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
term _Lathon_ alluded 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 name _Berenice_ — 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.
On the 12th of January our whole party arrived at Bengazi, having
employed on the journey two months and seven days from the time of
our 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 said might
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 is
carried 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 are killed 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 reading or 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,
the Bashaw’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
favoured with 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 submarine _soirées_.
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 necessity really 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 dignified _embonpoint_ at which
persons of inferior consideration in Mahometan countries are
very seldom destined to arrive. A Georgian by birth, Bey Halīl
possessed strongly 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 cordial _Bon giorno! Ti sta bono?_ was substituted for
the grave and ceremonious _salam_, 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, which had
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 caught _en 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 considerable _pecuniary_ equivalent 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
quite _au fait_ at 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 sum was 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 Dúbbah
had 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
afterwards to 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 there that 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 all
who 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
will reconcile 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 European colours 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 own bodies) 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, which
they 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 it now 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 circumstance of 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 in
the 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, the whole
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 only
came 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 some of 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 the _tibeeb_[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 engender and 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 a _select party_ of 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 even _one_ eye 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 and _naked_ face (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!
It is, no doubt, very gratifying, in these ages of assurance, to
witness so unequivocal a display of genuine modesty; and we confess
that we ought not to have laughed so heartily as we did at this
laudable expression of it in our guests: but it certainly did appear
to us somewhat ridiculous to see men, with long beards, who had each
of them two or three wives, so completely discomfited at the sight
of a rosy-faced girl. At the same time, we must allow that we have
also our prejudices; and it is probable, that the appearance of a
young Arab damsel, with her veiled face and naked legs and feet,
in the midst of a party of Englishmen, might occasion no trifling
confusion; scarcely less, perhaps, than that which was occasioned
by the display of the fair face and neck above mentioned. It
was some time before our worthy Arab friends recovered from the
serious shock which their modesty had sustained; but as modesty
(for what reason we will not pretend to determine) is by no means
an unconquerable feeling, we prevailed upon the blushing Shekhs,
when the first impression had subsided, to take a second look at the
picture; declaring, that there was nothing in so innocent a display
at which the most correct of true believers need be shocked. We
will not venture to say that they were quite of our opinion; but
it is certain that their curiosity (at least we suppose it to have
been that) very soon got the better of their scruples; and we even
think, that some of them might actually have been persuaded to trust
themselves in those sinful regions where a pretty face and figure
may be looked at and admired without any very serious breach of
decorum. As for Shekh Mahommed, he had so far recovered himself as
to put the object of his former confusion into his pocket, though
merely to show it (as he said) to his wives; and was hardy enough
to keep it three or four days, before he returned it to its owner.
With respect to the Arab women, we will venture to say (though
we do not think that modesty is their predominant quality)
that no consideration could induce them to dress themselves in
the manner which caused such astonishment to our acquaintance:
and they would certainly not believe that the ladies of Europe,
to whom such costume is familiar, would object to appear in the
presence of the other sex without their shoes and stockings. As for
dancing with men, and taking them by the hand, it would be looked
upon as the last stage of effrontery and indelicacy; yet their own
familiar dance is at the same time of such a nature that no modest
women of Europe could look at it. It would be a curious experiment
in natural history to see which of the ladies would require most
persuasion; the Arab to appear in public without any veil, or the
Englishwoman without shoes and stockings. There can be no question
which of the two is most civilized; yet, we own, we cannot see
that it is at all more indecent to appear in public with the legs
and feet uncovered, than it is to expose the face, arms, and neck;
or that it is really more modest to cover the face than to leave
it in its natural state. Of the two, we should certainly think it
more modest to cover the face than the feet; yet we know that the
practice of going without a veil is adopted by the most refined
nations of the globe, and that the habit of wearing it is by no
means inconsistent with levity and want of proper feeling.
To return to our description of the town; we have already stated,
that Bengazi may be considered as occupying the site of the Berenice
of the Ptolemies, and of the Hesperis of earlier times; but very
few remains now appear above ground to interest the sculptor, the
architect, or the antiquary. Berenice has, in fact, disappeared
from the beautiful plain on which it stood, and a miserable, dirty,
Arab town has reared itself on its ruins, or rather on the soil
which covers its ruins, for all its interest is now under ground.
The erection of Bengazi on the site of the ancient town, rather
than the effects of time, or of hostile violence, appears to have
been chiefly the cause of the total disappearance of the latter; for
the stones of which the buildings were originally composed being too
large for the purposes of the Arabs, are broken up into small pieces
before they are used in modern structures, and generally before they
are removed from the places in which they are dug up. Many a noble
frieze and cornice, and many a well-proportioned capital has been
crushed under the hammer of these barbarians; so that, even were
there not a single house in Bengazi which has not been composed of
ancient materials, yet there is nothing of architecture in any of
them at present to fix, and scarcely to arrest, the attention. We
were ourselves just too late to save from the hammer several portions
of a large and well-executed Ionic entablature, which a worthy Arab
Shekh had caused to be excavated and brought into his court-yard,
to form part of a house which he was building without the town,
and which was carefully beat to pieces by his servants and slaves
before it was bedded in the mud which received it. Very extensive
remains of building are still found about Bengazi, at the depth of
a foot or two from the surface of the plain; and whenever a house is
intended to be erected, the projector of it has nothing more to do,
in order to obtain materials for building it, than to send a few men
to excavate in the neighbourhood, and with them a camel, or two or
three asses, to transport what is dug up to the spot which has been
fixed upon for the house. If the fragments which are found should
prove too large for removal (which is generally the case) they are
broken into smaller pieces, without the least hesitation or concern,
till they are reduced to a convenient size for loading, and are
afterwards broken again into still smaller pieces, as occasion may
require, on the place where the house is built. Many valuable remains
of antiquity must have disappeared in this way, but it is probable,
at the same time, that many still exist to reward the expense of
excavation; and we have little doubt, that statues and inscriptions,
numerous fragments of architecture, and good collections of coins
and gems, might still be obtained within the distance of half
a mile round Bengazi. On the beach to the northward and to the
north-eastward of the town, where a bank of twenty and thirty feet
(more or less) is formed of the rubbish of one of the ancient cities,
coins and gems are continually washed down in rainy weather; and the
inhabitants of Bengazi repair in crowds to the beach, after storms,
and sift the earth which falls away from the cliff, disposing of
whatever they may find to the few Europeans of the place[15].
