rsonages with those that are
real, that it is not possible to arrive at the truth.

NIMROD.

It is said of this person, by Moses, that he was the son of Cush. [28]_And
Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth: he was a
mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod, the
mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel._
His history is plainly alluded to under the character of Alorus, the first
king of [29]Chaldea; but more frequently under the title of Orion. This
personage is represented by Homer as of a gigantic make; and as being
continually in pursuit of wild [30]beasts. The Cuthite Colonies, which went
westward, carried with them memorials of this their ancestor; and named
many places from him: and in all such places there will be found some
peculiar circumstances, which will point out the great hunter, alluded to
in their name. The Grecians generally styled him [31][Greek: Nebrod],
Nebrod: hence places called by his name are expressed Nebrod, Nebrodes,
Nebrissa. In Sicily was a mountain Nebrodes, called by Strabo in the plural
[32][Greek: ta Nebrode ore]. It was a famous place for hunting; and for
that reason had been dedicated to Nimrod. The poet Gratius takes notice of
its being stocked with wild beasts:

[33]Cantatus Graiis Acragas, victaeque fragosum
Nebrodem liquere ferae.

And Solinus speaks to the same purpose: [34]Nebrodem damae et hinnuli
pervagantur. At the foot of the mountain were the warm baths of Himera.

The term [Greek: Nebros], Nebros, which was substituted by the Greeks for
Nimrod, signifying a fawn, gave occasion to many allusions about a fawn,
and fawn-skin, in the Dionusiaca, and other mysteries. There was a town
Nebrissa, near the mouth of the Baetis in Spain, called, by Pliny, Veneria;
[35]Inter aestuaria Baetis oppidum Nebrissa, cognomine Veneria. This, I
should think, was a mistake for Venaria; for there were places of that
name. Here were preserved the same rites and memorials, as are mentioned
above; wherein was no allusion to Venus, but to Nimrod and Bacchus. The
island, and its rites, are mentioned by Silius Italicus.

[36]Ac Nebrissa Dionusaeis conscia thyrsis,
Quam Satyri coluere leves, redimitaque sacra
Nebride.

The Priests at the Bacchanalia, as well as the Votaries, were habited in
this manner.

[37]Inter matres impia Maenas
Comes Ogygio venit Iaccho,
Nebride sacra praecincta latus.

Sta