ITHACA.

"The bark arrived

In Ithaca; but from the public view
Sequester'd far, there is a certain port
Sacred to Phorcys, ancient of the deep,
Form'd by converging shores, abrupt alike
And prominent, which, from the spacious
Bay exclude all boisterous winds; within it, ships,
The port once gain'd, uncabled ride secure."

Cowper's Trans.

The fountain of Arethusa, in this island, is an object of classical inquiry and interest. Dodwell visited it, and describes its water as "clear and good, trickling gently from a small cave in the rock, which is covered with a smooth and downy moss. It has formed a pool four feet deep, against which a modern wall is built, to check its overflowing. After oozing through an orifice in the wall, it falls into a wooden trough placed there for cattle. In the winter it overflows, and finds its way, in a thin stream, through the glen to the sea. The French had possession of Ithaca in 1798, and the rocks of the Arethusan fountain are covered with republican inscriptions. 'Vive la république !' 'Liberté, égalité, et fraternité,' are seen scattered on all sides, but are gradually effacing. The Ithacensian goat-herd, who quenches his thirst at this limpid source, is little conscious of being surrounded by such sublime conceptions!"

Though the modern name of Ithaca is Theaki, the natives themselves take a pride in retaining and using the ancient name. An English traveller, on arriving at Salona in the Gulf of Corinth, was much struck on observing painted on the stern of a boat belonging to one of the islanders the word Ithaca.