THE 
 
 OF 
 
 tie Suffering* 
 
 OP 
 
 J. STEPHANINI, 
 
 */ 
 
 (I. 27s<pavivi,) 
 
 A NATIVE OF 
 
 ART A, IN GREECE : 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 Accounts of the capture of Patras of some of the principal events 
 of the Greek Revolution of some of the most conspicuous 
 characters which have heen developed by those events ; of 
 the manners, customs, and religion of the Albanians, Turks, 
 .Egyptians, and Bedouin Arabs. 
 
 PUBLISHED WITH A 
 
 VIEW TO ENABLE HIM TO RETURN TO HIS OWN COUNTRY, 
 
 AND TO RELEASE FROM SLAVERY A LARGE 
 
 AND SUFFERING FAMILY. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 VANDERPOOL & COLE, PRINTERS. 
 
 1829> 
 
IOAN STAC* 
 
 Southern District of New York, ss, 
 BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the 28th day of July, 
 A. D. 1829, in the fifty-fifth year of the Independence of the 
 United States of America, J. Stephanini of the said District, hath 
 deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he 
 claims as Proprietor, in the words following, to wit : 
 
 " The Personal Narrative of the Sufferings of J. Stephanini, 
 (I. 27s(pocvjvi,) a Native of Arta, in Greece : including 
 Accounts of the Capture of Patras of some of the princi- 
 pal events of the Greek Revolution of some of the most 
 conspicuous characters which have been developed by those 
 events, of the Manners, Customs, and Religion of the Al- 
 banians, Turks, Egyptians, and Bedouin Arabs. Published 
 with a view to enable him to return to his own Country, and 
 to release from Slavery a Large and Suffering Family." 
 
 In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, 
 entitled " An act for the encouragement of Learning, by secur- 
 ing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and 
 proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned. 5 ' 
 And also to an Act, entitled u An Act, supplementary to an Act, 
 entitled an Act for the encouragemeut of Learning, by securing 
 the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and pro- 
 prietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and 
 extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engrav- 
 ing, and etching historical and other prints. 
 
 FRED. J. BETTS, 
 Clerk of the Southern District of New Yo.rk, 
 
Df 
 
 / 
 
 7 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages will be found immethoHical 
 in arrangement, and deficient in elegance of style: 
 These defects, the compiler found unavoidable. 
 The want of method, is to be ascribed to this : that 
 all the facts which relate personally to Mr. Ste- 
 phanini, are drawn entirely from memory. It was, 
 therefore, impossible that the dates, or order of 
 events, should, in all cases, be accurately marked. 
 Many of the defects, in the composition, are to be 
 ascribed to the imperfect knowledge which Mr. S. 
 has of the English language, which rendered him 
 unwilling that the compiler should employ any 
 other than the most plain and familiar expressions * 
 and, also, to the circumstantiality with which Mr, 
 S. has, in many places, insisted on describing minor 
 events. These causes, it will be perceived, must 
 tend, in some degree, to depress the style, if not 
 the general character of the narrative. It has. 
 however, a redeeming quality. It is true. In de- 
 tailing the facts wherein Mr. S. was personally con- 
 cerned, he has been scrupulously guided by his 
 personal knowledge. In those wherein he cannot 
 be supposed to have participated, the most authen- 
 tic sources of information have been sought. In 
 the hope that it may prove a hook on which bene- 
 volence may hang her offerings, it is submitted** 
 with all its imperfections, to the public. 
 
 troc 
 
Recommendations from the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, 
 
 and R. Sedgwick, Esq., of New York ; /. K. 
 
 Kane, Esq., and Rev. Dr. Ely, Philadelphia ; 
 
 and T. S. Grimke, Esq., Charleston. 
 
 (Copied from the original.) 
 
 Mr. Stephanini, a native of Greece, has brought to me several 
 letters from gentlemen of high standing and character he has also 
 shown me testimonials in the highest degree favourable ; from 
 these documents, confirmed by intercourse with him on several 
 occasions, relating to his designs and prospects, I have no hesita- 
 tion in recommending him to the notice of those who may be willing 
 and able to assist him in redeeming his mother and sisters from 
 their cruel bondage among the Turks. 
 
 JONA. M. WAINWRIGHT. 
 
 I have had a long acquaintance with Mr. Stephanini, having 
 known him during nearlv a)l the period of his residence in this 
 country, and consider his narrative of his personal misfortunes 
 entitled to unqualified confidence. 
 
 R. SEDGWICK. 
 
 Mr. Stephanini has presented to me letters from gentlemen of 
 well known character in Charleston and New York. 1 have con- 
 versed with him, and have examin* d the testimonials with which 
 he is furnished ; and I fully and cordially commend him to the 
 sympathy and good offices of those who have the means and the 
 willingness to indulge a discriminating benevolence. 
 
 J. K. KANE. 
 
 Mr. J. Stephanini, a native Greek, has been introduced to me 
 by several gentlemen, in whom 1 have the highest confidence. 
 He has been himself a captive, and now seeks to procure the means 
 of redeeming his mother and sisters from the horrors of Turkish 
 bandage. His object will commend itself to every humane person ; 
 and I feel happy to give him this introduction to any of my ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 E. S. ELY. 
 
 From the interview which I have had with Mr. Stephanini 
 and from conversations with others, and the examination of his 
 letters, I recommend him with great pleasure to all who feel a 
 sympathy for his personal misfortunes, and admiration for the cause 
 of his gallant and afflicted country. 
 
 THOMAS S. GRIMKE. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The country which gave me birth, was 
 once the most eminent and glorious in the 
 world. In the annals of antiquity her 
 page is the fairest ; and it is blazoned with 
 characters that time cannot bedim. From 
 Greece, as from a central sun, emanated 
 a brilliant light, which ilung abroad its 
 splendour over surrounding regions. 
 
 While other nations were enveloped in 
 the gloom of ignorance and barbarism, ci- 
 vilization and arts had in that little but il- 
 lustrious land advanced to a state of won- 
 derful perfection. Her own original and 
 unassisted genius early exhibited examples 
 of all that is elegant and magnificent in 
 art, of all that is inspiring in poetry and 
 fascinating in eloquence, of all that is va- 
 luable in ethics and legislation, and of all 
 that is splendid in martial achievement. 
 Without precedent or pattern to guide her 
 efforts, she attained to a height of excel- 
 lence in virtue, in" arts, and in literature* 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 which has never been transcended ; and 
 produced those models in each which man- 
 kind, ever since that period, have contem- 
 plated with strong admiration and imitated 
 with ardent zeal. 
 
 The sun, after gaining his meridian 
 height, descends and sets. It is so with 
 national glory. Greece escaped not the 
 common lot of nations. Her greatness 
 declined: and at length the sun of her 
 glory went down in a melancholy and lurid 
 gloom; and the depth of her subsequent 
 degradation has been proportioned to her 
 former exaltation. 
 
 The lawless power and resistless arms of 
 Rome, were during the consulate of Me- 
 tellus, directed to her destruction. Her 
 bravest sons were immolated on the altar of 
 liberty, but the sacrifice was ineffectual. 
 She sunk beneath the overwhelming force 
 and fury of the Roman legions. The rage 
 of the bloody Sylla, and his fierce merce- 
 naries, demolished her noble structures, 
 levelled her proud cities, deluged her 
 plains with blood, and covered her fair 
 fields with desolation. 
 
 Yet even under the pressure of such 
 dreadful calamities, and though sorely 
 
galled by the iron yoke of Rome, the glory 
 of Greece was not wholly extinguished. 
 Her light, though glimmering in the socket, 
 yet shed around its expiring beam. In 
 her subjugation, her proud mistress paid 
 homage to her genius, by the adoption 
 of her laws and her philosophy, her arts 
 and literature. Her language was chosen 
 as the vehicle of thought and sentiment, 
 and her writings were eagerly studied as 
 the repositories of wisdom and knowledge. 
 As a Roman province, Greece followed 
 the fortunes of the superior state. In the 
 miseries that attended and followed the 
 declension and fall of that mighty em- 
 pire, Greece largely participated. When 
 that enormous fabric was overthrown by 
 the Samsons of the North, Greece was 
 crushed beneath the ruins. Her plains 
 were, for centuries, the theatre of the con- 
 flicts, her inhabitants the prey, and her 
 territory the prize, of contending barbarians. 
 At length, near the close of the fourteenth 
 century, the Turkish arms, conducted by 
 the skill and valour of the famous Bajazet, 
 ravaged her territories, destroyed every 
 remaining vestige of her ancient freedom, 
 and completely blotted out her name from 
 the list of nations, 
 
8 
 
 More than nineteen hundred years hav<- 
 jiow elapsed, since the independence of 
 Greece expired. During that long and 
 dreary period, she has borne, in succes- 
 sion, the yoke of various conquerors. But. 
 it is during the four centuries since her 
 subjection to Ottoman domination, that the 
 cup of her calamity has been the fullest, 
 and her slavery and degradation the most 
 abject and complete. 
 
 In the bloody and destructive wars which 
 were long carried on between the Turks 
 and Venetians, and in which the possession 
 of her territory and islands, was the subject 
 of conflict, she suffered all the horrors and 
 devastations of alternate conquest. Forced, 
 of necessity, to choose one of these rival 
 powers as their masters, her people threw 
 themselves upon the protection of Venice, 
 in the hope, that the power of that brave 
 and generous republic might rescue them 
 from the tyranny under which they groan- 
 ed. After a series of wars among the mosr 
 obstinate and bloody ever waged, and in 
 which the Greeks were the principal suf- 
 ferers; their slavery was completed, and 
 their chains rivetted, by the overthrow of 
 the Venetian, and the triumph of the? 
 Turkish arms, 
 
9 
 
 Under a government which, both in its 
 theory and administration, imposes on its 
 own subjects an absolute tyranny, the ri- 
 gours of which nothing but long custom, 
 the servility induced by ignorance, and reli- 
 gious superstition, could compel them to 
 endure ; it may be well supposed that the 
 Greeks, (having no community of interest* 
 language, manners, or religion, with their 
 conquerors,) must have suffered oppressions 
 and cruelties intolerably afflictive and se- 
 vere. 
 
 The irreconcilable animosity of the disci- 
 ples of the Mohammedan, toward the pro- 
 fessors of the Christian, faith, as well as the 
 manifestations which the Grecians were 
 frequently giving of their extreme eager- 
 ness to recover their liberty, drew upon 
 them the vindictive jealousy of the Porte, 
 and the wanton and relentless vengeance of 
 the provincial governors. Added to all this, 
 was the rapacity of the pachas of the dif- 
 ferent provinces, the primary objects of 
 whose government seemed to be the ex- 
 tortion of tribute and plunder from the un- 
 protected and wretched population; and, 
 what is still more shocking to the feelings 
 
 of a Christian, the seizure and perpetual 
 I* 
 
10 
 
 condemnation, to their infamous pleasure, 
 of the flower of female beauty and virtue. 
 
 For the security of an authority thus 
 odious and galling, and which the pachas 
 were conscious could be maintained only 
 by strict vigilance and brutal force, a sys- 
 tem of espionage was established over the 
 principal inhabitants throughout the Gre- 
 cian provinces, and the dagger of the as- 
 sassin was engaged to destroy influence and 
 to remove suspicion. 
 
 Injuries, indignities, and outrages, were 
 the characteristics of Turkish rule, and its 
 afflictive operation was seconded by the 
 scourge, the dungeon, and the scymetar. 
 
 So long a period of subjugation to differ- 
 ent barbarians, and so rigorous a slavery 
 as they had been accustomed to endure un- 
 der the Ottoman power, it may be well sup- 
 posed would have broken the spirits of the 
 Greeks, and have rendered their character 
 as servile as their condition. The natural 
 effects of the exercise of tyranny, are, pro- 
 stration of mind, apathy of moral sensibili- 
 ty, and a tameness of submission, to op- 
 pression and indignity. That these effects 
 were perceptible in the Grecian character, 
 is not to be denied. Long habits of suffer- 
 
11 
 
 ing and of subjection, had repressed, in some 
 measure, their ancient spirit of liberty, as 
 well as quenched the fire of their former 
 genius. Yet, there has never been a time, 
 when the Greeks were not feelingly alive 
 to a sense of their degradation, or when 
 they were not ready, had the means been in 
 their power, to hazard life and every thing 
 dear, to effect their deliverance, and to re- 
 gain their independence. 
 
 They bore their miseries, but they did 
 not bear them as slaves. Their souls re- 
 volted at their condition, but their hands 
 were destitute of the means of resistance : 
 and impotent efforts, they knew, would 
 serve no other purpose than to draw down 
 a heavier weight of vengeance on their de- 
 voted heads. 
 
 There is, however, a point of wretched- 
 ness, at which humanity rebels ; at which, 
 desperation takes place of prudence. Ex- 
 cess of suffering had, at length, goaded the 
 Greeks to the last stage of human endu- 
 rance. They rose in the majesty of insult- 
 ed valour. Though weak in resources, 
 they were strong in resolution and fortitude. 
 They raised their hands toward heaven* 
 and swore by the sacred names of their fa^ 
 
12 
 
 thers and of liberty, that the swords the) 
 were about to draw, should force their way 
 to freedom, or to a glorious death. They 
 cast their eyes toward the western hemis- 
 phere. They saw the people of this great 
 republic free and happy ; reposing in quiet 
 and security beneath the protection of the 
 starry banner of liberty. They gazed with 
 eagerness upon that glorious symbol, and 
 caught inspiration from the sight. The 
 fire of their former spirit, which the flood of 
 their miseries had not yet quenched, blazed 
 again with its original brightness. The 
 genius of Greece, which had been slumber- 
 ing for ages, aroused from her lethargy, 
 and, springing from the dust, assumed a 
 port as lofty, and shed around her a radian- 
 cy as bright as she exhibited in the zenith 
 of her ancient fame. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The city of Arta, in which I was born, 
 is one of the principal cities in Western 
 Greece. It is an ancient seaport, and the 
 see of an archbishop. It is situated in the 
 S. E. of the province of Epirus or Lower 
 Albania, on the bank of the river Art a, 
 (the ancient Aracthus,) which rises in the 
 mountains of Agrafa, (the ancient Pin- 
 dus,) and winding through a beautiful 
 plain, covered with vineyards, and with 
 groves of fig, olive, cherry, pomegranate, 
 mellicucha and orange trees, falls into the 
 gulf of Arta or Ambracia. On one side 
 of this plain, at the distance of about three 
 leagues from the gulf, stands the city. Its 
 site and appearance are eminently beauti- 
 ful. The plain on which it stands, is sur- 
 rounded by mountains. The lofty Pindus 
 on the north, throws off branches to the 
 east and west, as if to form a natural ram- 
 part around it. The city contains about 
 ten thousand inhabitants. The houses are 
 generally of a single story, neat and often 
 elegant in their structure ; and surrounded 
 
14 
 
 by gardens, producing all kinds of fruits 
 and flowers peculiar to that climate. "Many 
 of the buildings are very ancient. The 
 material used in building, is the same here, 
 as in most of the Greek cities. It is a sort 
 of lime stone, or marble, of a milky white- 
 ness, which is found all over Greece. The 
 pure whiteness of this material, gives to 
 the city a shining and magnificent appear- 
 ance. 
 
 One of the principal public edifices in 
 the city, is the palace of the despote or 
 archbishop, called metropole. It is a large 
 and venerable pile of buildings, and evinces 
 both in its conception and execution, con- 
 summate taste and skill in the architect. 
 Adjoining the palace, is the cathedral, a 
 building of equal elegance. These two 
 edifices are surrounded by a large number 
 of smaller houses, and the whole is enclosed 
 by a high circular wall, which approaches 
 the brink of the river, and affords from its 
 elevated turrets, a most enchanting pros- 
 pect. 
 
 In another part of the city is situated the 
 serai, the residence of the voevonda or 
 governor, as well as of the other great 
 officers of state, and their guards. It is 
 a large, elegant and commodious building. 
 
15 
 
 Near the serai is a large circular area, 
 called machusti, where a public fair is an- 
 nually held. Here, during two weeks in 
 the month of August, are exposed for sale 
 all kinds of foreign goods, domestic manu- 
 factures, live stock, fruits, &c. Booths are 
 fitted up by the government, for the recep- 
 tion of these commodities ; and every mer- 
 chant is obliged to produce and exhibit his 
 merchandise at the fair, and pay a large 
 rent for the use of the booth he occupies, 
 on penalty of being deprived of a license 
 to traffic in future. From this source a 
 large item of revenue annually accrues to 
 the treasury of the pasha. 
 
 At a short distance from the city, stands 
 a very large and singular edifice, called pa- 
 riyoriza. The age of this building is un- 
 known, but it bears indications of having 
 existed for many centuries. Its dimensions 
 are vast, but symmetrical ; and its appear- 
 ance is exceedingly grand and imposing. 
 This massive structure contains three spa- 
 cious apartments, one above another, each 
 occupied as a church. These are lighted 
 by about ninety windows, of a size corres- 
 ponding with the magnitude of the build- 
 ing. It is surrounded by a number of small 
 houses, inhabited by nuns and other poor 
 
16 
 
 religious females, who subsist on charity. 
 The whole is encircled by a wall of great 
 antiquity. This structure is supposed to 
 have been an ancient temple, built before 
 the diffusion of Christianity in Greece. 
 
 Half a mile from the city, on the south- 
 east, the public road enters a spacious ave- 
 nue, which extends about five miles, and is 
 at length terminated by the river Arta, (or 
 Aracthus.) On each side of this avenue, 
 during its whole length, are extensive gar- 
 dens laid out with great regularity, and 
 producing fruits and flowers of the most 
 choice and delicious kinds, exotic as well 
 as native. Lemons, oranges, pomegra- 
 nates, citrons, figs, grapes, maize, wheat, 
 pulse, &c. &c. &c, are produced here 
 in perfection and abundance. Across the 
 river, and commencing at the bottom of 
 this avenue, is a massive bridge of very 
 great antiquity, and of curious construc- 
 tion. Its length is about three quarters of 
 a mile ; it is built of the usual material, 
 handsomely hewn, and the blocks of which 
 the structure is formed, are united by a 
 cement, of which the composition is un* 
 known, as well as by iron fastenings, curi- 
 ously inserted into the stone, and imper- 
 ceptible, unless on close inspection. 
 
17 
 
 Though of an antiquity that eludes re- 
 search, it is as firm and compact as on the 
 day it was completed. It contains six large 
 arches of different heights ; between which, 
 are curiously interspersed several smaller 
 ones. It is a work of singular grandeur 
 and magnificence, and has been an object 
 of admiration to all strangers who have vi- 
 sited that place. Some idea may be form- 
 ed of its magnitude, from the stupendous 
 height of the central arch, which appeared 
 to me to be more than 150 feet above the 
 level of the river. 
 
 The city is defended by a very strong 
 castle, containing about 100 pieces of can- 
 non. The northern wall is very ancient, 
 but on the other sides, it has been recently 
 demolished, and rebuilt by the Turks. The 
 river winds along near the walls, and fur- 
 nishes pure and wholesome water to the 
 city and castle. A branch of it has been 
 diverted by a canal to some flour mills in 
 the vicinity, and is thence conveyed by 
 smaller conduits to irrigate the gardens 
 above described. 
 
