sand that has nearly covered it. At Zafferan supplies o f meat,
some few vegetables, and good water, will be found. The Arab
tents are at the back of the sand-hills. These hills extend a few
miles to the eastward of Zafferan; the coast then rises into cliffs of
about fifty feetun height, and is covered with vegetation and brushwood.
T hese' cliffs terminate a t a wadey eleven leagues eastward
of Zafferan, and the coast then continues -low and sandy, with sandhills,
at a short distance from it. There are here several small bays,
and one in particular at Hammah, in which boats may fii)d shelter with
almost all winds, and may procure good water, from some wells
situated close to the beach. The country about it abounds in game ;
but we would not recommend landing here, or, in fact, on any part of
the coast, without being provided with a chaous. Five miles eastward
of Hammah the coast is hilly, but soon declines again to the
low sandy beach which continues to E a s How-y-jer, having a range
of hills about two or three miles from the coast.
Ra s How-y-jer is a bluff rock, that has the appearance of a ruined
castle; it stands at the entrance of a spacious bay formed between
it and a bold rocky promontory, called Bengerwad. South 76° east
(true) from How-y-jer we noticed the water discoloured, but the sea
did not break. In the above-mentioned bay ships may find shelter
from east to'west north-west, and boats may land in a sandy bay a
little south of H ow-y-jer with almost all winds.
Bengerwad is about sixty feet in height, and has be en strongly
fortified, but the ruins are not visible from the sea. There is a
small sandy bay, close round the cape, convenient for landing; but
. care must be taken to avoid th e mouth o f a ravine, that comes down
from the mountains, and deposits a soft quicksand, upon which it is
dangerous to land. The range of hills that extend from Boosaida
are distant from Bengerwad only a few hundred yards, and afterwards
recede to a mile or more from the sea. From Bengerwad th e
coast gets low, and small sandy bays are formed between very low
rocky flats, some of which project a mile into the sea, and are not
ynore than a foot above water. Sixteen leagues from Bengerwad
there, are; some high sand-hills, called A b an b a sa ; and a few miles
south-east of them a remarkable table-hill named .Jebel-Alia,
Coasting along this part of the gulf, care must be taken to avoid a
low rocky islet, with breakers east and west of it. I t lies one mile
and a half off shore, an d is called Bushaifa. Upon the beach opposite
the Islet, there are two wells of good water: they point out
Secherine. which is the bottom of the Gulf of Syrtis, in latitude 30°
16' 00" north.
From Secherine to Gartfibbah, there is a sandy beach ; but the
general appearance of the coast will be hilly, with high mounds of
sand. Ne a r to Gartubbah is Mersa Braiga ; the only place that we
haveiseen in the Gulfof Syrtis, that is at all entitled to the name of
a port, and here the protection is made b y breakers.
Braiga may b e known at a distance, by some very high sand-hills
situated at the back of it, and on a nearer approach, by a heap of
ruins upon a rocky point, a t the western extremity of the Mersa.
On the.sandy beach within this point, there is safe landing with all
winds. Fre sh provisions may be procured from the Arab encampments
at the back of the sand-hills, and in all probability, a plentiful
supply of fish will be found in the bay *. T h e water here is brackish,
and tastes of su lp h u r; . it is contained iri wells high up among the
sand-hills. |
We should not recommend Mersa Braiga being approached in
b ad weather, on account of the number of reefs lying off it, and the
difficulty there would be of working off, in consequence of the lee-set
which the northerly winds always occasion in the Gulf.
From Braiga, the coast trends north-east by east, is rocky, and
slightly in d en ted ; the shore, generally speaking, is high and hilly.
R a s Tabilbey is a bold promontory, with a sandy bay on either side
of it. The summit of the Ra s has been strongly fortified; and the
walls are carried up to a castle on the hill at the back of it, but these
are now all in ruins, and cannot be discerned from the sea. The
promontory is excavated into compartments, which from time, and the
Abanbasa.
Jebel-Alla.
Bushaifa Islet.
Gartubbah.
Mersa Braiga.
Ras Tabilbey.
* A large rock cod was taken alive among the rocks, by one of our party.