A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

mation.
Sea-Purple and Tin 43
The shell-fish from which it is procured is caught
near the coast, and the Tyrians have in great abundance
other requisites for dyeing. The great number of dyeing
works renders the city unpleasant as a place of residence,
but the superior skill of the people in the practice of this
art is the source of its wealth. Their independence was
secured to them at a small expense to themselves, not only
by the kings of Syria, but also by the Romans, who confirmed
what the former had conceded. They pay extravagant
honors to Hercules. The great number and magnitude
of their colonies and cities are proofs of their maritime
skill and power. Such then are the Tyrians.
The Sidonians are said by historians to excel in various
Intellectual
kinds of art, as the words of Homer also imply. Be- '"'
sides, they cultivate science and study astronomy and
arithmetic, to which they were led by the application of Strabo 1. c.
numbers (in accounts) and night sailing, each of which
(branches of knowledge) concerns the merchant and seaman.
II.
The Cassiterides Islands
The Cassiterides are ten in number, and lie near each The Natives
other in the ocean towards the north from the haven of trade.
the Artabri. One of them is desert, but the others are
inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching
to the feet, girt about the breast, and walking with staves, Strabo iii. s,
thus resembling the Furies we see in tragic representations.
They subsist by their cattle, leading for the most
part a wandering life. Of the metals they have tin and
lead; which with skins they barter with the merchants
for earthenware, salt, and brazen vessels. Formerly the
Phoenicians alone carried on this trafific from Gades, concealing
the passage from every one; and when the Romans
II.