wine, as the grape, when ripe, is carried over, and only trodden out on the island. "For the large guns which the Turks are fond of having in their fortresses they use balls of granite; of these the Plain of Troy has afforded immense numbers, and the innumerable and beautiful columns which once covered its surface, have by degrees been almost entirely destroyed for that purpose. I saw many piles of balls, some of which, I am confident, were at least three feet in diameter. "To pass the night, my cicerone carried me to the house of an old Turk close by the sea, and in an enchanting situation, about a quarter of a mile distant from the port of Alexandria. Some female visitors baving previously occupied his miserable dwelling, I was forced to put up with the stable, which, however, gave me little uneasiness. The master sent me some milk, and having a cold fowl with me, I made a hearty supper. After desiring that I might be called at the first hour of prayer, I endeavoured to get a little sleep, but which, on account of myriads of fleas, was not undisturbed. "The old Turk, faithful to his promise, called me by four o'clock: he was a man of an interesting countenance, but one who has destroyed more antiquities than he has hairs on his bushy beard; for being a worker in marble, his whole study is to find out the best marble, which he immediately converts into grave stones for his infidel race. He had very lately dug up and destroyed two fine sarcophagi, one of white, the other of grey marble, a piece of each being near his house. On finding the sarcophagi, he said he had requested a learned Greek to interpret an inscription which was on that of white marble: but all that he could recollect was, that it related to a warrior of extraordinary strength and renown, and mentioned that his favourite horse was buried near him: he further informed me, that the white sacrophagus contained all the bones of 2 human skeleton of prodigious size, those of the head only being wanting. "We were conducted round the port of Alexandria, where many magazines are still visible, particularly a large one, which the old man called the custom-house. The port was now quite choked up, but it was clearly of a circular form, with a narrow entrance, and probably was never capable of adinitting any thing but small craft. "Piles of ruins without form or number shew where a town once stood.. A little farther from the sea appear huge remains of an amphitheatre, of which only the western end preserves any shape; the other parts are nearly buried in the earth. Keeping to the westward we behold three lofty arches of white marble, which formed the grand entrance to the Stadium; the middle one is very striking; the other two are rather smaller. Far ther on are nine large and three small arches, all of granite. The whole of these ruins have a charming effect, being in the middle of a forest of lofty trees, and I am convinced that a week spent here would amply repay the attention of the curious traveller. "Crossing the rising ground to the northward, I passed an old gateway, and the remains of a wall, and after about an hour's ride, descended to the river Simois, now little more than a rivulet. Here are baths of a strong mineral quality, and the water is very disagreeable both both to the taste and smell, being highly impregnated with nitre; indeed the whole country round is full of nitre, and not long ago the Turks used to collect large quantities. The heat of the baths I reckoned to be equal to that of Nero's bath, near Naples, which boils an egg in three minutes: there is, however, this difference, that the baths of Nero run under ground for a considerable way; whereas, these are immediately exposed to the air; yet I could scarcely bear my finger in the water. Some charitable Turk or Greek has built small apartments for bathing, and at certain seasons they are filled with people from the islands, who come to try the efficacy of the waters in various disorders. "Following the windings of the river, 1 several times crossed a broad ancient causeway, and at one place a very large column of granite almost entire, wanting only the base and architrave. As this column lay close by the side of the road, I could not but feel surprised that it had so long escaped being sawn in pieces. "About nine o'clock we halted at the village of Kimalee, to take some refreshment: at this village are still to be seen, in a tolerably entire state, the remains of a Roman bath, but nothing else worthy of notice, the village itself being a miserable one, and thinly inhabited by Greeks. About mid-day, after a wearisome ride over a bare country, we at length reached the foot of Mount Ida, said to have been the seat of ancient Troy, of which not the least vestige remains to point out on which of these mountains it stood. On the most northern are two tumuli, which are said to cover the remains of Hector and his wife, these tumuli are by no means so large as the Grecian ones on the 1808. south side of the plain, and although they have been opened, are said to have contained nothing remarkable. There is a most enchanting view from the summit of Mount Ida, and at the foot of it is the source of the Scamander, which is remarkably curious; the whole side of the hill is one general fountain. To the west it has the appearance as if Nature had just raised a little that side of the base, to let the waters gush out: at first sight, indeed, it is difficult to determine whether art has not even been employed in the