 The commerce of the city is carried on 
 principally with the Ionian islands, and the 
 ports of the Ad-riatic. It exports wheat. 
 2 
 
18 
 
 tobacco, wool, skins, cheese, olives, wine, 
 and various kinds of fruit; and imports 
 dry goods, iron, steel, &c. &c. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I was born in this city, in the year 1803. 
 My father, Joanni Stephanini, was, by pro- 
 fession, a merchant, and carried on at that 
 time, an extensive and lucrative trade with 
 the port of Trieste. He married, early in 
 life, Chrissavii Themiano, the daughter of a 
 respectable citizen of Arta. The Grecian 
 women commonly marry young. My mo- 
 ther, at the time of her espousals, was but 
 fourteen years of age. The fruits of this 
 union, were seven children : four sons, 
 Spiro, Demetre, Sylvestro, and myself; and 
 three daughters, Maria, Catharina, and 
 Anna. 
 
 It was my fortune to be born, and to 
 have lived in an eventful period of my coun- 
 try's history. As early as the commence- 
 ment of the present century, the galling and 
 aggravated oppressions which my country- 
 
19 
 
 men were suffering, (and which were grow- 
 ing daily more intolerable, from the suspi- 
 cions which the Turks entertained of their 
 disaffection to the Porte ; and of their se- 
 cret attachment to, and correspondence 
 with the Russian court;) had kindled the 
 patriotic enthusiasm of some individuals of 
 character and influence among the Greeks ; 
 and inspired them with a determination to 
 make an effort to deliver their suffering and 
 degraded country from her chains. Seven 
 of these patriots formed themselves into an 
 association, for the purpose of secretly and 
 gradually preparing the minds of their 
 countrymen for an endeavour to regain 
 their liberty. They travelled all over Eu- 
 rope, with a view to awaken sympathy, and 
 to gain advocates to their cause. One of 
 these was the celebrated Riga, whose name 
 is pronounced with veneration by every 
 Greek; and of whom I must indulge my 
 feelings,' by giving a brief account. This 
 distinguished patriot, and excellent man. 
 was born about the year 1760, in Thessaly. 
 His youth was devoted to study, and to the 
 cultivation of poetry. An ardent study of 
 the ancient Grecian writers had deeply im- 
 bued his mind with the principles and senti- 
 ments of the greatest and best men of 
 
20 
 
 Greece, in the days of her liberty and glory 
 He looked around on the present condition 
 of his country, and a patriotic indignation 
 filled his bosom as he beheld her prostrate 
 in the dust, and agonizing in her chains. 
 Having finished his education in Italy, and 
 made the tour of Europe, he returned to 
 his own country ; where, by his exhortations 
 and writings, he diffused among his coun- 
 trymen his own enthusiasm for liberty. To 
 enlighten their understandings, and to pre- 
 pare them for the effort he intended to 
 make, he translated several books into his 
 native language. He also published for 
 their benefit, a map of the country, and a 
 dictionary of the modern Greek language. 
 His whole soul seemed devoted to the great 
 enterprise he meditated ; and his fortune- 
 faculties, and unremitted labours were all 
 employed in preparing the way for its ac- 
 complishment. He made frequent journeys 
 among the peasantry; increased their know- 
 ledge by his instructions, and excited the 
 spirit of liberty by the recitation of patrio- 
 tic songs, which he condescended to write 
 for that purpose. He was the idol and the 
 hope of his countrymen. The aged looked 
 to him as their last hope; the young as 
 their future deliverer. But while his great 
 
21 
 
 project was ripening, and he and his com- 
 patriots were journeying over Europe, to 
 obtain advocates and aid, he was seized in 
 the Austrian dominions by Turkish emissa- 
 ries, who had been set to watch his move- 
 ments ; and with the manifest connivance of 
 the Austrian court, and to its everlasting 
 disgrace, he was dragged to the frontier of 
 Turkey, and there beheaded. But he has 
 left behind him a name embalmed by vir- 
 tue. It is recorded in the heart of every 
 Greek ! 
 
 The fire of patriotism, which had been 
 kindled by the zeal of Riga, and his few as- 
 sociates, did not expire with him. Though 
 smothered, it continued to increase till it 
 burst out at length into the flame of the 
 revolution. 
 
 In the patriotic scheme of Riga, the peo- 
 ple of Epirus, in which my family resided, 
 could not participate. They were then un- 
 der the despotic and iron domination of the 
 famous Ali, who was pasha of Ioannina, 
 and valisse or viceroy of Romelia. Of 
 this man, who bade fair at one time to be- 
 come the independent sovereign of the whole 
 of Greece ; who, for a long time, held the 
 
 power of the sultan in defiance ; and 
 
 2# 
 
22 
 
 whose alliance was courted by the principal 
 powers of Europe, it may not be improper 
 to give a brief account. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 At the time of my birth, Ali Pasha had 
 established his authority over all western 
 Greece, a territory comprising Albania 
 proper, (the ancient Illyria,) Epirus, Acar- 
 nania, iEtolia and Locris. His residence 
 was at Ioannina, a city about fprty miles 
 N. W. of Arta. This man owed the great 
 and formidable power he possessed, to 9 
 series of successful exploits and intrigues, 
 perhaps unequalled in the history of any 
 one individual. He was born at Tepeleni, 
 in upper Albania, about the year 1748: 
 and was the son of Veli, bey or sanjiac of 
 that city. The father of Ali died while 
 he was a child ; and his education devolved 
 upon his mother ; a woman of singular ta- 
 lents, undaunted courage, and of fierce 
 and implacable temper. On the death of 
 her husband, she assumed his authority; 
 and putting herself at the head of a few 
 
23 
 
 faithful followers, effectually defended, 
 against the hostile beys and agas by whom 
 she was surrounded, the remnant of the 
 possessions which had not been wrested 
 from the feeble hands of her husband. 
 
 The exhortations and example of this 
 heroine, inspired the young Ali with that 
 adventurous enterprise, invincible intre- 
 pidity, and unshrinking fortitude, which 
 appeared so conspicuous in his subsequent 
 character. 
 
 Albania proper, of which Ali was a na- 
 tive, is a mountainous and woody country. 
 The inhabitants of these mountains, were 
 never completely subdued by the Ottoman 
 arms. While the people of the plains have 
 been conquered and enslaved, these moun- 
 taineers have maintained a sturdy indepen- 
 dence. Their mountains were incapable 
 of cultivation; and they, disdaining to 
 share the servitude of the people of the 
 plains, betook themselves for subsistence, 
 to the occupation of robbery. They di- 
 vided themselves into numerous tribes or 
 clans, each of which had its chief; and 
 sallying forth from their fastnesses in the 
 mountains, they ravaged the vallies and 
 plains below them, carrying away pro- 
 
24 
 
 visions, cattle, and every other kind of pil- 
 lage they were able to seize. 
 
 A people inured from their infancy to 
 such a pursuit, and glorying in the name 
 of robbers or klephtes, by which they were 
 distinguished, we may well suppose would 
 become a most hardy and daring race : and 
 in fact, these qualities are possessed by 
 them in so eminent a degree, that they 
 have not only been for a long time, a terror 
 to all Greece, but their alliance and ser- 
 vice, has always been assiduously courted 
 by the powers of Austria, Russia, Turkey 
 and Venice, in their frequent wars. They 
 are always ready to sell their service to 
 the highest bidder; and wo to the enemy 
 against whom their efforts are directed ! 
 Their religion is either Mohammedan or 
 Christian, as best suits their interest. 
 They are wonderfully strong and agile; 
 and are capable of enduring hunger, thirst 
 and fatigue, to a degree that is truly as- 
 tonishing. Their principal garment is a 
 coarse cloak, terminating at the knee; and 
 their arms are long muskets, ataghans or 
 short swords, and pistols. With their mus- 
 kets slung across the right shoulder, they 
 ascend the precipitous mountains, or leap 
 from cliff to cliff with the speed and agility 
 
25 
 
 of the antelope. The Albanian women are 
 generally employed at home in servile do- 
 mestic offices, though they sometimes ac- 
 company the men in their predatory excur- 
 sions, and fight by their side, with equal 
 fierceness and intrepidity. 
 
 The death of Veli Bey, had left Ali's 
 mother the chief of one of these clans of 
 banditti ; and at the head of a few of his 
 mother's klephtes, the first enterprises of 
 young AH were undertaken. An account 
 of the predatory feats he achieved while 
 a boy, would fill a volume; and savours 
 so much of romance, as almost to stagger 
 credulity. He was, however, sometimes 
 unsuccessful, on which occasions, he was 
 sure to meet the reproachful and indignant 
 taunts of his mother. He was once driven 
 into Tepeleni, on which occasion, his mo- 
 ther contemptuously told him, to " go like 
 a coward as he was, and join the women of 
 the harem." Stung with the reproach, he 
 sallied forth again, his mother bidding 
 him never again to enter Tepeleni but as a 
 victor or a corpse. Notwithstanding the 
 utmost exertions of valour, he was again 
 repulsed, lost all his followers and his arms, 
 and with the greatest difficulty escaped 
 alive, Here, was the turning point of 
 
26 
 
 Ali's fortune. To return home he dared 
 not. Having retired to an old solitary ruin 
 for safety, he stood for some time rumina- 
 ting on his forlorn situation. In the agita- 
 tion of his mind, he struck the ground 
 several times with a stick which he held in 
 his hand. Having by this means, torn up 
 the loose earth a little, he discovered some- 
 thing bright, which attracted his attention : 
 and digging deeper, he found it to be a sil- 
 ver casket, full of treasure. With the aid 
 of this, he immediately levied troops, re- 
 trieved his fortunes, entered Tepeleni in 
 triumph ; and confining his mother to the 
 harem, (where she died soon after of cha- 
 grin,) he assumed the command. 
 
 The operations of Ali, were thencefor- 
 ward conducted on a larger scale. As his 
 power and resources were, as yet, however, 
 hardly sufficient to enable him to com- 
 mence the hostilities which he meditated 
 against the neighbouring beys and agas. 
 he continued to prosecute his profession 
 of robbery. He seized on all the passes 
 and defiles about mount Pindus, leading 
 into Thessaly and Ftomelia; and having 
 garrisoned them with his klephtes, plun- 
 dered all travellers and caravans that pas- 
 sed ; and compelled those who fell into his 
 
27 
 
 hands to redeem themselves at enormous 
 prices, to avoid being sold as slaves. He 
 laid taxes on all the smaller towns and 
 hamlets ; and plundered several defenceless 
 places. By these means, he acquired a 
 great booty, which afforded a resource for 
 future operations. 
 
 These outrages at length called forth the 
 indignation of the divan, and Kourd, pasha 
 of Avlona, was ordered to march against 
 the young klepht. Ali, who had formerly 
 been taken prisoner in one of his predatory 
 excursions against this pasha, (and had won 
 so much on the affections of the old man, 
 his wife, and daughter, by his bravery and 
 address, that the two latter had fallen in 
 love with him, and the former had dismissed 
 him with valuable presents,) found no great 
 difficulty in pacifying his old friend, who 
 took him into his service, and sent a favour- 
 able account of him to Constantinople. 
 
 A series of successful petty wars, in which 
 he exhibited superior skill and bravery, and, 
 in several instances, the most diabolical 
 cruelty, had rendered him terrible to his 
 neighbours, #and renowned at a distance. 
 He was invited to Constantinople by the 
 grand vizier, who conferred on him a com- 
 mand in his army. In this situation, he 
 
28 
 
 displayed such consummate talents, bra- 
 very, and address, that although he was, 
 all the while, carrying on a secret corres- 
 pondence with the enemy, yet he was not 
 suspected ; but was, at the end of the cam- 
 paign, created a pasha with two tails, and 
 invested with the government of Thessaly. 
 Removed from the inspection of the divan, 
 his authority was exerted in extorting mo- 
 ney from the people of his government, to 
 enable him to carry into execution his am- 
 bitious projects. He levied contributions, 
 plundered villages, and, having been made 
 derven-pasha, whose charge is to guard 
 the passes of the mountains against rob- 
 bers, he established a trade in licences with 
 the predatory chiefs, from which he derived 
 a large revenue. 
 
 Ali had already murdered a brother, to 
 make way for his succession to the posses- 
 sions of his father. He now had recourse 
 to the same horrible expedient, in order to 
 procure his further advancement. The fa- 
 ther and brother of his wife, both fell vic- 
 tims "to his bloody policy ; the former, by 
 treachery, the latter by vio}en#fe. He then 
 seized upon their government of Agyro-Cas- 
 tro, and availing himself of the resources 
 he found in that sangiatjate, he crossed 
 
29 
 
 Mount Pindus, at the head of a large army* 
 and encamped before the city of Ioannina, 
 in Epirus. The death of the pasha, had 
 left the city without a head. The beys, 
 however, assembled their troops, and gave 
 him battle, but were repulsed. He was too 
 weak to attempt the city by storm, and, 
 therefore, had recourse to a stratagem, ex- 
 ceedingly wily and daring. Having, by 
 means of his gold, secured some of the prin- 
 cipal citizens to his interest, he pretended 
 to wait quietly for the return of a deputa- 
 tion, which had been sent to the Porte by 
 the beys, requesting the appointment of a 
 successor to the late pasha. Ali secretly 
 made interest with the deputies, and sent 
 large presents to the vizier, to procure the 
 nomination for himself. Ilis application 
 being unsuccessful, he intercepted the de- 
 puties on the way, as they were returning, 
 with a firman, for his immediate retire- 
 ment to his province, and the dissolution of 
 his arms; and, having bribed their chief, 
 he substituted another firman, by which 
 he was proclaimed pasha of Ioannina. On 
 their appearance before the city, the chief 
 of the legates held aloft the sacred firman, 
 while all the beys and inhabitants bowed 
 their heads to the ground, in reverence to 
 3 
 
30 
 
 the holy mandate of the successor of the 
 prophet. 
 
 But what was their astonishment, when, 
 on unfolding the sacred instrument, they 
 found their enemy, Ali, declared pasha of 
 loannina, and themselves commanded to 
 yield him all due obedience ! The treache- 
 ry was suspected by many, but resistance 
 was vain. His creatures, within the city, 
 soon opened to him the gates, and he enter- 
 ed as the proud representative of the Sultan. 
 He seized upon the treasure of the beys 
 who escaped, and distributed it so liberally 
 at the Porte, that his conduct was not in- 
 quired into. 
 
 From this time forth, he became not only 
 the dread and scourge of Greece, but a dan- 
 gerous subject to the Porte itself. 
 
 He now successively attacked and sub- 
 dued the pashas of Arta, of Premeti, of 
 Klissura, of Ostanizza, and Konitza. In 
 all these possessions, and many others, he 
 was soon confirmed by the successor of Ab- 
 dulhamed, who had just ascended the 
 Ottoman throne. 
 
 The history of Ali becomes thenceforth 
 a part of the history of Europe. He was 
 master of the extensive province of Ro- 
 melia, (which includes the whole of ancient 
 
31 
 
 Thrace,) of Thessaly, with the exception of 
 Larissa, and of all Western Greece, (in- 
 cluding Albania, Epirus, Acarnania, CEto- 
 lia, and Locris,) excepting a few fortified 
 cities on the shore of the Ionian Sea. His 
 turbulent and ambitious spirit engaged him 
 in a constant series of wars, intrigues, and 
 atrocities, to which, perhaps, the history of 
 no other individual presents a parallel. He 
 was now a personage of so much conse- 
 quence, that his alliance was simultaneous- 
 ly courted by all the principal powers of 
 Europe. Ambassadors from France, En- 
 gland, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, resided 
 at his capital, and his power was as much 
 respected and dreaded, as that of the Sul- 
 tan himself; whose authority Ali reluctant- 
 ly acknowledged. 
 
 If the foreign policy of Ali, exhibited 
 him a treacherous and dangerous ally, and 
 a vindictive and dishonourable enemy, his 
 domestic policy showed him no less mani- 
 festly, a selfish, rapacious, and unfeeling 
 tyrant. Such qualities could not fail to 
 render him extremely odious to the people 
 whom he governed. His disposition to 
 plunder, was by no means repressed by his 
 elevation. His palace at Tepeleni, was 
 filled with treasure which his rapacious vio- 
 
32 
 
 lence had wrung from his unhappy people: 
 and the complaints preferred by the suffer- 
 ers, to the Porte, were easily stifled, by the 
 liberal distribution of his gold at that cor- 
 rupt and infamous court. The least re- 
 monstrance against his violence, or hesita- 
 tion to comply with his unjust and exorbi- 
 tant demands, was sure to procure for the 
 subject, the prison or the scourge. He had, 
 in every quarter of his dominions, spies 
 posted, who narrowly watched the conduct 
 and conversation of the leading individuals, 
 and every symptom of discontent, or disaf- 
 fection to his administration, was followed 
 by the most rigorous imprisonment, or by 
 secret assassination. 
 
 Fearful of the just indignation of an op- 
 pressed and afflicted people, the pasha ne- 
 ver ventured abroad without being sur- 
 rounded by a strong and impervious guard 
 of his Albanians ; nor did he ever receive 
 food or drink, till he had tested its harm- 
 lessness, by compelling another person to 
 partake of it, before him. He made an an- 
 nual visit to each of the provincial cities in 
 his jurisdiction, attended by a numerous 
 train of marauders ; and their route was, 
 on such occasions, marked by rapine and 
 blood, 
 
33 
 
 The only tolerable feature of the admi- 
 nistration of Ali, was an untiring vigilance 
 in searching out, and destroying the hordes 
 of klephtes, of which he had formerly been 
 so distinguished a leader. His mode of pu- 
 nishing those who fell into his hands, was 
 horribly barbarous. Empalement, cruci- 
 fixion, burning at the stake, and roasting on 
 a spit before a slow fire, were some of the 
 horrible means he adopted to deter others 
 from attempting to share with him the pri- 
 vilege and profit of general pillage and rob- 
 bery. 
 
 The destruction of the klephtes was, 
 however, but a poor compensation to the 
 wretched people, for the tenfold greater ag- 
 gressions and cruelties which he, himself 
 was constantly committing. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 When I was about twelve years old, I 
 
 accompanied my father on a visit to Ioan- 
 
 nina, the capital of Ali Pasha. This city 
 
 is at the distance of about forty miles 
 
 from Arta, and the road thither lies across 
 3 # 
 
34 
 
 a lofty mountain, and through a beautiful 
 little hamlet, called Scalopula. Ioannina 
 is the most considerable city in Western 
 Greece. It gives its name to the whole 
 pashalik, and its situation exactly in the 
 centre of Epirus, is so commanding and im- 
 portant, that it is not strange that the dis- 
 criminating policy of Ali Pasha should 
 have selected it as his residence, and be- 
 stowed vast pains in enlarging the city, and 
 strengthening its fortifications. It stands 
 on the west side of a lake of the same name, 
 which is about ten or twelve miles in length, 
 and two or three in breadth. From this 
 lake, flows a river, called Limnas, which 
 falls into the gulf of Arta. 
 
