áre already before the reader, it will not be thought a visionary or
hastily formed assumption, if we say that the position of these celebrated
spots, “ long the subject of eager and doubtful inquiry,”
may be laid down with some probability in the neighbourhood
of the town of Sengazi. The remarkable peculiarities of this
part of northern Africa correspond (in our opinion) sufficiently well
with the authorities already quoted, to authorize the conclusion we
have drawn from an inspection of the place ; and to induce us to
place the gardens of the Hesperides in some one, or more, of the
places described, rather than in any of the Oases of the desert, as
suggested by Monsieur Gosselin and others*. . I t seems probable
that there were more than one garden of this name ; but they could
scarcely have been all of them so large as that mentioned by Scylax ;
and the greater number of those which we were able to discover were
considerably smaller in all their dimensions, as we have already
stated above.
I t has been mentioned that some of the chasms above described
have assumed the form of lakes ; the sides of which are perpendicular,
like those of the gardens, and the water in most of them appears
to he very deep. In some of these lakes the water rises nearly to
the edge of the precipice which incloses them, and in others is as
much as twenty feet below it. They are no doubt much fuller after
* Signor Della Celia has supposed that the passage of Scylax refers to the elevated
parts of the Cyrenaica, and places his gardens of Hesperides in thè mountains ; but we
think that a review of the passage in question, combined with the local information which
we have been able to collect on the subject, will authorize us to doubt this position.
the rainy season than at other times of the year, and the water is
then sweeter than ordinary. Besides these, there are also several
subterranean caves, in the neighbourhood of Bengazi. One of these,
at the depth of about eighty feet from the surface of the plain, contains
a large body of fresh water, which is said to run very far into
the bowels of the earth, or rather of the rock which overshadows it,
On into this cave, we found that it widened out into a
spacious chamber, the sides of which had evidently been, in many
places, shaped with the chisel, and rose perpendicularly to a considerable
height. Our progress was soon stopped, as we were advancing
into the cave, by the body of water we have mentioned; which,
notwithstanding the lights we procured, was scarcely visible through
the thick gloom which surrounded us. We found the water shallow
at the edge, but it soon became gradually too deep to be practicable;
we were also unable to discover any end to it, and a stone
thrown as far as we could send it, fell into the water without striking.
We had, however, seen enough to excite our curiosity very strongly,
and we determined to return, at some early opportunity, with a boat
and a good store of torches, intending to go as far along this subterranean
stream as the height of the rock would allow us.
On mentioning our visit and our intentions to Bey Halil, he informed
us that he had himself paid a visit to the place, in company
with a chaous of his suite ; and that he had carried with him a
small boat in which he embarked with the chaous, and proceeded a
considerable distance. They became, at length, afraid of not finding
their way back, and put about to return as they came, having found
(as he said) on sounding, that the depth of the water was in some