cording to Diodorus, the geographer, quoted by Plutarch, this tomb was in reality an altar.

This objection is by no means solid. Why introduce into the original question another that is totally foreign to the subject? May not the ruins of white marble, concerning which such difficulties are raised, have belonged to a very different sepulchre from that of Themistocles? Why might not the descendants of Themistocles, after the popular animosities had subsided, have decorated the tomb of their illustrious progenitor, whom they had first interred in a simple manner, and even by stealth, as we are informed by Thucydides? Did they not consecrate a picture representing the history of that great man; and was not this picture exhibited to public view in the Parthenon, at the time of Pausanias? A statue was, moreover, erected in honour of Themistocles, in the Prytaneum.

The spot where M. Fauvel has discovered this tomb is precisely the Cape Alcimus: and of this I shall adduce a stronger proof than that of the calmness of the water in this place. There is an error in Plutarch; the name should be Alimus, instead of Alcimus, according to the remark of Meursius, mentioned by Dacier. Alimus was a demos, or hamlet, of Attica, in the district of Leontis, and situated to the east of the Piræus. Now the ruins of this hamlet are still visible in the vicinity of the tomb of which we are speaking.* Pausanias is extremely confused in what he says concerning the position of this tomb; but Diodorus Periegetes is perfectly clear and the verses of Plato, the comic poet, quoted by this Diodorus, describe the very spot and the sepulchre found by M. Fauvel:

* I have no wish to conceal any difficulty, and am aware that some writers have placed Alimus to the eastward of Phalereus, Thucydides was a native of Alimus.

VOL. I.

K

"Situated in an open place, thy tomb is greeted by the mariner, as he enters or sails out of the harbour; and in any future naval engagement, thou wilt witness the shock of the vessels."*

If Chandler was astonished at the solitude of the Piræus, I can affirm that I was not less struck by it than he. We had explored a desert coast, we had surveyed three harbours, and in these three harbours had not perceived one single vessel. Nothing was to be seen but ruins, rocks, and the sea; and no sound met the ear, save the cries of the kingfisher, and the dashing of the surges against the tomb of Themistocles, producing an incessant murmur in the abode of eternal silence. Washed away by the billows, the ashes of the conqueror of Xerxes reposed beneath them, commingled with the bones of the vanquished Persians. In vain my eye sought the temple of Venus, the long gallery and the statue emblematic of the people of Athens: the image of that inexorable people was for ever fallen near the well, to which the exiled citizens repaired, to no purpose, to reclaim their country. Instead of those superb arsenals, those porticoes whence the galleys were launched, those Agora reverberating the shouts of the seamen; instead of those edifices, resembling the city of Rhodes in their general appearance and beauty; I saw nothing but a dilapidated convent and a magazine. Here, in a wretched hut of wood, a Turkish custom-house officer sits all the year round, the lonely sentinel of the coast, and a model of stupid patience whole months elapse without his witnessing the arrival of a single vessel. Such is the present deplorable condition of these once famous harbours. What can have destroyed so many monuments of the gods and of men? That *Plutarch's Life of Themistocles.

mysterious power, which overthows all things, which is itself subject to the Ayvócy Oew, to that unknown God, whose altar was seen by St. Paul at the Phalereus.

The port of the Piræus forms a bow, the two ends of which approach so near to each other as to leave only a narrow passage: it is now called the Lion's Port, from a lion of marble, which was formerly to be seen there, but in 1686 was removed to Venice by Morosini. The interior of the harbour was divided into three basins, Cantharus, Aphrodisus, and Zea. You still see a wet dock almost half filled up, which may possibly have been the Aphrodisus. Strabo affirms that the great port of Athens was capable of holding four hundred ships, and Pliny swells the number to a thousand. Fifty of our brigs would completely fill it; and indeed I know not if two of our frigates would ride there at their ease, especially now that they moor with such a length of cable. But the water is deep, and the bottom excellent; so that, in the hands of a civilized nation, the Piræus might become an important harbour. The only warehouse now to be seen there is of French origin, having been erected by M. Gaspari, formerly the consul of France at Athens. Thus it was not long since the Athenians were represented at the Piræus by the nation which bears the nearest resemblance to them.

Having rested for a moment at the custom-house, and at the monastery of St. Spiridion, we returned to Athens by the road from the Piræus. We perceived the remains of the long wall the whole way. We passed the tomb of Antiope the Amazon, which has been explored by M. Fauvel, who has given an account of this research in his Memoirs. We rode among low vines, as in Burgundy, the grapes upon

*

196

RETURN TO ATHENS.

which were just beginning to turn red. We stopped at the public reservoirs and under olive trees; and I had the mortification to find that the tomb of Menander, the cenotaph of Euripides, and the little temple dedicated to Socrates, no longer exist; at least they have not yet been discovered. We pursued our way, and, on approaching the Museum, M. Fauvel pointed out to me a path winding up the side of that hill. This path he told me had been made by the Russian painter, who every day repaired to the same spot to take views of Athens. If genius be no other than patience, as Buffon has asserted, this painter must possess a large share of that quality.

It is near four miles from Athens to the Phalereus; three or four from the Phalereus to the Piræus, following the windings of the coast, and five from the Piræus to Athens, so that, on our return to the city, we had been about twelve miles. As the horses were hired for the whole day, we made haste to dine, and at four in the afternoon set out on another excursion.

CHAPTER VII.

Village of Angelo Kipous

Wood of Olive Trees-Academus -Tombs of illustrious Athenians - Ruins of Theatres-Cruel Exhibitions of Gladiators Tower of the Winds - The Lantern of Demosthenes-French Missionaries at Athens-Father Babin's Description of the Parthenon - Preparations for leaving Athens-A Traveller's Reverie - Village of Keratia The Author attacked by Fever-He embarks for Cape Sunium-Sites of Greek Edifices-Temple of Cape SuniumReflections on the state of Greece- Causes of its Decline Character of the Modern Greeks-Character of the Turks Departure from Cape Sunium.

WE now went out of the town on the side next to Mount Hymettus. My host took me to the village of Angelo Kipous, where, as he conjectures, he has discovered the temple of Venus in the Gardens, for reasons which he has stated in his Memoirs. The opinion of Chandler, who places this temple at Panagia Spiliotissa, as likewise very probable, and has an inscription in its favour; but M. Fauvel adduces, in behalf of his idea, two aged myrtles and some fine ruins of the Ionic order: enough in all conscience to answer a great many objections. Such is the way with us antiquarians; we are never at a loss for proofs.

Having inspected the curiosities of Angelo Kipous, we turned directly west; and, passing between Athens and Mount Anchesmus, we entered the