Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 2/Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
THE GREAT SYRTIS AND TRIPOLITANA SEABOARD.
The vilayet of the same name also comprises the portion of the plateau stretching through Ghadames south-westwards to the Algerian frontier. But this forms a separate geographical area, sloping, not seawards but towards the west, in the direction of the Sahara. In the south yet another natural region is formed by the scattered oases of Fezzan, separated from the Mediterranean basin by hills, plateaux, and vast desert wastes. Excluding Cyrenaica, Fezzan, Ghadames, and Rhat, and disregarding administrative divisions, the surface of Tripolitana, within the waterparting between the marine and inland basins, may be approximately estimated at 110,000 square miles, with a total population of probably not more than 650,000, or about six persons to the square mile.
General Survey.
Farther removed from Europe than Mauritania, and possessing but a small extent of arable lands, the seaboard of Tripolitana could never have developed much commercial life throughout the historic period. Vessels doubling the projecting headlands of Numidia and Cyrenaica, and sailing southwards, found the desert in many places already encroaching on the marine waters. For some hundreds of miles the coast is low and sandy, or else fringed with reefs, while swamps and lagoons stretch far inland, separated from the sea by narrow strips of coastlands. These are often scarcely to be distinguished from the surface of the water, and the Syrtes were especially dreaded by mariners, owing to their surf-beaten shores, the exhalations from the surrounding lagoons, and the savage character of the local tribes.
The scanty population of Tripolitana, its slight share in the general commercial movement of the Mediterranean, the trifling revenue yielded to its political rulers, show that during the last two thousand years the country has remained in a more or less stagnant state. Its importance has in fact diminished on the seaboard, where great cities formerly flourished, and in the regions traversed by the main highways to the interior.
The exploration, one might almost say the discovery, of Tripolitana, remains still to be achieved. Although since the journey of Hornemann in the lust century, the country has been visited by such men as Lyon and Ritchie, Denham, Oudney
and Clopperton, Laing, Richardson, Barth, Vogel, Beurmann, Duveyrier, Mercher and Vattone, Rohlfs, Nachtigal, Von Bary and Krafft, these explorers, starting mostly from Tripoli, have neglected many interesting districts in the interior; while little has yet been done for the geology, meteorology, ethnology, and archæology of the land.
In our days the earth has already become too small for the restless spirit of modern enterprise, and certain geographical conditions, with which the ancients, confined to the marine highways, had no need to occupy themselves, have acquired quite a new significance. The very break in the coastline which serves to cut off the plains of Tripoli from European influence, has become an advantage for the communications with the interior. However otherwise inconvenient, the harbours of Tripolitana are the natural points of departure for the caravans proceeding to 86 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. Western Sudan. Thanks to the gulf of the two Syrtes, which forms a bight in the contour of the continent of a mean depth of about 300 miles, the journey across the desert to the fertile regions of the interior is reduced by one-fourth. Moreover the route from Tripoli to Lake Tsad, which lies due south, is relatively easy, being relieved at tolerably short intervals by the Fczzan and other oases. Neither the hills nor the dunes present any serious diflBculties to modem engineers, while the scattered populations of the oases, long familiar with their European visitors, would certainly oppose no obstacle to the construction of highways of communication. " To the future master of Tripoli belongs the Sudan," exclaims the traveller G. Rohlfs, when urging Italy to take possession of Tripolitana. He proposes, either from the port of Tripoli or from that of Brdiga, at the head of the Great Syrtis, to construct a railway in the direction of Kuka, near the west coast of Lake Tsad. Even this line might perhaps be shortened by about 120 miles by creating a harbour in deep water on the west side of the Syrtis, somewhere near the Marsa-Zafran creek. Not only is this the shortest route for the line destined one day to connect the basin of the Mediterranean with that of the great inland lake, but it also seems to be the most convenient for the continental trunk line, terminating on the Atlantic coast at the head of the Gulf of Guinea, between the Niger and Congo basins. Hence there can be no doubt that the railway penetrating from Tripolitana south- wards must sooner or later become one of the great commercial highways of the world. But even this can scarcely exceed in importance the more westerly route, which is intended to connect the already developed network on the Algerian coast through the Wed-Messaura with the great bend described by the Niger below Timbuktu. In this direction both termini would offer an immense advantage in respect of population, abundance of natural resources, and commercial activity. Here also it would be a mere question of continuing lines either already opened, or for which concessions have been granted south of Algeria to a more southern latitude than Tripoli. Physical Features. The Tripolitana highlands take their rise eastwards in an unexplored region of the desert, where the Haruj-el-Aswad, or Black Haruj, so called from the colour of its lavas, forms a chain of volcanic origin with a mean direction from south-east to north-west. Hitherto Ilornemann is the only traveller who has crossed the eastern section of this range, although nearly a century has lapsed since his visit. More recent explorers have only seen these mountains from a distance, or heard of them from native report. The Black Haruj, which is also covered with much reddish scoria, lighter than the black lavas, consists of small low ridges and isolated peaks with abrupt sides furrowed by deep fissures and crevasses. These hills, which have a mean elevation of 650 feet above the plateau, itself about 2,000 feet above sea-level, are perhaps the volcanoes which formerly lit up the shores of the Mediterranean or of the lakes stretched at their foot. But the system is also largely composed of the sandstone and limestone formations, which have been pierced by the eruptive lavas. South of the Black Harûj stretches an extensive calcurcous hamâda, or plateau, terminating north-east of the Murzuk depression in a group of cliffs and hills known as the Harûj-el-Abiad, or "White Harûj." Here, according to the Arab reports, are found the perfect skeletons of large marine animals.
Beyond the pass, which affords communication between the Zella and Fogha
oases on the northern and southern slopes respectively, the Harûj-el-Aswad is continued westwards by the Jebel-es-Soda, or "Black Mountains," already by Pliny designated by the synonymous expression, Mons Ater. According to the explanation of the Roman encyclopædist, this appellation, which has persisted for at least two thousand years, is due to the appearance of these uplands, which look as if blackened by fire, although, when lit up by the solar rays, they seem to be wrapped in flame. 38 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. The Black Mountains, the highest range in south Tripolitana, follow the normal direction from east to west, while describing a slight curve with its convex side facing northwards. It is divided into two sections of different aspect by a broad breach, or as Duveyrier describes it, "a continuous series of ravines," traver8e<l by the caravan route between Murzuk and the Jofra oasis. The very names given to each of these sections of the range — Soda Sherkiyah and Soda Gharbiyah — indicate their respective positions east and west of this commercial highway. The Soda Sherkiyah, or " Eastern Soda," stands at but a slight elevation above the limestone plateau ; whereas the " Western Soda " attains considerable altitudes, the Kalb-Warkau, onn of its summits, having a height of 3,000 feet, according to some authorities. At its western extremity, where it merges in the great stony hamada known as the Hamada-el-IIomra, or *' Red Plateau," the Xaber-ol- Jrug, another of its peaks, is even said to be 4,330 feet high. According to Rohlfs, who, however, was unable to take any accurate measurements in the Jebel-es-Soda, there are also in the eastern section of the system other crests reaching an altitude of 5,000 feet. The statement of Ilornomann, that the Jebel-es-Soda is to a large extent of volcanic origin, has been fully confirmed by Duveyrier, who has brought back fragments of a basaltic lava, which the geologist Descloizeaux regards as coming very probably from an ancient submarine eruption. Various spurs branch off northwards from the main range, sinking gradually down to the low-lying coastlands. Several other projections have also become completely isolated from the rest of the s^'stem. Such, for instance, are those running towards the Jofra oasis, where they rise from 650 to 880 feet above the wady, which has itself a mean elevation of about 650 feet above the sea. The liokhmani, one of these isolated groups, is clothed with palm groves half way up its sides. North of the oasis the plain is dominated by the Jebel-Tar, a mountain mass completely distinct from the Soda range, and consisting of tertiary formations which contain thick fossiliferous beds. But its moderate elevation, not exceeding 1,330 feet, is not sufficient to arrest the moisture-bearing clouds, so that on the slopes of the Jebel-Tar nothing is found except springs of bitter water. In memory of the explorer Nachtigal, who has done such excellent work in the Sahara and Sudan, his friend Rohlfs has given to the culminating point of the Tar system the appellation of Jebel Bulbul, or " Mount Niglitingale " (Nachtigal). West and north-west of the Jebel-es-Soda stretches the interminable " Red riuteau," whose superficial area is estimated at some 40,000 square miles. From north to south, where it was traversed by Barth in 1850, between Tripoli and Muzurk, it is over 120 miles long, while extending through the Tinghert plateau for 420 miles east and west to the south of the Ghadames oases and of the region of Algerian dunes. This namada-el-TIomra is of all the African •' hamadas" the hamada in a superlative sense — the " burnt" region which, owing to the absence of water, is most dreaded by caravans. On the edge of the cliff leading to it, each wayfarer religiously casts a stone on the busajfar, or " father of the journey," a <;airn or pyramid of propitiation raised from century to century by successive generations of travellers.
Herbage, brushwood, and living things are rare in this desolate waste, which is avoided by the very birds, that fear to wing their way across solitudes more formidable than the seas themselves. Nevertheless camels find here and there a little nourishment in the scanty vegetation offered by a few depressions along the track across the plateau. Barth even came upon some stunted palms in one of these hollows, where the water collected after the rare storms soon evaporates leaving nothing in its place except a thin saline efflorescence. In many places channels have been formed by the wadies, although the running waters have not been sufficiently copious to excavate a complete river bed in the rock, so that beyond the last basin of erosion the depression is again closed.
