THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF William B. Vasels NEW VOYAGES AND TRA VELS; CONSISTING OF ORIGINALS AND TRANSLATIONS. VOL. VII. CONTAINING POUQUEVILLE'S TRAVELS IN SOUTH- ERN EPIRUS, &c. MICHAILOW's ADVENTURES AMONG THE KALMUCS, &C. VO VAG E TO ST. PETERSBURGH IN 181 4. SIMOND'S TRAVELS IN SWITZERLAND. CAILLIAUD's TRAVELS IN THE OASIS OF THEBES, &C. SILLIMAN'S TOUR TO QUEBEC. DUPIX'S TOUR THROUGH THE NAVAL AND MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS OF GREAT BRITAIN. WITH INDEX, AND TWENTY-EIGHT ENGRAVINGS. LONDON: PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS AND Co. BRIDE-COURT, BRIDGE-STREET; AND TO BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS [Entered at Stationers' Ilall.J Price 21*. Half-bound. PRINTED BY W. LEWIS, 2 1 , FINCH-LANE, CORNH1LI. PRINTED G v.7 CONTENTS OF VOL. VII. I. Travels in Southern Epirus, Acarnania, ^Etolia, Attica, and Pelopon- nesus, or the Morea, &c. in 1814 1816. By F. C. H. L. POUQUEVILLE, M.D. &c. II. Adventures of Michailow, a Russian Captive, among the Kalmucs, Kirghiz, and Kiwenses. Written by Himself. A Voyage to St. Petersburg!! in 1814, with Remarks on the Imperial Russian Navy. Ey a Surgeon in the British Navy. III. Travels in the Oasis of Thebes, and in the Deserts east and west of the Thebaid, in 1815, 1816, 1817, and 1818. By M. FREDERIC CAILLIAUD. IV. Travels in Switzerland, in 1817, 1818, and 1819. By L. SIMOND. V. A Tour to Quebec, in the Autumn of 1819. By Dr. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. VI. A Tour through the Naval and Military Establishments of Great Britain, in 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820. By CHARLES DUPIN. 844015 ENGRAVINGS IN THIS VOLUME. Pouqueville's Travels. Map of Modern Greece - to face Title-page of Pouqueville Janina Lake and Environs page 1 Female Albanian of Cape Suniutn - - - 94 Cailliaud's Travels. Map of the Oasis of Thebes - - - 1 Plan of Sekket 41 Principal Temple at Sekket - ibid. Sekket, from the South - 42 The Little Temple from the East at Sekket - ibid. Map of the Desert , . 43 Temple at Donch el a Oald'h . - 58 Egyptian Temple at the same . . ibid. Section of the Egyptian Temple at the same - - ibid. Temple north-east of Bombay . - 69 The great Temple of El Khargeh . - 60 Plan of the great Temple . - ibid. Faqade of this Temple . ibid. Ruins north of El Khargeh . 61 Roman Tombs at El Gabaouet . ibid. Inscription on the great Temple at El Khargeh - 62 Egyptian Tomb west of Edfou - 65 Inscriptions on the Temple east of Edfou - - .: ibid. SilMman's Tour to Quebec. Lake George, from the Village of Caldwell v 54 Monte Video Approach to the House - ibid. Approach to Quebec from the S. W. 77 Lake George, from Fort George - ibid. Dupin's Tour flirough Great Britain. Military Flogging . 105 Cazerne of the Royal Engineers at Chatham - > to face ti- Field-Piece - } tie-page. TRAVELS I if ACARNANIA, JLTOLIA, ATTICA, PELOPONESUS, on THE MOREJl, fC. SfC. IN THE YEARS 1814 1816. BY F. C.H.L. POUQUEVILLE, M. D. LATE CONSUL-GENERAL OF FRANCE AT THE COURT OF ALY PASHA, OF JANINA; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF IN- SCRIPTIONS AND BELLES LETTERS IN THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE ; OF THE IONIAN ACADEMY OF CORFU, &C. &C. &C. LONDON: PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS AND CO. BRIDE-COURT, BRIDGE-STREET. 1822. [Iy the 22d Number of this Work we introduced to out Readers M. de Pouqueville's Travels in Northern Greece, and we now introduce his Account of Southern Greece, the present Seat of an Holy Insurrection of the People against the Oppression of the Turks. The two Numbers constitute the best Modern Account of Greece in the English Language, and will he found most creditable to the Acumen and Learning of the Author.] W. tFWIS, PniSTEft, FINCH-LANE, COftNUlLt. >*, .? . 1AN3NA.JLAKES ^H13 ESTVIKOFS Toiaes. British Sl.-itutr Mil*- TRAVELS SOUTHERN EPIRUS, ACARNANIA, tj ty Jbs* CHAPTER I. Road from Jahlna to Calarites River ofArta^ or the Inctchus Aspropotatnos, or Achelous. ILTAViNG on several occasions examined the usual passes -" over Mount Pindus, by Mezzovo into Macedonia and Thessaly,* I was desirous of tracing another route over the same mountains, more to the southward, now seldom used, but Frequently mentioned in the history of the hostilities carried on in continental Greece, before and after the first invasion of that country by the Romans. By this course I should have an op- portunity of connecting together the Inachus, or river of Arta, the Achelous or Aspropotamos, and the Peneus or Salembria ; streams of which the relative positions have been hitherto almost unknown to the best geographers of Greece. In this very hazardous expedition, hazardous for the inhabitants of the ad- ioining districts, and of course much more so for the stranger Frank, I was encouraged by the pressing invitations of the chiefs of the Walachian Christians, established in several parts of the mountainous tracts through which I was to travel. On the 30th of August, 1814, therefore, I left Janina, for once without escort, and furnished with a boiourdi or order from Aly vizir, merely for form's sake. Turning round the south-west corner of the lake of Janina, and travelling south-eastwardly over the fruitful variegated tract which separates the lake from a western spur of Pindus, I passed by Hellopi, a monastery, in which has fortunately been preserved, to this day, the name of the antique Hellopia, a tract * See Modern Voyages and Travels, Vol. iv. Part iv. pages 71 and 97. VoYAGES,and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. A 2 4 Tnevels in Southern Greece, Sfc. stated to have been situated in the vicinity of Dodona. And, in fact, Hellopia is only a few miles from the south-end of the lake of Janina, just as the remarkable remains on the mount of Gar- diki, where I would place Dodona, are situated with respect to its northern extremity.* Another circumstance strengthens my theory on this subject, which is this, that the monastery dedicated to the Virgin is enclosed in a dense grove of magni- ficent oaks, to which is ascribed a wonder-working power, not unlike that attributed to those of the oracle of Dodona. On the anniversary of the assumption of the Virgin, the 15th of August, the inhabitants of Janina, and of the surrounding vil- lages, pass the night under the sacred shade of the grove ; per- suaded, that by lucid inspirations during their slumbers, remedies for their various ailments will be suggested. Continuing my journey still to the southward of east, mount- ing the steep slopes of Mount "Driscos, (the Mount of Oaks) for so is called the southern extremity of the range of Mount Mert- chika, which lines the east-side of the lake of Janina, I arrived on the summit, proverbially distinguished in the country for the extent and beauty of the prospect it commands. Before attain- ing the summit, the path, for it is no better, is carried along the brink of precipices of awful depth, in which the mules and country horses are absolutely obliged to spring from one pro- jecting rock to another. On the summit is a chapel, with a spring of the only good water of the district. Looking eastward down the rapid descent of Driscos, you discover the stream of Calarites, which soon after falls into the Inachus, rolling its hurried waters from north to south, in a deep hollow, between lofty rugged precipices. Going down to this river, which is furnished with a stone bridge, of a construction so absurdly steep as to be used only when the stream cannot be forded, we halted for the night at the Khan of Papastar, in the bottom. The day was not nearly spent ; but it would have been impossible in proper time to arrive at our resting-place, Calarites. The suffocating hot va- pours, the myriads of insects of every kind with which the khan was infested, drove me to pass the night under a spreading plane. A fire was lighted on the grass, a boiled fowl, with cresses from a brook, supplied a supper ; wine was not wanting ; but with all my precautions, in that wretched abyss, in a single night, I caught an ague, which, for years afterwards, materially affected my health. Proceeding forward, with the earliest light, on the ascent of t,he mountains, the passes we had to overcome soon compelled me to excuse my guides for the miserable hours they * See Mod. Voyage* and Travels, Vol. iv. Part iv. p. 43. In the Years 18141816. 5 had made me endure in Papastar; for the abrupt precipices, the intricacies of the overhanging cliffs, among which the path is continually torn away by rain or snow, render the course wholly impracticable in the dark. In several of the most dan- gerous points, however, the Christian inhabitants (for no Maho- metans there live among them) have constructed chapels, which serve also as places of refuge in the times of storm, but too fre- quent in these parts. Yet, on the rugged side of a mountain, on the north of our route, my guides pointed out a cluster of huts, occupied in summer by shepherds, called PalcKochori^ i. e. the old town, from the ruined walls of a town of the earliest an- tiquity. Arriving at the summit of this range of mountains, still preserving the ancient name Polyanos^ a most extended pros- pect opened up, comprehending Mount Olympus in Acarnania, the gulf of Ambracia or Arta, and the inferior, although elevated ranges of Djoumerka and Olitzika to the south and west. In the bottom, on the south-east, appeared the towns of Syraco and Calarites ; the latter the term of our day's journey. On the summit of Polyanos had lately been constructed the church of St. George, having under its roof a cistern, an oven and furnace, and vaulted chambers, the whole affording sufficient accommo- dation in a country in which travellers always carry with them their provisions. In the midst of the romantic, solitary, and tre- mendous scenery around me, what was my surprise to hear, ascending from the deeps below, the pealing bells of Calarites, a music to which my ears had for years been strangers ; for bells are an abomination among Mussulmans. In descending from the heights of Polyanos I found myself among a number of old acquaintances ; for, in that elevated region, flourish plentifully those trees and plants which, in higher latitudes and less warm climates, prosper in the plains. There I found hazel, alder, lime, maple, aspen, yoke-elm, &c. &c. After a very rapid and difficult descent, for nearly an hour, we reached the river of Cala- rites, a town which now appeared almost as much above us as it had before appeared below us. Winding up for half-an-hour, by a path cut out of the face of the steep mountains, we at last entered the town, situated on ground selected expressly on ac- count of its extreme inconveniency ; in order that no Turk might ever be tempted to dwell among the Christians of Cala- rites. The buildings occupy an extent of three-quarters of a mile on the southern slope of that particxilar mountain of the Pindan range, very properly called Padoure-Moure, or the mountain of forests. The streets rise one above another, on ground so precipitous, that, in winter, not a few persons slip down on the ice and snow, and perish in the gulf below. The population of Calarites, consisting of one hundre^l and 6 Travels in Southern Greece., SfC. eighty families, or about nine hundred persons of all ages, are devoted to pasturage and commerce. Their exports consist in butter and cheese, goat-skins, wool, coarse cloth, great- coats, caps, Sic. conveyed all over the Mediterranean, in the vessels of the Greeks of Galaxidi, on the north coast of the gulf of Le- panto. The principal merchants of Calarites have also estab- lished houses for commerce in Vienna, Moscow, and Constanti- nople ; in Venice, Naples, Marseilles, Barcelona, &c. whither they transmit the silk and cotton, and wool of Thessaly, and other districts. The town began to be formed in the 13th cen- tury, as a place of refuge against the tyranny of the Greek em- perors ; taking its name from the great abundance of springs and streams of excellent water. In continuing the rout to the eastward from Calarites to the plain of Thessaly, the traveller climbs up the steep side of the mountain on which the town is situated, to a lazaretto con- structed on the summit, where all persons or goods from the eastern quarters of Greece are placed in quarantine, in time of the plague. The mountains here have been stripped of their forests, by the practice of cutting down and burning the trees, to obtain ashes to fertilize a few narrow patches of ground for rye, the only grain these elevated regions, never long free from snow, will produce. Travelling on about a league from the lazaretto, I found myself half a league south by east from A vados, occupying the site of an ancient city of Cyclopian construction, which seems never to have been restored in later times. On a consideration of the history of this part of Greece, I am inclined to take this to be the position of Athenceum, and within the ramparts several pieces of antique armour of bronze have been found. I possess a coin found there of Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, bearing his head diademed, and the words B*G-XM>? nifo-Ew,- within a garland of oak. On the whole, it seems highly probable that the route I followed was that resorted to by Philip, in his expeditions into Athamania. For that country must have extended northwards, on the western side of Pindus, as far as the sources of the Aous ; otherwise Caesar, in his adventurous march from Dyrrhachium, up the course of the Aous, over Mount Pindus, to the sources of the Peneus and so down into Thessaly, could not have traversed, or even touched, any part of Athamania.* Subsisting manuscripts, as well as printed editions of the commentaries, agree in representing Caesar to have proceeded from Apollonia in Epirus, hito Thessal y, through Acarnania. But, as that district lay wholly on the south-side of the gulf of Ambracia now of Arta, it is evident that an error must have crept into the text, and that for Acarnania we ought to read In the Years 18141816. 7 Passing over Mount Baros, another range of Pindus, from which the view extends over all southern Epirus, and, as I was told, to the coasts of Corfu and the Morea, we descended east- wardly for two miles, through a forest of pine and cedar, inha- bited by troops of deer, roe, and wild-boar, to a stream which unites with the Aspropotamos, or Achelous, or rather with the westernmost of the three branches of which the Achelous is formed. The stream here noticed is crossed on a bridge of four arches, so deep and rapid is its current, although at no great distance to the southward of its source. Two leagues north-west from this bridge, and four south-by-east from Mezzovo, on theside of Mount Capanez, is situated Chaliki, retaining the position and the name of Chalcis, of antiquity ; eight miles to the northward of which the Achelous has its most remote springs. In the summer time, a season which in these aerial tracts scarcely lasts three months, numerous flocks of sheep feed around the origin of this most celebrated of Grecian streams. There is the central resort of the wandering Walachian shepherds, who pass their nights in huts, warmed and enlightened by fires, and guarded, as well as their charge, by tremendous dogs, of the Molossian breed; tremendous even to the formidable bears and wolves of the mountains.* Chaliki, the only village in this tract, contains 300 families of Walachian shepherds, poor, necessarily from the region they inhabit, but hospitable and civilized beyond what could be expected in their circumstances. It is a fact, although inexplicable, that this people, who in their own language call themselves Vlachi, or Walachians, and are spread over the whole Pindan range, still affirm that their ancestors came ori- ginally from the Roman territory in Italy ; but, for this universal assertion, tradition is their only authority. At Chaliki are con- siderable remains of the Cyclopian ramparts of Chalcis, and coins of the most ancient character are there frequently dis- covered. Close by the place is a deep and abundant spring, which burst out spontaneously, after a rainy season, in 1800, a circumstance explanatory of the spontaneous eruption of the Achelous, as noticed by the ancients. Whether the eruption of this spring was accompanied by any commotion of the earth I Athamania, a word of the same number of letters, but denoting a country less generally known than the former. We are not, however, left altogether to conjecture respecting this correction ; for Plutarch, in his life of Pompey, distinctly states, that Caesar marched through Athamania, in his way from Epirus into Thessaly. This circumstance having escaped the recollection of the learned author, whose travels in Greece are here abridged, he has been induced to extend the limits of Acarnania northwards to the plain of Janina, in order that a part of that country might fall within tlio line of Caesar's march forPharsalus. Note of Translator. fc * Modern Voyages and Travels, Vol. iv. Part iv. p. 61. 8 Travels in Southern Greece^ tyc. could not learn ; but in one thing, strange as it may appear, all the inhabitants agreed, which is, mat from this spring the bed of the Achelous was first peopled with eels, a fish till that time wholly unknown. Crossing another lofty range of Pindus, in a south-east direc- tion, the traveller conies on another branch of the Achelous, where still exists, in serviceable condition, the bridge of Genelli, of Roman architecture, of seven arches ; over which passed through the district of Agrapha, a route laid down in the ancient itineraries, leading from Athamania to Trikala in Thessaly. Thus far I was able to travel, not only with security but with comfort, in as far, at least, as depended on the inhabitants. To trace the course of several streams, however, either towards or from their springs, was, I understood, an enterprise not rashly to be undertaken. I learned, besides, that in those tracts which I was dissuaded from examining, few or no remains of antiquity were to be found. Nor is it easy to account for the different, the contrary dispositions and conduct of the several tribes or parties of people, of the same descent, language, religion, customs, and mode of life, to be alternately met with in traversing the dis- tricts which separate Epiras from Thessaly. The district peculiarly termed that of Aspropotamos terminates at the monastery of Veternitza, close to a remarkable rock com- manding a stone-bridge, of eight arches, called Koraka or Ko- rakos. This most useful Roman structure maintained the communication between Southern Epirus, Acarnania, and Thessaly. In 1802, this bridge was the scene of the horrible destruction of the last remains of the brave but imprudent Sou- liotes, who w r ere endeavouring to escape over among their fellow- christians of Thessaly. Having survived the massacres and devastation inflicted on their native country by the ferocious Mahometan Albanians, em- ployed by Aly Pasha, in his unprincipled and unprovoked attack on their independence, a body of 300 Souliote warriors, protect- ing 200 of their wives with their children, had penetrated through every difficulty to the bridge of Korakos ; here they found the passage blocked up, and themselves beset on every side by Aly's tigers, thirsting for their blood. A desperate con- test ensued, from which only one Souliote chief, and ten of his brother heroes opened a way for themselves to escape. The women, purposely spared by the foe, seeing the fall of their pro- tectors, as, by a common instinctive movement, clasping their infants to their bosom, plunged into the Achelous, and instantly disappeared in its rapid stream. From the bridge of Genelli, on the Achelous, the road leads over the broad and elevated range of Mount Marotzo, the last In the Years 18141816. 9 Pindan summit ; and two leagues beyond its eastern base lies Clinovo, a large village at the head of a valley, which opens the descent into the plain of the Peneus. Proceeding downwards, in a direction in general south-eastward, for five leagues, the tra- veller arrives at the khan of Kenourio, and half a league more brings him to Sarakina, near a ruined bridge over the Cachia, the main branch of the Peneus ; from which place the distance is four leagues down the stream to Trikala, formerly noticed in, describing the route over Pindus from Metzovo.* CHAPTER II. ,,,, ..,.._ . Valley of the Thy amis now the Kalamas. Aly Pasha's mode of transacting business. Delvinaki or Omphalium. Panegyris. Monks and manuscripts. Remains of Pas- saro. Epirote robbers. Ruins of Horreum. Fountains in Greece. Philates. Plague. BEISTG invited by Aly Vizir to accompany him to visit a spot where sulphur had lately been discovered, and from which hopes were formed of drawing vast advantage, I had an oppor- tunity of prosecuting rny inquiries, relative to the southern region of Epirus, down to the Gulph of Ambracia, or of Arta. The sulphur had been found on the surface of the ground, in masses of black earth, on the south-side of the lake of Gerovina, from which proceeds the river Kalamas, ancientry the Thyamrs. Trials of its quality haying been made by an ignorant pretender From Italy, furnaces and other buildings were constructed, and the inhabitants of the environs were already classed, to labour rn carrying on the works on an extended scale. Fortunately, however, for the unhappy people, the conductor, instead of dis- tilling the sulphur from its ore, contrived to set it on fire ; and so disgusted Aly by his expensive failures, that the enterprise was wholly abandoned. In our journey towards the mine the inhabitants of a village surrounded our party at a halt, exclaiming, " Many happy years to your highness ; may you live till you are tired of living ; but, as for us, either lower our taxes and burthens, or order us to be hanged or drowned." To this address Aly coolly answered, di- recting them by his sign to withdraw, " Go in peace, my children ; pray to heaven that I may continue to enjoy health and spirits ; and, in that case, you shall want for nothing." He concluded * Modern Vnyasfe* and Travel?, vol, iv. part iv. p. 9, 102. VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. B 10 Travels in Southern Epii-us, $c. his harangue with the regular paternal phrase v , //.* x.a? syw -3>x, " may I be well and happy, my good children." After a pause, indicating, as I imagined, some inclination to alleviate the dis- tress of his subjects, lie added another customary phrase, " 1 bear .you all in my heart, and as a proof of it you shall erect for me, at your own expence remember, a comfortable house on this spot, within six months from this day ; fail not in what I command, or woe be to your heads, *?/* &-7ovj AXI/AQU,- >* 1814 1816. II discovered sufficient to prove the existence of a Greek town on the spot. From these circumstances, connected with the history of the country, and the import of the name, I am inclined to place there the Omphalinm of antiquity. Notwithstanding its very confined position, Delvinaki is occupied by 600 Christians, who might be a happy people, could happiness, or even security and peace, subsist under lawless tyranny and oppression ; the character- istics of the system practised by Aly, and not by him alone, bu< generally by every ruler in Turkey. ' It was on the 15th of May, 180(i, the anniversary of the As- cension, that I first descended into Delvinaki ; and the inhabi- tants then holding a panegyris^ were all in their best laces and dresses. Having ordered my janissaries and other Mahometan attendants to confine themselves to the khan, I was invited by the principal men of the town to assist and mingle in their festal ce- remonies, celebrated not by those of the town only, but by the husbandmen, shepherds, and labourers of the environs, with their wives and children. In one corner of the open market-place parties of the handsomest female Epirotes, dressed in white woollen robes, the head covered with yellow shawls, displayed their skill and grace in the romeika, or customary Greek dance. In ano- ther corner were similar groupes of young men, adorned with varieties of field flowers. Seated on one side the elders of the place reminded me, by their gravity and attention to the sports, of those happy days of Greece, when the appointed judges awarded the prizes to the victors, amid the acclamations of an enthusiastic assembly ; but the dancers w r ere interrupted when, the sun being set, the stars began to appear, and fires and torches of resinous trees were lighted up, in honour of the festival, and also for the celebration of a wedding. The panegyris of the ancient Greeks (Twirv?*?), was a ge- neral assembly of the people, for the celebration of some public religious function, or the transaction of some public important business. Under the present arbitrary dominion of the Turks the oppressed Greeks have little concern indeed in the manage- ment of public affairs. Hence their panegyris is confined to the celebration of the religious duties of the church-festival, on which it is held ; constantly conjoined with feasting, dancing, and mirth, and frequently with the usual mercantile business of a fair. In a similar way were formed the fairs of Christian Europe, The people assembled to solemnize some saints' anniversary, or other consecrated festival of the year ; and advantage was taken of the concourse to transact secular affairs of necessity or accom- modation. The epoch is not veiy remote since, in various quar- ters of Europe, fairs were held on Sunday and some other of the 12 Travels in Southern Epirus^ 3?c. most solemn days of the year. Such signified the panegyris of Herodotus and iheferice of Cicero. Visiting a Greek monastery, of reported antiquity, on the banks of the Kalamas, in the hopes of discovering some manus- cripts or parchments of that sort which it is known were em- ployed by the early monks, after erasing the original writing, to record the history of some saint of their society, I found the fgoumenos, or prior, busy in carding wool ; he informed me, that his monastery possessed lands ot the value of 10,000 pias- tres of the present estimation, or 500/., once sufficient to support thirty monks, and as many lay-attendants ; but that, from the heavy demands made on them by Aly, the number was then much reduced. On enquiring for manuscripts " as for your old histories," answered he, " heaven preserve us from meddling with such things ; we are orthodox Christians, sir : and every thing written by these old Jew Grecians, who dealt in nothing but heresy, has, thank heaven, been burnt., and burnt they shall be, if ever they come in my way." " But," said I, restraining my indignation, " you know that the monks, in former ages, were the preservers of these same parchments, and that it is to the monks that the world is indebted for many of the most valu- able productions of antiquity." "All that may be true," replied the prior, " for any thing that I know ; but monks would have been much better employed in carding their wool." Provoked bv the barbaric stupidity of this man, I retired, well convinced of this truth, that many more manuscripts and monuments of art have been destroyed or defaced by the caloyers, or Greek monks, than by all the barbarians who invaded and desolated the country. If they discover an antique statue, or a basso-relievo, " it will," as they say, "pollute the light of the sun," and if not burned into lime, is immediately again buried in the earth. Proceeding down the valley of the Kalamas, I arrived at the influx of the Velchis, the stream formed by the subterraneous discharge of the waters of the lakes of Janina.* Still lower down, and equally on the left or east bank of the Kalamas, fallsin the Terino, which flows westward in a deep well-peopled valley, separating Mount Tymphe on the north, from the Olichinian range on the south. Travelling up nearly to the source of the Terino, about six leagues above its influx into the Kalamas, on the southern slope of Mount Tymphe, are found considerable remains of an ancient city, hence called by the Greeks Palcea- castro, the old castle of Dreraichoux, a village in the neigh- bourhood. That these ruins denote the position of Passaro, Modern Voyages and Travels, vol. iv. pMt iv- p In the Years 18141810, 13 once in some measure the principal city of Epirus, seems to me unquestionable. Passaro was a place of resort in very remote times, having been founded, as it is believed, by Molossus, the son of Pyrrhus, and grandson of Achilles, and the first chief of the celebrated Molossian nation. " One of his successors," says the author of the Travels of Anacharsis, " anxious to ob- viate revolutionary disorder in his states, consigned the care of educating and instructing his son and heir to the nation over which the youth was destined to rule. The sages under whose superintendance the youth was more immediately placed, in order to remove him from the blandishments of pleasure, and the corruptive sycophancy of interested and unprincipled flat- terers, conducted him to Athens. There, in the midst of a de- mocratic republic,, was the future sovereign of the Molossians instructed in his several duties to his people, and to himself. Of this system of princely instruction, the good effects were ma- nifested by his declaration, when he returned to Passaro ; a de- claration announcing his determination to divest himself of a great portion of arbitrary authority, and to limit his powers. A senate, laws, and magistrates were appointed ; and, speedily, learning and the arts flourished among the Molossians, who, by the natural consequence of rational liberty in their government, soon attained a marked superiority over the semi-barbaric states of Epirus around them. Passaro was secured by massy ramparts and an acropolis or citadel, furnished with aqueducts, market- places, and public squares, adorned with temples and porticoes." From Passaro issued the horrible mandate of Paulus ^EmiliuSj (with the view of utterly extinguishing every sentiment of inde- pendence in the Epirotes) after his victory over Perseus of Mace- don, to plunder, burn, and demolish seventy of their principal cities, and to carry into bondage 150,000 of their inhabitants. This political blow was inflicted in the year 586, of Rome, or, 167 years before the Christian era. Th,e remains of Passaro, which according to some portions, evidently posterior to the days of Paulus, must have been ii> some degree rebuilt, still bear witness to their primitive grandeur and importance. The en- closing walls of the acropolis, with some projecting towers or antique bastions, may still be traced : the thickness of the walls of the curtain, as it may be called, is about ten feet, and the space between the tower-bastions about 210 feet. The towers are in breadth nineteen feet, projecting beyond the line of the wall twenty-eight feet. Jn the east side is a gate, eleven feet wide, defended by two square towers, and the south-front stands on a precipice nearly seventy feet high, on the slope of the hill. Adjoining to the western angle of the citadel, facing the south, is a theatre, one of the largest and WQSt entire in Greece. The 14 Travels in Southern Epirus^ $c. number of seats above the surface, when I first examined it (and some were undoubtedly hidden by ruins) was no less than sixty ; and the semi-circular extent of the upper row of seats measured SCO of my steps. So steep is the face of the hill in this spot, that, although the theatre has been formed out of the slope, yet the lower part, containing what we now call the stage, was sup- ported to a proper level on arcades. These arcades were still accessible in 1807, but in 1809 they were completely blocked up by one of those earthquakes to which that and some adjoin- ing quarters of Epirus are very frequently exposed. On the south of the theatre and the citadel, lay the lower town of Pas- saro, inclosed by a rampart and double fosse. This space, of considerable extent, presented, amid the general ruins, the por- tico of a temple, and a forum, or market-place, still retaining its original denomination in the modern bazar. The last visit I paid to Passaro furnished a memorable example of the muta- bility of human affairs. Rude peasants were labouring within the orchestra of the theatre, and a few goats were browsing on the shrubs which shot cut on the seats, once filled with specta- tors of the master-pieces of Sophocles and Euripides. A few Epirotic coins were all the fruits of my inquiries in and about Passaro : for the peasants carefully re-bury the sculptures or in- scriptions they discover, lest they be severely punished by the Vizir of Janina as plunderers of his property. The village of Passouri, at the spot where the river of Passaro falls into the Kalamas, is in great repute in the country, for a panegyris held on the 8th of September, the nativity of the Virgin, whither multitudes of Greeks repair for devotion and for pleasure. The monks, who have charge of the miraculous picture, who are not numerous, enjoy an income from lands of above ,800 per annum ; yet they contrive to extract a very considerable addition from the gratitude of the applicants who receive, or imagine that they receive relief in their ailments, by the intercession or immediate power of the patroness of the mo- nastery. Near on the east-side of this place of pilgrimage, are the remains of very ancient works, as also in the hills higher np towards Passaro ; evidences of the high state of the population of this naturally rich and beautiful country in early times, down to the devastation produced by the Romans. But as many of the towns of Epirus had probably never been restored, and their vuins v only remained, even in the days of Strabo, eighteen cen- turies ago, it is no wonder that the positions of many places of which the names are known, and the names of many ruined cities of which the vestiges still subsist in Epirus, should at this day be uncertain or unknown. The route from Janina, down the right or went bank of the Inlhc Years 1814 1816. lo Kalamas to the coast, is carried along the steep sides of lulls and round their projecting points, in many places at a great eleva- tion over the streamf and in some spots so narrow as not to per- mit a horse or mule either to pass another or to turn back. Tra- vellers besides, prior to the occupation of the country by Aly Pasha, were constantly in danger of assassination, or at least of being plundered by the half barbarian independent natives, whether Mahometan or Christian. These natives are chiefly Schypetars or Albanians, vigorous, active, and enterprizing ; haughty and impatient of subjection; in spite of the terrible yoke now laid on them. Many of them still talk with exulta- tion of their former exploits on the highways; for each tribe considering itself as constantly iu a state of hostility with the others around it, predatory expeditions were sanctioned by the .names of honourable warfare, or justifiable revenge and reprisal. . Hence the open plunderer or assassin was a hero, while the secret pilferer who took advantage of confidence was a despicable pol- troon. In my journies between Janina and the sea-coast down the Kalanias, I used to halt for the night in a village, at the house of a man who had long been the chief of a band of robbers. Nay, the papas, or Greek priest himself had, for sometime, exer- cised the same vocation. The disposition to appropriate what belonged to other men in an open manner they could no longer gratify : it had now dwindled down to a feeble desire to pilfer from the unwary passenger. This desire, however, it was quite easy to counteract, merely by placing one's person and property under their special care and protection ; by interesting them to keep those things which they might be tempted to purloin, their probity, their hospitality, is interested in deserving your confi- dence intire. By acting in this manner, the trust I reposed in them was never infringed ; the idea of plundering or defraud- ing their guest never enters their mind. Hence, those very men, when engaged in regular bands of robbers, will pillage, plunder, murder, without compunction ; for they coticeive themselves to be in the exercise of lawful warfare; and the spoil is but the rightful reward of their courage and their blood. On the other hand it is wholly without example that a robber should assail the person whom he receives under his roof, with the purpose of seizing his property ; it is at a distance, and in the open field that he watches for his prey. Travelling on the steep sides of densely wooded mountains, impending over the Kalama?, I came to a village sunk in the bottom of a dismal glen, incumberedby rocks and precipices. Often as I had passed by this village, al- though with a formidable escort, I had always avoided to halt in it. In December, 1813, however, in consequence of tteswel- iig of the torrents, by incessant heavy rains, in this same village 1C Travels in Southern Epirus > forced to halt for the night. To my amazement I found myself received and treated with all attention, in a place where, some months only before, I expected every moment to be fired at from some concealment. But Aly had lately become master of this part ofthe country ; and I was now convinced of the truth of what had long before been remarked to me inPremiti, during my jour- ney down thecourse ofthe Voioussa, or Aous.* " Premiti is my birth-place," said a retired interpreter and secretary of Aly Pasha; " I have frequented the most brilliant society of the most polished nations of Europe : I served Aly fifteen years as an in- terpreter, for several western languages, without experiencing from him either ingratitude or great favour. His system of go- vernment you will doubtless judge with severity ; but permit me to observe, that it is well adapted to the people he has to govern. His acts of injustice and oppression, his cruelties, his whole mode of administration, in fact, is perfectly suited to the ungovernable ferocious nature of the Albanians ; no man but a tyrant as he is could ever hav subdued a nation of lawless robbers and as- sassins. Ten years ago, before Aly gained possession of this country, you would have been murdered, or plundered and sold for a stave, by these very individuals who now accompany you, and who will hazard their lives in your defence." On the right or west-side the Kalamas receives the Longovista, one of the finest Streams in that part of Epirus. Taking its origin among the mountains of Argyro-Castro, five leagues to the north-west, it falls into the Kalamas, on the west of the hill of Zlalongos. Proceeding above an hour down the Kalamas, I . - _ i _ _j _ ....... __ ,,_- , * Modern 03 ages and Travels, vol. iv. part iv. p. 06. In the Yearn 1814 ISib. 17 originally belonged to the independent beys ar, barons of Phi' lates, but which were seized by Aly, in 1812. In the vicinity of those villages lay Goura, inhabited by Mahometans devoted to trade. In their intercourse with Constantinople, the Gourites unwittingly imported the plague into a quarter of Epirus where it was unknown, and where consequently its ravages were horrible. Of the population of Goura and the environs, the whole were consumed, with the exception of forty persons who, in escaping from the contagion, carried it with them, and com- municated it to all the surrounding country. The rich fields of Cazi-di-Scala were thus entirely depopulated ; and many years must pass before they recover their ancient prosperity, under the double scourge of the pestilence and the oppression pf Aly. Proceeding still down the course of the Kalamas, on a hill, are erected the towers of Vigla, from which may be seen the channel between the continent and Corfu, the island itself, and even the sea beyond it ; although the nearest point of theEpirote coast be distant nine leagues from Vigla. On the same hill is si- tuated Keramitza, inhabited by 150 families, all Christians, many of whom have acquired wealth by the supply of cattle and other provisions, to the several garrisons maintained in Corfu, during the late war. Going down from Keramitza, for half-an-hour, in the midst of torrents and precipices, I came to the river of the same name flowing southward and westward. There commences the ascent of a high mountain, by what is called the ladder or stair, (skala) impending at the height of 800 feet over the Kera- mitza ; a work of ancient times but repaired in 1716, for the pas* sage of a Turkish army of 65,000 men, in the unsuccessful at- tempt on Corfu. This ascent continues for above half a league, the lofty cliffs on the opposite side of the river not being distant more than two musket-shot ; the descent from the summit is very rapid for half a mile, to the bank of the Keramitza, ornamented with an olive grove, shading a fountain of excellent water, anines* timable treasure in a burning climate, especially in Epirus, where wholesome water is by no means common. Both Turks and Greeks entertain particular regard for fountains and springs, and, if they do not now, as in days of yore, sing the praises of the nymphs, daughters of the springs and protectresses of the issuing streams, they still respect the fountains, as the spontaneous gifts of some beneficent supernatural beings. Buildings are erected from which pipes discharge the pure element, for the benefit of the panting traveller ; and the super-abundant fluid is received into reservoirs of stone, for the use of cattle. In the buildings are always formed small niches, to receive the myste rious offerings made to the Anaraides, the modern Greek name VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. C 18 Travels in Southern Epifus, S,-c. for the Naiades^, or divinities of the springs of antiquity. At the fountain no one quenches his thirst without depositing in the niche some token of his gratitude, were it only a nower, a sprig from a bush, a pretty stone, &c. in order *to turn away the evil eye, which might perhaps occasion some ailment, or disaster, or even dry up the spring altogether. Two leagues from this fountain, down the Keramitza, stands a stone- bridge of three spacious arches ; having inserted in the piers four busts, now much decayed, and probably mutilated by the superstitious Mahometans. The bridge is antique, and the busts seem to be Egyptian figures. On a hill, a little to the north-west of this bridge, is delightfully situated Pheniki, the re- presentative of the ancient Phoenike of the Molossians, which must not be confounded with the Chaonian Phcenike, formerly noticed.* Such, at least, is the notion of the learned in Janina ; but I am rather inclined to suppose the Pelasgie remains at Pheniki, to have belonged to Phylake. As soon as I had turned the hill of Pheniki, I came fully in view of Philates, admirably as well as picturesquely planted on the summit of a precipitous hill, of great height; a situation that never fails to strike the stranger, even the least sen- sible of the romantic and magnificent beauties of the scenery of Epirus. Climbing up a laborious ascent, for half an hour, I attained the lowest buildings of the town, scattered, like all other Albanian towns, over a considerable space, and con- taining above 400 houses, three mosques, public baths, and a number of capacious cisterns open to the clouds ; for the foun- tains and rivers are of access too difficult to be resorted to. Living in what they termed freedom, that is in absolute lawless anarchy, (for true liberty, or the government of fixed acknow- ledged impartial law, is a state of which no people of the east have any conception) the inhabitants of Philates imagined themselves to be the happiest race of people upon earth. No where in all Greece were to be seen men of more vigour and ac- tivity, women of more impressive figure and beauty. The youth of both sexes presented numerous examples of human beings, such as the ancient sculptors imitated in their heroes and nymphs, such as the primitive race of mankind may be supposed to have been. Looking around with contempt on their neigh- bours in the plains, bowed under the yoke of Aly of Janina, trusting in their independence, the Philatiotes dared, single- handed, to oppose, to defy his power. Their fathers lived free, if ignorant and barbarian, and why should not they ? From their mountain-tops they beheld the frontiers of civilized Europe : * Sec Modern Voyages and Travels, vol. iv. part iv. p. 33. In the Years 1814-1816. If) but they seemed, the more they had intercourse with the Franks, the more bitterly to detest them, and all their inventions. It was an universal remark, that the most inveterate enemies of the Christians of the west, were those very persons who, on mercan- tile business, had occasion to puss over to Corfu, and there to be treated with particular hospitality and attention. Twice were attempts made to shoot me, once was an attempt made to stab my brother, in the middle of their town, although we had, on several occasions, been able to render service to their town's- men, and were then under the special protection of some of their chiefs. Such was the state of Philates in 1814; but this state was but of short duration ; what the steel of Aly could not pro- bably without much labour and openly have performed, his gold speedily but secretly accomplished. The haughty barbarians of Philates, to the astonishment of the surrounding tribes, without even the semblance of resistance, voluntarily surrendered them- selves to the master of Epirus. In one of my journies, by the authority of Aly, I mounted to Philates, now humbled and brought under his usual discipline, with the purpose of engaging the inhabitants to adopt precautionary measures against the pes- tilence, then in their near neighbourhood ; precautions which Aly himself, although a Mussulman, strenuously enforced in his other dominions. Little as they were entitled to my compassion, especially since their degrading submission, yet the pestilence in Philates could not fail to threaten danger to the French garrison and the people of Corfu. Assembling, therefore, the elders arid other men of consequence in the town, I proposed the establish- ment of a guard and a lazaretto, at the foot of their moun- tain, on the only path by which they could be approached. My representation would, I doubt not, have been successful, when our deliberations were interrupted by a dervish, an igno- rant fanatic Mahometan monk, with these words : " Take care, my brethren, how you hearken to this Christian infidel ; no new maxims for us, leave to the Franks their customs j let us adhere to those of our fathers, and to the doctrines of our religion. The plague proceeds from the Creator himself, who, from all eternity, has decreed whatever comes to pass in this lower world ? would ye stand up against Providence, would ye resist his decree ? no, my brethren : the plague is only one of the 365 gates of Paradise, which is in a state of rapid decay, and which it is the duty of every one of us to labour to restore. Let us, therefore, manfully stand in the breach, and, not like the dastardly Franks skulk behind the rails and grates of a lazaretto. If it be decreed that the plague shall come to us, come to us it will : but, for my part, I am convinced that nothing of the kind will happen." Within a short month the distemper made its way up and into Philates. C 2 Travels in Southern Epirus, $c. The inhabitants hastened to build up the crumbling gate of Paradise, by tending the sick and washing the bodies of the .dead. Whole families were cut off in a day : the living being iio longer sufficient to bury the sufferers, they were left to cor- rupt in their place. The horses perished from want in the stables. In the middle of 1814, after a devastation of above three months, out of two thousand eight hundred persons, of all ages and both sexes, in Philates, no more than one hundred and thirty 'miserable beings remained alive, equally afflicted with imbecility of mind and of body. The fate of the dervish I never knew; but PhilateSj deserted and abandoned, is now in ruins. From the hill of Philates, the road leads in general west-north- West, over a plain varied by gentle inequalities, but level along the sea-coast, to Sayadez. This low country is covered with herds and flocks, over-run with myrtle, lentisc, asphodel, sage, &c. and beset with snakes of great size, formidable to the pedestrian traveller. In several sheltered bottoms the orange- tree flourishes in great abundance. Between Sayadez, a Christian village, and the sea, are ranges of salt-marshes of valuable produce; out before which is the road-stead, the most frequented of any on this coast. From this station for shipping, at which vessels must lie a great way off from the shore, covered only from the north, to the town of Corfu, the distance is eighteen miles. From Janina to Sayadez is a journey of nineteen hours, and I have performed it in the midst of summer, in defiance of the overwhelming heat, in the course of one sun. By travellers the journey commonly oc- cupies two days, and traders with their caravans usually .employ three days on the road. CHAPTER III. Coast of Epirus from Sayadez to Prevesa. Aidonia. Para* mythia. Rivers Acheron and Cocytus Dominions of Pluto. Tartarus. Cerberus. Remains of Pandosia. Parga. THE country extending southward along the coast from the road-stead of tSayadez to the embouchure of the Kalamas, is now called Chamouri, and that from the Kalamas to the river Glykys, the ancient Acheron, of aweful memory, is termed Aidonia,' the chief place being Paramythia, a town in the in- terior of the country. The distance in a right line from Janina, in a south-west course, to Paramythia, is about twelve leagues : but such are the necessary windings among the mountains that by the common road it is fourteen leagues. Passing to the west? In the Years 18141816. SI ward of the ruins of Passaro already described, over the Olchi- nian-hills, for six leagues from Janina, you arrive at the springs of the river of Souli, doubtless the Selleis of former times. After a short course, increased by several smaller streams, it acquired the name of Acheron; but now it is known by the appellation of Mavro Potamos, the Black River, or Glykys, the Sweet River. The stream is subject to great fluctuations in its mass of waters, dependent on the melting of the snow and ice of the glaciers from which it proceeds. In its course it passes through a mountainous tract, in the midst of which are distin- guished the aspiring pinnacles of Souli, of which the white sum- mits are remarked at a great distance out at sea. From the road to Paramythia another branches off westward to Gomenitza, once a port of value, but of late years little used, distant seven- teen leagues west-south-west from Janina. The district of Chamouri has preserved, in the portion between the Thy amis and the Acheron, the name recorded by Homer, to denote the domain of Pluto. By the poet it is termed Aidonia, and in the registers of the empire in Constantinople the title is still Aidoni : the peasants of the country retain the same nanre, without any understanding of its signification. Paramythia is commanded by an acropolis or citadel, the original ancient city, perched like an eagle's nest at a great height over the present town, which being occupied by Mahometans contains five mosques, while the Christians who are restricted .to the varoc-hi, or suburb, possess one church, in which is pre- served the title of the ancient metropolitan see. The worthy pastor of the oppressed Christians, oppressed by their intolerant townsmen, and not by Aly, I once met on a peregrination on foot, soliciting alms for his poor flock. His revenue, once con- siderable, was reduced to about 150; and out of that very inadequate income, inadequate to the multiplied calls on his bounty, he had to pay certain duties not only to the treasury of Constantinople, for permission to hold his office, but to the Archbishop of Janina, under whose inspection he was placed. In forming a geometric map of Epirus the position of Paramy- thia would be of prime importance, on account of its central connection with a number of remarkable points in the environs and at a distance. Philates bears from it north-west, distant eight leagues ; and half a league east-south-east, are the ruins or a city probably Elateia, situated, as the Greek name imports, in the midst of a tract still distinguished by its fir-trees. The walls of Cyclopian construction have, in comparatively late times, been strengthened by towers. Coins, images, and uten- sils of bronze, vases of what is absurdly called Etruscan, but properly ancient Greek manufacture, are found within the inclo- 22 Travels in Southern Spirits, &,T. sure. On the south-side of this place flows a stream, to meet the Acheron, supposed to be the celebrated Cocytus of antiquity. In spring this river is considerable, but in the heat of summer the waters are almost entirely absorbed, or carried off by chan- nels of irrigation. At this time the mud in the bed of the Cocytus corrupts and becomes offensive, as is the case in many other rivers in Epirus ; and this circumstance, in connection with the Acheron, lying within the dominions of Aidoncus or Pluto, was quite sufficient to furnish the fruitful imagination of the Greeks with the fables invented respecting the supposed infernal regions. Two leagues south from Paramythia lie the remains of Pan- dosia, distant about two miles from the right bank of the Acheron, a city of which the extent and the original splendour may, even in its present abandoned state, be judged of by the works, ruins, and antiquities still discovered on the spot. From Pandosia were extracted the bronze figures of Jupiter and Apollo, of admirable workmanship, carried a few years ago to England. In the natural caverns of the mountains, and in the channels of the torrents, in the environs of Pandosia, are found many extensive veins of coal, employed in forges by the French troops stationed in Corfu. Masses of antimony have also been discover- ed in the same quarter, on which large sums had been fruitlessly expended by Aly's mineralogists, in the notion that it was lead. Stones are likewise found peculiarly hard, and naturally so nearly globular, that many loads of them have been dressed and carried off, to stock Aly's arsenals, for the use of his artillery, as he was but scantily supplied with metallic balls. Leaving Pandosia and going down the bank of the Mavro- Potamos, or Acheron, where it issues from the deep abysses of the mountains of Souli, a journey of two hours and a half transports the traveller to the church of Agia-Glykys, seated on a small eminence formerly crowned with the temple of Pluto, and indicating the centre of the antique Ephyre, afterwards termed Cichyrus. According to ancient writings Aidoneus or Orcus, or Pluto, reigned in this country, when Theseus and Pirithous, with a band of heroes, landed on his shores. By Plutarch we are informed, that the founder of Athens accom- panied his friend Pirithous, for the purpose of carrying off Core, the daughter of the king of the Molossians, whose queen was named Proserpine, and who had a prodigy of a dog called Cerberus. The king penetrating their scheme caused his trusty Cerberus to tear in pieces Pirithous, and threw Theseus into a dungeon. According to Pausanias it was the queen and not the daughter of Pluto that was to be carried away; and Theseus In the Years 18141816. 23 was rescued from confinement in Cichyrus, at the earnest request or rather by the valour of Hercules, the cousin of Theseus. In this way we account for many of the fables of antiquity, first propagated by Hesiod and Homer, and afterwards embroidered and embellished by Virgil and Ovid. The Acheron is crossed by a bridge in front of Agia-Glykys, the Sweet Saint, a name applied by the Greeks to the Virgin, and lower down by a ferry, below Tchouknida (the village of nettles) of which the boatmen, as greedy and relentless as old Charon himself practices every extortion on the luckless way- faring-man whom, like their predecessor in the infernal regions, they never expect to see again. At the bridge a dam has been thrown across the Acheron by the country people, to raise water to a sufficient height to fertilize the adjoining district, laid down in broad fields of maize. From this quarter the eye discovers the Acherusian lake" or marsh of great extent, pro- ducing rice in the watery, and maize in the dryest parts. The cultivation of these marshes is conducted by the natives of Paxos, a small island lying out in the offing, who hire themselves every season to the indolent proprietors on the continent. On the surface of the marshy lake are frequently seen, flitting from place to place, light luminous inflamed vapours which, in ancient times, when such appearances were not understood, might easily be conceived to proceed from the flames of Tartarus, in the infernal dominions of Pluto. Eight or nine miles below the bridge of Tchouknida before-mentioned, the waters of Acherusia, united in one channel, flow westward for a league into a port now, as in remote times, calle 1 Glykys or Sweet Port, the port of sweet or fresh water. This port or haven is also called by the people of the coast Phanari, from a pharos or light-house which the Venetians, although no longer masters of the country, were authorised by the Turkish government to maintain, and to collect for its support, the duties payable in the port, and the profits of the sardina or pilchard-fishery. It is the common opinion of the modern Greeks, as it was among the ancients, that a single particular spring, which they imagine they can see boiling up in the port in calm weather, is the cause of the freshness of the water in port Glykys. But if we consider the circular form of the basin, communicating with the external sea by only a narrow pass ; if we calculate the mass of river- waters which discharge themselves into the basin, with such force in times of floods, as to beat off the sea to a considerable distance from the entrance, it will not be necessary to resort to any supernatural cause for the freshness of port Glykys. On the shore are vestiges of a town, name unknown, with a post for custom-house officers, and a few huts occupied by Gipsies, 24 Travels in Southern Epirus, $c. When I quitted Epirus, in the spring of 1815, colonies of Ma- hometans from Acroceraunia had been formed by Aly on the shores of the Glykys, laid desolate in the course of his operations against the unfortunate Christians of Souli. Reconciled in some measure to their new abode, by the delights of the climate and the fertility of the soil, the colonists looked forward to the prospect of abundant crops of various sorts. But vain were all their hopes ; the suffocating heat of the plains, the feverish va- pours of the marshes, and last of all the plague, left not one of them alive in the course of the first year. The mountains on the east of Paramythia rise to such a height as to be distinguished at a great distance off' at sea, far above all the hills along the coast. Travelling from that town two leagues across a plain, exhibiting many villages now desolate, I came to a bridge over the river of Margariti. Two miles to the south- west appears, through an opening in the hills, a village called Palaeo-Kistes, probably on the site of Cestria, mentioned by Pliny as the capital of the district called Cestrina. Passing by several large villages, now deserted by their inhabitants, who, to escape the oppression of the Pasha of Janina, have passed over to the service of Mahomet Pasha of Egypt, after some hours journey, I arrived at Margariti, a town of tour hundred Turkish, that is to say Mahometan families, and the capital of a district containing thirty-five villages inhabited, prior to the desolating pestilence of 1814, by above eight thousand people, Christians and Mahometans. The castle of Margariti occupies the site of the acropolis of Bouchetium, so named because Themis, who founded it, had arrived in that quarter, mounted on a bull, in the time of Deucalion's flood. The vestiges still to be traced exhibit nothing characteristic of the peculiar place to which they belong; but only of the most remote antiquity. Were it not therefore from coins still discovered on the site, the position of Bouchetium, and of many other cities of Greece, it would be impossible to ascertain. From Margariti two roads, in a direction between south and west, the shortest distance being three leagues, conduct the traveller to Parga, a town and port of which the name will long- excite in the mind of every lover of truth, justice, and liberty, of every European, of every Christian, and above all of every Briton, feelings of commiseration, of indignation, which no language can easily express. When the Greek empire was overpowered by the Mahometan barbarians of Turcomania, and when the celebrated Turkish emperor Mahomet II. became master of the northern provinces of Greece, the Christians withdrew before their enemies, from Macedonia over Mount Pindus into Epirus. Entrenching them- In the Years 18141816. S5 selves among the inaccessible pinnacles and impenetrable passes of the mountains of Souli, of which the roots are washed by the Acheron, they there long manfully maintained their indepen- dence. At last massacred, subdued, and driven from their homes by the Turks, the rear-guard, the remainder of the Schy- petar or Albanian Christians found arid formed for themselves a place of retreat and security, on Cape Chimseriurn, where now stands the citadel of Parga. The Venetians, then masters of the sea-coast of Epirus and of the Ionian islands lying before it, rejoiced to have a settlement of men of such acknowledged enterprise and valour as the Souliotes of Parga, to act as an advanced-guard, if not as an effectual barrier between them and the Turks, took the new settlers under their particular pro- tection. But it was not to the Parguinotes alone that this political protection was afforded by the Venetians ; along the whole extent of the coast of Epirus, from Euthrotum to Prevesa, they secretly fomented and excited the Christian chiefs and their partisans to oppose every attempt on the part of the Turkish Pashas in their vicinity, to establish themselves in the neigh- bourhood of the Venetian settlements. With such skill and management was this system conducted, that the Turkish govern- ment, whatever they might expect, whatever they might know, never found a justifiable pretext for breaking with Venice. The beys or chiefs of the Epirotes, although decidedly hostile to the Ottomans, were not less so the one to the other among them- selves. Engaged in predatory assaults on each other's territories, the miserable subjects, ruled with a rod of iron by their petty tyrants, and exposed to almost incessant depredations from their neighbours, naturally turned their eyes towards Aly, the enter- prising and successful pasha of Janina. Notwithstanding the inveterate mutual animosity between the Christians of the country and the Mahometans of the Turkish government, the people of the coast preferred subjection to one mighty ruler, to the tyranny of a number of petty masters, capricious, haughty, and dissolute. The desire of change had therefore taken possession of all when, in 1797, on the unprincipled dismemberment of the Venetian states, the Ionian isles became the portion of France. The French commanders, who were sent out to take possession of Corfu, thought it more judicious to cultivate the friendship of such a man as Aly than that of a band of petty chiefs, on whose exertions and fidelity no dependance could be placed. It never occurred to them that, by this measure, they were overturning the admirable although crooked policy of the Venetians, that they were removing a powerful barrier, and bringing into contact with themselves, a man of a character sufficient to excite serious apprehensions. The Ionian isles, however, passed under the VOYAGES and TRAVES, Vol. VII. D 26 Travels in Southern Epirus^ ftc. dominion or, as it was stvled, under the protection of Russia. Disdaining to court the favour of either Aly or the beys of Epirus, Russia, by abandoning the latter, virtually threw them into the hands of the former. Knowing the character of the beys, and the powerful obstacles presented to his enterprizes, by their valour and the nature of their country, practising on their mutual animosities, their ambition, and their avarice, Aly, after ten years of every species of intrigue, and in some cases by open but atrocious warfare, became uncontrolled master of the whole country, with the exception of Parga. At the western extremity of the Cape Chimaerium of the ancients, rises up the pyramid on which is constructed the acro- polis or citadel of Parga, which gives name to a district of Epi- rus of small extent, but which, down to a very late day, sub- sisted free and independent, amidst the slavery and ruins of every other part of Greece. The position here pointed out for Parga, is not that of the old town of the same name, which lay about two miles up the country. This old Parga existed long before the establishment of the Turks in Greece, in the middle of the fifteenth century. But when these barbarian enemies of Christianity and civiliza- tion of every kind, extended their inroads and devastation west- wards, the clergy of Parga, more provident than their flocks, began to prepare a place of safety on the sea-coast, in which they might either successfully defend themselves, or from which they might, in the event of failure, make their escape to some friendly land. All the reasoning and counsels of their pastors to engage the people to abandon their native home were vain, until for- tunately a superior power was called into action. In a cavern of Cape Chimserium (for the vernacular name is unknown) a goat-herd discovered an image of the Virgin, which was speedily transported in grand ceremony to old Parga, where it was vene- rated with all possible respect. Preferring, however, its own humble abode by the sea to the new residence provided for it by the Parguinotes, the sacred image of itself returned to its pri- mitive cavern. So clear an indication of supernatural will and direction was not to be withstood : the good people forsook their habitations, and followed the wonderful emblem to a lofty rock advanced into the ocean, fortified by the hand of nature, and secure from all surprise on the part of the encroaching Turks. This happened in the reign of Sultan Bajazet II., who died in 1510. The precipitous rockey-hill of Parga, not a mile in circuit, is washed on three- fourths of its base by the sea; and on the land- side can be approached only by a gate, opened by the side of the rock which shuts up the communication with the continent. Round the summit of the hill are constructed the fortifications, In the Years 1S14 1SI(>. 27 the whole crowned by the residence of the commander of the place, to be approached only by paved-stairs of difficult ascent. From this watch-tower, for in fact it is too small to be considered as any thing else in the modern system of war, the view extends over a vast space of sea, including the isle of Paxos, and the coast of Epirus, northwards and southwards to a great extent. On each side of the promontory is a bay ; that on the north, the largest, is only about half a mile in breadth, by half that space in depth ; it is therefore fit only for coasting-vessels. On the low ground on the outside of the citadel is a large suburb, from which lead roads or paths, as from a centre to a se- micircle of barren rugged hills, on a radius of three miles, in- closing on the land-side the whole territory of Parga. Nor does this tract compensate by its fertility for its diminutive size ; for the main articles of production are fruits of various sorts, oranges, lemons, cedrats, &c, which, however, give to the en- virons an appearance of richness and beauty. The bracing al- though embalmed air of Parga confers on the people a health and freshness of complexion, by which they are at once distinguished from their neighbours in the Ionian isles. The unrestrained life they led, while it fully unfolded their bodily powers, taught them also to give full scope to the most violent passions. Corrupted under the mysterious administration of Venice ; but modified by the French and the Russians; the Parguinotes were in a fair way to become, in every sense, valuable men. Their chief fault was the harshness displayed towards the fair sex, whom, from long vicinity to the Turks, they treated with extreme rigour. The French expedition into Egypt brought on the second military period of the revolution; Aly was successful against a much inferior French force at Nicopolis, and then, turning his eyes on Parga, the only Christian place which still resisted his arms, or his arts, he addressed to the Parguinotes the following letter, written in modern Greek, from his own dictation, for he dictated himself all his di?patches: " I, Aly Pasha, " Notification to the Parguinotes. I have gained the battle Tof Nicopolis], fought this day, and have taken possession of Prevesa; wherefore, I write to you to give you this notification, for although ye be in the neighbourhood, I am not at war with you. Send to me, therefore, two or three persons, that we may make an arrangement together, that ye may become the subjects of my sovereign : and, whatever conditions ye propose, I will grant them to you. But, if ye will not comply with this my de- mand, then know ye that I am at war with you also, and woe be to your heads. Prcvesti, 3d October, 1798." 28 Travels in Southern Epirus, Sfc. To this and many other applications of the most alarming or seducing nature, the Parguinotes replied only by delays and ter- giversations. Nor was Aly ever able to prevail on them to sub- mit to the Sultan as he expressed it, but in fact to Aly himself, then, and for a long time before, in deeds if not in words, in open rebellion against his sovereign, so long as the Russians retained possession of the Ionian isles. No, it was reserved for the mi- nisters of another country, of a country long and loudly, and justly, but perhaps ostentatiously and insultingly, pro claim ing its unchangeable love for liberty and the government of law, its zeal for the Christian religion in its purity, its abhorrence of every species of injustice and tyranny, its sublime acquirements in literature, science, and art ; its invulnerable position in the midst of the waters of the great deep ; its irresistible naval force ; its mighty Indian empire ; for the ministers of such a country was it reserved to consummate the destruction of the last remnant of Christian in- dependence within the wide-spread borders of the Turkish do- minions. This measure, on the part of these ministers, was the more astonishing, that in fact it was through the treacherous in- trigues of some of the chiefs of the Parguinotes themselves, that they first gained possession of Parga, by a secret surprise of the feeble French garrison in the place, reposing in the confidence of treaties with a people to whom they had manifested the most generous and friendly dispositions. But my business here is to perform the part of a simple traveller, and not that of a politician. From Parga to Prevesa, at the entrance of the gulf of Asta, the road along the coast has been little noticed by the ancients, nor is it much frequented by the moderns ; the commercial inter- course being, for various reasons, most commodiously and se- curely conducted by sea. From several small creeks in this tract, corn is exported by the Ionian islanders ; and, before the late revolution, from the same coast were extracted large quan- tities of excellent ship-timber, for Toulon and other French ports. Proceeding south-eastwardly from Parga, I came to the Ache- rusian lake, now called the marsh of V alondoraco, (a name perhaps corrupted from the valley of Orcus, or Pluto, or the in- fernal regions of the ancients,) and took my place in the bark of the modern race of Charon, not a whit less inexorable than their prototype ; for they will not put off from the shore until tolls, freight, passage-money, and every demand, however vexatious or unjust, be discharged. With no small labour we made way through the mud and reeds, which stretch out nearly to the middle of the marshes, where the water is extremely deep, and abounding in aqueous plants. There the current of the Acheron, now inani- mate, may be perceived ; no bad emblem of the lifeless mortals, formerly brisk and active, with whom it has to do in the other In the Years 1814 181G. 39 world. Travelling for seven miles along the coast, and drawing near to the shore, \ve came to Elia, a port mentioned by Ptolomy, under the name of Elaias lirnen, or the port of olive-trees. Three leagues beyond Elia, we passed by Regniassa, on an eminence near the sea, supposed to occupy the place of Cassiope the capital of Cassopia, a district of the Molossians, according to Stephen of Byzantium. A medal found among the old walls adjoining to the village satisfied me that this supposition was well founded ; for, on the face, was a female head, towered and palmed, with the letter X, and on the reverse the name of the people KAXZnnAiON with a cystis, from which springs a serpent, the whole within a laurel crown. In this place I was struck with the effect produced on the inhabitants by their intercourse with Europeans, who re- sort to the neighbouring coast on commercial concerns. Civi- lization, the daughter of trade, first introduced in this quarter by the French, some fifty years ago, has gradually softened the manners, and awakened the curiosity and understanding of a people, formerly barbaric, ignorant, and regardless of the affairs of the world around them. When the Revolution arrested the French trade with this part of Epirus, the Ionian islanders took up a portion of the business, and instructed the modern Cassio- peians in the mighty changes (and their causes) going forward in the west, and in Christian Europe in general. Curiosity ex- cited attention to the information, and information produced hope of similar changes and improvement, sooner or later, to arise in Greece. Hence the questions addressed to the mariner and the passing stranger ; hence the restlessness of mind, which strongly reminded me of what we learn to have occurred on the first appearance or news of Christianity in the world ; an inqui- sitiveness and ardour which presaged, and in time produced, a general and important change in the Roman empire. Ideas of freedom pervade all minds, freedom is the topic of conversation in every place of meeting, as well as in private : and a single cry of alarm, if above all, a single leader were to appear, would operate a complete alteration of affairs in Greece. But are the Greeks actually ripe for a change so complete ; is it practicable in present circumstances ; will even the freest nations of Europe, discarding their narrow political jealousies and views, be dis- posed to aid, or at least not to impede, the Greeks? these are questions which no man can solve. We are informed by Strabo (vii. 324) that sixty stades, or eight Greek miles, to the northward of Nicopolis, was the bay or road -stead of Comarus. But along the whole coast here spoken of, one place alone of shelter for shipping exists, and that is dis- tant only six stades, or three quarters of a mile westward from the undoubted site and remains of Nicopolis. This bay is besides Travels in Southern Epirua, $r. open to the heavy sea pushed in by the south-west winds the Mediterranean. The ground is likewise so loose that jjfl,|anchorage can be found in the bay with any wind. The of the place is, however, determined by the walls of an town, but at different periods repaired, in the neigh- d, at a village still named Cumarina. The number of Blades in our copies of Strabo ought therefore to be changed Trom sixty to six. The peninsula containing the very interesting remains of the splendid and memorable Nicopolis, is, in its general form, trian- gular. The longest side towards the north extends from west to east about nine miles ; the outer side from north-west by north to south -east by south, six miles, and the side forming the en- trance into the gulph of Ambracia, or of Arta, from south-west to north-east, nearly seven miles. This last side however is deeply indented by a bay, into which projects the sharp pro- montory of Acarnania, still exhibiting numerous vestiges of the antique city Actium. This bay penetrates north-west, quite beyond the centre of the peninsula, terminating in a basin com- pletely land-locked, a mile in length, by a quarter of a mile in breadth, having a narrow entrance, and of sufficient depth of water for any vessel that can ever enter the gulf of Arta. Be- tween this inlet and the external sea, along the narrow part of the entrance, is built Prevesa, a town pointed out by nature to be the grand commercial and maritime station for the whole western continent of Greece. The isthmus, which connects the Nicopolitan peninsula with the continent, is in breadth only about three-quarters of a mile, from the external bay of Comarus to the internal gulf of Arta, or rather to the first of the broad salt-lakes which line the north shore of the gulf, separated by a long narrow bank : just as the salt lakes which line the coast of Languedoc in France are, and have for many ages been sepa- rated from the Mediterranean, by a long range of sandy and rocky banks, in general of small breadth. This isthmus is not only relatively but positively low, for vestiges may be traced of a canal, intended to open a direct communication between the outer and inner seas. From the remains of the inclosing brick walls of the citadel of Nicopolis, it appears to have been an irre- gular pentagon, surrounding an eminence, nearly a mile within the canal, and commanding the first of the lakes. And in the lower ground without the walls, temples, theatres, the stadium, and various other edifices, public and private, may still be traced. Nicopolis, as the Greek name denotes, was constructed by Augustus Caesar, to commemorate the signal victory obtained by his fleet over that of Antony and Cleopatra, in the year 723, of Rome, or thirty years before the Christian era; a victory which In the Years 18141816. 31 rendered him the master of the mighty Roman empire. Nico- polis was early instructed in the Christian religion ; for, from that city St. Paul wrote his Epistle to Titus. The breadth of the narrowest part of the entrance of the gulf of Arta, on the outside of Prcvesa, is not 300 fathoms ; and the fairway is still more reduced by some rocks on the Prevesa side, and by block* of stones thrown in at some remote period ; so that it is not now practicable for vessels drawing more than twelve or thirteen feet of water. CHAPTER IV. Route from Prevesa, by the gulf to Arta and Janinafrom Arta round the gulf to Stratos on the Achelous. TRAVELLERS from the west of Europe generally land at Prevesa, and proceed in smaller vessels along the northern side of the gulf of Ambracia, or Arta, to Salagora, situated on the narrow bank which separates the sea from the salt-lakes men- tioned in the preceding chapter. Salagora communicates with the continent by a causey across the lake, supported on arches : it contains a custom-house, warehouses, with some huts occu- pied by Acroceraunians, transported thither by Aly, who has there built for himself a place of residence. The causey, in length nearly a mile, leads to a grand route thirty-eight feet broad, which passes at the distance of fourteen miles, by the bridge of Arta. A considerable part of the road runs, up the right or west bank of the river of Arta, probably the Inachus of antiquity, mentioned in Chap. I. of this work, and in Chap. IX. of the former publication on continental Greece. The country is remarkably fertile, anjd distributed into wood, corn, and pas- ture-land. Arta, perhaps the Argithea of ancient history, has been supposed by geographers to represent Ambracia, which formerly, as Arta does at present, gave its name to the gulf or in- ternal sea which communicates with the Mediterranean through the narrow strait of Prevesa. Those, however, who are acquainted with the modern pronunciation of the Greek language, will readily conceive the formation of the term Arta from Argithea, the name of the capital of Athamania. Arta is situated on the east side, and in a wide bend of the Inachus, there a considera- ble stream, traversed by a bridge of ten arches of Roman con- struction. The town is placed at the foot of a hill rising to the south-east, and is inclosed at a little distance on the north, west and south by the Inachus. Round the hill still remain portions 32 Travels in Southern Epirus, &?c. of the \Valls of the citadel ; and the town below preserves frag- ments of its former works of defence, and a castle evidently of a date anterior to the era of the emperors of Constantinople. Situated in a tract of country the richest and most fertile in all Epirus, Arta must always have been of importance ; yet it is not known by its present name until about the llth century. The cathedral, now abandoned, but once adorned with multi- tudes of columns, no fewer it is reported than 200, drawn from the magnificent edifices of Nicopolis, displays the barbaric taste by which the Greek structures of the middle ages were dis- tinguished. In Arta Aly possesses a palace ; as he does indeed in almost every place of consequence within his dominions. The town contains also the residence of the archbishop, with twenty-six Greek churches, seven synagogues, and five mosques ; circumstances announcing a place of no small extent and popu- lation. Still, the inhabitants did not exceed 7000 Greeks, 1000 Jews, originally from the south of Italy, and 800 Mahometans, up to the breaking out of the pestilence of 1816.* From Arta, the road to Janina crosses back by the bridge to the right or west-side of the Inachus, and continues over a suc- cession of hills, mountains, and v allies, to the khan of St. Dimi- tri, or Demetrius, eleven miles short of Janina, where the waters flow northwards to the lake of that name. In such a tract many scenes, singularly contrasted, of luxuriant fertility and incurable sterility, of engaging prospect and forbidding ruggedness, present themselves. Brandtiftg off about midway between the gulf and Janina, a road rurfe to the south-west to Rogous, on the river Louro, near to which are the supposed citadel and remains of the celebrated city of Ambracia. The solid ramparts which encircled the lower town enclose a space of three miles in circuit, a vast space for an ancient city; but the ground within is so com- pletely beset with forest, that no structures can correctly be traced under their shade. Nor is that part of the country suf- ficiently brought under the Pasha's rigid discipline, to permit the inquisitive traveller to engage in researches among the ruins. The citadel, or acropolis, on the other hand, being entire, and in good preservation, seated on an eminence impending over the river of Rogous, which must be taken for the Arachthus or Arethon, instantly arrests the eye of the traveller. In the ram- parts which inclose this fortress still subsist portions of Pelasgic construction, surmounted by early Greek workmanship, im- proved by the Romans, and repaired in much later times. The * For a characteristic account of this awful calamity, by the pen of an eye-wituoss, sec MONTHLY MAGAZINE, Vol. liii. No. 365, of 1st April, 1822. In the Years 18141810. 33 wall fortified with battlements is furtheV strengthened by towers ' o . / projecting beyond its line. Wofkfc have also been erected to cover the stairs which lead down to the lower town, and to the fiver. But in no part of the citadel are to be observed any traces of the arts which flourished in the time of Pyrrhus of JEpirus, or of the other descendants of ^Eacus ; nor would the Spot be now visited at all, did it not contain a humble chapel in which divine service is performed once a year, when a pane- gyris is held by the surrounding peasantry. From the defi- ciencies in the writings of Polybius and his general transcriber Livy, and of other early historians, the position of few places has been more contested by the moderns than that of Ambracia. In several important points, however, the situation here pointed out will perhaps be found to correspond better with the best authorities than any of the others which have been selected. One requisite feature of the site of Anlbracia was, that it could be supplied with various necessaries by the river Arachthus or Afethon, which flowed by its walls ; and the vessel which carried me n-om Ragusa to Port Palermo, in the beginning of 1806, I afterwards saw at anchor at Iman-Tchiaoux, a farm of Aly, above twenty miles up tlie fiver of Rogous, from the gulf of Arta, ; 1- The most elevated part of the mountains traversed by the traveller from Arta to Janina is a dreary barren tract of from three to Four miles in breadth, producing only a few stunted wfld pear and other trees. Here is erected the khan of the Five Wells (Pente Pegadi) so called from five wells, of very ancient strong workmanship, stink in the ground half-a-mile to the southward of the khan. These wells were Once comprehended within a fortress of former ages, constructed in the view of co- vering the principal entrance into Epirus from the south ; and certainly such d work would there have been most judiciously placed for such apurpo'se. Of this Aly was aware, for, in 1818, he caused the khan itself to be fortified and furnished with cannon. No place intended for the recepition of the traveller could be worse adapted for that object than the khan of the Five Wells in my time. For besides the filth, common to all such places in Turkey that ever came in my way, from its elevated situation this is exposed in winter to intense cold, and even in summer nights, when the plains are oppressed with heat, the cold is there very inconvenient. These detects might easily be remedied; but as apathy and indifference pervade every operation in the east; and as the Turks, who on a journey carry \Vith them every thing they want, are from mere regardlessness just as well contented iw a hovel as in a palace ; the people in general, seeing their great men put up' with such accommodation, think themselves VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. E M Travels in Southern Epirus, tyc. well off to obtain equal conveniencies, and look on the dismal caravanserail of the Five Wells as a special monument of Aly's munificence. If the traveller turn round to the southward, when he has gained the first summits to the northward of Arta, the prospect which breaks in on his view is truly delightful, Instead of the naked rocks and precipices among which he is placed, enlivened only by the dashing of torrents, his eye wanders over a plain seven leagues in extent, terminated by the blue margin of the Ambracian gulfj and inclosed by the lofty mountains of Acar- nania. Trees of various kinds and tints, interspersed among numerous picturesque villages, diversify the scene before him. In spring his progress is carried along in the midst of anemonies, jonquils, and violets. In all seasons the plains and gentle emi- nences are covered with flocks, herds, and rich harvests of various kinds of corn : his view, in fact, extends over the plen- tiful and pleasing fields of Amphilochia, celebrated in modern as in ancient times for their fertility and abundance in all the necessaries of life. Respecting the position of the capital of that district, founded by Amphilochus of Argos, after his return from the expedition against Troy, and named Argos, after his native place, great diversity of opinion has prevailed. I am however persuaded, that that city was situated in the angle of the low land, or rather marshy lake, having the gulf of Arta on the south, and the mouth of the Inachus, or river of Arta, on the east. In that spot, to the extent of a mile, are at all times seen remains of towers above the surface of the water ; and in calm weather may be discovered the walls, constructed of vast blocks of stone. Consulting the fishermen employed in their occupation in and about these remarkable vestiges, to my sur- prise I found them to be called in general the Drowned City ; but in particular Philo-Castron, and even Philochia. Here it was impossible for me not to recognize the Argos Amphilochi- cum of antiquity, so named to distinguish it from the original Argos in the north-east corner of Peloponesus. The city had been built on alluvial ground, which had, by some great change in the coast of the gulf, been completely sunk below, or over- flowed by the sea, in a way similar perhaps to that by which so many places in Holland have been covered by the waters. From the khan of St. Dimitri to Janina the country consists of gradually lowering hills of argillacious soil, producing a num- ber of small streams, few of which find their way to the lake, being absorbed in hollows converted into marshes. The pros- pect of Janina, of the lake, the hills and mountains which in- close it, the villages sprinkled over their slopes and in the valley, the woods, vineyards, corn-fields, and pastures, can in few quarters of Europe be equalled. In the Years 18111816. 3.- The strange events which look place in France, in the spring of 1815, having created a very acute sensation among all persons in the east, connected with that country, my brother, then charged with the consular duties in Arta, repaired to me, wlnm confined by severe illness in Patras, in the Morea. Resolving, with more curiosity and courage than prudence, to visit the country extending round the east-end or the gulf of Arta, he on the 2cl July, 1815, left that town, travelling for a mile up the left or south-east bank of the Inachus. The climate was still delightful, the face of nature still in perfection. The forest had been scoured by Aly's troops, and the robbers had wholly disappeared : to prevent their return, three hundred Albanians were encamped near the lake Trichon, beyond the Achelons : his route, therefore, as far as Lepanto, near the usual passage over into the Morea, promised security and conveniency. Quitting the left bank of the Inachus the road led along the skirts of the mountains, which bound the plain of Amphilo- chia on the north and east. The plain country was divided into fields of wheat, plantations of tobacco and cotton : the adjoining hills were clothed with vines and olives, and enlivened by numerous flocks and herds. Five miles from Arta, he passed by Megarki, a monastery erected in honour of the Holy Anargyres (money-less saints,) a posthumous title conferred in Greece on medical men who, from motives of piety and huma- nity, afforded to the necessitous their assistance without fee or reward. Monasteries with this appellation are not uncommon in various parts of the country. A number of Christian families have founded a village under the protection of the laborious monks, who hUve planted and engrafted very considerable num- bers of prosperous olive-trees on a dry scorched soil. A few miles farther on the party endeavoured, but too late, to shelter themselves in Comboti, from one of those sudden and tremen- dous, but short-lived, storms of thunder and rain so frequent in Greece, but of which the inhabitants of temperate climates have no opportunity to form a notion. Coinboti, a village of two hundred Greek families, scattered over a succession of pleasing little hills and knolls, separated by multitudes of springs and rivulets, seemed well to correspond with the situation of the springs, (krenai) mentioned by Thucydides. From the heights of Comboti the spectator surveys the Ambracian gulf in its whole extent, and under his eye the intervening plains, bordered with villages planted like watch-towers along the shore. Descending from Comboti, my brother, directing his course to the south-east for six miles, arrived at the Mount Thyamos of Thucydides, now usually, but improperly, called Macrinoros, for Macronoros, the long mountain. There passing from a E2 36 Travels in Southern Epirus, fyc. region of peace and industry, into a desert relinquished to wolves, less ferocious than the robbers to whom it gave shelter, it was not without alarm that my brother plunged into the deep and dark forests with which Mount Thyamos is now as formerly covered. Under the branches projecting horizontally, the tra- vellers proceeded slowly, lying on the necks of their horses, and working their way over decayed trunks, for half a league, to a wide opening which brought them to a view of the gulf, bordered by fields belonging to Kataphrico, a village a mile off on the shore. From that place the road led through an open country, between the sea and the desert, in which the trees had been cut down to drive out the robbers; and after three hours' laborious and anxious progress, the party attained the bridge of Krikeli, over a torrent which, judging by the prodigious blocks of stone in its channel, must be very powerful in the season of rains. Saluted courteously by the guard stationed at this bridge, they passed the warehouses of Arabo on the beach, and in an hour came to Vlicha, there to halt for the night. The torrent of Krikeli separates Amphilochia, or the district of Arta, from Agrais, now V altos, in which are situated the villages Arabo and Vlicha. The latter contains forty Greek families, expa- triated by Aly from Prevesa, after he had stripped them of their property. These hapless persons, compelled to live in wattle- nuts, for it requires money beyond their means to procure per- mission to build houses of stone, crowded round my brother to acquaint him with their wretched condition. They carried to him milk of the richest quality from the excellence of their pastures, and whatever else they thought could be agreeable to the person who, in former times, had often afforded them pro- tection. On the shore were the ruins of a large tower, but not of great antiquity : nor could any pier be traced in the little harbour, said by the inhabitants to be distant forty miles from Prevesa at the mouth of the gulf. The business carried on in Vlicha consisted in the exchange of their corn for the wine of Santa Maura, salt-fish, dried fruit, onions, &c. brought by the Ionian islanders. Continuing his journey next morning for two leagues, the traveller came to that part of the gulf where it projects deeply into the land towards the south-east, forming the long narrow bay or road-stead of Ambrakia or Kentromatia, (the quarries) where building stones are procured. This internal branch of the gulf, inclosed by high wooded hills, is of much less value for shipping than might be expected, from the heavy squalls which come down from the heights, par- ticularly from the north-east. Over the inner corner of this arm or bay of the sea, rises a steep hill, surmounted by the walls of an ancient city, called by the peasants Ambrakia, from In the Years 18141816. 37 some confused tradition of the ancient place of that name ; but which the judicious D'Anville, in his admirable map of Greece, (admirable, considering how little of continental Greece was known in his time,) marks to be Argos Amphilochium. When, however, we compare the accounts of the ancients, we must conceive that place to be the remains of Olpae or Olpe. Thus Thucydides says" Olpai, in the district ol Agriaia, a strong fortress on an eminence towards the sea, was erected by the Acarnanians, and used as their common place for the admi- nistration of justice." Ambrakia is besides situated on the peak of a hill surrounded by ramparts, with a long range of walls reaching down to the shore ; it also commands the narrow pass between Acarnania and Amphilochia; all circumstances indicative of the position of Olpae. The Hellenic or Grecian ramparts, resting on a Cyclopian foundation, are wanting in that part which looks towards the bay, and the long walls or covert- way lead down to a quay furnished with warehouses, inclosed within a wall for defence against a sudden attack of the robbers, by whom that quarter of the country used to be /-> i * infested. Going down by a rugged path from Ambrakia, the travellers proceeding eastwardly lor two miles came upon the lake of Ambrakia, hemmed in by lofty mountains clothed with impene- trable woods ; and beyond it they entered a forest of great extent, .consisting entirely of wild olives, loaded with fruit. But in such a situation it would be madness in any man to take pains to cultivate that valuable tree, where success and pros- perity would only call down oppression and injustice. The quantity of wild olives, prodigious as it is, appears to be greatly exceeded by that of oaks or vast growth, affording timber of excellent quality for every use in ship-building. Half a league to the eastward of the lake is situated the fountain of Cophoura, furnishing the only fresh water on the whole way from Vlicha, and of course the common resort of the robbers. From the height on which it is placed the traveller discovers the spacious plain watered, at the distance often miles, by the Aspropotamos, the Achelous of ancient fable and history. Half a league beyond the fountain lies the great Ozeros or lake, as the word signifies in Sclavonian, although it be smaller than that of Ambrakia, from which it probably derives its waters, which, after traversing a large marsh, it discharges into the Ache- lous. Scarcely had my brother passed this second lake, still directing his course eastward, when a singular feature of the country came in sight. Wild vines beyond all number, climbing up and covering the trees, formed living bowers, arcades, por- ticoes, and colonnades. Thousands of feathered songsters filled 58 Travels in Acarnania^ the air with their varied notes, in the shades by which they were protected alike against the scorching heat of the day, and the chilling freshness of the night. Under these majestic vaults of nature the travellers halted, having before them on their route a plain overgrown with heath, rising up ten, twelve, or more feet above the ground, and cut into islands by multiplied paths known to the peasants of the country alone, who are therefore engaged to conduct the stranger through the labyrinth. Making the best of their way forward, at the walking step of the horses, through this extraordinary scenery, after a journey of three leagues they reached Lepenou; and half an hour more carried them to Stratos, seated on a height which, in former times, com- manded the ford over the Achelous. The entire inclosing ramparts of Stratos, its gates and towers, the long walls, which maintained a communication with the river, still subsist on the summit and the declivity of a hill. That Stratos was a place of high importance in ancient times, and still might be in the present day, is evident from its position. Occupying the sum- mit of a hill, a little more than a mile from the common ford, not always practicable, over a formidable river, and command- ing the communication between the Acarnanians on the west, and the .^Etolians on the east, the possession of Stratos well deserved a contest. The existing walls seem to be of Grecian construction ; but fragments of Cyclopian, that is of much more antique workmanship, are to be seen within the place. Among the peasants the ruins are known by the name Poita, retained from the Venetians, for a gate still remains intire ; but more commonly by that of Lepenou, the village already mentioned. CHAPTER V. Gulf of Arta or of Ambracia. Its shores and dimensions. Acarnania. Actium and Anactorium. Vonitza. Mount Olympus. Excursion to Playa. Lakes of Boulgari or Echinus, and Myrtuntium. souliotes. French artillery and works. Jousouf-Arab, the blood- drinker. Voyage round the Gulf. Present state of Acarnania. A CLIMATE warm indeed, but not intemperate, moderated by the fresh and invigorating breezes from the sea ; shores adorned with hills and woods: promontories advancing into the waters, and forming a succession of bays, creeks, and havens; holding out shelter and accommodation to the mariner; fisheries In the Years 18] A-} 816. 39 Various and abundant : prospects in some quarters lofty, bold, and picturesque ; in others, low, gentle, and attractive ; such are the general characters of the gulf of Arta ; a gulf, once possessing around its coasts, cities, and towns, flourishing and important, of which the ruins and vestiges now excite the in- terest and the regret of the traveller of information and taste. When the modern appellation was introduced is unknown ; but its adoption is a proof that Ambracia, from which the gulf drew its most ancient name, was gone to decay before the change took place. According to Strabo the entrance of the gulf was in breadth fourstades, or half a mile, which is correct in a gene- ral sense ; but when he represents the circuit of shores to extend only to three hundred stades or thirty-seven miles and a half^ either he had been misinformed, or an error has crept into the text ; for the greatest diameter, not the circuit, from Prevesa to the eastern extremity of the gulf is, as was stated in the fore- going chapter, always estimated at forty miles or three hundred and twenty stades. The account given by Polybius, as might be expected from an author so judicious and veracious, and who had probably examined a country so interesting, and so near to his own place of birth and residence, is much more ! , accurate. " The mouth of the Ambraciaii gulf," says that admirable historian in his fourth book, " formed by the Sicilian sea, and which separates Epirus from Acarnania, is so narrow as not to extend to five stades in breadth. But the breadth of the gulf itself, in the interior of the country, extends to one hundred stades, (12s miles), and the length from the outer sea to three hundred stades," (31\ miles.) Pliny, who had not seen much of the world with his own eyes, but who, as a man of veracity, correctly transcribed other men's information, gives to the narrow entrance half a mile of breadth, to that of the gulf itself fifteen miles, with a length of thirty-nine miles. In the present state of the gulf of Arta, the extent from the sea up the entrance to the bottom, is conceived to be thirty-four marine or geographical miles, equal to thirty-nine and a half Greek. The greatest breadth, from the mouth of the Inachus to Cape Miloula in Acarnania, is twelve marine or fourteen Greek miles. Having passed through the narrowest part of [the entrance Prevesa appears on the left hand, where ships usually come to anchor, well covered from all but east winds ; and on the pro- jecting point of the Acarnanian shore, still retaining the Vene- tian name Punta, in front of Prevesa, are to be traced the remains of Actiurn. These consist of a stadium, and a hippo- drome, places for chariot, horse, and foot-races ; and on a knoll at the extremity of the Punta stood the far-famed temple of 40 Travels in Acarnania^ Apollo. The position of the basin or wet-dock for ships of war, and of the canal which led into it, may still be discovered; and in my time people were employed in clearing it out, to be turned into salterns. But many valuable inscriptions, bas- reliefs, &c. have been destroyed by Aly's people, by employ- ing them in constructing a palace, a fort, and other buildings in Prevesa. Doubling the point of Actium, and turning to the south-east, you find in the bottom of a deep bay the remains of Anacto- rium ; remains consisting of little else than open cisterns sunk in. the ground, fragments of Roman walls, but not an atom of anci- ent Greek construction. Turning round the point which separates the bay of Anactorium from the gulf proper, you pass two small islands, one of them called Gaidaronisi or the Isle of Asses, because its whole produce is a plentiful crop of thistles. Then steering south-east for six miles you arrive at 1 Vonitza, a town and port of note while the Venetians retained this part of Greece. The promontory just passed, and indeed all those which pro- ject from the south shore of the gulf, spring from the Mount Olympus of Acarnania. For many an Olympus existed in for- mer times in Greece, in Asia Minor, and in other parts. This name of unknown origin is always applied to mountains of the greatest real or apparent elevation in the countries where it is employed. The Olympus of Acarnania is now called Berganti. Vonitza, when I saw it in 1807, contained about one hundred Greek families, dwelling in two separate quarters, at the base of a hill crowned by a commanding fort erected by the Vene- tians. The western part of the valley in which the town is placed is occupied by a lake of brackish water, and on the other side passes the river Kephalo-vrisi, which descends from Olympus. On its banks are situated the fountain, with the pleasing village of Paradisi, and the monastery of Vrachotina, a noted place of pilgrimage, to reverence a picture of the Virgin (for no sculptured images are suffered in the Greek churches,) a never-failing assistant in fevers, agues, and other ailments common in the country. In clambering up and among the defiles of Olympus, the ruins of many villages of comparatively modern date came within my view; but nothing to indicate the former existence of any place of note in ancient times. From Vonitza, I made an excursion down the west coast of Acarnania, to that point which lies immediately in front of Santa Maura, anciently Leucate, a member of the septinsular Ionian re- public, now under the protection of Great Britain. Turning southward, from the coast, by the side of a marsh, the resort of builaloes and wild boars in the heats of summer, we entered a forest of i?ose-ba,y and myrtle, varied by large and lofty locust- In the Years 1814 1816. 41 trees, called by the modern Greeks, skylokeraton, but by the ancients akris and kerateia. Passing the neck of land, three quarters of a mile in breadth, which connects the peninsula of Anactorium with the main-land, we plunged again into the woods, sending forward some of the escort with orders to halt until we should get up to them in the openings of the forest. In this way we arrived at Kokino-vouni, two leagues to the south- ward of the ruins of Actium, an entrenched position in the mountains, fortified, armed, and garrisoned in considerable strength by Aly, to observe the movements of the Russians in St. Maura, then at war with the Turks. The party soon afterwards passed by the Tombs, a spot so called on account of several elevations or barrows, on a height encompassed by thickets of flowering and odoriferous plants and shrubs. No vestiges of buildings or entrenchments of ancient times were, however, said to exist in the vicinity, nor does tradition preserve any account of the Tombs. Half a league farther on we descended the wes- tern spur of Olympus, to a bridge over the river that flows west- ward into the Mediterranean, from the lake of Boulgari. From the bridge, rising up the northern face of Strotos, or Stratos, a mountain which, under the name of Lamia, terminates opposite to St. Maura, we saw, dowri to the left, the lake itself, which I believe to be the Echinus of antiquity. It seemed to be in length about three miles, and in it I counted five little green isles. The fishery in it is let for fifty pounds a year. From the same height I observed the salt-lake of Myrtuntium, which opens into the sea, now called the fishery of Saltena, stated by Strabo to have been situated between the island of Leucate and the mouth of the Ambracian gulf I could also perceive the pillar, or beacon, erected by the Venetians, to point out some danger- ous rocks and shoals in front of that lake. Having taken notes of all the objects within my reach, we prepared ourselves to enter the vast forest of Lamia, a general receptacle of the robbers, but at the time of my journey beset by bands of Souliotes, who had fled from their country when invaded by Aly to St. Maura, and were now posted in the mountains to intercept the communica- tion between Prevesa and the south coast of Acarnania. In these circumstances it was impossible for me to separate from my escort, to examine some ruins said to exist to the southward of the lake of Boulgari. Through the forest a road had been re- cently opened, to facilitate the passage of a party of French artil- lery with their guns and stores who, on the solicitation of Aly of Janina, had performed a very perilous inarch through the very worst parts of Bosnia and Macedonia, all the way from Ragusa. The extreme denseness of this forest, in that respect without a fellow in Acarnania, seemed to hearten up the Albanians of my VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. F 42 Travflu in escort, some of whom had been engaged in the atrocious war- fare carried on against the ill-fated Souliotes ; for they trusted we might push forward without being discovered. The escort was composed of only twenty men, and, as we proceeded, we ac- tually did fall in with a party of Souliotes, commanded, 'fortu- nately, by one of their chiefs to whom I was known ; and, by his authority we were suffered to pass, and protected through all the posts occupied by his men, who in all amounted to 500, stationed in various places on our route. -From space to space we came to spots where the hatchet and fire had been employed to clear a passage ; on the path lay the bones of many a buffalo that had sunk under the labour of dragging along the artillery, ammuni- tion, stores, &c. The woods, in several places, had accidentally, or purposely, been set on fire, and the whole scene gave me a lively specimen of the devastation and horrors which invariably attend on war. Yet, by the sides of these tracts of destruction, the nightingale and the wood-pigeon poured forth their melan- choly strains. Proceeding through the forest for about an hour, without any just ground of alarm, but not without apprehension ; for our safety depended entirely on the respect entertained by the Souliotes we encountered for the orders of their chief and com- mander ; we gained the summit of Mount Strotos, a mass of rug- ged rocks, among which spring up tufts of rosemary, sage, and wormwood. Descending southwards for two miles, we travelled under the shade of oaks and olive-trees, of great age and size ; once the ornaments and the wealth of a region cultivated by the hands and for the behoof of the people of the neighbouring Leu- cate, but now a desert. A mile farther on the skirts of Olympus, (the general name of all the mountains of Acarnania) carried us to Playa, a monastery seated on a gentle eminence, which slopes down to the strait of St. Maura. Jousouf-Arab, Aly's lieutenant on this station, to whom we were addressed, being absent we went forward to a redoubt, constructed on the height of Peratia by the French artillery before-mentioned, who were in all but 22 men ; but who had been joined by a party from Naples. They were then engaged in fitting out flat-bottomed boats, as for a descent on St. Maura; preparations meant only to draw off the Russians to that quarter, and to prevent them from re-inforcing the posts of Cattaro. Batteries had also been constructed for the purpose of cannonading the citadel of St. Maura, across the narrow chan- nel which separates that island from the continent. On our return to the monastery of Playa, we found Jousouf- Arab at his post, who received us with every mark of respectful attention. He would push his civilities so far as even to act as our cook. In spite of all my entreaties, the lieutenant of the mighty Aly of Janina, with his own hands and with his own In the Years 18141816. 43 Damascus blade, slew one of his best sheep, sorted and dressed u plentiful dish of rice, and placed it before us. He overwhelmed us with his kindness, and his manners and language were so mild and engaging that, for a moment, I disbelieved the accounts formerly circulated concerning the horrible atrocities of which he had been guilty, and which had acquired for him the Greek name of Hemovorus, the blood-drinker. All this notwithstanding, Jousouf was in fact that very tiger, who, for ten years together, had committed every act of tyranny and cruelty within his com- mand, and had brought the country to ruin. 1 his very Jousouf, whom I shuddered to hear call me his dear son, had actually torn with his teeth the liver of a Christian chief of Mount Pindus, whom he supposed to have an understanding with the bands of robbers who infested the eastern parts of the district under his command. But the attentions of Jousouf-Arab were carried still farther, for neither seeing nor hearing of any objects in that quarter worthy of notice, and preparing to return to Vo- nitza, he would absolutely furnish an escort of 300 Albanians, who, knowing that the Souliotes had now gone back to St. Maura, talked loudly of what they would perform should they encounter them, nor would they leave alive a single Russian, at whose appearance in the Country they would most assuredly have left me to shift for myself, while they escaped to the woods and mountains. Returning to Prevesa, with the purpose of completing the sur- vey of the gulf of Arta, proceeding eastward along the coast of Acarnania, and turning northward to the coast of Epirus, I ob- tained from Aly a boat and crew, at my disposal, that I might be at liberty to keep to sea, and to land as circumstances might re- quire. Setting off, therefore, from Prevesa, I first went on shore on the east-side of the peninsula, at the extremity of which Actium was situated. Thence going up the country we entered the forest of V r olimi, and advancing towards the lake of Boul- gari already mentioned, distant three miles from the gulf, my guides roused troops of wild boars, on which they expended some shots. Returning to the coast to Conidari, a village in the bottom of the bay of Anactorium, and four miles from the point of Actium, 1 had there, half a league south-eastward from me, the monastery of St. Basil, formerly possessed of several farms, but now reduced to vassalage under Aly. Returning to the boat, we soon again landed at the entrance of the peninsula of Anactorium. Mounting up to the ruins of the town, no vestiges worthy of notice were to be ob.-erved ; but the view over the gulf and the entrance was equally extended and pleasing. Haying been taken and lost alternately by the contending parties, during the early internal wars of the Greeks, Anactorium submitted V 2 44 Travcli in Acarnania, to the Romans, who made it one of their principal posts itt Acarnania ; but, on the decline of their power, it was entirely destroyed by the barbarians of the north, and a new race of people established themselves in the neighbourhood at Vonitza. Ihe district of Vonitza stretches eastward to Balibey, a vil- lage and harbour, half a league beyond which is the mouth of a river from Mount Olympus, which forms the boundary with the canton of Valtos, including the ancient tract called Agrais. This stream, only three miles in extent, moves six mills, appro- priated to the service of the reigning sultana for the time being in Constantinople. Half a league east from the river of Balibey opens the bay of Limnaea, now called Loutraki, a port- town, now decayed, from which, five miles northward, may be seen the desert island of Armyros. A sail of five hours brings you to Kentromatia, (the quarries) whence stones for building and a kind of marble are extracted. Doubling the point of land adjoining, you enter an arm of the sea, which penetrates above five miles into the land, as far as the base of Mount Sparton-Oros, a mountain so named from an an- cient city of Acarnania. In the south-eastern corner of thi bay, on the summit of a hill, exists a Cyclopian rampart, in- closing the site of a town improperly termed Ambrakia, but which is really, I imagine, the Olpse, as mentioned in a foregoing part of this tour. A course of six miles north-eastward, across the Bay of Am- brakia, from Kentromatia brings the traveller to the harbour of Caravanserail, on the plain of Armyros, and four miles farther falls in the torrent of Krikeli. A mile to the northward you pass in front of Vlicha ; nine miles more to Kataphrico, and other four miles to Coprena, the port of Comboti and of Atha- mania. 'No small gain arises from the salterns of this quarter, and from the corn shipped off for St. Maura, besides from 800 to 1,000 bales of tobacco in the leaf. There the coast is low, and in many places inundated for several miles on to the mouth cf the river of Arta, or the Inachus. Beyond the river six miles lies Salagora, the port already described as the ordinary place of debarkation for travellers who pass by the gulf, on their way from Prevesa to Janina. From Salagora, along the narrow bank, which separates the salt-lakes or fishing-grounds from the gulf itself, all the way westward to Nicopolis, may from place to place be observed vestiges of an artificial road, probably the work of the Romans in the best times of the empire, and conse- quently proving that the shores in that quarter have not under gone much change for these 1,800 years. Off from Salagora, in the gulf, lie four little islands, on one of which are the chapel and cells of some monks of the order of St. Basil, the prevalent In the Years 1814 1816. 45 order in Greece, by whom the ground is cultivated : for the rule of their order is equally simple and commendable, to divide their time between devotion and bodily labour in agriculture. Of these islands it is remarkable that no mention occurs in any an- cient author now extant. When the traveller quits the southern shore of the gulf of Arta, and penetrates across the chain of Olympus, he discovers with amazement a country for ages past almost as wild as if it never had been subdued and disciplined by human skill and labour. Around sequestered vallies and luxuriant pastures, shoot up mountains surmounted by peaks clothed in pine and cypress. In another quarter spread out, beyond the power of sight, forests of oak and chesnut, which fall by the hand of time alone, to return into the soil from which they sprung. In the meadows and pastures wander innumerable herds of does and stags, of animals wild and domestic, living together in peace and freedom. WitHin the open grounds amid the forests are to be seen, but separated by intervals of great extent, villages and humble chapels, seated on the summits or the slopes of low hills, or on the border of some lake or river furnishing fish, but always in picturesque situations. There inhabit the remnant of a race once eminently ardent in the defence of their inde- pendence, but now bowed down to the dust by oppression and the most galling servitude, condemned to labour a soil of inex- haustible fertility for the most thankless of masters. Turning to another quarter, to the environs of Playa, opposite to St. Maura, the afflicted stranger beholds a region naturally most productive now idle and desert. The inhabitants have perished or fled ; the air, infected by the marshes of the strait and the absence of all cultivation is now highly injurious to human existence, and the restoration of the husbandman to remedy its effects, is not even imagined by the rulers of Acarnania. Thousands of snakes of various sorts, of vipers in particular, render it very dangerous to enter the meadows and pastures, and the cattle which venture to feed in them are, in the summer months, driven to distraction and forced from the ground by the assaults of a peculiar race of large gad-fly. In that season the only ani- mals to be seen are sheep and goats, whose coats defy the sting and the bite : but the herdsmen pass their time in restless torture. The instant the stranger arrives in those tracts (and I speak from my own experience) he is assailed by those terrible insects ; and the loss of blood, the effect of their attacks, to pass over the pain and irritation they produce, soon brings down the stoutest man. As the ford over the Apropotamos or the Achelous opposite to Stratos, is impracticable in winter and spring when the snows dissolve on the mountains whence it derives it waters, travellers go down to Katochi, where a ferry-boat is established. From 46 Travels in JEtolia, <$r. Loutraki, the usual place of debarkation on the southern short? of the gulf of Arta, the journey to the ford of Stratos, or Lepenou, at the common step of the caravan, requires about nine hours and a half of motion. On taking leave of the once formidable, but now wretched Acarnania, it may be observed that, accord- ing to a late estimation, the whole population amounted to no more than 6,700 persons ; -whilst) in former times, when it con- tained many cities, strong and important, the inhabitants must have exceeded 200,000. CHAPTER VI. Tour from Stratos on the Achelous to Patras in the More a JElolia, now Carleli River Achelous or Aspropotmnos Vrachori Elmas.Bey Lake Aracynthus Missolonghi River Evenus or Phidaris CalydonLepanlo Passage over to Peloponesus. ^ETOLIA, a country celebrated in ancient history, was situated between the rivers Achelous, now Aspropotamos, on the west, and Evenus, now Phidaris, on the east. The Corinthian sea washed its confined shore on the south, while its northern parts were bounded by branches of the great Pindan chain of moun- tains. When Constantinople became the property of the Eu- ropeans of the west, ^Etolia was appropriated by Angelos Com- nenos, who united it to Acarnania and Epirus, possessions which Charles, his predecessor, had been unable to protect from the inroads of the Triballi or Servians of the norta. From Charles' name the country obtained that of Carlelia or Carleli, by which alone it is recognized in the public registers of Constantinople. The personal authority of a sovereign is never so feeble as when it is or aims at being absolute and despotic. This is notoriously the case with the Ottoman empire; and by his gold, his arms, and his intrigues, Aly of Janina has at last succeeded in an- nexing Carleli to his other nefarious usurpations. The present miserable condition of the /Etolians, therefore, fully confirms the remark of the commentator on the geography of Stephen of Byzantium, who, 150 years ago, said that " as the ^Etolians were the first Grecian people to bring the Romans into Greece, by which the whole country ultimately fell under their sway ; so those same yEtolians suffered still much more under their new masters the Turks ; nor could any people be found under heaven whose lot was more wretched than theirs." Returning to the ford over the Achelous at Stratos, where I In the Years 18141816. 47 interrupted the narrative of my brother's journey from Arta to Patras, I now resume his communication, of which the substance shall be given in his own name. It was five o'clock in the afternoon (says he) when I went down to the ford over the Achelous, below Stratos, the only practicable passage for caravans and travellers ; for, as I after- wards learned from experience, excepting by the ferry at Ka- tochi, employed in the winter, no other place or mode of pas- sage exists all the way down from Stratos to the sea. Flocks of untamed goats, herds of oxen and buffaloes, equally wild, were drinking, bathing, and rolling in the stream, which flowing pure and limpid over a bed of clear pebbles and shining sand, has naturally obtained the modern name Aspropotamos, or the White liiver. Entering the nearest of the three branches into which the stream is divided, and which is the deepest, our horses swam over to a bank overgrown with rose-bay, forming a flowery island within the river. The two other branches were passed with greater facility; and, proceeding over a gravelly bed, a mile in breadth, intersected and covered in the time of floods by eleven smaller ramifications of the river, I at last was safely landed in the antique ^Etolia. Such was the state of the Ache- lous in the beginning of July ; but I was assured, that by the end of August the waters are so much diminished, that cattle, horses, and camels, with loads on their backs, ford the river without inconveniencey. In August, as I was informed, a French officer conducted some pieces of artillery, landed at Ana- toliko on the Corinthian sea, to the eastward of the mouth of the Achelous, across the eastern part of Acarnania, to be embarked in the bay of Ambrakia on the gulf of Arta. On the first day he encamped below Angelo-Castro ; on the second, he crossed on a stone bridge, the waters issuing from the lake of Vrachori ; on the third day, the stream of the Achelous at Stratos being very low, and not above 180 yards in breadth, the guns, twelve and sixteen-pounders, could pass the river on their carriages at the ford. From that passage, leaving the common road by the lakes Ozeros and Ambrakia on his left, he embarked at Cara- vanserail on the gulf of Arta, and proceeded by water to Prevesa. Advancing south-eastwardly over the plain from the Achelous, we traversed large fields, watered by channels very skilfully drawn from the river ; and proceeding at a good pace for above three leagues, we arrived at Vrachori just as the sun was setting. Elmas Bey, who commanded in the district under Aly, being in- formed of my intended arrival in the place, had directed a lodg- ing to be provided for me in the house of one of the principal Greeks. For his civility in this respect, I prepared to visit him, expecting to meet some old rude savage Arnaut or Albanian, 48 Travels in jEtolia, #c. in consequence of the horrible accounts of his character which J had received on the road. But what was my surprise when I found him an amiable young man, of a very mild exterior, speaking of his military exploits with modesty, and of the vizir, }iis master, with apparent fear. The tales that had been told me of his barbarity I instantly discarded as false and calum- nious; a person in every way so pleasing could not possibly be the monster I had heard described. Coining away from the audience, however, I found in the court of the palace a multi- tude of rnen, whose noses and ears had been cut oftj and who gathered round me soliciting alms. Some of these unhappy beings had suffered from the hands of the lawless robbers which infested the plain country ; but if these were the greater num- ber, to Elnias, the gentle, the engaging, the sentimental Elmas, were many mutilations without reserve ascribed. Among the mendicants who addressed themselves to me, were several fur- nished with boiourdis from Aly Pasha, authorizing them to tra- verse his dominions, to collect money to purchase the deliverance of parents, or relations, or friends detained by the robbers. But the most extraordinary part of the business was, that many col- lectors were employed under the authority of Aly himself, to procure the liberation of persons confined in his own dungeons, for pretended crimes or debts to his treasury ; nay, often appa- rently, for no other purpose but to become instruments in his frands, for extorting money from their families and friends. These grants of Aly are also accompanied by circular recom- mendations from the bishops and metropolitans, addressed to the faithful within their several bounds. The following is a translation of a boiourdi furnished to a young man, whose father, respectable and substantial Greek priest, had been long in a dungeon in Janina, under the false pretext of having concealed a treasure said to have been found in his garden, which he ought to have delivered to Aly. " Thy father," said he, to the youth, " has been proved to be innocent of the theft attributed to him ; but he has always been my enemy. I am, however, willing to forgive him on conditions. His property is mine, for he was my slave, and it was forfeited by the sentence pronounced against him. Go then, raise 8000 piastres, (400) and I will then set him at liberty. Go beg, and when thou hast collected the sum required, return to me, and I will fulfil my promise/' " BOIOURJDI." " I, ALY PASHA, ^ The order of the most exalted vizir, Aly Pasha ; to you, keepers of the passes in the mountains, officers of police, and inferior ministers of administration, know ye, that is tQ In the Years 1814 181 (j. -49 travel about, and to sojourn in my government, in order to col- lect charitable donations, for the purpose of redeeming his rela- tions detained in my tremendous prison ; and let no one interrupt or interfere with him. No reply. " Janina, 6th of Alonari, (July) 1816." Vrachori, the residence of Elmas the governor, and the mo- dern capital of ./Etolia or Carleli, is said to have been founded and reared by Jews driven from Lepanto and other places in that quarter ; but this is probably an error, for the Jews always take up their abode in towns already established, and are never known to form new colonies. The town, nevertheless, contains 120 persons, of the Hebrew nation, authorised to have a syna- gogue. Three churches, and as many mosques appropriated to the use of GOO families, Christian and Mahometan. The Turks live on the revenue of their military lands and pensions ; the Greeks are wholly engaged in agriculture, so that the trade in silk, the only proper business of Vrachori, is altogether in the hands of the Jews. The bazars presented but a few poorly fur- nished shops ; and on the river Thermissus, which passes a mile east from the town, are established tanneries for the manufac- ture of red and yellow morocco-leather. This river rises six hours journey, or six leagues north from Vrachori, and passing by the ruins of the ancient Thermus, one hour north-east from the town, falls into the lake Trichon, or of Vrachori. Con- tinuing my journey for an hour and a quarter, about south-south- east from the town, we came to the encampment of Albanians, employed to disperse the robbers who infested the woods ; and learning from them that the route down to Missolonghi on the coast was clear, we pushed on our horses in that direction* Just as we parted from the guards I had a view of the lake Trichon, now called by the three names Ozeros, lake of Vra- chori, and Soudi, corresponding to the three ancient names Lysimachia, Hydrea, and Trichon ; all terms denoting in fact not three lakes, but three divisions of one lake. This piece of water extends upwards of six leagues, from the mountains which, on the east, separate its valley from that of the river Evenus. The breadth varies in different parts, from three leagues to half that space. The stream from the lake flows westward to the Achelous. Halting on the borders of the marshy lake, in order to prepare our arms to engage in the very dangerous region of Zigos, formerly ^Eolia, we entered on a bridge of no common structure, for it consists of an arch for every day in a leap year, (366) and extends in length no less than 1280 yards. The con- struction of this bridge, or arched causey, is ascribed by the Turks to their famous emperor Soliman II. who flourished in VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. G 50 Travels- in JEtotia, #c. the middle of the 16th century. The Greeks, from whom some conjecture more rational might be expected, conceive it to have been the work of the Normans in the llth century. On due consideration of all circumstances, however, relative to this re- markable work, I must believe it to be the production of Roman munificence. Near the bridge still exist fragments of quays or wharfs, for the use of the vessels which, in ancient times, navi- gated this spacious lake, when its banks were furnished with towns and a numerous population. Leaving, for a moment, the course from Vrachori across the mountains of Zigos for Missolonghi on the coast, I return to the ford of Stratos, to notice another road down the plain to the same port. In this route on the east side of the Achelous, tra- velling for an hour and a half, in part through rice-grounds, I came to Kalivia, a hamlet a mile east from the river. Then proceeding two miles S. S. W. I passed by a stone bridge of thirty arches, the w r ater discharged from the lake Trichon, nearly three miles above its conflux with the Achelous. Traversing a forest for half a league, we ascended the hill crowned with the bastioned ramparts of Angelo-Castro, founded by Angelos Com- nenos, on the site of Arsinoe. Of this place the walls, towers, and gates, are still very entire, as is the monastery of the Pantocra- tor, near which is a small Christian village. A mile to the S. E. is Mouriano, another village, of which the inhabitants are em- ployed in the manufacture of plasques, wooden vessels used for carrying wine to the labourers in the field or on a journey. From the heights of Angelo-Castro I could discern the general course of tbe Achelous ; but that view was soon lost in descend- ing to a wood, through which I proceeded for a mile to Doritza. There I first observed the alluvial ground, which, in the lapse of ages, has united the Echinades, once islands, to the continent ; find the mysteries of ancient fable repecting the disappearance of one branch at least of the Achelous, when it approached the sea, began to unfold themselves. If the river lost one of his horns in his contest with Hercules, the hero might accomplish that figurative feat by means of a mound or rampart, which would prevent the stream from discharging a part of its waters on tfhe south-east side into the bay of Anatolico, and compel it to make its way into the sea in a single channel. The five Naiades converted into islands, through the resentment of Diana, were the present five eminences, with white calcareous summits crowned with villages, which, when the Achelous ceased to flow that way, were united to the main-land ; but which still resume their insular appear- ance, when the shallows around and between them are inundated by the land-floods. Let us now return to the road which leads from Vrachori IntJtc Years 18U-J.816. 