296 ON THE ICTIS OF DIODORUS SICULUS. 
called Jctis ; and seem not to have been aware, 
that it was the circumstance of there being several 
tracts of land in the same locality, appearing to 
be islands at high water, and peninsulas at low 
water, which constituted the peculiarity men- 
tioned by him, and dwelt upon as singularly 
worthy of notice. 
Diodorus further says, that “at low water,” 
the sea retires, and leaves dry “ a large portion 
of ground,” (mort sm). But if the island of Ictis 
and St. Michael’s Mount be one and the same, 
this “ large extent of ground” does not exceed, 
at furthest, 300 or 400 yards long, by 30 or 40 
broad. ‘This isthmus probably served as a pas- 
sage for the votaries to the shrine of St. Michael, 
which was much frequented by pilgrims; as the 
one at Landisfarn, described by Sir Walter Scott, 
in his ** Marmion,” did to that of St. Cuthbert. 
« The tide did now the flood-mark gain, 
And girdled in the Saint’s domain : 
For, with the flow and ebb, its style 
Varies from continent to isle ; 
Dryshod, o’er sands, twice every day, 
The pilgrims to the shrine find way ; 
Twice every day the waves efface 
Of staves and sandall’d feet the trace.” 
Canto II. Stanza 9. 
