Quicksands, The

more properly THE Syrtis, The, (Acts 27:17) the broad a deep bight on the north African coast between Carthage and Cyrene. There were properly two Syrtes—the eastern or larger, now called the Gulf of Sidra, and the western or smaller, now the Gulf of Cabes . It is the former to which our attention is directed in this passage of the Acts.

Found only in Acts 27:17, the rendering of the Greek Syrtis. On the north coast of Africa were two localities dangerous to sailors, called the Greater and Lesser Syrtis. The former of these is probably here meant. It lies between Tripoli and Barca, and near Cyrene. The Lesser Syrtis lay farther to the west.