IiJiocles, 
upon declc; the first object that met my 
ev^e was a lofty promontory crowned with 
nine mills ; this was Cape Sigeum. At 
the foot of the cape I distinguished two 
tumuli, the tombs of Achilles and Patro- 
clus. Tiie mouth of the Simois was on 
the left of the new castle of Asia; still 
farther a-stern of us appeared Cape 
Rhoetus and the tomb of Ajax. In the 
distance rose the chain of Mount Ida, 
the declivities of which, viewed from the^ 
point where I was, appeared gentle, and 
of an harmonious color; and Tenedos 
was a-head of us. 
My eye expatiated over this picture, 
and involuntarily returned to the tomb of 
Achilles. I repeated these verses of the 
poet : 
aiiTourt /ueyav not a[AvfA6VA 
TVfxQoV 
XeuitjWEV 'Apykm Isgo? e-r^arcx; ai)(^(Anraaiv 
sttI TT^oyp^oi'O'ji, £7ri TrXaTa EXXtitf'TrovTM 
y.ev rnXe<psc.vt 7 ^ ex. TrovTocjjjv eji: 
To<f 01 r?y ysyaa.<ri nat ol fxsTojua'^By 'icovrai. 
Odyss, lib. 24. 
“ The army orthe -warlike Greeks erects 
on the shore a vast and admirable monument, 
which is perceived afar oft by those who pass 
it on the sea, and will attract the notice of 
tke present and of future generations.’’ 
The pyramids of the Egyptian monarchs 
are insignificant compared with the glory 
of that tomb of turf, which Homer sung 
and Alexander made the circuit ol. 
• I experienced on this occasion a re¬ 
markable effect of the power of the feel¬ 
ings and • the influence of the soul over 
the body: I had gone upon deck with 
the fever: but my head-ache suddenly 
left me; I recovered my strength, and, 
what is still more extraordinary, all the 
energies of my mind. Twenty-lour 
hours afterwards, it is true, tlie fever 
had returned. 
I had no reason to reproaclr myself: 
I did intend, in my progress through Ana¬ 
tolia, to visit the plain of Troy, and the 
reader has seen hovv I was obliged to re¬ 
linquish that design. 1 then purposed 
to land there as 1 passed, and the captain 
of the ship obstinately refused to set me 
on shore, though he had engaged to do 
so by our contract. These crosses .at 
first occasioned me a good deal ot vexa¬ 
tion, but at present I make myself easy 
on the subject. I have been woftilly dis¬ 
appointed in Greece, and the same for¬ 
tune perhaps awaited me at Troy, I 
have at least retained all my allusions re¬ 
specting the Sirnoig, and moreover liad 
|he good fortune to salute the -tucred soil, 
G 53 
to behold the waives that bathe k, and 
the son by which it is illumined. 
I am astonished that travellers who 
treat of the plain of Troy, should almost 
always overlook the circumstances of the 
Eneid. Troy is nevertheless the glory of 
Virgil, as well as that of Homer. It is 
a rare destiny for a country to have in¬ 
spired the finest strains of the two great¬ 
est poets in the world. While the coast 
of Ilion receded from my view, I strove 
to recollect the verses which so admirably 
describe the Grecian fleet, leaving Te» 
nedos, and advancing, per silentla Iutks-^ 
to these solitary shores, which were suc¬ 
cessively presented to my view. Horrid 
shrieks soon succeeded the silence of 
night, and the flames of Priam’s palace 
reddened that sea which our vessel was 
peaceably ploughing. 
nnoDES. 
We came to an anchor in the harbour 
of Rhodes, to take on board a pilot for 
tlie coast of Syria, I landed, and wenc 
to the house of the French consul. I 
was impatient for the termination of this 
interview, that I might at least get a 
sight of that celebrated Rhodes, where I 
had hut a moment to spend. Here com¬ 
menced for me an antiquity that formed 
the link between the Grecian antiquity 
which I had just quitted, and the Hebrew 
antiquity which 1 was about to explore. 
The monuments of the Knights of Rhodes 
roused my curiosity, which was somewhat 
fatigued by the ruins ofSparta and Athens. 
Some wise laws respecting commerce, a 
few verses, by Pindar, on the consort of 
the Sun and the daughter of Venus, 
some comic poets, and painters, and 
monuments more distinguished for mag= 
nirude than beauty, such I believe is all 
that can remind the traveller of ancient 
Rhodes. The Rhodians were brave; 
it is a singular circumstance, that they 
acquired celebrity in arms for having 
gloriously sustained a siege, like the 
knights their successors. Rhodes, ho¬ 
nored with the presence of Cicero and, 
Pompey, w^s contaminated by the resi¬ 
dence ofTiberius. 
Rhodes exhibited to me, at every step, 
traces of our manners, and memorials of 
my country, I found herea little France 
in tlie midst of Greece. 1 walked through 
a long street, still called the Street of the 
Knights. It consists of Gothic houses, 
the walls of which are studded with Gal¬ 
lic devices, and the arms of families that 
in our annals, I remarked the 
^ 4 0-2 