The plateau is on the whole remarkably level and uniform, free alike from stones and sand. In altitude it varies scarcely more than 100 feet, from 1,500 to 1,650, the highest point along the route followed by Barth being 1,700 feet, and indicated at a distance by a heap of stones. At first sight the surface of the ground might seem to be formed of basaltic slabs, so black and parched is its appearance. But it really consists of sandstone layers overlain with clay and gypsum, and still more frequently with marls, limestone, and silicious strata, in which numerous fossil shells have been collected.
Southwards the ground falls through a succession of terraces and cliffs scored with deep ravines. The limit of the northern desert is marked by the copious Hassi wells and other springs, which ooze up from a depth of 7G0 feet below the plateau. South of this point begins the region of oases inhabited by the Hamatic (Berber) communities. The observer asks in amazement how the Roman armies, possessing no camels like the caravans of our days, were able to traverse the Red Hamdda, as stated by the old writers, and as attested by the richly sculptured tombs occurring at intervals along the line of march, and especially on the crests or summits commanding extensive views of the country. Some of these sepulchral monuments, the sânem of the Arabs, are graceful little shrines, whose correct style shows that the architects and sculptors of these remote regions scarcely yielded in artistic taste to those of the mother country.
In modern times the direct route over the hamâda was first explored by Barth, Overweg, and Richardson, other European travellers having followed the more easterly road across the Jebel-es- Soda. There can be little doubt that during the last two thousand years the whole region has gradually become drier, and thus would be explained the relatively easier access to the interior formerly afforded by the western route, præter caput saxi,[1] "by the head of the rock." North-eastwards the Red Plateau, furrowed by numerous wadies, is broken into narrow promontories, which are again cut up into secondary headlands. Some of these segments of the great rocky tableland have even been completely detached from the hani&da, thus forming small distinct ridges limited on either side by watercourses. Such are the Kaf Mugelad, the Jebel Ehadamia, and the Jebel Ergenn, whose mean elevation is about the same as that of the plateau. From the head of the passes intersecting them a distant view is commanded of the system of broad ravines, all draining east and north-east towards the Mediterranean. In this rugged district every headland is crowned, like the summits of the hamâda, with the ruins of tombs and of other Roman structures, embellished with columns and carvings. A methodical survey of the whole of this part of Tripolitana is urgently demanded, says Rohlfs, in order to study the interesting inscriptions and recover the more choice bas-reliefs here found in abundance. The establishment of an archæological museum at Tripoli might help to preserve valuable ornaments, which
else threaten soon to become mere heaps of stones, like the allems or landmarks raised here and there by the Arabs in the midst of the sands. North of the Red Hamâda follow several chains or rather risings in the plateau, rimning for the most part in the direction from east to west, parallel at once with the edge of the hamâda, and the sea-coast. These are the' ranges of hills, normally more elevated than the great sandstone tableland, which arrest the clouds borne by the moist winds, and thus divert the moisture from the surface of the vast plateau stretching southwards.
palm-groves, has some points 2,250 feet high. Barth even mentions the Bibcl, one " very high mountain," whose approximate altitude, however, he omits to give. In the direction of the hills and lowlands which slope seawards, and which are in fact known as the Jefarah or "Flats," the terrace of Ghurian terminates in many places in abrupt escarpments. The ravines at its foot, often filled with verdant fruit-trees, are commanded on either side by bare walls, now of white limestone, now of dark basaltic rocks. On the edge of one of these almost vertical precipices stands the citadel of Kasr Ghurian, flanked with round towers at the four angles of its enclosure. From this eagles' eyrie the Turkish garrison commands an extensive prospect of the region entrusted to its charge. West of the Jebel Ghurian the scarp of the great terrace, which Barth regards as the " true continental coastline," maintains throughout nearly its whole extent the same abrupt declivity. Along the Wady Sert in the Jebel Yef ren the cliff rises vertically at one point to a height of 1,630 feet. One of the summits on the outer ndge of the terrace is crowned at its culminating point (2,180 feet) by a stronghold even more formidable than that of Ghurian, to which the appellation of Kasr-el- Jebel, or " Hill Fort," has been given in a pre-eminent sense. The side of the open cirque at the foot of the citadel is a stratified formation of surprising regu- larity. Diversely coloured gypsum and limestone layers, the latter forming projecting cornices between the softer and more weathered beds of gj'psum, alternate from top to bottom of the cliff in a perfectly uniform series, as if planned by an architect. The culminating point of the whole district, exceeding 2,830 feet, is indicated from a distance by the remains of a Koman tomb. West of the Jebel Yefren follow other still little known ranges, the Nef Clsa and beyond it the Dwirat, which continues to run parallel with and at a distance of about 60 miles from the coast, to which farther west it gradually approaches, ultimately disappearing in Tunisia, near the Gulf of Cabes. All these outer ranges of Tripolitana are almost everywhere covered with a vegetable humus like those of the Algerian Kabylia, and the fruit- trees, cultivated by the Berbers with the same care in both regions, thrive equally well in Tripolitana. Not a village is here without its groves of dates, olives, pomegranates, figs, apricots, and other fruits. Facing the Jebel properly so-called — that is, the rugged escarpment of the plateau — stand a few isolated volcanoes now extinct. Even in the midst of the uplands the limestone rocks arc pierced with crevasses, through which basaltic lavas have burst forth. Some of these cones would seem to have forced their way upwards through the sedimentary rocks of the Jebel Dwirat. North-west of the Jebel Ghurian rises the twin-crested Manterus volcano, and farther east Mount Tekut, perhaps the highest point in North Tripolitana (2,840 feet). North-east of the terminal rampart of the Ghurian system stretches a lower terrace studded with s/mbtis or shabnts, that is, volcanic chasms surrounded by lava streams, which are now overgrown with alfa grass. Farther on the sacred Jebel Msid, its summit crowned with an Arab castle of the thirteenth century, lifts its round grassy cupola far above all the surrounding eminences. Beyond this point stretches seawards the upland Tar-hona plain (1,000 feet), whose argillaceous 85— AF 42 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. surface is here and there broken by a few volcanic heights, which, however, do not form a mountain range, as is usually represented on the maps. North-eastwards another Jebel Msid, also highly venerated and crowned with a zawya or moslom monastery, limits the Tar-hona plain on the one hand and on the other the Bondara and Mesellata hills, whose spurs terminate on the sea- coast. One of these advanced eminences, whose summit is disposed in three distinct crests, Barth is disposed to identify with the mountain of the Three Graces mentioned by Herodotus, who, however, places it much farther inland. Hydrographic System. Although more than half the size of France, Tripolitana, properly so-called, has not a single perennial stream. But during the rainy season superb cascades are seen tumbling down the rocky sides of Ghurian and Yefren into the lower gorges, •and the muddy waters are frequently copious enough to force their way seawards through the sand accumulated in their beds. Barth reports, on the authority of the natives, that in the year 1806 the Wady-el-Ghasas, flowing from the Jebel Yefren, united with the other torrents of the valley in a powerful stream which reached the coast across the Zonzur palm-groves west of Tripoli, and discoloured the sea with its alluvia for 120 miles, as fur as the island of Jerba. Most of the watercourses have broad channels confined between high banks, a l)roof of the large volume sent down during the floods. Nevertheless travellers usually take the winding bods of these wadies when their route lies in the same direction, and except in the rainy season they have little occasion to regret the ruined state of the Roman bridges met here and there along the more frequented tracks. / Far more useful than the restoration of these bridges would be that of the dams and dykes, which retain the temporary waters of the inundations at the outlets of the upland valleys. At the foot of tKe Jebel Ghurian, Barth saw one of these reservoirs, of Arab construction, whose ruined ramparts are now traversed by the caravan route. The only receptacles at present known to the people of Tripolitana are the maj/ens, or stone cisterns, whose gates are carefully kept under lock and key for the drv season. In several districts the art is also understood of excavating: the so-called fogarats, or underground galleries, in which the fluid is collected, and which communicate with the surface through wells sunk at intervals in the ground. These galleries are similar to the knnafs met in the arid districts of Persia and Afghanistan. Amongst the "extinct" rivers which formerly rolled down considerable volumes, but whose beds have now for most of the year tg be excavated for a little brackish fluid, there are several whose course has been completely effaced before reaching the seaward area of drainage. On the Mediterranean slope of Tripolitana all the wadies, whatever be the quantity of water flooding their channels after sudden downpours or protracted rains, reach the sea, or at least the sebkhas on the coast. Some of them have even vast basins, in comparison with which those of the Italian C0ASTLAND8. 48 rivers, flowing over against them on the opposite side of the Mediterranean, would be regarded as but of slight iniiwrtance. Thus the wady debouching at Mukhtar, that is, on the frontier of Barka and Triix)litana proper, has a whole network of secondary wadies, draining a diHtrict 120 miles in length along the northern slopes of the llaruj and Jebel-es-Soda. Farther west, the Wady-esh-Shegga also receives the waters of an extensive territory, in which is included the Jofra oasis. The Wady Um-esh-Sheil has its source in the very heart of the plateaux between the Black Mountains and the Red Ilamada, and reaches the west coast of the Great Syrtis after a course of at least 300 miles. Of smaller volume, but more famous, is the Wady Zemzem, as shown by its very name, which is that of the sacred spring in the temple of the Kaaba. So highly esteemed are the waters collected in the cavities excavated in its bed, that they are supposed to rival those of the Mecca fountain itself. The Sufajin (Suf-el- Jin), the most copious of all these wadies, is fed by all the torrents of the plateaux comprised between the Jebel Ghurian and the Jebel Khadaima. Going westwards, its basin is the last in Tripolitana of any considerable extent, being estimated at about 8,000 square miles. The Wady-el-Kaan, which is crossed in the neighbour- hood of the Leptis mines, has a course of only a few miles ; but it has been identified as the Cynips, so famous in ancient times for the fertility of the valley watered by it. It is also known as the Wady-el-Mghar-el-Grin, or " River of Abysses." But its waters, which were formerly of excellent quality, and which were conveyed by an aqueduct to the inhabitants of Leptis, have become for some unknown reason so bad that travellers carefully abstain from drinking them. In the west of Tripoli the only streams of any extent are the wadies Haera, El- Ethel, Beidha, and Segsao, all flowing from the hills and escarpments of Barth's " continental coastline." COASTLANDS. A very large section of "the seaboard, east and west of the hilly district which terminates at Cape Misrata at the angle of separation between the Great Syrtis and the coast of Khoms, is occupied with the so-called scbk/tas, that is, shallow depres- sions in which the waters of the wadies are collected. Occasionally, also, the marine currents penetrate into these lagoons across the intervening strip of coast, or throuo-hi temporary canals opened during stonny weather. But for the greater part of the year most of the sebkhas are nothing more than natural salt-pits, whose muddy margins are overgrown with alkaline plants. The longest of these coast lagoons begins at Cape Misrata and extends south-east and east parallel with the shores of the Syrtis, from which it is separated by a line of dunes. This is the Tawagha scbkha, into which the «-adies of the interior discharge their floods during the rainy season. It formerly communicated with the sea, and was navigable, as appears from the remains of the "Roman" canal, as it is still called. In certain places the outlines of the sebkhas, as well as those of the arable lands and oases, have been modified by the sands of the beach, which are carried some distance inland, and which are disposed in successive ranges of dunes. 