When we reflect that Berenice flourished under Justinian, and that
its walls underwent a thorough repair in the reign of that Emperor,
it will be thought somewhat singular, that both the town and its
walls should have disappeared so completely as they have done. We
have already mentioned the disappearance of the city, and it may
here be observed, that scarcely a vestige of its walls now remains
above the surface of the plain, and that it would not be possible
to decide its precise limits, without a great deal of previous
excavation. It is probable, however, that Berenice did not extend
beyond the actual limits of Bengazi; for the salt-water lake to
the southward of the town would prevent its going farther in that
direction, and the ground to the eastward is in most parts so low
as to be frequently overflowed by the sea, which oozes through the
sand heaped upon the beach in that direction.
From the circumstance of the water in Bengazi being brackish, it is
probable that the ancient town was furnished with an aqueduct from
some springs of sweet water, about half a mile distant from it to
the eastward; and the existence of remains of ancient reservoirs,
or cisterns, with troughs, constructed of stone, leading into them,
still observable on the beach where the coins and gems are collected,
would seem, in some degree, to favour this supposition[16].
On first discovering the quarries from which the city of Berenice,
and probably that of Hesperis also, have been constructed, we
flattered ourselves that we should have found them full of excavated
tombs, which are usually formed in similar situations, when the
quarries are not far from the town: but two or three chambers only
appeared, which did not seem to us to have been intended for places
of burial, and the tombs of both cities must be looked for in the
plain, under the soil or the sand which now conceals them[17].
The trees and shrubs which are growing in the quarries we allude to,
and have rooted themselves, at the same time, in the sides of the
rocks which they are formed in, give these places a very wild and
picturesque appearance, not unworthy of the pencil of Salvator; and,
had not our time been fully occupied in research, when the weather
allowed us to ramble, we should have been glad to have made some
sketches of them. The caper plant is found there in great abundance,
and spreads itself, like ivy, over the steep sides of the rocks,
hanging down in the most luxuriant and beautiful clusters.
In speaking of the steep rocks in which these quarries are formed,
we must state, that they do not rise above the surface of the plain,
but are sunk down, perpendicularly, to a considerable depth, so
as not to be visible till they are closely approached. Besides
the quarries here mentioned, some very singular pits or chasms,
of natural formation, are found in the neighbourhood of Bengazi:
they consist of a level surface of excellent soil, of several
hundred feet in extent, inclosed within steep, and for the most part
perpendicular, sides of solid rock, rising sometimes to a height of
sixty or seventy feet, or more, before they reach the level of the
plain in which they are situated. The soil at the bottom of these
chasms appears to have been washed down from the plain above by the
heavy winter rains, and is frequently cultivated by the Arabs; so
that a person, in walking over the country where they exist, comes
suddenly upon a beautiful orchard or garden, blooming in secret,
and in the greatest luxuriance, at a considerable depth beneath his
feet, and defended on all sides by walls of solid rocks, so as to be
at first sight apparently inaccessible. The effect of these secluded
little spots, protected, as it were, from the intrusion of mankind
by the steepness and the depth of the barriers which inclose them,
is singular and pleasing in the extreme: they reminded us of some of
those secluded retreats which we read of in fairy legends and tales,
and we could almost fancy ourselves, as we looked down upon them,
in the situation of some of those favoured knights and princes,
the heroes of our earlier days, who have been permitted to wander
over the boundaries of reality into regions shut out from the rest
of mankind.
It was impossible to walk round the edge of these precipices,
looking everywhere for some part less abrupt than the rest, by
which we might descend into the gardens beneath, without calling
to mind the description given by Scylax of the far-famed garden of
the Hesperides.
This celebrated retreat is stated by Scylax to have been an inclosed
spot of about one-fifth of a British mile[18] across, each way,
filled with thickly-planted fruit-trees of various kinds, and
_inaccessible_ on all sides. It was situated (on the authority of the
same writer) at six hundred and twenty stadia (or fifty geographical
miles) from the _Port of Barce_; and this distance agrees precisely
with that of the places here alluded to from Ptolemeta, the port
intended by Scylax, as will be seen by a reference to the chart. The
testimony of Pliny is also very decided in fixing the site of the
Hesperides in the neighbourhood of Berenice. “Not far” (he says)
“from the city” (Berenice is here meant) “is the river Lethon,
and the sacred grove where the gardens of the Hesperides are said to
be situated[19].” Ptolemy also may be supposed to intend the same
position, when he informs us, that the garden was to the westward of
the people of Barca; or, what is the same thing, that the Barcitæ
were to the eastward of the garden of Hesperides[20].
The name, indeed, itself of Hesperides would induce us to place the
Garden, so called, in the vicinity of Bengazi; for the Hesperides
were the early inhabitants of that part of the Cyrenaica, and
Hesperis, as we have already stated, was the ancient name of the
city of Berenice, on the site of which Bengazi is built,[21] and
which was probably so called by the Greeks, from the circumstance
of its being the most western city of the district.
It has been supposed by Gosselin[22] and others, that those
celebrated gardens of early times (for they are frequently mentioned
in the plural) were nothing more than some of those Oases, or verdant
islands, “which reared their heads amid the sandy desert;” and,
in the absence of positive local information, the conjecture was
sufficiently reasonable.
