of Festus Avienus frequent
references are made to the records of the voyages of another celebrated
Carthaginian admiral, Himilco, who had explored the northwestern coast
of Europe. Our own islands are mentioned by Himilco as the lands of the
Hiberni and Albioni. It is indeed certain that the Carthaginians
frequented the Cornish coast--as the Phoenicians had done before
them--for the purpose of procuring tin; and there is every reason to
believe that they sailed as far as the coasts of the Baltic for amber.
When it is remembered that the mariner's compass was unknown in those
ages, the boldness and skill of the seamen of Carthage, and the
enterprise of her merchants, may be paralleled with any achievements
that the history of modern navigation and commerce can produce.

In their Atlantic voyages along the African shores the Carthaginians
followed the double object of traffic and colonization. The numerous
settlements that were planted by them along the coast from Morocco to
Senegal provided for the needy members of the constantly increasing
population of a great commercial capital, and also strengthened the
influence which Carthage exercised among the tribes of the African
coast. Besides her fleets, her caravans gave her a large and lucrative
trade with the native Africans; nor must we limit our belief of the
extent of the Carthaginian trade with the tribes of Central and Western
Africa by the narrowness of the commercial intercourse which civilized
nations of modern times have been able to create in those regions.

Although essentially a mercantile and seafaring people, the
Carthaginians by no means neglected agriculture. On the contrary, the
whole of their territory was cultivated like a garden. The fertility of
the soil repaid the skill and toil bestowed on it; and every invader,
from Agathocles to Scipio AEmilianus, was struck with admiration at the
rich pasture lands carefully irrigated, the abundant harvests, the
luxuriant vineyards, the plantations of fig and olive trees, the
thriving villages, the populous towns, and the splendid villas of the
wealthy Carthaginians, through which his march lay, as long as he was on
Carthaginian ground.

Although the Carthaginians abandoned the AEgean and the Pontus to the
Greek, they were by no means disposed to relinquish to those rivals the
commerce and the dominion of the coasts of the Mediterranean westward of
Italy. For centuries the Carthaginians strove to make themselve