470 MR. W. FRANCIS AINSWORTH'S TRAVELS IN THE TRACK OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.* THE Anabasis of Xenophon is not only known to all scholars as the choicest piece of ancient military history extant, but the profound interest and exceeding beauty of the narrative, have been themes of applause for centuries. The chief episodes of the Advance, are the collecting of the troops in Asia Minor, the pass of the Cilician and Syrian gates, the descent by the great river Euphrates, and the battle delivered by Artaxerxes, which terminated in the overthrow and death of Cyrus. The retreat by Opis and by the valley of the Tigris, of the Ten Thousand Greeks, treacherously misled, harassed, and assailed by the surrounding Persian and Babylonian hosts; the wonderful and unexampled forcing of the passes of Taurus, defended by a hardy and warlike race of mountaineer Kurds; the long and devious wanderings over the snow-clad uplands of Armenia; the final arrival at Trebizond, and return by the coast of the Black Sea, constitute the points of prominent interest in a retreat which has been designated, on all hands, as the most splendid of all the military events recorded in ancient history. But at the same time, from the very nature of these events, it was essential to the perfect understanding of this remarkable narrative, to be able to follow the movements made by the Grecian warriors, and appreciate the difficulties surmounted by their endurance, that accurate delineations of territory and places should be given, and a correct knowledge of the geography of the country be obtained. In the case of so important a work as that of Xenophon, this want has been endeavoured to be supplied by a number of cabinet geographers; but naturally, unsuccessfully, as the materials for such an inquiry were not in existence. By the advantages which belonged to Mr. Francis Ainsworth, in having accompanied the Euphrates Expedition during its first navigation of that great river-having explored various parts of Asia Minor, under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society-and in having been the first traveller in modern times, who succeeded in attaining the uplands of Armenia, by the same rude and well-defended passes of Kurdistan, which were the scene of the oft-repeated combats delivered by the Greeks, he has been enabled to accomplish much towards this point. Out of a journey estimated by the historian at three thousand four hundred and sixty-five miles, there is not above six hundred miles that Mr. Francis Ainsworth has not personally explored. In such a long tract of country it is impossible that every identification made can be quite perfect and satisfactory; but the best materials for arriving at such a result are now first presented to the admirers of Xenophon, and Mr. Francis Ainsworth's work henceforth will inevitably form the starting point from which any future commentaries must emanate, while it gives the value of place and spot to a work that has immortalized its author. Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks; being a Geographical and Descriptive Account of the Expedition of Cyrus, and of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, as related by Xenophon. By W. Francis Ainsworth, Esq. John W. Parker, London. REVELATIONS OF LONDON. BY THE EDITOR. BOOK THE FIRST. III. THE HAND AND THE CLOAK. A FURIOUS barking from Mr. Ginger's dogs, shortly after the departure of the drowsy youth, announced the approach of a grotesque-looking little personage, whose shoulders barely reached to a level with the top of the table. This was Old Parr. The dwarf's head was much too large for his body, as is mostly the case with undersized persons, and was covered with a forest of rusty black hair, protected by a strangely-shaped seal-skin cap. His hands and feet were equally disproportioned to his frame, and his arms were so long that he could touch his ancles while standing upright. His spine was crookened, and his head appeared buried in his breast. The general character of his face seemed to appertain to the middle period of life; but a closer inspection enabled the beholder to detect in it marks of extreme old age. The nose was broad and flat, like that of an orangoutang; the resemblance to which animal was heightened by a very long upper lip, projecting jaws, almost total absence of chin, and a retreating forehead. The little old man's complexion was dull and swarthy, but his eyes were keen and sparkling. His attire was as singular as his person. Having recently served as double to a famous demon-dwarf at the Surrey theatre, he had become possessed of a cast-off pair of tawny tights, an elastic shirt of the same material and complexion, to the arms of which little green bat-like wings were attached, while a blood-red tunic with vandyke points was girded round his waist. In this strange apparel his diminutive limbs were encased, while additional warmth was afforded by the great coat already mentioned, the tails of which swept the floor after him like a train. Having silenced his dogs with some difficulty, Mr. Ginger burst into a roar of laughter, excited by the little old man's grotesque appearance, in which he was joined by the Tinker; but the Sandman never relaxed a muscle of his sullen countenance. Their hilarity, however, was suddenly checked by an inquiry from the dwarf, in a shrill, odd tone-" Whether they had sent for him only to laugh at him?" "Here, lazy 66 Sartainly not, deputy," replied the Tinker. bones, glasses o' rum-an'-vater, all round." The drowsy youth bestirred himself to execute the command. The spirit was brought; water was procured from the boiling copper; and the Tinker handed his guest a smoking rummer, accompanied with a polite request to make himself comfortable. Opposite the table at which the party were seated, it has been said, was a stiarcase-old and crazy, and but imperfectly protected by a broken hand-rail. Midway up it, stood a door, equally dilapidated, but secured by a chain and lock, of which Old Parr, as deputy-chamberlain, kept the key. Beyond this point, the staircase branched off on the right, and a row of stout wooden banisters, ranged like the feet of so many cattle, were visible from beneath. Ultimately, the staircase reached a small gallery, if such a name can be applied to a narrow passage, communicating with the bedrooms, the doors of which, as a matter of needful precaution, were locked outside; and as the windows were grated, no one could leave his chamber without the knowledge of the landlord, or his representative. No lights were allowed in the bedrooms, nor in the passage adjoining them. Conciliated by the Tinker's offering, Old Parr mounted the staircase, and planting himself near the door, took off his great coat, and sat down upon it. His impish garb being thus more fully displayed, he looked so unearthly and extraordinary that the dogs began to howl fearfully, and Ginger had enough to do to quiet them. Silence being at length restored, the Tinker, winking slily at his companions, opened the conversation. "I say, deputy," he observed, "ve've bin a-havin' a bit o' a dispute vich you can settle for us.' "Well, let's see," squeaked the dwarf. "What is it ?" 