Here There Were Found Some Curious Remains Of Antiquity; Among The Rest A Monument, Called By The Natives Ummebeda, A Large Mass Of Dilapidated Ruins, Which Some Suppose To Have Been The Celebrated Shrine Of Jupiter Ammon.

Thence they travelled through sandy regions, diversified with numerous limestone rocks.

Here Horneman was in considerable danger; for the caravan was met by several hundred inhabitants of Siwah, mounted on asses, who pointed to him and insisted that he and another of the caravan were Christians from Cairo, against whom they cherished a deadly enmity. But Horneman's coolness and courage disarmed their hostility; he insisted that he was a Moslem, took out the Koran and read passages from it aloud, and even challenged them to answer him on points of the Mahommedan faith.

Soon after the travellers entered the Black Harutsch, a range of dreary mountains, the long defiles of which presented the most dismal prospect imaginable. After sixteen days toilsome journeying they came to the great Oasis, or small Kingdom of Fezzan. The inhabitants were a commercial people, and received the caravan with joy. Much communication is held between this place and Central Africa. Here Horneman endeavoured to collect information concerning Tombuctoo and the Niger. He resolved to visit Tripoli before endeavouring to penetrate to the south. He set off on his journey southward on the 6th April 1800, along with two shereefs or descendants of Mahomed, who had promised to protect him. Two years elapsed before any more was heard of him; when a Fezzan merchant informed the Danish Consul at Tripoli, that he was still alive.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 397 of 546
Words from 108089 to 108354 of 148366