Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/22

16 more. It is a beautiful island covered with verdure. A wing of the reserved battalion of the 97th is quartered there — two companies in the town and one in the castle, which is about a mile above it. Clambering up was tedious work, as the hill in some parts is nearly perpendicular. I was, however, well repaid for my trouble on arriving at the summit, where the sight which presented itself to my eyes was most magnificent. On one side of the ramparts you behold the town far below and the harbor crowded with merchant vessels of every nation; while in the distance, through the misty haze, appears the dark outline of the Morean hills. Looking in the opposite direction, you see an immense plain thickly planted with vineyards, studded with olive groves and pretty villas, just visible in the distance. Still further, mountains capped with snow form a boundary to the valley."

Soon afterwards he was quartered in the castle at Zante, to his great delight, and his letters convey the same vivid impressions of the beauty of the scenes which surrounded him:

"Summer is changing the aspect of all around. The plains beneath are already clothed in green; the vines, olives, pomegranates and hawthorn, with roses, geraniums, and other wild but sweetly-scented flowers, shed their fragrance through the air, and every thing looks charming. Zante is a perfect garden of roses. I generally have two or three bouquets in my room. One could hardly have more pleasant quarters."