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PART VI. CONSTRUCTING GENDER IN THE WORKPLACE AND THE LABOR
MARKET
30. Christine L. Williams, The Glass Escalator, Revisited: Gender Inequality in
Neoliberal Times, SWS Feminist Lecturer
31. Amy M. Denissen and Abigail C. Saguy, Gendered Homophobia and the
Contradictions of Workplace Discrimination for Women in the Building Trades
32. Adia Harvey Wingfield, The Modern Mammy and the Angry Black Man: African
American Professionals’ Experiences with Gendered Racism in the Workplace
33. Miliann Kang, “I Just Put Koreans and Nails Together”: Nail Spas and the Model
Minority
*34. Rebecca Glauber, Race and Gender in Families and at Work: The Fatherhood
Wage Premium
*35. Stephanie J. Nawyn and Linda Gjokaj, The Magnifying Effect of Privilege:
Earnings Inequalities at the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Nativity
PART VII. EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS
36. Ann Arnett Ferguson, Naughty by Nature
*37. Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura T. Hamilton, and Elizabeth M. Armstrong, and J.
Lotus Seeley, Good Girls: Gender, Social Class, and Slut Discourse on Campus
*38. Dolores Delgado Bernal, Learning and Living Pedagogies of the Home: The
Mestiza Consciousness of Chicana Students
PART VIII.VIOLENCE
39. Cecilia Menjívar, A Framework for Examining Violence
40. Victor M. Rios, The Consequences of the Criminal Justice Pipeline on Black and
Latino Masculinity
*41. Natalie J. Sokoloff and Susan C. Pearce, Intersections, Immigration, and Partner
Violence: A View from a New Gateway—Baltimore, Maryland
*42. Roe Bubar and Pamela Jumper Thurman, Violence against Native Women
PART IX. CHANGE AND POLITICS
43. Kevin Powell, Confessions of a Recovering Misogynist
44. Dorothy Roberts and Sujatha Jesudason, Movement Intersectionality: The Case of
Race, Gender, Disability, and Genetic Technologies
*45. Maylei Blackwell, Líderes Campesinas: Nepantla Strategies and Grassroots
Organizing at the Intersection of Gender and Globalization
*46. Sarah Jaffe, The Collective Power of #MeToo

GLOSSARY
REFERENCES
 PREFACE

O ver the past forty years, texts and readers intended for use in women’s
studies and gender studies courses have changed and developed in
important ways. In the 1970s and into the early 1980s, many courses and
texts focused almost exclusively on women as a relatively undifferentiated
category. Two developments have broadened the study of women. First, in
response to criticisms by women of color and by lesbians that
heterosexual, white, middle-class feminists had tended to “falsely
universalize” their own experiences and issues, courses and texts on
gender began in the 1980s to systematically incorporate race and class
diversity. And simultaneously, as a result of feminist scholars’ insistence
that gender be studied as a relational construct, more concrete studies of
men and masculinity began to emerge in the 1980s.
This book reflects this belief that race, class, and sexual diversity
among women and men should be central to the study of gender. But this
collection adds an important new dimension that will broaden the frame of
gender studies. By including some articles that are based on research in
nations connected to the United States through globalization, tourism, and
labor migrations, we hope that Gender through the Prism of Difference
will contribute to a transcendence of the often myopic, US-based, and
Eurocentric focus on the study of sex and gender. The inclusion of these
perspectives is not simply useful for illuminating our own cultural blind
spots; it also begins to demonstrate how, early in the twenty-first century,
gender relations are increasingly centrally implicated in current processes
of globalization.
NEW TO THIS EDITION
Because the amount of high-quality research on gender has expanded so
dramatically in the past decade, the most difficult task in assembling this
collection was deciding what to include. The sixth edition, while retaining
the structure of the previous edition, is different and improved. This
edition includes nineteen new articles and discusses material on gender
issues relevant to the college-age generation, including several articles on
college students as well as the contemporary #MeToo social movement.
We have also included articles on transgender identities and public
policies, additional chapters on Native and Muslim women, policing and
incarceration, the intersection of gender and immigration, and gender and
disabilities. Our focus for selecting chapters is to include readings that
cover important topics that are most accessible for students, while keeping
the cost of the volume down.
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

W e thank faculty and staff colleagues in the Department of Sociology

and the Gender Studies program at the University of Southern
California, and the Department of Sociology and the Center for Gender in
Global Context at Michigan State University for their generous support
and assistance. Other people contributed their labor to the development of
this book. We are grateful to Amy Holzgang, Cerritos College; Lauren
McDonald, California State University Northridge; and Linda Shaw,
California State University San Marcos, for their invaluable feedback and
advice. We thank Heidi R. Lewis of Colorado College for her contributions
to the book’s ancillary program, available at www.oup-arc.com/bacazinn.
We acknowledge the helpful criticism and suggestions made by the
following reviewers:
Erin K. Anderson, Washington College
Kathleen Cole, Metropolitan State University
Ted Coleman, California State University, San Bernardino
Keri Diggins, Scottsdale Community College
Emily Gaarder, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Robert B. Jenkot, Coastal Carolina University
Amanda Miller, University of Indianapolis
Carla Norris-Raynbird, Bemidji State University
Katie R. Peel, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Jaita Talukdar, Loyola University New Orleans
Billy James Ulibarrí, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
 Kate Webster, DePaul University
We also thank our editor at Oxford University Press, Sherith Pankratz,
who has been encouraging, helpful, and patient, and Grace Li for her
assistance throughout the process. We also thank Tony Mathias and
Jennifer Sperber for their marketing assistance with the book. We also
thank Dr. Amy Denissen, whose contributions to the fifth edition of this
book laid invaluable groundwork for the current edition.
Finally, we thank our families for their love and support as we worked
on this book. Alan Zinn, Prentice Zinn, Gabrielle Cobbs, and Edan Zinn
provide inspiration through their work for progressive social change.
Miles Hondagneu-Messner and Sasha Hondagneu-Messner continually
challenge the neatness of Mike and Pierrette’s image of social life.
Richard Hellinga was always ready to pick up slack on the home front,
Henry Nawyn-Hellinga provided encouraging words at the least expected
moments, and Zach Nawyn-Hellinga helped Stephanie experience
firsthand life on the borders of gender. We do hope that the kind of work
that is collected in this book will eventually help them and their
generation make sense of the world and move that world into more
peaceful, humane, and just directions.
GENDER THROUGH THE PRISM OF
DIFFERENCE
>

