The scite of ancient Carthage appears to have been a most excellent situation for commerce, no part of the world could afford better accommodation for shipping; here is a lake about ten miles along, and five broad at the widest part, in a direct line between the ruins of Carthage, and the city of Tunis, and communicating with the sea, by a navigable canal at the Goletta near Carthage. On examining this lake I found that it had once been about eighteen feet in depth, with an hard bottom, except a part of the east side, lying near the sea between the Goletta and Tunis. Here are the remains of houses for about three miles, their breadth at the broadest part does not appear to have been above a mile. I took a great deal of pains to satisfy my curiosity respecting these houses: having a boat belonging to a ship of war, no other being permitted to navigate on this lake: at low water some of the tops of them were not above a foot under the surface of the water; at the Goletta there is generally a rise and fall of the tide, about three feet; but the canal between the sea and the lake being very narrow, it does not raise the water in the lake so much. My people frequently got out of the boats and walked on the tops of the houses, but were sometimes in danger, often meeting with places beyond their depth; one of them having shot at a flamingo, and broke its wing, pursued it over these houses, where the boats could not go, and had nearly lost his life by falling into some deep holes. Many parts of this lake are now scarcely navigable, and particularly towards Tunis, since the Moors will not take the trouble to clear away the immense quantity of mud and filth that is continually washing into it from the city of Tunis, and which has been accumulating for many centuries.