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Jt?4a. 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ISLAND OF CRETE, 
 
 IN THE YEAR 1817. 
 
 By F. W. SIBBER. 
 
 MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUNICH, OF THE IMPERIAL 
 RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF MOSCOW ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER 
 OF THE SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY AT PARIS, &c. &c. 
 
 WITH ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS & CO. 
 
 BRIDE COURT, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1823. 
 
 [Price 3s. (id. sewed, or 4s. in boards.] 
 
LONDON: 
 
 SHACKELL AND ARROWSMITH, JOHNSON’S COURT, FLEET STREET. 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ISLAND OF CRETE. 
 
 The long wished for day of my departure from Trieste at 
 length arrived, on the 22d December, 1816. The wind having be- 
 come favourable, we were requested to put our luggage on board, 
 and hastened with it to the Lazaretto, to pass through it to our 
 ship, which before the time of its quarantine was expired, had 
 already obtained a fresh cargo, and was ready to sail. The 
 guardian, or superintendent, led us through the magazines to a 
 grate door, through which we saw our captain and his people 
 ready to receive us. As soon as it was opened, the guardian 
 made a sign to the sailors to retire, the porters laid down our 
 luggage, and when they withdrew, the sailors took it into their 
 boats to convey them on board. We might still have returned ; 
 but when the captain had given us his hand, we were subject to 
 the laws of quarantine, having touched a person liable to sus- 
 picion of having the plague. 
 
 The following morning we were opposite Pola, the southern 
 point of Istria : the weather was fine ; the fog soon dispersed, 
 and unveiled to our view the magnificent amphitheatre built in the 
 time of Augustus. By the aid of good telescopes, we had the plea- 
 sure of observing all the details, and likewise other ruins situated 
 in the vicinity. But ' ' : wind blowing from the bay 
 
 go below deck. The de- 
 
 of Guarnero, soon 
 
 struction of the crockery and glasses, the dancing about of every 
 piece of furniture in the cabin, the vain efforts of the cabin boy 
 to save some articles, while he himself was thrown from side to 
 
2 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 side, would have appeared ludicrous enough, had not the in- 
 creasing sea sickness damped our mirth ; nor were we much 
 consoled when the cabin boy came tumbling in with a burning 
 lamp, which he hung up before the image of the Virgin, upon 
 which he closed the shutters, and carried two candles in lanterns 
 upon deck, while the crew commenced a most disharmonious 
 litany in the Italian language, intermixed with loud lamentations 
 and various prayers, which made us feel our forlorn situation. 
 The boy came back, and the lamentation had ceased ; but the 
 sea raged with still greater fury. When I took courage to ask 
 the boy how matters stood, I found, to my sorrow, that he un- 
 derstood only the Maltese language ; but the captain soon came 
 and removed our apprehensions, wishing the storm might long 
 continue, if the wind would only blow half a quarter more 
 northerly. 
 
 The Guarnero was passed ; the wind changed as the captain 
 wished ; the sea became more calm ; and the following morning 
 we were off' the coast of Spalatro, but did not see the ruins of the 
 celebrated palace of Diocletian. 
 
 We kept along the Dalmatian coast, passing by the numerous 
 islands ; and on the fourth day, at sun-set, the weather being 
 very fine and serene, came in sight of Monte Gorgano in Apulia, 
 where I had spent some agreeable days a few years before, in the 
 month of May, in studying its very rich Flora. The fine oak 
 forests ( Querceta Gargani) which Horace celebrates, do not 
 now exist. The coast of Dalmatia affords a very interesting 
 
 S ect, on account of the numerous groups of islands, which 
 5 at Spalatro into two great branches, consisting of narrow, 
 long, and parallel islands. Few of them indeed have any 
 wood, and they are chiefly covered with shrubs and bushes ; but 
 this affords a constantly varying view of those lying beyond, 
 which is peculiarly agreeable. Most of them are deficient in po- 
 pulation, on account of the danger arising from the pirates that 
 infest these seas. Travelling on the coast is very difficult, from 
 the mountainous nature of the country, and because the facility 
 of the communication by water causes the roads to be neglected. 
 The soil is very fruitful, and the climate, especially that of 
 Itagusa and Cattaro, excellent. The Dalmatians are skilful 
 sailors, and all the considerable towns have owed their former 
 and present prosperity to navigation. It would be as easy im- 
 mediately to man a large fleet with the ablest seamen, as to raise 
 a good body of troops on the continent. The common Dal- 
 matians are rather rude, but this is chiefly applicable to the 
 mountaineers of the interior, those on the coast having most 
 of them travelled. They are robust and well made, patriotic, 
 v&AVeilflc '■ ^ Rif?*/ _ ' C J ' ^ ? 
 
3 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 by the present government are eminently calculated to raise them 
 in a snort time to a state of civilization, more on a level with 
 that of the provinces nearer to the capital. 
 
 Off the most southerly point of the coast of Dalmatia, near to 
 the first Turkish town, Antivari, the horizon was again overcast 
 and the sea troubled. An unsteady variable wind, accompanied 
 with slight showers, seemed to indicate something uncommon ; 
 the horizon all round looked as if it were twilight, and heavy 
 dark clouds, with an edge as even as if they had been cut, 
 sank lower and lower, and seemed suspended over us. It 
 was about noon, but very dark, tvhen all at once a point, and 
 then another, seemed to issue from the cloud like a hanging dag- 
 ger, and so on in succession, all differing in thickness and length, 
 to the number of twenty perhaps, when the sea itself assumed a 
 singular appearance. A s the tapering clouds descended lower, 
 the surface of the water became agitated, a vapour appeared to 
 come from the sea, which suddenly rose with a spiral motion, 
 like dust in a whirlwind. Through our telescopes we saw the 
 surface foam and boil, and rise spirally with incredible rapidity, 
 drawing up more and more water from the bottom, the black 
 points of the clouds becoming also thicker and longer, till they 
 united with the water below, appearing like an hour-glass. Thus 
 we were surrounded with water-spouts (the name of which is a 
 terror to the mariner), which advanced nearer and nearer to the . 
 vessel, while not a breath of wind was stirring. The eaptain 
 looked serious, and the pilot went into the cabin and fetched a 
 book. The sailors leaned against the ropes and masts, and we, 
 anxiously expecting what was to come, looked alternately at the 
 captain and the pilot. The latter opened the book, turned to- 
 wards the nearest water-spout, and read some sentences to him- 
 self, while no one spoke a word. The captain pointed to the 
 cloud, and observed that the water-spout began to disperse ; in 
 fact, I thought it seemed to diminish ; and the pilot repeated 
 several times the blessing of St. John. In less than half an hour 
 the wind rose, the water-spouts gradually dissolved, the black 
 cloud itself dispersed, and the wind blowing stronger, accompa- 
 nied with heavy rain, we quickly proceeded on our voyage, to 
 the great joy of our captain, who was happy to have escaped 
 such imminent danger. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Corfu I made an interesting observa- 
 tion. — A sailor having taken up some sea water in a pail, which 
 I had asked for to wash my face and hands, at a time when 
 a cold wind was blowing, I was much surprized to find it quite 
 warm, as if it had been taken from a warm spring. I convinced 
 myself that this warmth was diffused over the whole surface of 
 the sea on which wc were sailing, and that it was not merely 
 
4 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete . 
 
 relative, as contrasted with the coldness of the atmosphere, but 
 proceeded from the violent agitation of the waves. The sailor 
 told me, that after a violent storm the seamen preferred bathing 
 amongst the rocks on the coast, because the water was there 
 warmer than in the open sea. This confirmed my observation, 
 that the water is in fact heated by motion and the dashing of the 
 waves, and that this increase of temperature really proceeds from 
 the friction of the water ; for soon after a storm, the warmth of 
 the sea water is often three or four degrees above what it is on calm 
 days. This is, however, true only to a certain depth, for below 
 forty-five feet, the sea is always tranquil, even during the greatest 
 storms, as divers and pearl fishers unanimously agree, and as ex- 
 periments have proved. I fetched my thermometer, and found 
 the warmth of the atmosphere to be twelve degrees and a half 
 (Reaumur), and that of the sea water fourteen and one third, 
 or nearly two degrees more. It is incredible how much the 
 water is heated by the beating of the waves ; for when the cold, 
 and violent north|wind, called Bora, blows at Trieste, (which we 
 found by experiment to pass over at least forty feet in a second) 
 and according to the laws of evaporation ought to cool the sea, 
 which is in the most violent commotion, we on the contrary find 
 the water to be more heated the longer the storm continues. 
 This warmth cannot be communicated to the water from the at- 
 mosphere, but is to be ascribed to the friction of the parts of the 
 * water against each other, and against the various obstacles on 
 the coasts. The saltness of the sea water, and its greater specific 
 gravity, may likewise tend to increase the friction, and conse- 
 quently the production of heat. Unfortunately I had not after- 
 wards a favourable opportunity of examining the increase of the 
 warmth of the sea water after a storm, its decrease below the 
 surface, and the relative warmth of the part of the surface further 
 from the sea shore, which had remained less“ agitated, because 
 such experiments always attract attention in Turkey. 
 
 A glorious night, in which the agreeable motion of the gently 
 agitated vessel had lulled me in the fairest dreams, the conse- 
 quences of the cheerful recollections of a day passed in enjoy- 
 ment, connected the departing eventful year with a new one 
 pregnant with hopes, the accomplishment of which every passing 
 day was to favour ; when I awoke from a half slumber, and the 
 first ray of the sun falling on my couch, joyfully saluted me 
 with the new year. I was soon dressed, and hastened upon 
 deck. 
 
 If ever any thing struck me with surprise, it was the scene 
 that awaited me. The sun had just risen in his usual splendour. 
 Not a cloud obscured the azure sky, and no vapour diminished 
 its lustre. The lofty mountains of Greece, now covered with 
 
5 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 snow, from Pindus to the remote Taygetus, were stretched out 
 before our view. Long steep ridges ran in parallel lines to the 
 south, in uninterrupted succession ; here and there a side 
 branch diverged, divided again, and ran into the sea, forming a 
 steep promontory. On examining some maps of ancient Greece, 
 I was convinced that what lay before us comprehended the whole 
 continent of Greece. We beheld, with delight, Achaia and 
 Elis, Naupactus and Phocis, the district of Olympia, through 
 which the Alpheus flows, and the mountains of Arcadia, where 
 it rises. On the left, the Island of Cephalonia, and on the right 
 Zante, terminated this unrivalled picture. At length we de- 
 scried Parnassus, (the situation of which was easily found in the 
 map) and a moderate north-wind allowed us long to enjoy this 
 fine scene. The further we removed from the island, the more 
 indented did the coast appear, and the more beautiful was the 
 appearance of the branching mountains of the Peloponnesus. 
 The Taygetus came nearer ; the Pentedactylon rose, declining 
 towards Messenia and Sparta, and convinced us of the propriety 
 of its name. Mount Pylon appeared near Methone, and the 
 lofty snow-covered Alps of Thessaly and Bceotia sunk lower and 
 lower in the horizon. It is a peculiarity of our nature rapidly to 
 pass from pleasing to melancholy feelings. The past had fur- 
 nished the memory with nations, events, persons, and deeds. 
 Fancy had ordered them, and pleased herself with the variety of 
 the passing images, and now she imperceptibly came nearer to 
 the present times, which unhappily deprived these scenes of great 
 part of their charm. 
 
 Towards noon, an extremely gentle wind seemed to be dying 
 away into a perfect calm. I was leaning on the stock of the 
 anchor, contemplating the beautiful country before me, when, all 
 at once, the ship trembled violently, and a hollow sound pro- 
 ceeded from the hold. The captain, who stood near me, was 
 embarrassed, and knew not what to think. I fancied that some 
 small quantity of powder, perhaps a musket, had gone off in the 
 hold, when a second and a third weaker shock succeeded, and 
 put an end to our silence ; the sailors declaring it was only an 
 earthquake, and we had nothing to fear. We were besides too 
 far from land to dread a shoal or sand bank ; and the phenome- 
 non was scarcely over, when the wind violently increased, 
 which proves that this slight earthquake had some influence on 
 the atmosphere. This circumstance gave rise to much conver- 
 sation on board, and reminded me of the revolutions which vol- 
 canoes and earthquakes have produced, in ancient and modern 
 times, on the coasts of the Mediterranean, from Asia Minor to 
 Portugal. 
 
 We had the Oenusian islands (now Le Sapienzo) in sight, and 
 
0 Travels in live Island of Crete, 
 
 descried Cape Matapan, the most southern point of Europe 
 A simple mountain chain, with an almost even ridge, branched 
 out from Taygetus, which appeared on the north-east, and im- 
 perceptibly lost itself in this point, beyond which lies the island 
 of Cythera, now Cerigo. 
 
 The Mainotes, a rude quarrelsome people of Greek origin, 
 constantly engaged in petty feuds with each other, hilt closely, 
 united in common danger, always armed, rapacious, dangerous 
 to merchant ships during a calm, are said to be the only genuine 
 descendants of the ancient Spartans, which, however, may be 
 doubted as far as personal descent is concerned, and almost 
 wholly denied with respect to their moral character. Implacable 
 enemies to the Turks, they have never yet been subdued in their 
 fastnesses in Mount Taygetus, and pay no tribute. Travellers, 
 however, who have resided among them, praise their hospitality 
 and other good qualities. They are detested by the other Greeks, 
 who in their turn are contemned by the Mainotes. 
 
 The mean heat at noon since our departure from Trieste, had 
 been always 14° of Reaumur in the shade in the forenoon, never 
 below 12°, and in 'the evening nearly the same as at noon. The 
 following days in this month were rainy, with little sun-shine ; 
 the nights calm ; the rain water which was caught uncommonly 
 warm, viz. 11° R. It is remarkable that the seamen are acquainted 
 with certain points in the Mediterranean, in which there are either 
 violent winds or total calm. As soon as you have passed them 
 opposite winds are met with. A ship may be for days in such a 
 point, and either not advance at all, or run the greatest danger ; 
 but the first is the most common. 
 
 The wind became again unfavourable, and in the afternoon 
 wholly died away. At twilight, while we were all on deck, and 
 the captain had complained of the calm, and was walking up and 
 down in a very ill mood, the crew set up a cry of joy. He had 
 scarcely looked up when he gave the word of command, and 
 they immediately began to set the sails as if they had a good 
 wind, though there was a perfect calm. The captain, with 
 a cheerful countenance, shewed me an almost violet-coloured 
 misty cloud, sweeping along the surface of the sea from the 
 north-west, saying — “ There is wind.” I went to the stern, and 
 it rapidly approached like a black circle ; the sea was ruffled 
 before it rose in small waves, which soon increased, and before 
 they reached the ship a favourable wind swelled the sails. It 
 however soon ceased : the night was calm. At five in the morn- 
 ing the wind rose again ; but as it was south-east our progress 
 was slow, not above three miles an hour ; yet if it had continued 
 the night through, we should certainly have descried this fine 
 morning the lofty mountains of Crete. Precautions were now 
 
7 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 taken, as they had been before, on account of the vicinity of the 
 Mainotes. A double watch was placed on deck, that we might 
 not be taken by surprize. I offered, in case of an attack, to 
 place myself by the sand basket, proving that we might much 
 better defend ourselves by throwing sand in the eyes of our as- 
 sailants, than with rusty sabres and muskets. 
 
 On Saturday the 4th of January, (the 12th day of our voyage) 
 in the morning, we still saw the Island of Cythera (Cerigo) and 
 Cape Matapan. The clouds that hung round Mount Taygetus 
 sunk down, and the weather soon became gloomy and rainy. In 
 a short time, however, the horizon was clear — the mists and 
 clouds vanished, and we again approached the island of Cythera, 
 which rose majestically from the waves. Previously, only, the 
 tops of its mountains were visible, and formed on the water so 
 many single and separate islands, but as we approached these 
 islets became higher and broader, till their bases united and 
 formed one large island. This is a deception not uncommon at 
 sea, when you fancy you have an archipelago of little islands before 
 you, which, on a nearer approach, are found to be only one. 
 I looked up to the eminence, where the fine temple of Cythera 
 once stood, but which had been ruined with the progress of bar- 
 barism. 
 
 On Sunday, January 5, 1817, we passed the channel of Cerigo 
 and Cerigotto, or rather of the two rocky islets (Scogli) Ovo and 
 Pori, and sailed close by the latter, the surface of which was al- 
 ready clothed in the finest verdure, with flQcks of sheep and 
 goats, that are brought thither with their shepherds, and find 
 green pastures during the winter. We were soon opposite a 
 mass of clouds, which at length rose, and shewed us Cape Spoda, 
 till we beheld before us the colossal snow-covered Alps of Crete, 
 the Leucaori or white mountains, called by the modern Greeks 
 Asprowuna ; which, when viewed from the sea, presented a most 
 striking appearance, the clouds dispersing at once, as if they had 
 withheld this majestic prospect, only to heighten our pleasure, by 
 shewing it in the most favourable light. 
 
 The Leucaori grew lighter, clearer, and more defined, and at 
 last old father Ida shewed his head, covered, like the others, 
 with snow. I was astonished at its height, and comparing it 
 with mountains on the continent, which I knew to be 1200 or 
 1300 toises high, I estimated that Ida could not be lower. 
 This explained why Crete was so rich in plants, for its moun- 
 tains were far higher than all those of Greece that we had hi- 
 therto seen. The barometrical measurements made in the sequel 
 confirmed the previous estimate. By means of the Octant, T 
 took the altitude of the mountains, endeavoured to measure the 
 distance on the map, and fixed the height at 7800 feet. 
 
8 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 We approached Cape Grabusa, and then Cape Spoda. I 
 thought the captain would put into Canea, according to our agree- 
 ment ; but he endeavoured to raise a quarrel, to find a pretext to 
 refuse me something to which he felt himself bound. As I 
 perceived, however, that it would cost him two or three days, 
 and detain him from his business in Candia, I would not insist 
 on his putting into Canea ; and on the whole, I was not sorry first 
 to view a considerable part of the island from on board the ship. 
 I took Homann’s map, the most complete that we hitherto possess, 
 turned over Tournefort’s travels, and looked with pleasure 
 through the telescope at the verdant spots, which every where ap- 
 peared upon the promontories. 
 
 The whole night, from eleven o’clock till day-break, the ship 
 tacked. Though the situation was not favourable, Cape Sassoso 
 at length showed us the great and extensive city of Candia (called 
 in Greek Castro, or the Fortress) in the morning dawn. 
 
 Above the vapour that involved the houses of the town, only 
 the minarets and a few lofty date trees rose ; on our right the 
 summit of Ida (now called Psiloriti, the high mountain) was 
 tinged with red, while Dicta, on the left, was still dark, which is 
 a proof that Ida is higher; for Dicta is besides more to the 
 east, and its top should therefore be sooner illumined by the sun- 
 beams. 
 
 The island of Dia lay before us. It is now called Standia. 
 We cast anchor in the most convenient place, and soon made an 
 excursion to this beautiful island, which, though apparently 
 deserted, was covered with verdure, and afforded me a rich 
 harvest of rare plants ; two ferns were particularly remarkable, 
 one of which was quite covered with a silky wool, namely, 
 Desfontaine’s Acrosticlmm lanuginosum. The island is bounded 
 on the north side by perpendicular inaccessible walls of rock, but 
 gradually declines to the south. It is about four English miles 
 in length, and a quarter of a mile broad in the broadest part. 
 We were obliged by the contrary wind to lie some days near this 
 island, and it was not till the 9th of January that we were able 
 to enter the harbour, which is not above sixty or seventy fathoms 
 in breadth, defended on one side from the waves by a mole, with 
 a castle on it, and on the other by a long wall, with a round 
 tower, which stands opposite the castle. 
 
 Every where we see the winged lion, the arms of Venice, and 
 the figure of St. Mark on the old buildings still in perfect pre- 
 servation, as a proof that all this is the work of the industrious 
 Venetians. The Turks have taken no pains to efface these evi- 
 dent testimonies of the former government of the Venetians ; they 
 have only mutilated the heads and faces, and left the arms, dates, 
 &c. untouched, while the works themselves go to ruin. The 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 9 
 
 Turks love to boast of their victories, and of having taken those 
 possessions from the powerful Venetians. They even preserve 
 entire the arsenal and all the trophies, the armour and weapons 
 of the Venetians; and a Greek smith is paid to keep them 
 constantly in good order ; nay, even the corn, salt, and in short, 
 every thing that the Venetians left, is preserved by them in their 
 childish pride at their good fortune. Cannon of the largest size, 
 nearly two hundred and fifty in number, lie on the ramparts 
 without carriages; but they are now quite unserviceable, and the 
 [Mahometans smile at these proofs of their own ignorance. 
 
 Our ship had been observed when she fired a salute, and 
 hoisted the flag on our arrival off Candia, and a crowd of people 
 now came to see us land. The various Mahometan dresses were 
 an agreeable sight to me; and as the Jews have a peculiar phy- 
 siognomy, so I found in the same manner a characteristic feature 
 in all these heterogeneous faces, which was so distinctly marked, 
 that I ever after was able to recognise a Musselman. 
 
 The captain and the pilot went to the house of a Mr. Dome- 
 nico, whither I followed them, curious to learn what they in- 
 tended; for I plainly perceived that they were plotting some- 
 thing together. Their agent, M. Domenico di St. Antonio, a 
 native of Messina, the son of an apothecary, physician to the 
 Pacha of Candia, received me in a friendly manner, urged me to 
 remain with him, caused all my effects to be brought to his house, 
 and shewed more civility than I liked. He forbade a Maltese cap- 
 tain, with whom I chiefly conversed, to take me to the houses of 
 the French consul and other Europeans. On my asking him (the 
 captain) whether there was an Austrian consul here, he gave me 
 an evasive answer ; and an European, with a white cockade, spoke 
 to me at the gate, where I was walking with Domenico’s brother, 
 and seemed to reproach me for not having applied to him, but 
 offering his assistance if I should want it, — he merely said he was 
 from the house of the French consul. He took an opportunity, 
 however, of informing me in an indirect manner, of the prohibi- 
 tion laid upon him. I immediately suspected Domenico, for 
 whom our captain had brought many articles from Trieste. The 
 next day my remaining effects arrived; when Domenico, as- 
 suming a very friendly manner, asked me if I had any written 
 agreement about my passage ? I replied that I had the bills of 
 lading in my trunk on board the ship, and would shew them to 
 him as soon as I opened it. The captain, convinced by this 
 that I had only bills of lading, asked the double of what we 
 had agreed for, besides the freight for the bales, to which my 
 bills of lading referred. He grew insolent, and fancied he had 
 outwitted me ; but I had perceived, before I left Trieste, that he 
 w'as a rogue, and had taken the precaution, the evening before 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIII. c 
 
10 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 I sailed, to obtain from the merchant who recommended him, a 
 written statement of the agreement he had made with him for me, 
 of which transaction the worthy captain knew nothing. Having 
 learnt from the Maltese Captain, Vicenzo, that the European 
 above-mentioned was a Mr. Booze, secretary and interpreter to 
 the French consul, to whom the Austrian consul at Canea, usually 
 confided what he had to do, and that he would therefore, without 
 doubt, assist any Austrian traveller, I slipped out of Domenico’s 
 house, where I was watched like a prisoner, and proceeded to the 
 F rench consulate, where I met Mr. Booze, to whom I stated the 
 case in a few words, saying, I feared to show my agreement 'with 
 the merchant at Trieste, unless he was present, as the captain 
 might deny the signature or destroy the paper. I was soon missed 
 in the house of Domenico, who rightly guessing where I was, 
 hastily came with his brother to seek me, and endeavoured to find 
 out what conversation had passed, by artful questions, but which 
 appeared very singular to the consul to whom I had been talking 
 of the object of my visit to Crete, but who knew nothing of 
 my conversation with Mr. Booze. I smiled ; Booze frowned ; 
 and Domenico was on thorns. Making a sign to Mr. Booze to 
 follow me presently, I took leave of the consul, and withdrew with 
 Domenico. As soon as Mr. Booze arrived at Domenico’s, I opened 
 my trunk which had been brought from on board, took out the 
 bills of lading, and gave them to Domenico, but handed the 
 written declaration to Mr. Booze. He read it half aloud; Domenico 
 looked confused ; the captain grew pale ; and Mr. Booze hand- 
 ing the paper to Domenico, who read it over with much attention, 
 said coolly, I had better give the captain the money imme- 
 diately, as he had many purchases to make. I cheerfully counted 
 down the dollars required ; for I paid only half of the demand 
 so unj ustly made. The worthy captain seemed ready to burst ; 
 swore, cursed, and implicated Domenico. I, however, threw over 
 the whole affair the cloak of Christian charity, and took no fur- 
 ther notice : — But to do my duty to travellers who might have 
 to do with this captain, I drew up a concise statement of the 
 transaction, had it certified by the consul at Canea, and, as the 
 captain had taken a cargo for Trieste, sent it by a Turkish vessel 
 hound to the same port, to his Excellency Count Von Chotek, 
 the governor, who, on the arrival of the captain, caused him to 
 be properly reprimanded for his illegal conduct. 
 
 The same evening I took a walk with Domenico on the ram- 
 parts, where I found the Palma Christi as thick as a man’s body, 
 from twenty to twenty-five feet high, the bunches of flowers 
 from two to three feet in length, and uncommonly large : on 
 heaps of rubbish in the town ditch was the Physalis somnifera 
 in full blossom, and Hyosciamus aureus on all the walls ; but what 
 
11 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 most pleased me, was a branch of the Capparis Eyyptiaca, with- 
 out leaves or flowers indeed, but which I recognised to he a 
 Capparis by the wood, and by the two gold coloured bent 
 thorns, to he of the Egyptian kind, the existence of which in 
 Europe was not before known. On the way Domenico tried to 
 persuade me send my firman to Canea, and not to go with it 
 myself, fearing, as I thought, that I should complain about my 
 captain. 
 
 On Sunday the 13th of January, the New Year’s Day of the 
 Greeks, Mr. Domenico, who had married a Greek woman, gave 
 an entertainment, by which he intended to distinguish himself; 
 besides some Greek merchants and relations, he had invited the 
 F reach consul and his lady. Our pilot was also present, but not 
 our captain, who said that he did not like such fine company, and 
 preferred dining off a pickled herring on board his own ship. 
 The truth was, that he was afraid his bad conduct would have 
 been mentioned in my presence. A square table was laid with 
 plates, knives, and forks, as with us, which is the custom of the 
 Greeks when they are in company with Europeans, and are not 
 obliged to conform to the manners of the Turks. 
 
 Before dinner was brought up, a servant went round to each 
 guest, holding in his left hand a basin, which had a conical lid 
 with holes in it, upon which lay a soap ball, which he wetted, while 
 the servant at the same time washed his hand, the dirty water run- 
 ning through the lid into the basin. After this ceremony a pre- 
 lude was played upon the admirable lyre which the captain had 
 brought with him, and some Greeks sung to it. The entertain- 
 ment, with a few differences, was entirely European ; but what 
 struck me the most, were the nosegays, which I at first supposed 
 to be artificial, considering the season of the year, and the more 
 so as the hyacinths and narcissusses were remarkable for their size 
 and beauty, but their perfume convinced me they were natural, 
 and I was told that the neighbouring peasants brought them to 
 market at this time, and cultivated them in their gardens, without 
 particular care. Among them were jessamine, orange and lemon 
 flowers, and the ornithogaluin Arabicum, a very beautiful lilia- 
 ceous flower. 
 
 After dinner dances were executed first in the European and 
 then in the Candiot manner. In the latter, a performer on the 
 guitar took his station in the middle of the room, and the spec- 
 tators seated themselves on the low sofas next the wall. A row 
 of twelve or thirteen Grecian women, with one man at their 
 head, joined hands, and moving their bodies backwards and 
 forwards, advanced at every note, half a step in the circle. The 
 playing on the guitar was a monotonous recitative, which at last 
 became tiresome. The strictness of etiquette did not allow any 
 
IS Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 other dance ; but in the islands of the Archipelago there is less 
 constraint. I here became acquainted with the Missionary of 
 Canea, who intended soon to return to that city. He is uncom- 
 monly well skilled in the Grecian jargon of this country, and 
 offered to bear me company to Canea, which I gladly accepted, 
 and approved of his advice to go in my boat instead of going 
 by land. 
 
 Another entertainment, which Mr. Stephanaki, a rich Greek 
 merchant, who with his father, an old man of eighty, was after- 
 wards a sacrifice to the popular fury, gave to our captain, who 
 had brought him Styrian planks and other timber from Trieste, 
 was remarkably well arranged and agreeable. On this occasion 
 I became acquainted with the principal native physician, Mr. 
 Giovanni Eleothereo, a very well-informed man, who spoke 
 Italian and French with great ease, and Latin (which is very 
 rare,) with fluency and elegance; and was perfectly well ac- 
 quainted with ancient Greek. He also spoke Persian and Arabic 
 uncommonly well, and it was generally allowed that in the 
 Turkish, nobody in the whole island excelled him, for which rea- 
 son he was often sent for, to explain the meaning of the firmans 
 from Constantinople, and many obscure passages in the language 
 of the Divan. He received his education from his father, who 
 took his degree at Padua. He possessed the works of Fr. Hoffman, 
 Frank, Haller, Morgagni, &c. ; and it was surprising what accu- 
 rate anatomical knowledge he had acquired by means of copper- 
 plates, without ever having dissected a body, which is considered 
 as a great crime in this island. He communicated to me much 
 interesting information. 
 
 At table every one was called upon to repeat a distich, the 
 final syllables of which frequently rhymed, and which was to be 
 in honour of the host or any other person. On the following day 
 Domenico took me to see the gardens of some Turkish inhabi- 
 tants, who, as he was the Pacha’s physician, and also theirs, ad- 
 mitted him as soon as possible after they had shut up the women. 
 The gardens were simply laid out ; roses, hyacinths, narcissusses, 
 tulips, some imperial-crowns, the jessamine which blossoms the 
 whole year, rivalled the perfume of the orange and lemon trees, 
 which were loaded at the same time with flowers and fruit. In 
 each garden there were one or two large moss-rose trees, the 
 cypress stood in one corner, and a date tree generally over- 
 shadowed the favourite seat. In the middle of the garden there 
 was, for the most part, an open summer-house, with a basin and 
 fountain in the centre of it, and couches all around. The great 
 scarlet-bean climbed up it ; the vine and blue violet were com- 
 mon, and the whole garden was surrounded by a wall. On a sud- 
 den I heard the Muezin proclaim the hour of noon from a high 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 13 
 
 minaret. His cry did not appear to me so inharmonious and dis- 
 agreeable as the noise of the Turkish music, which began to 
 play in the neighbourhood. The beauty and size of the oranges 
 in one garden excited my astonishment. On a single stem there 
 was a cluster of seven oranges which weighed four pounds. The 
 trees with their golden fruit shone in the sun, and I seemed to 
 be in the gardens of Hesperia. The loaded trees bent to the 
 ground, and heaps of the fallen fruit lay scattered on the earth. 
 The finest oranges may be bought for a penny a dozen. There 
 were also sweet lemons, with a peculiar taste of raspberries, sweet 
 oranges, with thick and thin rinds, large rough bitter ones, 
 large citrons weighing five or six pounds, and many varieties of 
 oranges, about twelve on the whole, all equally excellent. At the 
 end of the garden stood a wild prickly citron tree, with small 
 fruit. In the whole Archipelago, there is no island which pro- 
 duces such fine oranges and lemons as Crete. A thousand of the 
 latter often cost less than a dollar. 
 
 On leaving the garden I perceived marjoram in pots, and th ejas- 
 minum sambac. I here first saw the Egyptian goat, ( capra mam- 
 brica,') which differs from our goat, by its pointed head, short 
 horns bent backwards, and extremely long hanging ears, resem- 
 bling those of the European hound. It comes from Egypt, whi- 
 ther it was probably brought from some other country, and is much 
 esteemed on account of its fecundity and excellent milk, and pre- 
 ferred to the common goat. 
 
 Having visited with Domenico, several gardens which nearly 
 resembled each other, we made an excursion out of the gates. 
 We found many rare plants and fine insects. Here, for the first 
 time, I saw the Lepers, who occupy a separate suburb, before 
 the fortress of Candia, and are never permitted to enter the town. 
 I shuddered at the sight of so much misery ; most of them had 
 lost their hands and feet, and showed their crippled stumps, 
 soliciting compassion and alms, in a squeaking voice, or in almost 
 unintelligible words spoken through the nose. I had afterwards 
 an opportunity of making important observations, which I shall 
 mention in the sequel. We viewed the excellent fortifications of 
 the City of Candia, the fruitless siege of which, cost the Turks so 
 many lives, till it was surrendered to the Porte bv capitulation. 
 All my motions were watched by the idle Turks, and I scarcely 
 dared to look up at the Avails, but while I was gathering plants, I 
 was able to look sideways at them. ' 
 
 Nothing is more agreeable to the traveller than the sight of 
 the date-palm Avhen it has a high stem, its rustling in the Avind is 
 peculiar, and very pleasing to hear. The long leaves croivd to- 
 gether on one side, and when the Avind abates, they extend in a 
 picturesque manner on every side, resuming their former position. 
 
14 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 The crown bends with the stem and again rises majestically. If 
 it is in flower the male trees are surrounded by a white dust 
 which flies to the female trees, and the most delightful smell of 
 violets perfumes the air. Even the smoke in the cities is odorife- 
 rous and surprising to the stranger, not like the burning resinous 
 smell of our pine and fir, or that of sea-coals ; here they burn 
 nothing but sage, thyme, cistus, cypress wood, marjoram and 
 lavender; bundles of these articles, brought by the country 
 people for sale, are piled up in all the streets, and if in our 
 country we guard against the morning fog, here we willingly 
 open the windows to admit the perfume of the wood just lighted 
 in the kitchen, and await, with the more appetite, the excellent 
 breakfast. 
 
 It is in truth a happy country, in whose pure balsamic air 
 flowers blossom during the whole year, and which even the fog 
 and smoke render more agreeable. However, the smoke of to- 
 bacco is not unwelcome even in Candia, to the lovers of that ex- 
 cellent plant. It is indeed frequently cultivated in this island, 
 but the best comes by way of Cyprus, from Beirout, and Saida, 
 in Syria., 
 
 Dealers in tobacco sit in the market, having before them a , 
 block of wood, and a large knife, with which they cut the to- 
 bacco as fine as down, and pile it up so neatly that it tempts one 
 to purchase. Whole bales lie in the magazines. It is smoked 
 out of low wide clay bowls with long tubes, which come from the 
 north of Turkey; the longer the tube of the pipe, the greater is 
 its value. Most of them are said to be made of cherry tree, jessa^- 
 mine, and Turkish hazel. The length of the tube and the orna- 
 ments upon it are in proportion to the rank of the possessor, but 
 the poor man never smokes out of a tube less than two feet long. 
 The bowls of the pipes are of clay, burnt to a dark red colour, 
 pretty, not durable, and are the same for rich and poor. 
 
 The Turk sets the highest value on the mouth-piece, which is 
 composed of one, or at the most, of three pieces of amber, and 
 often costs from twenty to fifty dollars; in smoking it is not 
 even taken between the lips, but only put to the mouth. The 
 smoke is said to taste more agreeable out of long pipes. They 
 hate short tubes, and therefore asked my servant to lay aside his 
 short pipe, and use theirs. 
 
 On visits the handsomest pipe is offered to the guest, ready 
 filled, and a small brass plate set before him, upon which the 
 head of the pipe is laid. The servant then brings a buniing coal, 
 having previously taken off’ his slippers, lets it lie on the pipe till 
 the tobacco is kindled, and then takes it away. Politeness re- 
 quires you to accept a pipe, and take some whiffs, and then return 
 it to the servant ; it would be impolite to have a second pipe 
 
 / 
 
15 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 filled, and still more so to refuse the first. The tobacco pouches 
 are make of silk, or other materials, and sometimes of leather ; 
 but at home they use tin boxes to keep it in. Tobacco pays only 
 a moderate duty, and the cultivation, as well as the trade, is free. 
 Women smoke but little, and boys often before they are twelve 
 years of age. The Turks do nothing but smoke all the day long, 
 and it would be interesting to know how they passed their time 
 before the discovery of tobacco. 
 
 The Ecclesiastic of Canea was not yet inclined to depart, and 
 Domenico detained me. He employed me as he could. Sicilian 
 good-nature could not be denied him ; I was formally settled in 
 his house, he carefully sought to avoid further misunderstanding, 
 in order to give me a good opinion of himself. He wished to 
 have a barometer and a thermometer ; I gave them to him, also 
 the chart of the Archipelago ; but this 1 very unwillingly parted 
 with; he plundered my library, — I looked on patiently. He made 
 excursions with me almost every day, and visited many patients ; 
 he also spoke to me of a dropsical patient, of high rank, whom 
 he promised to show me, but never did. He had much practice, 
 especially as he was physician to the Pacha ; from whom he re- 
 ceived a considerable salary and many emoluments. Pie had his 
 laboratory in his house, and the medicines were made up either 
 by himself or his brother, a goldsmith. This connection gave 
 him many advantages. He was M agister Chirurgice , and had 
 served in the army ; he had moderate knowledge, but was very 
 superficial, and had not studied much. He gave me but little 
 information. He had a fine Latin edition of Matthiolus, and re- 
 quested me to write under the wood-cuts, the Linnean and 
 common names. I examined his stock of medicines, and in the 
 walks which he took with me, made his servant gather the plants 
 he wanted, such as thyme, mint, &c. ; but particularly great 
 quantities of the fruit of the Palma Christi, which he intended to 
 use for making castor oil. 
 
