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 LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA 
 
 THE 
 ISLANDS OF THE AEGEAN 
 
 TOZER 
 
 I
 
 Ittrnbon 
 HENRY FROWDE 
 
 Oxford University Press Warehouse 
 Amen Corner, E.C,
 
 i. /, M
 
 .
 
 '•f. 
 
 THE 
 
 ISLANDS OF THE AEGEAN 
 
 REV. HENRY FANSHAWE TOZER, M.A, F.R.G.S. 
 
 FELLOW AND TUTOR OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 'THE HIGHLANDS OF TURKEY,' ' THE GEOGRAPHY OF GREECE,' ETC. 
 
 WITH MAPS 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 1890 
 
 [All rights reserved ] 
 
 (o
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The present work does not profess to be more 
 than a sketch of the subject with which it deals. 
 For fuller information the reader is referred to such 
 comprehensive works as Ross's Reisen auf den 
 griechtschen Inseln, Pashley's Travels in Crete, 
 Conze's Reise auf den Inseln des Thrakischen Meeres, 
 and Mr. Bent's The Cyclades. These (with the 
 exception of the last-named, which was not published 
 when I visited the central islands) were the constant 
 companions of my journeys, and I take this oppor- 
 tunity of acknowledging the service which they have 
 rendered me, both as a source of information in 
 travelling, and as an aid in compiling this book. 
 
 The three journeys which are here described were 
 undertaken at considerable intervals, but no great 
 changes have taken place in those regions since the 
 first was made. It is true that most of the ancient 
 buildings in Delos have been excavated, and the 
 great inscription of Gortyna has been discovered, 
 subsequently to my visits to those places ; but as the
 
 vi Preface. 
 
 object which I have in view in writing is rather to 
 give general impressions and to indicate the objects 
 of greatest interest than to enter into archaeological 
 details, I trust that my narrative will not suffer from 
 this cause. My accounts of the two former journeys 
 have already appeared in the Academy for 1875 and 
 1886, and these are now republished by the per- 
 mission of the Editor of that journal with consider- 
 able modifications and additions. The description 
 of my last journey, which embraced the northern 
 islands of the Aegean, Lemnos, Thasos, and Samo- 
 thrace, is now printed for the first time ; and as 
 those islands have been less frequently visited than 
 the others, I have treated them at somewhat greater 
 length. 
 
 From a geographical point of view the islands of 
 the Aegean have a peculiar interest, because the 
 group which they form is so typical, that the name of 
 Archipelago has become a descriptive term. Their 
 changeful history comprises many romantic events in 
 ancient, mediaeval, and modern times. In Delos 
 and Samothrace traces still remain of the important 
 seats of heathen worship which they once contained ; 
 and Patmos is indelibly associated with the exile of 
 the Apostle St. John. The marble quarries of Paros 
 and Thasos, the Grotto of Antiparos, and the volcano 
 of Santorin, are all remarkable for their natural 
 features. The tunnel of Eupalinus in Samos is one 
 of the most remarkable works which have lately been 
 discovered by antiquarian research. The scenery
 
 Preface. vii 
 
 also of the islands and the neighbouring seas is 
 varied and beautiful. Thus there is no lack of 
 attractiveness in the region which I have attempted 
 to describe, and I shall be glad if by what I have 
 written I succeed in persuading others to visit it. 
 
 The map has been constructed so as to mark the 
 position of the chief places that are mentioned in the 
 narrative, and the ancient and modern names have 
 been distinguished as far as possible by differences 
 
 of type. 
 
 H. F. T. 
 
 Oxford, 
 December, 1889.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PA GE 
 
 I. — Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos 1-24 
 
 Approach to Greece — Syra — First impressions of 
 the islands — Delos — Mount Cynthus — Night in 
 Delos — The Circular Lake — Temple of Apollo — 
 Necropolis of Rheneia — Delos to Tenos — The 
 great monastery — The old Venetian town — 
 Panorama of the Cyclades — Italian influences — 
 A Greek nunnery. 
 
 II.— Crete 25-51 
 
 The Cretan sea — Khanea — Travelling prospects — 
 The Cretan ibex — Its characteristics — General 
 features of Crete — Cursor Gaetulus — Treachery of 
 Murnies — Hagios Eleutherios — Site of Cydonia — 
 Chrysopegi — Suda Bay — Ruins of Aptera — Cus- 
 toms and superstitions — The northern coast — 
 Retimo — The Cretan dittany — Route southward 
 
 — Disastrous condition of the country. 
 
 III. — Crete (continued) 5 2_ 77 
 
 Monastery of Arkadi — Description of the siege — 
 The central ridge — Convent of Asomatos — Apodulo 
 
 — A native family — A strange history — The De- 
 mogerontia — The southern coast — Plain of Mes- 
 sara — Captain George — Ruins of Gortyna — 
 Church of St. Titus — A labyrinth — A refuge in 
 war-time — Not the original labyrinth — Eastern 
 side of Ida — Rock-hewn tombs — Mount Iuktas — 
 Megalo-castron or Candia — Lepers — Return to Syra 
 
 — General remarks — Appearance of the Cretans. 
 
 IV. — Naxos, Ios, and Sikinos 78-93 
 
 Naxos — Island of Palati — Associations of Dionysus 
 
 — Duchy of the Archipelago — The city of Sanudo 
 
 — Historic family names — Channel between Naxos 
 and Paros — Greek sailors — The southern islands 
 
 — Ios — Pasch van Krienen — His inscription — 
 View of Santorin — Sikinos — Temple of Apollo.
 
 Contents. 
 
 V. — Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros .... 94-1 18 
 Approach to Santorin — Town of Thera — The 
 volcanic group — Chief eruptions — Collections of 
 antiquities — The Kaumene Islands — Therasia — 
 Prehistoric dwellings — Primitive art — Southern 
 parts of Santorin — Ancient heroum — Names and 
 myths — A weird story — Antiparos — Descent into 
 the Grotto — Visit of King George — Paros — The 
 marble quarries — Traces of working — Return to 
 Syra. 
 
 VI. — Lesbos 1 19-138 
 
 Storms in the Aegean — Snowy mountains — Lesbos 
 
 — Bay of Iero — Its narrow entrance — Agiasso — 
 Ascent of Mount Olympus — Names Olympus and 
 Elias — View from the summit — A British subject — 
 Bay of Kallone — Meeting a poet — Ruins of Pyrrha 
 
 — Modern town of Mytilene — The ancient city — 
 Descriptions by classical writers. 
 
 VII. — Chios 139-156 
 
 Pilgrims bound for Tenos — Earthquake in Scio — 
 The massacre of 1822 — Finlay's narrative — Depopu- 
 lation of the island — The town and harbour — 
 Maona of the Giustiniani — Its history — Interior of 
 the island — Monastery of Nea Mone — Story of its 
 foundation — The church — Its mosaics — The chan- 
 nel of Scio — Canaris and his fire-ship — Wilhelm 
 Miiller's poem — Aytoun's translation — School of 
 Homer. 
 
 VIII.- — Samos 157-177 
 
 Port of Scala Nova — The Lenten Fast — Passage to 
 Samos — Town of Vathy — Constitution of the island 
 
 — Samian wine — The southern coast — Strait of 
 Mycale — Village of Tigani — The ancient city — The 
 theatre — Tunnel of Eupalinus — M. Guerin's ex- 
 ploration — The discovery — Description of it — Its 
 course underground — Other features — The northern 
 entrance — The fountain — Questions connected with 
 it — The temple of Hera — Rivers Imbrasos and 
 Chesios. 
 
 IX.— Patmos 178-198 
 
 Voyage to Patmos — Description of the island — Vol- 
 canic soil — Monastery of the Apocalypse — The cave 
 
 — Pictures in the Chapel — The 'Acts of St. John' 
 
 — Story of Kynops the magician — John dictating his 
 Gospel — Treatment in art — Ruined school buildings 
 
 — Monastery of St. John — Panorama seen from it — 
 Suited to the Apocalypse — The Library — Codex N — 
 Other MSS. — Bull of Alexius Comnenus — The great
 
 Contents. xi 
 
 CHAP. PAUfc. 
 
 church — Relics of the founder — Refectory and 
 kitchen —'The Garden of the Saint' — The acropolis 
 
 — Island of Leros — Connexion with Egypt — Satires 
 on Leros — Voyage to Rhodes. 
 
 X.— Rhodes 199-213 
 
 Arrival at Rhodes — Its mixed population — Position 
 of the city— Its ancient grandeur — The fortress of 
 the Knights — Objects recently destroyed — Church 
 of St. John — The deposit of gunpowder — The har- 
 bours — Gate of St. Catharine — The Jewish quarter 
 
 — Moat and walls — Street of the Knights — The 
 Priories — Difficulties in the way of sight-seeing — 
 Antiquities in the neighbourhood — 'Tomb of the 
 Ptolemies ' — Ancient bridge. 
 
 XL— Rhodes {continued) 214-230 
 
 The western coast — Site of Ialysos — Kalavarda — 
 A Rhodian peasant's house — Site of Cameiros — 
 Monastery of Artamiti — Ascent of Mount Atabyron 
 
 — View from the summit — The church — Beehives 
 cased in stone — Woodland regions — Lindos — The 
 Rhodian ware — Rhodian embroidery — Remains of 
 the ancient city — Castle of Lindos — The eastern 
 district — Return to Rhodes. 
 
 XII.— Lemnos 231-250 
 
 The northern islands — Means of communication — 
 The Dardanelles — Imbros and Lemnos — Their con- 
 quest by Miltiades — Connexion with Athens — 
 Northern coast of Lemnos — View of Mount Athos 
 
 — Kastro, the ancient Myrina — A Lemnian family 
 
 — Connexion with Egypt — Lemnos a place of 
 banishment — Site of Myrina — The modern fortress 
 
 — View from it — Shadow of Athos. 
 
 XIII. — Lemnos {continued) 251-274 
 
 The warm baths — Interior of the island — The 
 central plain — Village of Atziki — Bay of Purnia — 
 Kotchino — The ' Lemnian earth ' — Galen's account 
 
 — Its use in pharmacy — Belon's account — Modern 
 customs and beliefs — An antidote to poison — An 
 expiring superstition — The eastern district — Site 
 of Hephaestia — Horned cocks — A volcano in 
 Lemnos — Its supposed disappearance — Mount 
 Hermaeum. 
 
 XIV— Thasos 275-293 
 
 The Thracian Sea— Salonica — Transport of petro- 
 leum — Peninsulas of Chalcidice — The Holy Moun- 
 tain — Cavalla — Thasos — Its beautiful scenery —
 
 xii Contents. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 The ancient city — Its sea-face — The theatre — The 
 acropolis — Shrine of Pan — The view — Staircase 
 in the rock — The city wall — Sepulchral monu- 
 ments — The necropolis. 
 
 XV. — Thasos (continued) ...... 294-309 
 
 Thasos under the Khedive — Peculiar local currency 
 — Interior of the Island — High pass — Theologo — 
 An Albanian guard — The southern mountains — 
 Remains at Alke — The marble quarries — Forest 
 rights — The eastern coast — Kinira, the ancient 
 Coenyra — Exquisite woodlands — Return to Limena. 
 
 XVI. — Samothrace 310-332 
 
 Wild weather — Voyage to Lagos — A raid on guide- 
 books — Dede-agatch — Difficulty of reaching Samo- 
 thrace — The voyage thither — Finding a landing- 
 place — First impressions — Ancient harbour of 
 Demetrium — Village of Chora — Ruins at Palaeo- 
 poli — The ancient city — Extraordinary walls — 
 Genoese towers — The mole — Sanctuary of the 
 Cabeiri — Its importance — History of the excava- 
 tions — The sacred area — Temples of the Cabeiri — 
 The Arsinoeum — The Stoa and Ptolemaeum — 
 Hellenic arch. 
 
 XVII. — Samothrace (continued) ..... 333-354 
 Depopulation of Samothrace — Condition of the in- 
 habitants — Paper money — Ibexes — A learned 
 physician — Castle of the Gatilusi — The northern 
 coast — The Therma Loutra — Mineral springs — 
 Position of Zerynthos — Stormy character of Samo- 
 thrace — Ascent of Mount Phengari — Crest of the 
 island — Its ruggedness — View from the summit 
 — Western portion — Eastern portion — Mytho- 
 logical associations — The Homeric deities — The 
 descent — Famous fountain — Return to Dede-agatch. 
 
 Index 355" 3 62 
 
 LIST OF MAPS, ETC. 
 
 Map of the Aegean Sea . 
 
 Map of Delos . 
 
 Crucifix of Chrysopegi 
 
 Map of Santorin 
 
 Map of Patmos 
 
 The Sanctuary of Samothrace 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 Page 7 
 » 37 
 , 97 
 „ 180 
 
 >i 327
 
 THE ISLANDS OF THE AEGEAN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos. 
 
 In the forenoon of March 18, 1874, I was rounding Approach 
 Cape Matapan in the French packet, having left *° Greece ' 
 Marseilles three days and a half before, the two first 
 of which had been passed in clear and calm weather 
 before we reached the Straits of Messina, but after 
 that time we had been tossing in 'Adria,' as the sea 
 between Sicily and Greece was regularly called by 
 the Greek geographers : this, owing to the meeting 
 of the Adriatic and Mediterranean currents, is 
 usually a disturbed piece of water. The lofty range 
 of Taygetus, which runs northward from Taenarum, 
 and attains its greatest elevation on the western side 
 of the valley of Sparta, formed a conspicuous object 
 from the masses of snow with which its peaks and 
 sides were deeply covered. As we passed between 
 Cythera and the curious promontory of Onugnathos, 
 or the Ass's Jaw, on the mainland opposite, the 
 
 B
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 famous island looked grey and repulsive, and any- 
 thing but a fitting home for the Goddess of Love. 
 Here we were in comparatively calm water, but 
 from former experience I knew what to expect on 
 the other side of Malea, that headland so justly 
 dreaded by the ancient sailors, as the epitaphs in 
 the Greek Anthology can testify. Nor was I disap- 
 pointed ; for as soon as we had passed the chapel of 
 the hermit of Malea, which lies at the foot of the 
 promontory, we were met by a furious north-east 
 wind — the rude Kaikias of classical writers, and the 
 Euroclydon or Euraquilo of St. Paul's voyage — 
 which considerably delayed our progress. Away to 
 the south a small island (now called Cerigotto) came 
 in sight, which forms the connecting link between 
 Crete and Cythera; and later in the day we passed 
 Melos, Anti-Melos, and other islands, which wore 
 a harsh and uninviting appearance. It was midnight 
 before we reached Syra, the great mercantile station 
 in the middle of the Cyclades, and the best starting- 
 point for a tour in the Greek Islands. Here 
 I disembarked, and joined my travelling companion, 
 Mr. Crowder, who had arrived from Athens a day or 
 two before, bringing with him, as our dragoman, 
 Alexandros Anemoyannes, who on various occasions 
 had accompanied well-known travellers in Greece, as 
 G. F. Bowen, W. G. Clark of Cambridge, John Stuart 
 Mill, Dean Stanley, Sir T. Wyse, and others. The 
 weather report from Athens told of bitter cold. The 
 steamer which conveyed my friend from the Piraeus 
 to Syra had been obliged frequently to stop, owing
 
 Delos, Rhcneia, and Tenos. 
 
 to the danger to navigation from the thickness of 
 the falling snow, and snow was lying in the streets 
 at Syra. We received similar accounts from other 
 quarters. An Armenian gentleman, who was one of 
 my fellow passengers on the steamer, had heard 
 before leaving England that there was deep snow at 
 Constantinople, and that owing to the same cause the 
 communications between that city and the interior of 
 Asia Minor had been broken for some time. Subse- 
 quently we learnt that the weather was equally severe 
 at Jerusalem. The prospects of our journey looked 
 most unfavourable, for the islands cannot properly 
 be visited except in a boat of moderate size, which 
 admits of being rowed in a calm ; and this mode of 
 locomotion would have been impracticable in such an 
 inclement season. 
 
 The next morning, however, as if by magic, all Syra. 
 this was changed. The wind was from the south, 
 soft and warm, the sky cloudless, and the sea only 
 moved by a gentle ripple. It was a perfect Aegean 
 spring day, the only sign of the previous bad weather 
 being the snow which covered the tops of the loftier 
 islands. Accordingly, we hired a boat with three 
 men, intending to make a trial trip to Delos, Rheneia, 
 and Tenos, and started from the mole of Syra 
 shortly after midday. As we left the harbour, we 
 obtained a fine view of the town, which lies on the 
 eastern side of the island, about half-way between 
 its northern and southern extremities. It is now 
 called Hermupolis, and contains 30,000 inhabitants, 
 the most conspicuous portion being the Roman 
 b 2
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Catholic quarter, which rises steeply up the sides of 
 a conical hill ; this was the old town of Syra, whereas 
 the new town, which spreads from the foot of this to 
 the sea, and is the busiest of Oriental stations, has 
 sprung up along with the commercial activity of the 
 place. This is in the most literal sense a creation 
 of the Greek War of Independence, for until 1821 
 Syra was an insignificant spot ; but when the great 
 massacres of the Greeks in Chios in 1822, and in 
 Psara in 1824, took place at the hands of the Turks, 
 it was resorted to by the refugees from those islands. 
 These settlers became traders, and by their shrewd- 
 ness in business, aided by the central position of this 
 station, they gradually raised it to its present im- 
 portance. No trees were to be seen, except a few 
 cypresses, the greater part of the ground being 
 uncultivated, though vineyards appeared here and 
 there, and a great quantity of tomatos are grown. 
 Still the stony mountain-sides have a certain beauty, 
 owing to the extreme clearness of the air, and the 
 contrast afforded by the wonderful blue of the sky. 
 First im- Passing the island of Gaidaro, one of two rocky 
 the^islamh. islets which lie off the harbour, and in ancient 
 times were called Didymae, or 'The Twins,' we 
 gradually saw the Cyclades open out before us. 
 Rheneia lay due east of us, concealing Delos 
 entirely, while Myconos rose above and beyond its 
 northern end ; these, together with Tenos, are 
 visible from Syra itself. Then, as we proceeded, 
 there appeared on the left hand, first Andros, which 
 seems a continuation of Tenos, the narrow strait
 
 Delos, Rlicncia, and Tenos. 
 
 that separates them being indistinguishable ; then 
 the promontory of Geraestus in Euboea ; and at last 
 Gyaros, the Botany Bay of the Romans, nearer at 
 hand, and half hidden by a corner of Syra : on the 
 right hand, lying along the southern horizon, were 
 seen Naxos, Paros, Antiparos, Siphnos and Seriphos. 
 This was an admirable island view to commence with, 
 and it was easy to distinguish the highest points 
 by the amount of snow which they bore : far the 
 greatest quantity lay on the south of Euboea, next 
 after which came Andros, and then Naxos, while 
 on the rest none was visible. The forms were 
 broken and yet graceful, and the afternoon sun 
 brought out the beautiful shadows on the mountain 
 sides which are so familiar to the traveller in Greece. 
 The general effect of the islands, especially the 
 more distant ones, is that of long lines on the surface 
 of the sea. The length of Naxos is very conspicuous, 
 notwithstanding its lofty mountains, while Paros 
 forms a single low pyramid, bearing a striking re- 
 semblance to the other great source of white marble, 
 Pentelicus. Tenos is distinguished by the numerous 
 white villages which stud its sides, while behind the 
 town of Tenos itself, on the summit of the ridge, 
 there rises a remarkable knob of rock, faced with 
 red : with this we were destined to make further 
 acquaintance. The picturesqueness of the whole 
 scene was enhanced by numerous white sails dotting 
 the blue sea, and by an atmospheric illusion, which 
 lifted the islands out of the water. 
 
 We had steered a little south of east, and in Delos
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 about four hours found ourselves rounding the 
 southernmost point of Rheneia ; from hence the 
 long soft line of Ios was visible between Naxos 
 and Paros on the horizon. The cape is formed 
 of fine masses of granite, curiously honeycombed, 
 and we subsequently discovered that both this island 
 and the sister isle of Delos are entirely composed 
 of this kind of stone, which is not the case with most 
 of the other Aegean islands ; consequently, while 
 the houses of the town of Delos were of granite, 
 as we see from their remains, the materials for most 
 of the public buildings were imported. The two 
 islands are now called the Greater and the Lesser 
 Deli, and run due north and south, divided by a 
 strait about half a mile in breadth, which forms an 
 excellent harbour, with deep water, and sheltered 
 from every wind. There can be little doubt that 
 it was to this feature that Delos originally owed 
 its greatness, for it was the first place where voyagers 
 could anchor in coming from the east, and thus 
 became a natural resort for traders. Rowing up 
 this channel, at the narrowest point we came to 
 an island in mid-stream, now called Rheumatiari 
 or Stream-island, which in ancient times was named 
 the Island of Hecate. It is highly probable that 
 it was here that Polycrates threw across the chain, 
 by which he attached Rheneia to Delos, in token 
 of its being dedicated to Apollo ; and that Nicias 
 when sent from Athens as the leader of a festival 
 procession, having brought a bridge from Athens 
 to Rheneia, and laid it in the night-time, proceeded
 
 Dclos, Rhcncia, and Tenos. 
 
 to the temple on the morrow with triumphal pomp. 
 Directly to the east of this rises Mount Cynthus, 
 the highest point in Delos, and in a valley which 
 descends almost from its summit towards the strait 
 in a south-westerly direction is the bed of a stream, 
 the ancient Inopus, which had a legendary connexion 
 
 with the Nile, for Callimachus says that it was 
 fullest when that river is flooded \ Possibly the link 
 of association which suggested this notion may be 
 found in a temple on the mountain side, in which 
 the gods of Egypt were worshipped. Passing the 
 
 1 "E^ero 5' 'Ivunroio irapa puov, oure (iaOiarov 
 yaia tot' h^avirjGiv oTe ir\r]0ovTi peeOpw 
 NeiXos airo npr\p.vo7o KaTtpx^Tat A'iOiotttjos. 
 
 Callim. Del. 206-8 : cf. Pausan. 2. 5. 3.
 
 Cynthus 
 
 <S The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 island of Hecate, we landed on Delos, near where 
 another small island, the lesser Rheumatiari, lies 
 off the coast ; here there were traces of quays, but 
 the sea has retired and left a sandy beach. 
 Mount Within a gunshot of this point the ruins of the 
 
 great temple of Apollo were plainly visible, forming 
 a vast heap of fallen blocks of white marble ; but we 
 refrained for the moment from visiting these, our 
 object being to ascend Cynthus before nightfall. 
 Making our way through aromatic brushwood of 
 lentisk and cistus, we directed our steps towards a 
 white wall, conspicuous from below, which proved to 
 belong to a theatre, the cavea of which faces west, and 
 is clearly traceable, the back part being excavated in 
 the hillside, while the ends are composed of masonry 
 of Parian marble. The courses of stones, of which in 
 one place thirteen remain, are skilfully put together, 
 though somewhat narrow. The line of the scena also 
 is well marked. Behind this, and further up the 
 hillside, stood the small temple already referred to, 
 which has been proved by excavation to have been 
 dedicated to the Foreign Divinities, i.e. to the gods 
 of Syria and Egypt. Here among other objects a 
 hieroglyphic inscription was found. The foundations 
 of this show that the superstructure was of white 
 marble ; the pronaos, naos, and an altar are visible, 
 together with a mosaic pavement composed of pebbles. 
 In the neighbourhood of this temple there is a 
 curious gateway, leading into a chamber, which, 
 when seen from a distance, resembles a cavern, but 
 in reality is artificial, the roof being composed of
 
 Delos, Rhcneia, and Tcnos. 
 
 granite blocks resting against one another at an 
 obtuse angle ; the sides are the natural granite rock, 
 which originally formed a narrow ravine. This 
 chamber is believed to have been a primitive sanc- 
 tuary of Apollo 1 . We then mounted by a very 
 steep ascent to the summit of Cynthus, where are the 
 foundations and fragments of another temple, the 
 pillars being in the Ionic style. Numerous inscrip- 
 tions which have been discovered on the site show 
 that it was dedicated to Zeus Cynthius and Athena 
 Cynthia. As this mountain is not more than 350 
 feet above the sea, I had often wondered how classical 
 writers could speak of it as lofty, especially as it is sur- 
 rounded by so much higher peaks on other islands ; 
 Aristophanes, for instance, describes it as 'the Cyn- 
 thian rock with lofty horn 2 : ' but from its steepness 
 and rocky character it deserves that epithet, and 
 certainly it is very conspicuous from every point in 
 the neighbouring seas. This circumstance, especially 
 if it served as a landmark to vessels coming from the 
 open sea, may also, perhaps, explain the origin of 
 the name of the island, Delos, or the 'Conspicuous,' 
 which can hardly be otherwise than of Greek origin. 
 The view from this point is very fine, comprehending 
 all the islands we have already noticed— the Cyclades, 
 or ' Circling islands,' of which Callimachus says : 
 ' Fragrant Asterie (Delos), on every side the islands 
 have encircled thee, and formed as 'twere a band 
 
 1 See Lebegue's Recherchcs sur Delos, in which views and plans 
 of the chamber are given. 
 
 2 KwOiav iiipiKtpaTa -nkjpav. Nub. 596.
 
 io The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of dancers round thee 1 : ' while Myconos is full in 
 view to the north-east, separated by a strait about 
 two miles wide. It was natural, therefore, that Virgil 
 should represent Apollo as fastening his island to 
 Myconos, when it ceased to wander on the sea : — 
 
 Encircled by a billowy ring 
 
 A land there lies, the loved resort 
 Of Neptune, the Aegean king, 
 
 And the grey queen of Nereus' court : 
 Long time the sport of ev'ry blast, 
 
 O'er ocean it was wont to toss, 
 Till grateful Phoebus moored it fast 
 
 To Gyaros and high Myconos, 
 And bade it lie unmoved, and brave 
 The violence of wind and wave a . 
 
 But what, except Roman ignorance of geography, 
 or perhaps the preference for a familiar name, should 
 make Virgil attach Delos to Gyaros instead of the 
 nearer Rheneia or Syros, I do not understand. Here, 
 too, the character of the island is well seen, for it is 
 a narrow rocky ridge, between two and three miles 
 in length, with granite knolls and barren slopes; 
 thus justifying the story related in the Homeric 
 Hymn to the Delian Apollo, that Latona visited 
 all the richest spots in the Aegean before giving 
 birth to her children ; but all were afraid to receive 
 her, so that she betook herself to the small and 
 rugged island. 
 Night in As we were descending the hill on the opposite 
 side from that by which we had approached, we met 
 
 'Affrepirj Ovotaaa, a\ fiiv irtpi r dfixpi re vr\aoi 
 kvkKov inoirjaavTO teal d/s xopbv d/x(pe0d\ovTO. 
 
 Callim. Del. 300, 301. 
 - Virg. Aen. 3. 73-7 (Conington's trans. \
 
 Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos. u 
 
 the single inhabitant of Delos, an old shepherd, who 
 spoke a most extraordinary dialect of Greek. He 
 did not offer to accompany us, and this our servant, 
 who was not then with us, attributed to his regarding 
 our sudden appearance as uncanny; the old man, how- 
 ever, did not seem to be superstitious, for the next day 
 when I questioned him as to the existence of ' Vryko- 
 lakas ' or Vampires in the island, he replied in the 
 negative. At this I was surprised, for the Cyclades 
 are the homes of innumerable strange beliefs, and it 
 is about the neighbouring island of Myconos that 
 Tournefort relates a marvellous story of the whole 
 population being bouleverse for weeks together by 
 such an apparition. We passed the night in some 
 deserted shepherds huts, lying in a depression to 
 the north of Cynthus, where the ground slopes 
 gradually to the two seas, and has been sown with 
 corn by the people of Myconos : these dwellings 
 were constructed of stones put together with straw 
 instead of mortar, while the doors were of ancient 
 blocks approaching one another towards the top. 
 All around grew the spreading leaves and lilac flowers 
 of the mandrake (Atropa mandragord), forming large 
 flat patches on the ground. This excessively poison- 
 ous plant, which has been a favourite with witches in 
 all ages, and is said to utter shrieks when its root 
 is extracted from the ground, is especially common 
 in the Greek islands. As I lay awake part of the 
 night in the extraordinary stillness, I was able to 
 recall, in some measure, the crowds of worshippers, 
 the visit of the Persians, and other romantic glories
 
 1 2 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of the place — things which it is difficult to realise, when 
 the senses are in contact with the material objects. 
 The Cir- The next morning opened with rain, but it had 
 cleared by eight o'clock, and we descended from our 
 night's lodging towards the landing-place where we 
 had left our boat. As we approached the sea, the 
 northernmost ruins that we met with were those of 
 the ancient city, where granite columns were lying 
 among broken fragments of walls. Beyond this was 
 an oval basin, about ioo yards in length, forming a 
 kind of pond, the sides of which were banked in by 
 a casing of stonework ; it is usually dry, but at this 
 season contained a small quantity of water. In ancient 
 times it was kept full, and was called the Circular 
 Lake \ and the swans that were sacred to Apollo 
 used to float upon it. Herodotus compares it to the 
 lake at Sais in Egypt. If, as we are told by Theognis 2 , 
 it was near this lake that Latona brought forth her two 
 children, then the famous palm-tree of Delos, which 
 is mentioned in Homer, where Ulysses compares 
 Nausicaa's beauty to it 3 , must have stood here, for we 
 are told in the Hymn to the Delian Apollo 4 , as well as 
 by Theognis, that the goddess clasped this tree when 
 in the pains of childbirth. Callimachus, however, has 
 followed another version of the story, when he places 
 that occurrence on the banks of the Inopus 5 . 
 
 Near this basin is a copious spring of water, and 
 this circumstance probably determined the position 
 
 1 TpoxoaSrjs \i/j.vT], Herod. 2. 170. 
 3 Line 7, in Bergk's Poetae Lyrici. 
 3 Od. 6. 162. 4 Line 117. 5 Del. 206.
 
 Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos. 13 
 
 of the temple of Apollo. The temenos of this is Temple of 
 hard by to the south, and within it the ruins of the 
 temple form a confused heap of white marble frag- 
 ments, columns, bases, and entablatures lying indis- 
 criminately together 1 . They are of the Doric order, 
 and as many of the shafts are only partly fluted, it 
 would seem that the details of the building were 
 never completely finished. The wreck of so fine 
 a specimen of architecture is a sad sight ; but when 
 we consider that the place has served for a quarry 
 for the neighbouring islanders, and a place of pillage 
 for foreigners from the times of the Venetian occu- 
 pation to our own days, perhaps the wonder is rather 
 that so much remains. In the south-west part of the 
 area is a large square marble basis, hollowed out in 
 the middle, with the remains of an inscription on one 
 side stating that it was a gift from the Naxians to 
 Apollo (nasioi aiioaaqni) : this pedestal supported 
 a colossus, which was overthrown in ancient times 
 by the falling of a palm-tree of bronze gilt, erected 
 by Nicias in its immediate neighbourhood 2 . When 
 Spon and Wheler visited this island in 1675, the 
 statue remained with the exception of its head, and 
 part of the torso, from the neck to the waist, has 
 
 1 Since the time of my visit the temple of Apollo has been 
 thoroughly examined by French savants. The results of this and 
 the other excavations on Delos will be found in M. Lebegue's 
 work already mentioned, and in the articles by MM. Homolle 
 and Hauvette-Besnault in the Bulletin de Correspondance helle'nique , 
 vols, i-viii. An interesting summary of these is contained in Prof. 
 Jebb's paper on Delos, in vol. i. of the Journal of Hellenic Studies. 
 
 2 Plutarch, Nic. 3.
 
 14 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 been seen within the present half century, but we 
 could find no traces of it. A portion of the ruins in 
 the temple area towards the coast, which are in the 
 Corinthian style, seem to have belonged to an en- 
 trance colonnade to the temenos ; and not far off, on 
 the other side of a wall constructed by the shepherds, 
 are the prostrate columns of another portico, built by 
 Philip V of Macedon. In Spon's time eleven of 
 these were standing, but without capitals. In the 
 midst of the ruins, anemones of various colours — 
 white, pink, and lilac — were growing, and I dug up 
 some fine narcissus roots to transplant to England. 
 For this proceeding I had good authority. Our 
 servant informed me that J. S. Mill, when he travelled 
 with him in the Peloponnese, besides drying flowers, 
 had an extra baggage mule in his train for carrying 
 plants and roots. 
 Necropolis Embarking once more, we crossed the strait, and 
 a ' landed on Rheneia, at a point somewhat south of the 
 island of Hecate. Both Rheneia and its sister island 
 are absolutely bare of trees. At a little distance 
 from this point, on the slopes which rise above the 
 strait, is an ancient necropolis, containing the graves 
 of those whose bodies were removed from Delos 
 at the time of the Peloponnesian war. It extends 
 over half a mile, and is a scene of wild desolation, 
 worthy of the circle of the Inferno in which Farinata's 
 spirit emerged from its fiery tomb. Broken stones 
 lay strewn about in all directions, mixed here and 
 there with sides and lids of sarcophagi. Usually the 
 graves are only distinguishable by depressions in
 
 Delos, Rhcncia, and Tenos. 
 
 the ground, but in some places the areas and walls 
 are traceable. About them were growing the coarse 
 branching stems of the asphodel, a most disenchanting 
 plant, and so rough, that if the lotus-eaters enjoyed 
 lying among them they did not indulge in Sybarite 
 tastes. When we returned to our boat we found the 
 sailors eating raw limpets, which they picked from 
 the rocks. It was now the Greek Lent, which is 
 observed with great strictness by all the sailors in 
 the Aegean, but bloodless fish, such as mussels and 
 limpets, are allowed to be eaten at that season. 
 
 We now coasted along the eastern shore of Delos to 
 Rheneia, which stretches for a long distance beyond 
 the northernmost part of Delos. At one point the 
 island is almost divided in two, the northern and 
 southern portions being connected by an extremely 
 narrow isthmus ; in the neighbourhood of this is 
 the cholera quarantine station for Syra. Greece is 
 the strictest of all countries in enforcing quarantine, 
 as I know to my cost, having once had to pass 
 eleven days on a barren island in the Gulf of Volo, 
 which is a frontier station between Greece and 
 Turkey; but the result of these preventive measures 
 is remarkably successful. When we reached the 
 extremity of the island, we were caught by a fresh 
 westerly breeze, and danced across over a tossing 
 sea towards the southernmost cape of Tenos. The 
 town of Myconos was here visible from the sea, its 
 white buildings being clustered together in the re- 
 cesses of a bay, and many other houses appeared 
 scattered over the hill sides ; Delos too was seen
 
 16 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 well in profile, with the straits on both sides which 
 separate it from the neighbouring islands, and the 
 conspicuous summit of Cynthus. At the end of 
 Tenos rises a lofty mountain, which in ancient times 
 was called Cycnias, and still retains that name in 
 the form of Tzikniais. Such peaks are nests of 
 storms, and the navigation of the straits which in- 
 tervene between them and neighbouring islands — 
 as in the similar instance of the passage between 
 Geraestus and Andros — is extremely perilous. 
 Hence Aeolus was supposed to hold his court in 
 the caves of Cycnias ; and our dragoman described 
 how he had seen a steamer, when on her way from 
 Syra to Constantinople, forced in an instant to put 
 about at this point and run before the storm. The 
 wind prevented us from steering direct for the town of 
 Tenos, which lies on the western side of the island ; 
 so when we reached the point, we worked our way 
 along with oars, and rounded a promontory called 
 Gaidaro, or ' Donkey,' from the resemblance of its 
 ridge to the back of that animal, the shape of which 
 has suggested many names both in ancient and mo- 
 dern times, as we see from the ' Oneian ' mountains 
 near Corinth. From this and every other side Tenos 
 presents a wonderful aspect, from the way in which 
 the mountain slopes, from top to bottom, have been 
 formed into terraces, mainly for the cultivation of 
 the vine. The wine, which is held in repute in the 
 Levant, is light and somewhat sweet, and agreeable 
 to the taste. The grape which produces the best 
 is considered to be a lineal descendant of the vines
 
 Dclos, Rheneia, and Tenos. 17 
 
 of Monemvasia on the east coast of the Morea, the 
 original Malmsey, and the wine is called by that 
 name at the present day. 
 
 The town of Tenos, which is better known as The great 
 Hagios Nicolas, was in former times hardly more 
 than a landing-place, since the Venetian occupants 
 had established themselves on the ridge above ; but 
 now its white houses and campaniles have an im- 
 posing effect as seen from the sea; while the 
 monastery of the Evangelistria, which is the most 
 important structure, with the great church in the 
 centre of it, towers over the whole place. We 
 should notice one feature in these islands, which 
 causes them to present innumerable contrasts to 
 other parts of Greece. This is the absence of traces 
 of Byzantine influence. In describing the archi- 
 tecture of the continent of Greece and of European 
 Turkey, it is superfluous to say that it is Byzantine ; 
 every monastery, church, or other building con- 
 nected with the Greek rite is, as a matter of course, 
 built in that style. Here, on the contrary, it hardly 
 ever appears, and the Italian mode of building and 
 corresponding architectural features are everywhere 
 predominant. So, too, while in Turkey and Greece 
 proper the material of which dwelling-houses are 
 constructed is principally wood, in these islands 
 we find them universally built of stone. When we 
 had established ourselves in a house at the back of 
 the town, we* went up to the monastery, the ex- 
 tensive buildings of which, occupying three sides of 
 a quadrangle, contain a school and accommodation 
 
 c
 
 i8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 for numerous pilgrims. We were shown the sacred 
 picture to which the place owes its foundation, the 
 elaborately ornamented church containing numerous 
 votive offerings, and the place beneath it where the 
 picture was found in the year 1824. The story 
 is one that recurs in many countries, viz. that a 
 nun dreamed that an icon of the Virgin was buried 
 there, and one was discovered on the spot accordingly. 
 The great days of pilgrimage are March 25 and 
 August 15 (Old Styled, and on these the crowds of 
 visitors are very great ; on the eve of March 25, 
 the steamer, in which we were going from Syra to 
 the Piraeus, was sent out of its way to Tenos for 
 their accommodation. There are no Hellenic re- 
 mains in this neighbourhood except pieces of 
 columns, though the old town was on the site of 
 the present one, and the monastery probably oc- 
 cupies the position of the temple of Poseidon, who 
 was the patron of the island. Here, as often, the 
 place of that deity has been taken by St. Nicolas, 
 the guardian of sailors, from whom the town is now 
 named. In the court of the monastery several fine 
 palm-trees were growing, and others were to be seen 
 in different parts of the town. Tenos is considered 
 a very healthy island, so that many people come 
 there from all quarters for the air and water. 
 The old On the morrow (March 21) we started on foot, 
 
 under the guidance of a young man, one of the 
 family at whose house we were staying, to visit 
 the old Venetian town and fort of Exoburgo, which 
 occupies the conspicuous peak above the ridge of 
 
 / 'cnetian 
 town
 
 Delos, Rheneia, mid Tenos. 19 
 
 the island, that had before attracted our attention by 
 its reddish hue. The path by which we ascended the 
 steep mountain side was in part a paved way, in part 
 a watercourse ; but at one time it must have been 
 an important road, when the Venetian authorities 
 occupied the heights above, and even now it must 
 be a considerable artery of communication, to judge 
 from the numerous people whom we met coming on 
 mules from the upper villages, and from the east 
 coast of the island. On the way our guide had a 
 story to tell— one of those myths of observation 
 which we meet with so frequently — about a cave 
 near the summit which had underground communi- 
 cation with one near the sea, so that two English- 
 men had explored the way from one to the other 
 As we approached the foot of the peak, we dis- 
 covered that the red appearance which it assumed 
 from a distance was caused by an ochre-coloured 
 lichen, which thickly covered its face, with a pic- 
 turesque effect. To reach the summit we had to 
 make our way to the back of the cliffs, where lies 
 the ruined town of Exoburgo : the buildings of this are 
 roofless, only one or two half-dismantled churches 
 being still used. Its name (Etjafiovpyo) is, apparently, 
 a mixture of Greek and Italian, meaning the suburb 
 (borgo) which lay outside the citadel. Hence we 
 clambered up the steep slopes in the midst of debris, 
 passing at intervals the massive walls, composed of 
 large blocks, by which the accessible portions of the 
 ground were defended. Until lately a Venetian 
 cannon remained here, but it has now been 
 c 2
 
 20 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 removed. The height must be about 2,000 feet 
 above the sea, for it is somewhat lower than Cycnias, 
 which is 2,340 feet. 
 Panorama As the view from the summit is the most com- 
 Cycladcs. prehensive panorama in the centre of the Aegean, 
 comprising both Europe and Asia, it may be worth 
 while to describe it in detail. To commence from 
 the east: Icaros (Nicaria), which forms a bridge 
 between the Cyclades and the Asiatic islands, ap- 
 peared comparatively near ; then came Samos, more 
 distant, and the coast of Asia Minor between Ephesus 
 and Smyrna; next Chios (Scio), and Psyra (Psara), 
 between which and Tenos, in the middle of the 
 Aegean, lay a conspicuous rock called Kaloyero or 
 'The Monk,' while far away to the north, beyond 
 the east coast of Andros, was seen the faint outline 
 of Achilles' island, Scyros. To the west of Andros 
 appeared the coast of Attica, near Laureium, with 
 Hymettus behind, but the promontory of Sunium 
 was hidden by Ceos ; more in front were Gyaros, 
 and Syra with its white town. Distant again lay 
 the varied forms of Cythnos, Seriphos, Siphnos, 
 Antiparos, Paros, and Naxos. We thus see the 
 two lines of islands which form the continuations 
 of the mountain chains of Eastern Greece ; the one 
 starting from Mount Pelion, passing through Euboea, 
 Andros, and Tenos, and terminating in Myconos ; 
 the other starting from Attica and ending in Siphnos. 
 Between these lie Gyaros and Syra, while Paros and 
 Naxos may be regarded as the meeting-point of the 
 two lines. Away to the south, and not visible from
 
 Dclos, Rhcneia, and Tenos. 21 
 
 this point, are the volcanic Melos and Thera 
 (Santorin). Perhaps the most picturesque point in 
 the view was the group formed by Rheneia and 
 Delos, with the two islets between them, and 
 Myconos : these lay as on a map below us, all 
 separate from one another, with their numerous 
 headlands cut out upon the surface of the sea. 
 After being accustomed to look at these objects on 
 a chart, where the islands resemble a handful of 
 pebbles, lying at random close to one another, it 
 was impossible not to be struck by their size and 
 by the spaces of sea that lay between them — an im- 
 pression which was amply confirmed by subsequent 
 voyages from one to the other. In tracing out these 
 topographical features with the compass and map, 
 we were greatly assisted by our native guide, who 
 possessed a very accurate knowledge of the lo- 
 calities, and was fortunately unimbued with any 
 classical ideas. 
 
 The scene below us, in the island of Tenos itself, Italian in- 
 
 1 t ,1 1 fiuences. 
 
 was most curious, and I was more than ever struck-' 
 by the sight of a whole island, almost to the 
 mountain-tops, carved into terraces, which gave 
 evidence of vast labour employed in their con- 
 struction. At our feet, both to north and south, 
 were irregular uplands, draining some into the 
 eastern, some into the western sea, and dotted with 
 numerous flourishing villages, the white-washed 
 houses of which were surrounded by olives, oranges, 
 and fig-trees. The appearance of these dwellings, 
 with their flat roofs, trim gardens, and battlemented
 
 nunnery. 
 
 22 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 enclosures, is completely that of North Italy ; and 
 this is not to be wondered at, since the Italians held 
 Tenos between 400 and 500 years, and it was not 
 until 1 718 that it passed out of the hands of the 
 Venetians. This circumstance also explains the 
 large number of Roman Catholics in the island, 
 comprising more than half the population. Of the 
 villages that we saw from this point, those towards 
 the north belonged to the Latin Church, as do most 
 of those on the north-east coast, while those towards 
 the south were partly Orthodox (Greek) and partly 
 mixed. 
 A Greek When we had descended to the foot of the peak, 
 
 we struck off along the hills to the south, intending 
 to return by a different route from that by which 
 we had ascended, in order to visit a nunnery, the 
 white buildings of which, closely clustered within a 
 wall of circuit, are so conspicuous on the mountain 
 side, lying some 1,500 feet above the sea, that they 
 may be seen from a distance of twenty or thirty 
 miles. As we proceeded thither b}' an irregular 
 path, sometimes ascending, sometimes descending, 
 we found in a hollow way a drift of snow not yet 
 melted. We passed some curious pigeon-houses, 
 situated in the middle of enclosures, and resembling 
 cottages, with numerous holes for the pigeons to 
 enter, and resting-places for them on the outside ; 
 large flocks of these birds were flying about them. 
 There were also numerous windmills in this neigh- 
 bourhood. Our track lay over soft mica slate, so 
 friable that sometimes we appeared to be walking
 
 Delos, Rheneia, and Tenos. 23 
 
 on tan ; this kind of soil, and the numerous springs, 
 are the cause of the great fertility of the island, but 
 at this season of the year the absence of trees gives 
 it a very bare appearance. We were told, however, 
 that later on the country was blue in places from 
 the sweet-scented hyacinths. A visit to a Greek 
 nunnery was a novelty to us, for though Greek 
 monasteries may be counted by hundreds, and we 
 had again and again been grateful in former years 
 for their hospitable shelter, yet a nunnery {y.ova<jTr)piov 
 81a KoXoyplais) had never come in our way. We were 
 doubtful, also, whether our visit would be acceptable, 
 but on this score we found no difficulties, for on 
 our arrival an old priest, who lives in a little house 
 outside the gateway, and performs the services in 
 the convent, at once ushered us in. The buildings 
 are crowded together most irregularly within the 
 enclosing wall, rising steeply up the sloping ground, 
 one above another, and winding passages lead in all 
 directions among them. From these emerged female 
 figures in plain black dresses and veils, and we were 
 struck with their cheerful, and intelligent faces, 
 while some little girls, who were being educated 
 there, were singularly pretty. In fact, the salutary 
 effect of the air and water of Tenos, which I have 
 already spoken of as causing it to be resorted to for 
 the sake of health, is generally apparent in the good 
 looks of the population. As Greek monasteries are 
 usually excessively dirty, I was agreeably surprised 
 by the cleanliness and order that prevailed here. 
 They are idiorrhythmic (Idioppvdpot) — a term which is
 
 24 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 applied to those monasteries where the superior is 
 changed periodically, and where, in respect of meals 
 and the general regulation of life, 'every man is a 
 rule to himself;' consequently they have no com- 
 mon refectory. Idiorrhythmic ladies are, I fancy, 
 an advance even on the ideas of Western Europe. 
 They work at various employments, such as making 
 stockings and silk tobacco-pouches ornamented with 
 beads ; these articles they sell to pilgrims (npoaKwriTai), 
 for they are not allowed to go to the town. After 
 visiting the church, which is handsomely decorated, 
 we were conducted to the reception-room, where the 
 lady superior, sitting in the corner of the divan, 
 which in an Eastern room is the place of dignity, 
 welcomed us, and entertained us with preserve of 
 orange, arrack, and coffee. She said the date of the 
 foundation of the monastery was not certain, but 
 that according to tradition it was twelve hundred 
 years old ; the antiquity of everything in the East 
 is, however, greatly overrated. We learnt also from 
 her that there are sixteen nunneries in Greece, of 
 which this is the largest, for it contains at the present 
 time one hundred and three sisters. They come 
 from all parts of Greece and Turkey. 
 
 When our visit was concluded, we descended by 
 a steep path to the town, where we once more em- 
 barked, and having a favourable breeze reached Syra 
 before nightfall.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Crete. 
 
 At sunset on the day after our return from Tenos The Cretan 
 (March 22) we embarked on board the Austrian s 
 steamer, which runs weekly between Syra and 
 Crete, the Llo}^d's being the only line which keeps 
 up communication with that island. The German 
 name of our vessel, the Schild, and that of her sister- 
 steamer, the Wicn, looked strange in the midst of 
 Greek and Italian titles, and sounded still more out 
 of place in the mouths of our Greek boatmen. We 
 were due at Khanea, the capital of the island, which 
 lies on the northern coast, not far from its western 
 extremity, at noon the following day, but the bad- 
 ness of the weather caused us to be five hours late, 
 and gave us ample opportunity of justifying the truth 
 of the old Greek proverb, 'the Cretan sea is wide 1 .' 
 Late in the afternoon we passed the promontory of 
 Acroteri, which forms the eastern boundary of the 
 bay of Khanea, and an hour later were lying off the 
 port. For some time it was doubtful whether we 
 could enter, for the narrow entrance has been so 
 silted up, in consequence of long neglect, that the 
 
 1 Tlo\v tu KprjriKov TTiXayos.
 
 26 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 passage is often dangerous in bad weather ; the other 
 alternative would have been to land at Suda, on the 
 further side of the Acroteri peninsula ; fortunately, 
 however, we succeeded in passing the bar. No 
 sooner had we cast anchor than we were first sur- 
 rounded and then boarded by a motley crowd of 
 noisy Cretans in picturesque dresses, interspersed 
 with Nubians, many of which race have been settled 
 in the island ever since the time when it was subject 
 to the Viceroy of Egypt (a. d. 1830-1840). The 
 Khanea. appearance of the town was striking, as its irregular 
 wooden buildings rose up the hill sides from the sea, 
 interspersed with palm-trees, mosques, and minarets. 
 There was no mistaking that we were in Turkey. 
 The whole place is surrounded by a Venetian wall 
 of great massiveness, and the harbour is enclosed by 
 extensive moles. Over the sea-gate stands the Lion 
 of St. Mark. Behind, at no great distance off, lay 
 the mighty wall of the Sphakian mountains, deeply 
 covered with snow, though the summits were veiled 
 by masses of cloud. 
 
 When we landed, all our books, to our great 
 indignation, were confiscated, and carried off for 
 inspection to the residence of the Pasha, including 
 Bradshaw's Railway Guide, which, no doubt, was 
 regarded as a highly cabalistic volume. On enquir- 
 ing the cause of this — for we had never been the 
 victims of such a proceeding in Turkey before — we 
 found that suspicion reigned supreme among the 
 authorities, owing to the meeting of the Emperors of 
 Russia, Germany and Austria, which had taken place
 
 Crete. 27 
 
 shortly before this time, and which was supposed to 
 bode no good to Turkey, and, in particular, to the 
 rule of that power in Crete. Even our insignificant 
 visit, as we found on our return from the interior, 
 was interpreted as having a political meaning. It 
 was discovered from our passports that I was a 
 clergyman and my friend an officer of militia, and 
 hence the remark was, 'What can a priest and a 
 military man want in the island if they have no 
 political object? ' 
 
 The only locanda in the town — a place which from Travelling 
 its filthiness was far worse than the bare walls of a 
 Turkish khan— bore the highly Cretan but hardly 
 encouraging title of ' The Rhadamanthys ' ( c o 'Pa8d- 
 ixavdvs). It had, however, the advantage of nearness 
 to the British Consulate, from the inmates of which 
 we received very kind attention. Before coming to 
 the island, we had often been asked whether travel- 
 ling would not be dangerous there, from the wildness 
 of the population and the general disaffection that 
 prevailed ; but our former experience of travelling in 
 Turkey had taught us that the traveller is safest in 
 the wildest and remotest districts, because there he 
 is respected as a strange animal, and his value in 
 exchange for a ransom is not known. In answer to 
 our enquiries on this head, we were told that any 
 stranger would be safe in every part of Crete, but 
 that towards the English there existed such a kindly 
 feeling that we should be especially well received : 
 and this was fully confirmed in the course of our 
 subsequent journey. We learnt that an earthquake
 
 2 8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 had been felt the night before, and that such occur- 
 rences are not uncommon here, a circumstance which 
 the inhabitants attribute to their nearness to the un- 
 quiet volcano of Santorin. But the absorbing 
 subject of interest at this time was the extraordinary 
 severity of the season, the like of which had not been 
 felt for forty-three years. I have already spoken of 
 this as being remarkable all over the south-eastern 
 portion of the Mediterranean ; but the island of Crete 
 seemed to have been the focus of this area of cold. 
 The distress thus caused was very great. The 
 natives of the upland villages were escaping in great 
 numbers over the snow, and arriving daily in 
 Khanea ; but in some cases the snow had hemmed 
 them in too closely in their valleys to admit of their 
 escaping, and many of them were starved in their 
 homes. 
 The Cretan The same cause had lately brought down several 
 ibex. f t | ie i ar g e anc j rare Cretan goats, which are the 
 
 representatives of an almost extinct species, from 
 the mountain summits, to which they have now 
 retired, and which they rarely leave. Before starting 
 from England I had cherished a strong wish, though 
 but a faint hope, of obtaining the skin and horns of 
 one of these valuable ibexes; and when I mentioned 
 this to the dragoman of the Consulate, Mr. Moatsos, 
 a Greek gentleman well known for his attention to 
 English visitors, he at once presented me with a 
 very fine skin, taken from one which had been 
 killed a few days before ; this is now in the Museum 
 at Oxford. I tried to obtain the skull, but in vain,
 
 Crete. 29 
 
 for the natives, as might be supposed, set no value 
 on anything but the flesh and the skin, and conse- 
 quently the bones are at once destroyed. A living 
 specimen of the animal, which was caught and sent 
 over to England by Mr. Sandwith, who was then the 
 British consul at Khanea, may be seen in the Zoolo- 
 gical Gardens in London. The colour is brown, 
 with a dark stripe down the back ; the horns are two 
 feet long, curving gently backwards, and slightly 
 divergent, with pointed tips. The only other places 
 in which it is known to exist are the island of Anti- 
 Melos, an uninhabited rock to the west of Melos, 
 and two of the islands which run off in a chain from 
 the extremity of Mount Pelion, viz. that called 
 Scopelos in ancient times, and that now called Joura. 
 In these it is very scarce, and will probably soon be 
 extinct ; but the specimens that have been brought 
 from these places, though varying in some slight 
 points from the Cretan goat, bear a sufficiently close 
 resemblance to it to be regarded as the same species. 
 Naturalists consider that it is nearest akin to the 
 Persian goat, but far removed from that of Sinai and 
 from the European ibexes. It was probably dis- 
 persed over all the Greek islands in ancient times, 
 and Ludwig Ross met with an engraved stone on 
 Melos, on which the figure of the animal, and es- 
 pecially its horns, are very clearly represented \ 
 From the length of the horns it seems highly prob- 
 able that it was a goat of this class which, Homer 
 tells us, furnished Pandarus with a bow. Of this we 
 
 1 Ross, Reisen auf den gricchischen Iuscln, vol. iii. p. 21.
 
 teristics. 
 
 30 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 learn, that it was formed of the horns of a ' bounding 
 wild goat 1 ,' which the hero had stalked and killed 
 among the rocks ; that the horns were each sixteen 
 palms, i.e. four feet, in length; and that they were 
 polished and fitted for a bow by a worker in horn. 
 its charac- The mountains of the western extremity of Crete 
 seem to be the chief abode of these animals. It is 
 reported that they are also found in the range of Ida, 
 but they appear to be very rare in that region. 
 Wild goats, indeed, are found there, but I gathered 
 that these are a smaller kind — probably chamois, for 
 the chamois exists in many places in Greece, and I 
 myself have seen a herd of ten or twelve of them on 
 the summits of the Thessalian Olympus. Sometimes 
 the Cretan ibexes attain to a great size. About the 
 year 1819 a party of native sportsmen are said to have 
 killed two, which weighed nearly seventy and ninety 
 pounds respectively. The flesh is allowed on all hands 
 to be excellent eating. The great agility of the 
 animal, and the consequent difficulty of obtaining it, 
 are testified to by several authorities. Thus Pashley, 
 who made a meal off the flesh of some that were 
 killed in the Sphakiote mountains, says, 'The 
 agrimia' (agrimi, like the German Wild, signifies 
 any kind of game, but is specially used as the name 
 for this goat) ' are so active that they will leap up a 
 perpendicular rock of ten to fourteen feet high : they 
 spring from precipice to precipice, and bound along 
 with such speed that no dog would be able to keep 
 up with them, even on better ground than where 
 
 1 l£aKov 0170s aypiov, II. 4. 105.
 
 Crete. 3 1 
 
 they are to be found. They often carry off a ball, 
 and, unless they fall immediately on being struck, 
 are mostly lost to the sportsman, although they may 
 have received a mortal wound V This last remark 
 is interesting in connexion with the statement of 
 classical writers, which will subsequently be referred 
 to, that the wild goats made use of the Cretan dittany 
 to get rid of the arrows which had pierced them. On 
 Anti-Melos the breed is fast diminishing, only single 
 specimens being now visible, where herds of from 
 ten to fifteen were seen forty or fifty years ago. 
 This is not so much owing to sportsmen — for they 
 have mostly to be shot from boats with rifles, on 
 account of the steepness and dangerous character of 
 the cliffs — as to a contagious disease which was com- 
 municated to them by sheep that were turned out to 
 pasture on the island 2 . 
 
 Before we start for the interior, it may be well for General 
 me to say a few words as to the character of the ^."J es 
 country generally. This long and narrow island — 
 for it is 160 miles in length, while its breath varies 
 from forty to six miles across — is the principal link 
 between the southern extremities of Greece and of 
 Asia Minor, smaller stepping-stones being formed 
 by Cythera on the one side, and by Casos, Carpa- 
 thos, and Rhodes on the other. It is mountainous 
 throughout, having a long backbone that runs 
 through it from end to end, but its highest summits 
 
 1 Pashley, Travels in Crete, vol. ii. p. 271. 
 
 2 The chief authority on these ibexes is Erhard, Die Fauna da 
 Cykladen.
 
 32 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 gather themselves up into three great groups— lofty 
 enough to be clearly visible in fine weather from 
 Santorin, which is sixty miles distant to the north. 
 These are, the Dictaean mountains, as they were 
 called in ancient times, towards the east ; in the 
 centre Ida, or, as it is now called, Psilorites, or the 
 ' lofty mountain ' {v-^rrjXbv 6'poj) ; and to the west the 
 White Mountains 1 , though in the interior of the 
 country they are more commonly known as the 
 mountains of Sphakia 2 ; that being the district in- 
 habited by the Sphakiotes, who are famed for being 
 the most warlike and independent of the modern 
 Cretan tribes. The two last-mentioned of these 
 mountain groups rise to the height of between 7,000 
 and 8,000 feet above the sea. From what we had 
 heard and read beforehand we expected to find 
 large parts of the island well wooded, and had 
 pictured to ourselves such glades and dells as may 
 be seen on the peninsula of Athos, or on the slopes 
 of Ossa and Pelion ; but here we were doomed to 
 disappointment. Cultivated trees, indeed, may be 
 seen abundantly, especially the olive and the orange, 
 and the fruit of the latter is so fine, that Cretan 
 oranges are famous throughout the Archipelago, and 
 a great quantity is exported ; but of natural vegeta- 
 tion there is extremely little, and the mountain up- 
 lands are for the most part bare. 
 
 Cursor On the morning after our arrival, having hired 
 
 Gaetuhts. 
 
 1 Atvfca opT) in antiquity, now "hairpa Povvd, with the same 
 meaning. 
 
 2 ~S,(patuwTiKa jiovva.
 
 Crete. ^ 
 
 horses, and recovered our books through the drago- 
 man of the Consulate, we left Khanea, passing 
 through a gateway in the massive Venetian walls. 
 The youths who accompanied our horses were two 
 Mahometans, named Ali and Saideh, the former a 
 Cretan, the latter a coal-black Nubian, with tattooed 
 temples and cheeks. His history was a curious one. 
 He had been carried off from his native country as 
 a slave at seven years of age, and did not remember 
 the process of tattooing, or rather gashing, by which 
 his face had been marked, so that he could not tell 
 us whether it had been done with the knife or by 
 firing. After this he had been sold several times to 
 different masters, until a Turkish dignitary brought 
 him to Crete, where he obtained his liberty. He 
 was a fairly intelligent fellow, and very superior to 
 his companion, Ali. He spoke Turkish and Arabic, 
 but his ordinary language was Greek, for in Crete, 
 alone among the provinces of Turkey, that language 
 is spoken by all the population, whether Mahometan 
 or Christian. This arises from the Mussulmans, 
 with the exception of a few in the towns, being 
 renegade Greeks, who retain their native tongue. 
 In Thessaly, where the Greek population is very 
 numerous, the official proclamations are in Greek, 
 but the Mahometans, who are Turkish immigrants, 
 speak Turkish. After ascending a little distance 
 from the town, we found ourselves on a plain of 
 some extent, which reaches to the foot of the Rhiza, 
 as the lower slopes of the Sphakiote mountains are 
 called. At the sides of the road aloes of prodigious 
 
 D
 
 34 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 size were growing, the leaves of some of them reach- 
 ing to the height of eight or ten feet. This tract, 
 the soil of which is very rich, is covered with extensive 
 plantations of olives, which, to judge from their size, 
 and the broken wood of their trunks, must be of 
 great age ; among these stand konaks or villas of 
 Turkish grandees, surrounded with cypresses and 
 pine trees, and some with ruined walls. 
 Treachery In forty minutes we reached the dilapidated village 
 ofMurmes. Q f M urn j eSj t} ie decay of which was somewhat soft- 
 ened by the fine orange trees and other cultivation in 
 its neighbourhood. This is a place of melancholy 
 memories, for it was the scene of one of the worst of 
 the many acts of treachery of which the Turks have 
 been guilty in the island. As far as the circumstances 
 can be summed up in a few sentences they were as 
 follows. At the conclusion of the Greek War of Inde- 
 pendence, during which the Cretans had struggled 
 vigorously for freedom, and seemed on the point of 
 forcing the Mahometans to leave the country, it was 
 decided by the Allied Powers that Crete should be 
 annexed to the dominions of Mehemet Ali, and 
 assurances were given to the inhabitants by the 
 British Government of the system of order which 
 that potentate would introduce. In the summer of 
 1833 the Viceroy of Egypt visited the island, and 
 immediately after his departure a proclamation was 
 published, which tended to make a great part of the 
 landed estates throughout the country his property. 
 To protest against this, several thousands of the 
 Christian population assembled at Murnies, which
 
 Crete. 35 
 
 from its position close to the foot of the Rhiza and 
 in the neighbourhood of the capital, has frequently 
 been the scene of such meetings on the part of the 
 mountaineers. After some delay, promises of re- 
 dress were given, and the assembly, which had 
 throughout been peacefully conducted, dispersed 
 with the exception of a few hundred men. When, 
 however, an Egyptian squadron arrived, and the 
 authorities felt themselves in a stronger position, 
 they proceeded to Murnies, and arrested thirty-three 
 of the people who had remained there, ten of whom 
 were subsequently hanged, while at the same time, 
 in order to strike terror into the Christians, twenty- 
 one other persons were seized and executed in other 
 parts of the island. Who can wonder, after this and 
 similar atrocities, if an insurrection in Crete is 
 almost an internecine struggle ? 
 
 From Murnies we turned aside to the monastery //agios 
 of H agios Eleutherios, which we found to be a small • ^ ' 
 building, with a church in the Byzantine style, but 
 without any pretension to architectural effect. The 
 object of our search here, which had caused us to 
 deviate from our proposed route along the north 
 coast of the island, was a crucifix, which is mentioned 
 by Pashley in his Travels, though he gives no de- 
 scription of it. Now it is well known to archaeologists 
 that a crucifix in the Eastern Church is an object of 
 extreme rarity, crucifixes having been traditionally 
 proscribed just as much as statues, while icons, i.e. 
 pictures, have been retained. Indeed, in all the parts 
 of Greece and European Turkey that I have visited 
 d 2
 
 36 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 I have only met with two others; one in the monastery 
 of Xeropotamu on Mount Athos, which is set with 
 diamonds, and has been spared, as being a reputed 
 gift of the Empress Pulcheria ; the other, at Ochrida, 
 in Western Macedonia, the former capital of 
 the Bulgarian kingdom, which is regarded by its 
 possessors as an unauthorised object, and is pre- 
 served only as a relic of antiquity, and may very 
 possibly have descended from the times of Cyril 
 and Methodius, the apostles of the Slavonians. On 
 enquiry, however, we found that this crucifix is now 
 kept at the Metochi (ueroxiov) or dependent monastery 
 of Chrysopegi, and to this we proceeded, after the 
 Site of monks had regaled us with preserve of quince. I 
 y oma ma ^ remar k that, though there are no remains of 
 antiquity at Khanea except vases, lacrimatoria, and 
 similar objects, which are found in tombs in the 
 neighbourhood, yet it is tolerably certain that the 
 ancient city of Cydonia occupied the same site, or 
 one in the immediate vicinity ; and those persons 
 who believe in the permanence of vegetation in 
 certain localities, and are disposed to use it as an 
 argument for the position of an ancient site (in whose 
 number I cannot enrol myself) may adduce in this 
 connexion the quinces (nvSuiviai) which grow here, as 
 that tree is believed to have taken its name from this 
 city. In the course of conversation with the monks 
 I enquired about the concealed Christians — that 
 is, Mahometans by profession who, while they con- 
 form outwardly to that creed, practise Christianity 
 secretly; and I was told in reply that some of
 
 Crete. 
 
 37 
 
 these remain in Crete, though their numbers are 
 much smaller than they used to be, and that these 
 baptize their children and observe other Christian 
 rites in private. I had subsequent confirmation 
 of this statement, and learnt that the greater 
 number are to be found on the northern slopes of 
 Mount Ida. 
 
 W 'II 
 
 -,lflL 
 
 CRUCIFIX OF CHRYSOPEGI. 
 
 At Chrysopegi — which in its turn maintains that Cfaysopegi. 
 it is the original monastery, while H agios Eleu- 
 therios is the dependency — we found in the church 
 a handsome iconostasis or altar-screen of cypress- 
 wood, light in colour, which had been elaborately 
 carved by a native artist in 1865. Behind this 
 the crucifix was kept, and it was produced at our 
 request. It is about eighteen inches high, of iron,
 
 38 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 flat, and hollow, in the shape of a Greek cross, 
 with a round iron handle at the bottom to hold it 
 by, while each of the other three limbs bifurcates 
 at the end into two lobes. Attached to the face 
 of this is a crucifix of silver gilt, somewhat less 
 than half the height of the cross, with a cross- 
 piece bearing the superscription INBI, only the 
 upright of the B is prolonged downwards so as 
 to form a tail. The left foot is attached by a 
 single nail, but the other is left free : they rest 
 on a scabellum, and round the loins is a waist- 
 cloth. Inside the cross there is something that 
 rattles, and this is said to be a piece of the True 
 Cross. One of the monks described to us the 
 miracles it had wrought, especially at the time of 
 the insurrection — stories like those which a pre- 
 decessor of his had told to Pashley, of a monk 
 having stood with it in his hand in the thick of a 
 battle, when bullets were whizzing round him, while 
 he remained unhurt. Notwithstanding this, they 
 did not show it the profound veneration with which 
 such relics are frequently treated in Greek monas- 
 teries, and I was allowed to make a drawing of it, 
 which I hardly expected, for many Orientals have the 
 greatest dislike to such a proceeding, because they 
 consider that the possessor of the likeness retains 
 some mysterious power over the original. The 
 monk also said that three similar crosses exist in other 
 parts of Crete, and that this one is supposed to have 
 been a present from the Venetians : this however I 
 doubt, for the history of such relics is seldom accu-
 
 Crete. 39 
 
 rately known in the East, and Pashley was only in- 
 formed that it was very ancient; besides which, it is sin- 
 gularly unlikely that members of the Greek Church 
 should have accepted and preserved the symbol of 
 a hostile creed. I have shown my drawing of it 
 to my friends, Professor Westwood and Mr. St. 
 John Tyrwhitt, who are well qualified to pronounce 
 on its character ; but they both say that it possesses 
 so many unusual features as to make the question 
 a very difficult one. In fact, they find it impossible 
 to say anything confidently about its date ; and yet, 
 unless it is an early work, it cannot be genuinely 
 Byzantine, for a Byzantine crucifix would not have 
 been made except at an early period. The long- 
 tailed B is probably for a minuscule Greek and 
 stands for fiaaCkeis, which takes the place of the Rex 
 of the Latin superscription : this is in favour of a 
 Byzantine origin : but, on the other hand, the figure 
 being unclothed is against a high antiquity. The 
 shape is a natural one for an ancient metal cross, 
 because it was easy to flatten and shape out the 
 metal. 
 
