30 



the stationary condition of the Mediterranean sea, 

 which, during so many ages, has not sunk a single 

 inch from its general level."* 



As a further confirmation of this fact, the rocks of 

 Scylla and Garybdis, are still a dread to the toil- 

 some mariner, while, at a distance, he listens, through 

 the sleepless night-watch, in painful anxiety, to their 

 awful roarings. 



Most of the sea ports, that were frequented in an- 

 cient days, remain still the same, or at least without 

 any visible alteration, and are still the resort of their 

 numerous ships ; such are Malta, Rhodes, Marseilles, 

 and many places well known for ages past.f 



* See Ali Bey's Travels, vol. page 33. 



t See Cuvier's Theory, page 53, American edition. 



