Page:Archaeologia volume 38 part 1.djvu/273

Recent Excavations at Carthage, |88 POSTSCRIPT. Since I communicated an account of Mr. Davis" s excavations to the Society, an eminent French antiquary, M. Beule, Professor of Archieology at the Biblio- theque Imperiale, has published" the results of some researches made by him at Carthage during the spring of the year 1859. They possess many features of interest, and are so closely connected with the subject of the preceding com- munication, that a short abstract of them may form an appropriate addition to it. M. Beul selected for his excavations the flat-topped hill of St. Louis, partly as the presumed site of the Byrsa or Acropolis, partly as being the property of the French Government. He surveyed the whole plateau carefully, marking in the plan which he has published 1 ' the scanty ruins that he found. Many of them proved to be portions of cisterns for rain water ; but at two points the results of his excavations were of considerable interest. One of the greatest difficult ies had been to discover some undoubted remains of Punic architecture. M. Beule thought it probable that some portion of the walls, from their solidity, might have survived other buildings. He selected the southern side of the hill as a likely spot for his purpose, and commenced excavating at the south-east corner. His researches, having been made at his own expense, were necessarily limited in extent. Not having the necessary appliances for tunneling, he was obliged to content himself with sinking pits gradually diminishing as they descended. This mode of proceeding necessitated a tedious labour, as the rock proved to be covered at this spot by an accumulation of 50 feet. The upper layers, as was to be expected, were of Byzantine origin, consisting of fragments of architecture, chiefly unornamented, in the greatest confusion. Among them were large masses of a wall built of narrow layers of tufa resembling bricks, formed into solid blocks by the tenacity of the mortar. These were conjectured to have been portions of the fortifications built by Theodosius and destroyed by the Arabs. Below was a layer of Iloman remains still more thoroughly destroyed, among which was found part of a terminal figure of .Esculapius. At length the excavators arrived at far more massive constructions, being part of a wall very different in character from the other, and evidently of considerable antiquity. It Moniteur Universel, 14 Mai, 1859. Revue Archeologique, torn. xvi. p. 170. August, September, and November, 1859, January, I860. " Journal des Savants, Sept. 1859, pi. i. VOL. XXXVIII. 2 11 Journal des Savants,