Augustus Henry Keane and Frank Richardson Cana

“ Horses and cattle are bred, but the horses are not numerous; goats and a fat-tailed variety of sheep are kept in large numbers. Birds include the ostrich, vultures, hoopoes, wood pigeons and doves. Bees are numerous and honey forms an article of export.
The explorations of Henri Duveyrier, Victor Largeau, Erwin von Bary and H. S. Cowper during the second half of the 19th century showed that Tripoli was not only inhabited primitive man, but was the seat of a flourishing Neolithic culture, comparable to and in many respects resembling that of Iberia, Brittany and the British Isles. ”

“ In the Barca plateau and in parts of the coast belt the Hora is more varied, resembling that of the Mediterranean countries generally. In these regions the laurel, myrtle and other evergreens are fairly common, and the oak, cypress, pine, carob and other trees occur, notably the olive, found also in the oases. Other fruit trees are the almond, fig, pomegranate, quince and apricot. Vines flourish in a few districts.
The larger wild animals are scarcely represented in Tripoli. The wild boar is found in Jebel Akhdar, the hyena, fox and jackal in the deserts. ”

“ In the 5th century both Tripoli and Cyrenaica were conquered' by the Vandals, whose power was destroyed by the Byzantine general Belisarius in the following century. In the middle of the 7th century the whole country was overrun by the Arabs, and Christianity gave place to Islam. From this period, for many centuries, Tripoli was subject to the successive rulers of Tunisia. ”

“ All kinds of megalithic structures are found-dolmens and circles like Stonehenge, Cairns, underground cells excavated in the live rock, barrows topped with huge slabs, cup stones, mounds in the form of step pyramids, and sacrificial altars. ”

“ In 1904 the exports of barley fell to £3,200 and those of esparto rose to £126,000. From Bengazi hundreds of thousands of sheep are exported to Egypt, Malta. and Crete. With Egypt there is an overland as well as sea trade. The caravan trade, which in the forty years ending 1901 had an annual average value of £114,000, is so costly that only articles yielding considerable profit can be carried; the desert trade is, moreover, being deflected to the Niger and the Guinea coast. ”

“ The elevated plateau of Cyrenaica, which encloses the Gulf of Sidra on the west, is separated southwards by the Aujila depression from the Libyan desert, and projects northwards far into the Mediterranean, might seem, like the Atlas region in the west, to belong geologically rather to the European than to the African mainland. It has a mean altitude of considerably over 2000 ft., and in the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountains) attains a height of nearly 3500 ft. Eastwards the Barca uplands merge gradually in the less elevated Marmarica plateau, which nowhere rises more than 1800 ft. ”

“ From these ports the chief exports are sheep and goats, oxen, wool and skins, barley and camels—the last sent overland to Alexandria. Food-stuffs, tea, olive oil and cotton goods are the chief imports. There is an active contraband trade with Greece and Malta in firearms and gunpowder.
Barley is the chief food of the people both in Tripoli proper and in Bengazi. The nomad Arabs possess thousands of camels, cattle and sheep. They weave rough woollen garments, make reed matting, carpets of alternative strips of woven goat and woven camel hair, and manufacture butter. ”

“ The mouflon, gazelle, hares, rabbits and marmots are among the commoner animals. Reptiles include the horned viper and the gecko. The characteristic animal is the camel, found only in the domesticated state. ”

“ The oasis, which stands on the Cretaceous Tinghert plateau 300 m. south-west of Tripoli, and 1200 ft. above the sea, is enclosed by a circular rampart over 3 m. in circumference. The town, which Ghadames. occupies the south-west corner of the enclosure, has a population of about 7000. Owing to its perennial springs and artesian wells, the oasis yields an abundance of dates, figs, apricots and vegetables, besides some wheat, barley and millet. ”

“ There are regular sailings between Malta and Tripoli and between Tunis and Tripoli. Italian vessels also call regularly at Bengazi and Derna. The shipping trade is mostly in the hands of Italians—who have more than half the total tonnage—and French, British shipping coming third. Inland communication is almost entirely by camel caravans. ”