290 
add, that I am a warm admirer of his cri- 
tical powers, and 
A Lover oF HisToric 
London, Sept. 6, 1801. 
ae 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. | 
SIR, \ 
N the weftern fide of the ifland of 
Zante are two fprings of bitumen, 
diftant from each other about two hun- 
dred paces atmoft- They feem to take 
their rife eaftward, and they communicate 
with the fea by the weft. .The mouths of 
thefe {fprings are nearly roun.J, the larger 
being about twenty feet ia diameter, the 
Jefler between ten and twelve. Within is 
feen conftantly boiling a perfeétly liquid 
bitumen, of very ftrongeodor. The fur- 
face of the bitumen is covered by a foot- 
epth of water, whofe color at the fpring- 
head nearly refembies that of coffee-liquor 
viewed in the fun. The water appears 
dormant, notwithfianding the boiling of 
the bitumen: and both the one and the 
other conftantly remain cold, even in the 
hotteft weather. That boiling increafes 
in the fummer, and is particularly remark- 
able during earthquakes. Thefe two 
iprings are confidered as one of the caufes 
why thofe convulfions of nature have not 
always produced fuch ravages im the 
ifland as there was good reafon to appre- 
hend. It is remarked, that the fhocks are 
ever. much more violent in this, fpot than 
in any other part of the country. Ifa perfon 
ftamps with his foot on the ground near 
them, he teels the earth tremble to a con-. 
fiderable diftance on every fide. Frequent- 
ly people -hear from the fprings a very 
Joud fubterraneous murmur, which fome- 
times‘continues during whole days. 
There appears reafon to believe, as feve- 
ral enlightened travellers have fuppofed, 
thatthe whole of this tract “is a@ually un- 
dermined, and that thefe fprings once 
formed a lake which was botinded by the 
circumjacent mountains, and which may 
have been gradually filled up with the foil 
thrown down from the eminences by the 
fhocks .of fucceflive earthquakes. This 
opinion feems te derive fupport from a 
paflage of Herodotus*, who fays, “1 faw 
at Zacynthos} a lake from which bitumen 
iffued in abandance.. There are feverah of 
the kind: but the Jargett is feventy feet 
in circumference. The inhabitants fasten 
myrtle-branches to long poles, which ¢ hey 
TRUTH. 
ae 
* Melpom. 
+ The ancient name of Zante. 
Bituminous Springs. 
¥ 
[T Nov. 1; 
ufe to extra& the bitumen. 
ftrong fmell, and is fuperior in quality to 
that of Perfia. The iflanders dig a pits: 
into which they conduét the bitumen ; and 
when they have colleéted a fufficient quan- 
tity, they*put it into véflels. Whatever 
falls into this lake, paffes under ground, © 
and is afterward feen floating on the fea 
at thediftance of four ftadia.”” 
In effect, nobody has ever been able to 
find any bottom to thofe {prings ; and eve- 
ry thing thrown into them, that was capa- 
ble of fwimming, has always been found 
afterward floating at fea. About the 
month of April they begin to fill with br- 
tumen, fo aseven to overflow. It is then 
that the peafants collect it; im doing 
which, they purfue nearly the fame procefs 
as their anceftors in the time of Herodotus, 
Inftead of poles and myrtle-branches, they 
more conveniently ufe buckets. To the pit 
deftined for the reception of the bitumen, 
they add a {mall channel to drain off the 
water, whichruns down to the fea. After 
this, the bitumen is put into kegs or fkins, 
each containing about a hundred and fifty 
pounds weight. =, ; 
The water taken from thefe fprings is 
limpid: that of the greater is very falt, 
and retains a ftrong fcent of the bitumen: 
the water of the lefler is fweet, and has very 
little fmell, It isufed by the neighbour- 
ing peafants as a medicine, which cften 
proves efficacious againft the fevers to 
which they are fubjeét. It facilitates di- 
geftion, and purges without fatiguing the 
frame. Employed in venereal complaints, 
it promotes copious urine and abundant 
perfpiration. It dries up and cicatrifes 
internal fores which are the confequence of 
that diftemper. It has alfo been fuccefs- 
fully ufed: for the {curvy by Englifh mari- 
ners viliting theifle in queft of the Corinth 
raifin. The Greeks wle it for their com- 
mion drink, even when in perfect health. 
The Zantiots employ the bitumen from _ 
thofe fprings, mixed with an equal quanti- 
ty of tar, in the building and repairing of 
their barques. The bitumen, when dried 
in the fun, is extremely binding and tena- 
cious. A convincing proof of this ap- 
pears on the very {pot where it is colleét- 
ed: the ftones that form the circuit of the , 
pit into which the peafants pour it, are fo 
ftrongly cemented together by the bitumen 
dropped on them, that they may more ea- 
fily be broken than feparated. Such, no 
doubt, was the nature of the bitumen em- 
ployed as a cement in the conftruction of — 
the celebrated walis of Babylon, 
. 
: For 
It has a_ 
