ment could be induced to make it a free port, it might become, as it was under the Venetians, a great commercial station.

To the antiquarian, the country around Prevesa possesses great interest, for upon this coast stood Augustus Cæsar, the conqueror of the world; and here, at a short distance from the town, we find the extensive ruins of Nicopolis, the creation of that mighty emperor, who in the fulness of his pride, lavished upon it the wealth of his leviathan empire, with the object of perpetuating for ever the glory of his name. The investigation of the causes which led to the total destruction of a city of such great magnitude as Nicopolis, one of the most wealthy and commercial in the Roman empire, has long occupied the attention of the learned. From their researches it would appear, that the advance of Christianity, which deprived the Actium Games, instituted by Augustus, of their importance, was the first blow to its prosperity. This was succeeded by the decline of the Roman empire, when these provinces became infested with brigands and pirates by land and sea.

It was first taken, and plundered by Alaric the Goth, and afterwards laid in ruins by his more savage successor Totilla and his Huns. Justinian the Emperor of the East, repaired it; but in those degenerate days when brick was substituted for stone, it fell an easy prey to the Scythians and Bulgarians, who totally destroyed it. From this period history is silent respecting Nicopolis, whence it would appear, that it remained a desert. On viewing the ruins of the city,

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its distance from the sea, and the shallowness of the water in the bay, we are lost in astonishment as to how it ever could have been a sea-port. From this circumstance, we are inclined to believe that a more fatal inroad than that of the barbarians has been the cause of its destruction. Some convulsion of nature which heaped up mountains of sand in its bay, and engulphed a part of the town, might have happened in those dark ages, when events of this nature were of secondary importance to the wreck and ruin of nations that followed the fall of the Roman empire. Among the interminable labyrinth of broken columns, the ruins of temples, baths, theatres, towers, gateways and aqueducts, a small building in the form of a Pagan temple is the most interesting, which tradition asserts, was used by St. Paul as a house of prayer; but how it escaped the general destruction of the town is confessedly no mystery to the inhabitants, who say that neither fire, earthquake, nor the progress of the barbarians, had any power over an edifice hallowed by the preaching of the greatest of the Apostles.

CHAPTER XI.

Voyage from Prevesa to the Ionian Isles Santa MauraMiseries of the quarantine-The author attacked by feverHospitality and kindness of the English officers-Voyage to Corfu Improved appearance of the town-Sketches of the island-Its ancient and contemporary history-Observations on the state of the Ionian Isles-Factious spirit of the inhabitants-Dreams of Young Greece-Prejudices of race— Character of the people-The representative system of government-How appreciated by the Ionians-Voyage to Zante Lord Byron and Mr. Barff-Production of ZanteCurrants-How prepared for exportation-Observations on the commerce of the Ionian Isles-Concluding remarks.

A FEW hours' sail in an open boat, took us across the little strait that separates Prevesa from Santa Maura; and truly I felt not a little thankful when I once more saw the British flag, waving from the summit of the fortress. The undulating hills of the ancient Leukadia rising up into a chain of mountains of no great clevation, interspersed with villages and hamlets surrounded by terraced gardens and plantations, has a

most picturesque effect. This is considerably heightened as we approach the town and harbour; the wellbuilt houses, the church with its lofty spire, the stately fortress, the throng of well-dressed people that filled the neatly paved streets; the number of pretty boats that floated on the transparent sea, filled with the gay and the idle, the ringing of bells, the chiming of clocks, the loud hum of human voices, the animation of the sailors loading and unloading the cargoes of their various ships, imparted an air of pleasure and business to the scene.

This was all so new, and burst so suddenly on the vision of the traveller fresh from Turkey, that had he indulged in a nap during his two hours' voyage, he might conceive himself transported by magic into another hemisphere; so startling is the change from listless monotony, indolence and neglect, to comparative wealth, industry, neatness and happiness. In the enthusiasm of the moment, I could not refrain from exclaiming, Happy little isle! thou at least hast been spared from falling under the leaden rule of ignorance and despotism!

The hawk's eye of the ever-watchful officer of the quarantine, soon spied our little bark, and he signaled us with a peremptory wave of the hand to cast anchor in the bay of the quarantine. Now commenced that odious ordeal, so much dreaded by the poor traveller, to the despotism of which he has no choice, but to submit. Confided to the custody of a guardian, who fills the double office of sentinel and servant, I was

conducted to my place of residence, something in the form of a horse's crib, built of unplaned boards, and plastered inside and out with pitch; it measured exactly five feet by seven, about six feet in height, without chair or seat of any kind whatever; and this was one of the abodes for the higher class of travellers. Those erected for the use of the ordinary traveller, consisted of a shed similar to a market stall.

We presume no traveller from Western Europe ever takes this route during his excursions in these countries, and having been found to suit the wants and conveniences of the half-savage hordes of Turkey, who may from time to time visit Santa Maura, the quarantine establishment has not been interfered with, otherwise we cannot believe that such an enormity would be allowed to exist in any civilized country, without having long since met with the public censure it deserves. To add to the other disagreeables of my prison, the quarantine establishment was situated in close proximity to a pestilential marsh, without either tree or shrub to shelter me from the burning sun of July, at a time when the thermometer ranged from 32° to 33° Reaumur; and in this horrible confinement I was obliged to pass five days and nights; the temperature of my sleeping-room being equal to that of a baker's oven, a colony of croaking frogs my musicians, and swarms of mosquitoes, with occasionally a crawling scorpion, my companions. In short, during the whole range of my travels in Asia and Europe, even in the most uncivilized districts, I never met with the equal of this for the utter wretched