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red-hot lava, but met with no other injury than having his hands and face burnt, and losing at the same time a bottle of vin de grave, which was broken by the fall, and which proved a very unpleasant loss to us, being ready to faint with excessive thirst, fatigue, and heat. Having once more rallied my forces, I proceeded on, and in about half an hour I gained the chasm through which the lava had opened itself a passage out of the mountain. To describe this sight is utterly beyond all human ability. My companions shared in the astonishment it produced; and the sensations they felt, in concert with me, were such as can be obliterated only with our lives. All I had before seen of volcanic phenomena did not lead me to expect such a spectacle as I then beheld. I had seen the vast rivers of lava that descended into the plains below, and carried ruin and devastation with them; but they resembled a vast heap of cinders, or the scoria of an iron-foundry, rolling slowly along, and falling with a rattling noise over one another. Here a vast arched chasm presented itself in the side of the mountain, from which rushed, with the velocity of a flood, the clear vivid torrent of lava in perfect fusion, and totally unconnected with any other matter that was not in a state of complete solution, unattended by any scoriæ upon its surface, or gross materials of an insolvent nature, but flowing with the translucency of honey, in regular channels, cut finer than art can imitate, and glowing with all the splendour of the sun.

The eruption from the crater increased with so much violence that we proceeded to make our experiments and observations as speedily as possible. A little above the source of the lava I found a chimney of about four feet in height, from which proceeded smoke, and sometimes stones. I approached and gathered some pure sulphur, which had formed itself upon the edges of the mouth of this chimney, the smell of which was so powerful, that I was forced to hold my breath all the while I remained there. I seized an opportunity to gain a momentary view down this aperture, and perceived nothing but the glare of the red-hot lava that passed beneath it. We then returned to examine the lava at its source. Sir W. Hamilton had conceived that no stones thrown upon a current of lava would make any impression. We were soon convinced of the contrary. Light bodies of five, ten, and fifteen pounds' weight made little or no impression, even at the source; but bodies of sixty, seventy, and eighty pounds, were seen to form a kind of bed upon the surface of the lava, and float away with it. A stone of three hundred weight, that had been thrown out by the crater, and laid near the source of the current of lava, I raised upon one end, and then let it fall upon the liquid lava, when it gradually sunk beneath the surface, and disappeared. If I wished to describe the manner in which it acted upon the lava, it was like a loaf of bread thrown into a bowl of very thick honey, which gradually involves itself in the heavy liquid that surrounds it, and then slowly sinks to the bottom. The lava itself had a glutinous appearance; and although it resisted the most violent impression, seemed as if it might easily be stirred with a common walking-stick. A small distance from its source, as it flows on, it acquires a darker tint upon its surface, is less casily acted upon, and, as the stream gets wider, the surface having lost its state of perfect solution, grows harder and harder, and cracks into innumerable fragments of very porous matter, to which they give the name of scoria, and the appearance of which has led many to suppose that it proceeded thus from the mountain itself, being composed

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of materials less soluble than the rest of the lava, lighter, and of course liable to float continually on the surface. There is, however, no truth in this. | All lava at its first exit from its native volcano flows out in a liquid state, and all equally in fusion. The appearance of the scoria is to be attributed only to the action of the external air, and not to any difference in the materials that compose it, since any lava whatever, separated from its channel, at its very source, and exposed to the action of the external air, immediately cracks, becomes porous, and alters its form. As we proceeded downwards this became more and more evident, and the same lava which at its original source flowed in perfect solution, undivided, and free from loose encumbrances of any kind, a little farther down had its surface loaded with scoria, in such a manner, that upon its arrival at the bottom of the mountain, the whole current resembled nothing so much as a rolling heap of unconnected cinders from an iron-foundry.

The fury of the crater continuing to increase, menaced us with destruction if we remained any longer in its neighbourhood. A large stone, thrown out to a prodigious height, hung for some time over our heads in the air. Every one gave himself up for lost, until it fell harmless beyond us, shattering itself into a thousand fragments, which rolled into the valley below. We had not left this spot above five minutes before a shower of stones, issuing from the crater, fell thick upon it, covering the source of the lava, and all the parts about it; so that had we waited, as I begged to do, a little longer, every one of us would have been crushed to atoms.

