and Acheron, the wxTopo Пopθμευμ' αχεων, as it is expressly called by schylus. The place where they united their streams, the ξύνεσις δύω ποταμων ερίδουπων, in Homer's words, was anciently called Fuxus, an appellation still preserved in the modern name of Glyki. Journal.

Apollonius Rhodius has painted with uncommon force the terrific scenes which announced the approach to the Infernal Regions, and though he has assigned to them a different situation, yet his description is so energetic, and accords so well with the feelings excited by a view of this wild district of Epirus, that I cannot resist the pleasure of transcribing it."

રર

"SEPT

EPT. 14. This day was spent most agreeably in exploring Tempe. At eight o'clock in the morning we left Larissa, and for three hours traversed the plain, laving before us to the N. E.

Ava тe Пyλiov, ava тe wçopias
Οσσας ίερας ναπας
Νυμφαίας σκοπίας
...... ενθα παίης
Ἱπποίας τρεφεν Ελλάδι φως
Θελίδος ενάλιον ξόνον
Ταχυποςον ποδ' Ατρείδαις.

Thro' Pelion and the forests deep,
Which wave o'er Ossa's purple steep,
Where rural nymphs their vigils keep:
Where Peleus nurs'd his infant child-
Him sea-born, swift of foot and wild;
Of Greece the tutelary light,
And strength of the Atrida's fight.

"These two mountains form steps to Olympus, Pelion being the lowest of the three; and the view of their relative heights called to our recollection

recollection the fables of the Poets, that by these mountains the giants attempted to scale the Heavens:

Οσσαν επ' Ουλύμπῳ μεμασαν θεμεν,

αυταρ επ' Οσση Πηλιον εινοσίφυλλον, ἵν' ερανός αμβαλος ειη.

On the Olympian summit thought to fix Huge Ossa, and of Ossa's tow'ring height

Pelion with all his forests; so to climb By mountains heap'd on raountains to the skies.-CowPER.

"In about three hours and a half we came to the Peneus, a shallow stream, very serpentine in its course; its banks adorned with trees and shrubs, and enlivened by numerous herds of cattle. Olympus appeared in the back ground. For about half an hour we passed through thick copses of the verbena, a plant formerly regarded with religious reverence, and suspended on the altars:

Ex arâ hinc sume verbenas.

The plain contracts as it approaches the roots of Olympus and Ossa. The bases of these two mountains approach very near each other; the river Peneus flows between them, and on its banks, in this defile, is situated the celebrated Vale of Tempe. The small Turkish village of Baba (which is probably near the position of the ancient Gonnus) stands at the entrance of the vale. This delightful place has attracted the praises of many celebrated poets; but the most luxuriant imagination would find its boldest conceptions realised amid the scenes which nature here offers to the sight. The sublime, the beautiful, prospects of pastoral tranquillity, and views of grandeur and magnificence, succeed each other in wild variety.

The widest part of the valley is a little beyond Baba, where it expands to the breadth of a mile and a half. A wood of large and fourishing planes, the most beautiful I ever beheld, spreads along the banks of the Peneus, and on the the right, about two-thirds on the assent to the summit of Ossa, appears the village of Ambelakia, Jomantically situated. The mountains which surround this part of the vale, are covered with low wood, broken occasionally by small crags. After passing this pastoral spot, the scenery presents one continued range of sublimity for an extent of about six miles, where it terminates in a plain. The cliffs, precipitous and rugged, alternately approach and recede from each other, sometimes leaving only a narrow passage for. the Peneus, sometimes retiring into deep glens, which penetrate far into the mountains. Amidst the crags, shrubs and trees grow luxuriantly, affording just sufficient vegetation to obviate the appearance of barrenness, without diminishing the general effect of grandeur. The cliffs which rise on each side for the, most part descend boldly into the stream, and close to the edge are frequently to be seen larger natural caves, the haunts of the God of the river, in the language of the poet :

Hæc domus, hæ sedes, hæc sunt penetralia magni Amnis, in hoc residens facto de cautibus

waters. Their forms, unchecked by the hand of art, and wantoning in all the luxuriance of native wildness, present a variety of fantastic appearances; some half-torn up by the roots: some covered with vines, which spread to their summits; some withered, and stretching round their bare arms stripped of their foliage. Intermixed with the trees, and ascending the sides of the mountalns, are thick copses of bay, wild fig, and pomegranate. The river Peneus rolls on his waters below, in general silently, but sometimes gurgling over a bed of pebbles, or dashing down a gentle declivity. The foliage of the trees on his banks was adorned with a variety of colours; the dark green of the elm, the vivid verdure of the plane, and the red tints of decaying leaves, were all blended together in the most grateful harmony. Close to the brink of the stream are frequently seen small trees, covered with wild creepers, which form an impenetrable bower. About half way through the valley we passed a rocky glen, formed by steep imdending cliffs, piercing far into the recesses of Ossa. After riding about two hours we reached the termination of the vale; the rocks gradually diminished in size, and by degrees were lost in a range of low hills which rose on each side of a rich and extensive plain reaching to the sea.'-Journal.

