D E L O S. 



599 



EUIos. In the better days of this city, Bcrhier supposed its 



population to be nearly equal to that of Paris. In the 

 time of Shah Jehan, its yearly revenue amounted to 

 L. 3,125,000. During the reign of Aurengzebe, (the 

 third son of Shah Jehan,) who mounted the throne in 

 l659,the revenue of the city amounted to 1,221,950,137 

 dams, or L. 3,818,594; and its population was compu- 

 ted at two millions. It continued to increase in splen- 

 dour and importance till the invasion of Nadir Shah, 

 who demanded 30 millions sterling by way of ransom. 

 It was on this occasion that 100,000 of the inhabitants 

 were massacred, and 62 millions of plunder were said 

 to have been collected. This unhappy city was again 

 pillaged and depopulated in 1756, 1759, and 1760, 

 by Ahmed Abdallah. Shah-Aulum, the lineal descend- 

 ant of the house of Timoor, aspiring to the throne of 

 his ancestors, put himself into the hands of the Mah- 

 rattas, who promised to support bim in his enterprise. 

 The distresses of this deluded prince compelled him 

 at length to depute his son, in 1784, to solicit the 

 assistance of the English. Since the peace of 1782, 

 Madajse Scindia, a Mahratta chief, and possessor of the 

 principal part of Maliva, has taken the lead at Delhi, 

 and has been endeavouring to extend his conquests 

 on the side of Agimere, with the view of establishing 

 a considerable kingdom. By these successive invasions 

 and ravages, the opulence and population of Delhi 

 have been greatly reduced, and are necessarily so fluc- 

 tuating and precarious, that they cannot be exactly as- 

 certained. North Lat. 28° 36', East Long. 77° 40'. See 

 Bernier's Memoirs concerning the Empire of the Great 

 Mogul, vol. ii. Franklin's History of the Reign of Shah- 

 Aulum, Appendix i. Asiatic Researches, vol. iv. (Jc) 



DELOS. There are two islands situated in the 

 mouth of the Greek Archipelago, called Dili, Sidili, or 

 Great and Little Delos, which were particularly cele- 

 brated among the ancients, by the name of Rlieiiaia, 

 and Delos. It is chiefly to the latter, as the more noted, 

 that our attention shall here be directed. 



Delos was celebrated neither for its size nor produc- 

 tions, being only seven or eight miles in circuit, and 

 covered with a barren soil ; but from its fame in the 

 mysteries of Pagan mythology, it was considered of 

 far greater importance than a rich and extensive sove- 

 reignty. According to fabulous story, when Latona, 

 pregnant by Jupiter, was persecuted by Juno, Neptune 

 raised the island from the bottom of the sea by a blow 

 of his trident, in order to afford her a place of refuge ; 

 and it is said to have derived its name, signifying to 

 appear, from the mode in which it was produced. 

 Nevertheless, according to other traditions, the island 

 long floated at the will of the waves, until Neptune 

 fixed it to receive Latona, who was there delivered of 

 twins, Apollo and Diana. Herodotus examined Delos 

 in the course of his travels, and declares that it did not 

 float; but some of the moderns have written disserta- 

 tions to prove, that such might have been the case, 

 without any violation of the law of nature. 



This island was consecrated in a special manner to 

 Apollo and Diana, who each derived a name from 

 Mount Cynthus, a hill upon it ; and some of the other 

 heathen divinities had also temples there. It contained 

 wealthy and populous cities, and its inhabitants, held 

 in veneration as servants of the gods, were, by an Athe- 

 nian decree, entitled to a golden crown in the festivals 

 of Minerva. There was a magnificent temple dedicated 

 to Apollo, which was erected by the united labours of 

 all the Grecian potentates, who likewise jointly con- 

 tributed to its preservation in suitable splendour. Plu- 

 tarch informs us, that there was an altar in it deemed 



one of the wonders of the world, from the admirable 

 art with which it was constructed ; yet it consisted 

 of nothing more than the horns of goats killed by 

 Diana on Mount Cynthus, which were twisted into the 

 proper form without glue or nails. Here there was a 

 colossal marble statue of Apollo twenty-four feet high, 

 presented by the inhabitants of the island of Naxos, 

 now mutilated and in fragments ; but the pedestal, a. 

 huge block of polished marble, and dedicatory inscrip- 

 tions, yet remains. As Latona suckled her offspring 

 under a palm tree, a brazen one, of great size, was 

 erected beside the temple by Nicias, an Athenian ge- 

 neral, which the ancients relate was overthrown on the 

 statue by a tempest. The chief temple of Apollo was 

 founded above 1 500 years before Christ. Adrian, the 

 Roman emperor, built two temples dedicated to Nep- 

 tune and Hercules, and also a city called New Athens. 

 The oracular responses to the credulous are reported to 

 have been less mysterious in Delos than those delivered 

 from the other fanes of Apollo. 



All the surrounding nations, and some at a remote 

 distance, concurred in celebrating the honours of the 

 Delian divinities : hostilities were then laid aside, and 

 mutual enemies might repair in safety to the island. 

 Theseus, in commemoration of his escape from the Mi- 

 notaur in Crete, instituted a divine legation, which was 

 scrupulously preserved by the Athenians ; and during 

 its absence, or that of other deputations, no criminal 

 could be put to death in their city. This legation, called 

 the Theory, bore a crown of gold for Apollo, numerous 

 victims for sacrifice, priests, and choirs of virgins to 

 perform the sacred rites. An ancient inscription on 

 marble, brought to Britain by the Earl of Sandwich 

 in the earlier part of the preceding century, tends to 

 elucidate this part of Pagan mythology. Its date 

 remounts to about 374 years before the Christian asra, and 

 it shows the expences lavished on superstitious offer- 

 ings by the devotees of that period. The sums due to 

 the temple of Delos, both by individuals and the Gre- 

 cian states, are there enumerated, as well as the price 

 of the golden crown for the god ; of 109 oxen for sa- 

 crifice, paid to the captain of the galleys bearing the le- 

 gation, and the remuneration of the arehtheorist, who 

 was at its head. On the arrival of the Theory, the statue 

 of Apollo was crowned, and the victims offered ; then 

 dancing around the altars by young Athenians, repre- 

 senting the motions of the island while floating on the 

 waves, commenced, in which the Delian females soon 

 mixed, to figure themazes ofthe Cretan labyrinth, whence 

 Theseus returned in safety. Games, and competitions in 

 poetry, likewise took place; and the Athenians instituted 

 horse racing as a part of the former. The landing ofthe 

 Theory having been irregularly conducted previous to 

 the age of Nicias, when he was appointed arch-theorist, 

 he canned the priests, choir, victims, and other prepa- 

 rations to the neighbouring island of Rhenaea, and cast 

 a bridge five or six hundred yards long, richly or- 

 namented with gold paintings and carpets, all made at 

 Athens, over the intermediate channel to Delos. Thus, 

 instead of the priests and choirs promiscuously hurry- 

 ing from the vessels, and having taken their crowns 

 and vestments, beginning to sing in a disorderly man- 

 ner, a solemn and magnificent procession was con- 

 ducted into the island. The same Grecian appro- 

 priated certain revenues, to give an annual feast to the 

 Delians, in order to propitiate the gods ; and the terms 

 of his donation were engraven on a marble pyramid. 



Great numbers of Greeks, with their wives and fa- 

 milies, now resorted to the island, either from religious 

 motives, or to enjoy the festivals; and virgins arrived 



Dele! 



