In the further part of this country there are two cities, named Tacapa[124] and Girgis, between which lies the lesser Syrtis. Here every day a wonderful phenomenon takes place. The sea, pent up in a narrow place, forms there a crescent-shaped gulf, such as I described in the other Syrtis. Here the sea flows into the mainland for a distance of more than eight days’ journey for a lightly equipped traveller, and towards evening retires again, leaving the shore there dry, like any other sea-beach. Sailors bound for this land, which at times becomes sea, sail in the ordinary manner as far as they are able in the day-time, but towards nightfall prepare to pass the night on dry land. They carry long poles on purpose, and as soon as they suspect that the waters are about to ebb, they take these poles in their hands, and without any hesitation leap out of the ship. At first they swim, but afterwards, when the water does not reach above their faces, they stand on their feet, and sticking the points of their poles into the ground, which by this time is, or shortly will be, dry, they fix them upright underneath their ship, supporting it on either side, that it may not be damaged by falling to one side or the other. Early on the following morning the land is again covered by the waves of the sea, which raises the ships and causes them to float; then the sailors take up their poles and sail on again. This proceeding never varies, but this interchange of the elements takes place every day. V. After Tripolis and the Syrtis, let us proceed to the rest of Libya. We must begin with Carthage, which is the largest and most important of the cities in this country, prefacing our description by observing that when Genseric and the Vandals possessed Africa, there occurred to them a destructive idea worthy of barbarians; for they imagined that they would be better off if all the towns in this country had no walls, so that the Romans might not occupy any of them to their disadvantage. They accordingly at once pulled down all the walls to their very foundation; for all barbarians, as a rule, most quickly devise and most promptly execute any plans which they form for the injury of the Romans. The walls of Carthage and some few other places alone were left, which they did not care to keep in repair, but allowed to be ruined by age. However, the Emperor Justinian, against the advice of all men, who shrank in terror from the enterprise, and only led on and assisted by God, sent Belisarius with an army to Libya, took Gelimer, and destroyed the power of the Vandals, killing many of them and making the rest prisoners of war, as I have recounted in my ‘History of the Wars.’ He rebuilt all the ruined fortifications in Libya, and himself built many new ones.