153 



being barren, they settled, in greater numbers, in Pelopon- 

 nesus, and founded the kingdoms of Sicyon and Argos: 

 the former, 2171 years before Christ,* and the latter 1779-t', 

 Hence Ephorus, quoted by Strabo, says, Peloponnesus was 

 anciently called Pelasgia;:}: and iEschylus, in SuppUces, 598, 

 600, (or rather 327 and 350, in my edition); and Pliny, 

 Lib. IV. 



Who these Pelasgi were, it is difficult to discover: that 

 they were originally Arcadians, I think improbable, though 

 affirmed by Strabo. Arcadia, being a very small territory, 

 could scarcely contain a tribe so numerous as the Pelasgi 

 formed in these early ages: besides, it is an inland terri- 

 tory, and the Pelasgi always chose to inhabit the sea coasts; 

 and hence, the part of Peloponnesus, which they inhabited, 

 was often called ^gialea. Strabo, Lib. Vlll. p. 384. It 

 seems more probable, that they were the descendants of 

 Chanaan, the son of Cham; and were those, who, as He- 

 rodotus relates, after wandering to the Red sea, settled at 

 last in Phoenicia,l| Herodot. Lib. I. p. 1 ; whence they sent 

 colonies into Greece, and the adjacent islands. He also- 

 says, Lib. II. ^. 51, that, from the islajid of Samothrace, 



VOL. X. , u they 



* 3 Jacks. 306; or 2164, according to 7 I'Archer's Herodot.; a very near 

 agreement. 



t 3 Jacks. 310 and 313; according to I'Archer, 1986 before Christ. 



J Lib. V. 221. 



II But the expedition, which he mentions, must have happened long after 

 the settlement of the Pelasgi in Argos, See I'Archer's note thereon. 



