MY DEAR FRIEND,

Convinced that you will be happy to hear of our arrival in Asia, I take advantage of the first courier to send you a letter.

Independent of the satisfaction of being in a region so noted in history, and of traversing scenes which one has so often contemplated in the page of antiquity, we have the happiness of finding a society we did not expect in this lost country--a soil where the iron hand of Despotism checks every generous sentiment in the vanquished Greek, and where the conqueror Turk, proud in his ignorance, scorns the refinements of more enlightened people, and looks down with insolence or contempt on every nation but his own. He has, however, many good qualities; and his true character, I perceive, is not easily delineated. I shall consider him attentively, and from time to time send you those traits I discover. In the mean while, I will conclude this letter with my Journal from our leaving Modon to our arrival at this city.

Saturday, October 20th.

At eight o'clock this morning, we left Modon, and, at three in the afternoon, were opposite Cape Matapan. The country appears barren; but there are several villages in sight.

In the night, we entered the Archipelago, or Ægean Sea, by passing between Cytherea (the Island of Venus, now called Serigo) and Cape Angelo, the south-east point of the Morea.

This neighbourhood is inhabited by a nest of pirates, who call themselves the real descendants of the Lacedemonians, and, though subject to the Turks, acknowledge no law.

In calm weather, they come off in large boats, and plunder every vessel that passes, but seldom seize on any ship, or even molest the people, provided they allow them to take all they want.

It is very remarkable, that, although the French have always a force in these seas, their vessels are more frequently plundered than those of any other nation; and there are very few instances of ours being insulted, notwithstanding the Greeks so seldom see a British man of war.

But, for fear of accidents, we shortened sail, to convoy the Adventure, of Plymouth, which we had just overtaken.

The three Sclavonians who seized the Duchess of Tuscany, bound from Gibraltar, meant to have brought her here, but being obliged to put into Zante, they were discovered and executed.

Sunday, October 21st.

Becalmed in the scene of Falconer's Shipwreck, Crete just discernible on our right, Falcanero on our left, and Milo a-head. Lat. 36° 38'.

At dusk the wind sprang up, with violent squalls, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and soon burst forth in a furious storm.

We were now in a most unpleasant situation, Milo was become a dangerous lee shore. It was no comfort to know that there was an excellent harbour a few miles to leeward. Darkness prevented our seeing the entrance to it.

We were, therefore, obliged to haul close to the wind, and by skill, attention, and perseverance, happily weathered the most windward point of the island.

The wind then abated, and the sea became less violent; but the next morning the storm was suddenly renewed, and we were assailed more furiously than ever; but as day-light came to our assistance, we made the best of our way towards the harbour, and a pilot getting on board, we were safe at an anchor before twelve o'clock.

Some centuries before Christ, Milo was a flourishing Republic, but having refused its assistance to Greece, when it was invaded by the Persians, the Athenians, having defeated the Barbarians, attacked the Miliotes, and after several repulses, at last entirely overthrew them, and as a punishment, all the men who escaped the sword, were carried into Attica. But at the close of the " A. A. C. 404." Peloponnesian war, the Athenians being subdued by the Lacedemonians, Milo was restored to its liberty. It was afterwards taken by the Romans, and has ever since shared the fate of the Eastern Empire. And for some centuries the Greeks have been slaves in a country, from which they often carried their arms into that of their present Lords.

Whatever the Turk conquers, he immediately considers as his own, whether it be land, cattle, men, women, or children, and instantly appropriates it to his use, either by sale, exchange, or possession.

But as an act of grace, the Sultan grants the Greeks a temporary emancipation from year to year, for which they pay an annual capitation tax of seven shillings each person.

