MERGE TO GYRENE. 505 I paid little attention at the time. On my return to Tripoli however, Mukni, sultan of Fezzan, had just returned from a marauding expedition into the interior ; and in a conference I held with him, he assured me that within the last month he had passed through an ancient city, now called Ghirrza, abounding in spacious buildings, and ornamented with such a profusion of statues as to have all the appearance of an inhabited place. This account, supported by several collateral circumstances, impressed me with the idea of its being the celebrated Ras Sem, so confusedly quoted by Shaw and Bruce, and consequently inspired me with a strong desire to repair thither.

“ Accordingly Colonel Warrington and I waited on the Bashaw, requesting permission to undertake the journey, with which he immediately complied. Only, as his eldest son, the Bey of Bengazi, was in rebellion against him, and might by seizing the Consul-general and myself demand terms which his Highness would find it difficult to accede to, he wished us to proceed Muth a small force to the mountains, and there be reinforced according to the actual state of the country. His Highness also signified his desire that Seedy Amouri, his son-in-law, and Seedy Mahomet his nephew, should accompany us. He moreover furnished us with his Teskerah (an authority for being gratuitously subsisted by the Arabs), though we never used it but to insure a supply, and always made a present in return, proportionate to the value of the articles provided, being of opinion that availing ourselves otherwise of this document would be detrimental to future travellers.

“On the 28th of February 1817, we left Tripoli before sunrise,