in the interior; and a lofty mountain, with a flat summit mentioned by all the geographers of antiquity, appears very conspicuous. At Lindus are yet left some vestiges of the temple of Minerva; but Camirus and Ialysus have totally disappeared. Rhodes formerly supplied all Anatolia with oil; at present it has not enough for its own consumption. It still exports a small quantity of corn. The vineyards yield an excellent wine, resembling those of the Rhone. The original plants were probably brought from Dauphiné by the chevaliers of that tongue; a conjecture which is strengthened by this circumstance, that these wines are here called as in Cyprus, Commandery wines. Our books of Geography inform us that Rhodes has manufactures of velvet and tapestry, which are held in high estimation, Some coarse linens, which are made up into furniture equally coarse, are the only produce in this line of the industry of the Rhodians. These people, whose colonies of old founded Naples and Agrigentum, now occupy no more than a corner of their own desert island. An aga, with about a hundred degenerate janissaries, are sufficient to overawe a herd of slaves. It is a wonder that the order of Malta never attempted to recover its ancient domain; nothing would have been more easy than to regain possession of the island of Rhodes; the knights might without much trouble, have repaired the fortifications, which are yet very good; they would not have been a second time expelled; for the Turks, who were the first people in Europe, that opened trenches before a place, are now the very last of all in the art of sieges. At four in the afternoon of the 25th, I parted from M. Magallon, after leaving with him some letters, which he promised to forward, by way of Caramania, to Constantinople. I hired a galley boat, and followed our ship, which was already under sail, having taken on board her coasting pilot, a German, who had been settled at Rhodes for many years. We steered with a view to make the cape at the point of Caramania, formerly the promontory of Chimæra in Lycia. Astern of us, Rhodes exhibited in the distance a bluish range of coast under a golden sky. In this range we distinguished two square mountains which seemed to have been cut out expressly for the erection of castles, and nearly resembled in their form the acropolis of Corinth, Athens, and Pergamus. The 26th was an unlucky day. We lay becalmed off the continent of Asia, nearly abreast of Cape Chelidonia, which forms the point of the gulf of Satalia. I saw on our left the lofty peaks of rhe Cragus, and called to mind the verses of the poets on the frigid Lycia. I knew not that I should one day execrate the summits of this Taurus which I now contemplated with pleasure, and fondly reckoned among the celebrated mountains whose tops I had beheld. The currents were strong, and carried us out to sea, as we found the following day. The ship, which was in ballast, laboured exceedingly: we shivered our main-top-mast and the fore-top-sail yard; which, to sailors so inexperienced as we, was a very serious misfortune. It is really surprising to see how the Greeks navigate their ships.. The pilot sits cross legged, with his pipe in his mouth, holding the tiller, which to be on a level with the hand that guides it, must graze the deck. Before this pilot, who is half reclined, and consequently can exert no force, stands a compass, which he knows nothing about, and which he never looks at. On the least appearance of danger, French or Italian charts are spread out upon the deck; the whole crew, with the captain at their head, lie down upon their bellies; they examine the chart; they follow the lines delineated upon it with their fingers; they endeavour to find out where they are; each gives his opinion: they conclude at last that it is impossible to make head or tail of these conjuring books of the Franks, fold up the map again, lower the sails, or bring the wind astern: they then have recourse again to their pipes and their chaplets, recommend themselves to Providence and await the event. In this way many a ship gets two or three hundred leagues out of her course, and finds herself off the coast of Africa instead of making that of Syria; but all this cannot prevent the crew from joining in a dance on the first gleam of sun-shine. The ancient Greeks were, in many respects but amiable and credulous children, who passed with all the levity of infancy from grief to joy, and the modern Greeks have retained something of this character: happy at least to find in this versatility of disposition some relief from their woes! About eight in the evening, the wind got round again to the north; and the hopes of soon being at the end of their voyage, once more cheered the spirits of the pilgrims. Our German pilot informed us that at break of day we should perceive Cape St. Iphane in the island of Cyprus; and nothing was now thought of but how to enjoy life. The whole company had supper brought upon deck; they divided into groups, and each sent to his neigh bour whatever that neighbour happened to stand in need of. I had adopted the family that lodged opposite to me, at the door of the captain's cabin; it consisted of a young woman, her twe children, and her aged father. This old man was performing his third voyage to Jerusalem; he had never yet seen a Latin pilgrim, and the good creature wept for joy when he looked at me : I therefore supped with his family. Never did I behold a scene more pleasing and more picturesque. The wind was cool, the sca beautiful, and the sky serene. The moon seemed to hover between the masts and among the rigging; sometimes she appeared without the sails, and all the ship was illuminated; at others she was hidden behind the sails, and the group of pilgrims were again thrown into the shade. Who would not have blessed religion, on reflecting that these two hundred persons, so happy at this moment, were, nevertheless, slaves bowed down by the yoke of tyranny? They were preceeding to the tomb of Christ, to bury in oblivion the past glory of their country, and to seek consolation. for their present afflictions. On the morning of the 27th, to the great surprise of the pilot, we found ourselves in open sea, and out of sight of any land. A calm overtook us: the consternation was general. Where were we? Were we within or without the island of Cyprus? The whole day passed in this extraordinary dispute. To have talked of taking the reckoning, or the altitude, would have been Hebrew to our sailors. When the breeze sprung up towards evening they were thrown into a new embarrassment. On what tack were we to steer? The pilot, who imagined that we were between the north coast of Cyprus and the gulf of Satalia, proposed to keep the ship's head to the south, to get sight of the former; but the consequence would have been, that, had we passed the island, we should have gone, by following that point of the compass, right to Egypt. The captain was of opinion that we ought to steer to the north, in order to find the coast of Caramania; this would have been putting back, and besides, the wind was contrary te that course. My opinion was asked.; for in all cases of any diffi |