THE
TURK AND THE GREEK;
ORE
CREEDS, RACES, SOCIETY, AND SCENERY
IN TURKEY, GREECE, AND THE
ISLES OF GREECE.
BY
S. G4. W. BENJAMIN.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON,
459 BROOME STREET.
1867.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by
S. G. WV. BENJAMIN.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
RIVERSIDE. CAMBRIDGE:
STEREOTYPED  AND PRINTED  BY
H. 0. IIOUGHTON AND COMPANY.




To
THE MEMORY OF
MY FATHER,
WHO CONSECRATED HIS LIFE TO
THE MISSIONARY WORK IN GREECE AND TURKEY, AND NOW
LIES BURIED IN CONSTANTINOPLE, THIS VOLUME IS
REVERENTLY AND AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED.








CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. CONSTANTINOPLE.                                    1
II. MOSAIC......                  19
III. THE BOSPORUS.......    45
IV. ISLAM..........  69
V. THE STAR IN THE EAST.                             89
VI. ANATOLIA..101
VII. THE CROWN OF IONIA....                131
VIII. FIOR DI LEVANTE....... 171
IX. HELLAS.........   204
X. CRETE.. 242








PREFACE.
IN the following pages it has not been the
intention of the writer to present a continuous
narrative of residence or travels, or any elaborate tables of statistics. It has been his aim
rather to select such facts and incidents from
his experience and observation as seemed to
him best adapted to convey to the reader the
most vivid impression of the races and countries of the Levant, their character and condition. Allusion to antiquities he has avoided,
except in a few instances where mention has
been made of such as possess the interest of
novelty. So often and so well have the ruins
of Turkey and Greece been described, that it
would appear presumption to attempt the
task anew; nor would the author venture to
invite attention to another work on the East,
if the public sympathy were not already some



vi              PREFACE.
what aroused about the Cretan Insurrection
and the critical condition of the Ottoman
Empire.
HIe has taken the liberty of altering the
rendering of foreign names in some cases,
seeking to approach as nearly as possible to
the native pronunciation, although complete
success is naturally out of the question. The
arsis in Turkish words has a tendency to fall
toward the final syllable, for which reason the
syllable so emphasized is in these pages
marked by an accent when the mere spelling
is insufficient to indicate it. I in Oriental
names should be pronounced as in French,
like long e in bee; a is invariably pronounced
as in father: the name usually spelt Ali illustrates these three principles; it should be
pronounced Ahlee. The use of the erroneous
Saxon long i sound, in so many Oriental words,
when transferred into our language, is probably owing to the circulnstance that the French
and Italians, preceding us in the Levant, employed their i correctly, but in accepting their
use of it we forgot the radical diflerence be



PREFACE.               vii
tween the Continental and the Saxon i, and
adopted what seems the same to the eye but
is not an equivalent to the ear.
Chapter VI. is, with some additions, the
same as it originally appeared in letters to
the " Springfield Republican."  The historical
sketch of Crete in Chapter X. is a reprint of
an article that was recently published in
"Harpers' Monthly Magazine;" and the writer
has incorporated here and there such extracts from other papers of his in the "' North
American Review," the" Riverside Magazine,"
&c., as seemed to him to continue germane
to the subject; but the book, for the most
part, now appears for the first time in print.
Such as it is, the writer commends it to the
friendly or adverse criticism of those who find
time or inclination to turn over the pages of
an unknown work by an untried author.








THE TURK AND THE GREEK.
I.
CONSTANTINOPLE.
ANY years ago the United States frigate
Independence was sailing up the Marmora toward Constantinople.  Dr. Schauffler
and the late N. P. Willis were passengers; the
former returning to his labors from Sinyrna,
the other fresh from Naples, and enthusiastic
over the beauties of its celebrated Bay. That
Constantinople could surpass or even equal
Naples seemed to him impossible, and many
were the good-natured discussions on the subject during the voyage, until on a fine morning
when the rising sun was gilding the domes
and clustering spires of the imperial city, the
frigate glided majestically by the ancient walls
toward her anchorage, while the mellow voices
from many a score of minarets floated over
the blue waters, calling the faithful to prayer.
1




2       ENTRANCE TO THE PORT.
Entranced by the magnificence of the scene,
Willis stood on the quarter without uttering a
word, until Dr. Schauffler said, 1" Well, what
do you think of Constantinople now? Does it
equal Naples?"  "My dear sir," responded
Mr. Willis with fervor, " there is no comparison; Naples is not to be mentioned in the
same breath!"
Such were my own feelings when, after an
absence of ten years, I again sailed up to Constantinople at sunrise. The grandeur, the magnificence, which had so often thrilled my heart
in the days of my youth, were still there.
Time had not effaced the beauty that lingers
over those ancient battlements and storied
serais; the purple tints still suffused those
winding shores; unfading green still clothed
those cypress groves and gardens of delight; the
arrowy current still rushed by palaces dreaming over its sparkling waters; swift caiques,
manned by picturesque boatmen, still glided
hither and thither among the fleets lying at
anchor in the stream; and over all hung, as
ever, that sky so gloriously blue; while the
associations, the scenes, the men, of other
times, crowded on the soul and almost overpowered it with rapturous emotions.
It is claimed that the illusion is dispelled




CONSTANTINOPLE.             3
when the traveller lands amidst a hubbub of
strange tongues, and finds himself climbing up
steep hills and through narrow lanes, where
mud and noisome smells and " curs of low
degree" abound. That these evils do exist in
Constantinoplej and that they have a tendency
to disenchant those who grumble if they do not
everywhere find " modern improvements," is
not to be denied. To waste argument on such
persons is idle; we do not write for such
captious souls. But to those who travel with
the laudable resolution to be entertained by
what they see, who do not complain if they
fail to perceive a resemblance between the Oriental character and Young America, who regard with some veneration customs and ruins
around which Time has hung his ivy crown,
and see " sermons in stones, and good in every
thing," - to such let us say that if they will
devote less time to the dissipations of Paris,
and remain longer at Constantinople than is
usually the case with tourists, they will find
themselves well rewarded. They will soon
become so familiar with the inconveniences
of Eastern life as to disregard them, and will
even learn that many customs that are novel
and perhaps therefore disagreeable at first, are
in reality advantages suggested by the climate.




4            HISTORIC POINTS.
In proportion as the traveller becomes familiar with Oriental habits he will be entertained
and instructed by what he sees.
At first, of course, the stranger in Constantinople, ignorant of its innumerable dialects, of
the sinuosities of its narrow streets, of the
character of its people, and of its principal
objects of historic interest, must necessarily
commit himself to the tender mercies of a garrulous and not over-scrupulous cicerone, and
go through a stereotyped order of sight-seeing,
all of which, however, will be novel to him.
It is well to obtain at once a distinct outline of
the main features of the capital, of which the
details can afterward be filled in at one's leisure.
In drawing this mental sketch of the chief objects of attraction in a place of such historic
interest, where every spot reminds us of past
events, it may be some assistance to keep in
miind that the history of Constantinople since
the Christian era is divisible into two great
epochs,- the rise and fall of the Lower or Byzantine Empire, and the rise and decline of the
Ottoman Empire, - between. which there are
striking points of analogy. Within comparatively a short period the former reached the
summit of its glory, distinguished by the fortunate reign of Justinian, who, by the aid of




CONSTANTINOPLE.             5
Belisarius, Narses, and other successful soldiers,
maintained and somewhat enlarged the limits
of his vast dominions. In like manner, in a
few generations the Turkish power culminated
in the reign of Sulym'n the Magnificent, the
noblest of his line, who by the force of his
arms enlarged and consolidated the conquests
of his predecessors. With a grasp of intellect
which comprehended the welfare of later generations, both monarchs devoted their genius to
the creation of a code of laws as a basis for
the permanent and prosperous existence of
their people, which, notwithstanding numerous
defects, would have been sufficient to sustain
the national vigor for a long period, if their
precepts had been properly observed.  Both
sovereigns give us examples of the highest
virtue that has been attained by dynasties infamous for their crimes; each bestowed his
life-long affections on one woman, and as if in
mockery of such ill-timed fidelity, and as if to
show the rottenness of the public morals, these
two women, Theodora and Roxelana, were
unworthy of the love that they retained until
death, but abused, to subserve their own selfish ends. As though to furnish a tide-mark
whereby posterity could measure the height
which the Greek and the Turk have reached,




6             ST. SOPHIA.
and from what a pinnacle of glory they have
fallen, Justinian and Sulyman erected respectively the church of St. Sophia and the mosque
of Sulymani6, under the superintendence of
Anthemius and Sinau, the greatest architects
of. Byzantium and Stambfll; on each edifice
were lavished the treasures of the Orient, and
each is the masterpiece of the styles which they
represent,- the Byzantine and the TurkoSaracenic.
These two monuments of glories that have
vanished forever, are the central points of historic attraction in Constantinople. They suggest to the beholder nearly all that is eventful
in her past. St. Sophia has existed thirteen
hundred years, and has been in the hands of
the Moslems only a little over four centuries.
The central church in Christendom, unsurpassed in the magnificence of its architecture,
as seen from within, -  for the buttresses built
up to sustain the venerable edifice, weakened by
earthquakes and age, somewhat mar its exterior, - it still stands, the magnet toward which
are turned the longing eyes of the Eastern
Christians, who are steadfastly awaiting the
hour when the great bell of Time shall toll the
doom of Islam, and when the golden cross
shall again and forever replace the crescent




CONSTANTINOPLE.             7
on that immortal dome, beneath whose vaults
the anthem of praise first pealed thirteen
centuries ago. The Greeks have a tradition
that a priest who was administering the sacrament when the Turkish host burst into the
sacred edifice, was snatched away by an angel
and concealed within a crypt in the walls
of the building, where he patiently abides
the day when the departure of the Moharnmedan will summon him forth from his hidingplace, to complete the mass which he was performing.  It is a noteworthy fact that not
only St. Sophia, but most of the other antiquities of Constantinople, remind us rather of the
dominion of the Greek than of the subsequent
rule of the Turk. The city walls, at least
forty of the mosques, and even large portions
of the famous bazaars, are of a date anterior
to the Turkish conquest. Many of the local
names are simply Tartaric adaptations of
Greek appellatives, and everywhere along the
Bosphorus events are suggested to memory
and imagination that occurred in remote
periods up to the very dawn of history.
The mosque of Sulym-nie, the finest specimen of the exquisite Saracenic architecture
of which so many choice examples are to be
seen in many of the mosques, fountains, and




8              SUL YMA NIE.
mausoleums of Constantinople, has been recently repaired, and is well calculated to give
some idea of the most glorious period in the
history of Turkey. It rivals, if it does not surpass, St. Sophia. It is doubtful whether there
exists in architecture a more perfect cornbination of symmetry, beauty, and sublimity than
the view under the dome of SulymAni6.  The
building stands on a platform or terrace on the
highest of the seven hills of Constantinople,
from whence may be obtained one of the most
impressive prospects of the city, its port, and
its suburbs. How often Sulyma.n must have
stood on this terrace, his bosom swelling with
exultation as he gazed upon the magnificent
spectacle at his feet, which owed so much of
its prosperity and splendor to his genius.  The
tombs of Sulym'n and his well-beloved wife
Roxelana are in a little inclosure within the
precincts of the mosque court. Here one may
read an instructive lesson on the greatness and
the littleness of man. One of the noblest of
the Seljuks had inscribed for his epitaph: "' O
ye who have seen the glory of Alp Arslan exalted to the heavens, repair to Meru, and you
will behold it buried in the dust."
But the present, as well as: the past, affords interest to those who regard Constantinople with




CONSTANTINOPLE.              9
a reflecting eye. History, as related in books,
is to the many but an abstraction, and to repeople its monuments with vanished generations
requires a certain effort of the imagination irksome to most travellers. But the present, real,
living, tangible, -there is something that appeals to the sympathies of all;-these hurrying
throngs, these shifting phases of social existence, these events constantly enacted before us
on the world's stage, - these fascinate our gaze
and both divert and instruct us. And after all,
the teeming humanity packed in this vast city,
that combines in itself the customs and character of the past with the innovations of our
day, and suggests the probable changes of the
future, what is it but history? He is the best
historic painter whose canvas delineates current
events for the instruction of posterity; he is the
best student of Oriental history who investigates the races of the East as they are; thus
can he most intelligibly understand her as represented in her records, and thus also estimate
the possibilities of her hereafter.
The Golden Gate and the Golden Horn,
San Francisco and Constantinople, are the
most remarkable cities of our age, the most
characteristic of the two forms which distinguish the progress of our day. Cities destined




10          WAR OF THE GIANTS.
by position to be the great marts of trade, the
centres of civilization, each the queen city of
half a world: in the one we see the genius of
the West reigning undisturbed; in the other
we behold him, young, ardent, and irrepressible,
returning to the birthplace of his sires and
seeking to assert his heirship to the Orient as
well as to the Occident, and striving to infuse
the elixir of life into the stagnant veins of the
effete races of eld. At Constantinople the
East and the West, the Past and the Present,
old age and sturdy manhood, have met in the
decisive grapple, and it resembles
" The strife which currents rage
Where Orinoco in his pride
Rolls to the main no tribute tide,
But'gainst broad ocean urges far
A rival sea of roaring war,
While, in ten thousand eddies driven,
The billows fling their foam to heaven."
The scream of the steam-whistle blends in
Constantinople with the voice of the improvisatore, who repeats tales similar to the "' Arabian Nights " to enraptured groups in the coffee shops. A famous story-teller of this kind
died recently, who received a thousand piasters
a night for his improvisations, and was always
in request whenever a marriage or a festival
was to come off in high life. So they did in




CONSTANTINOPLE.            11
the days of Haroirn al Rescheed, but lest the
listener to these romantic tales should fancy
himself in the past, the telegraph-wires cross
the streets overhead, transporting messages
from San Francisco to Bombay, and remind
him that this is the nineteenth century A. D.
The Galata Bridge, that, by a cordon of
boats, spans the Golden Horn between the
Christian quarter called Galata and the old
city or Stambuil, is on the whole the most interesting spot in the world to observe the conflict between the old and the new alluded to
above, and to study diverse races and kindreds
and tongues. What the quays of *Venice
were in her prime, when she traded with all
nations, such is the Galata Bridge, only in a
more marked degree. Here is a Circassian,
with his fair face, symmetrical figure, curious
costume, and medimeval weapons,- a sort of
anachronism fresh from the Caucasus; there
hurries along a Yankee captain, with a tawny
tuft on his chin, spitting as none but Americans spit, and cursing these Turks for lazy
dogs; yonder rides a Nubian eunuch mounted
on a superb barb and followed by white outriders; and here goes an English lord, proud
of his patrician blood. A barouche drawn by
Hungarian horses contains the haremn of a




12      THE WORLD'S RAREE SHOIW.
pasha in green and orange feredges and gauze
veils, scarcely concealing beautiful profiles, and
near by walks a Frank lady dressed in the
latest Parisian fashion, and with the most approved style of chignon; a rough Koord jostles
the fair daughter of a Fifth Avenue millionaire,
and the half-naked fakir, or Mohammedan mendicant friar, whose original complexion is lost
under a layer of filth and tan, long black elflocks hanging over his low forehead, a brutal
glare in his wicked eye, a pointed iron in one
hand, and a shell in the other, which he holds
out for alms while guttural sounds proceed
from his chest, brushes his lousy rags against
the homely but spotless attire of a deaconness
from  Kaiserwerth.  That gypsy girl, who has
the shrewdness to allow her veil to slip from
off her comely features and thereby wins many
paras from the passers-by, excites a smile as
her bold behavior shocks the proprieties of the
portly and very reverend brother of the Jesuit
mission whose flowing skirts she half arrests
in her appeal for money; a hamal or porter
laden with planks stretching far in his front
and rear, and shouting " saool," rather disturbs
the meditations of a grave savan from Berlin,
whose spectacles he grazes with the end of
his load; a crafty-looking Persian from Ispa



CONSTANTINOPLE.             13
han, in conical cap, and crying camel's-hair
shawls for sale, offers his wares to a lovely
exile from Warsaw; and the balustrades of the
Bridge are lined with idlers from every nation
under heaven. Beautiful English-built steamers are moored to the Bridge alongside of
quaint vessels from the Euxine; and the blackeyed Greek boy calls out the evening paper
while the muezzin's voice  proclaims that
" There is no God but God, and Mahomet is
his prophet."
Aye, the world does move. There are bootblacks now in the streets of the capital of the
Grand Turk, which is one of the most reasonable innovations ever introduced there from the
West, as this city is no less famous for its
mud than for its fires or its external splendor.
But this is not all; within a few years every
street and house in Constantinople and its
suburbs has been named and numbered, and
the European quarters, called Pera and Galata,
are now lighted with gas. It follows from this
that the main streets are now used for promenades to a late hour, and localities which in
former times it was imprudent to traverse
after dark without a revolver, are now comparatively safe. Signs of change that are still
more wonderful are observable, here and there,




14        IlrNNO VA TI~ONS: FIRES.
making a ripple on the stagnant waters of
national prejudice, superstition, and sloth. The
wives of some of the Pashas have adopted the
European dress, wearing the native costume
only when they emerge into the street; and
whereas it has formerly been considered nonessential for a woman even to read, there are
now a number of schools in Constantinople
established for Turkish girls, in some of which
French and other foreign languages are taught,
after a fashion. Although these innovations
are confined chiefly to the capital, and doubtless seem ridiculously insignificant to the uninitiated, thirty years ago the mention of such
reforms would have appeared as absurd as was
the steam-engine to our ancestors, and none
who valued their interests would have dared to
propose them.  There are many still living
who can recall the time when the Janissaries
were in power and would have' demanded the
head of any one so bold as to suggest these
modern intrusions on the spirit of Eastern and
Mohammedan customs.
Soon after my arrival in Constantinople, and
toward the close of the terrible cholera season,
occurred a series of conflagrations such as are
frequent in that city. The most destructive
of these fires consumed over three thousand




CONSTANTINOPLE.            15
houses. The government made this the occasion for the initiation of a great reform in
the Turkish laws concerning property.  All
the real estate in the burnt district which by
the Turkish law of mortmain had become
Vakoof, or mosque property, was secularized.
It is estimated that by the action of these laws
a third of the realty of the empire has gradually become vested in the hands of the Mussulman priests and monks, as has been the
case in Italy. By this means a large number
of lazy, sensual, fanatical vagabonds are maintained, who are naturally opposed to every sign
of progress, and are so numerous as to constitute a dangerous element in society, and act as
a check on any impulses toward reform which
may move either individuals or the public. In
addition to taking away the power of these
monks, the abolition of the efktif or law of
mortmain would materially increase the revenues of the government besides allowing corporate bodies to hold landed property, which
would be a long step in advance. For years
the Porte has been laboring to bring the clerical or old school party under its control, but it
is a measure requiring shrewdness and managerlent. The edict to which we have alluded
may be considered an entering wedge toward
the accomplishment of this great object.




16         FIRE DEPARTMlENT.
Another advantage resulting from the fires
that within a few years have devastated Constantinople is the circumstance that the government has made them the opportunity to
rebuild many portions of the city in a style
less picturesque, but more durable, than the
usual mode of Constantinople architecture.
These improvements have been extended into
some of the unburnt districts, and it will not
surprise those who are conversant with the
Orientals to learn that when buildings are
trimmed off or torn down for the purpose of
widening the streets, no compensation is
allowed the owners.
But while there is thus evidenced a certain
effort toward decreasing the destructiveness of
fires in Constantinople, little improvement is
introduced in the mode of extinguishing them.
No city could be much worse off in this respect. There are two fire-towers on the highest
points on each side of the Golden Horn. One
of these is an old Genoese fortification in Galata; the other is a Turkish structure, rather
effective than otherwise, as it soars several
hundred feet above the water. In the galleries
of these towers watchmen walk day and night,
spy-glass in hand. On the discovery of a fire
a red ball is hoisted in the day-time, and a red




CONSTANTINOPLE.             17
lantern at night, from a flag-staff above, and
guns are also fired from a battery on the Bosphorus. The alarm is then given to all the
police stations, and runners are sent throughout
the city and its suburbs who call attention by
beating the pavement with iron-shod staves,
and follow this by crying " YANGUN VAR,"
" There is fire!" giving out also the location
of the conflagration. Nothing can be more impressive than this alarum ringing far and wide
throughout the silent streets at dead of night
and bringing terror to many a heart. I remember hearing this cry five times on a wild
winter's night in my boyhood, and on rushing
up to the top of the house, seeing the sky
ablaze like an oven and the snow-covered roofs
red as blood, while the crash of falling houses,
and the shouts and shrieks of multitudes, as in
a battle, mingled with the warring sounds of
the elements. Eighteen hundred houses were
destroyed that night. As soon as the alarm is
given the fire-engines are borne to the scene of
action; but they are of little use, for they are
only three or four feet square, small enough to
be carried on the shoulders of the firemen, who
rush through the narrow streets stripped to the
waist and yelling like demons. These firemen
receive little or no regular pay, but, excepting a
2




18              FIRE IME N.
backsheesh at the New Year, are dependent on
the owners of burning houses for the remuneration of their services. The bargain goes on
amidst a vast deal of Oriental chaffering, and'
ten to one, before an agreement is reached, the
building in question has vanished into smoke
and ashes.




MOSAIC.
A S suggested in the previous chapter, there
is much remaining to invite the attention
of the stranger in Constantinople after he has
paid his respects to St. Sophia, Sulymani6., the
old armory of St. Irene and the other monuments of antiquity usually shown to travellers.
Having now become " master of the situation,"
let him shake himself free from the conventional
jargon of his guide, and wander at will through
the mighty city; he will thus discover many an
object that escapes the eye of the ordinary
tourist. Idling in the coffee-shops, the baths,
the bazaars or on the quays, he will have ample opportunity to study the character of the
people, and will frequently observe incidents
and traits that recall well-known passages in
the Bible or the Arabian Nights, and it will
seem to him as if he were living in past ages.
Famniliar as I had become with the details of
Oriental life by a long residence in the Levant,




20           STREE T SIGHTS.
I was still often surprised on revisiting the
East, to find how many peculiarities, novel in
my experience, were constantly coming to my
knowledge. The spirit of the romantic Orient
only reveals herself clearly to him who approaches her with reverence, and with leisure
rightly to contemplate her charms.
Let the true and earnest searcher after something new stroll through the streets as if by a
pleasant exception to the laws of mortality he
were to live " two Methuselahs " and were in
no wise hurried: the weekly fair in the Pershembe Bazaar, or in the court of the Yenee
Jamee, where curiously shaped and gaily colored slippers, vestments of various sorts, mimic
mountains of tobacco, censers, kettles, and
samovars of brass, perfumeries, and other Oriental wares are temptingly displayed in booths
or on mats under the trees, and a throng of
buyers are clustered around like bees on a field
of thyme, will afford endless amusement to
the observant stranger.  The booth where a
grave old Turkish scribe, seated cross-legged, a
pair of goggles on his aquiline nose imparting
an owlish air of sapiency to his countenance,
and with a scriptural inkhorn and reed pens is
writing letters for a group of women who are
dictating to him, presents another of the many




MOSAIC.                 21
objects of interest in Constantinople; then
there is the Bazaar where they sell old arms,
in which the virtuoso may find ample material
for his entertainment. There may be seen
maces that have battered Christian skulls in
the wars of olden time, and blades of Damascus and Korassan, with the beautiful wavy
lines distinctly visible on the matchless steel,
and with hilts mounted with precious metals
and gems. Spears and huge flintlocks fiom
Koordistan, yataghans  from  Albania, and
every variety of Oriental weapons of the past
ages, may also be bought there for reasonable
prices and examined for nothing. The makers
of tobacco pipes and other utensils amuse the
observer by the skill with which they produce
exquisite results with very primitive tools; the
confectionery shops are ever presenting their
seductive stores of bacclava, a sort of pastry,
and rahat-el-lo-koom, falsely-so-called fig paste,
a curious misnomer, for there is no fig in the
composition of this delicious delicacy, which is
very different from the article that passes for it
in America: often, too, when wandering in the
old city, the traveller will find himself near
the mosque of Sultan Bayazid, whose beautiful Saracenic gates and cloisters will invite him
in to watch the feeding of the doves. Many




22        THE SACRED DOVES.
years ago a pious pilgrim brought from Mecca
a pair of sacred pigeons, so the legend runs,
and deposited them in the precincts of this
mosque. Now, as one enters the court, he
hears a loud cooing from all sides, and is delighted at seeing the capitals of the pillars, the
eaves, and the branches of the trees, populated
by hundreds of doves, all of a slate color,
protected from  harm  by the Mohammedan
prejudice in favor of animals.  Fearless of the
artisans working below, or of those traversing
the court, thus they pass their quiet and happy
lives.  If a little grain is thrown upon the
pavement, the whirr of a thousand pair of
wings is heard as the whole feathered colony
swoops down to feed.
When the afternoons are pleasant, and for
nine months out of the twelve few of any other
sort occur, nothing can be more charming than
to walk out to the Armenian cemetery of
Pera; a coffee-house on the brow of the height
commands a superb view over the palace of
Beshiktash, Scutari, the Marmora, and Stambuil, and is a favorite resort of the Franks. One
may thus have a good opportunity of observing
this peculiar although least interesting portion
of the many races of Constantinople.  Like
the Creoles of Mexico, they usually retain the




MOSAIC.                23
vices of the countries friom whence their fathers
came, with the low morals of their Greek or
Armenian mothers. Versatile, mercurial, ready
at picking up languages, and apt in amassing'money by fair means or foul, they are never
profound, are rarely actuated by ennobling
sentiments, are mean-spirited, and can fairly
claim nothing in common that savors of national feeling except a narrow bigotry for the
Romish Church on the part of the women, and
infidelity on the part of the men. It is to be
said in their favor that their women are often
very pretty and piquant in their manners, especially they of the lower classes whose mothers were Greeks.
First contact with the masses that compose
the population of Constantinople must necessarily have a bewildering effect on the mind.
The confused fragments of a Chinese puzzle,
the disjointed bits of glass of a broken kaleidoscope, a printer's type thrown into "pi,"
are not less without order or form, apparently,
than the motley crowds that whirl ceaselessly
through the singular streets of this Vanity
Fair, like the ever-moving procession that
Vathek saw in the Halls of Eblis. Babel
seems reenacted as one beholds representatives from every nation between Pekin and




24               BABEL.
Chicago pass before him, and hears almost
every variation of language spoken since the
flood. Nor does a cursory inspection afford
much assistance in unravelling this tangled
skein of life. The Turkish language is almost
universally spoken or understood, as it is the
tongue of the dominant race, for the Turks
have always disdained to acquire the dialects
of their subjects; but, at the same time, the
signs in Pera are often printed in several languages, the shop-keepers of the bazaars speak
half a dozen in as many minutes to as many
customers of different races, and if one attends
an evening party he may have the opportunity
of hearing a lively conversation conducted
alternately in languages enough to  throw
Mezzofanti into raptures.  Ostensibly the government is Turkish, but its Grand Viziers are
generally Christian slaves, its bankers are Armenians and Jews, its general-in-chief, Omer
Pacha, is a Croat, and many of its civil, military, and naval officers are Negroes, Arabs,
Armenians, Sclaves, Greeks, Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Englishmen, and even Americans. The Turks of Constantinople are themselves Turks in little more than name and
religion; their system  of polygamy, and of
elevating the female slaves captured in war




,ll MOSAIC.          25
to the dignity of wives, has so diluted the
blood of the few Turks who originally came
into Asia Minor with Othm.n, that the number of genuine Turks in the Empire is small,
and of those born in Constantinople it is
doubtful if there is one who cannot claim foreign blood in his veins. For this reason, and
on account of the somewhat Europeanized
costume now worn by the Constantinopolitan,
it is more difficult than formerly always to
distinguish Turks at a glance from Armenians
or Greeks. In other parts of Turkey grand
specimens of the Turkish race are often seen,
large of frame, with manly and martial features, men who render it easy to understand
the power that once made the crescent a terror
to Christendom. But the Turk of Stambul
is pale and effeminate, although handsome in
his appearance, denoting his descent from enslaved races, and the corrupting effects of low
sensuality. He respects neither the Koran nor
the Bible; wine, opium, women, and vices
without a name are the pursuits of his life,
and, following the example of the Christians
of the East, cunning and knavery are the principles on which he transacts his business.
How has the mighty fallen! Exceptions of
course exist, and the Turks who have embraced




26          TURKISH WOMEN.
Christianity within a few years at the risk of
their lives, exhibit the virtues which rightfully
belong to the original stock from whence they
came, and show of what the race is capable
under favorable circumstances; but we do not
speak of these.
It is generally supposed that the traditional
jealousy that watches over the life of the
Turkish female, places it out of her power to
behave indiscreetly. *The seclusion of the
harem, the latticed windows, the gauze veils
drawn over the face when abroad, the vengeance impending on the discovery of conjugal improprieties, are considered as ample safeguards to their virtue. But this is a mistake.
They are allowed to frequent the places of
public resort with freedom so long as they are
veiled, and thus disguised it is difficult to
recognize them; and no man can lift the veil
of a woman in the street without risking his
life. During the Crimean war a drunken
French soldier stepped up to a carriage and
raised the yashmak of one of the inmates;
her attendants cut him down on the spot. It
is evident that thus disguised women may
go where they please during the day-time
without the knowledge of their husbands; and
they are to be seen everywhere, groups in




MOSAIC.                27
gayly colored dress, shopping in the bazaars,
eating mahalabee under the trees of the Sweet
Waters, or gliding up the Bosphorus in gilt
caiques, usually attended by their children,
and, if of high rank, accompanied by one or
more eunuchs and footmen. Often they may
be heard chattering and laughing in the streets
in a manner betokening easy adaptation to
the singular life they lead. It is evident that
theirs is not a life suited to stimulate the
growth of either virtuous actions or thoughts.
Married to men they have never seen before,
often purchased concubines, rarely treated as
equals or companions but simply as kept mistresses, bickering among themselves for the
favor of their lord, almost as ignorant as
children, and possessed of the warm passions
of the East, with no mental or moral education to elevate their thoughts, it is but a
natural result that they should be low in
their tastes and depraved in their lives. Intrigue and assignations are every-day affairs,
for part of which the Franks of Pera are
responsible.  As in many races that retain
more or less of their barbaric origin, the Turkish female is generally of an inferior mould to
the male, and the early arrival of puberty and
marriage cause a correspondingly early decay




28        LAW  OF SUCCESSION.
of their beauty. It is rare to find a Turkish
woman who retains her good looks beyond
thirty-five, while I have seen many Turks wvho
were strikingly noble in their mien and features in old age. The Turkish woman, however, is not destitute of strength of character,
and under favorable circumstances has been
seen to develop a conjugal devotion, a maternal solicitude, and a heroism such as often
render the daughters of the West very nearly
the compeers of the sterner sex in mental
capacity, and too often their superiors in the
susceptibilities or emotional part of our nature,
the highest attribute of the soul.
One trait the Turk inherits in a marked degree from the pastoral life of his ancestors, -
a strong love for children; a sentiment so
lively and universal in the East, that it is
considered an affliction of Providence for married people to be childless. All the more horrible, for this reason, is the custom of the royal
line of Turkey, which ordains that the male
children of the Sultan's sisters or nieces should
be killed at their birth. The throne, by a
singular law, is inherited by the collateral
heirs, if there should be any living, before the
Sultan's own son can succeed him; on this
account the brothers and nephews of the reign



MOSAIC.                29
ing Sultan have for many generations been
bowstrung to prevent any disturbances against
his authority.  The sister of Abdul Medjid,
married to Haleel Pasha, lost two sons in this
way during her father's life. Abdu1 Medjid,
a man of rare clemency for an Oriental, was
the first to disregard this atrocious custom.
He allowed his brother, Abdul Aziz, to live
in great seclusion, and he in turn, moved
probably by this precedent and the improved
state of public opinion, rather than by his
natural disposition, allows his nephew, the
son of Abdul Medjid, and heir apparent to
the throne, to live and enjoy a measure of
liberty at the capital; but his life would be
the forfeit for the slightest indiscretion.
The corrupt morals of Constantinople are
not entirely confined  to the Mohammedan
population. Vice does not perhaps display
itself so alluringly nor so publicly as in certain quarters of Paris or London, but there
is a more general absence of propriety, if possible, in business, conversation, and the social
relations, which pervades all ranks and races.
The heart of society is rotten to the core;
integrity, either private or public, is rare; principle is at a discount, vice at a premium; the
first and indispensable qualification for a clerk




30      MORALS OF THE PEOPLE.
in the bazaars is that he should be a clever
liar. There is not very much choice between
the virtue of the Turks and the native Christians; the former are more gross in their appetites, more stolid in their comprehensions,
while the latter in their knavery are more
adroit and  cunning; tirneo Danaos et dona
ferenrtes. There is a thin varnish of suavity,
an ease and grace of deportment, a winning
plausibility characteristic of all the races of
the Orient, in consonance with the softness
of the clime, often rendering them  agreeable,
and well adapted to deceive the more sincere
foreigner who is off his guard, but too frequently it is only the enamel that scarce conceals the false face of the syren. Better the
blunt honesty of John Bull that, under a harsh
exterior, contains the genuine heart of a true
man, than the supple courtliness which masks
a caitiff heart.
Another feature noticeable in the character
of Constantinople society, is the almost total
absence of public spirit.  This arises from the
circumstance that, figuratively speaking, every
man's hand is against his neighbor. In the
capital, as throughout the empire, we see the
people divided into conquerors and conquered,
oppressors and oppressed, and a war of races




MOSAIC.                31
is the natural result. The Turk, while often
having Christian slaves for his mistresses, has
never legally intermarried with the subject
races, and differences of sect have kept them
also from coalescing and making common
cause against their oppressors; the Gulf Stream
does not preserve its current more distinctly
from the surrounding ocean, than the many
nations of Turkey have guarded their individuality through long ages of misrule. As a
consequence the Armenian regards the Greek
with jealousy, and the Greek in turn regards
the Armenian with distrust, each watching
lest the other acquire undue influence at the
Porte, and both unite in cursing the Turk;
while he hates them as Christian dogs who
may eventually oust him  from  his dominion
over them. It is easy to see of what discordant elements the million inhabitants of Constantinople and its suburbs must be composed.
The reforms to which we have alluded have
as yet done very little to abolish this clannish
and unprogressive condition of society. The
Moslems still dwell for the most part in Stambiul, Scutari, and Kassim Pasha; the Jews still
huddle together in the filthy lanes of Balat;
the Greeks still affect the dark but historic
precincts of the Fana{r; the Armenians still




