20 THE INSULATION OF ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT. 
the natives of Britain sailed in coracles. The Mictis of Timzus 
and the Ictis of Diodorus are probably variations of the name 
Vectis, by which the Roman writers designated the Isle of Wight.”* 
It would not have occured to me to have spoken of this pass- 
age as containing an argument, or, indeed, anything more than a 
suggestion. Be this as it may, the passage has been generally, and 
perhaps not unreasonably, understood to express its author's 
belief that the Iktis was the Isle of Wight. It does not appear to 
be so well known as could be wished, that in 1862, Col. Sir 
Henry James called the attention of Sir G. C. Lewis to the sense 
in which his words were understood, as well as to the views of 
Dr. T. F. Barham respecting the Iktis and the Mount, as set forth 
in the paper already mentioned; and that his reply, dated June 
16th, 1862, contained the following statement: “The passage in 
my volume was not intended to convey the meaning which you 
attributed to it. All that I meant to say was, that the names 
Mictis and Ictis were variations of Vectis, and arose from a con- 
fusion of that name. My impression was that both accounts were 
fabulous, and arose from the tendency to multiply islands .... 
The coincidence of the account of Diodorus with St. Michael’s 
Mount is, however, so close, that it cannot be accidental, and the 
circumstances mentioned by Dr. Barham, satisfy me that it was 
the port from which the tin was shipped for the coast of Gaul.” + 
Though, as we see, the author of the Astronomy of the Ancients 
never entertained the idea that the Iktis was the Isle of Wight, 
that idea has been, and still is, held by many; but on what grounds 
it is difficult to see, except, perhaps, the comparative proximity of 
the island to the continent. To suppose the Cornubians took 
their tin by land to the Hampshire coast, is to suppose the exist- 
ence of bridges and good roads, and such an absence of enmity 
between the British tribes, as to imply a comparatively high 
civilization, utterly incompatible with the indirect statement of 
Diodorus to the contrary. The reason assigned by the old Sicilian 
* An Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the Ancients. By the Right 
Hon. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, p. 453. 1862 
+ The entire Letter from Sir G. C. Lewis to Sir H. James was printed 
in the Forty-fitth Annual Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1863, 
pp. 34-5, at the request of the latter, in the -belief that it would “ prevent 
future writers from quoting the high authority of Sir George Lewis to any 
contrary opinion.” 
