The chief question in respect to Siwah is, whether it does or does not comprise the site of the celebrated shrine of Jupiter Ammon, that object of awful veneration to the nations of antiquity, and which Alexander himself, the greatest of its heroes, underwent excessive toil and peril to visit and to associate with his name.

This territory does in fact contain springs, and a small edifice, with walls six feet thick, partly painted and adorned with hieroglyphics.

There are also antique tombs in the neighbouring mountains, but as the subsequent discoveries of Belzoni and Edmonstone have proved that all these features exist in other oases, scattered in different directions along the desert borders of Egypt, some uncertainty must perhaps for ever rest on this curious question.
The route now passed through a region still indeed barren, yet not presenting such a monotonous plain of sand as intervenes between Egypt and Siwah.

It was bordered by precipitous limestone rocks, often completely filled with shells and marine remains.

The caravan, while proceeding along these wild tracts, were alarmed by a tremendous braying of asses, and, on looking back, saw several hundred of the people of Siwah, armed and in full pursuit, mounted on these useful animals.