32         STATE OF SOCIETY.
most do congregate in Yeni Kapoo; and the
Franks or Latins continue to. build their European mansions on the salubrious heights of
Pera.
This state of things is any thing but conducive to the encouragement of a healthy
tone of the public mind, and also imparts a
certain insecurity to municipal affairs. The
body politic is too much like the image in
Nebuchadnezzar's dream, composed of materials so incoherent that a blow would resolve
it into a confused mass of antagonistic elements. Suspicion and distrust enter into all
the intercourse and transactions of the Constantinopolitan. The French law proceeds on
the assumption that the criminal at the bar is
guilty until he has made his innocence good.
In like manner in the East, until a man has
proved his integrity beyond a doubt, it is safe
to presume that if it is for his interest to
do so, he will cheat or injure to the extent
of his ability; and every one therefore shapes
his actions more or less with the principle of
self-defense in view. It is for this reason that
immediately on leaving the limits of Constantinople, or any other Oriental city, the country
seems almost uninhabited, except as a village
is found here and there on an eminence. The




MOSAIC.              833
unsafe condition of society, combined with
the rude and scarce means of communication,
forbids people to live on solitary farms at a
distance from a town, as often happens in the
rural districts of Europe and America; and
ordinary prudence suggests that those who
care to ride or promenade beyond the outskirts of the city should go armed, as many,
the writer included, have learned from personal experience. An Englishman last summer took a sail-boat manned by two Ionian
Islanders for Prinkipo. As he had addressed
them in Turkish, they supposed him ignorant
of Greek, and in that language he had the
pleasure of hearing the discussion of a plot
to assassinate him, and after robbing to throw
his body into the sea and conceal themselves
for a few days at the Dardanelles, until the
excitement from his disappearance had blown
over. When they had thoroughly digested
the plan, and just as they were about to put
it into execution, he drew his revolver, and
swore to them in Greek that the first who
stirred was a dead man.
But while there are so many evils arising
from this antagonism of races, it gives pleasure to those who are fond of studying national traits, of observing different physical
3




o84 ARTISTIC EFFECTS: CIRCASSIANS.
types, and of enjoying the artistic effect produced by an ever-shifting variety of costumes.
Far more picturesque is a crowd in Constantinople than in New York, where all are clad
in the sombre and convenient but ungainly
garb suggested by the cold climate and passionless races of Northern Europe and America.  All tints and colors blend in the streets
of Constantinople, and well do they harmonize with the softness of the climate, the azure
skies of noonday, and the glory of sunset.
Our western civilization, noble and elevating
as it is, has yet a freezing influence on all
that is picturesque and artistic; a block of
Fifth Avenue mansions or a group of merchant princes may look elegant and intelligent,
but the sensitive eye of the artist turns from
them to rest with infinite delight upon a row
of quaint, antique, many-gabled houses lazily
standing along the shores of the Bosphorus,
or a knot of indolent Turks dreamily smoking
under the spreading foliage of the vale of
the Flamoors, while gaily dressed maidens, reclining on the grass, quaff sherbet, and fill the
soft air of May with their ringing laughter.
There is a costume that has of late become
very frequent in Constantinople, the Circassian. A felt cap surrounded by a shaggy roll




MOSAIC.                35
of sheepskin, surmounts a face almost femininely fair and delicate in its complexion and
outline; a drab coat with flowing sleeves
drops below the knee, and is held together
by a belt around the slender waist; on each
breast is a brass or silver-mounted cartouche
box; at the left side hangs a scimetar; at
the right side a very curious, antique, richlymounted flint-lock pistol is suspended by a
cord of gold and silken braid; a. dagger is
carried in the belt, and a pair of leggins and
red buskins complete the dress of the warriors who, under the guidance of Schamyl,
held the fastnesses of Daghestan so many
years against the Czar of all the Russias.  In
the time of battle they sometimes wear in
addition a chain  hauberk, such as was in
use during the days of chivalry.
It may not be generally known that after
the Russians had subjugated the Circassians,
many thousands of that unfortunate people
emigrated to Turkey, whether voluntarily or
by compulsion being a matter of uncertainty.
They were received with some hospitality by
the Turkish government, and assigned rude
shanties, and appointed to till the soil in various parts of the Empire, either on the public
lands or in villages from which the inhabitants




36       CIRCASSIAN BEAUTIES.
were ejected or obliged to share their hovels
with the new  comers, which  has naturally
given rise to many disturbances.  These Circassians, by the way, are a study for the
ethnologist.  They are composed of many
distinct tribes, instead of forming one compact
nation, and each tribe speaks a dialect scarcely
intelligible to any but the chiefs. Their social
system resembles the feudalism of the Middle
Ages, each tribe being under the rule of a
prince, who receives the homage of a number
of feudal lords who hold the people in serfdom.  With the exception of the chiefs, who
are Mohanmmedans, the mass of the people
are worshippers of heathen deities; one of
these is a certain wood-goddess resembling
1Melita; what little is ascertained of their religion  reminds one of the worship of the
Druids in Britain and Gaul.
It is well known that for long the farfamed beauty of the Circassian females has
caused Circassian slaves to bring a high price
in the slave-markets of the East; and although
for some years past the trade has been nominally forbidden at Constantinople, it is still
practised in a corner, and winked at by the
authorities.  The influx  into Turkey of so
many Circassian exiles, ignorant of the lan



MOSAIC.                37
guage, poverty-stricken, and in search of a
home, was an opportunity for the slave-dealers,
which they seized with avidity. Girls of rare
beauty have been purchased on the shores of
the Black Sea for a mere pittance, been educated to a certain degree, and then resold to
grandees at enormous profits.
On a wild night when snow and rain were
falling, and the streets, famed for their mud,
were more miry than ever, and but few ventured.out into the storm, a slave-dealer was
crossing the Galata Bridge, urging along a
young Circassian maiden. Weary and sick,
her steps grew slower and slower, she breathed
with difficulty, and low moans escaped from
her lips.  Perhaps the thought of the home
and friends she had lost forever, weighed her
down with despair. At last she sank to the
ground in a sort of fainting-fit, and refused to
go farther, beseeching her master to leave her
there to die; but he, unwilling to lose her, tried
entreaties, then threats, and finally resorted to
blows.  At this juncture a lieutenant of the
line came along, and hearing the cries of the
poor girl inquired concerning the matter. The
slave-master stated the case, on which the offieer advised taking her to a physician. The
other scorned the idea, but told the lieutenant




38     THE GRATEFUL OD1AL[ SQUE.
he could have her for nothing, if he would take
charge of her.> "No," was the reply; " I will
pay you three hundred piasters, otherwise when
she is well you will claim her from me again."
The money was paid over, a porter carried
the sufferer to the house of her new master, a
physician was called, and the officer's wife, who
seems to have been a benevolent woman, did
all in her power to restore the invalid to health.
Her efforts were attended with success, and
when Spring returned with its delicious air,
roses once more bloomed on the cheeks of the
sick one, her eyes glanced again with their
wonted fire, and she appeared to view a woman
of extraordinary beauty. At this time it happened that a Pashh, high in office, sent out his
emissaries in search of another odalisque for his
harem. Rurnor whispered to them of the rare
loveliness of our heroine, and they entered into
negotiations with her master, the lieutenant,
which resulted in her transfer to the Pasha for
ten thousand piasters. Her numerous graces
made her at once his favorite, and all the luxuries and jewels she could desire were at her
disposal.
But in her hour of prosperity, gratitude still
held a place in her heart. One day, having
procured a captain's commission and collected




MOSAIC.               39
a quantity of gems and gold, she ordered out
her coach and drove to the humble dwelling of
the lieutenant, her former master. Alighting
and entering, she presented him with the commission and gifts she had brought, exclaiming
with emotion, "6 You saved my life, and to you
I owe my prosperity; God alone can reward
you for your kindness to the stranger, but these
trifles will show you that I do not forget all
that you have done for me."
At Sarnsune, on the Euxine, a crowd of Circassian emigrants were collected on the shore to
be carried in Turkish transports to various parts
of the Emnpire. In the confusion that ensued,
families were divided and separated forever.
One family consisting of a man,, his wife, and
two children, were thus disunited, he being
placed in the hold of a ship going to the
Archipelago, and they being borne in another
vessel to Varna, in European Turkey. From
month to month she and her little boy and girl,
destitute and ignorant of the language, wandered on foot towards Constantinople, where,
she was informed, there were many of her
countrymen, and possibly her husband might
be among them. Led by this illusory hope,
she at last reached the vast metropolis, and
after a long search, concluded to cross over into




40     EXILED FAMIL Y: SLAVERY.
Asia Minor, and look for him there. In the
meanwhile he had been slowly and wearily
searching for his family in Asia Minor, gradually approaching Constantinople with the faint
hope of meeting them somewhere within its
walls. Reaching Scutari, he crossed over to
Stambul, and bewildered by  the hurrying
throngs, in which he was jostled hither and
thither, found himself at last in a mosque court,
where they were holding a weekly fair under
the trees. There in the crowd he caught a
glimpse of a woman having a little boy clinging to her skirts, and bearing a flaxen-haired
little girl on her shoulder. With a sudden hope
he followed them, and found that they were indeed his long-lost wife and children. The recital of such incidents might be multiplied to an
indefinite extent, nor are surprising vicissitudes
of fortune confined to the Circassian emigres.
Two of the highest officers of the realm are in
the habit of joking each other on their origin,
the one saying to the other," "You are not
worth as much as I am, you only cost four
thousand piasters, but it took five thousand
piasters to buy me." They were white captives
of war, and had by shrewdness and talent risen
to high rank, as has been the case with most of
the Grand Viziers. A negro slave has been




MOSAIC.               41
known to become High Admiral of the Turkish navy. In Turkey the ridiculous fiction invented and fostered for political capital in the
United States concerning the existence of a
natural antipathy between the Black and the
White races is unknown.
Will the reader be wearied by one more incident illustrative of the romance of life in
Constantinople? A daughter of the late Sultan Abdfil Medjid, and niece of the reigning
Sultan, was betrothed to one of the first Pashas of the realm, -of course in the royal as
well as Oriental mode, without consulting her
inclinations on the subject. But having one
day caught a glimpse of her betrothed through
her lattice as he rode by on his Arab barb, she
chose to take umbrage at his portly form, and
flatly declared that she would not have him, or
rather that he should not have her. Expostulation and entreaty were alike useless to turn
the haughty beauty from her resolution, in
which she was strengthened by an incident
that occurred a few days later. As she was
out riding in the suburbs, she chanced to
meet a youth whose handsome features and
graceful person attracted her attention. Immediately " a spark of fine love struck upon her
heart," as Froissart says of Edward III., and




42        THE YOU'NG SULTANA.
she bade her attendant eunuch inquire his
name. He proved to be the son of a poor officer, a youth whom we shall call Areef, whose
only patrimony was his good looks, an adventurer waiting for something to turn up, an
Oriental Micawber, whose days were spent in
smoking, dreaming over the'" Loves of Leila
and Medgnoon,"' in well-thumbed MSS., and
keeping questionable company.
Bringing the same will to her aid which
had induced her to reject her former suitor and
which she inherited from her royal ancestors,
the young Sultana resolved that Areef and none
other should be her husband. By such weapons in the art of persuasion as are best known
to the female mind, she overcame the opposition of her queen-mother to so preposterous an
alliance, and intrigue and gold gained compliance in other quarters.
All this time Areef Effendi was idling in the
coffee-shops, ignorant of the elevation that was
preparing for him. But Destiny had booked
him through on the express train to the Fortunate Isles, and the hour to start had come.
While nodding over his narghile, an officer in
livery touched him on the shoulder: " God be
praised! 0 Areef, we have found thee at last;
come, you are wanted; a certain Sultana has
sent us."




MOSAIC.                48
Although the impersonation of laziness, Areef
was no fool. Familiar with the turns of fortune so frequent in the East, he saw at once
that he " had struck a vein," and obeyed all directions without a moment's hesitation. He
was taken to a bath, and thence to a tailor's,
where he was clothed in a new suit; thus
equipped he was conducted to a palace situated
on the Bosphorus, and was left alone in a spacious hall, whose sumptuous decorations fed his
fancy, while the lapping of the waves below
and the perfume of jasmines and roses lulled
his senses, until the merry sound of female
voices whispering behind a lattice that overlooked the hall, informed him that he was undergoing inspection. After an hour he was removed, and some days later received a formal
offer of the hand of the sultana. Very naturally,
he accepted the proposal, but to the question,
as to how he should provide the indispensable
bridal presents, backsheesh to a host of menials, and an outfit for himself, he received answer not to be troubled; if Fate had destined
him to be married, the necessary paraphernalia
would not be wanting, and so it proved. The
queen-mother furnished him with all these, and
he in turn presented them to the bride and her
slaves.  At the threshold of matrimony  we




44.A REEF.
leave our friend Areef in the hands of the
beneficent Fates, who have made him one of
their favorites. While others toil a life-time
in vain to win coy Fortune to their side, she
came to him  unbidden, and showered him
with pearls.




III.
THE BOSPHORUS.
I EF: this is a word in the dialect of the
Constantinopolitan which contains in itself the key to life, character and scenery on
the Bosphorus, and, in fact, throughout Turkey.
Dolce far niente say the Italians for nearly the
same thing, in three words; the Turk has it in
one syllable. So far as we know, there is no
synonym for it in the English language; such
inane Saxonisms as indolence and idleness are
nearest to it, and they have not an honorable
meaning. Tennyson's " Lotus Eaters" is the
best definition of the word Kef to be found in
our tongue; the diligent perusal of that poem
will in a measure prepare the mind to comprehend the nature of life on the Bosphorus, and
a few weeks or months spent in a spirit passive
to the influence of its charms and devoted to a
judicious course of day-dreaming under its
pines and plane-trees, on its breezy heights and
in its delicious vales, will afford the best translation of the word Kef which we can suggest.




46              CiL, I,1 7'E.
In the following pages we can do no more
than to introduce the reader to this lovely
region, hoping that he may taste "the sober
certainty of waking bliss" on those shores
where, " if there be an Elysium on earth, it is
there."
In respect to temperature, the Bosphorus is
very advantageously situated. " It is the quality o' the climate " to be of a more reasonable
sort than is common in this world of great heat
and cold. In winter the " sweet south " from
the Marmora will often soften the air and prevent very severe cold, a few blustering days
of snow, and considerable raw, wet weather
for a couple of months, being usually the worst
that happens. During the winter of 1865 and
1866, a little milder than the average, the mercury did not descend below freezing point under
cover. There were many days in mid-winter
when one could sit by the water-side for hours
without feeling chilly. In summer time, on
the other hand, the north breezes from the
Euxine cool the air and render it much more
refreshing than the atmosphere of the same
latitudes elsewhere. Such spasms of excessive heat as occur every summer in the United
States or as continue for whole seasons in Smyrna or Naples, are unknown at Constantinople.




THE  BOSPHORUS.                47
The facilities for visiting the various attractions of the Bosphorus are many and the prices
moderate.  There are always caiques or wherries to be found at all the landings, ready to talie
one in any direction; there are also steamers
plying at different hours of the day between
the villages of the Bosphorus and the city,
and good riding horses and talikas, or Constantinople hacks, are ever to be found in readiness;
the ride up to Buyukdere on horseback through
the villages is very novel and entertaining. A
railroad on the European side is talked of and
will soon be undertaken, if not already commenced. This will do very well for those doing
business in Constantinople, but is otherwise
not at all to our taste; and yet, while viewing
with regret these innovations that seem so unsuited to the people and scenery, and give a
shock to our sensibilities, we cannot help coinciding with Wordsworth when he says:"Motions and Means on land and sea at war
With old poetic feeling, not for this
Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss!
Nor shall your presence, howsoe'er it mar
The loveliness of Nature, prove a bar
To the Mind's gaining that prophetic sense
Of future change, that point of vision whence
May be discovered what in soul ye are."
Friday is the great day of the Bosphorus;




48          FETE CHA MP E TI'E.
it is the Mussulman's Sabbath, and the occasion is improved by the dwellers on the Bosphorus in " mnaking' kef " to their utmost ability.
The beautiful valleys of Tokkat, Sulym-Ani6,
Baltaliman and Geurk Soo, and the well-shaded
precincts of the mosque of Beyler BWy, are
the chief resorts.  Thither, on pleasant days,
one may see caiques speeding over the water
like flocks of waterfowl, bearing festive groups
in gala attire. Under the magnificent planetrees that overhang the marge or spread their
long arms over the plain, the people sit on carpets laid on the sward, which looks like a
mosaic of green and gold where the rays of
the sun steal through crevices in the roof of
verdure and interweave with the grasses of
Spring. Venders of fruit, confectionery, coffee
and sherbet are patronized alike by young and
old, by the laughing damsel and the gray-beard
sage in flowing robes; while children dart
about busy at their sports, their long hair falling around their shoulders in many-plaited
braids, and bands of strolling musicians fill
the air with wild and plaintive strains. To
the ear that is accustomed to the exalted symphonies and intricate variations of European
music, the Oriental musician must seem, in
the words of Saadee, so unmelodious " that the




THE B OSPHOR US.            49
sound of his bow would break the arteries, and
his voice is more horrid than the lamentations
of a imian for the death of his father."  But
this sort of music is suited to the countries
where it originated. The quick, sharp notes
that die away into a prolonged elegiac monotone, then burst out again like the half-frenzied
joys of a Bacchante, and float away again
into a low, lingering cadence like the lament
of a despairing lover, or the mournful reflections
of one who has exhausted the delights of mortal existence and found them vanity, are but
the expression in sound of the character of life
in the East, now raging with gusts of passion
that convulse the soul with the fierce raptures
of love and jealousy, hate and desire, and now
subsiding into long intervals of reaction, of
listless, uneventful, voluptuous repose. Such,
too, has been the way in which the nations of
the Orient have risen and disappeared; now,
inspired by visions of hoories in Paradise, they
have hurled themselves with resistless energy
against the bulwarks of Christendom, then
they have sunk into protracted periods of enervating inaction, and, like the dying notes of
their native song, have passed away from earth.
There is certainly something very peculiar in
the effect produced by Oriental music, even on
4




50        NATIVE MUSIC: ART.
the ear of the foreigner who listens impatiently
to its strains. It does not soothe, perhaps it
fails to please, and yet it agitates the listener,
arouses his emotions, and fires his blood.
At these and other places of resort one may
also sometimes see jugglers, the Kara geuz or
low puppet-shows of Constantinople, dancing
bears, the significant but too suggestive dances
of the East, and other characteristic sights.
The variety of costume and scenery to be
seen combined at these concourses of the Constantinopolitans, affords subjects for the canvas
which have been strangely neglected by men
of genius. It is a matter of surprise and regret
that artists do not visit Constantinople to find
material for their pencils. It is ever to Italy
and Rome that they gravitate, and we have had
Italian contadinas and Neapolitan lugboats
and fishermen until the subject has become
conventional and almost wearisome; not that
these are not in the highest degree pleasing and
picturesque and suitable to transfer to canvas,
but sameness and mannerism pall on the intellectual taste, and variety is agreeable even in
matters intrinsically beautiful and attractive.
This is a truth so well acknowledged that we
should be ashamed to repeat it if it had not in
reality become so trite as almost to be in dan



THE BOSPHOR US.            51
ger of being forgotten by the artist of our day.
At Constantinople the genre, the landscape,
and the marine painter will find a virgin field
and ample scope for the exercise of his powers.
Does he seek for groups, what more interesting
subject can he find than a band of brigand-like
Bashi Bozooks or Albanians with their curious,
richly mounted weapons, and their manly figures clad in the brilliant garb of Asia Minor,
or the red cap, the kilt and embroidered buskins of Rom6lia?  A cluster of women and
children shopping in the bazaars, a Pasha
mounted on a Persian steed and preceded and
followed by outriders, making way through a
narrow street overhung by houses quaint and
old as the houses of Nuremburg; an improvisatore reciting the Arabian Nights in a coffeeshop, or a group of boatmen and ca'iques at
the foot of the grand mosque of Yeni Jamee;
such are a few of the thousand and one subjects that would make the fame of a genre
painter. Does the artist seek for landscapes
suitable for his pencil?  He will find on the
Bosphorus skies not inferior to the skies of
Italy, sunsets as superb, sunrises as glorious,
and views that have not their match elsewhere.
The Rhine, the Danube, the Hudson, present
in a diluted form beauties of scenery which on




52      MARINE ARCHITECTURE.
the Bosphorus are contained within the space
of sixteen miles; nor has any one of those rivers
that shifting and endless succession of varying
pictures, that perfect combination of sublimity
and loveliness, of softness of atmospheric tints
and grandeur of outline, of art and nature,
such as renders the Bosphorus the most beautiful spot on the globe. As if this were not
enough, the seven hills of Constantinople,
studded with gilded domes and minarets, add
to most of the landscapes of the Bosphorus
an element of splendor that is unique and indescribable.
Is our artist in search of subjects to match
the feluccas of Genoa, he will find nothing
more picturesque in the way of marine architecture than the'high-prowed and high-sterned
checkdem6s and sakol6vas that glide down the
Bosphorus, lighting its blue waters with their
snowy and oddly-fashioned sails; and to seize
the graceful outline of the Constantinople
wherries or caiques will require all his skill.
They are unique of their kind; long and very
narrow, tapering to a point at each end, decked
at the stem and stern, with the greatest beam
abaft. the midships, with a very small keel, and
standing considerably above the water, they.are fleet as the wind, and graceful as a swan




THE BOSPHORUS.             53
in their motion, but they require to be managed
with as much steadiness as a birch-bark canoe.
They are constructed of light materials, painted
black, but ornamented with gilt carvings, and
are rowed by one or more boatmen dressed in
white, with flowing sleeves, and the invariable
fez or red skull-cap of the Levant; the Sultan's caique, which is white and profusely
gilded, is rowed by twenty-six picked oarsmen.
The passenger sits on ample cushions in the
bottom of the boat. Nothing can be conceived
more luxurious than thus reclining with one
or two congenial friends, and provided with a
supply of Turkish tobacco and confections, to
glide hour after hour along the shores of the
Bosphorus on a pleasant morning, when the
water is like glass, and the palaces, the terraced
gardens, the kiosks, the old castles and the majestic groves of cypress are reflected on its
tranquil bosom, while the ships swing idly at
their moorings, and perhaps from the distance
as fiom an enchanted shore, the notes of music
are borne on the stilly air.
As the eye wanders languidly from one scene
to another, there is scarce an object that does
not recall sorne memory of the past, some
name or action glorious in legend or history.
Where the waters shimmer between Scutari




54     HISTORIC SPOTS: HIERON.
and Stambul, was fought in 1352 the great
naval battle between the fleets of Venice and
Genoa, commanded by Pisani and Doria, when
tempestuous winds shrieked down the strait
and the walls of Byzantium were lined with
spectators. Where yonder dome and minaret
peep above the plane and cypress trees that
overshadow them, is the tomb of the great
rover Haireddeen, usually called Barbarossa,
Turkey's greatest admiral, whose victorious
galleys swept the Mediterranean,  The white
tower that near the lovely village of Beb6k
rises high above the wild cypresses that cluster
around its base, marks the spot where Darius,
going against the Scythians, crossed on a
bridge of boats in the narrowest part of the
Bosphorus; there also Mahomet the Second
crossed two thousand years later and built that
tower and the singular fortress to which it belongs, opposite to the Anadolee Hissar constructed by his father; he thus gained command of the Bosphorus preparatory to the
capture of Constantinople.
But for historic associations combined with
the charms of a noble prospect, commend me
to the Byzantine Castle, situated on a lofty eminence named by the ancients Hier6n, between
the Black Sea and the mountain called the




THE BOSPIHOR US.           55
Giant's Grave, and opposite to the corresponding height on the European side, where once
existed a temple of Serapis and a castle. The
Greeks and the Genoese here received toll
from passing vessels, and in time of war
stretched a boom  across the strait. In the
ninth century Haroon al Rescheed of glorious
memory, laid siege to the fortress of Hier6n
after the capture of Heraklea with a force of two
hundred thousand men. He raised a mound
against the walls two thirds of their height, on
which to place his engines, and the castle
would soon have fallen if Nikephoros the Emperor had not come to terms. A large part of
the mound remained untouched until within a
few years, when Dr. Millingen, son of the English antiquarian of that name, once physician
to Lord Byron, and now for many years atcached to the royal household, and whose life
has been in itself a romance, commenced investigating the castle, and began by cutting
through this mound at considerable expense.
The earth he found full of human bones, and
after some work he reached the gate of the
castle, which had been walled up during the
siege; the passage for the portcullis, and the
lintel and posts of the outer entrance, remained
in excellent preservation; they proved to be




56        BYZANTINE CA STLE.
of fine white marble, elaborately embossed
with carvings such as adorn the entablatures
of Greek temples. On further investigation it
was discovered that in addition to these fragments, a large part of the masonry incorporated into the walls of the castle was taken
from the ruins of the temple of Jupiter Urius,
which occupied the site of the fortress several
centuries before; Christ, and was erected on
the spot, where, as the legend goes, Jason
consulted the oracle before launching out on
the mysterious perils of the unexplored Euxine.
Whatever credence may be given to the particular form of the legend, the existence of such a
tradition proves that this site was employed in
some way, perhaps as a beacon and a height
from whence to observe changes in the weather
at least three thousand years ago. Since that
remote period, the Greek colonist, the Persian, the Roman, the Byzantine, the Genoese,
and the Turk, have successively trod as masters on these marbles that Time has spared for
our contemplation in the nineteenth century,
and hung with a drapery of perennial verdure.
Under the water at the foot of the height of
Hier6n, some fishermen discovered a marble
bas-relief representing the ancient ceremony of
divination for the sick. It is interesting, both




THE BOSPHOR US.             57
as a work of art, and as illustrating the customs of antiquity. It is now in the possession
of Dr. Millingen.
I visited the ruin several times, and what a
grand spot it is for a prospect. With some
difficulty we scaled the ivied towers, and from
the ragged, storm-beaten battlements in whose
crannies the sea-mew builds her nest, we saw
the mouth of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea
beyond, gleaming with white sails, and vast
and glorious in its hues of green, purple, and
blue, and with a line of foam where the breakers rushed in upon the iron shores. On turning in the opposite direction, the Bosphorus lay
before us, winding from point to point, unlil it
reached Constantinople and the Sea of Marmora, and lined with villages and kioslks, minarets and majestic groves of pine. To add to
the splendor of the prospect, the eye of imagination could see the glittering legions of Constantine the Great crossing the strait at the
foot of the hill on which the castle is situated,
on their way to the overthrow of Licinius;
many centuries earlier, Darius stood on the
same eminence, gazing on the stormy Euxine
before he set out on his ill-starred expedition
against the Scythians.
The great human family is framed like the




58          ANADOLEE KCA VTAK.
globe; as the strata of the everlasting hills are
laid one on the other through long ages, so nations are founded on each other's ruin.  They
contribute their part in the plan of the universe,'succeeding generations build upon their bones,
and the mightiest empire is but a grain of sand
upon the sea-shore compared with the existence of the Eternal.
The last time I visited the old castle was
on a squally March afternoon in company with
two English residents and a young German
painter who is destined to achieve celebrity.
A one-eyed, pock-marked veteran, health officer
and commander of the port of Kavilik, who
had fought in the Greek Revolution, the Egyptian Rebellion, and the Crimea, took us over
from  Buyikde6r6 to the Asiatic shore in his
boat. We landed at Anadolee KavAk, a quaint
Turkish village, much frequented by Turkish
skippers, and showing few traces of Christian
civilization. It is rarely troubled by the presence of travellers, who do not often go out of
the beaten path to see localities not laid down
in the guide-book. Here we of course stopped
at the village coffee-shop, which is shaded by
several fine plane-trees, and took a flingJin of
coffee and a pipe, after which we picked our
way up to the castle, and sketched some of its




THE BOSPIORUS.             59
prominent features, but before we could comp)lete our task, the rain began to pour, and
drove us to seek shelter in Kavrk. By a
singular coincidence we soon found ourselves
again comfortably ensconced on the divan of
the coffee-shop, each supplied with a cup of
coffee, and meditatively inhaling the grateful
perfumes of the narghile. Before this interesting scene was over, we were joined by a young
Greek from the Health-office, who proposed
after a while that we adjourn to the Guardhouse. There we were cordially received by
our one-eyed friend, and, reclining on his divan,
were treated by him to coffee and pipes, while
he spun unconscionable yarns, and the Greek
thrummned his guitar, and sung love-songs. In
the meantime the storm was increasing in violence, the rain fell in torrents, the lightning
flashed vividly around us, and the thunder
crashed among the echoing shores of the
Bosphorus. It appeared as if we might have
to pass the night there, but in the evening
the clouds rolled away, and after many words,
without which nothing can be done in the
East, we found a boatman, willing to row us
over to Buyuikderr in a caique, drenched with
water, and sufficiently overloaded to make it
pleasant to step on shore again.




60      MELIA NE Al' B UYU xD_9Rr.
We entered a Greek mehane or wine-shop,
to refresh ourselves, but, as it was Lent and
rather late, we could only sup on meagre Lenten fare. While we were discussing our supper it was remarked that the boniface was evidently preparing to charge us a good price, as
he probably did not often entertain foreigners.
After we had finished, we called for the bill.
" Thirty piasters, gentlemen."
"MWhat, sirrah! if we were natives, would
you charge us more than ten piasters; and how
dare you ask such a ridiculous sum of us?"
"~ Very true," shrugging his shoulders deprecatingly; " but you are Englishmen, and have
money, and can pay reasonably for what you
have."
The impudence and frankness of the varlet
were so delightful, that we simultaneously
burst into a long roar of laughter; when we
could recover ourselves, we gave him ten piasters, and moved towards the door. He dashed
the money down, tore off his fez and also flung
it on the floor, and began to gesticulate, and
swear by the Virgin and all the saints, that he
had a sick wife, and half-a-dozen children, and
that it would ruin him to entertain foreigners
at the native rates.  When a Greek acts in
this manner, the probability is that he has been




THE BOSPHOR US.            61
overpaid. He followed us into the street, and
tried to snatch an umbrella from one of us, and
hurled a paving-stone at another of the party.
A seasonable punch on the head gave him new
views of the stellar creation, and so incensed
him that he rushed off to the koolooque, or
police office. In a few moments, four stalwart
zaptiehs took us in custody, and introduced us
into their quarters, where the "chief" bid us
welcome, and requested us to be seated. Each
party then made a statement of the case. WThile
our side was presenting its view of the question, the bonifice repeatedly and violently interrupted us, for which he received a blow on the
mouth, and a " sus ganum," — anglice, hold
your tongue.
After the whole " case was in," the various
items were calculated on the slates, and " the
chief" looked at us deliberately before giving
his decision. The result of his observation led
him to the conclusion that he could not safely
trifle with us, and he gave his judgment
accordingly. We were to pay the plaintiff
the nominal sum of twenty paras, in addition
to the ten piasters we had offered him. Apparently we had lost the case, but in Turkey
the winner generally pays the costs, and while
the Greek got half a piaster more than we first




(_            BUYUKDERE.
offered him, he had to pay five or six piasters,
by way of costs or backsheesh, and lost more
than he gained. We lost the case, but made
money by doing so; he won the case, but
thereby lost money; it was like the little joker,
now you see it, and now you don't. Was not
that a judgment worthy of Solomon?
The village of Buyukd6re, where this little
incident occurred, is one of the most charming
of the many delightful locations of the Bosphorus; it is situated for the most part on
one side of a broad promenade, by the water's
edge, and contains many sumptuous residences, among others the summer resorts of
most of the foreign ernbassies. In the evening, when the moon rises in her glory above
the hills, and silvers the rippling waters of the
Bosphorus, the quay is alive with ladies and
gentlemen, and a band of music blends its
mellow strains with the trill of the nightingale.
Near the village is the famous plane-tree
under which Godfrey de Bouillon is said to
have encamped. The tree is certainly very
large and venerable, but whether it is seven
hundred years old or not is very doubtful.
There is also good reason to believe that Godfrey de Bouillon and his hosts never visited
this spot.