INTRODUCTION

SEX AND GENDER THROUGH THE PRISM OF DIFFERENCE

“Men can’t cry.” “Women are victims of patriarchal oppression.” “After
divorces, single mothers are downwardly mobile, often moving into
poverty.” “Men don’t do their share of housework and child care.”
“Professional women face barriers such as sexual harassment and a ‘glass
ceiling’ that prevent them from competing equally with men for high-
status positions and high salaries.” “Heterosexual intercourse is an
expression of men’s power over women.” Sometimes, the students in our
sociology and gender studies courses balk at these kinds of
generalizations. And they are right to do so. After all, some men are more
emotionally expressive than some women, some women have more power
and success than some men, some men do their share—or more—of
housework and child care, and some women experience sex with men as
both pleasurable and empowering. Indeed, contemporary gender relations
are complex and changing in various directions, and as such, we need to be
wary of simplistic, if handy, slogans that seem to sum up the essence of
relations between women and men.
On the other hand, we think it is a tremendous mistake to conclude that
“all individuals are totally unique and different,” and that therefore all
generalizations about social groups are impossible or inherently
oppressive. In fact, we are convinced that it is this very complexity, this
multifaceted nature of contemporary gender relations, that fairly begs for
a sociological analysis of gender. In the title of this book, we use the
image of “the prism of difference” to illustrate our approach to developing
this sociological perspective on contemporary gender relations. The
American Heritage Dictionary defines “prism,” in part, as “a
homogeneous transparent solid, usually with triangular bases and
rectangular sides, used to produce or analyze a continuous spectrum.”
Imagine a ray of light—which to the naked eye appears to be only one
color—refracted through a prism onto a white wall. To the eye, the result
is not an infinite, disorganized scatter of individual colors. Rather, the
refracted light displays an order, a structure of relationships among the
different colors—a rainbow. Similarly, we propose to use the prism of
difference in this book to analyze a continuous spectrum of people to show
how gender is organized and experienced differently when refracted
through the prism of sexual, racial-ethnic, social class, ability, age, and
national citizenship differences.

EARLY WOMEN’s STUDIES: CATEGORICAL VIEWS OF “WOMEN” AND “MEN”

Taken together, the articles in this book make the case that it is possible to
make good generalizations about women and men. But these
generalizations should be drawn carefully, by always asking the questions
“which women?” and “which men?” Scholars of sex and gender have not
always done this. In the 1960s and 1970s, women’s studies focused on the
differences between women and men rather than among women and men.
The very concept of gender, women’s studies scholars demonstrated, is
based on socially defined difference between women and men. From the
macro level of social institutions such as the economy, politics, and
religion to the micro level of interpersonal relations, distinctions between
women and men structure social relations. Making men and women
different from one another is the essence of gender. It is also the basis of
men’s power and domination. Understanding this was profoundly
illuminating. Knowing that difference produced domination enabled
women to name, analyze, and set about changing their victimization.
In the 1970s, riding the wave of a resurgent feminist movement,
colleges and universities began to develop women’s studies courses that
aimed first and foremost to make women’s lives visible. The texts that
were developed for these courses tended to stress the things that women
shared under patriarchy—having the responsibility for housework and
child care, the experience or fear of men’s sexual violence, a lack of
formal or informal access to education, and exclusion from high-status
professional and managerial jobs, political office, and religious leadership
positions (Brownmiller 1975; Kanter 1977).
The study of women in society offered new ways of seeing the world.
But the 1970s approach was limited in several ways. Thinking of gender
primarily in terms of differences between women and men led scholars to
overgeneralize about both. The concept of patriarchy led to a dualistic
perspective of male privilege and female subordination. Women and men
were cast as opposites. Each was treated as a homogeneous category with
common characteristics and experiences. This approach essentialized
women and men. Essentialism, simply put, is the notion that women’s and
men’s attributes and indeed women and men themselves are categorically
different. From this perspective, male control and coercion of women
produced conflict between the sexes. The feminist insight originally
introduced by Simone de Beauvoir in 1953—that women, as a group, had
been socially defined as the “other” and that men had constructed
themselves as the subjects of history, while constructing women as their
objects—fueled an energizing sense of togetherness among many women.
As college students read books such as Sisterhood Is Powerful (Morgan
1970), many of them joined organizations that fought—with some success
—for equality and justice for women.

THE VOICES OF “OTHER” WOMEN

Although this view of women as an oppressed “other” was empowering for
certain groups of women, some women began to claim that the feminist
view of universal sisterhood ignored and marginalized their major
concerns. It soon became apparent that treating women as a group united
in its victimization by patriarchy was biased by too narrow a focus on the
experiences and perspectives of women from more privileged social
groups. “Gender” was treated as a generic category, uncritically applied to
women. Ironically, this analysis, which was meant to unify women, instead
produced divisions between and among them. The concerns projected as
“universal” were removed from the realities of many women’s lives. For
example, it became a matter of faith in second-wave feminism that
women’s liberation would be accomplished by breaking down the
“gendered public-domestic split.” Indeed, the feminist call for women to
move out of the kitchen and into the workplace resonated in the
experiences of many of the college-educated white women who were
inspired by Betty Friedan’s 1963 book, The Feminine Mystique. But the
idea that women’s movement into workplaces was itself empowering or
liberating seemed absurd or irrelevant to many working-class women and
women of color. They were already working for wages, as had many of
their mothers and grandmothers, and did not consider access to jobs and
public life “liberating.” For many of these women, liberation had more to
do with organizing in communities and workplaces—often alongside men
—for better schools, better pay, decent benefits, and other policies to
benefit their neighborhoods, jobs, and families. The feminism of the 1970s
did not seem to address these issues.
As more and more women analyzed their own experiences, they began
to address the power relations that created differences among women and
the part that privileged women played in the oppression of others. For
many women of color, working-class women, lesbians, and women in
contexts outside the United States (especially women in non-Western
societies), the focus on male domination was a distraction from other
oppressions. Their lived experiences could support neither a unitary theory
of gender nor an ideology of universal sisterhood. As a result, finding
common ground in a universal female victimization was never a priority
for many groups of women.
Challenges to gender stereotypes soon emerged. Women of varied
races, classes, national origins, and sexualities insisted that the concept of
gender be broadened to take their differences into account (Baca Zinn et
al. 1986; Hartmann 1976; Rich 1980; Smith 1977). Many women began to
argue that their lives were affected by their location in a number of
different hierarchies: in the United States as African Americans, Latinas,
Native Americans, or Asian Americans in the race hierarchy; as young or
old in the age hierarchy; as heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, or queer in
the sexual orientation hierarchy; and as women outside the Western
industrialized nations, in subordinated geopolitical contexts. Books like
Cherríe Moraga’s and Gloria Anzaldúa’s This Bridge Called My Back
(1981) described the experiences of women living at the intersections of
multiple oppressions, challenging the notion of a monolithic “woman’s
experience.” Stories from women at these intersections made it clear that
women were not victimized by gender alone but by the historical and
systematic denial of rights and privileges based on other differences as
well.

