tells us, that the northern part of Thrace was possessed by a tribe of Scythians; and that many towns are said to have been inhabited by the race of Pigmies, whom the barbarians called Catizi, and believe to have been destroyed by the cranes. These ancient fables are absurd; but popular traditions generally contain important facts, though obscured by exaggeration or concealed under the veil of allegory. Buffon is, therefore, strongly disposed to believe, that this story alludes to some singularities in the history of the crane. It is well known that the apes, which rove at large in most parts of Africa and India, wage continual war with the birds; they seek to surprise them in the nest, and lay perpetual snares for them. The cranes, on their arrival, find these enemies assembled, perhaps in numbers, to attack, with more advantage, their new and rich prey. The cranes (confident in their own strength; enured to fight, by their disputes with each other; and naturally prone to combat, as their attitudes, their movements, and the order with which they marshal, sufficiently evince) make a vigorous defence. But the apes, obstinately bent on plundering the eggs and the young, return repeatedly in troops to renew the battle ; and, as by their subtlety, their gait and posture, they imitate human actions, they appeared a band of little men to the rude spectators, who viewed them from a distance; or who, captivated by the marvellous, chose to embellish their relations. Such is the origin and history of these fables.

Or Phlegrecus campus, a place of Macedonia; the giants attacked the gods, and were defeated by Hercules. The combat was afterwards renewed in Italy, in a place of the same name near Cumæ.

578 That fought at Thebes.

F

578

A town at the south of Troas, built by Hercules; it fell into the hands of the Cicilians, who occupied it during the Trojan war, which was undertaken by the Greeks, to recover Helen, whom Paris, the son of Priam, king of Troy, had carried away from Manelaus. All Greece united to avenge the cause, and every prince furnished a number of ships and soldiers.

and Ilium.

A citadel of Troy, built by Ilus, one of the Trojan kings, from whom it received it name. It is generally taken for Troy itself.

580 In fable or romance of Uther's son.

A valiant knight of old Britain, called Utherpan-Dragon, because he wore a golden head painted upon the crest of his helmet, to render him terrible to his enemies.

581 Begirt with British and Armoric knights

Armoricæ, cities of Celtic Gaul, famous for the warlike, rebellious and inconstant disposition of the inhabitants called Armoricii.

583 Jousted.

An ancient diversion; when the combatants, armed, and with lances in their hands, run at one another full gallop. First introduced into Ger

583

many, by Henry the Fowler, a Saxon Prince, who was elected Emperor of Germany; and into England, by Henry the fourth, A. D. 1409, in Smithfield, before the English nobility.

in Aspramont.

A rough rocky mountain. A feigned name in old romances.

583 Montalban.

The white mountain, distant twelve miles from Rome; whereon the decisive combat was fought between the three Horatii, on the side of the Romans, and of the three Curatii, on that of the Albans.

584 Damasco.

A rich and ancient city of Syria, where Demetrius Nicanor was defeated by Alexander Zebina.

or Morocco.

West of Canaan, a pleasant kingdom upon the Atlantic Ocean. Morocco is very large, and was the capital city of Barbary; but now Fez enjoys that honour. Here Juba acted the hero with Pompey.

or Trebisond.

Trebia is celebrated for the victory which Hannibal obtained there over the forces of L. Sempronius, the Roman Consul.

586 When Charlemain with all his peerage fell By Fontarabbia.

A valiant and pious prince, born, A. D. 742, King of France, and made Emperor of Germany, A. D. 800, and dignified with the title of Most Christian King. Fontarabbia is a strong fort

its name from the Dorians; its columns are simple, without pilasters.

715 With golden architrave.

717

The moulding next above the capital of a column; also, the principal beam of a building. not Babylon.

A city on the Euphrates, built by Nimrod or Belus, the founder of the Assyrian monarchy, and became the capital of that monarchy, under the reign of Semiramis: it had one hundred brazen gates; and its walls, which were cemented with bitumen, and greatly enlarged and embellished by that queen, measured four hundred and eighty stadia in circumference, fifty cubits in thickness, and two hundred in height. It was taken by Cyrus, B. C. 538; after he had drained the waters of the Euphrates into a new channel, and marched his troops by night into the town, through the dried bed; and it is said, that the fate of the extensive capital was unknown to the inhabitants of the distant suburbs till late in the evening. Babylon became famous for the death of Alexander, and for the new empire which was afterwards established there under the Seleucidæ. At present the place were it once stood is unknown to travellers.

718 Nor great Alcairo.

Cairo, the capital of Egypt: Mr. Brown found here the ruins of an edifice which appeared to be the work of the ancient Egyptians, as the figures of Isis and Anubis were conspicuous among the sculptures. And Major Rennell seems to enter

tain no doubt, but that this is the true situation of the once famous temple of Jupiter Ammon.

To bury. The tower of Belus and Pyramids of S erapis were designed for the tombs or monuments of the Assyrian or Egyptian kings.

720 Belus or Seraphis, their gods.

721

Belus, one of the most ancient kings of Babylon, about 1800 before the age of Semiramis, was made a god after death, and worshipped, with much ceremony, by the Assyrians and Babylonians. This temple of Belus was the most ancient and most magnificent in the world. It was originally the Tower of Babel, which was converted into a temple. It had lofty towers, and it was enriched, by all the succeeding monarchs, till the age of Xerxes, who, after his unfortunate expedition against Greece, plundered and demolished it. Among the riches it contained, were many statues of massy gold, one of which was forty feet high. Serapis had a magnificent temple to his honour at Memphis, another at Alexandria, and a third at Canopus. The worship of Serapis was introduced at Rome, by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, A. D. 146, and the mysteries celebrated on the sixth of May; but with so much licentiousness, that the senate were soon after obliged to abolish it.

when Egypt with Assyria strove. Egypt, a country in Africa, it is a narrow vale on both sides of the Nile, bounded by ridges of mountains or hills: it is the most considerable part of Africa; and was once the seat, if not the