A.ScJixsuaii dA. L.HaA"-’ TRAVELS IN CRETE BY ROBERT PASHLEY ESQ. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE VOLUME 1 CAMBRIDGE PRINTED AT THE PITT PRESS BY JOHN W. PARKER PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY LONDON JOHN MURRAY ALBEMARLE STREET MDCCC XXXVII Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/travelsincreteOOpash INSCRIBED TO HENRY MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE AS A SLIGHT TESTIMONY OF RESPECT FOR HIS LITERARY TASTES AND ACQUIREMENTS PREFAC E. I spent the spring and summer of the year 1833 in the Ionian Islands, Albania, and Greece; its autumn in some of the north-western parts of Asia Minor and at Constantinople; and the following months of December and January at Malta. Before I left England, towards the end of 1832, the Lords of the Admiralty had given an official order to Captain Copeland, R.N. who was likely to be en¬ gaged, the following spring, in surveying the Asiatic coast, between the Dardanelles and Mytilene, to render me every assistance in his power, consistent with the due progress of the Survey, in my travels and re¬ searches. Captain Beaufort, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, at whose instance the order of the Board was given, was anxious to make the Survey in some way subser¬ vient to the advancement of our knowledge of ancient Vlll PREFACE. t°p°g ra phy. It is easy to conceive, that the author of 44 Karamania T> must have regretted that so excellent an opportunity of learning something about the anti¬ quities of the more northern parts of Asia Minor, should be lost. The Admiralty order, however, in my case, led to no results worth speaking of. On joining Captain Copeland, in the Beacon, at Mytilene, after my visit to Constantinople, I found that he was on the point of sailing for Malta, to winter there: and the season was too far advanced for me to have any prospect of being able to travel much in Asia Minor, if I remained. Still I was reluctant to go to Malta unless I could ensure my return to Greece or Turkey very early in the spring. It had been my good fortune, some months before, to become acquainted with Vice-Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, whose long-continued presence in the neigh¬ bourhood of Greece and its Islands, as Commander-in- chief of the British Naval Forces in the Mediterranean, has communicated to him a degree of zeal for anti¬ quarian pursuits, even something like that for which he is so highly distinguished within the sphere of his own profession. On sailing in the Beacon, from Mytilene to Vurla, I found the British Squadron at anchor there, under Sir Pulteney’s command. My hesitation to accede to PREFACE. IX Captain Copeland’s proposal that I should accompany him to Malta, was at once removed. The Admiral kindly promised that he would take care to furnish me with the means of returning to Greece as soon as I should wish. I therefore went to Malta, and remained there several weeks. My residence at La Valetta rendered me as much Captain Copeland’s debtor, for kindness and hospitality while on shore, as I had been when at sea. Circumstances, which it is unnecessary here to state, made me very anxious to return to England; and it was with extreme reluctance that I prepared to go back to the East, even for the few months the result of which is partly exhibited in these volumes. I felt, however, bound at least to visit Crete. Had I not done so, the greater part of a twelvemonth spent by me in Greece and Turkey, would have led to no useful or permanent result. On the morning of Wednesday the 5th of February 1834, I left Malta, in the Hind Cutter, commanded by Lieutenant Coleman, who was under orders to land me at Khania. Early the following Saturday, I saw the blue mountain-tops of Greece, and, in the afternoon of the same day, landed in Crete. X PREFACE. I was accompanied by Signor Antonio Schranz, a native of Spain, who has been long domiciliated with his family at Malta, and to whose pencil the reader of these volumes is indebted for nearly all the engravings which they contain 1 . Early in the following September I hired a Greek schooner of Hydhra, at Khania, for my voyage to Italy. After a very bad passage, of nearly thirty days, I landed at the lazaretto of Ancona, in the be¬ ginning of October. I spent part of December at Venice, and the reader will find sufficient evidence of my employment there, in the extracts from unpublished manuscripts, which are occasionally given in the notes to these volumes, and more especially in the Appendix. I arrived in London on the 1st of February 1835, and in the course of that year had almost prepared my Travels in Crete for the press, when events occurred in consequence of which I spent a considerable part of the ensuing winter in Germany. Thus I could not go to press till the last summer: and, even since I began to print, I have experienced some interrup¬ tions, which have compelled me, however reluctantly, greatly to curtail my work. 1 Mr Glasscott, R.N. also went with me to Khania from Malta, but was unable, from indisposition, to travel in the island, and, after staying at Khania for about two months, rejoined his ship the Beacon on the coast ot Asia Minor. PREFA CE. XI My acknowledgements are due to the Syndics of the Pitt Press, in the University of Cambridge, for a very liberal contribution, out of the funds at their disposal, towards the typographical expenses of the present publication. I have also to express my grateful acknowledge¬ ments to the Reverend Frederick Field, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, for the aid which he has kindly rendered me in correcting the sheets of these volumes as they passed through the press. London, Jan. 3 , 1837 . CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. CHAPTER I. View of the White Mountains. Arrival at Khania. The Ramazan and Carnival. Town of Khania. Venetian remains. Lion of Saint Mark. Saint Titus the Patron of Crete. Consuls of the European powers. Festival of the Bairam. Visit to Ismael-bey. Language of the Cretans. The Mohammedans of Crete drink wine. The site of Cydonia determined. CHAPTER II. Visit to Haghios Elevtherios. Description of the monasteries and grottos of the Akroteri. CHAPTER III. From Khania to Palaeokastron near the bay of Sudha. Effects of Venetian misgovernment. Cretan and Molossian dogs. Cretan character... CHAPTER IV. Description of the ruins at Palaeokastron. Discovery of a sarcopha¬ gus, a statue, and ancient inscriptions. Political power of the Cretan Demos. Determination of the sites of Minoa, Amphimalla, XIV CONTENTS. Aptera, and Kisamos. Legend respecting the Sirens and the Muses, and identification of the islands Leucae with the rocks of Sudha. Origin of the error respecting the site of Aptera explained. Coins of Aptera. Mount Berecynthos, and metallurgy of the Idaean Dactyls. 36 CHAPTER V. Plain of Apokorona. Hippocoronion. Ruins of a middle-age fortress. Hamlet of Rhamne. Cretan fare and beds. Appeal of a papas. Deaths by impaling during the Revolution. Determination of the sites of Amphimalla, Amphimatrion, Corion, the Coresian Lake, Hydramon, and Pantomatrion. Meeting with the Sfakian captain Manias, who becomes my guide. Brief account of his adventures. Cretan song. Ruined village of Episkope. 61 CHAPTER VI. Captain Manias. Ceremonious politeness of the Cretan peasantry. Sites of Polichna, and Lampe, or Lappa. Fountain of the Holy Virgins. Identity between ancient and modern superstitions. Cretan fountains, poplars, and platanes. Venetian remains at and near Haghios Konstantmos. Cretan orange-trees. Monastery of Prophet-Elias. Resemblance of the modern Greek monks to the contemporaries of Jerome. Arrival at the gates of Rhithymnos. ... 81 CHAPTER VII. Rhithymna. Visit to the Governor of Rhithymnos. The Moham¬ medan Sabbath. Account of the Kurmulidhes. Exploits of Glemedh-Ali, and Cretan song on his death. Village of Peghe. Spyridhon PapadMkes. Atrocities perpetrated during the Greek Revolution. Produce and consumption of oil in Crete. Convent of Arsani. Mendicant priests of ancient and modern times. Perama not the site of Pergamos. Melidhoni and its grotto. Destruction of Christians who took refuge in it. Mount Tallaeos. Talos. Ancient human sacrifices. Account of the grotto and its inscription. Modern Christian names. 101 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER VIII. PAGE Gharazo. Places called 'Axos and Elevtherna. Rain, wine, and modern songs. Celibacy of the regular clergy. Visit to the site of Axos. Ancient remains, and inscriptions. Orphic traditions respecting Zeus and Persephone. The ancient Syncretism. Phy¬ sical features of Axos. Site of Panormos. Ride to Gonies. 143 CHAPTER IX. Gonies to Tylisso, the site of Tylissos. The Cretan ibex, or wild-goat, and the dictamnon. Fountain of Selvili. Song on the death of Captain Theodhoros. Arrival at Megalo-Kastron. European Consulates, especially those of France and Great Britain. The British flag insulted by a pasha of Khania. 161 CHAPTER X. Visit to Mustafd-pasha. Change in the treatment of Europeans by Mohammedans of rank. Osman-bey. My host Dheme'trio. Venetian remains. Cathedral of St Titus. The saint’s skull compared with the head of Orpheus. Other superstitions, both ancient and modern. Names of mosques sometimes derived from Christian saints. Ancient and modern female dress in these coun¬ tries. Oriental and ancient seclusion of women. The hot bath. Ancient and modern cleanliness. 