 The length of the city, is nearly three 
 miles, and its breadth from one to two. 
 The part which is built on the margin of 
 the lake, is low, but the parts more remote 
 therefrom, are built on acclivities which 
 overlook the lake and the country toward 
 the north and west. There are two princi- 
 pal streets, one of which runs almost the 
 whole length of the city. In the rear of 
 the buildings are pleasant gardens, produ- 
 cing various kinds of tropical fruits. From 
 the central part of the city, a little trian- 
 gular peninsula juts into the lake, on which 
 
35 
 
 stood the fortress and one of the palaces of 
 Ali Pasha. On each angle of this little 
 peninsula, which is connected to the city 
 by a bridge, is erected a strong tower, 
 which together command the city, the lake, 
 and the adjacent country. Ioannina is 
 the most considerable city in the west of 
 Greece. It contained at that time about 
 fifty thousand inhabitants, principally 
 Greeks and Albanians, with a few Turks. 
 Jews and Armenians. The pasha had 
 several palaces in the city : but the most 
 elegant of these, as well as of all the pub- 
 lic structures, was situated on an eminence 
 to the west of the city ; and was occupied 
 by the pasha and his wives, as a summer 
 residence. -This palace was surrounded by 
 a high wall, and was strongly fortified. 
 
 The lake of Ioannina is one of the most 
 beautiful sheets of water imaginable. It 
 is nearly ten miles long, and three broad. 
 Its margin is skirted on the west and north 
 by the city, and by a succession of beauti- 
 ful groves, gardens and verdant plains, 
 which extend along its whole length ; and 
 on the east by a range of lofty mountains 
 which rise precipitately from its bank. In 
 the centre of the lake is a charming little 
 island, whither the grandees of the pasha's 
 
36 
 
 court resorted in the heat of summer for 
 recreation. The lake was covered with 
 little boats passing to and fro: and the 
 whole assemblage of objects, was such as a 
 skilful painter would delight to copy. No- 
 thing could exceed the loveliness of the 
 scene viewed by moonlight. The groves 
 of orange and lemon, fanned by the air, 
 and imparting to it their balminess, the 
 city lying in all its beauty, its snowy 
 edifices reflecting the silver rays of the 
 moon, and its lofty towers, minarets and 
 pinnacles, seeming to pierce the clear blue 
 canopy, the rugged mountain with its 
 dense and towering forests, the lake re- 
 posing at its foot, and spreading its tran- 
 quil and amber waters, gilded by the trem- 
 bling moonbeam, and ruffled only by the 
 dipping oar, wherewith the boatman pro- 
 pelled the gliding skiff, while he broke the 
 stillness with his midnight song : all these 
 together exhibited a spectacle most en- 
 chanting and glorious, and fitted to raise 
 emotions of sublime delight, not however, 
 without an alloy of regret, that in the be- 
 stowing of favours on that charming land, 
 the hand of liberty had been so much less 
 munificent than that of beauty. 
 Between Ioannina and Arta a considera- 
 
37 
 
 ble inland trade is carried on, in hard wares- 
 wines, olives, lemons, oranges, and various 
 other kinds of fruits. The air of Ioannina 
 is clear and piercing, and its temperature 
 much colder than that of Arta. While at 
 at Ioannina, I frequently saw Ali Pasha. 
 He was at that time about seventy-five 
 years of age. Never before was so fierce 
 and untameable a soul, coupled with a form 
 so venerable, or a countenance so benig- 
 nant. A stranger would have taken him 
 for a philosopher, if not a saint ; and would 
 be astonished to behold in a person of so 
 much apparent suavity and mildness, the 
 most bloody tyrant and rapacious robber of 
 the age. He was considerably below the 
 middle stature, though muscular and thick 
 set. His head was uncommonly large ; his 
 legs remarkably short ; his complexion was 
 unusually fair, and his countenance full, 
 florid, and intelligent ; his eyes were blue, 
 and exceedingly lively ; his beard was white 
 as milk, and hung down very low upon his 
 breast ; and there was perceptible in his air 
 and manner, as little of the haughty reserve 
 of the Turk, as of the savage fierceness of 
 the Albanian. He wore on his head a high 
 turban, composed of many small rolls, made 
 of the finest gold muslin ; over a rich Turk- 
 
38 
 
 ish dress, he wore a jube, or loose frock of 
 light silk, trimmed with ermine. From a 
 belt, or zone, of golden tissue, hung an 
 ataghan, or long dagger, studded with dia- 
 monds; and a long, loose cloak, of light crim- 
 son, completed his attire. It is said, that 
 his palace exhibited a sumptuousness hard- 
 ly inferior to that of the Sultan himself; 
 and he entertained foreigners of distinction 
 with much hospitality. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The affluent circumstances of my father, 
 and the influence which wealth confers, 
 rendered him one of the peculiar subjects 
 of the rapacity, as well as of the suspicion, 
 of the creatures of the pasha. Desirous to 
 find some situation affording more security 
 to property, as well as apprehensive of per- 
 sonal danger to himself and family, he re- 
 solved to withdraw from the jurisdiction of 
 a tyranny so galling. 
 
 Looking around him for some situation 
 less insecure, and less unfavourable to his 
 
39 
 
 pursuit, he fixed on Patras, in the Morea, 
 (Peloponnesus.) Much address was ne- 
 cessary to effect his escape from the talons 
 of Ali's rapacious harpies, who had received 
 a mandate from the pasha to prevent his 
 subjects from leaving his territories. He 
 found means, however, to elude their vigi- 
 lance, and fled to Patras. In that city, he 
 recommenced his mercantile pursuits, and, 
 after the inquiry respecting his absence 
 was over, he also procured the escape of his 
 family to the same place. We left the city 
 and country of our fathers, with the strong- 
 est feelings of regret. Driven, as exiles, 
 from our home, by the iron rod of oppres- 
 sion, emotions of indignation were mingled 
 with those of grief, when we bade adieu to 
 the friends and the scenes we loved. 
 
 Even now at this distance from the spot, 
 and after the endurance of so many misfor- 
 tunes and sufferings, my thoughts often 
 recur with melancholy pleasure to the 
 home of my childhood; and my heart 
 cherishes with fond sensibility, the recollec- 
 tion of the beauties and delights of that 
 lovely region, rendered more sacred to 
 my memory by the associations of early 
 friendship, and the holy ties of consan- 
 guinity. 
 
40 
 
 After our settlement in Patras, my fa- 
 ther resumed his mercantile occupation. 
 The government of Tripolitza, (which pa- 
 shalik included Patras,) was at that time 
 in the hands of Mohammed Pasha. To 
 do him justice, it must be confessed that 
 his government was less intolerable than 
 that of Ali Pasha ; and that his exactions 
 were not so exorbitant and enormous, but 
 that commerce was a profitable pursuit. 
 My father availed himself of the oppor- 
 tunity, and by his industry and enterprise, 
 soon amassed an ample fortune. The com- 
 merce of Patras, was carried on chiefly 
 with the ports of Italy. As my father 
 had destined me for his own profession, I 
 was carefully initiated by him into the 
 principles and practice of trade; and in- 
 structed by a tutor in the rudiments of the 
 Italian language. The affairs of my family 
 continued as flourishing, and our prospects 
 as bright as the despotism we were under 
 would permit : till the occurrence of those 
 calamitous events which involved us as 
 well as our country in ruin and wretched- 
 ness. 
 
 The spirit of liberty which had been in- 
 fused by Riga and his compatriots ; which 
 had been further excited by similar asso- 
 
41 
 
 ciations of patriots, and justified by new 
 and insupportable aggressions ; and which 
 had prompted the unfortunate Suliotes to a 
 resistance which had drawn upon them the 
 sword and flame of extermination had hi 
 the year 1821, become general throughout 
 Greece. 
 
 The noble attempts of Czerni George, 
 and of Galeati in 1817, to liberate their 
 country, though unsuccessful, had opened 
 the eyes of their countrymen, increased 
 their ardour for liberty, and stimulated 
 them to a more general effort to obtain it. 
 
 In the spring of 1821, Ypsilanti, Canta- 
 cuzene and Suzzo, brave soldiers and ac- 
 complished men, raised the standard of 
 revolution. Suzzo was a young Greek, 
 who by his bravery and address, had so in- 
 gratiated himself with the Porte, that he 
 had been appointed viceroy of Moldavia,, 
 Prince Cantacuzene was descended from 
 an illustrious Greek family ; and had 
 greatly distinguished himself as a military 
 commander, and although * much superior 
 in rank and age to Ypsilanti, yet he mag- 
 nanimously volunteered to serve under 
 him. Prince Alexander Ypsilanti, was the 
 son of the viceroy of Wallachia, and was 
 a major general in the service of Russia 
 4 
 
42 
 
 He had been bred a soldier from his boy- 
 hood, had acquired a high reputation in 
 the campaign of 1812, and lost his right 
 arm in the battle of Culm. He was bold, 
 generous, honourable and patriotic. To 
 him as their leader, and to his brother 
 chieftains, the Greek patriots had confided 
 the issue of their cause. 
 
 The plan of the Grecian commanders 
 was, under existing circumstances, the best 
 that human wisdom could devise ; and had 
 not the selfish and perfidious policy of 
 Russia prevented, must have resulted in 
 the most complete success. The Grecian 
 patriots had been secretly assured of the 
 co-operation of that power in effectuating 
 the independence of their country. Ypsi- 
 lanti had determined on commencing offen- 
 sive operations beyond the Danube ; Suzzo 
 was at a proper time, to declare himself 
 openly, and lead the Moldavians, as well as 
 the Servians, who were now in a state of 
 revolt, to his aid ; at the same time, a con- 
 spiracy was set on foot at Constantinople, 
 ihe explosion of which,it was believed, would 
 .shake the Ottoman empire to its centre. 
 
 Ypsilanti attired his troops in a mourn- 
 ing habit, indicative of the afflicted state of 
 his country : and assumed as a banner, the 
 
43 
 
 figure of a phoenix rising from its ashes, in 
 token of her regeneration. He issued an 
 energetic proclamation, addressed to his 
 countrymen, calling upon them to shake 
 off the Turkish yoke, to follow the standard 
 of the cross, and to join him in the great 
 and glorious work of emancipating Greece ; 
 assuring them that the court of Russia was 
 also ready to punish the infidels for their 
 repeated perfidies and cruelties. 
 
 The effect of this proclamation was 
 electric. The appearance of Ypsilanti in 
 the field, and the assurance of the aid of 
 Russia, gave such spirit and alacrity to 
 every class of the people, that they flocked 
 in great numbers to his standard. The 
 plan of the commanders was so well exe- 
 cuted, that Ypsilanti was, in a short time, 
 master of all Moldavia and Wallachia. 
 The plot at Constantinople, which was no 
 less than to arm the Greeks in that capital, 
 to fire the arsenal, and to seize the person 
 of the Sultan, was in a favourable train ; 
 and all things seemed to promise a speedy 
 and auspicious issue to the measures of the 
 Greeks ; when a manifesto of the Russian 
 court, disclaiming all participation in those 
 measures, and denouncing Ypsilanti as a 
 
44 
 
 rebel and incendiary, fell like a thunderbolt 
 on him and his compatriots. 
 
 The Moldavians, who had relied on the 
 succour of that faithless court, soon began 
 to waver, and Suzzo was obliged, for 
 safety, to retire across the Danube. The 
 plot at Constantinople, miscarried, when at 
 the point of successful completion, by the 
 misconduct or treachery of one of the in- 
 dividuals, to whom it had been entrusted. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these discourage- 
 ments, the heroic Ypsilanti awaited at 
 Bucharest, the approach of the Turkish 
 grand army ; against which he was re- 
 solved, weak and dispirited as were his 
 troops, to hazard a general battle, as the 
 only possible means left to revive the 
 spirits of the revolutionists, and to save the 
 country. But his design was unfortunately 
 frustrated by the treachery of one of his 
 principal officers, and the defection of part 
 of his army. 
 
 In consequence of this disaster, he was 
 obliged to make a hasty retreat with the 
 remnant of his army to Tergovist, a city in 
 the centre of Wallachia. The Turks soon 
 entered Bucharest, having on their march 
 thither, made a general slaughter of all the 
 Greeks that fell into their hands. Multi- 
 
45 
 
 tudes of both sexes were empaled alive 5 
 crowds of defenceless women were driven 
 into monasteries, and there burnt ; and hun* 
 dreds of little children were hanged up by 
 the feet along the public roads. 
 
 The Turkish army, after these horrible 
 atrocities, set out in pursuit of Prince 
 Ypsilanti. He called a council of war, and 
 after a hasty deliberation, it was determined 
 to risk a battle. The prince posted his 
 little army as advantageously as circum- 
 stances would permit: and had hardly 
 finished the necessary dispositions, when 
 the Turks commenced the battle. This 
 was on the morning of the 17th of June, 
 1821. The Turkish infantry rushed for- 
 ward with loud shouts, but were repulsed 
 with the bayonet. A second charge was 
 repelled with equal intrepidity, and the 
 fortune of the day seemed to incline to the 
 patriot cause. At this fatal moment, Ca- 
 ravia, the commander of Ypsilanti's ca- 
 valry, with his squadrons, gave way, and 
 shamefully fled. The corps of Nicholas 
 Ypsilanti, brother of the prince, followed 
 the example, in spite of the. authority of 
 their leader. The whole army was imme- 
 diately thrown into the utmost confusion, 
 
 and notwithstanding the greatest efforts of 
 
 4* 
 
46 
 
 the prince and the other chiefs to restore 
 order and to rally the troops, they broke 
 their ranks and fled in every direction. 
 
 To this shameful conduct, there was, 
 however, a glorious exception and contrast, 
 exhibited in the devoted heroism of a corps 
 commanded by Giorgaki. This corps was 
 composed of young Greeks of illustrious 
 families, who had been educated at the uni- 
 versities of Christian Europe, and who now 
 left them and repaired to the standard of 
 Ypsilanti. 
 
 They formed a band of five hundred, and 
 their zeal, patriotism, and union, had pro- 
 cured them the title of the Sacred Band. 
 Preferring a glorious death to dishonour, 
 they stood firm and collected amidst the 
 confusion and flight of the panic-stricken 
 army. Hoping, by the sacrifice of their 
 lives, to wipe away the reproach of the day, 
 and to produce an impression favourable 
 to the cause of liberty, and to the cha- 
 racter of their countrymen, they resolved 
 to sell their lives as dearly as possible. 
 With their intrepid leader at their head, 
 they maintained the field against the whole 
 Turkish army. The human mind cannot 
 conceive a spectacle of more interest or 
 moral sublimity. The flower, the hope, thip 
 
47 
 
 glory of Greece were there offering them- 
 selves up, a voluntary oblation on the altar 
 of her freedom. After performing prodigies 
 of valour, they sunk beneath the over- 
 whelming force and numbers of the enemy; 
 and their devotion and deaths has rendered 
 the plain of Oltau equally illustrious with 
 those of Marathon and Thermopylae. 
 
 Ypsilanti, left without an army and with- 
 out hope in that quarter, hastened to Trieste* 
 to embark for the Morea, in order to join 
 his countrymen who had raised the patriot 
 standard in that province. On his way 
 thither, he was arrested by a mandate of 
 the Austrian court, and thrown into the 
 dungeon of Mongatz, in Hungary ! No 
 cause was ever assigned for this flagrant 
 act of outrage and injustice ! 
 
 The insurrections in Moldavia and Wal- 
 lachia, were followed by a general order 
 from the Porte to all the pashas in the em- 
 pire, to disarm the Greeks in their respec- 
 tive provinces. At the same time, the signal 
 for their extermination, was given at Con- 
 stantinople. The Greek patriarch, Grego- 
 rius, a meek and inoffensive man, was seized 
 and hanged before the church where he was 
 celebrating the rites of religion; and his 
 body was given to the Jews, who with 
 
48 
 
 savage delight dragged it through the city 
 as a spectacle and warning to the terri- 
 fied Christians. At the same time, many 
 Greek churches in various parts of the 
 empire were destroyed, and the priests mur- 
 dered. These and other atrocities, led the 
 Greek clergy in the Morea and the islands, 
 from a regard to safety, to exert their in- 
 fluence in fomenting the spirit of resistance. 
 They found the people not less ready than 
 themselves to engage in a cause which had 
 liberty for its object, and was sanctified by 
 the authority of religion. Their indigna- 
 tion and horror were also excited to the 
 highest degree, by the shocking massacres 
 which the Turks had commenced in several 
 of the provinces and islands. 
 
 At Patras, the people had an additional 
 cause of exasperation. A most enormous 
 levy had been made on that city, for the 
 purchase of supplies for the army of Res- 
 chid Pasha, in Albania, who were acting 
 against Ali Pasha, then in a state of re- 
 bellion. 
 
 The inhabitants of Suda, a town of Ar- 
 cadia, had already taken the field. In 
 Patras, the Greek merchants, aware that 
 general hostilities must soon commence* 
 began to send off or secrete their property i 
 
49 
 
 and the Turks, to repair and strengthen 
 the fortress, which both defends and com- 
 mands the city. 
 
 The city of Patras, at the commence- 
 ment of hostilities, contained about 12,000 
 inhabitants. It is pleasantly situated on a 
 gentle acclivity, on the south-west side of 
 the entrance of the gulf of Lepanto, or 
 Corinth. On an elevation near the city 
 stands the fortress, garrisoned at that time 
 by five or six hundred Turks, and contain- 
 ing 150 guns, though not more than 20 or 25 
 were mounted and effective. This fortress 
 overlooks the town. It has two large gates 
 at the northern and southern extremities. 
 Of these gates or portals, the southern was 
 several years before the commencement of 
 the revolution, thrown down by lightning, 
 but was about four years afterward rebuilt 
 by the Turks. The fortress is of a circular 
 form. The outer wali is very high, of great 
 thickness and strength, and surrounded by 
 a broad moat. On this wall the cannon are 
 mounted within is a second wall, overlook- 
 ing the former, and inclosing the houses and 
 barracks of the garrison ; and the area with- 
 in a third wall is occupied as an arsenal. 
 
 In April, 1821, the suspicions of the 
 Turkish garrison were awakened by tho 
 
50 
 
 secret removal of a large number of the 
 Greek inhabitants of the city. Measures 
 were immediately taken by Zidar Aga, the 
 Turkish commandant, to put the fortress 
 into the best posture of defence, in order to 
 repel the anticipated attack. The aga 
 attempted to enforce the order to disarm 
 the Greek inhabitants, but met a firm resist- 
 ance. He then turned the cannon of the 
 fortress against the city, and soon ob- 
 tained possession of it. A multitude of 
 peasants, collected by the zeal and efforts 
 of Germanos, archbishop of Patras, soon 
 recovered possession of the town, and drove 
 the Turks into the citadel. 
 
 The aga gave immediate orders to set 
 fire to the house of the archbishop. This 
 violence was the signal for open hostilities. 
 The Greeks, filled with indignation at such 
 a wanton outrage, hastily seized their arms, 
 assembled in a body, and made a vigorous 
 assault upon the fortress. 
 
 The Turks commenced a cannonade upon 
 the city, but being unskilful in the manage- 
 ment of artillery, their fire produced but 
 little effect. The Greeks, who had previ- 
 ously left the city, now flocked in from the 
 mountains, accompanied by the neighbour- 
 ing peasantry. A general shout was heard 
 
51 
 
 throughout the Grecian multitude. EXsu^ia, 
 JXa&tpa! 5a *i*n, 7ou Xpitfrou ! (Liberty, liberty ! 
 for the faith of Christ !) 
 
