Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 2/Chapter 1
THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS.
NORTH-WEST AFRICA.
CHAPTER I.
TRIPOLITANA.
he portion of the African continent designated on the maps by the
name. of Tripolitana is a territory destitute of geographical unity.
A vast region over 400,000 square miles in extent, it comprises
several distinct countries separated from each other by uninhabited
or even uninhabitable solitudes. Here the desert, or at least the
steppes leading to it, reach the Mediterranean at the Syrtis Major. The space
comprised between Cyrenaica on the east, and the Ghurian highlands near Tripoli,
forms a land of imperceptible transition between the coast and Sahara zones, while
the whole of Southern Tripolitana already belongs to the desert, properly so called.
Here we meet with little but rocky, stony, argillaceous, or sandy tracts, except in
some depressions, where a few springs afford sufficient water for man and his dategroves. Hence Tripolitana is regarded as a geographical unit rather through a political fiction than on account of its physical conditions. The whole region
comprised under this name is not even politically subject to the Sublime Porte.
Thus the Kufra oasis, although usually included amongst the possessions of Turkey,
has hitherto maintained its independence, while in several oases lying nearer to the
coast the Sultan's authority is purely nominal.
Barka.
West of Egypt and its dependent northern oases stretches the Barka plateau, often called Cyrenaica, from the famous city of Cyrene, built here by the Hellenes. Politically it forms part of the regency of Tripoli, and it is consequently, at least in appearance, directly subject to the Turkish Government. But geographically it a NORTH-WEST AFRICA. 18 entirely distinct from the rest of Tripolitana, and contemporary events have shown how unstable is the present political equilibrium. It may well happen that in the near future the partition of Africa, already begun by the European Powers, may cause both Cyrene and Tripolitana to be transferred from their present Ottoman rulers probably to the Italians. Even now the de facto masters of the land are not those appointed by Stambul. The religious order of the Sendsiya, which was first established in Algeria, and whose capital is at JarabClb, in the Faredgha oasis, ir. the true ruling power throughout the whole region comprised between the Egyptian frontier and the Gulf of Cubes. Here the Turkish officials are tolerated only on the condition of conforming themselves to the mandates addressed to them by the agents of the head of the order, and all persons invested with magisterial or municipal offices belong to this community. The summons to arms issued by the " Mahdi " of Jarabub would even now be instantly obeyed by a regular army of infantry and cavalry, already organised independently of the Turkish Government. The region of the African seaboard comprised between Egypt and Tripoli, properly so called, is at present of all Mediterranean lands the least frequented by European traders, and the most thinly peopled country in the basin of the great inland sea. Three hundred thousand persons at most, possibly even not more than two hundred and fifty thousand, are scattered over the space limited eastwards by the Egyptian frontier, westwards by the depression stretching from the Faredgha oasis towards the Great Syrtis, or Gulf of Sidra ; that is, a proportion of less than ten to the square mile. The steamers navigating the Mediterranean in all direc- tions seldom call at the ports on the Barka seaboard ; hence this strip of coast, which extends for about 1,200 miles, from Alexandria to Tripoli, maintains scarcely any commercial relations with the outer world. But on the other hand, the expansive power of the European nations is every- where followed by inevitable consequences ; nor can there be any doubt that Cyrenaica will again become a flourishing colony, attracting, as it did some twenty- five centuries ago, industrious settlers from Greece and Italy. The projecting coastline of Barka approaches to within 240 miles of Cape Matapan ; in these waters, forming the zone of separation between the eastern and central Mediter- ranean basins, Africa seems, as it were, to meet Europe half-way, and it would be strange if the throbbing life of Western civilisation failed to make itself ultimately felt in this neighbouring region of the " Dark Continent." Hitherto, however, European influence— which, following the great maritime highways of the globe, has beconio dominant at the Antipodes themselves— has been almost imperceptible in this Libyan land, which, nevertheless, for a period of over a thousand years, formed an integral part of the Hellenic world, the centre of ancient science and art. During the Roman period, Cyrenaica was still regarded as forming a dependency of Greece, and it even constituted, with the island of Crete, a single administrative province. HISTORIC EETROSPECT. 8 Historic Retrospect. On the North African seaboard the rounded mass of the plateau of Barku corresponds with the region of Tunis, which limits the Gulf of Cabes towards the west, and projects in the Carthaginian headlands in the direction of Sicily. The two territories resemble one another in their geographical position, their climate, und products. They also played their part in the history of the old world, one through its Hellenic colonies, the other through its Phoenician republic. In comparing Cyrene with Carthage, observers have dwelt on the natural advantages of the former, and have expressed their surprise that it never rose to the same pitch of commercial prosperity as its western rival. It is, however, to be observed that for the purposes of international trade Carthage really occupied a position far superior to that of the maritime cities of Cyrenaica. Forming no part of the Greek world, it did not reach the same standard of general culture ; and although not lacking great thinkers, it never exercised the same influence in the development of the arts and sciences. But on the other hand. Carthage played a far more considerable part in the commercial world. Being hemmed in on all sides by the wilderness, the plateau of Cyrene drew from the interior a very limited quantity of supplies, imported by the difficult and tedious route of the oases ; hence its natural trading relations were rather with the Hellenic islands and peninsulas facing it on the opposite side of the Mediterranean. But the more favourably situated city of Carthage necessarily became the chief outlet of a vast and populous region stretching far into the interior of the continent. Almost within sight of Sicily, and standing on the great Mediterranean strait, where converge the main water highways from Greece and Spain, it commanded the central position of the whole maritime basin. Over the Greek cities it enjoyed the further advantage of being situated nearer to the " Columns of Hercules," and its vessels were the first to plough the waters of the boundless ocean. Wasted by the Arabs, especially during their second invasion in the middle of the eleventh century, the inhabitants of Barka lost their trade and culture ; the land lapsed into barbarism, its ruined cities and its burial-places became the haunts of wild beasts. The myth of Hercules and Antaeus personifies the struggles of the Greek settlers against the natives of Cyrenaica, the Libyan giant drawing fresh strength from the ground each time he touched his mother, Earth. But, not- withstanding the fable, which records the victory of Hercules, it was Autajus who triumnhed in the end. However, the type of the ancient Berber population does not seem still to prevail. Diversely modified by crossings with Greeks, Negroes, and Turks, the Libyan stock has been further replaced, or almost entirely trans- formed, by Arab intermixture. Future immigration will give the political ascen- dancy to the Europeans ; but the local element will doubtless always remain the most numerous here, as elsewhere throughout North Africa. The pending annexation of Cyrenaica to the cultured world has already been sufficiently prepared by the researches of modern explorers. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the French traveller, Lemaire, was already studying the ruins of the old Greek cities. Sections of the seaboard were surveyed by Paul Lucas, Shaw, Bruce, Granger, while in 1811 and 1817, the Italians Cervelli and Della Cella penetrated into the interior, and for the first time recorded systematic observations on the soil, climate, products, and antiquities of the country.
