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ἘΠῚ
ΠῊ
HERES
JOURNEY
THROUGH
AL BA NTIA,
AND
OTHER PROVINCES
OF
TURKEY IN EUROPE AND ASIA,
TO
CONSTANTINOPLE,
DURING THE YEARS 1809 anp 1810.
τ RR
BY
J. C. HOBHOUSE.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR JAMES CAWTHORN,
COCKSPUR STREET;
AND SOLD BY SHARPE AND HAILES, PICCADILLY; BELL AND BRADFUTE,
EDINBURGH; AND N. MAHON, DUBLIN,
1813.
Londen: Printed by B. M‘Millan,
tow Street, Covent Garden.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Tuzsz Letters were prepared for publication
under certain disadvantages, the mention of which
will not be obtruded upon the Public, except so far
as it may seem requisite to account, in some measure,
for the large and important contents of the Errata
page, and for other appearances of neglect. The
sheets of the Albanian part of the Tour were com-
posed and printed when the Writer was absent
from England, and had it not in his power to cor-
rect his notions and increase his knowledge, by com-
municating with intelligent friends and consulting
extensive libraries: the remaining part of the Jour-
ney was sent page by page to the press, and not pre-
viously collected in one entire manuscript volume,
so as to enable the Author to revise and polish the
a ὦ
1V - ADVERTISEMENT,
whole work by acollation and comparison of its
separate parts. To avoid a recurrence of the same
phrases and turns of expression, was in the present
case hardly possible; and he is no less aware of, than
desirous in any future impression of the ensuing
pages to correct, so material an imperfection. ‘The
same opportunity, if it should occur, will enable
him to lay aside the epistolary form, which, for a
reason not material, to mention, 1s not continued
beyond. the first five. or six hundred, pages, and
by that amendment to eflace the change of style
observable in the progress of the present compo-
sitLlom:
Those who have visited, or especially resided in
the countries, and closely observed the national
manners, described in the following detail, wall
doubtless discover many omissions of material facts,
which the more mature inspection of ‘the Author
would perhaps supply; for what my Lord Boling-
ADVERTISEMENT. Vv
broke has said of books, may be applied to the
study of mankind; and a traveller of fifty, im shis
commerce with foreign nations, would probably
behold many things which he did not see in the
same people at twent y-three.
As to the manner in which the subject has been
treated, all judgment on that head must of neces-
sity be left to the reader. It will only be pre-
mised, that it has been the endeavour of the Writer
to give an account of what he.saw, heard, and was
able to collect, rather than a statement of feelings
and opinions; a narrative of facts, rather tht a
collection of essays. Having no system to esta-
. . ὅν 8 1
blish, and no partialities to communicate, he has
not launched into any effusions or sentiments
which were not conceived and felt upon the spot,
and amongst the people he has attempted to de-
scribe; and it-is but seldom that he has deduced
arguments and hazarded conclusions, for which
vi ADVERTISEMENT,
it appeared to him his proper object to furnish onl y
the materials and the means.
This preliminary notice shall be concluded by
stating, that to prevent any longer delay than has
hitherto deferred the appearance of this volume,
amap of Attica, and some plans designed for the
illustration of the Work, have not been completed;
and that the reader is referred to the plates of
Anacharsis, as the best companion, although by
no means an infallible guide, of the traveller in
Greece.
“od
London, May 10, 1815.
CONTENTS..
LETTER 1:
Departure from Malta—Approach to the Gulf of Lepante, and to Patrass—
Passage between the Islands Cefalonia, Ithaca, and Santa Maura, to Pre-
yesa, PTITITITIC Litt page t
LETTER II.
Prevesa—a Description. of that Town—The Mouth of the Gulf of Arta—Actium
—Short Description and Account of Prevesa—and of the Battle which placed
the Town in the hands of the Tarks, φοοοθθιφθουοθθο SESSES CEG SOLEH ETO SSE ODE HOPES H SetOoereosrees 12
LETTER 111.
The Ruins of Nicopolis—Preparations for Travelling in Turkey—The Drago-
man—Servants— Baggage, &c. &c.—Sail down the Gulf of Arta to Salora—
The Albanian G uard of Salora, SHOCK HELE SOOS SHEE SOOT HORSE SES HHT OE OHSS OHS TODO HSIEH AH SHSOEHOSEDEDS 9}
LETTER IV.
The Presents customary in the Levant—Route from Salora to Arta—Descrip-
tion of that Town—The Site of Ambracia—Of Ambracus—Departure from
Arta, SEO ORF OED ORE OEOCE OOO SORT ORO OES OHO EO ET οὐ ED ODEDEDOLEO HET SOHO TESCO EES OSES OED OT EE EO OR OS ODE SEE SR ED OOO HES EO OH ET EO® 36
LETTSEn..y.
Route from Arta to the Han of St. Dimetre—From St. Dimetre to Toannina—
First View, and Entry into that City—Reception of Travellers, ..,.0.008 45
LETTER VI.
Visit to the Grandsons of Ali—Manners of the Young Mahometans—View of
the Neighbourhood of Ioannina-—The Lake—Mount Tomaras—The Moun-
tains of Sagori--the Route across them— Mount Pindus—Route across it to
Larissa—Dodona—The Plains of Loannina—The Amphitheatre of Cherco-
vista, SOP CSHHOHHSCESOAEHHSSOO HOP SECO SEES TO FEF OSE FSEEFOLOFHTEPH ERT OEE HODES ESS HEEF ETHOS ROR OR OSLO ES ORE EEEE ERO F ese eerED 55
vill CONTENTS.
LETTER VII.
loannina—the Houses—the Palaces of the Vizier—Summer Pavilion—Popula-
tion of the City —The Trade—-Annual Fair
Exports and Imporis, page 67
LETTER Vill.
The Turkish Ramazan—Preparations for Travelling—Greek Peasantry—Route
from Ioannina to Zitza—Thunder Storm—The Monastery of Zitza—View
from it—Inhabitants of Zitza—their Misery, .cscccsecseceee sabeanancitech Στ Βᾶς 76
LETTER IX. ᾿
Route from Zitza—River Calamas—Village of Mosure-—Delvinaki—Route
from Butrinto to Delvinaki—Flocks of Goats—Albanian Wine—Route by
the Plain of Argyro-castro to Libokavo—Upper Albania—Turkish Meats
—Libokavo—Argyro-castro—Short Account of that City, cccssseceuseesess 86
LETTER X.
Route from Libokavo to Cesarades—Women at the Fountains—Ronte to
Ereeneed—The Passes of Antigonia, called Stena—The Aiius River—Route
to Tepellené, along the Banks of the River—Arrival at Tepellené, and at
Ali Pasha’s Palace—Appearance of the Attendants—Prayers of the Turks—
ἘΠΕ RHI OL COG ΝΙΘΒΘΊΝ, scam urusessncetahtyicacapuvenneaostutsses edenstataansaediedententsesiine 98
LETTER XI.
Visit to Ali Pasha—His Appearance—Manners—Short Conversation—Second
Interview with Ali—Present from Buonaparte to that Pasha—A Palzo-castro,
or Ruin near Tepellené—Last Audience of Ali—His Affability to his Sol-
diers—His Rise and Progress—The Difficulties he had to encounter—His vi-
gorous Measures—Administration, and present Extent of his Dominions—
Offered-to be made a King by Napoleon—His supposed Revenues—His Dis-
position—Story of Zofreni—His Amusements and Morals—His want of Edu-
cation, φοουοροφουφφονφφυνοφόφοθήφοοφο
LETTER XII.
Albania—Perpetual Barbarity of its Inhabitants—Early Settlement of the Scy-
thians in that Country—In subjection to the Kings of Bulgaria—to the Em-
perors of the Kast—Uncertain Date of the Name Albania—Its Revolutions
CONTENTS. ΙΧ
—Governed by Despots—Invaded by the Catalans—Disunited—Scanderbeg
—Exaggeration of his Merits—Ottoman Conquest of the Country—LEsta-
blishment of the Venetians on the Coast—Variety of Nations—The Albanians
—their Origin—Asiatic Albanians—Shape and Face of the Albanians—their
Dress—their Arms—their Filth—Dress of their Women—their Villages—
their Food—their Disposition and Manners, sussussesssveconeteerrnseee page 125
LETTER XIII.
Continuation of the Manners of the Albanians—Expression of their Meaning
by Signs—their Liveliness—Passionate Temper—their Education—their
Language—their Morals—Religion—their Nationality—their love of Arms—
The Albanian Robbers—their Way of Life—and Mode of Attack—their
Surgeons—The Albanian Dances—Albanians in Foreign Service—in Egypt
—ltaly—the Morea—under Mustapha Bairactar—Albanian Settlers—in dif-
ferent Parts of the Levant—and in Calabria, .........06 diiesdlenblbdke dddbiviskes 142
LETTER XIV.
Different Governments in Albania—The different Districts—Arta—loannina—
Sagori—the Pashalik of Ocrida—Course of the River Drin—The Scene of
Scanderbeg’s Battles—The Pashalik of Scutari—Antivari—Dulcigno—Lyssa
—Durazzo—Berat, or Arnaut Beligrat—Ruins of Apollonia—The Pashalik
and Town of Vallona—The Acroceraunians—C himera—Manners of the Whi-
meriotes—Butrinto—Ruins of Buthrotum—Philathi—The River Thyamis—
Margiriti—The Town of Parga—The Glykyslimen, or Port of Sweet Waters
—Acherusian Lake—Ancient Geography of the Coast—Length of Epirus—
Sulli—Route from Ioannina to that Place—Paramithi—Position and Extent
of the Mountains of Sulli—The Villages of Sulli—Wars of the Sulliotes
with Ali Pasha—their present Condition—Loru—Population of Albania—
Climate and Temperature—Tepellené, SOOO AEH TOD OLEH EE SEHD TES SEO EE OES EEO OES CEES EESOSEECe 159
LETTER XV.
Departure from Tepellen¢—Return to Ioannina—A Marriage Procession—A
Turkish Puppet-Show—Ancient Coins to be met with at Ioannina—Final
Departure from that City—Return to Prevesa—Disaster at Sea—Land on the
Coast of Sulli—View of that Town and District, at Volondorako—Route
b
U
CONTENTS
from Volondorako to Castropsheca—to Prevesa—Sail down the Gulf of Arta
—Vonitza—Utraikee—Ancient Measurement of the Gulf, ...0...... page 180
ἢ pag
LETTER XVI.
traikee—Night Scene at that Place—Route throngh Carnia—to Catoona—to
Makala—Prospects from the Hills of the River Aspro or Achelotis—and of
the Lake Nizeros—Ancient Remains at Aéto and at Ligustovichi—Route
continued—to Prodromo—Passage of the Acheloiis—Arrival at Gouria—
Route over the Paracheloitis—to Natolico—Another Route from Arta to Na-
tolico—Boundary: of Carnia—Former Inhabitants--Ancient Geography—
Present State—Ruins at Teeserenes—T he Shallows of Messalonge and Nato-
lico—The Fishery—Conjecture as to the Formation of the Shallows—The
Town and Inhabitants of Messalonge—The District of Xeromeros, or Attolia
—Town of Ivoria— River Fidari, or Evenus—Ruins of Calydon—Rocks of
Chalcis and ‘appiasus—Passage to Patrass, cssssecssssenereneeeaveneenee [90
LETTER XVII.
Patrass—Its Situation—Insalubrit y—Ancient State—Destruction in 1770—Pre-
sent State—T rade—Ex ports of the Morea—Consuls at Patrass—Greek Light
Infantry—English Regiment—The River Leucate—Departure from Patrass
—The Castles of the Morea and Roumelia—Cape Rhium—Lepanto—Route
iv Vostigza—Ancient Positiens—Vostizza—A Greek Codja-bashee, or Elder
Coursing in the Morea—River Selinus—/Egium—The Plane-Tree—Veli
Pasha—Population of the Morea—Digression concerning the Mainotes, 212
LETTER XVIII.
Distance from Patrass to Corinth—and to Athens——Passage across the Gulf of
Lepanto to the Scale of Salona—Circumference of the Corinthian Gulf—Ga-
laxcithi—Evanthe—Route to Crisso—Salona—View at the Foot of Mount
Liakura, or Parnassus—Crisso—Site of Crissa, or Cirrha—Visit to the Ruins
of Delphi—Castalia—Treasures of Delphi—The Brazen Serpent at Constan-
tinople—Parnassus—Ascent to the Summit of it impracticable—Route from
Crisso towards Livadia—to Arakova on Parnassus—The Road Schiste—T he
Three Roads—Distomo—Asprospitia—Monastery of St. Luke of Stiris—
a
A rrival at Livadia, 04 PEC Oe RP OOeD ORC LODS SORE OEIOS 100008 90 0000600000 90 0EEEDEDEEES DUO RNN0RNl DID ONOLOCEDOD 238
CONTENTS.
LETTER XIX.
Livadia—The Archon Logotheti—Rate of Living in Roumelia—Imitation of
European Manners—The Cave of Trophonius—the present Appearance of
the Entrance to it—Ruins of a Castle built by the Catalans—The Settlement
of the Catalans in Greece—Little Impression left by the Franks on the Man-
ners of the Greeks—Visit to Caperna—Ruins of Cheronéa—The Plain—
Departure from Livadia—Visit to Scripoo—the Site of Orchomenos—T he
Treasury of Minyas—The Lake Copais—Tlie Village of Mazee—Arrival at
Thebes—View of the Theban Territory—Difficulties attending a just De-
scription of Modern Greece—The Measurement of Stadia—Diminutiveness
Of the Country, rrrvcescorcccresssreccsesecrsererasseverees sssvbvobsaneseccncesdénecaseoveeveee PALE TOV
LETTER XX.
Thebes—its Modern Insignificance—The Town—The Fountain Dirce—The
Ruins of Pindar’s House—The Ismenus—The Fountain of Mars—Tomb of
St. Luke of Stiris—An Inscription—Departure from Thebes—Route towards
Athens—The Village Scourta—Passage of Mount Parnes—Ruins of Phyle—
Prospect of Athers—Town of Casha—Entrance into the Plain of Athens—
Arrival at Athens, <sccsescorsscocecosssssrcccssceseoens onshisstal Sqciabienes ssa din pheompiatabaags (970
LETTER XXI.
Athens—its Situation—Appearance—Present Inhabitants—Short Notice of its
Modern History, csossesescsrsrerssrsessessessseseees spare sass san acasececosave avoviocesveos 289
LETTER XXII.
Antiquities of Athens—Temple of Theseus—Areopagus—Pnyx Muséum—Mo-
nument of Philopappus—Odéum—Theatre of Bacchus—River I[lissus—
Adrian’s Temple—Callirhoé—Stadium of Atticus Herodes—Adrian’s Arch
and Aqueduct—Monument of Lysicratee—Monument of Andronicus Chyr-
restes—The Doric Portico—Many smaller Remains, .....ssssreeevee πῆρ, 308
LETTER XXIII.
Ascent to the Acropolis—The Pelasgicon—The Cave of Apollo and Pan—The
Entrance of the Citadel—The Propyleaa—The Parthenon—The Erecthéum
b 2
As
ΧΗ CONTENTS.
A Note on Lord Elgin’s Pursuits in Greece—The Modern Citadel—The
Turkish Garrison, See eecececeosoos Ceevoaconsroes φοφούφοοοθοφοονόθουθφθούθόούνόύϑοο ϑαοφοοσθούόφοόθοοο page 335
LETTER XXIV.
Lhe Vicinity of Athens—Climate in Winter—The Gardens—T he Olive Groves
—Method of Watering them—The Site of the Academy—Route to the
Pirzeus—The Munychian Promontory—Country immediately to the South of
Athens, ..ccoe. Mba eas acldpanbaiebybiss oouas sibs edel daa snp bie ithe soba inline henge sinter DO
LETTER XXV.
Route from Athens to Eleusis—-Daphne-vouni—Casha-vouni—The Monastery
of Daphne—The Rhiti—The Thriasian Plain—Eleusis—Ruins—The Cam-
bridge Ceres—Route from Athens to Salamis—The Throne of Xerxes— View
from Corydallus—Salamis or Colouri—Ampelaki—Colouri—Greek Island-
ers, Seccectosseeseasee see ceccesoecce eetetssoas Soest eceeeteseocatoseteessosete COCO SHECE SEE SL OH ESE GEES REL EH OLE SEE SEES e 369
LETTER XXVI.
The Eastern Side of Athens—Hymettus—Ascent to the Monastery of St. Cy-
riani, on that Mountain—The Sacred Spring—Route to Mount Pentelicus—
Angele-Kipos—Callandri—The Monastery on Pentelicus—The Marble Quar-
ries—Return by another Route—Remains of the Aqueduct, suseemeews 387
| LETTER XXVIII.
Route from Athens to Cape Colonni—Vary—T he Panéum—Nympholepsy—
Ennea Pyrge—Keratéa—T he Caverns in Mount Parné—Route to Colonni—
Return by the Eastern Shore of Attica, to Keratéa, sss ὩΣ ...... 400
LETTER XXVIII.
Route from Keratéa to Port Raphti—that Port described—Route from Raphti,
through Kata-Vraona and Apano-Vraona, and by Caliva Spatha, to the
Plain of Marathon—View of the Plain—Battle of Marathon—Route from
the Plain to Athens—The Cave of Pan—Stamati—Cevrishia, wus 493
LETTER XXIX.
Route from Athens to the Negroponte—Villages in the North of Attica—Kou-
kouvaones—Charootika—Menithi-—Tatoe—The Site of Decelea—Agios Ma-
CONTENTS. xill
curius—Route across the Plains of Tanagra—Over the Asopus to Scimitari
—From that Village to the Strait of the Negroponte, by Vathi—The Town
of Negroponte—Visit to the Pasha—Stories relative to the Euripus—Return
to Scimitari—Route from Scimitari to the Monastery of St. Meliteus on Ci-
theron, φΦουσοονοουνοθφοφφοῦ OE OS OLEH SOD SESES OES OEDS OES HOES SEHFS OES OCOS OED IOS EO OOOH SEH SETH ZEISS OCHO SEE ED ODG page 439
LETTER XXX.
Route from St. Meletius to the Ruins of Plafza, at Cockli—Gifto-Castro—
Qi noé—Pass of Cithzron—Parasopia—The Positions of the Armies at the
Battle of Plateaa—Doubts respecting the Numbers who fought against the
Greeks—Route from St. Meletius to Megara—by Koundouri—Pass in the
Mountains—Arrivat at Megara—The Derveni Choria—The Town and In-
habitants of Megara—Return by Eleusis to Athens—General View of the
District of Attica, and of the Peasants settled in the Villages, su... 468
LETTER XXXI.
Shape and Make of. the Modern Greeks—The Women—Their want of Beauty
—Painting—Dress of the Men—and of the Women—Their Manners—A_Be-
trothing—A Marriage—their Dance—Songs, &c.-—Genius— Morals—Su per-
stitions—T he Evil Eye—Conformity of Practice between Greeks and Turks
—Manners of the Men—Influence of Money—Behaviour to Inferiors—Os-
tentation—Princes of the Fanal—Waiwodes of Moldavia and Wallachia—
404
ΠΣ ΟΝ srrreseernssresrereeeessseenes pM sncaiecdeton td ἘΠΣΉΨΕΙΕΕΙ Seen padbdssovnssdyp
LEETER XXXII.
Religion of the Greeks—Ceremonies and Customs of their Saperstition—Festi-
vals—Funerals—A Mahometan Funeral—Greek Cemeteries—Priests— Monks
of the Order of St. Basil—Their Monasteries—The Seculars—Instances of
the Superstition of the Greeks—Notion entertained of the English by Greeks
and Turks—The Patriarchate of Constantinople—The Arts—Medicine—
Physicians—Exorcisms—The Plague—Use of the Hot Bath, «0 519
LETTER XXXIII.
The Literature of the Modern Greeks—Their Share in the Revival of Litera-
ture in the West—The Romaic Pronunciation—The Romaic, or Modern
XIV CONTENTS.
Greek~—its Date and Origin enquired into—Latter Greek Writers—Present
state of Learning in Greece, &C. &C. scassneerserens Seeevercoesenvesseceasonsses page 540
LETTER XXXIV.
Patriotism of the Greeks—Their ardent Desire of Emancipation—War-Song—
The Object of their Wishes=-Attachment to Russia—Views directed towards
France—Their Notions of England—Chance of Emancipation—Importance
of their Marine—Short Remarks on the Political Conduct of the English in
the Levant, cevcsscossesen oduiabeinsiiscoesedesdswsedsese ss hence εὐλλὀνοθνοεσονόδοιδοοῤυσδβι εἷς 584
LETTER XXXV.
Departure from Athens—Passage to Smyrna— Entrance into the Gulf of Smyrna
The Promontory Melena—The South Side of the Gulf—Clazomene—San-
giak-Bornou—The Shoals in the Gulf caused by the Hermus—Arrival at
Smyrna—Description of the City—The Frank Quarter—The Frank Society
—The Consuls in the Levant—The Greeks of Smyrna—The Armenians and
Jews—The Buildings—The Burying-Grounds—The Castle—The Shut-Port
—The Hospital—Description of an Idiot—The English Hospital, ...... 608
LETTER XXXVI.
The Mussélim’s Summer Residence—Fruits—Sherbets—Fish—-Meats—T he [n=
ner Bay—The Flat near Smyrna~Game of the Djerid—Horses of the Turks
—‘ifhe Meles—Caravan Bridge—Homer’s Cave—The Site of the A®olian
Smyrna—The Road to Bournabat—that Village described—The Storks—
The Village of ee he ΠΝ Climate—Cranes—Chameleons
— Lizards, -vsrsorserooree coosviirersscersoes cosssecosenereseivars d0dsevee ac ὐόδιυς οὐ ὐδοὶ εὐ ecWvasenddtedvadtice 629
LETTER XXXVII.
A Journey to Ephesus—Thie Route—The Han at Tourbali—A Dervish—Me-
tropolis—T he Coffee Shed near Osebanar—T urcomans’ Tents—The Plain of
the Cayster—The Ferry—Arrival at Aiasaluk—The Han—The Ruins—De-
solation of this Spot+-The Site and Remains of Ephesus—The Temple of
Diana—Return to SMYra, sooacccsseivverseecorcerseverecvcerervessrersnsercescseccessseceors O46
CONTENTS.
LETTER XXXYVIII.
Departure from Smyrna—The Coast of Asia—Cape Baba—Yughlan.Bornou—
The Vale of Nesrah-Keui—Liman-Tepe— Cape of Troas—Vale of Ghicle—
i} Douk—Koum Bornou—Land in Tenedos—The Port—The Town
—The Castle—The Wine—Importance of the Island— Visit-to the Ruins of
Alexandria Troas—Granite Cannon-Balls—Dilapidation of Troas—The Se-
pulchre called Sarcophagus—The Baths—Effects of the late Earthquake—
Site of the Town—Hot Baths of Lidgah Hammam—Port of Troas—Coun-
try near Troas—Conjectures of Travellers, ssoysousssscossesnsenseeere page 669
LETTER XXXIX.
Erigate anchors off Sigéum—The Troad of Strabo—Ilium—its History—Not
Troy—nor on the Site of ii—No Vestiges of Troy ever seen—-Modern Tra-
vellers—No pretended Discovery of the Site until the time of Le Chevalier
—Description of the Coast from Stamboul Douk to Cape Janissary— Yeni-
Keui—Beshik-Tepe—Elles-Bournou—Mouth of the Dardaneltles—Ancient
Geography of the Coast—Amnis Navigabilis of Pliny—Sigean Promontory
—Giaur-Keui—Sigean Marbles—Sigéum—Eléus—Elles Baba-Tepe—The
Protesiléam—Koum-Kale—Mouth of the Mendere River—The Thymbrek
tiver—In-Tepe Gheulu—Valley of Thymbrek-Dere—Marshes of the Plain
—Rivulet-of Bournabashi—Udjek-Tepe—Bournabashi—Course of the Men-
dere—Callifatli Village and Brook—Banks of the Mendere, sassasseeeec! 689
LETTER XU.
Barrows—Short Account of those ancient Mounts—-Probably not all of, them
actual Sepulchres—Barrows of Celtic or Scythian Origin—as well in Phry-
gia as in Britain—The Phrygian Barrows appropriated by the Greeks—
sarrow-Burial adopted by the Greeks, but not prevalent in the later periods
of their History—The present Barrows of the ‘Troad—Liman-Tepe, Stam-
boul-Douk, Beshik-Tepe, Udjck-Tepe, &c. not mentioned in Strabo—Sup-
posed Tomb of Achilles—Account of its Excavation by De Choiseul Gouf-
fier—Absolute uncertainty respecting the real Monument—Arbitrary adop-
tion of Names for the other Barrows—fn-Tepe possibly the Atantéum—
Hbcetean, αὶ 0}... 18.} 0 πο ΡΥ . CAG
CONTENTS»
LETTER XLI.
The supposed Port of Agamemnon’s Fleet—The Naval Station of the Greeks—
The Mouth of the Scamander—The Site of Ninm—The Confluence of the
Simois and Scamander not precisely known—Streams falling into the Men-
dere—The Thymbrek—The Water of Callifatli and Atche-Keui, and the
Bournabashi Rivulet—Mr. Le Chevalier’s Pseudo-Xanthus—The Identity
of the Mendere and the Scamander of Strabo—The ancient Confluence of the
Thymbrius and Scamander—The Thymbrek not corresponding with the for-
mer, but answering better to the Simois—Uncertainty respecting that River—
Palaio-Callifatli, possibly the Position of Ilium—Site of the Hiéan Village—
Not at Hallil-Elly, but perhaps at or near Tchiblak—Remains on a neigh-
bouring Mount—The Calli-Colone of Strabo—The Vale and Brook of Atche-
Keui—The latter conjectured to be the River Thymbrius—The Erineus, the
Tomb of /Ssyetes, Batieia, the Tomb of Ilus not now to be discovered—
Udjek-Tepe not the Tomb of Aisyetes, as described by Strabo—Note on the
Homeric Thrésmos-—Bournabashi—Tepid Sources of the Bournabashi Ri-
vulet—Errors respecting them—Balli-Dahi—The Pergamus of Mr. Le Che-
valier— Unfounded Conjectures respecting the Tomb of Hector, and the Re-
Mains On Babli- Dahi, -i..svocccesersererseeresssesssvssssiricresereeseesseenseeeees Page 742
LETTER XLII.
The District of the Troad—Ene—Hski-Scupthu—Bairam-itche—Kas-daghy,
the Cotylus of Ida—Argument against the identity of that Summit with the
Homeric Gargarus—and against that of Rheetéum and Sigéum with the Pro-
montories bounding the Grecian Camp, mentioned in the Iliad—The Autho-
rity of Virgil quoted—The Homeric Troy in front of Tenedos—The Geogra-
phical Plain of Troy probably not that of the Iliad—The Homeric Landmarks
invented by the Greeks after the Age of the Poet—No inference to be drawn
from casual Resemblances between the Descriptions of them and the actual
Landscape near the Banks of the Menderc—The endeavours of Writers to
adjust the Poetical to the present Positions, entirely unsuccessful—Mr. Pope’s
Map, and the unaccountable Remarks upon it by Mr. Le Chevalier—Con-
clusion of Observations on the Troad, with an Enquiry into the Limits of the
ΡΝ 708
CONTENTS.
LETTER XLII.
The Frigate leaves Cape Janissary—Sails into the Mouth of the Straits—The
Port of Eleus—Cape Berbieri—An English Country-House in the Chersonese
—Attempt to pass the Dardanelles—Anchor in the Bay below Chanak-Kalessi
—The old Castles of Roumelia and Natolia—The Town of the Dardanelles—
A remarkable Superstition—Nagara-Bornou—The Bridge of Xerxes—Aby-
dus and Sestos—Swimming across the Hellespont—The Current—The Fri-
gate passes the Dardanelles—The Passage of the English Fleet in 1807—
Ak-Bashi Liman—Zemenic—The Practius and Percotas—/¢gos-Potamos—
Note on the Meteoric Stone—Lampsacus—Gallipoli—The Island of Mar-
mora—A pproach to Constantinople—Anchor under the Walls, .... page 798
LETTER XLIV.
Difficulty of obtaining Information concerning the Turks, even in Constantino-
ple—Separation of the City and the Suburbs—Foreign Missions at Pera—De-
parture from the Frigate—Land at Tophana—Ascent to Pera—Dogs—The
Hotel—City Watchmen—Police of Pera—The Custom of parading the
Streets incognito—Palaces of Ambassadors—Inglese Sarai—The Armenian
Cemetery—The Amusements there—Customs called Oriental—in great mea-
sure those of the Ancient W orld—Seclusion and Treatment of Women— Co-
incidence of Turkish Manners with those of the Byzantine Greeks—Prjncipal
Difference between Ancient and Modern Manners—State of Turkish Women
—Female Slaves, or Odalisques, of the Imperial Harem, wrsccsscreeeee 89]
LETTER XLV.
The Valley of Sweet Waters—The Plain of the Barbysses—The Woods and Vil-
lage of Belgrade—Road to Buyuk-dere—The Thracian Banks of the Bospo«
rus—The Town and Meadow of Buyuk-dere—The European Side of the
Canal to Fanaraki—The Cyanean Isles, and Ancient Altar—The Asiatic
Shores of the Bosporus—The New Castles—T he Hieron—Giant’s Mountain—
The Shore to Scutari—Bourgaloue—Fanar-Baktchessi—Kaddi-Keui on the
Site of Chalcedon—Kis-Kalesi, or Leander’s Tower, successes 897
XVII CONTENTS.
LETTER XLVI.
Galata—The Tabagies, or Wine-houses—Yamakis, or Dancing Boys—The
Tower of Anastatius—Conflagraiions—The Size of Constantinople—Popula-
tion——J ews—Armenians, CHOEE OT EE SO OLORES ODORS OES COO TOESE TOOT OES EEO EP OO EH GIO THESEUS BEC OOCROCE page 883
LETTER XLVII.
Térse-eHane—The Harbour and Docks—Visit to the Capudan-Pasha at Divan-
Hane—Executions—Visit to the Ters-Hane-Emini—The Sultan’s Cypher—
Russian Prisoners—Visit to the Capudan-Pasha’s Ship, the Sultan Selim—
The Turkish Navyy—Martial Music—Gratitude of the Turks—and other
amiable Traits of their Character—A Notice of some Points relative to the
Mahometan Religion, and to its Ministers—The Mevlevi and Cadri—The
Turning and Howling Dervishes, .....verssescerscesscoscesesssssensencessscee IO L
LETTER XLVIII.
Excursion to Constantinople—The Wall on the Land Side of the City—The
Miracle of Baloucli—The Seven Towers—The Coffee-Houses near Yeni-
Kapoussi—The Meddahs, or Tale-Tellers—Teriakis, or Opium-Haters—
Koum-Kapoussi—Kebab— Balik-Hane—Execution of Viziers—The Kiosks
under the Walls—Battery and Boat-Houses of the Seraglio, s.r 935
LETTER XLIX.
The Atmeidan—Antiquities of the Hippodrome—Theodosian Obelisk—The
Colossus Structilis—The Delphic Serpentine Column—The Burnt Pillar—
Note on the Historical Column—Three other Columns—The Ancient Cisterns
—The Aqueduct of Valens—The Fountains and Baths—The Hans—Encou-
ragement of Commerce in the East—Bezesteins and Bazars of Constantino-
ple, ee ecrquctosres Peorees POOPED OSLO OHS HOES SEO HE OOSE OHO OEO EEC OH OOOO TO GEEDOEI GOOCH GOL S ES EEO SEES RESO SECO EEE EEEOES 950
LETTER L.
The Dgiamissi Selatyn, or Royal Moscks—St. Sophia—The Mosck of Sultan
Achmet—Little St. Sophia—Nourri Osmanié—The Tomb of Constantine—
and Prediction of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire—Suleymanié—Other
Moscks and Public Buildings, SOTA ODH KTH TOSSED COPS LECT EEE CEES HEHE SEES SES HH ERP OR OHH ETEROeEECS 965
CONTENTS.
LETTER LI.
The Ambassador’s Audience of the Caimacam—The Ottoman Grandees—Au-
dience of the Grand-Signior—The Janissaries—The Nizan:-Djedid, or New
Institution—Short Account of the Three Revolutions which dethroned the
Jate Sultans Selim and Mustapha, and destroyed the Grand Vizier Bairacter
— The Conclusion, SOC S LCE HO EOE OT OLECHEE SEDO OOPS OOH SETOSO SPEED OOEO SEHD EDEFSOEO DEES ORIG H ETO SE SESS page 983
eR —
APPENDIX,
Containing—
Inscriptions at Cheronea, 1049—Inscriptions at Orchomenos, 1050—lInscrip-
tions in the Charch of St. George, at Talandios in Boeotia, 1051—Explana-
tion of the Inscriptions from the Panéum, at Vary, 1051—Romaic Pronun-
ciation, 1054—Ecclesiastical Greek, 1068—Romaic: The History of the
Kirst Old Man and the Stag, 1071—Specimen of a Romaic Romance, enti-
tled, Unfortunate Love, &c. 1075—Romaic cho Song, 1079~-The Speech
of Phormio, from the Romaic Thucydides, 1081—Academie fonienne, Prix
Olympiadiques, 1099—Expedition to the Dardanelles, 1111—Albanian Lane
guage, 1123—Fac-simile of a Letter from Ali Pasha, 1151—Fac-simile, 1152
—Greek Music, 1153.
ERRORS AND CORRECTIONS.
Page 3, for way, read weigh.
4, for Tottaco, read lottaco.
8, put the reference to place, instead of toAmerica.
10, for Guevini, read Guerini.
17, for Ario, read Azio.
18, for the Venetian Doria, read the Veneti-
ans and Doria.
20, for Poukeville, read Pouqueville, ere and
in every other place.
25, for dei, read dai.
27, for A siatic, read Asiatic.
43, for Charadnis, read Charadrus.
48, for kan, in this place and elsewhere, read han,
‘53, for Talpac, read Calpac, and in 225.
60, for Lychidnus, read Lychnidus.
63, for M. Barbier du Bowage, read M. Barbié
du Boccage.
64, for Paramitkia, read Paramithia.
67, for Sebastoerator, read Sebastocrator.
86, for Bishop, read Archbishop.
89, for Tarrovina, read larrovina.
90, for Tolfa, read lolfa.
Page 377, for Diana, Propylza, read Diana Propy-
lza.
878, for traverse transversely, read traverse
them transversely.
384, for finds, read find.
387, for Telovouni, read Trelovount.
390, for with the small, read with small.
392, for Venus, in the gardens, read Venus
in the gardens,
$94, for is, read are.
405, for natural, read human.
426, for and striking into, read which is‘in.
434, for on this side, read in the same quat-
ter ; and on one side, read on one slope.
438, dele the comma after before stated.
440, for a third longer, read a third part
longer.
451, for zeqin, read zequin.
481, for must always, and has given, read
must always give and has given.
488 and 493, Deipnosophist, read Deipnoso-
phists.
146, for puniumtur, read puniuntur. 492, for Porphrogenitus, read Porphyroge-
153, for Corypheus, read Coryphzus. nitus.
161, for Deborus’s, read Deboruses.
241, for ὕφηλε, read ὑψηλε.
263, for was, read were.
526, for ἅγιος ὅρος, read ἅγιον ὅρος.
527, for was, read were.
534, for aqueducts built, read aqueducts ori-
265, for Acciacoli, read Acciajuoli. ginally built.
281, for in this line the sepulcher, &c. read in
this line were the sepulchre, &c.
801, for has, read have. 555, for Philephus, read, in two places, Philel-
306, note, for Mrs. read-Mr. phus; and in note, for Philephi, read
309, for site, read sight. Philelphi.
$12, for would, read will.
320, insert a full stop after still remain.
323, for dames, read dams.
$31, for containing, read contained.
382 and 341, for Dilletante, read Dilletanti.
361, for striking, read strikes.
538, for δινον» read οινος,
541, for Fileffo, read Filelfo.
606, for and agentem, read et agentem.
623, for renders, read render.
683, dele the reference to Homer, note f.
729, the note, lib. v. cap. 30, p. 78, edit. Pa-
ris, should have been put to the preceding note.
779, for introduced their, read introduced
other.
The Expedition to the Dardanelles was, when written several months past, intended for insertion, as a
note to the Letter in which the forcing of the Straits is noticed ; but being judged too long for that pur-
pose, was transferred to its present position in the Appendix,
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LETTERS FROM ALBANIA,
ὅς. Fc.
LETTER I.
Departure from Malta—Approach to the Gulf of Lepanto, and
to Patrass—Passage between the Islands Cefalonia, Ithaca,
and Santa Maura, to Prevesa.
SiR,
MY Friend and myself, after a stay of three weeks at Malta,
and after many hesitations whether we should bend our steps
towards Smyrna or some port of European Turkey, were at last
determined in favour of the latter, by one of those accidents
which.often, in spite of preconcerted schemes, decide the conduct
of travellers.—A brig of war was ordered to convoy about fifty sail
of small merchantmen to Patrass, the ‘chief port on the western side
of the Morea, and to Prevesa, a town on the ‘coast of Albania.
The Governor of Malta was so obliging as to provide us with a
passage in this ship to the latter place, whence we resolved to
commence our ‘Tour. 7 | 420.
B
9 LETTER I.
On Tuesday Sept. the 19th, 1809, we left Malta, and on the
following Saturday, at nine o'clock in the morning
δ J 89
the channel between Cefalonia and Zante, and at this time also
we were in
had our first view of Greece. You will forgive me for being thus
particular in my dates, as also for every other kind of necessary
egotism. ‘I'he scene before us made a considerable impression.
I could not fail to note every particular of the time, place, and
circumstances of such a first view, and I may be perhaps ex-
cusable in endeavouring to communicate them to you.
Cefalonia appeared a chain of high rocks to the north, witha
few villages scattered at their feet, and presented a prospect of
universal barrenness. Zante was a low land to the south. Before
us, to the east, were the high mountains of Albania and of the
Morea, from which also projected towards us a long narrow neck
of very low land, at the extremity of which were to be seen the
remains of a fort called, as we were informed, Castel-T'ornese.
We had not much wind, and were obliged also to wait for the
slow sailers of our convoy, so that it was not until seven o’clock
in the evening that. we were near enough to see Ithaca, called
now Theaki, which then seemed a low land with two small. hills
to the north-east of Cefalonia. At seven o’clock the next morn-
ing. we were m sight of the opening of the gulf of Lepanto, and
not far from tke small islands called Curzolari, near which, and
not.in- the Gulf itself, the battle of Lepanto was. fought. ‘The
scenery which at, this moment presented itself to us, was peculi-
arly agreeable to our eyes, which had been so long fatigued with
the white waste of Malta. ‘To the south, not far from us, were
low lands running out into the sea, covered with currant trees of
the most lively green ; before us were hills crowned to their sum-
HEFTER YP. 8
mits with wood, and on every other side, except at the opening
by which we had come into this great bay, were rugged moun-
tains of every shape. We were shown the situation of Patrass,
but did not advance sufficiently before dark to see the town itself
that evening. ‘The following night, the whole of the next day,
and the mght after, | employed myself in cruising about the
mouth of the bay in a boat; but on the 26th, at seven in the
morning, was again on board of the brig at anchor off Patrass.
Nothing could be more inviting than the appearance of this place.
I had approached it just as the dawn was breaking over the moun-
tains to the back of the town, which is itself on the foot of a hill
clothed with gardens, groves of orange and lemon trees, and
currant grounds that, when seen at a distance, remind me of the
bright green of an English meadow. ‘The minarets of the ‘Turkish
moscks, always a beautiful object, glittermg in the first rays of
the sun, and the cultivated appearance of the whole neighbour-
hood of the town, formed an agreeable contrast with the barren
rocks on the other side of the Gulf. ;
Though we were to proceed with a part of our convoy immedi-
ately to Prevesa, we were anxious, as you may suppose, to put
foot in the Morea. Accordingly my friend and myself took a
walk in some currant grounds to the north of the town, until we
were obliged to return by a signal from the brig, which got under
way at twelve o'clock. ‘The ship was not long in getting out of
the bay, and before sun-set we had a distant view of a town called
Messalonge, with a singular-looking double shore at the foot of
mountains rising one above the other as far as the eye could reach,
which is, indeed, the appearance of all the country to be seen to
the north of the gulf of Lepanto. |
BQ
LETTER I.
The next morning we were in the channel, with Ithaca to the
left or west of us. ‘This island, which is but. of small circum-
ference, and which is, as it were, enclosed in a bay formed by
two promontonies of the great island of Cefalonia, is not so rough
and rocky as the main land to the right. We were close to it;
and saw a few shrubs on a brown heathy land, two little towns in
the hills, scattered amongst trees, and a windmill or two, with a
tower, on the heights. A small rocky island to the north-east,
between this island and Santa Maura, is called Tottaco. We
made but little progress during this day: indeed the boats of the
brig were employed in cutting out currant boats from Ithaca, then
in the possession of the French, but not very strongly garrisoned,
as you will easily believe, when I tell you, that a month after-
wards, when the Ionian Islands were invested by a British squa-
dron, the kingdom of Ulysses was surrendered into the hands of
a serjeant and seven men. In the might we saw lights in all the
mountains, which they told us were fires kindled by shepherds,
& tas ve
till the beginning of October, when the autumnal rains usually
commence.
On the 28th we sailed through the channel between Ithaca
and the island of Santa Maura, and again saw Cefalonia stretch-
ing farther to. the north. We doubled the promontory of Santa
Maura, and saw the precipice, which the fate of Sappho, the
poetry of Ovid, and the rocks so formidable to the ancient ma-
riners, have made for ever memorable. On each side of the
head-land is a large cave; the shore is very bold, and the height
very abrupt, but covered on the top with a green shrub or moss.
You will not expect to hear of .anyeremains of the ‘Temple of
Apollo.
whose flocks are ποῖ driven down from the hills to the low grounds
?
LETTER I. 5
At seven in the evening we anchored off Prevesa, and the
Greek acting as. one of the English Vice-Consuls at that town,
came on board the brig. His name was Commiuti, or Commi-
niuti: he was of a tall and uncommonly handsome person and
face, and dressed in the Greek fashion. We had letters of intro-
duction to his brother, which he opened, but could not, I be-
lieve, read: he was not, however; the less civil; but with a pro-
fusion of compliments, promised to serve us to the extent of his
power. We signified to him our wish to view the ruins of Nico-
polis, in the neighbourhood of Prevesa, the next day. “ You
shall go there with me; I will get breakfast for you at seven
o'clock, or eight, or nine,” said the Vice-Consul. We told him
we preferred being-off very early. ‘‘ As early as your Excellen-
cies please—dopo la collazione,” added he with a smile, and lay-
ing great stress on the last words, as if to show that he knew
what we Englishmen liked. Indeed, in my short travels, I have
observed, that a notion. obtains very generally, of our country-
men being great eaters, especially of flesh, and greater drmkers.
Erasmus. mentions, that ‘ to cram like an-Englishman,” was a
phrase in. his time.
The 29th of September we prepared for our landing at Pre-
yesa, ἃ. town opposite the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, and
built on a-neck of land in the country formerly called Epirus.
Before, however, you:commence our tour with us on the main
land, I must. crave your indulgence in listening to some previous
remarks, by which I shall endeavour to account for, and to ex-
cuse, one of the many deficiencies that you will doubtless. discover
in the ensuing details of our Albanian travels ; I mean an igno-
rance of the exact extent and limits, of the course of the rivers,
6 LETTER I.
of the direction of the mountains, and of the relative position
of the ancient and modern cities of Epirus, the very country
through part of which we passed. Even a school-boy is ashamed
of seeming ill-read in geography. It is, however, I believe, very
true, that this-country, which has been the scene of so many cele-
brated exploits, and which was on the borders of, and has not
unfrequently been confounded with Greece, has never been ag-
curately described. ‘The accounts of ancient geographers can
hardly fail to confuse the reader. In some places they seem to
allude to Epirus according to its most ancient state; in others,
they talk of the Macedonian division; and sometimes refer to
that partition which was made of their conquests by the Romans,
and which gave to the districts to the north and north-east, be-
fore attached to. Ilyricum and Macedonia, the name of New
Epirus. Ptolemy includes Acarnania and Amphilochia withn
its limits, which he brings down as far to the south as the mouths
of the Achelois*.
It would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to give
what at any one time were considered to be the. actual boun-
daries of the country in question; and you may have ob-
served, that Greek and Latin authors seem aware how little
they were defined, as they make use of the expression, an Epi-
rote people, rather than a people of Epirus. It was natural that
a change of masters should cause a change of names; thus the
districts of Lyncestis, Pelagonia, Orestis, and Elymia, were,
after their reduction by Philip, called Upper, and afterwards Free
Macedonia; and some gave that denomination to the country
* Lib. iii, cap. 14.
LETTER. I, Fi
adjoining, as. far as the coast opposite Coreyra*. The coast, as
might be expected, has been accurately described ; though geo~
graphers are not agreed whether to begin their detail from the
shores of Dyrrachium and Apollonia, or lower to the south, with
Chaonia and the northern extremity of the Acroceraunian moun-
tains: but Strabo, after alluding to the fourteen Epirote nations,
allows. his inability to show the boundaries of their separate states,
which in his time were not to be discerned: He adds ‘in another
place, that this country, which, as well as. Illyricum, though
rough and mountainous, had been formerly well peopled, was at
the period in which he wrote, nearly deserted ; and that; where
there were any inhabitants, they lived in small villages.and caves
(ερειπιοις).
‘Rhus it is that the topography of the interior country.
has been scarcely attempted; for though the names of many.
towns have heen mentioned, and Ptolemy in. particular gives.a
long list of them, yet as.to the real or relative situations of
these places little or nothing seems to be known. I confess my-
self also. to have found very little assistance from the perusal of
those passages of Polybius and Livy, in which. the historians
treat.of, the operations of the Roman and Macedonian armies in
this part of the world. The lives of Pyrrhus, Flaminius, and
fémilius, in Plutarch, give some positions, but are equally un-
satisfactory. ‘l'he labours of modern authors, which have ilfus-
trated almost every other part of the world, have done nothing
towards. clearing these difficulties. Cellarius, and’ Emmius, a
much more attentive compiler, only repeat the accounts of atttient
* Strab. lib. vii.
8 LETTER 1:
writers. Mons. D’Anville felt, and ingenuously confessed, his
want of information; and, on the face of his map, he invites
future students to give a more accurate description of Epirus.
Mr. Gibbon, to whose luminous pages a traveller im Turkey must
always refer with advantage and delight, has declared, that we
know less of the country in question than of the wilds of North
America*. We want.a good map of Epirus, says that historian
in another place ; an observation which he has verified by his
own example, having by a loose expression in more than one place
identified that country with Albania.
The same shade which involved this part of Europe in ancient
times, seems never to have been dispelled during the middle and
latter ages. All that we have, till very lately, known of modern
Albania is, that it is a province of European ‘Turkey, bounded
to the north.and north-east by ἃ chain of mountains called the
Black Mountains, dividing it partly from the country formerly
called Macedonia, and partly from Servia and Dalmatia ; having
to the west the gulf of Venice, to the east Macedonia, ‘Thessaly,
and Greece Proper ; and being terminated to the south by the
gulf of Lepanto, or, according to some, the gulf of Arta. ‘This
extent of country has been divided by the Venetians, 1 believe,
into Upper and Lower Albania, the first being supposed to cor-
respond nearly with the ancient Llyricum, and the last with
Epirus. Some writers, indeed, when speaking of Albania, have
alluded only to the former, which they would bound to the south
by an imaginary line separating it from the latter country.
1 shall. have occasion to mention hereafter, that there does
* Note 40, page 457, cap. 67.
LETTER: 1. 09
obtain amongst the inhabitants a notion of a distinction hetween
the northern and southern parts; but I have never seen a map
in which the line of separation is distinctly marked ; and perhaps
the whole region, even including Acarnania, may be correctly
denominated Albania.
As the Mahometans themselves know nothing of geography,
and as they divide the territories they possess into many petty
governments, with whose limits an Kuropean traveller, or even’
resident, is not likely to make himself acquainted, it would be
unreasonable to expect what might fairly be called a modern map
of any part of ‘Turkey, especially of sucha province as. Albania.
The uninterrupted barbarity of its inhabitants, and. the partial
possession of some of its ports by the Venetians, which has. intro-
duced a confused mixture of Italian amongst the Greek and
Turkish names of towns and districts, have caused such difficulties
in the delineation of any charts, that nothing can be more un-
satisfactory than those which pretend to assist us in our survey.
The best and latest modern map, that of De La Rochette, is full
of inaccuracies and deficiencies, and of little or no service to the
traveller. ‘The designs or plans of the artist Coronelli, represent
only the forts and towns upon the coast, such as they were to
be seen during the more flourishing days of the Venetian repub-
lic. But the present age, which seems to have favoured Gisco-
veries im every art and science, has added also to our knowledge
of the modern state of many countries before almost unknown.
‘he active spirit of two great nations, to whose generous emula-
tion mankind, when they shail have long recovered from the de-
structive struggles of the mighty rivals, shall be for ever in-
debted, has in our days explored the remote regions of every
c
10 LETTER 1.
quarter of the world; and it is to one of the vast military enter-
prises of the French, that we owe the first attempt at a detailed
account of Albania.
In the year 1798, some French officers, and members of the
Oriental Commission of Arts and Sciences, returning from Egypt
in a tartan of Leghorn, were captured off Calabria by a ‘Tripoli
corsair. Of these, Messrs. Bessiers, belonging to the commis-
sion, Poitevin, a colonel of engineers, Charbonnel, a colonel of
artillery, Guevini, a Maltese inquisitor, and Bouvier, a naval
officer, were separated from their companions, and carried to
Ali, a Pasha of Albania, who was then encamped at Butrinto,
on the coast opposite Corfu, at that time besieged by the Rus-
sians and Turks. ‘[hey were detained, but treated with distinc-
tion, and employed by the Pasha for nearly two years, and
during that time collected the notes which were afterwards ar-
ranged by their friend Dr. Poukeville, and published, together
with two other volumes on the Morea and Constantinople, written
by the Doctor, who had himself, after his separation from these
officers, been confined at 'Tripolita in the Morea, and in the
Seven ‘T'owers.
The learned and conjectural part of the book, besides some
rhetorical flourishes, from which the compiler most unaccountably
considers himself to be entirely free, is certainly the worst por-
tion of the performance, and must, I presume, be laid at the
door of the Doctor himself. But notwithstanding all its defects,
which are numerous, there is not, that [ know, any other book
which the traveller in Albania can carry with him or consult,
I have accordingly not scrupled to make use of the French ac-
count, where it is not contradicted by my own experience and
LETTER: Ἐξ 11
information, as you will observe if you happen to have Dr. Pou-
keville’s volume at hand.
I am thus explic:t with you, in order to anticipate an excuse,
should you ever trace me to the source of my information; for as
itis my purpose to give you the best account in my power of the
country through which we passed, I shall not refuse help from
any quarter, but depend upon your kindness for not treating me
asa “ fur manifestus—a detected plagiarist.”
My next letter will fairly land us in ‘Turkey.
Iam, yours, &c. &e.
LETTER 1].
Prevesa—a Description of that Town—-The Mouth of the Gulf
of Arta—Actium—Short Description and Account of Pre-
vesa—and of the Battle which placed the Town tn the hands
of the Turks. .
SIR,
WE. landed at Prevesa during a shower of rain, and
with no very agreeable presentiments. ‘The foolish master of an
English transport lying in the harbour, had come on board, and
told us most dismal stories of the 'l'urks inhabiting the place. He
had had a shot fired through his main-mast from some ‘Turkish
man of war; and one day, walking in the country, a ‘Turk, to whom
he had said and done nothing, turned round and fired at him.
He added, that our Resident at the Court of Ali, the Pasha of
the country, was preparing to leave Toannina, the capital, being
unable to bear the insolence of the people. We picked our way
through several dirty streets, to the house of Signor Commiuti.
Few places will bear being visited in a rainy day, least of all a
Turk town, and such a town as Prevesa.
We found the streets without flags or stone paving of any kind,
resembling dirty lanes, with wooden huts on each side, exceed-
ingly narrow, and shaded over-head with large rushes or reeds,
LETTER [fi 19
reaching from the pents of the houses quite across from one side
to the other. This contrivance, which must be very agreeable
in hot weather, did at this time only increase the gloominess of
the place, and added to the inconvenience of walking, as the rain
dripped from the dirty reeds, and made the paths more muiry,
Add to this, the savage appearance of the ‘Lurks, each of whom
carried an immense brace of pistols and a long knife, sticking out
from a belt before his waist ; and the accommodation we met with
at the Consul’s house, which seemed wretched to us who were
just fresh from Christendom, and you will not feel inclmed to
envy our. situation.
You will fancy yourself deep in the distresses of some Scottish
tourist, if 1 entertain you much longer at this rate ; and yet, I
assure you that, never afterwards during our whole journey, did
we feel so disheartened, and inclined to turn back, as at this
instant ; and indeed, had the commander of the brig been very
pressing, I believe that we should have consented to go back to
Patrass, where we were sure of better fare and more comfort with
the English Consul-General for the Morea, who resides in that
town. ‘The weather however soon cleared up, and we began to
feel more resigned to our misery, which is very laughable now,
but was then wretched enough.
A circumstance just at that time occurred, which seemed to co-
incide with the report made by the master of the transport ; for,
looking out of the Consul’s window, I saw a young ‘Turk dis-
charge two pistols over a garden-wall, to frighten some Greek ma-
riners who were dancing and singing to the sound of a fiddle.
The sailors, however, continued their sport; and we soon found
that there was nothing malicious or unusual in the playfulness of
the young Mussulman.
14 . LETTER. 11;
We dined with the brother of the Vice-Consul; the Vice-~Con-
sul himself was absent at [oannina; when I was not so much
struck with the dinner, and the curious way of serving it up, one
dish after the other, of each of which they expect you to eat, as
with Signor Commuiuti being waited upon by his father, an old
man, and by one of his brothers. 1 afterwards found it to be a
common practice in Greek families, for those who have no money
to be retainers and attendants to such of their relations as are
more wealthy ; nor does filial affection or obedience prevent a man
from exacting the same duties from an indigent parent as he him-
self would perform, were his father to become by any accident
the richer man of the two. An excessive reverence for wealth is
the distinguishing characteristic, as it appears to me, of all the
inhabitants of the Levant. What could Mr. De Guys, in his
silly parallel between the ancient and modern Greeks, have said
to such a change of those virtuous customs which would never
permit a degradation of the dignity of old age ἢ
After dinner we paid a visit to the governor of the town, who
resided within the enclosure of a fort at the lower end of the har-
bour, in a house belonging to Ali Pasha. We walked through a
long gallery, open, as is the custom, on one side, and through
two or three large rooms with naked walls, and no other furniture
than a low stage running round three sides of the chamber, on
which, when inhabited, the sofa-cushions are placed. In one of
these barrack-rooms, for that is the name by which you will best
comprehend the sort of palace we visited, we found the Gover-
nor, who received us with the grave politeness that seems born
with every Turk, and who gave us coffee and a pipe; which, I
believe, you know is the ceremony customary with the people of
this country on the reception of visitors. The coffee is served
LETTER II. 15
up very thick, with the grounds left at the bottom of the cup,
always without milk, and, except to travellers, who are supposed
to be accustomed to delicacies, without sugar. ‘The cups are
very small, not made to stand, but presented in other cups of
open work, like our egg-cups or salt-cellars. ‘Tobacco, which
was unknown to the Orientals till the middle of the seventeenth
century, is now the universal luxury of all the inhabitants of the
Levant; but the Turkey plant is not nearly so pungent and
strong as that of America and the West Indies, and a habit of
smoking it is immediately acquired. ‘I'he pipes are very long, the
heads being made of earthen-ware, and the sticks, when they are
best, of cherry-wood. In these the rich are very expensive:
they adorn them with amber heads and joints, a pair of which I
once saw exposed for sale at two thousand piastres, or more than
a hundred pounds sterling.
The Governor could not easily be distinguished from the
shabby-looking Albanian guards that surrounded him; some of
them sitting down close to him, and the others standing opposite
their master, staring and laughing at our conversation. Besides
the Governor of the fort, there was here also an Intendant of the
Marine, to whom Englishmen generally pay their respects, the
port being occasionally the resort of some of our Adriatic squa-
dron, but whom we did not visit, till our return to this place.
Prevesa is said to contain about three thousand inhabitants,
of which one-half are Turks. Of these Turks the greater part
are Albanians, and are to be distinguished as such by their
dress, manners, and language, with all which I shall hereafter
endeavour to make you acquainted. ‘he houses of the town are
all of wood; for the most part with only a ground-floor ; and,
16 LETTER 1.
where there is one story, the communication to it 15 by a ladder
or wooden steps on the outside, sheltered, however, by the over-
hanging eaves of the roof. In this case, the horses and cattle
occupy the lower chamber, or it is converted into a warehouse,
and the family live on the floor above, in which there are seldom
more than two rooms. ‘This straggling town is placed on the
longest of one of the extremities of a flat biforked tongue of land,
that widens towards the point, and is more narrow about three
miles from the end. ‘This narrow part is the site of Nicopolis.
A bay, which runs mto the land about a mile, forms the har-
bour; and the other extremity of the tongue, together with the
opposite promontory, on which Anactorium, according to D’An-
ville, formerly stood, composes the mouth of the gulf of Am-
bracia, now called the gulf of Arta. ‘This mouth is about half
a mile, or a little more, in breadth: Polybius says five stadia,
and Strabo a little more than four; alluding to this interior
mouth, and not to that of the harbour, which 15 formed by the
point of Prevesa, and the promontory, and which is. nearly a
mile in breadth. It must be exceedingly difficult for a vessel of
any size to work into the Gulf; for there is no deep water, ex-
cept close to the town, that on the other side being full of shoals
and quicksands.
Were it not for the positive authority, that determines. the
battle of Actium to have been fought within the promontory in
the bay that first presents itself on the mght hand to a person
sailing into the Gulf, I should be inclined to think that the action
took place in the sea between Leucadia and the cape of Prevesa.,
The enormous vessels, of nine or ten banks of oars, in the fleet
of Antony, under which, to use the expression of Florus, the
poets an Gann
LETTER ΤΙ. 17
waters groaned, must have scarcely been able to maneuvre in the
small basin in the Gulf; and unless the battle was fought without
the bay, I cannot understand how the combatants could see the
Ἢ
qd
runaway Egyptians steering for Peloponnesus, as Plutarch, in
his life of Antony, says they did. They might suppose them
making for that quarter, but they could not see them an in-
stant after they had got out of the Gulf, the exit from which is
not perceived until you are close to the mouth.
Either a good part of the low land of the promontory opposite
Prevesa, has been formed since the days of Augustus, which is
extremely probable, or the floating castles of Antony were not so
large as is usually conceived. ‘The point is not very important :
it is certain that the battle was fought ; and that a naval action,
for the first and only time in the history of the world, as Madame
de Sevigné has remarked before me, decided the fate of an em-
pire. Mons. D’Anville says, that the name of Actium is not
entirely lost in Ario; but I made every enquiry, and could not
learn that there was at present a village, or any place so called.
The Signor Commiuti did inform me, that there was a ruin to be
scen on the opposite side of the water, on a spot which we after-
wards visited, and saw some trifling remains of a wall built of
bricks, placed lozenge-wise, and about five feet in height, and so
disposed as to appear to have been circular. I do not know who
had put this notion into the head of our Greek, but he called this
the wall of the Hippodrome ; and the fine flat which it might
have enclosed, gives some colour of probability to the suspicion
that this was the spot chosen by the youth of Ambracia and Ni-
copolis for the horse and chariot race, and the celebration of the
Quinquennial games, over which the Lacedemonians presided.
D
18 LETTER If.
The site of Actium itself was lower down in the Gulf, and
nearer to the head-land laid down in the maps under the name of
Cape Figalo; but there the ground 1s. rough and uneven, and not
so well calculated for the course.
It does not appear that there was anciently any town on the
Π
site of Prevesa, of which the first notice I have ever seen is, that
it was besieged by the Venetian Doria in 1572, but relieved by
the Turks from the interior. Since the invention of gunpowder,
such a position must have completely commanded the mouth of
the Gulf, especially as there is no deep water except on the side
of the town. ‘The Venetians, after repeated contests with the
Turks, at last possessed themselves of this place as well as of Vo-
nitza, a town in the Gulf, and of Parga and Butrinto, on the
coast opposite Corfu. ‘The domain of Prevesa extended into the
ruins of Nicopolis.
All these places were ceded to the French by the treaty of
Campo Formio; but, during their last war with the ‘Turks, were
all abandoned, except Prevesa, which the Engineer Richemont,
and the General La Salcette, were ordered to protect. ‘The
Pasha Ali, who had for some time kept up a correspondence with.
the French, appeared at first inactive ; but in the‘end of August,
A.D. 1798, some French boats were seized in the Gulf, and the
Adjutant-General Roze, then ina conference with the Pasha, was
imprisoned, Immediately the French prepared for. the event.
The municipal guard of the town was organized ; arms and am-
munition were sent to the Sulliote Greeks at war with the Pasha;
and a redoubt with two pieces of. cannon was thrown up on the
side of Nicopolis. On the night of the 12th November, Ali and
his two sons, Meuctar and Veli, with a force amounting to about
Ἐπ ΧΗΣ
λον Lt ist
LETTER If. 19
ten thousand horse and foot, appeared on the mountains imme-
diately above the plain of Nicopolis. At the dawn of day the
Albanians were posted on the hills about two miles above the
French force, which, instead of remaining to defend the town,
had marched to the site of the ruins, and were drawn up ina
long line, with the redoubt covering one of their wings.
I had the account from an Albanian who was in the battle,
and who confessed that the French force did not amount to more
than eight hundred men, and all of them infantry. The Albanians
continued some time on the hills, viewing their enemies in front.
Their priests, of whom there was a great number, then began to
pray with a loud voice, and the soldiers joined them in the holy
exclamations. ‘lhe whole body remained waving their heads, as
it was deseribed to me, and as 1 have myself seen in some reli-
gious ceremonies in ‘Turkey, like a vast field of corn, and calling
on the name of God with a fervour of tone and action that was
soon wound up to the highest pitch of fury; as if with one voice,
the word was given, ‘‘ Out with your swords!” and the Alba-
man army, both horse and foot, rushed down into the plain.
The French artillery, began to fire; but, in a short time, both
guns and men were overturned by the ‘Turkish cavalry. ‘The
rout in an instant became general; and the Albanians entering
Prevesa with the French, involved many of the inhabitants in a
promiscuous slaughter:—between Nicopolis and the town the
plain was strewed with about six hundred dead bodies. ‘Two
vessels in the harbour, full of fugitives, cut their cables, and
made for Santa Maura; but one of them, from being overladen,
or from mismanagement, was swamped, and went down.—T'wo
hundred French, with the General La Salcette, and Mons. Ri
chemont, were taken prisoners, and conveyed to loannina.
ἢ ὦ
30 LETTER If.
But the vengeance of the Pasha was reserved for the Greek
inhabitants of the town, two hundred of whom were beheaded
the day after the battle, in the presence of Ali himself.
The French account accuses both their Sulliote allies, and the
townsmen of Prevesa, of having fired upon them during their
flight. Idid not hear of this treachery, although the charge
may be true; but it is excusable in M. Poukeville to shed a tear
over his brave countrymen, and to record, in an amiable episode,
the desperate valour of the heroic Richemont, and the fate of
his friend the young Gabauri, “ connu dans Carmée par sa beauté
et renommé par sa bravure.” 'The like was never heard of since
the days of Nisus and Euryalus.
Since this event, Prevesa has been in the hands of Ali, who
has built a fortress at the bottom of the harbour, and also raised
a battery at the end of the town, commanding the entrance of
the port. It is the chief sea-port town in Lower Albania, and is
the continual resort of the Greek boats of the Ionian Isles, which
exchange their French and Italian manufaetures for the oils,
wools, cattle and timber of Albania. But you must be suffi-
ciently acquainted with Prevesa: I will now conduct you to the
ruins of Nicopolis.
Pare, ste a NS
LETTER 1Π|.
The Ruins of Nicopolis—Preparations for Travelling in Turkey
—The Dragoman—Servants—Baggage, §c. §c.—Sail down
the Gulf of Arta to Salora—The Albancan Guard of Salora,
SIR,.
THE ruins of Nicopolis (which we reached after
riding slowly for three quarters of an hour through olive groves,
and a large plain of low shrubs) are more extensive than magni-
ficent, ag they cover at intervals the breadth of the isthmus, if
such it may be called, from the Ionian sea to the gulf of Am-
bracia: not their shadows, but themselves, stretch trom shore to
shore. After entering at a breach of a. wall, which may be
traced round several parts of the plains, and which may be con-
jectured to have separated the city from the suburbs, we were
carried by our guide, the Consul’s brother, to what be called the
King’s house. ‘This is nothing but the remains of a room, on
which the paint, of a dusky red and light blue, is still visible, and
also a small piece of cornice. I’rom this place we scrambled on
through heaps of ruins over-run with weeds and thistles. These
ruins are large masses of brick-work, the bricks of which (of that
|
sort, I believe, called Roman tile) are much. thinner and longer
than those in use amongst us, and are joined by interstices of
99 LETTER III.
mortar as large as the bricks themselves, and equally durable.
There is a specimen ot this sort ‘at Dover Castle. Some of these
masses are standing, others lymg on the ground, and there are
several spots in the plain so covered with the ruins as to be im-
passable.
We went through an arched gateway, tolerably entire, in the
largest portion of the wall that is yet standing ; and going to-
wards the Ionian Sea, came to the remains of a theatre, in which
the semicircle of seats, raised about a foot one above the other,
is still visible, though destroyed in some places, and choked up
with earth. Underneath the theatre are several arched caves,
which some one had told our Greek, were the dens οἱ the wild
beasts used in the ancient games. But the arena of the theatre
could not have been more than twenty-five feet in diameter, and
therefore not suitable to such exmbitions. ‘I'he people, who oc-
casionally clamoured for the introduction of gladiators and beasts
as an interlude, would, in so small a space, have been content to
do without such spectacles. Indeed the caves appeared to me to
be formed by the falling of some of the brick-work.
Proceeding till we came to no great distance from the ‘sea-
shore, we came to the ruins of a square building, within which,
half buried in the ground, are several marble troughs: these,
and the capital of one Corinthian column lying on the ground,
and the shaft of another enclosed in a wall, were the only pieces
of marble I saw in the ruins; but many have been carried away
lately, and employed in the building of the fortress of Preveca,
and some also have been preserved as a present to the English
Resident at the court of Ali Pasha.
‘Turning round from the sea-shore towards the Gulf, we tra-
LETTER rit 23
versed the plain to the north of the wall, which was also in-
cluded in the suburbs, but is now partly ploughed, and we came
to an eminence, at the foot of the hills that terminate the isthmus
to the north, not far. from. the shore of the Gulf. On this we
found the remains of a theatre considerably larger.than the one
we’ had. before seen, and enclosed on every side: 1 regret to have
not taken its exact dimensions.. It was.of stone, and the semi-
circular seats were in many parts entire: a more learned observer
might perhaps have discovered the orchestra, the pulpitum, the
proscenium, and all the other appurtenances of the ancient theatre;
I must content myself with telling you, that it.was the least dila-
pidated remain we saw in the ruins of Nicopolis. From.the emi-
nence on which it stands there is the best view of the plain, and
of the bay of Actium; and the tents of ‘Taurus, the general of
Augustus, may have been placed on this very spot..
I have before told. you, that these ruims. being nearly all of
brick, presented us with no very magnificent spectacle ; and yet
ῳ
such was the extent of ground which they covered—about three
ἡ
ig
miles.in length from the sea to the Gulf, and. perhaps a mule or
more from the side of Prevesa to the theatre last mentioned—that
there was something of a.melancholy grandeur in the prospect
before us.. Part-of the ruins had been converted into sheep-pens.
Ai solitary shepherd was.the tenant of Nicopolis, and the bleating
of the sheep, the tinkling of their, bells, and the croakimg of the
frogs, were the only sounds.to be heard within the. circuit of ἃ
city whose population had exhausted whole provinces bf. their in-
habitants.. Calyden, Anactorium, Ambracia, the towns of all
Acarnania, and partof Autolia, were stripped of their people and
ornaments; but. the. vanity, a. favourite one with conquerors,
24 LETTER IYI.
which raised Nicopolis by the desolation of the neighbouring
states, could not secure for it a long continuation of splendour
and prosperity. ‘I'he Lmperor Julian found the city in a rapid
decay ; and in the reign of Honoris, Nicopolis was the property
of Paula, a Roman matron. ‘The irruption of the Goths imme-
diately succeeded ; and the city of victory, which was raised by
Augustus, may perhaps have been finally ruined by Alaric.
We returned from the ruins by the side near the sea over a
green plain, which was the burying-place of the city, as some
tombs lately discovered appear to manifest. We passed through
the court-yard of a barrack, struck imto the olive-grounds, and
arrived at the Consul’s house, determining to set out for Ioannina
the next day.
From Prevesa to Ioannina there are two routes. One of these,
taking a north-easterly direction, crosses the plain of Nicopolis,
and passes over the mountains belonging to a district now called
Loru, from a town of that name, at six hours distance from
Prevesa: thence it runs through a valley, and afterwards over
rugged hilly ground to Vrontza, a village seven hours from Ioan-
nina. We were advised, being yet unprovided with a guard, not
to follow this road, as the country of Loru was at that time not
quite safe, and were accordingly directed to take the other route
by Arta, which is considered the longest of the two journies to
the capital.
But this 15 the place to give you some information as to our
equipage, dnd the preparation made by us for travelling in 'Tur-
key. ‘Ihis detail, into which travellers seldom condescend to
enter, and which may be a little tiresome, would, however, I be-
lieve, be useful to you, were you to make a tour in the Levant,
LETTER It. Z5
We had been provided at Patrass witha Greek, to serve as
dragoman, or interpreter to us; he could not, however, speak the
Turkish language, which it is not indispensable to know in Alba-
nia, as the Mahometans of the country, for the most part, speak
Greek. Doubtless, however, it would have been better to have
procured a person acquainted both with the ‘Turkish and the Al-
banian languages; and as such servants are to be met with at
Prevesa, it would have been better if we had delayed to engage
any one until our arrival at that town. 'The professional inter-
preters, by which I mean those who are in the habit of being
recommended to travellers, are mostly exceedingly roguish, and
there is no advantage which they will not endeavour to take, espe-
cially of Englishmen, who are generally suspected to have more
money than wit. ‘There is a Constantinopolitan proverb which
runs thus—‘* Dio mi guard: det Dragomani to mi guardero dei
can.” It is as well to know this, for a great deal depends upon
your choice of a dragoman. He is your managing man; he
must procure you lodging, food, horses, and all conveniences ;
must direct your payments—a source of continual disturbance ;
must support your dignity with the ‘Turks, and show you how te
make use of the Greeks: he must, consequently, be not only ac-
tive and ingenious, but prompt and resolute. Now you would
very seldom find a Greek deficient in the former, or possessed of
the latter qualifications : in this respect, their very Cress 15 agalast
them. Those who have been in Turkey, know that it is con-
trary to the nature of things, fora man in the Greek habit to
talk in any other than the most submissive cringing tone toa
Turk ; and on this account it is always preferable to engage a
person accustomed to wear the dress of a Frank, a name that in-
E
26 BETTER: 11}:
Φ
cludes. all those of whatever nation, who are dressed in the small-
clothes, the ceat, and the hat, of civilized Kurope. Such persons
are often to be met with at Malta, or any of the ports of the
Levant ; they are natives of the islands of the Archipelago, who
have lived in the service of foreigners at Constantinople, and
know how to assume an air of importance, and even ferocity, in
presence of a ‘Turk, with the utility of which a traveller does not
become immediately acquainted. ‘I'he Greek appears to feel him-
self free the moment he places the hat upon his head, and throws.
away the cap, which, in our own times, and in another country,
was the badge of liberty.
Our dragoman was recommended to us as the most upright of
men; but we found him to be one of those servants whose good
conduct does not so much depend upon their own probity, as
upon the vigilance of their masters. He never lost an opportu-
nity of robbing us. He was very zealous, bustling, and talka-
tive ; and when we had him, we thought it would be impossible
to do without him ; when he was gone, we wondered how we had
ever done with him. However, he was a good-humoured fellow,
and having his mind iftent upon one sole thing, that is, making
money of us, was never lazy, or drunken, or out of the way:
he was up early and late ; for he always slept upon his saddle-
bags without undressing. His name was George; but he was
usually called Mister George—Kire yorge (Kei Teoeys),
We had only one English servant with us, who was my Friend’s
valet; for I was fortunately disappointed the day before I left
London, of the man who was to have accompanied me in our
travels: I say fortunately, because English servants are rather
an incumbrance than a use in the Levant, as they require better
LETTER IIt. 97
accommodation than their masters, and are ἃ perpetual source of
blunders, quarrels, and delays. ‘Their inaptitude at acquiring
any foreign language is, besides, invincible, and seems more stupid
in a country where many of the common people speak three, and
some four or five languages. Our baggage was weighty ; but, I
believe, we could not have done well with less, as a large quantity of
linen is necessary for those who are much at sea, or travel so fast
as not to be able to have their clothes washed. Besides four
large leathern trunks, weighing about eighty pounds when full, and
three smaller trunks, we had a canteen, which is quite indispen-
sable; three beds, with bedding, and two light wooden bedsteads.
The latter article some travellers do not carry .with them ; but it
contributes so much to comfort and health, as to be very recom-
mendable. We heard, indeed, that in Asiatic Turkey you can-
not make use of bedsteads, being always lodged in the khans or
inns; but in Europe, where you put up in cottages and private
houses, they are always serviceable, preserving you from vermin,
and the damp of mud floors, and possessing advantages which
overbalance the evils caused by the delays of half an hour in pack-
ing and taking them to pieces.
We were also furnished with four English saddles and bridles,
which was a most fortunate circumstance, for we should not have
been able to ride on the high wooden pack-saddles of the Turkish
post-horses ; and though we might have bought good Turkish
saddles, both my Friend and myself found them a very uncom-
fortable seat for any other pace than a walk.
Whilst on the article of equipage, I must tell you, that as all
the baggage is carried on horses, it is necessary to provide sacks
to carry all your articles. ‘hese sacks you can get of a very
E2 ᾿
28 LETTER ΤΙ
useful land in the country. ‘They are made of three coats; the
inner one of waxed canvass, the second of horse-hair cloth, and
the outward of leather. ‘Those which we bought at Joannina
were large enough to hold, each of them, a bed, a large trunk,
and one or two small articles; and they swing like panniers at
each side of the horse.
Some travellers prefer a large pair of saddle-bags, and to
have a large chest or trunk, which they send round by sea to
meet them, or leave at one fixed spot; but this is a bad plan:
the saddle-bags will not carry things enough for you; and then
to have your wardrobe at any fixed spot, binds you to one
route, and prevents you from taking advantage of opportunities.
As to sending baggage round by sea, it is a very hazardous expe-
riment : we were detained three weeks at Gibraltar, waiting for
clothes which, as we rode from Lisbon to Cadiz, we had ordered
to be sent by sea.
A traveller in this country should provide himself with dollars
at Malta, ina sufficient quantity to defray the charges of his
whole tour in European Turkey. ‘These he will be able to ex-
change without any loss at Patrass, or elsewhere, for Venetian
zequins, which are golden coins, and much more portable.
Having lodged your dollars in the hands of the merchant in the
Levant, you may take bills, to save you the risk and trouble of
carrying money, upon the most respectable Greeks in the towns
through which you mean to pass. ‘This is a better scheme than
that of travelling with bills drawn upon Constantinople, where
the exchange is very fluctuating, and oftener against than for
the English merchant. ‘The accounts in Turkey are kept in
piasters. When you can get seventeen and a half of these for
LETTER: Ith 29
the credit of a pound sterling, you may consider the exchange
at par.
There are several gold coins current in Turkey ; the smallest
of which is a pretty coin, worth two pilasters and a half, or in
some places a little more. ‘The Venetian zequin varies in value
from ten to eleven piasters. Of the money made of silver, much
debased, there are pieces of two pilasters and a half, of two piasters,
and of one piaster: besides these, there are small coins called paras,
forty of which go to a piaster, and which are very thin, and not
so big as a note wafer. ‘I'he asper, which is the third of a para,
I never saw; and copper there is none. It is necessary to be
cautious in procuring money in ‘Turkey, as from the great variety
and changeable value of the com, and also from the number of
bad pieces in circulation, it is a very easy matter to be cheated,
and the Greeks are generally ready to do a traveller that service.
Equipped in the manner which I have thought it necessary to
premise, we procured a large boat to convey us down the Gulf,
as far as a place called Salora, the scale of Arta; and, on the
1st of October, in the forenoon, proceeded on our journey. We
sailed part of the way, being assisted by a strong breeze, the fore-
runner of a thunder-storm that was collecting over the mountains
to the north; and were rowed by- our six boatmen the remainder
of the distance.
‘The Gulf runs in a south-easterly direction ; and, in what may
be called the jaws of it, there is, on the northern side, a large
bay, forming the long beach of Nicopolis ; and on the south, the
bay of Actium and the promontory of that name, now called
Cape Figalo. Beyond Figalo is the other bay, containing in a
deep woody recess the town of Vonitza; and there are many cir-
30 LECT ER πα.
cular inlets or smaller bays on both sides of the Gulf. The
country on every side is mountainous, but less so to the south
than to the north, as, near Vonitza, there are low hills and val-
lies clothed with an agreeable verdure. ‘The prospect, however,
is terminated on every side with tremendous rocks; and as the
entrance to the Gulf is winding, and therefore not perceptible in
many points, the whole expanse of water has the appearance of a
large fresh lake, and did iadeed put me somewhat in mind of
Loch Lomond. A woody island, where there is a monastery,
and some small rocks, with which the sea is studded to the east
of Vonitza, served to strengthen the illusion.
In two hours and an half we had reached the place of our des-
tination, where we had been informed we should find horses, and
be enabled to proceed to Arta the same evening. Salora, about
twelve miles from Prevesa by water, on the northern side of the
Gulf, was the name of this place; but we were surprised, after
having heard that it was the scale or port of Arta, to find that
there was only one house there, and a new-built barrack at a
little distance.
We landed, just in time to avoid the storm, ata little rugged
pier, and put the baggage under cover, at the same time deliver-
ing a letter, given us by the Vice-Consul’s brother at Prevesa, to
the Greek inhabiting this wretched-looking place, which we found
was the custom-house. ‘The Greek, who was collector of the
duties, was extremely civil to us; but said, that there were only
four horses ready, and that we should be obliged to sleep in the
adjoining barrack.
After accusing ourselves for not having sent before us from Pre-
vesa, in order to procure horses, we, of course, consented to what
LETTER ὙΓΤΙΙ 31
we could not prevent, and were shown into the barrack. Tis also
belonged to Ali Pasha, or, as he is called throughout his extensive
dominions, the Vizier, the denomination of every Pasha of three tails:
it had only been built two years. ‘lhe under part of it was a stable,
and the upper, to which the ascent was by a flight of stone stairs,
consisted of a long open gallery of wood, with two rooms at one
end of it, and one at the other. In the smgle room, which was
locked up, the Vizier was accustomed to lodge when he visited
the place; but the other two rooms were appropriated to ten
Albanian soldiers, placed there to protect the custom-house,
which it is of some importance to guard, as Salora is the chief, if
not the only scale (to use a Levant phrase), through which the
imports.and exports of all Lower Albania are obliged to pass, and
which levies.a duty of three per cent. upon all imported merchan-
dize belonging to a ‘Turk, and of four per cent. upon the goods of
the Christian trader.
We were introduced to the Captain of this guard; and, as we
passed that evening and the next day and night in the barrack,
we had at once an Initiation into the way of lite of the Albanian
‘Turks. It was.impossible for any men to have a more unsavoury
appearance ; and though the Captain, whose name, by the way,
was Elmas, was a little cleaner than the others, yet he was not
much to be distinguished from his soldiers, except by a pair of
sandals, and a white thin round stick, which he used in walking,
and which, hke the vine rod of the Roman centurions, 1s-a badge
belonging to, or affected by, the better sort of soldiers in Turkey.
Notwithstanding, however, their wild and savage appearance, we
found them exceedingly mild and good-humoured, and with man-
ners as good as are usually to be found in a garrison.
32 LETTER τα πὶ
We put up our beds in one of their apartments, and were soon
well settled. Immediately on our entrance the Captain gave us
coffee and pipes ; and, after we had dined in our own room on
some fish, bread, and wine, he begged us to come into his cham-
ber and pass the evening with him, to which we consented. ‘The
only furniture in the soldier’s apartment was a raised low stage,
like that used in a kennel, and upon this, covered with a mat, we
seated ourselves cross-legged next to the Captam. ‘This officer
lived im a very easy familiarity with his men; but had a most
perfect controul over them, and they seemed to do every thing
he wished very cheerfully.
All the Albanians strut very much when they walk, projecting
their chests, throwing back their heads, and moving very slowly
from side to side; but Elmas had this strut more than any man
perhaps we ever saw afterwards ; and as the sight was then quite
new to us, we could not help staring at the magisterial and super-
latively dignified air of a man with great holes in his elbows, and
looking altogether, as to his garments, like what we call a bull-
beggar.
After walking about in the walled enclosure of the barrack, and
enjoying the last rays of the setting sun that were gilding the
woody hills and the towers of Vonitza on the other side of the Gulf,
we again seated ourselves at the never-failing coffee and pipe, to
which the liberality of the Captain had added some grapes, and,
by the help of our dragoman, kept up a conversation of some
length with the Albanians.
You may suppose that an Englishman has many articles abovt
him to excite the curiosity of such people ; but we found this
curiosity, though incessant, to be by no means impertinent or
LETTER ITI. 35
troublesome. They took up our watch-chains and looked at
them, then looked at each other, and smiled. ‘They did not ask
a great many questions, but seemed at once satisfied, that the
thine was above their comprehension; nor did they praise, or
appear to admire much, but contented themselves with smiling,
and saying nothing, except “ English goods! English goods !”
or, to give it you in their Greek, “ πράγμιαϊα ᾿Ιγγλέσικα πράγμαϊα
Ιγγλέσικα ἢ A glass of marascine was given to Captain Elmas,
and another offered to one of his men, who refused it, being, as
he said, under an oath not to touch any thing of the kind. Is
not this self-denial, called kegging by the Irish? Elmas drank
seven or eight glasses of amseed aqua vite, and said it gave him
an appetite.
About seven, the Albanians made preparations for their supper,
by washing hands. Dragoman George said, “ If these fellows
did not do this they would stink hke the Jews.’—The Turks
think that the Christians stink.
They placed a round table, raised on two strips of wood three
inches from the ground, before the Captain, and the men sat
round on mats on the floor. The supper was fish fried with oil,
which they ate with their fingers out of one dish, and curded
goat’s milk with bread; but in this second course, they made use
of horn spoons,
After supper the Captain washed hands with soap, inviting us
to do the same, for we had eaten a little with them. He put the
ewer into my lap; but he would not give the soap into my hands,
though I was sitting close to him, but put it on the floor within
an inch of me. ‘This he did with so singular an air, that [ en-
quired of George the meaning of it; and found, that in ‘Turkey
Er
34 LETTER III.
there is a very prevalent superstition against giving soap into an-
other’s hands: they think it will wash away love.
We now smoked, ate grapes, and conversed ; and every thing
was much to our satisfaction, except the habit, to which we were
not then familiarized, of frequent and most violent eructation
from our hosts. ‘The Turks continue at this sport so long, and
are so loud, as to make it appear that they do it on purpose ;
and I once heard that it is done by visitants as a compliment, to
show their host that they have digested his good fare. ‘The
Moors of Barbary continue croaking for five minutes. Persons
of all ranks allow themselves this liberty (1 have noticed it in the
divan at Constantinople) without shame or restraint; but they
would look upon an indecency, however accidental, of another
kind, as a pollution and an affront.
We retired to bed before ten; and the Albanians pulling out
their pistols from their waist, loosening their girdles, and wrap-
ping themselves up in their shaggy great coats (or capotes), lay
‘down and slept upon their mats.
It rained hard the next day, and we spent another evening
with our soldiers. 116 Captain Elmas tried a fine Manton gun
belonging to my Fnend, and hitting his mark every time, was
highly delighted, and offered to receive it in exchange for his
own ; but being informed that it was intended for the Vizier his
master, he did not press the bargain.
This day we observed one of the soldiers rubbing, or rather
kneading, one of his comrades forcibly on the neck and arms, and
pulling his jomts. This is the Albanian cure fora cold in the
limbs.
We were now quite familiar, and on very easy terms together.
LBETEE Ith. 35
In the evening they laughed and sung, and were in high spirits :
one of them, as in other small societies, was their butt, and they
made us the instruments of their jokes against him. We were
enquiring names: one of them was ‘‘ Abdoul,” another ‘“ Yat-
chee,” and a third we were told to call ““ Zourlos.” ‘his person
did not seem pleased with our dwelling on his name, and it was
not long before we learnt that we had been calling him ‘ Block-
head,” the interpretation of the modern Greek word with which
we had addressed him.
They finished our entertainment by singing some songs both
in Albanian and modern Greek. One man sung, or rather re-
peated in loud recitative, and was joined in the burthen of the
song by the whole party. ‘The music was extremely monotonous
and nasal; and the shrill scream of their voices was increased by
each putting his hand behind his ear and cheek, as a whipper-in
does when rating hounds, to give more force to the sound. They
also dwelt a considerable time on the last note (as long as their
breath would last), like the musicians of a country church. One
of the songs was on the taking of Prevesa, an exploit of which
the Albanians are vastly proud; and there was scarcely one of
them in which the name of Ali Pasha was not roared out, and
dwelt upon, with peculiar energy. Ali is, indeed, a very great
man, as you will be inclined to acknowledge, if you have the pa-
tience to proceed with me on my journey.
LETTER IV.
The Presents customary in the Levant—Route from Salora to
Arta—Description of that Town—The Site of Ambracita—
Of Ambracus—Departure from Arta.
SIR,
ON Tuesday, the 3d of October, we were up at half
past five in the morning ; but it was not till eight that we were
fairly off from Salora, after having presented our frend the
Captain Elmas with what we were told, was the proper sum—
twenty piasters. You may be astonished at a present of this
kind to an Officer, especially as you may have read of travellers
taking about with them cloth, snuff-boxes, guns, pistols, and
other articles of English manufacture, in order to repay the libe-
rality of their hosts. But let me observe, that to carry about
goods for this purpose is exceedingly troublesome, and quite un-
necessary, as the delicacy of no soul in the ‘Turkish empire is to
be hurt by a repayment of kindness in hard money. You can-
not, it is true, unless you are extremely rich, do this with the
Pashas and great men; but to them it is not really necessary to
make any present, particularly as the officers of their courts will
sufficiently empty your purse. It isa difficult thing to know
what to give on different occasions, and this embarrassment 15
one of the most unpleasant, and perpetually recurring, of any
LETTER -£V. ἢ
attending ἃ Turkish tour; but asa traveller has to make these
presents every day of his journey, that he is lodged in a private
house, and that is generally the case in ‘l'urkey in Europe, he
must by degrees govern his conduct by something like a general
rule. He will very soon learn not to measure his benevolence, by
the appearance of satisfaction in those to whom he gives; for a
Turk never says “'Thank-ye ;” anda Greek never cries “ Enough.”
No favours are ever granted in Turkey without the hope, and ex-
pectation of reward. ‘This is true of both the Mahometans, and
the Christians, and we found it so, before we had been a week in
the country.
But we must hasten to set out for Arta. We had ten horses:
four for ourselves and servants, four to carry the baggage, and
two, for two of the soldiers of the barrack, who were to go with
us by way of guard, of which we afterwards learnt there was no
necessity, the country between Salora and Arta being quite
secure.
Our horses were very small and lean, apparently just caught
from grass, and had no shoes, two of them being in milk, and
followed by their foals. ‘These, however, were not the regular
post-horses, which, as we had no direct order from the Pasha,
we were not yet able to procure, but were some that had been
hired for us for thirty-five piasters, at a village between Arta and
Salora. ‘The post-horses themselves, though shabby-looking
things, are generally tolerable-hacks, and manage very well in
the steep rocky paths they are obliged to traverse.
For the first mile and a half from Salora, the road was in a
north-easterly direction, on a stone causeway crossing a marsh,
on which we saw flocks of wild swans, and many other aquatic
38 LETTER “IV.
birds. ‘This marsh, which extends to a considerable distance to
the west, and for several miles, with some intervals of cultivation,
to the north-west, is partly formed by the waters of a stream
flowing from near a village in the hills, called Velistri, and cor-
responding, according to the Frenchman’s geography, with the
Acheron. This district, from the plain of Nicopolis, certainly was
the country of the Cassopeean Epirotes. At present it belongs,
partly to the territory of Arta, and partly to the canton of Loru.
Having crossed the marsh, we came into a green plain of some
extent, covered in part with brushwood, and in many places so
swampy, that the baggage-horses fell down repeatedly; and, as
it rained violently, we had a very slow and uncomfortable mde,
until we came near Arta, when the sky cleared, and the sun
shone. We had passed one small village about three hours from
Salora, and the road, from our leaving the marsh, had been over
the plain, which was bounded on every side, except that of the
Gulf, by mountains, and which, though cultivated in some spots,
appeared to serve principally as a pasture for horses, and bullocks,
Our last hour’s ride was through a lane pitched with large peobles,
and having hedges on each side, that served as fences for vine-
yards and olive groves, and gardens of orange, lemon, pome-
granate, and fig-trees. Attached to some of these gardens were
neat-looking cottages, and the approach to Arta, was in every
respect picturesque, and agreeable.
Coming near the town, we passed! over a strong stone bridge
across the river of Arta, which is in this place of considerable
breadth, and very rapid, and which bending round, forms a pe~
ninsula. On this peninsula the town stands. Entering the town,
we saw on our right hand, a large Greek church in a dilapidated
bw
LETTER IV. 3Y
state. We afterwards learnt, that it had been partly built with
the remains of marble columns, some only of which were still to
be seen inserted in the walls; the remainder having been carried
away by the ‘Turks, to adorn a mosck. A little farther on, also
on the right hand, and seated on an eminence, was a handsome-
looking house belonging to the Vizier, and having the appear-
ance, like most of the best dwellings in the country, of having
been very lately built. We arrived at the custom-house at Arta
about one o'clock; but, notwithstanding we had been nearly five
hours coming from Salora, the distance could not have been more
than twelve, or thirteen miles.
The distances in 'l'urkey are very difficult to be ascertained*, as
they are measured by the time taken by a horse with baggage in
going from one place to another. ‘This, to be sure, is a very un-
certain measurement ; but if you allow three miles to every hour,
you will be perhaps as near the mark as possible. We, however,
had not gone at that rate from Salora, owing to various difficul-
ties and stoppages by the way.
We rode into the lower part, or warehouse of the custom-
house, which was half filled with bales of coarse woollen cloth and
leather, and delivered the letter we had brought from Prevesa to
the collector of the duties. He was very polite, kind, and com-
municative, and showed us up stairs, where we were surprized to
see the house furnished with chairs and tables, and ornamented
with old portraits ; all which signs of civilization were accounted
* Mr. Gell has been very particular in his measurements, and seems to have
followed a plan which I had always adopted, before I was aware that it had
been pursued by that intelligent traveller, that of carrying a watch in the
he
hand,
40 LETTER: (IV.
for by the place having been the property of a Venetian, and the
residence of the French Consul, before that minister was _ re-
moved from Arta to Joannina. Our civil Greek provided us with
a house to lodge in for the mght; and a very comfortable house
it was; that is, comfortable by comparison with our quarters at
Prevesa, by which town it would be very unfair to estimate the
interior of the country. Properly speaking, the word comfort
cannot be applied to any thing I ever saw out of England, which
any one in my place, who was not afraid of being taken for a
downright prejudiced national blockhead, would confess.
The remainder of the day of our arrival was very fine, and we
had an opportunity of surveying the town, which seemed tolerably
clean, with streets partly paved, and not so narrow, as usual in the
Levant, and free from unpleasant smells. ‘The bazar, or street
where the principal shops were, was well furnished with the commo-
dities in request in ‘Turkey. As the shops in these bazar have no
windows to them, but are inclosed by wooden shutters, which,
being removed in the day-time, leave them quite open, like a
stall, the artisan and his goods are exposed, as it were, in the
street. This, which has a poor effect when the tradesmen’s arti-
cles are few, and of the common sort, produces a very gay
appearance in rich cities.
Arta is not very splendid in this particular, but contains some
very decent houses, and not in the oriental style, which may be
accounted for by the length of time the Venetians possessed a
footing in the neighbourhood. Until lately there was a conside-
rable French establishment in the place, employed in the expor-
tation of timber for ship-building at ‘Toulon; but the town, once
so considerable as to have given its name to the neighbouring
LETTER IV. 4]
Gulf, has declined since Ioannina has begun to flourish under Ali;
who governs Arta, before the seat of an independent pasha, by aa
officer of his own, with the title of Aga. ‘There are, however,
still about a thousand houses (so our Greek told us), or between
five and six thousand inhabitants in the town, of which not a
fourth part are Mahometans, and it is still a depot of many va-
luable articles of merchandize.
In the warehouses of the Greeks there are threads, cottons, un-
dressed wools, thick cloths, leather, silk and cotton stuffs. But
the collector of the duties informed us, that the inhabitants were
become very lazy, preferring the cultivation of a few acres, which
furnished them with a competence, to being engaged in trade.
The pursuits of agriculture might, however, be exceedingly profi-
table, for the soil in the neighbourhood produces a valuable grape ;
tobacco, which is much esteemed, barley, oats, and maize, and
other grains of a good quality. 'The traders of the Ionian islands
also resort to the plain of Arta for their cattle, sheep, and pigs.
The Turks must have formerly considered this place of some
importance, for on an eminence a little to the east of the town,
there is a fortress, once of considerable strength, but now in a
state of decay. ‘This we visited, having been informed that we
should there perceive some remains, many pieces of marble having
been already discovered and carried away from that spot. ‘The
only vestiges, however, of antiquity to be seen, were the enormous
stones composing the lower part of the wall of the castle towards
the east, one of which I found to be fourteen feet and a half long,
and between five and six feet broad, and the remainder seemed of
the same size.
It is impossible to doubt that these stones are a part οἱ
G
42 LETTER TV.
some very ancient building; they have that massy character of
Greek remains, which it is not easy to mistake ; for though the
edifices of the ancients were not, it should seem, so extensive and
large as those of the moderns, yet their component parts, the
stones with which they were built, were carved of a size that we
have been either not able, or not willing to imitate. This distinc-
tion would strike any one entirely ignorant of architecture, and is
found more in the works of the early Greeks than in those of later
times, and of the Romans. The line where the old wall ends, and
the modern superstructure begins, is distinctly marked, and these
remains must point out the former site of some strong town, but
not that of Ambracia, which was situated at a little distance from
the lower bay of the Gulf, and near which, descending from
Mount Stympe, and the country of the Parorei, the river Arach-
thus flowed, and afforded a short passage of a few stadia from
the Gulf to the city*. But Arta is between seven and eight miles
from the mouth of the river, which, if it be, as Mr. D’Anville
gives it, the Arachthus, should show near its banks some vestiges
of Ambracia. But I did not hear of any remains in the neigh-
bourhood, except in the hills to the east, called Callidromos,
which had been visited by an English gentleman, whose learning
and long residence in the country, will render any account that
he may choose to give of Albania, of the most inestimable value to
the traveller.
From the fortress there is the best view of the surrounding
country. ‘The territory of Arta may be from twenty-seven to
thirty miles in circumference, bounded by mountains to the north
* Strabon. lib. yii.
LETTER Iv. 435
and north-east, and also to the west; by the Gulf to the south,
and by low hills to the east. The town stands at a mile anda
half, or two miles distance, from the north-eastern mountains,
On the other side of the low hills terminating the plain, about
four or five miles to the east, there is another river, that, about
six miles from its mouth, divides and incloses within its two
branches, a fertile plain, called by the Italians Terra Nova, and
inhabited, says Poukeville, by Jews, exiled Venetians, and some
Greeks from the Ionian Isles. One might be perhaps inclined to
place Ambracia somewhere in ‘Terra Nova, as corresponding more
exactly with the μυκος, the lower part of the Gulf, than the plain
of Arta, which is not more than fifteen miles, or half way down.
In that case, the river of Arta could no longer be the Arachthus,
but the Charadnis; and the massy stones of the castle would be
supposed to indicate the site of Ambracus, a town near that river,
and described as defended by strong walls, lying in a marsh with
only one path to it, and that narrow, and constructed on a raised
mole, and as being opportunely situated for the annoyance both
of the territory and town of Ambracia*.
The whole of the plain is marshy ; the road of the lane through
which we passed, is a raised causeway ; and the similarity of sound
in the two names, will account for the site of Ambracus being for
a long time mistaken for that of Ambracia. Yet all this is pure
conjecture. ‘T'he hill of the fortress is like the Pyrrheum; and
Livy’s description, in the fourth chapter of the thirty-eighth
book, seems to allude to the very spot on which Arta now
stands. But how could the historian trace the Arachthus from
Acarnania? We must make an end of our enquiries.
* Polyb. lib. iv. cap. 61,
G 2
44, LETTER IV.
After strolling about the town until sun-set, the Greek collec-
tor joined us at our lodging, and took a dish of tea with us,
which, besides its other qualities that render it the best travelling
commodity in the world, 18 also a great cement of society, being
a rarity in the Levant. ‘The same person provided horses to be
ready early the next morning, for which we paid him beforehand,
being warned, that many travellers, Albanian soldiers, and Greek
merchants, had often contrived to pursue their journey, without
settling for their conveyance.
We had little sleep, being disturbed by a party of Greeks
fiddling and dancing in the room next to us, and were up the next
morning at sun-rise; but we did not mount until eight o’clock.
‘here was a long quarrel between the different owners of the
horses, respecting the weight of the baggage, and each peasant
was anxious that his own beast might not be overloaded: then
there was a want of ropes ; and they did not know how to put on
the English saddles, which they would not place on the horse’s
back, for fear of galling it, but on a high dirty pad. These
difficulties occurred every day of our travels, and we never were
less than two hours getting under way, as a sailor would term
it—a delay sufficient to try the patience of the most enduring
temper.
We dropped our soldiers of the Salora barrack at Arta, and
took two more from that town, as we had to cross a mountainous
country, considered at that time rather suspicious, and over which
T will proceed with you in my next letter.
LETTER V.
Route from Arta to the Kan of St. Dimetre—From St. Dimetre
to Loannina—First View, and Entry into that City—Recep-
tion of Travellers.
SIR,
WE left Arta by the same road through which we
had entered it, and passed over the bridge, but we then turned to
the right, and took a north-easterly direction for a short time by
the side of the river. We met long strings of. horses loaded with
goat-skins full of wine, for it was about the middle of the vintage.
We observed that the hairy side of the skin was turned inwards,
and this circumstance accounted for the unpleasant strong savour
of the goat in the new wine. Passing a little farther, we saw
them treading out the liquor in tubs by the hedge-side, over
which, the persons employed in gathering were emptying out the
grapes from small wicker baskets.
Just before we left the banks of the river to the eastward, we
passed on our left hand a fine cedar, and the largest plane tree I
have ever seen, except that so celebrated at Vostizza, in the Morea.
We now took a northern direction, skirting a large plain or marsh,
that stretched down to the Gulf on the left, and was in spots
covered with maize and rice. On the right were the stony hills,
that advance within a short distance to the north of Arta, and are
4.0 LETTER” ¥-
the roots of the immense mountains that fill the country from the
plains of Arta, as far to the west as the Ionian Sea, and as far
to the north and north-east as the plain of loannina. ‘These
seem to be rather masses than ranges of mountains, and it is,
therefore, almost impossible to ascertain the direction in which
they run.
After two hours ride from Arta, we came to a hut on an
eminence to our right, at which place was a military post, and
where we had been recommended to take an additional guard
with us. We halted a few minutes, and were joined by four
Albanian soldiers, armed with their long guns and sabres. A
little way farther on, the path left the plain, which we saw ex-
tending before us, with a village at a distance; and turning to the
north-east, we struck into the mountains. We travelled in a
ravine, as it were, for some time ; for the hills rose abruptly and
close to us on each side, and our path occasionally was along a
water-course, whose banks were covered with brushwood. Just
in this spot our guard, very probably for the sake of making
their attendance appear to be necessary, desired us to keep close
together, as this was the place, they said, where the robbers, the
κλέφ]εις (a word very frequently in the mouth of an Albanian),
most commonly made their attack.
Our four men continued with us for two hours, till we came to
a part of the road where there was a village in the bosom of a
hill to the right, prettily interspersed with trees and gardens, and
having a house belonging to the Vizier. Here the guard left us
to return to their station, telling us that our own two soldiers and
ourselves (for we were well armed) would be sufficiently formi-
dable to put us out of all apprehension for the rest of the road.
The Vizier had almost cleared this part of the country of rob-
LETTER V. 47
bers ; but there were still some suspicious spots, through which a
traveller, whose purpose it is to proceed, and not to fight, would
choose to provide a guard. ‘That which we had _ passed was one
of them, and we were afterwards told of another.
