region, so little known at any period of history. The opinion which the ancients appear to have formed of it may be inferred from the description of Lucan, in his account of Cato’s march across it (Pharsalia, book 9.); but it will be seen, as we advance into the regions of the Syrtis, that this description is more poetical than just.]

[Footnote 21: “Those which I saw, ann. 1724 and 1725, were much bigger than our common grasshoppers, and had brown-spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was towards the latter end of March, the wind having been for some time from the south. In the middle of April their numbers were so vastly increased, that in the heat of the day they formed themselves into large and numerous swarms, flew in the air like a succession of clouds, and, as the prophet Joel expresses it, (ii. 10,) they _darkened the sun_. When the wind blew briskly, so that these swarms were crowded by others, or thrown one upon another, we had a lively idea of that comparison of the Psalmist (Psalm cix. 23), of being _tossed up and down as the locust_. In the month of May, when the ovaries of those insects were ripe and turgid, each of these swarms began gradually to disappear, and retired into the Mettijiah, and other adjacent plains, where they deposited their eggs. These were no sooner hatched, in June, than each of the broods collected itself into a compact body, of a furlong or more in square; and marching afterwards directly forward towards the sea, they let nothing escape them, eating up everything that was green and juicy; not only the lesser kinds of vegetables, but the vine likewise, the fig-tree, the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple-tree—_even all the trees of the field_, (Joel i. 12,)—in doing which _they kept their ranks like men of war_, climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall that was in their way; nay, they entered into our very houses and bed-chambers, like _so many thieves_. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water; or else they heaped up therein heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, which they severally set on fire upon the approach of the locusts. But this was all to no purpose; for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires extinguished by infinite swarms succeeding one another; whilst the front was regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close that a retreat was altogether impossible. A day or two after one of these broods was in motion, others were already hatched to march and glean after them, gnawing off the very bark and the young branches of such trees as had before escaped with the loss only of their fruit and foliage. So justly have they been compared by the prophet Joel (ii. 3,) to a _great army_; who further observes, that _the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness_.”

“Having lived near a month in this manner, like a μυριοστομον ξιφος[a], or _sword with ten thousand edges_, to which they have been compared, upon the ruin and destruction of every vegetable substance that came in their way, they arrived at their full growth, and threw off their nympha-state, by casting their outward skin. To prepare themselves for this change, they clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone, and immediately, by using an undulating motion, their heads would first break out, and then the rest of their bodies. The whole transformation was performed in seven or eight minutes; after which they lay for a small time in a torpid, and seemingly languishing, condition; but as soon as the sun and the air had hardened their wings, by drying up the moisture that remained upon them, after casting their sloughs, they re-assumed their former voracity, with an addition both of strength and agility. Yet they continued not long in this state before they were entirely dispersed, as their parents were before, after they had laid their eggs; and as the direction of the marches and the flights of them both was always to the northward, and not having strength, as they have sometimes had, to reach the opposite shores of Italy, France, or Spain, it is probable they perished in the sea; a grave which, according to these people, they have in common with other winged creatures.”]

[Footnote a: Psidias apud Boch. Hieroz. par. ii. p. 441.]

[Footnote 22: Diodorus has given a very interesting description of the mode of catching locusts practised by the Acridophagi (or locust-eaters), as well as of the dreadful consequences produced by a too frequent use of them as articles of food.]

[Footnote 23: The time when we observed the swarm of locusts alluded to above, was in the latter end of November; their course, as Dr. Shaw has remarked, was, however, invariably towards the sea, in which myriads of them were lost; and we have never seen a single instance, on other occasions, where they did not take that direction, however far they might have been inland.]

[Footnote 24: Nat. Hist. lib. xi. c. 29.]

SOLITARY PALM TREE AT ARAR.

REMARKABLE AS BEING THE ONLY TREE FOUND IN THE LYOTIS.

_Published March 1827, by John Murray, London._]

FORMIDABLE APPEARANCE OF THE COAST AT ZAFFRAN.

_Published March 1827, by John Murray, London._]