to bring the sea quite round them. To accomplish this he ordered a deep
channel to be dug, fifteen miles long; and that the natives might not
think he treated them like slaves, he not only forced the inhabitants,
but also his own soldiers, to labour in carrying it on. As he set a vast
number of men to work, he, beyond all men's expectations, brought it to a
speedy conclusion. And his neighbours, who at first laughed at the folly
of the undertaking, no sooner saw it brought to perfection than they were
struck with admiration and terror.

"There are fifty-four cities in the island, all large and well built, the
manners, customs, and laws of which are the same, and they are all
contrived as near in the same manner as the ground on which they stand
will allow. The nearest lie at least twenty-four miles' distance from
one another, and the most remote are not so far distant but that a man
can go on foot in one day from it to that which lies next it. Every city
sends three of their wisest senators once a year to Amaurot, to consult
about their common concerns; for that is the chief town of the island,
being situated near the centre of it, so that it is the most convenient
place for their assemblies. The jurisdiction of every city extends at
least twenty miles, and, where the towns lie wider, they have much more
ground. No town desires to enlarge its bounds, for the people consider
themselves rather as tenants than landlords. They have built, over all
the country, farmhouses for husbandmen, which are well contrived, and
furnished with all things necessary for country labour. Inhabitants are
sent, by turns, from the cities to dwell in them; no country family has
fewer than forty men and women in it, besides two slaves. There is a
master and a mistress set over every family, and over thirty families
there is a magistrate. Every year twenty of this family come back to the
town after they have stayed two years in the country, and in their room
there are other twenty sent from the town, that they may learn country