Korax of Homer." It is natural, while contemplating this scene with the impression that it is the Korax and the Arethusa of Homer, to seek all the corroborating circumstances which can be procured. And when it is remembered that Telemachus came to the same point, by a different route from his father, one eagerly hopes that the poet may have left some landmarks on record for tracing his journey. But on turning to the 15th book of the Odyssey, it is a disappointment to discover that Homer is silent on this subject; and the traveller is compelled to solace himself with the thought, that as a long walk of the young prince is not described, nor any incidents which happened on his way mentioned, the distance from the fort, where he landed after his departure from the coast of Peloponesus, to the residence of Eumæus, must be short. This supposition agrees with the situation of the modern Korax.

The next object is to ascertain the site of the ancient city of Ulysses, for which Homer supplies us with the following clew. From the rock Korx, we are told, Od. xiii. 204, that Ulysses and the swineherd descended a rough road, and soon came near the city, in the neighbourhood of which was a fountain made by art, and supplied with water from a cold spring issuing out of a rock above. A circular grove of alders, and an altar to the nymphs, completed the beauty of the scene. Now it is certain that Mr. Gell did find a well, near the vestiges of the town said by tradition to be the ancient residence of Ulysses. It is, however, rather remarkable, that when he is so persuaded of the strength of his side of the cause, and in some cases indulges his fancy in an unwarrantable degree, he encumbers this part of the subject with unnecessary difficulties. He supposes the fountain made by art, and the rock from which the spring issued, to be buried in an accumulation of soil. Gratuitous suppositions throw an air of suspicion over a cause, and should not be indulged where they may easily be dispensed with. The fountain made by art, must have been a mere reservoir, which of course could not be permanent like the objects of nature, and must have been reduced to fragments centuries ago. It was hardly to be expected that a cistern should exist from the time of Ulysses till now. With regard to the rock, there is no need to understand by it a precipice of amazing altitude. The word Taga signifies a stone as well as a rock; and 4o merely means above the fount or reservoir. The poet may have intended to describe a piece of mason's work constructed for the purpose of giving volume and direction to the waters of the spring. Mr. Gell, we feel assured, cannot think this too fanciful. But though this difficulty respecting the absence of the fountain and rock

may be removed, we cannot entertain much confidence that the ancient residence of Ulysses is certainly discovered, because an old well was accidentally brought to light near the vestiges of a town. We cannot boast of having travelled in those parts, but we frequently read of wells being formed in different situations, and almost invariably in the neighbourhood of towns and villages, in the east. But let us advance from the well about one hundred and fifty paces, which will bring us to the site of what Mr. Gell considers to be the ancient city of Ulysses, now called Aito. Here the author does not boast of producing any accession of evidence to strengthen his argument, except so much as arises from the bare circumstance of ruins being found in that situation. He is, as might be expected, from his classical ardour and his sanguine conjectures, very minute in detailing the number, position, and appearance of the remaining walls; but the poet has left us no means of ascertaining any resemblance to the plan of the metropolis of Ithaca. Many parts of the mansion of Ulysses have been mentioned by Homer. He speaks of the echoing portico, the great dining hall supported by pillars, the dormitories, the private apartments. Mr. G. has taken pains to construct a magnificent palace from these hints of the poet. He has adjusted the relative situation of the various rooms, shewn their size and number, and gone so far as to fix the position of the doors, ascertain the height and materials of the threshold, and even the nature of the floor. We look upon this architecture of Mr. G., as a sort of castle in the air. It is almost impracticable to attain to a clear notion of any diversified scene of nature or complicated structure of art by the fullest verbal description, much less by such broken hints as are dispersed in the Odyssey respecting the residence of Ulysses. It is awkward and unfortunate that the ground work of the town, which still remains, has not been mentioned by Homer, when the palace which he partially describes has of necessity yielded to time.

The last coincidence which we shall adduce, is the discovery of the garden of Laertes. The only directions with which the poet furnishes us, are, that it was distant from the town, and that the way to it from the citadel was a descent. Mr. G. thinks he has found a third discriminative circumstance, because a ship sailing from Italy was driven near the garden by a storm. Upon this point we must dissent from him, for a vessel in a storm may be driven far out of its course. The spot which is said to have been the garden of Laertes, is the village of Leuka.

Leuka is a very pretty village, consisting of about thirty houses. The name signifies a poplar tree. It is situate on a little flat on the western foot of Neritos, and surrounded by terraces producing corn and flax in abundance. There is a well below the village, sufficiently plentiful for the purposes of the inhabitants, who came out to congratulate us on our arrival, with water in pitchers of coarse earthen-ware.

The beauty of the place, and the quantity of cultivated ground, induced us to imagine that Leuka might be the situation of the garden to which Laertes retired during the absence of Ulysses. The position corresponds with the description given by the poet*. Ulysses descended from the citadel to the farm of Laertes, which was at some distance from the town. Now the farm could not have been on the southern portion of the island, for if it had Ulysses must have passed very near it in his way from the house of Eumæus to the city, and in the other portion of Ithaca there is no way of descending from the citadel without coming upon Leuka. That Laertes lived on the western side of the island, seems probable from the circumstance that a ship sailing from Italy was driven near the garden by a storm.' pp. 104, 105.

