The Press. — London, England, 1856-06-14 00:00:00

JUNE 14, 1856. fittraturt. Wanderings in North Africa. By James Hamilton. London: Murray. THE tourist need never despair. There is always novelty in store for him, Mr. Hamil ton has opened to our view on the south shore of the Mediterranean one of the most lovely countries on the face of the earth, once the site of a splendid and populous Grecian city, but for centuries totally forgotten, and now scarcely known to the crowl who by descrip tion are perfectly familiar with the site and monuments of Nineveh. The classical reader need not be reminded of the fame once enjoyed by Cyrene. Aristotle had a book—unfortunately lost—on the politics of the Republic ; and Plato, as un• fortunately, declined to embody his ideas in a model constitution for its government. In the most flourishing period of the Ureek States it rivalled Carthage in prosperity. From its proximity to Egypt it fell under the dominion of Alexander and his successors, was swept by the wave of Mahommedan conquest, and now forms the eastern part of the Turkish pacha lik of Tripoli. It has been visited and described by some modern travellers; but Mr. Hamilton is the first who, in our own day, has shown the ease with which it may be visited, the charms of its scenery, and the rich harvest its ruins present to the antiquary and scholar. Though the city itself has almost disappeared—the extent of tombs alone re maining to show how vast and magnificent it must once have been—yet the beauty of its site remains, and the fountain of Apollo still pours forth its pure refreshing waters as gratefully as when the band of Therieans, searching for a home, clustered round the perennial spring, and returned thanks to the god who had conducted them to this lovely site, with a fertile country around and "an open heaven " above. Mr Hamilton landed at Benghazi, the prin cipal town of the district, in the summer of 1852 There he made his preparations for a journey by land to Cyrene, or as it is now called Grennah. He took with him tents and all requisites for a stay of some months, in tending to see what could be done by excava tion, but the means at his disposal were too limited. Signal success will probably reward the enterprising traveller who may be in a condition to commence excavations on a larger scale. The country of which Cyrene was the capital consists of a succession of hills and tablelands. In this undulating district is to be found great variety of climate ; it is watered by numerous streams issuing from copious springs, and has an abundance of shade. The region is not less healthy than beautiful. The author writes : I came to the country an invalid, and was exceedingly unwell when I started for Grennah ; but its pure air and lovely scenery restored me to perfect health. For those who seek summer quarters in the Mediterranean, I again repeat to them my former advice to choose the pleasant solitudes of Cyrene in preference to the Syrian hills, where so much sickness and mortality prevail. The third chapter of the volume (pp. 33 —54) gives a general description of the ruins. The author seems inclined to believe that volcanic forces must have aided the destruc tive efforts of man in the utter devastation of the city:— The destruction is in fact so complete, and the muses overthrown so gigantic, that one can hardly ascribe the present havoc to the hand of man or the wasting decay of ages. Though there are now no appearances of volcanic action, we find mention of earthquakes in Synesius ; and the whole of the seacoast as seen at Benghazi and Apol lonia has subsided—an evidence at least of the presence of volcanic forces; and by this agency alone does it seem possible that such utter destruction could have been caused. The greater devourer of the cities of antiquity, a modern town rising in the vicinity, has not here aided the destroyer • for the seventh century is the very latest date that can be ascribed to any single building in a very wide circuit; and the nature of the country, cut up by ravines, and for ages destitute of roads, renders the transport of heavy blocks of stone impossible. If its present destruc tion be due to the nomad tribes (ot whose attacks Sync. sins speaks), who feared that Cyrene might again become a flourishing city, and their mistress, we cannot, after ad miring the laborious energy of her builders, but wonder at the persevering fury of her destroyers. The fountain of Apollo, probably from its use, has been less injured than other portions of Cyrene : THE PRESS. On arriving at Grennah, the first object which naturally attracts the traveller's attention is the fountain of Cyre— the cause which led to the choice of this site for building the city, and in the days of its prosperity the spot round which most of the public buildings were grouped. Though