them, testified alike to the wealth and taste of their occupants.

Fountains threw their water into the air, numerous waterfalls splashed
with a cool, soothing sound over artificial rocks. Statues wrought
by Greek sculptors stood on the terraces, shady walks offered a cool
retreat during the heat of the day, the vine, the pomegranate, and
the fig afforded refreshment to the palate as well as pleasure
to the eye. Palm trees with their graceful foliage waved gently in
the passing breezes. All the countries with which the Carthaginians
traded had supplied their contingent of vegetation to add to the
beauty and production of these gardens, which were the admiration
and envy of the civilized world.

Crossing the brow of a low range of hills the detachment came in
sight of Carthage. The general and his three companions, who were
riding in the rear of the column, drew in their horses and sat
for a while surveying the scene. It was one which, familiar as it
might be, it was impossible to survey without the deepest feeling
of admiration.

In the centre stood the great rock of Byrsa, a flat topped eminence
with almost perpendicular sides rising about two hundred feet
above the surrounding plain. This plateau formed the seat of the
ancient Carthage, the Phoenician colony which Dido had founded. It
was now the acropolis of Carthage. Here stood the temples of the
chief deities of the town; here were immense magazines and storehouses
capable of containing provisions for a prolonged siege for the
fifty thousand men whom the place could contain. The craggy sides
of the rock were visible but in few places. Massive fortifications
rising from its foot to its summit defended every point where the