From taking a general survey of the evidence, which arises from a comparison of Theaki with the descriptions of Homer, in favour of the point which the author wishes to establish, we must acknowledge that it is weak and unsatisfactory. The particular scenes do not carry that conviction to our mind which they appear to have effected in him. There is a want of something exclusively appropriate. Their general similarity might have weight, if no objections arose from another quarter; but is not sufficient to overbalance repugnancies and difficulties.-We must, however, remind our readers that there is a wide difference between disproving evidence, and denying the fact which that evidence is brought to support.

After all, we are of opinion that Theaki is the Ithaca of Homer; not in consequence, but in defiance, of the comparisons drawn with so much minuteness by Mr. Gell. The truth is, that a constant and unbroken tradition has more effect on our minds, than all the questionings of modern scepticism, and the pomp of modern logic, which sometimes involve plain truths in inexplicable difficulties and unanswerable objections. This tradition is made out by the name which the island seems to have ever borne among its inhabitants, and by the medals which have been found there. Representations of three of these medals are given in the title page of the present publication. The identification of ancient places and the demonstration of ancient events we have sometimes found so arduous, although from circumstances not much connected with technical logic we entertained no doubt of the point to be proved, that we are † Od. 24. 306.

* Od. 24, 204.

not always startled or confounded by the objections and difficulties to which researches, at this distant period often give birth. We would rather ground on this argument of tradition, than on any other, our suspicion that the text of the Odyssey respecting the situation of Ithaca is corrupted, and plead a right of emendation. And on the same principle, we would admit the conjecture that some change has taken place in the channel between Ithaca and Cephallonia.

We suspect some of our readers are exceedingly fatigued by the dryness and length of this Ithacensian discussion; and we will hope that others, too much in love with Ho mer to think an inquiry tedious which directs their attention to his inimitable poesy, will bear with our prolixity. For the relief of the former class, and in order to convey a more adequate conception of Mr. Gell's performance to all our readers, we will produce an extract or two which have no reference to the above inquiry. The author's design is to give a short account of the interesting island of Ithaca, as well as to point out more particularly those features which may appear to have been described in the Odyssey. But we must complain, that he has dealt with too sparing a hand his information respecting the present inhabitants of the island. He seems to have been so occupied with his search after the scenes decribed by Homer, that other inquiries dwindled into insignificance in his estimation. The short term of his stay, also, must have prevented him from giving a faithful picture of the modern Ithacen. sians, even if he had been disposed to grant that gratification to his readers. For though a few days might be sufficient for exploring the face of a small island, as many months are requisite to acquire a tolerable acquaintance with the character of its inhabitants. He has said enough, however, to convince us that they are still under the influence of a base and degrading superstition.

We were present at the celebration of the feast of the Ascension, when the citizens appeared in their gayest dresses, and saluted each other in the streets with demonstrations of pleasure. As we sate at breakfast in the house of Signior Zavo, we were suddenly roused by the discharge of a gun, succeeded by a tremendous crash of pottery, which fell on the tiles, steps, and pavements, in every direction. The bells of the numerous churches commenced a most discordant jingle; colours were hoisted on every mast in the port, and a general shout of joy announced some great event. Our host informed us that the feast of the Ascension was annually commemorated in this manner at Bathi, the populace exclaiming avetin o Xgiotos, aλntives o to, Christ is risen, the true God.' p. 29.

A custom of high antiquity, still preserved, is thus described.

In the evening of the festival the inhabitants danced before their houses, and at one w we saw the figure which is said to have been first used by the youths and virgins of Delos, at the happy return of Theseus from the expedition of the Cretan labyrinth. It has now lost much of that intricacy which was supposed to allude to the windings of the habitation of the Minotaur, yet much depends on the genius of the leader, whose movements are followed by ten or twelve men and women, keeping time with the music, and holding by each other's handkerchiefs. One part of the dance resembles the game of threading the needle, as practised by children in England, a figure not ill applied to the representation of the mazes and perplexities of the labyrinth. p. 33.

These extracts contain almost the whole of the information which Mr. G. has communicated respecting the present inhabitants of the island. But we feel that we have but little right to complain of an author, for not fulfilling more than his engagement promised. Mr. G. professes principally to give an account of the antiquities of Ithaca; and these he explored with considerable diligence. He had fully prepared his mind with such intelligence respecting this island, as former writers both ancient and modern supplied; and was competent to recognize any coincidence which might offer itself to his view. It is but fairness to say that he has brought together, in his work, all the most important passages from ancient literature which throw light on his subject. By verbal descriptions and exquisite designs of the pencil, he has also put us in full possession of the topography of the modern Ithaca. If he is too fanciful in many of his conjectures, if he imagines coincidences which do not exist, or deems them more striking than they really are, the reader needs not be misled. The book contains its own remedy, in the accuracy and minuteness with which the scenes are represented by the pen and the pencil, and the openness and impartiality with which the passages from ancient literature are cited. We are not obliged to yield to his conjectures, but may weigh his facts and deduce our own conclusions.

Art. III. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. For the Year 1807. Part II. 4to. pp. iv. 185. Price 15s. 6d. Nicol.

IN

this part of the volume for 1807, there are ten papers; of which we shall speak in their order.

VII. On Fairy Rings. By W. H. Wollaston, M.D. Sec. R.S. Read March 12, 1807. The appearance of fairy rings, or circles of dark green grass, common as it is, and frequently as it has exercised the ingenuity of theorists, has not yet been