Note 190 — Chapter III

Some ancient, as well as many modern writers, have questioned the story of this canal (Cf. Juvenal, x. 173, 174); but later researches have shown that there are undoubted remains of this great work. Captain Spratt, R.N., has surveyed it thoroughly, and has published an account and map thereof in the “Journ. Roy. Geogr. Soc.” v. 17. The canal now forms a line of ponds, from 2 to 8 feet deep, and from 60 to 90 broad, extending from sea to sea. It is cut through tertiary sands, which would naturally fall in, as Herodotus states (vii. 23). Previously to Spratt, the genuineness of this work had been maintained by Choiseul-Gouffier, Voy. Pittor. ii. i. 148; Colonel Leake, “Northern Greece,” ii. 145; and Sir George Bowen, “Athos,” p. 57. Moreover, we can hardly fancy that Herodotus could be in error about a work of such magnitude, and executed only thirty-six years before he publicly read his history at the Olympic Games, B.C. 445.