by which the rivers disappear are obstructed, the neighbouring villages are threatened with deluges similar to those which ruined the towns of the ancient Arcadia.

Butter, cheese, and wool, are the chief articles of exportation: agriculture might have added other riches, had it been encouraged and protected under the reign of the Turks. Sufficient domestic tranquillity, however, remains in the mountains to preserve the primitive beauty of the Arcadians: a tall figure, expressive features, a regular profile, and flaxen hair, even now distinguish the fair sex.

More than 300 villages contain the population of the four cantons of this province, which are named after their chief towns. Tripolitza, which before 1821 was the residence of the pacha, and in some manner the capital of the peninsula, appears to have been built with the ruins of the cities of Tegea and Mantinea, which were situated in the neighbourhood and were formerly rivals in power. The city of Tripolitza is situated in a fertile, and well-cultivated valley, to the east of mount Menalus, now Roïno. It is surrounded by walls and crowned with a citadel, where, since 1821, the Greek flag waves over a free people. The pacha, enclosed in his seraglio, paid little attention to embellishing his residence; and Tripolitza, except in the principal street, which crosses the whole town, presents no other appearance than that of most Turkish cities. A market, shaded by large plantains, occupies the centre of the town; and four mosques, ornamented with ancient columns and bas-reliefs, serve for the worship of Mahomet: a caravansera, shut in the evening like a prison, with iron gates and chains, is provided for the reception of travellers. The plain of Arcadia, exposed to the heat of the sun in summer, and covered with snow in winter, with bad water and few trees, presents the most melancholy spectacle in this beautiful country; but its soil, if properly cultivated, is capable of furnishing pasture for cattle and of producing grain, wool, vermilion, and cheese, sufficient for exportation. About seventyfive villages belong to this canton, which has its archbishop residing in the chief town. A few remains, in a place now called Palæo-Episcopi, point out the site of Tegea, within a league of Tripolitza: some stumps of columns, and fragments of capitals, in which are seen the three different orders of architecture, lie on the ground. Mantinea has been still less spared by time than Tegea. A marsh covers the spot where Epaminondas vanquished the Lacedemonians, and terminated his glorious career; and no traces remain of the monument erected to his memory; but the remembrance of the hero still inspires his descendants in their struggles with their oppressors, and the territory of Mantinea and Tegea has been freed by their valor. In the mountainous canton of Leontaris, or Londari, there are not twenty villages: the inhabitants lead a pastoral life; their lands producing grain and cheese barely sufficient for their own consumption. The borough of Londaris, probably on the site of one of the three ancient cities, bearing the name of Leuctra, occupies the centre of a tolerably fertile and healthy valley.

Perhaps the finest monument of Arcadia is the ruined temple of the Epicurean Apollo, on mount Cotyla, near the ancient Phigalia, now Paolizza; it was erected after the famous plague, to Apollo the saviour, under the direction of Jotinus, the Parthenian architect. With the exception of two only, the thirty columns of the Dorian order, which adorned the portico of the building, were still standing in 1812, and some fragments of bas relief, found amongst the rubbish, are now in the British Museum. But the most valuable remains found here are twentythree marble tablets, with figures in bas relief, representing the two combats of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and the Amazons and Greeks.

Caritene is the chief town of a well-peopled district, containing 230 villages, and watered by the river Alpheus and its tributary streams. In this country, under a more liberal government, tobacco, grain, vegetables, fruits, silks, and wines, might be cultivated so as to produce an extensive commerce. Neglected as agriculture is, it yet exports wool and cheese.

All the north of Arcadia is comprised in the canton of Calavista, interesting for its picturesque views and its remains of antiquity. Besides the productions common to the before mentioned districts, it has an abundance of Corinthian grapes, and gum adraganth. In the mountains there are some considerable monasteries. Calavista, the chief town, is of little importance: it is situated in an elevated valley, watered by the Cerynitus, the inundations of which render the ground marshy, and the air unhealthy; while the neighbourhood of the mountains experiences violent winds and severe cold. The town, in latter times containing 2500 Greeks and 300 Turks, dates its foundation only from the middle ages, though there is on a mountain near the city an ancient ruined fortress: this post has long ceased to protect the country, and a range of mountains, some leagues from Calavista, bears the dreadful name of the defile of the massacre, on account of the numerous murders committed there. The icy summit of mount Olenos overlooks this wild country.

