Zoldi, where upwards of three thousand cattle were said to have been taken in one day, besides immense quantities of corn: in consequence of which the whole camp exhibited, for some time, a continued scene of festivity and confusion. After staying a week at this place, the Ras crossed the plain of Zarai into the districts of the Serawé, and thence proceeded to the borders of Hamazen; where in frequent skirmishes with the Shangalla (whom the Abyssinians barbarously consider it a kind of sport to hunt down), the Ras lost fourteen men. The inhabitants of Hamazen are said to bear a very distinct character from the rest of the Abyssinians, and seem in many respects to be more nearly allied to the Funge, who reside in the neighbourhood of Senaar; being dark in their complexions, strong-limbed, desperate in character, and fighting with two-edged swords.

"At this time Lent having set in, the Ras took up an encampment near Adebara, in a beautiful and fertile plain lying on the bank of the river Mareb, which constantly supplied his table with various kinds of fish. Here two powerful chiefs of the conntry, named Guebra Mascal and Ayto Solomon, came in, with great splendour, to pay their tribute, and, soon afterwards, the Ras set out on his return to Adowa- In the course of this march, which lay for the most part through a wild forest, great quantities of game were taken by the

troops, and immense numbers of elephants were met with; in the pursuit of which the Ras seemed to take particular delight. On one occasion, Mr. Pearce mentioned, that a whole herd of these tremendous animals were found feeding in a valley, and the troops having, by the Ras's orders, completely encirled them, no less than sixty-three trunks of these beasts were brought in and laid at the Ras's feet, who sat on a rising ground, which commanded the whole scene, directing his soldiers in the pursuit. During the progress of this dangerous amusement a considerable number of people were killed, owing to a sudden rush made by these animals through a defile, where a large party had been assembled to stop their advance. After this occurrence, nothing material happened until the arrival of the army at Adowa.

"At this time, Mr. Pearce's courage and talents had brought. him into great favour in the country, and shortly afterwards, Ayto Manassah presented him with the house in which I found him residing a large plot of ground was annexed to it, that Mr. Pearce had cultivated with considerable care; so that we had the pleasure of eating cabbages and other European vegetables out of it, equally good with those produced in our own country; Captain Rudland having sent over the seeds from Mocha."

1814.

M

DESCRIPTION

SEP

EPT. 25. Soon after leaving the plain of Thebes we entered Attica. The country now presented a most barren appearance, and the road wound amidst a chain of low hills, on the sides of which the crags were continually bared to the view, interspersed with little vegetation, and exhibiting hardly any sign of cultivation. In about three hours we entered a narrow defile: the rocks on each side were covered with trees, chiefly firs. This is part of the ancient Mount Parnes. We followed a path amongst these rocks for three hours. About two o'clock we had the first view of Athens, distant four hours journey. The Acropolis was the only part visible; it appeared to stand in a plain. We were on very high ground, and two ranges of hills rose between us and the Acropolis. Beyond, we had views of the sea, and what I concluded to be Salamis and the coast of Argolis. This view was the most interesting that we ever beheld. The object of our wishes, the reward of our toils, was in sight. In a few hours we were to enter the most celebrated city in the world, which in its days of glory filled so magnificent a space in the history of man, and the light of whose glory still beams with uneclipsed splendour through the gloom of more than twenty centuries. A thousand recollections of its power, its grandeur,

its pre-eminence in the arts, were presented to our minds. On our right we saw the ruins of an old tower and some other buildings, which I took to be the ancient Phylé, whence Trasybulus advanced against the thirty tyrants. We passed through the village of Casha, and in an hour reached the plain. For two hours more we traversed this plain, which is covered with olive trees. The sun was setting amidst clouds of a gloomy hue tinged with a fiery redness when we entered Athens. We passed near the temple of Theseus, which reflected the last rays from its broad and massy pillars. The Acropolis rose before us, on whose summit appeared the ruins of the temple of Minerva."Journal.