 On Sunday, the 19th of January, we visited the Greek Metro- 
 politan Church, the largest in the whole island of Candia; it 
 resembled a large room with an antichamber. Silver lamps and 
 candlesticks, reflected the lights in the chapel, which was black 
 with smoke. It was extremely crowded. Nobody was able to 
 kneel ; one papa or priest after the other pressed forward with 
 great difficulty, with his large silver dish, to collect oblations; 
 each following dish was smaller, and less valuable than the preced- 
 ing one. There was no end to the rattling of the money, for 
 thirteen dishes past me. When the first dish came, Domenico 
 kindly advised me not to give too much, because many others 
 would follow, when I should have nothing left. These fine 
 dishes were meant to attract silver, and I lamented that they 
 
16 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 could not be made magnetical to increase the effect. Every body 
 threw in their para, and only a woman, who was quietly praying, 
 laid it without noise on the edge of the plate ; it fell in, and put 
 me in mind of the poor widow in the Gospel. Not one of the 
 dishes was filled, and perhaps the whole sum collected, on all 
 the Sundays and Holidays in the year, may not equal the intrin- 
 sic value of the dishes. On account of the crowd, and confined 
 space, no regard could be paid to propriety. The metropolitan 
 sat in the first seat, and saw the service performed ; Domenico 
 was in the second seat, and I occupied the third. Soon after, a 
 priest brought a large silver basin, quite piled up with little square 
 pieces of bread, which he handed about ; first to the metropoli- 
 tan, who took three pieces ; and, to my surprise, very politely 
 gave one to Domenico, and the third to me. This is, however, 
 not the holy supper, but only a ceremony of the Greek church. 
 Where the priest could not reach, he gave the nearest person a 
 handful, who immediately distributed it to those behind. A 
 deacon read the Gospel and the Epistle ; he had a fine countenance, 
 his hair hung down in curls before, and floated over his shoulders, 
 and his appearance exactly resembled that of St. John the Evan- 
 gelist, as he is usually painted. I preferred looking at him when 
 he was silent. He spoke in a constrained nasal tone, drawled out 
 the close of every period, contracting his nostrils, and for want 
 of example and instruction, had no declamation ; and the com- 
 ment, which was shorter than the Gospel itself, had neither intro- 
 duction nor conclusion. He had but little action, and seemed only 
 to repeat by rote. I he singing of the congregation, which 
 echoed in the walls, was entirely destitute of harmony, expres- 
 sion, and regularity. There were no instruments ; for though 
 the organ is a Greek invention, they hate that noble instrument, 
 without knowing that they depreciate themselves ; and this merely 
 from their inveterate hate to the Latin church, which uses it. 
 They have no bells, except hand-bells. The people in the church 
 were continually making the sign of the cross, and bowing ; but 
 very few were absorbed in silent prayer. 
 
 When service was over we followed the metropolitan, and Do- 
 menico requested me to kiss his hand. I perceived the reason 
 of this request — remained a little behind, and entered a short 
 time afterwards. The ceremony of kissing hands w r as over, and 
 I respectfully saluted a man, of a dignified appearance, becom- 
 ing his rank. As usual at visits, we took our seats round the 
 room on the divan. Small cups of black coffee, with the grounds, 
 and no sugar, were handed round by a servant. The saucer is 
 generally of thin silver plate : the cups, called Jlizani, are hardly 
 a third part the size of a large coffee-cup. Whoever comes in, 
 if he is invited to sit upon the divan, is entitled to a cup of coffee. 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 17 
 
 It is drank without sugar, on the pretext that it is not agreeable, 
 when tobacco is smoked with it ! 
 
 The pipes were filled with Syrian tobacco, and after a few 
 whiffs, the servant took them away again, upon a sign being given 
 him. None but deacons were employed to do all this, as the me- 
 tropolitan has nobody else in the room. We took leave in the 
 expectation of meeting the whole company in the evening at the 
 French Consul’s, who gave an entertainment. 
 
 He appeared, attended by his clergy, at a splendid repast of 
 forty-eight covers, and as many dishes, as Metropolitan of Gor- 
 tyna, though his See was at Candia. He was accompanied by 
 the Bishop of Gnossus, a venerable old man, and the Bishop of 
 Girapetro, his nephew. His health was drank by the whole 
 company with a couplet (Brindisi). They choose two words 
 which rhyme, and endeavour to connect them together : on this 
 occasion the poetic talent of every guest shewed itself at the se- 
 cond bottle of the good Arcadian wine. Thus, for instance, a 
 Brindisi may be made upon the words Creta and Metropolita. 
 The Missionary forgot all religious differences, and said— - 
 
 i Tanto celebre che & fra tutte le isole la isola Creta 
 
 Tauto piii vien stimato fra tutti i Vescovi, il venerabile Metropolita. 
 
 Every one endeavoured to shew, in the same manner, his re- 
 gard for the esteemed guest. After midnight the Grecian ladies 
 present executed a national dance, which unfortunately only 
 shewed more evidently their constrained and affected behaviour. 
 A young Greek sat down in the middle, with a two-stringed gui- 
 tar, with which he marked triple time, for I cannot call it music. 
 The women, nine in number, who with their hands alternately 
 joined behind, moved slowly in a circle, were led by a man, al- 
 ways taking two steps forwards and one backwards. This unva- 
 ried dance, and monotonous music, seemed to amuse them ex- 
 tremely, and considered as a Grecian custom, is the only free 
 motion which their notions of propriety allow the women in the 
 presence of the men, but which is very different from the free dances 
 of ancient Greece. Thus half the night was passed, and the com- 
 pany broke up. The metropolitan mounted, in the court-yard, 
 a small Cretan horse, and rode home by torch-light, attended by 
 two Janissaries. 
 
 These two entertainments at Domenico’s and the French Con- 
 sul’s, for which preparation had long been making, being now 
 over, there was nothing to hinder me and the Missionary from 
 setting out on our journey. Mr. Booze had the kindness to order a 
 small vessel for us, Avhich was to take us and our effects by way 
 of Cape Sassoso and Maleca to Canea ; but the Turk repented 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIII. d 
 
18 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 of his bargain, and refused to take us. However, the next day 
 we found a better and more reasonable captain, and embarked on 
 the 20th of January, in high spirits. The Capuchin followed 
 us, and it was agreed that we should lodge in his roomy convent. 
 
 I had provided myself with bread, excellent wine, cheese, le- 
 mons, oranges, &c. In the gate, I saw two uncommonly large 
 sheep ; the wool was very long, fine and silky, and as white as 
 snow. The Janissaries on duty were playing with these sheep, 
 which they seem to keep for pleasure. They were quite at their 
 ease, smoking their pipes, and did not even look at my things, 
 to see if there were any prohibited goods among them, but took 
 my word, and let all pass untouched. 
 
 With a faint north-east wind, we sailed slowly towards Cape 
 Sassoso, or the Stony Cape, which has this name from the fine scat- 
 tered groups of masses of stones, smooth rocky walls, projecting 
 banks of earth, covered with shrubs and trees, which have been 
 burst, sunk, and undermined by the storm and fury of the waves. 
 The whole presented, in the moonlight, an enchanting scene, 
 heightened by the snowy top of Ida at a distance : this in- 
 comparable prospect affected us all ; and even the Turks seemed 
 to feel it, for they remarked, with pleasure, the interest we 
 took in it. 
 
 Among the many charts of Candia all are very faulty ; yet, in 
 spite of all the pretended improvements, the old one of Homann 
 is the best ; but it can hardly be otherwise, because it is difficult 
 correctly to determine local positions, merely by observations 
 made on board, and no nation has ever been permitted to make a 
 chart of the Archipelago. We shall scarcely obtain an accurate 
 topographical knowledge of it, till Greece falls into the hands of 
 a civilized nation. 
 
 After midnight, the thermometer was at 12j° R., a degree of 
 warmth superior to many summer nights in Germany. We 
 slowly approached Rettimo, and saw, in the morning twilight, the 
 beautiful environs of that place. Ida lay on the east, and on the 
 right the White Mountains. The wind was faint. Towards 
 evening we reached Cape Drepano, and steered towards the Bay 
 of Suda by moonlight. W e had seen no spot so striking as this ; 
 enclosed by steep grotesque cliffs, projecting rocks, mountains 
 piled upon mountains, and the Leucaori rising in the back- 
 ground, the whole was worthy of the pencil of a Poussin, a 
 Claude, a Hackert, or a Salvator Rosa. 
 
 A pretty strong west wind setting in, we were not able to 
 double Cape Maleca till the following morning, when the wind 
 becoming favourable, we soon reached the Port of Canea. 
 
 The line of snow on the White Mountains came down very 
 low, bordered the terraces of the houses, and the mosques rose 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 19 
 
 above them on the white back-ground. The wind having died 
 away, the swell of the water brought our boat into the mouth 
 of the harbour, and a circle of houses, with balconies, terraces, and 
 steps, surrounded us, among which we sought the residence of 
 the Consul. The Capuchin invited us to come first to his con- 
 vent, which lies in the middle of the city ; on the right hand from 
 the castle, to the palace of the Pacha, there stood round the 
 port an uninterrupted row of the best houses, three or four sto- 
 ries high, and a broad footpath, which is the public walk of 
 Canea, and was crowded with company. 
 
 The houses of the consuls are distinguished from the others 
 by the wooden stage, with a high staff* in the middle, on which 
 the national standard is hoisted every Sunday and holiday, on the 
 arrival of ships of their nation, or on other important occasions. 
 The Turks are offended at the hoisting of the flag: the flag, 
 they say indicates triumph, and the infidels have no right to 
 either arms or flags. They do not like the French flag ; they 
 call it in ridicule a sheet, and say that the Consul once made use 
 of it as such. 
 
 Our boat rowed towards a mosque, behind which lay the Cus- 
 tom-house, near which we afterwards lived : the terraces along 
 the harbour were filled with Europeans, and we recognized 
 every house in which a Frank lived, for they every where ap- 
 peared at the windows. They are happy to see strangers arrive : 
 at a distance from their country all intelligence is welcome. 
 Wherever I landed, they all came to bid me welcome, as if I 
 had been an old acquaintance of every one. 
 
 It was already known that Austrian travellers had arrived in 
 Candia. The French were pleased that I visited the island in a 
 botanical view, they being great lovers of natural history, and 
 offered me their friendship ; but I found it necessary to declare, 
 upon every occasion, that I had not been sent by any govern- 
 ment, for every one had read Tournefort, and thought that I 
 must be similarly situated. They thought too, that it was not 
 possible I could sacrifice my small property on a literary expedi- 
 tion. But this opinion caused my journey to be more expensive 
 than it would have been, for they said that as the Expedition to 
 Brazil was so liberally equipped, the same might be supposed of 
 my enterprise : it was whispered that I only wanted to fill my 
 purse, and lived in a meaner style than I ought to do. 
 
 I had scarcely landed when the Austrian interpreter came up 
 to me, and informed me that the plague had appeared to-day for 
 the first time, after an interval of several months, desiring me 
 not to touch people in the streets, particularly peasants, as it still 
 raged in the western part of the island, in the neighbourhood of 
 Kissamo, and daily carried off* above twenty persons. But the 
 Turkish government had already adopted judicious precautions. 
 
20 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 The peasants, on their arrival, were detained, and guarded out 
 of the city gates : they were permitted to sell their provisions, 
 and immediately sent home. This, however, only delayed the 
 breaking out of the contagion. 
 
 My effects were permitted to pass without examination, on the 
 assurance of the interpreter that they contained no merchandize ; 
 for in Turkey, which is so poor in manufactures, there are few 
 or no forbidden goods. The convent, which is occupied only by 
 one monk and a Roman capuchin, afforded us the best abode in 
 the total want of an inn or other lodging. It was formerly, when 
 under the French protection, inhabited by well educated and 
 universally respected French ecclesiastics, but since the revo- 
 lution it has been necessary to supply these missions from Rome, 
 and since that time there are mostly Italians both here and in the 
 Archipelago. 
 
 Father Agidius received us very kindly. Our things were 
 unpacked ; our cells assigned us ; and on the following day I 
 made an excursion with Mr. Serra-Longa and Mr. Balaste, 
 French merchants, settled here, accompanied by Mr. Sonnerat, 
 nephew of the celebrated French naturalist of that name. On 
 this occasion I found many interesting plants ; my attention was 
 particularly attracted by the fields surrounded by prodigious 
 aloes, several of which had ripe fruit. The leaves were about 
 nine feet long, and the flower-stalk, on which more than two thou- 
 sand blossoms could be counted, was a pyramid 5° or 6°* high, 
 which rises from the earth in a single year like a thick asparagus 
 stalk, and blossoms ; but is entirely exhausted by this effort. 
 
 The town has a fine harbour, which is more accessible than 
 that of Candia, and six times as extensive. The entrance into 
 it is rather dangerous, and part of it is much exposed to the 
 swell of the sea. The whole island of Candia possesses only one 
 natural, good, and safe harbour, for ships of every description ; 
 but it is a very fine one, namely, that of Suda, which runs very 
 far into the land, by which the tongue of land, half a league 
 long between Cape Maleca and Canea, is formed. Canea is 
 only about a fourth or fifth part of the size of the city of Candia, 
 but the streets, which have no shops, are broader and handsomer, 
 with houses of two or three stories. It has only one gate on the 
 land side, with a hornwork, and the entrance from the harbour 
 on the sea-side. There are hardly any gardens within the walls, 
 nor any market places. Candia is stronger, surrounded with 
 towers and walls, with entrenchments : it has many market places, 
 and large gardens : the houses being built on a larger surface, 
 they have only one story, very seldom two, and the fronts are 
 
 * So the author writes; we know not whether he means feet or not, or what 
 other measure. 
 
21 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 turned towards the garden, so that the streets seem to consist of 
 walls, with doors and gates at certain distances. The environs of 
 Candia are beautiful. Close to the city is the favourite prome- 
 nade of the Mahometans, their burving-ground, surrounded with 
 low white walls, and each grave ornamented with a tombstone. 
 Pines, cypresses, oranges, olives, and even mimosas ( Mimosa 
 Farnesiana) grow here. 
 
 I had scarcely returned with my companions to dinner, when 
 the Consul, who had caused my firman from Constantinople to be 
 presented to the Pacha by his interpreter, informed me that he 
 had most unexpectedly received an answer, refusing the permis- 
 sion I solicited to visit the interior of the island. The Consul ex- 
 cused himself, by saying, that he had not read the firman, sup- 
 posing that its contents were conformable to my intentions. The 
 Pacha was in an ill humour when the interpreter waited upon him, 
 because the Director of the customs had neglected to inform 
 him of the arrival of foreigners, and received a severer repri- 
 mand, because the Pacha himself had accidentally witnessed our 
 landing. He, however, listened calmly to the interpreter, and 
 began to read the firman ; but he soon appeared displeased, and 
 gave it back, coldly saying, that the firman was not addressed to 
 him, but to his subalterns ; that it did not contain a Avoid of my 
 request to visit the island, and to follow my occupations, which 
 required a special permission from the Porte. He was sorry, he 
 said, that he could not comply with mine and the Consul’s Avishes, 
 and that I had not taken care to procure a proper firman. 
 
 The interpreter returned trembling to the Consul Avith this 
 ansAver, Avhich the latter communicated to me. I formed various 
 conjectures on the motives of the Pacha ; but the sequel proved 
 that he had acted in this manner on account of the presence of 
 many Candiot Turks, and I aftenvards, to my great surprise, 
 found in him a more zealous friend and patron than I could have 
 expected. Various plans Avere proposed to me ; one Avas to go 
 to Candia, and apply to the Seraskier of the island, to whom 
 Domenico Avas physician, who out of vanity would certainly have 
 done every thing for me, as really happened afterwards ; but I 
 judged it better to stay Avhere I Avas and Avait the event. 
 
 The following day a captain of a ship, who Avas mistaken for 
 me, was hindered by the Turkish guard at the gate from going 
 into the country, and I was just told of it, when the servants of 
 the Pacha went to the Consul’s to look for me, and told him that 
 their master Avished to speak to me, one of his Avomen being ill. 
 
 I was sent for, and also the interpreter, Avho after the Consul 
 had communicated his conjectures to me, accompanied me toge- 
 ther Avith the tAvo servants. The French Avere pleased, for they 
 Avere really sorry for my situation, and requested me to take 
 
22 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 particular notice of the Seraglio, which I should certainly see ; 
 and even the elder ones congratulated me on obtaining a sight of 
 the Seraglio within a few days of my landing, whereas they 
 had not found, in forty years, an opportunity to satisfy their 
 curiosity. 
 
 The guards in the anti-chamber desired me to pull off my 
 boots ; but I observed that I could by no means comply, and 
 the interpreter told him that I would not tread upon the carpet. 
 The guards were satisfied with this promise. I certainly should 
 not have complied. The Pacha seemed either to foresee this, 
 or not to intend requiring it, for he did not sit in his usual 
 place, in the back ground on the Divan, but near the railing, in 
 order, as I must come near him, not to oblige me to tread upon 
 the carpet. The Pacha received me very graciously, and en- 
 quired after my country and my intentions, of which I made 
 no secret. But I found from his confused questions, that he had 
 not much studied the geography of the land of the infidels. He 
 soon rose, made a sign to the attendants to withdraw, and fol- 
 lowed by me and the interpreter, Avho trembled from head to 
 foot, passed through a secret door, (which he very carefully 
 shut and bolted again) into his harem or seraglio. We went 
 through passages, and up short stair-cases, which were all co- 
 vered with the finest Persian carpets. A few lamps lighted the 
 passage, till we arrived at a saloon, the wide entrance of which 
 was hung with heavy carpets. A splendid branch of lamps of a 
 peculiar appearance hung from the ceiling, which diffused a kind 
 of sombre light : the Pacha took a large wax taper, lighted it, 
 gave it to the trembling interpreter, and clapped his hands three 
 times ; meantime the saloon was lighted, which had only one 
 lofty window, through which the moon shone : broad elegant 
 sophas were raised all round, and the walls were hung with the 
 richest tapestry. I surveyed this favourite apartment, when, at a 
 signal given by the Pacha, a boy, eleven or twelve years of age, 
 of uncommon beauty, dressed in a very becoming manner, in a 
 wide robe in the ancient Greek fashion, appeared, and having 
 received the Pacha’s commands, gave with uncommon grace, an 
 answer which sounded agreeably, and then vanished like a 
 zephyr. 
 
 The Pacha took the light from the interpreter: his counte- 
 nance, to which a long brown beard gave an expression very 
 striking to an European, his well formed features, marked by 
 calm prudence and dignity, illumined by the bright light of the 
 taper, might have served an artist as a model of ideal perfection. 
 In a short time the Genius appeared at the side of a Grace, held 
 the long veil of this light etheriai being, who passed us and 
 stopped, without speaking, in the middle of the room, opposite 
 
23 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the Pacha, and the little Genius looked smiling on the old man. 
 The Pacha raised the veil, and we saw (properly speaking, only I, 
 for the Jew was much too old and too timid, and did not look 
 up) the most beautiful creature that Circassia, by the happiest 
 union of art and nature, could ever have produced. The fine 
 figure heightened the effect of her features, and a magical amal- 
 gam of an Apollo and a Venus, which I had once seen in the 
 capitol, in marble, appeared to be here realized and animated, as 
 if by enchantment. 
 
 With pleasure I let the Pacha speak without interrupting him. 
 While the interpreter translated from the Turkish into the Italian, 
 I had time to consider of my answers, and to attribute it to the un- 
 skilfulness of the interpreter if they were unintelligible. In truth 
 I understood nothing of the stuff he spoke, for a physician has 
 need of a well-educated interpreter. The conversation pro- 
 ceeded slowly : I spoke Italian to the interpreter ; he translated 
 it into Turkish for the Pacha ; the Pacha then asked the girl, 
 who answered him ; the interpreter received the reply in Turk- 
 ish and translated it into Italian. By the repeated translations 
 I at length received answers, which might have puzzled an 
 Oedipus. I remarked too that the girl was not sincere with 
 us, for the answers did not correspond with the questions. It 
 was all one ; the disorder appeared to be a common inflamma- 
 tory fever, which required proper treatment in the evening, 
 when it was rather more violent : I found her forehead hot, the 
 tongue not so dry, strong palpitation in the breast, but no pain : 
 I made use of the opportunity to look at her more particularly, 
 and pitied a being for whom nature had done so much, but 
 whose mind was wholly uncultivated. 1 he contradictory 
 statements, various evasions and vague answers, gave me a 
 suspicion which the hastiness of the Pacha, who was so eager 
 to know the name and nature of the disease, further confirmed. 
 I seemed to take no notice, called it a simple fever arising 
 from a cold, till I perceived the increasing vexation of the 
 Pacha, who at length exclaimed that she had had no natural 
 relief for these four months, since the time that he had come here 
 from Constantinople. This, however, was contradicted by the 
 healthy appearance of the Circassian, and the kind of fever ; it 
 was but too probable that there was another cause, for I 
 would not ask after the last sign of pregnancy, iu order by no 
 means to draw attention that way. My suspicion that violence 
 had been used, was indeed confirmed ; but I had no reason to 
 communicate it to the Pacha, for I could never have thought 
 of gaining, in this manner, his favour which 1 so much wanted, 
 even if it had been attended with no dangerous consequences to 
 the handsome girl. Though angry, he contained himself ; and 
 
24 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 after I had prescribed for this evening some rice water with a 
 little lemon-juice, he put on her veil, and she withdrew with 
 her little page. We took leave, promising to call again, as he 
 wished, on the following day. 
 
 Meantime the Consul brought me acquainted with the city 
 physician, Reynieri, a native, but descended of a Venetian 
 family : he had studied for some years in an hospital at 
 Marseilles, and now united the occupations of city physician 
 and merchant. I communicated to him the wish of the Pacha, 
 and my own conjecture, and the affair was cleared up. The 
 Pacha had come from Constantinople on board his own stop, 
 and had brought ail his women with him. During the embar- 
 kation and landing, much confusion might have taken place 
 on board the ship itself, especially from the cunning of the 
 Greeks, who know how to carry on the most intricate love 
 intrigues, by taking out part of the wooden partitions of the 
 chambers. This and other details turned the scale on this 
 side, so that in our visit the following day, when Reynieri, at 
 my suggestion, asked the Pacha various questions tending that 
 way, without seeing the girl herself, he received such confirma- 
 tion in every respect, that he did not venture to look at me for 
 fear of betraying himself. The Pacha asked him for medi- 
 cines, and I relieved him from his embarrassment by whisper- 
 ing tamarinds, which he gave with tartar. The Pacha asked 
 him what the disorder was, but he gave him the same answer; 
 for the physician has need to know every thing, but he must 
 never, by a suspicion of this kind, give cause for any thing 
 unpleasant; and if prudence and caution are necessary, they 
 are peculiarly so to a physician in Turkey. Though he was 
 dissatisfied, he had coffee brought, and dismissed me very gra- 
 ciously. Thus I had receded from the attainment of my object : 
 instead of acquiring the favour of the Pacha, I had lost ground, 
 and the hopes that had been entertained were disappointed. 
 The Consul seemed inclined to blame me, but I asked him 
 what he would have done in my place ? to this he returned no 
 answer. 
 
 Meantime I acquired much useful information, and passed 
 my time agreeably. Reynieri took me to see his sick daughter, 
 who, in an insurrection which happened aboutten years before, 
 when the Turks stormed his house, had remained alone and 
 concealed herself. The family fled, but forgot the little girl, who 
 had hid herself, and whose fright brought on a dangerous illness. 
 She was now eighteen years old, and generally allowed to be 
 the handsomest girl in Canea. The diagnosis was easy, but 
 relief hardly possible — the enlargement of the heart, the exist- 
 ence of a polypus in it, more probably an aneurism, and lastly, 
 
25 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 a chronical dropsy in the pericardium, were the causes of the 
 oppression and the other symptoms : her debility increased, 
 and the swelling of her legs ascended: her pulse was weak, 
 and thus, in the tenth year of her disease, art was vain. 
 
 It is a general prejudice that what comes from strange 
 countries must afford relief; and for this reason I was applied 
 to. I could not explain any thing to the women, but Rey- 
 nieri knew the state of the case. Gentle stimulants, cautiously 
 administered, procured her some relief, and ease, inbreathing: 
 that was all that we could venture to do. She lived only a 
 few days, and six hours after her death she was already buried. 
 How hard it is when one cannot give relief, but a comfort 
 when one has done one’s duty. Woe to those to whom the 
 health of mankind is intrusted, if they look upon it with in- 
 difference. Unhappily this is the case with the physicians in 
 the Levant, of which I shall have occasion to mention instances 
 in the sequel. How humane is the custom in Europe, not to 
 carry away the beloved deceased instantly, but to allow those 
 whom they have left behind some days to part from them ; 
 their grief is far milder, for it has subsided, and the image of 
 death is not immediately connected with the grave. But in 
 the Levant, where, especially if the patient dies suddenly, they 
 carry the still warm body to the grave, the despair of the 
 relations rises to the highest pitch, because they see the soul 
 departed, and the body taken from them. Silent consternation 
 seizes the whole family ; they caress the deceased with frantic 
 gestures ; all who knew him desire to see him once more; the 
 whole house is crowded ; all press to the grave ; all are sud- 
 denly deprived of him. We in Europe, on the contrary, have 
 more consulted our convenience ; there it is fashionable imme- 
 diately to leave the house in which a member of the family has 
 died, to seek amusement, that our nerves may not suffer too 
 much ; for, says selfishness, of what use is lamenting and 
 grieving — he is dead. The corpse is carried to the grave, 
 attended only by strangers. 
 
 The opening of the dead body is not to be thought of in this 
 country, where the living are not esteemed, but the dead are 
 considered as sacred. The reproaches and the insults which 
 he would have to bear, who by any means deprived a person 
 of life, are trifling in comparison with those which would be 
 the lot of him who should open a dead body, to learn the 
 nature of the disease, for his instruction in similar cases. The 
 Greeks seem to have learnt from the Turks, or rather it has 
 descended to them from antiquity, to revere the dead as sacred. 
 The Turks, particularly the Candiots, who are all descended 
 from renegadoes, with the exception of a few, who have come 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIII. e 
 
28 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 to fill the public offices, and, like proselytes in general, are the 
 most zealous and enthusiastic adherents of their new doctrine, 
 murder in cold blood a fellow-creature, who appears sacred 
 to them as a corpse. The Turk seems to hold nothing sacred 
 but the harem, the dead, and the insane; even the mob, in a 
 state of insurrection, seldom violate the harem of their hated 
 victim ; and in general, most of the objects of their pursuit find 
 an asylum in the apartments of their women. It is extremely 
 seldom that women are ill treated, though the slightest suspi- 
 cion is sufficient to put them to death. They consider an 
 insane person as one favoured by God, and the Turk never 
 allows himself to vex him, but only smiles now and then at his 
 absurdities, and always gives him alms: hence the insane, 
 instead of being confined, are always seen in Turkey at liberty 
 in the streets ; and eight or ten individuals whom I observed, 
 were at all times calm and composed. I asked in vain after 
 the period when their fits of madness returned in which it was 
 necessary to confine them : but a very few are said to have a 
 guard over them. The manner in which lunatics are treated, 
 must therefore greatly contribute to their permanent state of 
 composure; and here the Turk points out to the European 
 physician the way, by unparalleled kindness, gentle treatment, 
 and amusement, to prevent the effervescence of an exalted and 
 confused brain : not a few gradually recover, and become more 
 tranquil. 
 
 The precipitate burial of the dead is excusable in this coun- 
 try, as the plague often rages, and it is necessary to prevent 
 the increase of contagion by their rapid dissolution, and in 
 general, because in a hot climate exhalations are more inju- 
 rious than in a cold one. Whether persons, only apparently 
 dead, have been buried, cannot be known, because the Turks 
 never open a grave, but always choose fresh places. Consider- 
 ing the possible danger of the production of plague by impru- 
 dent or precipitate opening of the graves, as many instances in 
 ancient and modern history shew, the loss of fertile land is not 
 to be attended to ; but this custom is deserving of praise. On 
 the other hand, it is a circumstance productive of serious 
 danger, that the dead are not buried deep, and are less covered 
 than is necessary, and that the Turks of both sexes, on all 
 holidays, frequent the burying-ground, which looks more like 
 a park than a mournful repository of the dead. To this may 
 be added the situation of burying-grounds near the roads, par- 
 ticularly in the sandy tracts of Egypt, where the burning heat 
 of the sun easily penetrates the thin layers of sand, and draws 
 out the exhalation of the corpse in a state of decomposition. 
 This is easily perceived on approaching such a place in a calm 
 
27 
 
 Travels in l he Island of Crete . 
 
 Summer evening; the lungs are sensibly affected by it. This 
 is probably the foundation and origin of the Plague, which is 
 not a little promoted by the carelessness and uncleanliness of 
 the Turks, with respect to shambles, manufactories, &c., and 
 the entire want of regulations for removing filth in the cities. 
 As a proof of what has been said, we may mention the origin 
 of the Yellow Fever, which has become so formidable, and 
 which owes its beginning and its malignity to the incautious 
 opening of a new grave. The history of this disease shews 
 that it always commences in Egypt, after an interval of some 
 years, and then spreads itself to the chief cities, Alexandria,, 
 Constantinople, Smyrna, and Salonichi. The accumulation of 
 filth, the crowded manner in which the people live, greatly 
 promote the plague. Give to the East, European civilization 
 and government, and the evil will lose, with its causes, its dan- 
 gerous character, and the disease will come under the class of 
 ordinary epidemicand endemic nervous fevers, the cure of which 
 is not attended with any difficulty. 
 
 The Consul in vain exerted himself to induce the Pacha to let 
 me travel about the island, representing that I came here to 
 collect plants, which would go out of blossom, and I should 
 lose a whole year. However, several patients applied to me, 
 to whom, especially those belonging to the Pacha’s household, 
 I gave also the necessary medicines gratis. Reynieri had 
 maintained his ground against many physicians, who had come 
 from other countries. My presence, however, gave him some 
 uneasiness, as he had never experienced any thing of the kind. 
 It was necessary to go prudently to work, for it might have 
 been a great disadvantage to him, if I relieved some patients 
 whom he had given up. I accidentally mentioned to him one 
 day, that I thought to stay here some months, and practice, 
 and to send to Smyrna for the necessary medicines. He very 
 artfully offered to procure them, and urged me to give him a 
 list of what I wanted, because a ship would sail the following 
 day. Perhaps he thought from my behaviour that I did not 
 trust him, for I did not give him the list, because I was not 
 serious about it; however, he was afraid that I saw through 
 him, and had ordered them by another channel. I had now 
 worked for my own advantage without knowing it. Reynieri 
 wished to get the list of medicines from me, intending not to 
 send it away, but to put me off from time to time, and to keep 
 me from hurting him for want of medicines. Fancying that 
 he had failed, and that I might soon receive them from Smyrna, 
 it was his interest to procure me permission to travel through 
 the island. He became my best friend, introduced me into the 
 principal houses, procured me the best patients, iu short, did 
 
28 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 every thing possible, by solicitations to persons of consequence, 
 to obtain the permission I requested through their influence, 
 but in vain. This stratagem failing, he persuaded Turks of 
 rank, who lived out of the town, to send for me: when, I ob- 
 jected, that I was not allowed to go out of the city, they an- 
 swered, the Pacha had nothing to do with it, and the guard at 
 the gate received notice beforehand to let me pass. He invited 
 me to remain there, and to botanize at pleasure. I sent my 
 plants into the city, and remained some days in the country. 
 This was indeed some indemnity, but I could not venture upon 
 more distant excursions. Though the Pacha knew all this very 
 well, he took no notice ; some months must pass before I could 
 receive a new firman from Constantinople, and Reynieri, who 
 was reported to have done so much for me, and of whose mo- 
 tives nobody, not even myself, had at first any notion, could 
 do no more. Dispirited at the delay, I begged the Consul to 
 send the interpreter to the Pacha on purpose, formally to re- 
 quest him in my name for permission. He came back unsuc- 
 cessful, with an answer to this effect, that “ the Pacha was 
 surprized the doctor should ask a civility from him, after he 
 had been unable to obtain one from his own countrymen ; that 
 if the doctor had but got somebody to read the firman to him, 
 and convinced himself, that it contained nothing favourable to 
 him, and if he had not shewn the firman, but only expressed 
 his wish, the Pacha would have granted it with the greatest 
 pleasure, but as he had shewn it, the Pacha could only follow 
 his instructions.” This was the worst of the business: this 
 polite but very positive answer destroyed all my hopes. The 
 scene, however, suddenly changed, and I obtained, through an 
 accident, what all our efforts had been unable to procure. A 
 Greek, who spoke pretty good Italian, and had been frequently 
 requested to act as an interpreter to patients, came and asked me 
 to visit the Iman of a neighbouring mosque. I went with him, 
 and when I had questioned this hypochondriacal Iman, I de- 
 clared, on his desire that I would give him medicines, that 
 I had not yet obtained explicit permission to travel through the 
 island. The verdant slopes of the snow-crowned mountains 
 of Leucaori were just then to be seen free from clouds out 
 of his window ; I pointed to them, and said, “ there alone 
 grow the herbs which would cure him, and he must therefore 
 obtain me permission to go thither.” 1 had said this merely to 
 satisfy him, and to get rid of a hypochondriacal old man, whom 
 I could not relieve. The good old man looked at me for a 
 moment, and seemed to be reflecting, when he called for pen 
 and ink, wrote directly to the Pacha, sealed the letter, and 
 sent it off in my presence. His expression, “ that he must 
 
2D 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 write because he could not walk,” did not give me any very 
 great hopes, for it seemed to me, that he expected an effect 
 from his paper, which, as matters stood, I did not think pro- 
 bable, even from his personal application. But about an hour 
 afterwards, I called upon the Consul, who received me with 
 the greatest satisfaction, and informed me, that the Pacha had 
 sent about half an hour before for the interpreter, who, quite 
 astonished at such an unusual circumstance, had gone with 
 fear and trembling. The Pacha had received him in a most 
 friendly manner, and given him the following message : “ He 
 sent his compliments to the Consul, and let him know that the 
 doctor might go without any hindrance through his whole 
 Pachalik ; and if he wished to go into that of Rettimo, he 
 would give him a letter to the Motsallem, that I might have 
 the same freedom there. He knew that I wrote and drew. 
 I should, however, pursue without interruption all my avoca- 
 tions, only not undertake any thing in the neighbourhood of 
 fortresses and city walls, that the Candiot Turks might make 
 no complaints to him about it ; and he had already given 
 orders to let me pass every where without obstacle.” 
 
 I was really delighted at this generous proceeding, not 
 merely because I had obtained the permission, but because the 
 Pacha, whom 1 had always felt inclined to respect, had be- 
 haved with such kindness, and on the first written application 
 appeared to take pleasure in granting my request, though he 
 could not accede to verbal solicitations. Every body thought 
 it was owing to Reynieri, and I did not contradict it. Our 
 Consul was extremely delighted, as I was myself. 
 
 The following anecdote caused me to remove from the con- 
 vent, and take a house for myself. An Albanian captain of the 
 Pacha’s guard wished me to prescribe for him, and came to 
 the convent, accompanied by his interpreter. Two soldiers 
 attended him. They remained in the hall, went afterwards into 
 the missionary’s kitchen, where they lighted their pipes, and 
 then into his anti-room, where they were extremely struck 
 with a picture of Susanna and the Elders; pictures not being 
 allowed in Turkey, as contrary to their religion. They burst 
 out into a loud laugh, a thing very uncommon with the Turks. 
 The missionary, angry at their laughing, drew a sword which 
 lay in a corner, and drove the Turks before him. We, asto- 
 nished at the noise, were informed by the two soldiers, that 
 they had committed a great fault, and had unknowingly en- 
 tered the harem of the Capuchin, they therefore begged our 
 intercession to obtain their pardon. This most ludicrous scene, 
 the Capuchin with the drawn sword in his hand, the two 
 athletic Albanians armed, and yet in an humble attitude, lastly, 
 
30 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the cause of the scene, which proceeded from a double mis- 
 take, excited a hearty laugh, especially wheu I saw the corpu- 
 lent captain and the interpreter grinning aside at it ; but the 
 scene changed when the two Albanians learned that the Capu- 
 chin had no harem, and that his anger had been excited on 
 account of the picture; they grew angry, and imputed it to 
 him as a great fault to have a Susanna in his chamber. For 
 this reason, and on account of the frequent visits, which I 
 could not decline, I was induced to seek another dwelling, which 
 was offered me by the worthy Ehmin Aga, at whose country 
 house I had been. It was situated upon a rock which projected 
 into the middle of the harbour, in a small quarter of the town, 
 consisting of three houses, a mosque, and the custom house, but 
 so exposed to the cold winds, being opposite the mouth of the 
 harbour, that the effeminate Turks cannot live in it, especially 
 in winter. We found it rather out of repair, but habitable, 
 sent for some workmen, and put ourselves to a little expence. 
 It had been empty for about two years, and Ehmin Aga consi- 
 dered himself as paid by the repairs we did. Here we enjoyed 
 a much more agreeable liberty than when surrounded by a 
 dead wall in a remote quarter of the city. No European must, 
 however, venture to walk upon a terrace, (the flat roof of the 
 house) if it is surrounded by Turkish houses, because you 
 can see from it into their court-yards and apartments, where 
 the women are employed without a veil in their usual occu- 
 pations. If, therefore, you have any thing to do upon the ter- 
 race, you must choose an hour when they are not to be seen, 
 otherwise they set up a cry, and even if they have not been 
 seen, but have only perceived you, the men come up ; and it 
 has often happened, that merchants who were in the convent, 
 going on to the terrace to enjoy the prospect, were saluted by 
 balls fired at them. But in our new habitation we were quite 
 detached, had cool air it is true, yet the thermometer hanging 
 exposed on the balcony never fell below + 6° even in the rudest 
 storms from the north during the winter: a very trifling degree 
 of cold, resembling our weather in autumn. On the other 
 hand, we had in summer constantly a refreshing sea breeze, 
 and we owed it to this fortunate circumstance, that, during the 
 plague, while all around us was in mourning, and every house 
 visited by the infection, we remained perfectly free. We had 
 the advantage of overlooking all the houses of the Franks, and 
 the long terrace round the harbour. I removed to .my new 
 dwelling on the 30th of January, 1817. The last tenant was 
 a Maltese architect, who had been sent for to repair some walls 
 in the port. Four large apartments were fully sufficient for 
 our convenience. In hot days we removed into the western 
 
31 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 saloon: in the heat of the afternoon, when the wind began to 
 blow from the sea, we removed to the north apartment ; the 
 balcony hung over the sea ; the noise of the waves, which beat 
 against the walls of the house, at first disturbed us, and was 
 very disagreeable in the night, but we soon became used to it. 
 