THE B OSPHOR US.           63
The following morning I returned to Beb6k,
a quiet little village, about five miles from the
city. Like most of the villages of the Bosphorus, it is built in a hollow, the houses rising
one above the other, on terraces along the very
steep hill-sides, and looking as if they were
about to topple over upon each other. At first
sight, one is at a loss to imagine how these
houses are to be reached, but on further
acquaintance with the place, all sorts of curious, winding, narrow, and precipitous lanes
are discovered, up which one picks his way
slowly, stopping often to look back on the
glimpses of the water that reveal themselves at
every turn. On a sudden, a door seems to stop
further progress, and on entering one is ushered
into a spacious house with high and airy apartments, around which divans invite to recline
by the windows and revel in the prospects unfolded to view. The terrace on which the house
stands is seen immediately below, with its
orange, and laurel, and pomegranate trees;
lower still another terrace and its house and
garden, and below that the main street of the
village. The same scene seems to be repeated
on the opposite side of the narrow gorge, and,
as if framed like a picture, beyond and between
the hills lies the Bay of Bebek, the valley of




64              ]BEB1EK.
Geurk Soo, or the Heavenly Waters, and the
white tower mounting guard over the strait.
As you sit by the open window, the breeze
from the sea wafts in the fragrance of roses and
the low monotone of the pines that seem with
their dreamy and perpetual music to chant the
mysterious march of the passing years.
The mall of Bebek is by the waterside, and
is shaded by a group of majestic plane-trees.
There the villagers gather at all hours of the
day, particularly towards evening, and take
their coffee and smoke their narghiles. A good
part of my last visit to Constantinople was
passed in that delicious spot, beautiful in itself,
but rendered still more attractive by the many
associations that have hallowed it. There the
hours of the past would again return, and
for a while I could almost forget that youth
and its joyance once gone are gone forever.
It is the glory of that climate, that one may
sit out of doors the greater part of the year
without inconvenience.
A coffee-shop in Kutchuk, or Little Bebdk,
was one of my favorite haunts of a morning. There the fishermen could be seen drying or mending their nets, under the shade
of the chenars, or watching for fish from their
quaint fishing houses, perched high in air, or




THE B OSPHOR US.           65
pitching their boats on the beach. A group of
peasants, a knot of Turkish women and children, or a horse laden with panniers of oranges
and grapes, would happen along to help fill up
the picture, while the ever-present Bosphorus
stretched away in the distance, - purple hillsides gleaming through the golden haze of
morn.
To the foreigner, Bebek offers unusual at.
tractions, as being in a sense almost a colony
of English, Americans, and Germans. Its vicinity to Constantinople and its healthy and
agreeable location, render it a desirable residence for both merchant and missionary, and
accordingly a number of Protestant families
are to be found here, forming a delightful little
coterie, harmoniously united by kindred tastes
and interests. In that quiet, unpretending little village, one may enjoy the society of men
of commanding genius, whose life experience
has abounded in rare and stirring incident, and
whose various talents have been devoted to the
reformation of a vast empire; there books have
been translated, and youth have been educated
whose influence for good will be more and
more evident as the ages go by. Dr. Schauffler, well known for his singular career, his earnestness as a missionary, and his great powers
5




66         ROBERT COLLEGE.
as a linguist, a preacher, a musician, and a conversationalist, has resided for the last eighteen or twenty years in Bebek. The seminaries
of the American Board, which were established
there, are now located in the interior, but the
College founded by Mr. Robert is now situated there, and, as is well known, is under the
able charge of Dr. Hamlin. It seems to be
fairly under way, and promises to become a
powerful agent in the advancement of education in Turkey. It is difficult for Americans to
understand what a soul-trying work it is to
start such an institution in the East, and in
fact any thing that savors in the least degree of
progress and reform. The College now occupies the large and imposing building formerly
the seat of the Armenian Seminary. It was
originally the residence of a wealthy Armenian,
who built it many years ago. In those turbulent times, when the Janizaries were a terror
to the Christians, and even menaced the throne
itself, the owner kept his house rusty and black
on the exterior, in order to avert suspicion of
the wealth he had accumulated within its spacious halls, - a frequent device in those days;
but this did not save him; the Janizaries
marked him for their own, and on three successive occasions they sacked the house and




THE B OSPHOR US.           67
threatened the life of their helpless and unoffending victim.
Opposite Bebek, where the Bosphorus is the
narrowest, is the village of Kandillee, clinging
to the steep sides of a promontory, that stands
boldly out into the stream, and is bathed by
the dashing waters of the rapid current that
flings a diamond spray to the sunlight and
murmurs a perpetual music as it rushes by the
kiosks that line the shores. The prospect from
the brow of the eminence is perhaps the most
magnificent of all the many marvellous views
which the Bosphorus presents. Reclining in a
window, one may gaze on one hand up to the
Black Sea, with the grand old castles of Europe and Asia in the foreground below; then,
turning in the opposite direction, the eye may
follow the devious strait bordered with lovely
villages and palaces until it rests on the Sea of
Marmora, and the glittering spires of Constantinople. If the traveller has but a short time
to spend in Constantinople, and would desire
to obtain the best idea of the scenery of the
Bosphorus attainable from one spot, we strongly advise him to row up to Kandillee in a caique,
on some pleasant morning, and climbing up its
steep but very clean streets, make his way
to a half-finished and unoccupied palace on




68           IKANDILLEE.
the summit, so conspicuous as to be easily
found. There, seated under the columns of
the marble portico, he may spend hours undisturbed in the contemplation of one of the most
superb and impressive scenes which it is given
to mortal man to behold this side of Paradise.
The wondrous associations of antiquity, the
monuments of past ages, the grandeur and
loveliness of Nature, the delicacy of climate,
and the softness of atmospheric tints that invest every object with magic hues, are here
combined in a perfection that may be equalled,
but cannot be'elsewhere surpassed. The prospect from the steps of the Parthenon over the
Acropolis, the plain of Athens, its amphitheatre of historic mountains, and the white-sailed
Egean beyond, and the view from Kandillee
described above, may be considered as presenting the most inspiring and suggestive spectacles in Greece and Turkey.




IV.
ISLAM.
OWARD the last of November the great
annual pilgrimage of the faithful started
from Constantinople for Mecca. The sacred
camels adorned with green and gold trappings, were loaded with the votive offerings
of the Sultan, at the palace of BeshiktAsh,
where he now resides; they were then ferried
over to Scutary, on the opposite shore of the
Bosphorus, with a considerable number of pilgrims, after receiving the blessing of the Shekh
ul Islam, and started for the long journey to
the shrine of the Prophet, from which so few
live to return. The whole pilgrimage was formerly accomplished by land, but now steamers
share with the ships of the desert the privilege
of transporting the deluded multitude of fanatics to their destination. Strange and thrilling
incidents have sometimes occurred on board
these pilgrim-laden vessels. Years ago the
Austrian steamer Stanmbul, on the voyage succeeding the one that took me to Trebizond,




70              PILGIRIMS.
carried a deck-load of the pious to Constantinople. On the trip the fanatics arose against
the crew of Infidels, and before they could
be got under, the captain and several of his
men were killed.
It was on the Brenda, two years ago, I think,
that a similar catastrophe was very near occurring. Several hundred pilgrims embarked on
her, but as they went on board, instead of being
disarmed, as is generally the rule, they were
carelessly allowed to retain their long yataghans and muskets.  Their shekh, a bloodthirsty fanatic, took the opportunity when the
captain was on the bridge conning the vessel,
to get him into his power, after which they
mastered and prepared to massacre the crew.
But the chief engineer, a canny Scotchman,
hearing a commotion on deck, looked through
the skylight, and divined the state of affairs at
a glance. His ready wit suggested the novel
expedient of scalding the ruffians with boiling
water through the hose.  Disconcerted and
overcome bythis unforeseen enemy in the rear,
the pilgrims surrendered at discretion, and were
deprived of the means of creating further mischief.
The last terrible visitation of the cholera
seerns to have been clearly traced to Mecca,




ISLAM.               71
or rather to Jedda, its seaport, where vast numbers of pilgrims were collected at the time
when the annual festival of Korban Bairam
required the sacrifice of very many thousands
of sheep. The refuse of the slaughter was
culpably allowed by the Pasha of the district
to putrefy, the air became immediately tainted,
and enormous multitudes were swept into eternity within a few days. From Jedda, the disease was carried to Suez and Alexandria.
From Alexandria the scourge came to Constantinople in a Turkish frigate, whose officers
infamously escaped quarantine, by taking false
oaths. The knave of a port physician who, it
is said, was bribed to give them pratique, was
decapitated, but this did not prevent the epidemic from  spreading through the narrow
streets of the capital, like a fire on a western
prairie. For six weeks the angel of death
knocked at the doors of the doomed. Of the
inmates of forty houses standing in a row, all
but thirty died in one night. The malignity of
the disease exceeded any thing known in its
previous appearance in those parts, and the
number of deaths soon rose to over a thousand
a day. The panic among the inhabitants now
became something frightful. While thousands
were hurried uncoffined to the crowded ceme



72           THE CHOLERA.
teries, thousands of the living, unmindful of
their duty to their dying friends, fled to the
Black Sea in overloaded boats, or encamped
on the hills outside of the city, often with scarce
a rag to shelter them from the sun and rain.
This alone created much suffering.  With energy rather unusual in Turkey, a medical board
of supervision was established by the government which did a little toward alleviating the
horrors of the occasion. None were more indefatigable or successful in their labors at this
awful time than the missionaries.  Day and
night they were engaged in their labors of
mercy, and out of the many cases they treated
they lost less than fourteen per cent. The
remedy they chiefly employed was the famous
Hamlin mixture, familiar to the profession, together with unremitting watchfulness in diet,
and the use of restoratives and external applications, the great secret of success in many
cases being the use of the mixture on the first
appearance of diarrhcea, which most frequently
is the premonitory symptom of an attack. It
is easy for medical men to make light of the
remedy employed, but facts are stubborn things,
the statements of the missionaries are beyond
question, and until the faculty can discover
some treatment of this terrible disease that can




ISLAM.                73
save more than eighty-six per cent. of all cases,
they do themselves little credit in decrying the
treatment to which we have alluded.
The number of victims was variously estimated, but, from the burial teskeres or licenses
granted during the prevalence of the epidemic
and other data, we are inclined to think that
little less than fifty thousand perished during
the six weeks of its continuance. The plague
of 1837 carried off one hundred and seven thousand persons, but it lingered for nearly a year.
Some of the non-Protestant Bulgarians of
Constantinople, who were moved with gratitude
for the attentions the missionaries had bestowed on them and their countrymen during
the pestilence, presented them with an address
of thanks. This was the more pleasing because
gratitude is not one of the prominent virtues
of the Oriental Christian, being sufficiently rare
to excite surprise when exhibited. In passing
we ma  bserve t           ularians        -
haps the most promiSirg of the m iny races
under the Ottomain d ini* he Armenians
ranki  nextin    hopeful characteris  Less
vivacious, acute, versatile, and handsome than
the Greeks, they however displav more uniform
self-respect, common sense, and sincerity.  A
strong desire for independence and thirst after




74              BAIRAM.
progress and knowledge, are gradually preparing the Bulgarians for the day when they shall
be finally emancipated from the Turkish rule.
Late in February occurred the great week
of the Turkish year, answering to the Holy
Week of the Romish Church; as the Turkish
months are lunar, this event varies from year
to year in the season of its arrival. In this instance the week began on February 20th, which
was the anniversary of the period when Mohammed first experienced the divine inspirations that resulted in the Koran. In celebration
of this event, the Sultan repaired in the evening
to the elegant mosque of TUpe Han6. Most
of the Ottoman fleet had been brought out of
their winter quarters in the Golden Horn and
moored in the Bosphorus, in anticipation of
the occasion. As night came on illuminations
became visible from shore to shore; the menof-war were lighted up with battle-lanterns
from stem to stern, from deck to masthead, and
the mosque of Tope Hane and its pair of lofty
and graceful minarets were a blaze of glory;
when the Sultan set out from his palace the
artillery of frigates and line-of-battle ships
rent the air with long-reverberating peals that
rumbled up the steep, winding shores of the
Bosphorus like a thunder-storm in mountain




ISLA M.               75
gorges; then fireworks were sent into the
sky, and night was turned into day.  After
this spectacle was over every Mussulmnan was
in anxious expectation for the appearance of
the new moon, that would close the annual
fast of Ramazin and inaugurate the Bai'ram
or three days' jubilee. Every Mohammedan
considers himself a special watchman appointed
to discover the new moon at this time, and
couriers or telegrams are sent from different
quarters where it has been visible to the naked
eye; so that if clouds should interfere with its
appearance at the capital, Bai'ram can still
begin.
As soon as the intelligence of the moon's
discovery is known, salvos of artillery are fired,
and on the ensuing morning the Sultan gives
his great annual reception, in the precincts of
the Seraglio, to the "lords spiritual and temporal " of the empire. At sunrise he goes to one
of the chief mosques and offers his devotions,
and then returns to the Seraglio to hold his
levee. The corps diplomatique have a gallery
from whence to witness the ceremony, and are
expected to attend.  Four or five tickets admitting each a gentleman and lady, are sent to
each of the embassies for distribution to friends
or travellers. I was so fortunate as to have a




76         STA TE PA GEANTS.
ticket placed at my disposal, and had a fine
opportunity of observing all that was to be
seen. A merry company of six, we left the
village of Beb4k on the Bosphorus at daybreak, in a comfortable caique, and reached
Stambull in season to see the royal procession
going and returning from the mosque of Achmet. The royal band struck up the " Carvinal
at Venice " and other familiar airs; then,
through a lane of soldiers in sumptuous uniforms, came the generals and other public men
of the empire, dressed in a style magnificent
beyond description, and mounted on Arab
horses caparisoned with equal splendor, and
beautiful as any steeds that ever trod the earth.
Such a display of sleek, graceful, spirited,
thoroughbred animals is seen but rarely in a
lifetime. Last of all came Fuad Pasha, the
Grand Vizier, after whom followed the royal
body-guard, magnificently uniformed and composed of as handsome a collection of men as
could be found anywhere; many of them are
over six feet, and few are under that height. A
curious feature of the guard is a mounted company composed of the scions of families of
rank representing the various races under the
Ottoman dominion, two from each race, in the
peculiar costume of their respective national



ISLAM.                77
ities, and riding their steeds like centaurs.
After these came the Sultan, Abdfil Aziz, in
plain black; then followed several regiments
of cavalry, and lastly a confused multitude of
spectators.
We presented our tickets at the gate of the
Seraglio, and on securing our position, saw the
Sultan under one of the broad-roofed, gayly
decked porticoes so characteristic of the Seraglio, and of Constantinople. He was seated
on a golden throne placed on a heavy, embroidered carpet of crimson satin. Then the
Grand Vizier approached and kissed the hem
of the carpet, and was followed in succession
by the different pashas according to rank;
these were succeeded by the Shekh ul Islam,
the high-priest of Mohammedanismrr and the
expounder of its laws, - a fine, venerable man,
supported by two attendants; the Sultan stood
up to receive him; then came a long train of
inferior priests, clad in green and purple tunics
massively embroidered with gold. During the
whole of this ceremony Abdul Aziz, except in
one or two instances, received his kneeling
subjects with an indifference approaching disdain, gazing around at the foreigners present,
stroking his beard, and at one time actually
smiling, and holding his hand over his mouth as




78         STATE PAGE4NTS.
if to restrain an impulse to laugh. As soon as
the ceremony was over he rose, and reintered
the kiosk rapidly, as if he considered the whole
thing a wearisome farce.
Some who have investigated the origin of
this annual pageant, incline to the opinion that
it is the continuation of a ceremony borrowed
after the Turkish conquest from the Byzantine
court, and the ceremonial of the Byzantine
emperors was but the triumphs of consular
and imperial Rome transferred to Constantinople and celebrated annually; so that this
Turkish spectacle may be considered a sequel
to a custom established rather more than two
thousand years ago.  Nothing equalling its
barbaric splendor is to be seen anywhere else
in this age. It reminds one of the marvellous
tales of the " gorgeous East;" it is like a vision
of the " Arabian Nights." A stranger gazing on
such pomp and splendor would find it difficult
to realize what poverty and wretchedness are
the lot of the millions of Turkey, and on the
verge of what an abyss it is tottering, were it
not that the vivid contrast presented by the
squalid streets, the decaying houses, the stolid
throngs, along the route of the pageant, suggested the true condition of the country. It was
exactly the same with the power that preceded




ISLAM.               79
it; long after the Eastern or Lower Empire
had nothing left to it but the territory immediately around Constantinople and the meagre
glory of a shadowy renown, the ceremonials
and external attributes of royalty were observed
as rigorously as if the Byzantine sceptre still
ruled from the Euphrates to the Danube.
Such is the present condition of the Turkish
monarchy. At the capital there is a certain
show of splendor, but in the provinces there is
grinding oppression and untold misery. The
high officials put their subordinates under a
force-pump, and they in turn squeeze the
people.  " The Devil take the hindmost" is
the universal principle of action. Brigandage,
misrule, peculation, starvation, ruin, and perhaps depopulation, run riot throughout the
empire. The government is bankrupt; it is
obliged to negotiate frequent loans at enormous discounts to meet the interest on the
rapidly accumulating public debt and the
expenses of the superbly uniformed guards,
the iron-clads, and the women of the Sultan.
When I was last in Constantinople most of
the government employ6s had received no pay
for seven months, while the Sultan made no
change in his lavish expenditures, and the chief
pashas and generals took care that there should




80            FUAD PASHA.
be no deficit in their salaries. It must be said,
however, that even the highest dignitaries of
the realm are sometimes pinched for means.
Their position requires them to maintain considerable external pomp, while their private
menage is often on a very reduced scale; there
are few in Turkey who do not lead a sort of
hand-to-mouth existence. And all this, be it
remembered, is not in a young country, with
an enterprising people and abundant resources
like ours, that might shake off the nightmare
of despair that weighs it down and start anew
with renovated powers. The nation is in its
dotage, and is more like some hoary sinner
made prematurely decrepit by excess, than like
the venerable patriarch who in a green old age
is crowned with glory and honor.
The press, limited as is its influence, is subsidized to represent affairs couleur de irose. It is
a useless task to undertake to arouse the Sultan
to a knowledge of the true state of affairs in
his dominions. The attempt is generally attended with the loss of favor, nor are there
many found sufficiently virtuous or courageous
to approach him with unpleasant information
or advice. During my stay in Constantinople,
one of the first pashas of the empire ventured
to enlighten Abdufl Aziz as to the state of




ISLAM.                81
the treasury and the corrupt practices ot Fuad
PashA the Grand Vizier.  The Sultan was
filled with rage when the melancholy revelation disclosed to him a condition of things of
which he had never dreamed. Extensive reformts in the conduct of the administration
were confidently predicted as the result of these
disclosures, and so certain seemed the downfall
of Fuad Pasha that the parasites of the court
already began to curry favor with his supposed
successor, the pasha who had opened the eyes
of the Sultan. But Fuad Pasha found means
to regain his influence over his royal master,
who made him a gift of ~10,000 at the Great
BaYirim  as a token of returning confidence,
and the Grand Vizier had the additional satisfaction of seeing his rival sent into a sort of
honorary exile. Fuad PashA is, however, no
worse, but probably better than the greater
part of the Turkish pashas. He is something
of a literary character, and was in early life a
schoolmaster; he has also written the best
existing grammar of the Turkish language.
Theoretically he belongs to the party of reform, and doubtless does all he can for the
progress of Turkey consistently with his own
interests, but these, we fear, lead him too often
out of the path of rectitude prescribed for the
6




82           THE SICK IMAJN.
guidance of the pure-hearted and high-minded
statesman and patriot.
It is difficult to imagine a truly able, and at
the same time disinterested and faithful, man
as Grand Vizier of Turkey in these her degenerate days. Virtue has no part in the counsels
of the empire. A handsome person, address,
cunning, these are the passports to the places
of honor in the East.  Turk and Christian
alike agree as to the worth of the moral qualities in the abstract, but they are also agreed
in regarding them as impracticable in the conduct of life, and as but poor recommendations
to their possessor. The last great statesman
and patriot of Turkey was Achm4t Kuprilee,.who died in 1674.
Turkey as an independent power has survived so many years and generations since its
fall was first predicted, that he must indeed be
a bold man who will venture any more prophecies on the subject. But it requires, notwithstanding, very little penetration to perceive that
the empire is only held together by the great
Christian powers, and that, on the failure of
any one of these supporters to prop the tottering fabric, it will crumble to pieces and be resolved into its original elements, which will
either be swallowed up. by Russia or be rees



ISLAM1I.             83
tablished on the national bases that existed
before the Turkish invasion.  In European
Turkey the number of Ottomans forms so
small a proportion of the whole population, -
less than 1,500,000, - and the Christians of the
Principalities are so vigorously arousing to a
desire for their long-lost freedom, that it is
difficult to see how the sway of the Crescent
can continue many years longer north of the
Bosphorus. The Turk in Europe has always
been an exotic; but it would be a very possible thing for a diminished but more homogeneous, and therefore a reinvigorated, Ottoman monarchy to exist for some centuries yet
in Asia Minor, where the Moslems are on a more
congenial soil, and number nearly fifteen millions. The radical defect of the Turkish rule
is that it is founded on the Koran and is essentially theocratic, and therefore, while tolerably
well adapted to the age in which it originated,
it contains within itself the seeds of decay.
Progress is fatal to its existence. The introduction of the civil and military reforms of
Europe into Turkey is a concession drawn
from the weakness of a system that abhors but
adopts them as a last resort, and in the vain
hope that by this means the inevitable doom
may be averted. Such a concession is the




84         FALL OF TURKEY.
recent ordinance allowing the printing of the
Koran for the purpose of its more general diffusion, so as to counteract the influence of the
books disseminated by the missionaries; hitherto
it has been held that to preserve the Koran in
other than manuscript forms would be a profanation.  The progress of Christianity may
elevate the condition of the Turks individually,
but it strikes at the very basis on which the
throne of Othman is established, and seals the
fall of his dynasty. It is no more than natural
that Mohammedan laws should be rigorous, as
they have been, against those who leave Islamism to embrace Christianity, for by so doing
they abjure not only their religion, but also to
a great degree their citizenship. This applies
with similar force to those who forsake any of
the Christian sects of the East to become Protestants, and is some slight palliation for the
religious persecutions that have occurred there
so frequently. In this view of the question we
can somewhat understand what a decisive
triumph Christianity achieved when Turkey
abolished the death penalty against Mohammedans who become Christians; when the
Sultan signed the edict that erased that law
from the Turkish code, he signed the deathwarrant of the Ottoman Empire. The demand




iSLAM.               85
of the Christian powers for this fatal measure
wras like the " habet" pronounced by the
throngs of the Coliseum, which sealed the
wounded gladiator's doom.
There is another cause that would alone
hasten the extinction of the Turkish power.
The Turks as a race are handsome and manly,
and yield to none in valor; and although more
cruel than most Christian nations, are naturally
less sanguinary than the Persians and some
other Eastern races; but there is a limit
beyond which the national character finds it
impossible to make further civil and political
progress; and, as with some other Oriental
tribes, and with the North American Indians,
intercourse with superior races seems rather to
degrade than to elevate. The Turks on the
seaboard, for example, have, by contact with
Europeans, become greatly vitiated, and present few of the lofty traits which ennobled the
barbarism of their ancestors, and which are still
to be found in the more secluded regions of
Asia Minor. Although they have a long coast
abounding in good harbors, and although they
possess a territory rich in soil beyond many,
yet they are neither a maritime, commercial,
nor a really agricultural people by nature, and
this alone would seem to insure the disappear



86            ABDUL AZIZ.
ance of the Turks as a distinct people. Nomadic in their origin, they still, after the lapse
of ages, retain many of the characteristics of
their sires who roamed over the steppes beyond
the Oxus, and, like other pastoral races, are
destined to be overcome and absorbed or swept
away by the energy and intelligence of Christian civilization.
Abdufl Azfz has the reputation of being the
most accomplished spendthrift of the age.
Building and pulling down palaces, purchasing
iron-clads that cost ~500,000 each and are of
no use except to amuse the warlike tastes of
the Sultan, following the chase, and gliding
about in his steam yachts, these are the chief
occupations of the descendant of Sulyman the
Magnificent and the ruler of thirty-one millions.
It is easy from our advanced position to blame
him; it is not so easy to give him our pity;
and yet he is deserving of both. Can a man
be born too late? this is a question for casuists
to decide, but when we consider the fate of
Abdul Aziz, we are inclined to answer in the
affirmative.  He is not destitute of talents, of
strength of character, of ambition, but the
qualities he possesses are not such as enable
him to make a figure in this age. He has inherited the inclinations of Bayazid Ilderim and




ISLAM.                87
of Mahomet the Second. Had he lived in the
days when the irregular soldiery and rude civilization of Christendom were on a par with
the Tartar races, Abdul Aziz might have
hurled his triumphant Janizaries against the
walls of Vienna, and blanched the cheek of
many a Christian maiden with the terror of
his name. But what can he do now with such
ill-timed talents, kept in seclusion during the
greater part of his life, ignorant of a system
of finances and government contrary to all the
traditions of his house, and conscious that inexorable Fate, that doom from which the true
believer feels that there is no appeal, hangs impending over the empire bequeathed to him by
his fathers? Those very pageants and lavish
displays which are the chief cause of grievance
against his reign, would in other days have
emblazoned the pages of Turkish history with
the hues of romance. Is it strange that he
chafes against the customs and the laws of
nations of his time, that he longs to draw his
scimetar against the cross, and that he is
haunted by the awful demon of melancholy
when he finds himself powerless to act?
What is more sad than to see a nation gradually sinking to its grave? We may not necessarily approve its character nor desire its




88           R EFLE CTI ONS.
continued existence; but when we read upon
its brow the marlks of dissolution, and know
that ere long a great nation must pass away
forever to the halls of oblivion, we must be
hard-hearted indeed not to sympathize in the
agonies of the falling race. This it is which
imparts such a softness, such a tender beauty,
to the ruins, the monuments, the scenery, and
the people of Constantinople. It is the pensive
loveliness that rests upon the quiet hills in the
closing days of Autumn when the year is dying -a loveliness more in harmony with the
deeper emotions of the soul than the radiance
of Spring. Go linger in the deserted halls of
the doomed capital, glide gently by her crumbling palaces, and dream the hours away on
her gray, forsaken walls, against which the
wave beats unheeded, where the sea-bird dwells
and the wild poppy nods in the sighing wind
of the south; there ponder the fate of empires,
the transitory nature of human affairs, the littleness of man, and the vastness of eternity.




THE STAR IN THE EAST.
\O work that aims to give a correct view
of the various social systems of Turkey,
and of the diverse agencies that are agitating or overturning its institutions, can with
justice avoid mnention of the missions which
have already produced such remarkable results, and are yet destined to revolutionize
the character of Oriental organizations.  It
is cause for regret that so few of the many
able volumes on Turkey should give only a
passing notice to a question of such importance, even then too often dismissing the
subject with a jest or a sneer. We have
even known of clergymen who, when visiting
the Levant, have been cordially and hospitably entertained by the missionaries, and have
exhibited much interest in the antiquities and
scenery around them, but have avoided inquiries into the missionary work or given it
but a superficial glance, and on their return
home have reported unfavorably on the prog



90           MISSIONARIES.
ress of missions. Happily such extreme cases
are exceptions.
In order rightly to estimate the results
which missions have actually achieved, one
must have a thorough acquaintance with the
various races, creeds, and customs of the
people whom the missionary is endeavoring
to elevate; without such information he cannot fairly apprehend what should be reasonably expected from the missionary enterprise,
and whether the results are equivalent to the
effort expended. One must also have sufficient knowledge of the progress made by
other people under similar conditions, and
sufficient breadth of view to enable him to
see the relations of things, to draw just analogies and to arrive at impartial conclusions.
It is needless to say that many of the writers
on Turkey have allowed themselves to approach the subject of missions in such a
manner as to lead us to think them destitute of the above qualifications.
Although the missionaries would be the last
to say it, we venture to plead in their behalf,
that it is both ungenerous and unmanly to
treat their endeavors with levity, even supposing them to be in a measure unsuccessful: the noble object to which their efforts




THE STAR IN THE EAST.           91
are directed, the sacrifices which they have
made for the cause of benevolence, and the
character and talents that most of them possess, which would have enabled many of
them to attain wealth, position, and fame,
if they had preferred their emolument to the
dictates of conscience, these alone should
secure for them the respect of those who
have occasion to allude to their labors, even
if they consider those labors misdirected.
It is not in the scope of this little volume to
give here a table of statistics on this subject,
for which we refer the reader to the publications of the missionary societies, although it
may be apropos in passing to remind him
that less than fifty years ago there was not
a missionary to any race within the vast
territory of the Sultan; Christianity, except
in name, had no existence; the Bible was
not to be found in the vernacular tongues; to
abjure Mohammedanism was certain death;
and a moral apathy characterized the universal Oriental mind, which seemed effectually
to hinder religious and intellectual progress
for ages to come. Not half a century has
elapsed,-one of the first missionaries sent
out still lives, and one of the heroic pioneers,
Dr. Goodell, has but recently passed away,



92       MISSIONARY RESULTS.
and already we see stations scattered over all
parts of the Turkish Empire from the Danube
to the Nile, the centres of Protestant communities where missionaries are resident and
churches are established, with a constantly increasing number of members, while many of
the neighboring towns display a rapidly growing interest in the spread of practical Christianity. We see hundreds and thousands who,
through violent persecutions, civil disabilities,
and contumely, have stood firm in the faith
which their conscience has accepted; we see
schools where thousands of youth are preparing for future usefulness, and seminaries where
pastors have been trained, who are in a large
measure supported by the indigent churches
over which they are installed; we see the
Bible and hundreds of other volumes translated into many distinct dialects; we see the
death penalty abolished, and missionaries allowed to labor among the Mohamrnmedans unmolested; we see women learning to read and
to realize that they are intellectual and responsible beings; we see the Protestants constituting a separate civil community, represented
by their chosen agent or head at the Grand
Porte; we see them recognized and respected
by the sects which exhausted all human effort




THE STAR IN THE EAST.          93
to crush the aspiring spirit of religious and
civil liberty, that liberty of conscience unknown before in the East since the creation;
and finally, after much tribulation, we see the
Protestant a man whose rectitude is honored
even by his enemies, whose word is taken
as truth, and whose example many would
gladly follow if they could muster the moral
courage to break loose from the shackles of
prejudice or worldly interest which enthrall
them.
If missions in Turkey had accomplished no
more than this, it would be more than sufficient to close the lips of the caviler, and they
who have given their hearts, their labors, and
their lives to the cause would be still entitled
to the lasting gratitude of mankind. But
great as are the apparent results of the missionary enterprise, greater than there was any
reason to expect in so brief a period, the
work yet to be accomplished is so much more
vast, that if nothing more had been done, we
might still feel at times a degree of impatience if this were all. But it is not all; the
results we see are but the blossoms just appearing in the top of the tree, which are
destined to cover every bough with beautiful
flowers that will in time yield an abundant




94         LAWS OF REFORM.
fruition. The real work which missions have
wrought, and which cannot be set down in
figures, but must be presented to the contemplation of the reflecting mind, is a work of preparation, of sowing the seed that shall be harvested by generations yet to be. The progress
of the race to higher planes of moral and religious culture is gradual and, to our short-sighted
vision, slow; "there is no being so certain as
God, and none so slow." It requires little
knowledge of history to perceive that the outbreak of revolutions, the upheaval of monarchies, the overthrow of tyrannical hierarchies,
the transformation of the social and moral
economy of communities, however sudden they
may appear to the superficial observer, do in
reality result from causes more or less obvious
operating for ages, until affairs become ripe
for the change, and reach that critical point
when a seemingly trivial matter produces tremendous consequences; when the yielding of
a barrier suddenly floods the country with
waters that have silently accumulated until
they could rend the dykes asunder.  It is
evident that there are laws governing the
moral as well as the physical world, and the
progress of missionary reform  has generally
conformed to to these laws. This line of rea



THE STAR IN THE EAST.          95
soning should by no means be understood
as leading to the adoption of the fatalistic
theory, that would dispense with the necessity and efficacy of the means usually employed in promoting the spiritual welfare of
mankind.
From this point of view we are able to gain
a correct estimate of the results which missions have actually achieved already in Turkey.
Millions of volumes have been issued in many
different languages and dialects, and disseminated over extensive regions; two hundred
thousand copies of the Bible alone, in twenty
languages, have been thus scattered over the
land during the last eight years and a half, a
large portion of them having been purchased
by the natives out of their poverty, so great is
the desire for the gospel. Thus is bread cast
upon the waters which shall appear again in
due time; thus the rising generations are educated and elevated, and seed is sown whose
fruits shall increase more and more abundantly
as the ages go by.  Take, for example, the
Avedaper, a bi-monthly newspaper in Armenian, issued at Constantinople, first proposed
and started by Mr. Benjamin, after attempting
for years to procure permission for its publication from the public censor. He was able to




96        THE PRESENT WORK.
issue but two or three numbers, but since his
death it has been continued by the mission. A
thousand copies now find their way over all
parts of the Turkish Empire. When a copy
reaches a subscriber in a village remote among
the mountains, he reads it to his neighbors who
drop in of an evening, or it is read and discussed in the village coffee-shop, or it is borrowed by one and another, until it is worn to
shreds. Mr. Bliss, the present editor, estimates
that the 1000 copies subscribed for have 10,000
readers; we are inclined to think that his estimate is too low.
Here is another example of the way rays of
light are gradually dispelling the moral gloom
that broods over those lands. It was my privilege to be present on a certain evening at the
weekly meeting held by Mr. Trowbridge, the
city missionary, in one of the many khans or
caravanseries in which natives visiting Constantinople for business take up their abode
during their sojourn in the city. On this occasion there were fifty-three present, — Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Turks,- and
they were from forty-two different towns in the
Turkish Empire. Most of these men were intending to return sooner or later whence they
had come; they would carry away more or less




THE STAR IN THIE EAST.         97
impression of the truth they have heard at those
meetings, and not a few would take with them
Bibles or other instructive volumes, perhaps to
places far off in the interior, where the missionary had not yet penetrated. Years will
elapse, and then perhaps calls for aid will suddenly come from that distant town, the missionary will visit the place and find many ready to
welcome him and the truth he proclaims; and
the cause of this awakening may be traced to
some little tract or some suggestive words carried away, pondered, and discussed by one
who has attended an evening meeting in a
Constantinople khan. Similar cases have repeatedly occurred.
The question of civil and religious reform is
already agitating almost all the numerous races
that compose the heterogeneous empire of Turkey. Many, who are not yet willing to forsake
their civil relations, are still sufficiently aroused
to demand a higher order of priesthood, a purer
life on the part of the clergy, and liberty for
the laity to own and to read the Bible in the
spoken tongues. It is not impossible that the
problem of Oriental Christianity may eventually be solved in this manner; that is, that the
ferment working in the Greek, the Armenian,
and the Nestorian Churches may result in the
7




98  CHANGES WROUGHT BY MISSIONS.
thorough purification of those corrupt systems,
and the reestablishment of their influence over
the people on a liberal and truly evangelical
basis; although it must be confessed that it
requires strong faith to foresee such a result.
But when we consider what a revolution has
taken place since the missionaries first went to
Turkey, forty years ago, what a general cornmotion has succeeded the profound stupor of
superstition which then oppressed Christian
and Mohammedan alike, we find abundant encouragement for future effort. To go into the
details of the changes in Turkey which are
traceable to missions would be to write volumes; those only who have lived there many
years can fully realize what has been performed,
and how great is the promise for coming ages.
That very sagacious writer, Defoe, remarks in
Robinson Crusoe, "' I have often observed that
the Christian religion always civilizes and
reforms their manners where it is received,
whether it works saving effects upon them or
no: " and this applies to Protestant missions
in the East.  Their influence for social reformn
is felt in a thousand ways, even when it only
affects the temporal condition of the people.
Science, commerce, increased means of intercourse, and even a higher tone of legislation,




THE STAR IN THE EAST.            99
have followed in the wake of the first vessel
that sailed from Boston with rrmissionaries on
board.  It is proper to state that these observations are not made in the interest of any one
missionary society, but apply to most of the
evangelical associations laboring for the moral
elevation of the Oriental races.
If the traveller in the Levant, who usually
visits only Constantinople and other seaport
towns of Turkey, sees less of the immediate
results of missionary labors there than he expected to find, it is because the work there has
more of a preparatory character than elsewhere;
there is the arsenal where the weapons are prepared that are to overthrow the army of the
aliens; there the Bible is translated; there
books and periodicals are edited and printed,
and from thence scattered throughout the Orient. It is a silent, unobtrusive work, the work
of the press, but it is the mighty lever by which
superstitions and tyrannies are uprooted, and
by which nations are reestablished on the lasting foundations of truth.
Another reason why Constantinople presents
fewer converts in proportion to other stations
is on account of the far greater degree of vice
and frivolity existing in a capital of that size.
A  sensible man does not look for sunbeams




100          THE VICTORY.
from cucumbers, nor does he go to New York
City or New Orleans to gain correct notions
as to the condition of vital Christianity in the
United States; no more should he look to
Constantinople for the most apparent results
of missionary effort in Turkey.
In a word, the trumpets have been blown
around the strongholds of error; the walls are
toppling to the fall. The final and overwhelming triumph of the Cross may not be in our
day and generation, but it is none the less certain, although the onward march should continue down the ages of the hereafter. In the
protracted struggle, prejudices and customs
venerable with age may be overthrown; cormmunities may be shaken to their foundations,
and governments and empires may pass away
to make room for organizations better adapted
to the growing wants of progressive races; but
through all these convulsions one great fact
will become more and more prominent-the
mental, moral, and physical condition of the
people will be elevated; the burial of the corrupt systems of the East will be followed by
the resurrection of the Oriental tribes to spheres
of usefulness and prosperity more worthy of
the immortal soul.




