that early period; also rude charts of the coast, originally
perhaps traced upon the walls, and afterwards formed into primitive
maps by being transferred and extended upon papyrus leaves. Here too
the young seaman might come for instruction in the art of navigation,
simple and imperfect as it must have been. Here too the aged seaman
buffetted by the storm might seek refuge from its fury, obtain rest
and refreshment, and instructions for the continuance of his voyage.

These ancient lighthouses appear to have consisted of a tower of
masonry of large dimensions; circular or square in form; containing
numerous apartments and a battlemented top, within which was raised a
kind of altarpiece covered with a plate of brass. Upon this brazen
hearth a chauffer of curious workmanship was placed: it was in some
cases supported upon dolphins; and the grating was decorated with
foliage and emblematical devices.

The materials employed for maintaining a light in this chauffer were,
doubtless, similar to those in the ancient cressets, or lights of the
watch, which were in use not only as beacons, but as common
street-lights, before either oil or gas-lights were known. Some of
these cressets were formed of a wreathed rope, smeared over with
pitch, and placed in an elevated cage of iron, others contained
combustible materials in a hollow pan. Occasionally these primitive
street-lights were placed at the summit of a pole, from either side of
which, projecting pieces of wood formed a ready mode of ascent to trim
the light, and obviated the need of a ladder for that purpose.

Before the discovery of the magnetic needle or its application at sea,
the towers above referred to were very numerous; so much so that
nearly every promontory is said to have been decorated with its
lighthouse or temple, and this was the more necessary, since the
mariner dared not venture out of sight of the coast, but followed with
attention all its little windings and bendings.

There is every reason to believe, that the gigantic figure known as
the Colossus of Rhodes formed one of the most celebrated beacon-fires
of antiquity. About three hundred years before the Christian era,
Charles the disciple of Lysippus constructed this brazen statue, the
dimensions of which were so vast that a vessel could sail into the
harbour between its legs, which spanned the entrance. It was partly
demolished by an earthquake about eighty years after its completion;
and so late as