AND THE PASSAGE OF THE EURIPUS. 541 



connectiiio- Euboea witli BcKotia. To this the Boeotians, who felt how 

 much it was lor their interest that Euboea should be an island to all 

 others but themselves, assented. Wherefore all the cities around con- 

 curred cheerfully in this undertaking, animating each other by their 

 mutual example ; and not only were all the natives called out upon 

 this occasion, but even the strangers who sojourned with them, so 

 that by means of the multitude employed about it the work was soon 

 completed. A mole (^^w/^a), therefore, was formed on the side ot 

 Euboea near Chalcis, and on the side of Boeotia near Aulis ; for this 

 was the narrowest part. 



" It is to be observed that there had been always a current in this 

 place and frequent changes of the tides, but now the violence of these 

 became much greater, the sea being confined within a narrow space, 

 for a passage was left for one vessel only. 



" They constructed likewise high towers on the ends of the two 

 moles, and laid wooden bridges over the currents between."* ' ' ' 



The above narrative would convey to us a very clear idea of the 

 construction of the mole, were it not for the inconsistency observable 

 in the last sentence of the description. This arises from the use of 

 the plural in the words " bridges and currents ;" when from all that 

 precedes it is evident that there could have been only one bridge and 

 one current or passage for the water. Nor can we get rid of this dif- 

 ficulty by a conjectural emendation, for the text bears no marks of 

 corruption. 



We are left, therefore, to the choice of two meanings, and in adopt- 

 ing that which naturally results from the former part of the narrative, 

 we shall best reconcile Diodorus with himself as well as with Strabo. 



I shall therefore take for granted that the xu^a. or mole, in reality, 

 left only one passage for vessels between the two opposite shores, and 

 that this passage was fortified by two towers, between which there 

 was a bridge of wood. 



* 'rixoS 'j«.r,(rav Z\ xai Tugyouj ui{i>]Aoi/f lit ajifOTe^aiv Twv axgwVf xai JuAivaj T015 Itappoi; 