 On a neighbouring hill, called Scatovuni, 
 within a short distance of the citadel, they 
 took a position, and threw up a battery. A 
 vigorous and regular siege was commenced 
 by five or six thousand Greeks. For eleven 
 days, a constant fire was maintained on both 
 sides. The Greeks, during the first days of 
 the siege, had no cannon, but they at length 
 obtained some small pieces from an Ionian 
 vessel, lying in the harbour. They were, 
 however, too light to make any breach in 
 the wall, especially as they could, from the 
 nature of the ground, be directed only 
 against that part which had been recently 
 repaired from the damage done by light- 
 ning, and which was, consequently, stronger 
 than the rest. To storm the fortress, was 
 impracticable, from the breadth of the moat, 
 and the want of ladders. It was, at length, 
 determined to open a mine beneath the wall, 
 as the only practicable mode of reducing 
 the garrison, before a reinforcement from 
 the enemy should arrive. 
 
 While things remained thus at Patras, 
 a number of Greek officers arrived in the 
 Morea from various parts of Europe and 
 
52 
 
 the islands. Among the most distinguish- 
 ed of these, were Demetrius Ypsilanti, a 
 younger brother of the captive Prince, from 
 whom he bore a commission, constituting 
 him generalissimo of all the military forces 
 in Greece. A younger brother of Prince 
 Cantacuzene, who accompanied Ypsilanti ; 
 Constantine Colocotroni, who had served 
 both in the British and Russian armies, and 
 Prince Mavrocordato, a man eminent for 
 his talents and elevated character. 
 
 A council was formed at Patras, for the 
 direction of affairs ; consisting of several 
 bishops, and a number of other wealthy 
 and influential Greeks. At the head of the 
 council, was Pietro Mavromicali, who had 
 shortly before, received from the Porte the 
 appointment of bey of Maina. He imme- 
 diately published an energetic and eloquent 
 manifesto, addressed to the several courts 
 of Christian Europe, setting forth the rea- 
 sons for taking up arms, and calling upon 
 the Christian nations for counsel and aid. 
 
 The siege of the citadel at Patras, was 
 vigorously pressed ; a mine was opened, and 
 almost ready to be sprung ; the Turks had 
 begun to suffer, for want of provisions; and 
 every thing seemed to promise a speedy re- 
 duction of the garrison ; when an unexpect- 
 
53 
 
 ed incident frustrated and destroyed the 
 hopes of the besiegers. 
 
 This was the arrival of Ysouf Pasha, at 
 the head of a large body of cavalry. Ta- 
 king advantage of the obscurity of a night 
 unusually dark, he had transported his 
 troops across the gulf, from the city of 
 Lepanto, and appeared with them on the 
 plain before the city early in the morning, 
 in array of battle. 
 
 This enterprise had been conducted with 
 so much secrecy and despatch, and so com- 
 plete and effectual was the surprise the 
 Greeks suffered, that the first intimation of 
 the circumstance, was communicated to the 
 citizens by a simultaneous discharge of all 
 the guns of the citadel, by way of salute, 
 and by the entrance of Ysouf Pasha, and 
 his cavalry, into the city. 
 
 Many of the Greeks were in their beds. 
 Roused by the noise and confusion, they 
 commenced a precipitate flight; some to 
 the seashore, and others to the mountains. 
 Thousands of men, women and children, 
 were rushing through the streets in every 
 direction, endeavouring to escape the 
 scymetar of the bloody conquerer. The 
 town was immediately given up to pillage. 
 The aged and infirm, and infants of both 
 5 
 
54 
 
 sfexes, who were unable to escape, were 
 dragged from their habitations and hiding 
 places, and butchered in the streets. 
 
 My father's residence was in a central 
 part of the city. Most of the family were 
 in bed when the alarm was given. I had 
 just risen, and hearing a tremendous explo- 
 sion of cannon, and a great tumult and 
 confusion, I hurried to the door to learn 
 the cause, and on opening it, I was sud- 
 denly seized by a Turkish soldier. He 
 bound my hands, and commanded me with 
 many execrations, (in broken Greek,) to go 
 before him to the citadel. Entreaty was 
 as unavailing as opposition would have 
 been. My tears and supplications were 
 addressed to a heart of marble ; and my 
 reluctant steps were goaded forward by 
 the muzzle of the musket of my captor. 
 
 Thus was I, at the age of seventeen, 
 torn from the bosom of my family, to be- 
 hold some, perhaps all, of them no more 
 for ever. Their fate, I was unable to as- 
 certain ; and the suspense and anxiety of 
 my soul were insupportable. Ah, ye 
 favoured of heaven, whose lot is cast in 
 this happy and peaceful land; who have 
 never beheld the sword and flame of war 
 spreading carnage, misery and desolation 
 
55 
 
 around you; whose friendships have not 
 been severed by the stroke of the scymi- 
 tar ; and who have never felt the agony of 
 being deprived by massacre, dispersion and 
 chains, of that sweetest of all earthly joys, 
 the society of parents, brothers and sisters ; 
 as little can you imagine as I describe my 
 feelings, at that distressful and disastrous 
 hour ! 
 
 On reaching the fortress, my captor se- 
 cured me in a solitary apartment, and left 
 me pinioned and half dead with grief and 
 terror. As he was a soldier of the lowest 
 order, I had every thing to apprehend from 
 his brutality, and nothing to hope from his 
 humanity. He soon after returned accom- 
 panied by some other Turkish soldiers. 
 Expecting immediate death, I endeavoured 
 to commend myself to God, and await the 
 issue. 
 
 On being informed by some of his com- 
 panions, by whom I was recognized, that I 
 was the son of a wealthy merchant, and 
 that my father had probably secreted his 
 money somewhere in the neighbourhood, 
 as many other rich Greeks had done, he 
 proceeded to interrogate me concerning its 
 disposal, and the place of its supposed con- 
 cealment. My inability to satisfy his ra- 
 
56 
 
 pacious curiosity, was construed into wilful 
 contumacy ; my most solemn asseverations 
 of ignorance were disbelieved, and their 
 repetition served but to kindle and inflame 
 his rage. 
 
 Stung with disappointment in being thus 
 defeated in the attainment of his anticipated 
 booty, he seized me, and with eyes darting 
 fury, he drew his ataghan, and swore by 
 Alia (God) and his prophet, that he would 
 cut me in pieces. He made a violent stroke 
 with his weapon across my arms (still pin- 
 ioned behind me,) which inflicted a severe 
 wound on one of my wrists. He then aimed 
 a thrust at my head, but the point of his 
 dagger striking against a bone behind my 
 right ear, was prevented from penetrating 
 deeply. His fury was here checked by the 
 representations of his companions, and 
 seemed to give place in some measure to 
 another passion, that of avarice. They 
 reminded him that if he killed me, he would 
 lose the large sum he had calculated on as 
 the price that I should bring in the market: 
 for as it was known that my father was 
 wealthy, and would, if living, pay a high 
 price for my ransom, it was imagined that 
 my purchaser, when informed of that cir- 
 cumstance, would be more liberal in his 
 
57 
 
 price. To these representations, I owe the 
 prolongation of a life, subsequently so filled 
 with suffering, that its preservation can 
 hardly be accounted a blessing. 
 
 Meanwhile, the work of destruction was 
 going on in the city. No adequate idea 
 can be conveyed of the horrible atrocities 
 that were committed on the unhappy in- 
 habitants. The old and helpless of both 
 sexes were dragged forth shrieking into the 
 streets and slaughtered; the matrons and 
 wives were brutally abused and whipped ; 
 the young women were violated, and then 
 murdered or dragged to the shambles and 
 sold into slavery. Invention was set on the 
 rack to find modes of torture. Vengeance 
 was superadded to cruelty, and brutal pas- 
 sion to vengeance, in aggravating the tor- 
 ment and agonies of the unhappy sufferers. 
 
 All the men who were taken in arms, 
 were immediately beheaded. Fifty that 
 morning were led into the fortress, and suf- 
 fered death in this manner before my eyes ; 
 and their bleeding bodies were flung out 
 to be trampled on by the cavalry and to 
 be devoured by dogs. Nothing but the 
 fatigue of exertion, put an end at last to 
 the horrible work of rapine and slaughter 
 
 4 
 
53 
 
 The fate of these unhappy men was, how- 
 ever, enviable, compared with that of those 
 who lived to endure the shocking miseries 
 of a protracted slavery. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 My captor, having concluded that my 
 death would be a loss to him, and, not yet 
 despairing of being able to compel me to 
 disclose the depository of my father's mo- 
 ney, forbore to put the finishing stroke to 
 my wretchedness. He now fell to whipping 
 me with rods, and continued for three days 
 and two nights, at short intervals, to inflict 
 that horrible punishment. The excruciating 
 torture I endured, from the shocking lace- 
 ration of my flesh, at length rendered me 
 frantic, and I heartily wished for death to 
 put a period to my torment. On his ap- 
 proaching me the last time, brandishing the 
 instrument of his barbarity, I begged him 
 to kill me, and satiate his demoniac ven- 
 geance with my blood. I entreated and im- 
 plored him, in the name of his God, and of 
 
59 
 
 his prophet, to terminate my sufferings then, 
 for I could endure no more. I imprecated 
 and denounced him as an unbeliever in any 
 God, or any religion, hoping to provokehim 
 to inflict the fatal blow, for which I suppli- 
 cated in vain. With a fiend-like laugh, he 
 assured me, that he was not to be moved by 
 prayers, nor provoked by reproaches, to an 
 act so prejudicial to his interest. I repeat- 
 ed my execrations, till at length his savage 
 temper could be no longer suppressed. He 
 took a large pistol from his belt, cocked it, 
 and pressed it against my breast. He 
 snapped it, and it missed fire. Another 
 trial was equally unsuccessful. Enraged 
 at the disappointment, he struck me furi- 
 ously with the pistol several times on my 
 forehead. I fell on the ground, stunned, 
 and apparently dead. The blood gushed in 
 copious streams from my forehead, and ran 
 like water along the floor. It is probable, 
 that he would, on this occasion, have put an 
 end to my misery, and life, together, had 
 not one of his companions, who accidentally 
 entered the room at that moment, interfered, 
 and advised him to desist, and to spare my 
 life. He remarked, that it would be a pity 
 to kill me, as I would, doubtless, bring 
 something in the market, and recommend- 
 
60 
 
 ed to him to take me thither, and dispose 
 of me, and apply the proceeds to the pur- 
 chase of ahorse, or of equipments. This 
 suggestion seemed to mitigate his fury, and 
 recall his recollection. He desisted from 
 further violence, and exhausted the venom 
 of his spite in stigmatizing with a variety 
 of execrations and opprobrious epithets, the 
 " Greek dog," (sxixxw Pofw*,) while I lay la- 
 cerated, bleeding, and half dead before him. 
 His rage being abated, the barbarian took 
 some sulphur and olive oil, and melted them 
 together in a pan. Then, having dipped a 
 piece of cotton therein, he bound it closely 
 round my forehead, which was still bleeding 
 profusely. The application of this styptic, 
 staunched the blood, and the wounds, in a \ 
 short time, began to heal. The scars of 
 them remain, however, as a convincing tes- 
 timony of Turkish cruelty. I was then 
 shut up in a wretched apartment, that I 
 might acquire, by a short respite from tor- 
 ture, a more merchantable plight. During 
 this time, my condition was truly deplora- 
 ble. My flesh had been so horribly bruised, 
 and mangled ; it was so much swollen, that 
 it had assumed a livid colour, and was so 
 exceedingly painful, that, with the slightest 
 touch, or motion, I could hardly refrain 
 
61 
 
 irom screaming aloud ; and I was unable to 
 sit, stand, or lie, without great torment. In 
 this situation, I remained five days; at the 
 expiration of which, I was dragged forth to 
 the Pasari, or market place, where I was 
 subjected, with several other Greeks, chiefly 
 females, to the inspection of the Turkish 
 traders, as a horse, or any other brute ; and 
 was, at length, purchased by a Bey, named 
 Mustapha, for five hundred piastres, a sum 
 equal to about seventy-eight dollars of the 
 currency of the United States.* 
 
 As my new master was a man of rank, I 
 had conceived a hope of less barbarous 
 treatment from him, than from the brutal 
 monster from whose tyranny I was now re- 
 leased. My reception, however, soon con- 
 vinced me that I had only been transferred 
 from the hands of one Turk to those of 
 another. 
 
 I was taken with much rudeness, and no 
 commiseration to the house of my new 
 master. My common appellative was, 
 M You dog." (In the Turkish language, 
 
 * Some time before the revolution in Greece, a dollar 
 was, valued at 5| piasters. At the time I was sold, it 
 was reckoned at 6^ ; the dollar gradually increased in 
 value ; and when I returned to Greece from this coun 
 try, in 1327, it was equal to 15J piasters, 
 
62 
 
 Sen chiopec ;) and I was introduced to my 
 new situation by the only title which I 
 bore for more than four years. "Giaour 
 chiopec," (Christian dog.) The object, 
 to accomplish which my master now set 
 himself, was to make me a convert to the 
 Turkish religion. In order to do this, 
 he inquired of me first, if I wished to be- 
 come a man. I answered, that, thank God, 
 I was one already. He said he meant a 
 Mussulman; a believer in the true pro- 
 phet; that Christians were not men, but 
 dogs. He then proposed to' me a change 
 in my religion, offered me several advan- 
 tages as the necessary consequences of 
 such a change, spoke of a removal of my 
 bondage, and the immediate improvement 
 of my condition, and set forth with much 
 zeal, the future joys which the Koran 
 promises to every true believer. He en- 
 deavoured to strengthen these considera- 
 tions, by adding to them many threats of 
 punishment, perpetual slavery or death in 
 the event of my refusal. I told him firmly, 
 that, much as I valued liberty and life, I 
 valued my religion more than either. That 
 I could never consent to renounce it ; but 
 should live while I did live, and die when I 
 did die, in the faith of Christ . 
 
63 
 
 He fell into a violent passion, and calling 
 his choushe or principal Secretary, com- 
 manded him to throw me into a dungeon. 
 In obedience to this mandate, the choushe 
 dragged me to a cell under ground, about 
 six or seven feet square, where dogs had 
 been kept. Here I was kept twenty-eight 
 hours without a morsel of food or a drop of 
 water; and ail his retainers were pro- 
 hibited, by the severest penalties, from any 
 intercourse with me. After this time had 
 elapsed, apparently apprehensive that fur- 
 ther deprivation of air and food might 
 hazard the loss of his property ; and, per- 
 haps, conceiving that the preservation of 
 the body, was of more consequence to him, 
 than that of the soul, of his slave ; he sent 
 orders to the choushe to bring me again 
 before him. On my approaching him, he 
 said to me with a sneer of contempt, 
 " Well, dog, have you come to your sen- 
 ses ? Are you now willing to become a 
 Mussulman ? to throw off your religion 
 the religion of dogs, and embrace ours?" 
 I answered, in substance, as before, that 
 " I had attachments to my faith, which I 
 could not break ; that I had formed a firm 
 and unalterable resolution never to aban- 
 
64 
 
 don it, nor to swerve from its principles, 
 whatever might be the result." 
 
 The decisive tone of my answer, which 
 was, perhaps, in some degree strengthened 
 by resentment, seemed to redouble his 
 rage. With many execrations he com- 
 manded me to my dungeon, swearing that 
 I should remain there till I abjured my re- 
 ligion, and adopted his, or died from star- 
 vation. I was again thrown into the same 
 loathsome cell, with six dogs as my com- 
 panions. In this situation, I lived for two 
 months and a half; my lacerated flesh still 
 unhealed, my frame wasted and weakened 
 by hunger and pain, without a gleam of 
 light to cheer my despondency, with no 
 bed but the cold and wet earth, whereon to 
 rest my weary and emaciated limbs, and 
 with no other nourishment than a small 
 piece of black, mouldy and worm-eaten 
 bread, and a cup of filthy water, once in 
 twenty-four hours. No one was permitted 
 during my confinement, to approach my 
 cell, except a little black, called Selim. 
 who once a day, thrust my miserable fare 
 through a small aperture in the wall of my 
 dungeon, and then immediately closed it 
 and retired, without speaking. 
 
65 
 
 The ami of my master was to inflict all 
 the suffering my enfeebled frame would pos- 
 sibly bear, short of death. He did not wish 
 to lose the seventy-eight dollars he had paid, 
 for me, and, therefore, allowed me just a 
 sufficiency to eke out a life which I should 
 have been glad to resign. During some of 
 the last days that I remained in this dun- 
 geon, I had become so completely worn out 
 with hunger and exhaustion, that I was un- 
 able to stand, or scarcely to move my limbs. 
 I lay on the ground, expecting and wishing 
 to die ; and the only tokens of life I was 
 able to exhibit, were the faint groans I oc- 
 casionally uttered. The black boy had 
 been instructed to watch the effects of this 
 barbarous treatment, and, when he per- 
 ceived that the cord of suffering had been 
 drawn to the utmost stretch of endurance, 
 to give an intimation thereof to my master, 
 The black now began to notice me atten- 
 tively from day to day, and, at length, in- 
 formed my master, that I could hold out no 
 longer. On hearing this, he immediately 
 deputed another servant with the black, to 
 bring me again before him. On seeing me, 
 he inquired, "Well, dog, what think you 
 by this time ? Are you now ready to be- 
 come a Mohammedan ?" I was too weak 
 6 
 
GO 
 
 to answer. He narrowly observed my 
 condition, and, beholding my emaciated 
 and death-like appearance, spoke for some 
 time to the other Turks, who were pre- 
 sent, I suppose, in explanation of his treat- 
 ment to me, and then ordered me some 
 pilaf or boiled rice, a piece of beef, and 
 some bread and water. 1 was so ex- 
 tremely weak, and so near death, that I had 
 no appetite or disposition to eat. I swal- 
 lowed with much difficulty a mouthful or 
 two, and was then conveyed to another 
 apartment, above ground, on the floor of 
 which was a straw carpet, and an old rug, 
 swarming with vermin. My master soon 
 after sent me a cup of coffee, by which I 
 was somewhat refreshed. My fare here 
 was rather more tolerable than before, 
 although I was terribly annoyed by ver- 
 min, and deprived of the comforts of light 
 and wholesome air; and although my mind 
 was constantly on the rack of anxiety for 
 the fate of my family, and of apprehension 
 for my own, yet the natural vigour of my 
 constitution began to prevail over the pri- 
 vations and hardships I suffered. 
 
 My master spared no pains to intimidate 
 me by threats, and to tempt me by promises, 
 to become a convert to his faith ; but at 
 
67 
 
 length wearied with my firmness, (which 
 he deemed obstinacy,) and despairing of 
 success in his experiment, he desisted from 
 further persecution. After remaining a 
 month or more in this prison, and having in 
 a degree recovered from the effects of my 
 former severe sufferings, I was permitted 
 to go out and to enjoy the luxury of light, 
 fresh air, and exercise. My master then 
 led me into the house, and installed me into 
 the office of a lower servant, whose duty it 
 is to understand a command before it is 
 uttered ; to be ready to perform whatever 
 work may be assigned, but more especially 
 to take the charge of the paraphernalia of 
 his master, particularly of his pipes and 
 tobacco, whence he is called "chibouc 
 olan," or " boy of the pipe." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII, 
 
 The use of tobacco, as well as of coffee, 
 among the Turks is excessive. Tobacco 
 is very cheap and mild, and is used only by 
 smoking ; coffee is taken exceedingly strong, 
 
68 
 
 very thick, and without sugar. My master 
 usually smoked one hundred pipes or more* 
 and drank about fifty cups of coffee in a 
 day. My employment of administering 
 these luxuries, it may well be supposed, 
 kept me in pretty constant activity. The 
 clapping of his hands was the common 
 signal for the performance of these offices. 
 
