TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. ^ 749 



The following Papers were read : — 



1. On a Journey in Tarhuna and Gharian in Tripoli. 

 By H. SwAiNSON CowPER, F.S.A. 



This short excursion was made with the express purpose of investigating a series 

 of megalithic ruins, which were known to exist, But of which nothing has been 

 hitherto known, except brief notices on one or two sites mentioned in the writings 

 of the travellers Earth and Von Bary. The author travelled first south-west, and 

 entered the Tarhuna district by the Wadl Doga, which appears never to have been 

 entered previously by an English traveller. The Wadi Doga is a fine valley about 

 800 feet above sea-level, surrounded by hills about 800 feet higher, and contains 

 numerous ancient sites of megalithic temples, some in a fair state of preservation. 

 Thence the author passed by Kasr Doga, a magnificent Roman monument described 

 by Barth, on to the Tarhuna plateau, a grassy and partly cultivated plain, twenty- 

 five miles from east to west and of unascertained width. Here the remains were 

 even more numerous than in Wadi Doga, there being hardly a hillock on the sum- 

 mit of which the remains of one of these megalithic temples could not be found. 

 Mr. Cowper camped on this plain with the family of his guide, and was throughout 

 treated with hospitality by the Tarhuni Arabs. These people are pastoral Arabs 

 of pure race, rigid Mussulmans, but apparently not fanatically inclined towards 

 Christians. They live in rows of tents during the winter, and in wattle huts 

 among their crops during summer. Some of them inhabit underground chambers 

 dug in the soil below the level of the ground. 



Leaving the Tarhuna plateau, the author rode north-east, and crossing the 

 Wadi Daun (which with two smaller Wadis which join it are full of Roman ruins 

 and crossed at frequent intervals by Roman dams) he reached the foot of Jebel 

 Msid, lying at the east end of a wide and beautiful valley called Kseia. Having 

 examined the ancient sites here, he retraced his steps to the Tarhuna plateau, which 

 he crossed to the south-west, and entered a country of more mountainous character. 

 These hills are partly in Tarhuna and partly in Gharian, and his route was crossed 

 at frequent intervals by important watercourses running north towards the coast. 

 The country, like the Tarhuna plateau, is nearly treeless, and in March very 

 poorly supplied with water. A few crumbling ruins, probably of Roman date, cap 

 the hills, but the megalithic sites are comparatively rare. Plouses in Gharian are, 

 as in Tarhuna, unknown, except at the Kasr, where there are Turkish troops. 



Throughout the district game of any sort is most rare, nothing being seen 

 except quails, partridges, a few hares, and a wild cat. After crossing the Wadis 

 Bir el War and Gethathet Dum, the author arrived at Wadi el Ghan, a southern 

 prolongation of the important Wadi Haera, which leads straight to Tripoli. The 

 scenery down this Wadi is very fine, as it runs between grand clitfs of limestone 

 and sandstone, and at one place there is a fine hill of ferruginous clay. 



Emerging from the mountains, the author passed a curious isolated group ot 

 hills lying on the plain like islands, and from this point a two days' journey across 

 the plain brought him to Tripoli. 



2. On Rockall. By Miller Christy. 



3. On Western Siberia and the Siberian Railway. By Dr. A. Mahkofp. 