Then came the brothers Beechey, who occupied themselves chiefly with the maritime districts, and the artist Pacho, whose attention was directed mainly to the ruined cities of the plateaux. Cyrenaica was also traversed by Delaporte, De Bourville, Barth, Hamilton, De Beurmann, Gerhard Rohlfs, Murdoch Smith, and Porcher, and of late years it has been successively visited by a great many travellers,
Scale 1: 3,500,000.
astronomers, geographers and naturalists, nearly all of whom were sent by the Italian Society of Commercial Exploration in Africa, The chief objects of these continuous visits is to prepare the way for the political occupation of the country by the kingdom of Italy.
Physical Features of Barka.
Between Egypt and the territory of Barka there are no natural frontiers. The hills and plateaux, skirting the north side of the Siwah oasis, are continued westwards, rising gradually into terraced uplands, which, beyond the Gulf of Soloûim, or Mellah, acquire the dignity and title of jebel (mountains). Here is the PHYSICAL FEATURES OF BARKA. 5 starting-point of the line of demarcation officially laid down between Egypt and Tripolitanu. The headland commanding the Gulf of SoloCim was ever regarded by Salluat, Pomponius Mela, and other ancient authors as the angular limit between Africa and Asia, Egypt being considerocl by them as belonging to the eastern continent. At this point the highest summits of the plateau exceed 1,000 feet, and the coast route has to surmount a projecting ridge by means of a graded track, whence the promontory, as far as the Ras-el-Melah, took its Greek name of Kata- bathmos Mcgas, or "Great Descent." At present the Egyptian Arabs give it the title of Akabct-el-Kebir, or " Great Ascent," and to El-Edrisi it was known as the Akabah-el-Soloum, or " Graded Ascent," whence the present name of the neigh- bouring gulf. It is easy to imderstand how seafarers and caravan traders at all times looked upon these abrupt decli'ities, and the deep indentation formed by the Gulf of Solodm, as a natural limit, although farther inland the plateau is continued on either side without any great differences of level. From the Gulf of Solo dm to the great bend, whose western extremity is occupied by Benghazi, the seaboard is divided into two nearly equal sections by the so-called Gulf of Bomba, which is limited westwards by the Ras-et-Tin, or " Fig-tree Cape." East of this deep inlet, already marked out as the site of a future naval station analogous to that of Spezia, the coast district coincides with the ancient Marmarica, or Marmaridis ; to the west is developed in a graceful curve the shore-line of Cyrenaica, properly so called. The two territories are clearly separated by the bed of the Wady Temmim, which, however, is dry for several months in the year. Some 60 miles long, it is the only torrent in Barka which is anything more than a mere ravine, flushed only for a few hours after each rainfall. On either side of this intermediate depression, the heights present different natural features. The Miocene plateau of Marmarica has an average elevation less than half that of Cyrenaica, and its depressions, nearly all parallel with the shore, are mere folds in the rocky surface rather than true valleys. In the west, on the contrary, the hills of Cyrenaica cons^tute a veritable highland, the so-called Jebel Akhdar, or " Green Mountains," some of whoso crests exceed 3,300 feet in altitude. This term, however, is more specially restricted to the western group of uplands, which, notwithstanding their rounded outlines, bear a closer resemblance to the Apennines than any other African district. The same trees overshadow the same undergrowth ; a mean temperature differing little from that of Italy prevails over hill and dale ; the breeze wafted over the thickets is charged with the same perfumes ; the same blue waters sparkle at the foot of the escarpments. Travelling across the land of Barka, visitors from Italy fancy themselves still sur- rounded by the scenery of their native homes. The Greeks also had converted this region into au African Hellas. In their enthusiasm here they placed the first of those " Gardens of the Hesperides " which their daring navigators, pushing still westwards, had scattered, so to say, from Cyrenaica to the utmost verge of the mainland. The Arabs in their turn bore testimony to their admiration for its natural beauties, by the title of " Green Mountains," which they gave to the Barka highlands. Whether they arrived from 6 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. the south-east or west, they had still to traverse bare and waterless solitudes. Hence, the sudden contrast naturally caused them to regard as earthly Edens the green slopes and purling brooks of these pleasant uplands. The plateau of Cyrenaica is largely indebted for its inviting aspect to the graceful outlines of its hills, which develop their highest summits in the very neighbourhood of the seaboard. The coastlands, in some places presenting the pink tint of the corals which form about a third of the whole mass, are skirted by tracts sloping gently to the foot of the vertical cliffs, or abrupt rocky walls broken by narrow gorges, through which wind the paths obliquely scaling their steep sides. Above this limestone pedestal tower the crests of the Jebel Akhdar, beyond which the traveller finds himself already on the verge of the desert. Here the beds of dry wadies open southwards ; to the wooded hills succeed the serirs, vast stony wastes, or extensive plains clothed with a scant vegetation of alfa and other grasses. The colour of the soil changes with its relief. The Barka highlands are covered with a reddish humus, whence the designation of Barka-el-Hamra, or "Barka the red," applied by the Arabs to this region. But southwards the fertile red clays of upper Cyrenaica gradually merge in the grey and white tints of the sands and bare ro3ks characteristic of Barka-el-Beida, or " Barka the white." Still farther south, where the arid soil no longer supports the scantiest vegetation, the desert wastes bear no geographical name. Here nothing meets the eye except the shifting dune, rock, or hard clay wearily traversed by caravans, whose track is marked only by wells of brackish water, occurring at long intervals. ClJMATE OF BaHKA. The northern section of Barka, beyond the serirs and dunes of the " white " region, enjoys an Italian climate. At sea-level the normal annual temperature ranges from 70° to 73° F., according to the latitude — an isothermal mean several degrees above that of Southern Italy. But oit the uplands, exposed to cooler marine breezes, the temperature falls to the level of that of Sicily and Naples. On the plateaux of Cyrene, 1,600 feet high, the heat during the day varies from 54° F. in winter to 84° in summer.