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diff --git a/37889.txt b/37889.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2a6202 --- /dev/null +++ b/37889.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7662 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, +Russia, and Poland, Vol. I (of 2), by John Lloyd Stephens + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland, Vol. I (of 2) + +Author: John Lloyd Stephens + +Release Date: October 30, 2011 [EBook #37889] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, VOL 1 OF 2 *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller, Eleni Christofaki and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's notes: + +Punctuation and hyphenation have been normalised. Variable, archaic or +unusual spelling has been retained. A list of the few corrections made +can found at the end of the book. Italics indicated by _underscores_. + + + + +[Illustration: GREECE, TURKEY, _PART OF_ RUSSIA & POLAND.] + + + + + INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN GREECE, TURKEY, RUSSIA, AND POLAND. + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + + "INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN EGYPT, ARABIA PETRAEA, AND THE HOLY LAND." + + + WITH A MAP AND ENGRAVINGS. + + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + + VOL. I. + + + SEVENTH EDITION. + + + NEW YORK: + HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. + 329 & 331 PEARL STREET, + FRANKLIN SQUARE. + 1853. + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by HARPER & + BROTHERS, in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. + + +THE fourth edition of this work was published during the author's +absence from the city. His publishers, in a preface in his behalf, +returned his acknowledgments to the public, and he can but respond to +the acknowledgments there made. He has made some alterations in the page +relating to the American phil-Hellenists; and for the rest, he concludes +as in the preface to his first edition. + +The author has been induced by his publishers to put forth his +"Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland." In point of +time they precede his tour in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land. +The countries which form the subject of the following pages perhaps do +not, in themselves, possess the same interest with those in his first +work; but the author has reason to believe that part of his route, +particularly from the Black Sea to the Baltic, through the interior of +Russia, and from St. Petersburgh through the interior of Poland to +Warsaw and Cracow, is comparatively new to most of his countrymen. As in +his first work, his object has been to present a picture of the +every-day scenes which occur to the traveller in the countries referred +to, rather than any detailed description of the countries themselves. + + _New York, November, 1838._ + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + + + CHAPTER I. Page + + A Hurricane.--An Adventure.--Missilonghi.--Siege of + Missilonghi.--Byron.--Marco Bozzaris.--Visit to the Widow, + Daughters, and Brother of Bozzaris.--Halleck's "Marco Bozzaris." + 13 + + CHAPTER II. + + Choice of a Servant.--A Turnout.--An Evening Chat.--Scenery of the + Road.--Lepanto.--A projected Visit.--Change of + Purpose.--Padras.--Vostitza.--Variety and Magnificence of Scenery. + 28 + + CHAPTER III. + + Quarrel with the Landlord.--AEgina.--Sicyon.--Corinth.--A + distinguished Reception.--Desolation of Corinth.--The + Acropolis.--View from the Acropolis.--Lechaeum and Cenchreae.--Kaka + Scala.--Arrival at Athens. 46 + + CHAPTER IV. + + American Missionary School.--Visit to the School.--Mr. Hill and the + Male Department.--Mrs. Hill and the Female Department.--Maid of + Athens.--Letter from Mr. Hill.--Revival of Athena.--Citizens of + the World. 61 + + CHAPTER V. + + Ruins of Athens.--Hill of Mars.--Temple of the Winds.--Lantern of + Demosthenes.--Arch of Adrian.--Temple of Jupiter Olympus.--Temple + of Theseus.--The Acropolis.--The Parthenon.--Pentelican + Mountain.--Mount Hymettus.--The Piraeus.--Greek Fleas.--Napoli. 73 + + CHAPTER VI. + + Argos.--Parting and Farewell.--Tomb of Agamemnon.--Mycenae.--Gate of + the Lions.--A Misfortune.--Meeting in the Mountains.--A Landlord's + Troubles.--A Midnight Quarrel.--One good Turn deserves + another.--Gratitude of a Greek Family.--Megara.--The Soldiers' + Revel. 99 + + CHAPTER VII. + + A Dreary Funeral.--Marathon.--Mount Pentelicus.--A Mystery.--Woes of + a Lover.--Reveries of Glory.--Scio's Rocky Isle.--A blood-stained + Page of History.--A Greek Prelate.--Desolation.--The Exile's + Return. 118 + + CHAPTER VIII. + + A Noble Grecian Lady.--Beauty of Scio.--An Original.--Foggi.--A + Turkish Coffee-house.--Mussulman at Prayers.--Easter Sunday.--A + Greek Priest.--A Tartar Guide.--Turkish Ladies.--Camel + Scenes.--Sight of a Harem.--Disappointed Hopes.--A rare + Concert.--Arrival at Smyrna. 149 + + CHAPTER IX. + + First Sight of Smyrna.--Unveiled Women.--Ruins of Ephesus.--Ruin, + all Ruin.--Temple of Diana.--Encounter with a Wolf.--Love at first + Sight.--Gatherings on the Road. 173 + + CHAPTER X. + + Position of Smyrna.--Consular Privileges.--The Case of the + Lover.--End of the Love Affair.--The Missionary's Wife.--The + Casino.--Only a Greek Row.--Rambles in Smyrna.--The + Armenians.--Domestic Enjoyments. 188 + + CHAPTER XI. + + An American Original.--Moral Changes in Turkey.--Wonders of Steam + Navigation.--The March of Mind.--Classic Localities.--Sestos and + Abydos.--Seeds of Pestilence. 203 + + CHAPTER XII. + + Mr. Churchill.--Commodore Porter.--Castle of the Seven Towers.--The + Sultan's Naval Architect.--Launch of the Great Ship.--Sultan + Mahmoud.--Jubilate.--A National Grievance.--Visit to a + Mosque.--The Burial-grounds. 218 + + CHAPTER XIII. + + Visit to the Slave-market.--Horrors of Slavery.--Departure from + Stamboul.--The stormy Euxine.--Odessa.--The Lazaretto.--Russian + Civility.--Returning Good for Evil. 236 + + CHAPTER XIV. + + The Guardiano.--One too many.--An Excess of Kindness.--The last Day + of Quarantine.--Mr. Baguet.--Rise of Odessa.--City-making.--Count + Woronzow.--A Gentleman Farmer.--An American Russian. 258 + + + + +INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN GREECE, TURKEY, RUSSIA, AND POLAND. + + +CHAPTER I. + + A Hurricane.--An Adventure.--Missilonghi.--Siege of + Missilonghi.--Byron.--Marco Bozzaris.--Visit to the Widow, + Daughters, and Brother of Bozzaris. + + +ON the evening of the ---- February, 1835, by a bright starlight, after a +short ramble among the Ionian Islands, I sailed from Zante in a +beautiful cutter of about forty tons for Padras. My companions were +Doctor W., an old and valued friend from New-York, who was going to +Greece merely to visit the Episcopal missionary school at Athens, and a +young Scotchman, who had travelled with me through Italy, and was going +farther, like myself, he knew not exactly why. There was hardly a breath +of air when we left the harbour, but a breath was enough to fill our +little sail. The wind, though of the gentlest, was fair; and as we +crawled from under the lee of the island, in a short time it became a +fine sailing breeze. We sat on the deck till a late hour, and turned in +with every prospect of being at Padras in the morning. Before daylight, +however, the wind chopped about, and set in dead ahead, and when I went +on deck in the morning it was blowing a hurricane. We had passed the +point of Padras; the wind was driving down the Gulf of Corinth as if old +AEolus had determined on thwarting our purpose; and our little cutter, +dancing like a gull upon the angry waters, was driven into the harbour +of Missilonghi. + +The town was full in sight, but at such a distance, and the waves were +running so high, that we could not reach it with our small boat. A long +flat extends several miles into the sea, making the harbour completely +inaccessible except to small Greek caiques built expressly for such +navigation. We remained on board all day; and the next morning, the gale +still continuing, made signals to a fishing boat to come off and take us +ashore. In a short time she came alongside; we bade farewell to our +captain--an Italian and a noble fellow, cradled, and, as he said, born +to die on the Adriatic--and in a few minutes struck the soil of fallen +but immortal Greece. + +Our manner of striking it, however, was not such as to call forth any of +the warm emotions struggling in the breast of the scholar, for we were +literally stuck in the mud. We were yet four or five miles from the +shore, and the water was so low that the fishing-boat, with the +additional weight of four men and luggage, could not swim clear. Our +boatmen were two long, sinewy Greeks, with the red tarbouch, embroidered +jacket, sash, and large trousers, and with their long poles set us +through the water with prodigious force; but, as soon as the boat +struck, they jumped out, and, putting their brawny shoulders under her +sides, heaved her through into better water, and then resumed their +poles. In this way they propelled her two or three miles, working +alternately with their poles and shoulders, until they got her into a +channel, when they hoisted the sail, laid directly for the harbour, and +drove upon the beach with canvass all flying. + +During the late Greek revolution, Missilonghi was the great +debarking-place of European adventurers; and, probably, among all the +desperadoes who ever landed there, none were more destitute and in +better condition to "go ahead" than I; for I had all that I was worth on +my back. At one of the Ionian Islands I had lost my carpet-bag, +containing my notebook and every article of wearing apparel except the +suit in which I stood. Every condition, however, has its advantages; +mine put me above porters and custom-house officers; and while my +companions were busy with these plagues of travellers, I paced with +great satisfaction the shore of Greece, though I am obliged to confess +that this satisfaction was for reasons utterly disconnected with any +recollections of her ancient glories. Business before pleasure: one of +our first inquiries was for a breakfast. Perhaps, if we had seen a +monument, or solitary column, or ruin of any kind, it would have +inspired us to better things; but there was nothing, absolutely nothing, +that could recall an image of the past. Besides, we did not expect to +land at Missilonghi, and were not bound to be inspired at a place into +which we were thrown by accident; and, more than all, a drizzling rain +was penetrating to our very bones; we were wet and cold, and what can +men do in the way of sentiment when their teeth are chattering? + +The town stands upon a flat, marshy plain, which extends several miles +along the shore. The whole was a mass of new-made ruins--of houses +demolished and black with smoke--the tokens of savage and desolating +war. In front, and running directly along the shore, was a long street +of miserable one-story shantees, run up since the destruction of the old +town, and so near the shore that sometimes it is washed by the sea, and +at the time of our landing it was wet and muddy from the rain. It was a +cheerless place, and reminded me of Communipaw in bad weather. It had no +connexion with the ancient glory of Greece, no name or place on her +historic page, and no hotel where we could get a breakfast; but one of +the officers of the customs conducted us to a shantee filled with +Bavarian soldiers drinking. There was a sort of second story, accessible +only by a ladder; and one end of this was partitioned off with boards, +but had neither bench, table, nor any other article of housekeeping. We +had been on and almost _in_ the water since daylight, exposed to a keen +wind and drizzling rain, and now, at eleven o'clock, could probably have +eaten several chickens apiece; but nothing came amiss, and, as we could +not get chickens, we took eggs, which, for lack of any vessel to boil +them in, were roasted. We placed a huge loaf of bread on the middle of +the floor, and seated ourselves around it, spreading out so as to keep +the eggs from rolling away, and each hewing off bread for himself. +Fortunately, the Greeks have learned from their quondam Turkish masters +the art of making coffee, and a cup of this Eastern cordial kept our dry +bread from choking us. + +When we came out again the aspect of matters was more cheerful; the long +street was swarming with Greeks, many of them armed with pistols and +yataghan, but miserably poor in appearance, and in such numbers that not +half of them could find the shelter of a roof at night. We were accosted +by one dressed in a hat and frockcoat, and who, in occasional visits to +Corfu and Trieste, had picked up some Italian and French, and a suit of +European clothes, and was rather looked up to by his untravelled +countrymen. As a man of the world, who had received civilities abroad, +he seemed to consider it incumbent upon him to reciprocate at home, and, +with the tacit consent of all around, he undertook to do the honours of +Missilonghi. + +If, as a Greek, he had any national pride about him, he was imposing +upon himself a severe task; for all that he could do was to conduct us +among ruins, and, as he went along, tell us the story of the bloody +siege which had reduced the place to its present woful state. For more +than a year, under unparalleled hardships, its brave garrison resisted +the combined strength of the Turkish and Egyptian armies, and, when all +hope was gone, resolved to cut their way through the enemy or die in the +attempt. Many of the aged and sick, the wounded and the women, refused +to join in the sortie, and preferred to shut themselves up in an old +mill, with the desperate purpose of resisting until they should bring +around them a large crowd of Turks, when they would blow all up +together. An old invalid soldier seated himself in a mine under the +Bastion Bozzaris (the ruins of which we saw), the mine being charged +with thirty kegs of gunpowder; the last sacrament was administered by +the bishop and priests to the whole population and, at a signal, the +besieged made their desperate sortie. One body dashed through the +Turkish ranks, and, with many women and children, gained the mountains; +but the rest were driven back. Many of the women ran to the sea and +plunged in with their children; husbands stabbed their wives with their +own hands to save them from the Turks, and the old soldier under the +bastion set fire to the train, and the remnant of the heroic garrison +buried themselves under the ruins of Missilonghi. + +Among them were thirteen foreigners, of whom only one escaped. One of +the most distinguished was Meyer, a young Swiss, who entered as a +volunteer at the beginning of the revolution, became attached to a +beautiful Missilonghiote girl, married her, and, when the final sortie +was made, his wife being sick, he remained with her, and was blown up +with the others. A letter written a few days before his death, and +brought away by one who escaped in the sortie, records the condition of +the garrison. + +"A wound which I have received in my shoulder, while I am in daily +expectation of one which will be my passport to eternity, has prevented +me till now from bidding you a last adieu. We are reduced to feed upon +the most disgusting animals. We are suffering horribly with hunger and +thirst. Sickness adds much to the calamities which overwhelm us. +Seventeen hundred and forty of our brothers are dead; more than a +hundred thousand bombs and balls thrown by the enemy have destroyed our +bastions and our homes. We have been terribly distressed by the cold, +for we have suffered great want of food. Notwithstanding so many +privations, it is a great and noble spectacle to behold the ardour and +devotedness of the garrison. A few days more, and these brave men will +be angelic spirits, who will accuse before God the indifference of +Christendom. In the name of all our brave men, among whom are Notho +Bozzaris, *** I announce to you the resolution sworn to before Heaven, +to defend, foot by foot, the land of Missilonghi, and to bury ourselves, +without listening to any capitulation, under the ruins of this city. We +are drawing near our final hour. History will render us justice. I am +proud to think that the blood of a Swiss, of a child of William Tell, is +about to mingle with that of the heroes of Greece." + +But Missilonghi is a subject of still greater interest than this, for +the reader will remember it as the place where Byron died. Almost the +first questions I asked were about the poet, and it added to the dreary +interest which the place inspired, to listen to the manner in which the +Greeks spoke of him. It might be thought that here, on the spot where he +breathed his last, malignity would have held her accursed tongue; but it +was not so. He had committed the fault, unpardonable in the eyes of +political opponents, of attaching himself to one of the great parties +that then divided Greece; and though he had given her all that man could +give, in his own dying words, "his time, his means, his health, and, +lastly, his life," the Greeks spoke of him with all the rancour and +bitterness of party spirit. Even death had not won oblivion for his +political offences; and I heard those who saw him die in her cause +affirm that Byron was no friend to Greece. + +His body, the reader will remember, was transported to England and +interred in the family sepulchre. The church where it lay in state is a +heap of ruins, and there is no stone or monument recording his death, +but, wishing to see some memorial connected with his residence here, we +followed our guide to the house in which he died. It was a large square +building of stone, one of the walls still standing, black with smoke, +the rest a confused and shapeless mass of ruins. After his death it was +converted into a hospital and magazine; and, when the Turks entered the +city, they set fire to the powder; the sick and dying were blown into +the air, and we saw the ruins lying as they fell after the explosion. It +was a melancholy spectacle, but it seemed to have a sort of moral +fitness with the life and fortunes of the poet. It was as if the same +wild destiny, the same wreck of hopes and fortunes that attended him +through life, were hovering over his grave. Living and dead, his actions +and his character have been the subject of obloquy and reproach, perhaps +justly; but it would have softened the heart of his bitterest enemy to +see the place in which he died. + +It was in this house that, on his last birthday, he came from his +bedroom and produced to his friends the last notes of his dying muse, +breathing a spirit of sad foreboding and melancholy recollections; of +devotion to the noble cause in which he had embarked, and a prophetic +consciousness of his approaching end. + + "My days are in the yellow leaf, + The flowers and fruits of love are gone; + The worm, the canker, and the grief + Are mine alone. + + * * * * * + + "If thou regret'st thy youth, _why live?_ + The land of honourable death + Is here: up to the field, and give + Away thy breath! + + "Seek out--less often sought than found-- + A soldier's grave, for thee the best; + Then look around, and choose thy ground, + And take thy rest." + +Moving on beyond the range of ruined houses, though still within the +line of crumbling walls, we came to a spot perhaps as interesting as any +that Greece in her best days could show. It was the tomb of Marco +Bozzaris! No monumental marble emblazoned his deeds and fame; a few +round stones piled over his head, which, but for our guide, we should +have passed without noticing, were all that marked his grave. I would +not disturb a proper reverence for the past; time covers with its dim +and twilight glories both distant scenes and the men who acted in them, +but, to my mind, Miltiades was not more of a hero at Marathon or +Leonidas at Thermopylae than Marco Bozzaris at Missilonghi. When they +went out against the hosts of Persia, Athens and Sparta were great and +free, and they had the prospect of _glory_ and the praise of men, to the +Greeks always dearer than life. But when the Suliote chief drew his +sword, his country lay bleeding at the feet of a giant, and all Europe +condemned the Greek revolution as foolhardy and desperate. For two +months, with but a few hundred men, protected only by a ditch and slight +parapet of earth, he defended the town where his body now rests against +the whole Egyptian army. In stormy weather, living upon bad and +unwholesome bread, with no covering but his cloak, he passed his days +and nights in constant vigil; in every assault his sword cut down the +foremost assailant, and his voice, rising above the din of battle, +struck terror into the hearts of the enemy. In the struggle which ended +with his life, with two thousand men he proposed to attack the whole +army of Mustapha Pacha, and called upon all who were willing to die for +their country to stand forward. The whole band advanced to a man. +Unwilling to sacrifice so many brave men in a death-struggle, he chose +three hundred, the sacred number of the Spartan band, his tried and +trusty Suliotes. At midnight he placed himself at their head, directing +that not a shot should be fired till he sounded his bugle; and his last +command was, "If you lose sight of me, seek me in the pacha's tent." In +the moment of victory he ordered the pacha to be seized, and received a +ball in the loins; his voice still rose above the din of battle, +cheering his men until he was struck by another ball in the head, and +borne dead from the field of his glory. + +Not far from the grave of Bozzaris was a pyramid of sculls, of men who +had fallen in the last attack upon the city, piled up near the blackened +and battered wall which they had died in defending. In my after +wanderings I learned to look more carelessly upon these things; and, +perhaps, noticing everywhere the light estimation put upon human life in +the East, learned to think more lightly of it myself; but, then, it was +melancholy to see bleaching in the sun, under the eyes of their +countrymen, the unburied bones of men who, but a little while ago, stood +with swords in their hands, and animated by the noble resolution to free +their country or die in the attempt. Our guide told us that they had all +been collected in that place with a view to sepulture; and that King +Otho, as soon as he became of age and took the government in his own +hands, intended to erect a monument over them. In the mean time, they +are at the mercy of every passing traveller; and the only remark that +our guide made was a comment upon the force and unerring precision of +the blow of the Turkish sabre, almost every scull being laid open on the +side nearly down to the ear. + +But the most interesting part of our day at Missilonghi was to come. +Returning from a ramble round the walls, we noticed a large square +house, which, our guide told us, was the residence of Constantine, the +brother of Marco Bozzaris. We were all interested in this intelligence, +and our interest was in no small degree increased when he added that the +widow and two of the children of the Suliote chief were living with his +brother. The house was surrounded by a high stone wall, a large gate +stood most invitingly wide open, and we turned toward it in the hope of +catching a glimpse of the inhabitants; but, before we reached the gate, +our interest had increased to such a point that, after consulting with +our guide, we requested him to say that, if it would not be considered +an intrusion, three travellers, two of them Americans, would feel +honoured in being permitted to pay their respects to the widow and +children of Marco Bozzaris. + +We were invited in, and shown into a large room on the right, where +three Greeks were sitting cross-legged on a divan, smoking the long +Turkish chibouk. Soon after the brother entered, a man about fifty, of +middling height, spare built, and wearing a Bavarian uniform, as holding +a colonel's commission in the service of King Otho. In the dress of the +dashing Suliote he would have better looked the brother of Marco +Bozzaris, and I might then more easily have recognised the daring +warrior who, on the field of battle, in a moment of extremity, was +deemed, by universal acclamation, worthy of succeeding the fallen hero. +Now the straight military frockcoat, buttoned tight across the breast, +the stock, tight pantaloons, boots, and straps, seemed to repress the +free energies of the mountain warrior; and I could not but think how +awkward it must be for one who had spent all his life in a dress which +hardly touched him, at fifty to put on a stock, and straps to his boots. +Our guide introduced us, with an apology for our intrusion. The colonel +received us with great kindness, thanked us for the honour done his +brother's widow, and, requesting us to be seated, ordered coffee and +pipes. + +And here, on the very first day of our arrival in Greece, and from a +source which made us proud, we had the first evidence of what afterward +met me at every step, the warm feeling existing in Greece toward +America; for almost the first thing that the brother of Marco Bozzaris +said was to express his gratitude as a Greek for the services rendered +his country by our own; and, after referring to the provisions sent out +for his famishing countrymen, his eyes sparkled and his cheek flushed as +he told us that, when the Greek revolutionary flag first sailed into the +port of Napoli di Romania, among hundreds of vessels of all nations, an +American captain was the first to recognise and salute it. + +In a few moments the widow of Marco Bozzaris entered. I have often been +disappointed in my preconceived notions of personal appearance, but it +was not so with the lady who now stood before me; she looked the widow +of a hero; as one worthy of her Grecian mothers, who gave their hair for +bowstrings, their girdle for a sword-belt, and, while their heartstrings +were cracking, sent their young lovers from their arms to fight and +perish for their country. Perhaps it was she that led Marco Bozzaris +into the path of immortality; that roused him from the wild guerilla +warfare in which he had passed his early life, and fired him with the +high and holy ambition of freeing his country. Of one thing I am +certain, no man could look in her face without finding his wavering +purposes fixed, without treading more firmly in the path of high and +honourable enterprise. She was under forty, tall and stately in person +and habited in deep black, fit emblem of her widowed condition, with a +white handkerchief laid flat over her head, giving the Madonna cast to +her dark eyes and marble complexion. We all rose as she entered the +room; and though living secluded, and seldom seeing the face of a +stranger, she received our compliments and returned them with far less +embarrassment than we both felt and exhibited. + +But our embarrassment, at least I speak for myself, was induced by an +unexpected circumstance. Much as I was interested in her appearance, I +was not insensible to the fact that she was accompanied by two young and +beautiful girls, who were introduced to us as her daughters. This +somewhat bewildered me. While waiting for their appearance, and talking +with Constantine Bozzaris, I had in some way conceived the idea that the +daughters were mere children, and had fully made up my mind to take them +both on my knee and kiss them; but the appearance of the stately mother +recalled me to the grave of Bozzaris; and the daughters would probably +have thought that I was taking liberties upon so short an acquaintance +if I had followed up my benevolent purpose in regard to them; so that, +with the long pipe in my hand, which, at that time, I did not know how +to manage well, I cannot flatter myself that I exhibited any of the +benefit of Continental travel. + +The elder was about sixteen, and even in the opinion of my friend Doctor +W., a cool judge in these matters, a beautiful girl, possessing in its +fullest extent all the elements of Grecian beauty: a dark, clear +complexion, dark hair, set off by a little red cap embroidered with gold +thread, and a long blue tassel hanging down behind, and large black +eyes, expressing a melancholy quiet, but which might be excited to shoot +forth glances of fire more terrible than her father's sword. Happily, +too, for us, she talked French, having learned it from a French marquis +who had served in Greece and been domesticated with them; but young and +modest, and unused to the company of strangers, she felt the +embarrassment common to young ladies when attempting to speak a foreign +language. And we could not talk to her on common themes. Our lips were +sealed, of course, upon the subject which had brought us to her house. +We could not sound for her the praises of her gallant father. At +parting, however, I told them that the name of Marco Bozzaris was as +familiar in America as that of a hero of our own revolution, and that it +had been hallowed by the inspiration of an American poet; and I added +that, if it would not be unacceptable, on my return to my native country +I would send the tribute referred to, as an evidence of the feeling +existing in America toward the memory of Marco Bozzaris. My offer was +gratefully accepted; and afterward, while in the act of mounting my +horse to leave Missilonghi, our guide, who had remained behind, came to +me with a message from the widow and daughters reminding me of my +promise. + +I do not see that there is any objection to my mentioning that I wrote +to a friend, requesting him to procure Halleck's "Marco Bozzaris," and +send it to my banker at Paris. My friend, thinking to enhance its value, +applied to Mr. Halleck for a copy in his own handwriting. Mr. Halleck, +with his characteristic modesty, evaded the application; and on my +return home I told him the story of my visit, and reiterated the same +request. He evaded me as he had done my friend, but promised me a copy +of the new edition of his poems, which he afterward gave me, and which, +I hope, is now in the hands of the widow and daughters of the Grecian +hero. + +I make no apology for introducing in a book the widow and daughters of +Marco Bozzaris. True, I was received by them in private, without any +expectation, either on their part or mine, that all the particulars of +the interview would be noted and laid before the eyes of all who choose +to read. I hope it will not be considered invading the sanctity of +private life; but, at all events, I make no apology; the widow and +children of Marco Bozzaris are the property of the world. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Choice of a Servant.--A Turnout.--An Evening Chat.--Scenery of the + Road.--Lepanto.--A projected Visit.--Change of + Purpose.--Padras.--Vostitza.--Variety and Magnificence of Scenery. + + +BARREN as our prospect was on landing, our first day in Greece had +already been full of interest. Supposing that we should not find +anything to engage us long, before setting out on our ramble we had +directed our servant to procure horses, and when we returned we found +all ready for our departure. + +One word with regard to this same servant. We had taken him at Corfu, +much against my inclination. We had a choice between two, one a +full-blooded Greek in fustinellas, who in five minutes established +himself in my good graces, so that nothing but the democratic principle +of submitting to the will of the majority could make me give him up. He +held at that time a very good office in the police at Corfu, but the +eagerness which he showed to get out of regular business and go roving +warmed me to him irresistibly. He seemed to be distracted between two +opposing feelings; one the strong bent of his natural vagabond +disposition to be rambling, and the other a sort of tugging at his +heartstrings by wife and children, to keep him in a place where he had a +regular assured living, instead of trusting to the precarious business +of guiding travellers. He had a boldness and confidence that won me; and +when he drew on the sand with his yataghan a map of Greece, and told us +the route he would take us, zigzag across the Gulf of Corinth to Delphi +and the top of Parnassus, I wondered that my companions could resist +him. + +Our alternative was an Italian from somewhere on the coast of the +Adriatic, whom I looked upon with an unfavourable eye, because he came +between me and my Greek; and on the morning of our departure I was +earnestly hoping that he had overslept himself, or got into some scrape +and been picked up by the guard; but, most provokingly, he came in time, +and with more baggage than all of us had together. Indeed, he had so +much of his own, that, in obedience to Nature's first law, he could not +attend to ours, and in putting ashore some British soldiers at +Cephalonia he contrived to let my carpet-bag go with their luggage. This +did not increase my amiable feeling toward him, and, perhaps, assisted +in making me look upon him throughout with a jaundiced eye; in fact, +before we had done with him, I regarded him as a slouch, a knave, and a +fool, and had the questionable satisfaction of finding that my +companions, though they sustained him as long as they could, had formed +very much the same opinion. + +It was to him, then, that, on our return from our visit to the widow and +daughters of Marco Bozzaris, we were indebted for a turnout that seemed +to astonish even the people of Missilonghi. The horses were miserable +little animals, hidden under enormous saddles made of great clumps of +wood over an old carpet or towcloth, and covering the whole back from +the shoulders to the tail; the luggage was perched on the tops of these +saddles, and with desperate exertions and the help of the citizens of +Missilonghi we were perched on the top of the luggage. The little +animals had a knowing look as they peered from under the superincumbent +mass, and, supported on either side by the by-standers till we got a +little steady in our seats, we put forth from Missilonghi. The only +gentleman of our party was our servant, who followed on a European +saddle which he had brought for his own use, smoking his pipe with great +complacency, perfectly satisfied with our appearance and with himself. + +It was four o'clock when we crossed the broken walls of Missilonghi. For +three hours our road lay over a plain extending to the sea. I have no +doubt, if my Greek had been there, he would have given an interest to +the road by referring to scenes and incidents connected with the siege +of Missilonghi; but Demetrius--as he now chose to call himself--knew +nothing of Greece, ancient or modern; he had no sympathy of feeling with +the Greeks; had never travelled on this side of the Gulf of Corinth +before; and so he lagged behind and smoked his pipe. + +It was nearly dark when we reached the miserable little village of +Bokara. We had barely light enough to look around for the best khan in +which to pass the night. Any of the wretched tenants would have been +glad to receive us for the little remuneration we might leave with them +in the morning. The khans were all alike, one room, mud floor and walls, +and we selected one where the chickens had already gone to roost, and +prepared to measure off the dirt floor according to our dimensions. +Before we were arranged a Greek of a better class, followed by half a +dozen villagers, came over, and, with many regrets for the wretched +state of the country, invited us to his house. Though dressed in the +Greek costume, it was evident that he had acquired his manners in a +school beyond the bounds of his miserable little village, in which his +house now rose like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, higher than everything +else, but rather rickety. In a few minutes we heard the death notes of +some chickens, and at about nine o'clock sat down to a not unwelcome +meal. Several Greeks dropped in during the evening, and one, a +particular friend of our host's, supped with us. Both talked French, and +had that perfect ease of manner and savoir faire which I always remarked +with admiration in all Greeks who had travelled. They talked much of +their travels; of time spent in Italy and Germany, and particularly of a +long residence at Bucharest. They talked, too, of Greece; of her long +and bitter servitude, her revolution, and her independence; and from +their enthusiasm I could not but think that they had fought and bled in +her cause. I certainly was not lying in wait to entrap them, but I +afterward gathered from their conversation that they had taken occasion +to be on their travels at the time when the bravest of their countrymen +were pouring out their blood like water to emancipate their native land. +A few years before I might have felt indignation and contempt for men +who had left their country in her hour of utmost need, and returned to +enjoy the privileges purchased with other men's blood; but I had already +learned to take the world as I found it, and listened quietly while our +host told us that, confiding in the permanency of the government secured +by the three great powers, England, France, and Russia, he had returned +to Greece, and taken a lease of a large tract of land for fifty years, +paying a thousand drachms, a drachm being one sixth of a dollar, and one +tenth of the annual fruits, at the end of which time one half of the +land under cultivation was to belong to his heirs in fee. + +As our host could not conveniently accommodate us all, M. and Demetrius +returned to the khan at which we had first stopped and where, to judge +from the early hour at which they came over to us the next morning, they +had not spent the night as well as we did. At daylight we took our +coffee, and again perched our luggage on the backs of the horses, and +ourselves on top of the luggage. Our host wished us to remain with him, +and promised the next day to accompany us to Padras; but this was not a +sufficient inducement; and taking leave of him, probably for ever, we +started for Lepanto. + +We rode about an hour on the plain; the mountains towered on our left, +and the rich soil was broken into rough sandy gullies running down to +the sea. Our guides had some apprehensions that we should not be able to +cross the torrents that were running down from the mountain; and when we +came to the first, and had to walk up along the bank, looking out for a +place to ford, we fully participated in their apprehensions. Bridges +were a species of architecture entirely unknown in that part of modern +Greece; indeed, no bridges could have stood against the mountain +torrents. There would have been some excitement in encountering these +rapid streams if we had been well mounted; but, from the manner in which +we were hitched on our horses, we did not feel any great confidence in +our seats. Still nothing could be wilder or more picturesque than our +process in crossing them, except that it might have added somewhat to +the effect to see one of us floating down stream, clinging to the tail +of his horse. But we got over or through them all. A range of mountains +then formed on our right, cutting us off from the sea, and we entered a +valley lying between the two parallel ranges. At first the road, which +was exceedingly difficult for a man or a sure-footed horse, lay along a +beautiful stream, and the whole of the valley extending to the Gulf of +Lepanto is one of the loveliest regions of country I ever saw. The +ground was rich and verdant, and, even at that early season of the year, +blooming with wild flowers of every hue, but wholly uncultivated, the +olive-trees having all been cut down by the Turks, and without a single +habitation on the whole route. My Scotch companion, who had a good eye +for the picturesque and beautiful in natural scenery, was in raptures +with this valley. I have since travelled in Switzerland, not, however, +in all the districts frequented by tourists; but in what I saw, +beautiful as it is, I do not know a place where the wildness of mountain +scenery is so delightfully contrasted with the softness of a rich +valley. + +At the end of the valley, directly opposite Padras, and on the borders +of the gulf, is a wild road called Scala Cativa, running along the sides +of a rocky, mountainous precipice overlooking the sea. It is a wild and +almost fearful road; in some places I thought it like the perpendicular +sides of the Palisades; and when the wind blows in a particular +direction it is impossible to make headway against it. Our host told us +that we should find difficulty that day; and there was just rudeness +enough to make us look well to our movements. Directly at our feet was +the Gulf of Corinth; opposite a range of mountains; and in the distance +the island of Zante. On the other side of the valley is an extraordinary +mountain, very high, and wanting a large piece in the middle, as if cut +out with a chisel, leaving two straight parallel sides, and called by +the unpoetical name of the armchair. In the wildest pan of the Scala, +where a very slight struggle would have precipitated us several hundred +feet into the sea, an enormous shepherd's dog came bounding and barking +toward us; and we were much relieved when his master, who was hanging +with his flock of goats on an almost inaccessible height, called him +away. At the foot of the mountain we entered a rich plain, where the +shepherds were pasturing their flocks down to the shore of the sea, and +in about two hours arrived at Lepanto. + +After diligent search by Demetrius (the name by which we had taken him, +whose true name, however, we found to be Jerolamon), and by all the +idlers whom the arrival of strangers attracted, we procured a room near +the farthest wall; it was reached by ascending a flight of steps +outside, and boasted a floor, walls, and an apology for a roof. We piled +up our baggage in one corner, or, rather, my companions did theirs, and +went prowling about in search of something to eat. Our servant had not +fully apprized us of the extreme poverty of the country, the entire +absence of all accommodations for travellers, and the absolute necessity +of carrying with us everything requisite for comfort. He was a man of +few words, and probably thought that, as between servant and master, +example was better than precept, and that the abundant provision he had +made for himself might serve as a lesson for us; but, in our case, the +objection to this mode of teaching was, that it came too late to be +profitable. At the foot of the hill fronting the sea was an open place, +in one side of which was a little cafteria, where all the good-for-nothing +loungers of Lepanto were assembled. We bought a loaf of bread and some +eggs, and, with a cup of Turkish coffee, made our evening meal. + +We had an hour before dark, and strolled along the shore. Though in a +ruinous condition, Lepanto is in itself interesting, as giving an exact +idea of an ancient Greek city, being situated in a commanding position +on the side of a mountain running down to the sea, with its citadel on +the top, and enclosed by walls and turrets. The port is shut within the +walls, which run into the sea, and are erected on the foundations of the +ancient Naupactus. At a distance was the promontory of Actium, where +Cleopatra, with her fifty ships, abandoned Antony, and left to Augustus +the empire of the world; and directly before us, its surface dotted with +a few straggling Greek caiques, was the scene of a battle which has rung +throughout the world, the great battle of the Cross against the +Crescent, where the allied forces of Spain, Venice, and the pope, +amounting to nearly three hundred sail, under the command of Don John of +Austria, humbled for ever the naval pride of the Turks. One hundred and +thirty Turkish galleys were taken and fifty-five sunk; thirty thousand +Turks were killed, ten thousand taken prisoners, fifteen thousand +Christian slaves delivered; and Pope Pius VI., with holy fervour, +exclaimed, "There was a man sent from God, and his name was John." +Cervantes lost his left hand in this battle; and it is to wounds he +received here that he makes a touching allusion when reproached by a +rival: "What I cannot help feeling deeply is, that I am stigmatized with +being old and maimed, as though it belonged to me to stay the course of +time; or as though my wounds had been received in some tavern broil, +instead of the most lofty occasion which past ages have yet seen, or +which shall ever be seen by those to come. The scars which the soldier +wears on his person, instead of badges of infamy, are stars to guide the +daring in the path of glory. As for mine, though they may not shine in +the eyes of the envious, they are at least esteemed by those who know +where they were received; and, even was it not yet too late to choose, I +would rather remain as I am, maimed and mutilated, than be now whole of +my wounds, without having taken part in so glorious an achievement." + +I shall, perhaps, be reproached for mingling with the immortal names of +Don John of Austria and Cervantes those of George Wilson, of Providence, +Rhode Island, and James Williams, a black of Baltimore, cook on board +Lord Cochrane's flagship in the great battle between the Greek and +Turkish fleets. George Wilson was a gunner on board one of the Greek +ships, and conducted himself with so much gallantry, that Lord Cochrane, +at a dinner in commemoration of the event, publicly drank his health. In +the same battle James Williams, who had lost a finger in the United +States service under Decatur at Algiers, and had conducted himself with +great coolness and intrepidity in several engagements, when no Greek +could be found to take the helm, volunteered his services, and was +struck down by a splinter, which broke his legs and arms. The historian +will probably never mention these gallant fellows in his quarto volumes; +but I hope the American traveller, as he stands at sunset by the shore +of the Gulf of Lepanto, and recalls to mind the great achievements of +Don John and Cervantes, will not forget _George Wilson_ and _James +Williams_. + +At evening we returned to our room, built a fire in the middle, and, +with as much dignity as we could muster, sitting on the floor, received +a number of Greek visiters. When they left us we wrapped ourselves in +our cloaks and lay down to sleep. Sleep, however, is not always won when +wooed. Sometimes it takes the perverse humour of the wild Irish boy: +"The more you call me, the more I won't come." Our room had no chimney; +and though, as I lay all night looking up at the roof, there appeared to +be apertures enough to let out the smoke, it seemed to have a loving +feeling toward us in our lowly position, and clung to us so closely that +we were obliged to let the fire go out, and lie shivering till morning. + +Every schoolboy knows how hard it is to write poetry, but few know the +physical difficulties of climbing the poetical mountain itself. We had +made arrangements to sleep the next night at Castri, by the side of the +sacred oracle of Delphi, a mile up Parnassus. Our servant wanted to +cross over and go up on the other side of the gulf, and entertained us +with several stories of robberies committed on this road, to which we +paid no attention. The Greeks who visited us in the evening related, +with much detail, a story of a celebrated captain of brigands having +lately returned to his haunt on Parnassus, and attacked nine Greek +merchants, of whom he killed three; the recital of which interesting +incident we ascribed to Demetrius, and disregarded. + +Early in the morning we mounted our horses and started for Parnassus. At +the gate of the town we were informed that it was necessary, before +leaving, to have a passport from the eparchos, and I returned to procure +it. The eparchos was a man about forty-five, tall and stout, with a +clear olive complexion and a sharp black eye, dressed in a rich Greek +costume, and, fortunately, able to speak French. He was sitting +cross-legged on a divan, smoking a pipe, and looking out upon the sea; +and when I told him my business, he laid down his pipe, repeated the +story of the robbery and murder that we had heard the night before, and +added that we must abandon the idea of travelling that road. He said, +farther, that the country was in a distracted state; that poverty was +driving men to desperation; and that, though they had driven out the +Turks, the Greeks were not masters of their own country. Hearing that I +was an American, and as if in want of a bosom in which to unburden +himself, and as one assured of sympathy, he told me the whole story of +their long and bloody struggle for independence, and the causes that now +made the friends of Greece tremble for her future destiny. I knew that +the seat of the muses bore a rather suspicious character, and, in fact, +that the rocks and caves about Parnassus were celebrated as the abodes +of robbers, but I was unwilling to be driven from our purpose of +ascending it. I went to the military commandant, a Bavarian officer, and +told him what I had just heard from the eparchos. He said frankly that +he did not know much of the state of the country, as he had but lately +arrived in it; but, with the true Bavarian spirit, advised me, as a +general rule, not to believe anything a Greek should tell me. I returned +to the gate, and made my double report to my companions. Dr. W. returned +with me to the eparchos, where the latter repeated, with great +earnestness, all he had told me; and when I persisted in combating his +objections, shrugged his shoulders in a manner that seemed to say, "your +blood be on your own heads;" that he had done his duty, and washed his +hands of the consequences. As we were going out he called me back, and, +recurring to our previous conversation, said that he had spoken to me as +an American more freely than he would have done to a stranger, and +begged that, as I was going to Athens, I would not repeat his words +where they could do him injury. I would not mention the circumstance +now, but that the political clouds which then hung over the horizon of +Greece have passed away; King Otho has taken his seat on the throne, and +my friend has probably long since been driven or retired from public +life. I was at that time a stranger to the internal politics of Greece, +but I afterward found that the eparchos was one of a then powerful body +of Greeks opposed to the Bavarian influence, and interested in +representing the state of the country as more unsettled than it really +was. I took leave of him, however, as one who had intended me a +kindness, and, returning to the gate, found our companion sitting on his +horse, waiting the result of our farther inquiries. Both he and my +fellow envoy were comparatively indifferent upon the subject, while I +was rather bent on drinking from the Castalian fount, and sleeping on +the top of Parnassus. Besides, I was in a beautiful condition to be +robbed. I had nothing but what I had on my back, and I felt sure that a +Greek mountain robber would scorn my stiff coat and pantaloons and black +hat. My companions, however were not so well situated, particularly M., +who had drawn money at Corfu, and had no idea of trusting it to the +tender mercies of a Greek bandit. In the teeth of the advice we had +received, it would, perhaps, have been foolhardy to proceed; and, to my +great subsequent regret, for the first and the last time in my +ramblings, I was turned aside from my path by fear of perils on the +road. Perhaps, after all, I had a lucky escape; for, if the Greek +tradition be true, whoever sleeps on the mountain becomes an inspired +poet or a madman, either of which, for a professional man, is a +catastrophe to be avoided. + +Our change of plan suited Demetrius exactly; he had never travelled on +this side of the Gulf of Corinth; and, besides that, he considered it a +great triumph that his stories of robbers were confirmed by others, +showing his superior knowledge of the state of the country; he was glad +to get on a road which he had travelled before, and on which he had a +chance of meeting some of his old travelling acquaintance. In half an +hour he had us on board a caique. We put out from the harbour of Lepanto +with a strong and favourable wind; our little boat danced lightly over +the waters of the Gulf of Corinth; and in three hours, passing between +the frowning castles of Romelia and Morea, under the shadow of the walls +of which were buried the bodies of the Christians who fell in the great +naval battle, we arrived at Padras. + +The first thing we recognised was the beautiful little cutter which we +had left at Missilonghi, riding gracefully at anchor in the harbour, and +the first man we spoke to on landing was our old friend the captain. We +exchanged a cordial greeting, and he conducted us to Mr. Robertson, the +British vice-consul, who, at the moment of our entering, was in the act +of directing a letter to me at Athens. The subject was my interesting +carpet-bag. There being no American consul at Padras, I had taken the +liberty of writing to Mr. Robertson, requesting him, if my estate should +find its way into his hands, to forward it to me at Athens, and the +letter was to assure me of his attention to my wishes. It may be +considered treason against classical taste, but it consoled me somewhat +for the loss of Parnassus to find a stranger taking so warm an interest +in my fugitive habiliments. + +There was something, too, in the appearance of Padras, that addressed +itself to other feelings than those connected with the indulgence of a +classical humour. Our bones were still aching with the last night's +rest, or, rather, the want of it, at Lepanto; and when we found +ourselves in a neat little locanda, and a complaisant Greek asked us +what we would have for dinner, and showed us our beds for the night, we +almost agreed that climbing Parnassus and such things were fit only for +boys just out of college. + +Padras is beautifully situated at the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth, and +the windows of our locanda commanded a fine view of the bold mountains +on the opposite side of the gulf, and the parallel range forming the +valley which leads to Missilonghi. It stands on the site of the ancient +Patrae, enumerated by Herodotus among the twelve cities of Achaia. During +the intervals of peace in the Peloponnesian war, Alcibiades, about four +hundred and fifty years before Christ, persuaded its inhabitants to +build long walls down to the sea. Philip of Macedon frequently landed +there in his expeditions to Peloponnesus. Augustus Caesar, after the +battle of Actium, made it a Roman colony, and sent thither a large body +of his veteran soldiers; and, in the time of Cicero, Roman merchants +were settled there just as French and Italians are now. The modern town +has grown up since the revolution, or rather since the accession of +Otho, and bears no marks of the desolation at Missilonghi and Lepanto. +It contains a long street of shops well supplied with European goods; +the English steamers from Corfu to Malta touch here; and, besides the +little Greek caiques trading in the Gulf of Corinth, vessels from all +parts of the Adriatic are constantly in the harbour. + +Among others, there was an Austrian man-of-war from Trieste, on her way +to Alexandria. By a singular fortune, the commandant had been in one of +the Austrian vessels that carried to New-York the unfortunate Poles; the +only Austrian man-of-war which had ever been to the United States. A day +or two after their arrival at New-York I had taken a boat at the Battery +and gone on board this vessel, and had met the officers at some parties +given to them at which he had been present; and though we had no actual +acquaintance with each other, these circumstances were enough to form an +immediate link between us, particularly as he was enthusiastic in his +praises of the hospitality of our citizens and the beauty of our women. +Lest, however, any of the latter should be vainglorious at hearing that +their praises were sounded so far from home, I consider it my duty to +say that the commandant was almost blind, very slovenly, always smoking +a pipe, and generally a little tipsy. + +Early in the morning we started for Athens. Our turnout was rather +better than at Missilonghi, but not much. The day, however, was fine; +the cold wind which, for several days, had been blowing down the Gulf +of Corinth, had ceased, and the air was warm, and balmy, and +invigorating. We had already found that Greece had something to attract +the stranger besides the recollections of her ancient glories, and often +forgot that the ground we were travelling was consecrated by historians +and poets, in admiration of its own wild and picturesque beauty. Our +road for about three hours lay across a plain, and then close along the +gulf, sometimes winding by the foot of a wild precipitous mountain, and +then again over a plain, with the mountains rising at some distance on +our right. Sometimes we rose and crossed their rugged summits, and again +descended to the seashore. On our left we had constantly the gulf, +bordered on the opposite side by a range of mountains sometimes receding +and then rising almost out of the water, while high above the rest rose +the towering summits of Parnassus covered with snow. + +It was after dark when we arrived at Vostitza, beautifully situated on +the banks of the Gulf of Corinth. This is the representative of the +ancient AEgium, one of the most celebrated cities in Greece, mentioned by +Homer as having supplied vessels for the Trojan war, and in the second +century containing sixteen sacred edifices, a theatre, a portico, and an +agora. For many ages it was the seat of the Achaian Congress. Probably +the worthy delegates who met here to deliberate upon the affairs of +Greece had better accommodations than we obtained, or they would be +likely, I should imagine, to hold but short sessions. + +We stopped at a vile locanda, the only one in the place, where we found +a crowd of men in a small room, gathered around a dirty table, eating, +one of whom sprang up and claimed me as an old acquaintance. He had on +a Greek capote and a large foraging cap slouched over his eyes, so that +I had some difficulty in recognising him as an Italian who, at Padras, +had tried to persuade me to go by water up to the head of the gulf. He +had started that morning, about the same time we did, with a crowd of +passengers, half of whom were already by the ears. Fortunately, they +were obliged to return to their boats, and left all the house to us; +which, however, contained little besides a strapping Greek, who called +himself its proprietor. + +Before daylight we were again in the saddle. During the whole day's ride +the scenery was magnificent. Sometimes we were hemmed in as if for ever +enclosed in an amphitheatre of wild and gigantic rocks; then from some +lofty summit we looked out upon lesser mountains, broken, and torn, and +thrown into every wild and picturesque form, as if by an earthquake; and +after riding among deep dells and craggy steeps, yawning ravines and +cloud-capped precipices, we descended to a quiet valley and the +seashore. + +At about four o'clock we came down, for the last time, to the shore, and +before us, at some distance, espied a single khan, standing almost on +the edge of the water. It was a beautiful resting-place for a traveller; +the afternoon was mild, and we walked on the shore till the sun set. The +khan was sixty or seventy feet long, and contained an upper room running +the whole length of the building. This room was our bedchamber. We built +a fire at one end, made tea, and roasted some eggs, the smoke ascending +and curling around the rafters, and finally passing out of the openings +in the roof; we stretched ourselves in our cloaks and, with the murmur +of the waves in our ears, looked through the apertures in the roof upon +the stars, and fell asleep. + +About the middle of the night the door opened with a rude noise, and a +tall Greek, almost filling the doorway, stood on the threshold. After +pausing a moment he walked in, followed by half a dozen gigantic +companions, their tall figures, full dresses, and the shining of their +pistols and yataghans wearing a very ugly look to a man just roused from +slumber. But they were merely Greek pedlers or travelling merchants, +and, without any more noise, kindled the fire anew, drew their capotes +around them, stretched themselves upon the floor, and were soon asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Quarrel with the Landlord.--AEgina.--Sicyon.--Corinth.--A + distinguished Reception.--Desolation of Corinth.--The + Acropolis.--View from the Acropolis.--Lechaeum and Cenchreae.--Kaka + Scala.--Arrival at Athens. + + +IN the morning Demetrius had a roaring quarrel with the keeper of the +locanda, in which he tried to keep back part of the money we gave him to +pay for us. He did this, however, on principle, for we had given twice +as much as our lodging was worth, and no man ought to have more. His +character was at stake in preventing any one from cheating us too much; +and, in order to do this, he stopped our funds in transitu. + +We started early, and for some time our road lay along the shore. It was +not necessary, surrounded by such magnificent scenery, to draw upon +historical recollections for the sake of giving interest to the road; +still it did not diminish that interest to know that, many centuries +ago, great cities stood here, whose sites are now desolate or occupied +as the miserable gathering-places of a starving population. Directly +opposite Parnassus, and at the foot of a hill crowned with the ruins of +an acropolis, in perfect desolation now, stood the ancient AEgira; once +numbering a population of ten thousand inhabitants, and in the second +century containing three hiera, a temple, and another sacred edifice. +Farther on, and toward the head of the Gulf of Corinth, the miserable +village of Basilico stands on the site of the ancient Sicyon, boasting +as high an antiquity as any city in Greece, and long celebrated as the +first of her schools of painting. In five hours we came in sight of the +Acropolis of Corinth, and, shortly after, of Corinth itself. + +The reader need not fear my plunging him deeply into antiquities. Greece +has been explored, and examined, and written upon, till the subject is +almost threadbare; and I do not flatter myself that I discovered in it +anything new. Still no man from such a distant country as mine can find +himself crossing the plain of Corinth, and ascending to the ancient +city, without a strange and indescribable feeling. We have no old +monuments, no classical associations; and our history hardly goes beyond +the memory of that venerable personage, "the oldest inhabitant." Corinth +is so old that its early records are blended with the history of the +heathen gods. The Corinthians say that it was called after the son of +Jupiter, and its early sovereigns were heroes of the Grecian mythology. +It was the friend of Sparta and the rival of Athens; the first city to +build war-galleys and send forth colonies, which became great empires. +It was the assembling-place of their delegates, who elected Philip, and +afterward Alexander the Great, to conduct the war against the Persians. +In painting, sculpture, and architecture surpassing all the achievements +of Greece, or which the genius of man has ever since accomplished. +Conquered by the then barbarous Romans, her walls were razed to the +ground, her men put to the sword, her women and children sold into +captivity, and the historian who records her fall writes that he saw the +finest pictures thrown wantonly on the ground, and Roman soldiers +playing on them at draughts and dice. For many years deserted, Corinth +was again peopled; rose rapidly from its ruins; and, when St. Paul +abode there "a year and six months"--to the Christian the most +interesting period in her history--she was again a populous city, and +the Corinthians a luxurious people. + +Its situation in the early ages of the world could not fail to make it a +great commercial emporium. In the inexperienced navigation of early +times it was considered difficult and dangerous to go around the point +of the Peloponnesus, and there was a proverb, "Before the mariner +doubles Cape Malea, he should forget all he holds dearest in the world." +Standing on the isthmus commanding the Adriatic and AEgean Seas; +receiving in one hand the riches of Asia and in the other those of +Europe; distributing them to every quarter of the then known world, +wealth followed commerce, and then came luxury and extravagance to such +an extent that it became a proverb, "It is not for every man to go to +Corinth." + +As travellers having regard to supper and lodging, we should have been +glad to see some vestige of its ancient luxury; but times are changed; +the ruined city stands where stood Corinth of old, but it has fallen +once more; the sailor no longer hugs the well-known coasts, but launches +fearlessly into the trackless ocean, and Corinth can never again be what +she has been. + +Our servant had talked so much of the hotel at Corinth, that perhaps the +idea of bed and lodging was rather too prominent in our reveries as we +approached the fallen city. He rode on before to announce our coming, +and, working our way up the hill through narrow streets, stared at by +all the men, followed by a large representation from the juvenile +portion of the modern Corinthians, and barked at by the dogs, we turned +into a large enclosure, something like a barnyard, on which opened a +ruined balcony forming the entrance to the hotel. Demetrius was standing +before it with our host, as unpromising a looking scoundrel as ever took +a traveller in. He had been a notorious captain of brigands, and when +his lawless band was broken up and half of its number hanged, he could +not overcome his disposition to prey upon travellers, but got a couple +of mattresses and bedsteads, and set up a hotel at Corinth. Demetrius +had made a bargain for us at a price that made him hang his head when he +told it, and we were so indignant at the extortion that we at first +refused to dismount. Our host stood aloof, being used to such scenes, +and perfectly sure that, after storming a little, we should be glad to +take the only beds between Padras and Athens. In the end, however, we +got the better both of him and Demetrius; for, as he had fixed separate +prices for dinner, beds, and breakfast, we went to a little Greek +coffee-house, and raised half Corinth to get us something to eat, and +paid him only for our lodging. + +We had a fine afternoon before us, and our first movement was to the +ruins of a temple, the only monument of antiquity in Corinth. The city +has been so often sacked and plundered, that not a column of the +Corinthian order exists in the place from which it derives its name. +Seven columns of the old temple are still standing, fluted and of the +Doric order, though wanting in height the usual proportion to the +diameter; built probably before that order had attained its perfection, +and long before the Corinthian order was invented; though when it was +built, by whom, or to what god it was consecrated, antiquaries cannot +agree in deciding. Contrasted with these solitary columns of an unknown +antiquity are ruins of yesterday. Houses fallen, burned, and black with +smoke, as if the wretched inmates had fled before the blaze of their +dwellings; and high above the ruined city, now as in the days when the +Persian and Roman invaded it, still towers the Acropolis, a sharp and +naked rock, rising abruptly a thousand feet from the earth, inaccessible +and impregnable under the science of ancient war; and in all times of +invasion and public distress, from her earliest history down to the +bloody days of the late revolution, the refuge of the inhabitants. + +[Illustration: Corinth.] + +It was late in the afternoon when we set out for the Acropolis. About a +mile from the city we came to the foot of the hill, and ascended by a +steep and difficult path, with many turnings and windings, to the first +gate. Having been in the saddle since early in the morning, we stopped +several times to rest, and each time lingered and looked out with +admiration upon the wild and beautiful scenery around us; and we thought +of the frequently recurring times when hostile armies had drawn up +before the city at our feet, and the inhabitants, in terror and +confusion, had hurried up this path and taken refuge within the gate +before us. + +Inside the gate were the ruins of a city, and here, too, we saw the +tokens of ruthless war; the fire-brand was hardly yet extinguished, and +the houses were in ruins. Within a few years it has been the stronghold +and refuge of infidels and Christians, taken and retaken, destroyed, +rebuilt, and destroyed again, and the ruins of Turkish mosques and +Christian churches are mingled together in undistinguishable confusion. +This enclosure is abundantly supplied with water, issuing from the rock, +and is capable of containing several thousand people. The fountain of +Pyrene, which supplies the Acropolis, called the most salubrious in +Greece, is celebrated as that at which Pegasus was drinking when taken +by Bellerophon. Ascending among ruined and deserted habitations, we came +to a second gate flanked by towers. A wall about two miles in +circumference encloses the whole summit of the rock, including two +principal points which still rise above the rest. One is crowned with a +tower and the other with a mosque, now in ruins; probably erected where +once stood a heathen temple. Some have mistaken it for a Christian +church, but all agree that it is a place built and consecrated to divine +use, and that, for unknown ages men have gone up to this cloud-capped +point to worship their Creator. It was a sublime idea to erect on this +lofty pinnacle an altar to the Almighty. Above us were only the +unclouded heavens; the sun was setting with that brilliancy which +attends his departing glory nowhere but in the East; and the sky was +glowing with a lurid red, as of some great conflagration. The scene +around and below was wondrously beautiful. Mountains and rivers, seas +and islands, rocks, forests, and plains, thrown together in perfect +wantonness, and yet in the most perfect harmony, and every feature in +the expanded landscape consecrated by the richest associations. On one +side the Saronic Gulf, with its little islands, and AEgina and Salamis, +stretching off to "Sunium's marble height," with the ruins of its temple +looking out mournfully upon the sea; on the other, the Gulf of Corinth +or Lepanto, bounded by the dark and dreary mountains of Cytheron, where +Acteon, gazing at the goddess, was changed into a stag, and hunted to +death by his own hounds; and where Bacchus, with his train of satyrs and +frantic bacchantes, celebrated his orgies. Beyond were Helicon, sacred +to Apollo and the Muses, and Parnassus, covered with snow. Behind us +towered a range of mountains stretching away to Argos and the ancient +Sparta, and in front was the dim outline of the temple of the Acropolis +at Athens. The shades of evening gathered thick around us while we +remained on the top of the Acropolis, and it was dark long before we +reached our locanda. + +The next morning we breakfasted at the coffee-house, and left Corinth +wonderfully pleased at having outwitted Demetrius and our brigand host, +who gazed after us with a surly scowl as we rode away, and probably +longed for the good old days when, at the head of his hanged companions, +he could have stopped us at the first mountain-pass and levied +contributions at his own rate. I probably condemn myself when I say that +we left this ancient city with such a trifle uppermost in our thoughts, +but so it was; we bought a loaf of bread as we passed through the +market-place, and descended to the plain of Corinth. We had still the +same horses which we rode from Padras; they were miserable animals, and +I did not mount mine the whole day. Indeed, this is the true way to +travel in Greece; the country is mountainous, and the road or narrow +horse-path so rough and precipitous that the traveller is often obliged +to dismount and walk. The exercise of clambering up the mountains and +the purity of the air brace every nerve in the body, and not a single +feature of the scenery escapes the eye. + +But, as yet, there are other things beside scenery; on each side of the +road and within site of each other are the ruins of the ancient cities +of Lechaeum and Cenchreae, the ports of Corinth on the Corinthian and +Saronic Gulfs; the former once connected with it by two long walls, and +the road to the latter once lined with temples and sepulchres, the ruins +of which may still be seen. The isthmus connecting the Peloponnesus with +the continent is about six miles wide, and Corinth owed her commercial +greatness to the profits of her merchants in transporting merchandise +across it. Entire vessels were sometimes carried from one sea and +launched into the other. The project of a canal across suggested itself +both to the Greeks and Romans, and there yet exist traces of a ditch +commenced for that purpose. + +On the death of Leonidas, and in apprehension of a Persian invasion, the +Peloponnesians built a wall across the isthmus from Lechaeum to Cenchreae. +This wall was at one time fortified with a hundred and fifty towers; it +was often destroyed and as often rebuilt; and in one place, about three +miles from Corinth, vestiges of it may still be seen. Here were +celebrated those Isthmian games so familiar to every tyro in Grecian +literature and history; toward Mount Oneus stands on an eminence an +ancient mound, supposed to be the tomb of Melicertes, their founder, and +near it is at this day a grove of the sacred pine, with garlands of the +leaves of which the victors were crowned. + +In about three hours from Corinth we crossed the isthmus, and came to +the village of Kalamaki on the shore of the Saronic Gulf, containing a +few miserable buildings, fit only for the miserable people who occupied +them. Directly on the shore was a large coffee-house enclosed by mud +walls, and having branches of trees for a roof; and in front was a +little flotilla of Greek caiques. + +Next to the Greek's love for his native mountains is his passion for the +waters that roll at their feet; and many of the proprietors of the +rakish little boats in the harbour talked to us of the superior +advantage of the sea over a mountainous road, and tried to make us +abandon our horses and go by water to Athens; but we clung to the land, +and have reason to congratulate ourselves upon having done so, for our +road was one of the most beautiful it was ever my fortune to travel +over. For some distance I walked along the shore, on the edge of a plain +running from the foot of Mount Geranion. The plain was intersected by +mountain torrents, the channel-beds of which were at that time dry. We +passed the little village of Caridi, supposed to be the Sidus of +antiquity, while a ruined church and a few old blocks of marble mark the +site of ancient Crommyon, celebrated as the haunt of a wild boar +destroyed by Theseus. + +At the other end of the plain we came to the foot of Mount Geranion, +stretching out boldly to the edge of the gulf, and followed the road +along its southern side close to and sometimes overhanging the sea. From +time immemorial this has been called the Kaka Scala, or bad way. It is +narrow, steep, and rugged, and wild to sublimity. Sometimes we were +completely hemmed in by impending mountains, and then rose upon a lofty +eminence commanding an almost boundless view. On the summit of the range +the road runs directly along the mountain's brink, overhanging the sea, +and so narrow that two horsemen can scarcely pass abreast; where a +stumble would plunge the traveller several hundred yards into the waters +beneath. Indeed, the horse of one of my companions stumbled and fell, +and put him in such peril that both dismounted and accompanied me on +foot. In the olden time this wild and rugged road was famous as the +haunt of the robber Sciron, who plundered the luckless travellers, and +then threw them from this precipice. The fabulous account is, that +Theseus, three thousand years before, on his first visit to Athens, +encountered the famous robber, and tossed him from the same precipice +whence he had thrown so many better men. According to Ovid, the earth +and the sea refused to receive the bones of Sciron, which continued for +some time suspended in the open air, until they were changed into large +rocks, whose points still appear at the foot of the precipice; and to +this day, say the sailors, knock the bottoms out of the Greek vessels. +In later days this road was so infested by corsairs and pirates, that +even the Turks feared to travel on it; at one place, that looks as +though it might be intended as a jumping-off point into another world, +Ino, with her son Melicertes in her arms (so say the Greek poets), threw +herself into the sea to escape the fury of her husband; and we know +that in later days St. Paul travelled on this road to preach the gospel +to the Corinthians. + +But, independently of all associations, and in spite of its difficulties +and dangers, if a man were by accident placed on the lofty height +without knowing where he was, he would be struck with the view which it +commands, as one of the most beautiful that mortal eyes ever beheld. It +was my fortune to pass over it a second time on foot, and I often seated +myself on some wild point, and waited the coming up of my muleteers, +looking out upon the sea, calm and glistening as if plated with silver, +and studded with islands in continuous clusters stretching away into the +AEgean. + +During the greater part of the passage of the Kaka Scala my companions +walked with me; and, as we always kept in advance, when we seated +ourselves on some rude rock overhanging the sea to wait for our beasts +and attendants, few things could be more picturesque than their +approach. + +On the summit of the pass we fell into the ancient paved way that leads +from Attica into the Peloponnesus, and walked over the same pavement +which the Greeks travelled, perhaps, three thousand years ago. A ruined +wall and gate mark the ancient boundary; and near this an early +traveller observed a large block of white marble projecting over the +precipice, and almost ready to fall into the sea, which bore an +inscription, now illegible. Here it is supposed stood the Stele erected +by Theseus, bearing on one side the inscription, "Here is Peloponnesus, +not Ionia;" and on the other the equally pithy notification, "Here is +not Peloponnesus, but Ionia." It would be a pretty place of residence +for a man in misfortune; for, besides the extraordinary beauty of the +scenery, by a single step he might avoid the service of civil process, +and set the sheriff of Attica or the Peloponnesus at defiance. +Descending, we saw before us a beautiful plain, extending from the foot +of the mountain to the sea, and afar off, on an eminence commanding the +plain, was the little town of Megara. + +It is unfortunate for the reader that every ruined village on the road +stands on the site of an ancient city. The ruined town before us was the +birthplace of Euclid, and the representative of that Megara which is +distinguished in history more than two thousand years ago; which sent +forth its armies in the Persian and Peloponnesian wars; alternately the +ally and enemy of Corinth and Athens; containing numerous temples, and +the largest public houses in Greece; and though exposed, with her other +cities, to the violence of a fierce democracy, as is recorded by the +historian, "the Megareans retained their independence and lived in +peace." As a high compliment, the people offered to Alexander the Great +the freedom of their city. When we approached it its appearance was a +speaking comment upon human pride. + +It had been demolished and burned by Greeks and Turks, and now presented +little more than a mass of blackened ruins. A few apartments had been +cleared out and patched up, and occasionally I saw a solitary figure +stalking amid the desolation. + +I had not mounted my horse all day; had kicked out a pair of Greek shoes +on my walk, and was almost barefoot when I entered the city. A little +below the town was a large building enclosed by a high wall, with a +Bavarian soldier lounging at the gate. We entered, and found a good +coffee-room below, and a comfortable bed chamber above, where we found +good quilts and mattresses, and slept like princes. + +Early in the morning we set out for Athens, our road for some time lying +along the sea. About half way to the Piraeus, a ruined village, with a +starving population, stands on the site of the ancient Eleusis, famed +throughout all Greece for the celebration of the mysterious rites of +Ceres. The magnificent temple of the goddess has disappeared, and the +colossal statue made by the immortal Phidias now adorns the vestibule of +the University at Cambridge. We lingered a little while in the village, +and soon after entered the Via Sacra, by which, centuries ago, the +priests and people moved in solemn religious processions from Athens to +the great temple of Ceres. At first we passed underneath the cliff along +the shore, then rose by a steep ascent among the mountains, barren and +stony, and wearing an aspect of desolation equal to that of the Roman +Campagna; then we passed through a long defile, upon the side of which, +deeply cut in the rock, are seen the marks of chariot-wheels; perhaps of +those used in the sacred processions. We passed the ruined monastery of +Daphne, in a beautifully picturesque situation, and in a few minutes saw +the rich plain of Attica; and our muleteers and Demetrius, with a burst +of enthusiasm, perhaps because the journey was ended, clapped their +hands and cried out, "Atinae! Atinae!" + +The reader, perhaps, trembles at the name of Athens, but let him take +courage. I promise to let him off easily. A single remark, however, +before reaching it. The plain of Attica lies between two parallel ranges +of mountains, and extends from the sea many miles back into the +interior. On the border of the sea stands the Piraeus, now, as in former +times, the harbour of the city, and toward the east, on a little +eminence, Athens itself, like the other cities in Greece, presenting a +miserable appearance, the effects of protracted and relentless wars. But +high above the ruins of the modern city towers the Acropolis, holding up +to the skies the ruined temples of other days, and proclaiming what +Athens was. We wound around the temple of Theseus, the most beautiful +and perfect specimen of architecture that time has spared; and in +striking contrast with this monument of the magnificence of past days, +here, in the entrance to the city, our horses were struggling and +sinking up to their saddle-girths in the mud. + +We did in Athens what we should have done in Boston or Philadelphia; +rode up to the best hotel, and, not being able to obtain accommodations +there, rode to another; where, being again refused admittance, we were +obliged to distribute ourselves into three parcels. Dr. Willet went to +Mr. Hill's (of whom more anon). M. found entrance at a new hotel in the +suburbs, and I betook myself to the Hotel de France. The garcon was +rather bothered when I threw him a pair of old boots which I had hanging +at my saddle-bow, and told him to take care of my baggage; he asked me +when the rest would come up; and hardly knew what to make of me when I +told him that was all I travelled with. + +I was still standing in the court of the hotel, almost barefoot, and +thinking of the prosperous condition of the owner of a dozen shirts, and +other things conforming, when Mr. Hill came over and introduced himself; +and telling me that his house was the house of every American, asked me +to waive ceremony and bring my luggage over at once. This was again +hitting my sore point; everybody seemed to take a special interest in +my luggage, and I was obliged to tell my story more than once. I +declined Mr. Hill's kind invitation, but called upon him early the next +day, dined with him, and, during the whole of my stay in Athens, was in +the habit, to a great extent, of making his house my home; and this, I +believe, is the case with all the Americans who go there; besides which, +some borrow his money, and others his clothes. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + American Missionary School.--Visit to the School.--Mr. Hill and the + Male Department.--Mrs. Hill and the Female Department.--Maid of + Athens.--Letter from Mr. Hill.--Revival of Athens.--Citizens of + the World. + + +THE first thing we did in Athens was to visit the American missionary +school. Among the extraordinary changes of an ever-changing world, it is +not the least that the young America is at this moment paying back the +debt which the world owes to the mother of science, and the citizen of a +country which the wisest of the Greeks never dreamed of, is teaching the +descendants of Plato and Aristotle the elements of their own tongue. I +did not expect among the ruins of Athens to find anything that would +particularly touch my national feelings, but it was a subject of deep +and interesting reflection that, in the city which surpassed all the +world in learning, where Socrates, and Plato, and Aristotle taught, and +Cicero went to study, the only door of instruction was that opened by +the hands of American citizens, and an American missionary was the only +schoolmaster; and I am ashamed to say that I was not aware of the +existence of such an institution until advised of it by my friend Dr. W. + +In eighteen hundred and thirty the Rev. Messrs. Hill and Robinson, with +their families, sailed from this city (New-York) as the agents of the +Episcopal missionary society, to found schools in Greece. They first +established themselves in the Island of Tenos; but, finding that it was +not the right field for their labours, employed themselves in acquiring +a knowledge of the language, and of the character and habits of the +modern Greeks. Their attention was directed to Athens, and in the spring +of eighteen hundred and thirty-one they made a visit to that city, and +were so confirmed in their impressions, that they purchased a lot of +ground on which to erect edifices for a permanent establishment, and, in +the mean time, rented a house for the immediate commencement of a +school. They returned to Tenos for their families and effects, and again +arrived at Athens about the end of June following. From the deep +interest taken in their struggle for liberty, and the timely help +furnished them in their hour of need, the Greeks were warmly +prepossessed in favour of our countrymen; and the conduct of the +missionaries themselves was so judicious, that they were received with +the greatest respect and the warmest welcome by the public authorities +and the whole population of Athens. Their furniture, printing-presses, +and other effects were admitted free of duties; and it is but justice to +them to say that, since that time, they have moved with such discretion +among an excitable and suspicious people, that, while they have advanced +in the great objects of their mission, they have grown in the esteem and +good-will of the best and most influential inhabitants of Greece; and so +great was Mr. Hill's confidence in their affections, that, though there +was at that time a great political agitation, and it was apprehended +that Athens might again become the scene of violence and bloodshed, he +told me he had no fears, and felt perfectly sure that, in any +outbreaking of popular fury, himself and family, and the property of the +mission, would be respected.[1] + +In the middle of the summer of their arrival at Athens, Mrs. Hill +opened a school for girls in the magazine or cellar of the house in +which they resided; the first day she had twenty pupils, and in two +months one hundred and sixty-seven. Of the first ninety-six, not more +than six could read at all, and that very imperfectly; and not more than +ten or twelve knew a letter. At the time of our visit the school +numbered nearly five hundred; and when we entered the large room, and +the scholars all rose in a body to greet us as Americans, I felt a deep +sense of regret that, personally, I had no hand in such a work, and +almost envied the feelings of my companion, one of its patrons and +founders. Besides teaching them gratitude to those from whose country +they derived the privileges they enjoyed, Mr. Hill had wisely +endeavoured to impress upon their minds a respect for the constituted +authorities, particularly important in that agitated and unsettled +community; and on one end of the wall, directly fronting the seats of +the scholars, was printed, in large Greek characters, the text of +Scripture, "Fear God, honour the king." + +It was all important for the missionaries not to offend the strong +prejudices of the Greeks by any attempt to withdraw the children from +the religion of their fathers; and the school purports to be, and is +intended for, the diffusion of elementary education only; but it is +opened in the morning with prayer, concluding with the Lord's Prayer as +read in our churches, which is repeated by the whole school aloud; and +on Sundays, besides the prayers, the creed, and sometimes the Ten +Commandments, are recited, and a chapter from the Gospels is read aloud +by one of the scholars, the missionaries deeming this more expedient +than to conduct the exercises themselves. The lesson for the day is +always the portion appointed for the gospel of the day in their own +church; and they close by singing a hymn. The room is thrown open to the +public, and is frequently resorted to by the parents of the children and +strangers; some coming, perhaps, says Mr. Hill, to "hear what these +babblers will say," and "other some" from a suspicion that "we are +setters forth of strange gods." + +The boys' school is divided into three departments, the lowest under +charge of a Greek qualified on the Lancasterian system. They were of all +ages, from three to eighteen; and, as Mr. Hill told me, most of them had +been half-clad, dirty, ragged little urchins, who, before they were put +to their A, B, C, or, rather, their Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, had to be +thoroughly washed, rubbed, scrubbed, doctored, and dressed, and, but for +the school, would now, perhaps, be prowling vagabonds in the streets of +Athens, or training for robbery in the mountains. They were a body of +fine-looking boys, possessing, as Mr. Hill told me, in an extraordinary +degree, all that liveliness of imagination, that curiosity and eagerness +after knowledge, which distinguished the Greeks of old, retaining, under +centuries of dreadful oppression, the recollection of the greatness of +their fathers, and, what was particularly interesting, many of them +bearing the great names so familiar in Grecian history; I shook hands +with a little Miltiades, Leonidas, Aristides, &c., in features and +apparent intelligence worthy descendants of the immortal men whose names +they bear. And there was one who startled me, he was the son of the +Maid of Athens! To me the Maid of Athens was almost an imaginary being, +something fanciful, a creation of the brain, and not a corporeal +substance, to have a little urchin of a boy. But so it was. The Maid of +Athens is married. She had a right to marry, no doubt; and it is said +that there is poetry in married life, and, doubtless, she is a much more +interesting person now than the Maid of Athens at thirty-six could be; +but the Maid of Athens is married to a Scotchman! the Maid of Athens is +now Mrs. Black! wife of George Black. Comment is unnecessary. + +But the principal and most interesting part of this missionary school +was the female department, under the direction of Mrs. Hill, the first, +and, except at Syra, the only school for females in all Greece, and +particularly interesting to me from the fact that it owed its existence +to the active benevolence of my own country-women. At the close of the +Greek revolution, female education was a thing entirely unknown in +Greece, and the women of all classes were in a most deplorable state of +ignorance. When the strong feeling that ran through our country in +favour of this struggling people had subsided, and Greece was freed from +the yoke of the Mussulman, an association of ladies in the little town +of Troy, perhaps instigated somewhat by an inherent love of power and +extended rule, and knowing the influence of their sex in a cultivated +state of society, formed the project of establishing at Athens a school +exclusively for the education of females; and, humble and unpretending +as was its commencement, it is becoming a more powerful instrument in +the civilization and moral and religious improvement of Greece, than all +that European diplomacy has ever done for her. The girls were +distributed in different classes, according to their age and +advancement; they had clean faces and hands, a rare thing with Greek +children, and were neatly dressed, many of them wearing frocks made by +ladies at home (probably at some of our sewing societies); and some of +them had attained such an age, and had such fine, dark, rolling eyes as +to make even a northern temperament feel the powerful influence they +would soon exercise over the rising, excitable generation of Greeks and +almost make him bless the hands that were directing that influence +aright. + +Mr. and Mrs. Hill accompanied us through the whole establishment, and, +being Americans, we were everywhere looked upon and received by the +girls as patrons and fathers of the school, both which characters I +waived in favour of my friend; the one because he was really entitled to +it, and the other because some of the girls were so well grown that I +did not care to be regarded as standing in that venerable relationship. +The didaskalissas, or teachers, were of this description, and they spoke +English. Occasionally Mr. Hill called a little girl up to us, and told +us her history, generally a melancholy one, as, being reduced to the +extremity of want by the revolution; or an orphan, whose parents had +been murdered by the Turks; and I had a conversation with a little +Penelope, who, however, did not look as if she would play the faithful +wife of Ulysses, and, if I am a judge of physiognomy, would never endure +widowhood twenty years for any man. + +Before we went away the whole school rose at once, and gave us a +glorious finale with a Greek hymn. In a short time these girls will grow +up into women and return to their several families; others will succeed +them, and again go out, and every year hundreds will distribute +themselves in the cities and among the fastnesses of the mountains, to +exercise over their fathers, and brothers, and lovers, the influence of +the education acquired here; instructed in all the arts of woman in +civilized domestic life, firmly grounded in the principles of morality, +and of religion purified from the follies, absurdities, and abominations +of the Greek faith. I have seen much of the missionary labours in the +East, but I do not know an institution which promises so surely the +happiest results. If the women are educated, the men cannot remain +ignorant; if the women are enlightened in religion, the men cannot +remain debased and degraded Christians. + +The ex-secretary Rigos was greatly affected at the appearance of this +female school; and, after surveying it attentively for some moments, +pointed to the Parthenon on the summit of the Acropolis, and said to +Mrs. Hill, with deep emotion, "Lady, you are erecting in Athens a +monument more enduring and more noble than yonder temple;" and the king +was so deeply impressed with its value, that, a short time before my +arrival, he proposed to Mr. Hill to take into his house girls from +different districts and educate them as teachers, with the view of +sending them back to their districts, there to organize new schools, and +carry out the great work of female education. Mr. Hill acceded to the +proposal, and the American missionary school now stands as the nucleus +of a large and growing system of education in Greece; and, very +opportunely for my purpose, within a few days I have received a letter +from Mr. Hill, in which, in relation to the school, he says, "Our +missionary establishment is much increased since you saw it; our labours +are greatly increased, and I think I may say we have now reached the +summit of what we had proposed to ourselves. We do not think it possible +that it can be extended farther without much larger means and more +personal aid. We do not wish or intend to ask for either. We have now +nearly forty persons residing with us, of whom thirty-five are Greeks, +all of whom are brought within the influence of the gospel; the greater +part of them are young girls from different parts of Greece, and even +from Egypt and Turkey (Greeks, however), whom we are preparing to become +instructresses of youth hereafter in their various districts. We have +five hundred, besides, under daily instruction in the different schools +under our care, and we employ under us in the schools twelve native +teachers, who have themselves been instructed by us. We have provided +for three of our dear pupils (all of whom were living with us when you +were here), who are honourably and usefully settled in life. One is +married to a person every way suited to her, and both husband and wife +are in our missionary service. One has charge of the government female +school at the Piraeus, and supports her father and mother and a large +family by her salary; and the third has gone with our missionaries to +Crete, to take charge of the female schools there. We have removed into +our new house" (of which the foundation was just laid at the time of my +visit), "and, large as it is, it is not half large enough. We are trying +to raise ways and means to enlarge it considerably, that we may take +more boarders under our own roof, which we look up to as the most +important means of making sure of our labour; for every one who comes to +reside with us is taken away from the corrupt example exhibited at home, +and brought within a wholesome influence. Lady Byron has just sent us +one hundred pounds toward enlarging our house with this view, and we +have commenced the erection of three additional dormitories with the +money." + +Athens is again the capital of a kingdom. Enthusiasts see in her present +condition the promise of a restoration to her ancient greatness; but +reason and observation assure us that the world is too much changed for +her ever to be what she has been. In one respect, her condition +resembles that of her best days; for, as her fame then attracted +strangers from every quarter of the world to study in her schools, so +now the capital of King Otho has become a great gathering-place of +wandering spirits from many near and distant regions. For ages difficult +and dangerous of access, the ancient capital of the arts lay shrouded in +darkness, and almost cut off from the civilized world. At long +intervals, a few solitary travellers only found their way to it; but, +since the revolution, it has again become a place of frequent resort and +intercourse. It is true that the ancient halls of learning are still +solitary and deserted, but strangers from every nation now turn hither; +the scholar to roam over her classic soil, the artist to study her +ancient monuments, and the adventurer to carve his way to fortune. + +The first day I dined at the hotel I had an opportunity of seeing the +variety of material congregated in the reviving city. We had a long +table, capable of accommodating about twenty persons. The manner of +living was a la carte, each guest dining when he pleased; but, by tacit +consent, at about six o'clock all assembled at the table. We presented a +curious medley. No two were from the same country. Our discourse was in +English, French, Italian, German, Greek, Russian, Polish, and I know not +what else, as if we were the very people stricken with confusion of +tongues at the Tower of Babel. Dinner over, all fell into French, and +the conversation became general. Every man present was, in the fullest +sense of the term, a citizen of the world. It had been the fortune of +each, whether good or bad, to break the little circle in which so many +are born, revolve, and die; and the habitual mingling with people of +various nations had broken down all narrow prejudices, and given to +every one freedom of mind and force of character. All had seen much, had +much to communicate, and felt that they had much yet to learn. By some +accident, moreover, all seemed to have become particularly interested in +the East. They travelled over the whole range of Eastern politics, and, +to a certain extent, considered themselves identified with Eastern +interests. Most of the company were or had been soldiers, and several +wore uniforms and stars, or decorations of some description. They spoke +of the different campaigns in Greece in which some of them had served; +of the science of war; of Marlborough, Eugene, and more modern captains; +and I remember that they startled my feelings of classical reverence by +talking of Leonidas at Thermopylae and Miltiades at Marathon in the same +tone as of Napoleon at Leipsic and Wellington at Waterloo. One of them +constructed on the table, with the knives and forks and spoons, a map of +Marathon, and with a sheathed yataghan pointed out the position of the +Greeks and Persians, and showed where Miltiades, as a general, was +wrong. They were not blinded by the dust of antiquity. They had been +knocked about till all enthusiasm and all reverence for the past were +shaken out of them, and they had learned to give things their right +names. A French engineer showed us the skeleton of a map of Greece, +which was then preparing under the direction of the French Geographical +Society, exhibiting an excess of mountains and deficiency of plain which +surprised even those who had travelled over every part of the kingdom. +One had just come from Constantinople, where he had seen the sultan +going to mosque; another had escaped from an attack of the plague in +Egypt; a third gave the dimensions of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbeck; +and a fourth had been at Babylon, and seen the ruins of the Tower of +Babel. In short, every man had seen something which the others had not +seen, and all their knowledge was thrown into a common stock. I found +myself at once among a new class of men; and I turned from him who +sneered at Miltiades to him who had seen the sultan, or to him who had +been at Bagdad, and listened with interest, somewhat qualified by +consciousness of my own inferiority. I was lying in wait, however, and +took advantage of an opportunity to throw in something about America; +and, at the sound, all turned to me with an eagerness of curiosity that +I had not anticipated. + +In Europe, and even in England, I had often found extreme ignorance of +my own country; but here I was astonished to find, among men so familiar +with all parts of the Old World, such total lack of information about +the New. A gentleman opposite me, wearing the uniform of the King of +Bavaria, asked me if I had ever been in America. I told him that I was +born, and, as they say in Kentucky, raised there. He begged my pardon, +but doubtfully _suggested_, "You are not black?" and I was obliged to +explain to him that in our section of America the Indian had almost +entirely disappeared, and that his place was occupied by the descendants +of the Gaul and the Briton. I was forthwith received into the +fraternity, for my home was farther away than any of them had ever been; +my friend opposite considered me a bijou, asked me innumerable +questions, and seemed to be constantly watching for the breaking out of +the cannibal spirit, as if expecting to see me bite my neighbour. At +first I had felt myself rather a small affair but, before separating, +_l'Americain_, or _le sauvage_, or finally, _le cannibal_ found himself +something of a lion. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Since my return home I have seen in a newspaper an account of a +popular commotion at Syra, in which the printing-presses and books at +the missionaries were destroyed, and Mr. Robinson was threatened with +personal violence. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + Ruins of Athens.--Hill of Mars.--Temple of the Winds.--Lantern of + Demosthenes.--Arch of Adrian.--Temple of Jupiter Olympus.--Temple + of Theseus.--The Acropolis.--The Parthenon.--Pentelican + Mountain.--Mount Hymettus.--The Piraeus.--Greek Fleas.--Napoli. + + +THE next morning I began my survey of the ruins of Athens. It was my +intention to avoid any description of these localities and monuments, +because so many have preceded me, stored with all necessary knowledge, +ripe in taste and sound in judgment, who have devoted to them all the +time and research they so richly merit; but as, in our community, +through the hurry and multiplicity of business occupations, few are able +to bestow upon these things much time or attention, and, farthermore, as +the books which treat of them are not accessible to all, I should be +doing injustice to my readers if I were to omit them altogether. +Besides, I should be doing violence to my own feelings, and cannot get +fairly started in Athens, without recurring to scenes which I regarded +at the time with extraordinary interest. I have since visited most of +the principal cities in Europe, existing as well as ruined and I hardly +know any to which I recur with more satisfaction than Athens. If the +reader tire in the brief reference I shall make, he must not impute it +to any want of interest in the subject; and as I am not in the habit of +going into heroics, he will believe me when I say that, if he have any +reverence for the men or things consecrated by the respect and +admiration of ages, he will find it called out at Athens. In the hope +that I may be the means of inducing some of my countrymen to visit that +famous city, I will add another inducement by saying that he may have, +as I had, Mr. Hill for a cicerone. This gentleman is familiar with every +locality and monument around or in the city, and, which I afterward +found to be an unusual thing with those living in places consecrated in +the minds of strangers, he retains for them all that freshness of +feeling which we possess who only know them from books and pictures. + +By an arrangement made the evening before, early in the morning of my +second day in Athens Mr. Hill was at the door of my hotel to attend us. +As we descended the steps a Greek stopped him, and, bowing with his hand +on his heart, addressed him in a tone of earnestness which we could not +understand; but we were struck with the sonorous tones of his voice and +the musical cadence of his sentences; and when he had finished, Mr. Hill +told us that he had spoken in a strain which, in the original, was +poetry itself, beginning, "Americanos, I am a Stagyrite. I come from the +land of Aristotle, the disciple of Plato," &c., &c.; telling him the +whole story of his journey from the ancient Stagyra and his arrival in +Athens; and that, having understood that Mr. Hill was distributing books +among his countrymen, he begged for one to take home with him. Mr. Hill +said that this was an instance of every-day occurrence, showing the +spirit of inquiry and thirst for knowledge among the modern Greeks. This +little scene with a countryman of Aristotle was a fit prelude to our +morning ramble. + +The house occupied by the American missionary as a school stands on the +site of the ancient Agora or market-place, where St. Paul "disputed +daily with the Athenians." A few columns still remain; and near them is +an inscription mentioning the price of oil. The schoolhouse is built +partly from the ruins of the Agora; and to us it was an interesting +circumstance, that a missionary from a newly-discovered world was +teaching to the modern Greeks the same saving religion which, eighteen +hundred years ago, St. Paul, on the same spot, preached to their +ancestors. + +Winding around the foot of the Acropolis, within the ancient and outside +the modern wall, we came to the Areopagus or Hill of Mars, where, in the +early days of Athens, her judges sat in the open air; and, for many +ages, decided with such wisdom and impartiality, that to this day the +decisions of the court of Areopagites are regarded as models of judicial +purity. We ascended this celebrated hill, and stood on the precise spot +where St. Paul, pointing to the temples which rose from every section of +the city and towered proudly on the Acropolis, made his celebrated +address: "Ye men of Athens, I see that in all things ye are too +superstitious." The ruins of the very temples to which he pointed were +before our eyes. + +Descending, and rising toward the summit of another hill, we came to the +Pnyx, where Demosthenes, in the most stirring words that ever fell from +human lips, roused his countrymen against the Macedonian invader. Above, +on the very summit of the hill, is the old Pnyx, commanding a view of +the sea of Salamis, and of the hill where Xerxes sat to behold the great +naval battle. During the reign of the thirty tyrants the Pnyx was +removed beneath the brow of the hill, excluding the view of the sea, +that the orator might not inflame the passions of the people by +directing their eyes to Salamis, the scene of their naval glory. But, +without this, the orator had material enough; for, when he stood on the +platform facing the audience, he had before him the city which the +Athenians loved and the temples in which they worshipped, and I could +well imagine the irresistible force of an appeal to these objects of +their enthusiastic devotion, their firesides and altars. The place is +admirably adapted for public speaking. The side of the hill has been +worked into a gently inclined plane, semicircular in form, and supported +in some places by a wall of immense stones. This plain is bounded above +by the brow of the hill, cut down perpendicularly. In the centre the +rock projects into a platform about eight or ten feet square, which +forms the Pnyx or pulpit for the orator. The ascent is by three steps +cut out of the rock, and in front is a place for the scribe or clerk. We +stood on this Pnyx, beyond doubt on the same spot where Demosthenes +thundered his philippics in the ears of the Athenians. On the road +leading to the Museum hill we entered a chamber excavated in the rock, +which tradition hallows as the prison of Socrates; and though the +authority for this is doubtful, it is not uninteresting to enter the +damp and gloomy cavern wherein, according to the belief of the modern +Athenians, the wisest of the Greeks drew his last breath. Farther to the +south is the hill of Philopappus, so called after a Roman governor of +that name. On the very summit, near the extreme angle of the old wall, +and one of the most conspicuous objects around Athens, is a monument +erected by the Roman governor in honour of the Emperor Trajan. The +marble is covered with the names of travellers, most of whom, like +Philopappus himself, would never have been heard of but for that +monument. + +Descending toward the Acropolis, and entering the city among streets +encumbered with ruined houses, we came to the Temple of the Winds, a +marble octagonal tower, built by Andronicus. On each side is a +sculptured figure, clothed in drapery adapted to the wind he represents; +and on the top was formerly a Triton with a rod in his hand, pointing to +the figure marking the wind. The Triton is gone, and great part of the +temple buried under ruins. Part of the interior, however, has been +excavated, and probably, before long, the whole will be restored. + +East of the foot of the Acropolis, and on the way to Adrian's Gate, we +came to the Lantern of Demosthenes (I eschew its new name of the +Choragic Monument of Lysichus), where, according to an absurd tradition, +the orator shut himself up to study the rhetorical art. It is considered +one of the most beautiful monuments of antiquity, and the capitals are +most elegant specimens of the Corinthian order refined by Attic taste. +It is now in a mutilated condition, and its many repairs make its +dilapidation more perceptible. Whether Demosthenes ever lived here or +not, it derives an interest from the fact that Lord Byron made it his +residence during his visit to Athens. Farther on, and forming part of +the modern wall, is the Arch of Adrian, bearing on one side an +inscription in Greek, "This is the city of Theseus;" and on the other, +"But this is the city of Adrian." On the arrival of Otho a placard was +erected, on which was inscribed, "These were the cities of Theseus and +Adrian, but now of Otho." Many of the most ancient buildings in Athens +have totally disappeared. The Turks destroyed many of them to construct +the wall around the city, and even the modern Greeks have not scrupled +to build their miserable houses with the plunder of the temples in which +their ancestors worshipped. + +Passing under the Arch of Adrian, outside the gate, on the plain toward +the Ilissus, we came to the ruined Temple of Jupiter Olympus, perhaps +once the most magnificent in the world. It was built of the purest white +marble, having a front of nearly two hundred feet, and more than three +hundred and fifty in length, and contained one hundred and twenty +columns, sixteen of which are all that now remain; and these, fluted and +having rich Corinthian capitals, tower more than sixty feet above the +plain, perfect as when they were reared. I visited these ruins often, +particularly in the afternoon; they are at all times mournfully +beautiful, but I have seldom known anything more touching than, when the +sun was setting, to walk over the marble floor, and look up at the +lonely columns of this ruined temple. I cannot imagine anything more +imposing than it must have been when, with its lofty roof supported by +all its columns, it stood at the gate of the city, its doors wide open, +inviting the Greeks to worship. That such an edifice should be erected +for the worship of a heathen god! On the architrave connecting three of +the columns a hermit built his lonely cell, and passed his life in that +elevated solitude, accessible only to the crane and the eagle. The +hermit is long since dead, but his little habitation still resists the +whistling of the wind, and awakens the curiosity of the wondering +traveller. + +The Temple of Theseus is the last of the principal monuments, but the +first which the traveller sees on entering Athens. It was built after +the battle of Marathon, and in commemoration of the victory which drove +the Persians from the shores of Greece. It is a small but beautiful +specimen of the pure Doric, built of Pentelican marble, centuries of +exposure to the open air giving it a yellowish tint, which softens the +brilliancy of the white. Three Englishmen have been buried within this +temple. The first time I visited it a company of Greek recruits, with +some negroes among them, was drawn up in front, going through the manual +under the direction of a German corporal; and, at the same time, workmen +were engaged in fitting it up for the coronation of King Otho! + +[Illustration: Temple of Jupiter Olympus and Acropolis at Athena.] + +These are the principal monuments around the city, and, except the +temples at Paestum, they are more worthy of admiration than all the ruins +in Italy; but towering above them in position, and far exceeding them in +interest, are the ruins of the Acropolis. I have since wandered among +the ruined monuments of Egypt and the desolate city of Petra, but I +look back with unabated reverence to the Athenian Acropolis. Every day I +had gazed at it from the balcony of my hotel, and from every part of the +city and suburbs. Early on my arrival I had obtained the necessary +permit, paid a hurried visit, and resolved not to go again until I had +examined all the other interesting objects. On the fourth day, with my +friend M., I went again. We ascended by a broad road paved with stone. +The summit is enclosed by a wall, of which some of the foundation +stones, very large, and bearing an appearance of great antiquity, are +pointed out as part of the wall built by Themistocles after the battle +of Salamis, four hundred and eighty years before Christ. The rest is +Venetian and Turkish, falling to decay, and marring the picturesque +effect of the ruins from below. The guard examined our permit, and we +passed under the gate. A magnificent propylon of the finest white +marble, the blocks of the largest size ever laid by human hands, and +having a wing of the same material on each side, stands at the entrance. +Though broken and ruined, the world contains nothing like it even now. +If my first impressions do not deceive me, the proudest portals of +Egyptian temples suffer in comparison. Passing this magnificent +propylon, and ascending several steps, we reached the Parthenon or +ruined Temple of Minerva; an immense white marble skeleton, the noblest +monument of architectural genius which the world ever saw. Standing on +the steps of this temple, we had around us all that is interesting in +association and all that is beautiful in art. We might well forget the +capital of King Otho, and go back in imagination to the golden age of +Athens. Pericles, with the illustrious throng of Grecian heroes, +orators, and sages, had ascended there to worship, and Cicero and the +noblest of the Romans had gone there to admire; and probably, if the +fashion of modern tourists had existed in their days, we should see +their names inscribed with their own hands on its walls. The great +temple stands on the very summit of the Acropolis, elevated far above +the Propylaea and the surrounding edifices. Its length is two hundred and +eight feet, and breadth one hundred and two. At each end were two rows +of eight Doric columns, thirty-four feet high and six feet in diameter, +and on each side were thirteen more. The whole temple within and without +was adorned with the most splendid works of art, by the first sculptors +in Greece, and Phidias himself wrought the statue of the goddess, of +ivory and gold, twenty-six cubits high, having on the top of her helmet +a sphinx, with griffins on each of the sides; on the breast a head of +Medusa wrought in ivory, and a figure of Victory about four cubits high, +holding a spear in her hand and a shield lying at her feet. Until the +latter part of the seventeenth century, this magnificent temple, with +all its ornaments, existed entire. During the siege of Athens by the +Venetians, the central part was used by the Turks as a magazine; and a +bomb, aimed with fatal precision or by a not less fatal chance, reached +the magazine, and, with a tremendous explosion, destroyed a great part +of the buildings. Subsequently the Turks used it as a quarry, and +antiquaries and travellers, foremost among whom is Lord Elgin, have +contributed to destroy "what Goth, and Turk, and Time had spared." + +Around the Parthenon, and covering the whole summit of the Acropolis, +are strewed columns and blocks of polished white marble, the ruins of +ancient temples. The remains of the Temples of Erectheus and Minerva +Polias are pre-eminent in beauty; the pillars of the latter are the most +perfect specimens of the Ionic in existence, and its light and graceful +proportions are in elegant contrast with the severe and simple majesty +of the Parthenon. The capitals of the columns are wrought and ornamented +with a delicacy surpassing anything of which I could have believed +marble susceptible. Once I was tempted to knock off a corner and bring +it home, as a specimen of the exquisite skill of the Grecian artist, +which it would have illustrated better than a volume of description; but +I could not do it; it seemed nothing less than sacrilege. + +Afar off, and almost lost in the distance, rises the Pentelican +Mountain, from the body of which were hewed the rough rude blocks which, +wrought and perfected by the sculptor's art, now stand the lofty and +stately columns of the ruined temple. What labour was expended upon each +single column! how many were employed in hewing it from its rocky bed, +in bearing it to the foot of the mountain, transporting it across the +plain of Attica, and raising it to the summit of the Acropolis! and then +what time, and skill, and labour, in reducing it from a rough block to a +polished shaft, in adjusting its proportions, in carving its rich +capitals, and rearing it where it now stands, a model of majestic grace +and beauty! Once, under the direction of Mr. Hill, I clambered up to the +very apex of the pediment, and, lying down at full length, leaned over +and saw under the frieze the acanthus leaf delicately and beautifully +painted on the marble, and, being protected from exposure, still +retaining its freshness of colouring. It was entirely out of sight from +below, and had been discovered, almost at the peril of his life, by the +enthusiasm of an English artist. The wind was whistling around me as I +leaned over to examine it, and, until that moment, I never appreciated +fully the immense labour employed and the exquisite finish displayed in +every portion of the temple. + +The sentimental traveller must already mourn that Athens has been +selected as the capital of Greece. Already have speculators and the +whole tribe of "improvers" invaded the glorious city; and while I was +lingering on the steps of the Parthenon, a German, who was quietly +smoking among the ruins, a sort of superintendent whom I had met before, +came up, and offering me a segar, and leaning against one of the lofty +columns of the temple, opened upon me with "his plans of city +improvements;" with new streets, and projected railroads, and the rise +of lots. At first I almost thought it personal, and that he was making a +fling at me in allusion to one of the greatest hobbies of my native +city; but I soon found that he was as deeply bitten as if he had been in +Chicago or Dunkirk; and the way in which he talked of moneyed +facilities, the wants of the community, and a great French bank then +contemplated at the Piraeus, would have been no discredit to some of my +friends at home. The removal of the court has created a new era in +Athens; but, in my mind, it is deeply to be regretted that it has been +snatched from the ruin to which it was tending. Even I, deeply imbued +with the utilitarian spirit of my country, and myself a quondam +speculator in "up-town lots," would fain save Athens from the ruthless +hand of renovation; from the building mania of modern speculators. I +would have her go on till there was not a habitation among her ruins; +till she stood, like Pompeii, alone in the wilderness, a sacred desert, +where the traveller might sit down and meditate alone and undisturbed +among the relics of the past. But already Athens has become a +heterogeneous anomaly; the Greeks in their wild costume are jostled in +the streets by Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Dutchmen, Spaniards, and +Bavarians, Russians, Danes, and sometimes Americans. European shops +invite purchasers by the side of Eastern bazars, coffee-houses, and +billiard-rooms, and French and German restaurants are opened all over +the city. Sir Pultney Malcolm has erected a house to hire near the site +of Plato's Academy. Lady Franklin has bought land near the foot of Mount +Hymettus for a country-seat. Several English gentlemen have done the +same. Mr. Richmond, an American clergyman, has purchased a farm in the +neighbourhood; and in a few years, if the "march of improvement" +continues, the Temple of Theseus will be enclosed in the garden of the +palace of King Otho; the Temple of the Winds will be concealed by a +German opera-house, and the Lantern of Demosthenes by a row of +"three-story houses." + +I was not a sentimental traveller, but I visited all the localities +around Athens, and, therefore, briefly mention that several times I +jumped over the poetic and perennial Ilissus, trotted my horse over the +ground where Aristotle walked with his peripatetics, and got muddied up +to my knees in the garden of Plato. + +One morning my Scotch friend and I set out early to ascend Mount +Hymettus. The mountain is neither high nor picturesque, but a long flat +ridge of bare rock, the sides cut up into ravines, fissures, and +gullies. There is an easy path to the summit, but we had no guide, and +about midday, after a wild scramble, were worn out, and descended +without reaching the top, which is exceedingly fortunate for the reader, +as otherwise he would be obliged to go through a description of the view +therefrom. + +Returning, we met the king taking his daily walk, attended by two aids, +one of whom was young Marco Bozzaris. Otho is tall and thin, and, when I +saw him, was dressed in a German military frockcoat and cap, and +altogether, for a king, seemed to be an amiable young man enough. All +the world speaks well of him, and so do I. We touched our hats to him, +and he returned the civility; and what could he do more without inviting +us to dinner? In old times there was a divinity about a king; but now, +if a king is a gentleman, it is as much as we can expect. He has spent +his money like a gentleman, that is, he cannot tell what has become of +it. Two of the three-millions loan are gone, and there is no +colonization, no agricultural prosperity, no opening of roads, no +security in the mountains; not a town in Greece but is in ruins, and no +money to improve them. Athens, however, is to be embellished. With ten +thousand pounds in the treasury, he is building a palace of white +Pentelican marble, to cost three hundred thousand pounds. + +Otho was very popular, because, not being of age, all the errors of his +administration were visited upon Count Armansbergh and the regency, who, +from all accounts, richly deserved it; and it was hoped that, on +receiving the crown, he would shake off the Bavarians who were preying +upon the vitals of Greece, and gather around him his native-born +subjects. In private life he bore a most exemplary character. He had no +circle of young companions, and passed much of his time in study, being +engaged, among other things, in acquiring the Greek and English +languages. His position is interesting, though not enviable; and if, as +the first king of emancipated Greece, he entertains recollections of her +ancient greatness, and the ambition of restoring her to her position +among the nations of the earth, he is doomed to disappointment. Otho is +since crowned and married. The pride of the Greeks was considerably +humbled by a report that their king's proposals to several daughters of +German princes had been rejected; but the king had great reason to +congratulate himself upon the spirit which induced the daughter of the +Duke of Oldenburgh to accept his hand. From her childhood she had taken +an enthusiastic interest in Greek history, and it had been her constant +wish to visit Greece; and when she heard that Otho had been called to +the throne, she naively expressed an ardent wish to share it with him. +Several years afterward, by the merest accident, she met Otho at a +German watering-place, travelling with his mother, the Queen of Bavaria, +as the Count de Missilonghi; and in February last she accompanied him to +Athens, to share the throne which had been the object of her youthful +wish. + +M. dined at my hotel, and, returning to his own, he was picked up and +carried to the guardhouse. He started for his hotel without a lantern, +the requisition to carry one being imperative in all the Greek and +Turkish cities; the guard could not understand a word he said until he +showed them some money, which made his English perfectly intelligible; +and they then carried him to a Bavarian corporal, who, after two hours' +detention, escorted him to his hotel. After that we were rather careful +about staying out late at night. + +"Thursday. I don't know the day of the month." I find this in my notes, +the caption of a day of business, and at this distance of time will not +undertake to correct the entry. Indeed, I am inclined to think that my +notes in those days are rather uncertain and imperfect; certainly not +taken with the precision of one who expected to publish them. +Nevertheless, the residence of the court, the diplomatic corps, and +strangers form an agreeable society at Athens. I had letters to some of +the foreign ministers, but did not present them, as I was hardly +presentable myself without my carpet-bag. On "Thursday," however, in +company with Dr. W., I called upon Mr. Dawkins, the British minister. +Mr. Dawkins went to Greece on a special mission, which he supposed would +detain him six months from home, and had remained there ten years. He is +a high tory, but retained under a whig administration, because his +services could not well be dispensed with. He gave us much interesting +information in regard to the present condition and future prospects of +Greece; and, in answer to my suggestion that the United States were not +represented at all in Greece, not even by a consul, he said, with +emphasis, "You are better represented than any power in Europe. Mr. Hill +has more influence here than any minister plenipotentiary among us." A +few days after, when confined to my room by indisposition, Mr. Dawkins +returned my visit, and again spoke in the same terms of high +commendation of Mr. Hill. It was pleasing to me, and I have no doubt it +will be so to Mr. Hill's numerous friends in this country, to know that +a private American citizen, in a position that keeps him aloof from +politics, was spoken of in such terms by the representative of one of +the great powers of Europe. I had heard it intimated that there was a +prospect of Mr. Dawkins being transferred to this country, and parted +with him in the hope at some future day of seeing him the representative +of his government here. + +I might have been presented to the king, but my carpet-bag--Dr. W. +borrowed a hat, and was presented; the doctor had an old white hat, +which he had worn all the way from New-York. The tide is rolling +backward; Athens is borrowing her customs from the barbarous nations of +the north; and it is part of the etiquette to enter a drawing-room with +a hat (a black one) under the arm. The doctor, in his republican +simplicity, thought that a hat, good enough to put on his own head, was +good enough to go into the king's presence; but he was advised to the +contrary, and took one of Mr. Hill's, not very much too large for him. +He was presented by Dr. ----, a German, the king's physician, with whom +he had discoursed much of the different medical systems in Germany and +America. Dr. W. was much pleased with the king. Did ever a man talk with +a king who was not pleased with him? But the doctor was particularly +pleased with King Otho, as the latter entered largely into discourse on +the doctor's favourite theme, Mr. Hill's school, and the cause of +education in Greece. Indeed, it speaks volumes in favour of the young +king, that education is one of the things in which he takes the deepest +interest. The day the doctor was to be presented we dined at Mr. Hill's, +having made arrangements for leaving Athens that night; the doctor and +M. to return to Europe. In the afternoon, while the doctor remained to +be presented, M. and I walked down to the Piraeus, now, as in the days of +her glory, the harbour of Athens. The ancient harbour is about five +miles from Athens, and was formerly joined to it by _long walls_ built +of stone of enormous size, sixty feet high, and broad enough on the top +for two wagons to pass abreast. These have long since disappeared, and +the road is now over a plain shaded a great part of the way by groves of +olives. As usual at this time of day, we met many parties on horseback, +sometimes with ladies; and I remember particularly the beautiful and +accomplished daughters of Count Armansbergh, both of whom are since +married and dead.[2] It is a beautiful ride, in the afternoon +particularly, as then the dark outline of the mountains beyond, and the +reflections of light and shade, give a peculiarly interesting effect to +the ruins of the Acropolis. Toward the other end we paced between the +ruins of the old walls, and entered upon a scene which reminded me of +home. Eight months before there was only one house at the Piraeus; but, +as soon as the court removed to Athens, the old harbour revived; and +already we saw long ranges of stores and warehouses, and all the hurry +and bustle of one of our rising western towns. A railroad was in +contemplation, and many other improvements, which have since failed; but +an _omnibus!_ that most modern and commonplace of inventions, is now +running regularly between the Piraeus and Athens. A friend who visited +Greece six months after me brought home with him an advertisement +printed in Greek, English, French, and German, the English being in the +words and figures following, to wit: + + "ADVERTISEMENT. + + "The public are hereby informed, that on the nineteenth instant an + omnibus will commence running between Athena and the Piraeus, and + will continue to do so every day at the undermentioned hours until + farther notice. + + _Hours of Departure._ + + From Athens. From Piraeus. + + Half past seven o'clock A.M. Half past eight o'clock A.M. + Ten o'clock A.M. Eleven o'clock A.M. + Two o'clock P.M. Three o'clock P.M. + Half past four P.M. Half past five P.M. + + "The price of a seat in the omnibus is one drachme. + + "Baggage, if not too bulky and heavy, can be taken on the roof. + + "Smoking cannot be allowed in the omnibus, nor can dogs be admitted. + + "Small parcels and packages may be sent by this conveyance at a + moderate charge, and given to the care of the conducteur. + + "The omnibus starts from the corner of the Hermes and AEolus streets + at Athens and from the bazar at the Piraeus, and will wait five + minutes at each place, during which period the conducteur will sound + his horn. + + "Athens, 17th, 29th September, 1836." + +Old things are passing away, and all things are becoming new. For a +little while yet we may cling to the illusions connected with the past, +but the mystery is fast dissolving, the darkness is breaking away, and +Greece, and Rome, and even Egypt herself, henceforward claim our +attention with objects and events of the present hour. Already they have +lost much of the deep and absorbing interest with which men turned to +them a generation ago. All the hallowed associations of these ancient +regions are fading away. We may regret it, we may mourn over it, but we +cannot help it. The world is marching onward; I have met parties of my +own townsmen while walking in the silent galleries of the Coliseum; I +have seen Americans drinking Champagne in an excavated dwelling of the +ancient Pompeii, and I have dined with Englishmen among the ruins of +Thebes, but, blessed be my fortune, I never rode in an omnibus from the +Piraeus to Athens. + +We put our baggage on board the caique, and lounged among the little +shops till dark, when we betook ourselves to a dirty little coffee-house +filled with Greeks dozing and smoking pipes. We met there a boat's crew +of a French man-of-war, waiting for some of the officers, who were +dining with the French ambassador at Athens. One of them had been born +to a better condition than that of a common sailor. One juvenile +indiscretion after another had brought him down, and, without a single +vice, he was fairly on the road to ruin. Once he brushed a tear from his +eyes as he told us of prospects blighted by his own follies; but, +rousing himself, hurried away, and his reckless laugh soon rose above +the noise and clamour of his wild companions. + +About ten o'clock the doctor came in, drenched with rain and up to his +knees in mud. We wanted to embark immediately, but the appearance of the +weather was so unfavourable that the captain preferred waiting till +after midnight. The Greeks went away from the coffee-house, the +proprietor fell asleep in his seat, and we extended ourselves on the +tables and chairs; and now the fleas, which had been distributed about +among all the loungers, made a combined onset upon us. Life has its +cares and troubles, but few know that of being given up to the tender +mercies of Greek fleas. We bore the infliction till human nature could +endure no longer; and, at about three in the morning, in the midst of +violent wind and rain, broke out of the coffee-house and went in search +of our boat. It was very dark, but we found her and got on board. She +was a caique, having an open deck with a small covering over the stern. +Under this we crept, and with our cloaks and a sailcloth spread over us, +our heated blood cooled, and we fell asleep. When we woke we were on the +way to Epidaurus. The weather was raw and cold. We passed within a +stone's throw of Salamis and AEgina, and at about three o'clock, turning +a point which completely hid it from view, entered a beautiful little +bay, on which stands the town of Epidaurus. The old city, the birthplace +of Esculapius, stands upon a hill projecting into the bay, and almost +forming an island. In the middle of the village is a wooden building +containing a large chamber, where the Greek delegates, a band of +mountain warriors, with arms in their hands, "in the name of the Greek +nation, proclaimed before gods and men its independence." + +At the locanda there was by chance one bed, which not being large enough +for three, I slept on the floor. At seven o'clock, after a quarrel with +our host and paying him about half his demand, we set out for Napoli di +Romania. For about an hour we moved in the valley running off from the +beautiful shore of Epidaurus; soon the valley deepened into a glen, and +in an hour we turned off on a path that led into the mountains, and, +riding through wild and rugged ravines, fell into the dry bed of a +torrent; following which, we came to the Hieron Elios, or Sacred Grove +of Esculapius. This was the great watering-place for the invalids of +ancient Greece, the prototype of the Cheltenham and Saratoga of modern +days. It is situated in a valley surrounded by high mountains, and was +formerly enclosed by walls, within which, that the credit of the God +might not be impeached, _no man was allowed to die, and no woman to be +delivered_. Within this enclosure were temples, porticoes and fountains, +now lying in ruins hardly distinguishable. The theatre is the most +beautiful and best preserved. It is scooped out of the side of the +mountain, rather more than semicircular in form, and containing +fifty-four seats. These seats are of pink marble, about fifteen inches +high and nearly three feet wide. In the middle of each seat is a groove, +in which, probably, woodwork was constructed, to prevent the feet of +those above from incommoding them who sat below, and also to support the +backs of an invalid audience. The theatre faces the north, and is so +arranged that, with the mountain towering behind it, the audience was +shaded nearly all the day. It speaks volumes in favour of the +intellectual character of the Greeks, that it was their favourite +recreation to listen to the recitation of their poets and players. And +their superiority in refinement over the Romans is in no way manifested +more clearly than by the fact, that in the ruined cities of the former +are found the remains of theatres, and in the latter of amphitheatres, +showing the barbarous taste of the Romans for combats of gladiators and +wild beasts. It was in beautiful keeping with this intellectual taste of +the Greeks, that their places of assembling were in the open air, amid +scenery calculated to elevate the mind; and, as I sat on the marble +steps of the theatre, I could well imagine the high satisfaction with +which the Greek, under the shade of the impending mountain, himself all +enthusiasm and passion, rapt in the interest of some deep tragedy, would +hang upon the strains of Euripides or Sophocles. What deep-drawn +exclamations, what shouts of applause had rung through that solitude, +what bursts of joy and grief had echoed from those silent benches! And +then, too, what flirting and coqueting, the state of society at the +springs in the Grove of Esculapius being probably much the same as at +Saratoga in our own days. The whole grove is now a scene of desolation. +The lentisculus is growing between the crevices of the broken marble; +birds sing undisturbed among the bushes; the timid hare steals among the +ruined fragments; and sometimes the snake is seen gliding over the +marble steps. + +We had expected to increase the interest of our visit by taking our +noonday refection on the steps of the theatre, but it was too cold for a +picnic _al fresco_; and, mounting our horses, about two o'clock we came +in sight of Argos, on the opposite side of the great plain; and in half +an hour more, turning the mountain, saw Napoli di Romania beautifully +situated on a gentle elevation on the shore of the gulf. The scenery in +every direction around Napoli is exceedingly beautiful; and, when we +approached it, bore no marks of the sanguinary scenes of the late +revolution. The plain was better cultivated than any part of the +adjacent country; and the city contained long ranges of houses and +streets, with German names, such as Heidecker, Maurer-street, &c., and +was seemingly better regulated than any other city in Greece. We drove +up to the Hotel des Quatre Nations, the best we had found in Greece, +dined at a restaurant with a crowd of Bavarian officers and adventurers, +and passed the evening in the streets and coffee-houses. + +The appearance of Otho-street, which is the principal, is very +respectable; it runs from what was the palace to the grand square or +esplanade, on one side of which are the barracks of the Bavarian +soldiers, with a park of artillery posted so as to sweep the square and +principal streets; a speaking comment upon the liberty of the Greeks, +and the confidence reposed in them by the government. + +Everything in Napoli recalls the memory of the brief and unfortunate +career of Capo d'Istria. Its recovery from the horrors of barbarian war, +and the thriving appearance of the country around, are ascribed to the +impulse given by his administration. A Greek by birth, while his country +lay groaning under the Ottoman yoke he entered the Russian service, +distinguished himself in all the diplomatic correspondence during the +French invasion, was invested with various high offices and honours, and +subscribed the treaty of Paris in 1815 as imperial Russian +plenipotentiary. He withdrew from her service because Russia disapproved +the efforts of his countrymen to free themselves from the Turkish yoke; +and, after passing five years in Germany and Switzerland, chiefly at +Geneva, in 1827 he was called to the presidency of Greece. On his +arrival at Napoli amid the miseries of war and anarchy, he was received +by the whole people as the only man capable of saving their country. +Civil war ceased on the very day of his arrival, and the traitor Grievas +placed in his hands the key of the Palimethe. I shall not enter into any +speculations upon the character of his administration. The rank he had +attained in a foreign service is conclusive evidence of his talents, and +his withdrawal from that service for the reason stated is as conclusive +of his patriotism; but from the moment he took into his hands the reins +of government, he was assailed by every so-called liberal press in +Europe with the party cry of Russian influence. The Greeks were induced +to believe that he intended to sell them to a stranger; and Capo +d'Istria, strong in his own integrity, and confidently relying on the +fidelity and gratitude of his countrymen, was assassinated in the +streets on his way to mass. Young Mauromichalis, the son of the old Bey +of Maina, struck the fatal blow, and fled for refuge to the house of +the French ambassador. A gentleman attached to the French legation told +me that he himself opened the door when the murderer rushed in with the +bloody dagger in his hand, exclaiming, "I have killed the tyrant." He +was not more than twenty-one, tall and noble in his appearance, and +animated by the enthusiastic belief that he had delivered his country. +My informant told me that he barred all the doors and windows, and went +up stairs to inform the minister, who had not yet risen. The latter was +embarrassed and in doubt what he should do. A large crowd gathered round +the house; but, as yet, they were all Mauromichalis's friends. The young +enthusiast spoke of what he had done with a high feeling of patriotism +and pride; and while the clamour out of doors was becoming outrageous, +he ate his breakfast and smoked his pipe with the utmost composure. He +remained at the embassy more than two hours, and until the regular +troops drew up before the house. The French ambassador, though he at +first refused, was obliged to deliver him up; and my informant saw him +shot under a tree outside the gate of Napoli, dying gallantly in the +firm conviction that he had played the Brutus and freed his country from +a Caesar. + +The fate of Capo d'Istria again darkened the prospects of Greece, and +the throne went begging for an occupant until it was accepted by the +King of Bavaria for his second son Otho. The young monarch arrived at +Napoli in February, eighteen hundred and thirty-three. The whole +population came out to meet him, and the Grecian youth ran breast deep +in the water to touch his barge as it approached the shore. In February, +eighteen hundred and thirty-four, it was decided to establish Athens as +the capital. The propriety of this removal has been seriously +questioned, for Napoli possessed advantages in her location, harbour, +fortress and a town already built; but the King of Bavaria, a scholar +and an antiquary, was influenced more, perhaps, by classical feeling +than by regard for the best interests of Greece. Napoli has received a +severe blow from the removal of the seat of government; still it was by +far the most European in its appearance of any city I had seen in +Greece. It had several restaurants and coffee-houses, which were +thronged all the evening with Bavarian officers and broken-down European +adventurers, discussing the internal affairs of that unfortunate +country, which men of every nation seemed to think they had a right to +assist in governing. Napoli had always been the great gathering-place of +the phil-Hellenists, and many appropriating to themselves that sacred +name were hanging round it still. All over Europe thousands of men are +trained up to be shot at for so much per day; the soldier's is as +regular a business as that of the lawyer or merchant, and there is +always a large class of turbulent spirits constantly on the look-out for +opportunities, and ever ready with their swords to carve their way to +fortune. I believe that there were men who embarked in the cause of +Greece with as high and noble purposes as ever animated the warrior; but +of many, there is no lack of charity in saying that, however good they +might be as fighters, they were not much as men; and I am sorry to add +that, from the accounts I heard in Greece, some of the American +phil-Hellenists were rather shabby fellows. Mr. M., then resident in +Napoli, was accosted one day in the streets by a young man, who asked +him where he could find General Jarvis. "What do you want with him?" +said Mr. M. "I hope to obtain a commission in his army." "Do you see +that dirty fellow yonder?" said Mr. M., pointing to a ragged patriot +passing at the moment; "well, twenty such fellows compose Jarvis's army, +and Jarvis himself is no better off." "Well, then," said the young +_American_, "I believe I'll join the Turks!" Allen, another American +patriot, was hung at Constantinople. One bore the sacred name of +Washington; a brave but unprincipled man. Mr. M. had heard him say, that +if the devil himself should raise a regiment and would give him a good +commission, he would willingly march under him. He was struck by a shot +from the fortress of Napoli while directing a battery against it; was +taken on board his Britannic majesty's ship Asia, and breathed his last +uttering curses on his country. + +There were others, however, who redeemed the American character. The +agents sent out by the Greek committee (among them our townsmen, Messrs. +Post and Stuyvesant), under circumstances of extraordinary difficulty +fulfilled the charitable purposes of their mission with such zeal and +discretion as to relieve the wants of a famishing people, and secure the +undying gratitude of the Greeks. Dr. Russ, another of the agents, +established an American hospital at Poros, and, under the most severe +privations, devoted himself gratuitously to attendance upon the sick and +wounded. Dr. Howe, one of the earliest American phil-Hellenists, in the +darkest hour of the revolution, and at a time when the Greeks were +entirely destitute of all medical aid, with an honourable enthusiasm, +and without any hope of pecuniary reward, entered the service as +surgeon, was the fellow-labourer of Dr. Russ in establishing the +American hospital, and, at the peril of his life, remained with them +during almost the whole of their dreadful struggle. Colonel Miller, the +principal agent, now resident in Vermont, besides faithfully performing +the duties of his trust, entered the army, and conducted himself with +such distinguished gallantry that he was called by the Greek braves the +American Delhi, or Daredevil.[3] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] They married two brothers, the young princes Cantacuzenes. Some +scruples being raised against this double alliance on the score of +consanguinity, the difficulty was removed by each couple going to +separate churches with separate priests to pronounce the mystic words at +precisely the same moment; so that neither could be said to espouse his +sister-in-law. + +[3] In the previous editions of his work, the author's remarks were so +general as to reflect upon the character of individuals who stand in our +community above reproach. The author regrets that the carelessness of +his expressions should have wounded where he never intended, and hopes +the gentlemen affected will do him the justice to believe that he would +not wantonly injure any man's character or feelings. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Argos.--Tomb of Agamemnon.--Mycenae.--Gate of the Lions.--A + Misfortune.--A Midnight Quarrel.--Gratitude of a Greek + Family.--Megara. + + +IN the morning, finding a difficulty in procuring horses, some of the +loungers about the hotel told us there was a carriage in Napoli, and we +ordered it to be brought out, and soon after saw moving majestically +down the principal street a bella carozza, imported by its enterprising +proprietor from the Strada Toledo at Naples. It was painted a bright +flaring yellow, and had a big breeched Albanian for coachman. While +preparing to embark, a Greek came up with two horses, and we discharged +the bella carozza. My companion hired the horses for Padras, and I threw +my cloak on one of them and followed on foot. + +The plain of Argos is one of the most beautiful I ever saw. On every +side except toward the sea it is bounded by mountains, and the contrast +between these mountains, the plain, and the sea is strikingly beautiful. +The sun was beating upon it with intense heat; the labourers were almost +naked, or in several places lying asleep on the ground, while the tops +of the mountains were covered with snow. I walked across the whole +plain, being only six miles, to Argos. This ancient city is long since +in ruins; her thirty temples, her costly sepulchres, her gymnasium, and +her numerous and magnificent monuments and statues have disappeared, +and the only traces of her former greatness are some remains of her +Cyclopean walls, and a ruined theatre cut in the rock and of magnificent +proportions. Modern Argos is nothing more than a straggling village. Mr. +Riggs, an American missionary, was stationed there, but was at that time +at Athens with an invalid wife. I was still on foot, and wandered up and +down the principal street looking for a horse. Every Greek in Argos soon +knew my business, and all kinds of four-legged animals were brought to +me at exorbitant prices. When I was poring over the Iliad I little +thought that I should ever visit Argos; still less that I should create +a sensation in the ancient city of the Danai; but man little knows for +what he is reserved. + +Argos has been so often visited that Homer is out of date. Every middy +from a Mediterranean cruiser has danced on the steps of her desolate +theatre, and, instead of busying myself with her ancient glories, I +roused half the population in hiring a horse. In fact, in this ancient +city I soon became the centre of a regular horsemarket. Every rascally +jockey swore that his horse was the best, and, according to the +descendants of the respectable sons of Atreus, blindness, lameness, +spavin, and staggers were a recommendation. A Bavarian officer, whom I +had met in the bazars, came to my assistance, and stood by me while I +made my bargain. I had more regard to the guide than the horse; and +picking out one who had been particularly noisy, hired him to conduct me +to Corinth and Athens. He was a lad of about twenty, with a bright +sparkling eye, who, laughing roguishly at his unsuccessful competitors, +wanted to pitch me at once on the horse and be off. I joined my +companions, and in a few minutes we left Argos. + +The plain of Argos has been immortalized by poetic genius as the great +gathering-place of the kings and armies that assembled for the siege of +Troy. To the scholar and poet few plains in the world are more +interesting. It carries him back to the heroic ages, to the history of +times bordering on the fabulous, when fact and fiction are so +beautifully blended that we would not separate them if we could. I had +but a little while longer to remain with my friends, for we were +approaching the point where our roads separated, and about eleven +o'clock we halted and exchanged our farewell greetings. We parted in the +middle of the plain, they to return to Padras and Europe, and I for the +tomb of Agamemnon, and back to Athens, and I hardly know where besides. +Dr. W. I did not meet again until my return home. About a year afterward +I arrived in Antwerp in the evening from Rotterdam. The city was filled +with strangers, and I was denied admission at a third hotel, when a +young man brushed by me in the doorway, and I recognised Maxwell. I +hailed him, but in cap and cloak, and with a large red shawl around my +neck, he did not know me. I unrolled and discovered myself, and it is +needless to say that I did not leave the hotel that night. It was his +very last day of two years' travel on the Continent; he had taken his +passage in the steamer for London, and one day later I should have +missed him altogether. I can give but a faint idea of the pleasure of +this meeting. He gave me the first information of the whereabout of Dr. +W.; we talked nearly all night, and about noon the next day I again bade +him farewell on board the steamer. + +I have for some time neglected our servant. When we separated, the +question was who should _not_ keep him. We were all heartily tired of +him, and I would not have had him with me on any account. Still, at the +moment of parting in that wild and distant region, never expecting to +see him again, I felt some slight leaning toward him. Touching the +matter of shirts, it will not be surprising to a man of the world that, +at the moment of parting, I had one of M.'s on my back; and, in justice +to him, I must say it was a very good one, and lasted a long time. A +friend once wrote to me on a like occasion not to wear his out of its +turn, but M. laid no such restriction upon me. But this trifling gain +did not indemnify me for the loss of my friends. I had broken the only +link that connected me with home, and was setting out alone for I knew +not where. I felt at once the great loss I had sustained, for my young +muleteer could speak only his own language, and, as Queen Elizabeth said +to Sir Walter Raleigh of her Hebrew, we had "forgotten our" Greek. + +But on that classical soil I ought not to have been lonely. I should +have conjured up the ghosts of the departed Atridae, and held converse on +their own ground with Homer's heroes. Nevertheless, I was not in the +mood; and, entirely forgetting the glories of the past, I started my +horse into a gallop. My companion followed on a full run, close at my +heels, belabouring my horse with a stick, which when he broke, he pelted +him with stones; indeed, this mode of scampering over the ground seemed +to hit his humour, for he shouted, hurraed, and whipped, and sometimes +laying hold of the tail of the beast, was dragged along several paces +with little effort of his own. I soon tired of this, and made signs to +him to stop; but it was his turn now, and I was obliged to lean back +till I reached him with my cane before I could make him let go his hold, +and then he commenced shouting and pelting again with stones. + +In this way we approached the village of Krabata, about a mile below +the ruins of Mycenae, and the most miserable place I had seen in Greece. +With the fertile plain of Argos uncultivated before them, the +inhabitants exhibited a melancholy picture of the most abject poverty. +As I rode through, crowds beset me with outstretched arms imploring +charity; and a miserable old woman, darting out of a wretched hovel, +laid her gaunt and bony hand upon my leg, and attempted to stop me. I +shrunk from her grasp, and, under the effect of a sudden impulse, threw +myself off on the other side, and left my horse in her hands. + +Hurrying through the village, a group of boys ran before me, crying out +"Agamemnon," "Agamemnon." I followed, and they conducted me to the tomb +of "the king of kings," a gigantic structure, still in good +preservation, of a conical form, covered with turf; the stone over the +door is twenty-seven feet long and seventeen wide, larger than any hewn +stone in the world except Pompey's Pillar. I entered, my young guides +going before with torches, and walked within and around this ancient +sepulchre. A worthy Dutchman, Herman Van Creutzer, has broached a theory +that the Trojan war is a mere allegory, and that no such person as +Agamemnon ever existed. Shame upon the cold-blooded heretic. I have my +own sins to answer for in that way, for I have laid my destroying hand +upon many cherished illusions; but I would not, if I could, destroy the +mystery that overhangs the heroic ages. The royal sepulchre was forsaken +and empty; the shepherd drives within it his flock for shelter; the +traveller sits under its shade to his noonday meal; and, at the moment, +a goat was dozing quietly in one corner. He started as I entered, and +seemed to regard me as an intruder; and when I flared before him the +light of my torch, he rose up to butt me. I turned away and left him in +quiet possession. The boys were waiting outside, and crying "Mycenae," +"Mycenae," led me away. All was solitude, and I saw no marks of a city +until I reached the relics of her Cyclopean walls. I never felt a +greater degree of reverence than when I approached the lonely ruins of +Mycenae. At Argos I spent most of my time in the horsemarket, and I had +galloped over the great plain as carelessly as if it had been the road +to Harlem; but all the associations connected with this most interesting +ground here pressed upon me at once. Its extraordinary antiquity, its +gigantic remains, and its utter and long-continued desolation, came home +to my heart. I moved on to the Gate of the Lions, and stood before it a +long time without entering. A broad street led to it between two immense +parallel walls; and this street may, perhaps, have been a market-place. +Over the gate are two lions rampant, like the supporters of a modern +coat-of-arms, rudely carved, and supposed to be the oldest sculptured +stone in Greece. Under this very gate Agamemnon led out his forces for +the siege of Troy; three thousand years ago he saw them filing before +him, glittering in brass, in all the pomp and panoply of war; and I held +in my hand a book which told me that this city was so old that, more +than seventeen hundred years ago, travellers came as I did to visit its +ruins; and that Pausanias had found the Gate of the Lions in the same +state in which I beheld it now. A great part is buried by the rubbish of +the fallen city. I crawled under, and found myself within the walls, and +then mounted to the height on which the city stood. It was covered with +a thick soil and a rich carpet of grass. My boys left me, and I was +alone. I walked all over it, following the line of the walls. I paused +at the great blocks of stone, the remnants of Cyclopic masonry, the work +of wandering giants. The heavens were unclouded, and the sun was beaming +upon it with genial warmth. Nothing could exceed the quiet beauty of the +scene. I became entangled in the long grass, and picked up wild flowers +growing over long-buried dwellings. Under it are immense caverns, their +uses now unknown; and the earth sounded hollow under my feet, as if I +were treading on the sepulchre of a buried city. I looked across the +plain to Argos; all was as beautiful as when Homer sang its praises; the +plain, and the mountains, and the sea were the same, but the once +magnificent city, her numerous statues and gigantic temples, were gone +for ever; and but a few remains were left to tell the passing traveller +the story of her fallen greatness. I could have remained there for +hours; I could have gone again and again, for I had not found a more +interesting spot in Greece; but my reveries were disturbed by the +appearance of my muleteer and my juvenile escort. They pointed to the +sun as an intimation that the day was passing; and crying "Cavallo," +"Cavallo," hurried me away. To them the ruined city was a playground; +they followed capering behind; and, in descending, three or four of them +rolled down upon me; they hurried me through the Gate of the Lions, and +I came out with my pantaloons, my only pantaloons, rent across the knee +almost irreparably. In an instant I was another man; I railed at the +ruins for their strain upon wearing apparel, and bemoaned my unhappy lot +in not having with me a needle and thread. I looked up to the old gate +with a sneer. This was the city that Homer had made such a noise about; +a man could stand on the citadel and almost throw a stone beyond the +boundary-line of Agamemnon's kingdom. In full sight, and just at the +other side of the plain, was the kingdom of Argos. The little state of +Rhode Island would make a bigger kingdom than both of them together. + +But I had no time for deep meditation, having a long journey to Corinth +before me. Fortunately, my young Greek had no tire in him; he started me +off on a gallop, whipping and pelting my horse with stones, and would +have hurried me on, over rough and smooth, till either he, or I, or the +horse broke down, if I had not jumped off and walked. As soon as I +dismounted he mounted, and then he moved so leisurely that I had to +hurry him on in turn. In this way we approached the range of mountains +separating the plain of Argos from the Isthmus of Corinth. Entering the +pass, we rode along a mountain torrent, of which the channel-bed was +then dry, and ascended to the summit of the first range. Looking back, +the scene was magnificent. On my right and left were the ruined heights +of Argos and Mycenae; before me, the towering Acropolis of Napoli di +Romania; at my feet, the rich plain of Argos, extending to the shore of +the sea; and beyond, the island-studded AEgean. I turned away with a +feeling of regret that, in all probability, I should never see it more. + +I moved on, and in a narrow pass, not wide enough to turn my horse if I +had been disposed to take to my heels, three men rose up from behind a +rock, armed to the teeth with long guns, pistols, yataghans, and +sheepskin cloaks--the dress of the klept or mountain robber--and +altogether presenting a most diabolically cutthroat appearance. If they +had asked me for my purse I should have considered it all regular, and +given up the remnant of my stock of borrowed money without a murmur; +but I was relieved from immediate apprehension by the cry of passe +porta. King Otho has begun the benefits of civilized government in +Greece by introducing passports, and mountain warriors were stationed in +the different passes to examine strangers. They acted, however, as if +they were more used to demanding purses than passports, for they sprang +into the road and rattled the butts of their guns on the rock with a +violence that was somewhat startling. Unluckily, my passport had been +made out with those of my companions, and was in their possession, and +when we parted neither thought of it; and this demand to me, who had +nothing to lose, was worse than that of my purse. A few words of +explanation might have relieved me from all difficulty, but my friends +could not understand a word I said. I was vexed at the idea of being +sent back, and thought I would try the effect of a little impudence; so, +crying out "Americanos," I attempted to pass on; but they answered me +"Nix," and turned my horse's head toward Argos. The scene, which a few +moments before had seemed so beautiful, was now perfectly detestable. +Finding that bravado had not the desired effect, I lowered my tone and +tried a bribe; this was touching the right chord; half a dollar removed +all suspicions from the minds of these trusty guardians of the pass; +and, released from their attentions, I hurried on. + +The whole road across the mountain is one of the wildest in Greece. It +is cut up by numerous ravines, sufficiently deep and dangerous, which at +every step threaten destruction to the incautious traveller. During the +late revolution the soil of Greece had been drenched with blood; and my +whole journey had been through cities and over battle-fields memorable +for scenes of slaughter unparalleled in the annals of modern war. In +the narrowest pass of the mountains my guide made gestures indicating +that it had been the scene of a desperate battle. When the Turks, having +penetrated to the plain of Argos, were compelled to fall back again upon +Corinth, a small band of Greeks, under Niketas and Demetrius Ypsilanti, +waylaid them in this pass. Concealing themselves behind the rocks, and +waiting till the pass was filled, all at once they opened a tremendous +fire upon the solid column below, and the pass was instantly filled with +slain. Six thousand were cut down in a few hours. The terrified +survivers recoiled for a moment; but, as if impelled by an invisible +power, rushed on to meet their fate. "The Mussulman rode into the passes +with his sabre in his sheath and his hands before his eyes, the victim +of destiny." The Greeks again poured upon them a shower of lead, and +several thousand more were cut down before the Moslem army accomplished +the passage of this terrible defile. + +It was nearly dark when we rose to the summit of the last range of +mountains, and saw, under the rich lustre of the setting sun, the +Acropolis of Corinth, with its walls and turrets, towering to the sky, +the plain forming the Isthmus of Corinth; the dark, quiet waters of the +Gulf of Lepanto; and the gloomy mountains of Cithaeron, and Helicon, and +Parnassus covered with snow. It was after dark when we passed the region +of the Nemean Grove, celebrated as the haunt of the lion and the scene +of the first of the twelve labours of Hercules. We were yet three hours +from Corinth; and, if the old lion had still been prowling in the grove, +we could not have made more haste to escape its gloomy solitude. +Reaching the plain, we heard behind us the clattering of horses' hoofs, +at first sounding in the stillness of evening as if a regiment of +cavalry or a troop of banditti was at our heels, but it proved to be +only a single traveller, belated like ourselves, and hurrying on to +Corinth. I could see through the darkness the shining butts of his +pistols and hilt of his yataghan, and took his dimensions with more +anxiety, perhaps, than exactitude. He recognised my Frank dress; and +accosted me in bad Italian, which he had picked up at Padras (being just +the Italian in which I could meet him on equal ground), and told me that +he had met a party of Franks on the road to Padras, whom, from his +description, I recognised as my friends. + +It was nearly midnight when we rattled up to the gate of the old +locanda. The yard was thronged with horses and baggage, and Greek and +Bavarian soldiers. On the balcony stood my old brigand host, completely +crestfallen, and literally turned out of doors in his own house; a +detachment of Bavarian soldiers had arrived that afternoon from Padras, +and taken entire possession, giving him and his wife the freedom of the +outside. He did not recognise me, and, taking me for an Englishman, +began, "Sono Inglesi Signor" (he had lived at Corfu under the British +dominion); and, telling me the whole particulars of his unceremonious +ouster, claimed, through me, the arm of the British government to resent +the injury to a British subject; his wife was walking about in no very +gentle mood, but, in truth, very much the contrary. I did not speak to +her, and she did not trust herself to speak to me; but, addressing +myself to the husband, introduced the subject of my own immediate wants, +a supper and night's lodging. The landlord told me, however, that the +Bavarians had eaten everything in the house, and he had not a room, bed, +blanket, or coverlet to give me; that I might lie down in the hall or +the piazza, but there was no other place. + +I was outrageous at the hard treatment he had received from the +Bavarians. It was too bad to turn an honest innkeeper out of his house, +and deny him the pleasure of accommodating a traveller who had toiled +hard all day, with the perfect assurance of finding a bed at night. I +saw, however, that there was no help for it; and noticing an