THE VOLCANOES AND ROCKS OF PANTELLERIA 655 
and in many of the topographic names. From this Semitic period 
dates a coinage which Head" refers to the second century B.c. 
Cossyra figured in several episodes of the Punic wars, but on the fall 
of Carthage became Roman, and another series of coins dates from 
this epoch.* It seems to have had a reputation for roughness and 
inhospitality and is mentioned by Seneca as one of the most undesir- 
able places of exile. 
Fic. 1.—Sese (prehistoric dwelling) 
It was captured by the Moors in 835 A.D., who called it Qussra, 
a name by which it is still known in Arabic. After a stormy period, 
during which the island was the object of contention between the 
Moors and the Norman kings of Sicily, it became part of the 
kingdom of Sicily, and thence passed under the dominion of the 
present kingdom of Italy. 
PRODUCTS AND POPULATION 
The cultivable parts are mostly given over to vineyards, which 
produce large, white, and very sweet grapes, which are dried to 
t Barclay V. Head, Historia Numorum, London, 1887, p. 743- 
