were brought from Judah and Israel; from Damascus came the wine of Helbon and the fine wool for which that part of Syria was long famous; the cypresses of Mount Hermon, the oaks of Bashan, the cedars of Lebanon, and the box-wood of Cyprus, were conveyed to Tyre, in exchange for the productions of her mechanical ingenuity. In Tarshish, or Spain, the Tyrians obtained silver, iron, tin, and lead; from the Isles of Elisha, or the shores of Asia Minor, was imported, according to the prophet, a species of blue and purple sailcloth, which proved extremely useful to their merchant-ships. From Egypt were conveyed cotton and linen goods, and perhaps those rarer articles of traffic, which were carried on the backs of camels from the interior of Africa. The eastern shores of Arabia supplied wrought iron, spices, ivory, ebony, gold, and precious stones,-all which were brought over land to the coast of the Mediterranean, and exchanged for Phœnician manufactures or Spanish silver.

Carthage succeeded to a large portion of the trade originally possessed by the enterprising state from which she derived her origin. In some respects her position was more favourable for commerce with Africa and Western Europe, than even that of Tyre and Sidon; and there is no doubt that she availed herself of her advantages, in securing the riches of the Spanish perrinsula, as well as those of the negro kingdoms situated beyond the Sahara. By means of caravans, her goods sought a market on the banks of the Upper Nile, and on either side of the Arabian Gulf; and in the Mediterranean her ships found an entrance into all the principal ports, from Cyrene to the Straits. With a view of extending her commerce and creating a demand for her manufactures, she formed settlements in Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands. This step became the more necessary to her, because, though she kept up a correspondence with the parent-country, as also with Greece, Egypt, and the Pentapolis, she appears not to have at any time enjoyed a large share of trade in those parts. Among these ancient nations, where competition already prevailed to no small extent, she could not fail to encounter many rivals; on which account, her rulers wisely endeavoured to secure an exclusive intercourse with the less polished tribes who occupied the western shores of their inland sea. Even this object was not accomplished without opposition; for a Greek

colony, planted at Marseilles, claimed the trade of Southern Gaul, while other establishments, not less jealous, asserted a previous right to whatever profit might be derived from buying and selling among the Italians and merchants of Sicily.

It was, however, to the countries just named, that her mercantile navigation was first directed. Carthaginian traders settled at an early period in Syracuse, as well as in other Greek cities, whose harbours were always full of their ships; while, on the other hand, these rich countries found the Tyrian colonists the best customers for their oil and wine, which they again disposed of at Cyrene, in exchange for commodities still more highly prized. That an active commerce existed between Carthage and the other nations of Italy-the Romans and Etrurians-is rendered manifest by the numerous treaties, of which some record still remains. The greater part of these, we are told, related to the suppression of piracy, at that time carried on by all maritime nations, especially by those on the northern' side of the Mediterranean-a practice which extended, not only to the plunder of towns, but also to the abduction of the inhabitants, who were instantly sold into captivity. The articles presented in the Italian markets by the States of Barbary, were black slaves froin the interior, precious stones, gold, and manufactures; and, in return for these, they accepted, as has just been remarked, the produce of the soil-corn, wine, and oil, together with certain specimens of art, in which the natives were already beginning to excel. Malta, which belonged to Carthage, soon became celebrated for the beautiful cloths it produced; Lipara and its dependances, which owned the same government, supplied an abundance of resin, then esteemed a very valuable article; Corsica was celebrated for its wax and slaves; and Elba enjoyed a high reputation, arising from its inexhaustible stores of iron, which were imagined to grow under the hand of the miner.

It has already been suggested that the Barbary States maintained an early and very extensive intercourse with Spain. That country, so rich in natural productions, presented one of the most profitable marts for the Carthaginian trade; while its mines formed one of the principal sources of their revenue. At the period when they were first visited by the ships of the new republic, the inhabitants had attained

just that degree of civilization which made them acquainted with foreign commodities, and led them to covet their possession, without having inspired them with the knowledge of producing any work of art which might be given in exchange. Hence the traffic with them must have been extremely advantageous to the older nation, who could, in the absence of all competition, charge for their goods an arbitrary price. Penetrating through the peninsula, the chapmen of Carthage carried their wares into France-not having yet established a footing on its southern shores, which, as is mentioned above, were jealously occupied by the Greeks of Massilia, a people not less devoted than themselves to the pursuits of commerce. This early intercourse with Gaul is proved by the great number of mercenary troops from that country, which, during the first of the Sicilian wars, fought in the Carthaginian armies, as well as by the eager desire which was manifested to expel the settlers, who had anticipated them in colonizing its richest provinces.*

