Part 5 (1/2)

Sails froain--Passes Ithaca--Arrival at Prevesa

It was on the 19th of Septe fro of the fourth day after, he first saw the mountains of Greece; next day he landed at Patras, and walked for sorounds between the town and the shore Around him lay one of the noblest landscapes in the world, and afar in the north-east rose the purple su re-embarked, the Spider proceeded towards her destination; the poet not receiving randeur of the ancients, fronitude of their realarded onder and disappointment, as he passed its cliffy shores, was then in the possession of the French

In the course of a dom of Ulysses surrendered to a British serjeant and seven men

Childe Harold sail'd, and pass'd the barren spot, Where sad Penelope o'erlook'd the wave; And onward view'd the e, and the Lesbian's grave

But when he saw the evening star above Leucadia's far-projecting rock of woe, And hail'd the last resort of fruitless love, He felt, or deelided slow Beneath the shadow of that ancient mount, He watch'd the billows' ht as he ont-- More placid seem'd his eye, and s, of the same day on which he passed Leucadia, the vessel caloomy, and the appearance of the toas little calculated to bespeak cheerfulness But the novelty in the costus, produced an iination of Byron, and we can trace the vivid i his descriptions

The wild Albanian, kirtled to his knee, With shawl-girt head and ornaarments, fair to see; The crimson-scarfed men of Macedon; The Delhi with his cap of terror on, And crooked glaive; the lively, supple Greek, And swarthy Nubia's ns to speak, Master of all around, too potent to bepartaken of a consecutive dinner, dish after dish, with the brother of the English consul, the travellers proceeded to visit the Governor of the town: he resided within the enclosure of a fort, and they were conducted towards hih several large unfurnished rooms In the last of this series, the Governor received them with the wonted solemn civility of the Turks, and entertained them with pipes and coffee Neither his appearance, nor the style of the entertainrandeur; he was seated on a sofa in the uards, who had but little reverence for the greatness of the guests, as they sat down beside thehed at their conversation with the Governor

But if the circumstances and aspect of the place derived no importance from visible splendour, every object around was enriched with stories and classical recollections The battle of Actiuulf behold, where once was lost A world for wo bay, their naval host DidTo doubtful conflict, certain slaughter bring

Look where the second Caesar's trophies rose!

Now, like the lands that rear'd the hulobe ordained for such to win and lose?

Having inspected the ruins of Nicopolis, which are more remarkable for their desultory extent and scattered renificence or of beauty,

Childe Harold pass'd o'er h lands scarce noticed in historic tales

Yet in famed Attica such lovely dales Are rarely seen; nor can fair Tempe boast A charround and consecratedcoast

In this journey he was still accompanied by Mr Hobhouse They had provided theoman With this person they soon becaeneral suspicion of Greek integrity, and because of the necessary influence which such an appendage acquires in the exercise of his office He is the tongue and purse-bearer of his , food, horses, and all conveniences; nity with the Turks--a difficult task in those days for a Greek--and his manifold trusts deenious, but prompt and resolute In the qualifications of this essential servant, the travellers were not fortunate--he never lost an opportunity of pilfering;--he was, however, zealous, bustling, and talkative, and withal good-hu ent nor unprepared

On the 1st of October they embarked, and sailed up the Gulf of Salona, where they were shown into an es In this habitation twelve Albanian soldiers and an officer were quartered, who behaved towards theave them pipes and coffee, and after they had dined in their own apart with him, and they condescended to partake of his hospitality

Such instances as these in ordinary biography would be without interest; but when it is considered how firmly the impression of them was retained in the mind of the poet, and how intimately they entered into the substance of his renity, and become epochal in the history of the development of his intellectual powers

”All the Albanians,” says Mr Hobhouse, ”strut veryback their heads, andvery slowly from side to side Elmas (as the officer was called) had this strut ht was then quite new to us, we could not help staring at the reat holes in his elbows, and looking altogether, as to his garar” Mr Hobhouse describes him as a captain, but by the nuher rank than serjeant Captains are centurions

After supper, the officer washed his hands with soap, inviting the travellers to do the same, for they had eaten a little with hiive the soap, but put it on the floor with an air so re of it, and he was infor soap: it is thought it ash away love

Next day it rained, and the travellers were obliged to reain spent with the soldiers, who did their uts and freaks of jocularity

In theof the 3rd of October they set out for Arta, with ten horses; four for thee, and two for two soldiers whouards Byron takes no notice of his visit to Arta in Childe Harold; but Mr Hobhouse has given aremarkable

The remainder of the journey to Joannina, the capital then of the famous Ali Pasha, was rendered unpleasant by the wetness of the weather; still it was ih a country so picturesque in its features, and rendered romantic by the traditions of robberies and conflicts, without receiving iery which constitutes the embroidery on the vestment of poetry