the volume of water which it pours out has much di minished, eden in the memory of man, it is still the most abundant spring in this neighbourhood, and flocks of sheep and goats, and herds of cattle, daily cover the ground, where once the sacred rites of Apollo, or the affairs of their prosperous commerce, assembled the citizens of Cyrene. The stream of water issues from a natural passage artificially widened; it falls into a shallow, square reservoir cut into the ground of the cave ; and hence it was formerly distributed, through a series of stone channels, of which many fragments still remain. The external rock is smoothed to receive the addition of a portico of that beautiful white limestone, closer grained than marble, which acquires in time a warm golden hue. The line of the fountain, deeply cut in the rock, shows the outline of its architecture, and the three lower courses of masonry its material. In the rock to the right is an in scription, beautifully cut, recording a restoration of the fountain, which, from its position, as well as its clear sim ple characters, may well be of earlier date than the first century which is generally assigned to it. In front of the fountain two massive walls support narrow platforms, the lower of which is covered with the foundations of buildings, whose marble fragments indicate considerable magnificence. Beneath these extend a broad terrace, seven hundred feet in length, supported by a lofty and very massive wall, which is still in great part entire. As one stands in front of the fountain, looking to the sea, this platform, covered with ruins, lies at one's feet; while beyond, the long lines of the Eastern Necro polis wind round the curves of the hills, and the plain beneath is seen dotted with ruins, or intersected by old roads. Mr. Hamilton then enters into details as to particular edifices : the Temple of Apollo seems to have been one of the most beautiful buildings, but the Greek theatre is noted as " the best preserved monument." He notes that " the medals often found are both rare " and beautiful, but the marbles are not of " first-rate value." This remark is, however, to he taken with some qualification : I except the three dancing figures, a bas-relief on lime- stone, near the fountain, now, alas! sadly mutilated. They are even now worthy a place in a museum, as they are of great artistic interest, showing the passage from the archaic style of the Elgin marbles to the more graceful execution of the classic school. In one passage the author seems to regret that some fresco pictures have been transferred from the tombs of the Necropolis to the Louvre. The sentiment is scarcely worthy his manly mind. livery lover of art must wish that the remains which are of value should be preserved from that process of destruction which is still going on. The Arabs are the most filthy and brutal of their race. Among the ruins was an altar of white marble:— When I first saw it there was on one side a votive in. scription which it was difficult to decipher; unfortunately I deferred copying it at the time, and on my return some days afterw irds I found that it had been defaced by the Arabs. They had probably seen me stopping before and examining the inscription, which was, I fear, w►th them sufficient reason for its destruction. These degraded people, with their vermin and rags, inhabit the beautiful excavations in which once reposed the illustrious dead of Cyreue. Their natural laziness seems to give way to their love of destroying whatever yet remains of painting and sculpture. The whole description of the Necropolis is valuable. We must refer for it to chap. v. Speaking of the western valley, where the fig-tree, the olive, and the myrtle flourish in extraordinary luxuriance, the author writes : Some of the tombs in this valley are the most elegant in their proportions, and the most carefully executed of any I have met with in this country ; two or three still exhibit the polychromatic decoration of their architecture. - - But more engaging, even, than the descrip tion of the antiquities of Cvreue is the account of the natural beauties of . this most favored spot: — In the neighbourhood of Grennah the hills abound with beautiful scenes, and these I gradually discovered in my rides ; some of them exceeded in richness of vegetation, and equalled ►n grandeur, anything that is to be found in the Apennines. About a mile from the town on the south one comes upon extensive remains of a fortress situated on the edge of one of these ravines, the Wady Leboaitha, which runs nearly due east ; the valley is filled with tombs, and frequented by countless flights of wood pigeons. Following the ravine, and turning to the left, we enter the Wady Shelaleh, which presents a scene be yond my powers of description. The olive is here con trasted with the fig, the