■AW-i\ ■■•.-.
Two Roving Englishwomen
in Greece
ISABEL J. ARMSTRONG
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
PRESENTED BY
PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID
V
* '
TWO ROVING ENGLISHWOMEN
IN GREECE.
â–º^ S/^L ^ - 'â– '-5" *
COMING DOWN FROM THE MONASTERIES OF METeORA.
[Frontispiece.
TWO ROVING
ENGLISHWOMEN
IN GREECE
BY
ISABEL J. ARMSTRONG
LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY
Limited
§X. Jhmstnn's ijottse
Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.
1893
\_AU rights reserved.']
TO
MRS. EDMONDS
WHO HAS PLEADED THE CAUSE OF THE
GREEK PEOPLE
IN SONG, BIOGRAPHY, AND
ROMANCE
PREFACE.
To the majority of English people, Greece is still
a terra incognita, and to that fact alone can be
attributed the wide-spread belief in the dangers
encountered by the traveller in that kingdom.
On my friend (Edith Payne) and I announcing
our intention of starting off by ourselves to Greece,
the general opinion seemed to be that we were
going out to be murdered ; or, if it did not come
to murder, that we should get into some hobble out
of which it would take at least a modern Perseus to
deliver us. Our experience taught us that Greece
was a charming country in which to travel, and if
we did encounter danger, that was purely of our
own courting.
In the spelling of Greek names every writer
appears to take out his own patent, but as I
could only draw from the Fountain of Ignorance,
it has been my endeavour to give the names spelt
in the way that we found of the most practical use.
W3A 3310
viii Preface.
Likewise, in the same spirit, I have tried to refresh
the memory with the common traditions con-
nected with those places, and which will not always
come when they are called. Thessaly being very-
dear to us and almost an unknown country, my
pen may have lingered there too long, but for
this and the many blemishes that I fear do figure
in these pages, I can only throw up my hands
to a generous public and cry " Tobah ! " trusting
that my sins of omission and commission may find
exoneration in the desire to portray faithfully a
glance at a state of society that is fast being swept
out of Greece by the advancement of railways and
the introduction of Western ideas of civilization.
I am indebted to the exceeding kindness of Miss
Eggar for the spirited frontispiece, in which she
has portrayed with wonderful accuracy the dress
and character of " Ariel," the chief of our guard to
the monasteries of Meteora.
The rest of the illustrations are reproductions of
some of my sketches.
I. J. A.
JpYYmVrtvtif
i
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
About the Greek — Facts and thoughts . . . . i
CHAPTER II.
Land at Patras— Railway to Olympia — Stay at a Greek
inn : its domestic economy — Primitive ideas of
Leonidos with regard to cleanliness — The Museum
and the ruins — The last days of Olympia . .it
CHAPTER 111.
La vie saavage — Beautiful scenery between Olympia
and Andritsaena — Pass through Krestenaand Greka
— White heath and red anemones — Arrive in the
dark — Strange quarters — The young student — We
sleep on the floor 36
CHAPTER IV.
Give up Phigaleia on account of the rain — Stony road to
Bassas — Splendid situation of the temple, and utter
desolation of the spot — We go without escort —
Grisly experiences— Are received by the priest's
wife at Andritsaena — Our mistakes in etiquette —
Return to Olympia 58
CHAPTER V.
Our classic wash — The last of Olympia — From Patras
to Athens — Sikyon — Old Corinth and its acropolis —
Akro-Korinthos — Isthmian Wall and the Canal —
x Contents.
PAGE
Eighteen German professors — Athens — Treasures
from Mykenae, and old tombs — Alexanders sarco-
phagus by Lysippos — Walk up Pentelicus and look
down on Marathon ....... 83
CHAPTER VI.
Huckleberries on the Parthenon — Mykenae — The shaft-
graves and bee-hive tombs — Argos — Nauplia —
Drive to the Hieron of Epidauros ; the perfect
theatre — Asklepios as physician and humorist —
Tiryns : its wonderful walls and galleries . . 108
CHAPTER VII.
Nauplia to Athens by sea — The sacrifice of lambs —
Anniversary of Greek Independence — The royal
family — Good Friday and Easter Eve ceremonies —
Dancing at Megara — Disturbed state of the country
— Brigands and soldiers fighting in Thessaly —
Everyone advises us not to go there — Finally we
escape from Athens 142
CHAPTER VIII.
Start for Thessaly — Experience Greek hospitality atVolo
— Leave for Larissa — First view of Olympos and
Ossa — The town of Larissa — A Gypsy Wedding —
The poor Bride 160
CHAPTER IX.
The Vale of Tempe — A brigand scare — Caesars inscrip-
tion and the Professor's ponlet — Spring of Kryologon
— The three-and-twenty murderers develop into
cattle-lifters — A go-as-you-please — Green tortoises . 184
CHAPTER X.
We start for the monasteries of Meteora — The classic
ground of Thessaly — Synopsis of the history of the
monasteries — Interviewed by the Demarch of Kala-
baka ; our escort — Extraordinary position of Hagia
Trias ; the net cannot be lowered, so we have to
climb the ladders 205
Contents. xi
CHAPTER XI.
PAC.B
Arrive at the Monastery of St. Stephen's — The Hegou-
menos' reception, his keen sense of humour — He
dines with us, entertaining us royally — Ariel turns
valet, strange proceedings of everybody — The
churches, beautifully carved altar-screen — The cells
of the Brothers of St. Basil 240
CHAPTER XII.
Leave KalaMka — Volo and the old cities in the neigh-
bourhood — We are criticized by a Greek woman —
Thermopylae at sunset, and splendid view of Mount
Parnassos — Khalkis, the Euripos, and Bay of Aulis
— The mines of Laurion— Beautiful position of the
temple on Cape Sunion— Arrive at Athens two days
late, the manager of our hotel thought we had been
killed 271
Conclusion 298
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Coming down from the Monasteries of Meteora Frontispiece
Isabel J. Armstrong
Xenodochfon — Hotel d'Olympie
Olympia ....
Temple of Apollo, Bassae
Entrance to Gulf of Corinth
Akro-Korinthos
Fort Bourzi — Looking across the Bay of Nauplia to
Argos, and Fort of Larisa
Larisa — Mount Zara — Mount Elias
Treasury of Atreus .
Mykenae between Mounts Elias and Zara
The Lion's Gate, Mykenae
Lion and Feet of Two Figures from Mykenae
Nauplia from Tiryns
Edith Payne .
Mount Olympos
Minaret, Larissa
Mount Ossa .
Hagia Trias
Hagios Stephanos
Gulf of Volo .
Khalkis .
Cape Sunion .
vin
21
28
64
9i
93
in
113
11S
119
120
124
140
159
171
174
202
227
241
278
285
291
TWO ROVING ENGLISHWOMEN IN
GREECE.
CHAPTER I.
ABOUT THE GREEK. FACTS AXD THOUGHTS.
FOR his own comfort and interest, any one travel-
ling in Greece without a dragoman should certainly
have a slight acquaintance with modern Greek,
not but that I believe a traveller with a good
temper and a sense of the ridiculous could get
through the Peloponnesus on three words —
krassi (/cpaal), wine, psomi (-^eo/u), bread, kald
{icaka), good, beautiful, &c.
Wine and bread appeared to be the staple food
of the people, meat we found had to be ordered,
and the traveller does not generally stay long
enough in a place to benefit by the execution of a
lamb, whilst the word kald is absolutely indispen-
sable. This kald seemed to stand for a number
of words and expressions all in the pleasant tense ;
thus, when you were struggling over an intensely
B
2 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
nasty native dish, your hostess stood over you and
asked you if it was not kald ? and then puzzled you
very much the next morning by making kald
stand for farewell, a good journey. In fact,
there would be no knowing how a Greek would
use this word ; in Thessaly we found it synony-
mous with " All right," whilst the Peloponnesian
would make mdlista (fxdXia-ra), "certainly,"
do duty for that term. The slowly dragged out
mdlista came much more suitably from the lips of
the silent Greek of the Peloponnesus than the
quick kald of the gay Thessalian. And whilst on
the subject of the language it might be as well to
say that the difficulty the novice finds is in the
daily use of so many synonyms for the same word ;
thus in our short experience when asking for hot
water we came across three words for hot. Early
in our travels it was said to us, " They will under-
stand you, but you will not understand them,
because though they may bring your question into
their answer they will reply in other words/' This
we found was litetally true. Our difficulty was
not that they could not understand what we said,
but that we knew so very little to say. In the
same way the names of places are duplicated or
even quadrupled, which at first causes the stranger
some confusion of mind ; for instance, there is Mt.
Olympos in Thessaly and another in Euboea.
Orchomenos in Arcadia and the Orchomenos in
A Boot and Shoe Standard. 3
Bceotia, where Dr. Schliemann excavated the
Treasury of Minyas ; whilst in Argolis at one
glance we could sweep in three hills with the name
of Elias.
Besides bread and wine, eggs and coffee came in
as a luxury ; the latter, of course, was black, and it
was not necessarily good. With regard to cleanli-
ness, we were obliged to take a practical view of it,
and for further convenience we brought all things
into a shoe-standard or a boot-standard. Shoes
and civilization seemed to go hand in hand. When
you had to get into bed with your boots, and there
take them off, you knew what you had to expect.
Until we went to Thessaly I do not remember
seeing a cow in Greece, but there were sheep and
goats in abundance, and so milk and cheese could
be had ; butter was an extravagance that we only
tasted at Patras, Athens, and Volo. Oxen were
used for ploughing, and presented an extraordinary
variety in shape and size. Ponies, donkeys, and
mules were the beasts of burden ; horses seemed
to be principally kept for carriage use, and a
miserable lot they were.
We were told that the national costume was
fast dying out, and that probably we should hardly
see it, but in this we were singularly fortunate
throughout our tour. At Olympia men in
fustanella were constantly coming to the Greek
inn at which we put up, even sometimes sitting
B 2
4 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
down to our table, and the blacksmith's shed out-
side — as in England — was the local club, more
than half of whose members wore the national
dress. When we went still farther into the depths
of the country all the men appeared either in
fustanella or loose white tunics and Turkish
knickerbockers of various patterns ; likewise at
Athens, owing to the influx of countrymen for
Easter, we constantly saw the national dress, irre-
spective of the Queen's guard. On the other
hand, excepting when dressed up for Easter, we
never saw a Greek woman in the typical costume
of her country. Sometimes in the fields a woman
would be seen with her head tied up in a gorgeous
handkerchief, whilst an apron that once had
been embroidered was twisted about her waist ;
and when seated on a bright striped rug on a
mule she would make a patch of colour, but
as a rule the women looked like walking bundles
of dull-coloured rags. It seemed as if the occu-
pation of the men was such as to permit them
to wear their " swagger clothes," but that the work
that fell to the lot of woman was of a nature that
would allow of no display of dainty dress ; even
their hours of recreation apparently were spent in
washing the clothes of the male portion of their
houses. This can be no sinecure considering that
the ordinary Greek, with the exception of his
black cap and black embroidered jacket, is clothed
The National Dress. 5
in white from head to foot — white shirt, white
fustanella, white woollen hose, and, in many cases,
white turned-up shoes. The marvel is how he
manages to keep his clothes as clean as he does,
for Greece is by no means a land guiltless of mud ;
the dust is proverbial, and heavy rain often turns
this into a sea of slime ; in Athens alone after rain
some of the streets would be ankle deep in mud.
To tall dark men the national dress is particularly
becoming-, and although artistically the fustanella
that has the fewest pleats is the most elegant, this
is not the Greek ideal, which appears to be to
plait as many yards as you can cram into the
waistband so as to make it stand out in a perfect
frill all the way round ; over this in cold weather a
black coat is worn, fitting in at the waist and with
long flaps covering the white skirts. To our ideas
there was something intensely feminine about the
cut of these coats, and made their wearers look
exactly like a troupe of ballet girls masquerading
as brigands ; indeed, when they lounged in elegant
attitudes about the picturesque shoeing-shed at
Olympia it might have been a scene out of an
opera ; moreover, they all walked with the same
peculiar swagger that is noticeable in the premifre
danseuse as she crosses the stage. Whatever the
ancient Greek might have been, with the excep-
tion of his dress, there is nothing feminine in the
physiognomy or physique of the modern Greek ;
6 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
his face may be characteristic of distrust, but
his figure is the embodiment of true art. If such
were the models the old Greeks had ever before
their eyes, it is no wonder that Greece produced
such a succession of sculptors and painters.
Whether the women retain any of the famous
classic grace I cannot venture to say ; certainly they
displayed none in the home life as we saw it,
neither did we see one really pretty girl among
the people. In the higher grades it is different ;
there are ladies famous for their beauty, and the
few Greek ladies we came across were all good-
looking. Afterwards at Constantinople, and
especially at Broussa, we saw lovely Greek women,
but we were told they were all the wives and
daughters of well-to-do Greeks.
The Greeks as we found them appeared an
exceedingly odd jumble of education and barbarity.
Latin and French they are taught at school, and
yet they think nothing at night of all sleeping in
a row on the floor in one room — beginning with
the father and mother down to any stranger that
might happen to turn up. At the date we visited
Greece (April, 1892), all education was free— from
A B C up to the university at Athens, and a free
education a Greek looked upon as his birthright.
No doubt this was a reaction from the time when
under Turkish rule it was impossible for many a
Greek child to receive any education at all. In
Free Education.
like manner a reaction the other way seems to
have set in, helped perhaps by the financial posi-
tion, and the result has been the introduction of a
bill for payment by students in the three higher
schools, the lowest or elementary school being
still entirely free. As the highest fee, that of the
university, is only proposed to be ioo drachmas a
year (4/. at the outside), the fees in the schools
below cannot be called excessive ; yet, of course,
this bill is producing great agitation among " the
politicians." The Greeks rightly are very proud
of their free education, but the present generation
do not appear to have found it the panacea they
expected, and I was very much surprised to hear
both young men and middle-aged men speaking
against this unlimited free education.
"We manufacture nothing but professors and
writers," exclaimed one, " whilst what Greece re-
quires are men to cultivate her waste lands,
artisans, and engineers. Look at our railways ;
they are laid out by foreign engineers, the same
with our mines, the same with our canals. The
Greek should be educated to be able to perform
the work which the advancement of his country
requires ; " and he seemed to think that anything
that would check the absorbing desire of coming
up to the University of Athens would be a step in
the right direction.
Another national institution against which the
8 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
young Greek is beginning to inveigh is " the poli-
tician." Now, as far as we understood, cabinet
ministers and members of Parliament were not in-
cluded in this term, which they used to designate
the professional amateur ; in a word, all Greeks are
" politicians," from the shepherd upwards. This
gift of everlasting political talk appears to have
come to them as a heritage, and is styled by the
practical party " the curse of the nation/' In the
railway carriage, on board the boat, in the streets,
at the khans, verily, where two or three Greeks
are met together, there will politics be talked. Of
course, as we visited Greece just before the elec-
tions that put M. Tricoupis into power again, we
had the benefit of this mania far into the witching
hours of night.
The characteristic of the Greek that struck me
most — and I do not think that this was due to the
force of contrast — was his intense patriotism. The
rich Greek may make his money abroad, but he
spends it freely for the embellishment of his own
country ; witness Athens alone, with its streets of
marble palaces and its beautiful public buildings, ail
built at the expense of private individuals. Then
talk to the people, and their intense love of their
country is at once apparent. Perhaps some of
their patriotism may be credited to the rebound to
liberty after centuries of oppression ; anyway their
late servitude accounts for their bitter hatred of the
His Face a History.
Turk. Although the nightmare is over, the horror
of it is easily kept up in a country where there is
hardly a family that has not some curdling
domestic tragedy dating from that dark hour.
Then again the Greeks appear to excite the
dislike of many tourists by their dark and often
distrustful look, their forbidding silence, and slow-
ness to comprehend the wants of a stranger which
are shouted at him in an unknown tongue. Over
and over again you hear, "Those stupid Greeks,
they never understand what you want, so different
to the dear, delightful Italians, who are always so
bright and smiling.''' So humbug, even with both
hands held out for coin, ever wins the day.
I quite admit that the Gieek peasant has not
the charm of manner, the attractive beauty, the
inimitable power of telling pleasant fibs, which is
possessed by his brother in Italy ; but then our
experience of the Greek taught us that he never
begged, never expected money for doing nothing,
was always satisfied with what he got ; in many
cases more than pleased. I was told, however,
that the English, and our still more self-indulgent
cousins beyond the sea, were doing their best to
destroy this happy state of things. The Greek of
to-day carries in his face an epitome of the modern
history of his nation ; the slightest scratch below
the surface shows a man who, under oppressive
servitude, found safety alone in silence, that stealthy
io Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
tread is the outcome of those years of hunted life,
that dark suspicious glance was bred by repeated
treachery, whilst the women are only to be glanced
at to see that every good-looking one has been
swept out of the land. The War of Indepen-
dence is still green in the memory; it is only ninety-
four years since the protomartyr Rhigas, poet
and patriot, was murdered in prison at Belgrade,
and his body thrown into the Danube. The
people have not had time to shake themselves free
of those years of gloom ; no doubt the rising
generation will be lighter of heart. The poems
may sing of " the gay pallikar," but the life he led,
which was little removed from that of the wild
beast, had in it no element of gaiety, and it was
only through sacrifice, such as this, that the sons
of Greece won through to freedom.
CHAPTER II.
Land at Patras — Railway to Olympia — Stay at a Greek inn :
its domestic economy — Primitive ideas of Leonidos
with regard to cleanliness — The Museum and the ruins
— The last days of Olympia.
From Brindisi to Corfu we had had the boat to
ourselves, but on boarding the steamer the next
day we turned grey at hearing that our advent
brought the number up to five in the ladies'
cabin, which a brutal naval architect, with a
cynical disregard to the intricacies of the human
mechanism, had designed for six. As yet we
were novices in this department of travelling, and
we were about to learn that the amount of com-
fort or discomfort experienced entirely depends
on the — we will not say caste, but — character of
the occupants of those other berths.
We gazed at lovely Corfu until the inexorable
dinner-bell rang, and, after that repast, alas ! it was
too dark to see anything. The rock of Leukas
wreathed with the memory of Kephatos and
Sappho, Ithaka, Kephalonia, all places we had
looked forward to seeing, would be passed in the
dark, and with sadness in our hearts we went
12 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
down to our cabin ; but our gloom was soon di-
verted by the charm and liveliness of our com-
panions. We had a consumptive lamp that
momentarily threatened to go out, and everything
insisted on rolling off the table and under the
sofa-berths, but nobody troubled about such
minor evils as these. Then it occurred to us
generally that not one of us knew at what time
in the morning the boat arrived at Patras. "And
how," exclaimed one, " can we possibly go to
sleep if we don't know the hour we are to
awake ? "
Everything can be heard on board ship if only
you speak loud enough ; so the baroness called
for her son, whom Edith had christened Signor
Dov'e, from his commencing every Italian sen-
tence by that word, and we soon heard him seek-
ing for information in various tongues all over
the boat. How that boy talked, and how he
loved to air his English, and how excited he
grew, and then how involved his language became,
but he never gave in. One of our companions,
an Australian, had been immensely amused by
his asking when she was going to return to her
" wild country," and he gave us a graphic ac-
count of how he went to school for three months
in the Isle of Wight to learn English. Apparently
he did not take kindly to school life, so he
shammed being ill, and was placed in what he
Signor Dov'E's Experiences. 13
would insist upon calling "the Reformatory."
Then he was sent to London for change of air,
which, he said, with great glee, " agreed with me,
splendid, but I never come again to your shores
because of your Channel."
"Why, what did the poor Channel do ? "
" Oh, that Channel ! It began to move, to
rock ; I felt so bad ; I went down to the cabin,
and I screamed, and I screamed, and I screamed !
And the captain he did come to me, and he took
me by the shoulder and he did say, ' Oh, you
damn boy, for why do you make that noise ? '
If Patras is lovely under the mid-day sun I
cannot say, but at dawn, in the early morning,
and at evening, it is simply exquisite. When we
came on deck, dawn was still struggling with
night ; the dark mountains were backed by a pale
primrose sky ; a boat getting up steam stood out
a splodge of violet-black in a streak of gleaming
straw-coloured sea. Moreover, we had nothing
to do but to admire the scene, for we found we
were all going as baggage, that is to say, we had
Cook's railway tickets, and were to be landed by
him. Indeed, his indefatigable agent had been
endeavouring to effect this for the last hour, but
as we knew the time our train started, likewise
the unexhihrating atmosphere of a station wait-
ing-room, and we were well amused on board,
we pretended not to understand. Besides, the
i4 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
baroness' thirteen trunks took about that time
to be hauled up and lowered into the many boats
that awaited them.
A few minutes' row on the dark waters and our
boat touched the steps. We were all very anxious
to be the first to land on the classic ground of
Greece, and Signor Dov'e jumped off with such
ardour that he drove the boat halfway back to
the steamer. Somehow the air of Greece seemed
to get into our heads. It was the native soil of
one ; to the others it was the long-looked-for goal
of their desires. In a phalanx we took Patras
by storm until our attention was arrested by the
words and signs of the loafers who were here
congregated, if possible, in greater numbers than
at any other place. We then saw our guide
sending out signals of distress, and, on retracing
our steps, found that here our ways parted, those
going by train to Athens turning to the left,
those bound for Olympia to the right. Having
rescued our modest Gladstones and roll of rugs
from the miscellaneous heap of petit bagagc, we
watched our courteous and agreeable companions
depart, the thirteen trunks and Signor Dov'e's
little black box at the top bringing up the rear.
It was a longer walk to the train than we had
expected. I say train, advisedly, because out of
the many buildings that stood before the waste
piece of land where we found our train, I never
First Tickets to Olympia. 15
did discover which was the station proper. By
this time the sun had risen and the beautiful out-
line of the coast of Greece was shadowed out in
the softest pinks, a peak of snow brightening the
colour here and there, just as Chinese white
does in a water-colour. We thought we made
out to the north-west where Mesolonghi lay, and
farther west where Kephalonia began and Zante
faded into sea, but as the coast and the islands
appeared to the eye to be one continuous line, it
was exceedingly difficult at first sight to distin-
guish the one from the other.
The railway line from Patras to Pyrgos had
been opened about two years, but the continua-
tion to Olympia was of quite recent date ; in fact,
we held the first tickets, respectively numbered
one and two, that had been issued by Cook and
Son. These unfortunate tickets created quite a
sensation, the guard calling together all the
officials and hangers-on of the place, and passing
them round for inspection. When at last our
precious yellow papers were returned to us we
hoped they would be able to recognize numbers
three and four when they came that way ; but
they seemed to have a doubt on the subject, and
asked to turn the papers over yet another time.
Soon after leaving Patras a lovely range of snow
mountains came in view on our left ; these were a
part of the Erymanthos group, and many exquisite
16 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
peeps we had of them. As we coasted along the
Peloponnesus the line brought us opposite to Meso-
longhi, which was pointed out to us at the foot of Mt.
Arakynthos, whilst a little to the right lay hid the
ruins of Kalydon, so interesting in connection
with Meleager's celebrated Kalydonian Boar-hunt,
which by the way appears to have set the precedent
of presenting the lady with the brush, though in
this case it was the skin and the head that Me-
leager gave to Atalanta for being in at the death.
Turning our back on the lovely outline of Northern
Greece, we now only had Kephalonia and Zante
before us ; but the sea view was perfect the whole
way to Pyrgos. We passed quantities of red
anemones, and masses of violet, blue, and pink
flowers; whilst a few early poppies gave us a foretaste
of what they would show us later on, and amid all
this brilliancy cropped up the grey-green lily leaves
of the star-like asphodel, crushing down and tram-
pling over her bright sisters till in places she spread
out into fields. Such was our first taste of the
physical beauty of Greece, a beauty which, to my
surprise, was never once spoilt by hard lines the
five weeks we spent in that enchanting land.
Accustomed to the villainous hardness of sky, sea,
and land of the Riviera, the pictorial softness in
Greece struck me with much force. The uncer-
tainty of the weather no doubt accounted in a
measure for this, and of course five weeks' experi-
The First Impossible. 17
ence of a country is of no value one way or the
other. I can only trust that other travellers may
be as fortunate in atmospheric effects as we were.
We arrived at Pyrgos at twelve, and found the
train for Olympia did not start until 4.30 ; in fact,
it was the two o'clock train from Olympia which
came up, loafed about the line, reversed its engine,
and went back. This onerous journey it performed
twice in the day, and its time was regulated so as
to enable tourists stopping at Pyrgos to spend a
few hours at Olympia in the middle of the day and
yet catch the late train to Patras. We were told
there was a very good hotel at Pyrgos, and cer-
tainly the agent did his very best to persuade us
to give up our idea of staying at Olympia. In the
first place our Gladstones were seized, and he tried
to compel us to come in ; but finding that that
method aroused our British ire, it was then ex-
plained to us how it was not possible for English
people to go to a Greek inn. " And ladies, too !
Why, there will be nothing fit for you to eat ; you
will starve ! But if you prefer all these discom-
forts, as you say you do, then you must go to the
new inn, the ' Hotel d'Olympie.' " To all of which
we listened with great attention, but it made no
alteration in our determination to go to the old
" Xenodochion." This was our first experience of
what afterwards occurred on every occasion when
we had made up our nrnds to go anywhere on our
C
1 8 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
own account ; we were always assured that the
thing was impossible, yet we came through all,
thinner perhaps, but with zeal undaunted.
To our surprise we found the smiling and
obliging station-master of Pyrgos could speak a
little English, and during our hours of waiting he
repeatedly interviewed and practised on us that
knowledge. First he brought us his own chair,
which, by the way, had lost its back, but this we
afterwards found was the normal state of chairs in
Greece ; so long as a chair had four legs it could
hold its own with the best. Then he showed us
bags of silver and copper coins that he had col-
lected. These were exceedingly interesting ; we
made out the owls of Athens, the horses of Corinth,
and many others which I cannot remember, but as
neither of us understood coins we did not dare to
purchase. Afterwards we saw some similar looking
coins at Roustchouk, and wished that numismatology
had been included in our education. Whilst wait-
ing at Pyrgos we came across the first sign of the
far-famed dust of Greece, in the shape of a small
boy with a box, who turned up on the arrival or
departure of a train and dusted the men's shoes.
From Pyrgos to Olympia the railway runs in-
land, and the lovely coast line is left behind. In
solitary grandeur we started on our last stage to
01ympia,and were slowly drawing out of the station,
when into the next compartment there sprang a
The Three Spiders. 19
heaven-sent messenger, in the shape of the French
engineer of the line, Monsieur V., who promptly
came to our assistance when a tall, serious-
looking man put his head in at one window, and a
grinning youth with a shock of black hair thrust
his in at the other, and let off a volley of Greek at
our heads. We found that this man and his
satellite, Leonidos, represented the old " Xenodo-
chion," established by Georgios Pliris, who had been
cook to the German excavators at Olympia, so we
arranged to be taken each for eight drachmas a
day. Our quarters being settled, we thought our
ways would now be those of peace, but when the
train slackened its very moderate speed there
sprang to the window a third man, who informed
us we were coming to the " Hotel d'Olympie " ; that
there we should find civilization and the French
language ; but we felt were his speech a specimen
of both they would be dear at the price. This
man refused to be shaken off, and when we alighted
at the temporary station at Olympia he walked on
one hand ; our Greeks, who had pounced on our
luggage, on the other ; and thus escorted we
approached the little rise on which stood the rival
inns, facing each other on opposite sides of the
road. Our Greeks maintained a discreet silence
but when the other, waving a proud hand in the
direction of the pink-washed, tea-caddy architec-
ture of the Hotel d'Olympie, pointed a finger of
C 2
20 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
scorn at the sloping roof of the old Xenodochion,
then that serious Greek opened his mouth, and
no doubt it was as well we did not under-
stand.
The usual way of visiting Olympia is either to
come from Pyrgos, as already mentioned, or to
approach it from the south in the regulation tour
through the Peloponnesus. In the former case the
tourist is marched through the museum, walked
over tne ruins, lunched at the Hotel d'Olympie,
and returned by the two o'clock train. In the
latter his dragoman takes him to an empty house,
which has been swept and garnished for the occa-
sion, in the village of Drouva, which stands upon a
hill high above the Xenodochion, and from which
coign of advantage a splendid view is obtained of
the valleys of the two rivers, the Alpheios and the
Kladeos. The dragoman furnishes the house with
the contents of the tents, and whilst in Greece we
were very much amused by having Olympia quoted
to us as the place for comfortable quarters. Given
a dragoman and the appurtenances thereof, it
appeared to us that it must be sheer bad manage-
ment if you were not comfortable at every halt, and
with the increasing number of people who now go
through the Peloponnesus in that way surely a
chain of empty houses might easily be kept for the
season. We, however, had a desire to see the
houses as they are, to experience the surprises of a
The Rival Inns.
21
khan ; if possible to catch a glimpse of the manner
in which the natives lived.
The accompanying sketch shows the rival inns
at Olympia as they stand scoffing at one another
across the road. The original building of the old
Xenodochion was comprised beneath the chalet-
looking roof, but a salle-a-manger with a bedroom
beyond had lately been added, and between this
r *u*i.£
and the road the foundations of two more rooms
were being occasionally dug out. Without a
pause we were hurried up the steps of the salle-a-
manger, rushed through it to the bedroom beyond,
the double doors of which were thrown open, and
four eyes sought our faces for the admiration
which accommodation such as this must needs
call up. The room was square ; in the centre of
one wall was the door, the three other walls being
each broken by a window ; one was boarded up,
22 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
one only half glazed looked down the road to the
temporary railway station, the other wholly glazed
eventually would open into one of the new rooms.
The walls were recovering from a recent lick over
of pink wash, a plank table stood in one corner,
another was occupied by a washing-stand which,
upon scratching, revealed that it once had had a
coating of blue paint, a long oak bench with a high
back, and two iron beds with new, clean, quilted
sateen coverlets completed the furniture of the
room, whilst two chairs flitted in and out at in-
tervals. A second room was forthcoming, only
this had seen many years' service and would not
pass the shoe-standard ; moreover the hens roosted
on the sills outside, and when Edith left her
windows open they walked in.
Our dinner turned out much better than we ex-
pected. Perhaps a desperate culinary effort had
been made on this first occasion, or the novelty of
the scene gave it a special flavour ; anyway, the
subsequent dinners never appeared quite to come
up to that one. The soup was strong — we pro-
nounced it excellent — though it cannot be denied
that it would have had a very soothing effect on a
troubled sea ; then came lamb cut about in curious
hollow forms and served a la discretion, followed
by cutlets which explained the former dish ; a sort
of very sour clotted cream and oranges brought
the repast to an end. The resinous wine of the
Washing Done at Home. 23
country, both red and white, was quite drinkable,
dry and exceedingly wholesome. In some of the
villages they appeared to sweeten it, and then no
words can express the loathsome flavour it took.
The wine of Patras was very fair, and had more
strength in it. Both these wines were quite different
to the half-fermented heady kind that we tasted in
other parts of Greece. We noticed that after
dinner Monsieur V. tied his dinner-napkin into a
knot, and gave it to Leonidos with many injunc-
tions ; he explained that it was only by this means
he could keep it from general use. So fearful
grew we that we carried ours about with us. We
remarked that the household linen of the
Xenodochion had a distinctive appearance, and
this we found arose from ircning and mangling
being things unknown at Olympia. If starch,
ironing, and other refinements of washing were
wanted, the linen must be sent by rail to Pyrgos.
" Then do they never wash ? " we asked.
" Wash ! " returned Monsieur V., who had been
here upwards of a year ; " oh ! yes, they do their
washing at home, and hang the things on those
thorns outside where the donkeys kick up the dust
on them. I advise you not to risk it. Look at
me," he continued, drawing our attention to his
collarless condition ; " I have given it up. There is
no civilization here ; I am leading la vie sauvage /"
'•' I shall try a wash in the Kladeos," announced
24 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Edith ; and certainly that was the only alternative
left to us, for we dare not submit our limited ward-
robe to the risk of taking a railway journey alone.
After experience taught us that rivers in Greece
were especially designed to supplement the
tumblers of water that on more than one occasion
appeared as the sole representative of Aquarius.
Finding our table decorated with a tin candle-
stick but no candle, we cried aloud for fire — the
Greek for candle of course escaping us at the
critical moment — but Leonidos guessed our need
at once. I must say he was wonderfully quick at
understanding, and I never saw any one try so hard
to make out what you wanted ; for a moment he
would stand staring at you with all his eyes, then
a gleam of intelligence shot into them, the grin on
his face deepened, he tossed his shock of savage
black hair, and you knew you were saved. I am
afraid we brought before him many conundrums,
but the most puzzling appeared to be one which
all unconsciously he produced himself by trying to
clean up my basin with two of his fingers. It was
in this way. Pitching a little water into the basin
he worked round the edge with his fingers, and
getting a fine sediment, jerked it out of the window
into the foundations of the new rooms; seeing
however, a little left at the bottom, in went some
more water, which he whirled round and round with
those two fingers, working harder and harder the
Fear Seized Him. 25
blacker it grew, till at last, unable to account for
this extraordinary phenomenon, he held up his
hands in despair, and catching sight of those two
fingers so totally different in colour to the rest of
his hand, fear seized him, and he bolted from the
room.
The Greek bed is simplicity itself, a sheet is laid
over the red cushion which represents the pillow
and whatever does duty for the bed, and the cover-
ing consists of a light but warm quilted coverlet
with a white lining of the texture of cheesecloth
tacked to it, and which it is only virtuous to pre-
sume is occasionally washed. What was below
that sheet I never inquired, knowing that, let it be
what it might, I had to sleep on it, and as my
quilt was clean and the lining new, I did as the
Greeks do, and called not for a second sheet.
After our wakeful night on board ship we had
looked forward to one of peace and quiet at
Olympia ; it turned out otherwise. No, it was not
as you think ; for in that respect we found Greece
much maligned, and Keating not required in
greater quantities than in other countries : it was
the dogs that did it. In the towns in Greece we
were never kept awake at night by the dogs, but
in the villages they were as bad as at Constanti-
nople. At Olympia the dog parliament assembled
under my glassless casement ; there they greeted
one another with a snarl and a growl ; settled out-
26 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
standing differences, and arranged the programme
for the night, which always ended in their breaking
up into packs to hunt the neighbourhood, the tired
sleeper in his dreams accompanying them over hill
and dale.
Our demand for hot water in the morning
created a crisis in the household. The serious
Greek wrung his hands and stood in silent despair,
but Leonidos, with a grin of such portentous
length that I really thought this time his face
must split up in the same manner as did the
ancient Greek musicians from overstraining their
" buccine muscles," produced a saucepan and
manufactured hot water in this way whenever we
called for it. No doubt people might have taken
exception to the purity of that hot water, but you
cannot allow yourself to be fastidious when you
have come out with the avowed object of seeing
things as they are. The breakfast set of the
Xenodochion was certainly complex, and there
was a pleasant freedom in the use to which the
various pieces were put. An old butter boat held
the sugar, the hot milk was served in a china
coffee-pot with the spout so chipped as to divert
the flow to a dangerous angle, the coffee was
invariably found in a cold lidless jug, and fids of
bread toasted very hard completed the first meal
of the day. There was one thing to be said in its
favour, you knew exactly what to expect, whereas
We Seem to Fascinate Leonidos. 27
dinner was always a surprise, the menu varying
from three to six courses.
If we found novelty in all around us, Leonidos
evidently found the same in us, for he spent all
his spare moments, which were many, in staring at
us with that everlasting grin on his face as he
lounged just within the door communicating with
the room in which the general company ate, drank,
smoked, played cards, and slept. A window in the
wall also looked on this room, and in the evening
when the men were grouped round the table, eat-
ing a yellow-tinted mess out of tin pans, and
playing cards with the light from the lamp throw-
ing up their faces in bold relief, a series of most
exquisite pictures were unrolled to those in the
salle-a-ma7iger.
Before the Xenodochion rises the hill on which
is situated the new museum, which has been built
to hold all the objects that were discovered during
the exhumation of Olympia ; which great work
took six seasons to accomplish, and was under-
taken at the expense of the German Empire.
