a ee ee 
ve 
“" 
209 
At Hydra again, and Thala, and Sbaitla, Davis found the 
same indications of byegone population and prosperity. At 
Sbaitla, when taken in the 7th century by the Mahometans, each 
cavalry-soldier received 3000 gold dinars, or above £1000, as his 
share of the plunder. 
At Eljem, there is a Roman amphitheatre, almost equal in 
size to that at Verona, but grander in appearance, and only sur- 
passed, if surpassed at all, by the Coliseum at Rome. 
It would occupy too much time to cite examples, but the 
whole of Davis’s work produces on the mind the impression, that 
Africa Proper, or the Regency of Tunis, was at one time a region 
perfectly teeming with wealth and population, and Tristram in his 
work on the Sahara does not hesitate to call it “the sepulchre of 
buried nations.” 
Lastly, as we come to modern times, the idea of wealth and 
prosperity attached to these regions gradually fades away. An 
Opposite idea takes its place. They are regarded as sterile and 
poor, suffering from drought and proximity to the Sahara, and 
though so near to Europe, are far removed from its civilization. 
Now to summarize the facts at which we have arrived. 
Firstly, Along the coast of Africa, opposite to Sicily, there 
existed in very ancient times an opulent city, the mother of many 
important colonies. That now, though one half of what formed 
her dominions, viz., the country sloping to the Mediterranean; 
is in the main a poor and wretched country, and the other half, viz. 
that sloping towards the south, is little better than a barren desert, 
yet there is-reason to suppose that the whole in olden times teemed 
with riches and plenty. 
That in consequence, she was enabled to contend for many 
years for the mastery of the world with Italy, then no mere geo- 
graphical expression, but united under a government remarkably 
warlike, firm, and centralized. That though she ultimately 
succumbed, and was utterly destroyed, yet apparently in conse- 
quence of the unrivalled character of her country, she soon rose 
from her ashes. That this country became afterwards the granary 
of Italy, and more especially of Rome, at the height of her power, 
15 
