in it at present The rain seems to have been also a principal agent
in destroying the buildings on the sides of the valley; but the loss
which has been sustained is scarcely to be regretted; since neither
these structures, nor those which occupied the centre of the valley,
could ever, have been of any importance, although they have certainly
been very numerous. Before the entrance of the valley, near
the forts which have been mentioned, are also seen traces of building,
but which do not seem to have been much more important than
those which we have just alluded to. On the whole, nothing more
can well be collected from these remains, than that the place has
been formerly the site of a small town, which must always have been
a very miserable one. There is however a good deal of pasturage in
the neighbourhood, occasioned by the plentiftd supply of water from
the hills, and we found ourselves surrounded on «ill sides by flocks of
sheep add goats, among which were also a good many camels.
At about two miles’ distance from the remains above described (to
the eastward) is a very remarkable projection of a high cliff into the
sea, on which has been built a strong and very conspicuous fortress,
constructed with large stones regularly shaped and put together.
The greater part of this building, owing to the cliff having given
way, is tumbled in ruins about the beach, and though little of the
ground plan now remaining can be satisfactorily made out, yet
it may well be inferred, from an inspection of the whole, that this
fortress has been one of considerable strength*. I t commands an
* A great quantity of broken pottery was found a t this place, and red earthen jars
were observed protruding through, the sides of the cliff where it had fallen away; the floor
extensive view, on both sides, over the sea, and overlooks many
remains of building which are scattered about the plain at the back
of it. At the foot of the eminence on which the fortress has been built,
is a ravine, which must at times b.e the bed of a considerable torrent,
and which, crossing the plain from the mountains by which it
is bounded, empties itself into the sea at the base of the fort. The
mountains, which here run parallel with the beach, approach at the
same time so closely to the sea, that the plain which intervenes might
be easily defended by means of the ravine just described. Along this
ravine are traces of strong walls which have been constructed on both
sides of it, and have formerly extended from the sea to the foot of the
hills; and which must in their perfect state have formed, together
with the ravine, a very effectual barrier to the pass.
Such advantages of situation could not well have been overlooked
by the ancients; and there is little doubt that this position was
originally one of importance, i I t appears so well calculated, both by
nature and art, for the establishment of a boundary line, that we
have little hesitation in supposing the remains above mentioned to
have at some period defended the limits of the states of Cyrene and
Carthage; and it is accordingly here that we should feel most inclined
to fix the site of the Castle of Euphrantes. The distance of
this fort from Zaffran, considered as Aspis, does indeed seem too
great for the literal meaning of Strabo’s term iruny/ig: but then
the circumstance of its uniting a strong boundary line with a very
and two sides of a chamber, coated with excellent cement, were also remarked in the side
. of the cliff near the sea; the other parts had fallen away with the rock, and were scattered
in ruin on the beach, which was thickly strewed with'remains of the fortress.