Chap. LXXXY. 
'ai'n za'ra. 
451 
In the evening of the fourth day after leaving 
Beni-Ulid, I reached the little oasis of 'Am Zdra, the 
same place where I had stayed several days preparatory 
to my setting out on my long African wanderings, and 
was here most kindly received by Mr. Reade, who had 
come out of the town with his tent, and provided 
with sundry articles of European comfort, to receive 
me again at the threshold of civilization. 
Having spent a cheerful evening in his company, I 
set out the following morning on my last march on 
the African soil, in order to enter the town of Tripoli, 
and although the impression made upon my mind 
by the rich vegetation of the gardens which sur- 
round the town, after the long journey through the 
desert waste, was very great, yet infinitely greater 
was the effect produced upon me by the wide ex- 
panse of the sea, which, in the bright sunshine of 
this intermediate zone, spread out with a tint of 
the darkest blue. I felt so grateful to Providence 
for having again reached in safety the border of this 
Mediterranean basin, the cradle of European civiliza- 
tion, which from an early period had formed the object 
of my earnest longings and most serious course of 
studies, that I would fain have alighted from my horse 
on the sea beach, to offer up a prayer of thanksgiving 
to the Almighty, who, with the most conspicuous 
mercy, had led me through the many dangers which 
surrounded my path, both from fanatical men and 
an unhealthy climate. 
G Q 2 