* At night the temperature, although considerably lowered by the effects of radiation in a cloudless sky, seldom falls to the freezing- point. Altogether, for its soft and equable climate, Cyrenaica stands almost unrivalled. Here the traveller rarely suffers from the extremes either of heat or cold. He may also easily change from one zone to another, for the plains, plateaux, and highlands are all alike clothed with that rich red humus on which flourish all the cultivated plants of temperate regions. As long ago pointed out by Herodotus, " the territory of CjTcne has three admirable seasons. The coastlands abound in fruits which first arrive at maturity. Then follow the harvest and the vintage, and the crops are scarcely garnered when the fruits on the hills are ripe enough to be gathered. • Hamilton, " Wanderings in North Africa'." FLORA AND FAUNA OF BAEKA. 7 Then those of the culminating region reach maturity, so that the first harvest is consumed when the last arrives. Thus for eight months the Cyreneans are always harvesting." * " Red " Barka belongs to the Mediterranean zone of winter rains, although it is also frequently refreshed with autumn showers. Its almost insular position exposes Cyrenaica to all the moisture-bearing winds, except those from the south and south-east ; and the humidity being arrested by the lofty heights, often descends in copious rains. At times the torrents rushing through the mountain gorges down to the coast towns have converted into mud and swept away the hovels, and undermined the more substantial dwellings. Still the yearly rainfall is less than in most European countries, ranging, according to Fischer, from 14 to 20 inches, or from half to two-thirds that of France. From Alexandria to Gyrene it increases gradually westwards. Much, however, of the rain water disappears at once in the fissures of the limestone ground, and is thus lost for the higher lands. But lower down it reappears on the plains, welling up in copious springs at the foot of the cliffs. In many places, and especially in the vicinity of Benghazi, west of the Jebel Akhdar, the subterranean waters would reach the coast through hidden channels, if the ancients had not contrived to arrest their course and bring them to the surface. In spite of the rains which fall on the uplands, Cyrenaica has not a single permanent stream, while *' White " Barka, the region of sands and bare rocks, has nothing but its waterless wadies, and at long intervals a few wells from which oozes a brackish fluid. Flora and Fauna of Barka. The vegetation, being regulated by the quantity of rain water, either received directly from the clouds or filtered through ground in flowing streams, naturally increases in exuberance in the direction from east to west. A careful exploration of the district about the port of Tobruk, in Marmarica, yielded to Schweinfurth not more than two hundred and twenty plants, whereas Ascherson has enumerated as many as four hundred and ninety-three for Western Cyrenaica. The upland region of the plateau, where the rain escapes rapidly through the surface fissures, offers little beyond greyish species, whose scanty foliage is parched by the summer suns. Here and there the monotony of the barren wastes is broken by a stunted acacia or a solitary turpentine- tree. But on all the slopes and in all the depres- sions, where the rain water is retained for any length of time, the laurel, elder, myrtle, mastic, eglantine, and other southern shrubs cluster round the evergreen oak and tall cypress, of freer growth than those of ItrAy, and rising at times to a height of over 160 feet. These dense thickets of trees and shrubs, which never lose their verdure, explain the designation of Jebel Akhdar, the '• Green Hills," applied by the Arabs to the highest uplands of Barka. The forest trees no longer supply much more than fuel ° Book iv., p. 199. 8 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. and timber for the coast towns. But in former times the thuyas of Cyrenaica were used to make those costly " tiger " and " panther" grained tables, which were so highly prized by the Romans, and the exquisitely perfumed wood of which was supposed to have been employed by Circe in her incantations. The slopes facing seawards are clothed with forests of the wild olive, whose branches are shaken for the berry, greedily eaten by sheep and goat. The carob, when allowed to grow in the open, throws off such a mass of young sprouts that whole families of Bedouins take up their residence during the summer months beneath this vast canopy of verdure, sheltering them from all eyes. Like the streams of Greece, the wadies of Barka are fringed with oleander plants ; dwarf palms grow in clusters along the sea-coast; fruit-trees of the Italian zone, dominated here and there by the tall stems and branches of the date-palm, flourish in the well-watered gardens now usually surrounded with hedges of the " Barbary fig," an immigrant from the New World, which has already become so common in the Mediterranean flora. Some of the fertile valleys opening seawards are stocked with as many species of plants as the ancient "Garden of the Hosperides " itself, described in the Perip/ous of Scylax. This marvellous land was situated according to Pliny near Berenice ; but Scylax states expressly that it was not far from the Ras-Sem, the Phycus of the ancients, that is, the northernmost headland of Cyrenaica. A ccording to the description of the Greek writer, it occupied a natural gorge or an ancient quarry, like the latomice of Syracuse. The brothers Beechey believed they had discovered its site amid the now flooded precipices to the east of Benghazi, but none of these present the dimensions of the garden as described by Scylax. Some idea of its exquisite beauty may be had by visiting the chasms now filled with verdure which open abruptly in the stony plateau near Syracuse. Orange, citron, medlar, peach trees, all struggling upwards towards the blue vault of heaven, rise to heights of from 50 to 60 or 70 feet. The stems of the trees are enclosed by leafy shrubs, their branches entwined by wreaths of creepers, the paths strewn with flowers and fruits, the -foliage alive with song of birds. Above this elysium of fragrant and flowering plants rise the grey rocks, here and there clothed with ivy, their every crest crowned with verdure. The si/phium, or lascrpitium, at one time one of the main resources of Cyrenaica, and whose very name had passed into a proverb implying the most precious of treasures, is now found only in the wild state on the cliff, if indeed it is the same plant. The old writers tell us that it had already disappeared in their time, and amongst the modern observers, Schroff, Oersted, Ascherson and others, have expressed the opinion that the plant so highly valued by the Greeks and Romans for its curative virtues, was a species of asafoetida. Nevertheless most naturalists accept the hypothesis of Delia Cella, the first explorer of the country, who supposes that the silphium was the drias or adriaJi of the natives — that is, the thapsia garganica of botanists. The Cyrenian coins represent this umbellifer with suflScient accuracy, although its form is somewhat enlarged and its fruit of some- what too cardiform a shape. Like the hardened sap of the silphium, wthich INHABITANTS OF BARK A. 9 fetched its weight in silver, and which was preserved in the State treasury, the liquid extracted from the present adrias is regarded by the natives as a panacea, and is employed especially in the treatment of wounds inflicted by animals. In Europe the researches of Ileiuzmunn have also proved that this plant should be accepted in the modern pharmacopoja, on accouut of its purifying properties. No apparent difference can be discovered between the Algerian and Cyrenian thapsia garganica ; yet some difference there must be, seeing that the Algerian species has scarcely any curative virtues. On the other hand, camels may browse on it without danger, although the di'ias of I3arka is fatal to them, as was formerly the silphium.