 It was touching to find in the court of this monas- Suda Bay. 
 tery the graves of three English sailors who were 
 buried here ; they are covered with neat marble 
 slabs, bearing inscriptions. The monks remarked 
 to us that their burial-place was open to all. We 
 had some difficulty in tearing ourselves away from 
 the hospitality of these good Fathers, which was 
 embarrassing to us, as we still had a long day's 
 work before us. After passing over some rich
 
 4o The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 level ground we reached the bay of Suda, where 
 the Turkish fleet, composed of a frigate and some 
 smaller vessels, was lying. It is a perfect land- 
 locked harbour, and the Turks have a project for 
 converting it into a naval station; but the neigh- 
 bourhood at present has a miserable look of deso- 
 lation ; the shores are marshy and unhealthy, the 
 houses deserted, the country half- cultivated, and 
 the people half-starved. At the mouth of the bay, 
 towards the east, are two islands, called Leucae 
 in ancient times, on the larger of which the town 
 of Suda is now situated. The next point that we 
 made for were the ruins formerly called Palaeo- 
 castro, but now better known in the neighbourhood 
 as Aptera — a remarkable instance of antiquarian 
 interest on the part of the natives, for Pashley was 
 the first to identify them with that ancient city, and 
 the point was not certainly determined until M. 
 Wescher, of the French Government Mission, dis- 
 covered an inscription which contained the name. 
 We ascended by a rough path along the cliffs, 
 where the pink blossoms of the wild pear tree were 
 in great abundance, and the banks were starred 
 with white cyclamen. As we mounted, we obtained 
 fine views over the bay of Suda, with the Acroteri 
 behind it, and the wide bay of Khanea stretching 
 away to the west ; on the opposite side rose the 
 White Mountains, deeply covered with snow, all 
 but the highest peaks of which were visible from 
 time to time, when the heavy masses of cloud 
 lifted. When we reached the site of Aptera, which
 
 Crete. 4 l 
 
 is about 800 feet above the sea, we could also see 
 to the south-west Mount Malaxa, the ancient Bere- 
 cynthus, and to the east the commanding promon- 
 tory of Drepanon, beyond which the eye ranged 
 over a long line of coast, until at last the island of 
 Dia, in the neighbourhood of the ancient Cnossus, 
 appeared on the horizon. On very clear morn- 
 ings, we were told, Santorin can occasionally be 
 descried. 
 
 Independently of its elevated position, the situa- Ruins of 
 tion of Aptera is a striking one, being a broad level, 
 with steep sides falling away in every direction. 
 At the highest point stands a little monastery, a 
 dependency of the great convent of St. John the 
 Theologos at Patmos ; it is now occupied by one 
 monk only, who lives there with his mother and one 
 or two other persons. In the neighbourhood of 
 this are the principal ruins, including a large Roman 
 cistern with triple arches, and the wall of a building, 
 probably a Prytaneium, on which are the inscrip- 
 tions that Pashley and Wescher have copied. The 
 monk recollected M. Wescher's having uncovered 
 them, but they are now half-concealed again by a 
 large straw-heap. One of these relates to honours 
 conferred on Attalus, King of Pergamus, by the 
 senate and people of Aptera : here the magistrates 
 bear the title of kosmoi, and in the Doric dialect 
 which is employed the place is called Aptara. 
 There is also a decree in honour of Prusias, King 
 of Bithynia, and several acts relating to their prox- 
 enia with various cities of Asia Minor, proving the
 
 42 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 extensive commercial relations of the city 1 . On the 
 southern slope is an ancient theatre, very ill- 
 preserved, and towards the west are the finest 
 remains of the city walls ; but these ruins have been 
 much overrated, and, like all those in Crete, are 
 disappointing to one already acquainted with the 
 mainland of Greece. The shore below was re- 
 garded as the scene of the contest between the 
 Muses and the Sirens, in which the latter being de- 
 feated lost the feathers of their wings, and when 
 they had thus become white, cast themselves into 
 the sea ; whence the city was called Aptera, and 
 the neighbouring islands Leucae. We may safely 
 invert this last statement, and say that the whole 
 legend is an etymological myth, originally suggested 
 by the names. 
 Customs Descending from Aptera by a steep path on the 
 
 ^Htions' sea s ^ e °f t ^ ie n ^> we f° r ded the river Khilias, and 
 crossing an olive-clad hill, reached the town of 
 Kalyves, the buildings of which skirt the shore, 
 and are now in ruins. The district which reaches 
 inland from this point is called Apocorona, and is 
 very stony ; on one of its highest ridges, nearly 1,000 
 feet above the sea, lies the village of Sultanieh, 
 where we arrived after nightfall, and took up our 
 abode in a house fragrant with the cypress wood 
 of which it was built. Notwithstanding the ani- 
 mosity which prevails between the native Christians 
 and Mahometans in Crete, our dragoman found 
 it difficult to distinguish between them in these 
 
 1 Archives dcs Missions, 2 Ser. vol. i. p. 441.
 
 Crete. 43 
 
 villages, as they use the same language, dress, and 
 customs ; the Mahometans, for instance, all drink- 
 wine. Formerly numerous intermarriages used to 
 take place between persons of the two creeds ; now, 
 however, the people told us, these are of rare oc- 
 currence, and are discouraged by the authorities ; 
 and when a Christian becomes a Mahometan (Tovpico), 
 the Pasha sends him away to another part of Turkey. 
 In time of war the Moslem villagers descend to the 
 towns to join their co-religionists, and are employed 
 as bashi-bazouks. I enquired about the Katakhanas, 
 that being the peculiar name by which the Vampire 
 is known in Crete and Rhodes, instead of the usual 
 Vrykolakas ; though the word is of some antiquity, 
 being found in the mediaeval Greek poem of A 
 Lament on Constantinople in the sense of 'a destroyer.' 
 The answer was that such spectres were never seen 
 there ; but that after the end of the first insurrection, 
 in Sphakia, where many persons were killed, such 
 apparitions showed themselves, and the bodies of 
 the dead were seen to move about over the face 
 of the country. Another curious superstition which 
 we found to prevail in Crete is the custom of re- 
 garding Tuesday as a dies non ; the people have the 
 same feeling against undertaking anything special 
 on that day which English sailors have with regard 
 to a Friday : this prevails also throughout the islands 
 of the Aegean. 
 
 During this first day of our journey we had had The 
 
 , . i-i r 1 • 1 northern 
 
 occasional showers, but in the course 01 the night it coast 
 
 set in to rain heavily, and continued to do so without
 
 44 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 intermission throughout the greater part of the follow- 
 ing day (March 25) ; consequently, for many hours 
 successively we were occupied in wading rather than 
 riding, owing to the state of the road. We had 
 heard the Pasha of Crete of that time spoken of as 
 on the whole an enlightened man, but when we 
 found that he was erecting a vast summer residence 
 at Sultanieh, we could not help thinking that the 
 money might be better spent in making roads and 
 bridges, for the island suffers from nothing more 
 than from want of proper means of communication. 
 Descending to the valley of the Karydopotamo, we fol- 
 lowed the banks of that river, until we reached the 
 so-called Hellenic bridge, a high ivy-covered arch, 
 the foundations of which may be of Roman work, 
 but the arch itself is too steep to be of that date. 
 We crossed this, and descended a valley filled with 
 plane trees not yet in leaf, at the lower end of which 
 was a sort of gorge, where the rocks at the sides were 
 decorated with pendent fronds of polypody fern of 
 extraordinary size. Close to this is the village of 
 Armyro, where a large brackish fountain, which 
 gives its name to the place 1 , forms an extensive pool, 
 the water from which turns some mills. On a 
 neighbouring hillock stands a large square building, 
 which may have been a Venetian fort. Shortly after 
 this we reached the sea, and rode for several miles 
 along a sand}' beach, bright with pink shells, and 
 intersected by numerous streams; on the land side 
 rose the lofty mass of Mount Megaras, covered with 
 
 1 'Ap/ivpo for a\p.vpu.
 
 Crete. 45 
 
 newly-fallen snow. At the further end of this beach 
 the deep rapid stream of a river called Petrais makes 
 its exit from a gorge flanked by red limestone cliffs, 
 and we found it so swollen by the rain as to render 
 fording difficult ; this, however, we accomplished by 
 keeping close to the sea, though our baggage was in 
 part submerged. Thence for some distance the path 
 lay along the cliffs above the sea, and was as rough 
 and bad a track as I have seen in any country. 
 Behind us, the successive promontories of Drepanon 
 and Acrotiri had now come into view. 
 
 At last we turn inland, and having crossed a stony Retimo. 
 upland, reach a Roman bridge with two rows of 
 arches, in the same style as the Pont du Gard near 
 Nismes, which spans a deep gully, and forms a 
 picturesque object from the ochre colour of its 
 stones, and the bushes by which it is surrounded. 
 Immediately afterwards Retimo, the ancient Rhi- 
 thymna, comes in sight. This is undoubtedly the 
 most striking in its position of all the larger towns 
 of Crete. It occupies a peninsula, joined to the land 
 by a low sandy isthmus, across which runs the wall 
 of the town, surmounted with flame-shaped battle- 
 ments ; within this lie the houses, which are inter- 
 spersed at intervals with tall minarets, while between 
 them and the sea rises a precipitous height, crowned 
 by the extensive buildings of the castle. In the 
 background of the view the lower part of Mount Ida 
 was seen, ascending in gradual slopes, but the sum- 
 mits were concealed by the clouds. We arrived but 
 just in time, for the gates are closed an hour and
 
 46 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 a-half after sunset. Within, the place has all the 
 picturesqueness of a Turkish town, being composed 
 of irregular streets, lined with bazaars and wooden 
 houses with projecting roofs and balconies. The 
 port, which lies on the eastern side, is small, and 
 inaccessible except in calm weather. 
 The Cretan At Retimo we received a courteous welcome from 
 Mr. Triphylli, a Greek gentleman to whom we had an 
 introduction. He would hardly hear of our putting 
 up at the khan, and entertained us at breakfast the 
 next morning, when, among other things, he gave us 
 some of what is considered the special Cretan dish — 
 a mixture of cheese and honey. Both ingredients in 
 this, as well as the combination itself, are excellent, 
 the cheese being the soft cream cheese (myzethra), 
 which is one of the best products of the island, and 
 the honey being fragrant of herbs. When I enquired 
 about the Cretan dittany, which was famous for its 
 medicinal qualities in ancient times, he presented me 
 with a parcel of the dried leaves and stems, as they 
 are used by the people at the present day. A 
 decoction of these is much esteemed in illness, 
 especially in fevers. It is a low-growing herb, with 
 a small woolly leaf, thus corresponding to the de- 
 scription of it given by Dioscorides 1 : by the natives 
 it is sometimes called erotas, but more commonly 
 stamatochorton. We hear of it in Virgil, where Venus 
 employs it to heal Aeneas' wound : — 
 
 Then Venus, all a mother's heart 
 Touched by her son's unworthy smart, 
 
 1 3- 37) ~ivai$>a\wc>ri ko! Tiva enicpvaiv tx 0VTa -
 
 Crete. 47 
 
 Plucks dittany, a simple rare, 
 
 From Ida's summit brown, 
 With flower of purple, bright and fair, 
 
 And leaf of softest down : 
 Well known that plant to mountain goat, 
 Should arrow pierce its shaggy coat 1 . 
 
 Theophrastus speaks of its medical efficacy, espe- 
 cially in childbirth, and describes it as a rare plant, 
 owing to its growing over a small area, and to its 
 being eaten by goats, which are very partial to it 2 . 
 Both he and Pliny :1 mention its being peculiar to 
 Crete, and tell the story that Virgil refers to, of the 
 weapons falling out of the wounds when the goats 
 eat of it. A few lines below the passage I have 
 quoted the poet adds ' all the blood stanched in the 
 wound;' an idea corresponding to this seems to have 
 suggested the modern name, for stamatochorton sig- 
 nifies ' stanchplant.' 
 
 We now proposed to strike across the island Route 
 
 . . southward. 
 towards the southern coast, and make the circuit 
 
 of Mount Ida, the district in the neighbourhood of 
 
 which was always in ancient times the centre of 
 
 political activity. Accordingly, as the tracks in these 
 
 parts were less well known than those which we had 
 
 hitherto followed, we hired a guide, called Pandeli 
 
 {i.e. Panteleemon), who was recommended by Mr. 
 
 Triphylli as well acquainted with the country, to 
 
 accompany us for the remainder of our journey. 
 
 During the night there had been a deluge of rain and 
 
 a storm of wind, and though the weather cleared for 
 
 1 Virg. Aen. 12. 412-415 (Conington's Trans.). 
 
 2 Hist. Plant. 9. 18. 3 Hist. Nat. 25. 8. 52.
 
 48 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 a brief space in the course of the morning, yet when 
 we started, a little after midday, it was raining 
 steadily, and it continued to do so for the rest of the 
 day. At first our route lay along the shore, on which 
 the huge waves were plunging violently ; but after 
 a time we were forced to make a detour inland to 
 reach a bridge over the river Platanios, which it was 
 impossible to ford at the usual point. The meadows 
 on the further side of this stream presented a spectacle 
 of rare beauty from the anemones with which they 
 were covered. For size, number, brilliancy, and 
 variety of colour I have never seen such a show. 
 Every tint was to be seen— crimson, rose pink, faint 
 pink, purple, light mauve, and white. If, according 
 to the ancient symbolism, these flowers represent the 
 blood of Adonis and the tears of Aphrodite, both 
 must have been abundantly shed here. The name 
 for them in the country is malakanthos. At this 
 point we turned southwards, and ascended gradually 
 over one of the most fertile districts in the whole 
 of Crete; on every side the slopes were covered with 
 olive plantations, while the orange and the fig grew 
 in the neighbourhood of the villages, and in the first 
 of these that we reached — called Ardeli— we saw a 
 fine palm-tree. 
 Disastrous It was here that we first began to realise how 
 of the terrible had been the results of the last insurrection 
 
 country. (1866-9). Every village that we passed through, and 
 all that we could see along the hill-sides, had been 
 plundered, gutted, and burnt ; nothing but ruins met 
 the eye ; it was as if a horde of Tartars had swept
 
 Crete. 49 
 
 over the face of the country. A few of these belonged 
 to Mahometans, but the great majority were Chris- 
 tian ; and on our arrival the miserable inhabitants — 
 those, that is to say, who had not emigrated — emerged 
 from the lower storey of their houses, which they had 
 temporarily repaired, half-clothed and half-starved. 
 To add to their misfortunes, for the last three years 
 the olive crop, on which they mainly depend, had 
 failed, and the great severity of the winter had reduced 
 them to the last extremity. This state of things we 
 subsequently found to prevail throughout the island ; 
 along our whole route not a single village was stand- 
 ing; and what distressed us most was to find that 
 many of those who were in this lamentable condition 
 were persons of some position and very fair education. 
 Another thing, also, we gathered pretty plainly, viz. 
 that they would rise in insurrection again when the 
 next opportunity presented itself; and this was hardly 
 to be wondered at, for they had nothing to lose, and 
 could scarcely be in a worse plight than they were 
 in at that time l . 
 
 At the end of four hours of gradual ascent from 
 Retimo, we reached the large village of Amnato, and 
 turned round to take a last view of the town on its 
 conspicuous peninsula, beyond which lay a wide ex- 
 panse of the northern sea. All about here, and in 
 many other places, the ground was strewn with 
 branches of the olive-trees, which had been broken off 
 
 1 Since this was written the condition of the people in Crete 
 has improved, in consequence of more prosperous seasons and 
 administrative changes. See below, p. 76. 
 
 E
 
 50 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 by the weight of the snow that lay on them during the 
 winter ; this, however, we found to be rather a benefit 
 than an injury to the trees, since it has in a rude 
 way the effect of pruning, which is greatly neglected 
 in Crete. From this point we descended towards 
 a wide and deep gorge, along the steep side of which 
 the path leads, and as it gradually contracts the 
 scenery becomes fine, from the red limestone caverns, 
 and the trees which fringe the bed of the stream. 
 Near the head of this, where the valley is wildest, 
 we cross it by a bridge, and mounting steeply, find 
 ourselves on an exposed plateau where, near the 
 edge of the ravine and fronted by a conspicuous 
 group of stone pines, stands the monastery of Arkadi. 
 
 NOTE ON THE CRETAN DIALECT OF 
 MODERN GREEK. 
 
 As we obtained a considerable amount of information 
 about the modern Cretan dialect at Retimo, it may be 
 worth while for me to introduce here a few remarks 
 relating to it. When first we landed in the island, it 
 seemed so different from any Greek we had heard, and 
 the words appeared so clipped, that we almost despaired 
 of understanding it, and our dragoman himself, who was 
 familiar with most of the numerous Modern Greek 
 dialects, declared with some dismay that he could not 
 make out half of what the people said. Though in great 
 measure these difficulties soon disappeared, yet the 
 peculiarities of the language are very striking. As to the 
 pronunciation, the most notable feature is the softening
 
 Crete. 51 
 
 of k and x \ tne former being pronounced like tch, as 
 7rpo(TKe(f)uXov, ' a pillow,' prostchefalon ; the latter like s/i, as 
 dpo-xi'h 'rain,' vros/ie. In the vocabulary, the number of 
 strange words which take the place of those in ordinary 
 use is very great, as may be seen by the long list given 
 in the late Lord Strangford's excellent essay on the 
 subject in vol. i. of Spratt's Travels in Crete ; some of the 
 most important of these we verified, either through 
 Mr. Triphylli, or by our own observation ; but the most 
 interesting are the ancient words or usages which, though 
 lost elsewhere, have survived in this country. Thus, 
 instead of the familiar \ao-nais, 'mud,' we always heard 
 irrjka ; for <n£Xva (o-reAXco), ' I send,' TT£\xTra>, in the future 
 form 6a ntyoo ; for Kpvu>va>, ' I am cold,' epya>, which no 
 doubt is by metathesis for piyS, for the latter form is 
 found in the dialect of Cyprus ; for KciTaXapfidva, ' I under- 
 stand,' Kare'x&> ; for aXoyov, ' a horse,' either KT^pa (just as in 
 classical Greek kttjvos is used in the sense of a 'beast'), 
 or TTT)yr}pi, which is the Turkish begir, 'horse.' Again, 
 the lost Tidr]pi survives here in the future 6a 6e<rco, ' I shall 
 put,' for 6a /3aAco, and in the imperative 6eae, ' lie down,' 
 for Tr\ayia{e ; Troplfa (nopevopaL) means ' I start,' as in 
 enopiaa, 'I started,' for i'cpvya; eros, 'a year,' which in 
 ordinary Modern Greek only survives in the salutation 
 ■noWa. to errj aus, is commonly heard in place of xpoVior. 
 The salutation evfiia, for ' good day ' (pronounced evvia), 
 was also new to us, together with the expression evfiiPia 
 (evvivia), for ' fine weather : ' this is probably a corruption 
 of the ancient evdia. 
 
 E 2
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Crete {continued). 
 
 Monastery The convent of Arkadi, which was once regarded 
 as the largest and richest in Crete, having an income 
 of about £1000 a year, was at this time a mass of 
 ruins. The siege of this place by the Turks, and the 
 massacre that followed, from its tragic character, 
 did more than anything else to attract the attention 
 of Western Europe to the Cretan struggle. Only 
 two of the survivors, a monk and a boy, were now 
 residing within the walls ; indeed, the rest of the 
 Fathers perished at the time of the siege, and its 
 present occupants had come from other monasteries. 
 The Superior was a most ignorant man ; his con- 
 versation consisted almost entirely in saying ' it drips, 
 it drips ' (a-rd^ei, <rra^i) — a remark that was suggested 
 by the pitiless rain, which penetrated so constantly 
 the patched-up roof of the room we occupied, that to 
 avoid it we were frequently obliged to shift our 
 position, and it even dropped on to our beds at 
 night. At Retimo we had been told that the mon- 
 astery had been rebuilt, and that we should find 
 good accommodation ; but the truth was that only 
 two or three rooms were habitable, of which ours was
 
 Crete. 53 
 
 the best. Throughout our tour in Crete we had to 
 
 carry our provisions with us, for the natives could not 
 
 supply us even with bread ; wine, however, was to 
 
 be had, and this was excellent. The buildings form 
 
 a single quadrangle, in the middle of which stands 
 
 the church ; this had been repaired, as also in some 
 
 measure had the western facade of the monastery ; 
 
 but neither of them shows any trace of Byzantine 
 
 architecture, being in a debased Renaissance style, 
 
 and the whole convent, at its best period, must have 
 
 presented a striking contrast to the lordly structures 
 
 of Mount Athos. A few tall cypresses in the court 
 
 did their best to relieve the dismal desolation. 
 
 The following morning, at our request, the monk Descrip- 
 . , , , , . , . Hon of the 
 
 who had been present at the siege conducted us s i eg£- 
 
 round the building and described to us the har- 
 rowing details. It took place on November 19, 
 1866. The Christians who defended it had as- 
 sembled there some days before, and for greater 
 safety had brought together the women, children, 
 and old men from the neighbouring country within 
 the walls. The Turks approached from the side 
 of Retimo, and at first their commander offered the 
 defenders terms of capitulation, but these were 
 refused, because his soldiers were irregulars, and 
 the Christians knew from experience that they 
 would neither obey orders, nor suffer anyone to 
 escape. A cannon, which the besiegers had dragged 
 hither wilh some difficulty, was at first planted on 
 a neighbouring height, but as it produced but little 
 effect on the walls, and in the meantime the attacking
 
 54 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 parties suffered greatly from the fire of the besieged, 
 on the following day it was brought up in front of 
 the monastery, so as to command the entrance gate, 
 which they blew in. After a fearful struggle, they 
 forced their way in at the point of the bayonet, and 
 commenced an indiscriminate massacre, in which 
 300 souls perished. The court ran with blood, our 
 informant said, and was so piled with bodies that 
 it was impossible to pass from one side to the other. 
 Simultaneously with this attack in front, another 
 band of Turks made an assault from behind, where 
 there was a postern ; but close to it the powder 
 magazine was situated, in a chamber over which 
 numbers of monks and women and children were 
 congregated together. As soon as the besiegers 
 were close to the postern, the Christians set fire 
 to the powder, and blew up all this part of the 
 building, involving their friends and their enemies 
 in common ruin. Large pieces of the shattered wall 
 remain outside the new wall, and though most of 
 the Turks were buried where they fell, yet the bones 
 of others might be seen lying on the ground. In the 
 midst of the massacre six-and-thirty Christians took 
 refuge in the refectory, but they were pursued and 
 all killed, and their blood still stained the walls. 
 About sixty others collected together in a corridor, 
 and begged for quarter, as having taken no part in 
 the insurrection, and the lives of these were spared. 
 The monastery was then fired, and many sick and 
 helpless persons perished in the conflagration. The 
 horrible narrative told by an eye-witness on the spot
 
 Crete. 55 
 
 carried our thoughts back to the Suliotes and their 
 destruction by Ali Pasha. It is fair, however, to 
 remember that this same convent was the scene of 
 a great massacre of Mahometans by Christians at 
 the time of the first insurrection. Barbarity is the 
 order of the day in Cretan warfare. 
 
 As we left Arkadi, all the inmates of the monastery The centra/ 
 had assembled at the gate to wish us ' God speed, 
 and we then pursued our journey southward over 
 uncultivated heath-clad slopes, until in an hour's 
 time we reached the central ridge, which forms the 
 backbone of the island, and may be at this point 
 about 2500 feet above the sea. At first, looking 
 back, we obtained pretty views of the convent with 
 the gorge by its side, between the cliffs of which the 
 distant blue sea was seen as through a frame; 
 and from the summit the Acroteri near Khanea 
 unexpectedly appeared, delicately delineated on the 
 horizon. On our left was one of the numerous forts 
 which the Turks have constructed in commanding 
 positions to keep the natives in check ; there are 
 said to be 290 of them in the island, but this is 
 probably an exaggeration. The rain had now 
 ceased, but the north wind swept over these uplands 
 with intense bitterness. Descending on the opposite 
 side, we struck into the best road we had seen in 
 Crete, which leads from Retimo to the south coast, 
 and not long after arrived at a wayside fountain, 
 called ' The water of the stone ' (ttjs nerpas to vepo). 
 Our guide Pandeli informed us (and his testimony was 
 confirmed by a peasant who was passing at the time),
 
 56 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 that it is considered to have great efficacy in curing 
 the disease of the stone, and that this is the origin 
 of the name. Pashley says that in his time bottles 
 of the water were exported for this purpose even 
 as far as to Constantinople. We gradually came in 
 sight of the south-west buttresses of Ida, which are 
 far more precipitous than anything on the other side 
 of the mountain ; but of the summit we saw nothing 
 more than tempting peeps of snow-peaks under the 
 clouds. In the midst of a violent hailstorm we 
 reached the monastery of Asomatos, or the Arch- 
 angel, which is three hours distant from Arkadi, and 
 lies in the midst of olive-groves, interspersed with 
 numerous myrtle-bushes, in a wide rich valley deeply 
 sunk among the mountains. 
 Convent of This convent was left uninjured during the last 
 Asomatos. msurrec tion, though both the Turkish and Christian 
 forces passed by this way. It is a very poor place, 
 resembling those which we had seen on the sides of 
 the Thessalian Olympus, and consists of a single 
 quadrangle, surrounded by lower buildings than 
 those of Arkadi, while stables and other irregular 
 tenements are grouped on to it on the outside. 
 Within are numerous fine orange-trees, on which 
 the fruit was still hanging, and the church stands in 
 the centre of the area. The iconostasis of this is 
 finely carved and gilt, and from the roof hangs a 
 glass chandelier, which from its appearance must 
 have come from Venice. From a beam on one side 
 of the court are suspended three Venetian bells, 
 which are said to have been concealed, and only dis-
 
 Crete. 57 
 
 covered in 1873 '> tne Y are inscribed with the dates 
 1633 and 1639 respectively, and both are ornamented 
 with figures in relief of our Lord on the cross, of the 
 Virgin, and of St. John, while the smaller of the two 
 has also a figure of a bishop, who the monks said 
 was St. Spiridion. The constitution of this society is 
 idior rhythmic, or on the independent system, whereas 
 Arkadi was a Coenobia ; that is to say, it had a com- 
 mon table, stricter discipline, and a superior elected 
 for life. Certainly, order was not predominant in 
 the appearance of the monks of Asomatos, for they 
 wore no distinctive dress, and only differed from 
 common peasants in having their hair unshorn. The 
 Hegumen, in particular, with his burly figure, black 
 bushy beard, and bronzed countenance, would have 
 made an excellent study for one of Ribera's bandits. 
 We were entertained in a low-vaulted apartment, 
 where a blazing fire and some of the wine of the 
 monastery were very welcome ; we found this liquor 
 palatable, for in Crete, and in the islands generally, 
 resin is not mixed with the wine, as it is on the 
 mainland of Greece. We were told that no boars, 
 or wolves, or bears, are found on Ida; according to 
 the Cretan legend all the larger wild beasts were 
 once for all expelled from the island by St. Paul : 
 in ancient times the same beneficent action was 
 attributed to Hercules. Game also is scarce; we 
 saw nothing but a few ducks and partridges and a 
 snipe during the whole of our journey. 
 
 We continued our route towards the south-east, Apodulo. 
 until at last, in crossing one of the buttresses of Ida,
 
 58 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 we came in sight of the southern sea. Gradually 
 the Bay of Messara opened out before us, with the 
 headland of Matala beyond, to the eastward of which 
 appeared a depression in the hills which border the 
 coast, marking the site of the ' Fair Havens.' At 
 the same time the red sunset tints, seen through a 
 dip in the dark mountains to the west, gave cheering 
 signs of a change in the weather. At nightfall w T e 
 found ourselves at the village of Apodulo, on the 
 mountain-side, and here we determined to pass the 
 night. While our dragoman was enquiring for toler- 
 able quarters for us among the ruined dwellings, we 
 rested at the first cottage we came to, which consisted 
 of one long ground-floor room blackened with smoke, 
 with a clay floor and a large kitchen range, beds and 
 a few other rude articles of furniture, while in one 
 A native corner a sheep was tethered. Its occupants were 
 three sisters, remarkably handsome girls, who were 
 dressed as ordinary peasants, and were engaged in 
 cooking and other domestic occupations, but from 
 their acquaintance with a purer idiom of Greek than 
 the native language were evidently superior to their 
 present position. They were perfect Italian madon- 
 nas, having oval faces and oval eyes fringed with fine 
 lashes and surmounted by arched and well-marked 
 eyebrows, the upper lip short, and the nose well-cut 
 and slightly aquiline. Besides an upper dress, they 
 wore the usual dress of Cretan women, white trousers 
 reaching nearly to the ankle, a short petticoat, and 
 a handkerchief on the head. Shortly afterwards the 
 mother entered, wearing a curious cape of woollen
 
 Crete. 59 
 
 stuff, which hung from the head and covered the back 
 and sides ; and she again was followed by the old 
 father, who carried a sort of crook, and looked a 
 truly patriarchal old man. The parents only spoke 
 the ordinary Cretan dialect. The Turks had de- 
 stroyed all the property of this family during the 
 insurrection, and this accounted for the reduced 
 circumstances in which we found them living; but 
 one of their relations, at all events, was on the road 
 to fortune, and from his case we learnt how rapidly 
 an intelligent Greek can make his way in the world. 
 After a little conversation the old woman produced 
 a large photograph, framed and glazed, representing 
 a good-looking gentleman in a Frank dress; and 
 this person we learnt was one of her sons, who had 
 emigrated at the conclusion of the war, and now held 
 an excellent mercantile appointment at Marseilles. 
 
 We were destined, however, to a more startling A strange 
 
 history. 
 
 surprise. Great was our astonishment when we found 
 that the old man's sister had married an English 
 gentleman, and was still living in Scotland. It is 
 a very curious history. At the time when Crete was 
 under the dominion of Mehemet Ali, a boy and girl 
 of the Psaraki family (for that is their name, though 
 in Cretan it is pronounced Psaratch) were carried oft" 
 with many others as slaves to Egypt. Mr. H — , who 
 was then in that country, saw this female slave ex- 
 posed for sale, and being struck with her beauty, 
 bought her and married her. In the course of time 
 the brother also obtained his freedom, and became 
 a travelling servant (our dragoman was acquainted
 
 60 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 with him, having met him on several occasions) ; and 
 in that capacity he once accompanied his sister and 
 her husband on a tour on the Nile. Subsequently 
 the married couple returned to Crete, and established 
 themselves at Apodulo. There Mr. H — built himself 
 a house, which was made over to his wife, since he 
 being a foreigner could not hold it in his own name, 
 and at a later period, when they left the country and 
 took up their residence in England, it passed into 
 the hands of one of Mrs. H — 's brothers, the old 
 patriarch with whom we were conversing. This 
 dwelling was assigned to us as our abode for the 
 night, and in its half-ruined state a most dismal 
 habitation it was, for our room, which partook of 
 the nature of a cellar, was fearfully damp, possessed 
 no door, and was partly tenanted by rabbits, which 
 seemed to have discovered the secret of perpetual 
 motion. Of the other children of the Psaraki family, 
 besides those whom I have mentioned, one son is 
 the priest of the parish, while two boys live at home 
 and attend the village school, where they get their 
 education gratis, having only to provide their books. 
 The Demo- These schools are regulated by the Demogerontia, 
 genm la. an institution peculiar to the Cretan Christians, which 
 consists of a representative council for a certain area 
 of the country, under the presidency of the Bishop, 
 and superintends the administration of certain pro- 
 perties, makes provision for widows and orphans, 
 and directs education. It is now arranged that about 
 a quarter of the revenues of all the monasteries shall 
 be handed over to the Demogerontiae for the support
 
 Crete. 6 1 
 
 of the schools. The Psaraki boys were quick 
 children, and, like the girls, understood our Romaic 
 much more readily than the parents did. The brother 
 in Marseilles, Alexander, was anxious that one of 
 them should come out to him to make his fortune, 
 and the boy expressed himself ready to go, but his 
 mother was unwilling to part with him. 
 
 The next morning (March 28) all our senses The 
 were delighted by a clear sky, a bright sun, and cmsf 
 a fresh and gentle breeze. This weather continued 
 during the rest of our stay in the island. The cloud- 
 less mountain summits gave us quite a new idea of 
 the scenery, the most conspicuous being the pyra- 
 midal form of the snow-capped Kedros (6000 feet), 
 which is the highest point that intervenes between 
 Ida and the White Mountains. In a ploughed field 
 in the neighbourhood of the village I found the rare 
 and beautiful Iris tuberosa in flower, the greenish 
 petals of which turn outwards with a purple lip ; the 
 gladiolus, which was growing plentifully along with 
 it, was not yet in bud. As we continued our journey 
 along the mountains, still towards the south-east, we 
 obtained a distant view of the island of Gaudos, the 
 Clauda, or rather Cauda 1 , of the Acts of the Apostles, 
 lying far away to the west. This now belongs to the 
 Sphakiotes. Nearer to us lay an islet called Paxi- 
 madi, i.e. ' Biscuit,' the name of which was evidently 
 derived from its shape. Through a depression between 
 Kedros and the heights that separate it from the sea, 
 
 1 Clauda in the Authorised Version, Cauda in the Revised 
 Version.
 
 61 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the White Mountains were visible, and displayed all 
 the features of an Alpine chain ; afterwards Psilorites 
 (Ida) came in sight towards the north, presenting 
 a vast mass of snow-fields 1 . At length, when the 
 last range of hills was crossed, the level district of 
 Messara, the richest in Crete, lay at our feet, re- 
 minding us of Marathon by its curving sandy shore, 
 which fringes the soft blue water of the bay, while it 
 is separated from the southern sea by a range of hills, 
 beyond which lies the ' Fair Havens.' 
 Plain of Descending to the low ground, where the tempera- 
 ture was really warm, we rode at first over irregular 
 sloping ground, where the shepherd's horn, by which 
 the sheep are called together, was heard in the midst 
 of the solitudes, and thus arrived at the real plain, 
 where orange-trees were growing in the half-ruined 
 villages, and the plane-trees were budding near the 
 watercourses. The range of Ida as seen from here, 
 
 1 The relative heights of these mountains are referred to in the 
 following little ballad, which is interesting also as a specimen of 
 the dialect of the mountaineers of Sphakia. Observe the substi- 
 tution of p for A, as in appa for d\ka, piapuvovoi for piaXuvovoi : 
 vr has the sound of the English d. 
 
 Tpia fiowa papovovai k eVe va anorwOovai, 
 
 rb Kivrpos Kal to ~2,<paiciavb ki avrbv rb 'V-qpopirrj. 
 
 k kp.irii\i(Vi to ~2.<paitiavb ypa<pT)v tov VrjpopiTTj' 
 
 1 Karffer' eo~e?s t' appa Povva, 's ipiva fir/v Traivaare, 
 
 fjici aav lp.iva to fiovvb appo Bovvb h~lv evt.' 
 
 Jeannaraki, Kretas Volkslicder, No. ioi. 
 ' Three mountains have a rivalry, they come near to slaying one 
 another, — Kedros, and he of Sphakia, and the third, Psilorites : — 
 and he of Sphakia to Psilorites a missive sent — "Abase yourselves, 
 ye other mountains, plume not yourselves in comparison of me — 
 like my mountain there is no other mountain."'
 
 Crete. 63 
 
 though bright with glistening snows, is not in other 
 respects striking, as its level line is only broken by 
 one conspicuous saddle in the ridge. The plain, 
 which extends far inland by a gradual ascent towards 
 the east, backed by the distant Dictaean mountains, 
 is covered at the sides by olive-groves, while the rest 
 was at this time a sea of green corn, since the entire 
 expanse is unbroken by hedge-rows. On account of 
 its great fertility this region has been appropriated 
 by the Turks, and for the same reason in time of 
 war it is the first object of attack to the Sphakiote 
 mountaineers. In most parts of the island the land 
 is in the hands of the peasants, and where the pro- 
 perties are large the metayer system prevails, and the 
 cultivator receives half the produce. At a place called 
 Mires, where we made our mid-day halt in great en- 
 joyment under the shade of the olives, a Kaimakam 
 resides, and we saw a group of Turks watching the 
 paces of one of the spirited little horses which are 
 bred here. It was for sale, and £60 was the price 
 asked for it. At an hour's distance from this we 
 reached the village of Metropoli, where we crossed 
 a copious stream, descending from Ida to join the 
 main river that intersects the plain, the ancient 
 Lethaeus, and half-an-hour further we alighted at 
 another village called Hagius Deka ("Aytovs- A«a), from 
 ten saints who were martyred there in the Decian 
 persecution. Between the two villages, at the foot of 
 the buttresses of Ida, and on the edge of the plain, 
 about ten miles from the sea, was situated the ancient 
 Gortyna.
 
 64 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Captain As both Pashley and Spratt mention in their 
 
 eorge. Travels in Crete a certain Captain Elias as an im- 
 portant man at Hagius Deka, we enquired for his 
 house, but we were informed that he had now been 
 dead two years, and had been succeeded by his son, 
 Captain George. The fine old man, of whom every 
 one spoke in terms of praise, had gone through all 
 the fighting of the late war, though eighty years of 
 age, but did not long survive its close. The use of 
 the title of Captain, which is frequently found among 
 the Christians in Crete, is a curious concession by 
 the rulers to the amour propre of the natives, for it is 
 assumed in times of insurrection by the leaders of 
 revolutionary bands, and is subsequently recognised 
 officially, as a compliment, by the authorities. Cap- 
 tain George, a middle-aged man, with strongly- 
 marked features, but a more careworn face even 
 than the majority of the suffering Cretans, received 
 us kindly into his house, which had been completely 
 ruined, but was now roofed in at the top, though 
 there was no floor to divide the upper storey from 
 the ground-room. He was evidently in great poverty, 
 but, like many others whom we met with, looked 
 superior to his present condition. In the courtyard 
 in front of the house were numerous fragments of 
 white marble, and near the entrance was a piece of 
 a column, and a sarcophagus with bulls' heads and 
 wreaths of flowers of inferior workmanship, which 
 was used as a trough. 
 
 Rums of The ruins of Gortyna cover a large extent of 
 ground, but none of them are either anterior to the 
 
 Gortyna.
 
 Crete. 65 
 
 Roman period, or in good preservation. The city 
 was divided in two parts by the stream already 
 mentioned, which takes its name, ' the Torrent of" 
 Metropolis ' (rqs Mr^TpoTroAfco? to (f)apuyyi\ from the 
 neighbouring village : on an eminence on the further 
 side of this was situated the acropolis, while below 
 it, excavated in the hillside, was the theatre, which 
 is now an almost shapeless mass of rubbish. Op- 
 posite to this, on the left bank, stood the church Church of 
 of St. Titus, a building of massive stone, the prin- St% Tltus - 
 cipal remaining part of which is a double apse ; 
 from the appearance of the arches there must 
 originally have been three apses, and the central 
 one has three semi-cupolas. It is certainly very 
 ancient, and, according to some archaeologists, can- 
 not have been built later than the fourth or fifth 
 century. At all events, it has the interest of associ- 
 ation, for, as Gortyna was the Roman capital of the, 
 island, and contained an old-established colony of 
 Jews \ there is every reason to believe that it must 
 have been the headquarters of Titus's ministrations. 
 He is now the patron saint of Crete. The tradition 
 of an ancient bishopric having existed on this spot 
 is preserved to the present day in the name Metro- 
 polis. The remaining buildings, which lie dispersed 
 over the fields, are entirely of brick and rubble ; 
 one that we saw was circular, another rectangular ; 
 the largest is the amphitheatre, situated in the 
 neighbourhood of Hagius Deka, of which not 
 
 1 Sec 1 Mace. xv. 23. 
 F
 
 rinth. 
 
 66 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 much more than the foundations and the shape 
 remain 1 . 
 A laby- Our object now was to recross the island on the 
 
 eastern side of Mount Ida to the town of Megalo- 
 castron, or Candia, on the northern coast ; but 
 before doing so we determined to make a detour to 
 visit a place which is known in all the neighbouring 
 district by the name of 'the Labyrinth ' (» Aa'dvptvdos). 
 Our host, Captain George, undertook to be our 
 guide ; and accordingly the next morning (March 29) 
 we started in his company, and fording the stream 
 close under the acropolis of Gortyna, ascended the 
 hills towards the north-west, and in an hour's time 
 reached the place which bears that name. It is 
 entered by an aperture of no great size in the 
 mountain side, where the rocks are of clayey lime- 
 stone, forming horizontal layers ; and inside we 
 found what looks almost like a flat roof, while 
 chambers and passages run off from the entrance in 
 various directions. The appearance at first sight is 
 that of artificial construction, but more probably it 
 is entirely natural, though some persons think it has 
 served for a quarry. We were furnished each with 
 a taper, and descended by a passage, on both sides 
 of which the fallen stones had been piled up ; the 
 roof above us varied from four to sixteen feet in 
 height. Winding about, we came to an upright 
 
 1 For an account of the wonderful archaic inscription which 
 was discovered on the site of Gortyna in 1884, the reader may be 
 referred to Mr. Roberts's interesting paper in the Classical 
 Review, vol. ii. pp. 9-12.
 
 Crete. 67 
 
 stone, the work of a modern Ariadne, set there to 
 show the way, for at intervals other passages 
 branched off from the main one, and any one who 
 entered without a light would be hopelessly lost. 
 Captain George described to us how for three years A refuge in 
 during the late war (1867-9) the Christian inhabit- c ° 
 ants of the neighbouring villages, to the number of 
 500, and he among them, had lived here, as their 
 predecessors had done during the former insur- 
 rection, to escape the Turks, who had burned their 
 homes, and carried off their flocks and herds, and 
 all other property that they could lay their hands on. 
 He pointed out to us the places where the stones 
 were piled up so as to form chambers, each of which 
 was occupied by a family. When I enquired, half 
 in joke, where their refectory {rpa-n^a) was, he replied 
 that far, far within there was a large and lofty 
 central hall, capable of holding 500 people together, 
 to which they gave that name, and that there they 
 used to meet from time to time, and dance, sing, and 
 enjoy themselves. They had brought a provision of 
 bread to eat and oil for light ; and water they ob- 
 tained from a spring in the innermost part of the 
 cavern, which appears to be the only one, for we 
 saw no stalactites or dripping water in other parts. 
 The heat, he said, was often very great, owing to 
 the confined air and the number of persons. After 
 wandering in different directions for half an hour, 
 during which time we had not penetrated into one- 
 tenth of its ramifications, we returned to the open 
 air. 
 
 f 2
 
 68 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Not the Notwithstanding the modern name, and the opinion 
 
 labyrinth, of some scholars in favour of this place, there is no 
 reason for supposing that this was the original Cretan 
 labyrinth. That place was in all probability a my- 
 thical conception, like the stories attached to it, 
 though, like many other Greek legends, it may have 
 been attached to some geographical feature, such as 
 a cavern ; but all Greek writers localise the story at 
 Cnossus, besides which the coins of that city, of 
 which I obtained two in the island, bear as their 
 emblem an idealised representation of the Labyrinth. 
 Claudian indeed speaks of 'the Gortynian abode of 
 the Minotaur 1 ,' by which epithet perhaps he simply 
 means 'Cretan;' but it is quite conceivable that 
 when Gortyna became the rival of Cnossus, the in- 
 habitants borrowed the legend, and adopted this 
 place as their labyrinth from its singular corre- 
 spondence to the traditional idea, and that hence 
 the legend became naturalised here. 
 Eastern Ascending the hillside, we crossed a plateau, the 
 
 ground beneath which is mined by the Labyrinth, 
 and at one point Captain George pointed out to us 
 the position of the refectory underground. Higher 
 up we obtained a view of all the snowy mountains 
 of Crete together, comprising the Dictaean mountains, 
 Ida, Kedros, and the White Mountains. I have 
 mentioned that Ida is now called Psilorites ; the 
 original name, however, still survives in Nida (tijj> 
 "iSi"), as a small elevated plain is called which is 
 deeply sunk amid the higher summits. The Captain 
 1 ' Semiferi Gortynia tecta juvenci : ' Sc.vt. Cons. Hon. 634.
 
 Crete. 69 
 
 now parted from us, and we continued to mount over 
 stony barren mountains and clayey valleys, in which 
 a few oleanders were growing, until we took leave 
 of the southern sea, and once more crossed the ridge 
 of the island, near which is the small village of 
 Hagia Barbara. The road which descends from 
 hence to Hagios Thomas is excessively bad, in ad- 
 dition to which our guide lost his way. We observed 
 here what had struck us also on the west side of 
 Ida, that the tracks in the northern part of Crete 
 are far worse than those to the south, probably 
 owing to the greater amount of soft soil. This ren- 
 ders travelling a difficult matter during or after bad 
 weather : on our journey to Arkadi our baggage- 
 horse once sank into the mud, and was with difficulty 
 extricated, and on this occasion nothing but extra- 
 ordinary surefootedness prevented it from falling. 
 The absence of all traffic and communication, here 
 and everywhere, was painfully remarkable. 
 
 Hagios Thomas occupies an elevated position just Rock-hewn 
 below a plateau of soft limestone rock of a light grey 
 colour, which falls to the village in precipices of 40 
 or 50 feet high. Here huge blocks have fallen away 
 from the face of the cliff, and lie detached close 
 beneath. In several of these, and also in the rock 
 itself, very curious ancient tombs have been ex- 
 cavated, which reminded my companion of those 
 of Petra, and are more akin to the Lycian sepulchres 
 than to anything that is found in Greece Proper. 
 One block has three of these in various parts of it, 
 and the effect they produce is strange, from their
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 luktas. 
 
 lying out of the perpendicular. They are all of 
 the same shape, being entered by a small square- 
 headed doorway, and are square within, with arched 
 recesses surmounted by niches on three sides ; the 
 floor is also hollowed out in parts into shallow 
 chambers. Nothing is known as to the ancient city 
 that occupied this site, but, whatever its name, it 
 was probably Roman, for only Roman coins were 
 brought to me by the people of the village, one of 
 them being a coin of the Emperor Gordian. 
 Mount Descending again from this place by an intricate 
 
 path, and passing at intervals through groves of 
 chestnuts not yet in leaf, about nightfall we arrived 
 at Venerato, a name which sounds as if it dated 
 from Venetian times. On the way we obtained fine 
 views of Mount luktas, which seems to have been 
 regarded as the burial-place of Zeus, for the neigh- 
 bouring villagers, hardly otherwise than through an 
 ancient tradition, give the name of 'the Sepulchre 
 of Zeus ' (rod Ai6s t6 nvrjiAt'ioi') to a ruin on its crest, 
 and there is ample evidence that a reputed tomb 
 of the god was shown in Crete even later than the 
 time of Constantine 1 . The mountain rises to the 
 
 1 See Pashley's Travels in Crete, vol. i. p. 213, where evidence 
 is given to show that this place has been believed in the island, 
 at least for several centuries, to be the reputed sepulchre of Zeus. 
 While on this subject I may draw attention to the important 
 discovery by M. Fabricius of the 'ISaiov avrpov, or cave in Mount 
 Ida, where Zeus was said to have been tended by the nymphs 
 and Curetes. This cavern is situated near the upland plain of 
 Nida, mentioned above, which is between 4000 and 5000 feet 
 above the sea. No inscription has been discovered by which it
 
 Crete. 7 1 
 
 height of 2,700 feet, on the opposite side of a wide 
 and deep valley towards the east, and bears on its 
 summit a white chapel of St. John the Baptist, while 
 the village of Khani Castelli lies at its base. To 
 the north the sea appeared, with the island of Dia. 
 The village of Venerato, which is situated in a 
 commanding position on the edge of a cliff over- 
 hanging a gorge, was in a more pitiable state of ruin 
 than almost any we had seen. The miserable room 
 in which we passed the night was covered with 
 mould, and anything but rain-proof. This place 
 was the scene of a horrible massacre at the com- 
 mencement of the Greek War of Independence in 
 1821, when the Moslems, with the intention of 
 intimidating the Christian population, issued from 
 the neighbouring town of Megalo-castron, and killed 
 all the males whom they found in this and the sur- 
 rounding villages. 
 
 The next morning we descended to Megalo-castron Megab- 
 its, four hours, having timed our journey well, for qJ™^ 
 not long after our arrival the smoke of the steamer 
 by which we were to depart was in sight on the 
 horizon. In all these parts Megalo-castron is 
 familiarly known as The Castron, a name which 
 in Albania we had found to be given to Argyro- 
 castron ; and similarly throughout the Aegean and 
 
 can certainly be identified, but the position in all respects corre- 
 sponds to what is said of the 'ISaiov avrpov by Diodorus, Theo- 
 phrastus, and Plato, and the objects found there show that it was 
 an important sanctuary. See Athenische Mittheilungen, vol. x. pp. 
 59-7 2 -
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 in European Turkey Constantinople is spoken of 
 as The City (17 71-0X1?). A few persons of the upper 
 class prefer to call it Heracleion, using the name of 
 the ancient city which occupied the site. This was 
 the port of Cnossus, and the ruins of that ancient 
 capital— if so they can be called, for nothing but 
 a single wall remains — are to be seen at an hour's 
 distance to the south, in a position remarkable 
 neither for strength nor beauty. This last remark 
 applies also to the two other principal Cretan cities, 
 Cydonia and Gortyna. As to the name of Candia, 
 by which Megalo-castron is better known in Western 
 Europe — it is never heard now in Crete, and as 
 a name for the island it never was used at all. 
 Though it was commonly employed by the Venetians 
 for the city, it is not of Italian but of Arabic origin, 
 for it was given to the place by the Saracens, when 
 they conquered Crete in the ninth century, and 
 constructed a fortified camp here, surrounded by 
 an immense moat ikhandak). The fame of the place 
 in history mainly depends on its gallant defence 
 against the Turks by the Venetians under Morosini, 
 which ended in a capitulation in 1669. It is still 
 surrounded by the massive Venetian walls, and in 
 approaching from the land side a deep moat has 
 to be crossed, and a winding passage traversed, 
 before the gateway is reached. 
 Lepers. Outside the gateway a number of lepers were 
 
 seated on the ground to beg for alms. This disease 
 is a terrible scourge in parts of Crete, and since 
 it is regarded as contagious, as soon as the first sign
 
 Crete. 73 
 
 of it appears on the body, the unfortunate patient 
 is excluded from the towns. Consequently, there 
 is a lepers' village near Megalo-castron, and we 
 passed a similar one not far from the gates of 
 Retimo. The leprosy affects especially the hands 
 and feet, the nose and eyes : one woman, who came 
 close to me to beg, had her hand sadly disfigured, 
 and a painful look about the eyes. Within the walls 
 everything presented the appearance of an ordinary 
 Turkish town. All the women were veiled, but 
 this did not necessarily imply that they were 
 Mahometans, for here, as in one or two other towns 
 in Turkey, the Christian women have adopted the 
 Moslem costume. It is a large place, containing 
 from 15,000 to 18,000 inhabitants, but the buildings are 
 poor and straggling. The port, which is enclosed, 
 like that of Khanea, by Venetian moles, lies on the 
 eastern side, and faces east, like the port of Retimo. 
 Over a tower, which commands its entrance from 
 the sea, the lion of St. Mark may be seen in two 
 places, and on the land side, partly entire, and 
 partly in ruins, stand the lofty arched roofs of the 
 docks or sheds that were used for the Venetian 
 galleys. During the few hours of our stay we were 
 kindly entertained by our Vice-Consul, Mr. Lysi- 
 machus Calocherino, a man of great information 
 about the country, and reputed to be the wealthiest 
 man in Crete, his father having made much money 
 in the island. Like Mr. Triphylli, of Retimo, he 
 came originally from Cerigo. From him I learnt 
 that parts of the poem of Erotocritos, the most famous
 
 74 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 work that has been written in the Cretan dialect, are 
 still sung by the peasants, but mainly in the eastern 
 districts, of which its author, Cornaros, was a native. 
 He estimated the entire population of Crete as from 
 280,000 to 300,000 souls. 
 Net urn to As we quitted Megalo-castron, it presented an 
 ' y!a imposing appearance from the sea, with its minarets 
 
 and walls, backed by the striking ridge of Mount 
 Iuktas, which is here seen in profile. After nightfall, 
 as we passed along the shore, the views of Mount 
 Ida were fine in the brilliant moonlight, and in the 
 morning we found ourselves once more off Khanea, 
 from which place the White Mountains were seen 
 superbly clear, with shapes more sharply cut and 
 bolder outlines than those of any other of the Cretan 
 ranges. We had time to land and visit the Venetian 
 docks, which resemble those of Megalo-castron, and 
 have a place for drawing up the galleys ; after which 
 we walked round the eastern portion of the walls 
 outside, where the breach was pointed out to us 
 which had been made at the time of the siege by the 
 Turkish cannon. After a visit to the Consul, Mr. 
 Sandwith, and our other friends, we embarked again, 
 and arrived the next morning at Syra. 
 General re- A journey in Crete, such as I have described, 
 leaves a profoundly melancholy impression on the 
 mind. Everywhere there was poverty, which in 
 some cases bordered on destitution. It was painful 
 even to feel that we ourselves had enough to eat, 
 when others had so little ; and, if we had any com- 
 passion to spare from human beings, the poor starved 
 
 marks.
 
 Crete. 75 
 
 dogs were indeed a spectacle to move it. We were 
 assured, indeed, by Mr. Sandwith, who had done 
 everything in his power to alleviate the distress, 
 that we saw it at its very worst, and that there was 
 a prospect of a good harvest, which would mitigate 
 the suffering. The evil, however, appeared to be too 
 deeply seated for it to be remediable by any tem- 
 porary influences. We found a widespread feeling 
 to prevail among the people, that before ten years 
 were over they would be again in insurrection, and 
 for this reason they did not care to repair their 
 dwellings. Now those who know the Cretans best 
 affirm that, when unmolested, they are a quiet, peace- 
 loving people, and certainly all that we saw tended 
 to confirm this. The bad reputation of their fore- 
 fathers for being 'liars, evil beasts, &c.,' does not 
 apply to the present population, and we were much 
 struck by the few complaints we heard, and the 
 absence of begging. The bearing of the people 
 generally in these hard times was most manly. It 
 must have required a large amount of misrule, 
 neglect, and oppression to bring such a people to 
 such a condition. All the necessaries of life, except 
 wine, were excessively dear, and notwithstanding 
 the fertility of the soil, the corn that was grown did 
 not suffice for the consumption of the island. The 
 tithe was the only regular impost, but the manner 
 in which this was farmed greatly increased its op- 
 pressiveness. Great injury had lately been done by 
 the introduction of a debased coinage, first by the 
 government, and subsequently by merchants, in
 
 76 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 consequence of which the people were unwilling to 
 receive the money. But causes such as these would 
 have been inadequate to produce such deep-seated 
 alienation, apart from the wholesale barbarities per- 
 petrated by Omer Pasha's troops, which, were they 
 not thoroughly well attested, would be quite in- 
 credible. 1 
 Appear- The Cretans are usually about or a little above 
 
 Cretans. ' tne middle height, though some are very tall and 
 well-grown men. With few exceptions, they have 
 dark hair and eyes, oval faces with rather a pointed 
 chin, full cheeks, and noses somewhat aquiline and 
 sometimes even hooked : the expression is generally 
 good-humoured and intelligent. The men's dress is 
 different from what is found elsewhere in Greece and 
 Turkey, consisting of a long boot reaching above the 
 calf, blue baggy trousers gathered in at the knee, a red 
 sash, a white shirt, a blue waistcoat corresponding 
 to the trousers, and a jacket ; over this is worn a 
 
 1 See M. Perrot's account in the Rcvitc des Deux Mondes, vol. 
 lxxiv. p. 896. There is no question about the facts, which called 
 forth loud protests from the English, French, Russian, and 
 Austrian consuls. Though the condition of Crete at the present 
 time can hardly be called satisfactory — while these pages are 
 passing through the press, it seems as if the old system of 
 persecution was being renewed — yet a great improvement has 
 taken place since the period of my visit. The fresh rising 
 which I then anticipated took place in 1878, and after that it was 
 arranged that the governor of the island should always be a 
 Christian, and the constitution, which had been granted ten years 
 before, was allowed to become a reality, and was improved and 
 extended in various ways so as to admit a large amount of self- 
 government. This system has, on the whole, worked well.
 
 Crete. 7 7 
 
 short capote, usually white, with a hood to cover 
 the head, though sometimes a skull-cap is seen. 
 Of these articles of dress, the boots and cloak seem 
 to have come down from classical times, the former 
 being mentioned by Galen, who thinks their use was 
 suggested by the ruggedness of the Cretan moun- 
 tains ', the latter by Aristophanes, who calls it the 
 Kreticon \ To classical students the interest of the 
 island consists, not in any important historical events 
 of which it was the scene, but in the peculiarity of 
 its institutions, and in its having been the principal 
 stepping-stone by which Phoenician civilisation passed 
 into Greece. 
 
 1 Galen, vol. xviii. Pt. i, p. 682, ed. KL'thn. 
 
 2 Ar. Thesm. 730.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Naxos, Ios, and Sikinos. 
 
 Naxos. We were now (April 2) about to enter on the third 
 
 portion of our expedition, that is, to visit the southern 
 Cyclades, and the neighbouring Sporades. Accord- 
 ingly, having hired a tolerably large and partly 
 decked boat, which could safely make the voyage 
 to the outlying islands, with three sailors to manage 
 her, we started in most lovely weather, a continuance 
 of which our boatmen augured from the porpoises 
 (BfXq.uves) which were playing about us. It was a 
 dreanry, hazy day, and for some hours, during which 
 we were becalmed and had to use our oars, the heat 
 was great ; but late in the afternoon a fresh breeze 
 sprang up, and sped us on our way towards Naxos. 
 As we approached the northern extremity of Paros, 
 a long line of mountains rose in front of us from the 
 water, while the main chain of that island lay behind; 
 in one part the coastline retires, and forms the deep 
 and safe harbour of Naussa, about which there is 
 sloping ground, and a town appeared in its recesses. 
 In ancient times this was a 'closed' harbour, the 
 entrance having been defended by chains or other 
 barriers. The town of Naxos, which lies on the
 
 Naxos, I os, and Sikinos. 79 
 
 north-western shore of the island of the same name, 
 was visible for some time before we reached it, but 
 the object towards which we were directed to steer 
 was a conspicuous monastery of St. John Chrysostom 
 on the hillside above. In the central chain of the 
 island two peaks, both over 3000 feet, especially 
 attracted the eye — towards the north that of Coronon, 
 and in the centre that of Zia, both which names, like 
 many others in this island, have an ancient sound ; pos- 
 sibly the latter maybe a corruption of Dia, one of the 
 classical names of Naxos. A youth in the town the 
 next day, with a touch of pedantry which is not 
 uncommon among Greeks, called it to me ' the moun- 
 tain of Zeus' (to fiovvb tov Aids). 
 
 We landed first on the island of Palati, which is Island of 
 separated from the mainland by a channel about fifty 
 yards wide, having been formerly joined to it by a 
 mole, of which only parts now remain, as it has been 
 broken by the sea. At the highest point of this little 
 island, which rises gradually toward the open sea, 
 where it falls in precipices, are the remains of a 
 temple, supposed to have been dedicated to Dionysus, 
 who was the patron god of Naxos. Some steps at 
 the entrance of the temple have been excavated, and 
 at the opposite end there are drums of white marble 
 columns, the marble not being of the purest kind — 
 not Parian, that is to say, but such as is still found in 
 Naxos itself. But what makes the ruins remarkable 
 is the portico, which stands erect, and is a very con- 
 spicuous object. The monolithic piers are from 
 twenty to twenty-five feet high, and the entablature
 
 (So The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 which they support has two large bosses projecting 
 from it ; these three stones stand alone, everything 
 else having fallen. From the idea that they formed 
 part of a palace, the island is called Palati. The 
 view of the town is picturesque, as seen through this 
 stiff frame, and the white marble is beautifully con- 
 trasted with the blue of the sky. 
 Associa- In front of the little port stands an ancient mole, 
 
 Dionysus corresponding to that which reaches to the island, 
 and between this and the shore the water was so 
 shallow that we had some difficulty in making our 
 way through it. When at last we landed we were 
 surrounded by an inquisitive multitude, who crowded 
 about us with a rudeness very unusual among Greeks, 
 and to escape them we made our way round the out- 
 side of the town, but some followed us far into the 
 country. On our return we asked for the fountain 
 of Ariadne, and were shown a remarkable source at 
 the back of the town, covered in with a large erection 
 of masonry. In the flat roof of this are two openings 
 with marble about their mouths through which buckets 
 can be let down, and the extensive pool formed by 
 the water may be seen some distance below. All 
 the antiquities here are associated with Dionysus, 
 and even the wine is called after him ; this is white, 
 and agreeable to the taste, though slightly resined. 
 Duchy of The town of Naxos, though unimposing in its ap- 
 telago ' pearance, has an especial interest as having once been 
 the headquarters of Italian influence in the Aegean. 
 After the conquest of Constantinople at the time of 
 the fourth Crusade, the Venetians found it convenient
 
 Naxos, Ios, and Sikinos. Si 
 
 to allow individual nobles of their own body to hold 
 certain parts of the Eastern territory that fell to them, 
 as fiefs of the Republic. In some such relation, though 
 very undefined, to Venice, Mark Sanudo held the 
 office of Duke of the Archipelago or of Naxos, having 
 been invested with it by the Latin Emperor of Con- 
 stantinople. He rebuilt the ancient town of Naxos, 
 constructed the mole, and erected a tower in the 
 citadel ; then, having confined the city to the Latins, 
 he obtained a bishop from the Pope, and built a 
 cathedral. The government continued in bis family, 
 and in that of Crispo, which was related to it, until 
 1566, when this duchy was finally brought to an end 
 by the Turks, after having existed 360 years. Though 
 the Dukes were in reality independent, they were 
 always supported by Venice for the sake of com- 
 mercial influence. Their occupation was a great 
 curse to the natives. At the time when the duchy 
 was established, these islands were in a prosperous 
 condition ; but by the Venetian monopoly of trade, 
 the seizure of lands by the conquerors, and other 
 forms of oppression, they were gradually ruined. 
 We are apt to be dazzled by the splendour of Venice, 
 and occasionally roused to admiration by the grandeur 
 of her policy; but her treatment of her dependencies 
 was systematically selfish, and her influence in the 
 East has been second only to that of the Turks in its 
 injurious effects. 
 
 The following morning we made our way towards The city of 
 the upper town through steep and tortuous streets ; ' 
 and, passing through a gateway, entered the Venetian 
 
 G
 
 8a 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Historic 
 
 family 
 names. 
 
 Castro, the original city of Sanudo. This forcibly 
 reminded me of the small Italian towns of the Riviera; 
 in some places the projecting buildings almost met 
 above one's head, and it would have been literally 
 possible to shake hands across the street ; in other 
 places the way for some distance was arched over. 
 We saw numerous pieces of Hellenic marble, and 
 over one house a fine coat of arms was carved, which, 
 as we were informed, was that of the Barocci family. 
 The inhabitants of this quarter, though they speak 
 Greek and consider themselves Greeks, are of the 
 Latin Church, and of Italian extraction, being de- 
 scendants of the original occupants. One family is 
 that of Sommaripa, whose ancestors for a long period 
 were the rulers of Paros. Historic names are not 
 uncommon in these regions ; two days before, in the 
 Roman Catholic quarter of Syra, I asked a youth to 
 lend me the rattle with which according to custom 
 (for it was Holy Week) he was expressing his aver- 
 sion to Judas Iscariot, and on it I found his 
 name inscribed — Manuel Palaeologos. The rattle 
 which I have mentioned is itself an instrument 
 of Italian origin, as most persons will be aware who 
 have passed the week before Easter on the Riviera, 
 when the streets are filled with its detestable sound, 
 which is supposed to represent the rattling of Judas' 
 bones. The people whom we met looked superior 
 to any whom we had seen elsewhere in the islands, 
 especially the ladies, who wore black gauze veils. 
 The boys, too, were good-looking; and their pale 
 complexions and light hair and eyes rendered them
 
 Naxos, Jos, and Sikinos. 83 
 
 a great contrast to the Greeks. There is a Lazarist 
 and a Capuchin church here, and the Archbishop is 
 not a native, but is sent from Rome. The highest 
 point of the town is occupied by a heap of ruins, 
 where a fort— probably that of Sanudo — seems to have 
 stood ; from this the view was fine over Myconos, 
 Delos, Rheneia, Tenos, and Syra to the north ; Paros 
 to the west ; and Sikinos and Ios to the south ; while 
 in front, the portal of the temple of Dionysus on its 
 island formed a conspicuous object. Herodotus must 
 have been thinking of some such panorama as this, 
 when, with his usual keen observation of geographical 
 features, he compared the islands of the Aegean to 
 the Nile in inundation, at which time the cities alone 
 are seen above the surface of the water 1 . 
 
 We started again on our southward course with Channel 
 a favouring north wind, which carried us rapidly ^ a xo7and 
 over the blue water through the channel which Paras. 
 separates Naxos and Paros. This was the scene of 
 an engagement between the Athenian fleet under 
 Chabrias and the Lacedaemonians in B.C. 376, when 
 for the first time after the Peloponnesian war, the 
 Athenians won a great maritime victory, and regained 
 the mastery of the sea. Naxos shows to greatest 
 advantage in the morning light, for then the separate 
 ranges of the interior are brought out distinctly, and 
 all the rich land along the levels and hillsides is 
 seen. It is not a mere rocky ridge, like Tenos, for 
 we could see deep valleys running inwards, and 
 giving evidence of fertile districts between the moun- 
 1 Herod. 2. 97. 
 G 2
 
 84 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 ailors. 
 
 tains on the coast and the higher peaks behind. In 
 ancient times it was regarded as the most opulent of 
 all the islands \ and at the present day it is very 
 prosperous. The emery, which was already famous 
 in Pindar's time 2 , is still its principal export. Tourne- 
 fort, writing nearly two centuries ago, describes its 
 abundance by saying, ' the English often ballast their 
 ships with it.' On the opposite side of the strait we 
 passed the town of Marmara, near the shore of Paros, 
 the highest point of which island, Mount Marpessa, 
 the seat of the famous marble quarries, rose above. 
 Gnek Greek sailors are usually an interesting study, and 
 
 our present crew were no exception to the rule. Our 
 head man, Captain Constantine — for this title he bore 
 in our boat's papers, which were inspected at every 
 island — was a strange being. A Silenus in figure, for 
 his punchy frame was nearly as broad as it was long ; 
 a Cyclops in face, for he was one-eyed and very ugly ; 
 distinguished rather for grasping and cunning than 
 for virtue ; he nevertheless was good at his oar, an 
 excellent sailor in an emergency, and thoroughly 
 well acquainted with the winds of the Aegean and the 
 shores and harbours of the islands. ' Plenty of sail, 
 plenty of way ' (ttoWu navia, 770X115 Spofxos) was his answer, 
 when his companions remonstrated at the amount of 
 canvas we were carrying. His views of the medical 
 faculty were worthy of Moliere — 'When I go to the 
 doctor, I get ill ; as long as I keep away, I am well : 
 when I eat much, I am well; when little, I am ill.' 
 The second, Yanni (Jack), whom we surnamed ' the 
 
 1 Herod. 5. 28. 2 Na£ta -nirpa, Isthm. 5. 107.
 
 Naxos, los, and Sikinos. 85 
 
 Conspirator/ was a handsome man, with soft eyes 
 and a thoughtful expression, but silent, and gifted with 
 a will of his own, so that, whenever a difference arose 
 between us and them about starting or stopping or 
 changing our course, he was always the least disposed 
 to yield. The third, George, who had accompanied 
 us also on our expedition to Delos, was a capital good- 
 humoured hard-working lad, whose complexion and 
 hair betokened some negro blood. They strongly 
 resembled the old Greek sailors in their vivacity, 
 talkativeness, readiness in action, freedom in giving an 
 opinion, and indisposition to obey any one leader 1 . 
 
 When we emerge from the channel between Naxos The 
 and Paros, we see on our left Heracleia and several j s i ana > s . 
 other small islands ; to the south-east Anaphe lies 
 like a shadow on the horizon ; Nio (los) and Sikino 
 are comparatively near in front ; and to the right 
 appear Pholegandro, Siphno, Antiparo, and others 
 less important. Again, as we enter the strait that 
 separates Nio from Sikino, the twin peaks of Melo 
 are faintly visible in the far west, and at last Therasia 
 and Santorin, the southernmost of all, complete the 
 
 1 Many of the nautical terms of the Greek sailors are from the 
 Italian, as XaoKa 'let go' (lascia), ti/muvl 'rudder' (tiiuone), 
 KovPipTa 'deck' (coperta), tcapavri 'rolling' {caratme 'to balance'), 
 (povproiiva 'a storm' {fortuna). Others, like sailors' terms every- 
 where, are hard to explain. In particular, the words for ' easy ' 
 {la fxo\a) and ' hard ' (ea \eaa) are very difficult of derivation : 
 that ea fj,6\a is eta pa^a, as some have suggested, is impossible, 
 and in the passage quoted from Aristophanes {Pax, 460), where 
 those words are used in hauling a rope, they clearly mean ' pull 
 hard.' Ae'ca is used for 'a rope' in Constantine Porpr^'rogenitus.
 