 The country about Canea is very beautiful. On one side is 
 the sea extending to the north ; the eye perceives the island of 
 Cythera and the lofty Taygetus in the distant horizon. The 
 mountains of Cape Maleca, which are called Acrotiri, or the 
 Promontory, (a word which serves the Greeks to designate all 
 peninsulas and tongues of land) form an agreeable boundary 
 of conical summits ; the nearest place, Chalepo, is in a fine 
 healthy situation, and several of the Franks have their summer 
 residences there. The excellent harbour of Suda, formerly 
 Amphimalla, runs into the land within a quarter of a league 
 of the city. This natural harbour is frequented by all the 
 vessels, which, during storms or in the night time, are justly 
 afraid of entering the harbour of Canea. To the south, along 
 the western limit of the Leucaori, extends a plain several 
 leagues in length and breadth, entirely covered with olive trees, 
 which far exceed in size and age all those I have ever seen in 
 Italy. These olive trees, which are at the least a thousand years 
 old, being protected from the frost by the mildness of the 
 climate, make a very fine appearance. Among them rise lofty 
 cypresses, which indicate the residence of Turks of distinction. 
 The beautiful green of the trees, loaded with the finest lemons 
 and oranges, makes a delightful contrast with the dead silver 
 colour of the olive, and the climbing plants hang the various 
 trees with garlands. The vine is every where distinguished 
 generally climbing up the poplar, which watered by the streams 
 from the White Mountains, rises to a great height. Here and 
 there a palm-tree is seen, the lofty head of which is gently 
 agitated by the wind, overlooking the lo\V olive trees, while 
 its foot is surrounded by the charming cistus rose, myrtle, and 
 other odoriferous shrubs. A slight wind that agitates the trees, 
 a breeze from the dark thickets where cool fountains spring, 
 brings to the passenger the odour of the flowers and aromatic 
 herbs. Aloes with their stiff leaves protect the corn-fields and 
 plantations of cotton, while myriads of bees, which still fur- 
 nish the finest honey of the old world, industriously gather their 
 manifold nectarous juices. 
 
 Woody ridges of mountains, gradually declining westwards, 
 border the fertile plains of this island, and dividing, fall into 
 the two capes, which run under the sea into the Island of 
 Cythera, and were formerly connected with the Peloponnesus. 
 The country people are good-natured and religious. They 
 
32 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 bear with patience their hard lot, and bountiful Nature lightens 
 the labour to which they are condemned. They live in hope 
 and expectation, and do not even know who their oppressors 
 are. The dress of the Cretans, particularly the country people, 
 is very pleasing to the eye. It is entirely of coiton, manufac- 
 tured by the family. Short wide drawers, which leave the 
 knee bare, a girdle to fasten them, a waistcoat and a short 
 jacket of strong cotton, a bandage round the head, one end of 
 which hangs down behind, lastly, coloured boots, the tops of 
 which reach the ancles as a protection against the thorns, form 
 an agreeable costume, especially on account of the dazzling 
 whiteness of the stuff. When they come to the city, they look 
 much better than the lazy Turks in their gay dresses bordered 
 with gold. 
 
 On the 6th of February, a continued storm and high waves 
 dashing over the whole wall of the harbour, did great damage. 
 If the entrance of the harbour were not so exposed to the waves, 
 it would long since have been choaked up with sand, like that 
 of Candia. The harbour of Canea is still navigable in the 
 middle for large ships, but that of Candia purposely neglected. 
 The creeks in the island of Standia afford the only secure an- 
 chorage for ships, which almost always repair thither. The 
 works of the Venetians go to ruins, like those of the Romans 
 after the invasion of the Goths, speaking evidences of a barbarous 
 and uncivilized people. In the night of the 1st of March, there 
 was another violent storm, with dreadfully high waves, which 
 dashing against the wails of my house, shook the whole edifice, 
 and would probably have caused the front, with the balcony, 
 to fall, had it not been supported on the left by the Mosque, 
 and on the right by a new built, very solid house, belonging to 
 the customs. 
 
 The Mosque is the same mentioned by Tournefort, for its 
 neatness ; covered with several elegant cupolas, and surrounded 
 with a pretty arcade, it is a pleasing object when you enter 
 the harbour. Every Thursday evening the Turks have service 
 performed there, and about eight o’clock they begin to howl : 
 the people, after the manner of our litanies, respond w T ith a 
 dreadful noise, that makes the Mosque tremble. First comes a 
 curse upon the infidels, who having lost the true light, are des- 
 titute of the knowledge of general wisdom. They then pray 
 for our total blindness, and that we may destroy each other. 
 Lastly, they beg Mahomet to open our obdurate hearts by the 
 power of his sword. Thursday is the vigil of the Mahometans 
 or Turks, who have chosen Friday for their day of rest, as the 
 Christians have Sunday. 
 
 From the time I received permission to travel over the island, 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 33 
 
 I did not suffer a day to pass without taking advantage of it • 
 On the ] 2th, I visited Chalepa, about a quarter of a league 
 distant; a very pretty place, with many fine Turkish country 
 seats in the environs. Tournefort, who came hither with ex- 
 aggerated notions of the peculiarity of the Cretan Flora, was 
 much grieved at finding so many plants common in France. 
 Warned by his example, I expected less, and found more than 
 I had hoped. Many rare plants escaped that celebrated traveller, 
 which Sibthorp found in the Sphakiote Mountains. I had 
 scarcely returned from my excursion, when I was fetched by a 
 servant of Ehmin-Aga, to his country seat, which, as in the 
 times of the Venetians, is still called a Bastilla. In the after- 
 noon, I made an excursion to the convent of St. George, which 
 is situated on a mountain, on the south of Canea. The way 
 led through a garden of olives, lemons, and vines, among 
 which were some of the finest plantain trees I ever beheld. A 
 small stream, falling from a considerable height, turned a mill, 
 of such rude construction, that had not the wheels been in motion, 
 I should have thought that it could not go. The ravine from 
 which it came, leads to the beautiful mountain village, Therrisso, 
 and next to the ravine between, Stifo and Comitades, in the 
 Sphakiote mountains, is the most interesting spot for botanists 
 in the whole island. The monastery of St. George, is a con- 
 vent in miniature. It is a chapel built in a square, on a terrace, 
 with some dwellings for the monks. The chapel holds, at the 
 most, forty persons, and the cells are without windows, so that 
 the only door which leads to them, must constantly remain 
 open. The convent lies very high, and hid between a dozen 
 of the oldest olive trees, whence the three monks, sent from 
 the great convent of the Trinity, on Cape Maleca, all suffer 
 from the rheumatism and gout. 
 
 My Greek guide, from Ehmin’s estate, conducted me still 
 higher. We reached first the ruins of an ancient castle. The 
 mortar was very hard. It is said to have been built by the 
 Saracens, but I should rather suppose by the Venetians, who 
 might well have used it as a watch tower, to observe ships. 
 The elevation, to which we had now with difficulty ascended, 
 between strawberry trees, and the arborescent apple bearing 
 salvia, convinced me that the Leucaori, or White Mountains, 
 were at least five times as high, and that the spot where we now 
 stood was not above 300 toises above the surface of the sea. 
 The ravines, precipices, masses of rocks, the sight of which 
 alone was sufficient to give the Greek poets an idea of the giants 
 attacking the gods, seemed, like genuine relations of Atlas, to 
 bear the whole conical summits upon their shoulders. The 
 verdant heights, with these masses of snow, reminded me of the 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIII. f 
 
34 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 scenery of the north of Europe; but the country extended at 
 their feet, called back the footsteps of the vanished gods of 
 Greece, of whose former presence, the indestructible luxuriance 
 of tbe plains bore incontrovertible testimony. 
 
 My guide put me in mind that it was time to turn back, 
 which 1 resolved to do, to arrange what I had collected, and 
 send it to the city. On the way he let me know that he was 
 poor, and that if I thought to give him any thing, I must do it 
 now, as the Subbaschi of Ehmin-Aga would afterwards be 
 angry at it. I gave him a little piaster, but he demanded twice 
 as much, and was not even satisfied when I gave him that. The 
 reason was, that I had before asked him w'bat I should give the 
 monks for the breakfast, when he mentioned a very small sum, 
 in order to gain my favour, and was much discontented when 
 I gave three times the sum. Thus people seek to save the 
 money of others, in order to reap the advantage themselves. 
 He recommended to me one of his friends, named Manoli, a 
 good-hearted honest Greek, whose excellent character was 
 marked in his countenance. He begged me to look at his 
 wife, who had lost all her teeth with the scurvy, and who had 
 been advised by a merchant, to take lemon juice mixed with 
 honey. The good people thought I was a conjurer, who could 
 not only cure by the touch, but even restore what was lost. 
 However, these people, used to such various misfortunes, do 
 not apply to the physician, so much for relief, as to shew him 
 their sufferings and excite his compassion. With a consolatory 
 answer they are often more contented than with medicine, 
 because the latter reminds them of frequent disappointments. 
 This good Greek was one of the most worthy and indefatigable 
 guides I ever had: he recommended to me the deep ravine near 
 the mill which we had seen; we reached it the following day, 
 in about half an hour; it leads in a straight line to the White 
 Mountains, and to the village of Therisso, 1500 feet above tbe 
 sea. No village in the whole country round Canea, is so ro- 
 mantically situated as Therisso. The inhabitants are very poor, 
 they had no bread; they therefore made fire in a hole in the 
 wall, and laid a flat potsherd upon it, and heated it. They then 
 made a dough of flour and water, with a little salt, and baked 
 it on the potsherd. I could scarcely look at them for pity, but 
 they seemed so cheerful when they brought me the miserable 
 bran-like cake, that 1 could not help tasting it, and thanking 
 them. 1 returned through a valley on the other side, after having 
 had an opportunity of observing the good-nature and beauty 
 of the women. 
 
 Happily, the repair of my honse was finished; for the rainy 
 weather, which had kept off some weeks later than usual, now 
 
35 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 set in with great violence. This weather was very welcome 
 to the peasants, who were busy in their fields, for it causes 
 the buds to swell without bursting, and keeps them back, per- 
 haps to the end of March; after which they always expect a 
 plentiful supply of oil: whereas, if the buds are brought too 
 forward, a sudden cold north wind often blights them, and 
 spoils the crop. The Turks, who are the landholders, keep a 
 part of their last year’s stock till this season ; the merchants 
 too, especially the French, guide themselves by it in their spe- 
 culations, so that a sudden rise or fall in the price of oil is 
 common. The Greeks cannot maintain a competition with 
 them. The few olive-trees which they are suffered to have, 
 as children have a few half-pence, have no influence on the 
 prices; they profit by the rise, only as merchants, not as 
 proprietors ; yet they speak with more interest of their few 
 olive trees, and are more grieved at the failure of the crop, than 
 the indolent Turks, with their immense stores. 
 
 On the 22nd of February, accompanied by a Janissary, I 
 visited Cape Maleca, which the Greeks merely call Acrotiri,or 
 Cape. Hitherto I had neither taken barometer nor thermometer 
 with me, for even paper and pencil were prohibited goods, 
 which I was obliged to smuggle in my excursions. It was hard 
 for me to be forced for once to play the hypocrite, my Janissary 
 however was a good fellow. I enquired the Greek name of 
 every plant, and wrote against it what I liked. We went on 
 foot to the convent of the Trinity, and amused ourselves on 
 the road with gathering plants. We had passed many hills and 
 vallies, when we saw at a distance a row of the finest cypresses 
 that I ever met with. The stony way soon ended, and we came 
 to the fertile plain on which the convent stands. This edifice 
 resembles that of Arcadi, and we soon entered an avenue of 
 dark cypresses leading to it. On both sides were vineyards and 
 kitchen gardens, planted round with fruit trees, and a flight of 
 steps at the end of this dark cool avenue, led to the entrance of 
 the retreat, where melancholy self-denial was presumed to dwell. 
 The convent stands on the ridge of mountains behind Cape 
 Maleca, and was built by the Venetians; but the church was 
 not completed. Formerly the convent was rich, because there 
 were many monks to till the ground; but now they have scarcely 
 hands enough to pick up the olives, shaken down by the winds 
 in autumn, much less to sow the extensive grounds with corn; 
 so that two thirds of their lands lie waste. In ancient times there 
 were above one hundred monks; when Tournefort visited them 
 only fifty, and now I found only eighteen, including the youngest 
 novices. Their mode of life is quite patriarchal ; even the superior 
 of the convent prunes the vines, tends the bees, and digs the 
 
36 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 garden. His hands are a proof, that labour is not accounted a 
 disgrace here. After the morning prayers they go to their work, 
 with spades, hoes, and rakes ; one looks to the cows, another to 
 the bakehouse: it is not merely hired servants who till the ground ; 
 the novices also are young peasants, who intend to follow this 
 mode of life, and whose dress does not at all differ from that of 
 other peasants ; even the priests, who perform all the functions, 
 wear a black coat only when they are not at work. The oldest 
 novices, who are at the same time the most diligent, after they 
 have learnt all the prayers, of which there are many, and can 
 accurately perform what the priests do, are consecrated, at the 
 proper age, in the presence of the bishop of Canea. Learning 
 must not be expected from them, but they are not so malicious 
 and crafty as they are generally represented ; they rather ap- 
 proach the simplicity of the first brethren, who converted our 
 barbarous ancestors to Christianity, diffused knowledge in those 
 times of ignorance by means of their colonies, softened the rude 
 Germans, and lastly preserved no small number of the classical 
 writings of antiquity. They are employed the whole day to 
 let the best they have be devoured by the Turks, who visit 
 their convent at pleasure, take what they like, and sometimes 
 carry it away; and frequently, in particular when disorders 
 take place, extort money by main force. The monks cultivate 
 wheat, barley, and the Secale Creticum, which makes good black 
 bread of a peculiar taste. They have also beans, lentils, vetches, 
 of which they are very fond, and some lupines, but which are 
 bitter and disagreeable; all kind of vegetables and kitchen herbs; 
 wine, cotton, oil, a little honey, wax and fruit ; also butter and 
 cheese. They grind their corn in wind-mills, which are situated 
 in Eastern Crete, on the highest mountain ridges, twelve or 
 twenty together; but in the western parts, where there is plenty 
 of water, they are seldom used. 
 
 Upon the promise of my Turk Ibrahim, that I would pay, 
 every thing was produced. A round tea board was placed 
 upon a small stool, and every monk set down a dish, which 
 were produced, on a sign from the superior, from the hun- 
 dred corners of the cloister. The finest Malmsey, yellow as 
 gold and sparkling, was poured from the decanter. I poured 
 out the first glass upon the board, and drank the second, in 
 honour of the God of Wine; the third Ibrahim said might be 
 taken, in spite of Mahomet, as a cordial; he declined to break 
 his vow till the monks were dispersed ; then he drank and said, 
 he had not relished it very much— a rogue. He was a very 
 good-natured fellow, a Janissary indeed, but cheerful, and good 
 looking. But for his muslin turban, one might have taken him 
 for a Greek of Chios, he had such an open countenance; in the 
 
37 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 church he criticized the tinsel of the Greeks, who looked vexed, 
 but said nothing, but afterwards very urgently begged me to 
 visit the church when he was gone. The next day we went to 
 the convent of St. John, which, as the consul informed us, is 
 situated in such a healthy spot, that it is considered as the best 
 residence for people who have the ague. From this convent 
 there is a view of the sea, to which an almost perpendicular 
 ravine opens, at the bottom of which, the foaming surf may be 
 seen, and in fine weather some of the islands of the Archipelago. 
 We descended into the ravine, and after proceeding some hun- 
 dred steps, reached an uncommonly neat hermitage. The her- 
 mit, a cheerful old Caloyer, seemed to talk to my Turk as a 
 good friend. I looked at the Stalactites in his cave and gave 
 a few paras to the old man, at which my Janissary was much 
 pleased, for he behaved quite differently from the Turks who 
 have accompanied other travellers, and by whom all Greeks 
 were usually treated like a herd of cattle. There was a noble 
 pride in this young man, who, though a Turk, felt a satisfaction 
 in accompanying a Frank, and instead of tormenting the Greeks, 
 tried to obtain presents for them, and seemed always ready to put 
 me in mind, in case I had forgotten it. He expressed particular 
 pleasure that I had given the hermit something, and afterwards, 
 when we w*ere returning home from St. Trinity, he earnestly 
 begged me for the two dollars which I had determined to give 
 to the convent for my reception, took them, ran to meet the 
 superior, and put them into his hand with a look, which seemed 
 to say, “ You take us for interested people, such as you may 
 perhaps be yourselves, that w’e compel you to receive and treat 
 us for the sake of the F ranks, to get our services the better paid. 
 Not on your account but on my own I give you this money.” 
 When I questioned him, on the way, why he had done so, he 
 said, “ the Greeks I know, every w^here speak ill of us; for the 
 sake of one they abuse us all, to make the greater merit of their 
 sacrifices, and to degrade us in the eyes of the F ranks.” Though 
 he expressed this very confusedly and obscurely in Italian, I un- 
 derstood him very well, and I was happy that this excursion had 
 given me a better opinion, both of the Greeks and the Turks. 
 
 On the way over the rock, we perceived some steps, said to 
 be 135 in number, and the ruins of an ancient monastery, called 
 Catholico, in a most romantic situation. Some parts w ere still 
 entire ; we did not find on the rock of the cave the rare Diptam 
 of Crete, which Tournefort saw, but the tree pink, one of the 
 most beautiful plants of this island. Besides this pink, ( Dian- 
 thus arboreus,) Gnaphalium oricntalc, and Prcnanthes aeanthi- 
 folia, 1 found several other rare plants. The first far excels 
 
38 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete , 
 
 when in flower all other pinks. Conceive a dwarf tree, with 
 a stem as thick as a man’s arm, and the crown of which is 
 formed by a circle of thick branches, ending in tufts of pinks, 
 which blossom during six months in the year. I gathered the 
 best seeds of this beautiful flower, and fine plants have been 
 raised from them in our greenhouses. The discovery of this 
 plant was much more interesting to me than a narrow dirty 
 cave, dangerous both to the guide and the traveller, which is 
 said to be several hundred paces in length. My attention was 
 more engaged by some defaced fresco paintings on the wall. 
 This is the only point on the north side of Cape Maleca, at 
 which a ship can land. On the beach we found a strong arch, 
 under which a good boat lay dry, protected from the sun and 
 from the waves, which dashed over it. 
 
 We hastened to reach home this day, and made the more 
 expedition, as the sun approached the horizon, and the gates of 
 every Turkish town are shut exactly at sun-set; so that the 
 stranger is often obliged to return for the night, to the next 
 village. 
 
 A ship from Tripoli arrived in the port, with nearly fifty 
 Negro slaves on board, who were soon landed, and sold singly 
 to Turkish inhabitants as house servants; the price was from 
 three to five hundred piasters each. They seemed either not to 
 feel their misfortune from insensibility, or by feigned cheerfulness 
 to dispel the idea, that they are become merchandize, degraded, 
 and placed on a level with the beasts. The Turks alone have the 
 privilege of purchasing slaves — a melancholy privilege — to have 
 the exclusive right of degrading their fellow-creatures, and 
 consequently themselves. This ship soon sailed again for Tunis. 
 Many Turkish merchants, who had waited for an opportunity, 
 went with it. The firing of a gun, as a signal for the departure 
 of the vessel, was answered from the castle, w’hich drew me 
 out upon the balcony. In a short time another vessel appeared 
 in the horizon, which, as it approached, I perceived by the flag 
 to be Russian. As it passed through the narrow entrance, the 
 sails were lowered; but being lightly laden, it was in danger 
 of striking on a rock, under our balcony. The Mahometans, 
 who recognized the Russian flag, and who hate and fear the 
 R ussians more than any nation, rejoiced in the hope that it 
 would run aground, but the dexterity of some Greek sailors 
 saved it from destruction. 
 
 In the various excursions which I made in the environs of 
 Ganea, in March and the beginning of April, I became more 
 acquainted with the beauty of this island, which increased my 
 desire to visit the other parts of it: I had not yet been to the 
 
39 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 district of the Sphakiotes, Rettimo, Candia, Lassiti, and the 
 most easterly Stia. I first visited the country about Kissamo, 
 ascended Mount Tytirus, but took care not to go too far, to 
 enter houses, or to pass the night there, for the consul had 
 advised me to avoid these places, because the plague had been 
 there during the winter ; many villages were half depopulated, 
 and besides, all people coming from that quarter were stopped 
 before the city. I saw no reason to deviate from his advice, 
 and kept upon the Sphakiote mountains. At last I endeavoured 
 to make some excursions towards Rettimo. I came towards 
 Calives, where I was stopped by the rivulet of Apicorono, the 
 ancient river Amphimela, now called Tchiliari. A Greek 
 peasant unyoked his plough, and carried me over on his horse, 
 sitting behind. This tract on the bay of Suda, was rich in 
 vegetation ; the fortress, which lay opposite to me upon an 
 island, remained for a great many years, after the conquest of 
 Crete by the Turks, in the hands of the Venetians, as well as 
 Garbusa, at the western end of it, till they were both given up 
 by a convention, and the latter, in consideration of a casket 
 of ducats, which was paid to the Venetian governor, who after- 
 wards lived at Constantinople upon the wealth thus acquired, 
 known by the nick-name of Lord of Garbusa. I sent my guide 
 Manoli back w’ith plants, and took a Turk to accompany me. 
 He was an old soldier, and could pronounce pretty distinctly 
 the name of Laudon, of whom he spoke with much respect. 
 He was recommended to me at Calives, because he spoke a 
 little Italian. He had been at Belgrade, and had also been in 
 other campaigns, and told me of his own accord, how difficult 
 it was to withstand European powers ; the close ranks, he said, 
 the steadiness of the troops, the silence and regularity of their 
 motions, and above all, the terrible cannons, nearly every ball 
 of which takes effect, are the causes that the Turks must always 
 give w-ay. Then too, he said, every man regularly received 
 his bread, his clothing, and all he required; in the Turkish 
 army on the contrary, every man must provide his own clothing, 
 arms, bread, and every other necessary ; some part of the corps 
 had abundance, while another suffered want: when they had 
 a large supply, extravagance and disorder prevailed, but this 
 was commonly succeeded by a general scarcity. Often they 
 had nothing at all, many then dispersed for the purpose of plun- 
 dering, no order, and no command was respected. The enemy 
 had only to retire and weary the troops, they fell into confu- 
 sion, and every thing was lost. His frank communicativeness 
 made me smile, and ask him, if he had ever been taken prisoner 
 by us. He confessed it, and spoke in high terms of the manner 
 in which captives are treated, particularly now in Russia, and 
 
40 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete . 
 
 the substance of his concluding remark was; “ that it was 
 better to be a prisoner to an European power, than a free soldier 
 in the Turkish army.” 
 
 At Calives I had called on the Papa, or Greek country 
 priest, to obtain a mule to carry me to Rettimo, but none was 
 to be had, and I was obliged to go on foot. I therefore set 
 out with my Turk, who affirmed that he could carry as much 
 as a mule, and this was the reason that I could obtain none ; 
 he said that he was both my porter and my Janissary. The 
 Turks in Calives, who had been represented to me as very 
 malicious, firmly believed that I had some other intentions, 
 and because I enquired the way to the Sphakiotes, that I was 
 going to induce them to revolt. They could not comprehend 
 my business because I wrote so much ; but they did not venture 
 to do any thing against me, because I spoke of firmans, and in 
 the evening gave consolation or good advice to the patients 
 who crowded to consult me ; I even visited their houses and 
 harems, (because the women required it.) They were very 
 well pleased with my prescriptions, for I did not ask any thing 
 for my trouble, and I thereby obtained the advantage of ob- 
 serving the interior of their houses, their customs, and various 
 diseases. If I met with any interesting case, I took pleasure 
 in enquiring into it, made them describe accurately all the 
 symptoms, and gave good words where no relief could be 
 afforded. I hardly think that any hospital in Europe could 
 produce in one or many years, such a variety of diseases as I 
 had in one year the opportunity of observing in this island. 
 All crowded round me and implored my help. 
 
 The worthy old clergyman was a man who had the most 
 pleasing countenance perhaps that I had seen in the whole 
 island ; he was father of three amiable children, and a happy 
 husband, whereas the Caloyers are never married, and lead a 
 monastic life, according to the rule of St. Basil. He gave me 
 up his room and his best bed, and entertained me as well as he 
 was able. He informed me of the suspicions of the Turks, and 
 that the object of their very frequent visits to him had been to 
 watch me. I had unreservedly expressed my opinion to them, 
 joked and conversed without embarrassment, so that in the 
 end they did not know what to think. The priest conducted 
 me to the bedchamber, and begged me, quite privately, with 
 tears in his eyes, to confess to him, by the great God, when 
 the hour of the deliverance of the Greeks from their dreadful 
 slavery should come. The man really thought that I had come 
 to the insignificant Calives with such intentions. He begged me 
 so seriously and movingly, that I could not help telling him a 
 falsehood, and said, <c that in two years much would happen 
 
41 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 fo their advantage, and that they had hopes of being united 
 with the Seven Islands 
 
 Whatever might have been the consequences, I could not 
 refuse to give this transitory satisfaction to this venerable man. 
 Contented, and thanking God, with lifted arms, he bowed his 
 head, and profound feeling animated his countenance. As 
 events have turned out, I shall certainly pass in his eyes for an 
 emissary connected with the League. In the morning I settled 
 my account with this good man, who afterwards visited me at 
 Canea, and continued my journey to Rettimo with Mustapha, 
 my Turk. We arrived there the next day at noon, where I 
 found several Europeans. I prepared the residence to which 
 I intended shortly to remove. Among a crowd of persons 
 collected to see the vessels enter the harbour of Rettimo, I 
 perceived a person in an European dress, who came up to me 
 and introduced himself as the physician of the place. He 
 spoke pretty good Italian, said that he had been some years in 
 the hospital at Moscow, and that he had Russian certificates 
 and protection : I thought this probable, because he spoke 
 Russian very well, and otherwise could not have worn an Eu- 
 ropean dress. He was very polite, and convinced me, by his 
 local knowledge and accurate conception of my plan, that he 
 would be extremely useful to me. He had good medical 
 attainments, knew the local Greek, Officinal, and even some 
 Linnean names of some of the most important plants. What 
 particularly pleased me was, his having procured, at great 
 expense from Constantinople, good vaccine matter, and intro- 
 duced the cow-pox into Crete, in spite of all obstacles. He 
 was now in Rettimo for this purpose, and taught his brothers 
 to perform this simple operation. I the more readily accepted 
 his proposal to accompany me through the whole island, as he 
 said he had no business to hinder him, and only requested me 
 to communicate to him occasionally all useful information, 
 and merely provide for his board and lodging and some trifles. 
 With all his good qualities I could not help feeling that he was 
 disagreeable to me, which prevented me from placing full 
 confidence in him, which was the more unpleasant, as I could 
 not do without him ; however, the real attachment and constant 
 proofs of his sincere friendship, made me overlook many 
 unfavourable observation which I heard respecting him. He 
 lived at Melidoni, where Tournefort, when collecting the Lau- 
 danum, was hindered from visiting the remarkable caverns 
 with inscriptions. There was now no difficulty in examining 
 these caverns ; the owner of the estate being represented as one 
 of the most worthy Turks in the island. 
 
 Out of the city walls 1 found some miserable huts in which 
 Voyages and Travels, J\ r o. XLVII1. Vol. VIII. g 
 
42 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the lepers lived. They requested alms, but not relief; for of 
 this they have long renounced all hope. Their wretchedness is 
 not to be described ; and the notion attached to the word 
 leprosy, by which a disorder of the skin is understood, is ex- 
 tremely incomplete. I now returned to Canea. 
 
 My new attendant, Georgi, requested me to come back to 
 Rettimo, where he would wait for me. The vegetation was 
 not very forward on the 20th of March, and as I could soon 
 arrange my affairs at Canea, I consented. After I had reached 
 my residence at Canea, I showed Mustapha my firman from 
 Constantinople, to satisfy his scruples respecting my under- 
 taking. It is true he could not read it, but he admired the 
 thickness and smoothness of the paper, more than the Turkish 
 characters, which he could not comprehend. 
 
 The more I became acquainted with the country round about 
 Canea, the more unwilling I was to leave that city. The 
 delay became still more considerable when the Pacha himself 
 wrote me a letter of recommendation to the Musselim of Ret- 
 timo, which his secretary lost. He begged us to have a little 
 patience, and not to offend the Pacha, who thought that I had 
 long since set out. This cost two weeks; at last, however, he 
 .was obliged to ask the Pacha for a second letter, which he 
 obtained with great trouble and vexation. Meantime our ex- 
 cellent Consul, Paul Barbieri, daily urged my departure — the 
 plague having already shown itself near the city. He often 
 visited me to see the plants I collected, many of which he 
 greatly admired, and lamented that he was born in a barba- 
 rous country, where the conversation of Europeans was the 
 only indemnity for the want of other means of obtaining 
 scientific knowledge. He visited me in the beginning of April, 
 but seeing country people in my anti-room, immediately re- 
 tired, after seriously representing to me the danger of the 
 plague. But what could I do with people who came to me 
 imploring advice, consolation, or medicine. I did w’hat I 
 could ; every one was allowed to come, and I had no want of 
 visits. At last, however, I was obliged to yield to the remon- 
 strances of the Consul, and shut my house. 
 
 The day before my departure, Nicoletto, a Cephalonian by 
 birth, came dressed in his best clothes and begged me to follow 
 him ; the bishop, he said, had sent him to me, to ask me to 
 attend his sick brother. I represented to Nicoletto that this 
 was an absurd request, at this time, when persons had died of 
 the plague near the city, and the Franks had already shut 
 themselves up in their houses. This he could not deny ; but ob- 
 served, that he exposed himself to the danger, if there was any ; 
 but that it was not probable the plague would break out first 
 
43 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 in the house of the bishop ; besides, I was acquainted with the 
 patient, and it was only an attack of his usual cholic. I replied, 
 that 1 was not satisfied with the symptoms of his disorder, 
 especially at this time. However, the recollection that he who 
 may one day need help himself, must not deny it to another, 
 prevailed. I went unwillingly, indeed, but 1 did go, for I 
 might use precautions. The Bishop of Canea, a very well- 
 informed polite man, received me in the manner of the country, 
 and invited me to sit down by him on the divan. Pipes and 
 coffee were brought, as usual, but I shortened my visit by en- 
 quiring for his brother. The deacon, a young man, conducted 
 us to the small room in which the patient lay. I immediately 
 looked for the symptoms which are said to accompany the 
 plague, carefully remaining in the middle of the room. I did 
 not find them ; but his answers were so confused, that I became 
 uneasy. I perceived, too, that he told falsehoods. I addressed 
 him roughly, and told him I knew by the symptoms that be 
 had not the cholic ; on which, quite confounded, he shewed me 
 that he bad the swellings which accompany the plague. I asked 
 him why, if he knew his situation, he had dared to send for 
 me, and expose me to a danger which might be more fatal to 
 me than to himself? He did not venture to answer, and I went 
 away. Nicoletto and the other persons in the house had not 
 understood the conversation. I asked plainly if he had ever 
 had the plague, which he had formerly refused to confess, and 
 they told me that he had had it four times, but imperfectly. 
 
 I therefore was not quite certain, and in my confusion, as also 
 not to spread alarm in the city, I avoided giving warning of 
 the approaching danger. I feared, too, that it had already 
 brokeu out in several places, and conjectured that they had 
 understood me in the house of the bishop. I was equally un- 
 certain about my own fate, for I could not possibly recollects 
 whether I had touched the patient or not. The bishop, and 
 almost every body in his house, had been about him, and had 
 touched me and my clothes. Nicoletto asked me for medi- 
 cines, and I was obliged to prescribe. Reynieri made them 
 up, and I advised the Cephalonian to be careful, because I was 
 not certain whether it was the plague. My situation was un- 
 pleasant ; when I arrived at the consul’s, he offered me his 
 hand, but I drew back, and likewise refused to sit down. 
 Happily I soon learnt the reason why the consul seemed so 
 pleased, w T hen he produced in triumph, the lost letter of the 
 Pacha, and delivered it to me. I had scarcely put it into my 
 pocket when he w r anted to read it, but I turned it off with a 
 joke. To avoid taking leave of him, and perhaps touching 
 him, I hastened away, pretending I had forgotten something, 
 
44 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 and would soon return. I looked for horses or 'mules in order 
 to escape by flight the very next day, when luckily two of my 
 good friends from Rettimo, whither I intended to go, arrived 
 on mules, which were to go back, and I immediately ordered 
 them for the next day. One of the mules smelt at me, and 
 leaped aside terrified ; but I did not ascribe it to the true cause. 
 I likewise appointed the Janissary to come, and engaged Ali, 
 the brother of Ibrahim, who was accustomed to accompany 
 travellers through the island. When I returned home, and 
 found my attendant, I could hardly refrain from tears ; but I 
 was soon filled with anger at the worthless patient, who, though 
 I had often spoken to him of his illness before, concealed that 
 he had already had the plague. I informed my gardener of 
 what had passed, and told him my suspicion, and that I did 
 not know what to do with him, as nobody would receive him ; 
 many of our things could not be removed ; various circum- 
 stances obliged us to return to our house in the town, and I did 
 not know whether the plague would spread. I charged him not 
 to come near me ; but he endeavoured to make me easy, and 
 did not make any difference in his conduct. I represented to 
 him the necessity of taking precautions, and prescribed to 
 him minutely what he should do, all which he promised to 
 observe, but could not be induced to entertain any fear. For 
 me nothing remained but flight, and in the morning I had the 
 mules loaded, and sent them out of the town, not wishing 
 to ride through the streets. It was on the 23d of April when 
 I left Canea, with painful feelings, as I foresaw that the plague 
 would inevitably break out ; but which I did not venture to 
 say in the city, as I should have increased the alarm ; and be- 
 sides, all the Europeans and Greeks were already on their 
 guard. I desired my gardener to go, if he pleased, to the 
 mountains, and botanize in the Sphakiote district, and left him 
 a considerable sum, to be prepared against all events. 
 
 When I got out of the gate, where the countryman and the 
 Janissary waited for me, and 1 approached the handsome mule 
 intended for my use, it again began to snort and to start. I did 
 not regard this, held it fast, and thought it would be quiet when I 
 was mounted ; but it became furious, threw me violently, and my 
 foot hanging in the stirrup, it would have dragged me over the 
 stony ground, and dashed me to pieces with its hoofs, had not 
 the bystanders stopped it, when my Janissary disengaged my 
 foot from the stirrup. All ascribed the violence of the mule 
 to the fear of my European dress ; but I remained silent, be- 
 cause 1 guessed the true cause. For why had it, only the 
 evening before, quietly carried my Greek friend Baleste, who 
 wore the same dress ? I felt as if a dagger pierced me, from 
 
45 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the conviction that the mule smelt the infection of the plague, 
 which many mules are known to do. I dared not express my 
 anxiety, and mounted the other, which was an old mule. 
 Rain coming on, I took leave of my gardener with tears, 
 communicated to him my melancholy thoughts, and authorized 
 him, in an Italian letter, in case of a bad issue, to take my 
 property and return to Europe. The fine mule which the 
 Janissary mounted, galloped on, snorted, and fled from me. 
 We were overtaken by the rain, which wetted me through, 
 and we took shelter in a chapel, built by a pious Turk, for the 
 protection of travellers. The shower was soon over, and the 
 wind and sun dried our clothes. The black clouds hung over 
 the snowy mountains, and made a beautiful contrast with the 
 silver cones of the Spkakiote chain, shining in the sun. 
 
 If the fear of the mule had at first appeared singular, its 
 manner was now still more inexplicable. On my coming 
 near it trembled, snorted at first, then smelt, and snuffed up the 
 air without starting, and probably not smelling any thing more, 
 became quite gentle, and its fear had vanished. Without de- 
 siring to impose my opinion upon any one, I conceived that the 
 rain had washed off the infectious smell that probably hung 
 about my clothes, and if we may trust to the succeeding quietness 
 of the mule, the contagious matter also, as we know that in- 
 fected clothes may be entirely purified by washing in clean 
 water, nay, even by exposure to the open air. 
 