Following the road which winds round the
Museum hill, suddenly to the left there comes in
view an oblong plain strewn with cast-down
columns of gleaming marble, emphasized by the
dark platform of the Temple of Zeus, brightened
by the crimson spikes of the Judas-tree, massed
together by the grey-green leaves of the asphodel,
28 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
and lightened by the fairy flower and foliage of
the pepper tree. And all this set in the most
exquisite amphitheatre of hills, with the broad
swift Alpheios enclosing it on the south, the cleft
of the half-dried up Kladeos to the west, the fir-
clad Kronion to the north, and the cornfields of
the Stadion reaching out to the hills on the east.
A more perfect site for this sacred city could not
have been found, faultless for its purpose, unlike
all others; indeed, that is so remarkable a feature
in the situation of all Greek temples — witness the
Temple of Apollo at Bassae, that of Poseidon at
Cape Sunion, although the Athenians spoilt the
point of this last by merging it into Poseidon-
Athene, and so to Athene alone.
In spite of the beauty of the situation, this first
Nothing but Ruins. 29
view of Olympia almost strikes terror to the heart.
The vastness of the ruins, the terrible destruction
that has been bared to sight, involuntarily the
question arises— Can order ever be evolved out of
this chaos of huge fragments ? In point of fact, to
any one who will sit down calmly to the study of
the splendid map by Dr. Dorpfeld, the plan of
Olympia is wonderfully easy to make out. Of
course the geography of the place cannot be
understood by simply scampering over the ruins.
The little spur of Kronos overlooking the Heraeon
appears to be the favourite point of view, it
certainly should not be missed. Personally I
preferred to roam the great platform 2io£ft. by
9o|ft. of the temple of Zeus. Thence the whole of
Olympia, from the Stadionto.the Byzantine Church,
from the Prytaneion, where the Olympian victors
were entertained, to the Bouleuterion, where the
competitors took the oaths, is spread out before
the eye ; and, surrounded by these glorious ruins
of the past, it is easy in imagination to build up
temple and portico, to people the silent ruins, to
catch an echo of the plaudits that greet the victors
far away in the Stadion. On the platform alone,
besides the easily defined plan of the temple, there
is much of interest, fragments of coloured marble
pavement, bases heaped with pieces of white
Pentelic marble, and a pile of broken slabs of
black limestone marking the spot where stood the
30 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
great chryselephantine statue of Zeus, that wonder-
ful work in ivory and gold by Pheidias. Looking
down at the ruins in the immediate neighbourhood,
it is tantalizing to think that had it not been for
those two abominable earthquakes in the sixth
century of the present era, some of those large
columns of the Temple of Zeus might still be
standing on the bases that now alone remain
upright on the great platform. In places the
columns, which were made of shell limestone, have
gone down in a clear line, and they look as if the
drums only wanted a giant darning needle run
through them to thread them all up into position
again. No doubt some wealthy Greek, with the
patriotism which is so notable a feature of the
Grecian character, will astonish the world some
morning by replacing one of these Doric columns
on its base. Below the east end of the platform
there are a mass of marble blocks, broken pillars,
and fragments tossed about, looking like miniature
icebergs in a river that is breaking up after a long
frost, and amid these rises the pedestal of the far-
famed winged Nike. Here too is the base where
the Trojan heroes stood, and it was this group
that was despoiled under the cloak of hypocrisy
by the self-crowned victor, Nero, Emperor of
Rome. A patron of art, who with one hand stole
the sculptures of the Greeks, and with the other lit
the torch which was to destroy the greatest master-
The Her.eon. 31
pieces of the old Greek painters. Numbers of
bases bearing interesting names are heaped around,
but the statues, alas ! where are they ? At
Olympia man and nature seem to have vied the
one with the other to destroy the sacred city of
the gods.
Away to the east is the built-up arch of the
covered way to the Stadion, and at the foot of the
little spur of Kronos is the Hereon, with its
broken reddish-yellow columns puzzling the be-
holder by their varying size. This temple is of
great interest in many ways. It is said to be the
most ancient of all the known temples in Greece,
and that it was a copy in stone of the primitive
wooden temples ; indeed, so late as the second
century of this era, one old wooden column was
still incorporated in this temple. The cella was
divided by cross-walls,, like those which are so
plainly to be seen at Bassse ; but what endears
this temple above all others to the artist, is that
here still stands the pedestal of the statue of
Hermes by Praxiteles, just where that prince of
tourists, Pausanias, saw it some seventeen cen-
turies ago. Before his pedestal, embedded in the
sand cast up by the Kladeos, the statue from the
knees upwards was found ; one perfectly shaped
foot, with its scarlet and gold sandal, still clung
to its base, but the other foot, both calves, and
one arm were gone, burnt for lime most probably
32 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
by savages claiming to be the civilizers of the
world. A little farther on stand the circles of the
Philippeion, built by Philip II. of Macedon to
hold statues of his family. When its Ionic and
Corinthian columns were standing it must have
been a very beautiful building ; in form it is like
the Tholos of Polykleitos, which afterwards we
saw at Epidauros. It would be tedious here to go
through all the interesting ruins that Olympia can
show, but the Museum must not be passed over
without a word.
The Museum at Olympia, one of the examples
of the generosity of a Greek citizen, is not only a
splendid home for the treasures that have been
unearthed, but is built so as to give the student
some idea of the proportions of the temple of
Zeus. Thus, the two columns of the portico are
reproductions of those we saw cast down to the
ground, whilst the length of the central hall corre-
sponds to the breadth of the temple, and here,
against the two long walls, in the exact manner
in which they used to stand, the east and west
pediments have been built up out of the frag-
ments that have been recovered. The parts of
the figures that remain are in wonderful preser-
vation, considering the treatment they have had,
and how that nearly all of these pediment-sculp-
tures were found built into the wretched hovels of
Ihe Christian village that had been erected be-
Pediment Sculptures. 33
tween the Temple of Zeus and the Stadion. Of
the two, the East Pedim ent, representing the
" Preparation of Pelops for his chariot-race with
CEnomaos," is the easiest to make out, and the
Sitting Boy and Kneeling Girl in this group
should not be passed over. It is interesting to
remember that this representation commemorates
a local event, as King CEnomaos lived at Pisa
about two miles farther up the Alpheios, and that
upon Pelops winning the chariot-race, he married
Hippodameia, and eventually became so powerful
a monarch that he is supposed to have given his
name to the Peloponnesus. The West Pediment
represents the "Fight of the Lapithae and the
Centaurs," with Apollo looking calmly down on
the strife. This was very interesting to us, as we
hoped later on to go to Yolo in Thessaly, where
we should be close to Mt. Pelion, from whose
heights the Lapithae drove out the Centaurs, the
war being caused by one of the Centaurs getting
objectionably hilarious at the marriage of Peiri-
thoos with another Hippodameia. Two very
good little plaster restorations hang on the walls
behind the original groups. At the end of the
hall, on the upper portion of its pedestal, stands
the Xike of Pseonios, which looks as if flying
towards the spectator ; the poise is something
wonderful, but, unfortunately, the mutilated mask
that has to do duty for the head, gives the be-
D
34 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
holder an unpleasant shock. In the room behind,
alone as is meet, stands the greatest statue that
the soil has given back to the world, the Hermes
with the young Dionysos on his left arm, the
work of Praxiteles. The accusation of effeminacy
cannot be brought against this statue ; the peace
of the face bespeaks the god — but such work is
best left without words, the impulse of the artist
is to cast himself down before this, the most per-
fect of all statues in the world. All the small
rooms are full of interesting relics in marble,
bronze, and terra-cotta ; among the first, on a
pedestal, were two lovely little feet of a child. In
the Roman room we were much amused at com-
paring the different representations of the warriors'
fustanellas, and when looking at these marble folds
there could be no doubt whence the Greek got his
national (?) costume.
The advantage of staying at Olympia is that
you have the ruins and the Museum to yourself
to wander in and out of them at will. In truth,
to fully realize the sacred precinct, utter solitude
is wanted ; and this was reached one Sunday
afternoon. The flight of the tourist was passed,
the swirl of the waters of the Kladeos, where they
rush to join the Alpheios, could not be heard ; no
woman's form was to be seen in the currant-fields,
not a man was toiling round the Kronion, urging
his tired mules forward ; the note of no bird broke
Last Days of Olympia. 35
the intense silence ; the very gods seemed asleep.
One gorgeous expanse of blue sky looked down
on the many-coloured stone and pure white
sparkling marble, in the near distance the outline
of the Museum stood out against the hills, and
then the memory came that there, on that hill
above the Museum, the foundations of an hotel
were being marked out. An hotel which would
overshadow the Museum, an hotel from whose un-
blushing windows " the principal objects of in-
terest among the ruins " would be pointed out to,
and viewed through a telescope by, the visitor
who did not care for the trouble of walking down
to the sacred precinct.
Olympia, dominated by a fin-de-siccle hotel,
Anno Domini nineteen hundred, triumphant over
the centuries Before Christ ! Hideous conception,
a sacrilege sufficient to call down the thunder of
Zeus. Olympia with turnstiles and police, a
second Pompeii. But to this it must come, or else
how will those thousands of glittering fragments
be preserved from the omnivorous tourist ? With
the railway at its gates, the hotel on its hills, and
the globe-trotter descending from above, the last
days of Olympia are at hand. To all lovers of
art, to all lovers of nature, to all lovers of reli-
gion, I would say, Come, ere it be too late, and see
the pathetic past in its fit setting of silence and
of solitude.
D 2
CHAPTER III.
La vie sauvage — Beautiful scenery between Olympia and
Andritsaena — Pass through Krestena and Greka — White
heath and red anemones — Arrive in the dark — Strange
quarters — The young student — We sleep on the floor.
We had often laughed over the shortcomings of
the Xenodochion, but in spite of all Monsieur V.
said, it was not until we went to Andritsaena that
we experienced the real vie sauvage.
About a day and a half's journey below Olympia
is the Temple of Apollo at Bassae, which still
has some thirty-five columns standing, and what
makes this temple so particularly interesting to
the English is, that the beautiful frieze of the con-
tests of the Greeks and the Amazons, now in the
British Museum, came from it. When Bassae is
visited it is generally approached from the south in
the regulation tour of the Peloponnesus ; we in-
tended to run down from Olympia and see it. Of
course, dragomen and beds were not to be ob-
tained at Olympia, but a native guide was forth-
coming who undertook to see us through the
expedition in three days — viz. Olympia to An-
dritsaena, one day ; the Temple of Bassae, the ruins
Start for Andrits^exa. 37
of the ancient city of Phigaleia, and back to An-
dritsaina, second day ; return to Olympia the
third day. Baedeker gives ten hours for the
journey between Olympia and Andritssena ; our
guide said, including one hour's necessary halt for
the animals, it would take twelve; in point of fact,
owing to the state of the roads, or rather the want
of any roads at all, we were over that time. We
made no inquiry as to our lodging, as we thought
the less we said the more likely we were to stumble
on the real life of the natives.
Soon after six a.m. we flitted down the salle-a-
vianger to see if there were any preparations for
our departure, and, tied to the thorns, our eyes fell
upon two animals with the heads of ponies and
the tails of donkeys, further I could not venture to
define. We found that neither dXoyov {dlogoti) or
fxovkdpi (mouldri) seemed to describe them, so we
called them 'itttto? {ippos), with which definition
our guide seemed perfectly satisfied. The hipposes
being there, we hurried up, and naturally thought
we had only to depart ; but we had yet to learn
that a start was not a thing lightly to be entered
upon, and that so serious a matter could not be
accomplished all in a moment, in actual fact it
was close upon seven when we left.
As everything had to be put on our two animals,
we had brought down our personal effects to a
minimum ; a long fish basket, a sketching satchel,
38 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
and a roll in a small string bag representing our
kit. To this was added two bright-coloured
striped bags, belonging to the Xenodochion, two
dirty canvas ones containing fodder, and a large
leather bottle of wine. It took our guide more
than half an hour to disarrange and rearrange the
baggage, and when at length he got everything to
his satisfaction, he found that one of us rode much
heavier than the other, which caused a fresh
distribution of weight. Our saddles, of course, had
no pommels, being the ordinary wooden-peaked
ones, whose flat sides, especially designed for the
porterage of barrels and sticks, no doubt are much
more satisfactory to the barrels and to the sticks
than to human beings. When one of these
saddles is used for riding, a rug is thrown over it,
another folded on it, and upon this you sit, a piece of
rope with a broken bit of iron doing duty for stirrup,
and when two of these were fastened to one side
and both feet supported, it was declared to be a
great rest. Unfortunately, I never got the chance
of testing it, as not all the ingenuity of all the
Greeks ever succeeded in shortening a stirrup
within my diminutive reach ; occasionally I
wormed a toe into the top of a hanging rope, and
was thankful for that. Our bridles consisted of a
short chain and a long piece of rope, and as this
latter was tied through the mouth of the animal,
you had little or no control over your steed.
At the Ferry. 39
In the highest spirits we started, and although
an hour late felt no qualms ; we were sure to be
in at Andritsaena before it was dark ; neither did
we give a thought to the plight we might be in
when next our eyes rested on our friendly Xeno-
dochion. Leaving Drouva on our right and the
Museum hill on our left, we passed close to where
men were busy at work levelling for the new hotel,
and plunged beneath the olives, winding in and
out of them for about half an hour, when we came
to the shanty of the ferrymen, and there below us
was the beautiful sweep of the broad Alpheios,
Avith marshy fields on the farther bank, reaching
to the foot of the hills. Sliding down a sandy
incline, we were bidden to dismount.
" But where is the ferry ? " we exclaimed, gazing
round in every direction.
" Below," was the laconic reply, and there we
found the ferry-boat, hidden under the overhanging
bank.
One mule was already on board, and our
animals were soon in, notwithstanding one of
them refused over and over again; the three ap-
peared to recognize each other, and thought to
have a little friendly intercourse, but this show of
courtesy on their part was promptly suppressed ; no
doubt it was as well, as the stream was very strong
and the boatmen seemed to have a difficulty in
keeping the boat straight. The ferry-boat stopped
40 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
about twelve feet from the opposite bank, and we
began to wonder how we were to land.
"Do you think we are carried on shore?" said
Edith, in an anxious voice.
" If that is the programme, then will Andritsasna
never greet your eyes, for I doubt any one of those
three men being up to your weight."
Our guide, unknotting the bridle, held the rope
at its extreme end, and made the animal leap into
the water, where, after a struggle and a plunge, he
pulled it to the side of the boat, and we mounted.
The second hippos was as loth to leave the boat
as he had been to enter it, but being a moral
beast, the good example of the others, together
with a sound whack on his flanks, brought him to
reason.
Regardless of paths, we plunged through the
young corn, to a track winding up the side of the
hills, and here we passed between currant-fields,
the plants just looking like young vine-trees.
" Currant-vines/' our guide called them, for our
better understanding, I suppose, in contradistinc-
tion to what he termed " wine-vines." From
here we had the most lovely view of the valley
of the Alpheios, and looked across the gleam-
ing river to where the ruins of Olympia lay,
shut out from sight by the high banks cast up by
the two rivers. Although not so much as a broken
column nor a sparkling block of marble can be
Olympia in Classic Times. 41
seen, it was easy to conjure up before the eye the
beautiful sight that of old that valley must have pre-
sented, when the Alpheios was lined by glistening
porticos, and the plain covered by magnificent
temples, the dark firs of Kronos throwing out the
varying architecture of the Treasure-houses and
the old Heraeonj the exquisite line of the Echo
Colonnade running from north to south, whilst
the Stadion led the eye onward to the graceful
winding of the river, till it lost itself in the embrace
of the languishing hills as they die in the soft,
blue mist of distance.
Our route now led us along the most diverse of
ways, and through the most varied scenery. At
one moment we were treading a watercourse
between fields of lush green corn, a turn, and we
were plodding through deep sand, the road being
broken up by numbers of sand heaps standing in
rows like hay-cocks ; a slither down a bank, a
glissade over the side of a rock, and we were
landed in the middle of the large village of Kres-
tena, where travellers generally break the journey
by stopping the night. Our animals scrambled
over the foundations of a house, and we came out
on a real road, the land on each side of which
appeared to be under strict cultivation. The way
they seemed to order things was this : a tall Greek,
in black embroidered jacket and spotless fustanella
and leggings, stood in a graceful attitude watching
42 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
a row of white tunicked men hewing up the ground ;
these latter, we were told, were mostly Albanians.
Although on this three days' trip we passed
many men in the fields, I only noticed two in the
national dress who were actually doing any work ;
but if you met a man on a mule, or saw one stalk-
ing gloomily about, or lounging outside a khan,
it was quite safe to bet that he wore the fustanella.
I do not blame them. How can a man who is
clothed in spotless white, from toe to neck, work in
the fields which are either all mud or all dust. Be-
sides it would be cruelty to his wife who, in order
to keep her husband presentable under existing
circumstances, has to stick pretty close to the
wash-pot. I was surprised not to see more women
working in the fields ; apparently they did the
weeding, but I never once saw a woman digging
up the heavy ground or harnessed to trucks as in
other countries. Towards the evening we would
meet whole families with one or two mules
hastening towards the villages, which seemed to
indicate field labour for all.
But to return to our muttons. This grand road
out of Krestena ended as unexpectedly as it had
begun, and our track now led us beneath the wel-
come shade of some fir trees, and round huge
masses of rock which rose up like giant castles
defending the valley ; whilst from every stream
and every puddle the frogs sent up such a clatter
The Frog Parliament. 43
as to completely drown our voices. Our guide
did not appreciate their croaking ; in his case no
doubt familiarity bred contempt, but accustomed
to the feeble croakings in an English pond, those
frogs of Greece came upon me as a revelation ; I
revelled in that perfect comic chorus. They were
a large and catholic community in that valley ; they
held drawing-room meetings for the conversion of
English frogs ; they were trying a sensational case
under an overhanging tree ; they had a Home
Rule question all their own, and appeared to con-
duct their parliamentary debates on the lines laid
down by Committee Room Number Fifteen. In
a mud-hole, all to themselves, two or three old
gossips were tearing to rags the character of every
frog in that valley ; suffice it to say those wicked
frogs seemed to be parodying life above water.
About two hours after leaving Krestena, wc
came in sight of the village of Greka perched on a
hill. Before the house, presumably of a friend,
our animals came to a dead stop, but being quite
satisfied with the exterior view of that house, wc
said we preferred lunching in the country, and
accordingly descended to a delightful gorge down
which rushed a leaping torrent. The rugs were
spread in a little hollow above the water-fall, our
carpet was of anemones, our canopy the beautiful
budding foliage of large spreading trees. By the
side of the stream we sat, discussing a frugal meal
44 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
of bread, chocolate, and oranges, our operations
eagerly watched by a tall shepherd, dressed
entirely in skins and of sinister countenance, who
had arisen out of the bushes and attached himself
to our party. Although for the most part he kept
a dignified silence, he was not above taking a pull
at the leather bottle, and he accepted a cake of
chocolate, but without a word and without a
smile.
Now I must say a word as to our native guide.
He was a little slight man, with a very hairy face,
and clothed in blue from head to foot. His close-
fitting woollen leggings were blue, and they were
sewn on to sandals, from which apparently he
could never be free until the soles parted company
with the hose, which, by-the-way, one did before
we had accomplished the whole of our expedition.
His shaggy coat, with a pointed hood, was blue; it
fitted in at the waist, the skirts standing out with
large pockets, and there was something about the
cut of this coat that made him look exactly like
an Italian organ-grinder's performing monkey.
When it grew hot and he threw off his shaggy
coat, he came out as a sort of sporting character,
in spotless white shirt- sleeves, blue waistcoat, very
short corded breeches, and an enormous Greek
belt, which consisted of a number of folds of leather,
making innumerable pockets all round the waist.
In one fold he carried one-drachma notes, in another
Our Native Guide. 45
notes of higher value, coppers in yet another ; in
fact all his worldly goods were stowed away in
that belt, but the most conspicuous object in it
was a snowy-white pocket-handkerchief. How he
kept that article in its immaculate state during
those three days and two nights was a puzzle, we
fancied he must have had some artful way of re-
folding it each morning ; there was, however, this
in its favour, although flourished about on occa-
sions, it never came into active service. In spite of
his hairy appearance and monkey coat, his face,
when you could see it, wore a decidedly benevolent
expression.
It was one hour before the baggage was once more
satisfactorily roped on to the saddles, and we walked
up the precipitous side of the gorge, our guide and
the shepherd bringing up the animals ; then it was
explained to us that if we wished to go through
the Peloponnesus the shepherd would be very
pleased to guide us from Andritsaena to Megalo-
polis, but a searching glance at his sheepskins
decided us in the negative, and he disappeared into
the bushes as suddenly as he had appeared.
Although the way might be long it took us
through such a continual change of scenery that
we were kept entranced the whole of the time.
On high ground a glorious panorama spread out
around us, with the green hills of the Alpheios
and the snow peaks of Erymanthos to the north,
46 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
and on the east and on the south mountain upon
mountain of varied colour, with gleaming points of
snow in the far distance ; indeed, at one place we
saw no less than three separate snow ranges.
Then, leaving the stunted, straggling oaks, we
plunged into a rich tangle of arbutus, laurustinus,
thorns, and rocks, with white heath arching over-
head, and at our feet red anemones of every shade,
from pale pink to vivid scarlet ; the sensuous scent
of the white heath, the riot of crimson colour em-
phasizing this scene of unique beauty. The gorges
were shut in by large forest trees, and there was
one glade carpeted with trickling water and
maidenhair fern, and as the sun, piercing the light
green, leafy, tracery above, struck upon the water
it danced and sparkled like a thousand gems, turn-
ing that glen into a veritable fairy scene.
If, after passing Greka, we entered upon what
seemed the most picturesque part of our route, we
certainly came upon the worst part of the road. I
had begun by counting the streams we crossed,
but soon had to give it up, as we appeared always
to be either descending to or wading out of water,
and I now saw the reason of our guide's strange
feet gear ; wet boots would have been intolerable
to walk in, but these sort of sandal affairs threw off
the water and dried up at once. Owing to rain
the track had been washed away in many places,
and we had to take to the water to get round
Rough Roads. 47
corners. Across several of the large streams sub-
stantial bridges had been built, ready for the road
when it does come ; the difficulty, however, was
to make your way up to the bridges, and it often
saved time and trouble to ford the rivulet. Oc-
casionally, when gaily winding your way in a deep
rut between rocks, you were suddenly brought to a
halt by a recent fall, and there was nothing for it
but to back and try your luck in another cut.
Again, where the road was traceable it was often so
swampy that, unless led, your animal would bolt
straight through the bushes, in sublime indifference
to your face, your clothes, or the baggage it car-
ried. These mules or ponies, or whatever they are,
dote on stones ; a slope of loose boulders pleases
them immensely, a perpendicular zig-zag, which
has the appearance of a disused grave-yard, warms
their hearts, but what their soul loveth best is a
parapet one foot wide. Soft roads they abhor,
boggy ground they simply refuse, and it takes a
deal of riding to make them keep straight in a
muddy track.
Having had an eye nearly taken out by a swift
charge through bushes, I had brought my hippos
back into the muddy track and was having a battle
royal with him to keep him in it, when I received
unexpected aid by a timely attack in the rear from
a soldier, whom we had passed toiling up the
steep ascent, and who now brought the butt end
4S Two Roving Engltshwomen in Greece.
of his gun into action. As soon as he thought he
could be of any use his fatigue seemed to vanish ;
he seized the rope bridle out of my hand, and,
though burdened with all his kit, lightly sprang up
the rocks, pulling my recalcitrant hippos along the
muddy path. As an act of reciprocity I relieved
him of his kit, which consisted of a military cloak,
a grey blanket rolled up in the shape of a horse
collar, and a large pocket-handkerchief tied at the
four corners. By this time all the baggage, with
the exception of the fish basket, had been heaped
on my poor little hippos, so it required some con-
trivance to take on this new load, and I looked
more like a travelling tinker than ever, all the
bright corners of my rug being completely hidden.
I regarded that grey blanket doubtfully, but having
ridden on our guide's blue sheep-skin since the
sun came out, thought it hypercritical thus late in
the day to take exception to anything ; besides,
the little soldier, who was not much taller than
myself, was tramping all the way to Andritssena,
and had quite sufficient to carry in his heavy gun.
When he had come to my rescue he had looked
terribly distressed, but once relieved of his kit he
became a different man, and seemed perfectly
delighted to join our party. It was, however, very
hard to get a word out of him, and when he did
speak it was most difficult to make out a word he
said ; so I told him the time, an infallible way I
A Soldier's Offering. 49
found for making friends, and we got on better
afterwards. Once when we both grew hopelessly-
fogged, neither being able in the least to make out
what the other meant, he drew his sword and pre-
sented it to me ; a case, I suppose, of " I give you
all, I can no more, though poor the offering be."
We now came to one of the worst bits of the
road, a succession of small landslips, and our
animals, sticking out their forefeet, refused to go on.
Here our soldier, who seemed to know every inch
of the ground, seized my hippos, and rushing with
him into the bushes, took the soft ground higher
up, his face radiant with delight at having got
across first.
For the last hour we had been promised that the
next turn would bring us within sight of " beau-
tiful Andritsaena ; " and when at last the enraptured
exclamations of our two guides told us that it should
be seen, the shades of evening were too far advanced
for us to make it out clearly, and soon it became
quite dark. Our near proximity to a large village
was at once impressed upon us by a jangling of
bells, which came from the many mules that kept
looming up from below or coining down from above
and passing our tired animals. It was too dark to
see the path, there was nothing for it but to ride
with a loose rein and trust to the sagacity of the
hippos to look after himself. So we rode down to
Andritsaena, keeping our eyes on things above, but
E
50 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
with a pleasing sensation that we were skimming
the edge of an unfathomable abyss. Here our
little soldier bid us adieu, and at last we perceived
that we were shut in by houses instead of rocks,
whilst an occasional damp splash on the face told
us we were wading through considerable mud ;
turning up some steps at a right angle our beasts
suddenly halted.
Benumbed with cold we tumbled off our animals,
stumbled up some creaky steps into total darkness,
out of which we were led by our guide to where
flickered a gleam of light, and there plumped down
on two chairs, and left. It was a most weird pro-
ceeding, and we began to wonder what was going
to become of us — we should fall an easy prey to
anyone, for we were too tired for resistance. As our
eyes grew accustomed to the sudden change, we
discovered that the light came from a lamp on a
small table, whose rays fell on the head of a boy
diligently reading, and that we were in a long low
room, around which were arranged a number of
high trunks, and two beds which were in them-
selves a study in archaeology. I looked at those
beds and I looked at my friend, and said, " If this
is our apartment we shall have to curl ourselves
up on our chairs."
" I cannot ; I dare not even turn my head, for
mine has only three legs," returned Edith, in a
dismal voce.
Ax Apparition of Boys. 51
" Then we must await the development of
events," which apparently took the extraordinary
form of an apparition of youths. First a door
or a window or a something opened, and there
came into the focus of light a tall boy, then
another, another, and another, and they stood to-
gether peering at us over each other's shoulder.
" I don't see how this forwards events, and it is
rather awful to be stared at in that dumb way.
Cannot you say something ? " suggested Edith,
pleasantly.
Affairs were reaching a crisis, the spell of silence
must be broken, so, feeling very small, I made the
original remark that it was cold. This fortu-
nately called forth immediate action ; the iron
grating holding hot ashes was lifted close to us,
we were invited to warm our feet by it, and in this
way the ice was broken. Taking up the lamp the
boys showed off the prints of Royal personages
on the walls ; somehow they got very mixed
among the portraits ; one group, which they claimed
as representing members of their own Royal
Family, did not prevent us from recognizing it as
having done duty in another country for a still
more distinguished house ; but what did it matter ?
In both cases it denoted distinct loyalty, and we
were perfectly certain that neither royal house
would have exactly clamoured about owning those
portraits as likenesses ! We found that our)oung
E 2
52 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
student was turning Charles XII. in French into
Greek, and that he had just got to the crucial
battle of Pultowa, and this led to a dramatic con-
versation on that event. The youths then ranged
themselves in a semicircle and began eagerly to
give us a specimen of their French reading, in«the
midst of which entertainment entered our guide,
followed by our hostess carrying a tray, on which
were two tiny cups of coffee grounds.
" Is not the coffee good ? my mother made it,"
demanded our young student.
" Beautiful — very good/' we returned, knowing it
was the biggest — circumstances had yet called
upon us to make.
" I can't; it is all grounds; it will make me ill.
Can't you drink it ? " whispered Edith in an
agitated voice.
" With pleasure, if we can effect a change of cups
without being seen ; but I don't see how we are to
do it with our guide, mamma, and five boys steadily
fixing us with their gaze. Be heroic, think of our
reputation, and drink at all hazards."
" What ! " exclaimed our hostess, " will you not
finish it all up ? Ah well, there were a few grounds,
but they too were excellent."
At this critical moment our guide fortunately
beckoned us into the dark passage, and, escorted
by the household, we were shown our quarters.
By the aid of a candle we made out a small room,
A Native Dish. 53
with three windows with deep window-sills ; two of
these held our various items of baggage, the third
appeared heaped with white and red rags ; an old
wooden cupboard stood on one side of the door, a
small table was squeezed in between it and the
wall ; and that was all : we did not see that this
change forwarded us on our way either to supper
or to bed. Our guide then suggested eggs, to
which we readily assented ; in a minute he came
back and proposed lamb. Well, as the Greeks
seem to live upon lamb, and to starve when it
is not in season, we thought we could not get
wrong there, though we fancied, from the many
words that went before and came after that lamb,
that it would be served in some queer fashion.
Presently our hostess ran in with some grains of
rice in her hand ; would we have rice ? " Yes, cer-
tainly." Out of all this, surely, we thought, there
will appear something we can eat.
The fire was carried in and put down in one
corner, the table was dragged into the centre of the
room, the chairs appeared, our bread was produced
from the horse-bag/and two soup plates, containing
a concoction, were brought in. The rice was there,
and something else that appertained to the lamb,
all stirred about with greasy water and coloured
with blacks ; the eggs apparently could not be
raised at this late hour. Oh if they would only
all absquatulate and let us approach that dish with
54 Two Roving i Englishwomen in Greece.
caution and in solitude ! but it was not to be. We
took up our leaden spoons, we laughed, we shut
our eyes, we wrestled with that unknown delicacy —
but it was too much for us. Of course it was pro-
nounced excellent, but we were too tired to enjoy
it. Could we go to bed ?
" Bed ? oh yes. Two beds for two people ! what
wilful extravagance."
It was explained to them that at Olympia we
each had a separate room with two beds ; then the
children looked at us askance, and heads were
shaken over such wicked waste in beds.
Out went the fire, followed by the chairs, the
table was moved back into the corner, the floor
swept with a brush of twigs, we in the meantime
flattening ourselves against the wall to get out of
the way. A mattress and a rug were brought in
and divided between us, two pillows and two sheets
were developed out of the red and white rags, the
quilted coverlets evolved from a miscellaneous
heap under the table. By the aid of two women,
three children and our guide, we managed to get
the door together, so that we could lock it, and we
then surveyed our room in peace. Two of our
windows looked on the balcony, which had been
occupied by the aforesaid youths as a coign of
advantage, but, seeing our requirements, they very
kindly helped us to close the shutters, and when
we had piled up the remains of the domestic linen
You Feel all Boxes. 55
against the broken panes of glass we felt ourselves
pretty secure from without ; from within, however,
we thought the great fight would come, and our
hearts sank as we noticed that the walls were hung
with the wardrobe of the master of the house.
There were short and long black coats, and sheep-
skins — one very shaggy white one looking decidedly
dangerous — and a fustanella at the back of the
door. We perfectly longed to try on that fusta-
nella and dance a pirouette, but prudence withheld
us, and we gave each and all of those various
articles as wide a berth as our limited space would
allow.
" I shall never go to sleep until I have seen
what is in that cupboard," suddenly declared
Edith.
" I should say you would never go to sleep after
looking into it."
But wilful woman ! and in went a head. She
said what she saw were things Greek and that they
had no synonyms in the English language. This
I do know, she did not sleep, but then there might
have been other causes. A ride of twelve hours
on a wooden saddle is not a good preparation for
a night on the floor : you become unpleasantly
acquainted with your own anatomy; turn whichever
way you will, you feel all bones ; and throughout
the night there was a sense of things crawling.
Honestly, I cannot say we were bitten, but whether
56 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
this was due to a liberal shower of " Keating- " or
to metal more attractive in our immediate neigh-
bourhood remained an open question. Our left
was guarded by the long low room that we had
first entered, and where the family, its ramifica-
tions, and our guide apparently took up their
quarters for the night. A large colony of pigs and
a goat had it all their own way on another side,
whilst those dogs never stopped howling through-
out the night ; unlike the dogs of Olympia they
were evidently of a painfully domestic turn. It
was quite a shock to find that such a noise could
be kept up all night in what looked like a peaceful
country village.
Worn out, I had just fallen into a semi-sleep
when I was aroused by a stifled cry, —
" Get up at once, there is something gnawing
all our clothes, and what shall we do without
them ?"
I started up and saw Edith recklessly using up
our precious match-box.
" For pity's sake, don't leave us in this benighted
place without a match."
" There, don't you hear it ? Oh, my dear ! there
will not be a rag left for us to put on ! " and away
blazed the matches again.
It certainly sounded as if a host of rats were
devouring everything in the room, and it was not
until we had carefully examined our belongings
What was It? 57
that the truth flashed upon us. It was that
goat sharpening his horns against the wall
close to Edith's head ! Now, had she been
dreaming ?
CHAPTER IV.
Give up Phigaleia on account of the rain — Stony road to
Bassae — Splendid situation of the temple, and utter
desolation of the spot — We go without escort — Grisly
experiences — Are received by the priest's wife at
Andn'tsaena — Our mistakes in etiquette — Return to
Giympia.
It is wonderful how exceedingly unrefreshed you
feel without a wash, so we thought we would make
an effort in that direction, and opening our door
we boldly called aloud for water, which call was re-
sponded to by a small damsel from whose beaming
countenance we understood that our demand in
this direction had been anxiously looked for. This
was more than we expected, and guilty and
ashamed I sneaked back to our room, conscious
that we had judged all too hastily. We waited and
we waited, but no water and no basin made its ap-
pearance. Hearing, however, strange noises outside
I peeped round the door, and there in the passage
stood a stool on which was a tin pie-dish half full of
water, and in the background an interested multitude.
For one awful moment I contemplated that scene,
then seizing up the pie-dish bolted with it into our
room, to the intense disappointment of that assem-
A Tin Pie-Dish. 59
bly. A tin pic-dish seems the regulation washing
basin of the uncivilized, and from experience I can
say there is not much satisfaction to be got out of
it. We thought regretfully of the sparkling rivu-
lets and rushing waters we had passed yesterday,
and we promised ourselves better things when out
in the country.
The cold of the night had developed into pour-
ing rain, blue-black clouds enveloping even the
near hills, and our guide said it was impossible to
start for Basss in this storm ; we should be blown
down, it would not be safe, so all that we could do
ivas to stand in our empty room and wait. At
first there was nothing to see but blinding rain,
but as soon as the storm began to break it was
most interesting to watch the clouds, as it were,
peeling off the mountains one after the other, until
the green hills of the Alpheios were seen in the
far distance. Then we were allowed to make a
start, but owing to the loss of time we were
obliged to give up going to Phigaleia.
The characteristics of the country on this day's
journey were totally different to those of yesterday.
Excepting looking down on two small hamlets
that seemed to be almost a continuation of
Andritsaena, we saw no signs of habitation. A
shepherd boy, who offered us some milk, and a
patrol of soldiers were all the humans we encoun-
tered. Occasional telegraph poles, bent to the
Go Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
wind, were the only symbol of civilization, whilst
the very flowers had changed their nature. Yes-
terday there were anemones of every shade of red
and pink, tall, white stars of Bethlehem, vetches of
different size and colour, iris, asphodels, and quan-
tities of other flowers ; but to-day small hardy little
blue anemones, with an occasional white one, took
the place of the gorgeous red tribe, the yellow star
of Bethlehem stood against the wind, whilst its white
sister barely showed her stars above ground,
scentless violets on long stalks lifted their heads
above dead leaves, and a little purple pink flower
kept close to the earth. Stunted oaks cropped up,
but for the most part the hills were bare, with a
barrenness seen among the heights of deserted
terraces at the back of Mentone. The sides of the
hills bristled with large fragments of rock that
looked as if they had been torn from above and
hurled down at a rebellious nation ; the valleys be-
tween them were strewn with jagged blocks, stones,
stones everywhere, the very earth seemed only to
produce ridges of rock. There was no particular
road, it was more like one continuous skate over
graveyards ; then the heavens once more opened,
down came the rain, and, drawing my hood over
my eyes, I tied the rope-bridle to my saddle and
the wind sent us slithering down to the bottom of
the valley. How Edith managed to keep on her
hat and hold up an umbrella I do not know.
