Page 1751 : SIBYL — SICILY
plies. Lake Baikal was a great barrier; steamers transported the cars in summer, and ice-breaking steamers were used for a part of the long winter. The line was completed, however, by the building of a 100-mile detour around the southern end of the lake in 1904. The road was built cheaply, with light rails and wooden bridges, but, when formally opened in 1902, had cost $172,525,000. It has proved a good investment, having given an impetus to agriculture and all other business of Siberia. Branches from the main line are projected, chiefly to the northern portion of Asiatic Russia. In 1906, by Russian official statistics, this road carried 162,000,000 pounds of freight and 2,097,000 passengers. Great quantities of wheat and tea are carried, the tea being brought by caravan from China. This line is of great military and political importance. In 1904 Russia dispatched over 300,000 troops over it in 90 days, with enormous quantities of provisions and supplies.
Sibyl (sĭ′bĭl), a name given to certain inspired prophetesses in the classic period. Their number varies, but is generally fixed at ten, of whom the most celebrated was the Cumgean, who is mentioned, in the sixth book of the Mneid as leading Vergil into the lower world. According to Livy she came from the east to King Tarquin, offering nine books of prophecies but at so enormous a price that he refused to buy. She then destroyed three, and, returning, offered the remaining six at the same price, and was again refused; destroying still another three, she asked as much for the three left, which Tarquin’s curiosity finally induced him to buy. They contained advice regarding the religion and government of the Romans, and were carefully guarded in the temple of Jupiter until 83 B. C., when the temple was burned. A new collection was made of about 1,000 lines, gathered from all the cities of Greece, Italy and Asia Minor, which was kept until some time between A. D. 404 and 408, when it was publicly burned. The Sibylline oracles written in Greek, in 14 books containing 4,000 lines, are entirely distinct, being a series of pretended predictions written by Alexandrine Jews and Christians.
Sicilian Ves′pers, the name given to the massacre of the French in Sicily, March 30, 1282, the first stroke of the vesper-bell being the signal for slaughter. Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX of France, had conquered Naples and Sicily, but was hated by his Sicilian subjects for hi: cruelty and injustice. The inhabitants of Palermo at that signal rose against their French oppressors, killing men, women and children to the number of 8,000, an example followed throughout the island, where the French were hunted like wild beasts. The 600th anniversary of the Sicilian Vespers was celebrated in 1882. Consult Amari’s War of the Sicilian Vespers, translated by the earl of Ellesmere.
Sic′ily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, is the most populous and the most fertile. It lies off Italy, separated by the Strait of Messina, two miles wide.
Area and Surface. It covers 9,935 square miles and is shaped like a triangle. Sicily is a plain, 500 to 1,900 feet above the sea, crossed in the northern part by a chain of mountains, the loftiest peak being 6,467 feet high. From the center of the chain a range branches off, going through the heart of the island to the southeast. The lower mountain-slopes are usually covered with groves of oranges and olives, and the plain with fields of wheat. Mt. Etna rises from the vineclad plain of Catania, 10,850 feet, with a base of 400 square miles. The climate is warm except in the mountain-regions.
Natural Resources. Magnificent forests of oak, ilex, beeches, chestnuts and pine are still found, though many have been recklessly destroyed. Dates, figs, almonds, lemons, olives, pomegranates and grapes are very abundant. The wheat of Sicily is one seventh that of all Italy, and the barley one half of the crop of the kingdom. The only mineral product is sulphur, of which there are some 300 mines. Sardine-fisheries employ a large number of persons.
Industry. It manufactures two thirds of the wine of Italy, and exports a large amount of sumac for tanning. Manufactures, however, are few — mainly cement, crockery, gloves, macaroni, soap, some silk, cotton, woolen and linen goods; glass, oilcloths and leather are produced. Rapid progress is being made in railroad-building, and 500 miles are in operation.
People. The population numbers 3,683,380. The people are devout but superstitious, and three fourths of them cannot read. Elementary education is compulsory, however, for children between six and nine; and, though this law is by no means strictly enforced, school-attendance is steadily increasing.
History. There were early Phoenician settlements, but the real settlers were Greek colonists who founded cities on the eastern and southern coasts from 735 to 579 B. C. The first struggle with Carthage, which ended for 70 years by the great victory at Himera over Hamilcar in 480, was followed by a Phoenician invasion under Hannibal (not the great Hannibal), but Dionysius the Tyrant checked the Carthaginian conquests. In 210 B. C. the island became a Roman province. It was conquered by the Vandals in 440 A. D., ceded to Theodoric, and regained by Belisarius (535). The Saracen occupation, dating from 827, lasted until the Normans took possession in struggles lasting from 1038 to 1090. The Norman,
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