 We rode past the harbour of Suda, formerly Amphimalla. 
 In Niochorio, the Timavian springs were smoking, which I 
 looked at with great attention. The water rushing from the 
 rocks appeared to be boiling hot. Near this village we dined, 
 and in the next inn paid three piasters for nothing, for the very 
 good reason, that just before a Turk demanded of the land- 
 lord, a Greek, “a present of twenty-four piasters.” The bar- 
 barous Turks are often guilty of such extortions in this island, 
 since the time of Osman-Pacha, the present Pachas being 
 seldom able to employ severity. 
 
 The road in this pleasant valley now led over the Armiro, a 
 rivulet which fails into the sea beyond Cape Drepanurn. Fine 
 olive gardens have replaced the thick forests which lately 
 lined the road, and were infested by robbers, who were so 
 daring, that it was necessary to travel in whole caravans well 
 armed. These banditti are now destroyed, the woods cut 
 down, and the trees are every where a musket-shot distant from 
 the road. We then passed over a bridge, called Palacocamara, 
 or the old bridge. Thence on the right hand, towards the 
 mountains, is the only pass which leads to the high land 
 Sphakia, towards which my Janissary turned to call upon a 
 
46 
 
 Travels in Hie Island of Crete. 
 
 Greek, who lived in a village called Masa. I was astonished 
 at the road which we now entered ; it was like another Appian 
 way, for it was nearly two fathoms broad, consisting of large 
 flat stones, closely joiued, so that it perfectly resembled an 
 ancient causeway. It led to Masa, a miserable village, the 
 walls of which must belong to an ancient city, for their ap- 
 pearance evidently shewed them to be antique. Masa seems 
 much to resemble the Matium of Pliny, no other name of any 
 antient city of Crete agrees with it. Matium cannot, however, 
 be here ; and Mycene, built by Agamemnon, seems alone to 
 correspond with this Masa. We passed the night here, and on 
 the following day reached Rettimo, by way of Armiro. We 
 rode in at a different gate, because the guard always stops 
 European travellers, and demands a present. Greeks not being 
 permitted to ride in at the city gate, but always obliged to 
 dismount, while the Europeans are allowed only on payment 
 of a present; and the Turks alone, whether rich or poor, are 
 free. The Janissary who had foreseen it, wished to avoid it 
 by choosing another gate; but here, too, notwithstanding his 
 remonstrances, the guards seized my mule’s bridle, demanded 
 a present, and threatened to pull me off if I attempted to force 
 my way. I gave no present, the guard being so unreasonable 
 as to demand a Spanish dollar; but hastened with my letters 
 of recommendation, and my firman, to the Motsallem of 
 Rettimo. He was very angry, and ordered the hot young 
 fellow to be put for six hours into a cool chamber, having first 
 read my firman, which stated that no tribute or the like was 
 to be demanded of me. This had its effect ; as 1 made fre- 
 quent excursions, I should have been obliged to pay a dollar 
 every time I rode out or in, or else be forced to the humiliation 
 of going on foot. The soldier, indeed, did not forget it, and 
 seized my mule by the bridle the next time ; this he did, how- 
 ever, only as a trial, thinking to frighten me, like the oppressed 
 Greeks; but well knowing the satisfaction which had been 
 given me, I scolded him heartily, snatched the bridle out of his 
 hand, and asked him, if the Sultan had no authority in this 
 island, as the Pacha of Canea bad told him ? Here an old Turk 
 very prudently interfered, and led the soldier off, to spare him 
 the disgrace of yielding. However, I sometimes sent to the 
 guard a small present of one or two piasters ; for if we are 
 bound not to sacrifice our national honour, it is yet not good 
 to make the people your enemies, and it is often only necessary 
 to shew that we need not if we will not. The Greek metro- 
 politan alone is the only person of his nation in the island, who 
 has the legal right to enter the city gate, either on a horse or a 
 mule; even bishops and abbots, which dignities, however, are 
 
47 
 
 Travels in ihe Island of Crete. 
 
 of little signification here, are obliged to dismount without the 
 gates, and give their mules to their servants. This is one of 
 the most sensible mortifications to the Greek nation. In general, 
 a Greek is not allowed in the city to ride in the streets. A 
 countryman, who had for sale a quantity of toys, little baskets, 
 &c. being unable to lead his ass with both his hands full, re- 
 mained sitting upon it in the city ; on which a troop of Turks 
 immediately collected, who struck the animal on the hind legs, 
 so that it stumbled, and the poor peasant fell into the deep 
 mud, and had all his goods broken. As the poor fellow began 
 to cry, I waited till he passed me in order to give him some- 
 thing. 
 
 The Greeks would willingly put up with many extortions, 
 if only these wretched barbarians did not at all times make 
 them feel their dependence in so mortifying a manner. No- 
 thing is more intolerable than when the well-educated man has 
 to ask anything of a rude upstart, or when one who has fallen 
 into unmerited poverty, has a Jew creditor; the situation of 
 both, indeed, is lamentable; but the condition of the Greeks is 
 far more oppressive, the richest of them not being secure from 
 the insults of the poorest Turkish beggar. When any thing at 
 all disagreeable happened to me, I immediately related it, by 
 my interpreter, on my visits to the sick. I told my grievances 
 to some one of the rich and distinguished Turks, whom I con- 
 sented to visit for some imaginary or fashionable sickness ; 
 this succeeded, and I had no further trouble. If I rode out 
 alone, the Greeks begged me to mount at my own house, and 
 so to ride out as if without thinking of it. This appeared to 
 them some indemnity, and I readily did it to oblige the good 
 people. I took up my lodging, as represented in the annexed 
 plate, in the house of the merchant Stehlianaci, from whom the 
 Pacha had forcibly taken his convenient house, situated on the 
 harbour, for a third part of the value, because it pleased him, 
 and who now' dwelt in the house belonging to the Convent 
 Arcadi. My residence was extremely agreeable and pleasant, 
 and it would have been difficult to have found one more 
 suitable for me. In this house I met with some Austrian mer- 
 chants and captains, from Boccbe di Cattaro, w'ho were here to 
 purchase oil, and to take it to Venice. They are very partial 
 to Austria, because, since the cession of Dalmatia to the Aus- 
 trian government, their trade, w hich was before very confined, 
 has become extensive and flourishing. 
 
 Rettimo has a small harbour, which was some years ago 
 improved, cleansed, and rendered fit to receive small vessels, a 
 circumstance which deserves au honourable place in the annals 
 of the Turkish government. The fortress lies upon a rock, at 
 
48 
 
 Travels in ihe Island of Crete. 
 
 the west side of the town, and is the best fort of the three 
 cities of this island. The town is pretty, less than Canea, with 
 about four thousand inhabitants. The streets are almost all 
 adorned with wooden booths or shops ; the market-place in 
 the middle of the town is lively ; the by-streets consist of w r alls, 
 with doors, and a few small lattice windows; the fronts being 
 turned the other way. The town probably stands on the site 
 of the ancient Rithymna. The inhabitants are reputed to be 
 the most obliging in the whole' island ; even the Turks of 
 Rettimo are less barbarous. The Greek women are said to be 
 the handsomest and mildest, which every traveller must con- 
 firm. The conversation is not so dull as in other places, the 
 women being allowed much more freedom in their behaviour 
 in the agreeable private gardens. The environs of the town, 
 however, are desolate ; only the road to Arcadi is picturesque 
 and beautiful, and the neighbouring district of Milopotamo 
 makes up for all. They have ripe grapes already, in the first 
 half of July, just when cherries go out. 
 
 Rettimo was taken by the Turks in 1647, and has not now 
 a Pacha of its own, as in Tournefort’s time; but a Motsallem, 
 who depends on the Pacha of Canea, who is again under the 
 Chief Pacha of Candia, but never obeys him. About half a 
 league on the road to Candia, begin the gardens which are 
 called Perivoglia ; they are the finest in the island, and furnish 
 many kinds of very excellent vegetables. I had scarcely 
 arrived when Georgi found me out, and advised me to dismiss 
 the troublesome Janissary. I approved of his advice, because 
 it would save me considerable sums, and I should become 
 better acquainted with every thing, as the Greeks are not 
 so alarmed, and are more communicative, when one travels 
 without a Janissary. It is therefore better, if it can be done, 
 to take a Greek servant. My Janissary accordingly returned 
 to Canea, for which the Consul blamed me; but he could not 
 afford me more protection than my hat did, which is much 
 more respected in Turkey since the bombardment of Algiers. 
 The Janissary is, besides, a burden, because it is necessary 
 every where to pay double in order to gratify his vanity. 
 Georgi had attained his object by the dismissal of the Janis- 
 sarjf, but I was very sorry to part with him, because he had a 
 very good disposition, behaved alike to Greeks and Turks, 
 and excited in me a suspicion that he was secretly attached to 
 Christianity. 
 
 In one of our excursions, passing through a village, I was 
 surrounded by a crowd of country people, who conducted me 
 to the Papa of the place, who was much afflicted with the gout, 
 a disorder pretty common here, and his very handsome and 
 
49 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 modest daughter had unfortunately a defect in the eye, which 
 deprived it of its lustre. I satisfied both with good advice. I 
 had scarcely left the village, when I met another group of 
 country people, who had a youth of eighteen in the midst of 
 them ; and I unhappily saw, at first sight, that he had the 
 leprosy in a high degree. As soon as he perceived ine, he 
 began to weep bitterly, clasped his hands, and implored me to 
 help him, vowing to be eternally my slave. He seemed even 
 disposed to humble himself on his knees before me, and [ felt 
 in that moment how hard it was not to be able to relieve him ; 
 but the divine word, “ go, thy faith hath made thee whole,” 
 could alone have saved him, and so I departed, even more 
 grieved in my soul than himself. He was still allowed to re- 
 main some time in the village ; but, as the country people told 
 me, when his skin was covered with scurf, and his fingers began 
 to drop off, he would be obliged to depart, and join the company 
 of the unhappy sufferers in the huts before Rettimo. This was 
 the cause of bis melancholy, and of his importunate entreaties. 
 
 On Sunday the 27th of April, a Sirocco wind set in, raised 
 the sand and dust, and darkened the air. A relaxing heat, as 
 in the neighbourhood of a kiln, oppressed the lungs. I was at 
 an entertainment, at one of the richest Greek merchants, but 
 did not approve of their mode of provoking the appetite by 
 liqueurs before dinner. The table was handsomely set out, 
 and the dinner very well dressed ; it ended with fruits and 
 confectionary. Wine from the Archipelago, particularly the 
 excellent Malmsey, called to mind the Nectar of the gods, who 
 were born in this island. The Sirocco damped the enjoyment 
 of this select company, and when we had taken coffee on the 
 Divan, all eyes were closed by the dull tones of a two-stringed 
 mandoline, I felt quite exhausted when I reached home, and 
 was surprised to find the thermometer, in the shade, oniy+22° 
 Reaumur, a heat which ought not to have been so oppressive 
 as it was. On the following day, a refreshing rain cooled the 
 air, and it was proposed to take an excursion to Melidoni, the 
 native place of Georgi. On the way, about ten miles behind 
 Rettimo, I found the beautiful Phlomis, first discovered by 
 Tournefort. We gathered this plant, which had begun to 
 blossom, and took it with us to Melidoni. This village lies in a 
 small hollow in the mountain Panorma. The Bishop of Melidoni, 
 a worthy old man, shewed me his performances in black chalk 
 and oil. He painted altar pieces, as presents to neighbouring 
 churches, and had applications enough to find him employment, 
 his works being more valued, because a dignitary of the church 
 painted them for nothing. He copied after the engravings of 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Yol . VIII. H 
 
50 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 Italian masters, but was obliged, for fear of offending his flock, to 
 retain the customary ornaments, the brown colouring and stiff 
 attitudes of his Madonnas, and other images of saints. I related 
 what difficulties Tournefort had, a hundred years before, to see 
 the caves, with the inscriptions. They were shewn to me from 
 the window, and I continued, saying that he was chiefly hin- 
 dered by the Subbaschi. The present Subbaschi, who happened 
 to be in the room, obligingly said, hewould be happyto attend me 
 thither. The cave lies towards the west, in a mountain ; they 
 call it the old cave Gerospilos, but there are in fact two. The 
 inscriptions are in good preservation, but of no historical impor- 
 tance, and some lines are already covered with stalactites. 
 
 We staid till midnight in the bishop’s house. As we crossed 
 over the church yard, the monuments in which were illumed 
 by the bright light of the moon, we were regaled by the per- 
 fume of the orange trees, now in full bloom, gently agitated 
 by the wind. The lofty Ida seemed to touch with its snowy 
 summit the gold fringed clouds that hung over it, while heavy 
 masses rolled down the steep sides of the mountain, and formed 
 a wreath round its woody region, increasing the effect of a 
 Colossus, whose feet extended to the ends of the island ; the 
 cypresses around it, added to the beauty of the scene, and, 
 sacred to the divinities of the lower world, disposed the soul to 
 sensations, suitable to the midnight hour. 
 
 At home, Georgi’s mother was anxiously expecting us. At 
 the foot of my bed I found a large cloth spread with a heap 
 of orange blossoms, the smell of which w'as at first agreeable, 
 but affected me so much during my sleep, that in the morning 
 I could scarcely open my eyes, and was so dizzy, that I was 
 hardly able to get out of bed. A festival invited us to the 
 church, where we found a number of country people, with 
 cheerful faces, in their national dress of white calico, who very 
 civilly made way for us. After divine service, to which I 
 paid great attention, two attendants waited for us at the church 
 door, who with little watering pots, filled with the strongest 
 orange water, all at once deluged my face, head, and breast, 
 and all my clothes, expecting that the present I should make 
 would be liberal in proportion. Though this kind of baptism 
 was not very agreeable, I however put on a cheerful counte- 
 nance, and laid on the silver salver, which they presented to 
 me, a heap of about one hundred and fifty paras, which, to 
 judge by their looks, was more than they had expected. As 
 during my residence at Melidoni I inhaled nothing but the per- 
 fume of oranges, it happened in the sequel, that every smell of 
 oranges made me involuntarily fancy myself in my former 
 
51 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 agreeable dwelling at Melidoni. The rain hindered me from de- 
 parting before eleven o’clock in the forenoon, for Uettimo, where 
 we arrived on the first of May, at. five o’clock in the afternoon. 
 
 The two last days of the week were spent in arranging my 
 plants. I also visited some Turkish gardens, and became ac- 
 quainted with a very remarkable Turkish woman, who is quite 
 a phenomenon in the East. While I was busy in examining 
 my plants, I was told Signora Rosako had come to see me : I 
 looked up, and saw a woman of a masculine appearance and 
 dignified carriage, standing before me unveiled, who said, 
 “ Good day,” adding “ Your servant.” She was marked with 
 the small-pox, had regular features, but without any pretensions 
 to beauty, was about forty years of age, rather corpulent, but 
 of a very engaging appearance. I have never uret with so much 
 sound judgment, with so many singular expressions, so much de- 
 corum with less ceremony, in a woman, even an European, as 
 in her, and still less among the reserved muffled up statue-like 
 Turkish women. She brought me a nosegay, without which 
 it is not common to pay a visit, and which is generally offered 
 as a token of friendship on entering. If she had been educated 
 in the European fashion, she might have been displeased that 
 I spent so much time in viewing the nosegay, for besides beau- 
 tiful slips of jessamine, orange flowers, the white musk rose, 
 &c. my attention was particularly attracted by a kind of white 
 narcissus, and the Arabian ornithogalum : but she was pleased 
 at the honor bestowed upon her present. She had raised her- 
 self above the weakness and littleness of her countrywomen, 
 and could pretend, if not to beauty, to more estimable qualities. 
 Neither her brother, nor any other, had been able to hinder 
 her in her youth from frequenting the society of men. She was 
 of moderate stature, her dress tasteful, her hair hanging down 
 in ringlets, her head dress simple, and her bosom partially 
 covered. In another place I should have found her less inter- 
 esting, but as a Turkish woman, she naturally appeared some- 
 thing extraordinary. It was easily to be guessed, that she came 
 to consult me about her health. The conversation I had 
 with her, served to confirm the good opinion which was uni- 
 versally entertained of her. 
 
 On the Sunday morning I intended to take an excursion, to 
 avoid troublesome visits : but l was so importuned, that 1 was 
 obliged to give up my plan. One reason why they kept me 
 from my business, and were so fond of drawing me into com- 
 pany was, that the sight of an European seemed to animate 
 their hopes of speedy emancipation ; for the germ of the free- 
 dom of Greece was even then prepared. The anniversary of 
 one of the principal Saints of Greece happened on the fourth 
 
52 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 of May. The day was consumed in eating and drinking. 
 People whispered to each other about the plague, which was 
 not very agreeable to me. The sound of the vesper bell 
 induced me to go out to view the picturesque groups of well- 
 dressed country people. On returning home, we found a 
 whole company assembled in the middle of the court yard, 
 round a brazier of burning coals, who looked at each other 
 with alarm. In the middle was a man with a long Talar, 
 whom I immediately knew to be the Bishop of Rettimo, who, 
 with a pair of iron tongs, was holding a letter, already black 
 with smoke, over the coals. This sight confounded me, for I 
 knew better than they, that the letter must come from the 
 Bishop of Canea, Thus it appeared, that the plague had 
 certainly broken out, on the 1st of May, at Canea, in the 
 house of the bishop, and was now raging in that city. The 
 letter was in the bishop’s own hand, he having nobody to write 
 it for him, for he alone was left alive in his house. First the 
 deacon had died, who presented me the coffee and pipe, then 
 the two servants who had touched me, then the female servants, 
 and last of all, my worthy patient, the bishop’s brother. This 
 put my resignation and equanimity to the proof; but the prog- 
 nosis of my mule consoled me, for I had nothing but supersti- 
 tion to call to my aid, and I considered the rain, which had 
 wetted my clothes through, as an interposition of Providence, 
 to secure myself and others from danger. 
 
 On the following day I went to the convent Arcadi, for a 
 priest had just come, to inform the superior, who was at Ret- 
 timo on business, that some Turks had broken into the convent, 
 seized upon the stores of bread, meat, and wine, in order to 
 supply their wants, while they were impatiently expecting the 
 approaching harvest. Every common Turk thinks himself 
 master of the property of the convent, and though the Greek 
 clergy are highly esteemed by the Turks, yet the meanest 
 Mahometan frequently takes great liberties with individuals of 
 the body. A short time before, while I was cheerfully con- 
 versing with the excellent Bishop at Melidoni,a common Turk 
 came without ceremony into his room, demanded something 
 to eat, lighted his pipe at leisure, threw himself aukwardly on 
 a seat, mixed in the conversation, behaved like the master of 
 the house, and at last went to sleep. Yet this was not a pre- 
 meditated insult, but mere habit. As I clearly perceived that 
 the Bishop was much vexed, because I was present, I was 
 very near desiring him to be gone, as I had done more than 
 once before; for these Turks do not venture to say much to 
 the Franks, but a Greek, of whatever rank he may be, must 
 put up with every thing from them. The Abbot of Arcadi sent 
 
53 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the priest back with orders, and not choosing to go himself to 
 the convent, I mounted the mule that was brought for him, 
 and rode away with the priest, who took me through bye-roads 
 well known to the mules, amidst groves and arcades, and 
 fountains and flowering shrubs, which diffused the sweetest 
 perfume, while the melody of nightingales resounded on every 
 side. Turning round the corner of a rock, we saw a very 
 patriarchal group. A handsome peasant, dressed in the national 
 costume, with a stick in his hand, led a mule by the bridle, 
 on which his wife, who had quite the face of a Madonna, was 
 sitting with a little child. The whole resembled the flight into 
 Egypt, and was worthy the pencil of an Italian master. We 
 passed by an old wall, which was evidently the remains of 
 lately abandoned dwellings of oppressed Greeks. The roofs 
 had fallen in, the oil presses were broken, and the doors 
 carried away. A number of smooth pebbles, placed on purpose 
 in regular order under the oil press, and several egg-shells 
 fastened to the end of a stick, over the entrance, expressed 
 symbolically the feelings of the departing owners, as if they 
 had said, “ You have pressed the marrow from our bones, now 
 “ press the pebbles; you have plundered our houses, take now 
 “ the empty shell.” On account of the rain, the priest stopped 
 at a hut, where we were regaled with cheese, wine, fruits, &c. 
 which we should not have looked for in this poor cottage. 
 The wine loosed their tongues, and they enquired of me the 
 hour of their emancipation, as if I had to distribute the parts, 
 or could foretell the changes of the political horizon, as the 
 almanack does the weather. The balm of words cost little, 
 I therefore drank to them for their consolation, patience and 
 hope. Night approached before we reached the convent. Our 
 mules crossed a bridge, as I perceived from the noise of the 
 stream that rolled beneath. We turned round a rock, the moon 
 broke through the clouds, and we discerned the noble convent, 
 surrounded by a wood of pines and cypresses. 
 
 The trampling of the mules on the pavement brought out the 
 inmates of the convent, w T hose surprise at the sight of an Euro- 
 pean, none having been there for fifteen years, w r as the greater, 
 as they expected the abbot himself. There were no Turks in 
 the convent, they having gone away, after they had plundered 
 it, and my reception w*as the more joyful. The Greeks thought 
 that more must follow; and an old Monk said, “ Why did not 
 “your brethren come w r ith you?” Ida was not visible the 
 whole of the following day; and light misty clouds (for Arcadi 
 is 202 toises above the level of the sea) enveloped the whole 
 monastery; the walls were damp, and it seemed as if I had 
 arrived in the coldest season; for though all was in blossom in 
 
54 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the valley, hardly a flower had unfolded its leaves at Arcadi. 
 The considerable level on which the convent of Arcadi lies, 
 was the site of the ancient cityr of Arcadia. It was probably 
 not very large, for this mountainous tract could hardly support 
 so numerous a population as the European generally attaches 
 to the idea of a city. Among the ancient cities, it may be 
 supposed, that only Gortyna, Gnossus, Cydonia, Hierapytna, 
 Lyelos, Prasos, Aptera, Rithymna, and a few others, really 
 deserved the name; if Crete, therefore, was ever called Heca- 
 topolis, or the island of a Hundred Cities, the smallest towns 
 must have been included, which perhaps were called cities, 
 only because Crete being constantly involved in internal feuds, 
 every place, however insignificant, was surrounded with walls. 
 However high we estimate the population of the island, it 
 could hardly have amounted to half a million, even in the 
 most flourishing times, and if we suppose two thirds to have 
 been country people, each city would have, on an average, 
 1500 inhabitants, and even this seems too much, since it may 
 be doubted, whether they fetched from Egypt every year as 
 much corn again as the island can produce, to say nothing of 
 those years when the crops failed. It appears from Polybius, 
 and other writers, that the island was not more populous for- 
 merly than at present. — When Metellus began to conquer the 
 island, he was opposed by onty 10,000 Cretan youths, who 
 seem to have been all that could carry arms. But if we take 
 the number of men bearing arms in those times to have been 
 25,000, the remaining population, taken at five times the 
 number, make only 150,000 in all. It is not less now than 
 formerly, but rather greater, for the city of Canea can furnish 
 at any time one thousand resolute soldiers. In the year 1610, the 
 Venetians reckoned 270,000 souls in Crete. Savary, Sonnini, 
 and others, who always look at the past with a magnifying 
 glass, and for the sake of some ruins, which the all-destroying 
 hand of time has spared, too much extol the ancient inhabi- 
 tants, who lived in happier circumstances at the expence of 
 the present generation, have been guilty of partiality. 
 
 The monasteries of Crete are most delightfully situated; 
 it is therefore no wonder that the ruins of the ancient Ar- 
 cadia were employed for building a handsome convent It 
 was erected by Venetian settlers, about 235 years ago. 
 The chapel is dark, and stands in the middle of the paved 
 yard, surrounded by cypress trees. Most of the cells are 
 converted into hay magazines; the refectory, intended for a 
 great number of persons, stands empty, with its fine table. 
 Tournefort reckoned about one hundred priests in this 
 convent, and about two hundred monks, employed in the 
 
55 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 labours of the field and the vineyard; at present there are not 
 above eight priests and twelve monks. They have very fine 
 and roomy cellars, and the best wine in the whole island, which 
 is ealled after the village of Malevisi, near Candia. When the 
 Venetians were masters of the island, great quantities of this 
 wine were produced about Rettimo and Candia, and it was 
 made by boiling in large coppers, as 1 myself observed in this 
 convent, but it is now very scarce, only a little being made at 
 Arcadi, the vineyards of which lie very high, and produce the 
 finest grapes ; none is now made, even at Malevisi, near Candia. 
 The best is sold at the convent at eighteen piasters, or four 
 florins, the barrel of eighteen gallons. A great deal of wine 
 and corn is produced, for the ground about the monasteries 
 is in general the best cultivated; all the labours of the field and 
 garden are conducted with much regularity, the crops are 
 abundant, and yet the convent is involved in debt. Its do- 
 main extends to the foot of Ida, and in the valley of Rettimo, 
 nearly to the sea. The superior of the convent is obliged to 
 reside almost always at Rettimo, to prevent or to satisfy all 
 demands and pecuniary extortions. 
 
 The Oguroenos, or superintendent, had mentioned to me the 
 remains of a library, which the convent preserved in an old 
 lumber room without windows : he spoke in such terms of it, 
 that I desired to see it. The melancholy remains of the coni- 
 vent library were chiefly classics, but in a very bad condition, 
 amounting in the whole to about five hundred volumes. Never 
 did 1 see old volumes so worm eaten; most of them were 
 entirely useless ; besides the books of divinity, there were Pindar 
 and Petrarca, Virgil with Dante, Homer and Strabo, Thucy- 
 dides and Diodorus, confusedly mixed together. Aristophanes 
 and Euripides were hardly to be distinguished ; and the finest 
 editions of these and other classics lay in the most deplorable 
 condition. I arranged what was still fit for use, and had some 
 trouble to get together fourteen volumes of Aristotle, which, 
 singular enough, had been wholly spared by the moths, per- 
 haps owing to some ingredient in the size employed in the 
 manufacture of the paper. The Abbot was offended at my 
 considering the collection as destroyed, for he valued the ruins 
 of his library at a price which, if it were printed, would 
 certainly be thought a gross erratum. Ptolemy Philadelphus 
 did not perhaps set a higher value on his Alexandrian library. 
 
 On the 10th I at last set out from Rettimo for Candia. 
 Jensi Aga requested me to take a letter to the Pacha of Can- 
 dia, with whom he was on very intimate terms. In this man 
 I found one instance among many, of the bad consequences 
 arising from the immoderate use of drastic medicines. In the 
 
56 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 beginning of May the inhabitants, old and young without ex- 
 ception, are let blood, as if they had too much, and habit 
 allows of no omission of this injurious custom ; scarcely has 
 the body of the industrious peasant recovered from the rigorous 
 fast, when the first of May claims the little blood he has left. 
 I readily took the letter, as he who has one to deliver has ad- 
 mittance as a stranger ever after. We rode by way of Perivoli, 
 Melidoni, Damasta, to Candia. On the long road through this 
 village of gardens, Perivoli, we rode entirely under arbours of 
 vines, which were in full bloom, and diffused a peculiarly de- 
 lightful odour, w'hich we never meet with in our northern 
 countries. Near a village, a league beyond Rettimo, twenty 
 peasants were digging up liquorice root, which grows wild in 
 great quantities, and is sent as an article of trade to Cairo. 
 
 Soon after we met a good-natured Turkish lad, whom 
 Georgi, contrary to his custom, saluted very cordially, then 
 stopped his mule, and began to feel in his pockets : ten paras 
 appeared to him too little for a present, and he therefore asked 
 me for twenty more. I could not comprehend his hurry and 
 joy. The conversation, full of affection and friendship, last- 
 ing rather long, I asked him, in Italian, who this bosom friend 
 might be, on which he begged me to have patience. The 
 other Greeks, for no Turk was present, stood still and listened 
 w r ith evident pleasure to the conversation, w’hich I thought 
 would never come to an end. I rode on, Georgi at last over- 
 took me, and surprized me by a strange speech, saying, 
 “ This young Turk is my godson .” — “ Turk, and godson, you 
 dream.” — “ Ah, no! he is indeed my godson, I myself christ- 
 ened him, together with his mother, w ho is sixty years old, 
 about a year ago, having previously instructed them in 
 the Christian religion.” The animated rapid narrative of a 
 number of connected circumstances convinced me of the truth 
 of his assertions, though I affected to be incredulous, in order 
 to satisfy myself respecting the causes and motives of all these 
 inexplicable and mysterious statements. I was extremely 
 surprised, for I knew that the slightest suspicion which a 
 Turk excites against himself respecting his faith, is usually 
 punished by instant death. How could a conversation on a 
 subject of such importance, and so dangerous to the life of 
 the convert, be held in the presence of several Greeks, who, 
 especially those of Crete, have not the good sense to observe 
 silence, be kept secret in the long run from so many Turks? 
 How do these Turks perform their prayers and religious exer- 
 cises as Christians? And how do they avert the suspicion of 
 their very mistrustful countrymen, which must necessarily be 
 excited, by omitting for so many years the practice of the 
 
57 
 
 Travels m ihe Island of Crete. 
 
 Mahomedan religious ceremonies? Not only Georgi, but the 
 Austrian Consul, and several other persons worthy of credit, 
 confirmed these inconceivable circumstances by various ex- 
 amples, even quoting instances of such secret Christians who 
 had remained undiscovered for forty and fifty years or more, 
 and who, though well-known and supported by all the Greeks, 
 were never betrayed. I cannot, therefore, sufficiently praise 
 the scrupulousness and the discretion of the Greek nation on 
 this point, being convinced by what I heard from them, that 
 out of love to their religion, to which they are greatly attached, 
 they would rather suffer all manner of persecutions than betray 
 such a secret Christian. 
 
 Georgi was not a little proud of having instructed and con- 
 verted this young Turk. He did not tell me his name or his 
 place of abode, and begged me never to make any allusion, or 
 ask any question on the subject, because his own life and that of 
 many others was at stake. He told me that there was a 
 great number of secret Christians not only in Crete but in 
 many other parts of Turkey ; and I myself became acquainted 
 with whole families, who, 1 was told confidentially, and after 
 long intimacy, were Christians, which I did not doubt for a 
 moment. Thus it happened once, on my returning from a 
 walk to dinner, that meat was served up which nobody would 
 touch, saying, we have done dinner: but at length I perceived, 
 that on the Greek fast days, they went aside and took Lent 
 food. Another time as I was eating meat, as well dressed as I 
 ever met with, the master of the house, a Turk, who sat next 
 me, asked for a knife to cut bread, but would not take mine be- 
 cause I had cut meat with it; afterwards eating some butter 
 and cheese, I drew back my knife quickly, and as if by acci- 
 dent, threw a piece of meat into his plate: he frowned, and as 
 if I had thrown in poison, bp took it out again, wiped it care- 
 fully, and did not consider that this might lead to the discovery 
 of his secret. These new converts believe that to abstain from 
 meat on certain days is the main point of their religion. I 
 know not whether any traveller has remarked this circum- 
 stance, but I much doubt it: for almost all travelled with 
 janissaries, and in pomp, full of the splendour of ancient times, 
 the obscure remoteness of which favours optical deceptions, 
 and pay less regard to the Greek sunk in slavery than he 
 really merits. By this means the inhabitants are kept at a 
 distance and rendered reserved. Travellers may also be accused 
 of having paid too little regard to the relative situation of the 
 Turks as masters, and of the Greek clergy and the Greeks as 
 subjects. 
 
 It is certain that the situation of the Greeks would be much 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVI1I. Vol. VIII. i 
 
58 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 more deplorable, were not a certain, though small number of 
 Turks in Crete secretly Christians, or at least inclined to 
 Christianity; who not only procure them all possible relief, 
 but even put to death malicious Turks who treat the Greeks 
 too ill, of which I likewise possess incontrovertible proofs. 
 When the secret Christian is suspected by the Turks, he 
 may help himself; for according to the Koran, he is free if 
 he draws his sabre and demands that his accuser shall be pro- 
 duced. But the latter, whether Greek or Turk, would risk 
 his life, and draw on himself the hatred and the vengeance of 
 the rest, and rather preserve silence. The custom of young 
 Turks to choose handsome Greek women, or to carry them off 
 by force to make them their wives, is a principal cause that 
 Christianity has found its way into many Turkish families, not 
 only in Candia, but in other parts; not to mention that Vene- 
 tian families, whose origin is not doubtful, assumed the mere 
 appearance of Mahometanism, to secure their property during 
 the conquest of the island. The Turk who has thus become 
 connected with the relatives of his wife, and in constant inter- 
 course with them, governed by the beauty and talents of his 
 wife, is often inspired by her warm attachment to her religion, 
 with increasing indifference to his own. The children, more 
 attached to the mother, are prepared for the part they will have 
 to act as Turks, and Islamism is easily undermined in the heart 
 of the child by turning it into ridicule. Thus a foundation is 
 laid for an approximation to Christianity. It is notdifficu.lt to 
 recognize a Turk who is inclined to Christianity ; his manner 
 is entirely changed, and betrays him. 
 
 We reached Melidoni by moonlight, and ordered mules for 
 the next day ; but my departure was rather delayed by a mul- 
 titude of sick people, most of whom believed that if I did but 
 look at their children it would suffice to cure them. In the 
 evening we reached Damasta, where I advised Georgi to pro- 
 cure us a lodging in a private house, because the only wretched 
 inn being frequented by travellers of every description, there 
 was some danger of the plague. The good-natured, but poor 
 Greek peasant, who received us, sold us a lamb for about 
 seven-pence. I had never seen so pretty a lamb, and resolved 
 to content myself with some butter and eggs, make the peasant 
 a present of the money, and return him the lamb, for I could 
 not think of having it killed. But while I went to take a walk 
 in the village they had slaughtered it, and when I returned, 
 the Greek was roasting one half at the fire. As if human flesh 
 had been set before me, I looked at the half-roast piece of the 
 lamb, and was hardly able, with the greatest repugnance, to 
 put a morsel in my mouth, which I naturally found very dry 
 
59 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 and insipid. A disagreeable feeling pervaded me when I 
 thought of the pretty innocent lamb, I lost my appetite, and 
 had a very restless night. It is strange how a common object 
 can by accidental circumstances acquire extraordinary power 
 over our minds. 
 
 The following day the peasaut accompanied me on an ex- 
 cursion. In the evening he spoke to me of a tree which he 
 said formed an entire wood, was not far off, and was called 
 Adrachla. I immediately recognized it by the name to be the 
 Arbutus Andrachne, and hastened to view this wood before 
 sun-rise. The sight of it exceeded all imagination. A whole 
 forest of it lay before me, and covered all the eminences far 
 and near about this narrow valley. Between the hard, light 
 green leaves shining like varnish, like those of the laurel, and 
 which never fall off, appeared the most beautiful bunches of 
 innumerable milk-white flowers resembling white thorn ; the 
 bark was as red as cinnamon, peeled off from the stem in large 
 flakes, and every where covering the ground, crackled under 
 the feet. A number of insects, which I had never observed 
 before ; the most beautiful ateuchus sacer, pius, variolosus, 
 semipunctatus, &c. swarmed on the way, with a number of 
 Copris, Prionus, Cerambyx, Carabus, and other kinds of beetle. 
 Among them I found a large violet-coloured insect, which en- 
 gaged my whole attention, it being a most singular compound 
 of Blaps and Carabus, forming a distinct and most im- 
 portant species; but I could not afterwards find it in my col- 
 lection. We went along a disagreeable, rough-paved road, 
 alternately ascending and descending till we reached a level, 
 at the end of which the way suddenly declined towards the 
 plain of Candia. This level looked like the bed of a lake 
 enclosed on both sides by chains of mountains ; on the right 
 side was a conical mountain, now called Strubula or Strugula, 
 and was, perhaps, called by the Venetians Stromboli, as it is 
 in Italian accounts of Crete. In the time of the ancient 
 Greeks it was, however, called Strongyle. We rested in the 
 chapel, and a few steps from it went to the edge of the level, 
 between large blocks of stone, and looked down with surprize 
 upon Candia, and the extensive plain below. I cannot com- 
 pare this prospect with any other, so well as with that -of 
 Trieste from the heights of Obschina. To the left we had an 
 unbounded view of the sea; Scarpathus and Rhodes, and the 
 coasts of Asia Minor, were dimly visible in the remote horizon : 
 on the right we looked over a mountain-ridge adorned with 
 groves of olives, which stretched to Lassiti, down into the 
 fertile valley of Gortyna, now called Messarah : on every 
 side the golden harvests waving in the wind invited the labour 
 
60 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 of the husband man ; the north coast, rent by the storms of 
 thousands and thousands of ye$rs, extended in innumerable 
 capes into the sea, which was studded with islets and project- 
 ing rocks. In the back-ground rose the high and remarkable 
 mountains of Lassiti. The ruins of Gnossus and Gortyna, the 
 most powerful cities of this once flourishing island, awakened 
 agreeable recollections of the past, to heighten the lovely pic- 
 ture with charms that are now no more. 
 
 We soon reached the plain, where the ground began to be 
 chalky ; but after the strictest examination, I am convinced 
 that the notion that Crete possesses chalk hills is wholly ground- 
 less, and that all works treating of Crete, and almost all mi- 
 neral systems, must be corrected, by stating, “ that there is not 
 any real chalk in Crete on the contrary, it is imported into 
 that island from the north of Europe, by way of Trieste and 
 Leghorn. 
 
