Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/430

 408 HISTORY OF ART IN PIKKNICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. precautions of exactly the same kind against unbidden visitors to her famous arsenal. The Phoenicians were at no less pains to form anchorages for their fleets than to secure them against unfriendly neighbours. At Ruad, at Saida, and at Sour the remains of ancient breakwaters may be seen, and the way in which gaps in the natural reefs were filled up with masonry may still be traced. 1 But the finest ruins of the kind are off the coast of Africa. Thus in the Utica marshes some parts of the fine mole which separated the naval harbour from the sea are still visible. Adrumetum (Sousa) and Thapsus (I.)imas) possess even more considerable remains of the same kind.' 2 The mole of Thapsus is still 860 feet long (Fig. 275). Its actual width, after all the waves hive carried awav in an - : " : I- ic,. 275- Tlic mole of Thapsus. Elevation. From Daux. attack spread over five or six-and-tvventy centuries, is nearly thirty-six feet. It must once have been at least forty feet wide if each flank had a face of masonry. The part that is left is of very dense rubble and is built upon piles. The work was intended to protect the entrance to the naval harbour, which was situated between the fortifications of the town of Thapsus and those of its acropolis. As at Utica the trade harbour was an arm of the sea running between the mainland and a small island. There is a curious arrangement in this mole which bears witness to the skill of its constructor. The actual height of the mass above the water is eight feet. Upon both faces, and above 1 RKNAN, Mission, pp. 40 and 362 ; plates Ixxii. and Ixxiii. 2 DAUX, Recherches, pp. 169-171.