LIST OF PLATES.
| Chapter | ||
| 1. | Solitary Palm-Tree at Arar, remarkable as beingthe only Tree in the Greater Syrtis | [VI.] |
| 2. | Formidable Appearance of the Coast atZaffran | [ib.] |
| 3. | Remains of an Ancient Bridge at Ptolemeta | [XII.] |
| 4. | Remains of an Ancient Mausoleum atPtolemeta | [ib.] |
| 5. | Remains of an Ionic Building at Ptolemeta(Vignette) | [ib.] |
| 6. | Remains of an early Christian Church atPtolemeta | [ib.] |
| 7. | Singular Position of Two Inhabited Caves in theNeighbourhood of Apollonia | [XVII.] |
| 8. | Position of the Amphitheatre, the Fountain ofApollo, and some other Remains at Cyrene | [XVI.] |
| 9. | Elevation of the Internal Façade of anExcavated Tomb at Cyrene | [ib.] |
| 10. | Suite of Allegorical Figures painted on theMetopes of One of the Excavated Tombs at Cyrene | [ib.] |
| 11. | Partial View of the Tombs on the Heights ofCyrene | [ib.] |
| 12. | Architectural Front of One of the Doricexcavated Tombs at Cyrene | [XVIII.] |
| 13. | Entrance to the Fountain of Apollo at Cyrene(Vignette) | [XVI.] |
| LIST OF CHARTS ANDPLANS. | ||
| General Chart of the Route | [I.] | |
| Chart, showing the Differencebetween the Coast Line of former Charts, and that obtained by theExpedition | [X.] | |
| Plan of the Port and Neighbourhoodof Bengazi | [XI.] | |
| Plan of the City of Teuchira | [XII.] | |
| Plan of the City of Ptolemeta | [ib.] | |
| Plan of the City and Environs ofCyrene | [XV.] | |
| Plan of the City, on a largerScale | [ib.] | |
| Plan of the Town of Derna and ofthe Port of Zaffran | [XVII.] | |
| Plan of the Port and City ofApollonia | [ib.] | |
INTRODUCTION.
In offering to the Public an account of the mission, the proceedings of which will form the subject of the present Narrative, it may be proper to state briefly the circumstances which gave rise to it, and the objects to which its inquiries were chiefly directed.
When Captain Smyth visited the Northern Coast of Africa, in the year 1817, he had many opportunities (during the course of his Survey) of obtaining information connected with the state of the country and the points most deserving of notice which it presented. The exertions of this active and intelligent officer procured at Lebida the matter for the only plan which we have of that city and its antiquities, while his journey to Ghirza made us acquainted with the actual nature of those remains, so important in Arab estimation, the account of which is given at the latter part of our narrative[1].
Captain Smyth had proposed to extend his journey eastward; for the friendly disposition of the Bashaw of Tripoly had been diligently cultivated by himself and Colonel Warrington, His Majesty’s Consul-general at the Regency, and the whole tract of country between Tripoly and Derna was open to the researches of the English. Circumstances, however, prevented him from doing so, and on returning to England he submitted the information which he had been able to collect to the Admiralty, and suggested that a party might be advantageously employed in exploring the Greater Syrtis and Cyrenaica, as well as the country to the eastward of Derna as far as Alexandria and the Oasis of Ammon.
Many spots of more than ordinary interest were comprehended within the limits of the Syrtis and Cyrenaica: some of these had been the favourite themes of mythology, haunts in which the poets of Greece and Rome had loved to linger; and others had been celebrated in the more sober language of historians whose fame is less perishable than the objects which they describe. But whatever might once have been the state of a country placed before us so conspicuously in pages which are dear to us, there had not in our own times been any opportunity of ascertaining its actual condition. The name of Cyrene was familiar to classic ears, but no one had visited its remains; the “secret springs” of Lethe and the Gardens of the Hesperides had almost been confounded with the fables of antiquity; and the deep and burning sands, overspread with venomous serpents, which were supposed to form the barrier between Leptis Magna and Berenice, had rarely been trodden since the army of Cato had nearly found a grave beneath their weight[2].