work, which appears as if formed of stone and lime. Some slight vestiges of baths are still to be traced near these fountains, but are not worthy of investigation. "The plain before presents a charming view, being covered here and there with large trees, while the Scamander winding amongst them, empties itself into the sea above the castle, where we first landed. Several of the islands at the mouth of the Hellespont are faintly seen, whilst Tenedos, more lofty and near, shews a rounded form. Immediately below the mountain, on the borders of a marshy piece of ground, is an extensive garden, called in the Turkish tongue Bunar Baschee, or the Garden of the Fountain, which was cultivated by Greeks, and produced good fruit; from it I procured a basket of cherries and a sallad, on which I dined. Although this was on the 11th of June, yet the cucumbers and various other vegetables were in a backward state. In this garden I found a piece of marble, part of an ancient bas relief: on it were two figures, the one a man, the other a woman with a child in her arms: I supposed it to be Hector, taking leave of Andromache and his son. His head appeared inclined mournfully toward K them; them; his right hand on the head of the boy, whilst the left was stretched forth as if toward the army. The Greeks here could give me no intelligence of any thing worthy of being seen, and appeared, indeed, wholly ignorant of the country they were in. Again mounting our horses, we took the nearest road in order to reach the Dardanelles before night for a short time we rode by the side of the Scamander, which having forded, we travelled across a most delightful plain for some distance, until at length our path led us up the hills. From the summit of the hills the view of the Hellespont is very grand. The wind having been northerly for some days, many ships were lying interspersed about the channel, waiting a change. Among the rest was an English four-masted ship, with the appearance of which, the late Capitan Pacha some years ago was so much struck, that he ordered a model to be made, and one of equal dimensions to be built immediately after, and which is at present with the Turkish fleet in the arsenal of Constantinople. "Excepting a constant variety of scenery, nothing further remarkable occurred in this part of my ride, until about ten in the evening I alighted at the door of my Venetian friend. "There is little about the Dardanelles to interest the attention of the traveller; the only beautiful spot in the vicinity is a walk by the side of a river, shaded by a great number of lofty plantains, which afford a cool retreat at all hours of the day I had met with nothing equal to this in any part of Turkey, and indeed nothing finer in any part of the world. "An order which had arrived from the Porte a short time before, not to allow strangers to visit the for tifications, disappointed me in my expectations of seeing them. The fort on the Asiatic side is built quite close to the water's edge, and has mounted on that side of it several guns of an astonishing calibre. Some of the granite shot lying about the fortress are not less than ten feet and a half in diameter, and are said to weigh from eight to ten cwt. Round the fortress is a ditch, but without water, and even if full it would not take a man above the middle. To the south of the fort is a small mound battery of six or eight brass guns of considerable length, but of no uncommon calibre. On the top of the fort are planted many long swivels, carrying a ball of about half a pound. On the European side of the channel, and immediately opposite to the Dardanelles, is built another fort of the same kind, but apparently of better construction, and on a rising ground. The first battery is closer to the water; the second, of an oval shape, is visible from the opposite shore. In this, as in all other Turkish fortresses, there is a mixture of guns of very large calibre. In the lower castle of Smyrna there are several, into which, when on fishing parties, I have more than once crept to avoid a shower. "To force the passage of the Dardanelles must be an undertaking truly formidable. From the lower castles on both sides of the Hellespont little danger is to be apprehended, as ships can steer tolerably clear of them; but the fire from those at the Dardanelles, where the channel becomes narrow, and the current remarkably strong, must be very destructive. It would, however, be no difficult matter to storm the castle on either side, particularly that on the Asiatic, which has few or no guns toward the land; and that that on the European is commanded by neighbouring heights. One or both of them being taken, the pas sage would then be of no difficulty, and without that, no commander of moderate force would think of attempting it, unless he wished his fleet to be destroyed, as with a tolerable breeze, even of southerly wind, a vessel moves so very slowly, that every shot from these castles must tell. This point gained, Constantinople lies at the mercy of every enemy, without fort or gun to defend it, if we except a few saluting batteries-one at Tophana, one at the arsenal, and a few scattered guns at the Seraglio Point, of various lengths and calibres, placed there for the same purpose, without any kind of embrazures or works to cover them. "The population of the Dardanelles is computed to be between twenty and thirty thousand souls, which, however, appears to me an exaggeration. It is true, a great proportion is composed of Jews, who