172 CHAPTER XI. Visit to the archbishop. Titles and celibacy of the Greek hierarchy. The common European name of Crete unknown in the island. Greek churches. Miraculous journey of a painting. Other super¬ stitious legends. Marriage of Mohammedans with Christian women in Crete. The Greek’s hatred of heretics greater than that against Mohammedans. Interview with Ratfb-effendi. 186 CHAPTER XII. Population of Megalo-Kastron. Inscription on a Venetian fountain. Marriage of Zeus and Here in the neighbourhood of Cnossos, Vestiges of Cnossos at Mdkro-Teikho. Cretan bishoprics. Legend¬ ary tomb of the high-priest Caiaphas. Tombs of Idomeneus and XVI CONTENTS. PAGE Meriones. Distinguished Cnossians. The mythical labyrinth, and its inhabitant the Minotaur. Coins of Cnossos. 202 CHAPTER XIII. Kastron to Arkhanes. Mount Juktas. Venetian fountain. Sepulchre of Zeus. Ancient walls. Modern Cretans. Ride to Kam-Kasteli. Middle-age remains. Castle Temenos. The sites of Thenae and Omphalion. The river Triton. Athene Tritogeneia. Tragical events at Kam-Kasteli. Monastery of Haghio Gheorghio Epano- Sfphes. 210 CHAPTER XIV. Monastery of St George. Site of Arcadia not at the village or monas¬ tery of Arkadhi. Venerato. Massacre of unarmed Christians., Haghio Myro, the probable site of Rhaucos. Sarko and its cavern. 229 CHAPTER XV. From Sarko to Rhogdhia. Carnival festivities. Ancient and modern Cretan tumblers. Dancing. Songs. 242 CHAPTER XVI. Events at Rhogdhia during the war. Palaeokastron the site of Cytaeum. Apollonia at or near Armyro, and Matium at Megalo- Kastron. Leprosy. The river Kaeratos. Kakon-oros. Heracleia. The river Aposelemi. Amnisos. Site of Strenos. Arrival at Episkopiano, near the site of Khersonesos. Various nightly in¬ mates of a Greek clergyman’s house. 258 CHAPTER XVII. Departure from Hierapetra. Myrtos. The Giant’s tomb. Sykologo. Ignorance of the peasants. A mendicant monk. St Antonios and Asclepios. Haghio Vasili. Arvi. Discovery of an ancient sarcophagus. Mount Arbios. Viano, perhaps the site of Biennos. Legend of Otos and Ephialtes. Contest between Zeus and the giants. Connexion of Crete with Naxos. Produce of the eparkhia of Rhizo-kastron. 271 CONTENTS. XVII CHAPTER XVIII. PAGE The Muezin’s summons to prayer. The use of bells in Greek churches. The probable sites of Inatos, Priansos, and Praesos. An interesting inscription. The sites of Pyranthos, Stelae, Asterusia, and Pyloros. Arrival at Haghius Dheka. 285 CHAPTER XIX. Haghius Dheka. Ampelussa. The ancient Ampelos. The modern 'Ampelos. A Sfakian distich. Dibaki. Klima. Apodhulo. Cretan salutation. Events at Apodhulo. The daughter of Captain Ale'xandhros, carried off in 1821 as a slave, returns to Crete, in 1829, the wife of an English gentleman. Probable sites of Psykhion and Sulia. Monastery of Asomatos. 297 CHAPTER XX. Monastery of Asomatos. Events at Rhithymnos in July 1821. The Cretan’s attachment to his native land. The water of the stone. Monastery of Arkadhi. The sites of Eleutherna and Sybritia. Fate of the Mohammedan leader Iatimeles. Exactions of the Sfakians. Amnato. Mosque, and vestiges of the Venetians. Tripodos, Demeter, and Iasion. Effects of the Greek doctrine of transubstantiation exemplified in the language of a drunken Mohammedan. Identity between certain doctrines and practices of the Roman and Greek churches. The Mohammedan prejudice against wine common among Orientals. The vine of Egypt. Arrival at Perivolia, near Rhithymnos. The “first floor” of a Greek cottage. Springs the water of which is warm in winter and cold in summer. Arrival at Khania after sunset. The gates opened. Records of the French consulate. Sarcophagus found at Arvi. 307 VOL. I. h LIST OF DRAWINGS ON STONE IN VOLUME I. 1. Bay and City of Khania. to face the title-page. 2. Katholiko.. to face page 27 3. Rhithymnos. 101 4. Grotto of Melidhdni. 136 5. View in Megalo-Kastron. 194 6. Interior of the Monastery Arkadhi... 309 LIST OF ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD IN VOLUME I. 1. An ancient Gem. on the title-page. 2. View of the Port of Khania. at page 1 3. Venetian Bas-relief and Inscription.’. 5 4. Plan of the Port of Khania. 13 5. Chapel and Cemetery of Haghia Triadha. 18 6. Grotto of Katholiko. 26 7. Fortress and Bay of Sudha. 28 8. Walls of Aptera. 36 9. Polygonal Walls of Aptera. 38 10. Cisterns of Aptera. 61 11. Portrait of Captain Manias. 77 12. Ruins at Polis. 81 13. Bridge to the West of Rhithymnos. 101 14. Two Coins of Rhithymne. 102 15. Ancient Walls of Axos .. 143 16. Inscription found at Axos. 152 17- Copper Coins found at Axos. 156 18. A silver Coin of Axos. 157 19. Silver Coin of Tylissos. 161 20. View of the Port of Megalo-Kastron. 172 21. Fountain and Ancient Statue in Megalo-Kastron. 186 22. Two silver Coins of Cnossos. 202 23. Six silver Coins of Cnossos. facing page 208 24. Ancient Walls on Mount Juktas. 210 25. Monastery of St George Epano-Sffes. 229 26. A Cretan Peasant. 242 27. Armyro, near Megalo-Kastron. 258 28. Coin of Hierapytna. 271 29. Ravine at Arvf. 285 30. Coins of Priansos. 297 31. An eveningin a peasant’s cottage. 306 . INTRODUCTION. Nel mezzo ’1 mar siede un paese guasto, Diss’ egli allora, che s’ appella Creta. Dante. Before the outbreaking of the Greek revolution, Crete was the worst governed province of the Turkish Empire; the local authorities were wholly unable to control the license of the Janissaries, who consisted solely of Cretan Mohammedans, and made it a point of honour not to suffer any one of their members to be brought to justice for any ordinary crime. So com¬ pletely did every Pasha, appointed by the Sublime Porte, depend on this turbulent militia, that his authority always ceased as soon as they resisted it; which, on several occasions, they did, so far as even to depose him and to send to Constantinople in order to obtain the confirmation of his successor’s election as made by them¬ selves. In one or other of their regiments almost every Cretan Mohammedan was enrolled; and it is easy to con¬ ceive what must have been the condition of the Christian population. Besides the grinding oppressions of the regular autho¬ rities, and of the different corps of Janissaries, every Greek was also at the mercy of the lowest Mohammedan of the island, who, in consequence of the weakness of the local government, could make any demand, and perpetrate any enormity with complete security. Thus, literally, no Christian was master of his own house: any Moham¬ medan might pass his threshold, and either require from him money, or, what was far commoner, send the XXII INTRODUCTION. husband or father out of the way, on some mere pretext, and himself remain with his wife or daughter. So atro¬ cious and frequent were such acts of violence and oppres¬ sion, that I have been assured, by persons well acquainted with Turkey, and certainly favourably disposed to the Turks, that the horrors and atrocities which were almost of daily occurrence in Crete, had hardly a single parallel throughout the whole extent of the Ottoman Empire. From the number of the suffering Christians of the island, up to 1821, we must except the hardy and cou¬ rageous Sfakians, who had preserved amid their native mountains a wild independence, and the right of wearing their arms, in the use of which they were eminently skilful. They became the nucleus round which the revolt in Crete formed itself; and though the Moham¬ medans were all armed, and were nearly 30,000 in num¬ ber, at the outbreaking of the Greek revolution, yet, such was the superior activity, courage, and address of the Christians, that in less than a year after they had raised the standard of the cross, their foes were almost all driven into the fortified towns. From 1822 to 1830 Crete was an object of peculiar attention to the Viceroy of Egypt. In 1822 he dispatched 7000 Albanians, under Khassan-pasha, to aid the native Mohammedans; but the difficulties which these troops encountered were such, that, before their general’s death the following year, they had most of them fallen, either by the sword or by disease, without having gained any important advantage over the insurgent Christians. Khusefn-bey, who afterwards fell at the siege of Mesolonghi, was now sent with still greater forces, and in 1824 the Greeks were compelled to submit. Thou¬ sands of them left the country; and the Cretan Turks, it would seem, wreaked their vengeance for the sufferings they had endured in the war, on such as had no means of flight from the island. The Mohammedans, in short, had learnt no lesson of justice or of moderation by the INTRODUCTION. XX111 events of the previous war; and, consequently, the smothered flames of insurrection, which again burst out soon after the battle of Navarino, blazed more widely and more fiercely than those of the first revolt. The Christians reaped the harvests of 1828 and 1829 unmolested by the Mohammedans, who were again cooped up within the walls of the fortified towns, and would soon, in all probability, either have abandoned the island, or have perished in it, had not the three Allied Powers decided, that Crete should be united to the government of Mehmet-Ali, and notified their decree to the Christian population. With the deep wounds of mutual hatred, engendered by so long and so bitter a strife, still open, the Christian had to regard as his master a Turkish Pasha sent