editerranean, the little band of adventurers pursued their course,
steering westward, ever westward; away past Egypt, and past Libya, until
they came in sight of a peninsula on the northern coast of Africa
hitherto unknown to history, but ever afterward to be famous as the
landing-place of the heroic woman. At a point only a short distance from
the site of the present city of Tunis, Dido, with her followers,
established herself; not taking possession of the territory on which
she set her foot, as became the fashion some time later, but purchasing
it from the natives at a given price. According to the usage of the
times, she at once set about founding a city; and one hundred years
before the founding of Rome--its after rival and destroyer--the work of
building Carthage, or the New City, as Dido named it, began. The city
being advantageously situated for commerce, and the rule of Dido more
mild than that of Pygmalion, her brother, hundreds of the Tyrians
flocked to her standard. These men of Tyre brought with them their old
home-love of commercial enterprise and maritime adventure; and, in a
marvelously short time, Carthage took high rank among the nations of the
world; and it was conceded, by one of the most renowned philosophers of
Greece, that it enjoyed one of the most perfect governments of
antiquity.

It is told of Dido, that she was not only capable and brave, but
also--like many of the opposite sex--somewhat sharp in a bargain; and
that she tricked the Africans into giving her more territory than they
designed doing. The story is--though it is not generally believed--that
having bargained with the natives for as much land as an ox-hide would
encompass, she cut it up into the smallest possible strips, and by this
means made it capable of surrounding a large extent of ground; and, as a
bargain is a bargain, she gained possession of the inclosure by agreeing
to pay an annual tribute for it. But whether or not this rather
improbable story be true, avarice and tyranny on the part of a brother
seems to have roused the dormant power in Dido's nature; and the
indomitable perseverance, fortitude, and faculty for government
displayed by the outraged woman, were the forces which brought about the
founding of a powerful nation. King Pygmalion is only remembered because
he was the brother of the illustrious Queen Dido.

CLEOPATRA.

The character of Cleopatra forms a striking contrast to that of Dido, in
many particulars: