His gaze mounted higher still,
to the great pure sky; he shouted an order in a harsh voice to his
sailors; the trireme leaped forward; it grazed the idol set up at the
corner of the mole to stay the storms; and in the merchant harbour,
which was full of filth, fragments of wood, and rinds of fruit, it
pushed aside and crushed against the other ships moored to stakes and
terminating in crocodiles' jaws. The people hastened thither, and some
threw themselves into the water to swim to it. It was already at the
very end before the gate which bristled with nails. The gate rose, and
the trireme disappeared beneath the deep arch.
The Military Harbour was completely separated from the town; when
ambassadors arrived, they had to proceed between two walls through
a passage which had its outlet on the left in front of the temple of
Khamon. This great expanse of water was as round as a cup, and was
bordered with quays on which sheds were built for sheltering the ships.
Before each of these rose two pillars bearing the horns of Ammon on
their capitals and forming continuous porticoes all round the basin. On
an island in the centre stood a house for the marine Suffet.
The water was so limpid that the bottom was visible with its paving
of white pebbles. The noise of the streets did not reach so far, and
Hamilcar as he passed recognised the triremes which he had formerly
commanded.
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