TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 
'215 
In the tract of country which lies at the bottom of the gulf” he 
saw nothing whatever but sand, and no hills whatever but * sand- 
hills. 
From this circumstance the Doctor derives a new proof that the 
sand-hills have travelled from the southward ; and in further proof 
of the non-existence of any chain of hills in this quarter, he has in- 
stanced the passage of northerly winds from the Mediterranean, to 
find their equilibrium in the southern regions of Africa ; which pas- 
sage they could not have elFected, he supposes, if they had had a 
chain of hills to get over in their journey ! The Doctor then pro- 
ceeds to relate the expedition of the Psylli, as recorded by Herodo- 
tus, in further support of his position f ; but in telling us that when 
these unfortunate gentlemen arrived on the confines of the desert, 
they were all of them buried in the sands which there assailed them, 
he does not express the surprise which might be expected at their 
* Giacche in quest' ultimo I’ecinto del Mediterraneo non ho visto che sabbie ne 
altri monii che di sabbie. (P. 92.) 
t The Psylli we are told by Pliny, on the authority of Agatharcides, were so called 
from their King Psyllus, whose tomb is said to have been somewhere in the Greater 
Syrtis. They \vere remarkable for 1 heir power of charming serpents; and possessed 
some innate quality of body which was considered to be destructive to these reptiles ; 
so much so that the very smell of them was supposed to lull a serpent asleep. They had 
a singular custom of exposing their children to the most venomous kinds of serpents, in 
order to convince themselves of their legitimacy. If the serpents, on whom the trial was 
made, did not fly from the children exposed to them, it was concluded to be a proof of 
decided illegitimacy, since the animals, they imagined, could not avoid doing so, had the 
infants been really descended from this gifted tribe. 
It has been observed by other writers, that the Psylli merely cured the bite of serpents 
by sucking the poison from the wound, and that they were therefore more indebted for 
their reputation to their courage, than to any peculiar qualification of nature. 