Nature's Graveyards. 6i
Luckily that storm did not last long, and we soon
dried up. It was the only storm we had on this
or any of our other excursions, and after it was
over we were glad of our experience, as not to be
caught in a rain-cloud would have marked us for
ever as the most veritable tyros in Greek tra-
velling.
Since arriving in Greece, one feature had par-
ticularly struck us, and that was the absence of
real graveyards. By rail and by road we had
looked in vain for a sign of a tombstone. Near
one village we at last thought we had run one to
earth when we saw a small church standing in a
large plot of land surrounded by a very high wall,
and guarded by a very thick gate ; between the
planks of this gate we peeped, but nothing was
to be seen but rank grass and hemlock. We
could only draw the conclusion that either the
Greeks never die, or that their life is spent so
entirely among stones that they are only too
thankful to get rid of them in death. The
principle on which nature sets up her graveyards
is that of the domestic staircase with the step
reversed, and this makes the climbing up the
precipitous side of a hill adorned in this way so
arduous a performance. In one place our guide
made us dismount, and, tying my hippos to the
tail of the other, he drove them up before him,
we toiling after as best we could ; but on our return
62 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
journey we refused to dismount, and our animals
skated us down that zig-zag in lovely style.
On the bleak stony hill above Bassas a glorious
view of the southern part of the Peloponnesus
opens out, but owing to the stormy weather we
could only see it in glimpses as the clouds raced
one over the other. Moreover, the wind was
so cold it almost blinded you, and its strength
was so great that you felt your animal bending
to it. Fortunately I had left my hat behind, and
it only seemed as if I kept my head on my
shoulders by means of the hood of my ulster.
Our guide was totally enveloped in his blue coat
and peaked hood, and looked more like a dancing
monkey than ever. We gazed around, but no
temple could we see. " Ah, that is below," and
so it was ; standing on a kind of promontory
at the side of the hill, in such a position that it
cannot be seen from this approach until you are
on it.
Outside Athens the temple at Bassas is in better
preservation than any other we saw in Greece.
Thirty-five out of the original thirty-eight columns
of the peristyle are standing, and on these the
architrave is still in position, whilst sufficient of
the walls and columns of the interior are left to
distinctly mark the peculiarities of the temple.
In the first instance it faces from north to south
instead of from east to west ; in place of the
Temple of Bass^e. 63
Attic rule of thirteen columns on a side, it has
fifteen (one less, however, than the Herseon at
Olympia), and this makes it look to have an
enormous length when seen from below. The
cella is divided into recesses by cross-walls, in-
stead of the usual aisles by columns, and from
this a good idea can be got of how the Heraeon
must have looked in the old days. Beyond the
cross-walls the statue of Apollo stood, not facing
down the temple in the ordinary way, but, in
order to get the eastward position, looking across
to a door in the east wall. From this it is sup-
posed that an earlier shrine stood here and was
incorporated in the beautiful new temple built by
the pious Phigaleians, who employed no less
celebrated a man than Iktinos, one of the
architects of the Parthenon. When we looked
at the broken columns and wreck of the marble
roof that lay tossed around mixed up with frag-
ments of rock, we felt thankful that the fine
marble frieze of the cella was safe in the British
Museum.
Situated high up in the hills the position of this
temple is admirable and again wholly unique.
From the south end, looking towards Sparta and
Kalamata, a wonderful view is obtained of dis-
tant mountains and snowy peaks, with the dark-
crowned height of the once far-famed monastery
of Ithome standing out in the middle distance.
64 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
To the west, across a ravine, can be traced the
rough hills behind which the extensive ruins of
Phigaleia lie hid, whilst a deep scarp in the
mountains showed the sea laughing in bright
sunshine and casting gentle curls of white foam
on the yellow beach. Strange contrast, inimi-
^K
table glimpse of smil-
ing loveliness down
there, and up here
thrown-down columns, marble fragments, rocks
pitched upon rocks, stones upon stones, broken
terraces, one or two straggling oaks strug-
gling for existence; no water, no vegetation,
a veritable garden of desolation, amid which the
long line of limestone columns of the temple stood
out white against the brooding sky. Certainly
A Sudden Apparition. 65
no place, before or since, has impressed me with
such an intense sense of stupendous solitude.
This appears to be the general impression, for
we were asked later on in our travels, how we had
dared to go alone with only a native guide to
such a desolate place. " Why, we had an escort
of soldiers, although we were all men."
" And we wandered about by ourselves for two
hours, looking at the temple from various points."
In the first place, though we felt the intense
loneliness, it never occurred to us to be frightened,
and if such a thought had crossed our brain com-
mon-sense would have told us that we were much
safer with a native guide who was known to all
the country-side, than with an inadequate escort.
If anything happened to a party conducted by a
native guide, then good-bye to all employment
of one of the people who, as it is, find it hard
enough work to compete with the thoroughly
competent dragomen of Athens. To be strictly
truthful, we did, however, get a start before leaving
Bassae. It was in this manner. Our guide was
away packing the animals ; we had taken a last
look at the wild confusion of rocks outside, and
were sitting silently in the temple, in imagination
building it up as it once had been, when suddenly
from behind the broken column on which Edith
sat, a white ghost rose. Fixing its piercing black
eyes on us, it stretched out its hands for a
F
66 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
moment, muttered a few unintelligible words,
and then majestically stalked away with all the
grace and dignity of the sad, silent Greek of the
Peloponnesus. These shepherds, when clothed
in white shaggy sheepskins, with their pointed
hoods drawn over their heads, have a most un-
canny appearance, which is greatly increased by
the extraordinary way they have of apparently
appearing out of or disappearing into the earth.
Is this also the outcome of the years the Greek
lived as a hunted man ? In the same way, during
this journey, looking up the side of a hill, your
attention would be arrested by a sudden spot of
light, the gleam of the sun on a barrel, and
presently the dark blue of a couple of cara-
bineers on patrol duty would be seen among
the rocks, but they never hailed us or shouted out
so much as a kald.
The most grisly experience, however, was that
first afternoon at Olympia, when I had gone down
alone to further investigate those "foundations."
Intent on making out the different walls, I dodged
considerably about, and before long became con-
scious whenever I turned of something moving in
my immediate neighbourhood. My attention
being aroused, I soon caught a vision of a white
thing flapping behind a thrown-down capital, and
a few set moves showed me that I was being
shadowed. There was not a soul to be seen on
Shadowed by a Ghost. 67
the neighbouring heights, I might have shouted
until I was black in the face and no one would
have heard, so I sat down on an elevated spot in
the hope that the thing would come out and show
itself, but all that I gained was a swift glance of a
most unprepossessing face, as for a moment it
rested its chin on the top of a broken pillar.
There was no good trying to escape from the ruins
as the thing was between me and the narrow way
that led to the bridge over the Kladeos, and if
mischief was meant I should only be running my
head into it by making a bolt. It was an un-
comfortable moment, but I came to the conclusion
that if it was written in the book of Fate that I
was to be murdered I should be, and that I might
just as well pick out an appropriate spot for the
sacrifice and leave a sketch of it behind me as a
memento for my sorrowing family. Accordingly
I settled down among the huge fragments before
the Temple of Zeus, and drew for some time in
peace ; then I felt that the thing had moved round
me and was now actually looking over my
shoulder. I did not relish that face being so close
to my own, and a nearer view added to its hideous-
ness. I opened my mouth ; and the moment I
spoke to it it seemed satisfied, and it sat down and
stared at me. I then perceived that it wore a large
white apron tied to its neck, and which, flapping
in the wind, had puzzled me so much, and I thought
F 2
68 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
I recognized the thing as a half-witted looking
being I had seen vanishing in the direction of the
kitchen of the Xenodochion. Presently it arose
and disappeared, apparently satisfied, but having
never uttered a single word.
On our way back from Bassas we stopped at a
beautiful large stream and had awash. We thought
one guide an improvement on half a village, but
on his showing a dangerous interest in our tooth
brushes, we beguiled him into a hollow trunk of a
tree and set him to watch the water boil for tea, a
long acquaintance with that spirit lamp assuring
us that he would be well employed for the next ten
minutes. Of course a Greek appeared at a critical
moment, they always do ; let the country look as
desolate as you like, someone rises from the earth
when least wanted. Being limited by the exi-
gencies of our luggage to one dress on and one
dress off, this journey was undertaken by one of us
in a dressing-gown and a waterproof, and as the
latter always had to be on the outside this necessi-
tated a kind of change round according as the sun
came out or went in. A desolate spot was always
chosen for this double-shuffle, but as sure as the
dressing-gown came into play a Greek appeared
a few feet in advance, staring with great round
eyes.
Andritssena, which lies upwards of two
thousand feet above the level of the sea, is prettily
A Picturesque Street. 69
situated on the side of a basin in the hills. A
large stream rushes down the valley, and from its
broken banks a variety of trees and many vine-
yards climb upwards, whilst behind the town rise
the bare peaks pointing to where the majestic
temple of Bassae stands. The natives look upon
Andritssena as a town, so town, I suppose, it must
be, and its industry is the making of shoes which
our guide said, " are celebrated all round the
country." The principal street of Andritsrena is
most picturesque ; it winds upwards towards the
church, and it is shut in by houses of black wood,
built in Swiss fashion, and which nearly meet over-
head. The lowest story of these houses are chiefly
turned into open shops, and here behind strings of
red shoes and amongst other richly-coloured
articles for sale, the fine formed Greeks in fusta-
nella lounged, their dark, many-folded leather
belts holding all manner of things ; it only wanted
a woman or two in costume to make the picture
perfect, but they, poor things, apparently were still
at work.
Leaving the strings of tufted shoes, and the
lights and shadows of this fascinating street behind
us, we wound up to the little church that crowned
the top of the hill. As we approached the gate of
the wall that enclosed the church, two ladies
rushed down the steps of a house opposite, seized
our hands, nearly wrung them off, and, after a
70 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
voluminous welcome, dispatched us in the care of
a charming, bright-eyed girl, in a short red petti-
coat, to see the church, followed by a mixed troup
of sightseers after the human. As Greek churches
go this would be considered a large one ; there was
carving on some of the capitals, but the church had
no particular features, unless it was that the pictures
were uglier than usual, and that there was a
long gallery at the west end set apart for the
women. She of the red petticoat insisted on our
going up to the gallery, which we found absolutely
bare, not so much as a broken bench to be seen ;
and when we suggested that we thought all the
women could do here was to sit on the floor and
go to sleep, from the delight of the girl and the
twinkle of her eye we fancied we had hit the truth.
Our guide put a copper or two in the plate on his
own account, and a drachma each for us, and then
we went out to look at the view of the distant hills,
and, leaning over the wall, had a most interesting
glimpse of the town, climbing down to the mountain
torrent. On passing through the gate, we were
seized upon by the aforesaid ladies in black, rushed
up the steps, told to shake hands with an old lady
almost bent double, dragged across a room and
plumped down on a wooden sofa adorned with red
cushions, and liberally scattered over with crochet
antimacassars, the work, I should think, of several
generations.
Invited into the Priest's House. ;i
When we had somewhat regained our senses,
and whilst our hostess was regaining her breath,
for she was decidedly stout, we took in the chief
features of the room. It was low and long, like-
wise carpeted, which carpet had every facility of
showing off its brilliant colour and elegant pattern,
as all the furniture was carefully placed against the
walls, the entire length of the one opposite to our
sofa being occupied by a row of boxes covered
with gay rugs. We were in fact in the best room
of the priest's house, and a remarkably well-
furnished one it was. His good-natured wife, the
Pappadia, had drawn a chair close to us on our
left, and still sat gasping. Leaning over the end
of the sofa, with a grandchild at her knee, was the
grandmother, a charming looking, bright-eyed, in-
telligent old lady, the handsomest woman we saw
in Greece, and, then in stalked three young men
with fly-away cloaks, and sat down on the boxes
and stared hard.
Eyes on every side, it was really very embarras-
sing, and for the life of me I could think of no
Greek but to ask them their names ; this however
seemed to be just what the Pappadia wanted, and
gave her an opportunity for that fatal inquiry
after our relationship. Now as our guide was
sitting on the edge of the last box nearest to the
door and I had only some two hours ago owned
up to an unknown relationship with my friend,
72 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
and likewise assented to her being married as
sounding more respectable to his ears, this ordeal
was truly appalling, On the chance of there
being a regulation code on this favourite theme,
I denied any sisterly connection, also negatived
the second proposition, and smilingly clenched
the third, only trusting that it was all right and
that I had not acknowledged a divorce or anything
that was likely to bring discredit on our heads.
I have an idea that they put us down as widows,
and were much impressed with our cheerful way
of bearing up under our sad circumstances. Then
there marched into the room a tall youth in a
suit of light grey dittos — a prig of the first water
— who was introduced to us with much ceremony
in the middle of the room as " my son." We rose,
made our best bows, shook hands ; we backed to
our sofa and he backed to the line of trunks, where
he took up a prominent position among the young
men. "My son" was supposed to speak French
and did so, much in the manner that we spoke
Greek, and a conversation, conducted on the
principle of seven words of Greek to one of French
on his part and ten words of French to one of
Greek on our side, took place, the three young
men acting as chorus in the background ; in fact
one of the latter appeared the sharpest at under-
standing of the whole party, but we found we
were not expected to notice the chorus, so we
" What ought I to do ? " 73
dare not seek the information we were burning to
acquire, and which, if eyes could speak, that youth
was equally eager to impart. Thus even in far
Andritsaena our thirst for knowledge was handi-
capped by some trivial rule of etiquette.
The charmer in red petticoats now entered,
carrying a tray on which were two kinds of pre-
serve in glass jars, tumblers of water, and tiny cups
of coffee. To have such a galaxy as this thrust
under your nose, whilst under a battery of eighteen
eyes and with the consciousness that you are
unacquainted with the rules of procedure, is a truly
painful moment.
" What ought I to do ? How am I to begin ?"
exclaimed Edith, in a stage whisper.
Drawing a bow at a venture, I return, hurriedly,
"Take a spoonful of jam and a glass of water."
But in the embarrassment of the moment she
was about to plunge that spoonful of jam into the
large glass of water, when the Pappadia, jumping
up, came to the rescue. Seizing the spoon, she
gave it a second dig into the jam, and with an
artful twist, conveyed half of the contents of the
jar into Edith's mouth, all the young men rushing
up and standing round to see the performance.
This was the last straw ; though I lost my charac-
ter for ever, I could not help it, and hiding my
face in the antimacassars, I shook with laughter ;
but to my intense relief the next instant I heard
74 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
the room re-echo with the laughter of the young
men, who seemed as glad to relieve their feelings
as we were, and then the Pappadia joined in.
The light-coloured jam that we tasted was some-
thing like pear marmalade, and strongly to be
recommended ; we said kald to this with a free
conscience, and after a sip of cold clear water I
found the coffee most acceptable. But, alas ! not
so Edith.
" I cannot touch it, what is to be done ? "
murmured she.
Fortunately, at this moment " my son " insisted
upon handing me his Latin grammar ; so, in
opening the book, I took the opportunity to tip
up Edith's cup.
She took her loss so sweetly that they all were
charmed with her amiability. No doubt they had
their own thoughts regarding my clumsiness.
The Pappadia then presented us with oranges,
which we said we should keep for our journey
back to Olympia and think of her when we ate
them to-morrow, after which glorious effort at
politeness in the Greek language we thought we
had better make tracks, so we submitted our hands
to the shakers, bowed low to the chorus, and
backed out of the room. On the doorstep, in
defiance of etiquette, we shook hands with the
charmer in red petticoats.
Somehow that native dish last night had com-
"The English never Laugh." 75
pletely put us off, and we had refused so much as
to look at lamb, or anything that appertained to
the lamb. " What, no meat ! " cried our guide.
" All the English eat so much meat and drink so
much wine. Meat and wine, wine and meat,
that was the English ! We must be very strange
English indeed, but then he knew we were, for
we laughed and laughed and ate nothing, and the
English never laugh and always eat meat."
We thought we would try eggs served in their
shells ; the latter, any way, must be a protection
against extraneous matter, and our obliging
hostess brought us four hard-boiled eggs rolling
about on one plate, and stood over us to see how we
attacked them, making various remarks as to our
individual shortcomings in this wise, —
" What a very little bread you eat, and white
bread too ! The other lady eats no bread at all ;
such a thing has never been heard of in Andritsoena
before. Did she never eat bread ? You are slow ;
why, the other lady has finished both her eggs, and
you have not eaten one yet. Are you always so
slow ? " And then our kind hostess, taking com-
passion on my sinful slowness, seized the last egg
and was about to peel it, but the very horror of
the situation called up a miraculous flow of tongues,
and I saved that egg.
Although better than yesterday's mess of pottage,
cold water, dry bread, and hard eggs did not make
76 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
up an appetizing meal. Being what it was, Edith
rightly argued the sooner it was despatched the
better ; but it defied my best efforts in that
direction, and I take the gods to witness that it is
the least expeditious food that can be set before a
hungry mortal. We had never had a particularly
high opinion of the bread of Olympia, and that
piece of a long loaf which we had brought with us,
and which had been kept in one of the horse-bags
for two days, had now taken a criminal hardness.
It seemed to stick in our throats, although we
thought we could have dined very fairly on it had
we had a pot of the Pappadia's excellent jam to
help it down. We were told afterwards that we
should have fared much better if we had taken to
the native brown bread, which does not get dry
and has a good deal of nourishment in it ; but we did
not buy any, under a false impression that it was
sour, and we certainly did not feel inclined to
share our guide's loaf, although he courteously
offered us a bite.
It is said that cleanliness is next to godliness,
and most assuredly there are no two subjects about
which there is a greater diversity of opinion. With
the latter, fortunately, this history has not to deal,
but the former, whilst on the trot in foreign parts,
is necessarily a burning question. Our Greek
hostess had her own ideas of cleanliness. She had
been very much shocked in the morning to find
Awkward Attentions. 77
that we had splashed most of the water out of the
tin pie-dish on to the floor, and shook her head
over such dirty ways, and now she thought it
exceedingly disgusting of us to keep on our boots,
but as we likewise had our own ideas regarding
the floor, we stuck to our boots and persuaded her
to lay the beds. This was accomplished before an
audience of three children and my sister-in-law,
and as when these beds were spread there was only
a path left of two feet on two sides of the room, we
had either to sit on the table or to stand against
the walls, whilst we had the pleasure of seeing one
small child, with very dirty feet, careering all over
our beds — that, however, was quite according to
their rules of cleanliness, and they forgave us our
dirty habits for the sake of our crimson dressing-
gowns. These garments appeared to afford them
the greatest interest ; they all jnsisted, one after the
other, upon stroking the plush collar and cuffs of one,
whilst a pinked out double box pleat on the other
elicited their warmest admiration. I did my best
to show them how this ruche was made, and I am
sure that a race who can pleat up twelve yards
into a fustanella ought to be able to accomplish
anything in that line.
Out of consideration for our wearied state, they
had left us in peace the night before, but they
evidently intended to take it out of us this evening.
Once or twice we thought we were on the point of
yS Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
getting rid of the whole pack, but they always left
one child in to report progress, and upon any
novelty coming into action she gave the alarm,
when the whole party was upon us once more.
The long, smooth brown hair of my friend was the
rallying cry at one time, our brushes and combs
another, and at their earnest request I foolishly
let them take my brush into their hands, never
thinking of the blank despair that would im-
mediately settle on my soul until I saw that brush
restored safely to its case. Then they pointed
reproachfully at my tousled locks, and said, —
" Why don't you make your hair smooth like the
other lady's, and follow her good example and get
into bed ? "
Nature, however, has not endowed me with a
total indifference to performing my toilet in public.
On that matter I am not a Gallio, so I shook my
head and laughed. But upon their repeating the
request, an inspiration came to me. I ran my
fingers through my hair, making it stand on end, and
brandishing my brush aloft, I advanced towards the
children, who took fright and scuttled, and, follow-
ing up my retreating foe, I fairly brushed the
whole family out. Ye who are plagued with a
head of rough hair, take comfort ; remember that
there are occasions when it is more useful to
produce horror and disgust than to excite love
and admiration ; which is a moral.
"Tell him to go." 79
A third time I endeavoured to turn the key in
the door, but that lock was determined to rest on
its laurels of yesterday. I could not drag the table
to the door without half-murdering my weary
friend ; there was nothing for it but to put the
rickety stool — our washing-stand — against the
door. Our guide had received all his instructions ;
the women had been finally turned out ; there
really seemed no reason why we should not be
left in peace.
I kicked off my boots, I — rap came at the door.
" Good-night," I returned, taking up an advan-
tageous position on the table, as I dare not be
caught standing on the beds by any member of
the family. Slowly the door was pushed open a
little way ; over went the stool — luckily, the tin
dish was safe in one of the window sills — and the
monkey face of our guide beamed benevolently
upon us. He positively wanted nothing, it was
merely sheer curiosity on his part ; he knew his
instructions by heart, but still he stopped and
smiled.
" What does that man want ? " exclaimed Edith.
" Why can't you get him out of the room ? Tell
him to go, and do put out the light."
" It is all your hair and that collar and those
cuffs," I returned. " I should suggest your tying
a towel round your locks and hiding that too
fascinating plush, or we shall be having the whole
8o Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
village in by sections. Moreover, I mean to sit
them out if they keep me up all night," which
latter sentiment our guide seemed to under-
stand, and with a hopeless shake of the head in my
direction, he finally disappeared. Sleeping on the
floor is not a thing that grows upon you ; somehow
we found that second night worse than the first.
As we had no desire for another ride in the dark,
and also had a holy fear of being belated on this side
of the Alpheios and having to camp out in
the damp fields, we had impressed upon our guide
the necessity of starting by six a.m. Of course
when we issued out at that early hour the next
morning we found the animals had not got half-way
through their feed ; moreover our guide was making
desperate efforts to stow away in the various horse-
bags a large consignment of shoes in which he had
invested. He tried to beguile us back into the
house, but we said we preferred to stand outside
and shiver in the early mist. Edith, who had
added to her vocabulary of hippos the word
kreo (cold), picked up from the people, stood to her
guns, and at stated intervals, with a majestic wave
of the hand, reiterated, " hippos, kreo ! " till at last
our guide could stand it no longer, and so we got
off at half-past six.
This morning we saw the master of the house,
and, in his neat black coat and white fustanella, he
ooked quite a gentleman in comparison to his
The Little Soldier again.
draggle-tailed wife. She was a tall woman, and
might have had a good figure, but Hera herself
could not have passed for divine in a dirty brown
bedgown ; " my sister-in-law," who broke up her
costume with a white bodice and an apron, looked
many degrees better, but spoilt her face by wearing
a black band across her forehead. Two of the
small children had presented us with weird
bouquets, and we had given them chocolate,
the tinfoil of which they devoured with much
appreciation. So with many kalds we slithered
down the steps into the street, and there found the
little soldier, whose kit we had taken up on our way
to Andritsaena, standing attention. His face beamed
with delight when he saw that we recognized him,
and he looked proudly round, shuffling off the
admiring crowd, but to all our good mornings and
adieux he only answered by unceasing salutes, and
the last we saw as we sank in the mud before the
row of unfinished houses was his hand still raised
to his cap.
Leaving Andritsaena we had a full view of the
gullies we had passed over in the dark, and in day-
light we declined altogether to journey on the out-
side edge. Then, as we mounted the opposite crest,
we turned for a last look at picturesque Andritsaena,
but the valley was still filled with white vapour,
and so we left that quaint town bathed in morn-
ing mist. Although it was very cold when we
G
82 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
started, it soon grew warm, and during the hottest
part of the day we halted for one hour. The way
was just as beautiful as when we came, but in spite
of snowy mountains, fairy glens, white heath and
red anemones, never were two mortals more glad
than we were when at last we saw below us the
broad white waters of the Alpheios. In our small
way we cried out with the immortal ten thousand,
"The sea ! the sea!"
How gaily two days ago we had set forth under
those olive trees, but three days on wooden saddles
and two nights on the floor, with nothing particular
in the way of food, had left us with only the
skeleton of a laugh. And down there stood our
Xenodochion, no longer to be scoffed at as the
abode of savagery, but the home of civilization.
Beds, towels, wine glasses ; fish, flesh, yea, perhaps
fowl ! even lurked beneath that pointed roof; and
we belaboured our tired hipposes with the end of
the rope in answer to the waving hands that
greeted our approach.
CHAPTER V.
Our classic wash— The last of Olympia— From Patras to
Athens — Sykon— Old Corinth and its acropolis — Akro-
Korinthos— Isthmian Wall and the Canal— Eighteen
German professors — Athens— Treasures from Mykenae,
and old tombs — Alexander's sarcophagus by Lysippos —
Walk up Pentelicus and look down on Marathon.
Since leaving Olympia two days ago an immense
stride in civilization had taken place. The vener-
able rags that had done duty for tablecloths were
replaced by clean ones, carefully joined together so
as to present one expanse of white. Water was
brought for the asking, the coffee was no longer
served in the jug, chicken and salad actually
appeared at table ; and all this had come about by
the advent of a youth from Athens, who had
taken the place of the grinning Leonidos. This
young man was a typical modern Greek in his
anxiety to get on in life. He had just finished his
time in the army, where he had waited on his
colonel, had learnt to speak French, and had earned
a first-rate character ; his desire now was to acquire
English. Being a better class of youth, he had
a holy horror of hotel and restaurant life in
London, and he wished to get into a private family
G 2
84 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
as extra man-servant for a few months. He told
us wages were no consideration, for he could have
a free passage to England in a currant boat, and
that he would do anything from blacking boots to
teaching modern Greek. He had brought about a
great revolution at the Xenodochi'on, but for all
that I regretted Leonidos and his primitive ideas
regarding cleanliness.
The idle tourist is often seen leaning over the
parapet of a bridge, and smiling cynically at the
beating and stoning of clothes that is going on
below in the waters, but had that tourist ever
been driven to make a wash in a river on his or her
own account, that smile would have been all on the
side of the beater and stoner. It looks so sweetly
pastoral and easy. Nausikaa, with bundle poised
on head, lightly tripping down to the classic river,
no soap in hand, the rush of the sweet waters
alone cleansing diplois and chiton.
Such is the picture ; now for experience — in
point of fact, our troubles began the moment we
arrived at the Kladeos. If you cannot find a
come-at-able pool in the river, you have to scrape
up the pebbles and make one ; then you have to
lay a little pier of stones on which to stand ; you
fetch a big flat stone, and on that you confidently
deposit your soap. Now you congratulate your-
self on your forethought, look complacently
round on your arrangements, and think you can
Wash Clothes in the Kladeos. 85
make a start. Taking up a position on the pier,
you smear on the soap and commence to rub,
which operation disintegrates the pier, but such
accidents will happen ; it is not that which dis-
turbs the mind, but the extraordinary negative
effect that soap has on the clothes. Is it caused by
something in the water, your method, or what ?
and you turn to take it any way out of that soap,
which you just see sliding off the stone into the
river ; of course you go after that soap, and by
the time it is recaptured " the wash " is making a
start down stream. You throw sticks, lumps of
sand, anything and all things, to stop that flight,
and when at last the things are fished out, they
are found in a far worse state than they were at
the beginning. In despair, you tie them all to-
gether, jump on to a large boulder, and let the
river swirl them at its will ; then, when your arms
are quite numb with holding them, you hang the
things on a thorn bush. As fast as you put one
up, the wind blows another down, till at last, in
desperation, you drive the thorns through them,
but even that does not ensure security, and you
cannot pretend indifference to their fate, when a
single loss might create a crisis in your wardrobe;
so there is nothing for it but to sit down on a
sand-heap and "tent" those clothes, and I know
of no more dismal an occupation than watching
he drying process reveal to you, one by one, the
86 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
total failure of your wash. Edith, however, pro-
nounced her wash to be a perfect success, and I
fancy it must have been, from the proud way in
which she displayed it up and down that river
side.
From the extraordinary interest Monsieur V.
evinced in our attempt at " a wash " in the
Kladeos, I was perfectly sure that he must once
have essayed one on his own account, with re-
sults equal to mine. He listened with an air of
humiliation and depression to Edith's calm as-
surance of the entire success of her operations,
and then, turning to me, said, with a tinge of hope
in his tone, —
"And you, mademoiselle ? "
"It was the first time, and — it will be the
last."
With delight : " Ah, then mademoiselle had not
been successful ! It did not appear that made-
moiselle liked washing."
" I do not see what there is to like about it,"
and then, emboldened by conviction, " Monsieur
did not enjoy it either ?"
Denial hovered on his lips, but for once he
spoke the truth. " That'is true, mademoiselle."
Passing over our failures, it might be useful to
mention one of our successes, in case there are
those who have not heard of this particular pro-
cess. Where threepence is charged for each
Monsieur V. 87
pocket-handkerchief, as is the case in Athens, it is
a great consideration to be able to wash your own,
and this is how to do it. Wash the handkerchief
well with soap in hot water, wring- it out gently,
take it up by two corners, and place it immedi-
ately against one of the panes of glass of the
window, taking care to smooth out all wrinkles.
If the handkerchief is of a decent texture, and
sufficiently wet, it will stick at once to the glass,
and when dry it falls down, looking quite smooth,
and as if it had been ironed. Those who are very
particular should fold it carefully and pack it up
for a day, which still more improves its appear-
ance. Of course it is indispensable to see that
the pane of glass is clean, and to put a newspaper
or towel for the handkerchief to fall on. In an
hotel dust or sand always congregates on the floor
near a window.
We had requested our letters to be directed to
us at Olympia, care of Madame Georgios Pliris,
but Monsieur V. assured us we should never get
them.
"Letters," he said, "never come to Olympia !
You must rail to Pyrgos and fetch them," and as
he apparently lived on the line, he kindly under-
took to inquire at the post-office on our behalf.
Whether they were insufficiently addressed, or
what, I cannot say, but this I do know, those
letters have not been seen down to this day.
88 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Likewise, our inquiries after Madame Georgios
Pliris, the supposed owner of the Xenodochion
were equally futile. We were first told there was
not so much as a woman on the premises, but one
day we started a very ancient female, and ran her
to the little kitchen built out at the side, on the
threshold of which we paused, having been warned
not to enter whilst we were dependent on that
kitchen for food. Monsieur V. would have it
that Madame Georgios was no more, and sug-
gested that our letters had been sent after her.
On account of the trains not corresponding,
we found we could not run through from Olympia
to Athens, but would have to stay at Pyrgos or
Patras, so chose the latter. It was quite a wrench
to leave peaceful Olympia and to think that, if
ever we visited it again, a great hotel would be
staring us in the face ; and when we left on the
2nd of April, 1892, the railway was expected
to be completed in a few weeks, though the per-
manent station had yet to be built.
About two o'clock in the afternoon we saun-
tered down to the train ; then, when everybody
had settled themselves comfortably, the engine-
driver thought he might as well start, and Monsieur
V., who never got into a train until it had begun
to move, jumped into our carriage and came with
us part of the way, but before dropping down on
the line, he handed us over to a Greek gentlema
The Inevitable Knock. 89
whose "boy" was to look after our things at
Pyrgos and see us into the train for Patras, and
so we were passed on.
Jumping down from the carriage at Pyrgos, we
alighted at the feet of the smiling station-master,
who insisted on shaking hands, on the strength of
his English, I suppose, and wanted to know where
we had been and what we had seen. The people
appear to love to shake hands, and always did if
they could raise a shadow of excuse for so
doing.
Again we had the beautiful sea-view all the
way to Patras, with occasional glimpses, inland, of
the Erymanthos spurs of snow ; only this time we
watched all this beauty fade from daylight into
night, whereas before, we had seen it come out
from its morning mists into sunshine. Our train
stopped on the same piece of waste land at Patras,
and we had no difficulty in getting a carriage and
driving to the Hotel d'Angleterre. We chose this
hotel in the pride of our independence, and met
with that reward which the good little story-books
— with that singular perversity for ignoring the
good in the natural man— say that pride deserves.
Having spent the whole morning in a last look
at the museum, and a despairing scramble all over
the ruins of Olympia, we were quite fagged out by
the time we reached Patras, and had but one
desire, bed ; when, of course, the inevitable knock
90 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
came to the door. It was Gaze's agent to know
if there was anything he could do for us.
We returned thanks, intimated that we had
Cook's tickets to Athens, and that we considered
ourselves mentally and physically capable of con-
tinuing our journey without the kind assistance of
anyone. We had hardly begun to plume our-
selves on this victory than another rap came, and
we saw before us Cook's agent who had landed us
from the steamer. He congratulated us on our
safe return, regretted he had not been at the
train to meet us, and announced he should
come to-morrow morning and take us to the
station and see us off for Athens. We had no
tickets of Gaze to play off upon him, so meekly
we assented ; it was in this wise we fell from
our high estate, and it is here that the story-book
moral comes in. Although we had been defeated
in our object of coming to this hotel, we found it
most comfortable and inexpensive, and so sought
for consolation in our pockets.
Our train left Patras at 7.40 a.m., and we started
on the most lovely railway journey I have ever
been in my life. The Peloponnesus coast was
much in the style of the Italian Riviera, but what
causes that to take such a decided second place in
comparison to this is, that here the magnificent out-
line of Northern Greece, with its rugged mountains
and peaks of snow, is always within view across
Beautiful Coast-line. 91
the bright waters of the Corinthian Gulf. If such
is the view from the railway, it can easily be
imagined what it must be from the steamer when
the snows of Erymanthos (73CO feet), Kyllene
(7790 feet), and all the lofty ranges of Arcadia
and Achaia are also in sight.
Soon after leaving Patras we looked back on
the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth, which, al-
though one mile and a quarter wide, appeared
much narrower ; the two Venetian forts guarding
the entrance stood picturesquely out, but in spirit
we sighed after the temples of Poseidon which
once reared their columns here. These fortresses
and those of Corfu were the first indications we
saw of that wonderful Venetian supremacy which
afterwards we were to find cropping up all over
Greece, most notably, perhaps, at Nauplia and at
Khalkis. Of course, as admirers of Motley's
Dutch Republic, we strained our eyes in search of
Lepanto where Don John of Austria won his
fame, and the spot was pointed out to us on the
92 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
opposite coast, where the gulf again narrowed, so
that it was in these circumscribed waters that that
great naval battle took place. After this point
the gulf gradually widened, and the long white
range of Parnassos (8070 feet) and Helikon (5738
feet) came in sight. The snow added greatly to
the beauty of the scene, whilst, owing to the
deeply-cut and ragged coast-line, the views we
caught were most varied and at times quite
puzzling. As we now gazed in admiration, little
did we think that Parnassos was to stand out in
far "reater Grandeur when seen from the sea above
Thermopylae.
Leaving the fascinating snows behind, we curved
into the beautiful Bay of Corinth, and here upon a
terrace some three miles inland lie the ruins of
Sikyon, so sacred to the artist as the seat of the
Sikyonian or Dorian School, justly celebrated for
the severity of its academic course. Apelles, the
greatest of all the classic painters, studied here,
and he and the exquisite sculptor Lysippos are
said to have been the shining lights of this
School. But perhaps the traveller who has been
gazing in admiration at the red poppies in the
currant-fields will be more interested to remember
that the very ancient name of Sikyon was Mekone,
the poppy-town. Kithseron (4620 feet), with
whose peak we were to become so familiar during
our stay at Athens, was now in front of us, and
Akropolis of Old Corinth.
93
Akro-Korinthos, on its dark crag, soon came in
view ahead on the right. The railway line passes
Lechaeon, the old northern port of Corinth, as
Kenchreae on the Saronic Gulf was the southern ;
and looking up to Akro-Korinthos, we thought we
made out the position of the ancient town which
stood at the foot of the citadel. It was some-
where up there that Diogenes established his
JHn
famous tub, and where that short but pithy inter-
change of sentiment took place between him
and Alexander the Great. That, too, was the site
of the commercial Corinth, re-established by Caesar,
that St. Paul visited, and it was to these Corinthians,
the debased representatives of an always luxurious
trading community, that St. Paul wrote his epistles.
