Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/388

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BAGISTANUS MOHS. pi I aero t of hii labouni ' tii J t, Soc d copieii ct use pi lu 'then H C3 uhI tna b om Lati (ml ng lib of U DnginsI PcnuD. In ttiia memoir, ha has ehown that the itinding Rojal flgnn u that of Direiua lumsfltf, mJid that the 6giina in front of him an tboM of different imposton, who had claimed th* throne of his ancejtore. and "are locwaairely wen- pelled to unccumb to his power. The insoriptioM ■bove, in the three loims of the Concifonn writing, Persian, AiSTrian, and Median, pnciviri the anas- tnl right of Dareiiu to the throne ef Persia, vith the names of the kings of the Achaemenid race who h^ preceded him: Ihej give an account of hia gradnil, but, in the md, successful triumph over the dit^rent rebel) who nee against bini during the first fonr jeara of bis reign. Col, Rawlinton thinks, that, in the fifth jni B.C. 516, Dareiut pletlon of which most hare been the work of sereral years. It la evident, that llic Persian monarch took the greatest paiiu to ensure the penninencj of hia record. It is placed at an elevation of about 300 feet from the bese of the rock, and the ascent is so preci^tous, that scaffolding must haTe been encted to enable the workmen to cane the sealptore. In its natural stale, the face of the rock, on which the Bguna are placed, Is almost nnappnnchable. The eifcution of the figuies themselves is, perhaps, not equal to those at Peraepolls. but this is natural, as an earlier eSirt of the artist's skill. " The laboar," taTi Col. Rawlinson, " bestowed on the whole work, of the surlkce of the rock mu.'t have occupied manj munlhs. and on examining the tablets minnlelj, I observed an elabonlenees of workmansliip, which is not to be fonod in other phiccs. Vllierever, in fact, BAGRADA. linn tbs nnBODndnen of the abMMiitww difficoH lo gim the necesaarj ptdiah to tha sur&oi, other fngments were inlaid, imbedded in m»lta1 kad, and the fitUnp BD nicely maoa^ that a very careful snnitiD; is required, at prrsent, to detect the artiOce. Hofca or fiasutoj, which porforalcd the rock, were filled up al&o with the same mateiial, and the polish, which was bestowed npon the entire sculpture, nnld Bat the ml wonder of the wori. I think, consists in the inecriptioas. For extent, for besntj of eie- cntioD, Ibr tmifannitr and corectotaa, they are, per- haps, imeqnalled in the worid It wonld be Terj haiardoos Co specnlate en the mean* employed to engrave the wor^ In an age when steel as ]^Hfled to have been nkiuwu, but 1 cannot oid ng ery extrwKdinary device, which has been cm ed pare , to give a finish and rab ty to th nn g was evident to myself, nd to brae bo m comjany with niyaelf, scni- miied th eiecu of th work, that,-after the gra g th rock had been accomplished, a coa ng ceoua anua had been laid on to give leamesB of on to each individnal letter, and to protect th nriace agamst he actiisi of Iha ele- me tB hi arms is infinitely greater haid- nes* than th uim me rock beneaUi it It baa bee as ed own m KvenJ ptacea by the bickhng of wa three an en centnriH, and it Ilea fiakea pon th oot edge like thin layers of la adheres in he portions of the tablet to be ro en rface and ab shows with safficient II octnees nns of he characters, although the nek benealb en n boieycombed and de- Btro ed la eed n the great tsanrea, canaed the on g of natural sptings, and in er part th ah where 1 auspect arti- Sctal mntUaUon, that the varnish has entirely dis- appeared." (Bawlinjon, Joun. At. Soc. vid. i.; Masson HAL vol lii. pt. I ; Ker Porter, Trav^ vol. ii.)i»,i..2,-.'..v^-«i-f«„0<faj.,«(;v.]J.^ BAOO'US MONS (BaTMr t(Mi, Ptol. vi. ij. § 1, 19. ^ 1), a chain of mountains mentioned by Ptolemy as being between Asia and DrangiaDa, to the Boulh of the fiirmer, and to the north of the latter. The name Is pnibably of Persian or Arian origin, but is not mertioned elsewhere. [V.] BA'GRADA or BA'CRADAS (* Bir)j«BBf. gen. -■: AfejerrfoA), the chief river of the Carth«.:iini»n lerxitory (a^rwards the Roman povinre of Africa), had its source, according to Ptolemy (vL 3. §§ 1, S), in the mountain called HAKi^Rua, m Nnmidia,and iiowed NE. into the Gulf of Carthage. Thongh one of the largest riven of S. Africa, alter the Malva, it was inconsldenblo as com[ared with the riven of other conntries. It is fbidable in many places near its month. Rliaw cumparea it in siie to the Iiii after its junction with the CttrvtiL The mun stream is formed by the niuffli of two bnnchea, the southern of which, the ancient Bagr^- das, is now called Metlag (^MalaamA, in ita upper oourae). This is jnned by Ibe other branch, the .Hamu(which flows from the W.), NW. of Kaf, tha ancient Sicca Venecia. Tha Bamit, to which tba Tiffah, the ancient Tipaba, E. of Cirta (CdmIob- tiwK). Thouniledstieamflowd totbeNK.,andfalla into the sea, at present, jnst within the W. extremity of the CsI/'o/Twuf, afler passing immediately nuler -' - ruins of UriOA. Its ancient contae, however, somewhat diSercnt. It fell into the lea between