tall cypress and the dark juniper with the arbutus and myrtle, and the pleasant breeze which blows through the valley is laden with balmy per fumes, In the midst of this wonderful richness of nature appear the grey rocks, hollowed with large and inaccessi ble caverns, or gently receding in wooded slopes, and 567 sometimes rising perpendicularly and meeting, so as to leave but a narrow passage between them. One cannot help wishing that in localities so highly edvored by nature—and they are nume rous in the Turkish empire—some English settlements could be made. Would the scheme be out of the scope of commercial enterprise ? We see no reason why it should be. Here is this region of Cyrenica, for ex ample, of unsurpassed fertility and beauty, stretching to the shore of the Mediterranean, and most favorably situated for maintaining a great commerce with Central Africa. In ancient times the caravans from the interior were numerous and of vast magnitude and splendour; now the traffic in slaves is the principal branch of trade : The commerce is insignificant: Angila and Jalo have only dates to send in exchange for corn and the few manu factured articles which the rude life of these people re quires. At uncertain and long intervals, however, when the great caravan from Wady arrives, life is given to the commerce of Benghazi. Thefi the old picture of Cyrenean commerce is for a short time renewed. The desert, for weeks, is alive with long files of camels, which arrive laden with ivory and gum ; and with them, alas ! as in old times, hundreds of unhappy creatures—the spoil of war—condemned to slavery, who come halting in at the end of this first hundred days' stage of their misery. How many, happier than their fellows, have dropped exhausted on the dreary road! Twentyone degrees they traverse, on foot, exposed to the rays of a tropical sun, when for twelve days at a time no water is found; without clothing, and having a handful of meal for their daily food. Fatigue and thirst iu vain lessen the numbers of the melancholy caravan And to think that a single word from England could arrest these horrors ! That word has yet to be spoken. The author comments with just severity on the anomaly of using vast efforts to suppress the traffic by sea, while the overland traffic takes place with out even remonstrance. Mr Hamilton, like all other travellers who have seen much of Turk ish rule in the provinces, condemns it as alto gether vicious and intolerable : After seeing the fields of Roumelia lying waste to the very gates of his residence, the cities of Asia Mino r depopulated, its mineral wealth a sealed treasure, even the Arab glories of Syria faded, the palaces of Damascus crumbled, and its marts deAerted—the traveller cannot but long to see a Government changed whose oppression is less mischievous than its neglects, and which tacitly permits wrongs greater than those which it sanctions. We may be unwilling to receive truths like this; but the testimony they rest on is far too weighty to allow us to doubt them. Tho system of Turkish government in the pro vinces is utterly, and we fear hopelessly, corrupt. After his exploration of Cyrene the author travelled overland from Benghazi to Daman hour, and thence to Cairo. This desert journey is spiritedly told, but had nearly proved fatal to the author, through the bigotry and violence of the Arabs at Siweh. He was detained at this station for some weeks, and narrowly escaped assassination. He succeeded in despatching messengers to Cairo, and was at last rescued from his perilous position by a detachment of Egyptian troops. His courage and firmness were worthy of his blood ; the Arabs received a lesson they are not likely to forget, as he bravely redeemed the word he bravely pledged them when his life was threatened, that he would be the last European they be suffered to ill-treat. Mr. Hamilton's 'nook is one of __ every one should read. Its informati, novelty, and its adventure are all as they are attractive, and these meri, off by great intellectual intelligence. small literary accomplishment. Lectures on the History of Ancient By William Archer Butler, M.A. from the Author's MSS., with William Hepworth Thompson, M. Vols. Cambridge : Macmillan and THIS brilliant work merits the special tion of all scholars conversant wi.4 . philosophy, and more particularly can appreciate the value of an ela, position of Plato. The religious cor of our own time which most in divines of the Church of England which have reference to patristic and without close acquaintance character of the Greek philosophers, cially Plato and Aristotle, it is - I . „ • . .._ ~ . . .• ..._..• . . . JUNE 14, 1856. THE PRESS. 