196
dsced of any value. The Oecohomus' had air Athenian tetra-
drachm fattened to his purfe, which he refitted to part with,
regarding it' as an amulet or charm.
C H A P . , XLIV.
Leave Megdra-~Fefiges o f buildings — O f the Scrronian rocifa
and way<-~‘I ’be prefent road to Corinth nighd
in d cave-— Coafi by the Bcttoman way A.~ Vejtiges o f Cromyon
~ r O f SiduS.
W £ purchafed provlfions, with whol&itte wine, at Megara;
ana; after fome ftay, I defcended again to Nifiba, purposing to
proceed, to the ifthmus o f Corinth ; not. without regret oil
quitting the holpitable prieft and a lodging free from vermin.
T if e wind blowing frettv and contrary, We rowed from
Nifasa to the fide of the bay oppofite to Minoa, and put
into a fmall creek made With ttones piled to break the waves*-
by the entrance on the Scironiah way, the antienf fdad to
Corinth. Near ft were heaps of'ttones among corn, as at
Megara, the veftigeSipf a town or village ; a farcophagus cut in
the rock ; the ruin o f a fmall building, the wall faced on thp
outfide with maforiry of the Ipecies termed Ihcertum; and By
it a lime-kiln, and a piece or two of the entablature not inelegantly
carved. This was probably one o f the fepulchres, which
Paufanias. defcribes on the way to Corinth. A tofrertt-bed,
which we eroded going to Megara from Nifea, winds to the
lea on this fide of the plain.
T he Scironlan rocks are a termination of the Oneian mountains,
walhed by the lea. The track over them Was fix mile’s
long, often on the Brihk o f dreadful precipices, with the
mountain
mountain ri&ng above,- lofty and, inaeceflibfo. Scire*, while
general o f the. Megarenfians, made it, paffafele to perfena os
foot • and the emperor Hadrian widened it,1 fo that' two cha-
riots might drive one by another., A prominent rock in a
narrow part was. named Molitrla j and from it, as, they fahfed,
Ino threw herfelf into the fea with Melieerte. It was accounted
facred to Leucothea and Pakemon, by which names fiae and
her fon were enrolled among the marine deities. Beyond
Moluks were the' Acemfed Racks, where was the abode of
Steiron. T h e infamy of his haunt continué for many agee.
On a fummit was a temple of Jupiter ; and farther on, a monur-
ment bf Euryftheu«, who was flain there by lolaus ; and defeend-
W , a temple of Apollo ; after which weae the hound^ies o f
the Megarenfians next the territory o f Corinth,; .^hóre,_theF
I related, Hylkts the fon o f Heteules pontended in fiogle combat
with an Arcadian. The north-weft wind, blowing from thefe
reeks, was called Sciron at Athens.
T he name of the Scironian road is now, the: föbber being
forgotten, Kachè Seàla: ï V bad way, In çéyé it was as terrible
from the ambufeades of the eorfairs, as of . old from the
crueity of Schon. 'I t has fiact bean difufed, and a road m ifc
over the mountain, on which the Turks have eftabliflied a
dervene or guard, with regulations to prevent the alfemblmg or
efcape o f robbers and banditti. The diftance from Megara to
Corinth, which us now computed at nine hems, was by the
Scironian way only fix ; but on it the traveller was in continual
peril.
W e left our boats in the creek and afeended to an arched
cave in the rock, blaCk with the ftnoke of firesfkindled by
travellers, who had retted there, or by mariners and filhermen,
who, like u®, had declined venturing, along &. dangeroasr^ioaft
in the night, ©r-waited, for favourable weather. W e had
from it an extenfive view of the turbulent gulf beneath, and
o f