well calculated to induce the belief that they have originally been
appropriated to the defence and accommodation of a considerable
number of men, that we cannot be sceptical on the occasion. On
either side of the promontory on which the castle has been built is a
small sandy bay, neither of which at present affords any shelter for
vessels, but from which the galleys of the ancients might have
been easily drawn up on the beach, when it might not have been
practicable for them to keep the sea.
This mode of sheltering their vessels was common to the Greeks
and Homans, to whom a port, such as in our days would be considered
a good one, appears to have been by no means necessary. We are
told indeed by Strabo, that this part of the coast was very sparingly
provided with ports and watering-places *, and the harbour which-he
calls the best in the Syrtis is now no harbour at all f. Mersa Braiga
is in fact the only port in the gulf which can at all be considered as
such, in our estimation of the term ; and .here the shelter is only
afforded by breakers, and could not prevent the small vessels of the
ancients from being driven on shore in stormy weather.
On the day after our arrival at Tabilba we continued our journey
along the coast, and proceeded to Ain Agan, passing two ruins of
forts conspicuously situated on the hills. The beach in this neighbourhood
presents a very dreary prospect; but the scene is much
improved after passing the wady, and the country then begins to
be cultivated. Many flocks of sheep and goats soon presented
* I ! Se to (¿eral\v $iot<7TnyM xai Xi/xeves' ov ‘KobXovs, vtyeia awavia.—L ib . xv ii. p . 8 3 6 .
•f* T h a t o f A sp is—xaXKiaros ruv ev rw Si/gfsi.
themselves to our view, and tents were scattered about in all. directions.
We procured from the. Arabs here a : scanty supply of com
for our horses, of which the poor animals stood very much in need ;
but we were obliged to apply for .it in a mare decided tone than we
had hitherto found it necessary to assume on such occasions, as the
Arabs, though they had plenty, were not very willing to part with it.
There are some wells of brackish water at Ain Agan, which is however
the best that this neighbourhood affords, and we were glad to
fill all our water-skins with i t before, we proceeded any farther.
A few miles from Ain Agan is a remarkable hill, called Ailum
Lim&rish, the summit, of. which overlooks an extensive tract of country,
and Mersa Braiga may be plainly distinguished from it. To the
southward of A&lum Lim&rish we observed a: chain of lakes and
swamps, which the Chaous informed us extended two days to the.
south-eastward. They communicated with the wady at Ain Ag&n,
and might once have joined the sea; the water in them is quite
brackish.
To seaward we observed an island about a mile in length, with
breakers east and west of it extending a considerable distance ;
from which we may infer that it was once much larger. The Arab
name for this island (which is Gara) too much resembles that of
Gaia, one of those laid down by Ptolemy, to leave much doubt of
their being the same. Gara is situated farther to the north eastward
than the island which we allude to in the map of Ptolemy, and
is besides nearer the coast; but the similiarity of the names cannot
here be overlooked, and we do not hesitate to identify it with Gaia.