VI.
ANATOLIA.
EARLY in January I made a trip to Nicomedia. It is a city about fifty miles from
Constantinople, once a place possessing celebrity and splendor, but now fallen from its high
estate, and but rarely visited by foreigners. A
deck passage on a small Turkish steamer was
the mode of going thither, and one is well repaid for whatever discomforts attend travel on
these Turkish boats by the beauties of the surrounding scenery, and the entertainment afforded by the amusing groups clustered on the
deck, warming themselves around the funnel,
or saying their prayers at noon. As we glided
across the Marmora, we had the snow-clad
range of the Bithynian Olympus before us, nine
thousand feet high.
We touched at two or three points in the
Gulf of Nicomedia, and found diversion in observing the skill of the Turkish seamen. The
water was smooth as a mill-pond, but they so
managed as to stave in the bulwarks at the




102       ORIENTA L SWEARING.
pier of Daridge. The captain, the mate, the
pilot, the cook, the sailors, all gave orders at
the same time, all shouting to the steersman
different directions, and all swearing without
stint. The art of swearing is carried to the
highest perfection in the East.  There was
doubtless considerable talent of that sort developed in our army, and choice specimens
may be heard at Denver and Washoe; but
after all, those who cultivate the " black art"
in America have much to learn before they can
attain the eloquence, the volubility, the rich
fancy, the ingenuity of expression, the command of language, the boldness of metaphor,
which characterize Oriental swearing. There
is something grotesquely horrible in the profusion of epithets and the manner in which
maledictions are heaped on one's head, his
eyes, and the various members of his body; on
his parents and all his relatives and ancestors
to the remotest generation; on his goods and
possessions, his house, his horse, or his donkey,
and in the obscenity that colors it all. The
presence of women has little effect in checking
it; the women themselves indulge in this little
pastime in a manner to bring shame to the
cheek of a modest woman. The Devil took
the tremendous vehemence of Dante's "' In



ANATOLIA.             103
ferno," mixed with it the terrific irony of Zoilus
and Pasquino, then compounded with these
certain hellish ingredients best known to himself, and lo! the result of the process is the profane swearing of the Levant.
Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, the only missionaries
stationed at Nicomedia, gave me a very cordial
welcome. The next day we crossed the head
of the gulf and climbed fifteen hundred feet to
the village of Baktchejik, an Armenian community among the mountains. It contains a
good number of enrolled Protestants, but the
whole place is to a great degree enlightened.
There is a Protestant chapel on the brow of
the acclivity, and, as we toiled up the steep,
muddy road from the sea, on the calm air of
evening we heard the musical sound of a
church bell. It sounded like the church bells
of New England. " That bell must have been
cast in America!" was my exclamation; and
sure enough it was.  Five thousand miles
away, some worthy people donated it to the
villagers of Baktchejik, and now it rings among
the mountains of Turkey, the harbinger of better things, the herald of peace.
We spent the night in a sort of backwoods
style in a slight building constructed, like the
native houses, of adobes, or sun-dried bricks,




104    BAKTC5HEJIK; NICOMEDIA.
where Mr. Parsons spends the summer, as at
that season the fever and ague renders Nicomedia unfit for a residence. Over a small pan
of coals we boiled our tea and toasted our bread
and our hands, the air, both inside and out of
the house, not being of a nature to promote
warmth, after which Mr. Parsons spent the
evening in making pastoral visits.
The following morning we climbed still
higher behind the village, to see the sun rise,
and a magnificent prospect it was. All around
us were mountains towering far above the
point on which we stood, robed in snow and
ice; and, as the sun rose higher and higher,
peak after peak caught the spreading glory and
fairly burned with splendor against the deep,
cloudless azure of the sky.  Below us the
plain, the sea, and Nicomedia, gleaming in the
distance, were half concealed with fleecy morning mist, that enhanced their loveliness like the
white veil that scarcely hides the expressive
eyes and delicate complexion of a Circassian
beauty. We then walked back to the sea, and
a light breeze wafted us across in little more
than an hour.
The remainder of my visit was devoted to
rambling around the environs of Nicomedia,
and spying out its antiquities. In the reign of




ANA TOL A.             105
Diocletian it ranked as the fourth city of the
Roman Empire, both for size and sumptuousness. Diocletian made it his favorite residence
until his retirement to Salona, and it was on
the plain outside of the city that he finally abdicated his throne and went into seclusion.
Nothing now remains to mark the former
splendor of the town except its commanding
situation, on the slope of four hills, with a
lovely bay at its feet, half encircled with mountains five to six thousand feet high.  The
scenery reminds one of the Italian lakes. The
Acropolis is yct surmounted by a ring of venerable towers,,overed with luxuriant ivy, and
fragments of the old wall remain far beyond
the present limits of the city. There is still in
excellent preservation the tomb of Valerius,
an actuarius or quartermaster of the imperial
guards, raised to his memory, as the inscription
says, by his affectionate wife; and the sarcophagi rifled from the ancient cemetery, furnish
troughs to the fountains of the whole neighborhood.  The street pavement often contains
marble slabs with inscriptions, and in the adobe
walls of the houses or gardens, antique marbles
are curiously incorporated. The tourist who
is in search of beautiful scenery, enriched with
interesting ruins and abounding in duck or




106         TRIP TO IVICEA.
other game, should visit the Gulf of Nicomedia
in the last of the fall, or in winter and spring.
After my return to Constantinople, and during the last w'eek in January, I learned that
Mr. Parsons was to start on the following day
from Nicomedia for a trip to Nicna or Tsnik and
the adjacent villages among the mountains.
He takes this tour two or three times a year,
and, as it extends through a rough district, and
as he travels in a very simple way, it presented
such attractions that I concluded to accompany him. But, on arriving at Nicomedia, and
finding he had already a day's start of me, I
decided to subtend the arc he -was -to go over
in three days, and meet him at Koordbeleng.
On Thursday afternoon my surrigee or guide
brought the horses to the door; they were saddled with something that resembles the Mexican
saddle, but the stirrups are set so far back as
to make it agreeable for those who are accustomed to the European saddle to suspend them
from the bow in front. In this way the Turkish saddle can be exceeded by no other in comfort for a long journey.
A trot of five hours and a half took us to
Sabanje, and we rode up to a coffee-house to
pass the night. As it was the season of Ramazan, the annual fast a month long, during




ANA TOLIA.              107
which Mohammedans neither eat, drink, nor
smoke from sunrise to sunset, and carouse most
of the night, the coffee-house was full of Turks
smoking to a late hour.
Let not a Soph'more think he smokes,
Nor let a Freshman think he's smoked,
until they have seen the solid blue tobaccosmoke in a coffee-house in the interior of Asia
Minor.
These coffee-houses are built for the most
part on one plan. A door at one end opens
from the street into a large apartment with no
other floor than the earth, beaten hard by the
feet, and filthy to an indefinite degree. A divan,
six or seven feet wide and several feet high,
ranges along each side of the room, and is covered with a mat inhabited by larger or smaller
swarms of vermin, according to the season.
Winter is popularly supposed to have a benumbing effect on the aggressive disposition
of fleas and " such small deer;' it may be the
case. Opposite to the street door is the small
fire-place where coffee is cooked, and next to
this is the door into the stable. On entering,
the guest makes his salaam and takes up his
quarters on the divan, and the caffegee brings
him a cup of hot coffee.'Whether it is the
effect of early education or not, the writer con



108  COFFEE AND COFFEE-HOUSES.
fesses to the opinion that neither the boasted
French coffee nor ally other boasted coffee is to
be compared with the Turkish beverage. It is
roasted as soon as possible before cooking, and
is ground very fine, and even pounded in a mortar, if desired to be of extra quality. Enough
for one individual is put into the water with
the sugar in a metal pot holding about a gill.
It is then allowed to boil or foam up three
times; then taken off the fire and allowed to
stand a minute; after which it is poured out and
sipped as hot as convenient. Thus prepared, it
is the most delicious of drinks for those who
like it. For breakfast, it is sometimes cooked in
the same way, but in a larger quantity, and with
milk substituted instead of water.
After you have drunk your coffee, the caffegee brings a pan of coals and places it before
you on the divan, if it is winter, and a narghil6, if so desired. Over these coals you warm
yourself and cook your supper; then roll yourself up in your blanket and make the divan
your couch, with your coat rolled up for a pillow. In the morning you have another cup of
coffee from the caffegee, and, after paying for
the coffee and the care of the horses a piaster or two - four to eight cents —you make
your salaam, the caffegee wishes you God



ANATOLIA.             109
speed, you give your whip a crack, and start
down the narrow street with a pack of dogs
snapping at your heels. Such is the way the
traveller fares in the interior of Asia Minor.
After supping and prescribing to a sick man,
— in Turkey, all foreigners are presumed to
have medical knowledge, —I rolled myself in
my yorghrn and snatched two hours of sleep.
But a long shout awoke me; the Tartar or
mail carrier had arrived from Constantinople,
en route to Bagdad; and a few minutes later
the clatter of hoofs and another shout were
heard, and this time it was the Tartar fiom
Bagdad who had arrived on his way to Constantinople. These Tarttirs are picked men
of fine appearance, dressed picturesquely and
armed to the teeth. They travel day and night
with one or two attendants, and with a train
of four horses; they often carry money, and
incur more or less risk of robbery. It had not
been long before that the Tartar was murdered
between Constantinople and Nicomedia. There
was little sleep for the rest of the night, and
we were off' soon after dawn for Koordbeleng.
We passed through lovely scenery, Lake
SabanjE on our left and the mountains on our
right; then through a fine forest of doddered
oaks, on one of which we spied a noble pair




110    GORGE OF THE SAKA1RIUS.
of eagles, and toward noon we reached the Sakarius. This river is the second in size in Asia
Minor, in width perhaps less than the Connecticut, but considerably longer. There is a
Roman bridge in good preservation that once
crossed the Sakarius, but now  stands in a
meadow several miles from the river, showing
how its course has deflected in less than two
thousand years. We rode down to the water
through a magnificent gorge, and kept close to
the banks for nearly four hours. Castellated
rocks and jagged peaks towered on either hand,
and far up in the blue flocks of eagles were
seen sailing around the inaccessible cliffs. In
past ages great armies have marched through
this pass to the battle-fields of antiquity. Haroun al Rescheed, Bayazid, and many other
historic names, are associated with it.  Remains of old fortifications still exist where the
defile is the narrowest.
At the bridge of Geiveh, the place where
Hadrian's favorite Antinous was born, we left
the river and the post-road, and struck up into
the heart of the mountains. The priests tell
the people of Koordbelkng that they work out
their salvation in climbing up the precipitous
mountain sides to their village; and if works
can save a man, the priests must be right.




A NA TOLIA.            111
Holding on to the horses' mane that we might
not slip backwards, saddle and all, up we
toiled. After getting up not less than three
thousand  feet, Koordbeleng hove in sight.
Here we passed within a dozen yards of a
large wolf, who was snuffing the mountain air,
but before I could draw a bead on him he
slunk away among the rocks. As we rode
along the ridge to the town we had a sublime
view down the gorges, snow-clad peaks on
every hand, and hamlets on the cliffs, and were
assailed by a north wind keen as a razor.
After a ride of nine hours we entered the
place. Girls and boys, rosy, black-eyed, and
picturesque, were clustered around the public
fountain, filling their water-jars or sliding on
the ice. For a backsheesh a boy piloted us to
the room of the Protestant helper stationed
there, and so steep, winding, and slippery were
the streets that we had to lead our horses, both
horse and rider slipping down in a confused
mass every few steps. Hohannes, the helper,
received me with the utmost cordiality, although an entire stranger, and I was soon installed on his divan, receiving the grateful heat
of his mangal, and brewing on the coals one
of the best cups of tea ever concocted in Koordbel ng. In the evening some of the Arme



112         KOORDBELENG.
nians dropped in, and, what would appear
rather singular to the tenderly-nurtured women
of America who make a great bluster about
woman's rights, the young women present sat
in the cold corner, while the men were grouped
around the coals, absorbing all the heat. At
the risk of appearing ignorant of their customs,
I could not resist the impulse to invite them
to approach nearer to the fire; but it was of
no use.
The next morning Mr. Parsons arrived, with
the man who accompanies him in his trips, and
surprised enough he was to find me in Koordbelkng. While he was engaged in conversing
with the people, I devoted the day to climbing
Bashile Dagh, a peak of volcanic origin that
towers many hundred feet above Koordbeleng.
The snow on the summit was very deep, and
the view surpassingly beautiful. On that elevated spot is the rude grave of some hero or
magician whose burial-place legend has located
there, and in summer it is a resort for pious
pilgrims. The side of the mountain is diversified by several masses of rock resembling feudal
castles, whose crannies are tenanted by eagles,
and the scrub vegetation on the slopes teemed
with hares and partridges.
On Sunday Mr. Parsons had over a hundred




ANATOLIA.              113
to visit him and listen to his preaching, a larger
audience than he has ever had before in that
place. When he first visited it, eight years
previously, twelve of the strongest men in the
town, armed with clubs, entered the coffeehouse where he intended to pass the night, and
ordered him to quit the place instantly, on pain
of something worse. It was in vain he showed
them the safe-conduct from the Turkish government, ordering his free admission into Koordbeleng. There was nothing to be done but to
leave. The Protestant helper who ventured to
follow him was beaten from head to foot, and
thrown out of the village for dead. He came
to life again almost miraculously, and the government obliged the village to pay fifteen hundred piasters for damages and expenses. This
touched them on a sore point, for they are exceedingly poor, and since then they have been
more cautious in molesting Protestants. What
is more, there are now two excellent men in
the place, avowed Protestants, with their families; a number are on the point of forsaking
their superstitions, and the greater part of the
population is either friendly to the Protestant
cause or indifferent to the old faith.. Whatever
facts may be urged to prove the inefficiency or
wickedness of the Turkish government, it is
8




114    TOLERATIO N IN TURKEY.
but proper that it should have credit when deserving of it; and it is clear the missionary
cause has made far more headway among the
Eastern churches than it could have done if it
had had to contend with governments as fanatical as the hierarchies of those Oriental churches
that boast an apostolic succession, but have retained no attribute of Christianity except the
name. There is very much less freedom of
conscience in the Christian kingdoms of Russia, Greece, or Spain, than in Turkey. Whatever may be the reasons for this state of things,
the fact remains, a fact to make one reflect.
Should Turkey now come into the hands of
Russia, the missionaries would have to desist
from their labors in elevating the condition of
the races of Turkey. The Christians under the
Ottoman rule have been for many ages terribly
oppressed; but Moslem subjects have also suffered greatly from misgovernment, which has
been scarcely palliated by the circumstance
that they are the dominant people and are
maltreated by their co-religionists. In religious
matters, with a few disabilities, such as being
forbidden to have bells in their churches, the
Christians have been left to their own devices.
The Turks have been neither more nor less
cruel to the Christians than other Eastern conquerors.




ANA TOLIA.             115
WVe breakfasted and dined at the house of
one of the Protestants, of course seated crosslegged, eating out of the same dish placed on
a tray on the floor, and waited on, as customary, by his wife and sister-in-law.  He had
three little children, named Martha, Mary, and
Lazarus, and the whole family, as usual in the
interior, ate, slept, and lived in one room, rolling
up their beds during the day-time, and during
the winter trying to keep warm with charcoal
on a brazier or clay pan.
The poverty, the misery that one meets
everywhere in the East is something beyond
conception. If, leaving the ordinary routes of
travel and avoiding the large towns, one visits
only mountain villages, he sees nothing else
but squalor and wretchedness, while even in
the cities the signs of wealth and of foreign
civilization are not too frequent. Every thing
indicates the decline of an empire and the stagnation attendant on a state of society that has
lagged behind the age. The average wages
of a day laborer in Asia Minor are from three
piasters to four and a half piasters a day; a
piaster is just four cents; these wages do not
include food, and out of them the peasant
must support his family and pay enormous
taxes. All who live within twenty or thirty




116   STATE OF THE PEASANTRY.
miles of the post-roads which the government
is trying to build, are obliged to work on them
twelve days in the year and find their own provisions, or pay the equivalent in money; this
is in addition to all their other taxes. A new
house in a village is quite a phenomenon, and
very few are ever built of any other materials
than a framework filled up with sun-dried
bricks, or wicker-work plastered with mud. A
farm-house standing by itself at a distance
from a town -or village is rarely to be seen.
The unsettled condition of society has always
obliged the rural population to live in communities, often requiring them for this reason to
spend half the working day in passing to and
from their fields.  Koordbeleng was once on
the plain, but the frequent attacks of marauders induced the people to fix on its present
almost inaccessible site. It is so situated on
the brow of a precipitous slope, that it looks
as if the whole village were about to slide off
pell-rnell into the gorge below.
On Monday morning, before sunrise, we
were off for Nicaa. Our horses had been reshod, but they slipped down continually as we
threaded the narrow lanes, while we clung to
the house walls to keep ourselves in a perpen-;dicular position. A number of friendly Arme



ANATOLIA.             117
nlans accompanied us out of the village, and
from the brow of the mountain on which it is
situated we saw the sun rise. Far below us
lay the sleeping mist, and around us towered
a circle of snowy peaks, sharply cut against the
cloudless azure, and glorious with all the delicate variations of color, from a faint violet to
purple, from purple to rose, and from rose to
burnished gold that dazzled the vision. We
walked down the mountain on the side opposite the one we had ascended in going to
Koordbeleng, and galloped along the beautiful valley of the Sakarius until its second
gorge came in view.  Leaving this on our
left, we ascended a ridge rising like a wall
between this plain and the plain of Nicna, and
descended into the latter. The weather was
superb; wild flowers were growing by the wayside, and we saw flax and wheat just coming
up. It was curious to see the telegraph wires
stretching over the country, the most wonderful result of modern science, while rude peasants were scratching the soil below with the
primitive plow that was used in the days of
Abraham. Towards evening, after ten hours
in the saddle, we sighted the venerable towers
of Nicaea.
After making arrangements to spend the




118     NIC.EA BY MOONLIGHT.
night at a coffee-shop, we sallied out for a
moonlight inspection of the ruins of the place.
A rich orange tint still lingered in the western
sky, and the moon, now at the full, was so
brilliant that I could see clearly enough to
sketch by its light. I commend an evening
stroll among the antiquities of Nicma to one
who likes a romantic walk by moonlight,
among deserted ruins robed in mysterious
shadows, and with the deep baying of shepherd dogs floating down on the breeze, or the
long roar of surf on the shore, or the solemn
cry of the muezzin and the melancholy hoot
of owls perched upon crumbling battlements,
thrilling the soul with a sort of weird sensation of awe and wonder.
The next morning Mr. Parsons sent on his
helper to visit a neighboring village, directing
him to meet us at Keremet in the evening.
We then devoted the forenoon to a closer examination of the many interesting objects to be
found in Nicma. The present town or village
does not occupy the twentieth part of the area
inclosed by the old walls, and is of no importance except as the rendezvous of a weekly
market or fair for the country around the Lake
of Ascanius. The rest of the area is devoted
to vegetable and mulberry plantations, weeds,




A NAr TOL..          1 19
reeds, marsh-land, ruins, storks, partridges, and
snipe. The former city must have contained
over fifty thousand inhabitants.
We went down to the lake side of the place
and followed the walls around.  Many of the
towers, of which one hundred and eight belonging to the inner wall are still standing, are
in excellent preservation and often profusely
draped with ivy. These walls afford an example of the ancient systems of fortification such
as cannot often be found elsewhere. Of the
four city gates built by Hadrian and Claudius,
three remain, opening on the Brusa, the Lefkeh, and the Constantinople roads. Each entrance is composed of two gates, the interior
one being in each case of Turkish origin, while
the exterior one is as invariably Roman, with
fine archway and niches for statuary, and constructed throughout of splendid blocks of white
marble. Many of the towers are composed of
massive hewn stone, in some instances bearing
evidence of having been rebuilt by the Turks
of stones collected from Byzantine or Roman
edifices. The Byzantine church of St. Sophia,
where the famous council of the year of our
Lord 325 probably held its sittings, is still
standing in tolerable preservation, and is curious as presenting an example of the Basilican




120          R UINS OF NVI C E A,
style of Byzantine architecture before it was
modified by Anthemius and other architects
of Justinian's time. A number of very quaint
mosques and minarets also remain, relies of
the Seljuks, the Turkish dynasty that ruled in
Asia Minor at the period when the Crusaders
besieged and captured Nicea, and immediately
preceded the reigning dynasty founded by Othman. The vomritoria of the theatre still exist,
four galleries converging to a common centre
and constructed with almost Cyclopean massiveness.
Towards noon we walked up a hill in the
rear of the town to take a bird's-eye view of
the place, really a very fine prospect, - the cordon of ivied towers, and the lake bathing their
feet and stretching thirty miles away, of a dark
green and blue in the west wind that swept its
surface, until it reached the snow-capped mountains in the distance. How often great armies
have encamped on the plain below! Htow
often the din of war has rung around those ancient walls, and mailed warriors have swarmed
over the bristling battlements! During the last
memorable siege over seven hundred thousand
Crusaders beleaguered those fortifications that
now stand dismantled and alone. The city
was invested on the side of the water by gal



ANA TOLLA.             121
leys wafted from Constantinople to the Gulf
of Gimlek, and then transported across the
land and launched on the lake.
Soon after midday we remounted, and were
off for Keremet.  We rode most of the afternoon along the northern shore of the lake,
through one of the most beautiful olive forests
it has been my fortune to see. On our left lay
the water, and its lulling and monotonous noise
had a pleasing effect as hour after hour went
by. On our right we passed the monument of
Sestius, a pillar some sixty feet high standing
alone on a plain. On a pedestal rests a shaft
cut in the form of three triangular blocks or
prisms, and a similar but smaller shaft surmounts this one, and tapers to a point. Further on we passed through a narrow, rocky
defile noted as the haunt of brigands and the
scene of many robberies. These fellows infest
many of the roads of this region, and some
daring robberies were committed a few days
after we traversed the district. They are more
or less in league with the villagers, and have
their spies in the coffee-shops, who ascertain
what travellers are likely to repay the risk of
waylaying them.  Missionaries are not usually
of that class. Lefteri, one of the most notorious
robbers of the Nicuaan district, is called the




122         LEFTEIRI: RUINS.
" Protestant brigand!"  It may be for the reason that he condescends to read the New Testarnent. The following anecdote about him is
true. One of his men was captured by the military by means of information obtained from a
villager of Ovajik. Incensed at the loss of his
henchman, Lefteri one evening decoyed the informer out of his house, collared and dragged
him to a field out of the village, where he
bound his captive. He next pulled out a pocketTestament, read a chapter, and followed this
with an extemporaneous prayer; after which
he drew his sword and cut off the prisoner's
right hand, bandaged the stump, and sent the
man home. Mr. Parsons, on one of his trips,
was met by a man bristling with arms, who demanded of him what was in his saddle-bags.
" Books," was the reply. On this the man desired to see one, and sat down by the roadside
and read awhile, apparently with deep interest.
He then asked the price of the book, gave the
money, and went off saying, "6 I came to get
your money, and lo! you have, instead, taken
some of mline!"
At nightfall we came to a hot mineral spring
large enough to turn a mill-wheel, and steaming like a geyser. The roots of bushes growing near it were incrusted with a deposit of




ANA TOLIA.             123
lime, and in many cases petrified.  This was a
sanitary resort in olden time; ruins are still
seen under the water where the stream empties
into the lake. Ruins, ruins, ruins! - the traveller meets them everywhere in these old countries. Scarce a garden-wall did we pass that
did not contain marble fragments, often with
sculptures or inscriptions; scarce a village cemetery of which the grave-stones were not pieces
of ancient pillars; scarce a wayside fountain
of which the trough was not an antique sarcophagus; scarce a field where the plow did
not turn up marbles wrought by nations and
generations that perished long ago.
We rode up the bed of a torrent, which is
the principal street of Keremet, and passed
from the pure air of the moonlight evening into
the thick atmosphere of the coffee-house, two
or three steps below ground, and cram ned with
steaming laborers smoking. As in many of these
village coffee-shops, the windows were glazed
with paper; stray sheets of the " Springfield
Republican " have been actually impressed into
this service.  A sound sleep on the boards was
refreshing, and we bathed our faces the next
morning in a spring that bubbled out fromn the
roots of an enormous plane-tree that stood before the coffee-house, and seemed to spread its




124    KEREJIIE'T: TAX-GATHERER.
giant arms over the whole village, like a venerable patriarch bestowing his benediction on the
simple inhabitants. I might launch into raptures about the scene the previous evening
when the icy range of Olympus, the nearer
mountains and the Lake of Nice lay spread
before us gloriously beautiful in the calm moonlight, but I spare the reader. Kerem6t is noted
in this region for its oil, wine, and tobacco.
Wine resembling Sauterne and pure as water
from the brook, can be purchased there for a
piaster the quart!
The following day we visited three villages,
gradually getting up into the mountains again.
At Ortakeuy, while Mr. Parsons was talking
with the Armenians in the market - place, I
went into the coffee-shop to smoke a narghil6,
and found there a. small circular sheet-iron
stove, brought from Constantinople, modeled
somewhat after imported Yankee stoves. In
the midst of my pipe a rush of horses and
voices was heard, and a brace of cut-throat
looking Albanians came in, and began to bluster around and clear the divan of the idlers.
They were shortly followed by a rather goodnatured but lordly Turk, who was accompanied
by a troop of swaggering Arnaouts, extremely
picturesque, with their arms and kilts, but in



ANV. TOLIA.            125
describably dirty. His majesty seated himself
cross-legged on the divan, and was soon absorbed in an Oriental brown study. He proved
to be a tax-gatherer going around to collect
taxes, or rather to fleece the people. After a
while he happened to observe me, and ordering
me a cup of coffee, entered into conversation.
My seven-shooter attracted his attention and
collected all his troop around, who examined
it with many exclamations of astonishment.
Massive and rich as were their huge flint-lock
pistols, their whole armory combined was scarce
equal to a good revolver properly handled. The
natives of Turkey are generally ignorant of the
character of a revolver, and have a superstitious
notion that it will shoot an indefinite number
of times. It is safe to keep up the delusion.
So delighted was the old fellow with our conference that he urged me to stay and dine with
him in the evening off a glorious pillaf and a
lanmlb that was to be roasted for the occasion;
hut our arrangements obliged us to go, and we
rode off to Tchengil6r, where we spent the
night.
The ensuing morning, about sunrise, we were
in the saddle, and instead of "flanking" the
mountains by the road usually followed at
this season, struck directly for the ridge, allow



126         SHEPHERD DOGS.
ing the horses to pick their way up an ascent
that was quite precipitous enough to please
any one. We were soon among the clouds,
which shut out a fine view of the Lake of Nice,
the Gulf of Gimlek, the Marmora, and the
Gulf of Nicomedia, which are to be seen from
the highest point in clear weather. The descent was a ride long to be remembered, flounderinog through deep, soft, treacherous snow,
and through pits of sticky clay up to the horses'
bellies, or slipping from one almost perpendicular bank to another, or caught by some branch
that threatened to tear the rider from his horse.
Road or path there was none. After descending thousands of feet,- we reached the village
of Lel6 Dere, where we rested half an hour.
Mr. Parsons entered into conversation with the
people, as usual. As we rode out of the town
a savage dog flew at us, bit all our horses, and
from a wall half sprung on my horse and made
a grab for my shoulder. I put a ball through
his body, and he became remarkably quiet.
The shepherd dogs of the East are altogether
a different breed from the vile curs of Constantinople. They are a noble race, faithfull and
sagacious in discharging their duties as guardians of the flocks and the villages, but they
are the fiercest of their kind, and are often




A IVA TOLIA.           127
more than a match for the strongest wolf. It
is almost touching to see how tenderly one of
these rough animals will guard a flock of spring
lambs, left entirely in his charge, keeping them
from straying when the dams are away, and
carefully refraining from biting or eating them,
strong as must be the natural propensity to devour them.
By a detour we went over a plateau to the
village of Sheksheh, of all the squalid places I
have been in the most poverty-stricken; but,
notwithstanding, Mr. Parsons sold a few Testaments there.  The missionaries rarely give
away books, because it is found that when the
natives do not value them enough to make
some sacrifices to purchase them at a small
price, they abuse and destroy them if obtained
for nothing.
We passed the night at Kurutch-Keuy,
which we reached at sundown. The village
school there is held in summer under the shade
of a splendid walnut-tree. Our morning ablutions were performed at the public fountain,
where the "rural maids " were laughing and
chatting, filling their water-jars, or washing
their clothes, while the flocks and herds were
going by to pasture, enlivening the air with
their bleating and lowing, and the tinkle of




1298  SHEPHERD'S REED: AlJERDIGOfZ.
sheep-bells.  The Armenians of the interior
are generally a handsomer race than their sallow-faced brethren of the capital.  The young
men and the girls of these Armenian villages
are often possessed of features strikingly expressive and beautiful.
At Kurutch-Keuy, as at most of the villages
we visited, Mr. Parsons was greeted with a sincere and hearty welcome. He is well known
in these parts, and his self-denying labors are
slowly but surely bearing fruit. On every successive visit he observes increased enlightenment and growing interest in the truth which
he proclaims.
A wild boar and jackals were seen in our
ride the next day, and we passed a fine Roman
bridge in excellent condition, built of brown
stone, with parapets of marble slabs, well preserved. We brought up in the afternoon at
Merdig6z.  On the stilly air we could hear the
shepherd's pipe, more mellow than the softest
flute, more wild than the trill of the lark. From
the mountains of Arcadia to the mountains of
Circassia the same rude reed-pipe is the solace
of the shepherd in his lone days and nights of
watching with his flocks.  Simple as is this
instrument, the art of drawing music fiom it is
confined almost entirely to the shepherds.




ANATOLIA.             129
The Turks, smoking and playing cards in
the coffee-shop, with loud vociferation  and
wrangling, kept us awake the greater part of
the night. The one who lost was to pay for
the coffee drunk, and after,the playing was
over, they spent nearly half an hour trying to
beat down the caffegee five paras, or half a cent,
and finding him inflexible on that point, they
went off on another tack, and tried to prove
that he should take off five paras from the
score because, as they now claimed, they had
only had fourteen cups instead of fifteen!
Money is scarce and time abundant in Turkey.
Our next day's journey was sufficiently romantic, over a lofty ridge, and down into a
deep gorge, where we forded a brawling stream
twenty-four times; then over another ridge into
another gorge, where we crossed another stream
fourteen times. We passed through noble walnut and beech forests, and saw wild flowers,
ferns, ivy, and luxuriant mosses growing by the
side of the deep snow, - the signs of approaching spring. Many of the beech trunks were
of the most grotesque, fantastic shapes imaginable, as if some genius like Gustave Dor6
had been revelling at will in these wild mountain passes, and contorted the trees to suit his
own wayward fancy. After passing another
9




130     RETURAT TO NICOMEDRLA.
noted haunt of brigands, in the afternoon we
came out on the plain by the sea-side. Mr.
Parsons and his attendant then turned up the
mountain  to Bagtchejik, where he was to
preach the following Sabbath; I rode on three
hours farther, and reached Nicomedia after
being in the saddle eleven hours, and took a
warm bath at once, a necessary precaution after sleeping in the filthy coffee-houses of Anatolia.