66 Vy, it's relative to your age," rejoined the Tinker. "Ven wos you born?" "It's so long ago, I can't recollect," returned Old Parr, rather sulkily. "You must ha' seen some changes in your time?" resumed the Tinker, waiting till the little old man had made some progress with his grog. "I rayther think I have-a few," replied Old Parr, whose tongue the generous liquid had loosened. "I've seen this great city of London pulled down, and built up again-if that's anything. I've seen it grow, and grow, till it has reached its present size. You'll scarcely believe me, when I tell you, that I recollect this Rookery of ours-this foul vagabond neighbourhood-an open country field, with hedges round it, and trees. And a lovely spot it was! Broad Saint-Giles's, at the time I speak of, was a little country village, consisting of a few straggling houses, standing by the road-side, and there wasn't a single habitation between it and Convent Garden, (for so the present market was once called ;) while that garden, which was fenced round with pales, like a park, extended from Saint Martin's Lane to Drury House, a great mansion situated on the easterly side of Drury Lane, amid a grove of beautiful timber." "My eyes!" cried Ginger, with a prolonged whistle; "the place must be preciously transmogrified indeed!" "If I were to describe the changes that have taken place in London since I've known it, I might go on talking for a month," pursued Old Parr. "The whole aspect of the place is altered. The Thames itself is unlike the Thames of old. Its waters were once as clear and bright above London Bridge as they are now at Kew or Richmond; and its banks from Whitefriars to Scotland Yard, were edged with gardens. And then the thousand gay wherries and gilded barges that covered its bosom—all are gone-all are gone Ï" "Those must ha' been nice times for the jolly young vatermen vich at Blackfriars wos used for to ply," chanted the Tinker, "But the steamers has put their noses out o' joint." "True," replied Old Parr; "and I, for one, am sorry for it. Remembering, as I do, what the river used to be when enlivened by gay craft and merry company, I can't help wishing its waters less muddy, and those ugly coal-barges, lighters, and steamers away. London is a mighty city, wonderful to behold and examine, inexhaustible in its wealth and power; but in point of beauty, it is not to be compared with the city of Queen Bess's days. You should have seen the Strand then-a line of noblemen's houses-and as to Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street, with their wealthy goldsmiths' shops-but I don't like to think of 'em." "Vell, I'm content vith Lunnun as it is," replied the Tinker, 'specially as there aint much chance o' the ould city bein' rewived." 66 "Not much,” replied the dwarf, finishing his glass, which was replenished at a sign from the Tinker. "I s'pose, my wenerable, you've seen the king as bequeathed his name to these pretty creaters," said Ginger, raising his coatpockets so as to exhibit the heads of the two little black-andtan spaniels. "What! old Rowley?" cried the dwarf-" often. I was page to his favourite mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland, and have seen him a hundred times with a pack of dogs of that description at his heels." "Old Rowley wos a king arter my own 'art," said Ginger, rising and lighting a pipe at the fire. pipe at the fire. "He loved the femi-nine specious as well as the ca-nine specious. Can you tell us anythin' more about him?" "Not now," replied Old Parr. "I've seen so much, and heard so much, that my brain is quite addled. My memory sometimes deserts me altogether, and my past life appears like a dream. Imagine what my feelings must be, to walk through streets, still called by the old names, but in other respects, wholly changed. Oh! if you could but have a glimpse of Old London, you would not be able to endure the modern city. The very atmosphere was different from that which we now breathe, charged with the smoke of myriads of sea-coal fires; and the old picturesque houses had a charm about them, which the present habitations, however commodious, altogether want." "You talk like one o' them smart chaps they calls, and werry "But you make me properly, penny-a-liars," observed Ginger. long to ha' lived i' those times." "If you had lived in them, you would have belonged to Paris Garden, or the bull-baiting and bear-baiting houses in Southwark," replied Old Parr. "I've seen fellows just like you at each of those places. Strange, though times and fashions change, I often meet a face that I can men continue the same. remember in James the First's time. But the old places are gone -clean gone!" "Accordin' to your own showin', my wenerable friend, you must ha' lived uppards o' two hundred and seventy year," said "Now, doorin' all Ginger, assuming a consequential manner. that time, have you never felt inclined to kick the bucket?" "Not the least," replied Old Parr. "My bodily health has been excellent. But, as I've just said, my intellects are a little impaired." "Not a little, I should think," replied Ginger, hemming significantly. "I don't know vether you're a-deceivin' of us or yourself, my wenerable; but von thing 's quite clear-you can't have lived all that time. It's not in nater.' Very well, then-I haven't," said Old Parr. And he finished his rum-and-water, and set down the glass, which was instantly filled again by the drowsy youth. "You've seen some picters o' Old Lunnun, and they've haanted you in your dreams, till you've begun to fancy you lived in those times," said Ginger. Very likely," replied Old Parr-" very likely.” There was something, however, in his manner calculated to pique the dog-fancier's curiosity. you 1 "How comes it," he said, stretching out his legs, and arranging his neckcloth,-"how comes it, if you've lived so long, that aint higher up in the stirrups-better off, as folks say?" The dwarf made no reply, but covering his face with his hands, seemed a prey to deep emotion. After a few moments' pause, Ginger repeated the question. "If you wont believe what I tell you, it's useless to give an answer," said Old Parr, somewhat gruffly. "Oh, yes, I believe you, deputy," observed the Tinker; "and so does the Sandman." "Well, then," replied the dwarf. to pass. "I'll tell you how it comes I've had plenty of chances, |