life to this magnificent
and yet monotonous region; and no giant mountains covered with
eternal snow look down upon the plain beneath. Pictures like these
I had frequently found in Switzerland, in the Tyrol, and also near
Salzburg. Here I saw, indeed, separate beauties, but no harmonious
whole. Olympus is a fine majestic mountain, forming an extended
barrier; but its height can scarcely exceed 6000 feet; {71b} and
during the present month it is totally despoiled of its surface of
glittering snow. Brussa, with its innumerable minarets, is the only
point of relief to which the eye continually recurs, because there
is nothing beyond to attract it. A little brook, crossed by a very
high stone bridge, but so shallow already in the middle of May as
hardly to cover our horses' hoofs; and towards Brussa, a miserable
village, with a few plantations of olives and mulberry-trees,--are
the only objects to be discovered throughout the whole wide expanse.
Wherever I found the olive-tree--here, near Trieste, and in Sicily,--
it was alike ugly. The stem is gnarled, and the leaves are narrow
and of a dingy green colour. The mulberry-tree, with its luxuriant
bright green foliage, forms an agreeable contrast to the olive. The
silk produced in this neighbourhood is peculiarly fine in quality,
and the stuffs from Brussa are renowned far and wide.

We reached the town in safety before sunset. It is one of the most
disagreeable circumstances that can happen to the traveller to
arrive at an Oriental town after evening has closed in. He finds
the gates locked, and may clamour for admittance in vain.

In order to gain our inn, we were obliged to ride through the
greater part of the town. I had here an opportunity of observing
that it is just as unsightly as the interior of Constantinople. The
streets are narrow, and the houses built of wood, plaster, and some
even of stone; but all wear an aspect of poverty, and at the same
time of singularity;--the gables projecting so much that they occupy
half the width of the street, and render it completely dark, while
they increase its narrowness. The inn, too, at which we put up,
looked far from inviting when viewed from the outside, so that we
had some dark misgivings respecting the quality of the accommodation
that awaited us. But in proportion as the outside had looked
unpropitious, were we agreeably surprised on entering. A neat and
roomy courtyard, with a basin of pure sparkling wate