MEN AS GENDERED BEINGS

As the voices of “other” women in the mid- to late 1970s began to
challenge and expand the parameters of women’s studies, a new area of
scholarly inquiry was beginning to stir—a critical examination of men and
masculinity. To be sure, in those early years of gender studies, the major
task was to conduct studies and develop courses about the lives of women
to begin to correct centuries of scholarship that rendered invisible
women’s lives, problems, and accomplishments. But the core idea of
feminism—that “femininity” and women’s subordination is a social
construction—logically led to an examination of the social construction of
“masculinity” and men’s power. Many of the first scholars to take on this
task were psychologists who were concerned with looking at the social
construction of “the male sex role” (e.g., Pleck 1976). By the late 1980s,
there was a growing interdisciplinary collection of studies of men and
masculinity, much of it by social scientists (Brod 1987; Kaufman 1987;
Kimmel 1987; Kimmel and Messner 1989).
Reflecting developments in women’s studies, the scholarship on men’s
lives tended to develop three themes: First, what we think of as
“masculinity” is not a fixed, biological essence of men, but rather is a
social construction that shifts and changes over time as well as between
and among various national and cultural contexts. Second, power is central
to understanding gender as a relational construct, and the dominant
definition of masculinity is largely about expressing difference from—and
superiority over—anything considered “feminine.” And third, there is no
singular “male sex role.” Rather, at any given time there are various
masculinities. R. W. Connell (1987, 1995, 2002) has been among the most
articulate advocates of this perspective. Connell argues that hegemonic
masculinity (the dominant and most privileged form of masculinity at any
given moment) is constructed in relation to femininities as well as in
relation to various subordinated or marginalized masculinities. For
example, in the United States, various racialized masculinities (e.g., as
represented by African American men, Latino immigrant men, etc.) have
been central to the construction of hegemonic (white middle-class)
masculinity. This “othering” of racialized masculinities, as well as their
selective incorporation by dominant groups (Bridges and Pascoe in this
volume), helps to shore up the privileges that have been historically
connected to hegemonic masculinity. When viewed this way, we can better
understand hegemonic masculinity as part of a system that includes gender
as well as racial, class, sexual, and other relations of power.
The new literature on men and masculinities also begins to move us
beyond the simplistic, falsely categorical, and pessimistic view of men
simply as a privileged sex class. When race, social class, sexual
orientation, physical abilities, immigrant, or national status are taken into
account, we can see that in some circumstances, “male privilege” is partly
—sometimes substantially—muted (Kimmel and Messner 2010; Kimmel
in this volume). Although it is unlikely that we will soon see a “men’s
movement” that aims to undermine the power and privileges that are
connected with hegemonic masculinity, when we begin to look at
“masculinities” through the prism of difference, we can begin to see
similarities and possible points of coalition between and among certain
groups of women and men (Messner 1998). Certain kinds of changes in
gender relations—for instance, a national family leave policy for working
parents—might serve as a means of uniting particular groups of women
and men.

GENDER IN GLOBAL CONTEXTS

It is an increasingly accepted truism that late twentieth-century increases
in transnational trade, international migration, and global systems of
production and communication have diminished both the power of nation-
states and the significance of national borders. A much more ignored issue
is the extent to which gender relations—in the United States and elsewhere
in the world—are increasingly linked to patterns of global economic
restructuring. Decisions made in corporate headquarters located in Los
Angeles, Tokyo, or London may have immediate repercussions on how
people thousands of miles away organize their work, community, and
family lives (Sassen 1991). It is no longer possible to study gender
relations without giving attention to global processes and inequalities.
Scholarship on women in developing countries has moved from liberal
concerns for the impact of development policies on women (Boserup
1970) to more critical perspectives that acknowledge how international
labor and capital mobility are transforming gender and family relations
(Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997; Mojola 2014). The transformation of
international relations from a 1990s “post–Cold War” environment to an
expansion of militarism and warfare in recent years has realigned
international gender relations in key ways that call for new examinations
of gender, violence, militarism, and culture (Enloe 1993, 2000; Okin
1999). The now extended US military presence in the Middle East has
brought with it increasing numbers of female troops and, with that,
growing awareness of gender and sexual violence both by and within the
military.
Around the world, women’s paid and unpaid labor is key to global
development strategies. Yet it would be a mistake to conclude that gender
is molded from the “top down.” What happens on a daily basis in families
and workplaces simultaneously constitutes and is constrained by structural
transnational institutions. For instance, in the second half of the twentieth
century young, single women, many of them from poor rural areas, were
(and continue to be) recruited for work in export assembly plants along the
US–Mexico border, in East and Southeast Asia, in Silicon Valley, in the
Caribbean, and in Central America. Although the profitability of these
multinational factories depends, in part, on management’s ability to
manipulate the young women’s ideologies of gender, the women do not
respond passively or uniformly, but actively resist, challenge, and
accommodate. At the same time, the global dispersion of the assembly
line has concentrated corporate facilities in many US cities, making
available myriad managerial, administrative, and clerical jobs for college-
educated women. Women’s paid labor is used at various points along this
international system of production. Not only employment but also
consumption embodies global interdependencies. There is a high
probability that the clothing you are wearing and the computer you use
originated in multinational corporate headquarters and in assembly plants
scattered around third world nations. And if these items were actually
manufactured in the United States, they were probably assembled by Latin
American and Asian-born women.
Worldwide, international labor migration and refugee movements are
creating new types of multiracial societies. Although these developments
are often discussed and analyzed with respect to racial differences, gender
typically remains absent. As several commentators have noted, the white
feminist movement in the United States has not addressed issues of
immigration and nationality. Gender, however, has been fundamental in
shaping immigration policies (Chang 1994; Hondagneu-Sotelo 1994).
Direct labor recruitment programs generally solicit either male or female
labor (e.g., Filipina nurses and Mexican male farm workers), national
disenfranchisement has particular repercussions for women and men, and
current immigrant laws are based on very gendered notions of what
constitutes “family unification.” As Chandra Mohanty suggests,
“analytically these issues are the contemporary metropolitan counterpart
of women’s struggles against colonial occupation in the geographical third
world” (1991:23). Moreover, immigrant and refugee women’s daily lives
often challenge familiar feminist paradigms. The occupations in which
immigrant and refugee women concentrate—paid domestic work, informal
sector street vending, assembly or industrial piecework performed in the
home—often blur the ideological distinction between work and family and
between public and private spheres (Hondagneu-Sotelo 2001; Parreñas
2001). As a number of articles in this volume show, immigrant women
creatively respond to changes in work and family brought about through
migration, innovating changes in what were once thought to be stable,
fixed sexuality practices and mores.

