TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 53 sufficient to be somewhat imposing ; but they are for the most part so deeply buried under the sand which ten centuries of neglect have allowed to accumulate about them, that plans of them could not be obtained without very extensive excavations. The style of the buildings is universally Koman ; and they are more remarkable for the regularity and solidity of their construction, than for any great appearance of good taste employed in their embellishment.

A great part of the city has been constructed with brick ; and the material which has been used in the instances here alluded to maintains remarkably well the high character which Homan brick has so deservedly acquired. The remains of the stadium are perhaps the most interesting, in speaking of the buildings which have been constructed with stone ; they have been partially excavated by Captain Smyth, (to whose account we refer the reader) together with some other buildings ; but the task of clearing them entirely would be too Herculean for limited means, and the same may be observed with respect to other parts of Leptis Magna in general.

For our own part, however much we might have been inclined to remain some time at Lebida, the necessity of our immediate advance precluded the possibihty of doing so ; for the approach of the rainy season made it absolutely necessary that we should cross the low grounds of the Syrtis without delay : and it must be remembered that the coast-hne of the Syrtis and Cyrenaica was the principal object of the Expedition.

Leptis Magna was built at an early period by the Phoenicians, and was ranked, after Carthage and Utica, as the first of their maritime