city, and who, by its splendour, deluded the Athenians into a belief
of greater wealth than they possessed.

Our ascent to the theatre, the day after, proved to be a very steep
one, of half an hour on mule-back; in making which, we scared two of
those prodigious birds, the _ospreys_, who, having reconnoitred us,
forthwith began to wheel in larger and larger sweeps, and at last
made off for the sea. We found the interior of the theatre occupied
by an audience ready for our arrival; it consisted of innummerable
_hawks_, the chaoli just mentioned, which began to scream at our
intrusion. The ospreys soon returned, and were plainly only waiting
our departure to subside upon their solitary domain. We would not be
a soft-billed bird for something in this neighbourhood; no song would
save them from the hawks' supper. Having luxuriated on the 24th of
May for full four hours in this enchanting neighbourhood, we were
sorry to return to our inn--and such an inn! We departed abruptly,
and probably never to return; but we shall think of Segeste in Hyde
Park, or as we pass the candlestick Corinthians of Whitehall.
Thucydides[16] relates that a prevailing notion in his time was, that
the _Trojans_ after losing _Troy_ went first to _Sicily_, and founded
there Egesta and Eryx. Now, as on the same authority the first
_Greek_ colony was _Naxos_, also in Sicily, Greeks and Trojans
(strange coincidence!) must have _met again_ on new ground after the
_Iliad_ was all acted and done with, like a tale that is told.

[Footnote 16: _Vide_ THUCYDIDES, Book iv. chap. 15.]

On our return towards Palermo, one of our party having a touch of
ague, we crossed the street to the apothecary, (at Calatafrini, our
night's halt,) and smelling about his musty galenicals, amidst a