FROM PATCHWORK QUILT TO PRISM

All of these developments—the voices of “other” women, the study of
men and masculinities, and the examination of gender in transnational
contexts—have helped redefine the study of gender. By working to
develop knowledge that is inclusive of the experiences of all groups, new
insights about gender have begun to emerge. Examining gender in the
context of other differences makes it clear that nobody experiences
themselves as solely gendered. Instead, gender is configured through
cross-cutting forms of difference that carry deep social and economic
consequences.
By the mid-1980s, thinking about gender had entered a new stage,
which was more carefully grounded in the experiences of diverse groups
of women and men. This perspective is a general way of looking at women
and men and understanding their relationships to the structure of society.
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also informed me that, in general, all the waters from the ridge joined
the Wady Haera.
On our left, in the valley Khalaifa, a group of date-trees, fed by an
abundant spring called Ain el Wuaníye, forms a conspicuous and
interesting object; while, in general, these valleys or ravines exhibit,
besides small brushwood, only trees of the siddre (Rhamnus
nabeca), jári, and batúm tribe. The batúm-tree (Pistacia Atlantica)
produces the fruit called gatúf, which is used by the Arabs for a great
variety of purposes. Small brushwood or gandul, also, and various
sorts of herbage, such as sebót, shedíde, and sháde, enliven the
ground.

