220 Recent Excavations at Carthage. sepulchral lamp found in them fixed their origin beyond all doubt. Nine feet below the tombs we came upon the mosaic pavement." To this pavement Mr. Davis seems disposed for various reasons to assign a Punic origin ; but it is undoubtedly of Roman workmanship and not of an early period. The design, consisting of large circles inclosed in interlaced quadrangles, is effective and good ; but the execution is coarse, and the colouring and material poor.* " At this excavation," he says, " we cleared a suite of eight chambers, all on the same level, and running from N.E. to S.W. In the latter direction was a well and the pave- ment above-named; adjoining which we found three fragments of mosaic." I may here mention that upon all these pavements we found a layer of cinders and coals, and every indication that fire contributed to the destruction of these buildings. Next to this room we came upon a small chamber measuring only eight feet square. Here we found a mosaic, and upon it human bones. The room near this was about the same size, and contained two graves." Near these chambers some other mosaics were discovered, with cruciform patterns, and of inferior execution to the others. The most interesting of them represents two deer drinking at a fountain. 0. The next pavement was found on the hill at Gamart, the ancient necropolis of Carthage. It may have belonged to some Roman mausoleum, such decorations occurring in several instances on the Via Appia, near Rome. The patterns consist of a series of vases of elegant form joined together by arches, and possibly in- tended to represent ornamental fountains ; between them are birds in brilliant colours, glass tessera? being employed. In one place is the inscription FOXTES. The workmanship is coarse and not of early date. 7. The last series of pavements was found to the north of the peninsula, close to the beach, and only ten feet above the level of the sea. " It required," says Mr. Davis, " the greatest care to clear the sand from this pavement, and the minutest attention was necessary in cleaning it for removal. The sand which covered it having been saturated by the heavy rains, and the sea, having lashed over it for several centuries, had loosened it almost completely from its cement. However, by dint of great exertion and attention, I succeeded in removing it and in embedding it in fresh cement. We were obliged to build a temporary wall on the side of the sea to secure standing-room for the men, to enable us to remove it successfully." 1 They greatly resemble the patterns on a mosaic from Cirencester, engraved in Lysons' Reliquiae Britannico-Romanee, vol. ii. pt. i. pi. v. ' Thwe three fragments are very good in design, being ornamented with hexagons formed by interlacing wreaths alternately orange and green, and inclosing small circles; the border is plaited.
