Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v3p1.djvu/324

 , is Melfa; where are the remains of an old, dilapidated Marabūt, and occasionally a patch of vegetation, affording a scanty supply to a few miserable looking goats. Arar, between Mesurata and Melfa, is remarkable as possessing a tall and solitary date-tree, the only one to be met with on the coast, in a tract of more than 400 miles.

“Sooleb, (in lat. 31° 45' 40", long. 15° 29' 29") the southern limit of the marsh, according to the dimensions given by Strabo, has the advantage of some tolerable pasturage, and is in consequence occupied by flocks of sheep and goats, which are chiefly tended by negro slaves, who dwell in scattered tents, with the animals confided to their charge. The sight of a little vegetation was by no means unwelcome to us after the dismal prospect afforded by the barren flats we had just passed; and the dreary uncultivated wilds of Sooleb assumed, by comparison, some appearance of interest, which a draught or two of milk, that we were able to procure there, may probably have in some degree contributed to heighten. This refreshment was here more peculiarly welcome, as the water of Sooleb is too bitter, brackish, and stinking, to he drank without the greatest disgust: the purchase of a lamb, also, added meat to our board, which we had not tasted since we left Mesurata.

“After quitting Sooleb, which, we may here observe, occupies the place assigned in modern charts to the Gulf of Suca, we entered again upon marshy ground, and continued our route to Maháda, situated in lat. 31° 31' 57", long. 16° 40' 46". The noxious qualities of the night air in these swampy regions were sometimes severely felt by us; the atmosphere, after sunset, was always very chilly; and there was usually a heavy deposit of dew: a very offensive smell was also experienced in many parts of the marsh.

“Mahad Hassan, in lat. 31° 16' 63", long. 16° 6' 40", is the first place after the long tract of marshy land, which has any appearance of an ancient site. Its remains consist of a number of small quadrangular buildings, similar to the fortresses observable at the different stations all the way from this point to Derna.

“We arrived at Giraff” (224 geographical miles from Tripoli) “on the 11th of December, and pitched the tents upon some sand-hills bordering a plain thickly covered with low brushwood, which extended as far as the eye could reach, and from its green appearance seemed to promise some signs of habitation. Our journey across the marsh had been monotonous and uninteresting in the extreme; no objects had appeared to enliven the scene; and no sounds were heard but the voices of our own camel-drivers, and the tiresome unwearied songs of our Arab escort, which usually consisted of no more than three or four words, repeated eternally without any change of tone, and apparently without the consciousness of the performers themselves. The only sounds which broke in upon the stillness