T A O 



on a narrow level above a precipice of mount Taurus, and 

 overhung by immenfe mafles of rocks. According to 

 Swinburne it contains 3cx>0 inhabitants. It has been much 

 celebrated for its coftly marble and excellent wine. The an- 

 -ient Tauromenium was much more extenfive than the pre- 

 fcnt town, and comprehended within its walU the town 

 of the promontory of St. Andrew, where was a theatre 

 placed between two high rocks, tmd commanding a full view 

 both of jEtna and of tiie plains. This theatre is reckoned 

 the moll beautiful monument of antiquity extant. A con- 

 fiderable portion of this building has efcaped the ravages of 

 time, and affords tiie antiquary, as well as the architect, an 

 opportunity of examining that divifion of a theatre on which 

 the adors ilood ; a part that is wanting in almoft all other 

 ruined theatres. The arcades are all compofed of brick, 

 the reft of the walls of pebbles, and covered with cafings 

 of marble. The wliole range of the vomitoria and galleries 

 that encircled the feats is yet Handing as high from the 

 ground as the bottom of the fecond order ; the profcenium, 

 which formed the ciiord of the arch, is almoft entire ; it is a 

 thick wall, with a large opening in the centre, and three 

 niches ; a fmall door, and a fourth niche on each fide ; be- 

 tween each of thefe apertures, or recclfes, are marks in the 

 wall, where columns were placed. According to the plan 

 deduced from thefe ruins, the ftage was a parallelogram of 

 138 feet by 58 ; on each fide was a lofty fquare building, 

 confifting of a bafement and .two upper ftories, from the 

 higheil of which a communicating gallery was carried along 

 the back fcenes : the diameter of the femicircular part of 

 the theatre, where the audience fat, was 142 Englilh feet. 

 The ftreets of the modern town, the courts and houfes, are 

 every where interfpcrfed with fragments of antique walls, 

 aquedufts, and mofaic pavements. The afcent to Taormina 

 is very fteep and difficult ; but the charms of the landfcape 

 amply recompenfe the labour of attaining the height. Every 

 thing belonging to it is drawn in a large fublime ftyle ; the 

 mountains tower to the clouds ; the caftles and ruins rife on 

 weighty maftes of perpendicular rock, and feem to defy the 

 attacks of mortal enemies ; ^tna, with all its fnowy and 

 woody fwceps, fills half the horizon ; the fea is ftretched out 

 upon an immenfe fcale, and occupies the remainder of the 

 profpeft. The beach is confined by high cliffs, that are cal- 

 careous and confining generally of a fpecies of red and white 

 marble, which was in high efteem among the ancients. The 

 houfes in the vicinity are inhabited by peafants, who occupy 

 them with their children and cattle. Thefe feveral monu- 

 ments are undoubtedly coeval with the Romans ; that is, pof- 

 terior to Cifar, who, having expelled the inhabitants of 

 Tauromenium, placed in it a Roman colony. The origin 

 of this city is loft in the obfcurity of ages. It is known 

 that it was confiderably augmented, when Dionyfius, in the 

 94th Olympiad, 443 years B.C., having taken and deftroyed 

 Naxos, caufed it to be deferted by its inhabitants, who fettled 

 here. This proud city was at length deftroyed by the Vene- 

 tians, and fortified by the Norman conquerors ; and it ftill ex- 

 ifts in a reduced ftate. When it was taken by the Saracens 

 from the Greek emperor in the loth century, it was one of 

 the ftrongeft places in the ifland, and called by them " Al 

 Moezzia," which name it retained for a confiderable time ; 

 27 miles S,S,W- of Meffina. N. lat. 37° 51'. E. long. 

 15° 23'. 



TAOS Lapis, the peatock-Jione, a name given by fome 

 of the ancient writers to a very beautiful variegated agate, 

 refembling, in fome degree, the great variety of colours in 

 the peacock's tail. 



TAOSANLU, in Geography, a town of Afiatic Turkey, 

 in Natolia ; 20 miles N.W. of Kiutaja. 