As we advanced, we changed our direction gradually to the south-

west, and entered the mountainous region. On our right there
extended far into the plain a steep narrow promontory, which had
served as a natural fortress to the mountaineers in the last war with
the Turks; but no water being found near it, its occupants were soon
reduced to extremities. Having gone round the last promontory on
our left, we entered the picturesque valley “Welád ʿAli,” once
adorned with orchards and groves of date-trees, but at present
reduced to a desolate wilderness, only a few neglected fig-trees and
scattered palms still remaining to prove how different the condition of
this spot might be. After we had commenced our ascent along the
side of the ravine, in order to return upon the level of the plateau, we
made a short halt near a cluster of about eighty date-trees. But the
ascent became extremely steep, especially near the middle of the
slope, where the water, rushing down in cascades, has laid bare the
limestone rock, and formed a sort of terrace. Here, on the east side
of the cascade, is a spring in a well, called ʿAin el Gatár mtʿa Welád
ʿAli. On both of the summits overlooking the slope are two villages of
the Riaina, the eastern one a little larger than the other, but at
present not containing more than about thirty stone-built cottages. In
both we tried in vain to buy a little barley for our cattle, as we knew
not whether, at our halting-place for the night, we might be able to
obtain any; but we got plenty of dried figs for ourselves. This slope,
with its ravines and valleys, might certainly produce a very
considerable quantity of fruit; and in this respect it resembles in
character that of the so-called Kabylia in Algiers. The rearing of fruit-
trees seems to be a favourite occupation of the Berber race, even in
the more favoured spots of the Great Desert.
Continuing our march on the summit of the plateau, we reached
the village Kasr Shellúf, which exhibited far greater opulence, as it
had escaped being ransacked by the Turks in the last war. Most
probably in consequence of this circumstance, its inhabitants are
more hospitably disposed than those of Riaina: but the cave or cellar
in which they wanted to lodge me, had nothing very attractive for a
night’s quarters, so that I urged my two companions onward. Having
continued our south-westerly direction for awhile, and passed
another village, we thought it safer to turn our steps eastwards, and
took the direction of the zawíya or convent situated on the summit of
the promontory; but when we reached it, just after dusk, the masters
or teachers of the young men, who are sent to this holy place for
education, refused to admit us for the night, so that we were obliged
to go on and try to reach one of the five villages of Khalaifa. At
length, after a very difficult descent down the steep rocky slope in
the dark, we succeeded in reaching the principal village, and, after
some negotiation, occasioned by the absence of the Kaid Bel
Kasem, who is chief of the Khalaifa as well as of the Wuërje, we at
length obtained admission, and even something to eat, my
companions (rather against my will) representing me as a Turk.
Our route on leaving the village was very pleasant, winding round
the sloping sides of several ravines, among which that formed by the
rivulet Wuaniye, and adorned with date-trees, was the most
beautiful. Ascending gradually, we reached again the level of the
plateau, and obtained an extensive prospect, with the remarkable
monument Enshéd eʾ Sufét as a conspicuous and attractive
landmark in the distance. The elevated level had a slight undulation,
and was clothed with halfa (Cynosurus durus) and gedím. However,
we did not long continue on it, but descended into the well-irrigated
valley Rumíye, which is extremely fertile, but also extremely
unhealthy, and notorious for its fevers. The beauty of the scenery,
enlivened as it is by a considerable torrent foaming along the ravine,
and feeding luxuriant clusters of palm, pomegranate, fig, and apricot
trees, surpassed my expectation.
Having kept awhile along this picturesque ravine, we ascended its
eastern side, and then followed the very edge of the steep, directly
for the castle; but before reaching our tent we were obliged to cross
a deep branch of the ravine. There was some little activity to-day
about the castle, it being the market-day; but the market was really
miserable, and the Turkish troops, exercising outside the castle,
could ill supply the want of national welfare and prosperity. If a just
and humane treatment were guaranteed to these tribes, even under
a foreign rule, the country might still enjoy plenty and happiness.
Most of the tribes westward from the Riaina—namely, the Zintán,
who formerly were very powerful, and even at present hold some
possessions as far as Fezzan, the Rujbán, the Fissátu, the Welád
Shebel, the Selemát, the Arhebát, the Harába, the Génafid, the
Kabáw, and the Nalúd, belong to the Berber race.
After a friendly parting from the Kaimakám, we broke up our
encampment near the kasr, in the afternoon, in order to continue our
tour eastward along the varied border of the plateau, under the
guidance of a faithful black servant of the governor, whose name
was Barka. Having passed several smaller villages, we reached Um
eʾ Zerzán, a considerable village, situated on a round hill in the midst
of a valley, ornamented with fine olive-trees, and surrounded by fine
orchards. Um eʾ Zerzán is well known among the mountaineers as a
centre of rebellion. The neighbourhood is full of reminiscences of the
late war, and about two miles in the rear of the village are the
remains of strong walls called el Matarís, behind which the Arabs
made some stand against the Turks. Having passed a solitary rustic
dwelling surrounded with a thriving olive-plantation, we reached the
ruins of a castle or village from which the Roman sepulchre, known
among the Arabs by the name Enshéd eʾ Sufét, burst suddenly upon
our view.
After an extremely cold night on this high rocky ground, the
thermometer in the morning indicating only 5° above freezing-point,
with the dawn of day I mounted the hill opposite to the monument,
commanding an extensive view.[4] It was a level tableland,
uninterrupted by any higher eminence; but the landscape seemed to
me highly characteristic, and I made a sketch of it.
Upon this hill there was formerly a castle built of hewn stone. The
foundation walls, which are still traceable, show that it faced the
east, the eastern and the western sides measuring each 57 ft. 8 in.,
the northern and southern, not more than 54 ft. On the eastern side
there was a strong outwork protecting the gate, and measuring 16 ft.
11 in. on the north and south sides, and 12 ft. 1 in. on the east side,
where there was a large gate 9 ft. 1 in. wide. This outwork juts off
from the castle at 17 ft. 6 in. from the south corner. It was evidently a
Roman castle; but after the dominion of the Romans and Byzantines
had passed away, the Berbers appear to have strengthened it by
adding another outwork on the west side, not, however, in the same
grand style as the Romans, but with small irregular stones, putting
bastions to the corners, and surrounding the whole castle with
considerable outworks on the slope of the hill.
 The Roman castle has been swept away; but the Roman
sepulchre is still preserved, with almost all its architectural finery, and
is still regarded by the surrounding tribes with a certain awe and
reverence.[5] It was most probably the sepulchre of a Roman
commander of the castle in the time of the Antonines; hence, in my
opinion, the name Sufét, by which the natives have distinguished it.
It is certainly not a Punic monument, though it is well known that the
Punic language was generally spoken in several towns of this region
much later than the second century after Christ. The style of its
architecture testifies that it belongs to the second century; but no
inscription remains to tell its story.
This interesting monument is situated on an eminence a little less
elevated than that on which the castle is built, and south-westward
from it. Its whole height is about 36 ft. The base or pedestal
measures 16 ft. 8¾ in. on the west and east, and 16 ft. north and
south. Its elevation varies greatly from east to west, on account of
the sloping ground, the eastern side measuring 3 ft. 2 in., the
western 5 ft. 7 in. In the interior of this base is the sepulchral
 chamber,
measuring 7 ft.
1 in. from
north to south,
and 6 ft. 6 in.
from east to
west, and
remarkable for
the peculiar
construction of the roof. Upon this
lowest part of the base rises a second
one 15 ft. 9 in. west and east, 14 ft.
3¾ in. north and south, and 2 ft. 1 in.
high; and on this a third one,
measuring 14 ft. 7½ in. west and east,
13 ft. 10¼ in. north and south, and 1
ft. 7 in. in height. Upon this base rose
the principal part of the monument, 13
ft. 7 in. high, and measuring at its foot
13 ft. 11½ in. west and east,
decorated at the corners with
pilasters, the feet of which measure 1
ft. 1¾ in., and the shaft 9¾ in. The
moulding is handsomely decorated.
Upon this principal body of the monument is constructed the upper
story, about 10 ft. high, decorated with pilasters of the Corinthian
order. On the south and west sides the walls are plain; but on the
east side they are ornamented with a bow window enclosed with
pilasters of the same order, and on the north side with a plain
window running up the whole height of the body. Inside of this
chamber stood, probably, the statue of the person in whose honour
the monument was erected. The upper compartment has a plain
moulding about four feet high, and surmounted by a cornice. The
material of this interesting monument is a very fine limestone, which
under the influence of the atmosphere has received a vivid brownish
colour, almost like that of travertine. It was taken from a quarry,
which extends all round the monument, and is full of caverns now
used by shepherds as resting-places when they tend their flocks
hereabouts.
Our camels had already gone on some time before we parted from
this solitary memorial of Roman greatness; and after a little distance
we passed the ruins of another Roman fort called Hanshír Hámed.
The country hereabouts, forming a sort of bowl or hollow, and
absorbing a great deal of moisture, is very fertile, and is also
tolerably well cultivated; but after a while it becomes stony. Having
here passed a village, we reached a beautiful little valley, the head of
the Wady Sheikh, which is irrigated by two springs, that feed a
splendid little orchard with all sorts of fruit. Here lies Swédna, a
considerable village spreading over the whole eminence, and known
on account of the murder of Mohammed Efendi. As the valley divides
into two branches, we followed the main wady, and afterwards
crossed it, where it formed a pretty brook of running water. We then
wound along a narrow valley overgrown with halfa and sidr, and,
changing our direction, took the road to Kikla. The valley soon
became decked with olives, which gradually formed a fine plantation.
This is the chief branch of industry of the inhabitants, the ground
being rather stony, and not so fit for grain. The district of Kikla
contains numerous villages, all of which suffered much from the last
war, when a great number of people were slaughtered, and their
dwellings ransacked, by the Turks. Several of these villages lay in
small hollows, or on the slope of ravines, and exhibited rather a
melancholy appearance. After some delay, we resumed our easterly
direction towards Rabda, and soon came to the spot where the
elevated ground descends abruptly into the deep and broad valley
called Wady Rabda, over which we obtained an interesting view. To
the left the slope broke into a variety of cones and small mounts,
among which the Tarhóna—“the mill,” so called from a mill that stood
formerly on its summit—is remarkable for its handsome shape; while
in front of us rose an almost perpendicular cliff of limestone, on a
turn of which, in a very commanding position, lies the village Jáfet,
enclosed, and naturally defended, on every side by a deep ravine.
Here we commenced our descent, which took us a whole hour; on
the middle of the slope we passed a kiln for preparing gypsum. At
length we reached the side valley, which joins the main wady on the
west. It was ornamented with a few solitary date-trees, and the
beautifully shaped slopes and cones of the Tarhóna were just
illuminated by a striking variety of light and shade. The soil, a fertile
marl, remained uncultivated. Gradually we entered the main valley, a
grand chasm of about four miles and a half in width, which has been
formed by the mighty rushing of the waters down the slope of the
plateau. In its upper part it is called Wady Kérdemín, in its lower part
