Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/149

 TUE SYRTES. 121 for its grcut length. Another inHulur castle protects the Camel Roiul, According to the statement of un ancient traveller, the eastern channel of the strait wa-s navigable during the Carthaginian period. Viewed from a distance, Jerba Island seems to continue the mainland into the sea in the shape of a long flat point covered with palms and skirted with strong castles, formerly raised against the Spaniards or the Knights of Malta. The highest elevations of the land, towards the centre of the island, are but a few feet above sea-level. No rivulets wind through the plains of Jerba, and the natives have no other water than that of their wells. Nevertheless the whole island is densely wooded, and the olive here attains a size unknown even in the Suhel. The Syrtes. The Gulf of Cabes, which extends in a semicircular shape between the Ker- kenuah group and the island of the Lotophagi, was a% much dreaded by the ancients as the Greater Syrtis itself. As long as the Carthaginians monopolised the trade carried on along the shores of the Lesser Syrtis, they were careful to describe the navigation of these coasts as highly dangerous, so as to scare away sailors of other nations ; and those foreigners who were the first to venture into these unknown regions might well have supposed at first that the jealous Carthaginians had not deceived them, when they were surprised by the treacherous tides which distinguish the Lesser Syrtis from all the other s^eas of the Mediterranean basin. The first Roman fleet which penetrated into this gulf, more than one hundred and twenty centuries ago, ran aground in the shallows at low water, and when floated by the incoming tide, the sailors had already lightened the vessels by heaving the provisions and merchandise overboard, and being thus deprived of their supplies, they were compelled at once to return to Sicily. Opposite the mouth of the AVed Cabes, at the extreme end of the Syrtis Minor, the water alternately rises and falls over feet, while on the shores of Jerba Island the average swell of the tide is not less than 10 feet. In the port of Sfakes, at the other extremity of the gulf, the average rise of the tide is nearly 5 feet, but at the period of the equinoxes the difference between ebb and flow is a little over 8 feet. The phenomenon of such considerable tides at this sjX)t is accounted for by the funnel-like shape of the gulf and by the gradual slept* of its bed. The liquid volume coming from the open sea collects in the Syrtis Minor much more readily than in the almost landlocked seas, such as the Adriatic, or in more open bays, such as the Syrtis Major. But the tides of Cabes being now thoroughly understood, are divested of their terrors, and vessels of small tonnage visit these shores without encountering any of the dangers which were formerly so greatly dreaded. Armed with sounding lines, the coasting vessels which cro.ss the gulf sail cautiously along, the sailors standing by the anchor, ready to let go the moment the lead indicates ' that there is not a sufficiency of water under the keel. And even in case of ship- wreck, there is very little danger to be run, the sea for a distance of 6 miles out being so low that the crew could easily make to shore. The waves on this coast never attain a very great height. On the vast banks of soft mud which surround 40— A»