 We came to a large fountain, a work of the Venetians, as is 
 evident from the style ; though the Turks, on occasion of some 
 repairs, have taken out one stone, and replaced it by another, 
 bearing Arabic or Turkish inscriptions. It was here that Tour- 
 nefort, whose authority I usually quote, out of respect for that 
 great naturalist, topk up his station with his faithful friend and 
 medical companion, Gundelsheimer ; and here was sketched 
 the valuable, though defective view of Candia, given in the 
 original edition of his work. The heat increased considerably 
 in the valley, and we were forced to rest several times before 
 we could reach the city. Here, too, the unhappy lepers im- 
 plored alms. The country round the town is very naked ; for 
 the olive groves, which were totally destroyed during the 
 thirty years siege by the Turkish army, have not been replanted 
 in the interval of a century. 
 
 The city, with its houses without roofs, and the slender 
 .minarets, looks at a distance like a church-yard with tomb-: 
 stones. The ramparts are high, and the same as under the 
 Venetians ; but to conquer the city now, only days would be 
 required, and not thirty years, which was the time the Turks 
 spent in the siege. Under the Venetians it was well defended, 
 rich, and the seat of the Governor of the island ; now it is half 
 in ruins, and far from recovering since the siege : it was visited 
 about ten years ago by a dreadful earthquake, that destroyed 
 a great number of the finest buildings, which I still saw in 
 ruins. The city of Candia makes a very fine appearance from 
 the north or sea side, rising gently towards the fortifications; 
 on the land side the walls are too high. The population 
 may amount to 15,000 at the most, of which the Greeks 
 constitute one half, and the Turks the other; there are not 
 
61 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crclt. 
 
 above five or six families of Jews. No Greek at Candia 
 is allowed to carry a walking-stick, if he did, he could hardly 
 escape insult or ill-usage; and only the right of hospitality 
 protects the European when he carries a stick. The Pacha has 
 a few Albanian soldiers as a body guard: all other duty is 
 done, negligently enough, by the native Janissaries. 
 
 The environs of Candia are chiefly arable land, where the 
 corn is reaped about the middle of May. What renders 
 Candia particularly agreeable, and more lively than Turkish 
 cities in general, is, that not only the shops and magazines of 
 the merchants and trades-people, but even those of the arlisans 
 and mechanics, are in wooden booths, erected against the fronts 
 of the houses in the principal streets. These booths are of equal 
 height, built in a peculiar manner, and without them the city 
 would have a most miserable and dull appearance, because no 
 windows are allowed on a level with the street, and those in 
 the upper stories are generally turned towards the inner court. 
 The streets are planted with vines, which are led over laths 
 from one side to the other, and form in summer the closest and 
 most agreeable arcades, under which you may walk through 
 all the principal streets. Before the coffee-houses there is a 
 crowd of idie Turks, and one sees that there are coxcombs 
 even here, who endeavour to distinguish themselves in their 
 fashion, by taste in dress and politeness ; and like our European 
 coxcombs, do nothing, and pretend to understand every thing. 
 Mr. Booze was so good as to hire me a lodging beforehand, 
 to which I now removed. By his advice, as Austrian Consul 
 or Agent, it was resolved to go the next day to the Pacha of 
 Candia, to ask his permission to travel through the island. 
 Domenico, whom I visited in the evening, was against it, 
 knowing, as he said, that the Pacha very much disliked Mr. 
 Booze, and my firman besides, as he had learnt from Canea, 
 was not in proper form ; from which he would certainly take 
 occasion to refuse my request. He used many arguments to 
 persuade me to let him present me to the Pacha, at length he 
 said, that he was physician to the Pacha, and all physicians 
 who came to Candia must be presented by him : I observed 
 that I had not come here to practise, and, as an Austrian sub- 
 ject, could not neglect Mr. Booze, to whom I was referred by- 
 the Consul at Canea. 
 
 The next day I was presented to the Pacha. Georgi 
 went with me, being W'ell known to the Pacha, who had been 
 at Rettimo some years before. I observed too that he appeared 
 to be in great favour. When we arrived at the palace, we 
 found a great crowd of Turks, in various costumes, mingled 
 with the servants, Albanians and Greeks. In the hall a mini- 
 
62 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 ber of Turks were sitting on a mat, with a great many dishes 
 before them, on which they were regaling. At length we were 
 announced to the Chasinadar, or private secretary of the Pacha, 
 who, with three persons of distinction, was also at dinner. When 
 they had finished, we presented the firman. He read it atten- 
 tively, shook his head, and observed it contained nothing of 
 what we had said; he returned it, but said he would go to the 
 Pacha and inform him. We were soon summoned into the 
 audience chamber. Georgi pulled off his boots, but kept his 
 hat in his hand. A light saloon, built upon pillars, projecting 
 from the main building, with windows on three sides, and a 
 fountain in the back ground, enabled us to see fhe rich decora- 
 tions of the walls. The Pacha, formerly Grand Vizier, was a 
 man of a grave and noble countenance, with a long white beard. 
 He was richly dressed, and in his girdle, which consisted of a 
 Cachmere shawl, there was a dagger with a long diamond hilt. 
 The firman being presented to him, he opened it, but seemed 
 dissatisfied with the contents. Then Georgi kneeling, and kis- 
 sing his caftan, presented the letter from Jensi-Aga, his friend 
 at Rettimo, which he also read and laid aside. On his refusal 
 to grant my request, Mr. Booze observed, that I had already 
 visited one half of the island, namely the two Pachaliks of Ca- 
 nea and Rettimo, with the permission of the Pacha of Canea. 
 He seemed surprised at this, and desired to see the permission. 
 Georgi presented to him that of Rettimo, but he demanded that 
 of Canea, which the cautious Pacha had never given me, sayiug, 
 that he would give me permission to go w r herever I pleased, if 
 we only gave him the licence of the Pacha of Canea. At length 
 we convinced him that w'e had never had it, but this was of 
 little advantage to us ; and matters were made worse by the 
 brother of the Pacha’s interpreter, who, instructed by Domenico, 
 did every thing to hinder the Pacha from granting the request, 
 and to vex Mr. Booze. We returned unsuccessful. Domenico’s 
 vanity w T as gratified. The following day he brought me in 
 triumph, a written note from the Pacha, allowing me to go to 
 whatever part of the district I pleased. Thus he had under- 
 mined Mr. Booze’s endeavours, merely to attribute to himself 
 the honour of my protection. In point of fact it w'as the same 
 to me through whom I obtained the permission; but as this 
 affair caused a coolness between the French Consul (to w'hom 
 Mr. Booze was secretary) and Domenico, 1 was placed in rather 
 an awkard situation, because I wished to be upon good terms 
 with both. On a walk, Domenico urged me to dismiss Georgi, 
 and proposed an awkward fellow r of a Turk in his stead ; but I 
 would not agree, unless he procured me one w ho could speak 
 Greek and Italian, well-knowing that such a one was not to be 
 
63 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 found in the whole island. He told me, that he was soon to 
 perform two operations; one, an amputation of the left hand, 
 and the other for the dropsy, upon a woman whom the ignorant 
 Caudiot physicians declared to be pregnant. 1 was very glad 
 he did not ask me to be present; he added however, that he 
 wished soon to introduce .me to a Turk of distinction, who had 
 the dropsy ; that I should have no occasion to speak, but merely 
 comfirm what he, Domenico, would say. Not suspecting any 
 deceit, I answered smiling, he might perhaps ask whether the 
 patient would die in two days, and then I must likewise con- 
 firm it. He looked grave, was embarrassed and silent. I found 
 afterwards that my answer had induced him to suppose that I 
 was acquainted with the person and the particulars of his case. 
 
 On the 30th of May, I resolved to visit Mount Jukta, that 
 is, the east side of it, (l had visited the other side before) near 
 to Achanes, a populous place of about two thousand souls. 
 A young Sphakiot, who had fled from his mountains, and had set- 
 tled in the city of Candia, offered himself as my attendant. Like 
 all these mountaineers, he was tall and slender, with an agree- 
 able countenance, not so humble and timid as the inhabitants 
 of the valley : the Turks used to excuse his behaviour by saying, 
 he was a Sphakiot. This province then belonged to the Sultana 
 Valide, had a governor of its own, by birth a Sphakiot, paid 
 merely a tribute to her treasurer at Candia, and was free from 
 any other impost, whence these people enjoy elsewhere more 
 freedom and consideration. 
 
 On enquiring why he had left his own country, he replied 
 that he had had the misfortune to kill one of his friends and 
 companions in a quarrel, and was hardly safe, even in Candia, 
 from the revenge of blood ; and as he had a wife and two 
 children, he could not expose himself to the danger. I pitied 
 him, for his mild countenance did not look like that of a mur- 
 derer. I had just returned home in the evening, and was going 
 to rest, when some persons knocked at my door, and demanded 
 admission. A number of well dressed Turks filled my room, 
 and begged me to go to a patient of distinction. I supposed it 
 was some sudden attack of apoplexy, or suffocation, and made 
 a sign to Georgi to ask a few questions, that I might have some 
 preliminary notion of the case. But when we got to the house, 
 it appeared that the Kiaja Bey, a man sixty years of age, who 
 was ill of a dropsy, had sent for me at that hour, that Domenico 
 might not be informed of his having applied to any body else 
 for advice. I found the patient lying on a couch : he gave me 
 his hand, and asked me to sit down. After the first question, 
 he replied in Turkish, which Georgi translated into Italian, 
 “ Three years ago I had the plague,'” of which he shewed me 
 
64 
 
 Trawls in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the scars. Since that time he had grown weaker, bis feet had 
 swelled, and in a few mouths he had a decided dropsy. On 
 my asking how he had been treated, he said Domenico had 
 applied blisters to the calves of his legs, and when they were 
 healed had put on others: I begged him to shew them to me, 
 for I could not have suspected Domenico of such wickedness or 
 ignorance: he complied, and shewed me the discoloured places. 
 I asked how the medicines had tasted; he said they had all 
 been sour, sharp, or sweet; and had the cupboard opened, 
 where I saw the phials, with the remainder of the medicines; 
 they were brown, yellow, or dyed red with kermes; but they 
 were all preparations of squills. I expressly asked if any had 
 beenj rough, bitter, astringent, or aromatic; and all this he 
 positively denied, and said, “ He plagues me with nothing but 
 insipid sweet things, which I do not like!” This then was the 
 dropsical patient to whom I was to confirm all Domenico’s 
 lies. He knew the cause of the disease, and yet he gave 
 nothing that he ought to have done; and what could he intend 
 by his blisters, but as the dropsy did not proceed quick enough, 
 to attain his object the sooner by an artificial inflammation. 
 I was indignant at such maliciousness. The patient, whose 
 case was evidently desperate, begged me to visit him pri- 
 vately, that Domenico might not know it, and the Pacha, 
 whose physician he was, be offended. I could not accede 
 to this, as I was convinced I could not do him any good, 
 nor had 1 any medicines ; and as it could not be long concealed, 
 in the probable case of his death, Domenico would have been 
 excused, and the blame would have been laid on me. Instead 
 of relief, I gave him comfort, and promised to visit him again. 
 The French consul, to whom the case was known, had a right 
 to be informed how matters stood. The Cbasinadar, the fa- 
 vorite and relation of the Pacha, wished for the place of the 
 old Kiaja Bey, and therefore gave Domenico a good word not 
 to be too conscientious in promoting the cure. Domenico was 
 informed of my visit the same evening, and the next morning 
 he appeared offended. I answered his reproaches merely by 
 saying that I had only visited a great man, but did not know 
 who he was, because nothing but Turkish was spoken in 
 the house. Now he was quite different, reckoned what he 
 had cost him in bark, valerian, &c. &e., adding, “ the old 
 man had emptied his shop." I then alluded to the blisters : 
 he said to this that when the Kiaja Bey had sent for blisters, 
 he was not at home, and that his brother the goldsmith 
 had done it. He knew very well what ought to have been 
 done, but did not think 1 had examined the medicines. I saw 
 through the whole tissue of deceit and wickedness, and no longer 
 
-65 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 doubted of bis deliberate villainy. The poor Kiaja Bey sent 
 to me a few days afterwards. He was in a most deplorable 
 condition: I saw his end was near, and gave him consolation 
 when I took leave — for ever. On the 12th day, while I was 
 again in the country, he died. Woe to the country where the 
 physicians do not keep their conscience pure; and dreadful is 
 the state of things in the Levant, where there is no medical 
 police. The Candiot physicians, whose curiosity I gratified in a 
 manner very interesting and instructive to myself, were very 
 well disposed towards me. They often asked me about things 
 which the most indifferent physician would have thought 
 foolish, and surprised me by remarks that would have done 
 honour to the most experienced. These physicians, about 
 twelve in number, bad their shops in the streets, and were rather 
 apothecaries, preparing the medicines themselves. They often 
 came, one after the other, to see the plants I had collected, and 
 were glad when they heard or saw any thing new. One of 
 them who visited us, related to Georgi a case, which he said 
 had lately occurred, and of the truth of which 1 was the more 
 convinced, as Domenico had already let fall something about it. 
 I subjoin part of the narrative, to shew how things are managed 
 in the Levant, and what scandalous practices are there carried 
 on without scruple. The wife of a rich Greek, whose health 
 was bad, had felt for some time an indication of water in the 
 belly, and considered herself also to be in the eighth month of 
 her pregnancy. The Candiot physicians advised her to take pa- 
 tience, as this dropsical state would end at her delivery. But 
 it was resolved to consult Domenico. He came, declared the 
 swelling to be Ascites, and assured the woman, in spite of her 
 own feelings, that she was not pregnant. As she insisted on it, 
 he examined more attentively, and said she had moles. He 
 insisted on an operation, painted the danger as so urgent, and 
 the operation as so difficult, that he made them pay down 
 immediately the half of the stipulated sum of two thousand 
 piasters, for nobody dares to decline the offices of the Pacha’s 
 physician when he hasonce beenapplied to, eventhough property 
 and life are at stake. The unfortunate day arrived, he made 
 a puncture, but no water appeared, no serum and no lymph ; 
 surprised, he caused a bandage to be put round the belly, and 
 drawn tight by two men ; but no water came. He therefore 
 thought he had not gone deep enough, and tried again. Now 
 there came water enough, and having applied a slight bandage, 
 went home in triumph. He was scarcely gone, when violent 
 pains ensued ; and the poor woman, after incredible suffering, 
 was delivered of a dead male infant, on which the marks of the 
 bandage were visible : it had every appearance of a foetus of 
 V oyages and Travels A 7 o. XLV1II. Vol. VIII. k 
 
66 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 eight months, and completely refuted the assertion of this quack. 
 On the seventh day the woman died. 
 
 Though I justly- presumed that the Candiot physicians hated 
 Domenico, it was a fact, for I had it from himself, that he 
 had an operation to perform on a woman, whom ignorant 
 persons declared to be pregnant. In another case I was re- 
 quested by Giovanni, the most esteemed physician of Candia, 
 to go with him to the house of a Turk of distinction, offering 
 to be my interpreter. Two other physicians, the oldest in 
 Candia, were present to ask my opinion on an important case. 
 They concealed the name of the physician, and related what 
 had happened to the wife of this Turk, who had been ill three 
 years. Their account was not very intelligible. I therefore 
 again enquired the cause of the disorder, and was astonished 
 at the wickedness of these people, which placed the nature of 
 Mahomedanism in the fullest light. 
 
 “ I have,” said she, “ two grown up daughters, whom you 
 see here, and as many sons. After an interval of thirteen 
 years, 1 happened to become pregnant again ; as this vexed 
 me, J begged my husband to let me procure abortion, which he 
 did.’’ I thought I had misunderstood her, and looked at the 
 woman, then at her husband, then at the Turks. But the hus- 
 band confirmed it, and Giovanni replied to my side look by 
 shrugging his shoulders. After this confession, during which 
 I suppressed my astonishment, she related the whole history 
 of the illness again, adding, that she had had for the last fort- 
 night a fever, with sudden heats and oppression. During the 
 conversation she let fall the name of Domenico. The physi- 
 cians were embarrassed, because it had been agreed not to men- 
 tion him till the very last, that I might give an impartial 
 opinion. My proposal, a thing unheard of in Turkey, was 
 approved, and I found a pear-shaped, half-suppurated polypus. 
 My astonishment was infinite; the inability to perceive and 
 distinguish a polypus was surely a proof of unpardonable ig- 
 norance. I was urged to undertake the cure of the patient, 
 for which they offered me 600 piasters ; but I was deterred by 
 the length of time required, and my attendance was besides 
 unnecessary. By the application of proper remedies which 
 were prescribed, her health was fully recovered, and when I 
 returned three months afterwards, the polypus had fallen off, 
 and all was over. This case was instructive to me, as I learnt 
 from it that in Turkey a woman may desire her husband to let 
 her procure abortion. Of what practices may the Turks and 
 Mahomedans be guilty to their slaves, the Greeks, if they do 
 not even spare their own children in the womb — what bar- 
 barism, what horrors are these ! 
 
67 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete . 
 
 The physicians made me acquainted with other very remark- 
 able cases, among which those were considered as the most 
 complicated, the diagnosis of which were the easiest. Here I 
 was first made sensible of the infinite prejudice that arises 
 from the neglect of anatomy. I at the same time became ac- 
 quainted with all the master-pieces of Domenico, which were 
 not a few. Thus in a barbarous country, where there is no 
 superintendance, and the government sets no value on the 
 health and life of its subjects, the greatest cruelties are exer- 
 cised by greedy vagabonds. 
 
 Without interfering in all these matters, I continued on good 
 terms with Domenico, for in the Levant you cannot decline an 
 acquaintance with every body, even if you wish it; though he 
 did not any further exert himself to obtain for me permission 
 to visit the distant part of the island, I attained my object in 
 another way. I had desired Georgi to pay particular attention 
 to every thing that might be useful to us, on our tour to the 
 eastern part of the island: it happened that a rich Turk, who 
 had the most extensive possessions in that part, (Effendaki 
 Chalil Aga was his name) begged us to visit him, his only son, 
 a child three years of age, being ill. I perceived that he had 
 externally water in the head, and discovered on enquiry, that 
 he had had an eruption, which had been checked by the appli- 
 cation of a salve procured from an old woman. Besides the 
 necessary internal remedies, I prescribed luke-warm baths, 
 rubbing, fomenting with wine, and slight fumigations, on which 
 the eruption manifested itself again in a few days, the disorder 
 was removed, and the child recovered. This caused him to 
 give me several letters of recommendation, which were di- 
 rected as well to friends as to his Subbaschis (or Stewards). 
 He was a well-informed and upright man, with an open coun- 
 tenance, and possessing much prudence and energy of cha- 
 racter ; the poor and destitute of every religion found in him 
 a friend and protector. He told us that he had particular 
 reason to be obliging to foreigners, especially Europeans, 
 which gratitude imposed upon him as a duty. He explained 
 this by the following narrative : — “ On the recovery of Egypt 
 by the English and the Turks, after the battles at Aboukir and 
 Cairo, and when Buonaparte had returned to France, I was at 
 Cyprus. A part of the Turkish army had come back, and a 
 young French officer, who was a prisoner among the rudest of 
 our nation, had a quarrel, was pursued, and fled to my house. 
 
 I defended him against his pursuers, concealed him, gave him 
 a Turkish dress, and sent him to my estate in Candia, whence 
 he returned in safety, with some French merchants, to bis 
 native city, Marseilles.” “ Immediately after this Genoa 
 
68 
 
 Travels in Ike Island of Crete. 
 
 was blockaded by the Austrians and Russians by land, and by 
 the English by sea, and famine prevailed within the walls. 
 Being then at Constantinople, I resolved to make an attempt 
 to go with my two ships, laden with corn, to the relief of 
 Genoa. I cleared out for Leghorn, but deviated from the 
 course, kept near Corsica, and steered towards Toulon, thus to 
 reach Genoa. I at length perceived the English fleet of eighty 
 sail cruizing before that city, and made directly towards it. 
 The English flag was hoisted by the signal ship, and I hoisted 
 the Turkish colours. Being asked whither I was bound, I 
 said to Leghorn. Why had 1 gone so far out of the way ? 
 
 I bad missed my course. I requested the English to let me 
 pass the night near the fleet. They laughed at me,” said 
 Chalil-Aga, ‘‘ because I seemed to be an ignorant Turk; 
 sailed backwards and forwards, and purposely manoeuvred in an 
 awkward manner not to excite suspicion. I always kept a little 
 back, held to the coast, and a favourable wind suddenly rising, 
 spread all my sails, and entered in the twilight, with the ra- 
 pidity of an arrow, the harbour of Genoa. I was already out 
 of cannon-shot when the nearest ship began to fire at me. I 
 sold 14,000 chilos of corn at eighty piasters each, but could 
 not obtain permission to embark with the money. I however 
 met with my friend, the French officer, whom I had saved at 
 Cyprus. He was overjoyed at meeting, and introduced me to 
 his uncle, a French Colonel. By his intervention alone, I ob- 
 tained my money; and, at length, permission to embark with 
 it. When I returned to Constantinople, and the success of my 
 speculation was known, I was poisoned, with the view to 
 divide my property ; but my life was preserved by Dr. Lo- 
 renzo, physician to the Austrian Legation, who, as long as he 
 lived, was the most celebrated in Constantinople ; grateful for 
 his services, I hastened to my estates, which are now cleared 
 of debts. You see by this,” said Chalil-Aga, “ why I serve 
 travellers who require any assistance, and I confess with plea- 
 sure that I am under obligations to your nation also, because I 
 was saved by an Austrian physician.” 
 
 He had scarcely concluded, when some officers of the Ja- 
 nissaries entered, who, learning the object of my journey, said 
 that I could not go without a guard of honour, i. e. an idle 
 Janissary — because they were answerable for my safety. It 
 was necessary to get rid of so expensive and useless an attend- 
 ant, in which Georgi succeeded. Every obstacle was thrown 
 in our way to make us engage a Janissary; but a happy 
 chance came to our assistance when we had already given up 
 all hope. A rich Turk, of the beautiful valley of Mirabello, 
 who they said w as ill of a peculiar disease, had desired his 
 
69 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 brother in the city to persuade the physician who had just 
 arrived there, to come and see him. Georgi cunningly answered, 
 that he must pay for the Janissary whom they wanted to 
 force on us. Now as the Turks always try to save, he said 
 he could send for a Subbaschi, from his estate, to accompany 
 us. “ I must report this,” said Georgi, “ to the Aga, and beg 
 him to give up his intention of sending one of his people with 
 us.” “ That is unnecessary,” said the Turk angrily, “ I will 
 speak to him myself.” Georgi immediately informed me of the 
 state of the case, and already on the evening of the second day 
 a Subbaschi arrived from his estate, a day’s journey distant, 
 brought us horses, waited till we were ready to accompany us 
 thither, and then to Lacida, the ancient Lycastus, in the valley 
 of Mirabello, the end of our second day’s journey, and the 
 place of our destination. The Aga of the Janissaries even gave 
 us a letter of recommendation to the commander of the little 
 fort of Girapetro, though he was evidently discontented at being 
 prevented from sending one of his people to accompany us. 
 
 The day before my departure, I took leave of the master of 
 the school of Candia, Gregorios Megalovrissanos, a man well 
 versed in the ancient Greek classics, and equally respectable 
 for his age and character. At his house I met with one of his 
 old friends, a native of Crete, who had resided for above twenty 
 years, as a merchant, at Tripoli in Syria. He highly praised 
 the Druses, who are distinguished for their probity, but whose 
 religion and institutions, notwithstanding all accounts that have 
 been given of them, are still, he said, an impenetrable secret. 
 In general he spoke in such high terms of the mountaineers of 
 Libanon, that I could not doubt that he had some extraordinary 
 motive for such commendations. The anecdote which he re- 
 lated, seems to have occurred to himself. He said, in an enthu- 
 siastic tone, “ if it should ever please God to revoke his promise 
 to the race of Noah, and to punish the degenerate world with 
 a second deluge, the surface of the earth would be re-peopled 
 by Libanots, preserved to be the founders of a better race.” 
 This assertion was founded on a circumstance which he said 
 had happened to one of his friends. On the way from Tripoli 
 to Saide, he lost a large sum of money, did not miss it for some 
 time, rode back, but could not find it. As he was on the terri- 
 tory of Libanon, he went to the neighbouring residence of the 
 Emir, whom he informed of his loss. The prince comforted 
 him, and advised him to stay some days, as he would answer 
 for it, that if one of his subjects had found it, he would certainly 
 deliver it to the prince himself, within three days, after which 
 enquiry should be made if necessary. Four days had already 
 passed, and nobody had appeared ; but on the fifth day, a 
 
70 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 mountaineer came to the prince, and gave him the money, 
 saying, he might return it to the owner. The prince looked 
 at him sternly and said, “ how many days have passed since 
 you found the money? ” “ Five,” replied the man. “ You 
 have therefore,” said the prince, “ let five days pass before you 
 would resolve to return it.” “ Sir,” answered the mountaineer, 
 ‘ 4 you wrong me ; only hear me : I had been in the field, and 
 on my return home, perceived this money; I took it up, and 
 seated myself in a thicket on the road side, to wait till the 
 owner should come back. Nobody came; meantime I received 
 a message, desiring me to hasten home to see my father, who 
 was dying. I took the money with me, forgot to send it to 
 you by somebody else, and after having buried my father, I 
 now come to excuse myself to you.” “ You did not know 
 then that the owner is detained here on account of his loss.” 
 “ No,” replied the Libanot. “ Go,” said the prince, “ and 
 remember in future when you are in sorrow, that you are bound 
 to shorten the affliction of others.” The merchant being in- 
 formed that this was the honest finder, offered him a suitable 
 reward. “ I shall take nothing from you,” replied the Libanot 
 with generous pride, “ because it would seem as if I had de- 
 signed by my delay, to increase your grief for the loss of your 
 money, and your joy at its recovery, in order to obtain a re- 
 compense. I wish you could make good my loss as easily as 
 I have your’s ! Farewell, and pardon the loss of time which I 
 have occasioned you.” Saying this, he departed ; and the 
 merchant received bis property from the prince. 
 
 More company coming in, we retired. I went to look at 
 some flowers in the garden of the metropolitan, and on entering 
 the portico of his house, was witness to a slavish mark of respect 
 which the inferior clergy are accustomed to pay him ; I could 
 hardly suppress my astonishment. A monk came, prostrated 
 himself before the Metropolitan, touched the ground at his 
 feet three times with his forehead, then rose and departed. His 
 Janissary seemed to smile as if he thought to himself, “ if I 
 desired the metropolitan, he would do the same to me.” Thus 
 slaves demand, what as slaves they themselves practice. 
 
 We set out with the Subbaschi the next morning ; it was the 
 third of June, and since the end of April there had not been a 
 cloud in the sky, much less any rain. The atmosphere was 
 constantly serene, and every mountain in the Archipelago was 
 visible. The sultry heat of the day is followed by a refreshing 
 sea breeze, which constantly sets in towards evening. We 
 soon had the city of Candia behind us, happy to have left this 
 abode of rude barbarians. Towards evening we reached 
 Cuves, where we stopped at the house of the Subbaschi. While 
 
Travel t in the Island of Crete. 71 
 
 ■we were at supper the whole village assembled, and the crowd 
 stood in groups at various distances. The scanty dress of the 
 country girls shewed, with the simplicity of their manners, that 
 they were deficient in Sunday clothes, 1 however observed much 
 fine needle-work, and embroidery on linen ; the handkerchiefs for 
 the head, and the towels in particular, were very pretty. When 
 we set out the next morning, the whole village seemed to be 
 abandoned, for they all went out to reap their corn. We turned 
 our eyes from the stubble fields, because we saw the level banka 
 of the Aposelemi covered with a grove of oleander in blossom. 
 As far as the eye could reach, this shrub, which with us is culti- 
 vated in green-houses, was in full flower. From the foot of 
 Mount Lassiti to the mouth of the Aposelemi, the whole country 
 seemed covered with a scarlet cloth : the finest poppy field does 
 not afford such a sight. 
 
 We dined at Maglia, another country seat of the same owner, 
 where half ripe almonds were offered us; they bloom here about 
 the middle of January, and peaches full six weeks later. It is 
 nothing extraordinary to have ripe almonds at the end of May. 
 Soon after I saw some peasants, upon a rocky eminence, em- 
 ployed in gathering the fruit of the St. John’s bread-tree. In 
 181 6 and 1817 there was a great demand for this fruit, which did 
 not use to be the case in Crete ; because the crop had failed in 
 Apulia, whence it was exported to Trieste. This fruit is used 
 here only for feeding cattle, and in times of scarcity. 
 
 We soon came to a cleft, which separates the valley of Mira- 
 bello from the territory of Maglia. To the right lay high moun- 
 tains, but not so extensive or lofty as the White Mountains; for 
 here we every where saw windmills, because the mountains are 
 too low to receive such a quantity of snow, as would be sufficient, 
 by its melting in summer, to turn water-mills till rain commences 
 in autumn. We saw a line of wind-mills, which particularly 
 struck me, because the body was immovable, and consequently 
 they were adapted only for one wind; unless it blew due east 
 they could not grind, if it was violent it was necessary to take off 
 the sails. Clumsily built, but simple in their construction, they 
 were remarkable enough to induce me to take a drawing of them. 
 They were the work of uneducated peasants, each of whom 
 builds both his water-mill and wind-mill. We reached the emi- 
 nence and looked down into the beautiful valley of Mirabello, as 
 it was called by the Venetians. Unfortunately the present in- 
 habitants know little of the ancient names of their valleys and 
 cities ; only here and there you hear a name which calls to mind 
 the times of the Greek history. The first place that we came to 
 was Lacida, the place of our destination, which is undoubtedly 
 the ancient Lycastus. We were extremely well received and 
 
72 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 lodged. Our patient was just making a terrible noise, and in bis 
 raving was going to kill one of his best friends. He was held back, 
 and told that the European physician had come to cure him. The 
 people there believe that the cure depends on the will of the physi- 
 cian. He grew immediately calm, and received us very kindly, 
 and with tears begged me to relieve him, as his situation was ex- 
 tremely distressing. He introduced his little boy to me, whose 
 mother was a Greek woman, and told me to have pity for the 
 sake of the child, because he well knew that I believed him a 
 Musselman, unworthy of such a favour. From the account of 
 the sickness I learned, that an immoderate use of wine, and a 
 cold, had caused this state of half-insanity, but it Avas rather an 
 affection of the nerves, which narcotics could relieve, but not re- 
 move. Being told that he took opium, and could not sleep easy 
 unless he had taken a pill, I desired to see them, and was shown 
 a box, large enough to contain a pound and a half of opium, 
 which was two-thirds empty, and then another box of the same 
 size, quite full. Each pill weighed about two scruples, a third 
 part was aloes, but two-thirds opium ! On my asking who had 
 given it to him, I was told that when he was in the city Dome- 
 nico had given it him to take to Lacida. Now I discovered why 
 Domenico was angry Avhen he learnt that this rich patient wished 
 to speak to me, and why he had refused me some insignificant 
 medicines, Avhich I wished to take with me. To accustom a 
 patient to such an immoderate dose, and do nothing else for him, 
 really made me angry, and he had made him pay four hundred 
 piasters for two such boxes, in order, as he told me, to get rid of 
 him for a whole year. It was not possible, at present, to refuse 
 him his pill in the evening, for he fell into convulsions, and his 
 look was frightful. He could bear nothing that affected the 
 nerves but narcotics ; these, however, could not effect a cure, and 
 had been already tried. I therefore forbade him, though he Avas 
 a Turk, Avine, rum, and arrack, and instead of his brea kfast made 
 him take the bitterest decoctions of centaury, drove him out of 
 the house, made him ride, pay visits in the neighbourhood, and- 
 orderecl him a cold sea-bath three times a week. This regimen 
 was so successful, that I Avas able in a few days to order his 
 secretary to cut off one-third of the pill, to leave it off by de- 
 grees. He was one of the richest individuals in the island, e\'erv 
 body, even the Pacha, felt interested for him. This induced 
 Domenico, without my knowledge, to report, and even to tell the 
 Pacha that I Avas not able to cure him ; adding, which Avas really 
 the case, that I had no medicines. Unhappily for him a friend and 
 relation of the patient Avas at Lacida, who was astonished at his 
 composure and improved health. He afterwards went to Can- 
 dia, where the Pacha, by chance asked him, in the presence of 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 73 
 
 Domenico, how the Aga did, and the answer being favourable, 
 the Pacha asked his physician, how it happened that I could 
 perform a cure without medicines ? Domenico was confounded. 
 Thus sti'angers have always justified me. I desired Georgi to 
 proceed in the same course, and left him for a few days, to visit 
 the celebrated mountain of Lassiti. 
 
 A poor Papa offered to conduct me thither upon his mule, 
 while he walked by the side. I was astonished to hear those we 
 met salute him by the titles of Despota, and even Hagiasu — Your 
 Holiness. The road was steep, over rocks and precipices and past 
 a deserted church, into a pleasant wood. About noon, the air 
 blowing very cool, as we ascended higher my worthy priest could 
 go no farther. A rigid fast of forty days, called the fast of the 
 Apostles, had just set in, during which period a Greek is not al- 
 lowed to taste either milk, eggs, butter or cheese. He confessed, 
 half weeping, that he had eaten nothing to-day, and had not 
 given any thing to his mule. I pitied him, he looked so hungry, 
 and so wishfully at my provisions. I gave him some bread and 
 wine, which cheered his spirits; but he still kept looking at 
 the cheese, and asked if it was sinful to taste it. “ God forbid,” 
 said I, “I consider it as no sin, and if you think as I do, help 
 yourself.” He had probably expected this consolation, for he 
 did eat the cheese, and with much appetite. His mule browzed 
 the shrubs, had taken nothing, and was to ascend the steep 
 mountains ; I was vexed at this, as we might reach the village too 
 late, and it was mere stingyness in this priest, who had grudged 
 his mule a handful of hay. We however reached the summit, 
 and the level country lay before us. It is a large mountain lake 
 surrounded by rocks, which has been drained and cultivated 
 these thousand years, and has subterraneous vents for its waters. 
 On the left appeared the strangely formed valley of Lassiti. At 
 an elevation of at least four hundred toises above the sea, it has 
 vineyards and corn, but no olive trees. A circle of alps piled on 
 each other, on one of which I stood, enclosed an oval plain, 
 covered with fruitful corn-fields, about seven English miles in 
 length and four in breadth. Round the mountain were villages 
 built on the declivity, the principal of which are Mangula and 
 Zermiade. The drain is very remarkable. On the w-est side 
 there are two deep mouths, into which the whirlpool of the 
 mountain torrents runs oft* foaming. As these cavern-mouths are 
 obstructed with whole trunks of trees, the lower half of the plain 
 is changed in the spring into a lake, which inundates it, but pro- 
 motes its fertility by depositing the slime of the torrents. There 
 are two of these mouths, the waters which they receive appear 
 again beyond the mountain, low down in the valley, at a distance 
 of several leagues, and form the river Aposelemi. Unfortunately 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIII. l 
 
74 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 we find no trace of this remarkable valley in ancient writers, and 
 the Lyktians could not possibly have had their capital here, 
 though the name Lassiti may be derived from Lyctos ; and 
 Lytton, as Strabo observes, signifies something in an elevated 
 situation. 
 
 I came to Zermiade, the nearest village, and took up my lodg- 
 ing in the house of Chadsi-Georgi, the chief of the village. 
 Every pilgrim is called Chadsi, who, as a Christian, has been to 
 Jerusalem, or as a Mahometan, to Mecca. This is a title of 
 honour, a kind of spiritual nobility. The Turks however ac- 
 quire it on easy terms. As the pilgrimage to Mecca is attended 
 with many dangers, so that of those who travel by land, some- 
 times less than two-thirds return ; the rich generally send one of 
 their clients at their own expence to Mecca, and when this 
 deputy returns, the patron receives from him, by a cession, 
 legally drawn up, the title of Chadsi, (or Hadgi) ; the pilgrim is 
 not permitted to bear it in public, but if he dies he is buried with 
 all the honours due to the title. — Our Chadsi, Georgi, as we soon 
 perceived, had travelled into many countries", and possessed con- 
 siderable information. We took a walk together, in which I met 
 with many rare plants, and called in at the neat convent of 
 St. George. The oldest Caloyers mentioned that no European 
 or Frank had ascended Lassiti for the last twenty-seven years. 
 They were very inquisitive after news, and especially when and 
 where the dominion of the T urks would end ? I, on the contrary, 
 praised the government of the Turks, and observed that the 
 Greeks were free from military service, and if a father had five 
 sons, he had the happiness to have them all about him ; the taxes 
 were but a fifth part of those of the Europeans, and they might 
 protect themselves from oppression by concord. Lastly, I ob- 
 served, “ that the present evil was often not so bad as the desired 
 good.” I was obliged to speak in this manner, as well to recon- 
 cile them to their situation, and to point out to them many ad- 
 vantages, as to give no occasion to any misinterpretation of my 
 visit, which already caused some surprise. 
 
