358 
BENGAZI. 
is built into the basement of the columns, bearing the names of 
Cleopatra and Ptolemy Philometor (together with another, turned 
upside down, mentioning that of Arsinoe conjointly with Ptolemy 
and Berenice,) would prevent our attributing an earlier date to 
them than the reigns of the sovereigns recorded. 
The ravines which form the eastern and western boundaries 
of Ptolemeta (particularly that to the eastward) are wild and 
romantic in the extreme ; and one might imagine one’s-self trans- 
ported, in winding along them, to the beautiful secluded valleys of 
Switzerland and Savoy. It is true that in the Cyrenaica nature is 
on a less extended scale than in the mountainous districts we have 
mentioned ; but it appears in a form no less captivating on that 
account ; and we will venture to say, that if a person who had travelled 
in those countries should be suddenly dropt into the eastern valley 
of Ptolemeta, without being told where he was, he would certainly 
suspect himself to be in one of them. He would never, for a 
moment, dream of being in Africa — that parched and barren region 
of desert monotony so horrid in European estimation. For our 
own parts we shall never forget the dehght which we expe- 
rienced, at every new turn of the valley, as fresh objects of 
interest presented themselves to our view on either side of this 
enchanting retreat. 
We had already passed through a very interesting country, in our 
journey from Bengazi to Ptolemeta ; and we had long forgotten the 
■* The inscriptions will be found in the plate prefixed to Chapter 14. 
