The heavy dews which fell immediately after the sun was down made our passage through this obstruction rather inconvenient from five or six in the evening till nearly mid-day, and there was no part of Cyrene which we could pass to between those hours without being completely wet through. In a few days, however, we had formed several footpaths to the principal points of attraction, and many of these led over fallen columns and statues which wholly escaped notice till our feet struck against them. Indeed so much was the whole town encumbered with vegetable matter that very few objects were presented to the eye when first we arrived at the place: and we almost despaired of finding any matter of interest unconnected with the fountain and the tombs. Every wetting that we got, however, added to our satisfaction, by augmenting the list of the remains; and we soon perceived that we had established ourselves in the neighbourhood of two theatres and of several other objects well worth attention. The road to the fountain was (it may be imagined) one of the first which was made; and the passage of our servants and horses along it, as they went to fetch water for the consumption of the party, soon rendered it the most practicable of any. It led also to the galleries which we have already mentioned along the northern face of the mountain; and became very shortly such a favourite path to every individual of our number, that each of us, in first coming out of the tent, turned as naturally into it as if there were no other. About midway between our tents and the fountain, the track which had been made through the high grass about us passed close along the scene of one of the theatres, the largest of the two just alluded to; but before we proceed to the description of this building, and of others which engrossed our attention at Cyrene, we shall turn from the subject and lay before our readers the contents of the following chapter. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: [Illustration] ] [Footnote 2: In speaking of the fountain to which the Libyans conducted the founders of Cyrene, Herodotus says, αγαγοντες δε σφεας επι κρηνην λεγομενην ειναι Απολλωνος, ειπαν—“Ανδρες Ελληνες, ενταυτα υμιν επιτηδεον οικεειν· ενταυτα γαρ ὁ ουρανος τετρηται.”—(Melp. ρνηʹ). And as the stream here alluded to is the principal fountain of the place we may suppose it with probability to have been that of Apollo.] [Footnote 3: There are, however, many exceptions to this rule, which does not appear to have been by any means generally adopted by the Greeks. The number of columns on the flanks of temples seem to have been usually (at the same time) _more_ than double the number in front, and seldom _less_ by more than one, the proportion given by Vitruvius.]