question probably not uncommon in the days of Homer, who more than
once represents the Ithacences demanding of strangers what ship had
brought them to the island, it being evident they could not come on
foot. He told us that there was, on the summit where he stood, a
small cistern of water, and a kalybea, or shepherd's hut. There are
also vestiges of ancient habitations, and the place is now called
Amarâthia.

"Convenience, as well as safety, seems to have pointed out the lofty
situation of Amarathia as a fit place for the residence of the
herdsmen of this part of the island from the earliest ages. A small
source of water is a treasure in these climates; and if the
inhabitants of Ithaca now select a rugged and elevated spot, to
secure them from the robbers of the Echinades, it is to be
recollected that the Taphian pirates were not less formidable, even
in the days of Ulysses, and that a residence in a solitary part of
the island, far from the fortress, and close to a celebrated
fountain, must at all times have been dangerous, without some such
security as the rocks of Korax. Indeed, there can be no doubt that
the house of Eumæus was on the top of the precipice; for Ulysses, in
order to evince the truth of his story to the swineherd, desires to
be thrown from the summit if his narration does not prove correct.

"Near the bottom of the precipice is a curious natural gallery, about
seven feet high, which is expressed in the plate. It may be fairly
presumed, from the very remarkable coincidence between this place and
the Homeric account, that this was the scene designated by the poet
as the fountain of Arethusa, and the residence of Eumæus; and,
perhaps, it would be impossible to find another spot which bears, at
this day, so strong a resemblance to a poetic description composed at