 The Turkish pipe is about two yards in 
 length. The bowl is small and formed of 
 clay ; the stem is commonly of cherry tree 
 or jasmine, into the end of which, a short 
 cylindrical tube is inserted, curiously 
 wrought of opal, emerald, and amber, the 
 colours whereof are beautifully arranged, 
 and it is terminated by a large knob of 
 amber, which in the act of smoking is in- 
 serted in the mouth. 
 
 On the introduction of visiters, the cus- 
 tom is, immediately to furnish to each indi- 
 vidual a cup of coffee and a pipe. These 
 cups are very small, and formed of silver. 
 At their meals, the guests are seated on 
 low couches, or on the carpet, around a 
 table raised a few inches above the floor. 
 On the table is placed a huge dish of victuals* 
 from which they help themselves with their 
 fingers, with little regard to order or decency. 
 Neither knives, forks, or plates* ever ap- 
 
69 
 
 pear at their meals ; and so great is their 
 dislike to the use of these implements, that 
 I remember I was once severely punished, 
 and threatened with death, for having un- 
 wittingly infringed the national custom, by 
 constructing a wooden fork for my own use, 
 and using it in the presence of my master. 
 For this offence, I was excluded for some 
 time from the table of the other servants, 
 and compelled to eat of the refuse of their 
 meals. 
 
 As I was the youngest and lowest of the 
 servants, I was treated with much indignity 
 and severity by them as well as by Mus- 
 tapha himself. Between the master and 
 the servants, my situation was exceedingly 
 irksome. Of Mustapha Bey, candour, 
 however, obliges me to say, that he seemed 
 not utterly incapable of humane feelings, 
 but they were rendered callous by exces- 
 sive bigotry ; and that his cruel treatment 
 to me, may be, perhaps, ascribed to his in- 
 tolerant zeal for his religion, rather than to 
 natural malignity of heart. 
 
 I was obliged to stand constantly be- 
 hind my master, in continual readiness to 
 perform any and every menial duty that 
 his necessity or caprice imposed. The 
 #nly seasons of recreation I enjoyed, were 
 6* 
 
70 
 
 at those times when I attended him in his 
 visits or peregrinations about the streets, 
 carrying his pipe and a pouch of tobacco. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 In this servile and contemptible occupa- 
 tion, almost five years of my life were 
 spent. The monotony of a period like 
 this, it will be readily conceived, affords 
 but few incidents that can awaken interest, 
 or claim attention. Every successive day 
 brought a renewal of the same dull task. 
 Perhaps it is not one of the least miseries 
 of slavery, that it binds down the victim, 
 soul and body, to the same narrow range of 
 action, to the same unvaried course of 
 tedious drudgery of the body, and uninter- 
 rupted lethargy of the mind. A short 
 general sketch of the religion of the Turks, 
 may, in this place, afford more entertain- 
 ment to the reader, than the monotonous 
 details of my own history. 
 
 There are several sects of Mohamme- 
 dans. The Turks belong to that of Omar. 
 The rule of their faith and practice is the 
 
71 
 
 Koran. The two principal points of their 
 belief are, that there is one God, and that 
 Mohammed is his prophet. The precepts 
 of the Koran enjoin, as indispensable du- 
 ties, frequent ablutions, prayers four times 
 a day, the bestowing of alms according to 
 the giver's ability, fasting during the 
 month of Ramazan, and pilgrimages to 
 the sepulchre of the prophet, at Mecca, 
 one pilgrimage thither being considered as 
 necessary to salvation. Few, however, 
 scrupulously observe all these injunctions, 
 The use of pork and of wine are prohibi- 
 ted; and every Mussulman is allowed as 
 many wives and concubines as he is able 
 to maintain. 
 
 The charity which the Koran enjoins, is 
 chiefly confined to the erection and repairs 
 of public edifices, as mosques, caravansa- 
 ries, fountains, baths, colleges, and bridges. 
 Little is applied directly in relieving the 
 wants of the necessitous. 
 
 The Turks believe in the doctrine of pre- 
 destination so implicitly, as to prevent their 
 taking precaution against the plague and 
 other evils ; and they endure pain and af- 
 flictions with wonderful patience and forti 
 tude. 
 
 The religion, government, and laws, of 
 the Turks, are ciosely blended together. 
 
72 
 
 The divine must be learned in the law, and 
 the lawyer skilled in the Koran. The Sul- 
 tan, though absolute, is virtually restricted 
 by the ordinances of religion, and the deci- 
 sions of the mufti. 
 
 The mufti is, next to the grand vizier, or 
 prime minister, the principal officer in the 
 empire. He is at the head of the religious 
 establishment. The superior clergy and 
 lawyers, compose a numerous body, called 
 Ulema, the grand religious council, whose 
 decrees are binding, both on the inferior 
 clergy, and laity. Subordinate to these, are 
 the imams, or inferior priests, who perform 
 the public offices of religion in the mosques. 
 In the execution of these, they are extremely 
 regular and punctilious. Their discourses 
 consist chiefly of moral lessons, which they 
 inculcate with much zeal; and thus take 
 frequent occasion in their public ministra- 
 tions to arraign the conduct, not only of the 
 higher classes, and the officers of state, but 
 even of the Sultan himself. 
 
 The Turkish women never exhibit them- 
 selves in public, except when performing 
 the offices of religion. No male visitant is 
 ever permitted to enter the harem, or 
 apartment of the females, except the hus- 
 band, and, occasionally, a small boy to run 
 of errands, and fulfil other domestic service 
 
73 
 
 Being the youngest of the servants, this 
 class of duties was assigned to me. I was 
 daily sent by my master to the harem, to 
 inquire if any thing was wanted, and was 
 often employed in disposing of such little 
 articles as the ladies of the harem amused 
 themselves in manufacturing such as gold 
 thread, embroidery, &c. This was, how- 
 ever, a distinction that filled me with many 
 apprehensions, and subjected me to immi- 
 nent hazards. In the disposal of these tri- 
 fles, I was obliged to go out into the street, 
 where it was exceedingly dangerous for a 
 Greek to appear, the Turks being at that 
 time exceedingly exasperated on account of 
 some recent successes of my countrymen. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The successes alluded to in the last chap- 
 ter, were the capture of Calavrita and Ca- 
 lamata, two strong places; the former in 
 the northern part of the ancient Arcadia, 
 and the latter in the south of Messenia, 
 about ten miles from the ancient city of 
 Sparta. These two places capitulated to 
 
74 
 
 the Greeks after short sieges, and the gar- 
 risons were made prisoners. The Greeks 
 were also successful at Gastugni and Lalla, 
 two strong towns of Elis. These latter ad- 
 vantages were, however, dearly purchased. 
 The siege of Gastugni cost the Greeks se- 
 veral valuable officers, and some of their 
 bravest troops, while that of Lalla exhibited 
 on both sides examples of bravery rarely 
 equalled. The fortress was at length taken 
 by the Greeks, and Ysouf Pasha, who had 
 made a forced march from Patras to Lalla. 
 at the head of twelve hundred cavalry, in 
 order to raise the siege, was routed by an 
 inferior number of Greeks, under Metaxa. 
 and compelled, with great loss, to return to 
 Patras, whither the Lalliotes, with their 
 families, also retired. 
 
 This advantage gained by the Greeks, 
 Over Ysouf Pasha and his veteran troops, 
 could not tail to wound deeply, the pride of 
 that haughty commander, vain-glorious as 
 he was of his military prowess, and ambi- 
 tious of the reputation of a conqueror. His 
 chagrin began to evince itself immediately 
 after his return to Patras, in the exercise 
 of his vengeance on all the Greeks he found 
 in that city. In addition to this, many of 
 the Turks of Patras, had lost relatives and 
 
75 
 
 friends in these conflicts, which stimulated 
 them to a barbarous revenge on all the 
 Greeks who fell into their hands. My life 
 was thus in danger every hour. I scarcely 
 went out of the house, but I saw numbers 
 of my unfortunate countrymen slaughtered, 
 and lying dead about the street; and 
 several times have I been pursued, and 
 obliged to fly for my life. 
 
 On my precipitate return into my mas- 
 ter's house, he would ask me the cause of 
 my hurry and perturbation. On relating to 
 him the butcheries I had just witnessed 
 and escaped, he would reply with the 
 greatest coolness : " Yes, in a few days you 
 will, all of you, experience the same fate 
 every Greek dog in the city will surely be 
 killed. If you wish to escape, therefore, 
 you must renounce your religion and em- 
 brace ours."* I told him, " I had not the 
 hardihood to abandon my faith, and my 
 God." He replied : " You will have then 
 
 * A renunciation of my religion, would have carried 
 with it a presumption, that it was done voluntarily. In 
 making it, therefore, I should have laid under the imputa- 
 tion of a traitor to my religion and country ; and I should 
 have been compelled, in case any Greeks fell into my 
 hands, to exercise the same barbarities towaTd them fftat 
 weTe inflicted on myself. 
 
76 
 
 the hardihood to die." Several attempts 
 were afterward made to destroy me by as- 
 sassination. I was frequently waylaid, and 
 owed my rescue in several instances, to the 
 interference of my master's friends. Upon 
 these occasions my master would labour to 
 convince me of the expediency of changing 
 my religion, and of adopting one that 
 would ensure me safety ; adding that if I 
 persisted in my obstinate resolution, he 
 would surely give me up to be massacred 
 like the rest of my countrymen. 
 
 My fears were daily heightened by fresh 
 successes of the Greeks in various parts of 
 the Morea. Every rumour of this kind 
 served to exasperate the Turks ; and was a 
 signal for a new massacre of the unhappy 
 slaves and captives that fell into their 
 hands. My countrymen were now masters 
 of, or were besieging, almost all the strong 
 places in the Morea; and the Turks at 
 Patras were in constant expectation of an 
 attack on that city. In proportion to their 
 apprehensions, their savage fury seemed to 
 increase. My countrymen, many of whom 
 I knew, were every day butchered before 
 my eyes like cattle. But death alone was 
 not sufficient to satiate the bloody ven- 
 geance of these monsters. Old and de* 
 
77 
 
 crepid women have I seen shockingly tor- 
 tured and mutilated, previous to execution. 
 Some of seventy and eighty years of age, 
 had their legs and arms first cut off, and 
 then their noses and tongues, and were 
 then suffered to welter in their blood, till 
 their tormentors having glutted their ven- 
 geance sufficiently with such horrid scenes 
 of human agony, would at last despatch 
 them with the scymitar. Married women, 
 in many instances, had their breasts cut 
 off, after suffering the most brutal violence 
 and dishonour. Nor did the more youthful 
 females meet a less severe fate. They 
 were violated and exposed to the vulgar 
 mob in the most brutal and disgusting man- 
 ner; abused with the grossest and most 
 insulting familiarity, and then put to death. 
 Little children and babes mercilessly whip- 
 ped and beaten to death against the walls. 
 Many were empaled alive, and suffered to 
 remain till they died, in that agonizing and 
 horrible manner. I am aware that descrip- 
 tions like these, must shock the feelings, 
 and perhaps stagger the credulity of a hu- 
 mane and polished community, but they 
 are facts, which I have myself seen, and 
 which it would, no doubt, have been my 
 lot to share, but for the care of my mas- 
 7 
 
78 
 
 ter, who with all his great respect for re- 
 ligion, and desire to make a convert, had 
 still more for the money which I had cost 
 him. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 It was remarked above, that the life of 
 a slave has in it but little of variety. Cut 
 off from society, and forbidden the privi- 
 lege of participating in the pursuits and 
 occupations of freemen, he has little con- 
 cern with mankind, or mankind with him. 
 The only incidents that occur to break the 
 uniformly miserable tenor of his existence, 
 are the greater or less degree of suffering 
 inflicted and endured. The five years of 
 my life that wore away in the misery of 
 slavery, were chequered by few events of 
 interest to any but myself. 
 
 I have thought it better to give a brief 
 summary of some of the leading events of 
 the revolution during the period of my 
 slavery, than to fatigue the reader with the 
 comparatively unimportant details of my 
 own personal history. 
 
79 
 
 The successes at Calavrita, Calamata, 
 Gastugni, and Lalla, served to encourage 
 and to unite the Greeks ; and their indig- 
 nation was awakened by the intelligence 
 from every quarter of the empire, of the 
 most atrocious cruelties inflicted on their 
 countrymen. 
 
 The seraskier, Reschid Pasha, who was 
 employed before loannina in crushing the 
 rebellion of Ali Pasha, having learned the 
 situation of affairs in the Morea, despatched 
 Mohammed Pasha, his lieutenant, with 
 6000 Albanian cavalry, to check the pro- 
 gress of the revolt. Mohammed crossed 
 the gulf of Corinth, and entered Patras 
 with great parade. After remaining seve- 
 ral days, he set out for Tripolitza, a strong 
 castle in the south, then invested by Colo- 
 cot roni with a small body of Arcadians. 
 The scattering bands of unorganized pea- 
 santry, fled at his approach. He ravaged 
 the interior of the Morea, spreading havoc 
 and desolation wherever he came, plun- 
 dering and burning the towns, and butch- 
 ering the defenceless inhabitants. After 
 drenching the interior with blood, he ap- 
 peared before Tripolitza, and compelled 
 Colocotroni to raise the blockade and retire. 
 Assuming the command of the city, he com- 
 
80 
 
 menced a system of predatory warfare, 
 plundering and destroying the neighbouring 
 villages and their inhabitants. In one of 
 his expeditions, he fell in with Nicetas, one 
 of the Grecian captains, who on that occa- 
 sion distinguished himself by a display of 
 singular bravery. 
 
 Having halted in a small hamlet, with 
 only fifty followers, Nicetas was suddenly 
 attacked by Mohammed in person, with 
 more than three thousand men, and three 
 pieces of cannon. Undismayed by such 
 tremendous odds, Nicetas took his mea- 
 sures with such consummate skill, and made 
 so gallant and effectual a resistance, that 
 the enemy were repulsed with great loss, 
 and made a precipitate retreat, leaving 
 among the slain Ali Bey, the second in 
 command. Enraged at this defeat, Mo- 
 hammed resolved to try his fortune against 
 Colocotroni, who, with a small body of light 
 infantry, was posted at Valdezza, near 
 Tripolitza. Counting on success with the 
 greatest assurance, he permitted his troops 
 to pass the night before the attack in jollity 
 and military dances. He was, however, 
 wofully mistaken. In the situation* 
 wherein they were compelled to act, the 
 superiority of his numbers was of no avail 
 
81 
 
 His cavalry, which in the plain would have 
 prostrated the Grecian phalanx at a blow: 
 were, among rocks and precipices, unable 
 to act with union or effect, and were soon 
 thrown into disorder, and repulsed by the 
 fire of the Grecian infantry. A vigorous 
 attack in flank completed the defeat, and a 
 total rout ensued. Two hundred Turks, 
 and a great number of Albanians, were 
 killed. The rest fled to Tripolitza, leaving 
 behind them their arms and ammunition. 
 
 Mohammed dared not appear in the field 
 after this disaster, but immediately shut 
 himself up in Tripolitza, which was in- 
 vested by Ypsilanti. 
 
 The Greek navy had, at this time, the 
 complete command of the .ZEgean. An 
 attempt of the Turks, with a formidable 
 fleet, to recover their ascendency in that 
 sea, proved abortive ; and served no other 
 purpose, than to afford Kanaris, the Greek 
 admiral, an opportunity, by means of his 
 fire-ships, of destroying many, and dispers- 
 ing the rest of the enemy's fleet, and of 
 achieving one of the most glorious naval 
 exploits on record. 
 
 The destruction of the Turkish fleet, filled 
 the Greeks with enthusiastic joy, and the 
 Divan, with the most vindictive rage. 
 
82 
 
 Massacres of the Christians were renewed 
 throughout every part of the empire. In 
 some parts, whole settlements were exter- 
 minated. In Asia Minor, where no symp- 
 toms of revolt had been shown, or contem- 
 plated, several cities were completely depo- 
 pulated with the sword. 
 
 An attempt of the Turkish forces in the 
 north of Greece, to enter the Morea by the 
 strait of Thermopylae, was frustrated by 
 Ulysses, who, at the head of the Boeotian 
 peasantry, drove back the invaders with 
 great loss. 
 
 The important fortress of Tripolitza, one 
 of the strongest in the Morea, and the 
 Turkish head-quarters, was after a long and 
 bloody siege, both by land and sea, forced to 
 capitulate on the 7th of October, 1821. 
 
 Soon after, the strong and important cita- 
 del of Corinth, which commands the gulf of 
 that name, and the entrance to the Morea. 
 was surrendered to the Greeks, and, on ac- 
 count of its strength and security, made the 
 seat of government. 
 
 A squadron of Turkish and Barbary ves- 
 sels were, about this time, attacked by the 
 Greek admirals, off the coast of Messenia. 
 and, by means of the fire-ships of Kanaris, 
 were routed and dispersed. 
 
83 
 
 In March, 1822, was committed one of 
 the most horrible deeds of barbarity that 
 ever disgraced the annals of the world. 
 The beautiful island of Scio, containing a 
 population of about 110,000 persons, distin- 
 guished for their wealth, hospitality, intelli- 
 gence, and literature, was, while in a state 
 of loyal and quiet submission to the Porte, 
 attacked by a Turkish fleet of fifty sail, fill- 
 ed with troops, and a general massacre com- 
 menced,of men, women, and children, which 
 after continuing three weeks, without inter- 
 mission, was terminated only by the com- 
 plete extermination of the unoffending and 
 ill-fated inhabitants. 
 
 Soon after the massacre at Scio, the ca- 
 pudan pasha,or Turkish admiral, the monster 
 who had perpetrated that horrible tragedy, 
 was, while his fleet were lying in the gulf of 
 Adrameti, formerly Adramytium, attacked 
 in the night by Kanaris, with his fire-ships, 
 and himself, his ship, and every soul on board, 
 destroyed, and the fleet entirely dispersed. 
 
 The army of Reschid Pasha being set at 
 liberty, by the overthrow and death of Ali 
 Pasha, now set out for the Morea, in two 
 divisions. The one was to cross the moun- 
 tains, traverse eastern Greece, and raise the 
 siege of Corinth : the other was to descend 
 
84 
 
 through western Greece, reduce Missolong- 
 hi, then in possession of the Greeks, thence 
 to cross the gulf at Patras, and the two di- 
 visions were to rendezvous before Tripo- 
 litza, and attempt the recovery of that 
 city. 
 
 Prince Mavrocordato, accompanied by 
 Marco Bozzaris, marched, with a body of 
 troops, from Missolonghi, to check the pro- 
 gress of the western division of the Turkish 
 army. This enterprise was unsuccessful, 
 and the Greeks were forced to retreat be- 
 fore superior numbers. In this expedition, 
 a battalion of European volunteers, compo- 
 sed wholly of officers who had served with 
 reputation in the armies of Europe, and 
 commanded by General Normann, a gallant 
 and veteran German officer, with some Ce- 
 phalenians, formed the advanced guard of 
 the army. This guard being, by some mis- 
 chance, separated from the main body, was 
 suddenly attacked and surrounded by the 
 whole Turkish army. A display of heroism 
 ensued, not, perhaps, surpassed in military 
 history. Recollecting their former noble 
 achievements, and inspired with sentiments 
 of glory, these brave men disdained to sur- 
 render, but maintained their ground for 
 several hours against the overwhelming 
 
85 
 
 weight of the enemy. They fell gloriously 
 on the field, after performing prodigies of 
 valour. Their heroic leader, alone, esca- 
 ped, with a severe wound This battle was 
 fought near the city of Arta. 
 
