JOURNEY FROM PTOLEMETA TO MERGE.
Departure from Ptolemeta — Romantic and Picturesque Appearance of
the Road — Luxuriant Vegetation which adorned it — Arrive at the
Summit of the first Range — Bedouin Tents on the Plain above —
Pleasing Manners of their Inhabitants — Character of the Scenery
on the Summit of the Lower Range — Beauty of the Route continues
— Arrive at the Plain of Merge — Character and Position of the
Plain — Our Camel-Drivers refuse to proceed — Artful Conduct of
Abou-Bukra — Appeal to Bey Halil — Projected Mission to Derna
— Abou-Bukra comes to Terms, and brings his Camels for the Journey
— Pools of Fresh Water collected in the Plain of Merge — Use
made of them by the Arabs — Prevalence of a Virulent Cutaneous
Disease among the Arab Tribes of Merge and its Neighbourhood —
Remains of a Town at one extremity of the Plain — Remarks on
the District and City of Barka — Testimonies of Strabo, Pliny,
Ptolemy, and Scylax, respecting the Port of Barca — Remarks on
the Position of the City of that Name — Arab Accounts of Barca
— Edrisi, Abulfeda, &c. — Unsatisfactory Nature of the Accounts
in Question — Mode of reconciling the Arab Accounts of Barca
with those of Scylax — Suggested Position of the Ancient City
— Peculiarity of Soil attributed to Barca — Observations on its
Produce and Resources — State of Barca under the Arabs — Decay of
the Ancient City after the building of Ptolemais on the Site of its
Port — The Barcæans remarkable for their Skill in the Management
of Horses and Chariots — Their Country formerly celebrated for
its excellent Breed of Horses — Degeneracy of the present Breed
— Account of Barca by Herodotus — Other Accounts of its Origin
— Siege and Plunder of the City by the Persians under Amasis —
Subsequent state of the City till the building of Ptolemais.
On our arrival at Ptolemeta, we had discharged the camels which we
hired from the people of Bengazi, and waited the arrival of those
which Hadood, Shekh of Barca, was to furnish us with, under whose
escort we were to proceed to the eastern limits of the Bashaw’s
dominions.
At Teuchira we had been joined, as we have already stated, by
Abou-Bukra, the son of Hadood, and four days after our arrival
at Ptolemeta the camels which we expected were brought from
the mountains, and we set out on our journey to Cyrene. We left
Ptolemeta on the twenty-seventh of April, and took the road leading
through Merge, a large and fertile plain, situated on the top of
the range which we have already described as lying to the southward
of Ptolemeta. After repassing a part of the road, by which we had
formerly travelled, we began to ascend a most romantic valley,
a little to the westward of the town of Ptolemeta and leading
up from the coast towards Merge. As we wound along the steep and
narrow pathway which skirted the bed of the torrent below us, we
found the place much more remarkable for its wildness and beauty
than it was for the goodness of its roads; and had not our camels
been accustomed to the mountains they would probably have given
us a good deal of trouble. The sides of the valley were thickly
clothed with pines, olive trees, and different kinds of laurel,
interspersed with clusters of the most luxuriant honeysuckle,
the fragrance of which, as we passed it, literally perfumed the
air. Among these we distinguished myrtle, arbutus, and laurestinus,
with many other handsome flowering shrubs, a variety of wild roses,
both white and red, and quantities of rosemary and juniper. Scenes
of this kind even in Europe would be highly appreciated; but to
travellers in Africa, it may readily be imagined they could not
fail of being more than usually grateful; and every fresh beauty
which opened itself to our view was hailed with enthusiastic delight.
The very difficulty of the road added interest to the scene; and the
mixture of what (with us) would have been garden shrubs, blooming,
more luxuriantly than we ever see them in northern climates, amidst
the wild crags of a neglected ravine, gave a finish and an elegance
to its rugged forms which produced the most agreeable association
of ideas.