 86 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 number. We were more and more struck by the 
 size of the islands, and their apparent distance from 
 one another. We are now entering the Sporades, 
 though from the vague way in which the term 
 Cyclades was used, these outliers are sometimes 
 included in that group. A few generations ago 
 Heracleia was commonly called Raclia, Anaphe 
 Naphio, and Naxos Axia, and this last form we 
 ourselves heard used on Tenos ; we observed, how- 
 ever, that our sailors regularly employed the correct 
 forms. It seems almost a parallel to the prefixing 
 and omission of the h in English, when we find n 
 prefixed in Nio, as in many other modern Greek 
 names, but omitted in Axia. As this word, however, 
 signifies 'the Worthy,' it is probably an instance of 
 the fondness of the Greeks for changing the form of 
 a name so as to give it an intelligible meaning. 
 los. The appearance of Ios is very rugged, as seen 
 
 from the sea ; but when we turned into the land- 
 locked harbour on the west coast, passing a small 
 lighthouse at the entrance, a smiling view awaited us, 
 for the sloping hillsides are formed into terraces, the 
 vegetation of which was forward, owing to their wes- 
 tern aspect. The picturesqueness of the little bay is 
 increased by a handsome church of St. Irene, which 
 stands on a rock above the shore, having a Byzantine 
 cupola and an Italian bell-tower with tiers of arches 
 — a style of building which seems to prevail in these 
 parts : at the landing-place there a few houses, but 
 the town is built high above, and is reached by a 
 steep ascent of half-a-mile. We took up our quarters
 
 Naxos, Ios, and Sikinos. 87 
 
 at the port, and then ascended to the town, where 
 there are a few good-looking houses, while the rest 
 are huddled together in the same way as at Naxos. 
 The numerous small palm-trees that we saw there 
 remind us that the island was once called Phoenice, 
 and that the palm was inscribed on its coins ; but, as 
 a matter of fact, this tree will grow wherever it is 
 cultivated in the Cyclades. 
 
 It is well known that in ancient times Ios claimed Pasch van 
 to be the burial-place of Homer, and in modern days 
 the question of the discovery of his sepulchre has 
 raised a warm controversy. The story, which is a 
 most curious one, can only be briefly alluded to here. 
 In the year 1771, when the Aegean islands were in 
 the hands of the Russians, Count Pasch van Krienen, 
 a Dutch nobleman in the employ of that power, who 
 afterwards wrote a book entitled Breve descrizione 
 deW Arcipclago, containing much valuable informa- 
 tion about the state of these countries at that period, 
 professed to have found the tomb at a place called 
 Placoto, on the north-eastern side of this island. 
 The discovery was the result of a month spent in 
 excavation, and the account of it is embellished with 
 semi-mythical details of a sitting figure being seen 
 within the tomb at the moment of opening, which 
 immediately crumbled to dust. To this is added 
 minute information relating to the objects found 
 there, and copies of inscriptions which identified 
 the spot. The professed discovery naturally aroused 
 great interest at the moment, and its reality was 
 much debated by Heyne and others, but the contro-
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 versy soon died out, and was not revived until 1840. 
 Pasch van Krienen then found a fresh advocate in 
 the eminent traveller Ludwig Ross, while Welcker, 
 in an elaborate essay on the subject, has endeavoured 
 to show that the whole thing was a forgery, and this 
 he is generally thought to have proved \ The facts 
 which remain are these : that Ross found at Placoto 
 a tolerably circumstantial tradition remaining of the 
 place having been excavated by a stranger ; and that 
 Biornstahl, the Swede, saw at Leghorn the packages, 
 though as yet unpacked, in which Pasch van Krienen 
 had brought over the inscriptions he had collected in 
 Ios and other islands. From that time Pasch van 
 Krienen wholly disappears from sight ; and, like a 
 character in a child's story, was 'never heard of 
 afterwards,' neither himself nor his inscriptions, 
 until a few years ago two of the latter, including 
 one from Ios (unfortunately, of no great importance), 
 were discovered in the basement storey of the British 
 Museum, where they are still. 
 His in- Among these amusing elements of uncertainty one 
 
 scription. f act rema { ns undisputed, viz. that on a stone slab 
 which was used as a bench in front of a church of 
 Hagia Caterina, in the town of Ios, Pasch van 
 Krienen found a genuine inscription which he copied 
 and published in his book ; for this was seen by Ross 
 in the same position, and though it had been greatly 
 defaced by exposure, there was enough remaining to 
 identify it with Pasch van Krienen's copy. It consists 
 
 1 Welcker, Kleine Schriften, vol. iii.
 
 Naxos, los, and Sikinos. 89 
 
 mainly of a long list of names ; and as the intro- 
 ductory lines seem to contain a reference to Homer, 
 it is Welcker's opinion that there existed in los a 
 Homeric school, and that a number of its members 
 had inscribed their names on this stone. As nearly 
 forty years had elapsed since Ross's visit, we were 
 desirous to know whether the inscription still existed, 
 and with this view we enquired for the church of St. 
 Catherine. From a dirty but civil man who offered 
 to be our guide, we discovered that there were two 
 dedicated to that saint, a circumstance that illustrates 
 the extraordinary number of little churches with 
 which this town swarms ; for, as our native remarked 
 with a tone of enlightenment, 'in the Middle Ages, 
 when persons were ignorant, the priests persuaded 
 them that it was a pious thing to build so many 
 churches.' Some of these were simply a tiny dome 
 supported by four walls, almost resembling the tombs 
 of sheikhs which are seen in Turkey. Except in 
 some five regular places of worship, however, service 
 is performed in the churches in los only three or 
 four times a year. One of St. Catherine's shrines 
 was in the lower, the other in the upper part of the 
 town, but at neither of them could the stone be 
 found ; at the latter, however, a woman said that 
 there had been an inscribed stone in the position we 
 spoke of, but that it had been removed by the bishop 
 to his house, probably to preserve it. The bishop 
 unfortunately was absent, and we could not obtain 
 admission into his precincts ; thus, as far as we 
 were concerned, this relic of Pasch van Krienen's
 
 90 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 investigations, like the rest, passed out of reach of 
 discovery. 
 
 View of Above the highest part of the town rises a steep 
 mass of granite, of which stone this portion of the 
 island is composed. We found the summit blue 
 with innumerable small irises (Iris sisyrinchium) , 
 and the view of the town below was curious from the 
 flat roofs of the houses — a feature which is found in 
 most of these islands and in Crete — and the numerous 
 churches interspersed among them. But what most 
 attracted our attention was Santorin, into the strange 
 basin of which we now looked for the first time ; and, 
 softly delineated as it was, with the lofty peak of 
 H agios Elias behind, and in front the calm sea 
 streaked with lines of currents, it looked to me a sort 
 of Promised Land, after having been the subject of 
 so many expectations. A gentleman of Nio, who 
 came to visit us at the landing-place, described how 
 he had seen it in eruption from that point (the dis- 
 tance to the new crater is about twenty miles), and 
 said that the effect was very striking. The earth- 
 quake motion from the volcano is not much felt here, 
 as we should expect it would be ; and as it is more 
 felt at Melos, it would seem that the wave of move- 
 ment passes in the direction of that island. 
 
 Sikinos. The greater part of the following day (April 4) was 
 
 spent in searching for a little temple on the island of 
 Sikinos, which was unknown to our sailors, and the 
 position of which was incorrectly given in our maps. 
 Before leaving the harbour of Ios, we saw one of our 
 crew beating an octopus, which was intended for their
 
 Naxos, los, and Sikinos. 91 
 
 dinner, on a stone, for this animal being bloodless is 
 allowed by the Greek Church to be eaten in Lent, 
 but is excessively indigestible unless well beaten. 
 We rowed along the south coast of Sikinos in a 
 perfect calm, until we reached a small roadstead, on 
 the heights above which, though not visible from 
 below, the modern town is built, having been placed 
 at a distance from the sea, like the greater number 
 of the towns on the coasts of the Aegean, for fear of 
 corsairs. As we approached the shore, we found a 
 number of old fishermen on the projecting rocks, and 
 on asking them a question, were answered by what 
 in a Greek play would be called a Chorus of Old 
 Men of Sikinos, for they all spoke together, as loud 
 and as fast as they could, and in an extraordinary 
 dialect. When we had prevailed on them to appoint 
 a coryphaeus, we learnt that, though the regular 
 route to the temple would lie through the village, 
 we should save time by making for a bight further 
 to the west ; and, accordingly, taking the spokes- 
 man, old Barb Anton, as he was called (i. e. Uncle ' 
 Antony) on board, we rowed away in the direction 
 which he indicated. 
 
 Landing on the rocks, we ascended by a very Temple of 
 rugged path in the midst of dwarf pines and other 
 shrubs, following our barefooted guide, for in the 
 
 1 Barba is an obsolete Italian word for 'uncle,' which seems to 
 have made its way eastwards during the Middle Ages, and is now 
 commonly used in the Aegean as a term of familiar address for 
 old men. In the Cretan poem of Erotocritos (date perhaps about 
 a. d. 1500) it occurs in the form fxirapfnras : the spelling of this is 
 correct, for pw in Modern Greek stands for English and Italian b.
 
 92 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 hurry of embarking he had left his shoes behind 
 him. He mounted at a splendid pace, so that in 
 three-quarters of an hour we found ourselves on the 
 ridge of the island, which may be about 1,500 feet 
 above the sea. Just below this, on the southern 
 side, stands the small rude temple, with walls of 
 hard blue limestone, surmounted by a Byzantine 
 cupola, which was added when it was converted into 
 a Christian church. In consequence of the purpose 
 which it now serves the place is known as Episcopi. 
 It is a temple in antis, that is to say, a simple cella, 
 with two columns in front which stand between pro- 
 jections of the side walls ; but the intercolumniations 
 have now been built up with masonry. The columns 
 are in a pseudo-Doric style, with bases. The 
 pronaos faces west — an almost unique feature in a 
 Greek temple. Inside there is a Venetian glass 
 chandelier, and a Russian eagle in marble, probably 
 dating from the time of the Russian occupation of 
 the islands in the last century, is let into the floor. 
 A portion of the cross-pieces and slabs of the ancient 
 roof remains. In front of the building, to the west, 
 there is a stone platform, and an inscription in one 
 part of this shows that the temple was dedicated to 
 the Pythian Apollo. From the writing of this, and the 
 style of the architecture, Ross concludes that its date 
 is 200 b.c. The steep height which rises above is 
 the site of the ancient city. To judge from the small 
 size and the ruggedness of the island it was never, 
 in all probability, a place of much importance ; hence 
 this small temple would correspond to the means of
 
 Naxos, Ios, and Sikinos. 93 
 
 the inhabitants. We may remark that, though the 
 ancient Greeks were fond of high places for their 
 temples, their successors in modern times are even 
 more so : thus here, while the ancient building was 
 placed somewhat below the ridge, no doubt to shelter 
 it from the force of the north wind, the moderns, not 
 content with converting it into a church, have built 
 another chapel on the ridge itself. The island-view 
 from this point was fine on both sides, the broken 
 outline of Pholegandros being the nearest and most 
 conspicuous object. After examining this we re- 
 turned once more to our vessel.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 
 
 Approach It was a lovely afternoon when we commenced 
 torin. our v °y a & e to the southernmost islands. The air 
 
 was so transparent that objects in Santorin were 
 clearly visible, and the white town, perched on the 
 rocks that flank the inside of the crater, although 
 eighteen miles distant, was the object for which 
 we were instructed to steer. The sky was almost 
 cloudless, the sea oily-calm, and the islands ex- 
 tremely beautiful, especially the broken but tender 
 forms of Ios and Sikinos close at hand, with shadowy 
 valleys and sun-lit capes. The sun set clear into 
 the sea, and was succeeded by the innumerable stars 
 of a Greek heaven. When the moon rose, about 
 nine o'clock, we had already passed between the 
 northernmost capes of Santorin and Therasia, and 
 were struck with wonder at the walls of rock that 
 were revealed by the moonlight on both sides of 
 the great basin. We wandered on beneath the cliffs 
 of Santorin, sometimes in light, sometimes in pitchy 
 darkness, in search of the landing-place, which we 
 discovered at last from the ships lying there. Owing 
 to the almost unfathomable depth of the water there
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 95 
 
 is no anchorage elsewhere in the bay, whereas at 
 this point a slight rim of shallow bottom gives hold 
 for an anchor. The scene in the neighbourhood of 
 this was most extraordinary. The cliffs rose to all 
 appearance perpendicularly above our heads, and 
 were crowned with what looked in the moonlight 
 like a crust of ice, but was in reality the buildings 
 of the town. Nearer to the water were innumerable 
 caves, and small white structures, resembling chapels, 
 on the face of the rock ; these we discovered to be 
 dwelling-houses, and the caves also, we found, were 
 inhabited. It was midnight when we landed, and 
 all was silent as the grave, but we succeeded in 
 obtaining a clean room at the agency of the Greek 
 steamers. 
 
 In the morning the appearance of everything was Town of 
 even more strange. The steep cliffs, which line the 
 whole side of this island, as they do that of Therasia 
 in like manner, are marked in horizontal bands by 
 black lava, white porous tufa, and other volcanic 
 strata, some parts of which are coloured dark red ; 
 and here and there solitary masses of rock project 
 from the face of the precipices. We ascended by 
 a steep zigzag path, formed of lava-blocks compactly 
 fitted together, an arrangement which is very 
 necessary, for the tufa soon crumbles into cindery 
 dust. As it is, persons are not unfrequently killed 
 at the landing-place by stones that fall from above. 
 The town retains the ancient name of Thera, but the 
 form most commonly heard is Phera, and similarly 
 Pherasia is used for Therasia. It stands 900 feet
 
 96 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 above the water, and the descent is so abrupt 
 that you seem able to throw a stone into the tiny 
 craft below. The houses run along the crest, and 
 are themselves peculiar, for their foundations and, 
 in some cases, the sides also, are excavated in the 
 tufa, so that occasionally they are hardly traceable 
 except by their chimneys ; and, owing to the absence 
 of timber — for, with the exception of the fig, the 
 cactus, and the palm, there are hardly any trees in 
 the island — they are roofed with barrel vaults of 
 stone and cement. It is easy to conceive how 
 strange a sight they present, when seen from above ; 
 and moreover the paths and the land in their neigh- 
 bourhood resemble nothing more than the English 
 ' black country.' Both wood and water have oc- 
 casionally to be imported from the neighbouring 
 islands, for there are no wells, and the rainwater, 
 which is collected in numerous cisterns, does not 
 always suffice. Owing to the prevalence of fine 
 dust, the women go about as closely veiled as if they 
 were Mahometans, though to some extent this habit 
 prevails in other islands, and may arise from tra- 
 ditional custom. The population here struck* us as 
 being the handsomest we had seen, and as retaining 
 more of the old Greek type. The town and the 
 contiguous villages run along the crest for a con- 
 siderable distance towards the north, until, at Mero- 
 vuli, the highest point in this neighbourhood is 
 reached ; this commands an extensive view, and 
 overlooks the town of Apanomeria near the northern 
 entrance, which is crowded together in a white mass,
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 97 
 
 resembling a glacier rather than houses, while the 
 rocks below it are the reddest that are seen in the 
 island. From this position let us take our survey. 
 
 The island of Santorin is crescent-shaped, en- The vol- 
 
 closing the bay on the north, east, and south, while 
 on the western side lies the island of Therasia. The 
 encircling wall thus formed, which is eighteen miles 
 round in its inner rim, is broken in two places ; 
 
 qroup. 
 
 SANTORIN 
 
 C.Acroteri 
 
 towards the north-west by a strait a mile in breadth, 
 where the water is not less than 1100 feet deep; 
 and towards the south-west by an aperture about 
 three miles wide, where the water is shallow, and 
 an islet called Aspronisi or White Island, lying in 
 the middle, serves as a stepping-stone between the 
 two promontories. The cliffs, as I have described, 
 rise perpendicularly from the water, in some places 
 
 H
 
 98 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 to the height of 1000 feet ; but towards the open 
 sea, both in Santorin and Therasia, the ground 
 slopes gradually away, and has been converted into 
 broad level terraces, everywhere covered with tu- 
 faceous agglomerate, which, though extraordinarily 
 bare and ashen to the eye, is the soil which produces 
 the famous Santorin wine. Towards the south-east 
 rises the limestone peak of Mount Elias, the highest 
 point of the island (1887 feet), and the only part 
 that existed before the volcano was formed. In the 
 centre of the basin lie three small islands, though 
 from this point they seem to form one; the furthest 
 of which is called Palaea Kaumene, or Old Burnt 
 Island ; the nearest, Mikra Kaumene, or Little Burnt 
 Island ; while that which lies between them, and is 
 by far the largest of the three, bears the name of 
 Nea Kaumene, or New Burnt Island : this last was 
 the scene of the great eruption of 1866. It is hardly 
 accurate, perhaps, to speak of the basin as a crater, 
 for most geologists, including Lyell, support the 
 view that the whole of this space was once covered 
 by a single volcanic cone, the incline of which is 
 represented by the outward slope of Santorin and 
 Therasia, while the position of the crater was that 
 now occupied by the Kaumene islands, only at a 
 much greater height above the sea ; and that at a 
 remote period, perhaps about 2000 b. c, owing to 
 some sinking of the strata beneath, the central por- 
 tion of this, extending over an area which a French 
 writer compares with that included within the forti- 
 fications of Paris at the time of the siege, fell in, by
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 99 
 
 which convulsion the basin was formed. Lieutenant 
 Leycester in his notice of this volcanic group 1 in- 
 forms us, that if the gulf, which is six miles in 
 diameter, could be drained, a bowl-shaped cavity 
 would appear with the walls 2449 feet high in some 
 places, and even on the south-west side, where it is 
 lowest, nowhere less than 1200 feet high ; while the 
 Kaumenes would be seen to form in the centre a 
 huge mountain 5! miles in circumference at its base, 
 with three principal summits (the Old, the New, and 
 the Little Burnt Islands) rising severally to the 
 heights of 1251, 1629, and 1158 feet above the 
 bottom of the abyss. The rim of the great cauldron 
 thus exposed would be observed to be in all parts 
 perfect and unbroken, except on one point where 
 there is a deep and long chasm or channel, known 
 by mariners as the 'northern entrance.' Perhaps 
 the imagination may in some degree realize the 
 appearance of this chasm by thinking of the upper 
 valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland. 
 
 The principal eruptions of this volcano that have Chief erup- 
 taken place within historic times are, that of 196 b. c., U 
 when, as we learn from Strabo 2 , flames rose from 
 the water half-way between Thera and Therasia for 
 four days, and the island of Palaea Kaumene was 
 ejected ; that of 726 a. d., during the reign of the 
 emperor Leo the Isaurian, when an addition was 
 made to that island, and the pumice-stone that was 
 
 1 In the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xx, 
 quoted by Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. ii. p. 71. 
 
 2 I- 3- 16, p. 57. 
 
 H 2
 
 i oo The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 cast forth was carried by the waves to the shores of 
 Asia Minor and Macedonia; that of 1573, when 
 Mikra Kaumene appeared ; that of 1650, a fearful 
 eruption, which destroyed many lives by its noxious 
 exhalations, and ended in the upheaval of an island 
 in the sea to the north-east of Santorin, which after- 
 wards subsided and became a permanent reef below 
 the sea-level ; that of 1707, when Nea Kaumene 
 arose ; and, within the recollection of the present 
 generation, that of 1866. Of this last eruption we 
 have a description from an eye-witness, Commander 
 Brine, who ascended on Feb. 28 of that year to the 
 top of the crater of Nea Kaumene, about 350 feet 
 high, and looked down upon the new vent, then 
 in full activity. ' The whole of the cone was swaying 
 with an undulating motion to the right and left, and 
 appeared sometimes to swell to nearly double its 
 size and height, and to throw out ridges like moun- 
 tain spurs, till at last a broad chasm appeared across 
 the top of the cone, accompanied by a tremendous 
 roar of steam, and the shooting up from the new 
 crater to the height of from 50 to 100 feet of tons of 
 rock and ash mixed with smoke and steam. Some 
 of these which fell on Mikra Kaumene at a distance 
 of 600 yards from the crater, measured 30 cubic feet. 
 This effort over, the ridges slowly subsided, the 
 cone lowered and closed in, and then, after a few 
 minutes of comparative silence, the struggle would 
 begin again with precisely similar sounds, action, 
 and result 1 .' 
 
 1 Quoted by Lyell, Principles of Geology, vol. ii. p. 70.
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 101 
 
 In the town of Thera we visited two collections Collections 
 of antiquities, belonging to M. de Cigallas and %£" iqm 
 Mdme. Delenda. They contained a considerable 
 number of inscriptions, which have been published, 
 numerous antiquities in glass and earthenware, an 
 Egyptian figure in pottery, probably brought from 
 Cyrene, and one of the very large and roughly- 
 painted vases which are peculiar to this island ; but 
 on the whole they were disappointing, particularly 
 as there were none of the prehistoric objects which 
 we hoped to find. Most of these have been carried 
 off, and they are said to be very brittle and difficult 
 to preserve. The Spanish names of the owners of 
 these collections are noticeable, for they are descend- 
 ants of some of the Catalans who in the fourteenth 
 century were the terror of the Aegean, and parts 
 of whose bands settled in various districts. Tra- 
 ditions of Spanish occupation are to be found in 
 several places in Greece, and in Crete Pashley 
 mentions a village still called Spaniako for this 
 reason. 
 
 Descending to the landing-place, we started to The 
 visit the central islands. As we approached them j s i an j Si c 
 the sea took a sulphurous colour, which deepened 
 as we neared the shore, and the water became 
 warmer and warmer, until at last it was almost too 
 hot for the hand. The passage between Nea and 
 Mikra Kaumene in this part is not more than twelve 
 feet across. In a further part of the channel some 
 Russian ships, which were engaged in the wine 
 trade, were moored to the coast on both sides, the
 
 102 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 place being chosen for its sheltered position, and 
 giving a forcible proof of the want of anchorage in 
 the harbour. Close to the point where we landed 
 on Nea Kaumene was a hot sulphur spring, from 
 which the steam was evaporating. Mounting over 
 loose blocks of lava and detritus, which yielded to 
 the foot and made the ascent far more difficult than 
 that of the cone of Etna or Vesuvius, we arrived at 
 the summit, which is about 500 feet high. Here 
 there were several small craters, one of which 
 emitted much sulphurous steam, coming out in jets 
 mixed with smoke ; and though we stood to wind- 
 ward, the air around us was very oppressive, and 
 the stones beneath our feet were cracked by the 
 heat. The descent on the opposite side required 
 the greatest care, for a leg may easily be broken 
 when treading on large blocks that give with the foot, 
 owing to the loose foundation on which they rest. 
 Tfurasia. We had sent round our boat to meet us, and 
 passing on our right hand vast masses of slag that 
 tower from the water, and on our left the island of 
 Palaea Kaumene, which presents a steep face on 
 this side, as if it was broken off, where a strait 
 divides it from Nea Kaumene, we made our way 
 across to the south side of Therasia. In this part, half- 
 way between two capes, there was said to be a pre- 
 historic village. At the end of a very steep scramble 
 upward over the rocks, we found the guide whom 
 we had brought with us from Thera quite at fault, 
 and were glad to meet with a shepherd — a strange 
 being, with boyish looks and complexion, and grey
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 103 
 
 hair — who conducted us to the spot. It was a small 
 level, high above the sea, and close to the deposit 
 of soft white tufa which covers the whole island ; 
 here, to our disappointment, we found nothing but 
 heaps of lava-blocks, the materials of the dwellings, 
 which, our informant told us, had been excavated some 
 time before, and afterwards ruined. Originally the 
 whole had been concealed by the tufa, and in the steep 
 face of this we could see traces of the excavations. 
 The pozzolana is exported from this neighbourhood 
 and from Santorin in great quantities, and has been 
 much used for the works at Port Said in connexion 
 with the Suez Canal, since, when mixed with lime, it 
 forms a very hard cement, which resists the action of 
 the sea. We regained our boat, and shortly after dark 
 reached the landing-place of Thera, where a bonfire 
 had been kindled for the festival of the Annunciation 
 (March 25, o. s.), of which this was the vigil. 
 
 As these prehistoric dwellings have attracted much Prehistoric 
 
 iiwcllai '■ r '> 
 
 attention, it may be worth while to notice a few 
 points relating to them. The first explorers 1 say 
 without hesitation, that the buildings were con- 
 structed previously to the formation of the layer 
 of tufa; and further, that the eruption, by which 
 they were covered, must have been antecedent to 
 the falling in of the crater, for the layers of tufa are 
 broken off precipitously, in the same way as the 
 lava-rocks of Santorin and Therasia, and this can 
 only be explained by the supposition that they all 
 
 1 See Fouque, Archives des Missions, 2 ser. vol. iv, and Lenor- 
 mant, Revue Arche'ologique, nouv. ser. vol. xiv.
 
 104 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 fell in together. The foundations of the dwellings 
 rested, not on the tufa, but on the lava below it ; 
 and here and there between the stones branches of 
 wild olives were found, according to a mode of 
 building that still prevails in the island, in order 
 to resist the shocks of earthquakes. Part of the 
 skeleton of a man was discovered, and large vases, 
 some containing grain, others stone instruments very 
 carefully worked. Some of these vases were of fine 
 yellowish earth, ornamented with brown bands; others 
 of smaller size were more elaborately decorated, in 
 some cases having lines representing foliage, and 
 in a few instances figures of animals ; some were of 
 red earth, without ornament ; while others, of pale 
 red earth, were of very large dimensions. No imple- 
 ments of metal were found. At first it was thought 
 that the pottery came from abroad, the red kinds 
 probably from Anaphe, the others from other islands, 
 especially Melos ; but this view has been abandoned, 
 since the same sort of earth as that of which they 
 were made has been found in Santorin, though these 
 strata are now covered by the sea '. But as some 
 objects in obsidian, which is of foreign importation, 
 have been discovered in these dwellings, it is certain 
 that these early inhabitants must have had some 
 commerce. 
 Primitive It has naturally been the subject of much discussion 
 what was the origin of the very primitive art dis- 
 played in this pottery. The late M. Dumont, who 
 was the leading authority on the subject, though 
 1 Fouque, Santorin et ses Eruptions, p. 125. 
 
 art,
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 105 
 
 speaking with great caution on account of the in- 
 sufficiency of the evidence, inclined to the belief that 
 it was partly derived from Phoenician influence, but 
 at the same time that there were evident traces of 
 native originality. Comparing it in respect of date 
 with the other prehistoric developments of art in the 
 neighbourhood of the Aegean, he would place it 
 later than that at Hissarlik, but earlier than those 
 of Ialysus in Rhodes, and of Mycenae '. 
 
 It remained now (April 6) to visit the southern part Southern 
 
 • 1 1 • 1 • 1 • j i_ parts of 
 
 of Santorin, and with this object we hired a boat to santorin. 
 take us to the town of Acroteri, which lies a little 
 within the south-western promontory, and takes its 
 name from it. On the way, the horns of the crescent- 
 shaped island were finely seen. In many places 
 lumps of light pumice-stone were floating on the 
 surface of the water. Shortly after landing below 
 the town we found an intelligent lad, who undertook 
 to conduct us to a prehistoric village in that neigh- 
 bourhood. This is situated in a similar position 
 to that on Therasia, but facing the harbour. Two 
 of the dwellings that composed it partly remain, but 
 the others subsequently to their excavation have 
 been again covered by a fall of the tufa cliff. These 
 two, which stand side by side, are about 12 feet 
 square, and their walls are composed of black lava- 
 blocks roughly put together, while in one part they 
 are covered with a kind of mortar. These remain 
 to the height of 4 or 5 feet, and in the party-wall 
 is a sort of closet, in which corn was found. The 
 1 Les Ceramiques de la Grice Propre, pp. 74, 75, 209.
 
 106 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 boy described how six large jars (nldoi) were found 
 in the houses, and fragments of some of these were 
 still lying about. When this village was first dis- 
 covered, it was believed to be of later date than the 
 one on Therasia, but now it is agreed that it also 
 existed before the crater fell in \ Above this place 
 the town of Acroteri forms a conspicuous object, 
 from its old Venetian castle occupying a rocky 
 height, with a square central tower, round which 
 numerous vaulted buildings are ranged. We then 
 directed our steps eastward, in search of an ancient 
 temple, now converted into a chapel of St. Nicolas 
 Marmorites, as the saint is here called, in honour 
 of his marble sanctuary. Our road lay between 
 vineyards, and was so deep in sand from the pul- 
 verised tufa, that we found it easier to walk on the 
 top of the rude walls of lava on either side than in 
 the path itself. From this neighbourhood we ob- 
 tained superb views of the snowy ranges of Dicte 
 and Ida, in Crete, stretching along the southern 
 horizon. The vines presented a most curious ap- 
 pearance, from their branches being twisted round 
 and round and plaited together into what resembles 
 a circular maund or hamper ; and as the stock of the 
 trees hardly rises at all above the surface of the 
 ground, the fields from a distance look as if they 
 were covered with gigantic birds-nests. The strange- 
 ness was not lessened by the leaves being now in 
 bud : as the summer comes on, the branches are 
 untwisted and spread out upon the ground. 
 
 1 Dumont, Les Ccramiqucs de la Grece propre, p. 29.
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 107 
 
 We found the temple at a little distance from the Ancient 
 road, in the middle of a vineyard. It is a tiny place, 
 only 12 feet long, and somewhat less in breadth, and 
 10 feet high ; and is built of large blocks of grey 
 marble, some of them as much as 3 feet long, put 
 together without cement. Over the entrance, which 
 faces south, is a small pediment, and a narrow 
 cornice runs round the top, but the whole building 
 is almost devoid of ornament. Still, notwithstanding 
 its insignificance, it is extremely interesting, being 
 (as far as I know) the only existing Greek temple 
 in perfect preservation ; for here the original roof 
 remains entire, composed of large stone beams 
 reaching from the front to the back, the intervals 
 between which are covered by thin slabs laid across 
 transversely. Inside, the proportions are still more 
 minute, since the thickness of the walls has to be 
 deducted from the dimensions already given. At 
 the inner end, opposite the entrance, about half-way 
 up the wall, is a little niche, flanked by two Ionic 
 columns supporting an entablature and pediment. 
 In this a statuette of the hero must have stood, for 
 it was probably a hcroum, notwithstanding that an 
 inscription on the wall contains a dedication to the 
 Goddess Queen (Bed /3ao-iAei'a). Whether Cybele or 
 some other goddess is meant by this, is uncertain ; 
 but, according to Ross, heroa were frequently dedi- 
 cated to deities. On one side, hidden under some 
 church furniture, I discovered a small ancient altar. 
 
 After inspecting the temple, we turned northwards 
 towards Megalo-chorion, where the inhabitants were
 
 io8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 keeping a double festival, for the anniversary of Greek 
 Independence coincides with the Annunciation; they 
 were all sitting in the streets, and were not a little 
 surprised by our sudden appearance. The main 
 street was crossed by two archways, over each of 
 which hung six large bells. At this point we were 
 close under the flank of Mount Elias, on the summit 
 of which we could see a monastery. We then 
 followed the edge of the great basin, obtaining views 
 of the eastern sea with Anaphe, the three peaks of 
 Amorgos, and the distant Astypalaea, which is in 
 Turkish waters ; and when we reached the town 
 of Thera, we descended once more through its steep 
 and slippery streets to the harbour. 
 Names and After seeing what a cinder this island is, we 
 "' y ' cannot help being astonished at its having been 
 
 colonised at an early period by the Phoenicians. 
 That this was the case we learn from Herodotus 1 , 
 who attributes the foundation of the colony to 
 Cadmus. This story vouches at least for the belief 
 that there was an early settlement of that race in 
 Thera, and the traces of the influence of Phoenician 
 art which have been discovered point in the same 
 direction. It must therefore have possessed some 
 sources of attraction, and one of the names by which 
 it was known to the Greeks was Calliste or 'the 
 Fairest Island.' Unless this was a euphemistic 
 expression, we can only explain it as referring to 
 the fitness of Thera for the cultivation of the vine, 
 and perhaps also to the excellence of the harbour as 
 1 Herod. 4. 147.
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 109 
 
 a shelter, notwithstanding the want of anchorage. 
 The modern name is derived from its dedication by 
 the Latins to St. Irene ; Tournefort, who some- 
 times calls the island Sant-Erini, mentions nine 
 or ten chapels of that saint as existing there. The 
 classical myth of its origin described it as sprung 
 from a clod of earth presented to the Argonauts by 
 Triton l . In modern times, as the nature of the soil 
 prevents bodies from decomposing easily, it is re- 
 garded as the especial home of the Vampire, for 
 according to this superstition, when the soul of a 
 man after death has assumed this malignant form, 
 his body refuses to decay. So widely is the par- 
 tiality of vampires for Santorin recognised, that the 
 Hydriotes and Cretans believe that they can per- 
 manently get rid of those obnoxious visitors, if they 
 can once be transported thither. The same notion 
 has probably caused it to be regarded as a place 
 of purgatorial suffering, an idea which appears in 
 the following weird story. 
 
 ' Many years ago, it may be a hundred and fifty, a we; 
 a vessel was on its way to Rhodes, when it was stoyy - 
 caught by a storm in the open sea, and was in 
 danger, until they found a refuge in a small un- 
 known island. There the crew cast anchor and 
 went ashore. After a little while, as soon as it was 
 day, all at once they saw three laden mules coming 
 down from the mountain above, bending under 
 the weight of three stones apiece ; but as soon as 
 they reached the beach they turned round with 
 1 Apollon. Argonaut. 4. 1551 foil. ; 1731 foil.
 
 no The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 their loads and made for the place they had come 
 from, and then returned again shortly after with 
 the same loads, and did as before. This they re- 
 peated several times. Now when the sailors noticed 
 this strange occurrence, how that the mules went 
 to and fro with their burdens without any one ap- 
 pearing to guide or to load them, it attracted their 
 attention, and they perceived that there was some- 
 thing uncanny in the proceeding : and one of them 
 in particular, coming up to one of the mules, struck 
 it with the stick that he held in his hand ; where- 
 upon the mule turned round, and with a human 
 voice addressed him thus, " Don't strike me, cousin." 
 And when he stopped, all in a fright, and gazed 
 at him, the mule proceeded, " You think it strange 
 that I call you cousin, so let me tell you that I am 
 no born mule, but a man undergoing purgatory : I 
 am your cousin, Father M., who often took away 
 people's characters by perjury, and these are two 
 other countrymen and friends of ours (and he men- 
 tioned their names), and they too are undergoing 
 purgatory. The name of this place is Kaumene, 
 and it is near Santorin. When you return to our 
 country, make offerings for the repose of our souls, 
 if so be we may obtain some alleviation of our 
 sufferings V ' 
 Antiparos. During the two first days of our southward voyage 
 
 1 Polites, UtotW-qviK^i MvdoXoyia, pp. 406, 407. M. Polites 
 maintains that, though the doctrine of purgatory is not admitted 
 by the Eastern Church, yet traces of the belief in it are found 
 among the lower classes in Greece : p. 397.
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 1 1 1 
 
 we had been favoured by the north wind ; then 
 succeeded two days of perfect calm, and now we 
 were delighted to see the waves begin to ripple 
 from the direction of Crete, from which we gathered 
 that we should have a favourable wind for our return 
 journey. Accordingly we re-embarked at once, and 
 were gently carried back to the strait between Ios 
 and Sikinos ; but there towards evening the breeze 
 freshened, and bore us northward with great speed, 
 so that shortly after midnight we landed on the 
 eastern shore of Antiparos, where it is separated 
 from Paros by a narrow channel. This island was 
 the birthplace of our Silenus of a captain, who 
 seemed to regard the famous Grotto as under his 
 especial patronage, and spoke of it with great pride. 
 After sleeping at a village near the coast, we started 
 on foot under his guidance to explore the Grotto, 
 taking with us two donkeys, one to carry the 
 stout rope that was required for the descent, 
 and the other, of course, for Silenus. ' Plenty of 
 wine, and little foot-work ' (7roAi> Kpaal, 6\lyo noddpia) 
 was the maxim of life which he enunciated. Our 
 path led southwards, and in less than two hours 
 we reached the ridge of the island, just beneath 
 which the cavern is situated. The arched roof of 
 the entrance of this is imposing, and behind, rising 
 against the darkness of the interior, a tall stalagmite, 
 resting on a narrow base, reaches nearly to the 
 rock above : on the right hand side stands a small 
 rude chapel of St. John the Evangelist, and opposite 
 to it was a shepherd's mandra or enclosure, in
 
 ii2 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 which were lying some kids a month old. On 
 the rocks at the back of this is an inscription, con- 
 taining the names of persons who visited the Grotto 
 in classical times, from which we gather that the 
 vulgarity of writing one's name in celebrated 
 places is not altogether new; but the moderns, it 
 would seem, are worse than the ancients, for across 
 the face of the inscription runs a horrid palimpsest, 
 in the shape of the initials of a man who was here 
 in 1778 — probably one of the companions of M. 
 Olivier, the French traveller and author, whose 
 name with the same date is to be seen hard by. 
 Descent The ground descends rapidly into the narrowing 
 
 *Grotto cavern, until a stalactitic cupola is reached, where 
 the first steep fall of rock commences ; here the 
 water from the roof was brightly dripping into 
 a shepherd's broken cruse, and as we looked back 
 the stalagmite stood out against the light like a 
 huge idol. The rope was then fastened round a 
 stalactite, and without further instructions we were 
 desired to descend. The depth here is about 15 
 feet, but a fall would be fatal, for there is only just 
 standing room below, and beyond that are precipices; 
 however, I found no great difficulty in letting myself 
 down by the rope while keeping my feet against 
 the rock at right angles to my body. My companion 
 followed, and then our tapers were lighted, and 
 we proceeded to climb round the smooth and slippery 
 cliffs at the side, after which came slopes of debris, 
 together with several faces of rock like the former 
 one. It is this steep continuous descent that dis-
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 113 
 
 tinguishes this cavern from others that I have seen, 
 such as that of Adelsberg in Styria, the Corycian 
 cave on Mount Parnassus, and that of St. Michael 
 at Gibraltar. At last we reached a place which 
 looked like Malebolge, for all was darkness below, 
 and our guide disappeared down the rope to a 
 much greater depth than before ; but as we had 
 not, like Dante, a Geryon on whose back to descend 
 into the abyss, we swarmed down the face of this 
 precipice also, and then found ourselves in the 
 Grotto. It is a large and lofty hall, ornamented 
 with very fine pendent stalactites, the white forms 
 of which glimmer in the dim light, and if it were 
 brilliantly illuminated, the effect would be strik- 
 ing; but in itself, though curious, it is not the 
 most imposing of caverns. The depth must be 
 several hundred feet. We were shown the altar 
 where mass had been said when King George and Visit of 
 Queen Olga visited the place three years before ; Q^fo e 
 at that time the descent was made by ladders. Our 
 ascent from Malebolge was facilitated by a rope 
 passed under our arms and hauled from above, and 
 so we regained the daylight. The natives call the 
 place ■ The Refuge ' (Karafyvyi), a name which I have 
 found applied to other subterranca in Greece, and 
 which explains the use to which such caverns have 
 been put. On the way back I dug up a variety of 
 orchids, and the natives who assisted me asked 
 many questions about their destination, England. 
 On the other side of the strait which separates 
 Antiparos from Paros a large extent of rich land 
 
 1
 
 ii4 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 was seen, while behind rose the central Mount 
 Marpessa, toward which the ground slopes upward 
 from every part of the coast. 
 Faros. We re-embarked, and in an hour reached Paroekia, 
 
 the capital of Paros. From the size and fertility of 
 the island we expected to find it a prosperous town, 
 but, on the contrary, it proved the dirtiest place 
 we had visited on our journey : the streets were 
 open sewers, and everywhere full of nuisances. 
 As might be expected in the neighbourhood of the 
 famous Parian quarries, fragments of marble were 
 to be seen in all directions ; pieces of cornices served 
 for doorsteps, and triglyphs and other ornaments 
 were built into the walls of the houses. The greatest 
 amount of these relics of antiquity is on a knoll on 
 the north side of the town, on which stood the 
 ancient acropolis ; here drums of columns, some 
 Doric, some Ionic, lie in all directions, while others 
 have fallen down the steep hillside into the sea. 
 The white marble of the temples to which they 
 belonged must have looked well from the water 
 in this elevated position. A portion of the wall 
 of the Venetian fortress which occupied one side of 
 this height is curiously composed of drums laid 
 on their sides and slabs unequally fitted together ; 
 within this there is a chapel of our Lady of the 
 Cross, and the masonry which now forms the east 
 end of it is almost the only ancient structure which 
 retains its original position. Several churches here 
 have incised ornaments, and other features of the 
 true Byzantine style of architecture, which are
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paws. 115 
 
 rarely found in the islands. At the back of the 
 town is a large church of the Virgin of a Hundred 
 Gates (Uavayia 'EKaTOfxnvXiavi]) f adjoining which are 
 extensive buildings constructed of marble : these 
 are new and therefore uninteresting, for the Greek 
 rite is so thoroughly mediaeval in its character 
 that it is unsuited to modern, and especially to 
 Italian, architecture. 
 
 The following day we devoted to a visit to the The marble 
 quarries, having first called on M. Damias, the pro- ? uarrtes - 
 prietor, who owned the ground in their neighbourhood, 
 though at this time they were not being worked. Our 
 path lay upward along the lower slopes of Mount 
 Marpessa, and in an hour and a half we reached the 
 little monastery of Hagios Minas, which is enclosed 
 by a square white wall, quite Moorish in its appearance 
 from the absence of windows. Inside, thebuildingsare 
 quaintly packed together at various levels ; but it has 
 ceased to be a monastery, and is now used as a farm, 
 and is tenanted by a son of M. Damias. This gentle- 
 man undertook to show us the quarries, which are in 
 the immediate neighbourhood ; they are entered by 
 openings in the hillside, like the grotto of Antiparos. 
 At the mouth of that which is considered the finest 
 there is a curious sculptured tablet on the rock, con- 
 taining numerous groups of figures, conspicuous 
 among which is a seated female deity, with a dedi- 
 cation to the nymphs below. This is figured in 
 one of the plates to Stuart's Antiquities of Athens, 
 but now a large piece has been broken off the 
 face of it. With deep indignation we learnt that in 
 1 2
 
 n6 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the year preceding our visit, a foreigner who came 
 to Paros cut this piece off and carried it away with 
 him : but subsequently, on a letter of remonstrance 
 being addressed to him by M. Damias, who at the 
 time was ignorant of the act of vandalism, he re- 
 turned it, and we saw it at the monastery in the 
 packing-case in which it was sent. When we reached 
 the point where daylight ceases, our tapers were 
 lighted, and the dogs that had accompanied us from 
 the convent first whined dismally, and after pro- 
 ceeding a little further returned to the upper air. 
 I had expected to find the quarry worked in regular 
 shafts, but instead of this the dip of the strata has 
 been followed, and consequently the passage de- 
 scends at a considerable incline, winding about in 
 different directions, and the roof slopes from left to 
 right. It varies in height from 16 to less than 3 feet, 
 so that sometimes it is necessary to crawl on hands 
 and knees ; in these places the passage must for- 
 merly have been wider, otherwise the stone could 
 not have been carried out. At one point two 
 hundred bats were hanging from the roof, but 
 fortunately they were not disturbed by our lights : 
 had they been aroused, they would have extinguished 
 the tapers, and we might never have regained 
 Traces of the entrance. The marks of the tools of the old 
 ■*' workmen were visible everywhere on the roof and 
 sides, the groovings being about two inches apart ; 
 the amount excavated must have been immense, 
 for the whole place has the appearance of a labyrinth, 
 and we were told we might wander for a day without
 
 Santorin, Antiparos, and Paros. 117 
 
 finding the end. The marble on the surface is not 
 usually white, but where it is broken it is brilliantly 
 pure ; in some parts the grain is very fine, and 
 I tested its hardness in breaking a lump in order 
 to bring away a specimen. After being fifty minutes 
 underground, we returned to daylight, and then 
 proceeded to a second quarry, where, however, the 
 marble is somewhat inferior. In places there were 
 stalactites in process of formation, but none were 
 to be compared with those of Antiparos. It is deeply 
 interesting to think that these quarries furnished 
 the material for most of the famous Greek statues 
 that have come down to us, and for several important 
 temples, such as that of Apollo at Delphi, which was 
 rebuilt of this stone by the Alcmaeonidae. 
 
 The scirocco (Eurus) had been blowing with Return to 
 considerable force all day, but towards evening it ' y>a 
 increased to the most furious gale against which 
 I ever have attempted to stand, and corroborated all 
 that our boatmen had told us of its extremely dan- 
 gerous character. On the morrow, however, it 
 had lulled, and we started on our return voyage 
 with a favouring south-west breeze. After we had 
 passed a dangerous rock in the middle of the sea 
 called ' the Ant ' (nvpfiiyKi) — the name of which recalls 
 the corresponding ancient name of the rock Myrmex 
 off the Thessalian coast 1 — the wind freshened, and 
 it was a fine sight to see the great deep-blue waves 
 rolling in from the west. Nor less fine was it to 
 watch the steering of our helmsman, Yanni, as we 
 1 Herod. 7. 183.
 
 n8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 raced along with all our sails set, sometimes in the 
 trough of the waves, sometimes on the crest, but 
 never once shipping a sea. At last, when we reached 
 the nearest point of Syra, we suddenly darted into 
 calm water, and shortly afterwards arrived at the 
 town, which had been our headquarters during 
 our various excursions.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Lesbos. 
 
 Twelve years elapsed from the time of my first Storms in 
 
 . the Aegean. 
 
 visit before I was able to renew my explorations in 
 
 the Greek islands. At last, in the spring of 1886, 
 
 an opportunity presented itself, and on this occasion 
 
 I turned my attention to those that lie off the coast 
 
 of Asia Minor. This group I found it convenient 
 
 to investigate in due order from north to south, 
 
 beginning with Lesbos, which, with the exception 
 
 of the small island of Tenedos, is the most northerly 
 
 of all. It was my good fortune to be accompanied 
 
 by the same friend as before, Mr. Crovvder, and by the 
 
 same travelling servant, Alexandros Anemoyannes of 
 
 Athens, whom we found, notwithstanding the weight 
 
 of years, to be thoroughly competent and vigorous. 
 
 Our headquarters for this journey was Smyrna, as on 
 
 the former occasion it had been Syra ; for the former 
 
 of these two places is not only the most important and 
 
 most central port on the Asiatic coast, but is also the 
 
 rendezvous of the numerous steamers, belonging to 
 
 different companies, which communicate with one 
 
 or another of the islands. The weather which wel-
 
 120 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 corned our arrival in Greek waters was not less 
 boisterous than that which we experienced in March, 
 1874, for a rude north-east wind met us as soon as 
 we had rounded the Peloponnese ; and during the 
 two days that we spent at Athens snowstorms were 
 trailing over the plain, and whitening the slopes 
 of Parnes. When we steamed down the Saronic 
 gulf on our way from that place to Smyrna, the peaks 
 Snowy of Cithaeron, Helicon, and Parnassus, which ap- 
 mountains. p eare( j above the nearer mountains, and the eastern 
 slopes of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, displayed their 
 maximum of winter snow ; and after we had passed 
 the promontory of Sunium, the fine pyramid of 
 Mount Dirphe, in the centre of Euboea, presented 
 all the features of an Alpine summit. Again, the 
 heavy sea that we encountered as we emerged from 
 the strait which separates the north of Andros from 
 Euboea, made us applaud the wisdom of the Homeric 
 heroes, who when returning from Troy declined to 
 cross the Aegean from Lesbos to this point, until 
 they had received a favourable omen from Poseidon \ 
 In consequence of this, instead of reaching Smyrna 
 on March 27, as we hoped, we did not arrive at that 
 place till the following morning. As the Egyptian 
 steamer, on board of which we were, was to touch at 
 Lesbos on her way to Constantinople, we continued 
 our voyage in her, and landed after nightfall at 
 Mytilene, the capital, which has now given its name 
 to the whole island. We found a lodging at the 
 Hotel Pittacus (gevoboxetov TiiTTaws), the title of which 
 
 1 Horn. Od. 3. 168-179.
 
 Lesbos. 121 
 
 is an evidence that Lesbos has not forgotten her 
 wise men of old. 
 
 The town of Mytilene is a large place of imposing Lesbos. 
 appearance, and contains a population of 20,000 
 souls. It is built partly on a peninsula, which here 
 projects into the sea, and partly on the neighbouring 
 ground and the isthmus which connects the two. 
 Like almost all the capital cities of the islands oft 
 this coast which occupy an ancient site, it is placed 
 on the eastern side, this position having, no doubt, 
 been determined by two considerations : first, greater 
 safety in respect of navigation, as they were not ex- 
 posed to the force of the open sea; and secondly, 
 facility of communication with the mainland, for the 
 Greek settlements were everywhere founded with 
 a view to commerce, and especially to the export 
 of the produce of the interior of the country — so 
 much so, that some of these islands possessed a 
 Peraea, or strip of land on the opposite coast, which 
 provided them with a depot, and rendered the trans- 
 port more easy. The town is backed by a screen 
 of hills, some of them of considerable height, the 
 slopes of which are clothed with beautiful vegetation, 
 and dotted with country houses. For the present, 
 however, I will defer a more detailed description 
 of the place and its site, in order that we may at 
 once start for the interior of the island ; for the 
 chief source of interest which Lesbos affords is a geo- 
 graphical one, since it is penetrated on its southern 
 side by two bays, or inlets of the sea, the entrances 
 of which are so narrow in proportion to their area
 
 122 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 as to be almost a unique phenomenon. The primary 
 object of our visit was to see these ; and as the 
 highest point in this part of the island, Mount 
 Olympus — for Lesbos also boasts an Olympus — 
 stands up between them, and commands a fine pano- 
 ramic view, we purposed to make the ascent of that 
 mountain. 
 Bay'pflero. In the afternoon of the day following our arrival 
 (March 29), having hired horses for our journey, we 
 left Mytilene and ascended the heights to the west- 
 ward on our way to the town of Agiasso, which is 
 situated at the foot of Olympus, five hours distant. 
 Our road lay through olive groves, and continued 
 to do so throughout the whole of our ride. Olive 
 is king in Lesbos as much as cotton in Manchester; 
 the population are devoted to the cultivation of it, 
 and oil is the chief export. Some of the trees were 
 finely grown and of great age. In consequence of 
 this, the island is called by the Turks 'the garden of 
 the Ottoman empire.' At the end of three quarters 
 of an hour we crossed the ridge of the nearer hills, 
 and came in sight of the first of the two bays of which 
 I have spoken, that of Iero (pronounced Y6ro) — a 
 lake-like expanse of water, six miles in length by 
 four in breadth, extended at our feet. It is sur- 
 rounded by fine mountains, and over those that 
 bounded the shore opposite to us the peak of 
 Olympus, now called H agios Elias, stood up con- 
 spicuous. We descended to the eastern side of the 
 inlet, and rode round its head, but were unable at any 
 point to see the entrance, notwithstanding that the
 
 Lesbos. 1 23 
 
 dip of the ground in that direction, and the sloping 
 hillsides that formed it, were well marked. This is Its narrow 
 not surprising, when we consider that the narrow entrance - 
 strait by which it is approached from the sea is four 
 miles long. I subsequently met the captain of a 
 merchant steamer, when on my way to one of the 
 other islands, who told me that he had once pene- 
 trated into this harbour, in order to bring away a 
 cargo of oil, and that the rocks at the two sides of 
 the entrance, which were clothed with trees, appeared 
 quite close to him as he passed between them. He 
 added, however, that the water was deep, and that 
 he thought a large ship of war might enter without 
 serious difficulty. Just at the head of the bay there 
 is a bathing establishment on the shore, the hot 
 springs of which are much resorted to for a variety of 
 complaints by visitors from Constantinople, Smyrna 
 and elsewhere. After passing this, we turned south- 
 wards, near the village of Keramia, which was dis- 
 tinguished from a distance by a number of fine 
 cypresses ; and then ascended a lateral valley, partly 
 by the side of a clear torrent overhung by chestnut- 
 trees not yet in leaf, and partly over a steep paved 
 road, until the valley contracted into a deep gorge, 
 and at the highest point of this we entered Agiasso. 
 Here we put up at a sort of church-house or public 
 institute, in which there were rooms for the accom- 
 modation of strangers. All along our route during 
 this day's ride, the anemones — white, purple, pink, 
 and crimson — were growing in extraordinary pro- 
 fusion.
 
 124 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 .igiasso. This mountain town — for its height above the sea 
 
 can hardly be less than iooo feet — stands at a water- 
 shed between the two inlets, for the streams at this 
 point begin to flow in the opposite direction, towards 
 the Bay of Kallone. The inhabitants praise its 
 position, its fine air and good water, and the vegeta- 
 tion by which it is surrounded must make it a 
 delightful summer resort; the same boast was ex- 
 pressed on the cups in which our coffee was served, 
 and which bore the inscription 'Agiassos the beautiful ' 
 (copaia 'Ayiao-o-os). It occupies a curve in the hills at 
 the head of a valley facing south-west, on the further 
 side of which the summit of Hagios Elias rises in a 
 grey mass of limestone, with a buttress clothed with 
 pine-trees intervening. When seen from opposite, 
 the red-tiled roofs and white stone walls of the houses 
 in the town, being clustered closely together, present 
 a striking appearance. Its inhabitants, who number 
 7000 or 8000 persons, are mostly occupied in the 
 oil trade or the cultivation of the olive ; and at the 
 highest point of the town stands a large manufactory, 
 with oil-presses of elaborate construction and a factory 
 chimney. Eight years ago a large part of the place 
 was burnt down ; but it has since been rebuilt, though 
 many of the houses are not yet finished. It possesses 
 a boys' and a girls' school. In the former of these, 
 religious knowledge, ancient Greek, and the elements 
 of French are taught; but those who desire any 
 higher instruction for their children have to send 
 them to the town of Mytilene. I observed, as an 
 evidence that the classical spirit, which is so widely
 
 Lesbos. 1 25 
 
 prevalent in Greece, has not penetrated here, that 
 their Mount Olympus is only known as H agios Elias, 
 and that the Trojan Ida, which is visible from many 
 points in the neighbourhood, is always called by its 
 Turkish name of Kaz Dagh. 
 
 Early the next morning (March 30) we started to Ascent of 
 make the ascent of the mountain with a native of the Olympus. 
 place for our guide. Though an elderly man, he 
 proved a good walker, for he went at a steady pace, 
 and did not stop till he reached the summit. Another 
 of the inhabitants joined our company in making the 
 pilgrimage; for in this light the ascent is regarded, 
 since there is a chapel dedicated to the Prophet 
 Elijah near the summit, which is frequently visited 
 by pilgrims from the surrounding country, and ser- 
 vice is held there on the festival of the saint. Our 
 guide, who seemed an intelligent man, told us that 
 originally he had been engaged in the oil manufacture; 
 but that, having been ruined by the fire, and having 
 a large family, he had been forced to leave his home 
 for five years, in order to seek employment else- 
 where (he had been usher in a school), but that lately 
 he had been able to return. Descending the steep 
 streets, we crossed a stream at the bottom of the 
 town, and mounted on the other side by a winding 
 path in the midst of chestnuts. When we emerged 
 from these, we entered on a region of open pasture 
 land, in which the blue squill (Scilla bifolia) was 
 growing, together with the yellow blossoms of a 
 Gagea. This extended to the foot of the peak, 
 which rises steep and bare in masses of broken rock.
 
 1 26 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 The path, which is well marked throughout, ascends 
 this transversely on the southern side as far as the 
 chapel of the saint, which is built a little way below 
 the summit at the eastern extremity of the ridge. 
 Before reaching the chapel we met an old shepherd, 
 who feeds his flocks here in summer, and through- 
 out the year is employed as a guardian of the sacred 
 place, which he visits occasionally to see that every- 
 thing is in order. He presented us with a handful 
 of blue hyacinths, which were very fragrant, but 
 proved to be garden flowers, for they were grown in 
 a small enclosure close by the building, which was 
 backed by the rock, and sheltered from the north 
 wind by a low wall. The little chapel is nicely kept, 
 and has pictures of saints on its tconostasis, including 
 one of the Jewish prophet. 
 Names It is worthy of notice, as we have now before us 
 
 nd^ETas an ' nstance °f a mountain, which was called Olympus 
 in antiquity, and at the present time bears the name 
 of Hagios Elias— and the same thing is true of the 
 more famous Thessalian mountain — how frequently 
 both of these names recur in mountain nomenclature. 
 Of the modern appellation this has often been re- 
 marked — indeed, no traveller in Greece can fail to 
 notice it ; but it is also the fact that in Asia Minor, 
 in continental Greece, and in the islands, there were 
 as many as fourteen mountains called Olympus in 
 ancient times, so that the name seems to have been 
 almost generic. As to the reason which caused 
 Elijah to be associated by the Greeks with lofty 
 summits, the view has frequently been propounded
 
 Lesbos. 127 
 
 of late years, that this arose, in part at least, from 
 the similarity of the name Elias to that of Helios, 
 a divinity who possessed sanctuaries on many of the 
 Greek mountains. This receives striking confirma- 
 tion from a passage of Sedulius, a Christian writer of 
 the fifth century, which shows that the two were 
 associated together at an early time, for he argues 
 that there was an especial fitness in the prophet 
 Elijah ascending to heaven by a track of fiery 
 brilliancy, because, if by shifting the accent on his 
 name in Greek you alter one letter (r into 1), he 
 appears as the sun (Helias becomes Helios) '. 
 
 From the chapel we climbed over rough boulders View from 
 
 . thesummit. 
 to the summit, the height of which above the sea is 
 
 marked in the Admiralty chart as 3079 feet. The 
 ascent had occupied an hour and a half. The view 
 was extensive, and very interesting, on account of 
 the number of places famed in history which were in 
 sight. To commence with Lesbos itself— the inlets 
 of Iero and Kallone were conspicuous on either side 
 of us, two land-locked enclosures of blue water ; the 
 latter of these, which penetrates the island for three- 
 fifths of its breadth, was now visible to us for the 
 first time. The surface of the ground is generally 
 mountainous, but the most marked chain is that 
 towards the north, in which another peak named 
 
 1 Carnt. Pasclt. i. 184-7 ! see Polites, 'O "H\ios, p. 49 :— 
 Quam bene fulminei praelucens semita caeli 
 Convenit Heliae ! meritoque et nomine fulgens 
 Hac ope dignus erat : nam si sermonis Achivi 
 Una per accentum mutetur litera, sol est.
 
 128 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 H agios Elias, the ancient Lepethymnus, forms a fine 
 object. Through a depression to the westward of 
 this, the promontory of Lectum, the southernmost 
 point of the Trojan territory, appeared. In the 
 distant view the object which at once attracted the 
 eye was Mount Ida, rising above the bay of Adra- 
 myttium in a lofty range, the upper part of which 
 was clad in snow. In 1861, my companion and I 
 had looked down from its summit on the peak on 
 which we were now standing, and we then noticed 
 that the bay of Kallone is visible from thence between 
 the two heights of Lesbos. In front of the bay of 
 Adramyttium lay the group of small islands called the 
 Hecatonnesi, and following the coast downwards we 
 could see the territory of Atarneus and the deep gulf 
 of Elaea. Towards the south was the bay of Smyrna, 
 which was bounded on one side by the promontory 
 of Phocaea, and on the other by the massive head- 
 land of Mimas, the huge proportions of which and its 
 power of attracting storms 1 caused it to be personified 
 by the ancients as a malevolent giant. Westward of 
 this, and separated from it by a strait, rose the lofty 
 Chios, and as an outlier from this again the smaller 
 Psyra, which in modern times has become famous as 
 Psara, on account of its gallantry in the Greek War 
 of Independence, and the massacres which attended 
 its ruin by the Turks. The distant islands towards 
 the north — Imbros, Samothrace, and others in the 
 Thracian Sea — were excluded by the northern ranges 
 of Lesbos. After having studied this instructive view 
 1 Its Homeric epithet is fjVf/xoeis.
 
 Lesbos. \ 29 
 
 for some time, we returned to Agiasso by the same 
 route by which we had ascended. 
 
 On our return to Agiasso, we were informed, to A British 
 our surprise, that an Englishman was desirous of"' ' JCCt 
 paying us a visit. This proved to be Mr. Procopios 
 Constantinides, a native of the place, who had lived for 
 sixteen years in Australia, and had been naturalised 
 there, so that he was a British subject. He had also 
 spent four years in London. Having inherited lands 
 in this neighbourhood from his father, he now resided 
 here ; but he assured us that his favourite reading 
 still was English literature, especially Shakspere, 
 Byron, Scott, and Macaulay. He presented each of 
 us with a pretty coin of Mytilene, bearing on the 
 reverse the lyre, an emblem to which that city had 
 a rightful claim as being the birthplace of Alcaeus 
 and Sappho. The poetic art is still represented in 
 Lesbos, for he informed us that M. Demetrios Ber- 
 nardakis, the author of ' Maria Doxapatri,' a drama 
 of the period of the Frankish occupation of the Pelo- 
 ponnese, and other tragedies, who is one of the fore- 
 most poets of modern Greece, and was once professor 
 at the University of Athens, now resides in Mytilene. 
 Of him we shall hear more presently. His brother, 
 M. Gregorios Bernardakis, the editor of Plutarch's 
 Moralia, and author of other contributions to classical 
 scholarship, is director of the gymnasium in that 
 town. 
 
 The same afternoon we started for the ruins of the Bay of 
 ancient Pyrrha, which was one of the most important a one 
 cities in the island. They are situated on the shore of 
 
 K
 
 130 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the Bay of Kallone, between four and five hours dis- 
 tant from Agiasso in a north-westerly direction. At 
 first we descended for a long distance through a narrow 
 valley bordered by olive-groves, leading our horses 
 the greater part of the way, on account of the steep- 
 ness of the road. When at last we reached more level 
 ground, our progress was even more impeded by the 
 stony nature of the surface, the track being often lost 
 altogether, either in a watercourse, or in the midst of 
 broken fragments of rock where horses' feet left no 
 trace. It was an extremely solitary region, and a few 
 shepherds were almost the only persons we met in 
 the course of our ride ; but it was rendered pictur- 
 esque by the pine trees, which once, in all probability, 
 formed part of a dense forest, but now are scattered 
 at intervals over the face of the country, though they 
 are more thickly clustered in the valleys. At last the 
 Bay of Kallone appeared, and we descended to it just 
 where a steep rocky hill rises from the water's edge. 
 This was the site of Pyrrha, and the place still bears 
 that name. The bay is considerably larger than that 
 of Iero, being ten miles long by six wide ; and the 
 passage by which it is entered is broader, though still 
 very narrow. In consequence of this it was called, 
 in ancient times, the Euripus Pyrrhaeus. Both these 
 pieces of water have deep soundings ; and this har- 
 bour, in particular, would afford safe anchorage for 
 a fleet of any size. 
 Meeting a As this place is very seldom visited, we enquired 
 ^ oe before leaving Agiasso whether we should find any 
 
 accommodation ; and were told that there were a few
 
 Lesbos. 131 
 
 booths or shops by the shore, where we could pass 
 the night. When we reached them, they appeared 
 to be very wretched shanties ; and we were glad to 
 find that our baggage-horse, which had preceded us, 
 had been conducted to a good-looking farm, which 
 occupied a slight elevation close by. On our arrival 
 at this, we were welcomed by the owner, who, after 
 our first communications had passed in Greek, pro- 
 ceeded, to our surprise, to talk French with us ; and 
 as the conversation continued, I discovered that he 
 was acquainted with the system of study pursued in 
 the English Universities, and had resided in France 
 and Germany, and in former years had been person- 
 ally acquainted with Fallmerayer, the well-known 
 Munich professor and man of letters. Before long 
 we were engaged in a discussion of the characteristics 
 of the modern Greek language and poetry. It was 
 evident that we were not in the company of an 
 ordinary Greek farmer, and my curiosity was roused 
 to know who our entertainer might be. At last the 
 mystery was solved. By way of turning the con- 
 versation on the subject of native talent, I made use 
 of the information which I had received in the morn- 
 ing, and said that I understood that M. Bernardakis 
 the poet was living in the island. ' Probably,' our 
 host remarked, 'you mean me? I am M. Bernard- 
 akis!' He then told us that some time ago he 
 purchased this farm, in the neighbourhood of which 
 he possesses vineyards, and that from time to time he 
 comes hither to superintend it. He added, however, 
 that up to that time it had been a dead loss to him, 
 k 2
 
 132 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 owing to the oppressiveness of the taxation of the 
 Turkish government. For the same reason the culti- 
 vation of the olive is carried on with great difficulty; 
 but in this case there is another and more powerful 
 cause of depreciation, in the low price of oil, owing 
 no doubt to the competition of rock oils, which in the 
 South of France also is rapidly causing the olive to 
 be neglected. The agreeableness of an evening spent 
 in such good company was enhanced by a large fire 
 of olive wood, which was lighted in our honour ; for, 
 though the day had been cloudless, the wind still 
 blew cold from the north-east. During the whole of 
 our stay in Lesbos, however, I was struck with the 
 purity of the air and the transparency of the sky, 
 which invested objects with a remarkable brilliancy. 
 In ancient times the island was famed for the salubrity 
 of its climate. 
 Ruins of The next morning (March 31) was spent in ex- 
 Pyrrha. pi or j n g the site of the ancient Pyrrha. The hill 
 which it occupied forms a narrow rectangular table 
 of land, running from west to east, and gradually 
 sloping upwards from the shore, until it reaches a 
 high point, where the masses of brown rock fall in 
 steep precipices towards the valley at the back. On 
 seeing it from that side on the previous day we had 
 been struck with its suitableness for a Hellenic city. 
 The two sides also are flanked in most parts by sheer 
 walls of rock. In consequence of this the place would 
 seem to have required but little artificial defence ; 
 anyhow, but few traces of walls remain. The best 
 preserved portion of the fortifications is in the middle
 
 Lesbos. j 33 
 
 of the eastern face of the acropolis, overlooking the 
 valley already mentioned, at a point where the ascent 
 from below is somewhat easier than elsewhere ; here 
 six or seven irregularly horizontal courses of masonry 
 remain. But the most remarkable construction is 
 what appears to be the base of a tower half way 
 down the slope on the north side, where unshaped 
 blocks of enormous size are rudely, but evidently 
 artificially, piled together. The greater part of the 
 area is covered with olive trees, and growing under 
 these I found some specimens of a pretty pink orchis 
 with branching flowers {Orchis saccata). This city 
 was ruined and deserted before Strabo's time, and 
 the suburb which he speaks of as then existing was 
 situated on the shore in the direction of the modern 
 booths. Some traces of its buildings are visible near 
 the foot of the hill, and in the water may be seen the 
 remains of a mole, which formed the harbour that he 
 mentions 1 . Pyrrha is now resorted to for the cuttle- 
 fish and mollusks which are caught there ; and as it 
 was now the season of Lent, numerous boats were 
 lying there in readiness to transport these to other 
 places about the bay. The fishes of the Euripus 
 Pyrrhaeus, especially the shell-fish and polypi, are 
 frequently mentioned by Aristotle in his History of 
 Animals. The octopus at the present time is a con- 
 siderable article of food in the island, and not among 
 the lower classes only. At the restaurant which we 
 frequented in the town of Mytilene it was entered 
 
 1 13. 2. 4, p. 618.
 
 134 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 on the menu as one of the dishes, and we heard it 
 ordered. 
 