During my second visit the appearances were pretty much the same. I though the lava flowed slower, and was less in fusion than before, the surface appearing tougher, and being sooner converted into scoria. We dressed our beef-steak upon the lava, no fire being better calculated for that purpose, owing to the excessive heat it gives.

Upon my third visit I found the lava had taken a different course, and flowed towards the Torre del Annonciato, whereas it had before proceeded in a channel exactly opposite the cross. The source itself had undergone great alterations, and bore strongly the marks of an earthquake.--BISHOP OTTER'S Life of Clarke.

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THERE is inconsistency and something of the child's propensities still in mankind. A piece of mechanism, as a watch, a barometer, or a dial, will fix his attention. A man will make journeys to see an engine stamp a coin or turn a block; yet the organs through which he has a thousand sources of enjoyment, and which are in themselves more exquisite in design, and more curious both in contrivance and in mechanism, do not enter his thoughts; and if he admire a living action, that admiration will probably be more excited by what is uncommon and monstrous, than by what is natural and perfectly adjusted to its office, by the elephant's trunk than by the human hand. not arise from an unwillingness to contemplate the superiority or dignity of our own nature, nor from an incapacity of admiring the adaptation of parts. It is the effect of habit. fine a sensibility, that sensibility governs its motions so The human hand is so beautifully formed, it has so correctly, every effort of the will is answered so instantly, as if the hand itself were the seat of that will. Its actions are so powerful, so free, and yet so delicate, that it seems to possess a quality of instinct in itself, and there is no thought of its complexity as an instrument, or of the relations which make it subservient to the mind: we use it as we draw our breath, unconsciously, and have lost all recollection of the feeble and ill-directed efforts of its first exercise by which it has been perfected. Is it not then the very perfection of the instrument which makes us insen sible to its use?—BELL.

in others transparent, and reflects
all the colours of the rainbow;
this mirror is not the real organ of
sound, but is supposed to modulate
it. The middle portion is occupied
by a plate, of a horny substance,
placed horizontally, and forming
the bottom of the cavity B. On
its inner side this plate terminates
in a crania, or elevated ridge, com-
mon to both drums. Between the
plate and the after-breach, (post
pectus,) another membrane, folded
transversely, fills an oblique, ob-
long, or semilunar cavity. În some
species I have seen this membrane
in tension, probably the insect can

THE CICADA, AND ITS ORGANS OF VOICE.
THE Cicada are insects belonging to the order called
Hemiptera, (half-winged,) on account of the wings
partaking generally of a double character, being
partly of a leathery substance and partly transparent;
in the Cicadæ, however, this distinction is not so
apparent. The Cicada are found in abundance in
most of the warmer parts of the globe; there are
also several species, natives of more temperate regions.
These insects are noted for the singular noise they
produce, and on this account they were in great
favour among the ancient Greeks. They were kept
in cages for the sake of their song, and were a
favourite image of innocence and cheerfulness with
the poets of Greece. One bard intreats the shep-stretch or relax it at pleasure, but
herds to spare the innoxious Tettix, (the Greek name
for the Cicada,) that nightingale of the Nymphs, and
to make those mischievous birds, the thrush and
blackbird, their prey.

Sweet prophet of the Summer, (says Anacreon, addressing this insect,) the Muses love thee; Phoebus himself loves thee, and has given thee a shrill song; old age does not wear thee out; thou art wise, earthborn, musical, impassive, without blood.

The sound produced by the Grecian Cicada must necessarily have been musical; it was called by the same name as the music of the harp.

A Cicada, sitting upon a harp, was a usual emblem of the science of music, which was thus accounted for:-When two rival musicians, Eunomus and Ariston, were contending upon that instrument, a Cicada, flying to the former, and sitting on his harp, supplied the place of a broken string, and so secured him the victory.