But if we begin to indulge ourselves in recollections of this
nature, we shall soon lose the thread of our narrative; and
restraint is the more necessary on the present occasion, as the
scenes which presented themselves one after the other, in our route
from Ptolemeta to Merge, were nothing but a continued succession of
beauties from the beginning to the end of our journey. In about an
hour from the time when we began to ascend, we reached the top of
the first hill, and were saluted by a wild-looking, dark-featured
Arab, who presented us some honey in the comb which is procured
in quantities from the neighbouring mountains. This was the first
person we had met with in our passage up the ravine, and there was
a wildness in his accent as well as in his appearance which suited
admirably with the character of the scene. A little farther on we
reached some Arab tents, scattered here and there among the bushes
and trees, and such of the Bedouins whose tents we passed nearest
to came out, and questioned us on the objects of our journey. We
observed in these people the same peculiarities of look and accent
which had struck us in our friend of the honeycomb, and they had a
bluntness and independence of manner and appearance which afforded
us, together with their simplicity, a good deal of pleasure and
amusement. They welcomed us in the true patriarchal style, with an
offer of shelter and refreshment, and we should have liked nothing
better than spending a week or two among them, and rambling about
the beautiful country which they occupied.
It often happens, however, that pleasure and duty are disagreeably
inconsistent with each other; and the fine Arcadian lounge, that we
should willingly here have indulged in, would not have much forwarded
the objects of the mission[1]. The view which presented itself from
the top of the hill was no less pleasing than those which we had
enjoyed so much in ascending it. It had less of wildness than those
of the ravine, but quite sufficient to give additional interest to
the broad sweep of open country which lay stretched out before us,
comprising a rich and varied succession of hills and vallies which
lost themselves in the blue horizon.
The open tracts of pasture and cultivated land scattered over
this charming scene were most agreeably diversified with clumps
and thickets of trees, and with flowering shrubs and flowers, in
greater profusion and variety than we had seen in our passage along
the ravine. Everything around us was green and smiling; and whether
we looked, in our progress, from the hill to the valley, or from
the valley to the side of the hill, the view was equally delightful.
After quitting the Arab tents, we entered a most beautiful valley
extending itself in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction;
and three hours more, over hills and through vales, which it
would be useless and almost endless to describe, we arrived at the
plain of Merge, a long sweep of flat country of mingled pasture and
cultivation, bounded on either side by a range of wooded hills about
five miles distant from each other, and stretching from north-east
to south-west as far as the eye could reach. The water from the
mountains inclosing the plain settles in pools and lakes in different
parts of this spacious valley; and affords a constant supply, during
the summer months, to the Bedouin tribes who frequent it. Although
the ranges of hills which we have described as inclosing it give to
Merge the appearance of a valley, it must be recollected that it is
situated on the top of a chain of mountains of no inconsiderable
elevation; and if we have mentioned it as an extensive plain, it
must also be considered as a tract of table-land raised far above
the level of the sea. In looking over what we shall presently have
occasion to mention respecting the town and the neighbourhood of
Barka, it will be necessary to bear this in mind; but before we
enter upon the subject we must add to our journal the few incidents
which occurred during our stay at Merge.
