98 Mr. W. T. H. ChatnbeiVs Month in Tripoli. 



that the following short account of a month's sojourn in that 

 country may not be unacceptable, especially as I devoted 

 twenty-four days to a journey in the interior, chiefly with the 

 intention of obtaining specimens, and at the same time of re- 

 cording whatever birds I was able to recognize en route. My 

 sanguine expectations of meeting with rarities, however, were 

 not destined to be fully realized, as will be seen from the names 

 of the birds mentioned in these remarks as having been 

 actually obtained or identified with certainty by me. Many of 

 the readers of * The Ibis ' are well aware that in camp-life one 

 has little time for the preparation of specimens ; and I avoided, 

 in consequence, uselessly destroying birds with which I had 

 been familiar in other parts of the East. 



I took advantage of the English steamer connected with the 

 telegraph, and leaving Malta on the 10th of March, 1866, ar- 

 rived in Tripoli harbour the evening of the following day, but 

 too late to disembark. I was informed, however, that, as 

 travellers seldom find their way to Tripoli, facilities for a journey 

 into the interior were simply nil, and the prospect of carrying 

 out my intention seemed extremely small. The next morning 

 I received a kind welcome from my friend Mr. F. E. Drummond- 

 Hay, Her Majesty's Consul-General, who solved my difficulties 

 for me at once, by introducing me to Mr. F. Warrington, a 

 gentleman long resident in Tripoli, and thoroughly acquainted 

 with the country; and to the united kindness of these two 

 friends 1 am indebted for one of the pleasantest trips I ever 

 made. Mr. Warrington most obligingly agreed to accompany 

 me ; but, owing to the necessity of sending into the country for 

 camels, the preparation for the journey occupied two days and a 

 half, which time I employed in exploring the environs of the 

 town. 



Tripoli is built, facing the east, on a tongue of land which, 

 extending northward, terminates in a reef of rocks curving to the 

 east, and forming an effectual breakwater against the north-west 

 gales so prevalent in the Mediterranean. The town itself ap- 

 pears cleaner and more prosperous than many others under 

 Turkish sway, and, with the considerable exception of a number 

 of Maltese, contains very few European residents. 