Can

this

"The mind naturally feels some doubt at the accomplishment of what it has for a long time anxiously desired, and most travellers, I should imagine, upon their first arrival at Athens, have been inclined to question the reality of the picture which the senses presented. this be Athens?' we exclaim, the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence? Is this the fountain of that mighty stream which has flowed to all the nations of the civilized world, bearing on its breast the stores of art and science, of imagination and reason-The object so long sighed after, so diligently pursued, when

offered

offered to the view is rejected as illusive; we feel inclined to disbelieve the impression of the senses, and regard the whole as the fabric of a vision.

"To this momentary state of scepticism succeed the lasting emotions of enthusiasm; a temper of mind the more permanent as novelty is not the source of its existence. Every object is as new and interesting at Athens at the end of the first year, as of the first hour. We are never wearied with visiting the banks of the stream where Socrates conversed; the bema whence Demosthenes declaimed; the theatre where the voice of tragedy spoke the immortal conceptions of Sophocles and Euripides. Id quidem infinitem est, in hac urbe; quacumque enim ingredimur, in aliquam historiam vestigium ponimus.'

"The chief part of the pleasure experienced in a survey of Athens is intellectual, derived from memory and reflection. Moral associations crowd so rapidly into our thoughts on this sacred ground, that we have little leisure or inclination to attend to visible objects; and scenes which in any other place would fill us with delight, us with delight, at Athens perform only a secondary office. The bold and commanding figures of Genius, Virtue, and of Heroism, are pourtrayed in such vivid colours, and start with such life and spirit from the canvass, that we can hardly turn the eye from them to admire the glowing skies, the time-stained temples, and majestic mountains which appear in the

distance.

"Time is not required to make Athens familiar. At the mention of each object a thousand recollections of the most interesting nature are

awakened. The string is touched, and the motion vibrates through the heart. There is nothing in our visit resembling the ceremonious introduction to a new circle of acquaintance; it is the. revived delight of the society of long absent and beloved friends. Each place long known to us by name is presented to the sight. We can read the first of authors amidst the scenes which inspired their genius; and from the contemplation of whatever is most excellent in human production turn to the admiration of whatever is lovely and grand in nature. We can leave for a time the perusal of the sublime doctrines of Plato, to wan der amidst the groves of the Academy, or turn from the poetic raptures of Eschylus to view the scenes of his glory and theme of his song, the waves of Salamis.

"And yet after all, the traveller who, from the accounts of others, anticipates the most exalted pleasure, during a residence at Athens, may perhaps be disappointed. If his mind be not deeply imbued with classical impressions let him prepare for mortification; or rather prudently resolve to leave unvisited the walls of Cecrops. The fallacy. of the hopes of a traveller who, in a tour through Greece, looks for pleasure independent of association, was exemplified to me in a striking instance. Previously to my arrival at Athens I met at Livadia a British merchant. He had experienced nothing but vexation and disgust since the ill-fated hour when first be set his foot on Grecian shores. The rivers and mountains which he had seen were not superior in appearance to those of his native country; the inns and roads decidedly worse; and he seriously informed me that

in the parks of English noblemen were to be found many such buildings as the Temple of Theseus.

"The account which this merchant gave me of the failure of his hopes and expectations, was as candid and ingenuous as the confession of an early traveller, Synesius, who declares that the chief reason which he had for visiting Athens was, that he might no longer be compelled to revere (poonUVELY) those who had been there, and who differed in no respect from common mortals, but because they had seen the Academy, the Porch, and the Lycæum.

"Were we able to examine the secret thoughts of many of the modern pilgrims to Athens, we should find, I am afraid, that their travels have been guided by motives not superior to those of Synesius, and that their disappointment has at least equalled that of the merchant.

