sty, and eat bread, in comparison with which that of Sparta would have been a dainty. Those times are gone by when the pampered herald called the assembled multitudes of Delphi to superstition's feast. Having therefore ordered out our horses, the officious papas held our stirrups as we mounted, and obsequiously kissed our hands in return for the remuneration which he received! How is the character of a people to be raised whilst such are their pastors!

The road by which we departed towards Crissa leads round the western point or horn of the great Parnassian coilon, close to the spot where Eumenes King of Pergamus was attacked by the banditti of Perseus; the locality is precisely marked by the nature of the ground and adjoining rocks, which served as a place of concealment to the assassins*. From thence we began to descend over a steep and rugged road into the spacious plain that extends from the Crissæan bay up to the celebrated city of Amphissa, which is still important enough to give its modern name of Salona to the gulf, and is the residence of a vaivode. This plain once lay under an Amphictyonic curse, which prohibited the plantation of a tree upon it: now it is covered with the finest olive trees I ever beheld, and which seem to have stood for centuries. In rather less than two hours we arrived at Crissa, which has altered its ancient name only in its termination, being now called Crisso. Here we found Antonietti and our baggage which we had sent by a shorter cut from Arracova, down the valley of the Pleistus. Crisso is a respectable village containing a population of about eight hundred souls, and is the residence of a bishop. It is well watered with rivulets and fountains, but contains very few vestiges of antiquity: the absence of these may perhaps be referred to the total destruction of this city by the Amphictyons, and its dedica

tion to Apollo. I made inquiries for a very curious inscription which Mr. Gropius had copied here, and of which he had given me a facsimile at Athens, but in vain; the ignorance of the Greeks upon these points is excessive, and the traveller must rarely indeed expect from them the least elucidation of his doubts or assistance in his researches. The inscription itself is so curious from its extreme antiquity as to warrant my insertion of it in this place: it has occupied the attention of many learned men in this country, but no one has succeeded in developing the slightest part of its signification. The Boustrophedon mode of writing, and the Digamma, which it appears to contain, are additional proofs of its high antiquity*.

1111AMOTIMOIYM UMTONMEEKEPAITEBOIAKAIK

OVOM 011A2IIAN® мат

Much has been said concerning the locality of Crissa and of its rival Cirrha; nay, even the existence of one of these cities has been confidently called in question, and it has been supposed that they were in fact the same town under different names. This decision rests chiefly upon the authority of Pausanias †, in whose time they were so totally destroyed that probably one of them escaped his observation,

*This inscription is alluded to by the learned Bishop of Llandaff in his admirable work, entitled, Hora Pelasgicæ, p. 74.

+ Phoc. c. xxxvii. 4.

+ So they were even in the days of Strabo: ἡ δὲ Κίῤῥα και ἡ Κρίσσα κατεσπάθησαν. (Vol. i. p. 667. ed. Ox.) Cirrha was razed by the Crissæans, and Crissa by Eurylochus the Thessalian, during the Crissaan war: for when the Crissæans had risen to opulence and power by their city becoming a great commercial emporium on the destruction of its rival, they levied such high duties upon all imports, and such exactions upon those who came to visit the oracle, in spite of the Amphictyonic command, as to bring down upon themselves the wrath of that great confederacy. Even to very late times 3 B

VOL. I.

whereas it is in direct opposition to Strabo, Ptolemy, and Pliny, and to the observations of modern travellers who have discovered the ruins of a city, nearer the sea than Crissa, which very accurately coincides in site with that laid down by the ancient geographers for Cirrha. These ruins are at a place called Xeropegano under Mount Cirphis, near the embouchure of the river Pleistus, about three hours from Delphi*.

the name of Cirrha seems to have been retained for the port of Crissa, though the latter gave its name to the gulf. To Κρισσαιο κόλπο διὰ τε τῇ Κίῤῥᾳ προσορμισθεὶς ἐκ νεὼς ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀνέθεον. Heliod. Ethiop. 1. ii.