 During the afternoon we rode back to Mytilene in 
 six hours and a half, the first part of the way being 
 over open country, sprinkled with pine trees, like 
 that which we had traversed on the previous day. 
 From this we descended to the head of the Bay of 
 Iero, and followed our former route to the city. 
 Modem It remains now briefly to describe the modern 
 
 Mytikne town > an< ^ to investigate the site occupied by the 
 ancient city. It is a place which deserves our 
 attention, on account both of its former splendour, 
 which caused Horace in a well-known ode to class 
 it with Ephesus, Rhodes and Corinth, and of the 
 important historical events of which it was the scene, 
 especially the Athenian siege, which occupies so 
 prominent a position in the narrative of Thucydides, 
 and the dramatic story of the escape of its inhabit- 
 ants from massacre on that occasion. It has been 
 already said that a peninsula here projects into 
 the sea, having the opposite coast of Asia Minor 
 full in view, and that it is joined by an isthmus to 
 the ground behind, which rises somewhat rapidly 
 towards the interior of the island. The city is 
 composed of two portions, the mediaeval castle, 
 which covers the summit and a great part of the 
 northern declivities of the peninsula, and the modern 
 town, which is built on the isthmus and the slopes 
 on either side of it. The castle is an extensive and 
 picturesque structure, having inner and outer lines 
 of walls, with bastions, round and angular towers,
 
 Lesbos. 1 35 
 
 and battlements. Its fortifications reach to the 
 shore, which they follow for some distance on the 
 north-western side. It is of Byzantine construction; 
 but in 1355 it passed into the hands of the Genoese 
 merchant nobles of the family of Gatilusio, who pos- 
 sessed Lesbos for more than a century, until it 
 became the prize of Mahomet II., in 1462. Its 
 history may be said to be literally written on its 
 face, for in the neighbourhood of the entrance, at 
 the summit of the hill, where the old iron-plated 
 door still remains, a Byzantine eagle, a Frankish 
 coat of arms, and a Turkish inscription, are built 
 into the wall close together. It is now occupied by 
 an Ottoman population, who are chiefly composed 
 of the government officials, and of a considerable 
 body of troops. The greater part of the peninsula 
 is left bare, and descends to the sea in rugged cliffs. 
 The northern portion of the modern town, which is 
 nearest to the castle, is also a Turkish quarter, and 
 contains several mosques ; while that towards the 
 southern side of the isthmus, which is much more 
 extensive, is inhabited by the Greeks and the Euro- 
 pean consuls. The contraction of the coast-line at 
 either end of the isthmus forms two harbours, both 
 of which are protected from the sea by two moles ; 
 but owing to long neglect, the northern one of these, 
 which is the larger, has become useless, and is now 
 deserted, while that towards the south, which is the 
 centre of the commerce of the place, is so far silted 
 up as not to admit vessels of considerable size. All 
 these objects, together with the blue waters of the
 
 136 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 strait, are finely seen in one view from the heights 
 behind the town. 
 The an- I fwe desire to understand the appearance of the 
 
 cient city. c ^ ^ antiquity, we must remember that what is now 
 a peninsula was then an island, and was separated 
 from the mainland by a narrow channel. It is 
 difficult at first to realise this at the present time, 
 because no trace of these features remains ; but by 
 following the main street of the town, which runs in 
 a straight line from one harbour to the other, and is 
 perfectly level, we could see that the change might 
 easily have arisen in the course of ages. The canal 
 was a natural one, but was afterwards artificially im- 
 proved. On this island the original city was placed, 
 and its citadel continued to be the Hellenic acropolis 
 all along ; but the walls could not then have descended 
 to the water's edge as they do now, for the northern 
 harbour is spoken of by Diodorus as lying ' outside 
 the city.' As the population of the place increased, 
 it extended to the mainland, in which direction its 
 area must have been much greater than it is at 
 present. The northern harbour, as we learn from 
 Strabo 1 , was protected by a breakwater. This is the 
 same which remains, though in a dilapidated condition, 
 at the present day. From the silence of the geo- 
 grapher with regard to any artificial protection of the 
 southern harbour, we may conclude that it was unde- 
 fended ; and it was less in need of a mole, in conse- 
 quence of its being enclosed within the buildings of 
 the town, and sheltered from the wind. Owing to 
 1 13. 2. 2, p. 617.
 
 Lesbos. T37 
 
 its two harbours, and the channel between them, 
 Mytilene had a great advantage in respect of com- 
 merce and navigation, since vessels could thus ap- 
 proach in any wind, and could pass from one side of 
 the city to the other. There can be little doubt, also, 
 that at that time the harbours penetrated further 
 into the land, and consequently that the interval 
 between them was less than at present. 
 
 Our best authority for the ancient topography of Descrip- 
 
 ... . ^. , , , .. . . . tions by 
 
 this place is Diodorus, who describes it in connexion classical 
 with the events that preceded the battle of Ar- wnters - 
 ginusae'. His account, which is much clearer than 
 that of Xenophon, is evidently derived from one who 
 was well acquainted with the place ; and it has been 
 acutely conjectured that this was Ephorus, who was 
 a native of the neighbouring Aeolian city of Cyme 2 . 
 Diodorus says that Conon, in command of an Athe- 
 nian fleet which was coming from the north, being 
 hard pressed by the Spartans under Callicratidas, 
 took refuge in the port of Mytilene, the entrance to 
 which he obstructed, and defended to the best of his 
 ability. But when his opponents forced their way 
 through, he escaped to the harbour 'within the 
 city/ while the Spartans occupied the harbour which 
 was 'outside,' but still anchored close to the city. 
 In order to explain these proceedings, he describes 
 the channel which separated the old portion of the 
 city from the new, evidently implying that Conon 
 
 1 Diodor. 13. 77-79. 
 
 2 See Conze's excellent monograph, Reise auf der Insel Lesbos, 
 p. 8.
 
 13 8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 must have passed through it. This account is cor- 
 roborated by Strabo, who speaks of an island, which 
 contained part of the city, lying in front of the two 
 harbours * ; by Pausanias, who, when describing the 
 river Helisson as intersecting Megalopolis, compares 
 it to the channel which ran through Mytilene 2 ; and 
 by Longus, the author of the story of Daphnis and 
 Chloe, the scene of which is laid in Lesbos, who 
 speaks of the bridges of polished white stone that 
 spanned this channel 3 . 
 
 At nightfall, on April i, we embarked on board 
 the Balkan, a French steamer of the Fraissinet line, 
 and reached Smyrna the following morning. 
 
 1 Strabo, loc. at. 2 Pausan. 8. 30. 2. 3 i. 1.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Chios. 
 The vessel on board of which we next started from Pilgrims 
 
 .. c ,, bound for 
 
 Smyrna, the Ianthe, belonged to a line ot small Tenos. 
 steamers, called the ' Bell ' line from the name of 
 the chief proprietor in the Scotch company that 
 owns them, which are engaged in the carrying 
 trade and passenger traffic of the Asiatic islands, 
 and thus afford facilities to the traveller in those 
 parts. Another line, which has its head-quarters at 
 Smyrna, and will be found serviceable in the same 
 manner, though the area of its operations is some- 
 what more restricted, is that of the Joly-Victora 
 company, which is similarly named from its two pro- 
 prietors. The Ianthe was bound in the first instance 
 for Scio (Chios), but afterwards was to make a 
 special voyage to Tenos in the Cyclades, with a view 
 to the great festival of the Virgin in that island, 
 which is held on March 25, o. s., when pilgrims 
 resort thither from all parts of the Aegean. With 
 these the deck was crowded, as it appeared to us, 
 from stem to stern, but the captain informed us that 
 after passing Scio he would proceed to Scala Nova, 
 a town on the coast near Ephesus, to take in 150
 
 1 4Q The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 more. We could not trace any outward signs of 
 illness among them, though the object of the pil- 
 grimage is in most cases to obtain the cure of some 
 disorder. The captain's wife told us that once, 
 when they were conducting devotees to this festival 
 from the Macedonian coast, one of the passengers, a 
 woman, was sufficiently crazy to make her timid 
 about her ; but that on the return journey she seemed 
 better, and her relations maintained that she was 
 cured. They presented a motley appearance, as they 
 lay about in picturesque groups on carpets and 
 mattresses, or crouched in the most sheltered places 
 they could find to screen them from the cold wind. 
 Great good-humour prevailed among them, even 
 when they had to shift their positions in consequence 
 of the sea washing over them ; but later on, when 
 we passed the promontory of Karabournou, the 
 ancient Mimas, and reached more open water, their 
 sickness was a pitiable sight. In really bad weather 
 this human cargo has to be deposited in the hold 
 (there is only one small cabin), and the hatches 
 are battened down over them, the sequel of which 
 proceeding is, happily, left to the imagination. We 
 had started at 3 p.m., and it was midnight before we 
 reached the town of Scio. The vessel lay to in the 
 offing; and, in accordance with the unconventional 
 habits that prevail at these intermediate stations, 
 we let ourselves down her side by a rope into the 
 boat which was to take us ashore— no easy process 
 in a tossing sea. When we reached the harbour we 
 found it full of vessels, which gave evidence of con-
 
 Chios. 141 
 
 siderable commerce. Later in the night the gale 
 freshened, and we thought with compassion of the 
 pilgrims on their way to Scala Nova. 
 
 The day after our arrival (April 3) was the fifth Earth- 
 anniversary of the great earthquake in Scio, one of srio. 
 the most terrible visitations of modern times owing 
 to its suddenness, which gave the inhabitants no op- 
 portunity for escape. On that occasion the greater 
 part of the capital, and most of the villages on the 
 eastern side of the island, were shaken down, and 
 several thousand lives were lost. A correspondent of 
 the Times, writing shortly after the disaster, said : — 
 
 ' The town looks as if it had been subjected to a terrible 
 bombardment ; hundreds of houses have been trans- 
 formed into a shapeless mass of ruins, under which lie 
 buried an unknown number of victims. A majority of 
 the remaining houses, already cracked and roofless, may 
 fall at any moment.' 
 
 We found that the greater part of the place had 
 been rebuilt in the interval, though in some of the 
 streets ruined dwellings were still to be seen. The 
 restoration, however, had not extended to the interior 
 of the island, for the country districts were a scene of 
 universal ruin, for which, notwithstanding all that I 
 had heard beforehand, I was not prepared. 
 
 Chios has been indeed a most ill-fated island. Themassa- 
 During the Greek War of Independence it suf- 
 fered more than any other spot from Moslem 
 fanaticism ; for in 1822 nearly the whole of the 
 inhabitants were either massacred or carried off 
 into slavery. The Chiotes at this time were an
 
 142 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 industrious and peaceable population, but, unfor- 
 tunately for them, they were goaded into revolt by 
 a band of Samians who landed there, and besieged 
 the Turkish garrison in the fortress. It was in 
 every respect a most ill-considered attempt, and 
 when the Turkish capitan-pasha, Kara-Ali, ap- 
 peared near the coast with his squadron, hardly any 
 attempt was made to resist the landing and the 
 advance of the Ottoman troops, who were aided 
 by a body of volunteers from the Asiatic shore. 
 What followed is thus related by Finlay in his 
 History of Greece : — 
 
 Finlay 's ' The vengeance of the Turks fell heavy on Chios. The 
 
 narrative, unfortunate inhabitants of the island were generally 
 unarmed, but they were all treated as rebels, and 
 rendered responsible for the deeds of the Greeks who 
 had fled. In the city the wealthier class often succeeded 
 in obtaining protection from Turks in authority by paying 
 large sums of money. In the meantime the poor were 
 exposed to the vengeance of the soldiers and the fanatics. 
 The bloodshed, however, soon ceased in the town, for 
 even the fanatic volunteers began to combine profit with 
 vengeance. They collected as many of the Chiots as they 
 thought would bring a good price in the slave-markets of 
 Asia Minor, and crossed over to the continent with their 
 booty. Many Chiot families also found time to escape to 
 different ports in the island, and succeeded in embark- 
 ing in the Psarian vessels, which hastened to the island 
 as soon as it was known that the capitan-pasha had 
 sailed past Psara. 
 
 'Three thousand Chiots retired to the monastery of 
 Aghios Minas, five miles to the southward of the city, on 
 the ridge of hills which bounds the rich plain. The Turks 
 surrounded the building and summoned them to surrender. 
 The men had little hope of escaping death. The women
 
 Chios. 143 
 
 and children were sure of being sold as slaves. Though 
 they had no military leader, and were unable to take 
 effectual measures for defending the monastery, they 
 refused to lay down their arms. The Turks carried the 
 building by storm, and put all within to the sword. 
 
 ' Two thousand persons also had sought an asylum in 
 the fine old monastery of Nea Mone, which is about six 
 miles from the city, secluded in the mountains towards 
 the west. The Turks stormed this monastery as they 
 had done that of Aghios Minas. A number of the help- 
 less inmates had shut themselves up in the church. The 
 doors were forced open, and the Turks, after slaughtering 
 even the women on their knees at prayer, set fire to the 
 screen of paintings in the church, and to the woodwork 
 and roofs of the other buildings in the monastery, and 
 left the Christians who were not already slain to perish 
 in the conflagration V 
 
 These events were followed by indiscriminate Depopula- 
 pillage and massacre throughout the island, the only S«2: 
 part that was spared being the district which furnished 
 mastic to the ladies of the Sultan's harem. Forty- 
 six flourishing villages were reduced to ashes. It 
 was calculated that ultimately 25,000 persons were 
 killed, and 45,000 made slaves, and of these latter 
 not a few were members of opulent families. The 
 archbishop and seventy-five other citizens, who had 
 been retained as hostages before the commencement 
 of the outbreak, were executed on the spot by express 
 orders from the Sultan. Three months later, only 
 1800 Greeks were left in Chios. The fugitives, also, 
 who escaped from the island, were mostly in a state 
 of total destitution, and many of them perished from 
 
 1 Finlay, vol. vi. pp. 255, 256 ; compare Gordon, History of the 
 Greek Revolution, vol. i. pp. 356-363.
 
 144 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 disease and want. This tragedy, the circumstances 
 of which have been described with much pathos by 
 Mr. Bikelas in his story of Loukis Laras, produced 
 the same effect at that time as was produced of late 
 years by the Bulgarian massacres, in rousing the 
 indignation of Europe against Turkish barbarity, 
 and thus ultimately promoting the cause of freedom. 
 The town T ne position of the town in many respects re- 
 Tour. a sembles that of Mytilene, for it lies on the east coast 
 of the island, facing the mainland, and extends for 
 some distance along the shore, with a spit of land, 
 on which stands the old Genoese castle, projecting 
 into the sea in front of it. It is also backed by a 
 range of mountains, but these retire further from the 
 sea and are barer of vegetation than those behind 
 Mytilene, for they form part of the chain which 
 intersects the island from north to south, and which 
 from its steepness obtained for it the Homeric epithet 
 of 'rocky' (TranraXoeaaa). The harbour, for there is 
 no bay, is formed by a half-ruined mole which runs 
 out from the extremity of the castle on its southern 
 side, together with another which extends towards 
 it from the shore. This is now submerged, with the 
 exception of a lofty broken mass of masonry at the 
 end which the inhabitants call ' The Old Lighthouse ' 
 (to TmXmo (pavdpi). The principal article of export is 
 the spirit called mastic, which is famous throughout 
 the Aegean ; we afterwards saw huge flasks of this 
 being taken on board the steamer in which we made 
 our return journey. The gum from which it is made 
 exudes from the stems and branches of a shrub
 
 Chios. 145 
 
 which is mostly grown in the southern part of the 
 island, in the same way as I have seen the gum 
 tragacanth in Asia Minor and Armenia dropping 
 from the Astragalus verus ; and like that plant, the 
 mastic tree is scored with incisions by the natives 
 during the summer that the gum may flow out, with 
 a view to its being collected. 
 
 The castle which has been mentioned was the Maona of 
 fortress of the Giustiniani, whose Maona, or joint- n { an i_ 
 stock company, governed Chios for more than two 
 hundred years. The constitution and history of this 
 body offer many points of resemblance to those of 
 our own East India Company ; and it has been 
 described as the first example recorded in history 
 of a mercantile company of shareholders exercising 
 all the duties of a sovereign, and conducting the 
 territorial administration in a distant country. In 
 the year 1346 the Genoese admiral, Simone Vignosi, 
 fitted out a fleet of twenty-nine galleys, with the 
 object of conquering the island from the Greek 
 empire. The treasury of the republic, however, was 
 at this time so exhausted that the funds necessary 
 for the expedition were subscribed by private citizens, 
 who were guaranteed against loss by the state. 
 After the conquest had been effected, the subscribers 
 were formed into a Maona, and the shareholders 
 in this were recognised as the proprietors and 
 governors of the island for the period of twenty 
 years, during which time it was to be in the power 
 of the republic to pay off the debt and resume the 
 grant of the island. This, however, was never done ; 
 
 L
 
 146 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and the power of administration of the shareholders 
 became permanent. A change also took place in 
 the composition of the Maona. The original society 
 had farmed out the revenues to another Genoese 
 company, but serious quarrels arose between the 
 two bodies, and these reached such a pitch that the 
 government interfered ; it was then arranged that 
 the members of the old Maona should be bought 
 out, and that the powers which they possessed should 
 be transferred to the farmers. This body was called 
 the new Maona, and the majority of the shareholders 
 in it assumed the name of Giustiniani. 
 Its history. During the first century after this system was 
 established the prosperity of the company was 
 very great. The mastic that was produced in the 
 island, and the alum that came from the mines at 
 Phocaea on the mainland, yielded immense profits ; 
 and all the most important posts in the administration 
 were filled by members of the Maona. Nor was it 
 for the time injurious to the natives. The population 
 of Chios at this period exceeded 100,000 souls, the 
 Greeks were secured in all the rights and privileges 
 which they enjoyed under the Byzantine emperors, 
 and no tax could be imposed without their consent. 
 The government was less rapacious, and it afforded 
 better securities for the lives and properties of its 
 subjects, than they had enjoyed under the Palaeologi ; 
 and it was milder than the governments of the 
 Knights of Rhodes and the Republic of Venice. 
 But in the course of time the great subdivision of 
 the shares tended to impoverish the holders, and the
 
 Chios. 147 
 
 increase in the number of the officials, who were 
 chosen almost entirely from the ihaonesi, entailed a 
 much larger outlay on the public service and the 
 imposition of heavier taxes. The Maona became 
 tributary to the Ottoman sultans some time before 
 the capture of Constantinople, but by good manage- 
 ment they prolonged their dominion for more than 
 a hundred years after that event. At last, in 1566, 
 Suleiman the Magnificent, to indemnify himself for the 
 failure of his attempt to expel the Knights of St. John 
 from Malta in the previous year, ordered his admiral, 
 Piali Pasha, to annex the island to his dominions, 
 which he did without encountering any resistance 1 . 
 
 In consequence of the state of politics in the East Interior of 
 at the time of our visit — for this was a period of 
 great tension in the relations of Greece and Turkey, 
 and it was feared that war might break out at any 
 moment — we experienced much difficulty in obtaining 
 permission from the Ottoman authorities to visit the 
 interior of Chios. They were in great fear of politi- 
 cal emissaries ; and we afterwards found that another 
 English party, who shortly before this had been in 
 the island of Icaria, were absolutely forbidden to 
 quit the principal town. After several hours' delay, 
 however, we were allowed to start, but one of the 
 Pasha's officials was sent to accompany us, and, no 
 doubt, to watch our proceedings. Our object was 
 to see the monastery of Nea Mone, which is situated 
 high up among the mountains, and can boast some 
 of the most ancient mosaics in the Levant. The 
 
 1 Finlay, History of Greece, vol. v. pp. 70-79. 
 L 2
 
 148 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 first hour of our ride was spent in ascending west- 
 wards from the city along watercourses or over rough 
 slopes, which were wholly uncultivated, except here 
 and there where small gardens had been made in 
 the valleys; in these we observed that the vegeta- 
 tion was more advanced than we had found it in 
 Lesbos, and some of the fruit trees were in full leaf. 
 After many windings we reached a gorge, above 
 which rose precipices of grey and red limestone, 
 while the lower slopes were covered with pine trees. 
 The ascent now became extremely steep, and would 
 have presented great difficulties to any but the sure- 
 footed horses of the country. These, however, 
 carried us safely at an unusually rapid pace, for we 
 were not encumbered by baggage, and in less than 
 two hours we reached the monastery. 
 Monastery This building is situated on an irregular level at 
 
 Mme. least IOO ° feet above the sea - Its P osit i on is ex- 
 quisite, for close at its back rise the highest summits 
 of this part of the island, clothed with beautiful vege- 
 tation, and towards the east, in which direction it 
 faces, there is a charming view of the deep-blue sea 
 far below and of the mainland beyond, framed like 
 a vignette between the stern rocks which flank the 
 gorge. In its flourishing days the monastery must 
 have presented an imposing appearance from its ex- 
 tensive structures compactly massed together, and 
 from the houses that form a small village in its 
 neighbourhood ; these latter were intended partly 
 for women, who are not allowed to enter the 
 establishment, and partly for those who come to
 
 Chios. 149 
 
 visit, or to worship at, the holy place. Now, alas ! 
 it is a sight of dismal ruin, for its buildings have 
 been half destroyed by the earthquake, with the 
 exception of the church and the refectory, which 
 escaped owing to the strength of their walls ; and 
 even these are not wholly intact. 
 
 The history of the foundation of this convent is story of its 
 as follows. In the middle of the eleventh century f° undation - 
 three hermits, Niketas, John, and Joseph, established 
 themselves in a cave high up in the mountains of 
 Chios, and while dwelling there frequently saw a 
 light proceeding from a place in the neighbouring 
 forest, which however vanished whenever they ap- 
 proached it ; so they determined to set the trees on 
 fire, feeling sure that, if this portent came from God, 
 the tree in which it appeared would not be con- 
 sumed. This they did, and when the rest of the 
 wood was burnt down, there remained a myrtle- 
 bush, from which was suspended a picture of the 
 Virgin. The pious fathers removed this picture to 
 their cave, but the sacred object refused to remain 
 there, and miraculously returned to the myrtle, near 
 which in consequence they built a humble chapel 
 for its reception. Now it happened at this time that 
 the future emperor of Constantinople, Constantine 
 Monomachus, was living in exile in Lesbos, and it 
 was revealed to the three hermits that he would be 
 raised to the throne. Accordingly they repaired to 
 him, and communicated to him what they had learned 
 with regard to his future destiny. At first he was 
 incredulous, but when they had overcome his doubts,
 
 150 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and had narrated to him their discovery of the icon, 
 which they compared to the history of Moses and 
 the burning bush, he promised, at their request, that 
 if their prediction came true, he would build on the 
 spot a splendid temple to the Virgin. Not long 
 after this, the Empress Zoe, having become a widow 
 for the second time, gave Constantine her hand in 
 marriage, whereupon he fulfilled his vow. The 
 building was finally completed by Theodora, the 
 sister of Zoe. The name of the convent, ' The New 
 Monastery' (Nea Moi/ij), reminds us of that of New 
 College at Oxford, from its permanence in spite of 
 the lapse of ages. At present there are sixty monks, 
 but before the earthquake they numbered a hundred. 
 As they possess considerable property in the lower 
 country, they have hopes of rebuilding their convent, 
 notwithstanding the large sum of money that will be 
 required. 
 The The Hegumen and some of the superior monks 
 
 gave us a friendly greeting, and conducted us to see 
 the church, which stands in the centre of the court. 
 It is entered through a modern porch at the west 
 end ; this leads into the outer nartJiex or ante-chapel, 
 which is lofty and has three cupolas, but is without 
 ornament, except that in the centre of the floor there 
 are patterns in opus Alcxandriuitni. The second 
 narthcx, which is entered from this, is low, and the 
 domes in its roof have no windows or other 
 openings ; the central dome contains in its upper 
 part a representation of the Virgin, and figures of 
 saints standing in a circle below, while other por-
 
 Chios. 1 5 t 
 
 tions of the roof are covered with heads of saints 
 in circular compartments ; all these decorations are 
 in mosaic. A door in the eastern wall of this opens 
 into the body of the church, which is octagonal ; 
 its walls were ornamented with marble slabs, and 
 at each of the angles were double columns, also of 
 marble, but of the original thirty-two only four now 
 remain. In the iconostasis stands a picture of the 
 Virgin, the whole of which except the face is covered 
 with a sheathing of silver; this is the sacred icon 
 which caused this spot to be selected as the site of 
 the monastery, according to the story which has just 
 been related. 
 
 The surface of the upper part of the church was its mosait 
 originally covered with mosaics ; but owing to the 
 injury done, first by the Turks in 1822, who ruined 
 a great part of the central dome, and afterwards by 
 the earthquake, these only partially remain. The 
 subjects which are best preserved are the Baptism 
 of our Lord, the Transfiguration, the Deposition 
 from the Cross, and the Resurrection. The last- 
 named subject, though it bears that title (r\ (Ivdo-rao-is), 
 in reality represents Christ delivering Adam and 
 Eve from Hell ; this mode of treatment is universally 
 found in mediaeval Greek art, and in the West, 
 also, no painter before Giotto represented the Resur- 
 rection as an actual scene. On the bronze doors of 
 the cathedral of Ravello, near Amalfi, which were 
 made by an artist of Trani after a Constantinopolitan 
 original, this subject is treated in the same manner, 
 and whereas the inscriptions for the scenes in the
 
 152 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 other compartments are in Latin, the title of this one 
 is in Greek, and is the same as that which I have 
 given above. The mosaics throughout the church 
 of Nea Mone are coeval with its foundation, and the 
 figures are stiffly designed in sombre colours on a 
 gold ground. Mutilated though they are, they well 
 deserve a visit, for this mode of decoration is rare 
 in the neighbourhood of the Aegean ; indeed, except 
 at Salonica, hardly any other mosaics can be found 
 to rival them. We subsequently saw the refectory, 
 which is now disused. It is a long, bare room, down 
 the centre of which runs a single table, built of stone 
 and brick, and covered with slabs, and the seats on 
 either side of it are constructed in the same way — 
 an arrangement which I had never before seen 
 except in the rock-hewn monasteries of Cappadocia. 
 The chan- The island of Scio is singularly destitute of clas- 
 sical remains ; in fact, the only relic of antiquity 
 that is found in it is the so-called School of Homer. 
 This object is situated near the sea-shore, about five 
 miles northward of the town, and towards it we now 
 bent our steps. When we had reached once more 
 the bottom of the gorge, we struck along the moun- 
 tain sides at a great height above the sea, following 
 terrace paths, which commanded views of extreme 
 beauty. The town of Scio and the gardens in its 
 neighbourhood, with the lower slopes of the moun- 
 tains, lay beneath us, and beyond the blue strait 
 rose the strange peninsula that intervenes between 
 it and the bay of Smyrna, the northern part of which 
 is the range and headland of Mimas, while in the
 
 Chios. 153 
 
 centre is the deep gulf of Erythrae. The northern 
 extremity of the strait is defended by a breakwater 
 of islands, but the narrowest part is towards the 
 south, where lies Cheshmeh, the scene of one of 
 the greatest exploits in the Greek War of Inde- 
 pendence. There it was that the Turkish fleet was 
 lying, when Constantine Canaris approached it, and 
 attached his fire-ship to the admiral's flagship, which 
 in the space of a few minutes was a mass of flames. 
 This event appeared like an act of retribution for 
 the massacres in Chios, for it took place in the June 
 of the same year in which they happened. The 
 following account of it is taken from Finlay : — 
 
 ' On the 18th of June, the last day of Ramazan, in the Canaris 
 year 1822, a number of the principal officers of the and his 
 Othoman fleet assembled on board the ship of the-^ n sn ^' 
 Capitan-pasha to celebrate the feast of Bairam. The 
 night was dark, but the whole Turkish fleet was illu- 
 minated for the festival. Two Greek ships, which had 
 been hugging the land during the day, as if baffled by the 
 wind in endeavouring to enter the Gulf of Smyrna, 
 changed their course at dusk, when their movements 
 could be no longer observed, and bore down into the 
 midst of the Othoman fleet One steered for the 80-gun 
 ship of the Capitan-pasha, the other for the 74 of the 
 Reala Bey. Both these ships were conspicuous in the 
 dark night by the variegated lamps at their mast-heads 
 and yards. The two Greeks were fire-ships. One was 
 commanded by Constantine Kanares, the hero of the 
 Greek Revolution. It is superfluous to say that such a 
 man directed his ship with skill and courage. Calmly 
 estimating every circumstance of the moment, he ran the 
 bowsprit into an open port, and fixed his ship alongside 
 the Capitan-pasha, as near the bows as possible, so as to
 
 154 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Wilhelm 
 Mailer's 
 poem. 
 
 bring the flames to windward of his enemy. He then 
 lighted the train with his own hand, stepped into his boat, 
 where all the crew were ready at their oars, and pushed 
 off as the flames mounted from the deck. The sails and 
 rigging, steeped in turpentine and pitch, were immediately 
 in a blaze, and the Turkish crews were far too much 
 astonished at the sudden conflagration to pay any 
 attention to a solitary boat which rowed rapidly into the 
 shade. The flames, driven by the wind, rushed through 
 the open ports of the lower and upper decks, and 
 filled the great ship with fire roaring like a furnace. 
 Those on board could only save their lives by leaping 
 into the sea. Kara-Ali jumped into one of the boats that 
 was brought alongside to receive him, but before he could 
 quit the side of his ship he was struck by a falling spar 
 and carried dying to the shore V 
 
 This exploit was followed by a second and similar 
 one in the November of the following year, when 
 Canaris set fire to a Turkish line-of-battle ship, that 
 was lying between Tenedos and the mainland, near 
 the anchorage which has subsequently become 
 familiar under the name of Besika Bay. The two 
 daring deeds attracted the attention of Europe, and 
 were celebrated in verse by the German poet, 
 Wilhelm M tiller, who in 1824 composed an epitaph 
 on Canaris, which might serve after his death. The 
 hero, however, postponed the occasion until 1877, 
 when he died as Prime Minister of Greece. As the 
 original poem is not as well known, perhaps, as it 
 ought to be, I introduce it here, together with 
 Aytoun's spirited translation : — 
 
 Konstantin Kanari heiss' ich, der ich lieg' in dieser Graft, 
 Zwei Osmanenflotten hab' ich fliegen lassen in die Luft. 
 1 Finlay, vol. vi. pp. 258, 259.
 
 Chios. 155 
 
 Bin auf meinem Bett gestorben in dem Herrn, als guter Christ : 
 Nur ein Wunsch von dieser Erde noch mit mir beerdigt ist : 
 Dass ich mit der dritten Flotte unsrer Feind' auf hohem Meer 
 Mitten untcr Blitz und Donner in den Tod gefahren war 1 . 
 Hier in freier Erde haben meinen Leib sie eingesenkt — 
 Gib, mein Gott, dass frei sie bleibe, bis mein Leib sie wieder 
 sprengt. 
 
 I am Constantine Canaris, Aytoun s 
 
 I, who lie beneath this stone, 
 Twice into the air in thunder 
 
 Have the Turkish galleys blown. 
 
 In my bed I died — a Christian 
 
 Hoping straight with Christ to be, 
 Yet one earthly wish is buried 
 
 Deep within the grave with me : — 
 
 That upon the open ocean, 
 
 When the third Armada came, 
 They and I had died together, 
 
 Whirled aloft on wings of flame. 
 
 Yet 'tis something that they've laid me 
 
 In a land without a stain : 
 Keep it thus, my God and Saviour, 
 
 Till I rise from earth again. 
 
 For several miles we continued to skirt the upper School of 
 slopes of the mountains, but afterwards a very steep 
 and stony descent commenced towards the lower 
 ground. Shortly before we left the higher regions 
 we passed through the village of Karyes, the houses 
 of which must once have been well built, but were 
 now all in ruins ; the church, however, had been 
 restored, and a beautiful bell-tower, with several 
 store3 r s in the Italian style which prevails in the 
 Cyclades, had been attached to it. At last we reached 
 the shore, and were conducted to a spot where
 
 156 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 stands a rough mass of limestone rock, the upper 
 surface of which has been artificially levelled, 
 forming a table twenty-five feet across. On one 
 side of this a stone bench is cut, and near the end 
 which is furthest from the sea a mass of rock is left, 
 which looks as if it had formed the base of a statue. 
 In the last century, when Chandler saw it, this sup- 
 ported a seated figure of Cybele, with a lion carved 
 on either side and on the back of her chair. The 
 name of the School of Homer which was attached to 
 it is purely fanciful. At the present time neither 
 the statue nor any trace of ornament remains. 
 From this spot we made our way to the city, which 
 we reached at nightfall; and the next morning, 
 finding that a Greek steamer was in the harbour 
 ready to start for Smyrna, we returned once more 
 to that place.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Samos. 
 
 The most convenient route by which Samos may Port of 
 be reached is by way of Ayasolouk (Ephesus) and ^ova 
 the port of Scala Nova, from which, with a favouring 
 wind, it is three or four hours' sail to Vathy, the 
 capital of the island. Accordingly, as this was the 
 next point for which we intended to make, on the 
 morning of April 5 we took the train by the Aidin rail- 
 way from Smyrna to Ayasolouk, and after spending 
 some hours in examining the now well-known ruins, 
 proceeded on horseback to Scala Nova. Our road 
 at first skirted the plain of the Cayster, and then 
 turned southward over low hills, commanding beauti- 
 ful views of the gulf of Scala Nova, from the northern 
 shore of which rise the fine mountains of the main- 
 land, with Chios appearing beyond, while the opposite 
 side is bounded by the lofty broken summits of Samos. 
 It was from these that the island received its name, 
 for Strabo tells us that in early times the word samos 
 signified ' a height ' * ; it is in reality of Phoenician 
 origin, and is found in connexion with settlements 
 of that people in Samothrace and elsewhere. The 
 town of Scala Nova lies in a fold of the hills above a 
 
 1 Strabo, 8. 3. 19, p. 346 ; aafiovs tK&kovv toL vif/T/.
 
 158 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 creek which is protected from the sea by a small 
 headland, while in front of it is an island, sur- 
 rounded in its whole circuit by a wall, with a square 
 fort occupying the highest point in the centre. Not- 
 withstanding its Italian name it has a thoroughly 
 Turkish aspect, presenting a strong contrast to any- 
 thing that can be seen in the islands. The houses 
 are closely packed together, but when seen from 
 the hills above it appears a large place, containing 
 at least 6000 or 7000 people ; the Mahometans form 
 the majority of these, and occupy the Kastro, or 
 fortified enclosure, and some of the suburbs towards 
 the interior, while the Christian population, including 
 several hundred Armenians in addition to the 
 Greeks, inhabit the steep declivities that overhang the 
 port. This quarter is singularly picturesque, since 
 the houses seem piled on one another, and their upper 
 storeys, which are of wood and sometimes elabor- 
 ately carved, project above the precipitous streets 
 at a variety of angles so as almost to meet in the 
 middle. The khan in which we were housed was 
 a regular caravanserai, with an extensive court sur- 
 rounded by stables, above which on two sides ran 
 a wooden gallery, giving entrance to numerous 
 chambers. Within the Kastro was a similar, but 
 more ancient, building with pointed arches of brick- 
 work, which seemed to be frequented by the Ma- 
 hometan traders. 
 The Hitherto our visit to these parts had been ac- 
 
 p ast ' companied by a cold north-east wind, though the 
 sky was cloudless ; it now went round to the west —
 
 Samos. 159 
 
 a change which was agreeable enough in itself, but 
 unfavourable to our voyage, as it blew in the op- 
 posite direction to that in which we were going. 
 However, we hired a small vessel with a lateen sail 
 to take us across to Vathy, expecting to reach that 
 place in the course of the afternoon. Our crew 
 consisted of two men and a boy, the last a charming- 
 looking sailor-lad of twelve years old. Shortly after 
 we started they took their frugal midday meal, which 
 consisted of bread, together with three or four small 
 fried fish, which served for a relish. The fish 
 were an unusual accompaniment to their ordinary 
 fare, since it was the Lenten season, when only 
 bloodless fish, such as mussels and the octopus, are 
 allowed to be eaten ; but we found that this day 
 was the Lady-day of the Greek Church, and on that 
 festival and Palm Sunday (ra @aia) the rule is relaxed 
 in favour of fish, though not of meat. 
 
 At first we sailed close to the wind in the direction Passage to 
 of the northern side of the bay, with the object of 
 making a long tack into the harbour of Vathy, which 
 is not easily reached with a head-wind on account 
 of a promontory which projects on its eastern side ; 
 and as we danced along over the crests of the blue 
 waves, with the mountains around us softened by 
 a gentle haze, and the snowy peaks of Mount Tmolus 
 rising far away in the interior above the depression 
 formed by the plain of the Cayster, we had no wish 
 that our voyage should come to a speedy termination. 
 After three hours, however, we had reason to change 
 our minds, for the wind, which had freshened, and
 
 160 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 dashed the waves over our bows, became too much 
 for our little craft, so that our captain was glad to 
 make for a creek in the northern shore, intending to 
 wait there till midnight, at which hour, so the sailors 
 assured us, the wind would fall. We landed, and 
 wandered about the low hills in the neighbourhood, 
 meeting only a few Turks, the inhabitants of a 
 village on the mountain-side above, who were collect- 
 ing grass for their cattle ; but we afterwards learned 
 that this district is one of the worst in respect of 
 brigandage on the whole of the coast of Asia Minor. 
 The islands, fortunately, are free from this curse, 
 because within a restricted area which offers no out- 
 let a highwayman can easily be hunted down. In 
 the latter part of the day the wind became so violent 
 that we were well contented to be in shelter, but our 
 crew were not mistaken in their weather forecasts. 
 When midnight came, I heard one of them who had 
 been sleeping, rouse himself and say to the others — 
 using the old Biblical Greek expression — 'the sea 
 has ceased ' (eKonaae rj ddXao-o-a). We then started, 
 and found the bay so calm that it was a difficult 
 matter to make any way, until towards daybreak a 
 kindly breeze arose and carried us across to Samos, 
 and up the long and narrow fiord, at the head of 
 which Vathy stands. 
 Town of This place, which, like the chief town in modern 
 y ' Ithaca, and several other spots in Greece, takes its 
 name from the deep waters of its harbour, has 
 within the present century become the capital of the 
 island, instead of the town of Chora, which lies on
 
 Samos. 161 
 
 the southern side, not far from the ruins of ancient 
 Samos. It consists of two parts, which are called 
 Upper and Lower Vathy ; the former of these is 
 situated on steep slopes at a distance of more than 
 half a mile from the sea, while the latter, which is 
 the centre of commerce, and the place of residence 
 of consuls and merchants, is grouped round the 
 port. Its long and well-built quay is an object of 
 which the inhabitants are justly proud, for, with the 
 exception of that of Smyrna, there is no other that 
 can rival it on the coast of Asia Minor. Shortly 
 after landing, we made the acquaintance of the 
 British consul, Mr. Marc, and in his company we 
 paid a visit to the Prince of Samos. Ever since Constitu- 
 1832 this island has been virtually independent o{ hono J, tht 
 the Porte, for it enjoys a constitution of its own and 
 regulates its own affairs, and its governor, who 
 bears the title of Prince, though he is appointed by 
 the Sultan, must be a Christian, and is not remove- 
 able at pleasure, like the ordinary Turkish governors. 
 A small Turkish garrison resides in the place, but it 
 is merely nominal. The island is allowed to have a 
 flag of its own, the colours being red above and blue 
 below, with a cross in the lower part. It pays a 
 fixed annual tribute to the Ottoman Government, but 
 most of this, we were told, is expended on improve- 
 ments in the island. The experiment of establishing 
 such a principality was an interesting one, and it 
 seems to have thoroughly succeeded : being freed 
 from Turkish misrule the inhabitants are contented 
 and prosperous — this at least is what we were 
 
 M
 
 im lie. 
 
 1 62 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 assured on the spot, and all that we saw tended to 
 corroborate it. The present Prince is Caratheodori 
 Pasha, who was one of the representatives of the 
 Porte at the Berlin Congress, and at one time held 
 high office at Constantinople. He is a thoughtful- 
 looking man of about fifty years of age. We found 
 that he spoke English well, and he conversed with 
 us for some time in that language. 
 
 The principal exports of Samos are carobs, oil, 
 and wine — the last-named article being far the most 
 important. This I discovered to my cost on arriving, 
 for some orchid-plants {Scrapias cordigerd), which I 
 had dug up in the course of my wanderings on the 
 previous day, with the view of transporting them to 
 England, were promptly sequestrated for fear lest 
 they should introduce the Phylloxera — a proceeding 
 which would not have surprised one on the frontier 
 of France and Italy, where even an orange is not 
 allowed to pass, but which seemed strange in this 
 remote island. The natives, however, depend so 
 much on the proceeds of their vineyards that even 
 potatoes are forbidden to be imported. All the 
 Samian wine is somewhat sweet with a slight 
 muscat flavour, and it bears mixing with a large 
 quantity of water; it is exported to Genoa, and also 
 to Hamburg and Bremen, and is used for doctoring 
 other wines. Some old wine with which Mr. Marc 
 regaled us was of a splendid quality, and almost a 
 liqueur. When Byron, in his song, 'The Isles of 
 Greece,' exclaimed— 
 
 Fill high the bowl with Samian wine —
 
 Samos. 163 
 
 he evidently intended to select the choicest of all the 
 beverages of these islands. After this it is surpris- 
 ing to learn, as we do expressly from Strabo \ that 
 Samos did not produce good wine in ancient times. 
 The primary object of our visit to this island was The 
 
 to see its classical antiquities, all of which are to \ 3e sout, ' cr " 
 
 coast. 
 
 found in the neighbourhood of the city of Polycrates, 
 and with this view we left Vathy the same afternoon 
 (April 7) for Tigani, a village which is built round 
 the ancient port. The island is narrowest in this 
 part, and the lofty mountain-chain that runs through 
 it forms a low col immediately at the back of the 
 capital ; in consequence of this it only requires two 
 hours and a half to ride from one of these places to 
 the other. Passing through the upper town of Vathy, 
 we mounted by a staircase rather than a road, which 
 commanded fine views of the narrow harbour behind, 
 and in no long time found ourselves on the ridge, 
 and began to descend towards the southern coast. 
 Where the country was cultivated, the ground was 
 covered with olives and carob-trees ; but the greater 
 part of it was clothed with aromatic shrubs, which 
 exhaled delightful odours under the influence of the 
 genial warmth. As we approached the sea, beautiful 
 views opened out of the strait of Mycale, which Strait of 
 separates Samos from the mainland, dotted over M ^ cale - 
 with a few white sails, with the two peaks of the 
 magnificent promontory of that name rising behind ; 
 then, turning westwards, we rode through pine- 
 forests, until Tigani came in view, lying at our feet 
 1 Strabo, 14. r. 15, p. 637. 
 M 2
 
 164 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 on the shore. Before descending to it, we left our 
 horses for a while in order to explore some ruins 
 which were close at hand ; these belonged to the 
 acropolis of the original city, before its circuit was 
 extended so as to include the loftier heights towards 
 the west. The portion of the walls which is best 
 preserved is on the eastern side, and this is in some 
 parts composed of polygonal stones carefully fitted 
 together ; in one place there is a gateway, the head 
 of which is formed by courses of masonry approach- 
 ing one another. 
 Village of The inhabitants of Tigani have shown their enter- 
 Tigani. p r j se by constructing a handsome quay round their 
 harbour, and are now engaged in repairing and com- 
 pleting the two ancient moles which protected it ; the 
 longer of these, which faces the open sea, is the 
 breakwater of which Herodotus spoke in terms of 
 admiration in a passage which will be quoted here- 
 after \ It was no doubt the shape of the enclosed 
 port that suggested its modern name of the ' Frying- 
 pan' (rriydviov), a descriptive appellation which is 
 found applied to a headland in Lemnos, and to 
 a small peninsula west of the Taenarian promontory 
 in the Peloponnese ; in ancient times also, according 
 to Pliny 2 , there was a small island near Rhodes 
 called Teganon. The warmth of the climate is 
 shown by the palm-trees which grow there, and 
 during the night a few mosquitoes made their ap- 
 pearance. We were lodged in a large disused ware- 
 house belonging to Mr. Marc ; and here we had the 
 1 Herod. 3. 60. ' 2 Hist. Nat. 5. 31, 36.
 
 Samos. 1 65 
 
 pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Bent, 
 who occupied other rooms in the same building ; 
 they were engaged in excavating some of the tombs 
 that lie outside the city walls. The warehouse 
 apparently had been originally intended for storing 
 oil, for in the court behind it there were lying thirty- 
 nine earthenware oil-vessels of such dimensions that, 
 had they been set upright, they might easily have 
 accommodated forty thieves save one. 
 
 Directly after our arrival we started to visit the The an- 
 ancient city of Samos, the walls of which we had cunt nty ' 
 seen from the old acropolis on the opposite side of 
 an intervening valley, reaching in a long line down 
 the north-eastern side of a lofty hill. The line of 
 this hill runs parallel to the shore, and the city was 
 built on the slopes which descend from its broad 
 flank to the water, but the fortifications enclosed the 
 whole of the ridge, including the summit at the 
 western end, the height of which is between 700 and 
 800 feet. The point which we first made for was the 
 little monastery of 'Our Lady of the Cave' (Uavayla 
 ^.nr/kiavq), which forms a conspicuous object with its 
 white walls and dark cypresses high up on the bare 
 south face of the hill. On reaching it we were wel- 
 comed by an old monk, who told us that this convent 
 is a dependency of a larger monastery in Amorgos, 
 and showed us the cave, which descends for some 
 distance into the rock behind, and was evidently an 
 ancient quarry. Within it is a little chapel, from which 
 the place derives its name. We then mounted to 
 a depression in the ridge, where was another quarry,
 
 1 66 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and immediately on crossing it came upon the city 
 walls, which are twelve feet thick and have towers 
 at intervals. These we followed up to the summit, 
 where, near the north-west angle of the fortifications, 
 are the finest remains, consisting of numerous courses 
 of masonry, the massive blocks of which almost rival 
 the work of Epaminondas at Messene. From this 
 point the walls descend the mountain side, and are 
 traceable at intervals until they reach the sea ; at one 
 point, not far below the summit, a large tower, the 
 best preserved of all these outworks, now stands 
 alone, though it once formed part of the fortifications. 
 The In returning to Tigani, we made our way down 
 
 theatre. ^ roU gh hill-side until we reached the theatre, which 
 is situated a little way below the monastery; the form 
 of this is clearly traceable, and the arches remain 
 which supported the scena, but few of the seats are 
 in their original position. The dimensions are small, 
 considering the size of the city. It commands a won- 
 derful view over the Sporades and the neighbouring 
 coast of Asia Minor. Looking from it, we can picture 
 to ourselves Polycrates proceeding from the harbour 
 in his galley to drop in the sea the ring, which has 
 added so great an element of romance to his story ; 
 or, extending our view a little further, we can make 
 ourselves present at the battle of Mycale, which was 
 fought on the shores of the strait. Immediately 
 below the theatre, the hill-side breaks into easier 
 declivities, and it was here that the upper part of the 
 ancient city stood, for the ground above is too steep 
 to allow of beinsr built over. This is what Strabo
 
 Samos. 167 
 
 meant, when he described the place as ' lying for the 
 most part on level ground, and washed by the sea, 
 though part of it runs up the mountain-side above V 
 
 The next morning (April 8; was devoted to ex- Tunnel of 
 ploring the aqueduct and tunnel of Eupalinus, the 
 discovery of which has been one of the greatest 
 archaeological triumphs of our generation. But 
 before proceeding thither, it may be well for me to 
 quote the passage of Herodotus in which the his- 
 torian has described it together with the other 
 wonders of Samos. It runs thus in Canon Raw- 
 linson's translation : — 
 
 ' I have dwelt the longer on the affairs of the Samians, 
 because three of the greatest works in all Greece were 
 made by them. One is a tunnel, under a hill 150 fathoms 
 high, carried entirely through the base of the hill, with a 
 mouth at either end. The length of the cutting is seven 
 furlongs, the height and width are each eight feet. Along 
 the whole course there is a second cutting, twenty cubits 
 deep "and three feet broad, whereby water is brought, 
 through pipes, from an abundant source into the city. 
 The architect of this tunnel was Eupalinus, son of Nau- 
 strophus, a Megarian. Such is the first of their great 
 works ; the second is a mole in the sea, which goes all 
 round the harbour, near twenty fathoms deep, and in 
 length above two furlongs. The third is a temple ; the 
 largest of all the temples known to us, whereof Rhoecus, 
 son of Phileus, a Samian, was first architect 2 .' 
 
 About the position of two of these works, the mole m. Guir- 
 and the temple, there never has been any doubt, ^-J*^ °' 
 but this remarkable tunnel is not mentioned by any 
 other ancient author, and all trace of it seemed to 
 1 Strabo, 14. 1. 14, p. 637. 2 Herod. 3. 60.
 
 t68 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 have disappeared. The first person who attempted 
 a systematic exploration was M. Guerin, the author 
 of a book on Patmos and Samos, who visited this 
 island about 1853. He rightly judged that the 
 source of water should be made the starting-point 
 in the investigation, and discovered that there was 
 a copious spring about half a mile from the northern 
 foot of the lofty hill on which the city was built — 
 that is, towards the interior and away from the sea. 
 By digging in the neighbourhood of this he found 
 an underground passage, leading in the direction of 
 the hill-side, in which were earthern pipes intended 
 for the passage of water ; and though it was much 
 blocked up from the soil having fallen in, he traced 
 it nearly to the foot of the hill. He was forced, 
 however, to discontinue the work before arriving at 
 that point, and consequently did not reach the tunnel 
 which Herodotus describes. After all, the real dis- 
 covery was made by accident, and on the opposite 
 side of the mountain. 
 The dis- Seven years ago a priest from the neighbouring 
 
 very ' monastery of Hagia Triada, called Cyril, who pos- 
 sessed a piece of ground not very far from the 
 ancient theatre which I have described, chanced 
 to find an opening, which led into the tunnel near 
 the point where it issued from the mountain-side ; 
 and so great was the enthusiasm aroused in Samos 
 by this discovery that a large sum of money was 
 soon forthcoming with the object of clearing it out 
 and restoring it. As yet, owing to the magnitude 
 of the task, this has not been fully accomplished,
 
 Santos. 169 
 
 but enough has been done to give an accurate idea 
 of the work, and to confirm the statements of 
 Herodotus. We now know that the water was 
 carried underground the whole way from the spring 
 to the heart of the city ; first by the passage which 
 M. Guerin explored, then by the tunnel through the 
 bowels of the mountain which Herodotus describes, 
 and finally by another passage in the direction of 
 the port. There were also independent entrances 
 at either end of the tunnel. The first intelligence 
 of this discovery was sent to the Academy by Mr. 
 Dennis from Smyrna shortly after it was made ; and 
 the place has since been described by Mr. Bent both 
 in the Academy and the Athenaeum l ; and with great 
 fulness of detail by M. Fabricius in the Mittheilungen 
 des deutschen archdologischen Institutes in A then 2 . 
 The following account is that of a passing traveller, 
 and for more exact information I may refer the 
 reader to the authorities above mentioned. 
 
 We started for the tunnel in the company of a Descrip- 
 Chorophylax or gendarme, who proved to be a most u 
 painstaking guide. Before reaching it we found 
 sitting under some trees two monks, one of whom 
 was Cyril, the discoverer of the entrance ; they 
 volunteered to join us, and with this admirable 
 escort we arrived at the opening, which I have 
 mentioned. Candles were now lighted, and when 
 we had descended a little way into the ground, we 
 entered a narrow passage constructed with large 
 
 1 Academy, June 9, 1883; Athenaeum, June 12, 1886. 
 
 2 Vol. ix. pp. 163 foil.
 
 170 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 hewn stones, the upper of which were cut angularly 
 so as to form an arch ; after passing through this, 
 in a short time we found ourselves in the tunnel. 
 This was an excavation seven or eight feet wide, 
 the sides of which curved somewhat outwards ; and 
 about two-thirds of its width was occupied by a foot- 
 way, which ran along by the wall on our left-hand 
 as we proceeded north-westwards in the direction 
 of the source, while the rest of the space was taken 
 up with the channel for the water, the sides of which 
 descended perpendicularly to a depth of thirty feet. 
 This was not open throughout, for spaces remained 
 at intervals where the rubbish which had choked 
 it had not been removed. In the process of clearing 
 it the pipes which served to convey the water were 
 found at the bottom. The height of the roof of the 
 tunnel varied in different parts, for in some places 
 it was eight feet high, or even more ; while in others 
 we had for some distance to stoop in walking. The 
 roof was not arched but flattened, though rounded 
 at the angles; and its surface, though, like that 
 of the rest of the tunnel, it had been cut to a fairly 
 smooth face, was often ridged owing to the character 
 of the rock, as we discovered when our heads came 
 into contact with it in places where our attention was 
 diverted by the risk of slipping into the water-course. 
 Its course The Chorophylcix and the second monk did not 
 accompany us for any great distance, but Cyril 
 conducted us as far as a point where a considerable 
 quantity of water had collected on the path, and 
 about which were the remains of stalactites. When 
 
 under 
 
 ground.
 
 Samos. 171 
 
 the place was first explored a great quantity of these 
 had to be broken away before the passage could 
 be cleared. Here, also, strange to say, a large 
 piece of a fluted column was lying half-immersed in 
 the water, showing apparently that at one time 
 a small sacrarium must have existed on the spot. 
 We now proceeded alone, until we reached a place 
 where the height of the tunnel was greater than 
 before, and both tunnel and water-course made a 
 bend ; on the further side of this the passage was 
 obstructed, the clearing not having been continued 
 further in this direction. As our progress thus far 
 had occupied twenty minutes, we could not have 
 been far from the middle of the tunnel, for its length 
 is probably less, certainly not more, than the seven 
 furlongs at which Herodotus estimates it. The 
 change in the elevation which has just been men- 
 tioned, coinciding as it does with an alteration in the 
 course of the tunnel, renders it almost certain that 
 this was the meeting-point of two working parties, 
 and that the excavation was carried on simultaneously 
 from the two ends. In the case of the conduit of 
 the pool of Siloam at Jerusalem — a smaller under- 
 taking than this, but one that affords a singularly in- 
 teresting parallel — this is known to have been done, 
 from its being recorded in the famous inscription 
 which was lately found there. A comparison of the 
 two gives proof of greatly superior engineering skill 
 in the execution of the Samian work, and suggests 
 that it cannot date from a period of very remote 
 antiquity.
 
 172 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 other We now retraced our steps, but before we reached 
 
 the entrance we noticed a number of cuttings or 
 niches in the side of the rock, which probably were 
 resting-places for lamps, since earthenware lamps 
 were found in them ; and in one place a deeper 
 hollow had been made, concerning which it has 
 been conjectured that it was intended to receive the 
 tools of the workmen. Near the point where the 
 transverse passage by which we entered meets the 
 tunnel, a section of the rock was left, so as to form 
 a wall across the passage ; here no doubt there was 
 originally a gate, for at the side it was pierced by 
 a hole, through which a person desiring admission 
 might call. During the forty minutes that we re- 
 mained underground we found the air warm, but 
 nowhere close or foul. The tunnel is continued 
 by a subterranean passage, which runs parallel to 
 the mountain-side in the direction of the port ; this 
 has been excavated as far as the theatre, but its 
 exit into the city has not yet been found. Its course 
 may be traced above ground by the stone-cased 
 openings, resembling large vents, that form the 
 heads of the shafts, through which, both in ancient 
 and modern times, the earth and rubbish were re- 
 moved from below. 
 The The point that we next made for was the northern 
 
 northern entrance f t h e tunnel ; and in order to reach this 
 
 entrance. 
 
 we crossed the mountain under the guidance of the 
 Chorophylax, and descended to a point beneath the 
 north-west angle of the city walls, where another 
 opening had been made. By this the roof of the
 
 Samos. 1 73 
 
 underground passage leading from the spring has 
 been broken through from above, just where it 
 makes a sharp turn at its junction with the tunnel ; 
 the tunnel itself is blocked with debris a little way 
 beyond its mouth. In the steep hill-side close above, 
 an arched entrance, flanked with stone walls, has 
 been discovered, corresponding to that through which 
 we had first passed on the southern side, only here 
 the gallery is longer, and runs at first above the 
 tunnel, instead of striking it transversely. We 
 penetrated into it for a quarter of an hour, until 
 the passage became extremely narrow, and the 
 water that had collected in it reached nearly to 
 our knees; here it appeared useless to proceed 
 further, and turning round with some difficulty, we 
 returned to our starting-point. In one place a hole 
 in the floor, which in the dim light of our candles 
 required to be passed with great care, seemed to 
 communicate, through a shaft or otherwise, with the 
 tunnel below ; but we had no means of discovering 
 where is the ultimate point of junction of the two. 
 The underground passage which brought the water 
 from the spring has been completely cleared out, 
 so that it is possible to pass from one end to the 
 other. Owing to the nature of the ground its course 
 was very irregular, for it was carried round the 
 heads of two small valleys, where we traced it from 
 outside by the openings of the shafts, which were 
 constructed in the same way as those which I have 
 already described. The fountain, which is close The 
 to the commencement of the passage, but has now^""'"'"'
 
 1 74 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 no communication with it, lies beneath a small 
 chapel of St. John the Baptist ; the reservoir which 
 contains it, is of ancient construction. In the middle 
 of the floor of the chapel there is a square wooden 
 cover, and when this is removed the water can be 
 seen welling out in a large volume. 
 Questions Two questions naturally suggest themselves in con- 
 'wtihiL nexion with this interesting work. First ; what was 
 the object of boring such a tunnel, with enormous 
 expenditure of labour, through the rock, when, so far 
 as the position of the ground is concerned, the water 
 might have been carried in an open channel round the 
 flank of the mountain into the city? We naturally 
 conjecture that it was to secure the water supply in 
 case of war ; but then we are met by the difficulty 
 that the spring was situated some way outside the walls, 
 and consequently was in the power of an attacking 
 force. I can only suggest that the source may have been 
 completely concealed from view, and at the time of 
 M. Guerin's visit it was so, for in order to discover it 
 one of the flags of the pavement had to be removed. 
 This idea is rendered probable by the fact that the 
 water was carried underground to the foot of the 
 mountain. If this was the case, the existence of the 
 source, and probably that of the tunnel also, must 
 have been a state secret, confined to a few persons ; 
 otherwise the city would have been at the mercy of 
 every traitor. Secondly; what explanation is to be 
 given of the extraordinary depth of the water-way, 
 which so far exceeds all the requirements of the sup- 
 ply ? To this question the only satisfactory answer
 
 Samos. 175 
 
 is to be found in the suggestion of M. Fabricius, that 
 as the depth is more remarkable in the southern part 
 of the channel, which is furthest from the source, it 
 may have been deepened as the work proceeded in 
 consequence of insufficient allowance having been 
 originally made for the fall of the water'. 
 
 Leaving the spring, we descended the valley in The temple 
 which its water now runs, and at its narrowest part ^ Hera ' 
 passed the broken arches of a Roman aqueduct which 
 here crossed it ; this would seem to have been con- 
 structed at a time when the supply of water that was 
 brought into the town by way of the tunnel was 
 found insufficient. Hence we emerged into a wide 
 rich plain extending to the sea, at the head of which 
 stands the town of Chora, which until recently was 
 the capital of the island ; this plain we crossed dia- 
 gonally in the direction of the Heraeum, which is 
 situated on the seashore, about four miles west of 
 Tigani, its position being easily traceable from a 
 distance by the single column that is now standing. 
 The ruins have been partially excavated, the work 
 having been begun by M. Paul Girard in 1879, and 
 resumed for a time by M. Clerc in 1883 2 ; but the 
 progress hitherto made is not sufficient to enable us 
 to speak with confidence either of the dimensions or 
 the character of the building. The portion which 
 has been chiefly laid bare is the wall and the bases 
 
 1 A practical engineer, to whom the facts were mentioned, at 
 once, and without hesitation, assigned this as the cause. 
 
 - Bulletin de Correspondance hellc'nique, vol. iv. pp. 383-394 ; 
 vol. ix. pp. 505-509.
 
 176 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 /fivers 
 
 Imbrasos 
 
 and 
 
 Chesios. 
 
 of the columns of the eastern end, and especially of 
 the north-eastern angle ; part of the white marble 
 floor, and the bases of some of the columns that 
 belonged to the interior of the building, have also 
 been uncovered. It seems to have faced east and 
 west, and to have been a dipteral octastyle of the 
 Ionic order, with a frontage of 165 feet ; it must thus 
 have been one of the largest Greek temples — pro- 
 bably the largest existing in the time of Herodotus, 
 if the building which he mentions corresponded in 
 size to this one. The remains which we see appear 
 to be of a later date, with the exception of the 
 standing column, which may have formed part of 
 the original structure. This object, however, forms 
 a very puzzling feature, for it is not fluted, and its 
 broad, bulging base, together with part of the drum 
 above it, are channelled with a number of horizontal 
 flutings varying in size. It consists of twelve white 
 marble drums without the capital, while the base is 
 of grey marble. A peculiar effect is produced by 
 the drums being irregularly super-imposed on one 
 another, having been shaken out of place by an 
 earthquake, or — according to an old story which 
 Tournefort mentions, and which still finds its sup- 
 porters — by cannon balls fired at it by the Turks. 
 
 A small vessel happened to be lying off the beach 
 close by, having just been laden with carob-pods, 
 which were destined to be exported to Savona, near 
 Genoa. As this was on the point of starting for 
 Tigani, our Chorophylax preferred to avail himself of 
 this mode of transit, while we ourselves returned on
 
 Samos. 177 
 
 foot along the seashore. At no great distance from 
 the temple we reached a clear stream, which was of 
 sufficient width to render wading necessary. This 
 is now called Potoki, and was in ancient times the 
 Imbrasos, on the banks of which, according to the 
 local legend which is given by Pausanias, Hera was 
 born beneath a bush of agnus castus \ Further on, 
 as we approached the site of the ancient city, we 
 crossed two others, both of which admitted of being 
 jumped. They belonged to the ancient Chesios, 
 from the neighbourhood of which river the western 
 quarter of the city was called Chesias, while the 
 eastern portion, which included the original acro- 
 polis, was named Astypalaea. Between these streams 
 and the city walls lay the tombs, which Mr. Bent was 
 at this time exploring. In the course of the afternoon 
 we once more reached our head-quarters at Tigani. 
 
 1 Pausan. 7. 4. 4.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Patmos. 
 
 Voyage to In passing from Samos to Patmos we leave a 
 latinos. j anc j Q f c i ass j ca i archaeology for one the interest of 
 which is wholly Biblical and ecclesiastical. Before 
 the Christian era the name of Patmos only occurs in 
 a few passages of ancient writers, and of its history, 
 if it had one, nothing is known ; it was when it 
 became the place of banishment of St. John the 
 Divine, and the scene of his apocalyptic vision, that 
 it once for all attracted the attention of mankind. 
 At the present day it is one of the least accessible of 
 the Aegean islands, for owing to its remote position 
 and the unproductiveness of its soil no steamers 
 ever touch there. In order to reach it we engaged 
 a good-sized decked vessel, for though we hoped 
 after visiting it to arrive at the neighbouring island 
 of Leros in time for the Austrian packet which 
 touches there on its way from Smyrna to Rhodes, 
 yet it was necessary to be prepared for a longer 
 voyage, since, if the weather was unpropitious, we 
 might be forced to continue our course southwards 
 to Calymnos, or even to Cos. Early on the morning 
 of April 9 we left the harbour of Tigani ; and a
 
 Patmos. 179 
 
 favouring breeze carried us along the southern coast 
 of Samos, where the two highest summits were in 
 view — Mount Ampelos, which rises behind the 
 Heraeum, and descends to the cape which is called 
 Colona from the standing column of that temple ; 
 and, towards the west, Mount Kerkis, the ancient 
 Kerketeus, which is the loftiest point in any of the 
 islands on this side of the Aegean, excepting Samo- 
 thrace, being 4725 feet above the sea. After this we 
 sailed between groups of islands unknown to fame, 
 and at last in the course of the afternoon passed Cape 
 Geranos, the north-eastern headland of Patmos. We 
 then penetrated into the harbour, which forms the 
 innermost part of a deep bay on the eastern coast, and 
 is so landlocked that frequent tacking was required 
 in order to enter it. Long before we arrived, the 
 monastery of St. John, which is the most conspicuous 
 building in the island, had been in sight, crowning 
 the summit of a high hill, like a vast sombre castle, 
 with the white houses of the town clustered round 
 it ; behind this rose the peak of Hagios Elias, which 
 reaches the elevation of more than 800 feet. The 
 scala, or village at the landing-place, has a very pecu- 
 liar appearance, for each of the small two-storeyed 
 houses of which it is composed resembles a square, 
 flat-topped box, as white as whitewash can make it. 
 This mode of building prevails throughout this island, 
 and, as we afterwards found, in those that lie to the 
 southward of it. 
 
 In shape Patmos may be roughly described as Descrip- 
 forming a crescent, the horns of which face eastward; 2S«f/ 
 n 2
 
 i8o 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 but its outline is broken up by innumerable promon- 
 tories enclosing landlocked creeks, so that, when 
 seen from above, it presents somewhat the aspect of 
 a strange polypus. Its length from north to south is 
 about eight miles, and its area is rugged and broken; 
 but the most marked peculiarity is that it is almost 
 divided in two in the middle, for in this part, within 
 
 J* 
 
 -r.T PAT MO S 
 
 a distance of little more than half a mile from one 
 another, are two isthmuses only a few hundred yards 
 wide, and rising but slightly above the sea-level. On 
 the southernmost of these the scala is situated, while 
 between the two stands the steep hill on which the 
 acropolis of the Hellenic city was built. The narrow 
 waist thus formed serves for a boundary line to 
 determine the domain of the monastery, for while
 
 Patmos. 181 
 
 the southern half of the island belongs to the monks, 
 the northern part is the possession of the civil 
 community. At the time of the foundation of the 
 convent no women were allowed to pass this limit, 
 but within a short period the restriction had to be 
 abandoned. The soil of which the island is composed Volcanic 
 is everywhere volcanic and very barren, and its s<nl ' 
 coasts are flanked by red and grey rocks, which ever 
 and anon break into quaint pinnacles. The absence 
 of running water is shown by the numerous wind- 
 mills, and there are only three or four wells in the 
 whole area ; the want of these, however, is made up 
 for by cisterns, and the inhabitants are never obliged 
 to import water, as sometimes happens in Santorin. 
 The male population are chiefly employed in the 
 sponge fishery, which is carried on in many of the 
 Sporades. The island is most commonly known by 
 its mediaeval name of Patino, in like manner as 
 Astypalaea is still called Astropalaea, and Carpathos 
 Scarpanto. 
 
 Leaving our baggage to be carried up to the Monastery 
 monastery of St. John, which is a mile and a half Apocalypse. 
 from the scala, we ourselves proceeded to the smaller 
 monastery of the Apocalypse, which occupies a steep 
 position on the mountain-side about one-third of the 
 distance in the same direction, and is the spot pointed 
 out by tradition as the scene of the Revelation. It is 
 entered from the back, and from this point the visitor 
 descends among a variety of buildings by numerous 
 stone staircases, the steps of which are forty in 
 number. At the lowest point, though still at a con-
 
 1 82 77?^ Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 The cave, siderable height above the valley below, is the cave 
 which forms the chapel of the Apocalypse. This is 
 entered through a church dedicated to St. Anne, which 
 is built outside and parallel to the mouth of the cave, 
 and consists.like the chapel, of two parts— a narthex or 
 porch, and the sacred building itself. The iconostasis 
 at the further end of this church is ornamented with 
 pictures of St. Anne, of our Lord, and of the Panagia, 
 and is surmounted by an elaborate rood-screen, while 
 against the outer wall a representation of the Entomb- 
 ment, richly embroidered on velvet, is hung in a 
 glass case ; this was a gift from Russia. The chapel 
 of the Apocalypse, which is formed by the bare sides 
 and roof of the cave, is about twenty-two feet in 
 length by fifteen feet in breadth. In one part of the 
 roof a rent is pointed out, where the rock was broken 
 at the commencement of the Revelation, and from a 
 somewhat deeper cleft in this the Divine voice is said 
 to have proceeded ; nor does the process of identifica- 
 tion stop here, for a hole in the wall close below this 
 is believed to have been the place where St. John's 
 head lay. 
 Futures in The pictures in the iconostasis of this chapel are 
 the Chapel. worthy Q f not i C e. In the left hand compartment is a 
 Jesse tree, in which the Virgin and Child are the 
 most prominent objects ; but figures of prophets 
 and saints are seen in the branches. The central 
 picture represents our Lord appearing to St. John, 
 who lies at his feet as dead. In this, Christ is seated 
 in the midst of seven angels, who bear in their hands 
 seven churches, while a candlestick stands in front of
 
 Patmos. 183 
 
 each of them. A sword proceeds out of his mouth, 
 and in his right hand are seven stars, in his left hand 
 the two keys of hell and of death. The third is 
 divided into three sections, the first of which presents 
 a figure of the founder of the great monastery, St. 
 Christodoulos ; in the second the disciples of St. John 
 are represented as laying his body in a tomb, while 
 he himself is being taken up to heaven, such being 
 the tradition of the Greek Church with regard to his 
 death ; while in the third St. John is listening to the 
 divine inspiration, and a disciple is writing from his 
 dictation. The monk who pointed out these objects 
 to us was a simple, pleasant man, and had a full 
 belief in the genuineness of the local traditions. 
 Though he belonged to the great monastery, he had 
 lived here, together with some members of his family, 
 for the last eight years, and they were the sole 
 occupants of the building. To their credit be it said, 
 the whole place was scrupulously clean. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I must make mention The' Acts 
 of a work which has exercised a great influence on^' "•' ° r 
 the traditions of Patmos, the ' Acts of St. John ' 
 attributed to Prochorus, one of the seven deacons. 
 This narrative, the text of which is given in full in 
 Zahn's Acta Johannis, was probably composed in the 
 first half of the fifth century ; for a time it was much 
 used in the Eastern Church, and its popularity is 
 attested by the numerous versions of it that exist — in 
 Latin, in Old Slavonic, in Coptic, and in Armenian. 
 Of its apocryphal character there can be no doubt, 
 for, not to mention other proofs, the writer was wholly
 
 1 84 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 ignorant of the position, size, and nature of Patmos ; 
 he makes it nine days' sail from Ephesus, and con- 
 ceives of it as a large and populous island, hardly 
 smaller than Sicily. The story commences with the 
 departure of John from Judaea on a mission to the 
 province of Asia, on which Prochorus accompanied 
 him, and after describing his sojourn at Ephesus, 
 relates in full detail his banishment to Patmos and 
 residence there. Two of the incidents that are 
 mentioned deserve notice here, because they will be 
 referred to later on. 
 Story of The first of these is the contest of St. John with 
 
 magician. Kynops, a magician who inhabited a cave in a desolate 
 part of the island. It runs as follows. When the 
 priests of the temple of Apollo in Patmos found that 
 Johnwas converting all the leading men to Christianity, 
 they came to Kynops to request him to put an end to 
 his influence ; and in consequence of this, Kynops, 
 in the presence of a great multitude, displayed his 
 magical powers in a variety of ways as a challenge to 
 John, and finally cast himself into the sea, intending 
 to reappear from it, as he had done on several former 
 occasions. But John, extending his arms in the form 
 of a cross, exclaimed, ' O thou who did'st grant to 
 Moses by this similitude to overthrow Amalek, O 
 Lord Jesus Christ, bring down Kynops to the deep 
 of the sea ; let him never more behold this sun, nor 
 converse with living men.' And at John's word 
 immediately there was a roaring of the sea, and the 
 water formed in an eddy at the place where Kynops 
 went down, and Kynops sank to the bottom, and after
 
 Patmos. 1 85 
 
 this reappeared no more from the sea. The name of 
 the magician is now attached to one of the southern 
 promontories of Patmos, a wild and precipitous 
 locality, and in one part of it a cavern is shown which 
 is reported to have been his dwelling-place. 
 
