74 JOURNEY FROM destructive method of the Arabs in impoverishing the land around their dowars, till it becomes exhausted, without any attempt to nourish or assist the soil, is everywhere visible, by the many bare spots whence the tents have been shifted to more fertile situations, which for the same reason soon become, in their turn, deserted also.

I first visited Leptis in May, 1816, to examine into the possibihty of embarking the numerous columns lying on its sands, which the Bashaw of Tripoly had offered to His Majesty. The ruins had a very interesting appearance, from the contrast of their fallen grandeur with the mud-built villages of Lebidah and Legatah, and the Nomadic tribes scattered around. The city, with its immediate suburb, occupies a space of about ten thousand yards, the principal part of which is covered by a fine white sand, that, drifting with the wind along the beach, has been arrested in its progress by the ruins, and struck me at the moment as having probably been the means of preserving many specimens of art, which, from the numerous pillars, capitals, cornices, and sculptured fragments strewed around, I could not but suppose to have been extremely valuable, more especially, since having been the birthplace of the Emperor Severus, he might have enriched it with presents ; besides which it had been highly favoured for its adherence to the Koman interest during the Jugurthine war. In addition to these circumstances, the fact of Leptis once being sufficiently opulent to render in tribute a talent a day, prompted me, on my arrival at Malta, to recommend it as an eligible field for an extensive excavation.