Sepulchral Monuments The next Morning early we parted thence and after about three hours riding came to a desolate Church but kept in repair by the Villages about it every one of which have an Olive Tree planted by it I suppose to serve for Oyl for the Lamps in the Church Before the Church at the West end of it is the Tomb of the Founder of the Church upon which among the Stones is an ancient Basso-relievo of a Woman in a sedent posture Here groweth the biggest Lentiscus Tree I ever saw Out of several places of the Body of it Tears of Mastick Issued Which convinced me that not only at Scio but in all these parts they would yield Mastick if they were cultivated I guess also that hereabouts the Town Anaphylista was situated if not at the Town following to which after an hour and a halfs riding thence Southward we came being called Kerateia from the Karobs of which I saw several Trees growing wild This hath been an ancient and great City and did preserve it self considerable until destroyed by the Corsairs about fifty or threescore years ago They had their Epitropi or Archontes until then who did wear High-crown'd Hats like those of Athens I could discern here where an Amphitheater had been by the Foundations and some other remains of it In the Church I found an Inscription which I believe would have given me some light concerning the Antiquity of the place had it been better preserv'd From this place we were three long hours before we arriv'd at Promontorium Sunium the way being very rocky and bad up-hill and down-hill all along About midway we past over a little Mountain where in times past they digged much Silver and now some Copper out of which they say the Goldsmiths of Athens at present separate a considerable quantity of Silver LAURIUM But they let not the Turks know so much lest the Grand Signior should impose the Slavery of digging in the Mines upon them I saw abundance of Cinders lying up and down in the wayes which assured me that in times past they had digg'd great quantities of Metals there Xenophon calls this Mountain Laurium Pausanias and many other Authors mention it But whether there was a Town called by the same name I know not But if so it was done by Xenophons Counsel who advised them to build a Castle there lest the Mines should be neglected in time of War But if before I believe it was nearer the Sea-side where there is a kind of Harbour for Boats to pass over to Macronisa Promontorium Sunium is now called by the Francks Capo Colonni from the White Pillars of the Temple of Minerva PROM SUNIUM or CAPO COLONNI that yet remain on the point of it being seen a great way from Sea The Temple is situated on the top of an high Rock running far into the Sea Nine Dorick Pillars are standing on the South-West side of it and five on the opposite side At the South end remain two Pilasters and part of the Pronaos upon which are Engraven many names ancient and modern The Temple seems to have been inclosed in a Castle by the Foundations of the Walls below which are other Foundations of Walls which were undoubtedly the Town Sunium which was reckoned one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Burgess-Towns of the Athenians On the right hand it hath a little Bay which was its ancient Port But it is now quite deserted as well as the little Island Patroclea lying about a quarter of a Mile South-West off it They say here grows some Ebany yet but much destroyed by the Corsairs Whence it is that some call this place Ebanonisi or the Isle of Ebany Others call it still Patroclea but most call it Guidronisa The bad weather this day was a great prejudice to the good Prospect I otherwise should have had from hence of most of the Islands of the Archipelago notwithstanding which I observed with my Compass as followeth 1. The further end of Macronisa anciently called Helena North-East the hither end East 2. Zea one end East the other South-East 3. Thermia beginneth South-East endeth South-South-East 4. Seriphanto or Seripho a little more South-South-East 5. Antimilo South by East 6. Sant Georgio de Albero south-South-West 7. Capo Schillo or Promontorium Schillaeum west-south-West-South-West 8. The highest point of Aegina West North-West 9. I found a shrub growing hereabouts which hath Leaves and smell something like Stoechas Arabica But not so strong The Flowers then blowen were like Rosemary I keep it dried but I have not yet found what to call it We were forced to return on our way back again from the Promontory that Evening because we could have neither Meat Drink nor Lodging near that place We directed our course therefore more towards the Shore of the Saronick Gulph than we did at our coming and that Evening came to some Shepherds belonging to the Convent of Pendely where with all the Covert they had we could scarce sit dry it was such bad weather and our Inn being only a Tent made of a Hedge o◠Faggots covered with some Blankets over them Not far from thence toward the Sea is a Town situated upon a Hill METROPIS called Metropis which were probably the Azenenses Strabo placeth next before the Promontory Sunium The next Morning we parted early and after ten or a dozen Miles riding we came to the Ruins of a Town built on a Rock called Enneapyrgae or Nine Towers from so many Towers formerly standing on the Rock This is near a Bay of the Gulph which I believe was anciently called Hyphormus Portus and the Town it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lampra Maritima or Inferior For there was another Lampra called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Superior which without doubt was the ruin'd Town about three or four Miles more towards the Midland called yet Lambra for so the Greeks pronounce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is LAMER π after μ as we do b. At this last we sate down and dined and after Dinner we kept on something North-Westwards thorough a good and well cultivated Plain to two or three Houses in the Fields they call Fillia The distance from Athens and resemblance of the name makes me believe it was hereabouts the ancient Phlya stood which in times past was a place adorn'd with many Temples especially of Diana Lucifera if Pausanias does not confound it with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phyla on Mount Parnes where also was an Altar to Diana 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dedicated by Thrasibulus when in a dark Night he was conducted to Munichia by a light he attributed to Diana at that time when he went to deliver the City from the thirty Tyrants the Spartans had then imposed upon the Athenians Thence we turned yet a little further North-Westwards and came into the way to Athens passing between two Ridges of the Mountain Hymettus that on the left hand being
Practice of this here in England is that perhaps they gather a less quantity of Honey and that should they take the like quantity of Honey from the Bees here in England they would not leave enough to preserve them in Winter But this hinders nor much For by being less covetous and not taking so much Honey from the poor Bees the great enerease and multiplying of them would soon equalize and far exceed the little Profit we make by destroying of them This is done without Smoak wherefore the Antients call this Honey 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnsmoaeken Honey And I believe the Smoak of Sulphur which we use takes away very much of the Fragrancy of the Wax and sure I am the Honey can receive neither good Taste nor good Smell from it This Convent payeth but one Chequin for all its Duties to the Veivode It is a piece of Gold of the Venetian Coyn worth two Dollers and an half and about twelve Shillings English The reason of which small Tribute is that when Athens was taken by Mahomet the Second the Hegoumeno or Abbot of this Convent was sent by the Town to deliver him up the Keyes of the Gates which Mahomet was so glad of that to testifie his Joy and Content and to recompense the Messenger he exempted this Convent from all manner of Taxes and Customs reserving only one Chequin to be paid as a Quit-Rent for an Acknowledgment The present Abbot is called Ezekiel Stephaki who lives at Athens and is a learned Man for that Country understanding the Antient Greek very well and Latine indifferently with a little Italian He understands Philosophy too so far as to be esteemed a Platonist and notwithstanding that he is an Abbot yet he professes not to be a Divine but a Physician In my Return to Athens I was daily with him and of him I learned to read Greek according to the Modern Pronunciation I found him to be really a good discreet and understanding Man and what Piques soever have been between the Beninzueloe's and him peradventure have proceeded rather from the Emulation of the first than from any just or real Cause given by him I easily perceiv'd he was not over-fond of some of the Greekish Superstitions But for all that he seems to be both a good Man and a good Christian and that whatever they talk of him otherwise are but Trifles and perhaps undeâ—erv'd He hath some Manuscripts especially St John Damasoen which he offer'd to exchange with me for an Atlâ—s if I sent it him But I have not yet had an Opportunity to send it The rest of the Convents about this Mountain are called Asteri Hagios Ioannes Kynigos and Hagios Ioannes o Theologos There is another Convent near Mount St George called Asωmatos Mount Hymettus is now called Telovouni towards the North-East end and Lambravouni towards the south-South-West end by the Greeks as my Comrade observes This last they call Lambravouni from a ruined Town called Lambra or Lambrica situated under Mount Hymettus South and is a Corruption of the ancient Lampra which they pronounce Lambra But this is only a Point of the Mountain that lieth behind the other and is scarce seem from Athens being also separated from the rest of Hymettus by a narrow Valley through which lieth the