opening at +one end of the hall, went into a sort of storeroom filled with all kinds +of rubbish, particularly old barrels. An unhinged door was leaning +against the wall, and this I laid across two of the barrels, pulled off +my coat and waistcoat, and on this extemporaneous couch went to sleep. + +I was roused from my first nap by a terrible fall against my door. I +sprang up; the moon was shining through the broken casement, and, +seizing a billet of wood, I waited another attack. In the mean time I +heard the noise of a violent scuffling on the floor of the hall, and, +high above all, the voices of husband and wife, his evidently coming +from the floor in a deprecating tone, and hers in a high towering +passion, and enforced with severe blows of a stick. As soon as I was +fairly awake I saw through the thing at once. It was only a little +matrimonial _tete-a-tete_. The unamiable humour in which I had left them +against the Bavarians had ripened into a private quarrel between +themselves, and she had got him down, and was pummelling him with a +broomstick or something of that kind. It seemed natural and right +enough, and was, moreover, no business of mine; and remembering that +whoever interferes between man and wife is sure to have both against +him, I kept quiet. Others, however, were not so considerate, and the +occupants of the different rooms tumbled into the hall in every variety +of fancy night-gear, among whom was one whose only clothing was a +military coat and cap, with a sword in his hand. When the hubbub was at +its highest I looked out, and found, as I expected, the husband and wife +standing side by side, she still brandishing the stick, and both +apparently outrageous at everything and everybody around them. I +congratulated myself upon my superior knowledge of human nature, and +went back to my bed on the door. + +In the morning I was greatly surprised to find that, instead of whipping +her husband, she had been taking his part. Two German soldiers, already +half intoxicated, had come into the hall, and insisted upon having more +wine; the host refused, and when they moved toward my sleeping place, +where the wine was kept, he interposed, and all came down together with +the noise which had woke me. His wife came to his aid, and the blows +which, in my simplicity, I had supposed to be falling upon him, were +bestowed on the two Bavarians. She told me the story herself; and when +she complained to the officers, they had capped the climax of her +passion by telling her that her husband deserved more than he got. She +was still in a perfect fury; and as she looked at them in the yard +arranging for their departure, she added, in broken English, with deep +and, as I thought, ominous passion, "'Twas better to be under the +Turks." + +I learned all this while I was making my toilet on the piazza, that is, +while she was pouring water on my hands for me to wash; and, just as I +had finished, my eye fell upon my muleteer assisting the soldiers in +loading their horses. At first I did not notice the subdued expression +of his usually bright face, nor that he was loading my horse with some +of their camp equipage; but all at once it struck me that they were +pressing him into their service. I was already roused by what the woman +had told me, and, resolving that they should not serve me as they did +the Greeks, I sprang off the piazza, cleared my way through the crowd, +and going up to my horse, already staggering under a burden poised on +his back, but not yet fastened, put my hand under one side and tumbled +it over with a crash on the other. The soldiers cried out furiously; +and, while they were sputtering German at me, I sprang into the saddle. +I was in admirable pugilistic condition, with nothing on but pantaloons, +boots, and shirt, and just in a humour to get a whipping, if nothing +worse; but I detested the manner in which the Bavarians lorded it in +Greece; and riding up to a group of officers who were staring at me, +told them that I had just tumbled their luggage off my horse, and they +must bear in mind that they could not deal with strangers quite so +arbitrarily as they did with the Greeks. The commandant was disposed to +be indignant and very magnificent; but some of the others making +suggestions to him, he said he understood I had only hired my horse as +far as Corinth; but, if I had taken him for Athens, he would not +interfere; and, apologizing on the ground of the necessities of +government, ordered him to be released. I apologized back again, +returned the horse to my guide, whose eyes sparkled with pleasure, and +went in for my hat and coat. + +I dressed myself, and, telling him to be ready when I had finished my +breakfast, went out expecting to start forthwith; but, to my surprise, +my host told me that the lad refused to go any farther without an +increase of pay; and, sure enough, there he stood, making no preparation +for moving. The cavalcade of soldiers had gone, and taken with them +every horse in Corinth, and the young rascal intended to take advantage +of my necessity. I told him that I had hired him to Athens for such a +price, and that I had saved him from impressment, and consequent loss of +wages, by the soldiers, which he admitted. I added that he was a young +rascal, which he neither admitted nor denied, but answered with a +roguish laugh. The extra price was no object compared with the vexation +of a day's detention; but a traveller is apt to think that all the world +is conspiring to impose upon him, and, at times, to be very resolute in +resisting. I was peculiarly so then, and, after a few words, set off to +complain to the head of the police. Without any ado he trotted along +with me, and we proceeded together, followed by a troup of idlers, I in +something of a passion, he perfectly cool, good-natured, and +considerate, merely keeping out of the way of my stick. Hurrying along +near the columns of the old temple, I stumbled, and he sprang forward to +assist me, his face expressing great interest, and a fear that I had +hurt myself; and when I walked toward a house which I had mistaken for +the bureau of the police department, he ran after me to direct me right. +All this mollified me considerably; and, before we reached the door, the +affair began to strike me as rather ludicrous. + +I stated my case, however, to the eparchos, a Greek in Frank dress, who +spoke French with great facility, and treated me with the greatest +consideration. He was so full of professions that I felt quite sure of a +decision in my favour; but, assuming my story to be true, and without +asking the lad for his excuse, he shrugged his shoulders, and said it +would take time to examine the matter, and, if I was in a hurry, I had +better submit. To be sure, he said, the fellow was a great rogue, and he +gave his countrymen in general a character that would not tell well in +print; but added, in their justification, that they were imposed upon +and oppressed by everybody, and therefore considered that they had a +right to take their advantage whenever an opportunity offered. The young +man sat down on the floor, and looked at me with the most frank, honest, +and open expression, as if perfectly unconscious that he was doing +anything wrong. I could not but acknowledge that some excuse for him was +to be drawn from the nature of the school in which he had been brought +up, and, after a little parley, agreed to pay him the additional price, +if, at the end of the journey, I was satisfied with his conduct. This +was enough; his face brightened, he sprang up and took my hand, and we +left the house the best friends in the world. He seemed to be hurt as +well as surprised at my finding fault with him, for to him all seemed +perfectly natural; and, to seal the reconciliation, he hurried on ahead, +and had the horse ready when I reached the locanda. I took leave of my +host with a better feeling than before, and set out a second time on the +road to Athens. + +At Kalamaki, while walking along the shore, a Greek who spoke the lingua +Franca came from on board one of the little caiques, and, when he +learned that I was an American, described to me the scene that had taken +place on that beach upon the arrival of provisions from America; when +thousands of miserable beings who had fled from the blaze of their +dwellings, and lived for months upon plants and roots; grayheaded men, +mothers with infants at their breasts, emaciated with hunger and almost +frantic with despair, came down from their mountain retreats to receive +the welcome relief. He might well remember the scene, for he had been +one of that starving people; and he took me to his house, and showed me +his wife and four children, now nearly all grown, telling me that they +had all been rescued from death by the generosity of my countrymen. I do +not know why, but in those countries it did not seem unmanly for a +bearded and whiskered man to weep; I felt anything but contempt for him +when, with his heart overflowing and his eyes filled with tears, he told +me, when I returned home, to say to my countrymen that I had seen and +talked with a recipient of their bounty; and though the Greeks might +never repay us, they could never forget what we had done for them. I +remembered the excitement in our country in their behalf, in colleges +and schools, from the graybearded senator to the prattling schoolboy, +and reflected that, perhaps, my mite, cast carelessly upon the waters, +had saved from the extremity of misery this grateful family. I wish that +the cold-blooded prudence which would have checked our honest enthusiasm +in favour of a people, under calamities and horrors worse than ever fell +to the lot of man struggling to be free, could have listened to the +gratitude of this Greek family. With deep interest I bade them farewell, +and, telling my guide to follow with my horse, walked over to the foot +of the mountain. + +Ascending, I saw in one of the openings of the road a packhorse and a +soldier in the Bavarian uniform, and, hoping to find some one to talk +with, I hailed him. He was on the top of the mountain, so far off that +he did not hear me; and when, with the help of my Greek, I had succeeded +in gaining his attention, he looked for some time without being able to +see me. When he did, however, he waited; but, to my no small +disappointment, he answered my first question with the odious "Nix." We +tried each other in two or three dialects; but, finding it of no use, I +sat down to rest, and he, for courtesy, joined me; my young Greek, in +the spirit of good-fellowship, doing the same. He was a tall, +noble-looking fellow, and, like myself, a stranger in Greece; and, +though we could not say so, it was understood that we were glad to meet +and travel together as comrades. The tongue causes more evils than the +sword; and, as we were debarred the use of this mischievous member, and +walked all day side by side, seldom three paces apart, before night we +were sworn friends. + +About five o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at Megara. A group of +Bavarian soldiers was lounging round the door of the khan, who welcomed +their expected comrade and me as his companion. My friend left me, and +soon returned with the compliments of the commandant, and an invitation +to visit him in the evening. I had, however, accepted a prior invitation +from the soldiers for a rendezvous in the locanda. I wandered till dark +among the ruined houses of the town, thought of Euclid and Alexander the +Great, and returning, went up to the same room in which I had slept with +my friends, pored over an old map of Greece hanging on the wall, made a +few notes, and throwing myself back on a sort of divan, while thinking +what I should do fell asleep. + +About ten o'clock I was roused by the loud roar of a chorus, not like a +sudden burst, but a thing that seemed to have swelled up to that point +by degrees; and rubbing my eyes, and stumbling down stairs, I entered +the banqueting hall; a long, rough wooden table extended the whole +length of the room, supplied with only two articles, wine-flagons and +tobacco-pouches; forty or fifty soldiers were sitting round it, smoking +pipes and singing with all their souls, and, at the moment I entered, +waving their pipes to the dying cadence of a hunting chorus. Then +followed a long thump on the table, and they all rose; my long +travelling friend, with a young soldier who spoke a little French, came +up, and, escorting me to the head of the table, gave me a seat by the +side of the chairman. One of them attempted to administer a cup of wine, +and the other thrust at me the end of a pipe, and I should have been +obliged to kick and abscond but for the relief afforded me by the +entrance of another new-comer. This was no other than the corporal's +wife; and if I had been received warmly, she was greeted with +enthusiasm. Half the table sprang forward to escort her, two of them +collared the president and hauled him off his seat, and the whole +company, by acclamation, installed her in his place. She accepted it +without any hesitation, while two of them, with clumsy courtesy, took +off her bonnet, which I, sitting at her right hand, took charge of. All +then resumed their places, and the revel went on more gayly than ever. +The lady president was about thirty, plainly but neatly dressed, and, +though not handsome, had a frank, amiable, and good-tempered expression, +indicating that greatest of woman's attributes, a good heart. In fact, +she looked what the young man at my side told me she was, the peacemaker +of the regiment; and he added, that they always tried to have her at +their convivial meetings, for when she was among them the brawling +spirits were kept down, and every man would be ashamed to quarrel in her +presence. There was no chivalry, no heroic devotion about them, but +their manner toward her was as speaking a tribute as was ever paid to +the influence of woman; and I question whether beauty in her bower, +surrounded by belted knights and barons bold, ever exercised in her +more exalted sphere a more happy influence. I talked with her, and with +the utmost simplicity she told me that the soldiers all loved her; that +they were all kind to her, and she looked upon them all as brothers. We +broke up at about twelve o'clock with a song, requiring each person to +take the hand of his neighbour; one of her hands fell to me, and I took +it with a respect seldom surpassed in touching the hand of woman; for I +felt that she was cheering the rough path of a soldier's life, and, +among scenes calculated to harden the heart, reminding them of mothers, +and sisters, and sweethearts at home. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + A Dreary Funeral.--Marathon.--Mount Pentelicus.--A Mystery.--Woes of + a Lover.--Reveries of Glory.--Scio's Rocky Isle.--A blood-stained + Page of History.--A Greek Prelate.--Desolation.--The Exile's + Return. + + +EARLY in the morning I again started. In a little khan at Eleusis I saw +three or four Bavarian soldiers drinking, and ridiculing the Greek +proprietor, calling him patrioti and capitani. The Greek bore their +gibes and sneers without a word; but there was a deadly expression in +his look, which seemed to say, "I bide my time;" and I remember then +thinking that the Bavarians were running up an account which would one +day be settled with blood. In fact, the soldiers went too far; and, as I +thought, to show off before me, one of them slapped the Greek on the +back, and made him spill a measure of wine which he was carrying to a +customer, when the latter turned upon him like lightning, threw him +down, and would have strangled him if he had not been pulled off by the +by-standers. Indeed, the Greeks had already learned both their +intellectual and physical superiority over the Bavarians; and, a short +time before, a party of soldiers sent to subdue a band of Maniote +insurgents had been captured, and, after a farce of selling them at +auction at a dollar a head, were kicked, and whipped, and sent off. + +About four o'clock I arrived once more at Athens, dined at my old hotel, +and passed the evening at Mr. Hill's. + +The next day I lounged about the city. I had been more than a month +without my carpet-bag, and the way in which I managed during that time +is a thing between my travelling companions and myself. A prudent +Scotchman used to boast of a careful nephew, who, in travelling, instead +of leaving some of his clothes at every hotel on the road, always +brought home _more_ than he took away with him. I was a model of this +kind of carefulness while my opportunities lasted; but my companions had +left me, and this morning I went to the bazars and bought a couple of +shirts. Dressed up in one of them, I strolled outside the walls; and, +while sitting in the shadow of a column of the Temple of Jupiter, I saw +coming from the city, through Hadrian's Gate, four men, carrying a +burden by the corners of a coverlet, followed by another having in his +hands a bottle and spade. As they approached I saw they were bearing the +dead body of a woman, whom, on joining them, I found to be the wife of +the man who followed. He was an Englishman or an American (for he called +himself either, as occasion required) whom I had seen at my hotel and at +Mr. Hill's; had been a sailor, and probably deserted from his ship, and +many years a resident of Athens, where he married a Greek woman. He was +a thriftless fellow, and, as he told me, had lived principally by the +labour of his wife, who washed for European travellers. He had been so +long in Greece, and his connexions and associations were so thoroughly +Greek, that he had lost that sacredness of feeling so powerful both in +Englishmen and Americans of every class in regard to the decent burial +of the dead, though he did say that he had expected to procure a coffin, +but the police of the city had sent officers to take her away and bury +her. There was something so forlorn in the appearance of this rude +funeral, that my first impulse was to turn away; but I checked myself +and followed. Several times the Greeks laid the corpse on the ground and +stopped to rest, chattering indifferently on various subjects. We +crossed the Ilissus, and at some distance came to a little Greek chapel +excavated in the rock. The door was so low that we were obliged to stoop +on entering, and when within we could hardly stand upright. The Greeks +laid down the body in front of the altar; the husband went for the +priest, the Greeks to select a place for a grave, and I remained alone +with the dead. I sat in the doorway, looking inside upon the corpse, and +out upon the Greeks digging the grave. In a short time the husband +returned with a priest, one of the most miserable of that class of +"blind teachers" who swarm in Greece. He immediately commenced the +funeral service, which continued nearly an hour, by which time the +Greeks returned and, taking up the body, carried it to the graveside and +laid it within. I knew the hollow sound of the first clod of earth which +falls upon the lid of a coffin, and shrunk from its leaden fall upon the +uncovered body. I turned away, and, when at some distance, looked back +and saw them packing the earth over the grave. I never saw so dreary a +burial-scene. + +Returning, I passed by the ancient stadium of Herodes Atticus, once +capable of containing twenty-five thousand spectators; the whole +structure was covered with the purest white marble. All remains of its +magnificence are now gone; but I could still trace on the excavated side +of the hill its ancient form of a horseshoe, and walked through the +subterraneous passage by which the vanquished in the games retreated +from the presence of the spectators. + +Returning to the city, I learned that an affray had just taken place +between some Greeks and Bavarians, and, hurrying to the place near the +bazars, found a crowd gathered round a soldier who had been stabbed by a +Greek. According to the Greeks, the affair had been caused by the +habitual insults and provocation given by the Bavarians, the soldier +having wantonly knocked a drinking-cup out of the Greek's hand while he +was drinking. In the crowd I met a lounging Italian (the same who wanted +me to come up from Padras by water), a good-natured and good-for-nothing +fellow, and skilled in tongues; and going with him into a coffee-house +thronged with Bavarians and Europeans of various nations in the service +of government, heard another story, by which it appeared that the +Greeks, as usual, were in the wrong, and that the poor Bavarian had been +stabbed without the slightest provocation, purely from the Greeks' love +of stabbing. Tired of this, I left the scene of contention, and a few +streets off met an Athenian, a friend of two or three days' standing, +and, stopping under a window illuminated by a pair of bright eyes from +above, happened to express my admiration of the lady who owned them, +when he tested the strength of my feelings on the subject by asking me +if I would like to marry her. I was not prepared at the moment to give +precisely that proof, and he followed up his blow by telling me that, if +I wished it, he would engage to secure her for me before the next +morning. The Greeks are almost universally poor. With them every +traveller is rich, and they are so thoroughly civilized as to think that +a rich man is, of course, a good match. + +Toward evening I paid my last visit to the Acropolis. Solitude, silence, +and sunset are the nursery of sentiment. I sat down on a broken capital +of the Parthenon; the owl was already flitting among the ruins. I looked +up at the majestic temple and down at the ruined and newly-regenerated +city, and said to myself, "Lots must rise in Athens!" I traced the line +of the ancient walls, ran a railroad to the Piraeus, and calculated the +increase on "up-town lots" from building the king's palace near the +Garden of Plato. Shall I or shall I not "make an operation" in Athens? +The court has removed here, the country is beautiful, climate fine, +government fixed, steamboats are running, all the world is coming, and +lots must rise. I bought (in imagination) a tract of good tillable land, +laid it out in streets, had my Plato, and Homer, and Washington Places, +and Jackson Avenue, built a row of houses to improve the neighbourhood +where nobody lived, got maps lithographed, and sold off at auction. I +was in the right condition to "go in," for I had nothing to lose; but, +unfortunately, the Greeks were very far behind the spirit of the age, +knew nothing of the beauties of the credit system, and could not be +brought to dispose of their consecrated soil "on the usual terms," _ten +per cent. down, balance on bond and mortgage_, so, giving up the idea, +at dark I bade farewell to the ruins of the Acropolis, and went to my +hotel to dinner. + +Early the next morning I started for the field of Marathon. I engaged a +servant at the hotel to accompany me, but he disappointed me, and I set +out alone with my muleteer. Our road lay along the base of Mount +Hymettus, on the borders of the plain of Attica, shaded by thick groves +of olives. At noon I was on the summit of a lofty mountain, at the base +of which, still and quiet as if it had never resounded with the shock of +war, the great battle-ground of the Greeks and Persians extended to the +sea. The descent was one of the finest things I met with in Greece; +wild, rugged, and, in fact, the most magnificent kind of mountain +scenery. At the foot of the mountain we came to a ruined convent, +occupied by an old white-bearded monk. I stopped there and lunched, the +old man laying before me his simple store of bread and olives, and +looking on with pleasure at my voracious appetite. + +[Illustration: Mound of Marathon.] + +This over, I hurried to the battle-field. Toward the centre is a large +mound of earth, erected over the Athenians who fell in the battle. I +made directly for this mound, ascended it, and threw the reins loose +over my horse's neck; and, sitting on the top, read the account of the +battle in Herodotus. + +After all, is not our reverence misplaced, or, rather does not our +respect for deeds hallowed by time render us comparatively unjust? The +Greek revolution teems with instances of as desperate courage, as great +love of country, as patriotic devotion, as animated the men of Marathon, +and yet the actors in these scenes are not known beyond the boundaries +of their native land. Thousands whose names were never heard of, and +whose bones, perhaps, never received burial, were as worthy of an +eternal monument as they upon whose grave I sat. Still that mound is a +hallowed sepulchre; and the shepherd who looks at it from his mountain +home, the husbandman who drives his plough to its base, and the sailor +who hails it as a landmark from the deck of his caique, are all reminded +of the glory of their ancestors. But away with the mouldering relics of +the past. Give me the green grave of Marco Bozzaris. I put Herodotus in +my pocket, gathered a few blades of grass as a memorial, descended the +mound, betook myself to my saddle, and swept the plain on a gallop, from +the mountain to the sea. + +It is about two miles in width, and bounded by rocky heights enclosing +it at either extremity. Toward the shore the ground is marshy, and at +the place where the Persians escaped to their ships are some unknown +ruins; in several places the field is cultivated, and toward evening, on +my way to the village of Marathon, I saw a Greek ploughing; and when I +told him that I was an American, he greeted me as the friend of Greece. +It is the last time I shall recur to this feeling; but it was music to +my heart to hear a ploughman on immortal Marathon sound in my ears the +praises of my country. + +I intended to pass the night at the village of Marathon; but every khan +was so cluttered up with goats, chickens, and children, that I rode +back to the monastery at the foot of the mountain. It was nearly dark +when I reached it. The old monk was on a little eminence at the door of +his chapel, clapping two boards together to call his flock to vespers. +With his long white beard, his black cap and long black gown, his +picturesque position and primitive occupation, he seemed a guardian +spirit hovering on the borders of Marathon in memory of its ancient +glory. He came down to the monastery to receive me, and, giving me a +paternal welcome, and spreading a mat on the floor, returned to his +chapel. I followed, and saw his little flock assemble. The ploughman +came up from the plain and the shepherd came down from the mountain; the +old monk led the way to the altar, and all kneeled down and prostrated +themselves on the rocky floor. I looked at them with deep interest. I +had seen much of Greek devotion in cities and villages, but it was a +spectacle of extraordinary interest to see these wild and lawless men +assembled on this lonely mountain to worship in all sincerity, according +to the best light they had, the god of their fathers. I could not follow +them in their long and repeated kneelings and prostrations; but my young +Greek, as if to make amends for me, and, at the same time, to show how +they did things in Athens, led the van. The service over, several of +them descended with us to the monastery; the old monk spread his mat, +and again brought out his frugal store of bread and olives. I +contributed what I had brought from Athens, and we made our evening +meal. If I had judged from appearances, I should have felt rather uneasy +at sleeping among such companions; but the simple fact of having seen +them at their devotions gave me confidence. Though I had read and heard +that the Italian bandit went to the altar to pray forgiveness for the +crimes he intended to commit, and, before washing the stains from his +hands, hung up the bloody poniard upon a pillar of the church, and asked +pardon for murder, I always felt a certain degree of confidence in him +who practised the duties of his religion, whatever that religion might +be. I leaned on my elbow, and, by the blaze of the fire, read Herodotus, +while my muleteer, as I judged from the frequent repetition of the word +Americanos, entertained them with long stories about me. By degrees the +blaze of the fire died away, the Greeks stretched themselves out for +sleep, the old monk handed me a bench about four inches high for a +pillow, and, wrapping myself in my cloak, in a few moments I was +wandering in the land of dreams. + +Before daylight my companions were in motion. I intended to return by +the marble quarries on the Pentelican Mountain; and crying "Cavallo" in +the ear of my still sleeping muleteer, in a few minutes I bade farewell +for ever to the good old monk of Marathon. Almost from the door of the +monastery we commenced ascending the mountain. It was just peep of day, +the weather raw and cold, the top of the mountain covered with clouds, +and in an hour I found myself in the midst of them. The road was so +steep and dangerous that I could not ride; a false step of my horse +might have thrown me over a precipice several hundred feet deep; and the +air was so keen and penetrating, that, notwithstanding the violent +exercise of walking, I was perfectly chilled. The mist was so dense, +too, that, when my guide was a few paces in advance, I could not see +him, and I was literally groping my way through the clouds. I had no +idea where I was nor of the scene around me, but I felt that I was in a +measure lifted above the earth. The cold blasts drove furiously along +the sides of the mountain, whistled against the precipices, and +bellowed in the hollows of the rocks, sometimes driving so furiously +that my horse staggered and fell back. I was almost bewildered in +struggling blindly against them; but, just before reaching the top of +the mountain, the thick clouds were lifted as if by an invisible hand, +and I saw once more the glorious sun pouring his morning beams upon a +rich valley extending a great distance to the foot of the Pentelican +Mountain. About half way down we came to a beautiful stream, on the +banks of which we took out our bread and olives. Our appetites were +stimulated by the mountain air, and we divided till our last morsel was +gone. + +At the foot of the mountain, lying between it and Mount Pentelicus, was +a large monastery, occupied by a fraternity of monks. We entered and +walked through it, but found no one to receive us. In a field near by we +saw one of the monks, from whom we obtained a direction to the quarries. +Moving on to the foot of the mountain, which rises with a peaked summit +into the clouds, we commenced ascending, and soon came upon the strata +of beautiful white marble for which Mount Pentelicus has been celebrated +thousands of years. Excavations appear to have been made along the whole +route, and on the roadside were blocks, and marks caused by the friction +of the heavy masses transported to Athens. The great quarries are toward +the summit. The surface has been cut perpendicularly smooth, perhaps +eighty or a hundred feet high, and one hundred and fifty or two hundred +feet in width, and excavations have been made within to an unknown +extent. Whole cities might have been built with the materials taken +away, and yet by comparison with what is left, there is nothing gone. In +front are entrances to a large chamber, in one corner of which, on the +right, is a chapel with the painted figure of the Virgin to receive the +Greeks' prayers. Within are vast humid caverns, over which the wide roof +awfully extends, adorned with hollow tubes like icicles, while a small +transparent petrifying stream trickles down the rock. On one side are +small chambers communicating with subterraneous avenues, used, no doubt, +as places of refuge during the revolution, or as the haunts of robbers. +Bones of animals and stones blackened with smoke showed that but lately +some part had been occupied as a habitation. The great excavations +around, blocks of marble lying as they fell, perhaps, two thousand years +ago, and the appearances of having been once a scene of immense industry +and labour, stand in striking contrast with the desolation and solitude +now existing. Probably the hammer and chisel will never be heard there +more, great temples will no more be raised, and modern genius will +never, like the Greeks of old, make the rude blocks of marble speak. + +[Illustration: Quarries of Pentelicus.] + +At dark I was dining at the Hotel de France, when Mr. Hill came over +with the welcome intelligence that my carpet-bag had arrived. On it was +pinned a large paper, with the words "Huzzah!" "Huzzah!" "Huzzah!" by my +friend Maxwell, who had met it on horse back on the shores of the Gulf +of Lepanto, travelling under the charge of a Greek in search of me. I +opened it with apprehension, and, to my great satisfaction, found +undisturbed the object of my greatest anxiety, the precious notebook +from which I now write, saved from the peril of an anonymous publication +or of being used up for gun-waddings. + +The next morning, before I was up, I heard a gentle rap at my door, +which was followed by the entrance of a German, a missionary, whom I had +met several times at Mr. Hill's, and who had dined with me once at my +hotel. I apologized for being caught in bed, and told him that he must +possess a troubled spirit to send him so early from his pillow. He +answered that I was right; that he did indeed possess a troubled spirit; +and closing the door carefully, came to my bedside, and said he had +conceived a great regard for me, and intended confiding in me an +important trust. I had several times held long conversations with him at +Mr. Hill's, and very little to my edification, as his English was hardly +intelligible; but I felt pleased at having, without particularly +striving for it, gained the favourable opinion of one who bore the +character of a very learned and a very good man. I requested him to step +into the dining-room while I rose and dressed myself; but he put his +hand upon my breast to keep me down, and drawing a chair, began, "You +are going to Smyrna." He then paused, but, after some moments of +hesitation, proceeded to say that the first name I would hear on my +arrival there would be his own; that, unfortunately, it was in +everybody's mouth. My friend was a short and very ugly middle-aged man, +with a very large mouth, speaking English with the most disagreeable +German sputter, lame from a fall, and, altogether, of a most +uninteresting and unsentimental aspect; and he surprised me much by +laying before me a veritable _affaire du coeur_. It was so foreign to my +expectations, that I should as soon have expected to be made a confidant +in a love affair by the Archbishop of York. After a few preliminaries he +went into particulars; lavished upon the lady the usual quota of charms +"in such case made and provided," but was uncertain, rambling, and +discursive in regard to the position he held in her regard. At first I +understood that it was merely the old story, a flirtation and a victim; +then that they were very near being married, which I afterward +understood to be only so near as this, that he was willing and she not; +and, finally, it settled down into the every-day occurrence, the lady +smiled, while the parents and a stout two-fisted brother frowned. I +could but think, if such a homely expression may be introduced in +describing these tender passages, that he had the boot on the wrong leg, +and that the parents were much more likely than the daughter to favour +such a suitor. However, on this point I held my peace. The precise +business he wished to impose on me was, immediately on my arrival in +Smyrna to form the acquaintance of the lady and her family, and use all +my exertions in his favour. I told him I was an entire stranger in +Smyrna, and could not possibly have any influence with the parties; but, +being urged, promised him that, if I could interfere without intruding +myself improperly, he should have the benefit of my mediation. At first +he intended giving me a letter to the lady, but afterward determined to +give me one to the Rev. Mr. Brewer, an American missionary, who, he +said, was a particular friend of his, and intimate with the beloved and +her family, and acquainted with the whole affair. Placing himself at my +table, on which were pens, ink, and paper, he proceeded to write his +letter, while I lay quietly till he turned over the first side, when, +tired of waiting, I rose, dressed myself, packed up, and, before he had +finished, stood by the table with my carpet-bag, waiting until he should +have done to throw in my writing materials. He bade me good-by after I +had mounted my horse to leave, and, when I turned back to look at him, I +could not but feel for the crippled, limping victim of the tender +passion, though, in honesty, and with the best wishes for his success, I +did not think it would help his suit for the lady to see him. + +An account of my journey from Athens to Smyrna, given in a letter to +friends at home, was published during my absence and without my +knowledge, in successive numbers of the American Monthly Magazine, and +perhaps the favourable notice taken of it had some influence in inducing +me to write a book. I give the papers as they were then published. + + + _Smyrna, April_, 1835. + + MY DEAR ****, + + I have just arrived at this place, and I live to tell it. I have + been three weeks performing a voyage usually made in three days. It + has been tedious beyond all things; but, as honest Dogberry would + say, if it had been ten times as tedious, I could find it in my + heart to bestow it all upon you. To begin at the beginning: on the + morning of the second instant, I and my long-lost carpet-bag left + the eternal city of Athens, without knowing exactly whither we were + going, and sincerely regretted by Miltiades Panajotti, the garcon of + the hotel. We wound round the foot of the Acropolis, and, giving a + last look to its ruined temples, fell into the road to the Piraeus, + and in an hour found ourselves at that ancient harbour, almost as + celebrated in the history of Greece as Athens itself. Here we took + counsel as to farther movements, and concluded to take passage in a + caique to sail that evening for Syra, being advised that that island + was a great place of rendezvous for vessels, and that from it we + could procure a passage to any place we chose. Having disposed of my + better half (I may truly call it so, for what is man without + pantaloons, vests, and shirts), I took a little sailboat to float + around the ancient harbour and muse upon its departed glories. + + The day that I lingered there before bidding farewell, perhaps for + ever, to the shores of Greece, is deeply impressed upon my mind. I + had hardly begun to feel the magic influence of the land of poets, + patriots, and heroes, until the very moment of my departure. I had + travelled in the most interesting sections of the country, and found + all enthusiasm dead within me when I had expected to be carried away + by the remembrance of the past; but here, I know not how it was, + without any effort, and in the mere act of whiling away my time, all + that was great, and noble, and beautiful in her history rushed upon + me at once; the sun and the breeze, the land and the sea, + contributed to throw a witchery around me; and in a rich and + delightful frame of mind, I found myself among the monuments of her + better days, gliding by the remains of the immense wall erected to + enclose the harbour during the Peloponnesian war, and was soon + floating upon the classic waters of Salamis. + + If I had got there by accident it would not have occurred to me to + dream of battles and all the fierce panoply of war upon that calm + and silvery surface. But I knew where I was, and my blood was up. I + was among the enduring witnesses of the Athenian glory. Behind me + was the ancient city, the Acropolis, with its ruined temples, the + telltale monuments of by-gone days, towering above the plain; here + was the harbour from which the galleys carried to the extreme parts + of the then known world the glories of the Athenian name; before me + was unconquered Salamis; here the invading fleet of Xerxes; there + the little navy, the last hope of the Athenians; here the island of + AEgina, from which Aristides, forgetting his quarrel with + Themistocles, embarked in a rude boat, during the hottest of the + battle, for the ship of the latter; and there the throne of Xerxes, + where the proud invader stationed himself as spectator of the battle + that was to lay the rich plain of Attica at his feet. There could be + no mistake about localities; the details have been handed down from + generation to generation, and are as well known to the Greeks of the + present day as they were to their fathers. So I went to work + systematically, and fought the whole battle through. I gave the + Persians ten to one, but I made the Greeks fight like tigers; I + pointed them to their city; to their wives and children; I brought + on long strings of little innocents, urging them as in the farce, + "sing out, young uns;" I carried old Themistocles among the Persians + like a modern Greek fireship among the Turks; I sunk ship after + ship, and went on demolishing them at a most furious rate, until I + saw old Xerxes scudding from his throne, and the remnant of the + Persian fleet scampering away to the tune of "devil take the + hindmost." By this time I had got into the spirit of the thing; and + moving rapidly over that water, once red with blood of thousands + from the fields of Asia, I steered for the shore and mounted the + vacant throne of Xerxes. This throne is on a hill near the shore, + not very high, and as pretty a place as a man could have selected + to see his friends whipped and keep out of harm's way himself; for + you will recollect that in those days there was no gunpowder nor + cannon balls, and, consequently, no danger from long chance shots. I + selected a particular stone, which I thought it probable Xerxes, as + a reasonable man, and with an eye to perspective, might have chosen + as his seat on the eventful day of the battle; and on that same + stone sat down to meditate upon the vanity of all earthly greatness. + But, most provokingly, whenever I think of Xerxes, the first thing + that presents itself to my mind is the couplet in the Primer, + + "Xerxes the Great did die, + And so must you and I." + + This is a very sensible stanza, no doubt, and worthy of always being + borne in mind; but it was not exactly what I wanted. I tried to + drive it away; but the more I tried, the more it stuck to me. It was + all in vain. I railed at early education, and resolved that acquired + knowledge hurts a man's natural faculties; for if I had not received + the first rudiments of education, I should not have been bothered + with the vile couplet, and should have been able to do something on + my own account. As it was, I lost one of the best opportunities ever + a man had for moralizing; and you, my dear ----, have lost at least + three pages. I give you, however, all the materials; put yourself on + the throne of Xerxes, and do what you can, and may your early + studies be no stumbling-block in your way. As for me, vexed and + disgusted with myself, I descended the hill as fast as the great + king did of yore, and jumping into my boat, steered for the farthest + point of the Piraeus; from the throne of _Xerxes_ to the tomb of + Themistocles. + + I was prepared to do something here. This was not merely a place + where he had been; I was to tread upon the earth that covered his + bones; here were his ashes; here was all that remained of the best + and bravest of the Greeks, save his immortal name. As I approached I + saw the large square stones that enclosed his grave, and mused upon + his history; the deliverer of his country, banished, dying an exile, + his bones begged by his repenting countrymen, and buried with + peculiar propriety near the shore of the sea commanding a full view + of the scene of his naval glory. For more than two thousand years + the waves have almost washed over his grave, the sun has shone and + the winds have howled over him; while, perhaps, his spirit has + mingled with the sighing of the winds and the murmur of the waters, + in moaning over the long captivity of his countrymen; perhaps, too, + his spirit has been with them in their late struggle for liberty; + has hovered over them in the battle and the breeze, and is now + standing sentinel over his beloved and liberated country. I + approached as to the grave of one who will never die. His great + name, his great deeds, hallowed by the lapse of so many ages; the + scene--I looked over the wall with a feeling amounting to reverence, + when, directly before me, the first thing I saw, the only thing I + could see, so glaring and conspicuous that nothing else could fix my + eye, was a tall, stiff, wooden headboard, painted white, with black + letters, to the memory of an Englishman with as unclassical a name + as that of _John Johnson_. My eyes were blasted with the sight; I + was ferocious; I railed at him as if he had buried himself there + with his own hands. What had he to do there? I railed at his + friends. Did they expect to give him a name by mingling him with the + ashes of the immortal dead? Did they expect to steal immortality + like fire from the flint? I dashed back to my boat, steered directly + for the harbour, gave sentiment to the dogs, and in half an hour was + eating a most voracious and spiteful dinner. + + In the evening I embarked on board my little caique. She was one of + the most rakish of that rakish description of vessels. I drew my + cloak around me and stretched myself on the deck as we glided + quietly out of the harbour; saw the throne of Xerxes, the island of + Salamis, and the shores of Greece gradually fade from view; looked + at the dusky forms of the Greeks in their capotes lying asleep + around me; at the helmsman sitting cross-legged at his post, + apparently without life or motion; gave one thought to home, and + fell asleep. + + In the morning I began to examine my companions. They were, in all, + a captain and six sailors, probably all part owners, and two + passengers from one of the islands, not one of whom could speak any + other language than Greek. My knowledge of that language was + confined to a few rolling hexameters, which had stuck by me in some + unaccountable way as a sort of memento of college days. These, + however, were of no particular use, and, consequently, I was pretty + much tongue-tied during the whole voyage. I amused myself by making + my observations quietly upon my companions, as they did more openly + upon me, for I frequently heard the word "Americanos" pass among + them. I had before had occasion to see something of Greek sailors, + and to admire their skill and general good conduct, and I was + fortified in my previous opinion by what I saw of my present + companions. Their temperance in eating and drinking is very + remarkable, and all my comparisons between them and European sailors + were very much in their favour. Indeed, I could not help thinking, + as they sat collectively, Turkish fashion, around their frugal meal + of bread, caviari, and black olives, that I had never seen finer + men. Their features were regular, in that style which we to this day + recognise as Grecian; their figures good, and their faces wore an + air of marked character and intelligence; and these advantages of + person were set off by the island costume, the fez or red cloth cap, + with a long black tassel at the top, a tight vest and jacket, + embroidered and without collars, large Turkish trousers coming down + a little below the knee, legs bare, sharp-pointed slippers, and a + sash around the waist, tied under the left side, with long ends + hanging down, and a knife sticking out about six inches. There was + something bold and daring in their appearance; indeed, I may say, + rakish and piratical; and I could easily imagine that, if the + Mediterranean should again become infested with pirates, my friends + would cut no contemptible figure among them. But I must not detain + you as long on the voyage as I was myself. The sea was calm; we had + hardly any wind; our men were at the oars nearly all the time, and, + passing slowly by AEgina, Cape Sunium, with its magnificent ruins + mournfully overlooking the sea, better known in modern times as + Colonna's Height and the scene of Falconer's shipwreck, passing also + the island of Zea, the ancient Chios, Thermia, and other islands of + lesser note, in the afternoon of the third day we arrived at Syra. + + With regard to Syra I shall say but little; I am as loath to linger + about it now as I was to stay there then. The fact is, I cannot + think of the place with any degree of satisfaction. The evening of + my arrival I heard, through a Greek merchant to whom I had a letter + from a friend in Athens, of a brig to sail the next day for Smyrna; + and I lay down on a miserable bed in a miserable locanda, in the + confident expectation of resuming my journey in the morning. Before + morning, however, I was roused by "blustering Boreas" rushing + through the broken casement of my window; and for more than a week + all the winds ever celebrated in the poetical history of Greece were + let loose upon the island. We were completely cut off from all + communication with the rest of the world. Not a vessel could leave + the port, while vessel after vessel put in there for shelter. I do + not mean to go into any details; indeed, for my own credit's sake I + dare not; for if I were to draw a true picture of things as I found + them; if I were to write home the truth, I should be considered as + utterly destitute of taste and sentiment; I should be looked upon as + a most unpoetical dog, who ought to have been at home poring over + the revised statutes instead of breathing the pure air of poetry and + song. And now, if I were writing what might by chance come under the + eyes of a sentimental young lady or a young gentleman in his teens, + the truth would be the last thing I would think of telling. No, + though my teeth chatter, though a cold sweat comes over me when I + think of it, I would go through the usual rhapsody, and huzzah for + "the land of the East and the clime of the sun." Indeed, I have a + scrap in my portfolio, written with my cloak and greatcoat on, and + my feet over a brazier, beginning in that way. But to you, my + dear ----, who know my touching sensibilities, and who, moreover, + have a tender regard for my character and will not publish me, I + would as soon tell the truth as not. And I therefore do not hesitate + to say, but do not whisper it elsewhere, that in one of the + beautiful islands of the AEgean; in the heart of the Cyclades, in the + sight of Delos, and Paros, and Antiparos, any one of which is enough + to throw one who has never seen them into raptures with their + fancied beauties, here, in this paradise of a young man's dreams, in + the middle of April, I would have hailed "chill November's surly + blast" as a zephyr; I would have exchanged all the beauties of this + balmy clime for the sunny side of Kamschatka; I would have given my + room and the whole Island of Syra for a third-rate lodging in + Communipaw. It was utterly impossible to walk out, and equally + impossible to stay in my room; the house, to suit that delightful + climate, being built without windows or window-shutters. If I could + forget the island, I could remember with pleasure the society I met + there. I passed my mornings in the library of Mr. R., one of our + worthy American missionaries; and my evenings at the house of Mr. + W., the British consul. This gentleman married a Greek lady of + Smyrna, and had three beautiful daughters, more than half Greeks in + their habits and feelings; one of them is married to an English + baronet, another to a Greek merchant of Syra, and the third--. + + On the ninth day the wind fell, the sun once more shone brightly, + and in the evening I embarked on board a rickety brig for Smyrna. At + about six o'clock P.M. thirty or forty vessels were quietly crawling + out of the harbour like rats after a storm. It was almost a calm + when we started: in about two hours we had a favourable breeze; we + turned in, going at the rate of eight miles an hour, and rose with a + strong wind dead ahead. We beat about all that day; the wind + increased to a gale, and toward evening we took shelter in the + harbour of Scio. + + The history of this beautiful little island forms one of the + bloodiest pages in the history of the world, and one glance told + that dreadful history. Once the most beautiful island of the + Archipelago, it is now a mass of ruins. Its fields, which once + "budded and blossomed as the rose," have become waste places; its + villages are deserted, its towns are in ruins, its inhabitants + murdered, in captivity, and in exile. Before the Greek revolution + the Greeks of Scio were engaged in extensive commerce, and ranked + among the largest merchants in the Levant. Though living under hard + taskmasters, subject to the exactions of a rapacious pacha, their + industry and enterprise, and the extraordinary fertility of their + island, enabled them to pay a heavy tribute to the Turks and to + become rich themselves. For many years they had enjoyed the + advantages of a college, with professors of high literary and + scientific attainments, and their library was celebrated throughout + all that country; it was, perhaps, the only spot in Greece where + taste and learning still held a seat. But the island was far more + famed for its extraordinary natural beauty and fertility. Its bold + mountains and its soft valleys, the mildness of its climate and the + richness of its productions, bound the Greeks to its soil by a tie + even stronger than the chain of their Turkish masters. In the early + part of the revolution the Sciotes took no part with their + countrymen in their glorious struggle for liberty. Forty of their + principal citizens were given up as hostages, and they were suffered + to remain in peace. Wrapped in the rich beauties of their island, + they forgot the freedom of their fathers and their own chains; and, + under the precarious tenure of a tyrant's will, gave themselves up + to the full enjoyment of all that wealth and taste could purchase. + We must not be too hard upon human nature; the cause seemed + desperate; they had a little paradise at stake; and if there is a + spot on earth, the risk of losing which could excuse men in + forgetting that they were slaves in a land where their fathers were + free, it is the Island of Scio. But the sword hung suspended over + them by a single hair. In an unexpected hour, without the least note + of preparation, they were startled by the thunder of the Turkish + cannon; fifty thousand Turks were let loose like bloodhounds upon + the devoted island. The affrighted Greeks lay unarmed and helpless + at their feet, but they lay at the feet of men who did not know + mercy even by name; at the feet of men who hungered and thirsted + after blood; of men, in comparison with whom wild beasts are as + lambs. The wildest beast of the forest may become gorged with blood; + not so with the Turks at Scio. Their appetite "grew with what it fed + on," and still longed for blood when there was not a victim left to + bleed. Women were ripped open, children dashed against the walls, + the heads of whole families stuck on pikes out of the windows of + their houses, while their murderers gave themselves up to riot and + plunder within. The forty hostages were hung in a row from the walls + of the castle; an indiscriminate and universal burning and massacre + took place; in a few days the ground was cumbered with the dead, and + one of the loveliest spots on earth was a pile of smoking ruins. Out + of a population of one hundred and ten thousand, sixty thousand are + supposed to have been murdered, twenty thousand to have escaped, and + thirty thousand to have been sold into slavery. Boys and young girls + were sold publicly in the streets of Smyrna and Constantinople at a + dollar a head. And all this did not arise from any irritated state + of feeling toward them. It originated in the cold-blooded, + calculating policy of the sultan, conceived in the same spirit which + drenched the streets of Constantinople with the blood of the + Janisaries; it was intended to strike terror into the hearts of the + Greeks, but the murderer failed in his aim. The groans of the + hapless Sciotes reached the ears of their countrymen, and gave a + headlong and irresistible impulse to the spirit then struggling to + be free. And this bloody tragedy was performed in our own days, and + in the face of the civilized world. Surely if ever Heaven visits in + judgment a nation for a nation's crimes, the