It was not our intention to have remained a moment in this valley,
as we were anxious to get to Cyrene as soon as possible; but on
signifying our intentions of proceeding farther, (for the day was
not half spent,) the camel-drivers refused to go on, alleging that
Abou-Bukra had hired them only to Merge. Abou-Bukra himself was
not present at the time, having ridden towards the other end of
the valley where the tents of Bey Halil, who had been some days at
Merge, were pitched near the tomb of a celebrated Marábut. As we had
no means of disproving the compact alleged, and the camel-drivers
persisted in their refusal to proceed, we did not think it worth
while to take any further trouble in endeavouring to overcome
their scruples; we therefore ordered the tents to be pitched and
rode on to Bey Halil, fully expecting that he would furnish us with
other camels to enable us to continue our journey on the following
morning. The Bey received us as usual with the greatest civility,
and promised the camels at an early hour the next day, by which time,
he added, Shekh Hadood would most probably arrive and take the charge
of escorting us to Cyrene. The next day, however, no camels arrived,
and we again rode down to the tents of Bey Halil to learn the reason
of this unseasonable delay. We found the Bey’s tent filled with
Bedouin Arab Shekhs, who appeared to be in grand consultation, and
Halil had either been, or pretended to have been, persuading them to
furnish us with camels for the journey. The result of the conclave
was not, however, by any means favourable, for none of the worthy
Shekhs present would let us have their camels for less than eighty
dollars; a demand so extremely exorbitant that we did not hesitate
a moment in declining it, and offered them at the same time thirty,
expecting that they would relax, as is usually the case with them,
when they found that we persisted in our refusal.
Half the day was, however, spent in sending backwards and forwards
and still we could get no camels, Abou-Bukra himself making
a thousand professions of his readiness to oblige us on all
occasions, but giving us no proofs of it whatever. It required
very little penetration to discover that this was evidently a
concerted manœuvre; and that Bey Halil was either unable to make
any satisfactory arrangement for us, or was himself a party in the
plan. Abou Bukra was certainly the principal agent in the affair,
and the whole plot was doubtless got up by him. He had mentioned no
difficulties of the kind at Ptolemeta, because the camel-drivers
of Bengazi would have offered to proceed with us to Cyrene, had
he declined supplying us on reasonable terms. The eighty dollars
required by all the Bedouin Shekhs was the sum which he wished to
extract from us, and the circumstance of the whole assembly being
unanimous in the demand was intended to be a proof of its fairness,
he himself having made no offer whatever, on the plea of not having
camels enough at his disposal. Bey Halil very probably did not
wish to interfere in preventing his Arab friend from making what
profit he could of us (such an act being considered by Mahometans in
general as extremely unbrotherly, and not by any means called for);
and with regard to the Arabs, they willingly lend their services
to one another on all occasions of a similar nature[2].
Finding the chances against us on this tack, we determined to
try another; there being no end to Arab extortion when you have
once given them reason to suppose that you will submit to it. We
accordingly arranged that two of our party should set out with
all speed for Derna, to request Mahommed Bey would furnish us
with camels, which we knew he would immediately do. This manœuvre
succeeded, as we expected it would, in bringing about a favourable
change; but we had determined, in the event of being obliged to put
the threat in execution, to transport a tent and some provisions
to Ptolemeta, on the horses, where our time would be employed to
advantage till the camels from Derna arrived; and, as the distance
from Merge to Ptolemeta was only a few hours, and the road could
not be mistaken, this plan would have been easily effected.
Abou-Bukra, however, no sooner perceived that we were in earnest,
than he offered to supply us himself with camels at a price of forty
dollars; but as thirty was the sum we had ourselves proposed, we
declared that we would not make any other alteration in it than by
meeting him half way in his demand; and as he had begun to suspect
that we kept to our word he made no further difficulty in the matter,
and agreed to bring his camels at thirty-five. This he accordingly
did, and Shekh Hadood not having yet arrived we quitted Merge the
next day, under convoy of Abou-Bukra and our Bengazi Chaous, Rabdi,
who had now recovered from his illness, and joined us to resume
his office.
During the time of our stay at Merge, we received a present of
several sheep from Bey Halil, for which we made a suitable return
to the Chaous who brought them, and took the opportunity of sending
by him a token of our regard to our old friend Hashi, the Bey’s
secretary.
We have already said that the water of Merge is collected in pools in
different parts of the valley; and we soon found that in exchanging
that of the wells and cisterns which we had quitted for it, we had
not much improved the quality of our liquor. It was soon discovered
that the water we procured from the pools was not quite so clear
as it might have been, and we thought we perceived a peculiar taste
in it which did not seem to be its natural flavour.