51 o.ver Mount Zigos to the bay of Anatalico. Rising up from the remarkable bridge over the discharge of the triple lake of Vra- chori we ascended, but with considerable difficulty, a succession of steep rocks to a level space, whence I could see to the south- ward the summits, partly naked partly wooded, of the Actaeus Aracyathus of Virgil. Thence I looked down into a vast am- phitheatre, formerly peopled by mythology with Fauns and Pans, and Egypans, and Tityruses. Thence I viewed the scenes and places sung by Theocritus and Virgil. But what a change! No longer listening to the lyre of Amphion, or to the rustic lay of some harmless Corydon, my guides and my escort, hearing in. imagination the whistle of the robbers, trembled at the gentlest motion of the leaves. Descending by a winding path for a mile we came to the fountain of Sikia (the fig-trees) a place of halt for travellers, and a rendezvous of the plundering bands of the mountains. Pushing forward for several hours, ascending and descending steep hills incumbered with forests of extreme den- sity, we came to Cleisoura, a name to which you are no stranger, denoting the ancient Trachis of ^Etolia ; for both terms express some narrow difficult pass. From the confined nature of the place, the rays of the sun darting directly down upon us, and the absence of all current of air, our progress through this dis- mal strait was most overwhelming. The guides pointed out, en the side of the defile opposite to that on which the path is opened, breast- works of loose stones thrown up by the robbers, since the trees on that side have been cut down, behind which they take their aim at the helpless passenger. An inscription on the face of a rock informs you that, from the upper part of the mountain opposite, a ball, from an Albanian gun, struck that rock, which still retains the mark close to the path ; a proof, al- most inadmissible, of the prodigious distance to which Albanian pieces will carry their charge ; a kind of information by no means calculated to comfort the traveller on his route. Gaining at last, after hard labour in mounting for three quarters of an hour from the horrible abyss below, the summit of Cleisoura, we, at once, came in view of the sea of Corinth, with the isle and town of Anatolico. A delightful refreshing breeze restored us and our poor exhausted horses to our proper condition. From this spot I could discover that Mount Aracynthus stretches from east to west from the valley of the Evenus to within three miles or so of the Achelous below Angelo-Castro, sinking down gradually into the plain. This mountain will not in future, I trust, be trans- ported into Bosotia, as has been done by Servius in his explana- tion of Virgil, and by othev writers much better acquainted with Greece and with geography than he was. On one side of tlie summit we had gained, in a small grotto was a chapel, founded G 2 52 Travels in Mlolia, <$r. by the robbers themselves, and dedicated to the prophet Eiian, who, in Greece, shares with the Virgin in the protection or' mountain summits. Strange as it may appear, yet true it is, that those lawless depredators, who regard murder as only a legiti- mate act of their profession, have priests to celebrate mass for them in similar places, and there give themselves up to various performances of religious duty. On the walls and on the altar of this chapel, formed in a crevice of difficult and dangerous ac- cess, are many gifts, ex voto, often of no small value, presented by men who imagine that they can in this manner compound and compensate for the robberies and assassinations in which, without the least scruple, they professedly indulge. It is a curi- ous fact, not easily explained on his principles, that Aly of Janina, who hunts down and massacres the robbers with the utmost rigour and severity, has constantly respected the votive gifts, the silver lamps, and the other valuable articles deposited in this chapel of Su Elias, as well as the chapel itself, the pecu- liar object of veneration of all the depredators of this country. He undoubtedly participates in their sentiments, and although a Mussulman, shares in the superstitions of these deluded savages, a reproach to the Christian name. From the oratory of Elias, going down the south-side of mount Aracynthus, I observed remains of ancient walls, and was shown parts of a paved road, which led, as I was told, to Kyra- tis-Irinis, the name by which the modern Greeks denote the site of the second Pleuron. On the way Anatolico presented itself like a vessel stranded among the shoals of the bay ; and, tra- versing the plain for some miles, we arrived at the peratia or ferry, established between the continent and the island on which the town is situated. I was ferried over to Anatolico in a mo- noxylon or canoe, hallowed out of the trunk of a large tree ; though sometimes they are rudely formed of planks ; a kind of boat of the greatest antiquity, and met with among all tribes, however rude or uncultivated, who resort to the ocean for sub- sistence, for business, or for pleasure. I landed near a small square, which the people had begun to ornament by planting some plane-trees. The population amounted to three hundred and fifty familes, of which about forty are Mahometan ; and to my surprise I learned that the air of Anatolico is particularly unwhole- some. Halting in the town only during dinner, I returned to the land and pursued my journey eastwards, having the salt-lakes on my right hand, and thick olive-woods on the left. In several places were banks of salt exuding through the ground. The salt-lakes are parted off by inclosures of reed, by which the fish are prevented from escaping out to sea. Wild swans, pelicans, cormorants, and many other aquatic fowls, are seen in multitudes In the Years 1SU 1816. 53 bn the water, steering westward as in pursuit of the sun, whose last rays gilded the lofty summits of Ithaka, once mistress of all these shores and isles. Proceeding for seven miles from Anato- lico along the shore eastward, the guides pointed out to me, on the side of mount Aracynthus, the walls of the second Pleuron. In a short time we arrived at the causey which communicates with Missolonghi, surnamed by the Greeks Little Venice, for no other reason than that the two towns are both situated on shal- lows in the midst of waters : but, in as much -as the venerable mistress of the Adriatic attracts the admiration of the world, her presumptive rival can excite only disgust. Built on alluvial ground, lower than the surface of the sea, but covered from its assaults by later accumulations of sand and mud, Missolonghi, originally a cluster of fishers' huts, made by the industry and economy of the inhabitants such progress that, in 1804, they possesed 20 merchant-ships of burthen, and 40 coasting-barks, with which a very active trade was conducted up the gulf of Venice, and along the Levant. But in that year falling under the powers of Aly of Janina, along with the continent of /Etolia, his taxation and impositions, vexatious and exorbitant, speedily ruined the commercial adventurers; so that 12 years only of Aly's oppression have now reduced the shipping of Misso- longhi to one polacre or brig, and 18 barks of 20 tons on an average. The second Pleuron (for the original Pleuron is situated to- wards the river Evenus) has been inclosed by a double fortifica- tion, composed of ancient Greek and Roman works, with repa- rations of later times. From the position of this town I liad a very extensive prospect over the whole country around, the marshes and lakes, and the banks which have now removed the sea to a great distance, and which are daily augmenting in ex- tent. Travelling south-eastward along the roots of the moun- tains, over a beautiful tract of fruitful cultivation, we came to the bank of the Evenus, now called the Phidaris. Ascending for a mile up the right bank, to arrive at a convenient passage across, antique ruins were pointed out to me as those of the cele- brated Calydon ; but in reality, as I believe, those of the original Pleuron. We crossed the Evenus at a ford which took our horses up to the girth ; and in winter travellers are obliged to go much higher up, to be able to traverse the stream, which descends, in that season, with great force from the high mountains among which it rises. Before it enters the sea this river forms a delta two miles and a half in length from north to east, and one mile in breadth at the base on the sea. In this delta I am inclined, from the traditions still preserved in the country, to place Chalcis, described by Homer as situated on the sea-shore. That this 54 Travels in /Etolia, Sfc. was true, 3000 years ago, is most probable; but the whole coast comprehending the mouths of the Achelous and the Evenus has, since that epoch, been greatly raised and extended into the sea. As soon as I had traversed the Evenus I entered the eastern portion of /Etolia, known by the ancients by the epithet Epic- tetus, as having been acquired by conquest, but among the mo- dern Greeks and Turks under the name Venetico. For this small canton was gained from the Venetians ; and it is the cus- tom of the Turks to give to a country the name of the state from which it has been conquered. Having forded the Evenus, then just of a practicable depth, it was with no small difficulty that we made our way through dense thickets of rose-bay, and other shrubs, which lined the stream to the water's edge. Turning up the river northwards, along the base of Mount Chalcis, we were engaged in a path so narrow that we were obliged to dis- mount, Test we should, man and horse, be pushed by the pro- jecting rocks over the precipitous bank down to the river. After half an hour's progress in this alarming and painful situation, clearing the mountain and proceeding eastward for a league, we arrived at a fountain delightfully shaded by planes, which seemed to correspond with the Callirhoe of former times, or the beau- tiful and bountiful spring. This, like many other fountains, is necessarily the resort of the robber as of the inoffensive traveller; and during our halt the guides seemed to strive the one with the other, to relate the most dismal stories of plunder and assassina- tion ; in proof of the latter, pointing to a number of funerary mounds scattered over the valley around us. So deeply, and in- deed so naturally, did this subject occupy my people, that it cost me some efforts to turn their attention to a different subject ; but at last they pointed out, on the side of Mount Varassova, the position of Calydon, renowned for its wild-boars, and the adventure of Meleager and Atalanta. From a herdsman I pur- chased some coins found among the ruins, having on the front t&e head of Atalanta covered with the pileus, and on the reverse the word AiTOAftN, with a boar running, and the letters KA de- noting Calydon. I had now before me that antique place ; but what discoveries could be made in a town overthrown before Strabo's time, 2000 years ago ? I afterwards found, however, that some fragments still remain of the walls of a citadel, com- posed of vast blocks of stone, such as those at Mycenae, together with others of an ancient but later construction. Apprehensive that we might fall in with some of the free-booters who had been seen in the mountains above us, for Aly had not yet been able to clear this remote corner of his new dominions, we made all speed tp gain the coast, and halted to refresh our horses and secure In the Years 18141816. 55 our packages, at the beginning of the noted Caki-Scala, or stair of difficulty and danger. On the shore we observed a tower raised on very ancient foundations, belonging probably to Elasus; and from a height I could perceive across the gulf the city and castle of Patras, with the shipping in the road. At the base of the mountain we were to traverse by the Caki-Scala, burst out the boiling springs of water, very strongly impregnated with sulphur, which, from their extreme fetidity, are said to have attached the name Ozolse to the Locrians of the adjoining country. These waters are named Vroma Nera (stinking waters) and very properly, by the people of Patras, who resort to them for various distempers. The fishers and seamen who have occa- sion to pass near the springs at certain times, are, it is said, in danger of suffocation, from their vapours brought off by the wind. The mountain from which they issue was, in ancient times, called Taphios, from the Greek term for a tomb or sepul- chre, because under its surface were buried the Centaurs ; and from the decay of their bodies proceeded the offensive quality of the springs. Thus did antiquity in Greece avail itself of multi- plied natural facts, to support the fables of mythology, applied to the purposes of religion and government. The sun poured down his scorching rays when we began the ascent of the perilous pass of Caki-Scala, carried up in zigzags round the south-end of Mount Taphios, now Clocovo, nearly perpendicularly over the sea. A range of stones erected along the outer edge of the path, formed all our parapet or balustrade ; but as they had fallen down the precipice in various places, it was not without terror that I ventured to turn my eyes towards the sea at a prodigious depth below us. Attaining at last the highest point of the path (for it is in fact but a path) estimated to be elevated 2000 feet perpendicularly above the water, we found to our sorrow the passage blocked up by stones continually rolling down from the steep acclivities over our heads. Here we alighted, and cleared the tract so far as to render it passable for our horses ; nor did we again attempt to ride until we arrived at the bottom of the pass, after three quarters of an hour's fatigue in descend- ing, or rather in sliding down on the loose stones rolling under our feet. We had not advanced far in the plain, at the foot of Mount Clocovo, when we passed the remains of a considerable village, burnt a little time before by the robbers from Mount Corax on our left hand, which stretches on to the Pindan range. In the course of two leagues from Caki-Scala to the castle of Le- panto we saw but one hamlet ; the people of the country having deserted their habitations, which were plundered and destroyed by the mountain-freebooters, and sought protection within the 56 Travels in JZiolia, tyc. castle ; and there we learnt the full extent of the danger we h&\ so fortunately escaped. The ancient writers mention a port in this quarter called Molycria, which must certainly have been the small buy on the west side of the projecting head-land, which is now covered by the castle of Lepanto, at the narrow channel of the gulf of Co- rinth. In no other part of that high shore can any landing be effected. The point where the eastle stands was formerly named Antirhium, being situated opposite to Rhium, a promontory ad- vancing into the gulf from the coast of Peloponesus. The castle on the cape Antirhium is now called that of Lepanto or of Ru- meli, while that on the opposite cape is called the castle of the Morea. The strait between these two headlands is in breadth only 500 English fathoms ; and a cross lire, properly managed from the batteries on each side, might effectually shut up the inner gulf of Corinth. Circumstanced, however, as the castle of Lepanto appeared to be in my time, no such effect could be expected. It consists of a long square with bastions, divided into two inclosures, covered on the land-side by a dry ditch. The works towards the sea are furnished with 30 pieces of cannon, lying on the ramparts without carriages, and conse- quently incapable of motion or direction. The outer court of the castle was crowded with ruined buildings, and temporary huts, fitted up to cover the miserable peasantry of the neigh- bourhood, who, as I said before, had fled from the ravages of the mountaineers. In the inner division were the troops in gar- rison, composed of some Turks, established in the place with their families, and 15 Albanians, commanded by a disdar or officer of rank, blind of an eye ; all the very emblems of poverty and wretchedness. The artillery was under the charge of another officer, honoured, as if in derision, with the title of topgi-bachi, general of artillery : but when I considered that his pay and al- lowances amounted in value to only two-pence hall-penny per diem, his miserable appearance no longer surprised me. He in-? formed me, likewise, that his whole corps of gunners was cen- tered in his own single person, to whom was intrusted the defence of the two' castles on the opposite sides of the strait. On asking how he would manage to be in two places at once, in the event of being called on for service, he burst out in a fit of laughter, and continued to lead me round the works. But you, my dear brother, are no stranger to Turkish castles, garrisons, and discipline. An hour's journey, or rather four miles, eastward from the castle, is the town of Lepanto, a name corrupted from Naupac- tus, and now degraded into Enebatche ; once a place of mari- In the Years 18141816. 57 time importance, having received its original name, as we learn from Strabo, from ship-building, there carried on to great ex- tent, a purpose for which its sheltered position, inclosing a small harbour, in the vicinity of forests, was specially adapted. The harbour is now nearly tilled up, and the town and district at- tached to it are, like other territories under Aly Pasha, in a course of rapid decay and ruin. Lepanto no longer possesses any one of the edifices seen by Pausanias in the second century of our era. The celebrated temple of Neptune has vanished from the shore, as have the fanes of Diana and the divine phy- sician /Esculapius, son of Apollo. But under the steep rocks on the beach will still be found the grotto of Venus, in which widows (who either had been, or hoped yet to be fortunate in matrimony) deposited their offerings to the divinity of the place. To the same grotto do the young Locrian Christian damsels at the present day repair, to consult the Mires (Moirai or the Fates, daughters of J upiter and Themis or of destiny) as of old ; bring- ing presents of a small wheaten cake, a cup of honey, and a few grains of incense : all with the view of propitiating those be- neficent beings, to grant to them husbands before the year be out. But we of western Europe are not entitled to condemn, nor even to smile at the preservation of such ancient practices, Do we not, on many occasions, practice ceremonies and retain usages derived from those of rude antiquity, fully as absurd, although far less elegant and fascinating, as this of the modern Greeks ? Lepanto being situated on the steep descent of a hill, the buildings are arranged as on terraces parallel to the beach. A few unmounted guns, lying on the ramparts next the sea ; a commander of artillery for form's sake, as at the castle ; a hand- ful of lawless disorderly Janissaries : these are the means pro- vided for the defence of the modern Naupactus : once con- sidered as the Algiers of Greece, for the crews of desperadoes, who there fitted out their piratical expeditions against all who navigated the internal seas of Europe, Lepanto now neither see nor can receive but a few small coasting barks. To gratify the cupidity and the poverty of the commandant of the castle of Lepanto was, I knew, to be impossible : assum- ing, therefore, the tone becoming my station in the country, and threatening to report to his master Aly his attempts to extort money from me, he was compelled to order a boat to be got instantly ready for my passage over the strait ; and, in less than 10 minutes, I was safely landed in the Morea, and hastened on again to embrace you in Patras, VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. H Truvcts in the Morea, fyc. CHAPTER VII. author's own tour from Patras to Athens. Rhiurn or castle of the Morea.Mgium or Vostitza. Sicyon. Corinth. Its gulf or bay. THAT long and narrow tract of country in the north of Peloponesus now the Morea, which extended from the Isthmus of Corinth westward, to the promontory of Araxus, now Cape Papa, facing Cephalonia, along the southern coast of the gulf of Corinth, was from this last circumstance termed yEgialsea. But it is best known by its subsequent name Achaia. Within its limits were contained twelve flourishing cities, of which Aroe afterwards Patrse, and now Patras, alone subsists. Although superseded by the later name Patrse, yet even under the Roman empire the original name Aroe appears on coins. Having suf- fered severely by the troubles of Greece, Patrse was restored by Augustus, after the defeat of Antony, and garrisoned by a body of veteran troops, as a protection for commerce, and for his fleet stationed irt the port. In Patras, the apostle St. Andrew early promulgated the Christian religion, and there he suffered mar- tyrdom in its cause. Still in the second century, when Pausanias visited the town, no place in Greece possessed more temples for the service of Paganism, particularly for the worhsip of Diana, than Patras. But of all those edifices and the images they are said to have contained, even the sites cannot now be ascertained. Within the citadel, accidently destroyed some time ago by the explosion of a powder-magazine, are to be seen remains of the massive walls of the original acropolis, and also fragments of columns, capitals, friezes, &c. of excellent workmanship. Going out of the citadel by the east-gate you arrive at a noble plane- tree, under which is a plentiful fountain supplied by the re- mains of an ancient aqueduct. To this spot, attracted by its- cool refreshing shade, repair the principal Turks of the city, where indulging their characteristic and invincible indolence, they visit with the eye only, the rich and beautiful scenery before them, adorned and enriched with vineyards and orange and lemon-groves. Half a mile without the town are seen the aque- ducts, of Roman construction, consisting of a double range of arcades, of which the upper has long been useless ; nor would the lower range be now of service, had it been practicable to obtain water for the town in any way requiring less charge and less exertion. On the north-side of the citadel in the vineyards are found many foundations of buildings, which show the old In the. Years IS It 1816. 50 city to have spread out in that quarter parallel to the sea-shore. Thence turning for a mile along the coast to the southward, you find the custom-house and a ruined pier, now nt only to shelter boats. There also are tae buildings employed in curing and packing sardinas, a species of pilchard, in great request all round the coasts of the Mediterranean. There likewise are the serails as they are called, or the store-houses for receiving and preparing for sale and exportation the small grapes (irca passa), known in the west or' Europe as raisins of Corinth (-.currants), because produced about that city. The quantity of currants produced in the district of Patras amounted in value on the spot, in 1814, to 35,000. Facing the pier out westward, is tlie road where ships lie at anchor on good holding ground, but exposed to the violent gales from the south-west. Proceeding still along the shore southward you come to the entrance of the old port, pointed out by the remains of two parallel piers, of which the foundations are now scarcely covered by the water. At the end of each pier may be seen the base of a tower, 1.30 feet in diameter, intended no doubt to defend the entrance. Be- tween these piers ships passed to and from the proper port, probably in great part excavated by manual labour, in length backwards from the beach about a mile, by above half a mile in breadth. This basin subsisted in a serviceable condition for galleys and other Mediterranean shipping, which require but little water, down to the time of the Venetian possession of the Morea; but now it is entirely filled up. From the stagnated and corrupted waters collected in this place after rains, proceed the fevers and agues which formerly did, and occasionally still do, render the abode of Patras very injurious to strangers. On the south-west side of this old port, are shown the ruins of the church erected in honour of St. Andrew, a sumptuous monu- ment of the pious magnificence of the Greek emperors of Con- stantinople, on the supposed site of the celebrated temple of Diana. The religious intolerance of the Turks overthrew that church,. and the Greeks, the natives, and the primitive .pro- prietors of the country, are barely suffered to assemble tor wor- ship in a small chapel defended, if so it may be said, from the weather by a roof of broken tiles, resting on ranges of reeds. If ever Greece be restored to independence, or even placed under an enlightened government, few places will furnish a more inviting scene than Patras and its environs, for the researches o-f the antiquary, the historian, and the artist. According to .the French astronomer Beauchainp, the latitude of the French consular residence in Patras, is north 38 degrees, 12 minutes, 41 seconds; a situation farther north than that of Athens and although Patras have the sea on the north aod west. 60 Travels in the Morea., Sfc. while Athens is removed from the sea which lies on its south side ; still the climate of Patras is incomparably hotter in sum- mer and milder in winter than that of Athens. The town now collected on the east and south of the acropolis, half a mile from the shore, and therefore inconveniently placed for embarkation of goods, is notwithstanding by much the most important and the most frequented trading station in the Morea. The trade in dried raisins and currants draws to the town many vessels from the north of Europe, and the price is paid in hard cash, sometimes before the cargo be received, to enable the Greeks properly to collect and store their vintage. The population is estimated at twelve thousand Greeks, four thousand Turks, and only seventeen Jewish families ; the feeble wrecks of the Hebrew colonies established in Achaia, in the days of the successors of Alexander the Great. It is known besides that, two hundred and fifty years later, St. Paul found numerous bodies of He- brews settled in Peloponesus, and other parts of Greece. The extinction of the Jews in Patras is chiefly ascribed to the brutal treatment they received from the Turks, during the dreadful pestilence of 1756, when they were forced into a walled inclo- sure, and there they perished by contagion and famine ; war in such a condition would have been welcomed as a mercy. The autumnal equinox had passed over without noticeable violence : the cool and moist nights had restored verdure to the russet fields when, in October, 1815, I quitted Patraa on a journey to Athens. My project was to examine the northern coast of the Peloponesus, to halt in Corinth, and thence to embark on the Saronic gulf, at Kenchraea, in order to pass through the strait of Salamis to the port of the Piraeus. Two miles north-east from Patras, I passed the villages Sicheri-Apa- flo and Cato, (upper and lower Sicheri,) occupied by Greeks employed in the vineyards near the sea, which produce excellent currants. Soon afterwards we saw to the left Agia, a creek into which coasting barks run for shelter, when driven by the south- west winds from their place off Patras. Travelling eastward until we arrived opposite to Cape Rhium, I observed the dis- tance given by Pausanias from Patras to that place, fifty stades -or six miles and a quarter, to answer very accurately to the ground I had passed over. Cape Rhium is now commonly called Cape Castilli, from the fortress on it opposite to that on the north shore of the strait, visited by my brother, as in the preceding chapter. They have also been termed the Dardanelles, and might, much more effectually than the proper Dardanelles, or the castles of Sestos and Abydos, at the en- trance of the Hellespont, defend the passage into the gulf of orinth ? if that portion of the sea now deserved defence, aa in In the Years 18141816. 61 the days when it was the receptacle of the commercial inter- course between Greece and Rome. Wretched as is the condi- tion of these two fortresses, they continue to be placed under the special charge of the capitan-pasha or the lord high-admiral of the Turkish empire ; and no ship of war of any foreign power is permitted to pass them. Merchant-ships may run up the gulf, on exhibiting a pass signed by the consuls of their respective nations resident in Patras. A few fragments of columns, and a few slabs of marble inserted in the walls of the fortress, are the only remains now to be seen of the renowned temple of Nep- tune, the protector of these tracts. The fortress garrisoned by a Earty of Timariotes, or pensioned veterans, is surrounded on the md-side by vineyards, with groves and groupes of trees inter- mixed, offering a grateful relief to the eye fatigued by wander- ing over a barren solitary stretch of coast. The labour of this part of the country falls wholly to the share of the females ; and we met several parties of them returning, like the daughters of Israel in the early ages of the world, to their villages on the mountain-sides, with their vessels of water and packets of wood for the use of their families. At a barrow near the castle of the Morea the coast trends southwards for two miles, to the bay or recess called formerly port Panormus, from its capaciousness and security, but now Teket from a convent of howling der- vishes. The anchorage is now resorted to by coasting-vessels only, when surprised by the gales of wind which often prevail in the gulf ; and in the bottom discharges itself the small stream of Velvetzi, descending from the mountains : probably for that reason the same with the Charadrus (the torrent) of antiquity. The barrow above mentioned is, by the country people, said .to have been thrown up by the Christians, after the important naval battle of Lepanto: but this is probably only an applica- tion to a comparatively modern memorable event, of a monu- ment of perhaps the most ancient date. During my residence .of eighteen months in Patras, many opportunities presented themselves of procuring traditionary or written notices, and of making topographical observations, tending to ascertain the .field of the battle of Lepanto, if one may so speak, in which .the Ottoman naval power received a mortal blow, and in which the fate of Christendom was probably decided. The general opinion has been, that the action took place a good way within the outer division of the Corinthian gulf, off Patras; but I satis- fied myself, that the encounter began in the offing of Cape Papa, quite at the entrance of the gulf. The Ottoman fleet was .driven off the coast by the easterly winds, whilst the Christians jver* drawn up for action near the Oxian or Kurzolara islands 62 Travels in the Morea, Sfc, in front of the mouth of the Aspropotamos. Manoeuvring, as was the .practice in those days, (ior the action took place in 1571,) with oar and sail, the two fleets engaged with ail tiie ar- dour which personal animosity and vengeance, exalted by the point of honour and religious enthusiasm could possibly iruspire. The contest was besides conducted within view of the friends of both parties most deeply interested in its result. The Turks, however, had one material advantage over their antagonists in this, that they could put in oa the north coast, to laud their wounded and receive fresh supplies of men : thus like Antaeus of old, invigorated by touching the land, they returned with redoubled spirit and means to the combat. Courage guided by experience and prudence, and acting cm discipline, was how- ever on the side of the Christians ; and the Mahometans were foiled. The shoals of the Aspropotamos and the Phidaris, and the coasts of the Morea, were covered with the wrecks of the Ottoman lleet. But complete as was the merit of the victory, it was peculiarly gratifying to the victors to be the instruments of deliverance of a multitude of their fcllow-cnristians and fellow-subjects, forced on-board and chained to the benches and oars of the Turkish ships. Among the Christian slaves was Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra, afterwards the renowned author of Don Quixote. But to our journey. Travelling eastward our route lay along the base of the great range of Panachaicos, which, as the name imports, spreads over the whole length of Achaia. This portion of it was called Voda by the Sclavonians, when they inhabited this quarter, on account of the abundance of springs and streams which it sends down towards Patras. We then crossed over a branch w r hich, lowering down gradually, as it projects into the sea, terminates in Cape Drepanum ; a term signifying a scythe, suggested by the long narrow bending form of the promontory ; and found similarly employed in various countries, where the Greeks of old established themselves. In Sicily, for instance, two exam- ples of this appellation are found, in Messina, at the north-east, and in Trapani, a corruption of Drepanum or Drepanon, at the -west corner of the island. The road keeps across a succession of .collateral spurs of the mountains, of which the particular Ramies are perpetually changing, according to the real or fancied properties observed by the country people. Several torrents and springs water the vallies, and the gulf is always within sight jon the left hand. Near Zyria, a Greek village, is a cletile where were encamped a party of Christian Albanians, who very modestly required payment of a toll, and offered to escort us through a small wood before us, a frequent ambush of robbers. These Albanians had, erected a rustic altar at their poat, in In the Years- 1814-1816. 63 honour of the archangel Michael, prince of the celestial host., the peculiar patron of their warlike tribes. Thus it is curious to find still existing in Greece the practice of erecting altars to beneficent superior beings, as was done in the earliest ages of society. Abraham erected altars and offered sacrifices on the Spots where he had been favoured with visions. Jacob did the same at Bethel and at Gilead, where he ratified his contract with Laban. The Greeks, and even the Romans, practised it also with respect to their heroes. Proceeding for a mile, the road led to another defile at Tyresia, having passed a church formed out of a building of ancient Greek structure, probably a temple of Minerva, which stood in that part of the coast. Then as- cending the slope of a point of land we came on an elevation over the sea, from which we had a complete view of the gulf of Corinth and of both shores. Mount Parnassus, on the north- side, with its double summit covered with snow, formed a con- spicuous object, by the different colours produced by the reflec- tion of the sun's rays ; such as have often delighted the stranger who, from the ramparts of Geneva, contemplates the effects of the setting-sun on the unsullied brilliancy of Mount Blanc. On the east the horizon was bounded by Mounts Helicon and Ci- thaeron ;, the coast on which I was placed was confined in the distance by the calcareous mountains of Sicyon, uniting with the lofty range of Mount Crathis in the interior of the country. The gulf gently agitated by a breeze from the eastward, wafted before it a multitude of barks, which had some days before been forced up the strait of Lepanto, and were returning to their desired haven. With this most interesting spectacle before us we arrived at the khan of Ambelia to dinner. The post-road which I had followed from Cape Rhium, is really nothing but a path, traced out along the sides of the mountains, and carried in many places from seventy to eighty feet perpendicular over the sea. The slopes seldom leave any level ground on the shore, and we were of course frequently obliged to proceed within the water's edge or on the sands in some places left by the tide. Close on the north of the khan is situated the ancient port Erineus, so called from the wild fig-trees which grew abundantly on the shore, as they do at this day, and serve to point out the place, still frequented by coasting-vessels, to take on-board currants and corn. That part of the great Panachaic range, here called Mount Loubistas, in form resembling that of the Aeroceraunians of Chimara,* and like them exposed to attacks of lightning, is correctly des- cribed by Thucydides, when he says it bends inwardly from the * See Monthly Magazine, vol. iv. part iv. p. 912. 64 Travels in the Morea^ fyc. coast, and again returns to it in the shape of a half-moon. The inclosed space is well cultivated, but in parts many bricks and tiles found on the surface seem to point out the site of Rhypae, of which Erineus was the port. Crossing the Tholo-Potamos or the Phoenix, on a stone bridge, a mile farther on, we came to the Salminico, a river which winds remarkably among the moun- tains, and is the receptacle of many a torrent. Notwithstanding the similarity of name, this is not the Selimnus which Pausa- nias places very near Cape Rhium. These and other streams on our route were almost dry when I passed their channels ; but in the rainy seasons they descend from the mountains in such bulk and with such violence, that it is very dangerous to cross without an experienced guide. Two miles beyond the Salmi- nico, we came opposite to the monastery of St. Michael, situated five miles up the country, in which are eighty monks under an archimandrite, that is, a superior who rules over a number of monasteries : they possess considerable property in lands in different quarters of the country. In the neighbourhood, are the ruins of a convent of Nuns, destroyed by the Mahometan Alba- nians in 1770, and the unfortunate inmates murdered or sold for slaves. Soon afterwards we travelled below the face of a hill, which appears as if it had been sawn down perpendicularly from the summit to the base. To explain this singular fact, I was told, that long ago, during an earthquake, the waters of the gulf rose so high as to cover all the adjoining hills, and that when they subsided the face of this hill was observed, such as it is now seen. In the space of less than a mile, I counted upwards of one hundred and twenty springs and rills of water, making their way from the sandy base of this curious precipice ; in a cavity of which some monks have inserted a monastery, having its exterior wall attached to the rock like a swallow's nest. The natural roof is supported by pillars, but so frequent are earthquakes in this district, that sooner or later the good fathers will find their dwelling become their tomb. A short way along the shore we came to a custom-house, near which, among some trees, are ancient ruins; and scrambling up a steep path, we arrived in Vostitza, which has taken the place of the antique JEgmm. This was one of the most ancient cities of Greece, and the place where the states or national assembly of Achaia used to assemble; an institution of great importance, but which ceased when the liberties of Greece were extinguished under Roman dominion. The city itself covered the low ground where the custom-house and store-houses are now situated, near the shore. There many fragments of architecture are frequently found in turning up the ground ; but no excavations or other regular In the. Years 1814-1810. 6J researches on the spot, although abounding in vestiges of inter- esting edifices, have ever been carried on. One object men- tioned by the ancients still, however, maintains its ground, a fountain said to have been situated near the temple of health. The water now issues from fourteen pipes inserted in a body of antique masonry. Opposite to it stands the plane-tree, the object of the admiration of all who behold it. Although injured nearly eighty years ago by a water-spout, which, according to the learned Dr. Chandler, in his travels in Greece, &c. " drew up the waters of the sea to about twice the height of the tree," it is still remarkable for the size of the trunk and the extent of the shade. That gentleman must, however, have been misled by the hyperbolic language of the Greeks ; for, had the water attained such a height, it would have ruined Vostitza, which was not the case, since its injuries were solely occasioned by the earthquake which accompanied the water-spout ; and the venerable tree suffered from the lightning. So frequent are water-spouts and earthquakes on this part of the coast, that one would imagine it to be placed over the vent of some powerful volcano, preparing in due time to explode and produce some great change in the face of nature. In Vostitza, the memory of the last formidable commotion of the earth was well preserved; but the inhabitants were far from apprehending themselves to be almost on the eve of another catastrophe far more destructive than the preceding. But how, to say the truth, could they prognosticate the disaster ? how foresee the instant when the solid earth is to be shaken, to open and swallow up the inhabitants ? The moderns as well as the ancients have indeed specified certain phenomena in nature, by which earthquakes have been preceded or accom- panied ; but these phenomena have attracted attention after, and not before the catastrophe. They have therefore, I apprehend, been in no instance useful in warning persons to escape from the coming evil. My protracted residence in and around Janina, a country acknowledgedly subject to commotions of the earth, gave me opportunities to observe the manner in which they usually ap- pear : yet the indications were by no means either so constant or so decided as to be of much, if of any service, in notifying the approaching visitation. I have, however, noticed, that earth- quakes in Epirus, either followed plentiful rains, or coincided with long-continued drought. The same remark was made by Aristotle of old; but he does not account for the appearance of the same phenomenon, consequent on directly opposite causes. The vicinity of the sea has been supposed, to be the most liable to earthquakes ; but I have good reason to believe that the in- ternal parts of countries are also subject to the same disasters. VOYAGES find TRAVELS, Vol. VII. I 66 Travels in the Mortal. perceive where the ancient harbour had been situated ; but it is no longer used : and behind it were traces of the Palaestra, or place lor wrestling and the other manly exercises, the amphi- theatre for combats of animals, the market-place, &c. If the scene on land was desert, that on the sea was not more animated : not a single bark on the shore, nor was the opposite coast of Salamis more active : nothing was to be heard but the regular dashing of the waves on the rocks and cliffs by which the strait is bounded. To judge by the extent of the ruins of Eleusis it must have held 12,000 people; and to afford them sufficient water, considerable remains of an aqueduct may be seen, which communicated with springs towards Mount Cithasron. Continuing our route from Eleusis, we traversed the southern extremity of Mount Keratas. Below us lay the town and port of Condura, where we had put in on our voyage to the Piraeus. Descending into a plain we came to the foundations of a temple, certainly very ancient. Researches had been lately carried on there ; but I could not learn from the people whether any dis- coveries had been made in the place ; nor do I blame this reserve, for they often suffer from European amateurs. As we advanced, the plain of Megara began to open itself on to the low hills which cover the harbour of Psato. The double summit of Mount Keratas bore to the northward; and I could discover in the same direction Mount Tripodis, in which is the diaselos or defile on the road from Megara to Thebes. Pushing forward, as the sun was now set, we arrived in Megara, in the heighth of its mirth and jollity. Parties danced on the flat roofs of the houses, and the streets were crowded with people, several in masks, who accompanied us, with injurious language, to our lodging in the house of a friend of my interpreter. Megara has preserved its antique name, and that is all. The walls, of Cyclopian con- struction, had caught my eye from the sea, and now I saw that they inclosed the summit of the highest eminence on the north- west of the town. The architect being no less a personage than Apollo himself, equally skilled in managing the square and the plummet as in pinching the lyre, we need not be surprised that his workmanship should still exist. In a lower position are found vestiges of the walls of the second town built by the Greeks, and of the long walls of communication with the har- bour of Nysaea. The present Megara contains 335 families, Greek and Albanian, all Christians, under a bishop, a suffragan of the metropolitan of Athens. As the inhabitants of Megara form a part,of the population of the Dervena-Choria, or villages of the passage through the mountains of the isthmus of Corinth, they are all regimented and entitled to carry arms at all times, to serve as guards in the several posts of the passage. They are 96 Trove It in Attica, &>c. also favoured in their poll-tax, and in the sums they pay to the superior of their lands. Hence they have an air of ease and con- tentment far from common among the Christians in Greece. Their houses are well built, clean, and neat ; their garments of cotton comfortable ; and the chiton of woollen cloth, which is worn in the winter, that is, a loose coat without sleeves, reminds the stranger of the garb worn in Attica in ancient times. For coolness and fresh air we supped on the roof or terrace of the house, looking round on the enlivening prospect of the whole population of Megara, making the air resound with their songs. The houses, rising behind one another on the face of a hill, were illuminated in honour of the panegyris, (as mentioned in the second chapter of this work) displaying the several com- panies engaged in the dance or joyous around the tables. The table of our landlord was certainly not the least numerously filled ; for he had at supper no fewer than seventeen sons, all seated by his side. The eldest was entering his twenty-second year, and the youngest sat on the knee of his mother, then preg- nant for the eighteenth time. The father of this extraordinary family, still apparently in the flower of his age, while he thanked heaven that had blessed him with such a wife and such children, informed me, that all the families of the Dervena-Choria were so numerous, that, on the first alarm of robbers, or other danger, given from the military post at the pass of the moun- tains, each house could furnish four men completely armed. When supper was over, we continued our journey for Corinth by a bright moon, and having proceeded half-a-league, we found a number of women already busy in washing, although day- light was still distant, at a plentiful fountain noted in ancient times. By the fountain were a large number of stone troughs, belonging to different families in Megara. The day after a marri- age the young wife is conducted, with a band of music and a company of female friends, to this fountain, and there put in possession of the new trough provided for her by the husband. By this act she is installed in her duties as mistress and manager or the family, in which her chief charge is to wash, bleach, and dry the linen of the household. The moon had now set, and the atmosphere became very ob- scure; yet, we still continued our course ; and, by the piercing cold which I felt I was assured that we had quitted the plain, and were ascending the range of mountains which defend the north-end of the isthmus. About six in the morning the light was sufficient to shew me that we were travelling on an excellent broad road, laid out in the direction of the great pass through the mountains. This road was first laid out in the year 1715, by In the Years 1SH 18 1C. 97 the seraskier or commander in chief of the Turkish army, at. the time when the Venetians were finally compelled to retire from the Morca. At seven o'clock the sun rose, opening up a most magnificent prospect over the gulf of .'Egina and the coasts on both sides. I had likewise a peep over to the gulf of Corinth on the west-side of the isthmus, and of Mount Par- nassus. There as we advanced up the mountains, I found that they were as completely detached from those of Attica on the north, as they are from those of Peloponesus on the south. Were it ever to be necessary to establish a regular line of defence on the isthmus, this natural barrier might be rendered impene- trable. In our ascent we lost all view around us, by pushing up the bed of torrents that flow north-westward ; and we came to an height covered with pine, where we were astounded by the horrible bowlings uttered by the guards of the pass. A number of men, black with smoke, had come out of a hovel to raise the shout of alarm, which was returned in a similar manner by the surrounding posts, and in an instant all the parties were under arms. These yells are the ordinary manner of announcing the appearance of travellers, companies, or caravans ofi the roads up the mountains. The appearance of pirates or cruisers on the gulf is announced by particular signals by fire-arms. Mounting to the military station of Candili we alighted at the caravanserail frequented by merchants and travellers. By a singularity of the police of the isthmus, no passport is required to enter the Morea by land, but one is necessary to go out of it : we had, therefore, no delay from examination of papers or other formalities. Our interpreter having made the customary presents to the commander of the post, we were authorised to continue our route, which led up a hollow completely commanded by small parties of guards hutted in the pine- woods on each side of the road. Ascending for a short space we came to the descent called by a name common in Greece, Caki-Skala, although this part of the road .is by no means bad; and below entered a course of excellent road, on the face of mount Plagi towards the Saronic gulf. From some hunters I learned that a lake existed on the side of the mountain, and that the forests abounded in deer, roe, and wild-boar. About the rocks above us many eagles and hawks were hovering; and many wood-pigeons were observed on^the wing, apparently in very dangerous company. Incredible damage has been done to the forests by the peasants setting fire to them, merely for destruction's sake. Oni our left, we looked down on a desert tract crossed by the torrent of the Massacre r a name bestowed on it in consequence of the extermination on its banks of a body of revolted Albanians in 1779. Ascending and descending amidst woods for some time, we cjtriie to the VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. ''N 98 Travels in Morea, &?c. post of Migiais (the flies) a level spot possessing a plentiful fountain and three reservoirs, formed by the Turks. Having now passed over the highest point of the route, I enquired re- peatedly for the place from which I had been promised one of the most extended and magnificent prospects Greece could furnish. But my guides were silent and grave ; and I had just concluded that they had deceived me, when, being now on the southern slope of the mountains, and gaining the summit of a small hill, in an instant broke in upon me a view surpassing in every respect any I had ever beheld or indeed could possibly imagine. Gulfs of the sea spreading out on both sides to a vast extent ; the low land of the isthmus under me ; Corinth and its plains in front; the mountains of Arcadia in the Morea, backed by mount Taygetus in the distant horizon. The commanding points of view discovered by traversing mount Pindus ; the pros- pect from Olympus itself; the wild beauties of Tempe ; the dis- play of the delightful basin of Janina; the command of country from the rocks of Delphi ; these all diminish into episodes when compared with the sublime and overwhelming prospect from the mountains of the isthmus of Corinth. Scarcely, however, do you make a step in the descent when the magic scene is lost for ever; and the eye is confined to the narrow bounds of a tor- rent-ravine, devoid of water. Following its course for five miles, until it turn off to the sea of Corinth, we traversed the low plain to the foundations of the wall and entrenchment of Examili, constructed for the defence of the isthmus ; and after a course of twelve hours on horseback from Megara, again found ourselves safe and sound in Corinth. CHAPTER X. Tour from Corinth to Patras by Argos Epidaurus Tree- %en Mycenae, Argos Nemea Stymphalus Trikrene Pheneon Convent of St. George Calavryta Source of river Styx Monastery of Mega Spileon. THE modern territory of Corinth comprehends, besides Sicyonia and the isthmus, the ancient districts of Epidaurus and Troezen, terminating at Cape Skyli, formerly SkyllcEum. Embarking at Cenchreae, if you run to the south-east for four leagues, and then go up the country half-a-league, you arrive at Sophico, a town of 250 houses. This town, Cheli, and Piada near the remains of Epidaurus, the city of ^Esculapius the patron of medicine, are the only places of any note within the territory. Continuing still along the coast to the south-east, you will find In the Years 18141816. 99 the antique Metliana, of which the name still subsists in a neigh- bouring village. Demala indicates the ruins of Trcezen, the favourite abode of Neptune. In the same quarter are the ruins of Kiero, where have been found inscriptions mentioning Nep- tune and yEsculapius. Adjoining to the coast lies Calauwa, now Poros, an island inhabited by Christian Albanians. These are the most remarkable of the seventeen villages dependant on Corinth, situated in the peninsula formerly subject to Argos. The population is estimated at above 1,400 families, or 7,000 persons, inhabiting a country subject to agues and of no great fertility. This country, however) it was not in my power to visit ; having, therefore, made the necessary arrangements, we left Corinth at eight in the morning, directing our march to the westward of south on the way to Argos. After an hour's journey we passed the river Longos on a bridge, having on our right the mountains of Phouca, said to possess mines of copper, now un- known: on the south, were the chain of mount Stephani extend- ing towards Epidaurus. On the same side were a range of spacious arcades shaded with weeping-willows, portions of the aqueduct erected by Hadrian, to convey water from the springs of the Stymphalus to Corinth. At the distance of a league southwards, are to be seen considerable remains of Cleonae, qualified by Homer as well built ; and the peasants assured me that coins are frequently found among the ruins. Soon after we came to the khan of Courtessa, eleven miles from Corinth, of which the acropolis was still visible, apparently connected with the range of Cleonae. The rugged steeps of this range, entirely in forest and uninhabited, swarm with wolves, wild- boars, and roes, the objects of the hunting-parties of the Turks of Corinth. Travelling nearly three miles over a stony tract of ground we came to the fountain of Rito, a village of 35 Greek families. Thus we had attained the entrance of the T return, a narrow deep pass, formed by mountains on each side ; those on the east side extending from Mycenae. The dervendgis, or guardians of the strait, presented us with fresh cool-water, a custom pre- served from time immemorial, with respect to travellers, and of- fered to conduct us to the Columns, or the remains of the famous temple of Nemean Jupiter : but, as we purposed to pass that way in going into Arcadia, we thanked them for their civility and held on our route. Turning, therefore, to the south-east, we entered the Tretum, so named as a perforation in the moun- tains, through which runs a stream, in a thicket of myrtle, rose- bay, and other shrubs. At the common step of our horses we employed 38 minutes before we cleared the gorge and arrived on the plain of Argos. We were now casting about to discover N2 ' ^ i * ~1- I 100 Travels in the Morecl, $c. Mycenae ; but in vain did we ask our guides to point out Car- vathi, the name of the ruins of that celebrated city; they would give us no satisfactory answer. We, therefore, directed them to go forward and provide lodgings for us in Argos, while we bore towards the hills on our left, in search of the place we wished so much to visit. Mount Tricorpho, towards which we were advancing, sends np three grey summits, which are seen from a great distance in various directions. As we approached .the base of the mountain I soon discovered, on the summit of a small bare dry eminence, fragments of the walls of a town; and ; on enquiring, a young shepherd informed us it was the gate of the lions: on this, putting on our horses, we were soon at My- ;cenae. Here ruins, over which two and twenty centuries have passed away, appear such as they did to Pausanias sixteen hun- dred years ago ; whilst the magnificent Corinth lies buried in the dust. Argos, Sparta, Megalopolis, have all vanished, but in Mycenai the sepulchres of Agamemnon, king of kings, or of his race, defy the tooth of time. I alighted at the two sepulchral monuments pointed out as those of ^Egisthus and Clytemnestra, by M. de Chateaubriand, monuments which he was no more the first to discover than he was the first to discover the remains of Lacedaemon. I had, at the time, in my hand, sketches of My- cena?, made a century ago, and a plan of that city by a living .antiquary, many years before M. de C. travelled into Greece. Mortifying as it may be for the amateur of antiquities (not cer- tainly for the genuine antiquary) I am constrained to say that the two sepulchres so highly honoured contain the bodies of Halil Aga of Argos and his servant, murdered by robbers in 1771. Ascending towards the gate, which opens on the north-: ,^ide of the acropolis, I found the lions ten feet in height, having between them a column reversed, the whole cut in an enormous block of stone, placed over the lintel of the gate. Within the acropolis, as at Dodona,* are wells cased with masonry, and in the eastern wall are two orders of Cyclopian building, which differ only in the size of the stones. Descending to the lower town I ex- amined the subterraneous chambers, which, I must confess, still appear to me sepulchres, and not different apartments of a trea- sure-house. My friend, M. Fauvel of Athens, had examined the chambers, before that supposed to have contained the ashes of Agamemnon had been cleared out. The entrance was by a sloping trench which led to the door, made narrower above than below. M. F. took several dimensions of this curious structure ; but, as the whole edifice has since been measured, with the greatest care, by' Baron de Haller, I gladly transcribe the result * Modern Voyages and Travels, vol. iv. p. iv. p. 43. In the Years 1S14 181G. 101 of that gentleman's researches. Diameter of the great chamber 50 feet, height 461, height of entrance door 18i-. breadth 81, triangular aperture over the door 14, length of great stone of the architrave 24, diameter 21 J, small lateral chamber lOf by SO, height of the door 10, breadth 4-; feet, all English measure. The general construction in regular courses of stone, forming a paraboloid cavity, the original idea of the vault and the dome. Some nails of bronze, straight not hooked, have induced persons to suppose the interior to have been lined with sheets of copper, of which several assert that they had seen vestiges. A second pyramidal cavity, now demolished even with the ground, near the gate of the lions, has been supposed (for the whole business is mere supposition) to have contained the remains of Pelops. Taking observations of several places round my position in the acropolis of Mycenae, I found Naupli or Napoli di Romania to bear south about four leagues, and Argos south-west, two hours' journey. On my right, distant three miles, the village Dictys, and a little below it Coutzo-Podi. Passing through Carvathi we re- gained the public road, on which the heroic monument of the first Perseus is no longer to be seen; but the village Dictys re- calls the name of the person who passed for the father of that wonderful hero of fable. The sun was going down and a dreary silence reigned over the bare treeless fields of Argolis, now stripped or their yearly harvests. We passed the Inachus now the Planitza, an impetuous torrent, but the channel was dry when we came to it.j According to the early mythology of Greece, the Inachus, which rises in the central heights of Mount Pindus, at no great distance from the sources of the Aous, the Peneus, and the Achelous, unites with the latter stream, plunges under ground, and, passing beneath the sea of Corinth, reappears at Argos in Peloponesus ; soon again to replunge under-ground, again to re-appear in Lycia, in Asia-Minor. When we were on its banks the Argives were employed in repairing a long wall, constructed to defend their city against the furious floods of the Inachus. The gates of the Sun and of Lucina no longer admit the stranger into Argos : and we had to make our way among a number of low huts to find out our lodging, prepared for us in a house of great magnitude. Neptune, incensed that Argolis should be adjudged to Juno by InachuSj deprived him of his water. Thus a supernatural operation was invented, to explain one so natural as to occur every year ; for the Inachus, as was already said, being merely a torrent, ceases to flow when the rainy season is gone. Every thing in Greece was full of marvel; and the poets, the first his- torians of man, when history was the work of memory, mingled in their narratives fables, under -which were hidden natural 102 Travels in the Mom*, tyc. effects. I should, therefore, be disposed to believe that, at some remote epoch, the coast between Tirynthus and the embouchure of the Inachus was inundated by that river, and ultimately a lake was formed, of which the waters regorged back upon Argos. That this is not improbable appears from a fact well known in the country, which is this, that a periodic deluge overflows the environs of Milias (Mantinea) during five years, and then ceases, by passing off under-ground to the plain of Argos, where the deluge lasts but for one year, during which the superabundant waters flow off to the sea. Argos, a city the delight of gods and of men; as Homer says, " The land of beauteous fair and generous steeds," which once prided itself on having possessed such princes as Phoroneus and Pelasgus, as Jason and Agenor, as Agamemnon himself, is now reduced to be only the chief town of a confined district. So early as in the fourth century, in the reign of Julian, Argos had declined so low as to be unable to maintain in proper condition the public buildings, or even to contribute the required share of the charges of the Isthmian games. Since that epoch the city has unifoi'mly fallen off, until the skeleton of Argos be- came the portion of Theodore, brother of Emaiiuel, emperor of the East, who ceded it to the Venetians, from whom it was finally taken by the Turks. If, as we have no reason to doubt it, it was extremely difficult to form any notion of the situation of various edifices and monu- ments in Argos a century ago, it must be next to impossible to make discoveries among the ruins at the present day, after so many additional calamities as have desolated Greece within that period. Fourmont was lost amid the numerous vestiges of build- ings : Chandler was not more fortunate ; Mr. Gell was the most successful of all, and to that gentleman we owe an inscrip- tion of the very highest antiquity, discovered in the acropolis Larissa, constructed by Danaus, 1570 years, prior to the Chris- tian era. In Argos I had the fortune to meet with an anti- quarian guide, who, like the pretending ciceroni of Rome, was ever ready to point out to me whatever 1 desired to see. I could only conjecture, therefore, that the celebrated temple of Juno Acraean of Argos might be placed at the eastern corner of the rock on which is situated the acropolis. The present town, built in a plain at the base of the mountains, commands a pros- pect of the gulf of Napoli di Romania, and of a vast open country, destitute of verdure. If the environs may justly be termed dry, the town itself deserves a contrary character, for it abounds with wells. The houses though low are carefully ^whit- ened, so that Argos still corresponds to the meaning of the name. In the Years 18141816. 103 The town, now wholly inhabited by Albanians, all Christians, in number about 10,000, every year increases its people and its prosperity ; for the modern Argives are distinguished in^the Morea, for their cleanliness and neatness, their industry and their courage. Inheriting the taste and skill of their predecessors, in the management of horses, they raise a race of strong and vigorous animals, not as of old for the vain exercise of the course, but for the inestimable labours of the husbandman. It is riot, however, to their own district that the industrious exertions of the Albanians of Argos are limited. They are found in various parts of the Morea, and even in the Ionian isles, wherever labour and activity are in request. Unchangeable in their mutual attachment and interchange of assistance, they every where live together, mixing little with the Greeks, but still less with the Turks, regularly re- turning with their earnings to pass the winter with their families in Argos. My plan of travels being to visit those parts of Greece the least seen by strangers, and business requiring my presence in Patras, I resolved to return thither by a route seldom employed by any but the inhabitants of the country ; that is, along the chain of mountains which form the boundary between Achaia on the north and Arcadia on the south. Going out of Argos in the direction of the valley of Nemea, we soon came to the dry and dusty bed of the Inachus, and at the end of six miles to Coutzo- Podi, where we ascended the base of the great range of Pana- chaicos, which extends to the westward of Patras. From an eminence we had a distant view of the acropolis of Mycenae, and pursued our route in a direction towards the west, among hills frequently wooded, often rugged and precipitous, separated by torrents, until we descended into the valley of the Asopus, the river which we had formerly crossed near the remains of Sicyon. In front we had St. George, a village situated in the opening left between Mount Polyphengos and Mount Analipsis. In the valley we passed a monastery, rich by the possession of a mira- culous figure of the Virgin, which, on a time, when it is not as- certained, took flight from Corinth and fixed its abode in the spot over which the monastery was in consequence erected. Stories such as this and the other of New Parga, mentioned in Chap. III. may raise a smile in that very person who yeads with gravity and perhaps admits with respect, the still more extraor- dinary exploit of Minerva, related by the preceptors of Themis- tocles and Plato. That goddess, as they asserted, transported Mount Lycabettus into Attica, by carrying it from Pellene in Achaia, over land and water, in a fold of her robe, and let it fall on the spot where it afterwards was found. The sole difference 104 Travels in the Morea, Sfc. between these relations is, that the least credible of the two- proceeds from illustrious philosophers and statesmen of venerable antiquity, and, therefore, to be received at least with respect ; the .other rest on the authority of poor ignorant Christian monks of modern dark times, and, therefore, unworthy of the attention of men of understanding. Not far beyond this monastery \ve saw the long range of cells, or hermitages, in former times occupied by the Lauran fathers, a name expressive of the narrow confined abode of each hermite, only eight feet square. Having secured lodgings for the night, our next affair was to proceed to the Co- lumns, the title given to the remains of the renowned temple of Jupiter, and travelling eastward among the hills for an hour from St. George, we entered the solitary valley of Nemea. Sixteen centuries ago this temple was greatly decayed; the roof had fallen in, and the statue of the master of the gods had been carried away. It is, however, probable that the Roman emperor Hadrian, the restorer of the Nemean games, would not omit to repair an edifice regarded as one of the noblest in Greece. In the front I counted the posi- tion of six columns, but two only are standing, with fragments of their architraves of the Doric order. No trace of the stadium or place of racing, nor even of any town, could I either see or hear of in the vicinity. The greatest curiosity in St. George and its environs is the people themselves ; for it seems to be unques- tionable that they are lineally descended from the Dorians, a na- tion of the most remote antiquity. Their country, Phliasia, ob- tained its name from Phlias, son of Temenus, one of the Argo- nautes; and it is by Homer distinguished from that of the Arca- dians. Haifa league north from St. George is pointed out the cavern of the famous Nemean lion ; a cavern of small dimensions T having the mouth stopt up with bundles of thorns to protect a few sheep. My guide was, however, so fluent on the topic that, on our return, 1 expected he would have shown me the identical skin of that famous lion. Our journey was not, however, alto- gether fruitless, for we found many vestiges of buildings which may have belonged to Phlius the ancient capital of Phliasia, near the Asopus. Arriving at the khan, whither we had sent forward our people, we found them in rather more than high spirits, for they had sacrificed liberally to Bacchus, in his own favourite be- verage the wine of Phliasia, still celebrated in Greece. Continuing our route westward, over a succession of hills and valleys, at times densely wooded at others bare and rugged, but every where thinly inhabited, we came 'in with a company of shepherds, wearing rush-caps, surmounted with tufts and fastened under the chin with straps of the same material, precisely, as we are told, was done by the Arcadian pastors of old. They were In the Years 1814 1816. 105 engaged in chauuting the praises of their own country ; the bur- then of the song given by the men being the identical phrase used 2,000 years ago on a similar occasion ; \Vhat country like our native land, Pours out her honey, f:gs, and bread ! Taking up the next stanza, the women concluded with this phrase. Come friends ! come bless that beauteous hand, That showers sucli treasures on our head. We had now passed the limits of Arcadia, a country which I had seen in my younger days ; a country which, from its present state as well as from antique story, has made on my imagination an impression never to be blotted out. I shall ever delight to re- call the enchanting scenery of Arcadia, animated by the simple natural beauty of the rural nymphs with eyes of celestial blue, and locks stolen from Phoabus' rays ; nymphs who yield the palm to none but the noble girls of Old England. This say I, a native of France ; for although cares more than years have made my head bald as the summits of Mount Menalus, yet I have not for- gotten that once I was young. The Arcadians defied all nations in matters of antiquity; for their fathers were established on the banks of the Ladon and the Erymanthus, before the moon had begun to run her short- lived course. Xenophon, without contesting their fond notion, acknowledges that the Arcadians were the only people in Greece who could justly boast of being aboriginal. Every other tribe had arrived in the country from some region more or less remote; but Arcadia had always been inhabited by the same race of men. Arcadia is sti;l the only quarter of the Morea in which pastoral life and manners, and a physiognomy of antique cha- racter are to be found. Remote from the sea and from all foreign intercourse, the inhabitants of Mount Cyllene and of the vallies of the Ladon and the Alpheus, have heard the howlings of the barbarians who desolated the surrounding tracts; but they have never mingled with the conquerors. Their mountain retreats and fastnesses, and their poverty, have never tempted the plun- derer; and at all times husbandmen and shepherds, no other change appears to have from the earliest times been produced among them, excepting what has been brought about by the beneficent and consolatory influence of the Christian religion, to which they are most firmly attached. Travelling as high on the mountains as was practicable, in order to have a more extended prospect over countries rich in matter of interest for the antiquary, the historian, the poet, and the lover of nature in her noblest garb, we at last descended into VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. O 106 Travels in the Morea, $c. the horrible valley of Zaraca, that is, the gulf, or abyss. This is the Stymphalus of antiquity, and certainly no region can oiler more dismal scenery than the hollow basin of Zaraca. The rugged precipices of the mountains which inclose this valley, and its desolate aspect, show that it has, at all times, been the abode of sorrow and lamentations, or the resort of dangerous and noxious beings. Hence mythologists imagined to place in the valley a species of birds who lived on human flesh, and there they fixed the retreat of Juno, after her divorce from .Jupiter. The atrocious Stymphalian birds are no unnatural emblems of the gangs of desperadoes who, for time immemorial, and even in the present days, infest that country. The family-quarrel in Olympus, like other family-quarrels, had best beeu kept within four walls ; it w r ould be indelicate, therefore, to pry into the busi- ness. The lake which fills the bottom of the valley was, when I saw it, extremely low ; but the bed of the river which passes along the bottom from north to south, and by its stagnation forms the lake, presented a body of water as broad as that of the Seine in Paris. The source of the river is near Chionia, a village where Hadrian took up the water which was conveyed by an aqueduct to Corinth; extending, on account of the moun- tainous tracts through which the level was to be carried, very nearly to forty miles. Turning southward, along the mud left by the waters when they fill the valley, and wholly unfit for cultivation of any kind, we arrived at the Zaraca, or abyss, in which the river Stymphalus disappears under-ground. As far as the eye could reach not an atom of verdure could be seen ; and on the cliffs which impend over the space where we passed, I could observe the marks of the height to which the waters of the lake ascend in winter, a height not less than six or rather seven yards. Approaching the gulf into which the river plunges under the mountain, I could perceive that the vault has been artificially enlarged in several parts. The waters are supposed to re-appear in the plain south from Argos, in a plentiful stream which forms a lake near the sea. The two towns called Stymphalus exist in ruins near the source of the river; but it was not in my power to visit that part of the mountains. At the south-end of the lake, the road passes along a causey above forty feet in breadth, a work from its massive solidity and its utility, in preserving large tracts of arable land from inundation, much more worthy to be one of the labours of Hercules, than the extermination of the birds or assassins who beset travellers in the valley. As we pro- ceeded, we came near a number of Arcadian damsels, busied in collecting the golden ears of the maize, but who, contrary to usual practice, fled on our approach. Inquiring the reason of this alarm, a papas who had joined our cavalcade, whispered to In the Years J814 1S1G. 107 me to observe a person on horseback at a little distance, attended by four men armed. " This personage is the son of one of tho most renowned chiefs of the robbers in all the Morea: it is true that he has made his peace with the government (added he with an expressive look) for the rich have it in their power to make their peace : but he is not the less the object of terror in the eyes of the people for twenty leagues round. He is however fond of the Franks, for he served some time in the Ionian isles." In fact, the gentleman seeing our dress, saluted us in a most respectful manner, and quietly pursued his journey. Halting for refresh- ment after a pretty long ride, I was surprised to gee near us three thick columns of water thrown up from the base of Mount Sepia, and to hear them called Trirnatia, a term of modern Greek corresponding with the ancient term Trikrene, the throe foun- tains, in which the nymphs of Mount Cyllene bathed Mercury at his birth : the mountains behind us were, therefore, the Cyl- lene of antiquity. Pursuing our journey over a tract of moun- tain-slopes, in most places covered with pines and other trees, we arrived in the deep valley of Phonia, a country of vineyard. The people were engaged in the vintage, which is late in this elevated district, and, indeed, all over Arcadia, with the excep- tion of some sheltered low-grounds. For half-a-league we thought we had encountered the ancient festivities of Bacchus, so exalted did the vintagers appear in their labours. A con- tinued chain of asses loaded with skins of wine were conducted by people carrying baskets of grapes. By the grape-stained countenances and the songs and mirth of the females of the com- panies, we might imagine ourselves among the votaries of the son of Semeie ; but their modest reserved demeanour as we drew near, shewed that they had nothing of those ancient nymphs but the external appearance and the employment. Now and then some modern Silenus with cheeks most rubicund, would ask us with a lisp whence we came, what we wanted, and what sort of folks we were ? without waiting to satisfy these jolly Arca- dians, we passed over the Carya, formerly Aroanius, which, after a course of five miles from north to south, disappears in an abyss like, although smaller, than that of Stymphalus. That the valley has once been a lake is quite manifest; and it is known that the old Pheneon from which Phonia has derived its name, was over- whelmed in the waters by Apollo, enraged because Bacchus, pro- tector of the Pheneates, had carried off the sacred tripod of Delphi. A similar catastrophe had nearly happened in 1812, without the intervention of any inhabitant of Olympus, when the gulf of subterraneous discharge was cleared by the orders of Kyamil bey of Corinth. Passing for two miles under a moun- tain, the river re-appears and contributes its waters to the Ladon. O2 J08 Travels in the M&rea, Sfc. Leaving the banks of the Carya, we ascended by a path bordered with hedges, winding round a little hill to Zaracoula, a village delightfully situated on the southern side of the mountains. The houses, in number above three hundred, arranged in clusters, are shaded by mulberry, cherry, and other fruit-trees, forming an object enchanting at all times, but to us who had just emerged from the Tartarian solitude of Stymphalus, it appeared an Elysium. The buildings had an air of ease and comfort, the fields and gardens were well cultivated and maintained ; and the people (I may say so now, after having traversed the peninsula) appeared to be the least oppressed Christians in all the Morea. Half a league westward from the village we halted for the night in the convent of St. George, deeply embosomed in a close forest of plane and chesnut. In the morning, by means of my pocket-compass, I took the bearings of several lofty summits, formerly observed during my journey on the north side of the mountains from Patras to Corinth. The monk who named the several peaks to me, assured me that the snow remains all the year round in glaciers near the passage over the mountains of jCastagnas, whence it is drawn to supply Argos, Tripolitza, and other places. Our postillions having positively refused to accompany us in the course we wished to take, by following a road leading more into Arcadia than we had hitherto done, a road, by the bye, re- ported to be extremely difficult for horses, we were obliged to take the usual route for Patras by Calavryta. Half-a-ieague from Zaracoula we passed some ruins supposed to belong to the temple of Jupiter Pythius, mentioned by Pausanias, on which now stands a chapel dedicated to the asomati, the beings without a body, the term by which the Greeks denote the che- rubim. At this spot the road leads up the rugged steeps of Mount Cyllene, now no longer sheltering bears, nor producing white thrushes, as in former times, but, in compensation, great abundance of wolves and lynxes. Then entering the valley of Cloukinais, at the southern extremity of which is found the source of the ever-memorable river Styx, to be afterwards men- tioned. Hence it appears that Strabo was misinformed, and had never visited this quarter of Peloponesus, when he describes the springs of the Styx as in the vicinity of Pheneon ; since the distance between the two places must be at least four leagues in the midst of mountains. The preceding evening the monks had entertained our company in their way, with histories of the saints of their monastery, mixed with stories of the restless spirits and goblins who wander all night long round the sacred retreat. It was unfortunate for us that one of the oldest friars was absent pn a journey; for he could have given us every satisfaction ^respecting these troublesome entities, having more than a hundred In the Yearn 18141816. 109 times seen and had intercourse with some of the principal among them. Whether it were not the working of the broukolakkas, (spirits of the miry marsh, Will- with- the-wisp,) it is not forme to determine ; but the whole day the rain poured down in such torrents as I had never before witnessed in the east. Our route lay over hill and dale, covered almost entirely with primeval forests of fir, many trees upwards of 25 feet in girth or 8 feet thick, under whose branches we had the utmost difficulty to make way on horseback. Our baggage-cattle slipped down on ,the steep slopes, or were in danger of being overborne by every rill now swelled to a river. Our postillions and guides dis- charged many a malediction on the Franks who would travel in such weather, and sent back scores of them on the monks who had induced us to set off in the rain, relying on their assurance that it would last but a moment. An equal number of bene- dictions were, however, bestowed on the worthy patron St. George, who dwelt in the monastery, with apologies for the lan- guage applied to the good men who devoted themselves to his service. In defiance of the weather we still advanced along the south-west base of Mount Cyllene, here called Mount Chelmos, and at last were hospitably admitted into a cottage in Platinder, an Albanian village on the common road between Patras and Tripolitza. From this place the road to the modern capital of the Morea goes on a continual ascent to the elevated plain of Tegea. Crossing the river of Clitor you follow for three leagues the left or east bank of the river Ladon, which bears away to the south-west. An hour more south-east brings you to the khan of Dara, three hours in the same direction to Validi, and two hours and a half south to Tripolitza. Continuing still to ascend over the most western spurs of Mount Chelmos, we lost the waters which traverse Arcadia to unite with the central stream Alpheus, and passing over an elevated tract of ferrugi- nous soil, destitute of wood, but in some parts cultivated, we arrived at the waters which ran northwards to the Corinthian gulf, and descending into Achaia, through pine-forests, in an hour-and-a-half happily finished our dismal day's work of eight hours in Calavryta. Calavryta does not represent any place of antiquity, nor is it ; of great age itself: the town, however, contains 2,500 Greeks and 300 Turks or Mahometans. Situated near the right or east bank of the Cerynites, the air of the valley, although elevated, is feverish, and the snow lies in it for months together. Descending the valley of the Cerynites for an hour, you come to the influx of the river of Lapathes, where is situated the Greek town Kerpeni, near some ruins, perhaps belonging to Cynaitha. Here a broad torrent pours down the face of Mount Vrachmi, the 1 10 Travels in the Morea, Sfc. western chain of Chelmos, and proceeding tip that torrent, for three hours and a half, you arrive at the source of the Styx, called at this day Mavro Nero, the black water, not from any thing peculiar in their colour, but by traditionary allusion to their ancient infernal celebrity. The springs which furnish the water to form the cascade of the Styx are easily discovered; for they are situated, as Pausanias writes, on the most elevated and most abrupt shelf or level surface of Mount Cyllene or Chelmos. Distant thirty steps asunder, the springs form two separate streams, which burst out by separate openings on the slope of a rock, over which they slide in one continued sheet, forming in their fall one column of water, or rather of foam, disappearing at the bottom of the precipice. A few feet above the gulf into which the water falls is a cavern, out of which bound-; a subter- raneous river into the same gulf. From this receptacle, at a little distance in the plain, break out the whole waters under the iiatne Carpathi ; and uniting with the Crathis, now Acratho- potamos, they are lost in the gulf of Corinth. Returning from the Stygian excursion, and descending the valley of the Cerynites for two leagues from Calavryta, we came in sight of the celebrated monastery of Mega-spileon, or the great cavern. Advancing to the spot we mounted up from a, bridge over a lively stream to the foot of a rock, apparently cut down by human art. In the face of this extraordinary precipice is a cavern containing the buildings of the monastery, con- structed wholly u.vicler the natural vault, the exterior wall being even with the face of the rock. The top of the vault is elevated 130 feet above the ground, and the front wall, containing ranges of windows to the several floors of the monastery, is carried up to two-thirds of that, height ; but in length it tills up the whole entrance of the cavern. The gate is defended by strong doors and a portcullis, covered with iron plates : and on the outside is a sort of epaulement, or half-bastion, pierced with forty embrasures for musketry ; by which any assailants who should attempt to force the gate would be exposed to fire on the Hank and in the rear. To examine minutely the extent and wealth of this extraordinary establishment would have required much more time than we could afford : it must suffice to say, that I know of nothing to be compared to it in any quarter of Greece. Much of the wealth of the Bailian fathers has no doubt been acquired by grateful offerings to the marvellous figure of the Virgin, for centuries venerated in the place. But a great deal of the property has been, and still continues to be acquired and augmented by the most sacred of all rights ; by the inces- sant and productive labour of the monks in person, in clearing, breaking up, cultivating, and improving vast tracts of land, hi the Years 18141816, 111 desert and unappropriated. When the Turks invaded Greece, many men of letters as well as clergy, regular and secular, took refuge in the asylum of Mega Spileon, carrying with them manuscripts of singular value : but a fire in 1400 destroyed the whole collection. The wonder-working Madonna, however, and the votive offerings, as I understood, most wonderfully escaped the devouring names. Fifty years and more afterwards, on the occupation of Constantinople by the Turks, a new in- flux of learned men and manuscripts took place: but in the 17th century a similar calamity, with similar special exemption from destruction, again occurred. To inquire further after valuable remains of ancient literature in the great cavern was, therefore, useless. Nothing could surpass the hospitality of the good fathers, joined with an attention and skill which one does not always find among even men of the world. The hospitality of the institution is without limitation in every sense; but Christians alone are lodged and maintained within the monastery. A building has, therefore, been erected on the outside for the reception of Mahometans, unless they be vizirs, pashas, or other personages of distinction, whom, though it be of no ser- vice to please, yet it might be dangerous to offend: they are, therefore, received and liberally entertained within the walls. The Albanians who well know and highly praise every place, where, what they, as well as their, brothers in the west, call good living, is to be found, set no limits to their commendations of the hospitality of Mega-Spileon, which they regard as the paradise of topers. Their encomiums are specially bestowed on two enormous tuns, worthy rivals of the renowned tun of Heidel- berg; and it is not every head that is fit to encounter a visit to the cellar of the monastery, in which the civility is to offer and to accept of specimens of the various stores. From Mega-Spileon many travellers proceed down the course of the Cerynites to the coast of the Corinthian gulf, and then turn westward by Vostitza to Patras; but that road we alrea'dy had travelled; returning therefore to Calavryta, we prepared to take the most direct route homewards. Soon after we quitted Calavryta, we crossed the Cerynites on a decayed bridge, and travelled for three-quarters of an hour in a plain west-south-west. An hour and a quarter carried us over a branch of Mount Go- menizza, into the valley of Lapathes, and then we held a course towards the deep gorge of the mountains called the defile of the massacre. A few years ago, this important pass was rendered impracticable by a powerful band of robbers, who had in a man- ner established themselves in that place, where they committed the most atrocious crimes with impunity. The necessity, how- ever, of opening the communication by that defile, the vizir of 112 Trawls in the Morea, $-c. the Morea, raising the country-people in a body, completely in- closed the whole band, gradually narrowing the circle upon them, and cutting off all means of subsistence or of escape. Thus were the robbers exterminated. Some other plunderers had again appeared in the same neighbourhood ; we therefore spurred on our horses to pass over several hollows and woods, offering protection to evil-doers, and never slackened our pace until we gained the caravanserail of St. John, estimated to be midway between Calavryta and Patras, or six leagues from both. Leaving our people with the baggage to follow us at leisure, we Frank travellers, after refreshing ourselves and horses, pushed forward ; enjoying, from several elevated positions, admirable prospects of both shores of the gulf of Patras, with Cape Araxes presenting its triple head, Zante, Cefalonia, Ithaca, &c. and, descending from the mountains which we had followed from Argos, arrived in the evening in Patras. CHAPTER XI. Journey from Patras, along the western coast of the Morea to Coron, where the author embarked on his return to France Buprasium- Cyllene Castel Tornese Elis Pyrgos River Alpheus TrepoL AFTER a long course of years employed in the public service of my native country, and in visiting various parts of Greece, I at last obtained permission to return home to France. It was on the 1st of February, 1806, that I landed in the bay of Pa- normo, in the territory under the government of Aly Pasha, vizir of Janina, in whose capital I was to reside in the character of consul-general. The eventful changes which had taken place in France, in 1814, having terminated the authority of my mission in Epirus, it became necessary for me to withdraw from that province, and to repair to Peloponesus, where I had been promoted to be con- sul in Patras, by H. M. Louis XVIII., who had also appointed my brother resident- consul in Arta. We quitted Janina to- gether on the 28th of February, 1815, for Arta, where I remained with him at his post till the 20th of March following. Taking my leave of my brother, rny companion and my consolation during the many years I lived under the distrustful and disinge- nuous Aly, on that day I proceeded to Salagora, and imme- diately embarked in a Neapolitan vessel, which conveyed me to Preresa on the following day. There I had my last interview In the Years 18141816. 113 with Aly Pasha, and after a delay of three days; no proper con- veyance offering itself, ventured to pass over to St. Maura, in a frail monoxylon on the 24th. There I was politely received by Colonel Combe, the British governor of the island, who also fur- nished rrie with an escort of troops, to protect me on my passage through the isles which lay on my course to Patras, where I arrived on the 29th of March, 1815. During my residence of eighteen months in Patras, I made excursions in different directions, particularly to ascertain the position and examine the remains of the memorable Olympia in the country of Elis; objects on which greater doubts and more diversity of opinion have been expressed by learned and inqui- sitive men than it is easy to conceive. My last journey from Patras to Coron, at the southern extremity of the Morea, where I embarked for France, having conducted me by or near several places formerly visited, I have thought it best to condense into one continued narrative, the results of my several detached ob- servations. It was in the month of June that I set out from Patras, in search of Olympia, the most celebrated of all the places of perio- dical assembly of whatever was most distinguished in the most prosperous days of Greece. Reposing, during the noon-tide heat, in the khan of Cato-Achaia, under the close shade of a weeping willow, which overspread the court, I arrived, after a journey of eight leagues, at the khan of Aly Tchelebi, where we slept. The country through which I passed was uneven, being the gradually lowering termination of the mighty Panachaic chain of mountains. It is agreeably varied by arable, pasture, and wood-land ; but is not in all places so well cleared from plundering bands as the territories under the immediate inspec- tion of the vizir of Janina. A feverish eomplaint which had seized me in Patras, and had not yet wholly forsaken me, prevented me from lengthening my first day's cruise. The village near the khan is inhabited by thirty families, vassals of a distant monas- tery ; and one of the monks resides in a sort of to,w;er, to transact the business of the community as steward and bailiff. Into this castle I was refused admittance by the monk, because he had been informed that I was an Englishman ; and the good friar was then highly displeased with that heretical race, as he repre- sented the English to be. The religion of the Britons was, however, not the only, certainly not the secret cause of his dis- pleasure. The English, in possession of Zante, had established rigid regulations of quarantine, which woefully hampered the pious smuggler ; but of those restraints he could not avowedly complain. Before the sun went down I had time to survey, but at a distance, the salt-lakes which line the shore for seven VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. P 114 Travels in the Morca, #c. miles together* and which still are accessible by fishing-boats* These lakes are in progressive diminution, much more probably by the accumulation or' substances from the land than Iroin any depression or retreat of the sea. Deprived of a moment's rest by the musquitoes, I was on horseback before the morning dawned. On our way we gave chace to herds of roes, feeding on the dewy pastures in the plain : but they soon left us behind, in their retreat to their homes among the hills. Proceeding about five miles we came on the river Verga, which rises in a part of the Olenian mountains, still called by a corruption of the Venetian name Santa Meri. On a consider- ation of the ground it occurred to me that I had arrived at the river of Buprasium, but to discover the position of the town required more time than I could spare. This and some other streams which crossed our route carry their waters into the bay of Clarentza ; and in winter they by stagnation render the plain next to impassable. Even in June I found several places difficult to pass through. One of these streams swarmed with leeches, which attached themselves to our horses' legs, and cost no small trouble to remove. Advancing on our route I could observe, on the summit of the hill which commands the Cyllenian bay, the deserted fortress of Clemoutzi or Castel Tornese, and the village of the same name. Two miles beyond the spot where I made that observation, we passed a river which moves several mills ; and a league farther, we came to Andravida, a village occupying the place of the ancient Cyllene, of which several remains still exist, as well as buildings constructed in the mid- dle ages. Cyllene, although a league from the shore, was regarded as a sea-port, because it had a harbour at that distance, now filled up. Travelling onwards we traversed a plain for nearly an hour, wholly laid down in flax, and came to the bank of the Peneus of Elis, now called the river of Gastouni, a town a mile further to the southward, and three miles up from the sea at the mouth of the river. Gastouni contains fifteen hundred houses built of earth, the greater number now going to ruins. The savage tribe of Albanians, who inhabit the mountains to the eastward, having destroyed the trade and in- dustry of the place, the inhabitants are now reduced to two hundred families, and the town has the appearance of having sustained a severe bombardment. Travelling eastward from Gastouni for above a league you come to Saban-Aga. In that distance the Peneus receives several collateral streams, which we crossed on stone bridges. A league and a half further in the same direction brings you to Calivia, situated on the edge of the ruins of the celebrated Elis, now from its ruins called Pa- laeopolis. Composed originally of several hamlets, the city was In the Years 18141816. J 15 formed under the special auspices of Olympian Jove. From history we know how Elis was embellished with all the pomp of the arts ; but its misfortunes and overthrow are forgotten. Such was the respect entertained for Elis and its territory, by all Grecian nations, that even in time of actual hostility the con- tending parties, when they approached the limits of the district, mutually deposed their arms and communicated the one with the other as in a state of peace. Elis, like Apollonia in Epirus, is now the resort of shepherds, and yet like Apollonia it cannot be visited without exciting painful recollections and sensations. The ruins are spread over a space half a league square on the left or south-side of the Peneus, extend from Calivia to the place properly called Palaeopolis; but to attempt to appropriate any mass of ruins, or any particular site to the edifices known to have existed in Elis, would be absurd. The acropolis, at some little distance from the city, exhibits only a square foundation of masonry : but it is not extravagant to suppose that, if exca- vations could be judiciously conducted within its bounds, statues, bas-reliefs, or other sculpture of Phidias, or other masters who were employed to adorn Elis, might yet be dis- covered. Leaving Gastouni the route enters on a plain sown with an- nual cotton, the byssus of some ancient writers, and in a little time, by turning westward, you discover the isle of Zante ; no longer, indeed, the shady Zacynthus of the poets, but still a de- lightful abode, for its vineyards, its orange-groves, and its casinos, or summer-houses. The low hills 01 that island form a striking contrast with the lofty summits of Cephalonia. Pur- suing our route along the coast, we came to the monastery of the Virgin, or Panagia Skaphidia, a name by which more than one antiquary has been misled in arranging the topography of this part of the Morea. The term skaphide no longer signifies a boat or skiff, but a wooden-trough to wash or bake in, and not rarely converted into a cradle ; it is, of course, the main article of the household furniture. After ^some time we came to a steep hill, having on the top a chapel, said to occupy the position of a temple of the highest antiquity. With no small trouble I climbed up to the summit, where not the smallest vestige of ancient structure was to be seen. My toil was however well repaid, for from that elevation. I commanded the whole plain of Elis, the embouchure of the Alpheus, and the coast of Triphylia on to the promontory Cyparissa, in Messinia. I looked down on Cape Ichthys, defended by the fortress called Pundico-Castro, a work of the middle ages. On the south-side of that cape is a suc- cession of lakes, fishing-grounds, and salterns, communicating with the sea, although separated from it by a reef of rocks, 116 Trawls in the Morea, S?c. terminated by sand-banks and accumulations of earth, extend- ing nearly to the mouth of the great river Alpheus,. Continuing my route over the plain, which, in favourable seasons, pro- duces two crops in the year, I arrived at Pyrgos, distant from Gastouni four leagues for the rider, but five and a half for the pedestrian. Pyrgos was, fifty years ago, only a cluster of huts covered with reeds, collected round a tower, (pyrgos) from which the place had its name. In the present day things are wonderfully changed ; to those wretched hovels have succeeded spacious and handsome houses, and the humble hamlet of Pyrgos is now be- come the finest town in the Morea. The air, more healthy than that of Gastouni, "has attracted the greater portion of the Greeks, who have been followed by their prelate. In fine, by agriculture and commerce, the chief part of the inhabitants of Pyrgos have become merchants of note abroad as well as at home. The city, for it really deserves the name, built on an eminence, where lately have been discovered vaults filled with bones, consists of nine hundred houses, inhabited by a thousand Greek families, making, with labourers and strangers, a population of seven thousand persons. The town possesses two churches, construct- ed with more taste than could be expected in a country destitute of artists ; and a handsome residence for the bishop, whose revenue amounts to no less than 20,000 piastres, or 833 6s. 8d. sterling. No Turk is settled in the town. From the gallery of my lodging in Pyrgos I had a distinct view of the mouth of the Alpheus, now called Orphea and Rouphia, and of the barks moored in its channel. I longed to visit the banks of the amourous stream, there ready to dive under the ocean in pursuit of his fair Arethusa, escaping from him to the sheltered basin of Syracuse. But so oppressive was the heat, that it was not before the evening of the third day of my resi- dence in Pyrgos that I could gratify my desire. Before we reached the river, we passed a small lake of fresh water, which discharges its overflow into the sea ; and on the shore were several salt-ponds. It was now the season when the Alpheus was lowest in water, and the mouth was so much ob- structed by sand, that the small ferry-boat lay aground on a bank. The margin of the channel was covered with trunks of trees, washed on-shore by the waves, and with tufts of agnus- castus, barilla, and other plants common on the shores of Greece. Near us were the sheds employed to cover the planks and works of carpentry, prepared up the country and brought down the Al- pheus. Scarcely had I reached the shore when the crews of several bark* of the Ionian isles, at anchor in the mouth of the stream, came to offer me their boats to visit the entrance. They In the Years 18141816. 117 knew me, as having had it in my power to take theirpart occasion- ally against the arbitrary extortion of Aly's officers on the coast. I chose the lightest boat, in order to take soundings of the channel of the river, and had with me an experienced pilot. Proceeding to the mouth of the stream, the line gave from 3 to 5 fathoms French, equal to from 2f to 4j fathoms English, on a ground of yellow mud. I continued to follow the channel down to some low islands, and attempted on my return to go up the left-side of the river, but found it too shallow to admit any ship. On that bank were several men, who waded in within pistol-shot of my boat, having the water only up to the waist. Three Galaxidiote vessels lay two miles off in from 9 to 10 fathoms, and the master of one of them informed me that, for two leagues out from the spot where I was, a little within the mouth of the river, ships may come to anchor every where, in from 25 to 30 orgyes, or Greek fathoms, which are a little shorter than the English. Re- turning to the place where I had embarked, and taking on-board more hands, we rowed up the stream, and landed on the south bank, near the fishing-lakes of Agolinitza. The shore on that side was covered with timber for ship-building, brought down from the forests of Olympia, to be embarked for Hydra, and other islands in the Archipelago. In the caravanserail, I found several Zantiote seamen, who conducted me to the chapel of the Orphean, (Alpheian) virgin, erected on the site of the temple of Alpheian Diana. It has been my fortune to discover many cities and monuments in Greece; but I never met with any monument better indicated than this temple of Artemis, or Diana. The embosoming grove reminded me of the sacred Artemisian wood ; the neighbouring lagoons told me that I had now attained the Nymphaeum of Triphylia; the swelling hills recalled Mount Macistia, from which descended the procession to celebrate the Samian festivities ; the chapel itself is constructed of well-dressed stones, collected, from the remains of the original temple. Walk- ing down the left bank of the Alpheus, to its entrance into the" sea, the sailors employed in fishing with a line on a sand-bank told me that it had been formed within only a few years ; for that, before its appearance, coasting-vessels up to 80 tons burthen passed up the channel j but that now boats of 20 or 15 tons entered with difficulty. The same kind of information was given me at Pyrgos and in other places on the west coast of the Morea, where rivers fall into the sea. By farther examining the course of the stream, and the lagoons or salt-lakes of Agolinitza, I was con- vinced that the Alpheus had formerly communicated with the sea, through one of those lakes to the southward of its present opening. I took some pains to obtain particular and accurate information respecting the embouchure of this great stream ; a 1 18 Travels in the Morea, S?c. subject of importance to all the commercial states of Europe. For if ever the Morea be restored to its just place among nations, this river promises, for many reasons, to become, if not the key, at least the main entrance into the heart of the peninsula. Having, on my return to Pyrgos, made the necessary arrange- ments for an exploratory expedition to the venerable Oly mpia, I pro- ceeded on it with some European friends, as I may call them, a few days after the summer solstice, the epoch of the quadriennial games, instituted by Hercules on the banks of the Alpheus. But instead of the multitudes from foreign lands, as well as from Greece itself, who repaired to the solemnities, we saw only companies of reapers, busy in gathering together the golden ears of corn. In half-an-hour's ride from Pyrgos, travelling eastward towards the Alpheus, we entered the hills which confine its right bank ; and after a course of three hours and a quarter, at the common step of the horse, we descended into the bed of the river of Stavro-Ke- phali, the modern name of the Cladeus, a stream held by the an- cients in equal estimation with the Alpheus itself. Passing over to the left bank^of this river, I alighted and walked eastward, on the north bank of the Alpheus, in search of antiquities. I soon came to an inclosure terminated by a terrace of an elliptic form, which an Albanian on the spot told me was the Pilalistra, or foot-race ; and, in fact, it was the stadium which I had found. Following this courteous peasant, who offered to show me the remains of the ancient city of the Hellenes, for so he spoke, he led me a full mile away eastwards, to admire the tomb of some Turk. Returning to the stadium, we saw several piers of an aqueduct in brick, which conveyed water from a neighbouring fountain to Olympia. Going over a space about 400 yards in breadth, abounding in bricks and fragments of stone, in which foundations of buildings might be traced among the grass and stubble, it was impossible not to recognize the site of a town. No walls of defence were to be found ; nor were any fortifications requisite for a town which was held sacred by all nations. I had not been long on the ground, when I was convinced that the notion of the plains of Olympia, or Pisa, was erroneously drawn from the term Pedion, which in Pindar does not signify a plain, but the scene of any exploit, a field of battle, a place for a race, which may be found on or between hills. The town I had traced was bounded on the west by the stadium, or hippodrome, on the south by the Alpheus, on the north by a chain of high hills, and on the .east by an open space, perhaps appropriated to sepulchres. This place corresponded, in my opinion, with that of Pisa; for there I could see the brook from the fountain which gave it its name, and the grove of olives first brought by Her- cules from the country of the Hyperboreans. The tombs disco- In the Years 18141816. 119 vered were evidently of Roman construction. Olympia was in- debted to the emperor Hadrian, the great restorer of Grecian magnificence, for a vast amphitheatre, baths, a horse-course double the length of the common stadium, and a senate-house, with a ceiling ornamented with bronze, for the Roman magis- trates. That I should discover any vestiges, not of the Hercu- lean Olympia, but of Olympia as it was in the time of Iphytus, who revived the games 776 years before our era, or 23 years be- fore the foundation of Rome, I did not expect. The course of history undeceived me on that head. Still it was but reasonable to suppose that the positions of antique monuments might be ascertained, by discovering Roman workmanship in structures raised on antique foundations ; and, in this supposition, I was not quite unsuccessful. The first matter of which I was convinced was the identity of Pisa and Olympia; that is, that Pisa was the primitive city, but that the latter name in time prevailed, when the temple, the statue, the games instituted in honour of Jove (styled Olympian from the imaginary Olympus of the poets) rose into high repute. Misled by erroneous information, D'Anville, in what he modestly terms a specimen of a map of ancient Greece, conceives Pisa and Olympia to have been distinct places, Pisa on the north and Olympia on the south side of the Alpheus. Hence, the Cladeus is made to flow into that river from the south. To settle this point I learned, by various inquiries, that on the south or left side of the Alpheus, opposite to the position of Pisa, not the least trace of a town or of any edifice had ever been found, nor the slightest appearance, not of a river only, but of the smallest brook. Between the hill on the north of the site of Pisa, without doubt the mount of Saturn of antiquity, and the Alpheus, exist the vestiges of the hippodrome or place for horse-races, extended to a length of nearly It English mile. The stadium is every year diminished by the river, in which had lately been found a helmet of bronze, having on it the Greek word OHAOMAXOZ, denoting a soldier who fought in complete armour of defence, consequently a Grecian and not a Roman warrior. Between the Alpheus and the Cladeus, on the base of the hill, was the Aids, or wood sacred to Jupiter, in which was a place set apart to contain the statues erected by the several states of Greece, to those of their citizens who were victors in the Olympian games. The stadium and the hippodrome recalled by their vestiges ideas of their perfect structure : but the Altis, instead of a noble grove of olives, showed only a neglected vineyard, a few crooked fig- trees, and some poor fields of corn. Advancing cautiously to the north brink of the Alpheus, which undermines the bank in that place, I saw the detached pieces of the last remaining columns of 120 Travels in the Morea, fyc. the temple of Jupiter Olympian, which had fallen down into the water in the foregoing winter. Even with the surface of the river might be seen a fragment of a mosaic pavement ; and the height of the bank above that fragment, which must have pre- served its original level, was fully 19 feet; to such a height have the river and the land floods, in addition to the ruins of buildings, elevated the ground above the former surface of Olympia. That the celebrated temple of Jove was situated in a spot low and marshy, is asserted by Pausanias. Thus, at every step, does the space occupied by the ruins of Pisa or Olympia, furnish matter for inquiry ; and it is only to be regretted that no proper scientific system of research and excavation has ever been undertaken on such ground ; for, that the fruits of proper research would be highly satisfactory, we cannot reasonably doubt. CHAPTER XII. Tegea. Sparta, or Laccdasmon. Megalopolis. Polybius. River Alpheus. MY project of visiting the central and southern parts of the Morea being disconcerted by necessary affairs, I was obliged to change my course at Argos and return to Patras, as stated in the preceding chapter; nor was it ever in my power to repair that defect. In this case it is with pleasure that I am enabled to present to my readers the account of a journey through the centre of Peloponesus, from Tegea by Sparta, and down the valley of the Alpheus to Olympia, by my young friend Mr. Ambrose Firmin Didot, on whose accuracy and Judgment I can depend. Led by the love of knowledge, Mr. Didot, in 1816, having visited Egypt, Palestine, the coast of Asia-Minor, Con- stantinople, and Attica, resolved to traverse the Morea on his way to the isle of Zante. Embarking in the Piraeus of Athens, he landed at Hiero in Epidauria, and proceeded on to Tripo- litza, where we commence the narrative of that gentleman's proceeding, in his own name and language, although abridged. From Argos to Lerna is a distance of two leagues to the south- ward ; and thence to the southward of west, a journey of seven hours carries the traveller up the country to Tripolitza : a road leads also more direct from Argos across the mountains. We halted a mile from Tripolitza, says Mr. Didot, on the ground once occupied by Tegea at Palaeo-Episcopi, on the right of the path leading to Laconia. Among the ruins, which cover a large space, were some fragments of good execution. Near that spot were remains of columns and capitals of the three In the Years 1814-1816. 121 Greek orders, perhaps belonging to the temple of Minerva, in which the three orders are said to have been employed. But it has been asserted that the finest remains of that temple were car- ried to Tripolitza, to adorn mosques, fountains, and private houses of that dirty, ill-built town. Returning to the path which leads to Mistra, the modern capital of Laconia, we crossed a bare treeless plain, which, with the arid sides of the mountains and the dreariness of the aspect on every side, renders the valley of Tegea the wildest in the Mtirea. It is burnt up by the sun in summer ; elevated above the sea sufficiently to be covered with snow in winter ; destitute of running water, for the springs afford but a very bad beverage to the inhabitants. When all these circumstances are considered, one cannot conceive why the capital of a great province should have been selected in a po- sition so destitute of all the necessaries of life. Tripolitza lies between the ruins of Tegea and Mantinea, now reduced to a corrupted marsh, called Milias ; and from the population of these ancient cities, that of Tripolitza is said to have been formed. Passing and repassing many times a torrent, honoured with the name of Saranta-Potamos (the forty rivers) after all only so many drains from the mountains, we halted at the khan, shaded with noble planes, where we refreshed ourselves with goat-milk. Ascending a mountain we came to the limits of the Laconian territory, and had a view of the grand range of Mount Taygetus. The summits, loaded with snow, powerfully contrasted with the dark firs which covered the lower parts. Going down with diffi- culty among the rocks of the mountain we had crossed, we halted for the night in a khan, truly Lacedaemonian ; for, ac- cording to the rigid economical laws of that state, the houses were to be constructed with the saw and the hatchet alone. Setting out in the morning as soon as the sun enlightened the valley of the Eurotas, at the time well expressed by the modern Greek name charamata, the joyful season, we soon arrived at the bridge on that river. This royal stream as it is now called, Basili-Potamos, was then in full channel, and its banks clothed with tall reeds and rose-bays wanted only the swans to make it correspond with the descriptions of the poets. Alighting from my horse, I had a delightful walk along the stream ; for the morning, although calm was cool, and the silence of the valley was interrupted only by the noise of the cascades of the river. Looking across it I observed several Tchacons (the modern name of the Lacedemonians or Spartans) employed in cutting reeds. Asking them, where were the Old Walls, a name known in the country, they pointed with the finger towards M agoiila. Hence I concluded, that the site of the memorable city of Lycur- gus might not be so difficult to discover as some late travellers VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. Q 122 Travels in the Morca, $c. had represented. Travelling along the range of low hills which run parallel to Mount Taygetus, on which are situated the few remains of Sparta ; and near a canal, which at its junction with the Eurotas forms a kind of island, we met a number of sun- burnt labourers employed at the plough, rousing their oxen with howiings more like those of the beast of the desert, than those of human beings. Arriving in the village of Magoula we were in- vited by the women to go into their orchards, watered by the Thiasus. There we were environed with a number of bowers composed of vines intertwisted with mulberry, lemon, and pome- granate-trees. Resting myself for a moment, I proceeded on to Sparta. We are told by Strabo, that one of the suburbs of Sparta rose up in the midst of a marshy spot of ground, after- wards so much elevated, that the temple of Limnsean Bacchus was secured from inundation. Where this temple was situated is, as I have said, covered with vines and mulberry-trees. From this place the summits of Mount Taygetus, broken and shattered by earthquakes, have a very forbidding appearance. In the course of time Sparta took the name of Lacedsemon, which at first designated the whole country of Laconia. At last the two names were used indiscriminately, like Pisa and Olympia, or Lutetia Parisiorum. Neither of the ancient names however are now known, or at least employed, by the modern Laconians ; and the name Old Walls (Palaia-Ktireia) in the present day serves to guide the stranger to the city of Lycurgus and Leonidas. The only ruin which, with any certainty, indicates the posi- tion of Sparta is the theatre, which, like almost every theatre in Greece, is formed in a semicircular shape, on the last of the little hills on which the town of Sparta was situated. From this emi- nence I had an excellent view of the plain, bounded on the west by the chain of Taygetus, and on the east by the Menalaian range, which border the fertile valley of the Eurotas ; lowering down as they advance southwards. Traversing in various direc- tions the ground once covered by Sparta, so few remains can be discerned, that, were it not for the Eurotas and the mountains on each side, one would doubt whether he really was on that spot on which such a town as Sparta once stood. To account for the absolute disappearance of every memorial *of that cele- brated city, it is not my purpose to endeavour; but we have only to consider that the modern Mistra, a town founded and estab- lished by barbarians, whatever be their country, was situated near the antique Sparta ; it will not be difficult to suppose that the monuments of the old city went to construct the new. As a proof of this opinion, the bridges on the Eurotas and the *Tbiasu9, have been built with stones drawn from the ruins of tlje old city : not a day passes, as one may say, in which more In the Years 1814-1816. 123 materials of the same sort are not carried away. Earthquakes have already produced great changes in many parts of Greece. Whatever -may have been the causes of its desolation, still is it true that the plough now labours the sloping hills over which Sparta was once distributed. The eminence above the theatre is the only one not in cultivation. On each side of that edifice I remarked fragments of a wall which, notwithstanding their solid construction, I did not conceive to be of great antiquity. But the marble seats of the theatre mentioned by Pausariias are no longer to be seen. Whilst I was sketching the plain of Sparta from the theatre, a young Rhodian who accompanied me repeated the first scene of the Hecuba of Euripides; a piece in which we had both borne a part in the representation some months before, in the college of Cydonia, on the opposite coast of Asia. This was, perhaps, the first time that the theatre of Lacedaemon repeated the accents of Melpomene. Even in the severe maxims of tragedy, as well as in the pleasantry of comedy, Sparta would have apprehended that something might have been insinuated, injurious to the religious respect rigidly due to her laws. Setting off from Magoula, two hours before sun-rise, by a bright moon, for Leondari, we soon heard the noise of the cas- cades of the Eurotas, and travelled up the valley intersected by canals for irrigation. Well might the ancients divinise that river, for it is the source of both profit and pleasure to the country. And if the swans have deserted the stream it is to be attributed to the state of alarm in which they were kept, by the very frequent report of fire-arms on its banks. I had been assured that along the river, from place to place, I should find quays, constructed of large irregular blocks of stone, in the Cyclopian style ; but the plague having broken out in the isle of Eubcea, and having even appeared in Thebes, I was compelled to hasten my motions, lest, if it should make its way into the Morea, I should be refused admission into the lazarettos of Italy, whither I was going. We passed over a plain covered with mul- berry-trees, kept by Albanians. Of these trees, once so abundant in Peloponesus as (it is said) to have occasioned its modern name ? the Morea; the far greater quantity were destroyed by these same race of men in 1770 ; when they, without mercy, massacred the un- happy Greeks, who had risen against the Turkish government, in- stigated and afterwards abandoned and sacrificed by the Russians. A rugged path across the mountains gave us an extended and last prospect of the rich valley of the Eurotas, and soon brought us to Leondari, supposed to be placed on the site of the Laconian Leuc- tra. The famine, which afflicted the Morea in 1816 and 1817, had been so severe, that we had great difficulty in procuring Q2 " 12-4 Travels in the Morea, $c. provisions in that miserable little town. I mounted up to the acropolis, where some ruins may still be seen: and our guide pointed out, on the opposite slopes of Mount Ogdani, formerly Boreas, the respective sources of the Eurotas and the Alpheus. On the summit of that mountain, the Pelasgians endeavoured by sacrifices to appease the fury of that most formidable of ail the winds to the people of Peloponesus. Continuing our course to Sinano, probably on the site of Skiritei, we arrived a mile farther on at the ruins of Megalopolis, the city which had the honour to produce the judicious and veracious historian Polybius, and a topographer of excellent service to the traveller in the coun- tries he has described. Here our first business was to examine the theatre, one of the most spacious of Greece, formed as usual in a semicircle, on the slope of a hill, on the left bank of the Helisson, now called Comeno-Gephyri, from a broken bridge across that little river, which falls into the Alpheus. Higher up the hill than the theatre, we found several Arcadian women, wives and daughters of the shepherds who wander with their flocks in these solitary districts. Some of them were employed in curdling milk for cheese, in a large kettle, suspended from the branch of an oak over a fire ; others in churning butter, while the remainder were occupied in turning and examining the cheese, laid out on hurdles, where the cool air could pass on all sides. Such a scene, worthy of the pen of a Theocritus or a Virgil, I endeavour to preserve by my pencil. Examining in all directions the remains of Megalopolis, a city, as early as in the second century become a spacious desert, I observed, on the op- posite side of the Helisson, the foundation of a Doric temple, and at a little distance the ruins of another, of larger size, of which part of the walls, and the greater number of the columns, still keep their place erect, although broken over at different heights from the ground. In suitable circumstances, by the aid of the bas-reliefs, and the inscriptions, often laid open after heavy rains, compared with the descriptions in Pausanias, great progress might be made in ascertaining the position and the names of many ruined edifices of Megalopolis, which is, as far us can now be discovered, really deserving the title of the great city. From Megalopolis we proceeded to Caritena, where provisions were obtained without difficulty, for a quantity of corn had been lately imported from Odessa, on the north or Russian coast of the Euxine. From the acropolis I had a' charming prospect down the valley of the Alpheus, there called Carbonaro, making its way northward between mountains of considerable height. Caritena possesses nothing remarkable, we therefore pursued our journey for two hours in a northern direction, we came in view of Dimitzana, on the ridge of a low hill: and six leagues west- In the Years 18141816. 125 south-west from Caritena, was situated Phanari, a town not far from Andritzena. Continuing our journey still northwards we halted at the cottages of Ambelos, near the base of the Cyclo- pian inclosure of Gortys, where we could observe several towers built of irregular blocks of stone, similar to the very antique ramparts of Mycenae. Hastening on towards north-west we came to Englinova, where a number of springs form a stream which falls into the Alpheus. On inquiry I learned from t\ie country people that, on a neighbouring hill, called Troupais, were ruins and marbles, which may be worth seeing. According to our computation we were now two leagues from Anargyri, supposed to be tine place of the ancient Iri, and soon afterwards came to a ferry over the Alpheus, a little below the influx of the Ladon. By our guides we were informed that, from Caritena to Dimitzana, the distance is three hours' journey, and eight hours from Dimitzana to Tripolitza. Travelling down the course of the Alpheus, I observed its water to be clouded, very opposite to those of the Eurotas, which are of a beautiful limpid green hue. The peculiar dress of the Arcadian nymphs, on the north of the Alpheus, in general tali and well-shaped, and their grace- ful mode of disposing the veil with which the head is covered, render them very fit subjects for the pencil. So also do the scenes presented by the country, strickingly contrasting with the dry barren ridges of Tegea. Notwithstanding the many advantages of the country they inhabit, even in the midst of cultivated grounds, nothing but miserable straw huts were to be seen. For the Arcadians are in the habit of dwelling in retired parts of the mountains, in order to avoid receiving the Turks and Mahometan Albanians, whom, under the title of military persons, they are obliged to lodge. To add to the distress of this interesting people, whilst the various contributions to the state were rigidly exacted, the Arcadians suffered severely from want of provisions, especially of corn, instead of which they were oblidged to employ sweet acorns. Had we not happily met with goat-herds occasionally, who furnished us with milk and cheese, I should have resorted to the same kind of food ; for it was impossible for me to make use of the bread, although obtained at a very high price ; for it was composed of various wild seeds rather than of wheat. Surveying, but in too hasty a way, the remains of the memorable Olympia, daily suffering encroachments from the Alpheus, I proceeded on to Pyrgos ; and hiring a boat on the nearest shore, was at length safely landed in Zante. So far Mr. Didot. 126 Travels in the Morca, $c. Having finally bid adieu to the prosperous Pyrgos, and to the melancholy remains of Olyinpia and Pisa, last hastening to extinction, I again traversed the Alpheus at the usual ferry, and proceeded for a mile between low hills clothed in vineyard to Agolinitza. Between us and the coast, in the midst of cultivated fields, appeared a multitude of small tents of cotton-cloth, which reminded me of a Turkish cemetery, but which turned out to be really tents under which the inhabitants sleep in summer, for coolness and to be free from musquitoes and other troublesome insects. At a distance along the shore I descried the extended fishing-grounds and lakes formed by the Alpheus, which, as be- fore-mentioned, has changed its entrance into the sea. Stopping no longer in Agolinitza than was necessary to complete our travelling provisions, we pushed on southward, along the base of Mount Minthe, and in less than an hour came to a chapel dedicated to St. Nicolas, an object of great veneration among the mariners of this coast who, as in the days of Plato, hope to obtain favours by presents, which ought to be the reward only of devout prayers. The chapel is built on the foundation of an ancient temple, consecrated to the seven Pleiades, daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione. Superstition may change its objects, but the sentiment is ever the same ; and St. Nicolas has now the honour to perform the same good services to the seamen, with those formerly ascribed to the seven stars. The chain of lakes, still runs parallel to the coast for more than two leagues ; the sea appearing to be covered with small green isles, separated by channels of water, on the borders of which are seen huts and land-marks for the use of the men employed in the fishery. We came soon afterwards to the river CrMlcis, w T hich passes by the walls of Skilluns among the mountains, a place worthy of memory. For in the solitude of that remote city Xenophon, equally eminent as a soldier, a statesman, and a historian, pre- pared for the public eye his admirable writings. His account of the expedition of the younger Cyrus into Babylonia, and of the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks under Xenophon himself, will, in conjuction with Caesar's own Commentaries, ever be regarded as the most perfect model of instructive military history. After some time the road is hemmed in between the mountains and the salt-lakes along the shore : it is supported on arcades over a deep marsh, and commanded by Clidi, a small fort seated on a rock, and serving, as the name imports, as the key of the passage along the coast. The grass-hoppers or locusts, a refractory race, had some time before been duly excommunicated, by the autho- rity of the bishop of the district; but they had not the less made sad havoc on the crops in the neighbouring plains. In the Years 1814-1816. 