The North Carolinian

AFRICA formed a third part of the world which was known to the ancients, by whom it was regarded in its true light, as a country of vast importance. They gave it the name of Libya and divided it into two parts, viz.: Africa Propria, and Africa Interior. The former of these, or the territory of Carthage, included several countries inhabited by twenty-six different nations, comprehending two provinces, the Regio Zeugitana and Byzacium, corresponding with the kingdom of Tunis. Ham and his descendants are thought to have first peopled Africa. Egypt was peopled by Mizraim. Africa Interior included those distant and southerly portions of Africa which seem to have been little known to the ancients: their knowledge did not extend much beyond the tropic of Cancer, which seemed the limit both of their victories and researches. Those parts of Africa which they did not visit, their fertile imaginations peopled with various races of men endowed with strange attributes, and singular tales, thus originating, have been handed down even to our own times. Thus we hear of nations of curious dwarfs, of men who dwelt in trees like monkeys, of races forming a connecting link between man and the brutes, and of tribes whose history has been invented by wild imaginations in their wildest flights. Of these, as stories belonging more to the annals of fiction than of fact, no further notice will be taken.

Herodotus says that a Phoenician fleet circumnavigated Africa, taking its departure from a port in the Red Sea, 604 years B. C., and terminating its voyage in three years. Many of the nations or states of Africa at a very early period, had made great advancement in the liberal arts. The northern part of Africa was inhabited by several enterprising nations, whose extensive commerce rolled abundant wealth into the land. With their riches the power of these states increased—Egypt and Ethiopia became famous, and Carthage, sending forth her fleets to every part of the then known world, acquired a reputation and a power which excited the jealousy of the Romans. The latter, proud and powerful, determined by conquest and ruin their wealthy rivals.

The Carthaginian or Punic wars, as they were called, brought forth all the energies of the hostile parties. The Carthaginians confided in their inexhaustible wealth, and the superiority of their navy, the Romans in their superior hardihood and energy. This is not the place to describe in detail the events of the Punic wars. The Romans were ultimately victorious, and, above all others of their leaders, Scipio acquired the greatest renown. For his successes and his struggles in Africa he obtained the name of Africanus. It must not be supposed that the Carthaginians tamely submitted to the Roman arms: on the contrary, even to the last, they defended their city against the invaders, with unequalled bravery. Gold and silver vessels were surrendered by the luxurious Africans to procure the means of carrying on the war, and the women, with patriotic devotion, cut off their fine long hair, and twisted it into bow-strings. All their exertions were unavailing. The skill and bravery of the Romans, who fought under the eye and example of Scipio, prevailed. As the Roman troops drove the Carthaginians before them in every quarter, a few firm friends of Carthage, among whom were the wife of Asdrubal, the Carthaginian general and her children, endeavored to maintain their position in the temple in which they had sought refuge. Finding it impossible to defend this, the wife of Asdrubal determined to set fire to it and perish in the flames. She dressed herself accordingly in a splendid garb, and, having fired the building, first stabbed her children, and then plunged into the flames. The Romans were not satisfied until they had completely destroyed the city. Thus fell, in the 156th year B. C., one of the most renowned of ancient cities, after its proud inhabitants had enjoyed the sovereignty of the seas for more than six hundred years. The period of the foundation of the Kingdom of Carthage has not been clearly established, but the fame of founding it has been generally ascribed to Dido, a Tyrian princess; who fled to Africa to avoid the persecutions of her brother Pygmalion. She outwitted the natives in making purchase of a piece of land whereon to build her citadel. They agreed for a certain sum to give her as much land as she could compass with a bull's hide (byrsa.) When the money was paid, the artful princess cut the hide into narrow thongs, with which she found herself able to enclose a very large space. The citadel, which she subsequently erected on this spot, was called, in memory of the transaction, Byrsa.

The most celebrated kingdom of Africa was undoubtedly Egypt. The Egyptians were early proficients in the sciences and the liberal arts, and to them men came from all civilized countries for the purpose of acquiring information. Some of the most celebrated men among the Greeks, acquired a great portion of their learning in Egypt. Ancient Egypt was divided into three parts, viz: Upper Egypt, or Thebaïs, now Said; Middle Egypt, or Heptanomis, now Rostani; and Lower Egypt, the most valuable portion of which was the Delta, now called Bahari or Rif. The most accurate general description of Egypt that we have, has been given by Volney, in a single sentence. "To describe Egypt in two words," says he, "let the reader imagine, on one side, a narrow sea and rocks; on the other, immense plains of sand; and in the middle a river flowing through a valley of 150 leagues in length, and from three to seven in width, which, at the distance of 50 leagues from the sea, separates into two arms, the branches of which wander over a country, where they meet with no obstacles and which is almost without declivity." The ancient Egyptians paid great attention to agriculture, and availed themselves of their arts to redeem vast tracts of land from the waters, rendering them fertile and adapting them to tillage. The region which eventually received the name of Lower Egypt and the Delta, was covered with water, and consequently Egypt was but a limited tract of land. The accounts which ancient writers give of the early history of Egypt are so contradictory and improbable, that it is needless to allude to them in a work which professes to deal with matters of fact.