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470 I T II 
uncommon in the days of Homer, who more than once 
reprei'ents the Ithacenfes demanding of lirangers what 
fnip brought them to the ifland, it being evident they 
could not come on foot. He told us that there was, on 
the fummit where he Hood, a fmall ciftern of water, and 
a kalybea, or fhepherd’s hut. There are alfo veftiges of 
ancient habitations, and the place is now called Amarathia. 
Convenience, as well as fafety, feems to have pointed out 
the lofty fituation of Amarathia, as a fit place for the re- 
fidence of the herdfmen of this part of the ifiand from the 
earlieft ages. A fmall fource of water is a treafure in 
thefe climates; and, if the inhabitants of Ithaca now fe- 
left a rugged and elevated fpot to feeure them from the 
robbers of the Echinades, it is to be recollected that the 
Taphian pirates were not lefs formidable, even in the days 
of Ulyfles ; and that a refidence in a folitary part of the 
ifland, far from the fortrefs, and clofe to a celebrated 
fountain, mull at all times have been dangerous, without 
fome fuch fecurity as the rocks of Korax. Indeed there 
can be no doubt that the houfe of Eumaeus was on the 
top of the precipice ; for Ulyfles, in order to evince the 
truth of his ftory to the fwineherd, defires to be thrown 
from the fummit if his narration does not prove correct. 
Near the bottom of the precipice is a curious natural gal¬ 
lery, about feven feet high. It may be fairly prefumed, 
from the very remarkable coincidence between this place 
and the Homeric account, that this was the fcene defig- 
nated by the poet as the fountain of Arethufa, and the 
refidence of Eumaeus; and perhaps it would be impoflible 
to find another fpot which bears, at this day, fo ftrong a 
refemblance to a poetic defcription compofed at a period 
fo very remote. There is no other fountain in this part 
of the ifland, nor any rock which bears the flighteft re¬ 
femblance to the Korax of Homer. The ftathmos of the 
good Eumaeus appears to have been little different, eithef 
in ufe or confirmation, from the ftagni and kalybea of the 
prefent day. The poet exprefsly mentions that other herdf- 
men drove their flocks into the city at fun-fet, a cuftom 
which (till prevails throughout Greece during the winter; 
and that was the feafon in which Ulyfles vifited Eumaeus. 
Yet Homer accounts for this deviation from the prevail¬ 
ing cuftom, by obferving that he had retired from the city 
to avoid the l'uitors of Penelope. Thefe trifling occur¬ 
rences afford a ftrong prefumption that the Ithaca of Ho¬ 
mer was fomething more than the creature of his own 
fancy, as fome have fuppofed it; for, though the grand 
outline of a fable may be eafiiy imagined, yet the confift- 
ent adaptation of minute incidents to a long and elaborate 
falfehood is a talk of the moft arduous and complicated 
nature.” 
At Bathi, the capital, Mr. Gell was prefent at the cele¬ 
bration of the feaft of the Afceniion, when the citizens 
appeared in their gayeft drefles, and fainted each other in 
the ftreets with deinonftrations of pleafure. “ As we fate 
at breakfaft in the houfe of fignorZavo, we were fuddenly 
roufed by the difcharge of a gun, fucceeded by a tremen¬ 
dous crafli of pottery, which fell on the tiles, fteps, and 
pavements, in every direction. The bells of the numer¬ 
ous churches commenced a moft difcordant jingle; colours 
were hoifted on every malt in the port, and a general 
Ihout of joy announced fome great event. Our hoft in¬ 
formed us that the feaft of the Afcenfion was annually 
commemorated in this manner at Bathi, the populace ex¬ 
claiming Ai/£rt? o Xpro?, aXr/ 9 oo$ o ©eo,-, Chrift is rilen, the 
true God. In the evening of the feftival, the inhabit¬ 
ants danced before their houfes ; and at one we faw the 
figure which is faid to have been firft ufed by the youths 
and virgins of Delos, at the happy return of Thefeus 
from the expedition of the Cretan Labyrinth.” 