 After a slight repast, at which my Papa would not drink out 
 of my wine glass because I had eaten meat, I set out with this 
 hypocrite, and returned by the same road to Laeida, where we 
 arrived safe towards evening. My patient was much better, 
 
 I did not suffer him to want exercise, and even made him work 
 in the garden, which he set about, pretty much as the Emperor 
 of China, wl 1 1 1 rith his officers of state ; 
 
 it however 
 
 He had no want of 
 
 amusement as soon as it was found to be of service to him ; 
 guests were invited, visits paid, and parties made to chase the 
 Turkish partridges, which abound at Candia. The dav passed 
 
75 
 
 Travels iii the Island of Crete. 
 
 in music and dancing, and nobody disturbed me in my retreat. 
 On the 9th and 10th of June I arranged what I had collected on 
 Lassiti, and went along the valley of Mirabello to Critza, the 
 ancient Crissus. I no where saw so many churches and chapels 
 which stood desolate as here. Every Turk who pronounces, in a 
 Christian church. There is but one God, and Mahomet is his 
 prophet, profanes it, and Christian service can no more he per- 
 formed, without offending Mahometansim. The Turks are said 
 to have diminished, in this manner, the very great number of 
 churches and chapels. The valley of Mirabello is said to be 
 very fertile. In Critza the Subbaschi received me in a very 
 polite manner, in his master’s country house. He was a 
 sensible man, and his interesting conversation was calculated to 
 reconcile me with his nation. At my request he ordered a Turk 
 to accompany me, in the morning, over the rocks of which 
 Tournefort speaks so highly, on account of their rare plants. On 
 returning home I gave him some money, which being observed 
 by the Subbaschi, who just came up, he reprimanded him severe- 
 ly, and asked him, when I had retired, whether he was 
 not ashamed to take money from a guest and a stranger. After 
 this, to my great astonishment, nobody in the house would accept 
 of any thing. I heard a strange remark, namely, that they were 
 not sorry for the ague ; another was more important, that the 
 fever might be thoroughly cured after the fifth or sixth fit. 
 
 A Turk splendidly dressed, anxiously looking for me, gallopped 
 after us, and asked, in a voice of entreaty, whether I was going 
 to Girapetro ; that his only son was sick, and he begged me to 
 help him. I the more readily promised to comply with his re- 
 quest, as I was much pleased with the frankness of his manner. 
 Even in wildernesses, on the sea-shore, in solitudes, and on 
 mountains, I was not a moment sure not to be looked for and 
 solicited to afford aid. May a humane government one day pro- 
 vide for these numerous unfortunate people, who are destitute of all 
 medical assistance. In the morning I went to visit my old patient, 
 who was very well ; my worthy priest, who had accompanied me 
 to Lassiti, with two of his Monks, was with him, to my great 
 astonishment employed in exorcising. The patient lay on the 
 Divan, with his eyes closed, while the three monks, with large 
 folio volumes, were exorcising with all their might, the unclean 
 spirit in him. This lasted nearly an hour : before this the 
 Turkish Imams and Dervises had been trying to expel it; but as 
 this had no effect, they supposed it was not a Turkish devil, but. 
 a Greek one. I now learnt that his wife was a Greek woman, 
 and had induced him to this step, in order to have the triumph 
 of ascribing his recovery to the priest of her village. I do not 
 
76 Travels in the Island of Crete* 
 
 know whether it was their work, that the patient could bear 
 strengthening remedies, which he could not before. 
 
 Having sent my papers and plants to my residence at Candia, 
 I hired a horse and mules, and set out for Girapetro on the 16th 
 of June, leaving Lacida, with the happy consciousness of hav- 
 ing done as much good as the circumstances permitted. Georgi, 
 who had been very attentive to the patient, did not receive any 
 present, which vexed him the more, because he pretended some- 
 thing had been promised him. I consoled him as well as I could, 
 because it was necessary for me to make friends in this barbarous 
 country. Georgi, however, vowed that he would never again 
 undertake any thing unless he knew what he was to have for it. 
 I gave him to understand, that it must not be in my presence;. 
 Unfortunately for me he kept his word, as will presently appear. 
 
 1 had never seen so beautiful a situation, or so picturesque a 
 country as Critza ; and our ride along a road, which wound up 
 one of the ridges, seemed to have raised us from a terrestrial pa- 
 radise into an etherial one. Innumerable large and small water- 
 falls, rippled, and rushed foaming down the shady rocks ; the 
 zephyrs, which fanned the agitated leaves of plantains a thou- 
 sand years old, mingled with the sound of the falling waters, and 
 amidst the oleander bushes, adorned with the most splendid red 
 flowers, countless springs united to form little brooks, which 
 wetted the feet of our mules. To heighten the impression made 
 upon us by this Eden, protected from the scorching rays of the 
 sun, by the solemn gloom of lofty plantains and sacred oaks, 
 we did not meet the care-worn form of the oppressed coun- 
 trymen, but only the cheerful countenances of the contented 
 Cretans. 
 
 The village on the eminence, where we intended to pass the 
 night, seemed like Lyctos in ancient times, nearly abandoned by 
 its inhabitants. The sight of a crown which I produced, con- 
 vinced them that we were not come to take up our abode in the 
 manner of the Gnossians. Their mistrust, or rather timidity, 
 entirely vanished when the men returned from the field in the 
 evening ; wine, bread, fowls, egg s, and fruits, were set before 
 us, and the moderate prices did not deter us in our demands. In 
 the morning, when the sun had scarcely risen, we hastened to view 
 the south side of the island, and the Lybian Sea, which we be- 
 held for the first time. As we went along the north side, I had 
 been unable to see it, even from the Lassiti Mountains, because 
 the summits were covered with deep snow. I longed to visit the 
 south side, of our approach to which Ave were made sensible, by 
 the warm south wind that came up from the valley. We now 
 hastened down into the valley, till the heat increased to 22°, and 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 77 
 
 halted, quite exhausted, to take our dinner at the side of a 
 well, near the ruins of ancient buildings. It was the 1 7th of 
 June, and the harvest on the south side had already been reaped 
 in May. The bare stubble only remained to cover the stony 
 fields ; and we had passed, in a few hours, from spring on the 
 north side, to autumn on the south. No fountains, no ver- 
 dant meadows, or fine plantains, attracted the eye as on the other 
 side ; the dead appearance of a plundered corn country, was not 
 improved by the pale olive, whose scanty shade alone offered 
 some indemnity to the weary traveller. At length, about three 
 o’clock in the afternoon, we perceived the ruins of the ancient 
 Hierapytna ; then the white castle on the sea-shore, and the city 
 of Girapetro, which has now became an insignificant town. 
 
 The transition from a paradise to the arid sea-coast, was too 
 sudden, added to the oppressive heat, not to have some influence 
 on our good-humour. We rode between the terraces of the 
 fields into the town ; and I was obliged carefully to guide my 
 mule over the mutilated statue of a Minerva, of white marble, 
 which is not found in the island, and which I perceived to be 
 Parian. We were looking for a lodging, when the Dascalos, a 
 Greek, equivalent to the secretary and steward of the estates 
 belonging to the owner of Girapetro, and with the Subbaschi 
 (who is always a Turk) his representative, the principal person 
 of this poor town, came to meet us, and assign us a good apart- 
 ment in the owner’s house, where we could repose after our fa^- 
 tigues. This very extraordinary politeness made me imagine 
 Georgi was acquainted with him ; but the latter assured me he 
 had never seen him before, and did not know how we had gained 
 his friendship. In a moment he returned, and asked us to sup- 
 per, just as we were preparing for it. I then naturally conjec- 
 tured one of the family were ill ; and in fact, I remarked his 
 eldest son, a lad of fourteen years of age, who had an intermit- 
 ting fever, common in the summer in the unhealthy situation of 
 Girapetro : but a look of indifference at his son, shewed me that 
 he had some other request. We had a cheerful and frugal re- 
 past, consisting of stewed meat, ragouts, chicken (very tender), 
 pillaw, and fruit, with 'genuine Malmsey wine. An amiable old 
 man, who was welcomed as the physician of the place, came in 
 and entertained us with agreeable narratives of his travels in 
 Syria and Egypt. 
 
 In the morning, Georgi came to me, saying that he had some- 
 thing to communicate to me, but begged me not to disclose it, — 
 which I promised to do, if I could, and no other obligations 
 arose from it. He then told me, that the Dascalos though he 
 had a wife living, and four children, had fallen in love with a 
 Turkish girl, the only daughter of aged parents: and that the 
 
78 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 consequences of this connection were indubitable. His friend 
 the Dascalos was in despair lest it should become public. For, 
 should the parents of the girl discover it, the dreadful conse- 
 quence would be his murder, and the sacrifice not only of his 
 wife and children, but of all his nearest relations : the inevitable 
 demolition of his house, not to mention that from the rage of the 
 savage Candiot Turks, inflamed in the highest degree by this 
 outrage, the fate of the other Greeks in this city would be very 
 precarious ! If he were not married, he might, to avoid this 
 dreadful fate, go over to the Mahometan religion, and ask the 
 parents to give him their daughter in marriage : but, as the case 
 stood, there was no possibility of saving all those persons from 
 the most shameful death. But here Georgi stam- 
 
 mered, and could not proceed ; especially as it probably had not 
 escaped him, that I guessed his purpose at the very commence- 
 ment. I interrupted him in a manner which left no doubt of my 
 resolution ; strictly forbade him even to mention another word on 
 the subject, (on pain of being dismissed my service) or to have 
 any further connection with these bad people ; and to take care 
 not to let himself be seduced by them, as I should then be 
 obliged to take steps which my duty would prescribe, and the 
 more so, as he was in my service, and any bad action committed 
 by him, would throw suspicion on me. He vowed and pro- 
 tested, that he had been obliged to tell it me, by the violent im- 
 portunity of the Dascalos, though he had, at first, refused to 
 have any thing to do with it ; but this case was so important, 
 that it was absolutely necessary to tell it me, in order to endea- 
 vour to avert it. This dreadful approaching catastrophe affected 
 me extremely, — for, according to what I knew of the fanatic 
 Turks, I could not but foresee the most terrible vengeance ; but 
 I could not, and dared not, attempt to guide or to avert the won- 
 derful course of events, and the mysterious concatenations of 
 fate, however threatening and awful they may seem, because 
 these inconceivable intricacies frequently proceed to a solution 
 equally wonderful and unexpected. It is not for man to sanctify 
 the means by the end. Georgi thanked me for my serious ad- 
 monition, and went to his usual employment. The next morn- 
 ing, as I was going out, there was a great bustle in the court- 
 yard, and several mules ready laden, were on the point of depart- 
 ing. The country people were putting on a few trifles, when I 
 came down the steps, and saw the Dascalos below. He came up 
 to me, with suppressed anger, — bade me a good morning, and 
 told me, with emphasis, that “ His people were going to the city of 
 Candia, and if I had need of any thing, he was ready to procure 
 it' for me.” I replied, carelessly', “ that I had just come from 
 the city, and wanted nothing.” I was now sorry that I had 
 
79 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 not deceived him, and given him something that would do no 
 harm, for he was undoubtedly going, in consequence of my re- 
 fusal, to seek in the city more obliging physicians. However, I 
 was, on the whole, glad to have no more to do with him ; has- 
 tened to abridge my stay as much as possible, and resolved the 
 next day to visit the eastern part of the island (Stia) in order to 
 leave as soon as possible a place, where some accident must soon 
 lead to the discovery, and to a horrible catastrophe. I desired 
 Georgi, during my absence, to visit the opposite island to collect 
 the rare plants, and to have every thing ready before my arrival, 
 that we might be able to depart without delay. 
 
 I was obliged, indeed, to stop a few days; — visited several 
 important places, collected rare plants, and found the Flora of 
 north coast, different in many respects from that of the southern : 
 at length, however, I set out for Stia, visited the principal places 
 of this fourth government of Crete, and did not return from my 
 excursion till the 30th of June. Just as I was about to depart 
 thither, Georgi brought me the impression of an antique ring, 
 in black wax, asking me whether I liked it : it belonged, he 
 said, to a Papa, who had already had thirty piasters for it, but 
 still retained it. I, of course, declined, as I did not collect an- 
 tiques, and wanted my money for travelling; and this little 
 stone, besides, which appeared by the impression to be damaged 
 at the edge, did not deserve to be made an exception. Georgi, 
 however, after I was gone, bargained for this trifle for himself ; 
 and was so imprudent as to take it out of its ancient setting, in 
 order the better to examine it : — and the fisherman coming to 
 fetch him, because the wind was favourable to sail to the island, 
 he rashly put them both into his pocket, but lost the stone ; 
 whether on the way, on board the ship, or on the island, he 
 could not tell ; and so he had only the setting. Meantime I had 
 concluded my excursion, and he had long since returned from 
 the islands, when he was thrown into no small embarrassment, 
 as the antique was demanded of him, for which he was not now 
 inclined to pay so high a price. On the eighth day of my ab- 
 sence, I was again near Girapetro, when a young Turk gallopped 
 up to me, crying, “ Doctor, hasten to the town, somebody,” so I 
 understood him, “ is poisoned, hasten ! or you come too late !” 
 Sitting on my mule, very much fatigued by my journey, ill 
 humoured, and, from an accidental circumstance, just then very 
 angry with the Ottomans, besides, thinking it was a Turk, I 
 confess I thought it very strange at the moment, and Avas not dis- 
 posed to give credit to it, and on the other hand I could have 
 Avished that all the Turks together Avere at the last gasp. I there- 
 fore did not spur my mule as I should have done, but reached 
 the town, however, soon enough. All the streets Avere empty 
 
80 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete . 
 
 where I came, and a death-like silence prevailed. I alighted at 
 my own house, but found nobody there. On a sudden Georgi 
 rushed in out of breath, and exclained, “ Help ! help ! he has 
 poisoned himself!” I, still thinking it was a Turk, endeavoured 
 to pacify him, saying, “ It is probably not so bad, do not you 
 know what poison he has taken ?” “ Ah ! yes,” said he, “ it is 
 
 two grains of sublimate that he has taken.” I quickly took my 
 medicines, and hastened away ; the narrow street was so crowded 
 with people that I could scarcely pass ; but what was my 
 astonishment, when they led me to the house of the Dascalos, 
 and I learnt that it was he who had taken poison : when I 
 entered the room, I found him in the most dreadful state of 
 agony, writhing on the sofa; his countenance was of a purple 
 red, all his gestures indicated despair ; the skin of the lips hung 
 loose, being burnt off by the poison, his mouth foamed, his inside 
 burnt like fire, and he had a rattling in the throat as he drew his 
 breath. Three Turks were sitting by him. Scarcely half an 
 hour before my arrival he had taken the poison, which he 
 had received from the city some days before, when, by a 
 wonderful coincidence, I arrived almost at the same moment as 
 Georgi. The latter had already given him soap dissolved in 
 water, which had perfectly succeeded in acting as an emetic. As 
 continued vomiting might bring on apoplexy, I endeavoured to 
 decompose the remainder of the poison by liver of sulphur, had 
 him blooded, and quickly gave the necessary directions to save his 
 life. When I entered the room, and full of astonishment could 
 not comprehend the meaning of all this, he endeavoured to take 
 my hand, and stammering, begged pardon, saying, “ that in 
 despair at my refusing his request, he had procured poison, to 
 put an end to his existence.” I was seized with horror at these 
 words. But how happened it that the cause of this rash act 
 should not be known, and that he, (for I saw the Turks sitting 
 quietly by him), together with all his family, had not long since 
 been victims of the fury of these barbarians ? I had been most 
 scandalously imposed upon : only I do not even now know whether 
 Georgi was sensible of the deceit ; in order the more certainly to 
 induce me to this wicked action, they had pretended that the 
 person with child was a Turkish girl, the only daughter of aged 
 parent, that the vengeance would be terrible, and twelve persons 
 would be in imminent danger of losing their lives. Thus they 
 sought to persuade me, “ in order to preserve the lives of so many 
 persons, to sacrifice the precarious existence of one unborn infant.” 
 What a dreadful trial ! I shuddered at the snare which had been 
 laid for me, and the more so as this person was a common Greek 
 prostitute of the worst character, and the Dascalos only feared 
 being publicly disgraced through her, as he had a wife and four 
 
81 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 children grown up. He satisfied the Turks by paying some 
 hundred piasters, and according to the Turkish laws took this 
 prostitute to wife, by making a declaration before the Cadi. 
 Hence nothing took place of all the frightful scenes with which 
 they had endeavoured to delude and mislead me. 1 called Georgi 
 to account, and required from him a statement of the affair. He 
 said, that since that time he had had nothing to do with him, 
 and had this day returned from an excursion, almost at the same 
 time as myself ; the fresh plants which lay about the room con- 
 firmed this statement. He had been immediately sent for, and 
 urged to give assistance ; for the city physician, after administering 
 milk, had declared he could afford no relief, and advised them to 
 apply to us. Death-like fear had seized the unfortunate family, 
 because they knew I was absent. The wife tore her hair, and 
 their house was a scene of despair; a crowd of people filled the 
 house, when Georgi happily arrived. The strong constitution of 
 the patient allowed the necessary time ; but nothing could equal 
 my surprise, when Georgi informed me, that he had not pro- 
 ceeded to administer relief, till they had fixed the sum of three 
 hundred piasters as the reward for effecting a cure, and bound 
 themselves to the payment, by giving hands, in the presence of 
 the Subbaschi and two witnesses : that this had taken ten minutes; 
 and so half an hour had elapsed, after his taking the poison, be- 
 fore the emetic operated. “ What,” said I, “ you could so long 
 behold him struggling in the most dreadful agony, and bargain 
 for his life ? Are we even now certain that he will not die, and 
 will not you, in consequence of this delay, have to bear, in a 
 great measure, the blame of his death P Unworthy, wicked man !” 
 — “ It is true,” said he, “ that I delayed, but if I had not made 
 this agreement, which is besides usual in this country, I should 
 now receive nothing. You will see that, in spite of the promise 
 confirmed by witnesses, and even though the man’s life is saved, 
 I shall have trouble enough to get my money. I beg you to 
 stand by me and declare, that I, as your servant, asked the 
 money in your name ; that you pay my board and travelling ex- 
 pences, and that the money is your’s I earnestly intreat you to do 
 it ; you know my poverty, and that I however supply my vounger 
 brother with means to pursue his studies ; that I have to support 
 the whole family, and must take advantage of every favourable 
 opportunity. Even you will have trouble to procure the money, 
 for it appears to me that the Turks have already demanded it of 
 the poor Dascalos. I intreat you not to forsake me ! 1 
 
 If I had by decisive measures given relief to the patient before 
 it was too late, I was now desired to justify what 1 disapproved, 
 to tread upon slippery ground, bid defiance to the Cadi and Sub- 
 bascln, and even force them to restore the money which belonged 
 \ oyages and Travels, No. XLyTII. Vol. VIII. m 
 
8:2 Travels in the Inland of Crete. 
 
 to a Greek, one of their oppressed subjects and slaves. It was a 
 difficult situation. Georgi now declared that I demanded my 
 money; the Dascalos informed him that the Turks had already 
 taken it from him ; when they learnt that I had claimed it, they 
 became servilely polite and disgustingly civil, and tried to per- 
 suade me to be satisfied with the half ! Georgi begged me for 
 heaven's sake not to do it, but to insist upon my firman, which 
 being drawn up in the language of the Divan, w'as fortunately 
 not well understood by any body. This business was disagreea- 
 ble, but it was facilitated by the fear into which all the Turks 
 were thrown; for the brother of the proprietor of Girapetro, 
 their master, had been, by command of the Sultan, enticed by 
 the Pacha of Candia into his chamber, and strangled. This un- 
 common example spread terror through the whole island. My' 
 remark that I was going to Candia, whence I should find means 
 to get the sum paid, immediately brought them to reason, and 
 the money was given up. The Turks plainly saw that it was 
 only a pretext in me, that the money really belonged to him, and 
 reproached him with the beautiful mule of which I had made him 
 a present. They breathed revenge, and did their utmost to find 
 means to ruin him. 
 
 The day before, I had in vain advised Georgi to settle his 
 difference with the Papa respecting the lost gem, to go imme- 
 diately, and as it was hardly worth more than ten piasters, give 
 him fifteen for it. The Papa, when he heard that he had 
 got the money, being instigated by the opposite party, violently 
 insisted on payment ; the Turks ordered him to demand three 
 hundred piasters for it, which the old man did with trembling, 
 and the Cadi, who was concerned in the affair, urged Georgi for 
 instant payment. Georgi was now in fresh trouble, and wished 
 me to assist him. I hastened to the house of the Papa, who in- 
 treated me to settle the dispute as I pleased, that he renounced all 
 claim, as the remuneration for the gem, whether it were large or 
 small, would be seized upon by the Subbaschi. I now shewed 
 the Turks the impression in wax, said that I would have it 
 valued in Candia by expert judges, or by order of the Pacha, 
 and that the remainder of the three hundred piasters, which I 
 was now prepared to pay, must be remitted for me to the Con- 
 sul in Candia, who would defend my rights. This had some 
 effect, particularly when I added, that besides the treaties with 
 which they were acquainted, and the protection of my Consulate, 
 I was likewise placed by my firman under the special protection 
 of the Sultan, which of course extended to my interpreter as 
 long as he was in my service ; and as the owner of the signet had 
 formerly been willing to part with it for something more than 
 thirtv piasters, the difference could hardly be ten piasters ; how- 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 8 * 
 
 ever, to put an end to the dispute, I offered fifty piasters. I 
 took out ten dollars, of five piasters each, and offered them to the 
 Papa, who just came in. The Subbaschi was so imprudent as to 
 take them from me, instead of the Papa. Georgi was free, but 
 told me that I had given too much, and though I was so good 
 and would take the twenty piasters on myself, he could not 
 afford to lose the thirty. The mean Subbaschi, he said, had 
 taken them from me in my very sight, that the Papa would receive 
 no part, and he would not rest till he had obtained the money back 
 again. I strictly enjoined him to let the matter pass ; saying, he 
 might be glad he had escaped so well. But the triumph of hav- 
 ing reduced a number of Mahometans to silence by my means, 
 was not sufficient to satisfy the hatred which he, as a Greek, felt 
 towards the Turks, and notwithstanding my express order, he 
 would not refrain from mortifying the Subbaschi in the most 
 sensible manner, and extorting from him his miserable thirty 
 piasters, which I had long since made good. 
 
 He went to the Subbaschi, affected friendship towards him, 
 thanked him for his intervention, and told him in confidence that 
 I was very angry at the bad treatment which I had met with here 
 and no where else ; that I intended to set out to-morrow by way 
 of Lassiti, to make a serious complaint against him to the Pacha, 
 on account of the fifty piasters, because he had evidently betrayed 
 himself by being in such a hurry to take them. Nothing could 
 save him but an apology and restitution of the money, for the 
 least that could happen to him, if I should make it known in 
 Candia, would be the immediate loss of his office as Subbaschi, 
 and the inevitable displeasure of his master. — I was employed in 
 arranging my papers and journals, when the door was suddenly 
 opened, and the Subbaschi, a haughty Turk, throwing himself 
 at my feet, held up the fifty piasters in a supplicating manner, im- 
 ploring my forgiveness ; and in fear of his life endeavoured to 
 soften me by his exclamation of Allah ! My surprise continued 
 long enough to make the Subbaschi suspect that I perhaps knew 
 nothing of it: I however recollected myself in time to cover this 
 trick of Georgi, though contrary to my express order, but refused 
 his money, saying, that what I had given was paid voluntarily, 
 and as an equitable indemnity for the lost ring. He however 
 laid the money upon the table, and was going out, but on my re- 
 peating that he must take it back, he turned to Georgi, who 
 could not conceal his malicious joy, and seemed to beg him to 
 take it. He was so imprudent as to take up the money in the 
 presence of the Subbaschi, instead of letting it lie on the table, by 
 which he betrayed himself as the other had done before. The 
 Subbaschi was in the highest degree incensed at such an humilia- 
 tion : his Mahometan pride had "been forced to bend before that 
 
84 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 of a Frank, and he, deceived by a Greek, had disgracefully beg- 
 ged upon his knees, his life, which he feared was forfeited. No- 
 body could deny me his esteem ; even the Mahometans gave me 
 their hands when I took leave ; never had circumstances so hap- 
 pily concurred to prove the innocence of a man as they had done 
 mine. I was not sorry to see that I had gained the regard of the 
 mothers, and the esteem of the men ; at least, I did not leave an 
 enemy in this town. Georgi, on the other hand, whom I could 
 not now do without, nor abandon, but resolved to dismiss in the 
 city of Candia, was mortally hated, and new plots were con- 
 trived to ruin him. Not to interrupt the narrative of this affair, 
 I pass over, for the present, my departure for Stia. and the 
 Mountain of Lassiti, the examination of it, and my return to 
 Candia. 
 
 We had been some weeks in Candia, when we prepared to 
 visit Mount Ida, having been detained, both by the Ramadan, or 
 Turkish Lent, and by the necessity of repose after the fatigues 
 we had undergone. The report of what had happened at Gira- 
 petro soon reached Candia, and the Consul was so kind as not 
 to attach any blame to my conduct, so that nobody in Candia 
 was ill-disposed towards me. He even excused Georgi in many 
 respects, and was fully aware of the reasons for which he was 
 persecuted, particularly by the Greek clergy. The Austrian 
 agent, Mr. Booze, had resigned his situation, and Mr. Lafle- 
 chelle, a native of Paris, had arrived from Constantinople to act 
 as secretary and intei'preter to the French Consul. He was a 
 very worthy and agreeable man. Though I had a residence of 
 my own near the palace of the Pacha, I was generally at the Con- 
 sul’s, where I had the advantage of making use of his library. 
 My visit to the Bishop of Girapetro, a young man of about 
 thirty-three years of age, and nephew of the Metropolitan, was 
 for the purpose of making some agreeable observations to him 
 on the fertility of his country, and the numerous antiquities, and 
 to ask him occasionally for some explanations. He spoke of the 
 late affair, and made Georgi relate it in my presence, and con- 
 cluded with the suspicious words, ‘ That / should rather have 
 left the wicked Dascalos to die !’ I avoided all explanation of the 
 causes of this remark. Our friendly relations were soon disturbed 
 by a letter from the Papa of Girapetro, who, at the instigation 
 of the Turks, who were eager for revenge, complained of 
 Georgi to the bishop of the diocese, the same we have just men- 
 tioned, who on account of illness now resided at Candia, and 
 demanded the fifty piasters back. I do not know what means had 
 been employed to irritate the Bishop of Girapetro against Georgi. 
 It was said that when he was at Girapetro he had threatened the 
 Papa, that if he demanded the fifty piasters from him, he w r ould 
 
85 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 accuse him to the Pacha of having found a great treasure, and 
 the rich Papa would be punished for his rapacity, by having to 
 pay thousands of piasters. Perhaps Georgi really said so ; but 
 he had been ill used. This remark, however, was sufficiently 
 refuted by the sequel of the story ; but an old grudge was re- 
 vived, and but for me he would have been in great danger. The 
 Greek clergy, who were much esteemed and protected by the 
 Turks, took part in it ; for Georgi had had the misfortune se- 
 veral years before, involuntarily to offend this same Bishop of 
 Girapetro. 
 
 The council was held in the house of this bishop ; and it was 
 said, “ It is better that one should die for the people, than that 
 the whole nation should be destroyed.” Georgi had brought with 
 him from the continent, some notions respecting superstition , the 
 despotism of the Greek clergy, abuses, c^r. and had the impru- 
 dence to attempt to introduce, not only the vaccine, but some 
 reasonable principles. I was invited, through the physician 
 Giovanni, of whom I have before made honourable mention, to 
 be present at the meeting. Alarm was painted on the counte- 
 nance of Georgi ; he begged me to go back with him to the 
 house of the schoolmaster, which he would not leave without 
 me. I foresaw the storm which began to darken the horizon. 
 The proceedings of these miserable people were directed to the 
 destruction of this imprudent man, who had brought other no- 
 tions from foreign countries. The whole accusation was reduced 
 to this : — “ That Georgi was a wicked man, and did not deserve 
 my protection.” I calmly submitted to them, that the whole 
 business for which this meeting was called was already termina- 
 ted ; stated what I had done, and that the Papa and Subbaschi 
 had voluntarily renounced the sum. Lastly, I produced an im- 
 pression of the antique, and said, that if it could have been of 
 any use I would certainly have bought it myself ; that it was in 
 no case worth the eighth part of the sum demanded ; observing 
 that Georgi had drawn upon himself their displeasure upon 
 other accounts. I requested them at least to wait till I had left 
 the island, and he was out of my service; they might then pro- 
 ceed against him as he deserved, and punish him according to 
 justice. He was now innocent ; and if he was to blame, the 
 fault lay with me, for I had decided the whole affair according 
 to my own sincere conviction. I could not possibly comply with 
 their desire to declare him not in my service, because he stood 
 in need of my assistance, and I must both fulfil my duties to- 
 wards him as a fellow creature, and maintain the articles of the 
 treaties in a barbarous country. What I could not accomplish, 
 the French Consul, who had taken me under his protection, 
 would provide for. I added that I would enjoin him to be more 
 
86 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 cautious, and I should besides soon leave Candia. This last 
 point was the worst of all : “ now or never,” they thought. 
 They made no reply to m3' observations, and appeared to be 
 pacified, but said that he was a disgrace to me, that he im- 
 properly assumed the European dress, without being under 
 protection, and lavished every art and flatter}-, to draw from 
 me even a verbal declaration, or merely a single word, which 
 might indicate that I would not keep him, or was dissatisfied 
 with him, or even that I would yield to their entreaties. But 
 all their arts failing, for they aimed at bis life, and I could not 
 betray him, the meeting began to separate; the more moderate 
 and less eager retired, and the others thought of new plans. 
 1 however resolved immediately to send Georgi away, when 
 on a sudden the Bishop of Girapetro, weeping for rage, rose, 
 and implored me with uplifted hands to yield him up to him 
 that he might destroy him. I shuddered, the blood rose into 
 my face, and I said indignantly, as 1 retired, “ Wretched man, 
 you know not the pride of a F rank, and the magnanimity of the 
 Europeans!” I was required to give up a man, that he might 
 destroy him. What strange proofs of friendship people here 
 demand ! all this is a consequence of the moral corruption intro- 
 duced by r the despotic tyranny of the Turks. Hence I saw 
 that I alone could protect him, and accordingly resolved not 
 to forsake him. 
 
 I endeavoured, therefore, to send Georgi as soon as possible 
 out of the city, and reprimanded him for having neglected the 
 opportunity which he had had two days before to go to Meli- 
 doni, and wait for me there. He wept, and said, he could not 
 possibly leave me now, because he was watched, and would 
 be arrested. I seriously represented to him how lie had already 
 hurt himself by his obstinacy, and sensibly- offended his ene- 
 mies, who, in a barbarous country, had it at all times in their 
 power to ruin him ; for he had really been so incautious as to 
 speak in many' places in (he city of the weaknesses, the faults, 
 and the crimes of various persons, whose dignity', if not their 
 persons, claimed some regard. His imprudence hurt him the 
 more, as he had no party in his favour, and nobody excused 
 his language and actions. 1 placed before him his previous con- 
 duct, and reminded him that he had occasioned me nothing but 
 vexation, and that to save his life 1 was unfortunately obliged to 
 keep him, which he did not deserve, because he paid no regard 
 to my health. Among his enemies, he mentioned the Girapetrite, 
 the interpreter of the Pacha, and Domenico. He had made the 
 latter his enemy by refusing him the vaccine which he had ac- 
 quired by purchase. Domenico required it from him because 
 he was a new comer, and pretended, as usual, that he had 
 
87 
 
 Travels in the Islam.! of Crete. 
 
 brought a better sort with him, by which he would have mo- 
 nopolized the whole practice, and Georgi would certainly 
 have lost this little income, with which he supported an indigent 
 mother and sister. Georgi, therefore, enjoined the mothers of 
 the inoculated children not to shew them to Domenico, espe- 
 cially when the pock was filled with matter. This innocent 
 means to secure his just advantages, so provoked Domenico, 
 that he conceived an inveterate hatred against him, and joined 
 his other enemies. Georgi, notwithstanding all his faults, had 
 deserved well of his countrymen, because, as 1 have said, he 
 was the first who procured vaccine matter in Crete, and had 
 thereby saved many thousand children from perishing by the 
 small-pox, which so frequently rages there; and was probably 
 sensible of the state of slavery by which his country made 
 such a contrast with the Ionian Islands: not to speak of other 
 similar motives. 
 
 His enemies, as I learnt, again met, and resolved not to let 
 their victim escape. First, they endeavoured to incense the 
 Pacha against Georgi, in which they succeeded, by mentioning 
 his threat to the Papa in Girapetro about the treasure, by which 
 they touched the Pacha in a very sensible part. They added, 
 that in the war against the Turks Georgi had fought in the ranks 
 of the enemies, and had shewn himself at Chios and Smyrna 
 stained with Turkish blood Whether true or not, this did 
 not fail to produce a terrible effect! It was immediately for- 
 gotten that Georgi had formerly cured the same Pacha of an 
 intermitting fever, and had done him many services. They 
 now sought to prevent me, and particularly the French Consul, 
 from acting, and for the execution of their wicked design, 
 chose the favourable opportunity of the Ramadan, which 
 happened this year in July, when the Turks sleep arid fast by 
 day, but after sun-set pass the whole night in amusements. 
 They therefore fixed the hour of eleven at night for dragging 
 him out of my lodging by the guard of janissaries, and 
 executing the sentence which the Pacha had passed upon him. 
 
 The night approached, I waited long for Georgi in the house 
 of the Consul, where he was to call for me to go home. At 
 length he came, very melancholy, but the French Consul com- 
 forted him, saying he had nothing to fear, because in this 
 manner his enemies could not so easily injure him. We re- 
 turned home about ten o’clock, and heard the deafening sound 
 of the Turkish music in the streets, which were now lively and 
 lighted up. 
 
 1 had just gone to bed, when Georgi, in constant anxiety, 
 pale as death, walked silently up and down the room. 1 ex- 
 horted him to go to rest, but he said, in a piteous voice, “ I 
 
88 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 cannot go (o sleep, I forebode to-day no good. 1 ’ I urged him 
 to tell me his reason ; he said the behaviour of various persons 
 towards him, their cold silence, and many other changes which 
 he had remarked, caused him to apprehend something dreadful, 
 which was evidently contriving against him. I endeavoured 
 to dispel his fears, and desired him to go to rest, because the 
 candle burning in the chamber hindered me from sleeping ; 
 when presaging his impending fate, he implored with uplifted 
 hands a short delay. I likewise apprehended no good, when 
 suddenly there was a noise on the stone steps before the house, 
 and several Turks began violently to knock at the gate, which 
 was strongly secured. Georgi terrified, hastened to it, and 
 perceived that there were seven Janissaries of the Pacha’s 
 guard. I had raised myself up in bed, when he rushed in 
 pale as death, told me what was the matter, and exclaimed, 
 “ I am undone, help me, help, I am undone.” “ But what aid 
 can I afford you ? Unhappy man, in what a situation have 
 you placed yourself,” answered I, while 1 leaped out of bed, 
 and hastened to dress myself. 
 
 “ 1 know of no remedy,” said I, trembling, “ but for me 
 to hasten to the Consul, inform him of the case, and come to 
 your assistance, for flight is impossible, every outlet is guarded.” 
 “ Ah, God!” groaned he, “ what shall I do ? To go to the 
 Consul is in vain. I am already condemned, and before 
 Laflechelle comes, I shall be sacrificed ; my enemies have 
 chosen this lime when the Consul and all the Europeans are 
 
 asleep and I am undone!” “ Courage,” said I, “ all is 
 
 not yet lost,” the Janissaries still loudly demanding admittance. 
 “ Collect yourself : does no means occur to you, as you are 
 so well acquainted with the country and every thing? do not 
 ask it from me, but I will help if 1 can.” 
 
 I had scarce said this when his eye rolled, his lips trembled, 
 and his tongue refused its service. At length he stammered ; 
 “ I know only one way to save me!” “ What?” answered 1. 
 
 “ Ah, God ! you desire to know it: if you he hesitated 
 
 if you suffer yourself to be taken in my stead.” Groaning and 
 weeping he fell at my feet, and endeavoured to soften me, 
 while 1 stood almost petrified with horror at such a demand. 
 
