Mode of Tra'velling .-^Face of the Country* 63S 
Thucydides has so eloquently related. 
Ic seems, however, as if Horner, in sing¬ 
ing the gardens of Alcinous, had attached 
gomething poetical and inarvelloos to 
the destinies of Scheria. Tliere Aris- 
totle expiated, in banishment, the errors 
of a passion which philosophy has not 
always the strength to surmount. Alex¬ 
ander, in his youth, liaving quitted the 
court of his father Philip, landed at Cor- 
cyra; and the islanders beheld the first, 
step of the armed stranger, who was 
destined to visit all the nations of the 
globe. Several natives of Coreyra won 
crowns at the Olympic games; their 
names were immortalised by the verses 
of Simonides, and tlie statues ol Poly- 
cletus. Coivsistently with its two-fold 
destiny, Corcyra continued to be, under 
the Romans, the theatre of glory and of 
misfortune. Cato, after the battle of 
Pliarsalia, met Cicero at Corcyra. 
What a fine subject to work upon would 
be the intervievv between these two 
Romans! What men! what sorrows! 
what vicissitudes of fortune? We should 
beholdCato offering to relinquish toCicero 
the command of the last republican le¬ 
gions, because Cicero had been consul. 
They would then separate; the Oiie to 
tear out his bovvels-at Utica, the other 
to carry his head to the triumvirs. Not 
long afterwards, Anthony and Octavia 
celebrated at Corcyra, that fatal mar¬ 
riage winch proved the source of so 
much affliction to the world ; and scarcely 
had half a century elapsed, when Agrip¬ 
pina repaired to the same place, to pay 
funeral honors to Germanicus: as if this 
island had been destined to furnish two 
iiistorians, rivals in genius, as in lan¬ 
guage, with the subject of the most ad¬ 
mirable of their pictures. 
MODE OF travelling. 
At our head appeared the guide, or 
Greek postillion on horseback, leading a 
spare horse provided for remounting any 
of the party in case an accident should 
happeti to Ills steed. Next came, the 
janissary, with his turban on his head, 
two pistols a.nd a dagger at his gnille, a 
sabre by his side, and a whip to flog the 
horses of tiie guide. I followed, armed 
nearly in the same manner as the janis¬ 
sary, with the addition of a fowling- 
piece, Joseph brought up the rear. 
This Milanese was a short, fair, man, 
\vith a large belly, a florid complexion, 
and an affable look; lie was dressed in a 
complete suit of blue velvet; two large 
horse-pistols stuck under a tight belt^ 
Mas ,? No: 
raised up his waistcoat in such a gro¬ 
tesque manner, that the janissary could 
never look at him without laughing. My 
baggage consisted of a carpet to sit down 
upon, a pipe, a coffee-pot, and some 
shawls to wrap round my head at night. 
We started, at the signal given by our 
guide, ascending the hills at full trot, and 
descending over precipices in a gallop. 
You must make up your tnind to it: the 
military Turks know' no other paces, and 
the least- sign of timidity, or even of 
prudence, would expose you to their 
contetnpt. You are, moreover, seated 
on IMameluke saddles, witn wide short 
stirrups, which keep your legs constantly 
bent, winch break your toes, and lace¬ 
rate the flanks of your horse. At ilie 
slightest trip, the elevated pommel comes 
in most painful contact vviih your beUy^, 
and if you are thrown the contrary way, 
the high ridge of the saddle breaks your 
back. In time, however, you find the 
utility of these saddles, in the surencss 
of foot which they give to the liorse, 
especially in such hazardous excursions. 
You proceed from eight to ten leagues 
with the same horses. About half way 
they are suffered to take breath, without 
eating ; you then mount again, and con¬ 
tinue your journey. Atnighf, yoasoine- 
tirnes arrive at a kan, the ruins of a for¬ 
saken house, where you sleep among all 
sorts of insects and reptiles, on a worm- 
eaten floor. At this kan, you can de¬ 
mand nothing, unless yon have a post 
firman; so that you must procure pro¬ 
visions as you can. My janissary went 
a foraging in the villages, and sometimes 
brought back fow'ls, which I insisted on 
paying for. We had them broiled upon 
the green branches of the olive, or 
boiled with rice to make a piian. Seated 
on the ground, about this repast, we tore 
our victuals to pieces with our fingers ; 
and, when the meal w'as finished, we went 
to the first brook to wash our beards and 
liands. Such is now'-a days the mode 
of travelling in the country of Alcibiades 
and Aspasia. 
FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 
I fancied myself wandering among-the 
wilds of America: here was the same 
solitude, the same silence. We passed 
tlirongh woods of olive-trees, proceeding 
in a southerly direction. Ac day-break, 
we found ourselves on the level summits 
of the most dreary hills that I ever be¬ 
held. For two hours we continued ouc 
route over these elevated plains, which, 
beiiig ploughed up by the torrents, re® 
4 AT 