The accounts which have come down to us of the _desert of Barca_,
from the pens of the Arab Historians, would lead us to suppose
that the country so called (which included not only the territory
in question, with the whole of the Pentapolis and Cyrenaica,
but also the whole tract of coast between Tripoly and Alexandria)
was little more than a barren tract of sand, scarcely capable of
cultivation. Under such an impression, we can readily imagine that
modern writers might be easily deceived; and when it was necessary
to fix the site of groves and gardens in the country so erroneously
described, we may certainly justify them in looking for such places
in the only parts of a sandy desert where luxuriant vegetation is
found, the Oases, or verdant islands alluded to. “Objects here
presented themselves” (says the learned and ingenious Author of
the Discoveries and Travels in Africa, in speaking of the western
coast of that country, where the Hesperides have by some writers
been placed) “which acted powerfully on the exalted and poetical
imaginations of the ancients. They were particularly struck by those
Oases, or verdant islands, which reared their heads amid the sandy
desert. Hence, doubtless, were drawn those brilliant pictures of the
Hesperian gardens, the Fortunate Islands, the Islands of the Blest,
which are painted in such glowing colours, and form the gayest
part of ancient mythology. The precise position of these celebrated
spots has been a subject of eager and doubtful inquiry. The chief
difficulty is, that there are different points of the continent in
which they seem to be fixed with almost equal precision. In fact, it
seems clearly shewn, by some learned writers[23], that this variety
of position is referrible, not to any precise geographical _data_,
but to the operation of certain secret propensities that are deeply
lodged in the human breast.”
“There arises involuntarily in the heart of man a longing after forms
of being, fairer and happier than any presented by the world before
him—bright scenes which he seeks and never finds, in the circuit
of real existence. But imagination easily creates them in that dim
boundary which separates the known from the unknown world. In the
first discoverers of any such region, novelty usually produces an
exalted state of the imagination and passions; under the influence
of which every object is painted in higher colours than those of
nature. Nor does the illusion cease, when a fuller examination
proves that, in the place thus assigned, no such beings or objects
exist. The human heart, while it remains possible, still clings
to its fond chimeras: it quickly transfers them to the yet unknown
region beyond; and, when driven from thence, discovers still another
more remote in which they can take refuge. Thus we find these fairy
spots successively retreating before the progress of discovery;
yet finding still, in the farthest advance which ancient knowledge
ever made, some remoter extremity to which they can fly.”
“The first position of the Hesperian gardens” (continues our
author) “appears to have been at the western extremity of Libya,
then the farthest boundary, upon that side, of ancient knowledge. The
spectacle which it often presented, a circuit of blooming verdure
amid the desert, was calculated to make a powerful impression
on Grecian fancy, and to suggest the idea of quite a terrestrial
paradise. It excited also the image of islands, which ever after
adhered to these visionary creations. As the first spot became
frequented, it was soon stripped of its fabled beauty. So pleasing
an idea, however, was not to be easily relinquished. Another place
was quickly found for it; and every traveller, as he discovered a
new portion of that fertile and beautiful coast, fondly imagined
that he had at length arrived at the long-sought-for Islands of
the Blest. At length, when the continent had been sought in vain,
they were transferred to the ocean beyond, which the original idea
of islands rendered an easy step. Those of the Canaries having
never been passed, nor even fully explored, continued always to be
the Fortunate Islands, not from any peculiar felicity of soil and
climate, but merely because distance and imperfect knowledge left
full scope to poetical fancy[24]. Hence we find Horace painting their
felicity in the most glowing colours, and viewing them as a refuge
still left for mortals, from that troubled and imperfect enjoyment
which they were doomed to experience in every other portion of the
globe.” (Murray’s Account of Africa, vol. i. chap. 1.)
Nothing is more just than the picture of human nature here
presented to us by the intelligent writer just quoted; and it must
be confessed that the position of the Hesperian gardens has been
fixed by different authors in so many parts of the coast of Africa,
that we may scarcely hope to reconcile statements so opposite.
The legends connected with these celebrated places are at the
same time so wild and extravagant, as well as so discordant with
each other, that we might often be tempted to consider the gardens
themselves as fabulous and imaginary spots, existing only in the
creative brain of the poet and the mythologist, and nowhere to be
found in reality.
We should not, however, say, from our view of the subject, that
“the variety of position” assigned to the gardens of the
Hesperides “is referrible to no precise geographical _data_:”
the details which we have already quoted from Scylax are too minute
to be wholly rejected; and the position of the gardens, as laid down
by Ptolemy and Pliny, coincides with that assigned to them by Scylax.
We have shewn, at the same time, that the nature of the ground
in the neighbourhood of Berenice (or Bengazi) is consistent with
the account of Scylax; and that places like those which he has
so minutely described are actually to be found in the territory
where he has laid down the gardens. This singular formation, so
far as we have seen, is also peculiar to the country in question;
and we know of no other part of the coast of northern Africa where
the same peculiarities of soil are observable. We do not mean to
point out any _one_ of these subterranean gardens as that which is
described in the passage above quoted from Scylax; for we know of
no one which will correspond in point of extent to the garden which
this author has mentioned: all those which we saw were considerably
less than the fifth of a mile in diameter (the measurement given by
Scylax); and the places of this nature which would best agree with
the dimensions in question, are now filled with water sufficiently
fresh to be drinkable, and take the form of romantic little lakes.