With the beautiful bay on one side and these
interesting peeps at Akro-Korinthos on the other,
the view was most distracting, and kept us on the
94 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
trot from one window to the other, until all the
landscape was suddenly blocked out by a row of
empty carriages and the uninteresting buildings
of the station of new Corinth, which place lies
close to the shore, and appeared to be of little
interest.
Soon after leaving the station we passed over
the site of the famous Isthmian Wall, which, by
the way, can be traced above ground in many
places, and turning our back on the new town of
Poseidonia, which is rising up at the mouth of the
canal, we crossed the latter by an iron bridge.
The Canal is some ioo feet in breadth ; it is a beau-
tiful clean cut from the Bay of Corinth to the
Saronic Gulf, and glancing up it, about a mile to
the north and two miles and a half to the south,
a quaint glimpse of the sea is caught at both ends.
Looking down from the bridge, the bottom of the
canal appeared to be a tremendous depth below,
and men were hard at work all along the cut.
It seems odd that the ancient Greeks never made a
canal through the isthmus, but the Romans did
make several attempts, and traces of Nero's works
have been found. At the Saronic end of the
canal another small town, Isthmia, is springing up.
We had now crossed the Isthmus of Corinth
and had the view and the sea to our right, although,
looking back, charming peeps of the Corinthian
Gulf could still be seen at times. After leaving the
Retributive Justice. 95
little station of Kalamaki, the line makes several
sharp curves, and we looked across the water to
Kenchreae, with Akro-Korinthos standing out on
its dark hill behind. This Kenchreae, which, as I
have said, was the eastern port of old Corinth,
was the harbour whence St. Paul, accompanied by
Priscilla and Aquila, set sail for Syria.
From Kenchreae southwards we traced the coast-
line of the Peloponnesus, which, however, soon
became mixed up with the numerous little islands
of the Saronic Gulf, with fair yEgina in the far
distance. Long curving Salamis then came in
view, whilst inland we were passing beneath the
perpendicular Skironian rocks. Those "accursed
cliffs," where in mythic times dwelt that old thief
Skiron, who, with a sense of humour wholly
egotistical, compelled unwary travellers to wash
his feet, and then, whilst so doing, kicked them
over the precipice into the sea ; but retributive
justice at last overtook him in the person of
Theseus, who, being something of a scamp him-
self, managed to turn the tables on the old villain,
and there is a lovely illustration of this incident
on a vase in the British Museum, which shows
Theseus gracefully tipping the old sinner over
the rock and hurling his washing-cylix after him.
Running inland, about a mile from the sea, the
train stops at Megara, with its houses climbing up
to the top of the hill ; it is now famous for its
96 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
dances on Easter Tuesday and the beauty of its
women ! In ancient days, when it was lord of
lovely Salamis just opposite, it was a great com-
mercial centre, vying with Corinth, and having
colonies on the Bosphorus and in Sicily, but its
glory has departed ; somehow Megara was the one
place in Greece that caused us a sense of disap-
pointment. The charming Bay of Eleusis now
opened out before us ; but for loveliness we must
give the preference to the view looking back, where
the long reach of water is bordered by soft coloured
hills, shut in by the snow range of Kyllene. Once
past Eleusis, we struck into the country for Athens.
This description of the latter part of our journey
was not, however, what we saw on this occasion,
but at a future time, for, in point of fact, the
view that was now presented to our eyes from
Corinth to Athens was wholly human, and quite
unexpected. It fell about in this wise. The whole
way from Patras to Corinth the Greeks had been
most considerate in allowing us to have one of the
compartments to ourselves, so that we could have
an uninterrupted view out of both windows. But,
as in ancient times, the Dorians had here poured
in and overrun the early Achaeans, so now at
Corinth did a Teuton horde o'erwhelm us, and our
anxiously-looked-for first view of the lovely ap-
proach to Athens resolved itself into the contem-
plation of one long vista of heads and shoulders,
An Unexpected View. 97
beginning at the windows of what had been our
own special preserve and running down to the
end of the carriage. Altogether there were twelve
windows and eleven German professors, all with
their heads and shoulders out of those windows,
whilst the lucky owner of two windows thrust a
broad arm through one and his head out of the
other, and so made the most of the situation.
There was nothing for it but to stand on the seats
and peep over their heads, which made the Greeks
open their eyes. From our own feelings we could
easily understand the excitement of the Germans,
and their wish to see everything, and they appeared
to be exceedingly interesting men to talk to.
They told us they were a party of eighteen pro-
fessors, who were sent on a tour through Greece at
at the expense of their Government ; they had
just tramped through the Peloponnesus, and had
had many strange experiences as to food and
lodging, so we asked if they had been at Andrit-
saena. At the mention of this place they began
to laugh, which laugh ran down the vista to the
last man in the last compartment ; then out it came —
" Andritsaena, we shall never forget it. We had
all, eighteen of us, to sleep in a row on the floor in
one room ! "
If the remaining seven professors were of the
same calibre as the eleven, it must have been an
uncommonly tight fit to get them into any one
H
98 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
room in Andritsaena. We told them that we had
likewise slept on the floor, and that we spent two
nights there.
" Then you stayed two nights in the worst place
in the Peloponnesus ; we never experienced any-
thing so bad anywhere else." At which statement
we felt proud, and began to cease to regret that we
had not gone through the Peloponnesus, picking up
a native guide from place to place.
The professors said they were travelling light,
and as far as we saw their kit consisted of a
Baedeker and a pair of opera-glasses. They
seemed like a lot of boys let loose from school,
and they went perfectly wild when Athens came
in view. Lucky men to belong to a nation whose
Government has the courage to foster a love of
archaeology, and a knowledge of true art. We
thought regretfully of a certain Chamber of Repre-
sentatives, in the richest city of the world, and of
the howl that would be raised in that august
assembly were a vote proposed for such an object.
After our "vie sauvage" it was quite strange to
find a looking-glass in your room, and it was not
until we had revelled in unlimited hot water at
Athens that we fully realized the impurities of
that which had been served up to us at Olympia.
We had been at many good hotels in many
countries, but we found the Hotel d'Angleterre at
Athens the most comfortable one in which we had
A GkKhK FUNEKAL. 99
ever stayed. Downstairs there were four pretty
sitting-rooms — one with a cooling fountain —
opening into each other, and on every floor a
delightful large cool corridor, where you could
read or write with ease and in peace ; whilst all
the officials, from the manager downwards, were
most kind and attentive. As we did not wish to
enter into competition with the Greek Government
in matters of finance, we chose the highest flight
and from the rooms at the top of the house there
was a perfect view of the Acropolis. On the night
of the Fete of the Independence we had a splendid
view of the Parthenon illuminated without the
trouble of going out of doors, and, although so
high up, we could see any procession in the streets.
The Greeks, like many other southern nations,
have the- custom of carrying the dead arrayed in
brave attire through the streets, accompanied, if
possible, by a military band. We came across
three of these processions, but in each case the
deceased was a man. First came the band, and, if
any, the banners of the Societies to which the
departed belonged ; then was borne along a reclin-
ing bier, on which was the deceased, dressed in
evening clothes, with a large bouquet of violets at
his breast or about his head ; the hearse followed
immediately after, and the mourners behind ;
when it was an officer the deceased wore his regi-
mentals, and the hearse was drawn by military
II 2
ioo Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
horses ridden by soldiers. Of course, to us this
custom presented rather a ghastly effect, especially
as in one case the face had to be veiled ; the
advantage, I suppose, of this exposure is that in
countries where they are obliged to bury so
quickly, it allows the deceased (if I may use such
an Irishism) a last chance of coming to life again
if not really dead.
I do not propose to give any account of Athens,
as the Athens of to-day can be found in Murray
and Baepeker, whilst for the Athens of old I
would refer the student to the Attica of Pausanias,
or the excellent translation of a part of it by Mrs.
Verrall and Miss Jane Harrison. With regard to
the three great museums in Athens, the Acropolis
Museum, the Polytechnic Institute, and the
National Museum, their attraction, of course,
entirely depends on the interest the individual
takes in the art they contain ; in their particular
line each museum appeared to me to be unique.
As I am about to take my readers to visit
Mykenae, it would be as well to give a glance at
the collection of Mykensean antiquities at the fine
Polytechnic Institute, a modern building of
Pentelic marble, and where are collected all the
treasures found at Tiryns and Mykenae. The
contents of the five pit-graves excavated by
Schliemann are deposited in long glass cases,
v\ hi 1st that of the sixth grave, which was discovered
Myken.*;an Treasures. ioi
by the Greek Archaeological Society, has been
arranged, exactly as they were found, in a high
glass tomb in the centre of the room. Here are
to be seen the two skeletons with all their weapons
by their side, drinking-cups at their heads, and
large earthenware vessels at their feet ; but no
copper kettles were found in this grave and only
one gold cup. Although this sixth grave was not
so rich a find as the others, it is doubly interesting
to the visitor as showing the exact mode of burial
in these shaft or pit- graves, and anyone who is
really interested in these things should carry away
in his mind a clear memory of this case, and fit it
into the grave as he looks down into it from the
Circle of Slabs at Mykenae. The gold ornaments
and vessels' discovered in these graves are all of
most beautiful design, and there was one alabaster
vase with three curling handles — a pattern with
which we are all familiar — which was particularly
fascinating. Here, too, is to be seen that gold
ring on which is represented three ladies dressed in
divided skirts and nothing else ; at least, that is the
impression conveyed by the peculiar drawing of
the single garment they wear. Scraps of wall-
painting are also to be seen, some of them appear-
ing to be an echo of a more advanced period of
art, and many slabs with spiral ornament.
Just beyond the handsome Polytechnic Insti-
tute is the National Museum, likewise owing its
102 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
existence to individual generosity. In a museum
like this, where a fragment of a few feet of drapery
will arrest the eye for half an hour, it would be
too invidious to mention a single statue, but a
word must be said concerning the large and
beautiful collection of sepulchral stones, vases, and
sarcophagi, from about the fifth century B.C. into
the present era ; indeed, there was one small room
devoted to so-called Christian art. When we
were in Athens these funeral reliefs were not all
in position, and our zeal constantly landed us in
the midst of a puddle of mortar ; also the contents
of these rooms were not as yet included in the
catalogue ; but the men about were very kind in
pointing out objects they thought we should par-
ticularly like to see, and we were much interested
in watching the skill with which the modern
craftsman brought back into life the old vases
from a heap of jagged, painted fragments. On the
table before him would be arranged separate heaps
of fragments and several plain terra-cotta vases
made in the exact shape of the originals, and on
these, with wonderful accuracy, he stuck the bits in
their correct positions, so that the student could
easily fill in the plain spaces and get a perfect idea
of the subject of the vase.
The ancient Greeks apparently had three
favourite ways of commemorating the dead — by
stelai, which in shape are very like our old-fashioned
Sepulchral Slabs. 103
upright tombstones, by funeral vases, jug-form, and
some of them of enormous height, and by sar-
cophagi of the usual shape. The very ancient
stelai, such as were found at Mykenae, were deco>
rated with spirals, archaic figures, chariots with one
wheel, a horse, a lion chasing an ibex, &c. ; those
we saw in the National Museum were all of well-
modelled figures, varying from a single one to
quite a large group. They generally represented
the banquet of the dead, or the deceased taking
farewell of his or her family, and were chiefly dis-
tinguished by a dignified but perfectly resigned
sorrow. In some cases, as in the manner of our
modern epitaph, the character of the deceased
appeared to be indicated — thus a young man was
depicted as departing accompanied by his dog ; a
young lady was shown busy over her toilet.
Many of the vases were decorated with beautiful
reliefs ; and the sarcophagi were almost overloaded
with figures.
When we talk of sarcophagi, it is always painful
to think that the two most beautiful Greek
sarcophagi in the world are not to be seen in
Greece, but in the museum at Constantinople.
These two are in totally different styles, that of
sublime simplicity, and the perfect elaboration of
technical knowledge, each one being a faultless
specimen of its kind. To begin with "sublime
simplicity/' the four panels of this tomb show
104 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
single figures of the same woman in every attitude
of grief ; the figures are most chaste, and seem to
carry in them an epitome of all that is highest
and most lovely in the character of women. The
other is the famous tomb of Alexander the Great,
made of Pentelic marble, and supposed to be the
work of Lysippos. It is a work in high relief, the
four panels show stirring scenes, and the figures
are said to be Greeks and Persians. One of the
end panels represents Alexander killing his faithful
friend, Clytus ; the two long panels appeared to
depict hunting scenes, and in the best preserved
of these Alexander, his general, Permenes, and
Perdicus, whom Alexander appointed as his
successor, were pointed out to us ; besides the
men and horses, there were lions, stags, and dogs,
all beautifully carved and exquisite in form.
Although the figures were quite small, the different
expression on the men's faces was something
wonderful. The figures stood out in such strong
relief that they looked as if they could be plucked
from the background, and their drapery was
delicately tinted with colour, of which a pale
violet and very light red were especially pleasing
to the eye. I had never seen any work like this
before, and it was difficult to realize that it was
actually carved in marble and not in ivory. It is
work such as this that gives us a far better idea
than the daubs of Pompeii of the art of the old
Alexander's Tomb. 105
Greek painters ; a people who had before them the
works of Praxiteles and Lysippos could not have
written enthusiastically of Apelles and Zeuxis, had
those painters come far short of the sculptors.
But to return to Alexander, this beautiful sar-
cophagus, with many others, was discovered in a
large hall buried upwards of sixty feet beneath the
sand near Sidon, in Palestine ; then follows the
sad part of the story. Although in very good
preservation, it might have come back to the
world in its original perfection had it been buried
in a country that cared a twopenny button for Art.
We were told the mutilations were of recent date,
the natives making money by selling broken heads
to foreigners, and getting nothing for revealing the
whereabouts of these invaluable treasures to their
Government. It is miserable to think that the
works of the great Greek artists may now be going
through daily mutilation at the hands of nineteenth-
century savages, and it does not appear that
Alexander's tomb is particularly safe in a city
which can be entered by a conquering army any
day of the week.
The situation of Athens is certainly worthy of
all that has been said in its praise, the hill of Lyka-
bettos and the Acropolis should be seen from
every side ; the point of view which pleased me
most, perhaps as the least familiar, was that of the
monumental mound at Kolonos, the home of
106 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Sophocles, and situated on the fringe of the olive
woods. The excursion to Mount Pentelicus (3640)
should not be missed, as from the summit you get
a splendid idea of the country and lay of the
mountains ; also it is a rest to the eyes after days
of museums and ruins, and the lover of flowers will
feast on a floral banquet. Such a non-botanical
creature as myself noticed masses of arbutus,
crowds of purple anemones, bushes of white and
pink cistus and the small yellow one ; higher up
we gathered a sort of yellow daisy and a lot of
white heath ; then growing amongst the rocks were
quantities of orchises, large mauve, dark purple,
the bee, and a delicate and very pretty light yellow
specimen, also creamy-yellow irises, some of which
had lovely dark purple spots. We were about
two hours driving from Athens to the convent of
Mendeli, where we lunched under the shade of a
splendid grove of trees ; we then walked up Pen-
telicus. It took us one hour and a quarter to the
Stalactite Grotto, and nearly two hours thence to
the top ; the latter half, though entirely over rock,
was not bad walking ; the really nasty bit was the
slippery zig-zag over chips of marble from the flat
to the grotto. If the sun had not been coming
down exactly on our heads, it would have been
enjoyable enough, but on a hot day it is too much
of a fag and far better to ride. The view from the
top was very fine, a perfect panorama of peaks,
View From Pentelicus. 107
many of which were covered with snow ; but
Athens was entirely hid behind Lykabettos, and it
was hazy in the direction of the sea. Some stray
muleteers begged for a look through my glasses,
and in return picked out Kithaeron, Kyllene,
Helikon, and Parnassos from amongst the chaos
of peaks to the west ; then amidst the haze they
said Poros and Hydrea could be seen on the south-
west, and pointed south to where Melos, upwards
of ninety miles away, is just visible on a clear day.
Turning round to the east, beyond Sunion, were
many islands, and Andros leading up to Eubcea,
which looked quite near, and whose pointed peak
of Delph (5725 feet), clothed entirely in snow,
raised its graceful head immediately before us on
the north. Between the near hills and Delph we
knew the channel of the Euripos lay, that difficult
passage which we hoped to sample on our way to
Thessaly, if only the brigands would keep decently
quiet. Immediately below us, close to the sea,
were some red-looking fields ; this was the cele-
brated field of Marathon.
CHAPTER VI.
Huckleberries on the Parthenon — Mykense — The shaft-
graves and bee-hive tombs — Argos — Nauplia — Drive to
the Hieron of Epidauros ; the perfect theatre — Askle-
pios as physician and humorist — Tiryns : its wonderf
walls and galleries.
It had been our desire to take up our quarters
at Nauplia, and from thence visit on our own
account Epidauros, Tiryns, Mykense, Argos,
taking Akro-Korinthos on our way ; but as we
wished to be in Athens for the Good Friday pro-
cessions and Easter ceremonies, there was no
time to see these places in this leisurely manner.
Under these circumstances we consulted Gaze,
with the result that we became two units in a
party of six. We had often thought that we
should like to experience what it was to be
" personally conducted," and we fancied we could
stand two days and a half of it without wanting
to run away. Well, we heard and saw many
strange things, and were most agreeably enter-
tained by the wit and humour of our companions
and the diplomatic answers of our dragoman,
who, by the way, arranged everything capitally,
It is but a Step. 109
and was most good in giving us as much time
as he possibly could at the various places. It
was not his fault that there was one in that six
who could only have found perfect satisfaction
in sitting down in each sacred spot for a day,
building up palace and wall, seeing the old heroes
stalking in at the gates, and again fighting o'er
their single combats around the hearth of the
M^garon.
Of course the lover of art or of archseology
should flee such miscellaneous alliances, and if he
cannot fall in with those zu/10 know, let him take
a guide and worry it out by himself ; otherwise he
will receive shocks such as greeted the ears of a
party of enthusiasts, who, steeped in classic lore,
ascended to the Parthenon one moonlight night
when column and architrave, rock and ruin, alike
seemed wrapped in silvery silence. Here, burn-
ing with religious ecstasy, pulse beating to throb-
bing thought, the deep stillness of the hour was
cut by the shriek of Athene's owl ; but the words
it said were strange : " I guess, there is a smell up
here that puts me in mind of a bucket full of
huckleberries ! "
Although in Athens it had rained every day
for the last week, and the natives said it would
continue, it was a lovely morning when we
started at 7 a.m. for Mykenae, via Corinth. We
had found that we had to give up the expe-
no Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
dition to Akro-Korinthos for the want of an
extra day. Owing to the human obstruction as
we travelled to x<\thens, we were very glad to take
this part of the journey again, and certainly the
view looking up to the Isthmus of Corinth is one
that cannot be seen too often. This morning the
colouring was more beautiful than ever, and I
could not tear my eyes from where Kyllene's
jagged peaks of snow set off a range of pale
cobalt hills that faded into a sea of rich French
blue. The prettiest views certainly are caught
as you travel westwards, and the first glimpses
of the Gulf of Corinth on the right, whilst the
exquisite Saronic Gulf is still on the left, are ever
enchanting. Then Helikon and Parnassos once
more came in view, and all this beauty not marred
by a single hard jarring line. At Corinth the
Tripolitza and Argos line, with its branch to
Nauplia, comes in, and here we had to change
trains.
Leaving the vine and currant fields, we ran round
the east of Akro-Korinthos, and saw the ruins of
a temple at its base ; then we entered hilly
country, that appeared quite plain for Greece, and
put me in mind of some parts of the dales in
the East Riding of Yorkshire, and we stopped
at Nemea. Somehow a railway-station called
Nemea sounded much more strange to our ears
than the wildest adventures of Herakles, and we
The Argolic Plain. iii
looked at the hills to the west which once no
doubt had been trodden by the ever-famous
Nemean lion, and which hid the vale where the
Nemean games were held. Escaping from this
barren, hilly country, the line enters the Argolic
plain which reaches down to the Bay of Nauplia,
shut off from the sea on the south-east by Itsh
Kaleh, the old acropolis, and which in shape and
situation is so like the rock of Monaco.
:
Perhaps it would make the following account
clearer if a word here is said as to the relative
position of the three great cities of the Argolic
plain, and as the majority of people enter it from
the south, we will suppose ourselves standing on
the north shore, the landing-place of the rock of
Xauplia, and looking across the bay to the
Nemean hills. From these hills the plain is shut
in on either side by mountains, those on the left
eventually running down to the high ranges of
ii2 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Lakonia, whilst on the right the hills, taking in
the twin points of Mount Elias and Zara, strike
out to the east to lofty Arachnaeon, and Mount
Titthion and Kynortion, between which lie the
ruins of the Hieron of Epidauros. Low hills
circle round to meet Palamidi, the fortress of
Nauplia, and on the right curve of the bay, one
and a quarter of a mile from the sea, an isolated
rock, surrounded by massive walls, stands up.
This is the wonderful citadel of Tiryns. Exactly
to the north of the bay, projecting into the plain,
rises a dark-pointed hill, Larisa, 1 the acropolis of
Argos, with the town at its foot stretching down
to the sea. The advantage of this situation at
once strikes the eye, and seems to offer a solution
as to how it was that Argos remained the domi-
nant power of the plain, in spite of an occasional
flash in the pan on the part of Tiryns and My-
kenae. Across the plain to the north-east, nine
and a half miles from the sea, Mykense is hidden
away between the two pointed mountains of the
" Prophet Elias " and Zara, which easily mark
the position of the place, although not a stone
of Agamemnon's city can be seen from here.
Guarded above by the strong fort on Mount
Elias, and on all sides by its own massive walls,
Mykenae, in its quiet nook in the hills, offered a
Larisa, the Palasgic for citadel, as is Argos for plain.
A Centre of Art. in
safe asylum to the Phoenician goldsmiths of those
days, and to artists of all kinds. No doubt its
revenues were greatly increased by levying toll
on all passers-by, as late discoveries go to show
that Mykenae commanded all the cyclopean high-
ways to the north. Besides on the south, it was
farther protected by Tiryns, as these two cities
on the east of the plain were closely allied. It is
difficult to understand how an impregnable for-
â–
tress like Tiryns could remain subject to My-
kena?, unless it was a self-preservation league
against their common enemy in the threatening
fortress of Larisa, across the plain. Still more
puzzling, looking at the walls of Tiryns and
Mykenae, is it to comprehend how both these
places fell before the conquering arms of the
Argives. It all goes to show that in those
days Argos must have been a wonderfully strong
place, but as there appears in all ages to have
been a large settlement there, the acropolis and
r
ii4 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
town have naturally been much built upon and
knocked about, whereas Tiryns — with the excep-
tion of first a Doric temple and then a Byzantine
church built on the Upper Castle — seems to have
been practically deserted, and Mykenae never
raised her head to power again. Glancing up the
plain and thinking of the traditions of the heroes
who lived there, you cannot help being struck by
the close connection that at one time must have
existed between Argolis and Thessaly. Apart
from the interest attached to the cities of the
Argolic plain, the view from every point is ex-
quisite, with ever-varying peaks, even down to
the snows of Taygetos below Sparta. Prose, how-
ever, is quite inadequate to describe Grecian
scenery, and, as far as I have read, Byron alone
has done it in poetry.
At the wayside station of Phikhtia we left the
train, and found carriages waiting to drive us up to
the little village of Kharvati, which stands at the
foot of the steep slope of the Lower City of Mykenae.
Our driver wore the fustanella, which looked very
queer on the box-seat. Our carriage had three
horses abreast and one trotting behind in case of
accidents, and in this fashion we ploughed through
mud and sand in the direction of the two pointed
hills in whose embrace Mykenae has slumbered
these thousand odd years and more. Kharvati
was all stones; it put me in mind of a Riviera
The Lower City. 115
village, only without its dark arches. Here the
carriages stopped, and we had luncheon on a bal-
cony which commanded a beautiful view of the
plain and surrounding mountains ; below the bal-
cony there was a room with a collection of frag-
ments that had been found in the immediate
neighbourhood.
From Kharvati to the Acropolis of Mykense
the track winds up the whole length of the Lower
City, and leaving the others to wait for donkeys,
we started with two very small boys, who were
delighted to act as guides. It is in this Lower City
that the Tholos or Bee-hive tombs and those cut
out in the rock have been found ; indeed, remains
of walls appeared to be tossed up in all directions.
The whole scene presented such a dreary con-
fusion of scattered debris, fallen rock, mangled
foundations of all periods, that Edith seemed to
think that I had dragged her to the very gates of
Hades, and left her lamenting in the graveyard of
the
Pointing down to the right, the two little guides
said there was "a bridge down there," the re-
mains of the large cyclopean bridge that once
carried the sacred way to the Heraeon, that holy
sanctuary, older than Mykenae, where the leaders of
the Trojan expedition swore allegiance to Aga-
memnon. Farther on there were the foundations
of a gateway down to the right, but we hastened
I 2
u6 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
on to the so-called Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of
Agamemnon, which is situated about half-way up
the Lower City. This tomb is in wonderful pre-
servation, and but for the few stone slabs that have
been knocked in at the top would have remained
perfect so far as the building was concerned ; the
decorations, both outside and in, had been plun-
dered ages before Dr. Schliemann began his exca-
vations. The tomb is approached by a long, broad
passage, 1 between high walls of large regular-
looking stones in lines, which leads to the faqade,
originally highly ornamented with coloured mar-
bles and bronze, the marks where the marble
half columns once stood on each side of the door-
way being just visible. Two fragments of these
columns, together with two slabs of spiral orna-
ment and three reliefs, are now in the British
Museum. The doorway is close upon 18ft. high,
and slightly narrows upwards, the difference in the
width of the top and the bottom being given as
eight inches, and it certainly looks it ; the lintel
on the outside is made out of one large stone and
is of ordinary shape, but inside it is composed of
one huge block, 29 ft. 6 in. long, 16 ft. 6 in. deep,
3 ft. high, and weighing about 120 tons. This
stone projects beyond the door on both sides, and
appeared to be concave, curving to suit the shape
1 20 feet broad and 115 feet long (Schuchhardt).
Bee-Hive Tomb. 117
of the tomb, and this makes the inside of the door
so much more interesting than the outside. Above
the doorway is a triangular space which was once
filled with red marble slabs. The accompanying
sketch shows the left hand half of the doorway as
it is, the right hand with the addition of the frag-
ments that have been found. The top slab of
green limestone is a copy of the piece of the archi-
trave in the British Museum, the lower angle with
three lines of spiral ornament, the middle one in
high relief with centre hole for jewel, is adapted
from the large bit of red marble in the British
Museum, but in order to show the pattern on these
slabs I found it impossible to put them in in their
right proportions. Entering the tomb, which is
about 50 ft. high and the same in diameter, we
were almost deafened by the bees, which appeared to
be swarming by the million, happily far above our
heads, and our little guides, who on the way had
been picking up dead grass or anything that would
burn, now made a bonfire which showed us the
beautiful form of the tomb as it curved up from
the floor to the single slab at the top. It is well
called beehive, for in shape it is very like one,
and as the dried twigs flared up the bees were to
be seen hanging in black clouds above. Instead
of being built in the usual manner, the tholos is
corbelled, the walls and vault being formed by
large slabs laid horizontally — on the step principle
1 1 8 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
.•'-
**ft
The Upper City.
119
— from the base to the top. This maybe a primi-
tive mode of forming a vault ; all the same it pro-
duces a charming effect. On the right an inner
door, built in the same manner as the other, led
into a square-shaped chamber, the tomb proper,
which originally was lined most probably with
alabaster slabs ; it now looked as if cut out in the
rock, and we were shown the position of three
/
V
% j&m
â–
1
â –
â– -..
'7^*,
'*- ^,5
â–
graves which did not somehow seem to agree with
what I had read.
We now continued our way up the slope, and
so hidden away is the wonderful Upper City that
it was not until we were close upon it that the
Acropolis came in view. Across a little dip a
confused mass rose up ; at first it seemed all
part of the rocky hill, but as you gazed the walls
disentangled themselves, and you saw that you
were looking straight at the curved wall behind
i2o Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
which the shaft-graves were found, with the
acropolis rising up behind and the great citadel
walls and gate tower on the left. A few paces
more and a turn at right angles brought us to the
bottom of the ramp, and we looked straight up to
the celebrated Lions' Gate. The small guides with
unusual animation cried out, " The lions, the
lions ! " and in my joy I howled with them in
chorus. Enormous blocks of stone, dressed and
The Gate of the Lions. 121
undressed, were strewn about ; on the left the wall
of the citadel reared itself aloft ; on the right close
up to the gate were the ruins of a strong tower.
The gateway looks very nearly square, and it was
not as lofty as I expected, being only 10ft. 4 inches
high. It is formed of three great stones, the two
uprights slightly sloping to the top, and crossed
by a delightful lintel made of one big stone, i6h(t.
long, 8ft. broad, a good three feet thick in the
middle, and narrowing into hammer form at the
ends. The triangular hole above this unique
doorway is filled by the slab of hard grey limestone
(anhydrite) on which is sculptured the world-
renowned lions, who stand rampant, their forepaws
resting on the pedestal of a column, their faces
turned to all those entering the gate. (Lions like
these have been found by Professor Ramsay in
Phrygia.) Of course the relief has been a good deal
knocked about, and the faces, which were made
of separate pieces, have disappeared, but the de-
sign is perfectly clear ; the photographs you buy
generally help the lions out a little.
Passing under the Lions the vast retaining wall
of the Acropolis is still on the left ; but to the right
on the same level as the gate is the Circle of Slabs,
within which Dr. Schliemann discovered five graves
and the Archaeological Society the sixth, the con-
tents of which we had seen in the Polytechnic Insti-
tute at Athens. From the Circle of Slabs we looked
122 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
down at the graves hewn in the rock below ; they
appeared to be on different levels and of varied
height and size, but the sides of all of those that
we could see were wonderfully smooth. It is said
that the curious Circle of Slabs was not built until
the graves were finally closed and the ground
levelled up, and from the way in which two of the
graves are shaved it looks as if this had been the
case, but what was the meaning of the circle no
one seems to know. The circle, which is about
87ft. in diameter, consists of two rows of vertical
slabs 3ft. apart, and originally roofed by horizontal
slabs, but the vertical slabs are not the same height
all the way round ; I walked between them as far
as I could, and found the highest to be my height,
which I regret to say is half-an-inch under five foot.
To the south-east, close to the circle, there were
some old walls of a dwelling-house, and I fondly
thought I made out the cellar where the chest was
found containing the golden vessels and ring with
the ladies in divided skirts. Looking at these
sacred graves within the Upper City, I liked to
think that in this royal ring the much afflicted
Kassandra had been laid to rest. If Klytemnestra
as unworthy was buried without the walls, I am
sure Agamemnon ought also to have had his tomb
outside the sacred precinct, for never was a more
flagrant case of the kettle calling the pot
black. No doubt Aeramemnon based his ethics on
Tomb of Klytemnestra. 123
a mmtitude of sins covering virtue ; and if this is
not a correct view to take, then /Eschylus should
not have made Kiytemnestra so desperately
interesting.
The acropolis rises up green above the Circle
of Slabs, but the foundations of Agamemnon's
palace were so incomplete that I was advised " not
to waste time here trying to make them out, when
the same plan could be seen so much plainer at
Tiryns." I had not time even to settle in my
mind which was the point where the watchman
looked for the beacon fires which would announce
the fall of Troy ; but was morally certain, from
the situation of Mykenae, that any way those fires
must have been signalled down to the palace
from the fort above on Mount Elias ; allowing
that the incident did take place here.
Again passing under the Gate of Lions, we went
down the ramp and soon reached the so-called
Tomb of Klytemnestra, or as it is sometimes
named Mrs. Schliemann's Treasury, from its having
been excavated by that patriotic lady. This is a
beehive tomb with "dromos and tholos," but no
separate chamber for the burial of the dead ; and it
appeared to be a replica on a smaller scale of the
passage and round chamber of the Treasury of
Atreus. Unfortunately the upper portion has all
fallen in, but pieces of marble work are still left
which give it a fresh interest; here the triangular
124 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
space above the lintel of leek-green marble ib still
walled up on the inside, showing that it was never
used to let in the light. Whilst on the subject of
beehive tombs, it might be interesting to remember
that one was found near Volo, in Thessaly ; and
that, according to Pausanias, the most striking of
all was the Treasury of the rich king Minyas of
mow f \ltb at Tll-v L^cAc 5
lufU/lzc
'v Myinuie, / 2? A?
Orchomcnos in Boeotia, which he declared, together
with the walls of Tiryns, to be worthy of as much
admiration as the Pyramids of Egypt. In Athens
also a small beehive is to be seen in the round
chamber of the Prison of Socrates in the side of the
hill of Philopappos.
Our dragoman had told me there were some
curious pre-historic tombs cut out in the rock the
other side of the ridge ; so leaving the rest of the
Rock Tombs. 12 •â–
party to return to Kharvati, I went to see these.
The man who was told off to show the way started
straight up the hill at a jog-trot. There was nothing
for it but to turn over my impedimenta to my two
small guides, who stuck to my heels, and away we
all tore, over debris, foundations, and rocks. We
visited two tombs cut in the red sandy-looking rock,
which were the most extraordinary imitations of
the beehive tombs, — passage, doorway and all ;
but without a sign of a piece of masonry, or so
much as a block of stone anywhere, the contrast
was very strange and particularly striking. In one
of the tombs there were two caves cut into the side.
These, the native said, were the graves, but by the
aid of a match it was impossible to get an accu-
rate idea of the interior of these tombs, and we
had no straw to make a blaze. The native kept
exhorting us to "come on, we should be late/'
and finally took to his heels ; but I did not see that
I was bound to " trot in the avenue," and of course
we arrived before the donkey account was settled
up. Having no coppers, I applied for change to
our dragoman, who presented me with three pence,
saying it was quite enough to divide between my
two small boys, and to my intense surprise they
were perfectly satisfied with it.
We then drove across the plain to Argos, which
we found to be quite a large town, and which
possesses a " museum " of one room, in which are
i26 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
many interesting figures, reliefs, vases, terra-cottas,
and fragments of all sorts. The loafers in the
neighbourhood flocked in, evidently under the
impression that objects of interest at any rate were
in the museum at that precise moment. Driving
on to a conspicuous Roman ruin, we came upon
the partly excavated theatre behind it, but in its
present state it gives a very poor impression of
its size, for it was capable of holding 20,000
spectators; 10,000 less, however, than the Theatre
of Dionysos at Athens. We looked up at Larisa,
the Acropolis of Argos, from whose summit there
must be an exceedingly interesting view of the Bay
of Nauplia and the whole of the Argolic plain, but
it was too late in the day to attempt the ascent,
and as the shades of evening were falling fast, we
turned out horses' heads southwards, leaving the
dark rock of Larisa standing out above fair Argos
bathed in beauteous mist. As we passed on our
left Tiryns, of whose walls no one can tell the date,
a puff of smoke was seen on our right, and a
railway engine came shrieking by. Incongruous,
but no doubt a very convenient train for bringing
back sightseers to Nauplia.
The fortifications of Nauplia are a jumble of
Venetian and Turkish work. We entered the town
by a gateway which nature had converted into a
hanging garden of campanulas, and passing through
very clean streets with high houses and closed
Arrive at Nauplia. 127
balconies, we soon reached the square and stopped
at the Hotel des Etrangers (Xenodochion ton
Xenon). This hotel was built on the same
principle as the one which later on we stayed in at
Larissa, in Thessaly. A staircase led up to a broad
corridor, into which opened bedrooms on either
hand ; breakfast was served on tables in the
corridor, but we went across the square to the
Restaurant Mykenne for dinner. We found this
hotel perfectly clean and comfortable, and there
was a boy who spoke French, and, I believe, a little
English ; but unfortunately, having a dragoman,
there was no opportunity of testing the resources
of the establishment in that direction. We had
friends who stayed at the Hotel Mykenae, where
all meals were served under the roof, and found it
satisfactory, so at Nauplia the stranger now has at
least two decent hotels to choose between. Signs
of the Venetian supremacy are very visible in
Nauplia ; besides the Lion of St. Mark scratched on
many a wall, the fortifications are mostly of their
building, although patched up and strengthened by
the Turks. Indeed, for many years the fortress of
Palamidi seems to have been tossed like a shuttle-
cock from one conqueror to the other, until on
the stormy night of the 30th of November, 1822,
it was captured by the Greeks, and, in despite of
the greatest extremities, held by them when the
rest of the Peloponnesus had succumbed to Ibrahim
128 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Pasha of execrated memory. Eleven years later,
Otho, first king of united Greece, set up his seat of
government here, which however was moved to
Athens in the following year.