way from Athens to Capo Colonni But I remember not that I heard it called by the Athenians otherwise than Imet or T is Imettes Vouni that is Hymettus Mountain But the Francks call it Monte-Matto which is but another manifest Corruption of Mount Hymettus Lib VI Aristolochia Longê° ibd clematitis Lib. VI. Scoizanera bulbosa II. At another time we went to see the Sea-Coasts of Athens II. To the SEA-COASTS of ATHENS towards the Saronick Gulph and to survey the antient Harbours along that Shore So taking Horses we directed our Course to the Eastern Point of the Bay Phalara In our way about a couple of miles out of Town we passed through the Athenian Vineyards and came to the Eastern end of a Marshy Lake called by Xenophon Phalaraea Palus but now Tripyrga because there were as they say three Towers by it which probably were the ruines of the Town of Limne This Lake stretcheth it self in length at least three miles along the Shore and from the Eastern end of it runneth a little Rivulet into the Sea not far from the Eastern Point of the Bay of Phalara where stands a little ruined Church called St. Nicholo The place I believe was antiently called Colias Promontorium From this to the Western Point is about three miles to which we went continuing along the shore making a great circumference till we came where the Portus Phalareus was situate at the North-West corner of the bottom of the Bay and is called now only Porto There remains yet the little Harbour to be seen with part of the Walls that secured it But it is now chok'd up with the Sand and so shallow that only small Boats lye there Neither doth the Bay afford any secure Harbour as lying open to the South Easterly and Westerly Winds and Ships that drop Anchor there are forced to keep aâ— large for want of sufficient depth So that the Antients had very good reason to change their station for Ships from hence to Piraea Hard by are the ruines of the Town and Castle belonging to it being 〈◊〉 four miles from Athens Still coasting Westwards a mile or two we came to another Harbour called in times past Munichia which was then though but small yet a very good and secure Harbour but is now quite chok'd up and useless A little from the shore there are seen ruines of Vaults pieces of Pillars and hewn Stones under water and on the shore hard by are many more besides Caves digg'd in the Rocks Vaults Walls broken Pillars and the foundations of a Temple which we guessed to be that of Diana of Munichia Thence to the raines of Pitaea is but a little way I do not believe much above a quarter of a Mile going in a streight Line But going by the Sea-Coasts by reason of the crookedness of the Shore it may be neâ—â— two miles Which shews the errour of Ptolomy and our modern Geographers that follow him who make them at least ten miles distant from each other whereas indeed Phalara which is furthest off from Pâ—â—aea is not at most above four miles distant But the Shore indeed is almost formed into a Peninsula in the Neck of which Phalard lyeth to the East and Piraea to the West Portus Piraeus is called at present by the Greeks Porte-Dracone and by the Franks Porto-Lione PORTOLIONE by reason of a Lion of Marble of admirable work placed at the bottom of the Bay in a posture of sitting but erected upon his fore-feet It is ten foot high and by a hole pierced through it answering to its mouth appears to have been a Fountain There is such another in the way from Athens to Eleusis in a couchant
return to a little creek at the mouth just within the Promontory of the Southern-Harbour and there stay till after Dinner In which time I went and climed up a Mountainous Rock hard by where I found many other curious Plants 1. Sage growing wild 2. Tragoriganum Creticum as some will have it but I esteem it Satureia or what we call in our Kitchins Winter-Savoury and that from the resemblance of smell and substance of the leaves which are not so thick and oyly as Tragoriganum as likewise Polium Roris marini foliis or leaves like Rose-mary After Dinner we put out to Sea but not without danger the Wind continuing still high and contrary After we had made six miles which is the length of the Bay which makes the Haven of Pola a storm beginning to rise we put in between the point and the Island Veruda which with the Land and some other such Scoglio's about it make a good harbour Here the Holy Virgin is worshipped with great Devotion by the name of Madonna di Veruda Her Church with the Convent belongeth to the Minime-Fryers The next day early we parted hence to pass a dangerous Gulph called the Quarner Thirty miles over It hath at the bottom to the North the Mountain Caldiera which often sends forth such gusts of Wind as are fatal to the Vessels that must pass it It s high ridges look a far off like an overgrown Cammel with a great bunch upon the back When we had passed about Twenty miles of the Thirty and had about Ten to the Mountains of Ossero we saw a great storm pursuing of us which overtook us about four miles from Shore but with such fury as made us immediately strike Sail it being an Hurricano or Whirl-wind that had almost overset the Gally before we could furl the Sails It was accompanied with such Thundring Lightning and Rain as if the Elements had conspired to our destruction The Sea also ran so high that we could neither Sail nor Row yet by Gods mercy and the help of the Rudder we were droven after an hours time although we could no way see the Land under the Mountains of Ossero and thence we rowed into Porto-longo which is on the North side of the Isle Unia In this Isle there is but one Village encompassed with a fertile soil containing in all about nine or ten miles in circuit abounding in Corn and Wine but the rest very rocky and barren Of Plants here are abundance such as I before named and over and above a Syderitis Angustifolia flore albo The next day we endeavoured to get out to Sea but finding the water too rough we turned into Porto-novo which is a little creek between the Mountains of Ossero After noon the weather proving better we set sail and passed between many little Islands which along those Coasts are numberless as Canigula and Sansio South of us in the Gulph Quarnerette which towards the Land hath the Mountains of Morlaca Towards the East San-Pietro in Limbo being two little Isles thorough which we passed making a good Harbour with a little Fort at the East-end of the most Northern of them Hence we left Selva with a pretty Town upon it to the South Opposite to which is L' Ulba which hath North-Port Saint Nicola at one end without any Town there but hath one about three miles distant Here groweth abundance of Samphire of which the Mariners gathered great quantity to boil and eat with Oyl and Vinegar Here I found a Plant with a Bulbous-root which sent out a stalk about half a foot high with a crest or crown of little small flowers striped with white and Cinnamon-colour I should have taken it for a Moly but that it had no smell and for an Asphodil had I found any leaves at the root Another like Samphire but that each leaf ended with a Pricket The next day we passed by many Rocks lying in a row South of us as Melada on which is a Town called Cestron Then Rapâ—ntello and some others beyond until at last as in a River between little Islands we arrived at Zara. ZARA Lib j. Fig II Zara is situated upon a slip of plain ground almost encompassed with the Sea Zara only the east-East-end is joyned to the Firm-Land of Dalmatia if I may call it joyned For there also is a ditch made from one Sea to the other which is well supplied with water at high Tides The Harbour is on the North-side and is well secured by the City which serves instead of a Mole to defend it from the South-winds there being no other that annoy it from the adjoyning Land It lieth in length East and West The entrance of the Port is West where it hath two round Bastions with Cannon mounted on them which saluted our Bailo as also did the Musketteers from the Walls and upon his arrival in the Port the Count and Captain of the Military-forces received him at his Landing They were cloathed in crimson Suits and Gowns made something like the Civilians Gowns at Oxon. The Bailo also was in a crimson sute but made after the French fashion These with the Militia conducted him to the Palace of the General of Dalmatia who resides there The East-side hath three Bastions and is defended by a strong Cittadel whose Fortification shews it had a good contriver and a great deal of industry to bring it to that perfection Its Fosses are hewed out of the hard Rocks which is the substance of the greatest part of the ground thereabouts and renders it very difficult to be mined Its Bastions Half-moons and Counterscarps are well countermined and mantled with hewen stone The end of the Town next the Cittadel hath three regular Bastions and is separate from it by a deep Fosse There is no Hill near it to command it from without So that it may pass for a strong Town as it is also the chief of Dalmatia The Military-Forces then consisted of eight Companies of Foot and three of Horse being for most part Morlachs Croats and other People of the Mountainous and Northern parts of Dalmatia Men of tall stature strong nimble and hardy especially the Morlachs who are used to the cold and barren Mountains called by that name extending themselves along those Coasts and subject to the Venetians They are inveterate enemies to the Turks and never spare any of them when they fall into their clutches Whensoever they make Parties to go pillage the Turks on their Borders still they return loaden with Booty We were by many credible persons assured that such was their strength as four of them would take a man on horse-back upon their shoulders and carry them both over the Streights and dangerous places of the Mountains even sometimes twenty or thirty paces at a time which hath been tried when some of their chief Officers have been to pass those Mountains Morlacus Lib j. Fig III. Their Habit is odd For Shoes they have only a piece of Leather