Wady Sert. The industry of man might convert it into a beautiful spot;
but at present it is a desolate waste, the monotonous halfa being the
only clothing of the ground.
The eastern border presents a perpendicular rocky cliff about
1,500 feet high, on the brink of which lies the village Misga. The
western border consists of a cluster of detached mounts and rocks.
Among these a black cone, which attracted Mr. Overweg’s attention,
was found on examination to be pure basalt, with certain indications
of former volcanic action. From beyond this remarkable cone, a
mount was visible crowned with a castle. As we proceeded, the
valley became enlivened by two small Arab encampments. Here we
gradually obtained a view of the date-grove of Rabda, which, from
the foot of the steep eastern cliffs, slopes down into the bottom of the
valley, and is overtopped, in the distance, by the handsome
bifurcated Mount Manterús. But Rabda was too far off to be reached
before sunset; and we encamped in the wady, near a group of five
tents inhabited by Lasába or el Asába Arabs, whose chief paid us a
visit and treated us with bazín, but declined tasting our coffee,
probably thinking with his fellow-chief the other day, that we were in
the service of the Turks, and wanted to poison him. All the people of
these regions regard strangers with suspicion.
Soon after we had started we entered upon cultivated ground,—
the first trace of industry we had seen in this spacious valley. The
eastern cliffs formed here a wide chasm, through which a lateral
valley joined the Wady Sert. On the southern shore of this valley lies
the Kasr Lasába, from which a torrent that came forth from it, and
crossed our route, presented a refreshing spectacle. Emerging
gradually from the valley, we obtained an extensive view over the
plain called el Gatís. Westward, as far as the well called Bír el
Ghánem, little was to be seen which could gladden the eye of the
husbandman. Towards the north-east the level is interrupted by a
small range of hills, the culminating points of which, called el Guleát
and Mʿanmúra, rise to a great elevation. Beyond this range the plain
is called Shefána, the country of the Ur-shefána. At nine o’clock we
reached the fine date-grove of the westernmost village of Rabda. It is
fed by a copious spring, which arrested our attention. Following it up
to trace its source, we were greatly surprised to find, in the heart of
some date-trees, a basin fifty feet in length, and about thirty in
breadth, in which the water was continually bubbling up and sending
forth a considerable stream to spread life and cheerfulness around.
The water gushed up at a temperature of 72° Fahr., while that of the
air was only 52°. Besides dates, a large quantity of onions is
produced in this fertile spot. The village itself was in former times the
residence of Hamíd, a powerful Arab chieftain, who at one time ruled
the whole mountainous district, but was obliged to yield to the Turks,
and lives at present about Beni-Ulíd, where I had to deal with him on
my home-journey in 1855.
The groves of the two villages of Rabda are not far apart. On the
north-eastern side of the village are seven holy chapels called el
Hararát. The eastern village lies upon a hill, over a hollow, in which
spreads a date-grove, likewise fed by a spring called ʿAin Rabda eʾ
sherkíyeh. On crossing a brook we obtained a view of the Jebel
Shehésh, which, attached to the Tarhóna, stretches a long way
westward, and even el Gunna was seen faintly in the distance. Thus
we approached gradually the interesting bicorn of the dark-coloured
Jebel Manterús, which we were bent on ascending. Alighting at the
foot of the mount, near the border of a deep channel, we sent the
camels on, but kept the shoush and our guide back to wait for us. It
took me twenty-five minutes to reach the eastern and higher summit,
on which there is the tomb of a merábet, a holy shepherd called Sidi
Bu-Mʿaza; but I was disappointed in my expectation of obtaining a
great extent of view, the cone of Mount Tekút and other mountains
intervening. Towards the south only, a peep into the Wady el Ugla,
bordered by high cliffs, slightly rewarded me for my trouble; and the
mount itself is interesting, as it exhibits evident traces of volcanic
action.
 I had reached the western lower cone in descending, when I met
my companion in his ascent, and, being anxious to overtake the
camels, I started in advance of him, accompanied by the guide,
along the Wady el Ugla. But my companions did not seem to agree
as to the path to be pursued; and my guide, overlooking on the rocky
ground the footsteps of the camels, which had taken the direct path
to the Kasr Ghurián, wanted to take me by the wady, and, instead of
ascending the eastern cliffs of the ravine, kept along it, where, from
being narrow and rocky—the mere bed of a torrent,—it widens to a
pleasant, cultivated, open valley, with rich marly soil, and adorned
with an olive-grove. On a hill in the centre lies the first village of the
district Ghurián.
We had begun to leave the principal valley by a lateral opening,
when the shoush, overtaking us, led us back to the more northern
and more difficult but shorter path which our camels had taken. The
ascent was very steep indeed; and the path then wound along the
mountain-side and across ravines, till at length we reached the olive-
grove which surrounds the Kasr Ghurián; but in the dark we had
some difficulty in reaching it, and still more in finding our
companions, who at length, however, rejoined the party. In order to
obtain something to eat, we were obliged to pay our respects to the
governor; but the Turks in the castle were so suspicious that they
would scarcely admit us. When at last they allowed us to slip through
the gate in single file, they searched us for arms; but the governor
having assured himself that we had no hostile intention, and that we
were furnished with a letter from the basha, sent a servant to procure
us a lodging in the homestead or housh of a man called Ibrahim,
where we pitched our tent. It was then nine o’clock; and we felt quite
disposed to enjoy some food and repose.
We paid a visit to the governor, who, as well as the aghá, received
us with the civility usual with Turks, and, in order to do us honour,
ordered the garrison, consisting of two hundred men, to pass in
review before us. They were good-looking men and well conditioned,
though generally rather young. He then showed us the magazines,
which are always kept in good order, for fear of a revolt, but will be of
no avail so long as the command rests with ignorant and
unprincipled men. It is built on a spur of the tableland, commanding
on the south and south-west side the Wady Rummána and the
highroad into the interior. Towards the north the lower hilly ground
intervenes between it and Mount Tekút.
Having returned to our quarters, we started on foot a little after
mid-day, on an excursion to Mount Tekút, which, from its elevation
and its shape, appeared to us well worth a visit. Descending the
slope by the “trík tobbi,” a road made by the Turks, we reached the
eastern foot of the mountain, after an hour and a half’s expeditious
march through the village Gwásem, and olive-groves, and over a
number of subterranean dwellings. My companion went round to the
south side in search of an easier ascent. I chose the cliff just above
us, which, though steep, indeed, and difficult on account of scattered
blocks and stones, was not very high. Having once climbed it, I had
easier work, keeping along the crest, which, winding upwards in a
semicircle, gradually led to the highest point of the mountain, on the
north side, with an absolute elevation of about 2,800 feet. On the top
are the ruins of a chapel of Si Ramadán, which, I think, is very rarely
visited. The crest, which has fallen in on the south-east side,
encloses a perfectly circular little plain, resembling an amphitheatre,
and called Shʿabet Tekút. The mount appears evidently to have been
an active volcano in former times, yet my companion declared the
rock not to be pure basalt. The view was very extensive, and I was
able to take the angles of several conspicuous points. After we had
satisfied our curiosity, we descended along the northern slope, which
is much more gradual, being even practicable for horses, and left the
“Shʿabet” by the natural opening. Thence we returned along the path
called Um eʾ Nekhél, which passes by the Roman sepulchre
described by Lyon in general terms, and situated in a very
conspicuous position.
Accompanied by the shoush, I made an excursion in a south-
westerly direction. The villages, at least those above the ground, are
generally in a wretched condition and half deserted; still the country
is in a tolerable state of cultivation, saffron and olive-trees being the
two staple articles of industry. Passing the little subterranean village
of Shuedeya, we reached the Kasr Teghrínna, originally a Berber
settlement, as its name testifies, with a strong position on a perfectly
detached hill. At present the kasr, or the village on the hill-top, is little
more than a heap of ruins, inhabited only by a few families. At the
northern foot of the hill a small village has recently been formed,
called Menzel Teghrínna. On the west and east sides the hill is
encompassed by a valley with a fine olive-grove, beyond which the
Wady el Arbʿa stretches westwards; and it was by this roundabout
way that my guide had intended to take me from Wady el Ugla to
Kasr Ghurián. Protected by the walls, I was able to take a few
angles; but the strong wind which prevailed soon made me desist.
From this spot I went to the villages called Ksúr Gamúdi. These
once formed likewise a strong place, but were entirely destroyed in
the last war, since which a new village has arisen at the foot of the
rocky eminence. A few date-trees grow at the north foot of the hill,
while it is well known, that the palm is rare in the Ghurián. As I was
taking angles from the top of the hill, the inhabitants of the village
joined me, and manifested a friendly disposition, furnishing me
readily with any information, but giving full vent to their hatred of the
Turks. As the most remarkable ruins of the time of the Jahalíyeh—or
the pagans, as the occupants of the country before the time of
Mohammed are called,—they mentioned to me, besides Ghirze, a
tower or sepulchre called Metuïje, about two days’ journey south-
east; Beluwár, another tower-like monument at less distance; and in
a south-west direction ʿAmúd, a round edifice which has not yet
been visited by any European.
The valley at the foot of the Ksúr Gamúdi is watered by several
abundant springs, which once supplied nourishment for a great
variety of vegetables; but the kitchen-gardens and orchards are at
present neglected, and corn alone is now cultivated as the most
necessary want. The uppermost of these springs, which are stated to
be six in number, is called Sma Rhʿain—not an Arabic name.
Beyond, towards the south, is Jehésha, further eastward Usáden,
mentioned by Lyon, with a chapel, Geba with a chapel, and, going
round towards the north, Shetán, and further on Mésufín. The
country beyond Kuléba, a village forming the southern border of the
Ghurián, is called Ghadáma, a name evidently connected with that of
Ghadámes, though we know the latter to be at least of two thousand
years’ standing.
Continuing our march through the valley north-east, and passing
the village Bu-Mát and the ruined old places called Hanshír Metelíli
and Hanshír Jamúm, we reached the ruins of another old place
called Hanshír Settára, in the centre of the olive-grove. The houses,
which in general are built of small irregular stones, present a
remarkable contrast to a pair of immense slabs, above ten feet long
and regularly hewn, standing upright, which I at first supposed to be
remnants of a large building; but having since had a better
opportunity of studying this subject, I concluded that they were
erected, like the cromlechs, for some religious purpose. On the road
back to our encampment, the inhabitants of Gamúdi, who were
unwilling to part company with me, gave vent to their hatred against
the Turks in a singular way. While passing a number of saffron-
plantations, which I said proved the productiveness of their country,
they maintained that the present production of saffron is as nothing
compared to what it was before it came into the impious hands of the
Osmanlis. In former times, they said, several stems usually shot forth
from the same root, whereas now scarcely a single sample can be
found with more than one stalk,—a natural consequence of the
contamination or pollution (nejes) of the Turks, whose predominance
had caused even the laws of nature to deteriorate. In order to prove
the truth of this, they went about the fields and succeeded in finding
only a single specimen with several stems issuing from the same
root.
 KASR GHURIAN.