from Alexandria, instead of one from Constantinople, and thought his condition but little bettered by the change; while the Cretan Mohammedans, who had cordially hated the Egyptians from the very moment of their landing in Crete, were to submit to a power which was hardly considered as dependent on the Sultan ; and, what was still worse in the opinion of the majority, one which would be able to enforce its own decrees, and to treat with equal rigour all the inhabitants of the island. Both parties were therefore disappointed and disgusted at this termina¬ tion of the struggle, the Christians having expected to shake off the Turkish yoke, and the Mohammedans having hoped to re-establish their old lawless independence. The Greeks, who had long looked up to the Allies as their protectors and benefactors, now saw that a decision fatal to all their hopes was taken. Nevertheless they re¬ ceived from Captain Yorke, (now Lord Hardwicke), who then commanded a frigate at Grabusa, assurances respect¬ ing both the sympathy felt for them by the British Government, and the legal and orderly system about to be established by the Viceroy of Egypt. They therefore abandoned a contest in which they had supposed them¬ selves countenanced by the Christian powers, and the XXIV INTRODUCTION. end of which would plainly have been favourable to themselves, soon after they first raised the standard of the cross, had not a great foreign force been called in to support the Cretan Mohammedans. Thus the Greeks submitted; and it appears un¬ doubted that the number of those among them, who went into a voluntary exile from their native land, at first ex¬ ceeded 30,000 souls. The Viceroy of Egypt, however, did all he could to appease their terror and to inspire them with confidence in his government. He assured them, in his first proclamation, that he had intrusted to his Major-General Osman-Nuredm-bey, the organization of the island, because that officer was well acquainted “with European usages,” and would thus be able to arrange everything in a manner answerable to the paternal views of the Viceroy. The complete pacification of Crete was effected in a few months, without bloodshed ; and it must be said, in favour of the Egyptian rule, that law and order obtained a dominion, which had in all proba¬ bility hitherto been entirely unknown in the country, even from the time of its conquest by the Venetians more than six hundred years ago. Two Councils were now established, one at Megalo- Kastron, the other at Khania, composed partly of Mo¬ hammedans and partly of Christians, and designed for the administration of justice in all ordinary cases. The effect of the institution of these Councils was most salu¬ tary, as far as the sentiments of the Christians were con¬ cerned ; for it was soon found that they obtained at least equal justice, perhaps at first rather more, in all disputes with Mohammedans of the island. This is easily understood, for, since the Egyptians knew the im¬ possibility of any system of government ever reconciling the Cretan Mohammedans to their transfer from the easy rein of the Sultan to the iron bit of his Egyptian Satrap, they endeavoured to obtain a hold on the good wishes of the Christian population, about whom alone they supposed that the Allies too interested themselves. INTRODUCTION. XXV The Governor-general Mustafa-pasha, and his co¬ adjutor Osman-bey, early this year also issued a pro¬ clamation to the Christians of the island, who had already delivered up their arms, telling them 66 that the sole “object of their Master, Mehmet-Ali-pasha, was to es- 66 tablish the tranquillity and to cause the prosperity of “ Crete, and to deliver the Christians from the vexations “ to which they were formerly exposed.” Many of the ordinary oppressions exercised against them before the revolution, were enumerated and prohibited : order was established : Greeks from other parts flocked to the prin¬ cipal towns, and fixed themselves in them as traders; many of the exiles returned; some being compelled to do so by the impossibility of finding the means of sub¬ sistence in Greece, while others were glad again to seek their natal soil the moment they could persuade them¬ selves that the Egyptians did not design their utter extermination. In April the object of Osman-bey’s mission had been so far attained, that his longer pre¬ sence in the island was judged unnecessary. The establishment of a lazaretto at Sudha, and the erection of a set of barracks in Khania, were additional indica¬ tions of the difference between the systems of Alexandria and Constantinople. In October 1831 however, the period of what may be called good government was to cease: considerable changes of system, such as indicated a determination, on the part of the Viceroy, to convert the island into a source of revenue, were adopted. One most important innovation had already been effected. The Viceroy had taken possession of most of the mukatas. These mukatas are the proprietorships of the seventh of all the produce in any parish or district, and used to be granted by the Porte to a Turkish Aga for life; and at his death the possession was ordinarily continued to his heir, who paid a small fine on the occa¬ sion. Thus these gentlemen in some measure represented, in Turkey, the feudal proprietors of our own middle-age XXVI INTRODUCTION. history. No doubt the system of the Porte was a very bad one, suffering, as it did, this source of a great terri¬ torial revenue to slip entirely through its fingers. The Viceroy of Egypt, on pretexts of one kind or another, (for who dared dispute a title which his agents maintained to be legal?) deprived most of these gentlemen of their fiefs, so that at the present moment the Government receives the main amount of the tithe, (the seventh that is,) of all the produce of the island. This grand exten¬ sion of the Sovereign’s rights and possessions in the country was an indication that other measures of the same nature might be expected : and we shall see that they soon followed. Still no measure had as yet been directed against the Christians, and exiles continued to return, especially after the death of Capo d’lstria, which had thrown affairs into great anarchy and confusion in Greece. It was rumoured in Crete, that in consequence of Capo d’lstria’s death, the Allies would re-construct the chart of free Greece, and that Crete would be included in it. The Christians never¬ theless continued to be favourably regarded by the government, especially after the commencement of hos¬ tilities between Mehmet-Ali and the Porte; from which time a very jealous watch was kept over the Cretan Moslems, by the Egyptians, who knew well that if a descent were made by the Sultan on Crete, his forces would be immediately joined by all the Mohammedans of the island. Mehmet-Ali at this moment possessed a fertile island which remained tranquil under the sway to which it had so reluctantly submitted : many of its exiles had already returned : its villages were re-peopling : some of its fertile and uncultivated plains were again tilled, and the rich annual produce of its countless olive-trees was again gathered by their owners. Had the Viceroy been con¬ tented with affairs remaining on their then footing, everything announced the rapid restoration of this fine country to a prosperous state: but those very indications INTRODUCTION. XXV11 of renascent prosperity and of still greater dormant capa¬ bilities, awakened his attention and excited his cupidity. Receiving as he did already the seventh of nearly the whole produce of the island, he saw how great a revenue might be derived from it, if it were governed by him like his African dominions; and he reflected but little, it would seem, on the difference of character between the warlike mountaineer of Crete and the miserable fellah of Egypt, but simply looked forward to rendering him¬ self the sole territorial proprietor of the country which now politically belonged to him. Entertaining such designs as these, (designs which were soon to be developed,) it was plainly necessary to neutralize the effects produced by the institution of the municipal councils, and to convert them into mere organs of the sovereign will. This was effected. A distin- guished Mohammedan was executed on a slight pretext, and two members of the council were banished to the solitary and barren rock of Grabusa. From this moment it became understood that the views of the “ President*” of the Council, an Egyptian Turk with a salary exceeding that of all its other mem¬ bers together, were always those of the Viceroy, and were to be acted upon on every occasion. This con¬ viction became the guide of all the future conduct of those boards. No tax was ever proposed, how impo¬ litic soever the councillors might regard it, to which they did not give their eager assent, even sometimes vying with one another for the praise of devotedness to the Viceroy, when they found that he not only pos¬ sessed, but exercised, the power of rewarding subser¬ viency, and of punishing independence. The system of terror, thus commenced, was highly increased by a regu¬ lation, introduced during the continuance of hostilities with the Porte, according to which all letters coming to the island addressed to Cretans, whether Christians or Mohammedans, were conveyed to the Council and there opened. Such a proceeding in Turkey has a very terrible xxvm