



Yol. 67.] THE GEOLOGY OF CYRENAICA. 577 



conclusion of Zittel as to the age of the 'Plateau Marmarico- 

 Cyrenai'que' had been confirmed. 



With such an array of authority in favour of the Miocene age of 

 the rocks, it is not surprising that the ' Carte Geologique Inter- 

 nationale de l'Europe ' (Sheet D vii), issued in 1905, colours the 

 whole of Cyrenaica as Miocene, except for a band of recent forma- 

 tions along the coast and in some of the wadis, and a strip of 

 ' Quaternary ' running inland from Benghazi to the Wadi el Bal, 

 as also an area of the same age beside the Gulf of Bomba. 



The scantiness of available information as to the geology of 

 Cyrenaica is due to the country having been closed to travellers, 

 especially during recent years, by the Turkish authorities. Most 

 of those who have visited Cyrenaica have been archaeologists, 

 whose attention has been engaged by its numerous antiquities, 

 or Italian explorers interested in its commercial resources and its 

 suitability for Italian colonization. 



In 1908 I had the opportunity of visiting Cyrenaica as leader of an 

 expedition sent to investigate whether the country would be suitable 

 as a colony for Jewish refugees. 1 In spite of the support and the 

 firman of the late Redjeb Pasha, then the enlightened Governor of 

 Tripoli, the conditions were not always favourable to geological 

 survey. Moreover, as we landed at Derna on July 24th, 1908, and 

 arrived at Benghazi on August 14th, after a march, including excur- 

 sions off our maiu route, of about 300 miles, the geological study 

 of the country was only in the nature of a rapid reconnaissance. 

 I should have liked to go eastwards in the direction of the Egyptian 

 frontier, to trace the connexion between the rocks of Cyrenaica 

 and the Miocene limestones of Western Egypt and Marmarica ; 

 but I had pledged my word to Redjeb Pasha that we would not 

 go farther east than could be managed in one day's journey from 

 Derna. 



After engaging a camel-caravan at Derna, and having been supplied 

 with an escort by the officer in command of the Turkish garrison, 

 we marched overland across the plateau of Cyrenaica to Benghazi 

 on the Great Syrtis ; we supplemented this traverse by excursions 

 northwards to the coast and southwards to the open plains, as far as 

 was allowed by time, water-supply, and the Turkish permission. 



I have to express my great indebtedness for the opportunity of 

 the journey across Cyrenaica to Mr. Israel Zangwill, who arranged 

 the expedition and secured the consent of the Turkish authorities ; 

 also to my companions Mr. M. B. Duff, Dr. M. D. Eder, Dr. J. 

 Trotter, and Prof. M. jS". Slousch, for the pleasure of their company 



1 J. W. Gregory, 'Keport on the Work of the Commission sent out by the 

 Jewish Territorial Organization under the Auspices of the Governor-General 

 of Tripoli to Examine the Territory proposed for the Purpose of a Jewish 

 Settlement in Cyrenaica.' The report iucludes an Introduction by Israel 

 Zangwill; an Agricultural Keport by J. Trotter; a Report on the Water- 

 Supply and Engineering by E. E. Middleton, W. Hunter, & M. B. Duff ; 

 a Medical Report by M. D. Eder ; and an Appendix by Prof. N. Slousch, 

 52 pp., 3 maps, 14 pis. London, 1909. 



