Proceedings of the expedition to explore the northern coast of Africa, from Tripoly eastward : $b in MDCCCXXI. and MDCCCXXII., comprehending an account of the Greater Syrtis and Cyrenaica; and of the ancient cities composing the pentapolisBeechey, Frederick William
History
Proceedings of the expedition to explore the northern coast of Africa, from Tripoly eastward : $b in MDCCCXXI. and MDCCCXXII., comprehending an account of the Greater Syrtis and Cyrenaica; and of the ancient cities composing the pentapolis
Beechey, Frederick William
Sidra, Gulf of (Libya); Tripoli (Libya) -- Antiquities; Tripoli (Libya) -- Discovery and exploration
There are, however, no remains to the westward of Guadigmata
(between that place and Wady’m’Seid) that we could perceive
in our route; but two miles beyond Guadigmata there are some
remains of building on a rising ground to the eastward of it,
which are too much buried under the soil to allow us to give any
satisfactory description of them. Two large upright stones, which
seem to have been the jambs of a gateway, are all that are now
standing; and not even the ground plans of other parts of these
remains could be obtained without excavation. We learnt, however,
from Captain Smyth that, in the neighbourhood of Wady’m’Seyd,
there is a small boat-cove resembling an ancient cothon; and near
it the ruins of several baths with tesselated pavements; which
must have been situated on that part of the coast which we were
not able to visit, for the reasons mentioned above. To the eastward
of these, another small port was also discovered by Captain Smyth
(formed by a point of land between the Wadies of Ben-z-barra and
Abdellata), at which the produce of the country is shipped off in
the summer. The mouth of the Abdellata is described by this officer
as forming a picturesque cove, and he observed on its left bank
(a little way inland) a village consisting of troglodytic caverns,
excavated in the sand-stone rock; many of which being furnished
with doors, are used by the natives instead of the usual matamores,
or subterranean storehouses, as granaries.
The former of the ports here described may possibly have been that
of Graphara required; but as there are more extensive remains in
the neighbourhood of that at Abdellata (or Abdellati), which we
shall presently have occasion to mention, we will not venture to
fix it as such decidedly.
On the day after our arrival at Guadigmata, the weather proving
still very bad, we did not proceed on our route; but spent the day
in examining and securing our baskets of provisions many of which
we found to have been wet through, and in making those other little
arrangements which, notwithstanding all precautions, are usually
found to be necessary a day or two after the commencement of a
long journey.
We continued our route on the following morning, and found the
country beyond become gradually hilly, and the road to be again
intersected by Wadys, or ravines, extending themselves from the
mountains to the sea[9]. By four we had arrived at Sidy Abdellàti:
so called from a celebrated Marábut, whose tomb, surrounded by
gardens and date-trees, stands conspicuous on the banks of one of the
Wadys. The country about it is everywhere well cultivated, the wells
are numerous, and the hills were covered with sheep and goats; but
notwithstanding the numerous flocks in our neighbourhood, we found
considerable difficulty in procuring a single lamb for our party.
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