some little hills lying Westwards from the Town I take this Peninsula to be about four miles East and West but it is esteemed eight miles from Spalato to Clissa Northwards The Town is situated on the South-coasts at the bottom of a Bay in the bending shape of a half-moon which makes a deep Haven and of good Anchoridge but somewhat open to the South-winds Yet Gallies and smaller Vessels have a Mole to secure them from those dangers This place is about four hundred miles from Venice It hath a very pleasing prospect entring the Haven one side of the Palace now part of the Wall of the Town first offering it self to the view For it hath a Gallery of ancient Windows adorned with Pillars and Cornishes between each of them of the Dorick-Order except one at each end which are larger and of the Corinthian This Palace is square and comprehends above two parts of three of the City the rest being a little oblong added to the West-side makes the whole oblong but both one and the other are lately fortified and encompassed by a Work of three Bastions Northwards and two ranging in the same line with the Wall of the Palace and the Old City fronting the Haven There is another little Fort N. E. of the Town against Incursions from the Mountains and another upon the East-point of the Harbour But this is only of Earth and hath Five Bastions On the West is a Hill unfortified which commandeth the Town and renders it very weak On the right hand within the Mole is a large Lazarett as the Italians call a Pest-house which are frequent in all the Cities of Italy and under the Venetian Dominions They are principally for those that come from any place suspected of the Plague especially Turky which is never free from it And here new-comers stay forty days to clear themselves which they call doing Centumaccia or Quarantine from so many days allotted before they can have Prattick or any Commerce with the City But this served instead of a Palace to entertain the Embassadour and also for want of an Inn in the Town for a Lodging for us It hath three Quadrangles each less than the other The Chamber we chose was the best of half a dozen at least of one side of the third Quadrangle I should have been gladder had we found nothing but the bare Walls as my Comerade hath given an account For we had both them and the Floor so furnished with Chinches Fleas and Emmots that I who used still to have the greatest share in such Vermin feared we should be devour'd before we parted thence notwithstanding all we could invent to destroy them This is a very commodious place for the Merchants that come out of Turky in great Companies which they call Caravans both to lodg them and their Merchandize which they unlade here it being the chief Scale of Trade for Shipping of Goods from Turky to Venice Our Beds were such as we had made at Venice to lye on in the Gally being our length and breadth of course Ticking-Cloth well quilted with Wool which did us great service afterwards in all our Voyage into Turky We staied at Spalato eleven days which gave us time enough to survey the place with more than ordinary diligence But that which most employed our curiosity was the Palace of Dioclesian who when the weight of the Empire seem'd uneasie to him chose this place to retire to near his native City Salona It is built of Free-stone well hew'n and cemented together the Figure is an Equilateral square each side containing two hundred paces in length and the height that remains is above sixty foot It hath a square Tower at each corner and three Gates and with Monsieur Spon favour no more that side towards the Sea having none according to the best of my remembrance nor have I noted any more in the design I made of the Town or in my Journal The Gate which entreth the Town from the Haven being no part of the Palace The other are placed in the middle of each side Dioclesians Palace A The Court B the Portico about it C the plane of the Octogone temple D the front of the Rotundo E the plane of itt F the square Temple G the Gates H the Towers I buildings or ruines That side toward the Haven hath forty-five Windows adorned with as many Pillars of the Dorick-Order with Freezes Architraves and Bases very well proportioned Besides at each end one far larger and higher than the rest with Three Arches born up by Corinthian Pillars of Marble The Windows of the other sides are not set off with Pillars but plain The North-gate which is towards Salona was well adorned with Statues as the Niches shew The weaving together of the Stones of the Architrave of the great entrance of this Gate is very pretty This was for Horses and Carts to come in at The two lesser entrances at each side of it were for the people on foot I give you the Figure as well as I could take it The West-wall is for the greatest part razed to the foundations yet what remains of the Gate assures me that it was beautified with two Hexagon-Towers on each side and hence examining likewise the other two I judg'd that they also might have been adorned in the same manner Concerning the West-Gate there is a way streight thorough several ruins seeming apartments of the Palace which leadeth to a Court about fifty foot long and seventeen wide which I judge to have been the Center of the Palace and equally distant from the Gates This place on the East West and South-side is almost encompassed with a Portico of Pillars of the Egyptian Granate-stone or a Stone very like it of which I afterwards saw a Rock in the Island Delos and since that great plenty at Milan about their Churches which they dig out of a Quarry near Lago Maior at the foot of the Alps. They are of the Corinthian Order well proportioned and their Capitals of white Marble At the south-South-end is a round Temple like the Pantheon at Rome whose Frontispiece wanteth not the Beauty of the more ancient Roman Architecture At the East-end is an Octogon-Temple and opposite to it Westward a square one The Plane of all which I here give with its Dimensions as I took them The Octogon is now the Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Lucia It is Eight square within and without as I find it by the Dimensions and figure I exactly took of it It hath on the outside a Portic round it Eight-square also whose curious wrought Planches of Stone are supported by Twenty-four Corinthian-Pillars of the same Granate with the others Each side of the Portick is of Fourteen foot long and each of the Temples Ten. The door four foot wide and is ascended to by several steps out of the Court. Within it hath two ranges of Pillars one over another which placed in the several Angles do make eight below
whose Architrave is sustained by Corinthian Pillars of white Marble hath an Inscription shewing that it was built by the Emperour Jovianus after he was converted to the Christian Faith and had destroyed the Heathen Temples the meaning whereof in English is thus ΠΙϹΤΙΠΕΧΩΠΒΑϹΙΛΙΑΠΕΜΩΠΜΕÎΕ ΩΠϹΥÎΕ ΡΙΘΟΠΕΛΛΗÎΩΠΤΕΜΕÎΗ ΚΑΙ ΒΩΜΟΥϹ ΕΞΑΛΑΠΑΞΑϹ ϹΟΙ ΜΑΚΑΡ Î¥ ΨΙΜΙΔΟΠΤΟΠΔΙΕΡΟΠΕΚΤΙϹΑ ÎΗΟΠΧΕΙΡΟϹ ΑΠΟÎΤΙΔΑÎΑϹ ΤΟΒΙΑÎΟϹ ΕΔÎΟΠΑÎΑΚΤΙ J. Jovian having received the Faith Established the Kingdom of my Power and having destroyed the Heathen Temples and Altars have built to thee O thou blessed and most high King a holy Temple a gift of an unworthy hand It is built much after the ancient Greek fashion with a Dome in the middle and a Porch for the Catechumeni The other Church is built much after the former manner and hath an Inscription on it which Monsieur Spon thinketh to have been made about the sixth Century Count Marmero hath taken the pains to transcribe and interpret it It sheweth that it was built by one Stephanus Bishop of the place for the remission of his Sins On the South-West side of Paloeopoli about two or three miles off is a Plain well watered with several Brooks of fresh water which make the soil fruitful It is judged to have been the Gardens of Alcinous King of this place famous in Homer It is called now by the Virtuosi Chrysida and by the Country people Pezamili from some Mills that are there Here we were full of Homer especially his relation of the Kings daughter Nausica's adventure who going to Bathe her self with her Attendants met with Ulysses cast upon that shore by a Storm My Comerade telleth us Med. 12.13 that he had seen a Medal of this brave Dame at Balogna which he hath caused to be engraven as a great rarity I have therefore thought it worth the copying also The Inhabitants of Corfu are of a very revengeful nature never forgetting any injury done them which is often the ruin of whole Families For they espouse the quarrels of their Relations from generation to generation and persecute them till one of the Parties and sometimes both be utterly extinct They themselves confess and relate most barbarous adventures of this nature that have happened in the Island One I remember though not the names of the Actors of that Tragedy There happened a quarrel between two families upon no great occasion at first but at last was brought up to such a height that several persons were killed on both sides especially on his side who was the principal party offended This man dying left only a young Son to whom when he came to age several years after it was proposed that he should Marry a daughter of his Fathers enemy that so all differences might be ended and a lasting Peace made between the two families After much sollicitation he agreed to it so that a Dowry was concluded on and Married they were with a great deal of seeming joy But not long after having carried his new-married Wife home to his house and having thither invited her Parents Sisters Brothers and other Relations of hers he perswaded them to stay all night and barbarously Murder'd every one of them Wife and all After we knew what Ships were determined to go to Constantinople we went and waited on the General to desire his favour that