44 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. Such are the sands which encircle the date-palm plantations of Tripoli, and which are described by travellers as already forming part of the " great desert," although this region lies hundreds of miles distant, beyond the Jebel Ghurian. Along the shores of the Great Syrtis and of "Western Tripolitana the tides are so little felt that their existence has been denied by several observers, such as Delia Cella, Pezant, and even the experienced Captain Beechey. During syzygy the water rises about two feet, and occasionally, when impelled by fierce northern gales, as high as five feet. It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the enormous power exercised by the surf along the crescent- shaped shores of the Great Syrtis, which have at all times been dreaded by seafarers, and regarded by them as irresistibly attracting vessels to their destruction. According to Sallust, this very attractive force is indicated by the term SjTtis. Possibly, also, the terrible Lamia, that devouring monster said by the Greeks to dwell in a cavern on this seaboard, was nothing more in their eyes than the spirit of the storm and whirlwind. At Zafran, near the ancient Medineh-es-Sultan, the coast is fringed, as it were, by huge blocks, lashed and piled up by the waves in the form of breakwaters. At first sight they in fact present the appearance of the remains of colossal quays, although the vast development of these formidable sea walls shows that we are in presence of some work of nature. Nevertheless this natural structure had formerly been utilised as a support for an artificial pier erected to shelter the port of Zafran. The coast of Tripolitana is one of those where, right or wrong, indications are supposed to have been observed of a slow subsidence of the ground, or else of an upheaval of the sea-level. At Tripoli, the movement is said to have proceeded at the yearly rate of about half an inch during the last half century. Thus the Mediterranean would appear to be slowly but incessantly working gradually to recover its ancient inlets, which, although now dried up, still lie below sea-level. Climate. The climate of Tripolitana resembles that of the other regions along the North African seaboard, except that here the southerly deflection of the coastline gives it a higher average temperature, and on the whole a more continental character. The maritime district is comprised within the isothermals of 68° and 72° F., whereas in the interior the heat is higher on the low-ljaug districts, lower on the uplands. On the sands at noon it exceeds 154°, and even 170° F., and Rohlfs' dog had in some places to be shod with sandals before he could follow his master across the burning soil. According to the same traveller, the normal yearly temperature is as high as 86° F. in the Jofra oasis at the foot of the Jebel-es-Soda. But it should be added that these intense heats are far more easily borne in the dry regions of the interior than would be the case on the coastlands, where per- spiration is checked by the excessive atmospheric moisture. The impression pro- duced by the heat along the seaboard may be compared to that felt in a Turkish bath. Between the extremes of heat, exceeding 105^ and 112^ F., and of cold, the CLIMATE. 46 difference is enormous, for it oftcm freezes on the plateaux. Snow is even said to have fallen in the Jofra oasis, as well as on the neighbouring hills. On the coast the heat and dryness of the air are daily tampered, at least from April to October, by the marine breeze, which blows regularly from the north- east in the same direction as the normal trade winds. It deflects gradually east- wards, and after an interval of calm the land breeze springs up, lasting the whole night, but towards the morning veering a little round to the west. Occasionally storms arise in this season, when the marine breezes become violent gales, dan- gerous to the shipping along the coast, on which the surf beats with great fury. During the winter months, which also coincide with the rainy season, the winds blow usually from the west, north-west, or north, and these also arc accompanied by storms. But far more dangerous, owing to their sudden appearance, are the abrupt transitions from north-east to south-west, generally followed by thunder and heavy rains. Of frequent occurrence are the calms, during which vapours accumulate in the air in such abundance that the sun becomes obscured, and the firmament is every- where overcast by a white veil of mist. In the Mediterranean basin there are few other regions where grey tints prevail so generally in the atmosphere. To catch a glimpse of the blue aerial spaces, the traveller must penetrate far into the interior of the coimtry. Here the vapours, instead of spreading in a uniform veil over the whole sky, are condensed into thick layers of dappled cloudlets. Nevertheless the skies of Tripolitana never acquire the serene azure which is so much admired in the temperate regions of Europe. The dust raised and dispersed throughout the atmosphere by the desert wind, at times in the form of the simoom, is held for weeks and months in suspension, always imparting to the heavens a slightly leaden effect. Vessels anchored in the port of Tripoli often find their decks strewn with sand by the storm, during which the town and the shore become wrapped in a thick fog or cloud, dry and parching rather than damp. Under the influence of the sandstorm, commonly called (jcbli, or "south wind," electricity is freely liberated. Sheltered in his tent, the traveller Stecker was on one occasion able to write his name in streaks of flame on the canvas covering. In the province of Tripolitana proper the mean annual rainfall is estimated at about eight inches, a proportion far exceeded in Mauritania and Cyrenaica, that is to say, the two regions projecting northwards to the right and left of the depres- sion of the Syrtes, In its pluvioraetric conditions Tripolitana thus belongs rather to the desert zone than to that of the coastlands. Heavy showers occur most fre- quently and in greatest abundance on the northern slopes of the Jebel Ghurian and of the other chains forming the scarp of the plateau. Henee in wealth of vege- tation the§e tracts rival the Algerian Kabylia itself, and might easily afford sustenance for a population of many hundred thousand souls. IJut in the oases of the plains it sometimes happens that tillage is suspended for years, owing to the absence of rain. Even moist fogs are rare, although here and there developed on the cultivated plateaux before sunrise, or spreading a fleecy veil over the palm groves of the oases. But however intensely dry the atmosphere usually is, 40 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. vegetation is always able to absorb a little of the latent moisture, for it survives for years without receiving any rain. Thus the gelgelan {mathiola livida) a species of crucifer, distils every morning a few drops at the tip of its leaves, although no appearance of dew can be detected round about. The very rocks themselves must have the power of attracting some of the humidity present in the atmosphere ; else whence those perennial spi-ings, such as the inexhaustible well of Ghadames, which continue to ooze up in the oases, where ten, or even twenty, years sometimes pass without a single shower to moisten the surroimding cliffs, at whose foot the limpid fountain never fails ? Flora. Although the botanical survey of Tripolitana is far from complete, it may already be concluded that its flora is relatively very poor, thanks partly to the slight relief of the land, partly to the scanty rainfall. With the exception of thirteen new species or varieties, all the plants round the shores of the Syrtes and in the inland districts as far as Fezzan belong to the flora of Mauritania, Egypt, or Sicily. A few Italian species, which do not occur in Tunisia, are met in Tripolitana, a land of transition between the desert and the Mediterranean basin. Nearly all the fruit-trees of temperate Europe grow here, but do not all yield good fruits. The almond thrives admirably, forming magnificent groves eVen at Ghadames, on the very verge of the desert. The quince, pomegranate, and fig also flourish in the oases, while everywhere the vine gives good returns, although the grape is not used for making wine. The apricot grows to a great size, but in the southern districts produces an indifferent fruit. Even the peach, plum, and apple, growing in the oases beneath the shade of the date palm, are no longer much more than ornamental plants. The apples gathered in the oases are no larger than walnuts, and are quite tasteless. In these sultry latitudes the orange is also a poor fruit, although the idea of the " golden apple " is found associated in legend with that of those " gardens of the Ilesperides," many of which were placed by the ancients in the vicinity of Tripolitana, properly so called. The citron also scarcely flourishes beyond the seaboard districts. In the Ghadames oasis there exists only a solitary specimen. The characteristic fruit-trees of Tripolitana are the olive and the date. As regards the former, the coastlands of the Syrtes belong to the same zone as Sicily and South Italy, while by the latter they are connected with the oases of the interior. Around many villages of the seaboard the palm and olive are inter- mingled in shady groves, presenting a charming picture by their varied forms, the hundred details of the undergrowth, and the aspect of houses and ridns scattered amid the surrounding verdure. But the natives of Tripoli lack the skill required to extract the oil from their olives, so that this plant possesses little importance in the general movement of trade. Their chief resource are their date-palms, although certain oases south of the Great Syrtis have nothing but the wild plant, which grows in clusters and yields an indifferent fruit, consumed chiefly by the animals. In these districts are also met a few date-palms with bifurcating stem, like that of the dum-palm, a plant also represented in the flora of South Tripolitana. The finest dates are said to be those yielded by the plantations of Gharia, in the upland valley of the Wady Zemzem, although these are still inferior to those of the Suf district in Algeria and of the Wady Draa in the south of Marocco. The number of dates cultivated whole of Tripolitana may be estimated at about two millions. Whether in the oases of the Jebel-es-Soda or of the Red Hamâda, or on the steppes skirting the Mediterranean seaboard, the plantations are everywhere formed of trees set close together, the groves thus producing at a distance the effect of verdant islands.