A very little observation convinced us we were right; for the pools
were used by the Arabs, not only for drinking, but for washing
and bathing also; and we soon found that the last-mentioned
ceremonies, though not often resorted to by Arabs in general,
were more particularly essential to the comfort of those at Merge,
from circumstances which we would willingly conceal; since they
will scarcely be considered as perfectly in character with the
highly-romantic features of the country which they inhabited.
We are not, at the same time, prepared to assert, that the causes
which more peculiarly call for ablution (considered as a matter
of comfort) did not actually exist in patriarchal days amidst
scenes such as we have described; and if we do not find them
hinted at in the allusions to early times which are made in this
age of refinement, it is only, perhaps, that too minute a detail
would be inconsistent with the ideas which we wish to excite of
our forefathers.
In confessing that the Arabs who washed themselves in the pools
of Merge were induced to do so more frequently than they would
otherwise have done, from the alleviation which this operation
afforded to the pain of a well-known cutaneous disease, that it
will not be necessary to name, we must state, at the same time,
that it is by no means peculiar to them alone; since the greater
part of the Arabs from Bengazi to Derna are afflicted with a similar
complaint. As they have either no effectual remedy for the disorder,
or neglect the precaution of applying it, the consequences must be
distressing in the extreme to them; and it is certain, that their
appearance is not often remarkably prepossessing, and, perhaps,
as we have said, not altogether in character with the beautiful
scenery about them. We shall insist, notwithstanding this unlucky
objection, that the scenery of the country in the neighbourhood
of Merge, is among the most beautiful that we have ever beheld;
and that the people who inhabit it are not the less patriarchal
in their manners, and customs, and appearance, because they happen
to be afflicted with a cutaneous disease the name of which has not
usually been associated, in modern times, with ideas of pastoral,
or any other enjoyments. At the same time, we confess that we did
not feel ourselves called upon to fill our water-skins any more from
the pool which we had hitherto used, when we found for what purposes
it was occasionally employed; although the Arabs themselves could
see no sufficient reason why it should not be drank on that account.
Near the centre of Merge is a ruin now called Marábut Sidi
Arhooma, and a few miles to the south-east of it are remains of an
inconsiderable town which the Bey informed us had been built by a
celebrated Shereef, but of which so little is now remaining that
the plans of the buildings could not be satisfactorily ascertained.
The extensive plain (or valley) of Merge, for it is equally one and
the other, may be considered as occupying a part of the territory
within the ancient limits of Barca; and before we proceed with the
details of our journey, it will be proper to turn our attention to
the imperfect notices which have come down to us of the celebrated
city of that name. The limits assigned to the district of Barca by
the Arab historians and geographers comprise not only the whole
of the Cyrenaica, but, according to some, the whole tract of
country between Mesurata and Alexandria; while its actual limits
(as we have stated elsewhere) commence at the bottom of the Syrtis,
extending themselves eastward as far as Derna, and, as we were also
informed, to the eastern extremity of the Bashaw of Tripoli’s
dominions. The ancient country of Barca was, however, confined
to the western parts of the Cyrenaica, and extended no farther in
that direction than to the eastern limits of the Hesperides. The
port of Barca, under the Lagidæ, received the name of Ptolemais,
and we have the authorities of Strabo and Pliny for considering
the last-mentioned city and that of Barca as the same[3]. Ptolemy
has, however, distinguished Barca from Ptolemais, and Scylax has
described the former of these cities as situated at the distance
of one hundred stadia from the sea; so that no doubt can remain of
their having been different places[4]. As the distance of Scylax
from the port to the city of Barca is given in distance from the
sea, we must look for the latter (supposing the one hundred stadia
to be correct, which we have no sufficient reason to doubt) in some
part of that range of mountains which bounds the country between
Bengazi and Ptolemeta to the southward; and it appears extremely
probable, that its site should be looked for in some part of the
plain of Merge: it may be, in the remains which have already been
