Beyond the bay of Marsa el-Hilil the coast is again rocky. Near a beautiful, richly wooded ravine are the ruins of Erythrum. We next steer past Râs Turba and then round the little Tsor Kersa Islands and the Râs Boasa (lighthouse).
Derna (pop. 4000), the Darnis or Darnae of antiquity, a small seaport to the E. of the headland, but entirely destitute of a harbour, is now the chief trading town in E. Cyrenaica. Vessels anchor in the open sea, over a mile from the landing-place. Near the Turkish fort and the custom-house are remains of American fortifications (comp. p. [408]) and a wireless telegraph-station.
The town itself lies on a plateau in the finest *Coast Oasis of Barca (yielding dates, figs, almonds, tobacco, etc.). In the principal square, near which the camel-caravans from the interior encamp, is the unpretending residence of the Turkish kaimakam. The shops in the busy market-street are mostly owned by Arabs and Greeks.
Beyond the Râs et-Tîn (Gr. Chersonesos), the coast recedes far to the S. The Gulf of Bomba, with its rocky islands, here forms a large natural harbour, open towards the E. only. Beyond Menelaus Island (now Susra Mesrâta) once lay the Portus Menelai. The Platea Island near it received from Thera, about 640 B.C., the first Greek colony in the Cyrenaica.
We next skirt the Marmarica; the coast-region between the gulfs of Bomba and Solum. In the deep-set bay of Tobruk (the ancient Antipyrgos) it possesses the best natural harbour between Bizerta and Alexandria, frequented chiefly by sponge-fishers.
The featureless and inconspicuous coast of Egypt is bounded by the low white dunes near the borders of the Libyan desert. Lastly we steer across the broad so-called Arabian Gulf, between the Râs ed-Dabba and the Nile Delta (p. [418]), and enter the harbour of Alexandria (comp. p. [418]).
66. From Tripoli to Constantinople viâ Derna and Crete.
Between Tripoli and Constantinople there is a fortnightly service by the Società Nazionale (Line VIII: Catania, Syracuse, Benghazi, Constantinople; comp. R. 64). Dep. from Tripoli every second Mon. aft., from Mesurata Tues. morn., from Benghazi Thurs., from Derna Frid. noon, from Canea Sat. night, from Candia Sun., from Smyrna Mon. midnight, arr. at Constantinople Wed. morn. (returning from Constantinople Mon. night, arr. at Tripoli the second Wed.); fare 117 fr. 60 or 78 fr. 40 c.—From Canea to the Piræus (for Athens) there are corresponding steamers of the Russian Steam Navigation & Trading Co., of the Thessalian line of the Austrian Lloyd, and of Line X (p. [493]) of the Società Nazionale.
For the voyage from Tripoli to Derna, see R. 65. The steamer next touches at Crete (Gr. Krētē, Turk. Kirid, Ital. Candia), the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean (5402 sq. M.; 303,550 inhab.), formerly Turkish, but nominally independent since 1908.
Nearing the island we first sight the Aspra Vuná (Madaraes Mts., 7907 ft.), generally snow-clad, the ancient Leuka Orē (White Mts.). The vessel steers round Cape Krio, the S.W. point of Crete, and Cape Busa, the N.W. point, and passes the island of Grabusa.