127 Passing by the khan of Bouzi, on the river Neda, our ears were assailed by horrible screams and exclamations from a poor woman whose murdered husband and son still palpitated on the ground before us ; an effect of the wanton lawless barbarity of some Turks from the town of Arcadia, where we were to halt for the night. At the ford of the Neda, called also Paulitza and Hellenico, we were within six leagues of Phigalia, or Phigalis, near the present village Paulitza, towards the source of the river. Proceeding along the dry beach of the Cyparissian bay, we arri- ved at the river of the same name, now the Cartella-Potamos which, within these few years, has so far changed its course as to have abandoned a bridge of five arches, built by the Venetians. Soon after we had forded the stream, we were accosted in the most arrogant and threatening manner by some Turks, armed more like robbers than soldiers, who kept by us until we entered Arcadia, the town where they were in quarters. Scrambling up the stair-like streets of the town, we at last found hospitable accommodation in the house of the Greek agent of the British consul in Patras. The town now called Arcadia, although wholly unconnected with the internal region of that name, for it is situated within the limits of Messenia, from its position among the rugged precipices of the promontory Platanistus, must at all times have been a place of importance: for it commands the passes into Messenia, whether by the sea-coast or over the mountains. Various relics of ancient architecture presented themselves to my eye as I passed on to my lodging : but the character of the Turks of Arcadia was such that I did not dare to appear out of doors. It was not without more mortification than I shall attempt to express, that, having seen so much of Greece, of those parts particularly which are little, or indeed it might be said not at all known to the rest of Europe, I was under the necessity of leaving that most interesting country, without being enabled to give some account of the southern districts. The character of the inhabitants of the country of the ancient Spartans, is unfortunately such as rather to discourage than to invite the traveller to enter their boundaries. Yet I must be permitted to say, that this character is drawn from the reports of their oppre sers; and, as it was said of old, oppression will drive even the wise man mad. All I can say on the subject is this, that, as I had occasion to notice before, in describing the route from Janina to the sea-coast, depraved, desperate, as men may be, by placing yourself wholly in their power, by relying on their honour, seldom if ever do you run any risk. 1128 Travels in the Morea, <$r. It is not a little remarkable that, in ancient times, places which seem to have no natural resemblance (connection they could not have) were marked by the same or similar names. Thus, in Thessaly, we find an Ithome, and in the southern part of Peloponesus we have another Ithome in the vicinity of Messene. The unsettled state of Europe in general, which, in even countries of regular established systems of government, deprived the traveller of the protection necessary to render his researches useful, deprived me of the opportunity of visiting Messenia in the manner which would have been desirable. We hear continually of the corsairs of Maina, of the free-booters of other parts of the Morea. It is not, however, to be doubted that either a just system of government in their own country, or the exertion of the authority, which, without proper inter- ference, independent nations have a right to exercise, the cor- sairs of the Archipelago might soon be brought within the pale of civilization. The time for my departure from the Morea for France now fast approached, I therefore made all haste forward to Coron, where on the 18th of Angust, embarking on-board a French brig, I, on the 15th of September, had the indescribable consolation of once more placing my foot on my native land at Marseilles. ADVENTURES MICHAIL.OW, AMONG THE KALMUCS, KIRGHIZ, AND KIWENSES. I WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. LONDON: PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS & Co. BRIDE COURT, BRIDGE STREET. 1822. SHACKELL AMD AHROWSMITH, JOHNSON 'S-CODHT, VLEET-STREET. ADVENTURES OF MICHAILOW, A RUSSIAN CAPTIVE, AMONG THE KALMUCS, KIRGHIZ, AND KIWENSES ; WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. I was born in the reign of SHAH NADIR, in the little town o. Suzchaas, several days journey South of the Caspian Sea. My parents lived in a mean hut, and supported themselves, like other indigent Persians, by agriculture. Three children, a daughter and two sons, were the only fruit of their conjugal love. The devastations of the last Turkish war, and a scanty harvest, distinguished the year of SHAH NADIR'S decease, 1747. The scantiness of this harvest occasioned a famine in Persia. A great part of the people fell a sacrifice to this calamity, and others sought a support in the towns near the Caspian Sea. My parents too were compelled to leave their native place, and set out for Hatch, a flourishing commercial town, on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. My father, and his whole family, left their hut in the most wretched condition. My brother, who was but five years old, and myself, who was only six, followed our ragged parents as naked as when we were born. Our only sustenance during the journey was fruit ; and we slept in the open air. While we were travelling, some Caucasian robbers took away my brother, and I have never since heard what became of him. The rest of us reached Ratch in safety. Here my parents sought employ- ment as day labourers ; but the number of poor that had flocked to this neighbourhood was very considerable and the wages were consequently very low. An Armenian soon became acquainted with my sister and married her, and thus eased the cares of my parents. But what could they do with me, who was then but six years of age ! My uncle advised my father either to sell me, or to give me away. Paternal affection in vain objected to this proposal. The reasonable representations of my uncle at length succeeded, and preparations were made to send me away. I 4 Adventures of Michailoiv accidentally overheard these consultations. I wept bitterly, and resisted as much as I could, but in vain. In our way we passed by the residence of the Russian Consul, IWAX BAKUXIX. My father and I were here met by an Armenian groom, in the ser- vice of the Consul, who said to my father, " Whither are you taking this boy ?" My father replied, " Poverty compels me to lead my only son to market for sale f The Armenian expressed a wish to purchase me for Jiimself, and calling my father into the stable, soon concluded a bargain. I received a buttered Church-cake* , and my father half a ruble and three Churek- cakes. I eat my cake with cries and tears, and my father left me for ever. There was at that time in the house of the Consul a Pop (or Russian Priest) named IWAN AFANASSICH. This Ecclesiastic saw me that very evening, and, becoming fond of me, wished to adopt me as his eon. The Armenian resisted his solicitations for some time, but the Consul supported the priest, and at last obliged the Armenian to give me up. The priest then renewed his promises, and received from the Consul a written document, which secured to him a legal claim to my person. IWAN AFANASSICH conducted me to his house, ordered me a bath, caused a clean shirt and a silk jacket to be given me, and treated me in every respect as his own son. After some days he conducted me to a large stone building, which, I was informed afterwards, was a church, when he gave me his bene- 'tliction, and named me WASSILIJ. My Persian name was BUY. The generous IWAN AFANASSICH did not officiate constantly at the residence of the Consul, but performed the clerical duties alternately with another priest on board the merchant vessels trading from Ratch. After a few weeks the other priest returned from a voyage, and IWAN AFANASSICH was obliged to embark on board another vessel, while the former remained at the Con- - suPs. AFANASSICH left me with his colleague, to whom he strongly recommended me. But the new priest was a man of low, vulgar ideas, destitute of humanity, and addicted to drink- ing. A few days after the departure of my second father, my mother, for the first time, paid me a visit. Our joy on meeting each other again was inexpressible, and our tears flowed abun- dantly. The hard-hearted priest, however, paid no regard to Af these tender emotions, but tore me away from the arms of this affectionate mother, and with a torrent of abuse pushed her out * These cakes are very common among the Tartars, Kalmucs, and Southern Russians. They are composed of wheat flour and water, are made into -the forin.of a plate, and are about the thickness of a finger. in Tartary. 5 of the house. But this was not the only mortification I had to endure from this cruel man. One day during Lent, when I had fasted for a whole day, I drew secretly from the drawer of the table, some fragments of a Just-meal., in order to satisfy my hunger. The curate unfortunately found me eating, and, for this trifling offence, flogged me most unmercifully. At length, to my great joy, my benefactor, the good AFANASSICH, return- ed, and not only allowed me to see, and speak to, my mother, but even enabled me to make her several trifling presents. Not long after this the Consul left Ratch, for Astracan, to which place we accompanied him. Some time after our arrival in that city, I was baptized in one of the churches, and received the name of Michailow., from a merchant of the name of Michailow Chlebnikow, who stood as sponsor. AFANASSICH, after the lapse of six months, was appointed Proto-Pop (chief-priest), and was called first to Ichornoijar, and afterwards to TZARITZYN. This worthy man took me with him wherever he went, and, intending me for the church, caused me to learn to read and write. But, alas ! I had lived only five years with AFANAS- SICH, when death tore him from me. After the death of this Proto-Pop, I became the property of his widow, who, soon after the decease of her husband, left TZARITZYN, and went to live at SARATOW with her son, who held some clerical office there. She, however, soon exchanged this new residence for JENATAJEWSK, having been invited by her daughter, who had there married the Kalmuc interpreter!^ KIRILLIJ MAKARITCH WESELOFF, and who was also a widow. Several years passed away, and the mother and her daughter died. I then entered into the service of Lieutenant SAWA SPIRIDOMITCH WESELOFF, half brother to the aforesaid WeselofF. My new master was at this time with a Company of Kalmuc Dragoons, who always lived in the neighbourhood of the Kal- mucs, and were obliged to accompany them in all their warlike excursions. I served with my master in two Kalmuc campaigns, and was at the great battle of the Kalaus, where above five thou- sand of the enemy were slain. After having faithfully served my master for several years, a particular incident occasioned a separation, to which I attribute ah 1 the misfortunes that afterwards befel me. I immediately enlisted into the service of the Cossacks, agreed for an annual pay of eighty rubles, and received thirty rubles bounty. I entered into the Cossack service the latter end of December, 1770, just when the Kalmucs were preparing to flee to China. ELBASHA CHAN, who was on the opposite side of the Volga, (J Adventures of Michailow between ICHORNOIJAR and JENATAJEWSK, endeavoured to lull into security the llussian commander KISHINSKOJ, by pretending there were signs of commotion among the KIRGHIZ, which he wished to suppress. KISHIXSKOJ immediately sent him a SSOTNIK (or commander of a hundred Cossacks) with seventeen Cos- sacks and an Interpreter, to be employed against the Kirghiz, under the command of ALEXANDER MICHAILOWITCH DUD YE, Captain of Dragoons, who was at that time in the Kalmuc head- quarters. I was one of these seventeen Cossacks. At Kalmuc a bondman of my master was conducting a cow into the town for sale, and meeting me in the street, requested me to seh 1 it for him. I asked the man why he would not sell it himself. He made numerous excuses, and was so very im- portunate, that at last I conducted the cow to the market and sold it. Although I never once suspected it, it afterwards turned out, that the Kalmuc slave had stolen the cow. The owner saw the cow, and claimed it from the purchaser as his property. They both went to my master, who questioned me about it. I imme- diately named the Kalmuc of whom I had received the cdw. The Kalmuc, however, denied it so obstinately, that my master considered me to be the guilty person, and caused me to undress to be flogged with a Plette (a cat-o'-nine-tails). I had received two or three stripes when the wife of my master entered, and insisted upon my release, being convinced of my innocence. I _ was accordingly released, but was so exasperated at this un- .' ^nerited punishment, that I did not remain another moment in the house. We left Jenatajewsk on the second of January, 1771. We went twenty-seven versts up the Volga in barges, and then crossing the river, landed opposite the Wkoponozv Stanitza. We continued our march as far as the river Achtuba, which is in reality an arm of the Volga, branching from that river not far from Tzaritzin, and again running into it near Jenatajewsk. The Achtuba being at that time so much swollen, we could not find any ford ; we therefore made a raft, upon which we placed our saddles and baggage, and we ourselves swam over on the backs of our horses. We passed the night on the opposite bank, and next morning continued our march towards the camp of the Chan. We had yet two days journey before us, and having but little provision with us, we took on the first day a couple of sheep and on the second a Camel, which served us for food. During our march the Vice- Chan had made known to all the Kalmucs assembled in the Steppe (sandy desert) NRYN, his in- tention of fleeing to China, and had sent them back to their habitations, that they might make the necessary preparations for their journey. ,Ve met several troops, each consisting of from in Tartary. 7 ten to twenty armed Kalmucs, who were returning towards the Volga. We enquired, " Why do you return ? Are the Kirghiz already vanquished ?" The Kalmucs replied, " Our preparations have quieted them : the Vice-Chan has dismissed us, and will himself reach the Volga to-morrow. We Cossacks, not suspecting they would deceive us, cheerfully continued our march, reckoning on the near approach of winter quarters. Towards evening we arrived in the neighbourhood of the Kal- muc camp, and immediately sent forward our Interpreter to order quarters for us. Our horses, which had not left the Kuban till late in the Autumn, were so much fatigued, that it was with the utmost difficulty they dragged themselves along, and as we sensibly felt the increasing cold weather, we were very impatient for warm huts. I followed the Interpreter somewhat quicker than the other Cossacks, and had not rode far, when I heard at a distance a warm altercation, and soon after distin- guished the voice of our Interpreter. I at last perceived a Kalmuc hut, from which they were just turning out the Inter- preter. I addressed a Kalmuc Uurchaitch priest, (fortune-tel- ler), whose name was GABUN SHARAP, and who belonged to the suit of the Lama, and said to him. " What is the meaning of this noise ?" SHARAP made no reply, but with a mild voice, said, " what is your name ?" I answered in an angry tone, " my name is WASSKA." " WASSKA,"" replied the priest, " this is a fast day with us : we do not slaughter to day, and" therefore cannot entertain you. But not far hence are the quarters of the Truchmenzes ;* pass the night with them, and return to-morrow, and I will have some meat cooked for you." In the meantime our comrades had arrived, and I called out to them, " alight, comrades, take the saddles from your horses : they will not admit us ; but we will soon find an en- trance. 1 ' We were just preparing to make ourselves masters of a hut, when the priest invited the Ssotnik, the Interpreter, and myself into his own. Having entered, we seated ourselves after the Kalmuc fashion, along the side wall of the hut. The priest immediately ordered a cup of tea for each of us, and said, " drink, my lads, that your wishes may be fulfilled." After the tea, some mare's milk was warmed for us, and while we were drinking it, the * Whoever has read in the Mogul News of the Counsellor of State Pallas, the history of the Kalmuc flight, will know that about a hundred Truchmen- zes were sent to assist the Kalmucs against the Kirghiz. 8 Adventures of Michallow priest said, " a happy journey to you." The Interpreter and I myself smiled, and said, " All is not right with hiin. ?> The priest was silent for some moments, and then asked Who was the better warrior, the Kalmuc, or the Russian? We replied angrily, " GALLUNG, (thus the priests of rank are called by the Kalmucs), thou art either drunk or mad !" The Kalmucs who were present, without attending to our reply, gave it as their opinion, that in the plain the Kalmucs were superior to the Russians, but that in the woods, the Russians had the superiority. Soon after the Gallung said, " Do any of you know how to read ?" The Interpreter pointing to me, said, " he knows how to read. 1 ' I, however, replied, " I am not a proficient in reading, but I can read so as to understand." The priest then said, " it is written in our books, that after forty-six years the Kalmucs will reign over the Russians." 1 " We had now heard enough. We arose in a passion, left the hut, and went to an acquaintance of the Interpreter, in order to pass the night there. We perceived at the entrance a slaughtered cow, and requested they would give us some of it. The host answered us rudely, and said the cow had not been killed for us ; but we were not intimidated at this reply, and, having cut off a piece of meat, we entered the hut, and boiled it for our ^ supper. They gave us some of the sticks of which the hut was built for fuel : " have you no other fuel," we asked, " than the wood of your huts ?" They replied, " this wood is decayed ; where we are to pass the winter, we shah 1 find plenty of wood, with which we can build new huts." This answer appeared to us very reasonable at that time, but we afterwards found that the Kalmucs burned the wood of their huts, that they might the more easily effect their flight. After we had eaten our supper, we laid ourselves down to rest, but our host did not appear to be at all inclined to sleep. His wife asked him, why he did not lie down ? He replied, <( do you not know that it is my turn to-night to guard the sheep ? " So saying he went away, and my comrades soon fell asleep. Soon after I heard a loud cry on the outside of the hut, and got up to see what was the matter. I found a number of people at the entrance who opposed my going out. I told them F was obliged to go out. I was answered, " make an effort to restrain your wants, and go back into the hut." I then asked, " what is the meaning of that noise ?" They an- swered, " that is nothing to you. Two Truchmenses have stolen some of our horses : our people have pursued the robbers and have caught one of them. You and your comrades will be called upon to-morrow as witnesses, but if you do not in Tartar y, remain in the hut, your testimony will not be received : such is our custom." I found that these people were mocking me, but I obeyed, and determined to complain of this treatment. When I returned to my place of rest I awoke the Inter- preter, and related to him what had happened. A new cry presently reached our ears, and we distinctly heard a person call out in the Russian language, " Good father, have mercy !" We knew it to be the voice of one of our Cossacks, who, for want of warm clothes, had laid himself down within a neighbouring- hut, and not like the other Cossacks out of doors. We imme- diately jumped up, and hastily put on our clothes. Three Kal- mucs then entered the hut and lighted a fire. While they were thus employed, I drew my knife from its case, and called out to them in a loud voice, " You shall not take us alive ! We will sell our lives dearly !" When the three Kalmucs perceived my naked knife they took to their heels, and we fastened the door with ropes that nobody might enter. We now kept up the fire with sticks which we tore from the hut, and prepared to defend ourselves as well as we could. The Kalmucs, who now assembled around our hut to the number of from fifty to sixty, called to us to surrender, assuring us that if we refused we should die. We answered boldly, " do what you please, but we will not leave the hut." They now thrust their pikes at us through the openings of the hut, but we placed the landlady with her sucking child before us, and thus guarded off the pikes. At break of day the Kalmucs renewed their threats, and again called upon us to surrender. Not daring to trust to these people, we asked for the Gallung, Sharap, who on the former evening, as we now perceived, had indirectly warned us of our danger. Sharap soon made his appearance. We said, that we put in nobody a greater confidence than in him, and wished to know of him the reason of the tumult. The priest answered, " you would not believe me yesterday, how will you believe what I tell you now ?" We replied, we had caused him to be call- ed because we put entire confidence in [his integrity. The priest then informed us that Elbasha with all the Kalmucs were fleeing to China, that they had already made prisoner our captain of cavalry, and that we were destined to slavery. Although this account appeared to us rather improbable, we found it necessary to surrender to the assailants. The other huts were already packed upon camels, and they were just be- ginning to break up our hut, when we rushed out, ana throw- ing ourselves at the feet of the priest, implored his protection against our enemies. The honest Sharap raised us up, and en- deavoured to comfort us ; and when the others attempted to- VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. c 10 Adventures of Micliailmv drag us away by force, our benefactor said to them, " hear what I am about to say ! These people have clothes, good guns, and horses ; divide every thing they have among your- selves ; but leave me their persons. I will give them five sheep, and to each of them a warm pelt, and will conduct them to a distant part of the Steppe, that they may thence return to their homes. Do but consider that some of them have left behind them unhappy fathers and mothers, others have left their wives and children !" They replied, " how shall we allow them to go ? Dost thou not know the command of the Chan ? That, ' whoever re- turns, whether he be a Russian or a Kalmuc, shall be put to death! 1 " At these words, the priest embracing all three of us, said to them, " if you will kill these kill me first ! As long as I live no harm shall happen to them." The Kalmucs now retreated, and commenced their march. The Sharap also mounted his horse, and commanded us to fol- low' him. Being fearful of losing our protector we laid hold of the tail of his horse, and followed him with a melancholy joy. When we had proceeded some paces, the priest looked around, and perceiving his brother, who was driving a herd of mares, he immediately rode up to him, and said, " What! I suppose you think to milk your herd as far as China. Do you not see these poor people who go on foot ? You will do a good work if you give them commodious horses for riding." The brother without the least objection immediately gave us three horses ; and putting a cord into their mouths instead of a bit, we mounted and rode at the side of the priest. Not far from the place where we had reposed the preceding night we saw the dead body of a Cossack, who had belonged to our troop, lying on the ground with his head cloven. Deeply affected by this sight we alighted, covered the corpse of the un- fortunate Cossack with a mat which lay near it, and then hastened after the priest, lest we should lose him. At our next resting place, the priest caused supper to be dressed for me and my two comrades, and endeavoured to com- fort us by his encouraging conversation. " Of what use is it," said he, " to be melancholy ? Nobody, it is true, can escape his destiny ; but be assured, that, as long as I live, you have nothing to fear." We were supplied with plenty of food and some tobacco, but neither the one nor the other afforded us any real pleasure. After supper the priest caused pelts to be spread for us at the side of his resting-place, but we were too restless to think of sleep. " Sleep P said the old man, " and be not concerned : no harm shall happen to you while I live." Thus in Tartary. 11 spoke the generous priest without venturing to sleep himself, lest any one should attempt to injure us. The Kalmucs proceeded on their march the following morn- ing, and we kept close to our priest the whole of the day. In the evening a Gatzul, (an under priest,) and three other Kal- mucs came into our hut and attempted to take us away by force, and drag us before the Chan, who was two or three days journey in advance ; our protector, however, would not permit them to take us, but desired the Kalmucs to go to the Chan, and return with his orders. As to ourselves, we were quite willing to be brought before the Chan, for the Interpreter and I had several friends at his court, on whose protection we could implicity rely. Six days had now elapsed, and we had by continued marches already reached the Jaik, without hearing of the return of the messengers. In the meantime I met with an old Kalmuc ac- quaintance, a niece of the Gallung, who lived with her mother in a neighbouring hut. This female and her husband formerly guarded the cattle of my late master ; and having been aban- doned by her husband, had returned to her own country. On the evening of the sixth day, our benevolent priest sent us to this acquaintance, saying to us, " go thither, ask for some meat and pottage, and eat ; you have now nothing to fear from any thing but hunger."" We were, however, afraid of leaving our benefactor, and he caused the provisions to be brought ; to his hut. Our fears were not without foundation ; for at mid- night seven Kalmucs stole into our hut, in order to drag us away, but Sharap watched over us so diligently that he frus- trated their intentions. It was reported the next day, that the messengers had re- turned, and would conduct us to the Chan. The good priest endeavoured by encouraging words to heighten the joy we felt at this intelligence, and again wished to send us to the hut of his niece ; but we even now resisted his solicitations, and were very reluctantly conducted thither by one of his Manji (boy priests.) On our arrival at the hut, they gave us some victuals and tobacco, and having finished our meal, the niece said to her mother, " pray tell these poor people what we have just heard."" The mother then said to us, " do not go with those Kalmucs. They pretend that they come from the Chan, but they intend to take you away in order to kill you."" Our feelings were over- whelmed at this intelligence, and we left the hut in order to seek the protection of our benefactor. Not long after the vil- lains arrived with their lying message, but they were immediately sent away. 12 Several clays had passed after this incident, and we had already left the river Jemba behind us, when, as we were pro- ceeding with our loaded camels, three Kalmucs unexpectedly attacked the Interpreter and myself, seized our horses, and galloped oft' with us at full speed. I was seized first and conducted to a great distance in the Steppe (desert). Already the marching Kalmucs were out of sight, when from the top of a hill I perceived a number of people, some on foot, others on horseback, towards whom we gradually approached. On our coming up to them, I soon recognized two of our Cossacks, one of whom they were cutting to pieces ; the other either because he had irritated them by a too long resistance, or had by his conduct brought upon himself a greater punishment, had been bound to the tail of a wild horse, and was thus dragged about until lie expired, when he was also cut in pieces. During this bloody spectacle we arrived on the spot : they immediately pushed me from my horse, and dragged me forward. Fortunately for me, at this moment a Saissang (comman- der) of rank in the service of the Chan, came riding by us with his Tushimell (privy counsellor). The former knew me, and said to the ruffians, " this man is one of those whom the Chan has demanded; give him up immediately."* They re- plied, " the Chan has not demanded him, and we will not give him up, but will kill him." Some old Kalmucs, however, among the rest had more compassion. " What advantage," said they, " can the death of this man be to you ? Be satis- fied with the blood of those already slain, and let this man go."" The Tushimell then said to these ferocious savages, " you disobey the command of the Chan ; you shall see what will be the consequence." These words had such an effect upon them, that I was immediately delivered up to the Tushimell, that he might do with me as he pleased. At this moment the honest Sharap arrived at full gallop, and rescued the Interpreter. The Tushimell ordered me to mount behind him, and then hastened away with me in order to overtake those who had marched forward. When we had proceeded a few vcrsts, we were met by a Gatzul, who had scarcely seen me. when he demanded me of the Tushimell, saying, " I have an only brother ; this man shall be my second brother. I will solicit the Chan for him at the end of our march." The Tushimell immediately gave me up to the Gatzull, and^continued his march. When I found myself alone with the Gatzul, he explained to me why they had killed the two Cossacks, and said that they intended to have treated me in the same way. The Interpreter and I knew these two Cossacks: they had not been treated so in Tariary. 13 well as ourselves, having been dragged away on foot. We had not seen them since our captivity, until the evening before their death, when one of them seeing us, called aloud. " Welcome, comrades ; we are now four in number, and may venture to return home." The other Cossack, however, whom we after- Avards saw dragged about by the horse, said to his companions, " We need not be in a hurry, comrades, let us rather wait for a more convenient opportunity ; we will then violate the Kalnmc women, take away from the Kalmucs their best horses and arms, and return with our booty." A Kalmuc who overheard us, contrary to our expectation, understood the Russian lan- guage, and secretly reported this conversation to his countrymen, and it was on this account that they attacked us. Towards evening my new benefactor conducted me to his hut, and having introduced me to his mother, who was seventy years of age, and to his brother who had been married but a few months, he said to them " I have adopted this man as my brother." Then addressing himself to me, he said, " live here in the hut of our mother." A few moments after he left us in order to overtake the Chan, who was in advance with the armed Kalmucs. The brother resembled the Gatzul in goodness of disposition, but the wife was the very reverse. The husband was, with very little intermission, engaged night and day in attending to the herds, and whenever he returned for a short time to the hut, he enquired whether I was contented. Although I was not treated in a friendly way, and had very little to eat, yet I did not complain. The good Loosang, however, so my host was called, suffered me to want nothing while he was in the hut. I had lived in this manner for some time, when the honest Gatzul returned: his first words to me were, " how fares it with you ?" I answered, " very well." The Gatzul, however, enquired of his neighbours how I was treated, and learned the truth. He immediately called his brother to him, and said, " thy wife is a vile creature, and thou art no better, since thou dost not tame her. I introduced this man to thee as my brother, but since thy wife has treated him so ill, I will no longer have any thing to do with thee ; let our effects be divided." The representations and entreaties of the brother at length reconciled the Gatzul, who then delivered me up to the care of his aged mother, while he himself returned to the Chan. Loosang, however, was so enraged at his wife for having excited the anger of his brother, that he discarded her, and would have nothing more to say to her. Her relations endeavoured to per- suade him to alter his determination, by saying, that under the present circumstances people ought to concilhxte friends, and 14 Adventures of Michailow not dismiss them. This reasoning had the desired effect : the brother of the Gatzul again received his discarded wife into his hut. I had now passed>a month with my new host, marching daily through the Kirghiz Steppes (desert) : the cattle were mucn fatigued ; for the incessant attacks of the Kirghiz compelled the Kalmucs to fly as speedily as possible. When we arrived at the river Irzick, every one expected that the horde would rest, in order to negociate with the Russians. The Kalmucs themselves were rejoicing at the prospect of returning to Russia, when suddenly a report was spread, that the hordes, which had re- mained on the other side of the Volga, had put themselves in mo- tion, and, having destroyed a number of cities, were likewise fleeing to China. " Prince Donderkow," it was reported, " had destroyed Je- natajewsk and Chornoijar, and had already arrived on the Jaik. The Derbatisch Uluss had destroyed Dubowsk, Tzaritzin and Sareptish Colony. Jandyk, the uncle of the Chan, had reduced Astrachan to a heap of ashes, and was approaching with valuable booty. No stanitze (village) on the Volga remains entire." This report deprived us of all hopes of returning, and also accelerated our march. I was now too intimidated to make an attempt to escape, being fearful of falling into the hands of the Kalmucs who were approaching us in the rear. I therefore re- mained with my host. It is true I was not so badly treated as at first, but still I was a prisoner, and I longed to return to Russia. Being no longer in fear for my life, I frequently strolled about in the neighbour- hood. In one of these excursions, I went into the Churull (convent) of the Lama, and there found two of my former com- rades, who were slaves, one of whom had lost an eye. The winter had now passed away, and the days became gra- dually more pleasant, as the spring advanced, so that I felt very anxious to return to the Volga. The barbarous treat- ment which I endured of two Kalmucs increased my wishes. I was one day, as usual, driving the herd before me, whilst my vile hostess was attending to the laden camels at some distance behind me, when a couple of Kalmucs seeing me, one of them said to the other, " What will you bet, that I do not strike that slave from his horse with a single stroke of my platte ?" The other replied, " Nonsense : you cannot do it." The former un- willing to have boasted in vain, immediately struck me so forci- bly over the face, that my eyes appeared to strike fire. " There, '"" said the other, " you see he did not fall. But now you shall see, that I will have him down." So saying, he took aim with his platte, and gave me so powerful a blow, that it quite stunned me. in Tartary. \ 5 The two Kalmucs then galloped away, and my cruel hostess approaching me, began to scold me, and said, " You worthless fellow, why do you not drive on the sheep ? Do you not see that the horde have already halted ?" I was so enraged at this abusive language, that, could I have procured a gun or a knife, I should probably have laid violent hands on myself. I however resolved to escape, whatever might be the consequence. We had already proceeded ten days' journey beyond the Torjai rivers, and expected to rest there for some months, when it was reported that the Russians were approaching. The march was instantly renewed, and we had to traverse for three days a dreary desert, where the water was so foul, that even the cattle refused to drink it. When we had passed this frightful place, we were attacked by the Kirghiz, from whose hands we with difficulty delivered ourselves. This happened in the be- ginning of April, and two days after, I effected my escape in the following manner. The nights having already become mild and pleasant, my masters slept in the open air, in order to guard a couple of young camels which had been recently foaled. This circum- stance was to me very favourable, as it gave me an opportunity of providing myself in the hut with necessaries for my journey. I accordingly furnished myself with half a pud of flour, a dozen parcels of tobacco leaves, two legs of mutton, a fat sheep's tail, together with a field kettle to boil the meat in. Besides these I took seventeen silver rubles, and a dress with silver buttons, which belonged to my hostess. I put them all into a bundle, which I fastened with a rope of camel's hair. Being thus pre- pared, I slung across my shoulders the musket of my host, stole softly out of the hut with the bundle under my arms, and having saddled a brown mare, which was fastened to the outside of the hut, I mounted, and, invoking the protection of heaven, rode slowly from the place. The day already began to dawn, and here and there I could perceive people loading their camels, and placing kettles over the fire for tea, but fortunately no one observed me. Not far from the huts I caught a grey mare, and then with my two horses, I galloped at full speed^ till I reached the summit of a hill, which was a few versts distant from the camp. I secured the horses at the top of the hill, and then prepared my break- fast. By means of the lock of my gun I procured some fire, which I kept up by kobyl grass ; (Stepa pennata) ; I then mixed some flour and water together, and of the dough I formed Churek-cakes, which I baked in the kobyl ashes. While I was thus engaged, I frequently looked towards the camp, and, to my 16 Adventures of Michatlow great joy, found that the Kalmucs were gradually disappearing, till at length they were entirely out of sight. After I had finished my breakfast, which consisted of twelve Churek-cakes, I again mounted my horse, and rode westward. Towards evening I perceived before me, at a great distance, two horsemen, who were evidently approaching me, and, in order to avoid meeting them, I went southward, and made my horses go as fast as they could. When it became dark, I halted, laid my- self down, and slept till day-break. I continued my journey without breakfasting, and about noon again perceived some peo- ple approaching towards me. It was now in vain to avoid them, for they had seen me, and I was persuaded their horses were better than mine. I soon found myself surrounded by seven horsemen, though they were yet at some distance. I at first imagined they were Russians, but I soon perceived by their red dress, and round caps, that I had to contend with Kirghiz. On coming near they gave me to understand by signs that I must throw away my gun. I immediately alighted from my horse, laid down my gun, and retired a few paces. The Kirghiz now alighted also, and took from me every thing I had. They even stripped me of my clothes, and in the room of them gave me a ragged garment which had been thrown away by the Kalmucs. After I had put on this ragged frock, they ordered me to ascend a hill, which was at a short distance, and, having first examined my bundle, they followed me. When I reached the top of the hill, I observed a number of huts, and saw many of the Kirghiz, who were collecting their herds ; others were engaged in milking and other employments. The Kirghiz, who had taken me, now made a fire, and placed a kettle over it in order to cook some victuals. I was not a little anxious to eat, since I had not taken a morsel since the preceding morn- ing : but how great was my disappointment, when I saw them put but five small sheep's ribs into the kettle, and yet there were more than Jive persons present who were to partake of this meal. How, thought I, can this suffice for all of us ? But, perhaps, there is a sick person in the hut, for whom they are making broth of this meat, surely a second kettle will be placed on the fire. At length the meat being boiled was put into a dish, and, as is also customary with the Kalmucs, was cut into small pieces. They then washed their hands, offered up a prayer according to the Mahometan rites, and then divided the meat among them- selses. Each of them received his little share in a cup, which contained little more than a spoonful, and I had the mortification of viewing them. During the meal, however, they endeavoured to comfort me, promising to take me to Oremburgh, arid there in Tartary. 17 deliver me up to a Kirghiz interpreter. Two of them threw me n few morsels of meat : if they had given me the whole meal, it would not have satisfied my hunger. I was still expecting to see another kettle, till at last they pre- pared to go to sleep. My feet were now put in irons, and my ] lands fastened to my neck with ropes, which were drawn so tight, that I was totally unable to move them. They then obliged me to lie down in the hut, and one of the large felt coverlets, Avith which their huts are usuallv covered, was spread over me so as to expose only my head. The seven Kirghiz then laid them- selves around me on the borders of this large covering, to pre- vent my escape during the night. I endured indescribable torments during the whole night, owing partly to my fetters, and partly to the vermin with which my covering swarmed, and there was no possibility of rub- bing myself. No one ever wished for day more than I did. In the morning they untied my hands, and divided among them the preceding day's booty. I became the share of the chieftain of this banditti ; whose name was Isbossar. The horses, the gun, and the other articles were divided among the rest. I endea- voured to make my master understand by signs, and by using some Russian and Kalmuc words, that lie would do well if he would take me to Oremburgh, where he might be sure of obtain- ing a good ransom for me : but the old man was too cunning to trust to my assertions, and pretended not to know what I meant. The Kirghiz fire with lighted tow, and are entirely unac- quainted with the nature of gun-locks ; the Kirghiz, therefore, who had received my musket, was quite amazed at the lock ; I immediately explained to him its use, but he considered his mode of shooting so convenient, that he would not hear of this inno- vation ; he therefore took off the lock, and put it in his wallet. I discovered in this wallet among other things a steel, and I re- solved to take it whenever an opportunity presented itself, as it was indespensably necessary, if, at any future period, I should succeed in making my escape from the Kirghiz. These robbers went out daily to plunder, leaving one behind, in turns, to watch me and to guard the herds. After some days had passed, the Kirghiz who possessed my gun remained at home to watch. J took advantage of a few moments absence of my guard, and opening the wallet, took out the steel. I then replaced the wallet as before to avoid suspicion, and for want of a better place concealed the steel under one of the patches of my garment. A few days after, the Kirghiz wanted something from his wallet, and while he was examining its contents, he said to his companions, " I think there was a steel in my wallet." They VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. D 18 Adventures of Michailow replied, " If such a thing has been in it, it must be there still." The Kirghiz at last yielded, and I congratulated myself that my theft had brought upon me no bad consequences. The Kirghiz, whom I had robbed of the steel, had frequent occasion to cut tobacco for his own use, and being myself accus- tomed to tobacco, I always contrived to be near him during this operation, in order to obtain the stalks of the tobacco which he threw away. I was once engaged in picking up the stalks, when suddenly the Kirghiz seized my garment in the very part where the steel was concealed, and tearing off the patch, discovered the theft. " Look," cried he, " you see I was right : I knew that my steel was in the wallet." Upon this my master came into the hut, and, as my theft was apparent, he immediately seized a piece of wood, and beat me most unmercifully.* Not considering this a sufficient punishment, he took his bow, put an arrow on it, and intending to kill me, aimed directly at my breast. A t this in- stant another Kirghiz, with the intention of saving me, laid hold of the bow, when the arrow flew off, and struck me in the left leg just below the knee, where the scar may be seen to this clay. From this time I was more narrowly watched than before. They continued also to fasten my hands every night. In the day-time, however, they merely left the irons on my feet. Isbossar had three daughters, and two daughters-in-law. According to the custom of the Kirghiz, these females lived in separate huts ; in the day-time, however, they occasionally visit- ed the huts of the men. They repeatedly entreated their father to let me sleep without my hands being tied. " You know," said they, " he has irons on his feet ; how is it possible for him to escape ? !1 The father, however, paid no attention to their entrea- ties, but continued to tie my hands every night. A few weeks after I had suffered such ill-treatment from my master, one of his grand-children, a boy about seven years of age, fell ill. His complaint was the asthma. My master took me to the hut to visit the sick boy, where I found a female Kalmuc seventy years of age, who canned on among the Kirghiz the profession of a sorceress. The Kalmucs themselves are friendly to sorcerers, but the Kirghiz are still more so. Through the medium of this Kalmuc my master addressed me thus : " Thou hast lived among the Russians and Kalmucs ; they have skilful physicians ; thou, therefore, must know a remedy for the disease of my grandson." This barbarous act, together with daily observation, proves the truth of this axiom, namely, that men punish others most severely for those vices and foibles of which they themselves are guilty. The Kirghiz, for instance, punish theft in others although thieving is their profession. in Tartary. 19 I replied, " Ah ! my good father, I know nothing of the art of healing, and if I have formerly known anything of it, my misfortunes have caused me to forget it." The old man upon this pressed me still more, and said, " Do me this only favour : if you recover the health of my grandson, I will then take you to Oremburgh, and give you your liberty." This discourse operated on me very powerfully. I at once became a physician, approached the sick bed, felt the pulse of my patient, and desired him to shew me his tongue. I then pretended to reflect on the child's disease, and at last said to the old man, " It is not likely that the remedies which will restore the boy's health can be found here : In Oremburgh there are certainly many remedies to be had, but if you ride there your- self you will not be able to find them, unless you take me with you." The old man, however, was of opinion that Oremburgh was very far, and that several days would elapse before one could possibly return. My artifice being unsuccessful, I next ventured to advise a remedy, which at all events could do him no harm. I said therefore to the old man ; " Do not, on any account, allow your grandson the use of milk, but make him some good mutton- broth." I had scarcely uttered these words, when the father of the boy hastened out of the hut, brought in a sheep three years old, and slaughtered it : so that knowledge of medicine procured me at least a good meal. My patient soon began to grow better, and the parents and grandfather loaded me with caresses. Two or three days afterwards I again visited my patient, and found him alone in the hut at the side of a large vessel of sour sheeps' cream, which he was drinking most greedily. I called the mother, and with oaths and curses said to her, " Did I not desire you not to give the boy any milk ? Since you have not obeyed my directions, you will see what will be the consequence. 1 ' I immediately left the hut, and returned to my own home. The next morning I went out as usual with my leathern bag, in order to collect dung for fuel, and presently saw my master riding after me on a camel. " Wassilij,"" said he, on overtaking me, " have pity ! come along with me ; my grandson is again dangerously ill." I answered, " I assure you I can render him no farther assistance." The old man, however, would not listen to this, and said, "we have taken from the Truchmenzers three bladders filled with different kinds of medicine ; there may be something amongst them that may be of use in this disease." We then went into the hut where the sick child lay. The sorceress, who was then praying with her rosary, sat near the boy, and I with my fettered legs sat down opposite to her. The 20 Adventures of Miekailow bladders were brought, and I pretended carefully to examine the medicines. In order to give them a proof of my knowledge of medicine, I took out a drug from amongst the rest which I imagined was bear's gall, and licked it with my tongue. " Why did you lick that?" said the sorceress, " it is human gall." I replied as if I did not know it. " In my country people not only lick human gall, but they also dissolve it in brandy and then drink it. But as for this sick boy, neither gall nor any other drug will be of service to him. It is not likely he will live much longer. They may, however, give him some mare's milk." A herd of mares was immediately collected in order to pro- cure for my patient the milk I had ordered for him. While this was doing, the sorceress asked me, " How long do you think the patient has yet to live ?" I immediately asked her, " How long do you think he will live ?" The old woman answered in a low tone of voice, " I think he will live a month, or longer." I replied in a loud voice, " If he does not die this evening, he will die to-morrow morning." In less than an hour my prediction was fulfilled. I was sit- ting at the entrance of the hut, when my old master came totter- ing along with great lamentations, supported by two of his children. In order to shew him my sympathy, I secretly wetted my eyes with spittle, and then rose up and approached him. They brought with them a copper kettle with some warm water in it, and having washed the body of the child, they enveloped it in a white frock. Having done this, they immediately carried the corpse to the burying place, which was about twenty versts distant from our huts. It was dark when they returned from the f-uneral ; and all prepared for sleep. Isbossar, who, during the illness of his grandson, had treated me more humanely than before, now tied my hands again so tightly, that I could hardly endure the pain. " Why do you do so, Isbossar?" said I. The old man an- swered, " 1 miss a saddle girdle, and I suspect you." This however, was an idle pretext. He thought, probably, that I had neglected his grandson, or that I was meditating my escape. The following day was appointed for the funeral feast, which was extremely welcome to me, because I could reckon on satis- fying my hungry stomach. Several sheep were slaughtered on the occasion, and the guests had full dishes placed before them. Although I was shut up in the hut, lest I should escape during the feast, yet the inmates and the guests gave me so much cut meat, that I had not only enough for the present, but saved a whole dish for the following clay, which I carefully concealed in a corner of the hut. in Tartary. 21 In order to provide myself in future with as good meals as I had had for the last two days, I hit upon a stratagem, which completely succeeded. It is the custom of the Kirghiz to sepa- rate the lambs from their dams during the night, and to fasten the former to the huts, where they remain until the sheep are milked in the morning. (They drank more sheeps 1 milk than that of any other animal.) Without going outside the hut, I every night strangled a lamb, or killed it by pushing it forcibly against the wall of the hut, which I readily accomplished by thursting out my hands through the openings of the hut. The Kirghiz on going out found every morning a dead lamb at the side of the hut, and as they, like the Kalmucs, never eat the flesh of animals that have died a natural death, they left these dead lambs for me, and gave me a separate kettle, that I might cook in it this impure meat, as they conceived it to be. They all thought a disease had befallen the herd, and resorted to sorcery and other means to guard against the calamity. As I had now no longer occasion to complain of hunger, and having in the course of one year, which I had passed witli the Kirghiz, become accustomed to my chains, my fate appeared to rne more tolerable than at first My only fear now was lest my master should sell me to some other Kirghiz, with whom I might not be so well off as with him. For this reason I requested the old Kalmuc sorceress to let me know, if ever my master should intimate to her that he intended to sell me. The old woman always replied, " Ah ! there is no question about it : and if he should have such a design, I will let you know. 1 ' In spite of these assurances, however, this cursed woman was not sincere, for she daily encouraged my master to get rid of me as soon as possible. " For what purpose," said she one day to him, " do you keep this man ? your grandson is dead ; your lambs diminish every day ; he evidently brings nothing but mis- fortune into the house : rather sell him." By this discourse she prevailed upon the old man to send his two sons to find a buyer. In the meantime I became acquainted with another female Kalmuc, who made boots : I frequently visited her in order to drink a cup of mare's milk, or to have a little chat with her. The day on which my master's sons rode away, I called upon this acquaintance with my leathern bag filled with dung, and putting down my load seated myself at her side. " Do you not know," said she, " where the two sons of your master are gone ?" I anwered, " How should I know ?" " Poor fellow,'' said she, " Why do you not endeavour to escape from this place ? Women undertake it, and you will npt." I replied, " How can I accpmplish it, since my feet are fettered ?" " As if, 1 ' said 2& Adventures of she, " the fetters could not be loosened : there," continued she, " take this pike head, and force the lock of your fetters with it ; but conceal it carefully, lest it should be discovered. If, however, you do not make your escape very soon, you will be carried away ; for your master's sons are gone to procure a purchaser." I immediately returned home with the iron, and had I been inclined to doubt the truth of the intelligence given me by this good Kalmuc, I had now an opportunity of convincing myself of her honesty. The old sorceress came sneaking to my master, while I was lying at the side of the hut, pretending to sleep. I had learned sufficient of the Kirghiz language to enable me to un- derstand that I was the object of their conversation. I therefore listened the more attentively, and was perfectly convinced of the faithlessness of the old woman, and the integrity of the other. I therefore determined this very night to try every expedient, in order, if possible, to effect my escape. We all laid ourselves down for the night. I lay in a corner with fettered feet, and my hands fastened as usual, and thought of nothing but flight. When the Kirghiz had fallen asleep, I untied the string with which my hands were fastened, and took hold of the iron which I had received, in order to force open the padlock of my fetters. I had already begun to work when the sheep on the outside of the hut became very unquiet, and the young people ran out to see what was the matter. After their return no one thought any longer of sleep. What could I do ? I now contrived, but with the greatest difficulty, to fasten my hands again with the help of my teeth, that in the morning no one might perceive that they had been loosened. Morning at length came and every one went to his customary occupation, and I also went to mine. Towards evening the old man's sons re- turned, and immediately held a secret conversation with their father, the purport of which I could easily guess. On the following morning I took my leathern bag as usual in order to gather dung. The old man had already risen and was sitting before his hut. He addressed me in a more friendly tone than usual saying, " Wassilij, why do you go out so early ? Do you not perceive that the hoar frost is still lying on the dung ? Drink a cup of Arjan,* before you go out." I knew very well what this civility meant ; and I merely said, " It is likely to get very warm at a later hour, and I shall then find it more difficult to walk about in my irons." * The Kirghiz Tartarish name of a sour milk beverage. in Tartar jj. 23 u Never mind, 1 ' said the old man ; " stay a little longer. 1 ' I accordingly threw down my bag and went into the hut ; I had not long been there, when a strange Kalmuc arrived on horseback, who, I afterwards learned, had been carried off in his youth by the Kirghiz, and, though he had at first lived as a slave among them, had now obtained his freedom from his rich master, with whom, however, he still lived. My Master now said to me, " Wassilij, I have a brother, who is much richer than I am, possessing perhaps 5000 sheep. One of his labourers is ill, and as I can do without thee for some time, I will send you to my brother, and you may remain with him until the health of the labourer is re-established. His illness is not dangerous, and in ten days you will probably be here again. 11 I replied, " Why dost thou lie, Isbossar ? I can guess thy in- tention. Thou hast sold me. Is it not so ?" Instead of returning any answer, they took the irons from my feet, placed me on a horse, and having fastened my feet under the belly of the horse, drove me away. I was so enraged at Is- bossar and the old sorceress, that I could have murdered them both ; and I assailed them with abuse and curses as long as they could hear me. The two sons of the old man accompanied me and the strange Kalmuc, until towards noon, when we stopped at a Kirghiz hut to rest. The walls of the hut were hung with hides of wolves and foxes, by which one could judge of the landlord's predilection for hunting. After we had remained here for two hours, our two companions returned, and I was compelled to mount the horse again and follow the stranger. Towards evening we reached the hut where we were expected. The master came out half dressed, with a pointed cap on his head, and gazing at me for some time, said to my conductor, " What black devil of a fellow is this ? Is this the appearance of a Russian ?" My conductor, who had, in the meantime taken oft' the saddles from the horses, replied, " With whom do you quarrel ? Did you not make the bargain yourself ? Another time look before you buy. 1 ' Kinshall (which was the name of my new master) then led me into the hut, and asked me, " Of what country are you ?" I an- swered him impertinently, " Why do you ask ? You believed the other people before you saw me, believe now that I came from the country they named to you. Had you asked me before, I should most likely have given you a different answer.' 1 The Kirghiz then asked how old I was? Although I had but just attained my thirtieth year, I purposely added fifteen years to my age. The Kirghiz was so enraged when he discovered, as he 24 Adventures of Mklialloiu thought, that they had cheated him, that he appeared to be beside himself. That very evening my master assembled some Kirghiz of rank, related to them the particulars of this fradulent bargain, and asked them whether he could not oblige Isbossar to take back his slave ? They maintained unanimously that the bargain, having been once concluded, could not be made void ; but they gave it as their opinion, that as Isbossar had cheated him, he might now try to cheat some one else. The assembly having dispersed, Kinshall put me in irons, took one of his three wives, and lay down to rest. On the following morning my master began to make prepa- rations for a long journey, and the young women and girls, who were in his service, treated me with some sour sheep-cream. " Poor fellow ! v said they, " he will now be carried far away."" The journey, however, did not take place this day. But the next morning my master ordered me to mount a horse, under the belly of which he fastened my feet, and immediately began his journey. We were accompanied by two Karakalpaks. For nine days we rode southward, and on the tenth we reached the Sea of Aral, where we halted for the remainder of the day, and regaled ourselves with some cheese made of sheeps' milk. This had been our only food during the journey ; sometimes we eat it in a dry state, at other times we dissolved it in water. At the place where we halted were three or four bushes, a few yards distant from each other, and under these we rested. But I was unable to sleep ahd thought only of escaping to Russia. The Karakalpaks, however, slept ; and my master lay down and closed his eyes. I considered this the most favourable opportu- nity for making my escape, and resolved to take advantage of it immediately, should I even be under the necessity of committing murder. My master's girdle, to which the key of my fetters was attached, was laid under his head : as I could not draw away the girdle without awakening my master, I considered it most safe to cut his throat. I then intended to take our horses and escape to the Russian frontiers. I had already crept softly to my master, and with one hand had seized the handle of the knife which was fastened to his girdle, and held the sheath in the other, when the pretended sleeper suddenly seized my hands, and cried with a loud voice, "Help! help!" The Karakalpaks hastened to the spot, and having torn off my rags, they ah 1 three covered my whole body with the repeated stripes of their plattes, so that not a spot about me remained untouched. They then mounted their horses, and obliged me to run before them naked and on foot. The country about the lake of Aral is a barren heath. The heat of the sun was excessive, and the ground so intensely . m Tartary. 25 hot, that my feet were absolutely scorched. I at last fell down upon my knees overcome with extreme pain, but was again com- pelled to walk by the whips of my conductors. The pain which I endured was indescribable. I prayed to God that he would by death put an end to my sufferings : but my prayers were not answered. The following morning, however, I obtained my horse again. After eleven days journey along the lake of Aral, which was on our left, we reached the mouth of the river Darja, which runs into it, and here again we halted. On the following day we passed a large wall, built of red bricks. At regular distances there were turrets which projected from the walls, and which were painted with a variety of colours. The dimensions of this wall, which formed a square, within which were several buildings, amounted in appearance to about half a verst. I enquired of the Karakalpaks to whom the building belonged, and they said it was so old that they knew nothing of it. The banks of the Darja are inhabited by Karakalpaks, who, like the Kirghiz and Kalmucs, lead a wandering life. Two days journey from the mouth of the Darja was the hut of the two Karakalpaks who accompanied us, where we alighted. My master remained here and sent me forward with the other two to a neighbouring Karakalpak village, where they hoped to sell me. The next morning a fat Karakalpak came to our hut on horse- back to look at me, and if I suited him to purchase me. After having examined me, he said, " How can this black fellow be a Russian ? The others replied, " All the Russians on the Volga are black. The white Russians live near the Yaik." I then rose from my place, approached the Karakalpak, and stroking his horse, admired its beauty. " I have many such," 11 said the Karapalkak. " In my country," I replied, " people are contented with few horses ; I am of Truchmenz origin, and my relations live in Persia." I had scarcely uttered these words, when the Karakalpak stared at me, and after looking at me for some time, without saying a word, he turned his horse and galloped away. I conceived that I had acted very wisely, and did not suspect what would be the consequence. I imagined that when these people knew that I was a Russian, the Kirghiz would take me back again, and that when I was once more with the Kirghiz, it would not be difficult at a future period to make my escape. But it will soon appear how much I had been deceived in my expectations. The Karakalpaks returned with me to their habitation, and whilst I went into the hut, they conversed with my master in a low tone of voice. I had not been in the hut long, when my VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. E 26 Adventures of Michailow master entered as furious as a madman, and struck me with a pair of iron horse-fetters, as if he intended to kill me. I was exposed to his ill-treatment the whole of the day, and in the evening he fettered me by binding my hands to my back, and fastening me to a railed Avail, so that I was unable to move. I then said to him " Have you no fear of God, since you thus treat me ?" But the barbarian struck me so violently on my face with his platte, that lie knocked out one of my teeth. If at that moment I had had a knife in my hands, I should most certainly have put an end to my existence. The Karakalpaks, men, women, and children, who sat around me, all laughed at my wretched condition. This behaviour hurt my feelings more than all the rest. After passing the night in this painful situation, I was the next morning again beaten by my cruel master. The Karakalpaks at length advised him to take me to Kiiva for sale : he and the two Karakalpaks therefore mounted their horses, and I was obliged to accompany them on foot. We passed the night in the Steppe, and the next day crossed the Darja. My master now ordered me to mount the horse, and said to me, " Wassilij, I will either sell you or exchange you, but when you are questioned, say you are a Russian and but twenty- five years of age." I replied, " I will tell the trvith ; I will say that I am a Persian, and that I am forty-five years of age." My master then said very coolly, " Do as you please : but do not think I shall take you back again. If you persist in your obsti- nacy, I will cut you in pieces. I shall only lose four camels, and two tabunes* of mares. You now know my resolution."" There being no market-day at Kiwa, my master alighted at the house of an acquaintance, whom he had by chance met in the street. During summer and autumn the Kiwenses, like the Kalmucs and Kirghiz, live in temporary huts, which they usually erect near their corn-fields ana meadows : the other part of the year they live in houses of brick. The town itself is surrounded by walls of brick. In the house at which we alighted, we were hospitably re- ceived and treated with Churek-cakes. For some time my mas- ter and his friend conversed in a low tone of voice. The two Karakalpaks soon after arose, and mounting their horses, left my master with our host, whose name was Ishmjas, and whose two brothers lived with him, the youngest of whom was not married. As I was not wanted in the hut, I went out ; took my saddle and placed it under a tree, and slept there till sun- set. When I awoke, the wives and sisters of the household "* A tabune contains from ten to twelve mares. in Tartary. 27 came to see me, pitied and endeavoured to comfort me, and gave me some Churek-cakes, which I ate with avidity. My master passed the night in the house, and on the follow- ing day he said to me, " I shall exchange you in this house for another slave : you have no doubt seen in our way, not far hence, near the little river Atalik, a grove: I will there wait for you. Try to escape as soon as possible, and then we will return together, and at some future period I will take you to Oremburgh."" I made no reply to this proposition, but merely spit on the ground. In Kiwa the Russian slaves are considered more valuable than the Persians. For this reason our landlord gave in exchange for me a young Persian named Safor and two Bucharian dresses. In order to terminate the exchange according to the Kiwa cus- tom, the most respectable people of the town were invited to a feast, which consisted of mutton and Plow.* " This Russian,"" said my new master, " I have received from Kinshal in exchange for Safor, and I have invited you, that you may all know it." One of the company wondered at my brown complexion, but Kinshal quickly replied, that this was the appearance of all the Russians on the Volga, and the upright Kiwenses by no means doubted the truth of this assertion. I said nothing, and Kinshal AVES so satisfied with me, that he gave me his whole dish of Plow. He soon after saddled his horses, and returned home with his new slave. I had now the most humane master in the world : he con- ducted me about his house, and made me acquainted with every new object. The Kiwenses support themselves partly by manu- factures and commerce, and partly by cultivating their fields, which furnish them with rice, millet, and wheat. My master and his family were employed in all these branches. A small piece of ground provided tliem abundantly with rice and corn. The women spun yarn, of which they made linen. Whatever they acquired by their industry was exchanged for cattle and dif- ferent kinds of merchandize, and these again were bartered for- other necessary articles. I had only some trifling domestic work to do, except that I occasionally assisted my master and his bro- thers in cultivating the land. In short I could not have desired to live more comfortably, but nevertheless I longed to go to Russia. During night I dreamed of nothing but the friends I had left there, that I conversed with them on the most agreeable subjects, walked with them through the town, and was enter- * A well known Asiatic dish, made of rice and butter, or grease. The uropeans spell it Pilau : bull follow the Tartarian pronunciation and write "Plow. 28 Adventures of Michailoiv tained by them at their houses. But when I awoke, and found myself in a Kiwense hut, my sorrow was very great. My master had two horses, some cows and sheep, which were sent to pasture in common with the cattle of the neighbours, and each of the owners alternately provided a person to guard them. I had lived three months with my new master, when the boy, who used to guard our cattle, fell sick, so that another was to be sent in his stead. " Wassilij,"" said my master, " our herds- man is ill : if he should not be better in eight or ten days, I will provide another herdsman : however, to-morrow you will drive our cattle to the pasture." Having received from my hostess three Churek-cakes, I mounted one of the horses, and leading the other by the hand, drove the herd into the field. Not far from the town, I unex- pectedly met another herdsman whom I knew, and who was driving his sheep to the pasture : we agreed to guard our herds together, and as he was on foot, I gave up my other horse to him. About a verst and a half beyond us I perceived a lake, and, being very thirsty, I left the whole of the herd to the care of my companion, and rode to the lake: When I had reached it, I alighted, took some water in my hands and drank, and then wetted one of my Churek-cakes and ate it. The herdsman remaining much longer behind than I expected, I was riding back to meet him, when I was met by two Tartars. I enquired if they had seen a boy upon a grey horse. The Tartars replied; " We have seen a boy not far off whose horse has run away." While the Tartars were speaking, the boy came running to me almost breathless, and related to me the accident. His horse, he said, had become shy, and, having neither saddle nor bridle, he was unable to manage it and had been thrown off. I left the boy to take care of the herd, and rode away in search of the horse. Supposing it had run back to the stable, I galloped home, but the horse was not there. I then suspected it had returned to its former owner, a Karakal- pak, of whom my master had lately purchased it, and as he did not live far from the town, I hastened there to make enquiries for it. As the Karakalpaks lived towards the west, and I must take that direction, if I returned to Russia, the thought suddenly occurred to me, that it was now possible to make my escape. Without much reflection, I hastened forwards, and rode about thirty versts without halting, till at length I reached the rive' Atalik, and the grove which had been pointed out to me by m late Kirghiz master. I rested here till towards evening, and ws preparing to continue my journey, when I saw before me th^e Karakalpaks, who were leading two loaded horses. These - a - in Tartary. <) rakalpaks, I had no doubt, carried merchandize, which they intended to sell to the Kirghiz. " If you tell them," thought f , " that you have escaped from your master to seek the service of another, they will take you with them, and will sell you to the Kirghiz, from whom you can easily make your escape." Ac- cordingly, when I overtook the Karakalpaks, I pretended that I had been compelled to leave my master, because he was a miser, and would not allow his servants enough to eat. The Karakalpaks listened to me without making any reply- At last one of them desired me to alight, and having himself mounted my horse, he rode towards a distant Karakalpak vil- lage, and the other two made me follow on foot. We slept in the Steppe during the night, and on the following day about noon we arrived at the Karakalpak village, where the other Ka- rakalpak was waiting for us. The three Karakalpaks, who in- tended to rest here for the day, said to each other, " If we take this slave farther with us, we may pay dearly for it : we had better deliver him up to the magistrate of the village, that he may be restored to his master." I had scarcely heard these words when I devised a plan, by which I might extricate myself from this dilemma. I hastened to the magistrate of the place, and told him as well as I was able, that I was a Russian slave, and that my master lived at Kiwa, and was called Ishniias : I added, that I had the day before lost a grey horse, which my master had lately bought, and that while I was searching for the horse, I overtook three Karakalpaks, and asked them if they had seen my horse ? who replied, " What do we care about your horse, come along with us ; we will sell you to the Kirghiz." That they then dragged me from my horse and beat me most unmercifully : that then one of them mounted my horse arid rode forwards to this place, while I followed with his two comrades on foot : and that I was now come before him to make my complaint. The judge was well pleased with my behaviour, said he knew my master, and that he would send to Kiwa to acquaint him with what had happened. He fulfilled his promise, and on the following day towards evening, my master arrived with his second brother : the brother proceeded immediately to the Kara- kalpak judge, in whose house I then was, and when he saw me, he said, " Wassilij, how have you come hither ?" I related to him circumstantially my invented narrative, and having con- cluded it, he took me to his brother, who was in a neighbour- ing hut He had slaughtered a sheep, and was just preparing supper when we arrived. He caused me to relate my story once more : the good man sincerely pitied me, and said in a concilia- tory manner, " You simpleton, why did you not return home ? 30 Adventures of Michailow the accident could not be remedied : Why were you afraid ? If the Usbecks, who you know live by plunder, had found you, they would certainly have carried you oft'." He then took from his wallet two cakes, which he gave me to eat, while the supper was preparing. The next morning, before we returned home, my master sum- moned the three Karakalpaks before the magistrate : the magis- trate reproached them with their crime, which he said was punishable. Although the Karakalpaks declared their inno- cenyfe, yet my report seemed so probable, nobody would believe the/ii. When they found that all their asseverations were un- availing, they promised to appear at Kiwa at the next sitting of the judges, in order to clear themselves of the accusation. It had already grown dark when we reached home. Our hostesses came to meet us on the road. They rejoiced at my return, and said in an endearing manner, " O you poor Wassilij ; surely you must have suffered hunger with the Kara- kalpaks. 1 ' The eldest then took me by the hand, and con- ducted me to the hut, where supper was now ready. The sessions of the magistrates happening two days after- wards, the Karakalpaks did not fail to make their appearance. They related the occurrence to the magistrates, and swore by heaven and hell they had told the truth : but my deposition, being supported by my master, prevailed. The Karakalpaks were accordingly ordered to pay a fine of one sheep and four pieces of gold each worth about 2^ silver rubles. The summer months had nearly passed away, and autumn approached, without my having had another opportunity of escaping, when, one day, in the month of September, my mas- ter's wives came running to me, and said, " Wassilij, Wassilij, the Kirghiz have brought hither a countryman of yours : come quickly !" I at first thought they were mocking me ; neverthe- less, I went out, but did not expect to see a Russian. A man with a long black beard, and wearing a round Tartarian cap, was then shewn to me : he appeared to me to be a Kirghiz, or some other Tartar. They desired me to address him in the Russian language, and in compliance with their request, I ap- proached the man, and said in Russian, " Welcome, brother !" The supposed Tartar immediately took oft' his cap, and replied, " Welcome, brother!" I was now convinced he was a Russian, and had so many questions to put to him, that I knew not with which to begin. He at last told me his name was Fedor Chimodanow, and that he had been a kettle-drummer in the Dragoon regiment at Oremburgh. " One Saturday," he said, " I ordered the land- lord to make a fire, in order to heat some broth, while I went iu Tartary. 3 1 some versts from the town, to examine a field of carrots, and to mow some grass; while I was thus employed two Kirghiz attacked me and carried me off." I enquired if he had left any children behind him. He replied with a flood of tears, " I have left a son of fourteen years of age behind me." At this intelligence I burst into tears myself. Our hostess now called me to supper, and I left the Russian with these words, " Would to God you were sold here ! We would then visit each other daily, and try if we could not de- vise some plan for our escape. 1 '' My wish was in part fulfilled, for Chimodanow was sold to a soap-boiler in Kiwa. We often visited each other, and spoke of our intended flight. But alas ! I soon perceived that my new friend belonged to that class of men, who are not deficient in words, but who want abilities and energy of mind to put their plan into execution. When I represented to him the difficulty of wandering through a barren Steppe without water and without food, he answered, " Oh, as to that, I can content myself with some dry groats, and we can find water every second or third day, as I remarked on my way hither." I replied, " But shall you be able to find the road again, by which you came hither ?" He assured me that nothing was easier. However absurd Chimodanow' > s speeches were, my wish to escape engrossed my attention so much that I was determined to make the attempt, even with such an unsafe companion. We therefore agreed to make our escape as soon as possible. While I was occupied with these schemes, it was my master's principal aim to secure my affection by his kindness. He treated me as his friend ; left me alone in his warehouses night and day, without, in the slightest degree, doubting my honesty. He dressed me decently, and gave me plenty of food, yet I was determined to leave him ars soon as possible. Towards the end of autumn, he proposed my marrying a Kiwense woman. " I will give you," said he, " sixty sheep ; and you may either sell them, or allow them to breed : I will, moreover, give you ten pieces of gold, on condition that you take a wife and continue among us." In order to get rid of the importunities of my master, I re- quested he would allow me to wait two or three years longer, that I might have time to become better acquainted with the language of the country. " If a Kiwense wife is given me now, I shall not understand what she says, nor will she understand me. Like dumb people, we shall be obliged to converse with our fingers." My master yielded to my entreaties ; but I was so much alarmed at the thoughts of marrying a Kiwense, that I immediately went to Chimodanow, and having agreed to escape with him that very evening, I promised to call for him at a certain hour. 32 Adventures of Mlchailow On my return home, some companions, with whom I used al- ternately to guard the workshops of our master at night, invited me to eat some Plow with them ; but I excused myself by pre- tending I had a violent head-ache, went into my little clay-hut, which was in the yard, and prepared for the journey. I took some victuals, which I rolled in a felt mantle, fastened it with a string, and about midnight went to Chimodanow. I knocked at his hut, which was at a short distance from the habitation of his master ; but alas ! my knocking was in vain ; for nothing was to be heard or seen of Chimodanow. At length the day approached, and I was obliged to return home. The next morning I was asked whether I felt better, and assuring them, with a " Thank God," that I was, I was sent to the pasture with sixty sheep, that had been purchased the evening before. I guarded these sheep till the evening, and when I was driving them home, it occurred to me, that I might reserve one of them for myself, as it would serve us for provision on our journey. Having no knife with me, I strangled one, and hid it in a heap of straw, adjoining the place. The rest of the sheep I drove home, and folded in the yard, and the next morning, they were ex- changed for merchandize. On exchanging them, it was naturally discovered, that one of the sheep was wanting, but so far Avas my master from suspecting my dishonesty, that he concluded the sheep must have been stolen from the yard during the night : consequently, I was not censured, nor even questioned about it. I went in the morning to see Chimodanow, and having re- proached him for his negligence, desired him to be in readiness in the evening, or I should no longer wait for him. I returned home, and, towards evening, having filled an earthen jug with groats, I went, unobserved, to Chimodanow. When I reached the place, he was just in the act of throwing something heavy from the roof of his hut, by which he overbalanced himself and fell with it. Fortunately for Chimodanow the roof was not high, and he escaped unhurt. " What do you mean to do," said I, " with this large piece of linen ? " " Don't you know, brother," said Chimodanow, " that it sells for twenty-five copeks the arshin ? " I could not help smiling at the simplicity of my companion, and said to him, " Rather invoke heaven, that we may rescue our bodies from captivity, and do not concern yourself about such trifles."" It was with the utmost difficulty, however, that I pre- vailed upon the silly man to leave the linen behind him. When he had packed up nis other travelling requisites we commenced our journey. The day began to dawn when we left the town. We were, therefore, under the necessity of creeping under some ruins near the town, and waiting there until it grew dark. We had scarcely reached this place, when Chimodanow began to com- in Tariary. 3;3 plain of hunger. I endeavoured to quiet him, but his complaints became more and more tiresome. " If you have nothing else," he said, " give me, at least, some dry groats, to satisfy my hunger." This murmuring was extremely unpleasant to me. It seemed as if some evil genius had encumbered me with this troublesome man : but what could I do ? The flight was begun and must be persevered in. I reached him the pot, and the hungry glutton eat of the dry groats with the same appetite as a horse eats his oats. The sun set, and we left our retreat. When we had proceeded two or three versts, we came to a deserted tile-kiln and hut, near which was a small pit of rain-water. " Brother Wassilij," said my companion, " let us rest here a little, and take something warm." I replied, " Fedor, what strange ideas you have ! We have scarcely left Kiwa, and you already require that we should rest, and make a fire. Have you lost your senses." But all re- monstrance was in vain. Chimodanow persisted in his request, and I was obliged to yield to his obstinacy. We entered the tiler's hut and made a fire. I then emptied die groats out of the earthen pot, and filled it up with water, in order to boil in it the intestines of our sheep, but the heat had scarcely raised a scum on the surface, when the bottom of the pot cracked and fell to pieces, and left our meat in the ashes. In order, however, to save some of the meat, I wished to roast it on the ashes, but my companion maintained it would be eatable without. " But the meat,"" said I, " is still raw." Chimodanow, however, was not inclined to wait; and, quite unabashed, eat greedily of it as it was, crying out, " Hot meat is never raw." Having finished our repast, I packed up the remainder of our sheep, and continued my journey with my troublesome companion. We travelled till we came near the town of Kip- chag, which is about twenty versts from Kiwa; I then pro- posed keeping on the left of the town, that none of the inhabitants might see us, but Chimodanow resisted my proposi- tion. We might, I told him, get into the high road again, on the other side of the town. " No, brother, no," said he, " that will not do, for I am dying of thirst." " But where will you procure water ? for there is none to be found here." " On my journey,"" he replied, " I saw some behind yonder trees." " Go then," said I, '' and guzzle away : surely Satan must have tied me to such a fellow as you ! " We went to the water, and Chimodanow drank most greedily ; but I merely wetted my mouth. I then urged my companion to hasten forwards, fearing we might fall into the hands of Kipcha- ghers. " At least," said I, " let us go on till we reach the river Atalik : there we may conceal ourselves in the wood for several VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. F 34 Adventures of Michailozc days ; but for the present, we must make all the haste we can/' The lazy fellow replied, " I should like to sleep a little here :" so saying, he threw off his boots, spread his upper garment on the ground, made a pillow of his bundles, and lay down. One would have thought he had just returned from a long journey, and had entered his warm room, there to forget the fatigues he had endured. Chimodanow soon began to snore, while I, with my head reclining on my arm, listened to the continued noise of the neighbouring town, which was, at that time, involved in civil war. However, being at last overpowered, I fell asleep. On waking in the morning, I found myself surrounded by a number of people ; and, looking about for Chimodanow, saw him fettered. I too was immediately fettered and conducted with my companion to Kipchag ; there we were thrown into prison, where we were obliged to pass the night. Meanwhile, the elders of Kipchag had sent to the neighbouring towns to make it known, that having caught two run-away slaves, the owners might come and claim them. The next day, in the afternoon, my master's second brother and the soap-boiler arrived and claimed us. Chi- modanow's master conducted me, and my master's brother con- ducted Chimodanow. I alighted before the habitation of my master, and there sat down. An inhabitant of Kiwa, who had paid a visit to my master, on his going away, entreated him to do me no harm. " All slaves," said he, " wish to be free. Pardon, therefore, his attempt to escape." When this humane Kiwense was gone, my master came out of his habitation, and taking from under his garment a small whip, lifted it up to strike me. But the women came running out of the house, tore the whip from hirn, and threw it into the yard. My master then returned into the house, and desired his youngest brother to go and procure foot-irons. The women then conducted me into the hut, and the oldest of them brought a large dish full of Plow and meat, and set it before me. I pretended to be ashamed, and refused to eat. The hostess then said to the others, " He is ashamed, and will not eat ; let us go away :" she then took away the light. Having eaten almost nothing for two days, I immediately seized the dish, and not only emptied it, but even licked it, and then placed it on the table. A few moments afterwards, a Persian boy, in the service of my master, brought a light, and the youngest brother of my master followed him soon after with the fetters. " I do not know," said he to me, " whether I must fetter you or not." The boy said, " Why should you fetter him ? Surely he will not run away to-night !" The other replied, " I am afraid of the anger of my brother, if I neglect his orders." I then held out my feet to him, and said, " Fetter me, then, lest your brother should be angry with you." In Tartury. 35 While he was applying the irons, his second brother entered, who began to reprove the younger, took off my fetters, and then running after him with the irons in his hands, threw them at him. His Truchmenz brother-in-law had, in the mean time, arrived in the house, and hearing of what I had been guilty, and being less compassionate than the others, came to chastise me. He brought with him a long pole, placed it across the floor of my room, and fastened my arms to it. But the women rescued me this time also. They came in, seized the Truchmenzer by the collar, and dragged him away. After this, they unbound me, and persuaded me to go to sleep. As I could still distinguish the voices of these women in the yard, I went softly to the door of my hut, and heard the sisters and the other women scolding the Truchmenzer for having tied my hands so fast. " Every body, 1 " said one of them, " prefers his own country to any other ; how can you find fault with him for wishing to return home ? Abuse him no longer ; but rather endeavour, in future, to gain Ms affections by kindness : hard words make people sad." The next day my master convinced me by his behaviour, that he intended to follow the advice of his sister. My flight was not once mentioned to me, and I was at last treated by my master as well as before. The kindness, however, which the women had shown me the preceding day, excited hopes in me that far sur- passed my condition. One of my usual domestic employments was to grind corn in the hand-mill with the women, for in Kiwa no other mills are used. This hand-mill was in a little hut in the yard. In this employment I one day had to assist one of the youngest of the women, when I felt inclined to put her conjugal fidelity to the test. While we were grinding the corn, I intentionally trod upon the foot of the fair Kiwenser : she, however, did not seem to notice it, but continued her work with the utmost indifference. I made a second attempt, but was rebuked in these words, " Wassilij, what are you about ? Do you wish that I should complain to your master ?" I now knew with whom I had to do, and took care not to make another attempt. Not long after this, I was passing by the house of a Kiwenser, and saw persons preparing a beverage from a kind of berries. I was in the street, and the landlord observing that I was watching the process, asked me if I wished to taste it ? As I made no objection, they offered me some. I found it very pleasant, par- ticularly as I had drank nothing but milk and water since I had lived in Kiwa. When I returned to my master, I spoke of the delicious liquor I had tasted. My master, glad of the oppor- tunity of a reconciliation, said, " Should you like me to buy some of those berries, and have them boiled for you ?" I joy.. 36 Adventures of Mtchattow fully accepted his kind offer, and the good Kiwenser himself went to market, bought about half a pud of berries, and sent for a man who understood how to prepare them. Having boiled the berries, and pressed out the kernels, he filtered the juice, and then presented it to me, observing that I ought not to drink of it before the next morning. I rose very early in the morning, and drank two cups of it, which inebriated me as much as if I had drank brandy. The more I drank the more I felt inclined to drink. When I had drank about six cups, I was no longer able to stand upright ; I soon fell down, and was discovered on the floor by the inmates, who were not a little merry at seeing me in this condition. This drink is called bursa, and the berries are called in that country psak.* I mention this occurrence merely to show the obliging dis- position of my master. Yet he obtained nothing by his friendly treatment, for though I remained with him during the winter, I was resolved to escape the next spring. In order to accomplish this, I had only to take advantage of the opportunity which pre- sented itself when the foreign merchants stopped at my master's, as I might then take one of their Buccharian, Persian, or Awga- rian horses, which they never failed to bring with them, and thus escape. But this plan appeared rather too hazardous, as my flight would soon be discovered, and the foreign merchants would use every means to recover their horses. Spring had now commenced, and my master wished to culti- vate his little field before he made a journey to the Karakalpaks to sell his merchandize. He was to be assisted by myself and an Uspek labourer, whom he had hired for the purpose ; but as the churek-cakes, which were intended for our food during our labour in the field, were not yet provided, my master remained at home, and sent me forwards with the Uspek, who was a man of very little ingenuity or acuteness. I had a horse and rode to the field, but the Uspek went on foot. My master had also given me a gun, in order that I might kill some game, should I meet with any. Although I hardly knew the use of a gun, yet con- ceiving it would be useful to me during my flight, to which my thoughts were now principally directed, I took it with me. The field was about ten versts distant from the town. ^We arrived there in the evening, and were to pass the night there. I anxiously waited for the Uspek to fall asleep, but he rolled him- self about, and did not seem even to think of sleeping. " Why," I asked him, " do you not sleep, Jagub ?" He replied, " Why do not you sleep ?" I said, *' I had kept awake in order to * The berries are said to resemble dates. Probably the bursa drink is the ancient date wine, which was so celebrated on (he Euphrates, and in other parts of Asia, and perhaps is so still. in Tartary. \Fl smoke a pipe." Some time passed in silence, but still the Uspek continued awake. Day-break at length approaching-, and being impatient to make my escape, I threw myself on the Uspek, sat upon him, and tied together his hands and feet. The terrified Uspek knew not what to think of me. " If you resist," said I, " you must die. v But, poor fellow, he had no thoughts of re- sisting me, for he suffered me to do as I pleased, saying, " I know what you intend to do : I wish you a prosperous journey. 1 '' I replied, " You are mistaken : you will soon discover why I am obliged to fetter you." When I had bound the poor fellow so tight that he was unable to move, I put a gag into his mouth, and went to seek my horse. Having saddled it, and fastened behind me my bundle of vic- tuals, I implored the assistance of God, Nikolas, the worker of miracles, and all the saints, beseeching them to conduct me in safety to Russia. " Once more,'" thought I, " you have under- taken to escape from this country ; if you are not now successful, you must never more think of returning to llussia, but end your days here." I then urged my horse forwards, and directed my course up the Darja. As the labourers in the fields had begun to stir when I com- menced my flight, I should certainly have been pursued and taken had I continued my journey on this side the Darja ; this, however, was not my intention. The banks of the Darja were thickly covered with reeds, and here and there were little boats, which were used for fishing, or for crossing the river. I intended to keep my horse only until I should find a boat, in which I meant to go down the river as far as the lake. I concluded no one would see me on the other side the river, but that I should easily be discovered along the left side of the Darja and Aral. I had not proceeded far, when I saw a boat amongst the reeds, and immediately advanced towards it. I with great difficulty dragged my horse through the stiff clay, which covered the side of the river, until we reached the boat, when I placed in it my victuals, consisting of five churek-cakes and about ten pounds of groats, and also my gun, a large pumpkin flask, and my saddle and bridle. I then threw my horse down, and bound his legs together with a rope, in order that no one might see him, and that, consequently, nobody might know what road I had taken. On the other side of the river I expected I should be able to take other horses from the Karakalpaks. I found in the boat a board about nine feet long, and a span in breadth, which served me in- stead of a rudder, and by this means I crossed the river, without being observed by any body. When I reached the opposite side of the river, I drew the boat as far as I could into the reeds, to prevent its being seen ; for I feared nothing' more than that the owner should miss his boat, 38 Adventures of Mic/uiiloic and seek it on this side the river. For the sake of greater security, therefore, I took all my things out of the boat, and waited at a short distance from it until the approach of night. In the day time it would have been impossible for me to go down the river unobserved, because the western side was here and there covered with Karakalpak huts. When it had grown sufficiently dark, I put every thing into the boat again, and abandoned my- self to the course of the river, which took me rapidly along. When I had proceeded in this manner for two hours, I saw before me, in the horizon, a long white streak, from which I con- cluded that the lake Aral was not far distant. In order to avoid being cai'ried into the sea by the rapidity of the river, I immediately steered toward the bank, landed with my luggage, and then pushed my boat from me, that it might be carried by the current into the sea. Having loaded myself with the saddle and my other things, I forced my way through the reeds, and proceeded without delay. I left the Darja and Aral sea behind me, wandered about till the sun had reached the meridian, and then sat down to rest in the high grass, where nobody could see me. I here eat one of my churek-cakesj drank from my pumpkin-flask, and then pursued my journey. The sun was setting, when at a great distance I perceived something, which, as I wished for nothing more anxiously, I conceived to be a tabune of horses ; I was this time, however, disappointed in my expectations, for instead of a tabune of horse's, I discovered, on a nearer approach, that it was a mountain. But even this discovery was welcome to me, since, from its summit, I might be able to see whether there were any Karakalpak habitations in the neighbourhood, in which case I expected to provide myself with horses. I had now emptied my flask, and suffered much from thirst : at length, to my great joy, I discovered some water, and immediately hastened to this place, and passed the night there. I travelled forwards tifl next day at noon, and. yet I had not reached the mountain that was before me, nor had I seen any horses. Towards evening I ascended its summit, and perceived at a short distance a few Karakalpak huts. My joy was so great, that I instantly fell upon my knees, and thanked God and all the saints for this discovery. In the beginning of the night I went toward the huts, with a rope in my hands. Before I reached them, I saw a tabune of horses not far from me at pasture, but although I took the greatest pains, I could not catch one of them. I was therefore under the necessity of going to the huts, to see if I could not find one tied. The dogs now began to bark, but fortunately ceased almost immediately. I then stole so near the huts that I distinctly heard a man cough ; then, in order to avoid being discovered, I crept on my hands and feet to the en- in Tartary. 39 trance of a hut, where I found a horse tied. I immediately loosed it, took a horse-catcher,* which lay by the side of the hut, and then riding up to the tabune, caught two horses without dif- ficulty. I now returned to the mountain for my saddle, Sec., mounted my horse again, and led the other two. After having performed several days journey along the Aral Sea, I began to be doubtful whether I should take a northward or a westward direction. After some deliberation I conceived it would be most prudent to proceed towards the North-west ; I therefore left the Aral and went towards that point. I continued in this direction above a week, when to my great joy, having been two days without \vater, I discovered in a rock a deep well, which appeared to have been made by human hands. I imme- diately halted, fastened my pumpkin to a rope 18 yards long, and let it down into the well, but before the flask would reach the water, I was obliged to fasten to it another rope six yards long, and also a Trinoga.*f- When I had drawn up my pumpkin, I put it immediately to my mouth, without examining its contents, and took a hearty draught, but the water having a very bad taste, I looked into the vessel, and found in it the decayed remains of snakes, lizards, earth- mice, and other vermin. This discovery produced such a sensation, that I instantly vomited up what I had taken. I then poured the remainder of the water into the hollow part of a stone which was near the well, and offered it to my horses, as they had drank nothing for three days, but they merely smelt at it, and refused to drink it. With a violent head-ache, occasioned partly by thirst, and partly by the sickness produced by the water, I again mounted my horse, and rode towards another hill, which I perceived at some distance before me. When I reached the top of the hill, I looked around me, but could discover no water. I, however, perceived another hill towards the west, and arrived at the foot of it in the evening, and to my great joy found there were three lakes near it. I instantly jumped from my horse, fell upon my knees, and thanked God that he had given me the means of quenching my thirst. Nineteen days had now elapsed since I took the horses, and I had long since consumed my five churek-cakes. When I had finished my churek-cakes I satisfied my hunger with dry groats ; but I was so unwell for the last three days that I had eaten nothing. However when I had happily discovered the lakes, a handful of A rod four yards long, with a sling at the end of it, which is thrown round the necks of the horses in order to catch them. t In Southern Russia the legs of the horses are frequently tied together by means of a Trinoga "or three thongs, which are united together at the ends by a rinvr, the other-ends being fastened to the legs of the horse, namely, one to a himi leg, and the other two to each of the fore legs. 40 Adventures of Michailozv that dry food seemed like honey to me. My horses rested here until the noon of the following day, and I then mounted again and went westward. At midnight I allowed my horses to rest again and laid myself do >vn to sleep. On the following day, when I had rode about fifteen versts, I saw a broad river before me. I rode from an acclivity on the side of this river into a valley, where I found, what I did not wish, a number of Kirghiz huts. To fly was in vain, for the Kirghiz had already observed me, and my horses were tired. There therefore remained nothing for me to do but to ride up to them, and invent some story that my further escape might be facilitated. Without hesitation I directed my horses towards five or six Kirghiz, who were not far from me. When I approached them they said, " whence do you come ? and what is your name ?" I answered, " I am a Persian ; I have been a slave to the Trech- menzers for a long time, and am called Bcrnbet. My master did not give me enough to eat, I there escaped from him, and was seeking service of the Kirghiz, when perceiving your huts, from yonder hill, I came hither.'"* The Kirghiz immediately conducted me to their huts, caused me to alight, and then divided among themselves my horses and every thing I had. They even obliged me to take off my clothes, instead of which they gave me a miserable skin for an apron, that scarcely covered my nakedness. Thus I found my- self suddenly bereft of my hopes, and a slave to the Kirghiz. The river where this happened was called the Jemba. My new Kirghiz master was not one of the richest of his tribe : my occupation consisted chiefly in gathering dung and fetching water ; I had fetters at night, but they were taken off in the morning. A few days after this new captivity, a young Kirghiz arrived at our hut on a stately courser, and addressed my master thus : " I am informed you have taken some valuable booty lately." I could not hear any more of his conversation, for he took my master away from the hut, for fear any one should overhear him. The next morning my master killed two sheep : I rejoiced at the prospect of a feast, and thanked God I had now an opportu- nity of satisfying my hunger, and afterwards, perhaps, to escape with a valuable booty. My master said to me, " Bembet, take the dung bag, and gather some dung." I obeyed the command and soon returned with a full bag. " That is not enough," said my master, at the same time presenting me with a cup of milk ; " I have a great deal to cook to day, and I want a great deal of dung." I filled the bag once more, and having emptied it at the side of the hearth, I lay down to repose myself. Towards even- ing I was awakened, and again sent for dung. When I had in Tartar y, 41 filled the bag a third time, I entered a neighbouring hut in order to drink a cup of milk. The landlady, a Tartar, who, when a child, had been stolen by the Kirghiz from the Jaik Cossacks, was at home alone. I entered into conversation with her, and said, how well I was satisfied with my new master, and that I feared nothing more than being sold to another. " I would not have a new master," I said, " even were I sure of receiving daily enough to eat."" The Tartar answered, " You simpleton ; don't you know, then, the reason why so much meat is dressed to-day at your master's ? Did you not yesterday see a strange Kirghiz arrive at your hut ? He is a man of rank, who belongs to the Sultan Ablai : his younger brother is on the point of marrying, and he wants to procure a slave for him ; your master has sold you to him, and to-day gives the purchase dinner." I was so alarmed at this intelligence, that I was not able to finish drinking my milk, but was obliged to put it down and go away. While taking up the bag, I reflected upon my com- fortable situation when I was with my Kiwense master, who loved me, and treated me like a brother ! I said to myself, " You have done him great injury by your flight : you will now be carried away to a great distance into the Kirghiz steppe, whence perhaps you will never be able to return to Russia. It is better to die, than to live any longer in such misery I" Having returned home and emptied the bag, my master offer- ed me a bone that had been already gnawed, and said, " There ; take this bone and gnaw it." I took the bone, and said, " I can- not eat, but I will drink." Upon which my master replied, " There is milk enough in yonder hut, go and drink as much as you please. 1 ' Before the hut which my master pointed out to me a saddled horse was tied, and it immediately occurred to me, that I might as well take advantage of this opportunity of escaping, and ride off naked as I was. I therefore put the bone, from which nothing more could be gnawed, behind one of the poles which supported the roof of the hut, and hastened to the hut to which my master had directed me. When I had entered it, instead of eating or drinking, I looked through the holes of the felt to see whether any body was about. Observing no one, I was out of the hut in an instant, untied the horse, and rode away. It had already began to grow dark, and the cattle around were being led to water ; but nobody observed me, or if they did, could not suspect that a naked slave would ride off, for I had nothing but a skin girded round my waist. There was a high hill not far from the huts, and when I had arrived on its summit I made my horse run as fast as it could, and about midnight I reached the river Saigass, where I held my horse by a leading rope the whole night, saddled and bridled, "VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. G 42 Adventures of MicJiailow in order that I might mount it instantly in case I should observe any pursuers. During the night the gadflies and gnats were intolerable. At sun-rise I mounted my horse again, rode on until evening, and passed part of the second night on a sand bill, near which were several large ditches. After my horse had rested a few hours I rode as far as the river Karakal, which crossed my way : its banks were covered on both sides with reeds ; but before day-break I discovered a path through the reeds, leading to a path on the other side of the river, where I ob- served some Kirghiz huts, and the inhabitants had already began to light their fires. It appeared to me too hazardous to cross the river near the huts, particularly as I could distinguish human voices. I therefore went higher up the river to seek another ford. But here also I met with Kirghiz huts, at one of which I saw a horse tied, and wishing to have a fresh horse, that I might be able to reach the Jaik as soon as possible, I untied it, but had scarcely gone many paces with it, when it got into a clay pool, whence it was not possible to extricate it. I with great difficulty took off the saddle, and having put it on my former horse, continued my journey along the Uksal river. I rode on till noon without finding a passage through the reeds, so that nothing but reeds, water, and sky presented them- selves to my view. As I had eaten nothing since the preceding day at noon, and even before that had eaten but very sparingly with the Kirghiz, I became apprehensive of my life. I already began to repent having left the Kirghiz, when not far from me I perceived a hill. When I had secured my horse, I reconnoitred the country more closely, and found that I was near a Kirghiz winter 'camp. I observed here and there some huts of reed, in which some swine were rummaging, and which run away as I approached. Perceiving at the same time a narrow path, I mounted my horse again, and took this path, by which I arrived at the ex- tremity of the reeds. Here I allowed my horse to rest, whilst I myself ascended a hill in order to survey the surrounding country. How great was my joy, when looking westward from the sum- mit of this hill, I observed the plain of Jaik, the extent of which is but one day's journey. When I had fully convinced myself of this fact, I returned to the reeds, and v.aited there till evening. This I did because, being now near the end of my journey, it seemed to me more safe to travel by night. I was obliged to pass several hours in the reeds, where the gnats and other insects stung me still more than before. At last the sun set, and having mounted my horse, I ascended the hill, but I had scarcely reached the summit, when I perceived three horsemen, who were rapidly pursuing me. They were in Tartary. 4;3 already so near to me, that I could hear their voices, and it seemed to me, as if they called in Kalmuc, " Sokso ! Sokso !" (stop ! stop !) They approached nearer and nearer, till I could at length distinctly hear the words, " Tokto! Tokto!" (the Kir- ghiz word for stop !) By which I was now convinced that I was pursued by Kirghiz. Though I intended at first to stop my horse, yet in order to try if there were not a possibility of escaping my pursuers, I determined to make it gallop as fast as it could. Although I had at first considered my horse as a bad runner, being little more than skin and bone, I now found to my great astonishment, that in speed it was equal to the best. I had scarcely impelled it to go forwards, when it went almost as swift as an arrow shot from a bow. Two of my pursuers were very soon left behind, but the third was once so near me, that he had almost seized my horse by the tail ; but I again im- pelled him forward, and this Kirghiz also soon remained behind. As the race had lasted some time, I was now obliged to alight, in order to arrange the saddle-cloth : I now looked be- hind me, but saw nothing more than a cloud of dust at a dis- tance, raised probably by the trampling of my own horse, so well had he performed his task. I had now arrived in the country which the Russians call SsoltsTidki (the salt lakes). I was at first undetermined whether I should finish the last twenty versts quickly or slowly : but finding my horse as fresh as if it had not run at all, and considering that my pursuers might probably take another direction and so gain the advance upon me, I resolved to hasten to the Jaik at full gallop. The day begun to dawn, and a dark cloud, which I had ob- served just before, proved to be the thick forest which covered the east side of the Jaik. No one was happier now than myself. In a short time I found myself on the banks of the Jaik. I made the sign of the cross, and then looked up and down in order to discover some one. I at last saw a boat in which were several people. I called out to them with ah 1 my might, but nu one heard me, although I could distinguish the voices of the Cossack fishermen. I now rode by the side of the river, but its banks being low and composed chiefly of clay, which the spring inundation had rendered very wet, I tied my horse in a dry place, and with great difficulty went on foot, higher up the river. I proceeded in this way for some time, and at length on turning a winding part of the river, I perceived on the op- posite side a Stanitza (village) with its Church. With tears in my eyes I threw myself on my knees, and fervently addressing God, and the holy Martyrs, thanked them with a grateful heart, for having delivered me from captivity ; though I could 44 Adventures of Miafuiilow hardly trust to my eyes, and was ready to conclude that all I saw was a dream. On approaching nearer the Stanitza I perceived a Cossack fisherman, sitting in a boat and employed in catching salmon. I called out to him, " Mr. Cossack, take me over quickly in your boat."" The Cossack knew not what to think at seeing on this side of the river a naked man, who addressed him in the Russian language, and hesitated to come to my assistance. " Whence do you come ?" he enquired. Impatient to be safety landed on the opposite side, I replied, " Why do you ask a man such a question who is almost dead ? Take me over and you shall hear every thing.' 1 The Cossack immediately steered his boat towards me, and took me over. When we had landed and entered the Stanitza, the men and women of the village ran to meet us, surrounded us on all sides, and wondered to see a man in such a condition. The Ataman (chief, or elder) of the Stanitza at length came to us, and addressing himself to me, said, " Who are you f" A venerable Cossack, with a long grey beard, who stood near the Ataman, said impatiently to the latter, " You are a fine Ataman :* first give him meat and drink, and then ask him who he is?" The old man then conducted me to his habitation, and, on entering, said to his aged wife, " Provide something immedi- ately for this poor captive to eat." He then ordered me to sit down on a bench, gave me a piece of bread, and said to his wife, " Pray give him some sour milk : for although it is now the Whitsun fast-time, no prayer has yet been offered up for him.-J- But my lad," said he, addressing me, " do not eat so eagerly : eat not too much at a time ; it may hurt you !" I fol- lowed his advice, eat as moderately as I could, and then thanked my honest host for " bread and gau*% When I had finished my meal, my host conducted me to his stable, that I might take some rest. I slept soundly until the next morning, and after having had something to eat, I related to my host circumstantially all my adventures. When I had concluded, I said to him, " Good father, do you think your Ataman will indulge me with a boat, that I may cross the river and fetch my horse ?" The good old man said, " It will be a * The sincerity aiid energy of this address is much move strongly ex- pressed in the original : " Goicno atamanish&a.'" t The Raskolniks, by whom the country about the Aval and Jaik is prin- cipally inhabited, believe, that, as long as the fast pvayer has not been offered up, nobody is obliged to hold the fast. J The phrase " bread and salf is very common in Southern Russia, and particularly among the Cossacks, both when they request to be en- tertained, and after having received an entertainment. in Tartar y. 45 useless undertaking ; for the insects have no doubt killed your horse by this time, they are so numerous and formidable in that forest ; however we will see what can be done."" The old man immediately conducted me to the Ataman, who, when I had related to him my adventures, caused a boat to be given to me. We found the poor animal alive indeed, but, alas ! weltering in blood, and so extremely faint, that lie could not even move his tail. We brought him over the river, and the good old man gave orders that proper care should be taken of it for me. My host next caused a priest to be called, who gave me his benediction. I was then provided by the old man with shirts, trowsers, and a coat ; and having rested a few days, I was fur- nished with post-horses and conducted from the Stanitza KAL- MYKOWSK (the name of the village I had first seen on my return) to the town of JAIK (Ural). My horse, which the Ataman of Kalmykowsk would gladly have purchased, was fastened to the pole of the carriage that it might run by the side of the post- horses. When I arrived at Jaik, I was conducted by a corporal, who had accompanied me from Kalmykowsk, to the office of the Chancellor, and my conductor delivered to an officer of the staff, a written document concerning me, which he had brought with him. The officer looked at me several times, while he was perusing the paper, and when he had finished it, he approached me, and asked, " Do you not know me ?" I answered, " If I have ever seen you, I cannot now remember it. 71 The Colonel replied, " You were with SSAWA SPIB.IUONITCH WESELOFF, when I bought forty horses of him on the Volga island. My name is IWAN DONILICH SSIMONOFF." While he was speak- ing to me I recollected him. The Colonel then gave me three silver rubles, and ordered the ruling Ataman to ap- point me quarters, and to send my horse to the Cossack ta- bune : then addressing himself to me, he said, " If you do not wish to remain here, I will send you to Astrachan, whence you may return to Jenatajewsk." The Ataman afterwards gave me a silver ruble, and several Cossack Officers also presented me with money, some with a ruble, others with half a ruble, so that in a short time I had collected about fifteen silver rubles. As it was now hay-harvest in the Jaik country, and eighty co- pecks were the daily wages given to the labourers, I intended to stay here some time longer, in order to earn as much money as would be requisite to defray the expences of a public thanks- giving : for I thus wished to evince my gratitude to the Su- preme Being for my delivery from captivity. But I had no 46 Adventures of Michailow in Tartar y. occasion to work in order to accomplish this, for I soon got, by various contributions, as much money as enabled me to per- form these religious duties. I sojourned above a month at Jaik, waiting for Astrachan Tartars, who were expected from Oremburgh with sheep, and whom I intended to assist in driving their sheep for a moderate remuneration. But the PugachefF rebellion breaking out, in which the Jaik Cossacks also took an active part, a Kalmuc Cossack advised me to sell my horse, intimating at the same time it would not get fatter. I followed his advice, and accordingly led my horse to the market. I certainly expected I should be able to get three rubles for it, but I sportingly asked twenty rubles for it of a Cossack, who presented himself as a pur- chaser. The Cossack, to my astonishment, offered me seven rubles ; other buyers, however, who either understood the value of a horse from its outward appearance, or who had heard of the race he had run, advanced the price higher and higher, un- til at last I sold it for seventeen rubles. When I had sold my horse, I went to Colonel Ssimonoff, and requested my passport. The Colonel gave me a letter to the Astrachan-governor Beketoff, and I then proceeded, first to Gurjew (or the mouth of the Jaik), and thence by water to Astrachan. I was here conducted to the Chancelry of the Governor, who then resided in the town of SAREPTA. Colonel Murawjew, who transacted the business of the Governor dur- ing his absence, read the letter, and ordered me to be conveyed to Jenatajewsk. I now referred the Colonel to the Imperial Ukase, which orders, " That those who return from captivity, and particularly natives of Asia, shall receive a reward of one hundred rubles.' 1 '' The Colonel replied, " You must wait pa- tiently until the return of the General, and in the mean time you may proceed to Jenatajewsk." I accordingly returned to Jenatajewsk, and entered into the service of MICHAILO SSAWICH WESELOFF, who then occupied the post of Pristaw over the Darbat Kalmuc hordes. Thirty years I have served this excellent master, partly in the horde, and partly at Jenatajewsk. I am still in his service, and I hope to end my days with him. But let it be recollected that " the hundred rubles to which I am entitled has not yet been paid to me? VOYAGE TO ST. PETERSBURG IN 1814, WITH REMARKS ON THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN NAVY. BY A SURGEON IN THE BRITISH NAVY. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS & Co. BRIDE COUKT, BRIDGE STREET. 1822. PREFACE. AS the subject of the power of Russia has lately attracted considerable attention, as 'well as excited some, perhaps, imaginary fears among us % ; and, as this power can be directed against England, in case of any misunderstanding, only by means of her navy, it may not be uninteresting to give some idea of what materials this mighty engine is composed, and how Jar it is likely to be wielded against us, with effect. This information I was enabled to gain in the very bosom of the supposed danger, that is, on board one of their eighty -gun ships, during a six weeks' stay and voyage, not merely as a spectator, but as an active officer, in discharge of my profes- sional functions. The occasion it will be necessary to mention. When the Russian Jieet quitted Sheer- ness, in 1814, the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Tate, was directed to embark the Imperial Guards, then in France, for conveyance home ; but the Emperor, or some one about him, recollecting the mortality frequently prevailing in their Jleet, and that this might be increased by crowding together so many additional men, requested, through the medium of the Russian Ambassador, that a certain number of the medical officers of the British Navy might proceed in the squadron, in order, by their more extensive experience, to obviate this danger. * Written in 1817, shortly after the appearance of Sir Robert Wilsoris Pamphlet on this subject. VOYAGE IN the beginning of June I joined the S , a noble ship, mounting nearly 90 guns, and bearing the flag of Rear Admi- ral O , at Sheerness, or rather at the great Nore, where seven or eight sail were at anchor. The Admiral, who was a North Briton, received me very politely. He was decorated with the cross of St. George, if not the highest, as high as any honorary distinction in the country, and granted, I am told, to those only who have distinguished themselves by a very eminent degree of personal bravery in battle. The occa- sion, it seems, was against the Swedes, when being in command of a smaU vessel as lieutenant, he resolutely attacked a ship of that nation more than double his own force, and after a long and desperate engagement, succeeded in carrying her into Cronstadt, his own vessel sinking immediately after the battle. He is married in Russia, and has been above twenty-five years in the service. Like ah 1 the other English officers belong- ing to it, he was ordered to reside at Moscow during the war with England ; four or five of their ships were commanded on this occasion by our countrymen. I know not whether profes- sional views and long estrangement from his native land may not, in some degree, nave blunted the more delicate feelings of national glory : for, on mentioning accidentally in conversation, the attack and capture of some Russian gun-boats in the gulph of Finland, a few years ago, by Captain (now Admiral) Sir Byam Martin, he did not seem to recollect the circumstance ; he ex- pressed a doubt whether English seamen could ever, on equal terms, conquer those of Russia. This, however, is an excusable feeling, naturally arising from regard to the honour of the service to which he belongs. Let me add also, that he is a very correct officer and a worthy man. Captain R , second in command, was a Russian, and was likewise attentive to me, so far as an irritable temper, added to a nervous, anxious, hypochondriacal turn of mind, would permit. He was one of the strangest characters I ever met with, being a compound of extremes : sometimes very active and very indolent, VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. H 4 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. very good-humoured and very peevish, very communicative, and very reserved ; now quarrelling with his superior from perverseness, now courting him with more than due obsequi- ousness. He had lived in England for two or three years pre- vious to the present time, and spoke our language nearly as well as myself. All our peculiarities were familiar to him, but the faults infinitely more so than the virtues. Sometimes he admired us, and at others thought there was no just ground for admira- tion : the most opposite opinions came out every moment. There was no knowing what sentence would follow from what preceded it, as keen invective always accompanied the warmest approval ; his mind, like the vane at his ship's mast head, was never for an instant steady, but wavering with inconceivable rapidity. With all this, he was a man of considerable talents, much reading, and extensive information. There was only one thing in which he was constant an immoderate partiality for physic. He was scarcely ever, according to his own account, well, though I could not once discover his disease ; but this proved of no consequence, so long as a constant supply of potions promised to attack it in some way or other. For several minutes he would descant elo- quently on the advantages to their service from the presence of the British medical officers ; then turn round, with an expression of wonder, how the Emperor, or the people about him, could so grossly insult their own. In a moment more, he would say that the latter knew nothing, being only fit to physic horses ; and in the same breath add, that our services were by no means neces- sary. He was, in short, quite a character for the stage the very essence of odd fellows, among whom he would have been hailed as the prince of their craft. The officers were, in general, very gentleman-like young men, nearly all of the first families, and most of whom, as well as Captain R , spoke correct English. A much greater pleasure was, to find in the ward-room mess a Mr. S , an English naval officer, whose society proved not a little gratifying among so many persons to whose language, manners, habits, and feelings, I was an utter stranger. In a few days we reached the Downs, and in another week cast anchor in the port of Cherburg, a harbour formed rather by art than by nature, but to which France has always attached much importance, from lying directly opposite to Portsmouth. It is an open bay, exposed to much of the violence of the ocean, till an artificial barricade, similar to our breakwater at Plymouth, was thrown across two-thirds of its mouth, to form a refuge for their men of war. This stupendous undertaking was perhaps the greatest public work ever undertaken by that country. The idea was magnificent, but the execution has proved far inferior Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. /> to the conception ; for, after exercising the ingenuity of the ablest men of the nation, and draining the country of enormous sums, it in a great measure failed. In 1791, a new plan was adopted of casing over the old dike formed of small stones, with large blocks of stone for the distance of 1950 fathoms, intending batteries to be erected on the summit. In 1803, the centre of this embankment had been carried above high water mark, where a fortification being built, soldiers were stationed : but in 1809, a terrible storm carried away works, soldiers, artisans, and la- bourers, to the bottom of the sea; dashing two or three vessels, lying in the roads, to pieces on the beach, and leaving scarcely a trace of the breakwater to be seen at high water. Since that time, nothing more has been attempted with it ; the dike, such as it is, protecting the roads pretty well, but at low water, pre- senting only a shapeless mass of ruins. Two or three works in- sulated by the sea guard the entrance. These, it has been sup- posed by some of our dashing naval characters, would not be difficult to carry by assault, by a determined commander, who should at once run alongside them. On the m for two years; while in an English ship of the same size, there would probably have been, on a moderate computation, two hun- dred. And this orderly conduct seems entirely spontaneous, as they are in a great measure left to themselves, the officers seldom or never looking after their condition or comforts. They are like- wise, contrary to what might be expected, commonly sober; during my stay on board, I saw only one man in a state of intoxication. The fortitude of the Russian under privations and disease, is extremely great ; of the latter, I have already given an instance, but others were by no means uncommon. Of the former, num- berless instances are on record, in serving for years without pay, promotion, honours, comforts, and almost without clothing, or wholesome food, and yet not uttering a murmur. The officers particularly boasted of their sacrifices in these respects, on many occasions during the wars of their country which, they said, Englishmen would never have submitted to. The courage of the Russian seaman against an enemy is un- questionable, being of that description which rarely thinks of retreating or submitting, while able to act offensively ; and it is this insensibility to danger, as we perhaps may term it, which gave the contests at sea with the Swedes frequently the character of the most desperate obstinacy. He will always fight while he can stand ; the English system therefore of broadside and broadside fighting, commonly adopted against the French, would not perhaps answer so well against the Russians, though unquestionably our superior discipline, experience at sea, greater quickness in the management of the great guns, added to the entire interior ar- rangements of British men of war for battle, would secure the VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. K 20 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. victory even in this mode of engaging. It was however Lord Nelson's opinion they should be out-manoeuvred. That great man saw their weak point in a moment, aware apparently that sheer hard WOAVS would not be the speediest means of subduing them. At the same time it may Be observed, their courage seems more of a passive than active character ; it wants that fire and animal vivacity, capable of striking out new plans for de- stroying an enemy, or meeting the chances and accidents of naval warfare, which characterises the English, and even the French sailor. He has not in fact sufficient resources within himself for the exigencies of his situation, for much must often depend on the men, independent of all the skill of the officer. Experience alone, in situations of danger and difficulty, can at once point out wants and the best mode of supplying them. Many of those embarked lately in the men of war consisted of raw levies, the national navy having declined much since the war with England, and many seamen being drafted to serve with the army in the late campaigns. Of marines, constituting so pow- erful and effective a part of our navy, they have none. A certain number of seamen perform their duties, such as sentinels, guards, &c. ; and in the winter the whole of the crews are lodged in bar- racks, drilled, paraded, numbered into battalions, and in every respect considered as soldiers, than which no more effectual plan could be devised for stifling any feeling of the esprit du corps ; yet without this spirit no military service ever did, or ever can become distinguished. A thorough-bred English sailor is an animal of quite another cast. He is, perhaps, the proudest of men; for however laughable it may seem, he cannot believe there is another profession in the world equal, in any point of view, to his own ; and above all things detests being assimilated to the situation of a soldier, so much so indeed, that it is utterly impracticable to train a body to act together in that capacity, and difficult even to teach them the manual exercise. The attempt always produces dissatisfaction, and frequently desertion from our ships, where it is much practised. But the chief defect in Russian discipline is the want of proper superintendence by the officers, who while they survey the decks minutely, totally neglect the men. An English officer will be as- tonished when told they are never mustered for examination; they may shave or not shave, wash or not wash, change or not change their linen, as they please ; and the shirt that goes on new, does in fact occasionally never come off till in rags ! What is no less extraor- dinary, he is permitted to sleep about the decks, wet or dry, cold or warm, naked if he pleases, or wrapped in a great coat, without any other covering. Frequently he has neither hammock nor bedding, and, if he had, would probably not take the trouble of Voyage to St. Petersburg., in 1814. ^21 suspending them; as all sailors 1 beds swing from the deck over- head: but strewing both any where, will throw himself carelessly down for the night ; while his superiors, seem to have no more to do with him off duty, than if his existence was unknown. The consequences of this singular neglect are the production of filth and vermin, to a disgusting degree ; these added to cold, and exposure in sleeping, soon generate typhus fever, scurvy, and other disorders, which occasion great ravages, and in a long- cruize would unman the fleet. To these peculiarities, may be added another destructive one, that of idleness when off duty in harboui\or during their watch below at sea. Instead of dancing, or amusing themselves by the rough but manly sports of English and French seamen, they are found squatting on the decks, playing at cards, or tearing thousands of living inhabitants from each others heads. Indolence is a well known exciting cause of scurvy, and this inaction, added to personal filth, no doubt caused the cases of that disease found in Sheerness harbour, though living, as before remarked, on fresh meat and vegetables. Be- sides these, there are a A-ariety of other points, which require amendment, such as a better supply of clothing, more shirts and stockings, and stated days for washing them, when taken off; in- stead of which, there was not one appropriated to this purpose during my stay on board ! Yet all seamen, if not naturally dirty, are extremely careless, and therefore require looking after more than most other men. Unfortunately, however, the Russian officer, though extremely mild in deportment, believes lie has nothing more to do with those placed under him, than to issue the words of command in nautical evolutions, leaving every thing else to themselves. This is a fatal, but seemingly a fixed error, in their system of discipline. He ought to be .more among his men, more identified with them ; he should not merely wish them to do right, but shew them how to do it ; and if necessary compel them to follow his directions ; for it is unquestionable that it re- quires a stronger stimulus than his own inclination, to make a sailor take proper care of himself; and he is too valuable a de- fender of his country, to be either slighted or neglected by his superiors. The virtues of the Russian, are ah 1 his own ; his faults those of his officers, or at least of their mode of discipline. A stronger reflection upon the latter cannot, perhaps, be ad- duced, than to hint at that adopted in our own service, which, without any extraordinary vanity, may be considered among the best, if not the very best, in Europe, and followed also in every essential point, by the Americans. In the three great public du- ties of watching, fighting, and working the ship, every man knows his place with such precision, that though called up in the dead of night, he finds his station and his arms, even in the 22 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. largest ships in a moment. Bills, as they are called on board, or plans drawn up expressly for this purpose, on a large sheet, pasted on boards, and containing the names and duties of every individual seaman, are hung up round the decks, continually in view, so that the most stupid, or inattentive, can scarcely ever err through mistake ; while the officers, for immediate reference, must each possess a copy. General orders direct that the crew shall be mustered for inspection, twice a week, in three or more divisions, according to the size of the vessel, under a lieutenant and several midshipmen. When the drum rolls therefore on Sundays and Thursdays, each repairs to the place allotted for his division, where drawn up in a line, he undergoes, not only a close examination in person and dress, but is compelled to bring his bag of spare clothing to be likewise inspected in detail, in order that none may be put by, either dirty or damp, deficient in num- ber, or in want of repairs, or of being replaced. Twice a- week, consequently a sailor, in the Royal Navy must be clean, under pain of certain punishment. Nor is it scarcely possible for him to be otherwise at any time, so many eyes are upon him, such constant vigilance exerted by all classes of the officers. His bedding also, is subjected occasionally to a similar scrutiny ; he has washing and airing as well as mustering days ; he is never permitted to lie about the decks ; the latter are cleaned and aired daily," with a degree of minuteness and nicety almost excessive, and which it may be safely affirmed, the most zealous housewife does not bestow upon her parlour. And besides these, there are a hundred other minute regulations tending to cleanliness, sobriety, and good order ; while in the Russian Navy, scarcely one of these essential particulars is deemed a point of convenience, much less a necessary duty. The grades in rank are principally taken from the French service ; they are aspirant or volunteer, midshipman, lieutenant* captain-lieutenant, acquired after twelve or thirteen years service as lieutenant, but unknown in the British navy, captains of the first and second classes, commodore, rear, vice, and full admiral. The actual pay of a lieutenant is about 50 per annum ; but when in active service, he receives a certain sum as table money according to the station he is on ; in England it was 6 10*. ; on the coast of Sweden about 4i 10,?. per mensem, besides 4> Os. monthly for two servants ; so that his income is considerably more than that of the English lieutenant. When not at sea, or actively employed, the table and servants money ceases. A midshipman, as he messes with the lieutenants, receives the same sum for his table, but with smaller pay, and no allowance for ser- vants. Captain-lieutenants have pay for three servants, captains for four and six, according to rank, and admirals in the same proportion. Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. &> The surgeons are very deficient in the essential qualifications of their profession ; and some, it must be confessed, extremely ig- norant, both of the powers and application of medicine, and of the operations of surgery. In the former, they seldom venture beyond the administration of simples, except upon extraordinary occasions, and then in an unscientific manner ; in the latter case, I was assured by the officers, that in all their great battles with the Swedes, the greater part of the amputated, from the unskil- ful manner in which they were performed, or from neglect, died ; while slighter wounds, from the same causes, mortified and also terminated fatally. In their army human life was equally disre- garded, at least, in those who had unfortunately lost their limbs ; for Sir Robert Wilson records, in one of his works, an observation of a Russian general officer, " that the best doctor for a man without his leg was a cannon ball ! " Purgatives and blood-letting, which constitute what may be termed the eyes of physic, are dis- esteemed among them; and thus, a complaint often at first simple and easily manageable, becomes in time, dangerous or in- curable. There is not, however, sufficient encouragement in this service for men of real talent. Inexperienced men come here for a time, as probably they could not succeed in other situations ; but when more mature in years, and improved in practice, they very naturally seek a more profitable mart for their exertions. There is no surer proof of a body of professional men wanting favour, patronage, and emolument, than being generally deficient in knowledge and skill. In the army, it is remarkable, they take rank according to periods of services ; the surgeon of the guards, on board, after twenty-five years service, bore the rank of a full colonel. Most of the hospitals and public establishments are supplied with physicians from Great Britain and Germany : the Emperor's favorite and confidential surgeon, Sir James Wylie, is a native of Scotland. Masters, though commonly good theoretical navigators, are seldom, as in the English service, expert sailors or tolerable pilots, and therefore, bear little of the responsibility attached to the ship 1 * safety or course when at sea. The captain sustains nearly the whole ; he is therefore timid in approaching a coast, or in explor- ing the gulphs, even near their own shores, and necessarily would be very inefficient in blockading or closely inspecting those of an enemy. The boldness of the English, in this respect, has fre- quently excited their surprise and admiration ; but clever seamen, much experience, and accurate charts, are essential in this arduous species of duty. There is no officer answering to the name of Purser, the Cap- tain taking charge of the provisions, clothing, and other stores of a similar kind for the use of the crew, which are distributed when 4& Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. wanted, by a steward under the superintendence of a lieutenant, who takes the name of Revisor, does little or no duty besides, and receives a certain sum for his trouble, in addition to his other emoluments. The warrant officers, as they are termed in the English ser- vice, or the Gunner, Boatswain, and Carpenter, are in the Russian upon a different establishment, particularly the former, who is scientifically acquainted with the practice of the artillery, which is never the case with us, the office being commonly con- ferred on an old deserving seaman, well acquainted, probably, with every department in a ship, but the very one he is called upon to fill. This, therefore, would seem an improvement upon our system, if it was not found that nautical experience and skill counterbalance science in English naval engagements, from the practice of closing directly with the enemy. Where the latter, from calms or other causes cannot be effected, or he is enabled to keep at long-shot distance, it is unquestionable that we are always worsted by superior precision of aim, particularly by the French, who invariably employ artillery officers in their ships. This was one cause why many of our battles with that nation, previous to the last thirty years, were either indecisive or disadvantageous from the distance at which the hostile fleets often engaged, and the superior gunnery of the enemy. The Ward-room Mess comprises all the principal officers and midshipmen; while in an English ship the latter live by them- selves. A tacit agreement seems to exist, to sit in some degree according to rank, though without any formal arrangement on the subject; the mode of helping and the order of the dishes have been already mentioned. During the first ten days of my residence on board, we had two public repasts daily, dinner and supper, the former at twelve o'clock, the latter between four and five in the evening ; a cup of coffee taken by each in his pri- vate cabin, previous to the one, and after the other, served as breakfast, and as a substitute for that sociable evening refresh- ment, whether composed of tea or coffee, which commonly passes by the former name. After the guards joined, there was only dinner, but served up an hour later. In an English ship, on the contrary, all the repasts are taken by the officers together, with the regularity of a family. None of their messes drink wine when by themselves; weak spi- rits and water, or quass, a weak and somewhat sour liquor, made of plain malt and water well shook together, form their only bever- age. Along with a large stock of other things laid in to do honour to the " Guards, 1 ' was a plentiful supply of claret, which, though no person sat at table according to the French custom, after the cloth was removed, failed ere we reached Voyage to St. Peterfsburg^ in 1814. 25 Cronstadt. The evening was commonly devoted to cards, in which betting went high. The crew likewise have two public meals daily at the hours of twelve and four ; English seamen, in addition to these, have breakfast at eight ; the rations were of course the same as those supplied to the latter, from being pro- cured in England, but their own, I understand, are much infe- rior in quality, though not in quantity. A most execrable dish often given them, and sometimes brought to the officers' table, is salt beef soup, They all seem to relish it, though nauseating to my palate in a high degree ; but a more serious objection is its powerful tendency to produce scurvy, containing, as it does, the very essence of that disease in its composition ; for I have no doubt that this preparation will produce it in one half the time required by the use of the meat itself, and perhaps the occa- sional use of this article may account for what seemed otherwise inexplicable, the presence of so much scurvy among the crews, though lying for months together in the Medway, and of course constantly supplied with fresh meat, vegetables, and all the usual and- scorbutics. Their opinions of England, as already hinted, were of a mixed character; but so difficult is it for a foreigner to judge even tole- rably of our manners, character, or institutions, that I had rea- son to believe the unfavourable side prevailed. Nor is this sur- prising. Strangers, even of acknowledged talents, assiduity and impartiality, after residing for years in England, cannot, with the exertion of all their industry, understand us. We do not, perhaps, fully know ourselves. Our constitution, an admirable and complicated machine in itself, re-acting on our national feel- ings and independence, gives a tinge of singularity to many of our habits, and almost all our opinions are unintelligible to others. We are unquestionably a great, but perhaps not a pleasing peo- ple. We are too proud to stoop to conciliate, because we think our merits entitled to command admiration ; and conscious of superior freedom and intelligence, treat with undisguised con- tempt the want of them in others. We are, to other nations, subjects more of wonder than of love. The endless variety of our character seemed to amuse and surprise my new companions. Some, in the course of their stay in England, had met with great civility, and others with occa- sional rudeness from people in the same condition of life, with- out their giving any particular cause for either. No two of us they said were alike ; while, on the contrary, in other countries, a sample or two from one class of society formed a pretty good criterion of the whole. The higher ranks, they observed, were powerful in their influence in the country, and distant in their manners: the middling class commonly rich, independent and 26 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. spirited ; the shop-keeepers eitlier very supercilious, or on the contrary obsequious ; the inn-keepers insolent and exorbitant in their charges ; but more especially the lower orders insuffer- ably rude and insulting to their superiors, whether natives or foreigners. This spirit, they could not reconcile with the existence of good government or of public tranquility ; and could not be persuaded but that in time it would destroy both. Pride, in all classes, it was observed, formed one of the chief characteristics of our nation. It might be a right feeling, it was by no means impolitic to promote it ; but to foreigners it was often offensive and repulsive, depriving even our good qua- lities of half their due value. Conversing with some officers one evening, at the usual ward- room lounging place, the rudder-head, I experienced a sudden and most unexpected attack on the merits or rather demerits of my country, from Captain R , who managed the business so adroitly, that I hau not an opportunity of uttering three words in reply. The purport is, perhaps, scarcely worth repeating, ex- cept as being a summary of the opinions, or prejudices, of a man really of considerable reading and information ; but whose ideas were squared solely by the practices of a despotic govern- ment, and that jealousy Avhich individually and collectively the continental nations are so prone to feel of England. Rushing out of his cabin, with symptoms of impatience, as if primed and loaded with arguments from the perusal of a French philippic against us, he began without preface or delay, by ob- serving that it was extraordinary that England should claim so much merit from recent events, when so little was really due to her. She was a small state, and in herself unimportant ; but raised to eminence by fortuitous circumstances. The jealousies of the powers of the continent had given her a footing there some centuries ago, and their quarrels and losses since had been the source of her gain. By their own folly she had become, from being their inferior, their equal ; and not contented with this, even aimed, with airs of arro- gant superiority, at taking the lead as their master. It was, how- ever, the pride of a dwarf straining to reach the magnitude of a giant. This must soon cease ; she had overstrained herself by attempting too much, and would soon discover her weakness, and sink back into that insignificance from which she had only emerged by some skill in commerce and a powerful navy raised upon the wreck of that of the other maritime powers. But ships could not last for ever. Commerce would in time change its seat as it had always done since the world began, and then what would become of her ? Could she exist afterwards as an independent state ? Probably not. At all events only a second- rate power, who must receive the law from her stronger neigh- Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 27 bours. Her resources, even now, were exhausted. For some years past they had in fact been more fictitious than real. Credit, not capital, had been her support ; and like all desperate spend- thrifts, who anticipate their revenues, she had gone on conti- nually borrowing, till the mortgage exceeded the value of the estate. Her public debt was a burthen which must drag her to the earth. It could not be paid honestly ; and if otherwise got rid of, would not only ruin her subjects, but blast her credit and consequence irretrievably in the eyes of all foreigners. The selfishness of England was disgusting ; it was more it was both galling and insulting. Money seemed to be the god of the country. Individuals, indeed, were both liberal and ho- nourable in their transactions ; but the nation was at all times ready to sacrifice either friend or foe for some paltry extension of commerce. She had excluded from her shores half the pro- duce of Europe, and taxed the other half by exorbitant duties. Foreign enterprise seemed to her a crime, and foreign colonies, standing eye-sores. Sooner than see a foot of ground subject to another flag, she would gladly garrison, at an enormous expence, and with no possible profit, all the barren rocks of Europe, and of both Indies. Even her assistance was not disinterested. Her money had been scattered throughout Europe, solely to annoy France; and in fighting the battles of Spain and Portugal, she merely defended herself. For Russia she had done nothing. As to English liberty it was but a name, which, without in- spiring the government, served merely to amuse the people. The Ministers could carry any question they pleased. Parliament was notoriously bought and sold, or, at least, half the seats in it had a fixed price. All the liberty he had seen in England, more than in other countries, was that of a lawless mob parading the streets of Portsmouth, breaking the windows, and otherwise de- stroying the property of the more respectable inhabitants a species of liberty which he was thankful Russia did not possess ; for there a party of soldiers would have been ordered out to protect the well-disposed. Scenes of this description, though disgraceful to a savage, much more a civilized country, were common in England, and often caused not merely terror and anxiety, but absolute ruin to many peaceable individuals. In- stances of this were numerous in London in the riots of 1780, and in Birmingham in 1794, besides many occasional occur- rences of a similar kind. Laws, indeed, might exist to punish these excesses and our punishments were certainly numerous and severe but there' were seldom any precautions taken to prevent them. Our police was so miserable as to afford little or no protection, even in the most public places, from thieves ; for a friend of his VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. t 28 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. had been robbed by violence at noon-day in the streets of London ; and such instances he was wellinformed were not uncommon. In no other streets of Europe were respectable persons so liable to be aggrieved and insulted by the most despicable portion of the popu- lation. And this too without redress. Was this system wise, or likely to promote order in society, or general obedience to the laws? Was liberty inconsistent with adequate protection to person and property ? If so, he for one gladly preferred what was called slavery in llussia, to the licentious liberty of England. Our laws, he understood, prevented oppression from the powerful or the rich ; but left all classes at the mercy of the mob the worst, the basest, the most ignorant, and the most violent of mankind. Of such vicious and ferocious characters there were more in London than in any other capital of Europe. In Petersburg, at least, the worst part of the population was civil ; but in Lon- don a fellow detected in robbing, would, probably, add to his insolence by also beating you. In fine, England, though no doubt a rich country, possessed so little liberality of spirit, as to aim at making the rest of Europe subservient to her plans of draining the whole of its wealth into her own coffers. Her system Avas selfish, her views contracted her principles of trade, those of a mere shopkeeper. Though calling herself the benefactor of the continent, all the powers of it disliked her ; some were influenced by fear, some by interest, but none by love. Blessed as we were with an acksiowledged fine country, no foreigner, unconnected with business, would live in it. Our habits were unlike those of any other people ; and our society, though unquestionably not deficient in talent, cold, formal and repulsive. Every thing, even the common necessa- ries of life, were at an enormous price. And notwithstanding the boasted equality of the laws, the avenues to public justice were so impeded by heavy charges, as to be rarely accessible to a poor man, when opposed to the rich. The nation, however, might eventually be good, and happy, and respectable, did it pos- sess a wise or effective system of government; but he was convinced and lie had heard many persons of rank and fortune in the country say the same that while the monarchy continued limited, and an opposition existed in parliament to thwart all the measures of the ministers, good or bad, it never could attain permanent power or prosperity. The earnestness and fluency, added to the rhetorical gestures, with which the captain discharged his blunderbuss of censure against poor England, had already drawn all the officers around us, anxious to hear the discussion. Dreading a subject, how- ever, which I had always carefully avoided, because it was unlikely I could convince, and yet impossible to remain silent Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 181 i. 29 if attacked, I tried in vain to get away. The ?,ealous orator had jammed me in a corner, whence, without rudeness, I could not escape. Disappointed in this, I endeavoured, by interrup- tion, more than once to break the thread of this red-hot phi- lippic; but the captain only elevated his voice and gave still more animation to his gestures ; replies of every kind, apology, justification, or attack in return, were overpowered by his breathless volubility. The peroration at length arriving, mv time seemed at hand. But the slippery orator again foiled me ; for the last enlightened dictum was no sooner uttered, than turn- ing quickly round, he fled from the scene of debate, running out of the ward-room with still more precipitation than he en- tered it, though not without receiving from me a volley of ex- postulation in his rear, which had something of the effect, at least, if not the reality of victory. For the officers, who en- joyed the scene not a little as indeed all the argument was carried on in good humour admitted that this ruse seemed as if the speaker were in doubt whether his objections might not be satisfactorily answered. This tirade, a sprinkling of truth amid a mass of contradic- tions, Avhich, however, contained several straggling compliments that I have not repeated, forms a pretty good abstract of the general opinions of foreigners respecting England, the peculiari- ties of which, because they cannot understand, they commonly take care to misrepresent ; and it is astonishing with what avidity these misrepresentations are received. All the eyes and ears of the continent are open to any thing defamatory of us ; because the people cannot possibly conceive by what fair and honest means so small a country should have become so rich and so formidable. England is to them literally a Terra Incognita. Few comparatively visit it ; and these cannot look below the sur- face of public affairs, where . the ebullition of a little popular spirit seems to indicate nothing but confusion and insubordina- tion. They know nothing of a government of public opinion ; physical force is their only substitute, ignorant, as it seems, of the ten-fold powers of the former great moral machinery of a free nation, for putting its resources and rulers into action. The captain, therefore, who had resided two years in Eng- land, besides several occasional visits, with the advantage of speaking the language nearly as fluently as myself, could not trace our peculiarities to their proper origin, no more than others whose pursuits and studies have been exclusively directed to the subject. But in censuring our commercial views, and depreci- ating our manufactures, he forgot the preference shewn to the latter by the officers of the fleet around us, many of whom, I was informed, carried large assortments of hard- ware, black and 30 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. green woollen cloths, refined sugars, and other articles bearing a high price in Russia. Some of these were doubtless to oblige their friends, and others, it was said, intended as commercial adventures. For this I do not vouch. Some, however, omitted to settle with the custom-house which bears the character of being excessively strict and the ingenuity of one in evading it, excited considerable laughter. His principal valuables were packed together, something in the shape of a man, placed on a small platform used for removing the sick, covered with a flag as is customary, and in this way safely conveyed, on the shoul- ders of a boats'* crew, through the midst of the revenue myrmi- dons, as an invalid on his way to the hospital ! Before concluding with the Russian officers, another opinion of theirs may be mentioned. This was, that war would proba- bly soon take place between England and their country. The reasan I did not learn, but such seemed the general belief. Should this at any future time be unavoidable and it never can be jus- tifiable, except from the direst necessity we shall have little to fear. Even the captain admitted this, when on another occa- sion, in a half-bitter spirit he exclaimed " England is strong by accident; she is secure in spite of herself; her empire is insular. But placed in the heart of Germany, how long would she have retained her boasted freedom, wealth, or indepen- dence . ?T> Notwithstanding these little ebullitions of envy, I could plainly perceive the speaker admired us much more than he was willing to acknowledge. Strong hints of this kind slipped out conti- nually. " England was a most extraordinary country quite unintelligible to a plain understanding. Every thing he saw, taken individually, was highly defective; but conjointly, their effect was wonderful." We parted good friends. With a hearty shake of the hand, he said, should the chances of service call an English officer on board again, there was none he would meet with so much pleasure as myself. As we approached the harbour of Cronstadt, it presented a very magnificent and imposing appearance, even to an English nautical eye, accustomed as it is to ships, boats, docks, canals, moles, fortifi- cations, commercial bustle, and all the other usual accompani- ments of maritime life. It is, however, where the men of war commonly lie, at least more of a roadstead than harbour, pre- senting a great and open expanse of water, though sufficiently protected from any extraordinary violence of wind or sea. The general depth of water is not very considerable. Sand-banks exist here and there, rising in some places nearly to the level of the water, in others above it, on two of three of which, deno- minated islands, are erected some very strong works, sufficient Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 31 to prevent the approach of a hostile fleet, their guns seeming not more than two feet above the water-line. These were prin- cipally thrown up under the influence of no small terror immedi- ately on hearing of Lord Nelson's attack on Copenhagen, which severed the Northern Confederacy. His approach subsequently to this place, communicated a panic even to St. Petersburg, which even now seems to be remembered by the shyness displayed on trifling nautical points to English naval officers. In coming in, they did not heave the lead in our ship, nor in any others that we observed, in order, as it is supposed, that the soundings should not be known. The channel of approach was repre- sented, I know not how truly, as narrow ; the depth of water in no place exceeding six fathoms, and commonly not more than four and a half ; this is li ttle more than sufficient to float a first rate. The town is situated on ihe eastern extremity of an island of the same name, about five miles long, though very narrow. The distance is between three andfour miles from where the men of war, in readiness for sea, commonly anchor. The pull in an open boat is tedious ; but the prospect, when you arrive, of the mighty labours of man in shaping enormous masses of gra- nite into facings of basins, canals, and docks, into fortifica- tions and quays without number, amply compensate the trou- ble. Every thing we see is on the grandest scale, and every thing, be it remembered, is artificial ; nature has done almost nothing, but labour and expence every thing ; and though many projects are incomplete, or only little more than begun, yet the scale on which they are planned, is at once a proof of the great designs and the mighty means of this nation, though even now almost in its infancy. A particular description of the various works will not be ne- cessary here, land indeed without ocular inspection, would be scarcely intelligible. Nothing has been neglected which can facilitate the instruction, equipment, and repairs of the Impe- rial navy, with which great point nearly every thing we see is more or less immediately connected. What is more surprising, the credit of almost the whole is due to Peter the Great , the idea, the execution, and nearly the completion are his. Born at once an Emperor and an extraordinary genius, every thing seems to have been not only within his reach, but within the scope of his ambition, from the government of a kingdom to the planing of a board or the manufacture of a nail. Not con- tent with a theoretical knowledge of these among a hundred other arts, he would execute them himself, and in general ex- tremely well. He used to say, " he paid many thousands of worse workmen."" It was also one of his occasional occupations 3 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. to labour among the stone-cutters employed on the works of this place. The great basin or wet-dock for the reception of merchant- men, is unequalled by any thing of the kind in Europe, except our own docks at Blackwall, which are, however, of recent date compared to that of Cronstadt. It affords infinite facility to commerce, by carrying vessels nearly into the heart of the town, and may contain, perhaps, three or four hundred sail. At this time it was so well filled that I could scarcely discover a vacancy. Never, even in the Thames, did I observe a more extensive or denser forest of masts. It was gratifying to find that they were nearly all belonging to our country, and of course so many practical testimonies to our wealth, reputation and enterprise. Besides the crews of these vessels, every second person we saw was English ; the beach, quays, streets, and taverns (their keepers and servants also of the same nation) were crowded with them, bustling to and fro with the characteristic hurry of com- mercial business, and occasionally, it must be confessed, deal- ing out to each other, or to strangers unluckily in their way, some of the choicest flowers of nautical eloquence. This is not an occasional, but on the contrary, a constant scene all the months in which, from the absence of the ice, the Gulph of Finland is open to traders ; so that the place might be taken for an English colony. For so exclusively is the trade of this port in our hands, that of a thousand foreign vessels which enter, it is calculated 930 are British. What a pity that two nations so useful, and almost necessary, to each other, and whose real in- terests in all ordinary conditions of the world, present so little chance of interfering, should ever have been inconsiderate enough to go to war ! The Public buildings are not very numerous, with the excep- tion of the government and mercantile storehouses, hospital for the reception of seamen of the Imperial navy, the barracks, cus- tom-house, and a few others of minor consequence, some in good order, and others, it must be confessed, bearing evident testimony that the attention of the people in power has been of late directed more to other objects. The arsenal is in tolerably fine condition, its interior regulations good, and as far as the finances of the country have lately permitted, pretty well supplied with stores and work- men. It is remarkable, however, how many ships there are here, old, in want of repair, or from some other cause totally unser- viceable; even two or three new ones have had their backs broke, as the builders say, in launching, and are therefore, though still perfect to the eye, unfit for service. Altogether, counted upon pa- per, as sovereigns and statesmen most frequently reckon their forces, the navy is strong, but the effective force is not considera- Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 33 ble. Even the majority of those in service are old and much in want of repairs. The town occupies a considerable extent of ground, the streets irregular and often dirty, and the houses straggling. Many of the latter seem much neglected and going to decay, the access to some being quite ruinous or filthy ; others again are not merely of an opposite description, but really elegant, among which may In- ranked all those owned or occupied by our countrymen, Avlio carry their characteristic comforts and neatness every where with them, though they seldom make proselytes to their practice. Besides two or three Russian Churches, is an English one with a resident Clergyman, supported by contributions from the mer- chants. There is another officiating minister also at St. Peters- burg ; a situation which has been almost always filled by able and pious men, from whom we have at different times derived no little information respecting this extraordinary empire. Two very tolerable inns, kept by Englishmen, afford pretty good entertainment, when not crowded so much as they were at this moment. Scarcely a vacant corner nay not even, as they say at the London theatres, " standing room," could be pro- cured without some difficulty during the day, from the influx of masters of merchantmen, full of bustle and business, cargoes, freights, and insurances, profits and losses from their private ad- ventures, quarrels with their seamen, and appointments to din- ner with the merchants, interlarded with jokes and bantering anecdotes, arguments and scolding, loud laughter and occasional swearing, the whole washed down by copious libations of bottled swipes (porter) and grog. Such a Babel I never saw before. When the evening called these hardy sons of Neptune on board their vessels, we found both room to breathe as well as very good beds, and when not chusing to dine alone, a very tolerable dinner at the table d'hote, for the moderate sum of two and a half rubles, which at the then rate of exchange was about half a crown. Groups of unfortunate convicts are to be seen labouring on the public works, and traversing the streets on various duties, heavily ironed ; yet probably from the desperation characteristic of such a condition, rather than indifference, singing their natio- nal airs, and clanking their chains in " rude harmony." Their allowance is little more than bread and water, with a very small sum of money daily. Russia is very sparing, and rightly so, of human life. She does not write her criminal laws in the blood of the victims, as we do in humane and enlightened England. No crimes, I believe, but murder and treason, and very frequently not even these, are punished with death. The people, besides a superstitious feeling on the subject, dislike such exhibitions ; 34 Voyages in Petcrsburgh, 1814. and succeeding sovereigns find their account in substituting in their place the knout and exile to Siberia. The barbarities for- merly practised in cutting off hands, arms, and ears, and slitting the nostrils, are now seldom executed except for atrocious offences. Branding in the forehead is sometimes the substitute for these. The resident natives and population are commonly calculated at 40,000, a number, I have some reason to think, exaggerated. In summer the influx of strangers is reckoned at 10,000 ; but mi- grations between this and Petersburg are frequent with all classes, particularly servants, tradesmen, clerks, labourers and others. The English form a numerous and important body, highly respected by the natives and visitors of all nations, for their attention and hospitality. Nearly the whole, are of course, mercantile men, and several are reputed very rich. But the most singular looking objects are the natives, distin- guished by sallow, sun-burnt faces, long beards like Jews in mourning, a loose outside garment something like a wide great coat without cape or collar, large trowsers, each leg of which may contain a man's body, and stuffed into boots which seem to have been formed in the infancy of cordwaining. The face, were it not for a certain expression of low cunning, sedate, and plodding, not arch or vivacious, is not displeasing. The hair hangs down to the shoulders, as strait as a pound of candles, and is there cut off all round with great regularity, leaving little more than the mere front of the face uncovered by greasy uncombed locks, commonly tenanted by a numerous brood. When combed and clean, this fashion, though rude, is not altogether displeasing. It gives the wearer an air of vulgar simplicity, strongly remind- ing us of one of our country bumpkins whose hair has been cut, as the phrase is, round the rim of a trencher. In the summer time amusements are few ; winter is the season for shewing off, when each tries to excel his neighbour in the elegance and richness of his sledge and the spirit and beauty of his horses. The walks near the town are few, walking not being in fashion in Russia. We strolled out about a mile to a kind of tea and coffee house, surrounded by gardens poorly laid out. The house was filled by some scores of the officers of the fleet, presenting a scene of confusion worse, if possible, than the inn in town, and therefore did not detain us long. The English are pretty socia- ble among themselves. Hospitality is a leading virtue with the Russians, and he who is respectably introduced has a general invitation on the days on which they see company ; this he is ex- pected to accept without the formality of further pressing. Of all the national recreations of a people, that of the bath, && used here, is the most singular. Men and women, totally, or Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 18 H. 35 almost totally, denuded of clothing, mingle togetlier without im- proper motives or feelings of violated decency, and pass through the ordeal of cleanliness, as if mankind were still in the state of innocence of our first parents in the garden of Eden. Europe lias no similar exhibition ; and it is difficult to conceive how it originated or was tolerated here. What seems no less extraordi- nary is the mode in which this purgation of the person is effected ; for the bather rushes from the hot or vapour bath streaming with perspiration into a tank of cold water, or into the river, if at hand, or in the winter rolls in the snow, by way of bracing up after the previous relaxation. Some of our party strolling through the town, intruded accidentally on this extraordinarv scene. Struck with astonishment they merely looked round and hastily retreated ; but the impression of wonder and disgust was not soon eradicated. People here consider it as nothing out of the way ; and the fact is a singular instance of the force of custom. It should be remarked, however, that it is confined to the second, or lower class of people, as in this country there are only masters and slaves, no middle class being yet formed, except a few merchants in the large towns. Saturday is the principal day for this recreation ; the admission is but three or four copecs, about two-pence English ; and almost every village in the empire possesses its bath. The inner, or vapour room, is prepared by water being thrown on stones heated red-hot ; and perspira- tion is promoted by washing and switching each other with birch rods. When satisfied with this, they proceed to the cold bath, or have pails of cold water poured over their heads. Cronstadt, or Crown town, offering nothing more worthy of notice, we prepared to set off for the Capital by water; but, English like, hadnearly forgotten that passports are necessary credentials for travelling all over the Continent. These were procured without much trouble. A few questions of name arid profession served to fill up the blanks in a sheet of substantial paper, and shew that we were, " good men and true." A pretty large, and not un- handsome boat, received our party ; and the master calling on board a guard ship, stationed at a little distance from the shore, in order to shew that the passports were " all right," no further interruption occurred. The passage, which commonly occupies four hours or more, is by no means unpleasant. The boat has usually an awning, as a defence from the sun, and the crew are clean, if not well dressed. The Neva here is of considerable breadth, expanding as it ap- proaches the gulph of Finland over a low tract of ground, which, on the ebb-tide, becomes visible, shewing that the navigable line of the river is far from considerable. At a distance its banks do VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. M 36 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. not shew to much advantage ; but when nearer, several of the merchants 1 country houses are seen to great advantage. If the mind finds, at the first approach to St. Petersburg, but little to admire, this feeling gradually gives way as we approach the city. Buildings of solid granite, as extensive as they are ele- gant, bridges, palaces, quays, churches with gilt domes, and turrets glittering in the sun, the banks of the river faced with the solid rock, and a succession, for a mile or two, of splendid and costly mansions, which it requires some persuasion to believe are the residences of private individuals, all strike upon the eye with irresistible grandeur and a decided feeling in the mind that there is nothing equal to it in Europe. Every thing we see has an air of magnificence ; perhaps the size of some, the materials of which they are constructed, and the idea of the labour necessary to give them their present form, may almost impart sensations of the sublime. The Imperial Academy of Arts, the Marine Cadet Institution, and other noble edifices on the left, Avith the long line of the Great and English Quays, on the right, added to the gigantic facings of the Neva on both sides, are alone sufficient to confer celebrity on any city. But when we disembark near the bridge, rush into Isaac's Place, contemplate the admirable statue of Peter the Great, run our eyes over the Admiralty, up the grand Perspective street, along the Hermitage, Winter, and Marble Palaces, examine the hundreds of other mansions equal to palaces rising on every side, and enter the new Metropolitan Church, dedicated to the mother of the God of Kazan, all other faculties are absorbed in those of unfeigned admiration and astonishment. Other capitals may be larger or richer, but in beauty none for a moment can come in competition with this Queen of the North. Hers is the triumph of Architecture.* In this respect she not only is, but ever must be the first in Europe, or indeed in the world, because the plan and much of the execu- tion were the work of one extraordinary man, whom no future sovereign, however superior in ability, can equal in the means of accomplishing his designs. Regularity pervades the whole ; the parts are so well fitted and adapted to each other that we can scarcely find any thing to condemn. It is a city of palaces rising in the midst of marshes. The site of the city lies in the Province of Ingria, on the banks of the Neva, a rapid river issuing from the Lake of Ladoga, sixty miles distant. Expanding here in its way to the gulph of Fin- , land several islands are formed, on some of which portions of the town * The style of building in the Russian Capital resembles that of Waterloo Place; and throughout that city, very little inferior to it in all the public works much superior. Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 181 4. 37 are situated. One of these, named Vassili Ostrof, is the most remarka- ble ; united to the south or Admiralty quarter of the city by a long and ingenious bridge of boats or barges, on which is raised a broad and convenient thoroughfare for every description of vehicle. Peter began his new city in 1703, and it is said to have cost the lives of 100,000 men in building. It ought therefore to be a magnifi- cent place, considering the magnitude of the sacrifice made to found it. Formerly it was exposed to inundations from the rising of the river during strong south-west winds, occasioning much distress and many losses ; and though less frequent now, are always dreaded. When it blows from this quarter the inha- bitants are put on their guard by guns from the Fortress, and at night by lights ; autumn is the season of danger ; the highest flood which is remembered rose to ten feet six inches above the usual level of the stream. The great height of the surrounding ground, caused by continual building, is one reason of their pre- sent security ; but the bridges over the smaller arms of the river are sometimes destroyed by the accumulation of water. Those formed of pontoons, being much elevated in the centre by the rising flood, offer a considerable acclivity to horses and carriages. These approach nearly at a gallop ; and by the impetus, aided by the police stationed there to prevent accidents, commonly suc- ceed in gaining the summit. The surrounding country is low and damp ; formerly it was uninhabitable, but the presence of man, united to his wants, have now rendered it pretty healthy. Disembarking near the principal bridge, the first considera- tion after the gaze of wonder and delight had subsided, was the choice of a house of entertainment. One, whose name I do not recollect, could not accommodate our party. The hotel de L 'Europe, as some of them had a week Before experienced, possess- ed very poor accommodations, though with charges as extrava- gant as any house upon the continent from which its name is taken. In this emergency a kind of boarding house, kept by one of our countrymen, who however had at this time no other inmates, was recommended, and we had no reason to regret the choice. The table was daily well covered, and the beds clean, at a moderate charge. Besides, the house formed a kind of human menagerie, fit for a philosopher to study national charac- ter. Our host was an officious, good natured Hibernian, who knew every thing and every body, and moreover somewhat partial to strong waters ; his wife a German, his waiter a Frenchman, his maid-servants Russ ; varied occasionally by the presence of some of his friends: viz. Danes, Swedes, Dutch, Italians, Americans, and two or three straggling Spaniards. Forty years ago there was no such thing as an inn in this city. The equestrian statue of Peter I. as being one of the greatest and most conspicuous ornaments of the city, usually claims the first 38 Voyage to St. Petersburg., in 1814. attention of travellers. It is indeed a magnificent object, vast in its proportions, admirable in its execution, honorable to the extraordinary personage represented, to the extraordinary woman who ordered, and to the eminent artist who designed it, and not less happy as a rare occurrence in works of art in its situation, standing in St. Isaac's Place, one of the finest squares or open areas in Europe. It was opened to the public in its present situation the 27th August, 1 782, by almost as solemn a ceremony as the proclamation of a real Emperor. Catharine andallher court viewed the ceremony from a platform ; a cordon of troops surrounded the scaffolding; without were all the population of the city, who rent the air with acclamations, when, on a signal being given, the inclosure, which had hitherto concealed it, disappeared. On this occasion all criminals, condemned to death, were pardoned, all deserters for- given, arid all convicts sentenced to hard labour, except those guilty of murder, released. Walking, I have remarked, is an exercise not in fashion in this country. The English have tried to introduce it in vain. Few genteel people are seen on their feet in the streets ; and some years ago it would have been reckoned the height of, vul- garity. Every body, even the barber who comes to shave you, rides, or is expected to ride, however short the distance or unfur- nished the pocket, though the charge it is true is not considera- ble. The common medium of conveyance is a Drojeka, or, as it is pronounced, Drosky ; a machine which, as well as many other things here, is unlike any thing else of the kind I have seen in the world, though it has been my fortune to have visited almost all parts of it. The plainest of those in the streets for hire may in a few words be described, as a short, oblong, uncovered bench, variously ornamented, hung on springs, and running on four low wheels behind one horse, who goes at a pace something between a hard trot and a gallop. Close to his tail sits the driver, or Ivats- chic, bearing his number on his back. On each side, with their backs to each other, and riding side- ways, may sit a passenger, the seats cushioned, and the feet on a rest elevated only twelve or fourteen inches from the ground. No covering defends the tra- veller from the rain above, or mud beneath, sun and dust out of the question. What purpose in nature, except swift loco- motiQn, the Drosky is intended to answer, I cannot conjecture. Comfort and cleanliness, should the weather be the least unfa- vourable, are impossible ; and as to convenience, it is, as an honest countryman of ours remarked, just no convenience at all. Yet, these are the only substitutes for our hackney coaches. In winter they give place to the sledge. The sledge is a machine equally as .-singular as the drosky, by Voyage fo St. Petersburg^ in 1814. 39 means of which the communication is kept up in winter between all parts of this vast empire, carrying commodities and persons from Kamtschatka to Petersburg when no other mode of conveyance would be practicable. It is formed of two longitudinal piecesof timber about five feet long, shod with iron, and united by cross pieces, upon which is erected accommodation according to the pocket or con- dition of the owner, and yoked to the horse by a pair of shafts. This is the general form, though in some portions of the Em- pire slight variations are seen, adapted to local circ vim stances. Those of the peasants are often merely logs of wood joined together, to a sailor's eye simply forming what he would call a land-raft. When owned by the nobility they are, on the contrary, very ele- gant vehicles, highly and expensively decorated. Great pride in their horses is a distinguishing feature among the young men of fortune. Those kept for the sledge are peculiarly beautiful, high spirited, and of the Arabian breed. One goes in the shafts ; the other prances, curvets, and displays all his points of figure and action by the side of his companion. Their manes and tails are never cut, and some attain an enormous lengxk. :. F"V essential is this beauty to a Russian horse, that those who are deficient in either, from accident or the poverty of nature, are supplied by their owners with false appendages of this kind cut off from the dead. The harness is likewise gaudy,; ornaments of brass and silver, party-coloured tassels and embossed leather, are thickly spread over it, not always with taste or regard to effect. Numbers of coaches in the English fashion are frequently seen in the streets with four horses, driving nearly at a gallop ; this in fact is the pace of every vehicle in the place ; pedestrians, how- ever, are seldom.endangered, because the streets are wide, and the population, compared with the extent of the place, thin. In ad- dition, the postillion, always a lad riding on the off horse, and habited in a long brown coat tied round his middle by a red-sash, is often bawling out to those in the way to take care. His skill and care are remarkable ; and the leaders being widely traced from the shaft horse, he must often in turning a corner exert both. The coachman has the addition of a venerable beard to his countenance ; the footman military boots, spurs, and some- times shewy liveries. A coach or chariot is an absolutely necessary appendage to every stranger who would visit or be visited, or otherwise be con- sidered a person of respectability. Without this he is nothing. A walking Englishman, indeed, straying to the shores of the Neva to dissipate his constitutional spleen, or indulge his curiosity, is occasionally tolerated ; but any other foreigner so situated would soon find himself in Coventry. 'I he hire of one of these vehicles for a month, at the present rate of exchange, would amount to about 15 sterling; they remain in attendance the whole of the 40 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. day, the men seeming to eat, drink and sleep, pertinaciously on their respective posts. The expences of living certainly are considerable, more so by a great deal than in Stockholm, though perhaps not much more than in Copenhagen. Yet the necessaries of life are cheap, though the aggregate of expence is otherwise ; I mean comparatively, for out of England no man would square his ideas of living by the heavy claims upon his purse incident to London. The hotels certainly are as dear ; but a single man can always manage at much less comparative charges than a family. To the latter, house rent is dear, education is dear, dress is dear, wine is dear, all other luxu- ries are dear, while the equipage is not cheap. Men servants, finding themselves with food, may be hired for 30 a year. Exclusive of the Opera and other amusements, a small family, I was told, with economy, may live pretty well on QQO per annum. This, though comparatively little in England, is high for the Continent. ,%, The streets are wi4f, straight, and some of great length, particu- larly the Gra'iid Perspective, which extends nearly to four miles. They are all, with perhaps some exceptions, paved ; but few have foot-paths for pedestrians. The Perspective, indeed, originally possessed this distinction, till the unfortunate Paul substituted for them a broad walk in the centre, planted with linden trees, which has by no means an unpleasant effect. The English Quay, with its splendid mansions and bank, and facings of hewn granite, nearly two miles long, is a magnificent place. And it is almost a source of pride to a true-born Briton, to know that, even in a foreign land, his countrymen are sufficiently wealthy and impor- tant to retain, in a great degree, this noble pile of buildings for their residence. Except upon this, and one or two other streets, walking is . certainly more unpleasant and fatiguing than any other place I have been in. These, being flagged or gravelled, present a flat surface to the feet ; but in the others, the prominent points of the pavement become so uneasy after an hour or two's walk, as to remind me frequently of the facetious Peter Pindar's story of the " Pilgrims and the Peas."" Drosky- riding is therefore, perhaps, more necessary to the ease of the in- habitants than at first sight may appear. The style of building houses is light, shewy, and agreeable; some- thing between the Grecian and Italian. The houses are com- monly large, three and four stories high, with frequently a gate-way in the centre, leading sometimes to an inner open area, not always very clean and characteristic of what we expect in the entrance to a rich and powerful nobleman's palace. Amid many edifices of marbl eand other stone, the general materials for building are brick, stuccoed, or stained, to imitate the former. The resem- blance is sometimes perfect, for the Russian workmen are, pro- Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 41 bably, the most skilful in Europe ; and every house, when com- pleted, is subject to the revision of persons in power. The shops make but little external show ; but within are both elegant and spacious. Many of these are kept by natives of France. The number of Marchandes des modes particularly attract the notice of a stranger. Within these few years, the great majority of houses in the outskirts of the city, and in the more private streets, were built of wood. These, as they fall to pieces, or require considerable re- pairs, must be replaced by the more substantial fabrics now in use, pursuant to standing orders of the police, which, by order of the Emperor, is furnished with plans for that purpose. Every- thing indeed is done which can contribute to the embellishment or convenience of this City of Palaces. And if the means be sometimes arbitrary, which an Englishman can scarcely forgive, they may, in this instance be excused, on account of the superior claims which the capital of a great nation always possesses, to the improving hand, the taste, designs, liberality, and revision of her sovereigns. London is miserably deficient in all the more noble and striking features of architecture. The fine river Neva, during the summer months, presents a noble appearance ; the stream broad, deep, and rapid, being covered with boats bearing gay pendants, and streamers floating in the breeze. It is well known, that Peter, among other extraordinary projects to bend the minds of his people to his own mode of thinking, interdicted the passage by bridges for some time, in order to promote that by boats. The nautical mania, however, never raged very strongly among the Russians. To a people so Generally continental, as scarcely ever to see the ocean, it is, in let, unnatural. And in any country, where a large standing army admits of choice in the military profession, it is unques- tionable, that the land-service will always be chosen, both by offi- cers and privates, in preference to that of the sea. This is the general feeling of the Russian nobility. During the winter the surface of this river offers a singular spectacle in the number of sledges and skaiters flying to-and-fro with incredible swiftness. Towards the end of September the frost commonly sets in, and breaks up in April or May. The bridges, formed upon pontoons, and of course moveable, are opened to admit the passage of large masses of floating ice, which would otherwise destroy them. Bridges, such as ours, would not stand here, from the pressure of the ice against the piers of the arches ; and the width is much too considerable for the span of one arch. Plans of this kind have frequently been proposed, and models submitted for approval ; but the present structures are, perhaps, the best suited to local circumstances. 42 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1811. Canals are another noble feature of this seat of the C/avs ; faced like the river with the solid rock. The principal are those of Moi- ka, Fontanka, Katarina, and Nikolai, which variously intersect it, crowned by various small bridges, and presenting a resemblance to some of the cities of Holland. It cannot but be a matter of surprise that London has nothing of this kind, so well supplied as it is with the means. On the Surry side of the river it would be easily practicable, and form a new, useful, and beautiful addi- tion to our own metropolis. One of the first things which meets the eye of the stranger in approaching this city is the gilded cupolas and spires of the churches. This is done, it is said, with ducat gold. The effect under a fervid sun is singular; and were there not abundant other uses for gold in Russia, though the cxpence was not, perhaps, vast, it would be a proof of magnificence. Numbers of these edifices rise in every quarter, monuments of the religious devotion of the people, and not unworthy of the sacred cause to which they are appropriated; whose sublime truths, though they cannot be improved by the pomp of the place in which tney are uttered, deserve, at least, as suitable a receptacle as things of little or no moment. Kazan Church, or the great metropolitan temple, situated on the right hand in proceeding up the Grand Perspective, is the most magnificent edifice of the kind in Europe, after St. Peter's at Rome, and St. Paul's in London. It is on the site of an old church of the same name, and held in high veneration, on account of containing a sacred figure of the Virgin. Here the Emperor and Imperial Family frequently bowed the knee, in humble sub- mission to divine power. Here also, each passing native paid his obeisance to the patron Saint within, by taking offhis hat, bowing, and crossing the hand on the breast. It was begun in 1802. At present, it may be called all but finished ; after the expenditure of an immense sum, though in some parts, I understand, con- tracted from the original design, which was grounded upon that of St. Peters. Within, the extent is amazing, presenting at least one source of the sublime, space. The decorations, it is almost needless to say, are neat, handsome, and highly finished ; but what struck me with considerable surprise and pleasure, they were also plain. This I did not calculate upon ; for the Roman churches offend so much in the contrary excess, that in the Greek, which in other respects so much resemble them, no material difference could be expected. In the exclusion of frippery to the superior claims of chaste and unassuming simplicity, there is, however, one object so truly beautiful, and yet so splendidly grand, that neither St. Peter'** Voyage to Si. Petersburg, in 1814. 43 nor St. Paul's, nor any other building in the world, can produce any thing similar. This is a wood of pillars of Finland granite, each formed of only one solid, unbroken piece, about (perhaps) forty feet high, and polished by extraordinary care and labour to the smoothness 01 glass ! Compared with this, some of the wonders of the fairy palaces are nothing. And though quarrying, conveying, erecting, and polishing such mighty masses of matter unbroken, might seem a labour fit only for their genii ; yet the whole was performed by simple, uneducated, half-clothed, half- civilized Russian boors, without assistance from foreign talent. The diameter of each pillar may be about forty-eight or fifty-eight inches ; and the total number is, or was intended to be, (for I omitted at the moment to count) eighty-fyur. The effect of the whole is no less handsome than magnificent; the granite is of a greenish colour, and in some, shades of light sparkle brilliantly. The architect of this imperial structure, which will immortalize him as much as its patron and promoter, (the munificent Alexan- der) was a slave ; or, in other words, born on the estate of a powerful nobleman, Count Strogonoff, to whom his services for life, according to the laws of this country, were thenceforth due. His education was necessarily confined ; but displaying, at an early period, strong traits of superior genius, his noble owner had him instructed first, and convinced of his talents, at length gave him liberty. I had almost forgotten to say that the remains of the celebrated General Suwarroff lie here. The inscription, in Russian, on the tomb is short but pithy, and admirably suited to the character of the man : HERE LIES SUWARROFF! The removal of this warrior to his present abode is but recent, having formerly lain in the church and monastery of St. Alexan- der Newsky. These, which are moated round, cover an extensive patch of ground, at the very extremity of the Grand Perspective, and were built by Peter the Great, over the shrine of a former Prince and Saint of this name, who had been successful in defending 'his country ; but like many other patriots, prematurely lost his life by domestic treachery. An order of knighthood, if I mistake not, has been likewise instituted to his memory. The brethren of the monastery, sixty in number, are of the order of St. Basil, a favorite saint in the Greek Church. Their costume is truly dismal, being black from head to foot ; their persons stout, their countenances sallow, disfigured by long beards, which in men of the middle period of life always gives a ferocious appearance. VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. -VII. N 44 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. Within the walls of the establishment is a place of interment, adorned by several monuments, pretty well executed ; a kind of vaulted way is used for the same purpose, commonly occupied by persons of consequence. Round the cloisters are double windows to obviate the piercing cold of winter, and during this season stoves in every part disseminate an agreeable warmth, without which the place would be scarcely habitable. Returning through the Perspective from the monastery, we stopped to examine the mart of industry, Gostinnoi Dvor, situate on the left, not far from the Kazan Church. It is a vast building of two stories, defended from the weather by piazzas, filled with small shops and stores, provided with every native article of use or ornament, for biped or quadruped. The solicitations for our custom were equally incessant and innumerable, resembling the teazing importunities of the Israelites of rag fair, London, whom they resemble in more respects than one. The Russian tradesmen are perhaps the keenest of their craft in Europe. In skill, perseverance, assiduity, and due obsequi- ousness, none can exceed them ; but strict regard to character must not be reckoned among their merits, for few will cheat with so little ceremony, heedless, as it seems, whether their future interests may not suffer by their unfair dealings. It is remark- able, however, that this characteristic is common to all people unacquainted with the more extended principles of commerce, or imperfectly civilized ; they only look to the present, leaving the future to take care of itself. He commonly demands twice the sum he will take for an article, and if he meets with a novice in the art of dealing in his country, may make a good day^s work out of a single bargain. Not content with this, he will occa- sionally take the liberty of substituting an inferior for a better article, smiling all the time most good-naturedly in your face, with the dexterity of a professor of legerdemain. Several well-dressed women paraded this walk, though not in such numbers as might be expected, or as the place of recreation deserves, were the exercise more in fashion. Nor were they handsome. Female beauty is not a flower of Russian growth, yet exceptions, of course, occur ; generally speaking, however, their features are not agreeable, partaking something of the Tar- tar cast ; few have any colour, owing, perhaps, to indolence, to diet, to over-heated rooms in the winter, and to seldom courting the fresh air, at least so much as they ought in summer, and scarcely at all during the reign of the frost. Their dress, is commonly in the French style, almost all the milliners and dress- makers being of that nation. A very favourite resort of the citizens in summer, is the domains and gardens of the nobility, situate on some of the islands of the Neva. A few of these display much care and Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 181 4-. 4 taste in the arrangement, as well as in the works of art, with which they are occasionally ornamented. To these they are per- mitted to resort, to enjoy the fresh air, and the green and flowery parterres, adding a zest to the rural repast which forms a feature in the excursion. Alexander, as much, perhaps, from good nature as policy, frequently treats the citizens with parties of pleasure ; m the summer to fire-works, music, and dancing at PeterhofF; in the winter to a masquerade, in the spacious saloons of the winter palace. The nobility, in degree, imitate the ex- ample, by granting every indulgence in their power. The summer gardens are a work of Catharine's, the walks extensive, the parterres regularly laid out, the company fre- quently fashionable, and the balustrade lining the banks of the river tasteful and grand. The fortress, raised by Peter for the defence of his new capital, but for many years used only as a state prison, stands on one of the islands, containing also several good streets, to reach which we had to cross two bridges. The work itself is pretty exten- sive, and formed or faced with granite. Within it is the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, remarkable for its lofty spire, gilt with ducat gold, and for being the earthly resting place of the sove- reigns of Russia, since the days of Peter the Great. They are entombed in stone, covered by richly embroidered velvet palls. I could not look on that of Paul, standing alone, without soine feelings of pity, enemy as he was to our country at his death. But midnight assassination is so horrible in itself, so treacherous in principle, so revolting to every feeling of men, and to every institution of society, that perpetrated on whom it may, it is sus- ceptible of only one emotion unqualified horror and detestation. Even in Turkey, murder does not always accompany deposition from the throne ; and for a madman, surely there is some other treatment than strangling. Within the fortress is likewise the mint. England, I under- stand, for we were not permitted to enter, supplied the apparatus for coining ; but there is little use for it, the precious metals being scarce. Siberia, however, along with her furs, has fur- nished a little both of gold and silver. The cells for state prisoners, situated mostly in the bastions, are said to be numerous, out, happily for humanity, have been of late years little tenanted. Few that once entered them ever emerged again to the light of day. Siberia and the Knout were much less terrible then perpetual enthralment here ; and accordingly, they have been, with comparative humanity, substituted during the last twenty-five years, even by the jealous Catharine. It was in one of these cells that the beautiful and accomplished woman, already alluded to, the reputed daughter of the Empress Eliza- beth, entrapped by the matchless villainy of Orloft', terminated 46 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. her existence; whether by the dagger, poison, strangling, or drowning, is still matter of doubt ; though in the eye of the faith- ful narrator of history, and of a still higher judge, the mode is of little consequence. From the summit of the church may be obtained the best view, both in its principal parts and as a whole, that can be had of a city, whose outline, if filled up in every part, would embrace a circumference of twenty English miles. Returning from this temple of durance, which had excited some melancholy thoughts, and which is regarded by the populace with no little awe, our driver, who had fixed his eye with a chuckle of welcome recognition, on a passing female of his ac- quaintance, to the momentary neglect of his horse^s head, ran so close to a Cossack of the guard, as to disturb the economy of his trappings. The latter, turning his horse round with a furious expression of countenance, seemed as if he would strike him to the ground ; from my position I was half afraid of coming in for a share of his vengeance ; but curbing his passion with what we aftenvards understood to be uncommon forbearance, merely uttered a few maledictions, accompanied by very intelligible threats, and permitted the offender to proceed. Had there been any of the police at hand, and few streets are without them, Mr. Jehu would, probably, have received several thwacks from their batons over his shoulders, and perhaps mulcted into the bargain. It is scarcely necessary to describe these strange-looking troops, the Cossacks, who have already gratified the eyes of the gazing multitudes in London. If not soldiers for show, however, they are at least admirable for service, in the light parts of an army, as videttes, scouts, or foragers, and in a pursuit few can equal them ; their natural love of enterprise, and capacity for enduring fatigue, being quickened by the hope of plunder. I was fre- quently assured by the officers of the guards that, but for this uncouth looking force, the French retreating army would have got off with much more ease, and perhaps a third less loss than it actually experienced. The hardihood of their horses is per- haps of equal value with the spirit of the men. What the latter is able to endure the former seems always willing to second both in their way are unequalled; the horses require neither groom, stable nor litter and the smallest portions of water and food; the man, in emergencies, is, if possible, still more abstemious. There are three distinct nations or tribes of these people, which take the names of the Donsky, Uralsky, and Baschkir Cossacks, differing only in minor points, and some, particularly the latter, in variation of dialect, which is a corrupt Russian. Their qua- lities, arms, equipments, regulations, and services are however nearly the same. A considerable number are always on duty in Petersburg, particularly about the palaces and the grand parade. Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 47 Somewhat in doubt respecting the professional skill of our Dros- ky-driver, we discharged him, and proceeded on foot to view the Academy of Arts, a large pile of building, situated in the Vas- sili-Ostroff. In one of the principal rooms were a number of casts from the antient statues, including all, I believe, " known to fame," among artists and connoisseurs. The paintings were few, some unexplained cause having occasioned their temporary removal ; and native productions of merit are unknown in Rus- sia. Several architectural models are to be seen here, both of home and foreign erections. None of the students were at work during our visit; and on the whole we felt somewhat disappointed. The ACADEMY OF SCIENCES is a noble erection, situated in the Vassili-Ostroff, but not so far down the bank of the river. It is another testimony to the comprehensive capacity of Peter the Great, who having done for his subjects all that was possible for man to do in the more useful and necessary, but perhaps humbler arts of life, finished his career by opening a door to native talent in the higher departments of science. In fact it was one of the last acts of his life, having himself drawn the plan, and signed it on the 10th of February, 1724. Catharine I. faithfully fulfilled the design of her great predecessor and husband. On the 27th December, 1725, the society, composed of some natives, and many illustrious foreigners, assembled for the first time, and the 1st of August following, to give still greater eclat to the infant seat of learning, she honoured it with her presence, when Bui- finger, Professor of Natural History, delivered a suitable oration on the occasion. Since the first institution it has experienced some vicissitudes, being neglected by some of the sovereigns, and encouraged by others ; its members occasionally of greater or less character, its transactions and publications displaying more or less activity and talent. Among the professors are reckoned the illustrious names of Wolff, Hermand, two Bernoullis, two De Lisles, Bulfinger, Gmelin, Guldenstaedt, Lomonosof, Rumovsky, Pallas, and that extraordinary prodigy of memory and mathematics, the celebrated Euler, to whom the volumes of transactions were so frequently indebted for their ablest and most ingenious articles. The first volume appeared in 1728 ; for some years they came out pretty regularly, but of late have diminished in frequency. Mathematics constituted the favourite subject at first, as of our own Royal Society ; like our own also, this study has been latterly neglected for natural history, under the encouragement and example of the famous Pallas. The total number of volumes published is between seventy and eighty. Nothing can be more modest, or truly characteristic of such a society, in such a country, than the motto, Paulatim. 48 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. Besides a president and director, fifteen professors fill various chairs, with salaries from \5Q to ^700, besides a residence and some other advantages. The vacancies, however, I was told were not always regularly filled up. The annual sum set apart for its maintenance by Catharine was nearly 1 4,000, and I believe tins has not been increased, her ^boundless expenditure in every way, and on every object that gratified the whim of the moment or promised applause from strangers, and from poste- rity, having caused financial derangements, which the prudential economy of the present amiable monarch has not yet been able to remove. The Museum forms a principal object of the curiosity of strangers. Here, after two or three hours examination, we were gratified Avith monsters of all kinds, biped, quadruped, bird, fish, and reptile ; wonders, natural, and, I had almost said, super- natural ; ingenious mechanical inventions, upon which the inventors spent the best part of their lives, and Catharine some of her money ; metals, minerals, and fossils ; specimens and varieties in natural history ; and not only an abundance of the manual works, models, and amusements in wood, of Peter the Great, but the very hero himself, that is a wax- work figure of him, said to be a great likeness, clothed in a full suit of his iden- tical garments, in pretty good order, with the sword he usually wore. Besides these, there are various other samples of his common working dress, worn thread-bare, for every one knows Peter was nothing of the beau, and a hat, shot through, I think, at the battle of Pultowa. Several of the more distant parts of the empire contribute to the collection of curiosities in various specimens of their produce, animal and mineral, the dress, implements, and ornaments of the natives ; among others are several sledges and the figure of a Kamschatkan Soothsayer from the life. The South Sea Islands and North West coast of America have likewise contributed to the embellishment of the museum, some things being the gift of English circumnavigators, and others of their own, Kruesenstern and Lisiansky, who went out in 1803 and returned in 1806, thus accomplishing, in the first days of Alexander, a feat of science which Catharine during her long reign did not attempt. There are likewise several models of bridges, some by men of science, others by unlettered boors, which display wonderful genius ; they are principally meant for the Neva, in lieu of the present structures, and would certainly be more elegant, though perhaps not more useful. Remounting our droskies, and seizing fast hold of the sash of -the driver, which to a novice in this species of riding is almost necessary to prevent measuring his length on the pavement Voyage to St, Petersburg, in 1814. 49 should a rough stone be in the way, we set off as usual at a half-gallop to examine the exterior of the vast pile of building, called the Winter-Palace. Strangers, at this time, were not ad- mitted to view the apartments ; nor is there indeed much to see, except large rooms, galleries, corridors, and stair-cases, presenting nothing remarkable but their numbers and a few fine chandeliers. Occasionally a favoured few find access to the private apartments, which display some handsome and costly furniture, native and foreign. The architecture of this mighty edifice, which stands on the bank of the Neva, is complained of as heavy, but there is never- theless an air of grandeur and magnificence about it, arising per- haps partly from its extent, which is not a little imposing. It is built of brick stuccoed, and consists of a basement and two stories, supported by columns, and set off witli balustrades. Several statues of merit ornament the exterior in many parts; some however are so elevated, or placed in regard to position, as to be little, if at all, distinguishable from the ground. In this capa- cious erection of the Empress Elizabeth reside the Imperial family during that frigid season whence its name is derived ; and here are given those splendid but suffocating entertainments to the Bourgeois, whom all wise monarchs, restricted or despotic, make it their business occasionally to court. Here, it was told us, two thousand persons have been sometimes stuffed into these apartments on such occasions. The sight of so many happy and gratified faces, bedizened with finery, which we should think adapted only to half-savage characters in theatrical representation, must be no doubt pleasing to every lover of his species ; but on account of the heat of the rooms, and the concatenation of unsa- vory odours from the intermixture of so numerous an assemblage not of the most delicate class, we were told it was much better to be a spectator than partaker of the evening's amusement. The number of stoves constantly in use here in winter is stated to be enormous, so many, if I mistake not, as eleven or twelve hundred, of all descriptions. Pretty well satisfied with the exterior of this, we found little difficulty in becoming better acquainted with the inside of the Hermitage, an adjoining palace, as milch adapted for show as the other is for use, built by Catharine, and her favourite retreat, when temporarily charmed by a new swain, from the noise and bustle of politics and the court. From this circumstance does this splendid temple of luxury, as little appropriate in extent, simplicity, and innocence to its name-sake, as can well be ima- gined, take its title. It forms in fact a wing of the winter palace, there being a communication between them over an archway, which separates the bases of the two structures. Into the inmost recesses of this enchanted mansion, few but the personal favourites 50 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. of the Empress were permitted to penetrate, during much of her time. It formed a kind of sanctuary to her privacies. All that money could purchase, and ingenuity contrive, to render it not only beautiful in itself, and admirable in the works of art, as well as in some of the riches of nature, but the very first for con- trivances, comforts, and conveniences, of every description, were unsparingly procured. Several marvellous stories are told of it in her reign. By stamping on the floors of some apartments, couches of down would arise in a moment ; in others bouquets of .flowers in all seasons, and the most rare and costly perfumes. Springs touched in certain places would produce the sweetest music ; and when the presence of attendants was not agreeable, sumptuous repasts were introduced by invisible means. In all these mechanical contrivances she took particular delight, and paid for them handsomely ; national taste had, perhaps, some- thing to do with them, as the inventors were commonly Ger- mans. Here likewise she meditated some of her greatest pro- jects ; and with Potemkin arranged the political machinery for carrying them into execution, in which, perhaps, no sovereign was ever more successful, as it is doubtful whether she gained more by her intrigues or by her arms. J ,. ^> . J . . *, Ascending a capacious stair-case a minute carried us into an immense suite of rooms, occupied by paintings of the first mas- ters. Among these are works of Rembrandt, Teniers, Wou- vennans, Berghem, Vandyke, Snyders, Rubens, Guido, Sal- vator Rosa, two Poussins, Murillo, Claude Lorraine, Gior- dano, and at least fifty others, many being from the Houghton collection, purchased in England. Numbers of the best produc- tions of those eminent men adorn these walls, and also, perhaps, though I do not pretend to be a connoisseur, a few of the worst. Each master has, as far as is practicable, a room to himself; but three 'or four in the same style and subject may be seen quietly together, Avhere the rival and jealous painters, if alive, would scarcely let them inhabit the same city. Taken altogether, notwithstanding many undoubted de- ductions on account of =bad taste, the assemblage at the Her- mitage is superior in .numbers, and, what is more, not in- ferior in excellence to any other in Europe, not excepting even that which the Louvre boasted, as the spoils of plundered Europe. To an artist the contemplation of so much excellence must be a great source of enjoyment. Admission is not diffi- cult, and those who desire it have permission to copy what they please. The art, however, has not yet taken root in the coun- try, at least the fruits are not evident. Sculpture, architecture, engraving and medaling have had better success, and seem more adapted to the genius of the people. Painting, it may be as- Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 51 serted, is the last of the fine arts which attains perfection in all countries. Two copiers, an elderly man and a youth, were busily occupied during our visit upon a head not of Guido or Rembrandt but an indifferent one of the Emperor ; one of which, we understood, was by his own orders, and intended for a present. The collection of curiosities is not only extensive, but sub- stantially valuable, embracing a variety of precious stones of considerable size and the finest water, large pearls, masses of silver and gold from various countries, numerous specimens of mineral ores, ah" the coins of the world, cameos, intaglios, a large assortment of medals, of which study, it is said, the Empress Dowager is very fond, moon-stones, as they are called, fine spe- cimens of the verd-antique, rare and valuable gems, rare sam- ples of mechanical ingenuity, a few curious models in wax, some works in ivory of Peter the Great, and a thousand other things, the bare catalogue of which would fill a volume. The garden, situated upon the same floor, and of course elevated to a considerable height from the ground, probably be- tween thirty and forty feet, is not one of the least curiosities of the Hermitage. Here, suspended as it were in air, the visitor, to his amazement, treads on gravel walks, sees the green turf vivid around him, and finds shrubs, and even trees thicker than his leg, growing in luxuriance, under the shelter of which he may take refuge on a couch, and contemplate the execution and proportions of some favourite statue, several of which are at hand. Within a short distance he may distinguish an orangery covered in ; and be treated by the vocal exertions of an aviary, collected from other climates, the little choristers flying to and fro without restraint, and resting upon what are considered their favourite trees, which have been brought and planted in this serial situation expressly for their enjoyment. The novelty of the whole scene, and the recollection where it was situated, not on the ground, but on (or near) the top of a palace, added to the overpowering influence of the boundless riches of na- ture and art which we had just examined, produced an effect that for some minutes kept me tongue-tied, and induced an opinion that the wonders of " The Hermitage" 11 alone are almost worth a voyage to St. Petersburg. The theatre, to which we next proceeded, offers nothing re- markable, and so far disappointed expectation. Magnificence is so obvious in every thing else, that we likewise expected a more than ordinary share here. It is, however, very small, so much so as in my opinion nearly to destroy the illusion of the acting; the seats are semi-circularly arranged before the cur- tain, rising one above another, covered with crimson cushion* VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. o 52 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. and without backs, as in England. But a private theatre? always appears to me a selfish, if not an unsociable place ; for half the amusement arises from observing the uncontrolled plea- sure and happy faces of those around us, which the decorum necessary to be observed before Imperial Personages has a ten- dency to restrain. The scenery, which we did not see, is said to be very fine, being the work of the best artists the country can boast, with the addition of several Frenchmen and Italians. Balls and court-suppers are frequently given here, the pit being then boarded over level with the stage. The display, on these occasions, is represented as gorgeous and magnificent in the extreme, far beyond any thing else of the kind in Europe, representing more the fabled scenes of fairy palaces than the actual abode of mortals, no expence being spared, and all the taste and skill of the empire put in requisition for the occasion. We stopped some time to examine it ; while the Catharines and Potemkins, and Orloffs and Panins, and Bestucheffs, all the famous and infamous characters, which at once distinguished and disgraced this court, passed in review before the " mind's eye," and com- pelled us, in some measure, to acknowledge that, notwithstand- ing the crimes of some, there was a brilliancy about others admirably adapted to impose on the understandings of the great - mob of mankind. The MARBLE PALACE AND CHURCH are, perhaps, two of the most costly and least elegant edih'ces in Petersburg, both under- taken by the orders of Catharine. The former stands in the vi- cinity of the Hermitage, and was raised for her favourite, Grego- ry Orloff, some short time before she presented him with an im- mense estate not of so many thousand acres but of 6000 pea- sants. It is of Siberian marble, of grey, brown, and copper co- lours, but neither within nor without offers any thing remarka- ble, but splendid furniture and some remarkable fine tapestry. For a short time it became the residence of the weak and unfor- tunate Stanislaus, the last of the Polish Kings, the favourite, lover, minion, and victim of Catharine, who pulled him down, as she set him up, without sufficient reason ; but who, had he pos- sessed the firmness of a patriot, or the independence of a man, would have been popular with his subjects, and thus might have retained the distinguished seat to which he had been exalted. This palace, after having been some years in the occupation of some attendants on the court, has been an occasional residence for the Grand Duke Constantine. The Church, standing on one side of the area, in which ap- pears the statue of Peter, not being finished at Catharine's death, was completed by Paul, his share of the work being Voyage to St. Petersburg, -in 1814. o3 partly brick, his mother's, marble and porphyry ; but the aver- sion to her crimes and favourites extended even to her works of art. The interior is extensive, and the dome seemingly im- mense. Flags of different nations, bearing evident tokens of age or hard service, were suspended from the walls, as from those of all other places of worship we saw. Among others, was an English Union Jack, the only one of our nation, though those of others were abundant, which, from its size and make, had, probably, belonged to some boat of the Baltic fleet, driven on shore, perhaps, by stress of weather; for nothing larger of ours ever fell into the hands of the Russians. Though a solitary trophy, it excited some national feelings, so that we contem- plated the practicability of its removal ; and had the least op- portunity offered would certainly have made the attempt. The exterior of the Church has a dull and heavy look, from which the inside is not exempted. St. 'Michael's Palace, the last, as well as favourite, residence of the unfortunate Paul, stands near the summer garden. It is a vast quadrangular fabric, built by an Italian architect, of red brick, upon a basement of Finland rock, displaying little taste, but many spacious apartments, and numberless windows. Only two years and a half were occupied in the erection ; by dint of incessant labour, and the almost daily superintendance of the Emperor himself, who looked forward to its completion with an eagerness, now considered by his superstitious subjects, omi- nous of his own fate ; for here the unhappy monarch w r as soon after put to death. What induced him to construct a new palace, while so many were unoccupied, is difficult to say, ex- cept it were whim, or an aversion to his mother's memory. The latter is commonly believed ; and among his people, at least his nobility, it constituted one of his deadly sins. She had prac- tised that system of favouritism, of loose principles, and of osten- tatious profusion, so congenial to minds only half enlightened ; she had extended at once their fame and their arms, and grati- fied their love of barbarous aggression abroad, and useless shew at home. They in return believed all she did to be right, and that any deviation from her system was improper. Even Alexander, on his accession, had to assure the nation that he would tread in her steps. None of the Imperial family have resided in this palace since the horrible catastrophe alluded to. TAUEIDA PALACE, was once the residence and property of Prince Potemkin, though paid for, I believe, when erected, by the prodi- gal munificence, seldom backward in rewarding services, of Ca- tharine, with whom he was a long-cherished favourite; in the first instance as a lover, and latterly as a general and minister. It stands towards the east end of the city, and is of brick stuc- 54 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. coed, the exterior much less striking, as well as lower than any other of the palaces, but making up in extent what it is deficient in height. A minute description of this celebrated place, so famous throughout Europe for the Arabian-night-like entertainment, (for nothing else ever approached it in boundless magnificence and expence) given to Catharine and her court, would be needless. It embraces every thing which the wealth of Potemkin could purchase, and this is all that need be said. The celebrated hah 1 for which it is remarkable, and where the entertainment in question was given, is, in space at least, one of the architec- tural wonders of Europe. Report says it was his own design ; this is not improbable, as he was a man of much native talent and ingenuity, little improved by education, and in many re- spects, perhaps, an absolute barbarian, though certainly a mag- nificent one. A double range of handsome, though plain, columns, rising to an amazing height, support the roof of this extraordinary apartment, built to all appearance more for giants than for men, but the execution of the whole is unquestionably tasteful in the highest degree. To add to its interest several statues of an- tiquity and merit stand between the columns. Opening from it is the winter garden of the Emperor, an immense pavilion filled with orange trees, flowers, and shrubs, blooming nearly all the year round, interspersed with charming walks, and pre- senting a scene of delightful recreation at all seasons, particu- larly in the winter; when without all is frost and snow and intense cold ; while within Soft zephyrs inoire, eternal summers reign, And show'rs prolific bless the soil, not indeed from the heavens, but from reservoirs abundantly supplied for that purpose. At this time it must present a sin- gular spectacle of the triumph of art over natural difficulties, the climates of the pole and of the tropics separated only by a few yards ! On the other side of the haE, facing the winter-garden, is a saloon occupied by a few works of art. The pleasure, fruit, kitchen-gardens, and hot-houses, enjoy every advantage wln'ch Imperial wealth and scientific taste can bestow. Their extent is very great, laid out principally in the English style, and well watered by small canals. Here, during the short summer season of this country, the Imperial Catharine, in the last six years of her life, when the hand of age began to press upon her frame, though it could not damp her spirit, spent much of her time. I did not see the Theatre. The remaining apart- ments in Potemkin's time were, I understand, remarkable for their almost unjustifiaWe costliness ; at present they are plain, Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 55 displaying nothing paltry, but nothing very remarkable, except immense quantities of glass, cut and plain, in chandeliers and mirrors. Returning from this quarter of the city, I remarked a number of Russian workmen employed on a house of considerable mao-- nitude, which, on enquiry, was said to be raising for a merchant, who, though born a slave, was now reputed worth 1 00,000. The workmen seem the most rude and uncouth creatures imaginable ; many with long beards, and wrapped in sheep-skins, looked like so many Orsons just issued from the woods. They are, in fact, all from the country. Brought up to an out-door trade, they gain permission from their lord to seek out the best mar- ket for its exercise, usually Petersburg, Novgorod, Moscow, or some of the other largest cities, by paying him an extra sum for the indulgence, but before their departure frequently marry, and leave the wife behind, in the care of their father, who ex- ercising all the marital rights, cohabits, without reproach, with his charge, and, perhaps, rears a family of beings, at once bro- thers and sisters or children to his absent son ! This detestable custom, though checked of late years, still exists in a shameful degree. It seems so unnatural, that it must have originated from the recommendation of the lords, who count heads instead of acres, rather than from any natural perversity of proper feelings in the people : from whatever cause, however, it is an unquestionable proof of barbarism; scarcely any thing worse can be found among the untutored natives of the South Sea islands. The most remarkable thing in the common workman or pea- sant, is his ingenuity. His powers of ivention are far from despicable, and his capacity for imitation altogether extraor- dinary. Whatever he sees in the mechanical arts he can al- most to a certainty copy, though to a person in the same class of life in any other country of Europe, it would offer insu- perable obstacles; the faculty is, perhaps, Asiatic, for it also belongs in an eminent degree to the Chinese. No other man within our pale of civilization executes so much and so well with such inadequate means. The Russian is ignorant, in a great degree, of all those scientific inventions among us cal- culated to supersede or to expedite human labour ; yet in the most trying difficulties he is rarely at a loss, and ultimately is sure to conquer them. The model of a flying-bridge of one arch, intended to cross the Neva, and the conveyance of the rock upon which the statue of Peter stands to the capital, be- sides numberless other examples of ingenuity, are proud tro- phies to the capacity of the most illiterate boors. The carpen- ter's only implement is his axe, with which he performs, with 56 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. admirable neatness and precision, all the delicate and compli- cated operations of his trade. The Stone Theatre is a spacious edifice; it stands in a large con- venient open area, where all theatres ought to stand, instead of being screwed up in some obscure, intricate corner, requir- ing a day's search to find out, as is commonly the case in Eng- land contiguous to the Nicolai Canal, over which is a bridge nearly opposite. The entrance is under a grand portico, sup- ported by eight or ten handsome columns; the length of the sides of the building about 200 feet. Operas, French, Ger- man, and Russian plays are occasionally performed here, parti- cularly the first and last, for which there are regular com- panies, under the direction, as is frequently the case on the continent, of government. The others receive assistance from amateurs and private performers belonging to the nobility, many of whom residing at a distance from the capital, have their own theatres and companies. In the area, the visitor's atten- tion is attracted by four small circular iron structures, intended for large wood fires, kept here during severe frost for the warmth of the servants in waiting, who, previous to this hu- mane measure, were sometimes frozen to death, and frequently mutilated in their extremities by froft-bites and subsequent mortification. No performance taking place during our stay, I did not see the interior, but some of my friends who had been more for- tunate, represented it as equal in size to the Opera House in London, somewhat elliptical in shape, containing four tiers of boxes, and on the whole handsomely decorated. The Em- peror's box, as in all foreign theatres, is in the centre. Part of the pit is furnished with several rows of seats, offering the luxury of backs, the want of which, both in the boxes and pit of an English theatre, is a severe tax on the bodily com- fort of the spectator, and has often induced a wish that I could transport myself for the evening to some more accommodating receptacle abroad. With us, where new comforts form a kind of study to much of our population, it is surprising this con- venient innovation has never been attempted. The reason, doubtless, is that it would interfere with private avarice, by reducing (a little) the number of seats. Even this would be a trifling sacrifice; but I think it very practicable to be done without. A striking peculiarity is the general gloom before the curtain, from the want of sufficient lights, whether arising from penury or taste I cannot say, but suspect the latter, as I re- marked the same thing some years ago in the Swedish theatres. The brilliancy thrown over the house by the contrary prac- tice in England, was probably one reason why some of my late Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 181 -1. 57 companions " of the guards" were so much struck with the imposing splendour of Drury Lane. The Carnage Mart is situated in the Grand Perspective, and called by the natives Yemskay. It presents a very large and varied assemblage of machines of all shapes, qualities, and sizes, either for the resident or traveller. Much capital and inge- nuity, as well as numbers of workmen, are employed in this trade, from the prevailing rage for equipages : but the latter, though highly finished and fashionably shaped, are extremely deficient in durability. From this cause English carriages were frequently imported by those who could afford the expence, which was thrice that of the native article. At present the prac- tice is less common, as a heavy duty protects the Petersburg manufacturer. One of the best home-made chariots costs about 800 rubles. The Foundling Hospital is a noble edifice, containing, proba- bly, fifty or sixty wards, in which each of the little deserted crea- tures has a bed to itself, with the name, supposed age, and time of its admission appended. Here all that are brought are re- ceived without enquiry, difficulty, or examination ; the mother sometimes leaves a name or no name, a trinket or token of re- membrance, as she pleases, but they are scarcely ever publicly reclaimed, though private recognitions, I was assured, were not unfrequent. It will be seen, therefore, that the system is totally at variance with ours. Whether it tends to immorality, is a very doubtful point, in which, as Sir Roger de Coverley observes, much may be said on both sides ; but the number of children annually received, amounting sometimes to twelve or fifteen hundred, argues little for general morals. On the other hand, few instances of child-murder are known. Human nature also, it must be observed, in the indulgence of its passions seldom looks to remote consequences; and probably the last thing a young woman thinks of, when overcome by criminal love, is the resource of the foundling hospital for her probable offspring. The boys are brought up to various trades, and are generally remarked for industry and sobriety, many being the best work- men in the city, in time acquiring wealth and respectability. The same thing I believe is common in- London, as if provi- dence made up by its protection for the neglect of the unnatural parents. For the girls it is more difficult to find employment. All the usual resources, however, for female skill and talent are put in requisition, zealously and effectually supported by their " good mother, 1 ' as she is continually termed, the Empress Dow- ager, who bears the character of being one of the best women in her son's dominions. Another establishment of her's which may be termed a national 58 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. blessing to the sex of her country, is the Convent for Young- Gentlewomen, situated towards the east end of the city, an old (if any thing can be called old here which can count little more than a century) and capacious building, or collection of build- ings, once occupied by a monastic order. Into the interior of this institution, of which the Empress herself occasionally con- descends to become lady abbess in propria persona, I did not enter, application for this purpose being made too late to wait for the necessary permission, consistent with other engagements. A friend, however, Avho had been there ten days before, fur- nished me with the following particulars. The Convent des Demoiselles offers to young women the ad- vantages of any other convent, without its unnatural restrictions; that is, they are well educated, and may quit it and marry when they please. About four hundred of the young female nobility of the less opulent sort are received here, whose friends partly contribute to their support, besides about half the number of the daughters of citizens, both receiving that portion of instruc- tion and accomplishments suited to their respective spheres. The Admiralty begins at one end of Isaac's Place on the bank of the river, and extends over a considerable space of ground, 'the church facing the end of the Grand Perspective. Formerly this front was somewhat neglected and mean ; at pre- sent, though not quite finished, it is grand and imposing in the extreme, fit for the first, instead of the fourth, maritime state in Europe, and altogether worthy of a city of palaces and splen- did public works. This whole division of Petersburg takes the name of the Admiralty quarter. Here are arranged houses of all kinds for the reception of each species of stores. Here, likewise, ships are built nearly of the largest size, excepting, I believe, three-deckers, which, the Neva being otherwise too shallow, are obliged to be floated down to Cronstadt by means of enormous wooden machines named camels. To do this successfully is the ne plus ultra of scientific knowledge and practical maritime skill. We have nothing of the kind in England. A Frenchman, I think, suggested the scheme to Peter the Great. The camels being brought to the sides of the vessel intended to be removed, are by artificial means depressed in the water, and placed under her bottom, when the pressure being removed, their natural buoyancy acting on the frame of the ship, raises her along with themselves suffi- ciently high to pass over the shallows of the river. This opera- tion is one of great labour in addition to its skill. Crossing the water to the Vassili-Ostroff quarter, we plunged at once into the region of traffic, the custom-house, exchange, and hard by, the warehouses for receiving the principal native com- Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 59 modifies previous to being shipped off for more southern shores. On the other, or Admiralty side, scarcely any of the bustle of commerce is observed ; the merchants reside and have their counting-houses there ; but a clerk, or two, transact the business on the opposite shore, and whom they may almost overlook from their parlour windows. It is remarkable, that the trade of this city is one almost en- tirely, of commission. Commercial men are more factors than what we commonly call merchants ; to whom the Russian traders from all parts of the empire resort at stated seasons of the year, purchasing principally on credit, and being often paid for their own goods in advance, on some recommendation of established character, or other security ; and this honorable compact is not often violated. About seven-tenths of the principal foreign mer- cantile houses, and the main trade, it must be observed, rests in their hands, are English ; the others composed of all the nations of Europe. The internal trade of the country is solely in the hands of the native merchants, who, by means of sledges, water- conveyance, and caravans, circulate our commodities to the fron- tiers of China. Some of the produce of the latter country, notwithstanding the immense distance of land-carriage, is procured better and cheaper in Petersburg than in any other capital of Europe. What will particularly delight an Englishman is the luxury of good tea, that article of supreme enjoyment to the softer sex, to the sober, and to the studious man, who is often, in the words of Samuel Johnson, " in that article a hardened sinner, who has for years diluted his meals with the infusion of that fascinating plant whose tea-kettle has had no time to cool ; who has with tea solaced the midnight hour, and with tea welcomed the morning. 11 Foreigners universally remark, that in no part of Europe do they drink such bad tea as in London, though the great emporium and second birth-place of the article. The price given for that which is commonly consumed in most families in the Russian Capital is about twelve shillings, English, per pound. For the protection and encouragement of trade and its pro- fessors there are several guilds here, or incorporations for the enrolment of those who choose to become members, by paying a certain sum, and who have, in return, some peculiar privileges. There is likewise another regulation, rather more fettering to the freedom of commercial intercourse, though no doubt easily sur- mounted by that ingenuity which has so repeatedly overcome obstacles of a much greater description. This is a species of security, or obligation, required by the Government, that those VOYAGES and TEAVELS, Vol. VII, p 60 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. who make fortunes in Russia, shall not remove to another coun- try to spend them ; the particulars, however, I did not learn. Provisions and some other articles of primary necessity, in the markets, are moderate in price, though living is, on the whole, as already observed, dear. The Vassili-Ostroff has some very good markets; in the winter, I understand, these are often a place of resort for all classes of people, desirous to observe all the fresh arrivals, devoted to the table, which this season exhibits. The meat is particularly remarkable ; a bullock, perhaps, being killed a thousand miles oft', and brought hither, frozen as hard as the pavement, to be sold, displaying, when cut up with the hatchet, the brittleness of glass. Off the Perspective are like- wise several depots for game, poultry, fruit, and a variety of other things, fitted for the immediate consumption of the table. Some of the finest southern fruits particularly attracted our attention. With respect to the police, I must confess there was some room for Captain R 's remarks upon the superiority of this department of internal government in this country to that of our own. The city is divided into several quarters, each under several chief officers, under whom again are from fifty to eighty or ninety men, forming, in the whole, a nightly guard of about 600 armed men, supported by patrolling parties or Cossacks, in a capital little more than a fourth part as populous as London. Scarcely such a thing as a robbery by violence is known. The presence of a stranger is soon public, for every house-keeper is obliged to give an account of all new-comers who sleep at his house ; while those who reside here for some time are obliged to advertise their departure in the gazette ; thus forming an ad- mirable security to the trading part of the community against swindlers. Whatever be the cause, whether from a naturally good dispo- sition, from the fear of punishment, from an effective system of prevention, or from being as yet ignorant of the baneful effects of general luxury, the mass of people are remarkably free from crime. The Russians have a great aversion to the punishment of death ; for which, the Empress Elizabeth (I believe) introduced more generally the practice of knouting. Even the appearance of blood in two boors fighting, stops the combat immediately, and he who shews this mark of his adversary^ prowess commonly comes off victor before the police ; a trait of character indicating little of cruelty in their composition. The knout is a dreadful instrument, with which any punishment, from simple abrasion of the skin to removing pieces of flesh, and death may be in- Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 61 flicted at the pleasure of the executioner. It is, in fact, severe flogging; the instrument being a thong of ox-hide, dry and hard, made fast to a strong wooden handle more than a foot long ; it is said, that the executioner, if skilful, can penetrate at one blow to the bone ; but the chief of police is present at all inflictions by this weapon ; of course, the degree of severity is always propor- tioned to the sentence or magnitude of the offence. If any pu- nishment can deter men from offences, it is this ; yet, with all its severities, knouting is preferable to hanging. A considerable number of minor offences are punished with fine, some of which are in England death ; such as wounding and maiming ; others, of a more aggravated character, by imprison- ment and labour ; by branding in the forehead or hand, and by banishment to Siberia. Coiners and forgers are sometimes con- demned to the gold, silver, and iron-mines of the latter country for a term of years, a singular and appropriate retributive judg- ment for the offence. Soon after our arrival, a grand entertainment was given at the country palace of Peterhoff, to the nobility and public, in honour of the Emperor's return. I had a ticket, but a temporary indis- position prevented my witnessing this spectacle, of which a friend, however, who was present, gave me an account. This favorite residence, about twenty miles from the Capital, near the gulph of Cronstadt, was built by a French architect for Peter the Great, with whom, as with most of his successors, it has been an admired retreat from the heat and dust of the city. Here Catha- rine II. resided some time as the wife of Peter III. ; and from hence, she set out to Petersburg, on the astonishing enterprise of dethroning her husband. The road to it is pretty, presenting many country houses and gardens of the English merchants, laid out with taste, in the style of their country. All the mercantile population of the Capital seemed to have congregated at Peterhoff for the evening, as well as the nobility, officers, and all foreigners of distinction, who filled the rooms to suffocation, while the populace, (who are here, as well as at home, somebzdy,) crowded the gardens to witness the illumina- tions, water-works, and fire-works. These were all extraordinary in their way, with which our Vauxhall, or any other public exhi- bition of the kind, admit of no possible comparison. The dress of the females was splendid, but remarkable, displaying a costume more nearly allied to the Asiatic than European; in addition to lofty head-dresses, many shewy colours, and abundance of rouge. A ball and splendid supper, distinguished by more, if possible, than Imperial magnificence, completed the amusements of the evening ; the supper is always select. Several dwarfs, who form a species of play-thing in the houses of the principal nobility , 62 Voyage to St. -Petersburg, in 1814. were in attendance upon their masters. The furniture of the rooms, particularly the chandeliers and mirrors, for which Russia is celebrated, was particularly rich and handsome, though not of recent manufacture. Besides Peterhoff, and the princely mansions of the " Re- sidence," the other Imperial edifices are the country palaces of Zarsko-Zelo, built by Catharine I., an immense edifice ; Gat- ehina, erected by one of the Orloffs, but now vested in the Crown ; Pauvoloffsky, the work of Paul, and where he spent the principal part of his time while Grand Duke, slighted, zealously watched, denied the smallest portion of power, and the usual privileges of his rank, by his fierce and suspicious mother ; Ora- nienbaum, built in the time of Peter the Great, and where his grandson Peter III. weakly surrendered himself to the same ambitious woman ; and Strelna, on the Peterhoff road, built by a nobleman about forty years ago. Of religion, it is scarcely necessary to say that the Greek Church constitutes the " Establishment" of Russia, of which faith the Imperial Family, and all who marry into it, must be members ; but ah 1 other persons have full license to follow what mode of worship they please. Lake the Roman Catholics, all classes are strict in the performance of the ceremonies of religion. Festivals- are common, and Saints' Days numerous. Easter is the grand period of rejoicing, when all ranks quit their customary employ- ments to unite in a kind of national gala, in which sports, feast- ing, and drinking, form the sole business of the lower orders. During this period the commonest boor enjoys a singular privi- lege ; it is that of kissing any woman he meets, not excepting die Empress herself, provided he first presents an egg, which she is expected to return. The custom is religious, but of its particular origin I am not aware. We had a Papa, (the name of the secular priests,) on board the ship I was in, and service was frequently performed ; but excepting, at these times, he was so constantly buried in the re- cesses of the cock-pit that I scarcely saw him twice. His beard was of no common length, a black close cap covered his head, and a cloak of the same colour and materials, resembling coarse calico, enveloped him from the neck to the ancles. The fervency of devotion in all is particularly striking to a Briton, who remembers the cold, unimpassioned manner charac- terising public worship in his own country ; if the heart, how- ever, be right, the manner is nothing. The responses were loud, frequent, and general, accompanied by bowing, or partial pros- tration, towards where the Papa officiated, behind whom hung a figure of the Virgin, against the partition of the ward-room, which was never removed during the voyage. In malting the sign of V&yage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. $5 the cross, they touch the forehead, breast, and right and left shoul- ders. Unlike the Roman Catholics, though so much resembling them in other points, the Papa is allowed to marry once, but not oftener ; the monks, of course, never. Unlike, also, the persecuting tenets and practice of the Roman Catholics, all religions are tolerated, and permitted the free and unmolested exercise of their rites. Many of the different ehris- tian sects have handsome places for public worship in some of the principal streets, instead of resorting to holes and corners, or being hunted like wild beasts, as in the bigoted countries of Spain, Portugal, and Italy. A difference of religion forms no ground here for exclusion from offices of trust and emolument. It is said, that a Bishop, in the confidence of Peter the Great, once pro- posed the contrary of this to his master, who, too wise to be guilty of such an absurdity in an infant kingdom, only replied, by the question, " Do you wish me to cut off my right arm ?" A traveller returning from another country to his own, is commonly anxious to bring a witness of the course of his travels, in a present to the " better sex" of his acquaintance, who are, usually, not a little eager after any thing " from abroad." Know- ing this, from repeated experience, I bent my way to a repository for furs, and was rather surprised to find in the chosen region of this comfortable article of warm clothing they were compara- tively high in price ; as dear indeed, in some respects, (as the vender very honestly assured me,) as in London. The assortment, however, was well worth looking at, for its beauty and variety, nor could I quit it empty-handed. The immense distance which this valuable commodity has to travel over land, the increasing difficulty of procuring it, the general taste for it as an article of dress, and the great demand also by the Chinese, are the reasons assigned for the advance, in some instances exorbitant, of value. Many of the young nobi- lity, in winter, wear fur pelisses, valued at four and five hundred pounds sterling. The famous Prince Potemkin is said to have worn one worth 5000. This is what some of the anti-sumptua- rists would term, " carrying a fortune on your back." A few species of furs are so scarce as to be reserved for the use of the Imperial Family. The skins, for which this country is famous, form a very beautiful article ; I never saw any thing of the kind finer ; the favorite colours are red, green, purple, yellow ; and ladies, who delight in forming their own various little nick-nacks, prize them highly. Down, for making tippets, is likewise plentiful and cheap. A friend of mine, somewhat of an epicure in the article of ease, was provident enough to purchase sufficient to stuff a couch of this luxurious produce; but, on examining it in England, 64 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. found his bargain bore the usual traces of Russian ingenuity, the packages being half filled with heterogeneous matters. The usual mode of salutation among the natives is kissing, which immediately strikes a stranger's attention ; the men em- brace, and salute the cheek, as before observed, a custom shock- ing in our eyes, particularly between two fellows with beards half as long as my arm. All ranks and ages go through this ceremony whenever they meet, after a short absence. Between the sexes the same mode of recognition prevails. The gentle- man commonly kisses the lady's hand, where they are acquainted ; the lady salutes, in return, the gentleman's cheek ; and as the operation requires both grace and dexterity to be done with due delicacy, kissing, in this country, may be said to be reduced to an art. Beards are another striking feature in which the low Russian differs from all the peasantry of Europe. But what is, perhaps, still more remarkable, the higher class abhor the appendage, while the boor prizes it above almost any thing else he is per- mitted to enjoy, and would almost refuse personal freedom, if purchased by the amputation of the beard. Such an utter vari- ance of feeling, in the same country, is difficult to explain. On entering the army, however, the boor must submit this long- loved and valued ornament of his countenance to the scythe of the barber, which is said to be one reason why this class have, in general, an aversion to the army ; so that a levy for this purpose upon the different estates is not always executed without some confusion and ill-will. Their pay, when compelled to desert their native village for the life of a soldier, is extremely small, (about eigh teen-pence, English, per month,) besides rations and clothing ; and when once drawn for this mode of life, they must serve twenty, or twenty-five years, before being permitted to retire. Whether their late advance towards the south of Europe, as it has made them more knowing in the superior advantages enjoyed by most other of the continental military, will better their condition, I know not, but it is very probable. The pay of a colonel is about ,200 per annum ; of a captain, under ,100, and the other ranks in proportion. Foreigners, therefore, may enter this ser- vice, for want of other employment, or for the sake of rank, but it cannot be for the pecuniary advantages. Neither in the regi- ments of the line, are the junior officers (lieutenants and ensigns) always treated with that consideration they receive in other services. With respect to literature, Russia is a thorough Boeotia, being far, very far behind her other European brethren, but it must be confessed that the press is much restricted, and wherever Voyage to St. Petersburg, In 1814. 65 this is tlie case, thought itself must unavoidably be controlled. Under Paul the restrictions were most rigorous, indeed altogether unjustifiable, and at present are still severe. All books written or imported become subjected to licensers, who are commonly very ignorant, and who to make certain of excluding every thing dangerous, scarcely admit any thing ! A native Russian book is in fact a kind of wonder in literature. Captain Krusen- s tern's voyage round the world, though I believe published in German, is very respectably written. So is Captain Lisiansky's, his companion, who on arriving near the North West coast of America, took a different route. Nicholas Karamsiri's travels have amused the Russians, but not much instructed them. His account of England is a mass of errors and prejudices, one of which is, that we are a nation of cannibals, who devour raw meat like dogs, and that from this source is derived much of our constitutional ferocity and melancholy ! Some of the officers told me they were at first considerably influenced by his repre- sentations. The principal native poets and dramatic writers are SUMA- RAKOFF and LOMONOSSOFF, besides some others of more recent date, whose names I take shame to myself for not recollecting ; but really where a language is so much at variance with all the other tongues of Europe, as to preclude the possibility of un- derstanding a single word, written or spoken, curiosity is mate- rially damped if not destroyed. Besides the transactions of the Academy of Sciences, and some few others, the principal work of a scientific nature published of late years, is the catalogue and description of all the curiosities of nature and art in the Museum of the Academy, in several volumes quarto. Many Russian manuscripts, it appears, enrich its library, so many indeed as rather more than 3000, of whose subjects or qualities very little is known. There are, likewise, several in the Chinese, and some in the Turkish character, collected principally on the borders of the empire during the reign of Catharine II. She likewise purchased the libraries and MSS. of Voltaire, Diderot, La Harpe, Helvetius, and some others of the French literati, whom affecting to admire while living, she thought it desirable thus to honour when dead. But in securing their books, she wisely took care to permit no importation of their principles, at least of the political sort ; of their obscenity, blasphemy, and irreligion it is to be feared she was somewhat careless. Since the accession of Alexander, two universities, one at Khar- koff in Lithuania, the other at Dorpat in Livonia, have been established, besides a variety of schools, lectureships, and insti- tutions civil and military, for the instruction of youth ; but these unfortunately are frequently deficient in good masters, 66 Voyage to St. Petersburg, m 1814. the small public salaries given in Russia forming little induce- ment to intelligent foreigners to settle in that country. Even in St. Petersburg tolerable tutors are difficult to be procured for private families. Clerks acquainted only with writing and arith- metic, and even cast-off travelling valets, French, German, and English, are frequently seen in this situation. In an opu- lent family about 150 sterling, with sometimes two or three rubles per diem table money, constitute the customary annual stipend. Many of the Courlanders, and those of other parts of the empire, who understand or speak German, proceed for education to Leipsic, Jena, and Gottingen. Besides the blaze of palaces, mansions, churches, charitable receptacles, and repositories for the labours of art and science, there are two or three grand buildings appropriated to the instruction of youth intended for the army and navy. These are mostly of the inferior class of nobility, or in other words, gentlemen's sons. They enter at an early age, eight or nine years, and remain till arrived at fifteen or sixteen. Here the best masters in every department are provided. The round of studies embrace mathematics, military exercises, and all the modern languages. The boys do every thing by military rule ; rise, parade, march to dinner, mount guard, and proceed again to rest by word of command, the drum, or the bugle. Those brought up here, however, necessarily form not a four hun- dredth part of the officers of the vast Russian army, the great majority of whom are extremely ignorant in every point but their immediate duties, and even in the more scientific parts of this. A friend well acquainted with both services, informs me that the Prussian officers of all classes are exceedingly superior. A Briton in looking round this city is involuntarily astonished to find so much, in every way, done by the Sovereign and so little by the people. If a monarch could at all exist without subjects, it might well be supposed it was here, for he is ever in the eye and in the ear, is the subject of all thoughts and the theme of all tongues, while the community at large is never heard of. Ask who projected this ? the answer is, Peter. Who founded that ? Catharine. Continue the interrogatory all day and the replies are the same. Peter and Catharine, and Catharine and Peter, occasionally intermingled with the names of Elizabeth, Paul, and Alexander. But inquire for some memorial of public exertion, some splendid trace of individual spirit, some noble erection, the fruit of voluntary association and public subscription, nothing, or next to nothing, of the kind is known. A species of tacit agreement would seem to exist in the country, that the sovereign alone should have the merit of doing all that is done, and that no individual or body of men Voyage lo St. Petersburg, in 1814.. 