we might have passage in one of them They were in all six Sail whereof Two Men of War and a Merchant-man were bound for Constantinople and the other Three Men of War no further than Tine thither to carry a new Proveditor The General after a very civil Conference gave us Warrant to Embarque on the Guerriera Constante being now informed that we were Gentlemen and that it was meerly curiosity that made us so inquisitive The Twenty-first of July we went on board and set sail for Zant but the Wind being contrary and having but little Sea-room between the Island and the Continent our Boats were so short that we made little or no way until the Third day The Wind then tacking about to the North we soon got out and doubled the Southern Cape of the Island beyond which there are some Flats and Rocks by it above water called Paxo and Antipaxo by the Venetians but by Sanson Pascu c. Afterwards we left the Island Saint Mauro and beyond that Cephalonia the chief Island of Ulysses his Dominions of which before I say any thing more Monsieur Spon must give me leave to correct an error or two he hath committed concerning Corfu comparing it with Cephalonia where he says Afterward we passed in sight of the Island of Cephalonia twice as big as that of Corfu For that hath about an hundred and forty miles in circuit and this not above seventy Whereas Count Marmero sheweth that Pliny counted Corfu Ninety-seven miles long as he supposes taking the Island Paxo with it now distant from Corfu ten miles and he at present reckons it about seventy miles in length and twenty broad at the North-West end and ten at the South-East Whence he concludeth it a hundred and eighty miles about But his Map added and published with his Book if measured by his Scale maketh it eighty miles long and from thence ten to Paxo which Scoglio perhaps makes the other seven mentioned by him However I do agree that Cephalonia is the bigger Island for although it be not much longer than Corfu it is as wide again Cephalonia is fruitful in Oyl and excellent Wines CEPHALONIA especially red Muscatels which we call Luke Sherry and in those Grapes whereof Currans are made that yield considerable profit The place of residence of the Proveditor is Argostoli where there is a large Port every way Land-lock't but hath no good Anchoridge At the mouth of the Port indeed is another Village called Luxuri but not many Curran-Merchants reside there as he saith for Zant is the place of their ordinary Residence where they come yearly to buy up the Currans to transport A little while since here happened a kind of Civil War between two families They made a faction of fifty or threescore of a side who gave combat to each other and fought as bloodily as Turks would do against Christians The Venetian Governours had not power enough to appease the quarrel But after they were weary they made peace upon condition that the one party should not enter into the others quarters on pain of death There is a Harbour on the East-side of the Island where we cast Anchor upon our return from Zant to Venice It is called Pescarda proper only for little Vessels There is to be seen here a little ruined Village where nothing now remains but a small Church and some few Caloyers Over against Pescarda is the Isle Thiaki separated from it only by a Streight of three or four miles over for which reason some call it Little Cephalonia The likeness of its name hath made it be
taken for Ithaca one of the principal Isles of Ulysses his Kingdom and is placed there by Sanson and Sophianus But they may be deceived For Strabo speaking of Ithaca gives it but eighty Stadia about which maketh about ten Italian miles and this Island is at least the double Therefore I believe that Ithaca is another little Island seven or eight miles from hence called yet Ithaca which is much less than this I believe anciently called Dulichium because it hath at the East-side a Port with the Ruins of a Town called yet Dolichia as Strabo observed it was called in his time which to me is satisfaction enough though Strabo notwithstanding seemeth to favour those that take Thiaki for Ithaca But perhaps Strabo himself did not know the true situation the ancient names being in his time changed For lastly if we have recourse to what Homer hath said of it it seemeth that Dulichium was none of the Isles Echinades as the Geographers after-him have judged however it is a question not so easily decided Two English Ships go yearly to this Thiaki to lade Currans The Isle is cultivated by the Inhabitants who are reduced to three Villages called Onoi Vathi and Oxia In a Wood there are to be seen the Ruins of an old Castle which the Islanders tell you was the Palace of Ulysses As to the Isle Ithaca it is desert and those of Thiaki go thither to till it in its seasons The Isle of Cephalonia in Homer's time was called Samos and had a Town of that name which should not have been far from the Port Pescarda of which we have already spoken Cephalonia was the greatest Island of Ulysses his Kingdom and I wonder that Strabo maketh it not above Three hundred Stadia in circuit which amount but to Thirty-eight Italian miles and Pliny no more than Forty-four miles although indeed it hath more than a hundred and twenty miles in compass But I will not find fault with the ancient Geographers since our Moderns who beside the old Geography have the relations of the ages since do notwithstanding make most gross mistakes in their Maps of these parts Of Saint Mauro he continueth thus Since we are in the Kingdom of Ulysses let us not quit it so soon but speak something of the Island Saint Mauro St. MAURO This Island was anciently called Leucada and the Modern Greeks call it so yet for the Castle only is properly called Saint Mauro from a Convent which stood there whilest it was under the Venetians Returning to Venice we were obliged to touch at a Port of it CLIMENO called Climeno which is the best in the Island having good Depth and Anchoridge From thence the phansie took us to go see the Fortress and to that end took a Boat called Monoxylo to carry us thither We rowed four or five hours in the narrow Channel that separates it from the Continent before we arrived at it Strabo-saith that it was anciently joyned to the Land and that this Streight was dug to separate it which is likely enough For in the streightest part it doth not much exceed fifty paces over and almost everywhere three or four foot of water It is in this narrowest part of the Streight that the ancient City Leucada had its situation upon an Eminence a mile from the Sea of which some Remains are yet to be seen having for its Port the whole Channel especially those Parts where there was Water enough Ortelius and Ferrarius are mistaken in believing that this City was where now Saint Mauro stands They have not been upon the place to find that Saint Mauro is three miles from thence in the middle of the Channel where it is a League over The Fortress is good and hath some round Bastions situated upon a very low ground But that which renders it considerable is that it neither can be approached to by Land nor Sea unless in those Monoxylo's or little Barques which draw not above a foot of water It is separated by a ditch of thirty or forty foot wide from two little Islands which are as the Suburbs to the Fortress and are inhabited by Turks and Greeks Their Houses are very low and built of wood But to make amends they themselves go very well cloathed and are great Pirats in those Seas The Basha of the Morea came thither this year on purpose to burn their Galliots or little Gallies whereof Durag Beg a famous Pirate of Lepanto had formerly seven or eight under his Command We left our little Boat ashore and went to Saint Mauro on an Aqueduct a mile long which serveth as a Bridge for those that will go thither on foot though it be not above a yard broad and without any hold which would make the stoutest man tremble in passing it especially if he meet any other thereon For it is as much as two can do to pass by one another There is above Five or six thousand Inhabitants in the Cittadel and Suburbs But we had made but very hard cheer there without the Fish we carried with us for we found nothing there but bad Wine bad Bread and worse Cheese There are about Thirty Villages in the Island inhabited by poor Greeks that manure the Land and catch Fish Being under the Jurisdiction of a Bishop whose Revenues apparently are but mean The Isle is fruitful enough in Corn Oranges Limons Almonds and Pasture for their Cattel and is about Thirty or Forty miles in compass The Castle of Saint Mauro is not above a dozen miles from the Gulph of Ambracia now called the Gulph de L'arta near which was the renowned City Actium famous for the Battle of Augustus Caesar against Mark-Antony but at present there is no more talk of this City Not being willing to go thither we discoursed an Understanding man of L'arta who assured us that L'arta or Arta was not Ambracia L'ARTA as our Geographers do warrant But that the City of Ambracia which gave name to this Gulph is above a days journey from thence and is yet called by the Country people Ambrakia though now but a Village about a mile from the Sea just in the bottom of the Bay That there is a Kanne there which serveth for a Warehouse for the Merchandises that are brought thither That the Town Arta is at least sixteen miles from thence upon the River which probably is the Acheron of the Ancients and which according to Pliny dischargeth it self into the Gulph of Ambracia Vouro-potami is the Vulgar name of a River which one passeth coming towards Ambracia and is without dispute that which in times past was called Aracthus although it pass not so near the Town Ambracia now perhaps being bigger in old time it extended it self even to it The mouth of this Gulph is not above a mile and half wide although it is above Threescore miles about On the left hand there is a Fortress of Turks not quite so well peopled as Saint Mauro It