The outline of this extensive Gulf (the Greater Syrtis), the coast of which was as formidable to the vessels of the ancients as its sands were supposed to have been to their armies, had never been accurately laid down in modern charts, and the contradictory statements of its form and peculiarities appeared to call for minute investigation. There were many geographical points to be determined in the space between Tripoly and Bengazi, and remains of several ancient towns (besides Cyrene) were known to exist in the Pentapolis, of which no plans had hitherto been made. Under all these circumstances it appeared to Captain Smyth that, as he was himself about to sail in the Adventure to finish his survey of the northern coast of Africa, it might so be arranged that a party on shore should proceed simultaneously along the tract of country mentioned, communicating from time to time with his vessel as occasions might offer in the course of their route. The views of His Majesty’s Government were at this period favorable to the cause of research; and the labours of many skilful and enterprising men had been, since the peace, advantageously directed to various points of interest, from the sultry plains of Fezzan to the borders of the Frozen Ocean. It was therefore not long after the plan in question had been submitted to the Admiralty and the Colonial Department, that it was acceded to by Earl Bathurst and Lord Melville; and the means of carrying it into effect were referred to the consideration of one of the heads of the Admiralty, whose well-directed ability had often been manifested in the promotion and arrangement of similar undertakings, and whose exertions in the cause of science and discovery are well known and highly appreciated[3].
Accordingly, when the necessary dispositions had been made, Lieutenant Beechey was appointed on the part of the Admiralty to undertake the coast line from Tripoly to Derna,—if practicable, as far as Alexandria; and Mr. Tyndall, a young gentleman on board the Adventure, was directed to assist him in the survey. Earl Bathurst appointed Mr. Beechey to examine and report on the antiquities of the country, and Mr. Campbell of the Navy was soon after nominated to accompany the expedition as surgeon. The party was embarked on board His Majesty’s Ship Adventure, and sailed from England early in July with Captain Smyth, proceeding directly to Malta: there they were joined by Lieutenant Coffin of the Navy, who had come out in the Adventure, and who handsomely volunteered his services on shore, which were accepted without hesitation. A short time was sufficient to complete the few remaining preparations, and the expedition left Malta for Tripoly.
We have already said that it had been in contemplation to extend our journey farther to the eastward, and to examine the country between that place and Alexandria, in which it seemed probable that interesting remains might be found. We had in that event proposed to return by Siwah, and along the track of Horneman to Augila; from which place we should have re-entered the Greater Syrtis, and explored some of the more inland parts of it in the course of our journey back to Tripoly. Circumstances, however, which it will not here be necessary to explain, prevented our going farther eastward than Derna, and limited the period of our stay in the Pentapolis to a much shorter period than we had originally calculated upon. Our work has in consequence assumed the form of a Journal, and has become more contracted on points of unquestionable interest, and more diffuse in matters which would otherwise have been omitted, than it would have been in the character which we wished it to have taken. We do not, however, mean to apologize for having done less than we might have done under the circumstances in which we were placed; or to underrate the value of the matter which we have been able to lay before the Public: the materials which we had to work upon are in themselves sufficiently interesting to call for the attention of those who read for information, and the labour which has been employed in collecting them (during the whole course of a long and fatiguing journey) has not been thrown away upon trifles.
We have given to the world (we may say with the greatest accuracy) an extensive tract of coast which has been hitherto unsurveyed, and of which our best charts afforded a very imperfect outline, as will appear by a reference to the maps at the head of the work.
We have obtained the plans of towns and places, (rendered interesting by antiquity, and by the rank which they hold in the pages of history,) of which we have hitherto had no details; and have described, or made drawings of every object of note which has presented itself on the field of our operations. In fact, whatever may be the merit of our work in other respects, or the value attached to our exertions, we are satisfied ourselves with the matter acquired and with the labour and diligence which has been employed in collecting it; and it is because our materials are worthy of more attention than we had time and opportunities to bestow upon them, that we regret we are not able to offer them to the Public in a more complete form than we have been able to give them. Had it been in our power to employ excavation, on a more extensive scale than we did, and to bestow as much time upon every object worth attention as its importance appeared to demand, our work could have been a more perfect one; that is to say, it would have treated of art, and its details more exclusively (we mean the details of sculpture, architecture, and painting,) than it does in the shape which it at present assumes. We might also have given additional interest to our narrative by introducing more plates than we have been able to insert; but our number has been (we believe necessarily) limited, and we may add that the selection of those which appear might have been better if we had known, before the drawings went to the engraver, that we should have been obliged to leave out so many of them.
Something should be said to account for the delay which has taken place in publication since the work was first announced. We may state that, so far as we are ourselves concerned, more than three parts of the MS. was finished at least two years ago; and that the remainder was only kept back because it could not be completed till the first portion was printed.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]The plan here alluded to of the City of Lebida was obligingly placed at our disposal by the author, and we wished to have had it engraved for the work; but, in consequence of being obliged to limit our number of plates to much fewer than we had originally anticipated, this plan, with some others of our own, have been omitted.