Knowing the length of time that could be spent
at Tiryns entirely depended on the hour we de-
parted in the morning for Epidauros, I had a few
words with the dragoman. The result was that my
three came up to the scratch. But his two ! Well,
I was very sorry for them, because it was not want
of wish ; the spirit I believe was willing, but the
other thing was not there.
Epidauros, the town of Asklepios, is situated on
the east coast of Argolis, below the hills looking
down on the Bay of Methana, but the sacred pre-
cinct, or Hieron of Epidauros, which we were
about to visit, lies some two and a half hours in-
land to the west, which is all the better for visitors
coming from Nauplia. The road, which winds
round low barren-looking hills, is against the collar
the whole way. It took us four hours to drive there,
and about three to return ; and once out of Nauplia
it is not a particularly interesting route. Four
hours of this with your back to the horses was not
exactly an agreeable prospect, so I gladly acceded
to the driver's invitation to come up on the box
and drive the third horse ; and from this position
I had leisure to study the method of harnessing
the additional animal. This little mare's harness
Primitive Harness. 129
consisted of a halter and a collar ; from the latter a
strong rope in lieu of trace was fastened to a notched
bar of wood, which, in its turn, was roped on to
the iron bar of the carriage ; the halter had two
cords, a long one, the guiding line which I now
held, and a short one, which was tied anywhere
about the head of the near pole-horse ; but this
last cord constantly came unknotted, and then
the little mare trotted round and made friends
with the occupants of the carriage. As roads
go in Greece, this was a very good one the whole
way to Epidauros, with continuous heaps of
stones for mending purposes, and as the road was
not laid out for three horses abreast, the mare had
to trot over every heap, a most uncomfortable
mode of progression, likewise she had to pull
all on one side. This team was the best we
had during the whole time we were in Greece ;
it would not be untrue to say the only respect-
able one. The driver, a true son of Greece, had
an immense appreciation for all things Greek,
and pointed out with great pride every patch of
cultivation we came across.
" Look ! " exclaimed he, indicating a triangle
of earth in a sea of stones, and kindly adapting
his language to suit my limited understanding.
" Beautiful soil, grow beautiful bread. All very
good land here." He also pointed out, on the
left, the site of two " castles " on the hills, and
K
130 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
showed us bits of the old sacred way to Epidauros.
After about three hours and a half of this, we
entered upon a kind of valley in the hills, with
Mt. Kynortion on the right centre and Titthion
on the left, this latter being the " Goat Mountain,"
where Asklepios is supposed to have been born ;
and, no doubt, in spirit he still looks down on the
ruins of this the greatest of all his sanctuaries.
The sacred grove is now represented by a few
trees and a wilderness of brushwood, amid which,
like a little Olympia, lie broken columns and walls,
and heaps of sparkling marble glittering in the
sun.
Leaving the ruins of the sacred precinct on our
left, we drove on to the dark spur of Mt. Kynor-
tion, where white and perfect in form shines out
this most beautiful of all Greek theatres, the crea-
tion of Polykleitos. The fifty-five rows of seats
are still intact, divided by flights of steps into
wedge-shaped blocks, three rows of seats of honour
breaking the line. Of these one row, like marble
sofas, ran round the edge of the orchestra circle,
whilst the two others were more than half way up,
forming between them a delightful promenade,
where the swells of the period could walk up and
down and talk to their friends in the marble arm-
chairs which, by-the-way, I was surprised to find
were not at all uncomfortable seats. In this
theatre is to be seen, perfect in form, the circular
Theatre at Epidauros. 131
orchestra with the altar in the centre, the original
arena for the chorus ; whilst the walls of the stage
are behind. At the entrances are some beautiful
blocks of white marble ; and a lovely little white
shining everlasting creeps about the auditorium.
Some of the armchairs that had fallen forward
have been put back in their places, so that the
theatre now appears more perfect than the photo-
graphs give it. Altogether the dazzling beauty of
this marble theatre,, its fine preservation, and
commanding situation, serves to impress even the
most casual visitor. Its acoustic properties are
such that a whispered word above is heard below.
Close to the theatre there is a house with a large
room where visitors lunch ; of course food must
be brought.
From the theatre we walked through the brush-
wood to the ruins situated on the other side of the
brook, the old Greek foundations being rather
difficult to disentangle out of the many later
editions scattered about ; but whilst seated in a
miniature theatre, a native came up and said he
had been sent to show us the place. Passing over
the site of the Propylaeum, we first came to the
foundations of the little Temple of Artemis ; then
down to the left to the Tholos of Polykleitos,
which ; as I have already said, reminded me of the
Philippeion at Olympia. In the old days on a
circular platform, there stood two concentric
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132 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
series of columns, the outer being Doric, the inner
a combination of Ionic and Corinthian, whilst the
walls were decorated with paintings by Pausias,
and votive tablets dedicated by grateful patients
who had been cured by the god. All that remains
of this exquisite building are fragments of columns,
broken capitals, ring upon ring of deep founda-
tions in the centre of which is a hole like a well.
Across these foundations our guide strode, ex-
horting us to follow and look down the hole ; then
he grew alarmed when he saw me jumping the
spaces, and nearly caused the accident he feared
by trying to stop me in the middle of my flight.
What was the point of this hole I could not make
out, but he was very anxious that " the other lady "
should come and look down it; but Edith was
deaf to all his blandishments, and said she was
" not going to risk her limbs for all the foundations
in the world." Pointing out a broad staircase
near the Colonnades, we turned to our right to the
Temple of Asklepios, and here the native showed
us a well, dropping stones into it to give us an
idea of its depth ; this he evidently considered the
most interesting object in the place. There were
some very beautiful pieces among the great mass
of fragments about this temple, but what interested
me most were the many large half-moon marble
seats. In fancy I could see the patients seated on
these, talking over their ailments, whispering of
Asklepios, Patron of Spooks. 133
the mysterious visitations of the god, laughing
over the practical jokes that Asklepios was not
above practising on his worshippers. The cult of
Asklepios appears to have been a curious mixture
of science and spiritualism ; in fact the occult
sciences, mesmerism, thought-reading, suggestion,
telepathy, and no doubt hypnotism and spirit-
rapping were all resorted to. In a word, in the
Sanctuary of Asklepios spooks, human and snake-
like, but all of them divine, did come at the priest's
command. The treatment was something in this
fashion. First the patient was washed, no doubt
a great shock to his system, and which helped
considerably to let him fall a ready prey to the
artful priests who pumped him dry as they walked
him about after the bath ; thus primed, it could
not be a very difficult matter to raise the special
apparition suitable to each patient as he slept in
the temple. Not that I mean to insinuate that
cures were never effected on more wholesome lines
than these, for Epidauros was the most renowned
of all the sacred Schools of Medicine.
We rattled down (rem Epidauros at a smart
pace, and below the village of Ligourio — which
rises up a hill to the right, where there are some
old walls — we stopped to water the horses at a
Khan, before which were some immense old
washing troughs, and a huge cauldron with a fire
under it ; here all the women of the village had
134 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
come down to wash clothes, whilst the babies
whimpered and rolled in the sand, watched by-
babies a few years older. These women were
clothed in garments that it would be an insult
to compare to a bed-gown, and they tucked them
up. according to fancy ; one ancient dame, with an
utter disregard of everything but utility, having
turned herself into a very respectable-looking old
Turk. It was quite depressing to see such a
company of women and girls, seemingly so
gloomy, and working so hard in silence and sad-
ness ; so I thought I would see if a laugh could
not be raised out of them. Suddenly a girl, who
had been watching me very closely, caught my eye,
and began to laugh, then another and another, until
the whole company took it up, with the exception
of that ancient dame. I was in despair ; how could
she be reached from the box-seat of the carriage ?
When, all at once, she looked up, gave me a nod
and a smile, and returned to her clothes, rubbing
them with greater vigour than before. And so,
amid ripples of laughter, shouts of good evening,
and waving of hands we departed ; all surely going
to prove that the Greek woman only wants a little
encouragement and sympathy to be as bright and
merry as her Italian sister.
As we neared Nauplia we turned off sharp to
the right for Tiryns, and got into a wide, but so
bad a road, that, at one place, we were advised to
Traditions of Tiryns. 135
turn back and try another way. Three hours
after we had left Epidauros we stopped before the
limestone rock of Tiryns, and looked up at the
giant walls that still circle it. The solitary hill on
which Tiryns stands is some 980 feet long, and
nearly 330 feet broad, and it has been well com-
pared to the shape of the human foot. The sole
corresponds with the Upper Castle, containing
the king's palace and the galleries, the instep with
the Middle Castle where are the remains of some
dilapidated habitations, and the heel, which is the
Lower Castle, has not yet been excavated, as it is
only supposed to have been covered with stables
and houses for the retainers. Unfortunately,
Tiryns flourished in the wholly prehistoric age,
and there are no interesting tragedies of the great
kings who once must have lived there. Tradition
has it that Proetos, twin brother of King Akrisios
of Argos (whom he hated) invited the Cyclopes to
come from Lycia and build for him the walls of
Tiryns, and that his son, Megapenthes, exchanged
Tiryns for Argos, as Perseus, the lawful king of
the latter place, shrank from reigning there, owing
to his having had the misfortune to accidentally
kill his grandfather, Akrisios, whilst throwing a
quoit at some games in Thessaly. Afterwards
Perseus founded the new city of Mykense in the
hills, and it was in this way that Tiryns became
subject to Mykenae. It was owing to this sub-
136 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greege.
jection that later on Herakles, as a Tirynthian, had
to serve Eurystheus, King of Mykenae, who re-
quired of him the performance of his celebrated
twelve labours ; and in the nervous king hiding in
his inner fastness, and the bold hero of the plain,
a type perhaps might be found of the charac-
teristics of the city they each represented. We
have already seen how Tiryns and Mykenae,
intimately connected in their palmy days, fell
together before the dominant power of Argos.
Going round to the east of the rock we entered by
the ramp, and a gap in the walls, which led by " a
nice easy bend " to the back of the Upper Castle ;
but this was coming into Tiryns the wrong way,
and utterly destructive to the understanding of the
place. Luckily, I knew Dr. Dorpfeld's map off
by heart, so, leaving the others, I scrambled over
a mass of debris, slid down some large stones,
and finally landed in the long passage leading up
to the first gate. Here, on the left, was the huge
outer wall ; on the right towered up the strong
wall of the Upper Castle ; the way was strewn with
enormous blocks of stone, amid which rose up the
stone posts of the outer gateway, which, in construc-
tion and dimensions, originally corresponded with
the Gate of Lions at Mykenae. Although there was
a large concourse of Germans, and our own party
— who were not exactly vowed to silence — on the
Upper Citadel, not a sound reached me down
Its Mighty Walls. 137
here ; it seemed as if by one mad leap I had
plunged out of the known world, and, for a
moment, panic seized me ; then it struck me how
very incongruous man must look in such surround-
ings ; Herakles, with lion skin and club, would be
much more in character with the spirit of this
place ! and I began to look about.
After the muddle of cyclopean, rectangular, and
polygonal masonry at Mykenae, Tiryns, although
so much older, appeared quite civilized with its
walls all of one pattern ; they certainly go to
show that they had been completed by one
contractor, be he a Cyclops or no. These
walls, instead of being a mass of irregularly
piled stones, are formed by uneven lines of large
roughly-worked stones with little stones jammed
into the corners, and all bound together by clay
mortar, which, however, did not appear visible to
the eye ; some of the stones are " six to ten feet
long, by more than a yard both in height and in
thickness/' From this passage a wonderful im-
pression of the strength of the place is obtained,
and looking at the massive towers and walls,
nothing would ever make me believe that Tiryns
fell in fair fight — love or treachery must have
done it. But Kronos, who I had positively learnt
to loathe, stays his hand for no one, and I had to
push up the slope to the outer courtyard with the
East Gallery below in the thickness of the walls
138 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
to the left. Crossing the foundations of the
greater gateway to the right, the inner courtyard
is reached where to the south the other great
gallery lies. The lesser gateway leads into a
rectangular court (Aule) before the chief rooms of
the palace, which consists of the men's apartments.
In the Aule the Sacrificial Pit or altar is very
plainly to be seen, and from this court two steps
lead up to the vestibule, ante-chamber, and
Megaron, the men's hall , with a round hearth in
the centre, which had four pillars supporting the
roof, leaving the space above the fire open, a
feature which is still seen in some very old
kitchens. Owing to a stupid wall of later date
this interesting portion of the palace is not so
clear as it might be. On the west, parallel to the
ante- room, are the foundations of the square bath-
room, with its floor composed of one large block
of limestone thirteen feet one inch by ten feet,
with a channel for the water to run off. This
room was originally lined with wood, and here the
ancient Greeks are supposed to have splashed
about in a tub ; somehow it does not give the idea
that they were very keen on water, on that point
the Romans may be allowed to carry off the
wreath. The women's megaron looked like a
replica of the men's, only on a smaller scale.
We now proceeded to visit the celebrated
galleries. Crossing the courts, close to the site
The Vaulted Galleries. 139
of the Byzantine church, is the stairway of the
South Gallery, which turns at right angles and
leads down into the centre of the corridor, out of
which open five chambers. Staircase, corridor
and chambers all being in the thickness of the
walls which are here some fifty-seven feet. The
corridor is about five feet broad, the west end
blocked, but the east must have been very dimly
lighted by a window narrowing to a mere slit in
the wall ; now this is broken down and lets in a
flood of light ; the ceiling is formed by the stones
of the side walls converging to a point. In the
same manner the doorways and vaulted chambers
were built, so that these galleries have a very
peculiar pointed architecture all their own.
Similar chambers, only with rounded ends, have
been found in the walls at Carthage, but this
fc rm of building cannot be claimed solely for the
Phoenicians, as it was adopted by many nations in
those days. We then made our way through the
gap to the East Gallery, the staircase and south-
east wall of which have been completely
destroyed. This corridor is longer, and it had
six chambers opening out of it ; being much
lighter here, I noticed in one place that six stones
sufficed to compose the side wall and vault. In
many parts the stones looked simply like pieces
of rock, and the projections of these were pierced
with round holes, through which it is supposed
140 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
that chains were passed to bind slaves by the
elbows to the walls. This almost seemed im-
possible, looking at the position of the holes, but
our dragoman kindly illustrated how it could be
done and how exceedingly uncomfortable it must
have been. For a certain height the stones
appeared as if they had been polished, and we
were told it was caused by the flocks of sheep
that for upwards of a thousand years had sought
helter here and rubbed themselves against those
walls. Coming straight from these wonderful
galleries, the foundations of the palace looked as
if built by a different race. From up here there
was a lovely view of the bay of Nauplia, shut in
by the little fort of Bourzi and the rock of Itsh-
Kaleh, with the coast line of Lakonia sweeping
round until hidden behind the fortress of Palamidi.
We left Tiryns by the great stairway, half built,
half cut in the rock, which winds down on the
western side, and was defended by a semicircular
wall of great thickness, ending in a high square
Great Stairway at Tiryns. 141
tower. This extraordinary ascent and the
galleries are perhaps the most attractive objects
in Tiryns, but to any one with the slightest taste
for archaeology, every stone in the Upper Castle is
of the Greatest interest.
CHAPTER VII.
Nauplia to Athens by sea — The sacrifice of lambs — Anni-
versary of Greek Independence — The royal family —
Good Friday and Easter Eve ceremonies— Dancing at
Megara — Disturbed state of the country — Brigands and
soldiers fighting in Thessaly — Everyone advises us not
to go there — Finally we escape from Athens.
By the light of the moon we dropped into a boat
and glided over the bay towards our steamer,
which was to leave Nauplia at 2 a.m. The next
morning we awoke in the sheltered little harbour
of Port Kheli, and coming on deck at 5.30 a.m.
found the moon on one hand, and Helios on the
other staring poor Selene out of countenance. I
never witnessed more curious effects than this duel
between the god and the goddess, and it caused a
succession of wonderfully tinted greys, amid which
the snows of the lower Peloponnesus shot up. At
six we stopped at Spetsa, being now between that
island and the most southern point of Argolis,
and rounding Cape Aimilianos our course was
henceforth northwards. Hydrea we found to be
the quaintest of little towns, swarming on the
heights around a tiny cove which sheltered quite a
fleet of miniature vessels ; town, boats, and cove
Hydrea — Poros— JEgina. 143
being packed away so that we only caught a
glimpse of them as we stopped to pick up a
passenger in a boat. The view looking down the
bay of Hydrea to Hermione on the coast of
Argolis was very pretty, but the gem of the
whole voyage was Poros (Kalauria). This island
lies very close to the mainland, and we steamed
between the most lovely coast lines, with dark
cypresses setting off the bright lemon groves,
whilst the town itself, white and green, stood out
on a spit of land. Poros, however, carries with it
sad memories, as it was here, up in the temple of
Poseidon, whither he had fled from the emissaries
of Antipater, that Demosthenes met his fate, B.C.
322. ^Egina with its distinctive peak then came
into view, and passing many small islands and
rounding a somewhat dreary point, at last we saw
perched on high the far-famed Temple of Athene.
We now steered direct for the Piraeus, with the
Acropolis standing out straight before us, backed
by Pentelicus, with the Parnes on the left and
Hymettos to the right, and just before entering
the harbour we caught a very interesting peep
down the narrow ways of purple Salami's. It
was barely half-past one when we landed, having
made the passage in less than twelve hours.
As we drove to Athens we passed flocks upon
flocks of lambs coming in for the Easter sacrifice.
Every family in Athens is said to have some sort
144 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
of a lamb on Easter Sunday, and for two days
before lambs are all over the place ; one was
offered to a friend of ours for ten drachmas, the
owner rapidly coming down to six ; he thought he
could have struck a bargain for five, about three
shillings and sixpence. At the door of a house
you would see a lamb lying, too exhausted to
make remonstrance, with the master proudly
smiling down on it ; and when joined by friends
they would take it up, one after the other, and
swing it gently by one leg to test its weight, giving
it a friendly poke in the ribs for further satis-
faction.
Seeing these lambs purchased alive we were
greatly exercised to know how they came by their
death. Edith would have it that they were
publicly sacrificed by the chief priest, on an altar
erected for that purpose in the square before the
cathedral, and caused great scandal by asking,
" When the sacrifice took place, as it was a
ceremony she particularly did not wish to miss ? "
"The lamb is killed in the purchaser's back-
yard/' was the answer returned, with the addenda,
"You shocking girl, whatever could put such a
horrid idea into your head ? "
So she returned, that hearing something about
a temporary platform before the cathedral, and
knowing that the Greeks were a very religious
people, and that lamb was the outward and visible
Edith Yearns after Ceremonies. 145
sign of Easter, she had put two and two together,
as she had often been reproached for not doing,
with the result that appeared so shocking to our
mentor. Others comforted her by saying, " that
the wonder was that she could keep anything
clear in her mind after being dragged over founda-
tions for a month."
I thought it a practical sign that she had
entered far more into the spirit of the times of
those foundations than she was willing to confess.
Certainly, from the way Iambs, roasted whole,
were carried about Athens on Easter Sunday, it
might give rise to the idea that they were cooked
before a public fire.
During our stay at Athens we came in for the
two chief festivals of the Greeks, Easter and the
Anniversary of the Independence of Greece. The
latter took place on the 6th of April, and the
ceremony appeared to consist in the royal family
driving in state to the cathedral, where a short
service was held. All the principal streets were
draped with the charming national flag, a light
blue cross and three stripes of the same colour on
a white ground ; and the route was lined with
troops, who talked affably together and pulled
themselves up as the royal carriages came in sight.
It was raining very heavily, so we did not go to
the cathedral, but remained at our hotel, as from
the windows on one side we could see the
L
146 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
carriages leave the palace, and on the other pass
down the street of Hermes. The procession
consisted of a few closed carriages, the only one
with a hammercloth being the king's, and behind
his carriage came the cavalry escort, riding pell-
mell into it, their white and blue plumes tossing
like a troubled sea. It was quite a pleasure to
see so many good horses, and the more they
reared and plunged the prouder grew the faces of
the populace. From the palace to the cathedral
and back the carriages passed in a silence so
awful that it gives the foreigner an utterly false
idea of the loyalty of the people ; but if we take
shouting as the monopoly of " the politician/' then
no doubt silence is the highest tribute that can
be paid to royalty.
The Greek, when asked, " Why don't you
cheer ? " will reply, " It is not our custom," and if
pressed further, " We are so democratic." Yet all
the time they arc perfectly aware that they have
drawn a prize in the monarchy lottery, and
seem to have an absolute conviction that " their
king " is wise enough to get them out of any hole
" the politicians " may talk them into. But what
particularly interested me was that when you
mentioned the name of the Duke of Sparta, the
invariable answer was, with a flash of the eye,
"He's a Greek ! ; ' which apparently summed up
all that was best in heaven and on earth. Perhaps
Greek Loyalty. 147
the greatest proof of the practical, loyalty of the
people is to be found in the way the king walks
about Athens perfectly unattended ; in this manner
he came to the English church several times when
we were there, and if there is a spark of art left in
the modern Greek they ought to be proud of
having such a profile on their coins. The foreigner
likewise is very much struck by the steam tram-
way to Phaleron, starting opposite the palace, and
we were told that it was greatly patronized by the
royal family ; in fact, one Sunday, when we were
returning from a delightful afternoon at New
Phaleron, we saw the royal party come down in
the tram for a walk by the sea shore.
Whilst on the subject of lines, perhaps I ought
to mention that a Metropolitan railway is being
made by a go-ahead Greek ! It seems truly ap-
palling to think of Athens with an underground
railway, but so far, we understood, it had done no
damage to any of the old remains ; how it will
ever pay is a mystery.
Easter Sunday itself did not appear to be kept
by any special religious service, the great cere-
mony was on Easter Eve. First, on Good Friday
the processions of the churches, with banners,
bands, and carrying " painted cloths " marched
about the city at night, and in the Place de la
Constitution the scene we looked clown on was
very effective. Many sight-seers were in carriages,
L 2
148 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
but all those on foot held lighted tapers, and
formed themselves into a double line, between
which the processions marched round the square,
to the sound of music, and beneath waving lights
and streaming banners. The Easter Eve cere-
monial is one of great beauty and subtle mean-
ing, although, like all the ceremony of the Greek
Church, difficult for the uninitiated to follow. In
the square before the cathedral a platform (Edith's
sacrificial altar) was erected, this was wreathed
with evergreens, and artistically illuminated with
a cross and stars in the national colours, whilst
most of the houses showed lights, and fireworks
were going off continually. From this platform
we were told the king proclaims to the Greek
world that " Christ has risen." The facade of the
cathedral was likewise decorated with wreaths,
and a very impressive service was being held
within ; then, on the stroke of twelve, the Metro-
politan — in gorgeous robes, and with a mitre
adorned with beautiful medallions and glittering
with diamonds — appeared at the centre door of
the ikonostasis, with a large lighted taper in his
hand, as a symbol that light had once more come
upon the earth, and as he made his way down the
church to the platform, the people pressed forward
to light their tapers from his. The boys, with
tapers flaring, and shouting " Kristos aneste"
made a rush, but were speedily reduced to order
Easter Eve. 149
by the men in the crowd, and in a moment the
square was a blaze of light, whilst a volley of
artillery announced far and near that " Christ had
risen." With the bells clashing above, guns
booming, squibs fizzing, the noise was deafening ;
suddenly all ceased, a low chant was heard, a
breathless silence fell on the crowd, but in a
moment the din broke out as before. Tapers
were waved on high, grease spurted all over the
place, and squibs shot up in every direction. To
the casual Britisher Easter appeared to be a
curious cross between Christmas Day and the Fifth
of November.
On Easter Tuesday the famous dances at
Megara take place, and there strangers do flock
to see the dancing and the beauties of Greece.
In the days when the visitor went by boat, passing
through the narrow ways of lovely Salamis, the
poetic requirements of the setting of the scene
were fulfilled, but the glamour is gone when ex-
cursion trains run every hall hour for " the dances
at Megara." We went for the morning dancing
" in the hills," which takes place at the back of the
town ; unfortunately there was a strong cold wind
which raised the dust even there, and we heard
that in the square of Megara, where they dance in
the afternoon, nothing but clouds of dust could
be seen. The most interesting feature of the
gathering appeared to be the opportunity it gave
150 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
for the display of the national dress, and here at
last we saw the women in their brave attire —
petticoat turned back with red, full white chemi-
sette, embroidered jacket and apron, with a lovely
soft gauzy veil that floated in the wind, and strings
of silver ornaments round brow and breast; the
men of course were all in the whitest of fustanella.
The men and women dance separately; the former,
holding handkerchiefs, gradually warmed to their
work, and when they grew energetic and kicked
out, they looked very like Highlanders dancing
the fling. The dancing of the women was most
decorous, apparently not overstepping the Eastern
orthodox roll. Joining hands in lines, they swayed
gracefully to and fro, and this monotonous action
they seemed to be able to keep up for an indefinite
time. The modern Greek indignantly repudiates
the idea of there being any classic element in
these dances ; all the same the people appeared to
look upon them as a solemn function, and it is
well known that the ills that may happen to a
household are always laid at the door of the
women who are said to have been lazy at the
dance. We were told that quite as interesting
dancing could have been seen in Athens, where
the men and women met on the large open space
before the Hephaisteion (Thestion) and after
dancing for some time all the women joined hands
and, led by a young man playing a pipe, wound
To Thessaly We Would Go. 151
their way up to the Acropolis in most picturesque
fashion.
To my chagrin we had arrived in Athens too
late to join the steamer for the tour of the Isles,
which must have been one of the greatest archae-
ological and artistic interest. This trip, we under-
stood, was to be repeated yearly. Whilst we were
in Athens an attempt to get up a second was
made, but failed for want of numbers. We found
it was quite impossible to see every place we
wished, and we thought it wisest to go farther
afield when we were two together of the same
mind. We had a passing idea of going from
Corinth to Delphi, over the Parnassos range to
Thermopylae, and working our way down by
Orchomenos and Thebes, but this was a tour
that had often been taken, and, with the exception
of crossing the Parnassos, two ladies with great
pluck had already accomplished this trip alone a
year or two ago. Edith was anxious for fresh
adventures, I had cherished a life-long wish to go
through the Euripos, and as we both had an in-
tense desire to see the monasteries of Meteora and
Mount Olympos, we made up our minds that to
Thessaly we would go. Now Thessaly is quite
an unknown region ; the tourist does not visit it.
Gentlemen who went there appeared to be com-
bining pleasure with business, and nobody had
ever heard of ladies thinking of going there alone!
152 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
" It was impossible." But since coming to Greece
we had heard that remark so often that its appli-
cation failed now to impress. In fact, as soon as
we gave out our intention, it was met by a storm
of remonstrance j and certainly in this case there
was some foundation for fear.
When we visited Greece in the spring of 1892, it
was very soon after the king had been obliged to
dismiss M. Delyannis, the prime minister, and to
call together a temporary ministry pending the
general election, which was shortly to take place.
The country was experiencing a terrible financial
crisis, and, as all Greeks are " politicians," naturally
Greece was more or less in a state of ferment.
The credit of the country had been brought so
low that we got from thirty-eight to thirty-five
drachmas for 1/., exceedingly nice for the foreigner
but ruination to the poor Greeks ; and owing to
this depreciation you had always to be careful
when buying or arranging terms to understand
whether you were required to pay in drachmas or
in francs. At the hotel at Athens it was all
francs, but elsewhere we paid in drachmas. To
return to the " politicians." With a temporary
government doing the work, the two parties were left
free to abuse each other, a liberty which apparently
they availed themselves of to the fullest advantage.
Every untoward event was laid to the door of the
opposition party ; thus Thessaly— like Scotland
Fighting in Thessaly. 153
in a greater degree — was being overrun by a
plague of mice, which plague was greatly exag-
gerated and laid to the door of M. Tricoupis or M.
Delyannis, according to the side the speaker took,
though I never could make out how they brought
these mice home to either one or the other. Then
a Greek gentleman told us that we should get to
Thessaly all right, because " if the Greek Govern-
ment stopped you, it would at once be used for
political purposes." This, no doubt, was an ex-
aggeration, but he seemed to argue, if the humble
mouse was brought in why not the ubiquitous
foreigner ? and he would maintain that if we would
only go and be captured by brigands, it would be
the making of his party ! To add to the diffi-
culties of the situation, the brigands had crossed
the frontier into Thessaly and had had one or two
sharp tussles with the troops. The most alarming
telegrams about their doings were coming in every
day, whilst to put the finishing top to it all, twenty-
three prisoners — described as murderers ! — had
taken advantage of the absorbing Good Friday
religious ceremonies to break out of the prison at
Larissa, and were now on the loose. Some of these
men were said to be trying to effect a junction
with the brigands, others were supposed to be
hiding in the Vale of Tempe, the very place, of
course, where we wanted to go.
Such was the official situation : we were now to
154 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
hear of the domestic state from a young English-
man and a Greek who had come through Albania
to Kalabaka, and thence to Athens by the route
we intended to take. At first they thought we
did not really mean to go, but when they found
we were in earnest the Englishman tried to dis-
suade us from the attempt.
" You don't know what it is ; you cannot imagine
what you will have to go through ; it is not fit.
Let me persuade you to give up all thought ot
it."
" But we are quite ready to rough it."
" You could never survive the horrors of a Greek
boat, there are no proper ladies' cabins. In the
boat we came by the ladies' cabins were partitioned
off at each end of the saloon ; there were eight
Greek women and children in each, and they were
ill all clay and all night, for everything could be
heard throughout the length and breadth of the
boat. The whole place swarmed with cockroaches ;
in our own cabin we killed twenty-eight, we were
up all night massacring them, and the people on
board thought us mad. Can you stand cock-
roaches ? "
We confessed to a deadly fear of them, but, for
the sake of Thessaly's beaux ycnx, thought we
might get through one night even in mortal com-
bat with cockroaches.
"One night ! That is just it, we were two. You
<; YOU MUST NOT GO." 155
never know how long you may be on the journey,
owing to the uncertainty of the tides of the Euripos.
We were kept a day at Khalkis waiting to get
through, with everybody bad all over the place,
and there was nothing to eat, even the bread was
mouldy ! "
" Then it would be best for us to take some food
from this hotel ; and when you get to Thessaly
what are the Khans like ? "
Apparently the horrors of a Khan were in-
describable in a mixed assembly. There was one
at Karditsa — a comparatively modern town, where
things might have been expected to be more civi-
lized — which in filthiness was said only to rival
one in Albania, where they had spent the night
under the protection of an ex-brigand chief.
Whatever we did Karditsa must be avoided, but at
Trikkala, the town before Kalabaka, there was an
hotel to which we could go, also at Volo. They
had not been to Larissa, but, as it was the capital
of Thessaly, perhaps things might be cleaner there.
The Greek, however, with true patriotism put in a
word for his country, and handed over to us his
Thessalian time-table, on which wc made several
notes that afterwards proved of the greatest service
to us ; which being accomplished, the end of the
disquisition finished up thus, —
" I wish you would let me dissuade you from
attempting it. It was all very well for us, but you
156 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
cannot rough it in that way ; or, if you will go,
take a dragoman who will have things arranged
and look after your food. You do not know what
it is."
Then another :
" Why should you leave peaceful England to
court danger in Thessaly. Of course, if you were
going to write a book or it was for any object, I
could understand ; but simply to encounter all this
discomfort for what ? — pleasure ! "
''We are going because we want to go," re-
turned Edith, which men have affirmed to be an
excellent feminine reason.
Several times on our journey Edith was asked
if she was writing our travels, one gushing lady
waxing so eloquent over her " wise looks " that I
was afraid quite early in the journey of being
bereft of my friend ; whilst later on an Austrian
confided to me that she could not take her eyes of
" your friend, she embroiders so beautifully, and is
exactly like my sister who died," but in this last
case the attraction was not reciprocal, so I had no
occasion for fear.
The hotel manager, when he heard of our inten-
tion, threw up his hands and exclaimed, —
" Are you not afraid of the bry-gans ! "
So we made our last will and testament, which
in this case meant depositing with the manager
our money and any valuables we happened to have,
An Encouraging Interview. 157
and received from him a receipt written in English,
in which, among other items of curious nomen
clature, figured conspicuously " two gold brass-
lets, and one silver chien"
Having been told that we ought to notify our
intention of visiting Thessaly to the English
Embassy, we went there, and were ushered into
the presence of a gentleman who appeared to feel
life a burden. To him we explained our inten-
tions, the gloom on his face deepening as he
listened. " Yes, it was quite right to notify the
Embassy of our intention, we could not go with-
out doing so. Would we pardon him for one
moment ? "
" They are not going to make an objection," we
whispered in cold anxiety, but in a minute he
reappeared, —
" The Ambassador will write about you to the
authorities ; when do you intend to go ? "
" To-morrow."
"To-morrow," he echoed, but not with surprise ;
he evidently thought us capable of any folly and
expected no consideration from us ; " then we shall
have to telegraph. Do you intend to go first to
Larissa or to Kalabaka ? "
Now as we wished to avoid Sunday at the
monasteries, and had been assured we might be
a couple of nights on the boat, we could not settle
this point until we arrived at Volo, but not think-
158 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
ing these details would interest our interlocutor,
we looked stupid and said, " We did not know."
" It does not matter," returned he, in a still more
hopeless tone of voice, " we can telegraph to both
places," and he did not add aloud : It is jubt these
futile sort of people who get England into all the
rows, why cannot they stop at home and be quiet ?
" Shall we let you know when we come back ? "
" Oh no, we shall hear only too soon if anything
happens to you," with which cheering remark we
took our leave.
We found it exceedingly difficult to get any
information about our intended trip, and had it
not been for falling in with those two who had
just come through from Albania, we should have
started in a woful state of ignorance. One who
lived in Greece advised us very strongly not to try
the hotels, but to depend on the hospitality of pri-
vate individuals, and he most kindly gave us a
pile of letters of introduction. Although we had
declined to take a dragoman, Gaze's manager at
Athens was most obliging in telling us all that he
could ; we understood that one of their dragomen
had once taken people to Thessaly, and that they
were quite ready to undertake a party any day,
only nobody would go even when personally con-
ducted. It seems a pity that visitors should fight
shy of so interesting a tour ; of course, going by
ourselves we had to rough it, but anyone who
-ccCA f°a*jt~&
[Page 159.
Just Off in Time. 159
wanted to do it in comparative comfort could do
so by placing themselves in the hands of Messrs.
Gaze.
Totting up every scrap of information we had
scraped together, we tried in vain to reconcile
those separate items, but the amusing part was
that it turned out that although unreconcilable, all
those facts, except one, were true. At the last
moment we were joined by another lady, Miss C,
who had been wintering in Egypt and Palestine,
and so a charming addition was made to our sober
duet. We might almost say that in the end we
escaped from Athens, for on our return we were
told, " You were only just off in time, for three
hours after you had started most alarming tele-
grams came in and I should have stopped your
going, but it was too late."
We were very sorry if we had occasioned our
kind mentor any uneasiness ; and I felt it was
an ill return for all his courtesy and thoughtful
counsel.
CHAPTER VIII.
Start for Thessaly — Experience Greek hospitality at Volo —
Leave for Larissa — First view of Olympos and Ossa —
The town of Larissa — A Gypsv Wedding — The poor
Bride.
