358 BENGAZI.

is built into the basement of the columns, bearing the names of Cleopatra and Ptolemy Philometor (together with another, turned upside down, mentioning that of Arsinoe conjointly with Ptolemy and Berenice,) would prevent our attributing an earlier date to them than the reigns of the sovereigns recorded.

The ravines which form the eastern and western boundaries of Ptolemeta (particularly that to the eastward) are wild and romantic in the extreme ; and one might imagine one’s-self transported, in winding along them, to the beautiful secluded valleys of Switzerland and Savoy. It is true that in the Cyrenaica nature is on a less extended scale than in the mountainous districts we have mentioned ; but it appears in a form no less captivating on that account ; and we will venture to say, that if a person who had travelled in those countries should be suddenly dropt into the eastern valley of Ptolemeta, without being told where he was, he would certainly suspect himself to be in one of them. He would never, for a moment, dream of being in Africa — that parched and barren region of desert monotony so horrid in European estimation. For our own parts we shall never forget the dehght which we experienced, at every new turn of the valley, as fresh objects of interest presented themselves to our view on either side of this enchanting retreat.

We had already passed through a very interesting country, in our journey from Bengazi to Ptolemeta ; and we had long forgotten the ■* The inscriptions will be found in the plate prefixed to Chapter 14.