INTRODUCTION. character, since a word in a letter may easily suffice, even under Mehmet-Alfs government, as the death-warrant of its receiver. After this epoch no councillor ventured to give an opinion at the council-board : they merely ex¬ pressed their assent to the wishes of the President. The Pasha now imposed on all wine a duty of four paras the oke, or about one-eighth of its value, to be paid by the owner of every vineyard, even for the wine which he consumed in his own family, as well as for what he might sell. This caused great and universal dissatisfaction. The export duty on oil was at the same time increased, as well as those on several other articles of exportation, as, at Megalo-Kastron, on wax, carobs, &c.; and duties were imposed on many things which had never before paid anything. All supplies too, wanted either for the regular Arab troops in the island, or for Egyptian ships of war putting into the bay of Sudha, were to be furnished, according to a tarif of the government, at prices very much below their real value. A tax similar to the “ octroi” of the French, was also introduced into Crete, and duties were paid at the gates of all the large towns on many articles of consump¬ tion. From this source and from some monopolies, farmed by contractors, an annual sum of £6000, which is considerable in Crete, as an addition to the already existing taxes, was obtained. While all these new and previously unheard-of im¬ posts served to demonstrate the Viceroy’s attachment to European institutions, and his wish to extend the improvements and discoveries of civilization to the soil of Crete, he made no attempt whatever to give the Cretans any of those returns for their money, which people ordinarily have in the heavily taxed countries of Europe. The roads which the Turks of Constantinople had never once caused to be repaired since they took the island, remained equally neglected by their successors of Alexandria. The progressive filling up of the ports of Rhithymnos and Megalo-Kastron, although so serious INTRODUCTION. XXIX an evil as to threaten the commerce of those places with destruction, remained unarrested. Not long after the commencement of hostilities be- tween Mehmet-Ali and the Porte, two Cretan Turks of rank were arrested and executed, without any form of trial or condemnation: one, because he had been to visit a relation, formerly a Pasha of Crete, and then in the employ of the Sultan; the other, because he had made application for a mukata at Constantinople; although he might have known that the Viceroy meant to seize on all the mukatas for himself, at least as fast as they became vacant, if not faster. In July 1832 a bujurdi of Mehmet-Ali was received, in which he replied to the Sultan’s firman against him, and ordered the Pasha of Crete 66 to put to death every Mohammedan who should either entertain projects against the Viceroy, or should spread bad news in the island.” We may observe that all these resumptions of the old arbitrary system were directed against the Mo¬ hammedans exclusively, and mainly against the higher classes; and that, so far, the Christians had only to complain, as of evils actually endured, of the many new taxes by which they were oppressed. Perhaps to set his conduct towards the Mohammedans in contrast with his intentions towards his Christian subjects, Mehmet- Ali caused the rumour to be generally spread, during the continuance of the campaign in Asia Minor, that, if he succeeded in establishing his independence, his first act would be to affranchise the Christians, in every part of his dominions, from the payment of the poll-tax, and to establish complete civil equality between them and the Mohammedans. The young King Otho’s arrival in Greece, in Ja¬ nuary 1833, produced no important effect in Crete, where however the discontent caused by the new taxes was high enough without any addition to it. In April 1833 the authorities, who knew how widely diffused and general this discontent had become, were alarmed by clandestine XXX INTRODUCTION. disembarkations of Greeks on different points of the coast. It was reported too, that the Virgin and several Saints had shewn themselves in various churches and monasteries of the island, and this rumour soon gained credit with the Christian population, who assembled, sometimes in bodies of several thousands, at the holy- places which had been favoured by these miraculous appearances. These meetings naturally awakened the anxious attention of the local government, several mem¬ bers of which suspected them to be connected with some revolutionary design. Before the religious enthusiasm thus excited had subsided, it was announced that the Viceroy intended to visit the island in person: although the assertion was not at first believed, it proved true, and on the 12th of August 1833, the Ruler of Egypt, Syria, and Crete, arrived. We have seen that the European principles, which were held out as the basis of the Egyptian government in Crete, when the people gave up their arms in 1830, and of which England and the other two powers were considered as the guarantees, had been sufficiently de¬ parted from in 1833. A published declaration of the Sultan, on abandoning Crete to his powerful vassal, that “ no taxes should in future be paid by the Cretan Greeks, excepting the tithe and the poll-tax,” had been so totally disregarded, that duties had been imposed on almost every article of both exportation and importation, and even on some articles of produce, as wine and spirit, when consumed by the grower on the spot. Although much had been said of introducing European institutions into the country, yet whenever it was desirable to put a man out of the way, he was still disposed of with the ease and indifference of the older Turkish times. When all this had taken place, the Viceroy arrived in the island, accompanied, as is usual in his progresses, by the British Consul-general, or Diplomatic Agent, Colonel Campbell, in whose eyes he of course intended to INTRODUCTION. XXXI display himself in the paternal character, which he is said not unfrequently to assume, in his intercourse with the re¬ presentatives, at Alexandria, of both England and France. Mehmet-Ali now published a proclamation, telling the Cretans how much he had occupied himself, both when at Alexandria and in Upper Egypt, with plans for pro¬ moting their welfare; and intreating them to approach his person, to tell him their wants, and to teach him every thing they might wish about their condition. The peasants were simple enough to take him at his word; and after embodying, in a respectful petition, an enu¬ meration of some of the many unpopular innovations which had marked the history of the two previous years, they delivered it to Mustafa-pasha, in order that he might present it to the Viceroy. They mentioned some of the most oppressive of the many new taxes; the arbitrary mode in which the poll-tax was exacted from them; and the presence of irregular troops (Albanians) dispersed in small parties of ten or twelve through the villages, where, having nothing to do, they had caused much domestic disquiet, and many divorces: they also complained of the severity with which the punishment by bastinado was applied. Such a document as this was what the Viceroy had never calculated on receiving, and the Pasha of Crete told the petitioners that he dared not present it to his master. Thus the people returned to their homes, far more disgusted than if no such professions of a wish to know their condition had ever been made. But the matter did not rest here; for the Viceroy having invited a declaration from the Cretans, it was determined to procure one. The Pasha’s secre¬ tary therefore drew up a fulsome petition, expressive only of happiness and affection: the document was signed by forty or fifty Greeks in the pay and about the person of Mustafa-pasha; and this wretched trick was meant to be played off as an expression of the sentiments of the Cretan people, and may, perhaps, have been so regarded by Colonel Campbell. XXX11 INTRODUCTION. The Viceroy, after a short stay, caused to be given to the Council of Khania instructions for a proclamation, which they consequently published the day after his de¬ parture from the island. Some of its most remarkable provisions were the following:— Two persons acquainted with the laws of Egypt were to act as Commissioners, and to visit each village in the province of Khania, with the following ob¬ jects 1. To make a list of the rich and the poor in each village, and to endeavour to effect an arrangement between them, so that the rich man might aid the poor with his money, and the poor the rich with his labour. 2. The members of any numerous families possessing but little property, were to be employed in cultivating the ground of their wealthier neighbours. S. When the number of labourers was very great in a village to which but little land belonged, they were to go and labour in neighbouring villages. 4. Where grounds were near rivers, the Government was to indicate the most advantageous kind of cultivation. 5. Every one was to sign an undertaking to conform to all these regulations. 6. Lists w^ere to be formed of all members of families not residing with their parents in the country, in order that, if found in the towns, they might be sent to their friends, that they might labour. 