MERGE TO GYRENE. 
479 
which it presented. Night brought us to El Hilal, a mountain so 
called. The point of El Elihd extends to the north-east and forms 
a bay of about a mile in depth, in which even large ships might find 
shelter with the wind from north to south-east by east. It is in this 
spot that Cellarius has placed a naval station and town, and there are 
certainly remains at the present day about it indicative of an ancient 
site, while the harbour itself would be sufficiently qualified for a 
naval station to correspond with that part of the description. Two 
ancient forts are seen in ruins on the cliff and we noticed an ancient 
tomb which is excavated in the rock, close to the ravine, retaining 
still a very handsome facade. Three miles to the eastward of the 
forts at El Hilal are some others, also in ruins, and the remains of 
strong walls in the neighbourhood of stone-quarries, all of which 
would seem to point out the spot as an ancient station. This place 
has also the peculiarity of being the only part of the coast which can 
be seen from Gyrene, from which it is distant about fourteen miles. 
In Ptolemy’s chart we find a naustathmos (or naval station) placed 
on the western side of this promontory ; but we saw nothing that 
would answer to the position in that direction. Kas El Hilal, with 
Bujebara on the south-east, forms an extensive bay ; and another 
with Cape Rasat on the north-west near the centre of which is 
situated (now called Marsa Suza) the Port of Gyrene, Apollonia- 
From El Hilal commence two ranges of mountains extending them- 
selves to the westward, one along the coast, from it to Ptolemeta, 
forming the southern boundary of the plain on which Apollonia is 
built ; the other rising in a range above these, diverging towards 
