weep, without being able to enjoy the slumbers of which they deprive the unfortunate! My residence at Constantinople was disagreeable. I take delight in visiting such places only as are embellished by virtues or by the arts; and I found neither in this country of the Phocases and the Bajazets. My wishes were soon fulfilled, for we weighed anchor on the very day of my embarkation at four in the afternoon. We hoisted our sail to the north wind and steered towards Jerusalem under the banner of the cross, which waved at the mast-head of our vessel. WE had on board near two hundred passengers, men, women, and children; the like number of mats were seen ranged in order on either side of the ship between decks. A slip of paper pasted above each mat was inscribed with the name of the owner. Each of the pilgrims had suspended his staff, his chaplet, and á small cross over his pillow. The captain's cabin was occupied by the papas who were the conductors of the company. At the entrance of this cabin, two antichambers had been contrived: in one of these dark holes, about six feet square, I had the honor to lodge with my two servants; and the apartment opposite to mine was occupied by a family. In this kind of republic each lived as he pleased: the women nursed their children, the men smoked, or dressed their dinners, and the papas spent their time in conversation. On all sides were heard the sounds of mandolines, violins, and lyres: some sung, others danced, laughed, or prayed. Joy was imprinted on every face. Jerusalem! said they to me, pointing to the south, and I replied: Jerusalem! In short, but for fear, we should have been the happiest creatures in the world; but at the least gust of wind the seamen furled the sails, and the pilgrims ejaculated: Christos! Kyrie eleison. The gale subsided, and we regained our courage. For the rest, I observed none of those irregula rities that are spoken of by some travellers. We were, on the contrary, very modest and well behaved. The very evening of our departure two papas read prayers, which were attended by all the pilgrims with great devotion. They blessed the vessel; a ceremony that was repeated with every gale. The singing of the Greek church is melodious enough, but has very little gravity. One singularity which I remarked was this: a boy began the verse of a psalm in a high tone, and thus proceeded on one single note, while a papas chaunted the same verse on a different note, beginning when the boy had more than half finished. They have an admirable Kyrie eleison: it is but one note kept up by different voices, some bass, others treble, executing andante and mezza voce the octave, the fifth, and the third. The solemn and majestic effect of this Kyrie is surprising. It is doubtless a relic of the ancient singing of the primitive church. I suspect that the other psal mody is that modern method introduced into the Greek ritual about the fourth century, and which St. Augustine had such ample reason to censure. The very day after our departure my fever returned with great violence, and confined me to my We proceeded at a rapid rate through the sea of Marmora, the ancient Propontis; and passed the peninsula of Cyzicus, the mouth of Ægos Potamos, and the promontories of Sestos and Abydos. Neither Alexander and his army, Xerxes and his fleet, the Athenians and Spartans, nor Hero and Leander, could drive away the head-ache which distracted me; but when I was told, at six in the morning of the 21st of September, that we were just going to double the castle of the Dardanelles, the fever was dispelled by the recollections of Troy. I crawled upon deck: the first object that met my eye was a lofty promontory crowned with nine mills: this was Cape Sigeum. At the foot of the cape I distinguished two barrows, the tombs of Achilles and Patroclus. The mouth of the Simois was on the left of the new castle of Asia; still farther a-stern appeared Cape Rhotus and the tomb of Ajax. In the distance rose the chain of Mount Ida, the declivities of which, viewed from the point where I was, appeared gentle, and of an harmonious colour; and Tenedos was a-head of us. My eye expatiated over this picture, and involuntarily returned to the tomb of Achilles. I repeated these verses of the poet : Αμφ' αὐτοῖσι δ' ἔπειτα μέ γαν καὶ αμύμονα τύμβον Odyss. lib. 24: "The army of the warlike Greeks erects on the shore a vast and admirable monument, which is perceived afar off by those who pass it on the sea, and will attract the notice of the present and of future generations." The pyramids of the Egyptian monarchs are insignificant, compared with the glory of that tomb of turf, which Homer sung and Alexander made the circuit of. I experienced on this occasion a remarkable effect of the power of the feelings and the influence of the soul over the body: I had gone upon deck with the fever; but my head-ache suddenly left I recovered my strength, and what is still more extraordinary, all the energies of my mind. Twenty-four hours afterwards, it is true, the fever had returned. me; I had no reason to reproach myself: I did intend, in my progress through Anatolia, to visit the plain of Troy, and the reader has seen how I was obliged to relinquish that design: I then purposed to land there as I passed, and the captain of the ship obstinately refused to set me on shore, though he had engaged to do so by our contract. These crosses at first occasioned me a good deal of vexation, but at present I make myself easy on the sub |