above four or five times bigger than Nature and no less than a Colossus for the shoulders are six foot broad and the remaining parts of the body proportionable The beauty of it is such that I am apt to believe if Michael Angelo had seen it he would have admired it as much as he did that Trunk in the Vatican at Rome It stood upon his Pedestal upright until about three years ago as Signior Georgio our Landlord at Micone informed me an English-man who was there call'd as he said Signior Simon Captain of the Saint Barbara endeavoured to carry it away but finding it impossible he brake off its head arms and feet and carried them with him But here I must observe that my Note differs from Monsieur Spon's Tom. 1. p. 180. who saith it was a Venetian A little further among these Ruins we found the half body of a Woman the Drapery about which was carved so well that it seemed to be the work of no less a Master than the former Just by this was the body and forepart of a Centaure so admirably well cut also that life and vigour appear'd in every Vein and Muscle Upon his back appear'd a place cut as we suppose to set a sedent Figure in whence we judged that it might have been the Centaure Nessus who would have committed a Rape on Deianira which was no improper Ornament to this Temple Centaurs being consecrated to Apollo as is to be seen in many Medals especially of Gallienus one of which I found at Smyrna of a mixed Metal whose reverse hath a Centaure holding a Globe in its right hand pierced behind with a Dart and these Letters about it APOLLINI CONS AUG Not far from these we found other Fragments one piece was the head and neck of an Horse another which seemed to belong to the same part of the Bodie of a Horse with a Fragment of a sedent Figure of a Woman from the feet almost to the wast upon it the hinder part of the Figure ending like a Fish with scales I cannot well determin whether the upper part of the Woman I before mentioned belongeth to the Centaure or this These all seem to have been the Ornaments of the walls of the Temple and of the same manner of work in entire Relievo Here are seen also four other pieces which we guessed to have been of the Lyons that the Neighbouring Islanders remember to have seen formerly here On the South corner at the West end of these ruins where perhaps was the entrance of the Temple is a great piece of Marble hollow in the middle and almost buried in the ground which perhaps was part of the pedestal of the Gigantique Statue of Apollo because on the one side are these Letters ÎΑΞΙΟΙ ΑΠΟΛΛ which denote that it had been dedicated by those of the Island Naxos to Apollo The Letters on the other side we could not well tell what to make of but-upon consideration they seem to me to be Vulgar Greek From the Temple of Apollo directing our steps Southward and near the Western shore of the Island we came to the Ruins of a wonderful Portico of Marble whose vast Architraves Pillars and other the beautiful parts Bury each other in as great confusion as time and bad Fortune could reduce them to Upon one of the Architraves broken in two pieces we sound these Letters of a span deep ΒΑΖΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΛΙΠΠSignior Crescentio remembers he saw on a Fragment of the same Architrave ΜΑΚΕΔ which sheweth that Philip of Macedon was its Founder Further upon a little eminence among other Marbles we found these Letters also upon an Architrave ΔΙΟÎΥΣΙΟΥ ΕΥΤΥΧΟΥ Dionysius the Son of Eutyches another Grecian King The Pillars were Angular towards the Base and channel'd upwards being of several pieces and of the Corinthian order as appeared by their chapetes of which we found only three or four Not far from the South end of this Portique and on the West side of a little rocky Mountain which undoubtedly was the Mount Cynthus is a Theater It is something more than a Semicircle whose Diameter comprehending the seats and utmost wall is about two hundred Foot on each side without its Circumference are the Foundations of a Tower Thirty Foot long and Eighteen broad Before the Scene are eight or nine Vaults in a row answering Parallel to the Diameter of the Theater separated from each other by a wall in which is a little Arch serving for a passage from one to another These some of us took for Cisterns to hold water and others for Caves to keep wild Beasts in used to be baited in the Theaters of the Ancients somewhat resembling our Bear-gardens The whole Fabrick is of white Marble and each Stone on the outside cut in the form of a Diamond In the place of the Spectators there are some seats still remaining The whole Theater leaneth on a hill part of which seemeth to be dug away to make room for it Lab. j Fig XIII Mount Synthus the Caste of Delos From the Theater Eastwards passing over a world of Ruins we began to ascend the high Rock called anciently Mount Cynthus Which can be called high only in respect of the other hills in this Island and not in respect of the circumjacent Isles which are beyond proportion higher It is very craggy and steep and consists of a Granate Marble of several colours some reddish mixed with black others lighter other some yellowish with black spots and some a light grey It is very hard but I doubt endureth not the weather so well as that of Egypt For the Pillars at the Schools I but now mentioned seem to be of the same stone and are very much scaled by the weather This makes me doubt whether all the Pillars that are seen in so many places be of the Granate of Egypt For although Monsieur Spon took no notice where any stone hath been dug out of it yet I believe the way up the Mountain which is deep broad and winding was the quarry where much of that Marble had been taken for it resembles many quarries I saw afterwards in the Mountain Pentelicus in Attica Besides they would not have bestowed the pains to have dug so deep only for a way nor is it apparent that it was the way For on the Right hand as we ascended up a little distance from it is a Port or Gate made of such vast stones as I believe were dug not far from the place which was the entrance to go up to the Castle on the top of the hill where yet remain Foundations of White Marble Another quarry of such stone is on the Alpes near Lago-Maiore with Pillars of which the Frontispieces of most of the Churches in Millain are Beautified And I believe those of Spalato may come from some quarrie in the Mountains of Croatia as I before hinted This side of the hill hath ascents one above another distinguished by Walls on each side of the place supposed to have
that particular and Authors disagreeing For my Companion setteth it down about Sixty Miles Peitro della Valle Ninety and our Country-man Mr. Sands precisely Sixscore and five Miles It looketh very high and Mountainous from Sea and sends down most prodigious gusts of wind LESBOS as I experienced returning from Smyrna Of Lesbos likewise he hath given a good description for it is much bigger then Scio and hath plenty of Corn Wine and Cattle Of the milk of which they make much Butter and Cheese but have little Trade Each of these Islands pay Eighteen Thousand pieces of Eight a year Carraeth to the Grand Signior Those that gather it at Scio make the heirs three years after the death of their Friends pay it They say also when a Greek changeth his habitation they make him pay a double Pole-Money one in the Country he left and another in that where he cometh to live unless they avoid it by some Artifice as by concealing their native place and true Name Naxia payeth Six Thousand Dollers Milo Three Thousand Paros and Ause as much Scyros Two Thousand Zea Seventeen Hundred for Carraeth and for Tenths Two Thousand Five Hundred Andros Four Thousand Five Hundred Carraeth and Six Thousand Eight Hundred for Tenths Negropont which is the greatest Island in the Archipelago payeth a Hundred Thousand Dollers for all its priviledges The tenths are paid to the Beyes and Vayvodes who are obliged out of them to keep a certain number of Gallies without any expence to the Grand Signior Smyrna maintains two Gallies Naxia Meteline Samos and Andros each of them one Scio two Micone and Seripho one and so the rest in proportion to their Abilities But to return to our Vessel at Tenedos This Island is about four or five Miles from the shore of Asia about Twenty Miles in Circuit and Truitful in Corn and Wine especially Muskatels great part of which is carried to Constantinople It hath a Town and a Castle which lieth on the north-North-end of it but regarding the Promontory Sigaeum towards the East now called Janizzari by the Turks it was taken by the Venetians in the War of Candia and retaken by the Turks by means of a good round Sum of Money given to the Treacherous Governour Near this place was a famous Sea-fight fought betwixt the Venetians and Turks with great loss on both sides though the Victory remained to the Venetians From our Ship at the South-end of Tenedos we discovered the top of that famous Mountain Ida TROY and in the same line upon the Asian shore vast Ruins of a City which we took to be the so much celebrated Troy and therefore we longed very much to see it nor had we therein our desires frustrated For Friday the Twentieth of August the wind holding still contrary or calm both Wood and Water was wanting to our Vessel and therefore the long Boat being sent ashore for recruits we closed with that opportunity of seeing the Valiant Trojans Country We landed in a plain about three Miles North of those Ruins which we saw from our Ship where digging in the sand I suppose the hidden Chanel of some rivolet the Sea men found fresh water This plain is in some places tilled and in some places neglected It beareth Corn Cotton and Sesami of which they make Oyl Cucumbers and Melons of several kinds as Water-Melons which the Italians call Anguria and another kind which they here call Zucchi I saw also in many places neglected