The following chemical analysis of the Grecian terra cotta is taken from Millin :-

With respect to the position of the Athenian1 sepulchres, there appears to have been no settled rule, as I have found them placed east, west, north, and south. According to Plutarch the Megarensians, in their interments, placed the head of the corpse to the east, the Athenians to the west; so that were the former to rise they would look west, and the latter east.

The Phoenicians also were buried with their heads to the east. Such was the case, according to Elian, with those who died a violent death.

1 In the periodical work called the Giornale Italiano, which is published at Milan, there are two interesting letters upon the analysis of Grecian vases, by Professor Brocchi, 1817. Life of Solon,

3 This sepulchral stone was found near Athens, and is at present in the British Museum..

we returned to Athens by Cape Kolias, deviating a little to examine some traces at a village called Saint Theodoro, where there is a Turk's pyrgos or country-house, and a ruined church; the altar of which is a small Doric capital of marble. Here is a well containing good water; and near it a marble lion in a sitting posture, smaller than life, and well sculptured in the ancient style, resembling one in the plain near Tragones, and those over the gate at Mycenæ. Several blocks and traces are scattered about the village; and a tumulus, composed of small loose stones, has been excavated without success.

We passed over vestiges of the great south wall, the Teixos paλnpinov, one of the legs of Athens, composed of large square stones, and now level with the ground. After crossing the Ilissos, we re-entered Athens by the Albanian gate.

CHAPTER XIV.

Attic rivers. Ilissos-remains on its banks. Mystic caves.

Fount Enneakrounos. Cascades, and overflowing of the Ilissos. The Cephissos. The Eridanos. Attic mountains-Laurion—Anudros— Hymettos—its monasteries, villages, and antiquities. Discovery of an ancient city near the marble quarries. Panorama from its summit. Mount Pentelikon-its monasteries, villages, and antiquities. Marble quarries. Mount Parnes-its monasteries, villages, and antiquities. Village of Kasha. Castle of Phyle. Nymphæum., Mount Korydallos. Mount Aigaleos. View of the Saronic Gulph from its summit. Seat of Xerxes. Mount Anchesmos. Other smaller hills in the plain.....

THERE is no part of Greece where the soil is so arid, and water so scarce as in Attica.

From Corinth to Sunium, there is not a single running stream of fresh water, except the Athenian Cephissos, and that seldom reaches the sea. The Ilissos is the most celebrated of the Attic rivers, and was sacred to the Muses, and to several divinities,1 whose æthereal essence, inaccessible to the sensation of thirst, might frequent with delight a bare and rocky channel, and imaginary stream.

Plutarch affirms that Attica is a dry and parched country, without rivers or lakes, where few springs occur, and where the water which they used was generally drawn from wells.

The Ilissos rises on Mount Hymettos, to the east of Athens, behind the monastery of Sirgiani. The source is a large, clear, and deep fount, similar to that of the Cephissos at Cephissia, but less copious.

2

It overflows and furnishes a supply of excellent water to the monastery below; but as the stream is small, it imperceptibly disappears soon after it has reached the foot of the mountain. It then becomes a winding channel, and finds its way in a westerly direction to the southern foot of Mount Anchesmos, where it is joined by another small ravine, coming from the north-east, which is probably the Eridanos. I explored the track of the Ilissos, from its source to this place, without finding any remains of antiquity on its banks. But on its northern side, near this spot, are three small caverns in the rock with double entrances; apparently the work of nature, but aided by art. It may have been the place where, upon stated festivals, the mysterious baskets were deposited by two Kanephoroi of the Acropolis. Pausanias1 says, that the cave was not far from the temple of Venus in the gardens; the ruins of which are probably marked by some Ionic remains, and occupied by the church of Agia Moloitades.'

One difficulty however arises concerning the position of the cave; as, according to Pausanias, it was within the city. But his words are not to be strictly interpreted. Er To, may signify, "in the suburbs," for it is certain that neither the temple of Venus, nor the cave, were ever within the walls, as may be seen in Pliny; " Præclaraque Venus extra muros, quæ appellatur Aphrodite e xŋños.' Pliny here alludes to the famous statue of Venus, which was the production of Alkamenes; and is praised by Pausanias3 and Lucian.* This situation still retains its ancient name, Knoυs, with the additional word of aμTEλo, on account of vineyards in its vicinity. Some however insist that it ought to be called Ayyɛλо×πous; supposing it to be on the site of the ancient Ayyɛλn, which was a demos in the tribe Pandionis.

Before the church of Agia Moloitādes are two myrtles of sur

prising dimensions and great age. This tree is not so common in Attica as in other parts of Greece. This is one of the prettiest spots in the plain; it is adorned with pleasant gardens, and abundance of fine fruit and water; and stands at the southern foot of Anchesmos.

But to return to the caves. They still retain their mystic virtues; and no remedy is so efficacious for a sick child, as to drag it two or three times from one cave to another; by which it is either killed or cured. Several ancient wells are observed in the rock on each side of the river. Near these the foundation of a wall, built of large stones, crosses the bed of the Ilissos. It was perhaps a dam, to pre> serve the water.

The temple of Diana was anciently situated on its southern side, in the more immediate vicinity of Athens. The Lyceum was nearly opposite, and further down, the bridge of Hadrian, the Stadium, the island of the Ilissiad Muses, the temple of Ceres, the Olympieion, and the ornamented fountain of Enneakrounos.

In short, no river perhaps was ever so much adorned, with curious and stately edifices, as the banks of the streamless Ilissos. The bas relief, which is here inserted, was found near this spot.