colonies. Near the mouth of the Guadalete there detaches itself from the
coast of Spain an island eleven miles in length, known now as the "Isla
de Leon," which is separated from the mainland for half its length by a
narrow but navigable channel, while to this there succeeds on the
north an ample bay, divided into two portions, a northern and a
southern.[5174] The southern, or interior recess, is completely
sheltered from all winds; the northern lies open to the west, but is so
full of creeks, coves, and estuaries as to offer a succession of fairly
good ports, one or other of which would always be accessible. The
southern half of the island is from one to four miles broad; but the
northern consists of a long spit of land running out to the north-west,
in places not more than a furlong in width, but expanding at its
northern extremity to a breadth of nearly two miles. The long isthmus,
and the peninsula in which it ends, have been compared to the stalk and
blossom of a flower.[5175] The flower was the ancient Gades, the modern
Cadiz. The Phoenician occupation of the site is witnessed to by Strabo,
Diodorus, Scymnus Chius, Mela, Pliny, Velleius Paterculus, Ælian and
Arrian,[5176] and is further evidenced by the numerous coins which bear
the legend of "Agadir" in Phoenician characters.[5177] But the place
itself retains no traces of the Phoenician occupation. The famous temple
of Melkarth, with its two bronze pillars in front bearing inscriptions,
has wholly perished, as have all other vestiges of the ancient
buildings. This is the result of the continuous occupation of the site,
which has been built on successively by Phoenicians, Carthaginians,
Romans, Vandals, Moors, and Spaniards. The space is somewhat confined,
and the houses in ancient times were, we are told, closely crowded
together,[5178] as they were at Aradus and Tyre. But the advantages of
the harbour and the productiveness of the vicinity more than made up for
this inconvenience. Gades may have been, as Cadiz is now said to be, "a
mere silver plate set down upon the edge of the sea,"[5179] but it was