67 ought to tliiuk of wresting from him the honour and applause of the measure. Or rather, perhaps, we may consider it merely the effect of the want of that manly independence, enterprize, liberality, and munificent public spirit, characteristic of countries where constitutional freedom is enjoyed, and which exalting the private man in his own estimation, persuades him that his in- terest in his native land is as strong, and his attachment to it as powerful, as that of the monarch to whom his devotion and allegiance are due. Petersburg is likewise singularly deficient in that animating moral bustle belonging to some other capitals, forming in Paris the pursuit of pleasure, in London of commerce and politics. No public feelings are elicited, no public assemblages encouraged, except on religious festivals, no public discussion permitted or thought of, even for the most harmless purposes. The de- thronement of a sovereign or the overturning of a drosky are equally matters on which a Russian is constitutionally silent, well aware that silence is a virtue seldom injurious to him who can practise it. An Englishman will very naturally think such a place truly miserable; but a native has no such idea. He contentedly follows his daily avocations, conceiving political affairs to fall properly under other and higher cognizance, and gives to the practice of the government the full weight of his opinion ; for here, as in all other countries, the Sovereign rules but by the general feeling, such as it is, from the controul of which no despotism, however great, is exempted. In this point we are continually liable to err; we habitually take our own as the standard of other nations, and think them happy or otherwise according as they come up to our guage, without remembering that the throne of Constantinople itself is only supported by the general approval of its subjects. It would be presumption to judge of the several estimates of the character of the people in minute and particular points from the little time afforded me for observation. But there are general outlines worth remarking, always more or less obvious in na- tional peculiarities, which frequently convey considerable in- formation. The general polish of manners among the higher class, and a certain attentive good breeding, not always common among our- selves, immediately strike the notice of a stranger. It is true, indeed, that people of rank are said to be the same in all coun- tries ; and this may hold true in externals ; but in the essentials of knowledge, in acquaintance with the world at large, in ex- tended views, and sometimes even in common information, those of Russia are very deficient. Like artificial diamonds the sur- face is sufficiently brilliant, but there is a want of substance and VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. Q 68 Voyage to Si. Petersburg, m 1814. of intrinsic value beneath. They bear many of the leading fea- tures of the Asiatic ; a certain courteousness of manners and occasional ardour of attachment, blended with little stability of temperament, a fondness for novelty, few fixed principles of any kind, little decorum on the score of morals, and a want of that strict and sensitive tie we denominate honour. Many illus- trious exceptions of course occur among the travelled class ; but nine-tenths of the order never emerge beyond the atmospheres of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The barbaric splendour displayed in their style of living, in- habiting mansions superior to our palaces, filled with every species of luxury, attended by hundreds of servants (or slaves), amused by fools and dwarfs, administered to by dependants and flatterers, and powerful almost as petty sovereigns, present other Asiatic resemblances. The younger and poorer branches deign only to look up for employment to the army or the state ; and the vast extent of both commonly offers them subsistence, but Seldom perhaps wealth. The inferior orders are distinguished by a plodding industry and acuteness in pecuniary matters, not exceeded by any people in the world ; the spirit of extortion and accumulation is in fact so general, as to be almost a national peculiarity, for even Po- temkin himself, with riches nearly boundless, was as often mean as he was at other periods gorgeously magnificent. No people seem better suited to the pursuits of commerce. Time, more freedom of action, and greater general knowledge are necessary to fit them for other callings. Patience, forbearance, and good-- nature are virtues belonging to the lower Russian, of which he rarely loses the sense except from extreme injustice or oppression. Want of cleanliness and an irresistible desire for a strong pota- tions" are equally characteristic of his nature. Ability to sup- port privations under which any other man would sink, added to implicit obedience and fidelity to his leader, will ever render him infinitely the best soldier in Europe for hard service ; nor is his courage less constitutional than his hardihood. Female honour is not such a virtue among them as it ought to be ; but this and other faults arise doubtless from their slavery, which has always a tendency to lower the standard of morals in this as well as in other points. Escaped from barbarism, however, but one cen- tury, and known to us only since the reign of our Elizabeth, a proper national character can scarcely be said to be definitively established ; but whenever the progress of knowledge, and some alterations in the administration of the government and condition of the people are permitted to take place, I have little doubt it will be of the most favourable description. On our return to Cronstadt, understanding the Emperor in- tended to visit the fleet at that port, we did not wish to omit Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 69 seeing this ceremony, and therefore quitted Petersburg leaving many objects of curiosity unvisited. The Emperor, as the head of a great military nation should be, having nothing of the slug- gard in his composition, " took the field" at an early hour. A little before ten o'clock the guns of the batteries of Cron- stadt and the fleet pouring peals through the deafened ear, and a flotilla of boats being in motion, announced his approach. In a few minutes more, attended by several naval and military officers, he came on board our frigate, previous to visiting his own ships, a mark of distinction of which the Russian officers were not a little jealous. All the honours due to royalty were of course duly paid; and the officers being drawn up in form on the quar- ter-deck, we had the honour of being introduced to the magnani- mous Autocrat of all the Russias, who had previously expressed his satisfaction of the care and attention shewn to the health and comforts of the crews of his fleet. He remained on board about a quarter of an hour. The person of Alexander is so well known from his stay in London, that few in the metropolis at that time were ungrati- fied with a view of the original. He is above the middle size, of a somewhat plump and pleasing figure, his countenance rather round and highly expressive of good nature, his manners of course of the first polish, but with a winning natural affability which mere polish, without a natural bias of mind, could never give. He is between thirty -eight and thirty-nine years of age, his complexion fair, his eyes to my ken, grey, or as some say, blue, and though scarcely turned the corner of life, time has somewhat " thinned his flowing hair, 1 ' as often happens to those of light complexion, the crown being slightly bald, though the sides are bushy and matted, projecting over the ears, something in the form of what is called the yeoman crown. This fashion, copying after the Emperor, is general throughout the army and navy. Those whose vertex is well furnished by nature, press it so flatly down that scarce any is perceived here, while the sides are frizzed out immoderately. A prevailing characteristic of the Russian officers, some short time ago, was tight-bound waists, the abdomen being drawn in, in a most unmerciful and uncomfortable manner, but experience has partly corrected this error. Among the guards at least the practice was scarcely discernible. The Emperor is no pattern for this fashion. His mental characteristics are sufficiently intelligible to all Europe. They consist not so much in extraordinary talents, which indeed seldom make a nation happy, as in a sound, sober, regular, well directed judgment, aiming at nothing striking merely because it is new ; displaying no imperial tricks, no shew- off, no stage-effect, no unbounded lust of conquest, no brutal 70 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. domineering over his weaker neighbours, neither insulting his friends, nor ever behaving treacherously towards his foes. Mean- ing well, and wishing to see his people happy, he wisely distrusts daring and dangerous innovations, without rejecting any practi- cable amelioration in the laws or government of his empire. Mild and moderate abroad, he is equally so at home, holding " the even tenor of his way," with a calmness, which would seem indifference were not its wisdom evident in the daily in- creasing influence and territory of Russia, without violence or aggression, which though alarming to some of her neighbours, vet gives them no just reason to quarrel with her. No sovereign has done so much for extending the power of his country with so little bustle, or so few enemies. His habits are those of a man of business. He commonly rises early, takes coffee soon afterwards, inspects public documents set apart for his signature or approval, and about ten o'clock proceeds to the parade, which often occupies considerable time from the minuteness with which he examines the men. After this, when business is to be trans- acted, he repairs to the council, where no affair of importance is debated or determined upon without his being present. An early dinner, characterized by temperance, succeeds, followed sometimes by an hour or two's repose. The evening is devoted to a drive, to occasional promenading, to games of amusement, conversation, and the society of particular friends. His partialities, as might be expected from the head of a military nation, are strongly military. He has been from infancy accustomed to the review and parade, to the sash, sword, and feather ; the army is at once his pride, and, from the nature of the government, his chief dependence and support in case of emergency. Without being the champion of -unjust or unneces- sary war, he delights in the " pride, pomp and circumstance" of the camp, attending his large armies commonly in person, but without the vanity of taking the command from more experienced officers, though his talents in this way are unquestionably con- siderable. Napoleon was once the idol of his admiration. He confessed lately, that " he had been often deceived by his pro- fessions, but seldom by his actions. 11 " Had the man possessed a little more honour or principle," said his Majesty lately, " he would, in spite of us, always have possessed Europe. 1 ' On another occasion he remarked, with that point which frequently characterizes his conversation, " that Bonaparte was unques- tionably a most extraordinary character but he would have been a much greater man had he only been something less." Among the other characteristics of the Emperor is a total neglect of ceremony, except on state occasions, in proceeding through his capital. Frequently he has been seen driving about Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 71 in a plain English chariot, or curricle, sometimes on a drosky, little distinguished from the common class, and not unfrequenuy on foot, attended only by a servant or two, or perhaps an officer. In this way he is often recognized where least expected ; and though not desirous of being noticed, the affections of the people, with whom he is literally an idol, are too powerful to restrain themselves in the usual tokens of respect. Before his person became so well known in the capital, several whimsical adventures occurred, scarcely less singular than some of those which are re- lated of the Caliphs of Bagdad, or the Viziers of Constantinople, displaying in all, an inexhaustible fund of good nature. More than once, towards the dusk of the evening he has been in cus- tody of the police, for not giving an account of himself. On one occasion it is said, he was stopped on a bridge, over one of the canals, by a refractory Isvotschik, or drosky-driver, who half- tipsey, had placed his vehicle in such a position, as to obstruct the passage, and the Emperor sat with exemplary patience for half an hour, using only the rhetoric of persuasion, before the son of the whip would permit him to pass. At another time while on foot, with a military companion, a drunken boor stum- bled against them so violently, as almost to destroy the equili- brium of both, and in framing some apology, had nearly repeated the offence. The officer thinking the insult intentional, drew his sword ; " Let him alone," said the Emperor, with his usual jocular humour, " You see that he is just sober enough to know that he^s drunk. 11 He frequently visits some of the principal merchants to breakfast, with little or no ceremony. The English are thus frequently honoured. His kindness and condescension make him so universally beloved, by foreigners as well as natives, that were he not a monarch, attachments to whom are always suspicious in the eyes of the world, few men would have more personal friends. The morals of the court were so indifferent during the late reigns, that we can scarcely feel surprised, when accusations of indiscriminate gallantry are laid to his charge. Some of his favourites are publicly mentioned, while many others are conjec- tured ; and even scandal insinuates, that a few of his private visits are not prompted by the purest motives, but these things are always exaggerated. Whether this be or be not the case,* it may be safely asserted, that few of his nobility pres.rve pub- lic appearances, or are in fact so correct as himself. The Empress is a charming woman, her features handsome and * While in this country, the charms of English women had so powerful an effect on His Imperial Majesty, that it is said an illustrious personage jocu- larly termed him the *' Cytherean Dandy." 72 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. regular, her figure somewhat below the middle size, and her manners, it is said, highly attractive. The attachment of her august partner, is undoubted, and has been repeatedly ex- pressed in the tenderest manner. Towards the Empress Dow- ager, his regard is ardent, devoted, and respectful in the highest degree, as the acknowledged virtues and exemplary conduct of this illustrious female and mother deserve ; and a good son is seldom a bad husband. Towards England and Englishmen he has always displayed much partiality, having been accustomed to the society of several of our nation from his youth. The war scarcely interrupted this feeling, hated heartily as it was by the nation, and little relished by himself. It was, in fact, but a burst of spleen at first, and hardly ever amounted to anger. His late visit, it is understood, has much increased the kinder feelings towards us, mixed with admiration at the beauty of the country, much surprise at our political system and institutions, great wonder at the spirit and apparent importance of the lower order of people, and astonish- ment at the practical proofs of general wealth. A handsome equipage and liveries passing one day, he asked whose it was, and expressed no little amazement when informed there were thousands such in the streets of London, whom nobody knew beyond the immediate circle of their friends. The number of public buildings, charities, and noble offices of trading companies, formed another subject of great interest, not for their architec- ture, for this, compared with his own, is contemptible ; but for the sums received and expended in their support, all proceeding, not from the crown as in Russia, but from the purses of private individuals. Much of this he already knew from description ; but the striking realities presented at once to the eye, made a ten-fold impression ; and the contrast became greater on recol- lecting, that in his own territories, the mercantile character was utterly despised. Slaves, or the descendants of slaves, only practised it ; and with such the nobility or their connections would not associate, much less adopt any part of their calling. Even the learned professions were nearly as despicable, while in England they claimed wealth, honours, and precedence at court over that military costume which alone gave the wearer a title to the character of a gentleman in his own. War, he knew, formed the sole destination of the higher class in his empire. In England the pursuits of war, commerce, agriculture, manufac- tures, science, and the arts, seemed so equally divided between all, and each so superior in its way, as to be difficult to tell which preponderates in importance. Yet it was not in this visit he first became acquainted wtih the fructuous qualities of commerce. Conscious of its tendency to Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 73 enrich and civilize every country where it takes root, it has occu- pied much of his attention since the year 1805* and perhaps few monarchs understand the subject better. Certainly no Russian sovereign has done so much for its credit and increase ; studying at the same time to throw the main branches from the hands of foreigners into those of his own subjects, hitherto, from the shackles imposed by the war, with indifferent success, but eventually by skill and the continuance of peace, likely to produce the fullest effect. With the same view he has tried to remove the prejudices of the nobility against the trading charac- ter, by associating with the merchants himself. So long ago as the commencement of the war with England, it is said that he used to give them special dinners, as a mark of his high consi- deration. His friendly visits are intended for the same purpose. His notice and invitations to them are marked and distinguished. His approbation and encouragement sure to any new and pro- mising branch of traffic or manufacture. England will no doubt in time suffer from this uncommon activity ; but where his own subjects gain, who else, even while they lose, shall presume to condemn. The interior administration of his vast Empire is characterized by the same prudence and caution conspicuous elsewhere. Mild- ness and firmness constitute the leading features. There is no tyranny in the exercise of power, and no improper relaxation. Suaviter in modo, sedjbrtiter in re, may be taken as the govern- ment motto. If any thing could make us submit to arbitrary authority, it would be when administered by such a man. Some wild theorists, however, unacquainted with human nature and with Russia, have presumed to condemn him, for not giving free- dom to the people from the vassalage of their lords. The truth however is, a decree to this effect would be in itself not only arbitrary in the extreme, and dangerous to his own authority and perhaps existence, but utterly subversive of those rights, of which we are so justly tenacious in England, the rights of pro- perty, in addition to throwing the whole country into inextricable confusion. It is true, a pecuniary interest in human beings, is unquestionably at variance with religion, propriety, and morals, besides being sure to bring down vehement animadversion on the head of the possessor. Here, however, the practice has existed beyond the aera of record or of tradition ; its authority has never been questioned ; successive ages have sanctified the right ; and time alone can produce an amelioration by gradual and quiet, not by sudden or violent means. Great and numer- ous difficulties, in the opinions of the wisest people here, envi- ron the subject, and of these the Emperor is fully aware. His regrets that he cannot do more are well known ; however all 74 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. the estates which he can either influence or purchase have their peasantry immediately clothed with the enviable distinction of freemen. Serious and leading defects also in the general code of laws of the country are equally striking, though perhaps more easy of remedy ; yet where a certain system has borne prescrip- tive sway since before the origin of Christianity itself, total altera- tions must not be lightly or quickly made. Neither is every man, though gifted with superior talents, born to be a legislator for his country. In promoting the substantial interests and happiness of his people, it is perfectly understood that the Emperor is no admirer of those theoretical schemes of political perfectibility and unli- mited extension of popular rights, which characterize the age. A considerable change of opinion in this point is attributed to this august personage. Nqr is it to be wondered at. Men less interested than him in the preservation of public order, have both in our own country and other parts of Europe experienced and confessed similar variations of sentiment. But in a sove- reign who must naturally lose what his subjects gain in the arti- cle of authority, such changes are sufficiently excuseable, par- ticularly where he is conscious of never exerting it to their in- jury, but always for their advantage. In Russia the nation at large may be safely pronounced unfit to receive any material por- tion of political power. It has not, and (unlike most other nations of Europe) never had, any constitutional rights. Society itself is there but in its infancy ; and the horn-book of political know- ledge remains yet to be learnt. Conscious of the dangers attend- ing popular innovation in such a community, the Emperor is in- duced to dread them among others, who are, perhaps, more en- lightened, and certainly better prepared for the measure. Quitting Cronstadt, three days carried the ship out of the Gulph of Finland and a few more brought us opposite Copenha- gen. Passing the Sound, Cronenburg Castle appeared on Jthc left, once formidable in idea, but no sooner touched by the Ithuriel spear of a British man of war, than sinking into insig- ficance. Nelson was an enchanter that broke all spells opposed to him. Nothing particular occurred in the passage across the North Sea ; and in about three weeks we again touched English ground by disembarking at Deal. TRAVELS IN AND IN THE DESERTS SITUATED EAST AND WEST OF THE THEBAID; In the Years 1815, 16, 17, and 18. BY M. FREDERIC CAILLIAUD : EDITED By M. JOMARD, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, &c. &c. &e. Jiumerous TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. LONDON: PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHtLLlPS & CO. 1822. [Price 3s. 6rf. sewed) or 4s. in boards. J LONDON : AND ARKOWSMITH, JOHN SOW 's-COURT. INTRODUCTION, By M. J O M A R D. IN the summer of 1818, I received information on a subject which I felt to be extremely interesting ; and announcing, among other scientific news, a very splendid work, containing a descrip- tion of rare discoveries, hitherto unpublished, made in the desarts adjoining the Thebais, by a young French mineralogist, M. Fre- derick Cailliaud, of Nantes. In these labours, not inferior, in any respect, to those of any private Voyager, he had been particularly and fully employed for about four years. My informant was a French merchant settled at Cairo. I was earnestly desired, by those who were considered as pro- perly authorised, to recommend the purchase of M. Cailliaud's work to Government, as the very notice of it had kindled in myself and others, a most ardent wish and disposition to ensure its appearance before the public. With respect to the Voyager's observations, it appeared, and was satisfactorily proved to me, that many were of a very singular and remarkable descrip- tion. He had, in fact, discovered an ancient town near the Red Sea ; he had also, with expanded views and motives, worthy of a public rather than a private character, entered on a larger sphere of action, so as to ascertain the stations of the ancient route of Berenice. We may look upon his exploring the emerald and sulphur mines as a pre-eminent discovery, equally praise- worthy with the former. Our attention is, also, kept alive by his illustrations of some Greek and Egyptian temples, which his perspicacity, alike acute and ingenious, first disclosed in the remote desarts. His collection further consists of, and contain > IV INTRODUCTION. other beautiful monuments, newly traced, (with observations on them,) and found in the Great Oasis. Throughout the whole production, the author's manmjr is agreeable and lively, but from its internal evidence, so as to stamp the truth of his narra- tive on the judgment and conviction of the reader. Anticipating much pleasure from the journal of M. Cailliaud, which contains handsome plans and views, no less illustrative and accurate than his critical researches, including, also, a collec- tion of inscriptions, I submitted a Report, with an Exposition of particulars at large, to the Minister of Interior. In the interim, M. Cailliaud came to a determination of returning to France, but not before the Minister had authorised me to nego- tiate for the purchase of his excellent materials and designs. About the end of February, 1819, M. Cailliaud arrived in Paris. Without making further researches, a bare inspection of his portfolio was no slight recommendation of his performances, as giving a general idea of what the voyager minutely discusses and explains. That the result of his labours, his respectable and elegant designs, should be presented to the public, will be readily admitted, when we consider that some have been copied from the monuments of the Oasis of Thebes, others from ruins in the desart that sepa- rates the Thebais from the Red Sea, and the whole frequently ac- companied with measurements. These antiquities were out of the liae of discovery made by the commission of Egypt ; but the mem- bers of that commission consider the bbservations which occur in M.Cailliaud's journal, as pertinent in the highest degree ; and as- sign satisfactory reasons, (one of which is, the great care with which the drawings have been laboured,) for adopting the method of publishing it under the auspices of government. The Com- mission expressed, also, a wish that the antique objects found by M. Cailliaud in the Hypogees of Thebes, all or most of them novel, and furnishing excellent examples of a miscellaneous nature, to illustrate the history of Egyptian rites, manners, and customs, might receive similar patronage. The Minister of Interior, who has a quick perception of the INTRODUCTION. V latent beauties of antiquity, gave an order for purchasing the portfolio and antiquities; and putting the materials into my hands, he consigned to me the care of editing them. It took two years to complete the engraving and printing of the first part, which contains the monuments and the geography. Before the reader is made acquainted with the materials to be found in the work, it may afford him some entertainment to reflect a little on the fortunate discoveries of M. Cailliaud, Of these, it may be observed, with justice, that they are truly original, such as have not been published before, and that he has not laboured in vain; having increased the stores of antiquarian history and instruction, by entering districts neither before ex- plored, nor sufficiently kndwn. Ever since the French Expedition into Egypt, the scientific, literary, and antiquarian part of Europe, have turned their at- tention to that country, once, like India, the cradle of civiliza- tion, and where genius and art, for many ages, appeared inex- haustible in their productions. It will not be easy to prove that Egypt had any real superiority in the arts, prior to their diffusion throughout the Indian Peninsula ; the point of time may be con- sidered as doubtful, but it is now well known, from the kind of inspection to which its monuments have been submitted, that the Egyptians, by a self-taught method independent of Indian in- strumentality, overcame all the difficulties of nature, by applying the apparatus of art to such improvements as their position would admit of. It is certain, that neither their arts nor their sciences were derived, but were produced, by many gradual operations, by a system of particular Institutions, accommodated to the natural face of the country, to the soil, climate, and manners. From these it appears, that they attained a high point of grandeur and internal prosperity, enabled, by the force of industry, to sur- mount obstacles, which, without such assistance, theory might deem impracticable. The influence of these causes, combined with circumstances* depending on a sage government, will be found adequate to Yl INTRODUCTION'. account for the effects produced. In the philosophy of politics, the rulers of Egypt seem to have possessed all the information and patriotism of Plato, having a thorough knowledge of the wants of the people ; and being, in general, well acquainted with all such means as might appear most conducive in promoting their interests. In that country, in ancient times, nature might l>e supposed ever young and vigorous. Ground which is now become un- productive and sterile, must have been in cultivation, formerly, for ages; and such were the treasures of Egypt, natural and acquired, that at the very period when verging to its ruin, the national government was going into great detail, with respect to many majestic and elaborate works raised in the bosom of the desarts, and on naked rocks. Taking a general survey of such objects, and considering the peculiarity of situation, we can trace no means compatible with ordinary resources, that will ac- count for such great and stupendous constructions. It is evident, that the civil magistrate, on all occasions, was calling in the aid of industry, as forming the basis upon which any existing con- stitution must rise to prosperity. This principle seems to have descended, in uninterrupted succession, with all who had juris- diction, ecclesiastical or temporal ; and idleness and ignorance, the great scourges of a state, must have been inconsistent with the Egyptian Sovereignty. On the ground which M. Cailliaud undertook to traverse, the Monuments discovered by him shew that they were the last ef- forts of Egyptian power ; though of such great and varied ex- cellence, it is by no means extraordinary that they escaped the researches of those, who, towards the close of the last century, ex- plored Egypt with such peculiar eagerness and success. A grate- ful tribute must be paid to their animated and enterprising spirit; but without discussing, more at large, a question so delicate, I think it right to observe, that circumstances, and above all, the irresolution of the General, set limits to their honourable zeal a zeal which, but for this obstacle, among other claims to celebrity, INTRODUCTION. Vll would have advanced to new scientific conquests, in the midst of the sands of Libya. Every thing was in preparation for that remote expedition; their intention was to visit and describe the whole of the Oases, to measure and take drawings of the monu- ments, to fix the geographical positions, to characterise the soil and natural productions ; and we may reasonably conclude, from the many valuable articles communicated to us, and from the facts which they really established, that, had their wishes been indulged, they would have proceeded in a manner equally de- monstrative and correct. What they could not accomplish, in 1802, a young voyager has effected, in part, fifteen years later ; he has produced incontestible proofs of his attention and zeal, in a minute and critical examination. His success has far exceeded what might be looked for from an insulated individual, whose resources to assist the main object of his labours resulted from, or were chiefly fur- nished by, his courage and indefatigable patience. That his per- formance may be considered, as in part, a Supplement to the great work of his countrymen, is really the fact; and we may conclude, as a truth perfectly clear and demonstrative, that, at the distance of sixty hours journey from the Nile, he has discovered monu- ments hitherto unobserved; that he has copied and described those valuable morceaux, with the precision of a philosopher, and the fancy of a man of taste ; and that he has brought into his country an inestimable portfolio, wherein the verbal descriptions, as well as the views, are truly picturesque and interesting, I ought to say more : viz. that the author has evidently no other object in view than to introduce to our knowledge, what ought not to pass over unnoticed favourite subjects, calculated to regale the imagination, without leaving the understanding to starve. He makes no pretensions, however, as a traveller, to any particular taste or sensibility ; he does not affect a display of ecstatic feelings, and it requires merely an effort of reason to give him credit for the intrinsic merit of his work. In the career of liberal research we may measure his powers, not with those of the crowd who, for Vlll INTRODUCTION. -for twenty years past, have joined in the race, but with those dis- tinguished individuals who have left the crowd far behind. M. Cailliaud has other claims to public attention and respect than those which consist in his exploring the Great Oasis. His exertions on a theatre yet more novel, are equally entitled to public esteem and regard. Before he penetrated into the desarts of the West, M. Cailliaud, favoured by a chance prize which fortune allotted to him, discovered at Mount Zabarah the fa- mous Emerald Mines, hitherto only known by passages in ancient authors, and from the recitals of the Arabs. Forgotten, as it were, during a lapse of centuries, the French voyager has re- traced them, nearly in the same condition wherein the engineers of the Ptolemies left them. He has not only penetrated into sub- terranean cavities of a vast depth, but he has arrived at cause- ways, has collected tools, instruments, utensils of various kinds, levers, vases, lamps, mills for grinding corn, panniers, &c. He has traced, by an arduous progress of descent, with none to direct and accompany him, all that is valuable in the methods of work- ing mines by the ancients. Of this, which was no easy or plea- sant task, he has made himself master. At length, with little to , stimulate his industry, but the distinguished reputation which he has hereby attained, he commenced the labours of the mines, and by dint of application and exertion, he is enabled to present to Mohammed Aly Pacha ten pounds of emeralds. Success like this must arise from some cause, steady and powerful in its opera- tions ; and this can be no other than that noble ambition of enter- prise, which, overlooking the love of pleasure and indolence, so common to human nature, can be nourished and satiated with the merited praise of honourable exertion. Guided by that principle of scientific intelligence which forms a, distinguished feature of his character, M. Cailliaud found, a little beyond the Emerald Mines, the ruins of a town, inhabited, no doubt, formerly by the miners, with Greco-Egyptian temples and very ancient inscriptions. In his last journey to Zabarah, and during his residence there, which took up more than two INTRODUCTION. IX months and a 'half, our voyager had the protection of the Pacha ; a number of armed men, with miners and labourers, were under his orders, but when he first visited the Emerald Mines he was only attended by seven men. A fourth discovery, respecting which so little is known, that it well deserves to be recorded, is one of the ancient commercial roads, the track of proceeding through Egypt to India. In his journey to the Emerald Mines, M. Cailliaud crossed this road twice ; he clearly made out the ancient stations, the inclosed por- tions of the soil designed for the refreshment of the caravans, and the reservoirs where they were to be watered. Here it was that he learned from the Arabs of the tribes Ababdeh and Bicharyeh, that this ancient route led to a very large town,* now in ruins, on the borders of the Red Sea, near the Mountain of Elbe, in about the twenty-fourth degree of latitude. And lastly, our Voyager discovered on the borders of the Red Sea, a sulphureous mountain, which was formerly worked in, and exhibited volcanic traces in the circumjacent parts ; in addi- tion to this, he found also puzzolane, and other productions of fire. He also presents several documents very valuable on the subject of mineralogy, one to which his studies had been long di- rected; for this purpose, he carefully inspected the mountains in that part of the desart which separates the Nile from the Arabic Gulph, also the appearances of the primitive soil, noting such rocks as contained any remarkable varieties in their composition. The mineralogical reader will also find information, in short de- tails respecting the calcareous soils, and the mountainous chain that separates the Nile from the Oasis. In this last country, the author examined the different constructions or buildings, dating some from a time coeval with the ancient Egyptians, others as more recent ; and he comments on them, with great ability, and This town has been since yisited by M. Belzoni, and by Mr- Beechey, who followed the tracks indicated by M. Cailliaud. b X INTRODUCTION. attempts to arrange the dates of some very ancient specimens of vaulted work, which appear rather problematical. Thermal waters, the soil, trees, vegetables, and the productions of the country, are likewise occasionally alluded to. Human nature, as it appears in some of the Arab tribes, un- sullied with luxury, and interesting from its simplicity of manners, with notices of the costume, occur in the course of the work ; the author's tale is simple ; he lives among them, familiarised to their customs, and respected by their Cheykhs; like them, he was inured to dangers, fatigue, privations, and sustenance not the most palatable. With these qualifications, acquired by courage and perseverance, he accomplished his useful, and to the public, en- tertaining, labours, which it would be rash, perhaps, in other voyagers to imitate. He has, also, drawn up an Itinerary of all the roads that he has traversed. Previous to these excursions, he had visited the banks of the Nile, in Nubia, as also the monuments in that country, between the two last cataracts. This journey, performed under the auspices of JVT. Drovetti, French Consul in Egypt, dates from a time anterior to that of many journeys of voyagers lately pub- lished. Every Greek and Latin inscription that M . Cailliaud met with, he carefully copied ; fortunately, he found one of sixty-six lines, containing about nine thousand letters, more considerable, by a fifth part, than the Greek inscription on the stone of Rosetta. With uncommon patience he finished the copying of it in three days. Though of 'a date comparatively recent in respect to the monument of Rosetta, as it belongs to the time of the Emperor Galba it, contains novel and curious facts on the interior adminis- tration of Egypt. By his vigilance, activity, and zeal, for promoting discoveries ; by his superintendence in various parts of the mines, M. Cailliaud set an example of industry. He is deserving also of public gra- titude for his surveys of Thebes, which he visited nine times, and where the attempts which he made to illustrate ancient man- INTRODUCTION. XI tiers, may assuredly be considered as highly beneficial, by his having obtained a number of rare and important articles, preserved in the hypogees of that city. His collection has since been pur- chased, and very properly consigned to the King^s library, at Paris. When M. Cailliaud parted with these materials, he ren- dered them still more useful and valuable, by a judicious and accurate journal, sufficiently copious for the variety which it con- tains, and every where bearing marks of candour and fidelity. Upon the whole, M Cailliaud's merit has so recommended him to the government of his country, that under its protection he set out again for Egypt, in the month of September, 1819, with a commission containing ample instructions, and tending to abridge much of the expence and labours needful for the attain- ment of success. He was accompanied by a young gentleman, M. Letorzet, whose cast of mind resembled that of our author, dis- playing sufficient strength, and with bold features, like his, de- lighting in grand or extraordinary attempts. They will not only pursue the steps already taken, but make valuable additions to the same. The encouragement they have received, the orders of which they are the bearers, and above all, the natural and ex- cellent qualifications which have such power over sanguine minds, moving them to laudable exertions, give them a fair passport to public notice, and tell us that their mission will incorporate itself with the geographical history of the times. In the arrangement of this work, the first par contains an ex- planation of the plates relating to geography and the monuments ; to this are subjoined some geographical remarks illustrating what occurs most worthy of notice in the maps. ,Then follows tiie relation of the different journeys of M. Cailliaud, east and west of the Thebais, pursuing the plan he had proposed and lain down in his Itinerary. To this succeeds the journal of an excursion made by M. Drovetti, Consul of France, in the Oasis of Dakel, subsequent to that of M. Cailliaud ; this country had not previously been visited by any European, and is much further in Lybia than the Oasis of Thebes. Xll INTRODUCTION. Although this first work contains much information relative to archeology and topography, with many researches, conjectures, and new ideas, it may not claim such attention, or agree so ex- actly with the taste of some, as that which respects the history of adventures and remarkable actions in more animated narratives. If, notwithstanding this disadvantage, it should obtain the public approbation, I propose publishing a second, on the monuments of Syouah, thought to be the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. I have a pretty numerous collection of drawings, executed with a care and precision which do honour to the designer, and will be no small embellishment to the work. Opinions wiU be given on every new discovery, in the collecting of which no diligence has been wanting. Endeavours will be exerted, so to elucidate the subject and obtain the thanks of all readers that are devoted to .the study of ancient history, or receive gratification from its perusal. In the present work I have had the co-operation of Sellier, Allais, Ballard, Dormier, Reville, Leisnier, &c., ingenious and ble artists, fully adequate to the task they had undertaken, and justly celebrated throughout Europe for a style in the engraving of architecture admirably minute and correct. Thus much I have thought it my duty to observe ; on the whole, my wish and object have been, to bring forth a work alike honourable to the voyager and advantageous to the public; one that, when ex- amined, will give incontestible demonstration of its meriting the favour and powerful protection of government. Translations of the subsequent Parts will appear in London immediately after the Publication of the Original at Paris. NOTES ON THE ENGRAVINGS CHART OF THE OASIS OF THEBES. THE Great Oasis, El Ouah El Kebyr, was anciently called (he Oasis of Thebes, as we learn from (he large inscription, copied by M. Cailliaud, from the Great Temple of El Khargeh, the chief place in the district; such, at least, was its appellation, about the year sixty-eight of the vulgar aera. under the Emperor Galba. No name seems more apposite, as the entrance of the fertile valley of El Kliargeh lies exactly under the parallel of Thebes, which is pre- cisely intermediate with those of Philae and Manfalout, the limits of (he Thebais. The two most considerable and direct routes, used to this day, form the communication of this country with Thebes; one to the south, passed through Asphynis, to the north of Latopofis; the other passed through Abydus. A third, that of Syout, has been also long frequented, as the shortest road, in the direction of Cairo. In the track of this, Poncet, Lenoir du Roule, and Brown, proceeded. Abydus is one of the points in the valley that lie nearest to tha Oasis, and the same may be eaid of El Khargeh. A traveller would journey between these two points, in about forty-two hours; from Asfoun, on the Nile, to the position of El Hagageh, which is north of Beyrys, would require about fifty-two. Prior to the discoveries of M. Cailliaud, Europeans had no know- ledge of any monuments existing in the Oasis ; this consideration leads me to enter into some geographical explanations relative to its posi- tion ; elsewhere, I shall touch on the history of Oases, in general. We can lear'n little from the Ancients' respecting religion or man- VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, Vol. VII. B Notes on the Engravings. ners, in the Great Oasis; it is pretty evident, however, thar civili- zation took place at a very early period. It must, necessarily, have been traversed by numerous caravans, between Egypt and Ethiopia, or the interior of Africa ; abounding also with springs of water, and the vegetation productive, not liable to the annual inundations, from its position being equivalent to the higher banks of the Nile : in short, from its situation, in the centre of a most arid desert, like one of the fortunate isles in the ocean, it must have been an object of attraction to the Egyptians, in the most remote antiquity. The country has suffered much from civil and religious wars, notwith- standing which, several very ancient edifices have been preserved, and some remain, the date of which cannot even be conjectured. Some may be distinctly traced to the Ptolemies, and there are others that are ascertained to be Roman. We are not able to give any particulars respecting the Samians, who, in the time of Cambyses, according to Herodotus, inhabited the city of Oasis, or the ^Eschrionian Tribe, of which these Samians constituted a part ; but it was, doubtless, the Great Oasis which that historian referred to, in this quotation : " The troops sent by Cam- byses, against the Ammonians, marched from Thebes, with guides, and arrived at the city of Oasis." Herodotus states the distance at seven days journey, and this, in fact, is the distance between El Khargeh, the chief place of El Ouah, and the Ruins of Thebes, in journeys of seven leagues and a-half per day. Among the Ancients, Strabo and Ptolemy are the most accurate in describing the position of the Great Oasis. Strabo relates as follows: " In a parallel line with Abydus, and distant about three days journey across the desart, we find the first of the three Oases of Lybia ; it is a spot well inhabited, well supplied with water, and producing wines and other commodities, in sufficient abundance." According to Ptolemy, the first Oasis lies in the same latitude with Abydus, 26 55'. There is some little defect in the figures ; but, the situa- tion of the chief place of the Oasis, under the very parallel of Aby- dus, is perfectly correct. M. Cailliaud has fixed on three days to repair from El Khargeh to Samatah, which is near Abydus. In a learned dissertation on the Oases, M. Langles quotes this passage from Leo Africanus : " The Oases are tracts, situated in the Desart of Lybia, about 120 miles from Egypt. There are three castles; they are replenished with houses; the soil is extremely fertile, and abounding with date-trees.'' This is correct : measuring on my chart, the distance from El Khargeh to Thebes, we find 120 geogra- phical miles. M. Cailliaud discovered in them three Roman fortresses. If the following passage of El Edricy were more known, the travellers that have preceded M. Cailliaud, would, no doubt, have dis- covered some antique monuments. " The Oases, situated in the vicinity, and to the west of Asouan, at present, do not contain a single inha- bitant, though formerly they were well cultivated ; we still find water there, to fertilize the lands, as also trees, and dilapidated edifices." Notes on the Engravings. 3 I need not repeat the fables collected by other Arabian authors, respect- ing the monuments erected there by the Genii. It appears, from the relation of Poncet's Travels into Ethiopia, that he spent five days in traversing the space between Manfalout and El Ouah. M. Drovetti has recently made the same journey : it took up four days, which are equivalent to thirty leagues, and this corresponds with the distance of El Khargeh, under the parallel of Abydus. The four days are in accordance with the Itinerary of Lenoir de Roule, as cited by D'Anville. At the time when the yotitia, or General Examination of the Em- pire was published, Hibe was the chief place of the Oasis of Th^ties. A guard of cavalry was then posted there, under the military governor of the Thebais. M. Langles quotes this name, as claiming affinity with the Ibi, of which Pliny makes mention. " Ibi, (civitas Occnsis," Oaensis, or Oasensis,) a city of the Oasis, may be considered as the ancient name of the Capital of the Thebaic Oasis. In the Narrative of Brown's Travels in the Darfour, across the Oasis, we find but little information respecting the country of El Ouah, though he halted there about fifteen days. A few lines suffice for the de- scription of the whole country. He not only omits every notice of the anti- quities, but, after naming live places in all, Charge, Roulak, Cheik- Chaled, Beiris, and Moughes, he is silent with regard to twelve or four- teen others. It appears extraordinary that he should have travelled in front of the temples of El Khargeh, of Boulaq, and of Douch El Qualah, without giving descriptions of them. The omission, however, of his predecessor, who must have seen, unless he passed them in the night, was a fortunate circumstance for M. Cailliaud. It may be stated also, that M. Drovetti's Itinerary is silent as to the name of Ayn Dize, men- tioned by Brown, a point of the route which crosses the desart from Syont to El Khargeh. This station, noticed by D'Anville, is the same as Quasr Gebb El Sont, in the Journal of Drovetti; we find there an edifice composed of hard bricks, probably a Roman fortress, like that of Doyr, which lies more to the south. Cheik-Chaled corresponds, perhaps, to the ruins of Hagageh. In the chart of D'Anville, appear some names that have escaped our recent travellers, Garai'e, Cheik Hale, Busaite, and Darakmi ; proba- bly they are not different positions. Some others occur in the Itinerary of M. Drovetti, which I could not place on the chart, for want of room or sufficient data. The preceding observations were necessary to furnish a general idea of the position of the Oasis ; I shall now proceed to note the details that form a basis for the construction of the chart, and for this pur- pose, the position of the chief place must be fixed. In M. Cailliaud's chart, El Khargeh is placed in the 26th degree of latitude, and one de- gree distant from the Nile, in longitude ; this position is plainly too much to the east, and rather too southerly. In Brown's chart, El Khargeh is at 26 25', and so it is in the charts of Hornemann and Burckhardt, adopted also by Major Rennel : 4 Notes on the Engravings. D'AnviHe makes it 26S 26'. Other charts need not be noticed that are only copyists of the preceding, but all more or less incorrect ; it is too much to the north. Brown was erroneous in his position of Syout, 13' 26", also too northerly, but the difference that he fixes in latitude between Syout and El Khargch (58' 40") is very exact. J intend making use of the three distances furnished by M. Cailliaud, and by M. Drovetti, to fix the position of the place, with precision : and there are, also, three points fixed in Syout and Esne. where the French astronomers made astronomical observations ; and so also in Abydus, determined geome- trically, with reference to Girgeh. We must set out from these points to trace the routes of the new travellers. The second journey of Al . Cailliaud from El Khargeh to Samatah, to the north of Abydus, was of forty-two hours. If we trace by his Journal and Chart, the different turnings oj* his route, almost always east west, El Khargeh will be found to fall under 26? 11'. In his route westerly, he went at the rate of fifty-five hours from Esne ; i. e. three to the north, as far as Asfoun, and fifty-two from thence to Hagageh. This distance fixes pretty well the longitude of El Khargeh, but as some uncertainty exists with respect to the di- rection of the journeys, on account of the rough mountains that he had to scale, I shall endeavour to find another datum to verify the position ; this datum has been supplied by the journey of M. Drovetti, when pro- ceeding from Syout to El Khargeb. M. Drovetti relates, that it took him four days to pass the desert, without hurrying, and afterwards ten hours ; setting out from the point where the trees and vegetation com- menced, the first part of the route may be rated at about twenty-eight hours, jn the whole thirty-eight. Keeping up this distance, noting also a turn of the road, near the mountain of Syout, we shall light exactly on the position of El Khargeh, as before fixed, 26 Q JO' or 11' latitude. I do not mean to compare this route with that of the caravans of Darfour, heavily laden, and often composing a train of fifteen thousand camels, and requiring six days arid a half in the march, but with that of Brown. That traveller was twelve hours and a half in reaching El Khargeh, from the foot of the mountain called Gebel Roumlieh ; but tlie camels, it seems, were heavily loaded. This point evidently corresponds with the plain where M. Drovetti first observed vegetation, to the north of Quasr-Gebb El Sont; allowing for the difference of the caravans, the ten hours of the one may well enough tally with the twelve and a half of the other. With respect to the road of Syout, at the foot of Gebel Roumlieh, it took Brown four days to pass it ; this result agrees with that of M. Drovetti ; so far the process is satisfac- tory, and it remains to determine what alterations the southern Route will effect. M. Cailliaud having performed, in three hours, the journey from Esne to Asfoun, on the Nile, advanced afterwards into the desart, in a north- western direction ; and it took him, as before noted, fifty-two hours to reach Hagageh, in the Oasis. This distance fixes the longitude of this point of the Oasis, almost under the meridian of EJ Khargeh ; which is Notes on the Engravings. 5 conformable (o the known direction of that great valley from south to north. On the other ham 1 , we find irom the Itinerary of M. Cail- liaud, compared with that of M. Drovetti, that about ten hours may be calculated between El Khargeh and Hagageh ; but this is precisely the distance which results from the construction of the two preceding lines. Now, that the position of El Khargeh is ascertained, in a latitude sufficiently correct, its distance from the Nile, towards Girgeh, will be found much less than what it had been taken for ; the difference is so considerable, that I was doubtful about fixing this point ; but all the re- sults, and especially Dakel's Itinerary, confirmed its accuracy. One of the main reasons, is the distance of Syout, a distance which cannot be extended above four or five days march ; if the great distance that appears in the maps between the Nile and the Oasis he assumed, it would require eight days journey and more, which is inadmissible. What gave rise to this error, is the longitude assigned to Syout and to Girgeh ; but now we are assured, that the longitude of the former does not exceed 30 14', and that of the latter 31 55' 27". In my chart, the longitude of El Khargeh is 30 31'; its difference from Girgeh about 1 24' ; which corresponds with thirty-two leagues, in a right line. This alteration in the charts, is of material importance, which has induced me to dwell on these particulars. And further, in the charts of this part of Africa, the route to Darfour, which, setting out from Syout, should point to the south-west and west was made to turn eastwards, towards the Nile, at the point of departure from the Great Oasis. This irregularity will be avoided, in the gene- ral track of that route which I shall lay down, as marked by M. Drovetti. The Oasis inclining much to the east, all the intermediate stations will be found on a line that connects this vast valley with Kobbe, the chief place of Darfour, and turns all along to the south-west. I shall now proceed to consider the Oasis through its whole extent. Its length, according to M. Cailliaud's chart, is about twenty leagues ; the Itinerary makes it twenty-four. Some Arabian authors stretch it HO far as to face Assouan, but this would be double the real length. Major Rennel computed it at one hundred miles English, but this is too much, as the southern extremity does not reach the parallel of Esne. In ancient times, the parts of the Oasis adapted for cultivation ex- tended north of the point now occupied by El Khargeh ; the ruins of the Roman castle, four leagues beyond it, are sufficient indications. Between the latter place and Douch El Qualah, to the south of the Oasis, I measure the true length of this fertile canton, and this space includes, as already noted, twenty-four leagues. The breadth is three or four, which agrees with the half-day's journey assigned to it, by Lenoir de Roule, and shews that a century has made few alterations. I cannot undertake to particularise the positions that I have marked m the chart of the Oasis, nor fully to account for my not introducing several names found in other charts ; either the names of the places have changed, or ancient travellers set them down incorrectly; which being the case, I gave the preference to two more recent Itineraries 6 Notes on the Engravings. that might be depended upon. To make M. Cailliaud's complete, I have furnished materials from M. Drovetti's ; this has helped me to the names of Dakkakyn and Garmoueheyn, and to those of the three Quasi 1 ; among others, Quasr Ayn Zayan, where there is an ancient temple, of which M. Cailliaud has made no mention in his Journal. This traveller observed, to the south of the Oasis, the ruins of two villages, Dabezzyad and Aboussayd, but could not meet with the name of Maks or Mougues. And it may be observed, that the voyagers who mention these two last names, take no notice of Dabezzyad or Aboussayd. These places may, possibly, be the same ; they are, also, laid down, south of Beyrys ; and I find, in the Itinerary of M. Dro- vetti, immediately after Beyrys, two deserted villages, Maks El Ba- heyry, and Maks El Quebly, or North Maks, and South Maks. But M. Cailliaud found, two leagues from Beyrys, Dabezzyad, and two leagues further, Aboussayd, which, saving the names, agree with M. Drovetti, and with M. Lapanouse, who, in his Memoir on the Caravans of Darfour, places Magues the last village to the south ; and also with Brown, who assigns only two hours journey to Moughes. All round El Khargeh, as may be seen in the plates, are a number of monuments : M. Drovetti collected the names of some, but the scale of the chart would not admit of their insertion : these are Quasr El He- darah, Quasr El Taryhah, El Birbeh, El Quebouat, and Quasr El Gabbaneh. As to the names of Cheik Hale, Garai'e, BusaYtf, Darakmi, in the chart of D'Anville, 1 cannot find what they refer to : we may conjec- ture that the first is the same as Cheykh Chaled, and the last, as Dak- kakyn, though there is but little conformity in the distances. Jt is cer- tain, however, that this part of D'Anville's chart must undergo a com- plete reform; it is erroneous, like all the rest, in supposing El Khargeh to be south-west of Syout, when the true direction of the route inclines much more to the south. The position of the Oasis of the Dakel dis- covered by M. Drovetti, may, perhaps, account for this ; as it lies much more to the west, the two lines of route may have been confounded, from the relations of the Arabs. D'Anville has applied the name of Mons Tinodes, noticed by Ptolemy, to Gebel Roumlieh, which is at the entrance of the Oasis, towards Syout : this name appears to me to suit better with the mountain that we descend, in passing through Esne, and which lies much more to the south, as the text of Ptolemy requires. The Oasis of El Dakel. The Itinerary of the Oasis that bears the name of El Dakel, trans- mitted by M. Drovetti, arrived after the completion of the chart of the Oasis; but it has proved a confirmation of my labours. In this itinerary are three lines of route, which mark, 1. The distance from Syout to El Khargeh ; 2. That from El Khargeh to Balat, on of the principal Notes on the Engravings. 7 places of the Dakel ; 3. That from Balat to Beny-A'dyn and Manfalouf. positions connected with Syout. This triangle must rest on the first line as a base, if that line be in agreement with the preceding construction ; but the march of M. Drovetti (as noted before) agrees with the position of El Khargeh, supposing it placed in the latitude of about 26" 11'. The same traveller, in proceeding from El Khargeh to Balat, was in a direction to the north-west; the whole journey took up thirty-four hours, two-thirds, one half of which is over mountains. After crossing a considerable fiat or level we descend into the valley called El Dakel, well-peopled and cultivated, like the Oasis of Thebes. Balat, the ex- treme point, is about 1 08 hours march from Esne. This interior Oasis was first discovered by M. Drovetti, and I cannot learn that any Eu- ropean has since visited it : it contains, however, some ancient monu- ments, from which designs should be taken : there are three or four temples and a pyramid. The line from Balat to Beny-A'dyn, a fixed position not far from Manfalout, was traversed by M. Drovetti in five days. Comparing this march with the number of journeys from Syout to El Khargeh, will give the position of Balat, but this coincides, or very nearly, with the in- terval ascertained for the distance of Balat from El Khargeh ; thus all the points of this last route are easy to adjust on the chart. This is not the case with the country to the south of Balat; the terms in the journal are not used with such precision as to fix the lines of the route, with any certainty, and what I have done is but a conjectural track, merely fur- nishing the succession and respective distances of the adjacent places. It cannot, therefore, be affirmed, that the large towns of El Hindaou arid Quasr are rightly situated with respect to Balat. On the chart will be seen, to the south-west of this last place, the channel of a stream, now dried up. and therefore called Bahsbeld md, a river without water. We have no documents to ascertain the importance, direction, and magnitude, of this ancient stream. In the Vale of Dakel, the places are more numerous than in the Vale of Khargeh, without including the positions that occur on the road from one to the other : this seems to attach to the former a degree of import- ance at least equal to that of the latter. This was far from appearing to be the case, as Ptolemy and the ancient authors have not noticed it. The name of Dake], however, is not unknown to the Arabian writers. El Maquryzy, El Soyouty, and Ebn Ayas, called the Great and Little Oasis, El Dakhelat, denoting interior, or rather interiors ; and in the chart of the Ottoman empire, executed at Constantinople, by Fagelius, we find the smaller one, nearest to Lake Moeris. designated by the name of the Interior Oasis, El Ouah el Dakheleh. But if it is considered that it is fifty leagues from Balat to Zabon, where the Little Oasis begins, and that the Oasis of Farafre lies between these two points, it will hardly seem likely that the Arabian authors should have fixed the Valley of El Dakel here ; and I should think that the name of this Oasis, if it is the very same as what those writers mention, though generical, belongs to Farabre, and not to the Little Oasis. It lies far 8 Notes on the Engravings. more to the west than the great one ; in departing from this last place. it will take a march of thirty-five hours to reach il, and there are Jolly mountains to scale. The surname of Interior, therefore, suits it very well. We may further remark the opposition of El Dakheleh to El Khargeh, which imports the exterior. Of course, it becomes requisite to modify the division, in common ac- ceptation, of the Oases, into three, as fixed by Strabo and other authors : the Great Oasis, in front of Abydus ; the smaller one, near the Lake Moeris; and the third, near the Oracle of Ammon. These isles, as they are called, are of a much greater number, and it is highly probable lhat the whole desart is sprinkled with them. Strabo himself authorizes this; when treating of Lybia, he expresses himself in these terms: *' This continent resembles a panther's skin, as being spotted with in- habited districts, insulated in the midst of a sandy soil and arid desarts ; the Egyptians calf these cantons ' Auasis. 1 ' 1 And in another passage: " These Auases are very numerous in Lybia ; there are three adjacent to Egypt, and placed under its government." Without quitting the confines of Egypt, we find, 1 . Syouah ; 2. The second Oasis ; 3. El Farafre; 4. El Khargeh ; and 5. El Dakel, with- out referring to a smaller Oasis. CHART of the COUNTRY situated between THEBAIS and the RED SEA. To derive the greatest advantage from M. Cailliaud's Itinerary from the Nile to the Red Sea, towards the parallel of Edfou, we must endeavour to fix the most eastern point of his rout. This is the sul- phur mine, called in Arabic, Gebel Kebryt, distant from the Red Sea, not more than a quarter of a mile, 35 20' east of London ; it lies near a point known to navigators, by the name of Sial. In the chart of Lord Valcntia, one of the latest, as also in that of D' Anville (Arabic Gnlph) the point of Sial is marked, but not the mountain of sulphur ; this last, however is distinguished, by the name of Yellow Mountain, in the chart of Vice Admiral Rosily, and in the general chart ef Egypt. The name of Sial or Seyal, imports the same as the tree called acacia, and as there is no habitable spot in the district, the Arab pilots have doubtless given it its name, from the acacias found there. The chart of M. Cailliaud, places here a narrow valley, covered with trees of a similar description, from which the Arabs extract gums. Near this place, the charts lay down a creek or inlet of the sea, and another may be observed near the sulphur mine, and the valley of Seyal. It seems from this, that the longitude of Gebel Kebryt. must vary but little from that of Point Sial. D'Anville places it at 34 50' [52 30'1 which is too much to the west; Vice Admiral Rosily at 33 15'; Lord Valentia, in his chart of the Red Sea, at 35 20' a little too much to the east. The correct position seems to lie in the medium, about 33 1 or 15'. As to the latitude, it stands alike at 24 25' in the charts of D" 1 Anville, M. Rosily, Lord Valentia, and the general chart of Egypt ; Nolcs on llit; Engravings. 9 M. Cailliaud calculates sixty leagues from this point to Coscir; a dis tance which well accords with the latitude of 26 29'. But the western coast of the Red Sea is laid down, with little pre- cision, and especially in this part of the Gulph, and were it not for another datum, we should scarcely get a sure determination. This is furnished by the double route of M. Cailliaud. On arriving at Gebel Kebryt, November i 2th, 1816, he set out the next day for Egypt, in the direction to the west and west north west, with no sensible windings ; on the 19th, he arrived at the Nile, at four in the afternpon, the whole march making sixty-three hours and a half. Having deliberately consi- dered these marches in the desart, and especially those of M. Cailliaud, the hours of marching appear equivalent to six sevenths of a common league, 25 to a degree ; the medium of a day's march about nine hours, at the rate of seven leagues and a-half. This will not apply to con- siderable caravans, nor to very mountainous tracts; in such circum- stances, the relation is nearly from 4 to 5, between the league of 25 to a degree, and a marching hour. But the position I have given to Gebei Kebryt. is about fifty-six leagues from the Nile, traceil along the southern valley that M. Cailliaud passed through. This distance corresponds, to an hour, more or less, with the number of hours of the route. The position of mount Zabarah, and the Emerald mine, was the next object of attention. Its position rendered this point important, and called for astronomical observations ; but the voyager had no instruments to take altitudes, in his first excursion, and hence I am obliged to combine the results of three journeys of M. Cailliaud. November 2d, 1816, he set out from Redesyeh, to the south of Edfou, turning first to the east ; after a march of seven days, veering a little to the south, he arrived at mount Zabarah ; the whole route taking up fifty-two hours. It will not suffice to place the mountain in agreement with this distance, having regard to the sinuosities of the way, and to the hilly nature of the country ; its situation must stand correct, with re- spect to Gebel Kebryt ; but M. Cailliaud assigns about twenty-two hours march from mount Zabarah to the sulphur mine, in various directions, as marked on the route ; this is the exact distance on niy chart. There is another mode of verifying this, in two distances not noticed by M. Cailliaud: mount Zabarah is seven leagues from thesea, andforty-five from Coseir ; these distances are precisely so laid down in the chart. All the other points of the country, traversed by M. Cailiiaud, being connected with the two preceding, they were laid down successively in the chart, by pursuing his route in detail; all the stations or journeys of the voyager being, denoted by cyphers, seventeen in number. He has introduced to notice two roads frequented by the Arabs A'Babdeh, and doubtless, also, by the caravans ; they are branches of the road to the emerald mines, and serve. as a communication for the Oases and the western country with Coseir, by a way much shorter than that through the -valley which bears this name, after descending the Nile to Coptos. The difference is for the first, in the proportion of two to VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, 'Vol. VII. c 10 Notes on the Engravings. three; this arises from the groat elbow to the north west that the Nilo makes at Edfou. The second of these roads is indicated, by two little pyramids, a modern work executed in masonry. There is yet athi d road leading to Coseir, taking our departure from mount Zabarah. Only two springs are found on the road from Redesyeh to the emerald mines; one, four leagues from the Nile, the other, ?two and twenty; it is near this latter that the rocks bearing sculptures and hieroglyphical inscriptions are situated. For the rest of the way, the only resource for drink must be the bottles on the backs of the camels. On the road to the mines we meet with three ancient stations, with enclosures, which prove that the road was frequented in very remote times ; doubtless, for the service of the mines. The most important point, however, of this route is an Egyptian temple, partly a building, and partly hollowed out in the rock ; it is covered over with sculptures and paintings, not inferior to those of Thebes. Its distance from tho Nile is about thirteen leagues, in a position east south east of Edfou. Mount Zabarah lies between some ruins, remains of two little towns that probably were occupied by the miners, and others in that service. The common name of Bendar, a Persian word, which signifies a town of trade, serves for them both ; they are distinguished, however, by the sirnames of Great and Little. The principal ruin contains monuments, of which, some accounts enter into my descriptions ; the latter has also the name of Sekket, by reason, perhaps, of its proximity to the ancient route. Its position is about six hours march, to the south east of mount Zabarah ; the name, perhaps, may claim an origin still more ancient. On the road from the sulphur mine to tho Nile, as also in the northern one, we meet with two springs, and trees of several kinds ; here and there it has been furrowed by torrents ; these particulars are expressed on the chart. The other parts of the desart and of the coast, from Chaouinah to the sulphur mountain, have been copied, partly from the sketches of M. Cailliaud, and partly from his Itinerary. With respect to the valley of Coseir, on the coast of the Red Sea, the tracts to the north or south, and the valley of the Nile, I have adopted them from the chart of \ 7 ice Admiral Rosily, and from the general chart of Egypt, drawn up by M. the Colonel Jacotin, from the best existing documents. For the portion of Nubia, I have borrowed from the chart constructed by Colonel Leake, in accordance with the discoveries of Burckhardt. It remains to make mention of the road from Coptos to the Red Sea, which I have laid down, from observation of the ancient stations dis- covered by M. Cailliaud ; but previous to noticing this ancient commer- cial road, some discussion seems called for, to justify the construction of my chart. Bruce, a voyager, the subject both of extravagant praise and disparagement, places Jibbel Siberget, or Zamrud, j. e. the emerald mountain, in latitude 25 3'. He reports that a green, crystalline and transparent substance is to be found there, as also on the adjoining dis- tricts of the Continent. Lord Valentia, in his voyage to Abyssinia, censures Bruce for placing Notes on the Engravings. 1 1 this point in a latitude much too high : he states its position at 23 48' in the interior of the Gulph called Foul Bay. But here there is some- thing not rightly understood. Emerald Isle, to the south of Cape Nose, (Ras El Enf) should not be confounded with the Isle referred to by Bruce, or with the adjacent coast, or with the emerald mountain dis- covered by M. Cailliaud, and which reaches from 24 30' to about 24 45'; why might it not be of this mountain that Bruce states his in- formation, blending, from the reports of the Arabs, the particulars com- mon to the Isle and to the neighbouring continent? He has, in fact, made mention of emerald pits, of a moderate width, with other circumstances exactly agreeing with those in the relation of M. Cail- liaud; there may, perhaps, be an error of a quarter of a degree, as there is in Ptolemy, but not to the extent of a degree and a quarter, which would be considerable. And besides, the emerald mountain may well extend to the north of Bendar El Soghair, beyond which M. Cailliaud did not advance. According to the Portuguese chart and that of Vice-Admiral Rosily, there is a mountain called the Red Mountain, near Sacarah, and this latter place is in 25 3' . In the lat- ter of these charts, we find a chain or ridge reaching more to the north, and bearing the name of Emerald Mountain, and it is the near- est part of the coast that the Vice-Admiral approached. As Ptolemy places Smaragdus Mons (emerald mountain) in latitude 25, if the necessary correction be made to it, it will be exactly what I have noted for the extremity of Mount Zabarah, as given by our voyager. Every circumstance reported by Bruce, connected with the mines, pits, and wells, remains of antiquity, and ruins, in the vicinity, is remarkably correct, even to the description of the emerald of Egypt, if we apply it to Mount Zabarah. It is improperly, therefore, that his Narrative has been prejudged, as extremely improbable, and even fictitious. D'Anville comes in for a share of Lord Valentia's animadversion, for placing Maaden Uz Zumurud, or the emerald mines, at 24 45', very near the exact point where M. Cailliaud has actually found them ; he copied it from a MS. Turkish chart, drawn up at Soneys ; this evinces the merit of the chart, and the discernment of our celebrated geographer. We further observe, that both M. Cailliaud and Bruce confirm the chart of D'Anville, (I need not allude to Ptolemy) and it is an additional error to charge Bruce with a fabulous invention, and D'Anville with having led him into an error. I shall not undertake to defend the English voyager in every point ; we must admit, that if the real Jibbcl Zumrad be placed in an Isle, two distant places would be confounded, as is clearly shewn in Lord Valentia's discussion ; namely, Emerald Isle or the Kornaka, in the Journal of D. Juan de Castro, and what is called the Red Mountain, the position of which differs but little from Mount Zabarah. This Rod Mountain is, doubtless, one of those that have given their name to the Arabic Gulph, according to the report of Agatharchides e.nd Diodorus Siculus : its red colour WM 12 Notes on the Engravings. so brilliant, that the eyes were injured by it. Bruce had a pretty jnjst idea, though not precisely discriminated, of the coast, as ho gives the names of Sail or Se'ial to the place where the real emerald lies ; and he remarks, very justly, that the word means the acacia; but SeYal must, of course, be on the continent. The testimony of Strabo,should not be overlooked here. After de- scribing the Isthmus or space (somewhat more confined than in other parts) which separates the Nile from the Red Sea, he adds, ' It is within this isthmus that the emerald mines are situated, which, with other precious stones, the Arabs extract from subterranean cavities veiy deep." This is a concise, but exact description, every way conforma- ble to the recent discoveries ; but we must allot a certain extension to the space occupied by tins isthmus. If we examine a good chart of the course of the Nile and of the Red Sea to the 20th or 21st degree, we shall find* that Kostam, in Nubia, and the Abyssinian port, at the bottom of the Gulph, are 'the points where the Nile and the Arabian Sea separate to a considerable distance, after but little diverging be-fore from Samalout, in Egypt. In all this space, the least distance be- tween the sea and the river is one degree, and the greatest 2 45' at Cape Nose; but at the Abyssinian port, the sea bends, all at once, to the east, or east south-east ; and the Nile, to the south-west, as far as to Soleb, that is, for more than one hundred leagues. Here the greatest distance between the river and the Red Sea is not less than seven de- grees of longitude. What proves that the isthmus must extend much beyond the parallel of Coptos is, that in this author, other precious stones as valuable as the emerald are included within it ; this can only refer to the topazes, but there can be no dispute about the position of Topazos Insula, To- paz Island being hi the Gulph south of Cape Nose. As to this isthmus, we find a narrowing, pretty distinctly, at Rede- syeh, on one side, and at Chaovinah on the other; here the Nile, which had run to the north, turns to the south-west, and the sea turns to the south-east ; this appears very plainly on the chart. The Isle Macowar of Bruce, placed about 24 2', may well be iden- tified with the large Isle of Kornaka, that has been named Emerald Isle, though I see no reason for such appellation. He could not allude to that Isle Macowar, which Lord Valentia mentions, at about half a degree from Alaki or Salaka, the ancient Berenice Panchrysos, according to D'Anville and Dr. Vincent. The difference of the two positions is near three degrees and a-half, and Bruce could not fall into so gross an error. M. Cailliaud saw, pretty near the shore, to the east of Mount Zaba- rah, an Island covered with trees and inhabited ; this is, probably the Island Bruce has described, under the name of Siberget, the same as that to which D'Anville has given the name of Jambe, after Pliny. The Journal of D. Juan de Castro is the most particular, for this side of the Arabic Gulph, especially from the great Gulph wherein Benerice is supposed to be, to Coseir. He is the. only modern, as Notes on the Engravings. 1.J Lord Valentia observes, that describes this coast, from minute observa- tion ; he assigns to it seven or eight ports, greater or less, and we have had no correct account since his. On carefully comparing what we have in the Portuguese chart with the charts of D'Anvillo, Vice- Ad- miral Rosily, Lord Valentia, &c. we may tolerably trace the positions of antiquity. There is a passage in Arrian, which fixes the distance from Berenice" to Myos Hormos, at 1,800 stadia; I find this distance between the entrance of the Gulph, at the Abyssinian port (in 24 according to D'Anville, the Portuguese chart, and the Turkish chart) and the port at 27 where M. Rosiere, in his Memoir on the Compara- tive Geography and Ancient State of the Coasts of the Red Sea, places Myos Hormos, This last position is founded on the recent observa- tions of the French engineers, and accords with the geography of D'Anville. In this part, the Portuguese noticed a port or harbour, and three Islands, which agrees with the ancient descriptions. In 1787, Vice- Admiral Rosily observed, at the same point, a very good harbour, with several Isles in front. Several of the learned, among others, M. Gosselin, deviating from D'Anville, place Myos Hormos at Old Coseir. Against these, I main- tain that Myos Hormos is in the 27th parallel. With respect to Bere- nice, the French translators of Strabo give reasons why this city should not be raised to a high latitude, citing also a passage from Epiphanius, which may be deemed decisive; he notices Berenice, Talmis, and the Region Elephantine, as near together. According to D. Juan de Castro, to the south of the port of Sakarah, there is another pretty large harbour, called Chounah or Chaouina, where, by the report of the natives, there had been an ancient Pagan city. Very near this spot, M. Cailliaud discovered the traces of an ancient city, to the north of the emerald mines, designated on the chart by the name of Bendar El Soghair, in contrast with Sekket, or the Great Bendar. I now hasten to the last question which remains to be considered. I have traced, on my chart, the ancient commercial Road from Coptos to the Red Sea; and, in imitation of D'Anville, I turn this Road, ob- liquely, towards the Tropic. Pliny and the Itinerary Tables agree to give a distance of two hundred and fifty-eight Roman miles between Coptos and Berenice", with the journeys and stations, twelve in number. Ptolemy, Pliny, and Strabo, place the last station of the route, either under the Tropic, or very near it. It was necessary, therefore, to make the line across the Desart oblique, pointing to the south-west, setting out from Coptos. But the line drawn on the chart, was, in a manner, ideal, till M. Cail- liaud discovered two stations, which by their respective positions and distances from the two extremities of the route, confirm the correctness of the ancient Itineraries, and evince the sagacity of D'Anville. In passing from the Nile to Mount Zabarah, in his .first journey, M. Cailliaud traversed the ancient Route, without observing any vestiges; but in returning from the Nile, he found an inclosure, partly 14 Notes on the Engravings. in ruins, with a well in the interior ; it bore evident marks of an an- cient station, and lay in a road broken up. The Arabs told him they had found others, in their journies to Queft, or Coptos ; and, that in a direction to the south-east, tbat is, towards the Tropic, there were others similar. They noticed also the ruins of a great city, after arriving at the mountain of Elbe. In a second journey to the emerald mines, at about half way, M. Cailliaud varied in Jhis first direction, and turned more to the north. After one day's march, he met with a fresh station, like the former, on a broken up road : it was clearly one of those alluded to by the Arabs, as on the road from Coptos. After this, there can be no doubt as to the existence of an oblique route, in the direction from Coptos to the Red Sea. It was needful, however, to reduce these two points, and the aggregate of M. Caiiliaud's Itinerary, to other positions well known; this has been attempted, in my chart, which I consider only as an attempt as there is no vouching, with confidence, for the certainty of one of the extremities of the ancient route. Setting out from the eighth station, the coast is perpendicular to the direction, and the distance is visibly the same, either inclining a little more to the south, or a little more to the east. However this may be, according to our voyager's Itinerary, the first of these ancient stations must be about twenty -four common leagues from the Red Sea, and in the oblique direction of Coptos. Turned into Roman miles, this distance will amount to seventy-two ; but the Itinerary of Antoninus assigns, between Apollinis Hydraeum, or the Eighth Station and Berenice, or the last, three distances, the sum of which is seventy-two miles: Apollinis Hydraeum. ... ; Cabalsi xxvii ; Caanon Hydraeum xxrii ; Berenice* xviii. The other station is thirty-eight leagues from the ancient Coptos ; these thirty -eight leagues make one hundred and fourteen Roman miles. The following is copied from the Itinerary : Coptos ; Phrenicon xxiv ; Didyme xxiv ; Aphrodito xx ; Compasi xxii ; Jovis Hydraeum xxiii. Total one hundred and thirteen miles ; one mile more or less matters little in such a distance. Here then, assuredly, is the position of Jovis Hydraeum ; yet, for confirmation, the distance of the two Hydraeums must coincide with the Itinerary : but this makes up seventy-three miles; Jovis Hydraeum . . . . ; Aristonis xxv; Phalacrum xxv; Apolli- nis Hydraeum xxiii. These seventy-three miles answer to twenty-four leagues, one third ; the chart gives twenty-three and a-half leagues, a conformity which appears sufficiently exact. We find, within nearly a mile and a-half. or half a league, the entire measure of this long route. Thus, here are two points of an ancient route, coming obliquely from Coptos across the desart. 2. The line that passes through Coptos, and through these two points, turns towards the Tropic, over the greet Gulph, which is between the twenty -third and twenty fourth parallel. 3. In pursuing this line beyond the most southerly point, we find, a the Arabs report, the ruins of an ancient town. Notes on the Engravings. 15 Letus now examine a passage of Pliny, and we shall find, notwith- standing some palpable lacunae or omissions, a confirmation, in a man- ner complete, of all that precedes. " A Copto camelis itur, aquatio- num ration! mansionibus dispositis. Prima appellatur Hydreuma, xxxii M. Secunde in monte, dici itinere. ' Tertia in altero hydreu- mate, a Copto xcv. M. Dcinde in monte. Mox ad hydreuma Apol- linis, a Copto clxxxiiiii. M. P. Rursus in monte. Mox ad novum Hydreuma, a Copto ccxxxiii. M. P. Est et aliud Hydreuma vetus, Troglodyticum nominatur: ubi presidium excubat diverticulo II. M. Distat a novo hydreumate iiii. M. P. Inde Berenice oppidum, ub por- tus Rubri Maris, a Copto cclviii. M. P. Scd, quia major pars itineris conficitur, noctibus, propter aestus, et stativis, dies absumuntur, totum a Copto Berenicen iterxii. die peragitur." The first mansion, according to Pliny, is further from Coptos, by eight miles, than the first station of the Itineraries. The second, one day's distance, is in or on the mountain ; the inarch is heavy, and this station falls on Aphrodito, thirty-six miles from the first. The third is ninety-five miles from Coptos ; it agrees, exactly, with Compasi, though five miles beyond it. From this point we go on to Hydraeum Apollinis, one hundred and eighty-four miles from Coptos. This is the eighth station in the Itineraries ; that of Antoninus gives for the position of the Hydraaum, one hundred and eighty-six miles, and the Theodosian table one hun- dred and eighty-five, a coincidence as near as could be wished tor. " From it, "says Pliny, "we proceed to Novum Hydreuma, two hundred and thirty-three miles from Coptos." According to the Theodosian table, Ccenon Hydreuma is two hundred and thirty-six miles, and according to the Itinerary of Antoninus, two hundred and forty. And so we find Berenic6 two hundred and fifty -eight miles from Coptos. The last mansion but one may seem somewhat displaced, but we find Pliny mentioning also an ancient station, Hydreuma Vetus, with the added name of Troglodyticum, six miles from Novum Hydreuma; and it is at this point, and not at Ccenon Hydreuma, that the Theodosian Table fixes the station. It is fortunate that cur voyager fell in with one of the two stations noticed by Pliny, Hydreuma Apollinis, one hundred and eighty-six (or one hundred and eighty-four) from Coptos, or seventy-two miles from Berenice ; for in the remaining part, that author omits the names of the stations, and having passed the third, (which seems to corre- spond with Compasi, the fourth of the Itineraries) he takes no further notice of the resting places. But he makes twelve days journey in all ; these journeys must be very unequal, as the second is thirty -six miles, and the average journey for the whole route is only twenty-one and a-half. Pliny speaks of travelling in the mountains, after the first sta- tion, after the third, and after Hydrasum Apollinis ; we may infer hence, that the height of those stations was less considerable ; but as watering places were numerous, we are not, like Pliny, to confine our- selves on the chart to three chains of mountains. It is highly probable, that there are numerous fissures and fiats between the Arabic chain 1(5 Notes on the Engravings. and that of the Red Sea. Besides the valleys of Bayad and Coseir, and one called the Valley of Wandering, that have been long known, the French engineers discovered another, to the west of Syout; and M. Cailliaud two others, to the east of Edfou. The Arabs are acquainted with all the transversal vallies and their branches ; and all the points of the desart where water is found are familiar to them. By joining them in their marches, as M. Cailliaud has done, all the antique stations may be explored. It is true that the Arabs Ababdeh informed M. Cailliaud, when he discovered Apollinis Hydreum (November 14, 1816), that it was the sixth, coming from Coptos; but there are reasons to think il is the eighth. It seems that two have been destroyed, and those wanting I take to be Aristonis and Didyme. I have not referred here to certain other ruins that M. Cailliaud re- cognized, on his route from the Nile to Gebcl Zabarah, consisting of inclosures and wells, like the others, as they appear less ancient : three of them appertain to stations. As history makes no mention of this transversal route, nor of any other vallies, we cannot speak positively on this head ; but it was, most probably, frequented by the ancients. One reason to think so is, the Egyptian temple on the road, close to the second station ; another is the rocks in the desart, covered with hiero- glyphic inscriptions ; a third, the position of the emerald mountain at the very extremity of the line ; and lastly, the head or beginning of the route is at the point of the river nearest to the emerald mine. It is natural, that in preference to any other, a way should be adopted, traced by the hand of nature, through steep mountains, and leading, in a straight line, to the centre of the mining works. The first station is seven leagues from the Nile, the second thirteen, and the third twenty ; the distances are pretty nearly equal, and incline more to the south-east than those of the Coptos route. If we further consider that ancient stations have been discovered in the line of Coseir, by General Bachelu, and that they must have con- stituted part of a route to the Red Sea, we may justly conclude, that in different periods of antiquity, several different directions had been adopted, for the facility of commerce. The most recent line was pro- bably that from Coptos to Coseir, or that to Myos Hermos, the shortest of all. Let us now consolidate the two readings of the Itinerary, and the numbers of the Theodosian table, with the rectifications proposed, in- cluding the measures of Pliny. Notes on Ike Engravings. 17 Theodocian Table* Itinerary of Antoninus. Total. Pliny. Cod. Regius. Cod. Blanliniau. Coptos . Miles Miles Phcenicon xii read xxii XX !V xxvii read xxiv 24 32 Didyme . . XXIV XXIV XXIV Aphrodito XX XX XX Compasi . . xv read xxv XXII v xxii 90 95 Jovis Hydraeum Aristonis . . xxii xxiv XX111 xxx read xxv xxxiii read xxiii xxv Phalaerum . xxiv xxx read xxv xxv Appollinis xxiv xxiv XX111 186 184 Cabalsi . . XXVil xxiv read xxvii xxvii Hydreumatatus xxiv 236 233 Coenon Hydraeum xxvu xxvu 240 239 Berenice . . . XXII xviii XV 111 258 258 Total. . . . 258m. 259m. 258m. Where the accordance is so perfect and complete, it is reasonable to conceive it as proving the real distances composing the oblique route from Coptos to the Red Sea. Surely, it cannot be the effect of chance. The conformity of the face of the country ..with the distances, the sta- tions still remaining, the broken up road, vestiges of which are distinctly visible, with the open passage across the mountains in that direction, all concur to induce certainty. The explanation of M. Rosiere relative to the direction of the ancient commercial route, founded on the ex- pressions of Strabo, on considerations deduced from the nature of the soil, which appear to have been well understood and described, and all the delicate circumstances he has so skillfully assembled, cannot prevent me from inclining to the statement of D'Anville. That oracle of geo- graphy rather conjectured than proved the real existence of the route of . Coptos, but his notion was correct, and all the modern discoveries tend to confirm it. Another argument may be taken from the Arabian authors. In a very curious passage of Maquerzy, treating of the Bed/a/i, (translated by M. Quatremore) we read of the town of El Khargeh, as situated near .the Emerald Mine, in the Desert of Quous, and about three days journey from that town. This distance is not correct, by one half, for it takes seven days' journey ; Masoudy also asserts the same as follows : " Between the place named Kharbah, where the Emerald Mine is situated, and the nearest towns, Kous and Keft, we reckon seven days 1 march." Be it noted that these journeys are found in the stations of the ancient route from Coptos to Aristonis which is the sixth ; it shews that this line was frequented in the times of Maquerzy and Masoudy. Though Maquerzy was mistaken as to the distance of the Emerald Mine, the passages from him and Masoudy tend to shew the existence of an oblique route to Berenice, and that the traveller proceeded to the Emerald Mine, when setting out from the environs of Coptos. * The names of Didyme, or Didymus, and Aphrodito, are transposed in the table, but not in the number*. VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, Vol. VII. i> 18 Notes on th'e Engravings. CONCLUSION. In the construction of this chart, which is but a sketch of the envi- rons of Egypt, I have carefully compared M. Cailliaud's Journal with his Itinerary, and both with the Charts of D'Anville, Bruce, La Ro- chette, Vice Admiral Rosily, Lord Valentia, &c.. and have analysed their materials, though sometimes they are at variance. This dis- cussion, with the collected testimonies of ancient and modern authors, Has drawn me into lengthened details ; but in submitting a new chart to the public, information should be afforded of the principles acted upon, as the want of it often proves the bane of geography. In general, we may note how imperfectly the western coasts of the Arabic Gulph have been traced, and that a new periplus, more exact than that of D. Juan de Castro should enable us to understand better those of Agatharchides and Arrian. It would further tend more fully to delineate the ancient commercial intercourse with India, by Egypt and the Red Sea; notwithstanding, I have attempted to fix certain subser- vient positions, as also that of the Emerald Mountain, I cannot presume to announce these as laid down with all tho exactness points of such importance require, and I present this chart, merely as a contour, to be filled up, hereafter, by such ulterior observations, as may fall within my notice. P. S. Since the finishing of my chart, M. Belzoni, known by im- portant discoveries in Egypt and Nubia, has published the result of his researches ; they contain an itinerary by the Red Sea, and a chart in confirmation. This zealous and indefatigable observer, has been tra- velling, partly, on the same route as M. Cailliaud, and even advanced further along the Red Sea, to ruins which the Arabs had reported to our author, to the south east of Apollinis Hydraeum. The discovery is curious; but we have to regret that M. Belzoni has not fixed the position of a point so interesting ; if he had not his instruments to take altitudes, he might have accurately calculated his travelling hours, and measured the rhumblines of the wind by his compasses. However, considering the harassing fatigues he had to undergo, with his travelling companion Mr. Bocchey, such as I have experimentally known, \ve may well overlook this omission ; under these circum- stances, I found it impossible to trace M. Belzoni's routes, on any of the various existing charts. The ruins of the Haboo Grey, which he considers with great pro- bability, as those of Berenice, lie in his chart at latitude 23 50' ; an approximation with Ptolemy, singular but fortuitous. There is every reason to think that the Coptos route, after Apollinis Hydraeum inclines to the point here referred to : the distances of the Itinerary correspond exactly, and I cannot but conclude that it was the real Berenice, though Strabo places it at the bottom of the Gulph. M. Belzoni has noticed an ancient station in the vicinity, resembling that on the Coptos route. This forms an additional mansion, agreeing cither with Ccenon Notes on the Engravings. 1 9 Hydreuraa, or with Cabalsi, and confirms the oblique direction of the route across the desert. With respect to the geography of the coasts, I must notice that M. Belzoni reports, in his two routes from Sekket to the Red Sea, he could find no bay whatever, while all the charts give three or four : 1. At the Yellow or Sulphur Mountain : 2. To the east of Mount Za- barah, at Wadanhaouy Bay : 3. At Charrn El Kiman, an opening or fissure in the mountains, which M. Belzoni heard called by the name of Charm El Gomel: 4. At Chaouinah, without mentioning Azalleich, or Sakarah, more to the north. Certain other alterations seem to be called for, in M. Belzoni's Narrative, and I may add that the inspection of the plates, from M. Cailliaud's designs may satisfy every impartial and attentive reader, as to their fidelity. With no small satisfaction, I have viewed the memory of Bruce re- vived, with reference to what he says concerning the Emerald Moun- tain ; M. Belzoni animadverts, perhaps, with too much severity, on those who had censured him. It is certain that the latitudes laid down by that author, do not vary so much from truth as many have supposed. PLATE I. View and Plan of an Egyptian Temple, thirteen leagues west of Edfou. This edifice is partly cut out in the rock; the only part constructed, is the first portico ; it is enriched with paintings, in excellent preservation. FIG. 1. View in front of the Monument, In the engraving, attempts have been made to restore some parts of the frontispiece, which, however, are of no material import. FIG. 2. Plan of the Temple. a. Exterior portico, supported by columns of the same kind as at Ele- phantina. art. Arch-stones of a wall of intercolumniation, now destroyed. In the View, they are not represented on the interior border of the columns. b. Portico, hollowed in the rock, and supported by square pillars. ccc. Three Sanctuaries, equal, or uniformly alike. d. Stair-case to ascend to the Sanctuaries. dd. Stair-cases to ascend to the side-galleries. e. Three benches, with a supporter, including three figures of Divinities, seated, in full relief. PLATE II. 1. Bas-relief of the Temple, west of Edfou. 2. Plan and Environs of an ancient Town, called Sekket. FIG. 1. The symbolical subject represented in this Drawing, is sculptured under the peristyle of the Temple in the Desert, thirteen leagues east- 20 Notes on the Engravings. south-east of Edfou Similar subjects have been frequently engraved in the Description de V Egypte. FIG. 2. This little Plan exhibits the site of the ancient town of Sekket, and the place of the principal Emerald Mines, situated between the town and Mount Zabarah. In the town appear three buildings, separated by the high road. PLATE III. Views of an ancient Town called Sekket, as taken from the sontfi. The town of Sekket has also the name of Bendar El Kebyr. The Arabs are not agreed as to the right name. View of the ancient Town, taken from the south-south-west. (See PLATE II. FIG. 2.) Principal Temple. (See PLATE VI.) A little Temple with arcades. View of the Town, taken from the north-north-east. Edifice in the south. The shrubs that appear in the road are small acacias, of a thorny kind. The Arabs extract a gum from this plant, which forms an article of commerce eagerly sought by the merchants. PLATE IV. Map of the Deserts, between the Nile and the Red Sea. PLATE V. View of the principal Temple of Sekket. This monument is almost entirely excavated in the rock. In the original labours OH this mountain, the face or front has been squared and trimmed, previous to working out the apartments of this subterraneous temple : the next operation was constructing a number of massy works on masonry, to support some chambers towards the front that have been de- stroyed. The only Egyptian decoration on the frontispiece is the disc, encircled with serpents. The site of a lower compartment, as also two niches, worked rather slightly in the interior of the rock ; one of these is decorated in the Greco- Egyptian style, like the rest of the monuments. At this point we see marked on the columns a bed or layer of the stone in an oblique direction, forming a continuation of that under which is the ad- joining broken column : at present this last adheres to the mountain by its base and chapiter; the rest of the shaft has been separated, and we find the block on the ground. Cavities or holes, in which apparently joists or rafters were inserted, that formerly made a ceiling over the newly-discovered compartment A. A number of excavations leading to galleries made to facilitate the search of emeralds. PLATE VI. View of the little Temple, east of Sekket. The place of the edifice is marked in b. PLATE II. Fig. 2. in defect of a plan, the scale is laid down according to the proportion of the gates, which is of three feet by nearly six in height. The length of the front Notes on the Engravings. 21 is about 21 feet. To convey a correct idea of the proportion of the scale of this little temple, the whole figure should appear somewhat nearer. It forms a chapel with arcades, consisting as to its distribution of an oblong saloon, of about 12 feet in depth. Excepting the disc encircled with ser- pents the style is wholly Grecian : the imitators have suppressed the wings of the Egyptian globe. In the arcade on the right are several Greek inscriptions. The conical form of the rocks, observable even to the last of the plans, is that of the primitive mountains, of which this part of the desert consists, and wherein the emerald mines are found. PLATE VII. Inscriptions on the Temple east of Edfou ; at Sekket ; and on the Hypogees of Faras in Nubia. Fig. 1.' Inscription copied from under the exterior portico of the coloured Egyptian temple, situated 13 leagues east of Edfou. FIG. 2. Inscription on the Temple, at Sekket. Fig. 3. Inscription copied at Faras in Nubia, on an hypogee. PLATE VIII. Plan and View of a Greco-Roman Temple, at Douch El Qualah. three leagues to the south of Beyrys. This temple stands on an elevated rock, near Douch El Qualah,the southern extremity of the Oasis of Thebes, twenty-one leagues and a half from El Khargeh. Here commences the route of Darfour. To the south of this spot is a sul- phureous spring. Plan of the temple ; a, a court yard, lately discovered ; b c, first and second saloons ; d, sanctuary of the temple ; e, a niche at the lower end of the sanc- tuary; f, staircase that leads to the terrace. This view is taken in a spot north of the temple. In the horizon is the sandy chain that encompasses the Oasis. Here, and in the following plates, the girdle of accumulated sands formed by the Libyc mountain about the Oasis, is expressed by a peculiar sort of marking. It serves to isolate this fertile canton from the desert. Gates of vaulted or arched brickwork, are at the entrance of the saloons ; a little beyond, is a third and similar vault, at the entrance of the saloon. Part of the village of Douch El Qualah. The soil under the date trees is in cultivation, but this could not be expressed in the engraving. There are several modern ruins of dwelling houses of brick -work. PLATE IX. Egyptian Temple at Douch El Qualah. View of the Temple, as taken from the north-east. At the further end is the mountainous chain covered with sand, that bounds the Oasis on the west: near it, is a large inclosure of brick-work. The point of view could not take in the back part of the structure, nor the compartm&nts that are vaulted. A stone cut out in steps, that probably formed some part of the ancient construction ; but for what use, does not appear. The scite of a saloon adjoins the Inciosure that overlooks the Temple, and has been thought to have been the interior of a tower. 22 Notes on the Engravings. Vacant spaces appear to have had inserted in them the beams that supported the ceilings of dwelling-houses, within the precinct. Adjoining is a painted vault, or arch-way. PLATE X. Sections of the Egyptian Temple at Douch El Qualah. Under the ceiling are two windows of sky-light, similar to that we find in the little Temple of Karnack, at Thebes. The drawing in perspective is designed from a point, to shc\v the vaulted- work of stone that serves as a cro\vn-\vork to the saloons. In the saloon the vaulted-work is co-ordinate with an Egyptian ornament, the winged circular globe, and with some hieroglyphic inscriptions ; but no hieroglyphics appear on the vaults. The saloon, at the further end, had a little window or sky-light. PLATE XI Plan and View of a Temple, north-cast of Bonlaq. FIG. 1. Plan of the Temple, north-east of Boulaq, six leagues and a half from El Khargeh. a. Outer gate that seems to be the remainder of a portal, or door- way. b. Anterior saloon, now laid open to view, and which, probably, had four columns to support it. c. Second portico, of four columns. d. An oblong saloon, that we come to, before the Sanctuary. r. Principal Sanctuary. / g. Arched, or vaulted saloons. h. A stair-case leading to the terrace. i. Some mysterious partition, wherein is an opening, h, that leads to a subter- ranean chamber. II. Inclosure of unbaked bricks that encompassed the Temple, and still in good preservation. FIG. 2. View of the Temple of Boulaq, and of the Inclosure, taken from the East. At the further end, we discern the sands of the Lybian Chain; on the left, appear Arabic dwelling-houses in ruins, some, however, are yet standing. This monument, in general, does not seem to have been finished ; it con- tains, however, hieroglyphical ornaments. PLATE XII. Ruins north of El Khargeh, and east of the Great Temple. This View is taken from a point, south-east of the Ruins. The proportions of this edifice are not perfectly regular. The opening of the gate is be- tween three and four feet : there are several hieroglyphic ornaments. The in- closure of brick-work with which the Temple is surrounded is 191 feet in width. In the fore part, are the ruins of the front, which has fallen down. At the fur- ther end we may distinguish the mountainous sandy chain in the west. Parts of the adjacent grounds are planted with trees, and under cultivation. PLATE XIII. Plan of the Great Temple of El Khargeh. a. A saloon, laid open, to view, resembling the partition, with columns, at the Temple of Hermonthis. Notes on the Engravings. 23 b. Entrance of the Grand Portico. It is remarkable from its considerable depth, resembling that of the hypo-style saloon, in the Palace of Kar- nack, although, in other respects, the dimensions of the building are much inferior. c. A grand portico of twenty columns. (I. A second portico of four columns. ef. The Sanctuary, divided into two parts. g hi. Several compartments, appropriated to the service of the Sanctuary. k. Stair-case leading to the terrace. 1 1. Other compartments belonging to the Temple. mm. Walls, intended like the gate n, to separate the grand portico into two parts. For the same reason, there must have, doubtless, been walls of intercolumniation at n, n. op. Lateral, or side-gates, opening to the north. q. An apartment, or partition, probably intended for the inner keeper of the Temple. The rules of symmetry call for a similar one, on the other side. r r. Four portions of the saloon, discovered and laid open, and which stand in front of the Temple, still remaining, partly upright. They may be dis- tinguished by two cross- strokes. The other portions are destroyed, or buried under the sand. In place of a general distribution of the Great Temple, it should here be noticed, that the surface, or flooring continues rising from the first gate to the saloon discovered, that appears in advance of the Temple, properly so called ; pretty nearly resembling the Temple of Edfou, and the Memnonium, at Thebes. PLATE XIV. General View of the Great Temple of El Khargeh, and of the Environs. This View is taken, north-east of the Temple. The fore-ground represents a very rich vegetation, including some date, doum, and palm-trees, in the midst of which this beautiful Temple stands. The soil is under cultivation, to the north, east, and west, except about the monument, a part which the sands have overspread. For the Plan, consult PLATE XIII. PLATE XV. View of the Facade of the Great Temple of El Khargeh, taken from the East. In the district that surrounds El Khargeh, the vegetation is rich and pro- ductive ; but near the temple the soil is encumbered with sand, which is daily accumulating ; there still remains, however, a number of beautiful palm trees. The same trees appear in this plate as in the preceding; they chiefly consist of date, doum, and palm trees. Under the doum, on the right, is the voyager's tent. Parts of the saloon now or lately discovered, or an an terior inclosure yet sub- sisting. On the left, the inhabitants of the Oasis are employed in removing the sand , by the help of an instrument formed of upright and cross pieces of timber ; their apparel is of woollen, of the sort called in Egypt Zaabout. Part of the great colonnade of the first portico is entire. In the front is an upright of one of the gates of the anterior saloon, half thrown down or overturned. Notes on the Engravings. PLATE XVI. Roman Tombs at El Gabouet, north-west of El Khargeh, taken in a direction from the south. These tombs are situated on the Lybian Mountain, towards the north-west and distributed at different elevations, or heights : the Egyptian Tombs are more to the east. The great Inclosure is of brick-work, as are the other Tombs, seen behind. The triangular openings, discernible on the walls, are of no great depth. The earth, or soil about the Tombs is strewed with ruins and rubbish. The Engraving gives a correct view of the Sands, which are gradually de- scending into the interior parts of the Oasis. The Roman Tombs are much less encumbered than the buildings of El Khargeh, and especially, the Great Temple. A ruinous building appears in the back-ground, but of what description, is unknown. PLATE XVII. FIG. ]. and 2. --Inscriptions at Douch El Quala/t. FIG. 3. Inscription copied from the principal gate of the Great Temple of El Khargeh. PLATE XVIII. Map of the Oasis of Thebes. (See page 1 .) TRAVELS IN THE OASES OF THEBES AND EL DAKEL. CHAPTER I. Arrival at Alexandria Journeys in Nubia, with M. Drovetti M. Caiiliaud commissioned by the Pacha to explore the Country in search of Mines He sets out for the Red Sea- Ancient Stations Egyptian Temple in the Desart Hieroglyphics engraved on the Rock? The Arabs' Ababdeh Route of Berenice Mount Zabarab, and the Emerald Mines. AN ardent desire to form collections of mineralogy, a science to which I was early attached, induced me to quit Nantes, my native city. Before I reached five-and- twenty, I had visited Holland, Italy, Sicily, and a part of Turkey in Europe. Being informed of the rarities still in existence in Egypt, from the dis- coveries made and published by the Egyptian Institute : learning also, that this country, so privileged by nature, contained a mul- tiplicity of mineral substances, made subservient, by the art of its ancient inhabitants, to the erection of works of the most magni- ficent description ; I formed the project of visiting also the banks of the Nile : and for this purpose I left Constantinople, in the first month of 1815, and arrived at Alexandria on the twelfth of May in the same year. During my residence in this city, I was so fortunate as to be- come acquainted with M. Drovetti, Consul-General of France. The character of this worthy Chevalier is well known in Europe, by the signal services he has long rendered to voyagers, as also from his rich collections formed in Egypt, during the last twelve years, intending them for the French Museums. Not long after, he took me with him, in his journey to Nubia, as far as the second cataract of the Nile. On my return, I found myself, by his good offices, standing high in the estimation of the Viceroy, Mohammed Aly Pacha, so that, on the seventh of August, 1816, I received a commission, empowering me to make search for mines in the desarts adjoining Egypt. I lost no time in making preparations for undertaking a mission so honorable, and I re- VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, Vol. VII. E 26 Calttiatiffs Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. paired directly to Cairo, where I obtained all the firmans requisite -for the different governors of Upper Egypt. I had authority to demand, in every place, men, horses and camels, necessary for my researches. Shortly after quitting Cairo, I arrived at Redesyeh, south of the ruins of Elethyia, after previously visiting, with great satisfaction, a multitude of monuments that decorate the banks of the Nile monuments which are perpetuallyattracting travellers from all parts of Europe, to investigate them. At Redesyeh, I demanded six men, as attendants, with eight dromedaries, and provisions to last one month. My Interpreter* was one of those Frenchmen, who after the departure of the army, entered into the service in the corps of Mamelukes. These men have kept up in the country the recollections of a memorable expedition, and have also indirectly tended to disseminate principles of civilization, the germs of which are daily expanding in a country, that, centuries ago, was the cradle of science and the arts. Our preparations being completed, we set out on the second of November, .directing our course eastward, and quickly entered a sandy plain, arid and scorching with heat, notwithstanding the season. After half-an-hour > s march in the dcsart, we crossed the Arabic Chain : the nature of the stone, in this place, is a sort of brown free-stone, very much resembling that which constitutes all the mountainous parts of Egypt, from the city of Syene to where the calcareous soil commences. We advanced next into some valleys that richly abound with the Seyal, a species of small acacia, that produces gum, and the grain of*which is used, in the # His name was Joseph, he was born at Turin. When the French army left Egypt, he vras in the hospital, and left at Cairo, where he obtained some em- ployment, in the service of a great family, allied to the Beys. This cou- rageous and intelligent man proved very useful to me, in my travels. With several" other countrymen, he had served in the corps of Mamelukes, and was much attached to Ibrahim Bey. The Mamelukes having been destroyed by the Osmanlis, Ibrahim Bey was compelled to retire into the Dongolah, in Nubia. The French that remained at Cairo, took service with Mohammed Aly Pacha, and formed a corps cf 400 cavaliers. Most of them are since dead; the rest are about forty, under the Kachef, Selim, of Avignon. By their valour and d^yotedness, they have rendered signal services to the Viceroy. Ibrahan Bey died in the Dongolah, at the latter end of 1816. His wife came all the way from Nubia to Egypt, to resign his sabre into the hands of the Pacha, and to request that his body might be removed to Cairo. Mohammed Aly Pacha consented, and made her a number of presents. The corpse, on its passage through Esne, and other towns of Upper Egypt, received the honours due to his memory. On the twenty-eighth of No- vember, 1816, I saw the widow, at Esne; she was richly dressed, and was attended by several i-laves, and not a few Cheykhs. Her mode of riding und manaprinp: the horse was much admired. C'aiUiaud'x Travels in the Oaais of Thebes. !37 preparation of skins. It is customary to plant trees of this de- scription about the tombs of the Cheykhs, and the Arabs" Ababdeh tire unwilling to pluck them up ; hence we observed a number of them considerably larger and loftier than the ordinary seyal. After four hours march, we encamped by the well called Abadeh, where we found a poor Arab leading a solitary life, in that remote place ; in this part of the desart, I observed pretty large quan- tities of muriate of soda, loose, in adhesion with a grey earth : the Arabs use it in their victuals, though the soil is much mixed with it. On the day following, November 3, we resumed our march, at sun-rise. I was shewn here, at the foot of a mountain, south of our route, the tomb of a Mahomedan San ton, whose memory is held in great veneration, by the Arabs of this desart. At a short distance, I perceived the remains of two square inclosures, built of rough, unpolished stone, and about fifty feel high ; this spot appeared to me to have been the first station, where, in ancient times, the caravans halted, that were repairing directly eastward, and from the Nile to the Red Sea : it is about seven hours march from the Nile. These two first inclosures are twenty or thirty paces distant from each other ; the largest is about forty or fifty feet, in extent, on the sides. Their walls, partly formed of fragments of grey free-stone, from the mountains in the vicinity, are five or six feet in thickness ; they seem to have been built without cement. In their interior, a number of little partition- walls yet remain, which indicate as many chambers of eight or ten feet square. Several buttresses or outside walls have been added, to give solidity to the construction. These walls, at present, scarcely rise above five or six feet ; but the vast ruins that lie scattered about, shew that they have been very lofty ; still there is no vestige of its having been once a fortified placcj like those on the route of Coseyr. To the north a wide road led to Coseyr, through a beauti- ful vale filled with acacias ; we turned from this, and pro- ceeded in a line eastward. Towards night, I discovered, in these solitudes, some antique columns at the foot of a steep rock, and south of the route. A spectacle so unexpected I hailed with sen- timents of joy ; I might, perhaps, light on some fresh discovery, some work of those ancient Egyptians, whose indefatigable in- dustry extended even into the desarts. Impatient to reach the ruins, I quickened the pace of my dromedary ; my expectation was not disappointed ; I found, to my great surprise, an Egyptian temple, partly built, and partly cut out of the rock. It lies about thirty leagues in the desart. The distribution is elegant; four columns Form the outer portico; inside, the ceiling rests on an equal number of square pillars, wrought in the interior of the 28 CailliaucTft Travels in the Oasis of Tliebts. mountain, as are also the sanctuary, two chambers, and two lateral pieces. All the walls of this temple are covered with hieroglyphics, hollowed and sculptured in relief, and in fine preservation ; the colours with which they are garnished yet retain an astonishing freshness. Under the portico are several drawings, consisting of large figures, resembling those of the little temple of Kelabeheh, in Nubia. The subject bears some analogy to a human sacrifice, real or symbolical : under the portico, we find two lofty statues of Osiris, erect, in grand style, holding in their hands the flail and the sceptre, in form of a cross. Besides these two statues, there are three others, seated at the bottom of the sanctuary ; and the same number, in each of the two lateral chambers : one of the three is the figure of a woman. Excepting the face, which is mutilated, all these statues are in good preservation. In the interior of the temple, are different fragments of altars, in free- stone and granite. I observed also, a number of figures painted red, that appear analogous with the subjects in the portico. Near the temple, we found considerable remains of square in- closures, resembling those we had observed, in the morning ; this was, doubtless, the second station, about six hours march from the former. The dimensions of this last inclosure, which stands about fifty paces from the Egyptian temple, are precisely similar to those at the preceding stations ; this remark applies to all the inclosures on the transversal route ; those on the route of Coptos are the largest. After seven hours march, we encamped at the foot of a mountain, where a few thick shrubs scattered about varied the monotonous aspect of the desart; and shewed some signs of vegetation. During the night, we sustained a loss that might have deranged our plan, or, at least, have laid us under great difficulties. Three of our dromedaries were missing ; the drivers did not perceive it till day-break, but following their tracks in the sand, they overtook them, at some distance, in the desart. These animals have a piercing sight, and as soon as the sack, holding their dourah, or food, was shewn them, they voluntarily returned. Proceeding a little further, our drivers made a sudden halt, to worship, at the tomb of a pretended Mahometan saint. This spot was indicated by a few stones arranged in the form of a square on the sand ; they took some water and meal, and placed the same on the tomb. Our road lay tlirough a number of valleys ; to the north of us was another main road, leading to Coseyr, on the Red Sea. The corn which is provided for the Pacha, and intended for Mecca, out of the province of Esne, is conveyed, on these two roads, by the Ababdeh ; a mass, or pile of masonry, formed like a pyramid, and erected on the summit of the two CailliaucCs Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 29 mountains, adjoining the two roads, serves to distinguish them. That of Mount Zabarah, to the east, is also marked, in different places ; without such precaution, (as the torrents obliterate the fugitive traces left by the caravans,) travellers would be bewildered in passing over these mountains. Frequently, we observe gorges that, at some distance, appear passable, but on a nearer approach, prove impracticable. The soil was much the same as in our pre- ceding journies ; free-stone, in horizontal layers, coloured, more or less, with oxide of iron. To the south of the route, was a third station, much like the former, at the distance of about eight leagues. The Ababdeh report that these inclosures contain wells, which, at present, are, for the most part, stopped up. This day we marched nine hours, and encamped in a valley abounding with seyal. On the fifth of November, we observed a number of channels or torrents dried up, formed by the rains that descend from the mountains, in the vicinity of the Red Sea ; every where are frag- ments of stone that have been smoothed and rounded, by the cur- rents. In this day^s march, we met with some variety ; we had to ascend mountains consisting of amphibolic rocks, of a greenish petro-silex, vast veins of hyaline quartz, of talcous rocks, of ser- pentinous rocks, and calcareous soil. At the foot of a rock of feld-spath, there is a spring of fresh water, a great relief for the Arabs' Ababdeh that inhabit these desarts. Before we arrived at this, we remarked, on our right, several hieroglyphic designs traced on the mountain, similar to those of Philse; this makes it evident that our solitary track had been frequented by the ancients. These drawings consist of small figures, of about a foot, sculptured rather incorrectly, the subjects not unlike those in the quarries of Syene, and which might be taken for the crude attempts of young sculptors exercising themselves. The ancient stations, the Egyptian temple, the hieroglyphic drawings sculp- tured on granite, the pyramidal mason- work erected on the moun- tains in different places, and placed there as signals, all tend to prove that this route was a very ancient one, and that it served as a line of communication between Elythia or Apollino- polis, and the road leading to Berenice, Sekket, and the Emerald Mines. After seven hours march, we encamped in a valley, well stocked with shrubs. On the 6th, our march lay over vast masses of micaceous schist ; here the prospects began to vary, widening, as we rose, on a more elevated soil. On a vast sandy level, we met with some straw huts, occupied by a few Arabs, of the warrior-tribe of the Abab- deh. Tney fled at our approach, and left their cattle; our guides had much trouble to bring them back, as they are habi- tuated to independence, and dread meeting with officers, or others, 30 Cailliaud'ii Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. in the service of the Pacha. This day, our march was of eight hours ; we crossed a very ancient and rather remarkable road, that passes obliquely through the desart, and which I shall have occasion to notice hereafter. On the 7th, we pursued our route, climbing up mountains still more elevated, and passed a number of torrents, all of which verge towards the Nile, but were then dry. Towards evening, we had to cross a passage, difficult and perilous for our camels ; from the top of a mountain, a little path- way, with a very rapid descent, winds about in a gorge formed by another mountain ; on the right, was a horrible precipice. Our drivers, two to each camel, one at the bridle, and the other at the tail, conducted the animal ; in this manner, and with no small difficulty, we de- scended, at length, through the defile. From the heights of this mountain, our prospect was grand and extensive : numberless rocks, naked and sterile, but tinged with a thousand different co- lours, were rising their everlasting heads majestically to the skies : here and there, a few shrubs, fresh and green, in these parched dales ; the sea, in the back ground ; and lastly, the sun, illumi- nating the perspective with his declining, fainter rays, altogether comprehended a noble survey, notwithstanding the desolate and gloomy aspect of those arid mountains. The soil here is com- posed of a greenish rock of feld-spath, with foliated veins of a bluish schist, and quantities of hyaline quartz, and calcareous, ferrugineous patches. After nine hours march, we encamped at the foot of a mountain, enlivened with a variety of small shrubs. On the 8th, we passed a number of channels of torrents, but these were all pointing towards the Red Sea. The chain of mountains that we had scaled the preceding evening extends from north to south. After five hours march, we arrived, through a valley, at the foot of a great mountain, called Zabarah, by the Ababdeh ; it is about seven leagues distant from the Red Sea, and forty-five to the south of Coseyr. Here I learned from my conductors that there were vast caverns within the mountain. On my entrance into the valley, I noticed on the left, the traces of an ancient Mussulman cemetery, and not a few ruined habitations ; this was matter of surprise, in a desart place so retired. When we came to the caverns, we found they had been origi- nally mines. I was at a loss to know what sort of mine it might have been; there appeared fragments of mica, talc, and schist, mixed with masses of granite, of which the mountain consists. As I was sitting on some pieces of rock, my eye suddenly glanced on a fragment of emerald, of a dark green. My surprise and joy made me forget all fatigue, and impatient to enter the gallery, I frequently encouraged the Ababdeh, and CaiUlaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 31 began to labour with them ; it was not long ere we all entered into the mine. Without delay, we lighted up flam- beaux, and accompanied by my interpreter, I descended a very oblique path ; after about a hundred paces, our way be- came dangerous from the too rapid shelving of the path. The Ababdeh were frightened and returned ; my interpreter hesi- tated and halted; I descended alone, remaining about three- quarters of an hour ; I then found the way obstructed, by enormous masses of mica that had fallen from the cieling. I persisted, for some time, in opening the way, and had pene- trated above 400 feet under ground, through many difficult and dangerous passages; the labour was above my strength, and I was obliged to give it up. When just on the point of re-ascending, disappointed, at having discovered nothing re- markable, I perceived, among these masses of mica, an hexaedre prism of emerald. I carefully removed it, letting it remain in its ore, or covering. I was near two hours wandering in those narrow galleries, which made my interpreter uneasy. I was at such a distance from him, that his repeated cries were out of hearing. He then procured a cord, expecting it might be let fall within my reach, but none of my attendants would venture down with it. As my torch was almost expended, I had then to make my way back again, and this was toilsome clamber- ing. At length, the voice of my interpreter interrupted the profound silence, and following his voice, I came up to him. His first question was, " Have you got any emeralds ?" I answered in the negative, but, in such a tone, as to make him believe I had filled my pockets, which galled him more than any reproofs. On the 9th, I passed the whole day in making further search ; we found more than forty excavations similar to what we dis- covered the day before. On this mountain,, are several reservoirs, cut out in the talc ; these were intended for preserving the rain- water, and were now dry, as there had been no rain in this part of the desart for two years before. The mines had been neglected for some centuries, and most of them, like what we had seen, were, doubtless, stopped up by the stones which had been rolled down by the torrents. The mountain adjoining this has, also, very numerous excavations, which reach to a great depth. The emerald, as far as I could discern, is enveloped in the black mica and micaceous argilous schist that penetrate the masses of granite, of which the greater part of these mountains are composed. At night, three Ababdeh warriors arrived at our encampment ; they were armed with lances ; they had also knives, fastened to the left arm, and bucklers made of the skin of the crocodile or 32 Cailliaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. rhinoceros. Their clothing consisted of a woollen frock, and their enormous heads of hair were like those of the Barabras, or Nubians. Their aspect struck us with astonishment, but we were strong enough to over-match them. They demanded our busi- ness, in this valley, and I shewed them our firmans, authorising me to explore all this part of the desart. They took the paper, and finding the seal of Mohammed Aly Pacha, Viceroy of Egypt, they placed it on their heads, and, in the name of Mahomet, in- voked benedictions on our undertaking. They cautioned us against sleeping too near these excavations, as being the refuge of serpents and wolves, and the haunt of spectres. We profited by their counsels, and as they passed the night near our tents, I made them presents of tobacco and coffee. Throughout the night, my people took no rest, but were incessantly firing their pieces, to frighten away the evil spirits, that the Ababdeh had been telling them of. CHAPTER II. Description of the Excavation of Mount Zabarah Excursion to the Red Sea Mountains of Sulphur, and Volcanic Trace 5 Return to the Nile The Arabs' Bicharyeh Antique Station, and Route of Berenice The Desart Esne Thebes Quaou M. Cailliaud presents some emeralds to the Pacha, who gives orders for a second Expedition to the Mines of Zabarah Greek and Albanese Miners brought from the Archipelago, and from Syria M. Yousef, &c. ON the 10th of November, I proceeded