[15] Zea was the birthplace of this poet, whose verses are by Catullus called "tears."
[16] These "Songs of the Well," as they were called among the ancients, still exist in Greece. De Guys tells us that he has seen "the young women in Prince's Island, assembled in the evening at a public well, suddenly strike up a dance, while others sung in concert to them."
[17] "The inhabitants of Syra, both ancient and modern, may be considered as the worshippers of water. The old fountain, at which the nymphs of the island assembled in the earliest ages, exists in its original state; the same rendezvous as it was formerly, whether of love and gallantry, or of gossiping and tale-telling. It is near to the town, and the most limpid water gushes continually from the solid rock. It is regarded by the inhabitants with a degree of religious veneration; and they p reserve a tradition, that the pilgrims of old time, in their way to Delos, resorted hither for purification."—Clarke.
[18] "Violet-crowned Athens."—Pindar.
[19] The whole of this scene was suggested by Pliny's account of the artist Pausias and his mistress Glycera, Lib. 35 c. 40.
[20] The traveller Shaw mentions a beautiful rill In Barbary, which is received into a large basin called Shrub wee krub, "Drink and away"— there being great danger of meeting with thieves and assassins in such places.
[21] The Arabian shepherd has a peculiar ceremony in weaning the young camel; when the proper time arrives, he turns the camel towards the rising star, Canopus, and says, "Do you see Canopus? from this moment you taste not another drop of milk."—Richardson.
[22] "Whoever returns from a pilgrimage to Mecca hangs this plant (the mitre-shaped Aloe) over his street door, as a token of his having performed this holy journey."—Hasselquist.
[23] This form of notice to the caravans to prepare for marching was applied by Hafiz to the necessity of relinquishing the pleasures of this world, and preparing for death:—"For me what room is there for pleasure in the bower of Beauty, when every moment the bell makes proclamation, 'Bind on your burden'?"
[24] The watchmen, in the camp of the caravans, go their rounds, crying one after another, "God is one," etc.