562 PELOPONNESUS. 
CHAP. w hereon the city stood, into the plain of the 
Isthmus, which lies below this level. We de- 
scended towards it. The vestiges of antient 
buildings are visible the whole way down. We 
presently arrived at the neck of the Isthmus, and 
came to the remains of the antient' watt erected 
by the Peloponnesians, from the Gulph of Corinth to 
the Sinus Saronicus. The ground here is formed 
in such a manner as to present a natural 
rampart; but there are distinct traces of the old 
Vallum i and we saw the ruins of a fortress, or of 
some other building, at its termination upon the 
Corinthian side of the Isthmus. The remains of 
another wall may be also traced beyond this, 
towards the north-east. Here we found what 
Canal of interested us much more, the unfinished Canal 
began by Nero, exactly as the workmen had left 
it, in a wide and deep channel, extending N.W. 
and S.E. and reaching from the sea to the N.E. of 
Lechtfiim, about half a mile across t\\Q Isthmus* It 
terminates on the S.E. side, where the solid rock 
opposed an insurmountable obstacle to the work ; 
and here the undertaking was abandoned. Close 
to the spot where the Canal ceases, are two im- 
mense tumuli ! ; and these, in the general sacking 
(l) See the Vignette to this Chapter. 