again to explore some of the excavations. In one of them, with much trouble, and by a very narrow path, I penetrated about eighty feet under ground, to a little platform, where I fortunately stopped to take reath, for I could see, by my glimmering light, a horrible preci- pice just before me, into which 1 must have fallen, had I advanced a few steps further. This excavation is so considerable that 300 men might labour in it together. I felt a strong wish to descend, called for my people, ana asked for cords, but none answered. I was obliged, therefore, to my great regret, to desist from the search, being unable to prosecute it with men so superstitious and easily frightened. I returned to my tent, where some of the Ababdeh brought us, as a present, a couple of sheep. We then made preparations for our departure. About six o'clock we mounted our dromedaries, bending our course to the mountains in the south, and approaching to the sea ; my object was to visit a mountain of sulphur in those parts which the Ababdeh had knowledge of. At the end of two hours march, Caitt'tautf* Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 88 we came to a spring of fresh water, at the bottom of an enormous rock, of a greenish petro-silex ; after filling our bladders with it, we entered a vast valley, and arrived at some stupendous rocks of granite. This granite differs from that of the cataracts, by its fine grain, and by the mica which is every where mixed with it. The mountains are streaked, in all directions, by long slips of a blackish feld-spath rock, which, on granite of a light rose-colour, produces a singular effect. A few trees are irregularly scattered m the valley ; this place is called El Ghadyr. On the llth, we continued our descent into the valley. About two o'clock, we discovered the Red Sea, and towards night, approached it. We pursued our route along the shore, halting, occasionally, to gather shells, of every shape and size ; one, called the Ileart of Venus, is of uncommon dimensions, frequently weighing 100 pounds. On the 12th, we set out before day-break, to have a view of the sun rising, and to gather shells. About three o'clock we arrived at the sulphur mine, called by the Ababdeh, Gebel Kebryt, or the Sulphur Mountain : we made our way to it, by tracing the fragments rolled into the road and paths, by the rains. The mountain is situated about a quarter of a league from the Red Sea, and about sixty to the south of Coseir. It forms a very narrow gorge, hollowed, not a little, by the torrents and rains. All these mountains have undergone the action of fire, and a vast mass of the sulphated calx within them seems to have been con- sumed, by some conflagration. In different patches of these mountains, we find them overlaid with from ten to twenty feet of puzzolane. The surface yet bears the marks of fire, which was stopped, by the enormous masses of sulphated calx, wherein the sulphur lies, so that it- did not reach the latter. It is found in couches, or layers, partly horizontal, and of a fine citron yellow. This mine is known to have been worked by the ancients, but they did not enter far into it. The articles requisite for mining, &c. are not to be procured in these parts, or engaging in it would be an advantageous speculation. One of my company j who was resting himself in one of the excavations, fell asleep, after smoking, and dropped his kindled pipe ; the sparks soon commu- nicated to the sulphur ; he was inhaling the sulphureous vapours for some time, but was, at length, roused by the suffocating scent ; there was just time enough to extinguish the fire, which might otherwise have consumed a great part of the mine. The soil hereabout is of red and yellow ochre. On the 13th, we set out, on our return to the Nile : throughout the day, we traversed mountains of a fine-grained granite. The valleys are not unprovided with acacias, and they are inha- bited by Arabs named Bicharyeh, Bicharyn, or Bichang. They VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, Vol. V T II. F 34 CailliaucTf} Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. speak a language, however, different from the Arabic, and are mostly found in the desart that lies to the soutli of Syene, and east of the Nile. We purchased some sheep from these warriors. None of them ever go out unanned ; they use a lance in these desarts, carrying it in their hand, as a cane is used in Europe. Towards night, after seven hours march, we set up our tents. On the 14th we found a spring of fresh water; our march lay through two chains of granite ; a violent wind, through the day, raised up vast clouds of sand, which proved a great annoyance. . This day we crossed a considerable road, leading obliquely from Queft, the ancient Coptos, and inclining to the south-east ; it is still frequented by the Arabs. Here we found an ancient station ; it was a vast inclosure 3 reared with rough-hewn atone, and contain- ing a well, now choaked up with sands ; round about are some feeble remains of ruined habitations. The Ababdeh and the Bicharyeh assured me, that inclosures resembling this were yet remaining, in the way from Queft, to near the mountain of Elb6, and that, from the one where we now were, to Queft, they had counted five. It follows, that this route must have been the one cited by the ancients, and reaching from Coptos to Berenice. Accordingly, I take it for granted, that proceeding in a south - west direction, we should arrive at the ruins of Berenice, which I calculate to lie between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth de- grees of latitude, not far from the mountain of Elbe ; the envi- rons are occupied, by numerous troops of the Bicharyeh. Our journey this day lasted eight hours. On the 15th we traversed a long chain of granite, friable at the surface, of a fine grain, and containing white feld-spath. Our views were no longer so bounded ; in a vast plain our pro- spects expanded to a circumference of four leagues. Towards night we^ encamped, after a journey of eight hours and a-half. In this place the rocks consisted of masses of a greenish feld- spath. On the 16th we set out at sun-rise, and crossed a torrent en- vironed with rocks, amphibolic, and of feld-spath. In and near the torrent were numerous trees, called date-trees of the desart, . mingled with the seyal; the former bears a small fruit, in the form of a date, but sour to the taste : its leaves are like those of the pear-tree. It may be the Persea of the ancients, and the same as that known by the name of Allobe, in the country of Taka, on the route from Chendy to Souakin, as noticed by Burck- hardt, in his " Travels in Nubia,' 1 &c. In the north part of our route we found several wells of fresh water, and we halted there to replenish our vessels. Our march this day was of nine hours ; we encamped, under an enormous rock of brown free- . stpne. CaUtiaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 85 On the 17th we were marching the whole day through a valley hemmed in with huge rocks of free-stone ; the whole desart abounds with coloquintida. After halting some time to give the fatigued camels rest after so long a march, we renewed our journey for about four hours. It was a heavy day's inarch, being alto- gether eleven hours. I observed on the road, the way of dressing their victuals, by the Ababdeh : first they make a great fire, throwing small stones into it ; they then work up a very thick paste of dourah- meal into cakes ; afterwards they remove the fuel, and lay their cakes on the heated stones, covering them up with charcoal and hot cinders ; this paste, half baked, with water of the desart., often brackish, is their only sustenance, and suffices them to walk, or rather run behind the camels, for eight or nine hours daily, with naked feet over a burning sand. To me it appears unaccount- able how, with such scanty provisions, they can support such fatigue. The vigour and abstinence of the camels are still more surprising. On the 1 8th we lost sight of every tree, and we had mountains of free-stone on both sides, reaching to the Nile ; we had a diffi- cult passage to cross, and our camels conveyed us to our place of encampment with no little trouble, after a march of ten hours. For five days, they had been without dourah, and had only a few grassy slips in the desart to browze on ; we were obliged to give them the straw within side of our saddles. Next day one of our camels, too infirm to travel further, was left behind ; at length, about three o'clock, we had a view of the Nile and its banks, ever verdant ; in about an hour after we ar- rived at Kavoisi, (otherwise Naga El Beled,) a little village to the south of Redesyeh. When we arrived at this last place, situated in a peninsula, I made a demand of horses and camels for our baggage, and we then set out for Esne. On the 30th I hired a bark, or great boat, for Cairo, where I arrived, January 10, 1817. M. Yousef Boghos, an Armenian, first interpreter and minister of Mohammed Aly Pacha, introduced me to his Highness, to im- part some of my fortunate discoveries. The Viceroy listened at- tentively to the description of the mines that I had visited. After a long discourse, he came to a determination that I should return, with workmen requisite for the labours of mining. But the pre- parations for this required some time ; workmen were to be pro- cured chiefly from Syria, with Greeks from the Archipelago, and some Albanese. While detained at Cairo, I became acquainted with several characters of distinguished merit ; but I must name, with especial regard, M. Yousef Boghos, minister of Mohammed Aly. He converses in four or five languages, with equal facility, precision, 3$ Cailliaud's Travels in the Oasitt of Thebes. and elegance, is very intelligent, and has the art of conciliating the most refractory tempers, or rather individuals of every de- scription. The stamp of softness and politeness is so impressed on his manners, that we quitted him with regret, but with a full persuasion of succeeding in our suit : his demeanour was noble, his exterior brilliant and imposing. He seemed naturally inclined to favour Europeans, and he was incessantly devising means to ren- der me all the good offices that his official character would authorize. Here I became acquainted also with M. Burckhardt, employed by the African Society of London, and a Swiss by origin. This indefatigable voyager could express himself, correctly, in the Ori- ental languages ; he had been long inured to privations, and toil- some marches in the desarts of Syria, Egypt, and Arabia. He was generally known, throughout Egypt, by the name of Cheykh Ibrahym *. In a house at Cairo, I met with M. the Chevalier Lascaris, whom I had known in Greece, and who had rendered me services which I cannot forbear mentioning. Passing from Sicily to Miconi, in a bark that I had purchased, and proceeding to Smyrna in com- pany with a friend, we were suddenly reduced, by unforeseen cir- cumstances, to such distress, that after sharing a few beans, we were, in a manner, destitute. At this crisis, a venerable figure, in Turkish apparel, and with a long beard, approached our vessel, and began to accost us in French ; under such circumstances his very appearance revived us. Informed of our unfortunate situa- tion, M. Lascaris was very zealous in procuring us refreshments # M. Burckhardt was a young man, and is since dead. A publication of his Travels has appeared in London, which is truly interesting in its relation to geography. Particulars are detailed respecting manners, productions, &c. as comprised in the parts between Asouan and Soleb: as also, the country be- tween Berber, Chendy, and Souakin. Various other notices are interspersed, among which, is a long extract from Maquirzy's History, as to what respects Nubia. What M. Burckhardt has reported concerning M. Cailliaud, is as fol- lows: " The Desart, of which Ebn Batouta has given a description, was visited in the autumn of 1816, by a Frenchman, named Cailliaud ; he was sent thither by Mohammed Aly Pacha, to discover the Emerald Mine. His journey was facilitated by all the means which the Egyptian government could provide. He was successful in his pursuit, and returned to Cairo, in January, 1817." Fur- ther on, noticing the ancient route, discovered by our voyager, he remarks : ' I have little doubt that this was the great road from Coptos .to Berenice, and from thence, perhaps, to Aidah, The Arabs informed him that, by proceeding stiirfurther in that route, he would arrive at a large temple, with columns, si- tuated several days march from Asouan, in a direction to the east. M. Cailliaud intends, shortly, to make an excursion in quest of the Gold Mines. He proposes, also, to examine the Desart, between the Nile and the Red Sea, as far as to eight or ten days journey, to the south of Coseir. The Pacha is very anxious for the search of these mines, and will expedite all the requisite means for securing facilities and success to the undertaking." CaiUiaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 37 and necessaries of all kinds,- loading us with his benefits. I saw this frank and generous character afterwards at Cairo, in the train of Ismayl Pacha, who could well appreciate and employ his know- ledge and talents, and who expressed the greatest regard for him. He had been planning an expedition for me into Abyssinia, where he was desirous of retiring and fixing his residence ; but though strongly inclined to visit that country, and especially in his com- pany, I was reluctantly obliged to decline his proposal. This estimable personage was descended from the princes of Trebizond : report states that he is since deceased. The fatal season was approaching, wherein, almost yearly, the plague breaks out at Cairo. It did not fail to commence its ra- vages, and had even reached the quarter of the Franks, when, finding I must either become a recluse for three months, or de- part immediately, I chose the latter alternative. I then requested that either the preparations for my journey might be accelerated, or that I might be authorised again to visit Upper Egypt, waiting till the preparations were completed. Permission was granted, and on the 5th of February following I set out from Cairo. On my arrival at Thebes, I took my station in one of the temples, preferring it to any other habitation. With renewed satisfaction I greeted my fifth visit to these stupendous monuments, fully oc- cupied in useful studies and researches relative to different anti- quities. The results have formed the basis of a new collection, highly interesting, at present deposited in the King's Library. Six months passed away in this manner agreeable to myself, and with extreme rapidity ; after which I descended the Nile, on my return to Cairo *. May 3 I arrived at Syout, where I remained about three months under the hospitable roof of M. Marouchi, a Piedmon- tese, who resided there as physician to Mohammed Bey, Gover- nor of Upper Egypt. During the whole time I was with him, I # In the course of my navigation on the Nile, I had the misfortune to see my bark sunk, near Hous, the ancient Diospolis Parva. The mariners left the bark, in the middle of the night, when my Interpreter and I were in a pro- found sleep. I suddenly felt myself half immersed in water; I awoke, and by the time we had risen up, the bark sunk. Fortunately, it was secured to the land by a rope ; this proved the means of our getting safe to the shore. I was almost naked, covered only with a piece of sail that we had rent. Here we waited for day. With much trouble we dragged the boat on shore ; the cargo had been eight hours under water. We spent the day in getting our effects and articles dried ; one part was lost, among which, I much regret two beautiful specimens of papyrus. One consolation was left, that our preserva- tion was so timely, for in three minutes more, we must inevitably have been lost. While the bark was repairing, we discovered the hole through which the water had entered ; some plugs had fallen out, or probably been removed by the rats. Such misadventures are very common on the Nile, the barks being generally in a very bad condition. $8 CailliaucTs Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. received the most friendly offers of service, and his attentions were incessant. All the voyagers that have come within the sphere of his acquaintance are equally grateful, in bearing witness to his generosity. While at Syout, I had an opportunity of observing the arrival of a caravan from Darfour ; it consisted of 16,000 individuals. None had arrived there for seven years before ; they brought with them 6000 men, women, young girls, and children, intended for sale. They had been two months travelling in the desarts, in the most intense heat of the year ; meagre, exhausted, and the aspect of death on their countenances, the spectacle strongly excited com- passion. They were speedily visited by the curious from all parts of Egypt, to purchase ivory, feathers, tamarinds, slaves, &c. Two hundred young boys were intended for eunuchs. Moham- med Aly Pacha secured the ivory, fixing his own price. The Governor of Upper Egypt did the same with such articles as suited him, and the merchants returned to Darfour disappointed and dissatisfied. In the interim, M. Drovetti arrived at Syout, on a journey to Thebes, to superintend some subterranean researches that had been commenced by him, successfully, six months before. I learned from him, that the expedition for the emerald mines was in a train of organization, and that I should shortly be wanted. I then de- parted, leaving Dr. Maruchi with regret, with whom I had lived as in my paternal habitation. On the 9th of August I arrived at Cairo, where I found workmen collected to the number of sixty. The Viceroy gave me his master-miner, to second and assist my operations, and immediately we set out together for Upper Egypt. At Redesyeh, we took up 120 camels for the conveyance of men, provisions, tools, &c. and fifty additional Ababdeh to take care of the camels. CHAPTER III. Second Journey to Mount Zabarah Ancient Stations on the route from Cop- tos to Berenice M. Cailliaud loses his way in the Desart The Wells being dry, the Albanese mutiny, but after some delay, Water is found Commence- ment of the labours in the Mines .Other Emerald Mines in the South Ruins of Sekket, an ancient town of Miners Three Greek Temples. On the 3d of November, 1817, our caravan commenced its travelling career, and we soon found ourselves in the desart. As far as to the fourth day's march, we pursued the route I had Cailliau(Ts Travels in the Oasis of Thebes, 39 taken the first time. On the 7th, we proceeded across mountains, north of the road I had formerly travelled, and in a gorge covered with seyal. In this part of the desart we found senna, and a va- riety of aromatic herbs Towards night, I observed, north of our route, a square inclosure of sixty feet, the walls of which were twelve feet in thickness : it contained a well, now stopped up with sand ; round about were ruins and rubbish indicating vestiges of ancient habitations. It had evidently been a station on the an- cient route from Coptos to Berenice, placed one and a-half clay's journey from the one I found more to the south, in a former journey. The buildings were in such a condition that I could not properly distinguish the primitive construction. Some vege- tation, in the middle of the inclosure, in some lower ground, was sufficient to convince me that there had been an ancient well, and the Ababdeh have a tradition to that effect ; afterwards I learned fresh particulars confirming this. The road we were in was long and winding, but we hereby avoided the defile that we had passed the first time, through a passage very dangerous for the camels. On that occasion my guides had lost their way, and we were compelled to pass that dangerous mountain, in order to regain the road. On the following day, the 8th, we moved forward in a direction to the east ; our views were pretty extensive ; all round about we could discern the tops of distant mountains. We came up to two ridges, with a very narrow passage between them ; we passed it, and after a march of eleven hours, encamped at the foot of vast mountains composed of feld-spath rock. On the 9th we renewed our march at sun-rise ; about ten we came up to a spring. I stopped here with my master-miner and interpreter ; the troop or company went on, following the guides. After taking some refreshment, we mounted our dromedaries to rejoin the caravan, but were fairly bewildered and unable to dis- cover the track. Unfortunately, some wrong traces of camels led us into a bad road over those remote mountains, and we had to struggle through gorges almost impracticable. At length, after a long and painful march, we arrived, on the evening of November the 10th, at Mount Zabarah, which the caravan had already reached before us. But what was my grief and surprise when I found that the rains had not yet commenced that usually fall in these parts, at this season ; these rains nourish the springs in the desart. All the reservoirs were dried up, and the two wells in the neighbourhood were exhausted also. Our caravan, to the number of 120 men had arrived, without water, and there were besides 1 20 camels to be watered. Instantly the consternation became general, attended with complaints and murmurs against me and the master-miner : the 40 CailliaucTs Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. latter was insulted, pulled by the beard, and I was called a Dgiaour, or Infidel. A resolution was instantly adopted, of repairing to a well that I had observed, in a former journey, about two leagues from Zabarah. Notwithstanding our fatigue, we passed this dis- tance in less than an hour and a quarter, all eager to arrive first. Fresh hopes gave us strength, but these at last vanished. A party of Albanese arriving before us, took violent possession of the well ; another party, mostly Greeks, come into contact with the Albanese. A dispute arose, and a scramble who should first descend the well, which contained scarcely five bladders of water ; the Greeks and Albanese came to blows, several were thrown down headlong in the confusion and disorder, which became general. At length, exhausted with fatigue, they grew more tranquil : one party was for returning to the Nile, but the camels were unable to support them ; then all gave themselves up to despair, and pro- strate on the sands, a profound silence reigned. The master-miner and I mingled with them, and there stretched on the sands, we passed some bitter moments. I found it impos- sible to sleep ; recovering from my stupor, I conceived the pro- ject of setting out in the night, for the banks of the Red Sea. I accordingly departed with six camels, while the master-miner was busily employed in sounding some of the mine-pits. When arrived on the banks or shore, I fell to digging holes, conceiving that drinkable water, by filtration through the sands, might thus be procured. My expectations were not frustrated, and I soon found enough to load six camels, which I sent directly to the camp. This resource was highly beneficial, and so also proved the method resorted to by the chief miner. We sent back to the Nile most of the camels, and 40 Ababdeh The springs had begun to replenish ; the ration was raised to a bottle of water per man ; for six days preceding, the whole of our sustenance was a little biscuit dipped in water. As we could not prevail on our workmen to proceed in the la- bour of the mines, we employed them in digging two wells, at the rate of four hours only per day. But we could not get at water though we sunk great depths, and another body of our workmen was, in consequence, sent back to the Nile. At last, only forty remained to commence the labours. Some emeralds were found in veins of argillous micaceous schist, and in the strata of black mica ; also in some accidental cavities of several granites, the most transparent in the hyaline quartz. Thirty days elapsed in this manner, but with so few men we could acquire but a very imperfect knowledge of the different passages and works : they were so considerable as to have reached 800 feet under ground ; there still appeared excavations sufficiently spacious for 400 men to. be at work at once. Cailliaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 41 On the 22d, we mounted our dromedaries, the master-miner, my Interpreter, and myself, to make some researches in the vici- nity. We proceeded m a direction to the south, to about seven leagues from Mount Zabarah. In this track we came to some mountains with emerald quarries and mines far more considerable than those already mentioned. They contain, perhaps, a thou- sand excavations ; there appears to have been long stone cause- ways constructed under ground, to facilitate the communications. They were so contrived that the camels could convey provisions to the workmen, ascending to the very summit of the mountains - where the apertures commence. In fact, we every where discerned vestiges of very extensive labours, evidently the works of the An- cients. With so few men, we found it impossible to enter those galleries, which were almost innumerable. About half a league to the south of these new mines, I disco- vered the ruins of a little Greek town, now called bv the Abab- deh, Sekket Bendar El Kebyr. About 500 houses of rough hewn stone yet remain : three temples have been partly cut out in the rock, and partly constructed of stone. Great was my as- tonishment to find, in the desart, at so remote a distance, a town in such good repair. It was highly amusing to me to stroll from house to house, from chamber to chamber. In these deserted dwellings, various instruments, utensils, &c., were to be seen, with lamps of burnt earth, and fragments of vases of a beautiful form, both of earth and glass ; also stones, hollowed and fluted, that served for mills to grind their grain. With unbounded satisfac- tion I greeted and hailed a town, hitherto unknown to all our voyagers, which had not been inhabited, perhaps, for 2000 years, and almost entirely standing. The town of Sekket has been erected on the slope of two oppo- site mountains ; a wide road, which at times becomes the channel to a torrent, separates it in the middle. The ruins cover a space of about a quarter of a league in length ; the houses are well built, though of rough stone and talc, of the same nature as the mountain. Very few are found with one story ; the windows and doors are very small ; numbers of them stand detached, and are backed or embanked against the mountain. There is gene- rally one larger room for entrance, and four smaller ones, in which stone benches have often been placed ; in the interior is a small cellar, cut in the rock ; the pavement, or flooring, is of stone, roughly executed. The roofs of the buildings have been destroyed. The town was, doubtless, designed for the workmen in the emerald mines. A little north of this town are two temples, cut out in a mass of talc, of which the mountain chiefly consists. The largest has four VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, Vol. VII. G 42 Cailliaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. exterior columns, and two others on the frontispiece that decorates the entrance. To arrive at the interior, we first ascended a stair- case, and further on are three steps to penetrate into the sanc- tuary ; at the side are too little saloons, one of which contains an isolated altar in the middle. In the sanctuary is another larger altar. Outside of the temple, to the right and left, are two little sanctuaries, in front of the whole building. At the entrance are two columns ; the cornice over it is ornamented Avith a globe and two serpents. The subject is Egyptian, but the sculpture evi- dently Grecian. In this temple I found a Greek inscription traced in red characters on the wall. The other temple is smaller : it consists of a saloon, with niches, cut also in the mountain of talc ; the entrance is deco- rated with four columns, in good preservation, and surmounted with arcades. Over the gates, as also in the other temple, ap- pears a disc, with two serpents. The construction, as to the ex- ecution, is not elaborate, and the workmanship in general, com- pared with that of the ancient Egyptians, may be deemed rude. The nature of the mountain, however, must have proved an ob- stacle to the workmen in their labours : over the gates and the frontispiece are several other engraved Greek inscriptions. In the same mountain is a little sanctuary analogous to this latter temple. A third temple, situated towards the south, on the other side of the town, is larger ; it stands on the declivity of the mountain, and is also constructed of rough hewn stone. It is forty-five feet in length ; the sanctuary is cut out of the mountain. Notwithstanding the mode of construction that has been adopted, the cornices have been sculptured with much art and labour. We halted here two days : I employed the time in copying the inscriptions, the designs, and the plans of the temples. CHAPTER IV. An Excursion to the Sea. Other Ruins to the North of Zabarah, called Bendar El Soghair. Hunting the Antelope. Manners, Mode of Living, and Occupations, of the Ababdeh. HAVING carefully examined the ruins of Sekket, we set out, proceeding in a line with the mountains to the east, intending to reach the sea : this was a journey of eight hours. Here the coast forms an indifferent harbour : in the front was an island, with trees to be seen on it, and inhabited : some notice has been taken of it before. Our march was along the coast, for about ten hours, and to the north ; we then arrived at a well of brackish water, that Cailliaud' s Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 43 we dug on our first arrival at the desart. We stopped here to water our camels, and set out again for Zabarah ; after march- ing two hours, night overtook us, in a valley that lies in a descent towards the sea, and that abounded with seyal and a few yew- trees.* A few Ababdeh that we overtook fled at our approach, leaving a flock of sheep behind them ; it was with no small diffi- culty we could prevail on them to return, that we might purchase some sheep, and for which we paid them generously. They dread the very sight of any of the Pacha's men, and were even afraid to take our money. Next morning we renewed our march at day-break. We halted at the spring near Zabarah, and left a guard there, to insure the possession of it while we should continue in the desart. The passage across the Red Sea from this well is about five leagues ; thence to Zabarah is two, where our day's journey ended. On my arrival I visited the new vein of schist that had been cleared of the ruins. For this time I was fortunate ; one of those veins produced five pounds of emeralds, but most of them were of a pale green, clouded, and had some flaw ; the biggest were of three quarters of an inch, by an inch and a half in length. The crystal is an hexaiedre prism, truncated ; the gangue is an argillous micaceous schist. They are found in veins that are crossed by rocks composed of argillous schist, of mica, or quartz, interrupted by masses of granite. I likewise found large quantities of acnote in a gangue of white mother-of-pearl talc, with some black tour- malines ; also amphibole, grenate well crystallised in the granite, and some blocks of red porphyry. The Ancients seem to have bestowed little care in rendering the passages of their mines commodious ; for in Europe mines like these would be considered as impenetrable. We have to pene- trate through little paths, very narrow, in oblique lines, or rather to slide down on one's side, back, or belly ; and we descend in this way to a depth of near 500 feet, through a hundred ramifications, turning or twisting according to the direction of the vein, whether * I have consulted my colleague, M. Delisle, professor of botany, at Mont- pellier, and author of the botanic part in " La Description de I'Egypte." He admits that M. Cailliaud is the only voyager who has ever noticed this tree in Egypt, and like myself, he entertains doubts. In the Flora of Forskal, the ex- istence of the yew-tree in Egypt, or Arabia, is denied. It was never observed by the botanists, Lippi and Desfontaines, nor by other voyagers, Shaw, Brown, &c., that have visited the Oasis, and other parts of Africa, M. Delisle thinks it must have been the cypress, a tree well known in ^Cairo and its environs, as also in other parts of Egypt. This observation equally applies to the Oasis of Thebes, where M. Cailliaud reports he had also met with yew-trees. Note of the editor, M, Jomart. 44 CailliaufCs Trctvels in the Oasis ofTktbes, of schist, talc, or mica. Where the schist is found in greatest abundance, excavations have been contrived to contain 400 men ; and from thence proceed a hundred new paths, descending to vast depths, forming inextricable labyrinths. I could have no hopes, with thirty men, of labouring with effect in such immense cavities, as it would take 5000 workmen merely to clear away the rubbish. I found in these mines some Greek lamps, ropes, timber levers, panniers of palm tree leaves, and other articles made use of by the Ancients in the mines. According to tradition, Aly Bey commenced some works here about eighty years ago. I could easily distinguish four recent excavations, by the colour of the talc and! schist, not so dark as that which the Ancients worked in ; to which may be added, that in the valley of Zabarah are several remains of habitations, a portion of a mosque, Arabic inscriptions, and Mussulmans' tombs, all which appertain to this last mentioned period. November 30th. I mounted my dromedary, attended by a few Ababdeh, to make researches to the north of Zabarah, on a route frequented bv the Arabs, Bicharyeh, and Ababdeh, that from this part repair to Coseir : they take thither for sale their dromedaries and flocks of sheep. About five leagues from Za- barah, and six or eight from the sea, I discovered, in a valley, a circular place, encompassed with mountains; here are many ruined habitations, of rough hewn stone ; they are known to the Ababdeh by the name of Bendar El Soghair, signifying the Little Town. There are no temples among the rums, nor de- scriptions that can throw any light on the time wherein it was built and inhabited ; the houses show less of art in their con- struction than those of Sekket : in point of plan and distribution they appear much the same. I found there some of those cin- trated or arched stones, wherein formerly they bruised their grain. The season being too far advanced to expect the periodical rains, and our weUs no longer supplying us with the usual quan- tity of water, on account of the heats that we daily felt approach- ing, there was a necessity, therefore, of quitting the desart. Our camels were exhausted with fetching water, night and day, from a considerable distance ; in fact, they were ready to perish, from wounds inflicted by the blows of the drivers : every circumstance conspired to oblige us to return to Egypt. But our camels, reduced to twelve, could not convey us all to the Nile ; some must be hired of the Ababdeh, who, from fear, had fled to the mountains far enough out of our reach. We had very heavy loads in tents and baggage, and forty men to be con- veyed to the Nile. In this dilemma, we dispatched one of our Bul-Bachis, (or chief of eight men) with his company, to the banks of the Red Sea, to lie in ambuscade near the well, and detain Cailliaud's Travels in the Oasis of Thebes, 45 what camels he could find and conduct them to the camp, engag- ing to pay the owners for them, and, at all events, to secure the camels. The Chief set out, eager for the enterprise ; an earnest desire to re-visit the banks of the Nile, and to escape from the de- sart, where he had long been subject to privations and hardships, gave him a determination and strength to brave all difficulties. This expedition proved successful. On the fourth day he re- turned to the camp with six camels and their owners. The Arabs were, of course, dissatisfied, and all we could do was to promise ample payment, as we had no equivalent wherewith to satisfy them. They had not brought their arms, or, as they assured us, we should not have taken possession of the camels so easily. They were obliged to rest content with our promises, and we made them presents of tobacco, biscuits, &c. They departed, engaging at the end of two days to bring us the saddle-furniture of the camels that Ave had seized. On the following day we were employed in making preparations for our departure ; some of our people, however, made a hunting party in quest of the gazelles, or antelopes, that are found in the desart, though but seldom, as they are very difficult to catch : they brought in a couple. The Ababdeh think themselves fortunate when they can kill a crow : to them it is a delicious viand. The crow regularly follows the track of the caravans ; the flesh is ill-tasted, but I have repeatedly made good broth of it. I brought from the Nile to Zabarah an ample stock of provisions, eighty fowls, a barrel of wine, holding sixty bottles, and every thing else in proportion. Water was more and more difficult to come at, or I could have prolonged my stay in the desart, spend- ing my time as agreeably as in a large city. We were now waiting for the saddles of the camels, when one of our drivers, who was grazing those animals in a gorge of the mountains, about ten minutes' walk from our camp, was suddenly surprised by the Arabs, four in number, armed with knives and lances, and with loud outcrieSj reclaiming their camels. As this man was alone he made no attempt at resistance ; and the Abab- deh, mounting their camels, retreated in haste. The driver came running to the camp, convulsed with fear, and reported his ad- venture. The camp instantly rose, in mass, and all joined in the pursuit. The Arabs were soon descried, but being well mounted, we could not overtake them, as our camels were all in very bad condition. Enraged at this, our people began firing at them in- discreetly, as the reiterated reports of the guns might have brought on us a number of other Arabs. But there was no checking our Albanese, and the Arabs hid themselves in the mountains, having left their camels. Next day, the friends- of the four Ababdeh came to the camp, 46 CaiUiaud'a Travels in the Oasis of Thebeti. imploring pardon, and supposing that they should lose their money ; but in the sequel they were paid very generously, and the Ababdeh, on better acquaintance, became so reconciled as to live with us in perfect friendship. The Ababdeh maintain an entire independence ; from time im- memorial they have held possession of the desarts, which they consider as their property. When we compelled them to come with us to the Nile, taking away theu; camels, their wood, their provisions, were we not liable to reprisals? Was it to be ex- pected that the Ababdeh, who well knew our connection with the Pacha, would submit to our demands without resistance ? The main defence and safe-guard of these people is their poverty, their innocence, and the sterility of the soil which they inhabit ; these are the guarantees of that savage liberty which they enjoy. Can any one envy their lot ? A few shrubs here and there, (for sometimes we marched two days together and did not meet with one,) a few thorny herbs or plants, a little senna and colo- quintida constitute the sole riches of the soil ; still, however, the Ababdeh are not without apprehensions of being deprived of this their impoverished domain. They made earnest suit to me, re- peatedly, to conceal from the Viceroy of Egypt the wretched productions of their desarts. T was desirous to learn from them the reasons of their not living near the Nile, where they might lead a life more comfort- able than in the wilds of these desarts. One of their Cheykhs, who could readily distinguish me from the Albanese and other soldiers of the Pacha, one day made me this answer: " To any other European we would tell at length the attractions that al- lure us to a wandering life and to these desarts : but you are fully acquainted with them, and know how to value them as we do. We see you content amidst the toils of battering rocks from morn till night; but come and live with us under our tents, amidst these mountains that are the work of heaven ; of these flocks, wherein our wealth consists ; of these sands that secure our inde- pendence. Why will you not tarry with us ? By this time you nave forgotten your country, and may prefer ours. Dwell here with your friends the Ababdeh, and send back the Turkish sol- diers to their master. You are accustomed to the same fatigues as we are ; you sleep on the sand ; your labours in the moun- tains are more toilsome than ours ; we will select for you a young maiden that knows only the desart wherein she was born ; the gazelle cannot match her for innocence and mildness. The Desart of Zabarah belongs to us ; it may contain treasures that we are strangers to. As you are come here in quest of them, they are yours ; you shall give us directions, and we will all labour with and for you ; my sheep and my camels shall be yours.'' CailliaucTs Travels^ in the Oasis of Thebes. 47 I was sensibly touched at the kindness which accompanied the effusions of this venerable Cheykh : his generous offers were ac- companied with the most friendly expressions that his heart could dictate. I shared in his emotions, and, strange to tell, for a mo- ment was half persuaded. The Arabs Ababdeh may amount to five or 600 combatants, extending from the parallel of Coseir to that of Syene. The greatest harmony prevails among them. We frequently found their camels turned loose in the desarts, where they are left to themselves for several days. These animals sometimes stray, but their owners make no search for them, as after a few days they are sure to find them at the wells. Like other Arabs, the Ababdeh encamp in cabins formed of matted straw. They frequently remove to places where the rain has fallen ; there they feed their camels and sheep on the herbs they find, to sell them afterwards at Coseir, a port on the Red Sea. With the wood of the seyal they make charcoal, which they convey to the Nile, and sell or exchange it for the grain of dou- rah, the common food of their families and their camels. The Ababdeh are sober and very abstemious ; in all Africa, perhaps, there is no description of people that devour less flesh. His food consists of dourah-cakes, of dried beans and leatils, and raw onions, which he eats only in summer ; he looks meagre and withered, constantly exposed to a burning atmosphere. This people appear, however, to enjoy perfect health. They are strangers to the dysentery, sore eyes, the small-pox, the plague; maladies very common in all the other parts of Egypt. They likewise live to a great age. They never know their own age : when questioned, their answer is, "I was born some years before or after such a pacha, such a catastrophe,"" &c. I gained a high character among the Ababdeh, from having observed in an almanack the day and hour of an eclipse of the moon. Acting upon this, I announced the event to them as a prediction. This made them consider me as half a sorcerer, and their astonishment was extreme when the moon appeared covered with a dark veil, at the very time I had indicated. They were lost in wonder, and placing themselves round my tent, gave them- selves up to devotion and prayer, under my protection. Talismans have no small sway over the minds of this people ; they tie to the end of the arm little leather sacks, well-stitched, including a paper with some writing on it, by a Cheykh. Some- times they apply to the Jews to write some mysterious words in their language, but would rather obtain them from Christians. I have often been obliged to humour the importunate demands of these simple and superstitious men, and to give them pieces of writing, the first words that offered. In this way, they some- 48 CailliaucTs Travels in ike Oasis of Thebes. times carried on their heads little scraps of French journals, hold- ing them in great veneration as a preservative against disastrous events. They also tie pieces of these papers to the ears of their camels, and some they fix in the holes of the walls. As I plied them with purgatives and other medicines to co-operate with the mysterious papers, and as they also witnessed the marvellous effects of argentum fulminans, my science and sorcery won me high consideration, so that I was forced to lower myself in their opinion to get rid of their numerous visits. So far had they carried their credulity, that they brought me their barren women, in order to have children by the aid of my magic. More ample details of these tribes of Arabs have been given by M. du Bois- Aym6, of the Commission of the Sciences and Arts of Egypt. CHAPTER V. Mineralogical Observations M. Cailliaud leaves some Workmen in the Mines and returns to the Nile with ten pounds of Emeralds Stays some time at Thebes European Voyagers Lord Belmore, Count Forbin, &c. A new Tomb discovered by M. Bslzoni Arrival at AlexandriaThe Pacha gives orders for a Third Excursion to Mount Zabarah. BEFORE I resume the course of my Narrative, I shall enter into some mineralogical details relative to the adjoining mountains of the Thebais. On entering into the desart with which Egypt is surrounded, the mineralogist is struck with the aspect which the face of nature every where presents. As these iSpuntains are naked and bare, he can readily distinguish them one from another; it is quite otherwise in Europe, where the mountains in general, even such as are arid and unproductive, have ever some sprinkling of vegeta- tion on the surface so as to hide the substances of which they consist; and, where covered over with a vegetable soil, any research becomes still more difficult. It is quite the reverse in Egypt; there the rock is every where apparent, and the mineralo- gist can with great ease notice the various formation of its materials. In the vicinity of Zabarah we find bluish or greenish schists. that will not so easily admit of being divided as those commonly called slates. Not far from these schistous rocks are ledges of calcareous stones, of so beautiful a greenish-yellow, that in seeing little frag- ments of them rolling in the torrents, they might easily be mis- taken for native sulphur. The granites of Zabarah differ from those of Syene ; they con- sist of very small laminae of white feld-spath, with mica every Cailliaud"s Travels in the Oasis of Thebes. 49 where intermingled, and I observed some varieties of saccaroid feld-spath. Among other granites, I remarked some vitreous feld-spath, not rose-coloured as at Syene, but of a fine crimson, mixed with pieces of talc of a glittering white, blending into a golden-yellow ; these last furnish beautiful specimens to decorate the cabinet. Varieties of a greenish talc, or white mother-of-pearl, are here in abundance ; little crystals of staurotide may also be observed, but imperfect in point of form. The granites, which form the main body of these mountains, are filled with little grenats, which are not of a fine water, but have a very distinct crystallization. The amphiboles, the staurotides, and black tourmalines, that we found scattered in the talc, did not differ from the varieties of the same description recognised in Mount Gothard, and the Alps in general. Near Bendar El Soghair, are porphyritic rocks, of a green, bright or dark, with crystals of white or greenish feld-spath, and the agatised points called calcedonics. In the Desart of Ebsamboul, we met with various fragments of onyx and Oriental cornalines. Near the second cataract, I observed considerable quantities of petrified wood, but the species was not distinctly visible. The rocks, of which the cataract consists, are feld-spathic, with more or less of a greenish or blackish amphibole, and known to anti- quaries by the name of Ethiopian granites. I now return to my Journal or Narrative. On the llth of January, 1818, I departed with the master-miner, my Interpre- ter, and ten men, for the Nile, with a part of our baggage. We left the rest of our workmen in the desart, employed in following up the vein which I had marked out. We re-passed by nearly the same roads, which the rain-waters had so levelled and polished in the vallies, that no human art could have made them smoother. Arriving at the Nile on the 17th, we sent the camels to Zabarah, as our people there would have occasion for them. As some dif- ferences had arisen amongst our workmen, it became necessary to divide them, and taking with us one part of the Albanese, we proceeded to Esne on the 20th ; there leaving under the controul of Ahmed Bey, the Governor, two Bul-bachies and their compa- nies, whose behaviour had been a subject of great complaint. They were not long waiting for their punishment: the rest of our camp remained at Redesyeh. Our workmen, who had been left behind, having rejoined us, their Bul-bachi brought us four pounds of emeralds, produced from the same excavation as I had discovered some time before. VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 39, Vol. VII. H SO Cailliaud's Travel* in //se Oasis of Thebes. These emeralds were like the former, ofa~pale green sometimes, but rarely of a dark green, clouded and defied, or flawed. They are well known as articles of commerce at Cairo and Con- stantinople, both in large pieces cut smooth, or in pieces pierced for ear-buckles. The harness of the* horses of the Grand Seignior is covered with emeralds of this description, and they ail came originally from the mines in Egypt. I left orders with the master-miner to make a thorough search every where for any emeralds that the workmen might have concealed ; and he found, in fact, half a pound, which they had sewed up in their apparel ; they had even filled some pistol- barrels, and lined their cartouches with them. We were anxious to descend instantly to Cairo, but no commo- dious bark was to be had. While the captain of the port was seeking to procure one, I repaired once more to Thebes by land, and arrived therein the 29th of the month. I took up my habi- tation again in one of those hypogees of Quournah, that might be deemed a very suitable and convenient station for a curious voya- fer; as without quitting his habitation, and under shelter from a urning sun, he has within his view walls covered with paintings, in the highest style of preservation; the subjects being equally di- versified and instructive for history, manners, and the arts. The choice antiquity of these paintings adds a charm and zest to their effect : thirty centuries which have passed away have detracted but little from their primitive lustre. Such is the decoration of the apartments, that a voyager may select his abcde without hesitation or hindrance, during his residence at Thebes. I found at Thebes a company of Europeans employed in subterranean researches at Quournah, in the ruins of Medynet Abou, and at the Memnonium. The whole space occupied by the ruins of Karnack was covered with lines of demarcation, separat- ing the quarters of the French, English, Irish, Italians, &c. Some European ladies were traversing the ruins and making their way into the catacombs. Like other voyagers, all eager to col- lect or purchase antiquities, alike insensible to the fatigues or the heats, at all hours of the day and night they might be found exploring the plain or the tombs. Sometimes disputes arose between different parties and their agents so as to threaten an open rup- ture, but matters were fortunately compromised. It seemed to me that the Arabs sought to foment these quarrels, which they could turn to some advantage. There is not a sufficient number of men ; the women are also employed in the catacombs ; we found them constantly ransacking the tombs, greater or less, and their children, at the age of nine, very busy carrying loads of earth to the surface. 'I his speculative mania is carried so far, that if the ti ' - ft C'ailliaucTs Travels in the Catsis tArMeiNY/lOTG-TAXAIN6L TOKIATOPOCMCXeil 2 ' THCIIOA6 ..... II060HM- ' -LOTAOMAIOIN 69 N onYoeeiNAiCA(becil salt, and the poorest one-thirtieth : the whole amounts to about thirty thousand pounds weight of salt per day. No ttempt bat hitherto been made to arrive at the mine of salt by 8 Simond's Travels in Switzerland., which the springs are impregnated. The first discovery of fos- sile-salt in France was made in May, 1819, in the department of the Meurthe, in Lorraine. The borer passed through six different beds of sal-gem, increasing in purity as they lay deeper in the ground, from 70 to 110 yards below the surface of the ground. The thickest bed was about 15 yards, and the thinnest three and a half. Our hostess, in Salins, made no secret of her complaints against the allies in their invasion of France. Two Austrian officers, whom she had lodged for a fortnight, had, as she said, when going away, slashed with their swords the silk curtains of their beds : some silver spoons and forks were also mislaid, and no where to be found. All the indemnification she- could receive, on her application to the" general commanding, was, that, for a fewweeks, she was exempted from having any one chartered on her. Her brother, who had served for several years in the army, seemed to be less concerned at this loss than cha- grined at his inability to indemnify himself, in a similar way, in the country of the enemy ; and to find himself acting as an inn- keeper in Salins, instead of wearing a couple of epaulets, as he had expected, had the war lasted but a little longer. From Salins the road is on an ascent almost continually on to Jougne, where we slept, nearly on the summit of the Jura range. We traversed a noble forest of pines, abounding in deer, wild-boar, and various other kinds of game : considerable patches of snow still lay under the trees. Numerous herds and nocks had already taken possession of the ppstures, and the shepherds of their chalets, as they are called in Switzerland, or shealings^ as they are named in the mountains of Scotland, both terms pro- bably remaining from the days of the ancient Kelts. Prepara- tions were making to commence the manufacture of cheese, in imitation of tljat of Gruyere, so much used in Paris. Long poles, erected from distance to distance, serve to guide the traveller over the mountains in winter, when the ground is covered with snow. Fourteen hundred years ago, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, the same expedient was employed to direct the stranger over the Cottian Alps, now the Mount Genevre, on the road from Brianson to Susa and Turin. Our postilion pointed out the spot where, 25 years before, a French gentleman had pe- rished by the cold. Fleeing from his country, during the horri- ble reign of terror, with his two daughters, in the night, in the end of December, he .alighted from the carriage to excite warmth by walking, when he was enveloped in a tourmente, or whirlwind of snow. He was rescued from his situation, but expired before he reached Jougne, where he was buried, and his un- fortunate daughters turned back to Rheims, where they re- sided, Before we arrived at Jougne we saw, seated on a lofty In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 9 rocky pinnacle, the castle of Joux, where the ill-fated Tousaaint- Louverture, carried off from St. Domingo, found his death. That his death was green to him it is not necessary to suppose ; the climate ot Jura was quite sufficient to overthrow a tropical constitution. Jougne is the frontier village of France ; but the buildings, the inn in particular, a large wooden structure, announce the ap- proach of Switzerland. It was an enormous mass, at least 80 feet in length and breadth, the side- walls low, but the roof carried to a great height, and the shingles with which it is covered loaded with stones, to prevent their being carried away by the wind. The cows and their winter food occupy the middle of- the building : {he apartments for the, family and the workshops, for all sorts of trades are carried on in the house in winter, the store- rooms for cheese and other articles, are all under the same roof. Under the eves, which extend a great way beyond the walls, is a gallery, running nearly round the building, to which an outer stair leads up. This conducts to the first-floor, as we should say, but here it may be considered as the ground-floor ; for, in winter, the lower apartments are completely buried in snow. These structures, being wholly of timber, a single spark might destroy them : but a system of mutual insurance has been esta- blished, which costs only about one quarter per thousand. Every housekeeper is thus interested in preventing accidents from fire ; they are consequently very rare, and the management of the business is gratuitously carried on. Soon after we passed the frontier and entered the Swiss terri- tory, the view, hitherto confined to the surrounding snows, pas- tures, and rocks, discovered far below us a new world. The waving surface of the ground shaded by woods, watered by streams, crossed in various directions by roads, offered towns and villages, with their towers of the middle ages, and metal- covered spires, glistening in the sun. The spacious mirror of the lake ofNeuchatel, far under our feet on the left, contrasted by its tranquillity with the fleeting prospect of the land, as the clouds admitted or intercepted the light of the sun. Beyond the valley appeared a range of low hills, overtopped, but at a great dis- tance, by the snowy ridges of the Alps on the borders of Italy, frorti the mighty Mont Blanc ' in Savoy, to the country of the Grisons, and into Germany. As we descended the eastern slopes of Mount Jur*a, what we conceived to be a plain appeared to be beautifully varied by gentle inequalities. The division of pro- perty was pointed out by inclosures ; the dwellings of the inha- bitants were distributed over the fields, and not generally clus- tered, into villages, as is too common in France. Plentiful springs of limpid water burst out on every side to maintain the verdure VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. B 10 Simontfs Travels in Stvilzerland, of the pastures and meadows; while noble walnut-trees, oaks, and ashes, shade the corn-fields, encompassed with quick-hedges. The houses, built of stone, spacious, low, and overgrown with moss, would furnish, capital studies for the landscape-painter. The approach to Iverdun, the first town on our route into Swit- zerland, might be more picturesque, were it not for the form- ality of plantations of ill-grown Lombardy poplars. Yet the magnificent trees, which flourish between the town and the lake, might have instructed the inhabitants in the kinds which best suited their soil. Gies, 9th June. The Jura appears at a distance as a long even line of mountains, without any sensible variety of elevation ; nor does it promise any of those particular beauties concealed within its limits. The friends, under whose hospitable roof we reposed from, the fatigues of our journey from Paris, suffered no occasion to escape unprofitably in which they could conduct us to the most interesting sites and objects which their environs af- forded. Our first expedition was to visit Motiers in the Val de Travers, a place celebrated for the residence of Rousseau, The first stage was a village in the mountain, elevated about 300 fathoms above the lake of Neuchatel, where the snow was not yet quite melted. There it was our intention to halt for the night, and therefore entered a little inn, where the landlord was busy drinking with some country-folks. Having ladies in our company, we wished to have an apartment to ourselves. " Is not this chamber good enough for you ?" asked the host. " Yes, certainly; but we would have a room to ourselves." " In that case you may continue your journey." Night was coming on, but it was fine and clear ; we therefore pushed forward to St. Croix, a better village, where we arrived at 1 1 o'clock, and found very comfortable accommodation. Next morning, travelling through a beautiful mountainous tract, we arrived in the little village of Motiers, containing the house inhabited by that sin- gular genius, the desk fixed against the wall, at which he was accustomed to write standing, and the two holes with slides in the gallery of the first-floor, through which he could observe the passengers without being seen. An order to arrest him hav- ing been issued by the parliament of Paris, and being expelled from Iverdun by the government of Bern, he obtained from Earl Marischal, governor of the town and country of Neuchatel for the king of Prussia, Frederick II., permission to reside in Motiers. There he wrote his famous " Letters from the Mountain," which threw Geneva into a flame, and drew on himself some insults from the people of the Val de Travers, in consequence of which be withdrew to the isle of St. Pierre, in the lake of Bienne. The tradition of the country-people, however, is, that the children In the Years 1817, 1818. and 1819. 11 of the village were instigated to attack the philosopher by his own governance, who was tired of her solitary life in Motier, and wished to remove to some more agreeable situation. The inhabitants of the valley, husbandmen and shepherds in summer, are, in winter, employed in watchmaking, and the women in making lace. On the north of Motier is a lofty moun- tain, in which is a remarkable object, called the Hollow of the Van, being a semicircular or funnel-shaped recess, in the face of the mountain, nearly two miles round at the summit, by one- third of a mile in depth, down to the level of the valley below. An adventurous botanist, in search of plants, last summer, lost his footing, and, falling from the top to the bottom, was killed on the spot. On our return we noticed, on the southern flank of Jura, at an elevation of about 300 fathoms, several large blocks of granite, two of which were 20 long steps in circumference. !N ow, the mountain is wholly calcareous ; and yet these blocks are, in every respect, of the same nature with the granites which compose the summits of the higher Alps, on the opposite side of Switzerland, beyond the great lake ot Geneva. One of the most interesting points of the Jura-chain is the summit called, by a name common in Switzerland, La Dent (the tooth) de Vaulion,xand the source of the river Orbe, on the south-west of Iverdun. Setting out one fine morning, in five hours we arrived at the village of Ballaigue ; after examining the Fairy's Grotto, a natural hollow, about 40 feet square, in the side of a mountain. Looking down into this aperture, you dis- cover, several hundred feet below you, the Orbe rushing forward with great force from the bowels of the mountain, and pursuing its course amidst an impenetrable wilderness of rocks and preci- pieces shaded by trees. From Ballaigue, in two hours, we reached the foot of Vaulion, and in two more, after no small fa- tigue, the most alert of our company attained the summit of the Dent, elevated 610 fathoms, English, above the surface of the lake of Geneva, which is 207 fathoms above the sea. The whole ascent over a range of fine pastures, but occasionally dangerous, from the slipperiness of the grass in dry weather. The level summit is only about 50 fathoms in breadth : and, creeping on our hands and knees to look over the precipice, as out of a win- dow of the hundred and fiftieth story, (for the height exceeds a thousand feet almost perpendicular) we beheld a scene of which no description can convey any idea. Descending on the oppo- site side westward, we put up for the night in a village, on the lake of Joux. The poor people we found in no small consterna- tion ; for the lake had gradually augmented for some time past, and was now ten feet above its ancient level. The lake has no other discharge than certain apertures in the rock at it northern BS 12 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, extremity, through which the water is absorbed, and again ap- pears at -a considerable depth below, on the side of the mountain. Following the tine valley watered by the Oibe east ward, we came to the town of the same name, a place of great anti- quity : for it occupies the place of Urba, the capital of one of the four pagi or cantons into which the ancient Helvetia was divided in the days of Julius Ceasar. Mosaic pavements and other monuments of the dominion and the taste of the Romans have frequently been discovered in the town. At no great dis- tance westward we went to see a fine fall of water on the side of the Jura, and afterwards climbed up a steep path to the height of about 150 fathoms. The path in some places w r as composed of stakes driven horizontally into the fac-e of the mountain, and resting by the other end on the trees which had sprung out of the clefts of the rock. No other possible access was to be found to the human habitation we went to see. If this was the case in summer what must it have been in winter ? At the top of this rude ladder we arrived on a pretty little plain of ten or twelve acres,, beautifully verdant, with some trees of noble growth interspersed, and watered by a brook of singular purity ; the whole defended on every side by the precipices of the mountain. Some goats, the only animals of pasture which could attain the spot, were scattered among the rocks, wherever a blade of herb- age could be found. At la^t, under some shady trees we descried the dwelling of the owner of the place. His family and their predecessors living on the milk of their goats, are reported to have inhabited this singular situation time out of mind. And indeed they had nothing to fear from the barbarians who at various epochs have desolated Helvetia. By a single blow of the foot to the ladder, they might have defied every foe, from the Huns of Attila down to the French revolutionary army of the director Rewbel. Iverdun has succeeded to the name and nearly to the position of the Roman Ebredunum, of which vestiges may still be seen on the east side of the present town. It was probably constructed close to the south-west end of the lake or Neuchatel ; but the waters by the influx of materials from the rivers and land have now retired a considerable way. The principal curiosity of Iverdun in the present day is the school of the celebrated Mr. Pestalozzi. A native of the German part of Switzerland, of primitive simplicity of manners, and a romantic imagination, he would have died as he had lived, unknown to the world, had it not been for the horrible atrocities committed by the revolu- tionary armies of France in 1798, on the unoffending inhabitants of the little cantons in the mountains of Switzerland, in parti- cular on those of Unterwalden. He collected iu Stantz, tUe In the Yean 1817, 1818, and 1819. 13 principal village of the district, to the number of fourscore des- titute children, the orphans of the sufferers in the shocking massacres of the 9th of September of that memorable year. He became a lather to them ; he served them with his own hands, and on them he made the first experiment of his system of edu- cation. Being soon deprived of the building he occupied, which was converted into a military hospital, he wandered about for some time with his troop of orphans, until the government of Bern took him under their protection. They placed at his dis- posal the ancient castle of Burgdorf near the capital ; afterwards that of Buchsee ; at last he fixed himself in the castle of Iverduu, where, in 1804, he began his present institution. Many writers have given an account of the Pestalozzian method of instruc- tion ; but all agree in stating it to be founded on a proper domestic system of education. The first principle that he would inculcate on his pupils, or rather, the first sentiment he would inspire into them is, to feel for their instructors some degree of that confidence and affection which they feel for their parents. Considering emulation as the source of dangerous passions, Mr. Pestalozzi does not attempt to excite it. His practice was to exercise the understanding of his pupils by conversation, in which suitable questions on the part of the preceptor or of the scholar might teach the latter to form for himself the elements of science. By this method the learner was to be brought to en- counter difficulties, and to surmount them, in some measure, by his own exertions ; before he be instructed in any mode of solv- ing them in a manner merely mechanical, without exercisino- his understanding. His object was to teach his pupils the use of that faculty or instrument which, in future life, they were to employ, rather than to make them apply it in working : to ren- der them skilful in learning, rather than to instruct them in what they were to know. The school of Mr. Pestalozzi, wholly pre- paratory, was intended for pupils under twelve years of a-e, who were to finish their education elsewhere. When, therefore, we. consider how little, by the common modes of instruction, children usually learn before that age, it must be evident that by the Pestalozzian method they cannot but be gainers. The surface of the lake of Neuchatel is elevated 210 feet above that of the lake of Geneva ; and the hill between them rises only about 50 feet above the former. A, canal of commu- nication was begun long ago ; but the number of locks on the south side demanded an expense much greater than the utility of the project see;ned to warrant. Vestiges of a Roman paved road have been discovered in the line of the intended canal. The constitution of the towns or communities of the Pays de Vaud, that is, of the French part of the canton of Bern, now 14 Sitnond^t Travels in Switzerland, erected into a separate independent canton, is \vell worthy of attention; especially as it is much the same with that of all the other communities throughout Switzerland. Each possesses property which is managed by the municipal officers, from the produce of which the burgesses who fall into indigence draw relief. When this income is not sufficient for the various calls on it, the council of the community authorise the municipal offi- cers to impose a tax on the proprietors within their limits in aid of the proper funds ; and this tax is often very considerable. I knew, tor instance, the owner of what is called a mountain ; that i*, of a certain extent of mountain-pasture, which brought in a clear rent of forty pounds sterling, taxed for the poor six pounds or near 15 per cent., but this was an extraordinary case. The burgesship or freedom of the communities may be purchased at a certain rate, established by the council ; and the new burgess is immediately on a level with all the other members of the com- munity. Landed property is said to be dear in Switzerland ; for the productive soil is comparatively of small extent. Yet I was shewn an estate of about a hundred English acres of arable and meadow land, copse-land, a large dwelling-house with farming buildings, not indeed in the best condition, in a pleasant situa- tion, abundance of good water, &c., which was sold for about J01700. It is true, however, that large lots of property are to be had at a lower rate than smaller portions ; because every pea- sant will, if possible, become a proprietor of a little land, how- ever small the portion may be. Having satisfied our curiosity in and around Iverdun, we left that place on the 17th of June, and proceeded along the north- west shore of the lake which washes the base of Mount Jura. The cultivation of the lower range of the mountain contrasts strongly with the dark forests of fir which cover the higher parts, in various places, still intermingled with snow, which had not yet disappeared, a circumstance rather uncommon. The villages which follow one another in quick succession are embo- somed in groves of walnuts, above which springs the church spire, covered with tinned iron plates. The people were all busy in their country labours, all well clothed, and the women with immense straw hats. Near Neuchatel we stopped a moment at the bridge of Serrieres, thrown over a fine stream, of which the source is seen on one side of the bridge, and its embouchure in the lake on the other : its whole course not exceeding 300 yards. Breaking out full and strong from the roots of the Jura, the stream is applied to various manufactures, which, unpic- turesque as they are, do not destroy the natural beauties of the place. The water, rocks, trees, are all commanded by an ancient castle, battlemented and flanked by towers, on the summit of an In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 15 eminence, now the residence of the master of the manufactories of calicoes and printed linens : so that, in some measure, the castle still retains the absolute master of all its vassals. Neuchatel is a.sinall town of good appearance, ornamented with a public walk on the 'borders of the lake, and a number of hand- some public buildings. These improvements are principally due to the patriotic munilicence of two private burgesses of the town. The one Mr. Pury, a merchant, expended in his life-time above 40)000 i n adorning the place of his nativity, and in enriching it with useful establishments : at his death he bequeathed a much greater sum for similar purposes. The other, also a man in trade, Mr. Pourtales, built and endowed, some years ago, an elegant hospital, in which he is interred. In 1814, when the allies passed through Neuchatel, the medical gentlemen and the ladies who devote themselves to the care of the sick, discharged their duties punctually to the diseased strangers of the armies, who had taken possession of the hospital; and several among them fell under nervous fevers caught from the troops. Neuchatel, or properly, Neufchatel, has its name from a castle which was new thirteen or fourteen hundred years ago, having been constructed in the fifth century, as a place of security against the barbarians who then overspread the country. In the course of time it became the residence of the princes of Neuchatel, or of their representatives. Of these the last, the king of Prussia, yielded it to Bonaparte in 1806, who bestowed it on Marshal Berthier. The fate of arms, or reasons of policy, have again restored this interesting little country to the Prussian monarch, although, by a strange political anomaly, Neuchatel is now, in fact, a member of the Helvetian republic or confedera- tion. On asking our landlord in the inn what he thought of Berthier, "Why, sir, he was a very good prince," was his answer. "And the king of Prussia?" "Oh, his majesty has sent us a good governor in every respect." So that in Neuchatel things are every day improving. The antique castle, seated on an eminence, possesses a terrace shaded by noble limes, one of which I measured to be nineteen feet in circuit at my height, and nearly the double on the surface of the ground. The nu- merous fountains in constant play, for the service of the inhabi- tants and for sweetening the streets, are also monuments of the history of former times ; for each bears the figure of some warrior or other personage of celebrity in the country. Bienne, I8lh June. Three hours after we left Neuchatel we arrived at Cerlier, or Erlach, on the southern shore of the lake of Bienne, where we embarked, and in an hour-and-a-half were safely landed on the isle of St. Peter, the Juan Fernandez of the modern Alexander Selkirk. The sun was now at his greatest 16 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, elevation of our hemisphere, and the shadows were reduced to their minimum. The mountains which bound the lake of Bienne, particularly on the west side, offer nothing picturesque, nothing romantic. They are too regular and uniform, too much cultivated and inhabited to be poetical. When, therefore, Rous- seau, stretched out in his boat, and carried along as the winds or the current acted on it, delivered himself up for hours together to meditation and ecstacy, he was much more indebted for his raptures to his own imagination than to the objects or the scenery around him. The residence of the philosopher of Geneva in St. Peter's isle, is a farm-house on the water-side, which serves as an inn, and is kept in excellent order. We Were courteously welcomed by the hostess, a liandsome German-Swiss dame, who conducted us to the apartment occupied by Rousseau, still in the state in which he left it fifty years, ago. The walls are scrawled over with scraps of poetry, original or borrowed, relative to the former inhabitant ; the book destined to record these effusions having long been rilled up. By reckoning up the number and the nation of the different visitors whose pames were registered, in a few of its pages we found the proportion to be the following. Fifty-three Swiss and Germans, four Rus- sians, two Hollanders, one Italian, five French, three Anglo- Americans, and twenty-eight English. The building incloses a court, with an open portico on the ground-floor on three sides. Two are appropriated to the barns, stables, &c., belonging to the farm ; the third is set apart for the farmer and his family ; the fourth for the reception of visiting-strangers. The court is overshadowed by a prodigious walnut-tree; and the nicest cleanliness and order pervades every part of the building. Walk- ing up to the -highest part of the island we were not a little sur- prised to find an English garden, of which, few such England itself can furnish. It is a natural forest, of many centuries growth, as may be perceived from the size, freedom, and variety of the trees. Several oaks measured upwards of 20 feet round. Avenues have been opened amid the shade in former times ; for the trees now close over head at a great height. The isle belongs to the public hospital of Bern; and the administrators take great. care to preserve the spot in all its natural beauty. It is only in the German country that you properly see Swit- zerland ; for in the French part of the country, language, man- ners, dress, &c. greatly resemble the same particularity in France itself. In Bienne every thing had an appearance different from what we had before seen. The people seemed strangers to us, and -vye, no doubt, seemed equally strangers to them. Great gates, flanked with towers, admitted us into the streets, composed of houses builf on massy arcades. The luxury of public foun- In the Years 1S17, 1818, and 1819. 17 tains was here carried much farther than in Neuchatel; and such is the abundance, the limpidity, the coolness of the water dis- charged from them, that one might drink from the streams in the street. Both the exterior and the interior of the houses are an- tique, and the furniture worked and kept with great care is rarely renewed. It is proper for the stranger to know, that many qf the towns in the western parts of Switzerland, are known by two names, the one French, the other German. For instance, Bienne is in German called Biel; Neuchatel, Neuburg; Bale, Basel; Geneva, Genff; Avenche, Wiflisburg ; Morat, Murten, &c. At Bienne, therefore, we fairly entered the German country, and heard nothing but the German language, although in the inns and among men of education and bxisiness the French is also spoken. From Bienne we took the direct road to Basil, up the vale of St. Imier, and down the very romantic, but unfortunately little visited valley of the Birse, which falls into the Rhine above Basil. After a long ascent, commanding fine prospects into the interior of the Jura, we came to Pierre-Pertuise, (the stone or rock pierced through,) a mass of rock quite on the summit of the hill, which separates the waters flowing south to the lake of Bienne from those which take a much more direct course north- ward to the Rhine. Whether the aperture be wholly natural or partly artificial is not now to be ascertained ; but that the Ro- mans enlarged and improved the passage through it is not to be doubted. For on the north face of the rock, over the aperture, in an oblong compartment, sunk in the stone, is the following inscription in Roman characters, now much effaced: NVMINI AVG VM VIA..CTA PERT DVI . . IVM PATER IIVP . . COLHELV Many conjectures have been published concerning this in- scription; but the substance of it seems to be Numini Augus- torum . . viafacta per Titum Dunnum Paternum duumvirum colonies Helvetiorum. The aperture is very irregular in its form, full 30 feet in its least breadth and 50 in its greatest. The height about 20 feet. The thickness of the rock on one side of the opening 25 feet, and on the other 29. The new road, com- pleted by the prince-bishop of Basil, in 1752, is elevated about eight feet above the ancient Roman pavement under the arch. VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. Vll, C 18 Simond'it Travels in Switzerland., When you issue from the north side of the aperture, a very extraordinary prospect instantly opens to the eye. A prodigious cleft or crevice separates the Jura longitudinally, having in the bottom little more space than is requisite to hold the stream of the Birse, which breaks out of the ground a little below the arch, in such abundance as to turn two mills within a few paces of its sources. Down the brink of the river the road runs on to Basil, through a valley of varying breadth, but in general nar- row, and presenting very curious scenery of rock, mountain, and wood. At the insertion of the collateral vallies are found several good villages. At Moutiers-Grand Val, in German Munster- thai, a celebrated monastery succeeded to the hermitage of Ger- manus, excavated among the precipices in the seventh century, who introduced cultivation into the country. The rocks of Moutiers belong to the very foundations of the Jura; yet they contain a tooth and bone of the elephant, or some other animal of that kind. Basil, 20th June. Basil envelopes the elbow of the Rhine, where, having run west along the northern frontier of Switzer- land, it turns northward to separate France from Germany. The town is ancient, being mentioned under the name Basilia, by Ammianus Marcellinus, in reference to the construction of a fortress in the near neighbourhood by the Emperor Valentinian I. in A. D. 374. The situation on the high bank of the Rhine, precisely at the southern extremity of the plains of Alsace, and at the gate of the mountains of Switzerland, has always rendered Basil a place of great importance, as well as of grandeui', with, respect to the extended and varied prospects it commands. The Rhine, though still a powerful and impetuous stream, having passed below its numerous cataracts, there becomes navigable for barks and barges. The inhabitants are active and indus- trious, yet they gradually dimmish hi number, nor does their commerce give occasion to much movement in the town, nor intercourse by the river. Basil possessed very early a celebrated university, and the art of printing w r as there carried to great per- fection and extent, at an epoch when, in most other places, it was but in its infancy. Many men of great eminence in letters and science were either natives or voluntary inhabitants of Basil. It early embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and became an asylum for many who, although differing in their mode and measure of their alterations in the general system of religious belief and practice, all agreed in thinking that modifications were then become indispensably necessary. The cathedral, on , the most elevated ground over the Rhine, and indicating the site of the. original Basilia, is a plain Gothic structure, which, as a protestant place of worship, contains little Jo gratify curiosity. In the. Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 19 That the edifice should still exist in its integrity is, however, not a little extraordinary, considering the frequent violent earth- quakes by which the town and the environs have been visited. In 1356 scarcely a hundred houses in Basil escaped destruction. The hail, in which was assembled the famous council for eccle- siastic affairs from 145M to 1448, appears very inadequate to its destination. Numerous as were originally the members of the council, on one occasion they were reduced to a single person, the cardinal-archbishop of Aries, by the pestilence, or by flight to escape from it, which, at different times, laid Europe waste in the fifteenth century. The celebrated writer, ^Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius II., was clerk of the K?remo- riies during the seventeen years of the duration of that council, of which he wrote the history. In the public library is a copy of the "Elogium of Folly," a famous satirical production of Eras- mus, ornamented on the margin with pen-drawings by Holbein, who was a citizen of Basil. With respect to the much-talked-of Dance of Death, painted on the wall of the cemetery of the Dominican convent, that it was the work of Holbein has been doubted on very good grounds. At any rate, having been re- painted four different times, it is not to be supposed that any part of the original could remain in a situation exposed to the weather. The wall itself was thrown down in 1800. On the flat ground on the east bank of the Rhine is a compa- ratively modern town called Little Basil, connected with the old city by a bridge nearly 300 feet in length, of stone at each end but of timber in the middle, to present less opposition to the force of the current. A mile below BasiL on the west bank of the Rhine, a regular fortress was erected by Lewis XIV. within the French territory, evidently intended to overawe Basil, and of course Switzerland in general. This work had long given uneasiness to the Swiss, and at last, by the pacification of 1815, its demolition was stipu- lated and carried into effect. The place is now a heap of ruins ; the few houses of the town within the works, which escaped complete destruction, are occupied by a few miserable cripples from the army, and a much greater number of widows and mo- thers deprived of their supporters carried off in battle. In going from Basil for S chaff hausen the road runs up the south bank of the Rhine, for above two leagues to Augst, a vil- lage pointing out the name and the remains of Augusta Raura- corum, a Roman colony of early date. It was founded under Augustus by Munatius Plancus, the colonizer also of Lyons in France, before the commencement of the Christian era. Having Buffered severely by the incursions of the tribes beyond the Rhine, in the fourth century, it ceased to be mentioned in his-? 20 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, tory. The town was probably overthrown by the earthquakes, to which that district is frequently exposed; for many ruins of buildings are found now covered by the Rhine. In the library of Basil is preserved a plan of the remains as they existed in 1589, by which one may judge of its former magnificence. The theatre, the aqueduct, the walls, are now nearly effaced ; but many other edifices buried in the ruins have been since disco- vered. That library preserves also no fewer than 12000 coins, found in Augst. Waldshut, 2lst June. Here we are in Germany, eleven leagues above Basil, performed, not by post, but with horses hired for the whole tour of Switzerland, and conducted by the same postilion, who is also to serve as our guide and interpreter through the districts where the German language is spoken. We employed thirteen hours in traversing the eleven leagues ; but we halted for three hours on the road to refresh our cattle, so that, in fact, we proceeded at more than a league in the hour, which is the ordinary pace in Switzerland. At Lauffenburgh, where we passed over to the German side, the Rhine is nearly 400 feet in breadth, much more than at Basil ; but at this last town it is extremely deep, because the current sets with great force against the high bank on which the town is built. The bridge of Lauffenburgh is venerable for its antiquity, but it is so lofty and so much decayed that we thought it advisable to walk along it, and let the carriage pass empty. It is founded on rocky shoals, over which the river rushes with violence ; and boats go down only when lightened, by means of ropes to prevent their being carried down too rapidly. Here it was, as we were told, that two young Englishmen of rank, Lord Montague and Mr. Bur- dett, the brother of the celebrated patriot Sir Francis Burdett, were drowned in conducting a boat themselves without proper precaution. By a singular combination of misfortune, Lord M.'s ancient seat of Cow dray- castle, in Sussex, with its curious antique historical tapestry, became the prey of the flames on that same day in which the master perished in the Rhine, and a peerage of very remote creation, from the want of male lineal neirs, became extinct. The same language being spoken at both ends of the bridge of Lauffenburgh, it w T as only from the multi- tude of beggars, and the hard features of the women, exposed to the severest labours in the fields, that we could discover that we were in Germany, in a territory belonging to the grand-duke of Baden, and not in Switzerland. The banks of the Rhine in this quarter are mfich frequented by storks : their enormous nests are seen perched on the top of steeples, roofs, and even of chimnies. The females, mounted on their long stilts, we could observe feeding their young ones with beaks of a monstrous In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 21 length. In spite of their heavy awkward air these birds fly with great swiftness. Their long red legs, stretched out in the direc- tion of the tail, form one continued line with their long white neck terminated by the red beak. On the road we met several times country-people with long beards and grave sedate coun- tenances, and much better clothed than the other peasants. They were United Brothers, or Moravians, so called from the district of Germany where they first appeared. They maintain a prudent exemplary conduct in life, and in their religious and political opinions have some similarity with the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers. My long residence in North America, and my travels in Great Britain a few years ago, pro- cured me a competent knowledge of the English language. I had, therefore, trusted to meet with little difficulty in acquiring, or at least in understanding, as much German as might be necessary for a passing visit. But my mortification was great when I discovered that even in terms, written in nearly the same manner in those two languages, the pronunciation was so differ- ent as to be almost unintelligible. The country on the north of the Rhine, being the termination of the famous Schwartz- Walden, or Black-forest, (part of the Hercynia silva of Caesar, of which the name is still preserved in, probably, its original Germanic form in the Hartz,) is finely varied with hill and dale near the river, shaded by noble trees, principally oaks. This tract, at least, like some of the nominal forests in England, has long been in general cultivation and well inhabited ; but by no means equally so with the Swiss side of the Rhine. It was not a little mortifying to us French to listen to the universal complaints of the people along the Rhine against the conduct of our armies while stationed in the country. It was still more so that it was the insatiable rapacity of the general and other superior officers, and not that of the common soldiers, that was the subject of condemnation. For as military exploits alone recommended many of the former to a hio-h rank in the army, and the conscription-law brought many a well- educated man into the ranks, the superior officers were often as much below their station, in sentiment and private conduct^ as the simple sentinel or Serjeant was above his. At Waldshut you quit the Rhine and see it no more until you corne within a short league of Schafl hausen, when the noise of the fall warns you to look out for that interesting spectacle. You first discover it through the trees which cover the side of the valley down to the right ; and descending by a path .through the wood you arrive full in front of the cataract, on the edo-e of the water after it has escaped from the precipice. It is by the extent of this descent that you can best judge of the height of 22 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, the fall, as well as by comparing it with the mills and other buildings erected by the side of the river. That the fall is gra- dually lessened cannot be doubted; but the progress of the rapid current, in wearing away the surface of the rock under it, is too slow to permit any calculation to be founded on that base : nor does history or tradition furnish any materials for the computa- tion. When you descend to the water-edge, those who wish to form a correct notion of the cascade embark in a boat, to be landed on the opposite side, at a little pavilion on a projecting rock, close by the descending torrent, and often enveloped in the vapour. There you may form some notion of the force of the cataract; but the noise, the trembling of the little building and the rock on which it has stood for a number of years, very quickly satisfy the curiosity of the spectator. It is to be ob- served that the Rhine does not here form properly a cascade, but a cataract : it slides down a rugged precipice instead of falling in an uninterrupted smooth sheet of water, over the brink of an even rock. Its stream is besides broken by several rocky pinnacles rising from the general bed of the river. But this is one of the causes of ihe violence and fury of the fall. The per- pendicular height from the level of the stream above the cata- ract to that of the boiling pool below, may be about sixty feet, and its breadth about 450. Yet the turbulence of the Jlhine far exceeds^ that of the great fall of Niagara in North America, although nearly thrice the elevation and six times the breadth of that of Schaffhausen. For the wonder of the new world glides over a precipice in a solid body, retaining its emerald tint until it encounter the rocks at the bottom, whereas the Rhine is dashed into foam and twisted into a thousand forms by the pro? jecting ruggedness of its bed. While we were w r rapt in admi- ration at the magnificent and terrible object before us, we found ourselves intermingled with companies of strangers who had come on a similar errand. Of these companies some were Ger- mans and others wer,e English. By their language I discovered some to be from Scotland, for they were comparing the general picturesque effect of the fall of the Rhine at Schaffhausen with that of the Clyde at Cora-lyn. To this last they gave the pre- ference, and very justly in what regards the picture ; for in a scene of this kind the accompanying circumstances and appen- dages are much more important than the mere quantity of water. The banks of the Rhine above the fall are low and flat, and the fall itself loses half its effect by the number of houses, mills, and other buildings crowded into its course. Schaffhausen is quite a German town, and now offers little besides the cataract to detain the traveller, for the famous hang- ing-bridge over the Rhine is no longer to be seen ; the French In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 23 having burnt or otherwise destroyed it in 1799, to prevent the passage of the Austrians, who had taken possession of the town. Another bridge of the common construction on piles has since been erected. Constance, ^ctthJune. FromSchaffhausen to Constance the road follows the banks of the Rhine, partly on the north and partly on the south, to the point where it issues from the Lower Lake, on the south shore of which it continues all the way to that ancient city. The Roman emperor, Coiistantius Chlorus, (the father of Constantine the Great,) who died at York in the first years of the fourth century, having defeated the northern tribes on the spot where the Romans had established a post, rebuilt and enlarged it, and gave it a name drawn from his own. The city occupies an important position, where the Upper Lake contracts into a narrow stream, crossed by a wooden bridge, and soon after swells out again into the Lower Lake. But the cele- brity of Constance is chiefly founded on the great council of the church, assembled there from 1414 to 1418. Nor would that council itself be remembered, but for the burning of John Muss and Jerome of Prague, who had adopted opinions in religious matters different from the general system of those clays; and who had repaired to Constance to defend their opinions, relying on the safe conduct granted to them for that purpose by the emperor of Germany. The hall in which the council assembled resembles a great barn, twenty .yards in breadth and fifty in length, by about twenty feet in height. Now it is employed as a weekly market-house for the peasants, who occupy without ceremony the chairs appropriated to the emperor Sigismund, and even by the new pope, Martin V. himself. At the time of the council the resident inhabitants of Constance were reckoned at 30,000, besides the multitude of strangers attracted by the as- sembly of all that was most distinguished in the Christian world. The town then possessed flourishing manufactures, and great commercial intercourse with Germany and Italy : but the con- fusion occasioned by 100,000 strangers, some of them not of the best description, incommoded the industrious part of the inha- bitants, who withdrew to St. Gall and other neighbouring towns, and never more returned to their original abode. Declining gradually from that epoch, Constance, in 1548, lost its indepen- dence, and fell under the house of Austria. In 1805, the bishop, who was also a temporal prince and a member of the Germanic body, was reduced to his proper ecclesiastical functions, and the town and district, which are Roman catholic, were transferred to the grand-duke of Baden. Constance is now the skeleton of W 7 hat it once was ; the grass grows in the streets, which are chiefly composed of convents of both sexes, now void of inhabj- g4 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, tants. In the town a large house may be hired for a guinea a month. From the tower of the cathedral the view commands both lakes and a considerable extent of the plain country, in Germany as well as in Switzerland ; demonstrating that, were the proper spirit of commercial industry to awake in the place, Constance would again become a town of importance in the centre of Europe. In the course of our walks our guide pointed to two French- men who passed us. "There are two of your regicides," said he. "What, have you many of them ?" "'Yes, about four-and- twenty I believe, all such poor old men as these you see. They are always walking about together. Nobody meddles with them, and they do no harm to any one." " Gracious heaven !" said I in myself, " Those very men who overturned a mighty empire ; who sent their king to the scaffold ; who made all Europe tremble ; are now, alter five-and-twenty years, compelled to seek refuge in a sequestered corner of the world, are considered only as poor old men of no consequence whatever, and inspire in their beholders no other sentiment than that which is excited by the miserable inhabitants of Bedlam 1" When the French army took possession of Constance the town w r as devoted to pil- lage ; for what reason I could not learn ; certainly, it was not on account of its resistance to the enemy. The French were accom- panied by some of what were termed the patriots from Appen- zell, who, it is said in Constance, pointed out what houses were to be attacked and stripped, and afterwards purchased the spoil at their own price. But the Appenzellians are chiefly protes- tants ; they have long been active and industrious, they have consequently been prosperous and rich : we need not, therefore, wonder that they should be hated by the Constantians, who are in general of an opposite character, and who were glad to impute to a whole community what was probably but the act of only a few persons. It is remarkable that the lake of Constance, not much inferior in extent to that of Geneva, if indeed it be really smaller, and situated in the great plain of Swabia, should be nearly three times the depth of any other lake in Switzerland, even that of Geneva, under the vast precipices which spring out of its upper part. The lake of Constance is, in its greatest depth, 458 English fathoms, while the deepest part of that of Geneva is only 170 fathoms, a mile out from the rocks of Meillerie. But as the ordinary surface of the lake of Constance is elevated 224 fathoms above the sea, it follows that one half of the lake is really below the surface of the sea. That of Geneva does not quite sink to that surface. The lake of Constance abounds in fish. Salmon, weighing upwards of forty pounds, are frequently caught in it, In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 25 a fact which seems to contradict the common opinion that, although that species of fish breed towards the sources of rivers, yet that they certainly frequent and grow in the sea. For how any animal of the fish kind can force its way, not only up the rapids at Lauffenburgh, but also up against the powerful cata- ract at Schaffhausen, it seems impossible to conceive. Trout also abound in the lake, but the most plentiful of all, as well as the most delicate, is the salmo marceno, here and in other pait* of Switzerland called lavaret. Saint Gall, 26th June. From Constance to Saint Gall you travel across the newly-erected canton of Thurgau, so named from the river Thur, which, after a long irregular course from south-east to north-west, falls into the Rhine below S chaff hau- sen. This canton is remarkable for its fertility ; but as strangers do not go to Switzerland to admire rich plains, fields of corn, flax, and hemp," orchards abounding in apples and pears, we shall pass over the Thurgau without further observation. The town of St. Gall sprung up, as many others have done, under the protection of a monastery, afterwards the abbey of St. Gall, founded in the middle of the eighth century, by a colony of learned Caledonians from Hy, Hyona, or Ycolm-kill, one of the Hebudes, or Western isles of Scotland. This institution became the nurse of science and letters in Helvetia, and one of the most celebrated schools of learning in Europe, from the eighth to the tenth century. In it were preserved for our use the writings of Quintilian, great part of those of Ammianus Marcellinus, ancj other literary treasures. In the course of time the abbots and monks neglected letters and gave themselves up to politics, and even to warfare, for the extension of their domains. By this departure from the character and duties of their institution they soon lost all influence over the people and with it their power. The last of the prince-abbots was expelled from St. Gall in the year 1798 ; in 1805 the monastery was finally suppressed, and the revenues converted to the service of the canton, on the con* dition of settling annuities on the disinherited monks. Although under a Roman catholic prince, yet the town of St. Gall was of the reformed religion, and the abbot had no right to enter the town without special permission. The inhabitants of the country are about equally (divided between the two professions. The catholics have in the town a handsome church, decorated with much elegance, but the roof by some accident threatens Us speedy destruction. We were conducted to an establishment for spinning cotton in the English manner, with this difference that, instead of being moved by water, or by a steam-engine, the great wheel is turned bjr an ox walking 011 the inside of the rim, as the dog turns the wheel of the roasting-spit. The TRAVELS, VoL VII.. Q 26 SimancTs Travels in Switzerland, eter of the wheel was thirty-five feet, and on the inside of (lie wheel were fixed small pieces of wood, like the rounds of a ladder, at convenient distances, on which the poor animal places his feet while he walks ; and walk he must, for if he intermit he is carried round by the wheel or thrown down. Three oxen work here successively for two hours at a time, that is each for four hours in the day ; yet they last only tw r o or three years at this painful and unnatural employment. This great wheel sets in motion twenty-nine frames of 216 spindles and bobbins each. The manufactory occupies 130 persons, of which one half are children, who earned formerly about sevenpence-halfpenny per day. The men were able to gain a dollar, or about four shil- lings and two-pence, but of late years their wages have been reduced to one-half; and many workmen can find no employ- ment at any price. We are told on good authority that formerly, in the canton of St. Gall, were no fewer than 30,000 females employed in tambouring and flowering muslin : the people em- ployed in the manufacture of the muslin must therefore have been also very numerous. But now distress has multiplied crimes, the prisons are full, and executions not unfrequent. In the course of last year three women were beheaded for child- murder : and the blame of all these disorders is laid on the manufactures, a question of infinite importance to be decided. Labour in agriculture can never be paid so high as that of manufacture. In a manufacturing country it is only the very best land that can indemnify the farmer, and in Switzerland the quantity of such land is far from considerable. In proportion as population, encouraged by manufactures, goes on increasing, the lands formerly appropriated for corn are converted into meadow and pasture, consequently less grain is raised in any given district. The people, however, -reasoned correctly in theory, if not in practice, that they could never want corn so long as they could afford to the growers of corn such articles of manufacture as they needed or desired. While things were in this state the return of a general pacification throughout Europe, after so many years of hostilities, called the attention of every government to devise means of employment for their military population. The greater number of states imagined that, by excluding the productions of foreign industry, they could best encourage their own. What has been the effect of this system ? Why every nation shut up within itself finds it must produce no more than what it can consume, and that it must consume only what it produces. But this concentration and prohibition, although contrary to the interest of all nations, are not equally so to every one. Those countries which produce more bread- corn than what they consume, such as France, Germany, the In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 27 American States, &c., and who draw from other countries objects of manufacture in exchange, have now a surplus of grain with which they know not what to do. Their agriculture sutlers by - this superabundance, without their manufactures being, in any respect, gainers by it ; for the farmer cannot consume, or at least he cannot pay for what he does consume, but in proportion as he sells the product of his land. Foreign productions of indus- try are, indeed, excluded, and the national industry obtains an exclusive privilege ; but if the farmer, or other home-consumer, is impoverished, his means of consumption are diminished, and what does the manufacturer gain by that diminution ? Still the superabundance of corn must secure the possessors from famine ; whilst the country which furnishes less than its due proportion, and cannot dispose of its manufactures to purchase more, must, in time, find itself reduced to the greatest extremities. This is peculiarly the case with a small country such as Switzerland, from which a number of great rivers proceed, but to which not one comes, and which must have permission from its neighbours on every side, to be able to supply its wants from beyond sea. From St. Gall we made several excursions through the moun- tainous districts in the south and west of the canton, and also into that of Appenzell, which is entirely surrounded by the St. Gall district. Our first was to Gaiss, five leagues, that is, five hours' journey in the carriage, south-east from St. Gall. There is no posting in Switzerland ; you hire horses for a certain jour- ney, or for the whole tour, and the owner himself, or some one of his people, accompanies you, to drive the carriage, to take care of the horses, and to serve aa an interpreter when you are not acquainted with the German language. In good roads, that is, in the plain country, these voituriers measure, or rather reckon, their journey by the hour, and every hour they consider to be a league. They of course do not travel fast, and a man who walks a tolerable pace may accompany the carriage on foot, with the advantage of taking his place in it when he is fatigued or rain comes on. The Swiss league, or the league of Bern, contains 18000 Bernese feet, corresponding to 2770 French toises, or 2952 English fathoms, a little more than three and one third English statute miles. But in such a country as Switzerland, the more leisurely you travel the more you will be gratified. The goat-whey of Gaiss, like the goat-whey of the highlands of Scotland and of Wales, is in high reputation for diseases of the breast and lungs, or what, in Great Britain, is termed the con- sumption. When resorted to in the beginning of the complaint, and that the patient can endure the sharp air of the mountains, it is found of singular efficacy. In the evening we walked to the chapel of Am Stress, which points out the famous field of battle D2 28 Simond's Travels in Switxerland, where the shepherds of Appenzell, above 400 years agd, triumphed over an army of Austrians four times their number. It must, however, be observed, that the assailants had to fight their way up a steep mountain. 300 fathoms in perpendicular height. From the summit the view extends over the great val- ley of the Orisons, through which the Rhine winds its way down from its sources in the glaciers of the central Alps to the lake of Constance. You look down on the valley as on a map ; you mark out the towns, villages, corn-fields, woods, pastures, mea- dows, the whole bounded by the lofty Grison mountains, loaded with never-failing sriows : never was battle fought on more noble sgenery. Another expedition from Gaiss, which may be performed on horse-back or on foot, is to the summit of Oabris, a mountain to the northward, the whole way across pastures of no common beauty. The prospect from this elevation, although only 2800 feet above the sea, comprehends a great part of Swit- zerland, the valley of the Upper Rhine, the lake of Constance, and the broad plains of Germany beyond it, stretching towards the Danube and the Lech. Close to the snows, which had not yet quite disappeared, although we were now in the end of June, we were tormented by immense swarms of winged ants in full life and vigour. Many flowers of the spring in the plains were here just opening where the snow had melted; the rhododen- dron, the rose, the honeysuckle, and even the holly. The whole mountain consists of breccia, that is, of bolder-stones, reduced into a globular form, connected together by a common cement, but still disposed in distinct beds. These rounded stones are fragments of rocks of all sorts, which have evidently been rolled under currents of water : but of what waters ? What must have been the mass, what the velocity of the torrents, which could thus heap up to the height of hundreds of fathoms of rounded stones of every kind ? No shore of the present time offers any spectacle of the same kind. In our ascent of the Gabris we halted at a chalet or summer cottage, where, for the first time, we met with one of the unfor- tunate deformed ideots called cretins, very rarely found so high on the mountains. The cows come morning and evening to the chalet to be milked, attracted by sprinkling a little salt on the ground : but here they were fastened each to its own crib by a chain; their skin sleek and shining as that of the most delicately kept horse. Round the necks of some were hung, by a broad leather collar loaded with ornaments, a large oval bell, a foot in diameter. The milking was performed by the cow-herds, and not by women. Whilst this operation was going on, one of the herds in the cow-shed began the famous song called the ranz des vacheSf which we had heard before, but never in such per- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 29 fection as in this place. lit the simple accents of this song, monotonous and far from melodious, we could perceive a mingled expression, plaintive and sorrowful, with a rude wildness, pro- ducing an extraordinary effect on the hearer. The sharp tone of the burthen of the air reminded me of what I had heard of the war-song among the natives of the woods of North America. This song, a sort of recitative in measure,, the Indians, as they are absurdly termed, execute in a grand chorus of the whole assembly, marching slowly, with a serious or severe look, and certain gestures indicating the disposition of the tiger rather than that of a hero, or, indeed, of a human being, round a great lire lighted up in the open air. It is easy to conceive how the ranz des vaches, connected as it is with the recollections of early life, its pleasures, and its attachments, and recalling the places, the things, the persons with whom the individual was early united, might powerfully affect the Swiss peasant, when far removed from his own country and his happy home. Before the revolu- tion of France this tune was forbidden to be played by the bands of the Swiss regiments serving in that country. For it was no uncommon thing to find one or more of the poor fellows, after the playing of the ranz des vaches, composedly lay down his arms and instantly walk home to the place of his birth. Now, I understand, the magic of that simple air has lost its effect ; and we need not be surprised that it should be so ; for no country in Europe has suffered such changes, in consequence of the French invasion, as Switzerland, a country that, for 400 years, had never seen an enemy permanently within its bounds. Whilst I was indulging my imagination, excited by the wild strains sounding in my ear, the musician came out from his place with his pails of milk. Observing my air of attention he quickly set down his load, and, taking off his bonnet, came up to me with a grimace BO unpoetical, that while I threw him a few pence my imagina- tions and my illusion instantly vanished. The best cow with her calf costs about ten guineas. During the first months she yields eight or ten pots, that is, four or five gallons of milk every day. A little mountain horse, stout and active at four years old, is worth the same sum. While caressing one of these pretty creatures as I passed him, with a coat smooth and shining, his two hind-legs thrown up in the air, he came within a finger-breadth of my breast : a hint to the stranger to be on his guard in his familiarities. The females of the chalet were employed in tambouring mus- lin, a business that brings them in but two batz, or three-pence sterling, per diem. One was busy churning butter by means of a spring-lever fixed to the roof. The chalet, like all the other habitations scattered over the mountains, was constructed SO Simond^s Travels in Switzerland, oflarchwood, or when that is wanting, of fir, on a basement- story of stone occupied by the cattle, or used as a store-house and cellar; being, as was said in describing the inn at ilougne, in Mount Jura, in winter covered with snow. A stair on the outside along the wall, and sheltered by the projection of the roof, leads up to the first-floor, occupied by the family. The upper building is wholly constructed of squared beams, placed horizontally arid dove-tailed into one another, and boarded within and without. One of the gable-ends is made the front of* the house, and each story, for there are several under the roof, is furnished w r ith a range of little windows touching one another. This front is besides commonly decorated with pas- sages of scripture, inscribed in large letters, together with the name of the original builder, and of the subsequent repair- ers, and the dates often going back above two hundred years. The timbers are never painted, but the resin which pervades larch-wood when young and new, by the heat of the sun, covers it with a coat of natural varnish of a reddish colour. In this state the timbers are preserved for several centuries. The prin- cipal apartment is a kind of parlour, or saloon, of large dimen- sions^ well furnished, with a multitude of windows with small glass panes, set in leaden frames, or what are called casements in England. Benches and tables fill up the other three sides of the apartment, together with an immense stove of earthen- ware, formed into steps, which serve as a stair to mount up to the story above, through an aperture made for the purpose. The roof of the apartment is just high enough for a man of ordinary size. The kitchen is seldom provided with a chim- ney, but the smoke escapes by a hole in the roof of the building, furnished with a skreen against the wind, which opens and shuts at pleasure by means of a cord on the inside. The roof is composed of large shingles, kept in their place by a number of heavy stones. Such, in general, are the chalets and moun- tain-houses over the greater part of Switzerland. In descending from the Gabris to Gaiss we were struck with the sound of a bell in the village, weighing five tons and a half, which was cast about five leagues from it. and which must have cost incre- dible labour to carry up to its present position. The whole air was in motion by the vibrations of the bell, which, although loud, grave, slow, and deep, were wonderfully softened by the rarity of the surrounding atmosphere, and by the distance of every reflecting substance. The sound, of course, differed from any we had ever heard before. Our landlord at the Ox in Gabris, a landed-proprietor and a magistrate of Appenzell, a man of sense and moderation in his political opinions, tol^l us the following anecdote of a cer- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 3l tain Frencli general of no small reputation. The council of the community received a letter from this general, at the time of the entrance of the troops of France into Switzerland, in 1798, stating that his friends in Paris, informed of the excellent qua- lity of the muslins tamboured in Gaiss, had requested him to procure for them certain articles which he pointed out. He, therefore, desired his commission to be expedited with all speed, to be paid for at the value fixed by the manufacturers, Our landlord, as the man in the village the best acquainted with the world, was consulted on this strange commission, and advised it to be complied with for fear of the worst. This was done, but no accounts of the general appeared for some weeks, when he wrote that the articles had given great satisfaction, and, as a proof of it, he inclosed a second order of the same sort, to be executed on the former terms. Still not a word about the pay- ment. Affairs now grew serious; but our landlord still counselled the new order to be complied with. The manufacturers, however, contented themselves, this time, with promising to transmit the articles as soon as they could be prepared. What was the con- sequence of this sort of -refusal? In a few days afterwards the general, who was at no great distance, sent into the village a party of troops, who, living at discretion on the inhabitants, cost them every day as much as the muslins ordered. The sol- diers, it ought to be observed, more honest and honourable than their commander, gave but little reason to complain of their conduct. From Gaiss we traversed the canton of Appenzell westward, for five good leagues, to Herisau, over a pastoral country, the most agreeable of any we had yet seen. The crowds of mendi- cants, chiefly women and children, however, were shocking. They issued from their apparently comfortable dwellings with famine depicted in their countenances, and a supplicant voice, to gather nettles by the way-side, which were almost their only aliment. The bread was at better than four-pence the pound, more than double the usual price, and with difficulty could it be procured even at that exorbitant rate. By a collection among the few who had any thing to spare soup-houses were established ; but I was assured that many of the unhappy peo- ple, who had subsisted on boiled herbs, died soon after they came to use the soup made of a little animal food and oat- meal, their stomach having been so debilitated as not to be able to digest a more nourishing food. The whole country of Appenzell is a succession of hills in universal pasturage; not a field of corn, not one of potatoes, is to be seen, not even a kitchen-garden; for the manufactures had hitherto afforded to the inhabitants an employment much 32 Simvnd's Travels in Switzerland, more lucrative than any husbandry, even where the nature of the country was adapted to it. Nothing can be more agree- able than the perpetually varying pastures, kept in constant verdure by rivulets of the purest water, carried along the slopes in an endless variety of directions. The houses, all more or less such as have just been described, neat, clean, well-kept, and full of people, are not assembled in towns, nor even in what in other quarters are termed villages. Each stands with- out walls or hedges of inclosure or separation, on the verdant carpet which is spread over the country, and on which feed herds of excellent cattle. All this is capital in its way, but still it furnishes no bread; and, in the midst of meadows and mus- lins, one oaay die of hunger. It is not to the manufacturing districts that we now must go in search of those ancient Helve- tians who have filled history with their warlike achievements. We must not there look for those heroes who, by the mere force of their arm and their mace, levelled with the ground the, steel-clad knight ; for those heroines who engaged by the side of their fathers, brothers, and husbands, in the field of Stress. No, we see now only the population of Rouen and Manchester, of Abbeville and Leeds, in better air indeed, and better lodged, but puny, pale, and humbled, and I fear not much better in .their morals than their prototypes of those great towns. Proceeding on our journey southward to Wattwyl, we had i practical proof of that happy mutual forbearance in religious matters, not uncommon in Switzerland. The church of the village serves equally for the catholic and the protestant part of the inhabitants; a striking contrast with the fierce and san- guinary contests of religion which desolated the country in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Wesen, on the Lake of Wallenstadt, 30th June. Seven leagues still southward from Wattwyl, through a country more adapted to husbandry, and the people more at ease than in the canton of Appenzell, brought us to Wesen, at the western or lower extremity of the lake of Wallenstadt. The latter half of the road runs along a level between a double range of moun- tains, shaded with lofty walnut-trees; the fields in good culti- vation, and not one beggar. The little district of Wesen pos- sessing abundance of land fit for agriculture, the inhabitants are all employed in husbandry. Every Swiss being a burgess of some one parish or another, he is entitled to shave the funds set apart for the relief of the indigent burgesses. These two circumstances account for the comfortable state of the people of Wesen. From the deep valley in which we travelled, pro- bably at some remote period under the waters of the then uni- ted lakes of Wallenstadt and Zurich, we had a full view of the In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 33 mountains we had come through; and could judge much more distinctly of their conformation and arrangement, than while we were among them. On the south side of the lower end of the lake is a deep narrow gorge of the mountains, through which issues the Linth, which just enters the lake, and then continues its course north-west, by the same name, to that of Zurich. The same deep gorge conducts into the canton of Claris, of which the capital is situated in a narrow valley on the Linth. The view, in that direction, is shut in by the lofty snowy range of the Grison Alps. The Linth, bringing down vast quantities of stone and gravel, has, for some time past, blocked up the dis- charge of the lake of Wallenstadt, which, in the course of sixty years, has raised its level ten feet. To remedy this great evil, which would in time overflow and ruin much valuable corn- land, one of the greatest works ever undertaken in Switzerland has lately been begun. This is to open a canal along the course of the Linth, connecting the lakes of Wallenstadt and Zurich; a canal eighty feet broad and ten feet deep, with em- bankments, on each side, seven feet in height, at the distance of forty feet from the canal. Navigable at all times it has already recovered above 20,000 acres of meadow, at the ex- pence of about 60,000. Nearly a thousand acres have been purchased by the people of Glans, on which to employ their poor, and to establish a school of agriculture on the Fellenberg plan. The unfortunate village Wesen has an air of great misery; for in addition to the inundation caused by the lake, it was, during the war in the country, by turns occupied and plundered by Austrian, Russian, and French troops, on account of its com- manding the navigation of the lake. Not a piece of furniture in the houses, not a head of cattle in the fields, was left by friend or foe, to the formerly industrious and prosperous inhabitants. Its ancient name is unknown, but that it was of importance under the Romans is evident, from the names of the adjoining villages Terzen, Quarten, Quinten, situated at the third, fourth, and fifth mile from the place, on the north bank of the lake. We embarked our carriage and horses at Wesen, and in four hours and a half were safely landed at Wallenstadt, distant four leagues, at the upper or eastern extremity of the lake. Extraordinary precautions have been taken by the government, to prevent the boatmen from exposing themselves and their pas- sengers to danger, from the furious gales, which come down without warning, from the lofty mountains on each side. But it is only necessary to look at the construction of the boats, or rather rafts, with a ledge of no great height surrounding them, to discover the true cause of such precautions. It would, how- VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. E 34 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, ever, but ill-become us Frenchmen, us Parisians particularly,, to criticise the ship-builders and watermen of the lake of Wal- lenstadt, in the heart of the mountains of Switzerland, when \ve consider the clumsy, unwieldy, ungraceful machines, which every hour disfigure our noble Seine, in the heart of our own splendid capital of France. The roads along either bank of the lake of Wallenstadt are impracticable for carriages; besides, the admirable and magnificent scenery, particularly on the south side, can be seen only from the water. The country on both sides has frequently suffered from earthquakes ; and by some such cause the formation of the lake itself may, at some epoch antecedent to all historic record or tradition, have pro- bably been produced. The northern shore rises up nearly per- pendicularly to an inaccessible height, while the southern sinks more gradually under the water, which deepens as it approaches the opposite bank. From the correspondence of the strata on both sides, it would seem that, while the north bank retained,, or was pushed up to its present height, the opposite part had been separated from it along that face, and sunk down to a great depth; so forming a receptacle for the natural waters of the surrounding country. The lake of Wallenstadt is never, frozen; it abounds in fish, particularly in salmon, which must ascend the Rhine to the influx of the Aar, and thence up the Limrnat and the lake of Zurich. Fishing with the rod and line is free to every person all over Switzerland, but every other kind is private property ; and were it not so the race of fish would soon be annihilated. The lammergeyer, a species of vul- ture, and the largest known bird of prey, after the condor of South America, frequents the immense inaccessible precipices which line the north-bank of the lake. Some have been killed which measured seventeen English feet from tip to tip of the wings ; and they have been known to carry off kids and even large dogs. A hunter of the country, having discovered the nest of one of these destructive animals, and shot the male, made his way along a narrow projection of the precipice, with a view of taking the young birds. He had raised his arm, and put his hand into the nest, when the female, hovering over his head unseen by him, pounced down upon him, fixing her talons in his arm, and her beak in his side. The hunter, whom the slightest movement must have thrown down the precipice, with that coolness and self-possession peculiar to men of their pro- fession, notwithstanding the pain he suffered, remained un- moved. Having his fowling-piece in his left-hand, he placed it against the face of the rock, pointed to the breast of the bird, and with his toe, for his feet were naked the better to hold by the rocks, he touched the trigger; the piece went off, and killed In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 35 his enemy on the nest. Had the bird been any where else it must have dragged him down along with it. Wallenstadt, having been like Wesen laid under water by the rise of the lake, and having been pillaged in 1799, and soon after burnt, is now a miserable place, in which we stopped no longer than was necessary to put our travelling equipage in order. The valley eastward seems to have formerly been a continuation of the lake, bounded by mountains of great eleva- tion. The inhabitants of both sexes, in their Sunday's clothes, were seated under the shade of overgrown walnut-trees, at the doors of their houses, spacious but low, all built with timber, although stone lies at their hand. Storks, which frequent the course of the Rhine between Basil and Schaffhausen, here again appear towards the source of that river. Their enormous nests may be seen on the top of every steeple or house of more than common height. Passing the night in Sargans, at the gentle elevation which divides the stream of Wallenstadt from the Rhine, we proceeded next morning for an hour to Ragatz, on the west bank of that river. It is remarkable that the elevation of the ground,, at Sargans, rises only twenty English feet above the ordinary level of the Rhine, and hinders that stream, which points that way, from abandoning its present course through the lake of Constance, and, pursuing the much more direct and shorter course towards the north-west and by west, through the lakes of Wallenstadt and Zurich. This fact is of no small im- portance for the people on this latter line, and consequently has occasionally employed the ablest engineers of the country. About half a league north-east from Sargans the Rhine makes its way between two mountains, Schollberg on the west, and Falkniss on the east, which seem to have, at one time, been united. In that case the Rhine must have passed over the gentle rising at Sargans, and carried its waters along the lake of Zurich. But in this course again, by a natural obstacle at Baden, below Zurich, it must have stagnated until it formed a cataract much higher than that of Schaffhausen. From Sargans we took a guide to conduct us on foot to the cele- brated baths of Pfefiers, on the west bank of the Rhine; crossing in our way the remains of several avalanches, as they are called in the French part of Switzerland and Savoy ; those immense masses of snow, which, by their own weight, especially in spring and summer, roll down from the highest mountains, spreading destruction and devastation wherever they pass in their descent into the vallies. The abbey of Pfeffers had subsisted some cen- turies, when, about eight hundred year$ ago, a hunter belong- ing to the monks discovered, in the bottom of the deep ravine through which the Jamina pours its furious torrent, a mineral E2 36 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, spring, since grown into great celebrity. * The monks of Pfef- fers had, by dint of incessant labour, cultivated the surrounding desert, and spread civilization among the inhabitants, whom their establishment had encouraged to settle under their pro- tection. Thus did this beneficent institution continue to main- tain its original destination, for eleven centuries, until 1799 and 1800. Then the barbarians of modern Europe, imitating and surpassing the atrocities of those of ancient times, contend- ing for the possession of eight or ten league* of rocks and preci- pices, ruined the unfortunate and innocent inhabitants, and many of them they put to death. Formerly the sick were low- ered down by ropes, for several hundred feet, to