238 D E L P H I. 
CHAP, of Panaja now stands, from the village of Castri, 
■ _ / . ■ as it probably did from the old city of Delphi : 
going from the fountain to that monastery, we 
noticed the situation of the antient gate lead- 
ing to Ba:oTiA. IVheler mentions', that in 
returning from this monaster}^ by the fountain, 
into the village, he " observed a great piece of 
the rock tumbled down, and almost buried : on 
one side of it, that lay a little hollow, he saw 
letters luritten, in large, but strange characters, so 
as that he, and his companion Spon, could make 
nothing of them." We expected, from this 
description, nothing less,, at the least, than the 
remains of a genuine Pelasgic inscription; but 
were grievously disappointed when we found 
the identical mass alluded to by IVheler, with a 
few indistinct traces of his '* larce but strange 
Eastern charactcrs." The stone itself was part of the 
thf chy. work before the Eastern Gate of the city. There 
was a wall upon the right hand, formed of rude 
masses of rock, which was ruined by a lapse from 
the mountain above ; and the piece of rock men- 
tioned by him was thereby impelled from its- po- 
sition : but the characters upon it are evidently 
common Greek letters : we plainly observed A, 
Y, N, and some others that were visible enough 
(l) See TVheler'a ioutaey into Greece^ p. 316. Loud. 1682. 