Scarcely any two of the gardens we met with were, however, of the
same depth or extent; and we have no reason to conclude that because
we saw none which were large enough to be fixed upon for the garden
of the Hesperides, as it is described in the statement of Scylax,
there is therefore no place of the dimensions required among those
which escaped our notice—particularly as the singular formation
we allude to continues to the foot of the Cyrenaic chain, which is
fourteen miles distant, in the nearest part, from Bengazi. When we
consider that the places in question are all of them sunk below the
surface of the soil, and that the face of the country in which they
are found is overspread with brushwood, and nowhere perfectly level,
it will not be thought extraordinary if some of them should have
escaped us in a diligent and frequently-repeated search. At any
rate, under the circumstances which are already before the reader,
it will not be thought a visionary or hastily formed assumption,
if we say that the position of these celebrated spots, “long the
subject of eager and doubtful inquiry,” may be laid down with
some probability in the neighbourhood of the town of Bengazi. The
remarkable peculiarities of this part of northern Africa correspond
(in our opinion) sufficiently well with the authorities already
quoted, to authorize the conclusion we have drawn from an inspection
of the place; and to induce us to place the gardens of the Hesperides
in some one, or more, of the places described, rather than in any
of the Oases of the desert, as suggested by Monsieur Gosselin and
others[25]. It seems probable that there were more than one garden
of this name; but they could scarcely have been all of them so large
as that mentioned by Scylax; and the greater number of those which
we were able to discover were considerably smaller in all their
dimensions, as we have already stated above.
It has been mentioned that some of the chasms above described have
assumed the form of lakes; the sides of which are perpendicular,
like those of the gardens, and the water in most of them appears
to be very deep. In some of these lakes the water rises nearly to
the edge of the precipice which incloses them, and in others is as
much as twenty feet below it. They are no doubt much fuller after
the rainy season than at other times of the year, and the water is
then sweeter than ordinary. Besides these, there are also several
subterranean caves in the neighbourhood of Bengazi. One of these,
at the depth of about eighty feet from the surface of the plain,
contains a large body of fresh water, which is said to run very far
into the bowels of the earth, or rather of the rock which overshadows
it. On descending into this cave, we found that it widened out
into a spacious chamber, the sides of which had evidently been, in
many places, shaped with the chisel, and rose perpendicularly to
a considerable height. Our progress was soon stopped, as we were
advancing into the cave, by the body of water we have mentioned;
which, notwithstanding the lights we procured, was scarcely visible
through the thick gloom which surrounded us. We found the water
shallow at the edge, but it soon became gradually too deep to be
practicable; we were also unable to discover any end to it, and a
stone thrown as far as we could send it, fell into the water without
striking. We had, however, seen enough to excite our curiosity very
strongly, and we determined to return, at some early opportunity,
with a boat and a good store of torches, intending to go as far along
this subterranean stream as the height of the rock would allow us.
On mentioning our visit and our intentions to Bey Halil, he informed
us that he had himself paid a visit to the place, in company with a
chaous of his suite; and that he had carried with him a small boat
in which he embarked with the chaous, and proceeded a considerable
distance. They became, at length, afraid of not finding their way
back, and put about to return as they came, having found (as he said)
on sounding, that the depth of the water was in some parts as much
as thirty feet. This account naturally made us more anxious than
ever to put our intentions in execution; but no boat could then be
found in the harbour sufficiently small for our purpose, and we were
obliged to defer our subterranean voyage; determining, however, that
if we could not find a portable boat on our return from Cyrene, we
would contrive to put together some pieces of timber, and prosecute
our researches on a raft, after the example of Sindbad the sailor.
But, alas! who can say that to-morrow is his own?—and who is there
who makes the most of to-day? If we had constructed our raft before
we moved farther eastward, instead of waiting for the chance of
a boat when we came back, we should in all probability have been
able to ascertain the extent of this mysterious river. As it was,
we were obliged, by circumstances which we could neither control
nor foresee, to leave the coast of Africa before we had completed
our researches in the city and neighbourhood of Cyrene; and the
short time which we had at our command on returning to Bengazi
was insufficient (under the pressure of other occupations) for
accomplishing this object of our wishes.
The disappointment here alluded to was only one among many others
which we experienced, in consequence of our hasty and unexpected
return; but it was one which we regretted more, perhaps, than it
deserved; for mystery will always add a charm to inquiry, which
further investigation might probably remove, but which will continue
to preserve its powers of fascination while the uncertainty remains
which created it.
We are too well acquainted with the talent of amplification so
generally possessed by Turks and Arabs of all classes, to rely
implicitly upon the truth of every part of the above-mentioned
narrative related to us by the Bey of Bengazi: there is, however,
no reason, of which we are aware, connected with the nature of the
place, which militates against its probability; and we submit it
accordingly, as we received it, to our readers, in the absence of
more decided information.
We have already wandered into the regions of fable in speaking of
the Gardens of the Hesperides; and before we retrace our steps,
we must be permitted to linger for a while on the borders of the
mysterious, hidden stream above-mentioned.
The Lethe, or Lathon, (for it is no less a stream to which we
are going to call the attention of our readers,) is laid down by
geographers in the neighbourhood of the gardens, and close to the
city of the Hesperides.
Strabo makes the Lathon flow into the harbour of the Hesperides,
and Ptolemy also lays down the same river between Berenice and
Arsinoe; Pliny describes the Lathon as situated in the neighbourhood
of Berenice, and Scylax places a river (which he calls Ecceus,
Εκκειος) in a similar situation. The river Lethe is supposed
to have lost itself underground, and to re-appear (like the Niger) in
another place[26]; and the point to which we would call the attention
of the reader is—whether the subterranean stream above-mentioned,
which certainly may be said to lose itself underground, be the
source of the Lethe, or Lathon, in question? and whether a small
spring, which runs into the lake near the town of Bengazi, may be
supposed to be the re-appearance of the same river, in the place
so decidedly assigned to it by Strabo—the port of the Hesperides,
or, which is the same, of Berenice.