The monastery of Mega Spelion, situated three or four leagues to the north of Calavista, is one of the largest in Greece; in the road to it is the village of Kerpeni, which, enjoying a finer climate than that of Calavista, draws away its inhabitants. On an isolated rock, at some distance from this village, are some ruins, called in the country Old Calavista: they are probably those of the ancient Cynetha, whose inhabitants had the reputation of being thieves and highwaymen; a character which has been bequeathed to the neighbouring village of Suthera. The monastery of Mega Spelion is half buried in a high rock, and shows on the outside scarcely any thing but its front; the entrance, which runs through a dark arch, is shut by an iron portcullis, having on the two sides a great number of loop holes. The monks are defended almost entirely by nature from the attacks of their enemies. The Arnaoutes, not being able to get possession of the monastery, once climbed the rock which rises perpendicularly behind the cavern, and rolled down masses of stone; these, however,

of pines and oaks; meadows watered with clear rivulets, and shaded with myrtles and other odoriferous shrubs, or adorned with wild roses and other field flowers; compose a landscape worthy of surrounding a fine city.

The river Erymanthus descends from heights covered with snow, and, rolling its limpid waters through a fine valley, joins the Alpheus, with which it enters the sea. Unfortunately, clouds of musquitos drive the traveller from the enchanting borders of the two rivers issuing from Arcadia. In the village of Agolinitza the inhabitants, in hot weather, sleep in the open air, under little tents well closed, in order to be cool, without being incommoded by the musquitos.

The aspect of the village of Lala offers a sad contrast to the delightful country around it: it is an abode of Schypetar robbers, who are continually at war with the peaceable inhabitants, and amongst themselves: they have not, however, neglected to cultivate the land. Lala is one of the most salubrious spots in the Peloponnesus, which appears from the healthy, robust, and proud air of the Laliots. These rustics would let no Christian stranger approach their village: perhaps the fall of the Turkish power in the peninsula has a little abated their brutal arrogance. Their aga resides in a mean dwelling, and is always guarded by men completely armed. The Laliots never quit their arrns, of which they bear a great number. Like most barbarous oriental nations they roast sheep entire, and tear them to pieces with their hands in order to eat them.

The ancient Triphylia in the south of Elis, and on the gulf of Cyperissa, now contains no remarkable place; nothing remains of the city of Pylos, unless the ruined acropolis, which is seen near the village of Petrye, may have belonged to it. The country of Lepreum is barren and produces only pines; and Agio Sederio, where there is a bad caravansera, is the only considerable village in this canton.

ron.

Messenia was situated to the west of Lacedæmon, on a vast gulf, now called the gulf of CoAt the bottom of this gulf the Pamisus disembogues, after a short course, during which it waters one of the finest valleys in the Peloponnesus: oranges, olives, and pomegranates, grow in abundance: the sugar-cane and banana also succeed with a little cultivation. Many large plains are covered with a fine harvest, fertile pastures feed a number of cattle, and fishing supplies what more is wanting to the inhabitants. Nothing is wanting to the fine country watered by the Pamisus, but free inhabitants, in order to restore the image of happiness which it must have presented before the invasions of the Spartans. Notwithstanding so many ages of oppression it is still one of the best peopled countries of Greece: it has 350 villages, and more towns and sea-ports than the other provinces of the Peloponnesus. The waters of the Pamisus, formerly noted for their salubrious qualities, now exhale unwholesome effluvia; but the warm and fertile land through which they flow is well cultivated, and the plantations on their banks show the value of the soil. Passing by Nisi Calamata and Androussa, and going direct to

Mount Ithome, which M. de Chateaubriand poetically compares to an azure vase placed in the fields of Messenia, we arrive at an ancient enclosure of a citadel, which encircles the mountain like a crown: this enclosure is shut with stones five feet in length placed across: the foundations of the tower which flanked the citadel are still remaining, and likewise a door made of only three stones. In the enclosure is a fountain, as in the acropolis of Corinth. The town which this citadel protected was Messenia, of which there are few remains, and the small village of Marromati gathers its harvest on the site of this ancient capital. Mount Ithome is difficult of ascent, from its great ruggedness; the rocks are covered with mastichs and bushes, and even to the summit the purple flax, the red cressis, and the catananche lutea flourish. At the foot of Ithome are some ruins called the Destroyed Village: it is supposed that the city of Andania occupied this site. Echalia was situated in the neighbourhood.