burning and massacre at + Scio will be deeply visited upon the accursed Turks. + + It was late in the afternoon when I landed, and my landing was under + peculiarly interesting circumstances. One of my fellow-passengers + was a native of the island, who had escaped during the massacre, and + now revisited it for the first time. He asked me to accompany him + ashore, promising to find some friends at whose house we might + sleep; but he soon found himself a stranger in his native island: + where he had once known everybody, he now knew nobody. The town was + a complete mass of ruins; the walls of many fine buildings were + still standing, crumbling to pieces, and still black with the fire + of the incendiary Turks. The town that had grown up upon the ruins + consisted of a row of miserable shantees, occupied as shops for the + sale of the mere necessaries of life, where the shopman slept on his + window-shutter in front. All my companion's efforts to find an + acquaintance who would give us a night's lodging were fruitless. We + were determined not to go on board the vessel, if possible to avoid + it; her last cargo had been oil, the odour of which still remained + about her. The weather would not permit us to sleep on deck, and the + cabin was intolerably disagreeable. To add to our unpleasant + position, and, at the same time, to heighten the cheerlessness of + the scene around us, the rain began to fall violently. Under the + guidance of a Greek we searched among the ruins for an apartment + where we might build a fire and shelter ourselves for the night, but + we searched in vain; the work of destruction was too complete. + + Cold, and thoroughly drenched with rain, we were retracing our way + to our boat, when our guide told my companion that a Greek + archbishop had lately taken up his abode among the ruins. We + immediately went there, and found him occupying apartments, + partially repaired, in what had once been one of the finest houses + in Scio. The entrance through a large stone gateway was imposing; + the house was cracked from top to bottom by fire, nearly one half + had fallen down, and the stones lay scattered as they fell; but + enough remained to show that in its better days it had been almost a + palace. We ascended a flight of stone steps to a terrace, from which + we entered into a large hall perhaps thirty feet wide and fifty feet + long. On one side of this hall the wall had fallen down the whole + length, and we looked out upon the mass of ruins beneath. On the + other side, in a small room in one corner, we found the archbishop. + He was sick, and in bed with all his clothes on, according to the + universal custom here, but received us kindly. The furniture + consisted of an iron bedstead with a mattress, on which he lay with + a quilt spread over him, a wooden sofa, three wooden chairs, about + twenty books, and two large leather cases containing clothes, + napkins, and, probably, all his worldly goods. The rain came through + the ceiling in several places; the bed of the poor archbishop had + evidently been moved from time to time to avoid it, and I was + obliged to change my position twice. An air of cheerless poverty + reigned through the apartment. I could not help comparing his lot + with that of more favoured and, perhaps, not more worthy servants of + the church. It was a style so different from that of the priests at + Rome, the pope and his cardinals, with their gaudy equipages and + multitudes of footmen rattling to the Vatican; or from the pomp and + state of the haughty English prelates, or even from the comforts of + our own missionaries in different parts of this country, that I + could not help feeling deeply for the poor priest before me. But he + seemed contented and cheerful, and even thankful that, for the + moment, there were others worse off than himself, and that he had it + in his power to befriend them. + + Sweetmeats, coffee, and pipes were served; and in about an hour we + were conducted to supper in a large room, also opening from the + hall. Our supper would not have tempted an epicure, but suited very + well an appetite whetted by exercise and travel. It consisted of a + huge lump of bread and a large glass of water for each of us, + caviari, black olives, and two kinds of Turkish sweetmeats. We were + waited upon by two priests: one of them, a handsome young man, not + more than twenty, with long black hair hanging over his shoulders + like a girl's, stood by with a napkin on his arm and a pewter + vessel, with which he poured water on our hands, receiving it again + in a basin. This was done both before and after eating; then came + coffee and pipes. During the evening the young priest brought out an + edition of Homer, and I surprised _him_, and astounded _myself_, by + being able to translate a passage in the Iliad. I translated it in + French, and my companion explained it in modern Greek to the young + priest. Our beds were cushions laid on a raised platform or divan + extending around the walls, with a quilt for each of us. In the + morning, after sweetmeats, coffee, and pipes, we paid our respects + to the good old archbishop, and took our leave. When we got out of + doors, finding that the wind was the same, and that there was no + possibility of sailing, my friend proposed a ride into the country. + We procured a couple of mules, took a small basket of provisions for + a collation, and started. + + Our road lay directly along the shore; on one side the sea, and on + the other the ruins of houses and gardens, almost washed by the + waves. At about three miles' distance we crossed a little stream, by + the side of which we saw a sarcophagus, lately disinterred, + containing the usual vases of a Grecian tomb, including the piece of + money to pay Charon his ferriage over the river Styx, and six pounds + of dust; being all that remained of a _man_--perhaps one who had + filled a large space in the world; perhaps a hero--buried probably + more than two thousand years ago. After a ride of about five miles + we came to the ruins of a large village, the style of which would + anywhere have fixed the attention, as having been once a favoured + abode of wealth and taste. The houses were of brown stone, built + together, strictly in the Venetian style, after the models left + during the occupation of the island by the Venetians, large and + elegant, with gardens of three or four acres, enclosed by high walls + of the same kind of stone, and altogether in a style far superior to + anything I had seen in Greece. These were the country-houses and + gardens of the rich merchants of Scio. The manner of living among + the proprietors here was somewhat peculiar, and the ties that bound + them to this little village were peculiarly strong. This was the + family home; the community was essentially mercantile, and most of + their business transactions were carried on elsewhere. When there + were three or four brothers in a family, one would be in + Constantinople a couple of years, another at Trieste, and so on, + while another remained at home; so that those who were away, while + toiling amid the perplexities of business, were always looking to + the occasional family reunion; and all trusted to spend the evening + of their days among the beautiful gardens of Scio. What a scene for + the heart to turn to now! The houses and gardens were still there, + some standing almost entire, others black with smoke and crumbling + to ruins. But where were they who once occupied them? Where were + they who should now be coming out to rejoice in the return of a + friend and to welcome a stranger? An awful solitude, a stillness + that struck a cold upon the heart, reigned around us. We saw nobody; + and our own voices, and the tramping of our horses upon the deserted + pavements, sounded hollow and sepulchral in our ears. It was like + walking among the ruins of Pompeii; it was another city of the dead; + but there was a freshness about the desolation that seemed of + to-day; it seemed as though the inhabitants should be sleeping and + not dead. Indeed, the high walls of the gardens, and the outside of + the houses too, were generally so fresh and in so perfect a state, + that it seemed like riding through a handsome village at an early + hour before the inhabitants had risen; and I sometimes could not + help thinking that in an hour or two the streets would be thronged + with a busy population. My friend continued to conduct me through + the solitary streets; telling me, as we went along, that this was + the house of such a family, this of such a family, with some of + whose members I had become acquainted in Greece, until, stopping + before a large stone gateway, he dismounted at the gate of his + father's house. In that house he was born; there he had spent his + youth; he had escaped from it during the dreadful massacre, and + this was the first time of his revisiting it. What a tide of + recollections must have rushed upon him! + + We entered through the large stone gateway into a courtyard + beautifully paved in mosaic in the form of a star, with small black + and white round stones. On our left was a large stone reservoir, + perhaps twenty-five feet square, still so perfect as to hold water, + with an arbour over it supported by marble columns; a venerable + grapevine completely covered the arbour. The garden covered an + extent of about four acres, filled with orange, lemon, almond, and + fig trees; overrun with weeds, roses, and flowers, growing together + in wild confusion. On the right was the house, and a melancholy + spectacle it was; the wall had fallen down on one side, and the + whole was black with smoke. We ascended a flight of stone steps, + with marble balustrades, to the terrace, a platform about twenty + feet square, overlooking the garden. From the terrace we entered the + saloon, a large room with high ceilings and fresco paintings on the + walls; the marks of the fire kindled on the stone floor still + visible, all the woodwork burned to a cinder, and the whole black + with smoke. It was a perfect picture of wanton destruction. The day, + too, was in conformity with the scene; the sun was obscured, the + wind blew through the ruined building, it rained, was cold and + cheerless. What were the feelings of my friend I cannot imagine; the + houses of three of his uncles were immediately adjoining; one of + these uncles was one of the forty hostages, and was hanged; the + other two were murdered; his father, a venerable-looking old man, + who came down to the vessel when we started to see him off, had + escaped to the mountains, from thence in a caique to Ipsara, and + from thence into Italy. I repeat it, I cannot imagine what were his + feelings; he spoke but little; they must have been too deep for + utterance. I looked at everything with intense interest; I wanted to + ask question after question, but could not, in mercy, probe his + bleeding wounds. We left the house and walked out into the garden. + It showed that there was no master's eye to watch over it; I plucked + an orange which had lost its flavour; the tree was withering from + want of care; our feet became entangled among weeds, and roses, and + rare hothouse plants growing wildly together. I said that he did not + talk much; but the little he did say amounted to volumes. Passing a + large vase in which a beautiful plant was running wildly over the + sides, he murmured indistinctly "the same vase" (le meme vase), and + once he stopped opposite a tree, and, turning to me, said, "This is + the only tree I do not remember." These and other little incidental + remarks showed how deeply all the particulars were engraved upon his + mind, and told me, plainer than words, that the wreck and ruin he + saw around him harrowed his very soul. Indeed, how could it be + otherwise? This was his father's house, the home of his youth, the + scene of his earliest, dearest, and fondest recollections. Busy + memory, that source of all our greatest pains as well as greatest + pleasures, must have pressed sorely upon him, must have painted the + ruined and desolate scene around him in colours even brighter, far + brighter, than they ever existed in; it must have called up the + faces of well-known and well-loved friends; indeed, he must have + asked himself, in bitterness and in anguish of spirit, "The friends + of my youth where are they?" while the fatal answer fell upon his + heart, "Gone murdered, in captivity and in exile." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + A Noble Grecian Lady.--Beauty of Scio.--An Original.--Foggi.--A + Turkish Coffee-house.--Mussulman at Prayers.--Easter Sunday.--A + Greek Priest.--A Tartar Guide.--Turkish Ladies.--Camel + Scenes.--Sight of a Harem.--Disappointed Hopes.--A rare + Concert.--Arrival at Smyrna. + + +(_Continuation of the Letter._) + + WE returned to the house, and seeking out a room less ruined than + the rest, partook of a slight collation, and set out on a visit to a + relative of my Sciote friend. + + On our way my companion pointed out a convent on the side of a hill, + where six thousand Greeks, who had been prevailed upon to come down + from the mountains to ransom themselves, were treacherously murdered + to a man; their unburied bones still whiten the ground within the + walls of the convent. Arriving at the house of his relative, we + entered through a large gateway into a handsome courtyard, with + reservoir, garden, &c., ruinous, though in better condition than + those we had seen before. This relative was a widow, of the noble + house of Mavrocordato, one of the first families in Greece, and + perhaps the most distinguished name in the Greek revolution. She had + availed herself of the sultan's amnesty to return; had repaired two + or three rooms, and sat down to end her days among the scenes of her + childhood, among the ruins of her father's house. She was now not + more than thirty; her countenance was remarkably pensive, and she + had seen enough to drive a smile for ever from her face. The meeting + between her and my friend was exceedingly affecting, particularly on + her part. She wept bitterly, though, with the elasticity peculiar to + the Greek character, the smile soon chased away the tear. She + invited us to spend the night there, pointing to the divan, and + promising us cushions and coverlets. We accepted her invitation, and + again set forth to ramble among the ruins. + + I had heard that an American missionary had lately come into the + island, and was living somewhere in the neighbourhood. I found out + his abode, and went to see him. He was a young man from Virginia, by + the name of ****; had married a lady from Connecticut, who was + unfortunately sick in bed. He was living in one room in the corner + of a ruined building, but was then engaged in repairing a house into + which he expected to remove soon. As an American, the first whom + they had seen in that distant island, they invited me into the + sickroom. In a strange land, and among a people whose language they + did not understand, they seemed to be all in all to each other; and + I left them, probably for ever, in the earnest hope that the wife + might soon be restored to health, that hand in hand they might + sustain each other in the rough path before them. + + Toward evening we returned to the house of my friend's relative. We + found there a nephew, a young man about twenty-two, and a cousin, a + man about thirty-five, both accidentally on a visit to the island. + As I looked at the little party before me, sitting around a brazier + of charcoal, and talking earnestly in Greek, I could hardly persuade + myself that what I had seen and heard that day was real. All that I + had ever read in history of the ferocity of the Turkish character; + all the wild stories of corsairs, of murdering, capturing, and + carrying into captivity, that I had ever read in romances, crowded + upon me, and I saw living witnesses that the bloodiest records of + history and the wildest creations of romance were not overcharged. + They could all testify in their own persons that these things were + true. They had all been stripped of their property, and had their + houses burned over their heads; had all narrowly escaped being + murdered; and had all suffered in their nearest and dearest + connexions. The nephew, then a boy nine years old, had been saved by + a maidservant, his father had been murdered; a brother, a sister, + and many of his cousins, were at that moment, and had been for + years, in slavery among the Turks; my friend, with his sister, had + found refuge in the house of the Austrian consul, and from thence + had escaped into Italy; the cousin was the son of one of the forty + hostages who were hung, and was the only member of his father's + family that escaped death; while our pensive and amiable hostess, a + bride of seventeen, had seen her young husband murdered before her + eyes; had herself been sold into slavery, and, after two years' + servitude, redeemed by her friends. + + In the morning I rose early and walked out upon the terrace. Nature + had put on a different garb. The wind had fallen, and the sun was + shining warmly upon a scene of softness and luxuriance surpassing + all that I had ever heard or dreamed of the beauty of the islands of + Greece. Away with all that I said about Syra; skip the page. The + terrace overlooked the garden filled with orange, lemon, almond, and + fig trees; with plants, roses, and flowers of every description, + growing in luxuriant wildness. But the view was not confined to the + garden. Looking back to the harbour of Scio, was a bold range of + rugged mountains bounding the view on that side; on the right was + the sea, then calm as a lake; on both the other sides were ranges of + mountains, irregular and picturesque in their appearance, verdant + and blooming to their very summits; and within these limits, for an + extent of perhaps five miles, were continued gardens like that at + my feet, filled with the choicest fruit-trees, with roses and the + greatest variety of rare plants and flowers that ever unfolded their + beauties before the eyes of man; above all, the orange-trees, the + peculiar favourite of the island, then almost in full bloom, covered + with blossoms, from my elevated position on the terrace made the + whole valley appear an immense bed of flowers. All, too, felt the + freshening influence of the rain; and a gentle breeze brought to me + from this wilderness of sweets the most delicious perfume that ever + greeted the senses. Do not think me extravagant when I say that, in + your wildest dreams, you could never fancy so rich and beautiful a + scene. Even among ruins, that almost made the heart break, I could + hardly tear my eyes from it. It is one of the loveliest spots on + earth. It is emphatically a Paradise lost, for the hand of the Turks + is upon it; a hand that withers all that it touches. In vain does + the sultan invite the survivers, and the children made orphans by + his bloody massacre, to return; in vain do the fruits and the + flowers, the sun and the soil, invite them to return; their wounds + are still bleeding; they cannot forget that the wild beast's paw + might again be upon them, and that their own blood might one day + moisten the flowers which grow over the graves of their fathers. But + I must leave this place. I could hardly tear myself away then, and I + love to linger about it now. While I was enjoying the luxury of the + terrace a messenger came from the captain to call us on board. With + a feeling of the deepest interest I bade farewell, probably for + ever, to my sorrowing hostess and to the beautiful gardens of Scio. + + We mounted our mules, and in an hour were at the port. My feelings + were so wrought upon that I felt my blood boil at the first Turk I + met in the streets. I felt that I should like to sacrifice him to + the shades of the murdered Greeks. I wondered that the Greeks did + not kill every one on the island. I wondered that they could endure + the sight of the turban. We found that the captain had hurried us + away unnecessarily. We could not get out of the harbour, and were + obliged to lounge about the town all day. We again made a circuit + among the ruins; examined particularly those of the library, where + we found an old woman who had once been an attendant there, living + in a little room in the cellar, completely buried under the stones + of the fallen building; and returning, sat down with a chibouk + before the door of an old Turkish coffee-house fronting the harbour. + Here I met an original in the person of the Dutch consul. He was an + old Italian, and had been in America during the revolutionary war as + _dragoman_, as he called it, to the Count de Grasse, though, from + his afterward incidentally speaking of the count as "my master," I + am inclined to think that the word dragoman, which here means a + person of great character and trust, may be interpreted as "valet de + chambre." The old consul was in Scio during the whole of the + massacre, and gave me many interesting particulars respecting it. He + hates the Greeks, and spoke with great indignation about the manner + in which their dead bodies lay strewed about the streets for months + after the massacre. "D--n them," he said, "he could not go anywhere + without stumbling over them." As I began to have some apprehensions + about being obliged to stay here another night, I thought I could + not employ my time better than in trying to work out of the consul + an invitation to spend it with him. But the old fellow was too much + for me. When I began to talk about the unpleasantness of being + obliged to spend the night on board, and the impossibility of + spending it on shore, _having no acquaintance_ there, he began to + talk poverty in the most up and down terms. I was a little + discouraged, but I looked at his military coat, his cocked hat and + cane, and considering his talk merely a sort of apology for the + inferior style of housekeeping I would find, was ingeniously working + things to a point, when he sent me to the right about by enumerating + the little instances of kindness he had received from strangers who + happened to visit the island; among others, from one--he had his + name in his pocketbook; he should never forget him; perhaps I had + heard of him--who, at parting, shook him affectionately by the hand, + and gave him a doubloon and a Spanish dollar. I hauled off from the + representative of the majesty of Holland, and perhaps, before this, + have been served up to some new visitor as the "mean, stingy + American." + + In the evening we again got under weigh; before morning the wind was + again blowing dead ahead; and about midday we put into the harbour + of Foggi, a port in Asia Minor, and came to anchor under the walls + of the castle, under the blood-red Mussulman flag. We immediately + got into the boat to go ashore. This was my first port in Turkey. A + huge ugly African, marked with the smallpox, with two pistols and a + yataghan in his belt, stood on a little dock, waited till we were in + the act of landing, and then rushed forward, ferocious as a tiger + from his native sands, throwing up both his hands, and roaring out + "Quarantino." This was a new thing in Turkey. Heretofore the Turks, + with their fatalist notions, had never taken any precautions against + the plague; but they had become frightened by the terrible ravages + the disease was then making in Egypt, and imposed a quarantine upon + vessels coming from thence. We were, however, suffered to land, and + our first movement was to the coffee-house directly in front of the + dock. The coffee-house was a low wooden building, covering + considerable ground, with a large piazza, or, rather, projecting + roof all around it. Inside and out there was a raised platform + against the wall. This platform was one step from the floor, and on + this step every one left his shoes before taking his seat on the + matting. There were, perhaps, fifty Turks inside and out; sitting + cross-legged, smoking the chibouk, and drinking coffee out of cups + not larger than the shell of a Madeira-nut. + + We kicked our shoes off on the steps, seated ourselves on a mat + outside, and took our chibouk and coffee with an air of savoir faire + that would not have disgraced the worthiest Moslem of them all. + Verily, said I, as I looked at the dozing, smoking, coffee-sipping + congregation around me, there are some good points about the Turks, + after all. They never think--that hurts digestion; and they love + chibouks and coffee--that shows taste and feeling. I fell into their + humour, and for a while exchanged nods with my neighbours all + around. Suddenly the bitterness of thought came upon me; I found + that my pipe was exhausted. I replenished it, and took a sip of + coffee. Verily, said I, there are few better things in this world + than chibouks and coffee; they even make men forget there is blood + upon their hands. The thought started me; I shrank from contact with + my neighbours, cut my way through the volumes of smoke, and got out + into the open air. + + My companion joined me. We entered the walls and made a circuit of + the town. It was a dirty little place, having one principal street + lined with shops or bazars; every third shop, almost, being a + cafteria, where a parcel of huge turbaned fellows were at their + daily labours of smoking pipes and drinking coffee. The first thing + I remarked as being strikingly different from a European city was + the total absence of women. The streets were thronged with men, and + not a woman was to be seen, except occasionally I caught a glimpse + of a white veil or a pair of black eyes sparkling through the + latticed bars of a window. Afterward, however, in walking outside + the walls into the country, we met a large party of women. When we + first saw them they had their faces uncovered; but, as soon as they + saw us coming toward them, they stopped and arranged their long + white shawls, winding them around their faces so as to leave barely + space enough uncovered to allow them to see and breathe, but so that + it was utterly impossible for us to distinguish a single one of + their features. + + Going on in the direction from which they came, and attracted by the + mourning cypress, we came to a large burying-ground. It is situated + on the side of a hill almost washed by the waves, and shaded by a + thick grove of the funereal tree. There is, indeed, something + peculiarly touching in the appearance of this tree; it seems to be + endowed with feelings, and to mourn over the dead it shades. The + monuments were generally a single upright slab of marble, with a + turban on the top. There were many, too, in form like one of our + oblong tombstones; and, instead of a slab of marble over the top, + the interior was filled with earth, and the surface overrun with + roses, evergreens, and flowers. The burying-grounds in the East are + always favourite places for walking in; and it is a favourite + occupation of the Turkish women to watch and water the flowers + growing over the graves of their friends. + + Toward evening we returned to the harbour. I withdrew from my + companion, and, leaning against one of the gates of the city, fixed + my eyes upon the door of a minaret, watching till the muezzin should + appear, and, for the last time before the setting of the sun, call + all good Mussulmans to prayer. The door opens toward Mecca, and a + little before dark the muezzin came out, and, leaning over the + railing with his face toward the tomb of the Prophet, in a voice, + every tone of which fell distinctly upon my ear, made that solemn + call which, from the time of Mohammed, has been addressed five times + a day from the tops of the minarets to the sons of the faithful. + "Allah! Allah! God is God, and Mohammed is his prophet. To prayer! + to prayer!" Immediately an old Turk by my side fell upon his knees, + with his face to the tomb of the Prophet; ten times, in quick + succession, he bowed his forehead till it touched the earth; then + clasped his hands and prayed. I never saw more rapt devotion than in + this pious old Mussulman. I have often marked in Italy the severe + observance of religious ceremonies; I have seen, for instance, at + Rome, fifty penitents at a time mounting on their knees, and + kissing, as they mounted, the steps of the Scala Santa, or holy + staircase, by which, as the priests tell them, our Saviour ascended + into the presence of Pontius Pilate. I have seen the Greek prostrate + himself before a picture until he was physically exhausted; and I + have seen the humble and pious Christian at his prayers, beneath the + simple fanes and before the peaceful altars of my own land; but I + never saw that perfect abandonment with which a Turk gives himself + up to his God in prayer. He is perfectly abstracted from the things + of this world; he does not regard time or place; in his closet or in + the street, alone or in a crowd, he sees nothing, he hears nothing; + the world is a blank; his God is everything. He is lost in the + intensity of his devotion. It is a spectacle almost sublime, and for + the moment you forget the polluted fountain of his religion, and the + thousand crimes it sanctions, in your admiration of his sincerity + and faith. + + Not being able to find any place where we could sleep ashore, except + on one of the mats of the coffee-house, head and heels with a dozen + Turks, we went on board, and toward morning again got under weigh. + We beat up to the mouth of the Gulf of Smyrna, but, with the sirocco + blowing directly in our teeth, it was impossible to go farther. We + made two or three attempts to enter, but in tacking the last time + our old brig, which had hardly ballast enough to keep her keel under + water, received such a rough shaking that we got her away before the + wind, and at three o'clock P.M. were again anchored in the harbour + of Foggi. I now began to think that there was a spell upon my + movements, and that Smyrna, which was becoming to me a sort of land + of promise, would never greet my longing eyes. + + I was somewhat comforted, however, by remembering that I had never + yet reached any port in the Mediterranean for which I had sailed, + without touching at one or two intermediate ports; and that, so far, + I had always worked right at last. I was still farther comforted by + our having the good fortune to be able to procure lodging ashore, at + the house of a Greek, the son of a priest. It was the Saturday + before Easter Sunday, and the resurrection of our Saviour was to be + celebrated at midnight, or, rather, the beginning of the next day, + according to the rites and ceremonies of the Greek church. It was + also the last of the forty days' fasting, and the next day commenced + feasting. Supper was prepared for us, at which meat was put on the + table for me only; my Greek friend being supposed not to eat meat + during the days of fasting. He had been, however, two years out of + Greece; and though he did not like to offend the prejudices of his + countrymen, he did not like fasting. I felt for my fellow-traveller; + and, cutting up some meat in small parcels, kept my eye upon the + door while he whipped them into his mouth. After supper we lay down + upon the divan, with large quilts over us, my friend having promised + to rise at twelve o'clock and accompany me to the Greek church. + + At midnight we were roused by the chant of the Greeks in the + streets, on their way to the church. We turned out, and fell into a + procession of five hundred people, making the streets as light as + day with their torches. At the door of the church we found our host, + sitting at a table with a parcel of wax tapers on one side and a box + to receive money on the other. We each bought a taper and went in. + After remaining there at least two hours, listening to a monotonous + and unintelligible routine of prayers and chants, the priests came + out of the holy doors, bearing aloft an image of our Saviour on the + cross, ornamented with gold leaf, tassels, and festoons of + artificial flowers; passed through the church, and out of the + opposite door. The Greeks lighted their tapers and formed into a + procession behind them, and we did the same. Immediately outside the + door, up the staircase, and on each side of the corridor, allowing + merely room enough for the procession to pass, were arranged the + women, dressed in white, with long white veils, thrown back from + their faces however, laid smooth over the tops of their heads, and + hanging down to their feet. Nearly every woman, old or young, had a + child in her arms. In fact, there seemed to be as great a mustering + of children as of men and women, and, for aught that I could see, as + much to the edification of the former as the latter. A continued + chant was kept up during the movements of the procession, and + perhaps for half an hour after the arrival of the priests at the + courtyard, when it rose to a tremendous burst. The torches were + waved in the air; a wild, unmeaning, and discordant scream or yell + rang through the hollow cloisters, and half a dozen pistols, two or + three muskets, and twenty or thirty crackers were fired. This was + intended as a feu-de-joie, and was supposed to mark the precise + moment of our Saviour's resurrection. In a few moments the phrensy + seemed to pass away; the noise fell from a wild clamour to a slow + chant, and the procession returned to the church. The scene was + striking, particularly the part outside the church; the dead of + night; the waving of torches; the women with their long white + dresses, and the children in their arms, &c.; but, from beginning to + end, there was nothing solemn in it. + + Returned to the church, a priest came round with a picture of the + Saviour risen; and, as far as I could make it out, holding in his + hand the Greek flag, followed by another priest with a plate to + receive contributions. He held out the picture to be kissed, then + turned his hand to receive the same act of devotion, keeping his eye + all the time upon the plate which followed to receive the offerings + of the pious, as a sort of payment for the privilege of the kiss. + His manner reminded me of the Dutch parson, who, immediately after + pronouncing a couple man and wife, touching the bridegroom with his + elbow, said, "And now where ish mine dollar?" I kissed the picture, + dodged his knuckles, paid my money, and left the church. I had been + there four hours, during which time, perhaps, more than a thousand + persons had been completely absorbed in their religious ceremonies; + and though beginning in the middle of the night, I have seen more + yawning at the theatre or at an Italian opera than I saw there. They + now began to disperse, though I remember I left a crowd of regular + amateurs, at the head of whom were our sailors, still hanging round + the desk of an exhorting priest, with an earnestness that showed a + still craving appetite. + + I do not wonder that the Turks look with contempt upon Christians, + for they have constantly under their eyes the disgusting mummeries + of the Greek church, and see nothing of the pure and sublime + principles our religion inculcates. Still, however, there was + something striking and interesting in the manner in which the Greeks + in this Turkish town had kept themselves, as it were, a peculiar + people, and, in spite of the brands of "dog" and "infidel," held + fast to the religion they received from their fathers. There was + nothing interesting about them as Greeks; they had taken no part + with their countrymen in their glorious struggle for liberty; they + were engaged in petty business, and bartered the precious chance of + freedom once before them for base profits and ignoble ease; and even + now were content to live in chains, and kiss the rod that smote + them. + + We returned to the house where we had slept; and, after coffee, in + company with our host and his father, the priest, sat down to a + meal, in which, for the first time in forty days, they ate meat. I + had often remarked the religious observance of fast days among the + common people in Greece. In travelling there I had more than once + offered an egg to my guide on a fast day, but never could get one + to accept anything that came so near to animal food, though, by a + strange confusion of the principles of religious obligation, perhaps + the same man would not have hesitated to commit murder if he had any + inducement to do so. Mrs. Hill, at Athens, told me that, upon one + occasion, a little girl in her school refused to eat a piece of cake + because it was made with eggs. + + At daylight I was lying on the floor looking through a crevice of + the window-shutter at the door of the minaret, waiting for the + muezzin's morning cry to prayer. At six o'clock I went out, and + finding the wind still in the same quarter, without any apparent + prospect of change, determined, at all hazards, to leave the vessel + and go on by land. My friend and fellow-passenger was also very + anxious to get to Smyrna, but would not accompany me, from an + indefinite apprehension of plague, robbers, &c. I had heard so many + of these rumours, all of which had proved to be unfounded, that I + put no faith in any of them. I found a Turk who engaged to take me + through in fourteen hours; and at seven o'clock I was in my saddle, + charged with a dozen letters from captains, supercargoes, and + passengers, whom I left behind waiting for a change of wind. + + My Tartar was a big swarthy fellow, with an extent of beard and + mustaches unusual even among his bearded countrymen. He was armed + with a pair of enormous pistols and a yataghan, and was, altogether, + a formidable fellow to look upon. But there was a something about + him that I liked. There was a doggedness, a downright stubbornness + that seemed honest. I knew nothing about him. I picked him up in the + street, and took him in preference to others who offered, because he + would not be beaten down in his price. When he saw me seated on my + horse he stood by my side a little distance off, and looking at me + without opening his lips, drew his belt tight around him, and + adjusted his pistols and yataghan. His manner seemed to say that he + took charge of me as a bale of goods, to be paid for on safe + delivery, and that he would carry me through with fire and sword, if + necessary. And now, said I, "Let fate do her worst;" I have a good + horse under me, and in fourteen hours I shall be in Smyrna. "Blow + winds and crack your cheeks;" I defy you. + + My Tartar led off at a brisk trot, never opening his lips nor + turning his head except occasionally to see how I followed him + across a stream. At about ten o'clock he turned off from the + horse-path into a piece of fine pasture, and, slipping the bridle + off his horse, turned him loose to feed. He then did the same with + mine, and, spreading my cloak on the ground for me to sit upon, sat + down by my side and opened his wallet. His manner seemed to intimate + a disposition to throw provisions into a common stock, no doubt + expecting the gain to be on his side; but as I could only contribute + a couple of rolls of bread which I bought as we rode through the + town, I am inclined to think that he considered me rather a sponge. + + While we were sitting there a travelling party came up, consisting + of five Turks and three women. The women were on horseback, riding + crosswise, though there were so many quilts, cushions, &c., piled on + the backs of their horses that they sat rather on seats than on + saddles. After a few words of parley with my Tartar, the men lifted + the women from the horses, taking them in their arms, and, as it + were, hauling them off, not very gracefully, but very kindly; and, + spreading their quilts on the ground a short distance from us, + turned their horses loose to feed, and sat down to make their + morning meal. An unusual and happy thing for me the women had their + faces uncovered nearly all the time, though they could not well have + carried on the process of eating with them muffled up in the usual + style. One of the women was old, the other two were exceedingly + young; neither of them more than sixteen; each had a child in her + arms, and, without any allowance for time and place, both were + exceedingly beautiful. I do not say so under the influence of the + particular circumstances of our meeting, nor with the view of making + an incident of it, but I would have singled them out as such if I + had met them in a ballroom at home. I was particularly struck with + their delicacy of figure and complexion. Notwithstanding their + laughing faces, their mirth, and the kind treatment of the men, I + could not divest myself of the idea that they were caged birds + longing to be free. I could not believe that a woman belonging to a + Turk could be otherwise than unhappy. Unfortunately, I could not + understand a word of their language; and as they looked from their + turbaned lords to my stiff hat and frockcoat, they seemed to regard + me as something the Tartar had just caught and was taking up to + Constantinople as a present to the sultan. I endeavoured to show, + however, that I was not the wild thing they took me to be; that I + had an eye to admire their beauty, and a heart to feel for their + servitude. I tried to procure from them some signal of distress; I + did all that I could to get some sign to come to their rescue, and + to make myself generally agreeable. I looked sentimentally. This + they did not seem to understand at all. I smiled; this seemed to + please them better; and there is no knowing to what a point I might + have arrived, but my Tartar hurried me away; and I parted on the + wild plains of Turkey with two young and beautiful women, leading + almost a savage life, whose personal graces would have made them + ornaments in polished and refined society. Verily, said I, the Turks + are not so bad, after all; they have handsome wives, and a handsome + wife comes next after chibouks and coffee. + + I was now reminded at every step of my being in an oriental country + by the caravans I was constantly meeting. Caravans and camels are + more or less associated with all the fairy scenes and glowing + pictures of the East. They have always presented themselves to my + mind with a sort of poetical imagery, and they certainly have a fine + effect in a description or in a picture; but, after all, they are + ugly-looking things to meet on the road. I would rather see the two + young Turk-_esses_ again than all the caravans in the East. The + caravan is conducted by a guide on a donkey, with a halter attached + to the first camel, and so on from camel to camel through the whole + caravan. The camel is an exceedingly ugly animal in his proportions, + and there is a dead uniformity in his movement; with a dead, vacant + expression in his face, that is really distressing. If a man were + dying of thirst in the desert, it would be enough to drive him to + distraction to look in the cool, unconcerned, and imperturbable face + of his camel. But their value is inestimable in a country like this, + where there are no carriage roads, and where deserts and drought + present themselves in every direction. + + One of the camel scenes, the encampment, is very picturesque, the + camels arranged around on their knees in a circle, with their heads + to the centre, and the camel-drivers with their bales piled up + within; and I was struck with another scene; we came to the borders + of a stream, which it was necessary to cross in a boat. The boat + was then on the other side, and the boatman and camel driver were + trying to get on board some camels. When we came up they had got + three on board, down on their knees in the bottom of the boat, and + were then in the act of coercing the fourth. The poor brute was + frightened terribly; resisted with all his might, and put forth most + piteous cries; I do not know a more distressing noise than the cry + of a brute suffering from fear; it seems to partake of the feeling + that causes it, and carries with it something fearful; but the cries + of the poor brute were vain; they got him on board, and in the same + way urged on board three others. They then threw in the donkey, and + seven camels and the donkey were so stowed in the bottom of the + boat, that they did not take up much more room than calves on board + of our country boats. + + In the afternoon I met another travelling party of an entirely + different description. If before I had occasionally any doubts or + misgivings as to the reality of my situation; if sometimes it seemed + to be merely a dream, that it could not be that I was so far from + home, wandering alone on the plains of Asia, with a guide whom I + never saw till that morning, whose language I could not understand, + and upon whose faith I could not rely; if the scenes of turbaned + Turks, of veiled women, of caravans and camels, of graveyards with + their mourning cypress and thousands of tombstones, where every + trace of the cities which supplied them with their dead had entirely + disappeared; if these and the other strange scenes around me would + seem to be the mere creations of a roving imagination, the party + which I met now was so marked in its character, so peculiar to an + oriental country, and to an oriental country only, that it roused + me from my waking dreams, fixed my wandering thoughts, and convinced + me, beyond all peradventure, that I was indeed far from home, among + a people "whose thoughts are not as our thoughts, and whose ways are + not as our ways;" in short, in a land where ladies are not the + omnipotent creatures that they are with us. + + This party was no other than the ladies of a harem. They were all + dressed in white, with their white shawls wrapped around their + faces, so that they effectually concealed every feature, and could + bring to bear only the artillery of their eyes. I found this, + however, to be very potent, as it left so much room for the + imagination; and it was a very easy matter to make a Fatima of every + one of them. They were all on horseback, not riding sidewise, but + _otherwise_; though I observed, as before, that their saddles were + so prepared that their delicate limbs were not subject to that + extreme expansion required by the saddle of the rougher sex. They + were escorted by a party of armed Turks, and followed by a man in + Frank dress, who, as I after understood, was the physician of the + harem. They were thirteen in number, just a baker's dozen, and + belonged to a pacha who was making his annual tour of the different + posts under his government, and had sent them on before to have the + household matters all arranged upon his arrival. And no doubt, also, + they were to be in readiness to receive him with their smiles; and + if they continued in the same humour in which I saw them, he must + have been a happy man who could call them all his own. I had not + fairly recovered from the cries of the poor camel when I heard their + merry voices: verily, thought I, stopping to catch the last musical + notes, there are exceedingly good points about the Turks: chibouks, + coffee, and as many wives as they please. It made me whistle to + think of it. Oh, thought I, that some of our ladies could see these + things; that some haughty beauty, at whose feet dozens of worthy and + amiable young gentlemen are sighing themselves into premature + wrinkles and ugliness, might see these things. + + I am no rash innovator. I would not sweep away the established + customs of our state of society. I would not lay my meddling fingers + upon the admitted prerogatives of our ladies; but I cannot help + asking myself if, in the rapid changes of this turning world, + changes which completely alter rocks and the hardest substances of + nature, it may not by possibility happen that the tenour of a lady's + humour will change. What a goodly spectacle to see those who are + never content without a dozen admirers in their train, following by + dozens in the train of one man! But I fear me much that this will + never be, at least in our day. Our system of education is radically + wrong. The human mind, says some philosopher, and the gentleman is + right, is like the sand upon the shore of the sea. You may write + upon it what character you please. _We_ begin by writing upon their + innocent unformed minds, that, "Born for their use, we live but to + oblige them." The consequence is, I will not say what; for I hope to + return among them and kiss the rod in some fair hand; but this I do + know, that here the "twig is so bent" that they become as gentle, as + docile, and as tractable as any domestic animal. I say again, there + are many exceeding good points about the Turks. + + At about six o'clock we came in sight of Smyrna, on the opposite + side of the gulf, and still a long way off. At dusk we were directly + opposite the city; and although we had yet to make a long circuit + round the head of the gulf, I was revelling in the bright prospect + before me. Dreams of pulling off my pantaloons; delightful visions + of clean sheets and a Christian bed flitted before my eyes. Yes, + said I to my pantaloons and shirt, ye worthy and faithful servants, + this night ye shall have rest. While other garments have fallen from + me by the way, ye have stuck to me. And thou, my gray pantaloons, + little did the neat Parisian tailor who made thee think that the + strength of his stitching would ever be tested by three weeks' + uninterrupted wear; but to-morrow thou shalt go into the hands of a + master, who shall sew on thy buttons and sew up thy rents; and thou, + my--I was going on with words of the same affectionate import to my + shirt, stockings, and drawers, which, however, did not deserve so + well of me, for they had in a measure _dropped off_ on the way, when + my Tartar came to a dead stop before the door of a cabin, + dismounted, and made signs to me to do the same. But I began now to + have some notions of my own; heretofore I had been perfectly + passive; I had always done as I was told, but in sight of Smyrna I + became restiff. I talked and shouted to him, pointed to the city, + and turned my horse as though I was going on alone. My Tartar, + however, paid no attention to me; he very coolly took off my + carpet-bag and carried it into the cabin, lighted his pipe, and sat + down by the door, looking at me with the most imperturbable gravity. + I had hardly had time to admire his impudence, and to calculate the + chances of my being able, alone at night, to cross the many streams + which emptied into the gulf, when the wind, which had been rising + for some time, became very violent, and the rain began to fall in + torrents. With a sigh I bade farewell to the bright visions that + had deluded me, gave another sigh to the uncertainty of all human + calculations, the cup and the lip, &c., and took refuge in the + cabin. + + What a substitute for the pretty little picture I had drawn! Three + Turks were sitting round a brazier of charcoal frying doughballs. + Three rugs were spread in three corners of the cabin, and over each + of them were the eternal pistols and yataghan. There was nothing + there to defend; their miserable lives were not worth taking; why + were these weapons there? The Turks at first took no notice of me, + and I had now to make amends for my backwardness in entering. I + resolved to go to work boldly, and at once elbowed among them for a + seat around the brazier. The one next me on my right seemed a little + struck by my easy ways; he put his hand on his ribs to feel how far + my elbow had penetrated, and then took his pipe from his mouth and + offered it to me. The ice broken, I smoked the pipe to the last + whiff, and handed it to him to be refilled; with all the horrors of + dyspepsy before my eyes, I scrambled with them for the last + doughball, and, when the attention of all of them was particularly + directed toward me, took out my watch, held it over the lamp, and + wound it up. I addressed myself particularly to the one who had + first taken notice of me, and made myself extremely agreeable by + always smoking his pipe. After coffee and half a dozen pipes, he + gave me to understand that I was to sleep with him upon his mat, at + which I slapped him on the back and cried out, "Bono," having heard + him use that word apparently with a knowledge of its meaning. + + I was surprised in the course of the evening to see one of them + begin to undress, knowing that such was not the custom of the + country, but found that it was only a temporary disrobing for + sporting purposes, to hunt fleas and bedbugs; by which I had an + opportunity of comparing the Turkish with some I had brought with me + from Greece; and though the Turk had great reason to be proud of + his, I had no reason to be ashamed of mine. I now began to be + drowsy, and should soon have fallen asleep; but the youngest of the + party, a sickly and sentimental young man, melancholy and musical, + and, no doubt, in love, brought out the common Turkish instrument, a + sort of guitar, on which he worked with untiring vivacity, keeping + time with his head and heels. My friend accompanied him with his + voice, and this brought out my Tartar, who joined in with groans and + grunts which might have waked the dead. But my cup was not yet full. + During the musical festival my friend and intended bedfellow took + down from a shelf above me a large plaster, which he warmed over the + brazier. He then unrolled his turban, took off a plaster from the + back of his head, and disclosed a wound, raw, gory, and ghastly, + that made my heart sink within me: I knew that the plague was about + Smyrna; I had heard that it was on this road; I involuntarily + recurred to the Italian prayer, "Save me from the three miseries of + the Levant: plague, fire, and the dragoman." I shut my eyes; I had + slept but two hours the night before; had ridden twelve hours that + day on horseback; I drew my cloak around me; my head sank upon my + carpet-bag, and I fell asleep, leaving the four Turks playing cards + on the bottom of a pewter plate. Once during the night I was + awakened by my bedfellow's mustaches tickling my lips. I turned my + back and slept on. + + In the morning my Tartar, with one jerk, stood me upright on the + floor, and holding me in that position until I got awake, kicked + open the door, and pointed to my horse standing before it ready + saddled and bridled. In three hours I was crossing the caravan + bridge, a bridge over the beautiful Melissus, on the banks of which + Homer was born; and picking my way among caravans, which for ages + have continued to cross this bridge laden with all the riches of the + East, I entered the long-looked-for city of Smyrna, a city that has + braved the reiterated efforts of conflagrations, plagues, and + earthquakes; ten times destroyed, and ten times risen from her + ruins; the queen of the cities of Anatolia; extolled by the ancients + as Smyrna the lovely, the crown of Ionia, the pride of Asia. But old + things have passed away, and the ancient city now figures only under + the head of arrivals in a newspaper, in the words and figures + following, that is to say, "Brig Betsy, Baker master, 57 days from + Smyrna, with figs and raisins to order. Mastic dull, opium rising." + + In half an hour I was in the full enjoyment of a Turkish bath; + lolled half an hour on a divan, with chibouk and coffee, and came + out fresh as if I had spent the last three weeks training for the + ring. Oh, these Turks are luxurious dogs. Chibouks, coffee, hot + baths, and as many wives as they please. What a catalogue of human + enjoyments! But I intend Smyrna as a place of rest, and, in charity, + give you the benefit, of it. + + **** + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + First Sight of Smyrna.--Unveiled Women.--Ruins of Ephesus.--Ruin, + all Ruin.--Temple of Diana.--Encounter with a Wolf.--Love at first + Sight.