As to the trade which the African merchants extended into the Atlantic, it is difficult to make a distinction between what they accomplished as original adventurers and what they inherited from their Phoenician progenitors. It is manifest that the ships of Tyre had already opened the way for them beyond the Pillars of Hercules; and it admits not of any doubt that they continued to follow the track thus indicated to their commercial navy. The best writers on this subject are unanimous in the opinion, that the Carthaginians had a number of colonies on the western coast of Spain, as also that the articles which principally composed their cargoes were tin and amber. According to the express evidence of antiquity, the metal now mentioned was found, not only in the mountains of Biscay, but also in Britain, and in certain islands which lay not far from its shores. †

With respect to the course of this trade, we are informed by Strabo, that in early times it was conducted by the Phonicians, or Carthaginians who had their principal seat at Gades. It would appear, therefore, that this people at first con tented themselves with the office of carriers; though, from the extent of their navigation, it might be concluded that they

* Diodor. Sicul., lib. v., c. 21. Scylax, p. 50, quoted by Hee+ Diodor. Sicul., lib. v., c. 19-22.

ren.

frequently approached the British shores, and transacted business with the natives. Some light is thrown on this inquiry, by a passage in the poem of Festus Avienus, who has clothed in verse the more remarkable incidents which distinguished the voyage of Hamilco. He relates that the Estrymnian Islands supposed to be those now named the Scillyabound in tin and lead. Their numerous inhabitants, says he, are proud and ingenious, and devote themselves entirely to commerce, gliding over the sea in their frail canoes, formed, not of wood, but of hides. Two days' sail from them is the "Sacred Island," inhabited by the Hibernians; but the island of the Albiones is close at hand. The Tartessians were the first traders to the Estrymnian Islands, though the colonies and the people of Carthage about the Pillars of Hercules navigate these seas. The voyage, as Hamilco affirms, occupies four months, as he himself experienced.*

This quotation proves that it was chiefly the Tartessiansin other words, the Phoenician colonists in Spain-who performed the voyages to which Avienus alludes. Carthage, however, and her settlements, also took an active part; and Hamilco himself had extended his course, whether for trade or discovery, to the same point. The long period exhausted in a voyage, comparatively so short, is accounted for in his own narrative, in which he states that he proceeded along the coast, where his progress was impeded by many obstructions. Among these he mentions a vast accumulation of seaweed, which, together with other impediments not more intelligible to a modern sailor, prevented him from stretching out into the open main. The Scilly Isles were unquestiona bly the object that he had principally in view, though the intercourse which the Carthaginians maintained with these minor settlements, comprehended also some acquaintance with Hibernia and the neighbouring shores of Albion, both of which, it is more than probable, were visited by the Eastern navigaIn fact, from what Strabo says, it may be inferred that an active commerce existed on the English coast, as he observes that the manners of the native tribes were rendered milder by their frequent intercourse with strangers. It might even be conjectured, from his remarks, that the merchants of Carthage had regular stations in Britain, without

tors.

* Festus Avienus, Ora Maritima, v. 95–125.

which a long stay among the inhabitants, such at least as tọ affect their habits, would not have been practicable.

The trade here, as well as in the Scilly Isles, appears to have resolved itself, as was usual in those ancient times, into a species of barter. Earthenware, salt, and iron tools, were commodities with which the foreigners supplied them. But on this subject we labour under a want of details; for, till the time of the Romans, the particulars of the traffic which the Carthaginians carried on with their customers beyond the Straits were enveloped in the profoundest secrecy. This precaution, however, did not keep away all competitors. The way which the Phoenicians found out by sea, the Greeks of Massilia found out by land; for, journeying along the shore as far as the British Channel, whence they procured quantities of tin, at that time an object of great request, they conveyed it, after thirty days' travel, to the mouth of the Rhone.

The descriptions of the ancients, in respect to the dealings of the Phoenician colonists, both in Spain and Africa, with the natives of the tin countries, are at once so minute and distinct, that there is no room whatever for doubt as to the great extent of their trade and navigation several centuries before the Christian era. The case, however, as Heeren justly observes, is widely different with regard to the other articles which induced them to brave the terrors of the Atlantic, namely, the production which by them was denominated " electrum," and is familiarly known to us by the designation of amber. Every circumstance connected with the obtainment of this commodity has been so darkened by fable, that the narratives of the best authors are rendered quite unintelligible—a fact which proves that the country whence it was procured was much more distant than the lands which abounded in tin. This obscurity, too, which every reader has cause to lament, has been not a little increased by the attempts of certain moderns to confine the trade in amber to one place; while, from the accounts given by Pliny, it is clear that it was to be found in several districts and islands in the north of Europe. The whole of Scandinavia was celebrated for this valuable commodity; and, assuredly, there is no good reason for supposing, that the daring nation which doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and sailed from Tyre to Britain, might not also have reached the Samlandic coast.*

* See Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i., p. 173.