 In June, the acropolis of Athens, after 
 a vigorous siege, was surrendered to the 
 Greeks; and the garrison, consisting of 
 eleven hundred Turks, were conveyed to 
 the coast of Asia Minor. 
 
 After a long and close siege, the castle 
 of Napoli di Romania, the strongest for- 
 tress in all Greece, was obliged to agree to 
 terms of capitulation. 
 
 The generous Ypsilanti, to preserve the 
 lives and property of the garrison, had 
 agreed to an armistice of forty days, that 
 they might gradually retire by sea without 
 molestation from the Greek soldiery. But 
 this compact was frustrated, and the entire 
 destruction of Greece menaced by the 
 sudden appearance in Thessaly, of an army 
 of thirty thousand Turks and Albanians, 
 under the command of Machmoud Pasha, 
 which poured down like a deluge through 
 Thessaly, sweeping all before it in its deso- 
 lating course. 
 
 To stem this torrent was impossible, in 
 the broken and dispersed state of the pa- 
 
86 
 
 triot army. A considerable portion of the 
 Greek force, under Mavrocordato, with 
 Marco Bozzaris, was blocked by Omar 
 Bey, at Missolonghi. Colocotroni with a 
 few hundred men, was before Patras. Yp- 
 silanti and Nicetas, with an inconsiderable 
 force, were encamped before Napoli di 
 Romania; and Ulysses and the other par- 
 tisan leaders, with a few light troops, occu- 
 pied the passes of Bceotia. 
 
 In this state of danger and general dis- 
 may, Ypsilanti and Colocotroni raised the 
 sieges of Napoli and Patras, and rendez- 
 voused with their handful of troops in the 
 plain of Argolis. Meanwhile, Machmoud 
 had forced his way through all the passes 
 of Bckotia, committing in his march, rava- 
 ges unparalleled in savage warfare. A 
 wide-spread scene of havoc and desola- 
 tion marked the track of the vindictive 
 barbarian. 
 
 He at length, penetrated to Corinth, 
 where the congress was sitting. The 
 members escaped on board a Greek squa- 
 dron that lay in the gulf of Corinth, after 
 investing Ypsilanti, Colocotroni, and Ma- 
 vromichalis, with full powers, and commit- 
 ting to their hands the destinies of their 
 country. 
 
87 
 
 Unable to cope with so overwhelming a 
 force in the field, the Greek captains dis- 
 tributed their troops into small bands, and 
 taking advantage of favourable positions, 
 hung upon and continually annoyed the 
 flank and rear of the advancing enemy. 
 The peasantry and mountaineers of the 
 circumjacent country, came forth and joined 
 the ranks of their defenders ; and the crops 
 on the plains of Argos were destroyed to 
 prevent their atfording sustenance to the 
 enemy. The Turkish general soon found 
 himself and his army in a most deplorable 
 condition. Harassed continually by the 
 Greek scouts, weakened by famine, and 
 wasted by a mortal disease which began to 
 prevail among them, this formidable army 
 was soon compelled to retreat. Nicetas, 
 posted in the defiles of Argos, and Coloco- 
 troni pressing their rear, made havoc of the 
 retiring enemy. Of an army of thirty 
 thousand men, seven thousand only could be 
 mustered before . Corinth, and those were 
 so reduced by hunger, sickness, and fatigue, 
 as to be almost incapable of resistance. In 
 this dreadful situation, Machmoud received 
 a fresh order from the seraskier, censuring 
 his retreat, and commanding him to ad- 
 vance again into Argos, and relieve Na~ 
 
88 
 
 poli, which Ypsilanti had again invested 
 A new effort of Machmoud, in obedience to 
 this unreasonable and unfeeling mandate, 
 completed the entire destruction of that 
 army, which a short time before, threatened 
 utter ruin and extermination to Greece. 
 
 The brave Kanaris, about the same time, 
 put to flight, by means of his fire-ships, a 
 formidable fleet that had come to the relief 
 of Napoli ; destroying the ship of the capu- 
 dan pasha, and every soul on board. The 
 garrison of JNapoli di Romania, sorely 
 pressed by famine, and despairing of relief, 
 soon after capitulated, and were transported 
 to Asia Minor. 
 
 A nocturnal assault on Missolonghi, made 
 soon after this, was gloriously repelled by 
 Mavrocordato and Marco Bozzaris. The 
 morning light discovered one thousand 
 Turks lying dead before the walls. The 
 Greek loss was only fifty in killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 On the night of the 19th of July, 1823, 
 was fought the celebrated battle of Karpe- 
 nitza, on the frontier of Acarnania, where 
 Marco Bozzaris, with two thousand men, 
 surprised and cut to pieces the whole army 
 of Mustapha Pasha, consisting of fourteen 
 thousand, Bozzaris fell ; to the inexpressi- 
 
89 
 
 hie grief of his country, and has left behind 
 him a character, which will command the 
 esteem and admiration of mankind as long 
 as sterling virtue and true heroism are ap- 
 proved and valued. 
 
 In 1824, Lord Byron arrived in Greece, 
 to the great joy of the people, and immedi- 
 ately enlisted a regiment at his own expense, 
 and placed himself under the command 
 of Prince Mavrocordato. Housref Pasha, 
 with a tremendous fleet, made a descent 
 this year on Ipsara. a little populous island, 
 lying a few leagues west of Scio. Here 
 the tragedy of Scio was acted over again. 
 All the inhabitants who were unable to 
 escape, by means of a few small vessels that 
 lay in the harbour, were slaughtered, and 
 the city burnt. Miaulis, one of the Greek 
 admirals, with his squadron, arrived soon 
 after the massacre, and drove all the Turks 
 that remained on the island into the sea, 
 and chased a portion of the Turkish squad- 
 ron on shore, on the rocks of Scio. 
 
 Housref had sailed with the main portion 
 of the fleet to the channel of Samos. In 
 this situation, he was attacked by the brave 
 Kanaris, who by means of his fire-ships, 
 completely dispersed it and drove him, with 
 8 
 
90 
 
 the remnant of his squadron, to the Dar- 
 danelles. 
 
 In the spring of 1824, a most formidable 
 fleet, composed of the combined Turkish 
 and Egyptian squadrons; consisting of more 
 than 200 ships of war and transports, most 
 of them under the flag of Austria ! with 
 20,000 infantry, and a large body of ca- 
 valry, commanded for the most part by 
 European officers! with vast supplies of 
 artillery, ammunition, and provisions, ap- 
 peared off the coast of Syria. The slow 
 passage of this tremendous armament to- 
 wards the iEgean was closely watched by 
 the Greek admirals ; who with their little 
 squadrons, consisting of about seventy light 
 vessels, hovered about it, skirmishing oc- 
 casionally, and annoying it in its progress. 
 At length, some Greek fire-ships were sent 
 among the fleet, which did such execution, 
 that the Turkish part of the squadron fled 
 in the greatest consternation. After an 
 ineffectual descent upon the island of Sa- 
 mos, the combined fleets formed a junction 
 in the channel of Scio. Thither they were 
 * pursued by the Greek squadron, com- 
 manded by Miaulis, Sakturi, and Kanaris. 
 The Greeks, with theirfire-ships, bore down 
 
91 
 
 on the enemy's line, and soon after, several 
 of his vessels were enveloped in flames, and 
 the whole fleet dispersed. The Turkish 
 squadron fled to Constantinople. The 
 Egyptians stood for Candia. The Greek 
 admirals pursued them, and attacking them 
 on the coast of that island, burned, sunk, 
 captured, and dispersed the remainder of 
 this armament, which had at its first appear- 
 ance, threatened imminent peril to Greece, 
 and filled its inhabitants with the utmost 
 consternation. 
 
 These are a few of the events of the re- 
 volution, that occurred while I was a slave. 
 They are selected almost at random from 
 the general mass of incidents with which 
 the history of that calamitous but glorious 
 period abounds. They are introduced here 
 to fill up a blank in my own existence. It 
 must be confessed, that such dull and bar- 
 ren generalities convey no just idea of the 
 actions or events which they notice, to 
 many of which, a full and true description 
 would give an air of romance. Such a 
 specimen as I have given, may, however, 
 lead the reader to inquire further into the; 
 character of my countrymen, to peruse the 
 history of their wrongs and sufferings, and 
 to contemplate a series of deeds, which have 
 
92 
 
 evinced their leaders to be no unworthy 
 descendants of Miltiades, Epaminondas, and 
 Thrasybulus. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I now return to pursue the thread of my 
 own history. During the period of my cap- 
 tivity, the city of Patras was several times 
 besieged, and once was taken by a body of 
 Ionians, under Mavrocordato. The citadel 
 was, however, so strong, and the garrison so 
 numerous, that all attempts to reduce it, 
 failed. While the city was invested, the 
 Greek slaves in the citadel were confined in 
 dungeons, and subjected to every species of 
 cruelty and indignity. I, among the rest, 
 was shut up in my old dungeon, and, for 
 some time, experienced the same barbarous 
 treatment, and the same mean fare, that I 
 have already described. 
 
 At those times, when the Greeks threa- 
 tened an assault upon the city, my master 
 sent his family, for the greater security, 
 across the gulf of Corinth, to the city of 
 
93 
 
 Lepanto. His duty, as commissary to the 
 garrison, compelled him to reside either at 
 the city, or at the castle Moraitico, a 
 strong fortress, situated at the mouth of the 
 gulf. I used to accompany him in his 
 journeys between the two places, he riding 
 on horseback, and I following him on foot. 
 
 One great source of misfortune to me, 
 during the whole period of my slavery, was 
 the cruel and capricious temper of my mis- 
 tress. She would sometimes treat me with 
 a show of kindness. At other times, with- 
 out any known cause, or reason, she would 
 heap upon me all the obloquy of which she 
 was capable, and, by false colourings, and 
 misrepresentations of my carriage toward 
 her, wonld often instigate rriy master to the 
 infliction of undeserved and rigorous pu- 
 nishment. Indeed, little instigation to se- 
 verity, or cruelty, is necessary to a Turk, 
 when a slave and a Christian is the victim. 
 
 On one occasion, merely for looking at- 
 tentively in her face, (the better to learn the 
 import of some orders she was giving me 
 in the Turkish language, which I did not 
 well understand,) she, with much anger, and 
 in a loud tone, told me, that I knew that 
 her religion did not allow such familiarity 
 between men and women ; and that the ten- 
 8* 
 
94 
 
 dency of my looking her in her face, would 
 be to pervert her mind ; her anger rose still 
 higher, when I told her, that it was the 
 custom of my country to attend to those 
 with whom we were conversing, and she 
 immediately sent me to my master, with a 
 request, that I might be severely punished, 
 My master, to gratify her spleen, immedi- 
 ately inflicted on me one hundred and fifty 
 strokes of the bastinado. 
 
 The blood, during this dreadful operation, 
 oozed from beneath the nails of my toes, 
 and, in a short time, my teet swelled to such 
 an enormous size, and were so exceedingly 
 painful, that I was unable to walk, or even 
 to stand. A composition of salt and onions, 
 beaten together, was applied to th$ soles of 
 my feet, and I was immediately thrown into 
 my former dungeon. 
 
 At another time, for something I had 
 said, which was construed into disrespect, 
 my master sewed my mouth : piercing my 
 lips with a large needle, and inserting a 
 wire. In this situation, I was kept about 
 thirty hours, unable to speak, or to receive 
 any nourishment. 
 
 My tedious life thus wore away, till the 
 beginning of the year 1825; at which time, 
 the castle Moraitico was visited bv sever ai 
 
95 
 
 Italian vessels, for the purpose of traffick. 
 These vessels usually lay in the bay for 
 two or three days, making arrangements 
 with Ysouf Pasha, for leave to visit the 
 Grecian ports, in the gulf of Corinth, and 
 such other places as might be occupied by 
 Greek citizens, or were subject to the au- 
 thority of the Greek commanders. In these 
 licenses, the pasha drove a secret, but very 
 profitable trade ; inasmuch as these captains 
 commonly paid, for such permission of the 
 pasha to traffick, a premium of twelve per 
 cent, upon all articles of merchandise which 
 they disposed of to the Greeks. These ar- 
 ticles included various kinds of provisions, 
 wool, cotton, currants, and oil. This trade 
 would have been far less advantageous to the 
 traders than to the pasha, had they not taken 
 care to add these charges as well as their 
 own commissions, to the price of the commo- 
 dities disposed of to my countrymen, whose 
 necessity compelled them to purchase at 
 whatever price was demanded. My master, 
 who was commissary of that place, had 
 frequent transactions with these capitani, 
 in purchasing provisions for the garrison. 
 I sought, a long time, for a favourable op- 
 portunity to address some of these men, and 
 to communicate to them a knowledge of my 
 
96 
 
 situation. My courage failed me, on seve- 
 ral occasions, when I was on the point of 
 making this communication, forasmuch as 
 they were generally men who, by their oc- 
 cupations, (partly trader, and partly pirate,) 
 were accustomed and inured to every spe- 
 cies of dishonesty ; and whom no tie, but 
 that of interest, could bind. These rovers 
 were, also, generally hostile in feeling, to 
 the Greeks, by whose admirals they had 
 been often chastised, lor their piracies, in 
 the Ionian and iEgean seas, although in- 
 terest prompted them to disguise their ha- 
 tred, and to carry on an apparently cordial 
 trade. Any communication with such men. 
 I was fearful might be betrayed, and reli- 
 ance upon them might fatally prejudice the 
 purpose I was meditating. Had they 
 known of my situation, and inclination to 
 escape, their sense of morals would not. 
 probably, have prevented them from enti- 
 cing, or stealing me away. There was no 
 sufficient motive of interest, however, to in- 
 duce them to run the hazard of incurring 
 the heavy penalty inflicted for that offence. 
 It is probable, therefore, that instead of aid- 
 ing my escape, they would have betrayed 
 my secret to my master, as well to secure 
 his favour and confidence, as to gratify their 
 vindictive feelings towards a Greek. 
 
97 
 
 There happened to arrive, however, at 
 castle Moraitico, about the middle of Ja- 
 nuary, 1825, an Italian vessel, under the 
 command of a Genoese, named Spalla. This 
 man was totally unacquainted with either 
 the Turkish or the Greek languages. He 
 brought out a cargo of provisions, consisting 
 of rice, corn, fruits, biscuits, and other com- 
 modities. My master wished to purchase 
 this cargo for the use of the garrison ; and 
 as I was the only person of his household who 
 understood Italian, I was chosen, by good 
 fortune, as the interpreter between them. 
 Of this opportunity, I took advantage. The 
 captain and myself entered into conversa- 
 tion together, and as I knew his inability 
 to betray my confidence, I disclosed to him 
 my situation without reserve. This was all 
 in the presence of my master and several 
 other Turks, who did not suspect, that in 
 carrying on his negotiation, I was at the 
 same time, negotiating for my own liberty, 
 I represented to the Italian, as well as I 
 was able, the cruelties and privations I had 
 suffered, and my anxious desire to escape 
 from a state of slavery so dangerous and 
 dreadful. He was touched with pity, and 
 sympathised sincerely with me in my afflic- 
 tions, inquired with much earnestness, re> 
 
98 
 
 specting my family ; and on learning that 
 my name was Stephanini, observed that 
 he was familiar with the name, having 
 often heard of my father from the Italian 
 merchants, with whom he was acquainted. 
 He took special care to inspire me with 
 hope and confidence in heaven. He told 
 me that he could not conceal from me, that 
 my enterprise, would, if undertaken, be at- 
 tended with great and peculiar danger, 
 both to myself, and to those that might as- 
 sist me. He asked me if I could brave 
 death, in order to effect my freedom ; and 
 told me at length, if I had sufficient confi- 
 dence in my own courage, to attempt the 
 experiment, he would contribute all the 
 means in his power to effect my deliver- 
 ance. I was not long in forming my reso- 
 lution. I blessed him as my friend and 
 benefactor, and expressed with confidence 
 the strong desire I felt, and the hazards 1 
 would willingly incur, to escape from my 
 thraldom. 
 
 A subsequent meeting completed our ar- 
 rangements. In about ten days after this, 
 his business being finished, and his vessel 
 ready to sail, the captain called on me and 
 said ; * My friend, the time of your eman- 
 cipation has, I hope, arrived. Put your 
 
99 
 
 trust in God, and follow my directions. I 
 am now ready for my departure. Come 
 to the small wharf, that runs into the gulf 
 beyond the castle Maraitico, this evening, 
 at eight o'clock, precisely, and I and my 
 crew will be there waiting for you with a 
 boat." I had not words to express my gra- 
 titude. I embraced my benefactor. He 
 left me, and the time drew near. The min- 
 gled emotions of joy, of gratitude, of fear, 
 that agitated my mind, it is impossible to 
 describe. My frame trembled like an aspen 
 leaf. I had three miles to go by land, and 
 every step of this distance lay among ene- 
 mies and barbarians, who would have 
 thought no more of the murder of a Greek 
 than of the destruction of a dangerous or 
 offensive beast ; but the apprehensions of 
 death weigh but little with the slave who 
 has the glorious prospect of liberty before 
 his eyes. In the worst event, he is released 
 from a life of weariness and wo ; "a con- 
 summation devoutly to be wished." I 
 loaded with care an old pistol my master 
 had given me a year or two before, in a fit 
 of uncommon kindness, and having offered 
 up my earnest prayers to God for his gui- 
 dance and aid, in this season of peril ; I 
 watched my opportunity, and seizing a fa- 
 
100 
 
 vourable moment, when none were obser- 
 ving me, I left the house. I walked preci- 
 pitately through the streets in the dark. I 
 dared not run, lest I should be suspected by 
 the Turkish soldiers and citizens whom I 
 was meeting every moment. I walked on ; 
 my heart beating violently, my knees tot- 
 tering, and my breath almost suspended. 
 I at length reached the wharf in safety. A 
 tutelary angel seemed to watch over and 
 direct me. The boat was ready, and had 
 been sometime waiting. I sprang on board 
 we put off in an instant, and were soon on 
 board the vessel. I fell on my knees, and 
 returned thanks to God for my deliverance; 
 nor did I forget my obligations to the man 
 who had been its instrument. 
 
 The captain took care to have my hair 
 cut and my Turkish habiliments exchanged 
 for others of Italian make, with a view to 
 my security from the straggling glance of 
 any occasional visiter from the Turkish 
 fleet, through which we were obliged to pass. 
 My Turkish garments he rolled up, with 
 a large stone, and committed them to the 
 gulf. He then sent me down into the hold 
 of the vessel, where I was kept concealed 
 until he could prepare a water cask for my 
 reception. Into this vessel I was put forth- 
 
101 
 
 with, and never did I enter a dungeon with 
 so hearty a good will as on this occasion. 
 It was well that I had been secreted with 
 so much expedition. My flight had become 
 known, and I was sought for through the 
 whole town. In the fortress, wherever 
 a man could possibly be secreted, I was 
 searched for ; and at last the search was 
 directed to the very vessel of which I was 
 a silent inmate. The officers of the castle 
 came on board early in the morning, and 
 <3very part of the vessel where I was not 3 
 was closely inspected. When they com- 
 menced their investigations in the part 
 where I was, the captain, by the judicious 
 distribution of a few dozen of piastres' 
 among them, convinced them at once that 
 further search was needless ; and they left 
 the vessel, apparently with the fullest confi- 
 dence that all was right on board. Thus 
 the captain's piastres had the effect to pre- 
 serve my life, his property from confisca- 
 tion, and himself and his crew from a life 
 of slavery. 
 