THE CROWN OF IONIA.
IT often happens that the dreams of our
-sleep make such an impression on the mind,
and continue to appear so vividly before us in
our waking hours, that they take us captive by
a sense of reality, and an effort is required to
shake off their influence; of more rare occurrence, but more powerful, is the effect produced
when the reality seems like a dream. Once or
twice at least in the life of most individuals,
events or scenes pass before the vision so astonishing and bewildering, that one is at a loss
to tell whether he is awake or asleep; instinctively he feels of his hands, his clothes, and
other objects, to assure himself by tangible
evidence, that he is wide awake and in his
right mind, and even then is disposed to question the evidence of his senses.
Such was the peculiar mental state into
which I was thrown when I went on deck soon
after sunrise, and found our steamer anchored
in the harbor of Smyrna; years had elapsed




132      ARRIVAL AT SMYRNA.
since I had last seen it. I had been forewarned
that the place had changed, and, although
aware how little that means when applied to a
Turkish town, had prepared myself for the
shock that one experiences when, on revisiting
his old home, he sees the traces of " Time's effacing fingers" visible on many a cherished object. But I was unprepared for what met my
view. Time had kindly drawn back the curtain which veiled the years that had fled, and I
saw before me the quaint old town reclining as
of old along the shore; the same red roofs and
cypresses clustered on the hill-side; the same
caf6s jutted out over the water; apparently the
same vessels were anchored  here and there
about the silent, solitary port; were not these
the same men-of-war that from one year's end
to another idled off the English quay, the roll
of the drum in the gangway, and the musket
shot on the forecastle at sunrise and sunset, almost the only sounds that broke the long summer stillness; and when I looked over the side
of the steamer, the illusion was complete; there
were the broad, sharp, decked surf-boats of
Smyrna gathered around the ladder, waiting
for pratique to be given us, - the most familiar sight I had seen since I had left the place
for America; more curious still, the first boat



THE CR OWN OF IONIA.        133
man to catch my eye was the one we had always employed, distinguished for his kindness,
honesty, and skill. Inclined to keep up the illusion, which made every object seem like part
of an intangible dream, I stepped to the taffrail
and hailed him as in former days:
"Eh, Papathopoole, tee kamnett6?"  "Halloo, Papathopoole, how do you do?"
Having been informed that I was expected,
he recognized me, and characteristically replied, -
" Toolayo sas ene, chelebee? caiky thelette? 
"Is that you, sir? do you wish a caique?"
We started for the shore; the villainous
conduct of the custom-house officer who intercepted us was so perfectly natural, that I could
have offered him a year's backsheesh if my enthusiasm had been able to settle the question
with my conscience and my purse.  A piratical looking knave in Albanian costume, with a
huge brace of horse-pistols and an enormous
dagger in his belt, he was in a caique rowed
by a similar pair of jail birds. Midway between the steamer and the quay this boat bore
down on caiques from the steamer, ostensibly
to examine all baggage, and prevent smuggling. Tackling to our boat, as if to come on
board to overhaul the contents of my trunk,




134     CUSTOM-HOUifSE OFFICERS
the officer demanded a backsheesh in the tone
of a brigand levying black mail.
" Here is my baggage; and here is the key;
what more do you want, janiim?"
" What do I need of your trunk? give me
a backsheesh? "
I flung the fellow a coin, pleased to escape
the bother of unlocking the trunk. Picking it
up, he turned it over in his dirty palm, and was
about to raise his demand, when another boat
going by with several passengers called off his
attention, and he started in pursuit, bawling
lustily for them to stop. In Constantinople
there is a little more strictness in examining
baggage, because the customs are mortgaged
to Europeans; the officer comes aboard and
has the trunk opened; but as ther lid is raised,
a backsheesh should be dexterously slipped
under, so as to be the first object visible on
looking in. This manceuvre at once results in
the surprising discovery that the baggage contains nothing contraband, and the officer returns
to his own caique with a polite salaam.
As before observed, so exquisitely characteristic was this little episode, that it rather
tended to keep up the enchantment that had
woven itself around my senses. Many new
residences have been built, chiefly around the




THE CROWN OF IONIA.          135
"Point," but still, when I sallied out after
breakfast for a stroll down Frank Street, the
Marino, and the bazaars, the alterations I found
here and there were scarcely perceptible enough
to disturb the waking dream which continued
to haunt me during the remainder of my stay,
and made Smyrna still appear what memory
had pictured it, one of the most charming and
unique residences in the Levant, and in the
world.
Who has not eaten the figs and the raisins
of Smyrna, the " Ornament of Asia," the
" Crown of Ionia? "  Situated at the head of
a broad, beautiful bay, environed with perennial gardens, girt with a diadem of lovely villages, fragrant with the odorous airs that lade
the serene IZEgean skies, dowered with the
wealth of historic associations, still dispensing fruits to the world with a liberal hand,
watched by the old Roman citadel, the grim
battlements of the Knights of St. John still reflected in the waters of her port, Smyrna, the
city of the Moslem, the Greek, and the Frank,
is a living poem, but a poem of Byron's, fervid
with the romance, the passions, and the crimes
of the East. He who has sojourned there for a
fortnight, dreams of her in his subsequent
travels, and he who has happily dwelt there




136        INFIDEL SMYRNA.
for years, longs for her in other lands, and
sighs that destiny separates him from the
vineyards and olive groves, the villas and ruins,
the Caravan Bridge and the bazaars, the delicious breezes and star-eyed maidens of Smyrna.
With such kindness does she welcome the
child of the West to her bosom, that no city
in the Levant can boast so large a proportion
of foreign residents. So considerable, in fact,
is the Christian population, that the Turks call
the place Gheaoor Ismir, - Infidel Smyrna.
There are antiquities in and around the city
of sufficient interest, chief among them the
walls and towers of the castle crowning the
brow of Mt. Pagus, immediately in the rear
of the Turkish quarter, which are well worth
visiting. From the old ramparts a magnificent view is obtained over the city below,
the gulf stretching far away encircled with
mountains, and the gardens and villages, whose
verdure gives life to the prospect. Near by
are the remains of the ancient stadium, where
Polycarp was burned, and where many other
Christians steadfastly endured the onset of
wild beasts and the horrors of the stake.
But the real charms, the fascinations of
Smyrna, are to be found not so much in
what she possesses to remind us of the past,




THE CR 0 WN OF IONIA;       137
as in the softness of her climate, and the peculb
iar life led by its inhabitants, and this can only
be thoroughly appreciated by those who devote
more than the tourist's usual four or five hours
to visiting this city.
In the days when the Janizaries were a solt
of standing threat against the life of any
Christian, and foreigners lived  in Turkey
almost as secluded as they did so recently in
China or Japan, the English, French, or Italian
merchants had their magazines and dwellings
built on narrow, high-walled courts, extending
from Frank Street to the Marino or Water
Street, each end of the court being guarded by
massive iron-studded gates, that are closed at
nightfall; every court has also one or more porters who carry the merchant's goods by day, and
mount guard for him at night. They are magnificent fellows, rarely under six feet in height,
proportionably sturdy, with heavy beards, and
as nearly the descendants of the stock of Othman as any in Turkey. They come from
UshAk and Aidin; the former is the place
where the famous Turkey carpets are made.
When a boy is born there, it is the wish of
his relatives that "he may become a good
Smyrna hamal."  On reaching manhood he
goes thither to live until he has amassed suffi



138      HAJMALS: KITE-FLYING.
cient to enable him to return and pass the remainder of his days under the patrimonial figtree. The weight these porters carry on their
broad backs is something enormous.
The magazines on these courts are usually
one story in height, and on part of the roof,
which is flat, the house is built, the remainder
of the roof serving as a sort of hanging garden
on which to keep flowers, to promenade, or to
sit at evening and watch the sun set over the
sea, to smoke, take coffee, and chat. These
terraces are also admirable positions for kiteflying, which is conducted in Smyrna on a
scale unknown in most parts of the world.
The kite season begins towards the last of February, and continues until May. A hundred
kites may sometimes be counted at a time in
the air, and what gives to the pursuit a singular interest is the circumstance that the Smyrniote manceuvres his kite as he would a boat
or a horse, and kites may often be seen fighting
in this way for hours. Great skill and practice
are requisite in the construction and management of the kite for this airy warfare, which is
not confined to boys, but is also engaged in by
older persons, and thus forms a sport far more
exciting than the insipid mode in which they
follow this sport in America, unless we except




THE CROWN OF IONIA.           139
"kite-flying" in Wall Street, which is said to
be exciting for those who participate in it.
During the fig season some of the courts are
the scene of a spectacle that is interesting to
such as consider dried figs one of the indispensable luxuries of our Thanksgiving.  Large
quantities of the fresh fruit are brought into
Smyrna on the backs of camels, which march
solemnly through the narrow streets in long
processions, to the monotonous beat of a bell
fastened to the pack-saddle of the leading
camel.  In front of each string of camels
trudges a meek, carmelite-looking little donkey,
across whose back strides the camel-driver, with
a huge turban on his head and an enormous
sheep-skin cloak on his shoulders, beating the
leathern sides of the imperturbable beast with
his long legs in unison with the clang of the
camel-bell. Thus the slow train moves into
the court of the foreign merchant or shipper,
and the camels, after much grumbling on their
part, are made to kneel down and deposit their
cargoes. Since the railroads to Aidin and KasabA have been opened the " ships of the desert " have had some of the wind taken out of
their sails, but it will be a long while yet before
they are entirely superseded. For a time, indeed, the railroads stood no chance, so high




140          PACKING FIGS.
were their rates for freight, but experience has
taught the managers wisdom.
The figs, which have either green or purple
skins and are pulpy and pear-shaped, when
they are fresh, are steeped in a solution of salt
and water and placed in heaps on mats laid on
the pavement of the court. Around these mats
women from the country collect, sitting on the
ground barefoot, and working over the figs with
their fingers, each fig being thus manipulated
and prepared for packing. These women are
accompanied by their children, who nurse while
the mother is at work, or sport around, also
barefoot and greatly in need of a good washing, and occasionally, while scuffling, they chase
each other over the mats on which the figs are
piled. It is a very amusing sight to those who
do not intend to eat any of the figs.
After this kneading process, the figs are
packed in drums, the smaller ones at the bottom, a layer of superior figs and a few olive
leaves being laid at the top to take the eye of
of the purchaser. Fruit in Smyrna does not
"' grow bigger downward in the box." A few
drums are filled entirely with the best quality
of figs for those who choose to pay for them.
The drums are carried to the quay and taken
out to the ships in lighters. The manner of




THIE CROWN OF IONIA.         141
getting them on board is unique. A plank is
swung over the ship's side half way between
the lighter and the gunwale, and a man is stationed on this plank. There are also two men
in the lighter. One of them picks up a drum
and tosses it to the other, and he throws it to
the man on the plank, and he to a man at the
bulwarks, who tosses it to a man standing at
the hatchway, who drops it into the hands of a
man in the hold, who pitches it the stevedore.
The effect is very odd, as the process goes on
hour after hour with the regularity of a piece
of machinery. When a house is roofed in the
East, the tiles are sent up to the roof in the
same manner, men standing on the ladders and
scaffolding to catch the tiles; and although the
operation is done rapidly, I have never seen
either a drum or a tile drop from the hands of
the catcher.
For the most part, the Christian quarter of
Smyrna, the largest portion of the city, is now
laid out with some regularity. The streets are
wider and better paved than formerly, and
lighted with gas, and the houses are solidly
constructed of stone, somewhat after the Italian style, usually comprising two lofty stories.
The large central hall of the ground floor is
chequered with blue and white marble, which




142          HOLIDAY LIFE.
is both cool and elegant in its effect. A pleasant Smyrniote custom it is at evening for the
family to sit at the open door and chat with
their neighbors.  This easy familiarity, this
gossipy neighborliness, may not be consistent
with the highest kind of civilization, or, at any
rate, with the reserve of our race, but it has its
charms. On holidays, which are both numerous and carefully observed by the cessation of
business, the doors and windows are " clustered
with women" " all abroad to gaze," eating confectionery and richly attired. One may see on
such a day many expressive and beautiful faces,
particularly among the Greek women. The
Caravan Bridge is the favorite resort of the
Smyrniote in his hours of idlesse; on the banks
of the Meles, a stream of classic reputation,
lined with cypress groves, willows, and caf6s,
great is the consumption of coffee, rakee, sherbht, lemonade, orgeat, rahat-el-lo-koom, and
tobacco.
During the summer Smyrna would be a very
warm, uncomfortable residence were it not for
the sea-breeze or inbat which rises every morning, and, after blowing freshly all day, subsides
at sunset. The many beautiful villages at easy
distance from the city also afford delightful retreats for nine months in the year. The rail



THE CROWN OF IONIA.          143
road now approaches several of these and faciiitates communication. Many of the houses in
the villages are planned with a delightful adaptation to the climate. The dwelling is shaded
with the dense foliage of the mulberry and the
linden, and faces east and west, with an ample,
vine-hung portico and garden on each of these
sides. In the forenoon the family can occupy
the west front, and in the afternoon they can retreat to the shade on the east side of the house.
Some of the gardens have fountains diffusing
coolness and the music of dashing waters
through the emerald gloom, while the cicada in
the heat of the day keeps up her steady hum,
that seems to render it still more " the land of
drowsy-head," and invites the siesta of midday.
Nothing can exceed the abundance of fruit
— grapes, figs, apricots, melons, cherries, and
pomegranates - which is to be found in these
villages of Smyrna.  For six months in the
year, grapes of many excellent varieties can be
purchased for one to two cents a pound. The
peasantry live on little else but fruit, poor
cheese, and coarse brown bread for the greater
part of the year, as, indeed, is the case throughout the East. Another circumstance to delight
the eye in spring is the profusion of wild flow



144     THE FOURTi IN SIMYRNA.
ers that carpet the fields before the grain has
yet attained its growth.  Miles and miles are
crimson with wild poppies, or white with daisies as if covered with snow, interspersed with
forget-me-nots, anemones, harebells, vetches,
and numerous other brilliant plants. The arbute also gives additional life to a Smyrna
landscape; not the arbutus of America, but a
large shrub with very bright green foliage and
round berries the size of a strawberry, of vivid
crimson, and rather agreeable to the taste.
The laurel, also, with its flowers resembling the
blossom of the orange both in appearance and
odor, diffuses its fragrance along the roadside
when the almond-tree blooms, towards the last
of February, and the oleander borders the banks
of streams with its luxuriant clusters of delicate pink flowers.
One of the most delightful Fourth of July's
within my recollection was spent at the village
of BournTbashy, about four miles from Bournabht, where we were passing the summer. At an
early hour we started, forming quite a cavalcade as we clattered in single file through the
narrow, crooked lanes of Bournabdt. Some of
the graver members of the party were mounted
on horseback, but most of our number were
on donkey-back. In several instances a pair




THE CROWN OF IONIA.         145
of panniers were slung on either side of a donkey, containing children too young to ride a
saddle, whose curly heads just appeared above
the edge of the basket. One lad, proud in the
possession of an American flag, waved it aloft
at the head of the procession; and the effect
of the whole was increased by the donkey drivers, who ran alongside of the donkeys, holding
the ladies and children on the saddles, yelling
at the poor brutes and thwacking them lustily
Sometimes a donkey more ambitious than the
rest would try to pass the others, " braying loud
and clear:" this movement would produce a
general rush, followed by a jam in the narrow
street, or the pell-mell gallop of the whole party
around an abrupt corner in the most comical
manner, but at the peril of bruising our heads
against some projecting wall, or crushing our
feet to a jelly. However, as we passed out of
Bournabfit into the open country, we subsided
into a gentle trot, and rode merrily over the
plain.
In passing through Narle Keuy, a hamlet on
the road, the same scene was reinacted, every
man, woman, and child in the place turning
out to catch a glimpse of a spectacle that
made quite a ripple in the monotony of their
lives. Some burly camel drivers, smoking un10




146     PICNIC AT BOURNABASHY.
der a plane-tree while their camels were drinking at the village well or stretching their long
necks to crop the overhanging foliage, ejaculated, "' Mashallah," " May the blessing of God
be with you," and other pious exclamations.
An hour's ride brought us to Bournabashy.
Winding through a narrow lane, we emerged
into the large common around which were built
the rude houses of the peasantry. Although
these dwellings were poor enough, yet they
looked rural and homelike, facing the green,
each in an inclosure of its own, and half concealed by the mulberry foliage and trellised
grape-vines through which peeped the red tiles
of the roofs. At the lower end of the village
arose several enormous plane-trees, towering to
a great height and throwing the pleasant shade
of their far-extending boughs over that part of
the hamlet. A small army could encamp under the largest of these patriarchs of the plain.
A brook rambled along the green, until under
these trees it was arrested in its course by a
sort of basin, where it formed a pool in which
the women of the village were washing their
clothes. Standing barefooted in the water that
played crystalline around their ankles, they
soaked the clothes and then beat them on the
white, smooth slabs of the cistern, all the while




THE CROWN OF J ONIA.         147
laughing and gossipping in the most artless
manner. It was one of the most delightfully
rural scenes I have ever witnessed, vividly reminding the observer of Nausikaa washing at
the stream ages ago. A little farther on the
brook, escaping from the basin and rippling
over its clear, sandy bed, wound through gardens where melons and grapes grew in abundance, and there, under the mulberry-trees, we
came to a halt. Rugs were spread on the
ground, and the provisions brought were taken
out of the baskets and prepared for dinner,
while the juvenile members of the party hung
out the Red, White, and Blue from the highest
branch overhead, explored the neighborhood,
feasted on grapes in the vineyards, waded in
the stream, and dove into the thickets.
Dinner presented a curious and tempting
melange of American and Oriental viands and
fruits, followed, according to the invariable
custom of the East, by coffee furnished by the
caffegee of Bourndbashy, and winding up with
speeches and patriotic songs enthusiastically
rendered.
Towards evening we remounted, and reached
home by moonlight, some of the children
being found asleep in their baskets when the
cavalcade arrived at Bournabht.




148    LITE OF THE PEASANTRYY.
The foregoing may serve to convey an idea
of the simplicity and out-of-door nature of
Smyrniote life, which is more or less characteristic of all classes. In that genial climate the
peasant reaps two crops in the season with little labor and poor implements; by more steady
application and fewer holidays, he might have
greater returns, but to what end? The government would seize his harvests, and he would
be no happier; and so in many other employments. Therefore, on gala days the best suit
is brought out, and all is forgotten in the enjoyment of the passing hour. How often on
sunny days have I watched the boats sailing to
Smyrna from the opposite shore of Menele'
and Karseeyaka, scudding in before the cool
inbht, and laden with water-melons and peasants. From afar, over the water, one could
hear the beat of the rude drum they bore, a
red clay jar whose mouth was sealed with
leather painted green. Thus hour after hour
they would glide along with music and song,
galliard and free of thought and care. It may
be said that this is a low sort of happiness for
intellectual and immortal beings; very likely;
and it may be urged in addition, that the or-'dinary life of the workingman of Turkey is
attended with much hardship and oppression,




THE CROWN OF IONIA.          149
which should elicit the sympathy of the philanthropist; but the distinctions between the different grades of happiness are exceedingly nice,
involving a question of metaphysics: if we look
simply at the relative happiness enjoyed by
the people of America and the oppressed races
of Turkey during their mortal lives, we are inclined to think the balance hardly in favor of
the former, who have different, and possibly
more elevated recreations, but also more anxiety, worry, and vexation of spirit.
This train of thought was particularly suggested as I heard the Smnyrniotes congratulating themselves concerning the railroads, that
after much effort and expenditure of capital,
they have succeeded in laying to Kasabi, in
one direction, and to iEphesus and Aidifn in
another; these two short roads, and the very
brief one from the Danube to Kustendjee, are
the only railroads in Turkey. By these railways a gradual improvement in the commerce
and condition of the Smyrniotes will become
perceptible in the course of time, but whether
the sum of their pleasures will be proportionately greater, I felt inclined to doubt.
One of these railways runs through Paradise; this may sound a little startling, but,
from the general disinclination of the race to




150       RAILROADS: EPHES US.
travel in that direction, I do not imagine that
the announcement will produce any sensation
or increase the travel on the road. However,
lest some of that class who patronize Hawthorne's Celestial Railroad, should betake
themselves to Smyrna for the sake of securing
a short cut to heaven, it may be proper to add
that Paradise is a clump of verdure shading a
few farms just beyond the old Roman Aqueduct, in the lovely valley of St. Ann, on the
way to BoujTh and Sedy Keuy. The reader
of Xenophon will recollect that he uses the
word Paradise to represent a park. By following up this railroad, one reaches the site
of Ephesus, now called Ayiai Soolook, where
some interesting ruins have been unearthed by
the English engineer who surveyed the road.
Great was Diana of the Ephesians, but neither
the chaste Diana, nor Alexander the coppersmith and his vociferous fellow-citizens, have
availed to prevent the advent of the iconoclastic Briton, and the progress of the iron steed
who marches round the globe, the herald of advancing civilization.
It is evident that by slow degrees the social
and moral condition of the Srnyrniotes cannot
but be affected by these various agencies so
contrary to the traditions and spirit of the




TIEE CROWN OF IONIA.        151
East. However, ages must elapse before any
radical change can be wrought in the character
of the people; their outward customs and
mode of life may to a certain degree conform
to modern and western habits, but even after
divesting themselves of their present Oriental
customs, the climate will always have a tendency to soften the angles which are so
strongly developed in the people of northern Europe and America, and will impart more
geniality to the tone of society than is usually
found in those lands, while on the other hand
the society of Smyrna would not be injured
by the admixture of more Saxon integrity and
order into its composition. The party for reform clearly have the question when the morals
of the Smyrniotes are under consideration;
these will be the last traits of the Smyrniote
character to feel the salutary influences of
modern and Christian civilization. It would
be quite worth while for the Smyrniotes to
travel more frequently on the road to PARADISE than they are inclined to do. But they
have very bewitching means for stopping the
mouth of the severest critic; the rose conserves of Smyrna turn the words of censure
that fall from the lips of the moralist, into
laudatory phrases.  In the month of roses'




152       ORIENTAL CONFECTIONS.
imagine baskets full of rose petals ranged along
the streets for sale, and lading the air with perfume; such a sight may often be seen there.
A pound of sugar to a pound of rose leaves;
keep over the fire until cooked; then deposit
in a gilt glass jar, and put under lock and key
for safety from children; pass around on a
silver salver when occasion requires, with a
glass of cold water, served up by a piquant
Teniote maid; such is the most approved recipe for preparing and disposing of this delicious confection.
The backlava of Smyrna is another delicacy that might soften the asperity of Timon
of Athens; it is a pastry, diamond shaped,
containing almonds and spices, and flavored
with rose-water and honey; it melts on the
tongue. During the holidays of Bairalm, at
Easter or New Year's, at a christening or a
wedding, a large tapsee or circular pan of
backlava is one of the indispensable delicacies
of the season.
The katymerry is another pastry, prepared
in Smyrna with peculiar excellence. Early in
the morning men go about the streets crying
"katymerria," which are eaten with the cup of
Turkish coffee taken in bed, or immediately
after rising. I have  heard an enthusiastic




THE CROWN OF IONIA.           153
Smyrniote, who had been educated in America, and was conversant with the cuisine of
various countries, say that "he who has not
eaten katymerria knows not what is good."
The consumption of this article is for the present limited, as the overseer of weights and
measures has prescribed so low a price for the
size that the bakers find it unprofitable to make
it. The bakeries of Smryna, as throughout the
East, afford much entertainment to the observer. The whole front side of the shop is open
to the street summer and winter; the broad
counter, on which bread and pastry are rolled
out, partially overhangs the pavement; behind
it is stationed the baker at work; before it, in
the street, stands the customer purchasing loaves
or eating katymerria; the oven is just inside,
behind the baker; he lays the bread on the redhot floor by a long-handled shovel, which projects far into the narrow street as he suddenly
jerks it out of the oven, at the risk of hitting
some passer-by. All the baking of the city is
done at these public ovens, including meat and
bread for private families. The loaves are carried to the oven in long troughs borne on the
shoulder.  Sesame oil enters largely into the
pastry of Turkey; the flavor is rather agreeable,
far more so than the taste of the olive oil which




'154   ORIENTAL COOKERY: LOCUSTS.
impairs the cookery of the East during Lent
and Fast days. The tomato is also an ingredient of most of their dishes; for six or seven
months it grows in great quantities, and the
essence of the tomato is reserved for the rest
of the year, by extracting the juice from the
tomato, salting, and then keeping it in the sun
until the water has evaporated.  The multiform excellencies of the tomato are as yet unknown in America, where a wretched stew of
half-heated tomatoes floating around raw fragments in a watery, tasteless fluid, is the usual
mode of serving up this delicious vegetable.
While dilating on the varied social and culinary attractions of Smyrna, it is well to give
also a glance at what may by some be considered inconveniences liable to detract from the
charms of residence there. The heat, locusts,
earthquakes, and brigands would perhaps disturb the equanimity of those who are not like
the Smyrniotes, accustomed to such trifling
matters. I have seen the locusts so numerous
at noonday that they darkened the sun, and
filled the air like flakes in a driving snow storm,
as they rushed by with a sound like distant
thunder. I was covered with them in walking
through the streets of Bournablft; if they alighted on a field or an orchard, in five minutes not




THE CROWN OF IONIA.         155
a leaf would be left, and the houses were overrun by them; the country was smoky with the
fumes of sulphur and brush-wood that were
burned to drive them off.  Fortunately such
visitations do not happen very often, although
locusts in considerable numbers are seen every
year.
As regards earthquakes, Smyrna has been
partially destroyed by them several times; early
in spring slight shocks are expected as a matter of course, but occasionally there is a more
awful visitation of this terrible scourge. I have
felt the earth trembling for two weeks with scarce
any cessation, accompanied by severe shocks
once or twice a day. Walls and chimneys were
thrown down, the earth opened in the neighborhood, and half the city went out and lived
in booths. Of all events that make man realize his insignificance, and the power of "the
voice that rolls the stars along," is the earthquake, whose rude shaking awakes the slumberer from his dreams at midnight with a roar
as of the grinding of mountains to powder,
and a crashing as though creation was falling
about his ears. It is still more fearful when
one is lying awake on a still night, and hears
in the distance a rumbling sound, preceded by
the yelping of innumerable dogs and the clam



156     EARTHQUAKES: BRIGANDS.
orous cackling of fowls, that have been aroused
by the ominous murmur; onward it comes; the
casement of the window begins to shiver;
scarce is there time to leap horror-stricken from
the bed to the door before the house is quivering and shaking to and fro; a few seconds of
agonizing suspense and the earthquake has
gone and left the roof still secure overhead.
By this time, perhaps half the populace are in
the streets screaming, " Kyrie Eleison," " Lord
have mercy." In a few minutes there may be
another shock, but most probably it is not repeated for weeks or months. In the last century the French consul at Smyrna was giving
a grand dinner in honor of his sovereign's birthday. In the midst of the banquet the earth
opened, and the house with all in it was swallowed up. But the Smyrniotes become accustomed to these things, and their motto is,
"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Happy is he who is so constituted that he can
divest himself of unpleasant recollections.
As for the brigands, they constitute a nuisance that may be abated in time; there is not
a land in the Levant that is not infested by
these pests of society, who will only totally
disappear when the character of the government has become entirely transformed.  As




THE CROWN OF IONIA.          157
related on a previous page, the Franks of
Smyrna have been accustomed to spend their
summers in the suburban xillages. Hares, partridges, and wild boars fell at the crack of
their rifles on the mountains, and they lived as
if lords of the soil, receiving from the peasantry
the deference awarded to foreigners, particularly the English. But some years ago a change
came o'er their dream of content. Brigands
were rumored to have been seen in the vicinity;
then news came that the Tartar, or government
mail carrier, had been waylaid and murdered
on the road to Ephesus.  The robberies became more frequent, and gradually approached
the outskirts of the city. At length all Smyrna
was thrown into an uproar by the intelligence
that M. Van Lennep, the Dutch Vice-Consul,
had been carried off to the mountains, subject
to the payment of seventy-five thousand piasters. Sauntering one afternoon in his vineyard, a stone's throw from his villa at Seddy
Keuy, gun in hand, and accompanied by his
children, he was instantaneously surrounded
by armed men, who seemed to spring out of
the ground. The children were allowed to return home, while he was conducted into the
wilds of Anatolia. The messenger who carried the news to the (city, was the captive's




158       DARING R OBBERIES.
gardener, and he was enjoined to bring the
ransom within thirty-six hours, as he valued
his own and his master's life. Pending the
absence of the gardener, M. Van Lennep was
hurried from one mountain to another, - his
captors being constantly on the alert against
the appearance of a troop of soldiery virtuous
enough to attempt his rescue. He was treated
with all civility, and found his entertainers
armed with Belgian rifles, and provided with
London spy-glasses, through which he was permitted to gaze from the peaks of the Two
Brothers on his own residence in Smyrna, like
Christian on the Delectable Mountains, viewing the Celestial city through the perspective
glass of the shepherds. On the payment of
the stipulated ransom he was promptly liberated; but the Sultan was fain to compound this
affair with the Dutch government, by presenting the insulted official with a superb gold
snuff-box, richly mounted with diamonds.
Yanny Katerdgee was the chieftain who
opened the campaign with such startling exploits; short, thick-set, and muscular, he was
well adapted for the perilous career he had
chosen. Encouraged by his extraordinary success, he and his band followed it up by a long
series of captures, outrages, and alarms. Dr.




THE CR OWN OF IONIA.        159
Macraith, a prominent English physician, was
swooped up on a summer's day while hunting. He found that sporting may prove a
costly amusement. Two ghostly fathers, members of the Jesuit Mission, were taking an airing one afternoon, on the crumbling Roman
ramparts of the Castle Hill, within hail of the
city and the quarters of the garrison. They
were doubtless engaged in pious converse, as
they gazed on the picturesque town and the
lovely bay, flecked with sails, which lay at
their feet. But their holy meditations received
a sudden interruption. Many a nightmare and
fit of indigestion they have doubtless endured
since then, when calling to mind the experience
of that evening.
The villages of Boujah and Seddy Keuy
were almost forsaken by the Franks. At night
the brigands came down and danced with the
servant maids in the country-seats of the English gentlemen. The English chaplain and his
family were almost the only foreign residents
who dared to pass the summer in Boujah; but
his beautiful daughters practiced at targetshooting.  The eldest, however, was nearly
carried off, and the family suddenly returned
to town.
Nor was this all. In his " King of the Mount



160    FREA KS OF THE BRIGANDS.
ains," M. About says of Athens, "It was
dangerous to go out of the city; there was
even some imprudence in staying in it."  This
was also true of Smyrna.  The robbers were
known by sight to many there, and might
occasionally be seen in the streets, disguised
as gentlemen in European costume, sporting
canes, spectacles, and jewelry, and purchasing
articles necessary to their profession. At Easter
and other festivities of the orthodox church,
the rogues were among the most devout at St.
Demetry's shrine, in Frank Street. Rarely did
these pious varlets allow their consciences to
reproach them, like the conscience of the ancient outlaw, —
" Ze on thynge greves me,
And does my hert myche woe,
That I may not so solem day
To mas nor matyns goo."
But more. The wealthy residents of the city
occasionally received notes couched somewhat
as follows: "M ~ will find it to his interest to
deposit six thousand piasters in such a spot by
Thursday week. Disregard of this little request
might prove prejudicial to his health." Such
drafts were repeatedly drawn on the coffers of
the first citizens of Smyrna by these kings of
the mountains.




TIHE CROW NIV  OF IONIA.     161
It may be very properly asked, why the
knaves were not captured or dispersed; and
the only reply that can be given will appear
ridiculous to our order-loving citizens. It is
not a trifling matter to ferret out these foxes
from their philosophic retreats among the defiles of Mt. Sipylus, especially when the peasantry are more or less in league with them,
and give timely notice of the approach of the
troops; and when the latter, also, act on a tacit
understanding that if the robbers go one way,
the soldiery shall vigorously follow up the scent
in the opposite direction. The rough Arnauot
guards hardly consider a few cents per diem a
sufficient " war risk," not to mention the douceurs from the opposite party that accidentally
reach their pockets.
But if it is so difficult to entrap the robbers themselves, why not at least weaken their
power by apprehending their most notorious
accomplices in Smyrna?  "What would you
have," responds their unhappy victim, shrugging his shoulders. " If I denounce well-known
villains, I shall fall by the dagger or the bullet; I am not prepared to sacrifice myself for
the public good, because, forsooth, the government is inefficient."
Such has for years been more or less the
11




162         YANNY KATCHPKY.
state of things in and around Smyrna. Sometimes, as at present, the band of brigands is
dispersed and driven off by a sudden spasm
of energy on the part of the military, and a
few ruffians are strung up as an example; but
the country is always to a certain extent unsafe, and the more quiet is the aspect of affairs
the more there is reason to suspect that it is
but a suspicious lull before the outburst of
another storm.
Perhaps we cannot better illustrate the facts
we have given than to offer a brief sketch of
the career of one of the more noted of the
Smyrna brigands.
Yanny, or John, Katcheky, was a native of
Seddy Keuy, and his father was game-keeper
to M —.  No urchin of the village was such
a depredator of the vineyards, the orchards,
and the'dairies. When he was eighteen he
hired himself out to a wealthy Turk of the
village as gardener. His master had a daughter who was beautiful as the new moon; her
eyes burned like the eyes of a gazelle of the
desert, and her hair was black and glossy as
the plume of the raven. The sacred amulets
and bracelets of Mecca never encircled a rounder arm than Zeindb's; and beneath this lovely
exterior beat a heart whose emotions were




THE CROWN OF IONIA.         163
fierce and impulsive. Yanny was also young
and handsome. The jaunty fez, embroidered
vest, well-fitting leggins, and red shoes which
he wore on holidays set off his fine figure to
such advantage that it was an easy matter for
Zeineb to return his ardent glances with interest. For a time the lovers remained unsuspected, but they knew that their secret must
sooner or later be revealed, and woe be to them
when her sire should find them out; for never
for a moment could he, a zealous Mussulman,
allow his daughter to permit the advances of
an Infidel. Zeineb's mother, with feminine
tact, discovered what was going on, but unexpectedly approved of their attachment, being
herself Gweary of her lord. The trio decided
to make away with himrn, take the family jewels, and join the brigands, with whom Yanny
was already on familiar terms.  The plot
worked admirably; a dose of poison was successfully administered, the treasures were secured, and the murderers sought the nearest
robber haunt.
This suspicious spot was among the precipices of Mount Tactalee, where the scream of
the eagle and the howl of the wolf and the
jackal blend with the brawl of the torrent that
raves over its flinty bed in the lonely gorges.




