In concluding our account of that part of the coast which lies between the promontory called Ras Sem and Derna, we may observe that the name of the first-mentioned place, however it may have originated, is not at the present day known to the Arabs, at least not to any of whom we inquired for it. Bruce and Dr. Shaw have described it as situated in the interior; the former at five long days, the latter at six days’ journey to the southward of Bengazi. The term Ras, which in Arabic signifies a head, is the usual Arab term for a promontory, and it is in this sense that we find it adopted in modern charts to distinguish the headland above mentioned. But the place which is alluded to by Shaw and Bruce is not, as we have stated, on any part of the coast, but lying at a distance of several days from it, that is to say, south of Bengazi; and Bruce translates the name which has been given to it differently, calling it the Fountain and not the Head of Poison, as Ras Sem is commonly interpreted; probably from the indifferent quality of the water which he found there in a very disagreeable spring impregnated with alum. We are not prepared to reconcile the different positions assigned to the fountain or the promontory in question; but have chiefly adverted to it on account of the fictions which have been circulated with respect to its alleged petrifactions. It appears, as reported by a Tripoline Ambassador resident in London about an hundred years ago, on the authority of a friend of his, a person of great veracity, and of a thousand other people besides—all, no doubt, of equal respectability—that “a large town was to be seen at Ras Sem, of a circular figure, which had several streets, shops, and a magnificent castle belonging to it.” “Olive and palm trees were found there, among others, turned into a bluish or cinder coloured stone, and men were conspicuous in different attitudes, some of them exercising their trades and occupations, others holding stuffs, bread, &c., in their hands. Women at the same time were observed giving suck to their children, or busy at the kneading trough or other occupations. A man was to be seen on entering the castle lying upon a magnificent bed of stone, and guards were still visible standing at the doors armed with their pikes and spears. Animals of different sorts (nay, the very dogs, cats and mice) were observed by some persons converted into stone, and all of the same bluish colour[1].” Here we have evidently the description of an ancient city, with its buildings and statues, converted by the fertile imagination of the Arabs, and other ignorant spectators of its remains, into the fancied semblances mentioned. It is probable that one of the cities of the Pentapolis, Cyrene perhaps, as having most statues, was the petrified city in question; and we may venture to say that there is scarcely an individual who has travelled in Mahometan countries who has not been induced to take journies of inquiry on the authority of similar fictions. Happy are they who find the least resemblance between the description which they have heard and the reality!—for it often occurs that amplification and hyperbole have less to do in such accounts than pure invention. Shaw was encouraged, as he himself informs us, to undertake a very tedious and dangerous journey to Hamam Meskouteen in Numidia upon the authority of Arab reports; he had been assured, with the most solemn asseverations, that a number of tents had been seen there, with cattle of different kinds, converted into stone. On arriving, however, at the place, he had the mortification of finding that all the accounts which he had heard were idle and fictitious, without the least foundation, unless in the wild and extravagant brains of his informers. “Neither (he continues) will the reports concerning the petrified bodies at Ras Sem deserve any greater regard or credibility, as will appear from the following relation[2].”
A similar disappointment was experienced by Captain Smyth, who was induced, from the report of the Sultan of Fezzan, an eye-witness of the scene he described, to undertake a journey to Ghirza; and as he has obligingly favoured us with the details of it, we submit them to the inspection of the reader in the form in which they were extracted from his private journal.
“During the time I was excavating amongst the ruins of Leptis Magna, the Arab Sheiks who visited my tent frequently remarked that I should have a better chance of finding good sculpture in the interior, and made many vague observations on the subject, to which I paid little attention at the time. On my return to Tripoli however, Mukni, sultan of Fezzan, had just returned from a marauding expedition into the interior; and in a conference I held with him, he assured me that within the last month he had passed through an ancient city, now called Ghirrza, abounding in spacious buildings, and ornamented with such a profusion of statues as to have all the appearance of an inhabited place. This account, supported by several collateral circumstances, impressed me with the idea of its being the celebrated Ras Sem, so confusedly quoted by Shaw and Bruce, and consequently inspired me with a strong desire to repair thither.”