[2]The poetical account of this tract of country by Lucan is well known to the readers of ancient literature, and we shall have occasion hereafter to advert to it in speaking of the actual appearance of the Syrtis.
[3]A little before this period, an expedition undertaken by the Bashaw of Tripoly against his eldest son Mahommed, now Bey of Derna, afforded to Signor Della Cella, an Italian gentleman residing in Tripoly, the opportunity of visiting the Syrtis and Cyrenaica in the capacity of physician to the Bashaw’s second son, who at that time commanded the expedition against his brother.
The account of this journey was published at Genoa soon after the return of Dr. Della Cella; and the interest which uncertainty had given to the country through which he passed was increased by his animated description of its remains. But the opportunities which were afforded to the Doctor were not sufficient for the accomplishment of his object; and although his pen described the extensive ruins which he witnessed, the reader had to regret that the shortness of his stay prevented him from examining them with attention.
We subjoin the errata which we have been able to detect in a hasty perusal of the Narrative after the whole was printed off. There may possibly, however, be others which have escaped us. The few errors which occur in some of the passages quoted from foreign languages, we have not thought it necessary to include in this list, since the proper readings will be obvious to all who understand them, and it will be unnecessary to point them out to those who do not.
| Page | |
| 52, | for who has obligingly, read and who has, &c. (Note.) |
| 65, | for this range, read the range. |
| 292, | for ti stan bono, read ti sta bono. |
| 293, | for a te. read été. |
| 397, | for its site should be fixed, read looked for. |
| 397, | for of the accounts of the city of Barca, read if the accounts, &c. |
| 471, | for at the roadstead, read in the roadstead. |
Coast line of the Gulf OF THE Greater Sertis,
BY Capt. F. W. Beechey, R.N.
| J. & C. Walker Sculpt. | Published as the act directs, April 1827, by J. Murray, Albemarle St. London. |
![[(Large-size)]](#1649629358567350039_map01_large.jpg.id-5678020583441594821.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
NARRATIVE
CHAPTER I.
Arrival of the Expedition at Tripoly; pleasing appearance of the Town from the Sea — Friendly Reception of the Party by the Consul — Interview with the Bashaw, who promises his protection and assistance — Appointment of the Escort — Visits to some of the Mahometan Residents in Tripoly — Sidi Mahommed d’Ghies — Preparations for the journey — Adoption of the Costume of the Country — This precaution recommended on the experience of the party — Visit from the Arab Escort — Description of their principal, Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah — Sketch of the Shekh’s former Life — Friendly attentions of the European Residents of Tripoly — Arrival of Dr. Oudney and Lieutenant Clapperton.
In the beginning of September the Adventure sailed from Malta, and in a few days we made the African shore, at about the situation assigned to Tripoli Vecchio. Running down to the eastward, we soon discovered the place of our destination, and on the morning of the 11th, cast anchor in the harbour of Tripoly. The town makes a respectable appearance from the sea; it is surrounded by a high wall, strengthened with bastions, above which are distinguished the mosques and the baths, whose white minarets and cupolas form no unpleasing contrast with the dark tints presented by thick groves of palm-trees, rising in varied groups, from the gardens at the back of the town. The different coloured flags which were hoisted to salute us on the castle of the Bashaw, and the houses of the several consuls, floated gaily in the clear atmosphere and bright sunshine of a Mediterranean climate; and the whole together, viewed under favourable impressions, gave to Tripoly an appearance of much more interest and importance than it was afterwards found to have deserved.
The reception which we experienced from Mr. Warrington, the British Consul-General at Tripoly, was friendly and attentive in the extreme; and, on our landing, the consulate was assigned to us as a residence, which he obligingly left at our disposal. The arrival of our party was now signified officially to the Bashaw, who appointed a day to receive us; being at the time indisposed, on account of the operation of burning, which he had undergone as a cure for the rheumatism[1]. His Highness was provided with a skilful European physician, who had been for some time attached to his person and to the court; but the prejudices of his country were too strong to be overcome by reason, and the remedies of Dr. Dicheson gave way to the popular superstition.