The circumstance of finding a subterranean stream in this
neighbourhood, between the mountains and the lake which joins the
Harbour of Bengazi, would certainly appear to favour the conclusion,
that the course of the stream was towards the lake, that is to say,
from the higher ground to the lower. And although the mere discovery
of a small stream of fresh water emptying itself into the lake here
alluded to, does not by any means tend to confirm the existence of
a communication between it and the subterranean stream in question;
yet there is no proof (at least, not that we are aware of) that one
of these is not connected with the other. At the same time we may
add, that if it were really ascertained that no connexion existed
between the two, such a circumstance would not be considered as
proving that the ancients did not suppose that they communicated. It
was believed by the Greeks (or, at any rate, it was asserted by
them) that the Alpheus communicated with the fountain of Arethusa,
and that anything thrown into the former at Elis would re-appear
on the waters of the latter in Sicily.
Other instances might be mentioned of similar extravagancies, which
are considered by the moderns as poetical inventions, and never
received as historical facts. The disappearance of the Lathon, and
its subsequent rise, might have been equally a poetical fiction;
but when we find, in the country in which it was placed, a large
body of water which actually loses itself, we are naturally led to
believe one part of the assertion, and to seek to identify the actual
subterranean stream with that which is said to have existed. On a
reference to the authority of geographers and historians, we find a
river called Lathon laid down very clearly in the place where this
body of water is found, and we remark that the name which they apply
to the river signifies _hidden_ or _concealed_. So far there is a
probability that the Lathon of the ancients and the subterranean
stream in the neighbourhood of Bengazi may be one and the same river.
Again, we are told, on the authority of Strabo, that the Lathon
discharged itself into the Harbour of the Hesperides; and we find
a small spring actually running into the lake which is connected
with the harbour in question; and which might, from the position
of the subterranean spring between it and the mountains to the
southward of it, have received at least a portion of the waters,
which lose themselves in a place where the level is higher. When
we find that the Lathon (or hidden stream) of Bengazi is _directly_
between the mountains and the harbour, it becomes the more probable
that such a communication may have existed; and whether the little
spring which runs into the lake be a continuation of the Lathon
or not, there appears to be quite sufficient reason for believing
that the ancients might have imagined it was. If we consider how
trifling are the existing remains of the Ilissus, the Simois, the
Scamander, and other rivers, to which we have been in the habit of
attaching importance, we must not be surprised to find a celebrated
stream dwindled down into a very insignificant one. The changes
which a lapse of nearly two thousand years may be supposed to have
occasioned on the northern coast of Africa, are fully sufficient
to have reduced the river Lathon to the spring which now flows into
the Lake of Bengazi.
The lake itself is salt, and in the summer is nearly dry; while the
small stream in question takes its rise within a few yards of the
lake, and running along a channel of inconsiderable breadth, bordered
with reeds and rushes, might be mistaken by a common observer for
an inroad of the lake into the sandy soil which bounds it.
On tasting it, however, we found its waters to be fresh, and the
current which is formed by its passage into the lake is very evident
on the slightest examination.
If we may suppose this little stream to be all that now remains
of the celebrated River of Oblivion, we shall be enabled to throw
light upon a passage in Strabo which has hitherto been the subject
of much discussion.
It has been questioned by commentators, whether Strabo intended to
make the river Lathon discharge itself into the _lake_, or into the
_port_ of the Hesperides; and the near resemblance which the words λιμην
(limen) and λιμνη (limne), the former of which means a port, and the
latter a lake, do certainly bear to each other, will allow of their
being confounded in transcribing, by the mere transposition of a single
letter[27]. Without reference to the authority of the most approved
manuscripts, we may observe, on that only of local inspection, that
either of these words would be correct. It has already been stated that
the Harbour of Bengazi communicates with a salt-water lake, and it is
probable that in Strabo’s time the vessels of the ancients might have
passed from one into the other. The harbour and the lake might in that
event be considered without any impropriety as the same. It is into
this lake that the small stream discharges itself which we have alluded
to above, and if we can suppose it to be the remains of the Lathon,
the statement of Strabo may be considered as confirmed by the
actual appearance of the place. If, however, we are disposed to
be sceptical on this point, we must give up the river altogether,
or, at least, we must give up the re-appearance of it in the lake
and in the Harbour of Hesperis, or Berenice; for no other spring,
that we are aware of, flows either into one or the other. It is
probable that λιμην was the word used by Strabo, and it seems
also probable that he intended to imply, that the harbour and the
lake he calls Tritonis, on which stood the temple of Venus, were
the same; at least, in reading the whole of the passage together,
we can scarcely divest ourselves of this idea[28].
It may be, however, that the nature of the place, rather than the
construction of the passage in question, has in fact suggested
this reading to us: for on the borders of the lake, which still
communicates with the Harbour of Bengazi, is a spot of rising ground,
nearly insulated in winter, on which are the remains of ancient
building; and which, at the time when the harbour was deeper,
and the lake itself practicable for vessels[29], must have been
(occasionally, at least) completely surrounded with water. Here
then might have stood the temple of Venus mentioned in the passage
above, and the introduction of the word μαλιστα by Strabo
(taken in the sense of _mostly_, or _generally_), in speaking of
the island in question, would seem to confirm this position.
Berenice (he tells us) is placed on the Point of Pseudopenias, near
a certain lake called Tritonis, in which there is _mostly_ an island
(εν ἡ μαλιστα νησιον εστι), with a temple upon it dedicated to Venus.
We may remark, in support of this supposition, that it is probable, from
the position of the rising ground alluded to, that it was not at all
times surrounded by water; and that it was only in the winter season,
or at times when the sea advanced farther than ordinary, that it was
completely an island.