drink and bathe in the waters; but, about a century ago, the monks erected a large stone-building, with every accommodation, not far from the source of the water, which was conveyed in pipes tor their use. Nothing can be more romantic than the situation of this building, placed under a precipice nearly 700 feet per- ' pendicular over-head. A winding path has been opened for the sick; but the provisions and other necessaries are let down by a windlass and rope. We, like other curious travel- lers, attempted to penetrate to the springs of the mineral water; but the slippery scaffolds or galleries on which you must pro- ceed, supported on timbers inserted in the face of the precipice, with the furious Jamina rushing violently under your feet, will soon convince the stranger that the gratification of his curiosity will be greatly overbalanced by the danger and difficulty of the expedition. The season of the baths was not yet commenced : at table, therefore, we had only one lady, from the Italian side of the Alps, two ladies from Appenzell, an Englishman, two Benedictine fathers, and a Capuchin or Franciscan mendicant friar. Our dinner, served at eleven o'clock, was quite cha- racteristic of the situation: chamois roasted, chamois trotters fried, chamois blood dressed so as, both in colour and taste, to resemble spinage. At seven we supped much as we had dined. Between fifty and sixty years ago the large village of Ragatz, formerly mentioned, was buried under the inundations of the Jamina; but during the revolutionary war of France, that ill- fated place suffered severely under an inundation of a different * An anal} sis of Ihe water of Pfeffcrs gave 1 grain of soleiiile, -p-^ gr. sul- phate of soda, gr. sulphate of magnesia, f gr. calcareous earth, f gr. cal- careous nitrate of potassa. The water is perfectly limpid, having neither taste nor smell. The temperature from 28 to 30 of Reaumur, or from 95 to 99^ of Fahrenheit. Taken internally and externally it cures various chronic dit tempers, by evacuation and b\ exciting cutaneous eruptions. In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 37 sort. To give some idea of what Ragatz had to undergo, I may mention that the physician of the place lodged and fed, in succession, in the course of the years 1799 and 1800, no fewer than 7000 French troops, or, on an average, ten new comers every day. To crown all, in setting fire to the bridge over the Jamina, to cut oft' the passage of the Austrians, the flames caught the houses, and the whole village was burnt down. The poor people were, in this way, for the future relieved from their foreign guests. Passing the night again at Sargans we, a second time, embarked on the lake of Wallenstadt, amusing ourselves with the wonder- ful manoeuvres of a multitude of white goats, apparently no bi'j-- ger than so many flies, but visible by their colour among the dark rocks. They were browsing along the almost vertical pre- cipices as on plain ground. We had, besides, on the lake a scene of a very different sort, a large boat transporting, under the charge of a soldier of the police, several necessitous persons to their parish. Among them were an old shepherd, with a long white beard, almost naked, and .evidently worn down by poverty, and a widow with a numerous family of young chil- dren. It is to be lamented that even measures of humanity must subject the unhappy objects to some restraint ; for these innocent beings, and they were all so as I was told, were com- pelled to be moved across the country, as so many criminals, until they should reach the place on which they had an acknow- ledged claim for relief. From Wesen, crossing the Linth at its issue from the lake, and the great canal before spoken of, we entered the canton of Glaris, through the deep narrow gorge through which the Linth pours down its rapid stream. On entering this mountainous tract I recollected what had been said to me before I came to Switzerland. The country may be conceived to be a great city; the vallies being the streets, and the mountains the houses. Some great rivers, such as the Rhone, the Rhine, the Aar, the Reuss, the Limmat, mark the principal avenues, or leading streets, the best quarters, in which are the principal establish- ments, the habitations of the wealthy, of the best company in the town. The lateral vallies are the cross-lanes which commu- nicate with the principal streets, and the narrow, crooked, dimi- nutive passes of the mountains correspond with the courts and alleys which connect the lanes with one another, and with the streets. To form a notion of the topography of the town, and of the beauty of the edifices, we must perambulate the streets, not enter the houses and look out from the garret-windows. In the same manner it is from the plain country that we can best survey and contemplate the beauties of Switzerland, and not 38 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, from the mountainous regions ; for, however paradoxical it may seem, yet true it is, that, when you are in the midst of the Alps you have no distinct view nor idea of them. Three hours' walking southwards, along an excellent road ascending the course of the Linth, conveyed us to Glaris, having before us mountains, precipices, and rocks, of the most threat- ening and awful aspect. The narrow crooked streets, the little antique houses, the low gates and window's, the walls covered with paintings in fresco, the profound silence in the streets, the deep solitude of the situation ; all filled my imagination with the idea of a city of ancient times, recovered, like Pompeii, from its ruins, after having for ages been buried in the ground. When I came to Bienne. at the base of Mount Jura, I thought myself at last arrived in Switzerland : but Glaris is still much more Swiss, if I may so say, much more different from all the rest of Europe. The town is so closely invested by the mountains, that in winter the sun is visible for only four hours in the day : from our inn it was necessary to advance the head quite out of the window in order to have a sight of the heavens. On some of the houses we could read the date of their erection, full five centuries back. One in front of our windows was ornamented with a number of armorial bearings, and a great painting in fresco tolerably well executed. It represented a gigantic warrior on horseback, armed at all points, fighting with a Turk, also on horseback : a female painted as in a window, seemed to be a spectator of the contest. The original proprietor had, probably, served in the crusades. Although placed so near to the mountains, Glaris has never been exposed to avalanches ; but a village very close to the town suffered severely by one last winter, the mass of snow not being nearly all melted when we were there on the 2d of July. Glaris can boast of having produced the earliest and the best historian of Switzerland, Tschudi, who died in 1572. The first two volumes of his Chronicle, embracing a period of nearly five centuries, from A. D. 1000 to 1470, remained in manuscript till 1734 6 : the continuation down to 1559, has not yet been printed. Five copies of the work are known to exist in different libraries. Tschudi's history is almost the sole source from which Muller has drawn his in- formation, and even he has stopt at the middle of the fifteenth century. Later historians have naturally followed Muller and Mallet his continuator. The name of Tschudi occurs often among the magistrates of the republic of Glaris from the ninth century : the historian himself was landamman, or chief-ma- gistrate of the canton. Few families in Europe can go so far back as that of Tschudi of Glaris ; great changes, however, In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 39 have now taken place in that family. My guide was a Tscnudi, who had sewed as a private soldier for several campaigns under Bonaparte, and had accompanied him to Moscow. He was now returned with three large scars on his breast, to marry in his own village, and make his little fortune by conduc ting- curious strangers through the mountains, with which he is per- fectly acquainted. On the 3d July we set out from Glaris on horseback for a tour among the mountains, passing under that part of Mount Glarnish where, in consequence of an earthquake in 1593, a part of the side of the mountain had given way, from a height of 1200 fathoms, about a mile and a third above the valley. Neither the spot whence the mass proceeded, nor the accumu- lation of materials brought down, have hitherto acquired any vegetable mould ; only a few firs begin to shew themselves. We took a path up the side of a rapid torrent, coming down from Mount Bragel, on the south-west, and on the borders of the canton of Glaris. The current having been interrupted by a fall of earth, the torrent makes a sudden turn to go round that obstacle ; a circumstance which proved fatal to a great number of Russians in the night of the 30th September, 1799, when Suwarrow was on his retreat, after the battle of the Muottathal, on the borders of the canton of Schwitz. Marching forward in the dark, and not perceiving the turn of the torrent, the poor soldiers fell over the precipice, one after the other to a prodigious depth, where, by the noise of the waters, and of the troops push- ing forward behind them, their cries could not be heard, nor their disaster be discovered. Some mules loaded with money shared the same fate, and long afterwards, from time to time, dollars and other pieces of silver coin were found in the torrent. We must not judge of the comparative elevation of mountains and peaks by the quantity of snow they display on their sum-* mits : for some are so nearly vertical that no snow can accumu- late upon their surface, while others of much inferior height, but affording slopes of less steepness, are clothed with it all or-the greater part of the year. Of this fact we had many proofs in our excursion in the environs of Glaris, Schwitz, Underwalden, &c. ; referring for the elevation of the several summits to the travelling map published by Keller of Zurich, in which they are inserted from the best modern authorities. Mounting for two hours we arrived on an open plain of some extent, which may be considered as the first-floor of the moun- tain, or as the first landing-place of the common stair, which leads to Mount Glarnish on the v left, to Mount Wigghis on the right, and to Mount Bragel in front. What appeared to us a pretty little piece of water, from which the torrent already men- 40 Simond's Travels in Szvilzerland, tioned proceedeoj, occupied the centre of this plain. All the rest was a fine pasture producing hay, the scene of many a partial action in the year 1799. We imagined we might go round this little piece of water in twenty minutes or so : what was our sur- prise to be told that it would require two hours and a half or three hours to perform the circuit of this lake, as in fact it was! So much is the eye apt to be deceived in the distances, and, con- sequently, in the magnitudes of objects, when observed through the pure rarined atmosphere of high mountains. The male population of Glaris quit their homes to seek their fortune in foreign lands : but after recruiting the armies, the counting-houses, the workshops of almost every region of Europe, the survivors are sure to return, to end their career where it was begun. The Glarisians were also smitten with the passion for manufactures : but when they had, in the commence- ment, grown rich, and their population was doubled, they, par- ticularly since the peace, discovered that their wealth could not procure for them the necessaries of life. Still the number of mendicants is by no means equal to that of Appenzell, or even to that of St. Gall. The following table will show the cause of this difference. Square No. in 1 ffo. in \ Cantons leagues Inhabitants sq. league sq. mile Claris - - 30 - - 19,000 633 - - 7 St. Gall - - 100 - - 120,000 - - 1,200 - - 133 Appenzell - 20 55,000 - - 2,750 - - 305 France contains about 1100 persons in one square league (about 122 in the square English mile) : but the proportion of cultivable land in France is at least the double of that in Swit- zerland. Accompanied by my trusty guide, I proceeded up the deep romantic valley of Glaris, to see the country through which Suwarrow effected his famous retreat, in the end of September and beginning of October 1799. The valley forks off into two, about four leagues above, or to the southward of the town ; and I took that to the left, or the valley of Sernft. Steep rapid slopes in pasture, woods, rocks, rose up on each side, forming the bases of inaccessible mountains. The Russians and the French mounted up this valley at the same time ; by turns pur- suing and pursued, as the torrent then (the snows having ceased to melt, and snow only falling instead of rain) contained so little water that each army could pass it at several points, in order to intercept each other's march. In this operation the Russians so far succeeded, although on retreat, as to take 1200 French prisoners. The armies, separated only by the torrent and its ravine, assailed one another by musketry, each striving to gain In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 41 some position whence they might attack the enemy. Villages, iarms, orchards, herds, flocks, every thing, in fact, that could be burnt, destroyed, eaten, or carried off, disappeared before the devouring hordes of desperate men, utterly destitute of every necessary : the dunghills themselves were not spared in the rage of their hunger. For a long time afterwards the shepherds, in their wanderings among the mountains, found in the retired comers the bodies of unhappy beings of both parties, who had retreated thither to die through fatigue and cold and hunger and despair, more than through their wounds. At Elm, where I also gave up my pursuit, the Russians at last halted, for the French were unable to follow them farther. The master of the little inn informed me that he presented to the grand-duke Con- stantine, who made that campaign under Suwarrow, in the hope of conciliating them, the only bottle of wine which he had been able to withdraw from the universal pillage. Now not a vestige of those horrible devastations and mutual slaughter can be dis- covered. Nothing is to be seen but green pastures covered with herds and flocks ; every sheltered spot exhibits its cottage or its chalet ; the smoke rising on every side shows that, wherever it is practicable, the mountains are again inhabited. We passed through many a village now flourishing, in which not a door, nor a window, nor a piece of household furniture, nor a cow, nor a fowl, had escaped the spoiler's hand. On the day after he had halted at Elm, Suwarrow continued his retreat, passed the chain of mountains which bounds the country of the Grisons, and finally reached Coire the capital. In this forced march of ten mountain-leagues, he lamed or lost the greater number of his beasts of burthen ; he lost also almost the whole of his remaining artillery and baggage. Such are a part of the horrors of the late wars carried on in the mountains of Switzerland. Would to heaven that the mighty ones of the earth, on whom the tranquil- lity and happiness, or the disorder and misery of the human race depend, experienced, or witnessed, or knew, or believed the awful consequences of their misunderstandings, their ambition, their revenge ! In my way back to Glaris I saw people employed in placing timbev on hollow slides, made in the slopes of the mountains, which rushed down with the rapidity of an avalanche into the bed of the Sernft, and is then floated on to Glaris, where each proprietor claim what bears his own mark. Men with long poles, stationed on the banks of the torrent, push back into the current the pieces of wood which the whirls of the stream drive against the banks. In returning northward from Glaris along the Linth, I learned, from good observers, that the earth- quakes, to which the canton is subject, are found always to VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. F 42 Simon(Ts Travels in Switzerland, follow the beds of gypsum, and of the sulphureous springs, which are situated on a certain line that traverses the country. Rappe.rschwyl, &th July. This little old-fashioned town is situated in a confined, but picturesque position, on the north bank of the lake of Zurich. The lake is here of no great depth, consequently, advantage has been taken of a point of land, advancing into the water from the opposite shore, to establish a long wooden bridge, supported on piles, by which a convenient communication across the lake is maintained. The scenery of the lake of Zurich is totally different from that which we had beheld for several days past, particularly from that of the neigh- bouring lake of Wallenstadt. Turning away from rocks and mountain-precipices and snow-capped summits we behold in front, on the west bank of the lake, the Albis, a long, Jow, even hill, green with pasture, and sprinkled over with villages and farms, and villas "embosomed deep in lofty trees :" nor was our side of the water less peopled. The road to Zurich lies delight- fully along the margin of the lake, kept in the best order and shaded with walnut, and sometimes carried as in an arbour under long trains of vines. The land is divided into small pro- perties, from fifty to five acres, cultivated as a garden by the proprietor and his family. Round every house you see the little patch of maize, the little spot of potatoes, another of cabbages and other garden-stuff, the little meadow, the little field of corn,, the vineyard in miniature, which affords a cask of bad wine, for the consumption of the ensuing year. In this country no travel- ler seems in haste to pursue his journey. We travelled for some time behind the stage-coach going to Zurich, which halted every quarter of an hour to deliver or receive parcels, to take up or set down passengers, to talk with some acquaintance, or to light their great winding pipes of chased silver. Our own motion was the reverse of swift, yet this vehicle forced us to proceed still slower, until we found a part of the road a little wider than usual, when we pushed on and saw no more of the coach. Zurich^ 5th July. Zurich, where we arrived in the evening, in delightful weather, after a violent thunder-storm, surprised us by its beautiful situation, resembling, in some measure, that of Geneva. The Limmat, just issuing from the lake, passes through the middle of the present town; but the original Zurich was altogether on the east side of the stream. Our inn (the Sword,) projects over the river which rushes through, strong, rapid and limpid, with the noise of a vessel making way in the sea, under full sail. Adjoining to the inn is the principal bridge on the Limmat, of timber supported on piles, and of such a breadth as to serve as the weekly market-place. There we saw multi- tudes of buyers and sellers, and our attention was particularly In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 43 attracted by the beauty of the women and that of the horses. The former were, in general, tall and well-shaped, and the latter would, in Paris, become the most elegant carriage, although in Zurich they are employed in common country carts. In shape these horses are rather strong than delicate, with long tails and sloek coats ; their harness neat and kept with great care. Yet these horses labour ten hours every day, and they show by their good keeping that agriculture is, in many parts of the environs, conducted on a scale much more extended than along the banks of the lake, on the road from Rapperschwyl. At the table d'hote we were amused by the honest simplicity of a German and his new-married wife, admirably contrasted with the formal solemn sullen silence of a sort of nabob and his numerous family from Old England. Just as we were going to rise from dinner folding-doors opened, and admitted, from an adjoining room, excellent music performed by couples of clarinets, flutes, horns, and bassoons. A taste for music seems innate in the Germans, (for in every thing except locality Zurich may be considered as in Germany,) who certainly possess a peculiar charm in whatever fhey sing or play. Prince Eugene had always music during dinner, " because," he said, " it saved the company the trouble of thinking and speaking." We were shewn the spot where the celebrated and worthy but fanciful Lavater received the musket-shot in his breast, which, after a long course of suffering, conducted him to his grave. It was on the day in which Massena entered Zurich, after the defeat of the Russians, and Lavater had gone but a few steps from his own door to rescue a friend from the hands of the French soldiery when he received his wound. Massena made a strict, and probably, a sincere search for the guilty person ; for the murder of a man so much revered in the country procured him many enemies. I must own that the general's conduct in Zurich, as far as I could learn, was highly commendable : but it must also be mentioned, that his predecessor in command had so stripped the country that nothing was left for the successor to carry away. Indeed in Zurich, as in several places, the peo- ple complained much more loudly of the behaviour of the supe- rior officers of the French army than of the private soldiers. The- inscription on Lavater's monument contains simply his 'name. " There is our state-prison," said to me a citizen of Zurich, pointing to the tower erected in the middle of ttye river, "when offenders go thither their business is soon done." u They are sent thither then when they have been tried, I suppose ?" " Oh no ; only we know who will and who will not be condemned ; for I assure yovi in this country we are no jokers." In saying so, the good man really conceived he was bestowing no ordinary F * 44 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, eulogium on the jurisprudence of his country. The criminal law of Zurich requires the confession of guilt on the part of the con- demned prior to execution; but, if he be obstinate, the scourge is applied, which it has been ingeniously discovered is no torture, because it has no relation to the Latin verb tordere, which sig- nifies to turn or twist. At an early period Zurich enjoyed a high literary reputation, not in Switzerland only but over Ger- many. In the tenth century the town obtained the surname of the learned. In that age of darkness a slender portion of know- ledge was, indeed, sufficient to acquire such a distinction ; but the merit of acquiring it was still in comparison not the less. A multitude of poets and writers illustrated the thirteenth century. Roger Maness, the Maecenas of that time, has left us a list of 140 authors, all nearly contemporary. The reformation of reli- gion introduced in Zurich a new species of literature. In our own times Gessner, Zimmerman, and Lavater, are well known ; but, as Voltaire observed, many a man of genius and learning in Switzerland has been deprived of his due share of celebrity by the barbarism of his name. On this account many men of learning in Switzerland translated their proper names into cor- responding Greek or Latin denominations ; witness Calvin, (a Frenchman it is true,) Melancthpn, Oecolampadius, Paracelsus, &c. Zurich, at present, possesses a number of distinguished painters and engravers in landscape. The variety of public es- tablishments attest the enlightened beneficence of the citizens, among which is a savings-bank, founded in 1805, a flourishing institution for the blind, and another for the deaf and dumb. Although the population of the canton amount to no less than eighteen hundred in every square league, or two hundred in the square mile, and that a great proportion are employed in manu- factures as well as in husbandry, yet not a beggar is to be seen. In Zurich may still be observed many of the fortified habita- tions of the great families of the country, which remind one of the famous towers of Florence and Pisa in the middle ages. Walls of enormous thickness; not a window up to the first floor, raised a great way from the ground ; those windows small and grated with massy iron bars ; the chamber, or saloon, for receiving company in the upper story. Many of the old houses ' of the burgesses are in the same style. In Zurich the two sexes hold their society-parties asunder ; so much is this the case, that seeing no females in the few houses I visited, I began to fancy that my friends in the town had the misfortune to be all either widowers or bachelors. Here, how- ever, I judged very erroneously, for I afterwards learned that they had all very amiable families, but that it was not the custom to exhibit them to strangers. It is true, indeed, that, as in the In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 45 mule clubs or parties smoking was carried to great excess, it would have been difficult for the ladies to stay in the room. " In all the clubs, tobacco, wine, cheese," &c. says an ingenious townsman,* " fill up many an interval of conversation. Except- ing when they are going to play at cards, the men seldom sit down; so that three or four chairs are enough for twelve or fifteen persons. You see them two and two, pipe in mouth, walking backwards and forwards in the room, or forming little groups when any news of general interest come to be discussed. Uut, on the other hand, it is to this very dislike of what in France is called society, and of the kind of polish which that society produces and requires, that my countrymen of Zurich are indebted for some of the good qualities by which they are distinguished. Hence their indefatigable application to various objects of art and industry, their domestic taste and assiduity, their affections and attachments more lively and more constant, and their mode of seeing and feeling more various, more singular, more frank, and more genuine. Each person has a disposition so peculiar and so strongly marked, that he seldom, as the saying is, can cordially draw with another. When they meet there is a sort of constraint and embarrassment evinced by their ceremo- nious behaviour, unless it be among those of the members of the same usual society. On those occasions, traits of simplicity and good-nature often escape, of which men, accustomed to the usual routine of the world, have no conception, but to the observer of mankind cannot fail to endear the men of Zurich." It is not very probable that this representation of the retired domestic life of the people of Zurich, exhibited by one of them- selve, who had spent twenty of his best years in the first so- cieties of Paris, will tempt many inhabitants of that great city to imitate it : but after all may I not ask whether, even in Paris, a man is not the less alone, because he is not in his own house in the midst of his family ? Is it not because men are absolutely dying of ennui, that they are there in the constant pursuit of what is called pleasure. Having left France early in the revolution, and resided for twenty-six years, first in North America, and after- wards in England, my native country was become to me a strange land. Multitudes of observations on the manners of my country- men struck me, which made no impression on those who had always remained at home. Often, for instance, have I walked in an evening from the one end of the Boulevards of Paris to the other, and after an hour or two, returning the same way * M. Meislor, in his vnlrrlaining " Journey from Zurich to Zurich," flic author of one liaif oi' the celebrated letters published under the name of Baron Giiuim. 46 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, have remarked the very same figures, fixed in the same place and the same attitudes. Of these persons the greater part consisted of men somewhat advanced in life, seated for the evening on three chairs, one for the arm, another for the leg, and the third for the principal support. Alone in the midst of the moving multitude, there they sat, the eye fixed and vacant, the com- plexion weather-beaten, the air dissatisfied with themselves and consequently with others. The precise emblems of languor and wearisomeness, there they passed their time, night after night, for want of money perhaps to go to the theatre or the cotlee- house, or for want of a private-house to which they could or cared to go, or, in fine, for Want of knowing how to stay at home, or to occupy themselves when at home. A chair in a saloon, where youjare the passive hearer of the idle talk of other persons, is not half so good as the three chairs on the Boulevards; and the theatre, where the same piece is given over and over again, can have no great charms. Hence it is that in no part of the world do you see so many faces, long, withered, chagrined, care- worn, as among that nation who represent themselves, and who are gratuitously believed by others, to be the most joyous people on earth. A man of high rank, who, to escape from the indis- criminating dangers of our revolution, passed several years in the Russian service, in the sequestered society of the Crimea, on the Black Sea, acknowledged to his friends that he used to go to bed at seven o'clock, because, in the Crimea, he knew not where nor how to pass the evening. But to return to Zurich. It is strange, indeed incomprehensible, that the people of Zu- rich, so well informed on many other topics, have wholly, as one may say, neglected the study of political economy, of the princi- ples of jurisprudence, and of civil liberty. " Criminal prosecu- tions," said a very sensible and candid citizen of the town, " are still conducted in our canton in a very arbitrary manner. They afford no protection to the accused party against the ill-will or the ignorance of the judge, who can keep him in prison as long as he chooses, without bringing him not to trial only but even to examination. The interrogatories are carried on in private, in the presence of only the beadle of the court, of the clerk, and, when the inquisitorial examination is deemed necessary, of the executioner who is to apply the scourge. This last part of the business is performed with greater or less severity, according to the humour of the judge, or to his idea of the guilt of the ac- cused. On some occasions the supposed criminal is confined for five, eight, ten days, in a damp dark deep dungeon, in which he can neither stand nor lie at his length : for the law absolutely insists on the confession of the accused, before he can be pu- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 47 nished." But it must be observed, that such are the manners and habits of the magistrates of Zurich, that instances of the abuses and injustice, to which such a system must naturally be liable, are, in the present times, extremely rare, especially within the town. In the country-districts, however, where public opinion must of course be less influential, equal propriety in the administration of justice is perhaps less attended to. Whilst Switzerland was under the dominion of revolutionary France, in the close of the late century, justice was distributed according to a certain code, such as it was, in which no species of torture was permitted. When the counter-revolution, how- ever, took place in 1802, the ancient arbitrary system was re- stored in all its purity. Bonaparte, as protector of the Helvetic confederation, took care that no improvement should be intro- duced into what was called the paternal administration. It was, Uierefore, re-established with all its defects ; well knowing that, by so doing, whatever the heads of the family might feel or say, he should have all the children of the family on his side. Ma- nifest, as certainly are the defects of the present judiciary system of France, it may be considered as the perfection of jurisprudence when compared with that of some cantons of Switzerland. As every human institution must be judged by comparison, all over Italy the people regret the loss of what they call French justice. For nothing can be conceived equal to the barbaric stupidity and corruption of the tribunals which, from pure spirit of contradiction, although evidently in opposition to their true interests, the old governments of that ill-fated country have, by force of arms, again imposed on their people. The administration of Zurich make a sort of secret of the population of the canton : supposed to run from 180 to 200,000. That of the town, and the two dependent villages, which is better known, is 12,600. The births, one year with another, 465 ; and the deaths, although Zurich be in a very healthy situation, 592. But the population is kept up from the country, whilst many of the old people, no longer fit for husbandry labour, draw into town and there disappear. The hospitals, supported by voluntary contributions, are excellently managed and abundantly provided by the active and generous charity of the citizens, who spare neither their person nor their purse in the direction and main- tainance of all the public establishments. Anonymous gifts of forty or fifty guineas are not rare. The benevolent society, founded in 1799, in consequence of the distress brought on by the French invasion, by twelve private persons, who subscribed four guineas each, had, in the course of eight years, received no less a sum than 5,146 guineas. But we must recollect that this 48 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, was in a remote town in the interior of Switzerland. What is the charitable establishment in Paris, for example, to which indi- viduals, in the same number of years, have contributed an equal proportion to their population, or seventy times five thousand one hundred and forty-six guineas'? The Savings-bank, the best of all institutions, in a political as well as in a moral sense, was already mentioned. Another kind of Savings-bank in Zurich deserves particular attention. The difficulty experienced by men of capital in placing their funds, afforded to the peasants such facilities for borrowing money, by mortgage, on their several portions of land, that they gave themselves up to pur- chasing more, at an exorbitant price. Thence ensued many forced sales, far below the real value of the land in mortgage. Now, however, the government of the canton takes charge of the funds of individuals, at an interest of three and a half per cent. The money thus received, is laid out in the funds of several foreign countries, where it obtains a higher interest ; and the difference goes to discharge all the expences of the transactions. If there be any surplus of interest it is repaid to the lenders. In the establishment for the education of the Blind, besides be- ing instructed in several kinds of manufacture of utility and value, the unfortunate pupils are taught to write, with metallic types, furnished with points which penetrate the paper and pro- duce a relief on the opposite side, perceptible by the finger. In this manner they can read and perform several operations in arithmetic. Passing their hands over the letters ranged before them, they make no mistakes, their operations being almost as quick as those of a compositor in printing. The public library of Zurich contains, with many other curious and valuable manuscripts, some original letters of a very affecting interest in the minds of Englishmen. There are three written in Latin, to the celebrated Divine of the reformation, Bullinger, by the illustrious and ill-fated Lady Jane Grey ; whose great progress in learning, her beauty and accomplish- ments, and her untimely fate on the scaffold in her seventeenth year, cannot fail to excite the sympathy of every compassionate heart. This princess, the niece of Henry VIII., fair and virtu- ous, w r as a prodigy of learning. She suffered on the scaffold, at the age of seventeen, together with her young husband, merely because her title to the throne of England gave umbrage to her Cousin-German, the daughter of Henry, the fanatic and sangui- nary Mary, Queen of England, who married her fellow in ty- ranny and cruelty, Philip II. of Spain. As a specimen of the productions of this interesting young lady, I here introduce the second of her letters to Bullinger, which is the shortest. In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 49 Ad HENRICUM BULLINGERUM Tigurinae Ecclesiae Ministrum, Epistola Secunda." " Facere non possum, ni nimis ingrata, officii immemor, et beneficiis tuis indigna videri velim, vir ornatissime, quin in singulas res meritaque tua, quse plurima fuerunt, gratias tibi in- gentes agam. Quanqiiam mehercule et id cum pudore facio ; neque enim tanta necessitudo quantam tu mihi tecum esse vohiisti, neque tot beneficia a te in me his prorsus indignam collata, tan turn modo gratiarum actionem videntur desiderare, neque ego lubenter pro maximis tuis beneficiis tarn vili orationis munere defungor. Hoc etiam non nihil angit animum meum, cum ad litteras quas tanto viro darem excogitandas, quam parum idonea sim mecum perpendo. " Neque certe meis naeniis puerilibusque nugis tuam gravi- tatem perturbare, aut tanta barbaric tuae eloquentiae obstrepere, vellem atque auderem ; nisi et nullo me alio tibi gratificari posse scirem, et de tua solita satisque perspecta mihi humanitate hand dubitarem. De litteris autem quas proxime abs te accepi sic habeto. Posteaquam semel atque iterum (nam semel non vide- batur satis) eas legissem, tantum fructus reportasse ex tuis praeclaris et vere theologicis praeceptis visa sum, quantum ex diuturna optimorum auctorum lectione vix eram assequuta. Suades ut veram sinceramque in Christo servatore meo fidem amplectar. Tibi in hac parte, 9 Vo o 95c Scin enitar satis- facere. Sed donum Dei agnosco earn esse, et proinde tantum polliceri debeo, quantum Dominus impertierit ; neque tamen cum Apostolis orare desistam, ut earn mihi sua benignitate in dies augere velit. Huic etiam, Deo juvante, ut jubes adjungam vitas puritatem, quam meae heu nimium infirmse ! vires praes- tare poterunt. Tu interea, pro tua pietate, in oratione tua mei quotidie facias mentionem rogo. Ad Hebraicge linguae studium earn ingrediar viam quam tu fidelissime monstras. " Vale, et Deus te, in hac suscepta abs te prbvincia, tueatur et provehat aetemum. " Tibi ad omnia pietatis officia paratissima. " JOHANNA GRAIA," On the outside of the letter is written this address, in the hand of Lady Jane herself. "ColendissimoviroHenricoBullengero hne tradantur litterae." Lower down, by another hand, " Ducis Suffolcias, F. 1552."* * TRANSLATION. Second epistte from Lady Jane Grey to Honry Bnllin^or. " It is impossible for me, unless I would appear too ungrateful, too un- mindful, too umvorihy of lliy favours, most excellent man, not to return my VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. G 50 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, In the library are preserved some Roman inscriptions, disco- vered in the environs of Zurich : one found within the circuit of the present town, in 1747, mentions it under the denomina- tion of a station of Turicensians. STA. TVRICEN. from which it appears that Turicum was the ancient name of the place, and not Tigurum, as had till then been supposed. The pagus Tigurinus, mentioned by Caesar as one of the four districts or cantons of Helvetia in his time, is now, therefore, referred to the canton of Uri, although greatly abridged in extent of territory. The library contains also a plan or model in relief of Switzer- land, exhibiting, when I saw it,, in 1817, all the lakes (except best thanks for thy manifold services and kindnesses conferred on me. Nor is it in ray power to acquit myself of this duty without some feeling of shame. For the connection and intercourse between thee and me have, I regret to say, not been so close as thou hadst desired; and the many benefits bestowed by thee on me, so little worthy of them, demand, on my part, an acknow- ledgment of some other kind (and gladly would I grant it) than mere verbal expressions of my gratitude. In even this mode of acknowledging thy kind- ness it is with no small reluctance, when I think how unfit I am for the undertaking, that I venture to prepare a letter for such a person as thou art. It is neither my wish, nor should I presume but for certain reasons, to in- trude on thy serious and important occupations, with my childish trifling correspondence ; nor to shock the purity of thy eloquence witli the barba- rism of my composition. It is not, however, in my power, in any other way to gratify thee and comply with thy request : nor do I apprehend that this letter will not be received with thy usually experienced indulgence. Concerning thy last letter I have only this to say. Having perused it over and over again (for one single reading of such an epistle was, in my opinion, by no means sufficient) I seemed to myself to reap as much benefit from thy most valuable precepts, precepts worthy of such a divine, as I had ever ac- quired from the daily perusal of the works of the best of other authors. It is thy counsel that I should hold fast the pure and true faith in Christ my Sa- viour. In this point, in as far as God shall enable me, I endeavour to con- form to thy request. But as this I- acknowledge to be the gift of God, I therefore promise to follow thy advice in as far as the Lord shall assist me. I will on this, account, therefore, after the example of the apostles, never cease to pray that, through his mercy, he would increase rny faith from day to day. To this part of duty I will unite, by God's help, purity of life, in as far as my, alas ! too feeble powers can accomplish it. Do thou therefore, as becomes thy piety, remember me I request thee in thy daily prayers. With respect to the study of the Hebrew language, that course which thou hast so ably and couscienciously pointed out, I will scrupulously pursue. Farewell! and may God, in that office which thou hast undertaken, de- fend and preserve thee, and prosper thee to all eternity. Thine alway ready to show my affectionate veneration, JANE GRAY. On the outside the letter is thus addressed, in the band-writing of Jane, " To the most venerable H*NRY BULLING ER, this letter to be delivered." And lower down, by a different hand, " The Daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, 1553." In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 51 those of Geneva and Neuchatel), the high Alps, and nearly the whole country. The completion of this very curious and in- structive work was still going forward. It is much bet,.; executed, and on a larger scale, than that constructed by Gene- ral Pfyffer of Lucerne ; but that respectable old officer had the merit of introducing such a kind of representation of a country, and the whole measurements were taken by himself, by the con- tinued exertions of many painful years. I shall say more on this subject when I come to Lucerne. Zitg, 6th Juli/.-^r-From Zurich we travelled in a slanting direction southwards, by a delightful road and country along the west bank of the lake, until we arrived at the summit of the Albis, along narrow ridge, which might pass for a considerable hill in the vicinity of Paris or of London; but in Switzerland is almost unnoticed. Quite on the summit is a village with an inn, also called Albis. The views, from an eminence in front of the inn, are both extensive and beautiful, over a great variety of fertile country, well wooded, and decorated with the pictu- resque ruins of many an ancient castle, in which the peaceful muslin-weaver, of the nineteenth century, has succeeded to the turbulent petty tyrants of the fourteenth. At the bottom of the hill the road passes over the field of battle of Cappel, a few miles short of Zug. The disputes relative to religion at last came to an open rupture between the Roman Catholic and the Protestant cantons. On the llth October, 1531, the armies met at Cappel, and the Protestants were defeated. The great reformer, Zwin- glius of Zurich, who attended in his ecclesiastical capacity, to administer consolation to the wounded and the dying, was himself mortally wounded in the field. Some soldiers of the enemy bid him invoke the Virgin. Making a negative sign with his head, one of the fanatics ran him through with his sword, and his body was burnt as a heretic confessed, and the ashes scattered in the wind. The death of that eminent man was much more lamented than the loss of the battle ; and had it not been for the recollection of his exhortations, and the read- ing of his writings, which breathe a spirit of moderation, pru- dence, and disinterestedness, the reformation ran the risk of being overturned in Switzerland. The little town of Zug is pleasantly seated on the east brink of the lake, near its northern end. In 1435, the winter was so intensely cold that the Rhine was frozen up, along its whole course down to the sea in Holland. The lake of Zurich, and even that of Constance, the deepest of all, were traversed in all directions by horses and carriages on the ice. The magistrates of Zurich humanely forbade the killing of the game that, com- pelled by necessity, entered the streets of the town, in search of G2 52 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, food. On the 4th of March the ice beginning to thaw on the lake of Zug, the ground opened in several places along the margin, and, in the night, two whole streets and a part of the walls of the town, sunk down into the water, and disappeared. The greater number of the inhabitants, alarmed by the rents in the ground during the day, saved themselves ; but sixty persons perished, among whom were the chief magistrate of the canton. His son, an infant in the cradle, was found floating on the lake without injury, and afterwards filled the office of his father. The lake of Zug is the deepest after that of Constance, being, at the south-end, full two hundred fathoms in depth. The revolutionary army of France, to punish Zug for its opposition to the projected unitary constitution, took military possession of the country by eleven thousand troops, although the whole canton, the smallest in all Switzerland, contains only twelve thousand five hundred inhabitants of all sorts, and for three years together the number of French was never below two thousand. We were amazed and edified by the modera- tion with which, in Zug, and, indeed, in most other quarters of Switzerland, the people spoke of those unhappy times. They considered their sufferings as if they had proceeded from an earthquake, or the fall of a mountain. They were visited, as they said, by a scourge from a Divine hand, in which men, in- deed, were the instruments, but the direction of the whole came evidently from heaven, against which they dared not to com- plain. The canton of Zug is wholly Roman Catholic. Embarking at Zug we proceeded the whole length of the lake in three hours to Art, sitviated at the southern extremity ; to mount to the summit of the Righi-berg, and afterwards con- tinue our route by Schwitz, Uri, and Underwalden. The land around the lake is of moderate elevation ; but the Righi rises to the height of four thousand seven hundred feet above the sea. From the peculiarity of its position, in the midst of the most romantic scenery of lakes and mountains, it commands admirable prospects, in all directions, of the high Alps as well as of the plains. It is seldom, however, that the curious stranger can be gratified wi'th these prospects ; for the summit is rarely free from the clouds and vapours which rise from the lakes ; and the mountain being in a manner detached from any other of equal height, the winds assail it with a fury which nothing can withstand. Landing at Art we experienced, for the third time, as if we had now, for the first time, entered Switzerland. But, indeed, we were, in some measure, prepared for something out of the common way ; for the boat in which we, our carriage, horses, and driver were transported from Zug to Art, for about ten shillings, was navigated by a whole family. They consisted of In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 53 two brothel's, the wife of one of them, with their young girl and little boy. The girl had her hair in long tresses, turned round on the top of her head a r antique, and secured by a thick silver bodkin, nine inches long, with a head in the shape of a spoon. Her lower garments full but short, white-stockings, jacket party- coloured scarlet and black, and sleeves tucked up. This taste for party-coloured dress seems to have been imitated from the armorial bearings of the old thirteen cantons, the half of which have no other emblem than a plain shield, divided in two by different colours. Early in the morning we began our march for the summit of the Righi-berg. In half an hour we came opposite to the ruins of the Ross-berg, a hill which, by its fall, in 1806, buried great part of the valley between it and the Righi, together with five or six villages, comprising, together, one hundred and eleven houses. Besides the great number of unfortunate persons wounded and crippled, no fewer than four hundred and iifty- seven perished outright. Of the multitude overwhelmed by the ruins of the mountain, and of their houses, only seventeen could be dug out alive and restored to lite. This mountain rises three thousand six hundred feet above the lake of Zug, but the Righi eight hundred more. Mounting with our horses, for nearly two hours, up the north-east side of the Righi, we there alighted, and in a quarter of an hour more arrived at the Capu- chin-convent, a place of pilgrimage resorted to by the inhabi- tants of the environs, of whom we met several on their return, singing hymns in German, with all their might. Refreshing i* 5 i -i i ourselves here a moment with goat-whey, we continued our ascent to the summit of the mountain, where we finally arrived in another hour and a half, in all three hours and a half from the base. The summit is a verdant platform, called Righi- Kulm, on which is a little building of timber, lately erected tor the accommodation of travellers, who, like us, wish to behold the sun go down and rise again, over the whole of Switzerland. This is the advanced post of the Alps, of which the nearest chain, glistening with perpetual snow and ice, stretches irregu- larly along the southern horizon, but without any sensible inter- ruption, troth the Glarnisch near Glaris on the east, to the Oberland or mountains of the southern canton of Bern on the west. But the second chain, which separates Switzerland from Italy, is, in a great measure, masked by the first, because, al- though in general much more elevated, it is much farther off from our observatory on the Righi. Mount Rosa, that ambi- tious rival of Mont Blanc, is concealed by the Finster-Aar- Horn, although more lofty by fourteen hundred feet, and the Mont Blanc itself by the Blumlis-Alp, of far less elevation, but 54 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, much nearer to the Righi. On turning your face to the north- ward you discover the other half of the horizon, commanding the whole valley of the Rhine, from its entrance into the lake of Constance until it leave Switzerland at Basil, and from Basil the range of the Jura on the west. In this panorama you compre- hend three-fourths of Switzerland, and fourteen of the lakes. Those who have been fortunate enough to behold it in its per- fection, state that it is about a quarter of an hour before sun- rise, and before the vapours ascend to load the atmosphere, that this map is seen to the best advantage. On the summit of the Righi, and near to its perpendicular precipice, is a crevice of the whole depth of the mountain. If you approach this fearful depth (which by the bye is best done creeping on all fours and lying flat on the brink) by throwing a large stone into this cre- vice, you will see it make its appearance a thousand feet below on the side of the mountain; then bound for a moment on the snow, which even in summer does not always melt away in that place, and again resume its verticle fall of five or six hundred fathoms, until it be lost in the lake of Zug. Who can believe that hostile armies w r ould, in our own times, have chosen the summit of the Righi-berg for a field of battle, and taken the pains to climb up that insulated pillar, the ruins still standing of an ancient world, in order to contest the pos- session of it ? Yet so it was ! In 1799 the French posted themselves on the summit of the mountain, and the Austrians endeavoured to dislodge them, by mounting the steep southern face, which rises over the lake of Lucerne. For two or three days they expended their powder to no purpose, forgetting that between them and the French lay a broad and deep ravine, be- yond which, their shot could be of no avail. The serenity of the air the whole day while we were on the Righi-Kulm promised us a fine sun-set, and a fine sun-rise some hours afterwards : we prepared ourselves, therefore, to lose none of the magnificent effects of the light on the highest Alps, the only objects illuminated by the sun, while the lower world still was involved in the shades of night. The lower world was, indeed, involved in darkness, and the lofty Alps were, indeed, illuminated, but it was with a very different light. A few clouds had, in the evening, assembled round the lofty peak of Mount Pilate, or, the Pilatus-berg, on our south-west, beyond the lake of Lucerne, rising a full English mile perpendicularly above the lake, and in a manner detached from all the other mountains. This assemblage of clouds, as we learned from our old guide, was a sure prognostic of a serious thunder-storm : but it was now too late to think of descending the mountain, to some place of shelter and safety. Near the summit of Mount Pilate is a small In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 55 lake, on which a cloud frequently forms. When this cloud, in- stead of rising up and dispersing in the air, remains adhering to the rocks which inclose the little lake, then one may be assured that a violent storm of lightning and thunder will speedily follow. In the middle ages, from this phenomenon, the lake was known by the name of the infernal pool, in which Pontius Pilate drowned himself, and went down to his own place, after the commission of his most criminal injustice : hence the name of Mount Pilate. Another origin, rather more rational for the appellation is, that it proceeds from mons pileatus^ the capped, or hatted mountain ; but the former, as furnishing more scope for imagination and credulity, is the favourite in the country. In former times the council of Lucerne prohibited, under severe penalties, any one from approaching the lake on the summit of the peak, because Pilate took such familiarity in no small dudgeon, and expressed his anger in fire and fumes. Whether our ascent, although not on his mountain, to nearly an equal elevation, had given him umbrage, I dare not decide; but he certainly pulled his hat over his brows with a scowling air, just as we had hoped he would preserve in the night the same good-humour as throughout the day. We reckoned without our host, however, for the night became uncommonly obscure, and the wind swelled, by a gradual increase, to a furious hurricane, which very sensibly shook our habitation. The building was too firmly compacted of stout timbers for us to fear it would crush us in its fall, but it was not impossible that it might be torn from the foundations, and bodily carried away, with us in it, over the precipice. Empedocles, we are told, leaped into the fire in the crater of Etna : another sage philosopher, the sooner to arrive in the Pla- tonic Elysium, leapt into the waters of the sea; but we had no desire to imitate those heroic exploits, nor did we dare to quit our tottering abode ; for no man, even had he known and seen his way, could for a moment have withstood the violence of the gale. From second to second the forked lightning shot across the obscurity, and the instantaneous report of the explosion showed that we were in the very focus of the grand operation around us. The sole terrestrial object more elevated than our position, which might serve as a conductor to the electric fluid in which we seemed to be involved, was a wooden cross erected about forty steps from us. This cross, therefore, without any improper allusion, became the object of our regard and hopes, and, at every flash, we looked towards it to see whether it still kept its place. It fortunately stood while we were on the mountain, but I have since heard that it afterwards was struck by the lightning, and shivered in pieces. Having passed this most uncomfortable night, we found in the album, or register, preserved in the house 56 Stmond's Travels in Switzerland, on the summit, in which it is customary for visitors to insert their names, that very few of ^hem, indeed, had been pleased with the climate of the Righi, and, consequently, with their expedition. As for ourselves, the thunder-storm deprived us of all prospect of either heaven or earth in the evening, and the morning was ushered in by rain, or, at least, by a dense fog, equivalent to rain, which rendered our descent very laborious, over the roots of trees in the middle and lower regions of the Righi. In Zurich, Lucerne, Geneva, &c. may be found a pa- noramic plan, pointing out the bearing and name of every summit, or other object of note, to be seen from Mount Kighi, executed by a Swiss officer of rank, after great trouble, as may be supposed from what has been just said of the fickleness of the weather on that spot. Schwitz, 8th July. Opposite to the Righi-berg, on the north-east side of the valley which leads from the lake of Zug, at Art, into the canton of Schwitz, is the Ross-berg, by the fall of a portion of the summit of which was occasioned the dread- ful disaster of the 2d of September, 1805, a ready noticed. The fragments of the mountain descended with such force and rapidity as to reach to the little lake of Lowertz, in the valley, distant from the summit, south-east, a league and a half, and to the base of the Righi on the south, distant a league and a quar- ter. The lower extremity of the materials brought down, mea- sured along the base of the Righi to the lake, is a little more than a league : the perpendicular height of the triangular space covered by the ruins of the mountain, may be about half as much. The Ross-berg is wholly composed of strata of breccia, or pudding-stone, parallel to one another, but dipping to south- east at an angle of 25 or 30 degrees, and separated by thin beds of clay and marl. When these substances are moistened by the filtration of rain-water, and are changed into viscous mud, the layer of stone, resting on them, having an inclination outwards from the body of the mountain, has a tendency to slide down, just as we see a ship slide from the stocks into the sea. Acci- dents of this kind had formerly happened in the valley ; but by the course of time the vestiges had nearly disappeared, and been forgotten. But since the disaster of 1806 the symptoms of a similar accident are now so well known that few lives can, probably, be lost by them. The summer of that year had been extremely rainy, and it had rained hard the day of the accident and the evening before. In the morning a number of crevices were observed in the slopes of the mountain, and a cracking noise was heard from the interior. Little eminences appeared in what had before been smooth turf, which opened and ejected stones. Small portions of rock, from time to time, detached In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 57 themselves from the upper part of the mountain, and descended to the base. At two in the afternoon a large rock rolled down with great noise, raising a cloud of black dust in the air. At the bottom of the mountain the ground seemed to be in motion, and crevices and cracks appeared where it was touched. A peasant working in his garden, seeing the spade which he had stuck in the ground moving of itself, fled with precipitation. Soon afterwards an opening appeared on the slope, which gra- dually, but very slowly, enlarged itself: the springs ceased 'to flow ; multitudes of birds took to the wing in great disorder, uttering shrill unnatural screams. A little before five in the afternoon every symptom of some awful catastrophe became more and more manifest. At intervals the upper part of the mountain seemed to slide down as on an inclined plane, but still very slowly, and frequently it stopt altogether. An old man, who had often foretold the approaching disaster, was quietly smoking his Spe, when he was informed that the Ross-berg was falling, oing out of his house to look at it he returned, saying he had time enough to fill his pipe a second time. The neighbour who had given the alarm continued his course down to the valley, but was thrown down several times, and with difficulty escaped. On looking back the house of the old man had disappeared. An inhabitant of one of the villages that were destroyed was at the door of his house, built of timber, with his wife and three children, at the moment of the great explosion. Snatching up two of them he called to his wife to follow with the other : but she staid behind an instant to fetch out a fourth, Marianne, aged five years. Frances Ulrich, the female servant, took Marianne by the hand, and hurrying her along, "in an instant," as she said afterwards, " the house seemed to be torn from its founda- tions, arid to turn round on itself like a reel ; so that, at one time, I found myself on my head, at another on my feet, and the day became as dark as night." Being separated from the child, by the violence of the shock, she remained suspended among the ruins, her head downwards, and her body squeezed on every part, her face bruised and suffering very acute pain : she imagined herself to be interred alive at a great depth under ground. After many efforts the poor girl succeeded in extricating her right hand with which she wiped her eyes streaming with blood. In this horrible state she heard the groans of the little Marianne, and called to her. The child answered, explaining her situation, that she was lying on her back in the midst of stones and bushes ; that she was unable to rise, but that her hands were at liberty, and that she could perceive the day-light and even the green field. She asked if nobody would come to extricate them. "It is the day of judgement," answered Frances, " there are none but VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. H 58 Simond's Trawls in Switzerland^ ourselves in the world : we also will soon die, and then we shall be happy in heaven ;" and then they prayed together. After a long time, the sound of a bell was heard, which the servant knew to be that of a neighbouring village, and afterwards seven o'clock struck, all which convinced her that there were other people in the world besides themselves. She now endeavoured to comfort the child, who cried for her supper ; but by degrees Marianne's voice grew weaker and Frances heard her no more. Hanging with her head downwards, surrounded with wet earth, she suffered insupportable pain from the cold in her feet. She at last, after many efforts, disengaged her legs, which, no doubt, preserved her life. Many hours passed away in this dreadful state, when she again heard the voice of the child, vrho had fallen asleep, and now again began her cries and complaints. The unhappy father, who had with the greatest difficulty saved him- self with the two children, one of whom had been, for a moment, involved in the rubbish of the mountain, came back at day- break, to search among the ruins for the remainder of his family. At a distance of five hundred yards from the spot where his house originally stood, he discovered the dead body of his wife, one of her feet appearing above ground, who it would seem had been suffocated with the child she carried in her arms. His loud lamentations, and the noise he made in labouring to extri- cate the bodies, were heard by the little Marianne, who lay near the spot, and called to him with all her might. She was found with a broken leg, but nevertheless was wholly occupied about the servant whom she knew to be at no great distance. She was also drawn from under the ruins, but in such a state that little hopes were entertained of her recovery, and, for a consi- derable time, continued subject to convulsions and fits of terror. An infant of two years of age was found safe and sound on its mattrass, resting on a muddy pool ; but not a vestige of the house in which the infant was, at the time of the catastrophe, could be traced. The rocks and stones thrown all the way to the lake of Lowertz, a league and a half from the Ross-berg, filled up a considerable part of it, and drove back the water with such violence that, rising up like a wall, and passing over the isle of Schwanau, on which, very lately, lived a hermit, and which was about seventy feet higher than the common surface of the lake, this tremendous wave invaded the opposite shore, sweeping houses and inhabitants to a great distance on the lands of Schwitz ; and, in its return, carried many others back into the lake. The chapel of Olten, constructed of timber, was found half a league from the spot on which it formerly stood. Many large blocks of stone were lifted up and removed to a distance. In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 59 The most considerable of the five villages on the base, and in the valley of the Ross-berg, which were buried under the ruins of the mountain, was Goldau, which has since given name to the whole catastrophe. A company of eleven persons, of the principal families of Bern, went to Art, on the lake of Zug, on the 2d of September, in the view of making an excursion to the summit of the Righi-berg, and proceeded on foot a few minutes before the accident took place. Seven of them had gone for- ward two hundred yards before the others, and had entered the village of Goldau. They were seen by the other four, pointing up to the summit of the Koss-berg, where a singular commotion was perceptible at the distance of a league. These last stopped to examine the phenomenon, with a pocket-telescope. At the in- stant stones began to fly through the air, over their heads, like shot from a cannon ; a thick cloud of dust filled the valley, and concealed every object ; a horrible noise was heard, which made them flee for safety. When the dark clouds were somewhat dis- persed, the four returned towards Goldau ; but fragments of rock and dust from the mountain, to the thickness of a hundred feet, completely covered the village, of which not a vestige was to be seen, the whole tract being one mass of ruins. One of the four called and lamented his young wife, another his son, a third, the two young gentlemen of whom he was the preceptor. Every exertion was made, but in vain, to discover the unfortunate sufferers. After some time the bell of the church of Goldau was found three quarters of a mile from its original position. It was remarked, that the torrents of mud from the Ross-berg, less susceptible of impulse, made their way down the hollows to the lake of Lowertz, but that the solid fragments of rock conti- nued their course right across the valley, and up a considerable way on -the base of the Righi. The trees were cut in many places, as if they had been exposed to a cannonade. When we passed that way, a few scattered huts, and some attempts at cul- tivation, were all that could be discovered in the valley of Gol- dau. Many ages must, probably, pass away, before the com- plete sterility of the present ground be overcome, where not a blade of natural grass is found among the rubbish. Great charge and labour will also be required to drain the deep pools of stand- ing corrupted water, which have been formed in the very irre- gular surface of the ruins of the mountain. A few miserable children, pale, emaciated, and tattered, came round us asking alms, the melancholy remains of a population formerly distin- guished by their prosperity, their handsome figure, and their moral conduct. Too much time may, perhaps, in the opinion of some readers, have been employed in stating the particulars of the fall of the H2 60 Simond's Travels irt Switzerland, Ross-berg. Abstractedly, however, from the sympathy which must be felt for the unhappy sutlerers on the occasion, and their surviving friends, especially when you are on the spot, the man- ner and progress of the catastrophe lead us to form some plau- sible conjectures on the manner and progress of other changes in the surface of our globe. That such changes have taken place we may every day be convinced ; but it is seldom that we have opportunities of following their course, much less of tracing the operation of their causes. Similar accidents are not unfre- quent in Switzerland : but in as far as my observation or information go, they have always taken place in mountains of secondary or tertiary formation, the strata of which are inclined outwards, and are, at the same time, separated by substances susceptible of decomposition, or dissolution by water, from rain, or melted snow. Of this a remarkable example occurred in the spring and summer of 1795, on the south side of the Righi itself. A number of crevices and fissures were observed in the ground, about one third of the way up the mountain. At day break of the 16th of July, the inhabitants of the side of the lake, who during the night had heard a noise they could not explain, ob- served a stream, or rather a plain of mud, of pretty thick con- sistency, of a brick-red colour, three quarters of a mile in breadth, and from one to ten fathoms in depth, advancing down the slope. Its progress was so slow, that those who found themselves in the line of its course had sufficient time to remove their effects. Similar in its manner of proceeding to the lava from a volcano, this stream of semi-liquid mud accumulated when it came to any obstacle, until it rose so high as to pass over it, or sometimes it carried the obstacle along before it. This eruption continued to act for some days, and changed into a barren desert what had before been fertile cultivated fields : but the industry of the people of the district has since effaced, in a great measure, the traces of the disaster. The cause was evidently the infiltration of water into the beds of clay or earth interposed between the beds of rock ; and, the earth giving way to the pressure of the mountain, four or five hundred fathoms of perpendicular elevation above it, made its way to the surface, in the shape of fluid mud. The rocks that have fallen from the Ross-berg, as also those on the insulated peak of the Righi-berg, consist of fragments rounded by friction ; they belong to every kind of formation, from granite down to lime-stone; from schistus to basalt. Some of these rolled fragments are seen of three, and even of four feet diameter. The whole range of mountains, situated in a certain line, which extends from the upper part of the lake of Constance to that of Geneva, may be considered as composed In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 61 of similar fragments, conglomerated by a common cement, so exceedingly hard and tenacious, that the fragments sooner break under the hammer than detach themselves from it. From the protuberant form and appearance of these rounded fragments, the Germans have adopted their nagel flue (nail-heads), and puding- stein, imitated from the pudding-stone of the English naturalists. From the breccia of the Italians we, in France, have borrowed our brcche. These rounded fragments are not heaped together irregularly, but disposed in. beds of various thickness, but always parallel among themselves, and separated, at intervals, by some earthy layers. They are all inclined, or dip down to the south-east, and present their open face to the north-west. It is difficult to resist the idea, that these strata must have been, successively, de- posited in some tranquil medium, as in the bottom of the ocean, after the fragments of which they are composed had received their present form by the friction of torrents, or of the waves 011 the sea-shore. What variety of operations must the substances have undergone before they arrived at their present state ! First of all, we have organized bodies, a world of living beings, ani- mals, plants. Secondly, the same substances mineralized or transformed into stone.* Thirdly, these stones broken into pieces, the fragments rolled and rounded by the friction of a long course of ages, next deposited, in perfect tranquillity, under the pressure of deep waters, bound together, incorporated, hardened stratum super-stratum, to a vast height. Fourthly, this crust of the earth then elevated from the bottom of the seas, to form new continents, but torn, worn down, broken by the waters of the ocean, rapidly poured into a new receptacle, with a current of which the prodigious force is wholly inconceiveable, and which can be judged of by its visible effects alone. From observing the nature of the substances deposited in the range of mountains just mentioned, .and their mode -of disposition, it * It is not less remarkable than certainly true, that, amid the endless va- riety of mineralized animals and animal substances, not the smallest vestige- or indication of human structure, bones, &c., has ever yet been discovered among the strata of the earth ; although many are found of other animals, even of kinds now extinct. Were a catastrophe of the nature here alluded to now to take place, human bones would exceed in number those of all the other animals, now existing in the world, taken together. Matter every \vherc exhibits the impression of a world of living animals, of which man formed no portion. Hence, as we learn from the most ancient records of the world, in its present state, the creation of mani was posterior to that of all other animals, and his origin must have been very different from theirs. Human bones have, undoubtedly, been discovered in the earth, but never mineralized, never but in alluvial or other situations, the formation ot which may be traced to a comparatively modern dale. 62 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, would appear that the force which acted on them proceeded from the south-east, and tended to the north-west. Thus the granite of the summits of the high Alps, for instance, are found in loose unconnected blocks, on those faces only of the moun- tains of Switzerland which are turned towards those Alps. Such are the Righi, the Ross-berg, the Mount Pilate, the whole chain of Mount Jura, &c. On the other hand, the fragments of the breccia of the Righi and the Ross-berg are never found among the southern Alps. For the same cause could not act in oppo- site directions. The breccia of the Righi, as well as the gra- nite of the Alps, has been carried to the north-west. Fragments of both are found in the canton of Zurich; but none of the breccia has been carried south-east, into the canton of Uri. The cause of this singular phenomenon can only be conjectured ; but the existence of that cause is proved by unquestionable facts. A vast extent of whitish soil, destitute of all vegetation, marks the encroachment on the western parts of the lake of Lowertz, by the fall of the Ross-berg. We went eastward, along the south-bank, on a narrow causey on the level of the lake, under the rocks which spring up vertically, in a pic- turesque manner, and entered on the flourishing valley of Schwitz, the image of what was, some years ago, the ruined valley of Goldau. The town of Schwitz, or rather the large village, is well built, the houses substantial, and the inhabitants have an air of ease and comfort. From this place, the whole of Switzerland has obtained its name, because the inhabitants of this canton displayed the most patriotic spirit and "valour in the first foundation of their country's deliverance from the yoke of the house of Austria. The inn in Schwitz (the Stag) is kept by his excellency the landamann of the canton, and his son, a young man of good education and genteel manners, honoured me so far as to attend me at supper. My former landlord, in Glaris, a very sensible man, was a counsellor of state, and one of the judges. This is rather stronger than any thing of the sort in the United States of North America. There, indeed, after the revolutionary war, numbers of colonels and generals kept inns ; but never any judges of the supreme courts, nor governors of states. By the war brought on by French intrigue and invasion, the people of Schwitz were driven to the most wretched plight ; and many children, bereaved of their parents, owed their lives to the cha- rity of other cantons. Industry has now, however, wiped out the traces of such miserable times, and the canton of Schwitz, possessing a fertile soil, in an agreeable situation, in the midst of the most picturesque scenes of a picturesque country, has every symptom of rural prosperity and happiness. Fortunately for it, the mania of manufactures had made but very small pro- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. C3 gvess within its bounds, which are of no great extent, the whole canton containing only twelve leagues of country by eight. The number of inhabitants is, however, reckoned at about twenty- nine thousand. From Schwitz we set out for Einsiedeln, a once very cele- brated place of pilgrimage (for the canton of Schwitz is altoge- ther catholic) about four leagues north-north-east, by the most direct road from Schwitz. In two hours, by an easy ascent over delightful past vi res, overspread with houses and chalets, wearrived at the base of the M ythen, two naked rocky pinnacles rising fourteen hundred feet above the road. From the road itself we had a complete view of the Righi, with its wooden house, of the Ross-berg, the dismal valley of Goldau, and the smiling valley in which the town of Schwitz is situated. Turning eastward, we discovered the deep gorge of Muotta-thal, where Suwarrow was repulsed by Massena, (of which mention was made in speak- ing of the canton of Glaris) on his first attempt to penetrate into the plains of Switzerland, after his passage over the St. Gothard, from Italy. From the heights of the Mythen ( a term signifying the mitres, in allusion to the shape of the pinnacles) we descended into a fertile woody valley, and after three hours more, arrived at the celebrated abbey of Einsiedeln, called, in the French part of Switzerland, our Lady of the Hermits, from the cell of a hermit who fixed his abode in that place in the ninth century. The monks broke up and cultivated the surrounding desert, and were, so far, certainly the benefactors of society. It is not a little curious to know that, to some disputes in after times, between the peasants of Schwitz and the abbey of Einsie- deln, relative to some pastures, must be ascribed the first alliance of the Waldstetten, or the people of Schwitz, Uri, and Unter- walden, and consequently the military glory, the resistance to oppression, and the ultimate independence of the Swiss. These humble shepherds of Schwitz became, at last, the masters of the abbey, and continued to be so until the year 1798, when the genuine republicans of the heart of Switzerland were trampled under feet by the pretended republicans of France. In approaching the abbey of Einsiedeln, I was struck with the resemblance of the church to that of St. John Latei'an, in Rome; in some respects it is even more magnificent. The in- terior is invested with marbles of various colours, and enriched with gilding, paintings, statues, bas-reliefs in bronze ; but the multitude of windows pour such floods of sunshine into the edifice, as injure the gravity of a building devoted to religious service. The famous marvel-working Madonna, the image of the Virgin, was carried off to Paris by the French, in 1798; but by some supernatural means, she has now resumed her station 64 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, in the little insulated chapel constructed for her in the centre of the church. The monks who had fled to Germany have now returned, with some new recruits, increasing their number, in all, to forty-four : the greater part young men, with plump rosy cheeks and mettlesome pert air. Many of the more sensible of the Romish clergy in the neigh- bourhood of Einsiedeln have, of late, strongly opposed the restor- ation of the institution. They say that the sacred image is not genuine, that the vocation of these joyous rubicund young monks seems to savor more of a temporal than of a spiritual nature; and, lastly, that pilgrimages in the present relaxed morals of the country are much more likely to give occasion for fresh penance, than to make atonement for offences already committed. On the whole, our Lady of Einsiedeln, that once contended in dignity and popularity with our Lady of Loretto, is now, daily, more and more on the decline. The celebrated reformer Zuinglius of Zurich, formerly mentioned, was, for some time, the parish-priest of Einsiedeln; and, in 1517, in the same year with Luther, but without any understanding with him, preached openly against the corruptions of the church and court of Rome, even against monastic vows. His doctrine was so much relished by the monks, that they all threw off the cowl and gown, and the convent was, for some time, deserted. It is even supposed that it was by the hands of some catholics of his own parish that he was wantonly despatched on the field of Cappel. Paracelsus, the famous physician and empiric of the sixteenth century, was also of Einsiedeln ; and tradition has not yet forgotten his familiar dealings in the black art. Lucern. From Schwitz we w r alked over a rich and beauti- ful plain, for a league, to Brunnen, on the lake of the four can- tons, commonly but improperly called the lake of Lucern, an appellation belonging to that portion only which communicates with that town. Embarking in a small boat of two oars, we turned towards that branch of the lake which comes from south to north from the interior of the canton of Uri. The grandeur and boldness of the scenery all around this portion, surpasses any thing we had hitherto beheld, even that of the magnificent lake of Wallenstadt. Unfortunately, however, neither at this time, nor on another occasion afterwards, would the weather, or rather the thick fog, permit us to penetrate quite to the bot- tom atFluelen, where we would have landed, and proceeded up a short way to Altorf, the principal, indeed one may say the only, town in the canton of Uri. At Fluelen begins the great Alpine road up the valley of the Reuss, by the Teufelsbruk, to the pass of St. Gothard, and thence down into Italy. This portion of the lake possesses also t\iis advantage, that it belongs In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 65 wholly to the heroic ages of Switzerland ; for its shores were the theatre of the principal transactions and exploits by which the independence of the country was asserted and established. En- tering the portal of this singularly magnificent piece of water, formed on the right by a pillar of rock in the lake, and on the left by the lofty mountains of the Muotta-thal, we landed on the west shore, and scrambled up a steep ascent for a little way to the small verdant level of Grutli, at the foot of the Seelis-berg. Here, on the 17th October, 1307, held their first consultations on the deliverance of their country, Arnold or Erni, of the Melchthal in Unterwalden ; Walthern Furst, of Uri ; and Wer- ner Stauffacher, of Schwitz. These persons had all suffered severely from the tyrannical administration of Albert, of Habs- burgh, Emperor of Germany, the son of Rodolph, the founder of the present reigning imperial family of Austria. Rodolph, himself a Swiss, managed the country, after he came to the empire, with moderation ; but his son Albert was a man of dif- ferent dispositions, who wished to form the whole into a heredi- tory possession for his family, as Counts of Habsburgh and Dukes of Austria. Meeting with resistance from the people, he sent to govern them, and, if possible, to humble their indepen- dent spirit, two of his servants, Gessler and Landenberg, who excercised the greatest insolence and cruelty -in their adminis- tration. Gessler, passing through Schwitz, observed a hand- some house just built, and learning it was erected by Stauffa- cher, a person of consideration, told him that he himself was the only master in that country, and would not suffer a low peasant to build houses without his permission. Landenberg had seized a pair of oxen of Erni of Melchthal, and on the complaint made to him, his servant was directed to say, that the oxen were his master's, as every thing else in the district, and that the peasants might very well draw the plough themselves. This insult by the servant was rewarded by the cudgel of Erni, who fled and joined Stauffacher, in Uri ; but his old father was seized and had his eyes put out. Combining with Furst (the chief man), of Uri, these three patriots repaired to the triple fountain of Grutli, where they bound themselves in the most solemn manner to rescue their native land from tyranny, or perish in the attempt. Each associating to himself ten men on whom'they could depend, the 1st of January, 1308, was fixed on for the open insurrection to take place ; because at the new year all ranks were permitted to enter Gessler'a castle, to carry to him the presents usual on that occasion. This arrangement was nevertheless nearly frustrated by an accident ; although Gessler was not ignorant of the flight of Stauffacher and Melchthal. To make an experiment, there- VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. I G6 Simond't Travels in Switzerland, fore, of the submission of the people, he set up his staff in the market-place of Altorf, in Uri, and placed on it his own hat, or the ducal cap of the house of Austria ; commanding that all passengers should do obeisance to it as to the governor himself. This mark of respect was refused by William Tell, one of the secret vindicators of the liberties of his people ; he was, there" fore, threatened with instant death, unless he should carry offj by an arrow from his cross-bow, an apple placed on the head of his young son. This he happily performed ; but Gessler observ- ing Tell to have a second arrow, enquired for what purpose he had brought that. " For thee," answered Tell, " had I had the misfortune to kill my son." On this anwswer he was seized, put in irons, and hurried down to the boat in which Gessler had intended himself to return to the other end of the lake at Kussnacht, near where he resided. One of those violent blasts of wind, which are frequent on this part of the lake, coming on> the fetters were taken off Tell, whose assistance was necessary to manage the boat. Running close to the east shore of the lake for shelter, Tell took the opportunity to spring on the rock^ and, pushing the boat out again from the shore, he escaped up the country. Gessler, however, arrived safely in iCussnacht; but on his Way to his castle in the neighbourhood he was killed by an arrow from Tell, who by land had gone thither before him for the purpose. This incident alarmed the other persons engaged in the scheme, but it did not derange their plans. On the 1st of January the castles were seized as had been concerted; Lan- denberg was conducted to the frontiers without injury, and made to engage never more to return. Excepting in the death of Gessler, who richly deserved his fate, not a drop of blood was shed ; and on the festival of the Epiphany, the 6th January^ 1308, the people of the three cantons of Schwitz, Uri, and Un- terwalden, entered into a perpetual alliance among themselves for their mutual defence. From the little plain of Grutli we crossed over obliquely south-eastwards for two hours, and again landed at the Tellens- prung, or Tell's leap, the spot where he sprang on the rock, after his adventure in Altorf. This rock lies under the precipices of the Aschenberg, or Axenberg, a mountain rising immediately over the lake to the height of above an English mile. Eighty-one years after the adventure of the apple, and thirty after his death, a chapel was erected on the place in honour of William Tell ; and its construction was witnessed by one hundred and fourteen per- sons who had personally known the hero. He was engaged in the memorable battle of Morgarten, on the lake of Egeri, on the western border of Schwitz, the first great victory gained by the In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 67 allied cantons in 1315 ; and he was unfortunately drowned in a little river behinid Altorf, at a very advanced age, in 1358, in endeavouring to rescue a child who had fallen into the torrent. His posterity, in a direct line, existed down to 1720. Respecting the adventure of the apple shot-off from his son's head, doubts have, of late years, and in the more enlightened parts of Switzerland, been entertained and expressed: but within the three cantons the whole is most firmly believed ; nor is it in- cumbent, or even civil in a stranger, to attempt to undeceive the good people, were it even in his power. The principal objection arises from a similar story being recorded to have hap- pened in Denmark, in the twelfth century, and another in Uri, half a century before the adventure ascribed to Tell. But no reason can be given why the other instances should be entitled to more credit than that of Gessler, in Altorf. Besides the erec- tion of the chapel on the rock ; the ancient paintings in the market-place of Altorf; the invariable tradition throughout the country, in accordance with the manners of those remote times, and the tyrannical spirit of Gessler, seern to leave no rational ground for disbelieving the story of Tell, The surface of the great lake of the four cantons (Der Vier, Wald-Statter See, the lake of the four forest-states, viz. Schwitz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Lucern,) is elevated two hundred and forty English fathoms above the sea, and the Aschenberg, as was before said, rises a full English mile above the lake. But the mountains which inclose its southern extremity are, in vari- ous points at least, of double that elevation, presenting an un- interrupted range of glaciers, which may be easily distinguished from snow by their beautiful azure colour. From Fluelen to Brunnen the passage is easy and short by the lake ; but in J799 the French, under General Lecourbe, found it necessary to inarch between the same points, over mountains of great height and of difficult access, in the night-time, by torch-light. In our way back from Tell's chapel our boatmen pointed out, on the perpendicular face of the mountain on that side, what ap- peared as a small discoloured speck. That speck, however, not less than two hundred fathoms in breadth, is the spot from which a portion of the rock detached itself in 1801, and fell down into the lake from a height of five or six hundred fathoms. Such was the impression on the water made by the sudden shock, that it inundated the village of Sissigen, hala-league distant north-- ward, swept away five houses and drowned eleven persons, An infant was afterwards picked up on the lake fast asleep in its cradle. The agitation of the water w r as sensibly felt at Lu.cern, full eight leagues from the place where the rock fell. From Brunnen we again embarked, and following obi 68 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, liquely the middle portion of the lake which runs from east to west, landed at Buocks, at its south-west extremity. There \ve took a path well-made and well-kept, but too narrow to admit a carriage, which led us up to Stantz, the principal place of the canton of Unterwalden, across meadows and fields of the most bautiful verdure, yielding double crops of hay in the year, although regularly pastured in spring and autumn. Trees of the most luxuriant growth and foliage, sprinkled by the hand of na- ture, singly or in clumps over the fields, extended their branches unrestrained in all directions. The face of the country is ani- mated by many a house and many a cottage, in the genuine Swiss style, all erected within these few years. Around us rose up the mighty rampart of the Alps. On the east, the long range or glaciers which separate the cantons of Uri and Unterwaldeu. Behind us, on the north, our old acquaintance (I am sorry I cannot say our old friend) the Kighi. In front, on the west, beyond that portion of the great lake which runs southward, called the Alpnacher sea, from Alpnach, a village at the head, towered aloft Mount Pilate, shooting up a full English mile in vertical height from the border of the lake. Happily on this occasion he bore himself very civilly towards us, and stood un- covered while he was in our presence. The female Unterwal- dians were in their full national costume ; for it was a holiday ; and the people are most punctual in all the enjoined observances of the Kornish church. Lower garments, as usual, ample in breadth but not in length, the colour brown and girdle red; blue stockings (not quite the same with the blue stockings of certain learned ladies I was told of in Old England), and elegant shoes, or rather slippers. On the head a broad-brimmed straw hat with- out a crown, fixed on in some mysterious way. One of these good ladies seeing us pass by her door sent out her son, a jolly boy of seven or eight years of age, to salute the strangers as it is termed. When the child came near he took off his cap with cne hand and kindly held out the other to me. Supposing a little money was expected, I was checked, by the guide stating that the people of this sequestered vale, so seldom visited by people of other quarters, had still preserved the ancient hospitable usage of saluting the stranger and bidding him welcome to their coun- try. On our way we passed the field in which assemble the lands gemeine, or great council of the canton. A place twenty- six yards by twenty was inclosed by a low wall, having in the centre a stone stage or platform two feet in height, sixteen in length, and eleven in breadth. The space within was filled up by a number of low walls parallel to one another, on which were to be placed planks for the accommodation of the four or five thousand sovereign-people of the district. There they listen, In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 69 seated, to the discourses of their landamann or chief magistrate, who addresses them, standing on the platform, surrounded by his officers. A kind of pulpit is also prepared for those who take an account of the votes of the assembly, on the various questions submitted to their deliberations. Of the number of the assembly the seats cannot contain above one-fourth, who are the principal people and heads of families; while the other three- fourths stand in rows behind them. The hall of the executive council of the canton in the town of Stantz contains a suite of the chief magistrates for centuries past, very wretched perform- ances with the exception of two very excellent portraits by the pencil of Wiirsch. This eminent artist, after the long study and practice of his art in Rome and Paris, retired to close his labours in his native land. There he perished in the burning of his house during the horrible massacre of his countrymen by the French, in September 1798, when he had lost his sight, and was in his seventy-fourth year. The little canton of Unterwalden is subdivided into two dis- tricts, the upper and the lower, the Oberwald and the Nider- wald. When the people were summoned to accede to the new unitary constitution, prepared for Switzerland in Paris, the IN iderwaldians, persuaded that their religion as well as their independence was struck at, resolved to resist any attempt on the part of their own countrymen, or the French, to impose upon them this new form of government. Three priests of great credit in the Niderwald, the rector of Stantz and his curate, and a capuchin friar, Styger, had exalted the enthusiasm of the people to such a pitch, that they, one and all, were determined to with- stand their assailants to the utmost. They could reckon but on two thousand persons of both sexes and of all ages capable of bearing arms, and they had about two hundred and forty volun- tary auxiliaries from the environs. Every place where an enemy could land from the lake on their shores was fortified by planting stakes and cutting down trees. On the same side they had six small pieces of cannon, and two more directed towards the coun- try. From the 4th to the 8th of September, 1798, the French made continued attempts to land in the Niderwald, under the cover of batteries on the foot of Mount Pilate, on the west shore of the lake ; but in these attempts they were as constantly re- pulsed with very great but unknown loss. At last, on the 9th, before day, they found means to penetrate round the bottom of the lake by land ; and, with their field-pieces, quickly cleared the low country of all its defenders. Retiring to a wooded eminence, half a league from Stantz, on which they had at first mounted two small guns, the N iderwaldians maintained their position for several hours. 70 Simond^s Travels in Switzerland, The French, however, having succeeded in landing a body of troops from the opposite shore in thirty large boats, and hav- ing continued to pour in reinforcements round the bottom of the lake, about noon hostilities became universal, the whole popula- tion defending themselves with a courage which despair alone could excite. Entire families, men, women, and children, armed with whatever weapon came in their way, stood and fought with incredible determination until they were cut off. Yet the greater part of them effected their escape back to the woods and moun- tains, leaving about one-fourth part of the whole populatioii on the field of action, among whom were counted one hundred and two women and twenty-five children. Sixty-three persons, women, children, and old men, having taken refuge in the church of Stantz, were there deliberately massacred, together with the priest engaged in performing divine service at the altar. In the altar, which was of timber, is shown the hole made by the ball, after it had passed through his body. An inscription in an adjoining chapel states, that four hundred and fourteen inha- bitants of Stantz (including the above one hundred and two women and twenty-five children) put to death on the horrible 9th of September, were interred in the neighbouring burial- ground. Excepting in Stantz, not one single .house or cottage, to the number of nearly six hundred, was left standing, or un- pillaged, over the whole district ; and the preservation of that town was owing to the strenuous exertions of an officer of rank in the French army, whose name was Muller, a native of Alsace, who prevented it from being burnt down. A little beyond Stantz we passed by the chapel of Winkelried, where the ill-fated inha- bitants made a most resolute resistance; and among the dead on the field of battle were found eighteen young girls, who had fought and fallen by the sides of their brothers. Several French officers of the 14th and 44th demi-brigades, or regiments, ex- erted themselves to their utmost to put a stop to the butchery of the inhabitants, and many were rescued by their means. But what must we think of the commander of this army, of General Schauenburgh, himself a native of Switzerland as it has been said, at the head of fifteen or sixteen thousand men, for such was the invading army on its first appearance, who immediately consequent to the utter devastation of the country, demanded sixty thousand franks, or two thousand five hundred pounds sterling, from the remaining wretched people ? The country was an absolute desert, and the army themselves, ashamed of their conduct now that their fury had evaporated, absolutely refused the proffer made by the general government of Switzerland to advance that sum. The loss on the part of the French army was never known, but it could not be less than three thousand ; and In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 71 had they been repulsed on the 9th, as they had been on the five preceding days, not a man probably could have been left to tell their tale. For the whole surrounding people, those who had a3 well as those who had not submitted to their yoke, animated as by one spirit of indignation, were concerting measures for their destruction. From all quartei's of Switzerland, from Germany, and even , from Great Britain, ample contributions were forwarded for the service of the unhappy surviving people of the lower district of Un- terwalden. Without that assistance they must have perished for want in the approaching winter. Even Schauenburgh himself supplied them with twelve hundred rations of provisions, daily, for some time. Pestalozzi, of whom I made hoijourable men- tion, when describing his institution for the education of youth in Iverdun, in this season of destitution and disaster, appeared as an angel of mercy in Stantz. Collecting together the helpless orphans, cast on the wide world by the battles and massacres of September, in and about Stantz, to the number of eighty, he became a father to them and devoted himself to their instruction. Embarking once more at Brunnen to pass directly by the lake to Lucern, we made the seven leagues of distance in six hours; but on this occasion, we hired for thirty franks, or five-and- twenty shillings, a boat large enough for our carriage and horses. On our right were the steep slopes of the Righi-berg, formed by materials which have, at different times, fallen down from its upper region. By incessant industry these slopes are now converted into excellent pastures, shaded with trees and studded with cottages and farms. There the fig-tree flourishes^ defended by the mountain from the cold blasts from the north* These slopes formerly constituted the fortunate territory of Gersau, a republic, probably the smallest in Europe. We learned from our boatmen, that it required five hundred and fifty strokes of their oars to run the whole length of its territory. Having for some centuries and more enjoyed its independence, perfectly legitimate and recognised by every other state, Gersau now finds itself annihilated, being absorbed in the canton of Schwitz, by which, on the land-side, its dominions are com- pletely enclosed. By what authority, or by what accident, this extinction of a free state, however diminutive it may appear on the map (for it contained only twenty houses), was accomplished I know not; but it has been ascribed to sheer neglect. Forget- fulness it might be, but ignorance of its existence, the very sin- gularity of that existence will not allow us to suppose, in the negotiators of the congress of Vienna. During the four centu* ries of the independence of Gersau, not one criminal had been condemned to death for any offence whatever. Farther westward 72 SimontTs Travels in Switzerland, lies the district of Weggis, once a subject but now an integral portion of the canton of Lucern. Having cleared the Righi, an arm of the lake runs up north- eastward to Kussnacht, corresponding to the other arm which penetrates south-westward into the Unterwalden. Lucern, with its fortifications of the fourteenth century, of which you discover the whole extent, strengthened by towers and crowned with battlements, presents itself to great advantage as you approach the town by the lake. When we landed we were conducted by our guide to a magnificent hotel, of which the dining-hall, or parlour, was eighty feet in length by half as much in breadth. It communicated with a garden verdant and shady, in a much better taste than usual. The Romish religion is maintained in Lucern in greater perfection than anywhere else in Switzerland, for there resides the nuncio, or envoy of the Pope, to the Helvetic diet. What is the most interesting object in Lucern is the celebrated plan and model in relief of the environs of the town and lake, constructed by General Pfyffer, who employed many years in traversing and measuring, in person, a hundred and eighty square leagues of country, com- prehending the highest mountains in Switzerland, and in model- ling the whole with the greatest care and accuracy. A square league is represented by a square of sixteen English inches each side, and a mountain of sixteen hundred fathoms of perpendi- cular height appears elevated ten inches above the level of the lake. Not a footpath, not a cottage, not a cross on the brink of a precipice, but appears in the model. Indeed these objects are in excess ; for, in order to be perceptible, they are repre- sented much beyond their due proportions. In point of work- manship, the similar model of Switzerland, in Zurich, is much su- peiror to this of Lucern; nor could it well be otherwise, for a first attempt, or essay, in any enterprise, must ever be liable to many imperfections. Notwithstanding all these, I have never seen any productions of art which gave me so much satisfaction. In it you again travel at your ease over the courses you have per- formed, and figure to yourself correct notions of those you have yet to undertake. The typographic art was very early exercised in Lucern, and it was from Lucern that were transported to Paris, in 1469- 70, by Ulrick Gering, the first printing-presses erected in that capital. There Gering carried on the business for nearly forty years, and left his fortune to the students and the poor of the city : on this account his festival was annually celebrated by the college of the Sorbonne. Wooden-bridges of great length, supported on piles, connect the different portions of the town, divided in two by the Reuss, In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 73 at its issue from the lake : one of them is in length about four- teen hundred and seventy feet. From this bridge, which, like many others in Switzerland, is roofed over head for its preservation, you possess a most interesting prospect of the lake and the lofty mountains which spring up from its shores. The interior of the roof is adorned with scripture pieces, painted in the style of the sixteenth century. For those persons who are qualified for such an expedition the summit of Mount Pilate offers many attrac- tions. It is at a convenient distance from Lucern, and it com- mands a most magnificent view over the lakes and mountains of Switzerland. But if it has the advantage over the Righi-Kulm, in point of elevation, this is more than counterbalanced by the difficulty of the ascent, and the still greater uncertainty of ob- taining from the summit an atmosphere free from vapours. ^offingen, July. From Lucern two principal roads lead to Bern; the one the most direct over the map by the romantic country of Entlibuch, but impracticable in a carriage : the other, describing a semicircle to the northward, keeps clear of all the mountains, and leads through a tract of the best cultivation in Switzerland. The roads are excellent, and in many respects remind the British traveller of those of his own land : for they fol- low the natural windings of the country, ascending and descend- ing in the easiest manner for the horses, instead of being carried forward in broad straight avenue-lines of a tiresome length, as is generally the case in France. Having proceeded for a league and a half down the left bank of the Reuss (like all the other Swiss rivers that proceed from lakes lively and pellucid) and up an ascent, you arrive on an eminence, from which the prospect is still much more beautiful than from Lucern. Soon afterwards the road descends easily to the lake of Sempach, renowned in Helvetian story for the signal victory obtained on its east bank, by a handful of the confederates of the four cantons, in 1386, over a numerous, brave, and well-appointed army, led on by Leopold, Duke of Austria. The great banner of Austria fell from the hands of several bearers, and Leopold, in person, forc- ing his way through the Swiss, rescued it from their hands. In this critical position many a gallant knight sacrificed himself for the protection of their chief, who seeing it, called out " and I also will die with them :" then rushing forward, he found his death in the midst of the Swiss. It is not many years since, in the hollow of an old oak near the field of battle, was discovered the skeleton of a warrior, still cloathed in rich armour. The un- fortunate man had probably forced himself into the concealment, and, when the danger of the pursuit was over, found it impossi- ble to extricate himself from his prison. The battle was fought at Sempach, on the south-east side of the lake ; but our road VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. K 74 Simond's Travels in Switzerland^ led alone the opposite bank, where we passed by an eminence, apparently and probably artificial, called Englaenders-hubel, the English hillock. There were interred three thousand men of the bands of Enguerrand de Coucy, who well deserved the fate appointed for them. This is not the only memorial of Englishmen, as they were called in Switzerland, and in the eastern borders of France, where genuine Englishmen in those days seem to have nothing to do. The ground of this appellation was the following fact. The peace which ensued on the victories of the Black Prince of Wales, in France, left without employment the numerous bands or companies of mercenaries whom the several sovereigns of Europe occasionally hired to fight their battles. Enguerrand Lord of Coucy, a warrior of great renown, for generosity of dis- position equal to his gallantry in the field, was of an illustrious family in France, and even son-in-law of Edward III. of Eng- land ; yet he thought it not unworthy of him, in those days, to head some of those bands, amounting in all to forty thousand men. His body-guards consisted of fifteen hundred gilded helmets, and a hundred knights of the Teutonic order. Among his companions in arms was Jevan-ap-Eynion-ap-Grirnth of Wales, a warrior not less famous than de Coucy himself, who had, in Spain, fought for Henry Transtamare, and the throne of Castille, against Edward the Black Prince. It is said that he had under his orders a body of six thousand Englishmen, whose steeds, and spears, and casques, are still celebrated in an ancient song preserved in the country. According to the song, this gillant troop was commanded by another hero of Wales, Iffo of allis; such, at least, is the name preserved by tradition. En- guerrand de Coucy was able, among his heterogeneous army, to maintain good discipline, so much so as never to permit pillage, excepting in what was considered to be a case of necessity. But who was to judge of this necessity ? For entering Switzer- land, the pretence of De Coucy was to claim his mother's dowry, withheld by the Duke of Austria. By these lawless despe- radoes, whose trade was rapine and murder, the open fertile plains were speedily desolated. Such was the state of the country that the people could with difficulty defend themselves from the wolves and bears of the mountains. Alarmed at the approach of an enemy of this character, Leopold of Austria applied for assistance to the confederate Swiss, who falling un- expectedly on the invaders, during the long night of winter, utterly discomfited and dispersed them. This took place on the west side of the lake of Sempach, where the dead nominal English, to the number of three thousand, were heaped up together in the Englaenders-hubel. Sursee, where we slept, is In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 75 seated on an eminence, overlooking a variegated country of gentle hill and dale, with the ancient castle of Mauensee-schloss, down to the left, erected in the little cognominal lake. From Sursee to this town, Zoinugen, formerly in the canton of Bern, but now in the newly-erected canton of Argau, the s country is fertile and well cultivated. Irrigation is particularly studied, which may at certain times be more profitable for the husband- man than pleasing to the mere traveller. Zoffingen, the To- binium of the Roman times, is a Protestant town, whereas the districts of Zug, Schwitz, Uri, Unterwulden, and Lucern, arc wholly Romish. A few miles to the northward of Zoifingen, the road joins the great route which traverses the whole low coun- try of Switzerland, from Geneva, by Lausanne and Benf to Zurich, Schaffhausen, and Constance, and thence into Germany down the banks of the Danube. Baden. The road leads down the fertile and populous vale watered by the Aar which, with its many collateral streams, drains the greater part of Switzerland, and unites with the Rhine with perhaps nearly an equal stream. On the south- east bank is Aarau, the capital of the new canton of Aargau, a small old-fashioned town within the walls, but a number of neat new houses adorn the suburbs. A friend, an inhabitant of Aarau, took some pains to explain to me the superintending power vested in the executive council of some cantons ; of Zurich in particular, not only over the persons employed in the administration of public affairs, but over the whole judicial system. This power of superintendence was, I found, errone- ously supposed to resemble that of the grand-jury of England. But the grand-jury can only bring an accusation against a justice of the peace, charged with malversation in his office ; without, in any respect, interfering with the administration of the law itself. The establishments for the relief of the indigent in the canton of Aargau, as in all other parts of Switzerland, contain in them- selves the seeds of the same abuses now so much complained of in England^ Each town or parish possesses funds, in money at interest, or in land, from which relief is furnished to those who belong to the community ; and the deficiency, if any, is made up by a rate imposed by the council of the place. The institu- tions for the education of youth are these three :^ First, the primary schools distributed all over the canton, to which pa- rents are obliged to send their children : there they are taught to read and write, up to the age of eight years, complete. Se- condly, schools principally for languages, where the pupils remain till the age of fourteen. Thirdly, the cantonal schools, in which what are called the exact sciences, that is to say, K2 76 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, arithmetic and geometry, with their various applications, are taught ; but neither theology nor medicine, jurisprudence, political economy, art military, &c. Hence the youth destined for professions in which those branches of education are requi- site, must repair to some university. Continuing my route still down the course of the Aar, I came to a large handsome range of buildings, fitted up for the accommodation of those who resort to the baths of Schinznach. Two miles further on, standing on the summit of a wooded hill, between three and four hundred feet above the plain, is a square tower, the only remaining part of the famous castle of Habs- burgh, from which sprung the imperial house of Austria. The tower, constructed with large rough stones, is in height seventy feet, the outer square is thirty feet a-side, and the inner eighteen ; tke walls are, consequently, six feet in thickness. A trap-door hi the bottom of the tower opens into the dungeon, an indis- pensable appendage of a feudal abode. Adjoining to the tower is a building of no modern date, but, apparently, of much less antiquity than the tower itself. The environs of the castle have been cleared by the government of the canton, and commodious walks opened up, for the convenience of the visitors of the baths of Schinznach. From the height, the view comprehends the lands possessed by the house of Austria, five centuries ago ; the position of the ancient Vindonissa, the abbey of Konigsfelden, the town of Brugg, the course of the Aar, to its junction with the Reuss and the Limmat. A baronial family of Alsace, then a part of Germany, on the west-bank of the Rhine, named Gontran, had been stript of their possessions, by the emperor Otho, in the middle of the tenth century. But they still preserved lands at the conflux of the Aar and Reuss, where they erected the castle of Habsburgh, and assumed its name for that of the family. Here they lived in comparative obscurity, at the expense of their unfortunate vassals, whose complaints make some figure in the history of Switzerland. Rodolph of Habsburgh, having, by intrigue, and the influence of his personal character, been elected emperor of Germany in the year 1272, possessed himself of the kingdom of Bohemia, and also of Austria, of which he conferred the title of duke on his son Albert, the ancestor of the imperial princes of that house. Albert succeeded to the imperial throne in 1298, seven years after the death of his father; and possessed all his eminent qualities, with the exception of his prudence and moderation. Reckoning the love and confidence of his people of no im- portance to the consolidation of his authority, Albert soon estranged the hearts of his subjects ; and was, at last, assassi- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 77 nated by conspirators, headed by his own nephew, after a reign of ten years. Although a native of Switzerland he was an ardent persecutor of his countrymen, and by accustoming them to trust to their own strength, he became the principal means of their independence. For it was through the tyranny of his governors, men of low condition, Gessler and Landonberg, that the founders of the freedom of Switzerland were excited to vin- dicate their rights, and finally to shake off the yoke of the house of Austria. The late emperor, Leopold, in his passage through this part of Switzerland, visited the castle of Habsburgh ; observing that in fact it was plain that his ancestors had not always been men of great wealth and power. Near to the junction of the rivers Aar and Reuss, lay the Roman town and fortified post of Vindonissa, of which the vestiges still retain the name, altered to Windisch. Aqueducts, temples, an amphitheatre have been traced in former times, but all now scarcely discernible. Multitudes of ancient coins have frequently been discovered on the site, of which Bern possesses a valuable collection. The position of Vindonissa, in a plentiful country, defended on three sides by large rivers, was of prime importance to the Romans. The twenty-first legion, surnamed for its horrible devastations in Helvetia, " the rapacious," is men- tioned by Tacitus as stationed in Vindonissa. The town was early an episcopal see, which was removed to Constance, on its destruction in the end of the sixth century. Within the site of Vindonissa was afterwards erected the celebrated monastery of Konigsfelden, by Agnes, daughter of Albert, the widow of the king of Hungary, where she gave herself up to the most rigid mortifications, to wipe out the sanguinary revenge she had taken on all who were in any way, however innocent, connected with the assassins of her father. The monastery was suppressed at the reformation, and the church converted into a corn-store- house. In the late invasion by the French, it became their military hospital ; at present, the habitable part of it serves as a mad-house. The cell or chamber of the implacable Agnes is a square of twenty-five feet, on the ground-floor. The only re- maining piece of furniture in it is a chest made of the tree near which her father, the emperor Albert, had been slain. Albert was meditating vengeance on the insurgents of Schwitz, Uri, " and John of Austria, his nephew and his ward, had long in vain demanded to be instated in his inheritance, as count of Habs- burgh. Instead of justice, he had been insulted by being presented with a chaplet of flowers. The complaints of the young man were listened to by several of the great vassals of his family, and they formed, together, the project of taking off the 78 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, emperor ; a project which was carried into effect on the 1st of March, 1308, within the view of the castle of llabsburgh, the original seat of the family. The conspirators prevailed on Al- bert to cross the Reuss, without his attendants, under the pretext that the boat was proper for carrying only a few persons at a time. No sooner had the emperor landed on the west- bank of the river, than his nephew wounded him in the throat, with a lance, calling out " receive the reward of thy injustice/' Another conspirator, Balm, pierced him through with his sword, and Walther d' Eschenbach laid open his head with the back of his sword. De Wart never touched him ; when the deed was accomplished, the assassins looked at one another with the horror of despair, and instantly separated, never more to meet, leaving the emperor to expire in the hands of an old woman who had witnessed his murder. A tomb in the ruined choir of the church contained the bodies of Agnes and duke Leopold, who fell, as before stated, in the battle of Se,m.pach. Seven other princes, of the house of Austria, were also interred in the same spot. In an inscription in the church it is stated that, in 1770, the whole of these bodies were dug up, and carried away to Vienna. The body of Albert himself had been origi- nally carried for interment all the way to Spire, on the Rhine. During the atrocious devastation of the Palatinate, under Lewis XI V., the tombs of the emperors buried in Spire were scan- dalously ransacked, and the skull of Albert was known by the deep wound he had received from Eschenbach. From Brugg, crossing the Reuss at Konigsfelden, at a league farther the traveller comes to the Limmat ; and, going up its left, or west^ank, he arrives at Baden, an ancient town named, as Bath in England, from the warm springs issuing from the ground close by the river. These waters were well known by the Romans, who named them Aquae Helvetica?, and various monuments of those times have been discovered at the springs and in the town. Much curiosity has been excited, from time to time, by the multitude of dice for play which have been found at Baden, a little below the surface of the ground, as if they had been purposely sown. They are of ox-bones, the points placed as at present, so that the two opposite sides always make the number seven. They are not supposed to be Roman, for .the celebrated historian of Switzerland, Tschudi, who was governor and judge in Baden, in 1533 1549, makes no mention of them. The Duke of Rohan, who died in Geneva in 1638, had collected a great number of these dice. Baden suffered severely by the rapacity and cruelty of the too-famous twenty- first Roman-legion. Besides the warm* springs of Baden, the appearance of the surface of the hills round the town, and of In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 79 the lofty precipices, between which the Limmat forces its rapid course, announce that the whole environs have been the scene of some great revolution in the structure of the earth. From Baden to Zurich the road runs up for four leagues, along the west-bank of the Limmat, through a vale, fertile, populous, and highly agreeable. Bern. Returning along the great road, which we had joined on the northward of Zottingen, we followed it for above four leagues westward, through the rich and populous vale of the Aar, which is seen, from time to time, in a full stream, on our right hand. Halted for a short while in Buchsee, properly Herzogenbuchsee, a village on the side of an eminence, on which, some time ago, was discovered a considerable portion of tessellated or mosaic pavement; again covered up, by orders ,, n n T r- r i trom isern, lor its preservation. Before coming to this place we saw, about two miles to the southward, among wooded hills, the abbey of St. Urban, situated in a corner of the canton of Lucern, extending nearly to the road, between the cantons of Bern and Aargau. A little beyond Herzogenbuchsee, a road strikes off to the westward, leading to Soleure,' the capital of a Roman-catholic canton of the same name. The town is plea- santly situated on the north-bank of the Aar, in a plentiful valley, bounded on the north by a range of hills of very consi- derable elevation, particularly that part called, from the white colour of the rocky ridge, the Weissenstein. This name recalls the Leukopetron of Polybius, in his account of the ascent of Hannibal to the pass of the little St. Bernard, on his memorable expedition across the Alps into Italy. Soleure is, in Ger- man, called Soloturn, a name correctly representing the Solo- durum of the Romans. The town is small but neat, and the principal church a miniature of St. Peter's of Rome, or of St. Paul's in London, is by far the handsomest edifice of its kind in Switzerland. Prior to the revolution, the envoy to the Swiss governments used to reside in Soleure, where the German is the general language. During the disputes which usually attended the election of an emperor of Germany, Soleure having taken the part of Lewis of Bavaria in the fourteenth century, was besieged by Leopold of Austria. Whilst the siege was carrying on, a great inunda- tion of the Aar swept away the works, bridges, boats, warlike- machines of the besiegers, and brought into jeopardy many soldiers and artificers. In the midst of this disaster, the people of Soleure, forgetting that the sufferers were their besieging enemies, employed every method to save them from destruction, and actually rescued many of them from perishing. Struck by this singular act of humanity, Leopold desisted from his attacks, 80 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, requested to be admitted as a friend, with thirty attendants, within the town, presented a banner to the towns-people, and ratified with them a treaty of peace and amity. Returning the same way back into the great road for Bern, we were at every step more and more delighted with the pros- perity displayed around us. By irrigation the meadows yield three, four, and, in some circumstances, five crops of hay in the year ; cultivation is not frittered down into petty parcels, as we had seen on the borders of the lake of Zurich, but con- ducted on a scale of sufficient magnitude to enable the husband- man to derive the greatest possible benefit from his means and labour. Not a beggar, not a hut to be seen. Immense build- ings of timber, containing under one roof the dwelling, barn, stable, cow-house, &c., announce the wealth of the possessors. The women were, in general, well dressed, in their ancient national fashion. Their face round, rosy, and cheerful, shaded by what looks like a broad straw hat, but which is a thin stuff varnished and shining, of a yellow colour, without a crown, but adorned with a knot of ribbons, or a bunch of flowers ; the body of the jacket black, and the petticoat of the usual Swiss dimensions. As we drew near to Bern, the yellow hat gave way to a sort of cap, made of horse-hair, having two projecting wings, somewhat as we see the ladies heads in some old portraits in France and England. At Hindelbank, a village three leagues short of Bern, we repaired to the church, to see the famous tomb of Mary Lang- hans, wife of the minister of the place, who died in child-bed, in 1760. The tomb is sunk a little below the pavement of the church, and sculptured to represent a common flat stone broken in four parts, and raised up, as by the action of the lady em- bracing her infant, at the sound of the trumpet on the last day. Surprize, confidence, and faith, are admirably expressed on the young and beautiful countenance of the mother, who seems to say " here am I Lord, and the child thou hast given to me !" The little creature appears also to assist in pushing away the frag- ments of the cover of the tomb. The design and the execution of this striking piece of sculpture, were the work of John Augustus Nahl, a celebrated German sculptor. He was lodged in the clergyman's house, when his wife died, while employed in erecting a splendid monument for a Swiss general-officer in the French service. Although executed in the coarse stone of the country, and although the idea be not a little criticised by connoisseurs, it is impossible not to be affected by the singular representation of the story. In a country such as the canton of Bern, overcharged with population, one is surprised to see so much good productive In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 81 land, in the best parts of the plains, covered with forest. Many oak, beech, and fir-trees, as old as the first confederation of Switzerland, have outlived the age of utility for timber ; but to the stranger of taste, they are now much more picturesque than when in their highest perfection. One would, however, wish to see the naked pastures on the mountains clothed with forest, and the plains devoted to agriculture. These fine woods extend almost to the gates of Bern, where you arrive by a noble avenue of limes. Foot-passengers and the market-people find, by the way-side, from distance to distance, benches where they can rest, and pitch-boards on which to place their loads. Streams of lively water run along the roads, which are as smooth and solid as those of England, but constructed without statute- work, and maintained without tolls. Bern presents itself to great advantage, seated on an elevated promontory, nearly surrounded by a long narrow bend of the river Aar, which flows rapidly along, in a deep channel. The banks are covered with grass, and broken artificially into terraces. Descending gradually into the bottom at the east-end of the town, you cross the river and ascend to the principal street, which, with one smaller on each side, occupies the level ridge of the hill. Bern is, and appears to be, a modern town, the streets straight and broad, and the houses of stone. The principal street is furnished with arcades on each side, under the front wall of the houses, a contrivance which, while it darkens the shops, furnishes shelter against the severity of the winter, and cover from the suns of summer. The impression made by Bern on the stranger is curious. You imagine yourself in a large town, and yet the population amounts only to ten thousand persons ! in a city of ancient date, yet few in Europe are more modern, for Bern was founded only in the twelfth century : in a city of great wealth, and yet you see not a town-carriage in the streets, no magnificent houses ; in a*, town inhabited by ancient Romans, but here you are not deceived, for the same causes have produced the same effects ; in the centre of Helvetia, and in the midst of Latium; at the foot of the Alps, and on the banks of the Tiber, although at an interval of twenty centuries. The luxury and splendour of Bern are all reserved for the pub- lic works. Roads, avenues, public-gardens and walks, lofty terraces supported by walls of never-failing solidity, streams of excellent water gushing from fountains and conveyed in channels through the middle of the streets. The houses simple, uniform, and substantial; manners grave and reserved; wealth wholly placed in the art of the husbandman ; no commercial or manu- facturing bustle ; no stir in the streets but that of the country waggons, drawn by teams of noble cattle, to bring goods to, VOYAGES awe? TRAVELS, Vol. VII. L 8i SimotuTs Travels in Switzerland, market : very few poor, not one asking charity. If, as some have asserted, the pride of the aristocracy of Bern be carried to a very high pitch, it does not appear in the intercourse of the nobles with the people. It is the character of a patrician go- vernment to suppress any exhibition of its power, when that power is no where disputed. In the other aristocracies of Stwitzerland, you would fancy that you saw burgesses exalted to nobles ; in Bern you see the nobles descend to be simple burgesses. The most remarkable edifice in Bern fs the great church, a gothic structure, erected in the beginning of the fifteenth century, on the south-side of the town, on gyound supported by a terrace and buttressed walls, rising from the side of the river to the height of one hundred and twenty English feet. An inscription on the wall records the singular fact which occurred above one hundred and sixty years ago. A young student having mounted a horse that was feeding on the terrace, and being frightened by the companions of the rider, at once leaped over the parapet. The wall being much inclined inwards, the youth was severely rubbed in his descent against it, and hurt by the fall. The horse was "killed on the spot, but the rider recovered. Another instance of a leap, of a different sort, occurred a few years ago. A woman condemned to the public works, as is the practice in Bern, and employed with others in sweeping the terrace, watch- ing her time, threw herself over the parapet, but she was killed on the spot. From Bern we made an excursion to the lakes of Thun and Brientz, and thence to the vallies, mountains, and glaciers of the Grindelwald. On the 13th of July, being joined by several friends, ladies as well as gentlemen, we commenced our tour into what is very properly denominated the Oberland, that is the highlands of Bern ; which are equally distinguished from the plains of that canton^ as the highlands of Scotland are from the lowlands of that country. From Bern'to Thun the road leads, for six leagues, up the vale of the Aar, -through one of the most delightful tracts of country that can be imagined. The country people, in their Sunday's dress, were reposing at the doors of their houses, shaded, as is the practice all over Switzerland, by jvalnut-trees of magnificent growth. These husbandmen (for they are all husbandmen) although the subjects of an aristocracy in its strictest acceptation, exhibit most certainly not a single mark of slavery. No where can you see a race of men with an air of independence, of pride I may say, equal to' that of the peasantry of Bern, or better lodged, better fed, better clothed. The women have naturally a due share of personal charms ; but these soon suffer from the severe rural labours in which they are In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 83 engaged. Every social state in which women are subjected to hard toil in the fields, must, in my opinion, retain a little of the rude- ness of ancient times. But as this must necessarily be the case when landed property is split into very small portions, it would appear that very small portions of property are not the most favourable for unfolding either the corporeal or the mental good qualities of females. At the foot of Beatus' hill stands Merlinghen, a village, of which the inhabitants are, by long prescription, compelled to bear the. blame of all the blunders, bulls, and absurdities, which their sharper neighbours choose to ascribe to them. However these jokes may be relished elsewhere, they cease to be jokes in Merlinghen, and serious quarrels have often been their result. Not so in the valley of Entlibuch, in the canton of Lucern, where the peasants are equally acute and energetic. On the last Monday of the carnival, the poet of each village goes into all the neighbouring villages, and there sings, in verses of his own com- position, to the inhabitants assembled, the secret history of all the absurdities, all the foolish things they have been guilty of during the preceding year. The peasants crowd round the bard, and those who are the objects of his railleries are compelled, by custom, to come forward and hear themselves satirized and laughed at. This sort of censure, exercised by the rustic chan- ter, is perhaps without a parallel in Europe. From Neuhaus, where we landed at the upper end of the lake of Thun, we walked in an hour to Interlaken, along the deep but broad valley of the same name, denoting its situation be- tween the lake of Thun and that of Brientz, connected by the Aar. The inn of Interlaken occupies the position of an ancient monastery, containing both monks and nuns of the Augustine order under one, roof, but separated by a party-wall. We had in France, at Fontevrault, something of the same kind; but there the religious were of the Benedictine order, and, which was the most remarkable, the abbess governed the monks as well as the nuns. But so far had the inhabitants of the monastery of Interlaken, in the fifteenth century, departed from the correct conduct of their institution, that, on a complaint to the Pope, the female portion of the community was suppressed, and the revenue stransferred to Bern. These monks were the great in- stigators of the people in their opposition to the Reformation ; nor was the contest terminated without bloodshed. In the grounds which inclose the convent grow the largest walnut- trees of all Switzerland ; probably coeval with the institution : the greater number being upwards of twenty feet in circum- ference. After dinner we proceeded southwards up the pastoral yalley L2 84 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, of Lauterbrunnen, watered by the torrent Lutscliin, amidst frag- ments of rocks thrown down from the precipitous mountains on each side, and under the lofty trees which grow among them. The interstices of the rocks were covered by fine smooth turf; and the bells of the cattle, with now and then the voice of their keeper, were the only evidences we perceived that we were not in. a desert. When we had advanced about half way we came to the confluence of the two Lutschines, the white and the black, so named from the colour of the substances they pass over. The promontory which separates the two torrents is a high terrace of rocks, of a round form, but flattened on the top. It is called the Hunnenfluh, from the Huns ; and on it the people of the country, as tradition reports, defended themselves against those invading barbarians. It has, however, been remarked, that the Swiss ascribe all their devastations to Attila, all the old castles and fortifications to Julius Caesar, and all their institutions, civil and religious, to Charlemagne. A proof this of the deep im- pressions, and of a suitable characteristic kind, made on their imagination by those three extraordinary men. From the noise of the numerous cascades on each side, we concluded we were near the famous Staubach ; but it was from the inn where we were to pass the night, three hours slow walk- ing from Interlaken, that we had the first view of it. The stream descends from a high mountain, forming in its course several cataracts, of which the last but one is said to be finest ; but it is invisible from the valley below, and to obtain a sight of it is no easy enterprise. The Staubach, or the river of dust as the Ger- man name signifies, in allusion to its reduction into vapour in its last fall, pours itself over a precipice at a height of about eight hundred feet, displaying in its waving descent more of grace than of sublimity. The water, reduced into what may be called a liquid dust, is divided into a number of small white masses, presenting various effects of light, which powerfully con- trast with the dark cloud of vapour which envelopes the base of the cascade. In winter, instead of a cloud of vapour, is formed an immense accumulation of ice, at times of the thickness of three hundred feet, over which are suspended two enormous sta- lactites of solid ice. In the spring the thawed water works for itself caverns and passages through the ice, and it is then that the Staubach is seen in all its beauty. Independently of the Staubach, the valley of Lanterbrunrien well merits the attention of the traveller of curiosity and information : but to enjoy all its horrors, as well as its beauties, he must advance two or three leagues higher up towards its commencement. There it is called the Amerten-Thal, the valley of Amerten, a village long ago overwhelmed and buried by the glaciers. In the year 1395 (for In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 85 the charter still exists,) a noble Valaisan granted to the monas- tery of Inteiiaken certain lands which he possessed in Grindel- wald, Lauterbrunnen, and Amerten. But the latter lands have long been wholly covered by the glaciers from the mountains, which, on the north, bound the valley of the Rhone. Here the surrounding scenery is at once of the grandest and the most aw- ful kind : so steep are the streams of ice, that even the fearless chamois-hunter very rarely ventures upon them. It had rained the whole night, but in the morning of the 15th of July, the weathar being perfectly clear, we set out with the earliest light on our way to Grindelwald. Our course lay about east-north-east; but the ascent and descent of the mountains compelled us to follow a very indirect path. To carry us on our journey we had provided four mules lor nine persons, of botli sexes, another to transport our provisions, and four guides. Turning southward, by a winding steep path, up the east-side of the valley of Lauterbrunnen, we arrived at extensive pastures on an easy slope, varied with woods and cottages. From this ele- vation the valley we had left, involved in the morning vapours, appeared as a dark impenetrable gulph, into which the Staubach, illuminated by the early rays of the sun, pours down its brilliant cataracts, of which we now saw the upper graduations, not to be seen from the deep valley below. Is it not a little remarkable, that . the journey in which we were now engaged, unquestionably the most picturesque and magnificent in Switzerland, should, for the first time, have been made known by a traveller of our own times ? A gentleman of Bern, M. de Bonstetten, in 1777, first pointed out to the admirers of natural grandeur and beauty, the path to the Scheidecks by the Wingern-Alp. Besides the general appellation of the Alps, applied to the whole mass of mountains which separate Switzerland from Italy, several lofty summits, not properly in the line of that great' range, are distinguished by the addition of Alp to their several peculiar names. Thus we have here Wingern-Alp, the Blumlis-Alp more to the south-west, &e. ; in all which the term retains its primitive signification, de- noting a mountain of great elevation, rather than the appropriate title of any one mountain or range of mountains. A course of five hours of ascent, often interrupted by involuntary pauses of admiration of the scenery around, brought us to the summit of the Wingern-Alp, elevated four thousand eight hundred feet above the lake of Thun, and consequently six thousand seven hundred above the sea. The chalets or summer-cottages were not yet occupied ; for the ground, just released from its covering of snow, furnished only the first shoots of pasture. Yet we were now in the middle of July, the season of the greatest heat. A the snow disappears 86 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, and the grass springs up, the cattle arrive on the mountains, where they remain to a certain day of October, when the whole depart for the vallies below. Halting at one of those rude habi- tations occupied in summer, we made a fire to warm the delici- ous milk procured from a chalet lower on the mountain. The flat roof of the building served for a table, while the rocks against which it was built supplied us with seats. Opening our stores of provisions we prepared to take our meal, for which our long morning's expedition had s\ifficiently disposed us, when our attention was irresistibly called off by dead hollow sounds, in- creasing gradually to the loudest peals, which every ten minutes shook the ground and stunned our ears. We had in front of our position the twin peaks of the Eigers on the east, and the mighty Yung-fraa on the south; connected by a continued range of glaciers, covering more than twenty square leagues. Yet the rampart of primaeval ice rose higher by a thousand fathoms, than our situation. Eagerly casting our eyes on every side to discover the cause of this awful noise, nothing could we perceive, except- ing at times a small cloud as of white dust, and below it a rent of the drapery, or sheet of snow, in which nature was completely enwrapped. A morsel of this drapery detached itself from the mass; it slipped down very gently, as it appeared at our distance, and laid open a new surface of snow of the purest white, bordered with a narrow edge of emerald-green. This was no other than an avalanche., of which we had heard so often and stood so much in fear. Lost to our view for a short time, it again appeared, but now broken and reduced to powder, by striking agains,t some obstacle invisible to us, by the uniform brilliancy of the snow. Bounding forward in a new direction, it fell" from preci- pice to precipice, as the Staubach, from cascade to cascade, till it arrived on the brink of the lowest, and there plunged down into the Trumleten-thal, a valley deep and desert parallel to the base of the Yung-frau, placed there as a ditch to defend us from the impending calamity. Our guides had advertised us of this preservative ; but still the consciousness of our security was quite overpowered by that of our utter inability either to avoid or to resist the assault of the avalanche before us. On ex- amining the avalanche with a good telescope, what appeared to our bare eye as snow-dust was found to be composed of vast masses of ice and frozen snow, any one of which would have been sufficient to overwhelm a whole village, had any existed in the deep galph into which they fell. The lengthened sounds we heard did not proceed from their repercussion ; for echo is mute under the universal covering of snow. These sounds were produced by a very different phenomenon. The glaciers themselves, how- ever solid and immovable they may appear, are still known to In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 87 be in a slow but constant rate of descent through the gorges of the mountains, which open a passage tor them clown into the lower regions. Were it not so, the accumulation of glaciers would be unbounded. But in their gradual descent, passing over irregular surfaces of their bed, they are broken, burst into fissures and crevices with a loud noise, and open to the depth of many. hundred feet down to the body of the mountain. This is the principal cause of the thundering reports continually heard to proceed from them. The fall of an avalanche causes a noise of a peculiar kind, which resembles no other we are acquainted with. No living creature answers to it by a cry of terror : the surface of the snow, devoid of elasticity, receives in silence the impression, but returns it not. The report of a gun, the voice of the traveller, the sound of the bells of the mnles, even the accidental slip of the foot on the surface, will determine the mo- tion of the frozen snow. The avalanches of snow in powder are the most dangerous, on account of the great extent of ground over which they spread, and above all of the motion they impress on the air. The hurricane sweeps down every thing in its way, trees, houses, solid rocks themselves. If the simple tourmente, or whirlwind of drifting-snow, be formidable and fatal, what must be the destructive effects of an avalanche of dry powdered snow? On the other hand, the avalanche of snow consolidated into the state of ice, strikes but one individual spot, and has but little effect on the air. These last occur in summer, but the former in winter. It is the common remark of travellers who, for the first time, approach the highest snowy mountains and peaks of the Alps, that they always appear far lower and smaller than had been ex- pected. At a distance oftwo or three leagues Mont Blanc itself subtends but a small vertical angle at the eye. The universal covering of snow admitting no variation of shade or aerial per- spective, furnishes no standard of comparison by which unknown objects may be measured by others that are known. Thus the Yung-frau, in all its splendid robe of white, might pass for the roof of a house covered with snow close by us. But observe the prolonged sound of the avalanche ; measure the interval between your seeing the fall and hearing the report ; you have then data on which to calculate the distance of the phenomenon and the height from which it proceeds. On the west side of the Yung- frau is an inaccessible projection of rock, where, as the story runs, the tyrant of the air, the formidable lammorgeyer, once placed himself, to tear and devour at his ease an infant he had carried off from a village in the valley of Lauterbrunnen. For a long time afterwards the unhappy parents had before their eyes, suspended from the rock, the red garments worn by their ill-fated child. 