CHAPTER XI.
The Rainy Season..sets in at Bengazi towards the middle of January, and continues with little
interruption till the beginning of March—-Miserable Condition of the Town during that period
•—Construction of the Houses—Improvidence of the Arabs—Dirty state of the Streets-—
Swarms of insects which infest them—Position of Bengazi—Description of its Harbour
Castle of the Bey—Visit to Bey Halil—Friendly Reception of our Party by his Excellency—
Occupations and arrangements during the Rainy Season—The Shekh el Belad Mahommed
Jews of Bengazi—Trade of the Town—Produce of the Environs—Wretched state of the
Bullock Vessels—Mahometan Inhabitants of Bengazi—Alarm of the Lower Classes during
ourresidence there—Confusion resulting from it—Mob. collected at our door on this occasion
Narrow Escape of Mr. Giacomo Rossoni—Friendly Conduct of our Mahometan Acquaintance
—Parley with the Arabs—Dispersion of the Mob—Prejudices of the Arabs respecting the
Treatment of Diseases—Fatal Effects of this species of Folly at Bengazi—Prevalent Diseases
iij. Bengazi and its. vicinity—-Singular cause of Alarm among a Party of Arab Shekhs—
Arab notions of decorum and propriety contrasted with those of European Nations Bengazi
supposed to occupy the Site of. Berenice and Hesperis—Existing Remains there Little
régard manifested by Turks and Arabs for the relics of Antiquity—Probable Limits of
Berenice—-Quarries, and singular Chasms in its Neighbourhood—Gardens of Hesperides
• Position of the Gardens according to Scylax, Pliny, and Ptolemy—Conjectures of Gosselin
and others respecting them—Circumstances which appear to favour our position of the
-Gardens—Lakes and Subterranean Caverns in the Neighbourhood of Bengazi, (or.Berenice)
—Concealed Body of Water, observed in one of the latter—Examination of the Caverns—
Remarks of the Bey respecting it—The Subterranean Stream in question considered as the
River Lathon, or Lethe—Testimonies of the Ancients on this point—Supposed Communication
of the Subterranean Stream with the Lake adjoining the Harbour of Bengazi—Signification
of the term Lathm alluded to—Further Remarks in confirmation of our suggested
' Position of the River, and of its probable Communication with the Lake above mentioned-^'
Remarks of Strabo and Cellarius on the subject—Temple of Venus, and Lake Tritonis of
. Strabo-—Remarks on the name Berenice—Total ignorance of 'the Arabs of Bengazi with
respect -to .the former celebrity of their 'City—Pleasing little Fable ofKazwini,' on the
changes which take place in the Nature and Appearance of Places, and the little knowledge
which remains, after a lapse of time, of'their former Condition, even on the spots where they
existed. ■
On the 12th of January our whole party arrived at Bengazi, having
employed on the journey two months and seven days from the time of
s o