We may suppose, in receiving this island as the one mentioned by
Strabo, that the circumstance just stated was alluded to by the
geographer, when he informs us that there was _usually_ an island
in the lake; but we do not mean to insist upon this reading of
the passage in question, and will confess, that it would probably
never have suggested itself to us had we never visited Bengazi; it
must therefore be left to the discretion of our readers, to adopt
it or not, as it may seem to deserve, on a reference to the local
peculiarities we have mentioned.
With regard to the name of Tritonis, bestowed upon the lake in
this passage, it is difficult to say whether the lake which Strabo
mentions was actually called by that name; or whether the geographer
has confounded it with the Tritonis Palus (the Lake Lowdeah of Shaw),
situated in the Lesser Syrtis, and which also contained an island,
according to Herodotus.
But whatever may have been the proper name of the lake at Berenice
which we seek to identify with the Tritonis of Strabo, it appears
to us to answer remarkably well to the lake of that name which he
mentions. We will therefore suggest, that the Tritonis in question
and the lake which now communicates with the Harbour of Bengazi,
are one and the same lake: that it was originally deep enough to
admit the vessels of the ancients, and to have formed occasionally
the island containing the temple of Venus, on the spot of rising
ground already pointed out, where remains of ancient building are
still observable: that a small spring of fresh water runs into the
same lake which may possibly be the remains of the Lathon of Strabo,
at its point of re-appearance and communication with the Harbour
of the Hesperides; and that the subterranean stream in the cavern
between the lake and the mountains, which we have mentioned above,
may also be the source of this river. When we add, that the gardens
upon which we have remarked, are probably some of those called the
Gardens of the Hesperides, we have pointed out all that now occurs
to us of any interest in the neighbourhood of the town of Bengazi;
and we submit these suggestions to the judgment of others better
qualified than ourselves to decide the points in question.
It appears to have been from Berenice, the daughter of Magas,
who was married to Ptolemy Philadelphus, that the city of Hesperis
changed its ancient name into that which afterwards distinguished
it[30]. But the name of Berenicidæ, which seems to have been
conferred upon the inhabitants of this part of the Cyrenaica, was
not by any means generally adopted; for we find that these people
continued notwithstanding to be called by their former appellation
of Hesperides. It is, however, somewhat singular that Pomponius
Mela, who flourished towards the middle of the first century,
and nearly a hundred years after the extinction of the dynasty
of the Lagides, should have mentioned this city under its ancient
name of Hesperis only; while he gives its Ptolemaic name, Arsinoe,
to Teuchira, and distinguishes the port of Barca by its appellation
of Ptolemais[31]. Yet the name of Berenice continued to be used by
other writers long after the age of Mela; and Pliny, who flourished
nearly at the same time with this geographer, mentions the city
of the Hesperides by that title. It is probable that a name of
such poetical celebrity as that which gave place to Berenice was
not easily laid aside by the lovers of literature; and we find
that Ptolemy thought it necessary, an hundred years after Mela,
to add, when he speaks of the city of Berenice, that it was the
same with that of Hesperis, or, as he writes it, Hesperides[32];
from which we may infer that the ancient name of the place still
continued to be better known than the modern one. But alas for
the glories of Hesperis and Berenice! both names have passed away
from the scene of their renown; and the present inhabitants of
the miserable dirty village, (for we can scarcely call it a town,)
which has reared itself on the ruins of these cities, have no idea
that Bengazi did not always occupy the place which it has usurped
on the soil of the Hesperides[33].
The Arab who now gathers his corn, or his fruit, in some one,
perhaps, of those gardens so celebrated in the annals of antiquity,
dreams of nothing whatever connected with it beyond the profits
which he hopes from its produce. He knows nothing of the stream or
the properties of the Lethe; and the powerful influence of the River
of Oblivion seems to have been so often, and so successfully exerted,
as to have drowned at length even the recollection of itself[34].
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: On these terraces barley and grass are frequently seen
growing, and goats feeding very contentedly.]
[Footnote 2: This idea is so strongly rooted in Mahometans of all
classes and descriptions, as to have called forth the animadversions
of writers of their own persuasion. We find the following remarks
on the subject, in the Account of Egypt by Abd-Allatif, which we
give in the French version of Silvestre de Lacy.
“Quand il ont aperçu des monumens d’une grandeur colossale, l’aspect de
ces monumens leur a inspiré la terreur; ils se sont fait des idées
sottes et fausses de la nature de ces restes de l’antiquité. Comme
toutes les pensées de ces gens là n’étoient occupées que de l’objet
unique de leurs vœux, et de la seule chose qui eût des charmes pour
leurs cœurs, je veux dire de l’or et de l’argent, ils ont éprouvé ce
qu’un poëte a dit d’un buveur:”
“Tout ce qu’il aperçoit lui paroît un gobelet; quand il voit
quelqu’un, il croit toujours voir celui qui verse à boire.”
“Ainsi tout ce qui paroissoit désigner quelque chose été, à
leurs yeux, le signal d’un trésor caché: ils n’ont pas pu voir
une ouverture pratiquée dans une montagne sans s’imaginer que
c’étoit un chemin qui conduisoit à quelque riche dépôt; une
statue colossale a été pour eux le gardien de l’argent déposé
à ses pieds, et le vengeur implacable de toute entreprise formée
contre la sûreté de ce dépôt. Ils ont donc eu recours à toutes
sortes d’artifices pour détruire ces statues et les dégrader;
ils en ont mutilé les figures, comme des gens qui espéroient
par-là atteindre leur but, et qui craignoient, en les attaquant
ouvertement, de s’attirer leur propre ruine: ne doutant point que
ce ne fussent autant de coffres forts remplis de sommes immenses;
ils se sont aussi enfoncés dans les fentes des montagnes, semblable
aux voleurs qui pénètrent dans les maisons par toute autre voie
que par les portes, et qui saisissent avidement une occasion inconnue
à tout autre qu’ à eux.”—(Rél. d’Egypte, p. 197.)