On the day appointed for the interview, we proceeded to the palace of His Highness, accompanied by the Consul and Captain Smyth. The streets through which we had to pass, on our way to the Castle, were by no means fit approaches to a regal abode; they were encumbered with the rubbish of houses fallen into ruin, and with the superfluous produce of those which were yet standing; while swarms of little naked and dirty children, and numerous groups of hungry, half-starved dogs, almost blocked up the little space which was left for our passage. The dust which was unavoidably raised in our progress, together with the heat of the sun, and the myriads of gnats and flies which assailed us in every direction, were no grateful additions to these inconveniences; and we were heartily glad to find ourselves before the gates of the Castle, where a part of the Bashaw’s guard was drawn out in due form to receive us. After paying our respects to the Kechia[2], (who was seated at the end of the skeefa, or entrance hall,) we were ushered along a dark and narrow passage, so irregular and uneven under foot, that we were in danger of falling at almost every step[3], and having passed at intervals several Tchaouses and soldiers, who were barely discernible through the gloom, we found ourselves at length in a spacious apartment, where a motley crowd of Christians, Turks, Arabs, and Jews, were assembled to wait His Highness’s leisure.
We had not been long here before it was announced to us that the Bashaw was prepared to receive us; and, on approaching the presence, we found His Highness seated, with all due solemnity, at the farther end of the apartment, attended by his third son, Sidy Ali, by Reis Moràt[4], who acted as interpreter, and by other principal officers of the Court. A formidable line of well-armed black soldiers were ranged along the walls of the room, who stood exactly like so many statues, each with a loaded blunderbuss, held with the muzzle pointed downwards; and close to the Bashaw’s person was a trusty black slave, who held in readiness His Highness’s pistols. The introduction of armed soldiers into the presence-chamber of a Sovereign was rather a novel sight to Europeans, and may be taken as an example of the extremely barbarous state in which the Regency of Tripoly, with all its recent improvements, must still be admitted to remain.
The High Admiral, Reis Moràt, in the name of our party, made known to the Bashaw the friendly disposition of the King of England towards His Highness; in testimony of which he was requested to accept the present of four brass field-pieces, with their accoutrements, which we had brought with us on board the Adventure; and he was then requested to extend his protection to our party in their passage through his extensive dominions. Every assistance was freely offered on the part of the Bashaw, who expressed himself, in return, highly satisfied with the friendly assurances of His Majesty; and the necessary preliminaries being satisfactorily arranged, tea[5] and lemonade were served with all due decorum, and our party took leave of His Highness. The guns were brought up the same afternoon, close under the balcony of the palace, and the Bashaw appeared at the window to inspect them, with some of the officers of his court; various manœuvres were gone through to the admiration and astonishment of the spectators, under the direction of the gunner of the Adventure, and the cannoniers acquitted themselves so highly to the satisfaction of His Highness, that he sent a sword to the gunner, in token of his approbation, and a bag of dollars to be divided among the crew.
In our interview with the Bashaw it had been finally arranged that our party should be escorted as far as Bengazi, by an Arab Shekh who presided over the district of Syrt, and was called Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah; at Bengazi we were to be consigned to Hadood, Shekh of Barka, who was to conduct us as far as Bomba, beyond which his authority ceased. As Bomba, or its immediate vicinity, may be considered as the eastern limit of the Regency, we were informed that, in our progress from that place to Alexandria, we must depend upon the protection of the Bashaw of Egypt. We had foreseen this circumstance before our arrival in Tripoly, and a letter had been written from Malta to Mr. Salt, His Majesty’s Consul-General in Egypt, requesting him, in the name of the British Government, to make the necessary arrangements with His Highness the Viceroy for our passing from Derna to Alexandria; and we afterwards received a firman from Mahommed Ali, which he considered would be sufficient to ensure our advance.
These preliminaries settled we began to make preparations for our journey, and consulted with the most intelligent natives in Tripoly on the best means of forwarding the objects of the Expedition.
We found them on all occasions particularly obliging, and always ready to afford us every information in their power. From Sidi Mahommed D’Ghies, in particular, the same well-informed native who had been of great service to Mr. Ritchie and Captain Lyon, as well as from his son[6], a most excellent young man, we received at various times much useful advice, and always the most friendly and cordial reception.
At the house of Sidi Mahommed, we were one day introduced to one of the most respectable Mahometan traders to Timbuctoo; who offered to ensure our arrival at that place, and our return in perfect safety to Tripoly, provided we would place ourselves entirely under his directions; allowing, of course, for ill health, as well as for such accidents as could not be foreseen, and may happen to any one in travelling across the desert. As Timbuctoo, however, formed no part of the object of our mission, this offer was naturally declined; and we merely mention it here as one which may be worth consideration, should any future traveller decide upon attempting this journey by way of Tripoly.
