New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-03

The Ieft. st .ke entrance n ; daiie e51Da1tng
the road % Sparta, Leo-3ar- Descending 70 tie
floor Of the valley, We rode over tie oszy turf 70
Sinsnu, scattering town, with bf1ad, grassy
streets We net many shepherds in Shaggy sheep
siin ca2otes and with long crooks In their hands
The people came in body 10 the dirty little CAFE
where we hated n order 70 stare at Us. Three or
four spruce young pslisars offered to accompany Us
70 the the.ter Of Megslopohs, which ' about half
mile 10 the north IF the town. Is Francois had told
them tbs. spoke both ancient and modern Greek,
they Piled me with questions tie whole way, and
was sorely troubled 10 keep up my reputation for
scholarship. These people we're almost entirely Of
Sayonic blood, which is no doubt the predominant
ing element in Greece. Groups Of villagers sst in
the sur-happy Arcadians and skIlfully explored
each others heads. Both Sinanu and Leondsri
were very rich places under the Turks, but are
now miseraby poor, or seem TO be 90. Tie coun-
try GREEKS hide their money, and are therefore
often richer than they appear.
Leopdsri, where We passed the night, is on the
frontier of Sparta, but stiI in Arcadia. Here A.
pheus, from his glacier cold' on Taygetus rushes
down the hills in pursuit of bis Dorian Arethuss-
Here is still the rural psradise Of ancient Greece,
with it's pure air. its sweet waters its secluson and
peace-but alas the people. We overlooked long
tracts Of oak forests-nothing bat Oak-some an
cient trunks, gnsrled and hosry with thousand
years, and younger woods covering the gently
rounded knobs. The morning was di7iDely clear
and brilliant, but cold, with thin sheet Of ice on
standing water. In an hour and half after thread
ing scattering groves Of oak and ileI, we passed
low bar come citing Taygetus with Mer Rlus on the
north and this, as rightly guessed, was the wa
ter.shed between the Alpteus aud the Eurotss-the
boundary of Sparta. In the splendor Of the day,
every feature of the landscape had its cearest form
and its richest coorDg, and from the beds of daisy
and crocus at our feet TO the snowy pyramids OF
Taygetus, high above us, everything spoke Of Lie
and Of Spring. There il village called LOnganlko,
in very wild position, high up under the very
crest Of the mountain, which supplies the Morea
with ply sicians The boys arc even sent to France
and Germany to complete their studies. During
the day We met with numbers Of peasants, driving
asses laden with bundles Of young mulberry and
olive trees, from the nurseries of Sparta. There
was refreshing evidence Of Improvement in the
amount of new ground brought under cultivation.
As we approached Sparta the road descended to
the banks of the Eurotas. Traces Of the ancient
places but in his shifting course he has swept the
most of them away and spread his gravelly depos-
its freely over the bottoms inclosed between the
spurs of the hills. The clumps Of poplar, willow
and sycamore which lined the stream, and the thick
cts Of blackberry, mastc, lex and arbutus through
which our rosd wuuno, s-'~ thA soAnAry a charm
ine)y wild and rural aspect. The hlls-deposits Of
aluyium ltfc by the pre.Adamite foods-took the
most remarkable forms, showing regular terraces,
cones pyramids and bastOns, as they fell off toward
the river Toward evening we saw, at distance,
the white houses of ancient Sparta, and presently
some indications Of the ancient city. At first, the
remains of terraces and ramparts, then the unmis-
taxable Hellenic walls, aud the superb plain OF
the Eurotas burst upon us, stretching in garden
like beauty TO the foot of the abrupt hills, over
which lowered the sun-touched SHOWS ofTsygetus,
we saw close on our right, almost the only relic OF
the Ost sges-the thester. Riding scross feld
of wheat, which extended all over the scene OF the
Spartan gymnastic exhibitions, we stood on the
\
and the broad beautiful landscape. 1t is one Of
the finest views in Greece-not 80 crowded with
striking points, not so splendid in associations, as
that of Athena but larger rander, richer in color
ing. The plain, watered b. the unfailing Eurotas,
is covered with luxuriant vegetation, and opens its
fruitful lap to the MONDAY sun. In warm coun-
tries, water is the great fertilizer, and no part
! e all al in so
Sparta
Beside the theater the only remains are some
masses of Roman brickwork, and the massive sub
stluctions of small temple which the nstives call
! the tomb of LeOndas. ] walked over the shape
less rubbish which covers the FIVE hills, without
single feeling Of regret There were great fighters
before AgsmemnOn, and there are as brave nlen as
Leonidas to-day. As for the race of military saw
ages whom Lycurgus-the man of ice and ron
| educated here, who would wish 10 restore them
/ The one virtue of the Spartans-brsvery-is a.
ways exaggerated, because it is their only nobie
/ trait They were coarse, cruel, treachero1s and
dishonest, and while they acted in two or three IN
stances as a shield to Greece they dealt the perid-
! ious stabs through which she perished at last In
! art, literature, science and philosophy, We owe
nothing to Sparta. She has beQue..hed to us only
few personal examples ofspendid patriotism, aad
( code which God be thsnked can never he put
| in practice again.
| I determined to make an excursion 10 the m0un-
tain di,tr.ct of Maius, which comprises the range
Of Taygetus, and the PrcmOutory Of Tensrus be-
tween the Laconisp and MssseDisn Gul:s. This is
a region ra,ely visited By travellers, who are gene
rally frightened of BY the reputation Of its inhab-
Z ., C.,.l 80 h.,ka