side of the temple, inside of it is a sort of buttress, shaped thus,

66

On the columns several names were written with pitch, and amongst others I was surprised to read Principe Leopoldo Borbone" of Sicily, who passed last year, with his mother the Queen of Naples, on their way from Sicily to Constantinople. I remarked those of several naval officers, my countrymen, and one of them, who thought, perhaps, that he was looking at the remains of a temple of Venus, had written the names of several of his flames, and at the bottom of them, "and all the "rest of the pretty girls, adieu!" Partly from the impatience of my companions, and chiefly from the fear of pirates who infest this cape in great numbers, I could stay only a quarter of an hour to admire this magnificent ruin and the view from its site. We descended by a steep break-neck path on the south, the rock round which had exactly the appearance of fine-grained wood. When we reached the bottom we found a fishing-boat coming, which carried us on board, and sold us some salt fish. One of the

Greek sailors in it surprised me, by addressing me in broken English, and telling me he had been in London. At a quarter before six a slight breeze sprung up, and deprived me of the view of the columns from the sea, which was strikingly beautiful. At sun-set the Greeks all went to the head of the boat with a papas, who was passenger, and sung their prayers. We were forced to eat our supper without a light, which it was feared would expose us to the pirates. When I lay down to sleep at nine, we were between Cape Colonna and Macronesi.

Friday, June 10th.-Waking at sun-rise, I found that we were off Zea, and surrounded by the following islands, Macronesi*, Zea, Jura, Syra, Tino, Andro, and Mycone. Zea was the birth-place of Simonides: its coast, instead of being bordered by pointed rocks and precipices, like that of the other islands, presents to the eye a number of small round hills, with high smooth mountains in the back-ground. The town, which seemed to contain about 400 houses, stands at the bottom of a high mountain a small distance from the sea. On this mountain I counted twenty-five wind-mills. The harbour is excellent, though small, and is defended by a natural mole, which is admirably calculated to shelter and hide small vessels; accordingly Zea, during this war, has been the greatest refuge for the French privateers in the Archipelago. A dead calm kept us off this

Macronesi is said by some to be the ancient Cranae, celebrated in Paris's speech to Helen; Iliad, iii. 445. Chandler however doubts this.

ASHMOLEAN

OXFORD

MUSEUM

island all day at evening there sprung up a breeze in our favour, that carried us from four to five knots an hour. I remember I was conversing with a Greek this evening, on the difference of our religions (a favourite subject of theirs), when, on my stating that we did not hang pictures in our churches, and indeed were astonished how the Greeks could pay them such marks of adoration, in express violation of the second commandment, he justified this practice, by quoting to me the picture of the Virgin Mary painted by St. Luke, and was totally horrified, when I expressed an entire disbelief of St. Luke's having ever been an artist. He seemed perfectly well acquainted with the history of Henry the VIIIth. and Anna Boleyn; and insisted, that it was the more immediate cause of our Reformation. At half-past eight I lay down, but could not sleep all night. On looking up an hour after midnight, I saw that we were off Jura,— the Botany Bay, according to Juvenal, of the Romans, Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum.-

Saturday, June 11th.-At sun-rise, I found that we had been becalmed best part of the night, and were still off Jura. I began to fear that we should be kept there all day, when at six o'clock a very fresh north breeze sprung up, which carried us ten knots an hour: it made the vessel heel so much, and the water poured in at the gunnel so quickly, that the Greeks crossed themselves in great trepidation; and indeed once a sudden puff of wind would most assuredly have upset us, if fortunately a sailor had not

been aloft and lowered the top-sail instantly. As we sailed along the mountainous coast of Tino, we saw some beautiful villages on the heights, surrounded by the richest woods: every inch of ground seemed (and, as I was afterwards informed, is) cultivated,a rare instance of industry in these countries. At nine, A. M. we anchored in the port: the town at a little distance looked clean and pretty. We got pratique immediately, and on my sending for Signor Vitali, the English Vice-Consul, and giving him my letter of introduction from the Consul at Athens, he welcomed me to his house, which was comfortable and clean, and decorated in the Venetian style, with looking-glasses and pictures. As he could not give me a bed, he got me one in a Catholick convent (where, he told me, all Englishmen lodged), inhabited by only one Capuchin friar. Before dinner, which I took tête-àtête with the Consul, the north wind drove into the port two Cephaloniote vessels from Zante, with Russian colours, bound for the Black Sea. After dinner Signor Vitali introduced me to his sister, an old humpbacked maiden, who wore the old-fashioned dress of the island, viz., a green gown, a dark blue mantle embroidered with gold, and high-heeled shoes; her head was covered with white linen, and her gown was laced with green silk at the bosom. What a figure!

Yesterday I felt a pain at the left side of my mouth, and to-day found to my great horror, that my face was very unnecessarily swelled to twice its usual

size. I sent for a little Italian doctor in the island, who applied remedies to it every night, and succeeded at last in reducing it. But the pain it gave me, and the tempestuousness of the north wind, kept me in-doors all the time I staid in the island.

Sunday, June 12th.-To-day I changed my intention of going to Smyrna, owing to the representations of our Vice-Consul. He told me, that the plague was raging there to a dreadful extent, and that there died of it from 4 to 500 a day; that it had spread into all the villages round, which was never known before; that a famous Jew plague-doctor had been attacked, who had hitherto always escaped; that the houses and shops were all shut up, and that none of the inhabitants, Franks or Greeks, had the least communication or intercourse with each other. As my object in visiting Smyrna would of course be to see the city and its environs and antiquities,-this information changed my route, and determined me to go direct to Constantinople in one of the ships that came in yesterday: I accordingly sent for the Captain of the largest, who willingly consented, with many compliments, to carry me and mine. The north wind still continued to blow very tempestuously, and in the morning forced into the port an Idriote ship bound for Constantinople.

The town of St. Nicolas (which stands on the southerly side of the island, and occupies the site of its ancient capital) contains about five hundred houses, which, as well as the dresses of the women, still