TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 
131 
In order to compare longitudes with Captain Gautier who com- 
manded the Chevrette, an able and scientific officer, a base was mea- 
sured at this place, and reduced to the spot where the block of marble 
was erected ; both were then reduced to the conspicuous position of 
Gusser el Jebha, and the comparisons were very satisfactory. A 
few miles farther, we perceived a piece of timber placed upright on 
the beach, and on examining it found some writing upon it in 
English, which stated that, on the 24th of October, His Majesty’s 
ship Adventure was lying eighteen miles to the northward of it- 
This we knew must have been left by the barge of the Adventure, 
which had been despatched by Captain Smyth, under the command 
of Mr. Elson, to proceed along the coast as far as it might be prac- 
ticable ; and we were glad to perceive, in these dreary and desolate 
regions, some traces of our English friends. Our party was soon 
collected round this old shattered post, and every one employed in 
searching for more writing, with all the eagerness of an antiquary 
poring over some valuable inscription. Nothing more was, however, 
to be discovered, and we took our leave of it with an interest at which 
we could not help smiling, when we looked at the ragged piece of 
timber which had excited it. On the evening of this day we pitched 
the tents at Jereed, a name bestowed by the Arabs upon some low and 
barren hills of sand-stone, for everything with them has a name : off 
this place lie some dangerous shoals, which broke, although the sea 
was tolerably quiet*. As the wind was blowing on shore, and the 
* Monsieur Lautier has some remarks upon this part of the gulf, which do not appear 
to be very intelligible. — See the account of his voyage in Della Celia, p. 216. These 
observations are alluded to in the hydrographic remarks attached to the journal. 
