Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/411

 HARBOURS. 189 Ionic appearance of one, 1 so that we may conclude that the columns were engaged columns or pilasters. Ever since the end of the seventh century of our era man has done nothing at Carthage to preserve the work of man, and yet the soil still bears unmistakeable siofns of the orreat undertakings tj O O by which the African city was made fit for the place it had to fill ; ships can no longer penetrate into the two basins, which are almost filled with mud, but their contours may still be followed, and even Fi ;. 265. Present condition of the Carthaginian harbours. From Davis. 2 the site of the island on which the admiral's palace stood may be clearly recognized (Fig. 265). The quays, with their sheds and store-rooms still exist under the mud flats and sandy hillocks. When pits are dug to a depth of eight or ten feet the basements of all these structures are encountered, and, at a lower depth still, the clayey sandstone which formed the bottom of the double basin. But such excavations are very difficult and irksome, on account of 1 Eis eiA-oVa oroas rrjv oi/av. " Carthage and Her Remains, p. 128.