city. We are drawing near our last hour. History will render us justice-posterity will weep over our misfortunes. I am proud to think the blood of a Swiss of a child of William Tell-is about to mingle with that of the heroes of Greece."

CHAPTER XVI.

AGRENIUM.

AT Messolonghi we took an additional escort, and passing over the low grounds which were once occupied by the camp of the besiegers, but which at present were smiling with green fields and luxuriant pastures, we gained the western projection of Mount Zygos, the ancient Panætolium. From the heights of the pass we enjoyed a rich and extensive view of Messolonghi and Anatolicon; and while among the corn fields and olive groves of the latter, we heard the morning salutes which were fired by the garrison of Messolonghi in honour of the Queen's birth-day. The sound of the cannon awakened our recollections of the past, and we felt as if we were in the vicinity of the scenes which were enacted during the continuance of the long and glorious siege of Messolonghi.

A ride of two hours and a half, after leaving the capital of Ætolia, brought us to Klisura, the most important pass between the northern and southern districts of the province. Its name, which in Greek signifies the shatter, is very appropriate, for

its whole length, which is a little more than two miles and a half, is formed by a deep and abrupt rent in Mount Panætolium; the rocks on each side of the gorge are exceedingly wild, and at the same time so picturesque as to bear a striking resemblance to the features of the pass at the entrance of the vale of Tempe. The Klisura of Etolia wants the charms of the mild Peneus, and the beauty of the springs which gladden the soft vale of Tempe; still its grand and majestic rocks, and the graceful festoons of the ivy, and the deep shade of the mountain-fir tree, though less gay are not less imposing. It has ever been the great thoroughfare between the north and south, and Klisura, like Tempe, has witnessed the passage of those imposing armies which have so often blighted the regions to the south of it.

To the left of the pass, and about half way in its recesses, we noticed the hermitage of George Zucas, a native of Epirus, who, like many of his compatriots, was initiated at a very early period of his life in the honest and honourable vocation of a mountain kleft. In pursuing the duties of his profession, he proved himself a man of courage, and was wanting neither in boldness nor in cruelty; but after some vicissitudes to which he was exposed by his peculiar life, he was obliged to attach himself to the service of Emir Vereoni, and was in the company of this noted Pasha in his expedition against Messolonghi. At this period of his life

Zucas became sensible of his crimes, and having resolved to cancel a few of the black marks against him, took occasion to acquaint the Greeks with the intention of the Pasha, and thus saved the garrison from the attempted surprise on Christmas eve. The defeat of the Turks was signal.

During the subsequent sieges of Messolonghi, Zucas continued to be one of its brave defenders; and when the troubles of the country were over, he adopted the monastic life, and established a hermitage, for whose maintenance he taxes the benevolence of the people and the liberality of travellers. Zucas, it would appear, has not entirely forgotten his early habits, and so far as results are concerned, he pursues the same vocation, only in a more mild form; like a true genius, he has conformed to the exigencies of the times, but whatever the modifications to which he has thought fit to submit, he still lives by taxing the industry of others.

From the hermitage we passed on to the barracks at the termination of the pass, where we noticed the tombs of those who in former times fell victims to the power of the klefts; and we had scarcely left the pass when we fell in with the state attorney of Messolonghi, who was escorted by a cavalcade of ten men. The strong military force which attended this functionary of justice was by no means calculated to remove the ideas we had conceived of the state of the country.

As soon as we disentangled ourselves from the windings of the defile we began to catch some passing glimpses of the plain, the lakes, and the town of Agrenium, with the chain of mountains to the rear of it. The prospect was not only very extensive but truly beautiful, and I doubt not that it acquired additional charms from the contrast which it presented to the scenes within the pass. We continued to wander through regions which, though uncultivated, bespoke the wealth of the land, till we came to the "Bridges of Alah-Bey," which stretch over the low and marshy grounds that lie in the centre of the plain, and between the lakes of Lysimachia and Hydra, the ancient Canope and Trichonis. These lakes are united by a number of bayous, and the Calderim, or causeway, with its numerous arched bridges, offers the only passage. The bridges of Alah-Bey, therefore, form a second and equally difficult pass between the northern and southern district of Ætolia. The woods on either side of the bridges are overgrown with vines and paresites of every description, and form, through the whole length of the pass, a canopy of matchless beauty; its whole appearance was in contrast with every thing we had seen in Greece, and its luxuriance and freshness brought to mind the magnificent arches and graceful festoons of magnolias and jasmines which span and decorate some of the majestic streams of the new world.

From the bridges of Alah-Bey to Agrenium, the