Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/37

Rh stretched out like a model map. As we drew near Corinth, we found ourselves again within the precincts of civilization: first came the phenomenon of ruts and roads ; then here and there a wheeled vehicle, such as we had not seen during two days' journey ; then cultivated fields and gardens; at last, when we got into the miserable village, we found a regular inn, full of English tourists, whose presence rather disturbed the impression of the scene. We took a sailing-boat at Kalamaki, and got to Athens after a night's becalming in an open boat, crowded with ladies. Fortunately the weather was very fine. As we entered Athens in the early morning, I saw the colonnade of the Parthenon lit up into sudden splendour with the rays of the god Helios.

  , March 15, 1852. The principal monuments of Athens have been so frequently delineated and described, that a traveller, on first arriving, recognizes on every side long-familiar forms, and his first impressions lose perhaps something of their vividness in proportion to this previous familiarity. But nothing that I had ever read or seen at all prepared me for the beauty of the Athenian landscape; nor can any one, without visiting Athens, understand how exquisitely the ancient edifices are designed in relation to this landscape, and how much the subtle charm of their proportions is enhanced by this combination.