We had as yet travelled in a narrow valley; and just as we
came toa spot where the hills seemed to stop all farther progress,
we ascended a mountain-path to the north, and in a short time
stopped to refresh at one of those fountains which are so common
all over ‘l'urkey. ‘Turning round, we had a fine prospect of the
plain of Arta, and of the Gulf at a distance, looking, as it were,
through an immense telescope, or vista, formed by the hills on
each side of the road we had passed.
At one o’clock we moved forwards, still ascending, and came
to a place where there was a path over the country to the nght
(the north-east), to Zeitoun, a port near Thermopyle; and also
another to the left, down the mountains to the country of Sulli,
and Parga, and the coast of the Ionian Sea. ‘The scenery on
each side of us was most beautiful, the hills being covered with
lofty forests ; but before us the road appeared to lead through a
country much more bleak and rocky. It began to rain a little.
George, our dragoman, told us this spot had formerly been
very famous for robbers, and complained that our guard ought
not to have left us; and just as we entered a small wood, a gun
was discharged at a short distance from us. I had a little before
seen a shepherd on an eminence above us, stalking “ gigantic”
through the mist, and was told that it was he who had discharged
the musket; and, indeed, we soon came to where two other shep-
herds were standing near the path; but a person who had his
notions of the pastoral life from a visit to Salisbury Plain, and
from the pleasing pictures of an Arcadian romance, would never
48 LETTER V.
have guessed at the occupation of these tremendous-looking fel-
lows. ‘They had each of them pistols, and a large knife, stuck in
their belts; their heads were covered, and their faces partly
shaded by the peaked hoods of their shaggy capotes; and leaning
on their long guns, they stared eagerly at the Franks and the
umbrellas, with which they were, probably, as much taken, as
were we with their uncouth and ferocious appearance. ‘Their
flocks of sheep and goats were feeding at a distance on the sides
of the hills; but several of their large rough dogs, with their
pricked ears and bushy tails, were roused by our presence, and
howled at us as our train of horses wound along the path close
by them.
These dogs are not unlike the true shepherd breed of England,
except that they are larger (being as big nearly as a mastiff), and
have their heads more sharp, and their tails more curled and
bushy ; and, whatever change may have taken place in the men
of the country, they have not degenerated from their Molossian
ancestors.
We soon saw another country-lodge of the Vizier’s to the right,
with a few trees round it, and a small church near it; and we
then came, ima short time, to a chasm in the road, made by a
winter torrent.
Winding along the sides of the hills, we passed a hamlet of three
or four houses and a church, that is, a small stone house contain-
ing one room, with only one small window, and only to be dis-
tinguished by a stone cross rudely carved over the door. ‘They
told us that service was performed at this place about once in
two months, and that then it was resorted to by the inhabitants
of the hamlets within eight or ten miles.
At half past three we arrived at a kan by the road-side, where
LETTER V: 40
was a yard and stable, a barrack for passengers to sleep in, and
a little wine-house. At this place four paras are demanded for a
toll from every Greek passenger. ‘I'he road, which had been for
three hours very mountainous and romantic, and generally on an
ascent, now led us down into a plain, in which we again saw some
signs of partial cultivation, fields of maize, now and then a single
house with a garden, and a solitary labourer beating the mast
trees. In an hour we began to ascend again, and the path was
very stony, and across several rivulets. We met two parties of
armed s\lbanians, and these were the only travellers we had en-
countered during our day’s ride.
The evening came on, witha drizzling rain, very dusky, and
at last quite dark. We saw a blazing light at a distance, which
they told us was the han, where we were to stop for the night ;
but as we approached it, stumbling along a rough descending
path, we were assailed by several dogs, and found that the light
was the fire of some shepherds, whose black shadows we saw near
the blaze at a little distance. However, in half an hour we
turned into the gate of the han, ourselves and the baggage drip-
ping with ram. ‘This was about half after seven o’clock ; so that
the distance between Arta and the han may be nearly thirty-five
miles, chiefly in a northern direction. ‘There are few parts of the
road, except where it has been paved, in which a person witbout
baggage might not go at a good pace; and it was made, where
there is any making in it, by Ali Pasha about nine years ago.
The han, called the han of St. Dimetre, had a very good
stable, as is the case with most of these places, at one end of
which a party of travellers had established themselves, preferring
it to the room in the han itself. We ascended by the wooden
H
50 LETTER V,
steps to the chamber, of which we thought we were to be the
sole tenants; but as our beds were putting up, four Albanian
Turks and a priest entered, and soon gave us to understand that
they were to be our fellow-lodgers, ‘This room was not more
than twenty feet long and ten feet broad, and our own party
were seven; however, it appeared that the others were the first
occupiers, so we established ourselves on our beds at one side of
the hearth, and the Albanians seated themselves on their mats at
the other. We had some eggs boiled in the small wine-house
attached to the han, and were preparing to get a fire lighted,
when we were told that there were some merchants’ goods under-
neath, which would be endangered by such a proceeding, as the
burning wood might drop through one of the many holes in the
floor.
Our chums turned out to be a mission from the Vizier, with
letters to General Bessieres at Corfu, who, it seems, had been
slow in paying his Highness for the provisions with which the
French troops had been furnished from Albania. We had some
conversation with them. A young Corfiote, who had come with
us from Arta, told one of the Albanians, that he would certainly
be taken by an English cruiser in his way to Corfu. ‘“ No;”
returned the fellow, who seemed very surly and ill-natured—“ 1
am going ina ship of the Vizier’s.’——“ That does not signify,”
said the other, ““ the English care for nobody’s ships; they won’t
let you go to Corfu.” “ I am not afraid,” replied the Albanian
angrily; ‘‘ Captain ——” (the English resident at Ioannina)
ἐς and these two gentlemen are pledges for me.”
A little after hearing this agreeable assurance we went to bed ;
and the rest of the party lay down on their mats. ‘There were twelve
LETTER VY. δ)
of us in the room ; and every one, except the priest and the Cor-
fiote, slept with his pistols at his head-side. This, however, on
the part of the Albanians, was not so much out of caution as
custom ; for there was not the least real cause for alarm or sus-
picion; but the fashion was new, and somewhat disagreeable to
us.
A little before day-light I was awakened by the rising of the
surly Albanian, who got up, and going out, returned with a jug
of water, with which he began gargling and spitting most vio-
lently, at the same time whirling around, as if to air himself.
This was his only toilet. He then lay down and took a nap
till day-light, when he, and the remainder of the mission departed.
In the morning it rained very violently, and we did not set off
until nine o’clock ; when, however, the showers were sufficiently
lasting and heavy to wet us through. We had begun our Alba-
nian tour a month too soon, as you will see by our present, and
subsequent disasters from bad weather.
The road was through a green plain, to the westward of north,
in many places cultivated, and every where spotted with flocks
of sheep and goats. This plain to the right, and before us,
seemed to extend to a great distance, until terminated by a
mountain, or rather a vast chain of mountains, that were half
hidden in the clouds. ‘To the left were, at about two miles dis-
tance, green hills; on the side of which we saw two villages. We
contmued for three hours on the plain, approaching the moun-
tains ; and after riding up a gentle rising for another half hour,
had our first view of Ioannina, and of the lake on which it stands.
A gleam of sun-shine afforded us an opportunity of contemplat-
ing the fine prospect of the city and its neighbourhood. The
H 2
Mi LET Re σὺ
houses, domes, and minarets, glittering through gardens. of
orange and lemon trees, and from groves of cypress—the lake
spreading its smooth expanse at the foot of the city—the moun-
tains rising abruptly from the banks of the lake—all these burst
at once upon us, and we wanted nothing to increase our delight,
but the persuasion that we were in sight of the Acherusian lake,
of Pindus, and the Elysian Fields. But we had not yet perused
the topography of Poukeville.
We soon entered the suburbs, after having passed a new-built
house of the Vizier’s on our right, inclosed within a wall of some
extent. On our left hand were ‘l'urkish tomb-stones, and shops
to the right. As we passed a large tree on our left, opposite a
butcher’s shop, I saw something hanging from the boughs, which
at a little distance seemed to be meat exposed for sale; but on
coming nearer, 1 suddenly discovered it to be a man’s arm, with
part of the side torn from the body, and hanging by a bit of
string tied round one of the fingers.
Before you set down the ‘Turks as a cruel, savage people, on
hearing this, you will recollect, that a stranger passing through
Temple-Bar fifty years ago, might have concluded the English
to be of the same character. We learnt that the arm was part of
a robber who had been beheaded five days before, and whose re-
maining quarters were exposed in other parts of loannina.
After riding at least a mile through the streets, we came to the
house of the English resident, for whom we had been provided
with a letter by the Governor of Malta, and found that a house
had been prepared for our reception. ‘T'o this place we repaired,
and were received with a most profound politeness by Signor
Nicolo, the owner of the mansion. Our quarters were very
LETTER: V3 5.
comfortable, and our host, a Greek, who had passed several years
at ‘I'rieste, and who spoke Italian very fluently, was kind and
attentive.
I had searcely dressed myself, when I was informed that a
secretary of his Highness the Vizier, and the Greek Primate of the
city, had called to congratulate us on our arrival. I went in the
first to receive them, and was quite overwhelmed with the many fine
things said by the Secretary, who spoke French; he told me,
that his Highness had been aware of our intention to visit loan-
nina; that he had ordered every thing to be prepared for our
reception ; that he was sorry to be obliged to leave his capital, to
finish a little war (une petite guerre) in which he was engaged,
but that he begged we would follow him; and lastly, that an
escort was provided for that purpose, to be ready at our com-
mand. The Primate, whom, I was told, I might know to bea
very great man, by the enormous size of his talpac, or cap,
spoke not a word, but bowed very frequently. When my
friend came in, the same compliments and _ information were
repeated to him ; and as we were not at that time acquainted,
that these were usual honours, nor with the Greek manner of ex-
pression, we were not a little surprised, especially when we learnt
that all our provisions were to be daily furnished to us from the
Vizier’s palace.
The Secretary and the Primate left us, as they said, to give
the necessary orders, and wishing to observe the Frank ceremony
of pulling off the hat, were exceedingly awkward in lifting up
their immense caps with two hands, and adjusting them again
upon their heads. ‘I'hey were some time also at the door of the
apartment shuffling on their outward shoes, which, according to
LETTER V.
>
5
oriental etiquette, as you perhaps know, are always put off on
entering an inner apartment ; so that the poorer class of people
have their feet naked, the middling wear a sock or stocking, and
the rich have a thin boot without a sole, reaching a little above
their ancles, which, when worn by a Turk or privileged Greek,
is yellow or scarlet, but in all other cases blue, or some dark
colour. The delay caused by this adjusting of the outward
shoes, after a man has taken his leave, has a very bad and em-
barrassing effect; and one is sensible of this when a Greek is
making these preparations; but the composure and dignity of a
Turk are not hurt by his complying with this or any other
custom.
I take the liberty of introducing this sort of remarks, trifling
as they are, with a reference to the time and place in which they
occurred to me, and after mentioning the occasion which gave
rise to the observation. ‘This appears to me a better plan than
_ that of classing every thimg under separate heads, and I have ge-
nerally adhered to such an arrangement. You will tell me if I
am wrong.
lam, ἄς. &c.
LETTER VI.
Visit to the Grandsons of Ali—Manners of the Young Maho-
metans—View of the Neighbourhood of Ioannina—The Lake
— Mount Tomarus—The Mountains of Sagori—the Route
across then—Mount Pindus—Route across it to Larissa—
Dodona—The Plains of Loannina—The Amphitheatre of
Chercovista.
SIR,
WE passed the few days that we remained at Ioan-
nina, previous to our visiting the Vizier at his quarters, very
agreeably, and with a variety of occupations which is seldom to
be enjoyed by travellers, and which, even in this place, would
not, perhaps, have lasted long. ‘The second day of our arrival,
we paid a visit to the young son of Mouctar Pasha, who is the
eldest son of Ali, and who has distinguished himself so much in
the present war with Russia. We waited upon him at the palace
assigned to his father ; and he received us, though he was a boy
of only ten years old, with a polite unembarrassed air, desiring
us, with a gentle motion of the hand, to sit down near him. His
preceptor, a grave old man, with a beard reaching to his knees,
sat in the corner opposite to him, but did not interfere in the con-
versation. The Bey, for that was his title, though he was a little
50 LETTER VI.
inquisitive as to some parts of our dress, and was highly delighted
by a handsome sword worn by my friend, yet preserved his dig-
nity and gravity, nor could we observe but very little difference
between his manners and those of his aged tutor.
When we had taken coffee and sweetmeats, we expressed a
wish of seeing the palace, for the Bey was lodged in what ap-
peared to be one of the outward and inferior apartments ; and our
young host sent immediately to desire his father’s women to retire
into the inner apartments of the harem, that, we might have an
opportunity of seeing the rooms. As he was walking out of his
chamber very sedately before us (for it is, I believe, a point in
‘Turkish etiquette, that the guest should enter the first, but retire
the last), one of the shabby looking Albanian guard in waiting
upon him, embraced him very tenderly ; and in the whole of the
conduct of his people towards him, there was a singular mixture
of familiarity and respect.
‘The palace had one long, well-floored, open gallery, with
wainscots painted in much the same style as our tea-boards. In
one compartment was a tawdry representation of Constantinople,
a favourite subject, and one which we recognised in almost every
painted house in Turkey. We saw several rooms, not only hand-
somely, but very comfortably fitted up, especially those which
we were informed were the winter apartments. ‘I'he coverings of
the sofas were of richly-wrought silk ; the floors were spread with
the best Turkey carpets: and if the windows, which were large
and deep, and of clear Venetian glass, had been furnished with
curtains, there would have been nothing wanting to complete the
elegance of the chambers. Except that one of the rooms was
furnished with a marble recess, containing a bath and fountain,
LETTER VI. ST
the whole palace seemed fitted up in the same style, which is
easily accounted for, by the circumstance, that in Turkey there
are no rooms set apart for sleeping, but all are indiscriminately
used for that purpose, as each chamber contains a closet or cup-
board, in which are deposited the mats or quilts, that constitute
the whole of the bed of the Orientals.
The little Bey was highly delighted at shewing his father’s pa-
lace, and now and then seemed inclined to throw off his Turkish
reserve. He shewed us his watch, and two or three other little
ornaments ; but when I was going to put my hand on a small
silver box in the shape of a heart, hanging round his neck by a
chain, he shook his head, and said, “* No! No!” I found this
was an amulet or charm, and that his tutor had lost no time in
beginning the religious part of his pupil’s educatién. 'The Bey
spoke Albanian and Greek, and was now learning to write and
read ‘Turkish and Arabic. We took our leave, and the youth was
as graceful in this ceremony as he had been on our entering the
room.
Upon a similar occasion, when we visited another of the grand-
sons of Ali, we had an opportunity of observing that these man-
ners were not peculiar to himself, but belonged to all Mahometans
of the better sort, who, generally speaking, have completed their
education, as far as relates to behaviour in society, before they
have ceased to be children. Mahomet, son of Veli, Pasha of the
Morea, and second son of Ali, was of a lively air, and was said
to possess the genius of his grandfather: accordingly, though
only twelve years old, he was in possession of a pashalik, He
was living in the palace of Ali. He did the honours with the
same ease as his cousin, and after sitting a short time, proposed
I
58 LETTER VI.
a visit to a younger brother of his, who was at a house belong-
ing to their father Veli.
A messenger was sent before us, and we set out on horses
caparisoned with gold housings, whilst some officers of the palace,
with their wands and silver sticks, preceded us. As the young
Pasha passed through the streets, all the people rose from their
shops, and those who were walking stood still, every body pay-
ing him the usual reverence, by bending their bodies very low,
touching the ground with their nght hand, and then bringing it
up to their mouth and forehead (for the adoration of the great 18,
in its primitive and literal sense, still preserved among the Orien-
tals). The Bey returned the salute by laying his right hand on
his breast, and by a gentle inclination of his head.
When arrived at the court of Veli’s palace, he suddenly touched
his horse’s sides, and galloped round to the steps, where his
brother, a boy of seven years old, was standing to receive him,
On meeting,
clining their heads over each other’s shoulders. After pipes and
they embraced in a very ceremonious manner, in-
coffee, we proceeded to see the apartments; and, as we were
walking along, the youngest boy forgot himself a little, and began
to skip about ; when he was immediately checked by the Pasha,
who said, ‘* Brother, recollect you are in the presence of a
2)
.
stranger; walk more quietly.” ‘Ihe other instantly obeyed ;
and it was not a little astonishing, to witness such counsel,
and so ready a compliance, in children of so tender anage. 1
have introduced you into so young company, that you may not
be surprised at the conduct and carriage of the men amongst the
Turks.
On the 8th of October we were favoured with four of the
LETTER VP. 59
Vizier’s horses, to ride into the country, and we went into the
plain, over part of which we had passed on entering the city.
We were taken to the spots most favourable for viewing the beau-
tiful picture before us. Imagine to yourself a large sheet of
water, of ten or twelve miles in length, and at least three miles
in breadth, inclosed, on one side by green plains, an extensive
city, and along succession of groves and gardens, and on the
other, by a chain of lofty mountains, that rise almost abruptly
from its banks. Such was the appearance of the lake of Ioannina,
and its surrounding scenery. A stay of a fortnight, during two
visits, gave us an opportunity of satisfying our curiosity, in be-
holding the same object from different points; yet 1 am sure that
I shall not be so particular as I could wish, im conveying to your
mind an adequate notion of the town and its neighbourhood.
The lake extends, in length, from about north-west to south-
south-east. In it there are two woody islands, one large towards
the southern extremity, and the other much smaller, nearly
opposite to a triangular peninsula which contains the Vizier’s pa-
lace, and is defended by a fortress. ‘The northern end of the
lake loses itself in a reedy marsh, over which there is a stone
causeway, and it is closed by some gardens belonging to the
Vizier, where he has a summer palace for the ladies of his harem.
The southern extremity extends into a hilly country, and forms
at last a small river, that, after being lost for some miles, rises
at a village called Velistri, and runs into the marsh on the banks
of the gulf of Arta. ‘This is the Acheron of Poukeville, who has
also found out an Avernus to receive his infernal stream. But
the Acheron did not flow into the Ambracian, but into the Thes-
protian gulf.
60 LETTER VI;
In a little bay, opposite to the islet and to the fortress point,
there is a spring of very cold water dripping from the rock; and
it is near this stream, or under the spreading branches of a neigh-
bouring tree, that an artist would probably place himself, to take
a view of the city.
The French writer, who is determined to finish his picture,
talks of a river, called by the people of the country Cokytos,
which, after flowing under ground, rises at Perama, a ““ maison
de plaisance” belonging to the Vizier. The existence of Cokytos
and Perama is possible, but I never heard of either the one or the
other; and when Poukeville gravely asserts, that the inhabi-
tants of Ioannina call their neighbouring plains the ““ E/yszan
Fields,” I must entreat you to put no faith in him.
It is singular, that there is no mention made by the ancient
geographers, of any lake in the interior of this country, except in
the neighbourhood of Lychidnus, a town one hundred and twenty
miles to the north of Ioannina, and now called Ocrida. Mr.
D’Anville, in placing the Acherusian lake near the sea, and com-
municating with the Glykyrs-Limen, or port of sweet waters,
sometimes also called the Thesprotian gulf, followed the decisive
authority of Strabo*, who, if he did not see the spot himself,
might have copied from Livy, and from ‘Thucydides, to the
last of whom I would refer you, that you may determine, whether
the position of the lake of Ioannina be reconcileable with that of
the ancient laket. I should be loth to be as positive against, as
* Lib. vii. + Lib. viii. cap. 24.
| « φ ~ ot / Nn ~
p ἔσ], δὲ λιμὴν» καὶ πόλις ὑπὲρ avloy κεῖται ἄπο θαλάσσης, ἐν τὴ Ελαιαήιδι τῆς
Θεσπρωϊίδος Ἐφύρη. ἔξεισι δὲ παῤ αὐήὴν ᾿Αχερουσία λίμνη ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν.---1 1}. i.
cap. 46.
LETTER VI, ΟῚ
Poukeville is in favour of, their identity; yet Ioannina is, by
his own confession, twenty-five leagues from the sea.
The whole of the country to the north, north-east, and east
of the lake, is a mass of mountains, consisting apparently of two
ranges, the one of which runs from north to south, and the other
in a direction from north to south-east. ‘lhe first of these vast
chains is called Zoumerka, corresponding, it would seem, with
the ancient Tomarus; and the latter mountains, now known by
the name of Metzovo, can be no other than Pindus itself, for
they are the boundaries between this part of Albania and the
plains of Thessaly. Between Zoumerka and Metzovo, and
running nearly parallel with the lake, but more to the north, are
the lofty hills of Sagori, whose flat summits, spread into exten-
sive plains, point exactly at mount Lingon, as it is described
by Livy, in following the retreat of King Philip before Fla-
minius*,
To go into the country of Sagori, the traveller must pass a
bridge crossing a small river that runs into the northern end of
the lake ; and in four hours, or twelve miles, from Ioannina, he
first enters that district. In twelve miles more, he arrives at a
monastery dedicated to St. Klas; and again, in twelve other
miles, at the town of Sagori, which is in a direction north-east
from Ioannina. ‘This route is taken by the merchants travelling
into Wallachia, as being more secure than that which leads through
the plains of ‘Thessaly by Larissa. The tops of Pindus are more
* Inde........in montem Lingon perrexit. Ipsi montes Epiri sunt interjecti
Macedoniew Thessaliaque. Latus quod vergit in Thessaliam oriens spectat ;
septentrio a Macedonia objicitur, vestiti frequentibus sylvis sunt, juga summa
campos patentes, aquasque perennes habent.—Lib. xxxiii. cap. 13.
62 ΤῊ ΤΙ vr
7
oS ami a tiv + Ae
than a day’s journey from the lake. It is but seldom that they
gentleman who had been so
are not hidden in the clouds; but a
fortunate as to perform that exploit in a clear day, informed me,
that the prospect from that eminence was more extensive than
any he had ever seen; and he had ascended Olympus. Poiy bins
speaks of a lull in Epirus, from which both seas might be dis-
tinctly seen.
Metzovo is socalled, from a town of that name, consisting of
fifteen hundred houses, and lying in the route from Ioannina to
Larissa. ‘This route is given with great apparent accuracy by Pou-
keville: it leads during three hours along the lake, then for an hour
across a mountain in an easterly direction ; passes over a bridge
of the river that flows to Arta; continues for five hours, but
more southerly, along that river, then over another hill an hour
and a half, and reaches Metzovo; afterwards it goes easterly, for
two hours, over the mountain Metzovo, to Malacassi, a village,
and still ascends for an hour, till it crosses a stream that falls
into the Salembria, or river Peneus. ‘[his stream it tollows for
three hours, and reaches a han called Kokouliotiko (the Gomphi
of Poukeville); it then passes Stagous, a town of a thousand
houses, re-crosses the river of Malacassi, and runs over a vast
plain, in ten hours from the han, to '‘Triccala, the ancient 'Tricca
of Thessaly, and now the chief town of a small province. From
‘Triccala the road continues on the plam m an easterly direction,
till in nine hours and a half it reaches Larissa, having, in five
hours, passed Zarko, a town of eight hundred houses, and, in
an hour and a half more, a village called Koutzochero, near
which it crosses the Salembria.
Between the roots of mount Metzovo, and the southern extre-
LETTER VI. 63
mity of the lake, are two lower hills, to the first of which a few
insignificant remains, supposed to be those of Cassiope, the name
of an inland town as well as of a port of Epirus, have given the
appellation of the Cassiopean hills. The other, our French
author has chosen to call the little Pindus. But although the
licence granted to the fancy of his nation may suffer him to
wander through his Elysian Fields, and sport with the Grecian
Muses on their favourite hill, still he cannot be permitted to
profane with conjecture the venerable shades of Dodona.
“ΑἹ a village,” says he, ‘‘ four leagues to the north-east of
Ioannina, begin the hills of Sagori, and the forests of Dodona*.”
But these groves are not to be distinguished from amidst a thou-
sand woody recesses that shade the mountains of Albania; and
the prose of the traveller is less sober than the poetry of bis har-
monious countryman.
Ce sont passés ces temps des réves poetiques
Ou homme interrogeoit des f6rets prophetiques,
Ou la fable créant des faits prodigicux
Peuploit d’étres vivants des bois religieux.
Doone inconsuliée a perdu ses oracles,
Les vergers sont sans Dieux, les forets sans miraclest.
Nor can his auxiliary (M. Barbier du Boccage) be allowed to fix
the oracle of Jupiter at the village of Protopapas, three leagues
to the north-north-west of Ioanninay. We must be content to
* Voyage en Albanie, page 54.
+ Delille, Trois Regnes de la Nature, canto vi.
1 Description et Histoire de VAncienne Epire, prefixed to the Travels in
Albania.
64 LETTER VI.
know what Homer has told us, that it was situated in a distant
and inclement region, amongst a barbarous people, who washed
not their feet, and who lay upon the bare ground* ; or at most,
we can only learn that it was placed somewhere at the foot of
mount ‘lomarus, in the country first belonging to the Thespro-
tians, and afterwards to the Molossians+-.
ΤῸ the south-west, the west, and the north-west, of Ioannina,
the country is plain for the most part, though occasionally inter-
rupted by low hills and spots of rising ground. We passed
through the length of this flat, and I should conceive it to be
about twenty-five miles, beginning a little beyond the han of St.
Dimetre, and concluding at a village called Zitza. Its breadth
varies from one to three or four miles, and it is terminated to the
south-westward by hills belonging to a district whose chief town
is called Philathe, and which is on the route from Ioannina
to the districts of Paramitkia, and to those of Margariti, Parga,
and Sulli, on the coast of the Adriatic, nearly opposite to Corfu.
But I will leave the notice of these places to another opportu-
nity, and proceed to inform you, that in the whole extent of the
country of which 1 have given you so imperfect a sketch, there
is only one important remnant of antiquity: this we visited. It
is in the neighbourhood of a village called, as well as I could
catch the sound, Chercovista, and about four hours in a direc-
tion nearly south-easterly from the city. The road is first through
the plain, and then ascends, over some low rocky hills, into a
wide valley, terminated by woody hills called Olintza. Here,
before arriving at the principal ruins, there are evident traces of
lliad, lib. xvi. lin. 233, et sequ. + Strab. lib. vii.
LETTER VI. 65
ancient buildings; but the amphitheatre, which soon presents
itself, is indeed magnificent, and, for a ruin, very entire. The
stones that compose it, are of that massy size, which I have
before remarked to be the characteristic of Grecian architecture.
The breadth of the area is fifty-six long paces, and the rows of
seats are in number sixty-five, each seat being in depth more
than a foot. ‘This is a very inadequate description of an anti-
quity of such importance ; but you will be pleased to hear, that
it has been exactly measured, and represented in a most accurate
design, by the hand of an artist. A marble vase has been dug
out from the area of the amphitheatre, and is now in possession of
the gentleman to whom I have before had occasion to allude.
The conjectures of a scholar would be busily employed in
assigning some classical name to the site of the magnificent ruin
of Chercovista; but he might, after every enquiry, be obliged
perhaps to content himself with thinking, that he had viewed the
sole remaining vestige of the ancient splendour of Epirus, of the
seventy cities, which a decree of the Roman senate despoiled in
one day, and at the same hour, of their wealth, of their orna-
ments, and of their people*. However, although we may believe,
with Plutarch, that every one was horror-struck, when a whole
nation was involved in ruin for the sake of a plunder, which,
being divided, gave to each soldier only eleven drachmas+}-; yet
*'Polyb. lib. vii. “T. Liv. lib. xiv. ‘cap. 84.
+ Plut. in vit. ASmylii.—However, all Epirus was not depopulated, but only
those parts which had favoured King Perseus, as we learn by an ex pression of
Livy; for that historian, after detailing the account of this cruelty, soon talks
of the rest of the Epirotes—‘ reliquorum Epirotarum” are bis words, Mr.
Hume, as well as Plutarch, seems to have fallen into the inaccuracy of stating
these 150,000 as the entire population of all Epirus. See Essay on the Popu-
lousness of Ancient Nations.
fo © Te ae hie oe eI ea
66 LETTER V
=
.
the smallness of the booty, and of the number of the captives
<150,000) enslaved by the conquerors, allows but a scanty, and
not a rich population, to each of the cities destroyed; and it is
probable, that some one of them would have been particularized,
had it been one-third as extensive as modern Loannina; but to
that place, after giving you a short respite, I will, in my next
Letter, at length return.
Iam, &c. Kc.
LETTER VII.
Toannina—the Houses—the Palaces of the Vizier—Summer
Pavilion—Population of the City—the Trade—Annual Fair
— Exports and Imports.
THE existence of such a city as Ioannina seems,
till very lately, to have been almost unknown, and yet, I should
suppose it, after Salomika and Adrianople, to be the most consi-
derable place in European Turkey. It has never been my good
fortune to meet with a notice of it m any book of an early date,
except once in the ponderous history of Knolles, who, with an
accuracy usual in such a writer, tells how the Sultan Bajazet
the First, took the city of Ioannina in A‘tolia*. Poukeville
has somewhere discovered, that it was founded by Michael Lucas
Sebastoerator, and by the despot ‘’homas, and conquered by
Amurath Bey, general to Sultan Amurath the Second, in 1424.
This account I am unable to confirm, or to contradict, and shall
therefore speak only of its present state.
‘he city stands on the western banks of the lake, at about two
miles from its northern extremity. In its utmost length it may
* History of the Turks, p. 205.
EZ
.Q Wn + —
UC LETT ER VEL.
ml ν᾿’
be perhaps two miles and ἃ half; and in breadth, though in some
places it is much narrower, nearly a mile. Immediately near the
lake it stands on a flat, but the north and north-western parts of
it are built on slopes of rising and uneven ground. Δ triangular
peninsula (of which mention has before been made) juts into the
lake, and contains the residence of the Pasha, being defended by
a fortification and a tower at each angle. ‘The entrance to this
fortress is over a drawbridge. ‘There is one street which runs
nearly the whole length of the town, and another that cuts it at
right angles, extending to the fortress. ‘I’'hese are the principal
streets.
The houses are, many of them, large and well-built, containing
a court-yard, and having warehouses or stables on the ground,
with an open gallery and the apartments of the family above. A
flizht of wooden steps under cover of the pent of the gallery, con-
nects the under and upper part of the houses. ‘Though they
have but a gloomy appearance from the street, having the win-
dows very small, and latticed with cross bars of wood, and _pre-
senting the inhospitable show of large folding doors, big enough
to admit the horses and cattle of the family, but never left open,
yet the yard, which is often furnished with orange and lemon
trees, and in the best houses communicates with a garden, makes
them very lively from within, and the galleries are sufficiently ex-
tensive to allow a scope for walking in rainy weather.
The Bazar, or principal street, inhabited by the tradesmen, is
well furnished, and has a showy appearance. ‘The Bizestein, or
covered Bazar, is of considerable size, and would put you in
mind, as perhaps I have before observed of these places, of Exeter-
Change.
A DANCING GI
Linton Liblished by James Cauthorn, 24 Covkspur Steck |
LETTER VII. 69
Besides the palace in the fortress, and the two I have men-
tioned in my last Letter, allotted to the two sons of Ali, there is
another summer residence of the Vizier’s in the suburbs, at the
north-west end of the town. It is built in the midst of a garden,
in a wild and tangled state, when we saw it, but abounding with
every kind of fruit-tree that flourishes in this favoured climate—
the orange, the lemon, the fig, and the pomegranate. It is in
the form of a pavilion, and has one large saloon (I think an octa-
gon), with small latticed apartments on every side. The floor of
the saloon is of marble, and in the middle of it there is a fountain
containing a pretty model, also in marble, of a fortress, mounted
with small brass cannon, which, ata signal, spout forth jets of
water into the fountain, accompanied by a small organ in a recess,
playing some Italian tunes. ‘The small rooms are furnished with
sofas of figured silk, and the lattices of the windows, as well as
the cornices, are gilt, and highly polished. The shade of an orange-
grove protects the pavilion from the sun, and it is to this retreat
that the Vizier withdraws during the heats of summer, with the
most favoured ladies of his harem, and indulges in the enjoyment
of whatever accomplishments these fair-ones can display for his
gratification. Our attendant pointed out to us, in a recess, the
sofa on which Al was accustomed to sit, whilst, on the marble
floor of the saloon, his females danced before him to the music of
the Albanian lute.
In a field adjommg the gardens, and surrounded with high
walls, are a few large deer and antelopes. ‘The pavilion and its
gardens bespeak ἃ taste quite different from that of the country,
and most probably the Vizier was indebted to his French prisoners
for the beauties of this elegant retirement. We were told it was
the work of a Frank.
70 LETTER VII.
Beyond the pavilion there are gardens belonging to the prin-
cipal citizens of Ioannina, and as most of these have a summer-
house in them, they seem to make a part of the city, which, from
its great apparent extent, might be thought to contain a very
large population. But the Mahometans never make any efforts
to ascertain the exact number of inhabitants in any town or dis-
trict, and it was only during our stay in Turkey, that the Greek
priests of one city were persuaded, for the first time, by a Scotch
gentleman, to keep a regular registry of births in their district.
This makes every thing that can be said on the population of
Toannina, mere conjecture. Some informed me that it contained
eight thousand houses, others did not make the number of inhabi-
tants amount to more than thirty-five thousand. I should think this
is the: lowest possible computation. Of this number, whatever it
be, one-tenth perhaps are Mahometans, and the remainder Chris-
tians, with a few Jews.
The Christians of loannina, though inhabiting a part of
Albania, and governed by Albanian masters, call themselves
Greeks, as do the inhabitants of Arta, Prevesa, and even of
many villages higher up in the country: ‘They neither wear the
Albanian dress, nor speak the Albanian language, and they par-
take also in every particular of the manners and customs of the
Greeks of the Morea, Roumelia, and the other christian parts of
Turkey in Europe and Asia. As, however, the appellation
Romeos, or Roman, (once so proud a title, but now the badge of
bondage) is a religious, not a national distinction, and means a
Christian of the Greek church, and as many of the Albanians are
of that persuasion, and denominated accordingly, it is difficult to
avoid confusion, in giving to the various people of the country
LETTER VII. 71
their common names. ‘To prevent, however, any mistake, I
shall always use the words Greek and Albanian, with a reference,
not to the religion, but to the language and nation of the persons,
whom I may have occasion to mention. At the same time, I
shall indulge myself in the opposite licence, of putting the word
Turk as a religious denomination, which, though an undoubted
vulgarism, is prevalent amongst the Greeks of the Levant, and
does not, as far as I could see, give that offence to the Mahome-
tans, of which I have somewhere read.
The Greek citizens of Ioannina appear a distinct race from the
inhabitants of the mountains, and perhaps are sprung from ancient
settlers, who may have retired, from time to time, before the suc-
cessive conquerors of Peloponnesus and Greece, into a country
where, although enslaved, they were less exposed to perpetual
ravages and toa frequent change of masters. Many of them
boast of their ancestry, and I was told that there was in the
city a school-master, whose family had taught for 300 years suc-
cessively, the eldest son always taking upon himself the profes-
sion. I would not wish. you to believe in this long line of peda-
gogues, but before you laugh at the notion of a family of school-
masters, you should recollect, that we have, in our own country,
an instance of the same thing, and that, after all, an hereditary
scholar is not a more strange being, than an hereditary legisiator.
‘The Greeks of loannina are, with the exception of the priests,
and of some few who are in the employments of the Pasha, all
engaged in trade ; and many of the better sort pass three or four
years in the merchant-houses of ‘Trieste, Genoa, Leghorn, Venice,
and Vienna, which, in addition to the education they receive in. the
72 LETTER VII.
schools of their own city, where they may learn French and Italian,
gives them a competent knowledge of the most diffused modern
languages, and adds also to the ease and urbanity of their address.
They have, indeed, introduced as much as they dare of the man-
ners of Christendom, and, as our host, Signor Nicolo, informed
us, once aspired for a moment, to the establishment of a theatre
for the performance of Italian operas. Some of them, after esta-
blishing an intercourse with their own city, settle in the sea-ports
of Roumelia, and in the towns of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Hun-
gary; but they generally return home, as the policy of Ali con-
trives to oblige them to leave part of their family in his dominions,
and, indeed, the wealthy merchants cannot leave the country,
or even the city, without. his express permission. They are not
indulged with a ride into the country without a notification of their
purpose. ‘The annual revenue which the Vizier draws from his
capital, amounts, say they, to 250,000 piasters.
There is a fair which lasts a fortnight, held once a year on the
plain, a mile and a half to the south-east of the city; and during
this time, ali the tradesmen are obliged to leave their shops in the
Bazar and Bizestein, which are shut, and to set up booths in the
plain. This the Vizier finds a very good method of getting at
some knowledge of the actual property of his subjects. ‘The
fair was held during our residence in the city, and opened on
the 8th of October, when we passed through it on horseback.
The booths, occupying a great extent of ground, are built,
and fitted up exactly as in England, and are divided into
rows much more regular than the streets, and each allotted
to some particular merchandize. ‘There is also a piece of ground
LETTER ° Vit. 715
for the cattle, sheep, and horses, and several plots of green
sward for the parties of dancers, who continue their amusements
during the whole mght.
Here are the goods imported from the Ionian Islands, and the
ports of the Adriatic formerly, but now mostly from Malta, in Scla-
vonian vessels under the Turkish flag; they are landed at Prevesa,
Salora, Vallona, and Durazzo, and thence conveyed on horses to
Joannina. Our blockade of the Adriatic must soon cut off these sup-
plies, and, as an inglish merchant disdains such petty traftic, Alba-
nia may soon be in want of the greater part of them. Still, how-
ever, there are caps from ‘Trieste, Leghorn, and Genoa, and some
coffee and sugar from the first of these places. [Xnives, sword-
blades, and gun-barrels, glass, and paper, are brought from Ve-
nice, but the three first of these articles are sold in all the little
sea-ports of Albania, without passing through loannina. ‘The
gold and silver thread used in their embroidery, is obtained: from
Vienna.
Cloth of French and German manufacture is sent from Leipsig.
This is the chief article of importation, as it is from this fair that
all the richer Greeks and Turks, not only in Albania, but in great
part of Roumelia and in the Morea, supply themselves with the
loose robes and pelisses of their winter dress. English cloth is in
the highest estimation, but seldom to be met with here, or even
at Smyrna and Constantinople, on account of its great price. The
best of the cloth sold at Ioannina was not equal to the worst of
that manufactured in England, and was of a coarse thin texture,
and very badly dyed.
The articles of exportation are, oil, wool, corn, and tobacco,
for the ports of the Adriatic and Naples; and, for inland circula-
3
74, LETTER VII.
tion through Albania and Roumelia, spun cottons from the plains
of Triccala, stocks of guns and pistols mounted in chased silver,
both plain and gilt, and also embroidered velvets, stuffs, and
cloths, which are here better wrought than in any other part of
Turkey in Europe.
Large flocks of sheep and goats, and droves of cattle and horses,
are collected from the hills both of Lower and Upper Albania
for the fair. Of these, all but the horses, which are dispersed in
the country, are sold into the Ionian Islands. The woods of
Albania, before the French revolution, furnished Toulon with
timber for ship-buildmg, and Marseilles imported into the coun-
try the French colonial produce. But both these traffics have
long ceased, and if the trees of Mount Tomarus, or the Acroce-
raunians, are in future to “‘ descend to the main,” they will swell
the squadrons of the British fleets.
It is in vain that the watchful jealousy of Napoleon has adopted
the advice of Poukeville, and removed the station of the French
agent from Arta to Joannina, in order to counteract such a measure,
appointing, at the same time, that gentleman himself, to carry
his own plans into execution, This minister was at his post
during our stay in the city, but, as he gives no countenance to
the nation at war with his master, we had not the satisfaction of
seeing him. I am sorry to say that he does not bear his diplomatic
faculties meekly about him, nor possess the urbanity so characte-
ristic both of his nation and his former profession, This I should
not have mentioned, had he not, with a rudeness that has already
been noticed by a late intelligent writer (I mean Mr. Thornton),
indulged himself in some personal and national reflections, which
do but little credit to his character, either as an author or a gen-
LETTER VII. {5
tleman. ‘The noble enmities of two great nations do not authorize
such petty detractions.
I was not able to learn the extent of the commercial dealings of
the merchants of Ioannina; but the balance of trade is in favour
of Albania, and is paid in Venetian zequins.
The Greeks of this city are as industrious as any in Turkey,
and their embroidery, the art in which they excel, is executed
very neatly; but there was no one who could mend an umbrella
in the whole place ; and only one man, a poor Italian, was capa-
ble of making a bedstead. ‘The only encouragement an able me-
chanic would meet with, would be employment at the Vizier’s
palace, without receiving any emolument. This is, of itself,
sufficient to put a stop to every exercise of ingenuity.
Lam, &c. &c.
Lg
LETTER VIII.
The Turkish Ramazan—Preparations for Travelling—Greek
Peasantry— Route from Ioannina to Zitza—Thunder Storm—
The Monastery of Zitza—View from it—Inhabitants of Zitza
—their Misery.
AS it is my purpose to speak at this time rather of
the Albanians than of the Greeks, and as whatever is peculiar to
this latter people, is to be found in the inhabitants of that part
of Greece which we afterwards visited, I shall hasten to commence
our journey with you into the upper part of the country, where
his Highness the Vizier had fixed his quarters.
We were a little unfortunate in the time we chose for travel-
ling, for it was during the Ramazan, or Turkish Lent, which, as
it occurs in each of the thirteen months in succession, fell this
year on October, and was hailed at the rising of the new moon on
the evening of the eighth, by every demonstration of joy: pistols and
guns were discharged in every quarter of the city. The Turks
continued firing long enough to exhaust their cartridge-pouches,
and as they used balls, according to custom, the Greek inhabi-
tants closed their window-shutters and remained at home; a pre-
caution very necessary, for two bullets passed within a very audible
LETTER VIII. Tt
distance of our host’s gallery. ‘The minarets of all the moscks
were illuminated, and every thing seemed to show that the ap-
proaching season was not considered as one of penance, but de-
voted to merriment. In truth, although during this month the
strictest abstinence, even from tobacco and coffee, is observed in
the day-time, yet with the setting of the sun the feasting com-
mences, anda small repast is served ; then is the time for pay-
ing and receiving visits, and. for the amusements of ‘Turkey
puppet-shows, jugglers, dancers, and story-tellers. At one
o’clock in the morning, after prayers, the dinner commences, and
the carousal lasts till day-break, when the ‘Turks retire to rest,
and do not rise till mid-day.
We were, therefore, as I said, unlucky in hitting on this time
for travelling, for we were frequently a long time before we could
rouse the people who were to assist us in our progress, and were.
besides often disturbed by the heavy drum beaten at midnight to
call the Mahometans to the mosck.
We were a stronger party on this journey than we had been in
travelling to [oannina, for we were accompanied by his Highness’s
Secretary, of whom you have before heard, and by a Greek
Priest, who not having his annual compliment of piasters for the
Vizier, was journeying to him, to explain the cause of his default:
it seems he was a relation of the Secretary’s, and on that score
joined company with us. We were also furnished with an Alba-
nian soldier, belonging to the city guard. His name was Vasilly,
and he afterwards continued in our service. It was the province
of this man to take care that the Vizier’s guests (so they called us)
were properly treated and accommodated on the road, and he
became a very important personage in our suite. The intendant
78 LETTER VIILi.
of the post provided us with five saddle-horses, and a post-man,
called in Turkey ἃ sourgee, to look after them; and for these,
which were to serve us till our return to loannina, we were not to
pay a settled price, but to make the intendant a present.
Had we at that time been provided with a positive order from
the Vizier, we should have been also furnished with horses of the
post to garry our luggage; but, as it was, we had a command in
writing from Mehmet Effendi, governor of Ioannina, addressed
to the heads of all the villages where we were to stop; and these
were to get us as many horses as we might want. Exeept from
Frank travellers, the peasants seldom get a farthing for their
beasts, and their labour in attending them; and as these orders
are frequently given, they constitute one of the most heavy
grievances of the poor, and are a great check to agriculture. It
is with great difficulty that the villagers are forced into this ser-
vice: neither the prospect of payment, nor blows, sometimes,
are sufficient to make them produce their beasts, and we were
witness to many unpleasant scenes.
Vasilly, though he was a Christian, yet being a soldier in the
Vizier’s service, considered himself to have a right over the backs
of the peasants; and, against positive orders, would have occa-
sional recourse to sticks, and even stones. When reprimanded,
he shrugged up his shoulders and exclaimed, “ xwpss τὸ ξυλο οἱ Ῥωμαιοι
dev καμινδν κανένα πραγμά, which you will perhaps discover, dis-
guised as it is in the vulgarity of the modern idiom, to mean
‘The Greeks will do nothing without the stick.’—The most
compassionate traveller, if it should ever come to the dilemma,,
whether these people should be beaten, or he be stopped in his
journey, would not, I believe, hesitate a long time in his elec-
LETTER VIII. 79
tion; but then we are apt to think that the business could be
done without going to such extremities: the Turks, however, say
not; and, such is the force of habit, those of the Greeks I have
seen, seem almost to confirm the opinion.
These preliminaries being noticed, you must be informed, that
on the eleventh of the month (October), we left Ioannina at one
o’clock in the afternoon, and proceeded towards the north-
western end of the city. After passing out of the suburbs, we
crossed a wide ditch and mound, that had been made about
twenty years past by Ali, as a defence for his city; and that for-
merly surrounded the whole of the land side of loannina, but
was, at this time, in many places, and especially towards the road
to Arta, scarcely apparent.
After riding an hour (or three miles) westerly, we passed on
our right hand a green hillock, with some few remains of old
walls on the top of it. ‘The spot is called “ Kathevaki.” Ina
long narrow plain to the left, were tents pitched in a range of
vineyards belonging to inhabitants of Joannina, who were them-
selves superintending the gathering of the grapes. As we pro-
ceeded, there were several villages on each side of us; and, twe
hours from our setting out, on the left hand of the road was a
house belonging to the Vizier, called ‘ Karkopoule,” to which
part of his harem occasionally retire.
In three hours we came toa large tract of marshy flat land,
in several parts of which there were workmen building, by the
Vizier’s orders, low bridges, to make the country passable in
winter, On the top of a low hull to the left, was the country re-
sidence of a Turk of great consequence. It had but a very poor
appearance, not looking better than a han, and standing on the
80 LETTER VI1i.
crag of a rock, without even a garden; yet it was to the daughter
of the owner of this mansion, that young Hussein Bey, the grand-
son of Ali, was athanced.. It is not, however, in fine houses that
the ‘Turks take a pride; they are very easily lodged; and are
satisfied with what would appear to a I’rank a want of every arti-
cle of common furniture.
We were nearly an hour crossing the marsh, when we came to
a han of the meaner sort, and at this place, the road, which had
before been very good, turned into some low stony hills. The
sourgee had galloped on forwards to prepare us a lodging at
the village, where we intended to stop for the night; and after
passing the han, the Secretary, Vasilly, and myself, rode on be-
fore the rest of the party. ‘The pass through the hills lasted half
an hour; and after travelling an hour more over a slippery plain,
we arrived at the village just as the evening set in very dark, and
the rain began to pour down in torrents. My I’riend, with the
baggage and servants, was behind, and had not been in sight for
some time.
After stumbling through several narrow lanes, we came, at
last, to the miserable hovel prepared for our reception. ‘The
room was half full of maize in the stalk; the floor was of mud,
and there was no outlet for the smoke but through the door.
However, the Secretary, having laid down his wallet, and spread
his carpet, “ after the manner of eastern nations,’ seated him-
self on one side of the blaze, and 1 took up my quarters in the
other corner. - Vasilly was dispatched into the village to procure
eges and fowls, that would be ready, as we thought, by the ar-
rival of the second party. But an hour passed away and no one
appeared. It was seven o'clock, and the storm had increased ta
LETTER. ΥΥΣΙ. 81
a fury I had never before, and, indeed, have never since, seen
equalled. The roof of our hovel shook under the clattering tor-
rents, and gusts of wind. ‘The thunder roared, as it seemed,
without any intermission; for the echoes of one peal had not
ceased to roll in the mountains, before another tremendous crash
burst over our heads; whilst the plains, and the distant hills (visi-
ble through the cracks of the cabin), appeared in a perpetual
blaze. The tempest was altogether terrific, and worthy of the
Grecian Jove ; and the peasants, no less religious than their an-
cestors, confessed their alarm. ‘The women wept, and the men,
calling on the name of God, crossed themselves at every repeated
peal.
We were very uneasy that the party did not arrive; but the
Secretary assured me, that the guides knew every part of the
country, as did also his own servant, who was with them, and
that they had certainly taken shelter in a village at an hour's dis-
tance. Not being satisfied with this conjecture, I ordered fires
to be lighted on the hill above the village, and some musquets to
be discharged: this was at eleven o'clock, and the storm had not
abated. I lay down in my great coat; but all sleeping was out
of the question, as any pauses in the tempest were filled up by
the barking of the dogs, and the shouting of the shepherds in
the neighbouring mountains.
A little after midnight a man, panting and pale, and drenched
with rain, rushed into the room, and, between crying and roar-
ing, with a profusion of action, communicated something to the
Secretary, of which I understood only—that they had all fallen
down. I learnt, however, that no accident had happened, ex-
cept the falling of the luggage horses, and losing their way,
M
82 LETTER VIII.
and that they were now waiting for fresh horses and guides. ‘Ten
were immediately sent to them, together with several men with
pine torches; but it was not till two o'clock in the morning that
we heard they were approaching, and my Friend, with the Priest
and the servants, did not enter our hut before three.
f now learnt from him, that they. had lost. their way from
the commencement of the storm, when not above three miles
from the village; and that after wandering up and down in total
ignorance of their position, had, at last, stopped near some Turk-
ish tomb-stones and a torrent, which they saw by the flashes, of
lightning. ‘hey had been thus exposed for nine hours; and the
guides, so far from assisting them, only augmented the contu-
sion, by running away, after bemg threatened with death by
George the dragoman, who, in an agony of rage and fear, and
without giving any warning, fired. off, both his pistols, and drew
from the English servant an involuntary scream, of horror; for
he fancied they were beset by robbers.
I had not, as you have seen, witnessed the distressing part of
this adventure myself ; but from the lively picture. drawn of it
by my Friend, and from the exaggerated descriptions of George,
I fancied myself a good judge of the whole situation, and should
consider this to have been one of the most considerable of the
few adventures that befel either of us during our tour, in Turkey.
It was long before we ceased to talk of the thunder-storin in the
plain of Zitza (the name of our village); and 1 have told you the
anecdote, that you may see how little dependence is to be placed,
in cases of difficulty, upon Greek guides, or servants in general,
who, to say the truth, confine all their. energy and resolution. to
talking, but in, action are noisy, wavering, and timid; se much
LETTER Viit. 83
so, indeed, that in this country it is absolutely necessary to be
always accompanied by a soldier, to enforce obedience, and to
make the rest of the attendants do their duty against their will.
After the fatigues and disasters of the night, we resolved to
stay one day at Zitza, to dry and refit our luggage. By mid-
day the weather was very fine, and we strolled out to take a view
of the country.
A little above the village, which 15 itself on the steep side of a
hill, there is a green eminence crowned with a grove of oak trees:
that has been chosen, like almost every other beautiful spot in
these parts of the world, for the site of a monastery. Immediately
under the monastery, there is a large well-built house of the
Vizier’s, but there is no one who would not pass by the palace,
were it ten times more splendid, to reach the neighbouring grove.
Perhaps there is not in the world a more romantic prospect than
that which is viewed from the summit of the hill. The fore-ground
is a gentle declivity, terminating on every side in an extensive
landscape of green hills and dale, enriched with vineyards, and
dotted with frequent flocks. Many villages, and the groves with
which they are sheltered and adorned, appear on the sloping sides
of the surrounding hills, The view is every where closed by
mountains, but between those to the north-west, there is a
glimpse of a long and verdant plain in the distance, and of the
windings of a river called the Calamas. The mountains to tne
north, part of Zoumerka or Tomarus, which are tne nearest, are
woody to their top, but disclose some wide chasms of red rock.
Those to the north-east, the hills of Sagori, seem a long ledge of
rocks, running nearly from west to east; to the east is Pindus,
verging to the south-east, ‘To the south are the Sulliote moun-
M 2
$4 LETTER» VILL.
tains, and to the north-west, but in the farthest distance, are
those of Chimera, the Acroceraunians. Neither loannina nor
its lake are visible, though Zizta cannot be more than fourteen
miles from the city.
We went into the monastery, after some parley with one of
the monks, through a small door plated with iron, on which the
marks of violence were very apparent, and which, before the
country had been tranquilized under the powerful government of
Ali, had been frequently battered in vain by the troops of rob-
bers, then by turns infesting every district. The Prior of the
monastery, a humble, meek-mannered man, entertained us in a
warm chamber with grapes, and a pleasant white wine, not trod-
den out, as he told us, by the feet, but pressed from the grape by
the hand ; and we were so well pleased with every thing about us,
that we agreed to lodge with him on our return from the Vizier.
Zitza is a village of about one hundred and fifty houses, inha-
bited by Greek peasants, and not having one Turk in the place,
except the man employed to take care of the Vizier’s house. It
is not, however, the jess oppressed on that account, as we had an
opportunity of observing, for the Secretary was inspector of
some of the villages, and accordingly the Primate, or first man of
the place, who was dressed in a woollen jacket, and looked like an
English waggoner, but was well mannered, came before him toa
give in his accounts.
The Papas, or secular priest of the village, a miserable-looking
creature, in whose house we were lodged, and who performed
every menial office of his family, complained to the Secretary,
that the assessment of the Primate was too high, especially as the
best lands of the village belonged to the monastery, which paid
LETTER VIII. 85
no regular tax. The poor Priest, with a disconsolate humble
tone, declared that the annual sum, 13,000 piasters, being paid,
they had hardly sufficient remaining out of the produce of their
labour, to support themselves and children.
Fimployed in the cultivation of a rich soil, and in the tending
of numerous flocks, their wine, their corn, their meat, the fleeces
and skins, and even the milk of their sheep and goats, all were to
be sold to raise so exorbitant a tax: they were starving in the
midst of abundance; their labour was without reward, their rest
without recreation ; even the festivals of their church were passed
over uncelebrated, for they had neither the spirits nor the means
for merriment.
It was impossible not to believe every word that was uttered
by the poor fellow, who, whilst our dragoman was interpreting
his tale, looked eagerly upon us, and still preserved the same
pitiable air and action, with which he had told _ his story. He
wished us to believe him, and, indeed, his own appearance and
that of his fellow villagers, bore forcible testimony to the truth
of his assertions. However, there was nothing to be done but to
try if Al would consent to take less than the thirteen thousand
plasters, and we never heard how the matter ended, or whether
the burthens of Zitza were alleviated.
Tam, ἄς. &c.
LETTER IX.
Route from Zitza—River Calamas—Village of Mosure—Deloi-
naki—Route from Butrinto to Deloinaki—Flocks of Goats
—Albanian Wine—Route by the Plain of Argyro-castro to
Libokavo—Upper Albania—Turkish Meats—Libokavo—Ar-
gyro-castro—Short Account of that City.
WE left Zitza at nine o’clock in the morning of the
ninth, and proceeded in a direction at first north-west by north,
through vineyards running up the sides of the hills, and yielding,
as they told us, and as is usually, I believe, the case in such situa-~
tions, a finer grape than that which is found on the plains. We
then crossed a barren hill, and, in two hours, entered a valley,
studded with clumps of trees, and divided by the river Calamas,
whose windings we had seen from the monastery. Our friend the
Secretary told me, this was the ‘“‘ Acheron,” 1 suspect his autho-
rity to have been “ Meliteus,” a modern Greek geographer, who
was a bishop at Athens about the beginning of the last century,
His book contains both the ancient and modern names of places,
and although strangely incorrect in many instances, even as to the
neighbourhood of the very city in which he lived, yet as it is the
only one of the kind, it 18 useful to travellers. Unfortunately, it
LETTER ΙΧ. 87
is a thick folio, and not very portable. The Calamas, as it runs
towards the Port of Sweet Waters, may have some pretensions to
be the celebrated river of the infernal regions.
Near the entrance of the valley we saw a fall of the river, not
very high, but rolling through a grove of trees, with a small mill
perched on the top of the left bank. Continumg for half an
hour through this valley, with the river at our left, we passed a
han on our right hand; and, shortly afterwards, crossed’ a bridge
over the Calamas, which is here very rapid, and in breadth about
the size of the Avon at Bath. ‘The plain, which till this time had
been flat and broad, now began to be more narrow, and inter-
spersed with woody hillocks ; and we: passed at the foot of high
hills. to.the left, covered with trees. We were here shown a house
of the Vizier’s, embosomed in a nook half way up the steep, and
surrounded by asloping lawn, A few spots of ground that had
been cleared, were cultivated, and converted into vineyards and
wheat-grounds, and large flocks of goats were browsing on the
shrubs through which our path lay; so that we seemed approach-
ing to the country of a more happy people than those we had left
behind: at Zitza. But whatever were our reflexions, they were
interrupted: bya thunder-storm, which, with the deluge that had
been. poured. down on the night of my Friend’s adventure, ren-
dered the road almost impassable; for the torrents, streaming
down the hills, had more than once nearly carried away our lug-
gage horses,
When-we arrived, at half past’ one o’clock, at a little village
called Mosure; we were told thet the rains would prevent our
proceeding that- day; and‘we-accordingly took up our lodging at
the house of ἃ poor Priest, who, notwithstanding what has been
88 LETTER ΙΧ.
said of the appearance of the country, seemed to have as much
reason to be miserable as the people whom we had just left.
Here also we saw a house belonging to the Vizier; indeed the
village itself, they told us, was his private property, and the
half of ail produce was paid to him, besides the absolute dis-
posal of the labour of the peasants. ‘The villagers were, many
of them, employed in felling timber m the mountains, which,
after being cut into planks, is passed down the Calamas to the
coast.
The day cleared up, and gave us leave to see some very fine
mountain scenery. ‘The valley, which runs from north-east to
south-west, appeared to terminate a little to the north of our
village ; and the view of the river was lost at a short distance to
the south-east. Immediately opposite, to the south of Mosure,
was a huge rocky hill called Papinghi, and having a summit so
singularly shaped, as to appear like a fortification with battle-
ments and turrets. Papinghi must be part of Zoumerka, and
the direct road from Ioannina would lead across it to Mosure ;
but the mountain being impassable, the traveller is obliged to go
fourteen or fifteen miles in a westerly direction to Zitza, and
afterwards due north for ten or eleven miles to this village ; the
latter part of the journey being in a very bad path, easy to be
lost, and mistaken for a goat track,
At this place we were worse lodged than at our last village ;
and the mud floor of our hovel was overrun with every descrip-
tion of vermin. You have seen an Irish cabin, and 1 need not
be more particular. We had only a journey of three hours for
our day’s work, on Saturday, October 14, and therefore did not
set of till one o’clock in the afternoon, when we went northwards,
LETTER . LX. 89
through forests of oak, leavmg the Calamas to the right hand,
aud in littke more than an hour skirted a small plain and lake,
also to the right. From the south-west end of this lake, it is not
improbable that the Calamas flows, although we could not see it,
as our view was intercepted by a low hull, and a small fortress (or
rather barrack) of the Vizier’s, called Tarrovina. The people
with us knew nothing about the matter.
Leaving the plain and a small han to the left of the road, we
again began to ascend gradually; winding through thick woods,
still northwards, for an hour, when we found ourselves suddenly
at the top of a deep precipice, with a prospect, to the left, of a
succession of woody hills rising one above the other, and of Del-
vinaki, the town where we were to stop, at the bottom and ex-
tremity of the chasm to.the right. ‘There was a path to the left,
by which those who do not stop at this place save an hour’s dis-
tance, as it communicates directly with the road, which is seen
winding up the precipice on the opposite side. We dismounted,
as the descent was rugged, in many parts very steep, and over-
hung with large masses of loose rock ; and we were half an hour
before we entered the town.
Here we were more comfortably lodged than on the preceding
nights; for Delvinaki, besides a house belonging to Ali, has seve-
ral neat-looking cottages, and is, on the whole, a clean town,
containing, as we were told, three hundred habitations, peopled
by Greeks. Of these, the greater part are employed in cultivat-
ing the. ground, or in attending their flocks on the neighbouring
hills; but a few of them style themselves merchants, as they
‘k from Constantinople, Salonica,
bring small wares on horsebac
and loannina, and sell them in the inland towns of Albania and
Roumelia. These merchants are necessarily absent from their
XN
90 LETTER IX.
own houses the greater part of the year; but Ali, pursuing the
same plan as at Ioannina, detains their wives and children at
home, as a security for their return, and thus profits by their
enterprise, without risking the loss of his subjects; for there are
few instances where these traders have not returned to enjoy their
petty wealth, as far as a Greek can enjoy it, in the bosom of
their families.
I do not know whether you recollect, that the famous Sha-
Abbas founded the city of Tolfa purposely for the families of
travelling Armenian merchants; and by that, which appeared,
at first sight, an act of humanity, secured a great additional in-
flux of wealth into his dominions.
* Delvinaki, besides being on the road to northern Albania, is
also on one of the routes from Butrinto, the ancient Buthrotum
on the Adriatic, to loannina. From Butrinto it is seven hours,
in an eastern direction, to Delvino, a town of eight thousand
inhabitants, and the seat of a Pasha of two tails, now subdued
by Ah.
From Delvino it is three hours, north-east, to the village of
Nivitza ; and thence, seven hours more, and in the same line,
to Delvinaki.
We were told that the Vizier had stayed three days at this
town, which he had left eight days before our arrival ; and that
most probably he was at the town of Libokavo, where we should
arrive the next day.
After the fowls, eggs, and grapes, that always composed our
meal, I rambled up a green lane at the back of the town, till the
ascent became very steep, when, turning round, I enjoyed a
prospect on every side magnificent, and whose beauties were
heightened by the last rays of the setting sun tinging the woody
LETTER τς. Ο1
summits of the opposite mountams. A rivulet, that was col-
lected from a hundred little streams into a pebbly channel, sparkled
at intervals through the underwood 1m the valley.
‘The vintage was just finished, and horses, cows, and asses,
were browsing on the lower grounds; whilst the goats, whose
trespass amongst the early vines is equally dreaded by the mo-
dern, as it was by the ancient Greek, were now rioting at large
in the vineyards on the steeper sides of the hill. These pretty
animals make a conspicuous figure, and are often the sole living
objects, in an Albanian landscape. ‘They are to be met with in
the most unfrequented spots, in the depth of forests, and on the
tops of mountains, in places so remote from any human habita-
tion, that the traveller would suppose them wild, did he not see
their long herds descending to the villages at the close of day,
and were he not reminded of their familiarity with man, by the
tinkling of their bells at mght, close to the little window of his
cottage.
The flesh of the kid is esteemed as much as that of the lamb
in Albania. ‘The goat milk is made into the hard cheese which
constitutes a chief article of food throughout Turkey in Europe,
and which is, in this country, made in sufficient quantities to
allow of a trifling exportation. Each of the skins, by a very sim-
ple process, is so sewed together as to hold and preserve the new
wine, which in the villages is never put into any other bottle, and
seldom lasts beyond the next vintage.
Wine of a year old is mentioned as a rarity. ‘That which is
made in quantities, and kept in casks, in Ioannina, or other large
towns, is mixed with pine, resin, and lime, and weakened with
water, ‘The Greeks consider that the resin gives the strength
N 2
O2 LETT Bae: ὅλ ΚΣ
which the water takes away, and that the lime refines the liquor ;
but it is to this process that a very unpalatable harsliness, gene-
rally to be met with in Greek wine, is to be attributed.
We left Delvinaki at nine o’clock in the morning, and in order
to regain our road, were obliged to ascend and descend
zig-zag stony path on the side of the chasm opposite to
which we had come down the evening before to get to the town.
This took us about half an hour, and when we had got into the
direction we had left, we proceeded to the north-west, through a
woody. country, not at all cultivated or cleared im any part that
was visible. We crossed a torrent where were the broken remains
of a bridge, and the path led us over a wilder but less woody
country, until in three hours from Delvinaki, we came at once
upon a very wide and long plain, running from south to north,
well cultivated, divided by rails and low hedges, and having a
river flowing through it to the south. On each side of this plain
was a ridge of barren hills, but covered at no great intervals, on
the western or opposite range, with towns and villages, that ap-
peared, like the goats of Virgil, to hang upon the rocks. ‘T’hese,
iD ie ae
we were told, were in the district of a large city called Argyro-
ee a
castro, which we saw indistinctly at a great distance, as we ad-
‘ed to the north along the side of the.bills, that form, as it
} c ν a. Seer od ey Ra 1 ὺ
ere, the eastern bank of this extensive plain.
Ls A ale , atn a village where Ἐπ τὰν : Ι
αν Orn o clock we came to ἃ village where ποτ was a han.
tlere we stopped, and as we were seated on our mats taking some
refreshment, an Albanian handed round several specimens of
snuff, for in this village, they informed us, there is the most
extensive snuff manufactory of any im European Turkey. ‘The
snuff is also reckoned to be of the best quahty, and the Albani-
LETTER IX. 09
ans, who are exceedingly addicted to this luxury, affect to de-
spise that which is made any where else but at this village, of
which I forget the name. ‘The tobacco plant grows in great
quantities in the neighbourhood, both in the plain and on the
sides of the hills.
After resting an hour we remounted, and continued in the same
northern course. [νον appearance announced to us that we
were now in a more populous country. We met parties of tra-
vellers both on horseback and on foot: the plain was every where
cultivated, and not only on the side of Argyro-castro, whose mina-
rets we could now discern, but also on the hills which we were tra-
versing, many villages were to be seen. ‘lhe dress of the peasants
was now changed from the loose woollen brogues of the Greeks,
to the cotton kamisa, or kilt of the Albanian, and in saluting Va-
silly they no longer spoke Greek. Indeed you should be informed,
that a notion prevails amongst the people of the country, that
Albania, properly so called, or at least, the native country of the
Albanians, begins from the town of Delvinaki; but never being
able, as I have before hinted, to learn where the line of boundary
is to be traced, I shall content myself with noticing the distinc-
tion in the above cursory manner.
We were joined by a small party of Turks on horseback, one of
whom pointed out, at a little distance from the snuff manufactory,
a hill to the right, on which were, he said, the remains of ancient
walls, as also some few other remains a little farther to the left, in
a grove of trees. ‘These 1 visited, and from the size of the stones,
I should judge them to be antique: they were lying in heaps on
the ground. After riding two hours along the side of the same:
hills, we arrived at Libokavo, and entering the suburbs, enquired
O4. LETTER IX.
if the Vizier was in the town; when, to our surprise, we were told
by three or four people, that they did not know: one thought he
was, another that he was not in the place. ‘hese were not Greeks,
but ‘Turks, the most lazy and incurious race of beings
as you must think, when these fellows did not know whether
absolute sovereign of the country, who moves about with no small
retinue, was or was not in their town.
We proceeded to the house of a relation of one of Ali’s wives,
and there learnt that the Vizier was farther up the country, at his
native town of 'l'epellene. At the house of this Turk, in an outer
room, separated from the chambers which contained his family,
we were lodged during our stay at Libokavo, and the good-
humoured Mussulman endeavoured to render us as comfortable
as possible. As, during the Ramazan, he took his first meal
after sun-set, he ordered it to be served up for our dinner, and
gave us his company.
You must have already read enough about the Turks,
to know the sort of viands usual at their tables: but I must
say of them, that many are very palatable to an English taste,
much more so, indeed, than those to be met with in Portuguese
and Spanish cookery. ‘T'here is a dish of chopped mutton, rolled
up δ ith rice highly seasoned, called yprazk, and a large thin pasty
of fowl, or spinach sprinkled with sugar; both of which are very
commendable. Oil is not often used, but butter, which, it must
be confessed, is now and then very strong, and would be called
by us, grease. ‘he sherbet is but a very poor liquor, being only
sweet water sometimes coloured with marygold flowers, and a few
blanched almonds swimming on the top of it. Itis handed round
at the conclusion of the dinner, and either drunk out of the bowl, or
LETTER (xX: 95
sipped with large horn spoons. ‘The boiled and roast are always
done to rags, to suit not only the taste, but the convenience of a
people, who do not eat with knives and forks, but with their
fingers, making use of a thin crumplet instead of a plate, and each
man tearing off his portion from the joint before him, with his
right hand only, for his left is supposed to be employed on ser-
vices that render it very unfit to be thrust into a plate containing
common stock. ‘The pilaf, or buttered rice, the standing dish of
Turkey, and which is often brought in twice at the same dinner,
is not very palatable to a person unaccustomed to the taste of it.
Our fare at Libokavo was various and good; but we were not
well lodged during the mght, for the whole party, thirteen in
number, slept in the same room with us, as, this being a Turkish
town, we could not procure quarters for our attendants in any
other house. Nearly the whole of the day after our arnival, it
rained so violently as to prevent our proceeding towards ‘Tepel-
lené, but we were enabled between the showers to walk out and
survey the town and the adjoining country.
Libokavo is built on the steep side of a hill, and, with. several
moscks, contains about a thousand houses inhabited by ‘Turks,
many of whom are not natives of the country, but only settlers,
and wear the long ‘Turkish dress. ‘They are for the greater part
farmers of the neighbouring plain, not traders, and the bazar 1s
but ill furnished. ‘The houses are built, most of them, of stone,
and are of the better sort, bemg surrounded with gardens of
orange, lemon, and pomegranate trees. ‘The town 1s governed
by Adam-Bey, the son of a sister of the Vizier’s, and, together
with the whole district on the same side of the plain, is in perfect.
subjection to Ali.
JO LETTER IX.
Of Argyro-castro, which is very visible about nine miles to the
north on the opposite hills, I learnt that it is a city supposed to
contain twenty thousand inhabitants, chiefly Turks, being the
capital of a Pashalik of two tails, and of a very populous district,
bounding to the east and north-east the country of the Chi-
meriotes. It was not, when we were in the country, in subjection
to Al, but nominally under the power of Ibrahim, Pasha of
Vallona, the Prince with whom Ali was then at war, and whe
was besieged in his last fortress of Berat. It was expected, how-
ever, that the city, which has been more than once attacked by
Ali, would, together with its whole district, fall immediately into
his hands after the reduction of Ibrahim.
What we saw of the plain may be about twenty-five miles im
length, running nearly in a straight direction from south to north;
but another branch of it, which turns off to the north-westward,
a little above the city, and continues as far as the shore of the
Adriatic above Vallona (Aulon), may add to it an extent of fif-
teen or twenty miles. ‘I'he river, which has no other name than
the river of Argyro-castro, flows from Mount Zoumerka through
the whole length of the plain, and appears to correspond with the
ancient Celydnus.
With that supposition,, the traveller might be inclined to look
for some vestiges of Hadrianopolis, Amantia, and Antigonia ;
towns which flourished under the Romans, and which were
placed somewhere in the country watered by the Celydnus.
Indeed, the Greek gentleman accompanying us, called Argyro-
castro itself occasionally by the name ot Threanopolis, which,
after dropping the first syllable, would be the modern Greek
pronunciation of Hadrianopolis; and I see that M. de la Ro-
LETTER ΙΧ. 07
chette, in his map, has given the modern city the two names.
But Meletius, the geographer before mentioned, places Antigo-
nia on the site of this town*, and affirms Thryinopolis to be a
ruin marking the site of Drys, an ancient town of the Molossi,
and givinga title to a Bishop within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of
Ioannina}. Pouqueville, on the pretended authority of the same
author, but without being supported by him, declares Delvinaki
to be no other than the ancient Omphalon. The singular position
of this latter place, in a deep hollow, may give some grounds to
suppose that it was once called the navel of Epirus. Iwas assured
that there were no remains of any kind at Argyro-castro; but 1
regret that the state of the country, and our situation as friends of
Ali, did not permit us to visit the city, and obtain personal know-
ledge of the fact.
® Αντιγόνεια; λέγεται tavoy ᾿Αργυρόκαστρον, κτιϑεῖσα ὑπὸ τῷ ᾿Αντιγόνον, καὶ
σώξεται.---Ἡ ΠΕΙ͂ΡΟΣ. p. 316.
+ HMEIPOE. pp. 314, 315.
Route from Libokavo to Cesarades--Women at the Fountains—
Route to Ereeneed—The Passes of Antigonia, called Stena
—The Aous River—Route to Tepellenée, along the Banks of
the Raver—Arrival at Tepellené, and at Ali Pasha’s Palace
—Appearance of the Attendants—-Prayers of the Turks—
The Chanter of the Mosck.
ON leaving Libokavo (October 17th), we descended
into the plain; and, before we could again get into our northern
direction, were obliged to cross several wide and deep trenches,
cut to drain the low grounds. After having regained our path
for an hour and an half, we came suddenly upon a rapid river
flowing out of a valley in the mountains to the east, in a westerly
course, but soon turning to the north. As we were to pass the
night in a village in the mountains to the right of our road, we
were obliged to cross this river, which we accomplished with con-
siderable difficulty; for it was then deep and broad, though, in
general, as we heard, very fordable. After the passage of the
stream, we went over some deep ploughed lands; and, in three
hours from Libokavo, began to ascend the hills in a north-wes-
terly direction. We saw, what might be called, a chain of vil-
lages along the mountains, most of them half way up their sides,
LETTER X. 99
and apparently inaccessible. The hills on the Argyro-castro side,
seemed exceedingly bare; but those to which we were bending
our steps were woody, covered with flocks of goats, and in many
spots cultivated, and sown with maize.
It had been very late before we re-commenced our journey, so
that after we had been in the hills an hour, it grew dark. We
mistook our path; the baggage-horses began to tumble; and,
when we were half way up the mountain, we were obliged to stop
in a wood, where we were bewildered, and quite ignorant of our
position. ‘I'wo or three of us, however, determined to make for
the first village, and procurea guide; for we had been some time
going up and down craggy precipices, without seeming to advance
towards our point.
Not to alarm you with another adventure, we were all housed
at seven o'clock in the evening, having been five hours coming
from Libokavo—a distance of not more than nine miles. At
coming into the village, we were agreeably surprised by getting to
a neat comfortable cottage, where we were received with a hearty
welcome by the Albanian landlord, who, it turned out, was per-
sonally acquainted with the Signor Secretary. ‘The name of the
village was Cesarades, inhabited, except a few houses, by Chris-
tians.
In this place every thing was ona very different footing from
what it had been in the Greek villages. We experienced a great
deal of kindness and attention from our host; but saw nothing in
his face (though he was a Christian) of the cringing, downcast,
timid look, of the Greek peasant. His cottage was neatly plas-
tered, and white-washed, and contained a stable and small ware-
room below, and two floored chambers above, quite in a different
0 2
106 LETTER ‘X.
style from what we had seen in Lower Albania. It might certainly
be called comfortable ; and in it we passed a better mght than
any since our departure from Loannina.
In the morning we found ourselves in a very exalted situation ;
and just opposite us, to the west, we hada good view of the
city of Argyro-castro. We had a guide given us to show the
best path (for the ways had been broken up by the torrents), and
left Cesarades at ten o'clock in the morning. We continued de-
scending and ascending in the same direction as before, that 15;
to the north, still keeping on the sides of the mountains, and at
twelve o'clock we saw another village, situated as high as that
which we had left ; but it was not till some people had been sent
down from this place to open a passage for us, that we could pro-~
ceed towards it. We were a little surprised that these pioneers
were all women; and, as 1 recollect, two of them were young
and handsome. ‘I'hey handled their pick-axes and spades with
great alacrity; and having assisted us, by rolling down some
stones and earth, that impeded our progress, into a torrent, pre-
ceded us to their village.
Before reaching it, we passed a large fountain, where there
were many women washing with sticks and stones, in the Scotch
fashion, and drawing water. Indeed no where in those parts of
Greece or Albania that we visited, are any but the very better
sort of females exempt from these employments; and as the
fountains are often at some distance from the towns, the latter 1s,
by no means, an easy task; for 1 have frequently seen them look-
ing very faint under the weight of their large pitchers, one of
which they carry on the head, and the other in the hand. ‘The
men are never at the fountains; but the aged matron, and the
LETTER: ¥: 10]
tender maid, are still employed in the same labours which occu-
pied the females of Homer’s time; for when Hector reminds his
faithful Andromache that she would be obliged, in her future
bondage,
«ἐς to bring
‘© The weight of waters from th’ Hyperian spring,”
it is but probable, that she had occasionally performed the samie
duties in the days of her prosperity. It was not the drawing of
water which was to be, perhaps, the hardship, but doing it (πόλλ᾽
αεκαζομένη) very much against her will, and (πρὸς ᾿αλλης) under the
command of a mistress. You may add to this, that the ancients
knew nothing of menial offices ; for the Princess of Phceacia
washed her own clothes, and the familiar of the divine King of
Ithaca was a swine-herd, also divine. But the parallel shall be
carried no farther.
In a short time we passed through the village we had seen: it
was called Toxarades, and contained about one hundred and
fitty houses, inhabited, with the exception of two or three ‘Turkish
families, by Christians. In an hour and a half we went through
another village, Lokavo, also on the heights, and about the same
size as the others, and inhabited by Christians; and by half after
three we came to a third, called Ereeneed, where we were deter-~
mined to stay during the night, as we should not have been. able
to reach another resting-place before dark.
We were not so well lodged as we had been the night before ;
but as Ereeneed was inhabited partly by ‘Turks, partly by Chris-
tians, and the best house in the place belonged to one of the for-
mer people, we could not so easily have been admitted to better.
102 LETTER xX.
accommodations. We had come the whole day at a very slow
rate ; and from Cesarades to this village, I should think the dis-
tance not more than ten miles.
On leaving Ereeneed, on the morning of the 19th, at ten
o'clock, we descended from the hills, and got into the plain,
through which, in a north-westerly direction, ran the river we
had crossed in going from Libokavo to Cesarades. We conti-
nued along its banks for some time; the path very bad and
sloughy, and occasionally through coppices of low brushwood.
In two hours we were at what might be called the northern ex-
tremity of that branch of the valley of Argyro-castro through
which we had held our course; and we found ourselves at the
entrance of a sort of defile, with the river on our left hand, and
mountains near us on our right. ‘The hills on the other side of
the river were abrupt precipices, clothed with thick woods.
Though not a vestige of the ancient cities that may have once
flourished in these regions are to be now seen, yet the traveller
would still endeavour to compare the descriptions of historians
with the appearance of the country around him ; and the straights
into which we now entered, might perhaps remind him of the
passes near Antigonia, by the Greeks called rea (Stena), which
some passages of Polybius* would point out as leading from Epi-
rus into Illyricum+-, and which were illustrated by a battle fought
* Polyb. lib. ii. cap. 5. The expedition of Scerdilaidas into Epirus.
+ Strabo, indeed, expressly reckons the Athamanians and Atintanes (living
near the Celydnus) amongst the Epirote nations, inhabiting a wild country,
and difficult of access, upon the borders of Illyricum: and it appears that the
latter were certainly of that people; for when the Epirote army retreated from
the Illyrians at Phoenice, in Chaonia, Polybius (lib. it. cap. 5) says, they fell
back upon the Atintanes.
LETTER xX. 10S
between Pyrrhus and Antigonus*, and by some military positions
occupied by King Philip, before he was routed by the Consul
IJaminius.
In the river which “ flows (I quote from my own journal and
from Livy-j-) in a narrow valley, having only a little path along
its banks,” he would perhaps recognize the Aous, that ran from
Lacmon, the summits of Pindus, forming one of the boundaries
of Macedonia, and falling into the Adriatic sixty stadia below the
eity of Apollonia. Every thing, indeed, seems to correspond
with the position of the “ passes:” here are the hills on each
side, Asnaus and /Hropus, where Philip was encamped; and
in proceeding farther down the river, where it struggles through
its narrowest banks (ubi in arctissimas ripas. cogiturt), any one
would suppose himself to pass over the very spot fixed upon for
the conference between the King and the Consul.
Before the Romans attempted the passage over the formerly
pathless mountains of Chaonia, as Florus§ calls them, and the
Aous winding through precipices, they had penetrated into Ma-
army, in the face of an enemy, over such a country, would
seem to any one who had seen the positions, almost impracti-
cable, yet Pyrrhus had done the same thing before, and, what
would appear more incredible, contrived to make use. of his ele-
phants.
Had we traced back the river up the valley from which we had
seen it issue, we might have been able to know enough of the
country to the eastward, to assist our conjectures ; as it is, you.
* Plut. in vit. Pyrrhi. + Book xxxii. cap. 5.
t Book xxxii.-cap. 10. § Bib. i. cap. 7:
104 LETTER χα.
must be content with those already offered to your notice, and
proceed with us on our route.
After travelling down the valley an hour, we came in sight of
a bridge, and saw crossing it a large party of soldiers, and some
‘Turks on horseback, attending a covered chair or litter. A little
after, to our great surprise, we were met by acarriage, not ill-
made, but in the German fashion, with a man on the box driving
four-in-hand, and two dirty Albanian soldiers standing on the
foot-board behind. ‘They were fioundering on at a trot through
the mire; but how it would be possible for them to pass over
part of the road by which we had come, we did not at all under-
stand. However, the population of whole villages was ordered
out to help it along, and we heard afterwards of its safe arrival at
Libokavo. This carriage had, as they told us, conveyed a lady
of the Vizier’s harem to the bridge, where she was met by the
chair (a large sedan), in which she was to be carried on men’s
shoulders to ‘l'epellene.
At three hours and a half from Ereeneed we crossed the
bridge, which was of stone, but narrow, and of a bad construc-
tion, being so high in the middle, as to render it adviseable to
dismount in passing over it. Immediately after getting across, we
went along a path on the ledge of a steep precipice, with the
river, which was broad (perhaps seventy feet), deep, and very
rapid, rolling underneath. As we advanced on this bank of the
river, we saw the hills to the east spotted with flocks of sheep
and goats, and having a line of villages as far as the eye could
reach. One of these, of the name of Korvo, more romantically
situated than the others, was crowned with a dome and minaret
rising from amidst a grove of cypresses. ‘The hills, on the side
LETTER ΣΧ. 105
of which we were passing, were covered with wood, but without
any villages, for they were not sufficiently high.
In two hours from the bridge, the river began to widen consi-
derably, and a little way farther it was augmented by a stream
of some breadth, flowing out of a narrow valley from the north-
east. Not long after the junction of the rivers, the whole stream
appeared as broad as the Thames at Westminster Bridge, but
looking shallow in many places, with gravel banks above the
water. Soon afterwards we had a view of ‘Tepellené, the termi-
nation of our journey, which we saw situated immediately on the
bank of the river, and, in three quarters of an hour, we entered
the native place of Ali.
The streets of the town, through which we passed, were dirty
and ill-built ; but every thing that had before attracted our atten~
tion was presently forgotten, when we entered through a gate-
way in a tower, and found ourselves in the court-yard of the
Vizier’s palace.
The court at Tepellené, which was enclosed on two sides by
the palace, and on the other two sides by a high wall, presented us,
at our first entrance, with a sight something like what we might
have, perhaps, beheld some hundred years ago in the castle-yard
of a great Feudal Lord. Soldiers, with their arms piled against
the wall near them, were assembled in different parts of the
square: some of them pacing slowly backwards and forwards,
and others sitting on the ground in groups. Several horses’, com-
pletely caparisoned, were leading about, whilst others were neigh-
ing under the hands of the grooms. In the part farthest from
the dwelling, preparations were making for the feast of the night;
and several kids and sheep were being dressed by cooks who were
P
106 LETTER X.
themselves half armed. Every thing wore a most martial look,
though not exactly in the style of the head-quarters of a Chris-
tian general; for many of the soldiers were in the most common
dress, without shoes, and having more wildness in their air and
manner than the Albanians we had before seen.
On our arrival, we were informed that we were to be lodged
in the palace; and, accordingly, dismounting, we ascended a
flight of wooden steps into a long gallery with two wings, open-
ing into which, as in a large English inn, were the doors of seve-
ral apartments. Into one of these we were shown, and found
ourselves lodged in a chamber fitted up with large silken sofas,
and having another room above it for sleepmg; a convenience
scarcely ever to be met with in Turkey. His Highness (for so
the Pashas of three tails are called by their attendant Greeks)
sent a congratulatory message to us on our arrival, ordering every
thing to be provided for us by his own household ; and mention-
ing, at the same time, that he was sorry the Ramazan prevented
him from having our company with him at one of his repasts.
He ordered, however, that sherbets, sweetmeats, and fruits,
should be sent to us from his own harem.
At sunset the drum was beat in the yard, and the Albanians,
most of them being ‘lurks, went to prayers. In the gallery,
which was open on one side, there were eight or nine little boxes
fitted up with raised seats and cushions, between the wooden pil-
lars supporting the roof; and in each of these there was a party
smoking, or playing at draughts.
I had now an opportunity of remarking the peculiar quietness
and ease with which the Mahometans say their prayers; for, in
the gallery, some of the graver sort began their devotions in the
LETTER X. 107
places where they were sitting, entirely undisturbed and unno-
ticed by those around them, who were ctherwise employed. ‘The
prayers, which last about ten minutes, are not said aloud, but
muttered sometimes in a low voice, and sometimes with only a
motion of the lips; and, whether performed in the public street
or ina room, excite no attention from any one. Of more than
a hundred in the gallery, there were only five or six at prayers.
The Albanians are not reckoned strict Mahometans; but no
Turk, however irreligious himself, is ever seen even to smile at
the devotions of others; and to disturb a man at prayers would,
in most cases, be productive of fatal consequences.
In the evening we were visited by two physicians of the Vizier’s
household; one of them, dressed in the Frank habit, a native of
Alsace, and a very agreeable man, the other a Greek, who spoke
the German, French, Italian, Latin, Turkish, and Albanian lan-
guages. ‘The Frank gentleman, as we were informed, was very
much in the confidence of the Vizier, and was -reputed to be a
man of ability. It was a question not to be asked him, but one
would like to have known, what possible inducement could have
settled him in Turkey, especially as he was the son of a physi-
cian of great eminence at Vienna. ‘These physicians are in con-
stant attendance upon Ali; who, however, a short time before
our arrival in the country, had requested and obtained the assist-
ance of two English surgeons from our Adriatic Squadron, but
without finding much benefit from their advice.
‘The day after our arrival was fixed upon for our first audience
of the Vizier, and we passed the evening chiefly in the company
of the two physicians.
We were disturbed during the night by the perpetual carousal
p 2
108 LETTER X.
which seemed to be kept up in the gallery, and by the drum, and
the voice of the ““ muezzinn,” or chanter, calling the ‘Turks to
prayers from the minaret of the mosck attached to the palace.
This chanter was a boy, and he sang out his hymn in a sort of
loud melancholy recitative. He was a long time repeating the
purport of these few words: “ God mostingh! I bear witness
that there is no God but God: I bear witness that Mahomet is
the Prophet of God. Come to prayer; come to the asylum οἵ
salvation. Great God! ‘There is no God but God !’—The first
exclamation was repeated four times, the remaining words twice,
and the long and piercing note in which he concluded this confes-
sion of faith, by twice crying out the word “ hou*,” still rings
in my ears.
Ya-hou, meaning he who is, is the Mahometan periphrasis for
the ineffable name of God, as was the word Jehovah amongst the
Jews. Dean Swift hardly knew this when, satirizing the brutal
qualities of the human species, he gave that name to his slave of
the Houyhnhnms.
But you must be impatient to see Ali himself, and my next
shall conduct you into his presence.
lam, ἄς. &c.
* The simple confession of faith is this: ‘* La illah—illah—Llah, Mehem-
med resool ullah—There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his Prophet.”
LETTER XI.
Visit to Ali Pasha—His Appearance—Manners—Short Conver-
sation—Second Interview with Al——Present from Bonaparte
to that Pasha—A Paleo-castro, or Ruin near Tepellene—
Last Audience of Ali—His Affability to his Soldiers—His
Rise and Progress—The Difficulties he had to encounter—
His vigorous Measures—Administration, and present Extent
of his Dominions—Offered to be made a King by Napoleon—
His supposed Revenues—His Disposition—Story of Zofreni
—His Amusements and Morals—His want of Education.
ABOUT noon, on the 12th of October, an officer
of the palace, with a white wand, announced to us that we were
to attend the Vizier; and accordingly we left our apartment, ac-
companied by our dragoman and by the Secretary, who put on
his worst cloak to attend his master, that he might not appear
too rich, and a fit object for extortion.
The officer preceded us along the gallery, now crowded with
soldiers, to the other wing of the building, and leading us over
some rubbish where a room had fallen in, and through some
shabby apartments, he ushered us into the chamber in which was
Ali himself. He was standing when we came in; which was
meant as a compliment, fora Turk of consequence never rises,
110 LETTER XI.
to receive any one but his superior, and, if he wishes to be con-
descending, contrives to be found standing. As we advanced
towards him, he seated himself, and desired us to sit down near
him. He was ina large room, very handsomely furnished, and
having a marble cistern and fountain in the middle, ornamented
with painted tiles, of the kind which we call Dutch tile.
The Vizier was a short man, about five feet five inches in
height, and very fat, though not particularly corpulent. He had
a very pleasing face, fair and round, with blue quick eyes, not
at all settled into a ‘Turkish gravity. His beard was long and
white, and such a one as any other ‘lurk would have been proud
of; though he, who was more taken up with his guests than him-
self, did not continue looking at it, nor smelling and stroking it,
as is usually the custom of his countrymen, to fill up the pauses
of conversation. He was not very magnificently dressed, except
that his high turban, composed of many small rolls, seemed of
fine gold muslin, and his attaghan, or long dagger, was studded
with brilliants.
He was mightily civil; and said he considered us as his chil-
dren. He showed us a mountain howitzer, which was lying in
his apartment, and took the opportunity of telling us that he had
several large cannon. He turned round two or three times to
look through an English telescope, and at last handed it to us,
that we might look at a party of ‘Turks on horseback riding along
the banks of the river towards Tepellené. He then said, ““ that
man whom you see on the road is the chief minister of my enemy,
Ibrahim Pasha, and he is now coming over to me, having de-
serted his master to take the stronger side.” He addressed this
with a smile to the Secretary, desiring him to interpret it to us.
LETTER ΧΙ. 111
We took pipes, coffee, and sweetmeats, with him; but he did
not seem so particular about these things as other ‘lurks whom
we have seen. He was in great good humour, and several times
laughed aloud, which is very uncommon in a man of conse-
quence: I never saw another instance of it in ‘Turkey.—Instead
of having his room crowded with the officers of his court, which
is very much the custom of the Pashas and other great men, he
was quite unattended, except by four or five young persons very
magnificently dressed in the Albanian habit, and having their
hair flowing half way down their backs: these brought in the re-
freshments, and continued supplying us with pipes, which, though
perhaps not half emptied, were changed three times, as 15. the
custom when particular honours are intended for a guest.
There are no common topics of discourse between a Turkish
Vizier and a traveller, which can discover the abilities of either
party, especially as these conversations are always in the form of
question and answer. However, a Frank may think his Turk
above the common run, if his host does not put any very foolish
interrogatories to him, and Ali did not ask us any questions that
betrayed his ignorance. His liveliness and ease gave us very
favourable impressions of his natural capacity.
In the evening of the next day we paid the Vizier another visit,
in an apartment more elegantly furnished than the one with the
fountain. Whilst we were with him, a messenger came in from
“ Berat,” the place which Al’s army (of about five thousand
men) was then besieging. We were not acquainted with the con-
tents of a letter, which was read aloud, until a long gun, looking
like a duck-gun, was brought into the room ; and then, upon one
of us asking the Secretary if there were many wild fowl im the
112 LETTER: “Xl;
neighbourhood, he answered, Yes; but that for the gun, it
was going to the siege of Berat, there being a want of ordnance
in the Vizier’s army. It was impossible not to smile at this war
in miniature.
During this interview, Ali congratulated us upon the news,
which had arrived a fortnight before, of the surrender of Zante,
Cefalonia, Ithaca, and Cerigo, to the British Squadron: he said,
he was happy to have the English for his neighbours; that he
was sure they would not serve him as the Russians and French
had done, in protecting his runaway robbers ; that he had always
been a friend to our Nation, even during our war with Turkey,
and had been instrumental in bringing about the Peace.
He asked us, what had made us travel in Albania? We told
him, the desire of seemg so great a man as himself. ‘“ Aye,”
returned he, “ did you ever hear of me in England?” We, of
course, assured him, that he was a very common subject of con-
versation in our country; and he seemed by no means inacces-
sible to the flattery.
Iie showed us some pistols and a sabre ; and then took down a
gun that was hanging over his head in a bag, and told us it was a
present from the King of the French. It was a short rifle, with
the stock inlaid with silver, and studded with diamonds and bril-
liants, and looked like a handsome present; but the Secretary
informed us, that when the gun came from Napoleon, it had
only a common stock, and that all the ornaments had been added
by his Highness, to make it look more like a royal gift.
Before we took our leave, the Vizier informed us, that there
were in the neighbourhood of 'Tepellené some remains of anti-
quity—a palzo-castro, as all pieces of old wall, or carved stones,
LETTER ΧΙ. 11
are called in Albania and Greece, and said that he would order
some horses for us to ride to it the next morning.
According to his advice, we went on Sunday to see these
ruins, which are very trifling, being only a few bits of wall, as it
appeared to me, not ancient, ona hill about five miles to the
north-west of 'Tepellene.
In the evening of the same day, we paid his Highness our last
visit. He then asked us which way we intended to go; and we
told him, it was our wish to get from Ioannina into the Morea.
Ile appeared to be acquainted with every road, and all the stages,
and the state of the country most minutely. He said, that we
could not go by the common road through 'T'riccala, as that part
of the country was infested by large bands of robbers; but that
we might go through Carnia, crossing the gulf of Arta at Salora,
or going to the head of the Gulf; and that, as that country was
also suspicious, he would give us orders to his several military
posts, to take as many guards as might be necessary. In case,
however, we should not like to go through Carnia, he furnished
us with an order to his Governor at Prevesa, to send us in an
armed galliot to Patrass. He also gave usa letter to his son,
Veli, Pasha of the Morea, and wished to know if he could do
any thing to serve us.
We only asked permission to take our Albanian Vasilly to at-
tend us whilst in Turkey, which he readily granted, and asked
where the man was. On being informed that he was at the
chamber door, he sent for him, and accordingly Vasilly entered ;
and, though with every proper respect, still was not embarrassed,
but, with his hand on his left breast, answered the Vizier’s ques-
tions ina firm and fluent manner. Ali called him by his name,
Q
114 LETPER. Xa.
and asked him, why, being at the door, he had not come in to
see him? “ for you know, Vasilly,” added he, ““ I should have
been glad to have seen you!” He then told him that he was to
attend us, and see that we wanted nothing, and talked a good
deal to him about the different stages of our route, summing all
up by telling him in a jocose way, that if any accident happened
to us, he would cut off his head; and that we were to write,
mentioning how he had behaved. Shortly after this, and having
agreed to give his Highness some relation of our travels by letter,
we withdrew, and took our last leave of this singular man, of
whom this may be the place to give you a short account.
Ah was born at Tepellene, about the year 1750; for he is now
past sixty years old, though he carefully conceals his age; and,
notwithstanding a disorder which is considered incurable, still
carries the appearance of a healthy middle-aged man. His father
was a Pasha of two tails, but of no great importance. ‘The most
considerable Prince at that time was one Coul Pasha, a Vizier,
and lord of great part of Albania. At the death of his father,
Ah found himself possessed of nothing but his house at 'Tepel-
lené ; and it is not only current in Albania, but reported to be
even the boast of the Vizier himself, that he began his fortune
with sixty paras and a musket. Our attendant Vasilly (whose
authority I should not mention, had it not been. confirmed by
every thing I heard in the country) assured me, that he recol-
lects, when a boy, to have seen Ali (then Ali-Bey) in his father’s
cottage, with his jacket out at elbows; and that, at that time,
this person used to come with parties from 'l'epelleneé in the night,
and seize upon the flocks of the villages at enmity with him.
By degrees, however, he made himself master first of one vil-
LETTER XI. 115
lage, then of another, and amassing some money, increased his
power, and found himself at the head of a considerable body of
Albanians, whom he paid bv plunder; for he was then only a
great robber, or one of those independent freebooters, of whom
there are so many in the vast extent of the ‘Turkish empire. It
was not, however, without great difficulties and reverses that he
continued his career, as you will think, when you hear what was
said to me also by the same Vasilly ; for on telling this man that
the Vizier seemed well acquainted with him; “ Yes,” he replied,
*““ he ought to be well acquainted with me; for I have come down
with the men of our village, and broken his windows with shot,
when he did not dare to stir out of 'Tepellene.”—‘ Well ; he
was asked, “ and what did Ali do to the men of your village ?”
‘* Nothing at all; he made friends with our chief man, persuaded
him to come to 'T'epellené, and there roasted him on a spit ; after
which we submitted (προσκυνήσαμεν).᾽
Ahi at last collected money enough to buy a pashalik (not that
of Ioannina, but one of less importance), and being invested
with that dignity, he was only more eager to enlarge his posses-
sions; for he continued in constant war with the neighbouring
Pashas, and finally got possession of Ioannina, of which he was
confirmed Pasha by an imperial firman. He then made war on
the Pashas of Arta, of Delvino, and of Ocrida, whom he sub-
dued, together with that of Triccala, and established a very pre-
ponderating influence over the Agas of Thessaly. Giaffar, Pasha
of Vallona, he poisoned by a cup of coffee, in a bath at Sophia ;
and he strengthened himself by marrying his two sons, Mouctar
and Veli, to the daughters of Ibrahim, the successor and brother
of Giaffar: since that time he has made war on Ibrahim himself,
Q 2
116 LETTER XI.
and added considerably to the territories of Ioannina, by curtail-
ing those of his relation.
During this progress, he had been, more than once, called
upon to furnish his quota of troops to the imperial armies, and
had served in person against the Germans and Russians ; but he
knew his countrymen too well, ever to trust himself at court.
He never would accept of any great office, and always found
some pretence to avoid giving his personal attendance on the
Grand Vizier of the day, who, it is known, had many orders to
arrest him. Stories are told of the skill and courage with which
he counteracted several schemes to procure his head—a present
that would have been most acne Die to the Porte ever since the
commencement of his career: however, he fought against Pas-
wan Oglou, under the banners of the Sultan ; and on his return
fron: Widin, in the year 1798, was made a Pasha of three tails,
Vizier. He has had several offers of being made Grand
Vizier.
He next contrived to procure pashaliks for both his sons; the
younger of whom, Veli, who resembles his father in his capacity
and ambition, saved money enough in his first post to buy the
pashalik of the Morea, with the dignity of Vizier, for three
thousand purses of five hundred piasters each. [is eldest son,
Mouctar, of a more warlike, but less ambitious turn than his
brother, has of late supplied his father’s place at the head of the
Albanians that have joined the armies of the Porte; and has
greatly distinguished himself, as you must have heard, in the
present war with Russia.
The difficulties which Ali had to encounter in establishing his
power, did not arise so much from the opposition he met with
LETTER: ἘΠ 117
from the neighbouring Pashas, as from the nature of the people,
and of the country of which he was determined to make himself
master. Many of the parts which now compose his dominions,
were peopled by inhabitants who had been always in rebellion, or
had never been entirely conquered by the Turks; such as the
Chimeriotes, the Sulliotes, and the nations living amongst the
mountains in the neighbourhood of the coast of the Ionian Sea.
Besides this, the woods and hills of every part of his government
were, in a manner, in possession of large bands of robbers, who
were recruited and protected by the villages ; and who laid large
tracts under contribution; burning and plundering the districts
under the Pasha’s protection. Against these he proceeded with the
greatest severity: they were burnt, hanged, beheaded, and im-
paled, and have disappeared from many parts, especially of Upper
Albania, which were before quite subject to these outlaws.
A few months before our arrival in the country, a large body in-
festing the mountains between Ioannina and 'T'riccala, were defeated.
and dispersed by Mouctar Pasha, who cut to pieces a hundred of
them on the spot. ‘These robbers had been headed by a Greek
Priest, who, after the defeat of his men, went to Constantinople,
procured a firman of protection, and returned to Ioannina, where
the Vizier invited him to a conference, and seized him as he was
leaving the room. He was detamed, and well treated, in prison,
until a messenger could go to and return from Constantinople,
with a permission from the Porte for Ali to do what he pleased
with his prisoner.—It was the arm of this man which we had seen
suspended from the bough, on entering Ioannina.
It is by such vigorous measures that the Vizier has rendered
many parts of Albania, and the contiguous country, perfectly.
118 LETTER ΧΙ.
accessible, that were before annually over-run by robbers; and
consequently by opening the country to merchants, and securing
their persons and goods, has not only increased his own revenues,
but bettered the condition of his subjects. He has built bridges
over the rivers, raised causeways across the marshes, laid out
frequent roads, adorned the country and the towns with new
buildings, and by many wholesome regulations has acted the part
of a good and great Prince, without perhaps a single other mo-
tive than that of his own aggrandisement.
The influence of Ali extends far beyond the limits of his domi-
nions, and is feared and felt throughout the whole of European
Turkey. It would, however, be very difficult to give the actual
boundaries of his present dominions ; for in the extent of his ter-
ritory, there is occasionally to be found an isolated district, which
still resists his arms; and his attempts on the neighbouritg
Pashas are not always attended with success. Two months after
our visit to ‘Tepellenc, he made himself master of Berat; but
my Friend has written to me from Athens, that the Pasha of
Scutari has retaken the city, and reinstated Ibrahim. But Ali
may be again victorious; and, should he live, will, 1 doubt not,
be master of nearly the whole of Albania.
