tower of an incredible heygth,
with a spyre vnperfectlie appearing, all being of very auncient forme
and workemanship.

And drawing neare vnto this building, I beheld the gratious mountaines
before a farre of seeming small, by comming neerer and neerer, by little
and little, to lift vp themselues more and more, at the first seeming to
mee that they had ioyned together with the building which was an
inclosure or end of the valley betwixt mountaine and mountaine: which
thing I thought worthy the noting, and without further delay I addressed
my selfe more neerer therevnto. And by how much the more I approximated
the same, by so much the more the excellencie of the woorke shewed it
selfe, increasing my desire to behould the same. For there appeared no
longer a substance of vnknowne forme, but a rare Obelisk vpon a vast
frame and stonie foundation, the heigth whereof without comparison did
exceed the toppes of the sidelying mountaynes, although I thought that
they had beene the renowmed _Olympus_[a], the famous _Caucasus_[b], and
not inferior to _Cyllenus_[c].

[Sidenote a: Olimpus a hil in Greece between Macedonie and Thesalie,
so high, that of the Poets it is sometime taken for heauen.]

[Sidenote b: Caucasus a mightie hill in Asia which parteth India
from Scythia.]

[Sidenote c: Cillenus a hill of Arcadia, where Iupiter begat
Mercurie vpon Maia.]

To this sollitarie place thus desiredlye comming, with vnspeakeable
delight, at pleasure I behelde the straunge manner of the arte, the
hugenesse of the frame, and the woonderfull excellencie of the
woorkmanship. Maruelling and considering the compasse and largenesse of
this broken and decayed obiect, made of the pure glistering marble of
_Paros_[d]. The squared stones ioyned togither without anye cement, and
the pointed quadrangulate corner stones streightlye fitted and smoothlye
pullished, the edges whereof were of an exquisite vermellion coulour, as
is possible to bee deuised: and so iust set, as betwixt the ioynts, euen
the enemie to the woorke (if euer there were anye) could not deuise to
hide the point of the smallest spanish needle vsed of the best
workewomen. And there in this so noble a piece of worke, I found a
proportioned substance to euery shape and likenesse that can be thought
vpon and called to remembrance, partly decayed, and some still whole
remaining, with pillers small vpon great, with their excellent heads of
an exact and most