On the right or S.E. of their road, at the distance of about twenty miles, the mountains of Guariano and Misselata rise upon the view.—A sight that recals to the mind of the experienced Traveller, and leads him to relate to the stranger, the beauty of the vales, the richness of the lands, abounding in corn and oil, and the fierce inhospitable disposition of the inhabitants, that compels the caravan to turn from their dominions, its direct and antient road, and to take its course among the desolate hills, and dreary wastes of the sandy and barren coast.[2]
A request from the Shereef Fouwad was now made to Mr. Lucas for his consent to encamp that evening in the neighbourhood of an old Arab, his particular friend, with whom he had business to transact, but whose residence was two hours march to the South of their road. They accordingly turned to the South, and about five o’clock, after a tedious and difficult passage among rocky hills, they approached the tents of the Arab. The old gentleman, accompanied by his two sons and a few attendants, came forward to meet them; and after expressing great satisfaction at the sight of his friend, the Shereef, he ordered a tent to be cleared for their reception, and in the mean time conducted them to a mat and carpet, which his servants had spread for them under a hedge; for, notwithstanding the season of the year, the heat was already troublesome. They had not been seated long when their host invited them to their tent, in which a number of mats and carpets were neatly laid.—A sheep was killed, and sent to be dressed for their suppers; bowls of buttermilk were brought for their present refreshment, and barley in abundance was given to such of their cattle as were accustomed to that kind of food; while the camels, as usual, were sent to feed among the hills.
At eight o’clock the supper was brought to the tent, and was placed before them in two large wooden dishes. Of these the first contained the mutton, which was boiled, and cut into small pieces: the other was filled with a boiled paste of dried barley meal, made up in the form of an English pudding, and surrounded with a great quantity of oil. This dish, which was intended as an accompaniment to the mutton, and which is in much estimation at Tripoli, is called bazeen.
While Mr. Lucas tasted of the last, and eat with pleasure of the first of these dishes, and the Fezzaners, with their usual dispatch, were devouring the contents of both, the old man and his sons stood by to supply them with water and buttermilk; for the rules of the Arab hospitality require, that during their meals the master of the house should wait upon his guests.
Feb. 4th. The next morning, at seven o’clock, the entertainment was repeated, with the same marks of a kind and liberal welcome; for the old man is rich in corn and cattle, and having obtained the character of a Musselman Saint, or Maraboot, is, on that account, exempted from the payment of taxes.
After a march of three hours, during which the rout was perplexed, and the eye fatigued by a continued succession of rocky hills, the caravan arrived at the entrance of an extensive and beautiful plain, that every where exhibited a luxuriant growth of olive trees, intermixed with dates.
The next two hours brought them to the sea coast, and to all that now exists of the town of Lebida, where, in the ruins of a temple, and in the much more perfect remains of several triumphal arches, the Traveller contemplates the magnificence of an antient Roman colony; and discovers, in the beauty and fertile appearance of the adjoining plain, the reasons which led them to chuse, for a sea-port town, a situation that furnishes no natural harbour.
Eastward of the ruins, for about five and twenty miles, the soil, though entirely unaided by the poor Arabs who inhabit it, exhibits the same luxuriant vegetation; and the scene is rendered still more interesting by the remains of a stupendous aqueduct, which formerly conveyed to Lebida the water of a distant hill.
At half an hour after five, and in the neighbourhood of a miserable village, the caravan encamped for the night.
Feb. 5th. The next day’s journey, which was attended with nothing remarkable, and during which they followed the line of the coast, brought them to Zuleteen, an inconsiderable town, where they found that a boat, to which a part of their baggage was intrusted, had been compelled by a storm to deposit her cargo. From this circumstance, and the necessity which followed it, of hiring six additional camels for their goods, the departure of the caravan on the next day (February 6th) was retarded till two o’clock in the afternoon. At the end of the first hour’s march, they were informed by some friendly Arabs, who were moving their tents and cattle, for the sake of protection, to the suburbs of the town, that on the preceding afternoon a party of the rebel tribe of Hooled Bensoliman, from the neighbouring hills, had attacked a small caravan belonging to Mesurata, and after killing four of the people, had carried off the camels and baggage:—and they were also informed, that on that very morning two men, who were going from Mesurata to the market, which is held at some distance from the town, were robbed and killed by the same party. At this news a Council was summoned to determine on the prudence of attempting to proceed; for the Shereefs began to distrust the sufficiency of that title to an exemption from the violence of war, on which, when the danger was distant, they had so confidently relied. The opinion of Mr. Lucas being asked, he observed, that as the party which committed the depredations were described as not more than forty or fifty in number, and were consequently much too weak to resist the detachment that, they must be sure, would be sent from Mesurata to revenge the violences of which they had been guilty, he had not the smallest doubt of their being already returned to the refuge of their mountains; but that at any rate, their own numbers, considering how well they were armed, were amply sufficient to defend them from the attacks of such petty marauders. Pleased with an opinion which gave them the prospect of but little danger, they fresh primed their muskets and pistols, and singing as they went, drove merrily on.