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SYDNEY. 



SYRACUSE. 



768 



the refining of sugar. Sydney is the emporium of the coasting and 

 foreign trade of the colony. Steamers ply between the city and 

 various ports alonj the coast. Regular communication is kept up 

 with Great Britain by the Australian mail steamers. The harbour for 

 merchant vessels comprises the two inlets of Sydney Cove and Darling 

 Harbour, which afford a convenient line of wharfage nearly two miles 

 in length, and admit ships of the largest tonnage to the wharfs, where 

 their cargoes are transferred into stores. At Cockatoo Island, a con- 

 vict station at the mouth of the Paramatta River, a range of stone 

 quays has been built by the prisoners, and excavations made for an 

 extensive dry-dock. The principal export is wool. The produce 

 of the gold-fields of New South Wales is shipped at Sydney. Oil 

 and whalebone from the southern whale-fishery, and timber, are 

 exported in considerable quantities. The imports are principally 

 articles of British manufacture, grain and provisions, tea, coffee, and 

 sugar. 



The number and tonnage of vessels registered as belonging to the 

 port of Sydney on December 31st 1854 were : Sailing-vessels, under 

 50 ton*, 161, tonnage 4107 ; above 50 tons, 180, tonnage 32,082 : 

 steam-vessels, under 50 tons, 8, tonnage 242 ; above 50 tons, 15, 

 tonnage 2808. 



Sydney is the seat of government, of the legislature, and of the 

 supreme court of justice for the colony of New South Wales. The 

 mean temperature of the city is 74 Fabr. in summer; 55* 5' in 

 winter ; 68* 8' for the whole year. 



SYDNKY. [CAPE BKETOX.] 



SYKNK. [EOTFT.] 



SYLFIELLEX. [SWEDEN.] 



SYMPHORIEN DE LAY. [LoiBK.] 



8YRA, or SYROS, one of the Cyclades Inlands in the Mgeaa, lies 

 south of Oyarus, and between Ceos and Tenos. Homer and other 

 Greek poets describe the island a* rich in pastures, wine, and corn. 

 Homer (' Od.' xv., 402), says it contained two towns. There are still 

 ruins of one of the ancient towns, and many valuable relics of antiquity 

 have been discovered in this small island. The surface is hilly, the 

 soil fertile, and the climate mild ; trees never lose their verdure. 

 The principal products are com, wine, oil, cotton, and fruits. The 

 inhabitants, who previous to the year 1821 amounted to about 5000, 

 are Roman Catholics. In the revolutionary war with the Turks, 

 Syra remained neutral, and the population then soon rose to about 

 40,000, Syra having become the central point of the commerce of 

 Greece. After the pacification, the commerce of Syra declined. The 

 chief town of the island Syra, or Asprana, built on the east coast 

 round a conical hill above the harbour (which is good), is still an 

 important position. Near it is the fountain celebrated of old, gushing 

 in a limpid stream from the solid rock. Syra has wide, clean, well- 

 built streets ; it is the residence of a Catholic bishop, and has several 

 Catholic churches, and a lazzaretto. French steam-boat* from Marseille 

 to Constantinople put into Syra. 



SY K ACUSK (.S'i>o<Ma), a town on the east coast of Sicily, 30 miles 

 3.S.E. from Catania, and about the same distance N. by E. of Cape 

 Passaro, the southern extremity of Sicily. Ancient Syracuse, in the 

 time of its splendour, was the largest city in Sicily, and one of the 

 largest in the ancient world : it was of a triangular form, and con- 

 sisted of five towns, adjoining one another, but separated by walla : 

 the oldest of these towns was Ortygia on the peninsula, originally an 

 island of an oblong shape, about two miles in circumference, lying 

 between the Great Harbour on the west, which is a splendid piece of 

 water about five miles in circumference, and the Little Harbour, 

 which was paved with marble flags, on the east. On the other side 

 of the Little Harbour was the town of Acradina, which extended for 

 about three miles to the eastward along the sea-coast, until it reached 

 a bay, where was the port Trogilus, outside of the city. The western 

 part of Acradina, adjoining Ortygia, stood on low ground, on a level 

 with the inland ; but the remaining and larger portion of it lay on a 

 range of heights which stretch from the sea for several miles inland, 

 and are divided from the lowland by a natural wall of rocks. North 

 of Acradina, and inland, stood the town of Tychc, on the same range 

 of heights as the upper part of Acradina, being divided from 

 the latter only by a double wall and inter-mural road. Tyche 

 extended inland to the northward for a length of above two miles, 

 and at its western extremity was the EpipoUc, consisting of several 

 commanding heights, which were inclosed and made into a vast 

 fortress by Dionysius the elder. South-west of Tyche, in the lower 

 ground at the foot of the heights, was Neapolia, or the New Town, 

 which, at its southern end, adjoined the lower part of Acradina. The 

 whole was surrounded by an external wall, the length of which was 

 180 stadia. Ortygia was the first part inhabited ; but the population 

 increasing, the island was joined to the mainland by a causeway 

 across the narrow channel of the sea, and the neighbouring low 

 grounds were built upon. Suburbs and gardens extended south of 

 Neapolis to the mouth of the river Anapus, and beyond it, round the 

 western shore of the Great Harbour to the steep peninsula of Plem- 

 myrium* which faced Ortygia. After the Roman conquest, the popu- 

 lation, having gradually decreased, became restricted to the original 

 Ortygia and the lower part of Acradina, and all the upper city was 

 already abandoned in the time of Augustus. The Saracens in the 

 9th century plundered and devastated Syracuse, which contained till 



then about 100,000 inhabitants ; and from that time Ortygia, or the 

 island, has been the only part inhabited. 



