early
approaches to the use of that monosyllable which Gibbon[1], without
expressing it, so adroitly applied to some assertion of his
antagonist, Mr. Davies. In truth, our traveller's words are rather
bitter towards his brother tourist: but we must conclude that their
justice warrants their severity.

[Footnote 1: See his Vindication of the 15th and 16th chapters of the
_Decline and Fall_, &c.]

In the second chapter, the author describes his landing in Ithaca,
and arrival at the rock Korax and the fountain Arethusa, as he
designates it with sufficient positiveness.--This rock, now known by
the name of Korax, or Koraka Petra, he contends to be the same with
that which Homer mentions as contiguous to the habitation of Eumaeus,
the faithful swine-herd of Ulysses.--We shall take the liberty of
adding to our extracts from Mr. Gell some of the passages in Homer to
which he _refers_ only, conceiving this to be the fairest method of
exhibiting the strength or the weakness of his argument. "Ulysses,"
he observes, "came to the extremity of the isle to visit Eumusae, and
that extremity was the most southern; for Telemachus, coming from
Pylos, touched at the first south-eastern part of Ithaca with the
same intention."

[Greek: Kai tote de r' Odusea kakos pothen egage daimon
Agrou ep' eschatien, hothi domata naie subotes;
Enth' elthen philos uios Odusseos theioio,
Ek Pulou emathoenios ion sun nei melaine;
Odussei O.

Autar epen proten akten Ithakes aphikeai,
Nea men es polin otrunai kai panlas hetairous;
Autos de protisa suboten eisaphikesthai,
k.t.l. Odussei O.]

These citations, we think, appear to justify the author in his
attempt to identify the situation of his rock and fountain with the
place of those mentioned by Homer. But let us now follow him in the
closer description of the scene.--After some account of the subjects
in the plate affixed, Mr. Gell remarks: "It is impossible to visit
this sequestered spot without being struck with the recollection of
the Fount of Arethusa and the Rock Korax, which the poet mentions in
the same line, adding, that there the swine eat the _sweet_[1]
acorns, and drank the black water."

[Footnote 1: "_Sweet_ acorns." Does Mr. Gell translate from the
Latin? To avoid similar cause of mistake, [Greek: menoeikea] should
not be rendered _suavem_ but _gratam_, as Barnes has given it.]

[Greek: Deeis ton ge suessi paremenon; ai de nemontai
Par Korakos petre, epi te