gave it rather a neat appearance. 'that the room was frequently enveloped in smoke; no plaister, nor any thing else to conceal the tiles of the roof; the walls white-washed, and a 'broad border of brown continued all round the room, close to the floor, On the walls were hung a few imple'ments of cookery, lamps, and the picture of a saint, the protector of the family. At the end of the chamber stood a very large jar, about five feet 'high, of wicker-work, covered with mud, and filled with corn. The inner ' room was rather larger, but in other respects similar to that described. The owner of the cottage was a labouring farmer, and cultivated land chiefly for corn. Out of every hundred measures, twenty are given to the Vizir. ‹ The peasants in this part seldom or never taste auimal food-coarse bread, 'cheese made of goats' milk, olives, and roasted maize, is their fare. We 'saw the whole family at supper. They eat their bread and cheese out of 'the same dish with their fingers. The dress of the women was singular; a coarse woollen petticoat, a short gown, a belt round the waist, fastened in 'front by two enormous metal clasps, a band round the head, and the hair plaited in two wreaths behind, and descending to their ancles. No person ' in an English dress had ever stopped at their village before, and we were consequently the objects of their attentive curiosity. 'Robbers infest the neighbouring mountains. A night or two before we arrived, they descended into the village, and carried off two of the inhabit'ants. I remarked the apprehension and alarm in which the poor inhabitants 'seemed to live. We sat at our dinner, after it was dark, in the open air, 'surrounded by several peasants, and every one who approached was challenged, to know whether he was xxλos avęs, a friend." Sept. 18. We left Daokli before sun rise, and after riding about half an ' hour over a plain, entered the passes of the mountain. On the eminences ' in the defile we frequently observed old ruined towers, which we were 'informed by our guides, were the posts of observation for the robbers, from which, previous to attack, they reconnoitre travellers. After crossing They retain, in this respect, the custom of their ancestors. Electra, speaking of her cottage, says, a long ridge, covered partially with plane trees, we came to an eminence, ' at the foot of which extends a plain, and beyond it, rises part of the range ' of Eta. It ascends in perpendicular cliffs; its form is wild and picturesque, ' and its whole appearance more rugged than any mountain I had seen in 'Greece. Descending for a considerable way, for about an hour and an half 'towards the plain, we reached Zetouni, situated on the side of a hill, and 'reaching to the plain, beyond which Mount Eta rises majestically. Zetouni 'corresponds in its situation with the ancient Lamia. It is placed on the sides ' of two eminences, on the summit of one of which is a modern fortress. From the top of the other we had a fine view of the plain, Mount Eta, the coast towards Thermopyla, the Malian Gulph, the shores of Pthiotis, and, 'far distant, the faint mountains of Euboea. In the plain below us the town ' of Trachiniæ' was most probably situated, near Mount Eta, and above it ' was a pass over the mountain.' Journal. The path' which was shewn to the Persians by Epialtes, a Trachinian, began from the Asopus, where it pours through a defile of Mount Eta. The name of the path was Anopea,' which extended along the ridge of the mountain, and ended at Alpenus, the first town of the Locrians, on the side of the Malians. This path, according to Pausanias, lay through the district of the Ærianes. The way by which Brennus attempted to pass Eta, commenced at Trachiniæ.3 On the summit of this mountain the funeral pile of Hercules was lighted. From hence, in the language of the poet, the hero approached the habitations of the Gods. Whilst blaz'd around the fun'ral torches' gleam, At that time it abounded in woods of oak and olive.5 1.610. The silent signal.] The ancient Greeks frequently made use of torches to communicate signals to a great distance. Homer alludes to the custom in one of the similes of the Iliad. The guard, in the tragedy of Agamemnon, says, Και νυν φυλάσσω λαμπαδος το συμβολον, Here now I watch, if haply I may see The blazing torch, whose flame brings news from Troy, AN The whole line of communication, and the different points where torches were placed, are afterwards traced by the poet.8 Fires blazing on Sciathus announced to the Greeks at Artemisium the arrival of their messengers at Athens.? The tidings of the approach of the Peloponnesians from Megara was conveyed to Athens by torches.1 In the account which Polybius gives of the mode of expressing ideas by diversifying the position of torches, we may trace the origin of our telegraphic art. This custom of fire signals is still preserved by the Greeks.' 