The Cicada of modern times are equally famous for the power, if not for the musical property of their voice. Dr. Shaw, in his Travels, says,

In the hotter months of Summer, especially from midday to the middle of the afternoon, the Cicada is perpetually stunning our ears with its most excessively shrill and ungrateful noise. It is, in this respect, the most troublesome and impertinent of insects, perching upon a twig, and squalling sometimes two or three hours without ceasing, thereby too often disturbing the studies or short repose, which is frequently indulged in in these hot climates for a few hours.

The Brazilian Cicada are said to sing so loud, that they can be heard at the distance of a mile. On account of the sound this insect produces, it is called in the United States, the American Locust.

The apparatus by which the male Cicada produces the sound for which it is famous, is thus described in Kirby and Spence's beautiful work on Entomology. If you look at the underside of the body of a male, the

Fig. 1.

first thing that will strike you is a pair of large plates, of an irregular form, B; in some semioval, in others triangular, in others again a segment of a circle of greater or less diameter, covering the anterior part of the belly; these are the drum-covers, or opercula, from beneath which the sound issues, at the back of the posterior legs. Just above each operculum there is a small pointed triangular process, (persillum,) A, the object of which, as Réaumur supposes, is to prevent them from being too much elevated. When an operculum is removed, beneath it you will find, on the exterior side, a hollow cavity, with a mouth somewhat linear, (like a slit, the width of a line,) fig. 2, A, which seems to open into the interior of the abdomen. Next to this, on the inner side, is another large cavity, B, of an irregular shape, the bottom of which is divided into three portions: of these the posterior is lined obliquely with a beautiful membrane, which is very tense, c; in some species semi-opaque, and

D

B

A-H
C

Fig. 2.

Under View, with the Drum. covers turned back

even all this apparatus is insufficient
to produce the sound of these ani-
mals. One, still more important
and curious, still remains still to be
described. This organ can only be
discovered by dissection. A portion of the first and second
segments being removed from that side of the back of the
abdomen which answers to the drums, two bundles of muscles,
fig. 3, B, meeting each other in an acute angle, attached
to a place opposite to the point of the mucro (a pointed pro-
minence, like a sharp tooth,) of the first ventral segment of
the abdomen will appear. These bundles consist of a pro-
digious number of muscular fibres, applied to each other,
but easily separable. Whilst Réaumur was examining one
of these, pulling it from its place with a pin, he let it go
again, and immediately, though the animal had been long
dead, the usual sound was emitted.

their sounds, here are parts enough to do it for them, for the
mirrors, the membranes, and the central portions with their
the cavities, all assist in it. If you remove the lateral part
of the first dorsal segment of the abdomen, you will discover

If these creatures are unable themselves to modulate

a semi-opaque, and nearly semicircular concave-convex membrane, with transverse folds, fig. 3, A; this is the drum. Each bundle of mus cles before mentioned, is terminated by a tendinous plate, nearly circular, from which issue several little tendons that, forming a thread, pass through an aperture in the horny piece that support the drum, and are attached to its under or concave surface. Thus the bundle of muscles, being alternately and briskly relaxed and contracted, will by its play, draw in and let out the drum, so that its convex surface being thus rendered concave when pulled in, when let out, a sound will be produced by the effort to recover its convexity, which sound striking upon the mirror and the other membrane. before it escapes from under the operculum, will be modulated and augmented by them. I should imagine that the muscular fibres are extended and contracted by the alternate approach and recession of the trunk and the abdomen to and from each other.

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Back View; several Portions of the

Skin removed to show the Drum
and its Muscles.

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THE

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF NAVIGATION,

SCYTHIA N

O CEA N

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E A

STERN

OCEAN.

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO THE GEOGRAPHERS JUST BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA.

PART II.

CAUSES OF THE ROMANCE OF ANCIENT

NAVAL HISTORY.