The requirements of irrigation and of the fertilisation of the female plant by the male pollen, in many places also the necessity of common defence against the attacks of marauding tribes, have caused all the dates of each district to be grouped in a compact mass. After leaving certain groves containing a hundred thousand plants in the closest proximity, the traveller does not again meet with a solitary specimen during a march of several hours, or even for days together. During the expedition of the brothers Beechey, a single palm was visible on the coast of the Great Syrtis near Cape Misrata, and when Barth visited the same district fifteen years afterwards, the tree had disappeared. 48 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. Tripolitana also possesses, especially in the beds of its wadies, vast forests of the talha, or Arabian ueacia, which always grows in a scattered way, but none the less presents a pleasant spectacle to travellers emerging from the bare and stony hamadas. Some of these acacias attain the proportions of almond trees, but on the outskirts of the forests, and especially on sites with a northern aspect, they dwindle to mere shrubs. The gum distilled by them is of excellent quality, fully equal to that of Senegambia, but it is little used in the country. The sodr {zizif pints htus), so common that it has given the name of Sodriya to a whole district in west Tripolitana, the mastic, batum (pistachio), and most of the shrubs found in the thickets of Southern Italy, also belong to the wild flora of this region, where they often clothe the slopes of the hills with a dense mantle of verdure. The tamarisk and the rtem or rctama grow on the slightly saline low- lying grounds. The shi, or wormwood, to which camels are specially partial, is dotted in tufts over the stony steppes ; and the lecanora deHertorum, a species of edible lichen, covers certain tracts here and there on the plateau of the desert. Characteristic of these plateaux is also the beshna, a species differing in no respect from the alfa grass of Algeria, and which, like it, has also begun to be exported for the European paper-mills. The natives have a notion that they can get rid of their ailments by transferring them to this plant. Camel-riders are sometimes seen dismounting and kneeling over a tuft of alfa, which they carefully knot together, hoping thereby to secure their maladies to the stalk. Fauna of Tripolitana. The fauna of Tripolitana differs from that of the surrounding regions only so far as it is less rich in species. Wild and domestic animals are here less numerous than in Mauritania. The uplands are infested neither by lions nor panthers, while the lack of permanent rivers has caused the crocodile to disappear, just as in the interior the disafforestation of the country has proved fatal to the elephant. The steppes would be admirably suited for ostrich farming ; but it is uncertain whether this animal still survives in this region. If any are to be found, it can only be in the less accessible districts of the Red Ilamada. Recently a few ostriches have been imported from Bumu, and some Italians, although with little success, have turned their attention to the breeding of this ** winged racer," which could thrive nowhere better than on the extensive plains of Jefara. In some districts, notably the Jofra oasis and the coastlands around the Great Syrtis, the carnivora are represented neither by the hyajna nor even by the jackal, the only wild beasts of this class being the fennec and the fox. Hares, rabbits, a few species of gazelles and antelopes, marmots with long white-tufted tails, the African moufflon or wild sheep, such is the game that most abounds in Tripolitana. The stony hamddas are intersected in every direction by the tracks of gazelles, much narrower than the paths laid down by man, and thoroughly cleared of any sharp stones, that might wound the delicate feet of these graceful creatures. Amongst the reptiles more commonly met is the sand gecko, which is furiously INHABITANTS OF TRIPOLITANA. 49 attacked wherever mot by the natives, who think it not only poisonous but also endowed with magic powers. The cerastes, or homed vi|x?r, is also much dreaded, although never dangerous in winter, or when the sun is not at its full strength. It is a very timid animal, cowering in the sand, to which it has become assimilated in colour, and numl)od at the least lowering of the temperature. But few birds are met in the thi-kets of Tripolitana, except during the few days of migration north and southwards in spring and autumn. Of domestic animals the most useful are the camel and ass, employed as pack animals. Both cattle and horses are rare and of small size. In some oases scarcely two or three steeds are to be met, and these are reserved for the chiefs, who are very proud of their mounts. This absence of horses is largely due to the Turkish pashas, whose policy it has been to deprive the restless Arab tribes of their cavalry. This was a sure way of " clipping their wings," and reducing them to a state of tranquillity. Nor are dogs at all numerous ; except in the coast towns, scarcely any breed is to be met besides the sluyhi, or Arab greyhound. The fat-tailed sheep, the only variety in Tripolitana, still wears a woolly coat, notwithstanding the heat of the climate. The fleece does not disappear until we reach Fczzan, south of the Jebel-es-Suda. Much more common than the sheep are the goats, to which the scrub affords a sufficient nutriment. According to native report, those that browse on the retama plant give an intoxicating milk. Inhabitants of Tripolitana. As in the other " Barbary States," as they were formerly called, the population of Tripolitana consists of Berbers and Arabs, the latter name compri.sing all the descendants of the invaders who settled in the country at the time of the first Mussulman conquest, and again during the great Hilaliau immigration in the eleventh century. The Berbers are probably the more numerous, representing as they do the aboriginal element. But in several districts they have laid aside their primitive dialects, having become assimilated to their conquerors in speech, as well as in religion and usages. Hence many tribes of undoubted Berber descent pass nevertheless for Arabs. This incessant process of assimilation was already noticed by Ibn-Khaldun in the fourteenth century. Even in most of the oases and rural districts, where Berbers and Arabs constitute distinct ethnical groups, each with its own name and special organisation, both have become so intermingled by family alliances that it becomes impossible to detect the least physical difference between them. In all the tribes alike are met persons characterised by Negroid, Semitic, or Caucasic features. But the colour of the skin is alinost without exception yellowish or bronzed, the hair black and kinky, the body ylim, with shapely limbs. As amongst all North African peoples, the women are relatively of much smaller size than the men, the discrepancy between the sexes being in this respect much greater than amongst Europeans.* The Berbers of Tripolitana projx^r who appear to have best preserved the ♦ Gerhard Rohlfs, " Kufra ; Querdurch Africa." 50 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. primitive type are the inhabitants of the Ghurian and Ycfren highlands ; of all the native tribes these have also most valiantly maintained their independence. The Jebel Yefren is still the hotbed of all insurrectionary movements, and these natives are fond of relating with pride the heroic deeds of their forefathers, notably those of their last hero, Ilhuma, who maintained for years a guerilla warfare against the Turks. In military prowess, as well as love of work, the care bestowed on their fields and orchards, intelligence and natural vivacity, these are the " Kabylcs " of Tripolitana. The contrast is very striking between them and the sluggish peoples of the lowlands. The Jebel Nefusa, north-west of the Jebel Yefren, is also inhabited by Berber tribes, some of whom still speak a dialect closely allied to that of the Tuaregs. But most of the natives are probably descended from those Luata or Liuata, that is, the ancient Libu or Libyans, Avho were the masters of the land before the Arab inva- sion, and who, like the Arabs themselves, came originally from the east to seek new homes in north Africa. In one of the Jebel Nefusa tribes, as amongst the Aulad Nail of Algeria, the young women are in the habit of migrating to the surrounding oases and towns to earn their dowry by the sacrifice of their virtue. Tarik, con- queror of Spain, was a Ncfesi, or Berber of the Jebel Nefusa, and he belonged perhaps to one of those tribes which had become mingled with the Christian popu- lations, but professed the Jewish religion. Hence possibly the favour he showed to the Spanish Jews at the time of the conquest. At present the inhabitants of the Jebel Nefusa, although adherents of Islam, belong to the " fifth sect," being Ibad- hitcs, like the Bcni-Mzab of Algeria. Amongst the Berber highlanders, some tribes still dwell in underground villages, and according to Duveyrier, these troglodytes have given their name to the Jebel Garian, or " Cave Mountains," commonly but wrongly called the Jebel Ghurian. A square space 25 to 30 feet deep is excavated in the sandy or limestone rock, and on either side of this pit are opened the vaulted chambers in which the inhabitants reside. A well sunk in the enclosure supplies them with water, which usually lies within a few yards of the surface. Communication is effected with the outer world by means of a winding passage protected at either end by a strong gate, and through this the people return every evening to their retreat, with their animals and poultry. Before the arrival of the Arabs and the spread of Islam, the troglodytes raised altars to the gods. In the vicinity of the mountains, and especially round about the Jebel Msid on the upland Tar-hona plains, religious monimients have been preserved, dating imdoubtedly from pre-Arab times, and attributed to the ancestors of the Berbers. They are constructed of megalithic blocks resembling those of Britanny, Andalusia, and South Algeria, but presenting some distinctive features. The Berber monuments of Tripolitana take the form of porticoes averaging 10 feet high, made of two square pillars resting on a common pedestal and supporting a quadrangular block, which exceeds in height the vertical stones on either side. Between the latter the opening would be too narrow, says Barth, for a single person to squeeze through, unless he was extremely thin. THE ARABS OF TEITOLITANA. 51 At the western foot of the Jebel Msid of McHcll^ta there are six of these cromlechs, some still st^mding, others overturned, near the ruins of a temple. The almost Roman style of the building leads us to supjWHe that the architects of the megalithic structures lived at a time when the country was still under the sway of the Italian conquerors, and a sculj)tured animal on one of the i)ortic(x?8 recalls the Roman wolf. Nevertheless some authorities, far from regarding these " biliths " and "triliths" of Tri|)olitana as religious edifices, look on them merely as the framework of gateways constructed, as was usual, of materials far more durable than the walls of the houses. Hence the latter, mere earthworks, crumbled away to the level of the ground, while the former remained standing, and thus assumed the form of cromlechs. The Arabs of Tripolttana. If the Berber element prevails on the highlands and plateaux, the Arabs, of more or less mixed stock, have acquired the ascendancy on the plains. These nomad tribes naturally prefer the vast steppe lands, where they can move about with their flocks, changing their camping-grounds at pleasure, according to the abundance of water and pasturage. The Arab has no love of the forest, which he fires, in order that timber may give place to herbage, and his glance be not obstructed by the leafy branches. Thus the Tar-hona plateau, between the Ghurian highlands and the Mesellata hills, has been completely wasted, not a single tree being spared. Like all other nomad populations, which by their very dispersion break into a multitude of distinct groups, differing in their traditions, customs and interests, the Arabs of Tripolitana are divided into a number of tribes, differing from one another in some respects, although preserving for generations the memory of their common ancestry. Some of these communities arc distinguished by their numbers, I)owcr, and noble descent. In the oast one of the most important tribes is that of the Aulad Sliman, zealous members of the Senusiya brotherhood, who roam the steppes round the shores of the Great Syrtis, and who have pushed their warlike expeditions to the Tsad basin beyond the desert, like the Nasamon wanderers mentioned by Herodotus. Farther south the Aulad Khris have partly taken possession of the Zella oasis, and in the neighbourhood of the Haruj gorges have afforded a refuge to kindred tribes escaping from the oppressive measures of the Turkish pashas. The Urfilcs, or Orfellas, who occupy the hilly districts at the eastern foot of the great plateau, are the most formidable fighting element amongst the Arabs of Tripolitana. It is not long since they were even accused of kidnapping children to devour them. They call themselves Arabs, and speak Arabic ; but it is evident, from the style of their dwellings, their agricultural practices, and the names of their feub-tribes and villages, that the fundamental element of the population is Berber.* To the north-west, in the direction of the capitiil, follow less numerous and more • Lyon, '• Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa." peaceful tribes, such as the Kedadifas, Aulad Bu-Seifs, Sfradnas, Aulad Yusefs, Hamadats, and Tar-hônas. Of all these kindred clans, the most respected are the Bu-Seifs, who reside chiefly about the Wady Sufejin and its tributaries. In order to preserve intact their social usages, the Bu-Seifs allow no strangers to remain overnight in their encampments, but assign them a separate tent in the vicinity, where, however, they are entertained with perfect hospitality. This tribe breeds the finest camels in the whole of Tripolitana, and in all their tents the younglings are treated like the children of the family.
