TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 
53 
sufficient to be somewhat imposing ; but they are for the most part 
so deeply buried under the sand which ten centuries of neglect have 
allowed to accumulate about them, that plans of them could not be 
obtained without very extensive excavations. The style of the 
buildings is universally Koman ; and they are more remarkable for 
the regularity and solidity of their construction, than for any great 
appearance of good taste employed in their embellishment. 
A great part of the city has been constructed with brick ; and the 
material which has been used in the instances here alluded to 
maintains remarkably well the high character which Homan brick 
has so deservedly acquired. The remains of the stadium are perhaps 
the most interesting, in speaking of the buildings which have been 
constructed with stone ; they have been partially excavated by Cap- 
tain Smyth, (to whose account we refer the reader) together with 
some other buildings ; but the task of clearing them entirely would 
be too Herculean for limited means, and the same may be observed 
with respect to other parts of Leptis Magna in general. 
For our own part, however much we might have been inclined to 
remain some time at Lebida, the necessity of our immediate advance 
precluded the possibihty of doing so ; for the approach of the rainy 
season made it absolutely necessary that we should cross the low 
grounds of the Syrtis without delay : and it must be remembered 
that the coast-hne of the Syrtis and Cyrenaica was the principal 
object of the Expedition. 
Leptis Magna was built at an early period by the Phoenicians, and 
was ranked, after Carthage and Utica, as the first of their maritime 
