BY THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. . 27 



waking dreams, have remained unfulfilled. God has 

 caused me to find a place such as has often hovered before 

 the fancy of us both ; and that which imagination shewed 

 us afar off, I now see present before me. A high mountain, 

 clothed with thick forest, is watered towards the north by 

 fresh and ever flowing streams ; and at the foot of the, 

 mountain extends a wide plain, which these streams render 

 fruitful. The surrounding forest, in which grow many kinds 

 of trees, shuts me in as in a strong fortress. This wilder- 

 ness is bounded by two deep ravines ; on one side the river, 

 precipitating itself foaming from the mountain, forms an 

 obstacle difficult to overcome; and the other side is enclosed 

 by a broad range of hills. My hut is so placed on the 

 summit of the mountain, that I overlook the extensive plain, 

 and the whole course of the Iris, which is both more 

 beautiful, and more abundant in its waters, than the 

 Strymon near Amphipolis. The river of my wilderness, 

 which is more rapid than any which I have ever seen, breaks 

 against the jutting precipice, and throws itself foaming into 

 the deep pool below to the mountain traveller an object on 

 which he gazes with delight and admiration, and valuable 

 to the native for the many fish which it affords. Shall I 

 describe to thee the fertilising vapours rising from the 

 moist earth, and the cool breezes from the broken water? 

 shall I speak of the lovely song of the birds, and of the 

 profusion of flowers ? What charms me most of a-11 is the 

 undisturbed tranquillity of the district : it is only visited 

 occasionally by hunters ; for my wilderness feeds deer a.nd 

 herds of wild goats, not your bears and your wolves. How 

 should I exchange any other place for this ! Alcmseon, 

 when he had found the Echinades, would not wander 

 VOL. IT. D 