At the commencement of this century the island contained seventeen churches, and eleven chapels; and the whole space from the town to the harbour, which is near two miles, was laid out in beautiful gardens. But alas! how wretchedly is it altered, three-fourths of the towns are in ruins, and the inhabitants are daily decreasing. Of the gardens scarce a vestige is left; and the baths on the water side are now only a set of small, dirty caves. Eight or ten yards from the shore the hot spring, which supplied them, is seen boiling through the salt water, and the sand is, I think, still hotter than that of Baia. But perhaps I speak from the pain my curiosity cost me being more recent in my memory.

The women, so celebrated for their beauty, are now sallow, unhealthy, and disgustingly ugly; and render themselves still more hideous by their dress, which is a kind of loose jacket, with a white cotton petticoat, that scarcely covers two thirds of their thighs, barely meeting the stocking above the knee. Their hind hair hangs down the back in a number of plaits; that on the fore part of the head is combed down each side of the face, and terminated by a small, stiff curl, which is even with the lower part of the cheek.

All the inhabitants are Greeks; for the Turks are not fond of trusting themselves in the small islands; but every summer the Captain Bashaw goes round with a squadron to keep them in subjection, and to collect the revenue.

When the Russians made themselves masters of the Archipelago, during the late war, many of the islands declared in their favour; but being abandoned at the peace, they were so severely mulcted by the Grand Signior, that our pilot tells me, they are determined to remain perfectly quiet. But as the Turks do not think them worth a garrison, and will not trust them with arms and ammunition, all those which the Russians may choose to invade, will be obliged to submit.

The two points which form the entrance of the harbour, crossing each other, render it imperceptible until you are close to it. Thus, while you are perfectly secure within it, you find great difficulty in getting out, particularly in a northerly wind. And as no trade is carried on, except a little in corn and salt, Milo would scarce ever be visited, were it not that being the first island one makes in the Archipelago, the pilots have chosen it for their residence. They live in a little town on the top of a high rock, which, from its situation and appearance, is called The Castle.

Partridges abound in this island, and are so cheap, that you may buy one for a charge of powder only. The peasants get them by standing behind a portable screen, with a small aperture in the center, in which they place the muzzle of their piece, and then draw the partridge by a call. When a sufficient number are collected, they fire among them, and generally kill from four to seven at a shot. But even this method of getting them is so expensive, from the scarcity of ammunition, that the people can never afford to shoot them, but when there are gentlemen in the island, from whom they can beg a little powder and shot.

Several of us have killed four or five in an afternoon walk, putting them up ourselves, without even the assistance of a dog.

Thursday, October 25th.

At day-break we got under way, with a light breeze, and at midnight anchored at Paros, another of the Greek islands, and which is in a much better state than Milo. The men look more healthy, and the women not so ugly.

The water here is excellent; and as that we got at Messina has been complained of, as being too hard to make proper pease-soup for the people, all the casks are ordered to be emptied and refilled.

Whilst its marble quarries continued to be worked, Paros was one of the most flourishing of the Cyclades; but on the decline of the Eastern Empire, they were entirely neglected, and are now converted into caves, in which the shepherds shelter their flocks. We have been in several of these subterraneous folds, which put me much in mind of Homer's description of Polyphemus. The common walls are almost entirely composed of marble; and in examining a very small part of one, we found several pieces of cornice, and basso relievo.

Several fine blocks of marble--fragments of columns, are lying close to the water's edge, and seem to have been brought there by travellers, who for want of a proper purchase to get them on board, have not been able to carry them farther.

After the battle of Marathon, Miltiades was sent to lay Paros under contribution, on account of its joining the Persians; but the inhabitants made so resolute a defence, that all the efforts of that excellent General were unable to reduce them; and, at length, having lost a number of his men, and being himself wounded, Miltiades, hearing that the Persians were making preparations for a second invasion, returned to Athens, where his ungrateful countrymen, forgetful of his eminent services, sentenced him to pay the expences of the expedition; and being unable to raise this fine, the Great Deliverer of Greece was thrown into prison; and, to the eternal infamy of the Athenians, he died of the wounds he had received in their service!

