drunk, he is reported to have said, in returning thanks, that he was doubtful whether he could express his 'sense of the obligation as he ought, having been so long in the practice of speaking a foreign language that it was with some difficulty he could convey the 'whole force of what he felt in his own.'

Having despatched messengers to Corfu and Missolonghi in quest of information, he resolved, while waiting their return, to employ his time in a journey to Ithaca, which island is separated from that of Cephalonia but by a narrow strait. On his way to

Vathi, the chief city of the island, to which place he had been invited, and his journey hospitably facilitated, by the Resident, Captain Knox, he paid a visit to the mountain-cave in which, according to tradition, Ulysses deposited the presents of the Phæacians. 'Lord Byron (says Count Gamba) ascended to the grotto, but the steepness and height prevented him 'from reaching the remains of the Castle. I myself experienced considerable difficulty in gaining it. 'Lord Byron sat reading in the grotto, but fell asleep. 'I awoke him on my return, and he said that I had interrupted dreams more pleasant than ever he had 'before in his life.'

Though unchanged, since he first visited these regions, in his preference of the wild charms of Nature to all the classic associations of Art and History, he yet joined with much interest in any pilgrimage to those places which tradition had sanctified. At the Fountain of Arethusa, one of the spots of this kind which he visited, a repast had been prepared for himself and his party by the Resident; and at the School of Homer,-as some remains beyond Chioni

are called, he met with an old refugee bishop, whom he had known thirteen years before in Livadia, and with whom he now conversed of those times with a rapidity and freshness of recollection with which the memory of the old bishop could but ill keep pace. Neither did the traditional Baths of Penelope escape his research; and however sceptical (says a lady, 'who, soon after, followed his footsteps) he might have 'been as to these supposed localities, he never offended 'the natives by any objection to the reality of their 'fancies. On the contrary, his politeness and kindness won the respect and admiration of all those 'Greek gentlemen who saw him; and to me they spoke ' of him with enthusiasm.'

Those benevolent views by which, even more, perhaps, than by any ambition of renown, he proved himself to be actuated in his present course, had, during his short stay at Ithaca, opportunities of disclosing themselves. On learning that a number of poor families had fled thither from Scio, Patras, and other parts of Greece, he not only presented to the Commandant three thousand piastres for their relief, but by his generosity to one family in particular, which had once been in a state of affluence at Patras, enabled them to repair their circumstances and again live in comfort. The eldest girl (says the lady whom I ' have already quoted) became afterwards the mistress ' of the school formed at Ithaca; and neither she, her 'sister, nor mother, could ever speak of Lord Byron 'without the deepest feeling of gratitude and of regret for his too premature death.'

After occupying in this excursion about eight days, he had again established himself on board the Her

cules, when one of the messengers whom he had despatched returned, bringing a letter to him from the brave Marco Botzari, whom he had left among the mountains of Agrafa, preparing for that attack in which he so gloriously fell. The following are the terms in which this heroic chief wrote to Lord Byron.

6

Your letter, and that of the venerable Ignazio, have filled me with joy. Your Excellency is exactly the person of whom we stand in need. Let nothing prevent you from coming into this part of 'Greece. The enemy threatens us in great number; but, by the help of God and your Excellency, they 'shall meet a suitable resistance. I shall have something to do to-night against a corps of six or seven 'thousand Albanians, encamped close to this place. The day after to-morrow I will set out with a few 'chosen companions, to meet your Excellency. Do 'not delay. I thank you for the good opinion you have of my fellow-citizens, which God grant you will 'not find ill-founded; and I thank you still more for 'the care you have so kindly taken of them.

Believe me, &c.'

In the expectation that Lord Byron would proceed forthwith to Missolonghi, it had been the intention of Botzari, as the above letter announces, to leave the army, and hasten, with a few of his brother warriors, to receive their noble ally on his landing in a manner worthy of the generous mission on which he came. The above letter, however, preceded but by a few hours his death. That very night he penetrated, with but a handful of followers, into the midst of the enemy's camp, whose force was eight thousand strong,

and after leading his heroic band over heaps of dead, fell, at last, close to the tent of the Pasha himself.

The mention made in this brave Suliote's letter of Lord Byron's care of his fellow-citizens refers to a popular act done recently by the noble poet at Cephalonia in taking into his pay, as a body-guard, forty of this now homeless tribe. On finding, however, that for want of employment they were becoming restless and turbulent, he despatched them off soon after, armed and provisioned, to join in the defence of Missolonghi, which was at that time besieged on one side by a considerable force, and blockaded on the other by a Turkish squadron. Already had he, with a view to the succour of this place, made a generous offer to the Government, which he thus states himself in one of his letters. I offered to advance a thousand dollars ' a month for the succour of Missolonghi, and the 'Suliotes under Botzari (since killed), but the Govern'ment have answered me, that they wish to confer with me previously, which is in fact saying they 'wish me to expend my money in some other direc'tion. I will take care that it is for the public cause, otherwise I will not advance a para. The opposition say they want to cajole me, and the party in power say the others wish to seduce me, so between the ' two I have a difficult part to play; however, I will 'have nothing to do with the factions unless to recon'cile them if possible.'

In these last few sentences is described briefly the position in which Lord Byron was now placed, and in which the coolness, foresight, and self-possession he displayed sufficiently refute the notion that even the