The beautiful valley of Stenyclaros is still fertile in grain: it contains about thirty villages, the principal of which is Court Chaoux; they are all dependent on the grand seignior. The chief place is Androussa, on the right bank of the Pamisus: man languishes here, but the vegetation is most rich and the verdure almost constant. Grain, wine, tobacco, figs, olives, &c., abound; and the fine pasturage feeds numerous flocks, the wool of which is exported together with silks, cheeses, and goat-skins. The city is surrounded by olive plantations and tombs shaded by cypresses: it is the see of a bishop, and before 1821 was governed by a Turkish voivode. The canton of Calamata, on the other side of the Pamisus, is equally delightful, abounding in orchards and gardens filled with fruits of all sorts, and meadows and fields in excellent cultivation, where a vast quantity of honey is deposited. The town of Calamata, on the ancient Nedon, near the mouth of the Pamisus, consists of 300 houses, interspersed with gardens, resembling the dwellings of the Maniots; they are like towers, having strong walls pierced with loop-holes, on account of the pirates that formerly infested the neighbourhood. On a hill behind the town we perceive the ruins of a Venetian fortress. Lately the inhabitants were accustomed to choose their own magistrates, and collect their tribute, which they sent to the voivode, who commanded a little garrison of Janissaries. It is at once the principal commercial and manufacturing place in the country; great indolence, however, characterises the inhabitants, and it is the Maniots who labor for them. They weave stuffs something like grograms, barracans, and handkerchiefs, which they sell in the archipelago. Their silk yields commonly for the manufacturing labor 120 per cent. upon the first cost. Silks, oil, tobacco, honey, and goatskins are the chief exports of Calamata; they were formerly conveyed in French ships, but now Greek vessels are mostly used. Some antiquities near it, as well as its name, make it probable, that it stands on the site of the ancient Calame, which name a neighbouring village still bears. It has a bishopric and about ten villages dependent on it. In this neighbourhood also must

have stood the city of Pharoe and the wood of Charius. A narrow defile leads from Calamata to Misitra, about eight leagues from the Pamisus; in descending along the western side of the river towards Cape Gallo, formerly Acritas, there are some remains of ancient baths, built of brick covered with stucco, and a country house of the bey of Coron, defended by towers and encircled by a moat with a draw-bridge.

Coron is a port so situated on the gulf as to have all its houses on the sea shore; so that it is seen rising by steps on the declivity of a mountain crowned by the citadel, the ancient acropolis. This is closed by a gate in the form of an ogive, which appears to have been built in the times of the latter empire: the Venetians added some ornaments to it. One of the first houses seen is that belonging to the French consul, the terrace of which advances up to the sea. The 800 Turks who lately lived here, and the little security that vessels found in the port, banished almost all the maritime commerce. Coron is the chief place of more than seventy small villages and hamlets, dispersed amongst woods of olive trees, and the well-watered regions around; containing, however, hardly 4000 souls, it has been so reduced by the vexation of the Ottomans. To withdraw themselves from their despotism, many families have retired to the caves of the mountains, where their flocks and themselves find an asylum, that is seldom molested. Some of these tribes are complete masters of the passes over the mountains.

Near Cape Gallo is the little Island of Venetico, formerly Thiganussa; here is a sepulchral grotto, with some sarcophagi; it is now inhabited. A little to the right we perceive the islands of Cabrera, Verte, and Sapience, included by the ancients under the name of the Anuses the latter, having a good anchorage, is situated opposite to the continental port of Madon, from which it is separated by a strait. This port, on the site of the ancient Methone, was inhabited before 1821 only by Turks, who had banished the Greeks, and devoted themselves to commerce. They also cultivated the olive, which forms the true riches of Messenia; woods of these trees, which in some places would be taken for trees of great height, overshadow all the coasts of this province. A fort built on a tongue of land, or rather on a small island, united by a bridge commands the passage between Madon and the island of Sapience. The Turks made this place a market for negroes. Fifty little villages are dependent on this place, which is not more than two leagues distant from another Messenian port, called Navarin. This place has all the appearance of an oriental town; orange trees shade and refresh the courts of the houses, palm trees elevate themselves among the habitations, groves of these trees, as also of olives and planes, and vines suspended on the arge trees adorn the plain; and, to complete the resemblance, the scarcity of water and great heats dry up the verdure at the commencement of spring, and give the soil the appearance of the scorched lands of Africa or Pers a. The character of the people is also oriental; by their phlegm, their indolence, their carelessness at the

