Meditations at Sunrise.-Violation of the Tombs.-Descrip- Charming Scenery.—Arab Summer Dwellings.—Ruins of Apol- Grennah, a Charming Retreat-Pleasant Camping-ground.— 62 78 92 tian vii PAGE 154 Benghazi to Angila.-Corn Stores.-Cachettes.-Ruins near El- Farsy.-Remarkable Fortress.-Horrors of the Slave Trade. -England should forbid it.-Herds of Gazelles.-Bruce.— Rě sam.-Oasis of Angila Angila and Jalo.-Group of Oases.-The Majabra Arabs.-The 187 Vexatious Delay.-Lose the Track.-Short commons in the Desert.-Genuine Arab Hospitality.-En route for Siwah.- . 215 Arab Mesmerism. - Divination.-Sheikh Senusi.- Morocco Miracles.-A Treasure-seeker's Tales.-Yusuf's Ingenuity.— Antiquities of Agharmy. - Ruins of a Temple.- Ancient Palace. Acropolis of the Oasis.-Tombs of the Ammo- Leave Siwah.-Rude Sepulchres.-A Camel's Last Stage.- Sand Storm.-Find an Arab Cousin.-Corn hard to get at. INTRODUCTION. A FEW words of preface concerning a country so little known as that in which these pages were written may, perhaps, be useful to the reader. For the sake of those who may be interested in its past history or present condition, I shall indicate the sources which will supply further information. Cyrenaica, or, as it was called under the Ptolemys, Pentapolis, is situated on the northern coast of Africa, between Carthage and Egypt. In its commercial importance it once almost rivalled the former, and in the fertility of its soil, the latter. Its early political vicissitudes are little known in detail, nearly all the works which were specially dedicated to its history having disappeared in the wreck of ages, among which the most to be regretted is the Book on the Republic of Cyrene, which Aristotle inserted in his Politics. The Cyrenaica presents a succession of hills and table-lands, bounded on the east by the barren plains of Marmarica; to the south it is separated from the Great Desert of Libya by the hills of Hercules and the Velpa Mountains; on the north and west it is washed by the Mediterranean. Its insular position amidst water and sands afforded considerable security as well as great facilities for commerce. In contrast with the countries on either hand, it was well watered with frequent rains and perennial springs, so that it seemed an earthly Paradise, well fitted to be the site of the Garden of the Hesperides, or the abode of the Lotos eaters. Cyrene, the capital of the country, was founded by a colony of Theraans, who quitted their native island in the Ægean Sea in the latter half of the seventh century B.C., under the conduct of Battus the Dorian. He was said to derive his origin from the Minyæ, the descendants of the Argonauts, and was pointed out by the Pythian Oracle to be the founder, with his countrymen, of a colony in Libya. The inhabitants of Thera, says the story, did not even know where Libya was situated, and, returning home, neglected to comply with the orders of the god. At length, admonished by a severe calamity-the total cessation of rain for seven years, and the consequent destruction of all the trees in the island excepting one-they sent one of their |