BAY OF JURA. 161 
\ 
diminution of their annual tribute, which they 
were unable to pay ; and he cites the antient 
poet Aratus, to shew how long the poverty of 
the island had been its only distinction 2 . 
Tournefort has countenanced the story related 
by Pliny* of the expulsion of its inhabitants by 
rats, or by fie Id-mice ; affirming that he saw some 
large animals of this kind, which were probably 
of the antient race 4 . Instead of the Jield-mice, 
we saw plenty of sheep and goats belonging to 
the people of Syra; yet the existence of the 
animals mentioned by Pliny is attested by many 
authors, some of whom pretend that, driven 
by hunger, the mice have been constrained to 
gnaw the iron ore taken from the mines b ; a most 
(2) " Ar,}.a7 St <raf uzreo'ia.s eturUt xtti 'A^arts It r7; Kara, Asa-rey, 
A-J/.TI, n Tv&pc* 'ra.Qil.ivffni avrifc ofteir,*. 
" Paupertatem eorum etiam Aratus sic innuit in minutis : 
Te Latona tenet, puto, ferrea nunc Pholegandrus, 
Aut Gyaron nihilo meliorem fortfe subisti." 
Strfibon. Ceog. lib. x. p. 709. Ojron. 1807. 
(3) Vid. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. viii. c. 59. De Civitut. et Gent. & 
minutis animaltbus deletes. " Ex Gyaro Cycladum insula incolas a 
muribus fugatos," &c. 
(4) " Nous n'y vlnaes que de gros mulots, peut-etre de la race de 
ceux qui obligerent les habitans de 1'isle de 1'abandoner, comme Pline 
le rapporte." Tournef.-f'oy. du Lev. torn. II. p. 30. Lyon, 1717. 
(5) See the Authors as cited by Tournefort : Antigan. Carist. 
Narrat. Mirab. cap. 12. Arist. Kb. de Unrdb. Ausc. Milan. IJist. 
Auim. lib. \". cap. 14. Steph. Byzant. &fc. tf 
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