We have already observed that the scene of the earliest known navigation was the Mediterranean Sea, which naturally seemed to the ancients to be situated in the middle of the earth; as is implied by its name. As navigation advanced only at a creeping pace, and as but a small amount of fresh experience was laid up by one generation for the benefit of the next, it took very many ages to explore the Mediterranean, Tyrrhene. Hadriatic, and Egean seas. The people of Tyre and Sidon, the Phoenicians, "whose merchants were princes," (Isaiah xxiii. 8.) were among the first whom the spirit of commerce and the desire of gain had made dissatisfied with what had hitherto

VOL. XII.

seemed the natural limits of marine excursion. The great antiquity of the Phoenicians, however, is perhaps the reason why our knowledge of them is obtained from incidental and isolated accounts: but on the naval spirit and industry of Carthage, a colony planted by the former power, in the ninth century before Christ, the light of history, owing to their connexion with the Romans, is more abundantly shed. With the Carthaginians, perhaps, had originated the idea of quitting the Mediterranean by the straits of Gades, (now Gibraltar,) of sailing southward, circumnavigating the coast of Africa, and then returning northward by the Red Sea, towards the Levant, or eastern side of the Mediterranean. This notion seems to have been cherished for ages, as the prime, the crowning enterprise, long thought of and debated; but which only a solitary few, at long intervals of time determined to try

379

to effect. Knowing only a portion of the globe, and con-
ceiving that portion to be upon an extended plane, those
who held a voyage from Crete to Egypt to be a signal
proof of naval courage, and who had never reached Sicily
or Africa, but by a wayward tempest, or by shipwreck, and
who were then objects of wonder at having escaped the
dangers of Scylla and Charybdis, and the Syrtes, those
wave-bound prisons of mariners, might justly have feared
for themselves, in being committed to unknown waters,
and in tracking shores, which the reports of others, who had
never seen these regions, no less than their own fears, had
represented as the abode of every horror. In short, dis-
tance from the land seems to have alarmed all the ancients;
.who, upon every occasion, when quitting sight of the shore
fancied they saw, as Homer tells us,-

A length of ocean and unbounded sky,
Which scarce the sea-fowl in a year o'erfly.

a

Phoenician pilot, sailed in the ship Argo, over the Euxine, which we now call the Black Sea, to recover the treasure which had been carried away by Phryxus, in the ship Aries, or Ram. The Phoenician word for treasure, is almost the same as the Greek word for fleece. Hence, the confusion of ideas, by which the poets profited to adorn their legends, for Jason was reported to have made a voyage to recover the ram with the golden fleece. Those who manned Jason's ship, were called Argonauts, or sailors of the Argo; and, at their return, declared that their passage had been alongside of the abodes of the just and the prisons of the infernal regions.

Some endeavour to clear up the account of this voyage, by relating that the inhabitants on the eastern side of the Euxine Sea were in the habit of extending fleeces of wool, to catch the golden particles which were washed down from Mount Caucasus.

2. It is believed by some commentators on the Bible, that Solomon, who lived about a thousand years before the Christian era, sent large fleets down the Red Sea, and so eastward to India; or towards the south-west, along the African coast. These ships were managed by Tyrian mariners who were the most expert of the day; yet, for want of the mariner's compass, their navigation was performed by coasting along the shores; so that a voyage to India is said to have frequently taken up three years, as we read in the Sacred Record. Prideaux thinks that the suc

The general truth of these observations is corroborated by the story of the Pamphylian, who was taken prisoner, and carried to Egypt. He was kept as a slave, for a very long time, at a town near one of the mouths of the Nile, where Damietta now stands. Being frequently employed to assist in maritime business, he conceived the idea of committing himself to the mercy of the waves in a sailing boat, in order that he might once again behold his native country. Having provided himself, to the best of his means and ability, he set sail, resolving rather to perish in the bosom of the old ocean than to remain longer in cap-ceeding kings of Judah carried on the same commerce; tivity. He traversed the vast expanse of waters which lies between Egypt and Asia Minor, and arrived safely at Pamphylia. From this bold and unusual adventure he lost his original name, and received the appellation of Mononautes, or the lone sailor, which, for a long time after, we may presume, served his family as a patent of nobility. We have the foregoing account from Eustathius, the commentator of Homer.