* Ὑποπέπτωκε δὲ τῇ Κίρφει πόλις ἀρχαια Κίῤῥα ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ἱδρυμένη· ἀφ ̓ ἧς ἀνάβασις εις Δελφές ὀγδοήκοντά πω σαδίων ἵδρυται δ ̓ ἀπαντικρὺ Σικυῶνος· Πρόκειται δὲ τῆς Κίῤῥας τὸ Κρισσᾶιον πεδίον εὐδαιμον· Πάλιν δ ̓ ἐφεξῆς ἐσιν ἄλλη πόλις ΚΡΙΣΣΑ ἀφ ̓ ἧς ὁ Κόλπος Κρισσαιος.—Strab. vol. i. 606. ed. Ox.

I think no one can doubt but that the village now called Crisso, and which contains the foundations of ancient walls and aqueducts, &c. is on the site of this last mentioned city.

Reascend the Heights of Parnassus-Church of St. Elias-View from thence-Fine semicircular Seat-Reflections on the Ruins of DelphiAncient Sepulchre-Shed supposed to be a remnant of the Pythian Temple-One of its Walls covered with Inscriptions-Copy of one in which mention is made of the Pythian Apollo-Historical Account of the successive Pythian Temples-Description of the last which remained entire in the Days of Pausanias-Contractors and Architect-Materials of the Building-Form and Species-Sculpture on the Pediments-Statuaries-Armour suspended on the Architrave-Sculpture of the Metopes and of the Frieze-Inscription over the PronaosOrnaments of it--Cella, with its Ornaments-Adytum--Statue of the God-Its Deportation to Byzantium-Oracular Chasm-TripodPriestess-Tapestry, Subjects of its Embroidery, and Uses-Edituus or Superintendant-Temenos-Delphic Treasuries-Plunderers of Delphi Sacred Feasts--Decline and Extinction of the Oracle-Delphic Laurel--Departure to Salona--Albanian Vaivode--Description of Salona-Acropolis of Amphissa--Inhabitants--Set sail on the Gulf of Crissa-Dangerous Voyage-Land at Galaxithi-Its Navy and increasing Commerce--Reflections thereon--Policy of Ali Pasha

Sailors--Description of the Town, ancient Site, Walls, Inscriptions, &c.—Religious Rites of the Greeks-Set Sail-Unable to land at Patras-Greek Music-Storm-Shelter behind Curzolari Islands -Achelous-Fisheries-Set Sail-Strike on a Rock-Anchor in the Dioryctos, opposite Santa Maura-Description of the Island-New Works at the Port-Lover's Leap-Horrid Stories of Ali PashaSet Sail-Beautiful Prospect, and Arrival at Prevesa.

NEXT morning we started at an early hour to reascend the heights of Parnassus, having sent forward our baggage with Demetrio to Salona. We had now an opportunity of viewing that gigantic mountain under a different aspect. The frost, which in this climate is very variable, had disappeared, and was succeeded by deep grey mists, which spread an almost impenetrable veil over its heights: as we advanced, the gloomy appearance of the day increased, and heavy clouds settling upon the summit seemed, as it were, to connect this ancient abode of deities with the celestial regions. Having toiled with difficulty up the rugged paths, we dismounted, and sent forward our horses to the village: we then proceeded towards the western point of the great semicircular coilon, to examine a small Greek chapel, which is dedicated to St. Elias, and stands within the peribolus of an ancient temple. The walls of this enclosure are of the Pseudo-Cyclopéan kind, but we could discover nothing which might lead us to a conjecture concerning the temple itself. Wheeler made an egregious blunder in mistaking it for that of the Pythian Apollo, in defiance of all historical induction*. Whichever may have been its presiding deity, the coup d'œil, from its portico, must have been one of the finest in the world, when it commanded all the splendid edifices and magnificence of Delphi. Mr. Cockerell, whose mind is ever alive to

See Dr. Butler's Dissertation in the Appendix.