At present, his dominions extend (taking Ioannina for a centre)
one hundred and twenty miles to the north, as far as the pashalik
of Ocrida ; to the north-east and east over Thessaly, and touching
the feet of Mount Olympus; to the south-east the small district
of Thebes, and part of that attached to the Negroponte, bound
his territories ; which, howeyer, on this side, include the popu-
lous city of Livadia (Lebadea) and its district, and will soon, it
is expected, comprise Attica, and afterwards the above-mentioned
LETTER: XL. 119
country. ᾿1Ὁ the south he commands as far as the gulf of Le-
panto, and the Morea belongs to his son. ‘The Ionian Sea and
the gulf of Venice, are his boundaries to the south-west and west,
and to the north-west the pashalik of Scutar, and the banks of
the Drino; but on this side, the pashalik of Vallona intervenes.
Parga, on the coast opposite to Corfu, belongs to the French,
and the Chimeriotes can scarcely be said to depend entirely on
his authority.
‘Throughout the whole of the country so bounded, the impe-
rial firman is but little respected ; whilst a letter with the signa-
ture of Ali (of which, as a curiosity, 1 send you a fac-simile),
commands unlimited obedience. ‘The Vizier is now absolute lord,
as-a Greek of Ioannina told me, of fifty small provinces; and
should his projects of aggrandisement succeed, the countries
which anciently composed the southern part of Illyricum, the
kingdom of Epirus, part of Macedonia, the whole 'I'hessalian
territory, Eubza, and all the Grecian States, will be under the
dominion of a barbarian who can neither write nor read. His
tyranny is complete; although the form of subjection to the
Porte is still preserved, and he furnishes his contingent of men to
the Ottoman armies, and pays, besides, a certain part of his tri-
bute to the Grand Signor.
As he advances to the north-west, he will be in possession of
the frontier towards Dalmatia, which the views of the French
must.render a most important post, It is confidently asserted,
that Napoleon has offered to make him. King of Albania, and to
support his independence against the Porte; but, if this be true,
he has had the prudence to refuse. a crown, which would be
rather the badge of bondage than of power, and of late the Em-
120 LETTER: -2B
peror has talked of thundering down upon Albania from his Illy-
rian provinces.
What actual resistance Ali would be able to oppose to such an
enemy, it is not easy to foresee; with all his power, he has sel-
dom kept in his pay more than eight thousand soldiers at any one
time ; but as every Albanian understands the use of the gun and
sabre, and as religious or other prejudices, might cause the whole
population to rise in arms under so fortunatea chief, the passage
of the mountains might be impracticable to the French—to the
soldiers who crossed the Alps.
All the Albanians, even those who have not yet submitted to
his power, speak with exultation and pride of their countryman,
and, by a comparison with him, they constantly depreciate the
merits of others. We frequently heard them say, when talking
of some other Pasha, “‘ he is not such a one as Ali—he has not
such a head.” But his death might destroy all hope of union
and resistance.
The early acquisitions of this extraordinary man were made by
force of arms ; but his latter aggrandisements have been generaliy
accomplished by the proper disposal of his treasures, which are
reported to be very great, but the probable amount of which it
is impossible to calculate. Of the tenth of all produce collected
for the Porte, the Vizier has, at least, a fourth part; he has also
near four hundred villages his own property; and, besides, claims
trom all towns and districts, arbitrary sums for protection. I
have seen a computation, which sets down his revenues at
6,000,000 of piasters, independent of those casual levies, and the
presents which are made to him by his Christian subjects. Add
to this, that all his work is done gratis, and his kitchens and
LETTER XI: 19]
stables furnished by the towns where he has any establishment.
He not only gives free quarter to himself and retinue in his nu-
merous expeditions through his dominions, but his soldiers, who
only receive about twelve piasters a month from him, are found
in bread and meat wherever they go, by the inhabitants of the
towns and villages; so that he is able to reserve much of his
money for emergencies, for bribing the ministers of the Porte,
and buying his neighbours’ territories. He is not at much ex-
pence in purchasing the male or female slaves of his household;
for with these he furnishes himself from the families of the robbers
whom he executes, or compels to fly. We overtook a man car-
rying to Tepellené a boy and girl, who had been just found in
the cottage of a robber.
Of the natural disposition of Ali we had no opportunity of
forming a judgment, except by hearsay ; and it would be hardly
fair to believe all the stories of the Greeks, who would represent
him as the most barbarous monster that ever disgraced humanity.
Certainly no one but a man of a ferocious and sanguinary dispo-
sition, would have been able or willing to tame the people whom
he has brought into subjection: not only beheading, but impal-
ing and roasting, might be necessary to inspire that terror of his
name, which has of itself, in many instances, given peace and
security to his dominions ; for large bands of robbers have sub-
mitted voluntarily, and been enrolled amongst his soldiers. Exe-
cutions are now but seldom seen in lLoannina; but during the
Sulliote wars, twenty and thirty prisoners were sometimes be-
headed at one time in the streets of that city. Such cruelty
shocks your humane feelings; but ‘‘ voila comme on juge de tout
quand on nest pas sort: de son pays.” It is not fair to appre-
R
122 LETTER ΧΙ,
ciate the merits of any man without a reference to the character
and customs of the people amongst whom he is born and edu-
cated. In Turkey the hfe of man ts held exceedingly cheap,
more so than any one, who has not been in the country, would
believe ; and murders, which would fill all Christendom with hor-
ror, excite no sentiments of surprise or apparent disgust, either
at Constantinople or in the provinces; so that what might, at
first sight, appear a singular depravity in an individual, would,
in the end, be found nothing but a conformity with general prac-
tice and habits. You may, therefore, transfer your abhorrence
of Ali to the Turkish nation, or rather to their manners ; yet I
almost accuse myself of a breach of the forbearance due from a
guest to his host, when I relate to you two melancholy tales,
which are very well known, and are secretly talked of at Loannina.
The wife of Mouctar Pasha, daughter of Ibrahim, was a great
favourite with the Vizier; who, upon paying her a visit one
morning, found her in tears. He questioned. her several times as
to the cause of her grief, which she at last reluctantly owned to
be the diminution of his son’s affection for her. He enquired, if
she thought her husband paid any attention to other women f
She answered, Yes. ‘The Vizier demanded who they were; and
upon this, the lady (quite at random, it 18 said) wrote down the
names of fifteen of the most beautiful women, some Greeks
some Turkish, in the city of Ioannina. ‘The same night they
were all seized in their houses, conveyed to the palace in the for-
tress, thence carried in boats on the lake, and after being tied up
in sacks, were thrown into the water.
I fear there is no doubt of the truth of this story ; for on men-
tioning the matter to our attendant, Vasilly, he said it wasa fact;
LETTER XT. 123
and that he himself, belonging at that time to the city-guard,
was one of the thirty soldiers employed to seize and destroy these
unfortunate females. It may seem strange, that thirty men
should be found capable of performing such an office; but the
Albanians despise the sex; and our soldier defended the action,
which, said he, was a very good one, for they were all bad wo-
men. It is not impossible, that this ruffian seriously considered
himself as having been concerned in the suppression of vice.
The fate of the beautiful Zofren: is still the subject of a lament-
able ditty, which we heard first at Ioannina, and afterwards at
Athens. ‘The story goes, that it was the misfortune of Zofreni,
a Greek lady of Ioannina, the most lovely of her sex, to be
admired at the same time by Ali and by one of his sons; and that
she contrived to conceal this double attachment from both her
lovers, till the Vizier recognized upon her finger, a ring which he
had given to his son’s wife. Upon this discovery, the angry
father left her abruptly, and gave the fatal orders. Zofreni was
drowned the same night. She was only seventeen years of age.
Here again is a trait of Turkish ferocity, rather than of a
savage disposition peculiar to Ali; for there is nothing unusual in
this manner of punishing women: Bairactar, the famous Grand
Vizier, disposed of many of Sultan Mustapha’s harem by the
same death, in order to decrease the expences of the seraglio, or,
as some say, to punish them for supposed court intrigues.
After what has been stated, you need scarcely be informed that
Ali mdulges to the full in all the pleasures that are licensed by
the custom of the country. His harem is said to contain three
hundred women. His other gratifications cannot be very various
or refined.
R 2
124 LETTER XI.
Amongst the attendants at Tepellené we saw the Court fool,
who was distinguished by a very high round cap of fur; but,
unlike the ancient fools of more civilized monarchs, this fellow
is obliged to confine his humour to gambolling, cutting capers,
and tumbling before the Vizier’s horse, when his Highness takes
a ride.
In his younger years Ali was nota very strict Mahometan ;
but he has lately become religious, and entertains several Der-
vishes at his court ; yet he does not at all relax in his ambitious
efforts; and having no use for books, employs all the hours that
he is absent from his harem in designs of future conquest. He
is still an active horseman, and there is scarcely a village in his
dominions which he does not visit once a year. I believe him,
from good authority, never to have received even the education
usually given to the Albanians. Besides his native tongue, he
talks Greek fluently, but of the Turkish language he knows very
little ; and, like Justin and 'Theodoric, the contemporary lords
of the Eastern and Western Empires, has raised himself to his
present power, without perhaps knowing the letters of any al-
phabet.
He is doubtless a great man; but without saying or knowing
that he is the worthy successor of Pyrrhus, whom, according to
one author*, he is accustomed to call Piros, and, as another will
have it+, Bourrhous. But he that does not smile at Mr. Eton,
may believe Doctor Poukeville.
Yours, &c. &c.
* Survey of the Turkish Empire, page 373.
+ Voyage en Albanie, page 24.
LETTER XII.
Albania—Perpetual Barbarity of its Inhabitants—Early Settle-
ment of the Scythians in that Country—In subjection to the
Kings of Bulgaria—to the Emperors of the East—Uncer-
tain Date of the Name Albania—Its Revolutions—Governed
by Despots—Invaded by the Catalans—- Disunited—Scander-
beg—Exaggeration of his Merits—Ottoman Conquest of the
Country— Establishment of the Venetians on the Coast—Va-
reety of Nations—The Albanians—their Origin— Asiatic Al-
banians—Shape and Face of the Albanians—their Dress—
their Arms——their Filth—Dress of their Women—their Vil-
lages—their Food—their Disposition, and Manners.
THE countries composing Albania, seem, in parts,
to have been peopled by an almost uninterrupted succession
of barbarians. Illyricum. and Epirus are not often. mentioned
by historians, without a notice of the peculiar ferocity of their
inhabitants. It was not until the reign of Tharrytas, King of
the Molossians and Thresprotians, from whom Pyrrhus was
fourth in descent, that the Greek manners and language were ins
126 LETTER XII.
troduced into the country* ; which, as it was divided into several
petty principalities and republics, could, after all, never have
been more than partially civilized. As to the Illyrians, Polybius
calls them the enemies of ail nations, and no more civilized than
the Thracians or Gete ; and Livy accounts for the superior fero-
city of one of the four Roman divisions of Macedonia, by the
inclemency of their climate, the infertility of their soil, and the
vicinity of the barbarians}.
But the Romans took advantage of the many fine harbours of
Illyricum, and the road called the Ignatian, of uncertain date
and origin, which led from Apollonia and Dyrrachium, through
Lychnidus, Pylon, and Edessa, over a tract of two hundred and
sixty-two Roman miles, to Thessalonica, may have served to civi-
lize the interior of the country.
The desolation of Epirus, which (as has been before men-
tioned) afforded, in the days of Strabo, no better habitations for
her people than ruined villages{, may not have continued long
after the time of that writer. ‘The Emperors extended their care
to this part of their dominions ; and Amaniia and fiadrianopolis
are said to have been flourishing towns in New Epirus.
Yet we hear of the decay of the cities of this region as early
as the reign of Julian; and it is probable, that there was but
little booty left to satisfy the avarice of Alaric, when, in the year
396, he laid waste Illyricum and Epirus, and settled in the
country with his Goths, after having been declared Master-gene-
* Plut. in vit. Pyrrhi.
+ Liv. lib. xlv. cap. 30.
+ See page 7, of this Book, where the words “ and caves,” together with
the Greek quotation, were, by mistake, inserted in the text.
LETTER XII. 187
ral of the province by the feeble Emperor of the East. The
coast also had been before, and continued for a century to be,
subject to the piratical invasions of the Vandals of Spain.
The Bulgarians and Sclavonians, who, after wandering in the
plains of Russia, Poland, and Lithuania, had advanced to the
north bank of the Danube, in the reign of Justinian made
almost annual incursions into Illyricum, destroyed her cities, and
spread their devastations even as far as Corinth. During the dis-
tresses of the lower empire, beginning as early as the eighth cen-
tury, the ancient inhabitants of the country of which I am speak-
_ing, may be supposed to have been nearly extirpated ; for the
epitomizer of Strabo, whom (if [I may be allowed to do what
Swift calls, ** quote quotation on quotation’) I shall adduce, from
a note of Mr. Gibbon’s on an observation of Mr. Dodwell’s, has
this remark: ‘‘ and now Scythian Sclavi inhabit (or perhaps cul-
tivate) the whole of Epirus, and Greece nearly, and Macedonia,
and Peloponessus*.” Under this name were comprehended all
the nations who either preceded or followed the irruption of
the Huns until the twelfth century; and as the Caspian gates
were in possession of a King of the Scythian ‘Tartars, the Bul-
garians may have pushed the Asiatic Albanians betore them
into Europe+.
But the strength and importance of the country in question,
were increased by the settlement of the Scythian strangers. In
the ninth and tenth centuries, the Bulgarians, who included the
* © Kas νυν de racav Ἤπειρον και EAAada σχεδὸν καὶ Maxedoviay καὶ Πελο-
πονήσσον Luvbas Σκλαβοὶ veuovlas.”— Decline and Fall, &c. note 15 to cap. 53.
+ Chandler mentions the European as the descendant of the Asiatic Alba-
nians.
128 LETTER ‘XIi.
two* Epiruses in their powerful kingdom to the south of the
Danube, of which Lychnidus, now Ocrida, was the capital, were
the first that, in the year 924, put a stop to the imroads of the
Magiar, or Oriental ‘Turks; and it is singular, that their poste-
rity, or the posterity of a tribe in subjection to them, were the
last to yield to the Ottomans, part of the Mahometan descend-
ants of the same Huns. '
After the reduction of the Bulgarian kingdom by Basil, the
second Emperor of that name, the emigrated Scythians, formerly
in subjection to that power, who had been converted to the
Christian faith, served in the armies of the Eastern Empire. But
they had been independent settlers long enough to change the
names of the provinces they inhabited; and though it might be
impossible to fix the exact date of the alteration, it must seem
that as early as the eleventh century, when Rascia, Servia, Bos-
nia, and Croatia, began to supplant the ancient denominations of
the countries of this part of Europe, the name of Albania also
was attached to Epirus, to the southern part of Illyricum, and
to some districts formerly belonging to Macedonia.
The date of this appellation may, however, have been much
earlier. Mr. D’Anville, talking of the southern Illyricum, says,
“* we know that the name of Albania extended to this country ;
and an Albanopolis, which Ptolemy gives, appears to exist in
Albasano.” It is certain, at least, that from the period above
noticed, we find mention of an European Albania, which, as we
have before seen, is, though not quite accurately, indiscrimi-
nately used for Epirus.
* An expression of Mr. Gibbon’s, cap. 55, p. 543, quarto edit.
LETTER XII. 129
We read that Robert Guiscard, in the year 1081, after beating
Alexius Commenus, at the battle of Durazzo, marched into Albania.
At the partial conquest of the Greek Empire by the Latins,
this country, except Durazzo and Scutari, the ancient Scodra, the
chief place of [llyricum, and some towns on the coast, which fell
into the hands of the Venetians, was governed by a powertul usur-
per, Michael Angelus, a bastard of the blood-reyal of the Constan-
tinopolitan Emperors. ‘Theodorus Angelus, his successor, dispos-
sessed the Venetians of Durazzo, and withstood the forces of Peter,
the third Latin Emperor; and when the empire was recovered by
the Greeks, Albania was one of those states, whose Despots, a
title inferior only to that of Emperor, were in reality independent,
and were courted into the alliance of the Imperial family.
In the year 1270, the coast was invaded bya small body of
Catalans, in the service of Charles of Anjou, which laid siege to
Arnoot Beli-grat, or the city of the White Albanians; and dur-
ing the two hundred and fifty years that intervened between the
Latin and Turkish conquest of Constantinople, the whole coun-
try, as well as Greece, was split into many small principalities,
whose temporary union under George Castriot, or Scanderbeg,
called Prince of Epirus, or of Albania, was capable of resisting
for twenty-four years the whole force of the ‘Turkish arms.
Mr. Gibbon, with the scepticism so natural in a philosopher,
and so necessary for a historian, seems to doubt the wonderful
exploits of this Christian hero: he will not rank him amongst
the great men who have deserved without wearing a crown; and
he prefers the Turkish story of Cantemir to the marvellous nar-
ration of the contemporary biographer, Martinus Barletius, the
monk of Scutani*. But though we may smile, when we read that
* Decline and Fall, cap. 67
5
oO “
190 LETTER. ΣΉ:
the warrior fought with such violence that the blood started trom
his lips; that he slew three thousand ‘Turks with his own hand,
and killed with vexationa Sultan who, in truth, died peaceably at
Adrianople ; yet, when least credulous as to the account of the
deeds of Scanderbeg, we shall collect, that the Albanians were
then able to support that claim to desperate courage, which has
been always, and is still, attached to their character.
After the death of Scanderbeg, in the year 1406, the province
fell into the bands of Mahomet the Great, who, with an army
of eighty thousand men, besieged and took Scutari; but in the
reign of his successor Bajazet, it was partly recovered by John
Castriot, assisted by the Venetians, and also by one John Cher-
novich, an Albanian Prince. The ‘Turks, however, finally esta-
blished themselves in the reigns of Sultans Soliman, and Selim
the Second, notwithstanding the efforts of the Venetians, who
made good some landings, but were afterwards obliged to retreat.
Since that time, those, whom the historian Knolles calls, ‘ the
savage people of the Acroceraumians,” have, at the least instiga-
tion of the Christian powers, been ready to fly to arms; and the
final establishment of the Venetians in some towns on the coast,
and in the Ionian Islands, prevented both the entire conversion
of the Albanians to the faith, and their subjection to the power,
of the Ottomans.
From what has been premised, it may be suspected that Albania
must be inhabited by a mixture of different nations—composed
of the descendants of Greeks, Romans, Goths, Vandals, Spa-
niards, Italians, Bulgarians, and Ottomans. ‘This is very true ;
and a difference of manner and disposition, religion and language,
distinguishes the inhabitants of the various districts: yet it 15 that
which may, I presume, be called the Scythian character, that
LETTER XII. 131
prevails throughout these mountainous regions, and it 15 of him,
whom the Turks called Arnoot, the Greeks Alvanetes, and we
Albanian, or Albanese, that I purpose to give some account.
Whether the Arnoot be a descendant of the people formerly
inhabiting the country between Iberia and the Caspian Sea, will
hardly be decided by any acquaintance with his present character.
As little is it to be supposed, that the Albanians are acquainted
with, or even hazard a guess at, their own origin. Yet Pou-
queville avers, that there prevails, he knows not how, a notion
amongst them, that they are of French descent; and indeed,
what he tells of them in one respect, might be said, even by a
liberal enemy, of his own countrymen—* Qn les voyait avides des
perils... . mais, quelque fussent les evenements, ils ne manquent
jamais de s’en attribuer le succés, et sur tout ils seraient bien
gardés d’avouer une defaite*.” It is certain, that some Gauls
were formerly found in Epirus: they formed a band of merce-
naries in the armies of the Kings of Macedon, and in those of
the Epirotes. A body of them in the pay of Pyrrhus, plun-
dered the royal treasury of AXge+-; and some others, to whom
the strong city of Phznice, on the coast of Chaonia, had been
entrusted, betrayed the place to the pirates of Illyricum ἢ.
But from such ancestors, neither a Frenchman nor an Albanian
would be very anxious to prove his descent. It is true, that there
are a few French words in their language. I find it however dis-
tinctly asserted by Meletius, that the Albanians are neither of
Illyric origin, nor from the nation of that name in Asia, but
sprung from the Celts who came to Tapygia in Italy, and thence
passed over to Dyrrhachium, and dispersed themselves in the
ἃ Pouqueyille, p. 19. + Plot. vit. Pyrrhi. 1 Polyb. lib, ii. cap. 4.
s 2
132 LETTER XII.
neighbouring country*. The English editor of the Periegesis of
Dionysius, also presumes that Albania was so denominated from
the Albani, enumerated amongst the nations of Macedonia by
Ptolemy}; and it will be recollected that the name was found
amongst the people of Italy
A reference to the eleventh book of Strabo, will enable us to
Judge whether there is any similarity between the Asiatic Alba-
nians, such as he describes them, and the modern Arnoot ἫΝ
The Albanians are generally of a middle stature, about five feet
Ξ
six inches in height. They are muscular and straight in their.make,
* AABANIA. pp. 395, 306.
t See v. Illyris in Indic. Perieg. p. 434, edit. Hill, Lond. 1679.
ὁ The principal points observable in the geographer’s account of the Asiatic
Albanians, are the following: ‘‘ ‘They were attached to the wandering life of a
shepherd, and to the amusement of hunting. Simple and honest in their man-
ners, they had but little money amongst them, were unacquainted with weights
and measures, and unable to count beyond a hundred. They were unskilful
in agriculture, and knew little of the art of war, although maintaining an army
of forty thousand foot and twenty-two thousand horse. They worshipped Ju-
piter and the Sun; but the Moon was their principal deity, and to her they
sacrificed human ‘victims, who were sometimes the pricsts themselves. For of
these many are seized with asacred enthusiasm, and foretell fulure events, and
whosoever amongst them, being more possessed than the others, becomes a soli-
tary wanderer in the woods, him the chief priest catching and binding with a
holy chain, feeds daintily for that year, and then he being produced as a
sacrifice to the goddess, is, together with the cther victims, anointed and slain.”
They inspected the carcass of the man-thus sacrificed, for the purpose of di-
vination; and after laying it in some public place, jumped upon it for a lustra-
tion. ‘They reverenced-old age; but neither mourned nor mentioned the dead,
with whom they buried whatever little money they had possessed. Before they
were conquered by Pompey, they were divided into twenty-six states, each have
ing a separate ruler, and language peculiar to itself. They were handsome and
tall, and we find by another account, that they had generally blue eyes.
ALBANIAN.
London,Published by James Cawthorn ~ 24, ¢ cokspur Slreel 2522.
LETTER XI. 153
but not large; and they are particularly small round the loins,
without any corpulency, which may be attributed to their active
life, and also to the tight girdle they wear round their waists.
Their chests are full and broad, and their necks long. Their faces
are of a long oval shape, with prominent cheek bones, and a flat
but raised forehead. ‘The expression of their eyes, which are blue
and hazel, but seldom quite black, is very lively. ‘Their mouths are
small, and their teeth of a good colour, and well formed. ‘Their
noses are, for the most part, high and straight, with thin but
open nostrils. ‘Their eye-brows are arched. They wear no hair
on the fore part of their heads, but suffer it to flow down in large
quantities from the top of the crown: it is generally in curls, but
when straight and long, it is most admired. They have small mus-
tachios on the upper lips; but shave off the whole of the beard
at the same time that they perform that operation on the fore
part of their crowns, which is about once a week.
The colour of the Albanians, when they are young, is a pure
white, with a tinge of vermuillion on their cheeks; but labour,
and exposure to heat and cold, gives a dusky hue to the skin of
the bodies, though their faces mostly preserve a clearness of
complexion. ‘They have the practice, so commonly prevalent in
many nations, and which Strabo remarks as the custom of the
Hlyrians, of making figures on the skin: of their arms and legs,
by punctures, which they colour with gunpowder, exactly similar
to the marks seen on our sailors.
The common picture of Scanderbeg, in Knolles’s History of
the ‘Turks, is not a bad representation of the general look of his
nation; but the drawing which I have inserted is ill done, and
is only introduced as a specimen of the Albanian dress.
The Albanian women are tall and strong, and not ill-looking ;
ἣ τ" τὺ τττ
134, LETTER i X21.
but bearing in their countenances all the marks of wretchedness,
of bad treatment, and hard labour. |
The dress of the men is well adapted to the life of a moun-
taineer. ‘I'he picture inclosed, represents that of the better sort
of people; but the common kind is entirely white. The shirt is
of cotton, as well as the drawers; but every other part of the
habit of coarse woollen. . It is but seldom that they wear any
thing on their feet, except on particular occasions, when they put
on the sandal shown in the drawing. Almost every Albanian can
make his own clothes; and, for the article last mentioned, he
carries about with him a small quantity of red leather, cat-gut,
and packthread, and a large needle, wrapt up in part of the
pouch containing his cartridges. ‘The bottom of the sandal is of
goat-skin, the open-work on the top of cat-gut. ‘The mantle is
mostly longer than the one in the print, as is the shirt, and is of
white woollen, with the shag left upon it. Besides the small red
cap, resembling the cup of an acorn, on the crown of the head,
those who can afford it, add a shawl, bound round in the turban
fashion, and in the winter drawn over the ears, and tied round
the neck. But that which constitutes their chief defence against
_the weather, and forms their bed, whether in the cottage or the
field, is a large great coat, or capote, with loose open sleeves,
and a hood which hangs in a square piece behind, but, when put
over the head, is fastened into form by means of a long needle,
or sometimes the ramrod of a pistol. The capote is of shaggy
white woollen, or of black horse-hair; and:one might. think it to
be peculiar to this people, for (as my Friend put me in mind) our
poet Spenser has given to one of his personages a
ἐς huge capoto Albanese-wise.”
LETTER: X1ni 19
Round their waists they wear a coarse shawl, drawn very tight
by a leathern strap or belt that contains their pistols; and
ἐς ungirding of their loins,” by the loosening of this belt, is, with
pulling the capote about them, the only preparation they make
for going to sleep at night. In the summer they often walk about
without their mantles and upper jacket, having the large sleeves
of their shirts hanging loosely over their arms.
‘The poorer people carry only one pistol in their belts, but it is
their constant companion ; and when they can afford to have the
long peaked handle of it worked in rough silver, they are not a
little proud of their weapon. ‘They are not so particular about
the barrel or the lock ; for most of these pistols, when fired, if
they do not burst, lacerate the hand very badly.
The curved sabre, which is chiefly worn by those in the actual!
employ of a Pasha, is kept as sharp. as a razor; but the handle
of silver is so rough as to tear the hand of a person unaccustomed
to wield such a sword.
‘The long gun is to be found in every cottage in Aibania: the
peasant carries it with him either when he tends his flock, or tills
his land. It is the weapon in the use of which he considers him;
self to excel, and he regards it both as his ornament and his de-
fence. ‘The gun-barrels, however, are thin and ill made, and the
locks are of the rudest manufacture, the works being generally
on the outside. Owing to this circumstance, and as the powder
is large-grained and otherwise very bad, the Albanians are not
good marksmen, although they never fire without a rest, and take
a very deliberate aim.
Besides the pistols, their belts contain a knife in a case, the
handle and sheath of which, are often attached to each other by
three or four rows of small silver chains—an ornament of which
136 LETTER XII.
they are very fond, as they have several of them hanging round
their necks, some with amulets, others with silver snuft-boxes, or
watches in large shagreen cases, at the end of them.
But there is an article of which they are very careful and
proud, and which they often wear, even if they are incapable
of making any use of it. ‘This is a small hollow instrument,
generally of copper, but sometimes of silver, a quarter of an
inch thick, and ten or eleven inches long, having at one end,
which is larger than the other, an ink-stand, and containing
a pen. ‘They call it in modern Greek “ calamaro.” ‘They carry
it in their girdles next to their pistols and knife, and adorn it, as
well as their other trinkets, with a silver chain.
The whole Albanian costume, when quite clean and new, 15
incomparably more elegant than any worn in the Turkish empire,
and it may be made very costly. ‘The Agas, who can afford such
an expence, to their other two jackets add a third without
sleeves ; and all three of these suits being of velvet, richly worked
with inlaid gold or silver, the body of the dress has the appear-
ance, and, indeed, almost the stiffness of a coat of mail. And
this circumstance, I suppose, made Mr. Eton talk of the ‘ rich
armour of the son of the Pasha of Yanina,” which was stripped
from his body on the field of battle, and presented by the Sul-
liote ambassadors to the Empress Catharine*.
But the common clothes of the Albanians are of a most un-
savoury appearance. Few amongst them have more than two
shirts, and many only one; so that this material part of their
dress, as well as the drawers, is often quite black, and falls to
shreds upon their backs, from accumulated filth and constant
* Survey of the Turkish Empire, p. 355.
LETTER: XV. 137
wear, From such a habit, and the practice of sleeping dressed
upon the ground, it is to be expected that the thick woollen
jackets, mantle, and capote, must shelter every species of ver-
min; and, indeed, though from the Grand Signor to his lowest
subject, there is not, perhaps, one person in ‘Turkey quite free
from a kind of animal, which, when multiplied, becomes the
cause and symptom of an incurable disease; yet, as the physi-
cian of Ali assured me, ““ Le pou des Albanais est le plus gras
et le plus gros du monde.” ‘Vhey will often, without any shame
or concealment, brush these insects by dozens from their clothes,
and it is quite impossible to travel amongst them without being
visited by so unpleasant a companion.
The dress of their women is very fantastical, and different in
different villages. ‘Those of Cesarades were chiefly clothed in red
cotton (I never obseryed the colour elsewhere), and their heads
were covered with a shawl, so disposed as to look like a helmet
with a crest, and clasps under the ears. ‘I'he women of Ereeneed
were in white woollens, and the younger ones wore a kind of
skull-cap, composed entirely of pieces of silver coin, paras and
piasters, with their hair falling down in braids to a great length,
and also strung with money. ‘This is a very prevailing fashion ;
and a girl before she is married, as she collects her portion, car-
ries it on her head. The females do not appear more cleanly
than the men.
The habitations of the Albanians are mostly very neat ; and
though their cottages have seldom more than one floor,’ and
that of mud, yet they are regularly swept, and being well built,
are perfectly dry. It is true, that the fire is on the floor, and
that the hole meant to be a chimney is not always so well con-
trived as to prevent the room from being smoked.
fi
198 LETTER® itt.
Their household furniture is not composed of many articles,
but is quite sufficient for their wants. A large cireular tray of
thin iron and tin, on which they eat, and which they scour very
bright ; a pan to mix their meal in; a wooden bowl or two, and
a few horn spoons; some jars for oil and wine, a small copper
coftee jug, and a brass lamp; three or four mats of white rushes,
and one stool; around block of wood, about a foot high, on
which the tray is placed ; are all the articles usually to be seen in
their cottages, and these are kept either in a neat deal cupboard,
or wooden chest.
Their houses have generally two rooms; and in one of these
they keep their maize in the stalk, or their grapes, which they
sprinkle with salt to preserve them. ‘The traveller Sonnini, who
had seen an Albanian town on Mount Olympus, proposes it as
the best model for village-buildings. ‘The houses are not heaped
together, but each of them has a garden. ‘That in which we
were lodged at Ereeneed, had attached to it a piece of ground,
containing some roods cultivated for the tobacco plant, a vine-
yard, and a fruit and vegetable garden: round the whole was <
high stone wall, and the house itself was in an inner yard, also
inclosed by another wall, so as to form a sort of fortification ;
indeed, we saw several holes at regular distances, through the
walls of the room in which we lay, and were informed they were
for the use of the gun.
Each of the villages we saw had, also, a green near it, shaded
with a large tree, and set apart for the holiday amusements of
the peasants. In part of this green 15 a circular piece of paved
ground, on which the corn is trodden out by eight or nine
horses.a-breast, which are driven round, tied by a cord to a stake
fxed in the middle of the circle. ‘This is an universal practice
LETTER KII. 190
in Turkey, and the same plan is followed in Spain and Por-
tugal.
The principal food of these people is wheaten or barley bread,
or cakes of boiled or roasted maize, cheese made of goats’-muik,
rice mixed with butter, eggs, dried fish, olives, and vegetables.
On holidays, kids and sheep are killed, and fowls, of which there
are great plenty every where; but the proportion of animal food
is considerably less than that of the other part of their diet.
They drink wine, both Mahometans and Christians, as also an
ardent spirit extracted from grape-husks and barley, called
rackee, not unlike whisky. It is but seldom that they spare any
milk from their cheeses. Indeed, cold water is what they chiefly
drink, and of this they take large draughts, even in the heats of
summer, and during the most violent exercise, without expe-
riencing any inconvenience from the indulgence. Coffee is to be
met with in many houses, and now and then the rossoglios of
Italy, and the liqueurs made at Cefalonia and Corfu.
Although the Albanians are generally temperate, and can live
on a very spare diet, yet that is because they preter saving their
money for the purchase of arms and trinkets; for they will eat
of whatsoever is laid before them by another person, not only
freely but voraciously.
In common with all the inhabitants of the Levant, they love
money, of which they make little hoards, and then spend the
sum all at once, either upon pipe-heads, silver mounted pistols,
shawls, snuff-boxes, watches, or handkerchiefs. Of this latter
article they, now and then, wear two or three at a tune hanging
from their belts. ‘They are avaricious, but not misers—being not
so much desirous of keeping, as greedy in collecting riches.
on
140 LETTER (XT:
An Albanian Turk was asked in our hearing what he liked
best— Wine? No—Pistols? No—Women? No, no-—What
then? ‘“ Why,” replied the young man with great frankness,
“ T hike money best; because with that I can get all those things
you mention, whenever, and as much of them, as, I want.”
Thus, in the pursuit of riches, there is no toil or danger which
they will not encounter; but they prefer the life of the soldier to
that of the husbandman, and with much greater alacrity support
the labours of war than those of agriculture.
They are very inexpert in cutting down their corn, every kind
of which is reaped with a sickle, and never mowed with a scythe.
Their plough is as simple as that of Virgil. It is composed of
two curved pieces of wood, one longer than the other: the long
piece forms the pole ; and one end of it being joined to the other
piece about a foot from the bottom, divides it into a share, which
is cased with iron, and a handle. ‘The share is, besides, attached
to the pole by a short cross bar of wood. ‘I'wo oxen, with no
other harness than yokes, are joined to the pole, and driven by
the ploughman, who holds the handle in his left hand, and the
goad in his right. But, although the furrow is not more than
an inch and a half deep, and the exertion requisite is conse-
quently very slight, yet the Albanian at his plough is a complete
picture of reluctant labour.
‘Thus in many parts of the country the sowing and reaping of
the harvest is Celegated to the women, the old and the infirm,
and only those labours which require the strength and skill of
man, such as the felling of timber, and the cultivation of the
vineyard, fall to the lot of the young mountaineer.
Averse from every habit of active industry, it is with less unwil-
LETTER XII. 141
lingness that he wanders on the mountains or in the forests, with
his flocks and herds; for the life of the shepherd is a life both of
laziness and peril. But his supreme delight, when unoccupied
by the wars of his Pasha or of his village, is to bask in the sun-
shine, to smoke, to eat, to drink, to dose, or to stroll slowly
round the garden of his cottage, tinkling his tuneless lute. Yet
though idle he is still restless, and ready to seize his gun, and
plunge into the woods, at the first summons of his chief. —Strange
inconsistency in human nature! says 'Tacitus*, when the same
men are so fond of indolence and so dissatisfied with repose.
lam, &c. &c.
* De Morib. Germ. cap. xy.
LETTER ΧΙ.
Continuation of the Manners of the Albanians—Expression of
their Meaning by Signs—their Liveliness-— Passionate Temper
—their Education—their Language—their Morals—Reli-
gion—their Nationality—thew love of Arms—The Albanian
Robbers—their Way of Life—and Mode of Attack—thew
Surgeons—The Albanian Dances—Albamans in Forergn Ser-
vice—in Egypt—Italy—the Morea—under Mustapha Bai-
ractar—Albanian Settlers—in different Parts of the Levant
called Wallachians improperly—and in Calabria.
4...
THE same distaste of trouble, of which mention
has been made in my last Letter, seems to be apparent in a sin-
gular habit, prevalent with the Albanians, of expressing their
meaning by short signs instead of words. ‘Take one or two in-
stances :-- one of them is asked, whether there is any fear of
robbers in such a road, and he means to say that there is no
cause for alarm, he pushes his little red cap over his eyes, as
much as to say, a man might walk there blindfolded. Some-
times, instead of saying, ‘‘ No, not at all; not the least in the
world ;” he puts the nail of his thumb under his upper fore-teeth,
and draws it’out smartly, making the same kind of sound as we
LETTER _X¥EI. 143
employ in place of the interjection, alas! It is not very easy to
know when they mean to answer in the affirmative, and when in
the negative, as a shake of the head serves both for no and yes.
But the sluggishness, or rather the hatred of work, observable
in this nation, by no means carries with it that grave and torpid
tir which is seen in the generality of the Turks. On the con-
trary, they are lively, and even playful; and though their home
sports are not of the active kind, yet they show their delight at
their Turkish draughts and other sedentary games, by loud
bursts of laughter, and other signs of childish joy. ‘They are
very furious also in their expressions of like and dislike ; and as
they have but little command of their temper, and prefer at all
times open force to fraud, they make no study of the conceal-
ment of their passions. We once saw one of them offer to run
a dirk into his arm, upon the mention of the name of a Greek
girl, with whom he was deeply smitten ; for he drew his weapon,
and, turning up his sleeve, exclaimed, ‘* Shall I do it? shall I
do it ?”——What satisfaction he could suppose this cutting himself
could giye to his mistress, it is not easy to conjecture. But this
is a practice also of the Greeks, who perform the sacrifice, not
with the amorous transport of the Albanian, but out of mere
gallantry, in the presence of their Dulcineas, serenading them and
drinking to their healths.
There is nothing more sanguinary in the character of the Alba-
nians, than in that of the other inhabitants of the Levant ;
though, as they live under no laws, and each individual is the
redresser of his own wrongs, bloodshed cannot but frequently
occur. A blow is revenged, by the meanest amongst them, with
the instant death of the offender: their military discipline admits
144 LETTER xIIt.
of no such punishment, and their soldiers are hanged and behead-
ed, but never beaten. ‘The custom of wearing arms. openly,
which has been considered as one of the certain signs of barbarity,
instead of increasing, diminishes the instances of murder, for τῷ 15
not probable that a man will often hazard an offence, for which
he may instantly lose his hfe. ‘They are not of a malignant dis-
position, and when cruel, with the exception of some tribes, it 18
more from sudden passion than from a principle of revenge.
‘Treachery is a vice hardly to be found amongst them; such as
have experienced your favour, or, as their saying is, have eaten
your bread, and even those who are hired into your service, are
entirely to be depended upon; and are capable often of the
warmest and most devoted attachment. ‘Take, by the way, that
this fond fidelity is more observable in the Mahometan, than in
the Christian Albanians.
There are very few of them who cannot speak Greek, and, as
their own is not a written language, a great many write and read
that tongue. ‘'hese are very proud of their acquirements, and so
far from thinking it necessary to conceal their education, display
their learning as ostentatiously as their valour. Were an Alba-
nian to sit for his picture, he would wish to be drawn, like the
admirable Creichton, with a sword in one hand and a book in the
other.
The ‘Turkish language is known but to very few, even of the
Mahometans amongst them. Of the Albanian language, there is
collected for your inspection, almost the first specimen ever put
to paper. ‘The basis of it is said to be Sclavonian, mixed with a
variety of other tongues, of which the ‘Turkish is most predomi-
nant, though the modern Greek, the Italian, the French, and
LEPTFER Χ͵ΤῚῚ.: 145
even words that sound like English, have a share in the composi-
tion of this strange medley. ‘The infinitive seems to be formed
by the syllable ἐϊ.
I feel no great inclination to speak of the morals of the Alba-
nians. ‘Their women, who are almost all of them without educa-
tion, and speak no other than their native tongue, are considered
as their cattle, and are used as such, being, except the very
superior sort, obliged to labour, and often punished with
blows. ‘They have, in truth, rather a contempt, and even aver-
sion for their females, and there is nothing in any of their occa-
sional inclinations, which can be said to partake of what we call
the tender passion. Yet all of them get married who can, as
it is a sign of wealth, and as they wish to have a domestic slave.
Besides, as in most parts of the country the females are not nearly
so numerous as the other sex, the bride often does not bring a
portion to her husband, but the man to his wife, and he is obliged
to get together about a thousand piasters, before he can expect to
be married.
A young fellow, being asked by us if he was going to get a
wife, shook his head, and said he was not rich enough. Some
time afterwards he came to us in great glee, with a letter in bis
hand from his father, part of which he read to us, couched in
these very words: ‘* I wish you to come home—TI have got a wife
for you.” Just as if he had said, I have got a cow for you.
‘Though the Mahometans amongst them veil their women, and
conceal them in their harems, they are said to be less jealous than
other Turks, and they seldom have more than one wife. In short,
their habit of life, which forms almost all of them into bands of
soldiers or outlaws, appears to render them quite independent of
Ἢ
146 LETTER XIII.
the other sex, whom they never mention, nor seem to miss_ in
their usual concerns or amusements.
‘he same babit is productive of a system, which is carried by
them io an extent of which no nation, perhaps, either modern or
ancient, unless we reluctantly except the ‘Thebans, can furnish a
similar instance. Not even the Gothic Taifali (1 refer you to
Gibbon for their depraved institution*) could be quoted against
this assertion, and you should have sufficient proof of its truth,
were | not aware of the propriety of the maxim approved, or pro-
bably invented by the great Latin historian. ‘* Scelera ostendi
oporteat (dum puniumtur) flagitia abscondi+.” After this infor-
mation, you may consider it very singular that the Albanians are
exceedingly decent in their outward manners and behaviour, never
admitting an immodest word or gesture in their conversation, nor
indulging in that kind of talk, which is the delight of some, even
above the lower orders, in more civilized parts of the world. But
this is a part of Mahometan discipline, and though it may appear
ἃ necessary concomitant of their strange system which destroys
the natural equality of the sexes, is surely to be admired and
imitated.
You may be aware that the Christian religion, if the degrading
superstition of the Greek church can deserve such a title, has been
far from extirpated by the Mahometan conquerors of Albania.
ἰάνθη in the upper country, where the ‘Turks are most predomi-
nant, several villages of Christians are to be found. On the coast
nearly all the people are of that religion, some of them being of
the Latin church.
* Decline and Fall, cap. 25.
+ Tacit. De Morib. German. cap, xii.
LETTER XIII. 147
The Turks are not strict in the observanee of the Mahometan
law, though I never heard any of them swear by Christ*. The
Christians adhere pretty closely to the tenets, but pay no sort of
reverence to the ministers of their church, whom they abuse openly
and despise, because they are not soldiers, and are considered to
be slaves, being usually Greeks by nation.
Lady M. W. Montague, whose book is so commonly read
that you will scarcely pardon me for quoting rather than referring
to it, talking of the Arnoots, says, in her agreeable manner—
** 'Y'hese people, living between Christians and Mahometans, and
not being skilled in controversy, declare that they are utterly un-
able to judge which religion is best, but to be certain of not en-
tirely rejecting the truth, they very prudently follow both. ‘They
go to the moscks on I'ridays, and to the church on Sundays, say-
ing, for their excuse, that they are sure of protection from the
true Prophet; but which that is, they are not able to determine
in this world.”
‘his may have been true in the days of our accomplished coun-
trywoman, but I could not learn that there is now to be found an
instance of so philosophical an indifference, or rather of so wise a
precaution. [lowever, it is certain that the Christians, who can
fairly be called Albanians, are scarcely, if at all, to be distin-
guished from the Mahometans. . ‘They carry arms, and many of
them are enrolled in the service of Ali, and differ in no respect
from his other soldiers. ‘There is a spirit of independence and a
love of their country, m the whole people, that, in a great
measure, ddes away the vast distinction, observable in other
* Voyage en Albanie, 149.
ry O
a <A
148 LETTER” X11.
parts of Turkey, between the followers of the two religions. For
when the natives of other provinces, upon being asked who they
are, will say, “ we are ‘Curks” or, ‘ we are Christians,’ a man
of this country answers, “ 1 am an Albanian.” ‘Ihe salute also,
and the shaking of hands, is as much observed between a Turk
and Christian, as between two Turks or two Christians.
Nationality, a passion at all times stronger in mountaineers
than in inhabitants of the plains, is most conspicuous in their
character. If one of them 1s travelling from home, and hears of
a countryman resident near any place which he may pass, though
he has never seen cr heard of the man before, he will go out of
his way to visit him. 1 have several times witnessed the delight
they manifest at an accidental meeting of this kind; it is much
more apparent than the emotion of two Lnglish friends on such
an occasion. But their whole manner is very affectionate, and
when, after a short absence, an Albanian happens to light upon an
acquaintance, he gives him his right hand and kisses him on the
cheek, which is also repeated at parting, when, if they have passed
upon the road, each, after they have got to a little distance, fires
off his pistols and his gun.
No foreign country, nor new sights, can take away from them
the remembrance and the love of their mountains, their friends,
and their own villages. ‘They are perpetually recurring to them,
and making invidious comparisons between their native place, and
every thing about them in other countries. ‘They consider that
all other men, whether Turks or Christians, are cowards if opposed
to their countrymen ; and, in fact, as they have long been ac-
counted the best soldiers in the Turkish empire, they have some
reason for the pride which can be discerned in their poorest pea-
LETTER ΧΙΤΕ. 149
sants ‘The strut of one of them, and the air of defiance which he
puts on, with his hand on his sabre and his red cap a little on one
side over his forehead, are such, as no one who has once seen
them, would ever forget.
All of them are warriors, and equally capable of using the sword
and the long gun; the latter weapon, when slung across their
right shoulders, they carry without any apparent effort, running
up their hills with great ease and agility. As all of them carry
arms, it is not easy to distinguish a soldier in service from ἃ pea-
sant ; though perhaps the surest distinction is the sabre, which,
as has been said, is seldom worn publicly, except by those in the
employment of their Pasha. However, most of their cottages
are furnished both with this weapon and with pistols. Nor are
their arms for show, for, until very lately, (and in some parts it is
the case even now), every district was either upon the defensive
against the bands of robbers, or was in alliance with them, and
in rebellion against the Pashas of the Porte. Some of almost
every village have belonged to these bands, and as no disgrace is
attached to plundering upon so large a scale, it is very common
to hear a man say, ‘* when I was a robber.”
It is early in the summer that these banditti, in bodies of two,
five; and seven hundred, and sometimes even of a thousand, as-
semble under some formidable chief, and leaving the towns and
villages where they have separately passed the winter, retire to the
summits of the most lofty mountains. ‘The recesses of Metzovo,
and of the hills now called Agrapha, at the bottom of the gulf of
Arta, which command, as it were, the passes from Greece and
Thessaly mto Albamia, are amongst their most favourite haunts.
‘They live some in caves, but many of them in the open air, under
VV
WA
10
no other covering than their capotes. The flocks of the shep-
herds, who are in concert with them, supply them with meat,
and in the night-time they steal down singly into the villages in
their alliance, and procure bread. No violence is used on this
te
occasion ; the messenger taps gently at the door of the cottages,
and whispering the words, ‘** Bread, bread,” (psome, psomeé) 15
immediately understood by the peasant, and provided with what
he wants. A traveller has some chance of being awakened in his
humble lodging by one of these midnight visitants; but would
hardly guess what sort of character, or whose purveyor, he
really was. ‘Their drink 1s water only, and they are very parti-
cular in the choice of their springs. ‘hey have spies throughout
the country, to give them notice of the approach of an enemy,
or of any whom they may plunder; and, as they are always on
the alert, they move instantly, on such intelligence, from the
tops of the hills, and occupy the passes in the woods.
In their mode of attack they are extremely cautious. ‘They
lie patiently, and in dead silence, perhaps for hours, covered with
jeaves, behind stones, in the water-courses, or in the thickets,
on each side of the road. ‘They suffer their prey to get into the
midst of them, when, if the party be armed or numerous, they
fire upon them suddenly without rising, and continue to do so,
unless beaten, until they have made their adversaries throw down
their arms, and ask for quarter. In that case, the prisoners are
then gagged, and bound, and plundered ; and if there be
them a man of consequence, the robbers make him write
friends for a ransom of so many thousand pilasters, and, if the
money arrives, they release him; if it does not, they
head, or keep him amongst them until they disperse.
LETPER XHEII, 151
If there is no probability of their being resisted, they start up
at once, without firing, and seize their plunder. Resistance 18
often made with success, and with very little bloodshed ; for, on
the first shot being fired, the attacked run different ways, get
behind stones and trees, and return the fire upon the robbers,
who, unless they are very superior in number, do not attempt to
dislodge them with the sabre, but continue under cover, or re-
treat.
An English gentleman travelling in the country, had the op-
portunity of seeing one of these skirmishes: he told me the story
at Ioannina. He was escorted by thirty soldiers of Al’s. In
passing a road, with a rocky hill on one side and a wood on the
other, thirty-five Albanians suddenly made their appearance: the
guard instantly began to climb up the hill, and get under cover
of the rocks; firing from behind the stones, and striving with
their adversaries, which should get the most elevated station to
defend. ‘They continued jumping from crag to crag, dropping
down, and firing at each other for twenty minutes, leaving the
Iinglishman in the road, till, at last, the two parties discovered
that each of them belonged to the Pasha, and that they had mu-
tually mistaken each other for robbers. During the whole con-
test, not one of either side had been even wounded. However,
it 15 not owing to cowardice, but custom, that they always fight
in this manner, as well in open warfare as in these petty battles in
their own mountains, except where they have any cavalry em-
ployed, or where, as in the affair of Prevesa, there is a great
disproportion between the numbers of the enemy and their own
force. But their fights are not always bloodless: whatever was
done against the Russians during the last campaign, was done by
Mouctar Pasha and his Albanian troops.
152 LETTER XII
The life they lead in the course of their profession as plun-
derers, enables them to support every hardship, and to take the
field, when in regular service, without baggage or tents of any
kind If badiy wounded, they leave their corps, and retire to
their homes until they are cured, when they return to the field.
Many amongst them know how, in their rude manner, to heal a
wound, and set a bone, and they even attempt the more delicate
operations of surgery.~~The French Consul at Athens was per-
suaded to trust a very valuable lite in the hands of one of them,
and was so fortunate as to be relieved by the complete reduction
and cure of a hernia, under which he had long laboured.
After the tops of the mountains become untenable from the
snow and rain of autumn, these bands of outlaws leave their
haunts, and usually separate; many of them going into the
towns of Livadia, ‘Thebes, Athens, the Negroponte, and also
over to Corfu, and to Santa Maura, where they live upon their
plunder, or go into some employment, which they always quit
on a stated day in the spring.
Robbing and siealing are reckoned two entirely different things.
Very few amongst them are ever guilty of the latter vice; not so
many, perhaps, as of the lower orders in many other nations.
Not only the youth of the Albanians 15 exercised in arms, but
their manhood, and even their advanced age; and it is not till
years and infirmities have made them decrepid, that they become
the constant tenants of their cottages.
Although lazy in the intervals of peace, there 1s one amuse-
ment of which (as it reminds them of their wars, and 1s, in itself,
a sort of friendly contest) they partake with the most persevermg
energy and outrageous glee. I allude to their dances, which,
though principally resorted to after the fatigues of a march, and
LETTER X-ITd.
during their mghts on the mountains, are yet occasionally
Le
iaves.
O
diversion on the green of their own vil
‘There is in them only one variety: either the hands of the
party (a dezen, or more, in number) are locked in each other
behind their backs; or every man has a handkerchief in his hand,
which is held by the next to him, and so on through a long
string of them. ‘The first is a slow dance. ‘he party stand ina
semicircle; and their musicians in the middle, a
man with a lute, continue walking trom side to side, accompany-
ing with their music the movements, which are nothing but the
bending and unbending of the two ends of the semicircle, with
some very slow footing, and now and then a hop.
But m the handkerchief dance, which is accompanied by a
song from themselves, or which is, more properly speaking, only
dancing to a song, they are very violent. It is upon the leader
of the string, that the principal movements devolve, and all the
party take this place by turns. He begins at first opening the
song, and footing quietly from side to side; then he hops quickly
forward, dragging the whole string after him ina circle; and then
twirls round, dropping frequently on his knee, and rebounding
from the ground with a shout ; every one repeating the burden of
the song, and following the example of the leader, who, after
hopping, twirling, dropping on the knee, and bounding up again
several times round and round, resigns his place to the man next
to hun. ‘The new Corypheeus leads them through the same evo-
lutions, but endeavours to exceed his predecessor in the quick-
ness and violence of his measures; and thus they continue at this
sport for several hours, with very short intervals ; seeming to de
rive fresh vigour from the words of the song, which is perhaps
changed once or twice during the whole time.
x
154 LETTER XII.
In order to give additional force to their vocal music, it is not
unusual for two or three old men of the party to sit in the middle
of the ring, and set the words of the song at the beginning” of
each verse, at the same time with the leader of the string; and
one of them has often a lute to accompany their voices.
You should have been told, that this lute is a very simple in-
strument—a three-stringed guitar with a very long neck and a
small round base, whose music is very monotonous, and which is
played with, what you will excuse me for calling, a plectrum,
made of a piece of quill, half an inch in length. The majority
of the Albanians can play on this lute, which, however, is only
used for, and capable of those notes that are just sufficient for
the accompamment and marking the time of their songs.
‘The same dance can be executed by one performer, who, in
that case, does not himself sing, but dances to the voice and lute
of a single musician. We saw a boy of fifteen, who, by some
variation of the figure, and by the ease with which he performed
the pzrouette, and the other difficult movements, made a very
agreeable spectacie of this singular performance.
There is something hazardous, though alluring, in attempting
to discover points of resemblance between modern and ancient
customs ; yet one may venture to hint, that the Albanians, from
whomsoever they may have learnt the practice, preserve in this
amusement something very similar to the military dances of
which we find notice in Classic authors. At the same time, one
would not, as several French travellers have done, talk of the
Pyrrhic dance of the Arnoots. Look into Xenophon for a de-
scription of the Greek and barbarian dances with which he en-
tertained some foreign ambassadors, and you will fix upon the
Persian, as bearing the nearest resemblance to the modern dance ;
~
Ὁ
werd
LETTER OXI
for in that, the performer dropped on the knee and rose again,
and all this he did in regular measure to the sound of the flute*,
In the account given of the armed dances of the Laconians,
you might also recognise the curious contortions and twirlings of
the Albanians, whose sudden inflexions of the body into every
posture, seem indeed as if they were made to ward and give
blows.
But to return to the characteristic of this nation. Their love
of arms is so ardent, that those who may fear too long an inter-
val of peace in their own country, enter into the service of the
Pashas in every part of the Turkish empire. The guard of the
sacred banner from Mecca to Constantinople, used to be en-
trusted to one hundred and fifty of them, armed and dressed in
their own fashion. ‘The traveller Browne saw them pass through
Damascus in procession. Kgypt is at present in their hands,
under a Bey, a friend of Ali Pasha’s ; and it was, ina great mea-
sure, their troops who compelled our unfortunate army to retreat
from that country.
‘The Stradiotes, or Albanian cavalry, made a conspicuous figure
in the old Italian wars ; and the coast, to this day, has furnished
the Kings of Naples with a regiment. Some of them we have
seen in our service at Malta.
The famous Ghalil, commonly called Patrona, was an Alba-
* Τέλος de τὸ Περσικὸν 'wpytiro κροτῶν τὰς πέλτας καὶ ὥκλαζε, καὶ ἀνίστατο,
Kab ταῦτα πᾶντα ἐν ῥυθμῶ wpos τὸν αὐλὸν επόιει.--- δ. 6. Xenop. Cy. Anab,
p. 426 ; where, in a note, there is a reference to Meursius’ Laconian Miscele
lanies, book ii. chap. 12, which describes the armed dance performed—** cum
omni corporum flexu ad inferendos et declinandos ictus.” To learn the Pyrrhie
dance, was part of the duty of the Roman legionary soldier.
ον
~
13¢ LETTER XItt.
΄.
nian. This man, though acommon seaman and ἃ pedlar, headed
the insurrection of 1730, in which Sultan Achmet III. was de-
throned, and with a success of which neither ancient ner modern
history can furnish another instance, remained for three weeks
absolute master of Constantinople.
The Morea has been perpetually disturbed by those of this
restless people, who have been either long settled in the country,
or who (since they were called in to quell the insurrection of the
Greeks in the year 1770) have constituted the guard of the Pasha
ot ‘Tripolizza. ‘These formerly amounted to about six thousand ;:
they are now under Veli Pasha, not quite so many. [ἢ the year
1799 they marched from Napoli di Romania, and were near sur-
prising the city of '[ripolizza itself.
The troops with which Mustapha Bairactar opposed and
quelled the Janissaries, were principally Albanians; and since
the death of that daring Vizier, the appearanee of one of this
nation in the streets of Constantinople, as it was once formidable,
is now displeasing, to their late enemies. A man boasted, in my
hearing, that a friend of his had made jorty Janissaries fly before
him, and that any Arnoot could do the same. Without believ-
ing the enormous superiority, you may by this form some notion
of the spinit of the people.
But all these mountaineers who enter into service abroad, de-
pend upon a return to their own country. Those belonging to
the Pasha of the Morea have more than once attempted to force
the guard of the Isthmus; and some, who were in a Sicilian regi-
ment in our pay, on finding that they were enlisted for life, oc-
casioned a yery serious disturbance in the garrison at Malta.
You will be pleased to recollect, that what has been said of the
Albanians, relates only to those who are natives, or, at least, im-
mediately sprung from natives of Albania; tor there are settle-
ments of this people to be met with in other parts of ‘Turkey m
Kurope, and in the islands, who are nothing but miserable
labourers, employed to attend the flocks and tll the grounds of
the rich ‘lurks and Greeks. ‘here are many of them in the dis-
trict of Livadia, and in-that of Attica, who can speak no other
language but their own, and are all Christians; their ancestors
having, most probably, left the mountains when the ‘Lurks first
entered into Albania, or having been settled there since the first
irruption of the Sclavonians into Greece.
These have been improperly called Wallachians, by travellers,
whose errors have been copied by more accurate writers*. Gib-
bon, in his Sketch of Modern Athens, calls them by that name,
although he might have rectified the nustake by looking into
Chandler, who is, however, himself incorrect, in saying that they
wear a different dress from the Greek peasants, and are of a dis-
tinguished spirit and bravery. The woollen jacket and loose
brogues are common to both, though perhaps the cotton kilt may
be occasionally found amongst the former people; and as for their
superiority to the other villagers, it seemed to me that they had
assimilated with the surrounding slaves.
You may read in Tournefort,. that Marco Sanudo, Duke of
* Yet the positive Mr. De Pauw insists that these people are Wallachians,
and descended from the Roman colonies settled by Trajan in Dacia. [ἢ proof
of this, he refers to a-note of Mr. D’Anville, in vol. xxx, of the Academy of
Inscriptions, and to a work called ‘* tats formés apres la chute de Empire
Romainen Occident.”’ A view of these authorities might make me alter my
opinion; but not being able to consult them, I have followed the conviction
produced by my own experience,and the opinton, universally prevalent amongst
these settlers themselves, that they are Arnoots.
158 LEFTER ἌὙΥΤι.
Nio, one of the small islands of the Archipelago, sent for Alba-
nian families to cultivate his little dominions ; and the same anec-
dote will serve to show you, what sort of reputation all people of
this name possess in the Levant; for Mr. Sonnini, determined to
find no fault with his favourite Greeks, and being obliged to own
that the Archipelago is infested with pirates, can only account for
the circumstance, by referring all the robberies to the Albanians
settled by Duke Marco at Nio.
But the ἔδει is, that these colonists, except in their patience
of fatigue and frugality, have but little of the spirit of the moun-
taineers of Albania, and are looked upon by them as a different
race of people. Some of them are to be found to this day in
Calabria, whither they retired when the Castriotes were invested
with a Neapolitan dukedom. 'They were seen by Mr. Swinburne,
and were found to have preserved the language and manners of
their nation. ‘They amounted in his time, a little more than
thirty years ago, to one hundred thousand, their ancestors hay-
ing continued to emigrate as late as the reign of Charles the
Fifth. They lived in about a hundred villages or towns, the
chief of which was Bova, thirty miles from Reggio. ‘The men
were able to talk Calabrese ; but the women, like those in Alba-
nla, were acquainted with no other than their own language.
All but those in the province of Cosenza were of the Latin
church ; and a college founded by Pope Clement ΧΕ]. at St.
Benedetto Ullano, in Upper Calabria, supplied the priesthood
with ministers. ‘They wore the Albanian dress. The men were
poor and industrious, the women modest. The priests were held
in the nghest reverence and estimation.
ἴδ. &c. ἄς.
LETTER. XLV,
Different Governments in Albania—The different Districts—
Arta—Loannina—Sagori—The Pashalik of Ocrida--Course
of the River Drin—The Scene of Scanderbeg’s Battles—The
Pashalik of Scutari—Antwari— Dulcigno— Lyssa— Durazzo
—The Rivers Mattia, Semne, and Crevasta—the Ans or
Polina—its Course from Tepellene—Berat, or Arnaut Beli-
grat—Ruins of Apollonia—The River Salnich—The Pasha-
lk and Town of Vallona—The Acroceraunians—Chimera-—
Manners of the Chimeriotes—Butrinto—Ruins of Buthro-
twm—Philathi—The River Thyamis—Margiriti—The Town
of Parga—The Glykyslimen, or Port of Sweet Waters— Ache-
rusian Lake—Ancient Geography of the Coast—Length of
Epirus—Suli— Route from Ioannina to that Place—Para-
mithi—Position and Extent of the Mountains of Suli—The
Villages of Suli—Wars of the Sulliotes with Ali Pasha—
their present Condition—Loru—Population af Albania—Ch-
mate and Temperature—Tepellene.
SPECIMENS of almost every sort of government
are to be found in Albania. Some districts and towns are com-
manded by one man, under the Turkish title of Bolu-bashe, or
160 LETTER τιν.
the Greek name of Capitan, which they have borrowed from
Christendom. Others obey their elders ; others are under no
subjection, but each man commands his own family. The power,
in some places, 1s in abeyance; and although there is no appe-
rent anarchy, there are no rulers: this was the case, -in our time,
at the large city of Argyro-castro, ‘There are parts of the coun-
try, where every Aga or Bey, which perhaps may answer to our
ancient country squire, is a petty chieftain, exercising every right
over the men of his village. ‘The Porte, which, in the days of
Ottoman greatness, divided the country into several small pasha-
liks and commanieries, is now but little respected, and the limits
of her different divisions are confused and forgotten; but the
powerful despotism of Ali may, for his life-time, destroy all dis-
tinctions, even as yet to be seen in the governments, and conse-
quently in the character of the various inhabitants of Albania.
This leads me to speak of the different districts of this impor-
tant province.—Of Arta and loannina I have given you an im-
perfect sketch. Both those cantons are chiefly inhabited by
Greeks, and are in complete subjection to Ali.
Immediately to the north of Ioannina, the mountains of Sagori
are peopled by Greeks, whose villages were long considered inde-
pendent, and even now rather enjoy the protection than feel the
power of the Pasha. ‘I'he Sagorites, who live on the flat summits
of the hills, anciently called Lingon, are most of them petty
traders, and their commerce with foreigners has given them a
gentleness of manner and disposition, to be found in no other
inhabitants of Albania. heir chief town, Sagori, is about thirty-
six miles, or twelve hours, from Joannina. ‘The north-western
declivities of the mountains of Sagori, which verge towards the
LETTER XIV. 161
valley of 'Tepellenc, are peopled by Albanians of a savage tem-
per, whose women, says Poukeville, are warriors.
To the north and north-east, beyond Sagori, 1s the pashalik of
Ocrida, which extends along both sides of the river Drin, the
ancient Drilo. ‘This river rises in the northern extremity of the
mountains of Sagori, and, after running twenty-four miles to the
north, . falls into the lake of Ocrida: thence it proceeds, still
northwards, till joined by another river, the White Drin, when
it goes to the south-west, and forms part of the boundary towards
Dalmatia and Bosnia: at last it flows south, and falls into the
Adriatic a little below Lyssa.
The Albanians of the pashalik of Ocrida are reckoned some of
the most ferocious and the best soldiers of the whole province.
They are nearly all ‘Turks, having but a few Christian villages
amongst them. It is in some part of their district, I believe,
that the Geghides inhabit, notorious as the most savage tribe in
the country. We saw some of them at Tepellenc; they were
distinguished by dusky red jackets, and red shawls, and had come
to pay their court to Ali, the real, though not the reputed, mas-
ter of great part of their pashalik.
The Bosnian Turks, their neighbours, are equally renowned
for barbarity and valour.
This part of the country was the principal scene of the exploits
of Scanderbeg; but a traveller would be disappointed, who
should look into the life and deeds of that hero, as described by
Barletius, and expect to find all the places alluded to as the thea-
tre of his actions. Crdia, his capital, that so long resisted the
arms of Amurath and Mahomet, is now a miserable village: it
is twenty-seven miles from Durazzo. Dibra, one of the ancient
Deborus’s, on the Drilo, called by the biographer the chiet town
Ww
a
162 LETTER - XIV.
in Epirus, and seventy miles from Croia, is a very mconsiderable
place. But Dayna, a town, and Mocreas, a valley, on the fron-
tiers, Oronoche, in the country of Dibra, the plains of the lesser
Tyranna, near Crdia, Petrella, Petra Alba, Stellusa, andthe
impregnable Sfetigrade, perched like an eagle’s nest on the top of
a rock near Dibra—all these places, which witnessed the triumphs
of the modern Alexander, would, I fear, be in vain sought in
the most correct topography of Albania. In the account of Bar-
letius, which I read as detailed by Wnolles, never having seen
the original, I find that the hero rode from the neighbourhood of
Lyssa, on the Adriatic, in one evening, to the top of a mountain
called Tumenist, whence he might see the plain of Pharsalia, and
that he returned to his camp at midnight. Is it possible to re-
concile this story with the geography of the country ἢ
Το the west of the pashalik of Ocrida is that of Scutari, or
Iscoudar, which is bounded to the south by the chain of moun-
tains above 'l'epellene, and to the north by the country of the
Monte-negrins, or the black mountaineers. It is extensive, and
comprehends the fine plain washed by the Drin, as far as the
city of Durazzo to the south. It is obliged, by the regulations
of the Porte, to furnish six hundred soldiers to the Ottoman
armies, and is reckoned the eighth under the Beglerbey of Ro-
mania. Scutari itself is twenty-one miles from the sea, to the
north of the Drin, on the banks of a river called Boiana by the
Venetians: it contains twelve thousand inhabitants, with a few
exceptions, all ‘lurks, and is at present governed by a Pasha, who
15 a restless and turbulent man, and the only counterpoise to the
power of Ali. Not far from the city is the lake of Scutari, the
Labeatis palus, the most considerable in Albania.
Antivari, the most northern Albanian town on the coast, is the
LETTER XIV. 163
port of Scutari, and the depot of the valley of the Drin, the
chief manufacture of which is shoe-leather. It is inhabited en-
tirely by ‘Turks, all seamen, as are the people of the neigh-
bouring town of Dulcigno, which is in possession of six thou-
sand pirates, who issue, as the Illyrians did of old, from the
same port of Olcinium, to plunder the merchant ships of all nations.
The Dulcigniotes, and those of Antivari, enter into the naval
service of the Barbary powers, and are the only Albanians who
have the least acquaintance with the management of a ship, or
willingly trust themselves at sea. A few armed galliots belong-
ing to Ali, and usually moored in the port of Prevesa, are man-
ned by some of these people. They are accounted cruel and
treacherous. A Dulcigniote ship fell in with the small vessels
under convoy of the brig of war that conveyed us to Prevesa,
and immediately began firing amongst them; but was soon
silenced, and brought to, by a shot from the man of war. The
Captain and crew, between thirty and forty men, when brought
on board, said they were saluting the fleet; and on this plea,
after being confined a day or two, were released at Prevesa. The
ship was furnished with six small guns, and crammed with mus-
kets, swords, and pistols. ‘I'he looks of the sailors were suffi-
cient to condemn them; but they hada pass from Ali Pasha,
which the English cruisers are directed to respect.
Following down the coast, we find the Venetian towns of Lyssa,
or Alessio, and Durazzo*. After Durazzo, are the mouths of the
rivers Mattia, Semne, and Crevasta. ᾿ΓῸ these succeeds the river
of Tepelleneé, which is laid down in the modern maps as the Vooussa,
though I never heard it so denominated by the people of the
* Durazzo is in the latitude of 41 degrees 27 minutes. An ancient author
calls it the key of the Adriatic.
y 2
Fad
104 LETTER XIi¥.
country. ‘This river, a short time after it passes Tepellené, begins
to widen, and flows westward till it falls into the Adriatic.
T'welve hours distance from the native place of Ali, on the
north bank of the river Crevasta, is the town of Berat, the Alba-
nan Belgrade, and the Elyma of Mr. D’Anville: it is considered
the strong-hold of the pashalik of Vallona, and is defended by a
fortress mounting forty cannon. On the south bank of the rivet
above the Crevasta, close to the sea, is a town called Cavailla,
whence is exported the finest timber of Albania; and at a little
more than a mile from the north bank of the Crevasta itself, at
about seven miles from the shore, is the small town of Polina,
where a few ruins denote the site of the celebrated city of Apollo-
nia. ‘I'he whole interior of these districts belongs to Ali, who,
whilst we were at 'Tepellené, had reduced Ibrahim, Pasha of Val-
lena, to confine himself in Berat. Whilst at Athens, we under-
stood that Berat itself had submitted ; and that Ibrahim had fled
to Vallona, whose walls had become the boundaries of his territory.
The detail in Meletius* makes the river near Durazzo the ancient
Panyassus and modern Spirnazza; the succeeding stream, the Ap-
sus, now the Cavrioni; the next the Loos, or Adus, at present the
Vooussa; and the last, the Celydnus, now called the Salnich: but
this topography cannot be correct, for he puts Apollonia on the
Vooussa, although that river is the nearest on the coast to the north
of Vallona.
Vallona}, once Aulon, is a town and port at the bottom of a
gulf, anciently called the Gulf of Oricum, and supplies Upper
* AABANIA, pp. 306, 307.
+ Vallona is called by the Italians La Vallona. <A chart of the gulf, and of
the neighbouring country, was laid down in 1690, by a Venetian engineer,
named Alberghetti.
LETTER) XLV: 195
Albania with the articles of Italian manufacture in use amongst
the natives—gun and pistol barrels, glass, paper, and Calabrian
capotes. It exports the oils, wools, gall, nut, and timber, of the
surrounding country. It is inhabited chiefly by Turks; yet in
this place, as well as along the whole coast, even from Ragusa,
are found some Christians of the Latin church, whose ecclesias-
tical superior is the Bishop of Monte-negro.
Immediately to the south of Vallona, begins the mountainous
district of Chimera, the Chaonia of the ancients. A narrow strip
of high rocks runs into the sea towards the north, whose point
is called Glossa by the Greeks, and La Linguetta by the Ita-
lians. At the bottom of the gulf, inclosed by this projection, are
the ruins of the fortress of Canina, on a rock, once garrisoned
by the ‘Turks, and a small port answering to Oricum, into which
flows a river that has its source in the tops of Pindus*. ‘The
Chimeriote mountains extend along the coast as far as the district
of Butrinto, and are bounded on the east and north-east by the
hills of Argyro-castro.—There are several petty ports where Chi-
mera, Panormus, and Onchesmus, were formerly situated. Of
these Panormus, now the Porto Palermo of the Italians, is the
most considerable. Chimera once had a fortress defended by
three hundred Turks, who, in the year 1570, during the reign
of Sultan Selim the Second, were expelled by the mountaineers.
Reading the transactions of the same reign, you will find men-
tion of the town of Cestria, or Suppoto, on the coast-}.
The Chimeriotes near the sea, are many of them Christians,
but in the interior they are nearly all Turks. ‘hey are very bar-
* Herod. Calliope, iii. 93. + Knolles, p. 819.
166 LETTER XIV.
barous and warlike; and though all of them are at peace with,
or perhaps almost under the subjection of Ah, their different vil-
lages are in a state of perpetual warfare with each other. Inha-
bitants of those savage rocks, which the fancy of ancient poets
has delighted to paint in the most terrific colours, they appear
the ferocious offspring of a rugged soil. ‘They are distinguished,
even in a land of barbarians, for the singular cruelty and impla-
cability of their disposition. ‘They never lose sight of their re-
venge. Amongst them a murderer is pursued by the family of
the deceased: neither time nor future benefits can obliterate the
injury, which can only be expiated by the blood of the offender,
or of one of his kin. ‘Thus the protection of an individual often
becomes the concern of his village; and the friends of the pro-
voked party also flying to arms, the enmity spreads from families
to towns, and from towns to districts. ‘The men of one moun-
tain watch those of a neighbouring hill, and neither sow nor reap,
nor tend their flocks, singly or unarmed. Should one of them
wander beyond the precincts of protection, he would be stalked,
like a deer, and shot without seeing lis enemy.
The Chimeriote Christians would voluntarily enter mto the
service of any foreign power; and as the Captains of their vil-
lages have some of them great influence, it would be no difficult
matter to raise a strong body of forces in the country. We saw
a Chimeriote at Malta, a person of great address, who had come
to that island with an offer of raising three thousand men instantly
for the service of the British government.
The soil in the valleys of Chimera yields olives and maize in
great quantities, but not many vines. ‘The inhabitants contrive
to lay as much of the produce of their lands, as, with the
LETTER XIV. 107
fleeces of their flocks, and the gall-nuts and timber of their forests,
enables them to supply themselves with arms, and carry ona
small traffic at Vallona, and Porto Palermo, and in the small
ports of their coast.
To the south of the Chimeriote mountains is the district of
Butrinto, bounded to the east by the pashalik of Delvino, a town
twenty-one miles distant. Butrinto (near which, if we may credit
Poukeville, are to be seen some remains of the “ lofty” city of
Buthrotum) was so long in the possession of the Venetians, that
the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood are, for the most
part, Christians of the Latin church ; and there is a Roman Ca-
tholic Bishop established in the place, who is equally protected
by his present master, Ali, as he was by the French. Near the
town is a village called Mauroli, to the south of which runs a
river, Pavla, and to the east another small stream, both of them
emptying themselves into a lake once named Anchises, now Pe-
lotti, I suppose from the old port Pelodes. his I copy from
the account of the French officers, who, it seems, were more
fortunate than A‘neas in finding both the Simois and the Xan-
thus of Helenus; for the Trojan hero saw only the former
river; the channel of the Scamander was unwashed by any
wave.
From Butrinto, going along the coast of the very narrow sea
that separates Corfu from the main land, the traveller arrives in
three hours at Keraka, the principal port of the inhabitants of a
district, whose chief town is Philathi, and which, as the word
imports in modern Greek, abounds in olives. ‘I'he Philathiotes
inhabit, for the distance of sixteen or seventeen miles to the
pastward, both banks of a river, that appears to correspond with
168
LETT ER ays
the Thyamis of Thucydides* and Strabo}. ‘The 'Thyamis sepa~
rated Thesprotia from the district of Cestrine, and flowed near
the Acherusian lake. ‘I'he Philathiotes are stated to amount to
between six and eight thousand, mostly Christians, who are kept
in awe of Ali by a guard of soldiers quartered in_ the villages of
Gomenizza and Sayades, a little farther to the south on the
coast. ‘They transport their oils, and the flocks and herds with
which their country abounds, to Corfu; nor can all the vigi-
lance of our cruisers cut off their supplies of provisions from the
French.
‘The east and south-east of Philathi, a country, which an acci-
dent gave us the opportunity of seeing at a distance, 1s a moun-
tainous district, belonging to a town called Margiriti, inhabited
principally by Turks, and scarcely in subjection to the Pasha of
foannina. Margiriti is governed by a Bolu-bashe, or Captain.
On a peninsula jutting out from the district of Margiriti, is
the town of Parga, which is fortified, and has two ports. It
stands on the south corner of the Glykyslimen, or Port of Sweet
Waters, in groves of orange, lemon, and olive trees, and coniaiis
eight thousand inhabitants, who are chiefly Christians, and of
both churches. Parga was put into the hands of the I’rench by
the treaty of Campo Formio; but they, in a great measure, left
the inhabitants to defend themselves against Ali, after the battle
of Prevesa, though they have since been established in the town,
and call it under their protection. Parga is the only place in this
quarter, that has been able to resist the arms and arts of Ali.
‘Their Sulliote allies were not so fortunate; but the Pasha has his
* Thucyd. lib. i. cap. 47. t Strab. lib. vie
LETTER XIV: 169
attention still fixed upon this town, and will probably succeed in
his designs.
The character of the Pargotes is amongst the worst of the
Albanians: their connexion with the Christian states has taught
them only the vices of civilization, and they are not less ferocious,
but are become more refined in their cruelty and violence. ‘Their
town is the refuge of many of the robbers whom Ali has driven
from the mountains.
Towards the head of the Glykyslimen, now called Port Veliki,
is a reedy marsh, which runs some distance into the land. Time
may have produced a communication between the fresh waters
and the sea; and I cannot help thinking, although no lake is now
to be seen, and notwithstanding the positive assertion of Pouque-~
ville, and of the learned person who laid down the maps of Ana-
charsis; that ancient and modern charts have been correct in
placing the Acherusian lake at the head of this bay. It is, how~
ever, but fair to mention, that Pliny* says, that the Acheron, after
leaving the Acherusian lake, flows ras six miles to the Ambra-
cian Gulf, and that Mr. Barbie du Boccage is supported by Me-
letius, who says there are two Acherusian lakes in Epirus-f.
From the extremity of the Acroceraunians to the mouth of the
Ambracian Gulf, a distance of thirteen hundred stadia (one hun-
dred and sixty-two Roman miles and a half), and the greatest
length of ancient Epirus, the whole line of coast has been mi-
nutely noted, and we might expect to find ourselves familiar with
every port and heacland.
When not far from Parga, we saw the promontory of Chime-
* Lib. iv, cap. 1. + HIISIPOS. pp. 317, 319.
Z
170 LETTER XIV.
rium above the town, and the small islands called Sybota, the
scene of the first action fought in the Peloponesian war. ‘The
features of nature may have undergone but little change since
the time the Corinthians encamped on the promontory; but it
would be a vain endeavour to look for even a vestige of the town
of Buchetium. near the headland, of Cichyris, formerly Ephyre,
at the head of the Glykyslimen, or of Pandosia, near the Ache-~
rusian lake, or Elatria and Batic, inland cities of the Cassopean
Epirotes. Strabo calls this a favoured region. Buthrotum wasa
Roman colony; and Atticus had an estate and villa which he
called Amalthea*, somewhere in the neighbourhood of the modern
town of Parga.
The first mention I find of that place, is in the transactions of
the reign of Sultan Solyman the Magnificent. A village near it
produced the famous Pasha Abraham, who conquered Arabia,
Assyria, and Mesopotamia, and by the help of Barbarossa, re-
duced Tunis and Algiers. The posts of Ali advance close upon
Parga, and make part of the guard chosen to preserve the con-
quered territory of Sulli, of which district, though it will be fore-
stalling the account of what we saw when thrown upon that coast,
I will now tell all 1. have been able to collect, previously noticing
the contiguous district. of Paramithi.
This place, called also Agio-Donato and Aidoni by the Turks,
15: the chief. town of a mountainous district about thirty-six
miles in circumference, containing fifteen thousand. inhabitants,
formerly living in independent villages, but now governed by.
Captains all undenan Aga, appointed by Ali. The account given,
* Epist. Cicer. lib. i. Ep. 13; ad Att.
LETTER XIV. 171
in the Survey of the Turkish Empire, of the Paramithiotes, re-
presents them to be cruel and revengeful, living under no govern~
ment, but every family administering justice amongst themselves ;
it declares that some of them are Turks, some Christians, but not
strict in either religion; intermarrying with each other, and boiling a
piece of mutton and a piece of pork in the same pot for the wife and
husband of different persuasions; and it adds, that they are peculiarly
addicted to catching Franks and other strangers, and selling them
in the public market. At present, however, they are not to be
distinguished from any other of the subjects of Ali, and a tra-
veller might appear in the market of Paramithi without being an
article of merchandize.
From Paramithi there are three roads, one to Margiriti; an-
other to Parga; and a third, of twelve miles, to Sulli.
The mountains of Sulli extend thirty miles from north to south,
and about the same length transversely. ‘Towards the east they
have the district of Arta, and to the south-east, and south, that
of Loru: between them and the shore, is a strip of land called
Fanari. Philathi and Paramithi are to the north and north-east.
At the eastern foot of the mountains there 1s a plain of some ex-
tent, where there are four villages. ‘I'he whole country contains
eighteen villages. ‘There are on the side of Nicopolis two distinct
summits of hills, The highest post, where there is a building that
appeared to me like a fort, is called Laka, on the top of a coni-
cak mountain inaccessible on every side but one, where the approach
to it is a small winding path cut out of the rock. <A little below
Laka, is Sulli itself, called Mega, or Kako-Sulli. Below Sulli is
Samonissa, a fort; then Tripa (the cavity) a principal post, sur-
rounded by a rampart: or wall; below Tripa is Klysoura ; and
am
172 LETTER XIV
> 1
next to that Skoutias, on the brink of the ravine formed by the
two hills. ‘There are other villages, all of them on the top of
formidable mountains: Kiafa, near Sulli, Agia Pareskevi, Zagari,
Perikati, Vounon, Zavoukon, Panaia tou Glykos, and Milos.
The contest between Ali and theinhabitants of these mountainous
villages continued thirteen years ; and the wars of Sulh and Parga
are recorded in a work, written in modern Greek by a Sulliote,
and printed at Paris, which I have seen. It talks of the summers
and winters of the war, but in other respects is not much in the
style of Thucydides,
The Sulliotes are all Greek Christians, and speak Greek, but
wear the mountain habit, and have a much greater resemblance
to the Albanian warrior than the Greek merchant. However,
they have always been esteemed by the Greeks as the prime
soldiers, and hopes of their faith ; and in the scheme presented to
the Empress Catharine in the year 1790, for a general insurrec-
tion of that nation against the Turks, Sulli was fixed upon as the
seat of congress, and the place from which the confederate army
was to commence its march.
When the peace between Russia and ‘Turkey abandoned the
Greeks to their fate, and the squadron of the famous Lambro
Canziani, who himself fled into Albania, was dispersed, the Sul-
liotes prepared for an attack from Ali; and that Pasha, in the
year 1792, after pretending a design on Argyro-castro, and get-
ting into his power one of their chiefs called Giayella, suddenly
fell upon the open plains, and forced the people to evacuate the
villages and fly into the mountains. Ali made several attacks on
Kiafa and Tripa, but was obliged to retreat with loss, and was
followed by two thousand Sulliotes, even into the plains of Ioan-
LETTER Xt¥v. 173
nina, when some sort of terms were agreed upon by the two par-
ties, which were soon broken, and a desultory warfare recom-
menced between them.
In the year 1796, Ali again marched a large force into the
plains, and destroyed the villages, but was again repulsed. But
having at last got possession of some heights, and built towers
commanding the defile, and continuing to advance higher up to-
wards Sulli, the inhabitants began to yield to his perseverance.
A dissension arose amongst the chiefs, and some of the fighting
men, bribed, it is said, by Al, withdrew, and though it would
have been impossible to carry the posts by storm, they all sur-
rendered successively. Sulli itself, in the year 1803, admitted
the troops of the Pasha. Agia Paraskevi was the last to capitu-
late. It was garrisoned by three hundred men, commanded by
Samuel a priest, who during the evacuation, blew up the place
he had so gallantly defended. During this continued contest,
Ali is said to have lost thirty thousand men, and the Sulliotes five
thousand. ‘I'he number of the latter, who, by agreement re-
tired to Parga and Corfu, were about four thousand. The war
was carried on with musquets, in the Albanian fashion already
described. Ali latterly also brought some cannon to the siege,
which were to have been directed by the French officers his pri-
soners ; but these gentlemen at that time contrived to escape to
Corfu; and it is probable the artillery had not so powerful an
effect as the money of the Pasha.
Mr. Eton, or Mr. Eton’s dragoman, was a little credulous, in
recording that four thousand men, all but one hundred and
forty, who were made prisoners, were killed in one action; and
indeed he invests these wars with an importance most extravagant,
174 LETTER XIV.
and disproportionate to their real magnitude. Yet whilst these
rocks were invested by the Albanians of Ali, many gallant actions
were performed, which the author. of the wars of Sulli and Parga,
must hope will go down to posterity with the deeds of the heroes
of Marathon and Platea.
The women were not less active than the men, and children of
a tender age partook of the spirit of their parents. The son of
the captive Giayella, a boy of twelve years of age, had been de-
livered by his father as a hostage and pledge of his return from
the mountain, and was, on that promise being broken, sent pri-
soner to Ioannina. He was brought before Veli Pasha, who ad-
dressed him fiercely : ‘‘ Robber, do you not know that my father
will burn you alive ?’—* Yes,” replied the boy, ““ and I also
know, that if my father takes you prisoner, he will do the same
to you.” Giavella was killed in the war, and this magnanimous
child was not destroyed, but sent back to his friends.
It would be tedious to be more particular in detailing the un+
successful struggles of this people. Acts, though of the most
determined active or passive courage, in order to be worthy of
record, must be performed in a certain cause, age and nation,
and must be, besides, accompanied with other virtues. Were it
not so, the lives of the Pirates might be put upon the same shelf
with Cornelius Nepos, for Miltiades himself was not a more de-
termined warrior than Black-beard, who received fifty-six wounds
in the battle which cost him his life.
It must be allowed that a great deal may be done by askilful anna-
list, to rescue from oblivion any events, however unimportant in their
effects; and if these wa rshad been recorded by the same pen which
has related the noble struggles of the Patriots of Saragossa, the
LETTER XIV. 175
valour of the Sulliotes might have been as common a topic of ad-
miration as the perseverance of the Spaniards. As it is, Captain
Giavella, and Captain Bogia, the heroes of the modern historian,
must be ranked, notwithstanding the efforts of Mr. Eton and this
frail memorial, with the many brave men who have perished un-
known.
There are now about two thousand of Ali’s soldiers quartered
in the different villages of Sulli, and that town itself maintams
three hundred of them. Yet such of the people as still cultivate
the country are treated with much lenity. They are not obliged
to give free quarter to travelling soldiers; their horses and cattle
are not taken without previous payment, and they are never
beaten. ‘The conquest of Sulli has put Ali in possession of the
coast as far as Prevesa, and we proceeded in perfect safety with
a small guard through that country, which Pouqueville describes
as independent, and consequently impassable. It makes part of
the district of Loru, which lies between Sulli and the gulf and
territory of Arta, and stretches towards the plains of Ioannina.
This district, which is called by the Italians Paése di Cassopeo,
is very mountainous. Its inhabitants are Greeks, who, though
overawed by the presence of some Albanians‘in the Vizier’s service,
are favourers of the troops of robbers that sometimes appear in
their mountains.
T shall leave what I have to say of Carnia, though it may be
called a part of Lower Albaria, until we pass through that coun-
try; and as something has before been said of the distriet of
Arta, and of that immediately in the neighbourhood of Ioannina,
I have communicated all I have been able to learn of the different
parts of Albania. Would that my information were more full
176
and particular, and free from those deficiencies, of which I am
myself more sensible, than most people who have not travelled in
the country can pretend to be.
on I
IT would not venture to make an estimate of the population of
the whole country, but perhaps some guess may be formed of the
amount, by what has been said of the places we visited. Upper
Albania, begin where we will, either above Delvinaki or at 'Tepel-
lene, is more generally populous than the country to the south.
The Greeks will assert that three hundred thousand Albanians,
might on an emergency appear in arms. But Perseus, who pos-
sessed the whole force of the Macedonian monarchy, and who,
after twenty-six years of peace, collected the largest army seen
since the times of Alexander the Great, could get together only
thirty-nine thousand foot, and four thousand horse soldiers. ‘The
standing army of Scanderbeg consisted of eight thousand horse
and seven thousand foot. ‘There may be some excess in the
computation above stated, yet a population of a million two hun-
dred thousand of all ages and sexes, that is, four times the number
of men able to carry arms, is not disproportionate to the size of
the country.
Upper Albania. is laid down by a modern geographer as one
hundred and ninety miles in length from north to south, and
ninety-six in breadth from east to west. ‘The length of Epirus,
or Lower Albania, bas been already stated, and Mr. [lume says,
it may be in circumference altogether about twice as big as York-
shire*.
* Essay on the Populousness of Ancient Nations.
LETTER XIV. 177
The temperature of the whole province is generally mild, ex-
cept that in the height of sammer the heat at loannina is very op-
pressive. In the spring there is seldom much rain, or a continued
drought. ‘The autumnal rains last for about four weeks, with in
tervals of clear weather, and the close of the season is very fine.
The sky is then without a cloud, and the middle of the day is as
warm as that of an English June, so much so, that on the fifth
of November we bathed in the gulf of Arta. ‘The mornings and
evenings are a little chill, but without any cold fogs or musts.
The winter lasts about two months, and during that time there is
much snow on the higher grounds, but the frosts are seldom οὗ
any long duration.
[oannina, as Poukeville reports, is subject in the spring and
autumn to tertians, for which the vicinity of a large stagnated
lake may account, but, generally speaking, Albania may be called
a healthy country, especially the upper part of it, where, we heard,
that instances of longevity were by no means uncommon, At
Ereeneed we were shown an old manand woman who had both
passed their hundredth year.
Fhe island in the lake of Ioannina is said to be subject to earth-
quakes; and our ['rench authority affirms, that every October,
the inhabitants upon it are alarmed by more than thirty agitations,
accompanied by the sound of loud subterranean explosions. We
were in the city just at the stated period, but these terrific con-
vulsions did not return during our stay in the country.
The physicians of Ioannina, and in the large towns, are Grecks ;
but surgical cases are referred to. the Albanians, as was before alluded
to, and these rough operators sometimes attempt the cure even of
general diseases by violent topical applications. You have seen the
Aa
1
=
“ἢ
8 LETTER XIV.
treatment for a cold in the limbs, in my third letter. ‘They havea
singular a remedy for a fever. ‘he patient stretches out his arm,
and the doctor runs his thumb forcibly along the principal artery
from the wrist up to the shoulder. ‘his he repeats several times,
till he has thrown the man into a profuse perspiration, whom he
then covers up warmly, and considers in a fair way of recovery ;
nor is he often deceived, as the opening of the pores in such cases
must, I suppose, but seldom fail of producing a favourable effect.
τς so ae RTE treme — —
But during this very long digression, you may have forgot that
you last left us at Tepellenc, with a short account of which town,
forgotten in its proper place, I shall conclude this Letter.
It is inhabited partly by Christians, partly by Turks, and is said
to contain between four and five hundred houses, of which there did
not appear to be one of ihe better sort, except the Vizier’s
palace, which covers a good deal of ground, and contains a
spacious harem. ἰ[ is the most favourite residence of Ali, and
there are always some of the ladies of his household living on the
spot, as well as a large establishment at all times ready to re-
ceive his Highness. In this palace, it is reported that Ali pre-
serves the greatest part of his treasure, and, if you believe the
Albanians, some of the inner rooms are piled up to the top with
jewels and coin. ,
The town stands on a rocky knoll immediately over the river,
which, in this place, is broad and deep, with high banks on both
sides. ‘There are remaining an arch and a half of a bridge opposite
the town, which Ali has in vain endeavoured to repair. An Hng-
lish renegado, considered skilful in these matters, came from Con-
LETTER XIV. 179
stantinople to inspect the work, and assured the Vizier, that the
bottom of the river, and the banks, being of loose sand, the
buttresses would always be undermined, and carried off by the
autumnal floods. ‘Thus, those who come from Berat, if they do
not cross ina boat, must go round by the bridge which we passed
in our journey to ‘l’epellene.
Tam, &c. ἄς.
LETTER XV.
Departure from Tepelleneé—Return to Ioannina—A Marriage
Procession—A Turkish Puppet-Show—Ancient Coins to be
met with at Ioanntna—Final Departure from that City—Re-
turn to Prevesa—-Disaster at Sea—Land on the Coast of
Sulli—View of that Town and District, at Volondorako—
Route from Volondorako to Castropsheca—to Prevesa—Sail
down the Gulf of Arta—Vonitza—Utraikee—Ancient Mea-
surement of the Gulf.
AFTER settling accounts with the great officers of
the palace, all of whom, from the Chamberlain to the Fool, came
for a present, we took leave of our friend the Secretary, and hav-
ing an express order upon the post throughout the Vizier’s domi-
nions, took, besides the five horses we had brought from Ioan-
nina, five others from 'Tepellene, to assist us back to the Capital.
The Secretary said we might expect great things from these
horses. ‘* Vanno assolutamente correndo.” ‘Their extraordinary
velocity was a trot, when forced to their speed, of five miles an
hour.
The priest who had come with us to the Vizier, also made one
of our party back.
The first day we went about twenty miles, and slept in the vil-
LETTER: Xv. 181
lage of Lokavo, in the hills, which we had passed in our way to
Tepellene.
The second day we descended again into the plain, continuing
along the banks of the river, which we crossed; then, having the
town of Libokavo on our left, and keeping ‘out of the hills, as
the waters had subsided, and striking into the same road by
which we had come from Delvinaki to Libokavo, we arrived at
the former place by sunset. Our journey this day might be
about thirty miles. We slept in the same house that had before
lodged us.
The next day we returned as far as Zitza, perhaps twenty-five
miles, and took up our abode in the monastery on the hill. On
the day after, the 26th of October, we got back to the house of
Signor Nicolo at Ioannina. ‘Thus, although we had been nine
days in getting to Tepellené, we were only four coming back;
and the journey, which cannot be quite a hundred English miles,
might, notwithstanding the badness of the paths, be performed
very easily in three. ‘The -'Tartars, or couriers, are not half that
time upon the road. However, as there is no point gained by
hurrying over acountry one has never seen before, and may never
see again, we did not at all regret having made so slow a progress.
‘The weather, during our return, was very different from what it
had been on our former journey. ‘The storms had ceased, and
the sun shone in the middle of the day as hot as with us at mid-
summer. ‘I'he vintage was now entirely over, and the maize was
collected into the villages. ‘The flocks of goats, and sheep, and
the herds of small cattle, had all been driven from the tops and
sides of the hills, into the warmer plains. The ploughing for the
early crops of the ensuing year, had also commenced.
We passed our time at loannina, both before and after our
182 LED TER: ve
visit to Tepellené, most agreeably ;—a sail upon the lake, a ride
into the country, or a stroll through the Bazars and Bizestein,
occupied our mornings, and our evenings were passed at home in
the conversation of our host, or abroad in visits to the principal
people of the town. We were one evening gratified by the sight
of a marriage procession, which, as the ceremonies of the Greek
Christians of Albania seem to be carried to a more ridiculous
height than those of the other parts of ‘Turkey, I will attempt to
describe. A Slave of the Harem, and an Albanian Officer, a
Christian in the Vizier’s service, were the parties.
First, the bridegroom passed through the streets-attended by
a large party of men with fiddles, and with many others carrying
lanterns of coloured paper, and he proceeded to fetch his bride
from the Seraglio of his Highness. Half an hour afterwards we
saw the whole party moving along to the house of the bridegroom.
‘The streets were full of people. At the head of the procession was
the bridegroom with his band of musicians and lantern-bearers,
followed also by a long crowd of men. Next came six young girls,
splendidly dressed in gold and silver stuffs, with their long hair
flowing over the shoulders; twoof them carried infants in their arms.
{hen appeared a woman more richly habited, carrying on her head a
small red trank, containing the portion with which the bride, ac-
cording to custom, as belonging to the Harem, had been presented
by Ali himself. Behind her came the bride herself, to whose ap-
pearance it is impossible for me to do justice. It was some time
before we were thoroughly convinced that what we saw was not
some doll dressed up for the occasion. She had scarcely any per-
ceptible motion, except a slow march from side to side, and she
resembled more than any thing else I can recollect, the wax
figure of Queen Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey, for not only
ΠΥ ΤΕ: XV. 1838
her dress, but herself was to the full as stiff. Her face, not a
muscle of which moved, was daubed with a mask of white and red
paint, and she seemed cautious not to alter, in the least, the po-
sition of her head, for fear of throwing offa high cap studded with
pieces of gold money. Ter left hand was held by an armed Al-
banian magnificently drest, and her right by a Greek priest. Be-
hind her was a vast crowd of women, with music and lanterns.
‘The procession moved so slowly, and the number of people was
so great, that the street was not clear of them for nearly an hour.
The marriage had taken place in the morning, but the bride had
returned to her apartments, that she might be carried off in
triumph during the might.
This procession, the most grand and ridiculous of the many |
saw in ‘l'urkey, is something more in the Albanian than the Greek
taste, and has therefore not been deferred till I came to speak of
the latter nation.
An evening or two before our departure from Joannina, we
went to see the only advance which the Turks have made towards
scenic representations. ‘This was a puppet-show, conducted by a
Jew who visits this place during the Ramazan, with his card per-
formers. ‘lhe show, a sort of ombre Chinoise, was fitted up ina
corner of a very dirty coffee-house which was full of spectators,
mostly young boys. ‘The admittance, was two paras for a cup
of coffee, and two or three more of those small pieces of money
put into a plate handed round after the performance. ‘I'he hero
of the piece was a kind of punch, called Cara-keus, who had, as
a traveller has well expressed it, the equipage of the God of Gar-
dens, supported bya string from his neck. The next in dignity
was a droll, called Codja-Haivat, the Sancho of Cara-keus; a
184 LETTER XV.
man and a woman were the remaining figures, except that the
catastrophe of the drama was brought about by the appearance of
the Devil himself in his proper person. ‘The dialogue, which was
ali in ‘Vurkish, and supported in different tones by the Jew, I did
not understand ; it caused loud and frequent bursts of laughter
from the audience ; but the action, which was perfectly intelligible,
was too horribly gross to be described. If you have ever seen
the morrice-dancing in some counties of England, you may have
a faint idea of it.
If the character of a nation, as has been said, ean be well ap
ight, this
puppet-show would place the Turks very low in the estimation of
preciated by a view of the amusements in which they del
any observer. ‘They have none, we were informed, of a more de-
cent kind.
Ea
There are now not a few inducements which may probably
cause many intelligent travellers of our own country to visit Ioan-
nina, and Albania; and from thei investigation the world will
doubtless be informed of many interesting particulars before
unknown.
The vicinity of the islands now in our possession, the peaceable
state of the country under the government of Ali, the good cor-
respondence that prince maintains with the English, and the wish
of exploring regions so Jong involved in complete obscurity, and,
fis it were, lost out of the map of Europe, will aid and prompt
their enquiries, and we shall soon be as well informed with respect
to the people and country of Albania, as we have been for some
time on the head of Greece and other provinces of Turkey.
LUST ERY wv. 150
Joannina itself affords a safe and agreeable residence to tra-
vellers. ‘Uhe Greeks are of the better sort, and well instructed
in the manners and Janguages of Christendom; one of them, a
school-master of. the name of Psallida, may be called a learned
man. [16 teaches the modern and ancient Greek, the Latin,
Italian, and. French languages, to about a hundred scholars,
and has, besides, established a reputation by publishing a philo-
sophical treatise on the Immortality of the Soul, dedicated to the
Empress Catharine.
The curiosity of the antiquary would be gratified by many
valuable coins, which are to be met with in the hands of Greek
collectors. ‘The series of Macedonian Kings might easily be
made up, and though not very rare, these medals are very eel
tiful and perfect. ‘The golden Philip, the “ regale numisma,” 18
very common; and there is a report that three hundred of them
were lately discovered in one earthen jar. ‘lhe coins at Joannina,
however, are not to be purchased so cheaply as those in Greece. A
collector in that city has twenty-seven, I think that is the number,
of very rare pieces, which he will not sell separately, and he asks
a large price for the whole. No one likes to pass through such a
country without collecting a little, and yet, as there is generally
some person residing in the towns to whom every thing 1s first
shown, a mere passing traveller has but a poor chance of getting
what.is very excellent. In the villages indeed he may occasionally
meet with something rare, before the peasant has carried it to
the town ; for immediately on the arrival of a Frank, every thing
in the shape of a medal or cut,stone, which the country people
may have found, is brought to him; a ridiculous prockamation to
that effect being often made by order of his dragoman, and he has
b
80 LETTER XV.
perhaps, an antiquity of George the ‘lhird’s time, presented for
his Acceptance, or an ancient cameo cut by a Parisian jeweller.
My own seals, which were dropped near [oannina, may serve to
enrich the siore of some future collector.
On the third of November we left the city and the lake, not to
return: and were the one the ancient Cassiope, and the other
Acherusia, as certainly as Cellarius and Poukeville have asserted
them to be, we could not have parted from them with greater
regret. ‘he Priest was still of our party, ‘and we had also the
company of an Albanian Captain, a ‘Turk, who joined us, as
he said, for the love of the English.
We returned to Salora, on the gulf of Arta, sleeping the first
night at the han of St. Demetre, and the next at Arta. At Salora,
we had intelligence that the country of Carnia was up in arms;
that bodies of robbers had descended from the mountains of ‘T'ric-
cala and Agrapha, and had made their appearance on the other
side of the gulf, at a custom-house belonging to the Vizier, called
Utraikee, where they had killed two men.