Our next care was to provide ourselves with the dress of the country, which was strongly recommended to us by our Mahometan friends, and which, indeed, on the former experience of one of our party, we had before proposed to adopt. The opinion of Colonel Warrington was in favour of the European costume; but as we supposed it to have been founded on the experience of journeys in the neighbourhood of Tripoly only, within the immediate range of the Bashaw’s authority, and in places where the natives are more accustomed to the dress; we thought it most advisable to adopt the advice of our Turkish friends, which we knew to be formed on an extensive acquaintance with the prejudices, manners, and customs of the Arabs: this opinion, besides, had the additional recommendation of being quite in unison with our own; and it is probably not unknown to some of our readers that a similar coincidence has usually its weight in decisions of much more importance. The experience of our journey through the Syrtis and Cyrenaica confirmed us still more decidedly in our former opinion; and as the propriety of adopting the Turkish costume has occasionally been questioned and denied, we will venture to add our testimony in its favour to that of all the most experienced travellers in Mahometan countries with whom we have ever been acquainted; so far, at least, as the adoption of it is in question, in places where the principal persons in power, and the bulk of the population are Mussulmen. If it were only on the score of convenience, we should in most cases recommend it; and it is certainly the best calculated to prevent interruption, and all the numerous annoyances arising from idle curiosity and the prejudices of an ignorant people.
On our return, one morning, from a visit to the Bazar, where we had been making some purchases necessary for our journey, we found our apartment occupied by the Bedouin Arabs who had been appointed by the Bashaw to attend us to Bengazi. They had been ranged by our servant on chairs round the room, on which they did not appear to sit much at their ease; and some of them had relinquished their exalted situation for the more convenient level which the chairs themselves occupied, that safe and comfortable position, the ground: here they squatted themselves down with true Arab dignity, and soon found themselves much more at home. There was little in the dress of these swarthy personages by which one might be distinguished from the rest. An ample baracàn, fastened in the usual Arab manner, partially displayed the large, loose sleeves of a cotton shirt, more remarkable than usual for its whiteness; a piece of distinction which is, by Arabs, considered necessary only in towns, and on visits of more than ordinary ceremony: from a leathern belt was suspended a case of the same material, containing a brace of long pistols, near which hung a leathern pouch for powder and ball, and a smaller one which served as a pocket or purse. A red, or white cap, (for some had one, some the other,) and sandals of camel’s hide, fastened with thongs of leather, completed the whole costume. One only wore a turban; and, on closer investigation, the pistol-cases and pistols of the person so distinguished appeared to be in better order than those of his companions. But no difference of attire was necessary to mark out Shekh Mahommed el Dúbbah from those who accompanied him. A venerable length of beard, in which white was partially blended with gray, gave an air of patriarchal respectability to his appearance; and a singular mixture of energy and complacency displayed the wild and daring spirit which animated him half subdued by the composure of age, and the decorum which it was necessary to observe on the occasion: a well-acted smile was playing on his lips, with which his voice and his manner, when he addressed us, corresponded; but his large full eye, though its lustre was dimmed by age, was never for a moment at rest; and wandered unceasingly from object to object, with a wildness and rapidity very different from the vacant stare of curiosity so conspicuous in the faces of most of his party.
Shekh Mahommed was at this time nearly sixty years of age, and had early been very formidable as a robber in the district of Syrt. The circumstance of his being the head of a Maràbut tribe, joined to the natural intrepidity of his character, had given him great influence over the Arabs of his neighbourhood; and the daring character of his exploits soon obtained for him the appellation of El Dúbbah, or the Hyæna.
At a more advanced period, when the rigorous measures of the Bashaw seemed likely to reduce the Arab tribes to subjection, Mahommed, finding it probably more to his interest, went over to His Highness’s party; and from his knowledge of the country, and the interest which he possessed, was enabled to render him very essential service: he was in consequence established as Shekh of Syrt, a district of more than two hundred miles in extent. We were glad to find that Shekh Mahommed was as eager as ourselves for an early departure from Tripoly; he soon began to enumerate all the various disadvantages which were to be expected from travelling in the rainy season over the low and swampy regions of the Syrtis; and drew such pictures of them as would have determined us to set out immediately had our movements depended upon ourselves. But the delays of the tradesmen, who furnished our supplies, and many others, which could neither be foreseen nor prevented, retarded the movements of the Expedition; and it was not till the morning of the 5th of November that we were able to set out on our journey. It may well be imagined that the attractions of Tripoly are neither very great nor very numerous; and our stay there had been attended with a good deal of trouble and vexation in making the necessary arrangements for our departure: but the friendly attentions which we had invariably received from many of its principal European inhabitants, as well as from several of its Mahometan residents, greatly contributed to enliven the monotony of a Moorish town; and it was not without feelings of sincere regret that we took leave of our little circle of acquaintance. This had latterly been increased by the arrival of Dr. Oudney and Lieutenant Clapperton, of the navy, who were commissioned by Government to make researches in the interior of Africa; and who were to proceed to Bornou, by way of Morzouk, as soon as the preparations could be completed which were necessary for so tedious a journey.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]The practice of cautery is well known to be generally adopted, and confidently depended upon, by the Arabs and Moors, as an effectual remedy for almost every disorder. The custom may be traced to a very remote period, and is alluded to by Herodotus, (Melpomene, 187,) as peculiar to the Libyan Nomades, the early inhabitants of a considerable part of the coast of Northern Africa. The remedy is indeed too indiscriminately applied, but is not, however, unfrequently productive of good effects. We were assured by a man at Bengazi, that he had been cured three times of the plague by the mere application of a hot iron to the tumours which attend the disease; and if we might judge from the dreadful scars which remained, his attacks were by no means slight ones.