Passing the subterranean villages of Suayeh and Ushen, and

further on that called Housh el Yehúd, which, as its name indicates,
is entirely inhabited by Jews, we reached our encampment in the
housh of Ibrahím. The subterranean dwellings which have been
described by Captain Lyon, seem to me to have originated
principally with the Jews, who from time immemorial had become
intimately connected with the Berbers, many of the Berber tribes
having adopted the Jewish creed; and just in the same way as they
are found mingling with the Berbers in these regions—for the original
inhabitants of the Ghurián belong entirely to the Berber race—on
friendly terms, so are they found also in the recesses of the Atlas in
Morocco.
I then went to see the market, which is held every Thursday on the
open ground at the east side of the castle, close to the northern edge
of the ridge. Though much better supplied than that near Kasr Jebel,
it was yet extremely poor; only a single camel was offered for sale.
This results from the mistrust of the inhabitants, who, in bringing their
produce to the great market at Tripoli, are less exposed to vexations
than here. When taking leave of the Kaimakám, we found the whole
castle beset by litigants. I saw in the company of the governor the
chief of the Haj caravan, the Sheikh el Rakeb, of whose grand
entrance into the town I had been witness. The aghá, wanting to
show us their little paradise, accompanied us into the Wady
Rummána, which, in a direction from south-east to north-west, winds
along the southern foot of the ridge on which the castle is situated.
Though it looks rather wild and neglected, it is a charming retreat for
the leisure hours of a governor of a place like this. It is irrigated by a
very powerful spring issuing from the limestone rock in a channel
widened by art, and then dividing into several little rills, which are
directed over the terraces of the slope. These, of course, have been
raised by art, and are laid out in orchards, which, besides the
pomegranates which have given their name to the valley, produce
sferéj (sfarájel)—the Malum Cydonium—of an excellent quality, figs,
grapes, and almonds. A path, practicable even for horses, leads
down from the castle to the spring. Before I left this charming spot, I
made a sketch of the valley, with the castle on the cliffs.
 CHAPTER III.
FERTILE MOUNTAIN REGION RICH IN ANCIENT
REMAINS.