Navigation has served to bring the families of the earth nearer together, to remove ignorance and barren limitation of thought; and consequently, it has been a means for advancing the landmarks of knowledge and civilization, and for helping man to appreciate the acts of a Divine Providence. But, as it is entirely consonant with humanity that -the increase of knowledge should carry with it its alloy of evil, we find that the means for spreading knowledge, served also as a vehicle for the diffusion of falsehood. The accounts, therefore, that have been handed down to us of the exploits of early navigators must be received without prejudice either way, and their errors and their romances must be imputed to the right source. This source seems to be of a twofold nature; firstly, misapprehension in making their observations and statements, arising from ignorance and want of experience, which engender fear: secondly, the love of lucre is so strongly implanted in the human mind, that this affection is oftentimes too apt to get the better of all other feelings, whether good or ill. Hence, in the growing spirit of trade and commerce, the monopoly long enjoyed by the Phoenicians, and subsequently by other commercial nations, was protected by the publication of appalling accounts of the dangers, distresses, and horrors, which they underwent; the dread of which, they hoped, would deter the sailors of other regions from disputing with them a claim to the wealth of the earth. In looking back, therefore, through the vista of time, to the early condition of this world, and in studying the accounts thereof, as handed down from the heathen authors, who are our chief guides, we must separate the probable from the improbable, and the true from the false, and revolve in our minds the progressive condition of mankind, as illustrating the moral government of the Almighty.

VOYAGES RELATED IN ANCIENT HISTORY-FEARS OF
THE ANCIENT MARINERS.

may

THE general correctness of the foregoing observations
be estimated by an epitome, in the way of illustration, of
the principal ancient voyages, with which history makes us
acquainted. We may remark, in the highly coloured
memoirs of the times, that many things which were false
were credited then, and still later; whereas, other things,
which have been subsequently recognised as perfectly true,
seemed at that time so startling to the conceptions of man-
kind, that no credence was awarded to them. The accounts
of the first and third voyages, which follow, are mainly
derived from the rhapsodies of the poets.

1. In the thirteenth century B. C., Jason, accompanied by

which was at length lost, when Elath, their port on the Red Sea, was taken from King Ahaz by Rezin, King of Damascus. (2 Kings xvi. 6.) It would seem as if this intercourse with India was stopped for several centuries after the times we have just spoken of.

3. The following mythological narration may, by a little calm analysis, be found to consist of some degree of truth. Neptune is reported to have delivered the princess Hesione from a monster, raised by some divine interposition out of the sea, and to which she was exposed by express command of the oracle. It is probable that this Neptune was Ra meses, who, being a chief of restless disposition, quitted Egypt, his native country, incited either by a thirst of effecting some territorial discovery, or a lust of acquiring by conquest the dominion of some foreign country. Chance or inclination conducted him and his followers to that spot, where their bravery as warriors, and their skill in passing through a country by means deemed preternatural by all not acquainted with them, made them to be honoured and feared, as beings of a superior order. The marine monster we may fairly interpret to have been a vessel, conveying to the same spot some unknown adventurers equally bold, but who, being less powerful, or less fortunate, fell easily before the Egyptians.

4. Necho, King of Egypt, in the year 610 B.C., endeavoured to solve the grand nautical problem of Africa. He employed Phoenician navigators to set sail from the Red Sea, which lay at the east of his dominions, and to explore towards the south. We are told that they spent three years admit much room for stowing away provisions, they dein the voyage; and, as the ships of the ancients did not barked at times on the coast, sowed grain, waited its ripening, reaped, prepared food, and again set sail. This they did in each year, being favoured with the maturing beams of a tropical sun. At length, to their great joy and astonishment, they reached the Straits of Gibraltar, passed between the pillars of Hercules, two rocks being the nearest and opposite points of the continents of Europe and Africa, and at length arrived safely at the shores of Egypt.