567 fittraturt. On arriving at Grennah, th e fi rs t o bj ec t w hi c h natura ll y so me ti mes r i s i ng perpen di cu l ar l y an d meet i ng, so as to attracts the traveller's attention is the fountain of Cyre— leave but a narrow passage between them. -- the cause which led to the ch o i ce o f thi s s i te f or building One cannot help wishing that in localities so the city, and in the days of it s prosperity the spot round Wanderings in North Africa. By James which most of the public building s were grou p e d. Th oug h highly edvored by nature—and they are nume- Hamilton. London: Murray. the volume of water which it pours out has much di• minished, even in the memory of man, it is still the most roue in the Turkish empire—some English settlements could be made. Would the THE tourist need never despair. There is abundant spring in this neighbourhood , eattl'edaainlyd cover or theof scheme be out of the scope of commercial always novelty in store for him, Mr. Hamil- sheep and goats, and herds of enterprise' We see no reason why it should ton has opened to our view on the south shore ground, where once the sacred rites of Apollo, or the affairs of their prosperous commerce, aesembled the be. Here is this region of Cyrenica, for ex- of the Mediterranean one of the most lovely citizens l of Cyrene. The stream of water issues from a ample, of unsurpassed fertility and beauty, countries on the face of the earth, once the passage rveir art e i a fi r cial in l r y o w r i h d e ened; ii d ialts f into h a shallow, stretching to the shore of the Mediterranean, site of a splendid and populous Grecian city, squarenatura re s e ground aeries eiecsavoef stone; d and most favorably situated for maintaining a but for centuries totally forgotten, and now hence it was formerly distributed, through great commerce with Central Africa. In scarcely known to the crowl who by descrip- channels, of which many fragments still remai n . Th e external rock is smoothed to receive the addition of a ancient times the caravans from the interior tion are perfectly familiar with the site and portico of that beautiful white limestone, closer grained were numerous and of vast magnitude and monuments of Nineveh. than marble, which acquires in time a warm f, courses golden hue. splendour; now the traffic in slaves is the The classical reader need not be reminded Th e li ne of the fountain, deeply of the fame once enjoyed by Cyrene. outline of its architecture, and the three lower me The commerce is insignificant: Angila and Jalo have masonry its material. In the rock to the right is an i n - Aristotle had a book—unfortunately lost—on factoredonly datesarrtoi articles h in e h xcl h iange for corn and the few menu- the politics of the Republic ; and Plato, as un- scription, beautifully cut, recording a restoration of the fo ie un e tai ha ' from i l t l s h posit f ion, l as . well as its clear aim- fortunately, quires. At uncertain ceswic and t e loh r g ude ha lof rval e o s f these howe fortunately, declined to embody his ideas in a Tpeeropwlehreer; u rSc w te h rs ieh' model constitution for its government. In the century p which ' i la s a g y en w e e rally assigned °earie t r o it.d date In n ha fro n htthoeffitrshet the great caravan from Wady arrives, life is given to the most flourishing period of the Ureek States it fountain two massive walls support nar row pl at forms, commerce of Benghazi. Thed the old picture of desert, commerce is for a short time renewed. The rivalled Carthage in prosperity. From its the lower of which is covered with the foundations of proximity to Egypt it fell under the dominion buildings, whose marble fragments indicate considerable ar e ri se T r e t, la fo a r eii weeks, with. is alive and long files . o h f camels, which of Alexander and his successors, was swept by magnificence. Beneath these extend a broad terrace, in old times, hundredsl or ivory ofo h g h u a m p p ; and creatures—the with them, aslatid! 0f66 feet in . length, supported by a lofty and the wave of Mahommedan conquest, and now hundredsveevryeamassive war—condemned to slavery, who y come halting in P a u l, the wall, which is still in great part entire. end of this brat hundred days' stage of their misery. How forms the eastern part of the Turkish pacha- lik of Tripoli. It has been visited and the sea, this platform, covered with ruins, lies at one's many, happier than their fellows, have dropped exhausted described by some modern travellers; but Mr. f eet; while beyond , the long lines of the Eastern Necro- 0 o nn foot,th e dreary exposed road to ! the rays Twenty.ofne tropical sun, they traverse, hu fo polio wind round the curves of the hills, and the plain Hamilton is the first who, in our own day, has twelve days at a time no water u teris a found; withouts nwhen clo e thing r shown the ease with which it may be visited, n, beneath . is seen dotted with ruins, or intersected by old and having a handful of meal for their daily food. Fatigue the