The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-30
BROOKLYN. Jan. II. 1876.

10 the Editor OF the Argus:
Some mouths SINCE while in Athens, we
procured some cans of Hymettus honey
Hymettus, of Attica, and Hybla, of Sicily,
had reputation for honeyed wealth before
the advent OF Christ. While at Athens this
Grecian mount always lay under our eye. It
is the nearest important highland, the sub.
urbs of the town reaching within mile of its
base. We had fine view of this noun 'ain
as we passed up the valley at its side, and
climbed the Pentelicus, which overtops it on
the North. The day was intensely hot, and
after we left our carriage the route was excess
sively fatiguing.
The ascent, which seemed so plain at a dis
lance, soon grew wild and intricate, its paths
became faint, and we often found ourselves
hesitating at the choice of ways. Up
the steep hill We crowded on for more than an
hour and half, turning here and there in
search of the easiest pathway, and often COM
PEELED to retrace our steps. All the way up
is heard at intervals the sound of the drill
chipping out the marble blocks, and occa-
sional detonations Of powder blast reverbe-
rate through the recesses of the mountain.
Ancient quarries line the pathway, where
-perchance, were gathered in former days
those forms of beauty which have been scat
tered over every cline and are indeed ga joy
forever" Long and arduous was the ascent
but intense the satisfaction and magnificent
the prospect from the summit. At the ex-
IRENE apex of the mount cairn had been
built in olden times, and now every traveller
adds his stone to the pile. Below us lay
HYMErTUs,
with its rocky promontory, turning back the
waters of the sea- European mountains look
desolate to us from their want of trees and
shrubbery. score and half Of centuries
since this mountain was stripped of its for
ests, and in later days, even the brushwood
which concealed its nakedness and deformity
has been gathered to meet the wants of the
poorer inhabitants of the neighboring city. In
its place coarse heather and rank grass crowd
up wherever the rocks will admit, and many
fragrant dell is redolent with the odor Of
flowers and resCunds with the music of the
bee.
There the blihe bee his fragrant fortress builds
The free born wanderer Of thy mountain air.
Apollo still thy long, long sum mer gilds,
Still in his beam MendelIs marbles glare.
Art, glory, freedom fails but Nature still is fair"
The view from the summit of the Pentelicus
is unsurpassed. Added to the beauty of the
land, the long range of vision given by the
brilliant clearness of the atmosphere, the
richness of the historical associations, the
panorama is unrivalled. few weeks before,
we had stood upon the summit of the great
pyramid Of Egypt, and surveyed with intense
delight the strange scenes Of this cradle Of the
worlds early greatness. Before ancient ma
tons were founded, before prophets and
apostles, before even Greece or Judea were
known, before Abraham or Moses trod the
earth, when the advent OF Christ was away off
in the dim future unprotected by the ancient
prophets, there pyramids, obelisks, sphy
temples and tombs existed. little later we
stood upon
THE MOUNT OF OLIVES,
on the very spot where the Saviour of the
world looked down UPON cru salem environed
with it's everlasting hills and emblazoned with
its grand old Temple, etc. And somewhere
near this place he made his final ascent, leav-
ing his bewildered disciples to bewail his de-
parture. Our feet trod the same soil, our
eyes gazed upon the same scenes which met
those of that immortal being the half divine,
half human regeneration of the world. Bat
view from Pentelicus was much finer that OF
pyramidal Egypt, or from the hills around
the Sacred City. Here on the crest OF the
Grecian mount we looked down upon Athens
and its monuments of glory such as no age or
country has produced. Eastward, at our feet,
lies Marathon, which still
" Preserves alike it's bounds and boundless fame,
The battlei field, where Persa's victim horde,
First bowed beneath the brunt Of Hellas
As on that morn to distant glory dear
When Marathon became magic word"
Over against rs lie Parnassus, Leucothea,
Salamis and Eeusis. Ga the verge of the
Northern horizon is
THERMOPYLF,
and as the eye ranges round to the West there
rises the citadel of ,rinth. Northward, lust
beyond our horizon, We passed q few days be-
fore, on our way hithsr, old Olympus aud
Athos In the valley before US were the
Schools of Philosophy taught by such able
masters as Aristotle, Socrates and Plato.
Eyerywhere, in a thousand forms, land inter-
locked with water adds to the glory of the
scene.
Every mountain. every valley, every hillock
has history. Each rood of ground has been
the battle Id of freedom and tyranny. Old
forms and names arise again The race who
pecpled these noun tains and valleys, who
knew Homer aud H-siod. and Herodotus
came to life anew. Again, D4mosthenes thun-
ders phillippics from yonder forum. and 1t.