are as sharp as the day they were cut-in others, the air and rain have rounded off their edges; and one sees walls still standing which look as if built of flattened eggs, showing large interstices between the now rounded stones.

To sum up in a few words, the traveller finds enough to convey the general impression of the past splendour of a luxurious city, but little to satisfy a refined taste, and nothing of which it can be said, if we except the great reservoir, "This is indeed magnificent!" In a commercial community, containing philosophers and physicians, the theatre and the turf may be cultivated as relaxations from the money-getting toils of the desk, but, as far as I remember, excepting aristocratic Venice, history furnishes no example of such a people having attained more than an initiative excellence in the fine arts.

CHAPTER IV.

Interview with the Bey.—Arab Feast.—The Bey's Hospitality.

AUGUST 10.—A few days after arriving in Grennah, having obtained a general idea of the ruins, and made such arrangements as were likely to conduce to a comfortable stay, I went to pay my respects to Bekir Bey, as the Turks call Bu Bekr Hadud, the Governor of the Arabs in this district. I had been introduced to him by the Kaimahan in Benghazi, who, besides a verbal recommendation, had furnished me with letters to him. His residence is a castle, which I found him still engaged in building, at Caicab, a place about four hours distant from Grennah, lying between the two roads to Derna; and from here, with the fifty soldiers who are at his orders, he manages to keep the country in subjection, and his enemies-who are many-say, to rob it into the bargain. His family

has long been one of the most powerful in the country; and he is sheikh of the Berasa, a tribe counting ten clans. The sheikhs of the other clans are subordinate to him; and by intrigue or violence, each employed at the right time, he has made himself really the independent governor of the country, which he rules with an iron hand, under such protection as his guards afford him, amidst clans of his own tribe who have sworn his death. His life has been one of strange vicissitudes; at one time-under the last native sovereign, Youssouf Pacha, whom the Porte, with the help of the English Consul General, so cleverly dethroned, or rather, I should say, who so stupidly allowed himself to be smuggled out of his country— he was fourteen months a prisoner in irons in Tripoli. His language is now that of the most abject submission, but he carries things his own way notwithstanding. He pays to the Porte a yearly sum of 48,000 dollars, extracting from the Arabs nearly twice as much; the greater part is destined to swell his own money-bags, the rest being used, according to the approved receipt in this country, to anoint the eyes of his superiors in Benghazi and Tripoli. In person he is strongly built, but not tall, having the finest chest and arm I ever beheld; but his features are coarse, and his eye twinkles with indescribable cunning.

Chap. IV.

INTERVIEW WITH THE BEY.

57

I arrived about eleven o'clock, and found the Bey seated in his divan, and surrounded by at least forty persons, most of whom were squatted on the floor; he was seated in the corner, on a raised board, not unlike a tailor's, which ran about twelve feet along one side of the room. When I entered, the assembly was dismissed; and I seated myself beside him, having on my other hand three sheikhs of his tribe, one of whom, his brother, Mansour, is a still more ferocious, though less cunning, politician than himself. He it is who can eat an entire sheep at a sitting-a tale which I believe after seeing his performance at an extra meal which was prepared for me, when he excused himself for eating so little, on the score of bad health. In addition to these three, there remained also the Deftudar, or Secretary-Accountant, whose functions also included waiting at table. His place was on a straw sofa, on which were collected all the implements of his calling: a small box, a ream of paper, a pair of scissors for cutting his despatches or orders into proper form, a board for counting money, and a waist-inkstand; open letters with their answers were scattered round him, in what seemed inextricable confusion. After all the usual inquiries after health and temper, and when coffee and lemonade had been served, the Bey resumed his business, while several of the former assembly returned, some to have their complaints discussed, others

to get a nearer view of the stranger. He, knowing that the Bedawin do not smoke, regarding this habit as a dirty trick (they only chew tobacco, mixed with nitre), had taken the precaution of carrying his pipe with him, to keep himself in countenance during the long pauses of an Arab visit. This and Mohammed's exaggerated stories of him-how he ate and drank, and above all, how he washed in a tub, and slept on a bed-which were circulated in an undertone, made the company vote him no better than a Turk, a hateful, but highly respected character. The Bey from time to time turned round to bawl out some phrases of exaggerated compliment, in a voice like that of one of his camels, and then would continue to investigate the case before him, till, getting animated, he would utter a dozen" Wallahis" in a breath, throwing his arms. about in a manner that might well alarm his neighbour; then he would pull his beard two or three times, and, finally, would finish the discussion by applying the interior of his thumb-nail to that of his upper teeth, making a slight cracking noise, which meant that nothing more was to be got out of him. But it is not to be supposed that the audience sat listening, in respectful silence, to this torrent of words: the subjects were as energetic as their ruler, and he who listened to the tones, or beheld the gestures which accompanied them, would think that they must soon come to