88 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, Quitting with regret our station at the chalet of the Wingern- Alp, we advanced easterly towards the two Eigers, peaks remark- able for the sharp ridges which crown their summits, little infe- rior in elevation to that of the Yung-frau. The slender needle of the Finster-Aar-horn, to the eastward of the Yung-frau, much higher but two leagues farther off than the Eigers, displayed its acute point, often enveloped in clouds, on the deep blue of the atmosphere. The Finster-Aar-horn is elevated full 14100 Eng- lish feet above the sea, being the highest point in the Swiss Alps. Monte Rosa, in the Italian Alps, is in height 15550, and the sovereign of European mountains, Mont Blanc, rises 230 feet still higher above the level of the sea. The glaciers surrounding these lofty summits are computed to occupy a space of above twenty square leagues, yet they are reckoned to be no more than one-sixth part of the whole glaciers or fields of everlasting frozen snow and ice in the mountains of Switzerland. The depth of these prodigious masses is quite unknown ; for some have calculated them on a medium depth of 100 fathoms : yet not far from our station, by throwing stones into crevices of the glacier, and ob- serving that they took from twelve to fourteen seconds in falling down to the water in the bottom, the depth must have been full 500 instead of 100 fathoms. A descent of three hours carried us down to the north-east to Grindelwald, a village in a deep Al- pine valley, into which the extremities of glaciers of great extent have made their way. The church of Grindelwald is elevated three thousand three hundred feet above the sea; it is consequently the highest in situation in Switzerland, and even in Europe ; yet the climate is rather late than severe. The corn was not yet in the ground, nor were the cherries ripe : the potatoes seemed to be the only crop on wliich the inhabitants could depend for vegetable food. So much addicted are the people to hunting, that all sorts of game are become scarce, the chamois particularly. In former times these animals were to be seen in herds of fifty and even of a hundred ; but now they are never found in more than twenty at a time ; and this only behind the peak of the Mattenburg, to the eastward of Grindelwald in the summer ; or on the heights of Tschingelberg at the head of the valley of Lauterbrunnen to the south-west, and the Engelberg to the northward in winter. The lynx and the bouquetin, or steinbock, have disappeared, and since 1797, not a bear has been killed, although several have been seen, as also a wolf. Mountain-hares and foxes are in plenty, and their furs of great value. The formidable vulture the lammergezer is now and then seen at a distance. Among the birds are found the heath-cock, mountain-pheasant, the red partridge, &c. Trout abound in every stream ; and it is remarked In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 89 that those of the black Lutschin, stained by the argillaceous slate through which it passes, have their scales of a whitish tinge in- stead of brown, their ordinary colour. Elevated as the church of Grindelwald is, yet during the win- ter months, the sun is hidden by the lofty mountains to the south- ward. But this dreary season, on two particular days, namely, the 25th or 26th of November, and the 17th or 18th of January, the sun is seen about noon through an aperture in the body of Mount Eiger, above half-a-league distant southward in a straight Hue. On the 16th of July we were again unexpectedly favoured with a fine day, after a rainy night, and proceeded from Grin- delwald on our route north-eastward, over a range of mountains, into a valley still watered by the Aar, before it falls into the lake of Brientz, on its way through that of Thun to Bern. We soon came to the foot of the second opening of the great glacier, which cornes down a very steep slope from the mountains on the south and east. Wherever the ice of the glacier melts it deposits stones and fragments of rocks of all sizes, forming parallel ramparts, twenty or thirty feet in height. The farthest advanced of these ramparts, or moraines, as they are termed, are only of the date of the seventeenth century, and are overgrown with trees. Since that time the glacier has considerably retired. Fifty years ago it again came low r er down into the valley, and now it again retires. Hence the absurdity of calculating the original date of the gla- ciers, by marking their progress in any given period. Our land- lord in Grindelwald, conducting a flock of sheep in the month of July, 1787, from a distant pasture across a branch of a glacier, fell into a fissure, afterwards found to be near seventy feet in depth. By the fall he dislocated his wrist and broke an arm ; but in this horrible situation he retained his presence of mind. Groping along to arrive at a run of water which he heard, he found it out, and dragging himself in the current, under the ice, he at last issued with it from under the foot of the glacier. At noon we found all the cattle of the Scheideck-mountain collected on the lofty ridge called the Eselsrucken, the Ass's-back, to avoid the insects which torment them in warmer situations. As we travelled along we surprised nature in the manufacture of vegetable soil. The schistus or slate, placed in nearly vertical layers, opening its leaves is rapidly decomposed. Pieces appa- rently compact and solid easily gave way under the feet of our mules. The operation is completed by the herds of cattle, which supply the soil at the same time with the means of fertility. Grass and alpine-plants soon cover the surface, or if it be swept away by the rain and melted snow, a new surface is brought to light, in its turn to undergo the same transformation. VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. M 90 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, In our descent from the ridge of the Ass's-back, we came to a chalet then inhabited, and of course affording very different accommodation from that on the summit of the Wingern Alp. Within was a large fire, and round it a sort of ditch a foot deep, in which we placed our feet and sat on the floor of the chalet. An immense cauldron was suspended over the fire, to warm the milk for the manufacture of cheese. The men of the place sup- plied us with cream, in which the spoon stood upright. They also provided a kettle, in which we prepared our coffee, making use, for cups, of large wooden spoons with short handles, neatly carved in the shape of shells. T he whole implements used in the management and manufacture of the cheese, were the workman- ship of the people of the chalet, and made of maple, lime, or odoriferous-pine, commonly called alvier, the pinus-cimbra. The chalet itself was built of trunks of trees roughly joined together, and covered with thick shingles, through which the smoke escapes as it can. The roof advances ten or twelve feet beyond the w T alls, forming a sort of open gallery all round, called the Melkgang, under which the cows are milked in bad weather, and under this shed a place is constructed where the men sleep, without undressing, on straw. The cows come to the chalet to be milked, attracted by a little salt thrown to them by the keeper. They are likewise accompanied by a number of hogs, to drink the whey furnished to them in abundance. By the constant intercourse of these animals the chalet is completely invested with mire and puddle, through which, were it not for a range of large stepping-stones, it would be almost inaccessible. This description of a chalet in the heart of Switzerland is a little different from that given by Rousseau of the chalets of the Dent de Jaman, near the residence of Julia, on the borders of the lake of Geneva. But his description may apply to those fixed family-dwellings on the lower mountains, which are kept perfectly clean and neat. My chalet was a rude temporary abode of the cow-herds, where the women never go to reside. The extent of a tract of pasture is computed by the number of cows it will maintain for the season. In so doing six or eight goats are reckoned as equal to one cow ; so are four calves, sheep, or hogs. But a horse is counted for four or five cows, because he pulls up the grass by the roots, and injures the pas- ture. The district of Grindelwald feeds three thousand cows, and, an equal number of sheep and goats. The produce of a cow in three summer-months, is valued at five-and-twenty shil- lings on the spot, and for the other nine at forty shillings. In bad weather the men are on foot the whole night, talking to and encouraging their cattle, to keep them from running into (langer by seeking shelter from the storm. These animals have In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 91 a much finer lively appearance in the mountains, than those we are accustomed to see in the plains ; they run up and down along the steepest slopes, whisking their tail about, with the ex- pression of high delight. They stop to look at the stranger, attracted by tiie novelty of his address; but he must have neither dog nor red umbrella. The bull, notwithstanding his fierceness, is perfectly quiet unless he smell a bear, which be can do at a considerable distance ; in that case nothing can restrain him. He runs furiously at the enemy ; but the bear practices all his stratagems to avoid a battle, which is sure to end in the death of one or both of the combatants. A bull, engaged in pursuing a bear, disappeared for three days, when he was found fixed up to the knees in the ground, pushing at his adversary lying under him, evidently dead for some time ; nor could the bull ever have extricated himself from his position. Having rested ourselves for two hours in the chalet we conti- nued our route at leisure down an easy descent, through woods of fir and maple intermingled with tufts of rhododendron in full flower. From the bridge over the lleichenbach, we turned back to view once more our peaks and mountains, retiring from our eye, whilst another opening of the great glacier presented itself coming down from the Wetterhorn. Soon afterwards a spectacle of a new kind appeared below us, whereas for some days past we had been constantly looking up to objects far above us. This was the valley of Hasli, spacious and fertile, full of villages and dwellings, shaded with flourishing trees, and watered by the winding Aar. The scene was like another world, and a return to the habitations of civilized beings. Meyringen, the principal place in the valley of Hasli, appeared another Paris or London. An ancient tradition, preserved in the central districts of Switzerland, reports that a famine having desolated Denmark and West-Frizeland, many of the inhabitants forsook the coun- try, and after various wanderings, fixed their abode in the tracts round the lake of Lucern or of the four cantons, then wholly an unoccupied desert. There they remained unknown till, in the fifth century, some tribes from Germany penetrated, but did not remain among them. They had no lords of the soil, no feudal institutions ; nor is it known how or when they came to con- sider themselves as holding of the emperor of Germany. But by a charter of the emperor Lewis, the son of Charlemagne, still preserved among the archives of Uri, it appears that in the year - 809, that canton placed itself under the protection of his father, who became the guarantee for its political constitution. These circumstances form the subject of national songs, long preserved M2 92 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, in the upper valley of Hasli, in a dialect now scarcely under- stood, and consequently different from the common German spoken in the country. Were these songs published with a glossary, the world would learn some curious particulars of the emigrations and manners of the northern nations. The national songs of those tribes are mentioned by Jornandes (or Jordanus) who wrote his history of the Goths in the sixth century, and by Paul Winifred, the historian of the Lombards, in the eighth century. Numerous cataracts, more striking but less noted than the Staubach, pour down their foaming waters on each side of the valley. One of them burst out from the mountain from which we descended. This was the Reichenbach, which a little be- fore we had crossed on a bridge, but which now threw itself over a precipice from eleven to twelve hundred feet in height, in six or se,ven successive falls. The torrent has pierced, mined, and hollowed out the rock in the most extraordinary manner, and stairs and a pavilion have been formed for the accom- modation of the curious traveller, at a point where the view is the most interesting. A stone-bridge thrown over the current, between two projecting rocks, furnishes another convenient station for those who delight in vertigo. Several other cataracts and cascades deserve the attention of the visitors of the romantic and interesting valley of Hasli. The females of this valley have a high reputation for beauty, and the males for vigour and courage. In fact, the form of the female countenance departs farther from the circle, and the phy- siognomy is more expressive than that of the rural damsels of Bern ; and the men are famous for their skill and dexterity in wrestling and other manly exercises. From Meyringen a steep winding path conducts the traveller across the Brunig, a range of mountains which separate the canton of Bern from that of Unterwalden, and down by Sarnen and its lakes to Stanz and the Lake of Lucern. From Meyringen we proceeded down the banks of the Aar to Brientz, in the intention of embarking on the lake of that name, for Interlaken ; but the wind being contrary, we changed our plan, and travelled along the north-shore of the lake. The side of the lake where we were was lofty and steep ; still it was cultivated with great care,, the fields of pasture watered by a multitude of rivulets, and the farms and cottages shaded with walnut, oak, and ash. Through this delightful scenery we re- turned to Interlaken, after a most interesting tour of four days. In the evening, from our inn, we could see the summit of the Yung-fi au, reflecting a light similar to that of the moon- being, In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 93 like it, borrowed from the sun, although long set below the horizon, with respect to our position. In going in the morning to embark on the lake of Thun, \ve halted for a moment in Unterseen, to see the fair boat-woman Elizabeth, now retired from her occupation and married to a shop-keeper in the place. This good man with pure simplicity keeps a stock of chamois-horns which strangers purchase from the fair hand of his dame; entering in a register their remarks on her person in prose and verse. Among the names I found that of the present poet-laureate of England, who had passed some days before us, and who had marked down that Elizabeth resembled the Fornarina of Raphael. Now as various portraits are said to represent that celebrated beauty, the poet ought to have told us which of them he meant. At any rate the counte- nance of the fair boat-woman is in the style of the Madonnas ; features regular, forehead smooth and calm, expression mild, modest, and a little insipid. When complimented on her beauty by some strangers who could speak her language, Elizabeth smiled, cast down her eyes, caressed her child, and continued to sell her horns. Before we embarked on our voyage to Thun, we went a little out of the way to visit the ruined castle of Unspunnen, famous in the history of Switzerland, and connected with many events half-romantic, halt-barbaric, of the middle ages. The ruins on the south-side of the head of the lake of Thun consist princi- pally of a tower without a gate, probably the dungeon for pri- soners. A stone arch formerly united the rock on which it stands, with another rock on which are vestiges of other build- ings. On the death of the last king of Burgundy (grandson of the good queen Bertha) in 1032 his great vassals refused to recognise the cession he had made of his territories in Switzer- land, to the emperor of Germany, and consequently the authority of the duke of Zceringen, the imperial lieutenant. Of these vassals the most powerful was the baron of Unspunnen, the lord of the whole mountainous tract now part of the canton of Bern. Burkard, the last of these barons, was the mortal enemy of Berthold, the fifth of the name, also the last of the family of the dukes of Zceringen ; and this Berthold had erected the castle of Thun at the opposite extremity of the lake, to repress the incursions of Burkard. The baron had a daughter, his only child, the beautiful Ida. Rodolph of Wcedenschwyl, the bravest and most accomplished of the knights of the court of Zceringen, became desperately enamoured of Ida, whom he had accidentally seen at a tournament. For a person in his place to solicit the baron for the hand of the fair Ida, the thing was im- possible. Taking advantage, therefore, of the absence of her 94 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, father on some occasion, Rodolph, aided by gome friends, pro- ceeded by night to Unspunnen, scaled the castle, carried off Ida, and married her in Bern. The enmity and hostilities between the baron of Unspunnen and the duke of Zceringen, now broke out with more virulence than ever ; and years of bloodshed and devastation mutually afflicted their unfortunate people. Ber- thold of Zceringen at last, generous as he was brave, to termi- nate these calamities, formed a project worthy of the warriors of those days. He repaired to Unspunnen with young Walter of Wcedenschwyl, the son of Ida, in his hand. The baron, old and soured, still lamented, in the solitude of his castle, the loss of his daughter. The bold frankness and confidence in his honour displayed by Berthold, in putting himself in his power, disarmed the resentment of Burkard ; and his own resemblance renewed in the countenance of the young Walter, completed the desired alteration in his sentiments. Reconciliation between all parties took place ; the duke and the baron were united in strict bonds of friendship ; the vassals mutually congratulated each other on this happy turn of affairs ; and the old baron of Unspunnen at his death left the whole of his vast domains to the son of his daughter, by Rodolph of Wcedenschwyl. The whole story, with its concomitant circumstances, is susceptible of dramatic exhibition ; but I have not heard that it has hitherto employed any pen of note. Berri) July. It is impossible to travel through the canton of Bern, without being struck with the comfortable and happy appearance of the country-people, with their air of independence and conscious pride. No taxes whatever do they pay ; the ad- ministration of justice is fair anoj. prompt; and certainly it can- not be accused of vindictiveness, since after so many and so great disorders, consequent on the French invasion, excited and aided by insurrection among their own people, not a single individual is now in prison for political offences. Great as were their provocations, the magistrates of Bern, canstantly accessible, hear patiently, and if possible remedy the complaints of the humblest burgess. The establishment for the promotion of education and agri- culture, formed by Mr. de Fellenberg at Hofwyl, about two leagues north from Bern, to the westward of the road to Soleure, having acquired a great reputation in the world, we went to ex- amine it in the end of July. The first persons we met were Mr. de Fellenberg, and some of his pupils, walking under the trees near his house. Being then fortunately unengaged, which is rarely the case with him, he most obligingly himself shewed and explained to us the nature and arrangement of his institu- tion. Having no skill in agriculture myself!, I can only say that In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 95 his fields appeared to be in perfect order, neat and clean, and not a weed to be seen. What is now a spacious range of mea- dows, rich in herbage, was, fifteen years ago, only a marshy peat- bog. In draining this bog, Mr. de F. has accomplished w r orks of great importance : the water that was absorbed in the ground now flows in channels on the surface, and irrigates those fields which it formerly drowned. Once every four years he labours his ground with a plough of great size and strength, drawn by fourteen horses, which brings up and carries off the stones from a depth of two feet. This operation I never saw performed any where else; and, perhaps, one of the causes why agriculture has made so little progress in many countries is, that it is always con- ducted in the same manner in all countries, without a due re- gard to the various circumstances of the soil. His farming- buildings were all in capital order. Mr. de Fallenberg began his establishment with a fortune of ,500 per annum. He had always a taste, or rather a passion, for agriculture, and has long conducted it on an extended scale at Buchsee, his country-seat^ near Hofwyl, where his present public institution is established. Still husbandry, as such, was with him an object of only secondary consideration, when com- pared with the advantages to be drawn from its practice for the education and reformation of his fellow-creatures. The im- provement of agriculture tends naturally to the augmentation of human beings; but it depends on education and discipline to render them better, and wiser, and happier. Naturally of an ardent and generous disposition, Mr. de F. early adopted the principles of that liberal policy which, in France, were so soon and so cruelly abused. Grieved at this unfortunate result, he conceived a very discouraging opinion of the moral condition of mankind ; but still he thought by adopting or introducing some better system of education, their reformation and improvement might be effected. An accidental circumstance, which would Jiave made 110 deep impression on a mind more accustomed to the ways of the world, and differently constituted, at once deter- mined his future mode of life. In the year 1798, when the subjugation and the spoil of Bern were resolved on in Paris, Rewbel was one of the rive members composing the directory. This Rewbel was originally an attor- ney of no great repute in Besanson, the capital of Franche Comte, in the east of France. Having repaired to Bern to exercise his professional talents in favour of certain Jews of his town, he lost his cause, and was informed by the judges that he had in- curred the penalty of one of their ancient regulations. This was, that if any pleader should take upon him a cause that turned out frivolous and vexatious, and therefore should fail in 96 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, establishing his point, he should be sent to prison for twenty- four hours. This penalty, in. consideration of his being a fo- reigner, was, indeed, not enforced, but his resentment was not the less violent; and the member of the sovereign directory of France took vengeance for the imaginary injury of the advocate of Besanson. Being attached to the Swiss legation in Paris, after the French invasion. Mr. de Fellenberg had with the director Rewbel, at his country-house, near Paris, an official interview, to lay before him the distressing situation in which Switzerland was placed. He represented the danger that would probably ensue, indepen- dently of all sense of justice, of a civil-war breaking out in the country equally, like that of La Vendee, fatal to both parties. The director seemed to listen with an attentive ear to his dis- course, and Mr. de F. began to hope that he had made some fa- vourable impression on his mind. He even flattered himself that he had awakened some sentiments of humanity in his heart, when the director, hastily interrupting his argument, ordered a servant who was passing, to bring in the basket with his favour- ite spaniel, and her young brood of puppies : and, with a sar- castic smile, dismissed the negotiator from his presence. " Dis- fusted beyond expression," added Mr. de F., " with diplomacy, bid adieu to the place, and to a career for which, as then prac- tised, I was in no way adapted. I resolved to devote myself to the tedious and painful labour of elementary reformation of my fellow-creatures, by means of education and instruction, and to persevere in that course to the end of my days." Of the upper, or high-school, we had a specimen during supper, in Mr. de F.'s own house, where his lady presided, with equal sense, politeness, and frank hospitality. A horse-shoe- table was carried round three sides of a spacious parlour, at which, besides the family of Mr. de F. and several of the teachers and masters, between seventy and eighty pupils belong- ing to some of the first families, not of Switzerland only but of Germany and Russia, took their place. The entertainment was abundant, but plain ; and the pupils conversed freely with one another. We took our leave, full of satisfaction with every thing we had seen and heard at Holfwyl, and furnished with va- rious papers from Mr. de Fellenberg-, containing every informa- tion relative to his establishment. From Bern we made an excursion on foot to visit Friburgh, the capital of a canton of the same name, noted for its attach- ment to the institutions and observances of the Roman Catholic religion. Much of this strictness may, perhaps, be owing to the circumstance of the canton being completely inclosed by the Calvinistic cantons of Bern and the Pays de Vaud. The ex- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. &7 tensive inclosure of Friburgh, occupying the summit and slope of a peninsula, formed by the Sanen, or Sarine, which runs north- ward to meet the Aar below Bern, its antique walls and towers, the cavernous rocks on which the principal part of the town is built, give to it from a distance a very picturesque appearance. This is particularly the case when viewed from the heights on the east, forming the deep valley through which the Sarine winds its way. But the interest excited by the exterior of Friburgh vanishes when you examine the interior. It happened to be the day of the fair when I was there. The aspect of the streets, encumbered by a noisy multitude of buyers and sellers, of idlers sauntering up and down, of monks and beggars, madonnas, co- lossal crucifixes, &c. : the whole reminded me of a town in cer- tain remote districts of the interior of Italy. The town is situ- ated so precisely on the line which separates the German and French dialects, that on such an occasion one-half of the people of the fair could scarcely understand the other. The rock on which Friburgh is built, is a very friable sand- stone, in which cellars and grottoes are hollowed with great ease. In the front of the precipice, on the east bank of the Sa- rine, a hermitage has been excavated to a great extent, con- taining chambers, a chapel, and other accommodations. The steeple is carried up like a vast chimney, for above eighty feet, to the top of the rock. The charge brought against the government of Bern, (that is before the late alterations) of its tendency to benumb the facul ties of the great body of the people, excluded for ever from any share in the administration, is much more justly applied to the government of Friburgh. Exclusive in every sense of the term, it carefully and completely shuts up every avenue to the admis- sion of new men and new ideas : it is in fact the system of pri- vileged mediocrity. The most enlightened among their rulers, indeed, confess that they are far behind the age in which they live; but they comfort themselves with the thought that in So- leure, another catholic canton, they are still greater blockheads, and more ignorant than themselves. Yet, in 1808, a school for the poor, in imitation of that of Hofwyl, was opened in the neighbourhood ; but the project of the benevolent author failed by the expense which, through some mismanagement, attended the scheme. The Jesuits, after a long contest in Friburgh, having come off victors; for the majority of the people opposed but the majority of the rulers favoured them ; are now preparing to take charge of the education of youth in the canton. The emulation be- tween them and the former teachers must, no doubt, be of service ; but it may, perhaps, be purchased at too high a price, as far, at VOYAGE* and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. N 98 Simond's Travels in Switzerland^ least, as concerns the utility and real value of the instruction imparted to the pupils. The Jesuits of former times were men of learning and ability, whose ambition was directed to no per- sonal individual fame or aggrandisement, but wholly to that of their order. To this great object they devoted themselves with- out restraint and without scruple. The Jesuits of the present day, those, at least, who have been sent to Friburgh, may pro- bably possess the same zealous devotion to the interests of the so- ciety at large ; but they certainly have neither the ability nor the knowledge of their predecessors. They are called, by their op- ponents, capuchin-friars on horseback ; that is to say, persons who assumed the externals of men of importance, while, in fact, they were no better than others of much humbler pretensions. Travelling southwards, or up the west bank of the Sarine, we passed through Bulle, and, at a league's distance, arrived in Gruyere, a village celebrated in France, as well as in its own country, for the quality of its cheese. The antique castle, perched on a lofty rock, commanding the valley, offers a pictu- resque object as you draw near to the place. It was once the feudal residence of a noble family, the last to maintain its inde- pendence in the midst of the Swiss republics. At length the lord of Gruyere was obliged to relinquish his castle and his do- mains to his creditors in 1554 ; and thus in a way, the reverse of noble, his possessions and his power were lost in the general republican mass. It was told me (for I did not climb up to it) that in the castle still exists the great hall in which the ox was slaughtered, roasted, and served up to the gallant knights of Gruyere, seated on the higlv-stone seat that runs round the wall. In the deep recess of the only window is the sink to receive the blood of the animal, and on one side is the mighty fire-place. There also is the place of torture, employed long after the oc- cupiers had ceased to roast the ox in the hall, and after the princely domain had passed from the ancient and noble counts of Gruyere to the humble republicans of Switzerland. The same formidable chamber was afterwards converted into a dress- ing-room for the lady of the bailli) or judge and governor. Among all the cows of Switzerland the cows of the valley of Gruyere are, in plain terms, justly entitled to bear the bell ; for they afford the best cheese in the country, cheese now imitated in several parts of Mount Jura, particularly in those belonging to France, and consequently sold in that country for the genuine Gruyere. But when the two kinds are compared together, their difference cannot be mistaken. Whatever be the state of the weather, on the day fixed by ancient law, the 9th of October, the cows leave the mountains, and descend to pasture in the val- ley, watered by the Sarine. Equal in bulk to those of the Mila- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 999 nese in the north of Italy, but with very small horns, the coat of the Gruyere cows has very little of their lustre ; but they give four or five times as much milk. During the three summer months, they yield about six gallons, or twenty-four quarts, every day ; twelve quarts during the next three months, and last of all six quarts per day. The price of the milk is one penny per quart. Notwithstanding the free independent life led by these cows, they are readily yoked in waggons, or in the plough. In the neighbourhood of Bern the cows under the yoke are more active and move quicker along the road than the oxen. The cow-herds of Gruyere are a race equally distinguished from the peasants of other districts, as are their cows ; and the dialect spoken in the valley is remarked for its softness of enunciation. The valley rises gradually southward by the Sanen, or Sarine, and terminates at the Dent de Jaman, a mountain-peak elevated three-quarters of a mile perpendicularly above the level of the lake of Geneva, lying at its western base. Walking for three hours, we attained the summit, a narrow plain separating the opposite slopes. Behind us, oh the north, stretched out the val- ley of Gruyere, its forests, its chalets, its hamlets, its green pas- tures, the abode of tranquillity and peace. Looking to the south-west the prospect was at once most beautiful and most magnificent. Below was spread out, in length and breadth, the vast lake of Geneva, then covered by a low, but dense floating fog, the upper surface of which, while it hid from us the water, reHected the surrounding mountains as the lake itself could have done, but with softer and more harmonious gradations. The threatening black rocks of Meillerie and St. Gingoulph, seen from our position, seemed to rise with more tremendous precipices from the edge of the lake on the south. The whole chain of mountains dividing the Valais from Savoy, extended before us on to Mont Blanc itself, of which the snow-white sum- mit alone appeared on the right. In the bottom before us lay the deep vale of the Valais, now turned into an arm of the sea, by the fog which occupied the lower parts. By the beautiful blue tints of the glaciers we could discern that the snows of the season had not yet covered them. The slope under our feet, on the western side of the Jaman, covered with turf smooth as velvet, was traversed by light clouds, resembling balls of the whitest cotton, moved by a gentle breeze. At a distance these loose vapours appeared as solid masses, but when we descended and entered them, they seemed no more dense than a common fog. At last, after a course of two hours over the green turfy slopes, in the midst of multitudes of cattle and sheep, we ar- rived at Montreux, a village in a delightful position, near the border of the lake of Geneva. Here I had the advantage to be N2 JOO Smond's Travels in Switzerland, acquainted with Mr. Bridel, the worthy minister of the place, who has published a very useful work on the history of the country^ the Conservateur Suisse, from which I have collected many valuable facts and observations. Leaving Bern for the last time, we took the great public road for Geneva, by Lausanne. Our route lay westward, over a finely varied country, well- cultivated and wooded, to Morat, or Murten, a little town with antique walls, seated pleasantly on the east bank of the lake of the same name. This lake, which is separated from that of Iverdun, or Neuchatel, by a long range of hills, in vines, corn, and wood, discharges its waters into it through a marshy plain of uncommon flatness, often flooded so as to form one lake out of the two. Both these lakes have sensibly diminished, not so much probably by the lowering of the level of their surface, as by their filling up with the materials brought down by the rains, and the streams which fall into them, particularly at the south end. Charles, surnamed (and with great reason) the rcrs/z, Duke of Burgundy made various incursions into Switzerland, in the fifteenth century, but was always defeated with great loss and disgrace. After his discomfiture at Granson, on the v/est bank of the lake of Neuchatel, on the 2d of March, 1476, he drew together a prodigious force, not less than sixty thousand men, and blockaded Morat, defended by fifteen hundred. By the utmost exertions the Swiss raised an army such as they had never been able before to assemble, amounting to thirty-one thousand infantry, and four thousand cavalry. The Burgundian army, like most of the armies of the princes of Europe in those days, was in a great manner composed of men whom a con- tempory historian qualifies as scape- gallows. The Swiss, on the other hand, were the choice of the population, sons, brothers, and relations; men habituated to labour and frugality ; well prepared to defend their homes to the utmost ; for they had seen abundant proofs of the fidelity with which the Duke of Burgundy, and his ally Lewis XI. of France, would fulfil their engagements, were they to fall into their hands. On the 22d of June, in the same year, 1476, the Swiss attacked the Burgundians strongly entrenched, with a numerous artillery, near Morals, forced them on all points, drove them from the field, and gained a most decisive victory with very little loss on their own part. Many of the enemy's cavalry were drowned in endeavouring to swim their horses across the lake ; and at various times fragments of armour have been discovered when the waters were low. Four years after the battle, the bones of the Burgundians, buried by the victors on the field-of-battle, were collected together and placed in a chapel constructed for In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 101 the purpose, on the south-side of the town of Morat, with an inscription denoting, that " Charles Duke of Burgundy, slain by the Swiss, had left that monument of himself, in the year 1476." This monument of a most unjust aggression heroically repelled, stood by the way-side until 1798, when it was destroyed by the French army. The most active in that ungenerous exploit were some regiments belonging to the environs of Dijon in Burgundy : but the memory of the victory of Morat will never be effaced among the descendants of the heroes of that day. Proceeding on our way along the border of the lake of Morat, about a mile beyond it on a gentle eminence, we entered Avenche, a small town consisting of one broad street, with a few parallel and cross lanes, occupying a small portion of the south-west corner of the inclosure of the ancient Aventicum of the Romans. Contrary to what is observed of ancient cities in most parts of the Roman empire, the space inclosed within the walls of Aventicum is very considerable. They are formed of straight lines, composing a seven-sided figure tolerably regular, of a Roman mile in diameter. The Roman mile containing 756 French toises, while the English statute mile contains 826, the Roman mile is equal to 1,393 English yards, while the English mile is equal to 1,760 yards. The walls are not con- structed with that regularity of dressed stone observed in various other Roman works ; but of rubble work of small land stones, bound together by a very adhesive cement. Some fragments of undoubted Roman construction may, how- ever, be still discovered ; and from the apparently intended regular heptagonal form of the inclosing walls, the existing construction has probably followed the foundations of the ancient. Of the same materials have been the towers, the places of which may be traced along the walls, and one on the left as you enter the inclosure from Bern, is still sufficiently entire to give an idea of their structure. Within the walls, in various places, have been discovered mosaic pavements, urns, coins, &c. and on the right as you enter the present Avenche, you turn round a part of tke circuit of a small amphitheatre. In the middle of the old town are the remains of a theatre, and near it part of an edifice of great magnificence, composed of large blocks of marble, which being formerly a place of resort for storks, is still called the cigognier. Near it on the ground, but reversed, is a fragment of a cornice of white marble, of large dimensions and of elegant sculpture. Several sepulchral and other inscriptions have frpm time to time been discovered. In the west of the castle of Avenche is preserved an altar of which the inscription is much obliterated; but it has been .con- 102 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, secrated to the divinity of Aventicum, DEAE A VENT, a proof that the old town was held in no common estimation by the Romans. The first author who mentions Aventicum is Tacitus, who wrote in the close of the first century ; and he qualifies it as caput gentis, the principal town of Helvetia. Under Trajan it was a colony surnamed Flavia, after Vespasian, or one of his sons Titus or Domitian. Ammianus Marcellinus, who in the end of the fourth century tells us that, while serving under Julian in the Gaules, he had seen Vesontio (Besanson) and Augusta Rauracorum (Augst above Basil), describes Aven- ticum as already desolate when he was in Helvetia : " A city now deserted, but formerly no mean place." Several military columns existing in Switzerland, indicate by their inscribed numbers that the distances were reckoned from Aventicum, as the central or capital city, as was done from Rome, and some other chief tow r ns in different parts of the empire. A mile to the westward of the vestiges of Ebredunum, near the present position of Iverdun, was found a column, still to be seen in the town, erected in the time of Septimius Severus, marked XXI. corresponding to the distance from Avenche. A fortress con- structed within the ruins of Aventicum, probably on the spot where the present Avenche is situated, by a grandee named Vivilo or Wiflis, was named Wiflisburg, an appellation still applied in the German language to Avenche. Hence in the castle, the parish church, in the remains of the old walls of the present town, are to be seen stones evidently drawn from Roman buildings. After a course of dry weather the traces of the streets and buildings may be observed within Aventicum, by the colour of the grass and other plants, burnt up by the shallow dry quality of the ground in those places. From Avenche to Lausanne the road, which all along is kept in excellent order, without a single toll, leads on a gradual ascent to within a couple of miles of the latter town. It passes through Payeme and Moudon, Minnodunum of the Romans, and a frequent succession of villages, across a country fertile and well-cultivated, abounding in corn, pasture, and wood. At that distance from Lausanne, you come out on the round summit of the Jora, (no part of the Jura, although frequently confounded with it by the writers of imaginary travels in Switzerland) from which is gradually unfolded one of the most magnificent pros- pects any where to be seen. To the right and left spread out the rich slopes of the Pays de Vaud ; in front rise the stupendous range of Mont Blanc, and his dependent mountains ; the deep interval forms the bed of the lake of Geneva, there of such a breadth and length, one end being concealed by the land, as to pass in appearance for a wide firth or arm of the sea. In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 103 Lausanne is indebted for its celebrity among the visitors of Switzerland to the peculiar advantages of its situation, much more than to any thing very noticeable in the town itself. Placed high above the lake, but low enough on the south-side of the Jora to be in some sort skreened from the cold blasts from the north, it commands a prospect limited only by the mountains of Switzerland, of Savoy, and the Jura. The present town, laid out as most old towns were, without any regular plan, is very unequally built. The original town, still known by the appel- lation " the city," is on a small eminence away from the present road to Geneva. In it are the cathedral (for Lausanne before the Reformation was the see of a bishop,) a handsome structure in what is commonly, but most absurdly, termed the Gothic style, the castle or town-house, prisons, &c. the whole inclosed with walls of the middle ages, of which portions still exist. Lausanne owes its first distinction to the transfer thither of the see, in the end of the sixth century, from the Aventicum. Yet in the Itinerary of Antoninus, a position is mentioned under the singular title Lausonius Lacus, evidently not the lake itself, but some place near its bank. In the Theodosian or Peutingerian Table, the same name is written Losonne ; and the inhabitants are termed Lousonnenses, in an inscription discovered in 1739, not in Lausanne itself but at Vidy, a mile and a half to the westward of the town, in the low country on the border of the lake. From the discovery of that inscription, and of other anti- quities at Vidy, the Romans had there probably a settlement or country villa. But the position of the old Lausanne, the name, the term the city, the establishment of the bishop's see, all seem to denote, that, notwithstanding the strange appellation Lacus Lausonius, the present town occupies and comprehends the positions of the Roman city. The distances given in the Roman Itineraries seem also to correspond better with the site of old Lausanne than with that of Vidy. Besides the view from the town, very extended prospects may be procured from the Signal and other elevated spots to the northward. The house inhabited by the historian of the " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," is on the left as you leave the town on the way to Geneva. Descending by a winding road to the low bank of the lake, you enter on a tract of beautifully varied country, which extends the whole way to that town, and you pass by Vidy, \vhere the Roman antiquities have been found. This place was swept into the lake thirteen centuries ago, by a pro- digious commotion of the waters, caused by the fall of the mountain Tauretunum, distant five leagues on the other side of the lake. If this really took place it was very natural for the inhabitants to remove to the city of Lausanne, where such an 104 SimoncTs Travels in Switzerland, accident could never assail them. And it is plain, that the term Lacus Lausonius would best apply to a place on the border of the lake. Nevertheless, the evidences in favour of the present town remain equally valid. When once arrived at the bottom of the hill of Lausanne, the road leads along the borders of the lake through Merges and Rolle to Nyon, a Roman town and a colony of early foundation. Merges and Rolle are small but neat clean open towns, de- lightfully seated on the water's edge, the former.having a spacious harbour for large barks, and a handsome church. Before coming to Merges you cross the Venoge, a small but rapid stream descending from the most depressed part of the Jora. By the means of locks, to be formed on the Venoge, it has been pro- jected to open a water- com muni cation between the lakes of Geneva and Neuchatel, between the German ocean at the mouth of the Rhine, and the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Rhone. But unless the Rhone be rendered navigable, by a canal across the Pas de 1'Ecluse, and at some other points, such a project would scarcely defray its expence. From Lausanne the Pays de Vaud, westward, exhibits a continued slope of no great acclivity, from the lake up to the boundary of hills and mountains on the north. The country is in universal cultivation, chiefly for vines, which in their season before the vintage, present a very agreeable prospect. It is studded with towns, villages, and country-seats, in positions at once healthy and pleasant. The mountains behind Rolle and Nyon are elevated four thousand tlvree hundred feet above the lake of Geneva. Nyon, that is the ancient Roman town, is placed on a low eminence near the border of the lake, bounded on each side by hollows, watered by rivulets. The present town includes an irregular street on the water's edge, where barks of considerable burthen put in. The ancient name of Nyon was Noiodunum, whence the present appellation ; but when the Romans had esta- blished in the town a colony of veterans, and a station for a body of cavalry, the original name was preceded by Colonia Equestris. In after times it was called Ci vitas Equestrium Noiodunum ; and part of the title came to belong to the adjoin- ing district, which was termed Pagus Equestricus, in the course of time modernized into Pays d'Enquestre. Nyon is mentioned in the Itineraries as ajn intermediate station between Geneva and Lacus Lausonius, and several military columns have been found which refer by their numbers to its position. Before you come to Nyon you see on the right, a little up from the road, Prangin, a handsome country-seat, for some time In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1810. 105 the abode of Joseph Bonaparte, after his expulsion from Spain. From the extent of the front, the long terraces, gardens, &c. the appearance of Prangin announces much more than the interior will justify : for it contains no apartments worthy of its exterior. From what I could learn of the manners of the court of Prangin, it enjoyed no very favourable reputation among the quiet, orderly, moral people of the Pays de Vaud. A few miles more to the south-west and south from Nyon bring you to Coppet, a small town noted for having been once the place of residence, and now the place of sepulture, of the celebrated M. Necker, and his no less celebrated daughter the Baroness de Stae'l. From Coppet we travelled still along the border of the lake, through Versoix, both new and old, and at last arrived in Ge- neva. New Versoix shows only the ground-plan of an establish- ment, formed in the ministry of the Duke de Choiseul, under Lewis-X V. in the view of drawing thither a portion at least of the population and business of Geneva. A harbour was constructed on the shore of the lake ; streets were marked out ; a few houses were erected: but the project proved wholly abortive. The country of Gex, a district belonging to France, on the east-side of Mount Jura, extended to the lake in several places ; so that all communication between Geneva and Switzerland proper might be cut off, according to the political relations with that kingdom. To remedy this important obstruction it was pro- vided by the last peace, in 1815, that France should no longer in any point extend to the lake, but be cut off by a line drawn Earallel to the shore, at the distance of two miles or more ; thus ;aving an open communication by land between Geiveva and Switzerland. The French territory still includes Fernex, a place which neither in itself nor in its situation would attract any notice, had it not been the last abode of Voltaire. Fernex stands in the plain of Gex, full two miles up from the lake of Geneva. In the house, dignified with the name of chateau, the bed-chamber and ante-room are still kept as they were in 1777, when, after a residence of twenty years, that peculiar genius quitted it to repair to Paris, there to enjoy his triumph, and to die. Time and the late wars have somewhat deranged the brilliant furniture of his apartments ; and the mischief has been not a little augmented by travellers who, for these many years past, have valued themselves not a little on possessing a shred of the curtains which inclosed the place on which reposed the philosopher and poet of Fernex. To obtain leave to carry off a relic of this piece of furniture was of course a matter of pecuniary consideration; and the good house-keeper so well VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. Vll. O 106 f Simond's Travels in Switzerland, understands her busines , that she finds always something to call off her attention while the spoliation of the hangings is going on. When I was at Fernex, they had contracted at least two yards of their original length. Some common portraits, in crayons, of the celebrated actor Lekain, Frederic of Prussia, and Vol- taire himself; some prints of the same value of Washington, Franklin, Newton, &c. adorned the room. From the time when we passed through old Versoix, the last village formerly belonging to France, until we entered Geneva, the country became more and more cultivated ; the road con- fined by hedges, numbers of country-houses, on the borders of the lake there greatly contracted, fields, orchards, gardens, all announced our approach to a town, and that a town of no small importance. Geneva. The name of this city is connected with many im- portant events and transactions. Its antiquity is of a very early date ; for it is mentioned by Caesar, in the beginning of his first book of the Gallic war. He describes it as the last town of the Allobrogians, and next to the borders of the Helvetians ; to which a bridge extended over a river, afterwards stated to be the Rhone, at its issue from the lake Leman, now named after the town itself. The original Geneva was wholly situated on the summit of a small promontory, advancing from south-east to north-west to the brink of the Rhone. It is washed on the one side by the waters of the lake, and bounded on the other by a flat, ex- posed to inundation by the Arve, a violent torrent rising from the glaciers on the base of Mont Blanc. The small level summit rises about ninety English feet above the ordinary surface of the lake, which is itself elevated about twelve hundred feet above the Mediterranean. So great, therefore," is the fall and the consequent average rapidity of the Rhone, between its issue from the lake of Geneva and its entrance into the sea. The lake, in former ages, came much closer to the promontory than at present ; for the streets along the shore are of comparatively modern formation, and are still liable to be flooded on any swelling of the waters. Whether the low island by which the Rhone is at present divided, when it leaves the lake, existed in Caesar's time cannot be determined from his language ; be- cause the" term pons may signify merely an artificial communi- cation, and not one bridge, in contradistinction with the two wooden bridges, which now connect the island with the land on each side. The remains and the foundations of the antique Roman walls surrounding the summit of the promontory may still be seen and traced. A gate still exists near the town-house ; and various Roman inscriptions have been inserted in the walls, when reparations became necessary by the lapse of time, or by In the Years 181?, 1818, and 1819. 107 the devastations to winch the town has been frequently exposed by conflagration and war. Other inscriptions discovered in and near the town are preserved in the court of the town-house. It has been both asserted and denied, that Geneva was ever a Roman colony ; yet an inscription inserted in the outside of the city-wall seems to support the assertion. It is the following : T. IVL. T. FIL. CORN. VALERIANO PATRONO COLON. II VIR. AER. Ill VLR. LOCORVM P. PERSEQ VENDOR. TRIE. MILIT. LEG. VI. VICTR. PRAEF. FABR. FLAM. AVG. PONTIFICI IVLIA T. F. VERA PATRI OPTIMO. " To the best of fathers, Titus Julius, (the son of Titus) Cor- nelius Valerianus, patron of the colony, duumvir of the treasury, triumvir for carrying on the public works, military tribune of the sixth legion the victorious, commander of the artificers, priest of Augustus, and high-priest ; inscribed by his daughter, Julia Vera. When the Helvetians had determined to abandon their native land, and to look for new habitations in the south-western parts of Gaul, they requested permission to pass over the Rhone by the bridge of Geneva, and to proceed through the low country of the Allobrogians, now Savoy, and the northern parts of Dau- phiny. This indulgence Csesar was in no way disposed to grant; and, to prevent them from an attempt to force a passage over the river, at one or more points below Geneva, he constructed an entrenchment along the Allobrogian or south bank of the stream. This work extended for about nineteen Roman or above seven- teen English miles, from the mouth of the lake, down the left bank of the Rhone, to the mountain of Vouache, apparently a continuation of the Jura, but much lower and not in the same direction. The south bank of the Rhone rises in general consi- derably higher than the river, which flows with great rapidity in a deep channel, between steep banks, in only a few places acces- sible to or from the water. Hence Caesar's entrenchment could be required only at such spots ; nor, indeed, could vestiges re- main till now, in a tract of country so much cultivated, and so full of people, as the south bank of the Rhone from Geneva to the Vouache, especially in the loose incoherent soil of that side of the river. At the surface is a thin coat of vegetable earth, resting on beds of sand ancl gravel, to the depth of sixty or se- venty feet. Then succeeds an equal depth of compact clay, 108 Simond^s Travels in Switzerland, again followed by sand-gravel, and bolders rounded by the waters. The general height of the banks is about 250 feet, and the upper portion, undermined by the stream and by ?prings, is continually tailing down into the river. In ancient times the position of Geneva was susceptible of a sirenuous defence against an enemy, and, in modern times, large sums have been expended in enclosing it with works of consider- able extent. Had it continued to form the advanced-post of the French empire towards Switzerland, especially while Savoy re- mained incorporated with it, the intention of the French govern- ment was to enlarge the defences of the town, and to occupy by detached works every spot in the environs from which it might be attacked. Had this scheme been carried into effect, and Geneva been converted into a place of arms, the ruin of the town would have been accomplished. For advantageous, in many respects, as is its position, yet, to its political independence, and to the spirited patriotic energy of the inhabitants, has Geneva been wholly indebted tor the singular prosperity by which for ages it has been distinguished. During our stay in Geneva, that city was our head-quarters, from which we .made several excursions to various interesting quarters in the surrounding country. Our first was to the valley oi Chamouny, whence is the most commodious visit, or at least the view of the mighty Mont Blanc. The route follows the course of the Arve nearly up to its source, in many places between -banks of singular romantic and picturesque beauty. Some miles before we came to St. Martin, a village opposite to Sullenche, we saw two magnificent cascades of the nants* or torrents of Qrli and Arpenas. The stratification of the rocks indicates a -.very remarkable bending of the materials while in a liquid state. .Under the pretext of .bad roads, common carriages proceed no ;farther than St. Martin; and travellers hire the chars^a-banc, or little narrow vehicles, such as are used in Swit- zerland, -to .complete the journey on to Chamouny. The houses seem little inferior to those on the north-side of the lake of Ge- neva; but the people of Savoy had an air of extreme wretched- ness, meagre, >puny, and atfected with goitres. It was market- day,, and never did I behold such an assemblage of poverty and ugliness. In various points of our route we ought to have seen Mont Blanc : -but hunting a mountain is like hunting a hare or a par- tridge ; -you can not be sure of getting even a view of the game. So was it with us and our mountain, which kept itself close co- vered by clouds the whole day. Near to Servoz we traversed tfee broad extent of the face of a slaty mountain, which, about seventy .years -ago, separated itself from the body, and slid down In the Years 1817, 1818, and 18J9. 109 uijto the valley. The Black nant, a furious torrent, forces its way across the slaty mass, which it covers with foam. Resting for a little in the valley of Servoz, we began to mount the ridge which separates it from that of Chamouny. Across this ridge the Arve has opened for itself a passage deep and dark,*so that you may be rather said to hear than to see its current. Frag- ments of rock continually fall into the abyss, which, by the action of the torrent, and of one against another, are reduced to small rubbish, deposited by every flood over the valley. This may be compared to a mill for grinding down rocks. The valley of Chamouny may be compared to a long street, so narrow in proportion to the height of the gigantic buildings on each side, that your view can reach no higher than the first floor. For it is only about five or six hundred yards in breadth ; but it is sixteen or eighteen miles in length. Of these buildings, so to speak, the most lofty is the Mont Blanc on your right, rising 12,500 Eng- lish feet perpendicular above the valley, which is itself 2,200 feet above the level of the lake of .Geneva, and 3,400 feet above the Mediterranean. The left side of the street is taken up by Mount Breven, extending to the ; Col or Pass de Balme, which closes up the east-end. With, amazement we contemplated these prodi- gious masses, placed as buttresses to support the principal body of Mont Blanc. They seem to be a portion of the calcerious covering of our globe, resting against the great body of granite, which, from the lower position, has forced its way up through and beyond the original superincumbent materials of the surface. These buttresses, or counter-forts, less vertical than the centre of the mountain, are overgrown with wood, which springs up in the vegetable soil of the crevices and projecting shelves of their sides. The trees are arranged in different belts, according to the climate to which they are naturally best suited. The lowest belt consists of oak, maple, &c. ; next appear pine and fir; then the larch, which extends up to the summit of the slope. The larch is the last of the tree kind on the highest mountains of the Alps. Between these wooded buttresses are hollows, filled with ice, which descends from the summit of Mont Blanc down into the level of the valley, in the midst of the green pastures and culti-, vated fields. Those discharges of the great glacier which covers Mont Blanc, are those of Taconay and the Bossons, on your right-hand as you go to Chamouny ; those of Montanvert, of the woods (the most considerable of all), of Argentiere, and of la Tour, beyond, that place. The enormous mass of snow accumu- lated on the head and the shoulders of the giant of the Alps, and descending to his girdle, is converted into ice by the sole pressure of the higher on the lower parts. It is the quantity of snow, and 110 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, not the intensity of the cold, which determines the progress of the glaciers, at their lower extremity in the valley. "Those parts of the valley of Chamouny which are not liable to be assailed by the glaciers, are delightful : for the verdure and vegetation, although very late, are extremely active. In the neighbourhood of the ice were beds of pease, full eight feet high ; the corn, the potatoes, the hay, all promised a plentiful crop. The Arve, formed and augmented by the melting of the glaciers, rolls along a torrent as turbid as at its meeting with the limpid sea-green Rhone below Geneva: but its waters carry along with them, in thin quartzy mud, a principal of fertility of whicli the pure crystal streams of the Jura are destitute. It is known that wherever land can be irrigated by water from gla- ciers, an excellent crop is sure to follow. In order to procure the best possible view of Mont Blanc we prepared to attack Mount Breven, before mentioned, on the north side of the valley ; the ladies of our party on their mules, and the gentlemen with their iron-shod pike-staves in their hands. Having ascended the mountain to a height of above five hundred fathoms above the valley, we came to a chalet, where may be procured milk and fire. The roof falling into ruins afforded but little shelter, had shelter been wanted ; for the mountain-cotta- fes and huts of Savoy are far inferior to tho.-e of Switzerland. Yorn this position you have a perfect view of the whole of Mont Blanc : to climb up, therefore, to the summit of the Breven is necessary only for reputation's sake. Those of our party, there- fore, who had some character for exertion and enterprise to maintain, set out for the highest part of the mountain, under the care of two of our guides. The beginning of the ascent is not difficult, although the first field of snow be steep and slip- pery : but by taking some precautions, as, for instance, by stamping hard on the crust of the snow so as to break it into steps, you may get on very well, even without the long staff. Frjm the summit the aspect of Mont Blanc did not much differ from that seen from the chalet below : only the highest summit of all, or the dromedary's bunch as it is called, seemed less fore- shortened. We could distinctly perceive, although at a great dis- tance, on the deep or black blue of the atmosphere wholly without a cloud, the whirling gusts of snow raised by the wind, which also blew with great force, when we were on the Breven. The view from the top of the Breven is certainly one of the most extraordinary in the world. There you are placed directly in front, and at half the height of Mont Blanc, and consequently at an equal distance from its summit and its base. You are there sufficiently remote to take in the whole of the mountain at one In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. Ill glance, but sufficiently close to it to examine its particular parts, You there have before you the portrait, at full length, of the highest mountain in Europe, exhibited as it were expressly for your consideration. The tract to be followed by the adventurers who attempt to arrive at the uppermost point of the mountain, lies wholly within your view from the Breven, so that you never for an instant lose them from your sight. The green buttresses before spoken of, seem to rise at intervals about one-third of the height, while all the rest of the mountain is one continued sheet or mantle of snow and ice, descending occasionally down into the valley at the base. Whilst we were ascending the lower part of the Breven, at about half-way up to the chalet, we could not turn round to look at the colossus behind us, without feeling as if he was going to fall over and crush us to atoms. This very painful sensation we all experienced, without exception, and were forced to turn away our eyes to the mountain we had to climb. But as we rose in elevation the feelmg lost its force, the depth below the eye in some measure counterbalancing the height above it. The Mont Buet and its glaciers appeared at about the same distance to the north of us as the Mont Blanc to the south; and the vallies of Chamouny and Servoz seemed to lie under our hand. Towards Servoz the guides pointed out the place where perished a young Danish gentleman, in 1800, by his venturing, in spite of the re- monstrances of his conductors, on the glacier of the Buet. He would always be some hundred steps before his party, and at last he disappeared instantaneously. The rest of the party made all haste back to Servoz, where four men set off in the night-time to his relief. They found the unfortunate traveller in a crevice of the glacier, full a hundred feet deep, standing on his feet, with his arms extended over his head, but quite dead and frozen. Our descent from the summit of the Breven was not quite free from danger, but it was less fatiguing than our ascent. Our guides slid down, leaning a little backwards on their long stafi^ firmly secured under the left arm. The pike cutting and enter- ing into the crust of the frozen snow retarded their swiftness at pleasure, and directed them to the right or to the left, like the rudder of a ship, or the tail of a bird. Accustomed to such an exercise these men traversed the fields of snow, I may say fields of air, like winged Mercuries, with a rapidity, a facility, a grace, quite peculiar, much easier to admire than to imitate. We strangers having no ambition to figure in such exercises, contented ourselves with sitting humbly down on the snow, still endeavour- ing to steer our course, like our guides, with our long staff. Some of us, terrified at their own rapidity, or at some obstacle which they saw before them, attempting to change their course 112 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, too suddenly, had the mishap to break their staff, and were hur- ried down, sometimes the head, sometimes the feet foremost ; or they rolled down like a bowl, with all the awkwardness of terror, till they met with the guides, who had placed themselves in the way to stop them. One of the many goats that feed on the Breven followed us out of curiosity up to the very summit, and came down with us ; highly delighted to see us sliding and rolling down, while he was joyously gamboling and capering about by our side. Early in the morning, notwithstanding the unpromising ap- pearance of the weather, we set out from Chamouny for the Montanvert and the Icy Sea: but before we had proceeded half an hour, the rain compelled some of us to look for shelter. Our guide himself was not very encouraging. " The ascent of the hill," said he, " will be slippery and difficult, and when we arrive at the summit we shall be able to see nothing through the rain and fog." Those, however, who continued their route, informed us that, when they attained the summit of Montanvert, the fog opened up for some time, and allowed them to have a very good view of the glacier. They had also the advantage of resting and warming themselves in a pavilion, erected by the French revolu- tionary envoy in Geneva ; a more commodious structure than Blair-Castle, formerly constructed on the same spot and for the same purpose. One of our party, a military man, thought he discovered something of his own profession in our landlord, while he waited at supper. " You have been in the army I suppose ?" " Yes, Sir, fourteen years." He had served in twelve campaigns, and had risen to the rank of captain ; and this he told us without the slightest affectation, or seeming to regret that he was now placed in any way below his station. He was born in the house where we lodged, and had been, greatly against his will, com- pelled as a conscript (for this country was then subject to France) to repair to the army. After he had joined the corps to which he was attached, he took a liking to his business ; and to that circumstance he was indebted for his several steps of promotion, all conferred on him on the field-of-battle. He is now married and settled as an innkeeper in Chamouny, much happier than ever he was before, and feels not the least desire to resume his former occupation. " Where were you, Captain, in March 1815 ?" " I was here by accident, for I had obtained leave of absence to come to visit my relations." " What would you have done had you then been in France ?" " Why, to be sure, I should have been at Waterloo, just like the others; without caring much on whose account 1 went thither." Returning into France, and being put upon half-pay, our In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 1 13 captain, being in Grenoble during the latest disorders, was sent with many others to reside under the eye of the government, in the south of France. " At last," said he, " tired of my confine- ment, I quitted the army entirely ; and here I am at your ser- vice." This anecdote I mention, because I conceive Captain Charlet to be a good specimen of the imperial army. Gallant soldiers attached to their professon, but careless enough about any thing else ; ready to serve him who treats them well, their affection is as easily lost as gained. Happily, however, they return, without much difficulty, into that rank in society which they had left ; for they had in general still kept up their connec- tion with it. Can it be believed that the valley of Chamquny should have remained almost unknown, even by the neighbouring people of Geneva, down to the year 1741 ? The celebrated traveller Pococke, and another English gentleman, Mr. Windham, made the discovery, which was published in the Switzerland Mercury in 1742. In 1760, M. de Saussure, of Geneva, made his first visit to Chamouny ; and his great work on the Alps in general, together with the description of the glaciers of Savoy by his towns- man, M. Bourrit, drew no fewer than a thousand strangers in one summer to visit the valley of Chamouny. The number at present is fully four times as great. But this is not the only change : for, in 1741, the travellers thought it necessary to have an armed escort; they encamped by a fire, and placed sentinels round them during the night. The name Mont Blanc, poor and indiscriminating as it is, must still be much more charac- teristic than that of the Montagues Maudites, (for none but de- mons, it was thought, could ascend them), by which that moun- tain and its associates were previously designated. Thus, until the middle of the last century, the most prominent projection in Europe had not even a name to denote it. On our way back to Geneva, we observed that Mont Blanc appeared much narrower in proportion to its height than when beheld from Chamouny. From this circumstance, as well as from the plans which have been made of its position, the granite mass of the mountain seems to have made its way up through the upper strata of the earth's surface, by a long fissure or cre- vice, in a direction from north-east to south-west. Although composed of granite, yet the mountain consists of many beds or strata, nearly vertical, or rather a little inclined from the perpen- dicular towards the south-east. The hills which surround Mont Blanc, that is between it and the first inclosing vallies, have their strata regarding and leaning against it. On the other hand, the strata of the mountains beyond those vallies are all inclined in an VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. P 114 ^irnond's Travels in Switzerland, opposite direction, turning away from it as if regarding other central masses. On a medium of barometric measurements of the height of the Summit of Mont Blanc, above the surface of the Mediterranean, taken with great care by different persons, it appears to be 2,459 French toises, or 2,612 English fathoms, equal to 15,672 feet, very nearly three miles : corresponding precisely with the geo- metric measurement by the late Sir George Shuckburgh. The south-east face of Mont Blanc is much more steep than that on the north-west towards Chamouny ; it, therefore, presents bare Yocky precipices of awful height, with only two glaciers, that of Brenva proceeding immediately from the central summit, and that of Miage more to the westward. It was remarked by the ancients, that the side of the Alps towards Italy was much more abrupt and steep than that towards Gaule and Helvetia : the same has been remarked in the present time, at all the usual passages across those mountains. That is to .say, that the Italian plains are much nearer horizontally to the summit of the central range of the Alps than are those of Savoy and Switzerland, and that you descend much sooner to any given height above the sea, oh the Italian side, than on the opposite side. The passages over the Alps from Switzerland the most frequented are the St. Go- tharcl, elevated 8,308 English feet above the level of the Medi- terranean ; the Simpelen, Sempione, or Simplon, 6,622 feet ; and the Great St. Bernard, 8,100. Those from France, through Savoy, are the Bonhomme, 8,030 feet ; the Little St. Bernard, 7,200 ; the Mont Cenis, 6,780 ; and the Mont Genevre, 6,000 feet. The convent on the Great St. Bernard is certainly the most elevate;! human habitation in Europe. The city of Quito, in the Andes, in South America, is situated 1,500 toises, or 9,$00 English feet above the sea. The view of Mont Blanc in the evening, from St. Martin, on the road to Geneva, far surpassed in spendour any thing ever seen before: for the aspect of mountain-landscapes depends wholly on the state of the atmosphere, and the position of the sun with respect to the objects and the spectator. His last rays seemed to set on fire, if I may so speak, the everlasting snows ; imd their reflection enlightened the valley of the Arve, in which we travelled, long after he had disappeared from our horizon. From the magnificence of this brilliant scene, to which no powers of language can do justice, our attention, when we entered the inn for the night, was attracted by a spectacle of a grievous and humiliating nature. There we saw two cretins, two apparently miserable deformed ideots, squatting down in a corner, their eves stupidly devoid of intelligence, and their countenance dis- In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 11.3 tolled by a hideous laughing grin. The landlord and landlady each displayed their enormous goitre,^ or swelled neck. It is ge- nerally supposed that cretinism is more common in the rnountum- glens and gorges of Savoy than in any other parts of the Alps. M. de Saussure, however, in the account of nis journey down the valley of Aosta, on the Italian side of those mountains, from the Great St. Bernard, mentions his arrival in Villeneuve, higher up than Aosta. This village, situated in a deep bottom, crusned in between high mountains, is remarkable, even in that country, for the multitude of wretched cretins there to -be 'seen. The Val d'Aosta, says that excellent observer, by whom the Alps bad been traversed and penetrated in every direction, is perhaps move afflicted with cretinism than either Savoy or even the Vailais. Our next expedition from Geneva was to make by land the complete tour of the lake, including an excursion up tiie Vailais and to the prodigious Works lately executed, to open, a commo- dious route over the Mount Simpion into Italy. August. From Geneva to the Fort de TEcluse the country is a pleasing well-cultivated plain, having on the right Mount Jura, now presenting greater variety in its slopes and summits than might be expected, from its long uniform wall-like appearance, when beheld at a distance. From its base, covered with shady pastures, proceed a multitude of streams of the purest water, soon to disappear in the Rhone, which, at the narrow pass across the mountains, is already sunk two hundred and forty feet below its issue from the lake of Geneva : a fall of no less than sixteen feet for every mile. That the aperture by which the Rhone makes its way is the work of some great operation of nature is not to be doubted ; for high up on the face of the Jura, and its conti- nuation on the south side of the river, the Vouache, beds of stone are found which have evidently been washed and rolled by the waters, in the same way with those now composing the bed of the lake of Geneva. Nothing can be more unphilosophical, more preposterous, than the doctrine of the excavation of vallies and passes through mountains by the rivers which now flow down them. Where fissures, crevices, or hollows, occur in the surface of the earth, there the waters, by their natural gravity, make their way. The rugged asperities of the rocks, continually acted on by a current, will "be smoothed down ; some rocks that rest on strata of less cohesion and tenacity than them- selves, may be undermined and consequently fall down. That on the other hand livers have a tendency to fill up their beds, wherever their current is considerably slackened, is a fact of which all countries furnish abundant proof. The same may l>e said of all lakes, where the adventitious materials carried into them are deposited, while the purified element alone pusses off. 116 SimoncTs Travels in Switzerland, The perfect conformity of the component strata of the Vou- ache and the Jura, at the Pas de 1'Ecluse, abruptly broken off and not gradually bent downwards, as if by a slow subsidence while they were in a simifluid state ; the rugged craggy chasm by which the Rhone pursues its rapid course, clearly show that the separation of the chain of mountains was effected by some catastrophe of extreme violence, of which we have no similar example on record. But we have only to consider the mighty changes certainly known to have occurred in our own times, in various parts of the world, as in Calabria for instance, in 1783, to be persuaded that the disruption of the Vouache from the Jura may have been effected by some great convulsion of the earth. In viewing such operations of nature we are always for comparing their effects with our own limited conceptions of her mode of working. The courses of the largest blocks of granite, on the eastern side of the Jura, are only about 500 feet above the lake of Geneva; and no beds of rounded water-rolled stones are found beyond 2,400 feet above the lake. The height of the neck between the Jura and the Vouache need not therefore have been more than this last quantity, which is, in reference to the magnitude of our globe, as one to three thousand two hundred. At this spot the road has been formed by levelling into the precipice of the Jura, and the pass has been strongly fortified oy modern works through which travellers must pursue their journey. The works are, however, so completely commanded by the precipice of the Jura above, that they could not long withstand a regular attack. This is the route which Cssar de- scribes as narrow and difficult, between Mount Jura and the Rhone, by which, in its natural state, a single antique car could scarcely be carried along; for, on account of the great height of the impending mountain, a handful of men might defend it against a whole host. The ground of the fort is elevated three hundred feet above the surface of the Rhone, which there forces its way along a gulph in the rocks, so narrow that there is a dif- ference of sixteen or eighteen feet between its winter and its summer surface. At Geneva the breadth of the Rhone, abstract- ing from the island in the middle, is now confined by quays to about two hundred and thirty feet : at 1'Ecluse it is narrowed to thirty, and in some places to fifteen ; the depth and the rapi- dity of the current may, therefore, be supposed to be greatly increased. There finding some strata of the rocks on the sides, of a less powerful resistance, the stream has worn them away, and the superincumbent strata having given way, have, by their descent, formed a sort of natural bridge, at what is called La perte du Rhone, an object of no small celebrity in the country. Turning back to the shore of the lake of Geneva, we, for a In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. HZ second time, enjoyed the delightful drive by Coppet Nyon Rolle and Morges to Lausanne. The lake in its general form may be compared to a crescent, to the moon in the third day of her age. The arch is formed by the shore of the territory of Geneva and the Pays now the Canton of Vaud, The chord of this arch, a right line carried over the King of Sardinia's country of Chablais, from Geneva at the lower, to Villeneuve at the upper extremity of the lake, has been geometrically and accurately measured to contain 33,670 French toises, or 35,884 English fathoreis, equal to 40.8 English miles. The greatest breadth is between Rolle and Thonon, a distance of 7,500 toises, or 7,993 fathoms, equal to 9.08 miles. The depth, from the situation as a valley inclosed by mountains, is very irregular ; the greatest being, as usual, in the sea as well as in the lakes, towards the highest land and the most upright shore. Hence a mile out from the rocky precipitous coast of Meillerie, near the upper end, the depth has been found 950 French feet, or 1012a feet English. The ordinary surface of the lake, at the issue of the Rhone, at Geneva, has, after various careful barometric measurements, been fixed at an eleva- tion of 193.4 toises, or 206.12 fathoms, or 1,236.72 feet English above the level of the Mediterranean. In the lake are various currents entirely independent of the Rhone, which at one time set up the lake and at another downwards. The cause of these currents, and the periods of their directions, have not yet been ascertained. With the exception of the Rhone, the lake receives no river of any consequence ; for the other streams that fall into it from the south side are rather temporary torrents than con- stantly flowing rivers. Being all produced from glaciers, these torrents, and even the Rhone itself, are in the greatest body in the summer, while the melting of the snows continues. But as this operation begins to relax in September, and the rains of trie lower countries and vallies have not then commenced, it follows that, in October and November, the feeding streams, and con- sequently the lake itself, must be at the lowest. The Upper Rhone brings down materials which are deposited when they meet the still water in the head of the lake. This filling up is a matter of observation ; and, from the nature and appearance of the level valley above the lake, it has evidently once extended at least to Aigle, ten miles higher than the present shore. The place called Port Valais, on the west bank of the Rhone, is now three miles above its influx into the lake. For that part of the valley, which is perfectly horizontal, consists of parallel layers of gravel, sand, and mud, very little raised above the level of the river and the lake, and still in many parts marshy and soaked with standing water. The Rhone, besides the supplies of water from the great gla- Simoud's Travels in btottseriand, cier, on the south-west side of the Gallenstock, commonly called from thai circumstance the Gletscher-berg, elevated 11,200 feet above the sea, may be considered to proceed from two springs in a pasture, a little below the extremity of the glacier. These springs, originating probably from a great depth in the moun- tain, are of a temperature so high that they not only are never frozen, but that they melt the snow and maintain a verdure about them all the year round. The springs are elevated by the baro- meter 5,700 feet, or more than an English mile above the sea, The temperature of the principal spring was found by Saussure, on various occasions, to be between sixty-four and sixty-five degrees of Farenheit's scale : according to Mr. Coxe it was only fifty-live degrees. This heat is probably produced by sulphu- reous pyrites in decomposition ; for the neighbouring canton of Uri is known to be very subject to earthquakes. Switzerland may boast of being the parent-country of many of the most important rivers of Europe ; all vising within a space of fifteen miles square, bounded by the Mount Grimsel on the west and the St. Gothard on the east. Near the glacier of the Rhone commences the river Aar, which, running north-west by Bern, and afterwards north-east, contributes to the Rhine, perhaps, an equal stream. From the same space rises the Reuss, which, flowing northward by Lucern, unites with the Aar at Konigs- feld. The westernmost or principal branch of the Rhine, called the Vorder-Rhein, proceeds from the north-east base of the St. Gothard for the lake of Constance. From the same mountain runs south-east and south, through the Lago Maggiore to the Po, the river Ticino of Italy. Nearly from the same spot issues the stream which fertilises the Val Formazza, into which falls the route from the Simplon, a few miles above Domo d'Ossola. ^ot many miles eastward from the place above-mentioned are the springs of the Inn, to which the Danube is indebted for auxiliary waters, little if any thing inferior to its own. Thus Switzerland dispatches the Rhone for the Mediterranean, the Rhine to the German Ocean, the Inn to the Euxine, and the Ticino to the Adriatic. The lake of Geneva is subject to certain sudden variations of the elevation of its surface, called seiches, a sort of tide which rises and falls four or five feet several times in the twenty-four hours. This phenomenon is commonly ascribed to electricity, and not to any circumstances, or property, peculiar to that lake, for a similar effect is observed in the lake 01 Constance, and also in the great lakes of North America. The temperature of the water, at the bottom of the lake of Geneva, is much colder than that of the surface. At a depth of fifty-six fathoms the waters of |be bottom indicate a heat of only fifty degrees of Fahrenheit, In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 119 while that at the surface raised the thermometer to nearly sixty- six degrees. In the memorable winter of 1709, the ice, towards the lower end of the lake, was strong enough to bear persons to cross it, at a distance of 200 fathoms from the town, where the water is shallow : a distance to which the ice had never before, nor has it since, been known to extend. The valley, watered by the Rhone, formed by two ranges of the highest mountains in Europe, is in length about thirty-five leagues, on a medium breadth of eight or nine : it contains to- wards 60,000 people. The river runs in two directions ; from the source west-south-west to Martigny, and then turning at right angles to north-north-west to the lake. Lausanne is situated on the beginning of a tract of country which runs eastward nearly to Vevay, much more steep over the lake than the similarly situated tract from that town westward to Geneva. It is wholly occupied by vineyards of great value, and is distinguished -by the name La Vaud, from the western portion called La Cote, although both together form a part of the Pays de Vaud. The vines are planted in terraces, support- ed by stone-walls; and so valuable is the soil that the road will scarcely admit two carriages to pass one another. An acre of vineyard of La Vaud, containing about six-sevenths of an Eng- lish statute acre, is worth, in general, fully six hundred pounds. Along the shore are a number of villages, of which one isOuchy, the port of Lausanne. Vevay, distant three hours, or twelve English miles from Lausanne, is a pretty little town, delightfully situated on the level border of the lake, at the embouchure of the Vevaise, a small stream, but often a destructive torrent. Ve- vay is the burial-place of Ludlow, who performed so conspicu- ous a part during the troubles in the reign of Charles the First. . fie spent the last thirty years of his life in Vevay, where he died in 1693. His monument and inscription are to be seen in the church; and his house bore the motto Oiune solum forti palria cst, quid patris : " To the brave man every country 4s his home, because he is ever in his father's house." A few miles beyond that, to the eastward of Vevay, we passed by the little village of Clarens, by no means equal, neither in itself nor in its position, to several others in the environs. In vain did we look for a suitable mansion for the Baron de F Ktange: but we could discover nothing of that kind, except the old castle of Chatelard, much higher up on the hill. Hence Rousseau selected Clarens, it would appear, for the residence of liis J-ulia, merely for the brilliancy of the name. Had Mon- treux been equally sonorous, he would certainly have placed his heroine in that agreeable village* 120 Simond's Travels in Switzerland^ Half-a-league farther along the border of the lake is the castle of Chillon, an edifice more to be noticed for its connection with the history of the surrounding country than for its structure. It is a clumsy building, erected six centuries ago, by the famous Peter of Savoy, surnamed the little Charlemagne. The castle seems to rise immediately out of the water, being built on a low rock, even with the surface of the lake, so close to the bank as to be connected with it by a wooden platform. One of the few now useless soldiers composing the garrison, conducted us into what is called the prison-under-the-lake, a very logeable apart- ment, full forty feet in length, by sixteen in breadth and height. A number of small apertures in the thick walls of the castle ad- mit air and light, and at times a few rays of the sun; hence it is only by a poetical figure that the prison can be said to be under the lake. One of the pillars which support the vault still re- tains a piece of a chain, and the rocky floor seems to be worn by the feet of the unfortunate prisoner attached to it. This pri- soner was Bonnivard, formerly prior of the convent of St. Vic- tor, in Geneva, confined for six years and a-half by the Duke of Savoy, for the active part he took in promoting the reformation in religion, and the emancipation of the town from his usurpa- tion and oppression. The upper end of the lake is separated by a narrow level space on which the road runs, from a range of mountains ex- tending southwards from the Dent de Jaman. Under this range lies Villeneuve, when the road enters on the flat bottom of the Valais, and leads by La Roche to Aigle and Bex, noted for their rich salt springs and works. At St. Maurice, a town singularly crushed in between the mountains and the west bank of the Rhone, the high grounds approach so close to one another as just to leave a deep channel for the river, which is crossed by a stone bridge of one spacious arch. The greater part of this bridge still preserves the architecture of the Romans, who had a settlement in St. Maurice, then called Tarnadffi and Agaunum. The modern name is derived from a monastery founded in me- mory of Mauritius, tribune of the celebrated Thebaean legion, decimated near this place, under the Roman emperors Diocle- sian and Maximian, in the second year of the fourth century, on account of their having embraced the Christian religion. This narrow entrance into the Valais, which might now be ren- dered wholly impassable, is formed by the opposite bases and roots of two very high peaks, the Dent de Chalem, or du Midi, on the west, and the Dent de Morcles on the east: the former rising 9,616, and the latter 9,456 English feet perpendicular above the sea. Half-way from St. Maurice, to the great angle of In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 121 the Rhone at Martigny, from a precipice on your right, pours down a cascade, equally celebrated, and, in fact, more deserv- edly so, with the famous Staubach in the valley of Lauter- brunnen. Before you arrive at Martigny, you have still on the right a prodigious deep and dark chasm, the effect of some violent convulsion of the mountains, through which now disem- bogues the rapid torrent the Trient. Martigny, or Martinach, occupies the position of an ancient town, Octodurus, mentioned in the third book of Caesar's Com- mentaries, where his lieutenant, Sergius Galba, an ancestor of the Galba afterwards emperor, successfully sustained a despe- rate attack made on him by the people of the surrounding dis- tricts. The former town, or rather village, vicus^ was divided by a stream, now called by a name common to sundry other similar torrent-like rivers proceeding from the Alps. The Drance, Dranse, Durance, Durentia, Druentia, &c. are all deriv- ed or contracted from the Keltic Dour, which signifies water in general. Vestiges of Roman construction, Roman cpins, one of Claudius, &c. in Martigny, show Octodurus to have been long occupied by that people. For it commanded the entrance into the great pass over the Pennine Alps, on the very summit- gorge of which is established that most useful and meritorious institution, the Hospice of the Augustine Friars, or Canons- Regular of the Great St. Bernard. The benevolent object of Caesar, in posting troops in Octodurus, was the protection and security or merchants and travellers, who were not only exposed to many dangers from the road, but subjected to extortionate tolls and tribute, imposed by the barbaric inhabitants of the mountains. Down the valley of Bagne rushes the furious Drance, from the glacier of Chermontane, one of the issues of the vast range of ice and snow extending for forty leagues from Mont Blanc to the springs of the Rhone. The torrent, almost dry in winter, swells up in spring by the melting of the ice and snow. This not having happened as usual, the inhabitants, apprehending something extraordinary, traced the torrent towards its source, and found that the escape of the waters was interrupted by the fall of a prodigious mass of ice from a collateral glacier. Behind this rampart the water had formed a lake, a mile and a half in length by a furlong in breadth, and from thirty to forty fathoms in depth, at the lower end. That this mound of ice would sooner or later give way by the pressure of the water above it, and that the valley below would be utterly laid waste by the ra- vages of the torrent thus accumulated was certain. People were, therefore, instantly employed to cut a tunnel through the mound, beginning high enough above the surface of the lake to allow VOYAGES and TRAVELS, Vol. VII. Q 122 Simond^s Travels in Switzerland, the work to be finished before the water should rise to the en- trance. This operation accordingly answered the intended par- pose for some days ; but at last masses of the mound itself being undermined by the water announced to the conductor of the works, by the loud noise of their separation and fall, that some great catastrophe was about to take place. Messengers were accordingly sent down the valley to warn the inhabitants of their imminent danger. At last, at half-an-hour after four in the af- ternoon of the 16th of June, 1818, a horrible crash proclaimed the bursting of the icy mound. The water gushed down with incredible fury. The torrent, heaped up to a depth of 100 feet, rushed forward the first six leagues in the short space of forty minutes, notwithstanding the interruption it received in the narrow gorges of the valley. In this distance it swept away 130 chalets, a whole wood, and an immense quantity of rocks, stones, and soil. Opposite to Bagne, which gives name to the valley, the torrent pushed before it a moving hill of rubbish, ice, trees, &c. not less than 300 feet in height, from which proceeded a black thick vapour, like the smoke of a great fire. An English traveller was on his return, with some friends and guides, from a visit to the tunnel in the mound of ice. Looking back by accident he per- ceived the body of materials in motion, and all quitting their mules, made every possible effort to ascend the heights where they happily escaped its ravages. From Bagne the destructive mass reached Martigny, a distance of four leagues, in fifty minutes ; sweeping before it thirty- four houses, eight mills, ninety-five barns : but, fortunately, the inhabitants had been warned and had removed their cattle, of which a few only and nine persons were" lost. One village on the bottom was preserved untouched by the projection of a large rock, by which the flood was turned off, and shot past as in a solid mass, elevated much higher than the roofs of the houses. The greater part of the stones and rub- bish were deposed, by the slackening of the torrent, before it reached Martigny; entirely ruining many fertile fields and meadows. At that town it took different courses to the Rhone; still about eighty houses were wholly carried away, and many others damaged ; the streets were choked up by trees, stones, and earth ; and only thirty-five persons lost their lives, the others making their escape to the hills nearly a mile off. Thus, in its course, gradually retarded as it descended to the plains, the furious mass travelled above eighteen long Swiss lea- gues in six hours and a half. A man of Martigny, uinety-two years of age, saved himself by mounting a knoll, and supporting himself by a tree until the destructive torrent which had just reached the summit had subsided. In the Years 1S17, 1818, From Martigny the road leads up the banks of the Rhone to Sion, the capital of the canton of the Valais, along a vale fertile and cultivated with equal care and skill. Irrigation is in general use : fruit-trees are abundant, and on the slopes of favourable exposure vines are planted in terraces, which produce wine of a good quality. Hence the heat in the bottom of the valley of the Rhone is often oppressive, while the mountains by which that valley is bounded are invested in perpetual snow. Above the vineyards are tracts of forest, often enveloped in clouds. The valley is now covered with flourishing villages, inhabited by an independent people, who pass their time in peace and security ; and more houses of a class superior to that of the peasantry are there to be seen than is usual in Switzerland. This town is singularly situated, between little rocky hills, crowned with castles and fortresses, in the midst of the valley. It being market-day when we were in Sion, the buyers and sellers afforded proper specimens of the inhabitants. Some had yellow countenances, far from attractive, the skin flabby and the glands of the neck enlarged beyond measure. The heavy stupid looks of others intimated that they were not far removed from cretinism. They were all, however, decently clothed, and few beggars were to be seen : still the people were not to be com- pared with the peasantry of Bern and Zurich. In fact, it is the remark of all travellers in Switzerland, that the people of the Protestant cantons do possess, and really appear to possess ad- vantages, in many respects, over their countrymen of the Romish system of religion. The variation of climate in the Valais, occasioned by expo- sure and elevation, furnishes corresponding variation of produc- tions. The mountains on the north-side of the Rhone, such as Mount Sanetsch, on the north of Sion, enjoying a warm southern exposure, produce, in the lower parts, the wild-vine, pomegra- nate, fig, barberry, &c. Higher up are the walnut and chesnut. The cigale, cicada, or chirping grasshopper continues its music all the summer long. Above appear the oak and the beech ; then various kinds of fir and pine ; the most elevated of them all is the meleze or larch. When the trees cease then begin heath- leaved saxifrage and other plants, the natural produce of Spits- bergen and other arctic regions. By mounting and descending these mountains, you thus, in a few hours, review the productions of every climate. Near a little town called Sierra, the heights on cur left presented a singular spectacle of industry, varied and flourishing, close by the side of the wildest scenery, and on steep precipices apparently impracticable. Vineyards in terraces, fields of corn, pastures, clusters of whitened houses, surmounted by the steeple of the parish-church, resembled to our eyes a bill stuc k against a wall. In another spot on our right was similarly Q2 124 SimoncTs Travels in Switzerland, placed, on a narrow projection of the mountain, a convent to which access is obtained by a zig-zag path apparently cut into the face of the rock, with a chapel at each turning. In fact, in the Alps, it is difficult to say, from appearances, what is accessible and what is not. Few rocks are so upright as that the foot of an active mountaineer cannot find some support, or his hand some projection, some branch or root by which to assist himself in his ascent. The notched trunk of a tree or a ladder serves him to clear the most difficult passages up to his little pos- session seated amid the clouds. Albinen, a village above the baths of Leuk or Loe'che, is only accessible by the means of eight long ladders, over very slippery slopes and horrible precipices. Yet the inhabitants, men, women, and children, climb up or go down at all hours of the night as well as of the day, often with heavy loads, without once conceiving that their perilous road is not just as good and safe as any other. Beyond Sierra we were prevented by the fog from having a view, although from a distance, of the noted Mount Gemmi. A prodigious cataract descending in one sheet of foam from the clouds which concealed its origin, contrasted strikingly with the dark coloured forest of firs on each side. Dashing on the projecting rocks at the bottom of the mountain, it formed other Cataracts, all apparently as considerable as the first. A path has been formed in the air in front of the cascade, by long fir- trees laid across from one rock to the other ; and along this bridge of tremendous height the goat-herds lead their flocks. From the glacier of the Gemmi, proceeds a torrent on the side of which are situated the mineral springs of Leuk, several miles to the northward of the village of that name. Here the com- pany who resort to the waters (of whom by the bye the greater number are in perfect health,) mount up by the side of the torrent, along a gallery cut out of the face of the rock, and covered by a roof to defend it from the smaller fragments fre- quently rolling down from the precipice above. Before this roof was constructed, two bulls fighting on the mountain at a great height above, and approaching too near the precipice, one of them rolled down to the bottom. Luckily no one was passing at the time, for the roof, had it then existed, would have been of little avail against such an attack. In the spring of 1799, the Valaisans, who, in the preceding year, had fought with desperate bitterness against the revoluti- onary army of France, that came to force on them what they called a constitution, again took arms, and for several weeks defended this passage of the baths. From the higher parts of the mountain, the French rolled down rocks and trunks of trees, and branches set on fire, on the unfortunate Valaisans beloW. In the Years 18J7, 1818, and 1819. 125 But in the night the people succeeded in getting above and behind the French, drove them down the precipices, and other- wise cut off a great number, and afterwards retook possession of the plain country. The enemy was continually reinforced, but the Valaisans, from their knowledge of the country and their peculiar manner of carrying on the war, would have success- fully defended themselves. Unfortunately, however, the Aus- trians came to their relief, and took on themselves the conducting of hostilities : but their tactics were not equally good with those taught by the nature of the field-of-battle, they were of course worsted, and the country was laid waste by fire and sword. The cruelties and ravages committed by the French are without example in the history of civilised nations ; nor will I suffer rny pen to enter into the particulars. Let it suffice to say, that the Valaisans were exposed to atrocities much more revolting than even those committed on the unoffending people of Unterwald, by parties of the same army in the former year. One fourth part of the population of the Valais were destroyed ; and even the helpless idiotic cretins, unable either to defend them- selves or to escape from the foe, were almost wholly cut off. 2713 houses in the Valais were pillaged and burnt : and the in- vading army, 45,000 strong in the beginning, and continually reinforced, required upwards of 50,000 men to maintain it on a proper footing, in the course of a few months. From the baths of Leuk, situated 5,300 feet above the sea, the height of the pass over the Gemmi is 2,100 feet more, by a zig-zag path, constructed down the almost vertical face of the mountain ; a passage certainly the most extraordinary of any iri the Alps. But by this path in a few hours you may arrive at the lake of Thun ; whereas the carriage-road round by the Valais, Pays de Vaud, Friburgh and Bern, is a course of at least sixty Swiss leagues. The properties of the waters of Leuk are much the same with those of the baths of Pfeffers, on the Upper Rhine, formerly mentioned ; but their temperature is much higher. Those of the latter waters are from 28 to 30 degrees of Reaumur, corres- ponding with from 95 to 100 degrees of Fahrenheit; but at Leuk the heat varies from 37 to 40 of Reaumur, or from 115 to 122 of Fahrenheit. The great disadvantage of these last baths arises from their situation, exposed to avalanches, which in 1719 and 1758 completely swept away the buildings with all the people in them. -The people of the Upper and the Lower Valais form two different races. The former enjoy a wholesome climate and con- sequently a good constitution. They are tall and stout : goitres and cretins disappear; the language itself is changed 126 Simond's Travels in Switzerland, from the corrupted dialect of the French to that of the German. The people of the Upper Calais prove themselves to be of the same northern descent with the inhabitants of the vallies of Schwitz, Unterwalden, Hasli, &c. That, however, which is most worthy of notice is, that until the late revolution of Swit- zerland, the Upper Valaisans were the masters, and the Lower Valaisans their subjects : but now both form only one people, without any legal or administrative distinction whatever. Arriving .on the 5th of October at Brieg or Bryg, a village on the south bank of the Rhone, at the coniiuence of the Saltine, a torrent issuing from the Simplon, I was detained the following day by a fall of snow which covered the mountains, and rendered the passage over it too hazardous to be attempted. On the 7th the morning promising fair weather, long before the sun appeared, the travellers for Italy in the inn were all ready for the journey. The ascent of the Simplon, by the newly- constructed road, is so gentle that you scarcely perceive your rise until, after some time, by looking back on the village of Bryg, you feel that you have considerably risen above its level. The angle of inclination followed in conducting the road is two inches and a half on every six feet, or very nearly one foot of rise in every thirty feet of road ; never more, but sometimes less. The road is well formed and smooth, so that a horse may trot up it as well as down, and it is never necessary to lock the weels of a carriage or put on the drag at any part of the descent. Precipices are cleared by bridges of the boldest construction; and the road, winding to a great extent along the sides of perpendicular rocks, avoids every obstacle which can be avoided, where this cannot be done, by means of excavations or tun- nels it passes through the solid rock, and continues its course on the other side ; always preserving the same inclination, the same breadth, the same necessary direction, to which every obstacle has been compelled to yield. Along the road, on the north-side of the Simplon, towards the Valais, have been constructed seven houses of refuge, and three on the south-side towards Italy. These buildings, of strong substantial workmanship, are of two stories, with several rooms and fire-places in each. People being appointed to live in them, the traveller may lodge there for the night if necessary. Beyond the summit is a hospice, in the manner of that on the Great St. Bernard. When I passed a new one was building, in a style too grand, in my opinion, to be ever finished. Nor, indeed, while the road is maintained in its present state, and the houses of refuge are kept up, can any such structure on the summit be required. In three hours from Bryg we arrived at the third of these houses, to which the road has not cost any particular In the Years 1817, 1818, and 1819. 127 trouble in the laying out or formation. Two leagues farther you come to the first gallery, or tunnel, perforating a rock for above twenty yards. From the roof of the passage icicles hung down five and six feet in length. In half-an-hour you arrive at the fifth house of refuge, and in another half-hour at the sixth. Between these two buildings is the only part of the road where avalanches are to be apprehended. They proceed from a glacier on the left or east-side of the road, which gives rise to the Saltine, the torrent which falls into the Rhone below Bryg. The former road followed closely the course of this torrent : it was shorter by two leagues than the new line ; but it was very steep, and led along the brink of prodigious precipices : with difficulty could horses or mules travel along it. The assent be- ing nearly completed at the sixth house of refuge, the additional horses for the carriage are there sent back to Bryg. Poles, from sixteen to twenty feet long, are planted along the side of the road, to point out its course in the time of heavy falls of snow. The carriages are then placed on sledges, and the workmen who live in the houses of refuge labour to clear away the snow to render the road practicable. The post to and from Milan to Switzer- land passes the Simplon the whole winter through. From the highest point of the summit, in half-an-hour, you arrive at the hospice, and, in half-an-hour more, at Simplon, the village where post-horses are kept ; perhaps the most elevated village in Europe. Here winter lasts for eight months of the year. This first course, with the same horses, is counted for six posts, in which we employed eight hours, including an hour-and-a-half at the resting-place. The descent into Italy to Domo d'Ossola is counted four posts and three-quarters, performed jn four hours, including a delay of half-an-hour at the custom-house, on entering the territories of the King of Sardinia. So that in twelve, or at most in thirteen hours, the passage over the Alps, by the Simplon, may be easily effected. The Italian side of the Simplon, much more exposed to the fall of rocks and stones than the north-side, but very little to avalanches of snow, has only three or four houses of refuge; and even these are true caravanserais in the Turkish or Asiatic man- ner, for they are uninhabited. This side of the mountain pre- sents the most extraordinary positions, at once interesting and horrible, particularly the narrow labyrinth and gorge of Val- Vedro. To form a commodious route through this tract, it has been necessary to employ the miner, to perforate four long gal- leries in the solid rock, and to construct a great number of bridges. These great works cost, it is said, nine millions of French money, or about 375,000 sterling, and the maintenance of the road must also be very expensive. The prospect which 128 Stmond's Travels in Switzerland, unfolds itself, on emerging from the gloomy gorges of Val-Ve- dro, is well suited to impress the traveller with a high idea of Italy. Extended pastures, covered with cattle of a superior kind ; villages of interesting architecture ; fields of maize ; mulberry-trees entwined with vines; a beautiful valley termi- nated on each side by well-wooded little hills, with numerous country villas interspersed, and the handsome square towers of the churches rising above the trees. The southern sides of the Alps is so much more steep and rapid in their descent than the northern ; the plain on the south is so much lower than that of the north, (for Bregg on the north is situated 2,220 feet above the sea, while Domo d'Ossola is not quite one-half of that elevation,) that no proper comparison can be made between them. Here also is another proof of the accu- racy of the observation of the ancients, formerly noticed, that the Alps are much steeper on the Italian than on the external side ; that you much sooner come to any given horizontal surface on the Italian than on the opposite side. Returning back from the Italian side of the Alps, I traced back my route down the valley of the Rhone, to near its influx into the lake of Geneva. There I entered on the new magnifi- cent road, opened in the face of the lofty precipices of Meillerie, a portion of the grand route opened by Buonaparte, now made fit for carriages ot all sorts, where formerly a horse could not always pass with security. Travelling in this manner along the southern shore of the lake, we happily terminated our expedition once more in Geneva. FINIS. TOUR TO QUEBEC, AUTUMN OF 1819. BY DR. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN YALE COLLEGE AUTHOR OF A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ENGLAND, HOLLAND, AND SCOTLAND. VIEW OF QUEBEC. Page 88. LONDON: PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS AND CO. / B HIDE-COURT, BRIDGE-STREET. LONDON: PRINTED BY W. LEWIS, PINCH-LANE, PREFACE. DURING the excursion which produced the following pages, I began 'with an intention of sketching a series of short articles ; but, before the close of the journey, these remarks, although written hastily, became too ex- tensive for the object first intended. For reasons, with which it is, perhaps, unnecessary to trouble the reader, it has since been thought advisable to print them, after due revision, in the form in which they now appear. The geological notices are, with few exceptions, placed under distinct heads, and may, without inconvenience, be omitted by those to whom they are uninteresting. But, the geological features of a country being permanent r-being intimately connected with its scenery, with its leading interests, and even with the very character of its population, have a fair claim to delineation, in the obser- vations of a traveller ; and this course, however unusual with us, is now common in Europe. I regret that my limited time did not admit of more extended and com- plete observations of this nature, and I cannot flatter myself that they are always free from error. A 2 IV PREFACE. The historical remarks and citations have been the more extended, from an impression that less has been said by travellers in America, than might have been ex- pected, of scenes and events which, to Americans, I conceive, must ever be subjects of the deepest interest. The friend, in whose company this tour was made, having been in the habit, when travelling, of taking hasty outlines of interesting portions of scenery, and of finish- ing them after his return, did, in this instance, the same ; and, although when executed, they were not intended for publication, the drawings, which illustrate some of the scenes in this work, were, at my request, furnished by him. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. Yale College, August l\th> 1820. CONTENTS. MONTE VIDEO Scenery and Geology of the Middle Region of Connecticut Zeal for Churches American Inns Peculiarities in their Manners Ride to New-Lebanon - Village of the Shakers ... New-Lebanon Mineral Spring Scenery of New-Lebanon Albany, Sketch of the Place Beauties of the Hudson above Albany Singular Horse-Ferry Troy, Lansingburgh, and Waterford GENERAL BURGOYNE'S Expedition - Stillwater ; Swords' House The Battle Ground General Frazer's Grave - - The last Encampment The Field of Surrender Reflections and Remarks - - Stillwater to Sandy Hill Fort Edward Massacre of Miss M'Crea Sandy Hill and Massacre Excursion to Lake George Glenn's Falls - _ LAKE GEORGE - Prospect from Remarks on the Environs Battles Fort William Henry The Bloody Pond * Massacre at Fort William Henry Whitehall ; the Canal Port Sketch of the Place The old Man of the Age of Louis XIV. v> CONTENTS. Page LAKE CHAMPLAIN; Passage down 02 Ticonderoga .. /