4.

this time the power of the Siphnians was very con-
fiderable, and they were the richeft of all the inha-
bitants of the iflands. Their foil produced both
the gold and filver metals in fuch abundance, that
from a tenth part of their revenues they had a trea-
fury at Delphi, equal in value to the richest which
that temple poffeffed. Every year they made an
equal diftribution among themfelves, of the value
of their mines: whilft their wealth was thus accu-
mulating, they confulted the oracle, to know whe-
ther they should long continue in the enjoyment of.
their prefent good fortune. From the Pythian they
received this answer:

When Siphnos fhall a milk-white fenate fhew,
And all her market wear a front of fnow;
Him let her prize whose wit fufpects the most,
A fcarlet envoy from a wooden host,

At this period the prytaneum, and the forum of
Siphnos, were adorned with Parian marble.

LVIII. This reply of the oracle the Siphnians were unable to comprehend, both before and after

lago. They have a famous manufactory of ftraw hats, which are fold all over the Archipelago, by the name of Siphanto caf tors: though once fo famous for its mines, the inhabitants can now hardly tell you where they were. They have plenty of lead, which the rains difcover. The ladies of Siphanto cover their faces with linen bandages fo dexterously, that you can only Lee their mouth, nofe, and white of the eyes.-T.

the arrival of the Samians. As foon as the Samians touched at Siphnos, they dispatched a messenger to the town, in one of their veffels. According to the ancient custom, all ships were painted of a red colour; and it was this which induced the Pythian to warn the Siphnians against a wooden fnare, and a red ambassador. On their arrival, the Samian ambaffadors entreated the inhabitants to lend them ten talents: on being refufed, they plundered the country. The Siphnians hearing of this, collected their forces, and were defeated in a regular engagement; a great number were in the retreat cut off from the town, and the Samians afterwards exacted an hundred talents.

LIX. Inftead of money the Samians had received of the Hermionians the island of Thyrea, adjacent to the Peloponnefe: this they afterwards gave as a pledge to the Træzenians. They afterwards made a voyage to Crete, where they built Cydonia, although their object in going there was to expel the Zacynthians. In this place they continued five years, during which period they were fo exceedingly profperous, that they not only erected all those temples which are now feen in Cydonia, but built alfo the temple of Dictynna "". In the fixth year, from a junction being made with the Cretans by

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the

65 Dictynna.]Diana was worshipped in Crete, indifferently under the name of Dyetynna and of Britomartis. Britu, in the Cretan language, meant fweet, and martis, a virgin. Bri

tomartis

the Æginetæ, they were totally vanquished in a fea engagement, and reduced to fervitude. The prows of their veffels were taken away and defaced, and afterwards fufpended in the temple of Minerva at. Egina. To this. conduct towards the Samians the Ægineta were impelled in refentment of a former injury. When Amphicrates reigned at Samos, he had carried on a war against the Æginetæ, by which they materially fuffered; this, however, they feverely retaliated.

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LX. I have been thus particular in my account. of the Samians, because this people produced the greatest monuments " of art which are to be seen in Greece. They have a mountain which is one hundred and fifty orgyiæ in height; entirely through this they have made a paffage, the length of which is seven stadia, it is moreover eight feet high, and

tomartis was the name of a virgin greatly beloved by Diana; and what is faid by Diodorus Siculus on the fubject seems most worthy of attention. His ftory is this:-Di&ynna was born in Caron; fhe invented hunters toils and nets, and thence her name. She was the daughter of Jupiter, which renders it exceedingly improbable that she should be obliged to fly from Minos, and leap into the fea, where she was caught in fome fishers nets. The Mons Dictynnæus of Pliny is now called Cape Spada.-7.

66 The greatest monuments.]—Of these monuments fome vestiges are fill to be seen, confult Tournefort, i. 314. Port Tigani is in form of a half moon, and regards the south-eaft; its left horn is that famous Jettee which Herodotus reckoned amongst the three wonders of Samos. This work, at that time of day, is an evidence of the Samians application to maritime

matters.

as many wide. By the fide of this there is alfo an artificial canal, which in like manner goes quite through the mountain, and though only three feet in breadth, is twenty cubits deep. This, by the means of pipes, conveys to the city the waters of a copious fpring "7. This is their first work, and conftructed by Eupalinus, the fon of Nauftrophus,

67 Copious fpring.]-On the left of the dale, near to the aqueduct which croffes it, are certain caverns, the entrance of some of them artificially cut. In all appearance fome of these artificial caverns were what Herodotus fays were ranked among the most wonderful performances of the Greek nation. The beautiful spring which tempted them to go upon fo great a work, is doubtlefs that of Metelinous, the beft in the island, the difpofition of the place proving perfectly favourable, the moment they had conquered the difficulty of boring it; but in all probability they were not exact enough in levelling the ground, for they were obliged to dig a canal of twenty cubits deep for carrying the fpring to the place defigned. There must have been fome mistake in this paffage of Herodotus.

Some five hundred paces from the fea, and almoft the like distance from the river Imbrafis to Cape Cera, are the ruins of the famous temple of the Samian Juno. But for Herodotus we fhould never have known the name of the architect, He employed a very particular order of columns, as may be now seen. It is indeed neither better nor worse than the Ionian order in its infancy, void of that beauty which it afterwards acquired. -Thus far Tournefort.

Its ancient names were Parthenias, Anthemus, and Melamphiffus. It was the birth-place of Pythagoras, and the school of Epicurus. Pococke fays, that there are no remains which he could prevail upon himfelf to believe to belong to this canal. He adds, that the inhabitants are remarkably profligate and poor. Tournefort makes a fimilar remark. There are no difciples of Pythagoras, obferves the Frenchman, now left in Samos; the modern Samians are no more fond of fafling, than they arc lovers of filence.-T.

an

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an inhabitant of Megara. Their fecond is a mole, which projects from the harbour into the fea, and is two ftadia or more in length, and about twenty orgyiæ in height. Their laft performance was a temple, which exceeds in grandeur all that I have feen. This ftructure was first commenced by a native of the country, whofe name was Rhocus fon of Phileus.

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LXI. Whilft Cambyfes, the fon of Cyrus, paffed his time in Ægypt, committing various exceffes, two magi, who were brothers, and one of whom Cambyses had left in Perfia the manager of his domeftic concerns, excited a revolt against him. The death of Smerdis, which had been ftudiously kept fecret, and was known to very few of the Perfians, who in general believed that he was aliye, was a circum-ftance to which the last-mentioned of these magi had been privy, and of which he determined to avail himself. His brother, who, as we have related, joined with him in this business, not only resembled

68 Rhecus.]This Rhocus was not only a fkilful architect, but he farther invented, in conjunction with Theodorus of Samos, the art of making moulds with clay, long before the Bacchiades had been driven from Corinth; they were alfo the first who made cafts in brafs, of which they formed ftatues. Paufanias relates the fame fact, with this addition, that upon a pedestal behind the altar of Diana, called Protothenia, there is a ftatue by Rhæcus: it is a woman in bronze, faid by the Ephefians to be that of Night. He had two fons, Telecles and Theodorus, both ingepious ftatuaries. Larcher,