The greater part of the upper town of Acradina, especially near 

 the sea, is now a naked dreary rock, the surface having been thoroughly 

 cleared of the materials of the ancient city. No traces of antiquity, 

 except some steps and a few courses of stones, not a vestige of a 

 house, temple, or monument is to be seen on the extensive plain. 

 The sea has undermined the shore, and the town-walls have fallen in 

 and disappeared. Considerable remains of the external wall, built by 

 Dionysius the elder, are seen farther north round Tyche and the 

 Epipolte. Not far from Scala Graca, at a place called Targetta, are 

 the remains of a gate, whence a street can be traced across the 

 site of Tyche to the ancient theatre at the other end near Neapolis. 

 Traces of other streets are also seen, with foundations for walls cut 

 in the rocks. The fields within and near the external walls of this 

 part of the town are covered with immense heaps of stones thrown 

 confusedly together. On the outside of the walls a green slope reaches 

 from the foot of the rock to the plain, and is covered with old 

 olive-trees. 



Between the upper and the lower parts of the town, and near the 

 borders of Tyche, Acradina, and Neapolis, is the ancient theatre, 

 hewn out of the solid rock, now half-hidden with bushes. Not far 

 from the theatre are the remains of an amphitheatre of the Roman 

 period ; and nearer to Ortygia are the remains of the palace of the 

 60 beds, said to have been built by Agathocles. Near it are vestiges 

 of the wide street mentioned by Cicero, which may be traced from 

 the isthmus of Ortygia, and across the site of the upper town, to a 

 spot called Santa Bonaccia, on the edge of the Portus Trogilus. 



The Latornise were originally quarries excavated in the rocks that 

 divide the upper from the lower town, from whence the stone for the 

 construction of the city was drawn. They are from 60 to 80 feet deep. 

 Some of them Afterwards served as prisons ; and on the surrender of 

 Nicias the whole of the Athenian prisoners were confined in them and 

 mostly died. The largest of these Latomim is annexed to the Capu- 

 chin convent Another Latomia is near the ancient theatre. On one 

 side of it, cut in the rock, is the remarkable excavation called tho 

 Ear of Dionysius. 



The catacombs are vast excavations, of very remote antiquity, for 

 tho purpose of burying the dead : they form subterraneous streets of 

 tombs cut out of the solid rock. They were converted by the early 

 Christians into places of refuge from persecution. Tho entrance to 

 them is under the small church of San Giovanni, in the lower part of 

 Acradina. This church is one of the oldest Christian churches in 

 Europe. The catacombs were filled with tombs of the dead of all 

 ages and faiths Greek, Roman, Christian, and Saracen. 



The aqueduct was begun by Gelon and enlarged by Hiero. The 

 stream is brought in subterraneous channels from Monte Crimiti, 

 outside of the Epipoltc, until it enters the walls at the place where 

 the fort of Labdalum stood. It then appears above ground, being 

 received into an aqueduct upon arches and .conveyed to some mills, 

 after which the water falls down the steps of the great theatre at 

 Neapolis. 



Outside of the walls, and on the left bank of the Anapus, near the 

 Great Harbour, are parts of the shafts of two fluted columns of the 

 temple of Jupiter Olympicus, which was enriched by Gelon with the 

 spoils of the Carthaginians. There are other ancient remains scattered 

 hero and there, but of no ascertained character. 



The modern town of Siracnsa is fortified, and has a regular garrison, 

 but is commanded by the height of Acradina. It is a bishop's see ; 

 baa 14,000 inhabitants, narrow streets, numerous churches and con- 

 vents, and other public buildings, the most remarkable of which is 

 the cathedral, once the identical temple of Minerva, which was plun- 

 dered of its ornaments by Verres. Its exterior dimensions are 185 feet 

 in length and 75 feet in width. There are also some remains of Diana's 

 temple near St Paul's church. 



A bath, with a spiral staircase about 40 feet deep, is seen in tho 

 church of St Philip ; and there arc also vestiges of the baths of Daphne, 

 in which the emperor Constans was murdered in 668. 



The celebrated fountain of Arethusa is a large pool of water, sup- 

 plied by a spring, and separated from the sea by a wall, in the Ortygia, 

 near the Great Harbour; and about 80 yards from it rises from tho 

 bottom of the harbour a copious spring, called L'Occhio delta Zilica, 

 which, according to the ancient poets, was the Alpheus of Elis. 



There is a museum at Siracusa containing the statues of the Lando- 

 Una Venus and ^Esculapius, somo sarcophagi, a handsome collection 

 of vases, inscriptions, coins, &c., and a public library. 



Siracusa enjoys a delightful climate in winter, but the alluvial 

 plain on the west side of the harbour, through which flows the 

 Anapus, exhales pestilential miasmata in the summer months. The 

 country around is very fertile. On the left bank of the Anapus is 

 the fountain of Cyaue, now called the Pisma : it is a circular basin 

 of the purest water, about 60 or 70 feet in diameter, and 26 feet 

 deep. The people of Siracusa carry on some trade by sea, but the 

 place is by no means thriving. Some salt, wine, oil, and fish are 

 exported. 



Syracuse was founded about B.C. 735 by Archias, a Corinthian, tho 

 head of a colony of Corinthians and Dorians, who settled in the island 

 of Ortygia, having overpowered the native SiculL This settlement, 