 The other incident relates to the composition of John dic- 
 St. John's Gospel, which is associated with the Co%fl "' 
 Apostle's departure from the island at the end of his 
 term of banishment. When the people of Patmos, 
 whom he had converted, found that he was about to 
 leave them, they begged him to deliver to them in 
 writing a narrative of the miracles of the Son of 
 God which he had seen, and of His words which he 
 had heard, that they might remain steadfast in the 
 faith. Prochorus then narrates how he went with 
 John to a tranquil spot by a low hill a mile distant 
 from the city; and, after long fasting and prayer, 
 John caused Prochorus to seat himself by his side 
 with paper and ink, and then, standing and looking 
 up steadfastly into heaven, dictated to him the 
 Gospel, commencing with the words, ' In the begin- 
 ning was the Word.' The interest of this story — 
 which is in direct contradiction to all the early 
 traditions relating to this Gospel — arises from its 
 having been a suggestive subject for early works of 
 art. The figures of an aged man, who is standing, Treatment 
 dictating to a youth who is seated, in the midst of 
 rural surroundings, are found, for instance, in a 
 Greek MS. of the Gospels in the Vatican, figured in 
 Agincourt's History of Art (Painting, pi. lix), in the 
 Codex Ebnerianus in the Bodleian, in the facsimile
 
 1 86 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Ruined 
 
 school 
 
 buildings. 
 
 from an Armenian MS. in Professor Westwood's 
 Palaeographia Sacra, and in one of the MSS. in the 
 monastery at Patmos. Strange to say, in the nar- 
 rative of Prochorus in its original form, there is not 
 a word about the Apocalypse. In some of the later 
 MSS. of the 'Acts of St. John,' however, there is an 
 interpolated passage, evidently adapted from the 
 story of the composition of the Gospel, in which that 
 book is said to have been dictated by the Apostle to 
 Prochorus in a cave in Patmos. It was thus, no 
 doubt, that the grotto which we have visited was 
 fixed upon as the scene of this event, and it is pos- 
 sible that the picture on the iconostasis is intended 
 to describe it. It is noticeable, that in the Guide to 
 Painting of Dionysius of Agrapha, which from an 
 unknown period of the Middle Ages to the present 
 day has determined the mode of treatment of sacred 
 subjects in art in the Eastern Church, it is prescribed 
 that the scene both of the Revelation and of the com- 
 position of the Gospel shall be a cave ; but whereas 
 in the latter subject Prochorus is to be introduced 
 as the scribe, in the former the Apostle is to be 
 represented alone \ 
 
 Just outside the entrance gate of the convent of 
 the Apocalypse stand the ruined buildings of a school 
 which formerly was resorted to by numerous students 
 from the neighbouring islands. About thirty years 
 ago it was given up, owing to the competition of 
 schools that had sprung up elsewhere. Leaving 
 this, we now proceeded upwards by a rough road 
 
 1 Didron, Manuel d ' Iconographie chre'tienne, pp. 238, 304-307.
 
 Patmos. 187 
 
 composed of blocks of trachyte until we arrived at 
 the town, and, passing through it by a succession of 
 steep zigzags, reached the entrance to the great 
 monastery of St. John. The likeness of this to a 
 castle increases as you approach, owing to the mas- 
 siveness of the walls and buttresses, and the projec- 
 tions, resembling towers, at the angles. Here we 
 were welcomed by the Hegumen, and conducted to 
 a simple monastic chamber, which was destined for 
 our reception. 
 
 With the exception of one or two Greek monas- Monastery 
 
 ... . ., . , . , c of St. John. 
 
 tenes which are built in the interior oi caverns — 
 such as those of Megaspelaeon in the Morea and 
 Sumelas at the back of Trebizond — none that I 
 can remember is so closely and strangely packed 
 together as that of St. John on Patmos ; its stair- 
 cases are quite a puzzle, and passages occur in the 
 most unexpected places, and diverge in a variety of 
 directions. The court round which it is built is very 
 irregular in shape, and several pointed arches are 
 thrown across it to strengthen the buildings on either 
 side : within it are numerous cisterns for storing 
 water and troughs for washing. The upper part is 
 a wilderness of chimneys, bells, domes, and battle- 
 ments. A pavement of tiles or flags covers the flat 
 roof, or rather roofs, for different parts have different 
 levels, and the communication between these is made 
 by steps constructed at various angles. Among them 
 the domes of chapels project at intervals, and at one 
 point stand three large bells, one of which has an 
 inscription in Latin, another in Russian. The voices
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of these we heard in the middle of the night, calling 
 the community to prayers, after the door of each 
 chamber had first been vigorously knocked, and the 
 semantron, or alarum used in the Greek Church, had 
 been sounded in the corridors. The number of 
 monks is thirty, and they are all natives of Patmos. 
 They possess farms in Crete, Samos, and Santorin, 
 but at the present time they complain of poverty. 
 The foundation of the monastery dates from the 
 latter half of the eleventh century, when a monk 
 named Christodoulos, who had been an inmate of 
 several convents, and found none of them sufficiently 
 strict in their rules to satisfy his own ascetic tem- 
 perament, obtained from the Emperor Alexius Com- 
 nenus a concession of the island of Patmos, confirmed 
 by a golden bull, that he might establish there a com- 
 munity regulated according to his ideas of monastic 
 life. We are expressly told that for some time before 
 the island had been uninhabited, and this fact must 
 be taken into account in estimating the value of the 
 local traditions. 
 Panorama The panorama from the roof of the monastery, to 
 stti jro w hi c h j ascended on the morning after my arrival, is 
 truly wonderful. The greater part of the strange 
 island, with its varied heights and irregular outline, 
 is visible, and, along with it, the wide bay, which is 
 embraced by its rocky arms. Toward the north ap- 
 peared the level line of Icaria, the peaks of Samos, 
 and the promontory of Mycale ; and, in the opposite 
 direction, the island of Leros, beyond which rose the 
 fine summits of Calymnos ; while in the open expanse
 
 Patmos. 189 
 
 of the Aegean to the west lay Amorgos, and the 
 distant volcano of Santorin. In addition to this, the 
 sea was studded with numerous islets, and these, 
 together with the intervening spaces of deep blue 
 water, formed the pervading feature of the scene. 
 Such was the view which, with frequent changes from 
 day to night, and from sunshine to storm, must have 
 been present to St. John at the period of his banish- 
 ment ; and it is an interesting question whether the 
 impression which it made upon him is traceable in 
 the imagery of the Revelation. The subject is one 
 which may easily lead to fanciful speculation ; and 
 Dean Stanley, whose mind was singularly open to 
 local influences, and could trace their working with 
 great felicity, in this instance seems to have yielded 
 to the temptation in an eloquent passage on Patmos 
 in the Notices appended to his Sermons in the East 1 . 
 There he goes so far as to suppose that the dragon, 
 and the beasts with many heads and monstrous 
 figures, were suggested by the serpentine form of 
 the island and its rocks contorted into fantastic and 
 grotesque forms. Still the references to the sea in 
 the Apocalypse — even if we exclude from considera- Suited to 
 tion, as we ought to do, those passages where the ^/^ff' 
 sea is introduced, like the earth and sky, as one of 
 the constituents of creation — are frequent and striking; 
 and still more so is the introduction of the islands 
 (Rev. vi. 14 : ' Every mountain and island were moved 
 out of their places;' xvi.20: 'Every island fled away'); 
 for these objects rarely occur in Biblical imagery, 
 1 p- 230.
 
 190 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and in the Old Testament the expression 'the isles' 
 signifies rather a region than a feature in geography 
 or landscape. But even if we hesitate to admit the 
 direct suggestiveness of such points as these, we 
 may, at least, feel that the scenery of this island, 
 from its grandeur and wildness, and the sense of 
 space and solitude which it conveys, was well suited 
 to form a background in the mind's eye of the seer 
 for the wonderful visions of the Apocalypse. 
 The The first place of interest in the monastery which 
 
 Library. wg v j s j tec j was t he library. This is a spacious and 
 airy room, and the books are arranged in cases along 
 its walls, so that it presents a very different appear- 
 ance from what Dr. E. D. Clarke described, when he 
 saw it at the beginning of this century, and carried 
 off some of the most valuable of the works that it 
 contained. At the present time its most precious 
 Codex N. treasure is the famous Codex N., a quarto MS. of 
 the sixth century, with double columns, written on 
 purple vellum in uncial letters in silver, with the 
 names of God and Christ in gold. The portion 
 which is here preserved consists of thirty-three 
 leaves, and contains the greater part of St. Mark's 
 gospel ; but its interest is increased by the fact that 
 other fragments of the same MS., containing portions 
 of the other gospels, exist elsewhere — six leaves in 
 the Vatican, four in the British Museum, and two at 
 Vienna. Strange to say, the MS. which resembles it 
 most nearly, both in its externals and its text, is the 
 Codex Rossanensis (2), which belongs to the monas- 
 tery of Rossano in Calabria, not far distant from the
 
 Patmos. 1 9 1 
 
 site of the ancient Sybaris. So close is the corres- 
 pondence between the two in respect of their peculiar 
 readings, that it is thought they may both have been 
 copied directly from a common original \ The Ros- 
 sanensis also is a codex piirpnrco-argcnteus, a kind of 
 manuscript which is very rare — rarer even, according 
 to Professor Westwood, than those which are written 
 entirely in gold letters. 
 
 Next in importance to Codex N. is a MS. of the other 
 book of Job, which is attributed by Mr. Coxe to the Mss ' 
 seventh or eighth century 2 . It is a very large folio, 
 and is written on vellum in uncial letters, with illus- 
 trations inserted in the pages ; these appeared to me 
 of great value for the study of mediaeval art, having 
 much more originality than is usually found in By- 
 zantine work. Among them are groups represent- 
 ing Job's sons and daughters, figures of stags and 
 other animals, and scenes from Job's history ; and 
 these were not illuminated on the conventional gold 
 ground, and in some parts were drawn in outline. 
 There are also two Books of the Gospels in small 
 quarto, with the original binding, one of which has 
 the emblems of the evangelists in silver gilt at the 
 corners, with the figure of Christ on the cross in the 
 centre, while the other, which is bound in red silk, 
 has the heads of the evangelists in silver. Both 
 possess full-page illuminations of the evangelists, but 
 
 1 See Prof. Sanday on the Cod. Rossan. in Stadia Biblka, 
 No. VI. 
 
 2 Report to Her Majesty's Government on the Greek MSS. yet 
 remaining in the Libraries of the Levant, p. 27.
 
 192 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 in the latter of the two the picture of St. John is 
 wanting : in the former he is represented, as I have 
 already described, as dictating the gospel to Pro- 
 chorus. We were also shown a semi-uncial MS. of 
 the works of St. Gregory of Nazianzus with the date 
 942 ; this was much defaced by damp. Not the least 
 Bull of interesting object is the original bull of Alexius Com- 
 Comnenus. nenus > authorising the foundation of the monastery. 
 The dimensions of this are about 9 ft. long by 16 in. 
 wide, and it is on paper, which has been mounted on 
 linen ; the writing is large, and the emperor's signa- 
 ture, and words inserted by him, are in red ink. 
 The great Let me now describe the great church of the 
 monastery. This is entered through an outer porch, 
 or proaulion, which runs the whole length of the 
 west end of the building, and is open to the court, 
 being supported on the outer side by marble 
 columns. In one part of this there is a rude font, 
 intended to contain the holy water that is used 
 on the festival of the Epiphany. Its walls are 
 frescoed with sacred subjects, among which may 
 be seen the warrior saints, St. George and St. 
 Demetrius, and St. Artemius with Constantine and 
 Helen. In one part stands Alexius Comnenus in 
 robe and crown, bearing a cross in his hand ; in 
 another the magician Kynops is throwing himself 
 into the water, while on the opposite side of the . 
 picture is the aged St. John with his followers. 
 In the eastern wall of this corridor there are three 
 doorways, two of which lead into the church, and the 
 third into a chapel of St. Christodoulos. The
 
 Patmos. 193 
 
 church is entered through a narthex, and is ex- 
 tremely dark, the only light being that which is 
 admitted from the cupola and through a side chapel. 
 The central dome is supported on four pillars, and 
 contains a fresco of the Saviour ; the floor beneath 
 is ornamented with stone mosaic. The iconostasis 
 is richly carved with figures, fruit, and flowers, and 
 the lecterns are inlaid with tortoise-shell and mother- 
 of-pearl. There are two ancient paintings of St. 
 John— one large and the other small — but both 
 much defaced by time and the devotion of worship- 
 pers ; and a small triptych of the period of the 
 founder is shown, with very delicate paintings of 
 Scripture subjects. In the chapel the body of St. 
 Christodoulos lies in a niche which has been hoi- Relics of 
 lowed out in the side wall ; it is enclosed in a case, 
 but the face is visible. His shoes and his staff are 
 preserved as relics ; the former are made of coarse 
 brown leather, and much worn, while the latter — 
 a pateritsa — is in two parts, one of which has the 
 cross-piece attached to it, which is sometimes used 
 for leaning on during service in the monasteries. 
 The monks also show the chain by which St. John 
 was bound as a prisoner ; but the spurious character 
 of this, as of all the memorials of St. John in the 
 island, is made more conspicuous by the genuineness 
 of most things connected with the founder. 
 
 The refectory is a large and lofty room, with a Refectory 
 vaulted roof and central dome, and a long stone ^ ic ^ en 
 table runs down the middle, resembling that which 
 we noticed at Nea Mone in Chios ; but the seats 
 
 o
 
 194 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 here are of wood, resting at intervals upon stone 
 supports. It is now disused, owing to the system 
 of common meals having been given up, but some 
 frescoes remain to testify to its former grandeur. 
 Adjoining it is a kitchen of equally massive con- 
 struction, with a single fireplace surmounted by 
 a chimney running up to the top of the monastery, 
 like a rude funnel of irregular shape. 
 ' The When we left the monastery we descended towards 
 
 Garden of 
 
 the Saint.' the western coast of the island, until, at the end 
 of half an hour, a creek came in view, and on its 
 shore a small level of cultivated land, which is 
 known by the name of ' The Garden of the Saint ' 
 (<> Krjnos roil 6o-iov). It measures about a quarter of 
 a mile each way, and contains a chapel and a few 
 dwelling-houses ; but the fame which it enjoys is due 
 to its possessing one of the few fountains in the 
 island, and this is said to have issued from the 
 ground in answer to the prayers of St. Christodoulos. 
 From this point we made our way along the rugged 
 slopes until we reached the inlet at the back of the 
 scala, on the further side of which rises the height 
 
 The that was occupied by the acropolis of the ancient 
 
 city. The situation of this, as I have already de- 
 scribed, is remarkable, since it stands between two 
 isthmuses and two seas. When we arrived at its 
 foot, we proceeded to climb its steep south-western 
 face, and not far from the summit came upon 
 the remains of fortifications, which were mainly 
 formed of polygonal blocks roughly put together ; 
 but when we had crossed over to the opposite side,
 
 Patmos. 195 
 
 we found a line of walls and towers in much better 
 preservation, as many as six courses of masonry 
 remaining in many parts. The site was well chosen 
 on account of its inaccessibility and its central po- 
 sition in the island. 
 
 We now re-embarked in our Samian vessel, and Island of 
 started for Leros, in hopes of catching the Austrian 
 steamer, which touches at that island once a fort- 
 night on her way from Constantinople to Alexandria. 
 The voyage was a tedious one, for the wind was 
 light at first and afterwards adverse, so that we 
 did not reach our destination till shortly before 
 daylight the following morning. We were for- 
 tunate in arriving at all, for within a few hours 
 so strong a gale arose from the south-east that 
 all progress would have been impossible in the 
 face of it. The little town is composed of square 
 white houses, like those of the scala at Patmos, 
 and, like that place, it lies in the recesses of a land- 
 locked harbour. After sunrise we obtained pratique, 
 and having landed, took up our abode in an upper 
 room belonging to a very dirty cafe. In the course 
 of the morning, while we were sitting there, we sud- 
 denly heard a shout peal forth from every side, as 
 if the whole population of Leros had risen in insur- 
 rection. This was caused by the Lloyd's steamer 
 having come in sight — the fortnightly excitement 
 of the island. The shout was followed by a general 
 rush of the inhabitants to the shore, some embarking 
 in boats, while others crowded the pier ; and when 
 the vessel had taken up her position in the harbour, 
 o 2
 
 196 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 she was surrounded by a swarm of little tubs, most 
 of them manned by three boys apiece, all of whom 
 screamed at the top of their voice, apparently in the 
 hope of disembarking some stray passenger. So 
 numerous were the boats and so tightly packed, that 
 we had some difficulty in forcing our way on board. 
 It seemed strange enough that so fine a packet as 
 the ' Vesta' should put into so insignificant a port 
 Connexion as this, but during our stay in Rhodes the anomaly 
 E°ypt. was explained to us. It appears that the inhabitants 
 of Leros are possessed of some wealth, and that 
 latterly many of them have settled in Alexandria, 
 and have become shopkeepers there ; and in con- 
 sequence of this, the community in Egypt have found 
 it worth their while to guarantee the Lloyd's company 
 a sum equivalent to £1000 sterling annually, on con- 
 dition that they carry on communications for them 
 with their native island. This is a good instance of 
 the commercial enterprise of the insular Greeks. 
 Satires on In ancient times the citizens of Leros were the 
 victims of a malicious epigram, which was aimed by 
 the poet Phocylides against one of their number, 
 called Procles. It ran thus : — 
 
 'They are bad to a man, are the people of Leros; 
 To a man, except Procles — and he too's from Leros V 
 
 A poet of their own, Demodocus, attempted to 
 
 1 The gnomic poems of Phocylides were subsequently quoted 
 in this form, Kal ruSe &ojKv\i5taj ; hence the epigram runs — 
 Kal Tube $cvfcv\i5icv Aepioi Kaito'c ov\ 6 y.\v, bs 8' ov' 
 vavrfs ttKtjv UpoK\eovi' Kal TIpoKXfTjs Aepios. 
 Strabo, 10. 5. 12, p. 487 ; compare Bergk's note in his Poet. Lyr. 
 Gr., p. 338. 
 
 Leros.
 
 Patmos. 197 
 
 divert this so as to apply to the people of Chios, 
 but apparently without much effect. We are told 
 that if you throw plenty of dirt, some of it will stick, 
 and satirical epigrams seem from their nature to be 
 the form of literary dirt which sticks most easily 
 and most permanently. This appears to be true 
 in the present instance, for this gibe, which was 
 uttered by Phocylides in the sixth century before 
 Christ, is recorded against Leros by Strabo, who 
 wrote in the Augustan age. The Greeks of the 
 present day have not been less malicious than their 
 predecessors. Leva is the modern word for 'filth,' 
 and consequently ' Leros, filth ' (\epos Ae'pa) has 
 become a regular proverbial expression. It came 
 naturally to the lips of our Athenian travelling- 
 servant, as we approached the island. 
 
 Our voyage to Rhodes carried us past many in- Voyage to 
 . . . n . , Rhodes. 
 
 teresting objects. At first our view was attracted 
 
 by the islands on our right, those which form a 
 chain between the extremity of Samos and the 
 Triopian promontory. The northern portion of 
 these is formed by Patmos and Leros ; then follows 
 Calymnos with its long and graceful line of summits ; 
 and at the end of the chain lies Cos in a transverse 
 position to the others. This splendid island is 
 intersected throughout its whole length by a back- 
 bone of mountains, which rises to a number of lofty 
 peaks in the centre ; and its northern slopes, which 
 are cultivated to a great height, appear remarkably 
 fertile. The houses of the city line the shore for 
 a considerable distance at its eastern extremity.
 
 198 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 The remark which has been made with regard to 
 Lesbos, that the site of its capital was chosen with 
 a view to its facing the mainland, is true also of all 
 the larger islands off this coast — of Chios, Samos, 
 Leros, Cos and Rhodes. On the left hand we pass 
 the headland within which lay Halicarnassus ; and 
 shortly afterwards the huge towers of the castle of 
 Budrum, which was built by the Knights of Rhodes 
 on the site of that city, are clearly seen, notwith- 
 standing that they are twelve miles distant. Then 
 the land recedes, where the deep bay of Halicar- 
 nassus— one of those remarkable inlets in which 
 the multiform coastline of the west of Asia Minor 
 seems to reach its highest development towards 
 this angle — intervenes between the promontory 
 just past and the Triopian headland. The last- 
 named cape is by far the most prominent feature in 
 all this region owing to its magnificent succession 
 of broken heights. On its extremity the ancient 
 Cnidos was situated; so that at this point we are 
 in the midst of one group of the towns which formed 
 the Dorian hexapolis— Cos, Cnidos, and Halicar- 
 nassus, and the three others we are about to visit 
 in Rhodes. During this part of the voyage the 
 steamer is forced to pursue a devious course, in 
 consequence of the eastern extremity of Cos being 
 thrust in between the two promontories. The sun 
 now set, and night had fallen some time before we 
 approached the port of Rhodes.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Rhodes. 
 
 There is an element of excitement attending a Arrival at 
 t-> , , . . r , . Rhodes. 
 
 voyage to Rhodes, arising from the uncertainty 
 
 which exists with regard to reaching that island. 
 It is easy to secure your passage thither, but it 
 is a further question whether you will be able to 
 land, for the harbour is too much silted up to admit 
 large vessels, and when a high sea is running, it 
 is impossible for boats to reach the steamer. When 
 we left Leros in the Austrian packet, the captain 
 threw out ominous hints that this might happen on 
 the present occasion ; in which case we should have 
 been carried on to Alexandria — a fate which has 
 frequently overtaken other travellers. In the island 
 we heard of one person who left Smyrna with the 
 intention of passing Christmas at Rhodes, and after 
 making several journeys to and fro between Smyrna 
 and Alexandria, during which it was impossible 
 to land, ultimately reached Rhodes at Easter. It 
 was therefore a relief to us when the strong south 
 wind abated towards nightfall, and rendered it pos- 
 sible for us to leave the vessel. We were rowed 
 ashore in a tossing sea by two Turks, two Greeks,
 
 200 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and a Jew — a crew that well represented the nation- 
 Its mixed alities which inhabit the place. The languages that 
 
 population. m ^ be heard at the port are yery mQtley> f or the 
 
 Jews, as in Salonica, are descendants of those who 
 were expelled from Spain in the time of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, and speak a corrupt form of Spanish ; 
 and Italian, which, during the last thirty years, has 
 been rapidly superseded by French in the Levant, 
 is still prevalent here. On landing, we were con- 
 ducted to the suburb of Neo-Maras, which lies to 
 the northward of the city, and is the residence of 
 the foreign consuls and the Roman Catholic popu- 
 lation. The gates of the city are closed at night, 
 and no Christians are allowed to remain within the 
 walls, so that the Greeks, who occupy shops there, 
 are obliged to quit the place at sunset. Until about 
 forty years ago there was a further regulation, that 
 on Fridays all Christians should leave before noon, 
 in consequence of a prediction, or a prevalent idea, 
 that the city would sometime be retaken by the 
 Christians on a Friday, when all the faithful were 
 at their prayers. We were at once struck with the 
 balminess of the climate, and the air was laden with 
 the scent of orange-blossom. The next morning 
 (April 12) we found that even the plane-trees were 
 partially in leaf, and the numerous palms testified 
 to the temperature of the South. A resident in- 
 formed us that he had only once had a fire lighted 
 in his house during the previous winter. The 
 pleasant climate, no doubt, was one of the chief 
 attractions of the place in Roman times.
 
 Rhodes. 20 1 
 
 The city of Rhodes is situated close to the northern- Position of 
 most extremity of the island, facing the mainland, 
 with a north-eastern aspect. In front of it are three 
 harbours, which were originally separated from one 
 another by small spits of land ; but these were 
 subsequently improved and strengthened by moles 
 so as to afford protection against the sea. From the 
 shore the ground rises gradually in the form of an 
 ancient theatre, the highest point being towards the 
 west, where it overlooks the sea in the opposite 
 direction. This hill — which now bears the name 
 of Mount Smith, because the house that stands on 
 its summit was the residence of Sir Sydney Smith 
 in 1802, at the time of Napoleon's Egyptian ex- 
 pedition — was the position of the ancient acropolis. 
 But it is by no means a commanding height, and 
 this is probably the reason why no city was built 
 here at an early period ; for the site was unoccupied 
 until towards the close of the Peloponnesian war 
 (b. c. 408), when the inhabitants of the three leading 
 cities of the island, Lindos, Ialysos, and Cameiros, 
 agreed to abandon their homes and found a city in 
 common. In other respects the position is ad- 
 mirable for a commercial station, on account of its 
 harbours, its nearness to the mainland, and its being 
 a natural point of departure for Egypt and the East. 
 The later glories of the place, when it became the 
 stronghold of the Knights of St. John, and one of 
 the bulwarks of Christian Europe against the Otto- 
 mans at the height of their power, have almost 
 eclipsed its ancient fame. Yet Strabo speaks of its ^4w,' 7 '"'
 
 202 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 grandeur as being surpassed by no other city, and 
 hardly equalled by any 1 . Its commerce, its political 
 institutions, its school of oratory, and its school of 
 sculpture, enjoyed a world-wide renown 2 . Its strength 
 was so great that it endured a siege by Demetrius 
 Poliorcetes in b. c. 304, and triumphantly repulsed 
 him, though he brought all his force against it for 
 the space of a year. Nor can we forget that it 
 became the residence of many great men ; that 
 Cicero studied there, and that Tiberius chose 
 it as his place of voluntary exile. Of the magnifi- 
 cence of that time little remains beyond the Hellenic 
 foundations of the moles, and the numerous sepul- 
 chral monuments of grey marble — resembling small 
 round altars or pedestals of statues — which are met 
 with in the city and the suburbs. 
 
 The But as a specimen of a mediaeval fortress the 
 
 jortrcss existing city is almost unrivalled ; and the objects 
 
 Knights, that remain there, notwithstanding the ravages of 
 time, illustrate in an impressive manner the organisa- 
 tion of the Order of the Knights of St. John. The 
 enormous moat, wide and deep, and faced on both 
 sides with stone ; the solid walls, with towers at 
 intervals, forming sometimes a double, and at the 
 highest point, where the palace of the Grand Master 
 stood, a triple line of defence, and drawn in a horse- 
 shoe form over the sloping heights from either side 
 of the central harbour, and along the line of the 
 
 1 Strabo, 14. 2. 5, p. 652. 
 
 2 An interesting account of the mercantile law of Rhodes, its 
 system of arbitration, and similar points, will be found in Prof. 
 Mahaffy's Greek Life and Thought, ch. xv.
 
 Rhodes. 203 
 
 harbour itself; and the fortifications by which the 
 moles themselves were protected — all remain un- 
 changed, to attest the strength of this bulwark, on 
 which for centuries the attacks of its powerful foes 
 broke in vain. And in like manner the names of 
 saints attached to the various gates, and their figures 
 sculptured in relief above them ; the Priories, which 
 formed the headquarters of each nationality or 
 Tongue, as they were called, while the affairs of the 
 Order at large were discussed in their common place 
 of meeting ; the bastions, or portions of the wall 
 which were permanently assigned to each nationality 
 to defend ; and the escutcheons over the dwellings or 
 the gateways, denoting either the possessor or the 
 person by whom they were erected, but all of them 
 containing the cross of the Order ; all these bear 
 witness to the religious character of the institution, 
 and to the principle according to which the indepen- 
 dent position of each people was recognised. 
 
 Within the memory of the present generation, Objects 
 however, two objects, which were among the greatest r f ce t " 1 y d 
 glories of the place, have been destroyed. One of 
 these was the Tour de Naillac, which bore the name 
 of the Grand Master by whom it was constructed, and 
 formed a conspicuous object in views of the place 
 as seen from the sea, rising, as it did, on the northern 
 side of the central harbour ; this was ruined by an 
 earthquake in 1863. The other was the church of 
 St. John, the Sanctuary of the Order, of which no Church 0/ 
 trace now remains; it was destroyed in 1856 by an -J 01 ' 
 explosion of gunpowder, which was set on fire by a
 
 204 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 flash of lightning that struck an adjoining minaret. 
 The neighbouring palace of the Grand Master, which 
 was already in a ruinous condition, was still further 
 damaged by the same catastrophe, so that now only 
 the lower storey remains. 
 The deposit It is an interesting question at what period, and by 
 fowde'r whom, the powder was stored in this neighbourhood, 
 for the Turkish authorities at the time of the explosion 
 were ignorant of its existence. At first it was suggested 
 that it was deposited there when Rhodes was besieged 
 by the Ottomans in 1522 ; and that this was the 
 act of Amaral, the chancellor of the Order, who turned 
 traitor through jealousy in consequence of L'Isle 
 Adam being preferred to him as Grand Master, and 
 might have concealed a quantity of the gunpowder 
 belonging to the besieged, in order to hasten the fall 
 of the place. To this view, however, there are two 
 objections, which appear to be fatal. In the first 
 place, there is no historical evidence of the conceal- 
 ment of the powder, and without that we are in the 
 region of conjecture \ Secondly, the doubt not 
 unreasonably suggests itself, whether it is possible 
 for gunpowder to retain its explosive power for more 
 
 1 M. Guerin, who propounded this explanation of the existence 
 of the gunpowder in the preface to the second edition of his lie 
 de Rhodes, speaks of having found contemporary mention of the 
 concealment of the powder, but he gives no authorities for this 
 statement. Mr. Torr, the author of Rhodes in Modern Times, tells 
 me that he has read through every contemporary record that he 
 could find, but has been unable to discover anything to this effect. 
 The charge against Amaral was, not that he had concealed any 
 powder during the siege, but that he had been remiss in bringing 
 in powder beforehand.
 
 Rhodes. 205 
 
 than three centuries. This question has been sub- 
 mitted to Sir F. Abel, the highest authority on 
 explosives in this country ; and his opinion is 
 that, though gunpowder may retain its explosive 
 properties for an indefinite period, provided that 
 it is so packed and enclosed that moisture cannot 
 have access to it, yet it is scarcely probable that 
 packages such as were available at that period, even 
 if they were in the first instance fairly impervious to 
 moisture, could have preserved this essential feature 
 for so long a time. It follows that the attractive view 
 which would invest this gunpowder with a historical 
 interest must be set aside ; and we must content 
 ourselves with the more prosaic supposition, that it 
 was deposited in the vaults underneath the church at 
 some comparatively recent period, and was subse- 
 quently forgotten. 
 
 An account of a walk which we took one day through The 
 
 .... . harbours. 
 
 the city may serve, better than any detailed descrip- 
 tion, to illustrate the characteristics of the place. 
 Starting from our Christian suburb on the northern 
 side, we have on our left the first harbour, that of the 
 galleys, which was outside the enceinte of walls, but 
 was defended by a strong round tower at the extremity 
 of the mole, called the Tower of St. Nicholas, which 
 was erected by the Spanish Grand Master, Zacosta. 
 It has been conjectured that this fort occupies the 
 site of the famous Colossus 1 , but Mr. Torr 2 inclines to 
 the view that that statue stood on the low ground at 
 
 1 Newton, Travels and Discoveries in the Levant, vol. i. pp. 176, 
 177. 2 Rhodes in Ancient Times, p. 97.
 
 206 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the south-west corner of this harbour. The notion 
 that it bestrode the harbour is purely fabulous. We 
 next pass through the gate of St. Paul, over which 
 stands a figure of the saint, holding in one hand a 
 sword, in the other the volume of the Gospel ; like 
 all these figures and escutcheons, it is carved in low 
 relief on a slab of bluish grey marble. This gate 
 leads, not into the city itself, but into the circuit of 
 walls which enclose the great harbour, or harbour of 
 commerce ; of the moles that defended this, the 
 nearer formerly bore the tower of Naillac, already 
 mentioned, while from the further, on the eastern 
 side, rises the tower of St. John. 
 Gate of St. Through the wall which borders this harbour the 
 city is entered by the finest of all the gates, that of St. 
 Catharine, which is surmounted by a figure of that 
 saint, standing between St. Peter and St. John the 
 Baptist ; it is flanked by two round towers, and has 
 fine machicolations, and a place for the portcullis. 
 Immediately within this, on the right hand as we 
 enter, is the cross wall, which separated off the 
 northern portion of the city, or Castello, which was 
 reserved for the Knights, and occupied about one- 
 third of the entire area, from that part which was 
 inhabited by the citizens. Not far off, on the left 
 was the Chancery, or Palais de Justice, part of the 
 facade of which remains ; it is approached by a flight 
 of steps. The architecture of this, as of all the other 
 buildings, is Gothic, and forms a strong contrast to 
 the Byzantine style of the ecclesiastical structures, 
 and the Saracenic military architecture, which prevail
 
 Rhodes. 207 
 
 elsewhere in Turkey; throughout the city pointed and 
 ogive arches, cable mouldings, and ornamental finials 
 and carved heads of doorways in that style, are found. 
 
 Our course now lies through the district that was The Jewish 
 occupied by the civilians, following a line of streets 
 which penetrates it transversely, the Jewish quarter 
 being on our left hand. This contains many of the 
 handsomest of the old dwellings, which are solidly 
 built and elaborately decorated, and is especially 
 picturesque on a Jewish festival day, as in one of our 
 rambles we saw it, when its occupants are dressed in 
 their rich holiday costumes. The Jews are allowed 
 to reside within the walls, because the Turks regard 
 them as too timid to be dangerous, and also to some 
 degree as being their allies from their traditional 
 animosity to the Christians. In one part of this 
 quarter, where there is an open space of ground, 
 stands the Admiralty, the purpose which it served 
 being shown by the emblem of three flags which is 
 sculptured on a shield. Ascending gradually we 
 reach the walls, and pass through them by the 
 southernmost of the two gates on the land side, the 
 gate of St. John, close to which a number of stone 
 shot, such as were used in the siege, are ranged in a 
 line against the wall. 
 
 After crossing the moat, we find ourselves at the Moat and 
 point where the portion of the wall which was wa 
 defended by the English met that which was allotted 
 to the ' Tongue ' of Provence ; for the latter and that 
 of Italy extended from this gate to the sea on the 
 further side of the great harbour, where the third
 
 208 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 harbour, that of Acandia, lies, while the English 
 reached from St. John's gate to the tower of St. 
 Mary. The defences in this part are especially 
 strong, the second or outer line, and the bastions, 
 being of very solid construction. Outside the moat 
 is an old Turkish cemetery, where lie the bones of 
 those of the besiegers who fell during the siege. 
 Traversing this, and skirting the moat, we pass first 
 St. Mary's tower, which is distinguished by a relief 
 of the Virgin and Child built into the outside of the 
 masonry ; then the Spanish tower and that of St. 
 George ; and finally reach the Amboise gate, which 
 received its name from the Grand Master, Emery 
 d'Amboise, who erected it. The intermediate space 
 was defended successively by Spain, Auvergne, and 
 Germany, while the French were responsible for the 
 long line which reached to the sea at St. Paul's gate, 
 and Portugal undertook the defence of the harbour 
 and its adjacent towers. 
 street Re-entering the city by the Amboise gate, and 
 
 °A'!iitr/its passing through successive lines of fortification by 
 winding ways, intended to protract the defence, we 
 find ourselves in the upper part of the Castello, 
 or city of the Knights, where stood the church of 
 St. John, the palace of the Grand Masters, and, be- 
 tween them, the Lodge of St. John, in which was 
 the common hall of council ; the last-named building 
 faced directly down the street of the Knights. This 
 famous street, which descends in a straight line by 
 a gradual slope towards the port, is disappointing in 
 the effect which it produces on the eye, owing both 
 
 Knights.
 
 Rhodes. 209 
 
 to the rough brown stone of which the buildings 
 are composed, and to the projecting latticed frames 
 of wood, which have been thrown out by the Turkish 
 families who dwell there. But from a historical point 
 of view it is the centre of interest in the place, since 
 it contains the Priories, which were the headquarters The 
 and places of meeting of the different nationalities, Priories - 
 and their escutcheons and those of their most dis- 
 tinguished men can in many cases be seen on the 
 facades. By far the handsomest is that of France, 
 which occupies a central position on the northern 
 side of the street, and is adorned with the arms and 
 cardinal's insignia of D'Aubusson, who successfully 
 defended the city against the attacks of Mahomet II, 
 and with those of the not less heroic, though less 
 fortunate, L'Isle Adam. To an Englishman, how- 
 ever, the most interesting monument in this street 
 is one of the least conspicuous — a little chapel, only 
 the outer wall of which is visible, together with a 
 groined niche for a statue reached by a flight of 
 small steps ; this was called the English chapel, and 
 has the arms of England sculptured on its walls. It 
 is now a mosque. This stood higher up than the 
 French Priory, and quite separate from that of Eng- 
 land, which was at the bottom of the street, and had 
 a church of St. Catharine attached to it; but of these 
 little remains in its original condition. Opposite to 
 the English Priory was the Hospital of the Order, 
 a large building of rude but massive construction, 
 with a deep Gothic portal, and a court inside. This 
 has been converted into a barrack. The small back
 
 21 o The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 streets also, that run off from the street of the 
 Knights, present a variety of interesting features. 
 Here numerous flying buttresses are found, which 
 were intended to resist the shocks of earthquakes, 
 and vaulted passages, and winding alleys, with 
 shields and quaint bits of ornamental work ap- 
 pearing at intervals. The photographer or the 
 lover of the picturesque might find a greater 
 charm in these than even in the more dignified 
 buildings. 
 Difficulties Sight-seeing in Rhodes at this time was not alto- 
 in the way ge ther an easy matter. For three or four years 
 
 of sight- ° J , 
 
 seeing. before we visited the island great difficulties had 
 been placed in the way of travellers who wished to 
 view the interesting objects there. It was forbidden 
 to walk on the walls, and any one who stopped for 
 more than a minute to notice an object was hailed 
 by a sentry. To attempt to sketch was dangerous. 
 The ancient buildings also within the city were not 
 allowed to be entered. The explanation of this was, 
 that since the war with Russia the Turks had been 
 suspicious of plans being taken of their first-class 
 fortresses, and orders had at last been issued, which 
 should render this impossible. Rhodes, though in- 
 capable of serious defence, was ranked among these, 
 and therefore these rules and restrictions were made 
 to apply to it. At the period of which I am speaking 
 the feeling of jealousy was unusually strong, because 
 of a report which had been circulated in some Euro- 
 pean newspapers, that England was negociating to 
 have the island of Rhodes ceded to her; and the
 
 Rhodes. 211 
 
 ferment which this had created on the spot was such 
 as people in England had little idea of. 
 
 The antiquities in the immediate neighbourhood Antiquitu 
 of the city may be visited in the course of a walk of neighbour- 
 three hours. They lie in the neighbourhood of a hood - 
 place called Simbulli, between two and three miles 
 to the southward of Rhodes, which is a favourite 
 resort for pleasure-parties among the inhabitants. 
 Here there is a deep and narrow ravine flanked by 
 perpendicular rocks, at the bottom of which a thin 
 stream of water flows, and this continues in a sinu- 
 ous course nearly to the sea. High up on one side 
 of it stands a platform of rock, which has been 
 levelled and carved out by the hand of man, though 
 huge boulders at the sides prevent it from appearing 
 artificial. In the middle a large shallow basin re- 
 ceives the water of two fountains, and both this and 
 the whole locality are overshadowed by plane-trees 
 of enormous size. The ravine immediately below is 
 spanned by a massive bridge of two round arches, 
 which may possibly date from Roman times ; and 
 this is surmounted by an aqueduct supported on 
 numerous arches of less solid work of the period of 
 the Knights, by which the water of Simbulli is still 
 conducted to the city. The double tier of arches, 
 together with the ravine and the umbrageous vege- 
 tation, form a delightful picture. 
 
 Not far from this place there are numerous sepul- ' Tomb 
 chres excavated in the rocks, some of which are ptoUmits: 
 surmounted by ornamental facades, resembling those 
 that are found on the Lycian tombs. One of these, 
 p 2
 
 212 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 which has received, though without much reason, 
 the name of the 'Tomb of the Ptolemies,' deserves 
 especial notice on account of its size. It forms in 
 fact a mound to itself, the ground-plan of which is a 
 square, and it must have been piled up with earth so 
 as to form a pyramid. The surface of the rock out 
 of which it was formed was originally ornamented on 
 all four sides, but owing to portions of it having fallen 
 away, the northern face is the only one at all perfect. 
 That towards the south is completely ruined, and an 
 immense mass of it, which was probably detached by 
 an earthquake, lies face downwards in a neighbouring 
 ravine with one of its colonnettes still visible. What 
 remains of the ornamentation of the northern side is 
 a row of columns half engaged in the rock. As the 
 entrance door does not stand in the middle of this 
 face, the idea has been suggested that there may 
 have been other chambers entered from the other 
 sides. This door leads into a vestibule with a large 
 sepulchral niche cut in the rock both to right and 
 left, and this again conducts into a spacious square 
 inner chamber, containing ten smaller, but deeply 
 cut, niches at the sides, though some of these are 
 now almost destroyed. It is natural to suppose that 
 such a vault was the burial-place of some great 
 family. 
 Ancient After examining this we descended towards the 
 
 sea, where the same ravine which is spanned higher 
 up by the aqueduct is crossed by another and older 
 bridge of two very solid arches, only one of which 
 could have been used for the passage of the water.
 
 Rhodes. 213 
 
 It is constructed of large rectangular stones, fitted 
 together without mortar, and for this reason has 
 sometimes been regarded as Hellenic work. The 
 use of the arch, however, was so rare among the 
 Greeks, that it is perhaps safer to refer it to Roman 
 times.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Rhodes {continued). 
 
 The west- Of the ten days that we spent in Rhodes, five were 
 ern coast. . . . . . 
 
 devoted to the interior of the island, our object being 
 
 to visit the sites of the ancient cities of Ialysos, 
 Cameiros, and Lindos, and to ascend Atabyron, 
 which is the highest and most central mountain. 
 For this expedition we hired mules — for horses are 
 rarely found in Rhodes, — and each of these was 
 accompanied by his owner, for they were very careful 
 of their beasts, and declined entrusting them to any 
 one of their number. During the first day of our 
 journey (April 13) we were in the neighbourhood of 
 the western coast. Leaving our suburb, we followed 
 the shore, from which rise huge blocks of con- 
 glomerate rock ; and further on we passed by the 
 road-side rows of tall cactuses, which in this island, 
 as in Sicily, are used for hedges. The men whom we 
 met coming to the town with their asses and mules 
 all wore high boots reaching to the knee, like the 
 Cretans ; and some even of the women and children 
 used them. An hour's riding from the city brought 
 us to a place called Trianda, where a space of level
 
 Rhodes. 215 
 
 ground was covered with olive groves, and fig, 
 orange, and cherry plantations ; the houses which 
 stand in the midst of these are the summer residences 
 of the wealthier inhabitants of the city of Rhodes, 
 but at this time they were untenanted. On the Site of 
 further side of this rises a steep, flat- topped mountain, ayso ' 
 called Phileremo, on the summit of which, in many 
 places, the remains of a Frankish castle may be seen; 
 this was the acropolis of Ialysos, called in ancient 
 times Ochyroma, or the Stronghold, and pieces of 
 Hellenic work are said to be found imbedded in the 
 walls. The city lay in the plain between the foot of 
 this hill and the sea, and here we saw a Corinthian 
 capital by the road-side, and a few fragments of 
 columns in the neighbouring fields ; these are all the 
 traces that remain, but the site has been identified 
 by means of an inscription which was discovered on 
 the spot. In the time of the Knights the castle above 
 possessed an image of the Virgin, which was the 
 object of great veneration, and on important occa- 
 sions — as, for instance, at the commencement of the 
 final siege — was conducted in solemn procession to 
 the city. In the neighbouring village of Cremaste 
 there is a ruined castle of this period ; and its church 
 is dedicated to the Panagia Katholike, and is the 
 scene of a great festival on August 15. As this title 
 is an unusual one, and Katholikos is the Greek 
 word for a Roman Catholic, it is not unnatural to 
 suppose that we have here a reminiscence of the 
 alien worship of the Knights. Another place, some 
 way further on, Villa Nova, perhaps derives its name
 
 varda. 
 
 21 6 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 from Helion de Villeneuve, the second Grand 
 Master. The name is undoubtedly ancient, for it is 
 mentioned that the Turkish forces put in there 
 before the final siege. 
 Aa/a- Near Villa Nova we made our midday halt in a 
 
 hollow of the hillside, where a number of fountains 
 gush out from beneath a group of fine plane-trees, 
 while in front the eye ranges over mulberry-trees and 
 other fresh vegetation to the blue sea, with the bold 
 coast of Caria in the distance. The heat of the sun 
 was now sufficiently great to make rest welcome in so 
 pleasant a spot. When we resumed our journey, our 
 route led across an extensive plain, for the hills here 
 recede to some distance from the sea : a great part 
 of the country was rudely cultivated, but the villages 
 appeared poverty-stricken. At the end of six hours 
 from the town we reached Kalavarda, which is the 
 nearest village to the ruins of Cameiros. Our enter- 
 tainer at this place, to whom we had an introduction 
 from our obliging Vice-Consul, Mr. Biliotti, had 
 served as superintendent of the works to Mr. Alfred 
 Biliotti, now the British Consul in Crete, when, in 
 company with a French gentleman, M. Salzmann, he 
 devoted several years to the exploration of this site. 
 We found him an intelligent man, for he spoke 
 French, having been in Paris with M. Salzmann 
 during the siege, and he had also been in Mr. Alfred 
 Biliotti's employ when he was Consul at Trebizond, 
 and had travelled with him as far as Van in Armenia. 
 Notwithstanding this, he seemed to have returned 
 with perfect contentment to the life of a simple
 
 Rhodes. 217 
 
 peasant, and his house, which he and his family gave 
 up to us for the night, consisted, like all the country 
 houses in Rhodes, of a single room. 
 
 As this house was a favourable specimen of the A Rhodian 
 native dwellings, it may be worth while for me to kouTc. 
 describe it. It was lofty, and nearly square, with 
 massive stone walls and a clay floor. In the centre 
 stood a strong upright pole, with a long cross-beam 
 resting on it, and the roof was formed by poles laid 
 across from this to the two walls, while above these 
 again smaller branches and rods were placed trans- 
 versely. The whole was covered with a layer of clay, 
 stamped down. Against two of the side walls were 
 erections of wood, five feet above the floor, on which 
 the family sleep, so that they literally ' climb up' into 
 their beds : beneath these, and also in other parts of 
 the room, were cupboards, the woodwork of which 
 was neatly carved in patterns. At one angle was 
 the fireplace, with a large hearth in front of it, 
 raised nine inches above the floor ; round this the 
 family sleep in the winter. A basket suspended from 
 the roof contained the bread, which is thus preserved 
 from the inroads of mice and ants. Mattresses and 
 coverlets made up the furniture. There was also a 
 rack for plates, but, as it happened to be cleaning 
 day, these had temporarily been put away. The use 
 of plates as wall-ornaments, which is characteristic of 
 the famous Rhodian ware, is quite a Rhodian custom, 
 though those which the peasants now possess, since 
 they have parted with their ancestral treasures, are 
 modern and of no value. In a house which was in
 
 2i 8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 no respect superior to this one I counted seventy 
 plates hung on one wall. 
 Site of At the time of our arrival our host was absent, 
 
 working in the fields, so we engaged another native, 
 who had taken part in the excavations, to act as our 
 guide. The site of Cameiros is at a place called 
 Hagios Minas, three miles to the west of Kalavarda. 
 In order to reach it, we first crossed by stepping- 
 stones a stream, which, to judge from the width of its 
 bed, must, at certain seasons, be a violent torrent, and 
 after two miles came to some excavations, where there 
 had been tombs in the clayey soil ; similar graves ap- 
 peared at intervals for another mile, forming a sort of 
 necropolis. The light colour of the earth throughout 
 this neighbourhood seems to have suggested the 
 Homeric epithet of the place, 'white' (dpywoeis). At 
 last we came to the site itself, which is thickly strewn 
 with fragments of pottery, while at the highest point 
 Hellenic walls have been excavated; from this the 
 ground slopes in terraces towards the sea. At the 
 back of the acropolis passages flanked by massive 
 walls, which meet at an angle above, are visible at 
 several points at a considerable depth below the 
 level of the soil ; these seem to have belonged to a 
 watercourse which supplied the city. An inscription 
 containing the name of Cameiros was found on the 
 spot, and, like that of Ialysos, is now in the British 
 Museum. The discovery of it was of great impor- 
 tance, for, previously to this, two other localities — 
 one on the eastern, the other further south on the 
 western side of the island — had been suggested as
 
 Rhodes. 219 
 
 the site of this city, but nothing had been certainly 
 known. The tombs which have been mentioned 
 yielded a rich harvest of works of art, the finest of 
 which have been figured in M. Salzmann's splendid 
 book of illustrations, entitled Ne'cropole de Camiros. 
 We returned to Kalavarda by a different route over 
 the heights, in the midst of pine-trees, with the 
 grand bare peak of Mount Atabyron in view towards 
 the south. 
 
 The following day (April 14) we directed our Monastery 
 course toward that mountain. In order to reach it ° J ' 
 we had to cross another ridge, called Hagios Elias, 
 which runs in a long line parallel to the coast, and 
 from its grey precipices, interspersed with trees, 
 reminded me of the Saleve as seen from Geneva. 
 During the first part of the way the banks were 
 clothed with cistus plants, which were covered with 
 blossoms, both white and red ; and as we ascended 
 we met with white cyclamens and white peonies. 
 After passing the ridge we descended for awhile, and 
 then mounted again for a long distance through 
 forests on the slope of Atabyron, until we reached the 
 little monastery of Artamiti, which stands at the foot 
 of the peak of that mountain. The position of this 
 is excellently chosen, for it occupies a small level 
 in a clearing of the pine-trees, and commands a 
 beautiful view over the eastern side of the island, 
 where one range of hills succeeds another, as far as 
 the sea. The hegumen, who is the only monk, 
 occupies the building together with some members 
 of his family and a few lay-brethren, about fifteen
 
 220 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 souls in all. The name of the monastery suggests 
 the idea that it may stand on the site of a temple of 
 Artemis ; and this has been corroborated by the 
 recent discovery of an inscription to a priest of 
 Artamis (this is the Doric form of Artemis) at a place 
 only a mile and a half distant l . 
 Ascent The hegumen provided us with a room for the 
 
 °AtJyron. night, and then at our request procured for us a boy 
 who might act as our guide to the summit. This lad, 
 though he was only from twelve to fourteen years of 
 age, proved to be an excellent walker, for he was as 
 active and surefooted as a goat, and he seemed to find 
 the way by instinct. There was no path beyond what 
 our young companion extemporised, and for the first 
 hour the ascent was very steep and rugged ; at one 
 period a grove of ilexes must have covered this face 
 of the peak, but now only sparse copses and isolated 
 trees remain. When we arrived at the shoulder of 
 the mountain, the ground became more level ; and 
 from this point to the summit, which we reached in 
 another half-hour, the surface of the soil is simply a 
 wilderness of rocks and fragments of hard grey stone. 
 In two or three places there were small basins filled 
 with soil which afforded scanty herbage, and besides 
 sheep and goats we met with a few cattle, and on the 
 summit itself were a horse and half-a-dozen mules. 
 We also put up several partridges. On a lower 
 summit, a quarter of a mile distant from the highest, 
 and but little inferior to it in elevation, are the rude 
 remains of a temple of grey limestone, consisting of 
 1 Bulletin de Correspondance hellenique, vol. ix. pp. ioo, 101.
 
 Rhodes. 221 
 
 the foundations of the outer walls and part of the cella, 
 but hardly more than its shape can be traced. It was 
 dedicated to Zeus, of whom Pindar speaks as 'holding 
 sway on the ridges of Atabyrion V At one time a 
 part of it was converted into a chapel of St. John the 
 Evangelist, but now this also is in ruins. The height 
 of the summit, according to the Admiralty Chart, is 
 4070 feet. The name Atabyron, or Atabyrion — now 
 corrupted into Atairo— is also found in Sicily, and is 
 of Phoenician origin, being, in fact, the same as 
 Tabor, which mountain is called Atabyrion by Greek 
 writers. 
 
 The view from this point is very striking, for it com- View 
 
 * . . ~, from the 
 
 prises the whole island of Rhodes, set in the sea. 1 he sumnnL 
 area over which the eye wanders is a very undulating 
 one, being intersected by ranges of varied form, among 
 which three mountains stand up conspicuously ; and 
 three rivers can be seen winding their way to the 
 coast, two on the eastern, and one on the western 
 side. Beyond the southern extremity of Rhodes the 
 long broken outline of Carpathos was visible ; but 
 the Cretan mountains, which in clear weather are 
 within view, were now concealed. During our 
 ascent we saw three fine snow-clad summits at three 
 separate points on the mainland of Lycia, and also 
 the island of Syme and the coast beyond it; but 
 these were obscured by gathering mist before we 
 reached the top. The interest of the view detained 
 us longer than was prudent, and when we started to 
 
 1 Ol. 7. 160.
 
 222 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 return, we were for a time enveloped in clouds. 
 These soon dispersed ; but as we were on the 
 eastern, and therefore the dark, side of the peak, 
 and the sky had been clouded over, we found that 
 the light was rapidly failing us. However, when we 
 were in the middle of the worst part of the descent, 
 where owing to the sharp edges of the rocks, and the 
 loose fragments that lay about, the utmost care was 
 required to avoid an awkward accident, the moon 
 shone out brightly, and by her favouring light we at 
 last arrived at the monastery. We had the more 
 reason to rejoice at this, when, a little before mid- 
 night, we heard a violent storm of thunder and 
 lightning raging on the summit, and the hail and 
 wind battered the shutters of our dwelling. 
 The The church, which stands in the middle of the 
 
 square enclosure of the monastery, resembles in its 
 appearance and arrangement most of the churches 
 that we had hitherto seen in Rhodes, and these are 
 different from the ordinary type of churches that is 
 found in the islands. In shape it is a simple 
 rectangle, with four plain walls, except that a small 
 apse projects at the east end, and at the west there 
 is a porch which runs the whole width of the building. 
 The roof is a single vault, — a feature which in the 
 villages forms a contrast to the flat roofs of the 
 houses, — and a sort of clerestory is formed by round- 
 topped dormer windows, three of which rise on 
 either side. Within there are stalls for worshippers 
 all along the side walls, and over the porch stands a 
 women's gallery, with a screen to separate them
 
 Rhodes. 223 
 
 from the rest of the church. In front of the altar is 
 the usual iconostasis. 
 
 At breakfast the next morning the hegumen pro- Beehives 
 vided us with excellent honey : and afterwards. cased in 
 
 J ' stone. 
 
 when I was wandering about at some little distance 
 from the monastery, I found myself within a rude 
 enclosure where the beehives were in which it was 
 produced. At first sight it appeared as if they were 
 actually inside masses of rock which protruded from 
 the ground, and the bees were to be seen crowd- 
 ing in and out of a vertical slit in the front. The 
 hegumen, however, informed me that the hives are 
 of wood, and that they are covered in and faced with 
 stone, in order to protect the bees from cold during 
 the winter. 
 
 This day (April 15) was spent in journeying to Wood/and 
 Lindos on the east coast. It was a beautiful ride, reglons - 
 for the path led over hill and dale, mostly through 
 pine-forests, where our muleteers were unacquainted 
 with the track, which is very rarely followed. In 
 these woodland regions fallow deer are said to be 
 found. There was hardly any cultivation, except 
 here and there by the side of the watercourses. 
 After winding about for two hours we reached 
 Laerma, a poor village, and from that place descended 
 a long valley*to the sea. At this point the character 
 of the scenery changed with extreme suddenness ; 
 for as we followed the coast northward, the red and 
 grey precipices that rose above us were absolutely 
 bare — indeed, this whole neighbourhood is one of 
 the wildest and most sterile in the island. We
 
 224 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 crossed the neck of a promontory, which projects far 
 into the sea with a tower at its extremity, and some 
 little way beyond this, in ascending a low height, we 
 caught sight, first of the conspicuous castle-rock of 
 Lindos. Lindos, and shortly afterwards of the dazzlingly 
 white buildings of the town, lying in a depression im- 
 mediately beneath us. This place, which retains its 
 ancient name, is the most striking in its position and 
 appearance of all the cities of Rhodes. In some 
 respects it recalls Ragusa, since it reaches from one 
 to the other of two harbours, and is enclosed between 
 the mountain-slopes on the land-side and a peninsula, 
 ■ which juts into the sea, and bears the towering castle- 
 rock. The harbour toward the north is the larger, 
 and is partly defended from the east wind by two 
 islands that lie in front of it ; the southern harbour 
 is a small basin with a very narrow entrance. The 
 flat- roofed town, when seen from above, lying between 
 these, presents a peculiar appearance. Many of the 
 houses date from the time of the Knights, who are 
 known in the island as Cavaliers (KafraXkupoi), and 
 occasionally as Crusaders (^ravpocpopoi). These man- 
 sions can be distinguished by their ornamental door- 
 ways and windows, with pointed arches and Gothic 
 ornaments, but not a few are partially ruined, 
 for Lindos has greatly shrunk in size, and now 
 contains less than 800 inhabitants. As in the town 
 of Rhodes, substantial flying buttresses are thrown 
 across the streets as a defence against earth- 
 quakes. 
 
 The Rho- We were conducted to the house of a native 
 
 dian ware.
 
 Rhodes. 2 25 
 
 gentleman, M. Vasiliades, to whom we had an intro- 
 duction from Mr. Biliotti. The courtyard round 
 which this was built was covered with a tessellated 
 pavement of pebbles, a mode of ornamentation which 
 is common in the island ; in some dwellings even 
 the rooms are floored with them, and the patterns in 
 which they are arranged are often elaborate. In 
 several of the rooms also the walls were hung with 
 plates of the Rhodian ware, which is so highly prized 
 by collectors ; they were for sale, but most of them 
 were damaged, and the owner was well aware of the 
 money value even of these, as in fact is the case with 
 the possessors of such articles, including the peasants, 
 wherever they are to be found. This ware has often 
 been called Lindos ware, in consequence of a large 
 proportion of the specimens having been obtained 
 from that place or its neighbourhood. The cor- 
 respondences which it presents with the earth- 
 enware of Damascus, especially in respect of the 
 flowers which recur on these pieces, prove clearly 
 that the art was introduced into the island from 
 further east ; and the period of the Knights seems 
 to have been the time at which it flourished there, 
 but it continued to exist for a century and a half 
 after their departure. These plates were regarded 
 all along by the inhabitants as an heirloom in 
 their families, and they were suspended on the walls, 
 but were never used. Each plate is pierced with two 
 holes with a view to hanging ; and it is a curious fact 
 that this custom existed in antiquity, for the earliest 
 dishes from Cameiros, dating from about 700 b. c, 
 
 Q
 
 226 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Remains 
 of the 
 ancient 
 city. 
 
 Rhodian are pierced in just the same way \ The other form 
 er> ' of ornamental work which was produced in Rhodes, 
 and of which specimens may still be obtained there, 
 is embroidery of silk upon linen. The articles 
 which are enriched in this manner are chiefly curtains, 
 hangings, table-covers and the like. These works of 
 art are also thought to have been produced in the 
 time of the Knights. The patterns introduced are 
 often beautiful, and though the linen is usually stained 
 and sometimes worn from age, the colours of the silk 
 retain their richness. 
 
 The classical antiquities of Lindos, which we visited 
 the next morning in the company of M. Vasiliades' 
 son, are found, partly in the town itself, and partly in 
 the acropolis above. In the southern part of the 
 town towards the smaller harbour are the substruc- 
 tions of a temple, consisting of a massive wall, finely 
 built of rectangular blocks of a closely grained 
 limestone ; half-a-dozen courses of this remain, but 
 of the temple itself there is no trace. Immediately 
 above this stood the theatre, which was in part carved 
 out of the rock in the hillside, a plan adopted by the 
 Greeks whenever the ground allowed of it ; and por- 
 tions of the curved rows of seats may still be seen. 
 On the landside of the town, opposite the acropolis, 
 the lower part of the cliffs is broken into caverns, 
 and one of these has been converted into a burial- 
 place. Above the entrance a Doric entablature, with 
 triglyphs, was carved, below which stood a number 
 of small columns, engaged in the rock, but the central 
 1 Torr, Rhodes in Modern Times, p. 86.
 
 Rhodes. 227 
 
 portion of this ornamental front has fallen down. In 
 one part a number of sepulchral monuments of 
 grey marble, resembling those which are found in the 
 city of Rhodes, must have stood, for several of these — 
 round in form, and decorated with bulls' heads and 
 wreaths — lie about on the ground in front. The 
 rocks at the side and back of the chamber within 
 have been excavated, so as to form sepulchral niches. 
 The inhabitants call this place Campana. It bears a 
 strong resemblance to the Tomb of the Ptolemies at 
 Rhodes. The remains of the famous temple of 
 Athena of Lindos are situated near the highest point 
 of the acropolis, which is at the southernmost angle ; 
 they consist of part of the wall that supported the 
 entire building, and part of that of the cella. In its 
 neighbourhood lie numerous stones bearing inscrip- 
 tions, and one of these, which records a victory at 
 Olympia, has an especial interest, because Pindar's 
 seventh Olympic Ode was composed in honour of 
 Diagoras, a boxer of Rhodes. On the summit itself 
 there are considerable remains of Hellenic walls. 
 
 The castle of Lindos, however, deserves a more Castle of 
 detailed description, because it was converted into an 
 important stronghold by the Knights of Rhodes. It 
 is now deserted, and the traveller can roam about 
 there at his pleasure ; but when Ross visited it 
 in 1843, it was still occupied by a Turkish garrison, 
 and was not allowed to be entered by strangers. 
 The rock on which it stands rises precipitously on 
 every side, but especially so towards the south, where 
 it overhangs the sea at a height of 200 feet. The 
 
 Q2
 
 228 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Knights, however, did not do things by halves, 
 and their fortifications were carried all round the 
 summit, without reference to the inaccessible nature 
 of the cliffs. The approach was on the northern side, 
 where the fall is least abrupt ; here there are three 
 gateways, which lead successively through three lines 
 of walls, and the third of these, by which the castle 
 itself is entered, is very deep from back to front, and 
 has pointed arches inside ; within this, two drums 
 of ancient columns are placed on either hand, and 
 appear to have served for the stations of soldiers on 
 guard. It is a curious feature that another entrance 
 at this point led to the upper storey of the gateway, 
 for a long flight of steps is attached to the outer wall, 
 and from the top of this it would seem that a draw- 
 bridge or wooden ladder afforded an entrance. Close 
 to this gate stood the most important buildings — a 
 church of St. John the Baptist, and the residence of 
 the commander of the fortress, below which are 
 extensive subterranean chambers. In one of the 
 rooms a hearth remains, the plaster over which bears 
 a central figure of St. John in fresco, with shields of 
 various dignitaries on either side of it. At several 
 points within the castle there are vast cisterns, and a 
 passage for the defenders runs round inside the 
 battlements. The rest of the area is a mass of ruins. 
 The palm-tree, which forms a conspicuous object in 
 the view of Lindos in Sir Charles Newton's Travels and 
 Discoveries, is now reduced to a bare staff, having been 
 struck by lightning during the year preceding our visit. 
 Our return journey from this point occupied two
 
 Rhodes. 229 
 
 days, during which the route lay through the eastern The 
 district of the island. For a while we were near the district. 
 rocky coast, but we soon struck inland, and during 
 the remainder of the first day were traversing a richer 
 country than we had yet seen, for the streams were 
 numerous, and the level land through which these 
 flowed was laid out in olive groves and orange 
 gardens, and we passed through several villages in 
 their neighbourhood. These were built with curious 
 uniformity, each being composed of one or two 
 perfectly straight streets, the houses of which were 
 contiguous, and corresponded exactly to one another. 
 They were one-storeyed and flat-roofed, and contained 
 a single room ; every doorway was surmounted by a 
 pointed arch, and the window and chimney of each 
 occupied the same position, so that they resembled 
 the cells of a Carthusian monastery. At last we 
 ascended to an upland plain, the whole of which was 
 under cultivation, and on one side of it lay the large 
 village of Archangelos, which we had noticed as 
 forming a conspicuous object in the view from Mount 
 Atairo. Here we obtained a lodging for the night in 
 the house of a peasant woman, which resembled in 
 shape and arrangement that at Kalavarda which I 
 have already described, except that here the roof was 
 supported by a stone arch across the middle of the 
 room. The hill above the village is crowned by a 
 fort built by the Knights ; but it is of no great strength 
 or size, and the interior is much ruined : on the 
 side towards the entrance an escutcheon has been let 
 into the wall.
 
 230 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Return to The scenery through which we passed on the last 
 Rhodes. ^ of Qur j ourne y^ though it was neither wild nor 
 rich, was always varied, and from every point 
 mountains of striking form were in view. As we 
 descended from the plain of Archangelos, we passed 
 a place where the rocks for some two hundred yards 
 had been carefully cut in ancient times so as to form 
 a road. At midday we rested under a plane-tree in 
 the neighbourhood of a vaulted building, which 
 seems to have been intended to serve for a halting- 
 place, for water has been conducted to it from a 
 point a little distance off by means of a covered 
 conduit, and here pours forth into a marble basin. 
 A neighbouring height bears the name of Eremo- 
 kastro, and is said to have ruins upon it. Our 
 approach to the city was betokened by the increasing 
 luxuriance of the vegetation, and this sign was 
 confirmed by the appearance of mosques in the 
 villages, for the Turkish population of the island is 
 almost entirely congregated in the capital and its 
 neighbourhood. At last we caught sight of the circuit 
 of walls, with numerous minarets ; and threading 
 our way, first through lanes gay with the blossoms 
 of the judas-tree, and afterwards between high walls, 
 the gateways in which revealed the handsome houses 
 and pleasant gardens of the wealthier inhabitants of 
 the suburbs, we reached our resting-place in Rhodes, 
 and the end of our expedition.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Lemnos. 
 
 In the course of the journeys which have hitherto The 
 
 , • • r northern 
 
 been described I had visited the most interesting oi is i an d s . 
 the islands which lie in the centre and south of the 
 Aegean, and of those which fringe the coast of Asia 
 Minor. It now remained for me to explore those 
 which lie in the northern portion of that sea, and 
 which are the most difficult of access, and conse- 
 quently the least known. This part of my task I 
 accomplished in the spring of 1889. On this occasion 
 I was without a companion, and my travelling 
 servant, Alexander, had died in the interval that 
 elapsed since my last journey; but I had engaged 
 the services of a Greek dragoman of Constantinople, 
 George Stamos by name, whose excellent qualities I 
 had put to the proof in the course of long wanderings 
 through some of the wildest parts of European Turkey 
 in 1861 and 1865. It was arranged that he should 
 meet me at the Dardanelles, which place was to be my 
 starting-point for this expedition, bringing with him 
 a camp-bed, a few cooking utensils, and other simple 
 appliances, such as are required for a rough tour. 
 Accordingly, on Saturday, March 16, I embarked at
 
 232 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Means of 
 communi- 
 cation. 
 
 Marseilles on board one of the French Messageries 
 steamers, which was bound for Constantinople, and 
 after touching at Syra and Smyrna, before daybreak 
 on the following Friday reached the town of the Dar- 
 danelles, which lies halfway up the famous strait. 
 After the vessel had obtained pratique, I was being 
 rowed ashore, somewhat depressed by the chilly air 
 and the ashen colour of sea and sky, when by the 
 dim light of dawn another boat was seen approaching 
 in the opposite direction, and as we came abreast of 
 it a cheery voice shouted my name in an interrogative 
 tone. To this I responded as cheerily, for I knew 
 that it proceeded from my old servant, and that thus 
 far my arrangements for a start were successful. I 
 was soon established at the Xenodocheion — one of 
 those shabby hostelries which are found in most of 
 the trading-ports of Turkey, and which, despite their 
 unpromising appearance, usually have clean beds. 
 
