490 MERGE TO GYRENE.

tains which overlook Apollonia, down which it then winds in a zigzag direction, till it reaches the plain on the sea-coast below at no great distance from the port*.

The whole of this road has been anciently paved, excepting the parts which have been cut through the rock, where deep marks of chariot-wheels are still observable. It has also had tombs on both sides of it, extending the greater part of the way, and has been defended by forts, the remains of which are visible near the edge of the lower range of hills. The country through which it passes is highly interesting and beautiful ; near Cyrene it has been cleared from the wood which originally covered it, and appropriated to the cultivation of grain : this part is fertile in the extreme, and is succeeded by beautifully undulating ground overspread with flowering shrubs, which thicken as they approach the top of the lower range, where they are lost in dark forests of pine extending themselves down to the beach. The intermediate space between the corn-land and the forest has probably been laid out in villas and country residences, for we observed many ground-plans of buildings scattered over it which are not those of tombs or military works.

As this part is wooded, the remains are not visible till they are very closely approached, so that there are probably many which have never been visited and certainly many which we never examined ourselves; not indeed owing to want of inclination, but to the circumstance of our not having more time at our disposal than was necessary for objects of more immediate importance.

* Apollonia, formerly the port of Cyrene.