Recent Excavations at Carthage. 223 described it in the Annali del Institute, considered the head to represent the Triton, Glaucus, being chiefly led to do so by the leaves which form part of the hair.* Were the head complete, we might, perhaps, find lobster's claws pro- jecting from it like horns, as in the beautiful bronze head in the British Museum from the Payne Knight Collection. b On comparing, however, these figures with a head in the mosaic pavement at Frampton in Dorsetshire, 1 which is inscribed NEPTUNI VERTEX, it is not improbable that the mosaic from Carthage represents Neptune himself. In 1844 another pavement was discovered during excavations made by the Tunisian Government in search of stone for the canal at Goletta. It was found near the spot marked by Falbe in his map as No. 54, and considered by him to be the site of the Temple of Apollo mentioned by Appian. Dureau dc la Malle, however, prefers placing at this point the baths of Gargilius. The pavement was twenty-six feet by sixteen, and of late date. d The ornaments were distributed in compartments, alternately circular and lozenge-shaped, and chiefly consisted of scenes of the chase. At one end four panels, side by side, contained each of them the representation of a man in a chariot with his name over it, probably the victors in some races. The names seem to be Be . c. . us, Cuiriacus, Ciprianus, and O[le]riiis, and testify to the late date of the pavement; which is probably not anterior to the fourth or fifth century. The pavement was given by the Bey to the French Con- sul-General, M. dc Lazan, and some portions of it were transported to France, while others were placed in the buildings which surround the chapel of St. Louis. Mr. Davis has been peculiarly fortunate in his searches for mosaics, and has transmitted a considerable quantity of them to the British Museum, which had till then been very deficient in such remains. The pavements had of course to be divided into compartments to enable them to be safely packed. In the removal of them Mr. Davis showed great skill, and, in consequence of the precautions which he took, they all reached this country uninjured. The process which he adopted in removing them will be best explained in his own words : " I glued common canvas upon a small piece of mosaic, and, when quite dry, I severed it with very great care from its ancient cement by means of knives and chisels, and placed it with the reverse side upwards in a case previously prepared for it. I filled the case with fresh cement, and screwed the top on An engraving may also be found in the Illustrated London News, Jan. 6, 1849, where the pavement if misdescribed as being from Athens. Specimens of Ancient Sculpture published by the Dilettante Society, vol. i. pi. Iv. Ivi. c Lysons, Reliquiae Britannico-Romanas, vol. i. pt. 3, pi. v.
- An engraving of this pavement may be found in Revue Archeologique, vol vii. pi. 143.
