Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
QUICK'SANDS are referred to in Acts 27:17, and were known as Greater Syrtis and the Lesser Syrtis, two sandy gulfs on the northern coast of Africa. The Greater Syrtis was near Cyrene, and is the "quicksands" probably intended in the narrative of Paul's voyage.