 Having obtained a license from the com- 
 mandant, we immediately sailed from be- 
 neath the castle of Patras, and by the 
 blessing of God, were soon out of the 
 reach of its guns, as well as of those of X\m. 
 9 
 
102 
 
 Turkish fleet, and in a few hours we had 
 the satisfaction to find ourselves free from 
 danger, and with a favourable breeze 
 smoothly gliding over the broad waters of 
 the Ionian sea. 
 
 Our vessel was bound to Smyrna, a city 
 in Asia Minor; and our passage thither 
 was speedy and pleasant. Our course lay 
 along between the Ionian isles and the main, 
 thence around the coast of the Peloponne- 
 sus to Cape St. Angelo, (the ancient Malea,) 
 whence we stretched across the iEgean sea ; 
 steering along, through the channels formed 
 by its beautiful islands : so famous in " elder 
 days." 
 
 In the Ionian sea, we passed the large 
 and beautiful island of Cephalenia; and 
 saw, at a distance to the north, Ithaca, the 
 ancient kingdom of Ulysses, whose rugged 
 hills and rocky shores, were celebrated 3000 
 years ago, by the muse of Homer. We 
 passed, also, near the shore of Zacynthus, 
 (now Zante,) one of the most delightful, fer- 
 tile, and populous islands of the east. We 
 saw the coast of Pylos, (now Navarino,) ce- 
 lebrated by Homer as the seat of the vene- 
 rable Nestor ; and left, on the right hand, 
 Gerigo, (formerly Cythera,) renowned in 
 ancient story as the favourite residence of 
 
103 
 
 Venus, and famous for its temple dedicated 
 to that goddess. Proceeding along, we 
 passed in sight of the large and beautiful 
 islands of Milo, (anciently Melos,) Tenos, 
 and Andros, as well as of the smaller ones 
 of Scyros and Ipsara ; # all of which have a 
 place in ancient song, and will readily occur 
 to the recollection of the scholar. These 
 charming isles, in spite of the lapse of thirty 
 centuries, and the frequent ravages of bar- 
 barians, present as lofty mountains, as ver- 
 dant plains, as commodious havens, as 
 healthful skies, and as picturesque pros- 
 pects, as they did, when they received their 
 immortality from the pen of Homer. 
 
 We arrived in the harbour of Smyrna, 
 after a passage of eight days from Patras. 
 This city is the principal port of Asia Mi- 
 nor, and carries on an extensive maritime 
 commerce with various parts of Europe and 
 America, and an inland trade with the 
 neighbouring Asiatic provinces. It is in- 
 habited principally by Turks, though the 
 streets are thronged by merchants and tra- 
 vellers, from various parts of the world. 
 There are to be seen assembled, Americans, 
 
 * At the time of the massacre of the inhabitants of 
 this little island, I was told, that many of the wives and 
 daughters were killed by their husbands and fathers, to 
 prevent their falling into the hands of the Turks. 
 
104 
 
 English, French, Italians, Turks, Greeks, 
 Armenians, Austrians, Egyptians, Alge- 
 rines, Jews, &c, &>c. &c. In a word, the 
 population of Smyrna, represents most all 
 the varieties of the human race, and afford 
 a picture of the world in miniature, 'yiio 
 city is governed by a Turkish bey, and 
 is, I should judge, about the size of Boston. 
 in New England. There are extensive 
 salt-works in the neighbourhood of the city. 
 Unwilling to run the hazard of a second 
 captivity, I did not, at first, venture on 
 shore, but remained as close as possible, on 
 board the vessel. I was persuaded at last, 
 by the solicitations of the captain, to ac- 
 company him once on shore. On that oc- 
 casion, I saw many of my countrymen in a 
 state of the most wretched slavery ; others 
 were famishing with want, and all were in 
 the greatest affliction and distress. I was 
 told, that a short time before, while the 
 Greeks were assembled in their houses of 
 worship, on a Sunday morning, they were 
 beset and surrounded by the Turkish troops, 
 sword in hand, who inhumanly butchered 
 a great many of them, in cold blood, they 
 making not the least resistance. 
 
 The captain, to whose kindness I had 
 been so much indebted for my restoration 
 
105 
 
 to liberty, treated me with all imaginable 
 tenderness, and gave me all the information 
 that he was able to collect, in the course of 
 his business. I officiated as his clerk, and 
 did all in my power to promote his interest, 
 in return for his goodness. 
 
 We took in a cargo of wood, at Smyrna, 
 for Alexandria, in Egypt, and sailed for that 
 port in April. Our passage down the gulf 
 of Smyrna and the iEgean, was favourable 
 and delightful. We ran along near the coast 
 of Scio ; and, as our vessel glided along, I 
 could not behold, without the most poignant 
 grief, the shores of that island, recently so 
 populous, wealthy, and flourishing ; now en- 
 tirely desolated by sword and flame, and the 
 bones of its inhabitants bleaching on the 
 strand. Sailing on, we passed in sight of 
 the isles of Negarin, (Icaria,) Stancho. 
 (Coos,) Scarpanto, (Carpathus,) and Caxo, 
 (Casus.) The inhabitants of the latter 
 island, had been, just before, subdued by 
 the troops of Ibrahim, pasha of Egypt, and 
 compelled to deliver up their arms, and to 
 pay an annual tribute. 
 
 We arrived off Alexandria in eleven 
 days from Smyrna. The land around the 
 city, is remarkably low. By a strong cur- 
 
 f ent setting along shore to the south, we 
 
 9# 
 
106 
 
 were drifted a number of leagues past our 
 port ; and it was with much difficulty that 
 we were able to get a sufficient distance to 
 windward, to enter the harbour. 
 
 The city of Alexandria was founded by 
 Alexander the Great ; and from him it de- 
 rived its name. Before the passage to In- 
 dia, around the cape was discovered, it 
 was a place of prodigious trade. Upon a 
 little island which made a part of the port, 
 once stood the famous lighthouse, called 
 Pharos. Some of the pillars of this superb 
 tower, may yet be seen in a clear day, at 
 the bottom of the water. The old city has 
 long since been abandoned, and a new one 
 has been built of its materials, near the 
 site of the former, on a space of ground 
 that seems to have been forsaken by the 
 sea. The houses are of a reddish and dull 
 appearance, and some of them are sur- 
 rounded by courts, in which are placed pil- 
 lars, obelisks, &c, preserved from the ruins 
 of the old city. The most remarkable re- 
 mains about Alexandria, are the cisterns, 
 Pompey's pillar, and Cleopatra's needle. 
 The cisterns were built under the houses,, 
 supported by two or three arches raised on 
 columns, in order to receive the Nile water* 
 as they do at present. The descent into 
 
107 
 
 them is by round wells, wherein are hok& 
 for the feet. By these, people who are em- 
 ployed to cleanse them, go down ; a care, 
 the neglect of which gives to the water of 
 the city, a bad taste. It is drawn up by a 
 windlass, and carried about for use, on 
 camels. 
 
 Pompey's pillar stands on a small height, 
 and is surrounded by some magnificent 
 ruins. It is of granite ; the capitals are of 
 the Corinthian order ; and the leaves, which 
 are plain, and not in the least indented, 
 seem to have been intended to represent 
 either bay or laurel. The base of this pil- 
 lar is much mutilated. The whole height 
 including the pedestal, capital, &c, is about 
 120 feet in height, and 30 feet round. The 
 shaft is about nine feet in diameter.* 
 
 Cleopatra's needle, an antique obelisk, is 
 about two miles from the pillar of Pompey. 
 This obelisk is covered with Egyptian 
 hierogliphics. It is about seventy feet in 
 height, and about seven feet square at the 
 base. Another of the same dimensions, 
 had fallen down. The bay of Alexandria, 
 is very spacious, and presents a most pic- 
 turesque and delightful view. 
 
 * By a mistake of the writer or printer, this piUar yas 
 represe.nt.ed higher in the first edition, 
 
108 
 
 The Egyptian women are, in general 
 very delicate in their figure, and are cha- 
 racterised by a certain elegant simplicity of 
 dress, which we should hardly expect to 
 find among a barbarous people. Their 
 garments are made of a light blue stuff; 
 and they wear veils of the same material, 
 with which they cover their faces, when 
 they meet with any of the other sex. The 
 higher and more wealthy class, wear a 
 light mask which hides the lower part of 
 the face, leaving only the eyes and fore- 
 head to be seen. Their eyelashes are 
 coloured with a black dye; and the chin 
 and hands are tinged with blue. Their air 
 is graceful, and the ornaments which they 
 sometimes wear, are arranged with much 
 taste and effect. 
 
 In the market of Alexandria, provisions 
 of all kinds are extremely cheap. I bought 
 two dozen of fowls for one dollar ; a pair 
 of pigeons for six cents ; one hundred eggs 
 for a shilling ; and beef of the best quality, 
 for a cent a pound. Yet, with this advan- 
 tage, the Bedouins under the Turkish do- 
 minion, are neither wealthy nor even com- 
 fortable. With profusion all around them, 
 they have but little that they can call their 
 own ; subjected as they are to a rapacious 
 
Ift9 
 
 tyranny, which only waits till it sees 
 enough to excite its exercise, and then, like 
 a ravenous beast, devours in a moment, the 
 fruits of whole years of toil and suffering. 
 They are for the most part, wretchedly ig- 
 norant, unable to write or read, and with- 
 out any means or prospect of bettering 
 their condition. The day after our arrival, 
 our captain employed fifteen or twenty of 
 these miserable wretches to assist on board, 
 in unloading and arranging our cargo, 
 for which they were paid a piastre each, a 
 day. A piastre is about the fifteenth of a 
 Spanish dollar. These Bedouins constitute 
 a considerable part of the population of 
 Alexandria. They are naked, filthy, and 
 wretchedly poor. They are under the ab- 
 solute dominion of the pasha, whose arbi- 
 trary rule admits of no dispute. In the 
 night, men, women and children are hud- 
 dled together, and sleep like beasts in the 
 market place. 
 
 Multitudes of these wretches, I was in- 
 formed, are swept off every year by the 
 plague ; and indeed, it is not wonderful, 
 when it is considered that they generally 
 Jive half starved ; are constantly covered 
 with dirt, and infested with vermin. Their 
 superstition operates also in aid of their de- 
 struction. They consider it as a heinous, 
 
110 
 
 sin against God to endeavour to escape from 
 any disease which he has sent. And in ac- 
 cordance with this article of their faith, 
 they die in great numbers every year, per- 
 fectly and passively resigned to their fate. 
 The plague usually commences its ravages 
 in April or May, and continues till the end 
 of August. \ Christians who are in the city 
 during that period, shut themselves up in 
 their houses, and refuse all communication 
 with the multitude without. 
 
 Our captain having finished his business 
 in Alexandria, took in a cargo for the isle 
 of Crete. This island was at the com- 
 mencement of the revolution taken by the 
 Greeks, who, with the exception of the two 
 strong castles of Megalo-Castro and Canea, 
 were in possession of the whole island. 
 These two citadels the Turks had occupied 
 prior to the revolution, and still maintained 
 them. We set sail for this island, and in 
 sixteen days arrived off the harbour of Me- 
 galo Castro, which lies on the northern side. 
 A battery upon each point of the harbour, 
 defends its entrance, and the neighbouring 
 castle commands both the port and the sur- 
 rounding country. We were obliged, from 
 the lowness of the tide* to anchor without 
 the bar that obstructs the entrance to the 
 harbour. While lying in that exposed 
 
Ill 
 
 situation, we were struck by a violent 
 squall, which parted our cables. Fortu- 
 nately, however, we sustained no farther 
 injury, and the next day, after discharging 
 jktrt of our cargo, we entered the harbour 
 in safety. The island of Crete is 240 miles 
 long, and from 50 to 60 wide. The face of 
 the country is exceedingly mountainous, 
 but the climate is mild and healthy, the 
 soil is fertile, but in a wretched state of 
 cultivation, owing to the long tyranny 
 which the Turks have exercised over it. 
 It produces wine, oil, honey, wax, saffron, 
 &c. The population is about 250, or 
 300,000; and consists of Greeks, Turks, 
 and a few Egyptians and Jews. The cele- 
 brated Mount Ida, where Jupiter is said to 
 have been born, is in the centre of the 
 island. 
 
 After discharging our cargo, we took in 
 ballast. I went on shore in company with 
 the captain, and to my extreme regret, saw 
 many of my countrymen in slavery. Seve- 
 ral were sold during my stay, in the market, 
 like animals. One lady and two small 
 children were offered for sale to the cap- 
 tain and myself, for about fifteen dollars. 
 The unhappy slave, with the most piteous 
 lamentations, besought us, by the love of 
 God, to deliver her and her infants from the 
 
I-lif 
 
 ruffians, into whose hands they had fallen ) 
 and if we could not dispose of them other- 
 wise, to throw them into the sea. The cap- 
 tain told her that to afford them any relief 
 was impossible, as he was obliged to visit 
 several Turkish ports, and to have her and 
 her children on board his vessel, would en- 
 danger his own safety, and prove fatal to 
 them. The brutal wretch who offered 
 them, swore by Alia, (God) that if we did 
 not purchase them, he would kill them ; as 
 he would not be at the expense of maintain- 
 ing them any longer. 
 
 I was so much shocked at this barbarous 
 and revolting scene that, with a heart 
 almost bursting with grief and indignation, 
 I returned to the vessel, taking care not to 
 show my face on shore again. After fire 
 days, we sailed for Smyrna, and arrived 
 there after a passage of eight days. The 
 captain here contracted with a French mer- 
 chant, named Sarzan, to sail to Mytilene, 
 (the ancient Lesbos) and there take in part 
 of a cargo of olive oil for Genoa, and 
 to proceed to the gulf of Adramyttium for 
 the remainder. We took on board casks 
 at Smyrna, and sailed to Mytilene, where 
 we lay but a short time, and leaving that 
 port, completed our cargo at the island of 
 
113 
 
 Pirgo, in the gulf of Adramyttinm. In a 
 little excursion on the island, I found the 
 ruins of a fortress, very ancient and of sin- 
 gular construction. No one was able to 
 give any account of it, and it probably is as 
 old as the Christian era. 
 
 The. price of oil here was about seven 
 dollars per barrel. Our cargo being on 
 board, we set sail for Genoa, where we 
 arrived after a very long and boisterous 
 passage, of forty-six days. In our progress, 
 we encountered several severe gales of 
 wind, which baffled and drove us from our 
 course into the strait of Sicily. We passed 
 Messenia, a large city on the eastern side 
 of the island, and came to off Calabria. 
 This city is built down to the water's edge; 
 and affords a charming prospect from the 
 bay. Here we lay about a week, and then 
 set sail with a fair wind for our port of des- 
 tination. 
 
 Passing the celebrated strait, between 
 Sylla and Charybdis, we came to the burn- 
 ing mountain of Stromboli, one of a group 
 of volcanic isles, lying north of Sicily, and 
 designated by the name of Lipari islands. 
 Through the day a dense column of smoke 
 hung above it; and at night it threw out 
 a* intervals, large volumes of fire, burning 
 10 
 
114 
 
 masses of ignited stone, and a variety of 
 combustible matter. We lay becalmed, 
 about ten leagues to the west of that part 
 of the island, whence the eruption pro- 
 ceeded. I watched it by night, with intense 
 attention. It was not incessant in its dis- 
 charges, but would remain quiet for some 
 time, suddenly throw out a column of 
 flame, which for a time, lighted the scene 
 for many miles, and then disappear en- 
 tirely. At the bottom of the mountain, 
 and beneath the very jaws of the volcano, 
 was a little hamlet, containing about fifty 
 inhabitants. The vine is the principal ar- 
 ticle of cultivation in these islands. Leav- 
 ing/ this place, we passed near the city of 
 Naples, famous for its beautiful bay. We 
 saw mount Vesuvius, which rises behind the 
 city. It was not in a state of eruption, 
 but a thick cloud of smoke hung around it 
 We came by night, near a small island, 
 named Ponizza. Here, we encountered a 
 sudden gale from the northwest, which blew 
 away some of our sails, and otherwise in- 
 jured our vessel; on which account, we 
 were forced to put back into the harbour 
 of Gayetta. Repairing our injuries here, 
 we sailed in a day or two for Genoa. Ar- 
 riving in that place, we were ordered into 
 
115 
 
 quarantine, where we lay thirty-five days, 
 and were then permitted to come up to the 
 city. The captain took me into a house 
 which he had hired, and boarded me for 
 several months. I had written a number 
 of letters, in the hope of hearing from 
 some one of my family, to every place 
 where we had any friends or acquain- 
 tances; but received no answer to any of 
 them. The general disturbances and com- 
 motions in Greece, had destroyed all the 
 usual means of communication ; broken up 
 all the channels of information ; and inter- 
 posed between me and the realization of 
 my hopes of being able to learn the fate of 
 my unfortunate family, an almost insur- 
 mountable bar. 
 
 While I resided at Genoa, I was advised 
 by several persons with whom I was fortu- 
 nate enough to form an acquaintance, to 
 endeavour to get to Gibraltar, from which 
 port a constant communication was carried 
 on by means of British packets, with Malta 
 and Corfu. My friends in Genoa kindly 
 furnished me with several letters to different 
 persons at Gibraltar ; and with much regret 
 at leaving the good captain who had done 
 so much for me, 1 sailed from Genoa, and 
 in mine days reached Gibraltar. I imme 
 
116 
 
 diately delivered my letters of introduction, 
 and was kindly and courteously received. 
 These letters put me on a respectable foot- 
 ing in that place ; and I wrote without de- 
 lay, to several friends in different parts of 
 Greece, begging them, if they were able, 
 to communicate some account of the fate 
 of my family. I waited four months and 
 a half at Gibraltar, in daily hopes of re- 
 ceiving intelligence from my friends but 
 was disappointed. Every day brought in 
 additional accounts of the calamities heaped 
 upon my unfortunate country ; and amidst 
 such violent commotions as she was com- 
 pelled to undergo, extending as they did to 
 every corner of Greece, I had every thing to 
 fear for my family and friends. I became 
 almost vexed with life. Successive disap- 
 pointments had broken my spirit, and my life 
 to me was but weariness and trouble. There 
 was no point of my country, to which I could 
 safely return. All the places we could 
 hear from, were in possession of the Turks. 
 All business was suspended ; all Greek pro- 
 perty confiscated, or destroyed ; all commu- 
 nication broken off, except for the army and 
 military despatches. I could not turn my 
 eye to any part of my ill-fated country with 
 the hope of meeting friend or relative alive 
 
117 
 
 to receive me. In vain were all the letters 
 I had written. I had no security for their 
 conveyance to the place of their destination; 
 no assurance that they had not fallen into 
 the hands of the Turks, and been destroyed; 
 with every thing else that could not be 
 turned to their own interest. In this situa- 
 tion, under the doubts, the purposeless wan- 
 dering of my hopes, I could not determine 
 on any thing with regard to my own country : 
 and willingly listened to a proposition "of 
 some of my friends to visit America. This 
 happy country was described to me in the 
 warmest terms, and most glowing colours. 
 It was represented as the sanctuary of li- 
 berty, in which she found an abode when 
 driven from every other quarter of the globe. 
 The security of its laws, the humanity and 
 moral beauty of its customs, the hospitality, 
 elevation, and prosperity of its people, were 
 enlarged upon, and without a home to re- 
 ceive me in my own country, I made my 
 determination to seek an asylum here. 
 