arrival of a stranger, they might be taken for Turks. There is a fountain in the town, probably of antique construction and very solid; and another furnished with a reservoir springs up at the entrance of the town, which besides these has no other water than what is brought by means of an ancient aqueduct extending to a considerable distance, but of which only 100 arches are entire. From these circumstances, and the description of Thucydides, it would seem that this was the site of the ancient Pylos. The town does not contain above 600 Turks, and a Greek suburb of 130 souls; the whole canton, comprising thirty-six villages, cannot number more than 1600 individuals. The bad character of the Turks has discouraged Europeans from building in this district, or engaging in the commerce of tobacco, olive oil, and vermilion. Proceeding across olive plantations by an ancient way, adorned at intervals with fountains, we reach an ancient bridge crossing the Cyparissa, and afterwards pass a cistern where the women are to be seen drawing water in red jugs, of an elegant form and painted after the Etruscan manner. Philathrea, near this cistern, is a little town or village, irregularly built in the midst of a country abounding in fruit trees. The traveller is struck with the singular construction of a church, and the dress of the women is rather remarkable. Red and yellow are the predominating colors, by which it appears probable, that the women have derived their attachment to these two colors from old time, since they recall to our recollection the flammeum of the ancients. They have chemises with large ruffles of these colors intermixed, great veils bordered with red and yellow fringes, and girdles of the same tints.

Following the coast we arrive at the canton of Arcadia, the most southern part of Messenia, and the nearest to Elis; we may say, also, the most populous. It contains more than 100 villages, and the richest productions; its revenue amounts to more than 5,500,000 piastres a year. It produces a great quantity of grain, fruits, dye-stuffs, tobacco, flax, and silk; and exports besides these wood for building, cattle and poultry, goat-skins, wool, cheeses, and its vintage is valued at more than 100,000 small barrels. Its population amounts to about 15,000 souls. In the mountains there is a race of people regarded as truly indigenous, the natives of Soulina; these have never known the Turkish yoke. Arcadia, a town built on the site of the ancient Cyparissa, was, on the contrary, altogether occupied by the Turks. An acropolis overlooks the town, the position of which on the road from Messenia to Elis is of some importance. Thick forests as that of Cocla, and defiles, affording a retreat for bands of robbers, have to the present time rendered travelling very dangerous in this district.

Crossing the barren summits of Taigetus, and the course of the river Eurotas, running at the foot of the chain now called Basili-Potamos, the Royal River, we arrive at Laconia, the country of the ancient Spartans. It is almost environed by mountains; but its coasts are very favorable for commerce and communication with other countries The Eurotas, after traversing the

