a large share in the explanation of the different objects of attraction.
He never omitted to beg for an exhibition of our chronometer, that
he might have an opportunity of descanting upon the manner in
which we regulated it, which he used to say was done by weighing
the sun*; and poor Sala, our attendant bn such occasions, was always
called upon to produce the quicksilver used for the artificial horizon,
which never failed to excite the astonishment and delight which our
dilettante Chaous had anticipated.
Having purchased a supply of corn for our horses, which is here
deposited, as is usual in Northern Africa, in cisterns or storehouses
which have been excavated by the ancients, we left Zaffran, and continued
our journey to Jedeed, where the tents were pitched for the
night. This mode of preserving com is frequently alluded to by
ancient writers, and Varro has asserted that wheat thus preserved
will keep for fifty years, and millet for more than a hundred j\
From Jedeed we proceeded on to Shuaisha, passing by Bennet
Hadeed and Hamed Garoosh, where are the remains of some forts,
* Shaw observes tha t this' expression is used in the neighbourhood of Tunis, arid
indeed it is very common among the Arab tribes in general.
f “ Quidam granaria habent sub terris, speluncas, quos vocant aetqovs, u t ip Cappa-
docia ac Thracia. Alii, ut in Hispania citeriore, puteos, u t in agro Carthaginiensi et
Oscensi. Horum solum paleis substernunt: et curant ne humor aut aer tangere possit,
nisi cum promitur ad usum. . Quo enim spiritus non pervenit,. ibi non oritur curculio.
Sic conditum triticum' manet vel annos quinquaginta: milium vero plus annos centum.”—(
De Re Rustica, i. 57.)
See also Caesar (de Bell.Afric, cap. 25). . “ Est in Africa consuetudo incolarum, ut,
in agns, et in omnibus fere villis, sub terra specus, condendi frumenti gratia, clam
habeant, atque id propter bella maxime, hostiumque subitum adveritum praessarent.”
and a building called by the natives B.umla (or Christian), but
which has nothing to mark it as such, nor anything to recommend
it to further notice. The country from Zaffran to Hamed Garoosh
becomes gradually higher, and in the valleys is well cultivated. We
noticed many flocks of sheep and goats, some oxen and camels, and
found in all parts hares, plovers, quails, curlews, wild-ducks, a few
snipes, and a multitude of jackalls, which latter were indeed, throughout
the journey, our constant companions. The evening setting in
stormy, with heavy rains, we were very late in reaching our tents, and
having passed unexamined some part of the coast, we remained at
Shuaisha the whole of the following day (the 16th) in order to complete
it. Between Jedeed and Shuaisha the coast is formed in small bays,
and- has some sunken rocks very close in shore: at about a quarter of
a mile from the latter place, to the westward, we found the remains of
a building shewing itself through the side of the cliff which covered it;
its height from the foundation was about twenty-five feet, but its plan
could not of course be obtained without previous excavation. At nine
o’clock, on the 17th, we left Shuaisha, passed Marhbut Duscarga (the
remains of an old fort), and in seven hours reached Medinet Sult&n,
where we found a good supply of sweet water.
. Medinet Sultitn has been an important military position, as the
remains of several strongly>-built fortresses. Still remaining there
attest; these;buildings, like those at Zaffran, are quadrangular, and
the foundations of strong walls,.communicating with the forts,, are
seen to cross them in various directions.
The plans of the buildings are more perfect than those of Zaffran,
and are upon a larger scale; those of the walls, however, could not be