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But the absence of facts forbids any confident conclusion relative to this particular branch of that very extensive commerce in which the ancient States of Barbary, under the auspices of their Tyrian colonists, are known to have engaged; and he who endeavours to elicit historical truth from the maze of fabulous geography with which alone we are sup plied, pursues a phantom which will for ever elude his most eager grasp.*

It is generally admitted, that the Estrymnian or Cassiterides, that is, the Tin Islands of the ancients, may be identified with those of Scilly. It is remarkable, however, that in these last there are no traces of tin at the present day, and no vestiges that it was ever found there in a native state. Neither, as a modern author observes, if the Atlantic navigation of the Carthaginians was all along the coast, can we see why the metals should have been brought thither for sale from Cornwall, which lies just as near Ushant, whence the trading vessels must have stretched across the Channel. Lelewel considers the Bay of Biscay to have been the great recess in which the Estrymnian Islands were situated; but the Scilly Isles, it is well known, do not lie there, and no efforts will make the description of the cape, bay, and islands, given in Avienus, correspond with the real appearance of the western coast of Europe. But, on the whole, there is very little reason to dispute the fact, that the southern coast of Britain was visited by Punic merchantmen; though it must be acknowledged, that there is no direct proof of their having proceeded any farther north. The amber which was conveyed to the Mediterranean may have been purchased on the coast of Gaul, whither it could be brought overland by the Germans. It may even have been carried thither by sea; for it is not improbable that the Scandinavians, even at that early opoch, were no less expert navigators than they were actually found to be at the very dawn of history.t

While Hamilco was employed in surveying the western shores of Portugal and Spain, his brother Hanno conducted an expedition towards the south, with the view of planting colonies on the borders of Africa. His fleet amounted to sixty large ships, having on board 30,000 persons, who had

* See Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i., p. 173.
† Foreign Quarterly Review, No. xxvii., p. 220, &c.

consented to occupy new lands at a distance from Carthage. These he distributed into six towns, which of course contained on an average 5,000 inhabitants. They consisted, we are told, of Liby-Phoenicians-the descendants of the natives and of the Tyrian emigrants—and were chosen, not from the citizens, but from the peasantry of the adjoining districts. The settlements of Hanno, it is presumed, did not extend beyond the boundaries of Fez and Morocco; the first of them, which was called Thymatirium, being only two days' sail from the termination of the strait or promontory of Spartel. Next to that is mentioned the point of Soloe or Cape Blanco, where was erected a temple to Neptune, or, as Scylax describes it, a large altar decorated with bass-reliefs, representing human figures, lions, and dolphins. Proceeding a day and a half farther south along the coast, the navigator selected places for five towns,-Teechos, Gytta, Acra, Melite, and Arambe. The remotest settlement was Kerne, which, it is supposed, must be sought for in the vicinity of Mogadore, or, perhaps, in the Bay of Santa Cruz.*

The colonies planted by Hanno seem to have been the first which were established in those unfrequented regions; at least no traces are found in his narrative of any community of human beings having fixed their abode on the lands that he appropriated. The whole length of the coast is described as a discovery which he appears to have carried beyond the Senegal, though he did not take possession of all the territory he explored. As to his settlements, their ultimate fate is wrapped in obscurity; in the time of the Roman wars they had ceased to exist as Carthaginian dependances, and had probably fallen a prey to the tribes of the neighbouring Desert.

Their intercourse with the Atlantic shores of Africa, would almost necessarily make the Carthaginians acquainted with some of those numerous islands which lie scattered in the ocean.† Diodorus, accordingly, relates, that the Phoenicians

* Scylax. Periplus, p. 2. Festus Avienus, v. 357.
"Ultra has columnas propter Europæ latus
Vicos et urbes incolæ Carthaginis
Tenuere quondam."

+ Diodor. Siculus, lib. v., c. 19. Heeren remarks, that the description in the text could not apply to the Canary Islands. A passage in Avienus seems to allude to Teneriffe and its vol

-a name which he frequently applied to the mariners of the Barbary States-had detected an island many days' sail westward from Libya; the glowing description he gives of which recalls to our recollection the idea of such happy clusters as have from time to time been brought to light in the South Sea, where summer always prevails, where the trees are ever green, and where the wants of the inhabitants are supplied by the spontaneous gifts of nature. All that he tells us, of its being situated at a considerable distance in the ocean, of its streams and rivers, of its productions, its fruits, and foliage, agrees with no other island so well as Madeira.