interior of the country from north to south, empties itself into the gulf of Kolochina, along which the continent extends on both sides, terminating at the capes Matapan and Malée. The mountains follow the same direction, and branch out towards the same extremities; so that, with the exception of the north, the sea either washes every side of Laconia, or is at a short distance from it. The present inhabitants know better how to appreciate the advantages of their coast, than the ancient Lacedemonians did: on the east they have first the commercial port of Monembasia, the principal place of a mountainous district, in which the inhabitants chiefly subsist by agriculture and their flocks. The name is a corruption of embasia, that is, in the plain; the Italians called it Napoli di Malvisia, of which the French made Malvoisie, and the English, Malmsey. It stands upon an island, and has an archbishop, on whom six suffragan dioceses are dependent; he does not assume, as was customary in the times of the latter empire, the title of panagiosini, or all holiness. On the bay there are some ruins, consisting of walls in blocks of granite, of cyclopean construction, and consequently very ancient, some fragments of vaults, excavations, &c. A citadel probably occupied this place; it is thought, it was that of Epidaurus-Limera, and that the neighbourhood was what the ancients called Minoa. The native inhabitants call these ruins Palæo-Embasia, that is the old Embasia. Other ruins are scattered near the shore, and in the caverns and ancient quarries, by which the rocks are excavated; some families of shepherds have fixed their residence among them, to shelter themselves from pirates and robbers. Some of these subterraneous abodes are very difficult of access; others have their entrance half open, and a little door leads to the interior, whither the flocks retire with the shepherds during the night, and in times of danger. Sometimes enormous dogs are the guardians of these troglodytes, whom you may see in the morning in their cotton coats, bound by a leathern girdle, as shepherds are represented on ancient monuments, conducting their flocks over the mountains. Those who live in the lofty regions, where the air is inclement, muffle themselves up, as the Walack shepherds of Mount Pindus do. Some of the shepherds on the coast often change their abode, establishing themselves in the first cavern they meet with, and having often no other water than what drips through the rock. The canton of Monembasie is said to contain fifty-four boroughs and villages; it extends to the south as far as Cape Malée, but there is no remarkable place in it; hills covered with evergreen oaks, and wild olives, follow the direction of the coast.

Adjoining the above district is that of Mistra, the ancient Sparta. It is the valley of Eurotas, bordered by two chains of mountains and capable of the finest cultivation, while the mountains afford food for numerous flocks. Silk is here an article of considerable export, especially to France. The olives on the banks of the Eurotas yield 20,000 barrels of oil in a year; grain is produced equal to the consumption of the country, as well as a great quantity of honey

and wax, vermilion and gall-nuts. It consists of more than 100 villages, with an archbishop and five suffragans. Mistra, or Maestra, is at present a town of about 7000 souls. The houses, built of wood, are of one story, and the streets are not paved. There is a church, an hospital, and even a synagogue. Some think it stands on the site of ancient Sparta, but others that this is to be found at Palao-Chori, or old town, where there is nothing to be seen but a cottage surrounded by trees, with a few ruins. The archbishop bears, it is true, the title of archbishop of Lacedæmon, and this town has still its ephori, but it is very doubtful indeed if Sparta was situated here. It is most astonishing, that a republic which filled the world with its renown should have left no trace by which the precise seat of its government can be ascertained. The want of great cities almost gives to Laconia that rustic appearance which it had in the earliest times. A miserable village, Slavochori, is said to occupy the situation of the city of Amyclea, the temple of which was counted one of the most beautiful in the Peloponnesus. Some basso relievos, that are found suspended in the little church of the village, appear to have come from the ancient temple; they represent articles of a' woman's toilet, such as jewels, paint boxes, combs, slippers, &c., supposed to be votive tablets presented by the women. The little district of Bardouria, on the left of the Eurotas, is inhabited by Ezerite Albanians from Macedonia, who have founded there a little republic or anarchy, as some other Schypetars have done in the district of Lala. It is the see of a bishop, and the inhabitants subsist by the cultivation of olive plantations, when they are not at war, or making predatory excursions. From this place as far as Cape Malée we may suppose ourselves in the ancient republic of Lacedemon. Not long since, travellers ran the risk of being plundered if they ventured thither, and scarcely ever did a foreign vessel show itself on the inhospitable coast east of the gulf of Kolochina.

Disembarking on the western coast we enter the province of Máina or the Magne, the country of those celebrated Maïniotes who form a distinct nation in the midst of Greece, and, what is more, a mighty and formidable people. It consists of an assemblage of petty chiefs, who have their vassals, live intrenched in their strong forts, contend with the power that would oppress them, and make little wars among themselves, when they have no enemies without to fear; they are moreover barbarous, brave, daring, and even hospitable, when a stranger furnished with recommendations places himself in their hands, or purchases their protection and assistance. These chiefs or captains live in isolated towers in the midst of their lands, built in a very massive style, having only one low and narrow door, and no windows on the ground floor, which is in fact only a cellar; the only openings in the lower parts being loop-holes made for the defence of the building; the family live in the upper story as in an observatory, with only small windows furnished with iron bars. Sometimes, within the precincts of the walls, a court extends round this little fort. We abridge the description given of