mentioned in the south-eastern part of the valley. Here, however, a
considerable difficulty occurs, if the accounts of the city of Barca,
which are given by early Arab writers, are at all to be depended
upon as correct; for although these accounts, in many respects,
will be found to be extremely unsatisfactory, they all appear to
concur in placing the city in the neighbourhood of a mountainous
country, but, at the same time, rather in a plain at the foot of
it than in any part of the mountains themselves. The distance,
however, of Barca from the coast unavoidably places it in some part
of the range which we have mentioned; for there is no part of the
plain between this range and the sea, (as will clearly appear by
the chart,) which is distant anything like one hundred stadia from
the coast, with the exception of that to the southward of Bengazi;
and to suppose the town of Barca there would be absurd, for it
would then be fifty miles distant from its port and only nine or
ten from the more convenient harbour of Berenice. Edrisi has given
us several distances to and from Barca; as—from Barca to Augela
ten stations (or days’ journey), equal to two hundred and fifty
Roman miles. From Barka to Alexandria—twenty-one stations, or five
hundred and fifty M. P. From the promontory of Khanem (Cape Mesurata)
to Barka—four hundred and eighty M. P. The intermediate places
between Barca and Alexandria, and between Mesurata and Barka, are,
at the same time, mentioned in detail; but as few of them correspond
with the existing names of places in the same routes we have no means
of checking the numbers as they occur, or of reckoning the distance
of any known places in its neighbourhood from the city of Barca
described. If the distances, also, be taken in the aggregate, they
will be found too considerable to fix the site of the city with any
sufficient precision. Were the places of Aurar and Alásal clearly
decided upon we should have more available data; and particularly
if distances had been given by Edrisi between Teuchira and Barca,
and between Ptolemeta and the last-mentioned city. The other Arab
accounts, which we allude to, of Barca, are as follows:—
In the work of Azizi, as cited by Abulfeda, we are told that “there
are _two mountains belonging to Barca_, in which there is a great
proportion of excellent soil, numerous springs of fresh water,
and many tracts of cultivated land.” Provisions are mentioned as
being at all times very cheap there, and the inhabitants exported
wine, and pitch, extracted from the pine, to Egypt; together with
a great many head of cattle of a small breed.
This refers to the _district_ or territory of Barca; and the _city_
of that name is described by the author just quoted as “situated in
_an_ _extensive plain_, the soil of which is of a reddish colour; it
has been surrounded” (he adds) “with a wall ever since the time
of Motewakkel, that is to say, from the year of the Hegira 240.”
Another Arab writer, whose name has not come down to us, informs
us, as cited by Silvestre de Sacy (_Chrestomat. Arabe_, Tom. ii.,
p. 521), that “the city of Barca is situated in a country where
the soil and the buildings are red; whence it happens that the
clothes of those who reside there partake of the same colour.”
It is then stated that, “_at six miles from Barca, is a mountain_,” and
without mentioning at all in what direction, the author goes on to say,
that provisions were at all times very abundant and very cheap in the
country; that the cattle thrived and multiplied in its pastures; and
that the greater part of those killed in Egypt were supplied from it.
Bricks, honey, and pitch[5] (he adds) were also exported to Egypt, the
latter of which was prepared in a place dependant upon Barca called
Maka, situated on a high mountain, of difficult access, which it was
impossible to ascend on horseback. In the _city of Maka_ (he goes on
to state) was the tomb of Rowaïfa, one of the companions of Mahomet,
(for it seems there were two of that name,) and _this city_ was
called, in the Greek language, _Pentapolis_[6], which means (says
our author) five cities. The country (he adds) produced a great
variety of fruits, and there was a great proportion of it covered
with juniper; the people about it were of different Arab tribes, and
of those called Lewata. On the road from Barca (he still continues)
to Africa proper, is the valley of Masouyin (the pronunciation of
which name, says De Sacy, is uncertain) in which are found remains
of arches and gardens to the number, it is said, of three hundred
and sixty; some of the gardens are cultivated, and the wilderness,
or desert tract, from which the honey is procured, is situated in
this valley.—(_Chrestomat. Arabe_, Tom. ii. p. 521, 2.)