West of Tripoli, towards the Tunisian frontier, the chief tribes are the Wershefanas,
Ben-Ajelas, and Nuails. Till recently conflicts were frequent in the border lands between the two states, and the victorious or defeated clans were continually displacing their camping grounds according to the vicissitudes of battle.
Although the art of writing has been lost among the Berbers of Tripolitana, most of these communities are designated on the ground or the face of the cliffs by complicated marks or signs, which must be regarded either as abbreviated names, or symbolic marks, analogous to the totems of the North American Indians.
There are also some Arab tribes held in great veneration, not on account of their pure morals or any special merit, but in consequence of the pretended sanctity THE NEGROES. 58 of their origin. These are the so-called Shor/o* that is, descendants of the Prophet, although the family genealogical tree is seldom authentic. It is enough for a woman to marry a Sharif, even though immediately afterwards repudiate<l by her husband, for all her children, and children's children to take this honoured title. The " Marabutic " families of Tripolitana also claim to have come from the west, whence the Shorfa are said to have migrated. Anyhow, it appears to be quite certain that a great many Arab tribes advanced as far as the Atlantic sea- board during the first years of the conquest. Since that epoch a general movement in the opjx)8ite direction has been effected, so that those tribes are regarded as of noblest blood who during their migrations have twice traversed the route between Mauritania and the eastern provinces of North Africa. Such groups are even more esteemed than if they had come straight from the holy cities of Arabia. At present this retrograde movement is more active than ever. The Algerian Shorfa clans, with their wives, children, and herds, have already emigrated in thousands to Tripoli, in order to escape from the yoke of the " infidel." The Khwans of the religious brotherhood of the Senusiya, who have become so numerous in the oases of Tripolitana, are also immigrants from the same region. After the occupation of Tunisia by the French troops, several unsubdued tribes sought a refuge on the plains of Jefara, west of Tripoli. The Negroes. Next to that of the Berbers and Arabs, the largest section of the population is certainly the Negro element. Amongst those who call themselves Arabs, or even Shorfa, there are thousands who betray their black descent in the colour of their skin and hair, the form of their features alone attesting mixture with the white Semites. Commercial relations are so frequent and regular between Tripoli and the interior of the continent, that there is nothing surprising in the presence of numerous Nigritians on the Mediterranean coastlands. The great majority, however, of those now living in Tripolitana have been forcibly brought thither as slaves. Formerly not a single caravan arrived from Sudan imaccompanied by a gang of captives. We must therefore reckon by hundreds of thousands the number of blacks who have thus been imported into Tripoli, either to remain in the country or to be forwarded thence to Egypt or Turkey. Although at present no longer carried on openly in the capital of the vilayet, the slave trade has not yet by any means totally ceased. On hearing of the arrival of a caravan in the southern oases, the dealers in human flesh instruct their agents to obtain the best terms for their living merchandise, which never fails to find a purchaser. At the same time both Negroes and Negresses, at least in the capital, may at any time demand a letter of emancipation, and this document is never refused. Many of these freed- raen remain in the houses of their former masters, who are still looked up to as patrons and protectors even by those who withdraw from their roof to live • Shorfa or Shurafa is the plural of Sharif, properly a noble or grandee, but iisually restricted to the real or presumed descendanta of Mohammed. 54 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. independently. On all festive occasions they return to share in the family rejoicings. The great majority of the Negro population resides neither in the capital nor in any of the other towns of the province. Faithful to their racial instincts, they have grouped themselves in small hamlets, where they live in huts made of palms, branches, and reeds. Neither the houses of the civilised Turks nor the tents of the nomad Arabs suit the habits of communities still following the same mode of life as their fellow-countrymen on the banks of the Niger and Lake Tsad. Although familiar with Arabic, most of them still speak their native dialects. From the Niam-Niam territory to that of the Fulahs, all the regions of Central Africa are represented in Tripolitana by their respective languages, although the majority, or about two-thirds of the population, converse in the Haussa already current throughout Western Sudan. In many districts a stranger might fancy it had also become the prevailing language of Tripolitana, owing to the incessant chattering of the Negroes, as contrasted with the less voluble Arabs and Berbers. I Jut it is not likely that the Ilaussa tongue will maintain itself for many genera- tions in the country ; for however correct the social life of the local black com- munities, however touching their devotion to their families, the Negro women are rarely very prolific, while infant mortalit}'- is very high. Yet in other respects the women would appear to resist the climate better than the men, and many even live to a great age. The Turks and Kulugli. The Turks, who since 1835 enjoy not only the sovereignty but also the effec- tive power, are in a minority even in the capital. Nevertheless their language has gradually become predominant amongst most of the " Tarabulsiyeh," the preponderating influence of the administration having caused the official idiom to prevail over the Arabic. Yet the Turks are still strangers in the land, holding aloof from the rest of the inhabitants, from whom they are already somewhat distinguished as " Malekits " in the midst of " Hanefite " populations. They are, moreover, careful to follow the fashions of Constantinople, and by an affected dignity of carriage they endeavour to sever themselves from the populace, to which as judges and administrators they nevertheless condescend to sell justice and protection. But for all their airs of superiority, tlieir passion for strong drink has rendered them the most degraded section of the community. More respectable are the Kulugli, that is, the descendants of Turks and Moorish or other women of the country, whether black or white. These half- castes pay no taxes, but are required to serve as irregular troops at the first summons to arms. Since the immigration of so many Algerian families, escaping from French rule, the Turks usually select their wives amongst the women of this clas?, who are distinguished from the rest of the population by their honesty, sobriety, and correct morals. Many of the young Algerian women are, moreover, noted for their personal charms, in this respect contrasting favourably with the TOPOGRATUY. 55 native Moorish girls, whoso reputation is also so bad that an alliance with one of this class is looked upon almost as a disgrace. But however respected the wives of the Turkish officials, their sons are seldom destined to hold high positions in the administration. After serving in the gendarmerie or some other corps, most of these Kuluglis withdraw to the rural districts surrounding the capital, where they gradually merge in the rest of the population. The Jews, Maltese, and Europeans of Tripolitana. In Tripolitana, as in the other Barbary states, the Jews are essentially the despised race. Yet they are amongst the oldest inhabitants of the country, having settled here under the Ptolemies. During the early years of the Roman administration they had secured the special protection of the Emperor Augustus. An encampment west of Mukhlar, on the coast of the Great Syrtis, still bears the name of Yehudia, or " Jewry," in memory of the Isi'aelites who peopled the country before the arrival of the Arabs. In the Jebel Ghurian the Jews occupy, like the Berbers, certain underground villages, in which, according to Lyon, their dwellings would appear to be cleaner and better excavated than those of their neighbours. These troglo<lyte Jews, the only artisans in the country, are exempt from the abuse and bad treatment to which their co-religionists are elsewhere subjected in Tripolitana. In the capital, where they number about 8,000, they occupy a separate quarter administered by a " political rabbi," ignorant of the Pentateuch and of the Talmud, but armed with the right to impose taxes, fines, the bastinado, and even issue interdicts against private families. Twice enslaved, the Jews of Tripoli are very inferior to those of Mauritania in intelligence, hence adhere far more tenaciously to the old orthodox practices and hereditary customs. A few Koptic families, who arrived with the Arabs, have maintained them- selves in distinct groups in Tripolitana, where, however, they are not sufficiently numerous to exercise the least social