 Here I was informed of another circumstance which 
 greatly facilitated my proceedings. As none of the 
 main lines of steamers touch at any of the islands 
 which I proposed to visit, I expected to be altogether 
 at the mercy of the winds and waves in reaching 
 them ; moreover, the Thracian sea, as I knew both 
 from its traditional character and from what I had 
 read in books of travel, is apt to be dangerous at 
 this season of the year, and the prospect of being 
 wind-bound for a long spell of time is never an 
 attractive one. But of all these islands Lemnos was 
 the one in reaching which I anticipated the greatest 
 difficulty, on account of its remoteness, and of the
 
 Lcmnos. 233 
 
 wide spaces of sea which separate it from any of the 
 ports on the mainland. It was therefore an agreeable 
 surprise to learn, that two years before this the 
 steamers of an Ottoman company had begun to touch 
 there, and that one of these vessels would leave the 
 Dardanelles on the following morning. Of this I at 
 once determined to avail myself, and the remainder 
 of the day was spent in obtaining tcske're's or Turkish 
 passports, in providing myself with some Turkish 
 money, and in making other preparations. I may men- 
 tion, as the result of my experience, that for an expedi- 
 tion such as I was about to undertake the notes of 
 the Bank of France are the best medium of exchange, 
 for even where money-changers will not accept them, 
 they can be negociated at their full value at the 
 agencies of the steamers. In the town of the Dar- 
 danelles — a long, straggling succession of houses — 
 the only thing of interest is its manufacture of 
 earthenware, which is famous throughout the Levant. 
 Specimens of this ware may be seen in the shops, and 
 the forms of the vessels are often graceful, though 
 they hardly rise to the level of works of art. The 
 Turkish name of the place, Chanak-kalesi or Pottery 
 Castle, is derived from this industry, and from the 
 powerful fortress which here guards the narrowest part 
 of the strait. 
 
 The steamer which we were expecting, the 'Plevna,' The Dar- 
 had been delayed on its way from Constantinople by 
 a violent scirocco, which had been blowing for twenty- 
 four hours, and it was midday on March 23 before 
 we started. The deck was crowded with Turkish
 
 234 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 soldiers who were bound for Salonica, and with other 
 passengers of various nationalities. It was an un- 
 pleasant day, for the wind had shifted to the north- 
 east, and was accompanied by an overcast sky and 
 driving rain ; but its direction was favourable to our 
 voyage, and by its aid the swift current carried us 
 rapidly down through the gradually widening channel. 
 Often as I have passed this ocean-stream, I never 
 cease to wonder at its strangeness as the connecting 
 link between two great seas ; and the numerous 
 vessels, carrying the flags of different countries, which 
 sail on its waters, remind the traveller what an im- 
 portant route of commerce it has been in all periods, 
 but especially since the foundation of Constantinople. 
 Of the two shores, that towards the Thracian 
 Chersonese rises somewhat steeply, while the slopes 
 of the Asiatic coast are more gentle, though they are 
 backed by high hills at no great distance off. At 
 last the heights of Rheteium and Sigeium appeared 
 on the left, and between them the Trojan plain was 
 visible, the Ujek-tepe, or so-called Tumulus of 
 Aesyetes, on its western side being the most con- 
 spicuous object in its neighbourhood. Here, at the 
 edge of the plain near the mouth of the Scamander, 
 where Homer describes the Grecian fleet as being 
 stationed, now stands the fort of Kum-kaleh, which 
 together with its European sister form the warders of 
 the entrance. We passed through the outlet which 
 is guarded by these, and were soon tossing on the 
 open Aegean. 
 
 At first the view on every side was grey and misty ;
 
 Lemnos. 235 
 
 only the bare slopes and rounded heights of Imbros Imbros 
 were visible to our right. But as we coasted along Lemno. 
 the southern shore of that island the sky gradually 
 cleared, and in front of us Lemnos arose from the 
 water like a fairy vision, its mountains appearing at 
 intervals in delicate outline, while the lower ground 
 that intervened between them was still concealed 
 below the horizon, and only after a time emerged to 
 view. Though the area of Lemnos is less than that 
 of the Isle of Wight, yet the space of sea which it 
 seemed to cover produced the impression of great 
 extent, and the long line thus formed completely 
 justified the descriptive epithet tenuis which a Roman 
 poet has applied to it \ A still more impressive object 
 revealed itself toward the north, as soon as we had 
 cleared the westernmost point of Imbros. This was 
 the grand mass of Samothrace, which stood up from 
 the sea like one great mountain broken into several 
 peaks, with flecks of snow lying in the rifts of its 
 steep ridges, and now diversified by a long bar of 
 cloud, which hung halfway up its heights throughout 
 its whole length. Again, far away to the north-west 
 the summits of Thasos were dimly seen ; and thus 
 in one view I had before me all the islands which 
 were the objects of my present tour. The relative 
 importance of these in history was determined by 
 their geographical position ; for those that lay near 
 the mouth of the Hellespont, Imbros and Lemnos, 
 were of necessity brought more into connexion with 
 the commercial and political life of Greece than those 
 
 1 Valerius Flaccus, Argon. 2. 431.
 
 236 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 which were more remote. The current of the 
 Hellespont itself contributed in no slight degree to 
 that result, for it sets with great force in the direction 
 of those islands. A native of Lemnos, with whom 
 I conversed on this subject on board the steamer, 
 further remarked, that with a north wind it is carried 
 towards Lemnos, but towards Imbros when the wind 
 is from the south. 
 Their In passing from the mouth of the Hellespont to 
 
 conquest by 
 
 Miltiades. -Lemnos we have been following in the wake of 
 Miltiades, and are forcibly reminded of the quaint 
 story of the proceeding by which he brought that 
 island under the dominion of Athens. One of the 
 atrocities, which caused ' Lemnian deeds ' to be a 
 by- word throughout Greece, was the massacre by the 
 Pelasgians of Lemnos of the Athenian women whom 
 they had carried off from Attica, and their children. 
 In consequence of this the Lemnians fell under the 
 curse of heaven, and when they consulted the 
 Delphic oracle on the subject, they were ordered to 
 give the Athenians whatever satisfaction they re- 
 quired. They came to Athens, and expressed their 
 desire to make amends for the wrong that they had 
 done ; whereupon the Athenians replied by an acted 
 parable, and spreading a table with an abundance of 
 good things, desired them to surrender their country 
 to them in a similar condition. To this unqualified 
 demand the answer of the Pelasgians was, ' When 
 a ship comes with a north wind from your country to 
 ours in a single day, then will we give it up to you.' 
 Years rolled on, and these negociationswere probably
 
 Lemnos. 237 
 
 half forgotten, until the Thracian Chersonese became 
 a possession of Athens, and Miltiades, who resided 
 there, conceived the idea of conquering this valuable 
 island. In order to provide himself with a pretext 
 for doing this — were it not for the peculiarly sophis- 
 tical character of the Greek conscience, which rejoiced 
 in quibbles of this nature, we might regard the whole 
 transaction as a grim jest — he took advantage of the 
 Etesian winds to sail from Elaeus in the Chersonese 
 to Lemnos ; and then, proclaiming to the inhabitants 
 that he had fulfilled his part of the agreement, since 
 the Chersonese was Athenian soil, required that they 
 should surrender according to their promise. They 
 refused and resisted, as Miltiades had no doubt anti- 
 cipated, but were subjugated without much difficulty'. 
 
 From this time onward Lemnos and Imbros were Connexion 
 more closely associated with Athens than any other Athens 
 islands in the Aegean. Their population furnished her 
 with mercenaries. When Cleon boasted to the 
 Athenians of the ease with which he could subdue the 
 Lacedaemonians in Sphacteria, he offered to accom- 
 plish this with the Lemnians and Imbrians who were 
 then in the city, together with a few other light-armed 
 troops 2 . Even in the Sicilian expedition we find them 
 employed on the Athenian side 3 . The islands them- 
 selves, together with Scyros, formed stepping-stones 
 in the line of communication which led from Athens 
 to her possessions in the Chersonese, and secured to 
 her the trade of the Black Sea : in which respect (to 
 compare small things with great) they held the same 
 
 1 Herod. 6. 138-140. 2 Thuc. 4. 28. 3 Thuc. 7. 57.
 
 2 3 8 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Northern 
 
 coast of 
 Lemnos. 
 
 position in the colonial and mercantile policy of that 
 state, which is occupied by Gibraltar and Malta at 
 the present day in securing the transit of vessels and 
 troops from Great Britain to India and Australia. Athe- 
 nian colonists established themselves there in great 
 numbers ; and at last these dependencies were so 
 completely identified with the mother country, that 
 in the Attic law-courts ' a suit in Imbros or Lemnos 1 ' 
 became another name for a fictitious plea to justify 
 non-appearance in a suit at Athens. So, too, in the 
 most amusing of Terence's plays, the Phormio, which 
 was adapted from one of the Greek plays of the New 
 Comedy, the story turns on an Athenian citizen 
 having two wives, one at Athens and the other in 
 Lemnos, the latter of whom he used to visit on 
 pretence of superintending the farms which his 
 Athenian wife possessed there. The coins of Imbros 
 bear the familiar Athenian emblems, the head of 
 Pallas and the owl ; and at the present day almost the 
 only attraction which that island offers to visitors — 
 except woodcock-shooting, which in the season occa- 
 sionally draws sportsmen from Constantinople— are 
 the ancient inscriptions, built into the walls and 
 pavements of churches and private dwellings, which 
 in the majority of cases bear the names of Athenian 
 citizens, together with that of the deme of Attica to 
 which they belonged. 
 
 We were now approaching Cape Plaka, the north- 
 eastern promontory of Lemnos, which is separated 
 from the nearest point of Imbros by an interval 
 
 1 'Infipia, \rjixvla Siktj.
 
 Lemnos. 239 
 
 of twelve miles. Before reaching it, my Lemnian 
 fellow-passenger pointed out to me the position of 
 the Mythonaes shoal, an extensive submarine reef 
 which projects into the sea for several miles along 
 the eastern coast. This serves as a protection to the 
 island by forming a barrier to resist the current of 
 the Dardanelles, which otherwise would break vio- 
 lently on its shores ; but at the same time it is a 
 source of danger to vessels, which are liable to be 
 carried on to it owing to the force and the irregular 
 movement of the stream. The promontory is a low 
 bluff, far from imposing in its appearance ; indeed, 
 as regards height, it is one of the least striking points 
 in Lemnos. This is noticeable, because this spot has 
 usually been fixed upon as the position chosen for 
 the fire-beacon which intervened between those on 
 Ida and Athos, in the chain of signals by which Aga- 
 memnon announced the taking of Troy to Clytaem- 
 nestra at Argos. The neighbouring cliffs have also 
 been regarded as the site of Philoctetes' cave, in 
 which that suffering hero endured his ten years' 
 exile during the war of Troy ; and the two questions 
 hang together, for the Hermaean Mount, which was 
 the station of the beacon, is invoked by Philoctetes 
 as one of the objects in his neighbourhood \ But 
 these points I will not anticipate, for they can be dis- 
 cussed more satisfactorily on a later occasion, when 
 we have taken a survey of the island. 
 
 The sun now descended in glory into a mass of View of 
 filmy cloud, when suddenly from one side of this Atkos. 
 1 Aesch. Ag. 283 ; Soph. Phil. 1459.
 
 240 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 there arose a peak which had not appeared before, 
 and the height and steepness of which caused me to 
 exclaim with wonder. I knew it could be nothing else 
 than Mount Athos, but for the moment this seemed 
 impossible, for that mountain was fifty miles distant, 
 and the object that I now beheld, being cut off by 
 the surrounding mists both from land and sea, looked 
 huge in its proportions. The people of Lemnos seem 
 to take their weather forecasts from Athos, for they 
 told me that when the clouds rest on its summit they 
 expect the north wind, but the south wind when they 
 hang halfway up the peak. It was dark when we 
 rounded Cape Murtzephlo, the north-western point 
 of Lemnos, and about an hour before midnight we 
 caught sight of the glimmering lights of Kastro, the 
 chief town, which is situated near the middle of its 
 western side. As soon as our vessel had cast anchor 
 in the little harbour, and we were rowed ashore, we 
 obtained practical evidence that Lemnos is but little 
 visited, for we could hear of no inn, and a long de- 
 bate ensued among the officials at the landing-place 
 as to where we could pass the night. Ultimately we 
 were installed in a half-empty house at some distance 
 off, one room in which was occupied by a young 
 Greek, a merchant's clerk, while the rest, though 
 somewhat dilapidated in respect of windows and 
 shutters, was at our disposal. 
 
 Kastro, The town of Kastro, or rather the fortified en- 
 
 the atuient , c ...... 
 
 Myrina closure from which it receives its name, occupies 
 
 a striking position, which marks it out as the 
 
 natural capital of the island. It is situated on a
 
 Lemnos. 241 
 
 rocky peninsula, which projects westward into the 
 sea from the recesses of a bay, and rises steeply in 
 its centre to a height of 400 feet. On either side of 
 the narrow isthmus which joins it to the mainland 
 there is a rather exposed harbour, and that which 
 lies towards the north is flanked by the Greek, that 
 towards the south by the Turkish, quarter. This 
 peninsula was in ancient times the site of the city of 
 Myrina, and is no doubt the place which is meant by 
 Homer when he speaks of the 'well-built town of 
 Lemnos 1 .' The inhabitants of the modern city amount 
 to 3000, while the population of the entire island is 
 reckoned at 30,000, of whom 5000 are Turks. The 
 people generally, I was assured both by natives and 
 by other Greeks who are resident among them, are 
 peaceable and orderly. ' Lemnian deeds ' are now 
 at all events unknown. My own subsequent experi- 
 ence taught me that they are everywhere friendly to 
 strangers, and not 'rude of speech,' as Homer says 
 their predecessors were 2 . I may mention that the 
 name of Stalimene, though in most modern maps it is 
 given as the appellation of the island, is now wholly 
 unknown, and only that of Lemnos is used. 
 
 As I was desirous to visit the castle before pro- a Lemma-, 
 ceeding into the interior of the island, on the morning'*'' 
 after my arrival I called on the British consular agent, 
 Mr. Lambiris, who is also the vice-consul for the 
 kingdom of Greece, in order to obtain an introduc- 
 tion to the Turkish governor. I found him occupying 
 
 1 \fijxvov, iVKrifxtvov ino\it6pov. Od. 8. 283. 
 
 2 oixtrai is \fj/xvov ^tja. 'S.ivTias aypio<pajvovs. Od. 8. 294. 
 
 R
 
 242 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 a spacious and well-furnished house in the middle of 
 the Greek quarter, and he also owns a country house, 
 situated in a pleasant garden in the outskirts of the 
 town. He received me warmly, and offered me the 
 usual refreshments of sweetmeats, cold water and 
 coffee, which were handed, according to the graceful 
 custom which prevails in Greek families, by the 
 daughter of the house. This young lady and her 
 brother spoke English, having both resided for a 
 year in England, while the father and mother were 
 only acquainted with Greek. She was married, but 
 her husband was at this time absent in Smyrna ; her 
 two pretty children, Helene and Gregorios, were 
 very English-looking, and one of them, who was six 
 years of age, was soon to be sent to England for 
 education. To my surprise I discovered that their 
 governess, who was living in the family, was an 
 English girl. It appeared that she had left England 
 some years before from the desire of visiting foreign 
 countries, and had resided three years in Smyrna, 
 after which she accepted the offer of this engage- 
 ment : but, as Kastro is a place of few resources, 
 and she was the only English person there, I was 
 not surprised to learn that she found it inexpressibly 
 dull, and was most anxious to return to England. 
 i annexion All the information respecting Lemnos which I had 
 ^Esvtt gathered from books of travel had led me to suppose, 
 that owing to its remote position it was a poverty- 
 stricken island, and behindhand in all the arts of life. 
 This, I have no doubt, was formerly the case, but it 
 certainly is not so at the present time. I soon dis-
 
 Lemnos. 243 
 
 covered that a good many of the inhabitants are 
 prosperous people ; and, as regards education, not 
 only are there elementary schools in the principal 
 villages, but in Kastro and at Mudros, which is the 
 second place in importance, there are higher or 
 ' Hellenic ' schools, in which ancient Greek is taught. 
 The cause of the change is the same which I have 
 already noticed in speaking of Leros, namely, that 
 the inhabitants have established a connexion with 
 Egypt. Sir John Antoniades, the wealthy banker of 
 Alexandria, who is father-in-law to Mr. Lambiris, is, 
 if I mistake not, a native of this island ; and many of 
 the Lemnians now betake themselves to that port, 
 and make large fortunes there. Much of the money 
 that is thus obtained finds its way to Lemnos, for 
 these emigrants with praiseworthy patriotism have 
 established a society in Alexandria for the advance- 
 ment of their native country, and contribute funds 
 for the support of the schools. Besides this, it is 
 a point of honour amongst them to take Lemnian girls 
 to wife ; and not unfrequently they continue to regard 
 Lemnos as their home, and leave their wives and 
 families there, returning to them when the heat of 
 summer renders Egypt an undesirable place of resi- 
 dence. Another curious result of this connexion is 
 that many of the inhabitants of Lemnos are Free- 
 masons, having become members either of English 
 lodges or of French associations in Alexandria. The 
 treatment of the people by the Turkish government 
 has also changed for the better. The sound of 
 church bells which I heard seemed to show that
 
 244 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Lemnos a 
 
 place of 
 banish- 
 ment. 
 
 they enjoy greater freedom in religious worship than 
 is found in most parts of Turkey, for the use of these 
 is generally forbidden ; and whereas in former times 
 the erection of handsome places of worship was not 
 allowed, the present metropolitan church at Kastro is 
 a spacious and imposing edifice. 
 
 Another English-speaking person whom I met in 
 Lemnos was M. Jourdain, to whom I was introduced 
 by Mr. Lambiris. He was the son of a French 
 father and a Greek mother, but he seemed to regard 
 himself as Greek by nationality. He informed me 
 that at one time he had been a correspondent of the 
 Daily Telegraph in Bulgaria, and he had been em- 
 ployed on Mount Athos in connexion with the dispute 
 that arose between the monasteries and the Rou- 
 manian government, in consequence of the confiscation 
 of the properties which the monks had previously 
 possessed, or at least administered, in the Danubian 
 Principalities. From him I learned that Lemnos has 
 long been a place of banishment for political offenders 
 in Turkey. The most important exile who is now 
 living there is Sadik Pasha, who was Grand Vizier 
 at Constantinople some ten years ago. His banish- 
 ment was connected, I believe, with the fall of Midhat 
 Pasha, some letters of that minister having been 
 found, or said to have been found, in his possession. 
 He has now resided in Lemnos for eight years, and 
 is almost forgotten at the capital. Another person in 
 the same position, who came to visit me during my 
 stay in Kastro, was once a dragoman and travelling- 
 servant of some repute at Beyrout, in which capacity
 
 Lemnos. 24,5 
 
 he had been in the service of many Englishmen. 
 His name is Assad Smart, and he is a native of 
 Syria, and a member of the Orthodox Church. His 
 own account of the circumstances of his banishment 
 was this : that on suspicion of complicity, which he 
 entirely denies, in some plot for an insurrection of 
 the Christians in Syria, he was seized, and, without 
 any trial or the statement of any definite charge, was 
 put on shipboard and conveyed to this place. It is 
 curious to find that there is still in the Aegean an 
 island which performs the same office which Gyara 
 did under the Roman empire, though happily it is a 
 less dreary abode than that desolate spot. 
 
 Accompanied by the consul's son, I now proceeded Site of 
 to visit the Turkish governor, to whose jurisdiction y yrl 
 Samothrace, Imbros and Tenedos are also subject, 
 while he is himself subordinate to the Pasha of 
 Rhodes, who is governor-general of the Turkish 
 islands in the Aegean. I explained to him my desire 
 to see the castle, in order to explore the site of the 
 ancient city, but for this he said it was not in his 
 power to give leave, since admission to that place 
 depended on the military commandant who resided 
 within it. Accordingly a messenger was despatched 
 to that functionary to obtain his permission. We 
 waited nearly an hour for a reply, during which time 
 coffee was served, and I was able to obtain some 
 useful information from the governor and his retinue, 
 especially about the ' Lemnian earth,' which was 
 famed for its medicinal qualities both in ancient times 
 and throughout the Middle Ages, and the locality of
 
 246 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 which I hoped to examine. At last, when our con- 
 versation and our patience were exhausted, I 
 determined to proceed to the castle, on the chance 
 of being allowed to enter. The approach to the 
 fortifications is very striking, for the granite rocks 
 of which the peninsula is composed rise steeply and 
 stand out in the most fantastic forms, and in many 
 places are stained bright yellow by patches of lichen. 
 The mediaeval walls, of Genoese construction, enclose 
 a wide area, running round the peninsula at about 
 two-thirds of its height from the sea, and above this, 
 at the summit, there is an upper castle or keep : on 
 the northern side, where the slope of the ground is 
 least precipitous, a lower line of strong fortifications 
 is carried along somewhat above the level of the 
 water. The isthmus between the two harbours forms 
 a ridge where it abuts against the rocks, and at the 
 back of this there rises a conspicuous knoll, which 
 falls abruptly on its eastern side toward the level 
 ground where the Greek and Turkish quarters meet 
 one another. Close to this ridge, and not far from 
 the entrance gate, stand the only remains of the 
 ancient city of Myrina — a splendid piece of cyclopean 
 masonry, occupying a steep position on the hillside. 
 The huge blocks of which it is composed are laid in 
 irregular courses, ranging from three to five, and 
 between these at intervals smaller masses were 
 introduced. I measured one of the blocks, and 
 found it to be six feet and a half in length by 
 three feet in height. Immediately below this 
 wall there is a curious wide-mouthed cavern,
 
 Lemnos. 247 
 
 covered in by one enormous rock which forms a 
 natural arch. 
 
 When we reached the entrance of the fortress, one The 
 of the sentries who were on guard undertook to n J oder " 
 
 ° fortress . 
 
 convey to the commandant my request for admittance, 
 and after a little time returned with a favourable 
 reply. The approach, which is flanked by high 
 walls, winds in such a manner as to impede an 
 attacking force, and is defended at intervals by three 
 gates, the two outermost of which are still covered 
 with rusty plates of iron. On the face of the wall 
 inside the first of these there is a short dedicatory 
 inscription, bearing in its centre the monogram of the 
 Palaeologi, which is similarly found in inscriptions 
 in Samothrace. In both instances this is the emblem 
 of the Genoese family of the Gatilusi of Lesbos, who 
 intermarried with the imperial house, and whose 
 principality during part of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries included Lemnos, Samothrace and Imbros. 
 Our perseverance after all was poorly rewarded, for 
 the commandant, though he received us politely and 
 entertained us with the inevitable coffee, allowed us 
 only to go a certain distance round the enceinte within 
 the outer walls, and declined to give us permission to 
 ascend to the upper castle. The defences throughout 
 are strong for a mediaeval building, and even as late 
 as the year 1770 this fortress successfully resisted a 
 three months' siege by the Russians under Count 
 Orloff ; but it could not stand for a moment against 
 modern artillery, and the precautions which are taken 
 to prevent strangers from seeing it are ridiculous.
 
 248 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 In the part which I visited the only objects of interest 
 were a large plain sarcophagus of white marble, and 
 pieces of columns of the same material, apparently of 
 
 View the Byzantine period. I was rewarded, however, by 
 
 from it. t j ie str jkj n g v i ew which even the lower slopes of the 
 peninsula command. Towards the north the coast 
 of Lemnos was visible as far as the headland of 
 Murzephlo, while to the south beyond the nearer 
 promontories the island of A'i Strati (Hagios Eustra- 
 tios) was in view. This island was called Neae in 
 ancient times 1 , and though it forms an insignificant 
 object on the map, as seen from this point it has an 
 imposing appearance. On the landside fields and 
 vineyards extend in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 the town, and behind these rise bare rocky heights, 
 among which that of St. Athanasius, with a chapel 
 on its summit, is the most conspicuous. Towards 
 the north-west Athos towers above the sea, but at this 
 time it was half shrouded in cloud. 
 
 shadow of The sight of this peak recalls the statement which 
 was widely circulated in antiquity, that its shadow 
 reached as far as Myrina, or, to give it in the circum- 
 stantial form with which Sophocles invests it, that it 
 overshadowed the back of the bronze cow which stood 
 in the market-place of that city 2 . The same idea is 
 introduced by later poets 3 ; and ultimately it passed 
 
 1 Some authorities maintain that it was Halonnesus. 
 
 2 "KQws oictd£(i vuira Ar}fivias Poos. Soph. Fragm. 348, ed. 
 Dind. 
 
 3 Apollon. Argonaut. 1. 601-4: — 
 ■qpi 5i viaao\xkvoiaiv " AOai dvereiXe KoXdivrj 
 QprjiKiT), ■?] Toffaov diruTrpoOt Afjfivov (ovaav, 
 
 Athos.
 
 Lcmnos. 249 
 
 into a proverb, concerning those who damage the 
 reputation of others by their own eminence. Con- 
 sidering that the interval which separates the two 
 places is about forty miles, the thing is an impossi- 
 bility; but it is not difficult to conjecture how the 
 idea arose. The shadow of every high and solitary 
 mountain of conical shape is projected to a distance 
 in the morning and the evening when the sky is 
 clear; and having been on the summit of Athos at 
 sunrise, I have seen that effect produced by it 
 in a distinctly marked pyramid stretching far to 
 the west over sea and land. This feature could 
 hardly fail to have been remarked in ancient 
 times by those who navigated the neighbouring 
 seas. Again, at one period of the summer the 
 sun is seen from this part of Lemnos to set behind 
 Athos : of this I was assured by a resident in 
 Kastro who had noticed it ; and it may be inferred 
 from Conze's remark, that on July 2 he saw the 
 sun go down a little to the right of that moun- 
 tain 1 . This also must be a striking sight, and 
 one that would appeal to the imagination. In these 
 
 oaaov €S ivoiov Kiv IvaroKos oKkols avvaaai, 
 aKpoTaTy Kopvcpr) OKLau xal ioaxpi Mvpivrjs. 
 
 Stat. Theb. 5. 51 (speaking of Lemnos) : — 
 
 Ingenti tellurem proximus umbra 
 Vestit Athos. 
 1 Conze, Reise anf den Inseln des Thrakischen Mecres, p. 108. 
 Belon, writing in the sixteenth century, affirms that he saw the 
 shadow of Athos fall on Lemnos on June 2. — Observations de 
 phtsieurs singularitc's, pp. 58, 59.
 
 25° The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 two facts we have the data from which the belief 
 may have arisen. The desire of completeness, 
 which is characteristic of the human mind, would 
 readily supply what was wanting to amplify the 
 fable.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Lemnos {continued). 
 
 On my return from the fortress I found three The warm 
 horses, which my servant had hired, waiting in 
 readiness to take me into the interior of the island. 
 When we had issued from the town, we began to 
 ascend gradually, passing between fields which flank 
 the lower slopes of the bare stony mountains. 
 These are outliers from the main chain, which runs 
 from north to south, and separates the west coast 
 from the inland districts. At the end of an hour and 
 a half we reached a valley, in which are situated the 
 Therma Loutra, or warm baths, which are much 
 resorted to on account of the medicinal properties of 
 the water. The building which contains them is of 
 solid construction, and encloses a central court paved 
 with stone and open to the roof. At the four angles 
 of this there are rooms in which visitors can be 
 accommodated, and opposite the entrance are two 
 chambers for bathing, with marble baths. In both of 
 these I found the temperature of the water at the 
 point where it enters to be ioo° Fahr. The baths 
 are especially beneficial for rheumatism and skin 
 diseases. The patients also drink the water, which
 
 252 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 has a great effect in increasing appetite ; and it is 
 said that, when once a person has drunk of it, he 
 desires to drink more. At the time of my visit there 
 were no bathers ; but during the summer, I was told, 
 a great number come, and those who cannot be 
 accommodated within the building are lodged in rude 
 tenements attached to the baths. 
 Interior At this point a steep ascent commences, which 
 
 island. leads to the watershed of the western part of the 
 island, and when we had reached this, we wound 
 about among the declivities of the mountains for 
 more than an hour before we began to descend. 
 From these uplands the water flows in three direc- 
 tions, for we had followed up one stream from the 
 neighbourhood of the town, and shortly after leaving 
 this we crossed another that runs southward in the 
 direction of the inlet of Kondia, which penetrates the 
 island near its south-west angle ; later still we passed 
 a third, which finds its way into the bay of Mudros. 
 The mountain of Hagios Elias, which rises behind 
 the baths, here forms a conspicuous object, and far 
 away to the south is seen the still loftier Mount 
 Phakos, which intervenes between the two inlets just 
 named. None, however, of the mountains in Lemnos 
 attain a great elevation, for the highest is that in the 
 neighbourhood of Cape Murzephlo, which only 
 reaches 1400 feet. At last the great undulating plain, 
 which occupies the centre of the island, opens to 
 view, bounded by lower heights in the direction of 
 the eastern coast. Towards its further extremity it 
 is almost divided in two parts by the bays of Mudros
 
 Lemnos. 253 
 
 and Purnia, which penetrate far into the land from 
 the southern and the northern seas. In the distance 
 the imposing forms of Samothrace and Imbros are 
 visible. Numerous villages lie scattered over this 
 area, and the windmills which stand on the low hills 
 in their neighbourhood betoken the absence of 
 running water. Some of the farms are the property 
 of the monks of Athos— a fact of which I first became 
 aware in an unpleasant manner many years before, 
 from the staleness of the eggs which were set before 
 me in the monastery of Lavra ; for these, as I dis- 
 covered on enquiry, had been imported from Lemnos, 
 since hens, like other female creatures, are excluded 
 from the Holy Mountain. 
 
 Throughout this plain the ground is extensively Thecentral 
 cultivated, corn, wine and tobacco being the chief 
 products ; and in some places the land had been 
 rendered so moist by irrigation, that it was necessary 
 to deviate from the path in order to secure a safe 
 footing for the horses. The soil is light and powdery, 
 and appears remarkably fertile ; but, notwithstanding 
 this, the entire absence of trees — with the exception 
 of a few fig-trees and other fruit-trees in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the villages I did not see one in the 
 whole island — imparts an aspect of great desolation 
 to the scenery. In consequence of this the houses 
 are everywhere built of stone, and stone walls are 
 used in place of hedges. The wood that is required 
 for burning is imported from Thasos ; but generally 
 in the country districts braziers are employed for 
 heating the apartments, and for these small brush-
 
 Atziki. 
 
 254 77?^ Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 wood is used. The peasants were now busily 
 employed in tilling the soil ; and wherever the 
 ground was newly turned, numerous large gulls were 
 flying about, and gave evidence by their presence of 
 the proximity of the sea. In all the waste lands 
 flocks of sheep and goats were feeding. The dress 
 of the shepherds who accompanied them was peculiar, 
 consisting of a white turban wound round the head, 
 a white shirt and baggy trousers with a black woollen 
 belt fastened round the waist, a jacket of sheepskin 
 with the wool turned inside, leather leggings, and 
 mocassins of hide. 
 Village of At the end of four hours' riding from Kastro I 
 reached the village of Atziki, which is situated in 
 the middle of the plain. Here I obtained night- 
 quarters in the school-house, a place of abode which 
 is often available in these islands, for the building is 
 the property of the community, and there is usually 
 a vacant apartment in addition to the school-room 
 and that occupied by the master. After I had settled 
 in, some of the inhabitants hospitably offered to 
 provide me with a more comfortable lodging ; but I 
 was too well satisfied with the position of my humble 
 quarters at the extremity of the village, and the 
 independence which I thus enjoyed, to be persuaded 
 to leave them. One of the chief men, however, who 
 was desirous of showing me a bas-relief of Byzantine 
 workmanship which had lately been discovered, 
 conducted me to his house, and I was surprised at 
 the appearance of its neatly furnished rooms, which 
 were altogether superior to what is usually found in
 
 Lemnos. 255 
 
 Greek villages. The young schoolmaster was a 
 favourable specimen of a class of men who have 
 contributed more than any other, perhaps, towards 
 the advancement of the Greeks. Though occupying 
 a single room, which contained little more than a bed, 
 a table, a few chairs, and his books, he was an 
 intelligent man, and had received his education at 
 Athens. I observe that the village teacher, who was 
 always known as Dascalos when I first travelled in 
 Greece, owing to the influence of the Hellenic revival 
 has now risen to the dignity of Didascalos. The 
 spread of instruction has brought it to pass that the 
 instructor receives his full title. 
 
 In visiting this part of Lemnos I had two objects Bay of 
 in view ; first, to investigate the spot from which the 
 ' Lemnian earth ' is obtained, and to gather any 
 information which could be discovered relating to it ; 
 and secondly, to explore the site of the ancient city of 
 Hephaestia. These are situated in the same neigh- 
 bourhood, near the head of the northern inlet, the 
 bay of Purnia, from one to two hours distant from 
 Atziki. The following morning (March 25) I pro- 
 ceeded in this direction, together with the school- 
 master, who at the last moment offered to accompany 
 me ; his scholars, who had already assembled, were 
 dismissed with the welcome news of a holiday. The 
 continuance of north-east wind and drifting rain 
 rendered the weather 'melancholy,' to use my com- 
 panion's expression (fie\ayxoKiKos Kaipds) : indeed, during 
 the whole of my stay in Lemnos I hardly saw the 
 sun, and the impression of the outward aspect of the
 
 256 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 island which I carried away with me was a gloomy 
 one. As we crossed the low heights at the back of 
 the village, we soon reached a point where both the 
 remarkable inlets are visible ; that of Mudros is by 
 far the deeper of the two, and is distinguished by its 
 windings, and by the numerous small headlands 
 which project into it from either shore. At last we 
 descended to the hamlet of Kotchino \ in the inner- 
 most recesses of the bay of Purnia, where a number 
 of shops (naydfra) have been erected on the seashore ; 
 in the neighbourhood of these stand the remains of a 
 considerable mediaeval castle, which is mentioned 
 by Chalcocondylas, the Byzantine historian of the 
 fifteenth century, as having been successfully defended 
 by Constantine Palaeologus, the future emperor of 
 Constantinople, against a Turkish force which be- 
 sieged it by land and sea 2 . While we were there 
 we were overtaken by a guard, who had been sent by 
 the Pasha to serve as an escort. I dismissed him 
 with compliments and thanks, since perfect security 
 reigned in the island ; but on the following day two 
 others met me when returning from Atziki to Kastro. 
 and accompanied me on the way. I shrewdly 
 suspected that they were intended to spy out my 
 proceedings, for at the present day every traveller 
 from Western Europe is regarded by the Turks as 
 entertaining designs for excavation, which is strictly 
 forbidden unless specially authorised by the govern- 
 
 1 So pronounced, though the proper spelling of the name is 
 Kukkivo. 
 
 3 Chalcocond., Book vi. p. 306. ed. Bonn.
 
 Lemnos. 257 
 
 ment ; and this I found to be the view taken by the 
 natives of my military escort. 
 
 As the scene of the digging for the Lemnian earth Kotchino. 
 is near to Kotchino, I now enquired for some one 
 who could conduct us to the place; and I was 
 fortunate in securing the services of an old man who 
 had passed his life in this neighbourhood, and was 
 consequently familiar with the traditions respecting 
 it ; also, being a potter by trade, he was accustomed 
 to make vessels of this material. Notwithstanding 
 his years, he was an excellent walker, and he after- 
 wards accompanied me to the site of Hephaestia. I 
 found that he had visited Mount Athos, and was 
 acquainted with several of the monasteries. Under 
 his guidance we now made our way to the spot. 
 Before proceeding further, however, in my narrative, 
 it may be well for me to give some account of this 
 earth, to which an extraordinary interest attaches 
 owing to the permanence of the belief in its medicinal 
 qualities, and of the customs which have been asso- 
 ciated with it. There is the more reason for dwelling 
 on the subject now, because within a few years the 
 local knowledge of it is doomed to extinction. 
 
 The principal ancient writers who have given an The 
 
 ' -L C??l 72 2 it ) 2 
 
 account of the Lemnian earth are Pliny, Dioscorides, eari / 7 ; 
 and Galen x : but the two former obtained their 
 information at second-hand, while Galen, in a truly 
 scientific spirit, investigated the matter for himself, 
 
 1 Pliny, Hist. Nat. 29. 5, § 33, and 35. 6, § 14; Dioscor. De 
 Mater. Med. 5. 113; Galen. De Simpl. Med. 9. 2, vol. xii. pp. 
 169-176, ed. Kiihn. 
 
 S
 
 258 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and voyaged to Lemnos in order to make his 
 enquiries on the spot. So great was his interest in 
 it, that after failing in his first attempt to reach the 
 place on his way from Asia Minor to Rome — the 
 captain of the vessel in which he sailed having 
 landed him at Myrina, and refusing to wait while 
 he visited the interior of the island — he included 
 Lemnos in his return journey, and on this occasion 
 directed his course to Hephaestia, in the neighbour- 
 hood of which city he was informed that this material 
 was found. By Dioscorides it is called simply 
 ' Lemnian earth ' {x^vla yq) ; but Galen and Pliny 
 apply to it the names of ' Lemnian red earth ' (Aq/m'a 
 pi\Tos, Lemma rubrica), or ' Lemnian seal ' (A^/a 
 acppayls), the latter of these terms being derived from 
 the stamp which was impressed upon it, and without 
 which it was not allowed to be sold. The three 
 writers mention a great variety of disorders for 
 which it was a remedy, but they all agree in regard- 
 ing it as an antidote to poison, and as a cure for the 
 bites of serpents. According to one tradition Philoc- 
 tetes, whose wound arose from the last-named cause, 
 was healed by using it l . It was both taken as a 
 medicine, and employed in external applications. 
 Calais Galen, who lived in the second century after Christ, 
 
 account. nas j e f t us a circumstantial account of the place 
 from which the earth was taken, of the ceremonies 
 observed on the occasion, and of the mode of its 
 preparation as a drug. He describes the hill on 
 which it was found as having a burnt appearance, 
 
 1 Philost. Heroica, 5. 2.
 
 Lemnos. 259 
 
 from its surface being of the colour of ochre, and 
 destitute of all vegetation. On certain occasions 
 (and one of these coincided with the time of his visit) 
 the priestess of Artemis came to this spot, and after 
 performing a number of rites, the chief of which con- 
 sisted in casting offerings of wheat and barley, as a 
 compensation, into the cavity from which the earth 
 was dug, carried off a cart-load of it to the city. 
 That which was thus removed was considered 
 sacred, and might be touched by no other hand than 
 hers ; but she mixed it with water, kneaded it, and 
 then strained off both the moisture and the gritty 
 particles : after which, when it had assumed the con- 
 sistence of soft wax, she divided it into small pieces, 
 and impressed upon them the seal of Artemis. 
 Dioscorides affirms that goat's blood was mixed with 
 it; and Galen tells us that his anxiety to discover 
 whether this statement of his predecessor was true 
 was his chief motive for enquiring thus minutely into 
 the origin of the drug. When, however, he interro- 
 gated the most intelligent of the inhabitants on the 
 point, their only answer was a burst of laughter, 
 which satisfactorily settled the question. 
 
 The exportation of this earth and its use in phar- Its use in 
 
 , , , , tvt-jji phar ma<)'. 
 
 macy must have continued throughout the Middle 
 Ages, for we find its reputation undiminished at the 
 expiration of that period. In the sixteenth century 
 it was in so great request as an antidote to the 
 plague, to dysentery, and to other disorders, that 
 ambassadors, when returning from Constantinople 
 to their native countries, were wont to bring pieces 
 s 2
 
 260 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of it as a present to distinguished men 1 . When 
 Lemnos was regained by the Turks from the 
 Venetians in the year 1657, Mohammed Kiuprili, 
 who commanded on that occasion, sent word to 
 Adrianople to the Sultan that he had won the island 
 where the ' sealed earth ' was found 2 . A further 
 proof of the value which was attached to it is given 
 by its being largely counterfeited. Belon speaks of 
 some kinds as being 'sophistiquees'; and Thevet in 
 his Cosmographie du Levant (date 1554) remarks 3 , 
 ' Les Juifs la falsifient beaucoup, quand ils la ven- 
 dent a ceux qui ne la connoissent.' In Western 
 Europe it was known from an early period as terra 
 stgillata ; but the original Greek term sphragis also 
 found its way into the pharmacopoeias of the West, 
 where it appears in such corrupt forms as lempnia 
 frigdos, and even lima fragis *. 
 Bdon's We are fortunate in possessing, for the sixteenth 
 
 century, a description of the digging of the earth, 
 and of the circumstances attending it, from the pen 
 of a writer not less observant than Galen was in his 
 time. This was the French traveller, Pierre Belon, 
 whose name has been already mentioned, and who, 
 
 1 Belon, Observations de plusieurs singularity, p. 51. 
 
 2 Von Hammer, Geschichte des Osmanischen Retches, vol. iii. 
 p. 483 (2 ed.). 
 
 3 P- 52. 
 
 4 Alphita, a Medico- Botanical Glossary, ed. Mowat, in the 
 Anccdota Oxoniensia, pp. 96, 219. The compiler of the Glossary 
 
 , remarks, '■Lempnia frigdos terra est sigillata.' 'Frigdos' is a 
 corruption of e<ppayT8os, the genitive case being used, as Mr. 
 Mowat has pointed out to me, on account of the form employed 
 in a doctor's prescription.
 
 Lemnos. 261 
 
 like the Greek physician, came to Lemnos with the 
 express purpose of investigating this subject l . Then, 
 as now, the locality was a hill in the neighbourhood 
 of Kotchino, which place he names, though he was 
 under the mistaken impression that the castle there 
 formed part of the ruins of Hephaestia. On the hill- 
 side were two fountains, of which the one on the 
 right hand of the ascent was perennial, while that to 
 the left dried up in the summer time. No trees grew 
 upon it, except a carob, an elder, and a willow, which 
 overhung the perennial spring ; nevertheless, the 
 corn flourished which was sown upon it. This last 
 statement is in direct contradiction to that of Galen 
 on the same point ; but it is quite conceivable that in 
 the course of so many centuries a covering of mould 
 may have formed there. The earth was dug from 
 the upper part of the hill, but this took place only on 
 one day of the year, the sixth of August, in the 
 presence of the Turkish governor of the island and a 
 large concourse of people. The ceremony com- 
 menced with a mass, which was said by the Greek 
 priests and monks in a little chapel at the foot of the 
 hill ; and at the conclusion of this they mounted the 
 declivity, and the soil was removed by which the 
 opening in the ground, leading to the peculiar vein 
 of earth, was closed. This entrance was so deep, 
 that from fifty to sixty men were required to clear it. 
 When the medicinal earth was reached, the monks 
 filled a number of sacks with it, and made these over 
 to the Turkish authorities, after which the soil which 
 1 Belon, Observations, chaps. 22, 23, 28, 29.
 
 262 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 had been removed was once more replaced. The 
 greater part of the earth was despatched to the Sultan 
 at Constantinople, but a certain portion was sold to 
 merchants on the spot, and those who took part in 
 the digging were allowed to carry off a small quantity 
 for their private use. In no case, however, was any 
 one allowed to sell it until it was sealed. It was 
 made into small cakes, and of these Belon saw 
 numerous specimens of various shades of colour, but 
 the prevailing tint was dull red. In his book he 
 gives representations of the seals that were used. 
 Modem Let me now describe the place which I saw, and 
 
 W'nd 'beliefs. tne observances of which I received an account. 
 The excavation to which I was conducted by my 
 local guide is situated on a small space of nearly 
 level ground, somewhat below the summit of a hill 
 about two hundred feet above the sea, and less than 
 a mile to the southward of Kotchino. At the foot of 
 the last ascent before it is reached there is a spring 
 called Phtelidia, over which an ogive arch of stone 
 has been cut at the point where it issues from the 
 rocks. When I enquired whether there was another 
 fountain in the neighbourhood, my informant men- 
 tioned one called Kokala, which rises on the opposite 
 side of the hill. The ground is everywhere clothed 
 with turf, but is otherwise devoid of vegetation. The 
 cavity from which the ' sacred earth ' (ayiov x^M", as it 
 is universally called by the Greeks) is taken, is an 
 insignificant hole, about fifty feet in circumference 
 and ten feet deep, the bottom of which is now filled 
 up with dry stalks of thistles. The sacred earth is
 
 Lemnos. 263 
 
 found at a depth of three feet below this. In the 
 neighbourhood there is another spot which seems to 
 have been excavated, and it is believed that the vein 
 extends for some distance below the soil. The 
 earth, however, is not the same as that which Galen 
 and Belon describe ; for while they speak of it as red 
 in colour, the specimens which were shown to me 
 resembled ordinary clay 1 : either the original vein 
 has been exhausted, or they no longer dig deep 
 enough to reach it. As in Belon's time, it can only 
 be dug on the sixth of August ; and unless this takes 
 place before sunrise all its efficacy is lost. It is also 
 confidently believed in the island (I heard it both at 
 Kastro and at Atziki) that when the ground is 
 opened, the sacred earth wells up of its own accord 
 — 'leaps up,' 'boils up,' were the expressions used; 
 but when I questioned my local authority, who had 
 often been present, on this point, he replied much in 
 the same way as Galen's auditors did to his enquiries 
 about the admixture of goat's blood in the drug. 
 His account of the customs observed on the occasion, 
 which continued in full force until five or six years 
 ago, was as follows. On the appointed morning the 
 governor or his representative proceeded to the spot, 
 accompanied by the Mahometan khodjas and the 
 Christian priests, both of whom took part in the 
 ceremony: the former of these offered a lamb as a 
 
 1 The same thing was remarked by Dr. Sibthorp, who says, 
 ' The hole [from which the earth was dug] had been filled up, but 
 we observed some of the earth, which was a pale-coloured clay.' 
 Walpole's Turkey, p. 281.
 
 264 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 sacrifice (kourban), of the flesh of which they after- 
 wards partook, while fish was provided for the 
 Christians, who were prohibited from eating meat at 
 that season, owing to its falling in the fast of fourteen 
 days which precedes the festival of the Virgin. Tradi- 
 tion, he said, affirmed that sometimes two or three 
 thousand persons were present, and in his father's 
 time as much as seven mules' load of the earth was 
 carried away, to be sent to Constantinople. It was 
 there made into pieces of the size of tablets of soap, 
 and was stamped with the government seal. 
 An anti- The locality which I have mentioned is evidently 
 poison ^e same which Belon visited, and probably corre- 
 sponds to that described by Galen. The resem- 
 blances between the ancient and the modern customs 
 and beliefs are also very striking. The sacred cha- 
 racter attached to the earth and the religious auspices 
 under which it was removed, the offerings made on 
 the occasion, the guarantee of genuineness provided 
 by the seal, and the confidence which was placed in 
 its efficacy as a medicine, are features common to 
 the earlier and the later accounts, and seem to point 
 to an unbroken tradition. To these one more may 
 be added, which is not the least curious. I have 
 mentioned that the ancient authorities agree in re- 
 garding it as an antidote to poison. At the present 
 day small bowls are made on the spot of this material, 
 and are bought by the Turks, who believe that a 
 vessel made of this clay neutralises the effect of any 
 poison that is put into it. I purchased several of 
 these from the potter, and each of them is stamped in
 
 Lcmnos. 265 
 
 five places with the government seal, which bears in 
 Arabic characters the same inscription which Belon 
 mentions as being used in his day — tin machtum, 
 i. e. ' sealed earth.' This seal, he informed me, was 
 obtained for him from Constantinople twenty years 
 before by an exiled Pasha, who desired that a num- 
 ber of these bowls might be made for him. 
 
 Notwithstanding the long duration of this time- An expir- 
 worn belief, it is evident from the neglect into which "tfJJn. 
 it has lately fallen, that ere long it will be a thing of 
 the past. For several years the Turkish governor 
 has ceased to attend, and, following his example, 
 first the khodjas and then the priests absented them- 
 selves, and no lamb is now sacrificed. Last year 
 only twelve persons were present. Though the 
 tablets were to be bought in chemists' shops in 
 Kastro at the time of Conze's visit to the island 1 
 in 1858, I enquired in vain for them ; and neither 
 the existing governor, nor any persons of the younger 
 generation, had heard of this remedy. In the eastern 
 parts of Lemnos, however, it is still in use for fevers 
 and some other disorders, for the women possess 
 nuts of it, which they string like the beads of a 
 rosary; these they grate in case of illness, and take 
 a teaspoonful of the powder in water. Not long ago 
 the proprietor of the hillside applied for leave to 
 plough over the spot and sow it with corn ; and 
 though for the time this was not allowed by the 
 government, yet, when the annual celebration has 
 come to an end, the prohibition will safely be ignored, 
 
 1 Conze, Reise, p. 121.
 
 266 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and from that time forward the locality itself will be 
 forgotten. This sudden eclipse of what was once 
 an important medicine is partly due, no doubt, to 
 the progress of medical science even in these remote 
 regions ; but perhaps it may also have been caused 
 by the discovery that it is devoid of efficacy. That 
 this is the case at the present day has been proved 
 by an analysis of its component parts \ Whether it 
 was so with the original rubrica we have no means of 
 learning. 
 The Returning to Kotchino, we now struck off north- 
 
 SS. wards over the hills in the direction of a place which 
 is known as Palaeopoli. As we rode along I noticed 
 a village with a minaret rising above it, and found on 
 enquiry that it was called Aipati, i.e. Hagios Hy- 
 patios : it is a rare instance of a Christian village 
 having passed into Turkish hands, for until lately it 
 possessed a mixed population, but the Christians 
 gradually withdrew, and now but few families re- 
 main. Further on, the eastern coast came in view, 
 at a point where a large shallow salt-lake, which is 
 separated by a bar from the outer sea, displayed its 
 white surface; this my guide at first called by its 
 Turkish name of Touzla (touz, Turk, for ' salt '), but 
 
 1 Dr. Daubeny ( On Volcanos, p. 373) makes the following state- 
 ment : ' On analysis it is found to consist merely of— 
 
 Silex 66.0 
 
 Alumina 14-5° 
 
 Oxide iron 6.0 
 
 Water 8.50 
 
 Natron 3-5° 
 
 Lime and Magnesia an inappreciable quantity.'
 
 Lemnos. 267 
 
 he knew it also as Megale Alike. At this place salt 
 is collected. Towards the south, between the bay of 
 Mudros and the open sea, the ground reaches a con- 
 siderable elevation. It was in this district that the 
 famous inscription was found, which is written in 
 primitive Greek characters, but in a language which 
 is not Hellenic, and is supposed by some eminent 
 authorities to be Etruscan \ At a distance of two 
 miles from Kotchino, not far from the shore, we 
 came on some ancient graves, one or two of which 
 had been opened. They were plain rectangular stone 
 chambers, and bones and broken fragments of glass 
 were strewn about in their neighbourhood. Close 
 by, a rude excavation had been made of what looked 
 like a house of the Roman period, and amongst the 
 debris lay part of an unfluted column, a capital, and 
 numerous large tiles. The neighbourhood of these 
 remains was called by our guide Palaeopoli. 
 
 The ground at this point begins to form a penin- Site of 
 sula, which projects into the bay of Purnia, and is e * aes l 
 flanked on its eastern side by the winding harbour of 
 Hecatonkephalais, or 'the Hundred Heads,' which 
 penetrates deeply into the land. Here is the place 
 which since Conze's time has been recognised as 
 the site of Hephaestia. A long and gradual ascent 
 brought us to the highest point of this, which bears 
 the name of Klas; on the further side the ground 
 
 1 The inscription, which was discovered by MM. Cousin and 
 Durrbach, and was first published in vol. x. of the Bulletin de 
 Correspondance hellenique, will be found, together with a disquisi- 
 tion on the questions raised in connexion with it, in Pauli's Eine 
 vorgriechische Inschrift von Lemnos.
 
 268 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 falls abruptly, and the peninsula terminates in a low 
 rocky promontory, called Tigani or 'the Frying-pan.' 
 There are no remains of an acropolis at Klas, but all 
 along the ridge the foundations of a wall are trace- 
 able, and this I followed down the slope from west 
 to east, until it came to an end just where there is a 
 steep descent to the entrance of the little bight which 
 forms the innermost portion of the harbour. Through 
 the greater part of its course only one layer of stones 
 was visible, and nowhere more than two ; the width 
 at the point where I measured it was four feet and 
 a half, and the blocks of which it was composed were 
 of no great size. These, no doubt, are slight traces, 
 but they are sufficient to identify the city to which 
 they belonged with Hephaestia. We know that 
 formerly Lemnos possessed only two towns 1 , and 
 one of these, Myrina, is certainly to be placed at 
 Kastro : the only other locality in the island where 
 remains of an ancient city have been found is Palaeo- 
 poli, and most of the marble blocks, which have been 
 used for building in other parts, are said by the in- 
 habitants to have been brought from thence. This, 
 we may naturally conclude, was the site of the second 
 of the two, Hephaestia ; and the majority of the coins 
 which have been found on the spot bear the name of 
 that place 2 . The position, though not very strong for 
 defence, was serviceable for purposes of commerce, 
 since it lay in the recesses of a fine bay, and possessed 
 a commodious harbour of its own. 
 
 1 The epithet 5ino\is was applied to it for this reason. 
 
 2 See Conze, Reise, p. 118.
 
 Lemnos. 269 
 
 On the following day I returned to Kastro, after Homed 
 passing another night at Atziki ; but before leaving 
 that village I had an opportunity of seeing a speci- 
 men of what are regarded as among the greatest 
 curiosities of the island, its horned cocks. When 
 first I heard of these I treated the story with some 
 incredulity; but this morning one of them was 
 brought for my inspection by the children of the 
 place. Undoubtedly it had two horns, growing 
 one above the other; and these are nothing else 
 than the spurs, which, by a process which must in- 
 volve some cruelty, are removed from the legs and 
 planted in the head. The fowls that are treated in 
 this manner are called capons (Kanovta), and are famed 
 for their size and flavour. They are exported to 
 Constantinople, where they fetch as much as a 
 medjidie (3s. 6^.). In the sixteenth century, on the 
 other hand, Lemnos was noted for its chestnut 
 ponies, which are specially mentioned by Belon 1 : 
 the breed, however, must have become extinct, for 
 I did not see one of that colour during my stay. 
 
 It remains now to notice the reputation which this A volcano 
 island enjoyed in antiquity as a centre of volcanic ** e% 
 agency, and to enquire how far this is reconcilable 
 with what we find at the present day. It is difficult 
 to doubt that volcanic phenomena displayed them- 
 selves here in some shape or another, owing to the 
 various forms of testimony which imply it. One 
 of the early names by which Lemnos was called 
 
 1 Belon, Observations, p. 58.
 
 2 jo The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 is Aethaleia, or the ' Fire-island.' It was closely 
 connected with the worship of the fire-god, He- 
 phaestus ; on it he was reputed to have fallen, 
 when cast down from heaven by Zeus l , and it be- 
 came his favourite place of abode on earth 2 . Hence 
 he was frequently styled the Lemnian god, and the 
 island was regarded as sacred to him, and one of 
 its two cities, Hephaestia, bore his name. Three of 
 the Attic dramatists make mention of its fires. By 
 Aeschylus it was regarded as the place from which 
 Prometheus stole the fire which he gave to man- 
 kind 3 . Sophocles in one passage of his ' Philoctetes' 
 represents that hero as calling its flames to witness 
 his wrongs 4 , in another as praying that he may be 
 delivered from his agony by being cast into them, 
 and even pointing to them, as if they were within 
 view 5 . In Aristophanes a violent flame is spoken 
 of as a ' Lemnian fire V We must not forget that 
 at the time when these authors wrote Lemnos was 
 an Athenian possession ; so that, even allowing for 
 the idealism of the Attic drama, there is considerable 
 probability of a groundwork in fact for these poetical 
 conceptions. The name of the burning mountain 
 
 1 Horn. //. i. 594. 2 Horn. Od. 8. 284. 
 
 3 Cic. Tusc. Disp. 2. 10, 23, ' Veniat Aeschylus . . . Quo modo 
 fert apud eum Prometheus dolorem, quern excipit ob furtum 
 Lemnium ; ' and the quotation from Accius which follows. 
 
 4 Soph. Phil. 986, u) Arjfivia \^^ v KaL T0 '"o.jKpaTts akXas 
 
 'HfpaiaruTevKTov. 
 
 5 Ibid. 800, Tip \rjpviw Ta>5' avaKa\ovneva> nvpl 
 
 'ipurprjaov, 
 
 6 Ar. Lysist. 299, 300, kolotiv -ye Atjixviov to nvp 
 
 tovto iraarj jL"7X av !7-
 
 Lemnos. 271 
 
 which is here alluded to was Mosychlos 1 . Now at 
 the present day no extinct volcano exists in the 
 island, nor do there seem to be any evidences 
 of volcanic agency. The contrary of this, I am 
 aware, has been maintained ; but the statements to 
 this effect seem all to be based on a remark of 
 Dr. Hunt, who says, 'The whole island bears the 
 strongest marks of the effects of volcanic fire : 
 the rocks in many parts are like the burnt and 
 vitrified scoria of furnaces V This, however, is un- 
 confirmed by any other traveller, and I myself saw 
 nothing that could justify such a description 3 . The 
 hot spring which I have mentioned hardly deserves to 
 be adduced as evidence, for similar phenomena are 
 found in other islands, which have never been supposed 
 to be volcanic. Even earthquakes, as I was assured 
 by the inhabitants, have now become extremely rare. 
 
 Choiseul-Gouffier was the first writer who proposed Its snp- 
 to explain the difference between the ancient and the appearance 
 modern condition of Lemnos by supposing that the 
 volcano which existed in antiquity had been sub- 
 merged in the sea 4 . He noticed the Mythonaes 
 
 1 Antimachus ap. Schol. ad Nicandri Theriaca, 4^2, : Kal 
 'Mucrvx^.ov Si 7a oprj rrjs Arjfwov, u/s 'Avrt/xaxos, 
 
 'H<pai<rTov nvpl eiKeXov, r\v pa titvgku 
 Sai/j.ojv aKpoTaTTjs uptos Kopvcprjat Moav\^ov. 
 
 2 Hunt, in Walpole's Travels in various countries of the East, 
 P- 59- 
 
 3 The specimens which I brought away with me are pronounced 
 by a competent authority to be granite and quartzite, which are 
 not volcanic rocks ; fragments of the latter of these are widely 
 spread over the face of the ground in various parts of the island. 
 
 4 Voyage pittorcsque de la Grece, vol. ii. pp. 130, 131.
 
 273 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 shoal, which lies off the eastern coast, and believed 
 that in this he had discovered the traces of Mount 
 Mosychlos. A conjecture such as this, if unsup- 
 ported by other evidence, would carry little weight 
 with it ; but in the present instance there are certain 
 facts which corroborate the hypothesis. In the story 
 of Philoctetes mention is made of an island called 
 Chryse 1 , and this is stated to have been in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of Lemnos 2 . This island 
 had disappeared before the time of Pausanias, who 
 gives the following account of the occurrence. ' The 
 island of Chryse, in which Philoctetes is reported to 
 have suffered from the bite of the serpent, was at 
 no great distance from Lemnos ; this they say was 
 submerged by the sea, and disappeared in the 
 depths 3 .' He then describes how another island 
 called Hiera, a name which was commonly applied 
 to land which rose from the sea, subsequently 
 emerged in its place. Now the shoal just mentioned, 
 which is delineated in Choiseul-Gouffier's plan, and 
 with greater accuracy in the English Admiralty chart, 
 corresponds in its outlines to a considerable pro- 
 montory projecting from the eastern coast, and an 
 island lying beyond it. These would not unsuitably 
 represent Mount Mosychlos and the island of 
 Chryse. Unfortunately, up to the present time 
 neither the shoal, nor any part of Lemnos, has 
 been examined by a scientific geologist, and in 
 
 1 Soph. Phil. 269, 270. 
 
 2 Soph. Fragm. No. 352, w Afjfxvi Xpvaijs t' ayx^^/* "** irayoi. 
 
 3 Pausan. 8. 33, 4.
 
 maeiim. 
 
 Lcmnos. 273 
 
 default of such testimony it is impossible to speak 
 with confidence on the subject ; but the fact that a 
 submergence has taken place, as the result of volcanic 
 action, in the neighbourhood of the island, renders 
 this conjecture the most probable explanation at 
 which in the existing state of our knowledge we 
 can arrive. 
 
 Closely connected with this question is the further MountHe 
 one of the position of the mountain or promontory 
 called Hermaeum. It has been already mentioned l 
 that this is usually identified with the north-east 
 promontory of Lemnos, Cape Plaka, but the direct 
 evidence which can be produced either for or against 
 this view is surprisingly small. The name occurs 
 only in two passages in classical authors — in the 
 description of the fire-beacons in the Agamemnon, 
 and in the closing scene of the Philoctetes 2 ; and 
 neither of these, if taken by itself, can be said to 
 determine anything. As regards the former— we 
 should certainly expect that the site chosen for a 
 beacon would be a lofty point, and this is the case 
 with all the other stations which Aeschylus enumer- 
 ates ; whereas both Cape Plaka itself and the ground 
 in its neighbourhood are insignificant in elevation. 
 From this point of view Mount Skopia, the con- 
 spicuous summit that rises behind Cape Murzephlo, 
 has far greater claims to consideration s . On the 
 
 1 See above, p. 239. 
 
 2 Aesch. Ag. 283, 'Epfiaiov \iiras; Soph. Phil. 1459, 'Epnaiov 
 opos. 
 
 3 In Smith and Grove's Atlas the Hermaean mountain is placed 
 (with a query) at this point. 
 
 T
 
 274 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 other hand, it is in favour of Cape Plaka that it 
 stands in the direct line between Ida and Athos, 
 that it projects far into the sea, and that it is the 
 nearest point in the island to the Troad. With these 
 elements of uncertainty in the subject, when it is 
 considered in connexion with what Aeschylus im- 
 plies, we may perhaps approach nearer to a solution, 
 if we regard it in relation to the preceding question 
 of the position of the burning mountain. We have 
 seen that Sophocles conceived of Mosychlos as 
 being within sight of Philoctetes' abode, and the 
 same proximity is attributed to Mount Hermaeum, 
 when the hero speaks of it as having re-echoed his 
 groans 1 . Thus, from a comparison of the two 
 passages, we discover that these two mountains 
 were situated at no great distance from one another. 
 This at once destroys the claims of the north-western 
 cape, because there is no ground for believing that 
 a volcano ever existed in its neighbourhood, and 
 we seem forced to fall back on the old view that 
 Cape Plaka is the most suitable locality. Philoctetes' 
 cave, which has become a reality to us through the 
 poet's description, was no doubt a creation of his 
 fancy ; but if the supposition given above is true, 
 he must have conceived of it as existing near the 
 promontory among the cliffs of the eastern coast. 
 
 1 TToWa Se (pwvrjs ttJs -qixtTtpas 
 'EpfMiov upos vapi ne/xipev tp.01 
 arovov avriTVirov -)(iipa^op.ivcp. 11. 1458-1460.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Thasos. 
 
 As the next object which I had in view was to The 
 reach Thasos, and that island is hardly more than s " a aa 
 forty miles distant from the nearest point of Lemnos 
 towards the north-west, it might seem the natural 
 course that I should have engaged a small sailing 
 vessel to convey me thither. Against such a pro- 
 ceeding, however, I was strongly warned both at the 
 Dardanelles and at Kastro, on account of the stormi- 
 ness of the sea in the north of the Aegean at this 
 time of year. Indeed the governor of Lemnos, who, 
 as his administration embraces most of the neigh- 
 bouring islands, had a good right to speak on this 
 subject, assured me that the season of early spring 
 is worse in this respect than any other, because in 
 winter the winds blow with some regularity, whereas 
 at this time they change suddenly, and frequently 
 do not continue for a whole day in the same quarter. 
 The wildness of these storms is associated with the 
 student's earliest acquaintance with Greek history, for 
 it was owing to them that the fleet of Mardonius was 
 wrecked on the shores of Athos, and that Xerxes, 
 to avoid the recurrence of such a disaster, cut the 
 
 T 2
 
 276 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 famous canal through the isthmus of that peninsula ; 
 and most schoolboys have heard of Thracian blasts, 
 and of 'gales from the StrymonV I determined 
 therefore to avail myself of the facilities offered by 
 steamers ; and through these two courses lay open 
 for me — either to return to the Dardanelles by the 
 same vessel in which I had come, and to make 
 a fresh start from that place ; or to embark on a 
 coasting steamer of the ' Bell ' line, which was 
 expected soon to touch at Kastro on its way to 
 Salonica and Cavalla, the port on the mainland 
 which is opposite Thasos. In either case a long 
 detoar was unavoidable, but the dislike of retracing 
 my course, together with the desire of once more 
 beholding Mount Olympus, turned the scale in 
 favour of the latter plan. The Hilda, which is 
 the largest boat belonging to the Bell company, 
 arrived towards the middle of the day after my 
 return from the interior, and I at once went on 
 board of her. The captain reported such rough 
 weather on his way from Smyrna, that he had been 
 compelled to put in for the previous night to the 
 small harbour of Petra in the north of Lesbos, and 
 he rather regretted even now that he had quitted it. 
 When we started again, the vessel rolled heavily 
 in the trough of the waves, and continued to do 
 so until we entered the Thermaic gulf; but she 
 made good way, for early the next morning we 
 reached Salonica. 
 Salonka. As the islands, and not the coasts, of the Aegean 
 
 1 irvoal a-nb 'Srpvfiovos /xoXovaat, Aesch. Ag. 193.
 
 Thasos. 277 
 
 are the subject of the present work, it hardly falls 
 within its scope to describe this famous city. It 
 may suffice to say that I spent the day in renewing 
 acquaintance with its antiquities, which are among 
 the most remarkable in the Levant. Three of its 
 churches — St. George, or, as it is commonly called, 
 the Rotunda, with the ancient mosaics in its dome ; 
 St. Sophia, which is a reproduction on a smaller 
 scale of the great church at Constantinople ; and, 
 finest of all, St. Demetrius, a basilica with a nave 
 and four aisles, not unworthy of comparison with 
 the cathedral of Monreale — are objects of the 
 greatest importance in the history of art ; and there 
 are others only second in interest to these. I made 
 my way from one to another of them in a downpour 
 of rain, which caused rivers of muddy water to rush 
 through the steep and ill-paved streets. The upper 
 quarters of Salonica — which is the Genoa of the 
 East in its position, though a great contrast to that 
 noble city in respect of cleanliness and imposing 
 houses — are hardly altered from what they were 
 at the time of my last visit in 1865 ; but the modern 
 quay, which has been constructed since that time, 
 is truly magnificent, and both in its length and in 
 the noble view over the gulf which it commands 
 may almost rival that of Smyrna. As evening came 
 on, a beautiful effect was produced by the illumination 
 of the minarets, of which this city boasts a great 
 number. It happened to be the commencement 
 of the month preceding the Ramazan, and on that 
 evening, as on every night of the sacred month
 
 278 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of fasting, the gallery which runs round each of 
 these aerial structures is hung with a circlet of 
 lamps. 
 Transport It had been arranged that we should leave Salo- 
 leum° n i ca at nightfall, but owing to the large amount of 
 merchandize which had to be taken on board, we 
 did not start until daybreak the next morning. One 
 of the chief items in the cargo was petroleum, large 
 quantities of which have been imported into Turkey 
 from the wells at Baku on the Caspian, ever since 
 that place has been connected by railway with the 
 Black Sea. Considering the way in which this is 
 conveyed, it is surprising that serious accidents 
 are not caused by it. On this occasion the cases 
 which contained it were piled to a great height 
 on the deck on either side of the engine-room, 
 so that if a violent lurch of the vessel had burst the 
 fastenings by which they were secured, they would 
 have come into immediate contact with it : to which 
 it may be added, that some of the cases were so 
 leaky, that whenever we came to anchor in the 
 course of our subsequent voyage, the sea on both 
 sides of us was covered with the oil which exuded. 
 When I called the attention of one of the officers 
 to this, he readily admitted the possibility of danger, 
 but justified the proceeding by asserting that, though 
 it was constantly being done, no evil consequences 
 had as yet arisen. Owing to its abundance the 
 Russian petroleum has for the time the advantage 
 over the American rock-oils in these parts; but it 
 seems to be thought that the latter, owing to their
 
 Thasos. 279 
 
 natural superiority, will soon regain their hold on 
 the market. 
 
