ANTIVAROS (anciently called Olearos or Oliaros), one of the Cyclades islands, cele brated for a stalactitic cave, is separated from Faros by a narrow strait. It contains about 400 inhabitants, and forms a part of the eparchy of Naxos. A. is 7 m. in length by about 3 in breadth; it is scantily supplied with water, but the fiats in the north and west are tolerably fertile. Corn and wine are cultivated, but not to any great extent. The principal occupation of the inhabitants is fishing. From Kastron, the only village in the island, the distance to the celebrated grotto is about an hour and a half's ride. This wonderful cave is not alluded to by any Greek or Roman writer whose works are extant, but must have been visited by the curiosity-hunters of antiquity, for, in 1806, Colonel Leake deciphered a Hellenic inscription which contained the names of those who had descended into it in ancient times. It is situated in the side of a moun tain on the s. coast of the island, which is described as a mass of white marble. The top or entraneoof the cave has a striking appearance; but the sloping descent is rather dangerous, on account of the cord by which the traveler holds being extremely slippery from constant humidity. The bottom once reached, and the grotto entered, there is
presented to tho eye as dazzling a specimen of stalactitie formation as can well be con ceived—the roof,. floor, and walls of the various chambers, all glittering with the most gorgeous incrustation, though it is said that the smoke of the torches and the constant fingering of visitors are sullying the primitive purity of the massive columns. It is believed that there are other caves of equal splendor in the vicinity which have not yet been discovered. The height of the known cavern is 80 ft.; its length and breadth more than 300; but it seems the eye can only take in at once a length of 150 ft., and a breadth of 100. The grotto was first made known to the modern world in 1673, by the then French ambassador to the porte, M. de Nointel.