* At present the land of Batka contributes but little to the general increase of wealth in the world. It no longer exjKjrts either medicinal drugs, the essence of roses, or the white truffles for which it was formerly renowned. Wheat, barley, cucumbers, tobacco, a few vegetables form, with the garden fruits, the only products of the local agriculture. The wild bee gathers an exquisite honey from the flowering plants. Tillage is in a rudimentary state ; nor do the wonderful crops of wheat mentioned by the ancients as yielding a hundred and even three hundred- fold, appear to have been witnessed in modern times. Occasionally want even prevails, and as a rule about every fifth year is unproductive. The slopes of the Jebel Akhdar are best adapted for the cultivation of the olive, and the oil supplied by the few olive-groves farmed by the Italians is of excellent quality. However rich in vegetation, the " Green Mountains " are extremely poor in animal species. The only wild beasts here seen are the hyaena and jackal. But the thickets of the depressions are infested by the wild boar, while the gazelle, hare, and rabbity abound on the plateau. Reptiles, birds, insects, belong almost exclusively to the same species as those of Mauritania. The budding vegetation is occasionally devoured by the locust, and the wild bee deposits its burden of honey in the fissures of the rocks. Southwards this scanty fauna gradually diminishes, until it disappears altogether beyond the zone of oases. After crossing the Wady Fareg, the traveller discovers that he is no longer accompanied even by the flea. He no longer crushes a shell under foot, or perceives a single bird on the wing. In the villages and encampments of Barka the domestic animals differ in no respect from those of Mauritania. There as here they are still the ass and mule, sheep, goats, and horned cattle. The horses no longer belong to that superb race described by Pindar, when singing of Cyrenaica famed for its " fine steeds." But if small, heavy, and ungainly, they are at least sure-footed and endure hardships well. Inhabitants of Barka. The land of Barka is peopled exclusively by Arabs of more or less mixed stock, who, however, claim to be of pure descent, and who epeak the language of the Prophet according to the Egyptian standard, slightly affected by Maugrabian • Mamoli, " Esploratore," vol. v., 1881. 88— AF 10 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. elements. No feature in their physical appearance seems to betray any trace of lieilenic or Roman blood, while the Berber type here so closely resembles that of the Arabs, that it would be difficult to distinguish the races in so mixed a popula- tion. In Derna, Benghazi, and other towns subject to the influences of external commerce, the usages differ little from those of the Egyptian Arabs, and the women do not appear unveiled in public. Here, also, the inhabitants are grouped, not according to their tribes, but according to their trades and pursuits. But in the rural districts distinct territories are occupied by the ailets, a term collectively applied to all the tribes of Cyrenaica. The Aulad-Ali of the Egyptian Libya are encroaching from the west on the Barka highlands, where they already possess extensive grazing-groimds. Here they are replacing the Marmaridae, who gave their name to the country under the Ptolemies, and who subsequently followed the general movement of migration and conquest in the direction from east to west. The Zwiyas lead a wandering life in the section of the plateau in the vicinity of Derna, whence they descend southwards as far as White Barka, south of Ben- ghazi. The more numerous Abeidats, jointly with the Berasa, the Hassa and Dorsa, occupy the districts of the Jebel Akhdar, lying east and west of the ruins of Cyrene. The Eshteh dwell in the western part of the range above Benghazi, while immediately north and south of them are the camping- grounds of the Bragtas and other clans of the Awaghirs, the most powerful of all the Barka tribes. This ailet is said to be able to muster in war time altogether 10,000 infantry and 1,000 horsemen. The Harabi, Mogharba, and other less important tribes occupy the lower terrace lands comprised between the Barka highlands and the desert. All these Libyan Arabs are fond of painting the breast, arms, and face with antimony. The women, who never go veiled, always dye the lower lip black, and encircle the eyes with the same extract of koheiil. Both sexes wear the hauH, a kind of toga, to which Europeans give the name of bamkan. During youth the daughters of Cyrenaica are comely, but proportionately much smaller than the men. The national diet is a species of " barley-bree," known as hasina. It was amongst the Arabs of Merj, the ancient Barke, that the " bubonic pestilence " broke out in the year 1874, and Cyrenaica is said, with the West Persian highlands and those of Assir, in Arabia, to be one of the three regions where this disorder is endemic. Since the middle of the present century, thanks especially to the establishment of the order of the Senusiya in this part of Tripolitana, the Arabs of Barka have certainly made some progress in material culture and moral cohesion. Manners have undergone a great change, and certain questionable laws of hospitality described by all travellers from Herodotus to Barth are no longer practised. On the other hand, the natives have become less kindly and cheerful, more sullen and surlv to strangers. In ihe year 1843, the Algerian Sheikh Senusi el-Mejahiri, being compelled to quit Mecca, where he had made some powerful enemies by his mode of life and his rigid principles, sought a temporary refuge in Benghazi. Then he founded at