--Gatherings on the Road. + + +(_Another letter._) + + MY DEAR ****, + + AFTER my bath I returned to my hotel, breakfasted, and sallied out + for a walk. It was now about twelve o'clock, Sunday--the first + Sunday after Easter--and all the Frank population was in the + streets. My hotel was in an out-of-the-way quarter, and when, + turning a corner, I suddenly found myself in the main street, I was + not prepared for the sight that met my eye. Paris on a fete day does + not present so gay and animated a scene. It was gay, animated, + striking, and beautiful, and entirely different from anything I had + ever seen in any European city. Franks, Jews, Greeks, Turks, and + Armenians, in their various and striking costumes, were mingled + together in agreeable confusion; and making all due allowance for + the circumstance that I had for some time been debarred the sight of + an unveiled woman, I certainly never saw so much beauty, and I never + saw a costume so admirably calculated to set off beauty. At the same + time the costume is exceedingly trying to a lady's pretensions. + Being no better than one of the uninitiated, I shall not venture + upon such dangerous ground as a lady's toilet. I will merely refer + to that part which particularly struck me, and that is the + headdress; no odious broad-brimmed hat; no enormous veils enveloping + nose, mouth, and eyes; but simply a large gauze turban, sitting + lightly and gracefully on the head, rolled back over the forehead, + leaving the whole face completely exposed, and exhibiting clear dark + complexions, rosy lips closing over teeth of dazzling whiteness; and + then such eyes, large, dark, and rolling. It is matter of history, + and it is confirmed by poetry, that + + "The angelic youths of old, + Burning for maids of mortal mould, + Bewildered, left the glorious skies, + And lost their heaven for woman's eyes." + + My dear friend, this is the country where such things happened; the + throne of the Thunderer, high Olympus, is almost in sight, and these + are the daughters of the women who worked such miracles. If the age + of passion, like the age of chivalry, were not over and for ever + gone, if this were not emphatically a bank-note world, I would say + of the Smyrniotes, above all others, that they are that description + of women who could + + "Raise a mortal to the skies, + Or bring an angel down." + + And they walk, too, as if conscious of their high pretensions, as if + conscious that the reign of beauty is not yet ended; and, under that + enchanting turban, charge with the whole artillery of their charms. + It is a perfect unmasked battery; nothing can stand before it. I + wonder the sultan allows it. The Turks are as touchy as tinder; they + take fire as quick as any of the old demigods, and a pair of black + eyes is at any time enough to put mischief in them. But the Turks + are a considerate people. They consider that the Franks, or rather + the Greeks, to whom I particularly refer, have periodical fits of + insanity that they go mad twice a year during carnival and after + Lent; and if at such a time a follower of the Prophet, accidentally + straggling in the Frank quarter, should find the current of his + blood disturbed, he would sooner die, nay, he would sooner cut off + his beard, than hurt a hair of any one of the light heads that he + sees flitting before him. There is something remarkable, by-the-way, + in the tenacity with which the Grecian women have sustained the + rights and prerogatives of beauty in defiance of Turkish customs and + prejudices; while the men have fallen into the habits of their + quondam masters, have taken to pipes and coffee, and in many + instances to turbans and big trousers, the women have ever gone with + their faces uncovered, and to this day one and all eschew the veil + of the Turkish women. + + Pleased and amused with myself and everything I saw, I moved along + unnoticed and unknown, staring, observing, and admiring; among other + things, I observed that one of the amiable customs of our own city + was in full force here, viz., that of the young gentlemen, with + light sticks in their hands, gathering around the door of the + fashionable church to stare at the ladies as they came out. I was + pleased to find such a mark of civilization in a land of barbarians, + and immediately fell into a thing which seemed so much like home; + but, in justice to the Smyrniote ladies, I must say I cannot flatter + myself that I stared a single one out of countenance. + + But I need not attempt to interest you in Smyrna; it is too + every-day a place; every Cape Cod sailor knows it better than I do. + I have done all that I could; I have waived the musty reminiscences + of its history; I have waived ruins which are said to exist here, + and have endeavoured to give you a faint but true picture of its + living and existing beauties, of the bright and beautiful scene + that broke upon me the first morning of my arrival; and now, if I + have not touched you with the beauty of its women, I should despair + of doing so by any description of its beautiful climate, its + charming environs, and its hospitable society. + + Leave, then, what is, after all, but the city of figs and raisins, + and go with me where, by comparison, the foot of civilized man + seldom treads; go with me into the desert and solitary places; go + with me among the cities of the seven churches of Asia; and, first, + to the ruins of Ephesus. I had been several days expecting a + companion to make this tour with me, but, being disappointed, was + obliged to set out alone. I was not exactly alone, for I had with me + a Turk as guide and a Greek as cicerone and interpreter, both well + mounted and armed to the teeth. We started at two o'clock in the + morning, under the light of thousands of stars; and the day broke + upon us in a country wild and desolate, as if it were removed + thousands of miles from the habitations of men. There was little + variety and little incident in our ride. During the whole day it lay + through a country decidedly handsome, the soil rich and fertile, but + showing with appalling force the fatal effects of misgovernment, + wholly uncultivated, and almost wholly uninhabited. Indeed, the only + habitations were the little Turkish coffee-houses and the black + tents of the Turcomans. These are a wandering tribe, who come out + from the desert, and approach comparatively near the abodes of + civilization. They are a pastoral people; their riches are their + flocks and herds; they lead a wandering life, free as the air they + breathe; they have no local attachments; to-day they pitch their + tents on the hillside, to-morrow on the plain; and wherever they sit + themselves down, all that they have on earth, wife, children, and + friends, are immediately around them. There is something primitive, + almost patriarchal, in their appearance; indeed, it carries one back + to a simple and perhaps a purer age, and you can almost realize that + state of society when the patriarch sat in the door of his tent and + called in and fed the passing traveller. + + The general character of the road is such as to prepare one for the + scene that awaits him at Ephesus; enormous burying-grounds, with + thousands of headstones shaded by the mourning cypress, in the midst + of a desolate country, where not a vestige of a human habitation is + to be seen. They stand on the roadside as melancholy telltales that + large towns or cities once existed in their immediate neighbourhood, + and that the generations who occupied them have passed away, + furnishing fearful evidence of the decrease of the Turkish + population, and perhaps that the gigantic empire of the Ottoman is + tottering to its fall. + + For about three hours before reaching Ephesus, the road, crossing a + rich and beautiful plain watered by the Cayster, lies between two + mountains; that on the right leads to the sea, and on the left are + the ruins of Ephesus. Near, and in the immediate vicinity, storks + were calmly marching over the plain and building among the ruins; + they moved as if seldom disturbed by human footsteps, and seemed to + look upon us as intruders upon a spot for a long time abandoned to + birds and beasts of prey. About a mile this side are the remains of + the Turkish city of Aysalook, or Temple of the Moon, a city of + comparatively modern date, reared into a brief magnificence out of + the ruins of its fallen neighbour. A sharp hill, almost a mountain, + rises abruptly from the plain, on the top of which is a ruined + fortress, with many ruins of Turkish magnificence at the base; + broken columns, baths overgrown with ivy, and the remains of a grand + mosque, the roof sustained by four granite columns from the Temple + of Diana; the minaret fallen, the mosque deserted; the Mussulman no + more goes there to pray; bats and owls were building in its lofty + roof, and snakes and lizards were crawling over its marble floor. + + It was late in the afternoon when I arrived at the little + coffee-house at Aysalook; a caravan had already encamped under some + fine old sycamores before the door, preparatory to passing the + night. I was somewhat fatigued, and my Greek, who had me in charge, + was disposed to stop and wait for the morrow; but the fallen city + was on the opposite hill at but a short distance, and the shades of + evening seemed well calculated to heighten the effect of a ramble + among its ruins. In a right line it was not more than half a mile, + but we soon found that we could not go directly to it; a piece of + low swampy ground lay between, and we had not gone far before our + horses sank up to their saddle-girths. We were obliged to retrace + our steps, and work our way around by a circuitous route of more + than two miles. This, too, added to the effect of our approach. It + was a dreary reflection, that a city, whose ports and whose gates + had been open to the commerce of the then known world; whose wealth + had invited the traveller and sojourner within its walls should lie + a ruin upon a hillside, with swamps and morasses extending around + it, in sight but out of reach, near but unapproachable. A warning + voice seemed to issue from the ruins, "_Procul, procul, este + profani_," my day is past, my sun is set, I have gone to my grave; + pass on, stranger, and disturb not the ashes of the dead. + + But my Turk did not understand Latin, and we continued to advance. + We moved along in perfect silence, for besides that my Turk never + spoke, and my Greek, who was generally loquacious enough, was out of + humour at being obliged to go on, we had enough to do in picking our + lonely way. But silence best suited the scene; the sound of the + human voice seemed almost a mockery of fallen greatness. We entered + by a large and ruined gateway into a place distinctly marked as + having been a street, and, from the broken columns strewed on each + side, probably having been lined with a colonnade. I let my reins + fall upon my horse's neck; he moved about in the slow and desultory + way that suited my humour; now sinking to his knees in heaps of + rubbish, now stumbling over a Corinthian capital, and now sliding + over a marble pavement. The whole hillside is covered with ruins to + an extent far greater than I expected to find, and they are all of a + kind that tends to give a high idea of the ancient magnificence of + the city. To me, these ruins appeared to be a confused and shapeless + mass; but they have been examined by antiquaries with great care, + and the character of many of them identified with great certainty. I + had, however, no time for details; and, indeed, the interest of + these ruins in my eyes was not in the details. It mattered little to + me that this was the stadium and that a fountain; that this was a + gymnasium and that a market-place; it was enough to know that the + broken columns, the mouldering walls, the grass-grown streets, and + the wide-extended scene of desolation and ruin around me were all + that remained of one of the greatest cities of Asia, one of the + earliest Christian cities in the world. But what do I say? Who does + not remember the tumults and confusion raised by Demetrius the + silversmith, "lest the temple of the great goddess Diana should be + despised, and her magnificence be destroyed;" and how the people, + having caught "Caius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions in travel," + rushed with one accord into the theatre, crying out, "great is Diana + of the Ephesians." My dear friend, I sat among the ruins of that + theatre; the stillness of death was around me; far as the eye could + reach, not a living soul was to be seen save my two companions and a + group of lazy Turks smoking at the coffee-house in Aysalook. A man + of strong imagination might almost go wild with the intensity of his + own reflections; and do not let it surprise you, that even one like + me, brought up among the technicalities of declarations and + replications, rebutters and surrebutters, and in nowise given to the + illusions of the senses, should find himself roused, and + irresistibly hurried back to the time when the shapeless and + confused mass around him formed one of the most magnificent cities + in the world; when a large and busy population was hurrying through + its streets, intent upon the same pleasures and the same business + that engage men now; that he should, in imagination, see before him + St. Paul preaching to the Ephesians, shaking their faith in the gods + of their fathers, gods made with their own hands; and the noise and + confusion, and the people rushing tumultuously up the very steps + where he sat; that he should almost hear their cry ringing in his + ears, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians;" and then that he should + turn from this scene of former glory and eternal ruin to his own + far-distant land; a land that the wisest of the Ephesians never + dreamed of; where the wild man was striving with the wild beast when + the whole world rang with the greatness of the Ephesian name; and + which bids fair to be growing greater and greater when the last + vestige of Ephesus shall be gone and its very site unknown. + + But where is the temple of the great Diana, the temple two hundred + and twenty years in building; the temple of one hundred and + twenty-seven columns, each column the gift of a king? Can it be that + the temple of the "Great goddess Diana," that the ornament of Asia, + the pride of Ephesus, and one of the seven wonders of the world, has + gone, disappeared, and left not a trace behind? As a traveller, I + would fain be able to say that I have seen the ruins of this temple; + but, unfortunately, I am obliged to limit myself by facts. Its site + has of course engaged the attention of antiquaries. I am no skeptic + in these matters, and am disposed to believe all that my cicerone + tells me. You remember the countryman who complained to his minister + that he never gave him any Latin in his sermons; and when the + minister answered that he would not understand it, the countryman + replied that he paid for the best, and ought to have it. I am like + that honest countryman; but my cicerone understood himself better + than the minister; he knew that I paid him for the best; he knew + what was expected from him, and that his reputation was gone for + ever if, in such a place as Ephesus, he could not point out the + ruins of the great temple of Diana. He accordingly had _his_ temple, + which he stuck to with as much pertinacity as if he had built it + himself; but I am sorry to be obliged to say, in spite of his + authority and my own wish to believe him, that the better opinion + is, that now not a single stone is to be seen. + + Topographers have fixed the site on the plain, near the gate of the + city which opened to the sea. The sea, which once almost washed the + walls, has receded or been driven back for several miles. For many + years a new soil has been accumulating, and all that stood on the + plain, including so much of the remains of the temple as had not + been plundered and carried away by different conquerors, is probably + now buried many feet under its surface. + + It was dark when I returned to Aysalook. I had remarked, in passing, + that several caravans had encamped there, and on my return found the + camel-drivers assembled in the little coffee-house in which I was to + pass the night. I soon saw that there were so many of us that we + should make a tight fit in the sleeping part of the khan, and + immediately measured off space enough to fit my body, allowing + turning and kicking room. I looked with great complacency upon the + light slippers of the Turks, which they always throw off, too, when + they go to sleep, and made an ostentatious display of a pair of + heavy iron-nailed boots, and, in lying down, gave one or two + preliminary thumps to show them that I was restless in my movements, + and, if they came too near me these iron-nailed boots would be + uncomfortable neighbours. + + And here I ought to have spent half the night in musing upon the + strange concatenation of circumstances which had broken up a quiet + practising attorney, and sent him a straggler from a busy, + money-getting land, to meditate among the ruins of ancient cities, + and sleep pellmell with turbaned Turks. But I had no time for + musing; I was amazingly tired; I looked at the group of Turks in one + corner, and regretted that I could not talk with them; thought of + the Tower of Babel and the wickedness of man, which brought about a + confusion of tongues; of camel-drivers, and Arabian Nights' + Entertainments; of home, and my own comfortable room in the third + story; brought my boot down with a thump that made them all start, + and in five minutes was asleep. + + In the morning I again went over to the ruins. Daylight, if + possible, added to their effect; and a little thing occurred, not + much in itself, but which, under the circumstances, fastened itself + upon my mind in such a way that I shall never forget it. I had read + that here, in the stillness of the night, the jackal's cry was + heard; that, if a stone was rolled, a scorpion or lizard slipped + from under it; and, while picking our way slowly along the lower + part of the city, a wolf of the largest size came out above, as if + indignant at being disturbed in his possessions. He moved a few + paces toward us with such a resolute air that my companions both + drew their pistols; then stopped, and gazed at us deliberately as we + were receding from him, until, as if satisfied that we intended to + leave his dominions, he turned and disappeared among the ruins. It + would have made a fine picture; the Turk first, then the Greek, each + with a pistol in his hand, then myself, all on horseback, the wolf + above us, the valley, and the ruined city. I feel my inability to + give you a true picture of these ruins. Indeed, if I could lay + before you every particular, block for block, fragment for fragment, + here a column and there a column, I could not convey a full idea of + the desolation that marks the scene. + + To the Christian, the ruins of Ephesus carry with them a peculiar + interest; for here, upon the wreck of heathen temples, was + established one of the earliest Christian churches; but the + Christian church has followed the heathen temple, and the + worshippers of the true God have followed the worshippers of the + great goddess Diana; and in the city where Paul preached, and where, + in the words of the apostle, "much people were gathered unto the + Lord," now not a solitary Christian dwells. Verily, in the prophetic + language of inspiration, the "candlestick is removed from its + place;" a curse seems to have fallen upon it, men shun it, not a + human being is to be seen among its ruins; and Ephesus, in faded + glory and fallen grandeur, is given up to birds and beasts of prey, + a monument and a warning to nations. + + From Ephesus I went to Scala Nova, handsomely situated on the shore + of the sea, and commanding a fine view of the beautiful Island of + Samos, distant not more than four miles. I had a letter to a Greek + merchant there, who received me kindly, and introduced me to the + Turkish governor. The governor, as usual, was seated upon a divan, + and asked us to take seats beside him. We were served with coffee + and pipes by two handsome Greek slaves, boys about fourteen, with + long hair hanging down their necks, and handsomely dressed; who, + after serving us, descended from the platform, and waited with + folded arms until we had finished. Soon after a third guest came, + and a third lad, equally handsome and equally well dressed, served + him in the same manner. This is the style of the Turkish grandees, a + slave to every guest. I do not know to what extent it is carried, + but am inclined to think that, in the present instance, if one or + two more guests had happened to come in, my friend's retinue of + slaves would have fallen short. The governor asked me from what + country I came, and who was my king; and when I told him that we had + no king, but a president, he said, very graciously, that our + president and the grand seignior were very good friends; a + compliment which I acknowledged with all becoming humility. Wanting + to show off a little, I told him that we were going to fight the + French, and he said we should certainly whip them if we could get + the grand seignior to help us. + + I afterward called on my own account upon the English consul. The + consuls in these little places are originals. They have nothing to + do, but they have the government arms blazoned over their doors, and + strut about in cocked hats and regimentals, and shake their heads, + and look knowing, and talk about their government; they do not know + what the government will think, &c., when half the time their + government hardly knows of the existence of its worthy + representatives. This was an old Maltese, who spoke French and + Italian. He received me very kindly, and pressed me to stay all + night. I told him that I was not an Englishman, and had no claim + upon his hospitality; but he said that made no difference; that he + was consul for all civilized nations, among which he did me the + honour to include mine. + + At three o'clock I took leave of the consul. My Greek friend + accompanied me outside the gate, where my horses were waiting for + me; and, at parting, begged me to remember that I had a friend, who + hardly knew what pleasure was except in serving me. I told him that + the happiness of my life was not complete before I met him; we threw + ourselves into each other's arms, and, after a two hours' + acquaintance, could hardly tear away from each other's embraces. + Such is the force of sympathy between congenial spirits. My friend + was a man about fifty, square built, broad shouldered, and big + mustached; and the beauty of it was, that neither could understand a + word the other said; and all this touching interchange of sentiment + had to pass through my mustached, big-whiskered, double-fisted, + six-feet interpreter. + + At four o'clock we set out on our return; at seven we stopped in a + beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, and on the sides of the + mountains were a number of Turcomans tents. The khan was worse than + any I had yet seen. It had no floor and no mat. The proprietor of + the khan, if such a thing, consisting merely of four mud walls with + a roof of branches, which seemed to have been laid there by the + winds, could be said to have a proprietor, was uncommonly sociable; + he set before me my supper, consisting of bread and yort--a + preparation of milk--and appeared to be much amused at seeing me + eat. He asked my guide many questions about me; examined my pistols, + took off his turban, and put my hat upon his shaved head, which + transformed him from a decidedly bold, slashing-looking fellow, into + a decidedly sneaking-looking one. I had certainly got over all + fastidiousness in regard to eating, drinking, and sleeping; but I + could not stand the vermin at this khan. In the middle of the night + I rose and went out of doors; it was a brilliant starlight night, + and, as the bare earth was in any case to be my bed, I exchanged the + mud floor of my khan for the greensward and the broad canopy of + heaven. My Turk was sleeping on the ground, about a hundred yards + from the house, with his horse grazing around him. I nestled close + to him, and slept perhaps two hours. Toward morning I was awakened + by the cold, and, with the selfishness of misery, I began punching + my Turk under the ribs to wake him. This was no easy matter; but, + after a while, I succeeded, got him to saddle the horses, and in a + few minutes we were off, my Greek not at all pleased with having his + slumbers so prematurely disturbed. + + At about two o'clock we passed some of the sultan's _volunteers_. + These were about fifty men chained together by the wrists and + ankles, who had been chased, run down, and caught in some of the + villages, and were now on their way to Constantinople, under a + guard, to be trained as soldiers. I could but smile as I saw them, + not at them, for, in truth, there was nothing in their condition to + excite a smile, but at the recollection of an article I had seen a + few days before in a European paper, which referred to the new + levies making by the sultan, and the spirit with which his subjects + entered into the service. They were a speaking comment upon European + insight into Turkish politics. But, without more ado, suffice it to + say, that at about four o'clock I found myself at the door of my + hotel, my outer garments so covered with creeping things that my + landlord, a prudent Swiss, with many apologies, begged me to shake + myself before going into the house; and my nether garments so + stained with blood, that I looked as if a corps of the sultan's + regulars had pricked me with their bayonets. My enthusiasm on the + subject of the seven churches was in no small degree abated, and + just at that moment I was willing to take upon trust the condition + of the others, that all that was foretold of them in the Scriptures + had come to pass. I again betook me to the bath, and, in thinking of + the luxury of my repose, I feel for you, and come to a full stop. + + **** + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Position of Smyrna.--Consular Privileges.--The Case of the + Lover.--End of the Love Affair.--The Missionary's Wife.--The + Casino.--Only a Greek Row.--Rambles in Smyrna.--The + Armenians.--Domestic Enjoyments. + + +BUT I must go back a little, and make the amende honourable, for, in +truth, Ghiaour Ismir, or Infidel Smyrna, with its wild admixture of +European and Asiatic population, deserves better than the rather +cavalier notice contained in my letter. + +Before reaching it I had remarked its exceeding beauty of position, +chosen as it is with that happy taste which distinguished the Greeks in +selecting the sites of their ancient cities, on the declivity of a +mountain running down to the shore of the bay, with houses rising in +terraces on its sides; its domes and minarets, interspersed with +cypresses, rising above the tiers of houses, and the summit of the hill +crowned with a large solitary castle. It was the first large Turkish +city I had seen, and it differed, too, from all other Turkish cities in +the strong foothold obtained there by Europeans. Indeed, remembering it +as a place where often, and within a very few years, upon a sudden +outbreaking of popular fury, the streets were deluged with Christian +blood, I was particularly struck, not only with the air of confidence +and security, but, in fact, with the bearing of superiority assumed by +the "Christian dog!" among the followers of the Prophet. + +Directly on the bay is a row of large houses running along the whole +front of the city, among which are seen emblazoned over the doors the +arms of most of the foreign consuls, including the American. By the +treaties of the Porte with Christian powers, the Turkish tribunals have +no jurisdiction of matters touching the rights of foreign residents; and +all disputes between these, and even criminal offences, fall under the +cognizance of their respective consuls. This gives the consuls in all +the maritime ports of Turkey great power and position; and all over the +Levant they are great people; but at Smyrna they are far more important +than ambassadors and ministers at the European capitals; and, with their +janisaries and their appearance on all public occasions in uniform, are +looked up to by the Levantines somewhat like the consuls sent abroad +under the Roman empire, and by the Turks as almost sultans. + +The morning after my arrival I delivered letters of introduction to Mr. +Offley, the American consul, a native of Philadelphia, thirty years +resident in Smyrna, and married to an Armenian lady, Mr. Langdon, a +merchant of Boston, and Mr. Styth, of Baltimore, of the firm of +Issaverdens, Styth, and Company; one to Mr. Jetter, a German missionary, +whose lady told me, while her husband was reading it, that she had met +me in the street the day before, and on her return home told him that an +American had just arrived. I was curious to know the mark by which she +recognised me as an American, being rather dubious whether it was by +reason of anything praiseworthy or the reverse; but she could not tell. + +I trust the reader has not forgotten the victim of the tender passion +who, in the moment of my leaving Athens, had reposed in my sympathizing +bosom the burden of his hopes and fears. At the very first house in +which I was introduced to the female members of the family, I found +making a morning call the lady who had made such inroads upon his +affections. I had already heard her spoken of as being the largest +fortune, and, par consequence, the greatest belle in Smyrna, and I +hailed it as a favourable omen that I accidentally made her acquaintance +so soon after my arrival. I made my observations, and could not help +remarking that she was by no means pining away on account of the absence +of my friend. I was almost indignant at her heartless happiness, and, +taking advantage of an opportunity, introduced his name, hoping to see a +shade come over her, and, perhaps, to strike her pensive for two or +three minutes; but her comment was a deathblow to my friend's prospects +and my mediation: "Poor M.!" and all present repeated "Poor M.!" with a +portentous smile, and the next moment had forgotten his existence. I +went away in the full conviction that it was all over with "Poor M.!" +and murmuring to myself, Put not your trust in woman, I dined, and in +the afternoon called with my letter of introduction upon his friend the +Rev. Mr. Brewer, and Mr. Brewer's comment on reading it was about equal +to the lady's "Poor M.!" He asked me in what condition I left our +unfortunate friend. I told him his _leg_ was pretty bad, though he +continued to hobble about; but Mr. Brewer interrupted me; he did not +mean his leg, but, he hesitated and with reluctance, as if he wished to +avoid speaking of it outright, added, _his mind_. I did not comprehend +him, and, from his hesitation and delicacy, imagined that he was +alluding to the lover's heart; but he cleared the matter up, and to my +no small surprise, by telling me that, some time before he left Smyrna, +"Poor M." had shown such strong marks of aberration of intellect, that +his friends had deemed it advisable to put him under the charge of a +brother missionary and send him home, and that they hoped great benefit +from travel and change of scene. I was surprised, and by no means +elevated in my own conceit, when I found that I had been made the +confidant of a crazy man. Mr. Hill, not knowing of any particular +intimacy between us, and probably not wishing to publish his misfortune +unnecessarily, had not given me the slightest intimation of it, and I +had not discovered it. I had considered his communication to me strange, +and his general conduct not less so, but I had no idea that it was +anything more than the ordinary derangement which every man is said to +labour under when in love. I then told Mr. Brewer my story, and the +commission with which I was intrusted, which he said was perfectly +characteristic, his malady being a sort of monomania on the subject of +the tender passion; and every particle of interest which I might +nevertheless have taken in the affair, in connecting his derangement in +some way with the lady in question, was destroyed by the volatile +direction of his passion, sometimes to one object and sometimes with +another; and in regard to the lady to whom I was accredited, he had +never shown any penchant toward her in particular, and must have given +me her name because it happened to be the first that suggested itself at +the moment of his unburdening himself to me. Fortunately, I had not +exposed myself by any demonstrations in behalf of my friend, so I +quietly dropped him. On leaving Mr. Brewer I suggested a doubt whether I +could be regarded as an acquaintance upon the introduction of a crazy +man; but we had gone so far that it was decided, for that specific +purpose, to admit his sanity. I should not mention these particulars if +there was any possibility of their ever wounding the feelings of him to +whom they refer; but he is now beyond the reach either of calumny or +praise, for about a year after I heard, with great regret, that his +malady had increased, accompanied with a general derangement of health; +and, shortly after his return home, he died. + +My intercourse with the Franks was confined principally to my own +countrymen, whose houses were open to me at all times; and I cannot help +mentioning the name of Mr. Van Lennup, the Dutch consul, the great +friend of the missionaries in the Levant, who had been two years +resident in the United States, and was intimately acquainted with many +of my friends at home. Society in Smyrna is purely mercantile; and +having been so long out of the way of it, it was actually grateful to me +once more to hear men talking with all their souls about cotton, stocks, +exchanges, and other topics of _interest_, in the literal meaning of the +word. Sometimes lounging in a merchant's counting-room, I took up an +American paper, and heard Boston, and New-York, and Baltimore, and +cotton, and opium, and freight, and quarter per cent. less bandied +about, until I almost fancied myself at home; and when this became too +severe I had a resource with the missionaries, gentlemanly and +well-educated men, well acquainted with the countries and the places +worth visiting, with just the books I wanted, and, I had almost said, +the wives; I mean with wives always glad to see a countryman, and to +talk about home. There is something exceedingly interesting in a +missionary's wife. A soldier's is more so, for she follows him to danger +and, perhaps, to death; but glory waits him if he falls, and while she +weeps she is proud. Before I went abroad the only missionary I ever knew +I despised, for I believed him to be a canting hypocrite; but I saw much +of them abroad, and made many warm friends among them; and, I repeat +it, there is something exceedingly interesting in a missionary's wife. +She who had been cherished as a plant that the winds must not breathe on +too rudely, recovers from the shock of a separation from her friends to +find herself in a land of barbarians, where her loud cry of distress can +never reach their ears. New ties twine round her heart, and the tender +and helpless girl changes her very nature, and becomes the staff and +support of the man. In his hours of despondency she raises his drooping +spirits; she bathes his aching head; she smooths his pillow of sickness; +and, after months of wearisome silence, I have entered her dwelling, and +her heart instinctively told her that I was from the same land. I have +been welcomed as a brother; answered her hurried, and anxious, and eager +questions; and sometimes, when I have known any of her friends at home, +I have been for a moment more than recompensed for all the toils and +privations of a traveller in the East. I have left her dwelling burdened +with remembrances to friends whom she will perhaps never see again. I +bore a letter to a father, which was opened by a widowed mother. Where I +could, I have discharged every promise to a missionary's wife; but I +have some yet undischarged which I rank among the sacred obligations of +my life. It is true, the path of the missionary is not strewed with +roses; but often, in leaving his house at night, and following my guide +with a lantern through the narrow streets of a Turkish city, I have run +over the troubles incident to every condition of life, not forgetting +those of a traveller, and have taken to whistling, and, as I stumbled +into the gate of an old convent, have murmured involuntarily, "After +all, these missionaries are happy fellows." + +Every stranger, upon his arrival in Smyrna, is introduced at the casino. +I went there the first time to a concert. It is a large building, +erected by a club of merchants, with a suite of rooms on the lower +floor, billiards, cards, reading and sitting room, and a ball room above +covering the whole. The concert was given in the ballroom, and, from +what I had seen in the streets, I expected an extraordinary display of +beauty; but I was much disappointed. The company consisted only of the +aristocracy or higher mercantile classes, the families of the gentlemen +composing the club, and excluded the Greek and Smyrniote women, among +whom is found a great portion of the beauty of the place. A patent of +nobility in Smyrna, as in our own city, is founded upon the time since +the possessor gave up selling goods, or the number of consignments he +receives in the course of a year. The casino, by-the-way, is a very +aristocratic institution, and sometimes knotty questions occur in its +management. Captains of merchant vessels are not admitted. A man came +out as owner of a vessel and cargo, and also master: _quere_, could he +be admitted? His consignee said yes; but the majority, not being +interested in the sales of his cargo, went for a strict construction, +and excluded him. + +The population of Smyrna, professing three distinct religions, observe +three different Sabbaths; the Mohammedans Friday, the Jews Saturday, and +the Christians Sunday, so that there are only four days in the week in +which all the shops and bazars are open together, and there are so many +fete days that these are much broken in upon. The most perfect +toleration prevails, and the religious festivals of the Greeks often +terminate in midnight orgies which debase and degrade the Christian in +the eyes of the pious Mussulman. + +On Saturday morning I was roused from my bed by a loud cry and the tramp +of a crowd through the street. I ran to my window, and saw a Greek +tearing down the street at full speed, and another after him with a +drawn yataghan in his hand; the latter gained ground at every step, and, +just as he turned the corner, stabbed the first in the back. He returned +with the bloody poniard in his hand, followed by the crowd, and rushed +into a little Greek drinking-shop next door to my hotel. There was a +loud noise and scuffling inside, and presently I saw him pitched out +headlong into the street, and the door closed upon him. In a phrensy of +passion he rushed back, and drove his yataghan with all his force into +the door, stamped against it with his feet, and battered it with stones; +unable to force it open, he sat down on the opposite side of the street, +occasionally renewing his attack upon the door, talking violently with +those inside, and sometimes the whole crowd laughing loud at the answers +from within. Nobody attempted to interfere. Giusseppi, my host, said it +was only a row among the Greeks. The Greek kept the street in an uproar +for more than an hour, when he was secured and taken into custody. + +After dinner, under the escort of a merchant, a Jew from Trieste +residing at the same hotel, I visited the Jews' quarter. The Jews of +Smyrna are the descendants of that unhappy people who were driven out +from Spain by the bloody persecutions of Ferdinand and Isabel; they +still talk Spanish in their families; and though comparatively secure, +now, as ever, they live the victims of tyranny and oppression, ever +toiling and accumulating, and ever fearing to exhibit the fruits of +their industry, lest they should excite the cupidity of a rapacious +master. Their quarter is by far the most miserable in Smyrna, and within +its narrow limits are congregated more than ten thousand of "the +accursed people." It was with great difficulty that I avoided wounding +the feelings of my companion by remarking its filthy and disgusting +appearance; and wishing to remove my unfavourable impression by +introducing me to some of the best families first, he was obliged to +drag me through the whole range of its narrow and dirty streets. From +the external appearance of the tottering houses, I did not expect +anything better within; and, out of regard to his feelings, was really +sorry that I had accepted his offer to visit his people; but with the +first house I entered I was most agreeably disappointed. Ascending +outside by a tottering staircase to the second story, within was not +only neatness and comfort, but positive luxury. At one end of a spacious +room was a raised platform opening upon a large latticed window, covered +with rich rugs and divans along the wall. The master of the house was +taking his afternoon siesta, and while we were waiting for him I +expressed to my gratified companion my surprise and pleasure at the +unexpected appearance of the interior. In a few minutes the master +entered, and received us with the greatest hospitality and kindness. He +was about thirty, with the high square cap of black felt, without any +rim or border, long silk gown tied with a sash around the waist, a +strongly-marked Jewish face, and amiable expression. In the house of the +Israelite the welcome is the same as in that of the Turk; and seating +himself, our host clapped his hands together, and a boy entered with +coffee and pipes. After a little conversation he clapped his hands +again; and hearing a clatter of wooden shoes, I turned my head and saw +a little girl coming across the room, mounted on high wooden sabots +almost like stilts, who stepped up the platform, and with quite a +womanly air took her seat on the divan. I looked at her, and thought her +a pert, forward little miss, and was about asking her how old she was, +when my companion told me she was our host's wife. I checked myself, but +in a moment felt more than ever tempted to ask the same question; and, +upon inquiring, learned that she had attained the respectable age of +thirteen, and had been then two years a wife. Our host told us that she +had cost him a great deal of money, and the expense consisted in the +outlay necessary for procuring a divorce from another wife. He did not +like the other one at all; his father had married him to her, and he had +great difficulty in prevailing on his father to go to the expense of +getting him freed. This wife was also provided by his father, and he did +not like her much at first; he had never seen her till the day of +marriage, but now he began to like her very well, though she cost him a +great deal for ornaments. All this time we were looking at her, and she, +with a perfectly composed expression, was listening to the conversation +as my companion interpreted it, and following with her eyes the +different speakers. I was particularly struck with the cool, +imperturbable expression of her face, and could not help thinking that, +on the subject of likings and dislikings, young as she was, she might +have some curious notions of her own; and since we had fallen into this +little disquisition on family matters, and thinking that he had gone so +far himself that I might waive delicacy, I asked him whether she liked +him; he answered in that easy tone of confidence of which no idea can be +given in words, "oh yes;" and when I intimated a doubt, he told me I +might ask herself. But I forbore, and did not ask her, and so lost the +opportunity of learning from both sides the practical operation of +matches made by parents. Our host sustained them; the plan saved a great +deal of trouble, and wear and tear of spirit; prudent parents always +selected such as were likely to suit each other; and being thrown +together very young, they insensibly assimilated in tastes and habits; +he admitted that he had missed it the first time, but he had hit it the +second, and allowed that the system would work much better if the cost +of procuring a divorce was not so great. With the highest respect, and a +pressing invitation to come again, seconded by his wife, I took my leave +of the self-satisfied Israelite. + +From this we went into several other houses, in all of which the +interior belied, in the same manner, their external appearance. I do not +say that they were gorgeous or magnificent, but they were clean, +comfortable, and striking by their oriental style of architecture and +furniture; and being their Sabbath, the women were in their best attire, +with their heads, necks, and wrists adorned with a profusion of gold and +silver ornaments. Several of the houses had libraries, with old Hebrew +books, in which an old rabbi was reading or sometimes instructing +children. In the last house a son was going through his days of mourning +on the death of his father. He was lying in the middle of the floor, +with his black cap on, and covered with a long black cloak. Twenty or +thirty friends were sitting on the floor around him, who had come in to +condole with him. When we entered, neither he nor any of his friends +took any notice of us, except to make room on the floor. We sat down +with them. It was growing dark, and the light broke dimly through the +latticed windows upon the dusky figures of the mourning Israelites; and +there they sat, with stern visages and long beards, the feeble remnant +of a fallen people, under scorn and contumely, and persecution and +oppression, holding on to the traditions received from their fathers, +practising in the privacy of their houses the same rites as when the +priests bore aloft the ark of the covenant, and out of the very dust in +which they lie still looking for the restoration of their temporal +kingdom. In a room adjoining sat the widow of the deceased, with a group +of women around her, all perfectly silent; and they too took no notice +of us either when we entered or when we went away. + +The next day the shops were shut, and the streets again thronged as on +the day of my arrival. I went to church at the English chapel attached +to the residence of the British consul, and heard a sermon from a German +missionary. I dined at one o'clock, and, in company with mine host of +the Pension Suisse, and a merchant of Smyrna resident there, worked my +way up the hill through the heart of the Turks' quarter to the old +castle standing alone and in ruins on its summit. We rested a little +while at the foot of the castle, and looked over the city and the tops +of the minarets upon the beautiful bay, and descending in the rear of +the castle, we came to the river Meles winding through a deep valley at +the foot of the hill. This stream was celebrated in Grecian poetry three +thousand years ago. It was the pride of the ancient Smyrneans, once +washed the walls of the ancient city, and tradition says that on its +banks the nymph Critheis gave birth to Homer. We followed it in its +winding course down the valley, murmuring among evergreens. Over it in +two places were the ruins of aqueducts which carried water to the old +city, and in one or two places it turns an overshot mill. On each side, +at intervals along its banks, were oriental summer-houses, with +verandahs, and balconies, and latticed windows. Approaching the caravan +bridge we met straggling parties, and by degrees fell into a crowd of +people, Franks, Europeans of every nation, Greeks, Turks, and Armenians, +in all their striking costumes, sitting on benches under the shade of +noble old sycamores, or on the grass, or on the river's brink, and +moving among them were Turks cleanly dressed, with trays of +refreshments, ices, and sherbet. There was an unusual collection of +Greek and Smyrniote women, and an extraordinary display of beauty; none +of them wore hats, but the Greek women a light gauze turban, and the +Smyrniotes a small piece of red cloth, worked with gold, secured on the +top of the head by the folds of the hair, with a long tassel hanging +down from it. Opposite, and in striking contrast, the great Turkish +burying-ground, with its thick grove of gloomy cypress, approached the +bank of the river. I crossed over and entered the burying-ground, and +penetrated the grove of funereal trees; all around were the graves of +the dead; thousands and tens of thousands who but yesterday were like +the gay crowd I saw flitting through the trees, were sleeping under my +feet. Over some of the graves the earth was still fresh, and they who +lay in them were already forgotten; but no, they were not forgotten; +woman's love still remembered them, for Turkish women, with long white +shawls wrapped around their faces, were planting over them myrtle and +flowers, believing that they were paying an acceptable tribute to the +souls of the dead. I left the burying-ground and plunged once more among +the crowd. It may be that memory paints these scenes brighter than they +were; but, if that does not deceive me, I never saw at Paris or Vienna +so gay and beautiful a scene, so rich in landscape and scenery, in +variety of costume, and in beauty of female form and feature. + +We left the caravan bridge early to visit the Armenian quarter, this +being the best day for seeing them collectively at home; and I had not +passed through the first street of their beautiful quarter before I was +forcibly struck with the appearance of a people different from any I had +yet seen in the East. The Armenians are one of the oldest nations of the +civilized world, and, amid all the revolutions of barbarian war and +despotism, have maintained themselves as a cultivated people. From the +time when their first chieftain fled from Babylon, his native place, to +escape from the tyranny of Belus, king of Assyria, this warlike people, +occupying a mountainous country near the sources of the Tigris and +Euphrates, battled the Assyrians, Medes, the Persians, Macedonians, and +Arabians, until their country was depopulated by the shah of Persia. +Less than two millions are all that now remain of that once powerful +people. Commerce has scattered them, like the Israelites, among all the +principal nations of Europe and Asia, and everywhere they have preserved +their stern integrity and uprightness of character. The Armenian +merchant is now known in every quarter of the globe, and everywhere +distinguished by superior cultivation, honesty, and manners. As early as +the fourth century the Armenians embraced Christianity; they never had +any sympathy with, and always disliked and avoided, the Greek +Christians, and constantly resisted the endeavours of the popes to bring +them within the Catholic pale. Their doctrine differs from that of the +orthodox chiefly in their admitting only one nature in Christ, and +believing the Holy Spirit to issue from the Father alone. Their first +abode, Mount Ararat, is even at the present day the centre of their +religious and political union. They are distinguished by a patriarchal +simplicity in their domestic manners; and it was the beautiful +exhibition of this trait in their character that struck me on entering +their quarter at Smyrna. In style and appearance their quarter is +superior to any in Smyrna; their streets are broad and clean; their +houses large, in good order, and well painted; oriental in their style +of architecture, with large balconies and latticed windows, and spacious +halls running through the centre, floored with small black and white +stones laid in the form of stars and other fanciful devices, and leading +to large gardens in the rear, ornamented with trees, vines, shrubs, and +flowers, then in full bloom and beauty. All along the streets the doors +of the houses were thrown wide open, and the old Armenian +"Knickerbockers" were sitting outside or in the doorway, in their +flowing robes, grave and sedate, with long pipes and large amber mouth +pieces, talking with their neighbours, while the younger members were +distributed along the hall or strolling through the garden, and children +climbing the trees and arbours. It was a fete day for the whole +neighbourhood. All was social, and cheerful, and beautiful, without +being gay or noisy, and all was open to the observation of every +passer-by. My companion, an old resident of Smyrna, stopped with me at +the house of a large banker, whose whole family, with several neighbours +young and old, were assembled in the hall. + +In the street the Armenian ladies observe the Turkish custom of wearing +the shawl tied around the face so that it is difficult to see their +features, though I had often admired the dignity and grace of their +walk, and their propriety of manners; but in the house there was a +perfect absence of all concealment; and I have seldom seen more +interesting persons than the whole group of Armenian ladies, and +particularly the young Armenian girls. They were not so dark, and wanted +the bold, daring beauty of the Greek, but altogether were far more +attractive. The great charm of their appearance was an exceeding +modesty, united with affability and elegance of manner; in fact, there +was a calm and quiet loveliness about them that would have made any one +of them dangerous to be shut up alone with, i.e., if a man could talk +with her without an interpreter. This was one of the occasions when I +numbered among the pains of life the confusion of tongues. But, +notwithstanding this, the whole scene was beautiful; and, with all the +simplicity of a Dutchman's fireside, the style of the house, the pebbled +hall, the garden, the foliage, and the oriental costumes, threw a charm +around it which now, while I write, comes over me again. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + An American Original.--Moral Changes in Turkey.--Wonders of Steam + Navigation.--The March of Mind.--Classic Localities.--Sestos and + Abydos.