 As we steamed down the gulf we passed opposite Peninsulas 
 Mount Olympus, which was now free from vapour ; cidice. 
 and as its long succession of peaks, rising above 
 the forests which clothe its lower slopes, had their 
 full complement of winter snows, the aspect of it 
 was magnificent. Southward of this, the conical form 
 of Ossa was conspicuous from its cap of snow, and 
 the depression formed by the vale of Tempe was 
 clearly traceable, but the distant summit of Pelion 
 was concealed by clouds. Gradually the line of 
 islands that run off from the extremity of Magnesia 
 came in view. We now rounded the promontory 
 of Pallene, the westernmost of the three peninsulas 
 which project like a trident from the mainland of 
 Chalcidice ; here there were smiling slopes, the 
 ground being either cultivated or covered with wood, 
 and at one point, where there was a small landing- 
 place, a vessel was lying in readiness to carry timber 
 to Salonica. The cape itself rises into conspicuous 
 heights, but the greater part of the peninsula is so 
 low, that, as we looked back in crossing the gulf 
 that intervenes between it and Sithonia, the greater 
 part of it had disappeared below the horizon. As 
 seen from the open sea, the depth of the bays which 
 here penetrate into the land is a striking feature. 
 The central peninsula appeared lofty and finely 
 broken in its outline, and towards its extremity 
 on the western side, the harbour was visible, on 
 which the ancient town of Torone was situated.
 
 Mountain. 
 
 280 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 We now rounded the bold bluffs in which it ter- 
 minates, and towards the middle of the afternoon 
 found ourselves approaching Athos. 
 The Holy It was a pleasing surprise to me to learn that we 
 were to have a nearer view of the Holy Mountain, 
 since the captain had undertaken to land two pas- 
 sengers and some merchandize at the port of Daphne, 
 which is situated towards the middle of the western 
 coast of the peninsula. As we headed for this place, 
 one after another of the monasteries came in view ; 
 and it was amusing to find that I involuntarily 
 became the cicerone of the party, for no one else 
 on board, except an agent of the Austrian Lloyd's 
 who was now on his way thither, had ever set foot on 
 the Mountain of the Monks. To commence from 
 the north— first appeared Docheiareiu, conspicuous 
 with its lofty tower, and Xenophu, the walls of 
 which are washed by the sea ; then the Russian 
 monastery, which has greatly increased in size since 
 I visited it in 1861, and by its vulgar buildings, 
 including a huge erection like a manufactory on 
 the shore, forms a strong contrast to the picturesque 
 Byzantine structures; and on the heights above 
 Daphne stood Xeropotamu, or the 'Torrent,' by the 
 side of which a stream was descending in cataracts 
 through the river-bed from which the monastery takes 
 its name. Then followed Simopetra, the most won- 
 derful of all, perched on a rock at a height of seven 
 hundred feet; and, where the precipices become 
 more and more abrupt towards the southern end, 
 St. Gregory, beneath the cliffs close above the water ;
 
 Thasos. 281 
 
 St. Dionysius, the buildings of which are closely 
 packed together within their encircling wall ; and 
 finally St. Paul, which is withdrawn from the sea 
 in the recesses of a deep ravine. As we coasted along 
 after discharging our cargo, we passed close to the four 
 last-named monasteries, and at intervals we could 
 descry on the declivities large bushes of cytisus or 
 coronella, which diversified the landscape with their 
 patches of yellow colour. Finally, we rounded the 
 base of the great peak, the cliffs of which have been 
 in all ages the terror of sailors. The sea in this 
 part is very deep, and as there was but little motion 
 on the water, the vessel was able to keep close in 
 to shore. The peak itself was veiled with clouds, 
 but through the openings in these snowy summits 
 from time to time appeared. When we reached 
 the eastern side, shortly before dusk, we caught 
 sight of Lavra, one of the largest and most imposing 
 of all the monasteries, which occupies a commanding 
 position on one of the lower buttresses. On the 
 slopes around it lay its numerous dependencies 
 and retreats (Ka&'ojuarn), and below, at the sea-level, 
 stood a round white-washed tower, which guards 
 the 'arsenal,' as the monks call their little port. 
 We now drew away from land, and struck across 
 to Cavalla, which place we reached at 11 o'clock, 
 and cast anchor until morning. 
 
 Cavalla, which occupies the site of the ancient Cavalla. 
 Neapolis, the port of Philippi, presents a highly 
 picturesque appearance, as seen from the sea. The 
 peninsula which it occupies rises steeply to a lofty
 
 282 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 summit surrounded by a battlemented castle, and at 
 the northern end, where it joins the mainland, the 
 rocks descend abruptly, but are separated only by 
 a slight interval from the heights behind. The de- 
 pression thus formed is spanned by a fine Byzantine 
 aqueduct of two, and in some places of three, tiers of 
 arches. The outer walls of the town follow the line 
 of the cliffs at some little distance above the sea, and 
 immediately surmounting them, in the centre of the 
 western side, stand the colonnades and domes of 
 the charitable and educational institution founded by 
 Mehemet Ali of Egypt, who was a native of the place. 
 The remainder of the area within, extending upwards 
 to the castle and as far as the point of the peninsula, is 
 covered by picturesque wooden houses, from among 
 which spiry minarets are seen to rise. The fine bay 
 at the head of which Cavalla stands is environed on 
 the land side by a wide sweep of mountains, while in 
 the opposite direction the view is closed by the long 
 line of Thasos, which forms a barrier to protect it 
 from the open sea. 
 Thasos. Towards that island we now directed our course 
 
 (March 30). Though the Hilda was not to stop 
 there, yet in passing through the channel that separ- 
 ates it from the mainland, on her way to the ports 
 that lie further to the east, she would skirt its shores; 
 and consequently the captain agreed for a small extra 
 payment to land me at the port of Limena, which is 
 situated near the narrowest part of the strait. In less 
 than two hours from leaving Cavalla we found our- 
 selves approaching this place, and could descry a tall
 
 Thasos. 283 
 
 mediaeval tower, which is conspicuous enough to 
 serve for a landmark, rising from among the houses 
 that skirt the water's edge. The anchorage is little 
 more than an open roadstead, but is tolerably safe, 
 being protected towards the east by a small head- 
 land ; and as it faces the north it is somewhat 
 sheltered by the neighbouring coast of Roumelia. 
 There is also a small inner harbour, enclosed by two 
 piers with a narrow entrance between them, within 
 which smaller craft can take refuge in unfavourable 
 weather. The village, though it presents the appear- 
 ance of a straggling line of dwellings, is notwith- 
 standing this a place of some little importance, 
 because it is the only landing-place for vessels arriv- 
 ing from Cavalla, from which port come almost 
 exclusively the goods which are imported into 
 Thasos. In consequence of this, Limena has now 
 become the residence of the governor, who until 
 lately dwelt at the village of Panagia, two hours 
 distant towards the interior, and at a still earlier 
 period at Theologo in the centre of the island. 
 
 As soon as I had landed, I obtained comfortable Its beauti- 
 accommodation in a newly-built house overlooking-^" 
 the sea, and having engaged a youth who was well 
 acquainted with the neighbourhood to act as guide, I 
 started to examine the site of the ancient city of 
 Thasos, within the area of which the modern village 
 stands. An hour had hardly elapsed from the time 
 of my arrival, when the weather, which during the 
 forenoon had been dull and rainy, as it had been 
 hitherto throughout almost the whole of this journey,
 
 284 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 suddenly brightened ; and for the rest of the day, 
 and during the three next days, which I devoted to 
 the exploration of this, the most beautiful island in 
 the Aegean, I enjoyed a cloudless sky. The contrast 
 presented by the scenery to what I had been accus- 
 tomed to in Lemnos was in all respects complete. 
 In the place of grey and somewhat shapeless moun- 
 tains, here were lofty ranges, sharply cut outlines, 
 and rocks of white marble grain ; instead of treeless 
 expanses, extensive tracts of forest land ; instead of 
 scanty brooks, full and clear streams ; and the whole 
 of this radiant landscape was illuminated by a bril- 
 liant sun. The newly fallen snow which remained on 
 the summits added a further element of beauty to the 
 views. 
 The The ground in the neighbourhood of Limena forms 
 
 c l ty _ a triangular plain, about two miles in width along the 
 
 sea-coast, and a mile and a half in length, where it 
 retires among the wooded mountain spurs, which 
 diverge from a conspicuous summit towards the 
 south, and enclose it on either side. The eastern 
 portion of this plain, together with the neighbouring 
 heights, reaching as far as the little promontory, 
 were occupied in ancient times by the city of Thasos, 
 the capital of the island ; while the western part, 
 which was far the more extensive of the two, was 
 devoted by the inhabitants to a necropolis, which 
 from its size and the splendour of its monuments 
 must have been almost unrivalled in antiquity. I 
 commenced by following the line of the coast towards 
 the neighbouring headland, and as I passed the
 
 Thasos. 285 
 
 mediaeval tower already mentioned, I could see that 
 it was composed of fragments of Hellenic masonry, 
 for in some places portions of triglyphs had been 
 built into it. The closed harbour, which lies in its lis sea-face. 
 neighbourhood, in all probability occupies the site of 
 the ancient port, for traces of the old foundations of 
 the piers are still visible. Between this and the pro- 
 montory the remains of another breakwater, which 
 projects into the sea at right angles, and must have 
 formed an additional protection for shipping, appear 
 below the surface of the water \ As we passed along 
 the low heights which overlook this, I noticed a stele 
 lying prostrate by the roadside, which bore the figure 
 of a man in bas-relief, now much mutilated, and an 
 inscription recording that it was a votive offering to 
 Nemesis 2 . The person who dedicated it, Euemeros 
 the son of Dionysios, was no doubt a sailor, for 
 several similar inscriptions have been found in the 
 island, either praying for safe-conduct on a voyage, 
 or returning thanks for deliverance from the perils 
 of the deep. They bear witness alike to the stormy 
 nature of the neighbouring seas, and to the supersti- 
 tious dread with which the traders of that period 
 encountered them. The rocky peninsula at the 
 extremity of the promontory is separated from the 
 ground behind by so deep a depression as to be 
 almost an island. It is called by the natives 
 
 1 These seem to be the harbours referred to by Scylax, when 
 he says, Qacros vrjaos Kal nukis, Kal \tfj.tves Suo' tovtojv 6 tls kKuotus, 
 Periplus, 67. 
 
 2 EiiT]^(pos Aiovvoiov Ne/u'tret tvxfiv-
 
 theatre. 
 
 286 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Obriokastro 1 or 'Jews' castle/ a name for ancient 
 sites which is of common occurrence in Greece, and 
 is said to have originated in the permission, which 
 the Frankish conquerors of the country accorded to 
 the Jews, to settle for trading purposes in the suburbs 
 of their towns. 
 The From this point we began to mount the ridge of 
 
 the hill which leads to the acropolis, and before long 
 came upon a considerable fragment of the ancient 
 wall, which followed this direction. Like all the 
 masonry in Thasos, it was composed of white marble, 
 the grain of which was visible wherever the stone 
 was fractured ; and the blocks were usually laid in 
 horizontal courses, though in some places they were 
 polygons neatly fitted together. When we had 
 reached the height of perhaps 300 feet, my guide 
 conducted me to the theatre, which is situated in a 
 steep position just within the line of walls, facing 
 Cavalla, and commanding, as so many Greek 
 theatres do, a fine view over the sea. It has been 
 partially excavated, but is in a very ruinous condi- 
 tion. Part of the wall of the scena remains, and 
 behind it are the piers of a colonnade, fragments of 
 which — small columns, triglyphs, and other orna- 
 ments — are strewn about in the neighbourhood. At 
 the back of the orchestra the slabs of the podium 
 which supported the front rows of seats lie on the 
 ground, and most of these bear one or two letters 
 inscribed on them in large Greek characters. Of 
 the seats themselves very few occupy their original 
 
 1 A corruption of 'EPpaioKaorpo.
 
 Thasos. 287 
 
 position, though in the upper part one or two rows 
 are partially preserved. This building seems to be 
 the one mentioned in the fifth century before Christ 
 by Hippocrates the famous physician, who practised 
 for several years in Thasos, and describes the 
 residence of one of his patients as being ' near the 
 theatre V 
 
 We now ascended to the acropolis. The lofty The 
 hill on which this stands is divided into three 
 summits, which form a line running from north-east 
 to south-west, and in consequence of this a different 
 system of fortification was required from that which 
 is found in most Hellenic citadels. The north-east 
 height was covered by a rectangular fort, of which 
 only the foundations remain ; the site of this is now 
 occupied by the walls of a mediaeval castle, which 
 was constructed out of the ancient material. This 
 building was entered through a massive gateway, 
 the lintel of which, formed of a single block, is still 
 in its original position. Within there is a large 
 cistern, and at the further end rise two square towers, 
 one of which forms a conspicuous object when seen 
 from the port below. The ground at this point is 
 excessively steep, both in front and towards the back, 
 and the pine-trees grow picturesquely among the 
 ruins. The castle is not wholly unknown to fame ; 
 for within its walls Ramon Muntaner, the historian 
 and one of the leaders of the Catalan Grand 
 Company in their marauding expeditions in the 
 Byzantine empire in the fourteenth century, was 
 1 Hippocr. Epidemia^ 1. 9, vol. ii. p. 660, ed. Littre.
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 entertained by the Genoese chieftain Ticino Zacharia, 
 who, to use the words of the chronicle, ' put at our 
 disposal the castle and all that it contained, and 
 treated us magnificently.' The depression which 
 intervenes between this and the central height is 
 defended by a wall composed of enormous blocks ; 
 indeed, the masonry throughout this part is exces- 
 sively massive, and elicited expressions of wonder 
 from my young companion, who again and again 
 exclaimed, 'How did they get these stones into 
 their place?' The central summit was also occu- 
 pied in Hellenic times by a rectangular fortress, 
 and one of the blocks of this which I measured was 
 eleven feet in length : at the north-west angle the 
 ground is supported by a wall of twenty parallel 
 courses. 
 Shrine of As we approached the last of the three heights, I 
 saw in front of me a wide but shallow niche, sur- 
 mounted by a low arch, the whole hewn in the rock, 
 which had been artificially sloped in order to facilitate 
 the approach to it. On the face of the rock at the 
 back of this niche, which might roughly be compared 
 in form to the tympanum in the pediment of a temple, 
 several figures carved in low relief are traceable. 
 Those towards the right of the spectator are 
 almost obliterated ; but in the centre Pan is repre- 
 sented with horns on his head, in a sitting posture 
 and playing the syrinx, and on the left hand stand 
 three goats, one behind the other, with their faces 
 turned towards him. On the slope of the niche 
 there are other traces of ornament. This little shrine 
 
 Pan.
 
 Thasos. 289 
 
 is an interesting sanctuary of the shepherds' divinity, 
 and is all the more impressive at the present day 
 from the solitude in the midst of which it is found. 
 The hill above commands a superb view of the The view. 
 surrounding landscape. Towards the north stretches 
 the coast of Macedonia and Thrace, separated from 
 Thasos b}' spaces of blue sea, and directly opposite 
 lies the wide alluvial plain formed by the river Nestus, 
 while in the middle of the intervening strait the 
 island of Thasopulo, or ' Baby-Thasos,' forms a 
 conspicuous object. The lofty mountains on the 
 mainland are readily distinguishable by their white 
 summits ; especially Pangaeus — the alta Pangaca of 
 Virgil — to the west of Cavalla, and further inland 
 the still higher Orbelus, which displays a grand 
 snowy mass. On the other hand appear the wooded 
 heights and graceful bays of the eastern coast of 
 Thasos, with Samothrace in the distance. The an- 
 cient city, which occupied the interval between the 
 acropolis and the shore, and the western wall of 
 which is traceable from this point almost throughout 
 its whole length, must have been a radiant sight with 
 its white marble buildings ; and still more striking 
 must have been the effect of the necropolis, the 
 monuments of which extended in long lines across 
 the neighbouring plain. Owing to the cool northern 
 breezes which the town enjoyed, it was no doubt a 
 delightful and salubrious abode in summer. 
 
 As the knoll on which we were standing is the Staircase 
 most elevated of the three summits, it is surprising " ro J.'' 
 that there are no traces of fortifications upon it, or 
 
 u
 
 290 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of any wall connecting it with the central height. 
 Still, it is impossible to suppose that a point which 
 must have been the key of the whole position 
 could have been left undefended, especially as the 
 line of the city walls recommences at the foot of its 
 western precipices. The descent of those precipices 
 is accomplished by means of a staircase in the rock, 
 the like of which I do not remember to have seen in 
 any other Hellenic citadel. The steps of which this 
 is composed, to the number of twenty-three, are 
 carried in zigzags down the face of the cliff, and are 
 for the most part cut in the rock, but the lowest 
 flight is supported by a wall of six courses of 
 masonry. The stone staircase by which the acro- 
 polis of Orchomenus in Boeotia is reached, is a 
 greater work than this, since it is composed of 
 ninety-four steps ; but it does not wind in this 
 The city remarkable manner. From the foot of the cliffs we 
 followed the fortifications downwards, until I was 
 arrested by the sight of an extraordinary object — 
 the figure of an enormous nose and eyes, with the 
 eyebrows, but without any other feature, engraved 
 on the face of a large recumbent block of stone. 
 This weird-looking emblem was probably one of 
 those symbols, which were used by the Greeks for 
 the purpose of averting the evil eye and other 
 sinister influences. Just below this the wall makes 
 a sharp turn, and at the angle is a gateway covered 
 in by a prodigious stone, but the upright blocks 
 which form its sides are now deeply buried in the 
 earth.
 
 Thasos. 291 
 
 Following through the plain the outward face Sepulchral 
 
 monu- 
 ments. 
 
 of the walls, which is curiously diversified by a 
 
 band of black stone being carried along between 
 the lower courses, we pass a second, and afterwards 
 a third gate. The last-named of these, as it occupies 
 a central position between the city and the ne- 
 cropolis, is thought to have been that through which 
 the dead were carried ; and this is rendered probable 
 by the funeral monuments which are found in its 
 neighbourhood. Here stands a tall stele, in the 
 middle of which is represented a man seated, with a 
 woman standing in front of him, while under the 
 seat a smaller figure is sketched in low relief. 
 Again, just beyond, there is a large sarcophagus, the 
 covering of which is formed by a mass of stone of 
 enormous weight. It is almost devoid of ornament, 
 and an inscription on one side tells that it com- 
 memorated Poliades the son of Sosion. It has been 
 broken open, no doubt with the object of carrying off 
 the valuables which it contained. Within the circuit 
 of the walls, and at no great distance behind the 
 modern village, are the remains of a Roman arch, 
 which have been recently excavated by Mr. Bent. 
 The foundations of this remain in situ, but the rest 
 is a heap of ruins, for the huge blocks of which it was 
 composed lie against one another at various angles, 
 as they fell. It was erected in honour of the emperor 
 Caracalla, and the dedicatory inscription, which 
 formed two long lines, is perfectly legible, though it 
 is broken into three pieces. When the arch was 
 perfect, it must have been a magnificent object. 
 u 2
 
 292 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 The Early the next morning I was again on foot in the 
 
 necropolis. .... . . 
 
 company of the same guide, in order to explore the 
 
 necropolis. Following the line of the shore almost to 
 the point where the hills descend to the sea at the 
 western extremity of the plain, I reached a mauso- 
 leum, our knowledge of which is also due to Mr. 
 Bent K This consisted of a large marble chamber, 
 erected on a platform which is reached by four rows 
 of steps ; and it would appear that this chamber 
 was originally surmounted by another storey, for 
 triglyphs and drums of Doric columns, which must 
 have belonged to it, lie about in its vicinity. An 
 inscription shows that the person in whose honour it 
 was erected was called Philophron, and the sarco- 
 phagus which remains underneath the building was 
 no doubt his tomb. The vault in which it was 
 placed can be approached through an opening, now 
 nearly filled up, on the eastern side of the platform. 
 Several of the objects which surrounded the building, 
 including some inscriptions, have been removed 
 since Mr. Bent's visit, but a portion of the body of a 
 marble lion still remains. In the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of the mausoleum stands another sarco- 
 phagus, resembling in shape that of Poliades, but 
 smaller, and supported on a lofty pedestal ; it was 
 the tomb of a lady, Aelia Macedonia, and commem- 
 orates her honours and the offices which she held. 
 Having inspected these, I struck across toward the 
 head of the plain through extensive olive-gardens 
 and amid brushwood and undergrowth, in hopes of 
 1 See his description in the Classical Review, vol. i. pp. 210, 211.
 
 TJiasos. 293 
 
 finding the monument of the brothers Eurymenides 
 and Antiphon, which Conze has described. Shortly 
 after arriving at the first hills I discovered the 
 broken fragments of a mausoleum, such as he 
 mentions, and among them a bas-relief representing 
 a man in a sitting posture ; but the inscriptions in 
 elegiac verse and other interesting objects had 
 disappeared. This time I returned to Limena with 
 a sense of disappointment, arising from the insignifi- 
 cance of the remains of what was once a collection of 
 splendid monuments. The work of destruction has 
 proceeded during long ages, and especially in the 
 present century, for Baron von Prokesch-Osten, 
 who visited Thasos in 1828, speaks of seeing more 
 than fifty of these sepulchres l . Many fine tombs, 
 no doubt, still remain beneath the surface of the 
 ground, and may be brought to light by excavation ; 
 but these will hardly suffice to recall the former 
 glories of the place. 
 
 1 Quoted by Conze, Rase, p. 18.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Thasos 
 under the 
 Khedive. 
 
 Thasos {continued). 
 
 Before starting for the interior of Thasos I paid 
 my respects to the Bey, who is the representative 
 of the Khedive of Egypt. It seems strange at first 
 sight that a district which forms an integral part of 
 the dominions of the Porte should be practically 
 in the possession of a vassal potentate ; but the 
 arrangement dates from the time of Mehemet Ali, 
 and arose from his connexion with this part of 
 Turkey, for, as I have already stated, he was a 
 native of Cavalla. Among the inhabitants it is re- 
 ported that he began life as a sailor in this island ; 
 but, whether this is true or not, it is certain that 
 he cherished a strong affection for it : and when 
 he rose to power, he obtained it as a gift from the 
 Sultan. The same privilege has ever since been 
 continued to his successors. In consequence of 
 this the natives enjoy a considerable amount of 
 independence, for, with the exception of the retinue 
 of the Bey and a few soldiers, there are no Ma- 
 hometans resident among them. They are also 
 lightly taxed ; for there is no capitation tax, nor
 
 Thasos. 295 
 
 are they burdened by duties on live stock and other 
 products, like the inhabitants of other parts of 
 Turkey : in fact, the customs duties, which go to 
 the Sultan, are the only impost. Hence, though 
 the island is poor owing to its natural resources 
 not being developed, the people are well contented 
 with the government. 
 
 Another arrangement which is peculiar to Thasos, Peculiar 
 and which it is well for the traveller to be acquainted currency 
 with before visiting the interior, is the system of 
 local currency. Strange as it may seem, every 
 village has its own peculiar coins, and these do not 
 pass current outside the area of that village, except 
 at Limena, which forms a general emporium for the 
 island. In this respect the inhabitants have outdone 
 even the ancient Greeks, among whom, though every 
 city had its special coinage, the money that came 
 from elsewhere was freely received. The pieces 
 that are used are the copper, or rather brass, coins, 
 which were current in Turkey until about ten years 
 ago, when they were called in by the government ; 
 on these each village imprints its private stamp 
 before they can be put in circulation. The stamp 
 in every case consists of four letters, placed within 
 the limbs of a cross, two of which denote the name 
 of the commune, the other two the dedication of the 
 village church. Thus — to take one specimen out 
 of several which I possess — the coins of the village 
 of Vulgaro are marked with the letters e b k e, i. e. 
 ' District of Vulgaro : Repose of the Virgin ' ('E$op/a 
 BovXydjjov, Koi/x^tns Qcotokov). This exclusive system
 
 296 The Is/ajids of the Aegean. 
 
 is believed to be of ancient date. The disadvantages 
 of it are apparent to every one ; what its advant- 
 ages may be, I leave to political economists to 
 determine. 
 Interior of Having hired three mules, which were accom- 
 panied by a young muleteer called Petro, I started 
 at 11 a.m., in the enjoyment of brilliant sunshine 
 and fresh invigorating air. Our course lay due 
 south, in the direction of the pyramidal summit, 
 which I have already mentioned as being con- 
 spicuous from Limena, and when we had reached 
 the head of the plain, we entered a lovely valley 
 filled with pine-trees. It was not long before I 
 discovered what are the principal products of the 
 island, for first there met us a mule laden with two 
 large pigskins full of oil, on its way to the port, and 
 shortly afterwards we passed a long row of beehives, 
 which were ranged by the side of the road in a 
 solitary place, where no dwelling seemed near. The 
 hives were cylindrical baskets of wickerwork, with 
 a covering of earth, and a large stone on the top of 
 each. In addition to timber, oil and honey are largely 
 exported from Thasos. At the head of the valley 
 there followed a long ascent toward the shoulder of 
 the mountain behind ; and when this was reached, 
 a beautiful view broke upon us of a bay of the 
 eastern coast, flanked by wooded heights, with a 
 wide plain in front covered with olive-trees. On the 
 western side rise the loftiest summits of the island, 
 culminating in the central peak of Hagios Elias, 
 which reaches a height of more than 3000 feet ;
 
 Thasos. 297 
 
 and all along the face of these the rocks descend, 
 first in steep precipices, and then in gentler 
 slopes, towards the plain. The path now wound 
 gradually downwards, and at the end of two hours 
 from Limena we reached the village of Panagia, 
 which was formerly the residence of the Bey. The 
 four hundred houses of which it is composed are 
 clustered irregularly within a theatre-formed valley, 
 in the midst of scenery truly Alpine in its grandeur. 
 The traveller has no need to enquire into the em- 
 ployment of the inhabitants, for the whole place 
 reeks of oil, and the numerous clear streams that 
 rush through the streets are doubtless utilized in 
 the service of the oil-mills. An hour's further 
 descent brought us to another village, Potamia, 
 where we rested for our mid-day meal. 
 
 At this point a pass commences, which leads over High pass. 
 the flank of Hagios Elias into the interior of the 
 island. To reach the summit three hours are re- 
 quired, and during the latter part of the way the 
 ascent is so steep that our baggage mule required 
 frequently to rest. Altogether it is a remarkable 
 mountain route, and the material of which the road 
 is composed is everywhere white marble, though 
 the rocks frequently appeared black from weathering. 
 All about the lower slopes numerous violets were 
 in flower, but after a time the only blossoms that 
 remained were the blue squills, and owing to the ele- 
 vation and the steepness of the ground, the pine-trees 
 became very sparse along the declivities. Behind 
 us in the distance the great plain of the Nestus and
 
 298 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the mountains of Thrace were very imposing, but in 
 the opposite direction a far more beautiful sight 
 awaited me. When we had crossed the ridge, which 
 must be more than two thousand feet above the sea, 
 there opened out a wide view over the southern 
 part of Thasos and the open Aegean beyond : this 
 was divided in two by a lofty mountain immediately 
 facing us, and the spaces of blue water enclosed 
 between this and the nearer heights on either hand 
 presented to the eye two exquisite vignettes, in one 
 of which the conspicuous object was the colossal 
 peak of Athos, in the other the massive Samothrace, 
 whose snow-capt summits rose above the mist that 
 obscured its base. 
 Theologo. From the ridge a long descent leads to Theologo, 
 which is the chief place in the centre of the island, 
 and was at one time its capital. It is hard to say 
 why the site which it occupies should have been 
 chosen for a village, for the valley in which it lies 
 is a 'marble wilderness,' the slopes on either hand 
 being covered with nothing but bare blocks of stone. 
 The houses are roofed with slabs of this material 
 in place of tiles. Perhaps the position may have 
 been selected because it is intermediate between 
 two spaces of arable ground in the upper and lower 
 parts of the valley, bordering on the stream which 
 intersects it. The inhabitants appeared poor, but, 
 notwithstanding this, there is a large school of recent 
 construction. I was conducted to the Konak or 
 official residence, a crazy building of unpromising ex- 
 terior, in which, however, a clean room, which formed
 
 Thasos. 299 
 
 the bureau of the Subashi, was placed at my disposal. 
 That officer, who was a Mussulman from Oete, 
 was most polite in his attentions. Not the least ac- 
 ceptable of these was, that he provided me with a 
 mangal or Turkish brazier for charcoal, for not- 
 withstanding the warmth of the sun by day, the 
 nights were cold owing to the elevation at which 
 the village stands. 
 
 The following day (April 1) I devoted to a visit An 
 to the quarries at Alke, from which in ancient times guan {. 
 the Thasian marble was obtained. This place is 
 situated on the southern coast ; and as our muleteer 
 Petro was unacquainted with the road, I engaged 
 a native of Theologo as guide for the day. We 
 were accompanied also by a guard, whom the Bey 
 at Limena had pressed upon me with so much polite 
 insistence that I could not well decline to accept his 
 company, though aware that he was intended to 
 watch my proceedings, and to prevent excavation 
 or the removal of antiquities. I have often found 
 that Turkish guards, though they may not be wanted 
 for defence, are willing to make themselves useful 
 in helping one's travelling servant, and doing various 
 little services ; but my present attendant was wholly 
 indisposed towards any such offices. He was an 
 Albanian from Monastir in western Macedonia, and 
 possessed most of the faults which are found in his 
 race. Lazy and overbearing, he endeavoured to make 
 every one else act as his servant. As the baggage 
 mule was not required for my use this day, he took 
 it for himself to ride ; but in the steeper parts of
 
 300 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the road, where he dismounted, he expected another 
 of the company to lead it. When he wanted water, 
 he despatched one of the country people to fetch it 
 for him. He walked delicately in his mocassins in 
 true Albanian fashion, and was too proud to enquire 
 his way for fear of betraying his ignorance. Petro 
 designated him as ' ballast ' (crap<wpa, Lat. saburra), 
 that is to say, ' good-for-nothing stuff,' and this was 
 a fair description of his character. 
 The , Leaving Theologo, we crossed the stream, in the 
 
 mountains, neighbourhood of which grow enormous plane-trees, 
 and ascended the opposite mountain-side. This 
 was so stony that there was practically no track 
 along it, and a way had to be extemporised over the 
 rocks. At the head of this desolate region we 
 reached the pine-forest, and for a long time con- 
 tinued to wind in and out of most beautiful dells at 
 a great height above the sea. The scenery of this 
 part is not inferior to that in the north of the island, 
 for behind this enchanting foreground the peak 
 of Athos, here thirty miles distant, rises from the 
 Aegean to the height of 6400 feet, white with snow 
 on its northern face ; and from its foot the peninsula 
 of the Holy Mountain, and the neighbouring coast 
 as far as the mouth of the Strymon, extend along 
 the horizon. In the western part of Thasos, which 
 from this point we overlook, the most striking ob- 
 ject is the wooded summit of Hagios Matz, the name 
 of which is a corruption of Asomatos, i. e. the Arch- 
 angel. This district I did not propose to visit, 
 because it contains no objects of interest. At the
 
 Thasos. 301 
 
 end of an hour and a half's riding we crossed the 
 ridge, and came in sight of a vast expanse of the 
 open sea, with the islands of Lemnos, Imbros and 
 Samothrace. The turf beneath our feet was here 
 sprinkled with the delicate blue flowers of dwarf 
 forget-me-nots. A break-neck descent now com- 
 menced over steep broken rocks, where riding was 
 impossible ; and when the foot of these was reached, 
 for two hours more the way led over gentler de- 
 clivities, until at last the strange peninsula of Alke 1 
 came in sight beneath us. It resembles a long and 
 narrow island, lying parallel to the coast and close 
 to it, but is joined to the mainland by an isthmus near 
 its eastern extremity. The little bay thus formed, 
 which is conspicuous from above with its clear green 
 water, provides a commodious harbour for ships 
 which come hither to fetch timber for exportation. 
 At the time of my visit a vessel of some size was 
 lying moored to the shore. 
 
 The principal remains of antiquity in this neigh- Remains 
 
 iii-i at Alke. 
 
 bourhood are found on the nearly level isthmus. 
 
 Here was apparently the residence of those emplo}^ed 
 
 in the quarries, for in various parts the outlines of 
 
 dwellings and fragments of walls are visible on the 
 
 surface of the ground. Near the centre stands a 
 
 large sarcophagus, resembling in most respects those 
 
 at Limena, though partly buried in the earth, and 
 
 much broken at the sides. On the slab which faces 
 
 west is engraved a long and graceful inscription in 
 
 elegiac verse, of which ten lines were visible at the 
 
 1 The name is Alke, not Alike, as Conze gives it.
 
 302 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 time when it was copied by Conze, but now the four 
 last of these are concealed by rubbish : the four first 
 have long been so much obliterated as to be unintel- 
 ligible. The subject is a lament for the untimely 
 death of an unwedded girl, whose bones the sarco- 
 phagus contained. The most important ruins are 
 those of a temple, which have recently been brought 
 to light by the indefatigable spade of Mr. Bent. 
 These are situated close to the sea on the eastern side 
 of the isthmus, just where it abuts against the penin- 
 sula. The steep slope which intervenes between the 
 platform on which the temple stood and the water's 
 edge is in a ruinous state, but it is evident that the 
 building was approached on this side by a number of 
 steps, composed of massive blocks of stone. One 
 of these I measured, and found it to be twelve feet in 
 length. Two chambers belonging to the temple have 
 been excavated, and a wall of large rectangular 
 blocks has been laid bare on its south side ; but here, 
 as at Limena, many of the objects that have lately 
 been discovered have been removed. Two interesting 
 inscriptions, however, remain. One of these records 
 a votive offering to Athena and Heracles for safe 
 conduct on a voyage, dedicated by a member of a 
 guild of merchants. The other, which is a list of 
 public officers, contains certain titles of magistrates 
 which are otherwise unusual 1 . At the time of 
 Conze's visit, no source of water was known to exist 
 
 1 See Mr. Hieks's remarks on Inscriptions from Thasos, Nos. I 
 and 14, in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. viii. pp. 410, 415 ; 
 also Mr. Bent's account of their discovery, ibid. pp. 434, 435.
 
 Thasos. 303 
 
 in this neighbourhood ; but within the last two years 
 a well has been brought to light on the isthmus, the 
 water of which is fresh, notwithstanding its proximity 
 to the sea. 
 
 The peninsula which is connected by this isthmus The 
 
 771 0, yule 
 
 with the mainland, is about half a mile in length, and quarries. 
 rises to a height of perhaps 150 feet. Its surface 
 presents an extraordinary sight, for from end to end 
 it has the appearance of being wrecked, owing to the 
 irregularity with which the work of quarrying was 
 carried on. In some places pits, in others vast 
 depressions, are seen, and great faces of rock remain, 
 marking the limit of the excavations in a certain 
 direction. At one point a narrow wall of marble 
 stands up to a great height, forming the line of 
 demarcation between two quarries. The dreariness 
 of this scene of ruin is modified by the softening 
 effect of the undergrowth which has overspread it, 
 and by the pine-trees which grow, though sparsely, 
 among the rocks. But the greatest wonder of the 
 place remains still to be told ; for the whole of the 
 western end of the peninsula for a distance of several 
 hundred yards has been cut down to the sea-level 
 from side to side in the process of quarrying, and 
 though a sort of breakwater has been left towards the 
 open sea, the greater part of the area is covered with 
 stagnant water. The appearance of this from a 
 distance is almost that of a marsh, but a nearer 
 inspection shows that the surface is made up of 
 innumerable artificial beds of marble, resembling 
 large shallow troughs. Some of these are matted with
 
 rights. 
 
 304 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 seaweed, and the stone, wherever the water reaches 
 it, has assumed a dark hue ; but elsewhere it is 
 dazzlingly white, and the places from which the huge 
 blocks were taken are visible, with the marks of the 
 workman's instruments at the sides, forming lines of 
 drilled holes and groovings. At one point a drum of 
 a Doric column, which was being wrought into shape 
 on the spot before removal, remains rooted in the 
 stone. 
 
 Forest The route which I followed in returning to Theologo 
 
 lay southward of that by which I had come, and 
 traversed somewhat less rocky ground. At no great 
 distance from Alke, near the shore, I stopped to 
 examine the remains of a square Hellenic tower 
 constructed of massive masonry, five or six courses 
 of which remain in places ; and further on another, 
 circular in form, was visible on a lofty knoll. There 
 are said to be many of these at intervals along the 
 coast, so that the island in ancient times must almost 
 have been defended by a chain of forts. After 
 leaving the sea, for a considerable distance we were 
 once more traversing the forests; and here at intervals 
 we found felled trees lying by the path, in readiness 
 to be transported to the nearest point on the shore. 
 After having been squared, each trunk, we were told, 
 is dragged by two oxen along the mountain paths 
 until it reaches its destination, and considering how 
 narrow and winding these are, the process can be no 
 easy one. The forest land is partitioned between the 
 neighbouring villages ; but whereas formerly the 
 inhabitants possessed the right of cutting timber
 
 Thasos. 305 
 
 where they liked, at present the privilege is restricted, 
 
 and while they are allowed to carry off as much as 
 
 they need for building purposes, the government 
 
 requires that a payment should be made for felling 
 
 large trees for exportation. I nowhere saw traces of 
 
 forest fires, such as frequently are caused in Greece 
 
 by the recklessness of the natives, who by this means 
 
 either more easily extract the resin from the trunks, 
 
 or else improve the next year's crop of grass, which 
 
 springs up abundantly where a conflagration has 
 
 taken place. This may perhaps be explained by the 
 
 employment of forest-rangers (8aa-o(pi\aK€s), who are 
 
 appointed by the different communes to guard their 
 
 rights against encroachment. This institution exists 
 
 also in Greece, but there the guards are apt to wink 
 
 at the destruction that is committed. 
 
 I had planned my return journey to Limena so as The eastern 
 , r 1 • 1 j coast. 
 
 to include a visit to the eastern coast ot the island, 
 
 because according to Herodotus the gold mines, 
 
 which were an important source of the wealth of 
 
 the Thasians, were situated in that district, or, as the 
 
 historian himself expresses it, facing Samothrace \ 
 
 For this portion of the way, which is rarely travelled 
 
 even by the inhabitants, a fresh guide was required. 
 
 Taking leave of the friendly Subashi, I ascended the 
 
 valley behind Theologo for some distance in the 
 
 neighbourhood of the stream, and then struck off 
 
 eastwards in the direction of the ridge, which here, 
 
 as above Alke, breaks into steep faces of rock where 
 
 the descent towards the sea commences. The line 
 
 1 Herod. 6. 47. 
 
 X
 
 306 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of these gaunt precipices appearing above and in the 
 midst of the forests, especially when seen from the 
 sea, amply justifies Archilochus' description of Thasos 
 as ' an ass's backbone, covered with wild wood V 
 We now looked down on a bay, in the recesses of 
 which lies a small plain hemmed in by the mountains, 
 while in front it is partly sheltered by an island. 
 Descending on foot, I reached the forest, and followed 
 the path that winds downward through it in the 
 midst of most enjoyable surroundings. The calls of 
 the goatherds to their flocks, the tinkling of the goat- 
 bells, the curling wreaths of smoke from the charcoal 
 burners' fires, and, as an accompaniment to these, 
 the whispering pines, the running streams, and the 
 expanse of blue sea, formed the perfection of rural 
 life and scenery. The plain is covered with olive- 
 trees, the extraordinary age of which is shown by 
 the size of their gnarled and twisted trunks ; and the 
 turf beneath them was starred with pink anemones 
 and the blue heads of the grape hyacinth. 
 Kinira,the The name of this district (for there is no village) 
 Coenyra anc ^ °f tne neighbouring island is Kinira, and in this 
 we find a clue to the position of the mines, for 
 Herodotus says that they were situated between 
 Aenyra (Ahvpa) and Coenyra (Kolwpa), and the 
 difference between the latter of these and the modern 
 name disappears in pronunciation. The name of 
 Aenyra has perished, and together with it all trace 
 
 1 r/5e 5' war ovov p&X tS 
 
 tcfTTjicev v\ijs aypiris emcrTfcprjs. 
 
 Archil. Fragm. 18, in Bergk's Poetae Lyrici Gracci.
 
 Thasos. 307 
 
 of the site, but it must have been situated on the 
 coast either to the north or the south of Kinira, and 
 therefore it is in one of those two directions that we 
 might expect to find the 'great mountain turned 
 upside down in the search for ore/ of which the 
 historian speaks. I enquired of my guide, who 
 was well acquainted with the localities, concerning 
 the tract of country which intervenes between this 
 bay and Alke. He replied that the ground in that 
 direction is very precipitous, so that, though it is 
 traversed by a foot-track, no mules go that way, and 
 when any goods pass from the one place to the other 
 they are transported by sea. Of anything like 
 minerals or traces of mining in those parts he had 
 never heard. My route later in the day lay through 
 the country to the northward of Kinira, and there 
 also the signs of former workings are wholly wanting. 
 The question, therefore, of the position of these 
 mines must be regarded, for the present at all events, 
 as an unsolved mystery. 
 
 When we had reached the shore and turned Exquisite 
 northwards along the coast, we entered on a route, 
 which at once for difficulty and picturesqueness can 
 only be compared to those on Athos, and on the 
 sea-slopes of Olympus, Ossa and Pelion. The path 
 overlooks the sea, sometimes at a higher, sometimes 
 at a lower elevation, but always commanding lovely 
 views of the coast ; and, at the same time, the rocks 
 over which it passes are so broken and slippery, 
 and the way is so tangled with arbutus, heather, 
 myrtle, cistus and other aromatic shrubs, that it is 
 x 2
 
 308 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 a. wonder how the mules can force a passage through 
 them. In the middle of this expanse of undergrowth 
 we reached a small clearing on the mountain side, 
 which bears the name of Palaeochori from a village 
 which is now deserted. I enquired for ancient ruins, 
 but none were known to exist there. At last we 
 emerged from our delightful wilderness into the 
 forest, where we found more level tracks. I had 
 been astonished at the precision — resembling a form 
 of intuition — with which our guide had found his 
 way through this difficult district, notwithstanding 
 the perplexity of diverging paths ; but the mystery 
 was solved when he explained that at one time of 
 his life he had been employed in these parts as a 
 forest-ranger. The neighbourhood of the pine-trees 
 is said to be good for the production of honey, and 
 in one place I saw as many as fifty wicker beehives. 
 The old man who guarded them — an ideal Theocri- 
 tean shepherd with a tall crook — said that he had 
 in all a hundred of these in various parts of the 
 forest. The valley of Panagia now opened out once 
 more before me with a white beach fringing the 
 coast ; and in a glen leading down to it I halted for 
 a while under a plane-tree from which gushed a 
 limpid stream. 
 Return to Shortly before arriving at this point I had dis- 
 missed my guide, since we had reached a part of 
 the country with which Petro the muleteer was 
 acquainted, having come thither on former occasions 
 for wood. The Subashi's dog had followed us thus 
 far on our way, and I supposed that he would
 
 Thasos. 309 
 
 return with the guide, but to my surprise I dis- 
 covered that he had remained with our party, and 
 he continued to accompany us for the remainder of 
 the day. I afterwards learnt that he was an habitue 
 of the island, and that he often made the journey 
 from Theologo to Limena and back on his own 
 account. We now descended to the sea near the 
 scala or landing-place of Potamia, where there was 
 a small pier and a newly-built warehouse, and then 
 crossed the plain by circuitous ways, in order to 
 avoid the freshly irrigated maize fields. In the 
 stagnant water the frogs were singing brekekekex 
 koax koax as clearly as in the days of Aristophanes, 
 the two notes being quite distinct from one another. 
 The view of Hagios Elias from the shore is very 
 fine, for the entire face of its precipices is visible, 
 reaching down to the two villages of Potamia and 
 Panagia which nestle beneath them. Leaving the 
 plain, we ascended to the latter of those places, 
 where we rejoined our former route ; and before 
 evening, after an agreeable ride of eight hours, I was 
 once more at Limena.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Samothrace. 
 
 Wild During my wanderings in Thasos I had enjoyed 
 
 such halcyon weather that it seemed impossible that 
 a change could suddenly take place; and accordingly, 
 on my return from the interior, I arranged with the 
 captain of a small merchant vessel that he should 
 convey me across to Cavalla the following day. 
 During the night, however, a strong south wind 
 arose, and in the morning I was informed that it 
 was useless to attempt the passage, because, though 
 we might get across, it would be impossible to land 
 owing to the unprotected character of the roadstead. 
 When I asked in some surprise what happened to 
 the trading steamers under such circumstances, the 
 answer was, that they are then unable to land the 
 goods and passengers that are booked for Cavalla, 
 and are obliged to pass that place without stopping, 
 and sometimes to take refuge in the harbour of 
 Limena, which is sheltered from the south wind. 
 The insecurity of the ports in Turkey, the result of 
 centuries of neglect, involving as it does continual 
 uncertainty as to the possibility of reaching one's 
 destination, is a serious inconvenience to the travel- 
 ler. I have already referred to this in connexion
 
 Samothrace. 3 1 1 
 
 with Khanea and Rhodes, and the same thing is 
 true of several places on the coast of Thrace : for- 
 tunately the most important maritime cities in the 
 Aegean, Smyrna and Salonica, are sufficiently pro- 
 tected by their natural position. On the present 
 occasion it was well that we had not started, for 
 towards midday the wind increased to a furious 
 gale, accompanied by torrents of rain, which con- 
 tinued with unabated violence all the afternoon. So 
 little trust can be placed in a smiling sky on these 
 coasts during the spring-time ! 
 
 During the night the sky cleared, but in the Voyage to 
 morning the wind had gone round to the west, and La S 0S - 
 rendered it impossible to reach Cavalla ; so, finding 
 that a vessel laden with pigskins full of oil was 
 preparing to start for Port Lagos (in Turkish, Kara- 
 gatch), which lies to the north-east of Thasos, I 
 changed my plans, and made an agreement to be 
 conveyed to that place. The crew consisted of four 
 men, of whom the captain and one sailor were 
 Greeks, the other two Bulgarians. As we receded 
 from the shore, we left behind us the pyramidal 
 heights of Thasos, and were soon coasting the main- 
 land, where a wide alluvial tract has been formed by 
 the Nestus, the brown and turbid waters of which 
 river are borne far into the sea. As the wind was 
 in our favour, in four hours we reached Lagos, a 
 collection of scattered houses which lie at the en- 
 trance of the large salt-lake called in ancient times 
 Bistonis. It would be difficult to find a drearier 
 spot, for it is situated in a dead flat and is sur-
 
 3i2 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 books 
 
 rounded by marshes. Great care is here required 
 even for small craft in reaching the shore, since 
 there is only one narrow passage through the shal- 
 lows; larger vessels are forced to remain in the 
 offing. I was well satisfied not to be doomed to 
 a long sojourn in this scene of desolation. On the 
 following day a Turkish steamer arrived, and in her 
 I proceeded to Dede-agatch, which is the nearest 
 point on the coast to Samothrace. 
 A raid on On landing at this place I renewed the experience 
 which I had had in Crete fifteen years before. All 
 my books— sixteen in number— were taken from me 
 by the custom-house officers, on suspicion of their 
 containing passages hostile to the Ottoman govern- 
 ment. After the lapse of some hours my dragoman 
 was able to recover most of these, but the three 
 guidebooks— Murray, Joanne, and Baedeker — were 
 retained, Murray being regarded as especially ob- 
 jectionable, on the ground that it spoke in un- 
 favourable terms (which it does not) of the Turkish 
 administration of Crete. Even the next morning 
 these officials were still obdurate, so nothing re- 
 mained for me but to require that the books should 
 be taken to the governor of the place, in order that 
 he might pass judgment upon them. To him ac- 
 cordingly I went, in company with the British Vice- 
 consul, Mr. Misser, who obligingly undertook to 
 arrange the matter for me. The governor was an 
 educated man, who spoke French fluently, and after 
 a brief inspection of the condemned works he re- 
 stored them to me without further difficulty.
 
 Samothrace. 313 
 
 Dede-agatch is a place which sooner or later may Dede- 
 rise to importance as an entrepot for the trade of the 
 interior, since it is connected by a branch railway 
 with the main line from Belgrade to Constantinople. 
 This branch diverges from a point near Adrianople, 
 and follows the valley of the Maritza (Hebrus) for 
 the greater part of the distance to the sea. At present 
 the amount of communication is limited, for only one 
 train runs each way every two days. The village of 
 Dede-agatch is entirely a creation of the railway, for 
 until the spot was chosen for a terminus not a single 
 house existed there, and it partakes of the unin- 
 teresting character of all such places of sudden 
 growth. At the back a plain of about three miles 
 in width reaches to the foot of the mountains, which 
 are an offshoot from the Despoto Dagh or Rhodope, 
 the principal chain in the interior. The cultivators 
 of this plain are Bulgarian peasants, but the waste 
 ground is occupied by the flocks of Wallach and 
 Bulgarian shepherds, who remain there during the 
 winter months, but in the warmer season migrate to 
 the higher regions. On the outskirts of the village 
 numerous camels, destined to convey merchandise to 
 the inland districts where the railway does not pene- 
 trate, might be seen squatted on the ground. 
 
 During the two days that followed my arrival no Difficulty 
 hope presented itself of my reaching Samothrace. samo- 
 The sky was clear, but the wind blew strongly from thrace - 
 the south-west, and it was exactly in that quarter 
 that the island, here twenty miles distant, rose from 
 the water, like a sea-girt castle frowning defiance.
 
 314 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 There were numerous large caiques on the spot, well 
 fitted for such a voyage ; but these were now wind- 
 bound, and lay closely wedged together in the tiny 
 port. At last my servant came to inform me that an 
 English steamer of the Joly-Victora Company, the 
 Semiramis, had arrived ; and as I was aware that 
 these vessels will sometimes for a consideration 
 deviate from their regular course, I made enquiries 
 of their agent whether they would accommodate me 
 on this occasion, and at what charge. The first 
 demand was eighteen pounds, but by judicious 
 negotiation this was ultimately reduced to five — a 
 not unreasonable sum, seeing that the steamer, 
 which was bound direct for Smyrna, would have to 
 make a considerable detour. On these terms the 
 bargain was struck, and I embarked without delay. 
 To my surprise I found that my involuntary deten- 
 tion in Dede-agatch had won for me an honourable 
 reputation. It was currently reported in the place 
 that I was going to discover a gold mine, or at the 
 least a coal mine, in Samothrace ; and one of the 
 inhabitants requested permission to accompany me, 
 in order that he might have some share in the 
 profits. 
 The voyage As soon as we were under way I conferred with 
 thither. ^ ca p ta i n? a burly good-humoured Greek, as to the 
 place where I should be landed. He had not him- 
 self visited Samothrace, and was unacquainted with 
 its coast— in fact, no steamers ever touch there, 
 and during the winter very few sailing vessels : 
 so the English Admiralty chart was produced, and
 
 Samothrace. 315 
 
 we proceeded to discuss the possibilities. He was 
 in favour of a spot on the northern coast marked 
 Palaeopolis, where he had heard that there were 
 buildings. It was well that I did not accede to this 
 proposal, for by subsequent inspection I discovered 
 that the only accommodation there was the hollow 
 trunk of a plane-tree. I for my part suggested 
 Kamariotissa, a place in the neighbourhood of the 
 western promontory, to which I was told at Dede- 
 agatch that vessels sometimes went ; and this view 
 ultimately prevailed. During the early part of this 
 day the island had not been visible, for the weather 
 had become gloomy, and its position could only be 
 traced by a dark cloud which shrouded it. As we 
 approached nearer the veil withdrew itself, and turn- 
 ing outward its silver lining covered the summits 
 with a fleecy mass, but revealed the steep precipices 
 below, which were generally bare, or rifted with 
 snow, though in some places forests were visible. 
 Leaving these on our left hand, we made for the Finding a 
 more level part of the island towards its western p la ™ g ~ 
 extremity. After sunset a strong head-wind got up, 
 and raised such waves, that it became an exciting 
 question whether landing would be possible, or 
 whether I should have to accept the other alter- 
 native of being carried on to Smyrna. Night had 
 fallen when we approached the coast, and careful 
 sounding was necessary to avoid running aground. 
 The engine hooted, but no response was elicited : 
 we had evidently miscalculated the position. The 
 vessel drew off again, and made for a point a little
 
 316 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 further on, just where a spit of sand, which is in 
 reality the extreme point of the island, formed a 
 shelter from the waves. This time our signal was 
 more successful, for shortly afterwards by the 
 'muffled moonlight' we could see a small boat, 
 rather larger than a coracle, approaching, rowed 
 by two boys. Into this myself, my servant, and 
 my baggage were stowed, not without difficulty; 
 and we rowed away to the shore, while the steamer 
 disappeared into the darkness. I landed on the 
 beach, and at last was able to congratulate myself 
 on having set foot in Samothrace. 
 First tin- The next question was where to find a lodging for 
 pressions. ^ e night. There was no pier by the shore, to sug- 
 gest that it was a frequented place ; and first the 
 contents of the boat, and then the boat itself, required 
 to be dragged over a high bank of shingle, which has 
 been thrown up by the waves. When this was sur- 
 mounted, we found a dozen caiques of various sizes 
 drawn up out of reach of the sea, and behind these, 
 at the distance of a few stones' throws, was a row of 
 one-storeyed houses, consisting of one room apiece. 
 As it was Sunday, the occupants of these had betaken 
 themselves to the village, which is an hour and a half 
 distant, to enjoy their holiday, and had locked up 
 their dwellings. One room, however, which formed 
 the bar and general rendcz-vous of the place, was 
 open ; and in this we found a number of the sailors 
 to whom the caiques belonged, sitting round a stove. 
 From them we learnt that the bakehouse, which stood 
 at the end of the row, was vacant, and that the fire was
 
 Samothrace. 317 
 
 not lighted. It was a somewhat grimy abode, and 
 somewhat airy, owing to the numerous apertures 
 through which the wind could enter ; but we were 
 soon established there. In default of other fasten- 
 ings the door was closed by an iron crowbar which 
 we found within. 
 
 The next morning opened bright and clear. We Ancient 
 
 . c , harbour of 
 
 could now see that we were within a curve ol the Deme- 
 level shore, close to the promontory of Acroteri ; and truu "- 
 this spot, though it is exposed to the full force of the 
 northerly and north-westerly gales, is the safest 
 landing-place in Samothrace. There can be little 
 doubt that it is the harbour of Demetrium, which is 
 mentioned both by Livy and Plutarch in connexion 
 with the story of the fate of Perseus, the last king 
 of Macedon. After the ruin of his cause at Pydna, 
 that sovereign betook himself with a large amount 
 of treasure to Samothrace, in hopes of finding an 
 asylum in the sanctuary there ; but when the Roman 
 fleet under Cn. Octavius took up its station in front 
 of the city, and Perseus discovered that he was about 
 to be expelled as a sacrilegious person on account of 
 a murder which he had committed, he arranged with 
 Oroandes, a merchant of Crete, that he should take 
 him on board his ship, and convey him to the coast 
 of Thrace. Oroandes, however, 'behaved like a 
 Cretan V and when the treasure was safely embarked, 
 made off to his native island, leaving the king 
 lamenting on the shore. The place where this 
 vessel lay, and at which the king hoped to have 
 
 1 KprjTiajjw xp^aixevos, Plut. Aemil. Paul. cap. 26.
 
 31 8 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 embarked after stealing out by night from the neigh- 
 bouring city, is described as • Demetrium, a harbour 
 by a promontory in Samothrace V The fact that so 
 open a roadstead is the best available shelter for 
 shipping, justifies the remark of Pliny, that Samo- 
 thrace is 'the most harbourless of all the Greek 
 islands 'V 
 Village of The only means of transport that could be found 
 Chora, were two ponies. On one of these the baggage was 
 fastened, and as George, my dragoman, was not a 
 good walker, I mounted him on the other, and went on 
 foot myself until we approached our destination, the 
 village of Chora, when I took his place and entered 
 in state. The ground over which we passed was 
 rough and stony, and in its look and colour recalled 
 rather the soil of Lemnos than that of Thasos : as 
 the village, which is the only inhabited place in 
 the island, stands at a height of several hundred feet 
 above the sea, the ascent to it, though gradual, is 
 long. Its appearance, when it suddenly comes in 
 view close at hand, is very striking. It occupies a 
 curve in the steep mountain-slope, which forms a 
 complete horseshoe, lying at the foot of two con- 
 spicuous peaks of red and grey granite, while on 
 one side stands forth a mass of ochre-coloured rock, 
 crowned by the broken towers of a Genoese castle. 
 The choice of such a site is amply justified by its shel- 
 tered situation at the head of the cultivated ground, 
 
 1 Demetrium est portus in promontorio quodam Samothracae ; 
 Liv. 45. 6. 
 
 2 Vel importuosissima omnium ; Plin. Hist. Nat 4. 12. 23.
 
 Samothrace. 319 
 
 and by its remoteness from the sea, which rendered 
 it safe from the attacks of pirates. The view over it 
 from above, with the castle-rock standing out against 
 the sloping ground below and the blue expanse of 
 sea, is especially fine ; but, for all that, the village, 
 like everything else in Samothrace, has a dreary 
 aspect, for there is no vegetation among the bare 
 stone buildings, and even the castle walls are 
 destitute of shrubs to soften the harshness of their 
 ruin. The houses of recent construction are covered 
 in with tiles, but the great majority are flat-roofed 
 and overlaid with clay ; and on each of these a 
 round marble cylinder may be seen lying, for use 
 as a roller, though not provided with any handle. 
 These cylinders are in every case the remains of 
 some Hellenic building, for there are no marble 
 quarries in the island, and wherever that material is 
 found it has been imported. As I zigzagged up the 
 excessively steep streets, I enquired for a lodging, 
 and was offered the choice between the konak and 
 the school-house. I gave the preference to the 
 latter of these, which was situated at the very top of 
 the village, behind a large newly-built church, and 
 not far beneath the ridge which joins the two peaks 
 already mentioned. In this place I found an un- 
 occupied room, which became my home for the next 
 six days. 
 
 As the best part of the day still remained, shortly Ruins at 
 after my arrival I started for the ruins of the ancient ' ^"^ ' 
 city, or Palaeopoli, as they are now called, which 
 are situated on the coast an hour's ride to the north
 
 32o The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 of Chora. The schoolmaster, M. Christos N. Rhego- 
 pulos, proposed to accompany me and explain the 
 position of the buildings ; and I gladly accepted his 
 offer, for, like many of his class, he was a well- 
 educated and intelligent man. He was born at 
 Dimitzana in north-western Arcadia, and had re- 
 sided for some time in Smyrna ; but on receiving 
 the offer of a permanent post in this island, he 
 migrated thither, and, having been in weak health 
 before, had derived great benefit from the bracing 
 air of Samothrace. He was thoroughly conversant 
 with the excavations that had been made, since he 
 was on the spot at the time, and was personally 
 acquainted with those who took part in them. More- 
 over he, or rather the school, possesses a copy of 
 the great work which gives the result of those ex- 
 cavations, the Archdologische Untersuchungen auf 
 Samothrake of Prof. Conze. This was a present 
 from the professor himself, and is a great boon to 
 the traveller, because the book contains the only 
 correct account of the Hellenic buildings, and at the 
 same time is too bulky to be carried on a voyage. 
 Conze is remembered by most of the inhabitants, 
 and is generally spoken of by his Christian name, 
 Alexander (6 WegavSpos). I subsequently made the 
 acquaintance of the Greek who acted as his foreman 
 in superintending the excavations. 
 Theancient As I devoted more than one visit to the ex- 
 amination of this place, it may give the reader 
 a clearer idea of the remains if I describe them 
 without reference to the order in which I saw them.
 
 Samothrace. 321 
 
 They consist of two parts, the city and the sanctuary, 
 for the latter was not included within the walls. The 
 city, which was of triangular form and covered a very 
 extensive area, had a northern aspect, and occupied 
 a steep position between a jutting spur of the moun- 
 tains and the sea. At the summit, which is a mass 
 of rocks, there is no definite acropolis ; indeed, the 
 nature of the ground formed of itself a sufficient 
 defence : but at one point a deep depression between 
 the cliffs, which might have been reached by esca- 
 lade, has been closed by a high cyclopean wall. On 
 the eastern side, from the summit to the sea, the 
 precipices are so steep that no fortifications were 
 required ; but here also, just at the commencement of 
 the final ascent, a similar gap is occupied by a wall 
 with a well-built postern, which is covered by three 
 enormous stones, laid across parallel to one another. 
 Towards the west the hillside slopes more gradually, 
 and here a low but well-marked ridge is followed by a 
 continuous line of wall. This is the wonder of the Extra- 
 place, and the massiveness of its primitive masonry is wa u s- 
 hardly surpassed by that of Tiryns. Like that fortress, 
 it is composed of enormous stones piled irregularly 
 together, and no rubble is used to fill the interstices 
 between them. Four gateways remain on this side ; 
 in the lowest of them, which led from the city to the 
 sanctuary, the walls on either hand are preserved to 
 the height of fifteen feet; in another, which occupies a 
 return of the wall, the courses of masonry approach 
 one another at the top, and the lintel is formed by one 
 huge unhewn stone. About half-way down there is 
 
 Y
 
 towers. 
 
 322 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 a tower, the regular horizontal courses of which con- 
 trast with the other work, and seem to belong to a 
 more recent period, though their solidity shows that 
 they are still primitive. These fortifications of the 
 city of Samothrace are referred to by a Latin author, 
 in connexion with the rites which were celebrated 
 in their neighbourhood, as ' the ancient walls of the 
 Corybantes V At the present day the whole area is 
 most desolate, its only occupants being goats, which 
 find a scanty pasturage on the stony soil. 
 Genoese Near the foot of the eastern ridge, just where it 
 
 begins to fall precipitously to the sea, stand three 
 towers of Genoese construction. The uppermost of 
 these, which is also the tallest, gives evidence of 
 having been built of Hellenic materials by the frag- 
 ments of friezes and fluted columns of white marble 
 which are embedded in it. Here also, until a few 
 years ago, were several inscriptions relating to the 
 pilgrims who visited the neighbouring shrine. It 
 would be foolish to lament the removal of such 
 monuments to the museums of Europe ; and in the 
 present instance, though there was no fear of injury 
 from the hands of the inhabitants, yet the votive 
 tablets were not in their original position, and could 
 therefore be carried off without scruple. Still, the 
 traveller may be allowed to regret that he cannot 
 inspect on the spot the lists of ' pious initiated ' 
 ((jlvo-tcii. ei/o-e/3ets), and still more the representations 
 (now in the Louvre) of rows of dancing figures, 
 linked hand in hand, which reveal to us something 
 1 Moenia antiqua Corybantum ; Priscian, Periegesis, 546.
 
 Samothrace. 323 
 
 of the character of the sacred ceremonies 1 . All 
 these slabs have been picked out of the walls ; the 
 only inscription that has been spared is in corrupt 
 mediaeval Greek, and relates to the erection of the 
 building. On the western side of these towers there 
 is a steep descent into a wooded glen, in the lowest 
 part of which a copious spring rises under the shade 
 of a spreading plane-tree. In front of this a wide 
 shingly beach reaches to the sea. 
 
 A few hundred yards from this point may be seen The mole. 
 the broken remains of an ancient mole just appearing 
 above the water's edge. This, as far as we know, was 
 the only defence for shipping that the city possessed 
 in ancient times. The island was not entirely un- 
 provided with a navy, for in the story of the Battle 
 of Salamis we are told that an Athenian ship was 
 sunk by a Samothracian ship, serving on the Persian 
 side 2 : for these vessels, therefore, and also for those 
 which brought the numerous worshippers to the 
 shrine, some shelter must have been required. It is 
 highly probable that the extensive beach which I 
 
 1 The position of these tablets in the wall of the tower had some- 
 thing of the dignity of historical association, as may be seen from 
 the following passage of Cyriacus of Ancona, who visited Samo- 
 thrace in 1444, when it was in the possession of the Gatilusi. 
 ' Postquam ad novam a Palamede [Gatilusio] principe conditam 
 arcem venimus, ad turrim ipsam pleraque vetusta arte elaborata 
 marmora videntur composita, ubi plerasque Nympharum choreas 
 conscriptas inspeximus, et alia complura hinc inde vetustatis tantae 
 urbis eximia monumenta comperimus, et nobilia atque veterrima 
 Graecis ac etiam nostratum literis epigrammata :' quoted by Conzc, 
 Unlersitchnngen, vol. i. p. i, from the Vatican MS. of Cyriacus' 
 unpublished narrative. 2 Herod. 8. 90. 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 have mentioned did not exist in antiquity, and thus 
 the space within which ships could lie would have 
 been greater than at the present day; but even so, 
 as there was nothing like a natural harbour, the 
 accommodation must have been extremely limited. 
 This appears the more strange, when we take into 
 account the violence of the storms which agitate 
 these seas. 
 Sanctuary We may now proceed to the sanctuary, which was 
 
 of the . 
 
 Cabeiri. situated westward of the city, outside the walls. 
 But before investigating the buildings which it con- 
 tained, a word should be said with regard to the 
 worship of which it was the home. There is no need 
 for us to discuss the various theories which have 
 been held on the subject of the Samothracian gods : 
 so much I may say, that to me it seems most 
 probable that they were pre-Hellenic divinities, 
 which passed under the influence of the Phoenicians, 
 and were finally adopted and assimilated by the 
 Greeks. This view agrees with the statement of 
 Herodotus that these mysteries were introduced by 
 the Pelasgi 1 , and with the fact of their wide diffusion, 
 for they were found not only in the neighbouring 
 islands of Lemnos and Imbros, and in the Troad, 
 but also in Phrygia. Again, that this cult was affected 
 by Phoenician beliefs and forms of worship is proved 
 by the name Cabeiri, which is evidently derived from 
 the Semitic kabir, 'great' — a title applied by the 
 Phoenicians to their leading divinities — for the 
 Cabeiri were known to the Greeks as the Great 
 1 Herod. 2. 51.
 
 Samothrace. 325 
 
 Gods (fxtyakoL 6eol). The existence of this influence 
 does not seem improbable, when we consider that the 
 name Samos (for Samothrace is the 'Thracian 
 Samos/and is so called in Homer 1 ) is of Phoenician 
 origin, and that other settlements of that race existed 
 close by, in Thasos and on the Hellespont. The 
 rites thus framed, and the corresponding tenets, 
 would easily be adapted by the Greeks, though 
 even in ancient times great differences of opinion 
 existed as to which of the Hellenic deities corre- 
 sponded to the Great Gods of Samothrace. This 
 ambiguity would naturally be fostered by the mys- 
 terious character of the worship, the secrets of which 
 were only communicated to the initiated ; and this 
 secrecy, in turn, was more easily maintained from 
 the island which was its centre being so difficult of 
 access. It was due also in part to its position on 
 the confines of Europe and Asia, that it became the 
 meeting-point of Western and Eastern forms of 
 religion. 
 
 The influence exercised by this place as a devo- Its im- 
 tional centre was extraordinary. After Delos, \X. p0 ' 
 numbered more votaries than any other spot in the 
 Aegean. As a place of pilgrimage it occupied in 
 ancient times somewhat the same position as the 
 neighbouring Athos does at the present day. How 
 great its repute must have been we discover from 
 the numerous votive inscriptions which have been 
 found there, and which imply the existence of a much 
 larger number in antiquity. The majority of these 
 1 //. 13. 12.
 
 >3 26 
 
 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 History 
 of the ex- 
 cavations. 
 
 proceeded from cities in Asia Minor, but some were 
 set up by states on the European coast of the Aegean \ 
 Philip of Macedon and his wife Olympias are known 
 to have been among the initiated \ Germanicus was 
 only prevented by unfavourable weather from visiting 
 the shrine 3 . It is interesting also to reflect that, 
 when St. Paul touched at this place on his way from 
 Troas to Neapolis during his second missionary 
 journey, this form of worship existed in full vigour. 
 
 The first excavations on this site were made in 
 1863 by a French explorer, M. Champoiseau ; and 
 his labours were rewarded by the discovery of the 
 statue of Nike, which is now one of the glories of 
 the Louvre. Three years later much more extensive 
 investigations were undertaken by MM. Deville and 
 Coquart, of the French School of Athens ; and the 
 results of these were published in the Archives des 
 Missions for 1867. But the great work of all, by 
 means of which the whole of the ruins were laid 
 bare, and the character of the various buildings was 
 finally determined, was carried out under the 
 auspices of the Austrian government by Professor 
 Conze and his colleagues, MM. Hauser, Niemann 
 and Benndorf, in the course of two expeditions in 
 1873 and 1875. The history of their discoveries, 
 and a full discussion of all the points connected with 
 them, will be found in the two magnificent volumes 
 of Untersuchungen auf Samothrake already men- 
 
 1 Seethe inscriptions in Conze, Reise, pp. 63-71. 
 
 2 Plutarch, Alex. 2. 
 
 3 Tac. Ann. 2. 54.
 
 Samothrace. 
 
 327 
 
 tioned. The photographs, plans and drawings, 
 which accompany this work, leave nothing for the 
 reader' to desire. 
 
