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 proceed— 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 reconciling 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, Athenseus— 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