ON THE ICTIS OF DIODORUS SICULUS. 305 
circuitous route over the bridge at Saint Erth; 
but upon the ebbing of the tide, it soon becomes 
fordable, and may be passed over even by foot 
passengers. It is a curious circumstance that at 
twelve o’clock at noon, and at midnight, it is 
always fordable ; this apparent paradox is solved 
by knowing, that at Spring tides it is always low 
water at these hours, and that the Neap tides 
never rise sufficiently high to impede the passage.” 
This description, as far as regards the extent 
of land, alternately flooded and left dry, ap- 
proaches more nearly to that of Diodorus, than 
any which has yet come under our observation ; 
for here we have an area of sand half a mile wide, 
and more than two miles long, which, at high 
water, is generally submerged, but at the ebbing 
of the tide becomes fordable, and may be crossed 
even by foot passengers: whereas, the extent of 
the isthmus of loose stones and pebbles, which, 
at low water, connects St. Michael’s Mount with 
the main land, is trifling in comparison, and ill 
corresponds with the “large space” of which 
Diodorus speaks. Was the peninsula west of St. 
Erth, then, the Ictis of that writer? There is 
one remarkable circumstance, connected with the 
trading visits of the Phoenicians to the Cornish 
