TRIPOLY TO BENGAZI. 2J9 historian) when the Carthaginians ruled over a great part of Africa, the people of Cyrene were also powerful and opulent. A sandy plain was on the frontiers of the two countries, the surface of which was uniform and unbroken, and neither mountain nor river appeared in it, by which the boundary of these kingdoms might be determined ; a circumstance which occasioned many frequent and bloody wars between them. After various alternate successes and defeats, they entered into the following agreement; that certain persons deputed by each state should leave their home on an appointed day, and that the place where the parties might meet should be considered as the boundary of the kingdoms.

“ Two brothers, named Philaeni, were appointed on the part of Carthage, who contrived to travel faster than the deputies from Cyrene, but whether this was occasioned by accident, or the indolence of the Cyreneans, I have not been able (says the historian) to ascertain.

“ Stormy weather (he adds) might undoubtedly occasion delays in such a country, as well as it is known to do at sea : for when violent winds prevail in level and barren tracts, the sand which is raised by them is driven so forcibly into the faces and eyes of those who cross them, that their progress is considerably impeded.

So soon as the people of Cyrene were aware of the ground which they had lost, and reflected on the punishment which would await them, in consequence, on their return, they began to accuse the Car thaginians of having set out before the appointed time ; and when a dispute arose on the subject, they determined to brave everything rather than return home defeated. In this state of affairs, the Carthaginians desired the Greeks to name some conditions of accommo-2 F 2