or merchants on
the coast, and in the neighbourhood of the mines in the mountains. The
trading centres of these settlers--Kition, Amathus, Solius, Golgos, and
Tamassos--were soon, however, converted into strongholds, which
ensured to Phonicia the monopoly of the immense wealth contained in the
island.**

* An examination into the origin of the Cypriotes formed
part of the original scheme of this work, together with that
of the monuments of the various races scattered along the
coast of Asia Minor and the islands of the AEgean; but I
have been obliged to curtail it, in order to keep within the
limits I had proscribed for myself, and I have merely
epitomised, as briefly as possible, the results of the
researches undertaken in those regions during the last few
years.

** The Phoenician origin of these towns is proved by
passages from classical writers. The date of the
colonisation is uncertain, but with the knowledge we possess
of the efficient vessels belonging to the various Phoenician
towns, it would seem difficult not to allow that the coasts
at least of Cyprus must have been partially occupied at the
time of the Egyptian invasions.

Tyre and Sidon had no important centres of industry on that part of the
Canaanite coast which extended to the south of Carmel, and Egypt,
even in the time of the shepherd kings, would not have tolerated the
existence on her territory of any great emporium not subject to the
immediate supervision of her official agents. We know that the Libyan
cliffs long presented an obstacle to inroads into Egyptian territory,
and baffled any attempts to land to the westwards of the Delta: the
Phoenicians consequently turned with all the greater ardour to those
northern regions which for centuries had furnished them with most
valuable products--bronze, tin, amber, and iron, both native and
wrought. A little to the north of the Orontes, where the Syrian border
is crossed and Asia Minor begins, the coast turns due west and runs
in that direction for a considerable distance. The Phoenicians were
accustomed to trade along this region, and we may attribute, perhaps, to
them the foundation of those obscure cities--Kibyra, Masura, Euskopus,
Sylion, Mygdale, and Sidyma*--all of which preserved their apparently
Semitic names down to the time of the Roman epoch. The whole of the
important island of Rhodes fell into their power, and