accompanied by the two Seedies, an escort of twenty-six Moorish
cavalry, and several camels. Proceeding by the fertile grounds of
Sahal, we rode southward in the direction of the hills; but before
quitting the plain, our companions saluted us and each other by
firing their guns whilst riding at full speed, in imitation of desultory
attack and defence, which, allowing for the difference of weapon,
shewed a striking resemblance to their Numidian ancestors. As we
advanced up the bills we found the country beyond the tower of
Grara, neglected; the clothing and equipments of the inhabitants
were also more rude and scanty than in the plains.
“ On the 2nd of March we passed an old tower called Gusser-Kzab,
in the plain of Frussa, where, about three years before, a considerable
treasure had been discovered in gold and silver coins, of which however
I was unable to procure a single specimen, they having been all
taken to the coast of Tripoli, where they were most probably melted,
and their date and story lost for ever. Proceeding from Frussa over
a sterile and fatiguing district, we arrived about noon on the 3rd at
the Wadie of Benioleet, where, having been expected, the principal
people came out to welcome us, and some met us even as far off as
the valley of Mezmouth. This, though only a distance of four or five
miles, is a very laborious and dreary ride, over a rocky tract, exhibiting
a remarkably volcanic appearance, from a black substance
resembling porous lava, lying upon a bed of tertiary limestone, and
forming, perhaps, a part of the Harutsch of Horneman. The melancholy
aspect of these hills renders the first view of the Wadie of
Benioleet, with its houses, fields, and palm trees, extremely picturesque,
and the additional bustle occasioned by our arrival gave
great animation to the whole scene.
H Benioleet consists of several straggling mud villages bn the sides
of a fertile ravine, several miles in length* and bounded by rocks of
difficult access. The centre is laid out in gardens, planted with date
and olive trees, and producing also com, vegetables, and pulse. This
valley is subject to inundation during the winter rains, but in summer
requires to be watered with great labour by means of wells of
extraordinary depth. I t is inhabited by the Orfilta tribe, which
amounts to about two thousand souls, subsisting chiefly by agriculture
and the rearing of cattle, aided only in a trifling degree by a
manufacture of nitre ; they are accounted hardy, brave, and industrious,
but at the same time dishonest and cruel. A large and ill-
proportioned building called the castle, near one of the pleasantest
spots m the ravine, was prepared for our reception, and a plentiful
supply of victuals and forage provided. Though commanded at
almost every point, this is the principal fortress ; it contains several
apartments, good stabling, and a large court-yard, but the water
must be drawn from a very deep well at the distance of a mnsket-
shot. The walls are badly perforated for musketry, and flanked with
round bastions, too weak to bear artillery.
“ Having found several people here who had recently arrived from
the place I was bound to, I repeated my inquiries respecting the
sculpture, and again received positive assurances that I should see
figures of men, women, children, camels, horses, ostriches, &c., in
perfect preservation; and the belief of their being petrifactions was