L] THEIR POLICY OF CONCEALMENT. 7
as it would seem, than the foundation of Utica—they fortified
themselves in an impregnable position at Gades or
^ i • A i ^' i i it <,•-,, and at Gades.
Gadeira—Agaddir, "the enclosure —which became
thenceforth their starting-point for expeditions to Britain, and
for the establishment of trading stations on the western coast of
Africa. The neighbouring region of southern Spain was known
through them as Tarshish or Tartessus—-a name which was
derived from the tribeTTiaTirihabited itTThe Turti or Turdetani.
Of this we hear even in the genealogy in the tenth chapter of
the book of Genesis1, and in Solomon's time (1000 B.C.) it is
mentioned in connexion with the navy of Hiram, King of Tyre2.
The geographical information about various countries which
was thus obtained by the Phoenicians must have
been very great, and this, together with the astro- Policy detn-
nomical and other scientific knowledge which en- Knowledge
abled them to undertake such extensive expeditions,
would have been extremely valuable for the study of geography, if
they had come down to us. Unfortunately the whole of it is lost
beyond recovery. This is the result of the narrow and jealous
commercial policy of that people, which caused them to keep
secret their maritime discoveries, so as to prevent other nations
from entering on the same field. In Herodotus we meet with
various stories relating to the difficulties incurred in obtaining the
products of distant lands, which were circulated by the Phoenicians
with the object of discouraging competition and concealing the
origin of those articles. The trees from which they obtained the
frankincense in Arabia were reported to be guarded by winged
serpents8; the lake where cassia was gathered was infested with
large bats, as a defence against which those who collected it had
to wrap themselves in the hides of oxen4; and cinnamon was
acquired by artifice from the nests of birds, which were built on
inaccessible rocks. The historian's report of the last of these
fables, which recalls some of the stories in the Arabian Nights,
runs as follows:—" Great birds, they [the Arabians] say, carry the
sticks which we Greeks, taking the word from the Phoenicians,
call cinnamon to their nests, which are formed of clay and attached
1 Gen. to. 4. a i Kings 10. 32.
8 Herod. 3. 107. 4 Ibid. 3. no.