7* For all land left uncultivated after the publication of the ordinance, there was to be paid the seventh of that produce which might have been obtained from it, if it had been cultivated in the best way. 8. All persons leaving any part of their land uncultivated, for one, two, or three years, were to be “ punished and, the fourth year, all their lands were to be taken possession of by a person named by the Government, and only one-fourth of the produce given to the old proprietors. INTRODUCTION. XXX111 It must be borne in mind that the present population of Crete is quite inadequate to the cultivation of the country, and that in some parts, for instance, near the great plain of Mesara, formerly of Gortyna, full seven- eighths of the land has never been cultivated since the beginning of the revolution: so that the preceding provi¬ sions amounted absolutely to a confiscation of at least half even of the best land in the island. When these extraordinary regulations were to be executed by two persons acquainted with the laws of Egypt, we need not wonder at the alarm which the publication of them excited. We may, however, be surprised at the persuasion of the Greeks, that a paragraph which ordered the building, near Sudha, of two schools, one for Mohammedan and the other for Christian pupils, was merely a pretext for collect¬ ing their children together, that they might all be seized and put on board a ship of war at Sudha, in order to be conveyed to Egypt. Perhaps the para¬ graph about the schools was merely meant to keep up the Viceroy’s character before Colonel Campbell and M. Mimaut r as an enlightened prince, who wished to bring the civilization of Europe into every part of his dominions Certainly more extraordinary provisions could hardly have been conceived, than some of those of the proclam¬ ation ; and any one, who is acquainted with the practical working of a Turkish government, will at once see what terror and dismay must have been felt by every Cretan on its publication. The tendency of the measures, if executed by persons 66 well acquainted with the laws of Egypt,” would be to make the Viceroy proprietor of a great part of the landed property of the country, and would thus enable him to apply the Egyptian system to Crete, and to reduce its independent mountaineers to the wretched condition of the fellahs. These fears and forebodings immediately spread through all the villages in the neighbourhood of Khania; yol. i. c XXXIV INTRODUCTION. until on Sunday, the 8th of September, an Albanian Bhnbashi, (Lieutenant-Colonel,) accompanied by a few men, presented himself in the church of a village, si¬ tuated on the lower acclivities of the great Sfakian mountains, and about ten miles from the city. Divine service being ended, he read over the proclamation: it was written in Greek, the common language of the island, and was therefore intelligible to his audience. Some of its many extraordinary and alarming provisions elicited an observation from a Christian peasant: the Turk re¬ plied to the remark by a blow. Thus began a tumult, which ended in the soldiers being compelled to retire on the city. The peasants descended into the plain which surrounds Khania, accompanied by their wives and children, demanding justice. Their assembly be¬ came very numerous, and they immediately sent a de¬ putation to the Consuls of England, France, and Russia, at Khania, considering that the three nations, which in 1830 had placed them under the government of the Viceroy of Egypt, guaranteeing to them the enjoyment of their property, would protect them against all these alarming innovations. The Consuls suggested, that the best course for them to adopt would be, to return peaceably to their villages, and await the arrival at Khania of Mustafa-pasha, the Governor-general of the island, who was then unfortunately absent at Megalo- Kastron. The fears, however, excited in the breasts of the people by the proclamation, were so strong, that instead of dispersing, they constituted themselves a per¬ manent Assembly; and the number of them thus con¬ gregated together soon amounted to several thousand men, who dwelt quietly under the trees in and about the village of Murnies, only three miles from the city of Khania. They consisted partly of Mohammedans, the fears of the true believers being as completely roused as those of the Christian population. The assembly dispatched memorials to the ambassadors of the three powers at Constantinople, and to the residents at Nauplia; at the INTRODUCTION. XXXV same time determining to remain assembled till they ob¬ tained answers from the respective governments to which they thus appealed. The Consuls in vain exerted them¬ selves to persuade the people that the Pasha would satisfy them and remove their fears. No persuasions could induce them to break up their assembly, which, however, was perfectly peaceable, all the men being so completely unarmed, that they did not carry even the long knives which they ordinarily wear in their girdles. A single case of the theft of a few figs or grapes from a neigh¬ bouring vineyard, committed by one of them, was severely and publicly punished : and those who from time to time witnessed the order and decorum of their meeting, are unanimous in bestowing on them, at least for this re¬ markable point in the character of their proceedings, the highest praise. At length Mustafa-pasha arrived, and soon found, that the people had no longer any confidence in his promises. They remembered the part he had played during the Viceroy’s visit, in refusing to present their petition and in getting up a fictitious one in their name : they even called to mind one occurrence in which he had acted without good faith during the war of the revolution, so that all his entreaties, for he repeatedly entreated them to disperse, were useless. Mustafa-pasha in his first proclamation at once renounced the design of building the schools, which alone had caused an incredi¬ ble alarm, and also that of compelling the people to aid one another in cultivating their lands, leaving however a part of the Viceroy’s proclamation, by which the duty on sheep and horned cattle had been abolished, still in force. The Pasha was afraid, with good reason, of converting what we may call the passive resistance of the Cretans, into open revolt, if he had recourse to violent measures, and therefore would not disperse by force this unarmed and peaceable meeting. Thus an extraordinary spectacle was seen for many days. On the one side was a numerous assembly of XXXVI INTRODUCTION. men, most of whom had, for nearly ten years, been inured to every scene of rapine and bloodshed, but who now demanded security for the observance of their rights , which they conceived to have been bestowed on them at the time of their transfer to Egypt under the sanction of the allied powers, and who as a means of obtaining their ends were really aiming to exert moral rather than physi¬ cal force; while, on the other side, was a Turkish Pasha, a native of the mountains of Albania, a great part of whose life had been past in scenes of guerilla warfare, with five or six thousand regular troops and fifteen hundred irregular Arnauts under his command, able to massacre nearly all the people assembled, had he attacked them, but wise and humane enough to pause, and to reflect on the dangers and difficulties which he would have to surmount, if he drove the whole population into actual rebellion. Such an instance of mutual forbearance and prudence, on the part of such people, is certainly very remarkable. The French Consul greatly exerted himself to in¬ duce the Cretans to disperse, but in vain. After the publication, on the twenty-second of September, of a proclamation, the object of which was to induce them to disperse, and in which redress was promised them on almost every point on which they had complained, many were disposed to accede to the Pasha’s solicitation; but others were distrustful, and believed that the fine pro¬ mises now made would soon be disregarded. Not a few of them even held that they were mere Representatives sent there, from the various districts of the island, for a special object; and that they had hardly a right to dissolve their meeting till that object should be attained, unless with the express permission of their constituents: notions which it is not a little singular to find among these ignorant Cretan peasants. The result of all this, however, was, that the next day the number of the assembly was very considerably diminished. On the 27th the French brig of war, Le Palinure, arrived at Sudha; the peasants thought she brought INTRODUCTION. XXXV11 them the French ambassador’s answer to their petition: no such thing however was the case, and the Commander spoke to them as the Consuls had done, exhorting them to submission, and assuring them of the groundlessness of most of their fears. This event caused a further diminution of the numbers assembled at Murnies. A few days later Sir Pulteney Malcolm put into Sudha, in the Britannia, from stress of weather: he told the malcontents, that 66 the Pasha had made them excellent promises which they ought to accept, since, otherwise, now that they had obtained all they wanted, no one could blame Mehmet-Ali, if he adopted rigorous mea¬ sures.” On the 4th October the peasants sent a written statement to the English Admiral, before his departure, communicating to him their final determination to re¬ main assembled until