 The area which is occupied by the sacred build- The sacred 
 ings, though it is lower than the greater part of the a7ea ' 
 city, is still at some elevation above the sea. Its 
 dimensions may roughly be described as 600 feet in 
 either direction : not that it presents a definite shape, 
 
 SANCTUAEY 
 SAMOTHRACE 
 
 or that there is any clearly traced enclosure ; nor 
 has the position of the buildings within it been de- 
 termined otherwise than by the configuration of the 
 ground, which is peculiarly irregular. At this point 
 three torrents, descending from the mountain side 
 behind, run for the time almost parallel to one 
 another, and then join their waters at the northern
 
 328 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 extremity of the area. Insignificant though they 
 are, yet their waters have carved out very deep 
 channels, which are flanked by steep banks on either 
 side. These banks are supported here and there 
 by walls and steps, which served to secure the 
 foundations of the edifices that surmounted them. 
 The spaces that intervene between these channels, 
 forming, as they do, irregular levels — and in part 
 also the neighbouring slope towards the east — were 
 chosen as the sites for the buildings, which in this 
 manner were enclosed within natural boundaries. 
 Being outside the walls, they must have trusted for 
 protection to their sacredness. 
 Temples The most important portion of this area is that 
 
 °L t} ! e - ■ which intervenes between the middle and the eastern 
 
 Laoeiri. 
 
 torrent-bed, for though the ground here is lower 
 than elsewhere, yet it is the most central in its 
 position. In the southern portion of this stood a 
 large Doric temple, which, to judge from the frag- 
 ments that remain, must have been a very handsome 
 edifice. The material of which it was constructed 
 was white marble, though the foundations, like those 
 of all the buildings in this sanctuary, are of the 
 rough stone of the country. Its architecture shows 
 that it was erected in the early period of the 
 Ptolemies, who were the greatest benefactors of this 
 shrine. This was the later temple of the Cabeiri. 
 To the north of this, and standing at a considerable 
 angle to it, was the older temple of those deities, 
 which was smaller than the other, and, though very 
 little of the superstructure remains from which to
 
 Samothrace. 329 
 
 judge, must have been much ruder. At its further 
 end, where the ground is lower, it was supported by 
 a wall of polygonal stones. It was to this building 
 that the bas-reliefs of dancing figures, already men- 
 tioned, originally belonged, for corresponding ones 
 were found in its area during the excavations. It 
 is not improbable that this temple continued to be 
 in use after the handsomer building had been erected. 
 That they were dedicated to the Cabeiri is shown, 
 partly by their being the only temples in this sanc- 
 tuary, and partly by a remarkable feature which was 
 discovered in both of them. This was an opening 
 in the floor, communicating with the earth below, 
 which is known from the analogy of other temples 
 in which this peculiarity occurs, to have been used 
 for offerings to the deities of the nether world, among 
 whom the Cabeiri were reckoned. In the larger 
 temple this was found in the pavement of a sort of 
 apse at its southern end, and is semi-circular in form. 
 In the smaller temple there are two such towards the 
 middle of the cella, one semi-circular, the other nearly 
 rectangular. Unfortunately for the traveller, these 
 are now once more concealed under mounds of earth. 
 
 Northward again from the older temple are the The Ar- 
 ruins of a circular building, the foundations of which 
 are visible throughout half their circuit, thirteen 
 courses remaining on the western side. The original 
 shape, which is clearly seen in these, is traceable 
 also in the curved outline of some of the marble 
 blocks that lie in ruin above. Other stones are 
 ornamented with figures of bulls' heads, and on one
 
 niaeum. 
 
 330 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 is a fragmentary inscription, from which we learn 
 that the edifice was dedicated to the Great Gods by 
 a daughter of one of the Ptolemies. It was originally 
 suggested by M. Deville, and his view is now 
 generally accepted, that this lady was Arsinoe, the 
 daughter of Ptolemy Soter, who took refuge in 
 Samothrace from the violence of Ptolemy Keraunos, 
 the murderer of her sons. Hence the building is 
 now known as the Arsinoeum. What use it was 
 intended to serve is not clear, but, though it was 
 dedicated to the Cabeiri, it does not seem to have 
 been a temple. 
 The Stoa In a parallel line with these three buildings lay 
 others on the higher level between the central and 
 the western stream. Towards the south, in a corre- 
 sponding position to the two temples, is the base- 
 ment of an extensive structure, very long in pro- 
 portion to its breadth, which appears to have 
 been a Stoa ; and northward of this, opposite to the 
 Arsinoeum, there is a large square area, composed 
 of rough blocks, but almost devoid of any trace of 
 the edifice which it supported. The Nike of the 
 Louvre occupied a commanding site to the south- 
 east of the Stoa. Besides these, one building re- 
 mains to be noticed, which is situated on the further 
 side of the eastern stream. The numerous fragments 
 which here cover the ground show that it was richly 
 ornamented, and the channellings of the white 
 marble columns prove that it was of the Ionic order. 
 The inscription on the frieze, which still remains, 
 though broken into several pieces, tells us that it
 
 Samothrace. 331 
 
 was dedicated by Ptolemy II Philadelphus to the 
 Great Gods ' : it belongs therefore to the same period 
 as the later temple and the Arsinoeum, the first half 
 of the third century before Christ. This ' Ptole- 
 maeum ' consisted of two halls, and its position 
 between the city and the temples suggests that it 
 may have served as an entrance to the sacred places, 
 somewhat in the style of the Propylaea at Athens. 
 It was raised high above the neighbouring stream 
 by an artificial platform of stone, through the lower 
 part of which there runs in a diagonal line a re- 
 markable tunnel with a rounded vault. It has been 
 conjectured that the object of this tunnel was to 
 carry off the waters of the stream, in which case 
 they must formerly have taken a different course 
 from what they do at present ; and this view is 
 corroborated by the peculiar angle at which the tunnel 
 runs. But the most interesting point about it is Hellenic 
 that, as this construction could not have been of 
 later date than the building above, it affords one of 
 the very rare instances — the bridge of Xerokampo 
 in the valley of Sparta is another — of the use of the 
 arch in Hellenic architecture. There is here a 
 genuine arch with a definite keystone, and, which is 
 still more curious, in consequence of its position it 
 is a slightly skew arch. This tunnel is called by the 
 people of the country Phylake, or the Prison ; and 
 the reason given to me for the name was, that before 
 the place was excavated the upper end was closed, 
 
 1 Baai\evs TlToXe/jLaios TlTo\(fxaiov ical Bipfv'tKrjs ~S,ojTqpwv ©cofs 
 MeyaXots.
 
 3$2 The Islands of the Aegean. ■ 
 
 and the shepherds used to shelter their sheep within 
 it. On such occasions, undoubtedly, it must have 
 greatly resembled a dungeon. 
 
 The effect of this entire group of buildings, when 
 they were standing, must have been very imposing ; 
 but it is difficult to reconstruct them in imagination 
 on the spot, since not a single column occupies its 
 original position. Still harder is it, in the midst of 
 the present desolation, to repeople the place with 
 the crowds of worshippers who must once have fre- 
 quented it.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Samothrace {continued). 
 
 The inhabitants of Samothrace number at the Depopula- 
 present day about two thousand souls, and with the tl s ™°f_ 
 exception of the shepherds who roam over the thrace. 
 mountains, all these are concentrated in the one 
 village of Chora. The scantiness of the population 
 is, however, a thing of comparatively recent date. 
 At the time of the first conquest of the island by the 
 Turks, indeed, in 1457, the island must have been 
 almost denuded of its people, for we are told that the 
 wealthy inhabitants were taken to Constantinople, 
 the youngest and healthiest were sold as slaves, and 
 only the poorest remained behind to till the soil J : 
 but in the course of time other settlers seem to have 
 arrived, for at the beginning of this century it is 
 supposed that the number amounted to ten thousand, 
 though this is probably an exaggerated estimate. 
 But it was at the commencement of the Greek War 
 of Independence, in 1821, that the greatest disaster 
 fell upon the place. On that occasion the people of 
 Samothrace declared themselves free from the 
 
 1 Finlay, History of Greece, vol. v. p. 59.
 
 334 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Turkish rule, and for a time they remained in fancied 
 security ; but after the lapse of four months, on 
 September i of that year, a Turkish force landed 
 on their shores, and after defeating the insurgents 
 massacred all the adults who did not escape to the 
 mountains or by sea, and carried the children as 
 slaves to Constantinople. Subsequently, it is com- 
 puted, three hundred of those who fled by sea 
 returned, and a hundred more from the mountains, 
 but the island has never recovered from this cata- 
 strophe. I had the opportunity of inspecting a register, 
 made for purposes of taxation, of the Greek inhabitants 
 of the island in the year 1835, with their properties ; 
 the number of families was then 315, but this 
 represented only about 500 persons, since many 
 houses had but one or two occupants. The Turkish 
 residents have also declined in numbers ; only three 
 or four families of that race now remain, and they have 
 neither a mosque nor a school. In former times they 
 sent their children to the Greek school, but latterly 
 they have withdrawn them. When this Mahometan 
 colony is extinct, which before long it probably will 
 be, a memorial of it will remain in a little cemetery, 
 with simple headstones of white and grey marble, 
 just above the village. One result of this depopula- 
 tion is, that the majority of the present inhabitants are 
 of recent introduction, and speak ordinary Modern 
 Greek ; while the language of the shepherds, who 
 probably date back to a very considerable antiquity, 
 is the most remarkable of all the Modern Greek 
 dialects, and retains some Hellenic words which
 
 SamotJirace. ^15 
 
 have been lost elsewhere. By a curious coincidence, 
 something like this took place in classical times, for 
 Diodorus tells us that the aborigines of Samothrace 
 spoke a peculiar dialect, many traces of which were 
 preserved in the language of the sacrificial rites \ 
 
 Of the condition of the people I received somewhat Condition 
 conflicting accounts. I was assured that there was "/"l^f m ~ 
 
 ° habitants. 
 
 no pauperism among them, for the products suffice 
 for their consumption, and oil is grown in sufficient 
 quantities to be exported. This might well be the case, 
 for there is a considerable area of cultivated land in 
 the west of the island, and a diminished population 
 have always the advantage of an increased amount of 
 property relatively to their numbers. On the other 
 hand, the inhabitants generally had a poverty-stricken 
 appearance, and the medical man of Chora assured me 
 
 1 Diodor. Sic. 5. 47. The information which I obtained with 
 regard to the dialect of the Samothracian shepherds is as follows. 
 Its most remarkable feature is the omission of p in the middle of 
 words, which leaves behind a drawling pronunciation of the neigh- 
 bouring vowel : thus for Utrpos they say UtT{y)os, for Kpaai ' wine' 
 Kaaai, for aTj/xfpa t@pe£e ' it rained to-day' a7)fii\y)a t[ie(h)£e. T is 
 often prefixed to initial vowels, as yrjKovcra for tficovaa • and is in- 
 serted between vowels, as #£70$ for 0(6s ; and takes the place of 
 initial S, as 71a for 5ia : but these peculiarities are found elsewhere. 
 Some other changes which Conze has mentioned (Reise, p. 54), 
 such as the omission of S and A, and the change of 9 into </> in the 
 middle of words, my informants would not admit. A striking 
 instance of the preservation of an ancient word is <pav\l£oj for the 
 familiar KaKoKo-,w 'to abuse:' \a\a> is also used for u(*t\a> 'to 
 speak,' but this, though generally obsolete, is regularly employed 
 in Lemnos also. A verb TrcupXovKiafa is used in the sense of ' to 
 be scalding hot,' of liquids. For ' entrads ' they employ the 
 curious word to. (icnOKa.
 
 336 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 that few of them reach old age, owing to the severity 
 of the winter, the exposure they suffer at that season, 
 and the want of fuel. The island is administered by 
 a Mudir, who is subject to the governor of Lemnos. 
 They have little to complain of in this respect, except 
 that the taxes are oppressive. When first I reached 
 Samothrace the office of Mudir was vacant, but before 
 I left a governor arrived, and he was a Christian. 
 Ecclesiastically, the island is subject to the bishop of 
 Maroneia on the opposite coast of Thrace. There 
 are usually 130 children in the school, but at the 
 time of my visit only half that number attended, 
 owing to the prevalence of a bad infectious cough, 
 which in the course of a few months had caused as 
 many as a hundred deaths. From my room in the 
 school-house I used to watch the scholars, mostly 
 bare-footed, assembling to their lessons at the sound 
 of an iron gong or scmantron. In Lemnos the 
 people of Samothrace have the reputation of being 
 rough and boorish, but for my own part I experienced 
 nothing but civility from all classes. 
 Paper The money that is in use in Samothrace is hardly 
 
 money. less curious than that of Thasos. In default of small 
 Turkish money, a paper currency has been established, 
 consisting of small squares of thin cardboard, on 
 which are printed the name of the island with that of 
 the principal church, and the value of the piece. 
 Some of these notes, or tickets, have been sent from 
 Constantinople, but others are made in Chora itself. 
 The smallest, which are about an inch square, are 
 equivalent to ten paras, or a half-penny. I doubt
 
 SamotJirace. 337 
 
 whether the Austrian Tyrol in its most advanced 
 days of paper currency ever quite equalled this. 
 Another curiosity, besides some specimens of these, Ibexes. 
 which I brought away with me, is a native stool 
 formed of a rough slab of wood, 18 in. long by 8 in. 
 wide, which has been placed on the arch of a pair of 
 ibex horns, so that the whole thing forms a tripod, 
 supported by the root and the extremities of the 
 horns. The seat is fastened on by strong iron nails, 
 which have been ruthlessly driven through the wood 
 into the curving horns. The horns measure three 
 feet in length, and are capable of supporting a great 
 weight. The ibexes are found in the desolate 
 mountains in the eastern part of Samothrace, and are 
 perhaps of the same kind as those which exist in the 
 Taurus in Asia Minor. The kids are sometimes 
 captured by the natives, and are carried to Constanti- 
 nople as pets by the Turkish governors when they 
 quit the island ; but I am not aware that they have 
 attracted the attention of any naturalist. Not having 
 seen the animal myself, I am unable to say whether 
 it resembles the Cretan ibex. 
 
 It was a surprise in a remote island like Samo- A learned 
 thrace to meet with a man as learned as M. Phardys, ** y5U 
 the physician of Chora. He is a native of the place, 
 but at ten years of age he went abroad, and only a 
 few years ago returned to his family. He speaks 
 French fluently, having lived for some time in Mar- 
 seilles ; and he also passed two years in Corsica, as 
 manager of a school for the Greek colony which for 
 two centuries has been established in that island. 
 
 z
 
 338 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 The history of that interesting colony which he has 
 lately published is by far the most authentic account 
 of it that has yet appeared ; and as I had myself 
 visited the Corsican Greeks, we had in them a topic 
 of common interest. One day he produced for my 
 inspection what proved to be a post-card from Mr. 
 Gladstone. It appeared that M. Phardys had sent 
 a copy of a former work of his (on Greek accentu- 
 ation, I think) to the English statesman, and re- 
 ceived this acknowledgement of it. Since, however, 
 he was unacquainted with English, he had never 
 deciphered its contents ; and as the signature, to say 
 the truth, was somewhat hieroglyphical, he had not 
 quite certified himself whether it was what he believed 
 it to be. Great, therefore, was his satisfaction and 
 his gratitude, when I identified the hand-writing, and 
 translated the communication for him. Many years 
 ago a monk in a monastery on Mount Olympus 
 astonished me by saying that he was aware that the 
 late Lord Derby had translated Homer ; but to meet 
 with a post-card from Mr. Gladstone on Samothrace 
 appeared to me more wonderful still. 
 Castle The mediaeval castle, which forms so conspicuous 
 
 °p } }n ■ an object in Chora, was erected by the Gatilusi, 
 whom we have already heard of in the other islands 
 of the northern sea; and on its walls are inscriptions, 
 which, like that in the fortress at Lemnos, contain 
 the emblem of the Palaeologi, with whom they were 
 connected by marriage. The family of the Gatilusi are 
 a typical specimen of the stout-hearted, hard-handed 
 merchant-princes of the West, whose influence pre-
 
 Samothrace. 339 
 
 vailed in these seas for two centuries and a half after 
 the capture of Constantinople by the Latins. The 
 founder of their fortunes, Francesco Gatilusio, was 
 cruizing about the Aegean with two war-ships on the 
 look-out for some lucrative enterprise, when John V. 
 Palaeologus engaged his services. By his assistance 
 that emperor gained his throne, which had been 
 usurped by Cantacuzene, and he rewarded him in 1355 
 with the hand of his sister Maria, and with the 
 principality of Lesbos as her dowry. He was 
 subsequently instrumental in delivering John from 
 the hands of the Bulgarians, by whom he had been 
 taken prisoner. In the course of time the islands of 
 Lemnos, Thasos and Samothrace, and the town of 
 Enos on the coast of Thrace, were added to the 
 dominions of the Gatilusi. They ultimately became 
 tributary to the Turks, but retained their possessions 
 until they were deprived of them by Mahomet II. 
 
 My next expedition was to the Therma Loutra, or The 
 
 warm baths, which are situated on the north coast O { nortia " 
 
 ' coast. 
 
 the island three hours distant from Chora. The 
 first part of the route was the same as that to 
 Palaeopoli, and traversed a stony tract, in which the 
 melancholy juniper and stunted prickly shrubs only 
 added to the dreariness. When we reached the sea, 
 at the point where the spring of fresh water rises 
 below the ruins, the way followed the shore, and for 
 the most part lay over the shingle ; but here the 
 mules which we had hired in the village found a 
 track, since they were accustomed to make the 
 journey during the summer months, when the baths 
 z 2
 
 34° The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 are much frequented. The scenery of this part is 
 the most agreeable which the island has to show. 
 The mountains gradually recede from the water's 
 edge, and form a plain half-a-mile in width, which is 
 covered with an aromatic undergrowth of arbutus, 
 myrtle and tree-heather, while the shore is fringed 
 by agnus castus bushes : beneath this shrubbery the 
 brake-fern was now putting forth its fronds, and the 
 courses of the brooks were marked by numerous 
 plane-trees. At the back the ground is clothed with 
 oak-scrub, and rises with increasing steepness to the 
 foot of the precipices, above which tower the highest 
 peaks. The pines, which form so conspicuous a 
 feature in Thasos, are here entirely wanting. In the 
 glades and clearings numerous ponies had been 
 turned loose, and were feeding in a half wild state. 
 On our return journey the two lively boys who 
 accompanied our mules set to work to catch one 
 of these— a hopeless task, as it seemed at first sight ; 
 but the boys were more knowing than the ponies, 
 and they soon secured their prize, which they 
 mounted, and rode until we left the shore. 
 The At the further extremity of this level district, just 
 
 Loutra. where the hills once more approach the sea, the 
 Baths are situated, on one side of a clear stream of 
 some size. Between this river and the sea numerous 
 fruit-trees give evidence of human cultivation, and 
 among them stands a two-storeyed house, and hard 
 by it a sort of shanty with four chambers : these are 
 the only permanent provision for visitors, and the 
 majority of the bathers live either in tents or in
 
 Samothrace. 341 
 
 booths constructed from the branches of trees. A 
 little way off a waterfall, which had been swollen by 
 the late rains, was plunging down the steep cliffs. 
 The place was now completely deserted, but during 
 the summer, which is the bathing season, it is 
 resorted to by numerous patients — among them by 
 M. Misser, the consul at Dede-agatch, who comes 
 hither with his family. Favoured as it is by the cool 
 northerly breezes, it must be a delightful resort for a 
 vie champetrc. Just before I entered the house in 
 order to rest for a while, a sight unexpected at this 
 time of year presented itself — a snake three feet long 
 lying close by the door. It was in a half torpid state, 
 and was easily dispatched. The name which the 
 natives give to this kind of serpent is saita, the 
 Modern Greek word for 'arrow' (a-aira, sagitta). 
 Within the house were numerous wooden beehives, 
 which are formed of sections of trunks of trees 
 hollowed out. I had seen similar ones in the north- 
 west of Spain, in which country also Southey noticed 
 them, and he has introduced them as a local feature 
 of the Asturias in his Roderick. In Samothrace 
 they are the only sort of hive in use, and form a 
 marked contrast to those of the neighbouring island 
 of Thasos, which are universally of wicker. In 
 the ancient world both kinds were employed, as 
 we know from the poets and from writers on 
 husbandry 1 . 
 
 1 See Varro, De Re Rustica, 9. 6; Columella, 3. 16. 15: and 
 compare Virg. Georg. 2. 453, ' vitiosaeque ilicis alveo,' and 4. 34, 
 ' alvearia vimine texta.'
 
 342 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Mineral The mineral springs are situated on the further 
 
 springs. s . ( j e q j. t ^ e s t ream) at tne f 00 t f th e rising ground, 
 
 and the whole of this locality is pervaded by a strong 
 odour of sulphur. Here I found a source too hot 
 for the hand, and the water was very salt to the 
 taste. An open channel communicates between this 
 source and a building, now ruined, which from its 
 mixed courses of brick and stone looks as if it dated 
 from Byzantine times : within this there is a deep 
 tank, about thirty feet long by twenty wide, full of 
 green water, which has become tepid by exposure to 
 the air. It is said that within the tank itself there 
 are additional springs. This place, such as it is, 
 affords the chief accommodation for bathers. The 
 surplus water from the spring is discharged over 
 a sloping face of rock, which it has thickly en- 
 crusted with a coating of sediment, in some parts 
 of a rich brown, in others of a green hue. At 
 one point this crust overhangs, leaving a hollow 
 space behind. 
 Position of The greatest puzzle in the topography of Samo- 
 .eryn os. tnrace ; s tne p OS ition of a town called Zerynthos, 
 with a famous cavern sacred to Hecate \ This 
 seems to have been situated on the northern coast 
 of the island, but no place has as yet been discovered 
 which can be identified with it. It has recently been 
 suggested 2 that the neighbourhood of these baths is 
 
 1 See the reff. in Baumeister's note to the Homeric Hymn to 
 Demeter, 1. 25, and in Owen's note to Ovid's Tristia, book i 
 (smaller edition), p. 91. 
 
 2 By Mr. Stuart-Glennie in the Contemp. Rev. vol. xli. p. 842.
 
 SamotJirace. 343 
 
 the most probable site, and there is much to be said 
 in favour of this conjecture. As hot springs were 
 thought by the Greeks to indicate a connexion with 
 the nether world, no place could be better suited for 
 the worship of Hecate. The difficulty is to advance 
 beyond conjecture, for no traces of an ancient site 
 seem to have been found, nor could any one of 
 whom I enquired tell me of a cave as existing there 
 — or indeed in any part of the island. It is conceiv- 
 able that there may have been such a cavern near 
 the springs, and that this may have been either 
 removed to make room for the bath-house, or other- 
 wise ruined or destroyed. This, however, is only 
 speculation ; the most that we can say is, that this 
 is the most probable spot that has yet been dis- 
 covered. 
 
 My return was signalised by a tempest of rain and Stormy 
 wind, bearing down from the summits of the island, f s a mo- 
 which at times it was difficult to face on muleback. thrace. 
 Wild weather of this description prevailed during a 
 great part of my stay, and after such experiences it 
 is easy to understand why Samothrace is shunned 
 by seamen. The neighbourhood of the Hellespont 
 is the meeting-point for the storms that sweep down- 
 ward from the Balkan and the Euxine, and upward 
 from the Greek seas, and these are naturally 
 attracted by the lofty and solitary island. To the 
 inhabitants these visitations are often disastrous 
 from the destruction which they cause to the crops. 
 
 It was a long-cherished desire of mine to ascend 
 to the highest point of Samothrace, because I
 
 344 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 Ascent of believed that from its position it must command one 
 PhetTari °^ tne fi nest panoramas in the Aegean ; but such an 
 expedition can only be made under favourable con- 
 ditions. At last, on the fourth day of my stay (April 1 1) 
 an opportunity presented itself, for the wind had fallen 
 and the sky was cloudless. I had engaged as guides 
 two men of about thirty years of age, who proved to 
 be capital companions and excellent mountaineers. 
 They were clad in blue jackets, baggy trousers 
 reaching to the knee, brown stockings, and mocassins 
 of hide, fastened over the instep by innumerable 
 straps ; the advantage of these last over my Alpine 
 boots in crossing slippery rocks was an unfailing 
 topic with them during the day. One of them, who 
 was excessively dark in complexion, was called 
 Maniates, because his grandfather had come from 
 Maina (the Taenarian peninsula in the south of the 
 Peloponnese"), and had married and settled here. 
 Starting at 6.30 a.m., we passed the crest of the hill 
 which lies directly behind the highest houses of the 
 village, and ascended gradually in a southerly 
 direction, overlooking the fertile ground towards the 
 Acroteri, in the neighbourhood of which the bright 
 surfaces of three salt-lakes were seen. After a time 
 we rounded a mountain-spur at a point where a deep 
 gorge lay below us, and turning eastwards, entered 
 a vast semicircular basin, which is surrounded by 
 the highest summits. Opposite to us was our desti- 
 nation, Mount Phengari, or the 'Moon 1 ,' which in 
 ancient times bore the name of Saos or Saoce ; and 
 
 1 Qeyyapi is the only word for 'moon ' in Modern Greek.
 
 Samothrace. 345 
 
 to the right, on the further side of the gorge, rose 
 the lower, but still elevated, peak of H agios Elias, 
 beneath which a spot was pointed out to me, which 
 marked the position of the famous fountain of 
 Sphidami, the only one in the upper part of the 
 range. But the most striking feature was the wild, 
 bare, forbidding wall of grey precipices, broken 
 along their upper ridge into rude battlements, which 
 surrounded the whole area. With these we were 
 destined to become intimately acquainted, for we 
 ultimately made almost the complete circuit of them. 
 At the end of an hour from our departure we 
 reached the last spring which was to be met with on 
 this side, and rested to drink. Here began a steep 
 ascent through groves of oaks not yet in leaf — the 
 remains, we may suppose, of those forests, which 
 caused Homer to designate Samothrace by the 
 epithet 'wooded 1 .' Up to this point we had followed 
 the tracks of the wood-cutters, but as we emerged 
 from among the highest trees these came to an end, 
 and we found ourselves on the open mountain side. 
 At first the oaks were replaced by juniper bushes, 
 but before long these also ceased. A few friendly 
 flowers still relieved the barrenness— blue squills, 
 brilliant yellow crowfoots, and above all golden 
 crocuses, such as I had formerly found on Parnassus 
 and on the mountains of the Peloponnese. At 9.30 
 we reached the first patch of snow. 
 
 I could now see clearly that my guides were not Crest of 
 
 • 1 1 th e inland. 
 
 acquainted with any definite route ; but they knew 
 
 Za/Jiov vhr)i<jor]S QpTji'Kirjs, II. 13. 12.
 
 346 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 the point in the ridge which they ought to make for, 
 and towards this they directed their course. Wind- 
 ing in and out of small gorges, and at last ascending 
 very steeply, at 10.30 we reached the crest, and 
 looked down on the northern part of the island, 
 where the Baths, or rather the houses in their neigh- 
 bourhood, lay immediately below us. The amount 
 of snow on this side was much greater than on that 
 by which we ascended, where it was found only in 
 the rifts ; here there were large sheets of it, wherever 
 the slope was sufficiently gentle to allow of its rest- 
 ing. I now began to realise that the expedition, 
 which before starting I had expected to find an easy 
 one — for though Samothrace attains the greatest ele- 
 vation of all the Aegean islands after Crete, the 
 height of Phengari is only 5248 feet — would give me 
 a really hard day's work. At Chora no one had any 
 idea of the time it would occupy, but all agreed that 
 it was necessary to start very early (irpaji, wpooi) ; and 
 as in the distant views of the island which I had ob- 
 tained both from Lemnos towards the south, and 
 from Dede-agatch towards the north, I had been 
 struck with the steepness of the upper precipices, I 
 might have concluded that the crest must be very 
 Its rugged- narrow, and would present some difficulty. In order 
 to reach the summit, it was necessary to follow the 
 ridge, now on one side and now on the other, accord- 
 ing as the ground allowed, climbing up and down 
 with hands and feet, and passing in and out through 
 the broken jagged masses, which at times were com- 
 posed of rotten stone, untrustworthy to the hand.
 
 Samothrace. 347 
 
 After twenty minutes of this work we came upon 
 what looked like a cairn, but proved to be an erection 
 of stones hollow inside : this was in reality a tiny 
 chapel, dedicated, like one of the neighbouring peaks, 
 to Hagia Sophia, and within it were one or two small 
 objects which had been left there as votive offerings. 
 Continuing along the crest for another hour, shortly 
 before midday we reached the summit, which is but 
 little elevated above the rest of the ridge, and lies 
 somewhat on the southern side of it. We had come 
 at an excellent pace the whole way, with few halts ; 
 and latterly our steps had been quickened by the ap- 
 pearance of envious little clouds, which gathered 
 near, and moved around and above the peaks, for 
 Samothrace is more persistently cloud-capped than 
 any other mountain in the Aegean, Athos not ex- 
 cepted. We now partook of a dry breakfast, for 
 there was nothing but snow wherewith to quench 
 our thirst. 
 
 Let me next attempt to describe the view. During view 
 the three-quarters of an hour that we remained there, {^"'Jj/ 
 it was at no time perfectly clear ; but as the clouds 
 never rested on the peak where we were seated, and 
 were constantly shifting their position, it was pos- 
 sible, part by part, to see the whole panorama ; and 
 one or two points, where other summits of the island 
 interposed, I can supplement from what I observed 
 either in ascending or descending. Let me begin 
 with those islands which I had recently visited. Western 
 
 ■ , , , 1 portion. 
 
 Lemnos, low-lying and encircled by the sea, was 
 visible in every detail. All the mountains, harbours
 
 348 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 and promontories, which had become so familiar to 
 me, were most delicately traced ; and the white salt- 
 lake on the eastern coast was especially conspicuous, 
 with the bay of Mudros penetrating far into the land, 
 and the tiny headlands which project into it. Behind 
 and above Lemnos A'i Strati appeared, and beyond 
 that again in the same line was the form of another 
 and larger island. When first I noticed this in the 
 course of the ascent I fancied that my eyes were 
 deceived ; but now it was quite clear, and the object 
 was unmistakeably Scyros, the island of the great 
 Achilles. To the right of these were two of the 
 islands which run off from Mount Pelion, and the 
 coast of Thessaly was seen in faint outline. Here 
 the pyramid of Athos interposed, looking compara- 
 tively near, though in reality sixty miles distant ; and 
 stretching into the sea beyond it was the extremity 
 of Sithonia. To the northward of these a long line 
 was formed by the peninsula of the Holy Mountain, 
 and above it appeared in the extreme distance — no 
 cloud, assuredly, but the sharply-cut outline of a 
 white mountain. It seemed incredible, considering 
 that the whole width of the Aegean intervenes — but 
 it was nothing else than the long snowy Olympus 
 (fiaKpos uydwicpos"o\viJ.nos). Next followed the pyramidal 
 heights of Thasos, and on the mainland the summits 
 of Pangaeus and Orbelus. All along towards the 
 north stretched the coast of Thrace, backed by the 
 chain of Rhodope, as far as the valley of the Hebrus, 
 which here is close at hand, and seemed to be exten- 
 sively flooded. The mouth of the river recalled the
 
 Samothrace. 349 
 
 story of Orpheus' death, which Virgil and Milton 
 have celebrated in undying verse : — 
 
 When by the rout that made the hideous roar 
 His gory visage down the stream was sent, 
 Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore. 
 
 As we look from our present point of view, where 
 Imbros and Samothrace are seen to intervene between 
 the mouth of the Hebrus and Lesbos, it seems strange 
 that the Lesbian shore should be mentioned. Milton, 
 however, was not in error, for he was following the 
 ancient tradition, which related that the head and 
 lyre of Orpheus were carried to Lesbos; a story which 
 simply embodied in a poetical form the fact, that 
 Terpander, the founder of Greek music, was born in 
 that island. 
 
 Towards the east the view was far less clear. The Eastern 
 long gulf of Saros (Melas Sinus), which forms the^ 
 innermost angle of the north-east of the Aegean, was 
 close at hand, but no part of the sea of Marmora was 
 visible, nor the Dardanelles— though that narrow 
 piece of water is probably concealed at all times. 
 The plain of Troy and the mountains in its neigh- 
 bourhood were dimly seen, but the long range of Ida 
 appeared behind, though its highest point, Gargarus, 
 was shrouded in cloud. Off the coast lay Tenedos, 
 and behind it the heights of Lesbos projected far 
 into the Aegean. Imbros was at our feet, and a 
 most graceful island it appeared, with its winding 
 shores and rolling hills, which, though not low in 
 themselves, seemed insignificant as seen from this 
 elevation. The beauty of these island views was
 
 35° The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 greatly heightened by the tranquil sea of purest blue 
 in which they were set. As to Samothrace itself, I 
 can only describe it as a huge boulder planted in the 
 sea. The fertile ground at its western end, indeed, 
 has a smiling appearance, and towards the south, 
 where the landing-place of Amnios, the only one on 
 that side of the island, is marked by its white shingle, 
 there is a small plain green with olives : but for the 
 rest, I have rarely seen such a bare stony wilderness 
 as that which met the eye at every turn. 
 Mytho- The view which we have now been surveying 
 
 logtcal asso- j assoc i ate cl in many points with the early mytho- 
 logical stories of the Greeks. Diodorus has pre- 
 served for us the legend, that Samothrace was 
 visited by the great flood which occurred when the 
 waters of the Euxine overflowed their limits, and 
 forced their way first through the Bosphorus, and 
 afterwards through the Hellespont, into the Aegean. 
 By this inundation the lower part of the island was 
 submerged, and the evidence of this was found in 
 later times, with a felicitous anachronism, in the 
 capitals of columns which fishermen used to bring 
 up in their nets. So high did the waters rise, that 
 the inhabitants fled for security to the mountain 
 tops, and it was only through their prayers to the 
 Gods that the progress of the deluge was stayed. 
 Hence the Samothracians enjoyed the right of 
 calling themselves antediluvian \ But it is in the 
 The Iliad especially that we find the neighbouring 
 
 Homeric j j anc j s anc j seas connected with the movements of 
 deities. 
 
 1 Diodor. Sic. 5. 47.
 
 Samothrace. 351 
 
 the divinities. When Hera passed from Olympus 
 across the Aegean to meet Zeus on Gargarus, the 
 poet describes her as visiting the Thracian moun- 
 tains and Athos, whence she took her flight by way 
 of Lemnos and Imbros to Ida 1 . The spaces of sea 
 that extend on either side of Imbros were the 
 haunts of the marine deities. When Poseidon pre- 
 pares to visit the Trojan plain, he leaves his horses 
 in a cave beneath the sea between Tenedos and 
 Imbros 2 . When Iris is sent from Olympus to bear 
 a message to Thetis, she plunges into the deep 
 'between Samothrace and rocky Imbros,' and there 
 finds the goddess with her attendant sea-nymphs 3 . 
 Finally, the peak which we occupy was the station 
 of Poseidon, from which he regarded the combats of 
 the Greeks and Trojans. There, we are told, ' the 
 mighty Earthshaker held no blind watch, who sat 
 and marvelled on the war and strife, high on the top- 
 most crest of wooded Samothrace, for thence all Ida 
 was plain to see ; and plain to see were the city 
 of Priam, and the ships of the AchaeansV This 
 quotation cannot fail to recall to our minds the passage 
 in Eothen, where the traveller, whose mind has been 
 perplexed, when studying the map, by finding Im- 
 bros interposed between these two points, is relieved 
 from his doubts by discovering that the peak of 
 Samothrace is visible from the Trojan plain, towering 
 above the intervening island. 
 
 At 12-30 we commenced the descent, following The 
 
 descent. 
 
 1 //. 14. 225-30, 281. " II. 13- 33- 
 
 2 //. 24. 77-84. 4 //• 13- 10-14.
 
 S5 2 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 a different route, which led southwards towards 
 H agios Elias, along a ridge that runs transversely 
 to the main chain. This was far more difficult than 
 anything we had yet experienced, and the moun- 
 taineering skill of my guides was put to the test. 
 We made our way down deep gullies, and along 
 steep faces of rock, in passing which they showed 
 admirable judgment in determining what places 
 were practicable. It was three o'clock when, after 
 scrambling down the flank of Hagios Elias by a 
 Famous rough screes, we reached the fountain of Sphidami 
 fountain. ^ ^g^^ w hich, as I have already said, is situated 
 on the opposite side of the cirque of mountains to 
 that by which we had approached it. This spring 
 is famed for its salubrious qualities, but the water 
 had no mineral taste, and was deliciously fresh. 
 It has also the reputation — not unknown in the 
 case of some other sources ' — of becoming colder as 
 the heat of the sun increases, so that in the middle 
 of the day it is icy-cold. Just below this we re- 
 entered the oak-forest, and were glad to find wood- 
 cutters' tracks and easier walking. Here we were 
 joined by three charcoal-burners, all of whom carried 
 tall shepherds' crooks, as also did one of my guides. 
 Those who are engaged in this occupation start from 
 the village every morning, and return every evening, 
 notwithstanding the distance. Descending at last 
 into the gorge above which we had passed in the 
 morning, we found a clear stream overhung with 
 plane-trees, in the bed of which were large stepping- 
 1 See Herod. 4. 181.
 
 Samothrace. 35$ 
 
 stones. The place is called the Ford — a statement 
 which I insert in compliance with the injunctions 
 of one of my companions, who, having seen me 
 jotting down notes in the course of the day, said 
 peremptorily, ' Put it down, put it down, the Ford ' 
 
 (ypd\j/e to, ypd^e to, TidfiaBpo : t. C. AidfiaOpov). After a 
 
 steep ascent on the further side, we pursued our 
 course by a level track along the sloping ground ; 
 and thus about sunset (6 p.m.) I returned to Chora, 
 the pastoral staffs following in procession in single 
 file. 
 
 The next morning the wild weather had reasserted Return 
 itself, and for forty-eight hours the wind increased ^gakh.' 
 in violence, battering the house which I occupied, 
 and almost banishing sleep. At last it moderated 
 its force, and the sun once more shone ; so, finding 
 in the village a Turk, who owned a good caique and 
 had the reputation of being an experienced sailor, 
 I agreed with him to convey me across to the main 
 land. The schoolmaster and the physician, together 
 with the newly arrived governor and others among 
 the inhabitants, kindly escorted me to the outskirts 
 of the village, where I took leave of them, and rode 
 down to the landing-place of Kamariotissa. An 
 hour and a half were spent in preliminaries, while 
 the little vessel was being ballasted with shingle and 
 launched ; but at midday we were under way, carrying 
 with us the mails of Samothrace, which are, as might 
 be supposed, 'occasional.' The wind was in our 
 favour, and five hours' sailing over a rather tossing 
 sea brought me once more to Dede-agatch. There 
 a a
 
 354 The Islands of the Aegean. 
 
 I found the barques tightly wedged together in the 
 port, just as I had left them a week before ; and I 
 learnt, moreover, that in the interval two caiques, 
 which were trying to reach the place, had gone down 
 with their crews in the sight of the people on the 
 shore. Without the help of the Semiramis I should 
 never have reached Samothrace. 
 
 Two days more elapsed before I had any op- 
 portunity of leaving Dede-agatch. On the third day 
 a well-appointed Austrian Lloyds steamer arrived, 
 the accommodation of which appeared magnificent 
 after my recent experiences. On board of her I 
 once more passed the Dardanelles, and was finally 
 landed at Constantinople.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Acroteri, promontory, in Crete, 
 25 ; in Santorin, 105 ; in Samo- 
 thrace, 317. 
 
 'Acts of St. John,' 183. 
 
 Adramyttium, bay of, 128. 
 
 Adria, use of the term, 1. 
 
 Aeschylus, on Agamemnon's fire- 
 beacons, 239, 373 ; on the 
 Lemnian fire, 270. 
 
 Aethaleia, ancient name of Lem- 
 nos, 270. 
 
 Agiasso, 124. 
 
 Ai" Strati, island, 248. 
 
 Alexius Comnenus, bull of, on 
 Patmos, 188, 192. 
 
 Alke, peninsula of, 301. 
 
 Amorgos, 108. 
 
 Anaphe, 85. 
 
 Anemones, 48. 
 
 Antiparos, Grotto of, in. 
 
 Apocalypse, monastery of, in Pat- 
 mos, 181. 
 
 Apodulo, 58. 
 
 Apollonius Rhodius, on the origin 
 of Thera, 109 ; on the shadow 
 of Athos, 248. 
 
 Aptera, ruins and inscriptions at, 
 41 ; legend of, 42. 
 
 Arch, question of the use of by 
 the Greeks, 213, 331. 
 
 Archangelos, 229. 
 
 Archilochus, on Thasos, 306. 
 
 Archipelago, duchy of the, 81. 
 
 Architecture in the Islands, Italian, 
 
 17- 
 Ariadne, fountain of, 8o. 
 Aristophanes, 9, 77, 85, 270, 
 
 3°9- 
 Aristotle on the fishes of the 
 Euripus Pyrrhaeus, 133. 
 
 Arkadi, monaster}', 52 ; siege of, 
 
 53- 
 
 Arsinoeum, at Samothrace, 329. 
 
 Artamis, Doric form of Artemis, 
 220. 
 
 Artamiti, monastery of, 219; 
 origin of the name, 220. 
 
 Asomatos, monastery, 56 ; moun- 
 tain. 300. 
 
 Atabyrion or Atab3^ron, Mount, 
 219 ; ascent of, 220 ; men- 
 tioned by Pindar, 221 ; origin 
 of the name, 221. 
 
 Athos, 240, 257, 280, 298, 300; 
 its shadow, 248 ; farms be- 
 longing to it in Lemnos, 253; 
 monasteries of, 280. 
 
 Ayasolouk (Ephesus), 157. 
 
 B. 
 
 Ballad of the Sphakiotes, 62. 
 Bee-hives, cased in stone, 223 ; of 
 wickerwork, 296, 308; wooden, 
 
 34i- 
 Bell line of steamers, 139, 276. 
 Belon, on the Lemnian earth, 
 
 260. 
 Bent, Mr., 165, 177, 291, 292, 
 
 302. 
 Bernardakis, the brothers, 129, 
 
 131- 
 Biliotti, Mr. A., his exploration 
 
 of Cameiros, 216. 
 Budrum, castle of, 198. 
 Bull of Alexius Comnenus on 
 
 Patmos, 188, 192. 
 
 Cabeiri, origin of the name, 324 
 worship of in Samothrace, 324 
 
 a a 2
 
 356 
 
 Index. 
 
 sanctuary of, 324 ; temples of, 
 328. 
 Callimachus, on Delos, 7, 9. 
 Calymnos, 197. 
 Cameiros, site of, 218 ; Homeric 
 
 epithet of, 218. 
 Canaris, his fire-ship, 153. 
 Candia, origin of the name, 72 ; 
 
 siege of, 72. 
 Captain, title in Crete, 64. 
 Caracalla, arch dedicated to, 291. 
 Catalans, 101, 287. 
 Cavalla, 281. 
 
 Cave of the Apocalypse, 182. 
 Chalcidice, 279. 
 Champoiseau, M., 326. 
 Chanak-kalesi, 233. 
 Cheshmeh, 153. 
 Chesios, river, 177. 
 Chios, 140 foil. ; earthquake in, 
 141 ; massacre in, 142 ; town 
 of, 144 ; channel of, 152. 
 Choiseul-Gouffier, on Lemnos, 
 
 271. 
 Chora, town of, in Samos, 175 ; 
 
 in Samothrace, 318. 
 Christodoulos, St., 183, 188; 
 relics of, 193 ; his garden, 194. 
 Chryse, island of, near Lemnos, 
 
 272. 
 Church of St. John in Rhodes, 
 
 destroyed, 203. 
 Cicero, studied in Rhodes, 202. 
 Circular lake, in Delos, 12. 
 Cnossus, coins of, representing 
 the Labyrinth, 68 ; site of, 
 72. 
 Cocks with horns, 269. 
 Coenyra, 306. 
 Cold in the spring in Greece, 2, 
 
 28, 55, 120, 255. 
 Colossus of Rhodes, 205. 
 Concealed Christians in Crete, 
 
 36. 
 
 Conze, on the Lemnian earth, 
 265 ; on the site of Hephae- 
 stia, 267 ; on Thasos, 293, 
 302 ; on Samothrace, 320. 326. 
 
 Cos, 197. 
 
 Cretan, dialect of Modern Greek. 
 50. 
 
 Crete, general features of, 31 ; 
 oranges of, 32 ; Greek univer- 
 sally spoken in, 33 ; disastrous 
 condition of, 48 ; population of, 
 74 ; their character, 75 ; ap- 
 pearance and dress, 76. 
 
 Crucifix of Chrysopegi, 37. 
 
 Cultivation, of the vine in Tenos, 
 16; in Santorin,98; in Samos, 
 162 ; of the orange in Crete, 
 32 ; of the olive in Lesbos, 122 ; 
 in Thasos, 296 ; of mastic in 
 Chios, 144. 
 
 Currency, local, in Thasos, 295 ; 
 in Samothrace, 336. 
 
 Cyclades, the islands round Delos, 
 
 9- 
 
 Cyclopean walls, of Myrina, 246 ; 
 of Samothrace, 321. 
 
 Cj^cnias, Mount, in Tenos, 16, 
 20. 
 
 Cydonia, site of, 36. 
 
 Cynthus, Mount, ruins on, 8,9; 
 its conspicuous character, 9. 
 
 Cypress, used for building in 
 Crete, 42. 
 
 Cyriacus of Ancona, on Samo- 
 thrace, 323. 
 
 Cyril, discoverer of the tunnel in 
 Samos, 168. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dardanelles, town of, 233 ; the 
 strait, 234 ; current of, 236. 
 
 Daubeny, Dr., on the Lemnian 
 earth, 266. 
 
 D'Aubusson, Cardinal, 209. 
 
 Dede-agatch, 312, 353. 
 
 Delos, a granite island, 6 ; origin 
 of its greatness, 6 ; attached 
 by Phoebus to Gyaros and My- 
 conos, 10. 
 
 Demetrium, harbour of, 317. 
 
 Demogerontia in Crete, 60. 
 
 Dialect, of Crete, 50 ; ofSphakia, 
 62 ; of Samothrace, 335. 
 
 Didymae, islands, 4. 
 
 Diodorus, on the city of Mytilene, 
 137 ; on the aborigines of Sa- 
 mothrace, 335 ; on the flood, 
 350-
 
 Index. 
 
 357 
 
 Dionysius of Agrapha, Guide to 
 
 Painting of, 186. 
 Dionysus, associated with Naxos, 
 
 80. 
 Dioscorides, on the dittany, 46 ; 
 
 on the Lemnian earth, 257, 
 
 259- 
 
 Dittany, the, 46. 
 Dorian hexapolis, 198. 
 Duchy of the Archipelago, 81. 
 
 Earthenware, of Rhodes, 225 ; of 
 
 the Dardanelles, 233. 
 Earthquake, in Crete, 27 ; in 
 
 Melos, 90 ; in Santorin, 100 ; 
 
 in Chios, 141 ; rare in Lemnos, 
 
 271. 
 Egypt, insular Greeks in, 196, 
 
 243- 
 
 Elias. Mount, in Santorin, 98 ; 
 in Lesbos, 125, 128 ; in Patmos, 
 179; in Rhodes, 219; in Lem- 
 nos, 252 ; in Thasos, 296 ; in 
 Samothrace, 345 ; extensive use 
 of the name, 126; similarity to 
 Helios, 127. 
 
 Embroidery, of Rhodes, 226. 
 
 Emery, exported from Naxos, 
 84. 
 
 English chapel in Rhodes, 209. 
 
 Erotocritos, poem, sung in Crete, 
 
 73- 
 Euripus Pyrrhaeus, 130, 133. 
 Euroclydon, or Euraquilo, the 
 
 wind, 2. 
 Evil eye, emblems intended to 
 
 avert, 290. 
 Exoburgo, in Tenos, 18. 
 
 Fabricius, M., on the Idaean cave, 
 70 ; on the tunnel in Samos, 
 169. 
 
 Fair Havens, site of, 58. 
 
 Finlay, on the massacre in Chios, 
 142 ; on the Maona of the 
 Giustiniani, 145 ; on Canaris' 
 fire-ship, 153. 
 
 Flowers— mandrake, 11; narcis- 
 
 sus, 14; asphodel, 15; anemone, 
 48, 123 ; Iris tuber osa, 61 ; Iris 
 sisyrinchiuni, 90 ; Scilla bifolia, 
 I2 5> 2 97> 345 ; Gagca httea, 
 125; Orchis sacca/a, 133 ; Sera- 
 pias cordigera, 162 ; cistus, 219; 
 cyclamen, 219; peony, 219; 
 forget-me-not, 301 ; crowfoot, 
 345 ; crocus aureus, 345. 
 
 Forest-rangers, 305, 308. 
 
 Forests — pine, 130, 219, 223, 284, 
 300, 304 ; oak, 345. 
 
 Fountain, becoming cooler as the 
 sun becomes hotter, 352. 
 
 Frogs, note of, 309. 
 
 G. 
 
 Galen, on the Cretan boots, 77 ; 
 on the Lemnian earth, 257-9. 
 
 Gatilusio, family of, in Lesbos, 
 135 ; in Lemnos, 247 ; in Samo- 
 thrace, 338 ; history of, 339. 
 
 Gaudos, island, 61. 
 
 Genoese, in Chios, 145 ; in Tha- 
 sos, 288; in Samothrace, 318, 
 322. 
 
 Geranos, cape of Patmos, 179. 
 
 Giustiniani, in Chios, 145. 
 
 Goats, see Ibexes. 
 
 Gold mines of Thasos, 305, 307. 
 
 Gortyna, ruins of, 64. 
 
 Gothic architecture in Rhodes. 
 206. 209, 224. 
 
 Great Gods, of Samothrace, 325. 
 
 Grotto of Antiparos, 111. 
 
 Guerin, M., 167, 204. 
 
 Gyaros, 5. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hagios Thomas, tombs at, 69. 
 Hagius Deka, 63. 
 Halicarnassus, 198. 
 Hebrus, river, 313, 348 ; Milton 
 
 on, 349. 
 Hecate, island of, 6. 
 Hellespont, current of, 236. 
 Hephaestia, 258, 261, 267. 
 Hephaestus, his connexion with 
 
 Lemnos, 270. 
 Heraeum, in Samos, 175. 
 
 A a3
 
 358 
 
 Index. 
 
 Hermaeum, Mount, in Lemnos, 
 
 273, 2 74- 
 
 Hermupolis, capital of Syra, 3 ; 
 its origin, 4. 
 
 Herodotus, on the lake in Delos, 
 12 ; on the islands of the 
 Aegean, 83 ; on Naxos, 84 ; on 
 Phoenicians in Thera, 108 ; on 
 the antiquities of Samos, 164, 
 167 ; on the gold mines of 
 Thasos, 305. 
 
 Heroum, in Santorin, 107. 
 
 Hiera, volcanic island near Lem- 
 nos, 272. 
 
 High places, fondness of the 
 Greeks for, 93. 
 
 Hippocrates, on the theatre in 
 Thasos, 287. 
 
 Historic family names in the is- 
 lands, 82. 
 
 Homer, his burial-place in Ios, 
 87 ; on the palm-tree in Delos, 
 12; on the heroes crossing the 
 Aegean, 120; on Lemnos, 241 ; 
 on Samothrace, 345 ; on the 
 islands of the Thracian sea, 
 
 35i- 
 Honey, exported from Thasos, 
 
 296. 
 Horned cocks in Lemnos, 269. 
 Hot springs, in Lesbos, 123 ; in 
 
 Lemnos, 251 ; in Samothrace, 
 
 342. 
 
 Houses, flat-roofed, 21, 179,319; 
 excavated in tufa, 96 ; of Rho- 
 dian peasants, 217. 
 
 Hunt, Dr., on the volcanic cha- 
 racter of Lemnos, 271. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ialysos, site of, 215. 
 
 Ibexes, in Crete, 28; in Samo- 
 thrace, 337. 
 
 Ida, Mount, in Crete, 62 ; in the 
 Troad, 125, 128, 349. 
 
 Iero, bay of, 122. 
 
 Imbrasos, river, 177. 
 
 Imbros, 235, 349; associated with 
 Athens, 237. 
 
 Inopus, river in Delos, its legen- 
 dary connexion with the Nile, 
 7- 
 
 Insurrection in Crete, 48, 67, 75. 
 
 Ios, 86. 
 
 Islands of the Aegean, their ap- 
 pearance, 5 ; absence of By- 
 zantine influence in, 17 ; their 
 size, ai, 86. 
 
 Iuktas, Mount, 70. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jews, in Rhodes, 200, 207. 
 
 Joly-Victora line of steamers, 
 139, 3 J 4- 
 
 K. 
 
 Kalavarda, 216. 
 
 Kallone, inlet of, 127, 129. 
 
 Kamariotissa, 315. 
 
 Kastro, capital of Lemnos, 240, 
 246. 
 
 Katakhanas, Cretan name for the 
 Vampire, 43. 
 
 Kaumene islands, 98, 101. 
 
 Kedros, Mount, 61. 
 
 Khanea, 26, 74. 
 
 Kinira, 306. 
 
 Knights of St. John, in Rhodes, 
 202, 224 ; their fortress, 202 ; 
 street of, 208 ; their fortifica- 
 tions at Lindos, 228. 
 
 Kotchino, castle of, 256 ; defend- 
 ed by Constantine Palaeo- 
 logus, 256 ; place of the ' Lem- 
 nian earth,' 257. 
 
 Kynops the magician, in Patmos, 
 184. 
 
 L. 
 
 ' Labyrinth ' near Hagius Deka, 
 66 ; not the original one, 68. 
 
 Lagos, 311. 
 
 Latin Church, influence of in 
 
 Tenos, 22 ; in Naxos, 83. 
 Lemnian earth, 257 foil. ; an an- 
 tidote to poison, 264. 
 Lemnos, 235, 347 ; associated 
 with Athens, 237 ; its peculiar 
 geography, 252 ; absence of 
 trees in, 253 ; its modern con- 
 nexion with Egypt, 243 ; a 
 place of banishment, 244 ; its 
 volcanic character in antiquity, 
 269.
 
 Index. 
 
 359 
 
 Lenten fast, 15, 91, 133, 159. 
 
 Lepers, 72. 
 
 Leros, 195; connexion with Egypt, 
 196; satires on, 196, 197. 
 
 Lesbos, 121 ; narrow inlets in, 
 121, 127. 
 
 Lethaeus, river, 63. 
 
 Library on Patmos, 190. 
 
 Limena, in Thasos, 282. 
 
 Lindos, 224 ; its classical an- 
 tiquities, 226 ; its castle, 227 ; 
 earthenware of, 225. 
 
 Livy, on Demetrium, 318. 
 
 Lyell, on Santorin, 98, 100. 
 
 M. 
 
 Malea, promontory of, its danger- 
 ous character, 2. 
 
 Mandrakes, 11. 
 
 Manuscripts, on Patmos, 190- 
 192. 
 
 Maona of Chios, 145. 
 
 Marble, of Naxos, 79 ; of Paros, 
 116; of Thasos, 284, 297, 303. 
 
 Maritza, river, 313. 
 
 Marpessa, Mount, 84, 114. 
 
 Massacres, at Arkadi, 54 ; at 
 Venerato, 71; in Psara, 128; 
 in Chios, 142 ; in Samothrace, 
 
 334- 
 
 Mastic, 144. 
 
 Mausolea, on Thasos, 292, 293. 
 
 Megalo-castron, 71, 73. 
 
 Mehemet Ali, in Crete, 34 ; born 
 at Cavalla, 282 ; received Tha- 
 sos from the Sultan, 294. 
 
 Melos, 85, 90. 
 
 Messara, plain of, 62. 
 
 Miltiades,his conquest of Lemnos, 
 236. 
 
 Milton, on the death of Orpheus, 
 
 349- 
 Mimas, headland of, 128, 140, 
 
 152. 
 
 Minarets, illumination of, 277. 
 
 Monasteries — Evangelistria in 
 Tenos, 17; Arkadi in Crete, 
 52 ; Asomatos in Crete, 56 ; 
 Nea Mone in Chios, 148 ; of 
 the Apocalypse in Patmos, 181 ; 
 of St. John in Patmos, 187; of 
 
 Artamiti in Rhodes, 219, 222 ; 
 
 of Athos, 280, 281. 
 Mosaics, 151, 277. 
 Mosychlos, Mount, 271, 272. 
 Mountains, of Crete, 32, 61, 68, 
 
 106 ; of Naxos, 79 ; of Lesbos, 
 
 125, 128; of Samos, 179; of 
 
 Rhodes, 219 ; of Lycia, 221 ; 
 
 of Thrace, 289, 348; of Thasos, 
 
 296. 
 Mudros, bay of, 252, 256. 
 Miiller, W., his poem on Canaris, 
 
 154- 
 Muntaner, on the castle in Thasos, 
 
 287. 
 Murnies, treachery at, 34. 
 Mycale, strait of, 163, 166. 
 Myconos, 15. 
 Myrina, 241, 246, 258. 
 Mythonaes shoal, 239, 271. 
 Mytilene, town of, 120, 121, 134 ; 
 
 the ancient city, 136. 
 Myzethra, 46. 
 
 N. 
 
 Naussa, harbour of, 78. 
 Nautical terms in Modern Greek 
 
 from the Italian, 85. 
 Naxos, island, 79 foil., 83 ; town 
 
 of, 80 ; duchy of, 81. 
 Nea Mone, in Chios, 148. 
 Neapolis, 281. 
 
 Necropolis of Thasos, 284,289,292. 
 Nemesis, votive offering to, 285. 
 Nestus, river, 289, 311. 
 Nida, 68, 70. 
 Nike of the Louvre, 330. 
 Nubians in Crete, 26, 33. 
 Nunnery, a Greek, 22. 
 
 O. 
 
 Obriocastro, origin of the name, 
 
 286. 
 Ochyroma, 215. 
 Octopus, eaten in the islands, 90, 
 
 133. 
 Olive, cultivation of, in Lesbos, 
 
 122; in Thasos, 296. 
 Olympus, Mount, in Lesbos, 125 ; 
 
 in Thessaly, 279, 348; exten 
 
 sive use of the name, 126.
 
 3 6o 
 
 Index. 
 
 Orange, cultivation of, in Crete, 
 
 32- 
 
 Orbelus, Mount, 289. 
 
 Orpheus, his head and lyre car- 
 ried to Lesbos, 349. 
 
 Ossa, Mount, 279. 
 
 P. 
 
 Palaeopoli, in Lemnos, 266, 267 ; 
 in Samothrace, 319. 
 
 Palati, island of, 79. 
 
 Pallene, peninsula of, 279. 
 
 Palm-trees in the Cyclades, 87. 
 
 Pan, shrine of, in Thasos, 288. 
 
 Pangaeus, Mount, 289. 
 
 Panoramas — from Tenos, 20; 
 from Naxos, 83 ; from Olympus 
 in Lesbos, 127 ; from Patmos, 
 188; from Atabyron in Rhodes, 
 221 ; from the acropolis of 
 Thasos, 289 ; from the south 
 of Thasos, 298 ; from the sum- 
 mit of Samothrace, 347. 
 
 Paper money, used on Samo- 
 thrace, 336. 
 
 Paroekia, 114. 
 
 Paros, 5, 84, 114; quarries of, 
 
 "5- 
 
 Pasch van Krienen, Count, 87. 
 
 Patmos, 179-181 ; scenery of, 
 suited to the Apocalypse, 189 ; 
 acropolis of, 194. 
 
 Pausanias, on the connexion be- 
 tween Delos and the Nile, 7 ; 
 on Mytilene, 138 ; on the birth 
 of Hera in Samos, 177 ; on the 
 disappearance of the island ot 
 Chryse, 272. 
 
 Perseus, King, on Samothrace, 
 
 317- 
 Petroleum, transport of, 278. 
 Phardys, M., 337. 
 Phengari, Mount, ascent of, 344 ; 
 
 view from, 347. 
 Phileremo, site of Ialysos, 215. 
 Philoctetes, site of his cave on 
 
 Lemnos, 239, 274 ; supposed 
 
 to have been cured by ' Lem- 
 
 nian earth,' 258. 
 Philip of Macedon, initiated at 
 
 Samothrace, 326. 
 
 Phocylides, his epigram on Leros, 
 
 196. 
 Phoenicians, in Crete, 77 ; in 
 
 Thera, 108; in Samos, 157 ; in 
 
 Samothrace, 325. 
 Pilgrimage to Tenos, 18, 139. 
 Pindar, on the temple on Ata- 
 
 byrium, 221 ; on Diagoras of 
 
 Rhodes, 227. 
 Plaka, cape in Lemnos, 238, 273. 
 Pliny, on the dittany, 47 ; on the 
 
 Lemnian earth, 257 ; on Samo- 
 thrace, 318. 
 Poliades, monument of, 291. 
 Polycrates, 6, 163, 166. 
 Pool of Siloam, conduit of, 171. 
 Poseidon on Samothrace, 351. 
 Pozzolana, exported from San- 
 
 torin, 103. 
 Prehistoric dwellings in Santorin 
 
 and Therasia, 103, 105. 
 Primitive art in the Aegean, 104. 
 Prince of Samos, 161. 
 Priories of the Knights of Rhodes, 
 
 209. 
 Priscian, on the walls of Samo- 
 thrace, 322. 
 Prochorus, legends relating to, 
 
 183, 185. 
 Psara, 128. 
 
 Psilorites (the Cretan Ida), 62. 
 Ptolemaeum, at Samothrace, 331. 
 Ptolemies, so-called tomb of, 212; 
 
 their buildings at Samothrace, 
 
 328-331- 
 Purgatorial suffering, story of, 
 
 109. 
 Purnia, bay of, 255. 
 Pyrrha, 130, 132. 
 
 Q- 
 
 Quarantine in Greece, 15. 
 Quarries, in Paros, 115; in 
 Thasos, 303. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rattle, use of, 82. 
 Resurrection, the, how repre- 
 sented in Greek art, 151. 
 Retimo, 45. 
 Rheneia, necropolis of, 14.
 
 Index. 
 
 361 
 
 Rhodes, island of, its pleasant 
 climate, 200. 
 
 Rhodes, city of, 201 ; population of, 
 200 ; its ancient grandeur, 202. 
 
 Rhodian peasant's house, de- 
 scription of, 217. 
 
 Rhodian ware, 217, 225; em- 
 broidery, 226. 
 
 Rithymna, 45. 
 
 Rock oils, introduction of, 132. 
 
 Ross, on Pasch van Krienen, 88. 
 
 Russians in the Aegean, 87, 92, 
 187, 247, 280. 
 
 Sailors, Greek, 84, 159; their 
 
 nautical terms, 85. 
 Saint John, legends concerning, 
 
 in Patmos, 184 foil. 
 Saint Paul, expelled wild beasts 
 from Crete, 57 ; touched at 
 Samothrace, 326. 
 
 Salonica, 276 ; its churches, 277. 
 
 Salzmann, M., his exploration of 
 Cameiros, 216, 219. 
 
 Samos, origin of the name, 157 ; 
 constitution of, 161 ; wine of, 
 162 ; ancient city of, 165. 
 
 Samothrace, 235 ; difficulty of 
 reaching it, 313 ; its harbour- 
 less character, 318 ; city of, 
 320 ; sanctuary of, 324 foil. ; 
 a centre of storms, 343 ; its 
 barrenness, 350. 
 
 Santorin, 94 foil. ; absence of 
 wells in, 96 ; description of, 
 97; eruptions of, 99; prehistoric 
 dwellings in, 105 ; names and 
 myths of, 108. 
 
 Sanudo, in Naxos, 81. 
 
 Saoce, Mount, 344. 
 
 Sarcophagi, 291, 292, 301. 
 
 Scala Nova, 158. 
 
 'School of Homer,' 156. 
 
 Schools, Greek, 60, 124, 243, 
 255. 298, 319, 336. 
 
 Scio, see Chios. 
 
 Scirocco wind, 117, 233. 
 
 Scylax, on the harbours of Tha- 
 sos, 285. 
 
 Scyros, seen from Samothrace, 
 
 348. 
 ' Sealed earth,' 258 foil. 
 Semantron, 188, 336. 
 Sepulchre of Zeus, 70. 
 Shrine of Pan, 288. 
 Sikinos, 90 ; temple in, 92. 
 Simbulli, antiquities near, 211. 
 Sithonia, peninsula of, 279. 
 Skopia, Mount, 273. 
 Sommaripa, family of, 82. 
 Sophocles, on the shadow of 
 Athos, 248 ; on the Lemnian 
 fire, 270; on the island of 
 Chryse, 272 ; on the Hermaean 
 Mount, 273. 
 Spanish language, spoken in 
 
 Rhodes, 200. 
 Spanish names in the islands, 
 
 101. 
 Sphakia, mountains of, 32; dialect 
 
 of, 62. 
 Sphidami, fountain, 345, 352. 
 Sponge fishery in the Sporades, 
 
 181. 
 Sporades, 86. 
 Staircase cut in the rock, in 
 
 Thasos, 290. 
 Stanley, Dean, on Patmos, 189. 
 Stelae, 285, 291. 
 
 Strabo, on Pyrrha, 133; on Myti- 
 lene, 136, 138; on the mean- 
 ing of samos, 157 ; on the wine 
 of Samos, 163 ; on the city of 
 Samos, 167 ; on Leros, 196 ; 
 on the grandeur of the city of 
 Rhodes, 202. 
 Street of the Knights in Rhodes, 
 
 208. 
 Suda, baj T of, 40. 
 Suspicion in Turkey, 26, 147, 
 
 210, 247, 256, 312. 
 Syra, 3. 
 
 T. 
 
 Temples— of Apollo in Dclos, 13; 
 of Apollo in Sikinos, 91 ; of 
 the Goddess Queen in Santorin, 
 107; of Hera in Samos, 175; 
 of Zeus on Atabyrium, 221 ; of 
 Athena at Lindos, 227 ; at
 
 3 62 
 
 Index. 
 
 Alke, 302 ; of the Cabeiri at 
 Samothrace, 328. 
 
 Tenos, 16 foil. ; a place of pil- 
 grimage, 18; numerous Roman 
 Catholics in, 22. 
 
 Terra Sigillata. 260. 
 
 Thasos, 282 ; beautiful scenery 
 of, 284 ; city of, 284 foil. ; sub- 
 ject to the Khedive, 295 ; gold 
 mines of, 305. 
 
 Theatres — in Delos, 8 ; at Aptera, 
 42 ; at Samos, 166 ; at Lindos, 
 226 ; at Thasos, 286. 
 
 Theologo, 298. 
 
 Theophrastus, on the dittany, 47. 
 
 Thera, town of, 95. 
 
 Therasia, 102 ; prehistoric dwell- 
 ings in, 103. 
 
 Therma Loutra, in Lemnos, 251 ; 
 in Samothrace, 340. 
 
 Thracian sea, stormy character 
 of, 232, 275, 285, 353. 
 
 Tigani, 164, 268. 
 
 Timber, exported from Thasos, 
 301, 304. 
 
 Titus, patron saint of Crete, 65 ; 
 church of, 65. 
 
 Tmolus, Mount, 159. 
 
 Tombs, on Rheneia, 14 ; at 
 Hagios Thomas, 69 ; near the 
 city of Rhodes, 211 ; at Lindos, 
 226 ; near Hephaestia in Lem- 
 nos, 267. 
 
 ' Tongues ' of the Order of St. 
 John in Rhodes, 203, 207. 
 
 Tour de Naillac in Rhodes, de- 
 stroyed, 203. 
 
 Tournefort, the traveller, 11, 109, 
 176. 
 
 Touzla, salt lake, 266. 
 
 Triopian headland, 198. 
 
 Troy, plain of, 234 ; seen from 
 Samothrace, 349. 
 
 Tuesday, superstition about, 43. 
 Tunnel, of Eupalinus in Samos, 
 
 167 foil. ; in Samothrace, 331. 
 Turkish ports, neglected condition 
 
 of, 35, 135, 199, 310. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vampire superstition, n, 43 109. 
 
 Vathy, 160. 
 
 Venerato, massacre at, 71. 
 
 Venetians, in Tenos, 19 ; in 
 Crete, 26, 56, 72 ; their policy 
 in the Aegean, 81. 
 
 Villa Nova, in Rhodes, 216. 
 
 Vine, cultivation of, in Tenos, 16 ; 
 in Santorin, 98 ; in Samos, 162. 
 
 Virgil, on Delos, 10; on the 
 Cretan dittany, 46 ; on bee- 
 hives, 341. 
 
 Volcano, of Santorin, 28, 97 ; 
 anciently in Lemnos, 269. 
 
 Volcanic soil of Patmos, 181. 
 
 W. 
 
 White Mountains in Crete, 32, 
 62, 68, 74. 
 
 Winds — Kaikias or Euraquilo, 2, 
 120; Eurus or scirocco, 117, 
 233 ; of the Thracian sea, 275, 
 
 311,343,353- 
 
 Wine in the islands not resined, 
 57 ; Malmsey wine in Tenos, 
 16 ; wine of Dionysus in Naxos, 
 80 ; wine of Santorin, 98 ; of 
 Samos, 162. 
 
 Wood imported, in Santorin, 96 ; 
 in Lemnos, 253. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zerynthos, 342, 
 
 Zeus, birthplace and sepulchre of 
 in Crete, 70. 
 
 THE END.
 
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