With only drachmas and lepta in our pockets we
drove to the Piraeus, and embarked about six p.m.
on a Greek steamer bound for Volo, the port of
Thessaly. Our intention was to sleep a night at
Volo, rail to Larissa, visit the Vale of Tempe,
situated between Mount Olympos and Mount
Ossa, rail to Kalabaka, see what we could of the
monasteries of Meteora, sleep the night at the
monastery of St. Stephen (Hagios Stephanos), re-
turn by rail to Volo, and from that port bysteamer
to Athens. Our first idea, and the one we should
have liked to have carried out, was to have gone
on from Volo by steamer to Salonika and thence
to Constantinople, and so have caught a glimpse
of Mount Athos, with its marble peak and many
monasteries clustering around its base. We gave
this up, however, owing to our inability to find any
trustworthy information as to the dates when the
steamers ran, and everyone in authority assured
On the Boat. 161
us that most probably we should be stuck at
Salonika for a week waiting for a boat, so that it
would be much quicker to return to Athens and
take a direct steamer to Constantinople. As un-
fortunately we were limited to time we did this,
and no doubt missed an exceedingly interesting
coasting trip.
Our start was fortunate. We found the ladies'
cabin was a long, narrow room running across the
boat, and, with the exception of one Greek lady who
paid us fitful visits, we had the whole place to our-
selves. The next morning we discovered that we
had passed Khalkis and left the difficult channel of
the Euripos behind before we were up. It proved
cold and wet, and upon coming on deck the whole
vessel appeared to be one mass of sleeping forms
rolled up in sheep-skins or bright striped blankets,
and it was most difficult to pick your way among
them to the foot of the ladder leading to the bridge.
Of course every scrap of shelter had been eagerly
utilized, but there were far too many passengers
for all to obtain cover, and they lay heaped up to-
gether to keep themselves warm. Last evening,
when boarding the boat in semi-darkness, we had
stumbled over an extraordinary uneven surface, and
it was only after we had got across that, by a head
peering out, we saw that we had just walked over
the sleeping crew. I felt horrified, but they took no
more notice of it than of a fly crawling over them.
If
1 62 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
I had not been very long on the bridge before
I heard coming up from the forepart of the vessel,
what sounded as the tones of merriment. Now as
laughter seemed so totally at variance with what
we had seen of the Greek, I stood on my chair to
peep over the sail-cloth that had been stretched
across as a protection from the wind, and found
myself looking down on a party of men, who had
formed themselves into a kind of circle with their
feet in the centre, and had heaped their united
sheepskins above them, a gorgeous red one at the
top of all the others. Nothing but their heads
were to be seen ; to my surprise four of these heads
were rolling with laughter, and from the strange
convulsions of the sheepskins, they appeared to be
having a tickling match ; later on in the day they
took to playing cards, but apparently only for
amusement, and not for money.
In the drizzling rain Eubcea frowned down
coldly on our right ; that eloquent sentinel watching
over the island, the graceful snowpeak of Delph
which we had seen from Pentelicus, was now
entirely wrapped in clouds. On our left the main-
land seemed broken up into never-ending and ever-
varying capes and bays, and dark rocky promon-
tories, rising up from the sea, behind one of which
Thermopylae lay hid to sight. As we steamed
northwards the character of the country began to
change, the bare rocks became clothed with trees,
Hunt the Slipper. 163
olive woods were seen in Euboea, and that wild
island sent out spits of land clothed in long grass,
and decked with young trees in all the beauty of
their fresh spring tints. Rounding Cape Stavro
we left Euboea behind us, passed the point of
Trikeri, the most southern place on the strip of
Thessalian land, that hooks down and shuts off the
/Egean Sea from the large Gulf of Volo, and then
the peaks of the Pelion range shaped them-
selves before us. Here the wind went down
and the rain almost ceased, and some of the Greek
gentlemen on board came above, among them the
Professor of the new Seminary at Larissa, who
spoke a little French, and who eventually accom-
panied us to the Vale of Tempe. The professor
who had been spending Easter at Athens, had left
his wife there, and from what we heard we fancied
that she must have been one of the unfortunate
ladies on that crowded boat which had been held
up before us as a warning.
The party in the bows had at last grown tired of
playing cards, and as it was comparatively fine
they got up and shook themselves ; no doubt their
first toilet of the day. They now arranged the
sheepskins — with the exception of the red one — in
a circle and five men plumped down on them, the
red skin was then thrown over their knees, and in
the centre of this the sixth man sat on his heels ;
the next moment one of the five caught him a
M 2
164 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
sounding whack on the back with a piece of rope,
and threw it over the centre man's head as he
turned to look for it, the opposite man catching
it and shooting it under the sheepskin, the man in
the middle making frantic dives after it in every
direction. It dawned upon us all at once that
these six hulking men were playing hunt-the-
slipper, the slipper being represented by a foot
and a half of old rope, knotted at each end,
and instead of hitting it on the floor to draw
the searcher's attention, they always whacked it
on his back, to the intense delight of the lookers
on. The shouts and laughter of these men attracted
those who had been loafing dismally about finger-
ing their useless beads without any apparent
method, and there gathered around the players
quite a large audience, who stood silent but with
an ever-increasing grin on their faces. The only
subject that makes an ordinary Greek open his
mouth is politics, and politics he will talk all day
and shout out all night. As they warmed to the
game, these men sent up shrieks of laughter, and
in this way we caught our first glimpse of the
gay Thessalian who was to afford us so much amuse-
ment in our coming tour.
As we approached Volo in the shades of evening,
the most curious sight met our view, the whole side
of the hills being apparently covered with patches
of blazing brilliants ; this wonderful effect was
No Room in the Hotel. 165
caused by the reflection of the setting sun upon
the panes of glass in some of the four and twenty
villages which here cling to the rock like a
swarm of flies. Looking up through the grey
of evening, it seemed almost impossible that
houses could find footing on those steep rocks, but
in daylight it was easily seen how neatly those
houses fitted into the hill side. The sun going
down, the glistening villages died out, the hills drew
about them their purple-black robes of night, and
one by one the lights shone out on the shore ;
it had struck seven when we dropped into a boat
to take us to the landing stage of Volo.
There was only one small room to be had at
the Hotel de France, so Miss C. had it, and Edith
and I agreed to try the hospitality of one of the
residents to whom we had a letter of introduction.
In the old days travellers never thought of going
to the Khans, but always put up at the houses of
private individuals, but where hotels have been
established we found that this system had quite
gone out, and that it was not at all a usual thing
to be suddenly saddled with visitors in this unex-
pected manner. We had, however, on very good
authority, been told quite differently, and in happy
ignorance we followed our boy-guide out into the
inky night. Diving under a dark archway, a door
was pushed open, we groped our way up some
stairs, and were brought to a sudden halt by a
1 66 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
girl with the voice of a screech-owl flying out at us
as if we were breaking into thehouse. Guiltily we
advanced, and were met by a young woman with
a screaming child in her arms. A few hurried
words and our boy disappeared, leaving us in a
dimly lighted chamber and to uncertainty ; we
understood that Monsieur was at the Cafe. Ten
minutes later the boy rushes in—" Monsieur has
gone to spend the evening with friends."
We looked at each other. Was there no
Madame ? Should we have to sit up half the night
on a straight-backed chair, gazing at an empty
table and a destitute side-board, and lulled by the
screams of that infant ? " Despair took possession
of our hearts.
It was thirty-two hours since we had partaken
of luncheon at Athens, and to all appearance there
was little prospect of supper or of bed. We re-
gretted we had not beaten up the other hotels in
the place, although we had been distinctly warned
against doing so, but then, so far, had not all
the warnings we had received proved needless ?
Through the medium of chocolate we made over-
tures with that child, and in semi-wakefulness we
waited with a strange conviction growing in our
mind that our soul would be dear in exchange for
a bed. At last a foot was heard on the stair ; oh
blessed sound ! and there entered an exceedingly
gentlemanly-looking man who read the letters,
Charming Hospitality. 167
murmured that his French was very little and that
he would fetch his wife. Our spirits rose, and he
disappeared. Meantime there entered a young
man who introduced himself as somebody's rela-
tion, seized the child and vanished ; again we
were left in semi-darkness and in doubt.
" When will this pantomime rehearsal cease and
the heavenly vision of beds appear ? " sighed we ;
but a truly heavenly vision of another kind ap-
peared when there glided into the room our elegant
hostess and her charming young sister. We felt
quite abashed at the kindness of their reception ;
we were taken upstairs to the drawing-room which
was brilliant in red velvet, and there entertained
by Madame, and her cousin a young naval
officer, who also spoke French. All of a sudden
the most frightful noise was heard in the streets, it
sounded at least like the outbreak of a terrible
riot, but it was only the populace parading the
streets and shouting out the name of their favour-
ite candidate, as is their custom. Of course we
asked our entertainers their politics, and found
they all looked to M. Tricoupis to drag Greece out
of her financial difficulties. For all the people's
shouting, they said, M. Tricoupis would have a
majority at the coming elections, and so the event
proved.
In an incredibly short time we descended to
the room that had been the scene of our anxious
1 68 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
waiting, and never was supper more welcome. Of
course the inevitable Easter eggs were there, and
they insisted on our cracking them for good luck,
and trying our fortunes in the same way as in
England the merry-thought is broken ; but as
there are two ways of interpreting the merry-
thought, so there seemed to be in the crack-
ing of these eggs, and we never could make
out whether it was the egg that was cracked
or the egg that cracked that came out the
winner. During supper a room had been evacu-
ated for our use, and about eleven o'clock we were
ushered to it. Whilst with our entertainers their
charm had electrified us into life, but I never did
know how we tumbled into bed that night.
The next morning the delightful independence
of hotel life was forcibly brought home to us as
we glanced round the room and saw that Aquarius
was only represented by two glasses of water on a
tray. We were afraid of infringing etiquette by
calling aloud for water, and likewise did not
wish to disturb our courteous hostess at so early
an hour, so as nothing could be made out of those
tumblers of water, we simply gave it up. Last
evening when we had asked to wash our hands
before supper, a function of great ceremony had
taken place. The maid had entered with a tripod
which she put down in the middle of the floor,
brought in a basin which she fitted into it, then
We are Perplexed. 169
with a towel over her shoulder, a candle in one
hand and a jug in the other, she solemnly poured
water over our hands, and the moment the per-
formance was over the whole arrangement was
whipped out of the room like a shot, as if its very
presence was an offence. All this ceremony had
alarmed us and so we gave it up without a struggle.
No doubt they thought us disgusting slovens, for
on opening our door we were greeted by the
charming young sister and ushered into a room
opposite, where stood in solitary glory a marble
washing-stand with one basin, soap, sponge, towels,
and cold water ! First a little water was put
into the basin, then the soap was handed, and
water poured slowly over your hands. This room
apparently was only used for washing, yet I saw
no sign of a bath anywhere, and this doling out
the water in driblets was, to say the least, trying
when you were longing for a good duck. After
some excellent coffee and little rings of bread, we
bid adieu to our courteous and charming enter-
tainers, and, escorted by someone unknown, went
to pick up Miss C. at the hotel.
We left Volo by the 7*30 train, and as we found
the trains in Thessaly had been running in 1891 at
the same hours, it appeared as if the time-table
here was permanent, a very useful arrangement for
the languageless visitor. The distance from Volo
to Larissa is about thirty-seven miles and a half,
•*-
170 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
and the tram accomplishes this in three hours less
eight minutes, so as you pass along there is ample
time to study the features of the country. Nearly
one hour is taken in covering the eleven miles
between Volo and Velestino, the junction where
the long line of ninety miles branches off to
the north-west to Kalabaka, the short branch of
twenty-six and a half miles running up north-east
to Larissa. We were very much indebted to the
manager of Gaze's office at Athens for having
told us that return tickets lasted over the day, and
that we should save a good deal on our fare by
taking return tickets in this way. First we booked
single to Velestino, there took return tickets to
Larissa, which brought us back to the junction the
next day, where we got return tickets to Kalabaka,
and of course single tickets again from Velestino
to Volo on our way back from the Monasteries.
We thought afterwards that we ought to have
seen whether we could have got return tickets
from Volo to the junction, but perhaps for so short
a distance there was some restriction on them.
We were all on the qui vive for our first glimpse
of Mount Olympos, and as the train curved round
for Velestino we looked up the long Thessalian
plain to where in the far distance great rolling
waves of cloud gathered round a huge isolated
mass of mountains that blocked the view to the
north. This was Olympos, 9754 ft, covered deep
First View of Olymfos. 171
in snow, wreathed in awful majesty, its dead white
crowns glistening through the breaks in the clouds ;
and as these gleams of glowing snow appeared and
disappeared in the sky in quick succession, they
gave the beholder an extraordinarily exaggerated
idea of the height of the mountain. To the north-
east the graceful peak of Ossa, 6398 ft., rose capped
with virgin snow, and then the chain of mountains
continued down and down to where the range of
Pelion, 5308 ft., stood out on the east. Up the
â– - â– ,-
plain the long lake of Karla (Boibeis) wormed its
way at the foot of the eastern hills, many ruins
being clearly seen in its immediate neighbourhood.
This first view of Olympos and Ossa, together
with the knowledge that between those two ranges
of mountains lay crushed the world-renowned
Vale of Tempe, brought a sensation that can never
be forgotten. It was so easy to understand what
a religious people like the ancient Greeks must
172 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
have felt as they traversed that long stretch of
fertile plain, with those wedded mountains beckon-
ing them on with snowy hands. The grace of
Ossa appealing to their keen sense of beauty, the
mystical cloud-enveloped Olympos precipitating
sacred yearning into religious frenzy. Where in
all Greece could have been found a more fitting
home for the Immortal Gods ?
Thessaly struck us as having very different
characteristics to the other parts of Greece which
we had seen, not only in its physical features, but
in its people and in its cattle. Nature had planned
out this province on a larger scale, and man had
fostered the multiplication of cattle. In the
Peloponnesus we saw oxen, but a cow was a vara
avis, and although there were sheep scattered
about they had not the happy look of the flocks of
Thessaly ; whilst regarded in the light of mutton
there was no comparison. We were informed,
however, that Athens drew its supply of meat from
Thessaly ; if so, all that we could think was, that the
agonies of that sea voyage in a Greek boat must
have very deteriorating effects on those sheep.
Droves of horses careered about the plains, herds
of cattle wandered over them, but unfortunately
we never were near enough any of these to
see their points. The Greeks call Thessaly their
rich province, and certainly when the population
increases so as to brin^ it all under cultivation it
Nothing but their Minarets. 173
will be so. The soil looked splendid and everyone
said it was well worth turning up. Owing to the
cession of the country to Greece in 1881 a great
migration of Turks has taken place, the inha-
bitants of whole villages moving across the frontier
and leaving their empty houses for the Greeks to
come in. We were told that the province had
made an immense stride within the last ten years,
more especially since the opening of the rail-
way. Something perhaps should be allowed for
so intensely patriotic a people, but no doubt there
was a good deal of truth in the following indignant
reply —
" You talk about Turkey as a civilizing power,
you should judge it by its works! Thessaly was a
wilderness when it was handed over to us. The
Turks leave nothing behind them, no manufactories,
no cultivation, no education, nothing but their
minarets."
Now, with regard to the minarets I am sorry to
say that these are fast crumbling into ruins, and it
is a mistake for the Greek to allow this, as it is
these same despised minarets that in the majority
of cases will attract the tourist whom the Greek is
so anxious to entice to his country. Once let the
trading instinct of the Greek come to regard the
minaret as a commercial decoy instead of a
symbol of a detested servitude, and those graceful
pinnacles are safe. By carefully husbanding all
174 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
standing objects of interest the land of Athene
ought to be able to compete with the land of
vEneas for the surplus coin of the
globe-trotter. Of course what re-
tards the influx of visitors is that, as
a rule, the treasures which Greece
has to show require an effort of mind
to appreciate, whereas Italy offers a
IlIAiS" ') cri oice of every kind ; but the
minarets and monasteries of Thessaly
make no exactions on the tired
brain, and so should be looked upon
as a welcome addition to the sights
of Greece.
Larissa, the capital of Thessaly, is
a city stretched out on the plain, and
it owes its extremely picturesque
aspect to the many minarets that
still are left standing ; for some
reason not apparent to the casual
visitor the station is nearly a mile
from the town. We had been told
in Athens and also by some of the
Greeks on board that upon arriving
at Larissa at 10.22 a.m., we should
have plenty of time to go to the Vale of Tempe
that day, but an interview with the Demarch or
Prefect soon dispelled that idea. In the first place
it was an expedition that took twelve hours at the
&^TO>/
The Capital of Thessaly. 175
least, in the second the escort could not be got
together all in a moment — they did not do things
at that rate in Greece. So it was arranged that on
the morrow we were to start at 6 a.m., and as it
would be Sunday and a holiday at the Seminary
the Demarch requested M. le Professeur to accom-
pany us. As it turned out, had our carriage been
capable of expansion, we could have made up a
very agreeable party.
Here in Thessaly we found the capital taking
its name from its acropolis " Larisa/' so that town
and citadel were included under the same title.
With regard to the spelling of the name, the
doubles appeared to be the most general way,
though there was a pleasing freedom on that point ;
thus in our small time-table it was spelt Larissa
within and Larisa on the map outside ; I forgot to
see how it was printed on the station, no doubt
there was some variation, for the time-table version
rarely agreed with that on the stations. The
Pelasgi of course are said to be responsible for the
name of Larisa, in the same way as the fort at
Argos still goes by that title. In the earliest ages
the capital of Thessaly seems to have been an
important place ; from its position it must always
have commanded the highway through the Vale
of Tempe to the sea and to Macedonia, and for
this reason it generally appears to have fallen
into the hands of the most dominant of the kings
176 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
of Thessaly. In an indirect way Larissa may be
held to be the cause of the foundation of Mykenae,
insomuch as it was here, during the great funeral
games arranged by King Teutamais, that Perseus,
whilst displaying his skill at quoits, accidentally
killed his grandfather, Akrisios, king of Argos, and
so fulfilled the oracle. Many other names familiar
in mythical and authentic history are associated
with Larissa.
The Peneios, which rises in the north of the
Pindos chain and which we were afterwards to see
a small stream at Kalabaka, is here quite a noble
river, and Larissa is situated on its southern bank,
behind the rise on which we thought the old acro-
polis must have stood, but building operations and
old fortifications prevented our making a close in-
vestigation of this part. Since the annexation the
aspect of the town has greatly changed, broad
streets have been driven through it, white airy-
looking schools with many windows have been
erected, fine barracks stand out, and the large open
square looks as if it had been entirely rebuilt.
Notwithstanding these clearances a considerable
number of Turks remain, and the Turkish quarter,
with its silent narrow streets and blank dreary
walls, seemed like a city of the dead jammed into
the moving Jewish district, the bright Gipsy
colony, whilst the enterprising Greek overflowed
on all sides. The mixture of nationalities, the
Intensely Picturesque. 177
diversity of costume, the fashion of displaying in
the streets all the goods the shopkeeper had
to sell, gave the place the most animated and
bright appearance ; the whole tone being much
more closely allied to the East than to the West.
A fine bridge crosses the Peneios, and leaning
over the parapet we saw the women busy washing
clothes on one bank, the men rod in hand catching
the fish, celebrated in song, on the other. The
water looked decidedly yellow, very much the
colour of the Danube, but we were told it is the
best and the purest in Greece ; and across the
bridge are the public gardens running by the side
of the river. All about this neighbourhood the
most perfect and diversified of pictures are to
be seen. Looking up the river, you get the bridge
dominated by the blue-green cupolas and minarets
of the tomb of the conqueror of Thessaly. In the
opposite direction the river is broken by salmon-
coloured sandbanks and grey-green silver stemmed
poplars, with Ossa's snowy peak at the back.
Passing through the so-called gardens, you come
upon a great waste, and there rises up a wonder-
ful view of Mount Olympos. In the foreground
stood a shepherd-boy clad in white, and bronze-
purple skins, at his waist hung a kind of tiny drum,
and this he beat with a stick when he wished to
call up his sheep. The lambs were the prettiest
I had ever seen, they were quite black with white
N
178 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
crests on their heads, their tails tipped with white,
and they were most wonderfully cheeky for the race
ovis : amongst the sheep there were a few white,
the rest were dirty brown, and at a distance these
took the most exquisite madder tints and violet
shadows, almost the colouring of the French artist
Damoye. The distant foliage was all of a soft
grey-green, then rose up two dark pointed little
mountains, and beyond the great white mass of
Olympos with its circling wreath of clouds. How
I watched those clouds, and how I longed for one
free view»of the mountain. It was most tantalizing ;
for a moment Zeus would lift his mantle from a
peak, and as you watched the breaking through of
another gleaming point the first would be swept
up in the ever-circling clouds. The gods were in
conclave the whole time we were at Larissa, and it
was only just before sunset that for an instant my
patience was rewarded by a momentary view of
the entire outline of the mountain. Looking
away from Olympos, down the plain, on all sides
stretched lines upon lines of mountains tipped
with snow, and yet- these hills and snows of
Thessaly never appeared to be the least like those
of Switzerland.
In accord with the courtesy and kindness that
had strewed our path from the moment we had
set out on our travels, the Demarch requested M.
Ambelicopoulos, the clever government specialist
The Plague of Mice. 179
who had been sent to Thessaly to stop the plague
of mice, to place himself at our disposal for the after-
noon, and under his able and agreeable guidance
we saw and heard many things. As far as we
could make out, the plague of mice, about which
we had heard so much, only covered a small area,
and was insignificant in comparison to the devasta-
tion that at the same time was being wrought by
voles in Scotland. M. Ambelicopoulos was poison-
ing the mice with, I believe, bi-sulphide of carbon,
the instrument used was a rod something like a
long syringe, and this was put down the hole and
ejected the poison each way, killing the mice
under ground. 1 We saw two specimens of these
voles preserved in spirits, they were grey and
looked like a cross between a mouse and a rat>
their correct title is, I think, Arvicola Guntheri?
On a piece of waste land touching the public
gardens the gipsies had an enormous encamp-
ment, their tents being pitched on a sandy plateau
in the centre, whilst their miserable ponies and
donkeys fed on the scrub around, with an oc-
1 In the Report of the Board of Agriculture on the vole
plague in Scotland, it is said that Professor Loefner, a
German bacteriologist, claims to have destroyed the voles
in Thessaly. — The Standard.
2 Latest reports tend to show that, in spite of all remedies,
the lively mouse has again appeared ; and that the people,
tired of the scientists, are calling upon the Apollo of their
particular faith to stay the plague. It can only be hoped
that the " Mouse-destroyer," in his Orthodox or Mussulman
form will be as successful as in the classic days of old. — I. J. A.
N 2
i So Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
casional bear with a good temper in their midst.
The tents appeared to be set up very irregularly,
but in a measure they guarded the plateau, and no
doubt if necessary all the animals could be tethered
there ; when we visited the camp, only the sulky
bears were chained within.
A wedding was taking place, so the encamp-
ment was en fete, and we presume that we saw it
to the best advantage. The expectant bridegroom's
tent, which was much rent at the back, was dis-
tinguished by a pole surmounted by a very small
red flag tied with evergreens and ornamented with
flowers and oranges. Before the tent a great
concourse of men stood in a ring, four or five deep.
The bridegroom, a slender youth with good
features, was pointed out to us by his red buttons,
which were considered very chic. He stood in
rather a dejected attitude, as if he was listening
to his execution being read out, and he gave us
the idea that he had had almost enough of it.
Children ran in and about this conclave, old
women hung on its skirts ; but of young women
there seemed a dearth. In vain we looked about
for the bride in this ring gathered before the
bridegroom's tent, and an old woman divining our
thoughts, with great glee asked us to follow her
and she would show us the bride ! Dodging tents,
sand heaps, and bears, she led us down to where»
sheltered from the wind, three quite respectable
The Gipsy Bride. t8i
tents were pitched on the sloping side of the
platform ; and there, before the largest and most
water-tight tent in the encampment, we found
seated cross-legged on the ground, two old women,
and between them a young one ; this latter was
the bride. She already appeared older than her
husband, and she was a stoutish maiden with no
doubt good looks ; but when we saw her these
were entirely clouded by the sullen, dissatisfied
expression of her face — indeed, she looked as if
she would willingly have strangled those two old
women. I felt sorry for that young man ; in the
distant future there would be rows in his tent. I
fancy she had had a dull time of it ; the men to
the accompaniment of music had been to a casino
hard by, but we had seen nothing of the bride.
No doubt she felt it hard lines to be stuck down
between two old women in a hidden away part of
the encampment, when all the fun was going on
above ; moreover, if this was the tent she was
leaving, it was in far better condition than the one
to which she was going. We were afraid that,
perhaps, she resented our presence, but it was
not so ; with her yellow scarf round her head and
clean white bodice, she thought herself quite an
object for our admiration, and was in no wise
abashed at a very large hole in the sole of her
stocking, which, from her position, was the most
prominent feature in her toilet. Poor bride ! you
1 82 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
felt a thrill of sadness as it flashed across you that
there must be someone outside the tribe who alone
could bring light into that dark face, and cause
that sullen mouth to smile, those fierce black eyes
to melt to softness. The only person who really
looked pleased was the oldest of the two women,
who was possessed of rather fine features and had
her hands covered with curious silver rings which
looked like coins ; but to our " good morning " she
made no response, so, fearful of infringing the
etiquette of the occasion, we moved on.
We then visited the brown bears, who all seemed
exceedingly cross-tempered, and joined the groups
that were always gathered around the performing
monkeys, but what interested me most, after the
humans, were the tents which they inhabited.
The principle of these tents was four diagonal
poles and one horizontal one crossing them.
Across this latter the tent cloth — such as it was —
was hung and pegged down, the three-cornered
space at the back being closed by the largest rag
belonging to the establishment, and against this
was heaped a pile of rolled-up rags representing
the household effects of the owner of the tent ;
the other end was open, and before it was the
domestic hearth, which consisted of a fiat stone,
or one or two broken bricks ; lucky, indeed, was
the possessor of four whole bricks. These
miserable tents could afford very little protection
Soft Music. 183
from the heavy showers which are so frequent in
Greece, and not one of them was high enough to
allow a man to stand upright. As the whole camp
appeared to be absorbed around the bridegroom
and the monkeys, the tents had been taken posses-
sion of by the cocks and hens and the dogs ; no
doubt in cold weather the bears and all went in.
On a scrubby sort of a hedge " the wash " was
drying, but it was in vain we tried to identify
those rags with any known clothing. As usual
the men were much better dressed than the
women. But amid the squalor, the dirt, the rags,
there was one redeeming feature, and that was
the music, which was the sweetest we heard in
Greece, and sounded like a most musical combina-
tion of tambourine and flute. We should have
liked to have lingered in that fascinating scene,
but with a record of two sleepless nights and a
knowledge of a six o'clock start on the morrow,
we were obliged to turn our steps towards the
bridge ; leaving behind the sweet cadence of that
soft music, the dull murmur of voices, the dark
crowd gathered in front of the bridegroom's tent,
whilst the wind slowly but insidiously widened
those too conspicuous rents, and the poor, dis-
satisfied, lonely bride.
CHAPTER IX.
The Vale of Tempe — A brigand scare — Caesar's inscription
and the Professor's fionlet — Spring of Kryologon — The
three-and-twenty murderers develop into cattle-lifters
— A go-as-you-please — Green tortoises.
At 6 a.m. we clattered out of Larissa in fine
style, the Professor making the fourth in our
carriage. On the box was a sergeant of the gen-
darmes with a neat assortment of arms ; a
corporal and two privates riding behind, sword by
the side, gun at rest on the knee, ready to en-
counter all the brigands of all Thessaly. Of the
twenty-three " murderers " who had escaped from
the prison at Larissa, three had been recaptured,
and one brigand had also been taken. In my
mind I had always placed a live brigand in the
same category as a dead donkey, and having seen
the latter I should like to have looked upon the
former, but out of idle curiosity to go and gaze
at a poor man who was down on his luck would
have been too great a dip into barbarism ; if it had
come in the way of a tussle with our escort, that
would have been quite another thing. We had
Start for Tempe. 185
always thought " twenty-three murderers " rather
a large order, and had been much amused by
being reassured on the boat that they were not
" murderers " at all, " only highwaymen," a solu-
tion which we thought aggravated it in our
case.
For a little way we followed the Peneios, with
its prettily wooded banks, then we turned off to
the right, on the open prairie which stretched
out to the low spurs of Ossa, and soon came up
with a carriage containing two gentlemen who had
been advised to wait for our escort : we now pre-
sented quite a formidable party of twelve. Al-
though we drove for three hours across the plain,
the time could not seem long with Olympos and
Ossa before the eye. The relation these moun-
tains bore to each other was most varied ; from
one point they would appear quite close, as if
clasping hands across the Peneios, and at another
they looked miles apart, so giving cause for the
opposite accounts we had heard. Neither
Olympos nor Ossa proper rise straight up from
the Vale of Tempe, as we had been led by glowing
descriptions to believe, it is rather the great ragged
spurs of those mountains through which the
Peneios has forced a passage, and formed this
lovely highway.
The soil of the plain was very rich, and our
1 86 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Greek companions greatly bewailed the want of
population to cultivate it. Although several of
the deserted Turkish villages were now inhabited
by Greeks, there was room for more, and one
village we passed, prettily terraced in the side of
a hill, was still unoccupied ; we also saw two or
three deserted Turkish cemeteries. Breeding cattle
is the chief occupation of these dwellers on the
plains, and some of these Thessalian shepherds
own enormous flocks and herds. One very long-
drawn-out Greek village straggling at the foot of
some low hills, and called by the appropriate name
of Makrychori, was entirely occupied by shep-
herds, so at least we were told. Occasionally we
came across large patches of upturned soil, and at
one time we drove by the side of what looked like
a cross between giant barley and a tall flowering
rush. The Professor, our sergeant, and our driver
apparently could not agree as to its correct name,
but the two latter — who seemed the best autho-
rities on this subject — told me quietly that there
were two kinds of this maize, one which was
made into bread for human beings, the other which
was made into bread for horses, and I thought
they said that this was the species for horses.
The stems were strong and hollow, and the Greek
boys delight in cutting them into whistles, in the
same way as an English child manufactures a
whistle out of an elder shoot. It must not be
Across the Plain. 187
thought that the stones of Greece were wholly
wanting in this fertile plain ; masses of broken
rock were constantly cropping up, and as these in
every case were embedded in a rich setting of
flowers, bits of exquisite foreground were always
at hand. The blue flowers which we had noticed
so much in other parts of Greece were here hard
run by pink ones, especially a sort of very pretty
little everlasting, whilst the ubiquitous poppy
lifted up its head on high.
Three hours and three quarters after leaving
Larissa we again joined the Peneios as it curved
back to the east, and I could not help wondering
if it was here that Pompey, flying from the fatal
field of Pharsalos, exhausted and thirsty, had
thrown himself on his face and drunk from the
river.
Shortly after we stopped at a large Khan,
which although in this out-of-the-world spot had a
very fine outside appearance, what its accommo-
dation might be I cannot tell. Here the thirsty
of creation liquored up generally, the sergeant
and corporal being invited inside, but seeing the
two privates were quite left out, we insisted on
some wine being sent to them, with which atten-
tion they appeared greatly pleased, notwithstand-
ing they hardly touched it. If we could only have
given them sparkling water they would have ex-
claimed kald ! and drunk it in quarts — the Greek
1 88 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
has the greatest veneration for, and love of fresh
clear water.
It was now ten o'clock, and the mounted
soldiers began to look uncomfortably warm, the
Professor likewise complained of the heat, but to
us it only felt comfortable. Just beyond the
Khan to the right was a little old monastery,
with two black wood appendages like Swiss
chalets, standing out among the trees ; we were
now following the river, and the character of the
scenery was quite altered. The large open plain
was left behind, the last Turkish village was
passed, we were amongst low hills, high shrubs,
and young trees — the valley was narrowing
rapidly, and the Peneios was rushing with a roar
into Tempe.
In order to get a decent view of all this, I stood
up on the back seat of the carriage, and the
driver grew quite excited and waxed exceedingly
eloquent over the coming beauties. Ah, that I could
only have understood it all ! Before us a huge rock
seemed to block the narrow entrance to the gorge ;
this was pointed out as the Gate of the Vale of
Tempe, and round the foot of it there was just
room for the road to pass. Hidden by a beautiful
screen of the dark green splay leaves of the fig,
and the pale blue green pointed leaves and feathery
white flowers of the scented willow, the Peneios
roared close to our elbow, bare rocks reared them-
An Alarm of Brigands. 189
selves on high, a strip of blue sky was seen above,
and we had entered the sacred vale. Our escort
pulled themselves together, and kept a sharp
look-out. On the Olympos side, the grey rock rose
up perpendicular, hollowed back here and there, to
allow of tall plane trees to stretch their limbs
across the river to those on the opposite bank ;
the huge broken-up sides of Ossa, clothed in
dense brushwood (fit hiding-place for highway-
men), almost overhung the road, which here was
very narrow and heaped with loose stones.
The Professor thought it was just the place for
brigands, the sergeant drew up his gun and laid
it across his knees, the corporal kept an eye on
the frowning heights, the driver began to tell how,
further on, " there had once been an old castle, the
ruined gate of which we should see on our right;
that there a queen had been murdered, and that
her spirit as a pale sad ghost might still be seen
hovering above the crags ; that at times horrid cries
were heard, and — ! "
Cries were suddenly heard coming from the
first carriage, we pushed on, rounded a rock, our
horses swerved, plunged, the sergeant raised his
gun, screamed to me " go down, go down," and
we all four ducked so that the expectant shots
might pass over our heads. We had laughed and
jeered at those who had warned us at Athens, and
now we were in for it. It was a cold breathless
190 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
moment as we waited for that first shot ; what
Edith and Miss C. thought I do not know, but I
felt that I should be able to warm to it if only they
would begin firing ; instead the men were calling
to each other, a scrimmage was going on over-
head, and glancing upwards, we saw our escort in
deadly struggle with the telegraph wires. One of
the poles had been blown down, and the wire was
hanging across the road. If it was not the real
thing, anyway it was a very good scare. After
this, we were silent for a time, and the driver
talked no more of spirits and ghosts.
We found the road considerably better than we
expected, but owing to the depth of loose stones
it was very heavy in places, and we had to turn
out and walk whenever we came to a rise, the
horses even refusing the slope occasioned by a
bridge. I was not surprised at their faint-hearted-
ness, for, although in better condition than the
Athenian horses, they certainly were not descend-
ants of the mares of Diomedes, and if natives
they were a poor advertisement of the Thessalian
breed ; the soldiers' horses were far better, and
the gendarme's animal, which was ridden by the
corporal, was a decidedly fine beast. About three
miles down the Vale we came to the spring of
Kryologon, which at one time must have gushed
out of the rock, but which now rushes from under
the road to join the Peneios, forming between
The Fountain of Tempe. 191
them a little delta, a most romantic spot. It was
here that the King- of Greece took luncheon, and
from the number of Greek names carved on the
rock and on the trunk of one of the trees, it is
evidently a favourite spot for that meal. I suppose
this is the celebrated water of the Vale of Tempe,
which was said to inspire the poet and etherealize
mankind. I wondered if it might have a chalybeate
or some other flavour, but it was simply beautiful
cool sparkling water, and certainly the best I
tasted in Greece. I could quite understand its
praises being loudly sung by a water-loving nation.
Our men drank copiously of it, but they seemed
to regard it more from a medicinal than an
ethical point of view, and to all my questions I could
only get as an answer — " Drink, drink ; you must
drink ; it will do you good," but they would not
add li and make you wise." Unfortunately we
had a preconceived opinion upon the merits
of drinking glasses of cold water when on the
march.
We were not going to lunch until we were
through the defile, so we all formed up again but
soon had to turn out and walk, and as we were
toiling up a long slope, the Professor spied before
us to the right the celebrated Ciesar inscription
cut in the rock. I scrambled up to it, but as soon
as I drew out my pencil to copy it, I slid down to
the road again, so I left it to the Professor to do
192 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
and this is what he made of it. At the top of this
ECAJTIVS ION U I
IV
ITTMPE MVNIVIf
miniature pass we were a considerable height
above the plane trees that shut in the Peneios, but
still the great bare peaks towered above us, and
from a flat ridge of rock on our left we were
supposed to see the sea, but it was all supposition.
Perhaps when the trees are without foliage the sea
can be seen ; it was easy to imagine that you saw it,
but it was not visible to the eye, and it was a
beautifully clear bright day.