164      YANNY TURNS ROBBER.
The shades of evening had fallen over the pass,
and a group of the freebooters were assembled
in their stronghold: by the faggot fire whose
fitful glare played on their features and threw
their figures into strong relief against the
gloom of the cavern, they snatched their supper, smoked, counted over the spoils of the
day, and planned new  exploits.  A sound
broke on the stillness. Steps are heard along
the side of the mountain, and then the challenge of the sentinel:"' Who goes there?"
" Yanny Katcheky."
" You are welcome, Yanny! but hold - who
are those with you? "
" Oh, they are friends, - my little bird and
her mother."
" Good; advance."
As Yanny came up, the band issued forth to
see the new comers. When the banditti discovered the women to be Turkish, murmurs
of dissatisfaction were heard; the brigands of
the East are good Christians and also men of
few words, and the chief, fiercely confronting
Yanny, thus sternly addressed him:" Are there no Christian damsels in Smyrna
that you should marry this Moslem jade?
Now, by your soul, slay her on the spot, or I




THE CROWN OF IONIA.           165
will make short work of you! Here is a pistol; let us see your pluck!"
There was no room  for hesitation or entreaty, and the youth had no inclination to
risk his own life for the sake of his paramour.
The stunning report of the discharge rang
from cliff to cliff blending with the death-shriek
of Zein6b; and at the same instant that she
fell the chieftain's blade pierced her mother's
heart, and the two were thrown over the precipice.' Bravo! you will yet make one of us," exclaimed the captain when he saw the aptness
of his pupil in woman-slaying. The band returned to the cave as if nothing extraordinary
had occurred.  Such was Yanny's terrible initiation into his new profession.  That night
with his new companions he started to waylay
the mail-carrier; and before long, so naturally
did he take to the business, he was accounted
one of the leaders of the troop. After many
exploits and adventures he decided to retire on
a hard-earned competency. The island of Sarnos was the retreat he selected, and what
place is more suitable for the residence of a
retired bandit? The wines are superb, the
women are fair, and the climate is salubrious.
Above all, he could there find congenial com



166 YANNY RETIRES FROIM BUSINESS.
pany; for your true Sarnian is a palikare',
which often means, an adventurer, a bully,
who can swell around like a turkey.cock,
when the coast is clear, rob his neighbor on
the sly, shoot his brother on occasion, and
keep out of danger when necessary. Arrived
at this island, Yanny settled down into an exemplary member of society; " the Devil a
monk would be."  He took him a wife of the
daughters of the land and devoted his leisure
to smoking, drinking minto, and discussing
politics and women under the village planetrees.
But the restless life he had led little fitted
him for the sweets of seclusion and domestic
felicity, and ere long Yanny was again bounding among the crags of Ionia at the head of
a villainous crew. Making his way back to
his native village, he found favor with the companions of his youth whom shrewdness or fear
prevented from openly declaring themselves as
brigands, but who with others in neighboring
villages became accomplices with the robbers,
and afforded them material assistance in the
prosecution of their plans. When night came
on Yanny and his comrades would descend to
the hamlets, make love to the peasant maids,
and dance and carouse till morning. Some of




THE CROWN OF IONIA.         167
the rogues were valets who had plundered and
then ran away from their masters; others had
rendered themselves obnoxious to government;
and some, as in Yanny's case, had entangled
themselves in an unfortunate amour. There
wereto be found among them a number who
possessed a tolerable education. But after a
while, when the government found that it
would not do to allow gentlemen to be whisked
about the mountains without leave, it exerted
unusual effort for the extermination of the
robbers. Some were shot, others imprisoned,
and Yanny concluded to make a trip to Athens until the storm had blown over.
We next find him playing the character of
carrocierri or hack-driver under the time-hallowed shade of the Acropolis. After a few
months affairs settled down to their old state
again, the guards slept all day undisturbed, and
Smyrna was reported at the capital as restored
to order and tranquility. When every thing
was quiet the foxes ventured out of their holes,
and Yanny resumed his former vocation. But
he was not destined always to pursue his career unmolested,
It was a summer's day in BoujAh. The
trailing clematis and the jessamine drooped in
the hot wind from the parched plains of the




168         YANNY IN LIMBO.
interior; no sound was heard but the ceaseless
buzz of the cicada, and the musical sound of
waters emptied by water-wheels into the dry
cisterns. The Zeybeks stationed in the village
were idling at the Konak or guard-house, some
sleeping on mats, others playing backgammon
or watching the game. The agah was seated
cross-legged on his divan, curling his enormous
moustache, and bubbling away at his narghile,
in a brown study about nothing. Were it not
for the snoring of the slumberers and an occasional " vy! vy!" from one of the half-witted
spectators, they might have passed for a company of automatons.
Suddenly a small boy rushed in and screamed
that a party of robbers were lurking around
Speraky's vineyard. The agah's features immediately lit up with joy, for he was of a martial
turn of mind, and found but rare occasion for
the exercise of his talents.
6 "Mashallah! God is great!" cried he; " up,
my lions; let us give the keopeks a taste of
powder."
In the mean time Yanny, unsuspicious of
danger, was lying in the shade of an old olive,
his carbine resting against the trunk. His men
were creeping under the vines, and luxuriating
in the grapes that hung "wanton to be




THE CROWN OF IONIA.           169
pressed."  All at once he caught the glimpse
of a strange face peering at him around the
tree; in a twinkling he was on his feet, but
his weapon was gone, and he was surrounded
by foes. Nothing was left but to surrender.
"Look here," said he to the agah, " let me go
and I will pay you five thousand piasters. If
you heed me not it can be of no possible advantage to you; your valor will pass unnoticed
by your superiors and I shall soon be free in
some other manner. But now, if you hearken
to my proposal, you have a sure reward for
your trouble."
" Silence, dog of a Christian! " rejoined the
other with singular integrity for a Smyrniote
Turk; "hold fast to thy money as long as thou
canst, for, by the beard of the Prophet, thou
shalt rue the day that my shadow darkened
thy face. So Allah help me, I'll see thy carcass hang from sunrise to sunset, for yonder
raven to whet his beak on thy bones.  HIere,"
turning to his men, "1 bind the villain fast, for
such quarry falls not in our hands every day."
It is hardly necessary to state that the rest
of the brigands did not tarry to learn the fate
of their leader, but evacuated those perilous
grounds with surprising rapidity.
A few days after this event the agah was




170           EXIT YANNY.
picking his way among the mountains, when
a voice hailed him that sounded as if it came
from the clouds. On looking up, he discovered his late prize balancing himself on a projecting rock.
" Good morning to you, my worthy friend,"
Yanny tauntingly exclaimed; " I am happy to
thank you in person for the little journey you
gave me the other day to the city. You see
my head is still on my shoulders. Fine jailers
are these countrymen of yours. I offered you
five thousand piasters for my liberty, but you
refused, and I gave my guard two thousand,
and am again free to rove at my will."
" Ha!" cried the Turk, "so that's you, is
it?  I'11 not risk my life again to catch such
rogues; it proves unprofitable."
Some months later Yanny's career came to
a termination well befitting the turbulent life
he had led; the Arnauot guards again surprised him, and he fell by what was very likely
a stray shot.




VIII.
FIOR DI LEVANTE.
T Twas early in June that a needed change of
air induced us to leave Smyrna and spend
two months in the island of Scio, noted for
the loveliness which gained for it the name of
Fior di Levante, and for the horrors it sustained
during the Greek revolution.  An acquaintance on the island was requested by letter to
procure a house for us, and the furniture we
were obliged to carry was sent on in a Greek
coaster hired for the purpose. By the politeness of the Turkish authorities we were permitted to take a deck passage on board of a
Turkish government screw-boat of about fifty
tons, which was transporting a company of
soldiers to Samos.
We embarked soon after sunrise and glided
quietly down the beautiful bay of Smyrna expecting to reach Scio by sunset;; but by noon
the wind, instead of veering around to the customary western inbat or sea-breeze, freshened




172   GALE OFF KARA BURNU.
from the north, until it blew half a gale. In expectation of the increase of the wind the topmasts were sent down, the yards were housed,
and every thing was made snug. The soldiers
lay around the deck or hung over the bulwarks
in every stage of sea-sickness, and as we approached the mouth of the Gulf and Cape
Karh Burnuf the storm grew apace; the heavens
frowned with blackness, the gulls were blown
through the whistling rigging, the sea made a
clean breach over the crazy little iron steamer,
and what terrific waves are those short, quick,
savage surges of the Egean!  The wind blew
down the Straits of Mytilene a hurricane,
and directly in our teeth. After trying several
hours to weather Cape Kara Burnfi in vain, it
was thought best to put back into Phbkis for
the night.
As the steamer shot through the narrow
entrance of the harbor, which was barely visible through the fast gathering gloom of night,
she glided from a turbulent sea into a smooth
basin, sheltered by surrounding hills. Here we
found two large steamers of the Austrian
Lloyds and the Messageries Imperialles, which
had also run in to ride out the gale.
On coming to anchor, some of our party
went ashore to find something to eat. Not a




FIOR DI LEVANTE.          173
soul was abroad, and the few lights in the town
shone with an unearthly glare through the
mist. But we succeeded in picking our way
to the coffee-shop, which was dim as we entered, except in the centre, where a pan of
coals threw a partial light over the grotesque
features of a group of sailors seated on stools
or lying on battered mats around the fire, enveloped by a blue halo of tobacco smoke, and
half dozing, half listening to the thrumming
of a rude guitar. In one corner of the room
lay several casks and skins of wine and rakee;
in the opposite corner a small fire-place was
built into the wall for the purpose of cooking
coffee, and two or three carbines rested against
the side of the house. Nets ingeniously cut
from paper hung from the rafters, suspending
Easter eggs; these were intersected by strips
of paper scalloped and otherwise ornamentally
fashioned of various gaudy colors, but now
changed to a uniform dirty amber, and waving
in the chilly gusts that made their way through
the broken tiles of the roof. Such were all the
attempts at decoration the public house of
Ph6kis could boast of, that celebrated Phokaea
of old, whose name was famous among the
cities of antiquity. Her mariners were the
first, according to Herodotus, who made long




174              PHOKIS.
voyages; they piloted fifty-oared galleys to
the shores of the mysterious and unknown Atlantic, and it was they who founded Massilia,
the Marseilles of our day.
After considerable chaffering with the tapster, a little goat's milk, a few eggs, and some
coarse sour bread was all that we could procure
besides coffee. With these supplies our foragers returned on board, and with the fragments
of cold chicken remaining from dinner we
managed to eke out a meal that was well seasoned with Spartan sauce. It is due to the
Turkish captain and the other officers belonging to the vessel and the military company, to
say that they treated our party with great courtesy, and when they found that the weather
rendered a deck passage so disagreeable as
well as hazardous to some of our number,
they of their own accord vacated one of the
two small apartments that composed the cabin,
and crowded themselves into the other. The
Turks doubtless have their faults, but many of
the elements of noble breeding are to be
found in the national character.
When we rose on the following morning the
clouds were breaking up, but the wind was
still strong, and we lay snug till the next day,
killing time by strolling over the dirty little




FIOR DI LE VANTE.          175
town. Idle women stared at us through lattice and gate, noisy urchins dogged our steps
hooting after us, and pestilent curs snarled at
our heels. In the outskirts we came across
some pretty rural nooks, particularly a fountain
shaded by poplars; a shepherd boy was sleeping under the whispering trees, while his flock
nibbled the herbage and enlivened the impressive stillness of noonday with the tinkle of
bells.
At cock-crow on the morning of the third
day we put to sea. A dense bank of clouds,
the last vestige of the gale, could be seen low
down in the offing, its upper edge illumined by
the approaching sun; a purple haze softened
the deep blue of the sky, and the waters of the
little port, now tranquil as a mirror, reflected
the picturesque town, the grassy hills which
environ it, the old fortifications crumbling on
the shore, and the coasters riding idly at their
moorings, while the morning star cast a quivering streak of silver across the harbor.  As we
looked back from the mouth of the port we
saw the sun bursting above the hills, and heard
the melodious voice of the muezzin wafted on
the stillness of morn.
After a charming day on a sea surrounded
by enchanted isles and gleaming with lateen




176        ARRIVAL IN SCIO.
sails, we anchored in Port Kastro early in thb
afternoon, and immediately went ashore.
Through the narrow lanes of the massively
built city we threaded our way to the town
house of Mr. P ——, the friend whom we had
requested to find us lodgings. His aunt, who
lived in the house, received us cordially, and a
maid, according to the custom  of the land,
served us to water and preserves. Soon after
we heard the clatter of hoofs in the paved
quadrangular court below, and on descending
found mules ready to convey us to the house
hired for us in the midst of the Kampo, a plain
stretching to the south of the town, between
the eastern slope of the mountains and the
sea, studded with villas. Mr. P —--- mounted
his donkey, a sleek, genteel-looking animal
from Cyprus, and assumed the van, followed
by the mules in single file, clattering slowly
through the narrow  streets, massive  stone
dwellings rising on either hand. We finally
reached the open country, and, riding along at
a gentle trot, proceeded to enjoy the beautiful
prospects that continually greeted our eyes.
Now we rode beside some stately gate-way,
whose brow was engraved with the armorial
bearings of a family that has gone to decay,
while, through the half-open portal we could




FIO0  D[ LEVANTE.         177
see the ruined villa which it guarded rising in
melancholy grandeur. Again we filed by some
little chapel embowered among flowering acacias and lindens, with the taper dimly burning
within before the Virgin's shrine; or, as we
halted by some Saracenic fountain to allow
the mules to drink, we beheld luxuriant orange
groves, with the fruit hanging on the boughs,
"like golden lamps in a green night," and
through vistas between the foliage caught
glimpses of the blue sea beyond, and heard
the songs of the laborers borne to our ears
from afar.
In the course of our ride we passed by the
country residence of the former Latin Bishops
of Scio, which was erected during the rule of
the Justiniani over the island. It is now stripped of the ornaments that once adorned it, yet
it is lordly, even in its ruins; although roofless
and with the sunlight and the rain streaming into its deserted halls, it speaks more for
the glory of its founders than folios of musty
vellum.
Soon we turned away from the road winding among the gardens, and cantered by the
sea-side, the "many-voiced  sea" of Scio's
bard.  We passed the vestiges of the entrenchments thrown up by the Samians who
12




178     HOUSE ON THE KCAMPO.
besieged the Turkish garrison in the citadel
during the Greek revolution, and saw the
peasants reaping their crops almost at the
water's edge. After a delightful ride of an
hour we reientered the former road, and reached
our " own hired house," situated beside the
bed of a torrent that is dry except during the
rainy season; as it is the main thoroughfare for the houses of the Kampo, steppingstones neatly hewn and several feet high are
fixed in the earth where the banks are too narrow to admit the passage of pedestrians when
the water is deep in winter.
We alighted at the foot of a broad flight
of stairs. Although built throughout of solid
hewn stone with roomy apartments, the mansion was not so stately in its external appearance
as many of the villas of the Kampo; but it had
recently been put in a complete state of repair,
and afforded comfortable accommodations, to
say nothing of the orange plantation in which
it was situated, and the magnificent prospect it
commanded from the portico and the terrace
on the flat roof. The ground floor was occupied by the overseer and his wife. A porter's
lodge surmounted the entrance gate, communicating with the main building by a gallery running along the lofty garden wall, and




FIOR DI LE VANTE.           179
amply atoning by its picturesque air for what
was wanting in the appearance of the main
building. For this establishment, exclusive of
the plantation, we paid the enormous rent of
one hundred piasters, or four dollars and a half
a month. If all expenses in Scio were as moderate as rental, living there would be a trifling
matter.
We found that our furniture had preceded
us, and before long we were agreeably settled.
In those warm climates a thousand things can
be dispensed with which in America are deemed
necessary to happiness and domestic comfort. Given a large house of solid stone, with
broad stone floors and high ceilings, and plenty
of cold running water to pour over the floors
or to lull the senses at mid-day with its musical monotone; also bread, cheese, coffee, grapes,
oranges, tobacco and conserves quantum sufficit;
also a simple but ample divan to lounge upon
by day and sleep upon by night; also a sleek
mule whereon to take a constitutional on the
sands after breakfast, and one is provided with
very nearly all that is essential to comfort in Scio
or almost anywhere else in the Levant for three
fourths of the year. Many of the Sciotes, especially the peasantry, live in a much more
primitive manner. The wealthier class have




180           THE SCIO TES.
inherited from their ancestors superb villas of
hewn stone, built after a mode combining the
characteristics of the Italian and Saracenic styles
in a very charming way, thus illustrating the
successive rule of the Genoese and the Moharnrnmedan over the island. A few Franks or
descendants of the Latins and a few Turks reside in distinct localities, but for the most part
the Sciotes are of the Greek Church, very bigoted and as a natural consequence generally illiterate, although before the revolution Scio rather
took the lead among the Greeks in the matter
of education, and Koray, the Sciote scholar,
was one of the most learned and liberal-minded men of his age. It may surprise some to
hear that in their features and many of their
national traits the Sciotes do not altogether
resemble other Greeks. Many of them  have a
Jewish cast of countenance, and it is by no
means rare to hear them spoken of by other
Greeks as a sort of mixed race, containing very
little Greek blood. But nevertheless, they are
more Greek than any thing else, and we see
little reason to doubt that they are descendants
of the Hellenes of antiquity, with some blending of Latin, Tartar, and Semitic blood. The
peasantry are more Hellenic than the higher
classes; they have a Greek dialect of their




FIOR  DI LE VANTE.          181
own, which they have doubtless spoken with
little variation for the last twenty-five hundred
years.  It is an interestering fact that the little
peasant village of Voliss6, on the western side
of the island, has existed with that name for
thirty centuries or more. There, according to
the ancients, Homer, the founder of classic literature, composed his " Batrachomnyomachia ";
and there, many centuries later, Koray, the great
philologist of modern Greece, in his commentaries on the Iliad, gave a local habitation to
his inimitable parish priest " Papa Trecchas,"'
one of the pleasantest of satires on the illitercrate clergy of the Greek Church. Is it not a
phenomenon in history that an obscure village
like Voliss6 should exist scores of centuries,
outliving mighty cities and powerful empires,
and presenting to us a self-perpetuating monument to the fame of the Great Minstrel?  Let
those who pretend that Homer never lived go
to Voliss6 and repent of their sin! Sorne men
waste their lives in trying to prove the Bible to
be a myth, —the work of mere mortal, finite
minds; it is a similar uneasy, cross-grained
sort of disposition that inclines a man to devote himself to proving the non-existence of
Homer or of Shakespeare. The arguments adduced certainly serve to show sometimes the




182    HOMER: A SCIOTE VILLA.
ingenuity of the writer, and how much he
might have done if he had taken up the right
side, but in each case, granting all the difficulties that may be urged against either the divine
authorship, or the identity of these poets, it requires far more faith to disbelieve than to believe the popular and accepted opinions on
these subjects.
Soon after arriving in Scio we mounted
our mules and rode over to the country residence of our friend Mr. P —-—, situated on the
Kampo a few miles from our house. On dismounting at the gate, a groom led away the
mules, and we were conducted up one of the
magnificent stairways which so often in Scio
remind one of Genoa the superb. The balustrade was of wrought stone, the steps were
of marble, and the spacious portico to which
they led was chequered by the same material.
From thence we passed into a stately hall; a
divan extended across the upper end, and the
sunbeams stole here and there through the lindens that overhung the windows. As we entered into the apartment an elderly lady arose
from the cushion on which she was reclining,
and advanced to meet us; it was the mother
of our friend.
Being absent fiom the island at the period




FIOR DI LEVANTE.          183
of the massacre, she had escaped its horrors,
and returned when the disturbances had subsided, to find her husband murdered and her
children lost. One son, however, who was at
the time in a mercantile house in Trieste, still
survived. Gradually they succeeded in partially restoring their shattered fortunes, and
they found that their noble mansion had suffered but little from the vandalism of the Turkish hordes. After a number of years she heard
that her youngest son was still alive; he was
studying in the United States under the patronage of an American gentleman by whom
he had been ransomed, and she soon had the
inexpressible pleasure of clasping him to her
arms. He it was who had so agreeably welcomed us to Scio.
She was arrayed in the pleasing costume
of the Sciote females; her hair was slightly
silvered by age, but her coal-black eyes still
burned with their natural fire undimmed, and
she repeated the tragedy of her life in the musical Hellenic tongue with a grace and dignity
that reminded the listener of some peerless
Helen, or imperial Zenobia, whose wondrous
beauty and singular fortunes riveted the attention of antiquity.
After resting ourselves, the customary re



184     VIEW  OVER THE KAMPO.
freshments of water and conserves were passed
around. We then adjourned to the portico,
lingering there some time to revel in the magnificent panorama extended before us. In the
distance rose the mountains of Asia Minor,
of a soft violet hue; nearer spread the deep
blue expanse of the Egean, lit with white
sails; at our left a rugged chain of mountains rose grandly above the plain; and directly
at our feet the Kampo rolled away to the sea,
clad in the variegated verdure of the olive,
the cypress, the orange, the lentisk, the linden,
the mulberry, the pistachio, and the vine, with
half-deserted pyrgoes or chateaus towering
here and there above the groves.  On the
drowsy air carne the sullen roar of surf on the
beach miles away, and from all sides could
be heard the monotone of the manganoes or
water-wheels, as in every garden the patient
mules, hour after hour, drew water from the
wells for irrigating the soil; and occasionally
a languid gust brought to us the scent of the
orange-blossoms or the mild musk of the jessamine's silvery stars.
Oh the beauty and the glory of those landscapes of Scio! oh the softness of its clime,
never too warm nor too cool!  When did we
tire of the loveliness that surrounded us?




FIOR DI LEVANTE.           185
when did the time pass wearily? Never! Our
stay there was like a long dream  of delight,
an unbroken reverie, in a land where we fed
on the lotus and drank the waters of Lethe;
never before, never since, have I passed two
months of such unalloyed happiness as the
days that glided so quietly away on Scio's
isle. In the morning we roved among orangegroves or galloped by the sea-side; we had our
siesta at noonday, bathed in the sea at sunset,
then watched the moon looming above the
Teian shore where Anacreon dwelt and sang
of old, and then  lay  " down- to  pleasant
dreams."
Often in our morning rides we met the
peasant maids in picturesque costume spinning as they rode or walked, with the shuttle
under their left arm, and holding the thread
and spindle in the right hand exactly as described by Homer in the following passage:
" As the running thread
The spindle follows, and displays the charms
Of the fair spinster's breast, and moving arms."
Iliad, xxiii.
Not unfrequently we saw a woman mounted
on a mule, singing lullaby to an infant at the
breast, while another child sat behind her on
the long, wide saddle, - still another curly



186         BEGGARS IN SCIO.
headed urchin clinging to the crupper, while
the rude tinkle of the mule-bell chimed with
the sportive voices of the children and the
crooning song of the mother.
Mules are almost exclusively used as beasts
of burden in Scio, and riding is very generally -adopted. "If wishes were horses, then
beggars might ride," is an old proverb which
is literally interpreted in this curious island,
for the beggars there came to our gate on
mule-back, and found it difficult to understand
that we hardly considered such a luxury as
evincing extreme poverty.
In one of our rides we visited the house formerly occupied by the Rev. Mr. Hueston, missionary of the American Board many years
before, when sojourning for a short season at
the island for Mrs. Hueston's health. The house
was uninhabited when we visited it, and was in
a ruinous condition, but it was interesting to us
as the temporary residence of the beautiful char
acter to whose loveliness the traveller Stephens
paid such a noble tribute in his travels. Mrs.
Hueston is still remembered by the Sciotes as
the good American lady. We were amused
to find in this remote locality traces of American thrift. When Mr. Hueston occupied this
dilapidated mansion he seems to have been




FIOR DI LE VANTE.          187
annoyed by the air creeping through the cracks
and crannies,  which he accordingly plastered
over with paper, and what was our surprise
at discovering in this way dingy, antique
sheets of the " Missionary Herald!"
Some days later we rode up to the monastery of St. Minas, which stands on the brow
of a hill overlooking the Kampo. Into this
convent three thousand Sciotes were decoyed
by the proclamation of an amnesty during
the revolution, and when the inclosure was
crowded with the poor unsuspecting and unarmed victims, the Turks fell upon them and
put them to the sword. We were cordially
welcomed by the old monks who haunted the
ancient cloisters like shadows of other days.
They brought forth from their stores coffee
and wine for their visitors, for it was not often
that they looked on the face of a foreigner;
and one old patriarch, an hundred and twenty
years of age, related the various events of his
long career. He described how, when a youth,
in 1771, he had witnessed the destruction of
the Turkish fleet on the opposite coast at
Tchesm6 by the Russians under Admiral
Greig: he spoke of the American revolution
and of the faint rumors of the great-heartedness of Washington which were wafted across




188   MONASTERY OF ST, MINAS.
the wide ocean to the little island of Scio, and
how his bosom had kindled at the tale, and
then, descending to the present century, he
described with weeping eyes and quivering
tongue how his native isle had been desolated
by the torch and the sword, and how in that
very monastery over three thousand of his
poor countrymen were slaughtered without
mercy.  1" There!" said the ancient in tones
tremulous with grief and indignation, "there
and there are the stains of their blood to this
day!" and he pointed his shrivelled finger to
the dreadful witnesses of that awful period
still staining the marble floor of the chapel.
The father of Yory6 our gardener or overseer, was one of the few survivors of that
massacre, and he described it to us in language simple but very pathetic, on a morning
when we rode over to his tower in a leafy
glen. His parents were butchered almost before his eyes. " How I escaped," he said, " I
know not; the Holy Virgin watched over me;
I leaped over the wall and fled. My father
and mother I never saw again.  May God
have mercy on their souls!  For days and
weeks I roamed on the mountains alone; and
I could see the vultures and kites hovering in
dense flocks over the monastery - they were
picking the bones of my friends! "




FIOR DI LEVANTE.           189
After burrowing thus in the clefts of the
rocks he succeeded in escaping from the island
in a Samian coaster with'a fugitive maiden
whose relatives had also been slain, and whom
he married in Samos. From  thence he wandered to Missolonghi, where he endured the
horrors of its second siege, living on rats and
old leather, fighting hand-to-hand with the
Turks over the earthworks, and finally cutting
his way out with the garrison through the enemy's lines, on a stormy night. He returned
to Scio when matters became more quiet,
sought out his father's house, repaired it, and
had lived there ever since.
There is scarce a family in Scio that has
not some such tale to tell of its fortunes in
that massacre.  Women are doubtless still
living in the harems of Cairo and Constantinople who were then sold into slavery, while
their families have returned to occupy the
ruins of their former homes and to live in ignorance whether their lost sisters are living or
dead. Such is life here; in this Paradise we
are constantly reminded of " man's inhumanity to man."
Scio at the breaking out of the revolution
was the most flourishing island of the Egean.
Port Kastro, the chief town, was opulent, and




190       MASSACCRE OF SCIO.
maintained a large commerce. The University of Scio was patronized by students flocking hither from all parts of the archipelago.
The inhabitants were happy and contented,
and were rather disposed.to hold aloof from
hostilities when the war commenced. As the
island was an appanage of the Sultana Valid6
or queen mother, it might have weathered the
storm if a band of restless Samians had not
landed in Scio in spite of the wishes of the
islanders, and laid siege to the Turkish garrison in the citadel.  This exasperated the
Turkish government to such a degree that
they sent a large fleet against Scio and let
loose 30,000 fanatical Turks to desolate this
beautiful spot. Of course the Samians fled
at once like dastards, leaving the unarmed
Sciotes to destruction. In six weeks, out of
a population of 100,000 nearly 70,000 had
been slain or carried into slavery, while most
of those remaining escaped to other islands,
and Scio was virtually depopulated.
The island, however, has to a considerable
degree recovered its former loveliness, and,
with the exception of the ruins scattered here
and there, the traces of its devastation are
rapidly disappearing. The people, although
much less numerous and wealthy than before




.IFOR DI LEVANTE.          191
the revolution, are generally contented, and
are probably as mildly ruled as any under the
Ottoman sway. They are, if possible, more
devoted to the superstitions of their corrupt
church than ever, and their saints' days and
religious fairs and pilgrimages are observed
with great care. Viewed oesthetically, with
the eye of an artist, these religious fates afford
much that is picturesque and entertaining.
The groups of peasantry in their gay holiday
attire, the booths fancifully decked with flowers and tempting with confectionery, the dances
and the songs, —all present glimpses of the
sunny side of the national character. If such
occasions are too frequent in the East, it certainly is not the case among the more sober,
phlegmatic, methodic Americans; and it may
well be questioned whether a few more innocent holidays might not render our people
more gracious in their manners, more contented
and cheerful in their lives.
The Eve of St. John occurred during our
visit in Scio, and in anticipation of the event
the Sciotes spent the preceding afternoon in
making preparations for celebrating the occasion with all the ceremonies and rejoicings
established by custom; and our gardener and
his wife, assisted by a party of their relations,




192        EVE OF ST. JOHN.
collected a huge pile of brushwood in the dry
bed of the torrent before our gate, against the
arrival of evening.
In Scio the Roman Catholics, being under
Latin protection, have long enjoyed the privilege of hanging bells on their churches, while
those of the Greek faith, as in most parts of
the Turkish dominions, have, in consequence
of Mussulman prejudice against bells, been
reduced to the necessity of using soundingboards called semandroes, on which they beat
with mallets a sort of tattoo, when they summon the "orthodox" to their devotions. In
Trebizond, in Nicomedia, in Brusa, in Scio,
I have often heard this peculiar summons
hammering away on holidays. Within a few
years the native Christians have been permitted to use bells, but their poverty generally
prevents them from availing themselves of the
privilege.
On the evening in question, as the hour for
vespers approached, the semandroes were unusually lively over the whole Kampo, resounding from the numerous little chapels situated
in private gardens or by the wayside. Now
the sounds died away to the distant valleys,
now they swelled again on the sunset air, a
numerous chorus of mallets keeping time to




FIOR DI LEVANTE.          193
the prolonged tune; the effect was very peculiar and rather pleasing.
Some of our party attended vespers in a
neighboring chapel. The little building was
crowded, and many were standing without,
bowing and crossing themselves, as the priest
came to the door, swinging the censer among
them and bestowing his pastoral benedictions.
All we could do was to remain outside, snatching glimpses through the doorway of gilded
pictures and flickering tapers scarce visible in
the smoky air of the interior, while a confused hum was heard from the worshippers,
blending with the chanting of the Litany. Havin.g satisfied our curiosity, we prepared to
leave, when a deacon, singling us out from the
crowd, politely offered us some bread of wonderful whiteness, rich with the blessing of the
bishop, to eat of which is considered a privilege. One of our number whimsically refused
to partake, alleging by way of apology that
he was not hungry; and he only complied
after considerable urging; but the bystanders
had heard his excuse, and great was the mirth
it occasioned; we did not soon hear the last
of it. The intelligence that a Frank gentleman had refused holy bread on the plea of
want of appetite was disseminated over the
13




194        EVE OF ST. JOHIN.
island ere twenty-four hours had elapsed, as a
bit of information too good to be lost.
With the arrival of twilight bonfires were
lit before almost every gate, and the reflections
from the various flames streamed up here and
there through the foliage and up the sky like
columns of light. Occasionally a rocket might
be seen soaring in the distance toward the
zenith, breaking and scattering a shower of
stars over the groves; and the jocund sounds
of merriment and festivity floated on the peaceful air of evening. It was a memorable scene.
In the meantime our gardener lighted the
heap of brushwood before our gate. As the
ruddy flames leaped upwards, illumining the
graceful foliage of the china-trees which overhung the porter's lodge, the children and young
maidens and youths who had assembled there,
commenced an animated song, dancing around
the fire, while a buxom damsel beat time on
the tambourine; then the gardener and our
servant Takvore fired pistols in the air, adding
eclat to the spectacle.
But the feather-footed hours glided swiftly
away, as is their wont when the soul is most
free from care. Gradually' the fires paled in
the distance against the sky, and the stars
twinkled more visibly in the still, dewy, un



FIOR DI LE VANTE.         195
clouded night. Our bonfire was soon but a
dull heap of smouldering embers, into which
the rollicking urchins vainly poked long sticks,
hoping to rekindle a flame; but only a few
sparks darted up spasmodically and expired.
Some days later, by previous arrangement,
we rode over after dinner to the house of Mr.
P -, where we found him waiting, his donkey saddled and bridled. After exchanging a
few compliments with his mother and his fair
daughter Kleanthe, we dashed off on the road to
Sclavia, Takvore bringing up the rear, mounted
on a spirited sorrel mule, and gallantly attired
in his new holiday suit the better to dazzle
the eyes of the peasant maids.
The first part of our ride wound through
the Kampo, but we soon reached the foot of
the hill on which the convent of St. Minhs is
situated. Climbing slowly up the long ascent,
we passed the monastery on our left, with its
quaint rearward of windmills, that would have
ravished the doughty soul of Don Quixote, all
turning their long arms round and round, with
a languid, sing-song motion, in the fresh breeze
that played on the heights. It actually induced
a soporific effect on the observer to watch the
monotonous old wheat-grinders at their work,
as if they had been going thus since Noah




196        TRIP TO SCLA VIA.
came out of the ark, while the dusty and no
less sluggish millers leaned against the walls
of their respective mills, gazing idly into vacancy.
After a charming ride we entered the bounds
of Sclavia, a straggling district presenting a
rugged scenery not found in the Kampo.
Grand, hewn-stone villas were still to be seen,
but at greater intervals, and the peasantry we
met appeared to be of a more primitive order,
while their dialect was more corrupted by provincialisms than the Greek in use nearer Port
Kastro. As we passed by the fields where the
laborers were reaping, they saluted us in true
patriarchal style, repeatedly inviting us to dismount and partake of their cheer. We saw
one deserted pyrgo whose entrance was commanded by an imposing gate-way from which
a long, stately avenue of ancient cypresses led
up to the mansion, appearing in their sombre
livery like mourners sorrowing in silent majesty
for the departed souls who had formerly dwelt
there. In another spot we observed a neat
little Roman Catholic church nestling among
the trees, at the bottom of a shady valley,
its campanile lifting a white cross above the
embowering foliage.
We finally alighted in the court-yard of a




FIOR D1 LEVANTE.           197
deserted villa, whose lower story was partially
occupied by a decrepit couple, relics of the
family which had inhabited it previous to the
revolution.  We seated ourselves beside a
beautiful, mossy tank of clear water, and after
supplying our glasses from a spring of remarkable coolness which bubbled up through an
aperture in the pavement of the court, Takvore produced some pastries from his saddlebags, and the old gardener brought us some
delicious plums from his little orchard. These
were of several species, one of which, of
nearly a finger's length, oval shaped, and of a
transparent green color, is said to flourish only
on the soil of Sclavia; it is dried for exportation, and is used in the Levant for medicinal
purposes.
Words are inadequate to convey an idea of
the glorious prospect spread before us. On the
one hand the purple outlines of Samos and
Ikaria skirted the horizon on the verge of the
blue Egean, and still nearer loomed the viny
headlands and slopes of Ionia. Scio, lovely
as the garden of the Lord, lay at our feet,
presenting to the enchanted beholder beautiful
varieties of hill and valley, the lights and shadows slowly creeping over the landscape as the
sun approached the west.  Noble buildings,




198      A DOMESTIC TRAGEDY.
imposing even in ruins, and antiquated hamlets perched on the hill-tops, diversified the scenery; while, like a setting to the picture, the
rugged mountain crags of Scio were bathed
in a rosy light. Nor should I forget to mention a dismantled fortification directly in the
foreground, - probably a relic of the Genoese,
- whose mouldering buttresses were concealed by a profusion of ivy, that made it appear almost a part of the rock on which it was
founded.
As we sat there revelling in the prospect, the
venerable gardener related to us the tragedy of
his house. All the family had collected there
on learning that hostilities had commenced at
Port Kastro.  Not aware of the extent to
which the atrocities were carried, they hoped
that they might in that remote corner escape
the storm. But one morning they heard the
cracking of pistols among the neighboring
hills, and before they could fly they saw the
turbaned cut-throats trooping into the courtyard of the pyrgo.  The doors of the house
barring ingress to the miscreants, they prepared
to deal with their victims by treachery, and
summoned the men within to descend and
treat for terms of ransom. The latter, if
alone, might have defended the building for




FIOR DI LE VANTE.          199
hours and then died like heroes, but there
were their wives and children weeping around
them, and they knew that sooner or later the
foe must prevail, and then, the fiercer the fight,
the more terrible would be the doom  that
awaited their families. Therefore they chose
what appeared the least of two inevitable evils,
and went forth to treat. The result is easily
foreseen. But one of the adult males escaped
to tell the tale, and he was our narrator, the
old man before us; the women and children
were sold into slavery. One of the boys was
afterwards ransomed, and educated in America, and has for many years been practicing
medicine in Constantinople.
As we gazed on the wrinkled countenance
of the old man and then turned our eyes on
the blooming picture below us, a mdurning
veil seemed to overshadow the island, and the
lamentations of those who have fallen by the
sword rang in our ears like the notes of a funeral knell.
From Sclavia we passed through a singular
little village reminding one of Bayle St. John's
description of the town on the oasis of Sivah.
The houses, or rather huts, were low but massively constructed of stone, with very conical,
slated roofs, and were frequently connected




,200       MASTIC VILLAGES.
and strengthened by arches thrown from house
to house across the street, giving a subterranean air to the place. Some of these hovels
were of considerable age, several bearing date
above the doors as far back as the fourteenth
century. The villages of the southern part
of the island are generally built in this style
to protect them from earthquakes.
After quitting this hamlet we entered the
mastic villages or cantons, twenty-four in
number. The gum produced here has from
remote antiquity been one of the staple prod.
ucts of Scio. The mastic or lentisk is a shrub
rather than a tree, rarely attaining lofty growth;
the gum, a resinous substance, is obtained at
the warmest, seasons, and is used in large quantities in the harems of the East for perfuming
the breath, as well as to impart an agreeable
flavor to water, preserves, or spirits.  Since
the possession of the island by the Turks, the
revenue arising from the mastic of Scio has
been hereditarily apportioned to the Sultana
Valid6, or Queen Dowager, for pin-money.
Soon we passed through a village situated
near the sea-shore, in the midst of which arose
a rude, ponderous citadel, like a feudal castle,
towering far above the huts clustering around
its base. This fortalice was erected in the re



FIOR DI LEVANTE.           201
mote past as a place of refuge from the descents
of the corsairs who, until a recent period, have
infested the shores of the Archipelago. It was
on a circumstance connected with these piratical incursions that Mrs. Hemans composed
her beautiful poem, 1 The Bride of the Greek
Isle."
As our mules ambled slowly across the publie place of the village, we were amused by
the various groups of women and children
enjoying the approach of evening, spinning
before their doors, or chatting around the village fountain as they filled their water-jugs,
or playing in the by-lanes. One little urchin
two or three years old was sprawling in the
road directly in our path, totally unconscious
of the approach of our cavalcade; but his
mother, rushing from the house with a shriek,
seized him by the arm and dragged him aside,
at the imminent risk of dislocating that unoffending member.
1" Is that your little boy, my good woman?"
inquired Mr. Pa.
"Yes, thank God! and he's the dearest
little creature that ever lived!"
"Aye, that he is indeed; what eyes, what
cheeks! may he live! "
" Thanks to you; but spit on his face, Sir;
the evil eye, you know, Sir."