they should obtain the answer of the ambassadors. On the 17th of the same month, an Egyptian squadron, consisting of two ships of the line, three frigates, and four or five smaller vessels, arrived at Sudha. The Greeks flocked round the Admiral, their old acquaintance Osman-Nuredin, (now Osman-pasha,) who had aided Mustafa-pasha in effecting the pacifica¬ tion of the island in 1830, and entreated his protection. On the 8th of November the two Pashas went to Murnies, the place where the thousands had been as¬ sembled. They were accompanied by about two hundred and fifty foot-soldiers and sixty horsemen. They found scarcely a hundred unarmed peasants, and arrested only five or six of them, and even these individuals they set at liberty almost immediately. On the 9th the French schooner La Mesange ar¬ rived at Sudha, and the Greeks, who supposed it to be the bearer of the French ambassador’s answer, were greatly disappointed to learn from its commander, that he was only come to protect Frenchmen and French interests, in case of any disturbance, and could not listen to their complaints. XXXV111 INTRODUCTION. But few persons now remained assembled, and the meeting had for some time lost that formidable character which it certainly possessed as long as it was the spon¬ taneous assemblage of deputies from every part of the island, and from all classes of both religions; and while the whole population was in consternation and excitement on account of the Viceroy’s proclamation. Unfortunately the matter was not allowed to rest here. On the 10th an Egyptian corvette arrived, and landed two hundred men, announcing that four thousand more were on their pas¬ sage under Xsmael-bey, a young major-general, and nephew of Mehmet-Ali. It would seem that new orders were received by Osman-pasha on this occasion ; for, the next morning, the two Pashas went out, at the head of a batallion of infantry and a few horsemen, and arrested thirty-three of the peasants who still remained at Murnies. The soldiers had not occasion to use their arms, no resistance being made. The Pashas announced, by a proclamation, that chains would be the punishment of the obstinate men whom they had seized. On the 14th, three battalions of infantry arrived in ten transports, and every thing remained tranquil. It was at the same time clear, that unless a system less burdensome to the inhabitants of Crete, than that by which Egypt is oppressed, should be adopted, the Cretans would be driven, sooner or later, into real rebellion. Mehmet-Ali, however, was not yet satisfied, and he ordered the Pashas to put a certain number of the Cretans to death : this he owned to M. Mimaut, the Consul-general at Alexandria, who informed M. Fabre- guette, the French Consul in Crete, of the fact; and thus this latter gentleman, knowing what was likely to take place, made strong remonstrances on the spot to both the Pashas. On the l6th of November the Pashas fixed their head-quarters in the plain of Apokorona: they wrote frequently to the Vicerov, endeavouring to obtain a mitigation of his decree, now that the assembly INTRODUCTION. XXXIX no longer existed. The representatives of France and England in Crete also wrote to M. Mimaut and Colonel Campbell, with the same view: in what tone those gen¬ tlemen remonstrated with the Viceroy of Egypt, I know not. The whole month of November thus passed away; and, early in December, the fruits of what may per¬ haps look like the supineness of the European agents at Alexandria, were reaped in almost every district of the island. For Mehmet-Ali, when the Consuls did nothing to stop him, decided on making an example of a cer¬ tain number of Cretans, in order to strike terror into the rest of their countrymen ; and the two Pashas re¬ ceived, while at Fre, the Viceroy’s definitive order. They therefore, on the 3d of December, directed that ten of the thirty-three peasants who had been arrested and imprisoned, should be conducted to Murnies, the place of the meeting, and there hanged. It does not appear that any names were given to the soldiers: the number ten was all that was wanted, and it was quite unimportant whether a Demetrius or a Basil, a Selim or an Ismael was taken. During the previous night, twenty-one other persons were arrested, and executed in different parts of the island. Few of those selected for destruction had been present at the meeting, and it is certain that they were seized simply in such a manner as seemed best calculated to strike terror into the whole population 1 . It was evident that both the Pashas had been com¬ pelled to adopt this savage step against every wish and opinion they entertained. When it was taken, Osman- Nuredin remained a few days longer at Fre, and then went on board a fast-sailing brig, giving orders to his 1 France is far better represented in Crete than any of the other great powers of Europe : M. Fabreguette had done all he could to avert this blow from the Cretans, and although he failed to do so, perhaps succeeded in dimi¬ nishing its violence. The details of the executions of seven of the Viceroy’s victims are given in Vol. n. pp. 177—180. XL INTRODUCTION. squadron to follow him to Egypt. Nevertheless he made sail, not for Alexandria, but for Mytilene, where he landed a few days afterwards, and thence went to Con¬ stantinople. It would seem that the indications of savage barbarism of character displayed by the Vice¬ roy with regard to Crete, had no slight share in deter¬ mining the enlightened Osman-pasha, who had been entirely educated in Europe, and was the most distin¬ guished Turk in Egypt, to abandon his master. It would be difficult to describe the effect produced on all the inhabitants of the island by these atrocious murders. Every one, even the most peaceable, felt that he might have been seized : and this feeling was com¬ mon to both Christians and Mohammedans. It has been observed, that Mustafa and Osman- Nuredin, in one of their proclamations addressed to the people at Murnies, told them that chains would be the lot of those who remained assembled. The Pashas, therefore, it is plain, never anticipated any such sangui¬ nary ferocity on the part of their master. Moreover, of the thirty-three thrown into prison, ten being selected quite at random and hanged, the other twenty-three were released; so that, although this truly Oriental justice hangs ten persons, yet it lets twenty-three (who were just as culpable as the others) escape without even the slightest punishment. Doubtless, if these measures of the Viceroy’s Repre¬ sentatives had been anticipated, the Sfakians would have risen in open revolt, and would have been joined by all the inhabitants, of both religions, in the country: but the executions took place simultaneously, and with¬ out any one’s having expected such a catastrophe. My reader now knows something of the condition of Crete at the end of 1833, within two months of the time when I landed at Khania. TRAVELS IN CRETE KHANI A. CHAPTER I. VIEW OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. ARRIVAL AT KHANIA. THE RAMAZAN AND CARNIVAL. TOWN OF KHANIA. VENETIAN REMAINS. LION OF SAINT MARK. SAINT TITUS THE PATRON OF CRETE. CONSULS OF THE EUROPEAN POWERS. FESTIVAL OF THE BAIRAM. VISIT TO ISMAEL-BEY. LANGUAGE OF THE CRETANS. THE MOHAMMEDANS OF CRETE DRINK WINE. THE SITE OF CYDONIA DETERMINED. February 8, 1834. On entering the gulf of Khania I was struck with the grandeur and beauty of the White Mountains, which well deserve the name bestowed on them by both ancients and moderns, and attract the notice of every one who passes the southern promontories of Laconia, either on approaching or leaving the islands of the Egean. The fame of the Cretan Ida is greater than that of these snow-clad summits, and I had some difficulty VOL. i. A 2 VIEW OF KHANIA. [chap. in persuading my companions that the majestic forms before us were not those of the loftiest and most cele¬ brated mountain in the island 1 . At daybreak this morning, we could only just dis¬ cern the distant outline of the Taenarian promontory : now, we rapidly approached the city of Khania 2 ; the minarets of which, towering above its other buildings, and conspicuous from afar, were the first sensible object that reminded me of the wide difference between the social scenes which I had left, and those by which I should soon be surrounded. As the boats of the Hind pulled into the harbour, to land me with my companions, we were asked, in a language the sounds of which I had not heard for 1 From the neighbourhood even of Cape Matapan it may be possible to see Ida, when the atmosphere is very clear; but many travellers make the mistake of my companions. As Monsieur de Lamartine rounded the Laco¬ nian cape, on sailing towards Nauplia, these White Mountains, on which there was undoubtedly no snow when he saw them early iu August, drew from him the poetical apostrophe: “Void les sommets lointains de File de Crete, qui s’elevent a notre droite, void Vida , couvert de neiges qui parait d’ici comme les hautes voiles d’un vaisseau sur la mer.” Voyage en Orient, par M. Alphonse de Lamartine, Tom. i. p. 124. Solinus, in speaking of Crete, c. xvi. says : “ Albet jugis montium—qui ita excandescunt ut eminus navigantes magis putent nubila.” 