CONTENTS.

XV

on the Summit of the Lower Range — Beauty of the Route continues — Arrive at the

Plain of Merge — Character and Position of the Plain — Our Camel-Drivers refuse to pro-

ceed— Artful Conduct of Abou-Bukra — Appeal to Bey Halil — Projected Mission to Derna — Abou-Bukra comes to Terms, and brings his Camels for the Journey — Pools of Fresh

Water collected in the Plain of Merge — Use made of them by the Arabs — Prevalence

of a Virulent Cutaneous Disease among the Arab Tribes of Merge and its Neighbourhood

— Remains of a Town at one extremity of the Plain — Remarks on the District and City

of Barca — Testimonies of Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, and Scylax, respecting the Port of Barca — Remarks on the Position of the City of that Name — Arab Accounts of Barca —

Edrisi, Abulfeda, &c, — Unsatisfactory Nature of the Accounts in Question — Mode of recon-

ciling the Arab Accounts of Barca with those of Scylax — Suggested Position of the Ancient

City — Peculiarity of Soil attributed to Barca — Observations on its Produce and Resources —

State of Barca under the Arabs — Decay of the Ancient City after the building of Ptolemais

on the Site of its Port — ^The Barcaeans remarkable for their Skill in the Management of Horses and Chariots — Their Country formerly celebrated for its excellent Breed of Horses —

Degeneracy of the present Breed — Account of Barca by Herodotus — Other Accounts of its

Origin — Siege and Plunder of the City by the Persians under Amasis — Subsequent state of

the City till the building of Ptolemais - - - - 386

CHAPTER XV.

JOURNEY FROM MERGE TO CYRENE.

Departure from Merge — Deep Marks of Chariot-wheels on the Stony Road indicative of an

ancient Track — Valley of Bograta— Ancient Wells observed there — Valley of Hareebe — Beauty and Luxuriance of the Country continue — Roses of the Cyrenaica mentioned by Athenaeus as celebrated for the excellence of their Perfume — Oil (or Ointment) of Roses made at Cyrene in the time of Berenice (probably the Daughter of Magas) — Difficulty and Danger of some Parts of the Road — Apprehensions of our Arab Conductors — They appear to have been groundless — Arrive at Margkd — Bad State of the Road continues — Quarrel

between Abou-Bukra and one of our Servants — Consequences of the Quarrel — Departure of Abou-Bukra — Continue our Route alone and succeed in finding the right Track — Return of Abou-Bukra and his people — Satisfactory Termination of the Disturbance — Oppressive Sirocco Wind — Nature of the Country on approaching Cyrene — First Appearance of a Plant resembling the Daucus, or Wild Carrot — Resemblance of this Plant to the Silphium, as expressed on ancient Coins — Points in which it differs from it — Remarks on the Silphium as mentioned by ancient Writers — Testimony of Herodotus, Arrian, Theophrastus, Pliny, Athe- nseus— Bill of Fare of the Kings of Persia, stated by Poly genus to have been discovered in the royal Palace by Alexander the Great — Silphium mentioned in this among other articles of hood — Description of the Plant by Theophrastus and Pliny — Celebrity and Scarcity of the