 10 



TAP 



TAOUKA, one of the Society iflands, in the South Pa- 

 cific ocean. S. lat. 14° 30'. W. long. 145° 9'. 



TAP, among Hunters. A hare is faid to tap, or beat, 

 when fhe makes a particular noife at rutting-time. 



Tap. See Tapping. 



Tav-RooI, that fort of root which (hoots direftly down- 

 wards to a great depth. There are many roots of this na- 

 ture, which are in conftant ufe by the farmer, fuch as the 

 carrot, parfnip, beet, &c. ; and there are many plants of the 

 tree kind which have tap-roots, as the oak, &c. See- 

 Tapping. 



In the vegetable kinds of tap-rooted plants, they all re- 

 quire a deeply broken-down and prepared foil, in order to 

 grow them with any fuccefs, and to any confiderable fizes. 

 And, as in the tree forts, they muft always rife from the 

 feeds where they are fown ; as they cannot be tranfplanted 

 out with any kind of propriety or advantage. Where the 

 land is not properly prepared to a fuitable depth, they are 

 ufually ftiort, forked, and of aukvvard growth ; and when 

 raifed by tranfplanting, very fmall and ftunted ; but fome of 

 them cannot be at all grown in the laft method. 



T AP-Rooti-cJ Turnip, in Agriculture, that fort which gjrows 

 much with this kind of root. It is not a favourable kind of 

 growth for this fort of crop. See Turnip. 



TAPACRI, in Geography, a town of Peru; 20 miles 

 N.E. of Cochabamba. 



TAPAJOS, a river of Brazil, in the Capitania of 

 Matto GrofTo, which runs N. between the Madeira and the 

 Chingu for 300 leagues, flowing into the Amazons, in lat. 

 2° 24' 50" and long. 55°, the geographical pofition of the 

 town of Santarem fituated at its mouth. This river rifes in 

 the plains of the Paresis, fo called from an Indian nation 

 wliich inhabits them. From thefe elevated plains defcend 

 the two greateft rivers of South America, iiiz. the Para- 

 guay, and the Madeira, the largeft river that flows into the 

 Amazons on the fouth. The Tapajos flows in a contrary 

 dircftion from thefe mountains. Its weftenmioft branch is 

 the river Arinos, which entwines its fources with thofe of 

 the Cuiaba at a fhort diftance from thofe of the Paraguay. 

 The largeft and wefternmoft branch of the Tapajos is the 

 Juruena, which rifes in lat. 14° 20', 20 leagues N.N.E. of 

 Villa Bella, and running N. 120 leagues, flows into the 

 Arinos, and with it forms the bed of the Tapajos. The 

 Juruena may be navigated to its upper fall, within two 

 leagues of its own fource. From the geographical pofition 

 of the Tapajos, it is evident that this river facilitates naviga- 

 tion and commerce from the maritime city of Peru to the 

 mines of Matto Groflb and Cuiaba, by means of its large 

 branches, the Juruena and Arinos. The Tapajos is known 

 to be auriferous through a great part of its courfe. 



TAPANA, a name of the Hindoo regent of the fun. 

 It means the inflamer. (See Surya.) One of the five ar- 

 rows with which the Hindoo Kama, or cupid, wounds his 

 votaries, is named Tapana. Its head is formed of a flower 

 of a fuppofed inflaming quaUty. 



TAPARICA, in Geography, an ifland at the entrance of 

 All Saints' bay, on the coaft of Brafil, about 25 miles long, 

 and 5 broad. S. lat. 13*^. 



TAP AS, the name of a fpecies of devotion, to which 

 great merit and efficacy are afcribed by the Hindoos. It 

 confifts of intenfe contemplation, accompanied by aullerities. 

 See Jap. 



The performance of the Tapas, or, more correAly writ- 

 ten, Tapafya, is ftrongly recommended in Hindoo books ; 

 and numerous inftances are there given of benefits conferred 

 on the fuppliants by the gods fo propitiated. An individual, 

 while in the performance of the penances of Tapafya, is 



called 



