shrubs which start from the innumerable cavities of the limestone.

The remains of Navarino Vecchio, or ancient Navarino, consist in a fort
or castle of mean construction, covering the summit of a hill sloping
quickly to the south, but falling in abrupt precipices to the north and
east. The town was built on the southern declivity, and was surrounded
by a wall, which, allowing for the natural irregularities of the soil,
represented a triangle, with the castle at the apex or summit--a form
observable in many of the ancient cities of Greece.

The foundation of the walls throughout the whole circuit remains entire;
but the fortifications were never of any consequence, though they present
a picturesque group of turrets and battlements from below, and must have
been very imposing from the sea,--an effect which those of the modern city
have recently failed to produce. From the top is an extensive view over
the island of Sphacteria, the port, with the town of Navarino to the
south, and a considerable tract of the territory anciently called Messenia
on the east, with the conic hill, which, though some miles from the shore,
is used as a landmark to point out the entrance of the port. Mr. Purdy, in
his _New Sailing Directory for the Mediterranean Sea_, says, "from the
sea, a frigate might, in two or three hours, batter down the walls (of
Navarino); the artillery of the place (in 1825) consisted of forty pieces
of cannon; the greater part in the fort, eight on the battery at the
entrance of the harbour, and a few in some of the towers along the city."
It should be added that the port is said to be capable of containing 2,000
sail; and the population of the town is about 3,000, the most of whom are
Turks.

To the curious _dilettanti_ in dates, &c. (such as our friend _P.T.W._
&c.) the following almost coinciding circumstances may not prove