DERNA (anc. Darnis-Zarine)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 74 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DEM-DIO

DERNA (anc. Darnis-Zarine) , a town on the north coast of Africa and

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the eastern half of the Ottoman province of Bengazi or Barca. Situated below the eastern butt of Jebel Akhdar on a small but rich deltaic plain, watered by fine perennial springs, it has a growing population and trade, the latter being mainly in fruits grown in its extensive palm gardens, and in hides and wool brought down by the nomads from the interior. If the port Nacre better there would be more rapid expansion. The bay is open from N.W. round to S.E. and often inaccessible in winter and

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

, and the steamers of the Nay. Gen. Italiana sometimes have to pass without calling. The population has recovered from the

great

GREAT

plague epidemic of 1821 and reached its former figure of about 7000. A proportion of it is of Moorish stock, of Andalusian origin, which emigrated in 1493; the descendants preserve a fine facial type. The sheikhs of the local Bedouin tribes have houses in the place, and a Turkish garrison of about 250 men is stationed in barracks. There is a lighthouse W. of the bay. A British consular agent is

resident

RESIDENT

and the Italians maintain a vice-

consul

. The names Darnis and Zarine are philologically identical and probably refer to the same place. No traces are left of the ancient town except some rock tombs. Darnis continued to be of some importance in early Moslem times as a station on the Alexandria-Kairawan road, and has served on more than one occasion as a base for Egyptian attacks on Cyrenaica and Tripolitana. In 1805 the government of the United States, having a quarrel with the dey of

Tripoli

on account of piracies committed on American shipping, landed a force to co-operate in the attack on Derna then being made by Sidi Ahmet, an elder brother of the dey. This force, commanded by William Eaton (q.v.), built a fort, whose ruins and rusty guns are still to be seen, and began to improve the harbour; but its

work

WORK

quickly came to an end with the conclusion of peace. After 1835 Derna passed under direct Ottoman

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

, and subsequently served as the point whence the sultan exerted a

precarious

PRECARIOUS

but increasing

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

over eastern Cyrenaica and Marmarica. It is now in communication by wireless telegraphy with Rhodes and western Cyrenaica. It is the only town, or even large

village

VILLAGE

,
between Bengazi and Alexandria (600 m.) (D. G. H.)

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