influence. More active, although also numerically weak, are the Jer^ba Berbers, immigrants from the Tunisian island of Jerba. These are the richest dealers in the bazaar of Tripoli, although obliged to compete with 4,000 Maltese, who are Arabs by descent, Christians in religion, British subjects politically, partly Italians in speech, and French in education. This half European colony is yearly reinforced by true Europeans, mostly Italians, guests who hope soon to be masters, and who are meantime establishing schools to diffuse their national speech. In 1884 the Italians numbered 800 out of a total of 1,000 continental Europeans. Topography. West of Mukhlar, on the Trijwlitan shores of the Great Syrtis, there is not a single town, or even a permanent village comprising more than a few hundred huts. For a space of some 300 miles nothing is to be seen except groups of tents, 60 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. a few cabins and shapeless ruins. But at least one " large city " formerly stood on this 8<'aboard, the i)lace in medioeval times by Abu Obeid Bakri named Sort, whose ruins are still known to the Arabs under the appellation of Medinet-en- Sultan, or " City of the Sultan." Sort, or Sirt, was formerly the starting-point of caravans bound for the interior of the continent through the oases of Wadan and Murzuk. But being unable to defend themselves against the attacks of the nomad Bedouins, its merchants were compelled to choose another route to the east of the plateaux, traversing oases which were inhabited by settled agricultural communities. Amongst the ruins of Sort are the remains of some Roman struc- tures, as well as aqueducts and reservoirs still in a good state of repair. Like the coastlands themselves, the whole of the steppe region stretching thence southwards is destitute of towns, although here the wells and depressions in the wadies, where water collects in greatest abundance, serve as natural trysting-places for the surrounding nomad pastoral tribes. Towns, properly so called, are found only at the foot of the Hariij and Jebel-es-Soda, where the running waters are copious enough to feed the palm groves and irrigate the cornfields. Even the natural oases following in the direction from east to west under the same latitude as those of Aujila and Jalo are uninhabited. Jibbena, to the east, Marad^, in the centre, and Abu Nairn, farther west, are the three chief depressions whose spontaneous vegetation seems most likely to attract future agricultural settlers. All these districts stand at least about 150 feet above the level of the sea. Towards the north, in the direction of the Great Syrtis, as well as on the opposite side towards the spurs of the Hariij, the surface is broken by limestone rocks, witnesses of a former plateau, weathered or perhaps eroded by running waters, and worked in all directions into the form of columns and fantastic struc- tures. These rocks abound in fossils, in many places constituting the whole mass, while the sands of the oases are strewn with countless shells and foraminiferae. In the east, towards the Aujila oasis, the view is obstructed by dunes which are amongst the highest in the whole region of the desert, some rising to a height of about 530 feet. The three oases abound in palms ; which, however, with the exception of a few thousand, all grow wild, or have lapsed into the wild state, springing up like scrub, and yielding a poor fruit without kernel. In the Abu Nairn oasis there are probably no male dates, while the female plants are not fertile. All three oases produce a species of crab or wild apple-tree, whose fruit is no bigger than a walnut. The neighbouring tribes, or bands of marauders roaming over the steppes, come occasionally to gather the dates and graze their camels in the grassy hollows of these oases. Jibbena and Marade were still inhabited down to the middle of the present century; but in 1862 only a solitary person remained in Marade, a slave left to watch the raiders, and report their depredations at the annual visit of his masters. The establishment of a colony at the fountains of Abu Naim is prevented chiefly by the bad quality of the water, which is very sulphurous, or charged with the sulphate of magnesia. Doubtless the time will come, says Rohlfs, when a visit to these sulphur baths of east Tripolitana will be recommended by European physjcians as T01»0GRAPIIY. 57 highly efficacious. Sulphur bod.s uro numerous in this region, unci u littlo to the north of the ousis uro Hituated the mines whoso produce is exjwrted from the littlo port of limitja. The oasis of Zilla, or Zalla^ lying in a rock-enclosed cirque at the northern foot of the Black Hariij, is one of the most densely jK^opled in the whole of Trii>olitana. In 1879 it contained about twelve hundred persons, members for the most part of the Arab tribe of the Aulad Khris. The cirque has a length east and west of 7 miles, with a breadth of 3 north and south. With the Tirsa oasis lying farther north, it contains about a hundred thousand date-palms. At the time of Beurmann's visit, in 1802, Tirsa was still inhabited, but has since been abandoned, probably owing to the dangerous proximity of the Orfella Arabs. This tribe, say the Aulad Khris, arrived ten centuries ago from Egypt, and after driving out the Christian ix)pulation8, became the guides and escorts of caravans bound for Central Africa. Edrisi relates that their town was the chief station between Sort and the Zwila oasis in Fezzan. But the " City of the Sultan," as it was called, has disappeared, and at present the chief outlet for the exports of the country lies nmch farther west, at the port of Tripoli. The people of Zolla take no part in this traffic except by devious ways. At the time of Rohlf's visit, in 1879, they had for several years been compelled to avoid the direct route to Tripoli, fearing the vengeance of the Orfellas, whose territory lay across their path, and some fifty members of which tribe they had killed in a fray. On the other hand, they venture freely far into the southern wilderness, and to them in recent times has been due a real geographical discovery, that of the inhabited oasis of Wau-el-Namus, which no European has yet visited. Of all the Tripolitan Arabs, the inhabitants of Zella are the richest in camels. They are also the only tribe still occupied with ostrich farming, although since the journey of Hamilton this industry has fallen ofp. In 1879, two of these birds, fed on dates, yielded to their owner a net yearly profit of from £6 to £8. Although larger and more populous than that of Zella, the Jofra oasis is far less rich in cultivated palms. Scarcely a twentieth part of the 800 square miles com- prising its whole area is under cultivation for dates, corn, or fruits. Its very name of Jofra, irovcvjof, stomach, indicates the form of the oasis, which is an elongated cirque stretching east and west, and everywhere encircled by hills rising 650 feet above the plain. A range of heights, running north and south, that is, in the direction of the short axis of the cirque, and interrupted at intervals, divides the oasis into two equal parts, each with its gardens, palm groves, grassy steppes, stony wastes, and saline lakes. Sandy gorges, in which water is rarely seen on the surface of the ground, converge towards the north of the twin oases in the Wady Missifcr, which, under another name, winds through the plain as far as the Great Syrtis. Although situated on the Mediterranean slope, Jofra belongs administratively to the province of Fezzan. Its inhabitants long maintained their independence, paying no taxes either to Tripoli or to Murzuk. At that time they constituted a small but sufficiently powerful republic, which afforded a refuge to the oppressed 86— AF from all the surrounding lands. The population, at present estimated at six thousand, was then much more numerous.[2]
In some of the Jofra palm groves the water is of exquisite flavour; nevertheless the towns have been founded in the vicinity of the saline springs. Notwithstanding this disadvantage, the oasis is one of the healthiest in the desert region. Ague is unknown, and ophthalmia rare, while other maladies common in the oasis of Fezzan never penetrate to Jofra. But although healthy and vigorous, the natives, whether Berbers or Arabs, have a sickly look, with yellow parchment skins. Men are seldom met amongst them distinguished by the regularity of their features. Although the Arabs, in their quality as the "chosen people" and followers of the
Prophet, regard themselves as superior to the Berbers, they none the less recognise the rights possessed by them as the first possessors of the soil. This position of landowners has been maintained by the Berbers so exclusively that the Arabs are able to acquire possession of the trees alone; hence at times feuds and frays, requiring the intervention of the Turkish troops stationed in Fezzan. The races are doubtless so intermingled that it is difficult any longer to discriminate between the two elements in Jofra. Nevertheless, a traditional convention enables the Berbers to safeguard their primitive proprietary rights. The son, whatever the origin of his mother, is always regarded as belonging to his father's nationality.