[2]This officer holds the second place in the Regency, and is invested with the supreme power whenever His Highness is absent.
[3]Tully observes, “We entered these gloomy passages, which always seem as if they led to some dreadful abode for the purpose of entombing the living.”
[4]Reis Moràt, we believe, is a Scotchman, and was formerly mate of a merchant vessel; but having embraced the Mahometan faith, and entered the service of the Bashaw, has now, through his naval skill and abilities, arrived at the head of his profession, and is much considered by His Highness.
[5]Tea is very generally used by the higher classes throughout the Regency of Tripoly, and coffee but rarely.
[6]This young man, who is the second son of Sidi Mahommed d’Ghies, and is also named Mahommed, is an admirable example of true devotion to the religion of his country, united with the more extended and liberal feelings of Europeans. He daily visits the public school where young boys are taught to read the Koran; and superintends the charitable distribution of food which the bounty of Sidi Mahommed provides for the poor who daily present themselves at his gate. Besides his acquaintance with the English and French languages, he is able to converse with the slaves of the family in several languages of the interior of Africa; and when it is considered that Mahometans in general seldom trouble themselves to speak any language but their own, this proficiency is greatly to his credit; we should rather, perhaps, say, to the credit of his father, under whose eye he has been hitherto brought up, and who is himself well acquainted with the French, and we believe with several other languages. The elder son of Sidi Mohammed was in England while we were at Tripoly, and must be remembered by many of the first circles in London.
CHAPTER II.
General description of Tripoly; its Castle and Port — The Buildings of Tripoly commended by Leo Africanus — Present condition of the City — Its existing ancient remains — Burial-ground of the ancient City — Sepulchral urns of glass discovered there by Mr. Consul Warrington — Remarks of Leo Africanus on the soil and level of Tripoly, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries — Accumulation of soil since that period — Advance of the sea, mentioned by Leo Africanus, still observable on the coast of Northern Africa — These appearances adduced in confirmation of Major Rennell’s remarks on the Lake Tritonis and the Lesser Syrtis — Historical sketch of Tripoly — Its actual state and improved condition under the present Bashaw — Abolition of Piracy, and partial discontinuance of the Slave Trade.
The town of Tripoly has been built on a foundation of rock, and is washed, to the northward, on two sides, by the sea; while the remaining parts, those to the southward and westward, are bounded by a large sandy plain, which is notwithstanding partially cultivated[1].
The form of the town is very irregular, but it is completely surrounded by high and thick walls, which appear to have been once very strong. They are now falling fast into ruin; yet wherever any part of the old work is seen, through the mud and irregular fragments of stone, with which the ravages of time have been partially concealed, it appears to be solid and good[2]. The walls are besides provided with ramparts, on which are planted a number of guns quite sufficient to make themselves tolerably respected, were it not that the impertinent interference of rust, and the occasional want of carriages for the guns, might contribute to prevent their effect. The castle is built at the south-eastern angle of the city, close to the water’s edge; and may be said to connect the line of ramparts along the beach with that which encloses the town to the southward. The walls of the castle are unusually high, and have been fortunately made to incline a good deal inwards: we say fortunately, for so bad is the state of repair, in which the exterior is kept, that without this convenient inclination to the centre, they would not probably be standing at all. Yet they are certainly of considerable thickness; and it is owing to the very unworkmanlike manner in which the building has been from time to time augmented, for we ought not to call it repaired, that its strength has been materially diminished[3].
Appearances, however, are by no means disregarded; and the surface of His Highness’s castle and residence (for the building is both one and the other) displays a bright coating of plaster and whitewash over the unseemly patchwork beneath it.
