4G4 MERGE TO GYRENE.

stone, hollowed out roughly for the reception of the body ; and its cover consisted of another single stone shaped into the form represented in the plate, without any great attention to finish, but always with considerable regularity.

This form of sarcophagus was common among the ancients in other parts of the world, and continued in very general use to a late period of the Eoman empire. In the plain below the city (to the northward) there is a considerable number of handsome tombs, both excavated and constructed (those of the latter sort naturally preponderating) ; and among these there must be many (we are sorry to say) which we never had an opportunity of examining : our route over this tract of country having chiefly been confined to the road from Cyrene to Apollonia (now Marsa Susa) its port ; situated at the foot of the range of high land the summit of which forms the plain in question : and as the ground in this part is thickly wooded, and crossed by ravines in different directions, the buildings which might still exist upon it would not be seen by passengers unless they lay immediately in their track. There are also many to the southward of the town which we had no leisure to examine ; our researches among the tombs having for the most part been limited to the more immediate neighbourhood of the city, where there is still a very ample field for inquiry, without trespassing on the ground we have just mentioned.

The summit of the mountain on which Cyrene is built has been cleared of the wood which no doubt once incumbered it, and we easily found a convenient place for our tents, which were pitched, on