124 JOURNEY FROM privilege of paying no tribute or duty : this charter, we were assured, has continued to the present time, and is said to be still respected by the Bashaw, and to extend itself to the posterity of these people, whether they settle in their native places, or in any other part of the country between Mesurata and Syrt.

Jebha, the son of this celebrated Marbut, conceived the project of estabhshing a convenient communication between the two lakes, or marshes, or, more properly speaking, between the two parts of the same marsh, and fixed upon the rising ground which is occupied by the gusser as the spot best qualified for the purpose. He accordingly made known this proposal to his friends, and conducted a little party to establish themselves on the eminence.

But the people of Tbwergah, aware of this intention, and jealous of the colony about to be planted by Jebha, stole upon them in the night, and attacking them unexpectedly, massacred the whole of the party. To commemorate the project of the unfortunate Jebha, and the trasical event which attended it, the little structure in question O was raised by the people of Esha, and called after the name of their benefactors ; while he, and the party which accompanied him, were buried round the consecrated building. Gusser el Jebha consists ot three narrow, vaulted chambers, parallel and communicating with each other, and which are entered by a door in the central one.

They are about twenty feet in length, and no more than five in breadth, and are rudely constructed with unhewn stones arranged with tolerable regularity. The cement is mud with a little mixture of lime, and the vaulted ceilings are coated with plaster from the