rather hold such a thing in abhorrence, they are by no means averse from erecting monuments to the memory of their deceased worthies. These monuments give fine opportunities to the sculptors and architects to display their genius and taste. A statue is a common form of these memorial monuments, and I am bound to say that in their attitudes or poses, as well as in the beauty of their forms, the statues of Colymbia far excel anything we see in our English towns. The statues are never represented as draped, but always nude. They are made of a certain fine porcelain, coloured so as to resemble nature, the flesh tints being well rendered, and the eyes and hair of the proper hue. The attitudes of the statues are very various. I never saw any thing at all resembling the statues of illustrious men we have at home, who are either habited in the classic toga, or the ungraceful clothes of the period, and who generally stand awkwardly enough, with one hand planted above the hip, and the other holding a sword, a roll of paper, a book, or some other thing to indicate the profession of the person represented. A draped figure and a standing attitude would have appeared dishonourable in the eyes of a Colymbian, as it would have seemed to represent an inhabitant of the land, which was to his mind always connected with something vulgar, if not infamous.
In Colymbia the sculptor does his best to represent his subject in the prime of life and the perfection of human beauty, engaged in some one of the sports or exercises that take up so much of the time of the Colymbians, and show off their fine proportions to such advantage. Thus there is no tameness in the attitude of the numerous statues that adorn the lagoon; and a stranger, unaccustomed to the ways of the people,
