35G

LIGHT-HOUSES.

Ptolemy Philadelphia, for the encouragement and conve-nience of the Phoenician merchants, who constantly tradedwith Egypt, and who, according to Abbe Pluche , werethe common factors of that empire; as the Egyptians pos-sessed an unconquerable aversion to the sea, and, therefore,they never obtained its sovereignty: whilst the former peoplewere the first who obtained the supremacy of that sea.

The island upon which Pharos stood, in the time ofI lomer, in his simple geography and estimation, was said to beone day’s sail from the Delta ; whereas, since the foundationof Alexandria, it was only a mile in distance, and was evenjoined to the main land by a mole, having a bridge at eachend, or according to some authors, in the middle. Thistower was, if report be true, justly entitled to the appella-tion it obtained, (being called one of the seven wonders ofthe world;) and it is reported, that the light from it hasbeen seen at the distance of a hundred miles; which assu-redly appears improbable, because the convexity of theearth, we think, would not permit it. It height must havebeen, at least 2400 fdet, or 800 yards from the base.

We are enabled to furnish the following particulars of thisfamous structure. It was built by order of that patron oflearning and the arts, the very celebrated Ptolemy Philadel-phia, by that eminent architect Sostrates, who constructedmany of the public buildings in Alexandria. It is said tohave cost Ptolemy eight hundred talents! Respecting itsmode of construction, it was raised several stories one aboveanother, each was decorated with columns, balustrades, andgulleries of the finest marble and most exquisite workman-ship ; and some have said, that the architect had furnishedthe galleries, &c. with large mirrors, by which shippingmight be seen at a considerable distance. However, re-specting this edifice, once so famous, that its very namePharos was considered as a common term for all other con-structions for the same purpose; it is now said, from Saracenicignorance and brutality, aided, perhaps, by the assistanceof the common leveller, time, that 'nothing now remains ofthis once elegant edifice, but an unsightly tower rising outof an heap of ruins, the whole being accommodated to theinequality of the ground on which it stands, and being, atpresent, no higher than that which it should command.Such as it is, there is now a light, we understand, usuallymaintained. There is also an island, which was calledPharos, in the Adriatic sea, on the coast of Illyria , which■ derived its name from Egy ptian Pharos, above mentioned ;as did also an island on the coast of Italy , opposite Brun-