--Seeds of Pestilence. + + +ON my return from Ephesus I heard of the arrival in Smyrna of two +American travellers, father and son, from Egypt; and the same day, at +Mr. Langdon's, I met the father, Dr. N. of Mississippi. The doctor had +made a long and interesting tour in Egypt and the Holy Land, +interrupted, however, by a severe attack of ophthalmia on the Nile, from +which he had not yet recovered, and a narrow escape from the plague at +Cairo. He was about fifty-five, of a strong, active, and inquiring +mind; and the circumstances which had brought him to that distant +country were so peculiar, that I cannot help mentioning them. He had +passed all his life on the banks of the Mississippi, and for many years +had busied himself with speculations in regard to the creation of the +world. Year after year he had watched the deposites and the formation of +soil on the banks of the Mississippi, had visited every mound and +mountain indicating any peculiar geological formation, and, unable to +find any data to satisfy him, he started from his plantation directly +for the banks of the Nile. He possessed all the warm, high-toned +feelings of the Southerner, but a thorough contempt for the usages of +society and everything like polish of manners. He came to New-York and +embarked for Havre. He had never been even to New-York before; was +utterly ignorant of any language but his own; despised all foreigners, +and detested their "jabber." He worked his way to Marseilles with the +intention of embarking for Alexandria, but was taken sick, and retraced +his steps directly to his plantation on the Mississippi. Recovering, he +again set out for the Nile the next year, accompanied by his son, a +young man of about twenty-three, acquainted with foreign languages, and +competent to profit by foreign travel. This time he was more successful, +and, when I saw him, he had rambled over the Pyramids and explored the +ruined temples of Egypt. The result of his observations had been to +fortify his preconceived notions, that the age of this world far exceeds +six thousand years. Indeed, he was firmly persuaded that some of the +temples of the Nile were built more than six thousand years ago. He had +sent on to Smyrna enormous boxes of earth and stones, to be shipped to +America, and was particularly curious on the subject of trees, having +examined and satisfied himself as to the age of the olive-trees in the +Garden of Gethsemane and the cedars of Lebanon. I accompanied him to his +hotel, where I was introduced to his son; and I must not forget another +member of this party, who is, perhaps, already known to some of my +readers by the name of Paolo Nuozzo, or, more familiarly, Paul. This +worthy individual had been travelling on the Nile with two Hungarian +counts, who discharged him, or whom he discharged (for they differed as +to the fact), at Cairo. Dr. N. and his son were in want, and Paul +entered their service as dragoman and superintendent of another man, +who, they said, was worth a dozen of Paul. I have a very imperfect +recollection of my first interview with this original. Indeed, I hardly +remember him at all until my arrival at Constantinople, and have only an +indistinct impression of a dark, surly-looking, mustached man following +at the heels of Dr. N., and giving crusty answers in horrible English. + +Before my visit to Ephesus I had talked with a Prussian baron of going +up by land to Constantinople; but on my return I found myself attacked +with a recurrence of an old malady, and determined to wait for the +steamboat. The day before I left Smyrna, accompanied by Mr. O. Langdon, +I went out to Boujac to dine with Mr. Styth. The great beauty of Smyrna +is its surrounding country. Within a few miles there are three villages, +Bournabat, Boujac, and Sediguey, occupied by Franks, of which Boujac is +the favourite. The Franks are always looking to the time of going out to +their country houses, and consider their residences in their villages +the most agreeable part of their year; and, from what I saw of it, +nothing can be more agreeable. Not more than half of them had yet moved +out, but after dinner we went round and visited all who were there. +They are all well acquainted, and, living in a strange and barbarous +country, are drawn closer together than they would be in their own. +Every evening there is a reunion at some of their houses, and there is +among them an absence of all unnecessary form and ceremony, without +which there can be no perfect enjoyment of the true pleasures of social +intercourse. These villages, too, are endeared to them as places of +refuge during the repeated and prolonged visitations of the plague, the +merchant going into the city every morning and returning at night, and +during the whole continuance of the disease avoiding to touch any member +of his family. The whole region of country around their villages is +beautiful in landscape and scenery, producing the choicest flowers and +fruits; the fig tree particularly growing with a luxuriance unknown in +any other part of the world. But the whole of this beautiful region lies +waste and uncultivated, although, if the government could be relied on, +holding out, by reason of its fertility, its climate, and its facility +of access, particularly now by means of steamboats, far greater +inducements to European emigration than any portion of our own country. +I will not impose upon the reader my speculations on this subject; my +notes are burdened with them; but, in my opinion, the Old World is in +process of regeneration, and at this moment offers greater opportunities +for enterprise than the New. + +On Monday, accompanied by Dr. N. and his son and Paolo Nuozzo, I +embarked on board the steamboat Maria Dorothea for Constantinople; and +here follows another letter, and the last, dated from the capital of the +Eastern empire. + + + Constantinople, May ----, 1835. + + MY DEAR ****, + + Oh you who hope one day to roam in Eastern lands, to bend your + curious eyes upon the people warmed by the rising sun, come quickly, + for all things are changing. You who have pored over the story of + the Turk; who have dreamed of him as a gloomy enthusiast, hating, + spurning, and slaying all who do not believe and call upon the + Prophet; + + "One of that saintly, murderous brood, + To carnage and the Koran given, + Who think through unbelievers' blood + Lies their directest path to Heaven;" + + come quickly, for that description of Turk is passing away. The day + has gone by when the haughty Mussulman spurned and persecuted the + "Christian dog." A few years since it would have been at peril of a + man's life to appear in many parts of Turkey in a European dress; + but now the European is looked upon, not only as a creature fit to + live, but as a man to be respected. The sultan himself, the great + head of the nation and the religion, the vicegerent of God upon + earth, has taken off the turban, and all the officers of government + have followed his example. The army wears a bastard European + uniform, and the great study of the sultan is to introduce European + customs. Thanks to the infirmities of human nature, many of these + customs have begun to insinuate themselves. The pious follower of + the Prophet has dared to raise the winecup to his lips; and in many + instances, at the peril of losing his paradise of houris, has given + himself up to strong drink. Time was when the word of a Turk was + sacred as a precept of the Koran; now he can no more be relied upon + than a Jew or a Christian. He has fallen with great facility into + lying, cheating, and drinking, and if the earnest efforts to change + him are attended with success, perhaps we may soon add stealing and + having but one wife. And all this change, this mighty fall, is + ascribed by the Europeans here to the destruction of the janisaries, + a band of men dangerous to government, brave, turbulent, and bloody, + but of indomitable pride; who were above doing little things, and + who gave a high tone to the character of the whole people. If I was + not bent upon a gallop, and could stop for the jogtrot of an + argument, I would say that the destruction of the janisaries is a + mere incidental circumstance, and that the true cause is--_steam + navigation_. Do not laugh, but listen. The Turks have ever been a + proud people, possessing a sort of peacock pride, an extravagantly + good opinion of themselves, and a superlative contempt for all the + rest of the world. Heretofore they have had comparatively little + intercourse with Europeans, consequently but little opportunity of + making comparisons, and consequently, again, but little means of + discovering their own inferiority. But lately things have changed; + the universal peace in Europe and the introduction of steamboats + into the Mediterranean have brought the Europeans and the Turks + comparatively close together. It seems to me that the effect of + steamboats here has as yet hardly begun to be felt. There are but + few of them, indifferent boats, constantly getting out of order, and + running so irregularly that no reliance can be placed upon them. But + still their effects are felt, their convenience is acknowledged; + and, so far as my knowledge extends, they have never been introduced + anywhere yet without multiplying in numbers, and driving all other + vessels off the water. Now the Mediterranean is admirably suited to + the use of steamboats; indeed, the whole of these inland waters, + the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Archipelago, the Dardanelles, + the Sea of Marmora, the Bosphorus, and the Black Sea, from the + Straits of Gibraltar to the Sea of Azoff, offer every facility that + can be desired for steam navigation; and when we consider that the + most interesting cities in the world are on the shores of these + waters, I cannot but believe that in a very few years they will be, + to a certain extent, covered with steamboats. At all events, I have + no doubt that in two or three years you will be able to go from + Paris to Constantinople in fifteen or twenty days; and, when that + time comes, it will throw such numbers of Europeans into the East as + will have a sensible effect upon the manners and customs of the + people. These eastern countries will be invaded by all classes of + people, travellers, merchants, and mechanics, gentlemen of elegant + leisure, and blacksmiths, shoemakers, tinkers, and tailors, nay, + even mantuamakers, milliners, and bandboxes, the last being an + incident to civilized life as yet unknown in Turkey. Indeed, + wonderful as the effects of steamboats have been under our own eyes, + we are yet to see them far more wonderful in bringing into close + alliance, commercial and social, people from distant countries, of + different languages and habits; in removing national prejudices, and + in breaking down the great characteristic distinctions of nations. + Nous verrons, twenty years hence, what steamboats will have done in + this part of the world! + + But, in standing up for steamboats, I must not fail in doing justice + to the grand seignior. His highness has not always slept upon a bed + of roses. He had to thank the petticoats of a female slave for + saving his life when a boy, and he had hardly got upon his throne + before he found that he should have a hard task to keep it. It lay + between him and the janisaries. In spite of them and of the general + prejudices of the people, he determined to organize an army + according to European tactics. He staked his throne and his head + upon the issue; and it was not until he had been pushed to the + desperate expedient of unfurling the sacred standard of the Prophet, + parading it through the streets of Constantinople, and calling upon + all good Mussulmans to rally round it; in short, it was not until + the dead bodies of thirty thousand janisaries were floating down the + Bosphorus, that he found himself the master in his own dominions. + Since that time, either because he is fond of new things, or because + he really sees farther than those around him, he is constantly + endeavouring to introduce European improvements. For this purpose he + invites talent, particularly mechanical and military, from every + country, and has now around him Europeans among his most prominent + men, and directing nearly all his public works. + + The Turks are a sufficiently intelligent people, and cannot help + feeling the superiority of strangers. Probably the immediate effect + may be to make them prone rather to catch the faults and vices than + the virtues of Europeans; but afterward better things will come; + they will fall into our better ways; and perhaps, though that is + almost more than we dare hope for, they will embrace a better + religion. + + But, however this may be, or whatever may be the cause, all ye who + would see the Turk of Mohammed; the Turk who swept the plains of + Asia, who leaned upon his bloody sword before the walls of Vienna, + and threatened the destruction of Christendom in Europe; the Turk of + the turban, and the pipe, and the seraglio, come quickly, for he is + becoming another man. A little longer, and the great characteristic + distinctions will be broken down; the long pipe, the handsome + pipe-bearer, and the amber mouthpiece are gone, and oh, death to all + that is beautiful in Eastern romance, the walls of the seraglio are + prostrated, the doors of the harem thrown open, the black eunuch and + the veiled woman are no more seen, while the honest Turk trudges + home from a quiet tea-party stripped of his retinue of fair ones, + with his one and only wife tucked under his arm, his head drooping + between his shoulders, taking a lecture from his better half for an + involuntary sigh to the good old days that are gone. And oh you who + turn up your aristocratic noses at such parvenues as Mohammed and + the Turks; who would go back to those distant ages which time covers + with its dim and twilight glories, + + "When the world was fresh and young, + And the great deluge still had left it green;" + + you who come piping-hot from college, your brains teeming with + recollections of the heroic ages; who would climb Mount Ida, to sit + in council with the gods, come quickly, also, for all things are + changing. A steamboat--shade of Hector, Ajax, and Agamemnon, forgive + the sins of the day--an Austrian steamboat is now splashing the + island-studded AEgean, and paddling the classic waters of the + Hellespont. Oh ye princes and heroes who armed for the Trojan war, + and covered these waters with your thousand ships, with what pious + horror must you look down from your blessed abodes upon the impious + modern monster of the deep, which strips the tall mast of its + flowing canvass, renders unnecessary the propitiation of the gods, + and flounders on its way in spite of wind and weather! + + A new and unaccountable respect for the classics almost made me + scorn the newfangled conveyance, though much to the comfort of + wayfaring men; but sundry recollections of Greek caiques, and also + an apprehension that there might be those yet living who had heard + me in early days speak anything but respectfully of Homer, suggested + to me that one man could not stem the current of the times, and that + it was better for a humble individual like myself to float with the + tide. This idea, too, of currents and tides made me think better of + Prince Metternich and his steamboat; and smothering, as well as I + could, my sense of shame, I sneaked on board the Maria Dorothea for + a race to Constantinople. Join me, now, in this race; and if your + heart does not break at going by at the rate of eight or ten miles + an hour, I will whip you over a piece of the most classic ground + consecrated in history, mythology, or poetry, and in less time than + ever the swiftfooted Achilles could have travelled it. At eleven + o'clock on a bright sunny day the Maria Dorothea turned her back + upon the city and beautiful bay of Smyrna; in about two hours passed + the harbour of Vourla, then used as a quarantine station, the yellow + plague flag floating in the city and among the shipping; and toward + dark, turning the point of the gulf, came upon my old acquaintance + Foggi, the little harbour into which I had been twice driven by + adverse winds. My Greek friend happened to be on board, and, in the + honesty of his heart, congratulated me upon being this time + independent of the elements, without seeming to care a fig whether + he profaned the memory of his ancestors in travelling by so + unclassical a conveyance. If he takes it so coolly, thought I, what + is it to me? they are his relations, not mine. In the evening we + were moving close to the Island of Mytilene, the ancient Lesbos, the + country of Sappho, Alcaeus, and Terpander, famed for the excellence + of its wine and the beauty of its women, and pre-eminently + distinguished for dissipation and debauchery, the fatal plague flag + now floating mournfully over its walls, marking it as the abode of + pestilence and death. + + Early in the morning I found myself opposite the promontory of + Lectum, now Cape Baba, separating the ancient Troas from AEolia; a + little to the right, but hardly visible, were the ruins of Assos, + where the apostles stopped to take in Paul; a little farther the + ruins of Alexandria Troas, one of the many cities founded by + Alexander during his conquests in Asia; to the left, at some + distance in the sea, is the Island of Lemnos, in the songs of the + poets overshadowed by the lofty Olympus, the island that received + Vulcan after he was kicked out of heaven by Jupiter. A little + farther, nearer the land, is the Island of Tenedos, the ancient + Leucophrys, where Paris first landed after carrying off Helen, and + behind which the Greeks withdrew their fleet when they pretended to + have abandoned the siege of Troy. Still farther, on the mainland, is + the promontory of Sigaeum, where the Scamander empties into the sea, + and near which were fought the principal of Homer's battles. A + little farther--but hold, stop the engine! If there be a spot of + classic ground on earth in which the historical, and the poetical, + and the fabulous are so beautifully blended together that we would + not separate them even to discover the truth, it is before us now. + Extending for a great distance along the shore, and back as far as + the eye can reach, under the purest sky that ever overshadowed the + earth, lies a rich and beautiful plain, and it is the plain of Troy, + the battle-ground of heroes. Oh field of glory and of blood, little + does he know, that surly Turk who is now lazily following his plough + over thy surface, that every blade of thy grass could tell of + heroic deeds, the shock of armies, the meeting of war chariots, the + crashing of armour, the swift flight, the hot pursuit, the shouts of + victors, and the groans of the dying. Beyond it, towering to the + heavens, is a lofty mountain, and it is Mount Ida, on whose top + Paris adjudged the golden apple to the goddess of beauty, and paved + the way for those calamities which brought on the ten years' siege, + and laid in ruins the ancient city of Priam. Two small streams, + taking their rise from the mountain of the gods, join each other in + the middle of the plain; Scamander and Simois, whose waters once + washed the walls of the ancient city of Dardanus; and that small, + confused, and shapeless mass of ruins, that beautiful sky and the + songs of Homer, are all that remain to tell us that "Troy was." + Close to the sea, and rising like mountains above the plain, are two + immense mounds of earth; they are the tombs of Ajax and Achilles. + Shades of departed heroes, fain would we stop and pay the tribute + which we justly owe, but we are hurried past by an engine of a + hundred horse power. + + Onward, still onward! We have reached the ancient Hellespont, the + Dardanelles of the Turks, famed as the narrow water that divides + Europe from Asia, for the beauties that adorn its banks, and for its + great Turkish fortifications. Three miles wide at the mouth, it + becomes gradually narrower, until, in the narrowest part, the + natives of Europe and Asia can talk together from the opposite + sides. For sixty miles (its whole length) it presents a continued + succession of new beauties, and in the hands of Europeans, + particularly English, improved as country seats, would make one of + the loveliest countries in the world. I had just time to reflect + that it was melancholy, and seemed inexplicable that this and other + of the fairest portions of the earth should be in the hands of the + Turks, who neither improve it themselves nor allow others to do so. + At three o'clock we arrived at the Dardanelles, a little Turkish + town in the narrowest and most beautiful part of the straits; a + strong fort with enormous cannon stands frowning on each side. These + are the terrible fortifications of Mohammed II., the keys of + Constantinople. The guns are enormous; of one in particular, the + muzzle is two feet three inches in diameter; but, with Turkish + ingenuity, they are so placed as to be discharged when a ship is + directly opposite. If the ship is not disabled by the first fire, + and does not choose to go back and take another, she is safe. At + every moment a new picture presents itself; a new fort, a new villa, + or the ruins of an ancient city. A naked point on the European side, + so ugly compared with all around it as to attract particular + attention, projects into the strait, and here are the ruins of + Sestos; here Xerxes built his bridge of boats to carry over his + millions to the conquest of Greece; and here, when he returned with + the wreck of his army, defeated and disgraced, found his bridge + destroyed by a tempest, and, in his rage, ordered the chains to be + thrown into the sea and the waves to be lashed with rods. From this + point, too, Leander swam the Hellespont for love of Hero, and Lord + Byron and Mr. Ekenhead for fun. Nearly opposite, close to a Turkish + fort, are the ruins of Abydos. Here Xerxes, and Leander, and Lord + Byron, and Mr. Ekenhead landed. + + Our voyage is drawing to a close. At Gallipoli, a large Turkish town + handsomely situated at the mouth of the Dardanelles, we took on + board the Turkish governor, with his pipe-bearer and train of + attendants, escorted by thirty or forty boats, containing three or + four hundred people, his mightiness taking a deck passage. Toward + evening we were entering the Sea of Marmora, the ancient Propontis, + like one of our small lakes, and I again went to sleep lulled by the + music of a high-pressure engine. At daylight we were approaching + Constantinople; twelve miles this side, on the bank of the Sea of + Marmora, is the village of St. Stephano, the residence of Commodore + Porter. Here the domes and minarets of the ancient city, with their + golden points and glittering crescents, began to appear in sight. + High above the rest towered the mosque of Sultan Achmet and the + beautiful dome of St. Sophia, the ancient Christian church, but now, + for nearly four hundred years, closed against the Christians' feet. + We approach the walls and pass a range of gloomy turrets; there are + the Seven Towers, prisons, portals of the grave, whose mysteries few + live to publish: the bowstring and the sea reveal no secrets. That + palace, with its blinded windows and its superb garden, surrounded + by a triple range of walls, is the far-famed seraglio; there beauty + lingers in a splendid cage, and, lolling on her rich divan, sighs + for the humblest lot and freedom. In front, that narrow water, a + thousand caiques shooting through it like arrows, and its beautiful + banks covered with high palaces and gardens in the oriental style, + is the Thracian Bosphorus. We float around the walls of the + seraglio, enter the Golden Horn, and before us, with its thousand + mosques and its myriad of minarets, their golden points glittering + in the sun, is the Roman city of Constantinople, the Thracian + Byzantium, the Stamboul of the Turks; the city which, more than all + others, excites the imagination and interests the feelings; once + dividing with Rome the empire of the world; built by a Christian + emperor and consecrated as a Christian city, a "burning and a + shining light" in a season of universal darkness, all at once lost + to the civilized world; falling into the hands of a strange and + fanatic people, the gloomy followers of a successful soldier; a city + which, for nearly four centuries, has sat with its gates closed in + sullen distrust and haughty defiance of strangers; which once sent + forth large and terrible armies, burning, slaying, and destroying, + shaking the hearts of princes and people, now lying like a fallen + giant, huge, unwieldy, and helpless, ready to fall into the hands of + the first invader, and dragging out a precarious and ignoble + existence but by the mercy or policy of the great Christian powers. + The morning sun, now striking upon its domes and minarets, covers + it, as it were, with burnished gold; a beautiful verdure surrounds + it, and pure waters wash it on every side. Can this beautiful city, + rich with the choicest gifts of Heaven, be pre-eminently the abode + of pestilence and death? where a man carries about with him the + seeds of disease to all whom he holds dear? if he extend the hand of + welcome to a friend, if he embrace his child or rub against a + stranger, the friend, and the child, and the stranger follow him to + the grave? where, year after year, the angel of death stalks through + the streets, and thousands and tens of thousands look him calmly in + the face, and murmuring "Allah, Allah, God is merciful," with a + fatal trust in the Prophet, lie down and die? We enter the city, and + these questions are quickly answered. A lazy, lounging, and filthy + population; beggars basking in the sun, and dogs licking their + sores; streets never cleaned but by the winds and rains; immense + burying-grounds all over the city; tombstones at the corners of the + streets; graves gaping ready to throw out their half-buried dead, + the whole approaching to one vast charnel-house, dispel all + illusions and remove all doubts, and we are ready to ask ourselves + if it be possible that, in such a place, health can ever dwell. We + wonder that it should ever, for the briefest moment, be free from + that dreadful scourge which comes with every summer's sun and strews + its streets with dead. + + **** + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Mr. Churchill.--Commodore Porter.--Castle of the Seven Towers.--The + Sultan's Naval Architect.--Launch of the Great Ship.--Sultan + Mahmoud.--Jubilate.--A National Grievance.--Visit to a + Mosque.--The Burial-grounds. + + +THERE is a good chance for an enterprising Connecticut man to set up a +hotel in Constantinople. The reader will see that I have travelled with +my eyes open, and I trust this shrewd observation on entering the city +of the Caesars will be considered characteristic and American. Paul was +at home in Pera, and conducted us to the Hotel d'Italia, which was so +full that we could not get admission, and so vile a place that we were +not sorry for it. We then went to Madame Josephine's, a sort of private +boarding-house, but excellent of its kind. We found there a collection +of travellers, English, French, German, and Russian, and the dinner was +particularly social; but Dr. N. was so disgusted with the clatter of +foreign tongues, that he left the table with the first course, and swore +he would not stay there another day. We tried to persuade him. I +reminded him that there was an Englishman among them, but this only made +him worse; he hated an Englishman, and wondered how I, as an American, +could talk with one as I had with him. In short, he was resolved, and +had Paul running about every street in Pera looking for rooms. +Notwithstanding his impracticabilities as a traveller, I liked the +doctor, and determined to follow him, and before breakfast the next +morning we were installed in a suite of rooms in the third story of a +house opposite the old palace of the British ambassador. + +For two or three days I was _hors du combat_, and put myself under the +hands of Dr. Zohrab, an Armenian, educated at Edinburgh, whom I +cordially recommend both for his kindness and medical skill. On going +out, one of my first visits was to my banker, Mr. Churchill, a gentleman +whose name has since rung throughout Europe, and who at one time seemed +likely to be the cause of plunging the whole civilized world into a war. +He was then living in Sedikuey, on the site of the ancient Chalcedon, in +Asia; and I have seldom been more shocked than by reading in a +newspaper, while in the lazaretto at Malta, that, having accidentally +shot a Turkish boy with a fowling-piece, he had been seized by the +Turks, and, in defiance of treaties, _bastinadoed_ till he was almost +dead. I had seen the infliction of that horrible punishment; and, +besides the physical pain, there was a sense of the indignity that +roused every feeling. I could well imagine the ferocious spirit with +which the Turks would stand around and see a Christian scourged. The +civilized world owes a deep debt of gratitude to the English government +for the uncompromising stand taken in this matter with the sultan, and +the firmness with which it insisted on, and obtained, the most ample +redress for Mr. Churchill, and atonement for the insult offered to all +Christendom in his person. + +My companions and myself had received several invitations from Commodore +Porter, and, accompanied by Mr. Dwight, one of our American +missionaries, to whom I am under particular obligations for his +kindness, early in the morning we took a caique with three athletic +Turks, and, after a beautiful row, part of it from the seraglio point to +the Seven Towers, a distance of five miles, being close under the walls +of the city, in two hours reached the commodore's residence at St. +Stephano, twelve miles from Constantinople, on the borders of the Sea of +Marmora. The situation is beautiful, abounding in fruit-trees, among +which are some fig trees of the largest size; and the commodore was then +engaged in building a large addition to his house. It will be remembered +that Commodore Porter was the first envoy ever sent by the United +States' government to the Sublime Porte. He had formerly lived at +Buyukdere, on the Bosphorus, with the other members of the diplomatic +corps; but his salary as charge being inadequate to sustain a becoming +style, he had withdrawn to this place. I had never seen Commodore Porter +before. I afterward passed a month with him in the lazaretto at Malta, +and I trust he will not consider me presuming when I say that our +acquaintance ripened into friendship. He is entirely different from the +idea I had formed of him; small, dark, weather-beaten, much broken in +health, and remarkably mild and quiet in his manners. His eye is his +best feature, though even that does not indicate the desperate hardihood +of character which he has exhibited on so many occasions. Perhaps I +ought not to say so, but he seemed ill at ease in his position, and I +could not but think that he ought still to be standing in the front rank +of that service he so highly honoured. He spoke with great bitterness of +the Foxardo affair, and gave me an account of an interesting interview +between General Jackson and himself on his recall from South America. +General Jackson wished him to resume his rank in the navy, but he +answered that he would never accept service with men who had suspended +him for doing what, they said in their sentence of condemnation, was +done "to sustain the honour of the American flag." + +At the primitive hour of one we sat down to a regular family dinner. We +were all Americans. The commodore's sister, who was living with him, +presided, and we looked out on the Sea of Marmora and talked of home. I +cannot describe the satisfaction of these meetings of Americans so far +from their own country. I have often experienced it most powerfully in +the houses of the missionaries in the East. Besides having, in many +instances, the same acquaintances, we had all the same habits and ways +of thinking; their articles of furniture were familiar to me, and there +was scarcely a house in which I did not find an article unknown except +among Americans, a Boston rocking-chair. + +We talked over the subject of our difficulties with France, then under +discussion in the Chamber of Deputies, and I remember that Commodore +Porter was strong in the opinion that the bill paying the debt would +pass. Before rising from table, the commodore's janisary came down from +Constantinople, with papers and letters just arrived by the courier from +Paris. He told me that I should have the honour of breaking the seals, +and I took out the paper so well known all over Europe, "Galignani's +Messenger," and had the satisfaction of reading aloud, in confirmation +of the commodore's opinion, that the bill for paying the American claims +had passed the Chamber of Deputies by a large majority. + +[Illustration: Castle of the Seven Towers.] + +About four o'clock we embarked in our caique to return to Constantinople. +In an hour Mr. D. and I landed at the foot of the Seven Towers, and few +things in this ancient city interested me more than my walk around its +walls. We followed them the whole extent on the land side, from the Sea +of Marmora to the Golden Horn. They consist of a triple range, with five +gates, the principal of which is the Cannon Gate, through which Mohammed +II. made his triumphal entry into the Christian city. They have not been +repaired since the city fell into the hands of the Turks, and are the +same walls which procured for it the proud name of the "well-defended +city;" to a great extent, they are the same walls which the first +Constantine built and the last Constantine died in defending. Time has +laid his ruining hand upon them, and they are everywhere weak and +decaying, and would fall at once before the thunder of modern war. The +moat and fosse have alike lost their warlike character, and bloom and +blossom with the vine and fig tree. Beyond, hardly less interesting than +the venerable walls, and extending as far as the eye can reach, is one +continued burying-ground, with thousands and tens of thousands of +turbaned headstones, shaded by thick groves of the mourning cypress. +Opposite the Damascus Gate is an elevated enclosure, disconnected from +all around, containing five headstones in a row, over the bodies of Ali +Pacha, the rebel chief of Yanina, and his four sons. The fatal mark of +death by the bowstring is conspicuous on the tombs, as a warning to +rebels that they cannot escape the sure vengeance of the Porte. It was +toward the sunset of a beautiful evening, and all Stamboul was out among +the tombs. At dark we reached the Golden Horn, crossed over in a caique, +and in a few minutes were in Pera. + +The next day I took a caique at Tophana, and went up to the shipyards at +the head of the Golden Horn to visit Mr. Rhodes, to whom I had a letter +from a friend in Smyrna. Mr. Rhodes is a native of Long Island, but from +his boyhood a resident of this city, and I take great pleasure in saying +that he is an honour to our state and country. The reader will remember +that, some years ago, Mr. Eckford, one of our most prominent citizens, +under a pressure of public and domestic calamities, left his native +city. He sailed from New-York in a beautiful corvette, its destination +unknown, and came to anchor under the walls of the seraglio in the +harbour of Constantinople. The sultan saw her, admired her, and bought +her; and I saw her "riding like a thing of life" on the waters of the +Golden Horn, a model of beauty. + +The fame of his skill, and the beautiful specimen he carried out with +him, recommended Mr. Eckford to the sultan as a fit instrument to build +up the character of the Ottoman navy; and afterward, when his full value +became known, the sultan remarked of him that America must be a great +nation if she could spare from her service such a man. Had he lived, +even in the decline of life he would have made for himself a reputation +in that distant quarter of the globe equal to that he had left behind +him, and doubtless would have reaped the attendant pecuniary reward. Mr. +Rhodes went out as Mr. Eckford's foreman, and on his death the task of +completing his employer's work devolved on him. It could not have +fallen upon a better man. From a journeyman shipbuilder, all at once Mr. +Rhodes found himself brought into close relations with the seraskier +pacha, the reis effendi, the grand vizier, and the sultan himself; but +his good sense never deserted him. He was then preparing for the launch +of the great ship; the longest, as he said, and he knew the dimensions +of every ship that floated, in the world. I accompanied him over the +ship and through the yards, and it was with no small degree of interest +that I viewed a townsman, an entire stranger in the country, by his +skill alone standing at the head of the great naval establishment of the +sultan. He was dressed in a blue roundabout jacket, without whiskers or +mustache, and, except that he wore the tarbouch, was thorough American +in his appearance and manners, while his dragoman was constantly by his +side, communicating his orders to hundreds of mustached Turks, and in +the same breath he was talking with me of shipbuilders in New-York, and +people and things most familiar in our native city. Mr. Rhodes knows and +cares but little for things that do not immediately concern him; his +whole thoughts are of his business, and in that he possesses an ambition +and industry worthy of all praise. As an instance of his discretion, +particularly proper in the service of that suspicious and despotic +government, I may mention that, while standing near the ship and +remarking a piece of cloth stretched across her stern, I asked him her +name, and he told me he did not know; that it was painted on her stern, +and his dragoman knew, but he had never looked under, that he might not +be able to answer when asked. I have seldom met a countryman abroad with +whom I was more pleased, and at parting he put himself on a pinnacle in +my estimation by telling me that, if I came to the yard the next day at +one, I would see the sultan! There was no man living whom I had a +greater curiosity to see. At twelve o'clock I was at the yard, but the +sultan did not come. I went again, and his highness had come two hours +before the time; had accompanied Mr. Rhodes over the ship, and left the +yard less than five minutes before my arrival; his caique was still +lying at the little dock, his attendants were carrying trays of +refreshments to a shooting-ground in the rear, and two black eunuchs +belonging to the seraglio, handsomely dressed in long black cloaks of +fine pelisse cloth, with gold-headed canes and rings on their fingers, +were still lingering about the ship, their effeminate faces and musical +voices at once betraying their neutral character. + +The next was the day of the launch; and early in the morning, in the +suite of Commodore Porter, I went on board an old steamer provided by +the sultan expressly for the use of Mr. Rhodes's American friends. The +waters of the Golden Horn were already covered; thousands of caiques, +with their high sharp points, were cutting through it, or resting like +gulls upon its surface; and there were ships with the still proud banner +of the crescent, and strangers with the flags of every nation in +Christendom, and sailboats, longboats, and rowboats, ambassadors' +barges, and caiques of effendis, beys, and pachas, with red silk flags +streaming in the wind, while countless thousands were assembled on the +banks to behold the extraordinary spectacle of an American ship, the +largest in the world, launched in the harbour of old Stamboul. The +sultan was then living at his beautiful palace at Sweet Waters, and was +obliged to pass by our boat; he had made a great affair of the launch; +had invited all the diplomatic corps, and, through the reis effendi, +particularly requested the presence of Commodore Porter; had stationed +his harem on the opposite side of the river; and as I saw prepared for +himself near the ship a tent of scarlet cloth trimmed with gold, I +expected to see him appear in all the pomp and splendour of the greatest +potentate on earth. I had already seen enough to convince me that the +days of Eastern magnificence had gone by, or that the gorgeous scenes +which my imagination had always connected with the East had never +existed; but still I could not divest myself of the lingering idea of +the power and splendour of the sultan. His commanding style to his own +subjects: "I command you, ----, my slave, that you bring the head of ----, +my slave, and lay it at my feet;" and then his lofty tone with foreign +powers: "I, who am, by the infinite grace of the great, just, and +all-powerful Creator, and the abundance of the miracles of the chief of +his prophets, emperor of powerful emperors; refuge of sovereigns; +distributor of crowns to the kings of the earth; keeper of the two very +holy cities (Mecca and Medina); governor of the holy city of Jerusalem; +master of Europe, Asia, and Africa, conquered with our victorious sword +and our terrible lance; lord of two seas (Black and White); of Damascus, +the odour of Paradise; of Bagdad, the seat of the califs; of the +fortresses of Belgrade, Agra, and a multitude of countries, isles, +straits, people, generations, and of so many victorious armies who +repose under the shade of our Sublime Porte; I, in short, who am the +shadow of God upon earth;" I was rolling these things through my mind +when a murmur, "the sultan is coming," turned me to the side of the +boat, and one view dispelled all my gorgeous fancies. There was no +style, no state, a citizen king, a republican president, or a +democratic governor, could not have made a more unpretending appearance +than did this "shadow of God upon earth." He was seated in the bottom of +a large caique, dressed in the military frockcoat and red tarbouch, with +his long black beard, the only mark of a Turk about him, and he moved +slowly along the vacant space cleared for his passage, boats with the +flags of every nation, and thousands of caiques falling back, and the +eyes of the immense multitude earnestly fixed upon him, but without any +shouts or acclamations; and when he landed at the little dock, and his +great officers bowed to the dust before him, he looked the plainest, +mildest, kindest man among them. I had wished to see him as a wholesale +murderer, who had more blood upon his hands than any man living; who had +slaughtered the janisaries, drenched the plains of Greece, to say +nothing of bastinadoes, impalements, cutting off heads, and tying up in +sacks, which are taking place every moment; but I will not believe that +Sultan Mahmoud finds any pleasure in shedding blood. Dire necessity, or, +as he himself would say, fate, has ever been driving him on. I look upon +him as one of the most interesting characters upon earth; as the +creature of circumstances, made bloody and cruel by the necessities of +his position. I look at his past life and at that which is yet in store +for him, through all the stormy scenes he is to pass until he completes +his unhappy destiny, the last of a powerful and once-dreaded race, +bearded by those who once crouched at the footstool of his ancestors, +goaded by rebellious vassals, conscious that he is going a downward +road, and yet unable to resist the impulse that drives him on. Like the +strong man encompassed with a net, he finds no avenue of escape, and +cannot break through it. + +The seraskier pacha and other principal officers escorted him to his +tent, and now all the interest which I had taken in the sultan was +transferred to Mr. Rhodes. He had great anxiety about the launch, and +many difficulties to contend with: first, in the Turks' jealousy of a +stranger, which obliged him to keep constantly on the watch lest some of +his ropes should be cut or fastenings knocked away; and he had another +Turkish prejudice to struggle against: the day had been fixed twice +before, but the astronomers found an unfortunate conjunction of the +stars, and it was postponed, and even then the stars were unpropitious; +but Mr. Rhodes had insisted that the work had gone so far that it could +not be stopped. And, besides these, he had another great difficulty in +his ignorance of their language. With more than a thousand men under +him, all his orders had to pass through interpreters, and often, too, +the most prompt action was necessary, and the least mistake might prove +fatal. Fortunately, he was protected from treachery by the kindness of +Mr. Churchill and Dr. Zohrab, one of whom stood on the bow and the other +in the stern of the ship, and through whom every order was transmitted +in Turkish. Probably none there felt the same interest that we did; for +the flags of the barbarian and every nation in Christendom were waving +around us, and at that distance from home the enterprise of a single +citizen enlisted the warmest feelings of every American. We watched the +ship with as keen an interest as if our own honour and success in life +depended upon her movements. For a long time she remained perfectly +quiet. At length she moved, slowly and almost imperceptibly; and then, +as if conscious that the eyes of an immense multitude were on her, and +that the honour of a distant nation was in some measure at stake, she +marched proudly to the water, plunged in with a force that almost buried +her, and, rising like a huge leviathan, parted the foaming waves with +her bow, and rode triumphantly upon them. Even Mussulman indifference +was disturbed; all petty jealousies were hushed; the whole immense mass +was roused into admiration; loud and long-continued shouts of applause +rose with one accord from Turks and Christians, and the sultan was so +transported that he jumped up and clapped his hands like a schoolboy. + +Mr. Rhodes's triumph was complete; the sultan called him to his tent, +and with his own hands fixed on the lappel of his coat a gold medal set +in diamonds, representing the launching of a ship. Mr. Rhodes has +attained among strangers the mark of every honourable man's ambition, +the head of his profession. He has put upon the water what Commodore +Porter calls the finest ship that ever floated, and has a right to be +proud of his position and prospects under the "shade of the Sublime +Porte." The sultan wishes to confer upon him the title of chief naval +constructor, and to furnish him with a house and a caique with four +oars. In compliment to his highness, who detests a hat, Mr. Rhodes wears +the tarbouch; but he declines all offices and honours, and anything that +may tend to fix him as a Turkish subject, and looks to return and enjoy +in his own country and among his own people the fruits of his honourable +labours. If the good wishes of a friend can avail him, he will soon +return to our city rich with the profits of untiring industry, and an +honourable testimony to his countrymen of the success of American skill +and enterprise abroad. + +To go back a moment. All day the great ship lay in the middle of the +Golden Horn, while perhaps more than a hundred thousand Turks shot +round her in their little caiques, looking up from the surface of the +water to her lofty deck: and in Pera, wherever I went, perhaps because I +was an American, the only thing I heard of was the American ship. Proud +of the admiration excited so far from home by this noble specimen of the +skill of an American citizen, I unburden myself of a long-smothered +subject of complaint against my country. I cry out with a loud voice for +_reform_, not in the hackneyed sense of petty politicians, but by a +liberal and enlarged expenditure of public money; by increasing the +outfits and salaries of our foreign ambassadors and ministers. We claim +to be rich, free from debt, and abundant in resources, and yet every +American abroad is struck with a feeling of mortification at the +inability of his representative to take that position in social life to +which the character of his country entitles him. We may talk of +republican simplicity as we will, but there are certain usages of +society and certain appendages of rank which, though they may be +unmeaning and worthless, are sanctioned, if not by the wisdom, at least +by the practice of all civilized countries. We have committed a fatal +error since the time when Franklin appeared at the court of France in a +plain citizen's dress; everywhere our representative conforms to the +etiquette of the court to which he is accredited, and it is too late to +go back and begin anew; and now, unless our representative is rich and +willing to expend his own fortune for the honour of the nation, he is +obliged to withdraw from the circles and position in which he has a +right and ought to move, or to move in them on an inferior footing, +under an acknowledgment of inability to appear as an equal. + +And again: our whole consular system is radically wrong, disreputable, +and injurious to our character and interests. While other nations +consider the support of their consuls a part of the expenses of their +government, we suffer ourselves to be represented by merchants, whose +pecuniary interests are mixed up with all the local and political +questions that affect the place and who are under a strong inducement to +make their office subservient to their commercial relations. I make no +imputations against any of them. I could not if I would, for I do not +know an American merchant holding the office who is not a respectable +man; but the representative of our country ought to be the +representative of our country only; removed from any distracting or +conflicting interests, standing like a watchman to protect the honour of +his nation and the rights of her citizens. And more than this, all over +the Mediterranean there are ports where commerce presents no inducements +to the American merchant, and there the office falls into the hands of +the natives; and at this day the American arms are blazoned on the +doors, and the American flag is waving over the houses, of Greeks, +Italians, Jews, and Arabs, and all the mongrel population of that inland +sea; and in the ports under the dominion of Turkey particularly, the +office is coveted as a means of protecting the holder against the +liabilities to his own government, and of revenue by selling that +protection to others. I will not mention them by name, for I bear them +no ill will personally, and I have received kindness from most of the +petty vagabonds who live under the folds of the American flag; but the +consuls at Gendoa and Algiers are a disgrace to the American name. +Congress has lately turned its attention to this subject, and will, +before long, I hope, effect a complete change in the character of our +consular department, and give it the respectability which it wants; the +only remedy is by following the example of other nations, in fixing +salaries to the office, and forbidding the holders to engage in trade. +Besides the leading inducements to this change, there is a secondary +consideration, which, in my eyes, is not without its value, in that it +would furnish a valuable school of instruction for our young men. The +offices would be sought by such. A thousand or fifteen hundred dollars a +year would maintain them respectably, in most of the ports of the +Mediterranean, and young men resident in those places, living upon +salaries, and not obliged to engage in commerce, would employ their +leisure hours in acquiring the language of the country, in communicating +with the interior, and among them would return upon us an accumulation +of knowledge far more than repaying us for all the expense of supporting +them abroad. + +Doubtless the reader expects other things in Constantinople; but all +things are changing. The day has gone by when the Christian could not +cross the threshold of a mosque and live. Even the sacred mosque of St. +Sophia, the ancient Christian church, so long closed against the +Christians' feet, now, upon great occasions, again opens its doors to +the descendants of its Christian builders. One of these great occasions +happened while I was there. The sultan gave a firman to the French +ambassador, under which all the European residents and travellers +visited it. Unfortunately, I was unwell, and could not go out that day, +and was obliged afterward to content myself with walking around its +walls, with uplifted eyes and a heavy heart, admiring the glittering +crescent and thinking of the prostrate cross. + +But no traveller can leave Constantinople without having seen the +interior of a mosque; and accordingly, under the guidance of Mustapha, +the janisary of the British consul, I visited the mosque of Sultan +Suliman, next in point of beauty to that of St. Sophia, though far +inferior in historical interest. At an early hour we crossed the Golden +Horn to old Stamboul; threaded our way through its narrow and intricate +streets to an eminence near the seraskier pacha's tower; entered by a +fine gateway into a large courtyard, more than a thousand feet square, +handsomely paved and ornamented with noble trees, and enclosed by a high +wall; passed a marble fountain of clear and abundant water, where, one +after another, the faithful stopped to make their ablutions; entered a +large colonnade, consisting of granite and marble pillars of every form +and style, the plunder of ancient temples, worked in without much regard +to architectural fitness, yet, on the whole, producing a fine effect; +pulled off our shoes at the door, and, with naked feet and noiseless +step, crossed the sacred threshold of the mosque. Silently we moved +among the kneeling figures of the faithful scattered about in different +parts of the mosque and engaged in prayer; paused for a moment under the +beautiful dome sustained by four columns from the Temple of Diana at +Ephesus; leaned against a marble pillar which may have supported, two +thousand years ago, the praying figure of a worshipper of the great +goddess; gazed at the thousand small lamps suspended from the lofty +ceiling, each by a separate cord, and with a devout feeling left the +mosque. + +[Illustration: Mosque of Sultan Suliman.] + +In the rear, almost concealed from view by a thick grove of trees, +shrubs, and flowers, is a circular building about forty feet in +diameter, containing the tomb of Suliman, the founder of the mosque, his +brother, his favourite wife Roxala, and two other wives. The monuments +are in the form of sarcophagi, with pyramidal tops, covered with rich +Cashmere shawls, having each at the head a large white turban, and +enclosed by a railing covered with mother-of-pearl. The great beauty of +the sepulchral chamber is its dome, which is highly ornamented, and +sparkles with brilliants. In one corner is a plan of Mecca, the holy +temple, and tomb of the Prophet. + +In the afternoon I went for the last time to the Armenian burying-ground. +In the East the graveyards are the general promenades, the places of +rendezvous, and the lounging-places; and in Constantinople the Armenian +burying-ground is the most beautiful, and the favourite. Situated in the +suburbs of Pera, overlooking the Bosphorus, shaded by noble palm-trees, +almost regularly toward evening I found myself sitting upon the same +tombstone, looking upon the silvery water at my feet, studded with +palaces, flashing and glittering with caiques from the golden palace of +the sultan to the seraglio point, and then turned to the animated groups +thronging the burying-ground; the Armenian in his flowing robes, the +dashing Greek, the stiff and out-of-place-looking Frank; Turks in their +gay and bright costume, glittering arms, and solemn beards, enjoying the +superlative of existence in dozing over their pipe; and women in long +white veils, apart under some delightful shade, in little picnic +parties, eating ices and confectionary. Here and there, toward the +outskirts, was the araba, the only wheeled carriage known among the +Turks, with a long low body, highly carved and gilded, drawn by oxen +fancifully trimmed with ribands, and filled with soft cushions, on which +the Turkish and Armenian ladies almost buried themselves. Instead of the +cypress, the burying-ground is shaded by noble plane-trees; and the +tombstones, instead of being upright, are all flat, having at the head a +couple of little niches scooped out to hold water, with the beautiful +idea to induce birds to come there and drink and sing among the trees. +Their tombstones, too, have another mark, which, in a country where men +are apt to forget who their fathers were, would exclude them even from +that place where all mortal distinctions are laid low, viz., a mark +indicating the profession or occupation of the deceased; as, a pair of +shears to mark the grave of a tailor; a razor that of a barber; and on +many of them was another mark indicating the manner of death, the +bowstring, or some other mark, showing that the stone covered a victim +of Turkish cruelty. But all these things are well known; nothing has +escaped the prying eyes of curious travellers; and I merely state, for +my own credit's sake, that I followed the steps of those who had gone +before me, visited the Sweet Waters, Scutary, and Belgrade, the +reservoirs, aqueducts, and ruins of the palace of Constantine, and saw +the dancing dervishes; rowed up the Bosphorus to Buyukdere, lunched +under the tree where Godfrey encamped with his gallant crusaders, and +looked out upon the Black Sea from the top of the Giant's Mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + Visit to the Slave-market.--Horrors of Slavery.--Departure from + Stamboul.--The stormy Euxine.--Odessa.--The Lazaretto.--Russian + Civility.