130 THE FORTUNATE ISLANDS. 



gether ; -without money he could not even retain his 

 command. He had been given it by the people ; but 

 the people were accustomed to be bribed. Gold they 

 must have from the men in power : if he had none 

 to give, they would go to those who had. His 

 enemies he knew would be able to employ the state 

 revenues against him. What could he do ? Where 

 was the money to be found ? He saw before him 

 nothing but defeat, disgrace, and even au ignominious 

 death ; for in Carthage they sometimes crucified their 

 generals. Often he thought that it would be better 

 to give up public life, to abandon the corrupt and 

 ruined city, and to sail for those sweet islands which 

 the Carthaginians had discovered in the Atlantic Sea. 

 There the earth was always verdant ; the sky was 

 always pure. No fiery sirocco blew, and no cold rain 

 fell in that delicious land. Odoriferous balm dripped 

 from the branches of the trees ; canary birds sang 

 among the leaves ; streams of silver water rippled 

 downwards to the sea. There Nature was a calm and 

 gentle mother : there the turmoils of the world might 

 be forgotten ; there the weary heart might be at rest. 



Yet how could he desert his fatherland in its afflic- 

 tion ? To him the nation turned its sorrowful eyes ; 

 on him the people called as men call upon their gods. 

 At his feet lay the poor, torn, and wounded Carthage ; 

 the Carthage once so beautiful and so strong ; the 

 Carthage who had fed him from her full breast with 

 riches and with power; the Carthage who had made 

 him what he was. And should he, who had never 

 turned his back upon her enemies, desert her now ? 



Then a glorious idea flashed in upon his brain. 

 He saw a way of restoring Carthage to her ancient 

 glory; of making her stronger than she had ever 