"I shall transcribe the description which Elian has given us of this valley, as it is equally beautiful and accurate.

"The Thessalian Tempe is a place situate between Olympus and Oss, which are mountains of an exceeding great height, and look as if they once had been joined, but were afterwards separated from

each other by some God, for the sake of opening in the midst that large plain which stretches in length to about five miles, and in breadth a hundred paces, or in some parts more. Through the middle of this plain runs the Peneus, into which several lesser currents empty themselves, and by the confluence of their waters swell it into a river of great size. This place is abundantly furnished with all manner of arbours and resting places; not such as the arts of hunian industry contrived, but which the bounty of spontaneous nature, ambitions, as it were, to make a shew of all her beauties, provided for the supply of this fair residence, in the very original structure and formation of the place. For there is plenty of ivy shooting forth in it, which flourishes and grows so thick that, like the generous and leafy vine, it crawls up the trunks of tall trees, and twining its foliage round their arms and branches, becomes almost incorporated with them. The flowering smilax also is there in great abundance, which running up the acclivities of the bills, and spreading the close texture of its leaves and tendrils on all sides, perfectly covers and shades them; so that no part of the bare rock is seen, but the whole is hung with the verdure of a thick interwoven herbage presenting the most agreeable spectacle to the eye. Along the level of the plain there are frequent tufts of trees and long continued ranges of arching bowers, affording the most grateful shelter from the heats of the summer; which are further relieved by the frequent streams of clear and fresh water continually winding through it. The tradition goes that these waters are peculiarly good for bathing, and have many

other

other medicinal virtues. In the thickets and bushes of this dale are numberless singing birds every where fluttering about, whose warblings take the ear of passengers, and cheat the labours of their way through it. On the banks of the Peneus, on either side, are dispersed irregularly those resting places before spoken of; while the river itself glides. through the middle of the lawn with a soft and quiet lapse; overhung with the shades of trees planted on its borders, whose intermingled branches keep off the rays of the sun, and furnish an opportunity of a cool and temperate navigation upon it.- Hurds Translation.

"To this accurate description of Ælian, I shall add another, which, though more concise, is equally characteristic.

"Præter angustias per quinque millia, quà exiguum jumento onusto iter est, rupes utrinque ita abscissæ sunt, ut despici vix sine vertigine quâdam simul oculorum animique possit. Terret et sonitus et altitudo per mediam vallem fluentis Penei animas.'

"I do not know whence the common idea originated that the vale of Tempe is of a tame and mild character. It is described by the ancient writer just quoted, as a deep gorge or defile of a sublime and From not atterrific appearance. tending to these and other classical descriptions, most modern travellers have been unable to decide to their own satisfaction, where the valley of Tempe was situated; and hence has arisen much unnecessary doubt and disquisition.

"The part of Thessaly in which Tempe is situated is often mentioned by the ancient poets. Euripides thus characterises it :

Greeks assembled on the Isthmus of Corinth, to defend the passes of Olympus against Xerxes and his army; and a force of 10,000 men was actually sent to Tempe for that purpose. It retired, however, before the approach of the Persians.

"Philip of Macedonia was cited by the Romans to appear at Tempe,

to answer for his conduct.

"At a subsequent period it was fortified by L. Cassius Longinus, as appears from an inscription still legible on the rocks of the valley."

"TH

THE scenery of Delphi has been sketched by the pen

"Delphi (now Castri) is situated on the S. side of Parnassus, at a considerable elevation above the base of the mountain. Two precipitous peaks, whose rugged :ides are stained with the tints of age, and wild fowers, rise abruptly over and partially overhung with shrubs the town. They appear as if separated by some violent shock, and through the intervening chasm descends the fountain of Castalia. The prospect is shut in on every side by a stupendous amphitheatre of rocks, a χωριον θεατρο ειδες, as it is called by Strabo, except towards the south, where an opening discovers a most beautiful view of the Plain of Crissa, the Sirus Corinthiacus, and the mountains of the Peloponnesus. Delphi, from its ancient celebrity, and its present romantic appearance, is one of the most interesting places in Greece.

"Parnassus is, I believe, the highest of the Grecian mountains. Euripides alludes to its great elevation, when he describes the aerial height of the Parnassian cliffs.

« Pindar calls it υψιμέδων; and Nonnus remarks its proximity to

the