In the Geographia Nubiensis, Barca is described as a town of
moderate dimensions and narrow limits; and as being celebrated
for an earth called by its name, which was of great service, when
mixed with oil, in cutaneous diseases. It was of a reddish colour,
and if thrown into the fire smelt strongly of sulphur, emitting
at the same time a very offensive smoke: its taste is described as
_execrable_. (_Geog. Nubien._ p. 92.)
There can be no question that these writers had all of them the same
place in view: the peculiarities which they attribute to it agree
too well to doubt it; but there is nothing in the description of any
by which the position of the city of Barca can be fixed (at least
we cannot see that there is) with any tolerable degree of accuracy.
The only mode of reconciling the Arab accounts of Barca with the
distance which Scylax has given of that city from the sea, is to
suppose that the authors of them intended to describe it as situated
in some plain within the limits of the range of mountains mentioned
above; and, under this idea, the extensive plain of Merge appears
to be the most eligible spot we are acquainted with for the position
of the town we are speaking of.
The position of Merge with regard to Ptolemeta, which has already
been identified with the ancient port of Barca, is extremely
favourable to this supposition. Two ravines, one of which is an
extremely good road, lead up directly to it from Ptolemeta; and
the distance of any town, which might be built upon its plain, from
the sea would correspond sufficiently well with that which we have
quoted from Scylax. The peculiarities of soil which are attributed
by Arab writers to Barca, are at the same time observable in the
soil of the plain of Merge, which is of a decided reddish colour,
and stains the clothes of those who lie down upon it, as we have
occasion to know by experience. Again, one account says, that “six
miles from Barca is a mountain;” and the ranges of mountains which
inclose the plain (or valley) of Merge are also six miles distant
from each other. Honey is also found in the valleys leading to
Merge, as it is said to have been in those leading to Barca; and
the Arabs are still in the habit of extracting a kind of resin,
or turpentine, from the fir, which might be the “kidràn” of
the writers we have quoted. These are all of them vague proofs,
but, in the absence of better, we are content to receive them in
corroboration of the idea that Merge is the plain intended by the
writers in question; although, after all, it does not absolutely
follow that the town described by them as Barca should be clearly
established as the _ancient_ town of Barca required.
The peculiarities ascribed to the territory of Barca—its numerous
springs, its excellent soil, its large supplies of cattle, its
various kinds of fruit trees, are all of them observable in the
mountainous districts of the Cyrenaica; and there can be no doubt
that these tracts are part of the country alluded to by Arab writers
as the territory of Barca. Barca, under the Arabs, was a considerable
province, but it suffered materially from the tyranny of Yazouri[7],
and a great part of its inhabitants abandoned their country and
established themselves in Egypt and other places. Many of the
emigrants settled in Alexandria; but when that city was afterwards
laid waste by the plague, in the dreadful manner described by Abd’
Allatif, more than twenty thousand persons quitted it for Barca,
and the province again assumed a flourishing appearance[8].
The city known by the Arabs under the name of Barca never appears
to have been (in their time) of any importance; but the ancient
city so called was (after Cyrene) the most considerable town of
the Cyrenaica; and continued to flourish down to the time of the
Ptolemies when it appears to have been eclipsed by Ptolemais. Its
inhabitants were celebrated, like those of Cyrene, for their skill
in the management of horses and chariots; the former of which arts
they are said to have received from Neptune, the latter from Minerva;
which is stating in other words that at a very early period nothing
was known of the origin of this custom in Africa. In the age of
Pindar the Cyrenaica was still celebrated for its excellent horses,
and we find that it enjoyed the same reputation in the times of the
Arab historians. The breed has, however, (from whatever cause,)
degenerated considerably from its original character, and the
horses of Barca are not now to be compared with those of Arabia and
Egypt. The origin of the ancient city of Barca, or Barce, is related
by Herodotus (Melp. 160.), and many interesting particulars of it are
given in detail by the same writer. He states it to have been founded
by the brothers of Arcesilaus, King of Cyrene, (probably about five
hundred and fifteen years before the Christian era,) who left him,
in consequence of some dissensions, to inhabit another part of the
country; where, after some deliberation (says the historian,) they
built the city which was then, as it is at present, called Barce.