el-Beida, west of Cyrene, a first zawya, at once a monastery, mosque, school, hospital, military stronghold, and centre of culture. Other fugitives, mostly Algerians, like 12 NORTH-WEST -AFRICA. the " saint," who summoned them to follow the " way of salvation," flocked to his standard and were well received. New monasteries were established in other parts of the country, and their inmates soon exchanged the character of guests for that of masters. They soon became so jjowerful that already in 1831 the traveller Hamilton had to defend himself against their fanatical followers. At present the most important person in the province of Barka, and even in Benghazi, where the flags of the European consuls are hoisted, is not the mutessarif, appointed by the Sullun, but the wakil, or agent of the Sheikh of the Senusiya, to whom the Govern- ment has even granted the right of exercising justice. In the district over 25,000 cavalrv and infantry are at his disposition, over and above the Khwan, or brethren and their retainers, who reside in the twenty zawyas scattered over Cyrenaica. Everywhere are met slaves and animals branded with the name of Allah, the mark of the brotherhood. Yet the Sheikh himself no longer resides in the country. In 1855 he prudently withdrew beyond the range of European influence to the Faredgha oasis, which, although oflicially belonging to Egypt, lies on a borderland surrounded by solitudes, where neither sultan nor khcdive exercises any authority. Here he first took up his abode in a necropolis excavated in the live rock. But in his capital, Jarabub, he is now master of convents, barracks, arsenals, depots and other extensive struc- tures, which are mirrored in the brackish waters of Lake Faredgha. Here is the centre of the religious empire, which stretches on the one hand as far as Senegal, on the other to Mesopotamia, comprising not less than 1,500,000 subjects, all "in the hands of their Sheikh, as the body is in the hands of those who lay out the dead." The son of the founder, who succeeded him in 1859, has become the undisputed head of the sect, blindly obeyed by all the Khwans of the Moslem world, who see in him the Mahdi, the "guide," or rather the " well guided," destined to restore the ])ower of Islam. Doubtless the Senusiya aspire outwardly to no special political aim ; their ideal is to confederate all the orthodox religious orders in a single theocratic body, independent of all secular auth(}rity. They discountenance violence, and recommend to their oppressed brethren, not revolt, but voluntary banishment from the districts subject to Christian sway, and withdrawal to the independent zawyas. But while ostensibly condemning political agitation, the Senusiya none the less aim at absolute independence, and their compact organisation has rendered them far more formidable enemies than many restless tribes always ready to revolt. The Mussulman solidarity has brought them more conquests than they could have hoped to achieve by arms. Thus they have already secured Wadai by ransoming a gang of slaves en route for Egypt, and sending them back to their homes as missionaries of the holy cause. At present the Sultan of Wadai is a mere lieutenant of the Mahdi of Jarabub, and all his subjects are affiliated to the order. But it is probable th it evil days are in store for these zealous Panislamists, and that their troubles will begin as soon as European influences make themselves directly felt by the open or disguised occupation of the land of Barka. The official sway of the Turk and secret authority of the Senusiya run the risk of a^ joint TOPOGBAPHY OF BAEKA. 18 collapse. During recent years the faithful adherents of the order, and especially the citizens of Benghazi, are said to have relaxed considerably in the rigour of their religious professions. It is no rare sight to behold members of the confrater- nity openly violating the observances of the law by smoking tobacco and wearing silken garments embroidered in gold and silver. Topography of Barka. The attention of the European Powers is directed especially to the local seaports, which could be defended by no native force, and the possession of which would enable them to command all the routes leading to the interior. In the eastern dis- trict of Marmarica the port of Marsa Tobruk, known also as Tabarha, seems to present the greatest advantage as a convenient naval station and arsenal. At this point a peninsular mass running parallel with the coast in the general direction from north- west to south-east, terminates at its eastern extremity in two sharp headlands, and at the other end is connected with the mainland by a low isthmus. An inlet some two miles long is limited northwards by this peninsula, and southwards by the cliffs and escarpments of a plateau furrowed by ravines, in which are occasionally seen the foaming waters of cascades some 500 feet high. Vessels drawing over 33 feet can ride in perfect security in this spacious natural haven, sheltered from all winds except those from the east and south-east. A breakwater constructed at the entrance of the bay might arrest the swell from the east, and thus convert the port of Tobruk into one of the best and at the same time one of the largest harbours of refuge in the Mediterranean basin. The ruins either of Antipi/vyos or some other Greek city at the neck of the peninsula, and those of a Saracenic castle on the north side of the jwrt, show that this convenient harbour was never lost sight of, although the surrounding regions are almost desert wastes. In former times Tobruk was probably the station where pilgrims landed en routfi for the shrine of Jupiter Ammon in the Siwah oasis. It was also a port of call for vessels plying between Rome and Alexandria. At present it serves as the outport for cattle supplied by the neighbouring pastoral tribes to the markets of Alexandria, and especially of Jarabilb and the other zawyas of the Senusi Khwans. Round the bay of Tobruk Schweinfurth has detected signs of local upheaval. At a height of 160 feet and a distance of nearly half a mile from the beach, he noticed the shells of the surrounding waters still preserving their natural colour. At some points farther west, near Cyrene and Benghazi, Hamilton thought he observed traces of the opposite phenomenon of subsidence. The Gulf of Bomba, more frequented than the Bay of Tobruk by the small local coasters, enjoys the advantage of being situated immediately east of Cyrenaica proper, in the vicinity of a fertile and relatively well-peopled district. But it is much more exposed than Tobruk, and less accessible to large vessels, which are obliged to cast anchor a long way from the coast ; small craft, however, find safe anchorage behind the islets at the entrance of the bay. The so-called "port of Menelaus" lies to the north of the roadstead. But it comprises merely a small group of huts, and all the old Hellenic towns of the district have disappeared, almost without leaving a vestige by which to determine their sites. The establishment of a European colony, often proposed in the Italian press, would be greatly imperilled by the malaria prevalent on the coast, where the Wady Temim loses its waters in stagnant pools. In this district the marine in
Scale 1 : 85,000
shore current, which sets from west to east, when not obstructed by the winds, has a mean velocity of nearly two miles an hour.