 The brig Abeona, Captain Fairchild, was 
 then at Gibraltar, and about to sail for New 
 York. In her 1 took passage, and, after a 
 voyage of forty-four days, I arrived in that 
 large and flourishing city. It was more 
 than a month, before I found a single indi- 
 10* 
 
118 
 
 vidua! to whom I had letters ; as I was to- 
 tally ignorant of the English language. 
 During a part of this time, I was kindly 
 and courteously entertained by Captain 
 Fairehild, on board his vessel. 
 
 At length, I became acquainted with L. 
 Bradish, Esq., who rendered me great ser- 
 vice, especially as an interpreter, and kindly 
 introduced me to the Greek Committee of 
 that place; which association had been 
 formed for the benevolent and godlike ob- 
 ject of relieving the sufferings, and aiding 
 the exertions of my unhappy countrymen. 
 Anxious to return again to my country, in 
 order to ascertain the situation of my un- 
 fortunate family, I applied to the Greek 
 Committee, and stated to them my desire. 
 They advised me to return, and procured 
 me a passage in the ship Six Brothers, which 
 was about to sail with a cargo of provisions, 
 sent as a gratuity by the liberal citizens of 
 New York, to the famishing and perishing 
 Greeks, at Napoli di Romania. She was to 
 stop at Malta, pursuant to the advice of the 
 Committee. I embarked for that place, on 
 the 13th of May, 1827. On our arrival 
 there, the vessel was ordered into quaran- 
 tine. The captain went into the lazaretto, 
 and I accompanied him. I was introduced 
 
119 
 
 to John Pulis, Esq., the American consul, 
 and to the Rev. Daniel Temple, then in that 
 island. A Greek merchant, named Anas- 
 tasi Pagoni, hearing of me by these 
 gentlemen, called on me at the lazaretto, 
 and brought me a letter in answer to one I 
 had written from Gibraltar to a friend at 
 Previsa. This letter gave me the dreadful 
 intelligence of the massacre of my father, 
 at Missolonghi, together with the capture of 
 his family, at the time of its fall. That 
 event, so bloody and disastrous, both to me 
 and to my country, took place on the 22d 
 of February, 1825. The letter went on to 
 inform me, that my mother, and my two 
 younger brothers and sisters, were made 
 prisoners by the Albanians, and dragged 
 away into slavery ; that my eldest brother 
 and sister, Spiro and Maria, had been, early 
 in the revolution, lost by some mischance, 
 and had never been heard of since; that 
 Ifhe hopes of the most sanguine patriots, for 
 the salvation of their country, began to fail ; 
 that ruin, desolation, and misery, overspread 
 the country ; and concluded, by exhorting 
 me to bear up with courage and fortitude, 
 under this complication of afflictions. 
 
 This exhortation was, however, ineffec- 
 tual The gloomy intelligence quite over 
 
120 
 
 whelmed me. My soul was sunken and 
 prostrated ; and death would have been a 
 relief to me ; for life presented nothing but 
 a blank and dreary desert before me, on 
 which I could discover no green nor sunny 
 spot. Cut off from the society of my family, 
 and friends ; doubtful as to their existence ; 
 and, if they existed, knowing that it was in 
 a slavery more horrible than death ; without 
 a country or a home; dependant on the 
 charities of strangers, and hopeless of a 
 change in my fortunes, I sunk down into a 
 state of sullen despondency. The captain 
 of the Six-Brothers, Mr. John Stuyvesanf. 
 and other friends, whom I had found in my 
 wanderings, endeavoured to console me, but 
 there is a measure of grief, which even the 
 voice of kindness and friendship cannot as- 
 suage. 
 
 Not knowing what to do, and reckless of 
 my fate, I was about to take passage from 
 Malta to Corfu, with the forlorn hope of 
 gaining some further intelligence of my 
 unhappy family, and of obtaining means 
 among our former friends for their ransom : 
 when two of my countrymen came to see 
 me at the lazaretto, and advised me to 
 abandon the design of going to Corfu, but 
 to proceed in the ship Six Brothers to Na- 
 
121 
 
 poll di Romania; whither her cargo had 
 been directed. In this advice the captain 
 concurred, together with Mr. Stuyvesant, 
 the supercargo, and the other American 
 gentlemen on board. I determined on doing 
 so went again on board the Six Brothers, 
 and we immediately sailed for that place. 
 On arriving there, we found it in a most 
 deplorable situation. Thousands of people, 
 driven as exiles from other parts of Greece, 
 were assembled here; stripped of every 
 thing, without habitation, clothing, or food. 
 Hundreds and hundreds of poor emaciated 
 creatures, in the last stages of fever and 
 starvation, were lying about in the fields, 
 with but the remnant of a garment to hide 
 their nakedness, and no covering but the 
 canopy of heaven. I never beheld so shock- 
 ing a picture of agonizing misery, as that 
 city at that time exhibited. Hundreds of 
 the unhappy exiles had perished with famine 
 and disease, and hundreds more were dying 
 all around us. The recollection of such a 
 spectacle of suffering humanity, even now 
 makes me shudder, and my blood almost 
 congeal. Oh my God ! what have not my 
 countrymen suffered in this dreadful strug- 
 gle for their liberty and religion! 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The arrival of the ship with supplies to 
 the famished people at JVapoli, was hailed 
 with transports of gratitude and joy. The 
 richest blessings of heaven were invoked on 
 the Americans for their signal benevolence. 
 The voices of old and young were engaged 
 in expressions of fervent and grateful ac- 
 knowledgment of American philanthropy : 
 and the faint voices of the sick, and even 
 the dying, were not silent amidst the gene- 
 ral joy. Col. Miller, Col. Jarvis, and Dr. 
 Howe, the three distinguished Americans 
 who have done so much for the Greek cause 
 and the Greek nation, were the distributors 
 of the provisions and clothing among the 
 people. I was introduced to them ; and 
 they with one accord counselled me to re- 
 turn to America. 
 
 On looking around me, I found the cir- 
 cumstances of my country, and of myself, 
 such, as to incline me to their advice. In 
 the existing state of Greece, overrun by the 
 relentless enemy; desolated by the scymi- 
 
123 
 
 tar; and devastated by pillage and fire; the 
 remnant of her unhappy people, who had 
 escaped massacre and captivity, driven 
 from the pursuits of industry into exile, and 
 perishing with famine, nakedness* and dis- 
 ease : in such a state of things, I could ren- 
 der no service to my country by remaining, 
 and I despaired of being able to learn any 
 thing more of my unfortunate family ; to 
 procure the means of their deliverance, or 
 evenof my ow r n subsistence. 
 
 These reasons, concurring with the ad- 
 vice of my American friends, I once more 
 left my native land, to seek an asylum else- 
 where. I felt myself a solitary wanderer 
 on the earth, and I cared very little where 
 I dragged out the residue of my wretched 
 existence. My heart was withered ; my 
 soul, desolate. The fate of my mother, 
 brothers, sisters, in slavery in torture, was 
 ever present to my thoughts, and filled my 
 soul with the most agonizing distress. 
 
 Distracted by such reflections, I proceed- 
 ed in the Six-Brothers, to the isle of Poros ; 
 whence, after a stay of nine days, we took 
 our departure for Marseilles, a large com- 
 mercial city in the south of France. 
 
 The Six-Brothers, being bound to Monte 
 Video, Captain Lee procured for me a 
 
124 
 
 passage to Boston, in an American brig, 
 called the Byron, (a name consecrated 
 to liberty and to genius,) commanded by 
 Captain Moore, who kindly gave me my 
 passage thither. I had letters to the Greek 
 Committee in that city, whither, after a 
 long and boisterous passage of 73 days, we 
 arrived in safety. On treading the soil, and 
 breathing the air of freedom, I felt my soul 
 revive again: but the emotions of joy I 
 felt, were allayed with those of sorrow for 
 my own dear land, when I contrasted her 
 calamities and degradation, with the liber- 
 ty, peace and happiness of this heaven-pro- 
 tected country. 
 
 I was received in Boston with the great- 
 est kindness by the Greek Committee, and 
 was hospitably entertained by many other 
 gentlemen. In the family of the father of 
 Dr. Howe, I received attentions and cour- 
 tesies which I shall ever remember. I re- 
 sided in his house for some time previous to 
 my departure *from Boston to New York. 
 
 At New York, I was solicitous to engage 
 in some occupation that might afford me an 
 independent livelihood, till circumstances 
 might prove more auspicious to the accom- 
 plishment of my object that of procuring 
 means for the deliverance of my suffering 
 
125 
 
 family* I at length, obtained employment 
 in the drug store of Messrs. O. &, W. Hull, 
 who have always shown me the greatest 
 kindness, and, for which, I shall always feel 
 grateful. In this situation, I remained al- 
 most a year, surrounded by difficulties, and 
 heart-stricken by my own misfortunes, and 
 those of my family ; I lived sullenly on, du- 
 ring this period; in despair of ever emerging 
 from the obscurity by which I was shrouded, 
 to a situation wherein I could, with advan- 
 tage, exert myself to compass the object of 
 my desire. 
 
 Receiving an invitation to visit South 
 Carolina, I embarked for Charleston, in 
 hopes of obtaining some situation wherein 
 my exertions could be turned to more ac- 
 count ; and the means of accomplishing my 
 object more speedily acquired. 
 
 On my arrival, I found that the duties of 
 a place which I had designed to occupy, and 
 which had been procured for me by the 
 kindness of a friend, were of such a nature 
 as to render its acceptance incompatible 
 with my feelings. I had letters of intro- 
 duction to a few gentlemen in Charleston, 
 who, in the kindness and courtesy with 
 which they received me, nobly sustained the 
 reputation for generosity of feeling, and li- 
 11 
 
126 
 
 berality in conferring benefits, which ha 
 always been a characteristic of the citizens 
 of that respectable city. I could long dwell 
 with emotions of gratitude and pleasure, on 
 the multiplied acts and manifestations of 
 philanthropy and disinterested benevolence, 
 which were heaped on me by many in that 
 place ; but, time would fail me to mention all 
 the names of those to whom I am under ob- 
 ligations I never can repay. I should, how- 
 ever, do violence to my feelings, were I to 
 omit to mention, the peculiar debt of grati- 
 tude I owe to John S. Richardson, Esq., to 
 whom I was introduced, and by whom, after 
 hearing my story, I was first advised to pub- 
 lish it to the world, as the most feasible, if 
 not the only mode of effecting the delive- 
 rance of my wretched family. 
 
 Confiding much in the intelligent judg- 
 ment of Mr. Richardson, and relying on the 
 liberality of my friends to assist and sup- 
 port my undertaking, I resolved on the pub- 
 lication of my narrative. In visiting Sa- 
 vannah, to obtain subscriptions for the work. 
 I received much courtesy and attention 
 from Rev. Messrs. Bakertmd Weir, C. W. 
 Rockwell, and G. W. Coe, esquires, who 
 will pardon me for seizing this occasion to 
 express my gratitude for their hospitality 
 
127 
 
 and courteous kindness. In New York, 
 Philadelphia, and Albany, which cities I 
 have since visited, I have received much 
 encouragement in the prosecution of my 
 little work. 
 
 It is now finished ; and it is hoped, that 
 the object, for which it was undertaken, 
 and is now offered to the public, is of such 
 a nature as will commend itself to a liberal 
 and Christian community. It is a well- 
 known characteristic of the American peo- 
 ple, that when a worthy object of benevo- 
 lence is presented to their observation, that 
 noble sympathy which adorns and dignifies 
 our nature, comes spontaneously forth, and 
 impels the hand to do what the heart dic- 
 tates. 
 
 The emancipation of a family from the 
 miseries of slavery, a slavery of whose 
 horrors I can speak from bitter experience, 
 is an enterprise which such a people, I con- 
 fidently trust, will not refuse to aid. 
 
 The voice of my suffering country, has 
 never yet appealed in vain to Americans. 
 In the extremity of her calamities, when 
 " clouds and thick darkness" hung over the 
 issue of her sunken and almost desperate 
 struggle for the recovery of her long lost 
 rights ; when the banded powers of Europe 
 
128 
 
 were lowering on her people with an as- 
 pect menacing destruction, it was among 
 Americans that she found firm and faithful 
 friends, whose voices kindly cheered her 
 onward in her glorious labour ; and whose 
 hands were stretched forth to relieve her 
 
 distress. O, when my country shall 
 
 again assume her rank among the nations 
 of the earth ; when her ancient glory shall 
 shine again with brighter splendour from 
 its long obscurity ; when her suffering peor 
 pie shall, like Americans, be free and 
 happy how grateful to American hearts 
 will be the reflection, that they have largely 
 contributed to her moral and political re- 
 generation ! 
 
 The occasion on which American benevo- 
 lence is now addressed, is of less compara- 
 tive importance, than that of the salvation 
 of a whole country; but it is one, on 
 which the feeling heart will not withhold 
 its sympathy. It is the cry of the suffer- 
 ing and helpless slave, that calls for deli- 
 verance from a bondage worse than death. 
 It is the voice of a son and brother on 
 their behalf, that now asks that benefi- 
 cence, which in a reverse of circumstan- 
 ces, his hand would freely bestow. 
 
C0JTCL.USI01N* 
 
 As this is the only edition of my Narrative I expect to 
 publish in this country, I take the opportunity of ex- 
 pressing my deep sense of the great kindness and friendly 
 hospitality with which I have been treated in the several 
 places I have visited while in this country 
 
 Benevolence and sympathy have not smiled for me 
 in merely single instances ; but one impulse of kindness 
 seemed to warm the breast of all to whom my unhappy 
 story was communicated, and inclined every one to miti- 
 gate the afflictions which I suffered. 
 
 I came to this country bereaved of all my family rela- 
 tions, a mere stranger, almost unknown ; having escaped 
 from captivity only with life. I have found friends to 
 receive me with kindness, and glowing with a desire to 
 assist me in that object which I pursue before all others, 
 the design of redeeming from captivity my mother, sisters,, 
 and brothers, who still suffer the trials from which 1 
 have been delivered. The distresses that I had expe- 
 rienced, made many regard me as a brother ; and like a 
 brother have they ever treated me. 
 
 To the ladies who have so kindly interested themselves 
 to obtain subscriptions for my work, my most sincere and 
 respectful thanks are due. Their own pure and gene- 
 rous feelings are their best reward ; but the stranger's 
 gratitude will fill his heart as long as life remains ; and 
 when in lands far distant, will raise it in prayers for their 
 welfare and happiness. 
 
 But from persons of all classes I have received ex- 
 pressions and acts of kindness. All, all have sympathized 
 
130 
 
 with the oppressed captive, soothed his moments of 
 despondency, and cheered his hopes of future peace. 
 To all, therefore, does he present his farewell acknow- 
 ledgments, and he will bear with him a lasting remem- 
 brance of their unabated kindness. 
 
 Those from whom I have received testimonies of 
 kindness are so numerous, that I am unable to offer them, 
 at parting, my grateful expressions. But I cannot deny 
 myself the pleasure of expressing, however inadequately, 
 my sense of the obligations which I feel towards several 
 gentlemen of the Greek Committee, and to Rev. Dr. 
 Wainwright, Rev. Mr Bruen, R. Sedgwick, Esq., and 
 J. F. Phillips, Esq., of New York ; as well as towards the 
 Rev. Dr. Ely, Alexander Henry, J. K. Kane, and J. P. 
 Morris, Esqs., of Philadelphia ; and to Rev. Dr. Lacey, 
 and Mr. Hopkins, of Albany. 
 
The following extracts which I take the liberty of in- 
 serting from a letter of Rev. Jonas King, now Mis- 
 sionary in Greece, will show the desire that exists in 
 that country for religious instruction. 
 
 Mgina, August, 1828. 
 
 " To the Ladies' Greek Committee, New York. 
 
 n When I arose in the morning, I found many persons 
 standing at my door, wishing for New Testaments. Af- 
 ter breakfast, several persons came in with a priest, and 
 on my asking what they wished : the reply from all, 
 was books, books the Gospel, the Gospel. To satisfy 
 myself of the truth of their assertion, that they were 
 able to read, 1 made them stand up in a row, and pro- 
 ceeded to hear them read from the Gospel, one after an- 
 other, and made remarks to them upon the truth which 
 it contains. While thus occupied, eight or ten boys, from 
 ten to eighteen years of age, came in and announced to 
 me that their teacher was below, and wished to see me. 
 I of course, invited him to come in. On his entering, all 
 his scholars took their stand together in order ; and 
 these, together with those who had previously entered, 
 formed an interesting groupe of thirty or forty boys of 
 the ages above mentioned. 
 
 " The teacher, Nicephoros Pamboukes, told me that he 
 was a native of Argos, the place of Agamemnon ; that he 
 was employed here by the president, Capo d' Istria, as 
 teacher of the ancient Greek, and that he had in his 
 school about eighty scholars. 
 
 " After he had taken his seat, &c. he addressed me as 
 follows : How much labour you have taken to come 
 from America, five or six thousand miles, to bring us 
 aid ! We are indeed in affliction. Pass over into the 
 Morea, and you will find our cities laid waste ; many of 
 the people without homes, without food, or raiment. 
 Truly your reward will be great from Him who rewards 
 those who give only a cup of cold water in the name of 
 a disciple. But we are unworthy. With regard to our 
 religion we are fallen from the elevation where we once 
 
132 
 
 were. We have borne long the Turkish yoke ; have be 
 come ignorant ; have not the Gospel ; and war hat 
 introduced many evils. I have come this morning with 
 part of my pupils, to express our gratitude for your great 
 benevolence ; but especially we wish to thank you for 
 bringing us the Gospel. 
 
 ** After these went away, others came and begged for 
 the Gospel. If Christians in America could have wit- 
 nessed the scene, youths and old men pleading with me 
 for a Bible, I am sure there would be no want of money 
 to print it in sufficient numbers to supply all Greece. 1 
 suppose there have been at my room to day begging fo r 
 this inestimable treasure more than a hundred persons. 
 Among them was a priest, who came with his son to beg 
 a New Testament. Several old men, whose heads were 
 white with age, came and made the same request, &c. 
 
 " 7th Aug. Visited the Lancastrian School taught by 
 Petros Bonas. Here are eighty-six boys between the 
 ages of nine and seventeen. They were taken by the 
 President, from the army which they followed, and from 
 the midst of filth, vermin and wretchedness. I have 
 seldom visited a school more orderly and decent." 
 
 It appears from these few extracts, that among my 
 countrymen, all classes, old and young priests and peo- 
 ple are thirsting for knowledge, and panting for instruc- 
 tion. Schools could be established in Greece, to any 
 extent, if the means were supplied. And small sums 
 will, in that country, go far to produce important re- 
 sults. Shall I not be excused then if I entreat all 
 who can, to aid in extending the blessings of know- 
 ledge and truth to that destitute and suffering land. 
 I have visited several Sabbath Schools in this coun- 
 try, and have often wished that similar institutions ex- 
 isted in my own. The blessings which would arise 
 from their establishment there among the rising genera- 
 tion are incalculable. 
 
 J. STEPITANINL