GABS, the name of a town of Africa, situated on the south-east part of Tunis, in a bay of the Al editerranean. It was the Eftichus of Scylax, and the Tacafte of Ptolemy and Pliny. Dr Shaw informs us, that the ruins of this ancient city are still to he seen upon a rising ground, at the dis tance of half a mile from Gabs, having been formerly wash ed by the sea, which here formed a bay nearly half a mile in diameter. The greater part, however, of this bay is now filled up and gained from the sea. Among these ruins are some beautiful granite pillars, about twelve feet long, and all of them square ; a form which Dr Shaw had never seen in any other part of Africa. There are several extensive plantations of palm trees at Gabs, but the dates are much inferior both in taste and size to those of Jireed. The prin cipal trade of the place consists of the al-hennah, which is cultivated to a great extent in all the gardens. " This beautiful odoriferous plant," says Dr Shaw, " if it is not an nually cut and kept low, as it is usually in other places, grows ten or twelve feet high, putting out its flowers in clusters, which yield a most grateful smell, like camphor.
The leaves of this plant, after they are dried and powdered, are disposed of to good advantage in all the markets of this kingdom: For with this all the African ladies that can pur chase it, tinge their lips, hair, hands, and feet, rendering them thereby of a tawny saffron colour, which, with them, is reckoned a great beauty. The al-hennah, no less than the palm, requires to be frequently watered : for which purpose, the river that runs through these plantations is cantoned out, as it seems to have been in the time of Pliny, into a number of channels. Distance from Tunis 57 leagues south, from \Vood-riffe three leagues, and from Ellamaite 12 leagues. The baths of Gabs, or the Aquas Tacapitanas, are situated at Elhammah, about four leagues to the west ward of Gabs, and are described by Shaw. East Long. 10° 2', North Lat. See Scylax, p. 46 ; Ptolemy, lib. iv. cap. 3; Pliny, lib. v. cap. 4 ; lib. xviii. cap. 22 ; Stra bo, lib. xvii. p. 1188 ; and Shaw's Travels in Barbary and the Levant, chap. iv. p. 213.