In the publication of this memorable voyage, the world was astonished at being informed, that the sun, while the Phoenicians were passing round the southern part of Africa, was at their right hand; or, in other words, that it described its course from East to West, in the northern heavens; or, speaking still more simply, that it appeared at mid-day in the north, contrary to their former experience.

To an inhabitant of the equator, the sun will appear at noon, during one half of the year, in the north; during the rest of the year, in the South. At the southern promontory of Africa, or Cape of Good Hope, which is below the southern tropical line, the sun will always appear to attain its meridian in the north; and it is evident that the order of their voyage would keep the coast on their right hand continually.

We are given to understand that the relation of this voyage was almost universally discredited among the an * See Saturday Magazine, Vol. III., p. 116.

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cients, for the very reason which should have moved them to belief; namely, the appearance of the Sun in the North at mid-day.

5. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, being the sovereign of the vast Persian Empire, was influenced by that insatiable ambition which has distinguished all conquerors. He planned an expedition to India, about 510 B. C., in order to conquer the country; but that he might not proceed without knowing something of the nature of the country he was about to attack, he fitted out a naval expedition, which he placed under the command of Seylax, the Caryandæan, giving him orders to sail down the river Indus, into the Southern Ocean; then to return by steering westward, and to make the best discoveries he could, as to the strength and riches of the countries on both sides of the river, as also on the sea-coast. Scylax, in pursuance of these instructions, passed down the Indus into the Indian Ocean, and returned by the straits of Babelmandel into the Red Sea, and landed on the Egyptian coast, near the neck of land which we now call the Isthmus of Suez. Scylax employed about thirty months in making this voyage; and gave a favourable report to Darius concerning the nature of the countries which he had seen. Accordingly, Darius fitted out a naval armament, which was to co-operate with his army, in the subjugation of the Indians; this attempt of Darius was successful; and opened the way for a more frequent intercourse between India and the nations bordering on the Mediterranean. The voyage of Scylax is believed to have been the first maritime expedition to India.

6. The next attempt to sail round the continent of Africa was that of Sataspes, a Persian nobleman, whom Xerxes had condemned to death, but whose sentence was commuted to the circumnavigation of Africa. He sailed from Egypt, in the year B. C. 480, through the straits of Gibraltar; and then southward. But, horror-struck at the mighty waves of the Atlantic, those walls of water, which dashed upon the shores of the desert,-after beating about for some months, he returned home, and suffered according to his original

sentence.

The Persians were generally unacquainted with maritime affairs, and therefore never made any advance in the naval art, worth describing; this accounts for the want of perseverance on the part of Sataspes and his crew. The Athenians had made great improvements in their war-shipping, when the Persians attacked them during the reign of Xerxes. These improvements related chiefly to the formation of decks over the rowers, whereon the men of war carried on their operations without interfering with the rowers, and impeding the motions of the ship. This is believed to have contributed greatly to the success of the Athenians over the Persians, in their naval conflicts with that power.

7. In a collection of ancient voyages, published about one hundred and thirty years ago, there is a curious account of the discovery of an island, about five or six hundred years before Christ. There can be no doubt that this narrative is founded in truth; but that it is made more important than it really was by exaggeration, and a love of the marvellous. It is a translation from an ancient writer.

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There was one Jambulus, who from his youth was' addicted to learning: his father was a merchant; and, after his decease, the son applied himself, with great diligence, to the same profession. This man, travelling into Arabia, in order to purchase spices, was there taken prisoner, with all his company, by a party of robbers. At first, he and one of his companions were employed in keeping sheep; but they were soon after carried off by the Ethiopians, inhabiting the coast, who conveyed them into their own country, in order to serve a very extraordinary purpose. These Ethiopians had a custom, which had then subsisted six hundred years, and was originally derived from the direction of an oracle, to expiate the sins of their nation once in an age, or generation, which with them comprehended the space of thirty years, by exposing two strangers, in the following

manner:

"They prepared a little vessel, well built, and extremely well equipped, with provisions for six months; on board of which the men were put, at a certain season of the year, with instructions to steer directly south, in order to arrive at a certain fortunate island, inhabited by a king and some hospitable people, with whom they might live happily all the rest of their days. The oracle declared, that if these men succeeded in their voyage, the country would enjoy rest and quiet for many years; but if, frighted by the dangers of the sea, they should return, it was ominous to Ethio

| pia; and therefore, they threatened Jambulus and his companion with the severest punishments, in case they did not prosecute their voyage. When the season of the year came, the Ethiopians celebrated the festival of Purgation with most splendid sacrifices; and then, having crowned each of them with garlands, they put Jambulus and his companion on board the vessel that had been prepared for them, and obliged them to put to sea.

"They were four months tossed by the winds and waves, before they arrived on the coast of the island to which they were bound; but at length they reached it safely. In its form it is almost round, being about five thousand stadia in compass; containing about five hundred of our miles, if we allow six hundred stadia to a degree. As soon as they came within sight of land, the people on the island crowded to the shore, to behold them: and, when they landed, multitudes came from all quarters to gaze at and admire them, wondering how they came thither; but treating them with the utmost kindness and civility, and offering them, with the greatest readiness, whatever their country afforded. "These people differed not a little from other nations in their appearance, as well as in their manner; for they were all of a pretty equal size, each of them about four cubits, or six feet high. They bent and turned their bodies with such agility, that their bones seemed to our travellers as flexible as the sinews of other people: their bodies were very tender, notwithstanding which, they were so strong, that whatever they grasped could not be forced out of their hands. On their heads, eye-brows, eye-lids, and on their chins, they had hair; but the rest of their bodies was perfectly smooth. They were handsome and well-shaped; only the holes in their ears were much wider than those of other men, and had fleshy protuberances in them. Their tongues were very singular, being by nature somewhat divided, and cut in their infancy to the very root, so that they seemed double, which enabled them to imitate the notes, and even the chattering of birds; and, if our travellers say true, they could discourse with two people at once.

"This island is situated in a most excellent and moderate climate, lying very near the Equator, so that the people are neither scorched with heat nor perished with cold; enjoying at once, all the seasons, without any division, like ours, of Spring and Harvest. The days and nights there are always of equal length; neither is there any shadow at noon-day, because the sun is directly in the zenith. They are learned in all sorts of sciences, especially in Astrology. They use eight-and-twenty particular letters, for the expressing what they mean, composed of seven characters, each of which is varied four ways. They live long, without ever being sick, and commonly to one hundred and fifty years of

age.

"After Jambulus and his companion had continued in this island seven years, they were compelled to depart, as persons of a vicious life, and not to be broken of foreign customs. Their ship, therefore, being again fitted out for them, and well furnished with provisions, they were constrained to put to sea; and, after continuing their voyage for above four months, they fell, at length, upon the sandy shallows of India, where his companion was drowned, and himself was afterwards cast ashore near a certain village, and carried away by the inhabitants of the place to the king, who was then at a city called Polybothra, or Polimbothra, many days' journey distant from the sea; where he was kindly received by that prince, who had a great love for the Grecians, and was studious in the liberal sciences. At length, having obtained provision from the king, he first sailed into Persia, and from thence safely arrived in Greece,"

It has been supposed by most commentators on the above account, that the main incidents are true; but, as was before observed, they have had a tinge of the mavellous imparted to them. With respect to the island mentioned, some have supposed it to be Sumatra,-others Borneo,-others again Java,-while one writer has considered it to be one of the

Maldive Islands.

8. About 500 years B. C. the Carthaginians fitted out two expeditions, for the sake of prosecuting discovery to the north and to the south, after clearing the Herculean straits. Hanno commanded one fleet, and proceeded southward, along the coast of Africa; and Himilco steered northward, along the Hiberian and Gallic shores.

Those under Hanno, steered round by Mount Atlas, the pillar of heaven, and doubled "the African Forehead," as its great western promontory was called. By day the land was too hot to walk upon, the country seemed to lie silent

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