 I then gave vent to my feelings, and loaded him with me- 
 rited reproaches. “ What have you done to deserve that 1 
 should sacrifice my life for you ? 1 have but one, and that 
 
 you require of me. How can you venture to make such a re- 
 quest to any human being? Was it not enough that I did so 
 much for you ? Unworthy as you are, who have so often 
 brought me into the greatest embarrassments, and caused me so 
 much vexation; now you demand even my existence? Am I 
 
S9 
 
 Trawls in the Island of Crete. 
 
 here merely to atone for your follies with my life? why have 
 you not already fled to Melidoni ? Now that sentence has 
 already passed upon you, shall I suffer myself to be arrested in 
 your place, and to be cruelly executed ? I am unacquainted 
 with the language ; whither will they take me? how shall I 
 defend myself? Justice is here rapid and inexorable !” He 
 was scarcely able to speak. “ Ah, spare me, pity me, my sad 
 
 fate is at hand ! Ah, God ! I have foreseen it only you are 
 
 able to save me, otherwise I am for ever undone. YVhat will 
 my poor mother, my sister, and my brother say, when they 
 hear that I am no more? who will support them? who will 
 comfort them? Oh, dreadful fate-— I die innocent, the victim 
 of cruel malignity! I must die if you will not save me ; you 
 may and will save yourself ; have pity !” In an agony of 
 despair he threw himself on the ground, and in his anguish 
 called upon heaven for a deliverer. His fear rose to a terrible 
 degree ; for the guard, who apprehended that he would escape, 
 violently insisted on the opening of the gate. A cold shudder- 
 ing seized me, and I stood over him pale and speechless with 
 terror. I could not fly to procure help, and no resource was 
 left. A terrible conflict raged within me. I trembled at the 
 thought of giving him up without making an attempt to save 
 him. He did not deserve it, but I saw in him only a helpless 
 and unfortunate creature. I could not bear the thought, and 
 it would have been a source of reproach to me through life, if 
 I should afterwards be convinced that I might have saved him 
 by a small effort, and yet had not done it. But it was night, 
 the sentence pronounced, the execution immediate, and the 
 love of life strongly affected me ; the probability of being re- 
 cognized was indeed great, but in such a moment who will de- 
 pend upon probabilities? Yet I trembled at the painful con- 
 sciousness not to be able to do what I would, for if 1 did not 
 love him, 1 had yet done enough for him to venture this also. 
 I was most sensibly offended ; his enemies were to triumph ; I 
 should see him snatched from me, and the French Consul out- 
 witted ; this roused my pride. I had said to them, “you know 
 not the pride of a Frank, or the magnanimity of an European.’' 
 I wished to redeem my pledged word ; but the annihilating 
 thought of death and mutilation unmanned me anew. All this 
 passed before me with the rapidity of lightning, while the 
 noise grew louder, and no further delay was possible. He 
 hoped nothing further from me. While I, in the midst of 
 conflicting emotions, called to mind the deeds of generous men 
 and their sacrifices, and was unable to take any resolution, 
 he broke out in a transport of despair, in the terrible heart- 
 rending words of our Saviour on the cross, and exclaimed 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLV1II. Vol. VIII n 
 
so 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 with a dreadful voice: “ Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.” (My 
 God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me !) I stood as if 
 annihilated, and without consciousness. All idea of saving 
 my life was vanished, and I saw inevitable fate approach ; for 
 it seemed to demand my life. I said with a tremulous voice, 
 “ Open the gate, I go.” Should then man be at no moment of 
 his life capable of any thing better than merely pious feelings? 
 Should we be only sensible of the oppressive supernatural 
 greatness of our Divine Master, and not be able to do for one, 
 what he did for all? This humiliating feeling decided. I 
 cannot describe what I felt: for there is an earthly annihilation, 
 beyond which, when the mind has overcome it, every thing 
 terrestrial vanishes, as something common and contemptible. 
 My self-denial, however, cost me dear ; I tottered to my table, 
 for my feet could not support me ; a dizziness seized me, I was 
 fainting ; and in the anguish of death, which was felt even by 
 the body, 1 heard the echo of the well-known words : “ It is 
 finished .” Thus half-inanimate, I awaited my approaching 
 fate. 
 
 Georgi rushed out, opened the gate, and soldiers filled the 
 apartment. Fear winged his steps, and love of life gave him 
 words for its preservation. The Turks had orders to take 
 prisoner the servant, the interpreter, who spoke Greek and 
 Turkish ; they knew him, and yet did not take him. With affected 
 cheerfulness, while fear of death raged within him, he told 
 them I was the person whom they sought, that I did not speak, 
 because I was going to meet my fate. Observing my weak- 
 ness, he ran and fetched some water 3 sprinkled me, and trembling, 
 made me drink, for his life hung on a slender thread. My 
 wretched appearance, and total insensibility, contrasted with 
 his presence of mind, confounded them. Besides, how should 
 it occur to a Mahomedan to conceive what a Christian can do ! 
 Georgi supported me, implored me in a low and supplicating 
 voice to take courage, and begged the soldiers to treat me with 
 mildness. I forgave him all that he said in his own favour, for 
 I gave him a right. I recovered myself ; the guards desired me 
 to depart ; they had waited, they said, long enough, and led me 
 away in the midst of them. I whispered to him as I left him — 
 “ Fly ! that I may at least have the consolation of having saved 
 you.” He fled. On the way I pretended to turn into another 
 street, and desired to be taken to the residence of the Consul ; 
 this I did, lest my submitting without resistance might create 
 suspicion among seven soldiers, some one of whom might 
 return and look for him. Thus I went full of resignation to 
 meet my destiny. 
 
 An infinite number of people, who had collected at the fes- 
 
91 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 tival, surrounded the entrance of the palace, and (he re- 
 port was speedily spread that a Frank was to be judged 
 by the Pacha. Insult, ridicule, and abuse resounded on every 
 side, and only the guard protected me from ill-usage, thinking 
 to make me suffer in a far more terrible manner. I proceeded 
 with an unsteady step, and it was necessary to clear the en- 
 trance of the mob, who pressed to be spectators of my punish- 
 ment. I advanced and saw the preparations, but what I saw 
 I cannot tell, for the sight confounded me, and I stood 
 motionless as a corpse. My conjecture, however, that I should 
 be recognised and set free, was confirmed, for it might justly 
 be presumed that his enemies were present. At once a cry 
 was raised — “ That is the physician, and not his servant, what 
 have you done?” The Janissaries looked at each other with 
 surprize, knew not what to say, and immediately hastened 
 away, while an ugly red-headed Jew, who now appeared like 
 an angel of light, came up to me, and told me, what I knew 
 before, that not I, but Georgi was wanted, and that I might 
 withdraw. 
 
 I hastened, almost unconscious of what I did, to the house 
 of the Consul, for it was necessary to complete my work, after 
 having already done so much. I intended to request the 
 Consul to have the Pacha informed and pacified, and to pre- 
 vent Georgi being pursued ; for I thought that he had got over 
 the low part of the rampart near the harbour, and had fled to 
 Melidoni. Happily I found the gate of the Consulate open, 
 where lifting up my eyes, I was astonished to perceive by the 
 lights on the steps Georgi standing quite lost in thought, for 
 how could he shew himself to the Consul before I came. 
 “ Unhappy man,” said I ; he looked at me terrified ; “ what 
 have yon done ? why have you not fled ?” “ Ah !” said he, 
 
 “ I have always found pity, and I shall find it again. Even 
 in Melidoni I should not be safe.” I hastened to the Consul, 
 but was told that he had retired to rest. I found his chamber 
 open, entered softly, and made a sign to him without speaking, 
 not to disturb his wife. He made a sign that he would come, 
 and I returned into the drawing-room. In a few words I told 
 him what had passed, and called Georgi to relate it more 
 particularly. The Secretary, Mr. Laflechelle, was sent for, 
 while the Consul was considering bow he should proceed 
 with the Pacha. 
 
 I sunk down upon the Divan, but was not able to rise again ; 
 my faculties seemed benumbed. I heard every thing as if in 
 a dream, but took no interest in it, for my health was under- 
 mined, and I was incapable of thinking: so I was found by 
 the Candiot physicians. 
 
92 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 Mr. Laflechelle went with the instructions of the Consul to 
 the Pacha ; and Mr. de V asse (the Consul) remained almost the 
 whole night in the-drawing room, to give Laflechelle, when 
 he returned, new answers to what the Pacha said, and Georgi 
 impatiently awaited the issue. The guards having learnt that 
 he had fled to the Consulate, came to the gate, as they did not 
 dare to enter, and required that he should come out. As the 
 dwellings of the consuls are an inviolable asylum, they can, in 
 times of necessity, afford refuge to different fugitives, even if 
 they do not belong to their nation, where they remain months 
 together ; only they must not go out of the house. 
 
 Mr. Laflechelle, accompanied by a Janissary, went to the 
 Pacha, with the articles of the treaty, in the Turkish language, 
 in his hand, to refresh his memory. He there met with the 
 Defterdar, chief treasurer of Candia, who is entirely independent 
 of the Pacha, and was universally esteemed for his benevolent 
 character. Mr. L. gave him a short account of the business, 
 to which he replied, “ 1 will go with you and do my utmost; 
 he is not the first whom I have saved from the fangs of the Dra- 
 gomans, the scourge of your nation.” The Defterdar jeered the 
 old Pacha for having without reason, (that is without getting 
 any money by it, which in Turkey is the regular cause of every 
 judicial proceeding) been prejudiced against a poor devil by 
 calumnies; while Laflechelle freely represented to him, that he 
 had acted illegally, in ordering his guard to enter the house of 
 a Frank, and arrest one of his servants. The Pacha replied, it 
 was only a hired house, and the servaut a Greek, and deserving 
 of punishment : as for the arresting of the physician, it was 
 without his order. He now insisted that Georgi should be 
 given up : Laflechelle however persisted that he was wrong in 
 suffering his guard to enter even the hired house of a Frank, 
 and that if he had any complaints to make, he might apply to 
 the Consul, who would give him satisfaction ; but the Consul 
 saw no fault in Georgi, and would not suffer any thing to be 
 done against him till he was convinced of his guilt. The Pacha 
 accordingly brought forward his grounds of complaint, which 
 afforded an opportunity to correct his false notions, to convince 
 him of the malice of the accusers, and at length, with the aid 
 of his friend the Defterdar, to pacify him. The next point 
 was, as the people still expected a show, and the w'hole affair 
 had become known, to support the dignity of the Pacha, and 
 give some kind of satisfaction in the eyes of the people. The 
 Pacha demanded that Georgi should be given up, promising 
 to punish him but slightly. It appeared, however, that he 
 would condemn him to receive only ten strokes on the soles 
 of his feet. But Laflechelle declared, that the French Consul 
 
93 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 would not consent that he should receive corporal punishment. 
 At last the Defterdar, who was pleased with Mr. Laflechelle’s 
 conduct, proposed, smiling, to deprive Georgi of his European 
 dress, and thus to finish the business, for this was the Ramadan, 
 when every body should be merry as long as the night lasted, 
 and a masquerade was quite in season. The Pacha yielded, and 
 solemnly promised to Laflechelle that nothing more should be 
 done to him. Georgi was brought from the house of the Consul 
 accompanied by Mr. Laflechelle, deprived of his dress, and 
 obliged to put on a Greek habit, and thus ended the whole 
 affair. Georgi was at liberty, only he was obliged to pay the 
 fifty piasters himself to the Papa, in Girapetro. His brother 
 hastened to Melidoni, to fetch papers for Georgi, who embarked 
 on board a ship bound for Constantinople, in order to leave, as 
 quickly as possible, a place where he had experienced nothing 
 but trouble. He got on board the third day, till which time 
 he did not leave the house of the Consul ; and even then, it was 
 necessary for Mr. Laflechelle to accompany him. 1 heard 
 nothing more of him, but that he had arrived safely at Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 This history may teach future travellers, for whom I have 
 chiefly written it, to be careful in the choice of their attendants 
 in the Levant, and that it is not always possible to make a 
 choice, as one is often embarrassed on account of the language, 
 which is there an indispensable necessity. For the rest, I have 
 never in the three years since my return related this story, even 
 to my relations and most intimate friends, and would have 
 suppressed it, for several reasons, in this account of my travels, 
 or have only slightly touched upon it, merely to preserve the 
 connection, were I not compelled and called upon to shew by 
 this example, that mean self-interest is not the motive of my 
 actions. 
 
 I will now return to the narrative of my travels. On the 20th 
 of June and the three following days, a hot south wind arose at 
 Girapetro, which came from the Lybian desert. It seemed as 
 if it would kindle what it had dried up, and yet the thermometer 
 was not above 24°. — Girapetro, where I arrived on the 17th 
 of June, offered but few attractions. Degraded to a poor 
 market town, but lately desolated by a violent earthquake, it 
 did not put to shame the ruins of Hierapytna, which lay to the 
 west: surrounded on the south by the sea, and on the land 
 side by two salt lakes, it appeared to be entrenched within 
 walls, which had been collected together from the ruins. The 
 low houses with flat roofs, and jars placed upon them, with the 
 bottoms knocked out to serve for chimnies, gave the whole 
 place a comical appearance. From three to four narrow lane* 
 
94 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 with a few shops, which are indeed open, but might as well be 
 closed, as nothing is to be had in them, with a little square 
 before the mosque, are the chief streets of the place. The other 
 streets are formed by garden walls, with doors, for all the 
 windows look inwards, and many apartments too have no 
 windows; the door is kept open, and serves to admit air and 
 light, as in many wretched places in Italy. The only minaret, 
 formerly perhaps a pretty tower, had been half destroyed by 
 the earthquake. Before the town, on the west of a fort which 
 had been white-washed, to give it a neat appearance, if it wanted 
 solidity, there is a long wall extending from the land into the 
 sea, which was probably a mole built by the citizens of Hiera- 
 pytna. The bounds of the former city may be traced by the 
 various antiques which are dug up in various places. It would 
 be interesting if some experienced person would accurately 
 determine the limits of the ancient town. 
 
 The old Girapetro was called in the remotest ages, Hierapytna, 
 but was perhaps subsequently called, according to Ptolemy, 
 Hierapetra, for it had several names, as Cyrba, Pytna, and 
 Camirus. A few capitals of the Corinthian and composite 
 orders, mostly of Parian marble, which Crete does not seem to 
 produce, afford a striking proof of its former splendor; they 
 are now hollowed out for bowls and troughs for domestic use. 
 Polished and fluted marble pillars of various colours are still 
 standing here and there, and some used in building the houses. 
 The remains of brick walls look like some ruins in Italy. The 
 most ancient inhabitants of this city were perhaps the first 
 Egyptian fugitives. The complexion of the Girapetrans is 
 darker than that of any other inhabitants of the island, (the 
 name of Egyptians is also given to them,) and their features are 
 thought to differ from those of the ancient Cretans. 
 
 Swallows build in Turkey in all their rooms, the windows 
 being purposely left open for them. At Girapetro they stay 
 through the winter, which is a great happiness for the Turks, 
 who are very fond of them. Nothing can equal the blindness 
 of the flies in very hot weather : I could not dip my pen in 
 the inkstand without first brushing them away. While I was 
 reading, I was obliged to keep them off with my hand ; but 
 while writing, it was necessary to have somebody to drive them 
 away with the fly-flap. The nights were very sultry, even 
 more unpleasant than the days, and I could not recover my 
 strength. It seemed necessary to set out on my journey to the 
 mountainous district of Stia, and on the 23rd of June I left 
 the town, with a Greek of the name of Marcus. At noon we 
 stopped at a little stream, twelve miles from Girapetro, under 
 a plantain tree. Here is the best water of Stia. Towards 
 
95 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 evening I was passing by a solitary country house, intending 
 to reach Etea, but a servant came out and invited us, in his 
 master’s name, to enter ; the latter, a young man, received me 
 in the most friendly manner, and shewed me his fine gardens, 
 which contained the only orange and lemon trees I had seen 
 since I left the north side of the island. He gave us an excellent 
 supper, and the following morning accompanied me to Etea, 
 which belonged to him. 
 
 We soon reached Armenues, where the mountain plain, with a 
 few inequalities, extends to the end of the island. The convent 
 which lies towards the south side is in ruins, and much resem- 
 bles the abbeys of the middle ages. The following morning I 
 hastened by way of Voila, where beautiful plants were in blossom 
 on the rocks ; at Chandra I saw very fine buildings, by Venetian 
 masters ; in Catalana, which I passed, the heat rose to 35° Reau- 
 mur. A number of people suddenly called to me to come into 
 the next village, Sitano, and Turks came to meet me, and took 
 me off my mule. They wished me to see a lunatic, who was 
 raving in this hot weather, and was obliged to be confined in 
 irons. Not to be detained, I advised bleeding, warm baths for 
 the feet, and cold bandages upon his bare head. — I had reached 
 Itano, the extreme eastern end of the island, which, from 
 the situation and other circumstances, I must declare to be 
 the ancient Itanum, as Etea appeared to me to be the birth-place 
 of Myson, one of the Seven Sages of Greece. When we reached 
 the mountain ridge I again saw the north coast, especially the 
 great Cape Acrotiri, otherwise called Capo Sidero, but by the 
 Greeks Cabo Drapano. 
 
 Lost in the enjoyment of this beautiful prospect, we gradually 
 descended towards the wretched village of Caradi. If ever I saw 
 poverty and content together, it was here ; it seemed doubtful 
 whether the inhabitants had ever put on a new or whole garment, 
 for their rags appeared to have descended from their great great 
 grandfathers, but their cheerful countenances made up for it. I 
 rested under a tree out of the village, where they brought me 
 eggs and butter, some cheese and coarse bread, for these poor 
 people never separate the bran from the flour. A poor lad who 
 had lost his sight by the small-pox came with a very neat dacty- 
 layra, he tuned the four strings very well, but played very ill ; 
 however the compassion he inspired hindered me from damping 
 his cheerfulness by asking him to cease playing, and I bore the 
 discord not to deprive him of the pleasure of thinking that he 
 amused me. When I offered to pay, they seriously refused to 
 take any thing, I doubled the sum I intended to give, and forced 
 it on them ; I was affected with this disinterestedness united with 
 their poverty, and was convinced of the truth of the position. 
 
96 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 that man is commonly liberal in proportion as he is poor. I 
 wished the blind musician the recovery of his sight, the inhabi- 
 tants the preservation of what they possessed — content — and de- 
 parted. A red clay, which covered the Flotz lime-stone, and 
 ceased a little below the village Caridi, gave the country a 
 singular appearance. I had now travelled through Crete to seek 
 chalk, and at the end of my journey found ruddle, a proof that 
 there are lies a thousand years old. We descended to Mangasa, 
 and had opportunity to admire the patience and industry of the 
 inhabitants, who had turned to advantage every hand-breadth of 
 land that was found among the rocks. This appeared to me the 
 roughest and most stony part of the island. A steep wall of 
 rock afforded a fine prospect, but made me despair of getting 
 down into the valley. The last beams of the setting sun were 
 fading away before we found the way down. The groups of 
 small vessels which were in sight seemed not disposed to come 
 a-shore ; we learnt that they came from the Archipelago, to col- 
 lect sponge, which is very abundant on this part of the Cretan 
 coast. 
 
 Casho, Scarpantho, Rhodes in the remote distance, further to 
 the left Stalimene, Namphio, and to the west Santorin, with the 
 singularly indented coasts of Crete, afforded an interesting pros- 
 pect. We reached the valley late in the evening, and took up 
 our lodging with the Subbaschi of Chalil Aga, whose possessions 
 extend thus far. When he had read his master’s letter, he laid 
 his hand upon his head to signify that I was recommended to 
 him, and as dear to him as his own head. In the afternoon I was 
 going to set out in order to reach the rich convent of Acrotiriani 
 or Panagia, when the Superior came upon business, and ordered 
 a monk, who was going back, to accompany me, that I might ex- 
 perience the best reception. We had an agreeable ride to the 
 convent, which is called by way of eminence Toplumonastiri, the 
 rich convent, hence it is obliged very often to act consistently 
 with its name ; for every new Pacha, as soon as he arrives, de- 
 mands proof that it is entitled to it. The monastery is of mode- 
 rate extent, with a detached church and a small chapel within the 
 walls. Being built by the Venetians it is now much out of re- 
 pair. It has every where a dirty appearance, for it is not usual 
 to white- wash the walls, which is a privilege of the Turks. A 
 convent which should new white-wash any part without permis- 
 sion, would have to pay a considerable fine. The Mosques are 
 always clean, white, and neat ; but Greek churches must look 
 dirty within and without ; if any chapel were handsomely white- 
 washed, even though permission had been purchased at a high 
 price, it would be a perpetual cause of extortion, and would ex- 
 pose the convent to endless vexations from individual Turks, and 
 
Travels m the Island of Crete. 57 
 
 to their hatred. To paint a church with colours would be the 
 greatest crime that could be committed. ^The youngest priest in 
 the convent acted as my guide, and attended to me in every re- 
 spect. He shewed me a bas-relief of the Madonna, made by the 
 Venetians, and regretted that the portal, likewise of Parian mar- 
 ble, had been taken away by the Turks, and used for another 
 building in Candia. The church, which is a very low dark 
 chapel, dirty with smoke, possessed a very large altar-piece, of 
 the Byzantine School, divided into many compartments, the 
 finest performance of that school I have ever seen. Each com- 
 partment was painted with separate historical subjects from the 
 Bible, which, after the manner of the Greeks, embraced almost 
 the whole of the Old and New Testaments. In parts it was not 
 destitute of merit as a work of art ; but clearly shewed how dif- 
 ficult it had been for the ingenious, but ill-informed artist, to 
 depart from the prescribed manner: I was surprised at the sight 
 of the steeple. The earthquakes in 1815 had burst the upper 
 half, the dome lay broken and on one side, with part of the cornice 
 fixed in a rent, like a wedge. It was in imminent danger of fall- 
 ing and destroying the main building, a breath of air seemed suffi- 
 cient. On my asking why the convent did not repair the steeple, 
 as it was rich enough, and in danger of being buried under it, he 
 replied, that a very expensive finnan from the Pacha was neces- 
 sary, which might perhaps go to the Porte, and lead to the dis- 
 bursement of large sums; that besides they did not want the 
 steeple, because, since the time of the Venetians, they must make 
 shift with hand-bells. I said then, they should take down the 
 steeple half way, by which they would save the expence of re- 
 pairing it, since they did not want it ; but he answered, that two 
 firmans would be necessary, one for leave to take down the 
 steeple, and the other to rebuild it, and these might cost more 
 than the repairs ; if they wished only to take it down, without re- 
 building it, as they were not allowed any bells, they must however 
 pay for both. He added, that the Superior had made an accu- 
 rate examination of every part, and hoped that the steeple, if it 
 fell in, would not fall upon their heads, but in the opposite direc- 
 tion ; and told me in confidence, that to prevent accidents, they 
 had placed beams and wedges in the inside, in such a manner, as 
 to make it fall in the direction they desired. Any reason, how- 
 ever insignificant, suffices for the Pacha or any rich Turkish 
 neighbour to call the convent to account. Some time ago a Turk 
 was killed, by an enemy who lay in wait for him near the con- 
 vent; he was found, the convent was made responsible, and with- 
 out listening to any arguments, sentenced to pay twenty-five 
 purses, of five hundred piasters each, on the w hole about five 
 hundred pounds sterling. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol VIII. o 
 
98 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 The road gradually declined towards the cleft, whicli separates 
 Cape Sidero from the continent ; and we came to a uniform 
 sea-beach, covered with dwarf shrubs. Our way led through a 
 plain, which was crossed by a rivulet ; on the other side are the 
 ruins of the town of Setia, which, in all probability, is the an- 
 cient Cytseum. Under the Venetians it was the capital of this 
 province, but it is now a heap of rubbish. If an antiquarian 
 tour were undertaken in Crete, for the express purpose, all the 
 hundred cities might be found out. 
 
 I came to Piskocephalo, a pleasantly situated village, and 
 gave my letter to the Subbaschi, a Turk. Hearing that I wished 
 to have his young mule, he already devoured in imagination the 
 money of a Frank. I had seen many a miser, but never before 
 such a greedy looking rogue. The young mule was shewn me, 
 it was certainly a handsome animal, but not quite fit for my 
 use; however, I thought if Georgi kept it well for a year, (it 
 being intended as a present to him) it would do him good 
 service for fifteen or twenty years. I asked my guide, the Greek 
 Marcus, what he thought it was worth, but he would not ven- 
 ture to give an answer for fear of the Turks. The Subbaschi 
 demanded an exorbitant price, and trembled for fear, when I 
 rose to go away. At length we agreed for two hundred and 
 fifteen piasters. But I was really vexed, when I took out 
 my purse with Venetian ducats, which the Subbaschi seemed 
 ready to snatch out of my hand. He clamoured for a pair of 
 scales ; and the slightest deficiency in weight gave him a wide 
 field to cheat at pleasure. His covetousness amused me ; and I 
 looked on quietly to see how far he would carry it. In the end 
 he deducted from some ducats from Constantinople, the eighth 
 part of the value, and six gold coins from Egypt, worth eight and 
 a quarter piasters, he estimated at six. I looked at him in silent 
 contempt, and only lamented that I had not the talent of a 
 Hogarth to immortalize this group of greedy Turks. At the 
 end, however, I spoke— took the paper out of his hand — corrected 
 his calculation — and took some pieces of money back again. His 
 grief at this was extreme ; but he was obliged, though with sor- 
 row, to acknowledge the bargain concluded. 
 
 W e proceeded along the mountain from rock to rock, through 
 clefts and defiles, till we arrived at Trebisonda and Turtuli. I 
 had not yet found any part so abundant in springs, which sur- 
 prised me the more, as the mountains of Stia are not considera- 
 ble. A hollow valley, surrounded by aged forest trees, with 
 the finest fruit trees growing on the declivities, appeared like a 
 Paradise, enclosed by a circle of lofty and steep rocks. The deep 
 valley was cleared of the corn ; the sun burnt upon the stubble ; 
 but on the eminence, every beam was intercepted by the most beau- 
 
Travels in the Island of Crete. 99 
 
 tiful oaks ; and streams, which increased the coolness, flowed on 
 every side. The village lay in the middle, each house being sur- 
 rounded by orange groves. These charms were enhanced by a 
 great number of nightingales, which, even at this advanced season, 
 poured forth their song. The Venetians must have been ac- 
 quainted with this beautiful spot, for they called it Turtuli, which 
 name it still bears from the number of turtles that frequent it. 
 The ground, protected from the sun, was every where moist; 
 the crystal water flowed into basins hewn in the rocks, pome- 
 granates, lemon, citron, and orange trees, richly laden with their 
 dazzling fruit, invited the stranger. The slender dark green cy- 
 press shot up amidst the oak forest, and the date, with its fans 
 and its rustling crown waving in the breeze, contrasted with the 
 surrounding masses of rocks, altogether afforded a surprising 
 picture. The Subbaschi of this place, a good tempered and ex- 
 tremely honest man, was esteemed and beloved by the villagers. 
 
 I now sent my Greek Marcus before me, with some hundred 
 lemons, by way of Litines to Girapetro, and told him the persons 
 to whom they were to be delivered. I had been urgently re- 
 quested to purchase some in Turtuli, because they are scarce at 
 Girapetro. Here I purchased from twelve to sixteen for a penny. 
 The Subbaschi himself gathered them for me with great care, and 
 procured me a man from the village to guide me over the moun- 
 tains to Girapetro. '1 his man had been fifteen years in the labo- 
 ratory of an European apothecary at Smyrna, where he acquired 
 sufficient knowledge to set up for a physician in his own country. 
 He told me that he the more readily accompanied me, because he 
 was expected in several places. He carried a bag with various 
 boxes of medicines, powders, &c. and for ten para, he was ready 
 to draw off as much blood as you pleased. About three hundred 
 paces beyond Turtuli, I overlooked from the eminence the whole 
 south coast, and the Libyan Sea. As we went along the ridge of 
 the mountain, I perceived an old ruined castle upon a rock, 
 which my guide assured me had been built, in former ages, by 
 a certain Adiomenes ; the outward walls were in good preserva- 
 tion, and it was probably built by the Saracens to watch the 
 Eastern Sea. A steep descent led to the village Cria. A foun- 
 tain near the village, protected by rocks, and surrounded by 
 lofty plantains, tempted me to stop and drink the water, which 
 was the coolest I had tasted for a long time. A Turk accosted 
 me in a very friendly manner, politely enquired from what 
 country I came, and invited me to his house. Without suffering 
 me to be troubled with patients, he set before me every thing 
 his house afforded, even wine, to which he helped me himself. 
 I could scarcely venture to give the servants some trifling pre- 
 
100 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 sent : he accompanied me some distance from the village, thanked 
 me for the honour I had done him, and would not allow me to 
 make him any acknowledgments for his kind reception. Upon 
 urgent intreaty, he had before taken me to a single patient who 
 lay in a fever, caused by ill treatment of a dangerous wound, 
 and was at the point of death. I could not comply with his re- 
 peated request to tell him whether the patient would recover, be- 
 cause death appears much less terrible to the Turks, on account 
 of their fatalism, and on his return he would certainly have called 
 upon the patient and told him the good news, that he would 
 soon die. The sick people had run before, and waited for me 
 behind a bush, because the Turk had sent them all away, telling 
 them not to trouble me with useless questions. The whole group 
 now surrounded me, each took pleasure in telling me his misfor- 
 tune, and all went away comforted. After a very picturesque 
 ride through Hagio-Mama, Riso, Mezzo-Mu] ana, and Oxo-Mu- 
 jana, we turned round the mountains, and arrived at the mouil- 
 tain village of Turloti, which is built above two of the largest 
 ravines of this mountain, and affords one of the finest prospects of 
 the sea. I slept this night in the open air upon the terrace. The 
 brilliancy of the stars, the serene horizon, and the calmness of 
 the night, interrupted at times by the gentle breeze, refreshed 
 me so much, that I felt new life in me, notwithstanding the fatigue 
 I had undergone in traversing the almost impassable mountains. 
 I rose at day-break, and took a little excursion, on which I 
 found the Linum arboreum upon the rocks, so uncommonly 
 large, that I could with justice call it arboreous. 
 
 On my return I found my attendant, with his boxes arranged 
 before him, with a number of people asking for medicines. I 
 wished each of them that it might do him good, and my apo- 
 thecary plenty of custom. I then engaged another guide, a lively 
 pleasant fellow, who chattered as if be had been an apprentice to 
 a Roman Cicerone, bad something to say of every village, 
 laughed at the Greeks, cursed the Turks, and talked till he was 
 out of breath. 
 
 I have already related my return to Girapetro ; and the events 
 which happened there. There v T as now nothing to detain me 
 from visiting the Lassiti mountains; besides I intended to as- 
 cend Mount Ida at the end of July, and to visit the Leucaori 
 in August ; but before I left Girapetro, the city physican in- 
 vited me to his house ; he had observed to Georgi, that we had 
 fared very ill at Girapetro, and seemed obliged to us for having 
 saved the life of a person to whom he was physician. He was 
 a good-humoured old man, and pleased me very much. He 
 called to take us to his house. We had already been in the 
 
101 
 
 Travel s in the Island, of Crete. 
 
 worst streets of Girapetro, but we had not conceived there 
 could be a house so difficult of access, and so filthy. The 
 physician stopped at a door, which we could not possibly think 
 led to a dwelling-house. On his knocking it was opened. A 
 small court-yard in front, as narrow as the door, afterwards 
 only twice as broad, surrounded with such high walls as scarcely 
 to admit the day-light, afforded few materials for consideration. 
 At|the farther end was a single door standing wide open, through 
 which there was a prospect of a complete lumber-room. Where 
 will this lead to, thought I ? The dark, smoky, dirty apartment, 
 was not lighted by a single window : the floor was uneven, con- 
 sisting only of rubbish ; the threshold very high, so that we 
 had to descend about half a yard at the first step, with immi- 
 nent danger of breaking our necks. The open door admitted 
 the only light into this half subterraneous apartment, which 
 served for kitchen, sitting-room, wine cellar, and poultry yard. 
 The hostess, dressed like a cook, came from the fire to meet 
 us, and placed some three-legged stools, on which wood, meat, 
 and tobacco were by turns chopped. At length the doctor 
 said, “ Are you ready, my dear.” “Yes,” answered his wife,” 
 “ we can serve up”. Now, thought I to myself, we shall no 
 doubt have an excellent dinner, burnt soup, mouldy biscuit, and 
 sour wine. But what a metamorphosis ! The hostess first or- 
 dered the servant to shut the door. This she did, and barred it. 
 Hereupon both he and his wife dressed themselves ; he fetched 
 a handsome Persian caftan ; a carpet covered the ugly furni- 
 ture; a small table was brought, upon which they placed a 
 large handsome plated tea-board ; Chinese porcelain covered the 
 table ; decanters of beautiful polished glass, gilt, were produced ; 
 the Cyprian wine was set before us in cut-glass jugs; silver 
 knives, forks, and spoons, were laid upon the table ; and dinner 
 was served up. I could not speak for surprize. It was well 
 dressed, consisting of more than ten dishes, besides confectionary 
 which our hostess herself had made. The richest individual 
 need not have been ashamed to set before his guests such a 
 repast. But we had scarcely done dinner, when every thing 
 was cleared away and concealed, so that no trace of all these 
 handsome and valuable things remained ; and when the doctor 
 had again put on his ragged morning gown, the greatest appear- 
 ance of poverty prevailed ; the door was again opened by the 
 maid ; and every one who had come in would have sworn that 
 we had nothing better than Rumford Soup. 
 
 This short account proves how great is the oppression and 
 barbarism in this country ; God grant we might sav teas. If 
 any person possesses the least thing, he shews it to strangers 
 rather than to natives. Wealth is a crime ; and lie that possesses 
 
102 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete, 
 
 any thing is exposed, on every trifling occasion, to persecutions 
 which never cease till the Turk knows that he has nothing more 
 to lose. It cannot be believed to what a degree a distrustful, 
 slavish, and inhuman treatment degrades the nation ; takes from 
 it all sense of honour, confidence and respect for the laws, where 
 the people are every where surrounded and watched by informers, 
 spies, and hirelings, who, that they may the more easily fatten on 
 the labour of the peaceable citizen, must prove, by fictitious and 
 false statements, that they do not receive their blood-money for 
 nothing. The strength of the Porte, (not to speak of shocks 
 from without) consists— it cannot depend on its soldiers — in ex- 
 citing discord among the inhabitants, in frequently removing the 
 Pachas, that they may not have time to make themselves inde- 
 pendent, and in favouring alternately different parties in the state. 
 The Porte swarms with informers, spies, and wretches ready to 
 execute any order : for Islamism sanctifies any deed. 
 
 We applied to a rich Turk in Girapetro, who procured us five 
 mules, and, as soon as they were laden, left the town, riding over 
 shafts and capitals, till in a short time we were in valleys be- 
 tween the rocks, where streams flowed down on every side, and 
 put me in mind of Turtuli. I soon came to Calamata, a fine 
 well- watered district, which was visited by Tournefort, who 
 ascended to the left into the lofty mountains, where he first found 
 the Primus pro&irata, which he so highly praises for its beautiful 
 flowers. Labillardiere found it afterwards on Lebanon, and gave 
 it the above name. It is probable, therefore, that many of Sib- 
 thorp’s and Smith’s plants of the Flora Graeca, may be in the still 
 unarranged Herbal of Tournefort. Calamatta seems, from its 
 favourable and elevated position, to be not far from the ancient 
 Lyctos. The houses are scattered, and as it happened to be 
 Sunday, the inhabitants were sitting before the entrance, and 
 saluted us in a very friendly manner. I had no where seen so 
 much composure and content, simplicity of manners, and neatness 
 of dress. Their ingenuous countenances pleased me so much, 
 that I would have entrusted my life to any of them. 
 
 Great praise was bestowed on the steward of the place, an 
 elderly, good-tempered man, and, as usual, a Turk. He had heard 
 we were coming, and was expecting us. It was to be presumed 
 that he wished to ask for advice, and in fact he mentioned his 
 wife, and, finding I did not want an interpreter, introduced me 
 to her ; there was nothing the matter with her ; but it gave her 
 pleasure that she was able to complain to me. When I returned 
 dinner was ready ; the wine was excellent, and the charges ex- 
 tremely moderate. Though I would willingly have staid, it was 
 necessary to depart, because it was nearly four o’clock, the mules 
 
103 
 
 Travels in the Island of C'rele. 
 
 were heavily laden, and we had twenty-five Italian miles to go, 
 above half the way up hill. The country through which we passed 
 was uncommonly pleasant: insteadof the noise which the wind makes 
 in the plain, as it drives the sand and dust before it, a profound 
 silence, interrupted only by the murmuring of the streams, pre- 
 vailed here. The air was thinner upon these mountains, which 
 are seven hundred toises perpendicular above the sea, and afforded 
 a prospect which became more extensive as we advanced. At 
 length we began to descend, but the road was extremely fa- 
 tiguing and disagreeable. It was a dark night, and the last rays 
 of the setting sun had long since departed from the lofty summits 
 of Mount Dicta. The last steep declivity was passed ; we reached 
 the valley, and had only three miles to Mangula, where we 
 arrived at eleven o’clock at night. The next morning I opened 
 my window, and was astonished at the beauty of the mountain 
 valley of Lassiti, which is the most lovely spot in the mountainous 
 region of Crete. 
 
 On Monday the 7th of July, I reposed, and took a view of our 
 landlord’s house. The building formed a square, and stood on 
 a considerable elevation above the valley ; the sitting rooms were 
 on the edge of a rock in the middle of the village. Behind the 
 house was a fountain which bubbled out of the naked rocks, sur- 
 rounded with elms and walnut-trees. This was a charming seat, 
 commanding the whole of the valley and extensive corn-fields. 
 One day as I returned from an excursion, I enquired for fowls 
 and eggs ; an old woman asked, for what ? I gave her to under- 
 stand that I would let her know : she brought eggs, and showed 
 me the fowls, and again asked for what ? I did not leave her in 
 doubt, but she was quite shocked and said, “ if I was a Christian, 
 how could I ask for any such thing ?” I represented to her that 
 it was not a fast-day with me, but she answered, with good- 
 natured simplicity, that she would not be the cause that any one 
 should break the fast, and then be damned for it. She thought 
 I wanted them for my Janissary, and in that case she would have 
 given them to me. I asked the price of these articles, which she 
 indeed told me, but carried them away as fast as she could. A 
 remedy was soon found ; the Subbaschi took the money from me, 
 and sent his servant, a Turk, to procure what I wanted. To 
 fast and to believe are, in Crete, synonymous terms ; he who does 
 not fast, does not believe. 
 
