most likely contributed its own name to the city. A colony from (Hybla) Megara founded, as we are told by Thucydides, (lib. vi. cap. 4,) and, as near as we can discover, 630 B.C., Selinus, now called Selinunte. The wonderfully colossal temples are laying on the ground, in three separate and confused piles, and appear to have been overthrown by a tremendous earthquake. Several remarkable metopes, of very ancient and curious sculpture, were found a few years since, amongst the huge blocks of architrave, drums, and Doric capitals of the pillars. I saw them in the museum of the university at Palermo, and was surprised to observe remains of red paint upon some of them. Virgil, and after him Silius Italicus, have given the epithet palmy to Selinus, though at this day "palmosa," or "palmæque arbusta," can only be applied to it from the dwarf palm, or palmetto, ( Chamærops humilis) which abounds in the more barren parts of the south of Sicily. From thence I went straight to Segesta, passing through Castelvetrano, S. Ninfa, and Vita. On this uninteresting road I beheld at a distance Monte S. Giuliano, the former Eryx, on which was the habitation of Venus Erycina, and now the town of St. Julian. The magnificent and venerable Temple of Segesta stands alone on the top of an isolated eminence, in a bare and wild country; its Doric peristyle is quite perfect, but there are no remains of its cella. To what deity this temple has been sacred there is nothing known; Diana, indeed, seems, from Cicero's account, (In Verr., lib. iv. c. 33 and 34,) to have been held among the Segestans in as high estimation as she was with the Ephesians; but, since this structure has probably been "extra urbem," it must, I think, have been dedicated to Ceres, according to the opinion of Vitruvius, (lib. i. cap. 7.) The position of the city has evidently been on the opposite hill to the east, which is called Monte Barbara, where are likewise the ruins of the theatre. Egesta, or Segesta, was one of the most ancient places in the island; the general legend or story is, that it was founded by some Trojans who were wanderers, after the taking of their own city; such is Thucydides' account; whilst Cicero tells us that it was built by Eneas, and, consequently, the Segestans were akin (cognati) to the Romans. He describes it, even in his day, as "oppidum pervetus ;" and so Virgil, assigning to it the same founder, names it Acesta. And, in commemoration of this Trojan origin, some of the coins of Segesta represent Eneas bearing his father and the Palladium away from the flames of Troy. (See Castellus, Torremuzza, Siciliæ Vet. Num., tab. Ixiv. figs. 2-7.) Proceeding through a valley, I passed, not far to the N.E., the hot springs, or Aqua Segestane; these are still in some repute, and flow into the river S. Bartolomeo, the former Crimisus. I then emerged from this dreary and uncultivated district, and arrived at the good Saracenic town of Alcamo. From hence I got once more upon an excellent carriage road, the ocòv dμažıròv of Pindar, or strada carrozzábile, as the Sicilians term it; and as I approached Partinico, I hardly ever witnessed a more superb view. The country there appeared like a magnificent theatre, backed by fine mountains that project into the sea; in front extended the exquisitely coloured water and gulf of Castellamare, with the plain, over which I rode, sloping gently to the shore, and loaded with every production of nature. This I thought in reality one of the most fertile and lovely spots that can be conceived. After traversing some bare limestone mountains, along which the road is well carried, I descended, in the afternoon of June 10, through a sweet country, to Palermo "La Felice”—a beautiful capital, nearly surrounded by gardens. The ancient name Panormus --Пáropμoc-will give you a good idea of its spacious harbour. This city no longer possesses any remains of her extreme antiquity; those more curious edifices, which she has yet to show, are of mediæval date, and the works of her conquerors, the Saracens, and not, as one might almost have expected, of the Phoenicians, who, as we are informed by Thucydides, seated themselves within her walls after the Greeks had begun to settle in numbers upon the island. Time, however, forbids me at present from giving you any description of Palermo, and of her most charming environs. MARCUS CURTIUS. WHAT terror menaces the state, that through imperial Rome, The people gaze with fear-struck hearts, the sides are dark and deep, Nought can the wrath of Jove avert, nought for your sins atone, The gallant Marcus Curtius, the beautiful, the young. And thus he spoke-" My countrymen, the things most prized by you Are, a trusty blade, a stout right arm, and a heart that's brave and true. The infernal gods a life demand, and I will gladly be, My native land, my much loved Rome, a sacrifice for thee. Ho there! my corslet and my helm-bring forth my warrior steed, That never, in the longest day, yet failed me at my need." He mounts-the assembled multitude scarce dare to draw their breath, He slacks the rein, he plies the spur, the charger dashes on- But hark! it thunders on the left, the omen not in vain, London, June, 1843. THOS. D'OYLY. SAVINDROOG.1 BY M. RAFTER, ESQ. CHAPTER XLIV. FAITHFUL AND FORSAKEN. It was the harvest moon, and the blue vault was illumined with its rich effulgence. The reaper had laid by his sickle; the humble task of the gleaner was over for the day, and the children of toil were reposing in the peaceful hamlet, or enjoying the tranquil eve with song and dance, the unsophisticated pleasures of rural life. Midway advanced in the cloudless firmament, the lucid beams of the car-borne goddess shone with more than usual splendor; and the bold and picturesque features of the Droog and the jungle appeared distinctly visible in the silvery radiance of the mimic day. The night was calm and still, and unbroken silence reigned throughout the Droog; for Kempé and his myrmidons had all departed on their expedition; which was of