We had it in our power either to procure a guard at Prevesa,
and venture through Carnia, or to get into a galliot of Ali’s,
and go by sea to Patrass. We waited, however, a day, for advice
from Prevesa, with our old acquaintances at the barrack, and
then received intelligence, that an Albanian Bey was about to set
out, and collect all the armed men of the district, and hunt the
robbers from Carnia, and that we might, if we pleased, attend
him upon this gathering. However, we made up our minds to
go by sea, and proceeding ina boat to Prevesa, we presented
the Vizier’s order to the governor, who immediately prepared a
allot for our passage.
i
—
ΤΕ Wi XO
We slept one night at Prevesa, and got on board the next day
in the forenoon.
The galliot was a stout vessel, about fifty tons burden, long
and narrow, with three short masts, on each of which she carried
a large lateen’ sail of the sort universally used in the Levant.
She had forty men and four guns. All the sailors were ‘Turks,
except four Greeks, who turned out to be the only persons
on board who knew how to manage even a boat. There
were several Captains; but he that was called the first captain,
was a Dulcigniote, a mild-mannered man, who sat very com-
posedly smoking, and playing with a string of beads, called a
comboloio, which is a favourite solitary pastime both of Mahome-
tans and Christians, no man above the common sort being without
his bead roll.
At twelve o'clock we weighed anchor, but ran aground in getting
out of the harbour. Upon this the Captain proposed staying till
next day. However, we begged him to try again, and accord-
ingly by one o'clock we were out of the port with a fair wind,
hoping that we should soon double the head-land of Santa Maura.
But we found that the Leucadian promontory was equally the
terror of our ‘l'urkish seamen, as it had been of the Grecian navi-
gators ; for though we had afine breeze, to all appearance quite
fair, yet something, which we knew not of, occurred, and by
four o’clock we were pronounced in distress. ‘The Captain said
we should be obliged to put into Santa Maura, then in the bands
of the French, if we did not tack directly. ‘This caused a great
deal of bustle, and in putting about, the mizen-sail split from top
to bottom. ‘I'he wind blew a little stronger, and there was a heavy
swell. ‘The Captain put his comboloio in his pocket. ‘The sailors
were nearly all, except the Greeks, sick, and retired below,
BbD2
188 LETTER ΧΥ.
We were now steering directly for Corfu, as all hope οἵ getting
round the Cape had been given up. At sun-set it blew fresh,
and the rolling of the sea shook us so violently, as we were very
badly steered, that the greatest alarm prevailed. ‘The Captain
wrung his hands and wept. George our dragoman, at every
@
heel the ship took, called loudly on the name of God, and when
the main-yard snapped in two, every thing was given up for lost.
The guns also broke loose, and the foresail was split. ‘Lhe ship
lay like a log on the water, and the ‘Turk at the helm contrived
to keep her broadside to the sea, so that 1t was not improbable she
might have been swamped. ‘The Captain being asked what he could
do, said, he could do nothing.—‘“* Could he get back to the main-
land 3"---ς If God chuses,” was his answer.—‘* Could he make
Corfu ?”—-“* If God chuses.”—In short, there was nothing left,
but to request he would give up the management of the vessel to
the Greeks. He said he would give it to anybody. ‘I'he Greeks
then soon got us into a better plight, and rigging a small stay-sail
between the mizen and the main, and another between the main and
foremast, and taking down the yards, helped the ship along more
easily. ‘[hey steered us back upon the mainland of Albania,
keeping as close to the wind as possible, to prevent being driven
to Corfu; and the sea and the wind abating, they brought us,
about one o'clock in the mornmg, to an anchor at the entrance
of a bay.
At the dawn of morning we found ourselves nearly within
musket-shot of the land, which was craggy and woody, with
high mountains in the distance. Our Turks began all of them
to smoke, without taking the least notice of what had happened,
or thinking of repairs; and this beg the termination of the
Ramazan, and the first morning of the Bairam, a feast which
LETTER XV. 189
lasts three days, they all, according to a custom singular
enough to us, kissed and embraced each other with great
ceremony and affection, the Captain receiving the salute from all
his men.
In a short time, three or four men with guns appeared on
the rocks, and shouted to us, to know who we were. ‘The Cap-
tain answered, and hoisted a large red ensign; and after some
more halloomg, two boats came out of the bay and made for
Paxos, which island, as well as Antipaxos, was not far from us.
Part of Corfu, and an opposite promontory, were also very visi-
ble. ‘Some apprehensions were entertained of these boats being
French privateers, for we were within a few miles of Parga ; it
turned out afterwards that the Paxiote sailors had thought we
were an English cruiser, and would not therefore venture out until
assured of the contrary.
In the afternoon, by the advice of the Captain, we determined
to make the best of our way back to Prevesa by land, and we
therefore disembarked ourselves and chattels in the bay, near a
little custom-house, taking the second Captain with us, as he
seemed to prefer the perils of the land to those of his own element.
‘The bay in which we landed was one called Fanari, imme-
diately contiguous to the district and mountains of Sulli. We
sent for horses to the nearest village, and when they arrived, after
waiting a long time on the beach, we proceeded through a thick
wood, and caught a sight of a plain, and the town of Parga, to
our left. We were not more than half an hour in reaching a
village called Volondorako, where we were well received by the
Albanian primate of the place, and by the Vizier’s soldiers quar-
tered there. But our cottage was a miserable tenement indeed.
190 LETTER XV
We found that a wreck, which we had seen in the bay, was that
of a prize made shortly before by our Corfu squadron, and that
the midshipman who had been cast away in her, had slept five
nights before in the same house ; and having been enabled to pro-
ceed to Prevesa by the assistance of the Albanians, had presented
them with the wreck of his vessel. But the proper intention of
the young Englishman (afterwards approved by his Captain) had
been frustrated by the Greek Vice-Consul at Prevesa, who got
an order from the governor of that town for the ship, pretending
that all English wrecks were his property. ‘The Albanians at Vo-
Jondorako complained to us bitterly of this, and certainly they
had some reason to be dissatisfied.
In the morning we had a view of the country, and saw the
mountains of Sulli to the east, on the opposite side of a long
plain running north and south. ‘The town of Sulli itself was also
visible on the crag of a rock three parts up the mountain; and a
little to the south, below the town, was a fortress built by the
Vizier during his wars with this place. Near this was a village
calied Castrizza, where are some few remains of ancieut walls.
‘L'be whole plain seemed well cultivated,-abounding with arable
lands, but having no vineyards.
Whatever I could learn on the spot of this territory, so cele-
brated in the annals of modern Greece, has been already com-
municated ; I shall only add, that the force of arms appeared
still necessary to preserve the conquests of Ali; for there were
thirty soldiers quartered in our small village of about thirty
houses.
We were a long time in procuring horses, but at last icft Volon-
dorako at one o'clock in the afternoon, provided with guides, and
LETTER XV. 191
with three of the Albanian guard. On leaving our cottage, the re-
mainder of the guard saluted us by firing off their muskets, hold-
ing them in one hand, and giving them just elevation sufficient to
let the balls whistle over our heads. Our Albanians returned the
compliment, and there was a great mutual shouting, till we had
struck into the woods out of sight.
Our road took us to the south over woody hillocks for two
hours, when we came near the sea-side, still over hilly ground.
Then descending nearer the shore, we passed under a castle be-
longing to Al, on the summit of a steep rock close to the sea, in
a part of the country called Hreenosa. Similar towers, and ruins
of towers, of l'urkish and Venetian construction, are to be found,
it is said, all along the coast from Butrinto. We saw one more,
further on towards Prevesa.
We terminated one of the most beautiful rides we had ever
taken, by passing through groves of adrachnus, or strawberry-tree,
whose apples, called by the Greeks, “* Comara,” were hanging from
the boughs in large red clusters, interspersed with the berries of
many other fragrant shrubs with which this region abounds. It was
sun-set before we reached the village in which we were to halt.
It was called Castropsheca, upon a height, at a little distance
from the sea, and was rather of the better sort, for our cottage
had a wooden floor raised one story from the ground. It was in-
habited by Greeks.
At twelve the next day we set out again; and after a short
ride through a wood, and crossing a small river, we came to the
sea-shore, with a barren flat country to our left, and continued
for some time going round a large bay, till we came to the beach
on the sea-side of Nicopolis. Here my Friend and myself rode
102 LETTER XV.
off to pay a last visit to the ruins, winlst our baggage proceeded
{
directly to Prevesa, at which place we all arrived at sun-set.
From Volondorako to Prevesa, the path is very bad and intri-
cate, till the approach to the latter town, and is about nine hours’
journey-—not more, perhaps, than twenty-four miles.
A reference to ancient geography seems to point out the bay of
Fanari as the lesser port between the Glykyslimen-and the mouth
of the Ambracian gulf, called Comarus*, from which a straight
line drawn to the gulf on the side of Nicopolis, made a distance
of sixty stadia, or seven and a half Roman miles. ‘The large
bay, round which we rode on the second day, answers to the de-
scription of the wider port alluded to by Strabo, as a mile and a
half from Nicopolis. Yet the distance of Comarus from the
Gulf, does not appear reconcileable with that of Fanari to the
same point. However, the extreme badness of the roads may
have made our journey appear much longer than it really was,
and as we passed along by far the longest side of the triangle,
may almost account for the difference. ‘The whole coast, from
Butrinto to Prevesa, 15 calied by the Venetians, Vaielitia, or Va-
letitzia.
We had now no choice left, but that of going across Carnia,
we therefore provided ourselves, by the Governor’s assistance,
with thirty-seven soldiers, of whom there were three Bolu-bashees,
or Captains ; and we also procured another gallipt to take us
down the gulf of Arta, to the place whence we were (0 commence
our land journey.
Our whole party got on board the vessel, which was a sort of
* Strabon. lib. vii,
LETTER XY. 198
row-galley, at one o'clock, Monday, the 13th of November, and
passing round the promontory of Cape Figalo, continued sailing
with very little wind, and rowing, until we got off the fortress
ζ
y
Υ
of Vonitza, which was at sun-set. Here the Captain, who, rather
to our astonishment, was the same Dulcigniote that had com-
manded on our late disastrous expedition, said we might as well
wait for the morning breeze, so that we were some time near Vo-
nitza, and advanced but little during the night.
Vonitza is a small town, inhabited by Greeks, whose chief
trade consists in boutaraga, or the roes of fish, salted and pressed
into rolls like sausages. ‘The fortress, which was by the French
given up to the Porte, or rather to Ali Pasha, is not very strong,
and is garrisoned by a small body of Albanians.
The sun rose over the hills of Agrapha, at the bottom of the
gulf, and we advanced gently with the sails and oars, keeping
not far from the southern shore, under a range of woody hills,
vith some few cultivated spots, but no villages to be seen. It was
not until four o’clock in the afternoon that we arrived at Utraikee,
situated in a deep bay surrounded with rocks and woods, at the
south-east corner of the gulf, which stretches eight or nine miles
farther to the east, and must in its whole length be at least as
long as described to be by Polybius and Strabo. It is true, that
the historian mentions the length directly, as being three hun-
dred stadia, or thirty-seven Roman miles and a half*, and the
Geographer uses the expression circle, yet by this word he
must be supposed to mean the longest diameter, not the circum-
ference, though the word (κυχλος) in other places of the same
* Polyb. lib. iv. cap. 69. + Strab. lib. vii.
Cc
194 LETTER Xv.
author, is used as synonimous with the latter expression*. Poly-
bius has added, that the breadth is, in parts, equal to one-third
of the length of the gulf. Doubtless the site of Utraikee, was
one of the many good ports, with which it is said, by Strabo, to
abound; even now, 1t 1s the occasional resort of some of the boats
from the islands, which exchange their commodities for the wools
and skins of Carnia. We saw several sail of these small merchant-
men proceeding towards ‘Terra Nova, and the lower end of the
guif.
The gulf of Arta, in the time of Barbarossa, was the rendez-
yous of the Turkish navy, maintained to overawe the armaments
of the Christian Powers in the Italian seas; but I am not aware
that it was ever navigated by any large ship of war of the modern
construction.
Tam, ἄς, &c.
* After writing the above, I find that Casaubon, in his Commentary on
Strabo, has compared the two passages without a remark ; so that κυκλος must be
considered to bear the same meaning as κολσοὸς would have donc, though it is,
wherever clse I have seen it in this author, to be understood in the sense of
ee, Se ι Ἂ =e ἊΝ 1 ee |
repiodoc, ττεριμέτρος, OF oTpoyyvacc, his usual words.
LETTER XVI.
Utrakee—Night Scene at that Place—Route through Carnia—
to Catoona—to Makala—Prospects from the Hills of the
River Aspro or Acheloiis—and of the Lake Nizeros—Ancient
Remains at Aéto and at Ligustovichi—Route continued—te
Prodromo—Passage of the Achelous—Arrwal at Gouria—
Route over the Paracheloitis—to Natolico—Another Route
from Arta to Natolico—Boundary of Carnia—Former In-
habitants—Ancient Geography-—Present State—Ruins at
Teeserenes—The Shallows of Messalonge and Natolico—The
Fishery—Conjecture as to the Formation of the Shallows—
The Town and Inhabitants of Messalonge—The District of
Xeromeros, or Altolia—Town of Ivoria—River Fidari, or
Evenus—Ruins of Calydon—Recks of Chalcis and Tappiasus
—Passage to Patrass.
AT Utraikee there was only a custom-house and a
barrack for soldiers, both of stone, close to each other, and sur-
rounded on every side, except to the water, by a high wall. We
bathed in a little cove near the house; but were prevented from
ces
196 LETTER XVI.
strolling any farther, as the woods were suspected to be yet in-
fested by the robbers, who had, five days before, appeared in a
body of thirty-five men, and carried off a Greek and a Turk,
before the guard had time to shut the gates of the yard. They
pointed out to us a small green spot, at the bottom of the bay,
where, in the sight of, and asa bravado to, the ten soldiers shut
up in the barrack, they shot the ‘Turk, and stoned the Greek
whom they had taken.
In the evening the gates were secured, and preparations were
made for feeding our Albanians. A goat was killed, and roasted
whole, and four fires were kindled in the yard, round which the
soldiers seated themselves in parties. After eating and drinking,
the greater part of them assembled round the largest of the fires,
and, whilst ourselves and the elders of the party were seated
on the ground, danced round the blaze to their own songs, in the
manner before described, but with astonishing energy. All their
songs were relations of some robbing exploits. One of them,
which detained them more than an hour, began thus—** When
we set out from Parga, there were sixty of us:” then came the
burden of the verse,
φ'
n
Robbers all at Parga!
Robbers all at Parga!”
~
nw
a“
“~
KaAggleis ποῖε Tlupya !
Kasgless mele Παργα |””
φι
“᾿
and as they roared out this stave, they whirled round the fire,
dropped, and rebounded from their knees, and again whirled
round, as the chorus was again repeated. ‘The rippling of the
waves upon the pebbly margin where we were seated, filled up
LETTER xXV¥i. 197
the pauses of the song with a milder, and not more monotonous
music. ‘The night was very dark, but by the flashes of the
fires we caught a glimpse of the woods, the rocks, and the lake,
which, together with the wild appearance of the dancers, pre-
sented us witha scene that would have made a fine picture in
the hands of such an artist as the author of the Mysteries of
Udolpho.
As we were acquainted with the character of the Albanians, it
did not at all diminish our pleasure to know, that every one: of
our guard had been robbers, and some of them a very short time
before. ‘The most respectable and best mannered Bolu-bashee
with us, had been, four years past, a very formidable one, having
had the command of two hundred upon the mountains behind
Lepanto, but he had submitted with his men, and was now in the
service of Ali. It was eleven o’clock before we had retired to our
room, at which time the Albanians, wrapping. themselves up in
their capotes, went to sleep round the fires.
We were off at half past eight the next morning, when we took
ten other soldiers from the barrack, besides our own party, as for
the first two hours there were some notorious passes in the woods
through which our route lay. Approaching these spots, fifteen
or twenty of the party walked briskly on. before, and when they
had gone through the pass, halted until we came up to them. We
travelled to the south amongst thick forests, with now and then a
small opening, through which, hs ion botdes, were to be discerned
a plain and low hills. In one or two green spots near the road,
were ‘l'urkish tombstones, generally under a clump of trees and
by the side of a stone fountain, the resting place of the tra-
veller.
108 LETTER XVI.
Having passed the woods, the ten men returned to Utraikee,
and we got into an open country. We passed over a low hill, on
which was a small village, and a barrack for Albanian soldiers,
and leaving this to the left a ttle, ascended some more rising
ground toa village called Catoona, where we arrived by twelve
o'clock.
It was our intention to have proceeded farther this day, but
our progress was interrupted by an affair between our Albanians
and the Primate of the village, for, as we were looking about us,
and horses were collecting to carry our baggage, as we had drop-~
ped those from Utraikee, after a torrent of words from one of the
soldiers, swords were suddenly drawn, and guns cocked, and upon
this, in an instant, and before we could stop the affray, the Pri-
mate threw off his shoes and cloak, and fled so precipitately,
that he rolled down the hill and dislocated his shoulder. It was a
long time before we could persuade him to come back to his house,
where we were lodged: when he did return, he said he did not
care so much about his shoulder, as for the loss of a purse with
fifteen zequins, which dropped out of his pocket during his tumble.
The hint was understood.
Catoona, inhabited by Greeks only, contains twenty houses,
but most of them of the better sort, well built with stone. The
Primate’s house is a very good one, neatly fitted up with sofas.
Upon a knoll in the middle of the village is a school-house and
yard, and from this spot there is a very extensive view. ᾿1Ὸ the
west are high mountains called Vounstos (that is, the hills), rang-
ing from north to south near the coast. ΤῸ the east, there 18
also. a grand mountain prospect in the distance, but nearer there is
seen a green valley, and a considerable river winding through a
LETTER Xvf. 199
long line of country. ‘This river is the Achelotis, now called the
Aspro, or White river. ‘The modern name of the lake is Nizeros,
and it is about six miles, they told us, in length.
We had much difficulty in procuring horses at Catoona, so
that we were not off until half past eleven the next morning, and
did not travel more than four hours that day, toa village called
Makala. ‘The path was southwards, tolerably good, through a
woody country at first, but on mounting the hill on which the
village stood, the prospect widened on every side, and we again
saw the lake, the river, and the plain, stretching far down to the
south.
Makala is a well-built stone village, containing about forty
houses, separated from each other, inhabited by Greeks, a little
above the condition of peasants, whose wealth consists im large
flocks of sheep of a thick coarse fleece, that is sold into Albania
and the Morea. He with whom we lodged was a grave impor-
tant gentleman, calling himself a merchant, and keeping a secre-
tary. The houses we saw in Carnia were much better than any
we had seen in the villages of Albania. ‘The one we slept in at
Makala, had very much the appearance of ove of those old man-
sions that are to be met with in the bottoms of the Wiltshire
Downs. There were two green courts to it, one before, and the
other, round which there was a raised terrace, behind the house.
‘ke whole was surrounded by a very high and very thick wall,
that shut out the prospect entirely, bat was perfectly necessary
in.a country frequently overrun by large bands of robbers in their
way from the island of Santa Maura to the mountains of "τος
cala and Agrapha. ‘The operations of some of these outlaws were
visible im ihe ruins of a large house, which was pulled down by
Or
ETT eo a" NY ὦ
Sh i fv he av ὡς
them about twenty years past, after a determined opposition from
the inhabitants. ‘The possession of Santa Maura by the Eng-
lish, will much tend to free Carnia from these depredators.
Krom the highest point in the village we were shown two pieces
of wall, which our host assured us were remains of antiquity. One
of them was ona hill to the west, called Ac€to; and another on
a hill to the east, overlooking the Aspro, and by name Ligusto-
vichi. J should not forget, that on this eminence there was, sus-
pended from a stake, a piece of thick curved iron hoop, which,
when struck by ahammer, also hanging from the stake, serves to
call the Greeks to church, and also to alarm the country when
the robbers appear ; for the melancholy noise may, in the silence
of the night, be heard in the surrounding woods and vallies for
many miles. ‘This is the church bell universally used in the Le-
vant. ‘There is an exact picture of one in ‘Tournefort.
We were detained at Makala a day, because horses could not
be found to carry us on, which delay our Albanian, Vasilly, as-
sured us was owing to the disuse of the stick; but on the 18th
of November we set out at ten o'clock in the morning.
We went through woods along a craggy tangled path to the
south, and at half past twelve, passed a village of a few huts
ealled Prodromo ; after which, going a point to the eastward of
south, we struck into deeper woods of oak, which lasted, with
hardly one opening, for five hours, until we found ourselves at a
village of huts only a quarter of a mile from the banks of the
Aspro. In the course of our journey through the forest we
lighted upon three new-made graves, which, as our Albanians
passed, they pointed at, crying out, “ Sir, the robbers!” and
not long after this, as the whole party of them were passing along
LETTER XV i. 201
in a string, on something being seen in the gloom of the woods,
they rushed amongst: the trees to practise their manceuvres, but
found nothing to attack. ‘They seemed to apprehend some danger
during the whole day ; they were unusually silent, and did not
always keep in the path, but beat about amongst the bushes on
either side.
We had once a view through the woods, of the large town
named Vraichore, on the left bank of the Aspro, probably about
ten miles higher up the river than the place at which we crossed.
The stream of this river was very broad and rapid, and deep,
not so broad as the river at 'Tepellene, but of a much larger body
of water. However, although the sun was set, we passed over
in a well-contrived ferry-boat, to a decent village, partly of 'Turk-
ish, partly of Greek families, called Gouria, where we passed the
night.
From Utraikee to Gouria, over a country which it had taken »
us altogether fourteen hours and a half to traverse, we did not
meet or pass a single traveller of any description, and we only
saw one more village than those through which we passed. The
whole of Carnia appeared to us a wilderness of forests and un-
peopled plains. All our route, except a few miles, was, as de-
scribed, through thick woods of oak; but what we saw of the
fEtolian side of the Achelotis, seemed very different, less woody
and hilly, and abounding with tracts of luxuriant cultivation.
Leaving Gouria the next morning, we changed our southerly
for an easterly direction, and continued at first through a plain
of corn-fields near the banks of the river, which, we soon left
on our right, and continued. in a rich open country, sometimes
over stone causeways, and between the hedges of gardens ‘and
pd
202 LETTER xVI.
olive-groves, when we were stopped by the sea. What we had
passed over from Gouria, was that fruitful region formerly called
Paracheloitis, which was drained, or, according to one of the
prettiest allegories of ancient mythology, torn from the Achelotis
by the perseverance of Hercules, and presented by the demi-god
for a nuptial present to the daughter of Oéneus. ‘This was the
horn, whose plenty was the prize so often disputed by the rivals
of Acarnania and AXtolia. The water at which we now arrived
might more properly be called a salt-marsh than the sea, ora
shallow bay stretching from the mouth of the gulf of Lepanto
into the land for several miles. At the spot where we stood, it
was about a mile and a half broad, and not more than two feet
deep. Half way over was the town of Natolico, rising out of
the water; and to this place, after dismissing our horses, we
passed over in several punts, of which there were a great number
plying to and fro.
We were treated at first rather cavalierly by the Albanian go-
vernor of the town, who, however, on being spoken to a little
decisively, and presented with the signature of his master Ah,
provided proper lodgings, and billets for our soldiers. We found
out, that during our altercation with the governor, a Greek, who
had been nominated English Vice-Consul of the place, had sat
by without saying a word, or letting us know that there was in
the town any such character, to whom we might apply. But the
inattention of this man was made up for by the civility of a Jew
physician, who told us—I recollect his expression—that he was
honoured by our partaking of his little misery.
At Natolico we staid one night. It is a well-built town;
the houses of wood, and chiefly of two stories, about six hun-
LETTER XVI. 903
dred in number; inhabited by some few Turks, but principally
by Greeks, who are small merchants, dealing in the coarse wool-
lens made from the fleeces of Carnia, and in boutaraga, with
which their marsh supplies them. ‘The water flows through many
of the streets, which have wooden causeways on piles.
There isa route from Arta to Natolico, which we had been
advised to avoid, on account of the turbulent state of the coun-
try. It passes through the district called Macrinoro, under the
mountains of Agrapha, and in a country where, near a river,
once the Inachus, and something more than six hours and a half*
from Arta, one might expect to find some ruins of the Amphi-
lochian Argos. ‘The first stage is to a place called Pandi, seven
hours from Arta: thence to Natolico is twelve hours. ‘The route
passes through Mila, a village; then in two hours to Vraikore,
a considerable town on the left bank of the Achelous, before no-
ticed, commanded by an Aga, or Bey, in subjection to Ali, who
gave usa letter to him, and the residence of a Greek Bishop.
After Vraikore, and five hours from Natolico, is Katoki, a village.
The road is, for the greater part, on the left bank of the Ache-
louis, and in a flat well-cultivated country.
Carnia is bounded on the land side by the Aspro, and by a
branch of that river, called in some maps the Inachus, which,
flowing in a curved direction into the bottom of the gulf of Arta,
separates it from the .district of Macrinoro. Its length from
north*to south is about forty-two English miles, and its breadth
thirty-two. As Natolico is not to be reckoned within its limits,
it cannot be said to contain one considerable town, and perhaps
it is the least populous of any district of European ‘Turkey.
* Livy (lib. xxxviii. cap. 10) says, twenty-two Roman miles.
pd 2
204. LETTER XVI.
This country formerly included Leucadia, and its capital, in-
deed, was Leucas*, situated (not where the town of Santa
Maura now stands) on the narrow flat, five hundred paces long
and ¢
me hundred and twenty paces broad, anciently joining the
main land to the peninsula, afterwards connected by a bridge ;
but it appears never to have played a considerable part in the
flourishing days of Greece. 'T'hucydides-} speaks of the Acarna-
nians as one of those nations, which, as well as the Locri Ozole,
and the A%tolians, continued in his time the barbarous practice
of wearing arms—a sign of their old habits of plunder. As
auxiliaries (all but the Leucadians and Anactorii) of the Athe-
nians, they performed some actions recorded in the history of the
Peloponnesian war; but their contests were chiefly with the Atto-
lianst, until, in the decline of Athens, they dared, with the
assistance of King Philip, son of Demetrius, to insult that vene-
rable city. ‘They were the last to desert the alliance of the Ma-
cedonian monarch ; but three years after their invasion of Attica,
and a few. days after the battle of Cynoscephale, they yielded to
the arms of the Romans§. Under the protection of their con-
querors, their country flourished, until nearly depopulated by the
decree of Augustus, on account of their supposed partiality to
the cause of Antony, and in order to form the new colony of Ni-
copolis. However, their towns were never very numerous OF
large, and the greater part of the people lived in villages.
Not to reckon Leucas, or any: places beyond the Acheloiis,
though from that river to the Evenus was peopled by Acarna-
nians||, their principal town was Stratus, on the Achelots, two
* Strab. lib. x. + Thucyd. Hist. lib. i. cap. 5.
$ Liv. lib. xxvi. cap. 25 § Liv. lib. xxxiii. cap. 16.
ἢ Strab. lib. vill.
LAMM NY - +3 Ὸ -α
LETTER XVt. 900
hundred stadia from the mouth of the river*; Nova ἤηθα was-at
seventy stadia; A‘niade, at the mouth of the Achelots, and on
the entrance of the Corinthian gulf, not more than a hundred
stadia from the opposite point of Araxus in the Peloponnesus.
Anactorium was within the gulf, forty stadia from Actium, which
was at the mouth of the gulf of Ambracia, though Mr. D’An-
ville has placed Actium within Anactorium. On the west was
Palerus, then Alyzia, fifteen stadia from the sea to the east of
Leucas; and, near that, the promontory and port of Hercules,
with a temple, whence a sculpture of the Labours of Hercules,
by Lysippus, was transported to Rome, on account, says Strabo,
of the solitude of the spot where it was placed. The port and
promontory of Crithote were lower down. on the coast, The
islands of the Echinades were also accounted belonging to Acar-
nania. ‘They were all of them, except Dolicha, which has there-
fore been supposed to be the site of Natolico, rough barren rocks,
the most. distant. of them only fifteen stadia from the main. We
went near them in our first passage to Prevesa, as well as to the
small sharp rocks once called 'Thoas, and now Curzolari. Inch-
Keith, in. the Firth of Forth, would be a fertile domain to any
one of them, and would certainly be a more populous kingdom
than all of them put together, for they have no inhabitants. Yet
‘Lhoas, and the Echinades, sent their King Meges, equal to
* Stratus is said by Strabo to be half way between Alyzia and Anactorium,
which is irreconcileable with the two positions. Mr. Barbié du Boccage solves
the difficulty, by reading Αντίῤῥιον,
+ See Letter I1. of this volume, where Mr: D’Anville is followed. That geo-
grapher goes, I suppose, by what Thucydides says of Anactorium, that it was
ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι Te’ Aumpaning x0AT?.— 10. i. cap. 55.
900 LETTER XvVt.
Mars, with forty ships to the siege of Troy. Astacus was a town
not far from AXiniade.
I know of no particular mention of the country from the times
of the Roman to the ‘Turkish conquest, when there is a mere no-
tice taken of the Princes of Acarnania, as of the Princes of Al-
bania. It was conquered, or rather overrun, by Bayazet the First,
at the same time with Peloponnesus and Greece. Since it came
to the hands of the ‘Turks, it has had one or two important places.
Dragomestre, placed by D’Anville on the site of Astacus, was once
a considerable town with a strong fortress, but is now only a mi-
serable village, and a post for fishing-boats. Port Candeli is in a
deep bay, sixteen miles and a half to the south of the gulf of
Arta. Port Petala is at the mouth of the Aspro. The position
of Vonitza you are already acquainted with: there is a small river
running into the bay, at the bottom of which it stands.
Carnia is peopled entirely by Greeks. 'The Albanians amongst
them are soldiers of Ali Pasha, quartered in their country to pre-
serve them from the robbers, and to keep them in allegiance.
They trade chiefly through Natolico.
T’his last mentioned place we left the day after our arrival, and
sending on our baggage in punts, proceeded by land to the next
stage, a town called Messalonge. ‘The distance is only three
hours, to the south, on a rugged road under low stony hills until
the last part of the ride.x—At two hours from Natolico, on a hill
to the left of the road, are some remains of an ancient wall. The
spot is called at present ‘Teeserenes, or some such name. A little
way from Messalonge we were met by the Greek, holding the
office, which must be almost a sinecure, of Vice-Consul for the
English Nation, and were conducted by him through the town
LETTER XVI. 207
to his house, where we had a comfortable lodging, and staid two
nights.
Messalonge is situated on the south-east side of the salt-marsh,
or shallow, that extends between two and three miles into the
land below Natolico, and six miles about beyond Messalonge
itself, into the gulf of Lepanto. The breadth of the bay formed
by these shallows, may be, in an oblique direction from Messa-
longe towards the north, to the other side, not far from the
mouth of the Aspro, about ten miles. At the extremity of the
shallows, towards the deep water, for several miles in circuit, there
are rows of stakes, and also, at intervals, some wicker huts raised
on poles, forming, as it were, a line between the sea and the bay,
and appearing to those sailing down the gulf like a double shore*.
Within this fence, there is a very valuable fishery, and many
boats are stationed for that purpose in the marsh.
The port of Messalonge will not admit any vessel drawing
more than three feet water, nor is there sufficient water for those
of more than five feet any where within the marsh. All vessels
or boats, whether going in or out of the bay, are obliged, for
want of depth, to pass close to a smail fort, built on piles, where
there 1s a cannon or two mounted, and where a ‘Turkish guard
resides, to see the passes of those who enter or leave the fishery.
The fort is called Basilida, and is five miles beyond the town.
Whether the name Echinades applied to any of the sandy flats
now covered by water, and whether the modern town of Nato-
hco can be said to stand on that one of them called first Duli-
chium, and then Dolicha, will, it appears, admit of some doubt:
* Letter I.
208 LETTER: ‘XVI.
their very name would seem to decide to the contrary. Yet the
last-mentioned island is excepted from the character of rugged
sterility attached to the other rocks. Some of them were by
degrees joined to.the continent, and all of them would have
been so annexed, had not the discontinuance of cultivation,
when the people were transplanted to Nicopolis, diminished the
quantity of slime deposited by the Achelous near the shore: so
at least says Pausanias*. It seems to me, that these shallows
must have been formed by the gradual junction of the lake
Cynia, and perhaps of those of Melite and Uria, with the sea,
as well as by the sand washed forwards by the continued torrents
from the mouths of the river. ‘The lake of Cynia, which, toge-
ther with those of Melite and Uria, was not far from the city of
‘Eniade, was sixty stadia long and forty broad, and had a com-
munication with the sea}. No such inland lake is at present to
be seen, nor did 1 hear of any answering to the position of Melite
(which was half the size of Cynia), or of Uria, one fourth as
large; so that it 1s not improbable, that the whole may have
been combined to form the present appearance of the ma
Messalonge.
Messalonge was formerly the seat of a Pasha of two tails, but
is now under a Governor in dependence upon Ali Pasha. The
inhabitants are partly Greeks, partly ‘Turks, in number about
five thousand. ‘They subsist chiefly on the fishery, where the
red mullet is taken in quantities sufficient to supply many parts
of Roumelia and the Morea with the boutaraga, and caviar, made
from their roes. None of themare very rich, but several possess
* Pausanias Arcad. p. 493. + Strab, lib. x»
LETTER XVI. 209
about five thousand piasters per annum—~a good income in that
country. ‘The houses are chiefly of wood, and two stories high.
‘he bazar is furnished with some neat shops, and the streets are
paved. Both Messalonge and Natolico are to be reckoned
amongst the best towns in Roumelia; and, except Patrass, they
carry on the most extensive trade with the islands, of any ports
in that quarter of the country. ‘That part of Roumelia to which
they belong, is called Xeromeros (the ancient A‘tolia), of which,
as we saw only a small portion of it, I shall say but little.
It is all, I behteve (except the town of Lepanto, called by the
Greeks Epacto, which is governed by a Pasha of two tails), in
the hands of Ali; and both as to its population and productions,
is ἃ very Important district. Five hours from Natolico, and
about the same distance from the Aspro, is the town of Ivoria,
of some size, on the site, according to D’Anville, of Pamphia,
a village not more than thirty stadia from Thermus, the former
capital of Autolia*. ‘The exploits of the A‘tolians towards the
close of Grecian history, which occupy so considerable a portion
of Polybius and Livy, have illustrated the geography of their
country, so as to afford no little degree of certainty to the conjec-
tures of a modern traveller.
That part of the country which we saw to the south-east, and
which forms the north side of the entrance to the gulf of Le-
panto, is very mountainous. Ina fine valley on the other side
of the hills to the east, at the back of Messalonge, we had a view
of the river Fidari, the ancient Evenus. Between the Evenus
and the immer mouth of the gulf at Antirrhium, were the extre-
* Polyb. Hist. lib. v. cap. 7, which passage traces the march of King Philip
into /tolia, and gives many positions.
Ee
210 LETTER XVI,
mities of the mountains called Chalcis, Near these was the vil-
lage Lycirna, from which, to the city of Calydon, on the Evenus,
was a length of thirty stadia, three quarters more than three Ro-
man miles*, Poukeville, I know not on what authority, states the
ruins of Calydon to be found a league from Messalonge: perhaps
he alludes to the walls at 'Teeserenes. Next to the hills of Chal-
cis were those called Tappiasus. One of these presents a very
singular appearance : it is a large red rock, and is rent from top
to bottom, with a huge chasm, into the bowels of the mountain.
It could not fail to attract the notice of any one sailing towards
Patrass.
On the 23d of November, we left Messalonge in a small-
decked vessel, called a trebaculo, after having dismissed all our
Albanians, except one, who was taken into service as a compa-
nion to Vasilly. His name was Dervish-Tacheere : he was a'Turk.
At parting with him, all his companions embraced him, and ac-
companying him to our boat, fired off their guns as a last salute
to the whole party.
We were two hours in passing out of the shallows. As we
showed our pass at the fort of Basilida, we stopped a few minutes,
and had an opportunity of looking at the huts built on stakes in
the water, which serve as habitations for those who watch the
fishery. Three or four rows of stakes are planted before each
of them, to break the force of the waves rolling in from the deep
water in stormy weather ; but, notwithstanding this precaution,
neither the huts, nor Basilida itself, appear secure tenements for
any animals not amphibious, and they seemed the more wretched
* Strab. lib. x.
LETTER. XVI. 211
to us, as we passed them on a rainy day, and saw the. waves
washing over them at every gust of wind.
The distance from Basilida to Patrass must be about fifteen
miles; for we were two hours and a half making the passage,
with several squalls and a strong breeze in our favour during the
whole time.
Patrass must be reserved for my next Letter.
fam, &o. &c.
LETTER XVII.
Patrass—Its Situation—Insalubrity— Ancient State—Destruc-
tion in 1770—Present State—Trade—Exports of the Morea
—Consuls at Patrass—Greek Light Infantry—English Regi-
ment——The River Leucate—Departure from Patrass—The
Castles of the Morea and Roumelta—Cape Rhium—Lepanto
— Route to Vostizza—Ancient Positions—Vostizza—A Greek
Codja-bashee, or Elder—Coursing in the Morea—River Seli-
nus-—Agium—The Plane Tree—Veli Pasha—Population of
the Morea—Digression concerning the Mainotes.
WE had, for some time, been very eager to reach
Patrass, in hopes of finding letters from England, and for the
purpose of making certain necessary repairs in our baggage, which
we had deferred until our arrival at this place. Like other tra-
vellers, we had fixed upon a point where we were to commence a
general reform, and lay in new stores to aid our progress ; and, as
usually happens, we were disappointed, for there were not at Pat-
rass half so many nor so excellent artisans, as our dragoman
George, himself native of the town, had given us reason to expect.
To complete our disappointment, the only tailor who knew how to
make a Frank dress, was gone to Zante, at the pressing instance
of some officers of the garrison.
LETTER XVII. A115
However, we were most hospitably entertained by the English
Consul-General for the Morea, and his relation the Imperial Con-
sul, son of the gentleman who for many years transacted the Eng-
lish affairs at this port, and who has an honourable place in several
books of travels. After a long disuse of chairs and tables, we
were much pleased by those novelties at the agreeable entertain-
ments given us by these gentlemen.
I have, in another place, given you a sketch of the situation of
Patrass. Nothing certamly, can be more pleasant than the imme-
diate vicinity of the town, which 15 one blooming garden of orange
and lemon plantations, of olive-groves, vineyards, and currant-
grounds. ‘The fruit-trees, and the vines, clothe the sides of the
hill behind the town, to a considerable height: the currants are
on the flats below, and run along the line of coast to the south, as
far as the eye can reach. Both on the plain and on the sides of
the hills, there is a great quantity of the small shrub called glyko-
rizza by the Greeks, and which is our licorice.
The town itself stands on a steep declivity of the mountain, now
called Vodi. The higher part of it is a mile and a half from the
port, and in that quarter are all the best houses, surrounded, as
usual, with gardens. At the top of the whole is a large old Turkish
fortress, which is perfectly useless, and is, so said the Greeks,
put in a state of defence, by being white-washed at the beginning
of every war. To supply the deficiencies of the citadel, the ‘Turks
have lately placed a few cannon on the beach, at a litiie distance
from the custom-house. During the last war with Russia, a line
of battle ship and‘ a frigate threw some shot into the town.’ ‘The’
‘Lurks depend upon the new battery, for future protection from
such an insult.
iA LETTER: ΧΙ ΤᾺ:
Notwithstanding the beauty of the situation, Patrass is not ἃ
very desirable residence, on account of the contagious fevers and
agues with which it is occasionally visited. In the mornings and
the evenings of the autumnal season, the lower part of the town,
and all the surrounding flats are enveloped in a thick fog, which
we experienced in our visit, and found it to throw a chilly damp-
ness even to the upper quarter. Yet you may recollect from a
passage in one of Cicero’s letters to his freedman ‘T'yro, that Patra
was, in his time, recommended as a resort for invalids, and that
Tyro himself paid a visit to 1t on account of its known salubrity,
They told us, that in summer the heat 15 insupportable ; indeed,
whilst we were there, the weather was so warm as to render bathing
very agreeable on the first of December, though the summits of
Mount Vodi were covered with snow.
On arriving from Albania in the Morea, you quit a region little
known at any time, for one which the labours of ancients and mo-
derns have equally contributed to illustrate, and after wandering in
uncertainty, you acknowledge the aid of faithful guides, who direct
every footstep of your journey.
Pausanias alone will enable you to feel at home in Greece, and
though the country he describes has not had quite so long a time
to undergo a change, as Poukeville imagines (for the author
of the Periegesis did not write two thousand years ago*), yet it is
true, that the exact conformity of present appearances with the
minute descriptions of the itinerary, is no less surprising than satis-
factory. ‘The temple and the statue, the theatre, the column and
the marble porch, have sunk and disappeared. But the vallies and
* En lisant Pausanias on ne peut s’imaginer qu’ il cerivit il-y-a deux mille ans,
— Voyage en Morée, page 226.
BETTER -XVI2. 915
ςς of more value
the mountains, and some, not frequent, fragments
than all the rude and costly monuments of barbaric labour,” these
still remain, and remind the traveller that he treads the ground
once trod by the heroes and sages of antiquity.
‘To traverse the native country of those, whose deeds.and whose
wisdom have been proposed to all the polished nations of every
succeeding age, as the models which they should endeavour to
imitate, but must never hope to equal, with no other emotions
than would arise in passing through regions never civilized, is un-
natural, is impossible! No one would roam with the same in-
difference through the sad solitudes of Greece and the savage
wilds of America; nor is the expression of feelings, which it is
the object and end of all liberal education to instil and encou-
rage, to be derided as the unprofitable effusion of folly and affec-
tation.
Patre was distinguished by the notice of Augustus, who col-
lected its citizens, scattered by the A‘tolian war against the
Gauls; and settling amongst them some of those whe had fought
with him at Actium, dignified the city with the title of a Roman
colony. Some of the cities of Achaia were made tributary to
the Patrenses, and they continued to flourish long after the de-
cay of the neighbouring states. ‘They were rich in the monu-
ments of ancient art. Pausanias enumerates nineteen or twenty
temples, besides statues, altars, and marble sepulchres, to be
seen in his time in the city, the port, and the sacred groves. He
mentions also an odeum, or music theatre, the most magnificent
of any in Greece, next to that of Herodes at Athens. But there
is not a vestige of antiquity to be met with either in or near
Patrass, in which the worship of St. Andrew, who was crucified
216 LETTER XVII.
in the place, has succeeded to that of Diana Laphnia, the Olym-
pian Jupiter, and the Bacchus of Calydon.
‘The modern town, which, from the Italian corruption, is called
Patrass, but by the Greeks is still written Patra, has been the
scene of many sanguinary contests. It made the best defence in
the year 1447, against the ‘l'urks, of any place in the Peloponnesus.
In the year 1532, it was taken and ransacked by Doria; and in
1687, Morosini gained a victory over the Ottoman armies near
its walls. But of all the distresses suffered by this devoted city,
perhaps the last was the most terrible.
It was freed by the temporary success of the Greek insurgents
in 1770, from the yoke of the ‘Turks; but the appearance of the
Albanians, who rushed through the passes of the isthmus to the
assistance of the Mahometans, soon decided the fate of the place.
An army of ten thousand, both horse and foot, entered the town
through every avenue. It was not a contest, but a carnage. The
houses were all burnt to the ground; not a Greek capable of
bearing arms was spared.
The son of the English Consul, with about seventy of the
wives and daughters of the principal inhabitants, obtained with
difficulty permission from a body of Albanians, who were break-
ing open the doors with hatchets, to retire to the fortress. In
passing through the yard of the citadel, they saw it strewed with
bodies without heads. A Turkish commander, who knew the
young man, assisted him to escape in a barque with his fugitives
to Zante, whither the other Consuls and Franks had before fled.
Not only Patrass, but the surrounding villages were levelled to
the ground ; and that part of the Morea called by the Venetians
the Duchy of Clarenza, of which this place was the capital, was
LETTER XVII. 5717
for some time an unpeopled wilderness. Yet it has recovered in
the course of forty years from the fire and sword of the Alba-
nians, and Patrass may now be considered the most flourishing
town in the peninsula. Napoli and Coron, once preferred on
account of their superior salubrity, are now upon a gradual de-
cline.
Patrass is one of those towns which is governed by a Bey, as
well as Coron, Modon, Navarino, Misitra, Argos, and Corinth,
places of which any map of the Morea will give you the position.
It contains about eight thousand inhabitants; of which one thou-
sand are ‘lurks, and the remainder Greeks, with a few Jews,
and also some Franks, who are under the protection of the Con-
suls of foreign powers, and are not only free from all extortion
and oppression, but do not pay even any tax to the ‘Turkish go-
vernment, unless a duty of three per cent. upon imported goods
may be so called. It is also frequented by many of the Greek
islanders, who, with their large loose breeches, wear hats, to give
themselves the air of freemen. ‘These come for the butter,
cheeses, wax, wines, and fruits, which are sent from the ports
of the Morea to Smyrna, Constantinople, and the islands of
both seas.
The exports of Patrass are very considerable, consisting
principally of oranges, olives, cotton from Lepanto, but, above
all, currants, which are here laden for the supply of every part
of Christendom. ‘I'he quantity of currants exported annually
from the Morea, amounts to eight millions of pounds weight.
This is what Poukeville has asserted; and his volume on the
Morea, being collected by himself during a long residence in the
country, and being the last account written on the subject, is de-
Ff
218 LETTER XVII.
serving of every attention. The more that gentleman is ac-
quainted with facts, the less, as might be expected, does he in-
dulge in fiction ; and as he possesses all the inquisitiveness of his
countrymen, and seems to write without prejudice, or the vain
desire, so manifest in some I’rench authors who have preceded
him, of displaying himself more than his subject, his information
will be found generally correct.
‘The trade formerly carried on between the Morea and the Ita-
lian ports, in Dutch or Danish vessels, must now necessarily, in
great measure, be diverted to Malta.and Sicily, to England and
America. Besides currants, eight cargoes of corn have been an-
nually exported, two of wool, five or six of oil, one or two- of
suk, cotton, leather, vermilion, and gall-nuts. Convoys of thirty
and forty vessels arrive from Malta with all the articles wanted in
the Levant ; coffee, sugar, indigo, cochineal, sulphur, and with
silk and gold lace, cloth, hardware, and other manufactured
goods of England and France. Patent London shot may be
bought, of all numbers, in most towns of the Morea. Besides
the convoys from Malta, there are English ships which come
directly from Hull and Bristol, and are employed solely in the
currant trade. ‘The balance upon the imports and exports 15
alleged to be one-fifth in favour of the Morea, which is received
in silver coin. Of this, two millions of plasters go as tribute to
Constantinople, one million is taken by the Pasha of Tripolizza,
and the remainder, about one million ninety-three thousand
seven hundred and fifty piasters, is the profit of the rich Greeks.
The Frank residents are, as the authority before mentioned well
observes, only a sort of brokers, who get a per centage upon the
intercourse. ‘The most considerable of this latter description in
LETTER XVII. 219
the Morea is Mr. Strane, the English Consul, and Mr. Paul,
the Imperial Consul.
Besides these gentlemen, there are the French and American
Consuls for the Morea settled at Patrass ; and, owing to a system
of hostility which, I am sorry to say, has been introduced since
the new order of things in France, there is a little war carried on
under the several flags of the different nations. Whilst we were
at Patrass, the I’rench agent sent an official notice of the peace
between Austria and his master; and this was replied to by a
bulletin containing an account of the capture of two French line
of battle ships, and a convoy, off ‘Toulon.
A Consul in the Levant is a person of great importance, having
a chancellor, as he is called, and secretaries, janissaries, and other
dependants attached to him, being inviolable in his person and
property, and supposed by the Turks to possess an unlimited
authority over the people of his own nation, extending even to
imprisonment and death. ‘The French gentleman, before alluded
to, seemed, indeed, to be one of those Consuls who, as Voltaire
said, fancy themselves to be Roman Consuls, being consequen-
tial and decisive to the last degree. He happened, whilst we
were in the country, to lose his sword at some place on his way
from 'T'ripolizza ; and on complaint being made to the governor
of Patrass, the town and district where the accident happened
were put in requisition to find it, or furnish his Excellency with
another. An anecdote that not only shows the temper of
a
Mr. Vial, but the influence of the French in the Morea. His
large tri-coloured flag was hoisted on every occasion for triumph,
and, not unfrequently, on reports of his own invention ; and this
zeal and activity, though exerted in a manner which one cannot
Ff2
220 LETTER’ ‘XVII.
help thinking a little unjustifiable, have still certainly some effect
upon the ‘Turks, and, in some measure, further the views of the
Great Nation.
Tt was this gentleman who gave instant notice to the gevernor
of Patrass, of the attempt making in the Morea by three men in
English pay, to raise recruits for the new Zantiote regiment, now
called in our army list, the Greek light infantry *, and brought
about the tragical exit of one of the persons employed on that
service. It is certain, that no Einglish government would know-
ingly encourage the recruiting of our armies in the territories of
foreign states. Yet this is not the first time that interested agents
have made a similar effort, and brought disgrace upon the British
character. A Frenchman in our employ, was arrested in the exe-
cution of the same scheme in the dominions of the Emperor of
Austria. Yet this happened whilst a gentleman, who would scorn
* Thefirst serv ice this Macedonian Legion, about which such a ridiculous
parade was once made in our papers, was ordered upon, was the storming of the
French lines at Santa Maura. They were marched up in our way of warfare,
and continued in good order until the batteries opened upon them, when they
fell upon their faces, and attempted to dig holes for themselves in the sand. The
English who were their officers, in vain endeavoured to raise them, and being
left standing alone, were nearly all killed or wounded. ‘The gallant young man
at whose wish the experiment had been tried, and who now commands them,
was shot in thearm. ‘This was no time to trifle. A company or two of the
thirty-fifth were marched up, and carried the place in an instant. I had this
account from an officer of rank who was on the spot. It was unreasonable to
suppose, that English pay or English discipline had given these troops English
intrepidity. They should have been allowed to fight in their own fashion.
The habits of men are not so suddenly changed ; and, allowing these warriors
a due share of personal courage, it should have been recollected, that it had
never been their custom to expose themselyes to open fire.
LETTER XVII. 291
every unworthy practice, was at the head of foreign affairs. He
knew nothing of the matter.
Thus it is, that the resources of our country are often trusted
to unworthy hands, and though no secretary of state would him-
self connive at sending an emigrant I'renchman kidnapping into
the dominions of an ally, yet such a person was sent upon such a
mission.
During our stay at Patrass, which lasted eleven days, we took
two or three rides into the neighbourimg country. A little more
than two miles from the port along the shore to the south, is a
small river, whose course can be discerned for some distance in a
valley between abrupt hills to the south-east. ‘The present name
of this river is Leucate; but the river, on that side nearest to
the town, was called the Glaucus, according to Pausanias, and
the next, the Leucas, which comes so near to the modern
name.
At this place we dismissed our dragoman, and took into our ser-
vice another Greek, a native of the island of Syra, and inhabitant
of Constantinople, who wore the Frank habit. He spoke Turkish,
Greek, French, Italian, and bad Latin, the last of which lan-
guages he had learnt at Rome, having belonged to one of the
choirs. His name was Andreas. ‘The pay of a servant of this
description is from two to three piasters a day, with provisions and
lodging.
On the fourth of December, in the afternoon, we left Patrass.
‘The road, which was much cut up by the torrents, at first led us
to the north, towards the castle on the cape, formerly called
293 LETTER XVII,
Rhium, distant from the town about five miles and a half*. We
could ciscern from the road the other castle, called the castle of
Roumelia, as the other is named that of the Morea, at the other
side of the strait, which m breadth was reckoned five stadia,
three hundred and eighty feet more than half a mile}. ‘Ihese
castles, sometimes called the Dardanelles of Lepanto, were buiit
by Sultan Bajazet in the year 1482; they were taken. by the
Venetians in 1576; blown up by the Turks in 1687, but again
restored by them. ‘hey seemed strong, but we were informed
that the fortifications were entirely neglected, and that the walls
were used as an enclosure for sheep. Near the castle of the
Morea is a village of thirty or forty houses, surrounded with
gardens ; and on the other side, towards Patrass, is the ceme-
tery of the Christians who were slain in the battle of Lepanto.
Directing our course to. the east, after leaving the castle on
our left at a mile distance, we soon had a view of the town of
Lepanto, on the north of the gulf. It presents a singular ap-
pearance, being seated on the steep declivity of a hill, and hav-
ing two walls termimating ina vortex, which is crowned by a
castle, commanding the town and harbour. The fortifications
are strengthened by four walls, which run crossways from one
side to the other in parallel lines, and have caused the appearance
of the place to be compared to a papal crown. I cannot say the
simile struck me; but 1 read of it in Dr. Chandler’s travels.
Lepanto was first fortified by the Venetians. 'The entrance to
the harbour, which is small and circular, and not capable of con-
* Fifty stadia, according to Pausanias ; forty according to Strabo, 110, xx. ;
but perhaps he means the town.
+ Ὅσον δὲ were crediay ἀπολείπουσαι ropSuor.——Strab. lib. viii,
LETTER XVII- 985
taining ships of any burden, is scarcely perceptible at a distance.
‘The present number of inhabitants is about two thousand, mostly
Greeks, workers in morocco. ‘The governor of the place is a
Pasha of two tails; but his dominions extend only a small dis-
tance from the town.
You scarcely need be informed, that Lepanto is on the site of
the ancient Naupactus, of which name the modern Greek appel-
lation, Epacto, seems to be a corruption.
Our road took us over rough uneven paths, and through thick
woods, sometimes close to the shore, and at others over the feet
of high hills to our right, that projected into the gulf, and thus
afforded no road along the beach. We travelled due east. It
was half past seven, and had been long dark, before we arrived
at a solitary han on the shore, where we put up for the night.
From Patrass to the han, we had passed only one house on the
road, and saw no other village than that near the castle of the
Morea. ‘The road was very bad the whole distance.
The next day, after walking about most part of the morning
on the beach, and viewing the grand mountain scenery on the
other side of the gulf, we left the han, and travelling through a
more level and open country, and crossing ἃ wide torrent in a
situation answering to that of the ancient river Bolineus, arrived,
in a little more than three hours, at the town of Vostizza, which
we had seen for some time on a tongue of land jutting into the
culf, shaded at the back with groves of tall trees, and inter-
spersed with orange and lemon gardens, glittering with their ripe
fruits.
Between Patra and Aigium, on whose site Vostizza is sup-
posed to stand, there were the river Meilichus, the river Chara-
99
peas LETTER XVII.
drus, the city Argyra, the river Selemnus (once a shepherd,
but aiterwards a stream, whence the neglected swain and the for-
saken nymph drank oblivion of their former passion), the river
Bolineeus, and the city Bolina; and also the city Rhypes, a little
above the road, which was a military one, something more than
three of our miles from Aégium. Of the three cities, as Rhypes was
not inhabited when Strabo wrote, and all were ruins in the time
of Pausanias, it is no wonder tuat there is not a vestige remain-
ing. ‘The rivers also, with one exception before noted, are sunk
into streams, which we skould call by no other name than that of
winter brooks. A promontory, which should be Drepanum,
shuts out the view of Vostizza till one is arrived within six miles
of the town; for Drepanum, though put by some maps nearer
to the cape of Rhium, is said by Pausanias to stretch into the
gulf from the place where the Bolinus flows, and both the pro-
montory, and the torrent we crossed on our second day’s jour-
ney, correspond to that description*.
The whole distance, by the shortest road, from Patre to
/Zgium, was one hundred and ninety stadia, something more
than swenty-one miles and a half. The sail round the shore was
forty stadia longer. It was first to Rhium fifty stadia, to Port
Panormus fifteen, to the walls, called, of Minerva, fifteen, to
Port Erineus ninety, to A‘gium sixty 7.
The gulf, which, as far as Vostizza, is rather narrow, swells
beyond that point into a considerable sea.
An hour before we arrived at the town, we had our first view
* But Strabo, in Book viii. says, that the back part of the promontory
Rhian was called Drepanum.
+ Pausanias-Achaic. p. 441 and 442,
LETTER XVII. 995
of Parnassus, now called Liakura, on the other side of the gulf.
rising far above the other peaks of that hilly region, and capped
with snow. ‘lhe two tops, however, were not discernible; nor
did I ever observe that peculiarity during the three weeks we
were within sight of the poetic mountain. ‘lhe spot whence the
summit may be most distinctly viewed, is in the neighbourhood
of the isthmus of Corinth.
Vostizza contains between three and four thousand inhabitants,
chiefly Greeks, who trade in raw silk, cheeses, currants, hides,
eums, rackee, the small fishes called sardinias, and boutaraga.
The hard cheeses of Vostizza are accounted the best in the
Morea. The town and its district are governed by a Greek
Codja-bashee, or elder, as are three others of the twenty-four
cantons into which the Morea is divided, Caritene, Sinano, and
Vasilico. We were lodged in the house of the Codja-bashee at
Vostizza, who, notwithstanding his title, was a very young man,
not twenty years old, by name Andreas Londo, the son of a
Greek in the highest esteem with Veli Pasha, and acting the
part of his chief minister at ‘Tripolizza. We could in an instant
discover the Signor Londo to be a person in power: his chamber
was crowded with visitants, claimants, and complainants ; his
secretaries and clerks were often presenting papers for his sig-
nature; and the whole appearance of our host and his house-
hold presented us with the singular spectacle of a Greek in au-
thority—a sight which we had never before seen in ‘Turkey. The
Codja-bashee was not quite five feet in height, and, without any
exaggeration, his cap, or talpac, was very near one-third of
that measure. He studied, as much as possible, to give himself
the reserved air of a’‘Turk; but his natural good-humour and
liveliness frequently burst through the disguise, and displayed
Gs
226 LETTER XVII.
him in his real character, of a merry playful boy; so much so,
indeed, that before we left his house, we had more than once
prevailed on him to throw off his robes and cap, tuck up his
sleeves, and. attempt several feats of agility, such as jumping
over chairs, tambling, and sparring, with which latter exercise
he was so highly delighted, that he now and then started up,
called in one of his secretaries, and knocked him down on the
sofa, as a trial of his skill. Being under no restraint from a supe-
rior, he showed the true bent of his disposition, which, perhaps,
would be, in better days, that of the Greeks in general ; for he
was passionate, enthusiastic, childish, important, and a little osten-
tatious ; but polite, kind, and hospitable, and showing many evi-
dent traits of an amiable mind.
We were comfortably lodged, and handsomely entertained, by
him. His house was large, and built on stone arches, the ascent
to it being by a wooden staircase. It contained two wings, the
right hand one of which was occupied by the females of the
family, whom, by the way, we never once saw in ten days; the
ieft hand apartments consisted of the room of audience, and of
a back chamber, where we slept. The gallery connecting the
two wings had a dining-room in the middle; the culinary con-
cerns were carried on in a place to which the entrance was on the
right of the dining-room ; and a door, on the left of that apart-
ment, opened into a small closet, which might as well have been
elsewhere. The room of audience was well fitted up with fine
sofas, a rich carpet, and sash windows, a great rarity. In the
dining-chamber were tables and chairs. We were told the house
altogether was the best of any belonging to a Greek in the
Morea.
The table kept by the young Londo was good, as far as a
LETTER Xxvit. 927
&
Greek cook can prepare a dinner. ‘The meat was stewed to rags.
They cut up a hare into pieces to roast. I do not recollect that
any of the flesh dishes were boiled*. The pastry was not good,
being sweetened with honey, and not well baked; but the thick ewes’
milk, mixed with rice and preserves, and garnished witn almonds;
was very palatable. ‘The boutaraga, caviar, and macaroni pow-
dered with scraped cheese, were good dishes. But the vegeta-
bles and fruits, some of which the luxuriant soil furnishes without
culture, were indeed delicious, and in great variety. ‘There were
cabbages, cauliflowers, spinach, artichokes, lettuces, and cellery,
in abundance; but the want of potatoes was supplied by a root
tasting like sea-cale. ‘I'he fruits, which were served up at the
conclusion of the dinner, and before the cloth was removed, were
oranges, olives, pears, quinces, pomegranates, citrons, medlars,
and nuts, and lastly, the finest melons we ever tasted. ‘These
last fruits were, however, not grown in the Morea, but brought
from Cefalonia, where alone, and in one spot only of the island,
so our host told us, they come to so great a perfection. ‘T'o
transplant them has been attempted, but they lose their flavour
in another soil. We were too late for the summer fruit in the
Morea; but, in my opinion, the peaches, cherries, apricots,
nectarines, and even the grapes, in the Levant, are inferior to
those grown in the open air, or in hot-houses, in I:ngland; for the
Greeks, either not knowing, or too lazy to engraft, have never
attempted to improve the quality of their trees. ‘The green fig ts
reckoned a great delicacy, but to me it seemed tasteless.
* Servius, ina note on line 710, of the first book of the ΖΕ ποῖά, pretends,
that Homer’s heroes never ate boiled meat; but Lambert Bos cites Athenzus,
lib. 197, to prove the contrary, and settles so important a point.
Gg 2
298 LETTER ΧΎΥΨΤΙΣ
The dinner hour at Vostizza was four o’clock ; and the supper,
formerly the most important meal, but now gradually, in com-
pliance with the fashions of Christendom, supplied by coftee, was
entirely dispensed with, In the morning, a cup of chocolate,
with fried buttered bread in strips, was handed to each, and no
breakfast-table was set.
‘The Codja-bashee rose about eight o’clock, and generally passed
his morning, until twelve, in the concerns of his office, or with
the females of his family, or at church: then he mounted his
horse, and went into the country to hunt, or called on the Turks
or Greeks of the town: after dinner he passed some time in’ bu-
siness, or in his “ gynaceum,” with the ladies: the latter part
of the evening was spent in our company, until eleven, when he
retired to rest. During the whole day the pipe was seldom:out
of his mouth, not even when he was on: horseback. Being one
day informed of the approach of the Hinglish Consul from Patrass,
he went out to meet him in form, with two of his longest pipes,
and they both rode into the town smoking. ‘This 15. considered
he most ceremoniaus way of receiving a stranger of distinction.
We accompanied our host on one or two coursing parties, and
were mounted on some good horses out of his stables. An Ling-
hsh sportsman would not fail to laugh at the manner in which this
civersion is taken in the Morea. We had with us four wire-haired
greyhounds called Lacouni (canes Laconici), three mongrel poin-
ters, and several curs: we beat about the bushes, making as much
noise as possible, with a large party of men on foot and horseback,
and the moment the hare was started, all the dogs set off thridding
the bushes, of which there were large clumps on the plain, bark-
wg and running both by sight and smell. The hare was lost for
LETTER XVII. 229
a moment, then found again, and after a short run killed. It was
of alight grey colour. During our search for hares we put up
many woodcocks, with which both the Morea and Koumeliaabound
in the winter season.
‘Fhe eountry behind Vostizza, and to the south-east of it as far
as the mountains, about six miles distant, is cultivated, and divided
into corn grounds, but very stony, and interspersed with brush-
wood. ‘Through the plain from a narrow opening 10 the hills,
flows a river, broad but not deep, over which there is a bridge.
If Vostizza be /Kgium, this stream is the Selinus. Immediately
to the east on the shore, there are large groves of olive-trees: on
the west, below the cliff on which the town stands, is an extensive
flat covered with brushwood, through which runs a small fordable
stream, that may be either the Pheenix or Meganetes, mentioned
by Pausanias. On the beach under the town, is the enormous
plane tree that was notorious in the time of Chandler. One of its
largest branches, as thick as the trunk of most trees, has lately
fallen off, and many of the other boughs are supported by long
beams of wood. Under the shade of it we sawa large vessel
building, by which you may judge of the size of the tree itself.
The only remains of antiquity at the modern AZgium, are two
fragments of brick wall sunk in the earth, partly of the kind
called opus reticulatum, or net-work, and partly of the same sort
as those specimens composing the ruins of Nicopolis. What has
been considered as denoting the site of Vostizza to be exactly
that of the city once celebrated as the place of assemblage for the
states composing the Achzan League, is a fountain of clear water,
bursting from many stone mouths near the plane tree ; for A gium
is described as having been at a short distance from the shore, and
supplied with good water from plentiful springs.
930 LETTER XVII.
The Turks burned A.gium, says Dr. Chandler, by which I
suppose he means, Vostizza, in 1536, and put the inhabitants to
the sword, or carried them away into slavery.
Kither from inclination or policy, the Greeks in the Morea are
favoured to an unusual degree by their present Pasha, the son of
Ali. Veli employs many of them about his chief concerns, and,
what is strange if it be true, is said to profess much greater esteem
and confidence for those of his Albanian guards who are Christians,
than for the Turks amongst them. ‘The Vizier, for he is a Pasha
of three tails, is a lively young man; and besides the Albanian,
Greek, and ‘Turkish languages, speaks Italian, an accomplishment
not possessed, I should think, by any other man of his high rank
in Turkey. It is reported that he, as well as his father, are pre-
paring, in case of the overthrow of the Ottoman power, to esta-
blish an independent sovereignty. But all such rumours appear
to me highly absurd and unfounded; for to judge from the little I
have seen, no Turk, if he contemplates the possibility of the re-
treat of the Sultans from Constantinople, would make up his mind
to live, much less can hope to reign, surrounded by the Infidels.
It is more probable that Veli, knowing how often the dominion of
the Morea has been disputed, and how constantly the attention
of the Christian powers has been, and is fixed upon his pashalik,
is willing to court the favour of the great majority of his sub-
jects.
‘The present population of the Morea has been laid down at
four hundred thousand Greeks, fifteen thousand Turks, and four
thousand Jews; in this computation the Mainotes are not in-
cluded*.
* Poukeville, Voyage en Morée, p. 234.
LETTER XWVIT. 231
Having mentioned the Mainotes, I cannot refrain from digress-
ing a little, to speak of them more at length.
So early as the reign of Constantine Porphyro-genitus, the
Ileuthero-Laconians (who had been enfranchised from the domi-
nion of Sparta by a decree of the Roman Senate, a liberation
which was afterwards particularly confirmed by Augustus *)
had acquired the name of Mainotes. ‘They continued the
worship of the Pagan deities five hundred years after the rest
of the Roman empire had embraced Christianity. The arro-
gant author of the philosophical dissertations on the Greeks,
to give a baser origin to this people, has reckoned amongst their
ancestors some of the foreign satellites of the monster Nabis, who
were driven, says he, from the city of Sparta by the army of the
Achean League. But in the account of that transaction by Livy,
I find no positive mention of any settlement made by the auxi-
haries of that tyrant in the twenty-three maritime cities of La~
conia, which were separated from the dominions of Sparta. Mr.
Gibbon, with more reason, as it appears, inclines to: rank some
of the much-injured Helots amongst their progenitors ; and, if
it were a point worthy the trouble of establishing, the Spartans
themselves. might, I think, be proved to have transfused some of
their blood into the veins of the people of the neighbouring
towns. When Sparta (for it was then called by that name) was
given up by Thomas Paleologus to Mahomet the Great, those
* Mr. De Pauw accuses Pausanias of “ excessive ignorance” of history, in
referring the establishment of the Eleuthero-Laconians to Augustus; yet it
remains a doubt, whether the Laconian states were known by that name until
the decree of that emperor. Mr. De Pauw’s date is 559, U. C.; but the peace
between the Romans and: Nabis was in 557, and the death of that tyrant in
560, U. C. Liv. lib, xxxivy. cap. 39, et lib. xxxy. cap. 35.
we LETTER XVII:
Grecks who were unwilling to live under the Turks, may be sup-
posed to have fled into the recesses of ‘l'aygetus, and to have set-
tled amongst the Mainotes.
But although the true descendants of the ancient Greeks, if
any where to be found, should perhaps be sought for amongst
the mountains of Maina; yet the character of this people has at
all times been such as would reflect no honour upon a noble ori-
gin, but would make one suppose them sprung from the Sclavo-
nian robbers who overran the Peloponesus in the eighth cen-
tury. Cape Tenarus, now called Matapan, the most southern
extremity of the Morea, has at all times been inhabited by
savages, who have not only infested the neighbouring seas with
their piracies, but have massacred those that have been ship-
wrecked on their rocks.
A place on the coast, called now Vitulo, a corruption of the
name of A‘tylos, an ancient town on the shore of the Messenian
gulf, has sometimes been considered the capital of Maina; but
Marathonisi, a town on the coast to the east of ‘Taygetus, con-
taining five hundred inhabitants, 1s now the residence of the chief
of the Mainotes; and Vathi, a strong post, with a castle, the
property of one of those petty princes who dispute the possession
of the country, is considered as next in importance to the prin-
cipal town. ‘The inhabitants of no other district, however, have
ever been reckoned so cruel and ferocious, as those of the hilly
strip of land denominated by the Venetians Bassa Maina. The
well known character of these ruffians has gained for them in
the Morea the name of Cacovougnis, or the villains of the
mountains. ‘They live in huts, most part of them near a Turkish
fortress called ‘Turcogli Olmionas, and a perpetual exposure to
LETTER XVII. ISO
the sun, and the sea air, has given them a tawny complexion,
which adds to the ferocity of their whole appearance.
It appears, that about the year 1474, a person styling him-
self Nicephorus Commenes, son of David, the last Greek Em-
peror of Trebizond, retreated to Vitulo, and had the address to
persuade the Bishop, who was in a manner the head of the
Mainotes, to acknowledge him as an Imperial Prince, and con-
firm him under the title of Proto-geronte, or First Senior, as the
chief of the nation. ‘The Proto-gerontes, and their subject rob-
bers, continued independent of the Sultans, who paid no atten-
tion to an obscure and barren corner of their vast empire, until
the complaints of the inhabitants of Modon and Coron, and of
those of Misitra, the town not far from Paleo-chori, the site of
Sparta, and the seat of a Sangiac, awakened the indignation of
the Turks. In 1676, the Mainotes of the north were attacked,
but they would not stand the contest ; for they fled, to the num-
ber of four thousand, into six large ships, four of which were
lost near Corfu. ‘The remaining twu arrived at Corsica, where
the fugitives settled ; and some of their descendants have been
recognised by late travellers in that island.
Amongst the fugitives to Corsica, was a family distinguished
by the appellation of Kalomeros; and to the exact identity of
this name with that of the French Emperor, may be attributed,
in great part, an opinion current in the Morea, that Buonaparte
is by descent a genuine Mainote. And, indeed, when the views
of the French unceasingly directed towards the shores of the Me-
diterranean induced them in 1797 to inquire into the actual’ state
of Maina, this conqueror, who was then preparing to sail for
Egypt, addressed an epistle to the C7tzzen, chief of the Mainotes,
Η ἢ
9284, , LETTER xVII.
in which he declares the bearers of his letter (most probably some
Corsican fellow-countrymen) to be of Spartan origin*.
After the flight of the northern Mainotes, amongst whom were
the Proto-geronie, one Stephanopoulo, and the Bishop of Vitulo,
with many of his chief monks, the Cacovougnis, fled to the summit
of their steepest rocks; and on being deserted by their chiefs, abo-
lished the office of Proto-geronte, and created four Captains of the
whole nation, whose heirs, whether male or female, were to succeed
to their power. No farther back than the year 1765, a widow of
one of these Captains, by name Demetria, spread consternation
amongst the 'l'urks of Misitra, and stopped the communication be-
tween that town and Modon. The Mainotes were still independent
of the Porte ; they lived entirely on plunder ; and their caloyers,
or monks, issued from their cells to partake of their booty, and
encourage their rapacity ; so that no ship, under whatever flag,
approached the rocks of Matapan without caution, and providing
* Le Général en Chef de Armée d’lialie an Chef du Peuple libre de Maina.
CiITOYEN,
Jai regu, de Trieste, une lettre, dans laquelle vous me témoignez le désir
d’étre utile ἃ la Republique, en accueillant ses batimens sur vos ports. Je me
plais ἃ croire que vous tiendrez parole avec cette fidélité qui convient ἃ un de-
scendant des Spartiates. La Republique Francaise ne sera point ingrate a
Pégard de votre nation; quant ἃ moi, je recevrai volontiers quiconque viendra
me trouver de voire part, et ne souhaite rien tant que de voir régner une bonne
harmonie entre deux nations également amies de la liberté.
Je vous récommande les porteurs de cette lettre, qui sont aussi des déscendans
des Spartiates. S’ils non pas fait jusq’ici de grandes choses, c’est qu’ils ne sont
point trouvés sur un grand théatre.
Salut et fraternité,
BuoNAPARTE.
ΠΕ ΕΝ. XVil. 935
against an attack. At the same time, they addressed the Chris-
tian Powers to support them in their opposition to the Porte,
until the Russians invaded the Morea in 1770, and carried the
town of Misitra, in which the Mainotes committed the most
frightful excesses, but afterwards deserted their allies, and caused,
(such is the accusation of the Russians), the failure of the whole
expedition. However, a body of them, amounting to two thou-
sand men, advanced to the relief of Patrass, but were repulsed
with great slaughter.
Since that period, the Mainotes have sometimes been consi-
dered in subjection to the Pasha of 'T'ripolizza, and at others as
independent.
Their :nutual dissentions have favoured the views of the Turks ;
and the ambition of a youth named Constantine, a little before
our arrival at Athens, introduced some soldiers of Veli Pasha’s
mto the fortresses of a part of Maina, to the prejudice not only of
the former governor of the country, but that of the liberties of
the whole people. ‘The other chief, however, still maintained him-
self in the fastnesses near Bathi, and carried on a predatory war
with his rival. ‘Torn by these intestine feuds, and yet willing to
retain the shadow of independence, the Mainotes would willingly
make every sacrifice in behalf of any foreign power, and, notwith-
standing former failures, have made an application to their new
neighbours the English.
A deputation from them had arrived at Zante, and offered their
service to our garrison. But, at the same time, they seem desirous
of submitting, and of being considered subjects of the Porte. <A
Scotch gentleman, whom we encountered several times on our’l'our,
and in whose entertaining work the letter of Napoleon has been
Hh 2
230 LETTER XVII.
already given to the public, assured me that he had seen a formal
proposal, drawn up by the Bishop of Vitulo, in which, upon cer-
tain conditions, the Mainotes offered to become tributary to
the Sultans. ‘The principal article was, that they should be the
collectors of their own tribute, without the interference of any
‘Turk. My informant added, that the memorial was written in a
style truly laconic; but of this, I hope we shall have an oppor-
tunity of judging for ourselves, as 1 am promised a copy of this
document. I own myself incredulous, though desirous enough
to see, in what terms the descendants of the Spartans have made
a voluntary surrender of their liberties.
Whilst, however, their fate is undecided, they suffer all the dis-
tresses of anarchy, and their barbarism is increased by their mis-
fortunes. No Turk, without a large armed force, can travel in
their country; but a Frank, by putting himself under the protec-
tion of their Bishop, or one of their Captains, may be secure
against all danger.
They still render the navigation of the Archipelago in small
boats, very perilous, and they mak occasional descents on the
main land. My fellow-traveller, ona visit to Cape Colonna, ran
a chance of being surprised by a party of twenty-five of these
pirates, who were lying hid in the caves below the cliff on which
are the ruins of the temple of Minerva, but would not venture
upon the attack of twelve men well armed with guns, pistols,
and sabres. ‘Two Greeks, who were their prisoners at the time,
and were afterwards liberated, gave an account of their delibera-
tions on the subject.
Such are the people who must in some future time co-operate
in, what has been called, the deliverance of Greece, Without
LETTER XVII. 237
ho
believing that they are man-eaters, a story propagated by the ter-
ror of the ‘Turks, you will not think them very honourabde allies ;
and an inspection of the rocky spot which they occupy in the map
of the Morea, will give you no exalted notion of the importance
of their aid.
LETTER XVIII.
Distance from Patrass to Corinth—and to Athens—Passage
across the Gulf of Lepanto to the Scale of Salona—Circum-
ference of the Corinthian Gulf—Galaxcithi—Evanthe—
Route to Crisso—Salona—View at the Foot of Mount Lia-
kura, or Parnassus—Crisso—Site of Crissa, or Cirrha—
Visit to the Ruins of Delphi—Castalia—Treasures of Delphi
—The Brazen Serpent at Constantinople—Parnassus—A scent
to the Summit of it wmpracticable—Route from Crisso to-
wards Livadia—to Arakova on Parnassus—The Road Schiste
—The Three Roads—Distomo—Asprospitia—Monastery of
St. Luke of Stiris—Arrival at Livadia.
THE point to which we wished to direct our steps-was
Athens, and had it not been our desire to visit Delphi, we should
probably have travelled to that place by the shortest road, keep-
ing on the south side of the gulf, and passing across the isthmus
directly into Attica. From Patrass to Corinth is reckoned a
journey of twenty-four hours. ‘The road from Vostizza passes
through Vasilico, which travellers have decided to be on the site
of Sicyon, about three hours from Corinth. From the isthmus
to Megara is nine hours journey, and from Megara to Athens
eight.
LETTER XVIII. 239
When Pococke travelled, there were two ruins, apparently
antique, between Vostizza and Vasilico; the first, a piece of
thick wall on the shore, belonging, it is supposed, to the ancient
Helice, forty stadia from A“gium, and twelve from the beach ;
the second, about six miles from Vasilico, and more than a mile
from the water on a hill, corresponding with AXgira.—The whole
coast had been anciently shaken by violent earthquakes, a cala-
mity to which other parts of the Morea are now also much sub-
ject: Coron has, on that account, been of late years not a safe
residence, and has therefore been partially’deserted.
A strong easterly wind, by no means unusual at the end of
autumn, setting out of the gulf of Lepanto, detained us until
the 14th of December at Vostizza, when we got into a strong
Cefalonian boat, with fourteen men and. ten oars, and made the
best of our way towards the scale of Salona, at the head of the
deep bay called the Crissean gulf, though that name has been
indiscriminately applied to the whole sea from the isthmus to the
mouths of the Evenus.
It was half past ten in the morning before we left the shore.
We crossed the gulf in an oblique direction to the north-east,
and came, by half past one, to the beach of a small bay in Rou-
melia, where we anchored, and the boatmen cooked their dinner.
We saw a small village ona hill to our left, called Petrinizza ;
and between us and the village, a mile distant, was a han on a
road leading from Lepanto to the town of Salona. In an hour
we were off again, and the wind failing us, our sailors rowed
close under the land, keeping towards the east, and tracing all
the creeks and windings of an uneven shore. In many places we
skirted the feet of high rocky cliffs, the resort of innumerable
112
ww
240 LETTER XVIII.
flocks of wild pigeons, that were frightened from their crevice:
by the dashing of the oars, and whistled round us in every direc-
tion. In three hours we saw another village in the hills, which
had a wild and barren appearance. We continued along a bold
rocky shore until seven o'clock, when we pulled into a small
creek, where there was a fishing-boat, and near which some men
were_ sitting round a blazing furze fire, under a hanging rock.
Here also our boatmen refreshed themselves for an hour. ‘They
then began rowing stoutly, and in a short time doubled a head-
land, which was the last before we entered into the gulf of Salona.
We afterwards went northwards ; and skirting the land, at first came
to a small bay with a good harbour, which we crossed, and soon
passed by the town and port of a place called Galaxcithi, where
some little trade is carried on, and where we saw the masts of
some large trebaculos swaying about in the moonlight. After
this we went near a little island, also in the mouth of a deep bay,
on which there was a church, and we arrived at twelve o’clock at
night at the scale of Salona, where there was only a custom-
house and a very miserable han, already so occupied that there
was only one room for our lodging, and that nearly full of onions.
From our entrance into the gulf of Salona to our arrival at the
scale, which is nearly at its extremity, we had been four hours
constantly rowing fast, and this must give a length of sixteen
miles to the bay, which is also very broad at its mouth, and
swells into the land in several other small harbours on both sides*.
‘he unskilfulness of ancient mariners regarded a lake of little
more than two hundred and fifty-six miles in circuit, as a formi-
* 'The Carinthian gulf has a perimeter, from the Evenus to Araxus (Cape
Papa) of 2240 stadia.”—Strab. lib. oct. p. 336, edit. Casaub.
| )
LETTER XVIII. 94,1
dable expanse of waters, and the Corinthian gulf was sometimes
called the Crisszean, sometimes the Alcyonian sea.
Galaxcithi, three hours and a half from Salona, has been said
to be on the site of Evanthe, a town inhabited by the Locri Ozole.
Evanthe sent out a colony to the promontory called Zephy-
rion, in Italy, a little after the foundation of Syracuse and Cro-
tona™ ; it must, therefore, have been a city of some size. ‘There
are no remains at Galaxcithi, and perhaps the conjecture has no
probable grounds of support.
‘The morning after our arrival we sent for horses from Crisso,
a town not more than an hour’s ride from the han.
On leaving the scale we went northwards, and proceeded a
short way over a rising ground, called by Chandler a root of
Cirphis, the mountains whose ranges formed the eastern side of
the gulf of Crissa. We then came suddenly in view of a very
romantic prospect. Before us was a well-cultivated corn plain,
bounded by Parnassus, and interspersed with extensive groves of
olives ; to the right was an opening in the mountains, appearing
at first like a chasm, but enlarging by degrees into a valley,
through which there ran a small river. ‘Advancing towards
Crisso, we had a prospect to the left between. the hills of the
large town of Salona, the capital of the district, containing two
thousand ‘Turkish families. It stands on the brow of a hill, as
did Amphissa, the ancient town on whose site it is said to be
placed-++. The last part of our ride was up an ascent, tor Urisso 1s
placed on the. roots of Parnassus.
* Strab. lib. vi.; called by Pausanias /Eanthéa ; ‘ near to Naupactus.”—
Phoc. p. 680.
+ Keira καὶ πολίσμο ἐπὶ ufrrs.——Paus. Phoc. p..686. It was one hundred anc,
twenty stadia from Delphi, a little more than thirteen miles and a half,
94,2 LETTER ἘΥΥΙΙΣ
Crisso is a poor Greek town of three hundred houses; but it
is the seat of a Bishop, to whom we had a letter from the Consul-
General at Patrass. We did not, however, lodge at his house,
but at that of two very decent women who gave us a comfort-
able apartment.
The modern town does not stand on the site of Crissa, after-
wards called Cirrha, which was the maritime town of Delphi, and
sixty stadia from that place; a distance sufficient to allow of a
memorable war between the two cities*. Crissa, after a stout
resistance to the Amphictyons, was taken possession of for
Apollo, by poisoning the waters of the Plistus, the river we had
seen in the valley which supplied the town7. There are, how-
ever, no remains to be seen lower down than where the town now
stands, except. a few pieces of wall. Neither the temple of
Apollo, nor the Pythian hippodrome, have left a vestige on the
plain where they stood.
The writings of well known travellers, and the accurate though
popular work of the Abbe Barthelemy, have rendered even the
unlearned reader so familiar with the ancient wonders of Delphi,
that i shail do littie more in this place than minutely note what |
myself saw, when conducted to the spot by a Greek guide from
Crisso, on the 16th of December, 1809. ὁ
On that day we ascended the mountain on horseback, up a very
* Strabo speaks of Cirrha and Crissa as two cities, and says, Cirrha was
eighty stadia from Delphi, p. 418; but this wasa more ancient town, destroyed
by the Crisseans, and not the Cirrha, which Pausanias says was sixty stadia
from Delphi, so that Casaubon need not have tried to reconcile the two mea-
surements, by saying, that the eighty stadia alludes to the channel or course of
the Plistus from Delphi; besides, the Plistus is only a torrent, and does not flow
from Delphi.
+ Pausan. Phocic. p. 684.
LETTER. XVIII. 943
steep craggy path to the north-east, which obliged us often to
dismount. We could see for some time nothing but the bare
rocks which we were climbing, for the summits of Parnassus
were totally invisible, and cannot at any time be seen by those
who are in that position. 7
After scaling the side of the hill about an hour, we saw the
first remarkable object, which is a large piece of rock on the left,
a little above the path. This apparently has been loosened from
its base, and contains an excavation, the shape of which being a
segment less than a semicircle, like the mouth of an oven, wide
but not deep, with a sort of trough below, denotes it to have
been a sarcophagus.
Ascending a little higher, we saw another immense stone, or
rather mass of stones, also on the left, and of a regular shape,
that seems to threaten the passengers below.
Behind one of these fragments, the murderers employed by
Perseus to kill Eumenes may have lain concealed before they en-
deavoured to overwhelm him with pieces of rock from above.
The description given by Livy* answers most exactly to the spot,
and might have been written yesterday by an actual observer of
the positions.
Just beyond the fragments, we climbed up, to the left of the
path, toa small cave facing the west on the side of the hill, In
this there are three sepulchral cavities, one on each side, and over
the oblong troughs where the body was placed, 15 a niche which
may have contained the lamp, or the small ornaments occasion-
* Adscendentibus ad templuma Cirrha priusquam perveniretur ad frequentia
edificiis loca, maceria erat. ab leva semitze paulum extans a fundamento,
qua singuli transirent, &c. &c.—Liv. lib. xlii. cap. 15.
944. LETTER XVItIT:
ally deposited in the ancient tombs, and discovered in some of
them at this day. Some of these troughs are of a length and
depth suflicient to make one suppose that the bodies they con-
tained were not burnt, but buried entire, or at least that their
bones were disposed into their proper places, and not thrown to-
gether into the urn, according to the common practice.
Proceeding up the steep, we soon had a view of Castri, a small
mud town situated a little to the east of a circular hollow in the
mountain, round which are the rows of seats belonging to the
Pythian stadium. But the casing of Pentelic marble, with which
this building was adorned by Atticus Herodes, has disappeared,
and the original structure of Parnassian stone, alone remaining,
has the look of fragments of old walls rising a little above the
earth, in a regular order one over the other. Each stone is about
two feet and a half in length, and of a proportionate breadth and
thickness*. Above Castri is a perpendicular rugged rock; below
it is a steep descent into the vale of the Plistus, on the other side
of which are the stony, flat, hills of Mount Cirphis.
After the first sight of the town we turned to the left hand,
towards the stadium, and were led to a cave immediately on the
left of the path. In this cave there are, asin the one described,
three sepulchral cavities, but the arches and niches are larger, and
more carefully worked, and the troughs are longer than in the
* Any atiempt to ascertain the true length of the Pythian stadium, fixed by
Mr. D’Anville at four-fifths of the Olympic stadium, or five hundred Greek
feet, from the remains at Castri, would, such is the state of the ruin, most pro-
bably be unsuccessful. M. Spon has observed, that it is shorter than that whose
circuit is now seen at Athens. It appeared to me considerably so ; but the form
is also very different, being semicircular, whereas, that of Herodes at Athens is
in the shape of an oblong horse-shoe.
LETTER XVIII. CAD
other tombs. 'T'o the entrance of it, which is an arch high enough
for a man to stand upright, the Castriotes have adjusted a wooden
door, so that it serves as a dark stable for two or three of their
cattle. Over the tomb, opposite the entrance, is the carved
head of some animal, so much battered as to be scarcely dis-
tinguishable, but looking like that of a horse, a well-known
sepulchral ornament. Above the tombs, on the side, are oval
niches. Our conductor informed us whilst in this cave, that we
were standing over a pit which he had seen open, and knew to be
fifty (σηχεις) cubits in depth. ‘That this was the cavern whence
the Pythia recerved the divine subterranean vapour, does not
seem at all probable; yet the people of the country have fixed
upon it for the sacred spot; “ for,” said our guide, “ here the
Greeks worshipped, in the days of Apollo, the king of these
places.”
A. few paces below the cave, to the right, is a small church de-
dicated to St. Elias, built on a spot of flat ground, where 15 a
large piece of ancient wall, with fragments of carved marble,
and the capitals of two columns inserted in the work.
On the left of the cave, beside the path, there is a seat cut out
of the rock, for the refreshment of those who have climbed the
mountain.
Going into the town of Castri, which is about two hundred
paces beyond the cave, but a little lower down in the hill, we
were taken to a hovel, in a dark room of which, half unders
eround, there was a piece of rough wall several feet in length and
height, entirely covered with ancient inscriptions, quite undecy-
pherable in the situation where they are placed. ‘They register,
says Chandler, the purchase of slaves, who had entrusted the
K k
440 LETTER XVIII.
price of their freedom to the God, containing the contract be-
tween Apollo and their owners, witnessed by his priests, and by
some of the Archons.
We next scrambled up the dirty lanes of the town to two
stone fountains, one above the other, of modern workmanship,
and of the same sort as are to be met with all over Greece. 'They
are both supplied, as a woman of Castri told us, by the same
stream—the once prophetic spring Cassotis.
From this spot we descended gradually towards the east, and
leaving the town, in half a quarter of a mile found ourselves in a
position, where, turning suddenly to our left, we saw an immense
cleft rending the mountain from the clouds down to our feet.
Down the crags of this chasm, a stream trickled into a stone
basin sunk im the earth just above the path, overflowing whose
margin, and enlarged in its progress by other rills, it was seen
falling over the rocks into the valley beneath. We clambered up
into the chasm by means of some grooves cut in the rock, but
almost worn away by the dripping water, as far as it was possi~
ble to go; and here, if any where, being literally ‘‘ dipped in
dew of Castaly ;’ for this was the immortal rill, and we were
sprinkled with the spray of the falling stream; here we should
have felt the poetic inspiration.
But the evening began to close in upon us, and we descended
into the path we had left.
Just above the basin, in a niche of the rock, is a small hut,
which is called the church of St. John, and which contains part
of the shaft of a large fluted column of marble, with a marble
slab.
In a little grove of olive trees, on a green plot a few yards
CL:
LETTER XVIII. 54
below the basin, is ἃ monastery of the Panagia, or Holy Virgin,
which we entered. Here are two marble columns, about eleven
feet in height, supporting the shed of a pent that stretches out
from the chapel. On one of them was scratched ABERDEEN,
1803 ; and in another place, more carefully cut, H. P. Hore,
1799. ‘There is something agreeable in meeting even with the
name of a countryman ; and I know not if we did not contem-
plate these inscriptions with greater pleasure, than that which 15
seen on a piece of marble wedged into a low wall close to the
columns, and which is still very visible, though the letters are
wearing fast away. ‘This is a fac-simile of it: the letters are
rudely cut.
AL §loA4
XAVER
The simple sepulchral inscription so common amongst the
Greeks, “ ASacides—Farewell.”
Under the window of the sacristy, behind the altar, there is
also the following inscription in good preservation, and nicely
carved :
XPHETOS LX
APQToy OF XEA
AOZAAPEIZAIO‘£
VIEAAYCIQTH:E
HTQN
ΤΕ
HPO>
K k 2
248 LETTER: XVIII.
You will pardon me for troubling you with this latter unim-
portant inscription, which may have been often noticed before,
though Chandler, who has got the former, says nothing of it in
his ‘T'ravels.
Beyond the monastery, and from the path approaching Castri
from the east, are to be seen some sarcophagi, and niches in tie
mountain similar to those on the other side of the town.
Perhaps it may increase the interest in perusing this account
of the present appearance of Delphi to believe, that the basin
below the church of St. John is that in which the Pythia bathed,
before she ascended the sacred tripod; that the cleft in Parnassus
is the one which divided the two summits of the poetic hill; and
that the monastery stands on the site of the Delphic gymnasium,
Dr. Chandler’s conjectures as to the first point, were somewhat
confirmed by washing his hands in the cool water of Castalia,
when he was seized with a shivering fit. We drank deep of the
spring, but (I can answer for myself) wethout feeling sensible of
any extraordmary effect.
Leaving the monastery to return to Crisso, we did not pass a
second time through Castri, but took a path a little below the
town, when we came, in not more than a hundred yards, toa
long piece of ancient wall, built of the same rough stones as the
other before-mentioned, and entirely covered with inscriptions,
some of which have been copied by the well-known Mr. Wood.
The letters are still very visible ; but there are so many breaks in
the stones, which are honeycombed with age, that the whole in-
scription, had we had time to copy it, would be as difficult to be
understood as the meaning of the KI that is the subject of Plu-
tarch’s treatise.
LETTER XVilIl. 9440
Near this wall was the shaft of a marble fluted column about
three feet in length, lying neglected on the ground, the last we
saw of the few remains of those masterpieces of art, which ren-
dered Delphi the delight, not only of all the Greeks, but of the
other most polished nations of antiquity, and a residence worthy
of the god to whom it was consecrated.
On the whole, you would I think be disappointed with the situa-
tion of this place, which is so hidden in a nook, or a sort of _na-
tural amphitheatre ahont a mile up the mountain, as to afford a
prospect neither of the depth of the precipice below, nor of the
height of the rocks above. You would be very much at a loss
to guess where a town of nearly two miles in circumference could
have been placed, for there are not more than two small spots
of level ground, any where within the circuit of the present re-
mains. You would look in vain for the ‘ woods that wave,” as,
except in the little olive-grove surrounding the monastery, there
is not a single tree on the rocks either above or below. The
laurel has been again transplanted to her native Tempe. If, how-
ever, forgetting the poetic raptures you expeeted to feel in the
bosom of Parnassus, you should consider only the object which
the Greeks must have had in view in offering their wealth, and
the richest. productions of art, at this favourite shrine, you would
at once allow, that no place.could have been selected better
adapted for the security of their united treasures, than the steeps
of Castri, which to an open enemy must be pertectly inaccessible.
Indeed, though Delphi was often plundered, yet when a serious
resistance was made, the Gauls under Brennus, as well as the
Persians of Xerxes’ army, were repulsed, and did not dare to
advance into the fastnesses of the mountains. The same object
of security induced the Greeks to fix their other maguificent
950 - LETTER XVIII,
temple of Apollo on the island of Delos, which modern travellers
have described as one mass of rugged rocks,
Before it was pillaged by the Phocians, Delphi was reported
to contain more wealth than all the rest. of Greece pat together,
and these sacrilegious invaders carried off gold and silver, amounting
to ten thousand talents, equal to 1,937,500 pounds sterling, yet
there were so many materials left for the plunder of more power-
ful robbers, that neither Sylla, nor Nero, who at once transported
five hundred brazen images to. Rome, canid exhaust the sacred
treasury. <A very large collection of some of the finest specimens
of ancient painting and sculpture, together with the sacred tem-
ples themselves, remained to excite the admiration of Pausanias,
who must have visited Delphi nearly two hundred years after the
oracle had fallen into contempt, for the power of Apollo did not
long survive the Grecian confederacy to which it had owed its
importance ; and though the Pythia was consulted by Nero,
and was once heard to speak in the days of Julian, yet, her re-
sponses were disregarded long before the age of Cicero*, and had
begun to yield to the Sybilline books, the aruspices, and the ob-
servers of omens and astrological signs, brought into repute by the
prevalence of the Roman superstition. It was not, we may sup-
pose, the sanctity of the place which preserved so many monu-
ments of ancient art from the rapacity of the first Latin conque-
rors of Greece, but rather an ignorance of their true value in those
warriors. I need only allude to the common anecdote of Mum-~
mius, as related by Velleius Paterculus+-. ‘The golden, the silver,
and even the brazen ornaments of the temple, were stripped by suc-
* Car isto meda jam oracula Delphis non eduntur, non modo nostra xlate,
sed jam din, ut nihil possit esse contemptius ?—Cic, De Diy. lib. 2. cap. 57,
t Hist. lib, i. cap. 13.
|
LETTER XVILIi 95]
cessive plunderers, but the marbles were spared, and the greater
part of them may be believed to have been crushed under the
falling fragments of the mountain, or sunk into the ground ; for
I believe there is not in the collection of any antiquary, a statue
or a bust, that can be proved to have once stood in the 'l'emple
of Delphi.
One only of the masterpieces which adorned this sacred place’
can be said now to remain. But that is by far the most ancient
and the best authenticated Grecian relic at present in existence.
‘The triple-twisted serpentine column of brass, whose three heads
supported the tripod dedicated by the Greeks, after the battle of
Platea, to Apollo, is still to be seen, though mutilated, in the
spot to which it was conveyed from Delphi by Constantine, to
adorn the hippodrome of his new capital. 'The column, as much
of it as is seen above ground, is now about seven feet in height,
and of a proportionate thickness. It is hollow, and the cavity
has by the ‘Turks been filled up with stones.
IIR Ie .
Parnassus is not so much a single mountain, as a vast range of
hills, which was once the western boundary of Phocis, and the
line of separation of the Locri Ozole and the Locri Opuntii and
Epicnemidi, and is now the limit between the district of Salona
and that of Livadia. ‘The two tops have a sort of poetical exist-
ence which one would not be inclined to dispute; but the summits
of the crags separated by the chasm of Castalia, must have been
those dedicated to Apollo and the Muses, and to Bacchus, as the
mountain itself is not notorious for this singularity.
252 LETTER XVIII.
To go from Castri to the tops of Liakura, there is a rocky
path, beginning a little to the east of the ruined stadium. For
the first hour the ascent leads up.a water-course; there is then
a plain to the right, in the direction of the summits of the Casta-
lian precipices. ‘These and some other flat spots were cultivated
in the twelfth century* by some Jews, who, to the number of two
hundred, lived in Crisso, and gave the name of Jerusalem to a
village on the mountain. The path continues to ascend a hill
covered with pines; then passes through a plain, four or five
miles in compass, to the foot of a craggy peak, where there is
a strong bubbling spring called Drosomgo, flowing into a lake a
quarter of a mile to the south-east. Higher than this no travel-
ler has ventured to go; the peak 1s covered with perpetual snows;
and Wheler, who went to the spots mentioned, thought the ex-
treme summits, called Lycoréa formerly, as high as Mount
Cenis. They were anciently reckoned sixty stadia above Delphi,
by the nearest path, and that could be ascended on horseback
most part of the way, as far, at least, as the great Corycian cave,
which evaded the search of the famous English traveller, and has
not, that I know of, been ever discovered. ‘The summits of Par-
nassus, says Pausanias, are above the clouds, and upon them
the Thyades perform their mad orgies to Bacchus and Apollot.
* Voyage of Benjamin of Tudela, translated into French.
+ To this cave the Delphians retreated when the barbarians invaded Phocis,
and were so completely concealed, that, as safe as the Corycian Cave, became
afterwards proverbial in Greece; and we sce it so used in the fragment of
Cebes.
t Phoc. p. 672, edit. Xylander.
ῳ WAY TT Wry
AO
ΠΡ ὶ
Tne) ΤῊ ΤῸ
1 Τα Uy
εν". eee
ae
BETTER “XVIEL. 253
At present, they are the summer retreats of the Albanian rob-
bers, who issue thence upon the plains of Thessaly and Autolia,
but are seldom known to lay waste the country to the east, now
called the district of Livadia. ‘Their fires are seen by the pea-
sants in the villages below, and are not extinguished until the
snow has whitened the rocks above the ruins of Castri.
The day after our visit to Delphi, we set out from Crisso, in
order to proceed towards Livadia.
The road led at first down into the valley, and then through
some gardens belonging to the Greeks of Crisso, in a south-east
direction, and by the side of the small stream of the Plistus. We
continued for an hour in this very narrow valley, with the preci-
pices of rocks, under Castri, hanging over our heads, and now
appearing very stupendous.
Certainly itis from the valley of the Plistus that the appearance
of Parnassus is the most stnking; and the ancient Greek travel-
ler, who believed it the favoured mansion of his gods, and the
centre of the universe, and from this position saw the rocky sum-
mit rising in a blaze of light into the clouds, must have been
agitated by a mingled commotion of piety and fear*.
ey ERS , Y
Tw AG pT LON ETP πυρὸς
͵ oN aig
Δικόρυφον σέλας, υπὲρ axpwy
f /
Βακχείων, Διονύσω
” , ν Ὶ ly
Owe Ses ὥ καθαμέριο» σάζεις
\ 7
Tov πολυκορπον
δ᾽ 4 Cw ,
Οὐ»άνθας ἱεῖσα βότρυν
255 Pat Seay 2 ε΄
“OnE FT VT PH ὁροχοῦτος
" \ Q ~
Ουρειῶν TE σκοπίου Vewys
καὶ τι Ae Xb τ. λ.
Ευριπ'. Dow, Xoo I,
Li
954 LETTER XVIII.
Several caverns are to be seen in the sides of the rock, some of
which may be supposed artificial.
Leaving the valley, we began to ascend the side of the moun-
tain, in order to get to the village where we were to sleep. Ina
little time, we had a view of Castri, to our left, and rather behind
us. We crossed the stream of the Plistus, which, in its passage
down the hill, turns two large overshot mills. rom the first muil,
close to which we passed, the torrent was conveyed down several
small precipices in wicker troughs, and then over an aqueduct of
two arches, connecting two hillocks. ‘The side of the mountain is
here covered with vineyards, and the valley with groves of olive
trees.
We continued in a slanting direction, ascending a very rugged
steep, till we came to where a path from the northwards, that
leads from the summits of the mountain, crosses the road, or ra-
ther forms an acute angle with it. By this path Wheler de-
scended, after his ineffective search for the Corycian cave. We
were now much higher than the position of Castri; the rocks of
Mount Cirphis appeared like ἃ plain on a level with us; yet we
still ascended, until we arrived, in four hours from Crisso, at
Arakova, which is the most considerable town on Liakura. It is
built of stone, and contains, perhaps, three hundred and _ fifty
houses, of the poorer sort, inhabited by Greeks.
We were here lodged with females, wha were very attentive
and obliging, and did not seem so terrified at our Albanians as
had been the people of the other villages. ‘They danced at our
request, and their performance was succeeded by that of our men
in the usual style. ‘The music wasa large drum, which, in our
eottage, was louder than thunder, and was beaten without any
LETTER XVIII. 255
regard to time, or the motions of the dancers. A squeaking pipe
was also added to the entertainment; it sounded like the most
unharmonious bagpipe, and the person who played on it, either
from the quantity of wind required for the instrument, or for
effect, made the most frightful contortions.