“Accordingly Colonel Warrington and I waited on the Bashaw, requesting permission to undertake the journey, with which he immediately complied. Only, as his eldest son, the Bey of Bengazi, was in rebellion against him, and might by seizing the Consul-general and myself demand terms which his Highness would find it difficult to accede to, he wished us to proceed with a small force to the mountains, and there be reinforced according to the actual state of the country. His Highness also signified his desire that Seedy Amouri, his son-in-law, and Seedy Mahomet his nephew, should accompany us. He moreover furnished us with his Teskerah (an authority for being gratuitously subsisted by the Arabs), though we never used it but to insure a supply, and always made a present in return, proportionate to the value of the articles provided, being of opinion that availing ourselves otherwise of this document would be detrimental to future travellers.”
“On the 28th of February 1817, we left Tripoli before sunrise, accompanied by the two Seedies, an escort of twenty-six Moorish cavalry, and several camels. Proceeding by the fertile grounds of Sahal, we rode southward in the direction of the hills; but before quitting the plain, our companions saluted us and each other by firing their guns whilst riding at full speed, in imitation of desultory attack and defence, which, allowing for the difference of weapon, shewed a striking resemblance to their Numidian ancestors. As we advanced up the hills we found the country beyond the tower of Grara, neglected; the clothing and equipments of the inhabitants were also more rude and scanty than in the plains.”
“On the 2nd of March we passed an old tower called Gusser-Kzab, in the plain of Frussa, where, about three years before, a considerable treasure had been discovered in gold and silver coins, of which however I was unable to procure a single specimen, they having been all taken to the coast of Tripoli, where they were most probably melted, and their date and story lost for ever. Proceeding from Frussa over a sterile and fatiguing district, we arrived about noon on the 3rd at the Wadie of Benioleet, where, having been expected, the principal people came out to welcome us, and some met us even as far off as the valley of Mezmouth. This, though only a distance of four or five miles, is a very laborious and dreary ride, over a rocky tract, exhibiting a remarkably volcanic appearance, from a black substance resembling porous lava, lying upon a bed of tertiary limestone, and forming, perhaps, a part of the Harutsch of Horneman. The melancholy aspect of these hills renders the first view of the Wadie of Benioleet, with its houses, fields, and palm trees, extremely picturesque, and the additional bustle occasioned by our arrival gave great animation to the whole scene.”
“Benioleet consists of several straggling mud villages on the sides of a fertile ravine, several miles in length, and bounded by rocks of difficult access. The centre is laid out in gardens, planted with date and olive trees, and producing also corn, vegetables, and pulse. This valley is subject to inundation during the winter rains, but in summer requires to be watered with great labour by means of wells of extraordinary depth. It is inhabited by the Orfilla tribe, which amounts to about two thousand souls, subsisting chiefly by agriculture and the rearing of cattle, aided only in a trifling degree by a manufacture of nitre; they are accounted hardy, brave, and industrious, but at the same time dishonest and cruel. A large and ill-proportioned building called the castle, near one of the pleasantest spots in the ravine, was prepared for our reception, and a plentiful supply of victuals and forage provided. Though commanded at almost every point, this is the principal fortress; it contains several apartments, good stabling, and a large court-yard, but the water must be drawn from a very deep well at the distance of a musketshot. The walls are badly perforated for musketry, and flanked with round bastions, too weak to bear artillery.”
“Having found several people here who had recently arrived from the place I was bound to, I repeated my inquiries respecting the sculpture, and again received positive assurances that I should see figures of men, women, children, camels, horses, ostriches, &c., in perfect preservation; and the belief of their being petrifactions was so prevalent, that doubts were expressed whether I should be able to remove any one of those whom it had pleased Providence thus to punish for their sins.”
“On the 6th, after our party had been joined by three mountain chiefs, Mahmoud, Abdallah, and Hadgi Alli, with twenty-five Janissaries, and fifteen camels laden with water, barley, tents, &c., we proceeded over a hilly and bare country to the southward. On the 7th we arrived at a well of bad water called Kanaphiz, in an open space nearly surrounded by the Lodz hills. We found a small Kaffle there from Fezzan, and purchased of the Moors a quantity of exquisite Sockna dates, and some dried locusts. We were exceedingly tormented here by the numerous ticks that swarmed over the whole plain, and teazed alike both ourselves and our horses. On the 8th having passed the range of Souarat, we advanced through a pretty valley called Taaza, neglected, but evidently capable of improvement, from the luxuriant myrtle, lotus, juniper, cypress, and other plants, flourishing spontaneously. I also observed many trees called Talha, from which a gum exudes resembling that brought from the forests on the north-west of the Zaara; and probably it is the same tree, for it is of stunted growth, with small brownish leaves, though its character is rather that of a rhamnus than a mimosa.”