so important a nature, that almost every man who could handle a bow or a matchlock was pressed into the service; and, with the exception of the old men, women and children, the fortress was left almost entirely to the impregnable nature of its own defences. All the motley garrison had apparently retired to rest, and not a sound was heard to interrupt the solemn stillness of the scene; save the tinkling of a veena on the loftiest pinnacle of the Droog, and the mellow tones of a plaintive voice, pouring out some amorous descant on the passing breeze. It was Vega, the solitary occupant of his aerial prison; where, since his disgrace on the preceding evening, he had continued, according to the orders of his incensed Chief, alone, unfed and unsheltered from the heavy dews and the scorching sun; which poured with unbroken fervour on the rocky platform that constituted the place of his confinement, and towered, in solitary grandeur, high over every other part of the stupendous mountain. But the sufferings he endured from the pangs of hunger, and the inclemency of the sky, were nothing compared to the agonies of his wounded spirit. Disgraced, and ignominiously struck by his Chief, in the presence of his fellow soldiers, for a generous attempt to save that Chief from the perpetration of a drunken outrage-imprisoned and thrown aside as a worthless thing; at a moment when every arm was put in requisition, and his heart was panting for an opportunity to distinguish himself in the fieldshunned and scoffed at by his former companions, who blindly acquiesced in every act and opinion of their Chief, and who looked on the loss of his favour as the only true criterion of guilt; it was not in the nature of the Bheel to submit in silent humility to such an unmerited accumulation of insult and injury. He accordingly gave frequent vent, in no measured terms, to the bitter feelings of his agitated 1 Continued from p. 134. July 1843.-VOL. XXXVII.—NO. CXLVII. S breast; and many a threat of vengeance fell mutteringly from his parched and quivering lips, as the last sound of the Collary horn, which indicated the march of the expedition, was heard faintly dying away in the distant jungle. But, in addition to the recent outrages sustained at the hands of his Chief, there was one of much greater moment still rankling in the breast of the Bheel. This was the total estrangement of the affections of Lillah; who, though once apparently devoted to him with the fondest attachment, had been for some time past so completely occupied with her ambitious designs on the musnud, that the hapless Vega now met with nothing but coldness and contempt, in return for the passionate tenderness with which he still continued to adore her. While contributing his zealous services in the abduction of the Begum of Mysore, Vega had indulged a flattering hope of being rewarded with the hand of Lillah but, whether the Chief had become more churlish of late, or whether the fascinations of Lillah were still necessary to his happiness, certain it is that every hint dropt by Vega to his lord, on this interesting subject, fell on a deaf ear; while the siren herself received his impassioned looks and burning sighs with a gesture of indifference, or a smile of derision, that filled the soul of the amorous Bheel with bitterness and despair. : Love, however, is an imperious deity; and will seldom suffer the flame he has once truly kindled in the breast to be totally extinguished, by any of those other feelings and passions which harass and perplex by turns the lord of the creation. Accordingly, in the midst of his mortified pride and indignation, the complaints of the lover were still vented more in sorrow than in anger against the object of his affections, whom on the present occasion he was thus apostrophizing to the sombre accompaniment of his veena: Here ceased the lay of the amorous Vega; who sat on his mossy rock, silent and motionless, as if he sought to catch again the echo of his plaintive ditty. To his utter astonishment, his lay did actually still seem to float on the air; but with such a superiority of tone and execution as must, he thought, belong to the lyre of some celestial musician. In deep mysterious awe the wondering Bheel raised his head, and gazed around, with a timid superstitious look; half wishing, half fearing to view the hand which had produced such heavenly sounds, that fell softly and sweetly on his heart, like dew upon the budding flowers of Spring; as if from his celestial home, some pitying spirit had descended to sooth him with his minstrelsy. Nor did his awe or wonder cease when, from behind a hoary headed crag, like one of those fleet visions of the night that steal upon the heated fancy, clothed in the dazzling moonshine, the Yogie silently approached, and stood before the startled Bheel. 66 Holy father!" exclaimed Vega, with a deep reverential tone; for, though proof to every physical fear, his imagination had invested the Yogie with a superhuman character that put his moral courage to a severe test, "well mayest thou boast the minstrelsy that has subdued the grief of the Begum; for even my distracted brain has been consoled by the magic tone of thy veena." "It rejoices me exceedingly," replied the Yogie, "that my poor ability should have the power of soothing those sorrows which I know must be heavy in this your solitary prison." "Great indeed is your power on the instrument," said the Bheel, "but much do I wonder, venerable father, to see one so old ascend, at such an hour, this awful height; which an unpracticed foot could scarcely gain amidst the cheerful light of day. It makes even me dizzy to look downward, from the parapet on which I am leaning: but the viewless powers of air have doubtless guided and supported your footsteps hither." "My son !" replied the Yogie, meekly, "the gods have surely guided my footsteps, through this dark and wildering maze, to display the sacred light of Truth, and to turn at least one of many who err from the evil of his deeds." |