less wet, would have .proved a much greater annoyance." With
this reflection we pursued our journey very contentedly, ‘and our
Arab friends, composing Shekh Mahommed’s escort, appeared to be
equally well satisfied; for they soon began to open the several budgets
of songs with which an Arab is never unprovided, roaring them out
to the full extent of their well-practised and powerful lungs, till they
fairly drowned the noise of the gale.
At 10. a .m . we passed through Wady’m’Seyd, a small stream somewhat
inferior to Wady Kamleh, and soon entered upon the extensive
plain, of Jumarr. Wady’m’Seyd may be termed the eastern limit of
the long sandy tract which stretches from thence far to the westward,
and passing to the southward of Tripoly,i is bounded, in that
direction, by the Gharian mountains.
The sandy nature of the ground to the westward of Wady’m’Seyd
had latterly led us away from that part of the coast, and we now
endeavoured to regain the beach; but the sands were so soft
that our horses sank up to their saddle-girths, and our utmost
efforts to reach it were unavailing: we were in consequence obliged
to give up the attempt, and leave this portion of the coast line incomplete.
Among the sand-hills we found several patches of rocky
ground strewed with fragments of pottery, but no vestiges of building
were discernible. The plain of Jumarr, from the excellence
of its soil, would no doubt be extremely productive; but notwithstanding
this advantage, and its vicinity to the metropolis, a small
part of it only is cultivated, and but few Arab tents were to be seen.
The Gharian range may here be considered to be about seven miles
from the coast; and the heavy rains and torrents from the mountains
have made several large ravines in this neighbourhood, which crossed
our path in their passage to the sea: themost considerable of these
are Wady Terragadt and Wady Booforris. Soon after four o’clock
We reached Guadigmata, where we found a small Arab encampment,
and pitched our tents for the night.
I t .is in the neighbourhood of Guadigmata, between that place
and Wady’m’Seyd, that we must look , for the Gfaphara of Scylax.
Eor as that icily is described by the geographer as being midway
between Abrotonum and Leptis Magna, that is, a day’s sail from
each—Guadigmata being 26 miles from Lebida, and the whole distance
from Lebida to Tagiura 58|—it follows that the site of Gra-
phara might be fixed three miles to the westward of Guadigmata;
which would place it at 29 miles’ distance from each of the cities in
question, or half way between Lebida and Tagiura *.
There are, however, no remains to the westward of Guadigmata
(between that place and Wady’m’Seid) that we could perceive
in our route ,* but two miles beyond Guadigmata there are some
remains of building on a rising ground to the eastward of it, which
are too much buried under the soil to allow us to give any
satisfactory description of them. Two large upright stones, which
seem to have been the jambs of a gateway, are all that are now
* That is, | if we suppose Tagiura to ,be the site of A brotonum, as .we haye ourselves
already admitted, under the difficulties stated above, and in the absence of more decided
information than we haveibeen able to obtain on the subject.