Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v3p1.djvu/328

 in which the gulf has in modern charts been made to terminate, we saw a wide extent of coast, sweeping due east and west, with as little variation as possible; and in the place of the numerous ports and sinuosities which appeared in the maps before us, we saw a shore but very slightly indented, which offered no possible security to vessels of any description.

“The chart ascribed to Ptolemy is the only one we are acquainted with which approaches to something like the actual form of the coast; and every step which modern geographers have receded from this outline has been a step farther from the truth.

“From Sachrīn we proceeded on to Braiga, where we were led to expect, from the report of our Arab guides, that we should find a harbour full as good as that of Tripoli. It has been a strongly-fortified post, as appears from the remains of several well-constructed and spacious castles which have been erected there. The best landing for boats was found to be under a high point to the westward; and on the beach at this angle were several heaps of sulphur, collected in equal-sized masses for embarkation, which had been brought on camels from the mines to the southward, and were said to belong to the Pasha of Egypt. If there should prove to be sufficient water in the harbour of Braiga, it is probable that good anchorage would be found there, with all winds, behind reefs of breakers extending across the mouth of it: it may be easily distinguished by the very high sand-hills at the back of it, and by a ruin on the rocky point at its western extremity. Among these sand-hills are some wells, in which the water, though several hundred feet above the level of the sea, is perfectly brackish. Beyond them, to the southward, is a hilly country covered with verdure, in which a number of camels were feeding, and numerous flocks of sheep and goats. If it be necessary to give Braiga an ancient name, we should consider it as the site of the Automata of Strabo.

“We next halted near a bold rocky promontory, called by the Arabs Tabilba, on which are the remains of a castle * * *. On the beach are the remains of a wall, remarkably well constructed, or it never could so long have resisted the violence of the surf which beats against it. It appears to have formed part of a landing place or quay. We have no hesitation in supposing Tabilba to be the site of the Maritimae Stationes of Ptolemy. Its position corresponds so well with that assigned to the naval stations in question, and its remains are so well calculated to induce the belief that they have originally been appropriated to the defence and accommodation of a considerable number of men, that we cannot be sceptical on the occasion. On either side of the promontory on which the castle has been built is a small sandy bay, neither of which at present affords any shelter for vessels, but from which the galleys of the ancients might have been easily drawn up on the beach, when it might not have been practicable for them to keep the sea. Mersa Braiga is in fact the only port in the gulf which can at all be considered as such, in our 