The Russians made this their grand arsenal; their powder magazines, and several other buildings, are still standing, and the island is considerably indebted to them for improving the convenience for water, and for the trade which the cash they expended, introduced among the inhabitants.

Delos is about five leagues off, Naxos two, and Antiparos about the same distance. In the last there is a cavern, which is reckoned one of the greatest wonders of the Archipelago; but as a natural curiosity, it is by no means equal to Saint Michael's Cave at Gibraltar. A multitude of names are cut near the entrance. Lady Craven's is among the latest.

Tuesday, October 30th.

Sailed from Paros, with an intention of visiting Delos in our way to Smyrna, but the wind changing, we stood to the north-west, profiting by this opportunity, to supply the ship with wood.

Wednesday, October 31st.

Anchored between the Island of Longa and the Coast of Immortal Attica. But my heart bleeds whilst I survey the sad change it has undergone. In vain do I search for the descendants of those rustic patriots, whose valour enabled Miltiades and Themistocles to overthrow the Persian host by sea and land, or for those well cultivated fields, where art concealed the frugality of nature. Alas! far as the best glass can reach, no sign of a dwelling can be seen; and the country, for want of inhabitants, lies entirely neglected.

After almost despairing of meeting a human being, I one day fell in with two men grazing a considerable number of horses, which I imagined was a nursery for the Turkish Cavalry; but on mentioning this to the Greeks who attended them, they answered no; that the only use they were of was to tread out the corn in summer; in return for which they grazed them from place to place in winter. I also found a small chapel, not bigger than an hermitage, to which the people from the interior country, on particular occasions, resort. Part of the neighbourhood is covered with wood, which any one may take who chooses to cut it. Longa, the once celebrated Island of Helen, is entirely depopulated, and produces nothing. Our pilot calls this Port MaundrÉ. It has the same advantage I remarked at Modon, a passage at each end of the island.

If you can believe that I am within a day's journey of Athens, how will you envy my being so near the mother of the arts and sciences, and what will you say when I tell you that I did not go there. But be assured it was not through want of exertion; but from the impracticability of getting there by land in these hostile times. But whilst the people were wooding, I went in a boat to the Promontory of Sunium, to see the remains of the Temple of Minerva, which I take to be one of the most ancient remaining in Greece. If we may credit Homer, it was contemporary with Troy; for in the third book of the Odyssey, Nestor, after relating the seduction of Clytemnestra, passing to the return of the Greeks, says,

In some ground lately opened I found a human scull, and some other burnt bones. What antiquarian will object to their being those of this ill-fated pilot?

A considerable part of the architrave of the Temple is still standing, supported by fifteen columns, nine of which are in a row, each nineteen feet high, and near eleven in circumference. The whole edifice was of Parian marble. Vast quantities of fragments and broken columns are lying all around, and the Temple is still a beautiful, and a venerable object, on whatever side you approach the Promontory.

November 5th.

Got under way at day-light, and having passed the south point of Negropont (the ancient Euboea) and Andros, were opposite the center of the Island of Teno at twelve o'clock the next day. It seems populous and well cultivated. Lat. 37° 33'. Paros, Delos, and several other islands in sight.

November 7th.

We were within a few leagues of Scio at day-break, and being driven to the southward, had a distant view of Samos, the birth place of Juno. We were employed all this and the next day in working to windward, between the continent of Asia Minor and the Island of Scio, famous for producing the nectar of the ancients, and for the beauty of its women. The ladies, I am told, are as charming as ever, but the wine has lost its luscious qualities. The town is large and straggling; it seems to have some works, but they are in a very sorry condition. The road is quite open. Before we reached the town, we passed the bay of ChisemÉ, on the Asiatic shore, where the Turkish fleet was destroyed by the Russians.

Friday, Nov. 9th, 1787.

A light breeze sprang up fair late last night, with which we entered the Gulf of Smyrna, and early this afternoon anchored off the town.