MERGE TO GYRENE. 
501 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
Observations on the Position of Ras Sem — Remarks of Bruce connected with this place — Diffi- 
culty of reconciling the several positions assigned to it — Extravagant Stories related of its 
Petrifactions, supposed to be those of Human Beings — Fallacy of these Statements as 
recorded by Shaw — Report of Petrified Remains at Ghirza made to Captain Smyth by Mukni 
(Bey, or Sultan, of Fezzan) during the progress of his Excavations at Lebda — Journey of 
Captain Smyth in search of the objects described to him — Description of the actual Remains 
at Ghirza — Monumental Obelisk discovered there, and Tombs, combining a mixture of the 
Egyptian and Grecian styles of Architecture — Indifferent Taste and Execution of these 
Remains— Veneration in which they are held by Mahometans of all classes, who suppose them 
to be Petrified Human Beings of their own persuasion — Geographic Position of Ghirza 
determined by Captain Smyth— Further Observations on the Remains at Apollonia — Return 
of our party to Cyrene — Account of that City continued. 
In concluding our account of that part of the coast which lies between 
the promontory called Ras Sem and Derna, we may observe that the 
name of the first-mentioned place, however it may have originated, 
is not at the present day known to the Arabs, at least not to any of 
whom we inquired for it. Rruce and Hr. Shaw have described it as 
situated in the interior ; the former at five long days, the latter at 
six days’ journey to the southward of Bengazi. The term Ras, 
which in Arabic signifies a head, is the usual Arab term for a promon- 
tory, and it is in this sense that we find it adopted in modern charts 
to distinguish the headland above mentioned. But the place which 