202   THE E VIL EYE: A NUNNERY.
Mr. P —--- complied with her request, a frequent petition in the East, an emission of saliva being popularly considered a preventive
against any injurious admiration or hellish
spells.
From this village we commenced our return
by another route, which led us to the nunnery
of St. Katerina, where our friend, who was
acquainted with the prioress, proposed that we
should alight. We were ushered into the reception room of the establishment, and were
courteously received by the prioress. A demure
but comely nun served us to rose preserve and
water flavored with mastic. She informed us
that she had formerly been named Katinko,
but that on taking the veil she had assumed
the name of Theosev6, which is, by interpretation, God-fearing.  The prioress informed us
that at the time there were one hundred and
twenty nuns and fifty children under her
charge. As it was now growing dark, we declined visiting the school-room and refectory,
and took our leave.
After winding sometime over the hills we
finally arrived at the mansion of our Greek
friend, whence we turned off to our own pyrgo,
which we reached about ten, somewhat fatigued but not too much so to enjoy heartily




FIOR DI LEVANTE.          203
a cup of, tea, and thereafter a refreshing slumber.
The day came at last when we must leave
our quiet retreat in Scio. Many were our
regrets as we packed up our things and sent
them on board the vessel that was to bear us
away. At midnight, when the long watch-cry
of the sentinel on the ramparts of Port Kastro
was floating over the calm waters of the strait,
we embarked on the steamer Innperatrice, that
stopped off the port a few moments to take
passengers on board.




IX.
HELLAS.
HIHE Isles of Greece skirted the horizon at
sunrise. Scio lay far astern, and Delos,
Mycono, Tenos, and Syra were near us on
the beam  or over the bow.  A fresh breeze
from  the southward furrowed the sea with
billows that sparkled in the sun and gave a
pleasant motion to the vessel as we paced the
quarter-deck and gazed with enthusiasm on the
exhilarating prospect.  The islands of the Archipelago are generally sterile as seen from a
distance, Mytilene, Scio, and a few  others
excepted, although on nearer approach vineyards may be perceived on the slopes, and the
white villages clinging to the cliffs impart that
indescribably picturesque effect that is peculiar
to scenery on the northern coasts of the Mediterranean; and whether they are observed close
at hand or in the offing, there is always a luminous purple haze suffusing the island peaks,
that causes them to seem like enchanted isles
floating on an enchanted sea.




HELLAS.              205
We saw very distinctly the convent and
hospital of Tenos erected on the spot where
a picture of the Virgin was miraculously discovered by means of a holy dream. An annual
fair is held there to which Greeks resort from
all quarters of the Levant with votive offerings, not a small share of which has been donated by robbers, from the rewards of their
profession, for the peace of their souls.  With
a portion of the large income derived from
these sources the poor and the sick are maintained  at the hospital.  Many astonishing
cures are said to have been performed by the
sacred ik6n, but I am inclined to be sceptical
enough to attribute these results partly to the
salubrious air of the island.
At noon we anchored in the excellent harbor of Syra, and the difference between Turkey
and Greece was at once perceptible. Here we
found a homogeneous people and a nation that
is renewing its youth, exhibiting, in spite of
its backwardness, unmistakable signs of vitality. National individuality here strongly asserted itself, and the increased activity we
beheld, gave a kind of stimulus to the mind
slightly enervated by the slumberous habits of
the dreamy Osmanlee. Syra is a lively city
rising on a very steep acclivity, forming a cone




206      SYRA: GREEK LADIES.
of white stone houses terminating at the top
by a church.
At dinner our company was reinforced by
two silent Englishmen from  India, tall, reserved, and bronzed by the sun of the torrid
zone, and a Greek gentleman with his wife
and two daughters, who were sufficiently attractive to promise an agreeable chat in the
evening; for in the Levant and on shipboard
a speaking acquaintance is soon formed among
entire strangers. But this little plan was nipped
by an untimely circumstance. Supposing us
ignorant of the Greek language, the ladies at
the table discussed the Englishmen with a degree of freedom that would have been embarrassing to those haughty aristocrats if they
had been aware of the tenor of the conversation. As I understood all that was said, I was
considerably diverted, and at the same time,
lest the ladies should be embarrassed by perceiving that their remarks were understood, I
was obliged to exercise severe control over the
facial muscles; but these were soon put to a
stronger test, for the conversation suddenly
took an unexpected turn by making the writer
the subject of remark. For several minutes
I had the opportunity of appreciating the feelings of the man who sees his own obituary in




HELLA S.             207
the papers; and after this I was forced to deny
myself the pleasure of chatting with the fair
gossips in the evening when the full moon was
shining on the port, while the band of a Prussian corvette within a cable's length filled the
air with delicious strains.
Towards midnight we got under weigh, and
sighted the shores of Attica at dawn. It was
with strange, tumultuous emotions that I once
more beheld my native land. By Salamis, into
the Pirmus we glided over a sea of glass, until
the Acropolis burst on our view flooded with
the glory of morning. Impatiently I went
ashore, rode over the plain hallowed by so
many battles fought for liberty, and found myself again in Athens.
On the morning of my return, with my
excellent friend Mr. Constantine, I walked
through the Agora or market-place. I had
but to close my eyes and on opening them to
fancy myself with a slight effort of the imagination in the Athens so graphically described
in the visit of St. Paul:'All the Athenians
and strangers which were there spent their
time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to
hear some new  thing."  Eighteen hundred
years have passed away since that vivid portraiture of a people was written; the picture




208  MODERN ATHENIANS: COSTUME.
remains as a means of comparing the ancient
with the modern Athenian, and we find that
no essential change has taken place during all
these eventful ages, unless it be, possibly, that
the vital spark, the admirable genius of ancient
Greece, which expired during the Dark Ages,
has not yet been rekindled.  As I strolled
through the market, directly before me arose
the Acropolis; nearer, at the head of the street,
was the Horologium of A ndronicus, vulgarly
called the Temple of the Winds; and around
me were the Athenians, buying and selling,
chatting in busy knots at the corners, and
"C spending their time in nothing else but either
to tell, or to hear some new thing."
In observing these groups, whose profiles and
figures recall those who once exercised in the
gymnasiums of Athens, I was gratified to see
how strong patriotic pride still preserved many
of them from exchanging the superb national
costume of modern Greece for the stiff and
artificial fashions of Paris. With all respect
for the flowing robes or the warrior's armor
of the Periclean age, it appears to me that the
Albanian costume adopted by the Greeks before the revolution and still used by many of
them, is the finest dress ever worn by any
people. The Highland costume, which some



HELLAS               209
what resembles it, is by no means so graceful
as this, which consists of a kilt called the fustanella, closely gathered around the waist and
hanging loosely to a short distance above the
knee in massy folds of snow-white cloth; a
long girdle woven of many brilliant tints is
wound tightly around the already slender
waist; I have seen Athenian exquisites fasten
one end of this girdle to a post and then wind
themselves up; a crimson or blue vest of woolen stuff embroidered with gold but half conceals the ruffles of the flowing-sleeved shirt,
and over this is a jacket similarly adorned;
leggins of the same material and color with
gold thread buttons and fringe, and a crimson
fez long enough to droop by the weight of the
heavy blue silk tassel that rests on the shoulder,
complete this magnificent costume, unless we
add the broad red leathern belt for pistols and
daggers buckled over the girdle by the mountaineers or worn in time of war. Such a suit
naturally costs too much to be often renewed,
and this will probably be the reason why it
will eventually go out of date. Say what we
will, utilitarianism has the day; but I would
not be understood as grumbling against the
inevitable laws controlling human tastes as
well as actions, and teaching us the advant14




210   CONSER V;1 TI VE R FI, ECTI ONRS.
ages of resigning the lesser for the greater
good. And yet it is a relief to turn from this
age of bronze to that age of gold, when the
pursuit of the beautiful for itself alone was
not deemed a sign of mental feebleness, when
they reared magnificent monuments and composed poetic strains under the inspiration of
that love of beauty which is inborn in every
genuine and healthful nature. We are now
wiser and certainly sadder than they were;
we have eaten of the tree of knowledge, and
have made the discovery that beauty unwedded with utility is vanity. A poem composed
merely from  an overflow of poetic feeling
without a utilitarian object in view, a romance
that does not under a thin disguise undertake
to create a moral reform, a picture that does
not convey an allegorical lesson, a sumptuous
building that is not intended for a state-house
or an asylum, is in decidedly bad taste; this is
the tendency of the highest writers and thinkers of the day, although of course inferior
and untutored minds are yet independent of
this creed. There is no doubt that truth, as
in a well, lies at the bottom of our modern
theory of the beautiful, but I am old-fashioned
enough to feel the force of that ancient worship of the beautiful for itself alone, to which
men consecrated such immortal creations.




HELLAS.              211
What a relief it is to escape awhile from the
whirl and din of this age of steam, and to wander alone by the Theseium, by the Areopagos,
through the Propylrea, where every object reminds us of that passion for beauty which
animated the soul of the ancient Athenian,
and over that pavement which still bears the
ruts deeply worn in the marble by chariots
before the Christian era; until, on the summit
of the Acropolis, the spirit may forget the present, and lose itself in that memorable past which
is a living reality to the worshiper of all that
is heroic and beautiful in the lives of nations,
or in the memorials which they left behind
them to create a bond of sympathy between
the men of different periods, and to arouse
their descendants to the attainment of still
loftier heights of glory.
The Acropolis at Athens! how many have
described it and how many have visited or read
of its astonishing ruins; how many museums
and cabinets have been enriched with precious
fragments from its inexhaustible treasury of
art; how many folios have illustrated its wonders; how many have consecrated their lives to
the study of its monuments, or sought to imitate the unapproachable beauty of its sculptures and colonnades; what genius was de



21 2         THE A CR OPOLIS.
voted to its adornment; what genius has been
expended in the restoration and preservation
of its antiquities; what poetic eloquence has
wreathed its venerable battlements with the
immortal flowers of poesy! The central spot
of ancient civilization, and the point of departure for the legislation, the art, and the literature of subsequent ages, the thoughtful mind
"~ musing there an hour alone" will gain a
more earnest appreciation of what man has
achieved in the past, and a more steadfast
faith in the final success of the Hellenic race
and the regeneration of the East.
Standing on the steps of the Parthenon one
sees before him the Gulf of Egina, Salamis in
the distance, and the harbors of Pirmus, Phalaurn, and Munychia, to which extended the famous Long Walls. Far off in the dim blue is
the Acrocorinthus, Mt. Parnes and the Pass of
Philt are nearer, then Mt. Pentelicus; on the
left rises Mt. Hymettus, and inclosed between
the mountains and the sea lies the plain of
Athens, delicately green with its famous olive
groves, or variegated with grain and wild flowers billowing in the breeze, the rich tints of the
landscape softened and harmonized by the faint
violet haze that pervades the whole. As the
low wind sighs through the noble porticoes of




HELLAS.              218
the majestic ruins, it brings to the dreamer's
mind the scenes of other days, as if it were
the murmur of the voices of fallen generations. The long, solemn procession wending
its way to the Eleusinian mysteries; or the
Panathenaic train marching up from the city
below, priests, youths, maidens, heroes, and
sages, with chariots and votive offerings, and
bearing aloft the sacred Peplus, passing through
the magnificent portals of the Propylea, and
sweeping by the Parthenon into the Erectheum; the battles for freedom, the audiences assembled around the Pnyx and swayed by the
matchless tongue of Demosthenes,- all this and
far more appears vividly to the mental vision.
The antiquities of Athens have been so
often described by able scholars that to attempt a new account of them would almost
seem like presumption. But I would call the
attention of the reader to one very interesting
ruin that has been brought to light within
comparatively a recent period; this is the celebrated theatre of Bacchus, which has for
many centuries been hidden from sight by the
layers of earth that have accumulated during
past ages and buried it from sight. It is situated at the foot of the Acropolis, on-the southern side, adjoining the Odeurn of Herodes




214    THE THEATRE OF BA CCItUS.
Atticus, and is in excellent preservation. The
plan is in the form of a semicircle, the galle.
ries rising one above the other and facing the
south.  The tiers of marble seats are almost
as perfect as if quarried yesterday. The first
and best circle consists of arm-chairs of Pentelic marble, bearing inscriptions still unimpaired, designating the persons to whom they
were awarded.  rThe mayor's seat is in the
centre, slightly raised above the others, and
with a pedestal at its side which supported a
statue. It is noticeable that the priests of ancient Athens were assigned honorable and
prominent seats in the first circle. Many splendid fragments have been unearthed, torsos and
limbs of statuary that adorned the theatre; a
colossal head of Bacchus, the genius loci, is
conspicuous for its beauty.  In this theatre
the immortal tragedies of ZEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the comedies of Aristophanes, and most of the great plays of Greece
were acted before the Athenian multitudes assembled beneath the blue sky of Attica, an
awning being extended over them only when
the sun was too oppressively warm; little had
they to fear of rain in that radiant clime.
There -is still another link between ancient
and modern Athens which we do not remnem



HELLAS.               215
Ler to have seen noticed with the attention it
deserves. Athena or Minerva, the goddess of
wisdom, was the tutelary deity of Athens, and
the owl was consecrated to her, doubtless on
account of its superior intelligence; such was
the resemblance it bore to Minerva that one of
her distinctive titles was - owl-eyed. Aware,
probably, of their peculiar relation to the goddess, an extensive colony of these mysterious
birds settled in Athens at an early period, particularly in the crannies which exist in the
rocky sides of the Acropolis, expressly provided, there is reason to believe, by Minerva
herself in the immediate vicinity of her shrine,
for the accommodation of her feathered votaries. So numerous was this colony that " owls
to Athens" became a proverb equivalent to'" coals to Newcastle."  Great was the respect
accorded to the owl by the Athenians; his
sapient eyes blink at us from many a wellworn coin and sculpture, venerably ludicrous.
But, not satisfied with having his name associated with the goddess of wisdom and his
effigy engraved on the masterpieces of Phidias,
this cabalistic fowl has ceased not to propagate
his species in spite of the strange mutations
of time, and the lineal descendants of the owls
of ancient Athens continue to remind us that




216   FEATHERED SAGES: ATHENS.
wisdom died not with the ancients. The broad
sun of noonday does not seem to disturb their
equanimity. Perched on the ruins whose erection their ancestors superintended with lively
interest, they wink at the irreverent traveller
who visits the Acropolis with an imperturbable gravity that would stare any sensitive nature out of countenance, or flit among the solitary columns of the Parthenon like shades of
the departed. One who carefully studies the
character and customs of these miniature philosophers, - for they belong to a very minute
order of the genus strix, —is half disposed to
turn Pythagorean and believe that the souls
of the founders of Athens have transmigrated
into those plump little fowls, and watch here
for the revival of Athenian glory. How long
will they have to wait for that day? when
shall patience have its perfect work?
Patience must indeed be the motto of the
Philhellenist who longs for the restoration of
Athens and of Greece; his faith in the progress of the Greeks, and in their energy and disposition to overcome obstacles and rise above
their present condition, must often be taxed to
the uttermost. Athens has in the lastthirty
years developed into a charming place of
residence, well laid out, the streets broad and




HELLAS.              217
cheerful, and the dwellings commodious and
suited to the climate. The late queen somewhat atoned for the errors of the Bavarian rule
by embellishing her capital; the beautiful gardens she planted form a delightful promenade
where all Athens turns out for a stroll towards
evening; but the chief improvement she introduced is a fine walk or drive encircling the
city and accessible in a few minutes from any
quarter of Athens. An easy wall of an hour
and a half or less makes the traveller acquainted with the position of the various spots of interest, after which he can proceed to inspect
the different localities successively and at his
leisure. The society of Athens, both native
and foreign, is agreeable and intelligent, including many who have achieved celebrity
in war and in letters. But Athens cannot
be taken as a specimen of the rest of
Greece, which has not made that advance on
its condition immediately subsequent to the
revolution which there was reason to expect.
During my residence in Greece years ago, I
went to Mane. in the southern part of the
Peloponnesus, the ancient Sparta or Laconia.
A small coaster of twenty tons which we hired
for the trip took us around Cape St. Angelo.
The captain was a Hydriote, and as we were




218         GREEK SAILORS,
not pressed for time, he of course stopped on
the voyage at the island of Hydra to visit his
wife: there is no mistaking the Greek sailors
of to-day as the descendants of the roving
companions of Ulysses. We all went ashore
and clirnbed up the precipitous streets of the
town to the skipper's abode, where we were
treated to the usual coffee and preserves, and
were taken by our hostess into a neighboring
chapel to hear vespers before reemribarking, we
being the sole attendants. A terrific thunderblast took us off the Cape, the sailors fell on
their knees and vowed a fabulous amount of
tallow candles to St. Nicholas and the Vfirgin,
and we all expected to go to the fishes. My
father was going around the same cape some
months later in a Greek corvette, when the
vessel was struck by a squall; the whole
crew of two hundred men came down on their
knees, after which they proceeded to take in
what sails were left on the yards!
The next day our mariners touched at Elaphonise to recruit their exhausted fiames with
fruit and wine; "to keep their spirits up they
poured the spirits down," offering propitiatory
libations to Neptune, who at last became pacified, and we finally reached Marathonise on
the mainland, and rode thence on horseback




HELLAS.              219
to a town in Areopolis, where in the family of
the Rev. Mr. Leyburn we spent three months.
A rough and barren land is Mane, looking as
if stones had rained upon it from heaven;
and the little wheat raised there is very dark.
The bread is almost black, composed of lupins,
wheat, and other ingredients, baked hard and
only a few times a year.  The prickly-pear
grows there in great perfection.  Many of
the people live in castellated towers, visible
far out at sea. The houses were formerly built
in this style owing to the many feuds amongst
the inhabitants. A man has been known to
stay in one of these towers ten years, not daring to pass the gate except on a woman's back,
for his enemies were ever on the alert, and
through the loopholes of their own pyryoes
kept their muskets pointed at his dwelling.
We returned to Athens by land, through narrow passes and over steep mountain paths infested by brigands, so that at times we were
accompanied by a guard of soldiers. The muleteers, until we got out of Mane, were peasant women, who followed on foot. When the
mules were going up a steep ascent the women
helped themselves along by grasping the tails
of the animals, and where they were descending a slippery path they kept the mules from




220     TRA VELLING IN GREECE.
sliding by repeating this action. On a Saturday afternoon in the mountains of Arcadia we
were overtaken by a tremendous thunder-storm.
At the outset the dry bed of a torrent called
Sarandap6tamos lay in our path; we had occasion to cross it twenty times that day, and
the last time the water had risen to the mulegirths, and threatened to sweep us away.
Soaked to the skin, we; spent Sunday at the
village of Ahoory, in a hut consisting of a stable with a single room over it, which we occupied, and a fire-place without other outlet for the
smoke than the door and crevices in the roof.
Such was travelling in Greece then, and such
it continues, with but slight changes, to this
day.  One may now visit Mane in a steamer
that runs once a week from Athens; but if he
wishes to traverse the country by land he must
carry his own bedding and cooking utensils.
Hospitality will often be gladly extended to
him, but the natives of Greece in their best
estate require less to live upon than the European or American, and the masses are content
with very primitive fare and lodging. An infinite number of plans for the internal improvement of Greece have been discussed in their
legislative assembly, which have afforded ample scope for the display of Hellenic bunkum,




HELLAS.              221
but no important results yet appear to the
nicest perception, —
"For he must needs have optics keen
Who sees what is not to be seen."
Last year three English noblemen landed in
Akarnania for a short trip among the mountains; their little excursion cost them  three
thousand pounds; they fell into the hands of
robbers and paid that sum for their liberty.
When I was in Greece some months later it
was considered safe to ascend MIt. Lykabetus,
behind the royal palace, from whence one of
the roost remarkable views in the Levant may
be obtained; it was also considered reasonably safe to venture to Eleusis; but unless the
traveller was burdened with a plethora of money
and was willing to encourage Greek enterprise
by leaving a round sum in some mountain
den, he was advised to keep within the immediate neighborhood of Athens.  Not that
lthere was then any great probability of being
waylaid, for it should be borne in mind that
the country was at that time considered comparatively quiet; but these Greeks have very
" taking ways," and the tourist in Greece will
rarely find a reasonable share of prudence unreasonable.  Those who have read Edmund
About's " King of the Mountains," but have




222              KLEFTS.
doubted the truthfulness of its portraitures, may
rest assured that as a picture of what it undertakes to represent its faithfulness cannot be
surpassed; it is so perfect that it almost
amounts to a caricature. Hadgee Stavr6s, his
hero, represents the Greek bandit as he is, and
Byron's Lambro, the corsair described in Don
Juan, exhibits the kleft or freebooter of the
ante-revolutionary period. Although pursuing
the same business, there is a material difference between the two characters not to the
credit of contemporary Greeks.
The brigand of Greece is a personage whom
time has left to this generation, to remind us,
amid the strange mutations of our day, of
Robin Hood and his merry men. "Le Roi
des Montagnes" is a prose epic, the " Lyttell
Geste " of the nineteenth century; the kleft is
an historic personage, worthy of mention in
the chronicles of the time, a link between our
own and former ages. To trace his origin we
must look back twelve hundred years to the
rise of Mahomet the camel-driver of the desert. Ever since the subjugation of Greece by
the Moslems the country has been in a turbulent condition. It was hatred of the Turkish
yoke that lent almost superhuman energy to
the arm of Iskender Bey; the same impulse




HELLA S.              223
inspired the warriors of SUli to wage perpetual warfare with the Turk; and this spirit it
was - a singular blending of religion, patriotism, and lawless freedom'- that caused the
mountains of Greece to swarm with klefts or
banditti at the period immediately preceding
the war of independence. There was considerable genuine romance connected with the
lives of these mountaineers, who gave rise to
some of the little poetry of modern Greece
that is worthy of record; their wild, simple,
plaintive ballads of love and war seem to retain a spark of Homeric fire.
Many of the prominent leaders in the revolution had been chieftains of note, combining
in their lives and character the daring freedom
and portly bearing of the feudal lord and the
unscrupulous ferocity of the Italian cut-throat.
When that heroic struggle was over, and it
became unlawful to rob and murder Turks,
they found their occupation gone. Some of
them settled down into scheming, restless politicians, while others, uneasy, like the sailor
who retires from life at sea, sighed for new adventures, sometimes attempting, like Griziotes,
to raise an insurrection, sometimes returning to
their evil ways, and, for lack of Turks, occasionally worrying a poor Christian, — with the




224    KLEFTS. IMODERN GREEKS.
precaution of keeping their souls safe by a
strict attention to the fast-days of Holy
Church, and endowing it with costly donations. Facts show that this has proved a profitable and not dishonorable pursuit, as public
opinion  goes in Greece.  But outlaws in
Greece once possessed higher motives than
those of mere gain, and represented a contest
between races and religions, somewhat as
Robin Hood and his foresters are supposed to
have been representatives of a struggle long
maintained between the Saxons and their Norman subjugators. In the Turkish Empire brigandage is a result of weakness, a sign of dissolution, while in Greece it is a relic of past ages
destined, we hope, before long to disappear.
Greece is like a man long subject to evil
passions and desperate fortunes, who determines on a new course of life, but finds the
ghosts of his former hardships and sins continually haunting him and sometimes paralyzing
his efforts after reform. She has not yet recovered from her licentious life under the Roman
rule, from the monkery of the Dark Ages under
the Lower Empire, and from her slavery and
predatory warfare under the Turks.  Would
you ask miracles of her?




HIELLAS.                 225
"A thousand years scarce serve to form a state;
An hour mlay lay it in the dust; and when
Canl man its shattered splendor renovate,
Recall its virtues back, and vanquish Time and Fate? "
One becomes weary sometimes of hearing
the Greeks constantly vilified, and is disposed
to inquire whether there is not another side to
the question; whether something cannot be
adduced in their favor.  It is true that their
progress since the revolution has been' slow,
and that they continue to display the vices
which have earned for them so ill a reputation; but it should be remembered as suggested above, that some of these evil traits
have been fostered if not begotten by long
ages of tyranny; in the words of the sage of
Concord, -
" He who has no hands
Perforce must use his tongue;
Foxes are so cunning
Because they are not strong."
And there are different grades of vice and
virtue even among the Greeks; at Constantinople and Smyrna they are less manly and
more corrupt than in the interior of Asia Minor or among the mountains of Macedonia
and Lakonia.  The accusation of cowardice
so often brought up against the modern Greeks,
even by such acute and candid writers as
15




226         GREEK COURA GE.
M. About, I do not consider worthy of consideration.  It is sufficient to point to the long
warfare of the revolutionary period, to its many
heroic men and deeds, and to the persistence
of the Cretans in their present struggle. Unquestionably poltroons are to be found, and
too often modern Greek valor is largely tempered with discretion, but it is the fault of
their education rather than their nature; the
Greek of our day is no more a coward than
any other people of Southern Europe or the
Levant. In a regular stand-up fight with welldisciplined troops they may waver, for the
bravest irregular soldiery are at a disadvantage
in fighting armies thoroughly drilled, but they
are at home in their mountain warfare; so is
it with the Spanish guerrillas, and they are not
considered foes unworthy the steel of brave
men. That ancient Greece had its cowards
as well as its heroes, is made evident, among
other circumstances, by Theophrastus' masterly characterization of cowardice, clearly
drawn from  life. The Greeks are naturally
not a sanguinary race; the intense hatred
caused by the cruelties of the Turks has induced them, in fighting with that people, to
indulge in terrible excesses by way of retaliation, but they usually have their passions under




HtELLA S.             227
control sufficiently at least not to make them
conflict with their interests. A coup d'etat at
Athens is not less complete in its results than
at Paris, but it is accomplished without bloodshed,- a revolutionary excellence attained as
yet by no other people in Christendom.
I well recollect the uprising of 1843. Exasperated by the miserable rule of Otho and
the evil counsels of his Bavarian minions, a
plot was hatched to wrench a constitution from
him, and when everything was ripe the Athenians arose. At midnight the hoofs of horses
were heard clanging on the pavement, and the
flash of torches gleamed in the streets, as the
populace and military hurried towards the palace; and when the amber-colored dawn lighted
the Acropolis and the plain of Athens, lo! the
king found himself surrounded by his happy
subjects, and discovered two field-pieces pointing into the entrance of the royal residence.
A constitution was demanded in firm but respectful terms, it being suggested at the same
time that, if the request were not granted by
four P I., fire would be opened on the palace.
In the meanwhile, all Athens was gathered in
the open space around the palace, chatting,
cracking jokes, taking snuff, and smoking, as
if they had assembled to witness a show or




228      POP ULAR COMiMOTIONS.
hear the reading of a will. Not a shot was
fired; no violence was offered or received; and
precisely as the limiting hour arrived, the obstinate king succumbed to his besiegers, the charter was granted, and the multitude quietly dispersed to their homes. In less than twenty-four
hours the character of the government had
changed, and not a drop of blood had been
shed; and yet that the importance of the event
was not undervalued but was appreciated by
all classes, was proved by many circumstances.
Two or three days after the crisis, a crowd of
boys was seen in the streets, hilarious, and
shouting, " Long live  the  Constitution! "
" Well, my boys, what's the matter now?"
inquired a bystander. " Oh, our schoolmaster
flogged one of the boys, so we rose and flogged
the master! Are we not also Greeks?  Long
live the Constitution! Z"  "  Zirow r IvTrayk"a."
Of the same character was the last revolution in Greece, only still more effective than
the former. Otho goes on a royal progress to
Napoli; during his absence from Athens there
is an uprising of the disaffected, the government
is subverted, and his Majesty, finding himself
without a throne, does not even revisit his capital, but steps on board ship, returns to the land
of his nativity, and betakes himself again to




HELLAS.               229
the studies he abandoned to assume the government of Greece. A provisional administration succeeds, during which Prince George of
Denmark is elected and crowned! The revolutionists have deposed one monarch and enthroned another, and not a life is lost. Is not
this truly a singular people?
Although Greece has failed to make that
degree of progress which was expected of her,
since her independence, she has still advanced
considerably, for which she should have full
credit. While very little has been done to improve the means of communication and travel,
some attention has been paid to agriculture, for
which the Greeks have a native genius; large
numbers of olive, fig, and mulberry trees have
been planted within a few years, adding materially to the wealth of the little kingdom. The
commerce, the tonnage, the population, and
the revenues, have also greatly increased. The
Greek commercial houses established in all the
chief cities of the world attest the commercial
ability and thrift of the Greeks. Much attention has also been given to education. Numerous schools, such as they are, have been
established, and the thirst for information and
the liveliness and versatility which characterize
the Greek mind of the present day as two




230          GREEK UNITY.
thousand years ago, have stimulated the increase of intelligence among the people; and
while no commanding genius has arisen among
the modern Greeks to immortalize the period
with his writings and elevate the standard of
literary taste and thought, the scholars of Athens
have done much towards popularizing the classic writers and purifying their noble language
from  the corruptions and vulgarismns which
have crept into it during a long period of oppression, and intellectual pedantry and sloth.
At Athens a language is now spoken among
the educated not far removed from the exquisite
diction of the ancients.
But the trait which is now most salient in
the national character and best exhibits the
vigor that continues to animate the Greek race
and promises the most important results in the
future, is the longing for national unity which
fires every Hellenic heart from Zante to Trebizond. An example of this feeling is the present enthusiasm for Cretan independence which
has aroused the kingdom  of Greece. There
are the best reasons for saying that this does
not arise wholly out of a disinterested love for
the Cretans, who are not in good repute even
in the Levant. It springs from a sort of Panhellenic frenzy or desire to unite in one gov



HELLA S.             231
ernment all who speak the Greek language or
belong to the Eastern Church. This tendency
to assemble the different branches of a race
into one powerful and coherent mass seems to
be a phenomenon peculiar to this period of the
world's progress.  We have the Panslavic
movement, the struggle for a united Italy, the
yearnings for a consolidation of the Germanic
nations. Old Father Time is welding the
races on his mighty anvil into stronger and
more fitting weapons for the advancement of
mankind to new battle-fields and new victories
over the hosts of superstition and sin. The
forward movement may be slow but it is sure.
The national feeling in this direction finds
vent in many ways, which too often bring ridicule on the Greeks. The memory of their
ancestry and the probability that they may in
the future attain to a Hellenic unity glorious
beyond any thing previously achieved by their
race, gives to every Greek the air of a man
who comes from the younger and poorer but
still haughty branch of a family of rank, and
who in default of other heirs, is about to succeed to the ancestral hall and to a position
that will at once raise him from poverty to opulence. This sentiment induces the Greeks to
conduct themselves in a manner hardly in keep



232         NATIONAL TRAITS.
ing with their present power and condition; it
enters into the character and bearing of courtier
and peasant alike. The bare-footed and bareheaded urchins of Athens are christened after
the sages and warriors of ancient Greece, and
as soon as they attain to years of discretion
they commence the national habit of gasconade, talking of what their ancestors have done,
and of what they themselves are destined to
accomplish. - They are constantly planning expeditions across the frontier, and on the slightest pretext make a dash into Turkish territory,
discharge their tufeks, and return to retail their
exploits in the caf4s of Athens. It is trifles
like these which have done so much to bring
discredit upon Greece, who is like a spoiled
child under the guardianship of a number of
jealous aunts; any irregularity in the conduct
of the foreign relations of that miniature kingdom is attended with complications that wellnigh throw the five great powers into hysteria.
But notwithstanding such follies, there is no
doubt that under the surface there is a profound
and permanent aspiration for the reunion of
the various members of the Greek family, a
feeling which pervades all classes; and when
it occasionally finds a tangible form of expression, as in the Cretan rebellion, it presents




HELLA S.              233
such a character as to elicit our respect and
admiration for the Greek race, in spite of their
numerous and very grave defects. This Panhellenic enthusiasm is the most vigorous sign
of vitality in the Greeks of our age, and will
gradually incite them to the accomplishment
of the glorious destiny yet in store for them.
It is almost a truism to add that the period
when the success of the Hellenes shall be accomplished depends very largely on their own
conduct; peculation in all departments of
the government, venality, lying, cheating, and
want of self-respect on the part of the people,
mismanagement in the internal condition of
the country, brigandage, and disregard of the
laws, are not adapted to encourage national
growth and prosperity. But while these are
the immediate and most apparent reasons for
the tardy progress of the Greeks since the revolution, and are partly accountable on the score
of their previous condition, there is a graver
cause underlying these secondary causes, to
which by far the larger part of the vices of the
modern Greek character are clearly traceable,
-the bondage of the Greek Church over the
conscience of the people. -ZEsop tells the story
of a hawk that entangled its claws in the
woolly back of a sheep and then sought to fly




234      THE EASTERN CHURCH.
up with his prey, but found, instead, that the
sheep was too much for him, and he was thus
kept down until the shepherds came up and
caught him.  Not to speak irreverently, the
state of Greece is exactly that of the hawk!
She is trammeled by the weight of a gross,
inert, material hierarchy, and seeks in vain to
soar into higher regions.
Let us be just: the Eastern Church, like
the Papacy, has had a mission to perform.
This has been to furnish a bond of union to
the scattered members of a race that long periods of servitude have kept without an independent existence, except as sympathy for the
same creed kept alive the yearning for reunion
under a government of their own; and it was
their faith that finally stimulated the people to
rise in 1821 and assert their freedom. During
the last four centuries also, the Church afforded
the Greeks a religion at least nominally of a
more elevated character than the polygamous
monotheism  of their conquerors.  So much
credit is fairly due to the Greek Church, but
more it has not done. On the other hand,
since the revolution it has tended rather to
lower than to elevate the moral tone of the
Greeks, for the reason that when that event
gave a strong stimulus to the national intellect




