The Sun.
London, England, 1821-03-05 00:00:00

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pices of Mala-Spliia', of Oro Mario, and Voslq-
cap ; neither are you . acquainted, with Lango:
i3uree; nor the 'frightful and dangerous pass de
I gli Parenti.-7-- You hi4Ue; rejoined .ft-a little out
of humoUr; for this Syla and Canpo-.Temesi in.
tine Weather,' offer many- curious and interesting
views, but_ in whiter, the banks, even of 'the
Seine, the Saone; and the Garonne are_ not very
pleasant. YOti complain of llama* passes and
precipices ; but has not the South of France its
iiarrolY passes. of Onliotilles, its defileS of koque-
raire, its rocks of Quertiyi Auvergne and_ Gevau4
dan ? But tell me yo- 4r opinion of the inagnificcnt
gulf of Saint Eupheirria; of the enchanting situa-
tion Of Nicotera, Of the gulf of Gioia, and of Pizzo;
cel&-brated for the death. of Murat ; of Pahni,-
%-hich -disappeared on the 61.11 of February, 17g3;
and which is in the present day thC-. 'prettiest
town in the Kingdom of Naples : what sap
you to the panorama - formed by the
_Lipari
Isles] the coast of Sicily; the Pharos and
amphitheatre of Messina; the shores ,of Cala:
hria; and the curtain of the .A.P'petinines ; a.
charming picture which is bounded on the south'
by the gigantic cone of Mount /Etna.' The dis-:
cussion was continued some time longer, but, as
it always happens on such occasions, we parted
each more attached to his own opinions than it
the beginning.; ~

These, remarks will be found in the present
work,.bul more in detail, and with the. addition
of.a great many curious and
,interesting obserta
tions. The author has done jaStice tb.thiS beau-
tiful portion of Italy. The .fatigues, dangers,
and sufferings which he underwent have not made
him blind to the beauties of the Country, or:tha-
rith productiOns•of the soil,' and its magnifi&Mt
prospects ; nor. even to the character of the,-Inha.,
bitants, from whom he acknowledges to have
frequently received- attentions, information; and
kindness. The vexations attendant on a desultory
and harrassing•service against the bands Of Fran--
catripa and Icarasatiti did not induce him to cha-
racterize all the Calabrians as robbers. We have,
seldom read any book of travels written with
more correctness and impartiality. This qtality
is the more deserving- of praise since the author
was not disposed to regard with a favourable, eye
either the country or the inhabitants: and-knot
withstanding the many privations which he. suf.-
fered; and the-consequent misery of his situation,
he has not allowed these circumstances to operate '
to the prejudice of a-nation, among whom he was
placed by -the••chances'of war. The•portion• of
these travels which describes the eastern diViiion
of Calabria, contains- many new and interesting
details. • The shores of the lonian Sea, Which:.
the author, by mistake, calls the Adriatic cuff,
the Gulf of Squillace, the banks of the Crathis,
and Sybaris, the_Cape Colonne, more pro-.
perly Calonna, since there is only one co-
lumn, the ancient sites of the towns of Crotona.,
Sybaris, and Thmium, and modern Locrl,"arenot
often visited by travellers ; and this excursion,
though rapidly executed,, is one of the most 'valu-
able parts of the book.

I have remarked, however,. several errors, not
in the narrative, but among the observations .of
the author ; he ascribes to the volcano at Strom-
boli a higher elevation than Mount Vesuvius, but
the small diameter of this island renders the thing
impossible. lie computes the height of the Kocks
of Capri to be 'upwards of 4500 feet aboVe the
surface of. the sea, whereas Vesuvius, which is
higher, is only 3900 feet. lle-callsyente daeol,)
the southern extremity of the A ppennines, at. the.
verge of Calabria ;' but lie ought to have-writien
pent' dattilo, or more properly, pente
which signifiesfinefingets, and, insfact, this cliOn
terminates in live points which grvo the idea:of
an open hand. This appellation is very ancient,
and it should be preserved.

We come now to a more important remark
which has given rise to a little philological di•-
cussion. , The French ()Meer to whom n;e
these Travels•has endeavoured to trace the origin
and cause of those numerous bands cf robbers
which infest Calabria, and more especially the vast
forest of Syla. He, is of opinion. that this political
calamity fs to be attributed to the oppressi've
conduct of the Calabrian
.13aron.s towards their
vassals, who have, in consequence, been forced, to,
abandon the cultivation of the land, and to resort
to plunder and robbery. his far from mly inten-
tion to attack or defend the noble Barons of Ca-
labria. I have seen several of them who hnve
appeared to me very ridiculous, walking about,
with their swords three feet Long, silk stockings-
full of hales, and clothes covered with dirt and
patches, but ,the Sy la mentioned by Virgil and
Sallust was famous for its herds of cattle and rob-
bers, long before there were any ,Barons. It has.
been designated from time immemorial •by theSt
words, which seem to be very applicable to it.
now : Syla, mons Lucanic, erebris latrocinus in-
, fumis. It was the tefuge of men who fled from,
justice, of those who, were proscribed or• whose
party had been defeated, and thith-e` also the fit-
mentioned by Sallust, retired. But -hciw
should this word Syla be written ? In the mo-
dern editions of the latin authors, and esprially
in the stereotype edition, of Virgil, byri,ll. I'.
Didot, we read, in the 12th book.of the YEneid :
Ac velul ingcnti Silcs . . „and in an edition of
Sallust : in uhntSilVuerunt The author
of the Travels in Calabria always writes Syla,
and at my risk and peril I pronounce he is right.
All the learned men: of the seventeenth century.
were ,of opinion that Syla, celebrated for its rob
bers, had been so named from the Greek word
sulo.n or from the substantive 5t4.,, which signifi
theft, pillage, robbery. J therefore demand the
restitution of the Greek 4) in Syla, or the reasOn,l
for its suppression,, or rather the substitution of
the letter i.

Since our travelling, Officer has Crequentlic
passed the Crathis, he ought to inform us Whether
the waters of this river possess the property of
givingsa yellow colour to the hair and beltd of
those who drink them, as stated by StraboiO his
sixth book; and expressed by Ovid in the folitt,w-
ing verse, in which he also attributeS.thotithe
powers Co the waters of Sybaris

Cr;this ct him nostris conterminsis oris,

Electro similes Liciunt auroitic cayiti*
IA Met. v. 315