The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1826-03-20

. w INV Ni'bIN'lIdntHI W IltS IfiFnt
in Washington City. dated Ma.
hon. 25th December, 1928.
, a. Although have been sailing ~,
waters Of great celebrity. n have
. been constantly. for nine months
past. in sight of classic grounds, YET
| fear the opportunities bad OF &c
= quirlng information were not such a.
10 enable me h. relate any thing new
to You. who arc 80 we'll acquainted
with the ancient as we'll as modern
history Of this country. In our late
cruise we ,isisteI SMYRNA. NapolI
di Romania,and the Islands orParos.
AntIparos. aud Mania. all of which.
> III days of yorr. you know. we're pla
crsof celebrity. Smyrna still re
tains much of its former splendor
aud commercial Importance aud
Napoli di Romania. the present seat
OF the Greek government, is yet "A
place OF sohc consideration on ac-
count of the excellence of its harbor.
AID the extraordinary strength OF its
Qualifications. built by the Ncnctians
at the time they were III possession
Of that country. The town itself.
hover. is rapidly falling into decay.
like every thing else ! saw in the
Morea. II is situated nj the ). r..
extremity OF the memorable plains of
ancient Argos, within six miles Of
the renowned city OF that name. aud
twelve miles from Messina, where
now little else is 10 be- seen save the
tomb oi Agamemnon. on which ncI-
Their time nor the elements appear To
have made any impression.
Paros. as You NAV reCollert. was.
during The time Of Homer. an island
Of consequence, particularly on aC-
count OF It's quarrles OF marble, the
fine texture and Wilderness III which
is supposed TO snrpass any IL HE
world. Whether this be the fact OF
not. the ancicnis. IT. seems. though
so; for IN every part Of Asia Mlnor.
and throughout Greece, all the re-
mains OF statuary aud of temples. 10
be- met with, are IL Parian marble.
Antiparos. ii would appear, was ne
yer particularly celebrated for any
thing except its extraordinary cave.
OF which the ancient poets and mn
dern historians have given such cx-
agant descriptions.
| Ii is certainly a very great natu
raj curiosity, yet do not think IL ST.
very singular as to have deserved
half that has been said Ut it. Nexla,
you may remember. was, on account
OF the excellence OF its vines, the
theme of poetry and song among the
anCients. The ancient town Of Max
ia, which derives It's name from the
island, is still place Of some con
sequence and is yet the most po-
puIous and wealthy in the island.
On account of the supposed SUPERB
oiIty oi It's vines, temple VAS -
| ~ wv vi I'll lhii Ilhl WV anu Al'llt d.
ted TO BacChuS, some considerable
remains of which are still To be seen.
The vine Of the island IN, 1t have
been better formerly than now. 9th
er~lsc | shall say that the ancient
Greeks we've bad judges.
The scenery presented to view IN
sailing among the Greek islands, is
the holdcst. and at the same time,
perhaps. the most picturesque in the
world. each one as you pass plesen-
ting something entirely unique and
what gives greater fleet 10 the pros
peCt the islands afford, is the pccu-
liar serenity of the atmosphere, com
mon to the Archipelago in The sum
mer season. You will readily ina
ginc the Transparency OF the atmos-
p,ere, when tell you. AT one time
| saw from the ships topmast bead,
lTan9ia, Milo, Serphato. Surpho,
Theimis, Faiconi, Zcra, Zea. Emo,
Andres, Juru. Paros. Antiparos. De
los. NaXia, Mo, MlchonIs, Samos
and Sem.
The Greeks. without doubt, re-
tain more OF heir ancient character
than any other people. They pos.
scss the same habits and manners,
aud the same superstilious notions
that they did IN the age of Homer.
The onl, difference between NOW d
then is, That you fnd no such men "a
Imong them as Scion, Plato, Aga
mcmron, or Miltiades. With this
exception, after reading Homer and