the same range of hills are other remains of huilding, originally com
nected with this fort, part of which we were induced to excavate,
but found the chamber which we cleared to have been merely a storehouse
for grain, or a reservoir for preserving water. I t had been excavated
in the rock, on the top of the range, and may be considered
as offering an excellent example of the durable quality of the cement
employed by the Komans in its formation *: for the stone in which
it had been excavated had crumbled away, and left the cement with
which the interior had been coated standing upright in its original
position, in defiance of the storms of wind and rain which must have
frequently assailed it from the sea.
We found some Greek and Koman characters traced in the interior,
and the representation of a ship and a palm-tree, of which copies will
be found annexed, together with plans of the forts and of the chamber
excavated. The surface of the cement on which these objects
had been sketched was as smooth and as perfect as it could have
been at any time, and we were in hopes, when we first saw the
drawings, that others would be found on further excavation, and
probably some inscription in Greek or Latin, by which we might
have dated these productions. No other drawings or letters however
were found, and we were obliged to content ourselves with
taking copies of those described, and in making the plan of the
chamber.
The ground about this excavation, and, indeed, along the whole
* We have already assumed that the greater number of the forts in the Syrtis have,
in our opinion, been constructed by the Romans.
range, was strewed with fragments of pottery and glass, among which
we found a brass coin of Augustus Caesar in a very tolerable state of
preservation. While the excavations were going on in this quarter
(for the outer wall of one of the forts was also .cleared a few feet,
in order to obtain the measurements of the gateway by which it had
been entered) the plan of the harbour had been completed, as far
as it was possible without boats, and the reefs were set down by
bearings and estimated distance. The best landing for boats was
found to be under the high point which we have mentioned to the
westward, on which the fort excavated had been built; and on the
beach at this angle were several heaps of sulphur, collected in equalsized
masses for embarkation,, which had been brought on camels
from the mines to the southward, and were said to belong to Ma-
hommed Ali, the Pasha of Egypt. South-west of this point there is
a large salt lake and marsh, which are evidently below the level of
the sea, as we perceived a stream of salt water oozing from out a
porous part of- the rock on the sea-side, about eight feet above the
level of the lake, and running into-it. The land .at the east and
western extremities of the lake is so low, as to render it very probable
that it may once have communicated with the sea, and that the
point on which the fort stands may have been an island. I f there
should prove to be sufficient water in the harbour of Braiga, it is
probable that good anchorage would be found there, with all winds,
behind reefs of breakers extending across the mouth of it : it may
be easily distinguished by the very high sand-hills at the back of it,
and by the ruin on the rocky point mentioned at its western extre-
8 G 3