The gardens surrounding the towns of the oasis are admirably cultivated, and yield in abundance cereals, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and other vegetables. During I TOPOOEAPnY. 69 harvest time the arms of the cultivators and their slaves are insufficient to gamer the crops, and then immigrants from Fezzan come to lend a hand as labourers for a few weeks. Enriched by agriculture, the inhabitants of the oasis take no part in trade, like the natives of Murzuk, Ghadames, and Gh&t ; but the produce of their fields finds a market through the medium of other Arab tribes. Ostrich farming, pursued with success at the beginning of this century, has since been given up. The present capital of the oasis is the walled town of Sokna, which contains about one-third of the whole population, and at times gives its name to the whole district. Its inhabitants belong almost exclusively to the Berber race, and still speak the old language, mixed, however, with many Arabic expressions. Hon, situated nearly in the centre of Jofra, in the eastern section of the oasis, is shared by Berbers and Arabs in common. It is the most populous town in the country, and at the same time owns the greatest extent of cultivated lands. Wadan^ lying farther east at the foot of the hills of like name, is a " holy city," thanks to its Shorfa inhabitants, who enjoy the twofold honour attached to the descendants of the Prophet and to the families that have emigrated from ^Marocco. Built in ampLithcatrical form on a clifP, Wadan presents a very picturesque appearance. It is an old place, already mentioned centuries ago by the Arab geographers, and formerly gave its name to the whole oasis. According to Rohlfs, its walls would appear to stand on Roman foundations. Following the route which leads from the Jofra oasis towards Tripoli around the eastern foot of the spurs of the plateau, the caravans have selected as their chief station the village of Bu-Njeim, occupied by a few Orfella Arab families, who live by trading with the passing merchants and the surrounding pastoral tribes. The wells of Bu-Njeim, lying in a deep depression of the steppe at a height little above sea-level, are visited by the herds of camels for a distance of 60 miles round about. These animals are well acquainted with the roads leading to the watering- place. Every month, and more frequently during the hot season, they proceed in long processions to the Bu-Njeim wells, where they have at times to wait patiently hours, and even days, for someone to water them. All the other wells of the country, as far as the Bent' Ulid oasis, belong also to the Orfella tribe. In this extensive oasis, some fifty villages and hamlets, scattered amid groves of olives and other fruit-trees, are permanently inhabited. Seen from the hills, the valley of the wady, which is of limestone escarpments overlaid with lavas, and ranging from 450 to 550 feet in height, looks like a river of verdure over half a mile in width, and stretching east and west beyond the horizon. The olive groves are divided into innumerable plots by dykes of large stones, which arrest the overflow of the inundations, and at the same time serve to retain the vegetable humus. The walls of the Wady Beni Ulid are sunk in some places to a depth of over 130 feet. A few groups of huts in the gorges of the plateau at the foot of the hamada, may perhaps deserve the name of towns. Such are both G/wrim — G/iaria-es/i-S/ier- kiya, the " eastern," and Gharia-el-Gliarbiya, the " western," situated in the depres- sion of the wady tributary of the Zemzem. These two places, built at a distance 60 NORTU-WEST AFRICA. of about 12 miles from each other, and at an altitude of over 1,660 feet, were formerly fortifio<l, as indicated by their name, which means " fortress." The western Ghana still preserves a superb Roman gateway, dating from the time of the Antouiues, and presenting a singular contrast to the wretched Arab hovels resting against its massive buttresses. The eastern town is noted for its excellent dates, yielded by plantations irrigated with a brackish water from the imder- ground galleries of the /oga rats. JUisda, lying farther north in the upper valley of the TVady Sofejin, although containing scarcely five hundred inhabitants, is, nevertheless, a more important place than either of the Gharias, owing to its position on a much-frequented caravan route. At this point the road from Tripoli branches off in one direction towards the south-west, where it ascends the hamada in the direction of Ghadames, in the other southwards, across a series of ridges skirting the eastern edge of the Red Ilaniada in the direction of Murzuk. The inhabitants of Misda, of Berber origin, but largely assimilated to the Arabs, although still preserving traces of the national speech, belong entirely to the religious order of the Senusiya. At the time of Barth's visit, in 18o0, the convent possessed no wealth of any kind ; at present it owns vast landed estates. In the surrounding districts are scattered numerous ruins of tombs and other Roman monuments. Although, comparatively well peopled, the Jebel Ghurian and the mountains forming its western prolongation have no towns properly so-called, unless the subterranean dwelling of Zenthan be regarded as such. In this place the plateau is furrowed in every direction by ravines of slight depth, which serve as streets, on either side of which artificial habitations have been excavated in the rocky, cliffs, where the white limestone alternates with yellow marl deposits. The softer parts arc removed in such a manner as to give the group of caves the disposition of Moorish houses, with their courts and lateral chambers. But here the different apartments of the several stories communicate by means of an outer ledge or rocky projection, reached either by natural breaks and landings in the cHff, or by flights of steps made of superimposed slabs. These underground dwellings number altogether from one thousand to one thousand two hundred, giving an. approximate population of about six thousand to the town of Zenthan. Above and round about the caves are planted the olive groves, which form the chief resource of the inhabitants, arable lands being rare in this part of the plateau. The fertile soil, which might be washed away by the rains, is retained by walls round the roots of the trees. During field operations and harvest, the troglodytes leave their abodes and camp out, a change which often cures them of maladies contracted in their damp rocky retreats. Next to Zenthan, the two most important centres of population on the Jebel Ghurian, are the hamlets grouped round the Turkish castles of Kasr Ghurian and Kasr-el- Jebel. The whole district is relatively Avell peopled, containing, according to native report, as many as " a hundred and one " villages. But before meeting a city worthy of the name, the traveller must descend to the coast; here stands the capital, Tripoli^ which, however, is the only tftwn found along the seaboard between Tunisia and Cyrenaica. Even the upland Tar-hôna plain, whose fertile soil formerly nourished a vast population, has nothing now to show except scattered hamlets and Arab camping-grounds, besides Misrata, chief town of the maritime districts. This place, however, which lies near the headland forming the western limit of the Great Syrtis, is little more than an obscure hamlet, although officially described as the headquarters of forty-four villages. A stone house, a modern lighthouse, two or three irregular lanes lined with hovels, and a few huts lost amid the palms and olive groves, make up the town of Misrata, which, nevertheless, possesses some importance as a market for the surrounding towns.
Carpets, matting, goat and camel-hair sacks are amongst the more valued products of the local industry. In Misrata is found the mother-house of the famous order of Sidi-el-Madani, whose founder emigrated from Medina in 1833. In the sixteenth century Misrata was a wealthy place, enjoying a lucrative trade with Venice. It was the starting-point of most of the caravans bound for Fezzan, and even till recently those of Tripoli followed the coast route as far as Misrata in order to avoid the dreaded hostile tribes of the Ghurian highlands.
West of Misrata follows Sliten, a town or rather a group of villages scattered amid the palm groves, and partly inhabited by Marabuts and Jews. Then comes the village of Khoms or Lebda, humble heiress of the ancient Leptis, whose 62 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. splendour and extent formerly earned for it the title of Magna. The site of the original Leptis, founded by refugees from Sidon, is a lofty headland bounded east- wards by a rivulet, the peninsular bluff defended landwards by three lines of fortifications forming the acropolis. The breakwater, protecting the city from the fury of the waves, is constructed of huge square blocks, like those at the island of Ruad, on the coast of Syria. In this part of Africa, remains of the ancient Phoenician architecture are still found in a perfect state of repair. Within the line of quay walls occur at intervals vaulted recesses about 100 feet long, which Barth thinks nmst have served as dry docks for the Sidonian shipping. South of tlie citadel, on the left bank of the rivulet, was gradually developed the new city of Neapolis, which at last became one of the largest centres of popula- tion in the Old World. IFundreds of thousands of inhabitants were here grouped together, and the edifices of this African city, partly constructed with the surround- ing marbles, yielded in richness and beauty to those of Rome alone. But their very ruins have been invaded by the sands, and many of these monuments lie buried under dunes GO or 70 feet high. A triumphal arch, the date of which is still legible, was here erected by Marcus Aurclius; but most of the buildings of which any traces survive, such as basilicas and mausoleums, were constructed during the reign of Soptimius Severus, who was a native of Leptis, and who con- ferred many privileges on the place. A few columns still lie scattered about, but most of those recovered from the ruins have been removed to England or France, and several now adorn the churcli of St. Germain des Pres in Paris. Amongst the debris of licptis have been found three beautiful cameos, besides a trilingual inscrip- tion in Punic, Greek, and Latin, a monument bearing witness to the multitude of strangers at one time resorting to this great African city. Along the east bank of the rivulet stretched another quarter of Leptis, and on the low ])oiut of land at its mouth stands a fort, which has often been rebuilt, and which commands an extensive view of the ruined city, and beyond it of the palm and olive groves and amphitheatre of Mcsellata hills, crowTied with fortifica- tions, in close proximity to the sea. The' whole place occupied a superficial area five times more extensive than that of the modern Tripoli. Although nearly choked with sand, the port of Leptis continues to be frequented by vessels of light draft, nearly all English, which during the fine season here take in cargoes of alfa grass from the neighbouring steppes. According to the natives, olive culture dates back to Egyptian times, and an olive grove on the Mesellata heights containing some enormous trees still bears the name of " Pharaoh's "Wood." A carriage route connecting Tripoli with the Mesellata district at many points skirts an ancient highway, which may be still recognised by the ruts worn in the hard rock by the chariot-wheels of Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans. Along this route, the Lirgest group of villages is that of Tajurnh, whose industrious inhabitants occupy themselves at once with tillage, weaving, and dyeing. Tajurah was formerly a bellicose place, constantly at war with the Knights of Malta. TEIPOLI. 68 Tripoli. The present capital of Trij)olitanu has lon<> ceased to rival the ancient Leptiw Magna in population or wealth. Triix)li is little more nowadays than a third-rate city amongst those even of the Mediterranean seaboard, although of late years it has been much improved and enlarged. Like Leptis, it is of PhcDnician origin. Under the name of Uayaf, Latinised to Oea, it was dedicated to the god Melkart, greatest of Tyrian divinities, and during Carthaginian times rose to considerable power. Of the three cities of Leptis, Sabratha and Oea, the last having been chosen for the capital, ultimately took the general designation of the whole country. Under the form of Tarabo/os, the Turks have preserved the Greek name of Tripoli, distinguishing it however from its Syrian namesake by the epithet of El-Gharb, that is, the " western " Tripoli. A few ruins of Oea still exist, including deep cisterns and the foundations of ramparts dating from the Phoenician times. There is even one fine building perfectly preserved, besides a triumphal arch dedicated to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Aurelius Verus. This monument might be easily cleared of the sands in which it at present lies half buried, and of the wretched structures encumbering its pillars, which are formed of huge blocks of marble. Seen from the sea, the town of Tripoli presents a charming sight. A chain of partly emerged reefs projects in the blue waters nearly two miles from the beach, bearing at its landward extremity a massive tower and fortifications. Westwards from this point the city sweeps round in a crescent form, separated from the shore by a line of ramparts, which are overlooked by a row of white terraced houses, and limited at the eastern extremity of the harbour by the solid buildings, gardens, and palm groves of the governor's palace. Above the mosques and surrounding houses are visible minarets as slim as those of Turkey, and the flagstaffs and banners of the various European Consulates. Above and beyond all are seen the citadel and the " French Lighthouse," completed in 1880. Leo Africanus, who wrote about the beginning of the sixteenth century, relates a tradition according to which Trijjoli formerly occupied a more northerly site, and in his time the foundations of the vanished city were said to be still visible beneath the devouring waves. But this supposed subsidence of the ground can be little more than a simple phenomenon of local erosion, for the present ramparts rest partly on the foundations of the old walls of Oea itself. The modern town, which is surrounded by broken ramparts dating from the time of Charles V., presents specimens of the most varied styles of architec- ture. In the inner labyrinth of narrow tortuous streets, most of the houses, here and there connected above the roadway by vaulted passages, have preserved their Arab physiognomy with their bare white walls and courts enclosed by arcades. Nearly all the structures erected by the Government — barracks, hospitals, prisons, magazines — recall the vast Turkish establisliments of like order in Constantinople ; the Maltese quarter in its turn resembles the suburbs of some small Italian town ; while the Marina is lined by sumptuous mansions like similar thoroughfares in the large European seaports. Even the architecture of the Niger regions is represented in this Mediterranean city, in several of whose ruins are grouped huts roofed with branches, like those of Western Sudan. The Bedouins of Tripolitana have learnt this style of building from their Negro slaves.
