The Statesman.
London, England, 1821-01-31 00:00:00

assassin. It was the same tyrant who world: no:
safer himself to be shaved, front a fear that the oper-
ator might cut Isis throat with the razor : he senopelle I
his daughters to take off. his beard fur him; bat, ahe
wards, suspecting even them, he hail it burnt away.
At Syracuse are skews, also, the catacombs, or vault s
is which were the sertlehres, wed intu which, the of
men, women, and children Sad in time of war. For•
later, it wasistosible to go .der grimed to Catania.
distal' forty mites ; but at present they are prat-amble
*lily shoot fifteen. They consist of many narrow pas"
sages, which lead in different directions, with large
chambers at intervals ; and are visited always with
lighted flambeaux the gloom, and the feeling whirls
it excites is horrible ; and the atmosphere very ens -
lose. Them exist still, at Syracuse, the rains of assay
temples, sacred to the gods and goddesses, whom the
Syracusae of former ages worshipped. Tke temple
of Misers is the most autism ; it is new Cee.l
vented irate the greet church. and is said to be the
imp* ineieat siareeture in the world. The fountain at

freak cow from the bay, itor reign tol
of the houses of the Swamies are still

were hollowed out in the rock; the tables and chain
were also formed of rock. Syracuse formerly possessed
four considerable cities, all of which are now reduced
to rains: it gave birth to Archimedes, the nmost illus-
trious of geossetriciaos, and the one, who invented
burning glasses to destroy the vessels of the enemy.
The climate of Syracuse was delightful; sot a windO‘e
or door la the house would close well, and still we
never experienced the least inconvertienre from cold.
" We quitted (his town the *2 Uth of January. for
Catasis, in suspended chairs, a horse before, and 'no•
tber behind, it being impossible to travel in carriage.,
on account of the narrowness anal rockiness of the
roads. Time same evening, we slept at Albentina. 4
small ruiued town of great antiquity; and or the 3Uth
we reached Catania, a very pretty town, at the foot of
Mount Etna, a volcano, most formidable :luring its
eruptions : the town has already bees destroyed, and
rebuilt, several times. This mountain is excessively'
high, as may he supposed from its being covered with
snow is the month of August, at which time it is
difficult to ascend it without suffering from the frost ;
a circumstance not a little surprising, on a muumstaiu
abase interior is a glowing fire. It ass here, at.
twang to story, that Vulcan had his forges, awl
that the Cyclopes (who had but one eve, in the middle
al the forehead) wrought the instruments of hell.
estasia is very clean ; the sweets, for the most part,
art straight, and the houses well built, and new.
About it are scAtered masses of ire.-stone,. in size
equal to cottages, and In colour like call, which have
fallen from Mount Etna. Formerly there was a port
which the lava has now choked up. The ruins of the
old pods where.Vlysses anchored his vessels, es kis
way to the destruction of Troy, are ens.

On the 2Sth February we left Catania, and are.vcd
in the evening at Augusta, a small town, with no-
thing remarkable except the harbour, which is safe
and good. On the 25th March, the small vessel,
called the Royal Charlotte, belonging to her Royal
Highness, arrived. We embarked the lit of April,
and steered for Uirgenti, a town of great antiquity;
but which we were unable to visit, on account of tliz
shallowness of the harbour. The island of Sicily is
the largest in the Mediterranean, and very fertile ;
seeds are put into the earth, and left withuitt au,
culture until the harvest. We saw the corn sl►rinX-
ing amidst stones and briars, in the middle of the
month of January, and the country as green am!
luxuriant as in the ►uiddle of May in Switaerlau•l.
Notwithstanding this, the people are very p•'ur : th..ir
poverty, doubtless, arises from idleness, or want of
exertion."

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