After the dancing, the good folks of the cottage sent for a boy
out of the village, who had been to Malta, which place, it was
evident from their manner, that they all looked upon as the Ultima
Thule. ‘They showed him to us as a sort of wonder, and ap-
peared to question him, if we were like the kind of men he had
seen on that island. |
On the morning of the 18th of December, we left Arakova,
and kept, for half an hour, in an easterly direction, along the side
of the hill, a little on a descent. Looking before us to the south-
east, as far as we could see, we beheld what appeared the sea,
but which afterwards turned out to be the Theban plains, and the
Jake Copais, covered with a white mist. We began to descend,
and observing the place we had left, Arakova seemed just under
the clouds, amidst the snowy crags of the mountain, which was
here and there spotted with dark forests of pine.
We were now ἴῃ. ἃ green valley, where were large flocks of
sheep, and goats, but no appearance even of a single hut. ‘The
road still answered to the description of that called Schiste, or
the Rent, for we were, as it might be, inclosed by Parnassus on
our left, and the stone hills of Cirphis on our right hand.
The geographer Meletius talks of some large sepulchral stones,
denoting the spot where Laius and his attendant were buried by
Damisistratus, King of the Platzans. These, if they are still
to be seen, escaped my observation.
1}
256 LETTER XVIEI.
We travelled in this vale, eastward for two hours, and south-
ward for another hour, until we came to where three roads meet:
one, from the north-east, from Caperna, three hours distance, on
the site of Cheronéa and passing by a village still called Thavlea,
nearly the modern pronunciation of Daulis; another, from the
south, from Livadia; and the third, on which we were travelling,
from Castri. Would you not have felt inclined to exclaim, “ Here
Laius was killed by O&dipus; here are the three roads, and the
Pid
narrow pass between the triple path:
~ ,
ὦ i τρεις PERE UC OI bs boule tee νὼ
‘ \ > ~ € ~ *&
wore ee KK στενωπὸς ἐν τριπλαῖς ὁδοῖς Ἐς
After this spot, which, wherever the fatal accident happened,
the poets certainly had in their eye, the valley widens to the
south-westward, and the hills which inclose it to the right become
low and flat. We continued, for a short time, by the side of a
brook, which flows from the same direction as the path from
Caperna and Daulis. We crossed the brock, and struck inte a
path to the east, leaving our former road, which we saw stretch-
ing over the plain ta the south. In an hour from where we
turned off, our guides informed us, that this road arrives at a
town called Distomo, which Meletius has placed on the site of
Ambryssus, a conjecture confirmed by the observation of
travellers -+-.
* Oud. Tue. 1410.
+ Chandler discovered the name of the city, more properly called Ambros-
sus, upon some inscriptions, which are thus given in Meletius. On one stone:
LETTER XVITITI. 257
From Distomo to Asprospitia, so named from some white
buildings once standing on the spot, is two hours to the south.
Asprospitia 1s on a bay of the gulf of Lepanto, and has been laid
down on the position of the ancient Anticyra, though that city
may be put rather farther, on a spot now called Sidero Kauchid.
The port is frequented by small corn vessels.
An hour and a half to the eastward of Distomo, two hours
from the sea, and four from Livadia, 1s the monastery of St. Luke
the Less, a summary of whose pious, unprofitable life, is given in
Dr. Chandler’s 'T'ravels. He flourished in the tenth century ;
he is called, ‘the glory of Hellas,” and is worshipped on the 7th of
February*. I regret that we did not visit the monastery, which
/ 7 ~ 4
Avroxparopa Καίσαρα Μαυρώλιον Κομοδὸν Αντωνξινον Αὐτοκράτορος
, > a Ξ ~ ᾽ “ ’
Καίσαρος A. Σεπτιμίς Σεουήρε Περτίνακος Σεβαςῦυ A’paGsxov Α᾽διαβηνικο-
παρϑικου, μεγίςου ἀδελφοιν, ἡ Πολις Αἰ μβρωσσέων ᾿επὶ τῆς οἰρχήῆς
, ~ > ΄ af ͵΄ >
ἀντέρωτος TOU ὠντέρωτος HOS ἐυτυχεστῶτου τοζηϑου, ον oe οἱ EWMGEANDIY, oe “ρος
Tov ᾽αρχοντος ψ β΄.
On another stone:
Avroxparopa Νέρωνα Tpainvov Καισαρὰ Σεβαστὸν Γερμανικὸν, Ἢ
Βουλὴ καὶ ὁ Anos Αὐμβρωσσίων.. +.
And on other stones also :
ὡ a? 7, ἔν y >
Nanaios Αμβρωσσέων Αἰμφίδαμος Lapumt, Ist, AvouBs, apicadacs oe»
r / 7 / ᾽ /
πιριᾶον 5, Καλλιςράτα yy Ἀπόλλωνι ,)γνικίας. . 5) E weppedsiroy
χᾶιρε.
* Chandler, cap. Ixiii.
LETTER XVIIl1.
was built with the ruins of the ancient town of Stiris*, and con-
tains a church, once the pride of Greece, and even now splendid
in decay. It was built by the Emperor Romanus, son of Con-
stantine Porphyro-genitus.
After quitting the road to Distomo, we again got into a rocky
path, between hills, with some intervals of wild, uneven moor-
lands. In this country we continued three hours, when we saw
some hedge inclosures, and gardens, on our left; and passing
through a lane, over a path, raised, im many places, on stone
causeways, we arrived, in another hour, at the end of our day’s
journey, at Livadia +.
* Part of an inscription, alluding to a fountain under the town of Stiris, 15
on one of the stones of which the monastery is built :
~ ~ \ ~ Ἂ ᾽ 9 / f
Θεῦις, Σεβαςῦις, καὶ τῇ Πόλει, καὶ τὸ ᾿Ἐποίκιον Ξενοχράτης καὶ Ἐ᾿υμαρίδὰς
Aes 3 φῳῷ 2 7 \ XN ~ of ? x
ἀνέθηκαν ἔκ τῶν ᾿ἰδίων, καὶ τεὴν rav ὕδατος ἐισα γωγὴν.
The ruins of Stiris are still called Stiri, or Palezo-Stiri.
+ From Cheronéa to Panopza, a town situated in a pass in the mountains
(near a village now called Agios Blasios), and protecting Phocis, on this side,
from the incursions of the Boeotians, was twenty stadia, or two Roman miles
and a half; from Panopza to Daulis, seven stadia*. Amongst the remark-
able objects to be seen on this road, was the sand-like clay, out of which man
was made by Prometheus; it was in large masses, near a rivulet, perhaps that
which we crossed in this day’s route. Also, the grave of nine acres of the:
giant Tityus, whose magnitude Pausanias thinks worthy of belief, because
Cleon, the Magnesian, avers, that incredulity is the child of ignorance, he
himself having scen, at Gades, a man of the sea, five acres in length. From
Daulis to the tops of Parnassus, the way was a little longer, but not so diffi-
cult as that from Delphi. On the road from Sajona to Zeitoun, on the straits
of Thermopyle, is the town of Turco-chorio, or, as it is called by the Turks,
* Pausan, Phoc. p. 614, et seq.
LETTER XVIII. 259
“ Esed,” to the north, half north-north-east, of the summits of Liakura. To
the north of Turco-chorio, at a smail village called Leuta, are marks of the
ancient Elatia, not far from the confines of Thessaly, whose capture by Philip
awakened the Athenians to a sense of their danger. The expedition of the
Consul Flaminius into Greece, gives the position of this, as well as of many
other of the towas of Phocis, and is accordingly referred to by Pausanias.
At Leuta were seen the following inscriptions :
/ / ld tS , \ ἃ \ ,
A’vroxpatopa Καίσαρα Μώρκον Αὐρήλιον A’ytwveivov Εὐσεβὴ Σεβαστὸν τὸν Μέγιστον»,
ἡ Βουλὴ καὶ ὃ Δῆμος Ελατέων.
On another stone:
ἐπὶ Ρώμάιω φίλω Καλλιδώρα,
On another :
Νέμεια E’gerov, ΑἾδριανία β᾽.
The sites of several of the cities of Phocis are determined by Meletius.
Lilza, one hundred and eighty ‘stadia from Delphi, is now called Souvala ;
Amphiclea, sixty from Lilea, Dthadthi; Tithronéum, fifteen stadia from
Amphiclea, Palea Thevoe, or Velizza; Drymeza, twenty stadia from Tithro«
néum, Agia Marina; Abe, twenty stadia from Elatia, Modi; and Hyampolis,
is still Hyampali.
LETTER XIX.
Livadia—The Archon Logotheti—Rate of Living in Rowmelia—
Imitation of European Manners—The Cave of Trophonius—
the present Appearance of the Entrance to it—Ruins of a
Castle built by the Catalans—The Settlement of the Catalans in
Greece—Little Impression left by the Franks on the Manners
of the Greeks—Visit to Caperna—Ruins of Cheronéa—the
Plain—Departure from Livadia—Visit to Scripoo—the Site
of Orchomenos—the Treasury of Minyas—The Lake Copais—
The Village of Mazee—Arrival at Thebes—View of the The-
ban Territory— Difficulties attending a just Description of
Modern Greece—The Measurement of Stadia—Diminutive-
ness of the Country.
LIVADIA is on the site of the aneient Lebadéa,
the Midéa of Homer, a town of considerable note in Beeotia,
built on the side of a hill, which was between Mount Helicon and
the territory of Cheronéa.
The modern town, which is written by the modern Greeks,
Lebadéa (AsPadsia), is on a declivity, and it requires some climb-
ing to reach the upper part of it. It contains fifteen hundred
houses, of stone, many of them very good ones: one hundred
LETTER XIX. 961
only of the families are Mahometans. Yet there are six moscks
in the place, as well as six Greek churches.
Livadia has given its name to great part of the country, which
is sometimes called Greece Proper, and was the Achaia of the
Romans. It is a place of considerable trade, and the residence
of several wealthy Greeks. ‘I'he house at which we were lodged
belonged to one of the richest subjects in Roumelia, and was
spacious, and handsomely furnished.
The name of this gentleman was Logotheti, though, more
properly speaking, that is only a title, which, from having desig-
nated the receivers of the finances of the Greek empire, is now
applied to those who are appointed managers of the revenues of
the church. He was also one of the rulers of his own nation,
or a magistrate, who is dignified with the appellation of Archon,
one of the vain names which still adhere to the modern Greeks,
and serve to remind us of those to whom they were once attached.
The peculiar distinction of an Archon 15 a high fur cap, some-
thing in the shape of a mitre, and yellow boots or shoes, which,
as well as some other of the favoured rayahs, he is by the Turks
permitted to wear, instead of the dark purple and brown*.
The Archon Logotheti had a numerous retinue of servants,
two or three secretaries, several priests who officiated as domestic
chaplains, and a family physician, making in all an establishment
of fifty persons. Yet he himself assured me, that the whole
annual expence of his household did not amount to more than
twenty thousand piasters, about eleven hundred and forty-two
pounds sterlmg. ‘This will afford some means of making a com-
parison between the rate of living in the Levant, and our own.
* See page 54m
Mm
262 LETTER XX.
Our host told me, that he had sent cargoes of cotton and oil
to London, and was surprised to see the accounts returned to
him; ‘* which,” said he, ‘‘ being made up in English pounds,
made my bargains look very insignificant indeed.” The Archon
was oppressively polite, and fell into an error for which he
may well be forgiven; he would show us that he was ac-
quainted with the manners of civilized Europe, and accord-
ingly he brought his wife and family from their seclusion to
introduce them to us; nay, he would have her and the little
family dine with us, a ceremony which we could well have ex-
cused, as the Archontissa had made but little progress under
the tuition of her husband, and, being evidently doing what she
was not accustomed to, filled us with terror and confusion. De
Tott has not exaggerated, when he says, that, in the Levant, a
lady, to imitate European customs, takes up an olive in her fingers,
and afterwards sticks it on a fork.
At Livadia we remained the greater part of three days, and
took the opportunity of seeing the only curiosity in the town which
travellers are directed to notice; this is the entrance of the cave
of 'Trophonius.
Behind the town, in a chasm of the mountain shaded with groves
of trees, there is a small stream, which falling over the rocks,
forms a pretty cascade, and flows, a little to the east into the
plain below. A short way from the inner recess of the chasm,
and a few yards above the river, on the right (west) there is an
artificial hollow in the rock. ‘The cave at the entrance is a semi-
circular arch, much resembling the mouth of an oven, and pre-
serves the same form throughout its whole depth, being regularly
excavated out of the rock, and having a surface not on the descent
but horizontal. It is high enough to admit a person walking up-
LETTER XIX. 263
right, and the depth of it may be a little more than twelve feet,
that ascribed to it by Pausanias, whose minute description an-
swers most exactly to the present appearance of the place*.
But this cave was only the entrance by which those who went
to consult the oracle of Trophonius approached to the interior
cavity. The hole, through which the descent was by a ladder,
was just big enough to admit a man’s body, but after sliding a
short distance, the consultant was hurried downwards, with his
knees to his chin, and as if drawn intoa whirlpool of waters; so
that it is evident, that in order to practise their mysterious jug-
gling, the priests must have excavated much of the inner part of
the hill. But these interior caverns, if they still remain, have now
no entrance to them, except a very small hole, which there is to
the left of the arch, may be supposed, as the Greeks affirm it
does, to lead into them. ‘The inside of the cave has been black-
ened by the smoke of the fires, kindled there by the women who
wash in the river below.
This river was anciently called the Hercyna, and of its two
springs, which were, as they are now, in the chasm of the moun-
tain at no great distance from the cave, one was named the foun-
* In the chasm on the banks of the Hercyna at the back of Lebadea, was a
sacred grove, in which was the temple of Trophonius, or the Trophonian Jove ;
and achapel of Ceres. An unfinished temple of Proserpine the Huntress,
and Jupiter, was on the hill, anda temple of Apollo. The oracle was above
the grove. At the entrance of the cave was a circular step of white stone, less
than two cubits high : on this step, whose surface was a vestibule to the cave,
were two brazen obelisks, between which was the mouth of the cave, like an oven,
four cubits wide, eight cubits deep. It was the work of Dedalus. The statue
of 'Trophonius, personifying Avsculapius, was by Praxiteles.—Pausa. Beeotic.
602, 603.
Mm 2
964 LETTER XIX.
tain of Oblivion, and the other that of Memory. For Lethe,
though a river in the infernal regions, was, above ground, only a
spring: nevertheless modern poets have talked of it as a stream.
It was one of the obligations of those who visited the cavern
of 'Trophonius, to write down every thing they had seen or
heard; but as this duty is not still in force, one would not feel
much inclined to give a detail of its present appearance, which,
though in form and symmetry, much the same as it must have
been in the second century, would not call from a medern such
encomiums as have been bestowed upon it by Pausanias*. The
skill and harmony, with which, to the last degree of ingenuity,
it was constructed, would not save it from total neglect, were it
not for the former repute of the unerring oracle, the last which
was heard to utter the decrees of fate.
On the top of the roek, above the cave, is a ruin that more
forcibly reminds one of the latter miseries and degradation of
Greece. ‘This is an old castle, part of which still serves the
Turks for a fortress, and which was built by the Catalans.
These barbarians, called by the Greeks Amogavares, first en-
tered into the service of the emperors of Constantinople, and
Roger de Flor, who commanded a great body of them in 1303,
was made Duke of Romania by Andronicus the elder, and after-
wards created Cesar. But they were not willing to be dismissed
from the armies and pay of the Greeks, and seized Gallipoli, by
which they made themselves masters of the Hellespont. ‘They
then marched through Thrace and Macedonia, encamped for a
year on the plains of ‘Thessaly, then passed the straits of Ther-
* Boot. page 603.
LETTER XIX. 265
mopyle, and established themselves in Greece ; of which they
continued in possession for the remainder of the fourteenth cen-
tury; when they were first partially dispersed by the Florentine
Acciacoli, and afterwards totally expelled by the armies of Ma-
homet the Great. ‘The Sultan Bajazet the First, had before been
more lenient ; he suffered the widow of a Spanish chief, who was
mistress of the recesses of Delphi, to retain her possessions, but
he accepted of her daughter as a reward for his generosity.
‘The independent chieftains, Irench and Italians, as well as the
Spaniards, who ruled in Greece during the interval between the
Latin and the Turkish conquests of Constantinople, filled the
country with their strong holds, of which several vestiges yet re-
main, though not entire, as at Livadia. Walter de Brienne, Duke
of Athens and 'Thebes, is said to have himself had thirty castles,
all of which, together with his dukedom, he lost in a great battle
fought on the banks of the Beeotian Cephissus against the main
body of the Catalans *.
These ruims are the only traces left in Greece of her Latin
conquerors, who, though in possession of the country during
two hundred and fifty years, failed to make the least impression
upon the manners and customs, much less upon the disposition
and prejudices, of their subjects.
There is nothing of the frank discernible in the Greeks of
Roumelia: notwithstanding their long connexion with the barba-
rians of the west, they retain inviolated those habits of living,
and the manners which we are accustomed to call Oriental, and
which they did not learn from the ‘Turks, but had derived, as.
* Knollos says, the Asopus.
266 LETTER XIX.
might easily be proved, from the immemorial usages of their re-
motest ancestors. But of this elsewhere.
From Livadia we rode to a village called Caperna, near the site
of Cheronéa.
Cheronéa has been said by Strabo to be near Orchomenos,
and Pausanias calls it in the neighbourhood of Lebadéa, which
has made some persons suppose it to have been in the way from
the last-mentioned place to Thebes; but it is directly out of the
road to the north, and at no inconsiderable distance, according
to Grecian measurements, from each of the two cities.
From Livadia it may be about eight of our miles. The coun-
try through which the road passes, is neither hilly nor yet a
plain, but wild and rugged, and for the most part covered with
brown heath and low brushwood. Soon after the first view of
the large open country, the road turns to the left, and brings the
traveller first to the mud village of Caperna, of about thirty
houses, in the hollow of a hill, and then to the site of Chzronéa
itself.
This town appears to have been situated under and upon a
rocky hill once called Petrarchus, near the north-east foot of
Parnassus. The sole remains at present visible are some large
stones, six feet in length, in the ruins of a wall on the hill, and
part of the shaft of a column, with its capital; the seats of a
small amphitheatre, cut out of the rock, on the side of the same
hill; in the flat below, a fountain, partly constructed of marble
fragments, containing a few letters not decypherable; some bits
of marble pillars just appearing above ground, and the ruins of
a building of Roman brick. Meletius has copied some inscrip-
tions, to be seen in his time in two churches, which are not at
LETTER XIX. 267
present to be found*. Pausanias speaks of two trophies erected
by Sylla, and of a large lion of marble, placed over the tomb of
the Thebans who were slain in the battle against Philip. I ob-
served nothing like what might be taken for an artificial tumulus
near the place.
Immediately before the hill Petrarchus, to the north, is the
fatal plain, which, commencing three or four miles beyond Ca-
perna, from the roots of Parnassus, runs from west to east, to the
village of Scripoo, near the site of Orchomenos, about seven
miles distant, whence it spreads into a wider plain, more to the
south. Opposite to Caperna, it is about two miles in breadth, ἃ
dead flat, with not a tree to be seen upon it, and being of so great
an extent, forms a striking contrast for the traveller who has just
emerged from the mountains of Phocis. No spot in the world
can be better calculated for deciding the quarrels of nations
There does not appear to be even a mole-hill to impede the ma-
neeuvres of hostile armies, and there is space sufficient for a
slaughter ten times more considerable than that of the myriads
who fell before the Macedonian and the Roman conquerors.
The northern side of the plain is bounded by a chain of low
hills, interrupted by two or three vallies. ‘They seem to belong
to the mountains called Acontius, which stretched from Orcho-
menos sixty stadia to Paropotamu, a village five miles from Che-
ronéa, in the vicinity of Phanote, and five stadia from the river
Cephissus}-, on a little hill, commanding the pass from Beeotia.
* For these, see Appendix.
+ The Cephissus flowed from the town of Lilwa, under Mount Aéta, in
Phocis, one winter day’s journey, or one hundred and eighty stadia, from Del-
phi; from Lila to Amphiclea, fifty stadia; thence to Tithronum, on a plain,
668 LETVER ΧΙΧ.
into Phocis. On the other side of these hills, is the valley
watered by the Cephissus; a branch of which, a small stream,
divides the plain of Cheronéa*.
The day after our visit to the poor remains of the birth-place of
Plutarch, we left Livadia, and set off for Thebes, or, as it is
pronounced by the modern Greeks, who have mostly rejected the
old plural terminations in the names of places, ‘Theva (Θήβα). We
sent our baggage by the straight road, but proceeded ourselves to
Scripoo, which took us considerably out of our w ay.
From Livadia to Scripoo, between seven and eight miles, the
road is north-east-by-north, over a flat, for the first hour close to
low hills on the left, and for the last hour over part of the Chz-
ronéan plain. Before the town itself, which is a very poor one,
inhabited by Greeks, there is a river of no great size, over which
there is a stone bridge. It has no name at present ; indeed there
are very few streams that have any known to the country people,
fificen stadia; to Drymea, twenty stadia; Elatia, or Elatéa, one hundred and
eighty stadia, opposite Amphiclea. As far as Elatia, the course is from north
to south-east, thence more easterly. Strabo adds, that from this place it flows
near Paropotamii and Phanote, by Chzronéa, through the country of Orcho-
menos and Coronéa, into the lake Copais; but this cannot be reconciled with
present appearances, if the conjectures of all travellers be at all well founded.
Coronéa must have been much more to the south than the course of the Cephis-
sus. All the maps of Boeotia appear to be incorrect; Thebes is placed too
much to the south, and Orchomenos too near the lake Copais.
* A small stream, formerly called Boagrius, but now Gavrids, rises also
near Lilza (Sonvala), and receiving the Cephissus, now the Mavroneri, flows
on to the lake Topolias, formerly Copais. The Gavrias, the name of the united
streams, is offen quite dry, and at other times overflows the plains. —Extracted
from Meletius.
LETTER XIX. 269
and one is frequently provoked by having the same answer to
all questions of, What do you call that water? “ The river,”
(τὸ ora), and by repeating the query, one has the same reply,
ἐς It is called the river.”. A Greek of Livadia said he had heard
it was named Mavro-Potam, the Black River, which looks as if ,
it were the stream of the Melas, “ seven stadia from Orchomenos,
between that town and Aspledon, in the lands called Eudeeilos.”
I did not see enough of the country to decide whether it was the
Cephissus itself.
Behind Scripoo are craggy hills, on one of which, about a mile
off, is an old tower, one of the Latin ruins. There is a certain
persuasion in the country, that the town stands upon the site of
Orchomenos, which, though its inhabitants lived originally more
to the south-east in the plain, was_ finally obliged to retire
before the continual encroachments of the lake Copais, and
settle at the foot of the hill Acontius. Our host at Livadia,
who is the owner of the lands in the vicinity, gave us a letter to
Scripoo, addressed, “ To the People of the Signor Logotheti, in
Orcomenos.” ‘There are, however, no remains at Scripoo decisive
of the site of the ancient city. All we were taken to see, by a
monk of the place, was a church, at alittle distance to the east of
the town. In the walls of this church are some pieces of carved
marble, on one of which is a sepulchral inscription:
ΑΘΕΝΟΔΩΡΟΣ
Θ. Φ
APIZTEA
XAIPE
An inscription, in very large letters, is seen on some stones
which run round the whole of the back part of the building, or
Nn
LETTER XIX.
the semicircle of the sanctuary, at about a foot and a half from
the ground. It was:so hidden by rubbish, which we could not
remove, that only parts of it could be read. It seemed to record
agrant of one of the Cesars, I think Adrian, if I recollect right ;
10 doubt, however, it has frequently been copied.
Lying on the ground, near the church’ door, is a marble nearly
eight feet long, nine inches: wide, and:three in thickness, inseribed
in very legible characters, with alist of the victors:in the games
given at Orchomenos in honour of the Graces, and! called Chari-
tesia*. ‘This inscription is given in. Meletius’ Geography, as: well
as that of a similar stone;.formerly lymg near the other, but tran-
sported into England,. I believe,. though: into: whose collection: I
know not. ‘The stone is in two pieces;. but it would be-very. diffi-
cult to remove it, as no» horse would: well: bear: the weight of either
part, and as there is no other conveyance in the country-/.
Between the church and'the village, there are two very large
flat stones, forming the entrance of a hole in-the side of a:hillock,
that has been filled up with earth. We were directed) to consider
these as the remains:of the very ancient building called. by Pau-
sanias the 'l'reasury of Minyas, King of the country,.and grand-
son of Neptune; one ofthe wonders-of Greece. It was arched,
and the top was formed by a single stone, artfully adapted to the
lateral walls, and shaped so as to be a kind of dome in minia-
ture.
There is nothing else remarkable at.the modern Orchomenos,
except a living curiosity, which 15 seen by most visitants. ‘This is
a shepherd, named Demetrius, the fattest man I ever saw, who,
* This inscription will be noticed in the Appendix.
+ Yet, since writing the above, I learn that it has been carried away by an
English traveller.
LETTER XIX. 271
in the summer, passes the hottest hours of the day up to the neck
in the neighbouring river. This practice, not only does not injure
him, but has become by habit so necessary to him, that he de-
clares he should not, without it, be able to support the rage of
the summer sun.
To the north and north-west of Scripoo, are low hills; to the
west, the plain which stretches to Caperna; to the south-west,
south, and south-east, an uninterrupted flat, partly a green plain,
and partly divided into corn and cotton grounds, and vineyards.
‘I'o the east and north-east, three or four miles distant, is the lake
once called Copais, from the town of Cope, on its northern extre-
mity, and now, the lake of Livadia, or, according to some maps,
lake Topolias.
In passing from Scripoo, to join our baggage, over the plains
to the south for six or seven miles, we were very near being
swamped in the bogs formed by the inundatiens of the lake branch-
ing out into wide ditches and fens over the flat grounds. ‘T’hese
inundations are ascribed by Pausanias to the violence of the south
winds prevalent during the winter season. “In summer, the
Greeks told us, the lake itself is nearly dry. We could just dis-
cern it, at a distance to the east, though with some difficulty, as
the whole of the country was teeming, and was half hidden in a
thick mist, the ancient characteristic of Beotia.
After crossing the Orchomenian plain, we got into the direct
road from Livadia to Thebes, and turned to the left, (east by
south): low hills were on.our right; on one of them was a ruimed
tower. We passed over a rivulet, flowing round the foot of a
little rocky knoll.
We did not overtake our servants and baggage until after night-
fall, when we found them rambling in the low hills to the right of
Nn ὦ
LETTER XIX.
nS
27
the road. They had lost their way, and were firing guns by way
of signal, which were answered by the Albanian in our company,
and soon brought us together.
We arrived after dark at a very poor village in the hills, called
Mazce, belonging to the Archon Logotheti, and inhabited, as
are most of the smaller places in this district, by Albanian pea-
sants, of the class already noticed.
Mazee is reckoned four hours distance from Livadia, in a
direction a little to the southward of east. It contains fifty huts,
which hold much more than the usual proportion of inhabitants,
about five hundred. Most of those whom we saw were females;
they told us that the males were scarce in that part of the country,
and that, therefore, contrary to common custom, no woman could
get married without bringing about a thousand piasters to her
husband.—Accordingly, several of those whom we saw, in com-
pliance with a fashion, before noticed, were collecting their por-
tion on their hair; and the tresses of a pretty young girl amongst
them hung down nearly to her feet, entirely strung with paras
from top to bottom. Yet, though in a starving condition, and
passing, as they assured us with tears in their eyes, whole days
without food, neither the mothers nor the daughters will strip off
any of the ornamental com which has been once assigned for the
portion-money, so much does their hope of a future good over-
come their feelings of a present suffering.
On Friday, December 22d, after travelling four hours to the
east from Mazee, we arrived at Thebes, whose cypresses and
moscks, rising from between the hillocks on which the town is
built, are visible from alow hill over which the road passes
three hours before it enters the place. With the exception of
this hill, the whole road from Livadia to Thebes is over flat plains,
LETTER XIX. 2738
for we need not have digressed into the hills to the right, had we
not been obliged to find out some village in which to pass. the
night.
A person standing on a small hill, which is a few paces to the
south of the modern city of Thebes, has the following view of the
surrounding country:—From immediately beyond the town, to
the east, the ground rises into bare, rugged inequalities, not high
enough to be called hills, beyond which there is a plain, well cul-
tivated, called the plain of Scimitari, (anciently that of ‘Tanagra),
bounded by the strait of the Negroponte to the east, and to the
south by the Attic mountains, now named Ozea, and a ridge of
mount Elatias, or Citheron. ‘To the south, the ground rises by a
gentle ascent, and then falls nto another large plain, bounded by
Citheron, and stretching to the south-west. ‘Through this plain,
as well as through that of Scimitari, runs a river, now without a
name, but formerly the Asopus; the ruins of Platea are to be
seen about six miles to the south-west of ‘Thebes, near a village
called Coch. ‘To the west, is the flat plain of Thebes ; and far off,
beyond Livadia to the south-west, is seen the mountain Zagari,
the modern name of Helicon. ‘l’o the north-west the Theban
plain is separated from the flats overflowed by the lake, by a stony
hill, not very high, at seven or eight miles from the town. In
this direction the view is terminated by the snowy summits of
Parnassus. ΤῸ the north, and to the north-east, in which direc-
tion there is a road to the town of the Negroponte, there is an
uneven plain *, washed by a river that flows not tar trom Thebes.
* These should be the amfractus viarum vallesque interject, which con-
cealed the approach of the two thousand Roman Hastati until they came close to
Thebes, and surprised thecity. Yet Flaminius had comé from Phocis, and in
Φ74, LETTER ΚΊΧ.
This is terminated by mountains, once called Ptoiis and Messa-
pius. ‘The eastern extremity of the latter 1s bounded by the
strait to the north of Euripus.
In the description of ancient Greece, every name of every
brook, grove, and hillock, served to preserve the memory of her
demigods and heroes, to whom her sons, as they believed, were
indebted for their origin and their fame; thus Strabo and Pau-
sanias, more especially, have presented us with works, no less his-
torical, than geographical. It may, besides, be observed, that the
diminutiveness of the country, which might seem to lessen its im-
portance, is well concealed by their measurements; for the dis-
tances which would appear nothing when reduced to our miles,
sound very considerable when reckoned by stadia*. On the
other hand, a person delineating the topography of modern Greece,
is obliged to put down the ill-spelt names of miserable villages,
badly measured, and insignificant distances, and mountains, plains,
and rivers, without any name by which to distinguish them from
each other; so without a map the greatest accuracy and minute-
that direction the plain of Thebes is an uninterrupted level; nor is there to the
north any such uneven ground within two miles of the modern town.—See Liv.
lib. xxxiii. cap. 1.
* The stadium of 125 Roman paces, commonly in use, contains 604 of our
feet, besides some inches and a fraction, say 604 feet. There are 5280 fect ina
mile, which is five less than 604 Χ 832, so that to reduce the measurement by
stadia to about our miles, we should divide by eight and three quarters. When
in the course of these Letters, the word mile is made use of, an English mile is
meant. I recollect being much struck with the perseverance of that student
who was said to walk forty stadia and back every day, for the purpose of hear-
ing a philosophical lecture—it did not enter into my head, that this was only
nine miles and a little more than a furlong.
LETTER XIX. 975
ness in the account of the traveller is likely to cause a confusion
in the head of the reader, who may after smile, at hearing so
much about such trifling journies*.
A man might very easily, at a moderate pace, ride from Livadia
to Thebes and back again between breakfast and dinner, particu-
larly as he would not have a single object to’ detain him by the
way ; and the tour of all Beeotia might certainly be made in two
days without baggage. The diminutiveness of these classical
countries will appear more striking, when we come into the vici-
nity of Athens.
Becotia is singularly destitute of any marked remains of anti-
quity, consequently the modern traveller has but little to assist
his conjectures. A short extract, however, from ancient geo-
graphers, may be of some little service, and shall be subjoined to
my next Letter.
* And even in the case of a traveller adding a map to his book, some mis-
takes may arise. Mr: Barbié du Bocageé says, that he cannot reconcile Whe-
let’s'chatts of Phocis and Bootia with the journal of that author.
LETTER XxX.
Thebes—its Modern Insignificance—The Town—The Fountain
~Dirce—The Ruins of Pindar’s House—The Ismenus—The
Fountain of Mars—Tomb of St. Luke of Stiris—An Inscrip-
tion—Departure from Thebes—Route towards Athens—The
Village Scourta—Passage of Mount Parnes—Ruins of
Phyle— Prospect of Athens—Town of Casha—Entrance tnto
the Plain of Athens—Arrival at Athens.
THEBES has been, in a manner, blotted out of the
page of history since the last battle of Charonéa between Sylla
and 'Taxilus. In the time of Strabo it had the appearance of a
village, which was the case with all the other Beeotian cities, ex-
cept Tanagra and 'Thespiz. Onchestus, Haliartus, Coronea, and
other towns, once of considerable magnitude, were almost in
ruins, and hastening fast to decay. In the second century, the
whole of the lower town, except the temples of ‘Thebes, had
fallen to the ground, and the citadel alone, no longer called Cad-
méa but ‘Thebes, now continued to be inhabited. It never
appears to have recovered its importance under the Emperors,
though it must have been of some size; for, in the year 1173, it
contained two thousand of the Jewish nation only, who were the
best workers in silk and purple of any in Greece, and had amongst
LETTER xx. ore
them some of the most learned rabbins of the age*. At the Latin
conquest, being, as well as Athens and Argos, totally incapable
of making the least resistance, it was attached to the territory of
Attica, and ruled by a follower of Boniface, Marquis of Mont-
serrat, one Otho de la Roche, a Burgundian, who had the title of
Duke of Athens, and Grand Signor, or Sieur of Thebes. But it
was for a short time separated from the other state by the will of the
Florentine Acciajuoli, who gave his Athenian dukedom to the
Venetians, but left Thebes to his illegitimate son Francus. This
prince, by the expulsion of the Venetians, soon reunited the prin-
cipalities, and they continued in the same hands until the final
establishment of the ‘Turks in Greece, when the liberties of Thebes,
if she might then be called free, had the fortune to survive, fora
short time, those of her ancient rival; for the last of the Acciajuoli
* Voyage du Benjamin, fils de Jonas, p. 9,
--«-«ἰ-...
The following Note contains a short summary of the topography of part of
Beeotia, collected from ancient geographers and modern travellers, independent
of the remarks of Meletius, which are given by themselves, as they do not coin-
cide with the observation made by the actual surveys of Wheler, Chandler, and
other writers.
Tanagra was fifty stadia from the strait of Fuboea, under a hill called
Cerycius; mention will be made of it elsewhere. Thespiz was situated under
Helicon; forty stadia higher up was Ascra, the birth-place of Hesiod ; on Hes
licon was the grove of the Muses, whose statues, as well as those of the early
Greek poets, were removed thence by Constantine the Great ; on the left hand
of this was the fountain Aganippe; Hippocrene was twenty stadia farther up
the mountain. In the confines of the Thespian territory, was the Village
Hedonacum, and the fountain in which Narcissus gazed. The sea-port of
Thespiz was Creusa, now called the port of St. Basilio; the town of St. Ba-
silio itself is near the site of Thespiz, about an hour from the sea. Travelling
from this place to Thebes, Sir George Wheler saw ruins called, as usual,
00
278
was suffered to remain Lord of Beeotia, after he had lost Athens,
but was carried off mm the same year, 1455, by the command of
Mahomet the Great. Since that period, though occasionally ha-
rassed by the incursions of the Franks for some time in _posses-
sion of Eubcea, the Theban territory has remained in subjection
to the Sultan, who governs it by an Aga, called by the Greeks a
Waiwode: it is, however, considered as attached to the pashalik
of the Negroponte.
Thebes is a very poor town, containing about five hundred
houses, mostly of wood, and inhabited chiefly by ‘Turks. It has
two moscks and four churches... We slept two nights in the
town, and were lodged in the house of a Greek bishop. There
is nothing worthy of notice in this place; though a public clock,
certainly without a rival in this part of Turkey, is considered by
Palzo-castro, and supposed by Chandler to be Haliartus. Beyond the har-
bour of St. Basilio is that of Livadostro, to the east, which gives the name to
the deep recess formed by the promontory once called Olmiw. Near Livados-
tro, at a spot called Castri, are the ruins of Thisbe, a town eighty stadia from
Bulis, on the confines of Phocis and Bocotia. To the westward of Livadostro,
a high rock juts into the sea, beyond which is the harbour and town of Cacos,
once Typha: near this are the roots of Helicon, or Zagari. Four miles to
the west of Castri, and five or six from Cacos, Wheler found ruins, which
Chandler supposes to be on the site of Coronéa.
The cities in the neighbourhood of the lake Copais, or Cephissus, were
Acrephia, Phoenicis or Medeon, Onchestus, Haliartus, Ocalea, Alalcomenz,
Tilphosium, and Coronéa.—Acrxphia, or Acreephium, was behind the moune
iain Ptoiis, which was at the back (north-east) of the field called Tenericus,
and the lake Copais: Onchestus was on a hill towards the territory of Hali-
artus, the Campus Tenericus, and the lake, fifteen stadia from the mountain
called Sphinx : it was the seat of the Amphictyonic assembly. Near it was
LETTER ἀκ. 279
the pedple of the place, and pointed out to travellers, as a great
curiosity. ‘Uhe bishop directed us to visit the fountain of Dirce,
and the ruins of Pindar’s house, dnd ani old Greek church. I ace
cordingly walked about a quarter of a mile to the south-east of the
town, keeping by the side of a ravin, through whichruns a very small
stream, which Wheler calls the Ismenus. Coming toa chasm in an
eminence from which the stream flowed, I there found a fountain,
which has been dammed up so as to make it twenty feet in length,
ten in breadth, and five deep in the middle, where there is the shaft,
about a foot high, of a small marble pillar. The water was tepid,
as I found by bathing mit. To the left of the fountain, in a
sort of quarry, were fragments of some building buried in the
earth, and these, say the Greeks of Thebes, are the remains of
Pindar’s house. Some traveller, I presume, has told them this,
a town called Medeor, on the hill Phoenicius, and one hundred and forty
stadia from a place of the same name on the Crisswan gulf. Haliartus was on
a narrow spot, between the mountain and the lake Copais, near the rivers
Permessus and Olmieus, flowing from Helicon, and a reedy lake. At Hali-
artus was the tomb of Lysander; fifty stadia (north-east) of Haliartus was
Mount Tilphosium ; Ocalea was thirty stadia from Haliartus—the small river
Lophis flowed through its territory ; Alalcomenz was thirty stadia from Ocalea,
near or upon Mount Tilphosium ; Coronéa was situated on a high spot near
Helicon, not far from Lebadéa, forty stadia from Mount Libethrius, and twenty
stadia from Mount Laphystium, from which ran the river Phalarus into the Co-
pais. It seems that the hills, in which is the village of Mazee, must be part of
Mount Libethrius; and that somewhere on the right hand of the road from
Livadia to that place, one might look for the site of Coronéa: Haliartus may
have been on the left in the plain farther on than Mazee. The low hill, three
hours from Thebes, appears in the position of the mountain of the Sphinx ;
and ona rocky eminence, at no great distance from the west, one might expect
to see some vestiges of Onchestus, The plain at the foot of this hill, to the
002
280 LETTER XxX.
on the authority of Pausanias, who says, -that ‘ after passing the
river called Dirce, are the ruins of Pindar’s house;”’ but the wate:
of Dirce was more to the west, near the gates Neitis and Electris,
and if the stream in the ravin be the ismenus, which it must in-
deed appear to be, the fountain would be that which the above
author mentions to have been sacred to Mars. A considerable
hillock to the right, just beyond the suburbs of the town, seems
to strengthen the conjecture, and to correspond to that which was
to the right of the gate Homolis, opposite the Ismenus, and dedi-
cated to the Ismenian Apollo. :
‘The stream of the river has been much diminished, by the
means taken to make part of its waters flow in an artificial channel,
for the sake of turning an overshot-mill about a hundred paces
below the fountain. We stepped across it with ease, and, had
south, now part of the great plain of Thebes, may have been the Campus Te-
nericus, or portion of Tencrus, where was a large temple of Hercules Hippo-
dotus ; to the left (south) of this must have been the site of the grove of the
Cabirian Ceres and the Cabirt, twenty-five stadia from the gaie of Thebes,
called Neitis, by the way which led perbaps a litle to the southward of west :
fifty stadia to the left (south-west) of the Cabirian grove was Thespia ; at the
gate Neitis was the tomb of Menzceus, where the battle between Polynices and
Eteocles was fought, in the part of the city called Syrma Antigones. The
gate that led towards Platza was called Electris; it must have been, therefore,
next on that side to the gate Neitis, and looking about to south-west by south ;
between the position of these two gatcs there is a high hillock. One may also
pretty well ascertain the position of the gate Pretis; for the road to it led to
Chalcis, that is about to the north-east. This would be the quarter for the an-
tiquarian to commence his researches; for here was the theatre, the temple of
Bacchus, the tombs of Zethus and Amphion, the stadium, and (to the right of
the stadium) the hippodrome, in which was the tomb of Pindar. On the whole
of the road to Chalcis there were monuments, temples, and the remains of ancient.
LETTER: xx. 981
we walked through it, should not have been wet above the
ancles.
Returning from the fountain, I was conducted to the remains
of a Greek church, on an eminence not far from the left bank of
the rivulet, and a little distance from the suburbs of the town.
This church was in a very dilapidated state; it had no door, and
the roof was in parts uncovered, yet it contained a treasure, to
which I should be almost afraid that the Greeks of ‘Thebes cannot
well substantiate their claim. ‘This was a stone sarcophagus of
considerable dimensions, not under ground, but in the nave of the
church, covered with a massy slab of marble, and supposed to
contain the precious remains of St. Luke, the Saint of Stiris.
cities. In this line, the sepulchre of Menalippus; the three large stones denoting
the grave of Tydeus; the sepulchres of the sons of Giidipus; theiice, fifteen
stadia, the tomb of Tiresias ; seven stadia to the left of a village called Teu-
messus, the ruins of Glissas, under a mount (Hypaton), and near the river
Thermodon ; the ruins of Harmatos and Mycalessus were also visible from the
road; the plain under Mount Hypaton was called the Ionian, and belonged to
the Thebans.
All the aid which Meletius affords towards understanding the comparative
topography of Beeotia is, that Mount Cythzron is now called Elatias; Mount
Helicon, Likona or Palaoyoona; Thespiz, which once had a bishop, Kakosi,
forty miles to the south of Thebes, where there are some massy ruins of ancient
walis, and the following inscriptions :
2. oy Δακικὸν Παρϑικὸν Υὔπατον τὸ Β : M’
Οὔλπιος Βράχας ΕἾ πιφανιανὸς φιλοκᾶισαρ, καὶ δι. Tiot avrov
of / af r Z, ς 7 ᾽ ,
Ovamsos Δημοσθένης, Ovaries Κράτων, καὶ as Suyarépes Οὐλπία Εὐπορία;
> 4, / ~ 4
O'vAmia Βροχίλλα; ‘ex τῶν ᾿ἐΙδίων. os aeees
{)n another stone ;
Λαδάμιας.
982 LETTER xx. ;
Yet though the principal bones of the glory of Hellas were care-
fully preserved on the spot which had been the scene of his sanc-
tity and mortification, all his relics were not confined to one tomb.
The monastery of St. Liaura, on Mount Athos, possessed a portion
of St. Luke; and the same biessing may, perhaps, have beer
granted to the more neighbouring sanctuary at Thebes.
Whatever may be the justice of its pretensions, the holy coffin
is regarded with great reverence. In a hole which has been
scooped out under the projecting cornice of the slab, there is a
lamp, which itis the duty of a monk to keep perpetually burning,
but which was not lighted when I saw it. ‘The powder from the
marble is considered to possess potent medicinal qualities, espe-
cially in affections of the eyes; and our Albanian Vasilly, after
crossing himself most devoutly, scraped off a quantity of it into
his tobacco-box.
There is a large marble pillar, without either base or capital,
Creusa, the port of Thespie, Saranti—Thisbe, Gianiki—Sipha, Livados-
tro—Coronéa, the seat of a Bishop under the Archbishop of Athens; Kamari,
on a hill, with a very few remains, except some inscribed stones to be seen in ἃ
couple of Greek churches near the spot. On one:
Πόπλιον Αἴλιον Α᾽ δριανὸν ἡ Βουλὴ καὶ ὁ Anos.
On another: Θεὸν Δ'᾽ δριανὸν ἡ Βουλὴ καὶ ὁ Δήμος tminaAoumevyys—and very
many with the χαῖρε.
Alalcomene, between Coronéa and Haliartus, is now Emenz—Haliartus, Pas
Ixopanagia or Tridoueni—Platza, CoclimEleuthere, Petroyeraki—Scolus, be-
tween Cocli and Thebes—Oropus, Oropo—Delium, Delis—Aulis, Carababa—
Anthedon ; under Mount Messapius, Lukisi—Larymne, Larnes (here are some
purgative springs, which the people of the country drink twice a year, in May
and August, and are sometimes cured, sometimes killed, says Meletius)—Ala,
LETTER ~ XX. 983
wedged into the wall of the church; and another ruined edifice of
the same kind, a little distance from the church of St. Luke, con-
tains some pieces of carved marble, parts of pillars, broken capi-
tals, and piain stones, inscribed in characters not intelligible,
except, perhaps, they could be taken down from their present
position. Part of an inscription I read was Latin, and of 8
modern date.
The Greeks have done a service to antiquarians, by heaping up
into the composition of their churches all portable remains, not
however so much, it must be owned, from a knowledge of their
value, as from a preference of the materials, and the size of the
marbles of which they are generally composed.
Our Greek bishop showed mea flat piece of marble in his
Ρ Ρ
dividing Beeotia and Locris ; Hagios Joannes ho Theologos, under the village
of Mallesine. This is in a district called Talandios ; and in a church dedi-
cated to St. George, is an inscription (given in the Appendix), pointing out
that the spot was anciently the sacred portion of Asclepius. Potnix; some
ruins a little more thana mile from Thebes, on the road towards the Negro-
ponte—-Teumessus; ruins farther on in the same line—Glisas; ruins on a hill
about a mile beyond Teumessus—Tanagra, Tenagra—The river Lophis is that
which flows to Kanavari, near Thebes—The Melas, the Mavropotamo, near Scri-
poo. The modern geographer here, as well asin other places, appears to have
given some scope to conjecture in this survey, and in the course of his detail
now and then contradicts himself, for example, Petroyeraki is here said to be on
the site of Eleuthera ; in tracing the Megaris, it is made (and properly) to be
(Enoé. He says, in the chapter from which these extracts are made, that
Athens is fifty miles from Thebes ; and in his description of Attica, that Thebes
is forty miles from Athens. I suspect him to have taken but litile pains to assist
his topography by personal experience, but rather to have followed ancient
authorities; for he calls Oropus forty-four miles from Athens, a blunder copied:
from the Antonine Itinerary, it not being above twenty-four.
284 LETTER Xx.
court-yard, a foot and:a half long and half a foot wide, containing
an inscription, which I copied as far as the letters were legible, but
the greater part of them had been worn away by the service to
which the marble had been put: when I saw it, it was lying under
the pump, half covered with mortar, the mixing of which was the
use to which it had latterly been applied, and would have been so
had it contained an ode of Pindar’s.
We had some difficulty in procuring horses at Thebes, as we
were not provided with a travelling firman from the Porte, and as
we had now left the dominions of our patron Ali, and were in the
territory of Bekir, Pasha of the Negroponte. However, we at
last accomplished this pomt, and set out late in the day for
Athens.
The road took us across the rivulet in the ravin, and near the
tepid. fountain, which we left to the right, and proceeded for two
hours over a plain to the south-east, well cultivated, but without
a single tree. We then crossed the Asopus, a small stream, ata
bridge called Metropolita, in a situation near about the site of
Erythre, whence the troops of Mardonius were encamped, along
the banks of the river, as far as Hysie, on the confines of the
Platean territory, and near which the Greek forces were also
stationed when Masistius was killed by the Athenian horse*.
We here found ourselves at once in another kind of country ; for
the soil, which had been before rich and deep, was now rocky and
light, and we began to scale low stony hills, going to the south-
south-east for three hours.- We passed a small marshy plain, and
then ascended a zig-zag path on a rock, which is a low ridge of
* Herod. Calliope. cap. xxii. et seq.
LETTER XxX. 285
Mount Elatias, or Citheron. When we got to the top we had
the ruins of a small tower on ἃ crag to our left. Descending a
little, we came at once upon a green plain, about four miles in
length and two in breadth, running from west to east. On enter-
ing this plain, we left on our right hand a small village, with a
church of some size, and proceeded eastward for an hour, when we
arrived at a most miserable and_ half-deserted village, called
Scourta.
Here we passed our Christmas Eve, in the worst hovel of which
we had ever been inmates. The cows and pigs occupied the lower
part of the chamber, where there were racks and mangers, and.
other appurtenances of a stable, and we were put in possession of
the upper quarter. We were almost suffocated with the smoke, a
common calamity in Greek cottages, in which the fire is generally
made in the middle of the room, and the roof, having no aper-
ture, was covered with large flakes of soot, that sometimes show-
ered down upon us during the night.
The next day we crossed the plain, which has here and there a
vineyard, and continued in a southern direction for an hour, until
we came into some pine woods, on the side of hills that terminate
the plain to the east as well as to the south, and which are a part
of the Attic mountain once called Parnes, but now having dif-
ferent names in different ranges—here it is called Casha. ‘The
path was very bad indeed, up rugged ascents, through woods of
pine, not thick, but covering the whole mountain as far as we
could see before us. Depending from the boughs of the pines,
and stretching across from tree to tree so as to obstruct our
passage, were the pods, thrice as big as a turkey’s egg, and the
thick webs of a chrysalis, whose moth must be far larger than any
Pp
286 ' LETTER Xx.
of those in our country. We now went more to the south-south-
east, still amongst hills, and generally upon the ascent. We
once caught a view, from the summit of a precipice, of the strait
of the Negroponte. We passed over a part of the path called
“ Kake Scala,” or the Bad Steps, where it leads over some
large slippery stones on the ledge of a rock to the left, and has a
little wall to the right, which is not high enough to prevent a
horse from falling over into a torrent that rolls beneath the preci-
pice. Kake Scala is not wide enough for more than one horse to
pass at a time, and the rider generally chuses to dismount—it
lasts about fifty paces.
At half after two, having been travelling very slowly for four
hours, just as we had got to the summit of the mountain overlook-
iiig a deep glen, one of our guides called out, ‘* Affendi, Affendi,
to chorio,” Sir, Sir, the town! ‘This word chorio we had so
often heard applied to the villages on our route, that we were not
a little surprised, upon looking up, to see in a plain at a great
distance before us, a large town rising round an eminence, on
which we could also discern some buildings, and beyond this
town, the sea.
This was our first view of Athens; and you, my friend, who
by this time will not think me apt to fly into frequent raptures, you
will yet give me credit for feeling some little enthusiasm at the
sight of such an object. On a rugged rock, rising abruptly on our
right, were the remains of ancient walls, composed of massy
stones, and encompassing the summit of the hill. ‘These cannot
but be the ruins of Phyle*, a fortress commanding one of the
* Phyle was a strong fortress, one hundred stadia from Athens, belong-
ing to the tribe of Atnis.—Xenop. lib. ii. de Reb. Gr. c. 8. Note to Cor-
PETTER: καὶ 287
passes, froni Beeotia into Attica, and famous for having been the
resort of those Athenians who destroyed the thirty tyrants. But
not Thrasybulus himself could from these hills have surveyed his
own Athens, the object of all his patriotic efforts, with more ar-
dour and affection, mixed with a not unpleasing melancholy, than
were felt by him who is now employed upon this imperfect re-
lation.
The ruins are now called Bigla Castro, or the Watch-tower.
From this spot we began to descend, and soon lost sight of
Athens in the windings of the hills, which now became more
steep, and clothed with thicker woods. Our road was a zig-zag
rocky path, along the side of a precipice, overhanging a deep ra-
vin, on the other side of which was a stream flowing through an
artificial channel cut out of the rock, ora kind of half-natural
aqueduct. Descending an hour and a half, we came by four
o'clock to the Greek town of Casha, where the houses were of
stone, and well built, and where we had been recommended to
pass the night, if we could get so far from ‘Thebes the first day.
After leaving Casha, we went eastward through some olive-
groves, where is a monastery, and passed by a gentle slope into
the plain of Athens, which, however, we did not again see until
we had turned round a low hill, when it rose before us to the
south, and distinctly showed us its citadel, and another hill near
it, with what appeared a tower on its summit. The new object
was the Museum and the tomb of Philopappus.
nel. Nep. Life of Thrasyb. It is noticed by Strabo, p. 396, edit. Xyland,
as one of the places in Attica worthy of mention, from the memory of the trans-
action alluded to above.
Pp 2
‘The plain, after the wild unpeopled regions through whieh we
had passed, appeared highly cultivated, and it was of considerable
extent, with a belt of olive-groves running from the extremity of
it behind us as far as the eye could reach towards the city and
the sea. It was, besides, intersected with several broad, well-
beaten roads, and every thing seemed to announce that we had
passed into some more favoured country, saved, by a happy ex-
ception, from the desolation of surrounding tyranny. Vineyards
and corn-grounds, green even in this season, were on both sides of
us, and from these the peasants were returning in long trains after
their winter labours, and wished us good evening as we passed.
In something more than two hours from Casha, we entered the
olive-groves, and crossing a bridge over a river, the Attic Cephis-
sus, traversed them obliquely for an hour, when we came again
into the open plain. In one hour more, travelling on the same
fine road, we arrived at the city walls, and passed under one of
the arched gateways into the open space before the town. <A few
minutes brought us into Athens, at half after eight in the evening
of Christmas day, 1809, and we proceeded immediately to the
house where our countrymen are usually lodged, and where we
found an English traveller to congratulate us on our arrival.
LETTER XXI.
Athens—its Situation—A ppearance—present Inhabitants—Short
Notice of its Modern History.
MUCH gereater hardships and perils than it can be
the lot of any traveller in European Turkey to undergo, would be
at once recompensed and forgotten on arriving at Athens—you
there perceive an agreeable change in the aspect of all around
you; the Turk, subdued either by the superior spirit of his sub-
jects, or by the happy influence of amore genial climate, appears
to have lost his ferocity, to have conformed to the soil, and to
have put on a new character, ornamented by the virtues of hu-
manity, kindness, and an easy affability, to which he attains in no
other quarter of the Mahometan world. After having, in the
course of your journey, been constantly on your guard against the
outlaws of the land or sea, you feel that you may throw aside all
unpleasant apprehensions, and, free from the cumbrous attend-
ance of soldiers and servants, indulge in the contemplation of
Athens, not, indeed, such as she was, but venerable from the
recollection of her former renown, and still possessed of many ob-
jects worthy of admiration*.
* Athenas plenas quidem et ipsas vetustate fama, multa tamen visenda ha-
bentes. ‘These expressions, the encomiums of Livy, may be applied, even now,
to modern Athens.
290 LETTER XXI.
Were there no other vestiges of the ancient world than those to
be seen at this day at Athens, there would still be sufficient cause
left to justify the common admiration entertained for the genius
of the Greeks. Ifthe contemplation of the productions of anti-
quity, such as they are seen in the galleries of princes, or the
cabinets of the curious, affords so pure a delight, how much more
gratifying must it be to behold the stupendous monuments of the
magnificence of Pericles and the skill of Phidias, still standing on
the very spots on which they were originally fixed, by the united
taste of the statesman and the artist. ‘hese noble master-
pieces still retain their grandeur and their grace, and towering from
amidst their own ruins, and the miserable mansions of barbarians,
present a grand, but melancholy- spectacle, where you behold,
not only the final effects, but the successive progress of devasta-
tion, and, at one rapid glance, peruse the history of a thousand
ages.
You must be already so well acquainted with the antiquities of
this city, from examining the designs of modern artists, and the
exact descriptions of celebrated travellers, who, from the days of
Nointel and Wheler up to this period, have laboured to acquaint
the world with the ancient remains to be seen on the spot, that
you will hardly require from me a particular detail of the wonders
of modern Athens; but as the desolations of time, and, of late
years, the spoliatory taste of some amateurs, have caused many
decays and dilapidations, I shall, in a cursory manner, and per-
haps with less precision than the subject demands, attempt to
notice the present appearance of the Athenian remains.
But before I proceed to these particulars, let me describe some
circumstances attendant on our residence in the place, and take
a view of the present state of the town itself.
LET TRE’ R17. 291
During our stay at Athens, we occupied two houses, separated
from each other only by a single wall, and through this we opened
a door-way. One of them belongs to a Greek lady, whose
name is Theodora Macri, the daughter of the late English Vice-
Consul, (for we are represented at Athens), and who has to show
many letters of recommendation, left in her hands by several
English travellers. Her lodgings consisted of a sitting-room
and two bed-rooms, opening into a court-yard where there were
five or six lemon-trees, from which, during our residence in the
place, was plucked the fruit that seasoned the pulaf, and other
national dishes served up at our frugal table. ‘The site of this
house is easily distinguished at a distance, as there is a tall flag-
staff rising from the yard; and on this the English Ensign, in
the time of the late Vice-consul, used to be displayed. The
person at present holding that sinecure is a Greek, whose name,
like that of our host at Livadia, is Logotheti. He, of course,
called upon us on our arrival, and, together with Mr. Lusieri,
Lord Elgin’s agent, attended us on a visit, always customary, to
the Waiwode, the Turkish Governor of the town, whom we found
a well-mannered man, with more information than is usually pos-
sessed by those of his nation, and who, having served with our
forces in the Egyptian wars, was somewhat partial to our country-
men—his name and title were Suleyman “ga.
Mr. Lusieri, the only one remaining of the six artists settled
during three years by my Lord Elgin at Athens, contributed to
render our residence more agreeable; and the same attentions
were paid to us by Mr. Fauvel, the i‘rench Consul, well known to
the public as the coadjutor of Mr. Foucherot, and gratefully re-
membered, I believe, by every traveller, who, for these twenty
years past, has visited this part of the iuevant.
2902 LETTER XXI.
It was, however, during our stay in the place, to be lamented,
that a war more than civil, was raging on the subject of my Lord
Elgin’s pursuits in Greece, and had enlisted all the Frank settlers
and the principal Greeks on one or the other side of the contro-
versy. ‘The factions of Athens were renewed.
A. few days after our visit to the Governor of the town, we pre-
pared for an inspection of the Acropolis, by sending the usual
present of tea and sugar to the Turk who has the command of
the fortress erected on that hill, and who is now called the Disdar.
The gates of this citadel have of late been shut upon all those who
do not settle this important preliminary ; and the Disdar has, not
unfrequently, exacted a present previous to every visit; an extor-
tion justly complained of to me by a French Gentleman, who
averred, that it had put a stop to the researches of many inge-
nious travellers, that could not afford such repeated demands upon
their purses.
Before these particulars were adjusted, we took every oppor-
tunity of surveying the modern town.
Athens is placed at the foot of the rock of the citadel, as re-
presented in the annexed picture, which is exceedingly correct in
every particular, and must serve better to give an idea of its situa-
tion and appearance than the most minute and animated descrip-
tion. ‘The view is taken from the foot of a craggy hill, once
called Anchesmus, on which was formerly a small temple of Ju-
piter, and where there is now a chapel dedicated to St. George.
It is about three quarters of a mile from the walls of the city,
in a north-easterly direction from the Acropolis. There are no
houses to the back or south of the citadel, which included the
Ceramicus within the walls (a populous quarter. of ancient Athens),
but onevery other side the city stretches into the plam, and more
SSS SS SSS SS - - τὰς:
ENS,
‘ff ( P i
WE ¢ Υ n0¢ VOCE led
LETTER ‘XXI. 903
particularly to the north and north-west. It was in’ modern
times so subject to the incursions of pirates and robbers, that it
has been surrounded with a wall, about ten feet high, with aper-=
tures for the use of musquetry. These walls, about forty years
ago, were enlarged and repaired, and now comprehend a much
wider space than when Chandler wrote, taking in two antiquities,
the temple of ‘lheseus and the arch of Adrian, not included in
their circuit, according to the plan which he has given of the
city. he gateways to the wall, six in number, were formerly
always closed at night, but the gates are now removed. The
open space between the walls.and the city, one hundred and fifty
or two hundred yards in breadth, -is laid out in corn-grounds, and
there are gardens attached to most of the principal houses. I
walked round these walls at a brisk pace in forty-seven minutes—
a circumstance which conveys an idea of the size of their circum-
ference, and of the city itself.
‘The number of houses in Athens is supposed to be between
twelve and thirteen hundred; of these, about four hundred are
inhabited by Turks, the remainder by Greeks and Albanians, the
latter of whom occupy about three hundred houses. There are
also seven or eight Frank families, under the protection of the
French Consul. None of the houses are well built, nor so com-
modious as those of the better sort of Greeks at Toannina or
Livadia ; and the streets are all of them narrow and irregular, a
peculiarity remarked in ancient Athens, even during the days of
her splendour*, In many of the lanes there is a raised cause-
way on both sides, so broad as to contract the middle of the
* By Dicearchus, who wrote a short time affer the death of Alexander.
94
294 LETTER XxI.
street into a kind of dirty gutter. The bazar is at a little dis-
tance from the foot of the hill, and is far from well furnished,
but has several coffee-houses, which at all times are crowded by
the more lazy of the Turks, amusing themselves with drafts and
chess. It is formed by one street, rather wider than usual, in-
tersecting another at right angles; anda little above where the
two meet, is an ornamented fountain, the principal one in the
town, supplied by a stream, which is brought in artificial channels
or stone gutters, from a reservoir under Mount Hymettus, at
about a mile anda half distance. ‘The water found in the wells be-
longing to the town is generally brackish ; lukewarm in winter,
but cold in summer.
The house of the Waiwode is of the poorer sort, though the
entrance to it would become a palace, as it is between the co-
lumns of that antiquity distinguished by the name of the Doric
Portico. That of the Archbishop is the best in the town, con-
taining within its precincts a spacious yard and garden.—T'here
are only four principal moscks with minarets in the city, although
there are eleven places of worship for the Turks. ‘The number
of Christian churches is out of all proportion to the Greek popu-
lation; thirty-six are constantly open, and have service con-
stantly performed in them; but, reckoning the chapels which
are shut except on the days of their peculiar saints, there are
nearly two hundred consecrated buildings in Athens. ‘The me-
tropolitan church, called the Catholicon, is the only one of these
that can be accounted handsome, and the temples, neither of the
Mahometans nor the Christians, add any thing to the appear-
ance of the town.
The Greeks of Athens are, as has been remarked, less op-
LETTER XKKI. - 205
pressed by the tyranny of the Turks than those of any other
part of the empire; and, notwithstanding the lamentation of
some classical philanthropists, who have deplored that a people
unconquered by Kerxes, should become the portion of an AXthio-
pian eunuch, the Athenians have been benefited by the resolu-
tion, which they adopted about the middle of the seventeenth
century, of putting themselves under the protection of the Kislar
Aga, by paying a voluntary tribute of thirty thousand crowns
to that officer; for the Waiwodes appointed since that period,
have felt themselves so much dependent upon the good-will of
their subjects, who, by a sacrifice of part of their wealth, have
it in their power to remove him, that they have generally treated
them with justice and lenity. ‘The Greeks have, indeed, more
than once revolted, and expelled their governor; and, in one in-
stance, they drove an unpopular master into the Acropolis, be-
sieged him in that fortress, and, lastly, cut him to pieces on en-
deavouring to make his escape.
About fifteen years before our time, a Waiwode, by name
Hadj Ali Chaseki, presumed to treat them with great rigour,
and to extort from them large sums, part of which he employed
in buying a great extent of olive-groves, and in the erection of a
magnificent kiosk, surrounded with spacious gardens, which are
still seen near the site of the Academy. After repeated and un-
availing complaints (for Ali was befriended by the chief Archon
of the city), nearly half of the inhabitants of Athens retired into
the villages, where (like the seceders on the Aventine mount) they
continued for three years, until the tyrant was removed, at first
to Rhodes, and then to Constantinople, where he lost his head.
Many of the Athenians at this day are as familiar with the Alba-
aq 2
296 LETTER: XK.
nian language as with their own; an acquirement to be ‘referred
to the period of their voluntary exile amongst the peasants of At-
tica, nearly the whole of whom are Albanian colonists.
The government of the Waiwode continues nominally only for
one year, but frequently lasts nine or ten, according to the satis-
faction expressed by his subjects. He interferes but little with the
management of the Christians, and generally contents himself
with the receipt of the tribute which is collected by the Codja-
bashees or Archons—the immediate rulers, and, it should seem,
the oppressors of the Greeks. ‘Tbe Archons have been, until
lately, eight in number; they are at present only five, whose
names, not quite so agreeable to the ear as the Cleons or Phor-
mios of antiquity, are Stavros-to-maras, Nicolettos, Capitana-
chis, Zingaras, and Zakarichas ; another person, by name Logo-
theti, the friend of Hadji Ali, was formerly an Archon, but be-
ing now considered English Vice-Consul, no longer holds that
station. ‘here are six secretaries attached to the Archons; but
T did not learn that the whole of these rulers ever assemble at
any stated time, or have any regular system, for the transaction
of business.
The regular tax transmitted from Attica to the Porte, is be-
tween seven hundred and seven hundred and fifty purses (three
hundred and seventy-five thousand and three hundred and fifty
thousand piasters); but the Codja-bashees, under various pre-
tences, exact as many as fifteen hundred purses; and as they
never give any account to the people of the manner in which their
money has been disposed, do not fail to enrich themselves by the
surplus amount. ‘Threats, and sometimes punishments, are em-
ployed to wring from the peasants their hard-earned pittance ;
LETTER ΧΧΙ. 207
and such is the oppressive weight of the tyranny, that the mur-
murs of the commonalty have frequently broken out into open
complaints, and even a complete revolution, involving the destruc-
tion of the Archons; and an establishment of a better order of
things, has been meditated by the more daring and ambitious
amongst the oppressed. An unfortunate malcontent, who, in
fond recollection of better days, has given to his three sons the
names of Miltiades, Themistocles, and Alcrbiades, talked to me
of this glorious project (ro καλο πραγμα). ‘The Turks,” said he,
** will be on our side, if we get the better; but, alas! the
influence of money is all-powerful; and Demosthenes himself,
were he alive, and (like me) without a para, would not have a
single listener.” He added besides, that their priests, a powerful
body, would espouse the cause of their Codja-bashees.
The Archbishop of Athens, whose ecclesiastical dominion ex-
tends over Beeotia, and even into some parts of the Peloponesus,
exercises an absolute authority over the whole of the clergy of his
see, and has a prison near his house for the confinement of offen-
ders, whom he may punish with the bastinade, or in any degree
short of death. His place is purchased of the Patriarch, and is
consequently the object of many intrigues, which not unfrequently
terminate in the expulsion of the incumbent, and the election of
another archbishop. Popular clamour has also sometimes dis-
placed such of these priests as have exceeded the usual bounds of
extortion*.
* Tread, in the Life of Meletius, prefixed to hisGeography, ASnvator. os.
7) b ee \ YA ri s > es ε we ? 7 7 \ Ν /
βουλόμενοι τὸν ἴδιον ᾿Αρχιερέω ὥποδιωξαι ὡς ἀχρηςον ἐζήτησαν ὠντον dia γνήσιον
τοὺς Αἰρχιερέα, ον καὶ δέδωκεν auTois ὃ τε Κωνςαντινεπόλεως Πατριάρχης.
The custom, it appears, has not been confined to Athens; the same biographer,
298 LETTER XXI.
Some of the Athenians are fond of tracing back their pedigree,
which, however, according to their own account, they are unable
to do beyond the Turkish conquest. The name Chalcocondyles
was, till lately, the one held in the greatest repute; but the person
who at present professes himself to be, on his mother’s side, a de+
scendant of the family, has not assumed the appellation. The
character of the modern inhabitants of this town does not rank
high amongst their countrymen, and the proverb which is to be
seen in Gibbon, I heard quoted against them in their own city—
“As had as the Turks of Negroponte, the Jews of Salonica, and
the Greeks of Athens.” A French resident, who had lived
amongst them many years, talking to me of their propensity to
calumniate and supplant each other, concluded with this lively
expression, “ Believe me, my dear Sir, they are the same canaille
as they were in the days of Miltiades,”
We were not amongst them long enough to discover any very
unamiable traits by which they may be distinguished from other
Greeks, though I think we saw in them a propensity to detraction
and intrigue. Whatever may be their talents this way, they are
now chiefly employed in debating whether the French or English,
nations inhabiting countries unknown to their ancestors, shall de-
prive them of the last memorials of their ancient glory. ΤῸ retain
them themselves never, I believe, is an object of their wishes.
The Greeks of Athens are all of them employed in carrying on
a small commerce, by exporting part of the produce of their
lands, and receiving in return some Italian, and, of late, English
te ip ες αι δον νει ρε ἐν περ το κε λεαν,
a little farther, talks of a certain Clement, Metropolitan of Ioannina ἐκδημήσαντος,
an expression savouring of ancient Greece.
LETTER XXI. 299
manufactured goods, together with corn. One Athenian trader -
has accompanied his merchandize as far as London. ‘The olive-
trees still continue the principal wealth of Attica, and between
three and four thousand barrels of oil are usually exported in a
year ; though, in a very abundant season, perhaps once in twenty-
five years, there is a much greater quantity shipped from the
Pireus. In 1808, it surpassed more than twenty times that
amount; and a Greek, who had given two thousand piasters for
eighty trees, the preceding year, gained two thousand five hun-
dred by a single gathermg. ‘There is a small quantity of butter,
cheese, silk, honey, resin, and pitch, besides some cattle, also sent
annually out of Attica.
The families of Franks settled at Athens, some of which have
intermarried with the Greeks, are those of Mr. Rocque, Mr. An-
drea, Mr. Gaspari, his relation Mr. Gaspari, and Mr. Louis; to
these may be added, two establishments, one belonging to Mr.
Lusieri, and the other to Mr. Fauvel, the French Consul. These
gentlemen, with the exception of the two last, chiefly support
themselves by lending money, at an interest from twenty to
thirty per cent., to the trading Greeks, and in a trifling exporta-
tion of oi. They add, it must be supposed, considerably to the
pleasures of a residence in this city, by their superior attainments
and the ease of their manners. ‘The gentlemen amongst them, all
but Mr. Andrea, wear the Frank dress; the ladies, that of the
country. ‘They have balls and parties in the winter and spring of
the year, in their own small circle, to which the principal Greeks
are invited, and particularly during the carnival, when they and
many of the inhabitants arein masquerade. We were present at
that season, and were visited by a young Athenian in an English.
300 LETTER: XX.
uniform, who was highly delighted with his metamorphosis. ‘The
most favourite fancy of the Greeks seemed to be that of dressing
themselves up like the Waiwode, the Cadi, or other principal
Turks, and parading the streets with attendants also properly
habited. One more daring humourist of my acquaintance, on one
occasion mimicked the Archbishop himself as if in the ceremony
of blessing the houses, but found the priests less tolerant than the
Mahometans, for he was excommunicated.
The French Consul, the head of the Nation, as the Franks are
called, has long enjoyed a high degree of consideration at Athens,
whose inhabitants have, for some time, felt a lively interest in
every thing relative to the affairs of France. At a short distance
from the Doric Portico, over the door of a house formerly belong-
ing to the Consulate, there is a bas-relief, representing Liberty
with her spear and cap, encircled with a laurel wreath, and the
inscription, ““ La Republique Frangaise.” Amongst so many
memorials of the ages, when the inhabitants of this city were a
great aud independant people, I was not a little struck with being
thus reminded of the former freedom of another republic, also
overthrown, and no less to be numbered with the things that have
passed away, than the long-lost liberties of the Athenians.
The French have had a Consul established at Athens since the
beginning of the seventeenth century, and the Jesuits of Paris
settled a Missionary in the country about the year 1645. The
Capuchins also began their pious labours on the same spot in
1658 ; and, eleven years afterwards, one of them, Father Simon,
purchased the building which includes the famous choragic monu-
ment of Lysicrates, commonly known by the name of the Lan-
tern of Demosthenes, and which still continues attached to that
LETTER xxI. 301
mission. ‘he Jesuits, whose convent was in the quarter of the
town near the Catholicon, have many years ago retired to the
Negroponte.
The Roman Catholic service is performed for the Franks in the
Capuchin convent. ‘The present Padre 15 an intelligent man, who,
besides the duties of his holy office, is occupied in instructing from
twenty to twenty-five or thirty of the sons belonging to the Frank
families; he has fitted up the circular chamber formed by the
monument of Lysicrates, with shelves that contain a few volumes
of choice books.
The world was indebted to one of the early Missionaries for the
most circumstantial account of the antiquities of modern Athens,
in the work of the Jesuit Babin, published by Spon in the year
1672; and if the Propaganda Society has not had to boast of
many Turkish or. Greek converts, they may at least reflect with
pleasure, that their Ministers in this quarter of the Levant have
been gratefully remembered by many travellers, to whom, from,
and probably long before, the days of Chandler, to the present
period, the Capuchin convent at Athens has afforded a secure and
agreeable residence.
Until within a few years, a journey to Athens was reckoned a
considerable undertaking, fraught with difficulties and dangers;
and at the period when every young man of fortune, in France
and England, considered it an indispensable part of his education
to survey the monuments of ancient art remaining in Italy, only
a few. desperate scholars and artists ventured to trust them-
selves amongst the barbarians, to contemplate the ruims of
Greece.
But these terrors, which a person who has been on the spot
Rr
802 LETTER XXI.
cannot conceive could ever have been well-founded, seem at last
to be dispelled: Attica at present swarms with travellers, and
several of our fair countrywomen have ascended the rocks of the
Acropolis. So great, mdeed, has been the increase of visitants,
that the city, according to a scheme formed by a Greek once in
our service, will soon be provided with a tavern, a novelty surely
never before witnessed at Athens. A few more years may furnish
the Pirzeus with all the accommodations of a fashionable watering-
place.
It is scarcely necessary to account for the eagerness to visit the
city of Minerva. In addition to other attractions, there is a
consideration which cannot fail to increase the interest of survey-
ing such an object: dating the settlement on the Acropolis from
Theseus, which is later than generally allowed, three thousand
and forty-six years have elapsed since Athens began to fix the
attention of the civilized portion of mankind, and, for more than
half that period, it continued, through all the gradations of increas-
ine prosperity, unrivalled glory, and splendid decay, te furnish
materials for the historian, the poet, and the orator, of every
succeeding age. From the reign of Justinian until the thirteenth
century, very few notices of its existence have been discovered by
the researches of the learned. Spon and Chandler could only
discover, that it supplied Roger, King of Sicily, with silk-worms
and silk-workers, about the year 1130; and a late writer, who
has given himself some credit for the success of his enquiry, has
only been able to add to this information, that, about the year
590, a Byzantine historian talks of the splendour of the Atheman
Muses of his age, and that, in the reign of Constantine the Seventh,
Chases, Prefect of Achaia, was stoned to death m a church at
LETTER XXII. 303
Athens*. Yet during these unnoticed ages, the city may be
conjectured to have maintained at least its present size; for, when
the accounts remaining, of the irruption of the Latins, again fix
our regards on Greece, we find it of sufficient importance to be
made the head of a state, comprising Thebes, Argos, Corinth,
and part of Thessaly; and its western Princes of the fourteenth
century, if they did nothing worthy the panegyric of the sober
historian, have still been the heroes of romance, as from them,
Boccace and Chaucer, and after their example, Shakspeare, have
borrowed their “‘ Theseus, Duke of Athens.”
It cannot be thought that the town has increased since the
Turkish conquest; so that he who at this day surveys the hill of the
Acropolis, has the view of a site which has been covered with the
habitations of men, and maintained, probably without intermis-
sion, a population of eight or ten thousand souls, for more than
thirty centuries; a fortune to which no other spot, that I know of,
in the world can justly pretend, and which a view of its revolu-
tions and disasters must render still more surprising.
From the invasion of Xerxes to the irruption of Alaric into
Greece, in 396, Athens changed masters at least twenty-three
different times, and, during this period, the town was twice burnt
by the Persians; the suburbs, and every thing valuable in the
vicinity, destroyed by the second Philip of Macedon; the port,
suburbs, and the whole city, nearly levelled with the ground, and
all its ornaments defaced by Sylla; the Acropolis plundered by
* The first anecdote is extracted from the work of Theophylactus Simocat-
tus; the second, from Leo the grammarian. The travels of the author who has
made use of them, Mr. Chateaubriand, unfortunately did not come to my hand
until the principal part of these Letters was already composed.
304 LETTER XXI.
Tiberius, surprised and ravaged by the Goths in the reign of
Claudius; and lastly, the city and territory utterly ruimed, and
stript of every portable curiosity of value by Alaric.
In the ages during which we are ignorant of its fate, it may
have suffered by the many competitions for the eastern empire:
on the opening of its renewed history, we find it besieged by
Sgure*, a petty Prince of the Morea, in 1204, but successfully
defended by its Archbishop, Michael Choniates, the brother of
Nicetas the historian. It was then taken by Boniface, Marquis
of Montserrat, who appointed one of his followers, Otho de la
Roche, a Burgundian, Duke (Δουξ) of Athens, a title borne by
its Governor since the time of Constantine the Great}. After be-
ing in the hands of the son and two grandsons of Otho, it was
seized by a Prince of the house of Brienne, who married a female
of the line of the last possessors of the sovereignty, and whose
son, Walter, was the Duke of Athens and Grand Signior of
Thebes, who lost his crown and his life on the banks of the Ce-
phissus, fighting against the Catalans. In this fatal battle, the
army of the Athenian Prince amounted to nearly fifteen thousand
men, a number which might make us suppose that the vigour of
this Grecian state was renewed, did we not know that the troops
serving under Brienne, were all either Frenchmen, or other mer-
cenaries, most of them of the same nation as the enemy. Amongst
* This person, whom Mr. Chateaubriand mentions on the authority of Nice-
tas, may be he whom Chandler calls a General of Theodorus Lascares.
ὑ Οἱ Η γεμὼν τῶν A’ Syvov ἔλαβε παρα tov μεγάλου Κωνςαντίνου τῖτλον (what
a word for the ear of an Hellenist) Μεγάλου Δουκὸς καϑὼς καὶ ὁ τῆς Πελοποννήσε
τὸ τὰ Πρίγκιπος, ὁ δὲ τῆς Βοιωτίας, καὶ τῶν Θηβῶν τὸ Μεγάλα Πριμικηρίος, ἣν
Usepov κατὰ φορὰν τῆς λέξεως, Μέγαν Κύριον ἐκάλουν .---Μοϊεί. Attic.
LETTER .xXI. 305
the other noble victims of English valour who bled in the field of
Poictiers, is mentioned a titular Duke of Athens, the son of the
unfortunate Walter.
The claims of the Catalans, who remained tyrants of the place
for a few years, seem to have been merged in Delves of the
house of Arragon. I have been unable to understand Chandler,
when he talks of the taking of Athens by Bajazet, subsequently
to the incursion of the Catalans, The Sultan, if he did make
himself master of the city, which does not appear, must, I should
believe, have preceded those invaders.
During the latter part of the fourteenth century, by a sad
reverse, of which there are examples in the fortune of states
as well as of indiyiduals, Athens was a fief of the kingdom of
Sicily, and then fell into the possession, whether by gift or con-
quest is not distinctly known, of a Florentine, Reimer Acciajuoli,
who bequeathed it by his will to the Venetians. During the
reign of Reinier, Amurath the Second besieged and_ took the
city, but soon retired, leaving it in the possession of the same
prince.
The Venetians were driven from Athens by Anthony, Signior
of Thebes, natural son of Reinier, and the dukedom continued
in his family, but frequently disputed by competitors of the same
kindred*, until Omar, a general of Mahomet the Great, seized
* Anthony was succeeded by Nerius; Nerius was dethroned by his brother
Anthony the Second, but recovered his dominion after the death of that prince.
The widow of Nerius reigned after her husband, but was, with the assistance of
the Turks, expelled, and afterwards poisoned at Megara, by Francus, son of
Anthony the Second, the last Duke, who, after a year’s reign, was deprived of
his dominions, first of Attica, and afterwards of Boeotia, and finally strangled
by order of Mahomet. It is said that Athens, in her last extremity, when be-
306 LETTER ΧΧΙ.
upon the city in 1455. But this was not its last distress; it was
plundered and sacked by the Venetians in 1464; taken, after a
bombardment by the army of the same nation, under Morosini,
in 1687; and, lastly, besieged and again recovered by the Turks,
in 1688.
That Athens should still remain a well-peopled city, after such
repeated miseries, is surely somewhat astonishing; and, indeed,
from the Turkish conquest by Mahomet, until about the year
1584, it was believed in Christendom to have been almost de-
serted*. At that period, the learned Martin Crusius-+ published
his T'urco-Grecia, which contained two letters, one from Zygo-
malas, a native of Nauplia, in the Morea, the other from Ca-
basilas, an Acarnanian, both of whom attempted to describe
the state of the city, and its remaining antiquities. But long
after that time, and so late as the beginning of the last century,
a very learned author wrote thus, in summing up its history :—
sieged by Omar, refused the assistance of the Latin Princes, who demanded the
conversion of the heretic Greeks as the price of their aid. All the latter revo-
lutions of Athens are detailed in a work called Atene Attica, by Fanelli, writ-
ten at the beginning of the last century, which is referred to by Chandler; it
was lent to me, at Athens, by the kindness of Mrs. Fauvel.
Atene Attica contains a plan and a picture of Athens, as it was besieged by
Morosini, and also some rude cuts from wood, representing all the Dukes who
successively governed this state.
* There are four authors quoted in the introduction to the travels before men-
tioned, who talk of Athens as in that deplorable state: Nicholas Gerbel, in
1550; Dupinet, in 1554; Laurenberg, in 1557; and the geographer Ortellius,
in 1578, who says of it, “6 nunc casule tantum supersunt qnedam.”
+ Kraus, professor of Greek and Latin in the university of Tubingen.
LETTER xxI. 307
“9 Lastly, in the year of our Lord 1455, it was so despoiled by
the ‘Turks, that it is now no longer a town, but a village, under
the dominion of that people, who have given it the name of
Setines *.”
Butif the mere existence of the town, after the revolution of
so great a portion of the ages of the world, excites our wonder,
we must be more surprised that it contains at this day, more ob-
jects of admiration than would be displayed by an assemblage of
all the monuments of ancient art to be found in every other part
of Greece. )
* Lamb. Bos. Antiq. Grec. p. 29,
LETTER XXII.
Antiquities of Athens—Temple of Theseus—Areopagus—Pnyx
Muséum—Monument of Philopappus—Odéum—Theatre of
Bacchus-- River ILlissus—Adrian’s Temple—Callirhoe—Sta-
dium of Atticus Herodes—Adrian’s Arch and Aqueduct—
Monument of Lysicrates—Monument of Andronicus Chyr-
restes—The Doric Portico—Many smaller Remains.
DURING our residence of ten weeks at Athens,
there was not, I believe, aday of which we did not devote a part
to the contemplation of the noble monuments of Grecian genius,
that have outlasted the ravages of time, ana the outrage of barba-
rous and antiquarian despoilers.
The Temple of ‘Theseus was within five minutes walk of our
lodgings; for the site of it I must refer you to the annexed pic-
ture, where it appears entire, which is almost its actual state;
for, excepting the sculptures on the back and front porches, and
the roof, which is modern and vaulted, the outside of the build-
ing has been but little affected by the injuries of four-and-twenty
centuries*, and is, to this day, the most perfect ancient edifice in
* It was built a little after the battle of Marathon, fought four hundred and
ninety years B. C.
LETTER XXII. 309
the world. In this fabric, the most enduring stability, and a sim-
plicity of design peculiarly striking, are united with the highest
elegance and accuracy of workmanship; the characteristic of the
Doric style, whose chaste beauty is not, in the opinion of the
first artists, to be equalled by the graces of any of the other
orders. A gentleman at Athens, of great taste and skill, assured
me, that after a continued contemplation of this 'l'emple, and the
remains of the Parthenon, he could never again look with his
accustomed satisfaction upon the Ionic and Corinthian ruins of
Athens, much less upon the specimens of the more modern spe-
cies of architecture to be seen in Italy.
A person accustomed to the cumbrous churches of Christen-
dom, those laboured quarries above-ground, spreading over a
large irregular space, would not be struck with the site of the
Grecian temples ; on the contrary, he would think them rather
small. The Theséum 15 ouly one hundred and ten feet long, and
forty-five feet broad, and appears less than it is in reality, from
the proportion of the columns, which, though only eighteen feet
high, and without bases and plinths, are nine in circumference at
their lower extremities. But the materials of the building being
of a sort which we are accustomed to think most costly, and the
inunitable skill of the artist becoming more apparent at every in-
vestigation, the first shght disappointment is succeeded by the
purest admiration.
The four-and-thirty columns of this Temple, and their entabla-
tures, as well as the steps of ascent, and the walls of the cell itself,
are of the finest Parian marble, the natural colour of which may
be perceived where the stone has been recently broken, although its
general surface has been tinged by the hand of Time with a pale
8: ἢ
310 LESTER . XXII.
yellow hue. ‘The shafts of some of the columns, (whose tambours,
as has been discovered by the fragments of the Parthenon, were
not united by any cement, but by a sort of leaden or iron cramp),
and especially the corner ones on the right of the Pronaos, have
been disjointed by earthquakes, but are not yet sufficiently injured
to threaten a speedy fall. The flutings of many of them have
been broken by stones, and other species of injury, as is the case
- with the figures in mezzo-relievo on the metopes, and those of the
frizes of the western porch of the ‘Temple.
The sculpture on the western front, the posticum, though it has
been struck with lightning, is in the best preservation. he promi-
nent figure, of Theseus killing a Centaur, who is struggling on his
back, wants the head and a right arm, but the body of his enemy
is very entire. ‘I'woof the Centaurs laying a large stone over one
of the Lapithe ina pit, are, as they were noticed by Chandler, less
injured than the other figures. Is not this the fable of Ceneus,
who, when he could not be otherwise slain, was buried
alive? ‘Two figures with shields, supposed to be Hercules and
Tolaus descending into Hell, have lost their heads, arms, and
legs. ἣν,
The whole of the sculpture of the heséum has been modelled
by Lord Elgin’s artists, as well as by the I’rench agents, but the
noble Ambassador did not suffer any part of it to be separated
from the building, and for this forbearance he gives himself all
due credit. ‘The opposite faction assert, that the endeavour was
made, but interrupted in the outset. I could not decide on the
motive, but was contented with the fact.
‘¢ Blest be the great for what they took away,
(ς And what they left me.”
LETTER XXII. 314
The cell of the Temple, the outside walls of which were an-
ciently adorned with paintings by Micon, and where the modern
Greeks formerly drew pictures of their Saints, now quite effaced,
is converted into a church, dedicated to St. George, but, with
the exception of the festival of that Saint, is never opened, unless
to gratify the curiosity of travellers. ‘The door to it, on the south
side of the church, is but small; it is plated with iron, which is
perforated or indented, in every part, with pistol and gun
bullets. The pavement on the inside having been removed, the
floor is of mud; and, in the middle nearly of the building, there
is a small sepulchral mound of earth, like those in our church-
yards. ‘This is the grave of Tweddle. <A slab of marble, with
an inscription, is in preparation, at my Lord Elgin’s expence,
and under his direction. An epitaph for such a person, and to
be placed in sucha spot, must be a work of some nicety. The in-
terior of the church has a melancholy appearance ; the walls are
quite bare, and the pictures of Saints in the sacristy, or oval re-
cess, erected in the eastern porch, are of the most pitiful kind.
The round marble with the four faces of inscriptions, three of
which were copied by Lord Sandwich, and made it appear to
have belonged to the Prytanéum, still remains in the south corner
of the western front.
The Theséum stands on a knoll of open ground, cultivated for
corn, between two and three hundred yards from the town, and
not more than twenty yards from the wall of modern Athens.
Under the slope of the hillis one of the gateways, through which
those who live to the north of the Acropolis take their road to
the Pireus. :
A person walking from the Temple towards the Acropolis, and
312 LETTER RX ER
passing out of this gate, if he still keeps in the direction of the
walls, would immediately ascend the craggy hill of the Areopagus.
This hill is very uneven, consisting of two rocky eminences, on
the lowest of which is a small chapel, dedicated to St. Dionysius
the Areopagite. A cave below this chapel, always shown by the
Athenians, and which contains a cold spring, perhaps the fountain
mentioned by Pausanias as being near the ‘l'emple of Apollo and
Pan, on the descent from the Acropolis, is no otherwise curious,
than as being reported by the devout Christians to have given
shelter to St. Paul. The Areopagus is within a stone’s throw of
the craggy sides of the Acropolis, which is mentioned, that you
may not attach too important a signification to the words moun-
tain, hill, valley, and rock; for, in fact, the scene presented by the
city, and the immediate vicinity of Athens, is a landscape in
miniature, the most lovely in the world, indeed, but by no means
corresponding with the notions of those who are acquainted with
the vast exploits, without having beheld the country of the Greeks.
There are no remains of any ancient building which may have
been the place of assembly on the Areopagus, although that cele-
brated court continued to exist to a late period, as Rufius Festus,
Proconsul of Greece during the reigns of Gratian and 'Theodosius,
is called an Areopagite.
The ground at the west of this hill is a hollow valley, which is
inclosed on the other side by the sloping concave ascent of ano-
ther eminence, less rocky than that of the Areopagus, but
covered only with a very thin 5011. ‘This hill, though considerably
inferior in height to the Acropolis, is, in the ancient descriptions,
ranked amongst the Attic mountains, under the name of Lyca-
bettus. The region between the Areopagus and Lycabettus, was
LETTER XxII. 313
part of the old city, and included within the walls, which may be
yet traced over the brow of the last-mentioned hill. ‘The part in
the valley was the Cele of Athens, the Hollow; and above this,
there are very evident vestiges of Pnyx, the place of public as-
sembly, ‘hese are immediately fronting, (westward), the Acro-
polis, in the concave slope of Lycabettus, which, in this place,
presents the appearance of being hewn perpendicularly, so as to
form the cord of the semicircular arc.
In the middle, or rather ina niche of this part of the hill,
there are two pieces of wall, composed of stones of an immense
size, meeting in an obtuse angle, in which there is a flat area, raised
upon a flight of four or five steps. ‘I’his appears to have been the
Bema of the orators, or at least the platform.on which the pulpit
was raised, after the conquest of the city by Lysander,, when it
fronted the Acropolis, and had no view of the sea. ‘The ground
has been cleared away in severa] parts, so as to show other por-
tions of the same wall, by the activity of Lord Elgin’s agents,
who would have obtamed much praise, and escaped a good deal
of obloquy, if they had confined themselves to such labours and
researches,
Just above the stone platform 18 the brow of the hill, whence
there is a view of the Pirzeus, the peninsula of Munychia, and the
whole line of coast. The west side of Lycabettus falls, by an
easy descent, into the large plain of Athens. Ccele, the area of
Pnyx, the sides and summits of Lycabettus, are ploughed up and
cultivated, where there is any soil on the rock. ‘They were co-
vered with the green blades of wheat and barley, as early as the
month of January; and, on the clear warm days which often
occur in the depth of an Athenian winter, swarmed with trains of
$14 LETTER XXII.
Greek and Turkish females, clothed in their bright-coloured hoods
and mantles, some strolling about, others sitting in circles, with
their children playing on the Turkish guitar, and dancing before
them. As the season advances, many of the poorer sort of wo-
men are seen in these corn-grounds, picking the wild salads and
herbs, which constitute so material a part of their diet during the
long fasts of the Greek church.
In the middle of February, the corn was a foot high, and then,
to crop its luxuriance, the horses of the ‘Turks were tethered in
the fields, amongst the standing barley, and were continued in
the pasture for a fortnight or three weeks.
Nothing can be more full of life than the picture to be viewed,
particularly on this side, close to the walls of Athens. A pleas-
ing object, and one which I have often encountered in my ram-
bles near the town, was a ‘well-drest boy, generally a ‘Turk,
leading, in a coloured string, a favourite ram*, whose horns were
crowned with flowers, and sometimes playing or struggling with
him, in an attitude often represented by ancient sculptors. It is
usually towards the Bairam, the Mahometan festival, and the
Christian carnival, that these pretty animals are thus adorned,
previous to their sacrifice. ‘The children attending their mothers
in their walks, are also often followed by tame lambs.
To return to our survey: on. your way from the city-gates
towards Pnyx, before you come to the side of the hill, there is
on the right hand, an assemblage of low crags, separated from
* Poukeville says, that in the Morea the shepherds will call a ram Tityrus!
If he were to travel in Ireland, he would as gravely swear that the peasants of
that country call a pig ‘* Horace,” and without being far from the truth,
LETTER XXII. 315
Lycabettus by a small gap in the rocks. On these crags is a little
Greek chapel, and at the lower end of them, towards the Areo-
pagus, is a smooth descent, which has been worn even and slip-
pery, by the effects of a singular persuasion prevalent amongst
the females of Athens of both religions—the married women con-
ceive, that by sliding uncovered down this stone, they increase
their chance of bringing forth male children; and I saw one of
them myself at this exercise, which appeared to me not only dis-
agreeable, but indeed rather perilous.
Above the steps of Pnyx, keeping rather on an ascent to
the right for a hundred paces, you reach the highest part of Ly-
eabettus, where there is a windmill; on which spot, as Chandler
was informed by an eye-witness, the Venetians, in 1687, placed
four mortars and six pieces of cannon, when they battered the
Acropolis *.
To the south of the steps of Pnyx, lower down, but at no
great distance in the side of the hill, are the three artificial exca-
vations, looking hike square caves, conjectured by Chandler to be
the sepulchres of Cimon the father of Miultiades, and of his
mares, thrice victorious at the Olympic games. When Lycabet-
tus was supposed to be the Areopagus, these were thought to be
the prisons of that court, and are so laid down in the plan of
Athens attached to the Atene Attica of Fanelli.
Descending from the Cimomian sepulchres into the hollow val-
ley, Cole, you arrive at the rocky ascent just under the Acro-
* The same traveller places the Persian camp on this spot; but Herodotus,
lib. viii. Urania, cap. 52, expressly says, that it was on the mount called by
the Athenians “ the Hill of Mars.” The fact is, that what Dr. Chandler calls
a part of Lycabettus, was thought by early travellers to be the Areopagus.
316 LETTER XXII.
polis, covered with tomb-stones, one of which 1s erected to the
memory of a pious Mussulman, who has also a tomb at Con-
stantinople and at Smyrna, and is believed occasionally to revisit
the earth, and appear amongst the true believers.
Turning again to the right (south-west), and having the Acro-
polis at your back, you proceed, for a short time, over a flat,
now ἃ corn-ground, and then begin to ascend a steep hill, sepa-
rated from Lycabettus by a rocky hollow, through which there 15
a path from the Pireus to the city. ‘his hill, much higher than
Lycabettus, is that once called the Muséum, a half cannon shot
from the Acropolis; and, on the top of it, is the monument,
visible at a great distance, going by the name of the tomb of
Philopappus*.
What is now seen of this structure is of very white marble,
the substructure of which being partly above ground, gives it a
height of twelve or thirteen feet. Its form is that of a very elip-
tical curve; and the concave part of the ruin, looking towards
the Acropolis, contains two oval niches, in each of which there
is astatue, one of them (that on the mght) being seated ina
chair. A square column is between the two niches, and the base
of this pilaster represents, in very prominent figures, as large as
life, a person drawn in a chariot by four-horses, with a procession
in front, and a Victory following. The figures have all lost their
heads, and the horses’ legs are broken ; but the sculpture, though
* Philopappus lived in the time of Trajan, and it is thought probable, from
part of an inscription containing the words, ‘‘ King Antiochus, son of King
Antiochus,” and from Pausanias (Attic. p.46), who calls this the tomb of a
Syrian, that he was a descendant of the Kings of Syria, settled by Pompey at
Rome.
LETTER XXII1. 317
of a late date, is very bold and animated. To the nght the mo-
nument is entire, but, to the left, in ruins; the marbles compos-
ing it jutting out, so as to form a set of steps for any one who
may wish to climb to the higher part of it, and view the orna-
ments more closely. The part destroyed, it is thought, contained
a third niche, and completed the structure ; the remaining por-
tion seems in such a condition as to be likely to fall with the first
earthquake. Many parts of the marble are covered, not to say
defaced, with names of travellers. The name of an artist, Ro-
maldi I think, who travelled with Mr. Dodwell, is, with an un-
pardonable vanity, written up in half a dozen places. A picture
taken from this spot, would comprehend all the south-west of the
city, and, with the annexed sketch, complete the view of Athens.
Here the Venetians, under Morosini, had also a mortar, and
one of the bombs fired from it was fatal to some of the sculpture
on the west front of the Parthenon. ‘The same spot had been
before selected, as a position calenlated to overawe the city, by
Antigonus and Demetrius Poliorcetes, who fortified its summits.
The Muséum contains nothing else worthy of notice, except
two sepulchral cavities, much of the same kind as those of Del-
phi, scooped out on the south side of the hill.
Passing down from the Muséum towards the Acropolis, and
keeping a little to the right, you come into a flat piece of ground,
which stretches along the southern rocks of the citadel, and was
that portion of ancient Athens called ‘‘ the Ceramicus within the
City,” but is now ploughed, though but with little advantage to
the husbandman, as the soil is very thin, and covered in many
places with small fragments of marble, and other ruins of ancient
buildings ; a circumstance no one wil wonder at, who has looked
ἐν:
318 LETTER XXII.
into the mention made of this portion of ancient Athens by Pau-
sanias*. In this place we were shown several marks of late ex-
cavations, undertaken chiefly by Lord Elgin, who had the good
fortune to find there a stone with an inscription, in elegiac verse,
on the Athenians who were slain at Potidea.
At about a furlong and a half from the foot of the Acropolis,
the plain of the Ceramicus 15 terminated by the small gravelly
channel of the Ilissus, a river, as Boccace calls the Sebeto,
“5 quanto ricco d’onor tanto povero d’acque ;” and which, during
our winter at Athens, notwithstanding some rain and snow, was
never swelled even into a temporary torrent. ‘The channel, how-
ever, may not in former times have been always so entirely dry ;
for water is discovered, ata little depth, by digging into the
stony bottom, which may be more shallow now than formerly,
and choked up by the accumulation of the surrounding ruins.
But the Ilissus, if full to the margin, could never have been
more than an insignificant brook-+-.
Going directly from the Muséum towards the Acropolis, in
order to pass close under the rock, you arrive at the western
angle of the hill, and at once see the remains of the theatre built
by Herodes upon the site of the Odéum of Pericles. These are
not of marble, but of stones of large dimension, and preserve
exactly the same appearance as when described by Dr. Chandler
forty years ago. ‘The entrance to the area of the ruin is still
* Attic. p. 7, begianing τὸ δὲ xwpiov ὁ Κεράμεικος.
+ I see, that on the strength of these pools of water, to which the Albanian
women of Athens resort to wash their clothes, Mr. Chateaubriand attacks Dr.
Chandler, who laughed at the traveller Le Roi, for representing the Ilissus as
fine flowing river, with a respectable bridge across it,
LETTER XXII. 319
from the citadel, to which one of the walls, formerly the inner
one of the Proscenium, serves as an outwork. What is to be
seen of the seats of the Amphitheatre, which, in order to make
use of an advantage frequently resorted to by Grecian artists, are
scooped out of the side of the hill, is chiefly on the right or west
side of the area, the falling rubbish and mould having blocked
up those on the other parts of the semicircle. The cord of the
arc is about eighty-two long paces.
This, though the original building was of great magnificence,
is not a striking ruin, but of a very stable construction, and has
served asa model for the study of architects. The very little
depth of the scene shows the use to which the theatre was put ;
not for the representation of plays, but for the contests in music
at the Panathenzan festivals. ‘The three rows of arched windows,
one above the other, seem more in the Roman than in the Gre-
clan taste.
As you proceed from the Odeum by the rugged track close to
the foot of the Acropolis, in the same direction (to the east), the
naked rocks, crowned with the projecting battlements of the cita-
del, are seen high above you to the left. ‘There is some soil and
sloping crags about half way up the hill, to which point you can
climb, but above this the rocks rise perpendicularly, and are
inaccessible.
A hundred paces from the Odéum, there is to be seen, half
hidden in the cliff, what looks like the foundation arches of a pro-
jecting part of the fortress above. ‘They have been thought part
of an ancient portico leading to the Music ‘Theatre. :
Unless directed to observe them, you would hardly notice these
ruins, nor would you pay much attention to the site of the Theatre
Tt 2
320 LETTER XXII.
of Bacchus, which occurs at a little distance from the south-east
angle of the Acropolis, were it not for the ancient vestiges placed
on the rocks above. ‘The circular sweep of the seats, indented
into the side of the hill, is scarcely perceptible, nor did I observe
the stone-work at the extremities, extant in Chandler’s time.