The city walls and ramparts are for the most part disguised under a cloak of the same gay material; and the whole together, viewed under an African sun, and contrasted with the deep blue of an African sky, assumes a decent, we may even say, a brilliant appearance. It must, however, be confessed that this is much improved by distance; for a too close inspection will occasionally discover through their veil the defects which we have alluded to above; and large flakes of treacherous plaster will occasionally be found by near observers to have dropt off and left them quite exposed.
Leo Africanus has informed us that the houses and bazars of Tripoly were handsome compared with those of Tunis. How far this epithet might have been applicable at the period here alluded to, we are not ourselves able to judge; but we must confess that the beauty of the existing houses and bazars of Tripoly did not appear to us particularly striking: and if the comparison drawn by Leo may be still supposed to hold, we do not envy the architects of Tunis whatever fame they may have acquired by the erection of the most admired buildings of that city. The mosques and colleges, as well as hospitals, enumerated by our author, must have been very different from those now existing to entitle them to any commendation; and the rude and dilapidated masses of mud and stone, or more frequently, perhaps, of mud only, here dignified by the appellation of houses, do not certainly present very brilliant examples either of taste, execution, or convenience. Indeed, if we consider the actual state of Tripoly, we might be authorized, perhaps, in disputing its claims to be ranked as a city at all; and they who are unaccustomed to Mahometan negligence might imagine that they had wandered to some deserted and ruinous part of the town, when in reality they were traversing the most admired streets of a populous and fashionable quarter. This want of discernment, however, is chiefly confined to Europeans; for the greater part of the Mahometan inhabitants of Tripoly are strongly convinced of its beauty and importance; while the wandering Arab who enters its gates, and looks up to the high and whitewashed walls of the Bashaw’s castle, expresses strongly in his countenance the astonishment which he feels how human hands and ingenuity could have accomplished such a structure.
Of the ancient remains now existing in Tripoly, the Roman arch we have already alluded to, with a few scattered fragments of tesselated pavement, and some partial ruins of columns and entablatures, here and there built into the walls of modern structures, are all that we were able to discover[4].
The harbour is formed by a long reef of rocks running out into the sea in a north-easterly direction, and by other reefs at some distance to the eastward of these, all of which make together a very good shelter. In the deepest part, however, there is very little more than five and six fathoms water.
At the extremity of a rocky projection to the northward, forming part of the first-mentioned reef, are two batteries, called the New, and Spanish, forts; and to the westward of these, on an insulated rock, is a circular one called the French fort. Besides these, there are two others on the beach to the eastward, which, with the New and Spanish forts, would prove of considerable annoyance to hostile vessels entering the harbour. The forts are in better condition than the walls and ramparts, which we have already stated to be very much dilapidated, and the guns very little attended to.
The mosques and baths of Tripoly, with its coffee-houses, bazars, &c., as well as the manners and customs, dresses, prejudices, and other peculiarities, of the people who are in the habit of frequenting them, have been so amply, and so well described in other publications, that we need not here attempt any account of them[5].
We may, however, be allowed a few words on the peculiarities of soil, at present observable in the neighbourhood of Tripoly, as contrasted with those which appear to have existed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
It has been observed by Leo Africanus, (who flourished during the pontificate and under the protection of Leo the Tenth,) that there was at all times a scarcity of grain in Tripoly, and that the country about it was incapable of cultivation; but it will appear from the passages which we have quoted below, as well as from the actual state of the place, that it is merely the want of rain (which is occasionally experienced) that now prevents the soil in question from producing good crops very regularly[6].
When we inquire into the cause of this difference, a more interesting result will be afforded by the inquiry than any which relates to the quantity of corn produced at Tripoly. We find, for instance, that the lands to the southward of Tripoly (we mean those in the immediate neighbourhood of the town) were subject, in the time of the African Geographer, to be overflowed for some extent by the sea; while the same parts are now above the level of the water, which never reaches high enough to cover them[7]. “All the country about Tripoly” (says Leo Africanus) “is sandy like that of Numidia; and the reason of this is, that the sea enters freely towards the southward, (entra assai verso mezzogiorno,) so that the lands which ought to be cultivated are all covered with water. The opinion of the inhabitants,” he continues, “with respect to this riviera, is, that there was formerly a considerable tract of land extending to the northward; but that for many thousand years the sea has been advancing and covering it; which is observable,” he adds, “and known to be the case, on the coast of Monasteer, as well as at Mahdia, Sfax, Gabes, and the island of Girbe; with other cities to the eastward, whose shores have but little depth of water; so that one may walk a mile or two into the sea without being up to the waist. Wherever this occurs,” (continues Leo) “such places are said to be considered as parts of the soil overflowed by the sea;” (that is, not within the original bounds of the latter,) “and the inhabitants of Tripoly,” he tells us, “are of opinion, that their city stood formerly more to the northward; but that owing to the continual advance of the sea it has been gradually extended in a southerly direction; they also declare,” says our Author, “that remains of houses and other buildings may still be observed under water[8].”