1. 641. The robbers of the mountains.] On our arrival at Zetouni we found 'the town in much confusion. A party of robbers had descended in the night from the neighbouring mountains, attacked the houses of some poor Greeks, carried off three men, and killed another. They were conveying 'the corpse of the Greek who had been murdered to the grave as we entered 'the town, and the crowd who followed the body were singing a mournful 7 Eschyl. Agam. 1. 8. 5 Sophoc. Trachin. 1. 1197. X 'funeral dirge. A very large band of Turkish and Greek robbers, about 'five hundred in number, infest the mountains of Eta. They are hardy and daring, and their method of proceeding is more like regular warfare than robbery. They send to demand a certain sum from the different towns in 'the vicinity, and if their order is not complied with, they attack and set fire 'to the habitations. They carry off some of the inhabitants, and detain them 'till a large fine is paid for their ransom, taking care to make their captivity as uncomfortable as possible, by chaining them to rocks in the heat of the sun, fastening heavy weights to their feet,' &c. &c. Journal. My companion, who returned through Zetouni, on his way to Constantinople, about two months afterwards, wrote me that he had had again a narrow escape of falling in with these outlaws, as only a short time before his arrival they had paid the neighbourhood another visit, and carried off an Albanian bride from her lover, whilst her friends and relations were celebrating the nuptials. A similar act of outrage, in the same country, is described by Lucian, in his Asinus, s. 22. 34. 1. 652. Ye Delphian shades.] The scenery of Delphi has been sketched by the pen of Homer: 3 Ικεο δ' ες Κρίσσην ύπο Παρνησον νιφοενία, Κνημον προς Ζεφυρον τε]ραμμενον· αυταρ ύπερθεν You came To Crissa, underneath the snowy peaks The description of Delphi by Heliodorus is striking. ἡ πολις διαίζημα κρείτονων έδοξε και εκ ήκισα τη φύσει της περιοχής, διον Γαρ φρυριον ατεχνως και αυτοσχέδιος ακροπολις ὁ Παρνασσος απαιωρείται, προ ποδών λαζοσι την πολιν εγκολπισάμενος. 3 Hymn. in Apoll. 1. 282. Æthiopica, 1. 2. s. 26. 'The town appeared to me the abode of superior beings, principally owing 'to its situation. For Parnassus, like a rampart or citadel placed there by ⚫ nature, impends over it, and protruding its sides, embosoms the whole city.' Delphi (now Castri) is situated on the S. side of Parnassus, at a considerable elevation above the base of the mountain. Two precipitous peaks, whose rugged sides are stained with the tints of age, and partially overhung with shrubs and wild-flowers, rise abruptly over the town. They appear as if separated by some violent shock, and through the intervening chasm descends the fountain of Castalia. The prospect is shut in on every side by a stupendous amphitheatre of rocks, a xwgio Dealgoides, as it is called by Strabo,5 except towards the south, where an opening discovers a most beautiful view of the Plain of Crissa, the Sinus Corinthiacus, and the mountains of the Peloponnesus. Delphi, from its ancient celebrity, and its present romantic appearance, is one of the most interesting places in Greece. Parnassus is, I believe, the highest of the Grecian mountains. Euripides alludes to its great elevation, when he describes the 'aërial height of the Parnassian cliffs.'6 Pindar calls it μedwv, and Nonnus remarks its proximity to the clouds, and its covering of snow :8 ύψοθι Πυθιας ακρη Αχινεφης νιφοείλι ροῳ κυμαινετο πείρη. High-reaching to the clouds, the Pythian steep Pausanias says that its highest summit was concealed by the clouds ;" and Wheler is of opinion that it is not inferior to Mount Cenis amongst the Alps.1 Snow lies upon it through the whole year, and hence it is called upoɛrla2 and νιφόβολος 3 by the ancient Poets. Its modern appellation is Liakura, a name apparently derived from the ancient town Auxwga, which was built on the mountain, and from which Apollo took his title of Lycorean.5 5 Strabo, 1. ix. p. 606. • Nonni Dionys. lib. iii. 1. 201. Eurip. Ion. 1. 713. 7 Pind. Nem. ii. 1. 29. ' Wheler's Travels, p. 318. * Hom. Hym. in Apoll. 1. 282. Callim. in Del. 1. 93. and Dionysius Periergetes, 1. 439. Eurip. Phoeniss. 1. 218 4 Strab. 1. ix, P. 606. 5 Callim. in Apol. 1. 19. |