But some of the monuments above the Amphitheatre still remain
Three pilasters of the Corinthian order, supporting an entabla-
ture, are standing against the flat mouth of a large cave in the
side of the hill, which is now closed up, and converted into a
church, dedicated to Panagia Spiliotissa, or Our Lady of the Ca-
vern. Over the middle pilaster is an inscription, above which
the architrave has some relievos of laurel-wreaths; on the top of
the whole, in the middle, was the statue, sedent, thought by
Stuart to be the personification of the people, from the word
ΔΗΜΟΣ in the inscription to the right, and considered by Chandler
to be the statue of Niobe*; but at last determined by my Lord
Elgin, who has placed it in his museum, to be the image of the
bearded, or Indian Bacchus. ‘The statue had no head so early as
1676, and is dressed ikea female}. His Lordship has also taken
away the very ancient sun-dial which was to the left of the statue.
Above the cave, and in a position which requires some climb-
ing to reach, just under the walls of the citadel, are two Corin-
thian pillars, one, three or four feet lower than the other, standing
without any other structure attached to them, and having trian-
gular capitals, formerly the bases of tripods.
Leaving the Theatre of Bacchus, you descend to the modern
walls of the town on your left, close to which the ground is
® Pausan. Attic. page 37.
+ Whether there are any signs of a beard detached from the head, I know not.
LETTER XXTt. 39T
ploughed and sowed, and then arrive at one of the gateways,
whence there isa road that leads south of the plain towards Cape
Colonni, the Sunium promontory. At a few paces to the left
of this road, near the gateway, is a circular pavement, an aloni,
or corn-floor, of the kind so commonly seen in Greece.
Beyond this gate the walls project, aud you have to pass round
an angle of them, in order to arrive at a. ruin of inconceivable
magnificence directly before you to the east.
After leaving the walls, and passing over corn-grounds, rugged
and interrupted by ravins, at about a furlong distance, you come
to a flat paved area, evidently artificially raised, as may be seen
from some foundation walls on the eastern side, and towards the
channel of the Ilissus, which passes at a hundred paces to the
south. On this stand the sixteen fluted Corinthian columns, of
the building finished by Hadrian, called by some the Pantheon,
and by others the ‘Temple of Jupiter Olympius. heir site is
exactly indicated by the pillars at the left extremity of the ad-
joined picture.
The stupendous size of the shafts of these columns, (for they
are six feet in diameter, and sixty feet in height), does not more
arrest the attention of the spectator than the circumstance of there
being no fallen ruins on or near the spot, which was covered with
a hundred and twenty columns, and the marble walls of a temple
abounding in statues of gods and heroes, and a thousaud offerings
of splendid piety. About fifty years ago there was another co-
lumn standing, which was thrown down to build a mosck near the
market-place, and so entirely removed, as not to have left a single
fragment of its marble on the area below. ‘Two of the columns
fronting the east still support their architraves; and the remains
399 7
I24 LETTER XXII.
of a small modern cell of common stone, which, as Chandler ob-
served, must have been erected when the tops of the pillars were
accessible from the surrounding ruins, are still seen above the
capitals of the two next to the Ilissus. ‘To this the Greeks and
Turks direct your attention, and declare it to have been the habi-
tation of a Saint; alluding to a hermit of the sort called Stylites,
whose conspicuous penances were once not uncommon in many
parts of Christendom. In the tenth century, there was anothe:
instance of these voluntary mortifications at Patrass, where a
being, who preserved only the figure of man, was seen on the
summit of a column, fixed, without motion, for ten years, sup-
ported by the bread and the water daily administered to him by
the charity of another holy monk, afterwards the famous St. Luke
of Stiris.
The solitary grandeur of these marble ruins is, perhaps, more
striking than the appearance presented by any other object at
Athens, and the ‘l'urks themselves seem to regard them with an
eye of respect and admiration. 1 have frequently seen large par-
ties of them seated on their carpets in the long shade of the
columns.
At about fifty paces from the western side of the area on
which the ruins of Hadrian’s ‘Temple are standing, there is a path
that leads to the channel of the Ilissus, and conducts you into a
wide rocky ravin, close to the bed of the river. Here, after rain,
are some pools of water in the hollows, which are frequented by
the poor women of Athens for the purpose of washing clothes.
Just above the ravin are the ruins of a Turkish fountain; and,
near this, isa pulpit of white stone, whence the Imaums, on par--
ticular occasions, harangue the assembled multitude.
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LETTER XXII. $23
In the month of March, on the year of our visit, an extraor-
dinary drought had alarmed the Athenians for their future har-
vest: prayers and holy rites were performed in this place for nine
successive days, three of which were devoted particularly to the
Mahometans, three to the Christians, three to the strangers and
slaves. ‘I'he people were collected in the ravin, on the corn-fields,
and under the columns. ‘I'he Mahometan priest supplicated for
all, and the whole assembly, of all conditions and persuasions,
were supposed to join in the prayers; but it was contrived bya
little address, that the animal creation should appear to second the
entreaty of the Turks, for, just as the turbaned worshippers bowed
themselves with one accord to the ground, and called upon the
name of their gad, tho lambs of a large flock collected near the
spot, who had just at the instant been separated from the ewes,
began to bleat, and were answered by their dames. I know not
that any one was deceived by the scheme, but the devouter Muse
sulman may perhaps have believed that the distresses of the sheep
were just as worthy to be made known, and as likely to move the
compassion of the deity, as the complaints of the Christians.
The ruined fountain seems to have been once supplied by the
stream that now flows through artificial channels in the ground
into the town, and is collected into two large reservoirs, at a quar-
ter of a mile to the north of the ravin. A small stream, either
the overflowings of the reservoirs, or a scanty spring rising. in the
bed of the river, is generally seen to trickle down the crags, until
lost in the gravelly bottom of the Ilissus. This spring has still
preserved its ancient name of Callirhoé, and the inhabitants of
that part of Athens which stretches towards the columns of Hadri-
an’s ''emple, and is the quarter of the Albanians, are called in the
944, LETTER XXII.
songs of the peasants, Callirhiotes, from their custom of frequent-
ing these pools in the bed of the Llissus. Callirhoé once supplied
the large marble reservoir in this dell, constructed by Pisistratus,
the apertures of whose nine pipes, which gave it the name of En-
neacrunus, were visible not many years ago, but are not at pre-
sent to be discerned.
The small Ionic 'lemple, standing forty years past on the other
side of the Ilissus, at a short distance further up to the east, and
determined by travellers to be the Eleusinium, where the lesser
mysteries were performed, has now disappeared, but a shaft or
two of a column is seen, wedged into the wall of a little Greek
church near the spot, which may belong either to that Temple
or to that of Diana Agrea, ance also on nearly the same
position.
Following the channel of the Ilissus, about a furlong higher up
you reach the site of the marble Stadium of Atticus Herodes.
Nothing now remains of this costly structure, except some rub-
bish, and many pieces of marble raked up by the plough, yet
the cavity artificially formed in the side of a low hill still pre-
serves the ancient shape, that of an oblong horse-shoe, of this
ancient place of exercise; and the area, which is now a corn-
ground, having been measured, has been found to be contained
in anarc of six hundred and thirty English feet. But this does
not allow for the marble-work, nor for the seats, one row of which
may have advanced into the body of the Stadium. Not far from
the top of the Stadium, in the slope of the circular range of seats,
is ἃ cavern, which, after one or two windings, leads out into the
open country at the back of the hill. In this there are no marks
of arch-work, or any species of masonry, yet its position has led
LETTER XXII. 325
former investigators to consider it the private way by which the
principal spectators entered, and the unsuccessful candidates in the
games retreated from, the area.
On visiting this cavern, your recollections of past times would,
for a time, give way to reflections caused by the sight of some
present objects. ‘I'he first day I visited the place, I observed a
flat stone in the side of the rock, strewed with several bits of co-
loured rag, broken glass, flour, and honey, and a handful or two
of dry pease. As I was going to examine them, a Greek in com-
pany exclaimed, ‘* Don’t touch them, Affendi, they are the
Devil’s goods—they are magical.” On enquiry, he assured me
that some old women of Athens, well known to be witches, came
often to this cavern in the dead of the night, and there performed
their incantations, leaving these remnants for offerings to the evil
spirit. Another person most seriously informed me, that this was
not all, for that these same enchantresses had been often seen
during a midnight storm, skimming off the foam of the sea where
it rolls against the long pebbly beach, near the ancient port of
Phalerus. ‘These witches, (a decrepid creature was pointed out
to me as one of them), are hated and feared by Greeks and
Turks, and make use of their supposed art to extort charity from
the credulous and terrified females of both nations.
Crossing the bed of the Ilissus, at the spot where the marble
bridge, (of which there is not now a vestige left), leading from
the Stadium to the other side of the river, once stood, and leav-
ing the Corinthian columns to the left, in order to return to the
city, you pass over some rough uneven ground, ploughed where
there is any soil, and in many places strewed with small pieces of
marble, the remnants of New Athens, or that addition to the
vu
326 LETTER XXII,
old city which was built by the Emperor Hadrian. Keeping a
little to the right, you strike into one of the roads to the town, in
which continuing a short time, you come to where it divides, one
branch going to a gateway not far from the columns, and the
other passing nearer to the foot of the hill Anchesmus, whence
the view is taken, to another gateway. The first of these is
formed by a marble archway, called Hadrian’s Arch, from the fa-
mous Greek inscriptions on the frize above, showing it to have
been one of the boundaries between Old and New Athens. The
part of the structure above the frize, presenting a fagade, with
two small columns, and other ornaments of the Corinthian order,
is supported by the arch, and, being out of reach, is not much
injured.
The other gateway, to the north, in the walls of the modern
city, which in this part stand nearly on the site of the old walls
before the Peloponesian war, is covered by a flat piece of carved
marble, that, in the year 1765, constituted the frize and archi-
trave of the remains of a marble facade, consisting of two [onic
columns, and a small portion of the arch that stood at the foot
of the hill Anchesmus, and denoted the position of a reservoir
collecting the waters of an aqueduct, begun by Hadrian and
finished by Antoninus Pius. The letters IMP. CAESAR. T. AELIVS,
and the word cONSVMMAVIT, underneath, may be easily read
from below, but the intervening line in smaller characters,
AVG. PIVS. COS. 111. TRIB. POT. II P. P. AODAEDVCTVM IN NOVIS,
requires @ nearer inspection. The stone containing the remainder
of the inscription, supplied by early travellers, is now no where
to be found.
LETTER ΧΧΓΙ͂Ι. 327
No other antiquity occurs without the modern city, except the
shaft and capital of one column of the Corinthian order, just at
the outside of the suburbs to the north-west, between the gate
looking towards Thebes, and that near the ‘Temple of Theseus.
Whether this column may not be the only remaining vestige of
the ruin considered part of the Prytaneum, and having, in 1738,
ten columns yet standing, and a marble wall (represented in the
Ruins of Athens) I cannot at all decide; but I was told that
there had been, not many years past, an antiquity of some im-
portance on the spot, and that a Greek church had been pulled
down lately, which stood upon the same area. This may have
been the church of Great St. Mary, mentioned by Chandler.
The antiquities to be seen within the town, are the choragic
monument of Lysicrates, the Temple of the Winds, and the
Doric Portico, or the portal of the new market-place. It is sin-
gular enough, that the two last of these should not be mentioned
by Pausanias, and, although too considerable to be overlooked as
insignificant, be still a portion of the comparatively few remains
to be seen at this day.
The peripteral ‘Temple, with a dome supported by six fluted
Corinthian columns, or the monument of Lysicrates, called by
the modern Greeks and (after them) by travellers, the Lantern
of Demosthenes (®avapi του AnuooSevovs), which is situated under
the eastern extremity of the Acropolis, and supposed to be in
the line of the ancient street of the ‘Tripods, is the less subject
to injury, on account of being attached, as before mentioned, to
the Capuchin convent. The good Padre has divided it into two
stories ; and the upper one, just capable of holding one student
at his desk, serves as a small circular recess to a chamber at the
σὰ ὦ
aD € τ
328 LETTER XXII.
left wing of the convent, from which it is separated by a curtain
of green cloth. Only half of this structure, which, like other
monuments of the same kind, was only designed as a pedestal for
a consecrated tripod, is to be seen from the street, the remaining
half of it being inciosed within the walis of the garden, and of
the convent itself. ‘The intercolumniations of stone, a modern
addition, take away from the effect originally produced by the
elegant proportions of this monument ; but you would be pleased
with its excellent state of preservation, notwithstanding its very
great antiquity, which may be dated so far back as the second
year of the 111th Olympiad, 330 years before the Christian era.
An exact model of it was, some years ago, constructed and
placed at the Louvre, and casts of the whole monument, with
those of the minute sculpture on the circular architrave, have lat-
terly been taken by my Lord Elgin’s artists. ‘The shape of the
choragic monument of Lysicrates, can alone account for the
strange appellation attached to it by the moderns; and it appears,
that an antiquity of the same description, also in the direction of
the street of the Tripods, standing in the middle of the seven-
teenth century, was known by the name of the Lantern of Dio-
genes.
‘The monument of Andronicus Chyrrestes, or the octagonal
tower called the Temple of the Winds, placed in an obscure part
of the town, and very likely to be overlooked, is much in the
same state as described by the writers of the last century. It is
far from being a striking piece of architecture, and the pyramidi-
cal form of the roof, together with the figures representing the
eight winds, are of a very heavy kind of sculpture ; besides
which, the marble of the building has become so dark by age,
LETTER XXiI. 329
as to look like coarse black stone. The wind Zephyr, a winged
youth, scattering flowers from his bosom, is the figure now most
entire. ‘This portion of the octagon fronts the lane (for it does
not deserve the name of a street), and is the only conspicuous
part of the monument visible to those who are not within the
court-yard of the house in which it is inclosed. ‘The religion of
the Mahometans, like that of the Christians in other instances,
has helped to preserve this fabric; for the interior of it has for
many years served asa place of worship for the turning Der-
vishes, who perform their ceremonies every Friday, and a speci-
men of whose holy exercises we had an opportunity of witnessing
at Constantinople.
The Doric Portico, which, from an. inseription on the archi-
trave, has been called the fagade of a temple dedicated to Au-
gustus, is on the left hand of a yard attached to the Waiwode’s
house ; and part of the building being hidden within the court of
a neighbouring dwelling, only one of the four fluted Doric co-
lumns composing this. ruin, is to be seen from the street, and
without getting into a private house belonging to a'Turk. The
proportions of these columns are much larger than those of the
Thes¢um, but their marble is not of so fine a colour, being
almost black.
The conjecture of Chandler, that this portal served as an en-
trance into the new Agora, built, after the destruction of the
old one, on the other side of the Acropolis, by Sylla, received,
in the opinion of that traveller, much support from the inscribed
marble still to be seen in the walls of a house, to the left hand,
close to the ruin, which contains, in very legible characters, some
regulations of the Emperor Hadrian’s, with respect to the exporta-
eed
350 LETTER. XXIiT.
tion of oil; but although this marble is of considerable size, it
may still have been brought from any other part of the town,
and can hardly be said to determine any thing with respect
to the remains, to which it is now, perhaps accidentally, ad-
joining.
This concludes my notice of the stable antiquities of the town
of Athens; but before I proceed to conduct you to the Acro-
polis, it would be as well to remark, that there are many de-
tached pieces of carved stone, and marble, inserted in the walls
and over the doorways of the modern houses, which arrest the
attention of any one who walks the streets, besides such a variety
of portable curiosities, as would require more skill and learning
than I am possessed of, usefully to illustrate.
These are generally about a foot square, and adorned with
small, and not highly finished sculpture, some representing a pro-
cession, others a man sedent, with another standing, who has
hold of his right hand, taking the last adieu, and having the
χαῖρε underneath. ‘There are many with single figures in the
same bas-relief, well executed, containing the name of the dead ;
one of them, indeed, which I saw, had not only the name of the
deceased, and of his father, but, what is very uncommon, of his
trade. A most perfect specimen of the usual subject, the vexps-
δεῖπνον, or funeral supper, is in my possession. It contains two
figures of men recumbent on a couch, under which is a coiled
serpent in the act of raising himself, perhaps denoting the cause
of the death of the deceased, or an Esculapian emblem; a female
sedent at the foot of the bed, is presenting a cup; and a boy, in
the farther end of the piece, in a spirited and elegant attitude,
seems to have been pouring out wine in a flagon. The head of a
LETTER XXII. 331
horse, the animal sacrificed to Pluto, is very prominent in a small
compartment by itself in one corner of the sculpture.
Besides these sepulchral monuments, there are lying in the
courts of many of the houses, the small marble pillars, a foot or
two in length and four or five inches in diameter, which were the
Στῆλαι erected over the ancient tombs, and containing inscrip-
tions sometimes, but oftener the simple name, or at most the
name of the tribe to which the dead belonged: there was one
lying in the yard of our lodgings. A great many of them, with
their tops rudely carved into the shape of a turban, are stuck up
on the graves in the ‘Turkish burying-grounds, especially in that
between the rock of the Acropolis and the Muséum.
Fragments of statues, pedestals, capitals of columns, are still
to be seen in the walls of the buildmgs; but the most valuable
specimens have been removed by collectors. The sun-dial, and
the Gymnasiarch’s chair, were taken by Lord Elgin from the court
of the Catholicon, where they stood in the time of Chandler.
The marble cistern, or Attic measure for liquids, is yet re-.
maining in the yard of the archiepiscopal house.
Notwithstanding the eager researches, and the extensive col-
lections of all travellers, learned and unlearned, there are still
daily discovered in Athens and its neighbourhood, particularly
at the Pireus, many smaller antiquities, which are very interest-
ing to any person even moderately versed in ancient literature.
We had the opportunity of seeing many lately-found vases (of
that kind for the honour of whose invention the ‘Tuscans have
been made the competitors with the Greeks), which, though not
so large as those collected from. the excavations of Lord Elgin
at Athens, in the supposed tombs of Antiope and Euripides, and.
$32 LETTER XXII.
at Aigina, Argos, and Corinth, were yet very beautiful speci-
mens of the arts, and, besides, suggested one: or two curious facts.
In one of them, a foot perhaps in diameter, and half full of burnt
bones, was a small thin strip of iron, on which was carved the
name and the family of Solon. J am not aware that this record
of the dead has before been noticed in the sepulchral vases.
The figures on the outside of another vase, much. less, - but
more perfect, which were (as Mr. Lusieri remarked to me) de-
signed, though with the greatest freedom, and perhaps by the
hands of a common artist, yet with a spirit and truth not to be
imitated by any modeyn artist, represented Charon ferrying two
shades over the Styx ; and it was observable, that his boat was,
to the nicest point of resemblance, exactly the same in shape as
that now in use at Constantinople.
Small busts and fragments of statues are not unfrequently dug
up in the grounds in the neighbourhood, or found in the wells.
Some of the latter, lately discovered, show faint traces of colours,
and prove beyond doubt, what late writers have endeavoured to esta-
blish, that the earlier ancients had the practice of painting their sta-
tues* ; which, though it may seem extraordinary, is not so much
so, as that some of them should be composed of various mate-
rials, marble, wood, ivory, and gold: however, we know this to
* A.L. Millan, in his memoir ona bas-relief of the Parthenon, notices this fact,
observing, that the ground of the statues was generally blue, the hair and some
parts of the body gilt; and the most accomplished antiquarian of the age, ina
late magnificent work printed by the Dilletante, has treated of the same subject,
and would be consulted with great advantage by every scholar and man of taste.
+ The Minerva of the Platzeans, made from the Marathonian spoils, had a
a face, hands, and feet (the work of Phidias) of marble; the other parts of
the statue were of gold and wood.—Paus. Beeot.
LETTER XXII. 533
have been the case, as well as that their figures were dressed in
different suits of materials, which were sometimes changed or
embellished on particular days. ‘The eyes of most of the marble,
and of nearly all the bronze heads, were of some sparkling stone,
or else were tinged with a sort of encaustic colouring. Pausanias
speaks of a statue of Minerva, that had sea-green eyes, like Nep-
tune; indeed, it.does not seem at all improbable, that the epi-
thets of Homer and Hesiod were strictly attended to, in the con-
firmation and colouring of the representations, afterwards con-
structed by the Grecian sculptors, of their numerous divinities,
Amongst other small antiquities discovered (as almost, all of
them are): by excavating tumuli, I recollect being shown a. Flora
of so singular a sort, as to establish, perhaps, the opinion, that the
ancients. were acquainted with the sexual system of plants; for
the upper part represented a female, with her mantle in front full
of flowers, and the lower a male figure *.
Mirrors and other utensils of the toilet, alabaster lacrymato-
ries, or rather those sepulchral phials which either contained
essences, or, perhaps, the cleansing of the bones when washed in
wine and milk, are frequently brought to the city by the pea-
sants, who are aware of the anxiety of the Franks to obtain such
relics, One of them sold me a very beautiful specimen of the
* Τὸ ἄμετρον ὠνδρεῖον ἀντῇ supported the folds of the mantle. This sort of
representation is a favourite sepulchral emblem: I have seen at Athens, a little
Bacchus holding up a large bowl in the same manner. The satyrs on monu-
ments seem a type of this principle—the opposite to that of corruption.
+t See Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, during an excursion in
Italy in the years 1802 and 1803, by Jobn Forsyth, Esq. London, 1813, p. 328;
a work written during a long captivity, which it ought to terminate.
xX X
54 LETTER: XXII.
S's)
first-mentioned curiosity for one piaster. One singular remnant
of ancient times, in my small collection, | cannot forbear to men-
tion: it is a sling-lead, exactly the shape of an almond-shell,
weighing nearly a quarter of a pound*, having on one side the
figure of a thunderbolt, and on the other the word AEZAI (‘lake
this), in very plain letters. Another of these, in the possession
ofan English gentleman, has the word ΦΙΔΙΠΠΩ, “το Philip;”
so that the piece of unlucky humour recorded of Aster, who
inscribed on an arrow— to Philip’s right eye,” was either not very
original, or was afterwards commonly imitated by the witty
Athenians.
The silver tetradrachm, and. a great variety of Athenian and
other coins, may be collected with very little trouble; but for
detailed observations on these and similar objects of curio-
sity, I must refer you to the works of professed antiquarians,
having by the foregoing hints endeavoured to awaken, rather
than to satisfy, your curiosity ; and feeling that. I have been able
to do little more than the pedant, who produced a single brick
as a specimen of a whole building.
* Within seven pennyweights.
LETTER XXIII.
Ascent to the Acropolis—The Pelasgicon—The Cave of Apollo
and Pan—The Entrance of the Citadel—The Propylea—The
Parthenon—The Erecthéum—A Note on Lord Elgin’s Pur-
suits in Greece—The Modern Citadel—The Turkish Garri-
807.
THERE are two roads of ascent to the gate of the
citadel; one over the burying-ground to the left of the Odé.m,
the other up a steep ill-paved path, commencing from about the
middle of the back of the town. ‘There is a wall, making an out-
work to the citadel, on your right hand, all the way as you ad-
vance towards the entrance of the fortress. Just after you enter
the gate of this outwork, there 1s a niche on the nght, where, in
1765, was a statue of Isis. A modern stone fountain is a little
above this, and hither the inhabitants of the citadel come for
water, as there is no well on the hill.
As you proceed upwards, the rock of the Acropolis 15 imme-
diately over your left hand, and there is a little soil at the lower
part of the steep acclivity, which has been ploughed, but now
produces no grain, as the masses of rubbish and large stones
falling from the rocks above, must have rendered all labour abor-
tive. Yet this, as we must give credit to the comments on the
| Xx 2
LETTER XXIIFE.
earlier history of Athens, was the portion allotted to the people.
called Pelasgi, who fortified the Acropolis, and were afterwards
expelled from Attica for their conduct to the Athenian virgins.
The Pelasgicon cannot be more than an acre in extent, and that
spread on the rocky sides of a steep hill; a confined territory for
a people who dared to rouse the vengeance of the Athenians, and
who were thought worthy of a particular execration by the Del-
phian oracle.
On the left hand also, about half way up the hill, is the cave
of Apollo and Pan, which would not be observed, were it not for
the stories of ancient mythology which it calls to mind. It is
small, and by no means deep, and retains nothing remarkable
but two or three square ledges, contrived, most probably, for the
reception of votive tablets. The altar of Pan was raised by
Kvander the Arcadian, in a similar recess in the side of the Pa-
latine hill.
Above this spot, near which the Persians sealed the walls of
the Acropolis, the path climbs the hill, taking a direction rather
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to the left, and you arrive at where a gate in the wall, to the
right, leads out over the Turkish burying-ground: ascending
thence, straight to the east, you come to the first gate of the
citadel, which is furnished with large wooden doors, seldom shut :
passing through this, there is, on your right, a small wooden
building, and immediately, on the same side, you look into the
area of the Odéum.
You pass on upwards to the second gate, the wooden doors of
which are shut at night, and entering, have on your right hand
an open shed, where a guard of ‘Turks is stationed. Advancing
beyond the second gate, you still continue to ascend, but inclin-
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ing to your left, until you see at your right the ruins of the Pro-
pylea, and turning round, pass close under them, to get further
up into tke Acropolis. You turn again to your left, under a
square tower, built partly by the Venetians, partly by the Turks,
out of the mass of marble remains. ‘The lower part of it is now
used as a prison, and has a small iron door of entrance to the
dungeons, but was in 1070 a powder-magazine.
You then pass to the left, at the back of the ruins of the Pro-
pylea, and see three of the five door-ways. originally behind the
columns. of that building, and constituting the ancient entrances
to the Acropolis. ‘The intercolumniations of the colonnade, an
hexastyle, have been walled up, and a terrace, mounted with a
battery of cannon, has been raised on a level with the top of the
pillars, formed of rubbish and the ruins of the roof, cell, and
columns, of the portico of the Propylea, destroyed by the Ve-
netians in 1687.—The 'l'emple of Victory, once on the right of
the Propylea, was blown up in 1656; the last memorial of its
existence was carried away by Lord Elgin, who, from a wall
belonging to a rampart attached to the tower, obtained the frag-
ment of sculpture, supposed by Chandler to represent: the battle
of the Amazons, but decided at last to be the combat of the
Athenians and Persians. But a room, to which the entrance
is through a hole in the wall, and whose roof-is part of the
cell of this Temple, is still notorious for the wonder men-
tioned by Chandler, the miraculous hght*. ‘There was a tower,
corresponding to that on the opposite wing, standing over the
‘Temple of Victory, when Wheler travelled, but this quarter is
now buried under accumulated ruins, and choked up amongst the
* This light is transmitted through a piece of the transparent stone called
Phengites.
o wr ~~ <r - 7
338 LETTER xXxIII.
mean white-washed cottages belonging to the few inhabitants of
the citadel. ‘The painted building (οιχημα Exon γραφας), on the left
wing of the Propylea, is also destroyed, but part of it serves as
a foundation for the tower before-mentioned.
On the right, as you advance beyond the tower towards the
site of the Parthenon, in a poor house, lives the Disdar, or go-
vernor of the castle.
The Parthenon stood on the highest flat area of the hill of the
Acropolis ; and, when the temples on every side of it were stand-
ing, whose ruins now serve as foundations for the modern build-
ings, this magnificent structure appeared to crown a glittering
assemblage of marble edifices; and the eye of the Athenian, sur-
veying from below the fair gradation of successive wonders, rested
at last upon the colossal unage of his Goddess, rising majestic
from the summit of her own Temple, the genius of the Acropolis,
the tutelary deity of Athens and of Greece.
The ascent to the citadel itself was by a long flight of steps,
beginning nearly from the Areopagus. ‘'he very walls of the
fortifications were crowned with an ornamental entabiature, parts
of which still remain ; and these, and every other structure, were
of the purest Pentelic marble. No wonder then that the Acro-
polis, in its whole circuit, was regarded as one vast offering con-
secrated to the Divinity. ‘The portion of the Parthenon yet
standing, cannot fail to fill the mind of the most indifferent spec-
tator with sentiments of astonishment and awe, and the same re-
flections arise upon the sight even of the enormous masses of
marble ruins which are spread upon the area of the Temple. Such
scattered fragments will soon constitute the sole remains of the
Temple of Minerva.
If the progress of decay should continue to be as rapid as it
LETTER XXIII. 339
has been for something more than a century past, there will, in
a few years, be not one marble standing upon another on the site
of the Parthenon. . In 1667, every antiquity of which there is
now any trace in the Acropolis, was in a tolerable state of pre-
servation*. ‘his great Temple might, at that period, be called
entire :—having been previously a Christian church, it was then
a mosck, the most beautiful in the world. At present, only
twenty-nine of the Doric columns, some of which no longer
support their entablatures, and part of the left wall of the cell,
‘remain standing. ‘Those of the north side, the angular ones ex-
cepted, have all fallen: the dipteral porches, especially the Pro-
naos, contain the greatest number, and these retain their enta-
blatures and pediments, though much injured.
In the interval between two of my visits to the Acropolis, a
large piece of the architrave belonging to the exterior colonnade
of the Pronaos fell down; all the sculptures from the tympanum
* The Sieur Deshayes (the first who travelled to Athens, and who saw the
Temple of Victory aimost perfect) in 1625; Nointel and Galland, in 1674;
Spon and Wheler, in 1675 and 1676; Lord Winchelsea in 1676, and Vernon;
all of whom visited Athens previous to the siege of the city by Morosini, saw
the Acropolis, less changed, perhaps, from its ancient state, than it has been
from the condition in which it then stood, in the short period subsequent to the
days of those travellers. Pococke, Lord Sandwich, Leroi, Stuart, and Chan-
dler, beheld only the ruins of ruins, many of which have since perished—etiam
periere ruine. Even M.de Choiseul’s second work, when published, will repre-
sent many remains not at present to be seen, for he travelled in 1784; and
though Mr. Fauvel, who has been occupied at intervals since the year 1780,
in assisting the compilation of Mr. de C.’s Voyage Pittoresque, will be able to
add the description of some smaller antiquities to the account of those before
known, yet very many of the grand monuments of art, for which Athens has
been before visited, have within these ten years disappeared.
340 LETTER XXIII.
of this porch have been destroyed ; and the trunks and broken
arms of two figures, incorrectly supposed Hadrian and Sabina,
or two deities with the heads of those persons, are all now re-
maining of the grand piece of sculpture which represented the
birth of Minerva, and Jupiter in the midst of the assembled
Gods. The figure of the Victory, which was on the right of
Jupiter, has been recovered by Lord Elgin’s agents, who demo-
lished a ‘Turkish house close to the north-west angle of the Tem-
ple, for the purposes of excavation, and found it, as well as small
parts of the Jupiter, the Vulcan, and the Minerva, underneath
the modern building, where they had lain since the Venetians had
unsuccessfully attempted to remove them in 1687*.
Many of the sculptures on the ninety-two metopes of the peri-
style, representing the battle of the Lapithe and the Centaurs,
particularly those on the entablature of the south side, were
almost entire in 1767. I believe there is not one now remaining:
the last were taken down by Lord Elgin.
All that was left of the sculpture on the eastern porch, the
contest between Minerva and Neptune, has been carried off by
the same person. ‘The marks of the separation are still very ap-
parent. Ignorant of the cause, I pointed them out to Mr. Lu-
sieri himself, who informed me of the fact, and showed the places
in the pediment whence the two female colossal statues, the Nep-
tune, the ‘Theseus, and the inimitable horse’s head, still remem-
bered and regretted by all at Athens, had been removed. Such
of the statues as had before fallen, had been ground to powder
* The ropes by which, under the direction of General Koenigsmark, the
workmen were lowering them, broke, and many fine figures were dashed to
pieces. Lord Elgin has reaped the advantage of the sacrilege of the Venetians.
LETTER: ΧΧΙΙΥ. 34)
by the Turks. It is but fair to mention this fact, at the same
time that the other circumstance is recorded.
One hundred and seventy of the six hundred feet of bas-relief
sculpture on the frize of the cell, representing the Panathenzan
procession, remained entire in the time of Chandler. A portion
of it, containing seven figures, was taken down from its situation
by M. de Choiseul Gouffier, and is now in the Napoleon mu-
seum. I know not whether the collection of our Ambassador
contains any of this precious sculpture, too exquisite not to have
been executed according to the design, and under the superin-
tendance, of Phidias himself*. Most part of that portion of it
on the wall of the Pronaos, yet remains; and by means of a
ruined staircase, once belonging to a minaret built against one of
the columns of that portico, I managed to get on the top of the
colonnade, and by leaning at full length over the architrave,
had a sufficiently close inspection of the work to be convinced,
that this sculpture, though meant to be viewed at a distance of
forty feet at least from below, is as accurately and minutely exe-
cuted, as if it had been originally designed to be placed near the
eye of the spectator}. Some equestrian figures are remarkably
entire, and retain to this day the animation and freshness with
which they issued from the hands of the artist.
Within the cell of the Temple all is desolation and ruin; the
shafts of columns, fragments of the entablatures, and of the
* Ictinus and Callicrates were the scholars of Phidias, who were more par-
ticularly the architects of the Parthenon.
+ The learned author, however, of the dissertation prefixed to the great
work lately published by the Dilletante, seems to think, and perhaps correctly,
that the distant effect was alone intended and studied.
at
342 LETTER XXIII.
beams of the roof, are scattered about on every side, but espe-
cially on the north of the area, where there are vast piles of mar-
ble. I measured one piece, seventeen feet in length, and of pro-
portionate breadth and thickness. ‘lhe floor, also of marble,
has been broken up towards the eastern front, and in the south-
east angle of the area, is the wretched mosck, as well as some
stone-work of the Greek church, into which the Parthenon was
formerly converted. A dent in the floor is pointed out as being
occasioned by the shell which blew up a powder-magazine, and
destroyed the roof of the ‘Temple, when bombarded by Morosini.
Besides the vast magnitude of the marbles composing the Par-
thenon, which, perhaps, is more easily remarked in the fallen
ruins than in the parts of the building yet standing, there is an-
other just cause for admiration, in the exquisite care and skill
with which every portion of the architecture appears to have been
wrought. ‘The work on the Ovolos and Cavettos is as highly
finished in the fragments of the enormous cornices, formerly
placed at so considerable a height from the ground, as the minute
parts in the lower portion of the building. The same uninter-
rupted perfection is observable in the flutings of the shafts, in all
the mouldings of the capitals, and particularly in the tambours
of the fallen columns, whose surfaces are smoothed to such a de-
gree of exactness and nicety, as to render the junctures of the
blocks almost undiscoverable.
‘he part of the area the most clear from ruins, is towards the
north-west angle, and the western entrance, where the grooves
in the floor, formed by opening and shutting the folding-doors of
the Temple, are still very discernable. Faint marks of the painted
saints, with which the. Christians disfigured the interior of their
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LETTER XXIII. 3435
Pagan edifice, are just visible on the walls of the south side of
the cell.
Of the Opisthodomos, the Athenian treasury, at the back, or
eastern portico of the Parthenon, there are now no traces to be
seen; but Lord Elgin’s agents discovered some columnar inscrip-
tions, before alluded to by Chandler, of great antiquity*.
Descending from the ruins of the Parthenon to the north, you
pass through a lane or two of white-washed cottages in ruins,
before you come to the remains of the Erecthéum, and the ad-
joining chapel of Pandrosos. In that portion of the Erecthéum
which was dedicated to Minerva Polias, the columns of the front
porch are standing, but without any part of their entablature,
and unsupported by the walls of the cell, the whole of the south
side of which was destroyed during the short war between Eng-
land and Turkey, and now lies in heaps at the back of the columns,
and in the area of the Temple. ‘I'he corner one of these columns,
the best specimen of the Ionic in the world, with its base and
capital, has been removed by Lord Elgin to England. The re-
mainder will soon fall.
The marble of this ruin is of a virgin whiteness, and the work-
mauship, as the structure is very diminutive in comparison with
the specimens of the Parthenon, isa still more exquisite example
than that ‘Temple, of the polish and edge which were given to all
the parts of Grecian architecture. The line of no pencil can
excel the delicate accuracy of contour in the swell of the torus
* The whole length of the Parthenon was two hundred and eighteen feet, and
its breadth ninety-cight feet and a half, reckoning the flight of three steps upon
which the structure was raised. The columns were forty-two feet high. The
Opisthodomos was separated from the anterior nave of the Temple by a wall.
Yy2
3544. LETTER RXTE
aad
and the ornaments of the base; and_the hand, in passing repeat-
edly over the marble, seeks in vain for the slightest inequality, or
even roughness, on the surface.
The proportions of this joint Temple are but small; when nearly
entire, in 1736, the whole building was but sixty-three feet in
length, thirty-six in breadth, and not twenty feet high, but the
Erecthéum is, in its kind, as complete a proof of the genius and
skill of the Greeks as the ‘T'emple of Minerva.
From the columns of the Temple of Minerva Polias you come
to that portion of the building which was dedicated to Neptune
and Erectheus, and where the wall of the cell is still standing,
and, by the help of modern masonry, now serves as a powder-
magazine for the supply of the citadel. Here the pillars support,
in part, their frize and cornice, as highly finished as the bases of
the colunins, but much of the shafts of the columns is hidden by
the modern wall that fills up the intercolumniations. Within the
building, in a part composing the vestibule of the Temple of
Neptune, is some fine architecture, consisting of an Ionic door,
which was designed by Lord Elgin’s artists, but is now not to be
seen.
On passing round the portico, you have on your left the marble
wall of the cell entire; and at the end of this, there is a plece of
plastered wall, now fillmg up the open-work of the small Chapel
of Pandrosos, between the images that yet remain of the famous
Caryatides which supported the entablature of the building.
‘There is one of these images before you come to the corner of the
chapel, and the angular one remains, but the place of the next,
which Lord Elgin has transported to England, 15. now filled up
with mortar, so that there are now only three of the four statues
LETTER XXIII. 345
originally supporting this front looking towards the Parthenon.
One of the Caryatides had been carried away, or destroyed on
the spot, before the year 1736. On the plaster wall, on the west
side of the chapel, these words have been very deeply cut:
QUOD NON FECERUNT GOTI
HOC FECERUNT SCOTI*.
The mortar wall, yet fresh when we saw it, supplying the place
of the statue now 1n the noble Ambassador’s museum, serves as a
comment on this text.
* This eulogy of the Goths alludes to the unfounded story of a Greck his-
torian, who relates that Alaric, either terrified by two phantoms, one of Mi-
nerva herself, the other of Achilles, terrible as when he strode towards the walls
of Troy to his friends, or struck with a reverenual respect, had spared the
treasures, ornaments, and people, of the venerable city.
This may be as good a place as any other, to say a word on the proceedings
of the person whose conduct is contrasted with that of the barbarian.
We heard, I fancy, every thing that could be alleged by either party on
both sides of the question, and being on the spot when the most furious strug-
gles were made by both the French and English to gain their point, may be
better judges of the facts than those who have since. examined the matter at a
distance from the scene of action.
My Lord Elgin’s agents are not accused on account of any of their excava-
tions, or carrying off the numerous articles they discovered by those proceed-
ings: their rifling of ancient tombs, and pulling down modern houses to get
at buried remains, was on all hands allowed to be a fair and laudable proceed-
ing, as was also the modelling of the reliefs and other sculptures. The part of
conduct objected to, was the not being content with the casts, which was all
ihe French wanted or obtained when in power, without the possession of the
originals, and by that means hastening the decay, and defacing the ancient
monuments, so as for ever to diminish considerably the gratification of future
travellers and artists.
The injuries seem to be these :—The taking off the metopes, the statue over
." “ν᾽ ᾿ = ow . ve
340 ; LETTER ΧΧΙΠΙ͂ν
The Erectheum was sacred in the eyes of the ancient Athenians.
and may still be regarded with veneration by the modern travel-
ler, as being the spot where Minerva contended with Neptune;
and the triple building must appear, even to us, in some degree
the Theatre of Bacchus, and the statues of the western pediment of the Par-
thenon ; and the carrying away one of the Caryatides, and the finest of the co-
lumns of the Erecthéum. No other come, I believe, within the limits of cen-
sure—no other marbles were detached.
It may be enquired, what excuse can be offered for such a spoliation? It is
answered, the French De Choiseul Gouffier detached part of the frize of the
Parthenon many years past. Some of the persons employed in collecting
for his museum, and assisting his projects, still remain at Athens, and have the
same views, which nothing but inability have prevented them from accomplish-
ing; they had evena plan for carrying off the whole of the Temple of The-
seus!!! They only complain because they envy our success, and would them-
selves have been masters of the same treasures. To this the others reply,
‘¢ With the exception of De Gouffier, no one of us ever injured the temples—we
have often had it in our power—we went to great ex pence in modelling and de-
signing, which would have been unnecessary, had we resolved to take the ori-
ginals—you, yourselves, when you first seitied here, professed πὸ more; we
looked on without opposing you; we were your friends—you have not only
robbed, but treacherously robbed !’’
The answer is, ** We are no robbers, we bought, and dearly bought, every
article. Admitting your facts, we only took that which would have been de-
stroyed by the Turks, and which was in a state of dilapidation—it was better
the sculptures of the Parthenon should be preserved in a museum in England,
than ground to powder on their own bases—we took nothing from the Theséum,
because it was exposed to no such eminent peril.”
The last retort of the French is, ‘“* The case was the same with respect to
both ; but having been prevented from ruining the latter, you take merit to
yourselves for a moderation which was not voluntary. When you talk of buy-
ing the right to deface the finest remains of all antiquity, you seem to put out
of the question all the proprieties which might in such a case be expected to
regulate the conduct of the artist, thescholar, and the gentleman.”
LETTER! MXILUI. 547
sanctified by the superstition, which believed that each portion of
the 'l'emple retained some undoubted evidence of that memorable
event. ‘I'he heaven-descended statue of the protectress of the
city was religiously preserved in her own fane; the mark of the
trident, and the salt fountain bursting trom the cleft whence the
horse issued from the earth, and where the murmur of the sea was
often to be heard, were long pointed out near the altar of Nep-
This is, as well as I recollect, the sum of every thing adduced on cither
side, and reduces at once the question to the two points—Would the French
have removed, or endeavoured to remove, the ernamental sculptures alluded
to? or, if they would not, were those precious remains likely to have been
speedily destroyed by their barbarian masters?—It is certain, that if the
Turks remain for many more years in possession of Athens, every valuable anti-
quity will be entirely destroyed. But the French contemplate the chance of
Greece being soon attached to the. dominions of Napoleon :—in that case, not
even our nationality would prefer a possession of some of their broken parts
to their integrity in the hands of an enlightened enemy. It is not the vanity of
being the owners of sucha treasure, but the wish to advance the fine arts in
civilized Europe, that.should influence the conduct of any collectors; but
without enquiring into motives, it is pretty evident, that an infinitely greater
number of rising architects and sculptors must derive benefit from these studies,
if they can be pursued in a museum at London or Paris, than if they were to
be sought in the Turkish territories; and surely, we can hardly complain, if
they are to be found in our capital. Present travellers may feel a little morti-
fication, and those who are utterly incapable of appreciating the merit of the
remains in question, wherever they may be fixed, will join in the fashionable
clamour of the day. I have said nothing of the possibility of the ruins of
Athens being, in the event of a revolution in favour of the Greeks, restored
and put into a condition capable of resisting the ravages of decay; for an event
of that nature cannot, it strikes me, have ever entered into the head of any one
who has seen Athens, and the modern Athenians. Yet I cannot forbear men-
tioning a singular speech of a learned Greek of Ioannina, who said to me,
348 LETTER XXIIF.
tune; and the chapel of Pandrosos preserved within its sacred
inclosure, as late as the time of Pausanias, the trunk of the olive
which had given victory to the goddess, and a name to the city of
Athens.
Below the Erectheum there is a battery, where there are two
cannons, which are used by the ‘Turks to announce the Bairam,
or any extraordinary intelligence from the Porte. This battery
immediately overlooks the town, presenting a better view of it
than any other quarter of the Acropolis, and I have seen several
Turkish ladies, on a fine day, walking on this side of the ramparts,
and leaning over the battlements, to enjoy the amusing murmur
that rises from the city below.
The part of the citadel where the modern fortifications are most
entire, is to the east, a few paces below the posterior front of the
Parthenon, where they were refitted about fifty years ago. Look-
ing out through one of the embrasures, you there find yourself
‘¢ You English are carrying off the works of the Greeks, our forefathers—pre-
serve them well—we Greeks will come and re-demand them.”
A curious notion prevailing amongst the common Athenians, with respect
to the ancient statues, is, that they are real bodies, mutilated and enchanted
into their present state of petrifaction by magicians, who will have power over
them as long as the Turks are masters of Greece, when they will. be trans-
formed into their former bodies. ‘The spirit within them is called an Arabim,
and is not unfrequently heard to moan and ‘bewail its condition. Some Greeks,
in our time, conveying a chest from Athens to Pireus, containing part of the
Elgin marbles, threw it down, and could not for some time be prevailed upon
to touch it, again affirming, they heard the Arabim crying out, and groaning
for his fellow-spirits detained in bondage in the Acropolis. It is to be added,
that the Athenians consider the condition of these enchanted marbles will be bet-
tered by a removal from the country of the tyrant Turks.
LETTER ΧΧΙΙῚ 349
at the verge of a very cousiderable precipice, with the Albanian
quarter of the town in the depth below, at a distance which much
diminishes every object.
The craggy cliffs on this side of the citadel afford the most im-
posing view of the Acropolis, and are in appearance so inaccessi-
ble as to strike any spectator at once with the improbability of
the notion entertained by Stuart, and now adopted by Mr, Fau-
vel, of the eastern front having been the principal entrance of the
Parthenon: for, as that fagade is almost immediately over the
rocks, the ‘Temple, if its door was to the east, must have had the
look of-being unapproachable. ‘The first conjecture of Spon,
who ‘saw the contest of the rival deities in the remains of the
figures on the eastern pediment, has not, I think, been shaken by
any late discoveries*. If it should be stated, that the well-
known description in Ovid evidently points at this pediment of the
Parthenon, and that therefore the principal front was on the same
side, it may be answered, that, in describing the contest of Mi-
nerva with Arachne, it was more to the poet's purpose to allude to
the former victory of the goddess than her birth, which was the
subject of the sculpture on the anterior front.
The crevices of the rocks on this side of the citadel contain
the nests of innumerable flocks of daws and crows, which hover
* See the argument stated in Critical Observations on Anacharsis, by M.
Barbié du Boccage, in note to plate xix, representing the two pediments of the
Parthenon, such as they were in 1674.
+ The Scholar who has drawn up an account of Lord Elgin’ Pursuits in
Greece, has decided the ‘“‘scopulum Mavortis” of Ovid (Metam. lib, vi. fab. 2),
not to mean the Areopagus, but the eastern cliffs of the Acropolis.
ZZ
350 LETTER XXIIl.
round the hill, but are thought never to soar above the Par-
thenon™.
You can continue to go round the ramparts to the south of the
Parthenon, overlooking the Theatre of Bacchus, without being
interrupted, except by the ruins of four or five ‘Turkish cottages,
and blocks of fallen masses, until you come nearly parallel to
the western front of the ‘'emple, where the way is completely
* This was an ancient superstition. Dr. Chandler, by no means a credulous
personage, says, that he never saw a crow mount above the summit of the
‘Temple; but the margin opposite to this remark of our traveller, in a copy
lent to me at Athens, contained these words, ‘‘ J’ai vue des milles sur le Par-
thenon.” I affirmed the same to a resident at Athens, a gentleman fond of aus
thorities, who said, ‘¢ ‘he daws you may have seen; not the crows.”
+ Itshould have been remarked, that in Stuart’s Ruins of Athens, the Odéum
is called the Theatre of Bacchus, as it had before been by Wheler, who sup
posed the semicircular area under the cave of Panagia Spiliotissa to have been
part of a Gymnasium constructed by Thrasyllus, and looked upon the remains
of Pnyxas the Odéum; but Dr. Chandler’s opinion has been here followed,
notwithstanding the later authority of the plans of Anacharsis, which adhere
to Stuart’s disposition of the antiquities in question. The only difficulty which
Chandler appears not to have surmounted, is the vicinity of the Odéum to En-
neacrounos, placed by himself in the dell near the [lissus, and, therefore, ne-
cessarily near the south-east angle of the Acropolis, not the south-west angle.
The words of Pausanias are express: πλησίον de (τξ Q’deiz) ess κρήνη καλοῦσι
χαὶ ἀντὴν ΕἸ νγνεώκρουνον. However, the grotto containing the tripod engraved
with the story of Apollo and. Diana slaying Niobe’s children, mentioned by the
same author as being above the seats of the spectators, corresponds exactly
with the chapel of Panagia Spiliotissa, and as I could not observe any cave
(although Wheler did) above the other theatre, seems to me almost to settle the
controversy. The 28th cap. lib. iv. of Meursius’ Attic. Lectiones, collects all
ihe ancient mentions of the Odéum—built by Pericles, burnt by Sylla, and re-
stored by King Ariobarzanes. Atticus Herodes has by some been thought te
have constructed a third theatre.
LETTER XXIII. 351
choked up by large masses of ruins, and a few mean houses, the
beginning of a quarter of the citadel in which the Disdar 15
1 }
lodged
Lig
and some of the soldiers with their families belonging to
the garrison. ‘hese soldiers, called Castriani by the Athenians,
are only one hundred and twenty-five in number, and of these the
greater part, when not on duty, live in the town below. ‘The only
service of the Castriani is, to holloa out several times during the
night, to inform the citizens below of their vigilance, and to fire
the cannon and display the fire-works usual on their festivals,
from the battery under the Erecthéum.
The citadel, which even in modern times was considered a for-
midable fortification, and is called by one writer (Nich Gerbhel*),
‘‘arx munitissima,’ would now be unable to make any resistance.
There are only twenty-seven cannons mounted throughout the
whole fortress, and of these only seven are fit for service. Three
of them are of a great length; they were presented by the late
Sultan Selim, and are placed on the battery over the Propylea.
The Disdar is an officer of no consideration, his pay being only
one hundred and thirty piasters per annum, (his soldiers have only
ten), and he is subject to the orders of the Waiwode of the city.
It is not difficult, in viewing the walls of the citadel, to trace
the Greek foundation, and the Turkish and Venetian super-
structure of the ramparts. On one or two of the parts, where
there was no necessity for modern fortification, the old Athenian
walls are all that are to be seen, and continue the sole defence of
the rock. ‘This is the case on the angle to the north-west, near
the site of the Temple of Victory. In this part Antiquarians have
* Ina book called ** Pro Declaratione Picture sive Descriptionis Sophiani
3 4
libri septem,’” which I have never seen.
oO
ig 7
Z L a
852 LETTER. XxX NILI,
seen, or fancied themselves to have seen, the successive architec-
ture of three different periods, the Cecropian, the Pelasgic, and
that of the age of Pericles.
From every quarter of the Acropolis there are the most agree-
able prospects: that from the top of the Propylea, which looks
towards the Pireus, is the most extensive, but so soft and blended,
in the nearest fore-ground and the farthest distance, as to seem
an unbroken perspective, from the corn-fields, vineyards, and
olive-grounds of Athens, over the long line of coast, and the
smooth expanse of the Saronic Gulf, to the high lands of Salamis
and gina, and the faint outlines of the Peloponesian hills.
The flat space on the rock of the Acropolis is not more than
eight hundred feet in length, and about half as many in breadth * ;
a small extent for the site of the primitive city of the Athenians -,
but an area of great size, when considered as the base only of
temples and marble palaces, containing not a single structure
which might not be justly denominated a masterpiece of Art.
* ΤΊ should be understood, that in the few occasional hints at the proportions
and sizes of some of the Athenian antiquities, I have not quoted from any notes
of my own, but from former details, which may be found to differ with the
measurements of those travellers, whose works I was, at the time of writing
these Letters, unable so consult.
+ On account of its having been the primitive city, the Acropolis continued,
even inthe time of Thucydides, to be called Πόλις, the city. Καλεῖται.
νι ε , ᾿ ~ ’ e \ ? / / . ee
κα! ἢ Αὐκρόπολις μέχρι TBOE ἔτι νπο A’ Sevotwv 7oAts.— Lib. 11, Cap. ὃ;
LETTER XXIV.
The Vicinity of Athens—Climate in Winter—The Gardens—The
Olive-Groves—Method of Watering then—The Site of the
Academy—Route to the Pireus—The Munychian Promon-
tory--Country immediately to the South of Athens.
THE neighbourhood of Athens abounds in pleasant
rides; and the roads, which are numerous, are generally broad
and well beaten. Notwithstanding we were in the country dur-
ing the depth of winter, the weather was never so inclement as
to prevent an excursion on horseback, and scarcely a day elapsed
without our riding to some distance from the city. For this pur-
pose we were furnished with horses belouging to the Post, one of
the few institutions which are well regulated in Turkey ; and before
our final departure, there were, I fancy, very few spots in Attica
with which we were not perfectly acquainted, from repeated visits
during more than two months residence in the city.
Having alluded to the climate, let me observe, that to the
northern constitution of an Englishman the Athenian winters are
not, commonly, so rigorous, as, from ancient accounts, you might
be led to expect. After having found it agreeable to bathe, a
little before Christmas, at ‘Thebes, where a poet of the country
describes the cold to be so excessive as to freeze up the spirits of
all nature, both animate and inanimate, and to inflict upon man
354 LETTER 2XX1LY¥:
himself the miseries of a premature decay *, it will not be sup-
posed that the inclemency of Attica was to us such as to be
severely felt.
T’he winter in this country. generally sets in about the begin-
ning of January, and in the middle of that month the snows
begin to fall. ‘They were a little earlier in 1810, and, being ac-
companied with a strong north-east wind, made the cold rather
unpleasant for two or three days, and drove large flights of wild
turkies and woodcocks into the plain close to the city. After the
snows are down, which seldom are seen for more than a few days,
except on the summits of the mountains, where they remain about
a month, there are three weeks of fine weather, frosty and cold
in the mornings and evenings, but with a clear blue sky, and the
sun shining hotly in the middle of the day. The natives then
wear their warmest pellices, and burn large fires of wood, brought
into the city by the peasants who dwell on the sides of Mount
Parnes. Rain falls, but scarcely ever with any violence, in the
middle of February; and, at the end of that month and the be-
ginning of March, if there is no frost, the north-west wind blows
furiously; I found it to be so high on the 23d, and the two fol-
lowing days of February, as to be unable to walk without great
difficulty; but I cannot say that I experienced that debility, and
those effects on the nervous system, which are said to attend this
much-dreaded tempest, the Sciron of the ancient Athenians 7".
* Hesiod. Epy. και Hy.
+ Pliny «Nat. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 46), talks of the Sciron, as a wind peculiar
to Attica—‘* Ut Atheniensibus Sciron, paulum ab Argeste deflexus, reliqux
Greciz ignotus.”
Baron de Riedesel, in his Voyage au Levant, p. 291, gives Atttica the cli.
LETTER XXIV. 355
The spring commences about the end of the same month, and
at that period, and sometimes earlier in the year, the sky is over-
cast with hot heavy clouds, which settle-on Parnes and Brilessus,
the mountains to the north of Athens, and are the certain signs of
an approaching thunder-storm, and occasionally of earthquakes.
This was the case on the 13th of February. These signs were
known and consulted by the ancient inhabitants of this region,
who, by repeated observation of the summits of their hills, one of
which, Hymettus, is close to Athens, became such adepts in
meteorology, as to regulate their conduct by their prognostica-
tions. A transparent vapour on the tops of Hymettus is accom-
panied by a strong sirocco, or south-east wind, as Τ have myself
observed, and at that time the sky becomes less clear than usual,
notwithstanding there are no black clouds, and the weather,
although the sun is not to be seen, is oppressively warm. Such
part of the marble ruins as are exposed to this wind, are found
to have suffered a more rapid decay than the remainder of the
edifices ; but nothing can be a better proof of the general dry-
ness of the Attic air, than the wonderful state of preservation in
which the most delicate, as well as the most ancient, portions of
the remains are at this day found, after having been exposed to
all varieties of weather for more than two thousand years.
The corn in the plain of Athens, which is cut in May, is very
high at the beginning of March; and then also the vines begin
to sprout, the olive-groves to bud, and the almond-trees, of
which there is a great number in the neighbouring gardens,. are
mate of Petersburgh, and avers, that the snows remain on the mountains eight
months out of the twelve. The Baron was at Athensa week in Aucust; and
no one would think, from perusing his book, that he had been there at all.
3450 LETTER XXIV.
so covered with their white and purple blossom, as to impart their
varied hues to the face of the whole country. ‘The spring vege-
tables may also be procured at that early season, particularly
lettuces, of which a large bundle can be bought for a para.
The region immediately to the north and north-west of the city,
a plain of an irregularly oval shape, is interspersed with small vil-
lages, hidden in shady groves; and the modern Athenians, who are
equally fond with their ancestors of the luxury of a summer retreat,
and who are induced, both by custom and temperament, ‘to prefer
vegetables and fruits to less cooling diet, reckon nearly a thousand
gardens in the circuit of their small territory. 'To many of these
there are attached kiosks, or country-houses, ill-constructed in-
deed, being the lower part. of them of mud, and the upper of
badly jointed planks, but still capable of affording an agreeable
shelter during the intolerable heats of summer. Some of these
gardens are near villages, under the hills at some distance from
the city, such as Kevrishia, the ancient Cephisia, at the foot of
Mount Pentelicus, and Callandri, in the same quarter.; but the
large tract of them is in the long line of olive-groves which form
the western boundary of the plain of Athens. ‘The district wa-
tered by the Cephissus, in the neighbourhood of the site of the
Academy, and the Colonus Hippius, about twenty minutes walk
from the gate leading to Thebes, is to the south called Sepolia,
and to the north Patisia, and is divided into those extensive
grounds which are particularly allotted for supplying the city
with fruit and vegetables, and are for the most part not cultivated
by their owners, but let out to the peasants of the villages. A
large garden of an acre and a half, was pointed out to me as
being let annually for two hundred and fifty piasters.
The olive-groves of Athens are also on this side of the city,
3
LETTER XXIV. 397
but they extend fur beyond Sepolia and Patisia, both to the north
and south, and run in a curved line of seven or eight miles in
length, and of an unequal breadth, from one to three miles, com-
mencing not far from the northern extremity of the range of low
hills called Anchesmus, and ending a mile and a half, perhaps,
from the Munychian promontory. ‘They must have increased,
even in extent, since the time of Chandler, if the description of
that traveller is, as usual, correct; and they told us at Athens,
that the number of trees planted of late years had been very con-
siderable, and having been set too thickly, had much injured the
old woed.
Besides this large olive wood in the plain of Athens, there are
other groves in the neighbourhood of several of the villages ; and
in addition to thirty-six olive-presses-in the capital, there are
eight others in various parts of Attica, of which you will hear in
another place*.
The Cephissus, a sort of ditch-stream, almost dry in summer,
and in winter only a torrent, flowing from Cephissia, under Mount
Pentelicus, passes through the extent of olive-groves and gardens,
each of which it serves, by turns, to water. ‘The watering of the
olive-groves commences the 24th of September, and ends the 6th of
April, and is effected by raising 2 low mound round eight or nine
trees, and then introducing the stream through dykes, so as to keep
the roots and part of the trunks under water for the necessary length
of time. Each owner waters his grove for thirty or forty hours, and
pays a para a tree to the Waiwode, or to him who has farmed the
revenue from that officer. During this period, the peasants con-
There are two at Koukouvaones; one at Menithi: one at Casha: two at
Yerika ; two at Keratéa; villages whose sites will be mentioned hereafter.
Sua
58
struct huts with boughs, and are mutually watchful, both day
and night, neither to lose their own portion, nor allow to others
an unfair abundance of the valuable streams. I have several
times seen their fires amongst the trees; and, as they watch in
parties, and mix, as usual, much mirth with their employment,
have heard the sound of their voices, and the tinkling music of
their guitars, on returning to Athens from an evening’s ride.
The precious water of the Cephissus is the property of the
Waiwode only during the season of watering the olive wood; for
the remaining months the owners of the gardens, in a proportion
settled by long usage, divert the stream into their grounds for
one, two, or three hours, in a week or fortnight, according to
the bargain at which they have hired or purchased their land.
The same jealousy is manifested on this as on the other occasion.
The instant that the stream is turned into the required channel,
a public inspector, who is called ““ Dragatis too nero,” and is
always in attendance, turns his hour-glass, and the gardener also
measures the time in the same manner, other Greeks frequently
being present to prevent coljusion, and cut off the rivulet imme-
diately on the expiration of the stipulated hour. Besides this
periodical irrigation of the gardens, those who can afford to pro-
cure such an advantage, buy water from the owners of several
reservoirs, which have been constructed amongst the gardens,
and on the banks of the Cephissus..
‘Throughout the whole range of the olive-groves and gardens, ἡ
are to be seen small remains, sepulchral stele, shafts of columns,
and particularly the marble mouths of ancient wells, which retain
the deeply-indented marks of the ropes used in letting down
and raising the buckets. A very beautiful specimen of one of
LETTER XXIv. 359
them is now in a large garden at the side of the river, twenty
minutes walk beyond the Colonus Hippius. It is a foot and a
half high, and, near the rim, ornamented with festoons in ele-
gant sculpture, and serves for the mouth of a well, perhaps the
same for which it was originally constructed. ‘The bucket lying
by it isa dried gourd, scooped out, and attached to a rope of
twisted hay.
One might fairly expect to meet with something to satisfy the
curiosity of the antiquarian in every part οἵ this celebrated re-
gion ; for not only Athens, but Attica, was the handywork of
the Gods and ancient heroes*, and no less abounding in the mo-
numents of former splendour than the city itself. Polemo Perie-
getés composed four books, consisting solely of a catalogue of the
gifts dedicated in the Acropolis ; and, says Strabo, it would have
required as many more to mention those contained in the other
parts of the city, and in the towns. Yet, by a perverseness of
fortune, the very supereminence and celebrity of Attica, have
prevented her towns and positions from being so minutely de-
scribed as those of other parts of Greece, and the geographer has
said but little of this territory, because afraid of entering into
too extensive a detail, and of telling what was universally known.
The work of Pausanias informs us, however, of the chapels and
statues, and points out the tombs of the illustrious dead, imme-
diately in the vicinity of the capital, and adds to the gratification
to be enjoyed whilst roaming over the pleasant walks on every
side contiguous to modern Athens.
In passing from the town towards the site of the Academy and
* Hegesias in Strab. p. 396.
SA 2
360 LETTER XXIV.
the Colonus Hippius* (which is now a small rocky eminence, just
out of the olive-groves, about north-north-east from the Acropolis,
with a Greek chapel on it), you would be pleased with the thought,
that you are treading on the graves once filled with the ashes of
Thrysabulus, Pericles, Chabrias, and Phormio+, whose inscribed
monuments, as well as those of all the great men (except the heroes
of Marathon) who fell in battle, were carefully preserved, and
pointed out to the enquiring traveller, many ages subsequent to
the period that witnessed their glorious exploits. ‘They were seen
by Pausanias, in the second century, in the way from the gate
Dipylon to the Academy, and in the gardens, and about the Co-
lonus Hippius: not far from the Academy was also shown at that
time the tomb of Platot. Several temples were erected in and
about the celehrated Gymnasium just mentioned ; but no mate-
rial remains have been discovered in that quarter, although small
fragments of marble have been ploughed up in the corn-fields
now occupying its site.
The gardens of Epicurus, which were on the way to the Aca-
demy, not far from the gate Dipylon, have not left behind them
a single trace of their marble schools, or even of their groves.
The space they covered is now an open plain οἱ corn, rather on
the descent towards the olive woods.
The road leading from Athens to the Pireus, is from the gate
to the north of the Temple of Theseus. A few paces from this
gate, a path going to Eleusis, branches off to the mght from
the main road; and, shortly after, another path, also to the
* To Colonus Hippius Gidipus fled. On it wasa temple of Neptune; it
was ten stadia from the city. Meurs. de Populis Attice. KoAwvoc.
t Paus. Attic. p. 50. + Paus. Attic. p. 58.
LETTER. XXIV. $61
right, striking through the olive-groves to Salamis. ‘The road,
whose direction is about west-south-west, then continues for half
an hour over a corn-plain, skirting the olive-groves to the right,
which it then enters, and continues to traverse a little more than
half an hour, having on the left hand vineyards and gardens, with
here and there a mud cottage. Issuing from the olive-groves, it
passes, on a stone causeway, over a bare plain, in many places
marshy.
In this. part, the long walls may be traced on the right very dis-
tinctly, many large fragments of them being apparent above the
ground. The exact breadth of these walls, which wus sufficient to
allow two carts to pass eachother on the top of them, cannot, I
should think, be found from the remains; but the enormous size
of the single stones would justify a belief in the supposed dimen-
sions of the whole work. They are joined together, like the
marbles of the columns, not with any cement, but with clamps
of iron and lead, which, with their own weight, might have been
sufficient to unite walls even of so great a height as forty
cubits *.
Advancing farther towards. the sea, the ground is more stony,
and the plain in parts uncultivated, and the road ascending a low
rocky hill, brmgs you at once upon the Piraeus, which is called
by the Greeks, Draco, but by the Franks, Porto Leone, an hour
and a quarter’s. walk, as. I found it, from Athens.
Nothing in the present appearance of the Pireeus, would enable
* Tt was originally intended to make the walls eighty cubits in height. The
length of the wall to Phalerum was thirty-five stadia; of the exterior wall of
the city, forty-three stadia; of the long wall to the Pireus, forty; aud of the
wall including Pirzus and the Munychian promontory, sixty..
362 LETTER XXIV
you to suspect that it was once a flourishing port, the emporium
of a great state, itself a city, and abounding with temples, por-
ticos, and other magnificent structures.
The triple port is not very apparent, the recess on the right hand,
the ancient Zea, being like a marsh, and that on the left, Cantha-
rus, towards Munychia, of but little depth. ‘The deepest water is
at the mouth of the third interior port, the Aphrodisus of the old
Pirzus. One does not know what to think of the size of the ships
composing the fleets which were anchored in this basin; and yet
so late as the time of Constantine, two bundred ships of war
were collected in the Pireus. ‘The Athenian fleet cousisted at
one time of three hundred* ships of three banks of oars. We
saw an Hydriote merchant vessel, of about two hundred tons,
anchored in the port, for the purpose of carrying off the Elgin
marbles, and she seemed too big for the station. Yet Wheler
judged it capable of containing forty or fifty of the great ships
of his time, which is sufficient only to convince me, that the
size of vessels has been very much enlarged during the last
century and a half. An English sioop of war was warned that
she would run aground if she endeavoured to get in, and was
therefore obliged to anchor in the straits between Salamis and
the port once called Phoron+. The direction of the harbour
* Meursius Attic. Lect. cap. 1, corrects those places in ancient authors
which mention four hundred.
+ Port Phoron is about fifty minutes walk from Draco, at the other side of
the projecting land which forms the western quarter of the port of Pireus. The
country between is rugged and bare. In a grove of olive trees, on an eminence
not far from Draco, on the left of the path going to Phoron, are some remains
of an ancient wall.
LETTER XXIV. 363
is from north-west to south-east, and the whole length of it, from
the outer mouth to the innermost recess, is not a mile and a
quarter.
There is an inner and an. outer harbour: the entrance to the
inner is made more narrow by stone-work projecting from both
sides of the mouth. At the bottom of the harbour is a wooden
quay; on which there is a poor custom-house, and a magazine for
stores ; on the left, under the rocky grounds of Munychia, is a
monastery dedicated to St. Speridion, together with a wooden
building, formerly used as a warehouse for the goods of the Frank
merchants. Some excavations made at Pireus, especially to the
west of the harbour, on some high rocky ground, have been at-
tended with success, and produced some antiquities in good pre-
servation.
On the 18th of January, my fellow-traveller and myself made
the complete circuit of the peninsula of Munychia. ‘ We passed
round by the monastery. A little beyond this place, winding
by the shore on a stony path, we were shown, on the left hand
above, the seats of a small amphitheatre cut in the rock: conti-
nuing till we came to the eastern mouth of the Pireus, we saw
several very large stones, like part of a pier, built to contract the
inner mouth of the harbour; for there was a similar pier on the
other side, near the water's edge.
The site of the tomb of 'Themistocles is supposed somewhere
in this quarter, and the modern Athenian guides point it out to
you, but it is not very observable. It is a sepulchral excavation
in the rock, without any covering, at the point of a craggy tongue
of land, on the right hand as you sail into the Pireus, probably
the Cape Alcimus, whither the bones of that great statesman and
LETTER XXIV.
general were conveyed from Asia. The tomb was formerly like
an altar™.
We went round the peninsula as near the shore as possible.-—-
Munychia is high and rock capable of cultivation only in a
few spots. Besides the port, the peninsula is indented with
four small bays: above the second, which is opposite to the
island Aigina, are several barrows; the fourth is in a precipi-
tous part of the rock. Stones and rubbish, all that is left of the
habitations with which the whole promontory was once covered,
lie about in heaps on many parts of the surface. ‘The remains of
the fortification may be traced nearly all round, as far as the
port of Munychia; but the eastera side of the third bay shows
the most entire portion of the old wall. ‘The old harbour of Mu-
nychia 15 of a circular form: there are several remains of wall run-
ning into the water, and a piece of pier is to be seen at each side
of the mouth of it; so that the entrance, as well as the whole
port, is smaller than that of Pireus. If the harbour once con-
tained four hundred ships, each vessel must have been a wherry?.
hrection of the port is from south to north. ‘The Munychian
walls cannot be traced farther than the eastern side of the harbour;
to make the circuit of them at a quick foot’s pace, took us just
an hour; and in going round the arc of the whole promontory,
including Phalerum, we were twenty minutes more. ‘The land
between Phalerum and Munychia is high and rocky. On a cliff
between the two ports, we saw a singular excavation in a frag-
> > / Ἃ > Ἂς ~ ,
* Κρήπις ἐστιν ἐυμεγέϑης, καὶ τὸ περὶ ὠυτὴν βωμοειδὲς, τάφος τὸ Θεμιστοκλέες.
—Plut. in Themist. vit. fine.
+ Sylla burnt down the famous arsenal of Philo, in Munychia, 9 αυμαζομένον
ἔργον, says Plutarch, in his Life of that Roman.
LETTER XXIV. 365
ment of rock standing upright, looking like a porch, and having
a pilaster on each side, and cornice above, very rudely cut, or
perhaps defaced. It was seen by Chandler, who compares it to
a sentry-box.
Phalerum is of an elliptical form, smaller than Munychia ; and
the remains of the piers on each side the narrow mouth are to be
seen. ‘I'he line of its length is from east to west, that of its
breadth from north to south. One solitary skiff was moored in
it under the hill, instead of the fifty ships of Menestheus, appointed
for their voyage to the shores of του. On the north-east side
of the port the land is high and rocky, until you come to the fine
sweep of the bay of Phalerum, perhaps two miles in length, and
terminated on the north-east by a low promontory, once the pro-
montory Colias*, where was a temple of Venus, on the site of
which there is now a small church of St. Nicholas, and a spot
called ‘l'res-Pyrge, from some towers not now to be seen; sup-
posed by Wheler to be part of the remains of Anaphlystus.
Ata part of this bay the sea is nearest to Athens, being exactly
south-south-west from the city, but apparently farther than twenty
stadia, the formerly supposed distance. ‘I'he shore of the bay of
Phalerum is shelving, and, in the calmest day, the tumbling of the
waves upon the pebbles produces a loud murmur; a circumstance,
as my fellow-traveller observed to me, that might have made this
beach the resort of Demosthenes, when he wished to accustom
himself to the clamour of a public assembly.
In the bay, not far from the port of Phalerum, a small rivulet
eozes through the sand, which is the only outlet from a fresh-
* The clay from this neighbourhood was preferred to any other for the use of
the potteries,
Q
J 5
366 LETTER XXIV.
water lake and marsh, two miles and a half in length, which 1s
near the shore, and into which, in former times, both the Ce-
phissus and Ilissus used to empty their scanty streams. What
part of the first river is not absorbed in the olive-groves, now
crosses the road to the Pireus into this lake. The lake is now a
favourite resort of water-fowl, and, in hard seasons, supplies the
city with wild geese, ducks, and other aquatic birds. Just beyond,
in the way to the city, begins a long line of vineyards and cotton-
grounds, together with a garden or two, which join the olive-
groves to the west, and to the east have an open plain, divided,
where the soil will bear culture, into wheat-fields. ‘The separa-
tion of the gardens and other grounds is made by mud banks;
the wheat-fields have deep ditches between them. At the point
where the gardens, vineyards, and olive-groves join, to the right
of the shortest road from Pireus, and in what would have been
the road from Munychia, there are large cisterns, a mile and a
half, perhaps, from the city. A country-house or two is near the
spot, belonging, I believe, to those who watch the cisterns, and
furnish the water to the gardens and vineyards.
‘The weeping-willow seen in 1765, or another siinilar tree, still
continues to hang over the principal cistern and the marble fount.
‘The ground to the east of the cisterns, in the way to Athens, is
quite open, and ploughed up every where, till you come to the
back of the hill Lycabettus and the Muséum, when it is, in
parts, too rocky to be tilled. There are two roads from the
cisterns, one leading to the right, by the course of the Ilissus, to
the south of the Acropolis, the other to the great road from the
Pireeus.
In this quarter of the country you may vary your rides in every
LETTER XXIV. 367
direction. From the Pireeus, but especially from Munychia, and
from the vineyards near the lake, the approach to the city 1s very
beautiful; and as the remaining columns of the Parthenon appear
in a line, and so disposed as not to show the ruined portion of the
temple, and as you catch a view of the entire Theséum, you may
fancy yourself approaching to ancient Athens.
To the south-west and south-south-west, between Athens and
the sea, the country is open and bare, of a very uninviting appear-
ance, only partially cultivated, and having a rocky soil, quite
covered in many spots with a low sweet-smelling shrub, like wild-
thyme, that seems peculiar to Attica, and perfumes the air, pro-
ducing a flower of which the bees are very fond, and which gives the
flavour, perhaps, so peculiar to Attic honey. Ata ruined farm-
house, a mile and a half from Athens, in the middle of the down,
are many bee-stands, which are profitable to the owner, who re-
sides in the city, and seldom visits the hives, except in the swarm-
jng and gathering season. A marble lion, somewhat mutilated,
but of good workmanship, is lying near the bee-stands neglected.
0 the south and east of this farm, in the open plain, and
nearer the shore, are several lonely houses, very high, of stone,
for security’s sake, and here are remains of two square towers,
now not inhabited, but once built to guard against the incur-
sions of the pirates, Mainotes, and others, who have often
landed, and carried off plunder to their boats, and are even now
a little dreaded. Two villages are near these towers, surrounded
with high walls, inhabited by Albanians.
The gardens and vineyards belonging to these villages, one of
which is called Dragonisi, are at a little distance nearer the shore,
and all enclosed with high mud walls. There are some low bar-
$B 2
ar : &
368 LETTER: XXIV;
rows to the east, near these gardens, where Anchimolius and the
Lacedemonians, who were slain on their invasion of Attica in the
time of Hippias and Hipparchus, are supposed to have been
buried. ‘These barrows point out the site of Alopece, a town
eleven or twelve stadia from the walls of Athens, and the native
town of Socrates*. In this part of the plain there are several
mouths of ancient wells, all filled up with earth within a foot or two
of the top. ‘There is no direct road to these villages, but a path
leads to them, to the right of the road that goes to the south
towards the Sunian promontory.
From beyond the promontory of Tres-Pyrgz, or Colias, the
shore is rocky and abrupt, but not high. ‘The stone is a sort of
sand-stone, very soft, and worn into singular shapes by the
washing of the waves: in one place. there is a large hole broken
away through a-little projecting cliff. The plain immediately
near the shore is quite bare, and intersected with frequent ravins,
and a broad water-course, as wide as that of the LIlissus.
‘To inform you respecting that part of the territory of Attica
beyond the olive-groves and gardens of Athens, I shall, in my next,
take from my journal an extract of some expeditions we made in
that quarter to Eleusis and Salamis.
‘ \ 9 , an 58 \ - ~ “ 3 ~ ~ e « .“
* Kai Ayximorts tio ragar τῆς Ἀττικῆς A’Aorennos ayxe τὰ Ἡρακλῆι!δ τὲ
ἐν Kuvocapyet.—-Herod. Terp. cap. 63.
LETTER XXYV.
Route from Athens to Eleusis—Daphne-vouni—Casha-vouni—
The Monastery of Daphne—The Rhiti—The Thriasian Plain
Eleusis—Ruins—The Cambridge Ceres— Route from Athens
to Salamis—The Throne of Xerxes—View from Corydallus—
Salamis or Colourr—Ampelaki—Colouri—Greek Islanders.
ON the 15th of January we mounted our horses
rather earlier than usual, and set out on that one of.the roads
from Athens, which has the site of the Academy and the Colo-
nus Hippius a little to the nght, and is, on the whole, in a west-
north-westerly direction. We rode for nearly twenty minutes
before we entered the olive-groves, passing through which for
half an hour, we came to the Cephissus: over this river, or
ditch-stream, we crossed ona small ill-constructed bridge ; and,
after riding through some more olive-groves, and near the ruins
of a Greek church, in which a carved marble, or two, is.to be
seen, and also an ancient well, we got into a wide open plain,
partly a sheep pasture and partly green with corn: at a distance
on our right was the road by which we had come from Thebes,
by Casha, to Athens. On our left, the plain stretched towards
the sea-coast to the west of Pireeus, which, however, was not
visible, owing to the inequality of the ground ; before us were
low hills, running from north-north-east to south-south-west, the
370 VETTER Σχνι
sides of which were only partially cultivated, and of a very sterile
appearance. A lonely house, with a few ruined churches, might
be seen here and there, but no village. We soon crossed the
plain, which seemed a continuation of the sloping hills in front of
us, and, ascending by a gentle acclivity, entered through a gap,
which is visible from Athens, and which divides the hills on the
left, (south), once named Corydallus, from the range on the right
which juts out from the great mountain Parnes, and was called
Egaleon. Corydallus has now the name of Daphne-vouni, or
the Laurel Mountain, from the shrubs of oleander (called by the
modern Greeks πικραδαφνη, or bitter laurel) with which it abounds,
and /Egaleon is Casha-vouni, from the large village of that name,
which gives its denomination also to the south-west range of the
great mountain Parnes, whose northern summits are called Ozea.
The travellers who have supposed Daphne-vouni to be Aiga-
leon, appear to have been induced to that belief by the conjecture,
that it was through this gap, that the Lacedemonian army, under
Archidamus, marched into that part of Attica called Cecropia,
leaving, says the historian, Mount Agaleon on their right hand*.
But there is another gap in the hills, two or three miles farther
up to the north, near the village of Casha, which leads directly
from the Eleusinian territory into Attica, and which answers, it
seems to me, more clearly to the defile alluded to by Thucydides.
Issuing from the mountains, Archidamus passed through Cecro-
pia, a slope at the foot of the hills, two miles, I should think, in trans-
verse breadth, and encamped at Acharne +}, the largest town next
to the capital, only sixty stadia from Athens, and, indeed, in view
* Εν δεξιὰ ἔχοντες τὸ Αἰγάλεων Cpos.—Thucyd. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 19.
Ὑ Χώριον μέγιστον τῆς Arrixns.—Ibid.
EETTER XXV. 371
of the city; a circumstance which must be a sufficient answer to
such as suppose Casha only a corruption of Acharne, for ‘that
village is four hours, and not visible from the Acropolis*,
Daphne-vouni stretches to the shore opposite Salamis, and there
is no separation in the mountain, which will allow of the northern
range having been called AXgaleon and the southern part. of it
Corydallus.
Soon after we had advanced into the hills, (where, however, the
path is level enough, and was probably rendered so by art, in
order to facilitate the procession of lacchus on this part of the
Sacred Way), we turned more southwards; and continued in the
defile, with bare mountains on our right, and woody hills on our
left, until, in about two hours and a half from Athens, we arrived
at a large monastery, romantically situated in, a long recess, at
the foot of a high rugged hill, whose pines almost hang over the
building. This monastery 15 called Daphne, and though much
venerated, and supposed the most ancient in the country, has
nothing to detain you. ‘The exterior of the building has more
the appearance of a place of defence than of a religious retreat,
as the court-yard is.surrounded with a wall at least twenty feet
high, the angles of which are furnished with towers. Yet this pre-
caution has not, been sufficient to preserve the monastery from the
visitations of the ‘Turks, who frequently make it their baiting-
place, as may be seen from the disfiguration of a Mosaic picture
of our Saviour on the cupola of the church: the eyes of the
figure are perforated with bullets. Only one monk ever. resides
* Wheler says, ten or a dozen miles, and we were from four o’clock to half-
past eight on the road from the village to the city.—De Pauw, vol. i. cap. 5,
to support his opinion with respect to Casha being a corruption of Acharne,
contracts the distance to mear seven.
3
ῳῳω
72 LETTER XXV.
in the place, who, as the peasant that had the care of the church
told us, was gone to pass the winter in town, (#5 τὸ Xep'), meaning
Athens.
The monastery being placed directly on the sacred way from
Athens to Eleusis, has been conjectured to stand nearly on the
site of a temple of Apollo; and two Ionic columns, which were
wedged into one of the walls, have been said to belong to a
temple of Venus, whose site is pointed out by a piece of wall of
rude masonry a little further on the road.
From Daphne, Lord Elgin conveyed a shaft, two capitals, and
a base, and nothing antique is now to be seen at the monastery,
except a stone tomb.
Leaving Daphne, we began to travel on an easy descent, and had
at once a vista opened upon us, presenting a view of the sea, closed
by two forked hills, those called Kerata, or the Horns, immediately
behind Eleusis, and the high mountains of the Isthmus in the back
ground.
We continued in a westerly direction through a narrow valley:
on the right-hand, nearly opposite the piece of ancient wall above-
mentioned, we saw marks of tools upon the rock, which had some
grooves and ledges cut on a flat surface, evidently smoothed by
art, The grooves appear the-same as those in the cave of Pan,
and were therefore most probably constructed for the votive
tablets of such as journeyed to the ‘l'emple of Ceres. ‘The posi-
tion of the hill answers to that of the painted rock of Pausanias.
In half an hour, beyond Peecile, as it was once denominated,
we found ourselves at the extremity of the valley, and at the water-
side. Here we saw the shaft of one of the lonic columns, of very
white marble, and the flutings highly finished,- lying entire, in a
wooden trough, ready for exportation, on the beach.
LETTER XXV. 373
Our postman said it belonged to the English, but whether to
Lord Elgin or not, I did not learn. We turned directly to the
right, the north, and came full upon a large circular basin, looking
like a lake, the entrance from the sea not being easily discerned,
as the islandof Salamis, lying west and east, closed up the mouth
of the bay. At the other extremity of the bay, tothe west, we
saw the village of HEleusis. We crossed a short passage of stony
road, cut out of the foot of the rocks, close to the water's edge,
and called, like similar paths, Kake Scala, and then came upon a
sandy beach, having on our right a small salt-water lake, dammed
up by a low wall, and communicating with the sea by two chan-
nels, whose streams turn two over-shot mills at a little distance
from each other.
Leaving the mills, we crossed two or three rivulets of brackish
water, oozing through the sand, which Wheler and Chandler
have called the Rhiti, or Salt Streams, the ancient limits between
the Athenians and Eleusinians, consecrated to Ceres and Proser-
pine, and supposed by Pausanias to find a subterranean passage
through Beeotia and Attica, as far as from the Euripus of Chal-
cis*. Beyond these streams we did not encounter any river
similar to that which Wheler +-, coinciding with Pausanias, calls the
Eleusinian Cephissus, but turning to the left, again westward,
* Pausan. Corinth. p. 129. Attic. 70.
+ A Journey, &c. quart. p. 426. Seneca talks of the rapid waters of this
river in his Hippolytus, Act I. Scene i.
Quz saxoso sola Parnethi
Subjecta jacent, et que Thriasis
Vallibus amnis rapida currens
Verberat unda.
νῷ
374 CETTER XXV
rode over an extensive plain, quite flat, and so marshy in many
places, that a stone causeway has been raised upon it for the
security of travellers. This plain, near the shore a green pas-
ture, but cultivated towards the foot of the woody hills to the
north side of it, is six or seven miles in length from east to west,
and three or four in breadth. It is evidently the ‘lhriasian plain,
and the part of it which we traversed, answers to that tract in it
called in very early times, the kmgdom of Crocon*. We con-
tinued upon it for an hour, and saw on the left of our path some
pieces of wall belonging to a church, which in 1765 was standing,
and preserved the marbles of an ancient monument, together with
an inscription. ‘Thria, or Thro, a town of the tribe of Oenis,
which gave the name to the plain, was probably higher up on the
side of Parnes, and nearer the Rhiti.
On turning to the left (just an hour and a half from Daphne),
to direct our steps round the sweep of the shore to Hleusis, we
observed a path leading off to the western extremity of the plain,
and ascending the monntains by which it is en that end in-
closed. ‘This is one of the roads travelied by those who come
to Athens from the towns and villages on the sides of Mount
Elatias (Cithzron), and is sometimes preferred by those who wish
to reach that city from Thebes, to that which passes by Casha
over Parnes. I had afterwards an opportunity of tracing the
higher part of this route, and found it to correspond exactly with
that by which the Lacedemonians entered into Attica in the in-
* Bactasia Kpoxwvos. 866 the description of the Sacred Way, leading from
the Thriasian gate, afterwards called Dipylon, by Mount Peecile, across the
Rhiti, and the Thriasian plain to Eleusis, in Pausanias, “‘ sacs καὶ ἐπ᾿ BAgvowe
εξ Adnywy,” p. 67 et seq. usq. ad. 71, fol. edit.
DRTTER XXV. 375
cursion before mentioned. A path branches off from the main
road, by the Sacred Way, to Athens, a little nearer to Eleusis
than the Salt Streams, and leads to Caliva, a village, and to
Casha, εξ the opening in the hills which, according to my
hypothesis, d divides Aigaleon from Parnes.
In severa! εἰμ across the plain to the north-west, as far as
the bottom of the hills, before we turned southwards towards
Eleusis, we saw fragments of an ancient aqueduct; and in half an
hour we came to the village itself, which is put down in the maps,
Lefsina, but which I never heard called any thing else at Athens
than Elefsis, the modern pronunciation of the ancient name.
Eleusis is a miserable village of thirty mud cottages with flat
roofs, inhabited by Albanians; besides which, there is one high
square house, or tower, the occasional residence of a Turk, who
superintends the peasants, and owns some part of the neighbour-
ing plain. It is comprehended in the territory of the Waiwode
of Athens, which, on this side, extends one hour, or three miles,
beyond the village to the west.
Kleusis is finely situated, at about half a mile from the sea, on
the declivity of a long hill, which stretches from the extremity of
the mountains still called Kerata, running from north-east to
south-west, and making the separation between Attica and the
Megaris. ‘There are sufficient remains to make it probable that
great’ part of this hill was originally built upon, though at present
there is nothing to be seen on it but the fragments of an old
tower, and a piece of wall.
Looking to the east from the modern village, you have before
apn the bay, closed in front by Corydallus, and to the right
by Salamis, with two islands before it, the Pharmacuse, one
yi
) 6 ὁ
a
376 LETTER’ ΣΧΥ-
much larger than the other, and now called Megala, and Micra
Kira. ‘To the south-west there is a tongue of land, the western
end of the bay, and beyond this, the mountains of the Morea
are seen rising in the distance.
To the north-west, in an angle between Kerata and the hill of
Eleusis, is a small valley, according to Wheler and following
travellers, the Rharian plain, where Triptolemus first taught the
art of ploughing and sowing. Every part of the Thriasian plain,
over which we passed, inclosed by Parnes and A\galeon to the
north, north-east, and east, is distinctly seen from the hill, and
forms the most extensive portion of the land prospect.
The remains of the ancient Flensis are now very insignificant:
some small stones, and pieces of rubbish standing upright, appear
scattered about under the village, on the slope of the hill, and
near the sea, and on one side of an inlet on the beach are frag-
ments of a pier. ‘The site of the great Temple of Ceres includes
most of the modern village, but many decays must have inter-
vened since the time of Chandler, who seems, from his account,
to have been able to measure the area and proportions of that
magnificent building on the spot. The breadth of the cell, says
he, is about one hundred and fifty feet, the length, including the
Pronaos and portico, two hundred and sixteen feet, the diameter
of the columns, which are fluted, six inches from the bottom of
the shafts, six feet and more than six inches*. The peribolus,
or inclosure, which surrounded it on the north-east and on the
south side, measured three hundred and eighty-seven feet in length
from north to south, and three hundred and twenty-eight in
* Chandler’s Travels, p. 190.
LETTER? KXV. 377
breadth from east to west. I did not see that the walls of the
temple or of the inclosure can be now traced. ‘he body of the
remains, belonging, it has. been. thought, to the Temples of Diana,
Propylea, and Neptune, and to the gateway of the great inclo-
sure, 1s now all on one small space in the middle of the village,
and there are three or four entire portions of marble columns,
just appearing above ground, fluted, and apparently of the dimen-
sions alluded to, besides the mouth and part of the rim of a large
marble vase, buried in the ground, and a fragment, also of marble,
with the bas-relief of a'Triton. Close by, we were shown the spot
on which the Cambridge Ceres had so long lain half-buried in the
earth. In the wall of a church, at another part of the village, is
an Ionic capital. ‘There are besides two inscribed marbles, one
of which seems to have been a pedestal*, and stands by itself, and
the other is wedged into the walls of a house. ‘T’he inscriptions
copied by Wheler, 1 was not shown. Some picces of ancient wall
are to be seen under the square house belonging to the Turk,
The largest portion of wall yet standing is on the rock above,
where is.the old tower, and on which was the citadel of Eleusis,
forming a protection on the north-west side to the temple; but
the remains of the temple “ in antis,” seen by Chandler on this
spot, either have disappeared, or entirely escaped my obser-
vation. It is well known that the Cambridge Ceres, mutilated
as it is, was supposed both by Greeks and ‘Turks, from a
tradition, to be a sort of talisman, on which depended the fer-
tility of the lands of Eleusis; but the Thriasian plain has lost
nothing of its former abundance since the removal of this precious
* Sce Appendix, for the inscription on the pedestal.
878 LETTER xxv.
relic by our accomplished and amiable countryman, and the in-
habitants of Eleusis, who pointed out to me the trench whence
it had been dug, evinced no signs of regret for their loss. At
Eleusis, coins are very frequently found by the peasants, and one
of them showed me the foot of a stocking quite full of them, out
of which I selected about five and twenty.
A very few years will accomplish the complete destruction of
the scanty remains that are to be seen at this once celebrated spot,
and the former existence of the temples may, in some future age,
be as problematical as the object of the mysteries, of Eleusis.
The other route which I purposed to make you acquainted with
in this Letter, is that from Athens to Salamis, now called Colouri.
The road takes you nearly in a westerly direction, leaving that
leading to the Pireus, and another to the gardens, on the left.
You enter the olive-groves in twenty minutes, and traverse trans-
versely for more than an hour, going through a part of them
where they are very thickly set, and have the waters of the Ce-
phissus flowing through them in many trenches. After the olive-
groves, the road is a little on the ascent over a plain, open and
barren, except in some few cultivated spots. ‘The mouths of an-
cient wells, and fragments of stone-work, are visible near the path,
just as it reaches the top of the slope, and leaves a small eminence
to the right hand, about half an hour from the olive-groves.
From this point the road continues on the descent, in an open
country of corn-fields and vineyards: a lone cottage, surrounded
with trees, is on the left; in half an hour you arrive at the
foot of a bleak rocky hill, and the shore of a bay, formed by the
back of the promontory which is the western side of the Pirus
and a tongue of land jutting out from the rocks on the right, on
LETTER XXV. 379
whose front there is part of an old tower. This is the port Pho-
ron.
You cross the base of this neck of land, and then pass, not
far from the shore, at the foot of a ridge of bare rocks that runs
parallel with the coast.
These rocks have now no name: they are part of the promon-
tory stretching from Mount Corydallus; and in a niche about
half way up, late antiquarians have supposed themselves to have
discovered the spot where Xerxes sat in his silver-footed chair to
behold the battle of Salamis. The niche is about opposite to the
long rocky islet in the mouth of the strait, once called Psyttalia,
and now Lipsocattalia, where the four hundred Persians were cut
to pieces by the Greeks during the action.
During one of our several rides to this part of Attica, a dis-
tance of seven or eight miles, I took an opportunity of ascending
these stony hills, and traversing the heights above the strait in
every direction. From the first: summit, the side nearest Athens,
where the throne of Xerxes has by some conjectures been placed,
the battle could only be partially seen; but from the middle of
the second eminence, in which is the niche alluded to, every part
of both fleets, as well as the minute circumstances of the action,
might have been distinctly beheld. Those who have placed the
throne a mile farther down to the north-west, on an eminence of
Mount Corydallus, cannot have a correct notion of the positions,
as from that point, the whole of that part of the line where the
Athenians and Pheenicians were engaged, must have been hidden
behind the projecting rocks of the promontory; and the ship of
Artemisia endeavouring to escape from the mouth of the strait,
and sinking the opposing galley, the action which called forth the
380 LETTER ΧΧΥ.
famous exclamation of Xerxes, could not, from that point, have
been beheld at all by the Persian King*.
From the summit of the highest rock of Corydallus I had a
view of Athens to the east; the Pirzeus was to the south-east, on
my left; before me, to the south, was Augina; Salamis, with its
bays and. diminutive towns, lay, as in a map, at my feet; the
town of Megara was visible to the west-south-west, farther up on
the right, in the Saronic gulf; whilst Eleusis, with its spacious basin
and spreading plain, appeared under the mountains to the north-
west: an extensive prospect, yet a space how circumscribed, to
contain the ruins of so many cities, once the capitals of flourish-
ing states. The friend of Cicero, sailing up the gulf to Megara},
with justice contemplated this melancholy scene, as one that
must diminish the magnitude of private distresses, and check the
indulgence of individual sorrows, by presenting, in one view, the
abject and calamitous condition of whole cities, and many nations.
* Some accounts place the throne on Kerata, above Eleusis (which, it
seems, made Wheler suppose it to have been on either Megala or Micra Kera),
and others on the mountain which they name A‘gialus, meaning that hill (also
called A®gilus) where was the Demos A®gilia, and which, under the name
Fégaleon, 1 fancy to have been incorrectly confounded with Corydallus. Yet
it is true, that the whole range from the modern village of Casha to the straits
of Salamis, seems to have been indiscriminately called by both names; and,
that one author, Pliny, enumerating the Attic mountains, has mentioned Agia-
lus, and omitted Corydallus. Plin. lib. iv. cap. 7, Montes (Attice) Briles-
sus, A‘gialus, Icarius, Hymettus, Lycabettus.
+ *¢ Ex Asia rediens, cum ab AXgina Megaram versus navigarem, cexpi
regiones circum circa prospicere, post me erat Avgina, ante Megara, dextra
Pireus, sinistra Corinthus; que oppida quodam tempore florentissima fuerunt,
nunc prostrata et diruta ante oculos jacent, &c.”—Cic, Epist. ad Famil.
lib, iv.
LETTER XXV. 981.
But if such reflections were suggested to Sulpicius, more than
eighteen centuries ago, with what feelings must the modern tra-
veller behold the same prospect, when all these famous towns are,
indeed, nothing but the lifeless carcasses of once animated bodies,
prostrate, crumbled in the dust, without a sign of their ancient
vigour and beauty.
‘The road to the passage over the strait of Salamis, continues
at the foot of the rocks at a short distance from the shore, for
about a mile, when it comes to a projecting piece of land, where
are remains of an ancient cistern; and, above that, two or three
large stones, that have been supposed part of an Heracléeum, or
‘Temple of Hercules. A path continues to wind round the rocks
beyond this point, until it joins the road to Eleusis by Daphne,
after having doubled a second headland. This was anciently Am-
phiale, attached to a town of that name, famous for the stone
quarries in its neighbourhood. ‘The passage from the main-land
to Salamis was here only two stadia, and Xerxes intended to have
thrown a mole across it. A modern pier, of a rude construction,
serves for landing and embarking the horses passing to and fro
over the ferry. The ferry-boat here used is very large, with sails,
and well made; we put our horses into it very easily. ‘The direct
passage is not much more than a quarter of a mile, yet when the
wind sets down the strait to the west, it is not easy to cross; and
I was nearly an hour on returning from the island, as the ferry-
boat was only managed by two men.
Passing over, you have a view of the western side of the
long tongue of land projecting from the island to the north-east,
and formerly called the Dog’s Tail (Cynosura), and by the Ita-
lians, Punto Barbaro, on which, at this day, are some stones, thought
3D
ὅδ LETTER: EXY.
to.he part.of. the substructure of a trophy raised by the Greeks
after the victory; but as you approach nearer to the island, the
view of, the point is. shut out by another projecting piece of land,
forming one side of a bay, at the bottom of which is a pier,
where the ferry-boat unloads. On the right, entering this bay,
is a green islet, on which a few cows and small horses are fed,
but where there is not a single habitation, though there are two
churches.
On my excursion to Coloun, after landing at: the pier, and, with
some difficulty, getting the horses out of the boat, I ascended a rising
ground, and passing over a gentle ascent, came, in half an hour,
to.a village of, about eighty houses, inhabited by Albamians, and
called Ampelaki. The houses here were more neat and regularly
built. than those. of the villages on the main-land, white, and with
flat-roofs. The neighbourhood of; Ampelaki has. not a single tree;
the soil is dry and rocky, and chiefly laid out in the cultivation of
the. vine. A. stony hill overlooks the village to the south; and the
rays of. the. summer's sun, reflected on the flat unsheltered cot-
tages, renders the. residence very unbealthy in summer; and, in-
deed, on, the 3130 οἵ January, the heat appeared. to me quite
oppressive.
Strabo mentions, that the harvest in Salamis had ended before
that on the main-land begun.
The site of the more ancient city of Salamis is near the shore
of the bay enclosed to the east. by Cynosura, an hour to the
south-east from Ampelaki. ‘The walls, four miles in circumference,
might be.traced fifty years ago; but, my guide assured me, were
at.present not to be seen. Some inscribed marbles haye been re-
moved-thenee to the village, where they are still to be seen, parti-
LETTER "RV. $88
cularly one, strliin exceec dingly good preset ‘vation, over the porch of
the chureh-door, which 1s'mentioned < id was copied by Chandler.
Ina wall near this church, was a fragment of marble, having ‘on
it, in alto-relievo, a nakedileg of ‘the most perfect sculpture, ap-
parently part of a whole ‘figure. Several efforts were ‘made "(Ὁ
obtain this marble, but the owner of the wall would not be per-
suaded to part with the piece.
It is necessary for travellers to be somewhat circumspect’in
their endeavours to procure any sculpture or inscribed marbles,
and to conceal, ina measure, their eagerness to be possessed of
them, as both Greeks and Turks suppose that the ranks would
have too much sense to offer large sums for blocks of stones, were
they not very precious in some way or the other, -either as amu-
lets, or concealing gold or jewels. It is not long since a Turk,
digging in his garden near Athens, discovered a statue of Venus
Accroupie, nearly as large as life, of white marble, and scarcely
mutilated. A Frank, to whom it was shown, incautiously offered
fifty zechins for the masterpiece. ‘The ‘Turk refused the sum,
and broke the statue in pieces, to search for the treasure which
he supposed it to contain: the parts were put together afterwards
as wellas possible, and a cast taken from it, which was shown to
me, was sufficient to prove what a loss the fine arts had sustained,
by the injury done to a piece of sculpture which would have had
but few rivals amongst the relics of antiquity. A peasant of Salamis
wore on his finger a ring, mounted with a most beautiful cameo,
δ.
and, though himself ready to sell it, was prevented by his wife,
who regarded it as a talisman, effectual against evil spirits.
From ‘this village we rode, about half an hour, over an open
country of corn-fields and vineyards, to the town of Colouri, from
3D 2
384 LETTER! XXvV.
which the island now takes its name. This is a larger and much
more wealthy place than Ampelaki, having about seven hundred
houses, and there are a few shops in the bazar, together with
three or four coffee-houses. It is situated a little to the westward
of the bottom of a gulf that runs seven or eight miles into the
island, and being at least three miles broad, gives it something the
shape of a broad horse-shoe. The inhabitants of Colour1 ate
partly Greeks, partly Albanians, but have no'T'urks amongst them,
except such as may come to traffic; being governed by their own
Codja-bashees, and paying only a certain tax annually to the Porte,
under the jurisdiction of the Captain Pasha, or High Admiral,
the immediate lord of all the islands, and also of some districts on
the main-land.
The tribute of the Colouriotes is four thousand oches of pitch,
for the use of the arsenal of 'Tophana at Constantinople ; and this
they collect, not only in Salamis, but any where on the main-land,
often near Smyrna, passing over to Asia in bodies of three and
four hundred at a time, and encamping in the forests until they
have furnished themselves with the necessary supply.
It was easy to see, that the condition of the Greeks of Colouri
was preferable to that of those on the main-land ; they had more
the air of freemen, and of those who were permitted to enjoy the
fruits of their industry ; yet their freedom from immediate re-
straint is not always so agreeable to a traveller as the obedience of
their continental countrymen.