Fig-trees and Almond-trees with Fruit upon them Here groweth also abundance of Oaks whereof I never saw any of the kind in England It agreeth something with the description Gerard giveth of the Cerris Majore Glande or the Holme-Oak with great Acorns but not well with his Figure It groweth to a large well proportion'd Tree with a fair top and large branches but whether it is good Timber or no I know not It s small twigs bear a fair leaf above as long again as broad broad at the bottom and ending in a sharp point snipped about the edges with deep sharp-pointed teeth like a great saw and of an Ashcolour somewhat downy It beareth an Acorn twice as big as our ordinary Oaks which cometh out of a deep cup that covereth half the length of it It is rough on the outside with a long flat and heavy substance which before the Acorn appeareth is like to those great excrescences that sometimes are seen in the spring upon our young sappy Oaks In this walk I saw other curious Plants as 1. Tragacantha PLANTS out of which Gumme Dragon issueth in some places 2. Pastinaca Echinifera Fabij Columni 3. Jacea Lutea Capite Spinoso 4. Tartonreina Massiliensium of two kinds Longifolio Latifolio 5. Papaver Caniculatum horned Poppies whose Flower is black at the bottom fomewhat higher of a deep red and by degrees end in a Golden Colour 6. Pancrasium in Flower 7. Verbascum Marinum laciniatis Folijs So that I cannot with Mr. Sands call this barren ground but neglected ' With these curiosities I entertained my self whilst the rest of our Company diverted themselves with the game they found in great plenty there as Hares red Partridges Quails Turtles and a Bird about the bigness of a Thrush the head and breast of a bright yellowish colour the back and wings of a greenish grey like a green Finch the beak and head formed like a Thrush and as fat as Hortulans in France and Italie and our Wheat-ears in England Another kind not much bigger but shaped like a Bittern with a long bill long legs and claws a crist of long Feathers on the Crown and of a speckled colour like an Hawke When we came near to this ruined City we saw abundance of broken Pillars of Marble and others parts of Walls and Fundations along the shore none standing upright nor whole but lying on the ground and many a good way in the Sea scaled by the weather and eaten by the Salt-winds that come from thence A little further is the mole of a Port yet remaining with a large and thick wall on the shore which doubtless was beautified with those many Marble Pillars that are now broken down all along under it The mouth is now stopped up with sand and remaineth very shallow I cannot with my Companion say That this was the Port of Troy so famous in Antiquity nor yet this City that Ilium or Troy whose Wars have been so Celebrated by the Unimitable Homer and Virgil nor the Antiquities there remaining to be of any elder date then the Romans although Bellonius is confident of it and Petro della Valle so wonderfully pleased himself with the thoughts of it that he fancied every great Tree a Hector or Achilles or an Aeneas and all the Briers and Bushes that pricked his shins their Armies and could not forbear crying out Hic Dolopum manus hic saevus tendebat Achilles Classibus hic locus hic acies certare solebant But
old is almost demolished and only serves to cleanse Corn and to make fine Flour for the Seraglio The other was built in two Months time about seventeen Years ago for the Grand Signior's coming thither It is but a small Building but well contrived with Baths and Stoves and adorned with Roofs and Walls gilded and painted in pretty Knots and Flowers with Presses on one side of each Room for Bedding and Furniture according to the manner of the Turks who have not their Houses incumbred with great Bed-steads Tables Chairs and Stools but only a part of the Room raised higher than the rest and covered with a Carpet where all get up and sit cross-legg'd sometimes with Cushions to sit or lean upon and this serves for Parlour Dining-Room and Bed-Chamber When they sit to eat one bringeth a little round Table sometimes of one piece of Wood and sometimes doubled together with a low Foot whereon the Meat is set in little Dishes One Napkin is long enough for the whole Company and goeth round the Table which is seldom cover'd with a Cloth because it serveth instead of Trenchers When they go to bed a Servant cometh and taketh the Quilts Sheets and Coverings and prepareth for as many as lie there each one one It would make but a poor Palace for any of our Christian Princes But the Prospect from the Castle is more pleasant being situate upon the Brow of the Hill overlooking the Town and Country which was no more than necessary for it hath no other Garden now We expected a better Shew for our Doller a Head which the Keeper exacted of us But it is good to be undeceived of the high Opinions we have of Things which deserve them not especially when our Experience costs not too dear There is no considerable River near this Town But the Mountain doth furnish them with so many Springs that I never saw more Fountains nor with greater Sources of Water in any place where-ever I have been but they are not esteemed very wholsome I believe because the Snow-Water continually melting from the Mountain mixeth with them These with what falls from the Mountain make two little Streams one whereof we passed coming into the Town and the other I passed over by a Bridge on the North-East-side of the Town to go up the Mountain which hath another Bridge not far from this both well-built and large joyning the Suburbs to the Town The Metropolitan Church is well worth seeing having been a fair Building cased within with curious and well-wrought Marble built in the form of a Greek Cross that is square with a Cuppalo in the Middle held up by four Pillars which being beat down in the time of the Siege was repaired by the Turks and the fair Capitals of the Pillars set where the Basis should be and the Basis where the Capitals An Emblem of their Tyranny over Christendom turning all things upside down So have they made this Holy Place the Sepulcher of Orchanes the Conquerour of it and the Second King of the Turks But there yet remains the Place of the Altar which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Holy Ascent being according to their Custom a place containing three Seats one above another in form of a Semi-circle On the first the Patriarch and Metropolitans use to sit on the next the Bishops and on the other the Presbyters when the Sacrament was celebrated Adjoyning to this is the Sepulcher of Bajazet's Children Beyond the Stream on the North-East-side of the Town is a Royal Mosque and a Colledge by it with twelve Apartments for twelve â—â—â—ers who are obliged to teach to Write Read and the Understanding of the Law Thither any poor Man may come and eat at any time and on Fridays be feasted with Rice Hard by is the Founder's Sepulcher which looketh very prettily being a large Cuppalo covered with Lead on the top and the Walls cased with Porcelane Tiles Here are three or four very good Kans KANS. built two Stories high covered with Lead each Room a Cuppalo over it For this Town is a great Thorow-fare and of much Traffick all the Caravans coming from Smyrna Aleppo and most part of those from Persia to Constantinople passing by this Place The Basars are well built and furnished with Merchants and all sorts of Merchandizes A great deal of English Cloth is brought hither and no small quantity of Silk made here the Plains being covered with Mulberry-Trees to feed the Silk-Worms Here many of the Turks seem to live more gentilely than ordinary and have their Houses of Pleasure without the Town One I saw belonging to a Haga well contrived with shady Walks Chiosques Fountains and Artificial Fish-Ponds Here Dr. Covel made me take notice of a Willow-Tree whose large Branches were so limber that they bend down to the Ground from a good high-pollard Trunk and naturally make a curious shady Bower about it The Leaf is like our Osiers There is plenty of all sorts of Provisions here and most delicious Fruits especially Pomegranates which are esteemed so good that they are sent from thence to Adrianople for the Grand Signior's eating Great plenty of excellent Fresh-Water-Fish which the Lake on the Mountain and others not far off with the River Ascanius not a days Journey thence furnisheth them with Especially Carps Trouts and Eeles Of the first I saw many and eat of some three Foot in length with their large Bellies filled with fat Of the last we were made a Present of one by an Armenian that had been in England above an Ell long large and white as Silver This Armenian informed us That the Mountain was almost covered with curious Plants which made Dr. Covel who is a great Lover of them as well as my self long to go and ransack it which the stay we made being longer than we thought by reason that Mr. Cary fell sick here gave us opportunity to do So that Monday the Eleventh of October about five a Clock in the Morning having hired Horses for two Dollars five Timins to our Janizary and as much to our Guide setting out and beginning to mount Olympus we came up to the highest part we could for the Snow about Eleven a Clock Whence from a pointed Hill on the North-side we had a most Charming Prospect the height making it from North to South unbounded the Western half of the Compass from Constantinople all the Propontis the Plains of Mysia to Mount Ida with the Lake and River Ascanius lay plain before us as in a Map But more particularly thus The two Bays we passed by over the Propontis lay parallel to each other North that of Ishmit stretching it self farthest East this of Mountania having one Lake on the East end which I suppose emptieth it self into the Propontis by it and another in a Valley near to the Foot of this Mountain north-North-West by North the Island Chalcis c. and a little more West-ward Constantinople as they say an hundred
