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 Sherif and Marábut — Detention of the party
at Mesurata — Observations on Cape Mesurata, considered as
the Cephalus 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 81