To reach Derna, the ancient Darnis, the first town on the east coast of Barka, the traveller must skirt the north foot of the red escarpments of the Ras-et-Tin, and follow the north-west coast for a distance of 30 miles. This place, which was re-occupied in the sixteenth century by Andalusian Moors, comprises a group of five villages, or distinct quarters, divided into two sections by the bed of a torrent. Every house is here surrounded by a trellised vine, or overshadowed by a, CYRENE 16 palm, beneath which the family gathers after the day's work. Of all the gardens of Cyrenaica those of Dema best deserve the old name of the " Ilesperideei." Watered by two streams flowing from the neighbouring hills and ramifying in a thousand channels, the dense foliage of their verdant groves presents a striking contrast to the grey and bare rocks of the ravine. They yield figs, grapes, dates, oranges, citrons, and choice bananas, which with the wool, com, wax, and honey brought from the interior, the sponges fished up in the neighbouring shallows, and some woven goods of local manufacture, contribute to maintain a small export trade. The olive groves, which date from Roman times, no longer yield any products, and should be replaced by fresh plantations. The merchants of Dema keep up some relations with Benghazi, Malta, Canea, Alexandria, employing vessels of small tonnage, which cast anchor at some distance from the town iu a roadstead exposed to all winds except those from the west and south. During the rough weather in winter, they seek shelter in the Gulf of Bomba. In 1815, when the United States sent an expedition against the corsairs of Tripoli, a detachment of marines seized Derna, and erected a battery to the west of the town, the remains of which are still visible. The Americans also began to construct a harbour at the mouth of the ravine ; but their stay was too short to complete these works, and since then no further improvements have been attempted. The place has even fallen into decay, and in 1821 the plague is said to have reduced the population from 7,000 to 500. A large portion of Derna was at that time abandoned, and since the beginning of the century it has lost fully one-third of its inhabitants. "West of Derna the first harbour occuriing along the coast still preserves, under a slightly modified form, the name of " Port Saviour," given to it by some Greek authors. This is the Murm Sma, or Apollonia, of the Ptolemies. Thanks to its small harbour well sheltered behind a chain of islets and reefs, Susa at one time enjoyed considerable importance, as is attested by the remains of monuments still visible within the circuit of the old walls, and beyond them on a narrow chain of rocks running eastward. But the port has mostly disappeared, probably through the effects of a local subsidence, by which the coastline has been considerably modi- fied. Some old tombs and quarries are now found below the level of the Mediter- ranean, like the so-called " baths of Cleopatra " at Alexandria. Cyrene. Apollonia, however, never enjoyed an independent existence, having been merely the marine quarter of the far more famous Cyrene, which stood about 10 miles to the south-west, on the verge of the plateau, whence a view was commanded of the plains stretching away to the coast. It is easy to understand why the Dorians of Thera, who founded Cyrene " of the Golden Throne " over twenty-five centuries ago, abandoned their first settlements on the coast and selected this more elevated inland position, although they had at that time nothing to fear from the incursions of pirates. From this commanding point they were better able to overoverawe the populations of the uplands on whom they depended for their supplies; here also they found a fertile soil, abundance of timber, and especially a copious fountain, whence the city itself took its name, and which, like the marine station, was consecrated to Apollo.
In the eyes of the natives the chief glory of the ruined city is still this perennial source welling up at the foot of the cliffs. Hence Krennah, the little-used Arabic form of Cyrene, has been replaced by the expression Ain-esh-Shehad, the "eternal spring," which has also been applied to the surrounding district. Nevertheless the quantity of water has diminished not only since ancient times, but even since the beginning of the century, as is sufficiently evident from the marks left
Beale 1: 25,000.
on the rock above the present level of the stream. The cliff whence it flows to the surrounding thickets had been carved into the shape of a wall, on the white surface of which are still visible the traces of the roof of a temple, which sheltered the stream at its outlet in the mountain. The gallery whence it escapes has been artificially excavated for a distance of about 440 yards; but Europeans were long prevented from entering it by the natives, who pretended that it led to a wheel set with knives continually revolving, and guarding the approach to a treasure. Besides the great fountain associated with the myth of Cyré, daughter of the king of the Lapithæ, Cyrene possessed other springs, such as that by the Arabs now called Bu-Gadir, or "Father of Verdure," which flows through a wooded dale to the north west. On the plateau the colonists also excavated a cistern, one of the
largest and best constructed that have curvived from ancient times. On a still 18 NORTH-WEST AFRICA.
more elevated terrace south-east of the ruins stands another cistern, that of Safsaf,
which has the form of a canal about 300 yards long. Throughout its entire length
it is faced with enormous slabs measuring nearly 20 feet.
