on a mountain 2000 feet above the tea, east of Sasaki, has 5100 iohebitacita: Sore% in the same district. between &marl and Castel Sardo, has 4000 inhabitants : Cadtl-Sarde, a strong place on the coast between Sorao and the mouth of the Cortina.: population, 2000. Bortorres, at the northern foot of the Margkine Mountain; 4000 inhabitants.
Iltetory.—The island was inhabited by some ancient race before the Greeks became acquainted with it. Tolima, the mythic, charioteer of Hercules, Is said to have led a Greek colony into Sardinia, and to have founded Olbia on the north-east coast, afterwards a considerable town in the Roman period, and of which vesti;es are found near Terranova. Strata) (p. 220 rye that the colonists of Tolima cohabited the island jointly with the barbarians, who were TyrrhenL From an inscription found at Stampace, it appears that Caren; or Cagliari, assumed at one time the name of Iola.' The island became well known to the Greeks, who called it Sardo. (11erodotus, v. 106.) The first Carthaginian expedition to Sardinia, of which the epoch however is not ascertained, was defeated by the native.. About B.C. 490, Ilaadrubal and liarnilcar, sons of Mar), led another expe dition to Sardinia, which gained a footing in the southern part of the Island, and built or colonised Candi. and Saida. Ilaairubal how ever lost his life in fighting against the natives, who appear to have straggled bravely against the invaders. The Carthaginian? never reduced the island entirely, as the natives took refuge in the The lower country however was permanently in their pos session until the first Panic war. Sulcis was one of their chief colonies, but the site of that once wealthy town is now a subject of controversy. some placing it on the southern coast, where a district etili retains the name; • whilst others, with more place it in the small island of San Aalioco opposite, where considerable ancient remain. are seen. In the neighbouring Island of San l'ietre, an amphora full of Carthaginian braes coins, was some years ago found by a farmer in ploughing the ground.
During the first Punic war the Romans attacked and defeated the Carthaginian fleet at Olbia, where Ilanno, the commander, fell ; and again they gained another naval victory over the at Grails, but at the conclusion of the war the ;Aland still belonged to Carthage. The Romans however soon after subjugated the principal part of the island, which was incorporated, with Corsica. into a Roman province, under a praetor, about /LC. 228. After the breaking out of the second Punio war, the Saris rebelled against the Roman., and having received aid from Carthage, fought a general battle near Cardin, in which they were utterly defeated, anti Cornea, the strung. hold of the inenrgente, surrendered to the Romans. (Li.. xxilL, c. 40, &a) After this Sardinia remained quiet during the rest of the Pueitt war. From this time the island, though often disturbed by insurrection, remained subject to Rome. During the period of the empire it was considered by the Romans as one of their granaries, and a penal colony for their criminal& Pliny (ill 7) mentions Carel* Suleis, Nora, and other places as towns that had the Roman civitas, and Turris Libysonis as a colonic.
Nero, afterwards one of the chief towns of the island, is particularly noticed in the Roman period on account of the inhabitants having accused the praetor Saturn of malversation, on which occasion Scaurus was defended by Cicero. But the ante-Roman origin of Nura is proved by one of those singular structures called Nuraggi, which is a large cone constructed of coarse blocks without mortar, and flanked by four small ones, upon which rests the foundation of a Roman aqueduct that supplied Nura with water. There are also at Nun other Roman remains, such as a small theatre, baths, &c., all very much defaced. Nura is said to have been destroyed in the wars of the Vendala. The Nuravi are attributed by some to Iberian colo nists and their leader Norax. They are a kind of tower iu the form of a truncated cone, constructed of large blocks of stone, lava, por phyry, or freestone, without cement, and forming two concentric walls, between which are stairs leading to the summit. The inner part has generally two vaulted room; one above the other. The entrance at the base is very low, and leads through both walls to the lower chamber. The stairs give access to the upper chamber. The Nnraggi are of two sorts ; the moat common, and probably the most ancieut, bear no marks of the chisel, and are constructed of massive blocks, with irregular faces, and smaller stones in the interstices. The exte rior materials of the others are evidently worked by toole; and though the stones are not exactly square, they are placed in horizontal layers, and gradually diminish in size towards the summit. The Nuraggi stand generally on the summit of hills commanding a view of the plains. Some rest upon a solid and spacious substructure or platform walled round in the same manner, and in which are coustructed hidden chambers, which communicate with the central one by a oovered gallery. One of the loftiest Nuraggi is between Semagheu and Fordon gianus, in the district of Busaahi, east of Oristano : it is nearly 60 feet high, and la called by the natives 'Su Nuraggi longs' Nuraggi are scattered all over Sardinia, to the number of several hundred, and are seen in every state, some nearly perfect, others a heap of rubbish. They are very numerous io the district of Sulcis, or the south-west part of the island, and also in the hilly region of he Marghine, north of Oriateno. There are also fine specimens of them in the Campo d'Orieri, and at bin and Gennuri in the Campidano. The original purpose of these buildings was probably for watch and defence, though in after-ages some of them may have been used as monuments for the dead, fragments of Roman terracotta and coins of the Empire having been found in them. Neither literal nor symbolical characters are discovered in these singular structures.