soil has raised the level of the low lands in the Greater and Lesser
Syrtes much above what it formerly was, and that both these regions
were once covered with water to a greater depth than at present.
. We have already observed that the sea appears to have made great
advances on the whole line of coast of Northern Africa; and this
fact seems to be proved from the circumstance of our finding the
remains of ancient towns, along its shores, at present under water to
a considerable extent. We may now pass in boats over the ruins of
the northern part of Alexandria, (as many travellers of our timé can
testify); and remains of the city of Carthage, “ for the space of
three furlongs in length, and half a furlong, or more, in breadth,’?
are well known (on the authority of Shaw*) to be at the present day
“ entirely under water.” In the intermediate space, we may instance
the maritime towns of the Cyrenaiea, where the sea has made considerable
advances; those parts of the Greater Syrtis which are not
exposed to the accumulation of sand, and the town of modern Tripoly,
the northern part of which (as we have already stated in the
words of Leo Africanus) appears to have been in his time under
water. , ,
This rise in the level of the Mediterranean could scarcely fail to
have occasioned an overflow in the low grounds of the Syrtie, to a
much greater extent than formerly, if it had not been accompanied
by, at least, a proportionate accumulation of soil: but it will rather
appear that in these regions the land may be said to have advanced
upon the sea; since we find their ancient ports now filled up with
* Travels in Barbary, vol. i. p. 164.
sand, their lakes to have taken the character of marshes, and their
quicksands (if ever they had any) to have become solid and.firm*.
To these remarks we may add the observations, of Major Rennell,
on the actual and former state of the Lake Tritonis and the Lesser-
Syrtis, which we will give in the author’s own words.
“ From the authorities which we shall presently adduce, :we can
suppose no other than that this Syrtis” (the Gulf of the Lesser
Syrtis) “ did once enter much deeper into the land ;■ and that it
even, formed a junction with the Lake Lowdeah within it—the
Tritonis Palus of the ancients. Otherwise we must not only reject
the reports of Herodotus and Ptolemy, but that of Scylax also, the
writer of a periplus, and who ought to have known the truth.” Again,
after a learned and ingenious discussion—“ In effect the ancients,
as Dr. Shaw, justly observes (p. 213), seem to have described this
quarter from report, or uncertain information only f ; and therefore
we can hardly expect consistent, much more critical, descriptions.
They appear, however, to have furnished us with very good grounds
for, believing that the Syrtis and Lake Tritonis communicated in
former times; and that the communication continued even to the
; * - MajorReimell has noticed a parallel instance in our own country. “ Therexanbe
no doubt’? (he observes) “ of the increase of the Goodwin (sand) at the present moment,
and of its slow progression towards the state of firm land. Let those who doubt the. facts
here set forth attend to the changes at Ephesus, at Myriandrus, in the Gulf of Issus,
and various other places.”
*|* In a note the author adds, “ possibly with an exception to Scylax as a professed
guide to others. The observations of Polybius would probably* had they come down
to us, have saved us much conjecture.”