ng 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 rock was not absolutely perpendicular.
These walls were of enormous thickness, and in casemates or recesses in
their thickness were the stables for the elephants, horses, and cattle
of the garrison.

Round the upper edge of the rock extended another massive wall, above
which in picturesque outline rose the temple and other public edifices.
At the foot of this natural citadel stretched the lower town, with its
crowded population, its dense mass of houses, its temples and forum.
The style of architecture was peculiar to the city. The Carthaginians
abhorred straight lines, and all their buildings presented curves. The
rooms were for the most part circular, semicircular, or oval, and all
exterior as well as interior angles were rounded off. The material used
in their construction was an artificial stone composed of pieces of
rock cemented together with fine sand and lime, and as hard as natural
conglomerate. The houses were surmounted by domes or cupolas. Their
towers were always round, and throughout the city scarce an angle
of