"Athens is situated nearly in the centre of a plain, about ten miles in diameter. This plain is bounded on the N.E. by the mountain Pentelicus; on the N. by Mount Brilessus, and the more distant summits of Mount Parnes; on the S. E. by Hymettus; and on the W. by the long and rugged range of Mount Icarius and Egaleos. On the S. W. side its rocky shores repel the waves of the Saronic gulph, which rush with a melancholy sound into the deserted ports of Piræus, Munychia, and Phalerum. A wood of olives beginning in the vicinity of the Piræus, stretches about six miles in a N. E. direction, towards Pentelicus, and adorns the plain with a belt of never-failing verdure. The waters of the Cephissus flow through this wood, fertilizing in their course the gardens of the Academy, which

are now used to supply with vegetables the inhabitants of Athens. The channel of the Ilissus is visible at the distance of about two miles to the S. E. of the Cephissus. The two rivers unite before they reach the sea; and within the curve formed by their junction, stands the Acropolis of Cecrops, composed of precipitous rocks, and crowned with the venerable ruins of the temple of Minerva. The entrance to the citadel ascends by a steep path at the western end; and the town beginning at the foot of the perpendicular cliffs which face the north, sweeps down a declivity into the plain. In the immediate vicinity of Athens the ground is broken by the abrupt rising of several insulated hills, of which the boldest in form, and largest in size, is Mount Anchesmus, distant about a mile to the N. E of the town. The hill of Musæus to the S. W. and the smaller elevations of Lycabatus and Colonos, agreeably diversify with their different outlines the uniform surface of the plain, which, except in the early part of the year, when the young corn is on the ground, presents a barren and arid appearance.

"The new town covers about half the space occupied by ancient Athens. Instead of embracing, as formerly, the whole circuit of the Acropolis, it is now confined to the N. side. The foundations of the old walls, which are generally discovered very near the modern ones, confirm the conjecture that the extent of the town, in this direction, has not undergone any material change.

"Its length, from the temple of Theseus to the Gate of Adrian, is about a mile; and its breadth, from the base of the rocks of the citadel

to

to the boundary of the walls, is about half that distance.

"The streets are narrow and irregularly laid out. It can no longer claim the Homeric epithet of sugualvia. The houses in general are mean and wretched, except where the dwelling of a rich Turk or Greek, surrounded with its ample court, overlooks the miserable hovels which adjoin it, and aided by the effect of a powerful contrast, almost extorts the praise of magnificence.

"In the early and flourishing times of the republic, the private houses of Athens were probably not much superior in splendour or convenience to those of the present day. The alteration in their appearance kept pace with the increase of luxury, with the apparent prosperity and real decline of the state. Demosthenes says, that the habitations of Aristides and Miltiades were not distinguished from those of their neighbours by any superior embellishment; but complains that in his own time the houses of individuals surpassed in magnificence the edifices appropriated to public purposes.

"Athens seems to have undergone the most violent change in its outward appearance between the end of the second and beginning of the fifth century. Pausanias has left us a description of the magnificent aspect which it presented in the reign of Antoninus Pius, and we are lost in admiration at the number and beauty of the temples, pictures, and statues which he enumerates. Though it had then passed through the ordeal of Sylla's tyranny, and been plundered of its most valuable ornaments, it still retained a splendour worthy of its former fame. So exuberant was its fertility in works of art, that without sustaining any

sensible diminution of splendour, it was able to spare treasures sufficient to adorn the capital of the Roman world. But the Gothic visitation was more destructive than the ravages of the Romans. And about two hundred years after Pausanias, the skin of a slaughtered victim, figuratively and impressively represents the desolasion of Athens.

"The present population of Athens is estimated at 10,000 individuals, one-fifth part of which are Turks. The population in the time of its greatness, is supposed to have been no less than 284,000. The climate of Athens was always celebrated for its excellence. Euripides congratulates the Athenians on the purity and brilliance of their atmosphere:

Αει δια λαμπροΐατε

Βαινοντες άβρως αιθερος.

Xenophon says that the seasons there were most temperate, gas gaslaras. Yet there were occasional winter storms of considerable violence. Its lightness is applauded by Dion Chrysostom. It is still praised for superior, salubrity. The months of November and December, which I passed there, were like August and September in England. January was in general fine, with the occasional interruption of bad days. The winter months are February and March, when there is a good deal of rain, and sometimes