From this account, contrasted with the actual appearance of the place in question, we must either suppose that the level of the lands here alluded to, which are those in the immediate neighbourhood of Tripoly, is higher, at the present time, than it was in the age of Leo, or that the sea has retired since that period. For although the soil of Tripoly still continues to be sandy, there is now no part of it, as we have stated above, overflowed to the southward of the town[9]. As we cannot suppose that the sea has retired since the time of the author in question—(for we shall hereafter point out several instances on the coast, between this part of Northern Africa and Alexandria, in which it rather appears to have gained)—we must conclude that, since the age of Leo Africanus, the land alluded to has been rising in a greater proportion than the sea.
This elevation of soil is, at the same time, by no means inconsistent with the rise of the waters already mentioned; for, as the coast is here sandy, we may venture to conclude, that the sea, notwithstanding it continued to rise, threw up, from time to time, a sufficient quantity of sand to raise the level of the country above it; and we shall thus have an additional confirmation of what appears to be actually the case on the coasts of the Greater Syrtis, and Cyrenaica, as well as of the ingenious conjectures of Major Rennell with regard to the Lake Tritonis and the Lesser Syrtis.
It is well known that Tripoly, after the destruction of Carthage, became a Roman province; and that on the conquest of a great part of Northern Africa by the Vandals, it passed into the hands of those barbarians, from which it was rescued, in the reign of Justinian, by the valour and abilities of Belisarius. The rapid and extraordinary progress of Mahometanism, soon after the death of its founder, involved Tripoly, together with the whole of Northern Africa, in the general wreck of civilization and Christianity: since that period it has remained, with few exceptions, in the hands of its Moslem conquerors, passing successively from the government of the Caliphs to the tyranny of Morocco, Fez, Tunis, and the Porte. After the erection of the walls of the town, already mentioned as the work of Dragut, Tripoly became the secure resort of most of the Corsairs who roved under Turkish colours; and from that port they continually make attacks and descents on the opposite shores of the Mediterranean.
After the death of Dragut, the Porte continued to send Governors to Tripoly under the titles of Sangiac and Bashaw; and the castle was garrisoned by Turkish troops while the Moors inhabited the city. At length, in the year 1714, it was finally rescued from the oppression of the Turks by the great-grandfather of the reigning Bashaw; who, having contrived to assassinate the whole of the garrison, took the reins of government into his own hands, and obtained the title of Hamet the Great. From that time to the present it has remained under the government of the Moors, although the supremacy of the Grand Signor is still acknowledged, and tribute is paid to the Porte.
We may say, in allusion to the actual state of Tripoly, that it appears to be making some advances towards civilization, and is beginning to feel the good effects which result from a state of security and tranquillity. Indeed, when we reflect upon its deplorable condition at the time of the accession of Sidi Yusuf, and look back upon the horrors of civil discord and contention to which it had been for more than eight years exposed—impoverished at the same time by indiscriminate extortion and plunder, and subjected during the period of these heavy calamities to the dreadful effects of famine and plague—we may venture to assert that the present state of Tripoly is far better than might have been expected. It is now secure under the protection of an established government, property is respected, and commerce is improving; its markets are well supplied, its manufactures are encouraged, and its population appears to be increasing[10].
A considerable portion of the revenue of Tripoly was formerly drawn from the plunder obtained by her corsairs; and a very lucrative branch of her commerce consisted in the traffic of slaves. The humane interference, and the decisive measures, of England, have contributed to check, if not quite to abolish, these execrable sources of profit. Piracy, so far at least as we were able to learn, has been wholly superseded by commerce; and when the Tripolines find that it is more to their interest to give up their traffic in human kind than to continue it, we may hope to see this also relinquished.
It may, however, be added (we fear) that till then such a consummation must not be expected, however devoutly it may be wished. Indeed, we cannot reasonably expect that it should; for the feelings which result from a high state of civilization will never be found to precede civilization itself: and humanity, however strongly we may believe, or may wish to believe, it is implanted in the breasts of all mankind, has not often been found to weigh very heavy against the scale in which interest, or inclination, has been opposed to it.