Although still a very dirty place, muddy and dusty in turn, or both simultaneously, Tripoli has been much embellished since the middle of the present century. The hara, or Jewish quarter, still remains a labyrinth of filthy lanes and alleys; but a central boulevard now intersects the old town from end to end; the bazaar, occupied by Maltese and Jerâba dealers, has been enlarged, and new suburbs
developed amid the surrounding gardens. Artesian wells have even been sunk to supply the deficiency of good drinking water, the contents of the cisterns being usually insufficient for more than six or seven months in the year. But hitherto the borings have yielded nothing but a brackish fluid. The urban population has considerably increased, now numbering about thirty thousand souls, amongst whom are comprised four thousand or five thousand Europeans, mostly Italians and Maltese. The natives of both sexes wear nearly the same costume, the only difference being the different arrangement of their hauli or toga. Three of these togas-gauze, silk, and wool-are commonly worn by the women one over the other.
The so-called Meshiya, a belt of palm-groves encircling the city, with an average breadth of 9 miles, is itself a fMipulous district, containing, according to Kraift, about thirty thousand inhabitants. Here the emancipated Negroes from liornu and the Niger states have resumed the stmie mode of life as in their native hamlet.s ; here are also nomad Arabs, who pitch their tents beneath the palms near some holy shrine ; Maltese dealers, whose stalls or inns are usually established at the cross roads ; retired Europeans or Turks occupying some pleasant country seat amid the verdant and flowering thickets. But in some places the Meshiya is threatened by the sands of an ancient marine inlet. Many gardens are already covered with dunes from 100 to 130 feet high, and elsewhere the trunks of the trees have been swallowed up, leaving nothing but the topmost branches mournfully beating the sands in the breeze. To this zone of dunes the people of Trip;)li improperly give the name of " desert," through a sort of vanity leading them to fancy themselves near neigh- bours of the Sahara, from which they are nevertheless separated by the wholo region of steppes and by the Ghuriah highlands. At the same time Tiipoli and its outskirts present in many respects the aspect of an oasis, beyond which the caravans have at once to follow the track of dricd-up watercourses. In the Meshiya itself innumerable wells have been sunk to an extensive underground reservoir, which has never been pumped dry by the irrigation works, and which near the coast lies within 3 or 4 feet of the surface. The water wells up spontaneously through the sands left exposed during exceptionally low neap tides. For the internal trade with the Tsad and Niger basins, Tripoli is more favourably situated than more western cities, such as Tunis, Bona," Algiers, and Oran, inasmuch as it communicates directly with the regions draining to the Gulf of Guinea. Two main routes, one through Murzuk, the other through Ghadames, and connected together by intermediate byways, enable Trijwli to maintain constant relations with the towns of the Bornu and Haussa states. Before the year 1873, the caravan traders of Ghadames enjoyed a monopoly of the commerce with these countries ; but since then the Jewish merchants of Tripoli have organii^cd a caravan traffic from their very doors, based on the principle of co-operation with the tribal chiefs escorting the convoys, who receive half profits on all the transactions, and who on their part render a faithful account of all their operations. During the year from Tripoli are usually despatched from six to eight large caravans, each comprising from one thousand to three thousand camels, and always escorted by hundreds of armed Arabs, who venture fearlessly into hostile territories. The journey generally takes between two and three m'mtlis to the first towns in the north of Sudan. Several merchants arc associated to a gre;!ter or less extent in the common speculation ; but they are seldom able to realise their respective shares in the profits under two years, for it takes a long time to negotiate on advantageous terms an exchange of the cotton goods, Maria-Theresa crown pieces and other European objects for such native products as ostrich feathers, ivory, gold dust, and slaves, and the Tripoli dealers have often to send their wares to many markets before 66 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. finding purchasers. The return trip is reported from Sokna or Ghadames by couriers mounted on meharis, and fresh negotiations are then opened with the Eurojx'au dealers in anticipation of the approaching convoy. Since Wadui has voluntarily suspended its commercial relations with Egypt, and especially since the revolt of the Upper Nile provinces from the Khedival rule, a fresh current of traffic has been established across north-east Africa through Dar-For and Wadai to Tripoli, from which, instead of from Alexandria, Kordofan procured its supplies and materials of war during the rebellion of the late Mahdi. At the same time the chief source of prosperity for Tripoli of late years has been its export trade in alfa grass, of which about thirty-six thousand tons were shipped for Europe in 1875. Besides its monopoly of the direct commerciul exchanges with the interior of the continent, Tripoli also enjoys the advantage of a favourable geographical position at a central point on the Mediterranean seaboard in proximity to Malta, Sicily, and Southern Italy. Nevertheless its trade, although six times more than that of the whole of Tripolitaua in 1825, is much inferior to that either of Tunis or of Algiers, towns which have to supply the needs of a far larger local popula- tion, and in which the European element is much more strongly represented. Great Britain, mistress of Malta, with which Tripoli is in almost daily com- munication, enjoys more than one-half of the whole trade of the place ; she supplies nearly all the cotton goods, here known as " Maltese," from the name of the neighbouring insular depot, taking in exchange the great bulk of all the alfa grass of the country. The Italians, represented in the town by almost all the European immigrants, occupy the second position in the movement of exchanges. Till recently France ranked even after Turkey in the general trade and shipping ; but since the seizure of the neighbouring province of Tunisia, her share in the traffic has considerably increased. But the importance of Tripoli as a great emporium of trade must continue some- what precarious until its harbour has been deepened and sheltered from dangerous winds. During the month of January especially the approaches are much dreaded, and at this season vessels are often driven ashore by the prevailing north-westerly gales. The natural barrier of reefs urgently requires to be raised some feet higher in order more effectually to break the force of the surf, while other reefs obstruct- ing the entrance will have to be cleared away. The channel is only from 16 to 20 feet deep at low water, and very little over 20 at the flow ; but vessels drawing more than 1-^ or 14 feet cannot venture to cross the bar without risk of grounding. West of Tripoli the monotony of the Mediterranean seaboard is relieved by some pleasant districts, where a few permanent villages have been founded. But farther inland the naturally fertile and abundantly watered plains of Jefara are inhabited almost exclusively by nomad communities. They might easily be changed, says Rohlfs, into a second Mitija, richer than that of Algiers. The coast route traverses Zeiiziir and Ztiui/a, chief town of the eastern division of Tripolitana, beyond which appear the ruins of the ancient Sahratha of the Phoe- nicians, that is, the " market," one of the three cities which took the collective t TRIPOLI. 67 name of Trijyolis. The decay and final extinction of this place dates probably from the eighth century of the new era. To the ruins of Sabratha and of the little hamlet resting under the old walls, the Italians have given the name of Tripoli Veccliio, or " Old Tripoli," a title unwarranted by history and without any Arabic equivalent. Farther on lies the little port of Zonrah, whose palm-groves, like those of Tripoli, are threatened by the encroaching sands. Zoaruh is the last town of Tripolitana in this direction. A neighbouring strip of sand, the Itus-el-Jfak/ibaH, has become famous for the vast salt beds it serves to protect. In the thirteenth century the Venetians obtained from the Emir of Tripoli the exclusive privilege of Morking the sebkha of the Ras-el-Makhbas, or Zoarah, and so important became this industry that the Republic appointed sjxjcial magistrates to regulate its opera- tions. P]very year at a stated period a Venetian fleet cast anchor in the Bay of Kas-el-Makhbas, and shipped cargoes of salt for the whole of North Italy, Switzer- land, Tyrol, and Dalmatia. But in the eighteenth century the Venetians were ousted by the Genoese as farmers of these salines. South and south-west stretches the frontier zone, which was long a sort of borderland, given up to lawless and marauding tribes. After the recent occupation of Tunis by the French, about 75,000 Arabs of the southern tribes took refuge in this almost desert region, and being unable to procure any sustenance from the thankless soil, took to raiding in all the surrounding territories. At present most of these fugitives have returned to their native steppes, leaving the wilderness again in the possession of the Is uails and a few other nomad trib I