[30]Βερενικιδαι απο Βερενικες της Μαγας θυγατερος, γυναικος δε και Πτολεμαιου, ωνομαθησαν Βερενικιδαι ὁι δημοται. (Steph. Byzant. v.)
[31]Urbes Hesperia, Apollonia, Ptolemais, Arsinoe, atque (unde terris nomen est) ipsa Cyrene. (De Situ Orbis, Lib. i. c. 8.)
[32]Βερενικη, ἡ και Ἑσπεριδες.
[33]The name of Berenice is mentioned by Edrisi as remaining in his time in this part of Africa; but we never could find any traces of the name, though we often inquired for it of the Arabs of the country, as well as of the inhabitants of Bengazi.
[34]The changes which time may be supposed to effect in the character and appearance of a country, are well expressed in the following little fable of Kazwini, translated from the Arabic by Silvestre de Sacy.
“I passed by a very large and populous city, and inquired of one of its inhabitants by whom it was founded. Oh, replied the man, this is a very ancient city! we have no idea how long it may have been in existence; and our ancestors were on this point as ignorant as ourselves. In visiting the same place five hundred years afterwards, I could not perceive a single trace of the city; and asked of a countryman, whom I saw cutting clover, where it stood, and how long it had been destroyed. What nonsense are you asking me? said the person whom I addressed: these lands have never been any otherwise than you see them. Why, returned I, was there not formerly here a magnificent and populous city?—We have never seen one, replied the man, and our fathers have never mentioned to us anything of the kind.”
“Five hundred years afterwards, as I passed by the spot, I found that the sea had covered it; and, perceiving on the beach a party of fishermen, I asked them how long it had been overflowed.”
“It is strange, answered they, that a person of your appearance should ask us such a question as this; for the place has been at all times exactly as it is now. What, said I, was there not at one time dry land in the spot where the sea is at present?—Certainly not, that we know of, answered the fishermen, and we never heard our fathers speak of any such circumstance.”
“Again, I passed by the place, after a similar lapse of time,—the sea had disappeared—and I inquired of a man whom I met at what period this change had taken place. He made me the same answer as the others had done before—and, at length, on returning once more to the place, after the lapse of another five hundred years, I found that it was occupied by a flourishing city, more populous, and more rich in magnificent buildings, than that which I had formerly seen! When I inquired of its inhabitants concerning its origin, I was told that it lost itself in the darkness of antiquity! We have not the least idea, they said, when it was founded, and our forefathers knew no more of its origin than ourselves!”—(Chréstomathie Arabe, vol. iii. p. 419.)