CHAPTER XVIII.
Observations on the Position of Ras Sem—Remarks of Bruce connected with this place—Difficulty
of reconciling the several positions assigned to it—Extravagant Stories related of its
Petrifactions, supposed to be those of Human Beings—Fallacy of these Statements as
recorded by Shaw—Report of Petrified Remains at Ghirza made to Captain Smyth by Mukni
(Bey, or Sultan, of Fezzan) during the progress of his Excavations at Lebda—Journey of
Captain Smyth in search of the objects described to him—Description of the actual Remains
at Ghirza—Monumental Obelisk discovered there, and Tombs, combining a'mixture of the
Egyptian and Grecian styles of Architecture—Indifferent Taste and Execution of these
Remains—Veneration in which they are held by Mahometans of all classes, who suppose them
to be Petrified Human Beings of their own persuasion—Geographic Position of Ghirza
.determined by Captain Smyth—Further Observations on the Remains at Apollonia—Return
of our party to Cyrene—Account of that City continued.
I n concluding our account of that part of the coast which lies between
the promontory called Ras Sem and Derna, we may observe that the
name of the first-mentioned place, however it may have originated,
is not at the present day known to the Arabs, at least not to any of
whom we inquired for it. Bruce and Dr. Shaw have described it as
situated in the interior; the former at five long days, the latter at
six days’ journey to the southward of Bengazi. The term Reis,
which in Arabic signifies a head, is the usual Arab term for a promontory,
and it is in this sense that we find it adopted in modern charts
to distinguish the headland above mentioned. But the place which