In this passage it clearly appears how much credulity and
superstition was mixed up with the idea in question; and these exist
in conjunction with it, to the present day, among the various Arab
tribes of Asia and Africa, and in a great degree among the Turks.]
[Footnote 3: As the Dúbbah had sworn that neither himself nor his
people knew anything of the articles which we had lost, we never got
them back again; although one of his own party afterwards confessed
that they had stolen all that was missing. Shekh Mahommed did not
hesitate to take a false oath—but he had too great a value for
what he thought his character, to confess that he had deliberately
perjured himself. At Malta we heard that a heavy fine of sheep and
camels had been levied upon him by the Bashaw, for his disgraceful
behaviour and wilful disobedience of his Highness’s most positive
orders.]
[Footnote 4: The Shekh el Belad Mahommed was nearly related to
Shekh Belcazi, from whom we had received so much civility at
Mesurata—he had two brothers also in Bengazi, both of whom were
shekhs and merchants.]
[Footnote 5: Signor Della Cella has mentioned five thousand as the
number of inhabitants in Bengazi; but this statement appears to be
overrated, as well as that of the number of Jews residing in the
town, which, he tells us, amounts to half the population.]
[Footnote 6: “This fierce impatience of the dominion of Rome
continued, on the part of the Jews, from the reign of Nero to that
of Antoninus Pius.”—(Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 384.)
“In Cyrene the Jews massacred two hundred and twenty thousand
Greeks; in Cyprus two hundred and forty thousand; in Egypt a very
great multitude.”—(See Dion Cassius, as cited by Gibbon.)]
[Footnote 7: Among the most conspicuous of these was Hassan
Larkoum, to whom we had brought a letter of recommendation from the
ex-minister at Tripoly, Mahommed D’Ghies, and who treated us with
the greatest civility and attention.]
[Footnote 8: It was curious to observe the singular mixture
of feeling displayed by some of the crew of our vessel—after
deliberately inflicting the most cruel treatment on some unfortunate,
groaning animal, we often heard a man exclaim, when he had finished
his task, “Poverino! so ben che tu patisci!” and he would then
hurry on to inflict the same cruelties on some other wretched object
of his care.]
[Footnote 9: Previously to these measures, the town was constantly
subject to the attacks of the neighbouring tribes of marauding Arabs,
who, as occasion offered, made incursions into it without ceremony,
and retired with their plunder into the interior. The garrison and
citizens opposed them as well as they could, and many a desperate
skirmish frequently ensued; but as Bengazi is unprovided with walls,
it was difficult to prevent a surprise, and the people lived in
continual fear. Mahommed Bey began by building a round fort on
the sandy tract to the eastward of the town, and then collecting
his forces, carried the war into their territory, and after making
severe examples of the most refractory, succeeded in reducing the
Bedouins to subjection.]
[Footnote 10: About the same time some high poles had been erected
by our party, on the sand hills to the eastward of the town, as
objects from which to take angles for the survey; and these were
now considered to have been placed there as signals to regulate
the motions of the enemy’s fleet.]
[Footnote 11: The Arab term for all who profess Christianity.]
[Footnote 12: _Tibeeb_ is the common Arab term for a doctor.]
[Footnote 13: Several quarts of water were taken from this poor man,
who, when he left our house, was scarcely distinguishable as the same
person who had entered it, having diminished so much in size after
the operation. He was, in fact, materially relieved, and continued
to improve daily in health; till one day, after washing his shirt,
he put it on, as the quickest way of drying it, a custom not uncommon
among the Arabs, and caught so bad a cold in consequence, that all
the doctor’s exertions were afterwards unable to save him.]
[Footnote 14: Yusuf and Zuleika are the Mahometan names of Joseph
and Potiphar’s wife.]
[Footnote 15: An excellent collection of these remains of Grecian
art has been recently sold for a considerable sum[a], by a relation
of the Vice-Consul of Bengazi, who had not been many years resident
there.]
[Footnote a: Six thousand dollars, as we were informed.]
[Footnote 16: These would however serve equally for the reception of
rain water, which falls in abundance at Bengazi during the winter.]
[Footnote 17: In one of these quarries a large portion of the rock,
shaped into a quadrangular form, has been insulated from the rest to
serve the purpose of a tomb, after the manner of those at Ptolemeta.]
[Footnote 18: Two stadia is the length and breadth given by Scylax,
which, taken as the _mean_ Grecian stades of Major Rennell, of
about ten to a British mile, would give the measurement here stated.]
[Footnote 19: Nec procul ante oppidum fluvius Lethon, lucus sacer,
ubi Hesperidum Horti memorantur.—(Nat. Hist., lib. v. c. 5.) Again,
in the same book, Berenice—quondam vocata Hesperidum, &c.]
[Footnote 20: Βαρκιται απο αναταλων του κηπου των Ἑσπεριδων.]
[Footnote 21: Βερενικη ἡ και Ἑσπεριδες.—(Ptol. Geogr.): and as Stephanus
describes it, in the singular, Ἑσπερις, πολις Λιβυης, ἡ νον Βερονὶκη.]
[Footnote 22: Geographie Ancienne; Murray’s account of Discoveries
and Travels in Africa, &c.]
[Footnote 23: Gosselin and Malte Brun.]
[Footnote 24: Strabo, 1.—Plutarch in Sertorio—Horat. 4. od. 8. v.
27. Epod. 16. Pliny 6—6. C. 31-2.]
[Footnote 25: Signor Della Cella has supposed that the passage
of Scylax refers to the _elevated_ parts of the Cyrenaica, and
places his gardens of Hesperides in the mountains; but we think
that a review of the passage in question, combined with the local
information which we have been able to collect on the subject,
will authorize us to doubt this position.]
