308 
BENGAZI. 
With regard to the manners and customs of the people of Bengazi, 
we saw nothing in which they differed materially from those of 
Arabs in general ; and it would merely be repeating what has been 
often observed by others, were we to give any detailed description 
of them. It is well known what reliance is placed by the Arab on 
the efficacy, we may say, the infallibility of charms and family nos- 
trums, and how much they are averse to calling in medical aid till 
they have repeatedly tried their own remedies without success. We 
saw a lamentable instance of this adherence to popular prejudice 
and superstition, in the case of an interesting girl of Bengazi, the 
daughter of one of the Arabs of the town. As Mr. Campbell was 
standing at the door of our house, in company with some others of 
our party, an old woman hurried towards him, and eagerly seizing both 
his hands, conjured him to come and visit her daughter, who she said 
was very ill with a swelling in the throat. Mr. Campbell immedi- 
ately complied with her request, and accompanied her, together with 
one or two of the other officers, to the house where the patient was 
lying. On entering they found the poor girl we have mentioned, ex- 
tended upon the floor, in a state of delirium, while her sister, on her 
knees by her side, was endeavouring by means of a fan to keep away 
the myriads of flies from her face, with which the room as usual 
abounded. Her throat was soon found to be so much ulcerated and 
swelled, as almost to prevent respiration ; and it seemed but too 
evident that the hand of death was already lying heavily upon her. 
She had been ill for nine d lys with a typhus fever, and the usual 
charms and remedies had been employed by her parents, who only 
