MERGE TO GYRENE. 
407 
remarkably picturesque; and here and there a ruin of some ancient 
fortress, towering above the wood on the summit of a hill, contri- 
buted to give character to the scene. 
Our attention was occasionally called away (in climbing up, or 
descending the steep and rocky sides of some of the hills over which 
we passed) by the difficulty and danger of the roads ; and our horses 
were continually slipping on the hard glassy surface which they pre- 
sented ; notwithstanding we had used the precaution of taking off 
one of their shoes and the others were frequently dropping off of 
themselves, owing to the wearing away of the nails. As we passed 
some of the woods our guides begged we would keep together lest 
we should be fired at by some ill-disposed persons from among the 
bushes ; but we soon found this caution to be perfectly unnecessary, 
and continued to stray away in all directions without experiencing 
the least molestation. 
On the second night we pitched the tents at MargM where we 
found a supply of water in an ancient cistern belonging to a fort on 
the hill close to it. Here were also several Arab tents, with flocks of 
sheep feeding about them. The Arabs received us very civilly, 
always offering milk and Ibban, although our guides would have made 
us believe that they were greatly averse to our passing through their 
country. On quitting Margad, we pursued our route through 
a country very similar to that of the preceding day ; but along 
other plants were remarkably fragrant. Athenaeus’s words are : ypcpcatrs Ss xou ra ev 
Six ■b'Xol'tov, xai Six ttjv A^mvoris xxi BEgenKy)? amvSriv, syivero Ss xxi sv 
§oJivov x?'^<JTOTfltTov, xaS’ov x§ovov BEgEvtxTi -n txiyxXn. — (Deipnosoph. Lib. xv. c. 12.) 