2 Ta Xavia. It is usually called La Canea by the Italians, who began by calling it Cania, and La Canee by the French. English and German travel¬ lers and writers, who have mostly been ignorant of the language spoken in the island, have naturally adopted the Italian name. The old traveller The vet, Cosmographie de Levant, fol. 28. ed. Anvers, 1556, calls the city Alquenee, a name derived from the sound of alia Canea, which he may have heard uttered by Venetians. A very general corruption of the same kind has been produced, in the names of many ancient places, by the Italians, during the middle ages. Thus eis tijv Ala has become Standia; eh t rjv Kw, Stanchio; eh ty\v Arjgvo, Stalimene ; and so forth. The ancient appel¬ lations of these places are alone those by which they have ever been known to their inhabitants. An origin of the European barbarism, Stalimene, was suggested, nearly three centuries ago, by Belon, Observations de plusieurs Singularitez etc. fol. 25. Ch. xxv. u Nous trouvons que Lemnos est nommee en Italien Stalimene, de nom corrompu de deux dictions Greques vulgaires, Sto, et Limni: Sto est a dire A, et Limni Lemnos.” It is not the words St 6 Afjgvi., but St^V A rjfLvo, that contain the elements of the corruption. Stan- limene was naturally converted into Stalimene. Constantinople also is still called tj IIoAis, or eh t i)u HoXlv, by the Greeks, although the Turks have corrupted the latter expression into the single word Istambol. I.] MOHAMMEDAN FAST. CHRISTIAN FESTIVAL. 3 several months, whether we had come from a Turkish port; and thus learnt that Mehmet-Ali has bestowed on Crete a sanitary establishment. Coming as we did from Malta, we landed immediately, as, in all likelihood, we should have done, even if we had been from Con¬ stantinople 3 . I delivered to the British Consul, Signor Capo Grosso, a native of Spalatro who has resided more than half a century in the Levant, a letter of introduction from the Admiral, Sir Pulteney Malcolm : and I was received by him with even greater demon¬ strations of hospitality than I could have wished; for he would not hear of my hiring apartments in the city, but insisted on my becoming his own guest. At sunset a salute was fired from the guns of the fortress, and the minarets of the different mosques in the city were illuminated with numberless lamps. Just at this season Ramazani’s fast Through the long day its penance did maintain ; But, when the lingering twilight hour was past, Revel and feast assumed the rule again. Similar nightly festivity and revelry were likewise in¬ dulged in, during the first days of our stay in Khania, by the families of all the Consuls. This year the Carnival of the Catholics, and the Ramazan of the Mohammedans, happen at the same time. The uniform tranquillity, which now reigns within the walls of this fortified city, is very different from the habitual violence, in which the Mohammedan Kha- niotes used to indulge before the Greek revolution. The population is nearly six thousand souls, of whom the Christians and Jews amount to about the seventh part. The Venetian city dates from a.d. 1252, when a colony was sent to occupy it. The object of the foundation was to keep down the Greeks, who had been in arms, and at open war with their Italian lords, almost without 3 In Crete a slight quarantine is now imposed on ships of war, but only when from a place where the plague is actually raging. 4 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS [CHAP. intermission, from the day when the Venetians first set foot on their shores 4 . As I walked through the streets of Khania, the period when Venice possessed the island was often re¬ called to my mind. The arches seen, in the view of the port and city at the head of the chapter, were designed for Venetian Galleys 5 ; and coats of arms are still observed over the doorways of some of the prin¬ cipal houses 6 . Most of the churches, both Greek and Latin, have been converted into mosques: the chapel of San Rocco is however still recognized by the fol¬ lowing inscription on the frieze of its entablature: DEO O. M. ET D. ROCCO DICATVM MDCXXX. We have here an instance of the not uncommon Roman Catholic custom, of inscribing on a church the name of the Saint to whom it is dedicated. A similar practice existed among the heathen Greeks and Romans, from whom, in all probability, the modern usage has been derived. It would fill a page to enumerate the pagan temples on which were thus inscribed the names both of deities and of those deified mortals whom the 4 Cronaca Veneziana dal Primo Doge Paoluccio Anafesto, cioe dall’ anno DCXCV sino al MCCCCXXX. (In this MS. there is a gap from 824 to 1244.) See the Catalogo della Biblioteca Marciana, p. 226. The MS. is numbered Codice xix. At pag. 27. Del 1252. “Li Greci de l’isola de Candia ano avuto sempre mal animo contra la Signoria de Venetia, non contend star sotto quela. Cognosando la Signoria de Venetia, la delibero de far una cita fra Candia et Retimo (this is a very great topographical mistake of the Chronicler) per astrenzer li diti Grecj, et cusi fo edifichado la tera de la Cania, et in quel luogo fono mandati molti zentilhomeni ad habitar de li, con le condition che sono mandati li altri zentilhomeni in Candia. Et fato la Cania el primo retor che fo mandado fo Mess. Felipo Zulia (that is Giuliani).” See also Cornaro, or, to use his Latin name, Cornelius, Creta Sacra, Vol. i. pp. 278. & 283. The existing fortifications of the principal cities of Crete were, however, constructed by the Venetians at a much later period. 5 The lighthouse near the entrance of the port no longer exists: it fell in a stormy night while I was in Crete. 6 One is accompanied by a date and an inscription: MVLTA TVLIT FECITQ A f PATER SVDAVIT ET ALSIT ET STVDVIT DULCES I 1 SEMPER REQVIESCERE NATOS CIOIOCVIII IDIB IAN. OF THE VENETIANS. 5 !•] Saints of the Romish and Greek churches so closely resemble 7 . The following bas-relief and inscription is at a considerable height from the ground, in the Venetian building now used as a military hospital for the regular Arab troops of Mehmet-Ali. There are few cities in the East, over which Venice has ruled, where the traveller fails to notice the standard of Saint Mark : 7 It will suffice to refer to Spanheim, de Praest. et Us. Numism. Antiq. Diss. xm. pp. 649—652. I need hardly add Lucian, Ver, Hist. i. 32. and ii. 3. with the well-known temple of Mylasa, (Pococke, Description of the East and some other Countries, Vol. n. Part n. p. 61. ed. Lond. 1745. Chandler, Travels in Asia Minor, c. lvi. Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage Pittoresque en Grece, Tom. i. p. 144. Leake, Asia Minor, p. 230.) that of Augustus at Assos, and others found in works on the antiquities of the city of Rome. There can be little if any doubt that the letters AM Aiya'up Kai avTtj, ev 6e Toh kcnrepioL^ t?}s KpjjTtjs p-epetri, Kai 67r lQ aXaTTia. On Gemistus, or Pletho, as he is likewise called, the reader may consult Fabricius, Bib. Graec. Vol. xn. pp. 85—101. ed. Harl. Villoison, Anecdota, Tom. n. p. 244. Siebenkees, on Strabo, Tom. i. p. xxxvi. DISAPPEARANCE OF ANCIENT REMAINS. 15 the entrance of which there were rocks or shallows: an accurate description of the port of the modern town. This identity of the actual physical features observed in and near the harbour of Khania, with those assigned by ancient writers to Cydonia, must, I think, be ad¬ mitted as irresistible evidence of the situation of the ancient city. No one will expect to find remains of walls, temples, or public buildings, constructed in ancient times, in or near a city, which experienced so many vicissitudes of fortune in its middle-age history. The five bastions of Khania must alone have sufficed to consume almost every evidence of the locality of Cydonia which existed at the time of their construction. But, although it is in vain that we now endeavour to find traces of the ancient city, either within the walls or in the immediate vicinity of the modern Khania 31 ; yet I have had the good fortune of discovering, among the manuscripts of the Library of the Arsenal, at Paris, proofs that, in all probability, such vestiges existed less than a hundred and forty years ago. Monsieur Louis Chevalier, Pre¬ sident of the Parliament of Paris, who was in Crete in the year 1699, saw, outside of Khania, and near the Mohammedan cemetery, remains of mosaic work, which he describes very minutely, and which seem to have belonged to some ancient temple 32 . 31 It is impossible to place any reliance on Savary’s account, Lettres sur la Grece, Lettre xxix. p. 256. I know not what he can have taken for “des restes d’anciennes murailles construites avec beaucoup de soliditeand cannot but suppose this to be one of the passages, which serve to justify the observa¬ tion of his friend Sonnini, Voyage en Grece et en Turquie, Tom. 1 . p. 349: “ Comme voyageur, Savary s’egare au-dela des limites que l’exactitude a posees.” 32 Voyage du Levant, etc. par Mr Louis Chevalier, Tom. 1 . p. 99. MS. No. 19, in the Bibliotheque de 1’Arsenal: “Hors de la ville sur le grand chemin pour aller au port, (he means to the port of Suda, where his ship was lying,) joignant le cimetiere des Turcs, qui tient beaucoup de terrain, on voit des restes d’un pave fait de petites pierres d’un pouce quarre ou environ de diametre, 16 OLIVIER, POCOCKE AND PROFESSOR HOECK. [CHAP. Pococke says : “ About five miles to the south-south¬ west of Canea, there is a hill among the mountains, on which there are some ruins: I conjecture that this hill is Mount Tityrus, on which, according to Strabo, the city of Cydonia seems to have been situated 33 . 