Soon after we trotted down into a wide glade,
shaded by magnificent trees, which opened out
into a broad valley, with long lush grass. Here,
before a hut built in the arm of a tree, we halted,
and the nine hot horses made for that grass. The
river at this point was much wider and broken up
by little rapids, then it narrowed, and there the
Greeks had built their bridge and on the Olympos
bank established their guard house. Owing to the
brigand scare the guard had been doubled, and
they were keeping a sharp look out for doubtful
characters attempting to cross the frontier. Walk-
ing towards the bridge, we passed a party of
A Dream of Beauty. 193
soldiers bivouacking in the long grass under the
shade of a group of light green trees, and with
their short blue coats, white leggings, turned-up
shoes with large blue tufts, and red fezzes, they
looked most picturesque. On the other side of
the bridge, hanging over the river, there was a
beautiful specimen of the sweet-scented flowering
willow, and with a little difficulty some lovely
bunches were gathered, but not one of all those
Greeks knew the name of it. The scenery here
was quite different to what we had been through.
We appeared to have got out beyond the moun-
tains, and to be in a broad vale studded with
shrubs and young trees. It was exceedingly pretty,
and looked as if a brisk walk must bring us to
where a glimpse of the sea could be caught, but,
alas ! an " inward gnawing " seemed to be con-
suming the vitals of the party, and perforce we
had to retrace our steps.
The man at the shanty possessed a couple of
wooden tables and a bench or two, so we sat down
in grand style to the luncheon we had brought
with us, consisting of cold lamb, hard-boiled eggs,
native Gruyere cheese, and excellent wine. Per-
haps not a Thessalian banquet in the old sense,
but quite enough for modern requirements. The
leafy canopy of the glade entirely sheltered us
from the sun ; on the Ossa side a small gurgling
stream burrowed its way among ferns and grasses,
O
194 Tw0 Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
making mossy grottoes — fit resting-place for
languid goddess; whilst on the Olympos side
the Peneios rushed over its rocky bed, to break
into a thousand little cascades that sparkled and
danced beneath a dazzling sky of blue, and as the
plane boughs slowly swayed to the gentle breeze,
the open spaces were filled in with the pink, white,
yellow, and pale green splodges of the opposite
bank which rose up from the river, rich in young
spring colour. It was a perfect day, and as if the
senses were not satiated through the eye alone, on
the ear there fell the soft musical tones of the
Greek tongue, the fascinating murmur of the
rippling water, and the sweet long notes of the
nightingale. Zeus sat in his lofty eyrie, Hera
looked out from her neighbouring grotto, Daphne
rose from her fountain to play in the waters of
her royal sire, the gods again had come upon
earth — and then the Professor spoilt it all by
waving his hand in the direction of the nightin-
gales, and saying, in his best French, —
" Ecoutez, c'est le poulet qui chante ! "
Spirit of departed " murghi," to be thus trans-
lated to the Vale of Tempe !
And the sea ? Alas ! we never saw it, for after
luncheon the drivers said, " The way was long, the
road was bad ; it would never do to be belated on
the plain, and that we must be starting unless we
stopped the night at the Khan." No doubt there
A Throw for Luck. 195
we should have had " experiences," but being
satisfied with those provided for us at our hotel at
Larissa, we said " Pass."
Although our escort, according to orders, never
let us out of sight, they apparently considered us
as a party safe from attack, and we took an assort-
ment of arms into the hood of the carriage, but
the two privates were ordered to stick to their
guns. In a very short time after our start home-
wards, the leading horses refused a bridge, and we
all had to turn out and walk up the little pass.
When we came to where the gorge opened out on
the Ossa side into a small rocky sweep, filled with
flowering trees and shrubs, our escort jumped up
on to the low rocks that were now to our right,
and each threw a small stone over the intervening
space in the direction of the river, listening to
hear if it finally splashed into the water. They
said that to throw a stone into the Peneios at this
point brings the thrower good luck. One of the
men was a splendid shot, throwing his stones in an
arc, and nearly every one fell into the water in the
open space between the shadowing trees. We grew
quite excited listening to the course of the stones ;
sometimes they ricochetted through the trees,
falling into the water at last ; other stones that
appeared to be rattling down in the right direction,
would at the last be turned by a branch and fall
dead ; but it was in vain that I tried to get a stone
O 2
196 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
into the water, and it was no consolation that one of
the privates was no better a shot. Unfortunately,
he took his ill-luck very seriously, and we left him
on the rock trying to revoke untoward fate.
Of course there are stretches in the Vale of
Tempe that will remind the visitor of other views
he has seen, and of course it is open to any
individual to prefer places with which he has
patriotic or personal associations ; but, if com-
parisons must be made, in the name of the gods !
let them be drawn between nature and the old
Greek ideal. The associations of the Vale of
Tempe are absolutely unique and so interwoven
with the natural features that it is impossible to
disassociate the two. What struck me so forcibly
was the length of the gorge, the absolute beauty
of every inch of that four to five miles, and that
throughout the Vale the river was shaded by tall
forest trees, whose great branches often seemed
to form a canopy over the rushing river as it
sparkled and glittered between overhanging fig
and budding vine trail. Sometimes the huge
walls of rock on either side crushed in on those
guardian trees; in other places they opened in
curves, and the road leaving the level of the
lovely river climbed the steep ascent and looked
down on the tops of the forest trees. On the
Ossa side the cliffs were broken up and clothed
with a jungle of evergreens and brushwood, but
The Gods' own Vale. 197
always above all the grey rock towered ; on the
other side the spurs of Olympos shut in the
river with a precipitous wall of bare rock, scarred
in places with many caves. These weird eyries
were pointed out to us as the grotto of Zeus,
the grotto of Hera, and of many other gods and
goddesses ; indeed the divinities of Olympos
appear to have had their summer residences
overlooking this classic vale. Beyond scattered
anemones here and there we noticed few flowers;
the colouring was all supplied by the light green
of the plane trees, the dark green of the wild fig,
the pure white of the may, the deep rose of the
Judas-tree, the lemon- white feathery blossom of
the willow, to which would shortly be added the
bursting vine bud and masses of trailing clematis.
Could fairer garden than this be found for the
immortal gods ? It was easy to understand what
must have been the sensations of those two
great idealistic artists, Apelles the painter and
Lysippos the sculptor, as they passed through
the Vale on their way to the court of Macedon.
Here have the gods turned down many a tragic
page in the history of mortals and of nations. At
the foot of the little pass can still be read that
inscription bearing record to Caesar's conquering
arms. Here the whilom darling of the Romans,
Pompey the Great, dejected and footsore, hurried
on his way to Egypt, where he was to meet with a
198 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
sudden and treacherous death. Here the knightly-
Philip V. of Macedon marched to his defeat at
Kynoskephalae (near Velestino), at the hands of
the Roman, Titus Quinctius Flamininus. Cen-
turies before and centuries after, army after army
passed through this vale, all for the conquest of
that poor Greece which only so late as 1830
became an independent nation.
The private who had been so unsuccessful in
courting Good Fortune, did his best to counter-
act the evil by swallowing glass after glass from
the spring of Kryologon, and, not content with
drinking as much of the water as they possibly
could, the men proceeded to fill every available
bottle to take home to their families. Although
they ostensibly repudiated its supernatural qualities,
I fancy they believed in them.
One of the gentlemen in the first carriage had
a mania for collecting, and his fancy had gone
out to-day in the direction of green tortoises. As
we drove across the prairie in the morning these
beautiful coloured creatures were out basking in
the sun, and every ten minutes a halt was cried,
whilst the driver, grinning from ear to ear at the
extraordinary craze of this foreigner, was sent
back to pick up another specimen, and by the
time the Vale of Tempe was reached he had the
carriage full of them. Now as we drove home
there fell on our ear at irregular intervals a strange
Green Tortoises. 199
kind of sound which puzzled me very much, until
I understood that " the gentleman in front was
sorting out his collection," and that the thud on
the ground was caused by the rejected being
dropped over the side of the carriage ; in this
way he left a trail for miles behind him. The
remarkable point was that he merely wanted the
shell to make a footstool, and to obtain this he
would have to get the tortoise boiled like a lobster.
He thought he could have this done in the gypsies'
encampment, as no Greek would let one of these
poor beasts come near their cooking utensils.
As we approached Makrychori the whole plain
seemed alive with animals, all converging to that
village. There was the shepherd-boy guiding his
flock by the sound of his tin drum, men driving
long dark lines of advancing cattle, and droves of
horses rearing, kicking, galloping in circles in
most graceful form j altogether it was a novel
and exceedingly interesting sight. Looking at
these lines of cattle moving up the plain, we
thought of those unfortunate three-and-twenty
men who had escaped from the prison at Larissa,
and who at Athens had been represented as
murderers, at Volo had been declared to be high-
waymen, and in the Vale of Tempe had developed
into cattle-lifters. This appeared to us a very
minor offence, but here it was not so regarded ;
we were told that on account of the defenceless
2oo Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
state of the vast herds of Thessaly the law had
to take stringent measures against those who were
caught, or otherwise the shepherd would have no
protection.
I had been hoping all day to get a clear view of
Olympos on our way back, but when at last we
were sufficiently free of the low hills to see the
great mountain, there it was wreathed about with
clouds in the old manner, a peak here and there
appearing above them ; and, the same as yester-
day, it was only for a brief moment at sunset that
the entire outline of the great white isolated mass
with its many peaks of snow was seen. Even as
you held your breath and gazed, the curtain of
night was let down and the mountain was blotted
out before your eyes.
Our gendarme, who had confided to the
Professor that he had never sat on the box seat of
a carriage for so many hours in his life, and had
apparently been on pins and needles for the
greater part of the time, coming home, swopped
places with the corporal, who had suffered from
the sun all day. The handsome bay went mad
with delight when he felt the touch of his master's
hand ; he plunged into the standing maize, he
backed into the troopers' horses ; they all three got
mixed up together and disentangled themselves
by charging into us ; then they spread out on the
prairie to find a short cut for the carriage ; our
" GO AS YOU PLEASE." 201
tired horses were whipped up, and we degenerated
into a regular "go as you please." Galloping
across broken country is pleasant enough on
horseback, but to those in a carriage it is a verU
table rough and tumble, and by the time a halt was
called to dress up for the town, guns, swords, wine
bottles, and flowers were all mixed up in wild
disorder. As we stopped on the edge of the plain
the lights of Larissa loomed through the evening
mists, and then to our delight some of the minarets
lit up and greatly added to the effect. This illu-
mination was in honour of the last days of
Ramadan, but our Greeks persisted in pretending
perfect ignorance as to the cause. Guns were now
swung across shoulder, swords buckled on, an un-
recognizable mass, which had once been a specimen
bouquet, was pitched out of the carriage, the
horses settled down to the regulation trot, and
amid the yells of our drivers and the clatter of our
escort we entered Larissa in noble style ; the
wonder was how so small a party could make so
much noise. The principal streets and large
square, with its numerous cafes, were brilliantly
lighted and crowded with men — all talking politics,
I suppose ; indeed, it looked as if every male in-
habitant of the place must have been out of doors,
and certainly the capital of this, the latest jewel
added to the crown of Greece, presented a most
busy and animated appearance at night.
202 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
To come down from Olympos to things
domestic, our hotel at Larissa was on the same
system as that at Nauplia ; it had bedrooms only,
and the architect had designed it for the accom-
modation of civilized people. Unfortunately, it
was not conducted on the same principle as the
Hotel de France at Volo. Our rooms were not
nearly as good as those we had at Volo, and our
floor hardly came up to the shoe-standard.
Savage life is interesting enough in its own place,
but when introduced under a pretentious roof it
ceases to amuse, and Edith was not attracted by
the proceedings in the pay department. At the
meeting of the passages at the top of the stairs, all
business was transacted through the medium of
Food and Lodging at Larissa. 203
two boys and a pot of ink that had got mixed up
with the drying sand ; and here, after our thirteen
hours' trip to the Vale of Tempe, my heroic friend
sat for one hour, before that bill, which only took
a moment to make out, was produced. The re-
deeming point, however, was the view of Olympos
and Ossa from our windows. Of the food at
Larissa we can speak with unqualified praise — it
was good and it was cheap. There seemed a
choice of restaurants â– those in the square looked
clean, but the Professor kindly piloted us to the
one he considered the best, which was hidden away
in a little back garden behind a picturesque house
belonging to a Turk. Here we had excellent
macaroni, well-cooked lamb, bread, and half a
bottle of good wine for one drachma and fifteen, at
the time about equal to ninepence. It was said
that a gentleman staying in Larissa had been
trying to spend six francs a day on his food, but
had not been able to accomplish it. Halcyon
place for small incomes, but, alas ! the capital
would be absorbed in reaching it !
To anyone who takes a real interest in the Vale
of Tempe, I would say most strongly — Do not
start later than five in the morning ; do not be per-
suaded into stopping to lunch at the spring of
Kryologon, but drive on to the shanty near the
bridge as we did, and on arriving there settle at
once about walking on to see the sea. Should the
204 Tw0 Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
escort look fagged, no doubt a guard could be
supplemented from the troops at the bridge — a few
drachmas go a long way in Greece. Do not be
lured into sitting down to luncheon, to be told
afterwards that " there is no time." Drink some
wine and put some bread and cheese in your
pocket ; do anything, eat nothing, rather than
return with the miserable feeling that you failed
when close to the goal ! From all we heard it
seemed impossible that the walk could be very
long before the sea came in view. We were told
the sea would " soon " be seen, but as practical
experience had taught us that "soon" meant an in-
definite time, from ten minutes to one hour and a
half, I dare not so much as hazard a conjecture as
to the distance.
CHAPTER X.
We start for the monasteries of Meteora — The classic ground
of Thessaly — Synopsis of the history of the monasteries
— Interviewed by the Demarch of Kalabaka ; our escort
— Extraordinary position of Hagia Trias ; the net cannot
be lowered, so we have to climb the ladders.
We had arranged with our driver of yesterday to
take us to the station, and our obliging gendarme
was at the carriage door to see us off the next
morning. Punctually at 8'2 a.m. our train left
Larissa, and we started on our way to the monas-
teries of Meteora, little thinking what was in store
for us, and to what eccentricities we should
commit ourselves before the day was over.
Many heads had been shaken over us, and it
had been prophesied that we should never be
allowed to sleep in the monasteries, but be turned
out on the cold rocks outside. We even had read
in print how that one author said, " These monas-
teries are secure from the female sex." But we
understood that ladies had been admitted to
Hagios Stephanos. Yes, but only allowed on
sufferance for the sake of their noble owners or the
dragoman who accompanied them ! and we were
206 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
going without a dragoman and without so much as
one husband between us. Such a proceeding was
most uncommon in Greece. " Ladies going alone
to the monasteries had never been heard of before ;
were we not afraid ? " Another opinion was, " Oh
yes, they will give you a bed at Hagios Stephanos,
and I daresay, as it is Easter, something to eat.
The abbot dined with us, but then of course we
were men ! "
Somehow in spite of friendly warning, and
elevated eyebrow, and prophesied repulse, we did
not feel alarmed. We thought that those good
brothers of St. Basil, perched on their desolate
rocks, must have a very dull time of it, and surely
they would enjoy the novelty as much as we
should ; moreover, if necessary, we were prepared to
admire the representation of the most dislocated
of saints, to kiss the grimiest and grimmest of ikons.
One thing was clear, it wholly depended upon our-
selves whether we were received with hospitality
or relegated to cold seclusion ; therefore we made
up our mind to fall in with the humour of the hour
in whatever circumstances we found ourselves ;
and I leave it to my readers to say if we succeeded
in doing this.
A run of one hour and twenty minutes brought
us to the junction of Velestino ; here we changed
trains and booked for Kalabaka. We now seemed
to be in the very heart of the country especially
Classic Ground of Thessaly. 207
sacred to the gods. Olympos reared his massive
head away to the north, on the east was the
Pelion range, the ancient abode of the Centaurs,
and especially interesting to the artist from the
many beautiful friezes which have for their subject
the contests of the Centaurs and Lapithae ; whilst
behind a spur running down to the gulf of Volo lies
hidden the site of Iolkos, ever to be remembered
in the history of Jason of the Golden Fleece.
Then Velestino itself is said to be identical with
Pherae, the home of Admetos and Alkestis : if so,
these plains must have been trodden by Apollo,
when he occupied himself with amateur shepherd-
ing during his exile from heaven ; here too must
have passed Heraklesthe Tirynthian,ere hebrought
back to this world the self-sacrificing Alkestis.
And farther on lies Pharsalos, the supposed home
of Achilles, and still higher up Tn'kkala, the
Thessalian centre of the worship of Asklepios.
To return to Velestino, which lies some little
distance from the junction, and which appeared
to be remarkably prettily situated amongst rich
foliage, out of which peeped some picturesque
Turkish domes. In ancient historic ages it was
celebrated as the birthplace of the tyrant Jason,
who consolidated nearly the whole of Thessaly
under his rule, and who no doubt had a strong
garrison on outpost duty at Larissa. And in
modern Greek history it is ever memorable as the
2c8 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
home of Rhigas Pheraios, the proto-martyr of Greek
Independence. It was near here where an armed
Mussulman commanded Rhigas, the unarmed
student, to carry him across a swift stream, and
Rhigas, boiling with fury, threw his man in the
middle of the water and after a desperate struggle
drowned him. This incident, together with the
treachery of the Turks to his father, and the daily
sight of the oppression of his poorer countrymen,
goaded Rhigas into raising the first note of war
against the hated oppressor — a cry which has led
to the emancipation of a nation and the revelation
of new eras of art.
The line crosses the site of poor Pompey's
final defeat, the far-famed battle-field of Pharsalos,
but the town lies nearly two miles from the station,
and we had been warned against staying there on
account of its general filthiness. Dirt, however, is
not the peculiar monopoly of the old towns, for a
very black mark had been put against Karditsa, in
our time-table, although to us the place had the
advantage of possessing a station-master who
could speak English. Leaving Karditsa, a run of
fifty-nine minutes brought us to Trikkala, a large
town, with a Byzantine citadel on the site of the
old acropolis, but with nothing left to tell of
Asklepios' seat of fame. Trikkala had had a
good mark put to it, and we had been assured that
the hotel was clean. A favourite way of visiting
The Chief of the Brigands. 209
the monasteries is to stay at Trikkala and make a
day's excursion to them either by taking the
train 815 a.m., Kalabaka 9*1 3, or by driving up
the plain to Kalabaka, there engage mules for
the monasteries, and return by the 3*40 train or
drive back again ; but in an expedition of this kind
only a cursory idea can be obtained in comparison
to what can be acquired by putting up even for
one night at the monasteries. The distance
between Trikkala and Larissa is about thirty-seven
miles, and they are connected by a road. Our
first intention had been to drive from the one place
to the other, but as this district happened to be
the especial preserve of the brigands at this time,
we had been asked to give it up, and we did so, out
of fear of being stopped altogether if we did not
comply to polite requests. Had we gone it would
have entirely depended on our escort if we had
got through safely, for the brigands were un-
commonly active just at that time, and had had
several brushes with the soldiers. They were led
by a young man of twenty-five, Tsigaridas, who, of
course, was reputed to be very handsome and daring.
He had refused to come in, be pardoned, and seen
across the frontier, and had declared war to the
knife, with the intention of making the most of
his life whilst it lasted. A large party of Greeks
who were going to visit their estates between
Larissa and Trikkala had to have a strong guard,
P
210 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
and one night Tsigaridas and his band had slept
in the village next to them, but had found their
party too strong to attack. The brigands, how-
ever, kept up a disagreeable espionage, so that no
one could move about unattended by soldiers ; one
of the party even declared that sentries were placed
round the courts whilst they played lawn-tennis (?)
No doubt it was as well we did not thrust our
heads into all this, and we saved a day by coming
by rail instead of driving across country.
Just before reaching Trikkala the line crossed
the Peneios, which was here a winding stream in a
wide bed, very different from the strong flowing
river at Larissa. For some time we had been
watching with exceeding interest the long Pindos
range on our left, with patches of snow amongst
its dark fir-clad sides, and occasional peeps of pure-
white mountains beyond. The plain was scored
with the pink sandy bed of the Peneios, amid
which the river appeared to stroll about, whilst to
the north lay Kalabaka at the foot of a collection
of rocks of the most extraordinary character and
shape.
At the risk of recapitulating what everyone
knows, it is almost impossible to jump to a visit
to the monasteries of Meteora without first throw-
ing back a glance at their history. The monas-
teries of Nitria in Egypt are much more ancient
dating as early as 150 A.D. The monasteries of
The Aerial Monasteries. 211
Mount Athos are on a larger and much more
magnificent scale ; the monasteries of Syria may
be of more religious interest, but all travellers who
have seen them are agreed that in their position
the aerial monasteries (to. fxerecopa) of Meteora are
unique.
The luxuriant Thessalian plain, closed on all
sides by lines upon lines of mountains, broken by
rough waves and sharp peaks of gleaming snow,
may be compared to the letter V with unequal
sides. The short stroke it sends up N.E. to
Larissa, to be strangled in the sweet grip of the
Vale of Tempe, the long one it shoots out N.W.
to Kalabaka, where it is stopped by the rocks of
Meteora, which in places rise from the plain to a
height of nearly two thousand feet. Occupying a
large arena, these rocks, split up into the most
wonderful forms, present a wholly unexpected
and most singular sight. One massive block,
scarred by innumerable holes and caves, stands
up like a castle, another looks as if it had once
been wrung out to dry, and now rears a twisted
form on high, like a great curved tusk. Giant
pillars, attended by little pillars, fill in gaps, whilst
huge rocky monoliths and jagged crags look down
on them. On the most inaccessible of these rocks
these aerial monasteries were built, fitting them
like the stone fez or turban on a Turkish tomb-
stone, or the nest of a stork on a steeple or chimney.
2i2 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
In the days when four-and-twenty monasteries
were perched on these extraordinary rocks and
the caves were alive with anchorites, this hidden-
away amphitheatre of peopled crags must have
offered a picture unique in many ways. Now,
alas ! the clustering crowns of sacred buildings
have been swept from many a peak, the hermits
no longer burrow in the cliffs, but to our minds'
eye those rocks were alive with brown, dirty forms
and holy but ugly faces, and we realized, as we had
never done before, the glorious details of that
inimitable fresco of the Hermits in the Campo
Santo at Pisa.
The monasteries of Meteora do not appear to be
of very ancient date, but to have been called into
existence during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, in order to provide places of refuge when
this region reeked with tumult and war. Around
the monastery of the Panagia of Doupiano twenty-
three other monasteries arose, one at least (Hagios
Stephanos) being founded by the Emperor-monk
John Kantakuzenos, whose skull is said to be
preserved at the Great Meteora. No doubt all
these monasteries were built on the same principle
as those that remain to this day, so when the
drawbridge was up, or the rope round the
windlass and the ladders swung aloft, they were
practically impregnable fortresses. Their pros-
perity, however, was soon on the wane, for we find
Inaccessible to Women. 213
that two centuries after their foundation they were
reduced to half their number, and in the present
century only seven remain, viz. Meteoron, Hagios
Barlaam, Hagios Stephanos, Hagia Trias, Hagia
Rosane, Hagios Xikolaos Kophinas, and Hagia
Mone. Some fifty years ago five of these were
still inhabited by the brothers of St. Basil. When
we visited the monasteries in April, 1892, only the
first four were occupied by the monks, who, so fat-
as we could make out, were now reduced to some
fourteen in number all told. The other monas-
teries were said to be occupied by shepherds in
the summer ; they looked ready-made hiding places
for brigands, cattle-lifters, and men of that ilk.
The two monasteries we proposed to visit were
Hagios Stephanos, where we should spend the
night, and Hagia Trias, which Baedeker describes
as the " most interesting of the other monasteries,
but a steady head is necessary, for the traveller
must either be drawn up in a basket (net, it should
be) by the monks to the rocky plateau on which
the monastery stands, or mount by means of
ladders." Another author, speaking of these
monasteries, writes, that they are impracticable to
women, because they can only be reached by
climbing some hundreds of feet up ladders hang-
ing loose on the rocks, or by the visitor trusting
himself to a net in which he swings and turns
whilst being drawn up, and he concludes by say-
214 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
ing that these monasteries are " hardly worth the
horrible sensations suffered in the upward journey."
Of course this latter statement is a matter of
individual opinion ; we were perfectly compensated
for the agony of that climb — personally I should
be quite willing to go up again to-morrow.
At present I pass over these monasteries and
give a short summary of the two we did not visit.
Meteoron, also called the Great Meteora, or
Transfiguration, is the largest of all the monas-
teries ; at one time it had a good library, but all
the books of any interest belonging to this and
to the other monasteries have been removed to
Athens. The general arrangement of the build-
ings of this monastery and that of Barlaam,
though on a larger scale, do not appear to differ
in any great degree from that of Stephanos,
which is fully described in the account of our
sojourn beneath its hospitable roof; but if report
speaks true, the kitchen at Meteoron is well worth
inspection, having a great central hearth open to
the sky. Can it be a later development of the
round hearth of the megaron at Tiryns ? The
carved ikonostasis is not so beautiful as the one
at Hagios Stephanos, and the rope by which the
visitor is hauled up some 200 feet is considerably
shorter than the one at Hagia Trias. In the
Hon. Robert Curzon's " Visits to Monasteries in
the Levant," we had read that the Great Meteora
Reached by Net or Ladders. 215
possessed a picture said to be painted by St.
Luke, and although we have seen several that
were attributed to the same divine hand, still we
should have liked to have seen this ; but had we
made the pilgrimage, our eyes would not have
been gratified by a sight of it, as no woman's un-
sanctified foot has ever been known to pollute
that sacred threshold. We once thought whether
we should be received if we went as nuns, but
where princesses had been refused we felt that
nuns could have but little chance. Seen from a
distance, Meteoron appeared perched on very
high ground, and the opposite side of the chasm
to be crowned by Hagios Barlaam, a saint as to
whose career we should dearly have loved to have
gathered some particulars. This monastery is
likewise reached either by the net or by ladders ;
the rope here is said to be the longest (340 feet)
of all the monasteries, but the ladders, we under-
stood, were not so difficult to climb as those at
Hagia Trias. If only we could have tried them
all, so as to have formed an opinion from ex-
perience ! But to have looked even at the out-
side of these two monasteries would have added
on three hours and a half to our time, and sun-
rise and the train between them would not give us
those extra hours.
It is a grim comment on a nation that is so
particular about its Orthodox Faith, to find that
216 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece-
these monasteries fared better under the rule of
the hated infidel. The wily Turk, in order to
lessen the difficulties of governing these wild and
warlike people, left the monasteries to the enjoy-
ment of their revenues, but since the annexation
of Thessaly to Greece, in 1881, the Government,
after diverting the greater part of their revenues
to the purposes of schools and charities in other
places, is pursuing the policy of allowing these
monasteries to die out, when their remaining
possessions revert to the State. I have every
sympathy with the Greek nation in their past
heroic struggle for freedom, and in the present
no less heroic moral struggle to establish their
finances on a sound basis, but surely the glutton
goddess, Education, can withhold her hand for
once, and let these four remaining monasteries be
preserved as living witnesses of a remarkable era
in the history of the Christian Church ! They
are, in their way, as striking monuments of the
religion of the middle ages as are the old temples
of the faith of the ancient Greeks. The latter
are preserved with a jealous eye, and let not
the Greek of the present, by neglecting the
treasures in his hand, bring down on his own
head the curses he now expends on past rulers.
Apart from the aesthetic and ascetic interest, we
believe that from a financial point of view it will
be a mistake to let these monasteries starve to
YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE STATION. 217
death. It cannot cost much to keep these two
or three monks going, and in time the donations
of visitors alone ought to preserve the buildings
from tumbling down. Now the railway is made
to Kalabaka this soon must be a fresh resort for
the jaded tourist, and the foreign gold, which is
so much needed, will gladly be given in exchange
for these curiosities of nature and of man that
are hidden away in this north-west corner of the
classic pasture-ground of fair Thessaly.
On alighting at Kalabaka, the station-master,
who could speak French, informed us, " We know
all about you. There have been lots of telegrams
about you ; the Demarch is coming to see you, and
you cannot leave the station until he has been."
We proposed that in the meantime we could
settle about engaging mules to take us to the
monasteries, as we were anxious to be off; but
this appeared to shock the station-master, who
declared that nothing could be even thought of
until the Demarch had been. This gave us a
sudden qualm. Were we going to be stopped
after all ? But we caught sight of some saddled
beasts under distant trees, and felt that they must
be destined for our use. Our time-table had in-
formed me that a train left the station in about
thirty-five minutes, and knowing that the start-
ing of a train is a function that generally drives
the foreign station-master temporarily off his
218 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
head, I guessed that nothing would be settled
before that event, so I slipped out to have a
look round.
In front of the station a kind of amphitheatre
opened out to view. To the left the Peneios
wound round and disappeared into the Pindos
range. In the left centre, amid vines bursting
into leaf and the light-green foliage of spring,
Kalabaka nestled at the foot of some high
reddish-coloured rocks, which rose straight up
from the plain and which were peppered and
spotted with all manner of strange-looking holes.
Quite in the centre came a break and a glimpse
of distant peaks, and on the right two extra-
ordinary rocks reared themselves aloft, bearing
on their summits signs of habitations. On the
top of one of these rocks, which curved up like
a huge tusk, was the monastery of Hagia Trias
(Holy Trinity). Only a roof or two could be
seen, and the isolated rock on which it stands
did not show to advantage from this point. To
the right of this a square mass of rock was
crowned by buildings and two cupolas ; this was
the large monastery of Hagios Stephanos (St.
Stephen's), where we intended to put up for the
night. It was not a good point of view for either
of these monasteries, but such as it was I sat
down to draw it, as bitter experience had taught
me that in travelling in unknown countries it
"A Guard you must have." 219
never does to wait for a more favourable picture ;
the view may come, but not the hour.
A train slowly puffing down the plain reminded
me that it was time to start, and I heard that the
Demarch had been and had announced that he had
received several telegrams about us and that we
were to have a guard. On our side we had inti-
mated that we wanted mules to go to the monas-
teries, but were quite ready to dispense with the
guard. The Demarch opened his eyes and stared
at these English ladies, who not only had the
hardihood to come alone, but who objected to the
good government providing them with a guard !
However, he had had his orders and a guard we
must have, and a veritable godsend that guard
afterwards proved, or rather the chief of them, who
undertook all things, from commander-in-chief to
valet. Looking out on the deserted space before
the station, we exclaimed to the heavens, " But
where are the mules and where is the escort ? '"'
In true Greek fashion we were answered by a
young man rising up from nowhere, who proved
to be the chief muleteer, and who came up with a
decided twinkle in his eye, and asked if we would
not let it be four drachmas a mule instead of three
as the station-master had arranged. We had no
desire to raise the market for those who might
come after us, yet four drachmas for each mule to
take us up to the monasteries, and to come for us
220 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
the next day, seemed reasonable enough ; but in
giving way we mortally offended the choleric
station-master, who roundly abused that muleteer,
not that that appeared to incommode the latter
one little bit.
The animals now came on the scene and proved
to be one mule, two ponies and a foal. Of course
the smallest and meanest-looking beast was allotted
to me, but by this time I had advanced a little in
the art of the use of a bridle consisting of a single
rope, likewise I had added to my repertoire a word
which our Olympian guide had often used with
good effect. I thought I would try it in the pre-
sent case, and no sooner was the magic word out
than my pony began to show his paces. He
understood it, although I never heard it used in
Thessaly, and so apparently did my muleteer from
the intensely amused expression of his face ; and
on the strength of this we established a language
of words and signs. When you are planted in the
midst of an unknown tongue, if only the natives
will talk you can pick up words and forge along ;
it is when all your linguistic attempts are answered
by that inevitable kald ! that you " get no forrader."
A few yards ahead our guard appeared from under
the trees, saluted and took us under their protec-
tion. Our escort consisted of two little privates in
dark blue with guns as big as themselves, who
might have been own brothers to the soldier whom
We Christened him Ariel. 221
we helped along to Andritsaena, but they were
led by a tall young fellow in most picturesque
regimentals. Tight white leggings, turned up
white shoes with large blue tufts, a blue coatee
that stuck out after the manner of a fustanella,
sleeves behind a la hussar, the real sleeves being
large loose hanging white ones which caught the
wind when he ran, and gave him the appearance
of having wings. Edith christened him Ariel on
the spot, which was a much more convenient title
than Demetrios Pelekaons (so he spelt it) ; and in
his leather belt the inevitable pocket handkerchief
of snowy whiteness was placed. His crisp curling
black hair stood up from his forehead, and was
framed by the peak of his blue cap with a red band,
and whichsomehow stuck on to the back of his head.
In face and figure we had seen many of his type in
fustanella in the Peloponnesus gloomily stalking
across their land, but this young fellow, though
keeping his party well in hand, was brimming
over with life and laughter ; and so were our two
muleteers. These men, as active as panthers, as
merry as grigs, were of a totally different type to
Ariel, being in shape, feature, and complexion
something like the gipsies, but really more re-
sembled the men we afterwards saw at Broussa in
Asia Minor ; without doubt they had a long pedi-
gree of brigandage at their back, and looked two
as veritable thieves as you could wish to see. I
222 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
could quite fancy Pyrrhos and Alexander the
Great with a body-guard of these men, and if it is
true that the tribes of these parts claim descent
from the Pelasgians, then must that much specu-
lated upon people have had at any rate a ready
wit. It was good-bye to the silent - Greek and
enter the gay Thessalian.
Our procession started in this wise : muleteer,
boy leading pony, Ariel, pony, laughing muleteer,
soldier, boy leading mule, soldier bringing up the
rear, foal skirmishing along the ranks. After
crossing various rivulets we entered the scrub that
lay at the foot of the great rock on which stands
Hagios Stephanos, and began to wind our way
slowly up. At first we had scoffed at our escort,
soon we were to experience its use as a sharp turn
showed us the path blocked by two advancing
mules laden with sticks. Heedless of all things,
the mules came on ; our advance guard gave the
alarm ; Ariel, shouting at the top of his voice, rushed
forward and recklessly suggested that the man
should pitch himself, his mules, and all that apper-
tained to him over the side of the abyss. The
man very properly objected, so Ariel brandished
his sword and the mules were backed, one crashing
down the side of the hill till he settled himself
comfortably in the middle of a bush, the other
being jammed against a rock and the sticks held
back by guns, so that we passed without having
"Called a Cuckoo perhaps." 223
our eyes taken out. Glancing down at the mule
apparently perfectly content in the bush, I could
not help wondering if that was where we should
have been but for our guard. Nobody seemed to
think anything of the incident, the rule of the
road being that exceedingly simple one, the weak
must make room for the strong.
Seen from the station the rock on which Hagios
Stephanos stands had somewhat disappointed us,
but from here it looked a great height, whilst
other huge masses of rock rising sheer up began
to come in view, as we wound round to the right,
and found ourselves on the side of a lovely little
valley, which appeared all the more beautiful from
its close juxtaposition with the cold bare rocks.
Here the men stopped and insisted on our listen-
ing to the cuckoo ; they were perfectly sure we had
never heard anything like it before, and upon
being told that even in England there was such a
bird, my wicked muleteer replied, —
tc Called a cuckoo perhaps, but in England they
don't kukko like this," and they all began imitating
the bird, and so drowning the faint note of the
" Professor's poulet," which we had been trying to
catch.
The nightingale was all very well in its way, but
nothing to the cuckoo in our muleteer's opinion.
We had now struck the old road to the monas-
teries, which, in their palmy days, had been a wide
224 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
paved causeway like those leading to the Saracenic
towns, with which we are all familiar on the Riviera.
