Of the Weftern Trovince. ^p 



A ilrong Wall, forty Foot high, fupported with Buttrefles, 

 and winding Itfelf near two Miles through the fe\^eral Creeks 

 of the Sea Shore, hath fecured It from all Encroachments from 

 the Sea. The City, to the Diftance of two Furlongs from This 

 Wall, lyeth upon a Level, and afterwards, rifmg gradually for 

 the Space of a Mile, to a confiderable Elevation, ( as the an- 

 tient Name Tol' may probably import) fpreads Itfelf over a Va- 

 riety of Hills and Valleys, and lofeth the Profpect of the Sea. 

 One of the principal Gates to the Landward, placed about a Fur- 

 long below the Summit of Thefe Hills, leads to the rugged 

 Mountains of the Beni Menaffer\ and, of the other two near 

 the Sea Shore, the Weftern lyeth under the Shade of the high 

 Mountains of the Beni Tifrah, and the Eaftern openeth towards 

 the mountainous Diitri6t of Sbenooah. 



Sherfjell ]ύάη^ thus fliut up in the midft of Mountains andr/.. d^m/^ 

 difficult FaiTes, all Communication with It may be eafily cut^'''^''"^'" 

 off, whenever the neighbouring Tribes, (as it frequently hap- 

 pens even to This Day) are difpofed to be mutinous and trou- 

 blefome. And, from This Circumftance, we may draw one Ar- 

 gument, that Sherfljell is the Julia Ccefarea, by interpreting 

 what Trocopus'- relates of It in our Favour, 'viz. that the Ro- 

 mans could only come at It hy Sea, ^ccefs by Land being ren- 

 dered impra&icable, as all the TaJJes uuere then feized upon 

 by Tfs Neighbours. 



They have a Tradition of the whole City's being deftroyed oefiroyed bj 

 by an Earthquake; and that the Port, formerly very large and?«*'^^^' * 

 commodious, was reduced to the miferable Condition It is in 

 at prefent, from the y4rJenaUv\a other adjacent Buildings which 

 were thrown into It by the Shock. The Cothon \ that had a 

 Communication with the weftern Part of the Port, is the beft 

 Proof of This Tradition. For, when the Sea is calm, and low 

 ( as it frequently happens after ftrong S. or E. Winds,) we then 

 difcover, all over the ^rea, fo many mafly Pillars and Pieces 



_ 1 Ab by vel Syr.'b'y vel *!]; quod celfum fonat. Bocb.ChanA.x.c.^^.. unde i/iberis,7/iturgis,ci- 

 vitates quae altum fitum habent. 2 Er «v iKcuiafHctv] νωμίΜΐ vtwei /* ποαπ sittjiyj mζί! iJ Uvai 5x en 

 Λ^π; Mcwfwfi.i' h TTu.7yi ^Vn^utrw τ? ;>^f<f. Frocop. 1.2. de Bell. Vmi. c .20. in fine, i Seryius in 

 ύ\ηά VirgiVit JEneid.i. 



Hie Partus alii effodtunt 



Portus non naturales fed arte & manu faftos CothotiAS vocarl aiTerit. Idem fcribit & Feflus. 

 VIZ. i CDCap kAtam vel thanic'te more katham incidere, unde CD'Op kathum incifus & C2i*Op 

 kithum vel nO'tap kethima Incifio : ita etiam apud Arabes. vid. Boch. ut fupra cap. 24. & 

 Buxt. in voceik 



Κ X of 