Cyrene, whose name has been applied to the whole region, preserves a few
remains of the monuments erected during its flourishing period, when it held the
Libyans in check, presented a bold front to Egypt, and diffused Greek culture far
and wide throughout the African Continent. Aristotle wrote a history of Cyrene,
which has since been lost, and amongst its famous citizens were such men as the
philosopher Aristippus, the poet Callimachus, and the astronomer Eratosthenes,
Since the time of l^acho, the first European traveller who visited the place in the
present century, the ruins have become less distinct, and many sculptures have been
carried off. But the sites may still be recognised of temples, theatres, the stadium,
colonnades, and the walls enclosing a portion of the plateau, with a circumference of
about 6 miles. Towards the plain the ground occupied by these remains terminates
in escarpments, separated by abrupt and deep ravines. In many places the rock
had been levelled and the intermediate fissures filled in to secure more convenient
foundations for the public buildings. The plateau is traversed by routes still
furrowed by the ruts of chariots.
But what most surprises the traveller is the vast city of the dead, which encircles
that of the living on the west, east, and south, for a distance of several miles.
Cyrene would appear to have been, above all, a vast necropolis, in this respect
rivalling all other Hellenic towns. The neighbourhood and subsequent sway of
the Egyptians had evidently influenced the Greek settlers, who instead of burning
the dead, buried them in caves and tombs. In certain ravines the yawning mouths
of these sepulchral caverns are seen in thousands, and here and there the traces may
still be distinguished of their polychrome decorations.
Most of the tombs rest on crypts cut in the limestone cliff, which being of a
porous nature, was easily worked, and thus converted into a vast underground city.
A monastery of the Senusiya brotherhood has even been established in one of the
great mausoleums of Krennah. At the foot o£ the spurs projecting from Cyrene
on the route to Apollonia, large storehouses had also been excavated in the rock,
which may have afterwards served as tombs. Of the old route itself nothing but
a few traces has survived. Smith and Porcher had it partly restored, or rather
had a new road built for the purpose of transporting the fine sculptures collected
by them for the British Museum. But this work met with little favour from the
natives, who reflected that a good highway gives ready access to troops and to the
tax-collector.
Some 60 miles to the south-west a depression in the plateau about 18 miles long
and from 6 to 7 broad, is known to the Arabs by the name of Merj. Here nothing
is visible except a solitary palm-tree, serving as a familiar landmark to the way-
farer. But on the old lacustrine bed stands the site of the ancient city of Barke,
which was first the Hellenic rival of Cyrene, and afterwards the first in rank of the
" five cities " whence the country received its name of Pentapolis. It marks the
extreme western point of the continent reached by the Persians under Darius, fourBENGHAZI. 19
and-twenty centuries ago. The Greek Bark^ became the Barka of the Arabs, and,
like Cyrene, gave its name to the whole region from the Egyptian frontier to the
Greater Syrtis. Although, unlike its rival, possessing no im]x>sing ruins of the
Hellenic period, it enjoyed great importance during mediuoval times, as the chief
military station for the Arab expeditions between Alexandria and Tunis. At that
time it was the centre of a large trade in provisions and supplies of all sorts. But
of those prosperous days Barka has preserved nothing but the ruins of a castle, and
some extensive cisterns, which were needed to husband the water, the place being
destitute of the perennial springs found at Cyrene.
Under the Ptolemies Barka was eclipsed by its marine neighbour, PtolemaU, a
name still surviving in the slightly modified form of Tolniitah. The town itself
has disappeared, but traces remain of several edifices, and of its enclosures, which
had a circumference of over 4 miles. Other ruins are occupied by the Agail tribe,
a Marabut community, which through professional jealousy long resisted the SenCl-
siya propaganda, but was at last compelled to yield. Although nearly choked with
sand, the port still affords good shelter to small craft. As far as Benghazi, over
60 miles to the south-west, no other inlet along the coast offers equal facilities for
landing.
The ancient Teukhera, another seaport, which with Cyrene, ApoUonia, Barke,
and Hesperides formed one of the five cities of Pentapolis, has preserved its name
under the Arabic form of Tokra. But the ofiicial titles of Arsinoe, and C/eopatris,
by which it was known under the Ptolemies, have long been forgotten. Here are
neither temple nor port, and little beyond a few huts and some tombs in which the
Arabs reside during the summer ; but the walls are amongst the best-preserved
ramparts bequeathed to us by antiquity. Although rebuilt by Justinian, they
stand on far older foundations, several fragments dating from the Macedonian epoch.
These magnificent enclosures are flanked by twenty-four square towers.
Benghazi.
Benghazi is the modem representative of Euhesperides, Hesperidcs, or Ilespen'a,
80 named probably because it was situated to the west of the region of Cyrenaica.
Later it took the name of Berenice, in honour of the Cyrenian princess married to
Ptolemy Evergetes ; while its present designation comes from a " saint," whose
tomb stands on the sea-coast a little to the north.
Benghazi, capital of the province of Barka and of all eastern Tripolitana,
occupies the whole site of the ancient Hesperides, except a portion of the headland
crowned by the castle, which was washed away by the waves, the debris contribut-
ing to fill up the old port. The town lies at the southern extremity of the rocky
promontory enclosed south and west by the sea. Eastwards stretches a salt lake
which, even during the historic period, still formed part of the Mediterranean, and
which, in stormy weather, is even now occasionally encroached upon by the waves.
In summer it presents nothing but a muddy bed covered with saline efflorescences.
The isthmus between lake and sea is commanded by an eminence supposed to be the island mentioned by the ancient writers as standing in the middle of the harbour and crowned by a temple of Venus, now replaced by the tomb of a Marabut. Other lakes or morasses stretch north and south, separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of coastline. Yet Benghazi is less insalubrious than most other
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places on this seaboard, thanks to the winds which carry off the miasma rising from the surrounding lagoons. But the houses swarm with insects, and Benghazi is proverbially known as the "kingdom of flies."