Several wherries, employed in fishing for red mullet, which
abound in the straits, and about the island of Salamis, and which
finds subsistence for some natives of Athens, and much of the
population of Colouri, AXgina, and Megara, were lying on the
WETTER Xxv. 385
beach under the town. It was my wish to proceed in one of
them which came from A‘gina, on a visit to that island ; and I
accordingly agreed with the master of the kiéque, fora passage
to that island in his boat, manned with ten men, and ready to
depart the same evening. Some money was advanced to the
Greek, to victual, as he said, his boat. After waiting some time,
we walked to the beach, where nothing was prepared, and only
six of the sailors would consent to go. The bargain was broken;
and the boat being too large to be managed by so few men, I
was disappointed of my voyage. My attendant demanded the
plasters he had given in advance; but here he was mistaken, for
the Greek declared, that he and his men had been dining and
drinking on the money, and that, though he was extremely sorry
that the men he had engaged had changed their minds, yet he
could not return what he no longer possessed. ‘The man, on
being threatened with an appeal to his superiors, said he belonged
to gina; the Codja-bashee of Colouri declared he had no con-
troul over him; and accordingly we parted, not a little, on our
parts, enraged by the provoking coolness of the Greek, who, on
our going away, most politely thanked me, and wished me good
evening (υχαριστὼ cas ΑἸυϑέντι, κάλη ᾿σπέρα σας).
It was not so much the cheating, to which most of the lower
orders of any people who live by the sea appear to be inclined,
but the unblushing manner of doing it, that gave me no very
favourable impression of the Greek islanders.
The whole length of Salamis, from east to west, has been
reckoned between nine and ten miles, and the breadth of it, in-
cluding the bay of Colouri, cannot be much less. It has only
one river, formerly the Bocaras, but now called 'Tokolias.
886 DETTER sox.
The island seems:uncultivated, except in the narrow vallies: be-
tween the ‘hills, near ‘Colouri and: Ampelaki, where wheat and
parley are grown. ‘T’here are some thin pine forests on the sum-
mits of the mountains, as well as a-variety of ‘low shrubs. A
monastery, to the south-west of Colouri, is the most agreeable spot
in the island, being shaded with a few trees, and watered by a
plentiful spring of pure water. ‘he monks are the richest per-
sons in Salamis. Athens is still considered the mistress of the
island; most of the inhabitants have some dealings in the city ;
and the ferry-boat is generally employed during the whole day
in transporting backwards and forwards the peasants of Aimpe-
laki and Colouri, with the riches of their vineyards and their fields,
and the soap-ashes, procured from the leutisc, which is plentiful
in the island. —Jhe women of Salamis are of a fine shape and
handsome face, superior to the Athenians of the same condition.
They have the free ingenuous air, without any of the vulgarity
of the peasant, and their whole manner is a happy mixture of the
sprightliness of the Albanian, and the politeness of the Greek
female.
LETTER XXVI.
The Eastern Side of A thens—Hymettus—A scent to the Monas-
tery of St. Cyriani, on that Mountain—The Sacred Spring,
—Route to Mount Pentelicus—Angele-Kipos—Callandri—
The Monastery.on Pentelicus—The Marble Quarries— Return:
by another Route—Remains of the Aqueduct.
HAVING endeavoured to give you:an ideaiof: the
country westward of Athens, I. shall’ now: proceed to the other
side of the city, and‘extract whatever may appear necessary from
the notes made on our many excursions to that quarter.
To the south-east. of Athens; the country 15 intersected by
Mount Hymettus, which approaches within three mules of the
city, and is divided into two ranges: the first running from east-
north-east to west-south-west; and the second, forming an obtuse
angle with the first; and having a direction from west-north-west
to east-south-east. ‘The first range, Hymettus, properly so called,
ends about'four miles: from: the promontory Zoster, now Halikes;
but‘the hills on the other-side of a gap, through which runs the
road leading to the Sunian promontory, seeming like a continua-
tion of the same mountain, have been named the lesser Hymettus.
The great range is now called Telo-Vouni; that on the other side of
the gap Lambra-Vouni, from the ruins of a town, one of the ancient
388 LETTER XXVI.
Lampras* (the καϑύπερϑεν, or upper), once called Lambra, but now
known only by the name of E:limbos, and containing thirty cottages.
Hymettus is neither a high nor a picturesque mountain, being
a flat ridge of bare rocks. ‘The sides of it, about half way up,
are covered with brown shrubs and heath, whose flowers scent
the air with a delicious perfume ; the wild thyme is in great abun-
dance, but there are only two stands of bee-hives on the moun-
tains, and very little of the real honey of Hymettus is to be now
procured at Athens, where it is still justly prized for its superior
flavour, and a certain aromatic odour peculiar to the plants of this
place, a list of which is given by Sir George Wheler: a small
pot of it was shown to me asararity. From the city to the
highest part of the mountain is a walk of three hours. Half way
to this point, there 15 ἃ monastery dedicated to St. Cyriani, which
we visited on the 16th of January.
We took the road leading from the gate of Hadrian’s arch,
over the corn-grounds, to the eastward; left the Corinthian co-
lumns on our right, and continued for a mile, perhaps, approach-
ing towards the bed of the Ilissus. We had on our left hand, a
little before us, the village of Angele-Kipos and its olive-groves.
We soon came to where two ravins join, and form a rocky dell,
where in winter there are generally small pools of water.
This is what travellers (after the conjectures, well founded as
they appear to me, of Wheler +-) have agreed to call the junction
of the two rivers the Eridanus and the Ilissus. We left it on our
* There were two Lampras, both of the tribes Ercctheis, one near the sea,
the other inland ; in one of them was the tomb of Cranaus, the ancient Athe-
nian King.
+ Before the time of Wheler, the Cephissus was called the Eridanus.
LETTER XxVI. 389
right; and in a few minutes crossed the channel of the Ilissus*,
which winds from the north-eastern extremity of Hymettus, and
riding over some drv rocky ground, came to the ridanus, or rather
to a deep ravin witaout any water, along whose banks we conti
nued, on an ascent bare and rugged, until we came to a lonely
metochi, or farm-house ; we then crossed the ravin, and got upon
the sides of Mount Hymettus, riding on a perpetual slope through
thin olive-groves, up to the site of the monastery of St. Cyriani,
called: Cosbashee by the ‘Turks, inclosed in a nook of the moun-
tain, with the ravin of the river running through olive-groves, at
the bottom of a dell beneath. The monastery of St. Cyriani has
nothing worthy of notice, except four shafts of marble columns,
supporting the dome of the church. ‘lhe ruin from which these
were saved, was probably that of the Temple of Venus; for the foun-
tain, probably the sacred spring in the neighbeurhood of the'l’emple,
which the Athenian matrons used to frequent for its medicinal vir-
tues, is still to be seen a little above the monastety. To this we
were conducted by one of the monks. There are three artificial
basins, or stone troughs, receiving a water very clear and cold; they
are one above the other; that in the middle is inclosed in an arched
grotto, possibly part of the foundation of the ‘lemple of Venus—
* The Ilissus, says Strabo (p. 400), flows from the region above Agrez and
the Lycéum, and the fountain, which Plato has commemorated in his Phe-
The site of Agrz is determined by that of the fountain Callirhoé, before
noticed, It was a suburb without the walls, lower down to the south than
the Stadium of Herodes, beyond the river, With respect to the Lycéum, also
in the same quarter, nothing now remaining seemed to me to point out its an-
cient place; the large stones now existing on the road to the south, more than
a mile beyond the Ilissus, supposed by Chandler to have belonged to the walls
inclosing that Gymnasium, answer, it strikes me, much better to the Cynosarges,
which was without the gate Diocharis, and not far from the barrows near the
drus.
Demos of Alopece.
JE
590 LETTER xxVI,
five feet wide, eight high, and twelve high. There is at the end
of the cave a niche, and under this, to the right, almost covered
with a large slab of stone, is the spring.
The miraculous virtues of the water have survived the temple,
and the worship of Venus. Our conductor told us, that once a
year, on the feast of Panagia, many of the Greek females of
Athens repair to this grotto, light up the niche with the small
wax-tapers, as offerings to the Virgin, and then drink and wash
in the spring, which eases the pains of child-birth, and is an-
nually blessed from above by the descent of two doves, who
play round the fountain, and re-ascend to heaven. 'The man
assured us, to remove all incredulity, that a Despotes, a monk of
Cyriani, had seen them himself; but that he was, indeed, the most
holy man in the whole country. The vicinity of the sacred spring
was anciently called Pera, signifying, perhaps, beyond the river.
When Procris suspected her Cephalus of inconstancy, she
traced his footsteps to the side of a sacred fountain, near the
purple hills of Hymettus, and saw the green bank, whose soft
herbage still remained impressed with the vestige of his lovely
form. ‘ The arbutus, the rosemary, the laurel, the dark myrtle,
** the leafy box, the frail tamarisk, the slender cytisus, and the
graceful pine, united their varied foliage, which, together with
the blades of long grass, trembled under the gentle pressure
of the rising breeze.” ... . “ When next he left her embraces,
to follow the chace on Hymettus, she hastened to the woods,
and leaving her maidens in the valley below, advanced into the
recesses of the grove towards his favourite retreat* ... .”
9 8
* Ovid. de Arte Aman. lib. iii.
“ Est prope purpureos colles florentis Hymetti
‘6 Fons sacer.....”
LETTER XKXVI- 391
The holy spring, the hill, the valley beneath, seéiii t6 fik upon
the scene of the fatal adventure ; but, on out wittéer visit to the
spot, the wild shrubbery was no longer to be 868, aid the purple
tinge of the mountain’s side was changed into a mofe sdthbre hue.
At a quarter of a mile from the fountain, of the side of the
hill to the westward, is a ruined chapel of St. Marc, in which the
monks of Cyriani are buried. It is on a most elevated spot,
commanding.a view of the whole plain of Athens, and having in
the fore-ground of the picture, the waving line of low hills which
lie at the foot, and are the roots of the larger mountain.
There is a way to ascend Hymettus on horseback, but the
direct path above Cyriani, is accessible only to foot passengers.
The position of the mines in this mountain, in whose cavities
the best honey was formerly found, and of the marble quarries,
has rather been guessed at than actually discovered: the cave
shown to Chandler, seems to have belonged to neither.
Hlymettus was reckoned amongst the cantons of Attica, but of
what tribe is unknown: it had on its summit an image of Jupi-
ter, instead of which single statue there are now fifty chapels or
consecrated caves.
Mount Pentelicus, at this day called Pendele, and sometimes
Mendele, must be, 1 should think, one-third higher than Hymet-
tus, and its height is the more apparent, as it rises with a peaked
summit into the clouds. The range of Pentelicus runs from about
north-west to south-east, at no great distance from the eastern
shore of Attica, overhanging the plain of Marathon, and mixing
imperceptibly, at its northern extremity, with the hills of Briles-
sus, now Called, as well as part of Mount Parnes, Ozea. The
highest peak of Pendele is in a direction east-north-east from
Athens ; and from the foot of the mountain to the city, is about
3 EQ
two hours and a half, between seven or eight miles. An object
of curiosity to all travellers are the marble quarries of Pentelicus,
which supplied not only Athens, but many other parts of Greece,
with the precious materials of their temples, stadiums, and statues.
There is a monastery, the most wealthy in Attica, which stands
on the side of the mountain, and is generally used as a baiting-
place by those who visit the quarries.
The road leads through the gateway, covered with the marble of
Antoninus’s aqueduct. It continues over the corn-grounds, having
the hill of St. George immediately on the left; two white pillars,
with an inscription, at half a mile distance, are on the left of the
path, erected by a Turk, who shot his arrow from one point to
the other. In half an hour it comes to some olive-groves, having
to the right the junction of the Eridanus and Ilissus, and two
stone reservoirs, by which Athens is supplied with water.
In these olive-groves is a monastery dedicated to St. Michael,
called Agios Asomatos*. ‘I'wo Corinthian capitals are in the walls
of the church, supplied, perhaps, from the Temple of Venus, in
the gardens formerly in this quarter. Not far beyond the olive-
groves is a village, called Perivole, or Angele-Kipos, hidden in
pleasant groves of olive and cypress, and in gardens of orange
and lemon, and other fruit trees, on the south side of the low
range of Anchesmus. It is the nearest of the villages to which
the inhabitants of Athens withdraw during the summer heats.
There is a stone causeway runs the length of the gardens; and
two fountains, with marble facings, are in the middle of the vil-
lage, on the right of the path.
Angele-Kipos, small as it is, has still a history attached to
* The modern Greeks do not attend to the aspirate, and Agios is here spelt
as they pronounce it, without the H.
LETTER XXVI. 398
it; for the inhabitants of Pallene, a town to the north near Pen-
telicus, would not intermarry with the natives of Angele of the
tribe Pandionis, on account of their treachery as far back as the
time of ‘lheseus*.
After this village the country is quite open and bare, and the
soil light and stony, but it is ploughed and sowed in many parts,
and there is in some spots a vineyard. Low, fragrant, shrubs
are in abundance.
The low and stony range of Anchesmus is on the left of the
road: to the right, a wide plain, between the north-east end of
Hymettus and Pentelicus, opens upon you as you advance, and
is seen stretching down far to the south. A road runs across this
plain, which is called the plain of Spatha, to the eastern shore of At-
tica: 1tis the same district which modern travellers have mentioned
with the name of Mescigia. An hour beyond Angele-Kipos, the
path goes through a larger village, of a hundred houses, surrounded
with olive-groves, called Callandri, and from this spot emerges again
into the open plain, continuing for half an hour along the side
of a water-course, until it comes to the foot of the hills. Here
large flocks of goats, tended by a caloyer, or monk, are seen
cropping the scanty herbage on the sides of the mountain. Ascend-
ing the mountain, you soon come into pine-woods, and other ever-
greens, and arrive at the monastery itself in three hours from
Athens, having travelled in-a direction about east-by-north.
This building is in a niche of the hill, surrounded by an olive-
grove, through which a copious stream falls down a pebbly chan;
nel into the plain below. A green plot before the door of the
monastery is shaded by a spreading plane-tree. |
* See W heler, 470; and Chandler, 171.; but Plutarch, in his Life of The-
scus, says this of the Demos Agnous, of the tribe Acamantis.
394 LETTER XXXVI:
The entrance into the square court of the building is, as usual.
through a small door, plated with iron. Three sides of the court
are fitted up with small cells, white-washed, and swept very cleaii;
that of the Egoumenos, or abbot, has sofas and a carpet, for the
reception of strangers. A well, and a tree, from which the iron
hoop that calls them to prayers is suspended, is on one side of the
yard. In the middle of the square stands the church, the inte-
rior of which is plastered in every part with gilt, and bespeaks
the wealth of the fraternity.
The monastery owns several metochis, or farms, in different
parts of Attica, in the superintendance of which the numerous
body of monks are dispersed over the country; so that there are
seldom more than five or six at a time at Pendele. The original
tribute of this monastery, paid to the support of the mosck of
Valide, at Constantinople, was six thousand pounds weight of
honey, at five dollars a quintal, and has not, that I heard, been
since increased.
When we visited the place, the monks seemed to live well, and
set before us a repast of eggs, dried olives, and honey, with a wine
of an excellent flavour, anda palatable rossoglio; yet they called
themselves poor, and seemed afraid lest we should carry away
with us an opinion of their being in a flourishing condition. Such
a report might imcrease the tax which they pay to the Porte for
protection.
From the monastery to the marble-quarries is a distance of
forty minutes, the path climbing the mountain to the north,
through thick woods of evergreens, over very steep and unequal
ground, but having here and there the appearance of a track for-
merly much used. It is not possible to go the whole way on
horseback.
»
LETTER XxXVI, 395
You come suddenly on the caverns, the entrance to which is
at the bottom of an angle formed by two precipices of marble,
evidently smoothed by art, and cut into their present form for the
sake of the materials. ‘These precipices are hung with ivy, which
overshadows the mouth of the caverns. On a ledge, half way up,
of the one on the left hand, with neither a descent or ascent tq
it, is the small stone house which Chandler supposed a station for
the centinel at the quarries, but which the modern Greeks believe
to have been the abode of an ascetic, and, as it seems to me, with
more probability; for the masonry appears of a much later date
than would correspond with the conjecture of the traveller.
Before you enter the caves, the caloyer that attends you from
the monastery, strikes a fire, and lights up several small wax tapers
and strips of pine, for torches; which, however, are not necessary.
until you get to the lower part of the recess. On entering, which
ean be done without stooping, you see at once two small stone
sheds, overgrown with ivy, with mouths like that of an oven.
If these were habitations for the workmen, nothing could be con-
trived more inconvenient. I should rather think them remains
of the stone-work of forges employed in making and refitting the
necessary tools.
On the right of these sheds you ascend, by a flight of three
steps, to two ruined chapels, cut out of the rock, on whose sides
are the faint traces of painted Saints. ‘Through an aperture
which served for a window to one of them, and which 1s latticed
by the overhanging ivy, there is a view of the extent of country
beneath. ‘The choice of cemeteries, tombs, and solitary caves,
amidst the depth of forests, for the purposes of religious worship,
which was a subject of reproach against the early Christians, and
96 LETTER ΧΧΥῚ.
was adopted at first by necessity, was afterwards continued by in-
clination, and a veneration for the spots made holy by ancient piety.
In Turkey, the cause which originally drove the Lucifugaces to
these recesses, still exists, and the sacred mysteries are, on the day
of the Saint to which they are dedicated, at this time performed
in the hollows of rocks, and in many other spots as wild and re-
mote as the quarries of Pentelicus.
The Greeks in our company, crossed themselves most devoutly
at entering and quitting the ruined chapels.
Proceeding lower down, the cavern widens, but is not very
high; water distills from the roof, which 1s marble of the most
beautiful tinge, a faint rose-colour, and fretted with a thousand
petrifactions. ‘Turning down to the rnght, the excavation be-
comes more picturesque, worked into many fantastic shapes, and
adorned with arches and slender pillars, some of them complete,
others nearly formed, with the drop trembling from the white
icicle above towards the rising crystal below. On the left of the
inner recess is a small hole, which you are directed to enter. ‘This
you do on your knees, with a light, and sliding down for some
time, through an aperture only large enough to admit your body
lengthways, you come to ten steps, and descending these, to a cavity
where you can stand upright, and where many names of travel-
lers are scored and traced in smoke upon the stone. Below this
spot, two or three steps farther, is a spring of cold water, the
well formerly in use for working the marble quarries.
It is probable, that the last time these quarries were resorted
to by the Athenians, was when Herodes built his stadium.
After that period, the ruins of ancient buildings might have been
sufficient to supply whatever marble materials were wanted for
new works.
LELTER 3 XVI. 397
Fither the petrifactions have obliterated the marks of the tools,
in the interior caverns, of those excavations were only used as a
shelter to the workmen, the perpendicular precipices without, being
the surface whence the marble was cut away,
The means used to transport the enormous blocks of marble
which were used in the edifices of Athens, from such a spot as
the Pentelican quarries, must remain a secret to the moderns.
It does not seem to me possible, that carriages of any description
could ever have ascended so far up the hills; and as the me-
chanical knowledge of the ancients was perhaps not so consider-
able’as we generally believe them to have possessed, the labour
must have been infinite, to convey entire such masses, nearly
two miles down the steep sides of a mountain.
‘wo monstrous fragments are still to be seen in the path, a
little below the quarries: these are cut into a shape somewhat
circular, the angles being smoothed off, and might lead one to
suppose that the blocks were thus prepared to facilitate the rolling
of them down the hill, or gently pushing them with levers, a pro-
cess somewhat difficult, but not impossible, when the descent was
more regular, and the path more carefully cleared.
But the difficulty of transporting the marbles down the moun-
tain, could not have been greater than that of raising them up
the hill of the Acropolis; and, lastly, elevating them to a great
height, after being carved, without any injury to the finest sculp-
ture, into their positions in the building. One piece of marble
alone, part of the roof of the Propylea, is twenty-seven feet long
and seven wide, with a proportionate depth. The stupendous
architraves of Hadrian’s Temple must have been raised sixty feet
from the ground; and yet these are trifling, in comparison with
3F
398 LETTER XXVI.
.;
the Egyptian gramites, which one cannot believe to have been
raised by engines, any more than the vast buildings of massy
stones seen by the Spaniards on their first arrival among the Pe-
ruvians, a people who knew not the use of iron, but, after smooth-
ing their materials against each other, had recourse to the lever
alone for the whole work.
I fancy that those who are well qualified to speak on the sub-
ject, are now a little sceptical as to the exploits of Archimedes, and
think, that the ancient Greeks were not acquainted with any engines
to raise stones toa great height, particularly as those described
by Vitruvius, have been judged of very inadequate powers. “ If
the work was low,” says Mr. Perrault, in his famous parallel,
« they lifted the blocks on their shoulders; if high, they raised
sloping mounds of earth level with their work, on which they rolled
them up to the necessary height*.” ‘hey were, perhaps, more
laborious, but certainly less skilful than the moderns.
But to leave this speculation, and return towards Athens. In
order to vary the ride from the monastery of Pentele, you may
return by a road almost as short as that through Angele-ipos,
and, after leaving the village of Callandri, turn to the right, and
cross at the extremity of the low range of Anchesmus, going, for
about two miles over heath and scantily-sowed land, to a water-
course. Anchesmus is then on your left; before you, and on
your right hand, you have an open country, skirted with large
woods of olive-trees, a continuation of the groves on the plain of
Athens.
Behind is a village in olive-trees, Muruffe; and higher up,
* Parall. page 118.
LETTER XXVI. 399
under Pentelicus, Cevrishia, one of the most considerable country
towns in Attica, and which is seen afar off, being distinguished
by the dome and minaret of mosck. Cevrishia will be noticed
hereafter; it is three hours from Athens.
After travelling about half a mile on the side of the water-
course, you see a massy portion of the remains of the aqueduct
founded by Hadrian, to convey water from the northern ex-
tremity of Pentelicus, across a gap in the western end of Anches-
mus, to New Athens. Some arches of a considerable height
cross the bed of the water-course; they are in ruins, but afford a
very good specimen of the magnificence of the entire structure.
Half a mile below these arches, you meet with a similar remain,
but with piers more perfect, also crossing the bed of the water-
course, and in a direction nearly parallel with the former, so as
to induce an opinion that there were two branches to the northern
end of the aqueduct.
Not long after these second remains, the path turns to the
left, and strikes into olive-groves, where are a few mud _ houses,
when it crosses the Cephissus over a bridge, which is itself a small
aqueduct, and is used, together with some wicker troughs, to
turn two over-shot mills.
On emerging from the groves, you have Athens full in view
before you, and pass, for the remainder of the distance, over ἃ.
plain of corn-grounds into the city; except that at half a mile from
the walls, you pass through a hollow, having Anchesmus on your
left, and on your right a high rocky mound, looking like a frag-
ment loosened from the neighbouring hill.
LETTER XXVIII.
Route from Athens to Cape Colonni—Vary—The Panéum—
Nympholepsy—Ennea Pyrge— Keratéa—The Caverns in
Mount Parne—Route to Colonni—Return by the Eastern
Shore of Attica, to Keratéa.
THE two following letters shall contain an account
of a visit we paid to Cape Colonni, and the plain of Marathon.
On the 19th of January my fellow-traveller and myself left
Athens, accompanied by our Albanian Vasilly, and a native of
Athens, called Demetrius Zograffos, a young person, who, having
lived some years at ‘T'rieste, spoke Italian, and wore the Frank
habit. We had two baggage horses and two led-horses, which,
together with our own four, were conducted by two sourgees, or
postmen.
‘It was half past eleven when we left the city. We took the
road directly south, crossing the bed of the Ilissus, and, in half
an hour, arrived at some large cut stones, regularly placed. 'I'hese
have been before noticed, as well as the supposition of Chandler,
that they are vestiges of Alopece: the barrows are αἵ ἃ little dis-
tance in the plain to the right. In another hour, after turning a
little more to the east, and keeping nearer to Mount Hymettus,
we came to some more large stones, like the foundation of a wall,
and the mouth of an ancient well :
other barrows are at the nght
hand,
LETTER XxVII. 401
The enumeration given by Strabo of the towns of this part of
Attica, near the shore, refers these few remains to A‘xone, the
town of the tribe Cecropis, the evil disposition of whose inhabi-
tants became proverbial, and added another verb to the language,
synonimous with “ to slander and to abuse*.” Hymettus dimi-
nishes in height at this point, and runs south-south-east.
We now turned east-south-east, over uneven stony ground,
through a gap in the mountain, which stretches about three
miles farther into the sea, to form the promontory Zoster-+, now
Halikes; and, for the last hour, riding through thickets of
low pines and firs, we arrived at Vary, a metochi, or farm, be-
longing to the monastery of Agios Asomatos. Here are five
cottages, at the best of which lives the caloyer, who has the
superintendance of the farm. With this monk we made _prepa-
rations for staying during the night; but leaving our luggage, set
out immediately to visit the Panéum discovered by Chandler,
and alluded to, it is probable, by Strabo, as being in the neigh-
bourhood of Anaphlystus, of the tribe Antiochis, where was the
Temple of Venus Colias. We arrived at this celebrated cave,
riding northwards over woody knolls, and climbing a hill, near the
top of which is the entrance, not very easy to find. <A servant
of the caloyer’s attended us to the spot with fir-torches, and pre-
parations for striking a light.
* A ἰξωνέυεσϑαι.
+ After A°xone was the long promontory Zoster. At Zoster was the altar
of Minerva, Apollo, Diana, and of Latona, who was believed to have brought
forth her children on that spot, or, as others relate, to have loosened her zone,
whenge the name of the place.—-Paus. Attic.
402 LETTER XXVIII.
You descend perpendicularly into the first landing-place in the
cavern, by means of three branches of a tree fallen near the spot.
At the landing-place you see two apertures; one to the left, a
little precipitous, and the other before you, down an easy descent,
where you may walk upright. Here the fire is prepared, and the
torches kindled.
Here are some large letters, the first specimens observable of
the several very ancient inscriptions to be seen in the cave; they
are carved on the rock, which is cut down perpendicularly. Im-
mediately on the left hand, going downwards, is what looks
like a lion’s head, but carved very rudely, and disfigured ; on the
right is a defaced inscription. Descending lower, you have pe-
trifactions hanging from above, and rising from below; one repre-
senting a small entire pillar, as high as the top of the grotto,
is particularly striking. Beyond this the cave turns to the left,
and you come to the lowest part of it, where 1s a spring of
water collected in a small artificial basin. ‘Turning from the well
to ascend to the other aperture, and on the left on the side of the
rock, you see a figure in relief, as iarge as life, very rudely cut,
and seeming to represent a man with some instruments in his
hand, apparently looking one way, and walking the other. The
earth has been heaped up nearly as high as the knees of the
figure, but when it has been cleared away, both the feet have been
found to be turned inwards.
I took a sketch of this singular piece of sculpture, which, from
the letters employed in the inscriptions, has been considered of
extreme antiquity, prior certainly to the adoption of the Tonic
alphabet by the Athenians. At the same time, it would not, I
conceive, be just to suppose, that this strange figure 18 a speci-
LETTER XXVITI. 403
men of the first rude essays made by the Greeks towards
the art in which they afterwards produced such noble master-
pieces.
Archidamus, the Pherzan, whom the inscriptions discover to
have been the maker of the grotto, and who seems to be repre-
sented with the implements of his labour, may, most probably,
have not been a sculptor by profession. What sort of tool he
carries in his left hand is not very discernible, but that in his
right appears more suitable for digging than carving.
Above the figure, on the left side of it, are two inscriptions
giving, in two places, one under the other, the name of the
owner of the cave, and the original of the image.
Above this spot, towards the entrance, is an oval niche, with
small steps before it. On the right of this, is a headless statue in
a chair, much mutilated, and supposed to represent Isis, the
Egyptian Ceres; and at the right of the statue is a mishapen
block of stone, which Chandler considered an Ithyphallus, but
which would not, without a previous hint, strike any one to be
the resemblance of that impure symbol. Between the niche and
the Isis is a stone rudely inscribed on both sides, from which the
traveller before mentioned copied the purport of these words—
** Archidamus the Pherzan and Chollidensian, made this dwelling
for the Nymphs ;” and ‘ Archidamus the Pherean planted the
garden for the Nymphs.” The oval niche may be supposed to
have contained a statue of Pans from the inscription ITANOS, still
extant underneath.
By comparing my own draught with the state of the inscrip-
tions in the time of the above traveller, I find that some of the
characters have been defaced since that period, when they were
404. LETTER ΣΧΥΤΙ.
such as they are represented with the annexed figure, but very
rudely cut.
On the Rock above the
Landing-place.
APREAHMP EO 4 Up 4b jz. AP+EAHMOS
HPAIOSONY® "7729 AP+EAAMOS
OAHPTOSePAA αὶ J
AISINYM®ON ;
ANTPONEZHPT
H=ATO
Above the left Aperture,
on the descent to the
Cave.
AP-+EAAMO ς ἤ
ΟΦΕΡΑΙΟ.5 , ;
“ἡ
pposite to the first UY)
% YW My 727
Uy Uff
2) 6 "25.33.2.
Juscription.
APIO S 1 WM
On one side of the Stone, beneath the Isis. On the other side of the same Stone.
AAMOZHO@ER AP+-EAEMO SH
5 KAT ONNIvI AIOSKAI+OL
AIZEDVTVZEN AESTAINYM
- SOILKOAO
Under a Niche.
[ANos
Twice inscribed under two Niches.
APOAAQNOS ΕΡΣΘ
See the Appendix.
LETTER XXVII. 405
Above the Isis, are two names of travellers, cut deeply into
the stone, and carefully, Fauver, FoucnEeror; our Greek
pointed at them as antique inscriptions.
To the left of the sedent statue, and at no great distance
above the figure of Archidamus, is the aperture out of the cave,
which is ascended by steps cut out in the rock, slippery, and
much worn, and requiring a little climbing to mount.
Many of the petrifactions of this cavern are in more natural
shapes than the rude pieces of sculpture described ; and the grow-
ing spars and crystals were the admiration of the shepherds, who
looked upon the stone as endowed with a principle of animation,
forming itself into arched grottoes and couches by the side of
pure fountains, at the command, and for the gratification of the
Nymphs. ‘The pious rustic conceived himself to have witnessed
the handy-work, or perhaps the persons, of the deities of the
woods, in their most favourite recesses ; and a wish to conciliate
their favour, or avert their wrath, prompted him to improve their
habitation. A small trench, cut out of the rock, and filled with
earth, was planted with a few flowers or herbs, and became their
garden, and the rude figures or emblems of such gods as were
thought to preside over the country, were selected as fit objects
to ornament or consecrate the holy grotto.
The votary was believed, and doubtless believed himself to be
possessed, and an epithet was found out, and attached ta his
name, which at once expressed the excess of his piety, or per-
haps his passion; for the nymphs were known not only to permit,
but solicit the love of mortals. He became a nympholept; and
furnished another tale, to be magnified by the credulity of the
religionist, and adorned by the fancy of the poet. After his
3G
GS rrr > war er w
400 LETTER XXVII.
death he was revered, and perhaps, like Trophonius, worshipped ;
and, having been deluded himself, in his turn contributed to the
folly of others. ‘Thus, when some credit was attached to such a
disease, many were found willing to confess themselves so deranged,
and we learn, that nympholepsy was epidemic amongst the people
in the neighbourhood of a certain cave in Citheron.
The subterranean worship of the ancients, embraced not only
that of the Nymphs, of Bacchus, Priapus, Ceres, and Pan, but
that of Apollo, Mercury, and other deities. Jupiter himself
had a cave on Mount Ida, in Crete; and one was shown by the
Phrygians of Themisonium, before which were the figures of
Hercules, Apollo, and Mercury, who had conducted the inhabi-
tants to this secure retreat during the irruption of the Gauls *.
But the sylvan deities were the usual tenants of these grottoes :
for them, as for the fairies of modern superstition, “‘ the bowl
was duly set;” and one of the inscriptions in the Panéum near
Vary, directed those who visited the place to Offer.
The ancient Athenians followed the precept of 'Triptolemus,
directing them to worship the gods only with the productions of
the earth: and the niches in the holy caves, the earliest of tem-
ples, were cut to receive the cakes of meal and fruits, the oil and
wine, of which the humble offerings consisted, and which were
believed to administer to the wants of the divinities. So con-
vinced were the people of the actual presence of those whom they
adored, that their grottoes had two entrances, one of which was
reserved for men, but the other for immortals}, This particularity
* Pausa. Phocic. p. 671.
ὙΓΑλλ᾽ Αϑανάτων ὁδὸς eoriv.—-OATZZ,. Ν,
LETTER XXVII. AOT
was observed of the caves in Ithaca, and near Heraclea, and that
of Archidamus has been described as having a similar contrivance.
The left-hand entrance is certainly artificial.
The Panéum near Vary contains nothing, like Homer’s cavern,
“ wonderful to behold,” but is, perhaps, the most ancient vestige
of the religion of Greece in existence, and will, most probably,
be pointed out to the enquiring traveller, long after the last eo-
lumns of the Parthenon shall have fallen to the ground. 'The
Grotto of Archidamus will outlast the Temple of Pericles.
The cave is now the resort of the shepherds, who, however,
have done it no further injury, than blacking the roof and sides
of it, at the first landing-place, with the smoke of their fires.
Returning from this spot, we had a view of Cape Zoster, or
Halikes, and of the assemblage of small islands called Cambo
Nisia, before us; to the left, at the farthest distance, was the pro-
jecting land of Attica, and a promontory which shuts out the
view of Sunium, called Katapheke. Before this promontory lay
a rocky island, whose name is now Gaidaronisi, but was anciently
the Fosse of Patroclus.
We passed the night at Vary; and as it was very fine, the
moon shining bright in a clear sky, rambled about for some time
on a terrace near the house, which has been paved, and is made
use of for an aloni, or corn-floor, and which is mentioned by
Chandler. ‘There is something exceedingly agreeable in the mi-
nute descriptions of that traveller, to those who journey over the
same spots which he visited.
Before our departure from Vary, the next morning, I walked
out towards a bay a little below the village, over some cultivated
land, where, amongst several bushes, there are the evident traces
3G 2
A «] elle a. ee = ΩΣ
408 LETTER RXVIK
of an ancient town. In one place were the shafts of three small
marble columns, standing in an inclosure, apparently the ruin of
a church. In another was a large circular basin, or trough, and
the mouth of a fountain, alsoin marble. At Vary, lying by the
side of a smali church, is a marble lion, nearly as large as life,
with the legs of a man bestride him. ‘The head and legs of the
lion, as well as the body and feet of the rider, are wanting; but
what remains, particularly the swell of the loins of the animal, is
of fine workmanship. On each side of the church-door is a
sepulchral inscription, on a circular piece of ornamented marble.
ΗΝΙΝΠΟΣ ΡΙΣΤΟΜΑΧΗ.
ΑΙΠΠΟ ΒΟΥΛΑΡΧΟΥ͂
‘These have been taken from the ruins of the place below. I did
not see the inscription which recorded a native of Anagyrus*, and
caused the supposition, that the site of the Attic town of that
name was on the flat below Vary. Below these remains, nearer
the shore, are some salt-pits.
Ata little past twelve, we set forwards on our journey, and
rode for an hour, south-south-east, through woods of pine; we
then entered some hilly grounds, and turned east-south-east, also
through pine woods. Here we met large droves of oxen belong-
ing to the metochi of Vary; they were of a kind smaller than
the Scotch cattle, and generally black.
* Anagyrus was a town of the tribe Erectheis; it contained a temple of the
Mother of the Gods: it was the name also of a plant of a most pungent odour ;
and of a hero, whose signal vengeance in punishing some neighbours, who had
insulted his Gods, or clse the nature of the plant, gave rise to the Greek proverb,
A’vayupov κινεῖν
LETTER XxXVII. 409
We had lost sight of the sea soon after leaving our village. In
half an hour we crossed near the extremity of a plain, extending
far up to the northwards. ‘his plain is that of which mention
has been before made, under the name of the plain of Spatha,
and which is separated from the district immediately near Athens
by the range of Hymettus.
A mile out of our road to the left of the north, we saw several
square towers in ruins, called Ennea Pyrge ; but the number of
these unsightly structures is Jess than that which gave them their
denomination. We rode to them, and found nothing worth no-
tice. On a slope of a hill, at some distance, we saw the large
village of Marcopoli, containing three hundred houses, more to
the northward, in the same plain of Spatha. ‘The plain is open
and well cultivated, having besides, tracts of pasture land, covered
with flocks and herds: it is bounded by Pentelicus to the north,
and by some high lands, which form the shore of Attica, to the
east.
In Ennea Pyrge, I do not recognize the “ruins of ἃ town
built on a rock,” to which Sir G. Wheler has given the same
name, and has conjectured to be the site of the lower Lampra.
This spot is several miles inland, and the coast is not to be seen
from it, on account of a ridge of low hills, which terminate it to
the south. It appears to me to be rather that which he calls a
desolate church, near the site of Anaphlystus*.
We rejoined the baggage horses at a small village, ‘ Kalivia
KKouvara ;’ our direction was then south-east, in an open culti-
* In another place, Anaphlystus was, by mistake, put for Limne, which
Wheler supposed on the site of Tres Pyrgaz, near the promontory Colias; yet
D’Anville has placed Anaphlystus near Colias.
410 LETTER XXVII.
yated plain. In half an hour we came to the head of another
large tract of flat open country ; a village, Kouvara, was on our
left, at the side of some low hills; mountains, called Parne, were
on our right, running parallel with our route.
Travelling onwards in the plain for another half hour, we ar-
rived, at three o'clock, at the village of Keratéa. Here we put
up for the night in a large mud cottage belonging to the Codja-
bashee.
Keratéa is inhabited by Albanians, and contains about two
hundred and fifty houses. Three or four of the peasants are of
the better sort, and reputed rich, they being themselves the
owners of the neighbouring lands, and not renters, as is the case
at almost all the villages of Attica, where the common tenure is,
that the peasants shall pay one-half of the produce of their lands
and their stock, whatever it may be, to their landlords, and, out of
the remainder, raise their taxes for the Porte, their contributions
for their own priests, and support themselves. Every expence
devolves upon the tenant, who, by the undefined terms of his
tenure, becomes almost the slave of his landlord; and, on pre-
tence of having made large profits, is liable to repeated extortions,
as moieties due to his master.
Keratéa is at the foot of the range of mountains now called
Parné, which are not a continuation of Hymettus, as represented
in most maps, and yet have not been, that I am aware, distin-
guished by any ancient name, unless they are a part of Laurium.
A little before the sun was set, I climbed some distance up the
hill, from which I had a very commanding prospect, including
the southern extremity of the Negroponte, Macronisi or Long
Island, near the eastern coast, as far as Sunium, and several
LETTER XXVII. 411
islands to the south of that promontory. Attica at this point
appeared very narrow, the eastern shore running from north-
north-west to east-south-east. 'The two ranges of Hymettus were
very distinctly seen, lying in the direction before described.
The soil in the neighbourhod of Keratéa is very light and
stony, and gives but a scanty return to the husbandman ; indeed,
the general multiplication of grain in Attica is five and six for
on», and never more than ten.
Chandler thought Marcopoli to be Potamus; and, from some
remains seen by Wheler, supposed Keratéa to be Thoricus ; but
a port, still called Therico, is about an hour and a half dis-
tance to the south-east. It is probable, that most of the modern
towns of this country may have been built on or near the site of
the ancient places, for the conveniency of making use of the ruins;
but there is something a little too arbitrary in fixing upon the few
vestiges occasionally seen, as certain remains of the towns distin-
guished by particular mention in ancient authors: they may very
easily be the marks of one of thé many Attic towns of which we
only know the names.
The two days after our arrival at Keratéa were so rainy, as to
induce us to defer our expedition to Cape Colonni until fairer
weather ; but [ took the opportunity of a few hours sunshine, to
climb up the mountain Parné, in search of a cave, of which we
had heard many wonderful stories from our host. Demetrius,
the Athenian, and an old man as a guide, accompanied. We
ascended for some time, and turning round the eastern extre-
mity, came to the south side of the range. ‘The clouds hanging
on the side of the hills retarded our progress; but after scram-
bling up some way in the mist, we again found ourselves in the
412 LETTER XXVII.
light. The sun shone above head in a clear blue sky; and whilst
the country below seemed like an expanse of white water, the
ground where we stood, and the summits of other mountains,
had the appearance of innumerable islands rising abruptly from
the sea.
Arriving with much difficulty near the top of the range of hills,
we came, after along search, to the mouth of the cavern. A
fragment of impending rock almost concealed the entrance. We
leapt down on the first landing-place, and there struck a light,
and having each of us taken a pine-torch in our hands, together
with a supply οἵ strips of the same wood, let ourselves down
through a very narrow aperture, where there was a choice of two
entrances, to the right or left. Creeping down still farther, we
came at once into what appeared a large subterranean hall, arched
over head with high domes of crystal, and divided into long aisles
by columns of glittering spars—in some parts spread into wide
horizontal chambers, in others terminated by the dark mouths of
steep recesses, descending, as it seemed, into the bowels of the
mountain.
The vast magnificence of nature was joined with the pleasing
regularity of art. We wandered from one grotto to another,
until we came to a fountain of pure water, supplied partly by a
stream that trickled down the petrifactions depending from the
roof, and partly by a spring bubbling up from the rock below.
By the side of this basin we loitered some time, when, as our
torches began to waste, we resolved to return; but after exploring
the labyrinth for a few minutes, we found ourselves again at the
fountain side, and began, not without reason, to be somewhat
alarmed ; for the guide here confessed, that he had forgotten the
LETTER XXVIII. 418
intricacies of the caverns, and knew not how we should ever re-
cover our path.
We were in this situation, roaming through ranges of the
cavern, and now and then climbing up narrow apertures, totally
ignorant of our position, for many minutes, and the last strip of
fir was consuming, when we saw the light gleaming towards us,
and directing our steps that way, arrived at the mouth of the
cave. Had our light been extinguished, there would have been
but little, if any chance, of our escape. ‘I'he splendour and
beauty of the scene would have vanished with the last blaze
of our torch, and the fairy palace been at once converted into a
dark inextricable cavern, a dungean, and a tomb. The mind can-
not easily picture to itself any “‘ slow sudden” death more terrible,
than that of him who should be buried in these subterranean
solitudes, and after a succession of faint hopes and eager efforts,
sink at last, subdued by weakness and despair.
The peasants of Keratéa informed us, that this cave, which is
well known, and talked of in Attica, but has not, I fancy, been
mentioned by any traveller, has within it a thousand suites of
grottoes, extending, as they believed, through the centre of the
mountain below their town. ‘The spar, with which it abounds, is
of the purest white; and they told us, that some travellers had
carried away several horse-loads of it. ‘The wolves frequently
resort to it, and we were advised to carry our pistols in readiness
for a rencounter with one of these animals.
I did not observe any marks of carving in the rock, or any
thing which might lead one to suppose that this cave had anciently
been dedicated to Pan or the Nymphs; yet its size and magnifi-
cence render it a dwelling much more suitable to the rural deities
than the grotto of Archidamus.
Q ;x
2ΠΗ
414 LETTER XXVITI.
Returning from the cave, we went into a farm, where two or
three caloyers reside. It is on a steep declivity, about half way
up the hill, and is sheltered by a grove of olive trees. A small
chapel of St. John is within the inclosure; and near this is an
arched grotto, with a cold spring in a large stone basin sunk in
the earth, supplied by a stream that distils, in perpetual drops,
from the roof of the cell. ‘The basin is large enough to serve
the purposes of a bath, and is so used by the caloyers (who have
adjusted to the mouth of the grotto a rude wooden door) during
the violent heats of summer. ‘The water trickles from above, like
the streams of a continued shower-bath, and must have the same
agreeable effect, without the violent shock produced hy sudden
aspersion..
I should not forget to tell you, that the monk who showed us
the grotto, pointed to this distillation asa standing miracle, per-
formed by the saint in the neighbouring chapel.
The day after the ascent of Mount Parneé was so continuedly
ramy, as to prevent our proceeding from KSeratéa ; but the morn-
ing after (January 23, 1810) we set out, at half past nine, for
Cape Colonni, leaving our baggage, as we intended to return to
the village the same night. We took first a direction south-south-
east, over rough barren ground, until, in half an hour, we turned
the extremity of the mountain Parné. At this spot there were
two roads ; one, towards the south, to the port Therico, the other,
west-south-west, to a village called Katapheke. ‘This latter route
we took; and proceeding over woody knolls, kept more to the
south-west and south-south-west, coming at last to a flat plain,
terminated by a bay with a cape, and a small island before it to
the west.
Here, ina marshy flat near the sea, were some large salt-pits.
LETTER XXVII. 415
I take a promontory, to the west of the bay, to have been Asty-
oT ] r midis at - a ἢ τευ τ αὶ -
paliea, which was that next to Zoster, immediately to the south
of the town of ‘hore or Thore, and an island, facing it, may
be that once called Eleusa.
Proceeding a short time by a water-course, we turned to the
south-south-east, and keeping the sea for a quarter of an hour in
sight, went over a rocky hilly path, until we came to Katapheke,
a village of a few huts, which gives its name to a long promon-
tory that stretches beyond it far into the sea, and is the next pro-
jection to the west of Cape Colonni. Katapheke is reckoned four
hours from Keratéa, the route very circuitous and rough, but we
were only an hour and forty minutes performing the distance.
After leaving this village, the path took us over woody hills,
until we came to a solitary metochi, standing in the midst of the
wildest mountain scenery, when we struck more southward, along
the course of a dry river, having in front of us huge perpendicu-
lar precipices, covered with pines and other evergreens, running
east and west. In order to get round this range, we continued a
little more to the right, until we came nearly to the sea-shore,
and turning again to the east, and climbing over the foot of the
hills, had our first view of Cape Colonni, and the ruins of the
Temple of Minerva.
We rode for some time over a rough uneven path, just above
the sea-shore, until we came to along bay, at the west side of
which was a small rocky island. On this rock the waves burst,
though it was nearly calm, with a loud murmur, and covered the
shelving sides with white foam.
After riding along the bay, we passed upwards to the site of
the ruins, by a steep, but not very long ascent, and climbing
3H 2
416 LETTER XXVII.
over the remains of an ancient wall, which has fourteen rows of
massy stones still standing, came to the remains of the Temple of
Minerva Sunias.
The proportions of this Temple may be judged of by that part
of it which is still standing, and it appears to have occupied nearly
the whole of the level ground on the promontory. It was of the
Doric order, an hexastyle, the columns twenty-seven feet. in
height ; the whole edifice being of very white marble, and of the
most perfect architecture. Nine columns, without their entabla-
tures, front the sea, in a line from west-north-west to east-south-
east; three are standing on the side towards the land, the north ;
and two, with a pilaster next to the corner-one of the northern
columns, towards the sea on the east, and on a line with the last
column but one of the nine on the south-eastern side. Some
large fragments of the cell are scattered about in the western
front, and the ruins of a pilaster, which was thrown down about
sixty years ago, lie in heaps at the front towards the east. ‘These
are covered with the names of travellers.
The whiteness of the marble has been preserved probably by
the sea vapour, in the same manner as T'rajan’s triumphal arch
at Ancona, near the mole, immediately on the beach, retains a
freshness and polish superior to any remains in more inland situa-
tions.
‘The rock on which the columns stand is precipitous, but not
inaccessible, nor very high; it bears a strong resemblance to
the picture in Falconer’s Shipwreck ; but the view given in Ana-
charsis, places the Temple just i the wrong position. Here is
another steep craggy neck of land, stretching from the east. side
of the cape to the south-south-east.
LETTER XxVII. 417
T’o the north-west, under the brow of the rock, is a circular
ereek, which was formerly the port of the town Sunium. The
fragments of wall before noticed, are part of the fortifications
with which that town was surrounded during the Peloponesian
war. Sunium, belonging to the tribe Leontis, was considered an
important post, and as much a town as Pireus, but cannot have
been very large; yet Euripides, in his Cyclops, talks of the “ rich
rock of Sunium,” by which he might allude to the wealth of the
Temple, but hardly to the fertility of the soil.
The view from Cape Colonni presents, on the west, the pro-
montory ISatapheke, and very near to that headland, the abrupt
rocky island, now called Gaidaronesi, but whose ancient name
was the Fosse of Patroclus, as it was once surrounded with a
wall by an Egyptian admiral of that name, to defend the coast
against Antigonus, the son of Demetrius*. It is now uninha-
bited, and entirely a desert ; without a herb or shrub upon its
rugged surface: it was formerly in repute for the great quantity
of ebony wood which it produced. Beyond Gaidaronesi is ἃ
smaller island, Archinda, formerly Belbina.
The view to the north, or the land side, is. terminated very soon
by high and abrupt hills, covered with pines, and abounding in
marble. ‘ihese hills. were formerly the mountain Laurium; and
it should seem, that about the promontory Katapheke was the
town Laurium, which is. mentioned as being near to the island
Patroclus}+. One or two of the shafts of the ancient silver mines,
for which this mountainous region was so celebrated, have been
discovered in.a small shrubby plain not far from the sea, on the
* Paus. Attic. p. 1. t Paus,. Attic. p, 1.
ALS LETTER XXVIII.
eastern coast; and a specimen of ore, lately found, was shown
to me at Athens.
The whole of the country, from the plain of Athens to Sunium,
on the side both of the Saronic gulf and the Aigean sea, com-
posing the strip of land that forms the southern extremity of At-
tica, was called Paralos, or the Maritime. It was laid waste on both
sides towards Peloponesus, and towards Eubca and Andros, in
the second year of the long war*, On the east, quite close to the
land, is the island Helene, called Macronesi, or Long Island,
running from south-south-west to north-north-east, narrow and
rocky, and forming a sort of roadstead between its own shore and
the coast of Attica, for several miles.
Beyond Macronesi is Zea, then ‘Thermia, and next Serpho; all
Jong low land, lying in a line successively, so as to have the ap-
pearance of one large island, stretching to the south. In the
utmost distance in the same direction, is the island St. George.
The high lands of Argolis, about the Cape Scylleum, that form
the other extremity of the Saronic gulf, are also visible, at a
distance computed to be about two or three and twenty miles +}-.
The spear and the crest of the statue of Minerva Polias, in the
Acropolis, might be seen from Sunium, a straight line of nearly
thirty miles; such, at least, is the assertion of Pausanias, which
no one, who has seen the positions, can at all credit. ‘Those who
have supposed the old Athenians endowed with a sight so subtle
and extensive, as to enable them to distinguish objects at a far
greater distance than any amongst us of the present day, will
not, however, believe them to have had the faculty of seeing
* Thueyd. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 54. + Wheler, p. 423.
LETTER XXVIlI. 419
through opposing hills. ‘The transparency of the air in the cli-
mate of Attica, might, indeed, account for very extensive powers
of vision: a late traveller, Mr. Humboldt, relates, that on the
mountains of Quito it is not difficult to distinguish, at a distance
of seventeen miles, the white cloak of a person on horseback.
But the range of Hymettus prevents even the promontory Su-
nium itself from being seen from the Acropolis, and let the height
of the gigantic statue have been ever so enormous, it could hardly
be so considerable as to over-top the neighbouring mountains.
After remaining about an hour and a half on the cape, under
the columns of the Temple, we set out to return to Keratéa by
the eastern coast of Attica, not keeping quite close to the shore,
but going over a hilly road, through woods of pine, low cedars,
and bushes of lentisc, until we came to a bay or port, passing by
some wells, called, as is the port, Passia Pegathia, the Pasha’s
Fountain; and, in an hour from Colonni, to Gaidaromandra, a
large double port, the horns projecting far on each side, the largest
and more southerly port having a direction from north-east to
south-west ; the smaller one, whose mouth is only a few yards
across, and choked by a bar of sand, lying from east to west.
From Gaidaromandra, after riding about three miles. over a
barren country, near the sea, we passed a port called Panorma,
large and open, the southern cape stretching farther than the
northern, and lying from east to west: between this place and
the last port are the shafts of the silver mines, a little out of the
way on the left of the road. At the back of port Panorma there
15 a salt-marsh.
In little more than half an hour, we came to the port Therico,
not passing close to the sea; so that we did not observe another
port, called Agastirachia, between Panorma and this last place.
120 LETTER XXVITI.
Therico is a large open port, in a direction from east-north-east
to west-south-west, fronted by the northern extremity of Macro-
nesi, and a point to the north of north-west from Sunium. On
the south-west, west, ane north, there is a marshy plain of some
extent, terminated on every side by hills, the highest of which
are to the south, where one may suppose was the point called
Besa*, on Mount Laurium. The most considerable branch of the
silver mines reached from the monument of 'Thrasyllus, on Lau-
rium, to Besa, and was defended by the fortress of 'Thoricus to
the north, and Anaphlystus to the south, at equal distances from
Besa, which height it was proposed also to fortify, as an addi-
tional security.
In some bushes in the plain, not far from the port, we saw
afew large fragments of marble columns, the remains, as the
traveller Le Roi thought, of a very ancient temple, and upon a
small stony eminence to the north, a piece of wall, a vestige, it
may be presumed, of the fortifications of 'Thoricus.
Thoricus was a considerable town, of the tribe Acamantis,
receiving its name from 'lhoricus, a Cyprian, and supposed by
the ancient Athenians to have been the country of Cephalus. It
is mentioned by Strabo, as between Sunium and Potamus.
We struck into the plain to the north-west, and came to a vil-
lage of a few huts on a woody knoll, and then went north-north-
west through a pass in the hills; after which, we passed over some
extent of ground, up a brow covered with cinders, the remnants
of the mines, a branch of which may have been in this quarter.
Pieces of ore, chiefly of copper, with a small portion of silver, are
occasionally picked up by the peasants on this spot. No incon-
* Xenoph. report, p. 928, edit. Leunclav.
GETTER, REVEL. 49}
siderable quantity of valuable metal was, as we learn from Sir G.
Wheler, collected hence, and actually worked by the Greeks at
Athens, about a hundred and fifty years ago”*.
We continued on our journey, over bare stony ground, inter-
spersed with heath and low shrubs, until we arrived at the point
where the road joined the path we had taken in the morning, at
the extremity of the range of Parne, and came, at half past four,
to Keratéa, having made a circuit, as computed, of twelve hours.
Throughout the whole of this large tract of country, we had
seen only three small villages and one solitary farm; in all not
thirty houses. It does not appear that this district was ever
much peopled: the slaves who worked the mines of Laurium,
formed by far the greatest part of its population, and the few
towns on the coast were inhabited by fishermen ; for the barren-.
ness of the soil, except in a few spots, would not admit of pastu-
rage or agriculture. The people of Paralos were thus entirely
attached to the sea, and were the best sailors in Attica; even
their religious festivals partook of their nautical habits, and, in-
stead of the dances and the processions of the Panathenea, they
had galley-races round the Sunian promontory, in honour of the
Minerva who presided over their temple. Except those of Ana-
phlystus, who were esteemed for their manufactures of vases, the
Paralians were not excellent in any art unconnected with their
way of life, and as the naval dominion of the republic declined,
diminished both in numbers and importance: an insurrection of
the slaves of the mines, about the year 650, U.C., completed
the destruction of this district, and all its towns were soon after
in a manner deserted.
* Wheler, p. 448.
91
422 LETTER ΧΧΥΤΥ,
The creeks and caves with which this angle of Attica abounds,
afford a retreat to the Mainotes, and other pirates of the Grecian
seas; and, as you may recollect, from an anecdote in my seven-
teenth Letter, a visit to the ruins of the Temple of Minerva
Sunias is not, at all times, unattended with peril. ‘The peasants,
however, generally keep watch on the tops of the hills overhang-
ing the coast, and the approach of any suspicious boats is notified
to the villages, which are immediately secured against surprise.
Keratéa itself was, about the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
tury, plundered by a large body, and Jeft in ruins. ‘ This has.
been,” says Wheler, “ an ancient and great city, and did pre-
serve itself considerable, until destroyed by the corsairs, about
fifty or threescore years ago. They had their Epitropi, or Ar-
chontes, until then, who did wear high-crowned hats, like those
of Athens*.”
* A Journey, p. 448.
LETTER XXVIII.
Route from Keratéa to Port Raphti—that Port described—
Route from Raphti, through Kata-Vrdona and Apano-Vrdona,
and by Caliva Spatha, to the Plain of Marathon—View of.
the Plain—Battle of Marathon—Route from the Plain to
Athens—The Cave of Pan—Stamati—Cevrishia.
A'T twelve o’clock, on the 24th of January, we left
Keratéa, in order to proceed to Marathon; but as it was our
wish to take a view of port Raphti, we sent on our baggage the
direct road by Marcopoli, going ourselves towards the coast, in
an easterly and east-north-easterly direction®. For half an hour
we rode over a cultivated plain, and then turned north-east amongst
hills, continuing amongst which for another hour, we had a view
of port Raphti, through a vista formed by high woody moun-
tains. We wound down these hills by a steep and craggy path,
until we came to a torrent-bed, and a few huts constructed with
boughs of trees; and then keeping by the side of the water-course,
* Between port Therico and port Raphti, there are four small fishing har-
bours: J. Vrisaki, 2. Turco-liminia, 3. Thascalio, 4. Kake-Thalassa. One
of them was large enough to receive the Lacedemonian fleet (Thucyd. lib. viii.
cap. 95), perhaps the port of Potamus, a Demos of the tribe Leontis, frequently
mentioned by ancient authors. The tomb of Ion, if a barrow, may still remain,
and point out the site.
[2]
VES
494, LETTER ΧΧΨΥΨΤΙΙ.
Ds
v ᾿
through pine woods, we reached the sea-shore in a little less than two.
hours from Keratéa, travelling down an easy slope to the port.
Raphti, the ancient port of Prasie, about fifteen miles from
Athens, isa much more commodious as well as a larger harbour
than Pireus ; and being, as it were, scooped out of the feet of
high hills, crowned with forests of a perpetual verdure, affords
not only a secure but a most romantic retreat.
Prasiz was of the tribe Pandionis, and well known by being
the place whence the mysteries of the Hyperborean Apollo were
annually carried by the Athenians to Delos: it contained’ the
sepulchre of Erysicthon. Some ruins of the town were seen by
Wheler, which have now disappeared.
It has a double port, and one basin is called the little, the other
the great Raphti.
The little Raphti is to the south, and lies in a direction from
east-north-east to its opposite point in the compass: its shape 18
circular. On its southern extremity is a peninsular neck of land,
with a high hill just above, that may be seen at a great distance,
and on the same side, in the mouth of the whole harbour, 1s a
steep rocky island, on which we saw very plainly a colossal statue.
This island has been visited by travellers, and the statue been
described to be of white marble, sedent, on a pedestal eight feet
high. The head and arms of the statue are broken off, but when
entire, it is conjectured to have been twelve feet in height*, and
to have once served the purpose of a Pharos. ‘The modern
Greeks supposed it to represent a tailor cutting cloth;-; a subject,
it must be confessed, not lkely to be chosen by the taste of an
* Chandler, p. 157.
+ Wheler, p. 447. P'amrns, in Romaic, signifies a tailor.
BETTER. XXVIII. 425
ancient sculptor. Farther in to the north, is a small low green
island, and on this there was once another statue of a female, ser-
viceable, perhaps, in pointing out the mouth of the larger har-
bour. A narrow range of rocks divides the two ports.
The larger Raphti 15 ἃ very considerable basin, of an oval shape,
extending to the north-north-west, and sheltered from every quar-
ter of the compass.
As we were passing round the shore of the lesser port, we heard
the barking of some dogs, and a shout from a shepherd, and look-
ing about us, saw a large dun-coloured. wolf galloping slowly
through the bushes, a little to the left of us. ‘The mountains of
Attica, particularly Parnes, formerly abounded with these animals,
as well as with bears and wild boars. We were told that wolves
were very common, and that boars were occasionally killed, but
of the bears we heard nothing. ‘The flocks are guarded by the
large shaggy dog, before described as being found in Albania ;
but a wolf is too strong for one of them, and you see the shep-
herd accompanied sometimes by four or five. The hard weather
drives the wolves into the plains, but they are. seldom bold enough
to show themselves in the open day, though in the moonlight
nights they will sometimes penetrate not only into the folds, but
even into the village gardens. ‘They are now and then, though
but seldom, tracked in the snow to their dens in the mountains,
and shot by the shepherd, who les in ambush near the mouth of
their caves.
Advancing towards the greater Raphti, we hailed a little fishing
boat, that was under the range of rocks dividing the two ports ;
but the Greeks, as soon as they saw us, mistook us for Turks,
and rowed off, until they were persuaded to come back by the
420 LETTER XXVIIl.
ae vy
friendly tones and intreaties of our Athenian, Demetrius. We
dismounted, and lighting up a fire, by means of the flint and
steel which the passion for smoking induces almost every Levan-
tine to carry about him, partook of some dried fish, of the sort
most commonly met with on these coasts. This fish is the sea-
polypus, about the size of a small lobster, and has eight legs in
rings, on which account it 1s called octo-podes by the Greeks,
though the Lingua Franca name is volpe. It is beaten to make
it tender, and a little salt being thrown over it, dried, and some-
times eaten raw, but more commonly fried with oil. The flesh is
white, but tough and insipid. ‘This and the cuttle fish constitute
a chief part of the food of the Greeks during such of their fasts
as exclude them from eating any thing but vegetables and blood-
less animals.
After our refreshment, we passed along part of the beach of
the larger Raphti; then left the sea, and took a path to the
north-west, through grounds beautifully wooded, with. intervals
of cultivated land, and having much the appearance of an Eng-
lish park, or ornamented farm; after this, we soon came into the
upper part of the plain of Spatha, where are Ennea Pyrge and
Marcopoli, before mentioned, and in an hour passed by a small
village, Kata-Vraona, belonging to the monastery Pendele, and
striking into the direct road from Keratéa to Marathon.
Shortly after Kata-Vraona we passed Apano-Vraona, also mm
the same fine plain, and pursuing our route, saw the village of
Spatha on our left, not far from Hymettus: Pentelicus was before
us, and the high tops of Parnes were visible afar off, concluding
the prospect. i
1,
S~9
From lower and upper Vraona the path took us to a village
LETTER XXVIII. 427
also in the plain, called Caliva Spatha (meaning, I fancy, a village
subordinate or belonging to Spatha); here we turned amongst
woods, to the north-north-east, having Pentelicus verging towards
us on our left, and a range of low rocks. to our right. We
inclined more to the north-east; and then again northwards,
ascending some hilly ground, a root of Pentelicus, which, run-
ning into the sea, forms the promontory once called Cynosura.
It was then five o’clock, and we had been two hours and a half
coming, at a brisk pace, from Raphti. From the brow we had a
view of the plain and long beach of Marathon, extending before
us to the north, and travelled under a range of Pentelicus on our
left, at some distance from the shore, over barren ground. En-
tering the plain on this side, the flat appears to be the most ex-
tensive under the hills before you to the north; and the promon-
tory of Rhamnus, called Chersonesus formerly, but now Stome,
stretching out into the sea on that side, formsa fine bay, which im-
mediately strikes you, at a distance, as having been the place where
the Persians landed, and the scene of the glorious battle: indeed,
not. knowing the situations, [ travelled on to the village before us
with that idea, and was entjrely unaware that we were, whilst riding
over a green narrow plain, passing the very spot we had come to
visit. it was rather dusky, anda high mound on the right hand
of us almost escaped our attention, nor could we see it sufficiently
distinct to recognize it for the barrow of the Athenians.
We saw two collections of wretched huts; one at the extre-
mity of the plain, with a rumed tower, and’the other on the brow
of a low eminence, beyond a small river: To this latter place
we directed our steps, and, crossing the stream, arrived there,
together with our baggage-horses, which we had) overtaken, at
half after six in the evening.
428 LETTER XXVIII.
The morning of the next day was employed in examining the
positions of the plain of Marathon; a hillock before the cottage
where we slept, afforded a view of the whole country. Every
topographer that I have had it in my power to examine, seems to
have mistaken the spot where the battle took place; and though
I despair of being as minute or as intelligible as I could wish, it
is my intention to speak a little in detail of the scene which the
most glorious action of all antiquity has rendered so renowned.
The village at present called Marathonas, is in a kind of recess
between the hills, about a mile to the back, the north, of the
Albanian cottages: it is inhabited by a few Turks, and surrounded
by gardens. A river, once called the Charadrus, flows from the
village, and passing towards the cottages, winds on before the hil-
lock ; taking a turn to the west-north-west, and flowing in that direc-
tion, until it is lost in a large marsh or lake, which extends under
the woody hills that form the isthmus of the promontory Stome.
The Charadrus runs close to the ruined tower and the cottages.
On the western side of the river, where there is the ruined tower,
is a low rugged hill, about a mile and a half in extent, lying north
and south, and forming the left bank of the narrow valley that
reaches as far as Marathon. It is a little more than a quarter of
a mile from the Albanian cottages and the hillock.
The plan of the battle in Anacharsis, places the Greeks too
much to the north, and in a situation where it 15 impossible they
should have been drawn up in the closest order. But the position
of the armies is to be looked for lower down, and in the narrow
strip of plain which has the sea on one side and the range of Pen-
telicus on the other quarter to the west, extending, with some in-
terruption, perhaps eight miles, from the Albanian cottages to the
southern entrance, on the road by which we came to the spot.
LETTER XXVIII. 4.29
A mile from our hillock is the shore, which, in this spot, turns
off in a north-easterly direction, to form the promontory of
Rhamnus. Proceeding for two miles directly down the plain, to
the south, with the coast ranging to the left, at half a mile’s dis-
tance from the shore, is the large barrow, about fifteen feet in
height and thirty paces in circumference, which, upon most pro-
bable grounds, is supposed to have been the tomb of the Athe-
nian heroes. It stands alone in a dead flat, so as to be very con-
spicuous, not only to those who are travelling in the plain, but
even to vessels sailing in the channel between the Negroponte and
the main. <A perpendicular cut has been made into the earth on
the top, by some antiquarian researcher: such a relic might surely
be spared! Standing with your back to the sea upon this bar-
row, you see a flat valley running north-west from the long plain,
and having Pentelicus on the south, and the low rugged hill on
the north. At the west end of this valley is a small village,
*‘ Vraona,” on the site nearly of the ancient Brauron, celebrated
for the worship of that Diana, whose image was transported thi-
ther from Tauris by Iphigenia, and afterwards carried away by
Xerxes.
It appears to me, that the Athenians were drawn up a little
within the mouth of this valley, with the low rugged hills, from
which the trees might be felled to impede the Persian cavalry, on
their left, and a torrent, that stills flows from Vraona into the
plain to the south, on their right. The Greek camp was in the
field of Hercules, not far, it may be conjectured, from the mo-
dern village, for some ancient trenches are still visible in that
quarter. ‘The western extremity of the flat valley approaches
near the modern Marathon, from which it is only separated by
3K
430 LETTER: ΧΙ
am ¥ -
the end of the low hill, the site, it is probable, of the Hera-
cléum.
The Greeks and the Persians were, before the battle, nearly a
mile from each other, and the lines of the two armies were in
extent equal.
This description corresponds only with the entrance of the
valley of Vraona; in any other part of the plain the Persians
would have out-flanked the Greek forces. ‘The Athenians, who
were broken in the centre, were pursued up into the country
(ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν ), and the same valley is the only open space
which will allow of such an expression. ‘The troops who were
victorious in the wings, closed upon the barbarians, and cut off
their retreat: here then the battle was most sanguinary; and one
of four barrows, three small and one larger than the rest, a little
to the south of Vrdona, may be the tombs of the Platewans and
slaves who fell in the action.
Less than a mile to the south-east of the large barrow, and
close to the sea, is a spot of ground, not very large, formed into
an island by the stagnation of the torrent which flows from the
valley of Vraona, and which seems to be that once named Era-
sinus. ‘I'he marsh surrounding the island may be easily passed.
In this place there are several stele, or sepulchral pillars, five
of which are standing, and the others lying on the ground: the
length of one of them is eight feet and a half, and the circumfe-
rence five feet two inches: they have no inscriptions. Here also
is ἃ square marble, looking like a pedestal; and, in a pool of
water in the same island, ts the headless statue of a female sedent,
of fine white marble, and exquisitely wrought.
* Herod. Erat. cap. 113.
LETTER XKVYIIL. A31
The barrow of the Athenians had upon it sepulchral pillars,
recording the names and the tribes of the Athenians who were
slain in the battle*. ‘The remains in the small island are by
some supposed to refer to these monuments; and the large bar-
row, still to be seen, is consequently thought to be that of the
Plateans, the other having been undermined, and fallen into the
marsh. Some little vases, and other ornaments usually found in
tombs, have been discovered by a gentleman of Athens, who has
excavated on the spot. No ancient topographer appears to have
been sufficiently minute in his description, to enable us to decide
on this point; and the pillars, and other relics, as well as the
marsh, seem to have escaped the observation of modern travellers:
I find nothing of them in Chandler. It is possible they may
have been brought from the ruins of Probalinthus, the town to
the south of Marathon, next to Myrrhinus. ‘The lake into which
the Persians were driven by the victorious Greeks, was that formed
by the Charadrus, under the hills of the isthmus of Rhamnus ;
and it seems probable, that the barbarian fleet was drawn upon
the shore from the point of coast below the large barrow, round
the sweep of the bay, under the lake itself.
When the Medes left their ships, they had this marsh on their
right, and when drawn up farther in the country, had also the
town of Marathon on that side. Jn the hurry and confusion of
retreat, those who had to gain the gallies farthest up this bay,
ran into the swamp, and were cut off.
Beyond the Albanian cottages where we were lodged, towards
the marsh and the promontory to the north-east, the plain seems
* Paus. Attic. p. 60.
3K 2
482 LETTER
highly cultivated, and well wooded to the point of the promon-
tory. Buffaloes are fed in the pastures, near the marsh, and
there is a fishery, abounding in large eels, belonging to the ca-
loyers of Pendele, on the shore.—At a fountain, near a church,
on the side of the marsh, Sir G. Wheler saw some ruins, which
he believed to denote the site of Tricorythus, the town next to
Marathon on that coast*. Beyond the ruined church a mile, is
Chouli, an Albanian village; and three or four miles farther to
the north is T'auro-castro, or Hebreo-castro, on the site of Rham-
nus, a town of the tribe A‘antis, sixty stadia, by the sea-coast,
from Marathon, where are still to be seen the remains of the
famous 'l'emple of Nemesis, and the trophy of Parian marble,
erected by the Athenians after their defeat of the Medes.
Modern authors have been sceptical with respect to the num-
bers said to have fought on the plains of Marathon, but there
appears to be no exaggeration in the account given of this great
battle by Herodotus. ‘The valley of Vraona, and the width of
the plain, from the mouth of that valley to the shore, is certainly
sufficient for an action between one hundred and twenty thousand
men; but when Lysias reminded his Athenian audience of those,
their immortal ancestors, who fought at Marathon against fifty
myriads of barbarians, he must almost have supposed that not
one of those whom he addressed could have ever visited the scene
of action, a distance calculated to be only ten miles, or he must
have drawn upon their vanity and patriotism for belief. Yet the
funeral oration of this orator was delivered not much more than a
* Strab. lib. ix. 399.
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LETTER XXVIEL 433
century after the battle ; and subsequent authors have upon this,
or some other authority, magnified the forces of the Medes to a
number which the whole plain of Marathon could scarcely have
contained. Justin sets them down at six hundred thousand.
After having spent some time in viewing the plain from several
spots, and in riding to the lofty barrow, and the ruins in the
marsh, we set off from that quarter to return to Athens. The
baggage had been sent forwards early in the morning.
Going north-west from the barrow, towards the valley of
Vraona, ina short time we passed by the remains of a church.
From this place we took a northerly direction towards Marathon,
and arriving at the banks of the Charadrus, had the ruined tower
and a few houses on our left, and the Albanian cottages to the
right. We crossed the river, which, for a Grecian stream, is
considerable, and kept along its banks for ten minutes, when we
came to the village, called Marathonas, as, indeed, are the two
collections of cottages lower down in the plain.
On the east side of Marathonas there is some flat ground, where
the ancient town may have stood, and two fragments of an old
arch are still seen in one of the gardens. ‘The village has a pros-
pect down a narrow valley, inclosed by low hills on the western
side, and high precipices on the eastern bank ; and through this
valley the river flows, inclining to the west. ‘The barrow, the
whole extent of the long plain, the ridge of rocks composing the
promontory Cynosura, at the southern extremity of it, and the
high cape above Raphti, are also visible from Marathon. At
the back, the north of the village, are lofty hills, part of the
chain of mountains which form the northern boundary of the
plain of Athens, and rest, on one side, on the extremity of
4
LP EE
434 LETTER XXVIII.
y τί
Pentelicus, and on the other on the verge of Parnes. On this
side was the mountain Brilessus, and the whole region was de-
nominated Diacri. The eminences of different hills had their
separate names; and in this district was Mount Icarus, whose
sides abounded with the most productive vineyards of Attica.
On one side of Icarus was the Demos of Dedalide, of the tribe
Cecropis ; on the other, that of the verdant Melene*, of the
tribe Antiochis, on the borders of Beotia. The hill imme-
diately behind Marathon was called the mountain of Pan.
From Marathon we passed on westward, crossing the river a
second time, and inclining a little out of the road to the north,
to look at the cave of Pan, which, though mentioned as a curio-
sity by Pausanias, has nothing in it to detain you for an instant.
Below this cave, which 15 about a mile from Marathon, are some
large stones, similar to those seen on the Wiltshire Downs com-
monly known by the name of the ““ Grey Wethers ;” and under
them a strong spring bubbles up, which, conducted through an
artificial channel, turns a mill, and afterwards falls mto the Cha-
radrus.
I take these stones to be the petrified sheep belonging to the
woman of Nonoi, and the headless statue in the marsh may be
the female herself, whose metamorphosis is recorded by Chandler.
But the fate and misfortune of this personage 1s now forgotten,
and our guides pointed both at the statue and the stones, without
relating so edifying a tale-f.
* Tcarii, Celeique domus, viridesque Melenz.—Stat. Theb. lib. xii. lin. 619.
+ ‘* In the vale, which we entered, near the vestiges of a small building, pro-
bably a sepulchre, was a headless statue of a woman sedent, lying on the
ground. ‘This, my companions informed me, was once endued with life, being
LETTER XXVIIE. 435
I'rom the cave of Pan we left the banks of the river, which
flows to the north-west be:ween two lofty mountains, whose sides
are a mass of precipices of cragey red rocks, and whose summits
are clothed with thick forests of pine. Our course now took us
to the west-south-west, upa most steep and rough ascent, through
woods of evergreens, and amongst shrubs of myrtles, oleander,
and laurel-roses.
In an hour and a quarter we came to Stamati, an Albanian
village, surrounded by a few acres of open cultivated ground,
cleared: in the midst of a wilderness of woods. The path was,
from that place, not so hilly, but still very rugged, directing us
to the south-west. A range of Pendele was directly facing us,
and lying from north-west to south-east; Parnes was at a distance
on our right, and between us and that mountain were woody
knolls, rising one above the other. In a little time we turned the
point of Pendele, and went to the south-south-west, travelling
᾿ down a gradual slope, and on a better road, but still through pine
forests. Before us we saw the coast about the Pireeus, and part
of the olive-groves: Athens was hidden from us by the hill An-
chesmus.
ESE AEE EAL i ET LVI LE A AE LL SS aS SRS
an aged Jady, possessed of a numerous flock, which was folded near that spot.
Ter riches were great, and her prosperity was uninterrupted: she was elated
by her good fortune. The winter was gone by, and even the rude month of
March had spared her sheep and goats. She now defied Heaven, as unappre-
hensive for the fature, and as secure from all mishap; but Providence, to cor-
rect her impiety and ingratitude, commanded a fierce and penetrating frost to
be its avenging minister—and slice, her fold, and flocks, were hardened into
stone. ‘This story, which is current, was also related to meat Athens. The
grave Turk cites the woman of Nonoi, for so the tract is called, to check arro-
gance, and enforce the wisdom of a devout and humble disposition.” —Chand-
ler’s Travels in Greece, p. 167.
S6 LETTER XXVitI.
In an hour from Stamati, but going faster than ordinary, we
arrived at the village of Cevrishia, whose name 1s but a little
altered from that of the ancient town Cephisia, of the tribe Erec-
theis, on the site*of which it now stands. This place is the most
favourite retreat of the ‘lurks of Athens during the summer and
autumnal months, and is alone, of all the villages of Attica, adorned
with a mosck: it contains about two hundred houses. In the
middle of it isan open space, where there are two fountains, and
a large plane-tree, beneath whose overhanging branches is a flat
stone, so carved into squares as to serve for a draught-table, and
round which the Turks are seen sedately smoking, or engaged at
their favourite pastime.
Cevrishia is at the foot of Mount Pendele, on a gentle decli-
vity, surrounded on every side with olive-groves, and watered by
several rills from the mountain, the sources of the smaller branch
of the Cephissus, which, after supplying the many fountains of
the village, and being dispersed through the neighbouring gardens
and groves, unite at last in one pebbly channel, and flow into the
plain and olive-woods of Athens. This delightful spot stiil conti-
nues to answer the agreeable description given of it by one who
who had here often wandered through the long and shady ave-
nues, or rested by the side of the pure glassy stream, overflowing
the margin of the marble baths in a thousand rills, which mingled
their murmurs with the music of the birds*. Even the modern
Cephisia might be thought worthy the partialities of such an en-
comiast as Aulus Gellius.
The marbles presented to the University of Oxford by Mr.
Dawkins, were brought from this village; and I had the good
* Aul. Gell. lib. i. cap. 2, et lib. xviii. cap. 10.
LETTER xxXVIII. 457
fortune to procure from the same spot a marble head, as large as
life, which, as it appears from the hole in the neck, has belonged
to an entire image. A ‘Turk had placed it over the arch of the
gateway in his court-yard, and seemed to say that he knew where
the body was to be found; but on enquiry, he had, we learnt, been
misunderstood. ‘lhe bust is that of a young man, with the hair
short, and curled in an elegant and highly-finished style. From
the manner in which the eyes are formed, the antiquity of the
sculpture may be judged to be no earlier than the times when the
Romans were settled in Greece ; and it 1s not at all improbable,
that the head may be one belonging to the many statues which
Atticus Herodes erected to the memory of his three young friends
in the shady solitudes of his villa at Cephisia*.
- From Cevrishia we proceeded entirely through olive-groves, to
a village about an hour’s distance, called ‘‘ Muraffe;” small, and
built of mud chiefly, but in an agreeable situation, and watered
by a branch of the Cephissus, whose banks are, a little below,
shaded by tall trees of white poplar.
From Muraffe we went through Angele-Kipos to Athens, by a
route already described.
‘The baggage-horses had arrived half an hour before, and had
been six hours on the road from Marathon to the city. This time
can with great difficulty be reconciled with the measurement an-
ciently allowed for the distance between the two places, which, at
the utmost, was laid down at only one hundred stadia, but, gene~
rally, was called eighty stadia, or ten Roman miles. Meletius,
who is, very unaccountably, more incorrect when treating of
* See the account of this, Tib. Claudius Atticus Herodes by Spon in Wheler,
p- 375.
Ὁ,
ETTER XXVIIL.
L
Attica than of other parts of Greece, calls Marathon thirty-
five miles from Athens*. ‘The usual allowance, before stated, as
coming pretty near the truth, of three miles to a Turkish hour,
would make this journey eighteen miles; but when it is consi-
dered, that half of the distance is over steep and very difficult
ground, the two. statements may come rather nearer to each
other ; and if we suppose, what is likely enough, that there was
formely a nearer road to Marathon by Vraona, the difference will
be considerably diminished. However, from comparing the ancient
distances with the ‘Turkish hours, particularly in Attica, where I
paid most attention to the watch, [ must confess myself to have
overstated the length of ground, by reckoning three miles to each
sixty minutes, and that, perhaps, generally speaking, two and a half
would be the more correct calculation. he baggage-horses, or as
the Greeks distinguish them, τὰ ἄλλογα μὲ τὰ φορτώματα, get on but
very slowly, except in the plainest roads, and proceed with diffi-
culty through the woods, on account of the manner in which
they are loaded, their burdens projecting from each side, like
panniers. At the same time it may be remarked, that the an-
cients themselves may have sometimes mis-stated their measure-
ments, especially as they occasionally differ amongst one another
even in small distances ; 50 that a traveller need not always attri-
bute each slight discrepancy to his own inattention and neglect.
* A’rrini, p. 552. The distance, however, is put in figures; aud 35 may
be an erroy of the press for 15,
LETTER XXIX.
Route from Athens to the Negroponte—Villages in the North
of Attica—Koukouvaones— Charoottka—Menithi—Tatoé—
The Site of Decelea—Agios Macurius—Route across the
Plains of Tanagra—Over the Asopus to Scimitari—From
that Village to the Strait of the Negroponte, by Vathi—The
Town of Negroponte—Visit to the Pasha—Stories relative to
the Euripus—Return to Scimitari— Route from Scimitari to
the Monastery of St. Meliteus on Citheron.
IT being my wish to pay a short visit to the town of
Negroponte, as well as to some part of the district of ‘Thebes,
which we had before not seen, I set off (eb. 8) at nine o'clock
in the morning from Athens, accompanied by our Albanian Va-
silly, the Athenian Demetrius, and the necessary number of
baggage and led-horses. Lord Byron was unexpectedly detained
at Athens ; so that you will attribute any additional defects in the
narration of this short tour, to the absence of a companion, who,
to quickness of observation and ingenuity of remark, united that
gay good humour which keeps alive the attention under the pres-
sure of fatigue, and softens the aspect of every difficulty and
danger.
We rode for about two hours, mostly through the olive woods
of Athens, northwards, until we came to Koukouvaones, a village
3L2
440 EETTER XX¥FX,
of thirty houses: passing this, we soon crossed a large chasm, in
which the greater branch of the Cephissus flows, and which, a
little above where we passed it, takes an abrupt turn towards the
hills a little to the north-west of Cevrishia. A few evergreens
grow on the sides of the chasm; and an overshot mill is pleasantly
situated amidst a small grove, on the ledge of one of the rocks.
Between the skirt of the olive-groves and the village Koukou-
vaones, are two or three barrows; and one of them was pointed
out to me as containing lumps of yellow earth, used by the
painters at Athens. There is a village, by name Charootika, of
two hundred houses, under the hills between Cevrishia and Kou-
kouvaones.
We inclined to the eastward of north, and saw on our left the
road leading to Menithi, the largest country town in Attica,
having three hundred and fifty houses; and, still farther to the
left, that which goes to Casha, and the villages under Mount
Parnes. For two hours, after passing Koukouvaones and the
Cephissus, the road lay through an open plain, covered with
heath and low shrubs: Parnes, clothed with green woods, verged
more towards us on the left, and united itself to the hills stretch-
ing to the northern declivities of Mount Pentelicus, which form
the boundary, on this side, of the plain of Athens. We ascended
these hills for an hour, and came to a stone fountam on a woody
knoll, where, under the shade of a thick ilex, travellers spread
their mats, for the purposes of refreshment or repose. The place
is called 'Tatoé, five long hours, at a good pace, from,Athens, from
which it bears exactly north-north-east, having a view of the city
and the whole plain, as far as the Pirzeus. Ona hillock, above the
fountain, are some remains of an ancient wall. A path strikes off
LETTER XXIX. 441
through the hills to the east, to Oropo, the ancient Oropus, com-
puted about four miles from ‘l'atoe.
From Athens to the foot of these hills is about twelve miles,
the whole way over a plain; but the flat, anciently included in
the district belonging to the city, and called, for distinction, Pe-
dion, the Plain, has been considered by some travellers as ending
with the olive-groves, about six miles to the north of Athens;
which extent, with the addition of the distance from the capital
τὰ ' 1 igs:
to the shore, gives a length of nine miles to the whole plain. Po-
cocke thought nine miles the length, and six miles the breadth, of
the district in question. He appears to me to have under-rated the
dimensions in both instances; the flat more properly terminates
where the channel of the Cephissus takes a turn towards Cevrishia,
perhaps eight miles from the city. Beyond that place, towards
Casha, Menithi, and ‘T'atoé, the aspect of the country is more bare
and wild, and, under Parnes to the north-west, answers to the de-
scription of the district attached to Acharne ; and some vestiges
of old wall, and one or two wells, which are to be seen three
miles nearer than Casha to Athens, may point out the site of that
town.
The region on the slope of Mount Parnes, formerly called
Pzeonia, has now the name of Panagia, from a rich monastery at
the foot of the hills.
Decelea, memorable for having given its name to one of the
many wars.of the Athenians and Lacedemonians, was somewhere
in the direction of Tatoé, as it commanded the great road’ leading
from Athens to Oropus and to Chalcis, by which the corn of Eu-
θα was conveyed to the city. Some pieces of wall, above the
fountain, may probably have belonged to a watch-tower placed 1a
? Ν Η 5
442, LETTER XXIX,
this important pass; but ‘T'atoé is more than one hundred and
twenty stadia, fifteen Roman miles, from the city, and is besides
too far from the plain, on which (though some of the works were
visible at Athens*) part of the Lacedemonian fortifications were
built. 1 neither heard of nor saw any other remains, except the
wall above 'Tatoé.
For an hour and a half after leaving the fountain, we conti-
nued travelling slowly through the hills belonging to the moun-
tain anciently called Brilessus, in the region of Diacria, over a
precipitous path, amidst thick woods of evergreens, until we had
got to the north of the high range of Mount Parnes, which we
now saw towering into the clouds in the distance. We passed a
solitary church, Agios Macurius, by the side of a torrent. The
modern territory attached to Athens, is on this side bounded by
a line which runs from a point two hours to the north of Casha to
this church, and then stretches to a village, Calamas, an hour to
the south of Oropo, turning thence towards Marathon. ‘The
earliest of our travellers gives the name of Agios Macunius to
these hills, which were then guarded by Albanians, and, by a
strange mistake, calls them a part of Mount Parnassus +-.
From Agios Macurius we began to descend, going more to the
north, until we found ourselves on an open and extensive plain,
with a high tower in our view, to the north-west, at a distance
reckoned about four hours from the foot of the mountain. We
went northerly for an hour and a half, through a well-cultivated
country flocks of goats were browsing amongst the low shrubs,
* Thucyd. lib. vii. cap. 19.
+ Francis Vernon, in his Letter to the Royal Society, written Jan. 10, 1676.
See Philosophical Transactions abridged, vol. iii. p. 456.
LETTER XXIX. 443
and many peasants were labouring in the corn-fields. ‘Two or three
villages were visible on the sides of the hills to the south, tormerly
belonging to a range of Citheron, and mixing with Brilessus and
Parnes. "ὁ the east was some rising ground, which prevented
us from seeing the sea near the port Oropo ; but the high land of
the Negroponte, about the site of the ancient Eretria, seemed a
part of the main; and indeed, the strait at this point is not seven
miles in breadth. ‘The passage from Eretria. to Delphinium, the
port of Oropus, was only sixty stadia.
We crossed the Asopus at a ford, where it was a muddy tor-
rent winding through brushwood. Just below where we passed
the river, it flows between two rocky hills. [ἢ ἃ short time the
road divided, one path going to Negroponte, northwards, the
other to the north-west, towards Thebes, not far from the banks
of the river. We continued on the latter for an hour in the plain,
vith low hills on our right, when we took a direction more to the
north, and came to the ruined tower. ‘This stands on an emi-
nence, and though of no very early date, is composed of stones
apparently taken from the ruins of some ancient building. It is
square, of considerable dimensions and height, the substructure
of large stones, the upper part of brick. It may have been one
of the castles of the Latin Princes, or perhaps a ‘Turkish watch-
tower, built to prevent a surprise from the fleets of the Ve-
netians. . It commands a view of the whole of that part. of
Beeotia to the east of Thebes; and the hillocks, at the back of
that town, are visible from it in the north-north-western point.
The Asopus is seen to wind from the west-north-west. ‘Che appear-
ance of all the adjacent plain is from this pomt very pleasing, and
varied with slopes of rising ground, crowned with tufts of shrubs,
AAA LETTER XXIX.
It is probably that portion of Bceotia which once belonged to
the powerful city of ‘Tanagra*, whose territory stretched from
the neighbourhood of Oropus, along the shore of the strait, as
far as Aulis, and included the lands of several ruined cities more
inland, towards ‘Thebes.
Beyond the tower, a short distance only, there is a small vil-
lage called Cinoe. ‘his we passed, and going northwards for an
hour and a half, arrived at the village of Scimitari. This place
consists of eighty houses, inhabited by Greeks, and 1s the pro-
perty, though not in the territory, of Ali Pasha: it is reckoned
five hours from ‘Thebes, and three from the Negroponte. ‘T’o the
east of it, at a little distance, is a large tract of corn-fields, lying
on gentle swellings of the plain, and through these, a broad
beaten road, with some parts of it paved, leads to the village.
In a small church there are two or three of the old sepulchral
stones, with the usual inscription, Χαῖρε, but without any names.
We passed the night at Scimitari, and the next morning, leav-
ing the baggage behind us, set out for the Negroponte, intend-
ing to return the same evening. ‘The morning was very misty,
but the sky cleared up towards the middle of the day. ‘The road
was at first to the north, over uneven downs; cultivated near the
village, but soon terminating in heaths intersected by several
ravins. On one of them was a small rivulet, whose direction
answers.to that of the torrent 'Thermodon, which flowed by 'Ta-
nagra. Before us we had a view of the strait, and οἵ ἃ plain,
* Tanagra was thirty stadia from Oropus, and fifty from the sea.—Paus.
Beeot. p. 571; Strab. lib. ix. p. 403. Wheler believed himself to have dis-
covered the remains of Tanagra at Scamino, a village on the Asopus, three
hours from Egripo.
LETTER XXIX. 445
under the high hills in the island Eubora, covered with olive-
groves.
We turned rather to the left as we approached the shore, and
passed by a village, Vathi, crossing over the channel of a small
river which runs near it into the strait. Vathi is close to the shore,
and to a bay, formerly called the Deep bay, from which the mo-
dern village has, I suppose, received its name. When we came
to the shore, we continued winding along a very rocky path, close
to the sea. We took our course round a small bay, surrounded
by low stony hills almost to the water’s edge, and having the
mouth of ancient wells visible near the beach. ‘This was the site
of Aulis, whose port would contain but fifty ships; so that it is
likely that the Grecian fleet anchored in the bay called the
Deep. ‘The site is similar to the description in Strabo, a rocky
spot (werpwdes xpiov), which is not now, as it was in the second
century, watered by the fountain of Diana, nor shaded by the
fruitful palm-tree. When Pausanias visited Aulis, they continued
to show a piece of the plane-tree mentioned in Homer, and the
knoll on which the tent of Agamemnon was fixed; but the place
was almost deserted, and the few who still continued to live there,
worked at a pottery*: at present it is entirely barren, and there
is not a peasant’s house nearer than the village of Vathi.
It was some time before we caught a sight of the town of Ne-
groponte-+, or (as the Greeks call it, from a corruption. of the
word Euripus) Egripo, as it is placed on the north-east side of a
* Paus. Beeot. p. 571.
+ The Frank name of Negroponte is doubtless, as Wheler has conjectured,
. . - 5 \ of
derived from the confounding of the three Greek words, ἑἰς τὸν ΕἾ γριπον, pro-
? \ τ ῦ . ,
nounced croy ΕἾ γριπον, into one sound.
ΓΦ
oO M
446 BETTER: (XXLX.
broad flat peninsula, which, projecting into the bays on the main:
land, makes the windings of the strait, in some places, look like
inland lakes, in others like rivers, as the breadth enlarges or dimi-
nishes. ‘lhe outlet into the broader arm of the sea does not at
all appear, and both the port of Vathi, and that of Aulis, are
completely land-locked. ‘This circumstance, in some measure,
diminishes the surprise which might otherwise be felt at seeing the
extreme narrowness of the Euripus itself, at the point where the
island and the main are joined by a bridge.
In half an hour after the bay of Vathi, keeping by the edge of
the water, we doubled the north-eastern extremity of those hills
which we had seen from our village, and which, now called 'Typo-
Vouni, were once the mountain Messapius: we then crossed over
a projecting tongue of stony ground, and going for some time on
a road partly paved, arrived in another half hour at the Euripus.
On an eminence on the mainland we saw a white fort, called Ca-
rababa, commanding the bridge, and, indeed, all the fortifications of
Negroponte. The sea had, in this place, every appearance of a
river; and the banks, on the Beeotian side, were rather high and
rocky. We dismounted, and led our horses over a narrow wooden
bridge, about fifteen paces in length, to a stone tower in the
middle of the strait, of an odd circular shape, like a dice-
box, large at bottom and top, and small in the middle; the
mouths of immense cannon appearing through round embrasures,
about the upper rim. Going through an arch in this tower, we
passed on to a bridge, also of wood, and a third longer than
the other, standing over the principal stream, for such may the
Euripus strictly be called. We then entered a large castle, where
several ‘Turks, bristled with arms, were lounging about ; and con-
LETTER XXIX. 447
tinuing for some time through that part of the town which is
within the works of the fortitication, came to another wooden
bridge, as long as both of those over the Kuripus, and crossed
over the moat, a broad reedy marsh, into the suburbs of Negro-
ponte, which are much more considerable than the city within
the walls.
The Turks of this place are the most brutal, if common fame
and a proverb before mentioned, do not belie them, of any in the
Levant ; and as their character prevents travellers from visiting
the town, they are so unused to the sight of a Frank, that,
on the appearance of one in the street, the boys scream after,
and follow him, and the men abuse him, and call him Dog and
Infidel. This was all the inconvenience I experienced; though
I must confess, that there was something so very different in the
air of these Mahometans, and of those I had lately lived amongst,
that I should not have considered a long stay in the town at all
desirable.
The Waiwode of Athens had given me two letters, one to the
Vizier, Bakir Pasha, another to a rich Aga, at whose house,
though he himself was not at home, I put up for the short time
I remained in the place, and was treated with every attention by
the people of his household.
I had not been more than a few minutes in the house, before I
was visited by the Greek Secretary to the Pasha, to whom I de-
livered my letter, saying, at the same time, that I could not stay
to pay his Highness a visit. A Greek of the island of Tino, who
wore the Frank habit, covered with along cloak, being physician
to the Pasha, also called to pay his respects. He had been a
merchant, under the Imperial protection, but failed, and then
3M 2
4.48 LETTER XXIX.
turned physician, when the Pasha retained him for bis own use ;
much against the will of the man, it seemed, as he told me, “ I
am not a slave—but, though I have been here eighteen months,
his Highness will not let me go; yet he pays me well; I have a
pound and a half of meat allowed me daily, and some piasters at
the end of the year.” With this person, accompanied by my
attendants, I took a walk about the town.
The houses are mean and low, the streets narrow, and the
bazar of the poorest sort. ‘I'here are but very few Greeks in
the town, and no one representative of any Christian power:
there was once an Imperial Consul, and also a French resi-
dent ; but on some suspicion being entertained of one of them
with respect to some ‘l'urkish females, a body of ‘Turks: sur-
rounded his house, and, after some resistance, cut him to
pieces; the other Frank of course fled. ‘They told me, as well
as I recollect, that the number of houses in Egripo was about
eight hundred.
Τὸ the east of the town there is a sort of inclosure or defence,
of low pales: on the north is an eminence, from which you have
. the best view of the country, and of the high mountains at the
back of the town, whose summits are covered with perpetual
snows. From the highest ridge, whichis called Daphne, Athens,
Megara, and the whole of the south of Greece, soa ‘Turk assured
me, appear as if laid out immediately below. ‘The land to the north
and east of the town is open, but well cultivated ; that to the south
covered with fine groves of olive-trees, and interspersed with
orange and lemon gardens; the interior of the town is not so well
furnished in this respect as most ‘Turkish cities. ‘lhe place is con-
sidered extremely unhealthy, and during the summer the heats
LETTER XXIX. 449
are almost insupportable: at that period the Turks remove their
families to small houses in the groves farther down, to the south.
As 1 was walking through the town on the side towards the
castle, several grave ‘Turks, apparently in office, with the Greek
Secretary at their head, approached me, and said that the Vice-
Governor of the place desired me to visit him. I excused myself
for some time, but was at last obliged to comply, and accordingly
went through the usual ceremony of pipes, coffee, sweetmeats and
sherbet, in a small room with this ‘Turk, who was pleasant and
obliging. :
Whilst in his chamber, the Grammiaticos, the Secretary, enter-
ed, and said that the Vizier himself expected to see me. I could
not, 1 would not go; I was in a travelling dress, and covered
with dirt by ridmg. No excuses would do—the Vizier was
holding a Divan on purpose!! ‘The Greek became pressing and
impertinent ; and, accompanied by Demetrius, the Physician and
Secretary, and several men with white sticks preceding, I pushed
on through a crowd to the door of the audience-chamber. Here
was a fresh difficulty—the Secretary told me I must enter without
my boots, and kiss his Highness’s slipper. Had this ceremony
been usual, no one would have been more ready to comply than
myself; nay, I would not on any account have dispensed with
the latter point of respect, but should have insisted upon it as
earnestly as did Dr. Moore’s young patron, the Duke of Hamil-
ton, upon saluting the Pope’s toe; but being sure that it was merely
a malicious piece of information invented by the Greek, to vex
me for my backwardness in visiting his master, and that no Frank
traveller had ever done as much to any Pasha, | demurred, and
was trying to retire, when the Secretary went into the audience-
450 LETTER ΧΧΙΧ-
chamber, and returning immediately, said that the Pasha would
dispense with the form. I knew the whole was a pretence, but
prepared to enter; and really not wishing to dirty his carpets
with my bocts, which were plastered with mud, pulled them off,
putting on, however, not to bate any thing on the important
point of dignity, a pair of yellow slippers.
The room where the Pasha received me was very small, and
crowded with his ‘Turks in office, magnificently dressed, quite as
well as himself—the certain characteristic, according to Cervantes,
of a great man. ‘ihe sofa on the left was occupied by three or
four visitors apparently ; that to the right, except a corner on
which the Vizier sat, was vacant.
His Highness made a motion
for me to sit down near him. The Tiniot Physician served as
interpreter. ‘I'he Pasha, taking his pipe from his mouth, said I
was welcome—then stopped again—and a little after said the same
thing; which he repeated, after an interval, a third time. This I
understood to be highly ceremonious ; and, indeed, his attention
was very marked. ‘The pipes and coffee were thrice repeated ;
sherbets, sweetmeats, and, to crown the entertainment, perfumes
and rose-water were also subjoimed to the former part of the
treat.
The Pasha was very inquisitive, as usual, and when I rose to
go away, begged me to sit down again: it was with difficulty I
excused myself from staying that mght at Egripo, and partaking
of a feast to which he invited me. He asked, what he could do
for me, and whether I had seen every thing in the place; he
added, ‘“* You have looked at the castle from without—there is
nothing worth seeing in the inside of it.”
You must take, by the way, that the Turks are exceedingly
X XIX. 451
jealous of any one visiting the works of these fortifications ; and
will suffer no Frank, without a firman from the Porte, to inspect
them: this I knew, and replied, that I was much pleased with
the outside, but did not wish to look at the interior of the build-
ing. He then asked, what I had come to see? (the curiosity of
travellers is a constant source of surprise, and of a little contempt,
ἐς the town and its
amongst the ‘lurks) and was answered,
situation, which were reported to be very beautiful ; and also the
strait, a great natural curiosity.” ‘This last object was not clearly
understood ; and when, as an explanation, 1 added, that it was
the stream of water under the bridge to which I alluded, the
visages of all in the room put on an air of astonishment, mixed
with a certain smile, chastised by the gravity of their looks, alto-
gether indescribable ; and the Vizier asked me, with a great deal
of naiveté, whether I had no water of that sort in my own couns
try? adding, that England being, as he heard, an island, he
should have thought we had great plenty. I endeavoured to in-
form him, that it was not the saltness of the water to which I
alluded, but the flux and reflux. That this did not serve me in any
stead was evident from the continued surprise marked in. the
faces of all present; but his. Highness assured me, that I should
have the proper attendance to convey me to the bridge, where I
might view the object of my journey.
Shortly after this I withdrew ; and returning down stairs, Saw.
my attendant Demetrius besieged by all the fine drest men who had
officiated in the room, and who, the moment he epened his purse,
to make the customary presents for me, thronged about him,
and so frightened him, that he parted with every zeqin in his
pocket, amounting to between_eight and nine guineas Their
4δ9 LETTER ΧΧΙΧ,
clamour and importunity was such, that he had forgot the pru-
dent and usual plan of calling for the pipe-bearer, the pages car-
rying in the coffee, sweetmeats, sherbet, and perfume, and giving
1
to each five piasters: indeed, he was altogether terrified, and had
some excuse for his alarms.
But the most ridiculous part of the proceeding was to come,
and one which I am rather loth to detail, as the principal charac-
ter in the farce was unwillingly acted by, or rather forced upon,
myself.
Several of the Pasha’s soldiers were waiting without in the
yard, and these, preceded by two of the most reverend-looking
personages of the whole court, Chiauses, or Chamberlains, with
white wands, and their beards hanging down to their waists, ac-
companied me in a sort of procession towards the bridge. We had
some distance to walk ; the crowd gathered as we proceeded, and
in a short time our train filled the street. We walked very slowly,
the two majestic conductors being saluted respectfully by fifty
people whom we met, and very leisurely returning the salam and
usual oveisance.
The passengers and surrounding crowd perpetually questioned
my attendants as to the object of the procession, and were told
that a Frank was going to look at the water. I could hear the
Turkish words signifying “ Water, Water,” a hundred times re-
peated.
I advanced to the bridge with all my suite, went half way across
it, and looking over the railings half a minute, turned round to
one of the grave chamberlains, and said 1 was satisfied ; when
he and his companion bowed profoundly, and, without saying ἃ
word, turned on their heels, and marshalled and preceded the
LETTER XXIX. 453
attendants back to the house where 1 had left my horses, a great
crowd following as before.