Historians and geographers have long disputed as to the extent of the navigation which the ships of Carthage accomplished in the Atlantic Ocean. Some are content with extending the limits of their voyages from the southern coast of Britain on the north to Cape Bojador on the south; while others, conferring upon them a share in the direct trade with the Baltic, conduct their ships to the mouth of the Vistula and the coast of Prussia on the one hand, and on the other, to the estuary of the Gambia and the shores of Guinea. It is even maintained, that they crossed to America, and visited the borders of the New World-an opinion founded so entirely upon conjecture, as to be beyond the reach of fact or reasoning, were we to undertake its refutation. We agree with an author already quoted, that "at the time Carthage was most flourishing, she traded northward directly to Britain, and indirectly to the Baltie; southward to the Gambia by sea, and by caravans far into the interior of Africa; while eastward she carried on an active commerce with all parts of the Mediterranean, and, through the mother-city, obtained the productions of India." She may, too, have purchased

cano. Beyond the Pillars lies an island,-" Ultra has colum-
"&c.
nas,

"On Ocean's bosom spread,
Where varying herbs in wild profusion grow,
Sacred to Saturn is the land esteemed:
And Nature's power is there terrific seen:
For when by chance the mariner draws nigh
The coast, the ambient waters rage around,

The island shakes and starts among the waves,

And deeply trembles; while the ocean lies

Calm in the distance, silent and unmoved."-Ver. 164, &c.

slaves from the Grecian slave-dealers. Her commercial rela tions would thus extend over nearly the whole of the known world, and would only be surpassed by those of modern Europe since the discovery of America, and of the passage to the East by the Cape of Good Hope.*

It is manifest that the spirit of monopoly was a chief ele ment in the Carthaginian laws, as is proved by their commercial treaties with Rome, and from the fact of its being the custom to drown the crews of such vessels, belonging to other nations, as were found in the vicinity of those places with which they carried on the most lucrative traffic. This ardent ri valry is assigned by Heeren as the main cause why their trade was not more extensive in the eastern parts of the Mediterranean, where they could not escape a very active competition with the older dealers.

It would appear that the expeditions under Hanno and Hamilco took place about 480 years before the reign of Augustus-a period when Carthage enjoyed the blessing of a profound peace. Her progress in wealth, population, and refinement, must already have been very considerable. A fleet of sixty large ships, each propelled by fifty oars, and having on board 30,000 emigrants, denotes the power and condition of a prosperous state. Another proof of her advancement in the arts and enjoyments of social life, is the attention paid by her citizens to agriculture regarded as a science. Pliny relates, that when the Romans overthrew the city of Dido, they gave the libraries found there to their allies, the Numidians a circumstance which throws some light upon the manner in which the works of the Carthaginian historians had come into the possession of King Hiempsal. The works of Mago alone, one of the kings or suffetes, extending to twenty-eight books, were translated into Latin by Solinus; some fragments of which, preserved by the distinguished naturalist to whom we owe our knowledge of this fact, are sufficient to show, that the royal author treated fully of all kinds of husbandry, agriculture, planting, breeding of stock, and the improvement of fruit-trees. It cannot, then, be doubted, even if the mention of libraries failed to prove it, that there was a Carthaginian literature; that it was patronised by the great; and had already passed from the romance

* Foreign Quarterly Review, No. xxvii., p. 225.

of poetry, the first composition of all rude nations, into the more didactic form of prose.*

All accounts agree in praising the high state of cultivation found in the neighbourhood of Carthage. We learn from Diodorus, that the territory through which Agathocles led his army, after landing on the African shore, was covered with gardens and large plantations, everywhere abounding in canals, by means of which they were plentifully watered. A continual succession of fine estates were seen, adorned with elegant buildings, which indicated the opulence of their proprietors. These dwellings, says he, were furnished with every thing requisite for the enjoyment of men; the owners having accumulated immense stores during the long peace. The lands were planted with vines, with palms, and with many other trees bearing fruit. On one side were meadows filled with flocks and herds, and on the lower grounds were seen numerous brood-mares, reserved for the uses of the army, the chariot, or the husbandman. In short, the whole prospect displayed the riches of the inhabitants; while the higher ranks had very extensive possessions, and vied with one another in pomp and luxury.†

Fifty years later, when the dominions of Carthage were invaded by the Romans, a similar picture is given by Polybius of the wealth, elegance, and cultivation which everywhere adorned them. On that occasion, a number of splendid villas were destroyed, an immense booty was obtained in cattle, and above 20,000 slaves were carried away. The same historian relates, that at the period now mentioned, the better class of the people drew their private income from their own estates; the public revenue was derived from the provinces.‡

We have already alluded to the land-trade of Carthage, which, by means of caravans, she appears to have carried far into the South, the East, and the West. Herodotus, whose knowledge of ancient Africa was much more complete and accurate than hasty critics are wont to imagine, has traced with much precision the routes of the merchant-travellers from the neighbourhood of the Syrtis to Fezzan, Si

* Plin. Hist. Nat., lib. xviii., c. 3.

+ Diod. Sicul., lib. ix., c. 26, &c.
Polyb., lib. i., c. 5, and lib. ii., c. 3, 4, 5.
F

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