Being in constant relations with the oases of the interior, whence, till recently, BENGHAZI. 21 u continuous stream of slaves flowed to this point, the capital of Barka has a very mixed population, in which the Negroes are strongly represented amid the descen- dants of Berbers and Arabs. The Jews, remarkable for their beauty, also fonn a large section of the inhabitants of Benghazi. ISettled in the country from a time anterior to their own traditions, they descend, probably, from those Hebrews who, under the Ptolemies, emigrated to Berenice with their national constitution and rulers, and who afterwards became powerful enough to revolt and massacre the Greeks. Immigrants from Mauritania are also numerously represented in Ben- ghazi, since the moral conquest of the land has been achieved by the religious order of the Seniisiya, who govern indirectly through the tribal chiefs and Turkish officials. Lastly, the European colony, chiefly formed of Maltese, Italians and Greeks, is yeiH-ly increasing in importance, already numbering about 1,000 in a total population of 15,000. Benghazi is no longer the agglomeration of mud and straw huts described by the few European travellers who visited the place about the beginning of the century. It now boasts of solid two-storied stone houses, a lighthouse, some religious edifices, such as mosques, churches, and synagogues. But of the past not a single trace remains, beyond a few blocks here and there indicating the position of quays and piers. But from the ground have been recovered valuable sculptures, vases, inscriptions, medals, a large share of which was secured for the Louvre by the explorer Vaitier de Bourville. Recently a few improvements have been made in the port, which, however, during the last two thousand years has become less extensive, more exposed, and shallower. Vessels drawing over 7 feet can no longer enter the har- bour, and in winter the Benghazi waters are almost entirely abandoned by shipping. But in spite of these disadvantages the town has made great commercial pro- gress, especially with France. It imports cottons, sugar, wine, timber ; but its former export trade in ivory, gold-dust, and ostrich feathers has been mostly replaced by live stock and cereals to Malta, wool, butter, hides, salt from the sur- rounding lagoons, and sponges from the shallows along the neighbouring seaboard. The sponges are now seldom gathered by divers, the Greek and Italian fishers now usually emploj'ing diving-bells in this industry. The Benghazi district is generally very fertile, especially along the north coast, which curves round towards Tokra. But it is still so thinly inhabited that the land is at the disposition of the first comer. A palm-grove, the only one occurring on the coast of Cyrenaica west of Derna, occupies a portion of the peninsula north of the town, and the lakes are skirted by a few gardens, which require special cultiva- tion in order to obtain good crops of fruit and vegetables. The surface soil is first removed and matting laid down, after which the mould is replaced, mixed with manure. The matting is supposed to prevent the saline particles from rising to the vegetable humus, while also serving to retain the fertilising substances. Farther east some old quarries and natural cavities have been reclaiincHl and cultivated by the peasantry. These plots resemble the " gardens of the Ilesper- ides " spoken of by Scylax, and those that still exist in the neighbourhood of Syra- cuse. Some of the chasms are flooded, either temporarily t^ter the rains, or 22 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. permanently from perennial springs. About five miles east of the town an under- ground rivulet flows through a deep gallery, which may be reached by a large drain and followed for some distance. This mysterious stream is the famous Lathon or Lethe, the "river of oblivion," seen for a moment and then disappearing for ever. Nevertheless a rivulet flows from these hidden waters through a fissure in the rock to the shallow lake stretching east of Benghazi. This swampy lagoon is itself famous in legendary lore. According to Pindar, Strabo, Lucan, and the unknown authors of " Peutinger's Table," it is a lake Triton or Tritonis, like that situated west of the Syrtes. Beyond Benghazi the coast continues to trend first towards the south-west, then south and south-east, before describing the long semicircular curve which forms the gulf of the Great Syrtis. Along the shores of this vast southern basin of the Mediterranean no towns or habitations are met, beyond a few groups of hovels and Bedouin encampments. Not even the ruins have survived of A/abia, which, in medieval times, was a populous and flourishing place as an outport for the products of the oases. The coast, especially in the neighbourhood of Benghazi, is defended by a considerable number of little forts, some mere towers of Arab construction, others old bastions built of Cyclopean blocks. These form square enclosures rounded off at the angles, and filled inside with earth, so that the wall forms a sort of breastwork for the defenders. Beyond it is a deep moat, with bold counterscarp, cut in the live rock, all evidently defensive works erected by civilised peoples in pre-Mussulman times. A few cultivated tracts, which become continually rarer the farther we advance from the capital of Barka, alternate with the grassy steppes and saline pools skirted by swampy margins. Low hills scored with ravines, the haunts of jackals and hyenas, project in headlands seawards. Here and there the coast is fringed with reefs, while elsewhere sandy dunes line the open beach. Not a single palm raises its leafy stom above these dreary, surf-beaten wastes, which are the terror of the mariner. Here the only haven is the little port of Braiga, formed by a chain of reefs, and visited by a few vessels engaged in the sulphur trade. This mineral is collected some distance inland, south of the extreme southern bend of the gulf, which is sometimes known as " Sulphur Bay." In the same neighbourhood is a saline lake, whose level has been reduced by evaporation below that of the Mediterranean. At Mttkhtar, the point where the road from the mines reaches the coast, a few heaps of stones serve to mark the frontier between the Benghazi district and Trii)olitana, properly so called. Near here, according to the commentators, if the story is not altogether fabulous, took place the famous meeting between the young Cyrenian and Carthaginian runners, who, starting from their respective territories at the same time, were to fix the frontier at the place of meeting. But the two brothers Philooni, who represented the interests of Carthage, fraudulently gained an unfair advantage in the race, and having- to choose between death on the spot and a fresh contest, preferred to be buried alive under the monument erected to mark the common limit between the two states. Henceforth ihe shrine of the Philocni became a hallowed spot for the Carthaginians. *