It was past three in the afternoon of Thursday, February 14th,

when we started from the dwelling of our host, in order to pursue our
route in a south-easterly direction. We were agreeably surprised to
see fine vineyards at the village called Jelíli; but the cultivation of
olive-trees seemed almost to cease here, while the country became
quite open, and afforded an unbounded prospect towards the distant
southern range, with its peaks, depressions, and steep slopes. But
the fine olive-groves of Sgáif proved that we had not yet reached the
limit of this useful tree. We were just about to descend the slope into
the broad valley called Wady Rán, when, seeing darkness
approaching, and frightened by the black clouds rising from the
valley, together with a very chilly stream of air, we began to look
seriously about for some secure shelter for the night. To our right we
had a pleasant little hollow with olive-trees; but that would not suffice
in such weather as was apparently approaching, and we therefore
descended a little along the cliffs on our left, where our shoush knew
that there were caverns called Merwán. Scarcely had we pitched our
tent on the little terrace in front of these, when the rain began to pour
down, and, accompanied with snow, continued the whole night.
When we arose next morning, the whole country was covered with
snow about an inch deep, and its natural features were no longer
recognisable. Placed on the very brink of a bank partly consisting of
rocky ground, with many holes, partly of marly soil and accordingly
very slippery, we could not think of starting. At half-past six, the
thermometer stood at 34° Fahr. Fortunately our tent, which had been
fitted by Mr. Warrington for every kind of weather, kept the wet out.
The caverns were very irregular excavations, used by the shepherds
as temporary retreats, and full of fleas. The snow did not melt till late
in the afternoon, and the rain fell without intermission the whole
night.
In the morning the bad weather still continued, but the cold was
not quite so severe. Tired as we were of our involuntary delay in
such a place, we decided upon starting; but it was difficult to get our
half-frozen people to go to work. At length we set out, accompanied
by an old man, whom we hired as guide, on the deep descent into
Wady Rán. The soil was often so slippery that the camels could
scarcely keep their feet; and we were heartily glad when, after an
hour and a quarter’s descent, we at length reached stony ground,
though still on the slope. Here the valley spread out before us to right
and left, with the village Usíne, inhabited by the Merabetín Selahát,
situated on the top of a hill, and distinguished for the quality of its
dates, which are of a peculiar kind, short and thick with a very broad
stone,—while at the foot of the western heights another village was
seen, and on the top of them the castle Bústam. Here the great
valley is joined by a smaller ravine, called Wady Nkhal, with a small
village of the same name. We crossed two paths leading to Beni
Ulíd, passing by Wady Rán, which went parallel to our course on the
right, and where there are two springs and a date-grove, while to the
left, we obtained a view of Sedi-úris, situated on a cone overtowering
the northern end of Wady Kominshát. We then approached closely
the steep glen of Wady Rán, and, after some turnings, crossed the
small rivulet which flows through it, and, a little further on, recrossed
it. Then, traversing the valley called Wady Marníyeh, we entered a
fine fertile plain surrounded on all sides by heights, among which the
Kelúba Naʿame was conspicuous on our right. But the camels found
the marly soil, fully saturated as it was with rain, very difficult,
especially after we had entered the “Shʿabet sóda.” For this reason,
also, we could not think of following the direct path, which leads over
the hills. At the western end of the shʿabet are the villages Deb Beni
ʿAbas and Suadíyeh, with olive-groves. All the waters of the district
are carried into Wady Rán, which joins the Wady Haera.
The country begins to exhibit decidedly a volcanic character, and
from all the heights rise bare basaltic cones, while the lower part is
covered with halfa. This character of the country seems to have
been well understood by the Arabs, when they gave to these basins,
surrounded by basaltic mounts, the name “Shʿabet,” which we have
already seen given to the crater of the Tekút. Here, at a short
distance on our left, we passed “another Shʿabet,” distinguished as
“el Akhera.” At length we found an opening through the hilly chain on
our right, behind an indented projection of the ridge called “Sennet el
Osis,” and then suddenly changed our course from north-east to
south-east. As soon as we had made the circuit of this mount, we
obtained a view of the highest points of the Tarhóna, and directed
our course by one of them, Mount Bíbel, which is said to be
sometimes visible from Tripoli. Tales of deadly strife are attached to
some localities hereabouts; and, according to our guide, the torrent
which we crossed beyond Wady Ruéra poured down, some years
ago, a bloody stream. But at present the scene wants life, the Kasr
Kuséba, situated on the apex of a cone, being almost the only
dwelling-place which we had seen for five hours. Life has fled from
these fertile and pleasant regions; and the monotonous character
which they at present exhibit necessarily impresses itself on the
narrative of the traveller.
At length, after having entered the gorges of the mountains, we
reached the encampment of the Merabetín Bu-ʿAáysha, and pitched
our tent at a short distance from it. These people have considerable
herds of camels and sheep; as for cattle, there are at present very
few in the whole regency of Tripoli, except in the neighbourhood of
Ben-gházi. Their chief, ʿAbdallah, who lives in Tripoli, is much
respected. The valleys and plains hereabouts, when well saturated
with rain, produce a great quantity of corn, but they are almost
entirely destitute of trees. Having been thoroughly drenched to-day
by heavy showers, we were in a very uncomfortable condition at its
close.
About an hour before sunrise, when the thermometer stood at 41°,
I set out to ascend an eminence north from our tent, which afforded
me an excellent site whence to take the bearings of several
prominent cones. After my return to the tent, we started together in
advance of the camels, that we might have time to ascend the broad
cone of Jebel Msíd, which had arrested our attention. We soon
passed a well, or rather fountain, called Bir el ʿAr, which gives its
name to some ancient monument (“sanem,” or idol, as it is called by
the Arabs) at a little distance, and which the guide described as a
kasr tawíl Beni Jehel, “a high fortress of the Romans.” The country
was varied and pleasant, and enlivened, moreover, by flocks; but we
saw no traces of agriculture till we reached the well called Hasi el
abiár, beyond which we entered upon a volcanic formation. As we
ascended along a small ravine, and entered another irregular
mountain-plain of confined dimensions, we found the basalt in many
places protruding from the surface. The more desolate character of
the country was interrupted in a pleasant way by the Wady Nekhél,
which has received its name from the number of palm-trees which
grow here in a very dwarfish state, though watered by a copious
spring. Following the windings of another small valley, we reached a
plain at the foot of Mount Msíd, while on the right a large ravine led
down from the heights. Here we commenced our ascent of the cone;
and on the slope of the mountain we met with large pillars similar to
those which I had seen in the ruins of Hanshír Settára. The pillars
succeeded each other at regular distances up the slope, apparently
marking the track to be followed by those ascending for religious
purposes. The ascent was very gradual for the first twelve minutes;
and twelve minutes more brought us to its summit, which was
crowned with a castle of good Arabic masonry of about the thirteenth
century. Its ruined walls gave us a little protection against the very
strong blasts of wind; but we found it rather difficult to take accurate
angles, which was the more to be regretted as a great many peaks
were visible from this beautifully shaped and conspicuous mount.
It was a little past noon when we pursued our journey from the
western foot of this once holy mount, and, turning its southern side,
resumed our north-easterly direction. We then soon came to the
“Wady hammám,” which forms here a wider basin for the brook
running along it towards Mejenín, so as to produce a pleasant and
fresh green spot. Having watered our animals, we entered a plain
from which detached basaltic hillocks started up; and some ruins of
regularly hewn stones, scattered about, bore testimony that the
Romans had deemed the place worthy of fixed settlements. A small
limestone hill contrasts handsomely with these black basaltic
masses, among which the Leblú, the highest summit of a larger
group to our right, is particularly remarkable. At the foot of the Jebel
Jemmʿa was an encampment of the Welád ʿAli; but I cannot say in
what degree they are connected with the family which has given its
name to the valley in the Yefren. From this side in particular, the
Jebel Msíd presents the form of a beautiful dome, the most regular I
remember to have ever seen. It seems to rise with a proud air over
its humbler neighbours. Having then passed a continuous ridge of
cones stretching south-south-east, and cleared the basaltic region,
we entered a wide plain covered with halfa, and, cutting right across
it, we reached the fertile low plain Elkeb, where another
encampment of the Welád ʿAli excited the desire of our people to try
their hospitality for our night’s quarters; but some distance to the left
two enormous pillars were to be seen standing upright, and thither
we repaired. Here I had an opportunity of accurately investigating a
very peculiar kind of ancient remains, giving a clue, I hope, to the
character of the religion of the early inhabitants of these regions,
though it seems impossible to give a satisfactory explanation
respecting all the details of their structure.
It consists of a pair of quadrangular pillars erected on a common
basis, which is fixed into the ground, and measures 3 ft. 1⁵⁄₁₂ in. in
length, and 2 ft. 10 in. in width. The two pillars, which measure 2 ft.
on each side, being 1 ft. 7²⁄₁₀ in. asunder, are 10 ft. high. The
western pillar has three quadrangular holes on the inside, while the
corresponding holes in the eastern pillar go quite through; the lowest
hole is 1 ft. 8 in. above the ground, and the second 1 ft. ½ in. higher
up, and so the third above the second. The holes are 6 in. square.
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