Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-06-01
ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE.
From, the FORKS of Chateaubriand.

squares or barley, anu rioSes VI N"oS' you u'uSt
conceive the heads of columns. and the ends OF
ancient ruins, emerging from the midst OF that
cultivation; Albanian woman washing their
clothes at the fountain or the scanty streams;
peasants leading their asses, laden with prov-
sons, into the modern city; those ruins SO cele-
brated, those isles, those seas, wh"se names are
engraven Oh the memory, iliumIned by splen-
ded light | have seen from the rock OF the
Acropolis the sun rise between the two SUBMITS
Of Mount Hsmettus: the ravens, which nestle
round the citadel, bat never fly over its summit,
floating in the air beneath, their glossy wings re-
flectipv the ROSY tints Of the morning; columns
of light smoke descending from the villages on
the sides of the neighbouring mountains marked
the colonies Of bees on the far.famed Hymettus;
and the ruins Of the Parthenon were Illuminated
BY the finest tints Of pink and violet The
sculptures of PhidIas, struck by . horizontal
ray of gold, seemed to start from their marbled
bed by the depth and mobility Of their shadows:
in the distance, the sea and the Pireus were
respIendent with light, while on the verge OF the
western horizon, the citadel of Corinth. gittering
in the rays OF the rising sun, shOHe like arock OF
purple aud fire. - l40.
OF the same scene. every reader remembers
the noble description by Byron.
"s,ow SINKS more besuteous ere his race be run,
Along Morea's hills the setting sun,
Not as in Northern cline obsCurey bright,
But Ole uneonded blaze of living light;
o'-r the hush d deep the yellow beams lie throws,
Gilds the green wave that ,rembes as gows;
On old Il ina's rock and tdrs's Isle,
The god of Gladness sheds his parting smilei
O'er his own regicn' lingering owes to shine,
Though there his affairs are no more diyinei
DescG 1ding fast, the mountains shadow Kiss
Thy glorious gulph, uucunGu, r'd Saiarrls!
Cher azure arches through the long eypanse,
More deeply purp!ed meet his me!iowfhg glance,
Aud tsnderest tins, along their sum'.i,s driven
Mark his gay course and own the hue> at heaven,
Till. da KY shaded from The and and deep,
d hind his Dephiau ohh he sinks TO sleep"
OF the Dead Sea and the Valley Of Jordan
Cha.eaubs1and gives striking aud exMaor binary
description.
"We left the convent at three in the afternoon,
assembled the torrent of Cedron, and at length
eros sing the ra,inc, rejoined our route to the
east Anopening in the mountain gave US a pas
| sing view of jerusalem. | hardly recognized
the city; it seemed mass of broken rocks; the
sudden appearance Of that city OF desolation in
| the midst of the wilderness had something in 1t
almost terrifying She was, IN truth, the Queen
of the Desert.
"As we advanced, the aspect of the mountains
continued constantly the same, that Is, pOwde'
nv white-without shade, a tree or even moss
At half past four, we descended from the lofty
chain we had hitherto traversed, and wound along
another of interior elevation. At length we ar
rived al the last of the chain Of heights, which
close in on the west the Valley Of Jordan and
the Dead Sea. The sun was nearly setting; we
dsmounted and l lay dawn to contemplate at lei
sure the lake, the valley aud the river.
"When you speak in general OF valley, you
conceive it either cultivated or uncutivated; 1t
the former, it is filled with villages, corn fields,
VINEYARDS, and focks; If the latter, it presents
grass or forests; if it is watered by river that
river has windings and the slnuostles or project
ing points afford agreeable and varied landscapes.
But here there is nothing OF the kind Con-
ceive two long chains of mountains running par
allel from north TO south, without projections,
without recesses, without vegetation. The ridge
on the east, called the Mountains of Arabia, is
the most slevated; viewed at the distance OF
eight or ten leagues, it resembles vast wall ex-
tremey similar to the Jura. as seen from the Lake
of Geneva, from its fu,m and azure tint. You
can perceive neither SUBMITS nor the smallest
peaks; only here and there slight inequalities, as
If the hand Of the painter who traced the long
lines on the sky had occasionally trembled.
- The cham on tue eastern sue tOrms part Vi
the mountains of Judea-less elevated aud more
uneven than the ridge on the west; It dlffars also
in its character; it exhibits great masses of rock
and sand, which occasionally present oil the va
rieties of ruined fortincatipnA armed men, and
floating banners On tie side Of Arabia. on the
other hand, black rocks. with perpendicular
tanks. spread from afar their shadows over the
waters Of the Dead Sea. The Smallest bird
could not find in those crevices Ut rock morsel
| of food; every thing announces country which
has fallen under the divine wrath; every thing
inspires horror at the incest from whence
sprung Ammon and Moab.
The valley which lies between these noun
tains resembles the bottom Of sea. from which
| the waves have long ago withdrawn: banks Of
gravel, dried bottam-rocks covered with salt,
deserts Of moving sand-here and there stunted
arbutus shrubs grow with difficulty on that arid
soil: their leaves are covered with the salt which
had uourislied their roots, while their bark has
the scent and taste Of smoke. Instead Of villa
ges, nothing but the ruins Of towers are to be