Others have supposed it to have been of Phœnician or Libyan origin,
Barca being a Phœnician name well known on the northern coast of
Africa, as we learn from Silius Italicus and other writers.
Servius intimates that its citizens came originally from Carthage,
which might suggest the probability that Barca, Dido’s brother, who
accompanied her into Africa with some of his countrymen, established
himself there and gave the name to the city and territory by which
they were afterwards distinguished. The city was taken and plundered
by the Persians, under Amasis, after a long and difficult siege
(related in detail by Herodotus), and many of its inhabitants were
sent prisoners to Darius Hystaspes, in whose reign this event took
place, and settled by that monarch in a district of Bactria which
was after them called Barce. The descendants of Battus were, however,
left unmolested in the city; which continued (perhaps) to flourish,
as we have already mentioned, till the building of Ptolemais on
the site of its ancient port; to which place its inhabitants are
said to have retired in order to enrich themselves by commerce.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: It was to the rus in urbe that our destiny called
us—to the πολίς Ελλενις παλαιον ονομα και σεμνον—νυν πενης, και
κατηφης, και μεγα ερειπιον! as Cyrene is pathetically described
by Synesius; and we are sorry to say that the term _rus in urbe_
may now be well applied to this once beautiful city with even more
correctness than to Ptolemeta; which we have already described
as covered with vegetation, and presenting the appearance of
a solitary grass-grown tract of country, rather than of a once
populous town. Cattle feed everywhere among the ruins of Cyrene,
and its whole aspect is infinitely more rural than civic.]
[Footnote 2: One of the reasons alleged for putting so high a price
upon the camels was the probability of their eating the silphium
which grows in the country we were about to visit, and which has
sometimes very fatal effects upon them.]
[Footnote 3: Ειθ᾽ ἡ Βαρκη προτερον, νυν δε Πτολεμαις.—(Strabo,
Lib. xvii.) Deinde Ptolemais, antiquo nomine Barce.—(Hist. Nat.
Lib. v. c. 5.)
So also Stephanus; Βαρκη, πολις Λιβυης, ἡτις και Πτολεμαις.]
[Footnote 4: Εκ δε λιμενος της Κυρηνης μεχρι λιμενος του κατα Βαρκην
σταδια φʹ, ἡ δε πολις ἡ Βαρκεων απο θαλασσης απεχει σταδια ρʹ.
(Perip. p. 109.)]
[Footnote 5: (لاقطران) el kidrān, (goudron).]
[Footnote 6: The Arab word is ضطابلس Bintàblis.]
[Footnote 7: Yazouri was Grand Khadi and governor of Egypt and Barca,
in the reign of the Caliph Mostanser-Billah. He was stripped of these
posts, and of that of Vizier, which he also held, in the year 450.]
[Footnote 8: This author relates, that he himself was credibly
informed, that on _one_ single day (a Friday) the Imam at Alexandria
had read the funeral service over _seven hundred people!_—and that,
in the space of a month, the same property had passed to fourteen
persons who inherited it in succession.]
[Illustration: _POSITION and_ Plan _of_ CYRENE.
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_ CYRENE.
BY _Captn. F. W. Beechey R.N._
_J. & C. Walker Sculpt._
_Published as the act directs, April 1827, by J. Murray, Albemarle
St. London._]