 On the 8th of July, I visited the foot of the mountain, or 
 rather Alp, Dicta. A perpendicular wall of rock towards the north 
 met our astonished eyes, after we had ascended two hours. I rode 
 on a mule, and my guide, a peasant of Mangula, walked by my 
 side. The Cretans, with their hoots without heels, climb as 
 easily as the Chamois hunters with their irons. Large fields of 
 
104 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 snow lay under the wall, which might be at least six hundred 
 toises to the summit. The good-natured peasants gave me milk 
 and cheese, but did not partake of any themselves : I invited my 
 guide to take some, as he was tired, but in vain. The shepherds 
 said that if they were at the top of the mountain, they would do 
 it, as it was permitted there; here they were obliged to fast with 
 the others in the village. Without enquiring the reason of this 
 strange expression, I asked the way to the summit; my guide 
 was ready to go immediately, in order to profit by this agreeable 
 permission ; but to his great sorrow I resolved to return home. 
 On the way, however, I promised to ascend it the next day. We 
 set out early in the morning upon this expedition, which afforded 
 me an ample collection of rare plants. From the summit I beheld 
 the valley of Lassiti at my feet ; the Archipelago extended in 
 boundless distance, and countless islands floated on the horizon. 
 This was the first considerable elevation in Crete I had ascended ; 
 it appeared to me as if the two ends of this island formed a bridge 
 to pass over from Europe to Asia. On the south side are two 
 other summits, nothing inferior in height to the one on which I 
 stood, and which was called Effendi (Lord), or Stauro (Cross.) 
 I returned home in the evening wel I satisfied with the fruit of my 
 expedition, and hastened through the broad cleft by the side of 
 the rocky wall, while my guide took the shortest way home. The 
 harvest was to commence the next week, and this induced me 
 to abridge my stay that 1 might be able to procure a sufficient 
 number of mules to convey my collection to Candia. One 
 day, meeting an old man leading a mule laden with charcoal, 
 I asked him if he ever went to Candia? he replied in the affirma- 
 tive, and said that in two days he should go there with charcoal. 
 The sum which he expected to receive was so small, that he 
 would in fact have made his journey for nothing, as the char- 
 coal could not be cheaper in Lassiti itself. I proposed, laugh- 
 ing, to buy his charcoal on the spot, at the price he wmuld 
 receive in Candia, on condition of his conveying an equal weight 
 of my baggage for nothing; the good old man said he was 
 quite satisfied, and took the charcoal to my house, where I 
 exchanged it with the Subbaschi for wood. Far, however, 
 from desiring to take advantage of the poor fellow', as, in the 
 literal sense of the expression, he would have carried my bag*- 
 gage for nothing, I surprised him with the same payment as 
 1 had agreed to give the other country people ; paid for his 
 provisions on the road, and gave him wine, w hich filled him 
 with joyful astonishment, but made me melancholy to see so 
 much poverty united with so much disinterestedness. My last 
 visit was to the back-ground of the valley between the rocky 
 walls, through which the largest ravine winds. Frightful was 
 
105 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 the appearance of the masses as I advanced into this ravine; 
 prodigious blocks of stone were piled upon one another, and 
 standing on their edges seemed to need but a slight touch, at 
 once to fill up the whole ravine which they overhang. The 
 botanist enters with fear and shuddering this awffully sublime 
 spot, but passes through it with pleasure, and leaves it grati- 
 fied. 
 
 On the 15th of July we set out, and loaded five mules with 
 our baggage ; for all that we had collected at Stia, Girapetro, 
 and on Lassiti, was now together, and had to be sent to Candia. 
 
 We found in the capital all the Turks in consternation. A 
 secret order of the Sultan had been received to seize Bedri 
 Effendi, the richest landholder in the island — a proud, insolent, 
 and very artful man — to kill him, and confiscate his property. 
 This order was not easy to execute ; the Pacha’s troops were 
 few, and open violence evidently impossible. The arrival of 
 a Capidgi Baschi had excited attention ; but it was reported 
 that the Sultan had sent orders to repair the fortresses of the 
 island, especially Candia, and the great men of this province 
 were to bear the expence. This afforded a pretext for calling 
 an assembly of the principal Turks of the island, at which 
 Bedri Effendi was present. The first sitting was passed in read- 
 ing the firman, and in the necessary enquiries and discussions. 
 The second was likewise ended, when the Pacha rose and took 
 Bedri Effendi aside, on pretence of important business. They 
 walked up and down, till the Pacha brought him into the gar- 
 den, where he pretended that he was obliged to retire for a 
 moment. A signal being given, eight servants rushed out, 
 seized Bedri Effendi, who resisted furiously, bound and 
 strangled him. The Pacha then returned to the assembly, who 
 were alarmed at such a noise, coldly produced the secret fir- 
 man, and read it aloud to the astonished meeting : the Sultatf 
 commanded Bedri Effendi to be strangled on account of his 
 disobedient conduct, and his notoriously wicked character. His 
 corpse was produced, and delivered to his unhappy family. 
 The assembly thus mocked, broke up : the Capidgi Baschi con- 
 fiscated and sold the whole property, and so reduced the 
 whole family to beggary. Thus the Pacha made himself for- 
 midable, and obtained great influence in the affairs of the 
 island ; and the fortifications, though it was clearly seen that 
 they had been only a pretext, w^re however required to be 
 completed. 
 
 The fine spring weather was passed ; the oppressive heat 
 deprived the fields of their verdure; my health was weak, 
 and I had need of repose. About this time, the affair of 
 Georgi occurred, which completely undermined my health, 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIII. r 
 
106 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 so that it was not till the 14th of August that I could depart, 
 accompanied by Elias, a brother of Georgi, whom the latter 
 had recommended to me on his departure. 
 
 When we reached Anoja, the highest mountain village on 
 the way to Ida, all the inhabitants ran out to see me, as 
 they had never seen a Frank before. After we passed Anoja, 
 the road was very fatiguing : we had to pass three great clefts 
 or ravines ; once we had to descend to the very bottom, and 
 then to clamber up again, by which much time was lost. 
 After going a long way about, we approached a large open 
 place, which we called is tin Ida. It is said to have been 
 inhabited during the time of the Venetians, w’hich is confirmed 
 by the numerous dwelling-houses, and even a chapel, though 
 quite in ruins. The snow, which never falls in the valley, 
 lies here till the month of March. We passed the night in 
 the open air, having happily procured a lamb from a shepherd, 
 part of which was roasted for supper. My guide kept up 
 the fire, the warmth of which was very agreeable in the 
 coldness of the evening on this mountain, while I went to sleep. 
 The prospect in the morning, as Ida was gradually illu- 
 mined by the rising sun, was beyond description striking and 
 magnificent. We ascended this colossus but slowly, and it 
 was not till two o’clock that we reached the summit. The 
 number of peculiar and rare plants detained me till it was 
 absolutely necessary to set out on our return, that we might 
 reach Anoja before evening. On Saturday towards evening 
 I went from Anoja to Hagio Jani, a beautifully situated 
 mountain-village, which we reached at sunset. It was sur- 
 rounded b y innumerable trees. The Agave Americana , 
 with stems six or seven fathoms in height, adorned with the 
 finest blossoms, stood on the ridges of the fields, and in the 
 clefts of the rocks ; thousands of bees buzzed around it, 
 and every stem bore hundreds of thousands of blossoms. I then 
 proceeded to Piscopi, which I thought was even more beautiful 
 than Hagio Jani. When I rode on, the following day, a num 
 ber of persons waited for me at the village below, to seek 
 comfort by uttering their complaints. I hastened on, for I 
 saw no sickness, but only the melancholy consequences of the 
 neglect of a people erased from the list of the free nations of 
 Europe. 
 
 At Rettirao I found my old lodging, and my old friends. 
 Here I reposed for some days; and on the 31st August set 
 out for Canea. When I had got within eight miles of it, my 
 mule suddenly became restive. I saw nothing which could 
 make it shy, but turned back and then rode forward again. 
 With much difficulty I brought to the same place, when it 
 
107 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 became very unruly, and, in spile of my efforts, threw me — - 
 happily without causing me any injury. Two peasants caught 
 it, and one leading it, while the other urged it on with blows, 
 we got into the valley of Ciealeria : there it was quiet, but so 
 melancholy, that it would not look up. On my asking the 
 countrymen what they thought might be the reason of its. 
 suddenly becoming shy, they coolly answered, “ It smells the 
 plague,” which convinced me that this must be a frequent 
 occurrence. When I entered, the whole city appeared to be 
 dead : knowing that my gardener had observed no quarantine, 
 I did not go to my own house, but to the Consul’s. M. Bar- 
 bieri was delighted to see me safe ; my German gardener, he 
 told me, had caused him great alarm ; for he went out two 
 or three times every day; if he happened to meet a funeral, he 
 followed, and yet by a miracle he had escaped. While we 
 were speaking, the gardener came out on the balcony of my 
 house, which was on the opposite side of the harbour, and 
 seeing me, hurried to come over to me. The Consul, after a 
 moment’s consideration, allowed him to come up ; tears flowed 
 from the poor fellow’s eyes, and also from my own ; for we 
 seemed to meet beyond the grave. 
 
 I resolved to wait for the vessels bound to Egypt, to view, 
 meantime, the Spbakiote side of the island, to ascend, once 
 more, the Leucaori and Ida, to examine the Labyrinth, in com- 
 pany with M. de Vasse, the French consul at Candia, and 
 then to embark, with all my collections, for Alexandria. My 
 first excursion was to the Leucaori, and thence to Sphakia. 
 The road was stony and very steep. On an eminence we 
 met with a Sphakiote shepherd fully armed, who showed us a 
 more convenient road, and towards evening we came to a 
 lofty ridge, from which we looked down into the valley of 
 Schtifo. We were just going to descend when a piece of rock 
 gave way under my feet, and I slipped off it, happily on the 
 side, while it rolled thundering down the precipice. I was 
 severely stunned, but happily broke no bones. Supported by 
 my good-natured guide, I managed to reach Schtifo, half a 
 league distant. There was far more animation in Sphakia ; 
 and I forgot what had happened to me. The country people, 
 more free, cheerful, and open, came joyfully to meet me — 
 astonished to see a Frank make his way among the masses of 
 rock. I had long been known to them. The papa of Amudari, 
 which was nearer than Schtifo, insisted on my going to his 
 roomy house. He had a brother, he said, to whom, before the 
 breaking out of the plague, I had given some medicines which 
 had done him much good ; but he had not been able to bring 
 me the promised plants, because the plague hindered him 
 
108 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 from going to Candia. I could scarcely recollect all this. 
 He sent for his brother, who was delighted, 
 
 Sphakia, the Tyrol of Crete, is the only part of the island 
 where the inhabitants are free from the direct yoke of the 
 Turks. This province, as I have already observed, is the 
 property of the Sultana Yalide, and not under any Pacha', but 
 under the Defterdar or treasurer of Candia. The land produces 
 a sufficiency of good wine, corn, honey, &c. ; they have con- 
 siderable flocks, and not being oppressed by the Turks, are in 
 prosperous circumstances. They even possess ships, by which 
 they export their produce to Malta, Smyrna, Constantinople, 
 or Alexandria. Sphakia is pretty well peopled, and the chief 
 captain told me he could bring 2000 men into the field ; but 
 half the number is probably nearer the truth. Each village 
 has its own captain, who is always a Greek, and not a 
 Turk or Sobbaschi. They hate this word, and cannot bear 
 the sight of a Turk. They are tall, well-made, and have a 
 dignified gait. Their manners have become much milder 
 within this half century. They have a high opinion of their 
 country, and are passionately attached to it. 
 
 I left Amudari early in the morning, but the heavy rain 
 forced me to stop at Petra, where the Papa received me kindly 
 in his house. 1 had always hired beasts of burden from 
 village to village, and on my enquiring for some at Petra, four 
 or five Sphakiotes with handsome mules, came and disputed 
 which of them should convey me and my effects to Nibro. I 
 could not put in a word, to ask what each demanded, and to 
 make my choice. At last two went with me; but when we 
 reached Nibro, I could hardly make them take the usual pay- 
 ment ; they were glad, they said, to have done me a service. 
 I knew not how I came to this honour, but found that they 
 had conceived a regard for me, because I had got up from 
 my dinner to listen to the complaints of an old woman, the 
 mother of one of them, and to give her some good advice. 
 I was inexpressibly pleased with the ravine of Nibro. You 
 cannot get down, except when the water has flowed off. 
 At this season the plants hang from all the rocks in the 
 most luxuriant vegetation. I must not omit to recommend 
 this dell, as one of the most remarkable, to future botanists. 
 The excellent botanist, Alpinus, when be visited Crete two hun- 
 dred years ago, made a drawing of a rare plant, which he called 
 Eryngium, tryphyllum : this plant, which nobody had since 
 seen, all at once met my eye. 1 regretted that it was run to 
 seed ; but I gathered it carefully, brought it home, and the 
 seed, collected in 1817, succeeded to perfection in 1820. The 
 plant grew with the greatest luxuriance, and even blossomed 
 in the garden of Count Caspar Von Sternberg. 
 
109 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 We came to the town of Sphakia, the castle of which lies 
 in ruins ; and were obliged to pass the night in a w atched 
 house, all the inhabitants beiDg absent on the mountains. My 
 servant Elias (Georgi’s brother) took my baggage to Anopoli, 
 and I hired a Sphakiote for my guide, who conducted me over 
 the mountains to Muri and Anopoli. It is agreeable to see 
 that the richer inhabitants in Sphakia, wore on Sundays and 
 Holidays turbans of the finest muslin, which would not be al- 
 lowed in the low country. In the towns I have seen rich Greek 
 merchants, who wear in the house turbans made of Cachmere 
 shawls, take them off when they went out, and put on a blue 
 handkerchief. If a Greek should happen, out of forgetfulness, 
 to go out of the house with such a handsome head-dress, and be 
 seen by a Turk, a fine of from five hundred to two thousand, and 
 even of three thousand piasters, would be exacted as a thing 
 of course. On my asking a Sphakiote, whether if Franks came 
 they would adopt their dress ? he answered “ we should do 
 it with pleasure, that nothing might remind us of our former 
 slavery.” 
 
 I left Anopoli, sent Elias with the mule to Melidoni, gave 
 him a few dollars, and dismissed him. A Sphakiote took my 
 papers and collections to Canea, to which I proceeded by 
 another road, through Agia, Rumeliaand Lago Omalo, which 
 I determined to pass the next day to go to Canea. Though ac- 
 customed to the Alpine scenery of southern Germany, all that 
 I had seen before vanished from my memory, in comparison 
 with what I here beheld. The ravine always full of water, 
 so that one could scarcely clamber by, along the rocky wall, 
 and so narrow, that one could hold with the hand on the oppo- 
 site side, rose to the perpendicular height of nearly 500 toises. 
 Darkness reigned in the valley, which was increased by the dark 
 foliage of lofty cypresses and hard leaved oaks. Suspended 
 masses of rock, which every moment threatened to fall, and 
 wholly to close the ravine, made the way dangerous and fright- 
 ful ; nothing in the Alps of Salzburg and Tyrol, that I have 
 visited, presents such an awful prospect as the ravine of Agia 
 Rumelia. After five hours most fatiguing exertions, amidst 
 ruins, blocks, and fallen masses of rock, I was surprised by 
 the beautiful mountain village of Samaria. It is hardly pos- 
 sible to think how they could venture to build it here, only 
 they have nothing to fear from avalanches, as they would, in 
 a similar situation, in the north of Europe. It lay towards the 
 west, under such a high wall of rock, that the sun did not 
 yet shine upon it, at two o’clock in the afternoon. From this 
 place I proceeded to Stine, whence we soon reached Canea. 
 After reposing a few days, during which I had the pleasure of 
 
no 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 receiving the first news from home, after ten months absence, 
 I went with my guide by way of Apicorono, to measure the 
 elevation of Cignestosoro, the highest summit of the white 
 mountains, wffiich I found by barometrical observation, to 
 be about 1100 toises. Curiosity, an hereditary failing of the 
 Cretans, tormented them to know what the barometer was. 
 One thought it was a travelling instrument to shew which way I 
 ought to take ; probably he had heard something similar of the 
 compass; another, w r ho pretended to be wiser, affirmed that 
 it was an arithmetical machine, because there were figures 
 upon it ; but the third laughed at the rest, saying “ you know 
 he is a doctor, who collects herbs, consequently it is a medical 
 instrument, upon which all diseases are written : ” he even gave 
 it the name of Jatrosoph (medical talisman) ; I listened with- 
 out interrupting them, and on their asking what the barometer 
 was, I answered, not to excite any suspicions, that 1 used it to 
 measure the gravity and also the goodness of the air. On this 
 the last exclaimed triumphantly, “ did I not say that the in- 
 strument was a Jatrosoph ? ” But now they wanted me to fore- 
 tell their diseases by the barometer. These people must be 
 treated like children, the slightest ambiguity of expression, 
 leads to the most absurd misconceptions, for their imagination 
 always runs away w T ith their judgment. The gate was shut 
 when I got to Rettimo, and 1 therefore passed the night at 
 Perivolia. From Rettimo, ?I hastened to the convent of Arcadi, 
 where the Superior received me with his usual kindness. The 
 following morning at four o’clock, I set out for the purpose 
 of ascending Mount Ida, which is most easily approached 
 from Arcadi: having brought my barometer with me, 1 found 
 the elevation to be 1200 toises above the level of the sea. The 
 monk who accompanied me, had brought bread, cheese, meat, 
 and wine with him, and called to a shepherd boy, who w T as be- 
 low, to bring us a large piece of ice, which I formed into a kind 
 of goblet, and drank out of it the delicious wine, while the ice 
 froze to my lips : 1 could scarcely take my eyes from the no- 
 ble prospect around me : I overlooked the whole plain of Mes- 
 sarah on the south side, as far as Girapetro, the plain of Can- 
 dia, Mount Strongyle, Panorma, to Rettimo on the north; 
 Mount Cedros, the Sphakiote mountains, Cape Maleca, to the 
 distant Spada, and Cape Grabusa, to the west; and to the east 
 Lassiti as far as Stia. In the northern horizon, the view T ex- 
 tended from Mount Taygetus to the Island of Rhodes, and the 
 coast of Asia Minor ; including Milo, Paros, Nio, Naxos, Santo- 
 rin, and other islands of the Archipelago. The sky was still 
 clear and serene, but the sun was going down, it was four 
 o’clock and we had far to go. I took a last farewell of this 
 
Ill 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 summit, and, grieved at the loss of this transitory pleasure, 
 began to sing to a well known tune, Schiller’s sublime hymn 
 to the Gods of Greece. 
 
 On my return to Candia, 1 was received with the greatest 
 kindness by the French Consul, for I had given up my former 
 lodging. We made preparations to visit the labyrinth, as I 
 had come to Candia, for the purpose of examining it in his 
 company. Our departure was, however, delayed by various 
 circumstances, chiefly by the affairs of the Consulate, but I 
 spent the interval very agreeably in the library of the Consul, 
 and in drawing my map of the island. 
 
 On the 14th of October, in the afternoon, at about five o’clock, 
 the missionary, Padre Tomaso, chaplain to the French Con- 
 sulate, visited me in my room, and while we were conversing 
 together, the whole building trembled, and the looking-glass 
 shook. “ An earthquake,” cried the Missionary, “ let us fly into 
 the garden, the shock will be repeated but this not happen- 
 ing, we thought somebody had shut the door violently. Un- 
 happily, we learnt too soon, that two barrels of gunpowder, 
 weighing six cwt. had blown up in the magazine of a mer- 
 chant, in the middle of the city, and destroyed twelve build- 
 ings, with a mosque, and killed or wounded above a hundred 
 persons. The whole city was in commotion, and the Turkish 
 mob demanded the heads of those to whom the powder be- 
 longed. A mosque, together with a minaret, were damaged 
 by powder belonging to the Greeks ; this called for vengeance: 
 that it had destroyed some of their magazines, and killed many 
 of their own countrymen, was not taken into consideration. 
 Domenico was concerned in this affair. He had persuaded a 
 merchant to buy this quantity of powder, and contrary to the 
 existing regulations, which allow only small quantities in the 
 city, to deposit it in the warehouse of a foreign merchant. As 
 it had been landed in a very careless manner, the powder that 
 fell out of the casks, as they were rolled through the streets, to 
 the warehouse, had formed a train, which was fired by a 
 Turk, knocking the tobacco out of his long pipe. Thus a 
 whole quarter of the town was injured, a great many persons 
 were taken out of the ruins, more or less wounded, the number 
 of the killed was fifty. A very intelligent Greek merchant of 
 the name of Fundakaki who had given up the business to the 
 eldest of his four sons, freighted every year five or six ships, 
 and received as many, which excited the envy of the rich 
 Turks, who freighted at the most, one ship a year ; they there- 
 fore resolved to put him out of the way. I must confess that 
 I have seldom seen a man, so affable, with such dignified man- 
 ners, and a probity quite unusual in these countries, as Ste- 
 
] 12 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 phanaki, the eldest son of this old merchant, but this only 
 accelerated his ruin. At the instigation of the great men, the 
 mob was persuaded that the powder belonged to Stephanaki, 
 and that he must die. He fled with his aged father, threw 
 himself at the Pacha’s feet, and implored protection. The 
 Pacha promised it, and for appearance sake imprisoned him. 
 The fermentation among the mob was kept up, but nobody 
 ventured to attempt any thing against the Pacha, who had 
 made himself much dreaded, by the manner in which he had 
 put to death Bedri Effendi. Unfortunately the Captain of the 
 Police brought in a young man, who had already committed 
 six murders, but had always been redeemed by paying money 
 to the Pacha, he being the son of rich parents, and inscribed 
 in one of the Ortas, or regiments of the Janissaries. The pre- 
 sent Pacha, convinced that he was incorrigible, assembled the 
 Divan, caused his sentence of death to be signed by the Cadi 
 and Mufti, and resolved, according to the Mahometan fashion, 
 to have him strangled in the tower of the harbour, in the even- 
 ing, on a signal being given, by firing a cannon. Scarcely were 
 the Ortas and Aga of the Janissaries informed of it,; when all 
 the soldiers ran to the tower, w-hich they stormed, and brought 
 the prisoner in triumph to the city ; to the entreaties and re- 
 monstrance of the council, the Pacha gave the just and reso- 
 lute answer, “ he must die.” The insolent troops now besieged 
 the residence of the Pacha, who shut himself up : supported 
 by all the Janissaries they demanded that the three merchants 
 who had taken refuge with him, should be given up ; they were 
 Fundakaki, an old man of 84, his eldest son, and the son of 
 the merchant in whose warehouse the powder had blown up. 
 The Pacha refused. The crowd now uttered furious cries, 
 attempted to break open the gate, and fired pistols and mus- 
 kets, till the Pacha promised to sacrifice the three unfortunate 
 victims to their fury. At six o’clock in the morning the whole 
 city was in motion, the Janissaries assembled, and the three 
 unhappy men were conducted to death. The old man was the 
 only one who shewed any presence of mind ; his son, and the 
 third, a fine youth of twenty-two years of age, were almost 
 inanimate, and were obliged to be supported. The first is said, 
 to have held terrible language, and to have called down upon 
 the Turks the most dreadful imprecations. He announced to 
 them the judgment of God, the speedy dissolution of their 
 empire, and inevitable vengeance for their unbounded bar- 
 barism. He cursed Mahomet, called him an impostor, a mad- 
 man, a cheat, and a blasphemer ; but this hastened his death, 
 he was hung first in the front of his magazine, and then the 
 two others. The town was now tranquil, for envy and hatred 
 
Travels in the Island f Crete. 113 
 
 had obtained their object. The unhappy victims hung, ex- 
 posed to view, three whole days, v they were taken down 
 and delivered to their relations. Their family was condemned 
 to a large fine, which the Pacha, though he had been unable 
 to protect them, obliged them to pay. A miserable man ! He 
 obliged all the Ortas to leave the capital, and banished the 
 14th regiment, which had taken the greatest share in the insur- 
 rection, to the fortress of Spina-Longa. Every one of the 
 Janissaries, went to some friend in the country ; only the camp 
 kettles, which like the colours in Europe, are the insignia and 
 marks of honour of the Ortas, were taken by some old Janis- 
 saries, into banishment to Spina-Longa, and their return, with 
 that of the whole regiment, was obtained a few weeks after- 
 wards, of the Pacha, by fifteen thousand piasters, which they 
 collected and presented to him as an atonement. If he had 
 executed his threat of going away, the Captain Pacha would 
 probably have been ordered by the Sultan to chastise them for 
 it, to strangle some, and confiscate their property. They es- 
 caped better from the Pacha, and purchased their return at a 
 cheaper rate; they chose the least evil, and the Pacha, like 
 a true Jew, profited on both sides. Domenico shut himself 
 up three days in his house in great fear, because his brother-in- 
 law, a Greek, had procured the powder and had the greatest 
 share in it. On the third day about noon, when tranquillity 
 was restored, I resolved to go and see the unhappy victims. 
 I could not persuade myself, that my friends had really been 
 sacrificed to popular fury ; I therefore went with a native 
 of Smyrna to the Bazar, to convince myself, and perceived 
 the three corpses still hanging, surrounded by a great crowd. 
 We approached, and I cast a look at the dreadful scene, 
 which made an impression upon me that I had not ex- 
 pected. I took the hand of my companion, and passed 
 along, while a rude Turk called after us, “ the same may 
 happen to you.” Severely punished for my incredulity I re- 
 turned home. 
 
 The ill-usage which the Greeks had to endure in this island 
 before the time of Osman Pacha, is almost incredible, a couple 
 of instances will suffice ; even now a Greek on horseback, if 
 he meets a Turk of distinction, must alight, and not proceed 
 till he has passed. Two Turks on horseback once met a 
 Greek riding on a mule. “ Halt !” cried one of them, “ and 
 descend.” “ Keep your seat,” exclaimed the other, “ or else/ 
 shall shoot you.” The first repeated his command, and 
 companion the contrary. The Greek remained with or/ 
 in the stirrup, and put the other on the gwund, th-^King t® 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. XLVIII. Vol. VIZI. Q 
 
114 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 pass it off as a joke ; but the Turks were offended at this, 
 both fired at once, left him dead on the road, and continued 
 their journey. Before the time of Osman Pacha, troops of 
 idle Turks used to assemble in the towns, posted themselves 
 before the coffee-houses, and ill-treated the Greeks. During 
 the festival of Bairam in particular, the latter must be upon 
 their guard, because it is the custom to go about with fire- 
 arms, and to discharge them in the streets. An old priest one 
 day passing by a coffee-house, one of these cruel Turks called 
 to him to take off his cap and put it on a post, that he might 
 try his gun. The priest obeyed, trembling. The Turk, instead 
 of aiming at the cap, shot the old man, and said, laughing, 
 that he had missed his mark. But urgent representations being 
 made to the Porte, by the Patriach at Constantinople, Osman 
 Pacha was sent in 1812 to Canea ; who by extraordinary 
 energy, resolution, and stratagem, seized all the disturbers of 
 public tranquillity, and without further ceremony, had them 
 all strangled in the castle. Since that time the roads in all 
 Candia are very safe, so that during my year’s stay I was not 
 once warned of robbers. The son of a Turk complained to 
 my attendant that the present festival of Bairam was a mi- 
 serable one. “ Only think,” said he, “ not a single Greek has 
 been shot, formerly it w~as better, the fellows tumbled down, 
 that it was fun to look at.” The ancient Spartans, however, 
 were still worse than the Turks, for the Ephori ordered public 
 Helot or slave hunts ; young Spartans received secret orders to 
 go into the fields with daggers to hunt and kill the Helots, who 
 were indeed warned, but only to exercise the Spartan youths 
 in stratagems to surprise the enemy. There, too, the Argives 
 and unhappy Messenians were employed in arts, trades, and 
 agriculture, and to give up a part of what they gained, just 
 as the Turks now require from their Helots, the Greeks ; thus 
 the debt of blood, incurred by the ancestors, is tranferred to 
 their posterity. 
 
 At length my business was completed, and on the 1st of 
 November we set out for Gortyna to examine the subterranean 
 Labyrinth. A clue so long, that we might have measured the 
 breadth of the Island of Crete with it, lay in one of the saddle- 
 bags, the other being filled with wax tapers. I seated myself 
 between them, and waited impatiently for the French Consul, 
 whose affectionate wife could not even part with him for this 
 Sl ort time. Mr. Laflechelle joined the party, but Giovanni, 
 one 0 f the most honourable, and undoubtedly the best-informed 
 of the-q^yeg^ could not keep his promise to accompany us. 
 Gadem-iiija, the Janissary of the Consulate, rode before us 
 through the city. The road proceeded winding up the moun- 
 
115 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete . 
 
 tain, through Daphnedes, Avienici, and other pleasant villages 
 on the ridge, which extends from Ida to the Lassiti Mountains ; 
 we had scarcely reached the summit about three in the after- 
 noon, when the extensive plain of Gortyna lay before us. 
 Our way then led down upon a declivity to Agius-Deca (the 
 ten Saints'), a small village, built on the eastern part of the 
 ruins of Gortyna. At the entrance of this village the Consul 
 found some marble pillars, attached to an old building ; on 
 examination we found a temple, with an antique pavement and 
 columns, supporting a stucco roof. It soon appeared that this 
 was the church of the place, the door of which consisted of 
 hurdles. The greatest poverty, with the utmost care to con- 
 ceal it, was evident. To our astonishment we now saw the 
 poor priest, who perfectly corresponded with the wretched 
 condition of the building. While we were conversing about 
 the ruins before us, some Turks approached, and addressed us 
 in Greek; as we did not immediately answer, they said — 
 “ They are all English, who do not understand our language.” 
 The principal man of the village received us into his house 
 without speaking, convinced that he must wait for the Janissary, 
 who was gone to put up the horses. Mr. Laflechelle embar- 
 rassed him still more, by addressing him in Turkish, which he, 
 though a Turk, did not well understand. At last somebody 
 was expressing his opinion in Arabic respecting the object of 
 our visit, but was corrected by the French Consul, who had 
 been a pupil of the Oriental Institute at Paris. This obtained 
 for us a more distinguished reception, and a compliance with 
 all our wishes. In the evening we took a walk in the neigh- 
 bourhood to look at the ruins of Gortyna. Several walls are 
 still standing, which now serve for garden walls, but the site of 
 the buildings is converted into arable land. Only one gate is 
 now standing. The columns of granite, porphyry, serpentine, 
 and marble have been carried away by the Turks, who have 
 employed them in the neighbouring country-houses. Flat 
 stones are readily purchased, and many of the inscriptions, 
 which were formerly seen by Belon, Tournefort, and Pococke, 
 have disappeared. There are still to be found fragments of 
 antique glass, signet rings, silver coins of Rhodes, Gnossus, 
 Delos, and Athens, which may be easily known by the reverse, 
 also pieces of green porphyry, red Egyptian porphyry, called 
 porfido rosso antico, and other kinds of stone, which the an- 
 cients procured at great expense to adorn their public build- 
 ings. Parian marble is common ; the city may have been one 
 of the most considerable in antiquity, and was the most 
 powerful in the island. However, the descriptions of its ex- 
 traordinary splendour are exaggerated. 
 
116 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 On the following day we resolved to visit what is called thd 
 Labyrinth. The genuine Labyrinth was undoubtedly at Gnossus, 
 built upon a regular plan by Daedalus, and according to the or- 
 ders ol Minos, as is evident from the testimony of Diodorus, 
 book 1, chap. 61, and this Labyrinth is certainly destroyed. 
 That which we were now going to examine was declared by 
 Belon, and after him Pococke, to be nothing but a stone quarry, 
 cut in a hill of sand-stone under ground, forming a number of 
 passages, chambers, niches, &c. the walls of which every where re- 
 tained traces of square stones having been cut out of them, and 
 which has been honoured by most travellers with the name of 
 Labyrinth. We examined it with the utmost care, made a survey 
 of it by means of the compass, and drew a plan, in which all the 
 windings, chambers, &c. are distinguished by names given them 
 by the French Consul. The result of our observations confirmed 
 the opinion of Belon that it is merely a stone quarry, notwith- 
 standing the contrary opinions of Tournefort and Savary. 
 
 On the 5th of November, in the morning, I took leave of the 
 French Consul, who, with Mr. Laflechelle, his secretary, took 
 the shortest way to Candia. I parted with regret from this ex- 
 cellent man, for whose attention to me I shall always feel grateful. 
 I could not leave Agius Deca that day, as neither horses nor 
 mules were to be had. With much difficulty and paying a high 
 price, I at length procured a handsome horse, with a young Turk 
 to accompany me, who conducted me by way of Novi Castelli to 
 Dibaci, a village on the sea side near the ancient Metallum, or 
 Matala, the sea-port of the ancient city of Gortyna. My com- 
 panion told me that a Frank was living in a village called Visari, 
 near Assomatos, that he had lately arrived from Vienna, where 
 he had been a rich merchant, but had been reduced by mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
 At Assomatos I was led into a room on the ground-floor which 
 was so miserable that I declined sitting down, expecting to be 
 shewn into a better apartment ; but to my surprise it was the 
 room of the Superior of the convent himself. Some years ago it 
 seems, an earthquake had destroyed the convent, which was a 
 magnificent edifice built by the Venetians; and the Monks, about 
 eighty in number, dwelt in a wretched building which was for- 
 merly perhaps the stable. Though it rained the whole day, I 
 went to Visari to seek the merchant. His dress was mean and 
 shabby, and his appearance made a great contrast with his ac- 
 count of having possessed great wealth. He invited me to din- 
 ner and gave me what he had; beans with oil, roots and fruit 
 seemed to me a more agreeable repast than I could have enjoyed 
 at the most splendid table. He felt relief at having related his 
 misfortunes. After our frugal meal he took me to sec the ruins 
 
117 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 of an ancient city, -which he said was called Visari. The extent 
 was easily to be distinguished, and was fully equal to that of 
 Macrodico ; he pointed out to me the foundation of a temple, a 
 bath, water pipes, &c. Having taken leave of him, I hastened to 
 Assomatos, and set out the next morning early for Rettimo. On 
 the road we were informed by many persons that the plague was 
 in Rettimo, but that did not stop us. Many of our acquaintance 
 were said to have died of it. But the greatest misfortune was, 
 that three ships had stranded on the north coast, one at Candia, 
 another at Rettimo, and the third afterwards at Canea. On the 
 second and third of November, while we were examining the 
 Labyrinth, a violent storm raged on the north coast, when a ves- 
 sel at anchor off Candia broke from her moorings, and was 
 dashed against the rocks. The house of Domenico was situated 
 on an eminence above : he heard the cries of the crew, and by 
 his resolution saved the lives of twelve men. He hurried down, 
 urged the Janissaries quickly to open the harbour gate, collected 
 the other sailors with torches, and, at the hazard of his life, 
 saved these unfortunate people, whose vessel was a complete wreck 
 by the morning. As this is the last time that I have to mention 
 Domenico, I am happy to have an action to record which does 
 him honour, and to cover all the rest with the mantle of Christian 
 charity, I soon came in sight of the sea, and descended the 
 mountains into the valley. There was no end of stories of the 
 plague, and in the town itself they were not certain whether it 
 was there or not. At Rettimo I put up in my old quarters, and 
 travelling by way of Gonga, Caroti and Nichorio, where I slept 
 the second night, I arrived at Candia on the third day, the 
 10th of November, 1817, about noon. 
 
 The most active preparations were now made for my departure, 
 that I might be ready, if a favourable opportunity offered, to go 
 to Alexandria ; for the cold, unpleasant weather, deterred me from 
 a longer stay, and I wished for a more cheerful country and a 
 milder climate. Before my departure, I made another excursion 
 to Cape Maleca, and unfortunately passed the night at Ga- 
 langado, in a chamber newly plaistered, in which there was a 
 heap of lime but just slaked. The next morning I felt myself 
 quite faint with head-ache, giddiness, and want of appetite ; 
 yet |I exerted myself to overcome the indisposition, ascended 
 Mpunt Skloka, on account of the map which I had to draw, 
 visited on my return the convent of the Trinity, and reached 
 Caneadja the 18th, in the evening, before the gates were shut, 
 in the midst of storm, rain, and hail. I was, however, seized 
 with a violent Tertian ague, which threatened serious conse- 
 quences. During the fit I was delirious, walked about like one 
 .raving, in a most painful situation, for I well knew that I was 
 
118 
 
 Travels in the Island of Crete. 
 
 speaking incoherently, yet was unable to command myself. I 
 was, however, relieved by emetics taken several hours before the 
 fit. I had no Peruvian bark, and could not procure any. I 
 sought therefore to go to sea as soon as possible, for the benefit 
 of the pure air, which, as well as the motion of the ship, is 
 highly salutary to persons afflicted with the ague. I accordingly 
 agreed with| the captain of a ship from Corfu, to take me to 
 Alexandria. We sailed on the 26th of November, coasted along 
 the north side of the island, and on the following morning, put 
 into the harbour of Nio, which, next to that of Milo, is the safest 
 and most convenient in the whole Archipelago. Nio is a pretty 
 island, steep, rocky, and almost inaccessible, the inhabitants of 
 which support themselves chiefly by knitting stockings, gloves, 
 &c. the cotton for which they themselves cultivate. Men, women, 
 and even children, who can hardly move their fingers, were em- 
 ployed in this work. A goldsmith shewed me a considerable 
 number of gems and signets found there ; but he asked such 
 high prices, that he could not expect any but English travellers 
 to purchase. Nio is also remarkable, because Homer died there. 
 Our captain having many acquaintance in this island, we re- 
 mained there till the 1st of December. On the 4th we felt the 
 Sirocco winds, which shewed that we were near the coast of Egypt. 
 It was night when we approached it ; the sea run very high, 
 and some persons on board were afraid we might run asbore be- 
 fore day-break. The captain, however, did not shew any alarm, 
 but depended on the accuracy of his calculation, which was in 
 fact so correct, that without sounding, he knew his distance 
 from the shore, which was fully confirmed, to our astonishment, by 
 the first dawn of day. We hoisted our flag, and steered towards 
 the entrance of the harbour. At sunrise the celebrated column 
 appeared, and the crew exclaimed joyfully, “ La Colonna, la Co- 
 lonna di Pompeo si vede /” An Arabic pilot soon came on board, 
 and carried us safely into the harbour of Alexandria. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 KHACKEI.L AND AliROWSMITH, JOHNSON -COURT, FLEET-STREET.