charms of its scenery, and the rich and thirst in vain lessen the numbers of the melancholy harvest its ruins present to the antiquary and Mr. Hamilton then enters into details as to caravan And to think that a single word from particular edifices : the Temple of Apollo England could arrest these horrors ! scholar. Though the city itself has almost seems to have been one of the most beautiful That word has yet to be spoken. The author disappeared—the extent of tombs alone re- buildings, but the Greek theatre is noted as comments with just severity on the anomaly maining to show how vast and magnificent it " the best preserved monument." He notes of using vast efforts to suppress the traffic by must once have been—yet the beauty of its o that the medals often found are both rare sea, while the overland traffic takes place with- site remains, and the fountain of Apollo still o d an beautiful, but the marbles are not of out even remonstrance. Mr Hamilton, like all pours forth its pure refreshing waters as ~ first-rate value." This remark is, however, other travellers who have seen much of Turk- gratefully as when the band of Therieans, to he taken with some qualification : ish rule in the provinces, condemns it as alto- searching for a home, clustered round the gether vicious and intolerable : perennial spring, and returned thanks to the I exce p t the three dancin g fi g ures, a bas- re l i e f on lime - stone, near the fountain, now, alas! sadly mutilated. They After seeing the fields of Roumelia lying waste to the god who had conducted them to this lovely are even now worthy a place in a museum, as they are of very gates of his residence, the cities of Asia Mino r site, with a fertile country around and "an great artistic interest, showing the passage from the depopulated, its mineral wealth a sealed treasure, even the open heaven " above. archaic style of the Elgin marbles to the more graceful Arab glories of Syria faded, the palaces of Damascus Mr Hamilton landed at Benghazi, the prin- execution of the classic school. crumbled, and its marts deserted—the traveller cannot but cipal town of the district, in the summer of In one passage the author seems to regret long to see a Government changed whose oppression is less mischievous than its neglects, and which tacitly permits 1852 There he made his preparations for a that some fresco pictures have been transferred wrongs greater than those which it sanctions. journey by land to Cyrene, or as it is now from the tombs of the Necropolis to the We may be unwilling to receive truths like called Grennah. He took with him tents and Louvre. The sentiment is scarcely worthy this; but the testimony they rest on is far too all requisites for a stay of some months, in- his manly mind. Every lover of art must weighty to allow us to doubt them. Tho tending to see what could be done by excava- wish that the remains which are of value system of Turkish government in the pro- tion, but the means at his disposal were too should be preserved from that process of vinces is utterly, and we fear hopelessly, limited. Signal success will probably reward destruction which is still going on. The corrupt. the enterprising traveller who may be in a Arabs are the most filthy and brutal of their After his exploration of Cyrene the author condition to commence excavations on a race. Amon g the ruins was an altar of white travelled overland from Benghazi to Daman- larger scale. The country of which Cyrene marble:— hour, and thence to Cairo. This desert was the capital consists of a succession of When I first saw it there was on one side a votive in- journey is spiritedly told, but had nearly hills and tablelands. In this undulating scription which it was difficult to decipher; unfortunately proved fatal to the author, through the district is to be found great variety of climate ; I deferred copying it at the time, and on my return some days afterw srds I found that it had been defaced by the bigotry and violence of the Arabs at Siweh. it is watered by numerous streams issuing Arabs. They had probably seen me stopping before and He was detained at this station for some examining inscription, which from copious springs, and has an abundance the of shade. The region is not less healthy than sufficient reason for its destruction. He succeeded in despatching messengers to beautiful. The author writes : These degraded people, with their vermin and Cairo, and was at last rescued from his I came to the country an invalid, and was exceedingly rags, inhabit the beautiful excavations in perilous position by a detachment of Egyptian unwell when I started for Grennah; but its pure air and which once reposed the illustrious dead of troops. His courage and firmness were lovely scenery restored me to perfect health. For those r , reue. Their natural laziness seems to