62 
Mr MaxwelFs Observatims 
nor, Armenia, Media, Hyrcania, Liban, Atlas, &c. and gaining 
those of Greece, terminates its desolating course on the moun- 
tains of Kimesa, in the face of Italy. • Now, these are precisely 
the mountains where mineralogists have detected the traces of 
volcanoes. 
Even in the time of Homer, the geographical knowledge of 
the Greeks, relative to the south-west of Europe, was very ob- 
scure, and it is therefore not surprising, that, at a period much 
more ancient, the traditions have not embraced a greater extent 
of country. 
The calm of Nature, the repose which she accorded to these 
unfortunate regions, by the extinction of the devouring fires, 
and the re-establishment of order, were attributed to a consol- 
ing and beneficent divinity, to the wise Minerva, and such is, 
perhapSj the primitive origin of the consecration which the Athe- 
nians made to her of their cities. 
Pardon this digression. I believed myself to have caught a 
glimpse of the manner in which the remembrance of the last 
volcanic eruptions, of which a western part of the Ancient Con- 
tinent has been the theatre, was perpetuated ; that it had been 
clothed, after the manner of all the early historical facts, under 
the disguise of fable ; and I have therefore produced the mo- 
tives of my conjectures, attaching to them no other interest than 
that which a search after truth inspires. 
Art. X. — Observations on the Countries of Congo and Lo- 
ango, as in 1 790. By Mr Maxwell, Author of the Letters 
to Mungo Park, &c. &c. (Continued from Vol. V. p, 275.) 
'Qmjys.--‘Loocia, or Whidah Birds, — ^There are vast num- 
bers of these in Loango. They are about the size of a bullfinch, 
and are marked like that bird on the wings. The feathers of the 
tail, which is about five times the length of the body, are beau- 
tifully arched, and have a fine gloss. The Portuguese, by 
whom they are catled Humpasara chamada veuva^ prize them 
highly for their beauty, and keep them in cages in their houses, 