ΑΡΙΣΤΩΠΦΙΛΟΚΡΑΣΙΟΣ This Town was celebrated in old times for the Oracle of Trophonius which was in a Cavern in a Hill I rather believe it was in that above the Town than that Monsieur Spon mentions and we saw in a Rock a Mile distant North of it when we parted thence to Thebes But Pausanias indeed is not so clear as might be wished by reason of his long Digression Nevertheless one may collect it being he saith That the Trophonian Grove was by the Fountain of this River Hercyna And I observ'd where the Water issueth out in greatest abundance it was made up with Boards just in the Corner under the Castle without doubt to cover some dangerous Cavern And Pausanias saith This Oracle was in the Mountain above the Grove so that it must be that above the Town if that were the Fountain Hercyna of which there is no doubt By Pausanias his Description one would believe that the Hole on the Top of the Hill reached to this at the Bottom For those that entred it to consult the Oracle were to put their Head and Knees in such a certain place and posture and were suddenly carried down as by a Vortex or Whirlepool of a most swift River This might easily be so done by stopping the Water at the Bottom until it rose very high and then letting it go of a sudden But he that went to steal the Treasure there had not so good a Preparation for it prov'd a Trap to him by which he broke himself to pieces and was taken up another way as Pausanias informs you All these things want good Search and Examination and are not easily to be found out by Travellers that stay but a little while in a Place unless we should suppose them to have so many of the antient Greek Authors almost by heart There were publick Games instituted in honour of this God Trophonius of which notwithstanding none of the â—â—tients speak unless Julius Pollux who mentions only that these Games took their Name from Trophonius Yet that they were celebrated in this Place viz. at Livadia we found by a Stone at Megara erected in honour to one who amongst the Prizes he had gain'd in other Places had won these also at Livadia We found an Inscription wherein there seems to be a Town of this Name ΤΟΙ ΙΠΠΟΤΗ ΛΕΒΑΔΕΙΕΩΠΑÎΕΘΙΑΠΤΡΕΦΩÎΙΟΙ .. ÎΠΑΞΑÎΤΕΣ ΙΠΠΑΣΙÎΠΑΜΒΟΙΩΤΙΑ ΙΠΠΑΡΧΟÎΤΟΣ ΔΕΞΙΠΠΟΣ ΑΥΚΡΑΤΕΙΩ ΕΙΛΑΡΧΙΟÎΤΩΠΑΡΙΣΤΩÎΟΣ ΘΡΑΣΩÎΙΩ ΕΠΙΤΙΜΟΣ ΑΥΚΡΑΤΕΙΩ But therein they are written ΤΡΕΦΩÎΙΟΙ if I have copied it right of which I am not so well assured as to be positive The Game Pamboiotia is here mentioned which Strabo and Pausanias say was celebrated in the Plain of Coronaea by or in the Temple of Minerva Itonia where all the Boeotians assembled for that purpose January the Twenty fifth we parted from Livadia about eleven in the Morning and about half a Mile out of Town being come to the top of a little Hill being a small Ridge of Laphystius we had the Prospect of a spacious and fertil Plain encompassed with Mountains but not very high if compared with those of Parnassus and Helicon It is stretched in length from Livadia South-East near twenty Miles and in breadth is as much comprehending the Lake and Marshes which take up near half of the North-East side of it This Lake was formerly called The Lake of Copais but now Livadias Limne or The Lake of Livadia and not Stivo-lago meaning I suppose Thiva Limne as our Modern Maps make it For that is another Lake that was formerly called Hylica palus Of all which I shall have more to say in the Last Book We left the Lake Copais at a good distance on the left hand and kept still streight forwards under the Mountains on the right hand South-Eastwards which I suppose were the Mountains Tilphusium and Laphystius I observ'd six good large Streams crossing our way and running Northwards towards the Lake which may be Ocaled Tilphusa Lophis Olmens Coralius and Permessus mentioned by Pausanias and Strabo There are many little Villages up and down in this Plain some Vineyards a great deal of Corn-ground and Pasturage well stock'd also with Sheep and other Cattle But it is very much subject to Inundations upon great Rains or melting of the Snow from the Mountains which is no wonder having no Passage above ground for the Water out of the Lake but only that into Hylica palus which also lieth so high that the greatest â—art of the Plain must needs be drowned before the overflowing Water would find a Passage that way the ordinary Passages out of the Lake being under ground About fourteen Miles from Livadia we past by a Village on our left hand called Charamenitis and about an hour before night another which they call Diminia that is to say Two Months because the Corn there is sowed ripe and reaped within the space of two Months the Floods of the Lake not permitting them to sow before April and it being Harvest-time with them by the beginning of June By this Town is a Rock on the Top of which appear the antient Walls of a Town My Companion thinketh it may be Onchestus but I think it rather Coronaea for Reasons I have elsewhere given Here is a Fountain that riseth at the Foot of the Rock which makes the Stream Coralius In half an hour thence we came to Megalo-molci where we lodged in an indifferent good Kan Molci signifies properly Farms belonging to the Grand Signior where those that inhabit are no other than his Servants and Workmen This is a large square Court composed of little Houses for those that either labour till the Ground or attend the Cattle where at night they retire to lodge These seem badly to imitate the Roman Colonies with this great difference That those had still some great Priviledges granted them but these are all Slaves The next day we parted thence by Sun-rising and within half an hour came to the South-East end of the Plain bounded by a little Ridge of a Mountain that runneth out from Mount Phoenix on the left hand and another on the right I believe was Libethrius As soon as we got on the Top of this Hill we began to see Thebes at the further end of another Plain East North-East of us and behind us we had the Hill by Livadia West North-West This Plain is now called Thivas Cambos and in old time to the same effect the Theban Plain It is bounded with Hills and Mountains and is much less than that of Livadia The Northern Bounds of this I take to be the Mountain Phoenicius from Strabo which Pausanias seems to call Sphinx or Sphingius mons That on the right hand or the Southern Bounds of this Plain I know not how it was antiently called but is a Ridge of the Mountain Libethrius which is the same of the Mountain Helicon and is the same that separates the Plain of Thespia from the Plain of Thebes I observed a Torrent run
the more particular in my Observations of it and shall give the best account of it I can Which that I may do to be the better understood I shall first give an account of the situation of the Lake and the Plain in which it is stagnated and then of the several Passages out of the Water of the Lake into the Euboean Sea This Lake is now called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lake of Livadia but by Strabo Copais and by Pausanias Cephissis It is situate on the North-side of that large Plain which is call'd by the same name of Livadia which is stretched out between the Plain of Thebes and the Town Livadia the whole Perimeter of which Country and Lake is so encompassed with high Hills and Mountains so joined one to another that there is not so much as space for the many streams and torrents that arise under and fall from them to pass out above ground into the Sea So that had not the Wisdom of the Creator provided at several places certain subterraneous Passages as Chanels to receive and suck in the Waters which in so great abundance at times do flow and pour down these Mountains and were not those Chanels either by nature or art and industry of men kept open and cleansed all Boeotia must necessarily in a short space of time be drowned and made nothing but a great Lake or standing Water For beginning first at Parnes that Mountain is join'd to Cithaeron Cithaeron is join'd to Helicon Helicon to Parnassus Parnassus to Mount Oeta that to Cnemis Cnemis to the Cyrtonum Mons That to Ptoos Ptoos to Messapius Messapius to Cerycius and that again to Parnes Which Mountains although all or most of them be well enough distinguished from each other by certain Chasms or Openings between them yet are they all so tacked and link'd together by High-Grounds that before the Waters could find Passage any way into the Sea above ground the whole Country below them must unavoidably be drowned which perhaps was one great reason of Deucalions Flood in which these parts seem chiefly concerned But beside this Circle of Mountains that encompass all Boeotia Phocis and great part of Locris there are other Mediterranean Mountains also which are tacked to one another in such sort that they divide the whole Country into several particular Vallies which from a high prospect look as if they were those places in the Earth the Gyants laid open when in their War with the Gods they plucked up Mountains by the Roots and set them upon one another intending to scale Heaven thereby For so is this Plain of Livadia divided from that of Thebes Eastward by the Mountain Phoenicius or Sphingis which joins Northwards to the Mountain Ptoos Southwards to certain Ridges which descend from Helicon From those high Mountains Helicon South-West Parnassus and Oeta North-West are poured down those quantities of Waters into this Plain which stagnating make the great Lake of Livadia by falling towards the Ridge of the Rocky Hills of Thalanda or Cyrtonum Mons against which the whole stress and fall of the Waters seems to lean but are by them as by a mighty Mound or Bank kept in from discharging themselves into the Euboean Sea Strabo counts this Lake no less than three hundred seventy one Stadia in Circumference which amounts to about forty seven Miles and a half But I believe it covers not so much ground at present For then in his