give worthy of his blood ; the. Arabs received a who seek summer quarters in the Mediterranean, I again '-'Y repeat to them my former advice to choose the pleasant way to their love of destroying whatever yet lesson they are not likely to forget, as he solitudes of Cyrene in preference to the Syrian hills, where remains of painting and sculpture. The bravely redeemed the word he bravely pledged so much sickness and mortality prevail. whole description of the Necropolis is valuable. them when his life was threatened, that he The third chapter of the volume (pp. 33 We must refer for it to chap. v. Speaking would be the last European they would ever —54) gives a general description of the ruins. of the western valley, where the fig-tree, the be suffered to ill-treat. The author seems inclined to believe that olive, and the myrtle flourish in extraordinary Mr. Hamilton's book is one of those that volcanic forces must have aided the destruc- luxuriance, the author writes : every one should read. Its information, its tive efforts of man in the utter devastation of Some of the tombs in this valley are the most elegant novelty, and its adventure are all as genuine the city : in their proportions, and the most carefully executed of as they are attractive, and these merits are set any I have met with in this country; two or three still The destruction is in fact so complete, and the masses off by great intellectual intelligence, and no exhibit the polychromatic architecture. decoration of their overthrown so gigantic, that one can hardly ascribe thesmall literary accomplishment. present havoc to the hand of man or the wasting decay of But more engaging, even, than the descrip- _ ages. Though there are now no appearances of volcanic tion of the antiquities of Cvreue is the account action, we find mention of earthquakes in Synesius ; and of ' the natural beauties of this most favored Lectures on the History of Ancient Philosophy: the whole of the seacoast as seen at Benghazi and Apol- lonia has subsided—an evidence at least of the presence spot:— B y Willi am A rc h er B u tl er, M . A . Edit e d of volcanic forces; and by this agency alone does it seem In the neighbourhood of Grennah the hills abound with from the Author's MSS., with Notes, by possible that such utter destruction could have been beautiful scenes, and these I gradually discovered in my caused. The greater devourer of the cities of antiquity, rides ; some of them exceeded in richness of vegetation, William Hepworth Thompson, M.A. Two a modern town rising in the vicinity, has not here aided the and equalled in grandeur, anything that is to be found in Vols. Cambridge : Macmillan and Co. destroyer; for the seventh century is the very latest date the Apennines. About a mile from the town on the that can be ascribed to any single building in a very wide south one comes upon extensive remains of a fortress Tiffs brilliant work merits the special atten- circuit ; and the nature of the country, cut up by ravines, situated on the edge of one of these ravines, the Wady tion of all scholars conversant with Greek and for ages destitute of roads, renders the transport of Leboaitha, which runs nearly due east; the valley is filled h•I p i osophy, and more particularly all who heavy blocks of stone impossible. If its present destruc- with tombs, and frequented by countless flights of wood. ,- can appreciate the value of an elaborate ex- tion be due to the nomad tribes (ot whose attacks Syne - pigeons. Following the ravine, and turning to the left , sins speaks), who feared that Cyrene might again become we enter the Wady Shelaleb, which presents a scene be- Position of Plato. The religious controversies a flourishing city, and their mistress, we cannot, after ad- yond my powers of description. The olive is here con- of our own time which most i*terest the miring the laborious energy of her builders, but wonder at trasted with the fig, the tall cypress and the dark juniper divines of the Church of England are those the persevering fury of her destroyers. with the arbutus and myrtle, and the pleasant breeze which have reference t•f ie o patristic learning; The fountain of Apollo, probably from its fwahmicehs,blolwnsththermouisdhathefethvidislizmisdelrfaduelnriewhintleisbalmy nature per' and without close acquaintance with the use, has been less injured than other portions appear the grey rocks, hollowed with large and inaccestsi- character of the Greek philosophers, espe- of Cyrene : ble caverns, or gently receding in wooded slopes, and dally Plato and Aristotle, it is scarcely ed, that he would ever ' those that mation, its as genuine .rits are set ace, and no Philosophy: .A. Edited Notes, by M.A. Two nd Co. ecial atten- with Greek .ly all who aborate ex- •ntroversies kterest the are those c learning; with the hers, espe- Ls scarcely