[Footnote 26:
Here Lethe’s streams, from secret springs below,
Rise to the light; here heavily, and slow,
The silent, dull, forgetful waters flow.
(Rowe’s Lucan, book ix. p. 209.)
Lucan places his Lethe and Hesperian Gardens in the neighbourhood
of the Lake Tritonis, in the Lesser Syrtis; but the western part
of the Cyrenaica is the most approved position for both. See also
Solinus on this point.]
[Footnote 27: Εστι δε και λιμην Ἑσπεριδων, και ποταμος εμβαλλει
Λαθων. (Lib. 17. p. 836.)
Some of the Commentators read λιμνη Ἑσπεριδων, and Cellarius says on
this subject—“Est et de exitu fluminis dubitatio, in quod se infundat,
in mare an in lacum. Straboni est λιμην Ἑσπεριδων, in quem Lathon
effluit. Vetus autem interpres iterum dissentit, et quasi λιμνη legerit,
_lacus_ vertit _Hesperidum_. Videant (he adds) quibus vel regionem
cognoscendi, vel inspiciendi antiquos codices, facultas est.”
(Lib. iv. c. ii.)]
[Footnote 28: Εστι δε ακρα λεγομενη Ψευδοπενιας, εφ᾽ ης ἡ Βερενικη την
θησιν εχει, παρα λιμνην τινα Τριτωνιδα, εν ἡ μαλιστα νησιον εστι, και
ιερον Αφροδιτης εν αυτω· εστι δε και λιμην Εσπεριδων, και ποταμος
εμβαλλει Λαθων.]
[Footnote 29: We have already assumed, upon reasonable grounds,
that this was probably the case in earlier times.]
[Footnote 30: Βερενικιδαι απο Βερενικες της Μαγας θυγατερος, γυναικος δε
και Πτολεμαιου, ωνομαθησαν Βερενικιδαι ὁι δημοται. (Steph. Byzant. v.)]
[Footnote 31: Urbes Hesperia, Apollonia, Ptolemais, Arsinoe, atque
(unde terris nomen est) ipsa Cyrene. (De Situ Orbis, Lib. i. c. 8.)]
[Footnote 32: Βερενικη, ἡ και Ἑσπεριδες.]
[Footnote 33: The name of Berenice is mentioned by Edrisi as
remaining in his time in this part of Africa; but we never could
find any traces of the name, though we often inquired for it of
the Arabs of the country, as well as of the inhabitants of Bengazi.]
[Footnote 34: The changes which time may be supposed to effect in
the character and appearance of a country, are well expressed in
the following little fable of Kazwini, translated from the Arabic
by Silvestre de Sacy.
“I passed by a very large and populous city, and inquired of one
of its inhabitants by whom it was founded. Oh, replied the man, this
is a very ancient city! we have no idea how long it may have been
in existence; and our ancestors were on this point as ignorant as
ourselves. In visiting the same place five hundred years afterwards,
I could not perceive a single trace of the city; and asked of a
countryman, whom I saw cutting clover, where it stood, and how long
it had been destroyed. What nonsense are you asking me? said the
person whom I addressed: these lands have never been any otherwise
than you see them. Why, returned I, was there not formerly here a
magnificent and populous city?—We have never seen one, replied the
man, and our fathers have never mentioned to us anything of the kind.”
“Five hundred years afterwards, as I passed by the spot, I found
that the sea had covered it; and, perceiving on the beach a party
of fishermen, I asked them how long it had been overflowed.”
“It is strange, answered they, that a person of your appearance
should ask us such a question as this; for the place has been at all
times exactly as it is now. What, said I, was there not at one time
dry land in the spot where the sea is at present?—Certainly not,
that we know of, answered the fishermen, and we never heard our
fathers speak of any such circumstance.”
“Again, I passed by the place, after a similar lapse of time,—the
sea had disappeared—and I inquired of a man whom I met at what
period this change had taken place. He made me the same answer
as the others had done before—and, at length, on returning once
more to the place, after the lapse of another five hundred years, I
found that it was occupied by a flourishing city, more populous, and
more rich in magnificent buildings, than that which I had formerly
seen! When I inquired of its inhabitants concerning its origin, I was
told that it lost itself in the darkness of antiquity! We have not
the least idea, they said, when it was founded, and our forefathers
knew no more of its origin than ourselves!”—(Chréstomathie
Arabe, vol. iii. p. 419.)]
[Illustration: Plan _of the REMAINS of_ TAUCRA, Or _TEUCHIRA;_
BY _Captn. F. W. Beechey R.N._
_J. & C. Walker Sculpt._
_Published as the act directs, April 1827, by J. Murray, Albemarle
St. London._]
[Illustration: Plan _of the RUINS and ENVIRONS of_ PTOLEMETA,
_now called DOLMEITA._
BY _Captn. F. W. Beechey R.N._
_J. & C. Walker Sculpt._
_Published as the act directs, April 1827, by J. Murray, Albemarle
St. London._]
[Illustration: Engraved from a Drawing taken on the spot by H. Beechey.
REMAINS OF AN ANCIENT BRIDGE AT PTOLEMETA.
THROWN ACROSS THE BED OF A TORRENT.
_Published March 1827, by John Murray, London._]
[Illustration:Engraved from a Drawing taken on the spot by H. Beechey.
REMAINS OF AN ANCIENT MAUSOLEUM AT PTOLEMETA.
_Published March 1827, by John Murray, London._]
[Illustration: Drawn by H. Beechey.
Engraved by E. Pinden.
REMAINS OF AN IONIC BUILDING AT PTOLEMETA.
_Published March 1827, by John Murray, London._]
[Illustration: Engraved from a Drawing taken on the spot by H. Beechey.
REMAINS OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT PTOLEMETA.
_Published March 1827, by John Murray, London._]