Ithaca, with Zante, Cephalonia, and Cerigo, have been 
for fome time in the pofleflion of the Britifh. Corfu is 
however under the dominion of the French, who have 
eftibliflied an academy there; and the reft of thefe iflands 
Bonaparte is determined, he fays, to recover, either by 
war or peace: witnefs his reply to an addrefs from Corfu, 
brought to Paris by what is called a deputation from the 
Ionian Ifies. The date of this exhibition is Aug. 19, 
1811—“Gentlemen Deputies from the Ionian Ifles ; I 
have caufed great works to be completed in your country. 
I have collected a great number of troops, and ammuni¬ 
tion of all kinds. I do not regret the expences which 
Corfu has coft my treafury; it is the key of the Adria¬ 
tic. I mill never abandon the iflands which the Jupcriority of 
the enemy by fea has placed in their power. In India, in Ame¬ 
rica, in the Mediterranean, every thing that is and has been 
French Jhall always be Jo. Conquered by the enemy by the 
viciflitudes of war, they fhall return into the empire by 
the other events of the war, or by the ftipulations of peace, 
I ftiould always confider it as an eternal blot upon my 
reign, if I ever fanftioned the abandonment of a Angle 
Frenchman.” 
ITH'ACA, a town of New York, at the fouth extre¬ 
mity of Lake Cayuga: thirty miles fouth of Cayuga. Lat. 
42. 27. N. Ion. 76. 33. W. 
ITKACE'SIAs, in ancient geography, three iflands op- 
pofite Vibo, on the coaft of the Brutii.—Baiae was called 
alfo Ilhacejia, becaufe built by Bajus the pilot of Ulyfles. 
ITH'ACUS, a name for Uiyfles. 
ITH'AI, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
ITHA'MAR, [Heb. the land of palm-trees.] Aaron’s 
fourth fon. We know' nothing particularly of his life, 
and probably he never exercifed the high-priefthood. He 
and his fons continued as Ample priefts till the high- 
priefthood came into his family in the perfon of Eli. The 
fuccefiors of Eli, of the family of Ithamar, were Ahitub, 
Ahiah, Ahimelech, and Abiathar, whom Solomon depofed. 
1 Kings ii. 27. 
ITH'IAL, [Heb. the approach of God.] A man’s 
name. 
ITH'MAH, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
ITH'NAN, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
ITHOB'ALUS, a king of Tyre, who died B. C. 595. 
jfofephus. 
ITHO'ME, in ancient geography, a town of Meflenia, 
which furrendered, after ten years fiege, to Lacedaemon, 
724 years before the Chriftian era. Jupiter was called 
Ithomates, from a temple which he had there, where games 
were alfo celebrated, and the conqueror rewarded with ail 
oaken crown. 
ITHOMA'IA, a feftival In which muficians contended, 
obferved at Ithome, in honour of Jupiter, who had been 
nurfed by the nymphs Ithome and Neda; the former of 
whom gave her name to a city, and the latter to a river. 
I'TIION, a river of Wales, which runs into the Wye 
three miles north of Builth. 
ITHO'NUS, a man’s name; a king of Thefialy. 
ITHRE'AM, [Heb. the glory of the people.] The 
name of a man. 
ITH'RITE, f. A defendant of Ithra. 
ITIN'ER ANT, adj. [from tier, Lat. a journey.] Wan¬ 
dering; not fettled.—It fhould be my care to fweeten and 
mellow the voices of itinerant tradefmen, as alfo to accom¬ 
modate their cries to their refpeftive wares. Addifon. 
ITIN'ER ARY, f. [itineraire , Fr. itinerarium, Lat.] A 
book of travels^—The clergy are fufficiently reproached, 
in moft itineraries , for the univerfal poverty one meets 
with in this plentiful kingdom. Addifon. —A journal, or an 
account of the diltances of places. The moft remarkable 
is that which goes under the names of Antoninus and ALthi- 
cus ; or, as Barthius found in his copy, Antoninus j.Ethicus ; 
a Chriftian writer, pofterior to the times of Conftantine. 
Another, called Hierofolymitanum, from Bourdeax to Jeru- 
falem, and from Heraclea through Aulona and Rome to 
Milan, under Conftantine.— Itinerarium denotes a day’s 
march. 
ITINERARY, adj. Travelling ; done on a journey ; 
done during frequent change of place.—He did make a 
progrefs from Lincoln to the northern parts, though it 
was rather an itinerary circuit of juftice than a progrefs. 
Bacon's Henry VII. 
To 