HIL'LLAS.             235
and promised great progress and reform, the
conservative authority of the Church over the
conscience of the people forbade freedom of
thought, and thus checked in its legitimate aspirations, the restless and new-born activity of
the nation has sought vent in lower channels.
The Church desires Hellenic unity not for the
sake of permitting, but rather to prevent,
greater liberty of conscience.
There are some among us not devoid of
common sense in ordinary matters, who allow
their judgment to be warped when they dream
of the union of the Eastern and Western
Churches.   Those who are best informed
about the Greek Church, its clergy, its disciples, and its dogmas, not as they might be
but as they are, not in posse but in esse, perceive most clearly the absurdity of the whole
scheme.  It is a vision fit only for the cobwebbed intellects of those antediluvian dreamers who see no impropriety in putting new
wine into old bottles, in throwing the world
back fifteen centuries, in binding again the adamantine gyves of superstition over the emancipated soul of the nineteenth century; they
are first cousins to Rip Van Winkle.
The writer speaks in no sectarian mood; it
is not so much what men believe as what they




236       GREEK CHRISTIANITY.
do which constitutes religion and develops
character either good or bad. Transubstantiation and confession may not be correct dogmas, in the estimation of some, but they do
not necessarily conflict with the sincere worship of Christ and the observance of the moral
law. The creed of the Eastern Church has
enough in it calculated to elevate and save its
disciples if only put into practice.  It is just
here that we find the radical difference between
the liberal Protestant churches of Europe and
America and the corrupt churches of the East;
the former regard practice as of capital importance and even more essential than belief in this
or that particular formula; the latter consider
that blind, unquestioning, and ignorant assent
to the truth of prescribed dogmas and rituals
takes precedence of practical religion; in other
words, they legalize the divorce of faith and
works. The consequences are exactly what we
see; so long as the Greek acknowledges himself a true son of the Church, and allows, or
at least expresses, no doubts that might weaken his allegiance to her, he receives full absolution for all the crimes he chooses to commit;
and it is just here that the missionaries take
their stand. Their aim is by teaching and example to prove and exhibit the absolute neces



IIELLAS.              237
sity of reducing religion to practice, of infusing moral principle into the character of Greek
and Armenian, Jew  and  Mohammedan;moral principle, without which no people can
permanently prosper, that is the one great thing
lacking among all classes and nations of the
Levant; once let them realize this appalling
fact, and the necessity of supplying this moral
void, and a new era will have dawned in the
East.
But how are the Greeks to elevate themselves, supposing they become aware of their
need of moral improvement; freedom of conscience is the indispensable condition of mental and spiritual growth; and this the laws of
Greece, while subject to the dictation and interpretation of the clergy, forbid. The courser
of the desert, if caged in an inclosure, will
dash fiercely onward until he reaches the extent of his bounds, but then he is forced to
curb his impatience and pine in a confinement
unworthy his noble spirit; but give him his
liberty and he will pursue his rapid career over
the prairie, and hail the rising sun with the
exultation of the free-born. Thus is it with
nations; many have arisen in their might and
started on the race; but in mid-career they
have been checked by the bonds of religious




238       MISSIONS IN GREECE.
slavery and have lapsed into nothingness.
While the Greek Church controls the execution of the civil laws, and forbids the people
to think for themselves, casting those who
question its authority into noisome dungeons,
Greece cannot and will not make any genuine
progress. The people, from their easy disposition and their inquisitive and acquiring tone
of mind, are naturally inclined to be liberalmlinded; it is the clergy, ignorant, immoral,
venal and selfish, who are chiefly responsible
for most that is evil in the Greece of our day.
That the missionaries have had any success
at all in Greece in spite of so many difficulties,
is evidence of the good inclinations of the
masses. The books distributed have been read
not wholly without affecting public thought
and opinion; and the long-continued residence
of Dr. King at Athens in the face of much
annoyance and persecution, has tended rather
to strengthen than to weaken the progress
of liberty of conscience and religious freedom. The two excellent Greek missionaries,
Messrs. Constantine and Kalopothakes, educated in America and now stationed at Athens, are doing much in a quiet way to disseminate the truth, and influence the public mind,
although liable to the penalties of the law if




HELLAS.               239
found openly proselyting; they in their turn
will have converts to take their place; and the
American missions to Greece. practically abandoned as unfruitful, are thus found to have resulted in the establishment of at least two able
native reformers in the land. In Mane, where
no American missionary has been stationed
for many years, the people still remember the
missionaries with respect and affection, and
have at various times recently welcomed Dr.
Kalopothakes with an earnestness and sincerity
which could not be entirely repressed by the
interference of the civil and clerical authorities.
The Greeks have inherited the beauty, and,
to some extent, the heroism and genius of their
immortal ancestors; they are acute, genial, and
courtly in their manners; the humblest peasantgirl of Attica, holding her rude distaff under
her arm and spinning by the road-side as in
classic times, has a profile as perfect, a form
as graceful, and an address as courteous and
yet as unaffected as if she were some princess
in disguise - another Perdita scarcely concealed by the picturesque costume of a shepherdess. Their country, essentially poetic on
account of the peerless splendor of its mountain crags robed with purple in the superb sunsets of the Egean, the magnificent ruins which




240     THE FUTURE OF GRER CE.
crown its hoary steeps, the loveliness of its
clustering isles, and the historic associations
that hallow every sod and throw an aureole of
glory over the land, will be an object to arouse
the better emotions of the soul to the end of
time.
But it must be confessed that there is little
hope of the rapid progress of the Greek race
toward a nobler destiny unless the Greek
Church undergoes a radical change.  The
Church must either keep pace with the onward
march of mankind, or the Greeks must emancipate themselves from their religious bondage
and dare to think and act for themselves; and
in either case the condition of their social advancement must be a total separation of Church
and State. Without necessarily abandoning
the Scriptures and the patristic dogmas, there
must be an entire liberation from the corrupt
system which has prostituted those Scriptures
and those dogmas to its own ends; let each
man be allowed to settle with his God the
question of his beliefs; let there be no more
clerical dungeons, no more censorship of the
press; and the sons of Greece will gradually
become possessors of those inestimable virtues
that underlie the foundations of national prosperity, - truth, honesty, moral courage, order,




HELLAS.               241
and freedom; the Muses of Parnassus will
awake again from  their trance of ages, art
and science will thrive as never before, the
nation will not rely for its integrity on foreign
bayonets, and Greece will again become a
power in the world. This may be rather a
rose-colored vision; but when we consider
what tremendous moral and political revolutions have recently occurred in Italy, Germany,
and the United States, such as ten years ago
the wildest enthusiast would not have predicted, we feel less sceptical than might otherwise
be the case when we contemplate the future
of the great Panhellenic movement.




X.
CRETE.
THE Island of Crete requires no aid from
contemporary events to arouse the interest
of the intelligent reader. There is much in her
past history to attract and entertain. "' Beautiful for situation," with a glorious climate and
noble scenery abounding in stirring landscapes,
her mountains became the scene of legend and
romance from the earliest period. Jove in his
infancy was cradled on the snowy summits of
her Idaean crags; Homer sang of her hundred
cities, and her hundred prores plowing their
way to the Sigean shores, and her hero, Idomeneus, battling " far on the ringing plains of
windy Troy." In remote antiquity the Cretanis
formed a confederacy of miniature democracies, living in tolerable concord, and governed
by a code said to have been introduced by Minos, and copied in many of its features by Lycurgus at a later period. But like the Swiss,
the Cretans, although sturdy republicans, did




CRETE.               243
not disdain to serve as mercenaries in most of
the wars of ancient Greece, while they rarely
felt enough Hellenism to side with the other
Greeks as allies.  Their triremes scoured the
seas — the corsairs of old- plundering merchant vessels laden with Tyrian stuffs, the gems
of the East, and the grain of the Nile. The legionaries of Rome marched through the gorges
of Crete, but failed to reduce the island until after their first army had ignominiously perished.
From the first the islanders developed a love
of independence, which has clung to them as
a distinguishing and ennobling trait among
many vices, and through long ages of oppression. The Byzantines, the Saracens, the Latins, and the Ottomans, have successively held
possession of Crete. A band of roving Saracens from Spain touched on the island, and
were so captivated by its charms that they returned with forty galleys and plundered the
villages; but on seeking the coast to reembark,
lo! their vessels were in flames. Abu Caab,
their leader, had anticipated the famous feat
of Cortez; he had covertly set the fleet on fire
with a purpose of remaining, and to the clamors of his followers replied: " Of what do you
complain? Here is your true country; repose
from your toils, and forget the barren place of




244   SARACENS AND BYZANTINES.
your nativity." They listened and obeyed, married their female captives, and established a city
which they called Candax, a name since corrupted to Candia, and incorrectly applied to
the whole island. For one hundred and thirty
years their rovers swept the seas, and revived
the ill reputation of Crete as a nest of pirates.
With the exception of the inhabitants of Kydonia, the Cretans at this period embraced Islamism, the creed of their conquerors.
In 960 Nikephoros Phokas, one of the few
military heroes who relieved the decline of the
Byzantine throne from  its disgraceful inefficiency, laid siege to Candia. Seven months
were consumed before the walls of a city destined in a later age to sustain the most protracted siege known in history; and even after
the storming of the defenses, a hand-to-hand
conflict was maintained in the streets before
the place fell into the hands of the Greeks, and
with it the whole island. All the Cretans were
now baptized into the Greek Church, and Nikephoros was rewarded with a triumph at Constantinople and the purple.
Baldwin, the crusader, was the successor of
the Byzantines in Crete; then came the Genoese and the Count of Montferrat, who sold
Candia to the Venetians for 10,000 marks.




CRETE.               245
For three centuries the Queen City of the Sea
held undisturbed sway over the valleys of
Crete, one of the brightest gems in her diadem.
But in an evil hour the Sultana Kesem, the
mother of Ibrahim  Sultan, who by her genius
ruled both her son and the Ottoman Empire,
conceived the scheme of subjugating Crete.
She was seconded in her project by the Grand
Vizier, Yusoof Pasha. A Dalmiatian by birth,
he was the natural enemy of Venice. While
still a barefoot urchin running about the streets
of Vrania, his native place, he attracted the
attention of a Turkish official riding through
the town, who carried him off to Constantinople. With good looks and ready tact and talent at his command, he mounted the successive
steps so often trod by those who rise from the
lowest grades of society to eminence in the
courts of the East, and in due time became
Grand Vizier or Prime Minister, and second
in power only to the Sultan himself. When
he had reached this perilous height he still
cherished his hereditary hatred toward the Venetians, and gave a willing ear to the plans of
the Queen'Mother. To conquer Crete would
be to ravish from Venice one of her principal
sources of revenue and prestige, and overthrow
one of the bulwarks of Christendom.  Ap



246     FALL OF YUSOOF PASHA.
pointed Generalissimo of the land and naval
forces of the expedition, and married to the
Sultan's daughter before his departure, Yusoof landed on the shores of Crete with a hundred thousand men. The island was speedily
overrun, and Canna, the capital, captured after
a three months' siege, and Yusoof Pasha then
returned to Constantinople for supplies, and
to refit his armament for the reduction of
the stronghold of Candia; his enemies chose
to make the Sultan believe in his unfaithfulness to his command.
" Return to Crete at once, or die! " were the
words with which the capricious monarch
welcomed his triumphant general.
"My liege," responded Yusoof, astonished
at his master's unreasonable demands, "you
are unversed in naval affairs; our galleys have
no rowers, and ships cannot put to sea without
oars."
" Wretch! " cried Ibrahim,  "do you presume
to teach me?" Then turning to an attendant,
said, " Bring me his head!"
The fate of Yusoof was but the lot of half
the Grand Viziers of Turkey, some of them
men of commanding intellect and magnanimous character; his career is only one of
many instances in her history of men who




CRETE.               247
from low degree have soared to the second
place in the realm, poised on that dizzy eminence a month, a year, perhaps a decade, and
then fallen in an hour like an eagle gazing on
the sun, pierced to the heart by the fatal arrow,
and in a moment dropping lifeless to the depths
below.
For many years longer the war in Crete and
the siege of Candia lingered without reaching a
decisive result, until the accession of Mahornet
the Fourth. His favorite wife Gulmish, was a
Cretan by birth, and desired the island as an
appanage whose revenues should swell her allowance of pin-money. Achmlt Kuprilee, the
second of that name, and the greatest of Turkey's Grand Viziers, having added a large
slice of Christian territory to the Ottoman Empire, notwithstanding a defeat at St. Gothard,
was desirous of giving the finishing touch to
his administration by the conquest of Candia.
Morosini, one of the best soldiers of the
time, held the place with the flower of the
Christian chivalry; and during the siege the
garrison was reinforced by frequent arrivals of
heroes from all parts of Christendom, anxious
to break a lance in this apparently final grapple with the Antichrist.  Vauban, the great
engineer, and many others of less note, fought




248        SIEGE OF CANDIA.
behind the seemingly impregnable battlements
of Candia, and repelled the oft-repeated assaults of the Janizaries, the most redoubtable
warriors of those bloody times.
On one occasion the Duke de Beaufort arrived from France with many gentlemen and
powerful reinforcements. Hardly were they
landed when, rash and enthusiastic, and disdaining the advice of the experienced Morosini,
they sallied out against the Janizaries. But
few ever returned, and the Duke de Beaufort
never reappeared: Kuprilee made search for his
body, but in vain. As on the defeat of Don
Roderic, legends were long floating about the
island that, humiliated by his reverse, the lost
Duke had escaped to the mountains, and was
seen at intervals dwelling in the caves, a hermit devoted to penitence and prayer, until sight
and memory of him alike passed away.
In September, 1629, two years and three
months after Kuprilee opened the trenches, the
city fell, the blockade of the place having been
maintained for twenty-three years. Over 30,000
Christians and 120,000 Turks were sacrificed
during the siege, and the defense has been a
model in the conduct of many a subsequent
defense. The conquest of Candia was the
last great triumph of the Ottoman arms, and




CRE TE.               249
it has remained in the hands of the Turks to
this day, a period of two hundred and thirtyeight years.
The Turks divided the island into three pashalics or satrapies, and would seem to have
taken stronger root there than in most of their
Christian possessions. They have intermarried
with the Greeks, and, by reason of religious
oppression, many of the Christians have, during the lapse of ages, nominally embraced Islamism; although, as a general thing, these
proselytes have practiced their old rites in
secret, and transmitted the observance of this
double religion to their posterity. The reader
will be reminded by this circumstance of those
Moors of Spain who became outwardly Catholics after the fall of Granada, but who practiced Mohammedanism in private, instances
existing even to our time. So intermixed had
races and religions become in some parts of
Crete, that it gave rise to a proverb still current in the Archipelago when reference is
made to the Cretans: ToZpKos "La-, MovE7aLTE;
ToVpKoS E"Lka t6 i-q'v  navaytal, which is by interpretation, "Are you a Turk, Mustapha?  I
swear by the Holy Virgin I am a Turk."  As
religion in the Levant has more to do with
nationality than race, to be a Turk is to be a




250        CRE TAN WARFARE.
Mussulman, and for a Mussulman to swear
by the Virgin Mary is an impossibility anywhere but in Crete, where many of the norninal TJurks are secret Christians.
Notwithstanding this mixing of races, the
Christians of Crete have been treated with an
oppression rare even under the Ottoman rule,
and it has served rather to stimulate the vices
inherent in the Cretan character - impatience
of law, venality, cunning, and treachery; it
has taught them also their mode of bush-fighting common to most of the modern Greeks,
and so like Indian warfare, - hiding behind a
thicket, and thence blazing away at the foe.
The narrow gorges of the Cretan mountains
afford excellent facilities for this kind of tactics, which is by no means incompatible with
genuine valor; but in the case of the modern
Greek it has become such an inborn characteristic, that he is liable to lose his presence of
mind if he cannot rest his musket on the edge
of an earth-work, or the crotch of an old olivetree.
On the southern side of Crete is a small
canton called Sphakia, whose inhabitants differ in some respects from the other Cretans.
They are supposed to represent the Pelasgic
aborigines, who peopled the island before the




CRETE.               251
Hellenes appeared on the stage of history.
Mostly shepherds, and only a few thousand in
number, they have always maintained a semiindependence of the Turkish yoke, like the
Maniotes, the descendants of the ancient
Spartans, and the sturdy Armenian mountaineers of Zeitoon in Asia Minor -subdued only
within a few years, after centuries of stubborn
resistance. Often defeated, the Sphakiotes as
often escaped to the mountains, to return to
their villages on the departure of the invader,
and resisted payment of tribute to the time of
the Greek revolution.
When that war broke out the Greek cruisers
appeared off the island; but after the first panic
was over the Turks became so exasperated that
they began to massacre the Christians. The
Sphakiotes having scoffed at a summons to give
up their arms, - being encouraged to such a
course by their hero Mellid6ri, — the Turks prepared to go against them; but as they waited
for the conclusion of the annual festivities of
BairAm, the Sphakiotes collected a force of
1200 muskets, and defeated the Turks at Loo16. Another check, received at the hands of the
brothers Kormoulee, so enraged the Moslems
that they massacred over a thousand of both
sexes in the city of Candia and elsewhere, including the ten bishops of Crete.




252  THE FAMILY  OF KORMOULEE.
The Kormoulees were a remarkable family.
They belonged to the most influential of those
Cretans to whom we have alluded, who had
outwardly embraced Islamism but practiced in
secret the rites of the Greek Church. Before
the breaking out of the revolution they had
seriously contemplated abjuring their Mohammedanism, although martyrdom would be the
certain result. But the priests whom they consulted advised them to postpone such a step as
it might precipitate a massacre of the Christians, and be productive of vast suffering. The
revolution offered the Kormoulees the opportunity they desired. They at once threw off the
Turkish yoke and religion, and entered with
such zeal into the contest, that at its close, of
sixty-four males numbered in the family, only
two survived.
During the summer many combats took
place, in which Antonio Mellidori was conspicuous on account of his bravery and unwavering courage.  Before the breaking out
of the revolution he had spent some months
travelling through Asia Minor and the Archipelago, preparing the Greeks for the approaching revolt. On the 18th of July the Turks
were routed with great loss at Askoopi, near
Retymo, leaving their baggage and artillery on




CRETE.               253
the field. But the Sphakiotes, after plundering
the plains on the northern side of the Idaean
slope, returned to Sphakia to divide the booty,
which movement enabled the Turks to stormn
the entrenchments of Therison; and in the
September following, an army of about 10,000
Janizaries, guided by a treacherous priest, entered the Sphakiote canton, burned the villages,
and drove the people of that and the neighboring districts into the mountains or on board of
their coasters. Lack of provisions, however,
soon compelled the invaders to retreat to their
fortified towns, where the Christians, who had
been hitherto spared, were now put to the
sword. During this period of the insurrection
an enthusiasm pervaded the Cretans which,
had it continued, might have enabled them to
hush the clamors of discord, and achieve their
freedom. During an attack on Therison the
Greek women animated their defenders by
their presence, and supplied them with fruits
and drink; a peasant-girl, carrying a jar of
water on her shoulder, had it broken by a ball;
but undaunted, she went on to the Greek lines
with a basket of grapes.
At this time Mellid6ri and Zervas were despatched to the Morea to procure reinforcements
and ammunition, and a military leader to as



254           AFFEND O OLI.
sume general command of the Cretan forces.
It was but a small supply of powder that they
could obtain, but Michael Comnenus Affendooli was appointed to the Cretan department,
and arrived at Loutr6 in November. In the
mean time the insurgents had reappeared and
laid siege to Canea, and after cutting the waterpipes that led into the city, reduced the garrison to great straits. But, with the inconstancy
so characteristic of irregular soldiery, and particularly of Greek palikars, when the rainy
season set in the besiegers fell back.
Affendooli was well received by all classes,
and seems to have been a man of fair administrative capacity; but, whatever might have
been his military talents, he certainly was but
ill qualified to conduct the partisan warfare
of the Cretans, and control the rude, unstable
spirit;s under his command. The Sphakiotesbrave but treacherous, and despising the other
Cretans, or lowlanders, as they called them -
required a leader of consummate skill and iron
hand.
During the winter considerable supplies and
reinforcements arrived, and the Cretans took
the field early in the year with a force of near
7000 men, 2400 under General Papadhki, in
the western part of the island; 3000 under




CRETE.               255
Rousso and other chieftains, near the centre; while Antonio Mellid6ri guarded the defiles of Asprovooni with a partisan band varying in number from 200 to 1000, but making
its mark wherever it struck, until the fame of
Mellid6ri rang from one end of Crete to the
other- a name to kindle the courage of his
fellow-countrymen, and fill the heart of the
Turk with terror.
But to oppose the Candiote forces the Ottomans had fiorn 20,000 to 25,000 men well provided with all the munitions of war, besides
twenty-seven strongholds, and the neutrality
of a good portion of the islanders - for many
of the Cretans remained indifferent to the
cause for which their brethren were in arms;
so that the contest from the outset had a very
one-sided appearance, by no means reassuring
to the insurgents. However, the blockade of
Canna, for siege it could not be called, was resumed with some prospect of success, and -the
city would have fallen if there had been more
concert in the disposal of the Cretan army.
But Affendooli was more skillful in wording
proclamations than manceuvering battalions,
and the Cretans themselves, by their own misconduct, brought matters for a time to a crisis
unfavorable to their independence.




256      DEATH OF MllELLITDORI.
Antonio Mellidbri, by his many exploits and
disinterested patriotism - patriotic where genuine patriotism was so rarely a dominant principle,- had won the friendship of the commander-in-chief, and had been promoted. This
gave umbrage to the turbulent Sphakiotes,
whose little souls regarded the contest as only
a question whether the Sphakiote or the Ottoman should be tyrant of Crete. A band of
Sphakiotes in the command of Melliduri sacked
the hovel of a defenseless old woman, and the
captain compelled the robbers to restore the
spoil; but as they did so they exclaimed
"that his tomb was open," which means in
the figurative language of the East, that his
doom was sealed. A plot to assassinate him
was concocted by the Sphakiotes; Mellidbri's
own brother-in-law, Anagn6sti, and Captain
Rousso, being the principals in this iniquitous
scheme. Antonio having crowned his previous
exploits by capturing a Turkish village and
exterminating the garrison, was invited to a
feast by Rousso and Anagnosti, where he was
to receive the congratulations of his countrymen for his victory. As the roasted lamb disappeared, and the wine began to circulate,
Rousso sought to pick a quarrel with his
guest; but failing in this, attempted to slay




CRETE.                257
him, on which Aiellid6ri mounted and departed; but his brother-in-law followed and besought him to return, offering to bring about
a reconciliation. In the act of embracing him
Rousso plunged a dagger into his bosom.
Tile Turks fired a salute on learning of the
fall of their great enemy; Mellid6ri's friends
quit the camp in great indignation; and Rousso
being cashiered, all his adherents also left; and
the insurgent army was so much reduced
that all operations in the pashalic of Candia:were brought to a stand.  Mellid6ri was one
of the few  heroes of the Greek revolution
whose fame is untarnished by the imputation
of sordid ends: the purity of his aims, the:breadth of his views, the noble simplicity of,his character, and the valor he displayed during
his brief military career, remind us of Aristonmenes, Leonidas, and other heroes of ancient
Greece. He was worthy of a wider influence
and a longer life, crowned by deeds more lasting in their consequences to posterity than any
he was allowed to achieve.  Miss Mulock, in
a volulne of romantic sketches written years
ago, has a spirited tale founded on the exploits
of the Cretan hero, although it is not entirely
reliable as a historic narrative.
In April Colonel Balesto arrived in Candia
17




2.58      DEFEA T OF BALESTO.
with a band of Samians, and was ordered to
the command of the district of Retymo. Instead of the army promised him, he found at
Kogsar6 a paltry 800, but succeeded in raising
the force to 1200; but on attempting a reconnoissance his men began to fall away, and the
approach of Easter rather tended to encourage
desertion. (N. B.- When the Greeks begin to
think less of their one hundred and fifty holy.days, and attach more value to matters of irnportance, there will be more hope of their
progress and success as a nation.) In the,mean time the Ottoman forces opposing Balesto were increased, but notwithstanding were
worsted in an engagement on the plain of
Kastello. As the days went by, and it became
more and more apparent that the increasing
scarcity of provisions would leave him without
a man, Balesto resolved to hazard an attack
on the Turkish intrenchrnents.  The Turks
were about 4000 strong; and by great effort
Balesto contrived to collect about the same
number of men for the emergency; for the
irregular Cretan soldiery are in the habit of
collecting and dispersing rapidly. At the last.moment he was informed that his men had
only six cartridges apiece. To attack under
these circumstances was folly; and messen



CRETE.               259
gers were despatched to Sphakia for ammunition. At this juncture the Turks quit their
works and fell on the Greeks; for three quarters of an hour the combat was evenly balanced, but was finally decided by the treachery
of the Sphakiote contingent, who had taken
a prejudice against Balesto, and, as is asserted,
had sworn his destruction. In the heat of the
fight they fled; and Balesto fell into the hands
of the Turks, who cut off his head and his
right arm. This narrative will give the reader
some notion of the way in which the Cretan
rebellion was conducted, and how hopeless
was the contest from the outset unless foreign
intervention could solve the problem, which it
was beyond the capacity of the natives to
grapple successfully.
To go into the details of the campaign of
1822 and 1823 would be a thankless task. It
is sufficient to say that Affendooli was obliged
to resign his command, and Admiral Tombazi,
a noted seaman of Hydra, was chosen to succeed him. Alternate victories and defeats, and
equal cruelty and bad faith, characterized the
fortunes of both sides, until the perpetual
quarrels of the Cretans were taken advantage
of by Mustapha Bey, who gave them a notable
defeat at Amoorgelee from which they never




260     TRAGEDY OF MELLDDO   O1.
recovered. Before going into winter-quarters
the Ottomans ravaged the island, and either
put to the sword or sold into slavery over
10,000 Cretans.  At Mellid6ni three hundred
souls sought refuge in a cavern; Mustapha
Bey, after attempting to enter the cave in
vain, and unable effectually to close it, ordered
heaps of brushwood to be piled before the
mouth and set on fire; not one of the poor
unfortunates escaped. Some weeks later six
Christians, who had relatives and friends
among the victims, ventured into the cave to
learn their fate: so overcome were they by
the horrible spectacle that met their eyes, that
one of them never again raised his head, but
died nine days after, and another succumbed
in twenty days to the shock he had sustained.
All but the Sphakiotes laid down their arms;
multitudes of the Christians emigrated to
other islands, and the insurrection was apparently at an end. In the spring the Ottomans
swept the island with 20,000 men; and the
Sphakiotes, out of hatred to the " Lowlanders," who would not submit to their leadership, entered into private terms of capitulation. While many burrowed in the caves of
the mountains or fled to the neighboring isles,
thousands met with slavery or death, and the




CRETE.               2G1
chains of Crete were forged stronger than
ever. It is some consolation to our ideas of
justice to know that the Sphakiote captains
were rewarded for their treason with a dungeon, among them Rousso, the murderer of
Mellid6ri.
Off the western coast of Crete is a small
islet named Grabisa, crowned by an impregnable fortress, and this was surprised by a
handful of Cretans in 1825, and many of those
who had fled from Candia returned and settled on this castellated rock; but so thickly
were they collected there that starvation carried
them off by thousands, and many of the survivors left. However, the strength of the fortress and the difficulty of blockading it, suggested to two clever Cretans, named AntoniAdes and Econ6mos, the feasibility of turning
it into a piratical rendezvous. The Cretans,
as has been before observed, have always taken
kindly to this infamous craft. The aforementioned brace of knaves purchased a schooner
which made a very successful voyage; and
stimulated by this interesting result, a number
of Sphakiotes living there fitted out another
vessel, and the example was speedily followed
by exiles connected with the first families of
Crete. A quasi government was established,




262   TIHE PIRATES OF GRAB USA.
assuming to represent the four divisions of
Crete, and dignified by loud-sounding titles,the whole under the direction of Econumos
and Antoniades, who, however, took good care
to keep behind the scenes while they pulled
the wires. In order to mask their knavery, a
band occasionally landed on the coast of
Crete, and returned with a great flourish of
trumpets after worrying the life out of a few
poor Turks, all of which was carefully reported,
whereby Philhellenic benevolence was imposed
upon and amerced in considerable sums for
the support of the war of independence in
Crete!  In the mean time affairs went on
swimmingly with our picarooning adventurers.
Their success attracted shoals of villains from
all parts of the Archipelago, every person on
the rock becoming a shareholder in a jointstock company organized to plunder the commerce of all nations, including that of the
Greeks themselves. Several hundred dwellings
arose within the castle, and the company owned,
as part of its stock, a force of forty-eight brigs
and schooners. Warehouses were erected for
storing the captured goods, and the wine-shops
rang with the revelry of the roystering crews.
The isle swarmed with brokers purchasing
the stolen property, and the buccaneers of the




CRETE.               263
Spanish Main seemed to have come to life
again in the Egean; although it is doubtful
whether such a complete system of piracy was
ever before organized, for the Greeks are shrewd
beyond the shrewdest in business matters, the
chief difficulty being that they are often so
shrewd as to practice dishonesty when there is
no occasion for it, and thereby in the end overreach themselves. It is not our purpose, nor
do our limits allow us, to dwell longer on this
disgraceful episode in the Greek revolution.
Impelled by the threats of the European admirals in those seas, and by other reasons, the
freebooters finally gave themselves seriously to
the work of reviving the insurrection in Crete.
Two thousand mercenaries were procured, and,
with about as many from Grabufsa, were landed
at St. Nicholas.  After various fortunes, this,
like similar attempts, failed on account of the
feuds existing between the Christians recruited
from different portions of Crete. In the interval
a squadron of English and French men-of-war,
comprising nine sail, and with a detachment
of infantry on board, appeared off Grabusa.
The artful negotiations that now occurred, the
burning of that part of the piratical fleet which
had not absconded in time, the loss of the
Cambria frigate, and the utter uprooting of this




264  FIGHT OF FRANCO CASTELLO.
piratical nest, form a curious narrative. That
the overthrow of Grabufsa was not an easy
task, may be inferred from the fact that there
were at least 2500 desperate fighting men behind the fortifications.
After the fall of Grabusa Hadjee Mihally,
a cavalry officer of some note in the Greek
revolution, who had stopped at Grabuisa on his
way to Crete, with a corps of Roumeliotes,
landed on the Sphakiote coast, but received
assistance neither in the way of provisions nor
men.  Reduced to great distress, he finally
surprised a Turkish detachment, routed them,
and captured among other plunder, 20,000
sheep, with which he returned to his stronghold of Franco Castello, an old Venetian fortress on the coast. On this the Turkish general,
Mustapha Pasha, marched on Franco Castello
with over 5000 men and two pieces of artillery. As the captured sheep filled the courtyard of the castle, Hadjee Mihally posted all
his force, numbering about 700 men, behind
low earth-works called tambooria.  Then, to
quote from a quaint, forcible Cretan ballad on
this battle"Offering up another prayer,
The cross's sign he made;
His pistols next he duly took,
And in his girdle laid.




CRETE.                  265
"Scarce had he vaulted in his seat,
When wept his charger good;
And then he understood full well
His death it did forebode.
"He offered up another prayer,
And in his saddle sate:
Then onward spurred his trusty steed
From out the castle gate."
Scarcely were his preparations made, when
the Turks charged on his works. One redoubt
was held by Captain Kyriakooly with one
hundred picked men, who tied their legs together in a chain with their girdles, and swore
to hold the spot or die. They all fell at their
posts but one, who fled; and long after a row
of skeletons could be seen bleaching there,
bound with shreds of weather-worn girdles.
Hadjee Mihally was cut to pieces; two hundred and seventy Roumeliotes escaped into
the castle, where they found themselves with
meat enough and to spare, but no water.
They were forced to surrender, and on giving
their parole not again to serve against the Sultan in Crete, were provided with provisions,
their wounded were carefully tended, and they
were allowed to sail away. The whole affair,
so heroic on the part of the vanquished, so
generous on the side of the victor, is the most
interesting episode of the kind in the Greek
revolution.




266 ESCAPE OF MUSTAPHA PASHA.
As if to give the other side of the picture,
the Sphakiotes — who would not fight when
others were ready, but fought when their valor
could be of little use -now turned out, and
held the passes by which Mustapha Pasha
must return. Without heeding the amnesty
he proclaimed, they persisted until they reduced him to great extremity. At this crisis,
when the consummation of Cretan independence hung in the balance, Mustapha, aware
of Sphakiote cupidity, summoned a council
of war in which it was decided to abandon
all the baggage to the enemy. The bait took.
Dazzled by the sight of so much plunder, the
Sphakiotes seized the spoil before them but
allowed the Ottoman army to -escape, and
with it freedom fled from their grasp for indefinite ages. They were unworthy of the
immortal gift which was offered to them, and
it was withdrawn.
Enough has been written in the above narrative to prove that at that period Crete and
the Cretans were hardly prepared for independence, although they deserved it equally with
other Greeks, and should not have been excluded when the treaty of peace was signed.
Whether they are now ready to guard the gift
of liberty with " sleepless vigilance," is a ques



CRETE.               267
tion to be decided by their own conduct. They
cannot be more miserable than they are under
the cruel domination of the Turks, and since
it is highly improbable that they can unassisted do more than to protract the struggle, it
is proper that the European powers should at
least offer their mediation to the Porte, and
that the public charity should be extended to
the suffering non-combatants. The consolidation of Crete with the Greek nation cannot
fail to be beneficial to both; Crete under the
Turk is like a prisoner chained to a dead man
and struggling for release from  the fearful
union. Crete under tile Greek rule will spring
to a new existence and develop new energies;
but the degree of progress she will make in
that improved condition will depend upon the
Greek Church, and the amount of religious
freedom allowed, as has been before observed.
Cretan Christianity is of a very low order.
Some idea of this nmay be gathered from the
fact that during their last war the Turkish
women captured were very frequently butchered, as it was considered a lesser crime to
thus dispose of them than to have the Christian warriors incur the perilous sin of intercourse with unbaptized females!
It is not for what they are that the Cretans




268           CONCLUSION.
inspire us with interest in their cause, but for
what they are capable of becoming in future
ages, when possessed of civil and religious
liberty, which can alone give an enduring form
to the results of their present exertions. That
these exertions will result in the immediate
emancipation of Crete from the Turkish yoke
is naturally a matter of uncertainty; but they
will at least have the effect of weakening the
power of the oppressor and of ameliorating
the condition of the oppressed, and render the
ultimate union of Crete with the Kingdom of
Greece a problem destined to be happily solved
before many years have elapsed.
THE END.