Forester in his "Rambles in Corsica and Sardinia," quoting the above and remarking upon it says:--"On the eve of St. John, the cereal vase, ornamented with ribbons, is exposed on a balcony, decorated with garlands and flags. Formerly, also a little image in female attire, or _phallic_ emblems moulded in clay, such as were exhibited in the feasts of Hermes, were placed among the blades of corn; but these representations have been so severely denounced by the Church, that they are fallen into disuse. The young men flock in crowds to witness the spectacle and attend the maidens who come out to grace the feast. A great fire is lit on the piazza, round which they leap and gambol, the couple who have agreed to be St. John's _compare_ completing the ceremony in this manner:--The man is placed on one side of the fire, the woman on the other, each holding opposite ends of a stick extended over the burning embers, which they pass rapidly backwards and forwards. This is repeated three times, so that the hand of each party passes thrice through the flames. The union being thus sealed, the _comparatico_ or spiritual alliance is considered perfect. After that, the music strikes up, and the festival is concluded by dances, prolonged to a late hour of the night." "Father Bresciani, La Marmora, and other writers, justly consider the Nennere as one of the many relics of the Phœnician colonisation of Sardinia. Every one knows that the sun and moon, under various names such as Isis and Osiris, Adonis and Astarte, were the principal objects of worship in the east from the earliest times; the sun being considered as the vivifying power of universal nature, the moon represented as a female, deriving her light from the sun, as the passive principle of production. The abstruse doctrines on the origin of things, thus shadowed out by the ancient seers, generated the grossest ideas, expressed in the _phallic_ emblems, the lewdness and obscenities mixed up in the popular worship of the deified principles of all existence. Of the prevalence in Sardinia of the Egypto-Phœnician mythology, in times the most remote, no one who has examined the large collection of relics in the Royal Museum at Cagliari, or who consults the plates attached to La Marmora's work, can entertain any doubt. But it is surprising to find, among the usages of the Sardes at the present day, a very exact representation of the rites of a primitive religion, introduced into the island nearly thirty-five years ago, though it now partakes more of the character of a popular festival than a religious ceremony.