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DRUM MOND. 200 top of a neighbouring mountain, with which my expectation had been regaled. Passing through the village of Elia, I observed, over a wcll-bnilt gate-way, two coats of arms inclosed within a wreath of fruitage: on one was the Imperial eagle, on the other the Venetian Saint Mark, or winged lion seyant, holding the evangelists in his dexter paw; whence I conclude, they must have belonged to some public edifice, the whole being very neatly cut in bas relief, upon a stone of white marble. Heie were the first cypress-trees I had seen in the journey; but from hence there is plenty of the different kinds along the shore to the eastward. As we approached what is vulgarly called Agios Largos, but properly S. Hilarion, which is on the summit, we found the west side of the hill so steep that onr beasts could not mount it. I therefore left my luggage at Carmi, and with eight mules took a turn to the eastward, in order to find an easier access. When I came to the rock on which it stands, I dismounted, a»-^ having refreshed myself, sat down to make a sketch of the extraordinary aspect, then ng my stick in my hand I ascended as well as 1 could, and walked through all the .afferent parts of the oastle. It has certainly been strong, both from its site and fortifications, but I found no beauty nor inscription, not even the year, η pou any one part of the ruins; so that, being disappointed and heartily tired, I walked down the west side, and yon will have some notion of the difficulty of the descent, when 1 tell yon that I spent thirty-five minutes in reaching the foot of the rock upon which the castle stands. This extraordinary place is said to have been fortified by one of their queens, but by which of them I conld not learn : however I think it must have been Charlotte, who, with her husband, was obliged to take shelter in the castle of Ceriuia, when James the Bastard was established on the throne by the Egyptian power : there he besieged her for a considerable time, but was obliged to quit his enterprize, and left her a great while at liberty; in which interval, we may suppose, she Imilt this castle, to secure the hilly country, as that of Cerinia gave her command of the plains below; till the poor unhappy royal pair, after tedious and fruitless solicitations, receiving no succour from their friends in Europe, and the bastard making new preparations to extirpate them, they fied to Rhodes and pat themselves under the protection of the grand master, who received them with all the honour due to their birth and dignity. Heartily fatigued and scorched, I, in about two hours, reached the port of Cerinia, which was probably built by Cyrns, and is reckoned the best on the north side of the island: the harbour seems difficult to strangers, anil is only fit for small vessels ; the entrance hath been in some measure guarded by a fortification on each side, built on the rocks, and is absolutely secured by a very strong quadrangular castle on the land : two of the opposite angles of this fort arc furnished with square, and the rest with round bastions. No European is allowed to enter or even to approach it ; so that I can only judge, from its appearance, that it may have been fortified by King Henry, at the same time with Famagosta and Nicosia ; and that probably the whole- work was repaired by Savomiani, who, in the year 152Ö, demolished the old works of these places, and refortihed them : on such an occasion we cannot suppose this important place to have been forgot and neglected, especially as we find the military architecture of all three in the same stile. The town has likewise been very well walled, and strengthened by towers, bastions, and a fossée: of these fortifications we may judge by the immense quarries which have been dug on both sides of the town, as they could have no use for the stones elsewhere, every place being more than sufficiently provided. These quarries they have wrought in such manner as to form communications with the fortress, and make several noble granaries for their grain. My next excursion was to see the ruins of a very magnificent structure, called Dela-Pays; it is said to have been a monastery, but no circumstance that I have seen gives me

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