cillatis regret that the French did not 
pay thema visit. They have the ex- 
ample of Italy, which the French 
haye so well divided into routes and 
great roads. You march in this manner 
followed by one conductor on feot,and 
another mounted on a third mule, ear- 
rying the provisions. All these mules 
-are loaded with bells, the continual 
noise of which is far from being agree- 
able. At some miles distanee from 
Catania, we crossed the river of Gia- 
retta in a ferry boat. Soon after the 
dawn appeared to lighten a roeky, un- 
fertile and desert country, which in no 
way announced to me the approach of 
Syracuse. Fatigued with the balancing 
of my litter, a mode of travelling 
which curiosity alone induced me take, 
I frequently got out and walked. But 
the heat of the sun, ina country where 
the rock is exposed, where no shade of 
@ tree is to be found, was insupportable. 
I breakfasted in one of the poorest inns 
Thad ever seen. In a little time we 
arrived near toa heap of stones, in the 
form of a pyramid, which I was told 
was the fomb of a son or nephew of 
Marcellus; this monument, which is in 
as rninous a state as might be expected 
from acollection of large cubic stones, 
joined without cement, appeared to me 
rather to have been erected in memory of 
some victories. A hill still concealed 
from us the view of Syracuse ; but sud- 
denly it appeared before our eyes, on 
a peninsula in the middle of the sea. 
We crossed several bridges and fortifi- 
eations which covered the isthmus that 
joins Syracuse to the continent, leay- 
ing the great port to the right and 
towards the south We arrived at last 
in the country of Archimedes, in that 
city, rendered illustrious by his de- 
fence against the whole of the Roman 
forces in the reign of Dionysius. Dur- 
ing the dinner @ ’ Anglaise which was 
served up to me in the inn (the En- 
glish in fact are the only travellers seen 
in this country) I enquired of my host 
whether I could have a eciceroni; he 
answered in the affirmative, and accord- 
ingly sent me a very intelligent one, 
hy hic account; he was a kind of signor 
who thought he could speak French. 
Perceiving that I did not very well 
understand him, he told me that he 
was not accustomed to that language, 
but that he knew English better; I 
then spoke to him in English, which 
surprised him, and mortified him ex- 
ceedingly, for he knew neither one nor 
the other. For want of a better I re- 
32 Leilers from the South of Italy. 
| Feb. }, 
tained him, and his dress of a gentle- 
man made me engage him to sit at 
table with me. 
Syracuse, founded seven hundred 
and thirty-five years béfore the Chris- 
tian era, by Archias. ef Corinth, became 
one of the richest cities in the world, 
to such a degree, that it was said, im 
speaking of the employment of a large 
sum—* with the tenth part of the Syra- 
cusans, no mere could be done.’ It 
was for a long time the real capital of 
Sicily; it provided succonrs for the 
other cities, and, alone, arrested the 
progress of the Carthagimians: having 
fallen into decay, Augustus restored . 
to if a portion of its splendour, by re- 
building one of its quarters. 
My curiosity at first led me towards 
the fountain of Arethusa, the water of 
which, formerly mild and clear, has. 
heen the theme of the poets ; but now, 
on account of an earthquake, it has 
become brackish. This fountain has 
no piciuresque nor regular form ; 
encumbered with modern ruins, m 
place of being covered with fair and 
blooming nymphs, I saw only vulgar 
women, black and sunburnt, and -sol- 
diers in their shirts, whieh was far 
from satisfying my curiosity. You 
know what rank that nymph, the com- 
panion of Diana, holds in mythology. 
It is said that the river Alpheus, which 
takes its source in the Peloponnesus, 
came under the sea to join Arethusa in 
this place. The antients believed this 
fact so much the more, as a vase, fallen 
at Olympus into the Alpheus, had re- 
appeared at Syracuse. As for the rest, 
this fountain is very far from furnish- 
ing so great a quantity of water as that 
of Nismes. From thence I went to the 
temple of Minerva, the cathedral of 
which has been made by wedging in the 
pillars into the lateral walls; they are 
much smaller at the top than at the 
bottom, where their diameter is nearly 
six feet; the chapiter appears Tonic ; 
each is composed of two or three enor- 
mous stones, notched into twenty flut- 
ings; the substance of it is sufficiently 
hard, and was taken from the environs 
of the city; it is called Syracusan 
stone. The pillars, to the number of 
forty, are elevated by twenty-seven 
feet, and the cornices by six. La Cella 
has fourteen pillars on each side. The 
temple is sixty feet wide and one hun- 
dred and forty long; it produces an 
effect nearly similar to that of Neptune 
at Pestum, which, however, has two 
columns more on each side. 
My 
