•238 
JOURNEY FROM 
At about a mile from the shore, nearly opposite Aalum Limarish, is 
a remarkably white rock, about forty feet high, and steep on all 
sides ; it has breakers scattered about it, and should not be closely 
approached tiU better known : beyond this rock, which is called 
Ishaifa, we perceived the sea breaking heavily over another rock, as 
much as four miles from the shore, which extends itself in reefs 
towards G^ra. There are two other islands laid down by Ptolemy in 
the Gulf of the Greater Syrtis ; but one of these is placed in the 
neighbourhood of Aspis, where we could perceive nothing whatever 
like an island, and the other is laid down so far in the centre of the 
Gulf, that we could not certainly have seen it had it been still in 
existence. On coming abreast of Gara, which hes about six miles off 
shore, we had a good opportunity of observing it with our glasses ; 
it appeared to be covered with verdure, and we thought we per- 
ceived some appearances of building upon it ; it rises in white cliffs 
from the sea, in some parts very abruptly, but the table-land on their 
summits was green when we passed it. It was in vain that we 
longed for some means of crossing over to this island, for there is not 
a boat or a vessel of any description to be found from one end of 
the Gulf of Syrtis to the other ; but we consoled ourselves with the 
idea that it would be visited by the officers of the Adventure, which 
we afterwards found to have been the case. In passing by Ain Agan, 
the Shekh of the place paid us a visit ; but as we found that we 
could obtain no information from him, and he soon discovered that 
there was little chance of getting any bakshis from us, the visit was 
not of very long duration. From Aalum Limarish to Sheibah, the 
