"in which the name of Iolaus is held." This, too, is unsatisfactory, as written by a person who never visited the island, and had not seen the monuments of which he was speaking,
It is little to be wondered at if buildings so mysterious and so unlike any known to exist elsewhere should have given rise to speculations almost as wild as those that hang around our own rude-stone monuments, The various theories which have been advanced are enumerated and described by De la Marmora[1] so fully that it will not be necessary to recapitulate them here, nor to notice any but three, which seem really to have some plausible foundation.
The first of these assumes the Nurhags to have been watehtowers or fortifications.
The second, that they were temples.
The third, that they were tombs.
An image should appear at this position in the text.188. Map of La Giara. From De la Marmora.Looking at the positions in which they are found, the first of these theories is not so devoid of foundation as might at first sight appear. As a rule, they are all placed on heights, and at such distances as to be seen from one another, and consequently be able to communicate by signal at least. Take such an example, for instance, as that of Giara, near Isili (woodcut No. 188). Any engineer officer would be delighted with the manner in which the position is taken up. Every point of vantage in the circumference is occupied, and two points in the interior fortified, so as to act as supports. The designer of the entrenched camp at Linz might rub his eyes in astonishment to find his inventions forestalled by
- ↑ 'Voyage en Sardaigne.' chap, iv. pp. 117 to 159.
