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[PROM A CORRESPONDENT. The following statement was given by Caysern Aga, the Tripolian Ambassador at the Court of Great Bri tain, about the year 1747, relative to a petrified city, in the interior of Africa. It strongly brings to mind the awful circumstance recorded in the 19th chapter of Ge nesis, verse 26, and may be interesting to some of your readers. Its reality may be confirmed through the re searches of the enterprising traveller, Mr. Ritchie, who proceeded some time since, with an expedition from Tri poli, for the purpose of exploring the interior of that vast Continent. ** As one of my friends desired me to give him, in writing, an account of what I knew touching the petrified city, situated se venteen days’ journey from ‘lipoli, ey Caravan, to the south-east, and two days’ journey south from Ouguela, 1 told him what I had heard from different persons, and particularly from the mouth of one man of credit, who had been on the spot’; that is to say= that it was a spacious city, of a round form, having great and small streets therein, furnished with shops, with a large castle, magnificently built; that he had seen there several sorts of trees, the most part olives and palms, all of stone; and of blue, or ra ther lead colour. . . that he saw also, figures of men, in postures of exercising their different’ employments ; some holding in their hands stuffs, ‘others bread; every one doing something—even women suck ling their children, all of stone .That he went into the castle by three different gates, though there were many more; that there were guards at these gates, with pikes and javelins in their hands. “In short, that he saw, in this wonderful city, many sorta of animals, as camels, oxen, horses, asses, and sheep, and variang birds, all of stone, and of the colour above-mentioned. ’
Newspaper Details
Courier
London, Middlesex, GB
Thu, Jan 13, 1820
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Charlie H.