1 ’ According to Strabo, Cydonia does not seem to have been situated on Mount Tityros. The words of the Geographer it is impossible to mistake: 46 In the Cydonian district there is a mountain Tityros, on which there is, not the Dictaean, but the Dictynnaean temple. Cydonia is situated on the sea”. Thus the assumption, that the city was built on the mountain, is absolutely contradicted by the very author on whose alleged autho¬ rity it is made. Olivier gives a sufficiently accurate account of the wretched ruins of walls which exist on the hill in question 34 ; but is greatly mistaken in supposing them to be the remains of an ancient city. They are merely those of a middle-age fortress, and are utterly un¬ worthy of any minute description 35 . I should not have dwelt so long on this dry topo¬ graphical question, if Pococke’s hypothesis had not obtained the assent of a distinguished living scholar, Professor Hoeck 36 , to whom every one, who takes an interest in the antiquities of Crete, is under great obligations. diametre, de differentes couleurs, et par eompartiment. Ce pave est tres bien conserve, et paroit fort ancien. 11 y a lieu de croire qu’il y a eu anciemment a cet endroit quelque temple.” 33 Pococke, Description of the East and some other Countries, Vol. n. Part i. Ch. in. p. 247. 34 Olivier, Voyage dans 1’Empire Othoman, Tom. 11 . Ch. xi. p. 289. 35 I long put off my visit to them, for, convinced that Strabo’s expressions were conclusive as to the site of Cydonia, and not expecting to find ruins of another ancient city at this spot, I inferred that they would prove to be, what I found them, one of the innumerable fortresses which were constructed here in the middle ages, and most of which were built, soon after the Venetians first obtained possession of the island, at the commencement of the thirteenth century. 36 Hoeck, Kreta, Vol. 1 . p. 383. I.] BLOCKADES OF CYDONIA AND KHANIA. 17 The power and importance of Cydonia, in all the affairs of Crete, are made manifest by several passages of Polybius and Strabo. At one time she carried on hostilities, single-handed, against both Cnossos and Gortyna 37 . The first engagement between the Cretans under Lasthenes and Panares, and the Roman legions under Metellus, was fought in the Cydonian district 38 . The Romans were victorious, Metellus was saluted Imperator, and laid siege to Cydonia 39 . Now the ancient city, in all probability, obtained most of its water from the same copious source as supplies the modern town. Of this it must doubtless have been deprived, on its investment by the Romans. Hence the account given, of the sufferings from thirst of the be¬ sieged Cretans, probably relates solely to the inhabitants of Cydonia 40 . Thus too, in modern times, the Greeks, immediately on acquiring possession of the district round Khania, cut off this supply of water, from want of which the city, though peopled only by six or seven thousand inhabitants, greatly suffered 41 . 37 Livy, xxxvii. 40. “ Cydoniatae bellum adversus Gortynios Gnos- siosque gerebant.” 38 Appian, Cretica, Vol. i . p. 99. ed. Scliweigh. Kal vlkS. fiev 6 MeVeX- Xos kv KvSwvLa Aatrdevri. Cydonia is also first mentioned by Livy, Epit. Lib. 98. 39 Phlegon, in Photius, Biblioth. Cod. 97- p. 84. Bekk. and the authors last cited. 40 Valerius Maximus, vii. 6. Externa. “Cretensibus nihil tale prae- sidii affulsit: qui obsidione Metelli ad ultimam usque penuriam compulsi, sua jumentorumque suorum urina sitim torserunt, justius dixerim quam sustentarunt.” 41 Correspondance du Vice-Consul d’Autriche (Mons. D’Her- culez,) Lettre du 31 Aout, 1821. u J’ai ete victime de l’epidemie qui regne dans la ville, depuis que les Grecs ont coupe l’eau, et que nous sommes reduits a boire l’eau des puits, qui est salee.” Again, under the date of 19 March, 1822 : “ Ces jours derniers les Grecs ont encore coupe les eaux de la ville— trois cent insurges ont mis en deroute mille deux cent Turcs, qui etaient sortis de la ville pour proteger la reparation des aqueducs.” VOL. I. B 18 VICINITY OF KHANIA. [(’HAP. CHAPEL AND CEMETERY OF HAGHIA TRIADHA. CHAPTER II. VISIT TO HAGHIOS ELEUTHERIOS. DESCRIPTION OF THE MONAS¬ TERIES AND GROTTOS OF THE AKROTERI. Since the districts of Crete, which are most likely to be interesting, have been but little explored, I shall notice very briefly such parts of the island as have been sufficiently described by modern travellers. Among these the immediate vicinity of Khania may safely be included. The beauties of its plain, which extends from the gate of the city to the Rhiza 1 , have been care- 1 The “Piemonte” of Western Crete; the term includes the whole of the lower northern slopes of the Sfakian Mountains. II.] MONASTERY OF HAGHIOS ELEUTHERIOS. 19 fully delineated 2 . I must’however speak of some monas¬ teries, and of two natural grottos, in the neighbourhood. The village of Murnies is somewhat less than three miles to the south of Khania, at the foot of the moun¬ tains. Near it is the monastery of Haghios Eleutherios 3 , which, as well as Haghia Kyriake, was formerly a metokhi of Haghia Khrusopeghe. The principal mo¬ nastery has been long deserted. The society of Haghios Eleutherios consist of an Abbot or Hegumenos 4 , and five monks. On visiting them I found the Abbot dressed, as is usually the case, in the same simple man¬ ner as his brethren. He was delighted to talk Greek with me, and told a long story about a treasure dis¬ covered some time ago by Europeans. On visiting the chapel of the convent, I observed not only paintings of the Virgin, Christ, Demetrios, and other Saints, but also a crucifix, consisting of an iron cross with a Christ in high relief on it. I suggested to the worthy Abbot that it was a novelty to see any thing so nearly ap¬ proaching the practice of the Roman Catholic Church in a Greek place of worship, where paintings alone, and not statues or bas-reliefs, are allowed 5 . He admitted that the thing was prohibited 6 , and, in itself, wrong; but added, that the crucifix had been there many many years, and contained within it a piece of the true cross 7 . In an engagement with the Mohammedans, during the revolution, a priest stood with it in his hand. As long 2 See Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, Tom. i. p. 23. Savary, Let- tres sur la Grece, Lettre xxxiv. Sosrsrixi, Voyage en Grece et en Turquie, Ch. xvi—xx. Sieber, Reise nach der Insel Kreta, Vol. i. p. 129, fol. 3 Toy dyiov ’EXeudeptoi/. 4 '0 'H yov/ievo^. 5 There is a celebrated picture of the Virgin at Megaspelaeon, which is said to have been made by St Luke, several of whose paintings are seen in Roman Catholic churches. The image “attracts the visits of pilgrims, and makes a great addition to the revenue of the pious establishment.” See. Dodwell’s Tour through Greece, Vol. n. p. 450. It is said to be made of lentisk wood : Bartholdy, Voyage en Grece, Part. n. p. 21. Fr. trans. The Greeks have two other paintings, which are called works of the same artist: see Hartley, Researches in Greece, Ch. xn. pp. 181. 183. and 359. s Elyai ^uiro£«rjuei/o to 7 rpdytxa. 7 Tow 'ti/jliou cr'ravpou. 20 MODERN GREEK SUPERSTITIONS. [chap. as the affray lasted, balls were whizzing about him, and killing or wounding every one near; but, of course, he remained unhurt. Again, whenever any one pos¬ sessed by a demon 8 kisses it, the unclean spirit at once leaves him. After recounting to me all its virtues the Hegumenos himself devoutly kissed the face of the Christ, which is worn away by these salutations, almost as much as the toe of Saint Peter’s great statue at Rome, and restored it to its place in the Church. As to the piece of the true cross which this crucifix is said to contain, it may be observed, that the credulity of the Greeks has enabled their clergy to supply every monastery with some precious reliques: and these of the true cross are numerous enough here, as well as in Ca¬ tholic countries, to justify Swift’s account of “my lord Peter’s old sign-post, with nails and timber enough in it to build sixteen large men of war 9 .” About half an hour’s walk from the gate of Khania is the village of Kalepa, situated on a rising ground not far from the shore. Prom above this village a beautiful view is obtained. On the spectator’s left are seen the noble snow-clad Sfakian mountains, and part of the plain of Khania, which also lies extended before him. To his right is the fortified city, with its port and shipping; beyond which the eye, passing over the wide gulf of Khania, rests on the Dictynnaean promontory, and observes, still further in the distance, the Corycian cape, which terminates the view. The road from this spot to the monastery of Haghia Triadha 10 runs near two or three villages, without enter- 8 Acu/uloulov. On the casting out of demons, in the primitive Church, see Middleton, Free Inquiry, p. 80; and, on the miracles effected by the simple sign of the Cross, p. 136. 1st edit. A copious account of the order of Exorcists, who became a regular part of the ecclesiastical establishment, even in early times, and could only be ordained by the Bishop, is given in Van Dale, de Orig. et Prog. Idol, et Superst. Diss. in. c. vn. 9 Swift, Tale of a Tub, §. 4. The wonderful wood was supposed to possess a secret power of vegetation: see Gibbon’s ecclesiastical authorities, Decline and Fall, c. XXIII. 10 To fiova