--Returning Good for Evil. + + +THE day before I left Constantinople I went, in company with Dr. N. and +his son, and attended by Paul, to visit the slave-market; crossing over +to Stamboul, we picked up a Jew in the bazars, who conducted us through +a perfect labyrinth of narrow streets to a quarter of the city from +which it would have been utterly impossible for me to extricate myself +alone. I only know that it was situated on high ground, and that we +passed through a gateway into a hollow square of about a hundred and +fifty or two hundred feet on each side. It was with no small degree of +emotion that I entered this celebrated place, where so many Christian +hearts have trembled; and, before crossing the threshold, I ran over in +my mind all the romantic stories and all the horrible realities that I +could remember connected with its history: the tears of beauty, the +pangs of brave men, and so down to the unsentimental exclamation of +Johnson to his new friend Don Juan: + + "Yon black eunuch seems to eye us; + I wish to God that somebody would buy us." + +The bazar forms a hollow square, with little chambers about fifteen feet +each way around it, in which the slaves belonging to the different +dealers are kept. A large shed or portico projects in front, under +which, and in front of each chamber, is a raised platform, with a low +railing around it, where the slave-merchant sits and gossips, and dozes +over his coffee and pipes. I had heard so little of this place, and it +was so little known among Europeans, taking into consideration, +moreover, that in a season of universal peace the market must be without +a supply of captives gained in war, that I expected to see but a remnant +of the ancient traffic, supposing that I should find but few slaves, and +those only black; but, to my surprise, I found there twenty or thirty +white women. Bad, horrible as this traffic is under any circumstances, +to my habits and feelings it loses a shade of its horrors when confined +to blacks; but here whites and blacks were exposed together in the same +bazar. The women were from Circassia and the regions of the Caucasus, +that country so renowned for beauty; they were dressed in the Turkish +costume, with the white shawl wrapped around the mouth and chin, and +over the forehead, shading the eyes, so that it was difficult to judge +with certainty as to their personal appearance. Europeans are not +permitted to purchase, and their visits to this bazar are looked upon +with suspicion. If we stopped long opposite a door, it was closed upon +us; but I was not easily shaken off, and returned so often at odd times, +that I succeeded in seeing pretty distinctly all that was to be seen. In +general, the best slaves are not exposed in the bazars, but are kept at +the houses of the dealers; but there was one among them not more than +seventeen, with a regular Circassian face, a brilliantly fair +complexion, a mild and cheerful expression; and in the slave-market, +under the partial disguise of the Turkish shawl, it required no great +effort of the imagination to make her decidedly beautiful. Paul stopped, +and with a burst of enthusiasm, the first I had discovered in him, +exclaimed "Quelle beaute!" She noticed my repeatedly stopping before +her bazar; and, when I was myself really disposed to be sentimental, +instead of drooping her head with the air of a distressed heroine, to my +great surprise she laughed and nodded, and beckoned me to come to her. +Paul was very much struck; and repeating his warm expression of +admiration at her beauty, told me that she wanted me to buy her. Without +waiting for a reply, he went off and inquired the price, which was two +hundred and fifty dollars; and added that he could easily get some Turk +to let me buy her in his name, and then I could put her on board a +vessel, and carry her where I pleased. I told him it was hardly worth +while at present; and he, thinking my objection was merely to the +person, in all honesty and earnestness told me he had been there +frequently, and never saw anything half so handsome; adding that, if I +let slip this opportunity, I would scarcely have another as good, and +wound up very significantly by declaring that, if he was a gentleman, he +would not hesitate a moment. A gentleman, in the sense in which Paul +understood the word, is apt to fall into irregular ways in the East. +Removed from the restraints which operate upon men in civilized +countries, if he once breaks through the trammels of education, he goes +all lengths; and it is said to be a matter of general remark, that +slaves are always worse treated by Europeans than by the Turks. The +slave-dealers are principally Jews, who buy children when young, and, if +they have beauty train up the girls in such accomplishments as may +fascinate the Turks. Our guide told us that, since the Greek revolution, +the slave-market had been comparatively deserted; but, during the whole +of that dreadful struggle, every day presented new horrors; new captives +were brought in, the men raving and struggling, and vainly swearing +eternal vengeance against the Turks, and the women shrieking +distractedly in the agony of a separation. After the massacre at Scio, +in particular, hundreds of young girls, with tears streaming down their +cheeks, and bursting hearts, were sold to the unhallowed embraces of the +Turks for a few dollars a head. We saw nothing of the horrors and +atrocities of this celebrated slave-market. Indeed, except prisoners of +war and persons captured by Turkish corsairs, the condition of those who +now fill the slave-market is not the horrible lot that a warm +imagination might suppose. They are mostly persons in a semibarbarous +state; blacks from Sennaar and Abyssinia, or whites from the regions of +the Caucasus, bought from their parents for a string of beads or a +shawl; and, in all probability, the really beautiful girl whom I saw had +been sold by parents who could not feed or clothe her, who considered +themselves rid of an encumbrance, and whom she left without regret; and +she, having left poverty and misery behind her, looked to the +slave-market as the sole means of advancing her fortune; and, in +becoming the favoured inmate of a harem, expected to attain a degree of +happiness she could never have enjoyed at home. + +I intended to go from Constantinople to Egypt, but the plague was raging +there so violently that it would have been foolhardy to attempt it; and +while making arrangements with a Tartar to return to Europe on horseback +across the Balkan, striking the Danube at Semlin and Belgrade, a Russian +government steamer was advertised for Odessa; and as this mode of +travelling at that moment suited my health better, I altered my whole +plan, and determined to leave the ruined countries of the Old World for +a land just emerging from a state of barbarism, and growing into +gigantic greatness. With great regret I took leave of Dr. N. and his +son, who sailed the same day for Smyrna, and I have never seen them +since. Paul was the last man to whom I said farewell. At the moment of +starting my shirts were brought in dripping wet, and Paul bestowed a +malediction upon the Greek while he wrung them out and tumbled them into +my carpet-bag. I afterward found him at Malta, whence he accompanied me +on my tour in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land, by which he is, +perhaps, already known to some of my readers. + +With my carpet-bag on the shoulders of a Turk, I walked for the last +time to Tophana. A hundred caiquemen gathered around me, but I pushed +them all back, and kept guard over my carpet-bag, looking out for one +whom I had been in the habit of employing ever since my arrival in +Constantinople. He soon spied me; and when he took my luggage and myself +into his caique, manifested that he knew it was for the last time. +Having an hour to spare, I directed him to row once more under the walls +of the seraglio; and still loath to leave, I went on shore and walked +around the point, until I was stopped by a Turkish bayonet. The Turk +growled, and his mustache curled fiercely as he pointed it at me. I had +been stopped by Frenchmen, Italians, and by a mountain Greek, but found +nothing that brings a man to such a dead stand as the Turkish bayonet. + +I returned to my caique, and went on board the steamer. She was a +Russian government vessel, more classically called a pyroscaphe, a +miserable old thing; and yet as much form and circumstance were observed +in sending her off as in fitting out an _exploring expedition_. +Consuls' and ambassadors' boats were passing and repassing, and after +an enormous fuss and preparation, we started under a salute of cannon, +which was answered from one of the sultan's frigates. We had the usual +scene of parting with friends, waving of handkerchiefs, and so on; and +feeling a little lonely at the idea of leaving a city containing a +million inhabitants without a single friend to bid me Godspeed, I took +my place on the quarter-deck, and waved my handkerchief to my caiqueman, +who, I have no doubt, independent of the loss of a few piasters per day, +was very sorry to lose me; for we had been so long together, that, in +spite of our ignorance of each other's language, we understood each +other perfectly. + +I found on board two Englishmen whom I had met at Corfu, and a third, +who had joined them at Smyrna, going to travel in the Crimea; our other +cabin-passengers were Mr. Luoff, a Russian officer, an aiddecamp of +the emperor, just returned from travels in Egypt and Syria, Mr. +Perseani, secretary to the Russian legation in Greece; a Greek merchant, +with a Russian protection, on his way to the Sea of Azoff; and a French +merchant of Odessa. The tub of a steamboat dashed up the Bosphorus at +the rate of three miles an hour; while the classic waters, as if +indignant at having such a bellowing, blowing, blustering monster upon +their surface, seemed to laugh at her unwieldy and ineffectual efforts. +Slowly we mounted the beautiful strait, lined on the European side +almost with one continued range of houses, exhibiting in every beautiful +nook a palace of the sultan, and at Terapeia and Buyukdere the palaces +of the foreign ambassadors; passed the Giant's Mountain, and about an +hour before dark were entering a new sea, the dark and stormy Euxine. + +Advancing, the hills became more lofty and ragged, terminating on the +Thracian side in high rocky precipices. The shores of this extremity of +the Bosphorus were once covered with shrines, altars, and temples, +monuments of the fears or gratitude of mariners who were about to leave, +or who had escaped, the dangers of the inhospitable Euxine; and the +remains of these antiquities were so great that a traveller almost in +our own day describes the coasts as "covered by their ruins." The +castles on the European and the Asiatic side of the strait are supposed +to occupy the sites where stood, in ancient days, the great temples of +Jupiter Serapis and Jupiter Urius. The Bosphorus opens abruptly, without +any enlargement at its mouth, between two mountains. The parting view of +the strait, or, rather, of the coast on each side, was indescribably +grand, presenting a stupendous wall opposed to the great bed of waters, +as if torn asunder by an earthquake, leaving a narrow rent for their +escape. On each side, a miserable lantern on the top of a tower, hardly +visible at the distance of a few miles, is the only light to guide the +mariner at night; and as there is another opening called the false +Bosphorus, the entrance is difficult and dangerous, and many vessels are +lost here annually. + +As the narrow opening closed before me, I felt myself entering a new +world; I was fairly embarked upon that wide expanse of water which once, +according to ancient legends, mingled with the Caspian, and covered the +great oriental plain of Tartary, and upon which Jason, with his +adventurous Argonauts, having killed the dragon and carried off the +golden fleece from Colchis, if those same legends be true (which some +doubt), sailed across to the great ocean. I might and should have +speculated upon the great changes in the face of nature and the great +deluge recorded by Grecian historians and poets, which burst the narrow +passage of the Thracian Bosphorus for the outlet of the mighty waters; +but who could philosophize in a steamboat on the Euxine? Oh Fulton! much +as thou hast done for mechanics and the useful arts, thy hand has fallen +rudely upon all cherished associations. We boast of thee; I have myself +been proud of thee as an American; but as I sat at evening on the stern +of the steamer, and listened to the clatter of the engine, and watched +the sparks rushing out of the high pipes, and remembered that this was +on the dark and inhospitable Euxine, I wished that thy life had begun +after mine was ended. I trust I did his memory no wrong; but if I had +borne him malice, I could not have wished him worse than to have all his +dreams of the past disturbed by the clatter of one of his own engines. + +I turned away from storied associations to a new country grown up in our +own day. We escaped, and, I am obliged to say, without noticing them, +the Cyaneae, "the blue Symplegades," or "wandering islands," which, lying +on the European and Asiatic side, floated about, or, according to Pliny, +"were alive, and moved to and fro more swiftly than the blast," and in +passing through which the good ship Argo had a narrow escape, and lost +the extremity of her stern. History and poetry have invested this sea +with extraordinary and ideal terrors; but my experience both of the +Mediterranean and Black Sea was unfortunate for realizing historical and +poetical accounts. I had known the beautiful Mediterranean a sea of +storm and sunshine, in which the storm greatly predominated. I found the +stormy Euxine calm as an untroubled lake; in fact, the Black Sea is in +reality nothing more than a lake, not as large as many of our own, +receiving the waters of the great rivers of the north: the Don, the +Cuban, the Phase, the Dnieper, and the Danube, and pouring their +collected streams through the narrow passage of the Bosphorus into the +Mediterranean. Still, if the number of shipwrecks be any evidence of its +character, it is indeed entitled to its ancient reputation of a +dangerous sea, though probably these accidents proceed, in a great +measure, from the ignorance and unskilfulness of mariners, and the want +of proper charts and of suitable lighthouses at the opening of the +Bosphorus. At all events, we outblustered the winds and waves with our +steamboat; passed the Serpent Isles, the ancient Leuce, with a roaring +that must have astonished the departed heroes whose souls, according to +the ancient poets, were sent there to enjoy perpetual paradise, and +scared the aquatic birds which every morning dipped their wings in the +sea, and sprinkled the Temple of Achilles, and swept with their plumage +its sacred pavement. + +[Illustration: Odessa.] + +On the third day we made the low coast of Moldavia or Bess Arabia, +within a short distance of Odessa, the great seaport of Southern Russia. +Here, too, there was nothing to realize preconceived notions; for, +instead of finding a rugged region of eternal snows, we were suffering +under an intensely hot sun when we cast anchor in the harbour of Odessa. +The whole line of the coast is low and destitute of trees; but Odessa is +situated on a high bank; and, with its beautiful theatre, the exchange, +the palace of the governor, &c., did not look like a city which, thirty +years ago, consisted only of a few fishermen's huts. + +The harbour of Odessa is very much exposed to the north and east winds, +which often cause great damage to the shipping. Many hundred anchors +cover the bottom, which cut the rope cables; and, the water being +shallow, vessels are often injured by striking on them. An Austrian brig +going out, having struck one, sank in ten minutes. There are two moles, +the quarantine mole, in which we came to anchor, being the principal. +Quarantine flags were flying about the harbour, the yellow indicating +those undergoing purification, and the red the fatal presence of the +plague. We were prepared to undergo a vexatious process. At +Constantinople I had heard wretched accounts of the rude treatment of +lazaretto subjects, and the rough, barbarous manners of the Russians to +travellers, and we had a foretaste of the light in which we were to be +regarded, in the conduct of the health-officer who came alongside. He +offered to take charge of any letters for the town, purify them that +night, and deliver them in the morning; and, according to his +directions, we laid them down on the deck, where he took them up with a +pair of long iron tongs, and putting them into an iron box, shut it up +and rowed off. + +In the morning, having received notice that the proper officers were +ready to attend us, we went ashore. We landed in separate boats at the +end of a long pier, and, forgetting our supposed pestiferous influence, +were walking up toward a crowd of men whom we saw there, when their +retrograde movements, their gestures, and unintelligible shouts reminded +us of our situation. One of our party, in a sort of ecstasy at being on +shore, ran capering up the docks, putting to flight a group of idlers, +and, single-handed, might have depopulated the city of Odessa, if an +ugly soldier with a bayonet had not met him in full career and put a +stop to his gambols. The soldier conducted us to a large building at the +upper end of the pier; and carefully opening the door, and falling back +so as to avoid even the wind that might blow from us in his direction, +told us to go in. At the other end of a large room, divided by two +parallel railings, sat officers and clerks to examine our passports and +take a general account of us. We were at once struck with the military +aspect of things, every person connected with the establishment wearing +a military uniform; and now commenced a long process. The first +operation was to examine our passports, take down our names, and make a +memorandum of the purposes for which we severally entered the dominions +of the emperor and autocrat of all the Russias. We were all called up, +one after the other, captain, cook, and cabin-boy, cabin and deck +passengers; and never, perhaps, did steamboat pour forth a more motley +assemblage than we presented. We were Jews, Turks, and Christians; +Russians, Poles, and Germans; English, French, and Italians; Austrians, +Greeks, and Illyrians; Moldavians, Wallachians, Bulgarians, and +Sclavonians; Armenians, Georgians, and Africans; and one American. I had +before remarked the happy facility of the Russians in acquiring +languages, and I saw a striking instance in the officer who conducted +the examination, and who addressed every man in his own language with +apparently as much facility as though it had been his native tongue. +After the oral commenced a corporeal examination. We were ordered one by +one into an adjoining room, where, on the other side of a railing, +stood a doctor, who directed us to open our shirt bosoms, and slap our +hands smartly under our arms and upon our groins, these being the places +where the fatal plague-marks first exhibit themselves. + +This over, we were forthwith marched to the lazaretto, escorted by +guards and soldiers, who behaved very civilly and kept at a respectful +distance from us. Among our deck passengers were forty or fifty Jews, +dirty and disgusting objects, just returned from a pilgrimage to +Jerusalem. An old man, who seemed to be, in a manner, the head of the +party, and exceeded them all in rags and filthiness, but was said to be +rich, in going up to the lazaretto amused us and vexed the officers by +sitting down on the way, paying no regard to them when they urged him +on, being perfectly assured that they would not dare to touch him. Once +he resolutely refused to move; they threatened and swore at him, but he +kept his place until one got a long pole and punched him on ahead. + +In this way we entered the lazaretto; but if it had not been called by +that name, and if we had not looked upon it as a place where we were +compelled to stay for a certain time, nolens volens, we should have +considered it a beautiful spot. It is situated on high ground, within an +enclosure of some fifteen or twenty acres, overlooking the Black Sea, +laid out in lawn and gravel walks, and ornamented with rows of +acacia-trees. Fronting the sea was a long range of buildings divided +into separate apartments, each with a little courtyard in front +containing two or three acacias. The director, a fine, military-looking +man, with a decoration on his lapel, met us on horseback within the +enclosure, and with great suavity of manner said that he could not bid +us welcome to a prison, but that we should have the privilege of +walking at will over the grounds, and visiting each other, subject only +to the attendance of a guardiano; and that all that could contribute to +our comfort should be done for us. + +We then selected our rooms, and underwent another personal examination. +This was the real touchstone; the first was a mere preliminary +observation by a medical understrapper; but this was conducted by a more +knowing doctor. We were obliged to strip naked; to give up the clothes +we pulled off, and put on a flannel gown, drawers, and stockings, and a +woollen cap provided by the government, until our own should be smoked +and purified. In everything, however, the most scrupulous regard was +paid to our wishes, and a disposition was manifested by all to make this +rather vexatious proceeding as little annoying as possible. The bodily +examination was as delicate as the nature of the case would admit; for +the doctor merely opened the door, looked in, and went out without +taking his hand from off the knob. It was none of my business, I know, +and may be thought impertinent, but, as he closed the door, I could not +help calling him back to ask him whether he held the same inquisition +upon the fair sex; to which he replied with a melancholy upturning of +the eyes that in the good old days of Russian barbarism this had been +part of his duties, but that the march of improvement had invaded his +rights, and given this portion of his professional duties to a _sage +femme_. + +All our effects were then taken to another chamber, and arranged on +lines, each person superintending the disposition of his own, so as to +prevent all confusion, and left there to be fumigated with sulphuric +acid for twenty-four hours. So particular were they in fumigating +everything susceptible of infection, that I was obliged to leave there +a black riband which I wore round my neck as a guard to my watch. Toward +evening the principal director, one of the most gentlemanly men I ever +met, came round, and with many apologies and regrets for his inability +to receive us better, requested us to call upon him freely for anything +we might want. Not knowing any of us personally, he did me the honour to +say that he understood there was an American in the party, who had been +particularly recommended to him by a Russian officer and fellow-passenger. +Afterward came the commissary, or chief of the department, and repeated +the same compliments, and left us with an exalted opinion of Russian +politeness. I had heard horrible accounts of the rough treatment of +travellers in Russia, and I made a note at the time, lest after +vexations should make me forget it, that I had received more politeness +and civility from these northern barbarians, as they are called by the +people of the south of Europe, than I ever found amid their boasted +civilization. + +Having still an hour before dark, I strolled out, followed by my +guardiano, to take a more particular survey of our prison. In a +gravel walk lined with acacias, immediately before the door of my little +courtyard, I came suddenly upon a lady of about eighteen, whose dark +hair and eyes I at once recognised as Grecian, leading by the hand a +little child. I am sure my face brightened at the first glimpse of this +vision which promised to shine upon us in our solitude; and perhaps my +satisfaction was made too manifest by my involuntarily moving toward +her. But my presumption received a severe and mortifying check; for +though at first she merely crossed to the other side of the walk, she +soon forgot all ceremony, and, fairly dragging the child after her, ran +over the grass to another walk to avoid me; my mortification, however, +was but temporary; for though, in the first impulse of delight and +admiration, I had forgotten time, place, and circumstance, the repulse I +had received made me turn to myself, and I was glad to find an excuse +for the lady's flight in the flannel gown and long cap and slippers, +which marked me as having just entered upon my season of purification. + +I was soon initiated into the routine of lazaretto ceremonies and +restrictions. By touching a quarantine patient, both parties are +subjected to the longest term of either; so that if a person, on the +last day of his term, should come in contact with another just entered, +he would lose all the benefit of his days of purification, and be +obliged to wait the full term of the latter. I have seen, in various +situations in life, a system of operations called keeping people at a +distance, but I never saw it so effectually practised as in quarantine. +For this night, at least, I had full range. I walked where I pleased, +and was very sure that every one would keep out of my way. During the +whole time, however, I could not help treasuring up the precipitate +flight of the young lady; and I afterward told her, and, I hope, with +the true spirit of one ready to return good for evil, that if she had +been in my place, and the days of my purification had been almost ended, +in spite of plague and pestilence she might have rushed into my arms +without my offering the least impediment. + +In making the tour of the grounds, I had already an opportunity of +observing the relation in which men stand to each other in Russia. When +an officer spoke to a soldier, the latter stood motionless as a statue, +with his head uncovered during the whole of the conference; and when a +soldier on guard saw an officer, no matter at what distance, he +presented arms, and remained in that position until the officer was out +of sight. Returning, I passed a grating, through which I saw our +deck passengers, forty or fifty in number, including the Jewish +pilgrims, miserable, dirty-looking objects, turned in together for +fourteen days, to eat, drink, and sleep as best they might, like brutes. +With a high idea of the politeness of the Russians toward the rich and +great, or those whom they believed to be so, and with a strong +impression already received confirming the accounts of the degraded +condition of the lower classes, I returned to my room, and, with a +Frenchman and a Greek for my room-mates, my window opening upon the +Black Sea, I spent my first night in quarantine. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + The Guardiano.--One too many.--An Excess of Kindness.--The last Day + of Quarantine.--Mr. Baguet.--Rise of Odessa.--City-making.--Count + Woronzow.--A Gentleman Farmer.--An American Russian. + + +I SHALL pass over briefly the whole of our _pratique_. The next morning +I succeeded in getting a room to myself. A guardiano was assigned to +each room, who took his place in the antechamber, and was always in +attendance. These guardianos are old soldiers, entitled by the rules of +the establishment to so much a day; but, as they always expect a +gratuity, their attention and services are regulated by that +expectation. I was exceedingly fortunate in mine; he was always in the +antechamber, cleaning his musket, mending his clothes, or stretched on a +mattress looking at the wall; and, whenever I came through with my hat +on, without a word he put on his belt and followed me; and very soon, +instead of regarding him as an encumbrance, I became accustomed to him, +and it was a satisfaction to have him with me. Sometimes, in walking for +exercise, I moved so briskly that it tired him to keep up with me; and +then I selected a walk where he could sit down and keep his eye upon me, +while I walked backward and forward before him. Besides this, he kept my +room in order, set my table, carried my notes, brushed my clothes, and +took better care of me than any servant I ever had. + +Our party consisted of eight, and being subjected to the same +quarantine, and supposed to have the same quantum of infection, we were +allowed to visit each other; and every afternoon we met in the yard, +walked an hour or two, took tea together, and returned to our own +rooms, where our guardianos mounted guard in the antechamber; our gates +were locked up, and a soldier walked outside as sentinel. I was +particularly intimate with the Russian officer, whom I found one of the +most gentlemanly, best educated, and most amiable men I ever met. He had +served and been wounded in the campaign against Poland; had with him two +soldiers, his own serfs, who had served under him in that campaign, and +had accompanied him in his tour in Egypt and Syria. He gave me his +address at St. Petersburgh and promised me the full benefit of his +acquaintance there. I have before spoken of the three Englishmen. Two of +them I had met at Corfu; the third joined them at Smyrna, and added +another proof to the well-established maxim that three spoil company; +for I soon found that they had got together by the ears; and the +new-comer having connected himself with one of the others, they were +anxious to get rid of the third. Many causes of offence existed between +them; and though they continued to room together, they were merely +waiting till the end of our pratique for an opportunity to separate. One +morning the one who was about being thrown off came to my room, and told +me that he did not care about going to the Crimea, and proposed +accompanying me. This suited me very well; it was a long and expensive +journey, and would cost a mere fraction more for two than for one; and +when the breach was widened past all possibility of being healed, the +cast-off and myself agreed to travel together. I saw much of the +secretary of legation, and also of the Greek and Frenchman, my +room-mates for the first night. Indeed, I think I may say that I was an +object of special interest to all our party. I was unwell, and my +companions overwhelmed me with prescriptions and advice; they brought +in their medicine chests; one assuring me that he had been cured by +this, another by that, and each wanted me to swallow his own favourite +medicine, interlarding their advice with anecdotes of whole sets of +passengers who had been detained, some forty, some fifty, and some sixty +days, by the accidental sickness of one. I did all I could for them, +always having regard to the circumstance that it was not of such vital +importance to me, at least, to hold out fourteen days if I broke down on +the fifteenth. In a few days the doctor, in one of his rounds, told me +he understood I was unwell, and I confessed to him the reason of my +withholding the fact, and took his prescriptions so well, that, at +parting, he gave me a letter to a friend in Chioff, and to his brother, +a distinguished professor in the university at St. Petersburgh. + +We had a restaurant in the lazaretto, with a new bill of fare every day; +not first-rate, perhaps, but good enough. I had sent a letter of +introduction to Mr. Baguet, the Spanish consul, also to a German, the +brother of a missionary at Constantinople, and a note to Mr. Ralli, the +American consul, and had frequent visits from them, and long talks at +the parlatoria through the grating. The German was a knowing one, and +came often; he had a smattering of English, and would talk in that +language, as I thought, in compliment to me; but the last time he came +he thanked me kindly, and told me he had improved more in his English +than by a year's study. When I got out he never came near me. + +Sunday, June seventh, was our last day in quarantine. We had counted the +days anxiously; and though our time had passed as agreeably as, under +the circumstances, it could pass, we were in high spirits at the +prospect of our liberation. To the last, the attention and civility of +the officers of the yard continued unremitted. Every morning regularly +the director knocked at each gate to inquire how we had passed the +night, and whether he could do anything for us; then the doctor, to +inquire into our corporeal condition; and every two or three days, +toward evening, the director, with the same decoration on the lapel of +his coat, and at the same hour, inquired whether we had any complaints +to make of want of attendance or improper treatment. + +Our last day in the lazaretto is not to be forgotten. We kept as clear +of the rest of the inmates as if they had been pickpockets, though once +I was thrown into a cold sweat by an act of forgetfulness. A child fell +down before me; I sprang forward to pick him up, and should infallibly +have been fixed for ten days longer if my guardiano had not caught me. +Lingering for the last time on the walk overlooking the Black Sea, I saw +a vessel coming up under full sail, bearing, as I thought, the American +flag. My heart almost bounded at seeing the stars and stripes on the +Black Sea; but I was deceived; and almost dejected with the +disappointment, called my guardiano, and returned for the last time to +my room. + +The next morning we waited in our rooms till the doctor paid his final +visit, and soon after we all gathered before the door of the directory, +ready to sally forth. Every one who has made a European voyage knows the +metamorphosis in the appearance of the passengers on the day of landing. +It was much the same with us; we had no more slipshod, long-bearded +companions, but all were clean shirted and shaved becomingly, except our +old Jew and his party, who probably had not changed a garment or washed +their faces since the first day in quarantine, nor perhaps for many +years before. They were people from whom, under any circumstances, one +would be apt to keep at a respectful distance; and to the last they +carried everything before them. + +We had still another vexatious process in passing our luggage through +the custom-house. We had handed in a list of all our effects the night +before, in which I intentionally omitted to mention Byron's poems, these +being prohibited in Russia. He had been my companion in Italy and +Greece, and I was loath to part with him; so I put the book under my +arm, threw my cloak over me, and walked out unmolested. Outside the gate +there was a general shaking of hands; the director, whom we had seen +every day at a distance, was the first to greet us, and Mr. Baguet, the +brother of the Spanish consul, who was waiting to receive me, welcomed +me to Russia. With sincere regret I bade good-by to my old soldier, +mounted a drosky, and in ten minutes was deposited in a hotel, in size +and appearance equal to the best in Paris. It was a pleasure once more +to get into a wheel-carriage; I had not seen one since I left Italy, +except the old hack I mentioned at Argos, and the arabas at +Constantinople. It was a pleasure, too, to see hats, coats, and +pantaloons. Early associations will cling to a man; and, in spite of a +transient admiration for the dashing costume of the Greek and Turk, I +warmed to the ungraceful covering of civilized man, even to the long +surtout and bell-crowned hat of the Russian marchand; and, more than +all, I was attracted by an appearance of life and energy particularly +striking after coming from among the dead-and-alive Turks. + +While in quarantine I had received an invitation to dine with Mr. +Baguet, and had barely time to make one tour of the city in a drosky +before it was necessary to dress for dinner. Mr. Baguet was a bachelor +of about forty, living in pleasant apartments, in an unpretending and +gentlemanly style. As in all the ports of the Levant, except where there +are ambassadors, the consuls are the nobility of the place. Several of +them were present; and the European consuls in those places are a +different class of men from ours, as they are paid by salaries from +their respective governments, while ours, who receive no pay, are +generally natives of the place, who serve for the honour or some other +accidental advantage. We had, therefore, the best society in Odessa at +Mr. Baguet's, the American consul not being present, which, by-the-way, +I do not mean in a disrespectful sense, as Mr. Ralli seemed every way +deserving of all the benefits that the station gives. + +In the evening the consul and myself took two or three turns on the +boulevards, and at about eleven I returned to my hotel. After what I +have said of this establishment, the reader will be surprised to learn +that, when I went to my room, I found there a bedstead, but no bed or +bedclothes. I supposed it was neglect, and ordered one to be prepared; +but, to my surprise, was told that there were no beds in the hotel. It +was kept exclusively for the rich seigneurs who always carry their own +beds with them. Luckily, the bedstead was not corded, but contained a +bottom of plain slabs of wood, about six or eight inches wide, and the +same distance apart, laid crosswise, so that lengthwise there was no +danger of falling through; and wrapping myself in my cloak, and putting +my carpet-bag under my head, I went to sleep. + +Before breakfast the next morning I had learned the topography of +Odessa. To an American Russia is an interesting country. True, it is not +classic ground; but as for me, who had now travelled over the faded and +wornout kingdoms of the Old World, I was quite ready for something new. +Like our own, Russia is a new country, and in many respects resembles +ours. It is true that we began life differently. Russia has worked her +way to civilization from a state of absolute barbarism, while we sprang +into being with the advantage of all the lights of the Old World. Still +there are many subjects of comparison, and even of emulation, between +us; and nowhere in all Russia is there a more proper subject to begin +with than my first landing-place. + +Odessa is situated in a small bay between the mouths of the Dnieper and +Dniester. Forty years ago it consisted of a few miserable fishermen's +huts on the shores of the Black Sea. In 1796 the Empress Catharine +resolved to built a city there; and the Turks being driven from the +dominion of the Black Sea, it became a place of resort and speculation +for the English, Austrians, Neapolitans, Dutch, Ragusans, and Greeks of +the Ionian republic. In eighteen hundred and two, two hundred and +eighty vessels arrived from Constantinople and the Mediterranean; and +the Duke de Richelieu, being appointed governor-general by Alexander, +laid out a city upon a gigantic scale, which, though at first its growth +was not commensurate with his expectations, now contains sixty thousand +inhabitants, and bids fair to realize the extravagant calculations of +its founder. Mr. Baguet and the gentlemen whom I met at his table were +of opinion that it is destined to be the greatest commercial city in +Russia, as the long winters and the closing of the Baltic with ice must +ever be a great disadvantage to St. Petersburgh; and the interior of the +country can as well be supplied from Odessa as from the northern +capital. + +There is no country where cities have sprung up so fast and increased so +rapidly as in ours; and, altogether, perhaps nothing in the world can be +compared with our Buffalo, Rochester, Cincinnati, &c. But Odessa has +grown faster than any of these, and has nothing of the appearance of one +of our new cities. We are both young, and both marching with gigantic +strides to greatness, but we move by different roads; and the whole face +of the country, from the new city on the borders of the Black Sea to the +steppes of Siberia, shows a different order of government and a +different constitution of society. With us, a few individuals cut down +the trees of the forest, or settle themselves by the banks of a stream, +where they happen to find some local advantages, and build houses suited +to their necessities; others come and join them; and, by degrees, the +little settlement becomes a large city. But here a gigantic government, +endowed almost with creative powers, says, "Let there be a city," and +immediately commences the erection of large buildings. The rich +seigneurs follow the lead of government, and build hotels to let out in +apartments. The theatre, casino, and exchange at Odessa are perhaps +superior to any buildings in the United States. The city is situated on +an elevation about a hundred feet above the sea; a promenade three +quarters of a mile long, terminated at one end by the exchange, and at +the other by the palace of the governor, is laid out in front along the +margin of the sea, bounded on one side by an abrupt precipice, and +adorned with trees, shrubs, flowers, statues, and busts, like the garden +of the Tuileries, the Borghese Villa, or the Villa Recali at Naples. On +the other side is a long range of hotels built of stone, running the +whole length of the boulevards, some of them with facades after the best +models in Italy. A broad street runs through the centre of the city, +terminating with a semicircular enlargement at the boulevards, and in +the centre of this stands a large equestrian statue erected to the Duke +de Richelieu; and parallel and at right angles are wide streets lined +with large buildings, according to the most approved plans of modern +architecture. The custom which the people have of taking apartments in +hotels causes the erection of large buildings, which add much to the +general appearance of the city; while with us, the universal disposition +of every man to have a house to himself, conduces to the building of +small houses, and, consequently, detracts from general effect. The city, +as yet, is not generally paved, and is, consequently, so dusty, that +every man is obliged to wear a light cloak to save his dress. +Paving-stone is brought from Trieste and Malta, and is very expensive. + +About two o'clock Mr. Ralli, our consul, called upon me. Mr. Ralli is a +Greek of Scio. He left his native island when a boy; has visited every +port in Europe as a merchant, and lived for the last eight years in +Odessa. He has several brothers in England, Trieste, and some of the +Greek islands, and all are connected in business. When Mr. Rhind, who +negotiated our treaty with the Porte, left Odessa, he authorized Mr. +Ralli to transact whatever consular business might be required, and on +his recommendation Mr. Ralli afterward received a regular appointment as +consul. Mr. Rhind, by-the-way, expected a great trade from opening the +Black Sea to American bottoms; but he was wrong in his anticipations, +and there have been but two American vessels there since the treaty. Mr. +Ralli is rich and respected, being vice-president of the commercial +board, and very proud of the honour of the American consulate, as it +gives him a position among the dignitaries of the place, enables him to +wear a uniform and sword on public occasions, and yields him other +privileges which are gratifying, at least, if not intrinsically +valuable. + +No traveller can pass through Odessa without having to acknowledge the +politeness of Count Woronzow, the governor of the Crimea, one of the +richest seigneurs in Russia, and one of the pillars of the throne. At +the suggestion of Mr. Ralli, I accompanied him to the palace and was +presented. The palace is a magnificent building, and the interior +exhibits a combination of wealth and taste. The walls are hung with +Italian paintings, and, for interior ornaments and finish, the palace is +far superior to those in Italy; the knobs of the doors are of amber, and +the doors of the dining-room from the old imperial palace at St. +Petersburgh. The count is a military-looking man of about fifty, six +feet high, with sallow complexion and gray hair. His father married an +English lady of the Sidney family, and his sister married the Earl of +Pembroke. He is a soldier in bearing and appearance, held a high rank +during the French invasion of Russia, and distinguished himself +particularly at Borodino; in rank and power he is the fourth military +officer in the empire. He possesses immense wealth in all parts of +Russia, particularly in the Crimea; and his wife's mother, after +Demidoff and Scheremetieff, is the richest subject in the whole empire. +He speaks English remarkably well, and, after a few commonplaces, with +his characteristic politeness to strangers, invited me to dine at the +palace the next day. I was obliged to decline, and he himself suggested +the reason, that probably I was engaged with my countryman, Mr. Sontag +(of whom more anon), whom the count referred to as his old friend, +adding that he would not interfere with the pleasure of a meeting +between two countrymen so far from home, and asked me for the day after, +or any other day I pleased. I apologized on the ground of my intended +departure, and took my leave. + +My proposed travelling companion had committed to me the whole +arrangements for our journey, or, more properly, had given me the whole +trouble of making them; and, accompanied by one of Mr. Ralli's clerks, I +visited all the carriage repositories to purchase a vehicle, after which +I accompanied Mr. Ralli to his country-house to dine. He occupied a +pretty little place a few versts from Odessa, with a large fruit and +ornamental garden. Mr. Ralli's lady is also a native of Greece, with +much of the cleverness and _spirituelle_ character of the educated +Greeks. One of her _bons mots_ current in Odessa is, that her husband is +consul for the other world. A young Italian, with a very pretty wife, +dined with us, and, after dinner and a stroll through the garden, we +walked over to Mr. Perseani's, the father of our Russian secretary; +another walk in the garden with a party of ladies, tea, and I got back +to Odessa in time for a walk on the boulevards and the opera. + +Before my attention was turned to Odessa, I should as soon have thought +of an opera-house at Chicago as there; but I already found, what +impressed itself more forcibly upon me at every step, that Russia is a +country of anomalies. The new city on the Black Sea contains many French +and Italian residents, who are willing to give all that is not necessary +for food and clothing for the opera; the Russians themselves are +passionately fond of musical and theatrical entertainments, and +government makes up all deficiencies. The interior of the theatre +corresponds with the beauty of its exterior. All the decorations are in +good taste, and the Corinthian columns, running from the foot to the +top, particularly beautiful. The opera was the Barber of Seville; the +company in _full_ undress, and so barbarous as to pay attention to the +performance. I came out at about ten o'clock, and, after a turn or two +on the boulevards, took an icecream at the cafe of the Hotel de +Petersbourgh. This hotel is beautifully situated on one corner of the +main street, fronting the boulevards, and opposite the statue of the +Duke de Richelieu; and looking from the window of the cafe, furnished +and fitted up in a style superior to most in Paris, upon the crowd still +thronging the boulevards, I could hardly believe that I was really on +the borders of the Black Sea. + +Having purchased a carriage and made all my arrangements for starting, I +expected to pass this day with an unusual degree of satisfaction, and I +was not disappointed. I have mentioned incidentally the name of a +countryman resident in Odessa; and, being so far from home, I felt a +yearning toward an American. In France or Italy I seldom had this +feeling, for there Americans congregate in crowds; but in Greece and +Turkey I always rejoiced to meet a compatriot; and when, on my arrival +at Odessa, before going into the lazaretto, the captain told me that +there was an American residing there, high in character and office, who +had been twenty years in Russia, I requested him to present my +compliments, and say that, if he had not forgotten his fatherland, a +countryman languishing in the lazaretto would be happy to see him +through the gratings of his prison-house. I afterward regretted having +sent this message, as I heard from other sources that he was a +prominent man, and during the whole term of my quarantine I never heard +from him personally. I was most agreeably disappointed, however, when, +on the first day of my release, I met him at dinner at the Spanish +consul's. He had been to the Crimea with Count Woronzow; had only +returned that morning, and had never heard of my being there until +invited to meet me at dinner. I had wronged him by my distrust; for, +though twenty years an exile, his heart beat as true as when he left our +shores. Who can shake off the feeling that binds him to his native land? +Not hardships nor disgrace at home; not favour nor success abroad; not +even time, can drive from his mind the land of his birth or the friends +of his youthful days. + +General Sontag was a native of Philadelphia; had been in our navy, and +served as sailing-master on board the Wasp; became dissatisfied from +some cause which he did not mention, left our navy, entered the Russian, +and came round to the Black Sea as captain of a frigate; was transferred +to the land service, and, in the campaign of 1814, entered Paris with +the allied armies as colonel of a regiment. In this campaign he formed a +friendship with Count Woronzow, which exists in full force at this day. +He left the army with the rank of brigadier-general. By the influence of +Count Woronzow, he was appointed inspector of the port of Odessa, in +which office he stood next in rank to the Governor of the Crimea, and, +in fact, on one occasion, during the absence of Count Woronzow, lived in +the palace and acted as governor for eight months. He married a lady of +rank, with an estate and several hundred slaves at Moscow; wears two or +three ribands at his buttonhole, badges of different orders; has gone +through the routine of offices and honours up to the grade of grand +counsellor of the empire; and a letter addressed to him under the title +of "his excellency" will come to the right hands. He was then living at +his country place, about eight versts from Odessa, and asked me to go +out and pass the next day with him. I was strongly tempted, but, in +order that I might have the full benefit of it, postponed the pleasure +until I had completed my arrangements for travelling. The next day +General Sontag called upon me, but I did not see him; and this morning, +accompanied by Mr. Baguet the younger, I rode out to his place. The land +about Odessa is a dead level, the road was excessively dry, and we were +begrimed with dust when we arrived. General Sontag was waiting for us, +and, in the true spirit of an American farmer at home, proposed taking +us over his grounds. His farm is his hobby; it contains about six +hundred acres, and we walked all over it. His crop was wheat, and, +although I am no great judge of these matters, I think I never saw +finer. He showed me a field of very good wheat, which had not been sowed +in three years, but produced by the fallen seed of the previous crops. +We compared it with our Genesee wheat, and to me it was an interesting +circumstance to find an American cultivating land on the Black Sea, and +comparing it with the products of our Genesee flats, with which he was +perfectly familiar. + +One thing particularly struck me, though, as an American, perhaps I +ought not to have been so sensitive. A large number of men were at work +in the field, and they were all slaves. Such is the force of education +and habit, that I have seen hundreds of black slaves without a +sensation; but it struck rudely upon me to see white men slaves to an +American, and he one whose father had been a soldier of the revolution, +and had fought to sustain the great principle that "all men are by +nature free and equal." Mr. Sontag told me that he valued his farm at +about six thousand dollars, on which he could live well, have a bottle +of Crimea wine, and another every day for a friend, and lay up one +thousand dollars a year; but I afterward heard that he was a complete +enthusiast on the subject of his farm; a bad manager, and that he really +knew nothing of its expense or profit. + +Returning to the house, we found Madame Sontag ready to receive us. She +is an authoress of great literary reputation, and of such character +that, while the emperor was prosecuting the Turkish war in person, and +the empress remained at Odessa, the young archduchesses were placed +under her charge. At dinner she talked with much interest of America, +and expressed a hope, though not much expectation, of one day visiting +it. But General Sontag himself, surrounded as he is by Russian +connexions, is all American. Pointing to the riband on his buttonhole, +he said he was entitled to one order which he should value above all +others; that his father had been a soldier of the revolution, and member +of the Cincinnati Society, and that in Russia the decoration of that +order would be to him the proudest badge of honour that an American +could wear. After dining we retired into a little room fitted up as a +library, which he calls America, furnished with all the standard +American books, Irving, Paulding, Cooper, &c., engravings of +distinguished Americans, maps, charts, canal and railroad reports, &c.; +and his daughter, a lovely little girl and only child, has been taught +to speak her father's tongue and love her father's land. In honour of me +she played on the piano "Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle," and the +day wore away too soon. We took tea on the piazza, and at parting I +received from him a letter to his agent on his estate near Moscow, and +from Madame Sontag one which carried me into the imperial household, +being directed to Monsieur l'Intendant du Prince heritiere, +Petersbourgh. A few weeks ago I received from him a letter, in which he +says, "the visit of one of my countrymen is so great a treat, that I can +assure you, you are never forgotten by any one of my little family; and +when my daughter wishes to make me smile, she is sure to succeed if she +sits down to her piano and plays 'Hail Columbia' or 'Yankee Doodle;' +this brings to mind Mr. ----, Mr. ----, Mr. ----, and Mr. ----, who have +passed through this city; to me alone it brings to mind my country, +parents, friends, youth, and a world of things and ideas past, never to +return. Should any of our countrymen be coming this way, do not forget +to inform them that in Odessa lives one who will be glad to see them;" +and I say now to any of my countrymen whom chance may throw upon the +shores of the Black Sea, that if he would receive so far from home the +welcome of a true-hearted American, General Sontag will be glad to +render it. + +It was still early in the evening when I returned to the city. It was +moonlight, and I walked immediately to the boulevards. I have not spoken +as I ought to have done of this beautiful promenade, on which I walked +every evening under the light of a splendid moon. The boulevards are +bounded on one side by the precipitous shore of the sea; are three +quarters of a mile in length, with rows of trees on each side, gravel +walks and statues, and terminated at one end by the exchange, and at the +other by the palace of Count Woronzow. At this season of the year it +was the promenade of all the beauty and fashion of Odessa, from an hour +or two before dark until midnight. This evening the moon was brighter, +and the crowd was greater and gayer than usual. The great number of +officers, with their dashing uniforms, the clashing of their swords, and +rattling of their spurs, added to the effect; and woman never looks so +interesting as when leaning on the arm of a soldier. Even in Italy or +Greece I have seldom seen a finer moonlight scene than the columns of +the exchange through the vista of trees lining the boulevards. I +expected to leave the next day, and I lingered till a late hour. I +strolled up and down the promenade, alone among thousands. I sat down +upon a bench, and looked for the last time on the Black Sea, the stormy +Euxine, quiet in the moonbeams, and glittering like a lake of burnished +silver. By degrees the gay throng disappeared; one after another, party +after party withdrew; a few straggling couples, seeming all the world to +each other, still lingered, like me, unable to tear themselves away. It +was the hour and the place for poetry and feeling. A young officer and a +lady were the last to leave; they passed by me, but did not notice me; +they had lost all outward perceptions; and as, in passing for the last +time, she raised her head for a moment, and the moon shone full upon her +face, I saw there an expression that spoke of heaven. I followed them as +they went out, murmured involuntarily "Happy dog," whistled "Heighho, +says Thimble," and went to my hotel to bed. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + +List of Corrections: + + p. iii, Preface: "Egypt, Arabia Petrae, and the Holy Land." was changed + to "Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land." + + p. 14: "that we coud" was changed to "that we could." + + p. 87: "friends in this county" was changed to "friends in this + country." + + p. 90: "but we connot" was changed to "but we cannot." + + p. 99: "Gate of the Lyons" was changed to "Gate of the Lions" as in + the rest of the book. + + p. 130: "to favour such a suiter" was changed to "to favour such a + suitor." + + p. 174: "it is confirmed by poetry, hat" was changed to "it is + confirmed by poetry, that." + + p. 183: "the jackall's cry was heard" was changed to "the jackal's cry + was heard." + + p. 184: "cartainly whip them" was changed to "certainly whip them." + + p. 233: "threade our way" was changed to "threaded our way." + + p. 234: "Cachmere shawls" was changed to "Cashmere shawls." + + p. 244: "the Phase, the Dneiper, and the Danube" was changed to "the + Phase, the Dnieper, and the Danube." + + p. 258: "the mouths of the Dneiper and Dneister" was changed to "the + mouths of the Dnieper and Dniester." + + p. 268: "quiet in the moonbeans" was changed to "quiet in the + moonbeams." + + +Errata: + +The summary in the table of contents is not always consistent with the +summary at the beginning of each chapter. The original has been +retained. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Incidents of Travel in Greece, Turkey, +Russia, and Poland, Vol. I (of 2), by John Lloyd Stephens + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, VOL 1 OF 2 *** + +***** This file should be named 37889.txt or 37889.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/8/8/37889/ + +Produced by ulia Miller, Eleni Christofaki and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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