Chapter I: Introduction

The Commander in Chief of the garrison of Gibraltar having indulged the Author of the following pages with leave of absence, he accepted an invitation from an amiable Friend, to accompany him on a Voyage to the Levant.

It was with the most heart-felt satisfaction, that he found himself enabled to profit by so favorable an opportunity of visiting a country, not only interesting from the precious remains of antiquity with which it is still adorned, but from the critical state into which it was thrown by the war already began, which threatened, sooner or later, to involve in it many of the Powers of Europe, and to call forth the just arm of Great Britain, to check the haughty usurpations of the ambitious Court of Russia.

The Author's friends saw his happiness in embarking on such a Tour; and, that they might, in some degree, partake of it, one of them insisted that he should keep, and transmit him, a regular Journal.

This promise the Author readily gave, and faithfully observed.

The compliments paid to this little work, first gave him the idea of appearing in print. Aware, however, that the ground he had travelled over, had often been treated upon by much more able pens, he for some time suppressed his hopes of becoming a candidate for fame in the literary world: but, after the general encouragement he met, he would have been guilty of injustice to himself, and of want of confidence in his friends, had he any longer hesitated to appear before the Public.

CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Page

_CEUTA--Goths and Saracens--Almeria--Rocks
of Abibo_

1

LETTER II.

_Carthagena--War of the Succession_

12

LETTER III.

_Reception at Cagliari--Lucilla_

24

LETTER IV.

_Churches--Ball at the Palace--Trade,
&c. of Sardinia_

37

LETTER V.

_Island of Capria--Tiberius--Malonia_

46

LETTER VI.

_Excursion to Baia_

49

LETTER VII.

_Mount Vesuvius--The Hermit--Bay of
Naples_

64

LETTER VIII.

_Capo de Monte--Portici--Herculaneum--Pompeia_

75

LETTER IX.

_Casertta--St. Januarius--Opera--Government_

86

LETTER X.

_Visit to the King of Naples at Castello
Mare--The Queen--Coast of Salerno--Pestum_

97

LETTER XI.

_Lipari Islands--Volcano of Strombolo_

106

LETTER XII.

_Messina--Earthquake--Scylla and Charybdis--Sir
George Byng--Commodore
Walton_

112

LETTER XIII.

_A fireball--Zante--Ithaca--Promontory
of Leucate--Turks and Greeks_

124

LETTER XIV.

_Pirates--Milo--Paros--Attica--Sunium_

139

LETTER XV.

_Smyrna--Great Advantages to be derived
from the Turkey Trade--Necessity of
a regular Lazaretto in England_

158