206 Recent Excavations at Carthage. port for the merchantmen, and an inner one for the ships of war ; and in the midst of the latter was an island, Cothon, where the admiral dwelt, and which gave its name to the whole port. Some of the older writers place this on the northern side of the peninsula ; Falbe and Bureau do la Malle, whose views have been confirmed by Barth, assign it to the southern extremity, where basins answering to the description of Appian still remain.* Assuming the position of the port, we fix that of the tcenia or tongue, which projected from its neighbourhood, as the isthmus towards Goletta. The hill of St. Louis becomes the Byrsa of the Punic wars ; on the next hill-top stood the temple of Juno. The forum was at the foot of the hill of St. Louis, between it and the Cothon ; and the position of the suburb Megara seems determined as being to the west of the hill of St. Louis and the village of Malkah. The opinions which thus place the principal buildings in Punic Carthage towards the southern end of the peninsula appear to gain some confirmation from the numerous tombs which have been discovered at the northern end, in the hill of Gamart. These seem to shew that the latter was the necropolis, and was therefore without the walls of the city. Having thus briefly noticed the principal points of interest in the topo- graphy of Carthage, I will proceed to give some account of the results of the excavations recently made on behalf of the English Government by the Rev. Nathan Davis. This gentleman had resided for some years in the Pachalic of Tunis, and, from his intimate acquaintance with the Bey, and his knowledge of oriental languages, was in a favourable position to obtain the necessary facilities for making excavations. It is owing to his energy and perseverance that these operations have been successful, and that the British Museum has been enriched by some valuable additions to its stores. Mr. Davis's excavations were commenced towards the end of the year 1856, and were continued at intervals during 1857 and 1858, when they were brought to a close for want of further funds. He prosecuted his researches at about twenty different spots with more or less success. The antiquities discovered were sent to England on board of H. M. Ships Cura9oa and Supply, the latter 1 Their opinion seem* to have been generally received ; yet a recent traveller, the Rev. J. W. Blakesley, though not disposed to question the position of the Cothon, which he looks upon as a dry dock, still con- siders the principal port to have been on the north-west side of the peninsula, founding his opinion in some measure on the significance of the Arab name El Mrr.su (the port). He also seems disposed to place the original Byrsa of the Phoenician colony and the temple of ^Esculapius on the hill surmounted by the Turkish fort Burj-Jedid. See "Four Months in Algeria, with a Visit to Carthage," by the Rev. J. W. Blakesley. 8vo. Camb. 1859.