ΤῸ each of these great courtiers, whose furred cloaks were worth
more than all my travelling wardrobe, and to whom, had I not
known the Turks pretty well by that time, I should have been
afraid to have offered any present of money, I gave a zequin, a
little more than half-a-guinea; and for the receipt of this they
bowed as gravely as ever, and returned slowly to the palace,
walking, as is the fashion of the higher orders in Turkey, with
their toes turned inwards.
You may be sure, that, after this ridiculous adventure, I did
not stir out of the Aga’s house until my horses were ready to
leave the town, nor attempt to have any other sight of the water
than that which 1 got going to and returning from the island.
What I witnessed of the Euripus was, that the stream flows
with violence, like a mill-race, under the bridges, and that a
strong eddy is observable on that side from which it is about to
run, about a hundred yards above the bridges; the current, how-
ever, not being at all apparent at a greater distance, either to
the south or north. Yet the ebbing and flowing are said to be
visible at ten or a dozen leagues distance, at each side of the
strait, by marks shown of the rising and falling of the water in
several small bays in both coasts. ‘The depth of the stream is
very inconsiderable, not much more than four feet.
It was with difficulty that I could get any account of this phe-
nomenon. ‘I'he 'Timiot Doctor told me, that, “ per Dio, he had
never been to look at it; but that, if any one had told me that
the change took place more than twice in twenty-four hours, he
fancied the person had lied.” ‘The Secretary said it changed seven
times in that space of time; and one of the Turks guarding the
3N
54
tower between the two bridges, and living on the spot, averred it
altered its course five times, favouring me at the same time with
the cause of this miracle.
‘“ Not a great many yéars ago,” said he, ‘ this water was like
any other part of the sea, and did not flow at all; but a Hadji,
(that is, a holy Turk, who had been to Mecca) being a pri-
soner in that tower, when the Infidels bad the place, and con-
fined in a dark cell, where he could see nothing but the water
below, through a hole in his dungeon, begged of God to send
him some sign by which he might know when to pray. His re-
quest was granted, by the change which immediately took place
in the flowing and reflowing of the stream ; and since that time,
the current has altered its course at each of the five seasons of
prayer.”
The man told this story with the air of a person who believed
it himself; yet it was clear enough, that, though having daily
opportunities of so doing, he had never thought about ascertain-
ing whether the tide did change at day-break, at mid-day, two
hours and a half before sun-set, at sun-set, and an hour and a
half after—the five times prescribed by the Mahometan law. If
the fellow was not laughing, of which, as he spoke to me through
an interpreter, 1 could not be a very adequate judge, he gave
surely as strong an example as could be well imagined, of the dis-
inclination so apparent in the followers of all ridiculous supersti-
tions, to.convince themselves of the folly of their credulity. He
might any day have found out that the tale was not true, and that
the Hadji had not obtained permission of God that the course of
the sea should be altered at the five periods settled for offering
up the prayers of the believers, Yet, with the feelings of a
true devotee, he preferred to propagate, rather than to examine,
LETTER XXIX. 4,55
the holy fable ; and, in spite of evidence forced upon his constant
notice, would not trust himself with a suspicion of its falsity.
Had Aristotle hit upon 80 easy a solution of this wonder, he
would have addressed himself to a people as religious, and conse-
quently as credulous, as the Turks.
The account which Wheler copied from the Jesuit Babin, and
collected on the spot, although not from his personal experience,
he not being long enough in the place, was, that it was subject to
the same laws as the tides of the ocean, for eighteen days of
every moon, and was irregular, having twelve, thirtecn, or four-
teen flowings and ebbings for the other eleven days, that is, that
it was regular for the three last days of the old moon, and the
eight first of the new, then irregular for five days, regular again
for the next seven, and irregular for the other six. ‘The water
seldom rose to two feet, and usually not above one; and, contrary
to the ocean, it flowed towards the sea, and ebbed towards the
main-land of '’hessaly, northwards. On the irregular days it rose
for half an hour, and fell for three quarters; but when regular,
was six hours in each direction, losing an hour a day. It did not
appear to be influenced by the wind. ‘This detail, however, which
I conclude to be correct, does not attempt to account for the
irregular changes, nor for the difference of number in those irre-
gular changes.
I feel myself quite unqualified to speak on such a debated
point; and shall, therefore, only add what was told me by a
Greek of Athens, who had resided three years at Egripo. He
said, that he considered the changes to depend chiefly upon the
wind, which, owing to the high lands in the vicinity of the strait,
is particularly variable in this place. The two great gulfs, for so
SN 2
4.56 LETTER XXIX,
they may be called, at the north and south of the strait, which
present a large surface to every storm that blows, and receive
the whole force of the Archipelago, communicate with each other
at this narrow shallow channel; so that the Turipus may be a
sort of barometer, indicative of every change, and of whatever
rising and falling of the tide, not visible in the open expanse of
waters, there may be in these seas. I did not, however, see any
marks of the water being ever higher at one time than at an-
other.
He added, that he observed, that when the wind was north or
south, that is, either up or down the strait, the alteration took
place only four times in the twenty-four hours; but that when it
was from the east, and blew strongly over the high mountains
behind Kgripo, the refluxes took place more frequently, ten or
twelve times; and that particularly immediately before the full of
the moon, the turbulence and eddies, as well as the rapidity of
the stream, were very much increased. ‘l'here was never, at any
season, any certain rule with respect either to the period or the
number of the changes.
Those of the ancients who inquired into this phenomenon, were
aware, that the story of the Kuripus changing its course always.
seven times during the day, was unfounded; and the account
given of it by Livy*, corresponds, in some measure, with that,
of my Athenian informant. ‘The bridge which anciently con-
* Nam et venti utriusquz terre prealtis montibus subiti ac procellosi se deji-.
ciunt, et fretum ipsum Euripi non septies die, sicut fama fert, temporibus
statis reciprocat; sed temere in modum venti, nunc huc nunc illuc verso mari,
velut. monte precipili devolutus torrens rapitur.x—Tit. Liv. lib. xxviii.
cap. 6
LETTER XXIX. 457
nected the main and the island was. considerably longer than that
which at present serves the same purpose™*.
We are informed, that the strait was made more narrow by a
dyke, which the inhabitants of Chalcis constructed to lessen the
passage ; and it is by no means improbable, that the whole of the
flat on which the fortified part of Egripo now stands, and which
is surrounded on the land side by a wide. marsh, was formerly
eovered by the waters of the Kuripus.
I did not hear of any remains of the ancient Chalcis, in or near
the modern town; the castle, and some of the oldest houses, re-.
tain signs of the old Venetian buildings; and some very large
stones. in the works look as if they once belonged to more superb
edifices.
‘This island was considered-one of the most important of the pose.
sessions of Venice, in the prosperity of that powerful republic; and
one of the memorials of former greatness, displayed at this day
at St. Marc’s, is the standard of the Kingdom of Negroponte.
The capital town, for many years after its reduction by Maho-.
met the Second, was the usual residence, and under the imme-
diate command, of the Capudan Pasha, the High Admiral of the
Turkish fleets.
The Turks have a constant apprehension that some effort is in-.
tended against this island by the Christian Powers, and are con-
sequently, as hinted before, ridiculously cautious about the forti-
fications of Egnipo.
My sourgee, or postman, told me, that he had been witness
to an unpleasant scene in this place. A Frank traveller, having a
+
x vo ᾽ Ἁ ra] . .
* Bors καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄντῳ γεφύρα δίπλεϑρος. --ς- Θέτι. lib, ix. Ρ. 403.
4.58 ᾿ LETTER XXIX.
firman from the Porte, visited the castle, and was about to retire.
when the Captain of the Turkish guard stept up to him, and
asked him for his Imperial licence for seeing the place. ‘The
Frank gave him what he desired ; upon which the ‘Turk, perusing
it very seriously, asked him if he had no other order ; and being
answered in the negative, exclaimed, “‘ I see here a permission
for you to come into the castle-—but none for you to go out !”
and, so saying, he shut the gate, and confined the traveller for
some days, as a warning to him for the future to repress his
curiosity.
I have since heard of a similar transaction having taken place
in Candia, with the addition, that the Frank, an Hnglishman,
resisted, and was killed. ‘The Turks of both islands bear much
the same character for ferocity and hatred of strangers; but the
Candiote is the more lively and spirited of the two, and his nation
supplies all the best sailors in the ‘Turkish fleet.
In addition to their other vile propensities, the Negropontines
are distinguished, amongst a nation of sensualists, by that horrid
perversity of taste, which an ancient historian has superadded as
a disgusting trait to his finished picture of a villain*, and which
appears an unwarrantable excess in the eyes even of the Orientals
themselves.
The island is now, as it was formerly, valuable, on account of
* Xenophon (Cyr. Anab. fin. lib. ii.), in his character of Menon the Thes-
salian. Yet with what coolness does this Greek talk of the more usual enor-
mity of his age and country. (See his story of Episthenes, p. 532). He nei-
ther expresses, nor wishes to excite, any abhorrence, but opens his narrative
simply, ΕἾ πισϑένες de mv τὶς Ο᾽λύνϑιος παιδεραστῆς ...... and afterwards, ὁ δὲ
Σεύθης γελῶν.
LETTER XXIX. 459
the extraordinary fertility of its soil, and the quantity of corn
with which it supplies the adjacent countries. ‘I'wenty for one is
mentioned as the common return of grain*.
From Egripo we returned, by a shorter way than that which
we had traversed in the morning, to Scimitari, crossing a cleft in
the hills before we came to Vathi, a little beyond the port of
Aulis, most probably in the exact direction’ of the road which
formerly led from Chalcis to Thebes. ‘I'he very ancient city of
Mycalessus, not far from the sea, and surrounded with extensive
fields, (ευρυχορον Μυκάλησσον, is the expression of Homer), was in
this quarter of Beeotia, which afterwards came under the power
of Tanagra, a city independent long after the authority of Thebes
had declined. Vast numbers of coms have been found by the
peasants of this village in ploughing up the neighbouring plain.
A large collection was presented to me; one of them was a copper
coin of 'Tanagra; it had been found near a spot called Grematha,
one hour and a half to the south of Scimitar.
Returning to my village, and waiting for some refreshment, 1
attended a burial. ‘The dead was a poor woman who had been
alive when I left the place in the morning. She was carried na
rug into the little church, and laid down on the floor, with nothing
but a thin strip of cotton tied about her. ‘lwo caloyers performed
the service over her in a hasty manner, when she was carried out,
and put into a trench not deeper than two or three feet. Before
putting her in the grave, they tied sandals to her feet, which,
when she was laid in the earth, were adjusted by a man who
jumped into the pit and placed them upright, like those of a
* The Tauric Chersonese, however, produced thirty.—Strab. lib. 7, p. 311.
+ Phin. cap. 7, ** Tanagra, liber populus.””
460 LETTER. XXIX.
recumbent statue on a tomb: the same person, taking a small flat
stone, on which one of the priests had made the sign of the cross,
laid it upon her breast, and immediately after, with the assistance
of others, covered the body with earth. ‘There were six old
women attending as mourners, but they, as well as the rest of
the congregation, seemed rather merry than sad, behaving with a
levity which I was proceeding to remark upon, when one of them
said, ‘“* Why should we weep for her, she was an orphan; she
was sixty years old; how can any one care for such a person?”
It is impossible to answer a question, dictated by sentiments so
frequently felt, though so seldom confessed, by the generality of
mankind.
The day afterwards, my party proceeded on the road towards
Megara, determining so to contrive the journies, that I might
sleep the first night at a monastery situated in the southern
declivities of Citheron, and from that place visit the ruins of
Plateza. :
The path lay to the south, for an hour and a half over a plain
whose corn-lands are attached to the village of Scimitari; it then
passed under a low hill, the spot called Grematha, round which,
particularly to the south and east, are several pieces of an-
cient walls, besides some remains of a large building on the
summit. If this place be not too far from the sea, it answers
tolerably to the site of Tanagra, and the hill above may be that
once called Cerycius. . It is west from the tower near Ainoé, and
south-south-west from ‘Thebes. :
The road from 'Tanagra to Platea, two hundred stadia, was
rough and mountamous. Ata little distance beyond Grematha,
we crossed the Asopus, and came directly into the mountains, a
da
LETTER XXIX. 461
range of Eilatias, or Cithaeron, and soon passed a ruined chapel on
a knoll. In this chapel are parts of the shafts of four small marble
columns, which have given the spot the name of Castri. The
road then lay to the west-north-west. Ofna height above to the
left, south-east, we saw a village, Mavromati. Still ascending,
and turning more westward for about an hour, we got into a
narrow valley, with rocky hills on each side, and continued through
this, in a path which was only a goat-track, for another hour,
when we came upon the road we had before travelled from Thebes
to Athens, having on our left the ruined tower *.
Instead of remaining in the same direction, westward towards
Platea, and so travelling through that part of Boeotia which was
called Parasopia, we turned into this road, and crossing the low
rocky ridge of Citheron to the south, went over the western
extremity of the plain of Scourta, passing by the village of Spalise.
We then went again to the westward, and got in half an hour
into the mountains. Cithzron here is very high, and covered
with thick woods, chiefly of pine, which have given it the modern
name of Elatias.
There was no direct path to the monastery of which we were in
search, so that we soon lost our way, and parted, some of us
keeping high up on the brows, and the others striking lower
down, directly across several narrow valleys and chasms, towards
the point whither we directed our steps. I gave my horse to one
of the postmen, and, seeing a building rising above the trees on
the ledge of a rock at some distance, made towards it, penetrating
into a woody dell, where two torrents from the opposite hills
* See Letter xx.
90
452 LETTER XXEX.
united their streams, and rolled down a steep precipice into thie
plains below. I had gone too quick for Demetrius, who was left
behind me amongst the woods. It was a still evening, and no.
other sound was to be heard but the gentle dashing of the torrent,
at whose brink I was stooping down, when the echoes of Cithe-
ron were at once awakened by the shouting of my attendant,
and starting up, I heard my name repeated as if in thunder, from
every corner of the vast amphitheatre of woody hills around me-
Immediately afterwards the man himself appeared; and being
questioned as to the cause of his alarm, said, “1 was afraid, Sir,
that you might have been encountered by some wild beast: the
mountains are full of them.”
. Twas not perhaps quite so apprehensive of the wild beasts, that
is, the wolves, as Demetrius, but wishing to reach the monastery,
proceeded to climb the ascent before us. We soon overtook a
monk anda little boy, driving an ass laden with faggots up a steep
zig-zag path through the woods, and taking them for guides, ar-
rived, after a good deal of fatigue, at the end of our day’s
journey.
It was some time before we could gain admittance; and had not
Demetrius made himself known to a Monk who held parley with
us from one of the casements, we should not have been suffered
to enter. My Athenian, who knew this fraternity pretty well,
told them at first that we only wanted to see their church, one of
the curiosities of modern Greece, and extolled as such in Mele-
tius’ Geography. Whilst, however, we were surveying the inte-
rior of that building, they were told we intended to pass the might
with them; when they asked, who were coming behind of the
party, and were answered an Albanian, a Christian. Vasilly at
LETTER XXIX. 463
this moment entered the church, and confirmed the report, by
crossing himself very devoutly. ‘They then frankly confessed,
that had they beheld this person before we had been let in, they
would certainly not have opened their gates, especially as, seeing
that we were not in the high-way, (βασιλικὴ στράτα), they had some
suspicions of us, and were afraid of being entrapped, as they had
been a week before, to be the unwilling hosts of a very large party
for many days: as it was, however, they accommodated us with a
room in one of the corners of their quadrangular building,- and
were attentive and hospitable.
Agios Meletius, for so it is called, is placed on a green area
half way up the sides of Citheron, the only flat spot to be found
in the mountain, which, both above and below the monastery, is
amass of vast precipices, shaded with dark forests of pe. A
green vale of some extent, at the foot of the mountain, covered
with flocks and herds belonging to the Monks, aad the road to
Megara, winding over the opposite hills to the south, are seen
from this spot, but the surrounding woods shut out the view on
every other side.
The building is larger than that on Mount Pendele, or any other
monastery which we visited, but is of the same rude and massy con-
struction, with only one iron door of entrance, and several casements,
or rather loop-holes, in the upper parts of the wall, which serve the
purpose of windows for the cells, and also of loop-holes, whence
musquetry may be successfully used on an emergency. ‘The
Monks are supplied with guns and other arms, and unless taken
by surprise, could never be forced to admit any body of men,
however large. ‘The experiment has frequently been tried by
parties of Albanians, travelling from Thebes through the Mega-
ris into the Morea, who have always been repulsed.
QO f
< a ,
ws
4.64 LETTER XXIX.
‘hese stout saints should be in number fifty, but at present
there are only ten resident caloyers, and five more superintending
distant metochis. Tor the recruiting of their order, they have
established a small school in the monastery, and ten or twelve
boys are instructed in all the accomplishments which are neces-
sary for their intended profession, that is, to read the ritual of
the Greek church ina quick sing-song tone. ‘These lads are well
fed, clothed, and lodged by the Monks; and their parents have all
the care and expence of their children taken at once off their
hands, besides being sure that they will be comfortably esta-
blished in this life, and secure of a bright reversion in the next
world.
The church of St. Meletius has a dome, supported by pillars of
red marble, generally supposed porphyry. Before the sanctuary
are two octagonal pilasters, of the same material, and four smaller
pillars of marble support the dome of the holy recess. ‘Ihe Monks,
who before had had some dealings with Demetrius as a painter,
consulted him, in my presence, about a scheme they had in view,
of taking down these marble pillars,and supplying their place with
four of wood. ‘These, they observed, would better bear and dis-
play the gilding, with which they intended to adorn the whole
interior of the building!!! The pillars are of a size that shows
they must have been taken from some remains near the spot; and
in a grove a little below the monastery there is a grotto and a
bath, apparently ancient and perhaps belonging to some chapel
sacred to one of the deities of Cithazron, from which the marbles
may have been removed to the church of Meletius. There is a
sepulchral inscription on a stone inserted in the wall on one side
the church door.
't seems that the ancient, as well as the modern Greeks. were
LETTER XXIX. 465
fond of fixing their habitations in the highest accessible spots on
the sides of their mountains, consulting at the same time their
health and their security. he latter object has been par-
ticularly attended to by the Monks, who, at the same time that
they have selected almost every beautiful spot, either in the val-
lies, or on the slopes of woody hills, for the site of their unnum-
bered monasteries, have also fixed some of these holy retreats on
the very peaks of the highest rocks, whither it does not appear
how it was possible to convey materials for erecting their cells,
There is amongst the ranges of Mezzovo, or Pindus, at no
great distance from a han, called Kokouliotiko, the supposed site
of Gomphi*, a high rock with nine summits, called Meteora,
and on each of these peaks, which are in a cluster together, is a
small monastery. Meteora, being im the road leading from [oan-
nina to Triccala and Larissa, the Monks of these aérial habitations
have contrived to secure themselves from all surprises, or unwel-
come visitants, by cutting down those ridges of their rocks by
which they first ascended them, and all the monasteries are now
perfectly inaccessible. ‘The Monks who leave the society for the
sake of purchasing provisions, or on other necessary occasions,
are let down from the summits of the mountain in baskets, to the
highest landing-place, perhaps a hundred feet below, and, on
their return,. are drawn up into the monasteries by the same con-
trivamce,
One may surely be at a loss to guess what charms life can have
for a caloyer of Meteora, a prisoner on the ridge of a bare rock.
Security 1s not acceptable on such conditions. Yet, from amongst
* Letter vi. p. 62,
4.56 LETTER XX
the varieties of human conduct, we may collect other instances of
voluntary privations equally unaccountable, and produced, inde-
pendent of habit or constraint, by original eccentricity of mind.
A Monk of St. Meletius, sitting with one or two others of his
order in my cell, and taking a glass or two of rossoglio, which we
usually carried with us in our canteen, confessed to me, that he
never had in his life felt an inclination to change his place, and
having from his childhood belonged to the monastery, had sel-
dom wandered beyond its precincts: “ For four years,” said he,
« Thave not gone farther from the gate than the grotto in the
rove, and perhaps another four years may pass before I go down
into the plain. I am not fond of travelling, yet some of us pre-
fer being abroad, and Hadji there has been to Jerusalem; for
myself, I do not wish to remove from this spot, and would not
go even to one of the farms of our monastery.”
The Monk who spoke was one-and-twenty years of age, in the
bloom of health. Hadji, or the saint who had made the pil-
grimage, assured me, that the young man had spoken the truth,
and added besides, that he was as ignorant as an infant, whispering
something in my ear, which was a decisive proof of his innocence.
The same pilgrim, a shrewd young fellow, seeing my surprise, con-
tinued to declare, that the propensity of this young Monk to re-
main for ever on the mountain, was singular, but not so singular
as the bent and disposition of some others whom he had known.
ςς There is,” he added, “a caloyer of our monastery, who seldom
speaks to any of us, and is never in his cell, except during a few
hours in the night. The whole of his time is passed with our
oxen, which he tends, and to which he has taken such a fancy,
that he will suffer neither beast nor man, not even one of us, to
LEPTER XXIX. 4607
approach their pasture, but drives away the intruder with stones.
He will not let any other herdsman assist him in attending the
cattle, and our abbot humours his inclination, which every day
grows more violent.” |
We have read of the Boskoi, or grazing saints, who once swarmed
over the plains of Mesopotamia; but it does not appear that those
fanatics lived with the herds like my monk of St. Meletius, or
afforded quite so strange an example of the follies and madnesses
liable to arise amongst members of a community, associated on
principles contrary to common sense, and regulated according to
a system in direct opposition to the general habits and nature of
man.
LETTER XXX.
Route from St. Meletius to the Ruins of Plataa, at Cockli—
Gifto-Castro—Cinoé —Pass of Cithearon—Parasopia—The
Positions of the Armies at the Battle of Platea—Doubts re-
specting the Numbers who fought against the Greeks—Route
from St. Meletius to Megara—by Koundouri—Pass in the
Mountains—Arrival at Megara—The Derveni Choria—The
Town and Inhabitants of Megara—Return by Eleusis to
Athens—-General View of the District of Attica, and of the
Peasants settled in the Villages.
EARLY in the morning of the 11th of February,
the Monks, as they were requested, roused my party, presenting
me at the same time with a smaii piece of consecrated bread, the
remainder of what had been used for the mass which they had
celebrated at the dawn of day. ‘The baggage was left at the mo-
nastery, and the surgee and Vasilly accompanied me on a visit
to the ruins of Platea, close to a village whose name is Cockli,
on the other side, the north, of Cithzron.
Having with some difficulty descended the hills, we got into a
long valley, called the plain of the Calivia of Koundoun, the
name of a large village in the vicinity. This plain, which 1s
partly a green pasture, and partly cultivated and divided into
corn-fields and vineyards, extends westwards for perhaps eight or
LETTER XxX, 469
nine miles; and near the extremity of it, under an amphitheatre
ef woody hills, is a village called Villa. It corresponds in every
respect with the small territory which belonged anciently to Eleu-
there, and was attached first to Beeotia, but afterwards to Attica.
‘Travelling on in this valley to the west for two hours, we turned
off into a pass between the hills, on the right, in order to cross
the mountain Citheron, and thus got into the line of road which
was anciently the only route from 'Ihebes to Megara. A path
across the hills near Villa, to the south-west, was that leading
directly from the isthmus, and the one by which the Lacedemo-
nian army marched from the Peloponesus, and penetrated through
the Eleusinian territory into Attica.
Immediately on entering the pass, we saw, on a rocky brow to
the nght, the remains of an ancient fortress, consisting of five
low towers, and a strong wall running a quarter of a mile, per-
haps, round nearly the whole summit of the rock.
I cannot but suppose these to be the remains of C&noé, the
strong frontier town between Attica and Beeotia, which was be-
sieged by the Spartan General in the first year of the Pelopone-
sian war*. ‘There were two towns of this name in Attica: one
belonging to the district 'T'etrapolis, near Marathon, of the tribe
Afantis; the other, that which we saw, near Eleuthere, and of
the tribe Hippothoontis.
The ruins, I know not why, are now called Gifto-Castro,
or the Gipsies’ ‘Tower. There are no traces of any houses
within the circuit of the fortifications; but the towers and walls
are remarkably entire, and convey a very correct notion of
what, according to the system of Greek warfare, was the most
᾽ Lend 7 Ὁ nd \
¥ ce ne «Οἰνόη ovo ἐν μεϑορίοις τῆς Αττικῆς καὶ Βοιωτίας ἐτετείχιστον ὅζς.-τ:
Thucyd. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 18.
3 P
470 LETTER BBR
effectual method of fortifying a town. A wall built round the.
summit of a rock, would, it must seem, be the first kind of strong
place invented, and the addition of towers would be the next im-
provement, and one e with which the engmeers of antiquity would
be likely to be satisfied, as entirely sufficient for all the purposes of
defence. ‘The Spartans were considered as the most mexpert of
all the Greeks, in the besieging of towns; and the army of Archi-
damus, though furnished with engines and other means of attack,
failed to reduce this place ; which, however, was no great proof of
their want of skill ; for CEnoé was by no means, as a late writer*,
before referred to, asserts, a trifling fort, but one as well qualified
to resist attack as could well be constructed. From the towers
which remain, and which are square, it appears that these parts
of the work were not raised at equal distances from each other, but
at every point where the nature of the ground required an angle
in the walls. They are not much higher than aman, and will
not contain more than two persons standing upright.
A little farther up the pass, beyond the ruins of Oinoé, is a foun-.
tain erected by some benevolent Turk, who, according to usual prac-
tice, has recorded his generosity in golden letters on the stone above
the spring: it is called Petroyracke. In twenty minutes after
this, we left the road leading to Thebes towards the north-north-
east, whose highest point was once called Τρεῖς Κεφαλαὶ, the ‘Three
Heads, and struck into a rough mountain track, continually ascend-
ing, to the north-west. We were half an hour in this direction
* De Pauw, sec. 8, tom. i. A circumstance which occurred after the battle
of Platza, isa much stronger proof of the incapacity of the Spartan in this
respect, which, indeed, was a part of their discipline. They were unable to
force the wooden intrenchment of the Persian camp, until the Athenians came
ΒΡ to their assistance.
471
before we got to the top of this ridge οἵ Citharon, when we had
at once a view of the plains of Beeotia. ‘lhe minaret of one of
the moscks of ‘Thebes was visible, peeping above the low mounds
to the south of that city: Zagari, or Helicon, was to the west-
north-west, and Liakura, or Parnassus, was just apparent, rising
into the sky at the northern extremities of Helicon; Citherom
ranged onwards as far as the eye could reach to the west; the
green plains of Platea, the scene of the great battle that esta-
blished the liberties of Greece, were lying directly below, rather
to the left, and a fine open country, the ancient Parasopia, and
the district belonging to the city Erythre, extended under the
foot of the hills to the right. ‘The river Asopus divided into two
branches, which, uniting, form a long island, once called Oeroe,
opposite to Platea, not half a mile in breadth, was seen winding
through the whole of this large flat.
I shall endeavour to give you an account of the positions, with
a reference to the battle*. Descending the hill for ten minutes,
you have on your right a small village, Calivi, at the foot of the
hills. ‘This was the second position of the Greeks, who, march-
ing from Erythre along the roots of Citheron, and passing
Hysie, into the Platean territory-;-, placed themselves on that
spot to prevent the Persians from penetrating into Attica or the
Peloponesus, by the great road from ‘Thebes through the pass
of Τρεῖς Κεφαλαὶ, which, just beyond Calivi, is seen, looking like the
bed of a torrent, running through a chasm in the hills.
Calivi is one hour and a half from Platea. Not far from the
* Mr. Barbié du Boccage’s plan, in Anacharsis, of these positions, seems
entirely wrong. He has put the pass of Τρεῖς Κεφαλαὶ to the west, instead of to
ihe east, of Platea.
+ Herod. Calliope, cap. 25.
42 LETTER ΧΧχ.
village, half ἃ mile below in ΠΕ plain, near ἃ solitary house, i
a spring, with great probability the same which supplied the
fountain Gargaphia, the very spot where the Greeks were en-
camped. About a mile to the north-west of the fountain, the two
branches of the Asopus reunite. Sloping to the westward down
the sides of the mountain, a little more than a mile beyond Calivi,
you come to a rivulet flowing down a ravin; and on a hillock
above, you see some large stones disposed into a square. It is
impossible to doubt, but that the rivulet is the Molois, to which
the Lacedemonians retired, at the same time that the Athenians
passed into the plain towards the island Oeroe, and the confe-
derates to the walls of Platea, near the Temple of Juno: the
stones on the hillock may be the remains of the chapel of the
Eleusinian Ceres. This position is half ἃ mile up the sides of
Citheron, on very uneven marshy ground. ‘The whole force of
the Persians crossing the Asopus and the plain near Gargaphia,
ascended the roots of the mountain, and brought the Lacedemo-
nians to action on the banks of the Molois. The Greek allies of
the Persians went into the plain, and were there routed’ by the
Athenians.
Continuing for another mile, still along the sides of the moun-
tain, you arrive at a small remain, similar to that above the rivu-
let, and which may be the vestiges, either of the Temple of Juno
Citheronia, or the heroic monument of the Platazans who were
slain in the battle.
In less than half a mile beyond, but downwards towards the
plain, you meet with the first remains, on this side, of the walls
of Platesa. The path leads under these, and, passing a fountain,
takes you round a kind of terrace, surrounded in many parts with
the walls of the ancient city. The size of Plateea may. be computed
LETTER xxx. 473
exactly by what is left of these walls, whose circuit: seems to have
been about a mile. Very large stones, apparently part of the
foundations of houses, are scattered upon the area of the terrace,
but there are no marble remains. This terrace is directly under
the highest summits of Citheron, which in this spot impend in
woody precipices over the site of the city. ‘The ground above
the ruins.is very rugged and steep, and the pine-forests advance
within a short distance of the plain. When we visited the place, the
summits of the mountain were capped with clouds of snow, which
formed a fine contrast with the dark woods beneath.
In a niche of the hills, to the west of the site of Plata, is the
village of Cockli, containing a few wretched huts. Beyond is.a
small plain, running west-south-west, bounded to the south by the
range of Citheron, and to the north by some low hills, separating
it from the plain of 'Thespie*. This I should suppose to be the
pass anciently called the Straits of Platea, through which lay the
road to Leuctra. Nearly opposite Cockli, there is a small bridge
over one of the branches of the Asopus, a very insignificant
stream. ‘The land in the island Oeroe, near this bridge, is high
and rugged, and the point where the river divides itself into two
branches is not visible from Cockli.
Notwithstanding the circumstantial account, and the particular
enumeration of the forces of the two nations engaged in the battle,
given by Herodotus, no traveller who has seen the scene of action,
which is to. this day recognizable by most undoubted signs, can
fail to suspect the Grecian historian of some exaggeration. The
whole conflict must have taken place ona triangular space, bounded
by the road from Thebes into the pass of Citheron, five miles,
the base of Citheron three miles, and the road from Platza to
£ Wheler, book vi. Pp. 475,
474. LETTER “XXX.
Thebes, six miles. The Greeks were one hundred and ten thou
sand; the Persians, with their confederates, three hundred and
fifty thousand. But the most severe part of the action, and in which,
reckoning both Lacedemonians and Persians, nearly three hun-
dred and fifty thousand troops were engaged, was fought on the
ravin, in marshy steep ground amongst the hills, where, notwith-
standing the account informs us that the cavalry of Mardonius
were the most active, it seems difficult to believe that a single
squadron of horse could have manceuvred.
From Gargaphia to the Molois is but little more than a mile,
and, according to the historian, the whole of this immense body
fought in less than that space, for Mardonius advanced into the
hills to encounter Pausanias. I should fancy that such an extent
of ground would not contain such numbers, although ranged in
the deepest order of which the ancient tactics allowed; and the
Persians did not advance in any order at all, but confusedly *.
The fifty thousand allies of Mardonius and the Athenians might
have fought in the plain between the Asopus and the foot of the
hill, which, however, according to modern tactics, would not
admit of even that number of troops to engage.
It does not appear that any part of the action, except the
forcing the Persian camp, took place beyond the Asopus, so that
not half of the space above mentioned was occupied by the troops
of either party during the action. In short, it is impossible to
reconcile the positions with the detailed account transmitted to us
by the Greeks of this immortal victory: yet an ingenious anti-
quarian would do much towards such an object, and volumes of
controversy might be produced on both sides of the question.
* "Ours κόσμῳ οὐδενὶ κοσμηθέντες, ὄντε τάξι. --Ή ογοά, Call. cap. 59.
LETTER XXX. 47 ὅ
“= . “4 ‘ ἢ ᾿ 1 aw Bis i
fest τὸ may appear sacrilege to entertail Goubts which must
diminish the lustre of Grecian heroism, I beg you to recollect,
that even the more sober page of Latin history has been occa-
sionally viewed with the eye of scepticism, particularly in Italy,
on the scene of some of the exploits of the earher Romans.
‘Tome after tome has been ushered into the world on such dis-
puted points, and one large quarto, the work of a learned anti-
quary, is occupied solely in treating of the Caudine Forks. The
daring mendacity of the Grecian annals, became proverbial
amongst the Romans, who supposed that this ingenious people
owed much of their martial fame to their poets, rhetoricians, and
historians, whose eulogies, and whose records, first of all, per-
haps, only flattered their vanity, but by degrees appeared well-
founded, and obtained every credit amongst a people who were
interested in beheving them to be just and impartial. The war-
riors of Italy, after some acquaintance with the merits of the
Greeks, were willing to pay. all respect to their artists, and to
their writers; they were content.to become their pupils; but.
having found their soldiers unable to check them for a moment
in the career of victory; and, indeed, having beheld their most
famous states previously enslaved by foreign tyrants, and the sup-
pliants, rather than the antagonists of Rome, they could with diffi-
culty entertain any exalted notion of their military prowess. ‘Ihe
examples which the Roman youth were directed to study, by day
and by night, were the writings, not the actions of the Greeks:
yet, to the latest ages, the natives of this illustrious country con-
sidered their ancestors as affording models of the highest excel-
lence, not only in the arts of peace, but of war, and as. worthy
of being ranked with those conquerors who had subdued the
world. With what triumph does the great author of the Parallels
476 LETTER XXX.
attribute the glory of Athens to the exploits of her heroes, rather
than to the genius of her writers. ‘“ ‘This it was,” exclaims the
exulting Cheronean, “ that raised the state to glory, this raised
her to greatness; for this, Pindar calls Athens the prop of
Greece; not that she roused the Greeks by the tragedies of
her Phrynicus and her Thespis, but that the sons of the Athe-
nians first at Artemisium, (such is his expression), laid the
splendid foundation of liberty; and at Salamis, at Mycale, at
Platea, having established in adamantine security the freedom
of Greece, transmitted it to the rest of mankind *.”
The author of this panegyric is, however, obliged to confess, in
another place +, that in his time, the whole of Greece could hardly
furnish three thousand fighting men; a number that, according to
ancient history, was once supplied by Megara alone.
There seems no way of accounting for the Ιαιρ armies brought
into the field by the Greeks during their civil wars, except by
supposing that every man capable of bearing arms was occasion-
ally a soldier. By what other means could the ‘Thebans arm
seventy thousand troops to fight the Lacedemonians? When
Justin t lays down the number of soldiers which could be arrayed
* Taura τὴν πολὶν ἡγειρεν εἰς δοξαν, THUTH εἰς μεγεϑοςγ ev τουτοις Πινδάρος ἐρεισμια
ang EAAados προσειπε τας Αθηνᾶς» ουχ, ὅτι THIS ᾧὥρυνικου τραγωδιαις καὶ Θεσπίιδὸς
ὠρϑουν τοὺς EAAnvas, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι mpwrov (ὡς φησιν autos) ἐπ᾿ Δρτεμισίῳ παιδὲς Αϑη-
varwv ἐβάλοντο φαεινὴν κρηπιδ᾽ edevdnpias, ἐπὶ τε Σαλαμῖνι καὶ Μυκαλῃ καὶ Πλα-
ταιαις ὥσπερ ἀαδαμαντινοι στηριξαντες ἐλευϑεριῶν τῆς Ἕλλαδος παρέδοσαν τοις ἄλλοις
ἀνϑρωποις *.—Plut. πότερον Adevatos xara πολεέμον. κι το Δ. Reiske edit. vol. υἱΐ.
p. 379.
+ Essay on the Failure of the Oracles.
~ Lib. ix. cap. 5.
* The words quoted are not in that part of Pindar’s works which remain.
LETTER XxX. 4ἀτ7
in the time of Philip of Macedon, by the whole Grecian confede-
racy, without reckoning Laconia, at two hundred thousand infantry
and fifteen thousand cavalry, he must, as Mr. Hume, in the essay
before quoted, has observed, be understood to allude to all those
who could bear arms. In truth, the heavy armed were, properly
speaking, the only regular soldiers, and the light troops, as it
appears from the most ancient details of battles, were considered
as attendants upon the great effective force.
Ta the battle of Platea there were seven helots, with the requi-
site accoutrements attached to every Spartan*, and about one
light-armed soldier to each individual of the other troops, making
in the whole sixty-nine thousand five hundred of this kind of
force; many more than half of the whole confederate army.
Thus we may feel inclined to credit the statement of the numbers
of the Greek forces said to be engaged in their famous battles,
but must be allowed to doubt a little with respect to the myriads
of the Barbarians, which, on the evidence of their own writers,
they are generally believed to have overthrown.
The different amounts of the Persian army who fought at Ma-
rathon, as transmitted to us by various authorities, are of them-
selves sufficient to justify such an incredulity. But I will con-
clude these hints, which were suggested by a view of the Platean
plains, and return to the monastery of St. Meletius.
The day after my visit to the ruins of Platea, we set out for
Megara, going first down the mountain, through thick woods of
evergreens into the plain. Crossing this, we got into the public
road leading from Thebes to Athens, Megara, and the Morea,
* Herod. Call. cap. 28 et 29.
3 Q
478 LETTER XXX.
and inan hour came to where a path branched off to the leit,
towards the first of those places, through Eleusis. In half an
hour from this point, going over low, bare hills, we passed Koun-
douri, a considerable village on the top and sides of a hillock
under a mountain to the south-west, and not shaded by a single
tree. Thence we began to ascend, and travelled through pine-
forests for an hour and a half, until we had gained the brow of
the mountain.
Looking back from this spot, we had a view of the monastery
of St. Meletius, and found we had gone in a south-south-westerly
direction. Here the road divides, one branch of it to the night,
towards the Isthmus, across the high mountains called the Der-
veni, the other more to the south-west, to Megara. We de-
scended a winding path, and now and then, through openings in
the woods, caught a view of the Athenian plain and Mount Pen-
telicus to the left in the distance, and the country about Hleusis
nearer to us in the same quarter.
In a little time we passed one of the stations of the guard which
is kept throughout the mountains bordering on the Isthmus.
Eight or ten stout young men were smoking in a hut made of
green branches; one of them brought us a jug of water, the usual
present, and another, slinging his gun across his shoulder, was
preparing to attend us, but was dismissed with a small piece of
money by Vasilly, who declared we had no occasion for his ser-
vices, there being no robbers in all the district.
‘This guard was just at the mouth of a very narrow pass between
two perpendicular rocks, one of which, on the right hand, dis-
played a huge rent, like a long cavern, in its side. When we
entered the pass, we had travelled four hours from the monastery,
LETTER XXX. 479
and we then went directly south-west, still amongst woods of ever-
greens and fragrant shrubs, with occasional glimpses of the sea and
the castle of Megara. Issuing in about an hour more from the hills
and forests, we came at last upon an open cultivated plain, and
turning westward, arrived in another hour at the town of Megara,
where we took up our lodging for the night.
Megara contains a thousand houses, only six hundred of which
are inhabited, rather of a mean construction, many of them being
built of mud, and all of them having low flat roofs. It is situated
on two narrow -ridges of a low eminence; on the top of that toe
the west, on which the principal number of houses stand, is a
large square tower, and on the other, a windmill. The surround-
ing plain is extensive, twenty miles perhaps in circumference,
being bounded to the south by the line of coast running west from
the port once named Niseea, now Dodeca Ecclesiais, (which is
small, and of the shape of a horse-shoe, two miles from the city),
to the north by a long chain of circling mountains, now the Long
Mountains, Macriplayi, branching off north-westward from the
hills of Kerata towards the western extremities of Citheron and
the bay of Livadostro, and on the south-west by ἃ very high
range of hills, resting on the extremities of the northern moun-
tains, formerly Gerania, and now called Derveni Vouni, or the
Mountain of the Guard. The declivities of the hills named Ke-
rata, or the Horns, are the north-eastern and eastern boundary
of the plain. Near the port is a hillock, with a tower on the top
of it, the site of the citadel of Niszea; and there is a small green
island at the mouth of the harbour, the Minoa of the ancients.
The whole of the Megaris is now frequently called Derveni,
from a singular policy of the Turks, who have constituted all the
9 ὦ
480 LETTER xxx.
population of this mountainous district, inhabiting seven towns,
called Dervent Choria, of which Megara is the largest, and
Koundouri the next in size, into an armed guard, to prevent the
egress of any unpermitted persons from the Morea through the
Isthmus. ‘There is in the road through the mountains a perpetual
guard, but every cottage and all the solitary monasteries are sup-
plied with guns, and on the least alarm, which is easily communi-
cated by smokes and fires on the summits of the hills, the whole
of the Megaris, from the Isthmus to the passes of Citheron, is in
a state of defence.
About forty years ago, a large body of six or seven thousand
Albanians, who had been called in to drive the Russians from the
Morea, endeavoured to retire with their plunder, against the
orders of the Pasha of ‘T'ripolizza. ‘The alarm was given to the
Derveniotes, so they are called, and every path and outlet being
instantly occupied by the Greek peasants, who were happy
enough to be employed against Albanians and ‘Turks, very few of
the fugitives escaped; many were killed by the Monks of St. Me-
letius, endeavouring to fly through the unfrequented tracks of
Citheron between the two roads from ‘Thebes to Athens.
‘Fen years ago a similar attempt was made by a hundred and
fifty Albanian 'Turks, who were dissatisfied with the pay of the
Pasha of the Morea, and not one of them escaped, ten being
killed, and the remainder sent in chains to 'Tripolizza.
‘This institution has succeeded completely ; and such is the vigi-
lance, courage, and honesty of these Greeks, that a snuff-box
Jost in their mountains would be probably very soon recovered.
The Derveniotes seem to be a superior race to any other of the
Greek peasantry; the putting arms into their hands, and taking
i
LETTER XXX. 481
away almost all the controul of their masters from before their
eyes, (for they are under the command of the Capudan Pasha,
or High Admiral, and have only one ‘lurk amongst them,
called the Derven-Aga), have given them the erect gait and air of
freemen. The greater part of them are sprung from Albanian
settlers, but all are acquainted with the Romaic language, and
by a long establishment in the country, have adopted all the feel-
ing and prejudices of the Greeks. ‘The decided superiority which
their knowledge of the country must always, and has given them
over any opponents, has naturally raised their notions of their
own prowess to a great height, and they speak of the ferocious
Turk and the martial Albanian with contempt. Although at pre-
sent in the service of the Porte, and exempted from part of the
burdens to which the Greeks are subject, paying only one hun-
dred paras a man for haratch; or capitation tax, yet they com-
plain of being obliged to give quarters to the people in the service
of the Pashas of the Morea, when passing through their country ;
and it is easy to, see that the Derveniotes would be a most for-
midable instrument in the hands of any power who might attempt
to revolutionize European.Turkey. ‘Their whole number, that is,
all those amongst them capable of carrying arms, was stated to
me, though I believe somewhat loosely, at three thousand;.a
body certainly sufficient to prevent the Morea from affording, or
receiving, any supplies, im case of a general insurrection of the
Greeks. Besides, the Derveni Choria, two or three of. the vil-
lages of Attica are considered as forming part of the guard ;
this is the case with Casha, and the Albanian peasantry of that
district are reckoned more courageous and spirited than those of
other parts of the country.
482 LETTER XXX.
Megara retains no vestiges of its ancient importatice, except
some pieces of wall, just visible above the surface of the earth at
the back of the hills; yet many sepulchral and other inscriptions,
and some fragments of carved marbles, are to be seen in the walls of
the church and of some of the houses. All the inscriptions have
been copied, and four of them taken down by Wheler are also
given in Meletius, and a collation of the two authorities shows
the incorrectness of the Romaic geographer*. ‘Three headless
statues of females are in possession of a priest, who removed them
from a ruin on the road between the town and the port, where
they were seen by an English traveller in 1738. Pieces of marble
are found in such quantity amongst the rubbish, particularly on
the hill of the tower, that the women of Megara, many of them,
grind their corn on a flat slab of it, making use of a large roller
of the same material to crush the grains and reduce them to flour.
In the flat below the eminence on the north side of it, is a
fountain, with some fragments of marble near it, half buried in
the earth. ‘This spring is conjectured to have been within the cir-
cuit of the ancient city, and sacred to the nymphs called Sith-
nides. ‘I'he modern well has lately been filled up by the male
inhabitants, who accuse the water of having some properties
productive of an inclination to incontinence in their wives and
daughters. ‘The females of Megara seem therefore to be rather
of a mixed reputation, which was, if I recollect right, the charac-
ter of the ancient Greek ladies of this town.
* Sabina, the wife of Hadrian, is, in Meletius, Σαβελινα, and the word
apupvaoy, in one of the dedicatory inscriptions, which gave rise to the doubts
of Wheler, is changed for Παμφιλος in the Geography.
LETTER XXX. 485
ray
his place, formerly almost deserted on account of the fre-
quent incursions of pirates, and burnt by the Venetians mn 1687,
appears for several years to have been increasing in size. In
1738 there were only a hundred houses, and Chandler talks of
it as a miserable village. ‘The richness of the soil in the sur-
rounding plain abounding in vineyards and cotton grounds, but
chiefly with large tracks of corn land, has, however, drawn toge-
ther an increase of population ; and the vacant houses at Megara
will, it is probable, be gradually occupied by fresh mhabitants.
We staid but one might at Megara, and then left it to re-
turn by Eleusis to Athens; a short ride of a few hours if per-
formed without baggage-horses, and, according to the longest
computation, only twenty-seven miles in length: I was only five
hours on the journey, leaving the attendants behind as soon as
we passed Kileusis.—The Athenian generals, who were sworn to
invade the territories of Megara twice a year, bound themselves
to no very arduous or protracted enterprise, but one which, it
seems, might be performed any day betwixt the hour of break-
fast. and dinner.
The extreme diminutiveness of Greece, a fact so often alluded
to, may make some readers suspect that they, and the rest of the
world, have fixed their admiration upon a series of petty and in-
sigmificant actions, scarcely worthy of a detail, or of finding a
place amongst the histories of empires; but others will only feel
an increase of esteem and respect for a people, whose transcendant
genius and virtue could give an interest and importance to events
transacted upon so inconsiderable a spot of earth. Greece Pro-
per scarcely contained more space than the kingdom of Naples
occupied formerly om the continent of Italy, and Sicily is consi-
484. LETTER ΧΧΧ.
dered as large as Peloponesus*. Alcibiades might well be at a loss
to find, not only Attica, but even Greece itself, ina map of the
world; yet the history of mankind refers for many ages to little else
than the affairs of this indiscernible portion of the globe, and what is
said of the Barbarians, is generally introduced only to complete and
illustrate the Grecian annals. ‘I'hus, in the early Greek writers,
we find not a single mention of the Romans; a silence that has had
the effect with many young students, of inducing them to believe,
that the history of the former nation begins about where the most
important part of that of the latter terminates; it does not at first
enter into their heads, that any of the great men of the two coun-
tries were cotemporaries, and the exploits of Camillus and Epa-
minondas are not supposed to have been performed in the same
age. ‘They are, to be sure, at once set right by a view of the
Chronological Chart ; but old impressions are only corrected, not
altogether effaced, and are apt, in spite of conviction, to regain
at times their former influence.
The exclusive attention of the more ancient Greek authors to
the antiquities of their own nation, and their general inattention
to and ignorance of every thing relative to other countries not im-
mediately connected with themselves, afforded the antagonist of
Apion a good deal of room to display his ingenious acrimony. It
is not without some triumph that Josephus cites the historian Epho-
rus, as having supposed Spain to be a single city+.
Even after the Romans had forced this people to acknowledge
that they were not the only warriors in the world, and had perform-
ed exploits which they might condescend to record with an Hel-
* D’Anville’s Geog. article Greece.
+ Josephus, book i. in answer to Apion.
LETTER xXx. 485
lenic pen, they still appear to have thought that they had a just
claim to a monopoly of all the wit and learning of mankind. ‘The
influence their arms had been unable to obtain, was established
by their language, “ whose empire was spread from the Adriatic
to the Euphrates.” ‘They seem to pay no attention to the daily
incense offered them by their conquerors and pupils. ‘* There is
not, I believe,” says the author whose words I have quoted above,
“from Dionysius to Libanius, a single Greek critic who mentions
Virgil or Horace; taey seem ignorant that the Romans had any
good writers*.”
I will now give our route from Megara towards Athens, as
far as Eleusis. ‘The road was, for the first hour and a half,
towards the south-east, inclining to the shore, chiefly through
low woods of evergreens; it then took us more to the eastward,
and wound under hills close to the water, still leading through
green forests. ‘T'he hills are ranges of the mountain Kerata, and
the two tops are visible at a distance to the north-east. In
another hour and a half the path passes round a bay, where
there is a solitary cottage and a boat-shed. From this place
the tower above Eleusis is in sight, and the tongue of land
forming the south-western extremity of the bay of Eleusis, is
seen. stretching before you into the sea: Salamis. appears close
to this point, and closing up the wide mouth of the bay. From
this spot travellers ascend the extremities of the mountain Ke-
yata, and passing at the back (the west) of the tower of Eleusis,
come, in an hour, into part of the plain of Eleusis, at the foot
of the mountain.
* Decline and Fall, vol. ii. p. 48.
©
aR
a
A86 LETTER XXX.
From the back of the tower the path leads through a green
valley, on a slope between low hills, until it arrives in the open
country. A spring is still to be seen in this valley ; this is the
Flowery Well where Ceres reposed, and the valley is the Rharian
plain. The path to Athens then strikes off over the Thriasian
plain, leaving the village of Eleusis to the right, and passing
through the ruins of the aqueduct.
Were it not for the conjectures of former travellers, and the
power put into every one’s hands, who is in possession of a Pau-
sanias, of indulging in the same pleasing speculations, travelling in
modern Greece would be an irksome and unsatisfactory labour.
The weather, from my departure on the 8th to my return.
on the 13th of February, had been very favourable; though,
according to report, there had been a violent storm of rain at
Athens on the 10th. The 14th was. very hot, and the sky
quite clear; the 15th seemed intolerably sultry, and a few dark
vapours were seen collecting round the brows of the moun-
tains; the next day was equally hot, and the tops of Parnes were
enveloped in heavy motionless clouds. At half after eleven at
night, as I was writing the substance of this letter in our little
sitting-room at Athens, and my fellow-traveller, better employed,
was sitting opposite to me, a noise, like the rushing of a torrent,
suddenly roused our attention: the dead stillness of the night
rendered every sound more unexpected and more distinct; the
branches of the lemon-trees in the court-yard shook “ without a
wind ;” and instantly afterwards the door of our chamber swung
open, and the whole building began to totter. At this moment
one of the servants rushed into the room, and exclaimed, that
the house was falling! ‘The shaking, however, was but gentle,
LETTER XXX. 487
aud did not last more tham two seconds, having been more alarm-
ing in its approach than diangerous in its consequences. We after-
wards learnt that chis earthquake had thrown down several hun-
dred houses at Canéa in C:andia, and we ourselves saw some effects
of its violence amongst the ruins of Alexandria 'T'roas.
I have now done my best to make you acquainted with modern
Attica, as well as with the country immediately adjacent ; and in
this review I have made nzention of all the small towns, together
with the number of houses; they are supposed to contain, in order
to furnish some clue towards computing the present population of
the country.
Besides the villages before enumerated, the number of whose
habitations, taken altogether, do not quite amount to two
thousand, it should be understood, that there are, perhaps, as
many as fifty hamlets of ten, twenty, and thirty cottages, which,
together with the monasteries, may add between seven and eight
hundred houses to the former number. According to this com-
putation, Athens and modern Attica may be supposed to contain
about twenty-five thousand five hundred inhabitants of all ages
and sexes.
The ancient territory consisted of two hundred and fifty square
miles; but the district now belonging to the city is somewhat
smaller, as it is bounded to the north by Brilessus, and not by
the Asopus, and as the valley before described, once attached to
Eleuthere, is now part of the Derveni-Choria. Yet this deduc-
tion from the extent is not considerable enough to be even men-
tioned in comparing the present and ancient population, which,
according to the most moderate reckoning, was at least two hun-
dred and eighty-four thousand: Atheneus, indeed, in his Deip-
3R 2
488 LETTER XXX.
nosophist, has put down the slaves alone at four hundred thou-
sand; a number which, as it may be supposed to include all
those who were found in Attica, and who worked the triremes
and merchant vessels of the republic, may not appear such an
enormous exaggeration, as it has been alleged to be by our phi-
losophical historian*. When Mr. Hume conjectured that a
cypher had been accidentally added to the original sum, he must,
if he spoke literally, have not reflected at the moment, that the
modern representations of numbers are not found in the text of
Greek books. It is not impossible, however, that forty may
have been written instead of fowr myriads.
Nearly all the villages of Attica are under the subjection of the
Waiwode of Athens, and contribute to his revenue. ‘The only ex-
ceptions are Menithi, half of which furnishes a tax for the mamte-
nance of a certain number of spahis, or cavalry soldiers, for the
seryice of the Imperial armies ; Charootika, which belongs to a
mosck at Constantinople ; and Spatha, which is part of the por-
tion of one of the Sultanas.
‘The peasants living in each of these small towns, are, as before
mentioned, a distinct race from the Greeks, being all occupied
in cultivating the ground, tending the flocks, collecting the gall-
γι, and felling the timber in the mountains. They are of a
hardy constitution, and a robust make, and patient both of hunger
and fatigue; their manners are extremely simple ; and being con-
* Essay on the Populousness of Ancient Nations.
+ See Note E. 6. to vol. ii. of Brougham’s Colonial Policy, where this ob-
servation is made, in a comment on Hume, the general argument of which 1
have been unable entirely to understand—but, in such cases, the fault may be
on the side of the writer or of the reader.
LETTER XxX. 489
tent with their own cottages, like Virgil’s shepherd, they consider
the. city of the Faithful itself by no means superior to their own
country town.
A peasant of Casha, returning from Constantinople, was over=
heard to complain to a friend—‘* What a place is that city! I
wanted to get some of our sandals and shoe-thongs there, and
they had none; and as tor faggots, charcoal, and pitch, our town
lras ten times as much!”’—There is in some parts of their beha-
viour a singularity quite ludicrous in the eyes of a stranger. You
shall have one scene from the life, although the humour is lost without
printing the manner as well as the conversation of the party. A
Greek, on his way to Athens, overtakes a peasant drivin, his
little horse loaded with fire-wood. ‘* How much do you ask for
those faggots?” says he. ‘'T'wenty paras.”—* I'll give you fif-
teen.” ‘The man never looks-up, but, addressing himself to his
beast, says, “1 won't do, it won’t do; go on.”—** Seventeen
paras, then.” ‘ Heigh! heigh!” says the other to his horse,
{ς
“Ὡς ροῦ on, get on.” Fighteen paras.” “Turn round!” ex-
claims the fellow, still speaking to the beast, “ they shall go for
nineteen.” The Greek nods, and the other drives his poney along
with him to his house.
‘Fheir common dress is of white woollen, like that: of the labour-
ing Greeks, but they have habits for their festivals of extreme
magnificence, and of a fashion altogether antique in many re-
spects, even more so than that of the Albanians. ‘I'he upper part
of their dress exactly resembles a breast-plate, not being buttoned
before, but fastened with strings behind. ‘The shawl, which they
twist round their heads, is always variegated, and οἱ the brightest
aues, and the prevailing colour of their jackets is a dark red, ‘The
490 LETTER XXX.
clothing of the women, who generally are barefoot, and are as
enured to labour as the men, is very homely and grotesque; con-
sisting of a long shift, a thick yirdle wrapped several times round
the waist, a short straight-cut woollen jacket, and a coarse w hite
shawl, like a towel, with the corners hanging down before and
behind, on the head. ‘They are carried to be married on horse-
back, covered with a long veil, and with a child placed astride
before them.—The whole nation are of the Greek church, and
many of them enter into the religious houses, and become ca-
loyers.
The language of these peasants is a dialect of that spoken by
the Albanians of Epirus; and as I was not aware, during my stay
in Attica, of the fact mentioned by Wheler, that they call themselves
Vlachi, I saw no reason for supposing them emigrated Walla-
chians, and descendants of those Roman colonists of Dacia, aban-
doned by Aurelian, who being swept away into Scythia by the
retreating hosts of either Huns, Avares, Magiars, or Bulgarians,
were carried back, after the revolution of centuries, by the re-
turning wave of barbarian inundation, into their own country.
It does not seem a consequence, that the name Vlachi should
decide them to be Wallachians ; for Valachi, or Vlachi, is a deno-
mination applied by the Greeks to the other Scythian settlers.
Thus the people inhabiting the mountains between the Drave and
the Save are called Morlachi, or Mauro-Vlachi; and yet their
language partakes in nothing with that of the Wallachians.
Since the last allusion which is to be found in these Letters to
the disputed point concerning the real origin of the peasants of
Attica, I have had the opportunity of consulting that memoir in
the thirtieth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions, and the
LETTER ΧΧΧ. 491
Kissay of Mr. D’Anville’s (Etats formés aprés la chute de ’Em-
pire Romain), which Mr. De Pauw recommends as decisive of
the ignorance of taose who have called this people Albanians :
yet in neither of these works is there a word respecting the pea-
santry of this part of Greece, except this single quotation from
Wheler—* Wheler, dans la seconde. partie de son voyage dit
avoir rencontré sur le chemin de ‘I'hébes ἃ Athénes et vers le
Mont Parnés qui sépare la Béotie de ’Attique, Vhabitation d’un
peuple qui se donne le nom de Vlaki*.”
Wheler’s words are as follows: “ After this we began again to
ascend ; and at last went up a rocky hill, by a very bad way,
until about noon we got to the top of it, to a village called Vlachi,
which is the name the Albaneses call themselves by in their own
language}. If the English traveller be correct, not these villa-
gers only near. Mount Parnes, as Mr. D’Anville has it, but all
the Albanians, call themselves Vlachi; and the quotation proves
nothing at all, except, indeed, that Wheler himself evidently
supposed the people in question to be Albanese. The moun-
taineers of Epirus do, indeed, consider these peasants as by no
means of the same race with themselves, although they call them
Albanians, and converse with them with facility in their own lan-
guage. Had we penetrated high enough, we might have deter-
mined whether they actually belong to the people dispersed over
the northern boundaries of Greece.
The country inhabited by the southern Valachi, properly so
called, 18 composed of the contines of Macedonia, Thessaly, and
Epirus; comprehending Edessa, Castoria, as well as Larissa,
* Vol. xxx. p. 251, Acad. Inscrip.
+ Wheler, book iy. p. 333.
AO2 LETTER XXX
Pharsalia, Demetrias, in the low grounds of Thessaly, and the
eastern declivities of Pindus, where the people are by the Greeks
named Cuzzo Vlachi, or Lame Vlachi.
The Scythian nation, to whom they were attached, and by
whose name they were a long time known, were the Patzinaces
or Patzinacites, most probably alluded to by Strabo as the Peu-
cini, who, inhabiting the mouths of the Danube in the reign of
Augustus, were found in that of Constantine Porphrogenitus on
the banks of the Volga, whence being driven by the Uzes, they
displaced the Magiars, or Oriental Turks, from the vicinity of the
Etel-Cusu, or lesser Volga, and afterwards spread themselves along
the north side of the Danube. In the reign of Constantine Mo-
nomachus, about the middle of the eleventh century, they passed
this river, and penetrated into Bulgaria and Thrace ; where, in
1123, they were routed in a great battle by John, son of Alexius
Commenus, and a multitude of them were forcibly settled in the
western province of the empire before described, which, a short
time afterwards, was known by the name of Moglena, and Me-
galo-Vlachi. They differ in no point from the other Scythian
settlers, and these shepherds, emigrated from the plains of Tar-
tary, are discovered by their language alone to be of Roman ori-
gin, and descended from ancestors, who may be traced through
a succession of adventures as singular as any to be found in the
history of mankind*.
* ¢¢ Nos sumus de sanguine Romano,”’ is, in the language of Vlakia, ‘ noi
sentem de sangue Rumena.” Joannitius, who reigned about the beginning of
the thirteenth century, and is called by Villehardouin, Imperator Bulgarorum
et Blacorum, is reminded, in a letter to him by Pope Innocent III. of his
Roman origin; and it appears, that the transplanted Romans of Dacia were
LETTER XXX. 408
distinguished at first amongst the Scythians, by the name of Viakes, which
may have referred to their language, as, by a curious coincidence, the Hun-
garians, Polanders, Croatians, and Servians, give, at this time, the Romans
and the Italians, whose dialect is thought by them to be nearly approaching
to the Latin, the denomination of Vlakes.
There is a country, to the north of the Caspian Sea, in Tartary, called by
the Tartars Ilak, which is the same as Blac, (for that people cannot pronounce
the letter B), and is named by Roger Bacon, Great Blacia. Both Wallachia
and Moldavia, as well as part of Transylvania, are inhabited by the same
people. Moldavia is known to the Turks by the appellation of Kara Iflak,
and to the Greeks as Mavra-Vlachia; signifying in both tongues Black
Viachia. Mr. D’Anville has thought that he can discover something like the
name of the Scythian Patzinaces, or Pyeczinigi, as they are called by Lieut-
prand, in Εξαρχος Πλαγήνων, the present title of the Metropolitan of Wallachia.
See “6 Sur les Peuples qui habitent aujourd’hui la Dace de Trajan,” in the
thirtieth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions, p. 237.
τος του αδήδηων..
The following Note refers to the words, “96 Athenzus, in his Deipnosophist,”
in page 487, of this Letter, and was omitted by mistake in putting to the press.
Κτησικλῆς δ᾽ ἐν τρίτη χρονικῶν (τῇ πέντε) καὶ δεκάτη πρὸς τᾶις ἑκατὸν, φησὶν,
Οὐλυμπιάδι Αϑήνησιν ἐξετασμὸν γενέσϑαι ὑπὸ Δημητρίου rou Φαληρέως τῶν κατοι-
κούντων τὴν ᾿Αττικήν καὶ ἑυρεϑῆναι Αϑηνάιους μὲν δισμυρίους πρὸς τοῖς χιλίοις, μετόι-
Hous δὲ μυρίους, ὀικετῶν δὲ μυριάδας τεσσαράκοντα .--- Ποῖ ρπο5, lib. vi. cap. 103,
edit. Schweighaeusar, p. 543, vol. ii.
In a subsequent sentence, Athenzus proceeds to inform us, that Aristotle, in
his Polity of the Atginzans, says the slaves of those islanders amounted to
four hundred and seventy thousand.
LETTER ΧΧΧΙ.
Shape and Make of the Modern Greeks—The Women—Their
want of Beauty—Painting—Dress of the Men—and of the
Women—Their Manners——A Betrothing—A Marriage—their
Dance——Songs, §c.—Genius— Morals — Superstitions — The
Evil Eye—Conformity of Practice between Greeks and Turks
— Manners of the Men—Influence of Money—-Behaviour to
Inferiors—Ostentation—Princes of the Fanal—Waiwodes of
Moldavia and Wallachia—Codja-bashees.
TRA V EL- Writers are in one respect the very reverse
of Prophets, for whatever honour they gain is in their own coun-,
try. In the regions, and amongst the people whom they profess
to describe, not only their errors, but their partialities, and the
cause of them, their want of attention and assiduity, their blind
eredulity, and the weakness of the authorities on which. they have
confided, are too well known to allow them the enjoyment of any
great reputation. Whilst they are satisfied with tracing their routes,
and narrating their adventures, they may write without fear of
contradiction; but when they quit that safe track, to launch into
general description or disquisition, they must prepare to be re-
peatedly accused, and, indeed, not unfrequently convicted, of
error, and more especially by those who have made the same
LETTER XXXI. 495
journey with themselves. Notwithstanding, however, this dis-
cernment’ of difficulties, which I may not be at all qualified to
encounter, and although I shall, by sucha plan, be obliged to
make use of some observations suggested in other parts of the
Levant, both before and after our visit to Athens, it is my inten-
tion to choose this place for saying as much of the general cha-
racter and customs of the Greeks, as my short residence in the
country enabled me to collect.
It cannot appear at all surprising, that in their habits of life the
modern Greeks should very much resemble the picture that has
been transmitted to us of the ancient illustrious inhabitants of
their country. Living on the fruits of the same soil, and under
the same climate, apparently not changed since the earliest ages,
it would be strange if their physical constitutions, and in some
measure their tempers, were not very similar to those of the great
people whom we call their ancestors ; and, in fact, I take their bodily
appearance, their dress, their diet, and, as I said before, their
tempers, to differ but little from those of the ancient Greeks.
There is a national likeness observable in all the Greeks,
though, on the whole, the islanders are darker, and of a stronger
make than those on the main-land. ‘Their faces are just such as
served for models to the ancient sculptors, and their young men in
particular, are of that perfect beauty, which we should perhaps con-
sider toosoft and effeminate in those of that age in our more northern
climate. Their eyes are large and dark, from which circumstance
Mavromati, or Black-eyes, isa very common surname: their eye-
brows are arched; their complexions are rather b own, but quite
clear; and their cheeks and lips are tinged with a bright vermilion.
The oval of their faces is regular, and all their features in perfect pro-
2 «
3&2
Med
400 LETTE RS BRT,
portion, except that their ears are rather larger than ordinary: the
hair is dark and long, but sometimes quite bushy, and, as they shave
off all the hair on the fore-part of the crown and the side of the face,
not at all becoming: some of the better sort cut off all their hair,
except a few locks twisted into a knot on the top of the head. On
their upper lips they wear a thin long mustachio, which they are at
some pains to keep quite black. Beards are worn only by the clergy
and the Archontes Presbuteroi, or Codja-bashees, and other men
of authority. ‘Their necks are long, but broad and firmly set, their
chests wide and expanded, their shoulders strong, but round the
waist they are rather slender. Their legs. are perhaps larger than
those of people accustomed to tighter garments, but are strong and
well made. ‘Their stature is above the middling size, and their
make muscular but not brawny, round and well filled out but, not
inclined to corpulency.
Both the face and the form of the women are very inferior to
those of the men. ‘Though they have the same kind of features,
their eyes are too languid, and their complexions too pale, and,
even from the age of twelve, they have a flaccidity and looseness of
person which is far from agreeable. ‘I’hey are generally below the
height which we are accustomed to think becoming ina female, and
when a little advanced in life, between twenty-five and thirty years
of age, are commonly rather fat and unwieldy.
That there are no exceptions to this general character, I do
not, of course, mean to advance; but that I did not myself see
any very pretty Greek woman during my tour, I can_ safely
assert. ‘The females of the better sort, however, do not at all
neglect the care of their charms, but make use of washes and
paints to improye the lustre of. their complexions: they have even
497
a curious form of prayer which deprecates the injurious tanning of
the March suns. They colour the inside of their eye-lashes, some
with,a mixture of antimony and oil, called in Turkish, surmeh;
others. with the soot made of the smoke from the gum of Labda-
num, and they throw a powder in the corners of the eye to add to
its brilliancy. The white paint used by them is made of powdered
cowries, or small shells, and lemon-juice ; the red, from the roots
of the wild lily, washed four or five times, and then dried,. and pre-
served in close pots. The powder is itself white, but when rubbed
with the hand into the cheek, gives a vermilion tinge which does
not wash out, and is thought not to injure the skin. This must
be owned a good exchange for the thick coat of white-lead which
covered both the face and hosom of the Athenian ladies. of old.
‘The effect of this painting is not, as far as.I saw, at all agree-
able, though the Greek ladies themselves must think it very im-
posing, for on the most important ceremonies, such as betrothing,
and marrying, the bride is daubed with thick coats of colours,
laid on without any. attempt to resemble nature. Occasionally
also,, but,more particularly at Constantinople, they wear patches ;
a custom, if not derived from ancient authorities, brought, Γ sup-
pose, from Christendom.
Of all the paradoxes of Mr. De Pauw, that which respects the
ancient Greek females seems to me the best founded. If the pre-
sent women, particularly of Athens, are at all to be considered the
representatives of those of former times, their appearance will not
make any one entertain an exalted notion of the beauty of the
Greek ladies of antiquity. I am inclined with that author, also to
attribute the astonishing influence of the Greek courtezans, and
what he calls depravation of instinct, partly to the same cause, Had
408 DETTER. SRK
the women generally been beautiful, the whole of Greece, young
and old, soldiers, orators, and philosophers, would not have been
prostrate at the feet of Aspasia or Lais, Phryne or Pythonice,
nor have fallen so entirely, perhaps, into the other more prevailing
enormity. Such of the women as 1 have scen from the islands of
the Archipelago, with the exception of the Sciotes, are more plain
than those on the main-land.
An author* of Observations on the Levant, thinks that the
Venetians and T'urks have adulterated the Grecian blood: but if
that were the case, the degeneracy would be seen in the males,
as well as in the females; which is far from being the case. After
all, the point is a matter of taste, and you perhaps might find
those sufficiently handsome, whom I have been unable to admire.
I beg to mention, that in this part of my detail I have in my
contemplation the Greeks of the main-land, and particularly the
Athenians, in whose town we resided longer than in any other
part of Turkey.
‘The dress of the Greeks is not at the first sight to be much dis-
tinguished from that of the Turks, nor is there any difference in the
habit of those in power, except that, instead of the turban, the
head is covered with an immense calpac. A cotton shirt, made
like a woman’s chemise, cotton drawers, a vest and jacket of silk
or stuff, a pair of large loose brogues, or trowsers, drawn up a
little above the ancle, and a short sock, make the inner part of
the dress: the part of the garment next added is a long broad
shawl, often highly worked, and very expensive, wrapped in wide
folds round the loins. In one corner of this girdle the poorer
* Tl paroit que les Vénétiens et les ‘Turcs out dénaturé ce beau sang par toute
la Gréce.—Reidesel, Voyage au Levant, chap. iii. p. 250.
LETTER XXX.1: 499
people, especially in travelling, both Turks and Greeks, conceal
their money, and then wind the shawl round them. A common
fellow in Turkey, might as properly as the soldier in Horace, talk
of the loss of his zone as of that of his money; but the better sort
of people have adopted the use of purses, which, together with their
handkerchiefs, watches, and snuff-boxes, they carry in the bosom,
between the folds of their vests. It is a sign of importance much
affected by them, to have this part of their garments distended to
a great size, so as to appear full, not only of trinkets, but papers.
‘The gown with loose sleeves covers the other part of the dress,
and this, when in the presence of a Pasha, or other great man,
they wrap modestly about them, concealing their hands, joined
below the waist, in the sleeves, and resting their chins on their
bosoms. The rich have many changes of gowns, some of stuff and
satin for the summer, and others of cloth for the winter, both
trimmed and partially lined with ermine or furs, of which the dark
are the most precious. ‘The Codja-bashee of Vostizza, who affected
magnificence, changed his pelisse when he went out to ride. The
privileged Greeks may put on robes of any dye except green, the
favourite colour of Mahomet, and that now worn by his supposed
‘They have liberty, as before related, to
descendants, the Emirs.
wear slippers or quarter-boots of yellow morocco.
‘The common people have their brogues descending but a little
below their knees, with bare legs, and a slipper pointed and turned
up at the toe. If they have a gown, they seldom: use it: the
sailors have nothing but a short jacket. On their heads they wear
in the summer the little red skull-cap. of the Albanians, to which,
in the winter, some of them add a coarse white, or dark-striped
shawl, tied round like a small turban.
Of the dress of the females there is an annexed specimen. It
varies not materially from the Turkish, of which there is so exact an
account in my Lady M. W. Montague’s Letters. ‘The annexed
500 LETTER XXXI.
drawing represents a Constantinopolitan lady, and will appear to
approach very nearly to the Frank dress, which is very much the
case, not only at the capital, but in every town where any
strangers have fixed their residence. ‘The vest fits quite close to
the bosom, but becomes larger and wider a little below the waist.
The gown, which is sometimes made of fine flowered silk, flows off
loosely behind, and the sleeves of it, which widen and are slit towards
the waist, are made much longer than the arm, and are turned
back. ‘There is sometimes a ribbon, or other girdle, under the
bosom, but the zone, a rich shawl, embroidered with gold and
flowers, is nevertheless worn, loosely resting on the hips, and
either tied in a spreading knot, or fastened before with a large
plate, ornamented with false or real jewels.
The female zones do not, like those of the men, wrap many times
round the body, but only once, and are put for ornament, not use,
as they do not bind or support any part of the dress. On account
of this particularity it may be observed, that when Diana is called
bis concta, she is meant to be represented not (as some have rendered
the words) with two zones, but witha twzce-wrapped girdle, which
was a very unusual precaution*. ‘The double cincture is found in
figures of Amazons, and in other ancient statues where the lower
one is omitted, the fold and compression of the garments still re-
main: but the band of the breast (Sophocles calls it μαστῶν περονίς)
is not to be confounded with the low zone, which, from the days
of Homer, was always. the characteristic of the Grecian female 7".
* Nec bis cincta Diana placet, nec nuda Cythere,
Illa voluptatis nil habet hac nimium.
Auson. Epig. 39. See De Guys. lett. ix.
+ Mr. Forsyth, in page 321 of his Remarks on Antiquities, &c. in Italy,
has restored the epithet βαϑύζωνος to its proper meaning, but he seems to me to
have mistaken the point of the double cincture.
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LETTER XXXI. 501
The modern cestus, exactly similar, if we may trust descriptions,
statues, and medals, to the ancient, is not, in my mind, an agree-
able ornament; it gives an appearance, with the band under the
bosom, of a double waist.
The whole dress of the richer females is swoln out and orna-
mented with gold and silver trimmings to a very disagreeable
excess. ‘They wear bracelets of precious stones, and strings of
gold coins, round their arms and necks. ‘The head-dress of the
younger girls is tasty; their hair falls down their backs in pro-
fusion, generally straight, but sometimes platted for the sake of
adding false tresses, and is combed straight over their foreheads
and the sides of the cheeks: a little red cap with a gold tassel,
studded. with θα απ, is fixed on one side of the crown, and
adorned, by the girls with flowers, by the matrons with heron’s
feathers, or a bouquet of jewels.
It is at Athens, and I believe elsewhere, a very prevailing
fashion, for the young women to dye the hair of an auburn colour
with the plant called Hena. ‘The matrons, by another process, give
a dark black tinge te their tresses. When abroad, the Greek ladies
are muffled up in a wrapping-cloak, much like the Turkish, ex-
cept that they have not a square merlin hanging behind, and, in-
stead of a hood over the face, generally wear a long veil, which,
however, they frequently throw aside when not in the presence of
any Turks.
In the inland towns, and even at Athens, the Greeks seldom
admit a male stranger to a sight of the females of their families,
who live in a separate part of the house, and in some cases are as
closely confined as the ‘Turkish women. Before marriage, they
are rarely, sometimes never, seen by any male except of their own
ΣΤ
LETTER: XXXfY.
family, but afterwards enjoy the privilege of being introduced to
people of their own nation, and to travellers, A young lady, the
sister of Signor Nicolo, at Ioannina, to whom we had made a
present of some Venetian silks, sent word to us, that she re-
gretted, that not being married, she could not kiss our hands in.
person, but begged that it might be done by proxy by our drago-
man, who brought the message. We had not asight of her
during our stay in the house. When in the interior apartments,
a young woman divests herself of her outer robes, and, in the
summer season, may sometimes be surprised reclined on a rich
carpet or sofa, with her feet bare, and her whole form rather
shaded than concealed by trowsers of gauze, and a thin muslin,
cymarr.
ΠΑ few friends, and perhaps a Frank stranger, are sometimes in-
vited to the first public ceremony in which a young girl is concerned,
that is, her betrothing to her future husband, who generally has
never seen her; and we ourselves were once asked to a supper where
there was music and dancing on an. occasion of this kind. The
girl, (called ἡ νύμφη), was sitting in the middle of the sofa, covered
with paint and patches, having a sort of crown on her head, and
stuck round with jewels and gold chains on every part of her dress.
.We were regularly led up and presented to her, as were the other
guests, and she kissed our hands. Her own female relations, and
those of her future husband, were sitting on the other parts of
the sofa. The mother of the young man, who was not present
himself, put a ring on the finger of the maiden, and, as her son’s
proxy, kissed her cheek, a ceremony by which the betrothing takes
place. The marriage, we were told, would not be performed
perhaps for more than a year, as the youth was engaged in trade
LETTER ΧΧΧΙ. 503
J Γαδ Gm a ip Be Ρ i} L ΡΥ ‘ aAmnatant f. +
at séme/ distance, until he could amass a competent fortune to
maintain his wife.
The nuptial ceremony, notwithstanding the undoubted anti-
quity of some of its usages, 15, like most of the rites of the Greek
church, exceedingly mean, and, to a person unaccustomed to the
sight, ridiculous. ‘The bride and bridegroom stand near the altar,
holding a lighted candle in their hands. The priest, who stands
facing them, reads and sings a service, and then taking two rings,
and two garlands of flowers sprinkled with gold leaf, puts them on
the fingers and the heads of the couple, then repeats and chaunts,
and changes both ihe one and the other. This interchange is
repeated several times, with great rapidity, and accompanied
by gabbling and singing, until at last the rings are left on the
fingers which they are intended to fit, and the garlands are finally
jaid aside, without being suffered to adorn the head either of the
man or the woman. Some bread, which has been blessed and marked
with the sign of the cross, is broken and eaten by the bride and
bridegroom, and a cup of wine is presented first to one and then
to the other, after which the girl hands round some of the same
cake, together with rossoglio, or rakee, to the persons present,
and if she is not of high condition, receives a piece of money
from each of the visitors, for which she kisses their hands. This is
the last part of the wedding, and the carrying away of the bride
to her husband’s house happens the same, or the next day, when
there is a procession, much like that which we witnessed at Joan-
nina. ‘The evening is concluded with music, dancing, and a feast,
in which fruits, and especially nuts (an ancient nuptial delicacy),
form the chief part of the repast.
At Athens we saw a bride accompanied home by at least fift
$ ho
ΤΡ
¥
504 LETTER XXXII.
young girls, in pairs, dressed in white, and their heads crowned with
flowers, preceded by musicians, with guitars, rebecks, and fiddles :
she was going to the house of some female friend, where she was
to remain until the procession of her husband arrived to attend
her to his own home.
The preceding usages we witnessed ourselves; there are others
attached to the same important ceremony, of which we could only
hear or read, such as the bathing of the bride in triumph on the night
before the wedding, and the walking at the threshold of the hus-
band’s chamber, over the covered sieve, which, if it does not crackle
beneath the foot of the bride, renders her chastity suspected.
This second custom is mentioned by several writers, and may
really obtain, but I did not hear of it, nor of the forbearance of
the bridegroom on the night of his nuptials, alluded to by Mons.
de Guys, in his sixteenth letter.
There are very few instances of second marriages amongst the
Greeks, nor of any man, except a priest, remaining single for
life.
The women can seldom read or write, but are all of them able
to embroider very tastefully, and can generally play on the Greek
lute, or rebeck. ‘Their dancing they learn without a master,
from their companions. ‘T'he dance, called Χόρος, and for distinc-
tion, Romaica, consists generally in slow movements, the young
women holding by each other’s handkerchiefs, and the leader set-
ting the step and time, in the same manner as in the Albanian
dance. ‘The dancers themselves do not sing; but the music is a
guitar, or lute, and sometimes a fiddle, accompanied by the voice
of the players. When, however, men are of the party, there is ἃ
male and female alternately linked, and the performanee ts more
ψ'
LETTER XXXI.
animated, the party holding their handker
heads, and the leader dancing through them, in a manner which,
although at the time it reminded me only of our game of thread-
the-needle, has been likened by some observers to the old Cretan
labyrinth dance, called Geranos, or the Crane. When the amuse-
ment is to be continued throughout a night, which is often the case,
the figures are various; and I have seen a young girl, at the con-
clusion of the dance described, jump into the middle of the room,
with a tambourine in her hand, and immediately commence a pas
seul, some favourite young man whom she had warned of her in-
tention, striking the strings of the guitar at the same time, and
regulating the dance and music of his mistress. We once prevailed
on a sprightly girl of fifteen to try the Albanian figure, and her
complete success on. the first attempt showed the quickness and
versatility of her talents for this accomplishment.
Notwithstanding the want of education amongst the females,
most of them are acquainted with a great number of songs, or
recitatives, accompanied with tales, which are combined some-
thing in the manner of Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, and appear
to have no end, being taken up by different, individuals of the
party for hours together. The author of the comparison between
the ancient and modern Greeks, tells his friend, that when hearing
these alternate story-tellers, he would fancy himself in company
with the Minyeiades, beguiling with varied discourse the useful
labour of their hands*, A person who had never heard of the
daughters of the King of Orchomenos, would think himself enter-
tained with a string of ballads, all repeated in the same tone, and
* Utile opus manuum yario sermone, &c.—Ovid. Metam. lib, iy.
506 LETTER ΧΧΧΙ.
interrupted only by a recitation of their long and melancholy titles.
That such a thing may never be wanted more, I shall insert a few
Specimens of songs and tales when 1 come to speak of the modern
Greek language.
Whenever the Greek women have the advantages of acquiring
any unusual attainments, they evince great quickness of under-
standing. At Smyrna and Constantinople, where there are great
numbers of them in the families of the Dragomans, and others
‘connected with the Consuls, Ambassadors, and foreign missions,
they speedily acquire the modern Janguages, and sometimes a
partial knowledge of the literature and accomplishments which
distinguish the females of civilized Europe.
With respect to their moral character, it is what may be called
amiable, and would appear very strikingly so to those of our sex
who admire a woman for her weaknesses, and love her the more
in proportion as she seems to call upon them for support and pro-
tection. ‘They are assiduous housewives, and tender mothers,
suckling their infants themselves ; and, notwithstanding the boast-
ings of travellers, I must believe them generally chaste. ‘That
loose females may be found amongst them is not, of course,
to be denied ; but, if not their own inclination, the institutions
of their country, similar to those which have always prevailed
in Greece, have a strong tendency to preserve their virtue.
They have no other scope for the exercise of the good qualities
of either head or heart, than the circle of their family, and, what-
aid .
ever secret power they may possess, are never heard of as in-
fluencing any public transaction. A man may travel through
Greece, and, unless at his particular desire, not see a single
Greek lady.
LETTER XXXI;
Tike their sex in ἃ
possible, than the men, believe all the absurd dogmas and fables
of their church. Ominous dreams and celestial revelations, as
might be expected, more frequently visit the women than their
husbands, though they are by no means uncommon even with
both sexes. Some of their superstitious observances savour ex-
ceedingly of paganism, as might be proved, were it not tedious
to set-in array those passages of ancient authors which record and
allude to similar customs.
The ceremonies at child-birth, where the attendant is always
a woman, are very mystical. ‘The lamp burns before the picture
of the Virgin during the labour; and the cradle is adorned with
embroidered handkerchiefs, jewels, and coins, as presents to the
four fairies who preside over the infant. When the child is born,
he is immediately laid in the cradle, and loaded with amulets: and
ἃ smail bit of soft mud, well steeped in a jar of water properly
prepared by previous charms, is stuck upon its forehead, to ob-«
viate the effects of the Evil Kye; a noxious fascination, proceed-
ing from the aspect of a personified, although invisible demon,
and consequent upon the admiration of an incautious spectator,
The Evil Eye is feared at all times, and supposed to affect people
of all ages, who by their prosperity may be the objects of envy.
Not only a Greek, but a Turkish woman, on seeing a stranger
look eagerly at her child, will spit in its face, and sometimes, if
at herself, in her own bosom; but the use of garlic, or even of
the word which signifies that herb (cxopdov), 1s considered a sove-
reign preventive. New built houses, and the ornamented sterns
of the Greek vessels, have long bunches of it depending from them,
508 LETTER’ XXXII.
to intercept the fatal envy of any ill-disposed ‘beholder: the ships
of the ‘Turks have the same appendages. In fact, there is a great
conformity of practice in many particulars, observable between the
two nations.
The ancient Greeks introduced their arts amongst their Latin
conquerors; the modern have given their masters, the Turks, a
taste for their follies. ‘There is, as was always the case, a strong
attachment in this people to their own usages, and an unabating
alacrity and vigour in the exclusive preservation of them, which
gives ap appearance of sincerity to their professions, and con-
sequently of credibility to their faith, and which, although it
prevents them from learning any thing from the commerce
of more enlightened nations, renders them very capable of
being instructors of a people as ignorant as themselves. Thus
the Turks, who despise the power, have imperceptibly im-~
bibed the habits of their subjects; and if they: have caught
from them nothing but some of their customs and superstitious
rites, it is, 1 suppose, because there was nothing else for them
to learn.
‘Those who compiain that the ‘Turks did not become the pupils
of their captives, and derive from them the same advantages as
were obtained for the Romans by the fortunate possession of
Greece, must surely have, by some strange infatuation, persuaded
themselves that the Greeks of the age of the last Constantine
vere the same as those of the days of Aratus. But, for my own
part, 1 see much greater parity between the Romans who served
with Mummius, and the Ottomans led by Mahomet, than be-
tween the Greeks who witnessed the burning of Corinth, and
those who survived the last conquest of Constantinople. Let me
LETTER XXXI. 509
add, with Mr. Thornton*, that whatever was worthy imitation,
was imitated by the Turks. They saw and admired the structure
of Santa Sophia, and built the future moscks, with which they
adorned the Imperial city, on the same magnificent model--.
The manners of the Greeks would be very engaging, were it
not that they have an air of obsequiousness and insincerity, par-
ticularly striking to the eye of an Englishman, but perhaps not so
offensive to the natives of those other countries, in which civilities
are carried to a greater excess than amongst ourselves. They are
assiduously attentive, and perform the rites of hospitality with
good humour and politeness: at the same time, it must be con-
fessed, that no person can be sure, that a speech of one of this
people, however inviting in its beginning and progress, will not
conclude with the horrors of a petition. ‘To have an adequate
notion of the meanness and impudence to which man may be im-
pelled by the love of money, one should travel in the Levant.
There is nothing which is not venal with the Turks, and there
is nothing possessed by the Greeks which they will not sell. That
the master should be eager to increase his wealth, in a country
where wealth alone is power, is not to be wondered at; but that
the slave, who cannot buy either authority, freedom, or protec-
tion, should feel the same passion, must seem extraordinary, . and
only to be accounted for by the circumstance of the Greeks being
* Present State of Turkey, p. &.
+ It seems strange that Mr. Eton, in his Survey of the Ottoman Empire,
should copy the account of Mahomet the Second turning Santa Sophia into a
stable and banquetting-room, and cutting the throats of several hundred pri-
soners in the very church, from such a writer as Knolles, when he had before
him the authorities collected by such a writer as Gibban.
Q
XU
510 LETTER XXXII.
all traders, and consequently governed by the sordid avaricious
habits and principles generally to be found in that class of men.
The first, and oftentimes the only commendation bestowed by
a Greek upon a neighbour, or other person, is, that he 15 rich, and
has many, many, aspers (πλουσιος sivas, exe woAAa, πολλα, eorex); and,
without any exaggeration, poverty and folly are really convertible
terms. ‘Talking one day about a young man, whom we had
known at Ioannina, a person present exclaimed, that he was a
dull fellow! _‘‘ On the contrary,” said I, ‘* he seemed to me to
be excessively agreeable and well-informed.”—* I know him better
than you, Signor ;” was the reply, ‘ for all his talk, he has not
a farthing in his pocket.”
The Greeks are, as was said, all traders in some degree. In
the district of Athens, indeed, as well as in that of Livadia,
and many parts of the Morea, the cultivation of the earth is left
to the Albanian colonists, and every Greek has. either a shop, or
is employed in wholesale dealings. ven those who are com-
monly called the Princes of the Fanal, at Constantinople, that
is, those from whose families the Waiwodes of Wallachia and
Moldavia have been chosen, are engaged in merchandize. ‘This
cireumstancé, together with the Turkish oppression, and the want
of hereditary dignities, occasions a kind of equality amongst
them, and does away with all those distinctions which are
so rigorously observed. in England—I say in England, because
1 believe there is no country in the world, where all the grada-
tions of rank are so uniformly observed and kept separate as
amongst ourselves. It is true, there are various ways by which a
man may rise, but until he has risen, he must be content to
consort with people only of his own condition.
LETTER XXXI. 51}
i was one day a little astonished at the house of Signor Nicole
at loannina, to see a tailor who had just been measuring one of
us, come and seat himself in the room where we were all sitting,
and, by the invitation of our host, take a dish of coffee, to which
he was helped by the Signor’s brother with the usual ceremonies *.
There is nothing that implies familiarity, and, at least temporary
equality, so much as eating together ; but according to the cus-
toms of both Greeks and 'Turks, in many points exactly similar,
and which may be called Oriental, the very lowest person is often
indulged in this liberty by his superiors. A great man travel-
ling does not havea table spread for himself alone, but some of
his attendants always partake with him round the same tray. I
recollect that one of the young Pashas at Ioannina, insisted upon
our servant George sitting down at the foot of the sofa opposite
to him, and taking coffee and sweetmeats at the same time with
himself and his guest. It must, however, be recollected, that as
almost all in ‘Turkey receive the same sort of education, and con-
sequently imbibe somewhat the same manners, there is in that
country none of that awkwardness and confusion in society, which
arise amongst us when a person of inferior quality is admitted by
sufferance into better company than he has been accustomed to
keep. Neither our dragoman nor the tailor would have been dis~
tinguished by a stranger from the company about them by any
want of ease, or other deficiency in their manners.
‘There is an air of great kindness, and even of ceremonious at-
tention, in their treatment of servants and dependants ; and whena
* The following was the republican formulary on the cards of the late Presi-
dent of the United States :
“ΠΣ, Jefferson requests the pleasure of ’s company to dinner,” &c. &c.
θυ 2
512 LETTER XXXE.
rich, or, in other words, a great man, meets an inferior in the street,
he not only returns his salute, but goes through the whole round of
those complimentary inquiries which are always usual upon a casual
rencounter, and prefatory to any other conversation. 'I'wo Greeks
will ask one another how they are, with the same inquiries after
their wives, daughters, sons, family, and affairs, twenty times
over, before they begin to converse, and often when they intend
to separate instantly. They stand with their right hands on their
hearts, bowing gently for five minutes together at this ceremony,
which is nothing more than our How-d’ye-do; and alucky sneeze
from either party will interrupt and prolong the compliments ;
for, on that occasion, the other bows and begs God’s blessing
on you, which is returned four-fold. Ina large company a sneeze
stops the conversation, and calls forth the benedictions of all pre-
sent, many crossing themselves at the same time*.
Though the Greeks are avaricious, they are not miserly, but
on the contrary, are not only fond of show, which is in some cha-
racters found to be compatible with extreme parsimony, but are
profuse and generous. ‘Their fear of the Turks makes them gene-
rally cautious to confine their magnificence within the walls of
their own houses; yet a desire of displaying their wealth and taste,
has overcome the prudence of many of their nation. A’ Greek,
named Stavraki, in the middle of the last century, who possessed
*& ~~ \ / / 3 / δὲ ς ~ / len
* Tovroy δὲ λέγοντος πταρνυτᾶι TH, ἀκουσᾶντες GE OF THPATIWTA πῶντες fic
Oppat
/ \ ‘ . eee
ἡ προσχυνήσαν τὸν Jéov.—Anab, lib. iii.
This sneezing, Xenophon declared
to be the sign of Jupiter the Saviour, and it considerably assisted him in per-
suading the Ten Thousand to follow his counsels. Jt is the first and strongest
instance [ at present recollect, of the custom of making an obeisance after a
sneeze, now pretly much-diffysed’in many parts of the world.
DETTER XXXI. 5158
the favour, and in some measure the confidence, of the Sultan
himself, against all advice of friends, built a most magnificent
house on the banks of the Bosporus, whose exterior splendour
was such as to attract the attention of the ‘Turks. Stavraki was
arrested and destroyed, but the end of this unfortunate man did
not deter another Greek from immediately occupying the same fatal
mansion.
At Constantinople, and in the vicinity, it 15 the exclusive pri-
vilege of the Mahometans to paint their houses of a lively colour;
those of the Jews are black, those of the Armenians and Greeks
of a brown, or dark red. A Greek physician, who had suc-
cessfully attended a late Sultan, and was asked to name a rea-
sonable gratuity or favour, only requested the liberty for himself
and his son to paint his house in what manner he chose, and lke
that of a Turk. . The. mansion was pointed out to me, and
shone conspicuously, of a bight red, amongst the surrounding:
dusky habitations. It is in one of the villages on the European
side of the Bosporus, ‘Lhe chief Dragoman to the.Porte has a
large house, which he has. painted of three colours, so.as.to make.
it look like three houses, that no passing 'Purk may. be struck
with the presumptuous dimensions of his mansion.
Those of the Greeks who have the privilege of riding on horse-
back in the streets of Constantinople, and their number is very
few, are exceedingly proud of that pre-eminence, and take every
opportunity of showing their superiority.
The great men affect an unconcerned liberality. The Drago-
man to the. Porte, who is called Prince, came on board the fri-
gate which carried away the late English Ambassador from Con-
stantinople, and after a. few minutes conversation with his Excel.
514 LETTE RY) KROL
jency, retired. As he was stepping down the ladder, he put his
hand in his bosom, and, without ceremony, or looking at his
present, returned it shut into the hands of one of the boys at the
accommodation ropes; who, examining the gift on deck, found it
to be eight or ten pieces of gold, of the small Byzantine zequins,
worth about three shillings each. I was standing near him myself,
and could scarcely resist the impression which he had meant no
doubt to make, namely, that he was accustomed frequently to part
with his money on the same occasions, and with the like ostenta-
tious unconcern.
But a short time before, we had seen the same Prince interpret-
ing between his Excellency and the Caimacam, or Vice-Vizier of
Constantinople, with a humility altogether affecting. He was
clothed in a coarse gown, miscalled a robe of honour, and so much
the more shabby when contrasted with the splendid garments of
the ‘Turks, and the fine pelisses distributed to the Ambassador and
some of his suite; and he performed his office in a tone so low,
that he was with difficulty heard, even by those next to him, in-
troducing some affected hesitations, to show his awe and terror of
his masters. It should be told, however, that this singular
piece of adulation is practised by the Turks themselves when in
presence of the Sultan, and that a ready and clear elocution
would be thought presumptuous before the Lord of the Empire.
The Caimacam, in the audience-chamber, when replying to the
Ambassador on behalf of his Imperial master, who sat motionless
on his throne beside him, not only spoke in the lowest tone,. but
boggled, and stopped so long and frequently in his speech, hold-
ing up his head with the air of a boy out in his lesson, that the
Sultan prompted him audibly twice or thrice. ‘This was not pro~
LETTER ΧΧΧΙ. 515.
duced by any real forgetfulness, but was only affected as a mark of
humble confusion.
On the same day, in the Divan, the Greek Prince was obliged
to stand, from four in the morning until ten, during the attendance
of the Ambassador upon the Caimacam ; and when his Excellency
and his numerous suite were seated round various tables at dinner,
overcome by fatigue, but not permitted to be seen resting himself
on a sofa in such a place, he slipped into a corner of the chamber,
and sinking on the floor, fell asleep; whilst three Greeks, his atten-
dants, stood before the spot, that he might not bediscovered by the
Turks. I saw him by aceident, and pointed him out to another
person present. He was seated on the ground, supported by the
corner of the wainscot, his black beard resting on his bosom, his
face pale, and his eyes closed ina deep sleep, but every other fea-
ture unchanged, and impressed with the traits of terror and per-
petual constraint. A mournful picture of the wretchedness of dig-
nified slavery !
This Prince is one of the most exalted Greeks in the Turkish
empire, and there is no higher dignity than that which he enjoys,
except the governments of Wallachia or Moldavia. Indeed:he.
was once, in 1802, promoted to the latter principality, when the
Russians interfered in the nomination of the Waiwodes of the
two provinces, and may perhaps again be raised to the same rank.
Notwithstanding the perpetual humiliation attendant upon the
office of Dragoman to the Porte, and the very uncertain tenure
by which the mimic sceptres of the two provinces are held, there
is no effort omitted by the Greeks of the Fanal to arrive at these
posts, and they are as active in their intrigues to circumvent each
other, and to obtain the acquiescence of the Porte, as if the ob-
516 LETTER XKXKI.
jects of their ambition were honourable and permanent, instead of
disgraceful and insecure. The Turks, who gain by the rivalry,
encourage the contention, and dispose of the offices without re-
serve, to the highest bidder. ‘I'he money expended in the attain-
ment of the dignities, is soon supplied by the bribes and extortions
of the elected candidate.
The Dragoman of the Porte has the opportunity of recom-
mending to posts of profit and honour, and for his good word, as
well as for every interference in court intrigues, receives an adequate
remuneration. The Waiwodes of Wallachia and Moldavia levy
vast sums by arbitrary taxation, which, as they have the power of
life and death, and enjoy for a time sovereign authority, cannot
be resisted by their distressed subjects.
In no situation does a Greek appear in so unamiable a light as
on the throne of Bucharest or Yassy. The events of the Rus-
sian war may work a considerable change in the constitution of
the two provinces, and the entire subjection of one or both of
them by the arms of the Muscovites, will cut off from the subject
Greeks the grand objects of their ambition. The plots and in-
irigues of the Fanal will then be confined to obtaining the office
of Dragoman. ‘The elevation to either of the three places, how-
ever short a time the person may be in possession of his dignity,
confers the title of Prince; and this has created the Greek nobi-
lity, if such it may be called. The antiquity, however, of these
noble families is not very great; the first Dragoman of the Porte
of Greek extraction, was Panayot, physician to Kioprili, who by
his artifices persuaded Morosini to surrender Candia. Before
that period, the post had been supplied by foreigners and
renegadoes.
EFETTER XXxXY¥. 517
Nicholas Maurocordato, the first Greek Waiwode of Walla-
chia, chosen by the Porte, was elected about the beginning of the
last century, after having been plenipotentiary for the Sultan at
Carlovitz. It is true, that some families boast a more noble de-
scent from the sovereigns of Constantinople, for the name of Cata-
cuzenus has been once assumed by two Wallachian Greeks; but,
as it appears, without their having had any just pretensions to that
distinction.
The Princes of the Fanal are, when abroad, to be distinguished
from the rest of their nation only by their beards and yellow slip~
pers*, and the privilege of riding on horseback; but when at
home, they still continue to enjoy the semblance of authority,
by giving titles of office to their servants, and by being sur-
rounded by a crowd of flatterers and dependants. Their wives
and daughters are fostered in every luxury, and all the soft pomp
of the Asiatics; a privilege which, unless they have been unfairly
charged with calling their servants “‘chiennes” and “ bétes-+,” im-
proves neither their tempersnor their manners. The little I enjoyed
of their society left no very agreeable impression on my mind.
A love of pomp 1s a distinguishing characteristic of the Greeks,
and as the policy of the Turks has allowed them alone, of all the
rayahs, or subjects not Mahometans, to fill offices of power and
trust, they fail not to display this unenviable distinction.
‘The Codja-bashees, to whom the municipal controul of some
districts, particularly in the Morea, is entrusted, support an
* One of the first acts of the late Sultan Selim’s reign, was to cut off the head
of a common Greek whom he met when incognito, wearing yellow slippers. He
staid to see the execution performed. Yet so vain are ihe Greeks, that they will
run this fatal risk in order to be taken for their betters,
t+ Pouqueville, Voyage en Morée, p. 253.
518 LETTER XXXII.
enormous household, whose members are dignified with titles, not
attached to the dependants of an English Duke. They have
their kalo-iatros, or physician, their grammaticos, or secretary,
with an assistant clerk, their tartars, or couriers, and five or six
priests, as family chaplains, besides numerous servants in every
department, amounting to forty or fifty persons in family. ‘The
title by which they are usually addressed in writing, is, ‘* Most
Honourable and most Noble Sir *.”
These Codja~bashees have been accused as being masters more
severe than the ‘lurks; a degenerate race, insolent, proud, mean,
with all the vices of slaves, and repaying themselves for the in-
jurious treatment of their masters, by becoming monopolists, in-
formers, and public robbers. Such sweeping censures are always
to be suspected as having been prompted by personal pique, and
founded upon individual example rather than national character;
yet I fear that many originals of this unfavourable picture might
be found amongst the archons and elders of the Greeks.
Hadj: Ali, the tyrannical Waiwode of Athens before-men-
tioned, could find only one person to assist him in his extortions,
and this man became his counsellor and friend, and discovered to
him the real property of some of his countrymen who had hither-
to contrived to conceal their wealth. He was the Archon of
Athens, before mentioned, a ruling elder of the church, and who
formerly called himself English Vice-consul. But the Archon
Londo, of Vostizza, isa character altogether as amiable as that of
the Athenian is disgusting, and it remains to be discovered, which
of the two is the exception, and which the general rule.
3 ,
* ᾿Εντιμότατος κἂι Evysvioraros Κύριος Κύριος.
+ Pouqueville, Voyage en Morée, p. 106.
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