time it had one passage out above ground into Hylica palus now called the Theban Lake But now the Waters are far lower than that Passage and therefore are to be thought very much abated The form of this Lake is long being stretched out under the Mountains of Thalanda or Cyrtonum Mons North-West and South-East as far as the Mountain Ptoos In the middle it is narrow but then enlarging it self again until it comes to be divided at the South-East end into three several Bayes At the two Northmost of these Bays are the principal Chanels in a wonderful manner pierced through the Mountains The whole mass whereof consists of a very hard stone considerably high and of a great extent in thickness though in some places it be greater and in others less the shortest Passage to the Sea being towards Thalanda and the North-West end of the Lake is at least four Miles through the Mountain Where this enters in under the Mountain is a Town called Palea situate towards the north-North-West end of the Lake where it riseth again on the other side near the Sea are those Mills I but now spake of about two hours riding from Thalanda This seems to be the place which Strabo calls Anchoe where the Town of Copais was also situated that gave the old name to this Lake and by the same rule on the Sea side where the Waters come out of the Lake should lye Larimna Superior or that of Locris where Strabo makes the Chanels to pass thirty Stadia or about four Miles under ground from Copais to Larimna The other Chanels I saw on the North-West end of the Lake are all a much greater distance from the Sea many of them passing at least half a days Journey under the Mountain Ptoos The Northmost of the two Bayes last mentioned divides it self again into three Bayes the first of which entreth under the Mountain by two Chanels the second and third by three Chanels apiece Another Bay also there is that divideth it self into many other little Bays and those again into Chanels Insomuch that I easily believe what an Albanese I met there told me to wit that there were at least fifty of these under-ground Chanels whereby the Lake emptieth it self into the Sea For I saw above half the number of them my self From Proscina hither a considerable part of our way lay along one of those Chanels in several places of which we saw holes down to it but could neither see nor hear the Water as it passed by reason the Chanel was every where close covered and much deeper When we came to ascend the steeper part of the Mountain we passed by ten or a dozen square Stone-Pits about a Furlong distant one from another which I found still deeper and deeper according to the rising of the Mountain until by the sound of the Stones I cast in I could not judge them less than fifty Fathom deep but I heard no sound of Water at the bottom The reason whereof I found because the Chanel which carries the Water lyeth covered deeper under them They are about four foot square a piece at the Mouth and cut out of the hard Rock of the Mountain From all which I began to be sensible of the vast labour cost and indefatigable industry that brought the whole work to such perfection For by such Pits as these the rest of the fifty Chanels were first made if made at all and are now upon occasion cleansed when ever they happen to be obstructed Pausanias saith that
was formerly Coronea MINERVA ITONIA then the Ruined Tower may have been the place where the Temple of Minerva Itonia sometimes stood which was the place where all Boeotia used to assemble in Council Thence coming nearer to the foot of the Helicon I passed by a very pleasant Prospect into a little Plain inclosed every way with prominent parts of the Mountain except one narrow Passage for entrance to it like to a Sea-Port Hence we soon mounted up to St Georgio situate on the side of Helicon having left a Village below it on the right hand Either St Georgio or this Village was probably the Alalcontenae of old time This Town is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or St George from a Monastery there dedicated to him There are two or three Churches here in which are some Inscriptions of Antiquity But I could not see them because my Guide was afraid of the Turks and my Druggerman was return'd to Athens to give the Consul an account of my Resolutions to proceed on my Voyage to Zant. So we staid not long in this place but mounted up a considerable way higher toward the top of the Helicon with intentions to pass quite over it unto the Convent of Saint Luke But we were hindred by the Snow which was not yet passable This Mountain is now called Zagara by the Turks M. ZAGARA the HELICON from the great abundance of Hares they say breed there although there be plenty of other Game also especially Wild Boars and Dear But it is known out of Strabo undoubtedly to be that famous Helicon of the ancients For agreeable to his Description it lyeth upon the Crissean or Corinthian Gulph bordering upon Phocis which it regards Northward somewhat inclining to the West And as the saith its high Cliffs hang over the last Harbour of Phocis which was therefore called Mycus nor is it not far distant from Parnassus nor inferiour to it either in height or the compass of ground that it stands on Finally that they are both Rocky Mountains and the tops of them perpetually covered with Snow Mount Helicon was in old times consecrated to the Muses by the Thracians and was the native Country of the ancient Poet Hesiod who was born at Ascra an inhospitable Town on the side of it towards the Sea whom Ovid seems to follow and imitate but with more briskness and less gravity Hesiod seems with more respect to celebrate the Gods as it became his perswasion of them and with more earnestness to press men to Justice Vertue and Humanity which is as much to be preferred before the others bawdy and lying stories of them as all Moral and Christian Vertues infinitely transcend the obscene Lampoons of our present Age being really more beautiful and attracting Objects than any Mistresses in the World I found not those Monuments either of Hesiod Orpheus or the Muses Pausanias in his time professeth to have seen there And as to the Fountain Hippocrene the famous haunt of the nine Sisters it was then frozen up if it were where I guess'd it to have been So that were I a Poet and never so great a Votary of those Heliconian Deities I might be excused from making Verses in their praise having neither their presence to excite nor their liquor to inspire me For having gone two or three Miles forwards on the top till I came to the Snow my further proceedings that way were hindred only alighting I made shift to clamber up the Rocks somewhat higher until I came to look down into a place encompassed round with the tops of Mountains so that the inclosed space seemed to me to be a Lake frozen and covered with Snow But my Guide telling me be passed that way once in the Summer time with Monsieur Nantueil the French Embassador and then saw it a very pleasant green Valley covered with Flowers having a very good Fountain in the middle of it I am much inclin'd to think the Hippocrene was there and there also in antient times the delicious Grove of the Muses I observed likewise great store of the Male-Fir-Tree growing on this Mountain whose Turpentine is very fragrant much resembling the smell of a Nutmeg and some of that Leopards-bane whose root is like a Scorpion But her partly the cold of a backward Spring and partly the time of Year hindred me from making any further discoveries in that kind I shall only tell you what Pausanias telleth me viz. that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is one kind of an Arbutus or Strawberry-Tree beareth sweeter fruit here than in any other place he knows which may well be although I took no notice of any there I saw here also a very large Tortoise newly come out of ground to enjoy the warm Sun and of which they say there is great plenty bred there We return'd to the brow of the Mountain by the same way we came and thence I had a fair and large Prospect of the Plains of Boeotia Northward and observed the Mountain Delphi of Egripo to lie exactly East of us and another of the same Island to lie East-North-East We left the way to St. Georgio and turning to our left hand descended into a Plain between the Mountain Helicon and another little Mountain the Eastern end of which comes up near to it and the Town of St. George but thence runs North-Westwards beyond Livadia which it hath under it on the North-side This Mountain from the Plain of Boeotia seems not at all distinct from the Helicon although it hath a Plain between it and that in some places I believe three or four Miles wide On the top of it on the East end we saw Granitza GRANITZA which I was told was a Town and Bishoprick under the Jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Athens Here is also a Convent of Caloires or Greekish Monks which is all I could learn of the place only from the ancients I gather that this Mountain was called by two distinct names to wit Laphytius on this end LAPHYTIUS and TELPHYSIUM mm. and Telphysium on the Western In descending we turned still round the Helicon to our left hand and in our way passed by many Fountains that issue out of the sides of that Mountain some of which run down into the Plain of Livadia as far as the Lake into which they flow others collect themselves into a Stream in this Valley One makes a fine Cascade almost from the top of the Mountain and I believe runneth from the Lake I before spake of on the top of the Helicon by its nearness to that place There was abundance of the Narcissus Flowers growing along the Banks of this Stream so proliferous that I had not before seen any the like having seven eight nine sometimes ten Flowers upon the same stalk and very fragrant Here my Guide proved to be near as ignorant and unacquainted in the Country as my self and it growing towards Night we knew not whither to go to Lodge