huddle together six or eight familiesin the same house. "As I know you are eager after commercial information, I will endeavour to give you some idea of the exports from the Dardanelles. The principal is cotton wool, of which 80,000 quintals of nearly an English cwt. each, are annually sold here; of cotton yarn 1000 quintals; galls 300 quintals; valonea 50,000; ro sin 2000; madder roots 200; anniseed 100; of cotton sail cloth, in pieces of eighty yards each, 10,000; hare skins 10,000; a small quantity of bees' wax; a few cargoes of excellent grain, and between the Dardanelles and Tenedos about 20 tolerable cargoes of wine. Their imports are very trifling, and not worthy of notice." JOURNEY FROM LISBON TO MADRID. [From MR. SEMPLE'S OBSERVATIONS.] EING first of all provided "BE with an order from the postmaster, we crossed the water in a slanting direction from Lisbon to Aldea Gallega. The view in crossing is delightful, the west bank of the river far above Lisbon consist ing of a succession of small rounded hills, covered with verdure to the summits, and studded with farms and country seats. Aldea Gallega is a miserable village, of fifty or sixty houses or huts, placed at the head of a small creek on the south east side of the Tagus, and distant from Lisbon about ten miles. It is the first post, and here, after some delay in inspecting our orders, we were all mounted and ready to begin our journey. Our postillion, or guide, carried at least fifty pounds weight of our baggage before him on his saddle; and, every thing being ready, he gave us strict orders never to go a-head of him, and then cracking his long whip we all set off together at a full gallop. Immediately out of the village the road becomes a deep white sand; and, although the sun was on the decline, it reflected the heat with great violence. Presently we came to a large plain, bounded on the south by the hills towards St. Ubes, but extending before us in long prospect: The soil was mostly sand; in some parts gravelly, and covered with shrubs, bushes, and low pine trees, but scarcely a house was to be seen in any direction, Having just com K 2 menced menced our journey, and not yet feeling fatigued, we accused our guide of loitering, but he assured us that the first post from Aldea Gallega is five leagues distant; and a Spanish post league may be calculated at fully equal to four English miles. It was accordingly long after sunset, before we arrived at Los Pregoues. "This is merely a small hamlet, and at the post-house we had the first sample of what entertainment we were likely to meet with on the road; not being able to procure any refreshment except a little sour wine with water, and having it at our option either to sit down on the ground, or on the straw in the stable. We were not however long detained here. A new guide and new horses awaited us, our saddles and luggage were arranged, and with many loud cracks of our postillion's whip, as if he had been in the heart of a populous city, instead of a few huts, we set off at a gallop as before. The road continued level for some distance; but we had not proceeded far when the night became quite dark, and precluded all further observation on the surrounding country. "From Los Pregones to Las Ventas Nuevas, or New Inns, is three Spanish leagues, or upwards of twelve English miles, and we arrived there at ten o'clock at night. Amidst a collection of poor huts stood a long barn, and this was the post-house. Every body was asleep, but the sound of our guide's whip soon procured us admission; a half extinguished fire was rekindled, and after much trouble some wine was brought, so sour as to be hardly drinkable. Seated round the embers, however, we determined to accustom ourselves to every inconvenience, and recalled to mind the story of the traveller, who complained to his Spanish landlord, that his wine was sourer than his vinegar. "I wonder at that," replied mine host, with great coolness," for they 66 are both out of the same cask." Satisfied, therefore, that others had been treated at least as badly as our selves in these countries, we passed round the bottle, and in spite of wry faces quenched our thirst with large potations of this miserable liquor. After an hour's delay, however, fresh horses were ready, and we started from our barn at eleven o'clock, with as much uproar as we had done from Los Pregones and Aldea Gallega. To our great satisfaction it was now moonlight, but a slight fog prevented our deriving much advantage from the circumstance, boyond the pleasure of not travelling in darkness. I regretted that I had not been able to discern from the plains, the form and direction of the hills which we now began to ascend. They were of no great height, but there was a succession of them, with rugged roads, and the descents very steep, and requiring caution to hold up our horses from falling. In the mean time our guide, who had set off in such a hurry, fell fast asleep, and although he rocked from side to side, stuck to the saddle instinctively. We trusted however to our horses, and after many slips arriv ed about two in the morning at Montemor Novo. This had more the appearance of a town, even by moonlight, than any place we had passed through since leaving Lisbon. It is four leagues from Las Ventas Nuevas, decently built and paved, and standing on the first break of a tolerably high hill, on the summit of which are the remains of an old Moorish castle. Here, notwithstanding all the noise we could make, we stood |