This zigzagged up the hill, and turning our back
on the miniature valley, we gazed straight up at the
great walls of rock above us, and were surprised that
we could ever have felt a tinge of disappointment
with regard to their height. Hagios Stephanos
was now quite out of sight, hidden behind the dark
mass that looked like a castle, and up the side of
which we were now pressing. Ariel with the flat
side of his sword urged on the foremost beast, the
little soldiers occasionally prodded the others with
their guns, whilst the foal which had been rather
troublesome, charging us all in turn, had been " shoo
shooed " down the side of the hill and we saw it
no more. From the east and the north our faces
were now turned to the west ; we began to catch
glimpses of the higher snow-clad peaks of the
Pindos range, and very soon we reached a platform
in the rocks, where a splendid view of the country
was obtained. Before us stretched out the long
Thessalian plain, scored by the single line of rail
and the sandy bed of the Peneios with its meander-
ing thread of gleaming water, and in the middle dis-
tance Trikkala with its white Turkish fortress stood
out, the Stirling of the plain. On each hand hills
and mountains arose ; the near ones on the left en-
tirely shut out the mighty mass of Olympos and
Ossa's graceful head, but across the riverto the right,
View from the Rocks. 225
was the great Pindos range, in strong contrast of
black and white, with gleams of snowy points in
rough Albania. All down the side of the plain the
mountains ran, fading into softest grey and cold thin
blue, with a white peak out in the far, far distance
that must have been Tymphrestos ; but a mountain
even of upwards of seven thousand feet had no in-
terest for my muleteer, who the whole time I was
gazing through my opera glasses, kept assuring me
I was looking in the wrong direction. " It was not
the mountains that I should look at, but Trikkala
that stood out in the plain. Trikkala that had a
castle, a grand castle, was the object that was really
worth looking at. He was pointing it out to me, if
only I would look, for Trikkala was very beautiful ! "
Before such a magnificent picture by Nature, it
was so intensely comic to be requested only to look
at the work of man, that I could not hold up my
glasses for laughter ; and at once a hand was
stretched out, and an eager demand to be allowed
to look through them. Then arose great shouts of
" Trikkala, Trikkala ! " Ariel, glancing over his
shoulder, saw his opportunity, rushed back, took
the glasses, swept the plain, and flew off to his
post ; the other men all stopped to have a look,
each one vowing he saw some fresh object the
other had not seen, till it came to the second
private, who could not see Trikkala or anything
through them. My gay muleteer seized them out
Q
226 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
of his hand, adjusted them, and with a triumphant
smile handed them back ; the private raised them
to his eyes, shook his head, solemnly reversed
them, and exclaimed that he saw Trikkala splen-
didly! and in spite of my amusement and the
jeers of his companions, he stuck to it to the last,
and always insisted, on all occasions, upon stolidly
looking through the broad end of the glasses.
Turning round the great rocks on our right, we
suddenly saw before us a large irregular mass of
buildings, severed by a yawning gulf from the rocks
that ran up to where we stood gazing in silence at
so unique a sight. This first view of Hagios
Stephanos was very impressive, but it was a
moment or two before we realized that the little
bridge, thrown across this chasm of some eighteen
feet, is the only means by which the Monastery
can be entered. We however had settled to go to
Hagia Trias first, and we began to wonder if our
gay Thessalians were playing us false, and there
was Ariel jumping from rock to rock, and flying
across the bridge. In a moment it flashed across
us that he had gone to announce our coming, and
before we could put our question into words, his
white wings had floated him back, and he was
urging our cavalcade forward with renewed signs
of energy and delight. Leaving Hagios Stephanos
on our left, we followed the path to our right, and
after two turns looked down on a monastery to the
Hagia Trias.
227
left, this was not wholly deserted, though no
brothers of St. Basil inhabited it now. Away to
â–
â–
fl
the right in the distance were three more monas-
teries, each situated on its own particular rock,
whilst before us to the left, perched on its solitary
eyrie, was the goal of our desires, Hagia Trias.
Q 2
228 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
At the top of the hill we left our animals, and
with our two muleteers and escort descended the
lovely glade that ran down to the foot of the rock.
The way was slippery but exceedingly picturesque,
and we got a splendid impression of the situation
of this monastery, as, from this side, it appeared to
be crowning the top of a huge monolith. Looking
up, it seemed impossible that we could ever get to
the top of that rock, and the nearer we approached
the higher and grimmer grew that crag, until we
were engulphed beneath its dark shadows, and
could see the summit no more. All this time
Ariel had been growing more and more excited,
shouting to let the brothers know of our approach,
and talking a great deal about the delights of
climbing the skalas ! It was evident that he
wanted us at once to tackle the ladders, but we
had set our hearts on being wound up in the net,
so we would not look at the ladders, but passed
down to where a rope was dangling from above.
There was no net to be seen, neither a rope of any
substance, for this cord could be of no use ! The
wild shouts of our five men were answered by a
faint voice from above, and, craning our necks, we
could just see the outline of a dark pent-house,
which looked within measurable distance of the
sky. After a good deal of up and down shouting,
Ariel announced that we could not be drawn up
in the net, but would have to ascend by the
The Ladders inside the Rock. 229
ladders ; so with shouts of " To the ladder, to the
ladders," he flew up a rock where all arms, including
our umbrellas, were piled and left under the guard
of one of the privates. Glancing up the smooth
face of the monolith, we saw that some ladders
and a gallery led to a dark hole in the rock ; what
happened then we could not tell, but we could see
that an uncommonly long ascent would have some-
how to be made inside.
Our escort did not share in the least in our
chagrin that we could not go up in the net, they
evidently thought the skalas much better fun, and
after going up the ladders we felt that the net
would have been a trifle. The skala began with
an innocent-looking, long sloping ladder, which
was as pleasant climbing as ladders on the slope
generally are ; turning at right angles, we sidled
along the rock on open galleries hanging over
space, of which we obtained pleasing glimpses
between the broken boards that sprang under our
feet as we gingerly picked our way ; at the end
of the galleries a short ladder (the only respectable
one in the whole lot) disappeared into the dark hole
in the rock. So far, we had come along gaily
enough, but no sooner had number one plunged
into darkness, than from the bowels of the rock
there came the most piercing cries of — "I can't
get up. I am stuck fast," drowned by the cheery
voice of Ariel, who had no idea of looking back
230 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greecf.
after once putting the shoulder to the plough,
and in this he was loudly seconded by the muleteer
who led the way. Altogether the noise going on
above was so strange that I began to laugh, and
my little soldier, thinking I Avas going to roll off
the ladder, added his cries to the others, until it
was perfectly deafening. What checked the novice
on entering the rock was to feel that the ladder
you were on suddenly ended, and your hands only
slid along the damp rock, but by groping to the left
the bottom rung of another set of ladders was felt,
and wriggling on to this you were at the foot of a
great shaft in the rock — that I can only com-
pare to a mill chimney — down one side of which
hung a long series of short ladders tied together
but not secured to the wall, and which oscillated
frightfully and pulled out as if coming down on
your head at each rung you made. We thought it
would have been easier if we could have seen those
ladders, but this darkness was most appalling, only
the touch of those eternal rungs ever before you.
It was impossible to tell if the rock was close to
your back, or if there was nothing but ghastly
black space all around you, and once or twice you
were startled by a streak of light coming from
some far-away crack (the one in the sketch) and
showing that you were crossing hideous gashes in
the bowels of the rock. These flashes of light
were most objectionable as revealing too much or
That Awful Climb. 231
too little. It seemed as if those ladders never
would come to an end, and there were some fear-
ful long gaps between the rungs where the ladders
joined. The quickest method of proceeding was
to seize your dress between your teeth, throw
yourself well back, and go up hand over hand like
a monkey, taking care, however, not to knock your
teeth out with your knees. At last a streak of
light came from above, and Ariel, who had never
ceased shouting out his kalds by way of encourage-
ment, handed us out of the shaft, and we all in-
wardly prayed that we might not have to go down
those ladders ; Miss C. averring, in her soul, that
if that was the programme her bones would be
left on the top of Hagia Trias.
Curving round a rock, we passed through the
vaults of the monastery, out to a little platform in
the rocks, and there the Hegoumenos met us with
words of blessing, and greeted us with great kind-
ness. He was a fine tall man with dark hair and
a rich brown beard, a splendid forehead, and clear
eyes which seemed to have caught a reflection of
a spiritual life unseen. Altogether his was a face
of exceptional holiness ; even those hardened
children of irreverence, our two muleteers, stood
abashed before him. We looked down on the
roofs of Kalabaka, at the railway station, which
appeared as a toy house on the plain, across the
Peneios to the high mountains beyond. Truly
232 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
this was a monastery in the air, and it was not
altogether pleasant glancing down that sheer rock,
though our escort danced round the edge in
delight, as by the aid of my glasses they recog-
nized familiar houses in Kalabaka.
Whilst gazing at the opposite hill, it flashed
across us that almost in a direct line, but hidden
away behind miles and miles of ragged peaks,
were the ruins of Dodona. That famous old
oracle of Zeus, whose priests are said to have
practised much the same kind of asceticism as has
been attributed to the anchorites of Meteora.
Thus do we find the "great unwashed " receiving
canonization in all ages.
The wind was very strong and keen up here, and
the thoughtful Hegoumenos was afraid we should
take cold after the exertion of scaling the ladders, so
he would not permit us to look at the view for long,
but conducted us back to the buildings. On our
way we spied a large tank for rain wa ter, and he
pointed out how it was fed by numerous little
channels cut in the rock ; by the side was a place
for a fire, and a giant washing-pot was at hand, —
this was the laundry of the monastery, and was in
keeping with the spotless appearance of the
Hegoumenos. He showed us a curious small
round chapel, in shape like a beehive tomb, and
which was covered from the base to the top with
home-made paintings. The decoration consisted
Chapels of Hagia Trias. 233
chiefly of dislocated figures of saints, ranging in
circles up the dome, and they were very much in
the character of the early Christian mosaics, but
without the echo of classic art, which is still trace-
able in them. Below the figures there was a dado
of a kind of flowing Owen Jones pattern, which
looked exceedingly quaint mixed up with these
stiff, ugly saints — ugliness being the sign of the
Orthodox Faith as beauty was the symbol of the
Classic Belief.
We were then taken to the chapel proper,
where the light was so strictly dim and religious
that it was quite impossible to judge of the merits
of the pictures on the ikonostasis, or altar-screen ;
indeed it was so dark we could not find the alms-
box, but the Hegoumenos kindly came to our
assistance, and as Edith shoved notes into the
top of the broken box he drew them out at the
other end — a proceeding as primitive as it was
comic. An old priest with flowing white hair and
silver beard read to us out of one of the books
in the softest and most musical tones I have ever
heard. Modern Greek may be abused for its
classic shortcomings, but all the same to listen to
it is a never-ending delight. The rich music of
the language as it flows from the soft-voiced
Greek is like the rippling of distant water, or
the vox humana stop of an organ. The living
wonder is how that a people, whose speech is
234 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
thus enchanting, contrive to emit such hideous
sounds when they attempt to sing. A ray of
light from an apology for a window touched the
hair and beard, and threw out the fine profile of
the old priest, who looked like some ancient
prophet proclaiming the law aloud, and our
escort, subdued and sobered, listened to him in
awed silence.
We were now conducted to another part of the
rock, up a little slanting bridge to an enclosed
corridor, the floor of which was divided into an
upper and lower division. Chairs were brought
to us, our escort finding seats in the lower part,
whilst the Hegoumenos arranged his chair so as
to form a link between the two. Here we looked
across to the three distant monasteries. The
Great Meteora was pointed out to us, with Hagios
Barlaam on a neighbouring rock to the right, and
I think Ariel said that the other was Hagia
Rosane, but my memory may be in fault about
this ; then the Hegoumenos looked at the monas-
teries through all our various glasses, and we
wished we could only put into intelligible Greek
the many questions we wanted to ask. A boy
with close-cropped hair and dressed in blue and
white mediaeval-looking garments, entered with a
tray whereon was Turkish delight ; after hand-
ing this solemnly to us in dead silence, he dis-
appeared, but soon returned with the inevitable
The Rope Dangerous. 235
tumblers of water, and some liqueur glasses
containing a white liquid (raki) which tasted like
a cross between turpentine and methylated spirits,
but withal had a flavour that grew upon you.
The Hegoumenos smiled very much when he
saw us tasting it neat, and suggested that we
should mix water with it as he did ; this mixing
with water turned the liqueur to a very pretty
opal colour, all the same it quite spoilt it.
Nevertheless, we were very thankful for it after
that exhaustive climb up the ladders, and this
reminded us— how were we to get down ? Coming
up was bad enough, but we all had an idea that
we could never get down those ladders, so we
inquired about the net and were taken through
dark winding passages to the room containing
the capstan, which is turned by poles long enough
to be grasped by several men. Alas ! now there
are not enough brothers to wind up any heavy
weight ; the cord we had seen dangling down was
used for hauling up their small requirements.
The thick rope was wound tightly round the
drum of the capstan and was in a frayed con-
dition, being bound round with string in several
places ; whether it was really dangerous I cannot
say, but they appeared to have a great objection
to our using it. The net was spread out on the
ground, I sat down on it, and our attendants
practically demonstrated how it was managed.
236 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
The corners were gathered together, the great
hook at the end of the rope thrust through, and
I found myself strung into a kind of ball with my
knees in my mouth. What would have been my
exact position when I reached the ground I
cannot say — men have been known to come
down on their heads ! All the same, it seemed to
me that if you were careful about adjusting your
balance at the start it ought to be all right.
With our escort there were plenty of men to
let us down, and we wanted to know why we
could not go. They took us to the drum, and
pointing to where the rope was bound with string,
looked at Edith in her winter coat, and, shaking
their heads, said, " Too heavy."
" Well, you can't bring that objection against
me." They all laughed, and I thought I had
accomplished it, but the Hegoumenos stepped
forward, and was perfectly sure I should bang my
head against the rock or come down on my head,
I could not make out which ; and although I was
willing to risk my brains, he would not undertake
the responsibility. At this juncture the ever-
ready Ariel had a brilliant idea. Leading out
the little private, he suggested, how would it be
if we went down together? he to act as buffer, I
suppose.
Whilst roughing it in Greece we had done many
strange things. I looked at that little soldier, I
'Twixt Devil and the Deep Sea. 237
shut my eyes and tried to swallow down all re-
maining rags of prejudice, but it was no good, I
had had experience of the close quarters of that
net, I could not bring myself to that ! I only
trust that this piece of cowardice on my part will
be put down to our credit side when our critics
rise up in judgment on us.
The Hegoumenos seemed very much relieved
when we gave up the net, but our hearts sank, and
we turned to each other with faces of dismay at
the idea of going down those awful ladders.
Ariel, however, would allow of no time for thought ;
declaring it was growing late, we must be off at
once, he flew to the little pent-house erected above
the opening of the shaft in the rock, and dis-
appeared into darkness. As I swung myself into
the abyss I threw a glance upwards, and it struck
upon a picture that might have walked out of the
frame of an old master. Grouped against the
dark rock, with the light slanting in between it
and the irregular beams of the shed, stood the
tall, fine form of the Hegoumenos, with fingers
raised in act of blessing above the bowed head of
one of the muleteers, the other bending forward
looked up to his face, whilst the dark blue of the
private and the maroon and brown of my friends
massed together, brought the whole group into
tone. It was worth coming up those ladders to
see that picture alone.
238 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
To our surprise, we found coming down to be
child's play to going up, and we were hailed with
delight by our solitary soldier on guard who
rushed to know if we had all gone up to the top,
and how we liked the skdlas ? so he added his
kalds to the others, and they all congratulated
each other on the success of the expedition.
Then we shouted up renewed thanks and good
evenings, and from the capstan platform words of
farewell faintly reached our ears.
I was most anxious to find out the exact height
of Hagia Trias, but, as usuah when it came to facts
I could get no authentic information on the point.
The rope was said to be over 300 feet long, every-
one appearing to agree that it was considerably
longer than the one at the Great Meteora ; and as
I have since read that the latter has been calcu-
lated to be 250 feet in length, it would seem that
300 feet might be pretty correct for Hagia Trias.
Of course the novelty of the situation, the extra-
ordinary means by which the monastery is
reached, together with the darkness, gave the idea
of its being perched up on a greater height than
it really is. What makes the ascent of Hagia
Trias unique is that the hanging ladders are
within the rock, whereas at the Great Meteora and
Hagios Barlaam they are outside. We were told
that having climbed the ladders at Hagia Trias,
we need not sigh after those other two, still, pre-
A Modern Saint. 239
suming that the oscillation was the same, we
should have liked to have tried which was the
worst, going up in darkness or in light.
With many regrets we turned our back on the
towering isolated crag, and retraced our steps up
the steep side of the picturesque little valley to
where we had left the boys with our animals ; and
as I was about to mount, my soldier gallantly
offered me his knee instead of his hand. We
found out afterwards that the Hegoumenos of
Hagia Trias wrote " Archimandrite " after his
name, so that he was the head of the Monasteries
of Meteora. Although he was the youngest look-
ins' of all the Brothers of St. Basil that we saw, he
appeared in every way to be the one most fitted
for the position. It was good to look into the
steadfastness of those clear eyes, you felt the
better for that blessing, and a feeling of awe crept
over the soul in anticipation of what might be in
store for us at Hagios Stephanos ; lightened, how-
ever, by our firm belief in individuality as against
class.
CHAPTER XI.
Arrive at the Monastery of St. Stephen's — The Hegoumenos'
reception, his keen sense of humour — He dines with us
entertaining us royally — Ariel turns valet, strange pro-
ceedings of everybody — The churches, beautifully carved
altar-screen — The cells of the Brothers of St. Basil.
On the rocks before Hagios Stephanos we dis-
mounted, crossed the chasm by the little bridge,
dived under some dark arches, and came out into
an irregular courtyard, surrounded by the large
church with its arcade, a bell tower, and dark
wooden galleries erected before the cells which
appeared to be incorporated in the thick outside
walls. Turning to the left, we again plunged into
semi-darkness, past the kitchen and the refectory,
up some stairs to a large long corridor where were
the guest-chambers. On our way through the
gloomy arches we had bowed and shaken hands
with every brother we met ; one seemed surprised,
we fancy he was the cook, but we thought it was
best to err on the side of politeness.
The guest-chamber was a large square room.
A row of little windows occupied one side, but
these were so encrusted with religious dust it was
difficult to distinguish the landscape without, a
Kind Reception. 241
long narrow soft-cushioned divan ran along the
whole of another, a row of chairs stood against the
third, whilst the fourth was occupied by the door,
a table, and chairs of various shape, one of which
with arms appeared to be a kind of seat of honour.
The Hegoumenos, a little oldish man with sharp
eyes, grey hair and grey beard, came in and sat
by the side of the table, above which hung his
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- K
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portrait in oils. Ariel at once drew our attention
to this and to the three orders he wore in the
portrait, and of course we said what an excellent
likeness it was. Then entered the Hegoumenos'
butler, a youth with close-cropped hair, and
dressed in the same fly-away blue and white
garments as the mediaeval-looking attendant at
Hagia Trias. Standing with his heels well to-
gether, toes turned out, sleeves hanging from his
shoulder, he had a most quaint and graceful
242 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
appearance as he bent over the tray whilst we
helped ourselves to a red kind of sweet jelly,
water, and raki, this latter after our late experience
we took neat, which was at once noticed by the
Hegoumenos who did ditto, and with a twinkle in
his eye, remarked, " It is much better so." After
this first course of jelly and raki the mediaeval boy
brought in coffee, which was the best I tasted in
Greece, and it was served in tiny little cups with
butterfly handles ; at this juncture the Hegoumenos
taking out a cigarette, passed his case to us with
the hope that we would have one. Not being
prepared for this, we naturally declined, and in an
instant were aware of the faux pas we had made.
The Hegoumenos' face fell, Ariel's grew blank
with dismay, for the space of a minute dead silence
reigned in the room, then the voice of wisdom was
heard to murmur, " When we were at Damascus
we did as the Damascenes do/' So we graciously
intimated that we would, and in a moment Ariel
had flown to the rescue and was rolling up cigar-
ettes like lightning, but I preferred my own manu-
facture.
" That's too small, it will never light," said
Ariel ; but a long apprenticeship in the making of
cigars for the amateur stage was not without its
due effect, and he was surprised at the way that
cigarette went off.
The Hegoumenos, who had been looking un-
We Grow Sociable. 243
comfortably at his solitary cigarette, now puffed
away in peace, so did Ariel, but not in peace as he
kept a watchful eye on the flickering life of our
cigarettes, and supplemented our bald statement
of our visit to Hagia Trias with many details,
which seemed to amuse the old gentleman exceed-
ingly. " So it was true, we had really all been up
the ladders of Hagia Trias ? " " Certainly," we
returned with correct Greek solemnity. At this
the Hegoumenos brightened up still farther, and
I fancy on each side we began to think that we
should not have such a dull time of it as we had
anticipated. He then asked us if we were English
or American ? and I thought he seemed just a
little surprised when we claimed to belong to the
former people ; perhaps we did not fit in with
what he had heard of that " solemn nation ; " no
doubt he made a study of our idiosyncrasies the
better to adapt himself to the next English ladies
that came that way. If he did, all I can say is,
may I be there in spirit to see the faces of those
" next English ladies ! "
After coffee we went out on the rock, where was
a flagstaff, to look at the fading view, and Ariel
let off a regular fusillade to fetch out the echoes
that lurked behind those many curves and isolated
rocks. This row brought forth all the inhabitants
of the monastery, and we came down from the
flagstaff and shook hands again, and asked them
R 2
244 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
how they were, and if each of those unkind brothers
did not reply by that one wretched word ka/d, or
I think it was improved to ka/os on this occasion.
It was really too disheartening, here were we burn-
ing to acquire another way of answering that
question, and this was all we got. We varied our
inquiry by two phrases, yet they only returned us
that stone ka/d ; and this was the more disappoint-
ing, as when you did not want it they always in-
sisted upon using different words.
One of the Brothers of St. Basil took us in to
see the pictures in the little church, of which they
seemed to be very proud. It was too dark to see
anything properly, but the ikons appeared to be
better painted than usual, and they were set in
beautifully carved frames. There was one very
old picture, said to be fourth-century work, dated,
I think, 387, but the taper flickered so much I only
saw the three and the eight clearly.
Stumbling up the stairs in the dark, we again
reached the guest-chamber, and then we became
painfully aware that we had had no particular
meal that day. We saw no signs of a coming
repast, and we began to think that we were to
retire for the night on Turkish delight, coffee, and
raki. Did they imagine we lived upon water and
sweets ! We began to think of the many words
of warning we had discarded, and that we ought
to have heeded good advice and brought our own
"A Feast is Preparing." 245
food with us. Thus in doubt we turned to our
referee in general and inquired if we were going to
have any dinner !
" Dinner ! " exclaimed Ariel, his eyes dancing
at the magic word. " A lamb is being roasted for
you, a feast is preparing. Meat and wine, wine
and meat, the kitchen below is full of meat,
meat, meat ! " I am sure there must be lamb in
the Greek heaven.
At this joyful news we regarded each other ; our
general appearance was not creditable to our
nation, it was impossible to go up those ska/as
with impunity. We were ushered down the corri-
dor to another large room, where we dimly dis-
cerned our rolls laid out on the raised divan at the
end of the room, which formerly had been the
place whereon the stranger slept ; now there were
actually iron beds.
Ariel rushed out and brought in a lamp which
he put upon the table, then he pointed with great
glee to the beds. "Three beds, three ladies," he
kept repeating, evidently such lavish accommoda-
tion being a thing unknown in his experience.
Was there anything we required? "Water to
wash our hands."
u Kald" which appeared to be Ariel's "all
right," and he was out of the room like a flash
of lightning, to return with a battered brass basin
with a perforated cover, an antique ewer in the
246 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
shape of a coffee pot, a piece of soap, and a towel
over his shoulder ; this arrangement he put down
in the middle of the room, and invited us one and
all to come on whilst he poured water over our
hands, in the same way as the little maid at Volo.
This method of washing is simply a survival of the
old custom of washing before and after meals in
the days when it was chic to eat with the fingers ;
and however satisfactory it might be for that pur-
pose, it always seemed to us as the least satisfy-
ing of all ways of washing. Afterwards at Broussa
we saw ewers and basins of the same pattern made
in pottery of exquisite design and colour, and of
course those looked quite clean ; somehow after
dabbling in these greasy metal basins, the soul
longed for a fresh babbling brook. As soon as
the performance was over out it all vanished ;
evidently to the Greek mind there is something
revolting in having the washing apparatus in the
room, of which peculiarity we were to have an
amusing illustration later in the evening.
Whilst we brushed ourselves up, Ariel flew in
and out of the room with the latest intelligence as
to the progress of the feast, spinning round on one
foot like a dervish in a perfect ecstasy of delight
over some dried grapes. We thought the state of
affairs looked decidedly hopeful, there was no
doubt we were to be treated to all the delicacies
the monastery possessed, the Hegoumenos had
Ariel Entertains Us. 247
evidently a sense of humour, and we were no longer
fearful of being relegated to cold seclusion.
Unwashed but in our right mind we assembled
in the guest-chamber, and there Ariel entertained
us according to his kind. He showed us his sword,
the blade of which he said came from England, but
the name of the maker was so worn away I could
not make it out ; then he went through his bayonet
exercise, which having accomplished, he drew his
sword, presented it to us, with the mild request
that we would show how they did things in
England. Never was the honour of our country
in so feeble hands ! we tried to call up visions of
Aldershot, but only the gyrations of an awkward
squad of militia-men in a north country town would
come before our straining eyes ; then a far-away
vision rose before us of a smiling English garden
on a quiet sabbath eve when all was peace, and of
the flash of foils beneath an oriel window, behind
which slumbered he who had been officiating on
that sacred day — those surreptitious lessons had
not been in vain. Raising the sword above our
head, we saluted, flashed through the positions
regardless of sequence, and breathlessly returned
that sword, Ariel standing his ground without
flinching, evidently having a greater faith in our
ability than we had ourselves. Not to be outdone,
he began swinging his arm round in a circle, which
of course we could not do, and by way of keeping
248 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
his pride down, we requested him to touch his
feet without bending his knees. Apparently he
had never seen this, and he was very much
surprised that he could not do it, and he went
flopping all over the room in his endeavours, until
brought up against the wall by a resounding crack
on his head ; this straightened him at once, and he
commenced swinging both arms, his white sleeves
flying out and making him look like a windmill
with double sails. In the midst of this intellectual
entertainment the Hegoumenos came in, took up
the lamp and invited us to dinner. We now
entered upon a scene which for strangeness and
picturesqueness must ever stand out alone in our
memory.
At one end of the long dark gallery a table had
been set, the large window was closely barred, the
embrasure of which, taking an intensified darkness,
framed as it were the head and shoulders of the
Hegoumenos, throwing out into bold relief his
long grey hair and well cut features. On his left
sat two of his guests, on his right was the other
and a lamp ; the rays from the latter falling
directly on the table and illuminating the faces
bent over it, whilst it seemed to flash up Ariel's
tall figure, to die out among the crisp black curls
on his forehead. It also outlined the top bar of
the stair-rail, caught the face and hands of the
mediaeval boy as he busied himself at the side
The Hegoumenos Unbends. 249
table, and, by some quick movement of Ariel's
wings, shot strange gleams of yellow light down
that silent corridor. But silent it was not long
destined to remain. No doubt that roof had often
echoed to pious prayer and holy song, now it was
to be awoke to the light laughter and frivolous
tones of woman's voice ! Gentlemen the Hegou-
menos had often entertained, but never before had
it fallen to his lot to have three unprotected ladies
thrown on his hands. He found himself in a
unique position, and he rose to it magnificently.
The good St. Basil no doubt had not foreseen the
contingency, so the kind-hearted old man, left to
himself, treated us as angels whom he was enter-
taining not unawares. The long, trying days of
Lent were over; it was Easter, and it was meet
that the heart of man should rejoice, that hospi-
tality should flow in the land. Dependent entirely
on the kindness of our host, and considering the
concessions he had made in our favour (for had
we not been told on authority that he would never
dine with us ?) it was only just that we should do
our best to amuse him ; and I venture to say that
the Hegoumenos never enjoyed himself better than
he did that evening he entertained us to dinner in
that dark old corridor of Hagios Stephanos. But
a word must be said to the dinner, the like of
which had never met our eyes before.
The table-cloth must have been closely related to
250 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
those rags at Olympia — the worst of that lamp was,
that it showed up the blots as well as the beauties —
the spoons were of that yellow-looking metal, with
a kind of sunflower pattern scratched on them,
which you find in old houses in England, and the
crockery and glass was of a heterogeneous charac-
ter. Soup plates were laid round ; we said, " We
are going to be quite civilized." We had wondered
why the Hegoumenos had been so particular that
Ariel should stand at the foot of the table, we now
saw the reason, he was to act as chief butler, his
length of limb allowing him to stretch over to any
part of the table. The mediaeval boy brought up
everything from the kitchen, but Ariel would not
allow him to put a single dish on the table, or to
fill our glasses.
Whilst we were speculating on what the soup
would be like, Ariel put on the table a large pie
dish, dug a fork into it and triumphantly hauled
out the lamb's head, which was carried off to the
side table. The soup turned out to be a very thick
kind of mutton broth, and the Hegoumenos' idea
of a help was on a scale sufficient to have choked
a ploughboy. The second course consisted of the
lamb's head, and whilst the Hegoumenos was
turning his attention to the brains, Ariel seized a
miscellaneous fork, and, poking it into the dish,
helped us all round. Then the Hegoumenos, who
had been making a scientific dissection of that head,
Delicate Attentions. 251
distributed the brains, and, picking up an eye on
the point of his fork, presented it as a special tit-
bit to Miss C, who received it with the utmost
graciousness and gravity, and again saved the
situation for us — this she called doing pro-
priety. Our third course was kid and a kind of
very good preserved cabbage. All these dishes
were from the same animal, but whether the kid
was lamb or the lamb was kid this deponent
knoweth not. Then came plates of rice and
cream, the rice was beautifully cooked, and we
wished that the courses had been reversed. When
the cheese arrived, which was a cross between
Athens butter and an English milk cheese, sur-
feited nature could go no further, but we revived
slightly at the sight of " dried grapes from our own
garden."
It must not be thought that this repast was
taken in silence, far from it. The hilarity began
by the Hegoumenos jerking bits of meat on to our
plates whenever he thought we were within a
measurable distance of finishing, and the more
we protested we did not want any, the more
delighted he grew and insisted that we must eat
it. When he turned to those on his left I always
took the opportunity to quietly transfer to his
plate all the choice morsels he had put on mine ;
this I discovered was a delicate attention which he
quite appreciated, although it was not etiquette to
252 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
appear to notice it — other people's knives and
forks were nothing to the Hegoumenos.
Whilst at dinner a great caterwauling was heard
downstairs. " A cat ! " exclaims one of our party.
" Oh, the little darling ! I love cats," and the
Hegoumenos explained that cats were his pets,
and that he had some dozen of them.
The ever-obliging Ariel at once dispatched the
mediaeval boy to bring up a cat. An awful scuffle
below was heard, and the mediaeval boy appeared,
a meaning smile on his face and a cat in his
arms.
" Oh, the little honey-dove !" cried Amaryllis.
Heedless of that warning smile, Ariel seized the
cat to present it to the longing fair, when that
wily cat just stretched out his claw and ripped
Ariel's hand up in the neatest way possible. In-
voluntarily he dropped that cat, and the " little
darling" bolted down the stairs, the Hegoumenos
being highly delighted at the pluck and fight
shown by his champion cat, and chaffing Ariel on
coming out second best in that encounter.
When the grapes came on the Hegoumenos
called on Ariel to fill up our glasses — which was
quite unnecessary as he had never allowed them the
chance of getting empty — and insisted on touch-
ing glasses and drinking to our health. Of course
we returned the compliment, and he replied with
smiles and courteous words. Feeling our fev^r
" My Dear Soul." 253
sentences were quite inadequate to express our
sense ofhis kindness and condescension, I rushed
off for my book, followed by Ariel, who thought I
was ill, and was delighted to find that all I wanted
was a book, and still more charmed when he saw
it was " Hellenika ! "
I fluttered the pages of Tien in the hope of find-
ing some sentence that I might adapt to the
present circumstances. Page after page I turned.
" Familiar Dialogues," that ought to suit, of course
the adjective was here used only in a cosmopolitan
sense. I glanced down the page, and my eye fell
upon this — " My dear soul, I do not like so much
ceremony."
To call the Hegoumenos " my dear soul," would
never do, neither had I perceived that there was
any ceremony at which to cavil. What came
next ?
" It is true, my heart, I really love you." This
was worse, and she answers — " I believe you, my
darling. I say yes."
I did not see how I could adapt these sentences to
our situation. The requirements of a pair of lovers,
who could have said it all without words, had been
thoughtfully met, but it was evident that Doctor
Tien had never dreamt that he would have been
called upon to assist three ladies dining with the
Superior of a monastery. In disgust I flung the
book to Ariel, who had been begging for a sight of
254 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
it, and he and the mediaeval boy in the intervals of
waiting read out sentences one against the other.
Again and again the Hegoumenos, with much
politeness, pledged us, saying, in soft, insidious
tones, " Just a lectle more, a lee-tle more," and
picking out the largest grapes and putting them
on our plates. Coffee, as excellent as before, was
handed to us by the mediaeval boy — to hand coffee
being apparently outside Ariel's duties — the in-
evitable cigarette case again came forth, and we
all lit up. The Hegoumenos' sharp little eyes
twinkled with delight — no doubt the situation was
as comic to him as it was to us — the dark roof
echoed to our laughter, we could not have been
merrier had we been able to converse in seven
languages.
" You will drink my coffee," said Edith.
" Certainly ; we shall offend nobody this time.
The Hegoumenos will only see an occult joke in
it."
The occultness, however, proved to be on my
side, for the Hegoumenos, pretending to look
shocked, raised a hand, and said, —
" Two cups ! two cups of coffee ! "
" But," I returned, " the coffee of Hagios
Stephanos is the best I have tasted in Greece. It
is more than excellent."
" It is good," answered he, suasively ; " but have
a lee-tle more wine."
Our Unfortunate Joke. 25
It was my turn now to raise my hands.
The Hegoumenos then called up Ariel, who was
having his supper downstairs, and he was nothing
loth to clink glasses, and, I am glad to say, he
thanked our host for his kind hospitality and
wished him a long life.
Whilst this was going on we had been debating
whether it would be considered very rude if we
intimated our desire to go to bed ; finally we
adopted the indirect method of taking out our
watches, this made the Hegoumenos produce his,
which was a beautiful chronometer. Ariel, not to
be outdone, pulled out his little silver self-winder
which he had been showing off during our ride up
to the monasteries, and he was very much sur-
prised to find it had stopped. For the twentieth
time he wound it up, shook it, turned it upside down,
but go it would not, so he appealed to us to know the
reason, and we gently suggested that the krassilmd
got into it. This explanation was received with the
wildest delight, the Hegoumenos shaking with
laughter, Ariel in his glee shouting out the joke to
the mediaeval boy below. The curious thing was
that all our watches pointed to different time, and
of course Ariel was sharp enough to see this and
turn the tables on us. The fact was we represented
Athens time, Constantinople time, Meteora time,
and Fancy time ; however, striking the mean, we
all arrived at the conclusion that it was bed time.
256 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
Bed of course represented to us rest, peace, and
privacy, but we found that bed here simply meant
an adjournment of the principal actors of the day
to our room. The muleteers, I am thankful to say,
did not show up, but in some miraculous way the
two privates appeared at this juncture and stood at-
tention at the door as we passed, one of them follow-
ing and taking up a position just within the room.
" What in the world are they waiting for, and
why can't they go ? " we murmur, and are answered
by the mediaeval boy marching in with a tray
on which was a water bottle and two glasses ;
evidently no civilized Greek can sleep peacefully
without those two glasses of water. The bringing
in of this water seemed to afford great satisfaction
to our two attentive attendants, and then Ariel
turned and asked if there was anything else we
required. Knowing that unless by some stratagem
we could get that Turkish basin into our room to-
night, good-bye to the most elementary dip in the
morning, we asked for it. Out darted Ariel and
returned with the whole arrangement, but being
informed that we wanted to keep it for the morn-
ing he knit his brows and paused. It was evident
that v/e had put a problem before him ; he made a
step forward, Olympos ! was he going to hide that
leaking ewer in my bed ? his eyes roved wildly
round the room, until they fell on a dark corner
under the table, and there the things were de-
Ariel to the Rescue. 257
posited — safe hiding-place, whence soap and towel
could offend no eye. After this supreme effort he
pulled back the door and showed us the lock and
bolts, but whilst he was doing this, voices were
heard outside, and the Hegoumenos came in on
purpose to explain how to turn that key and draw
those bolts ; then, in turning round to say a repeated
good night, his sharp eyes perceived that washing
apparatus beneath the table, and before we could
utter a word he had darted forward, caught up the
whole concern and run out of the room with it.
Then loud and bitter wails arose from our lips
Ariel seized the situation, dashed down the
corridor, rescued soap, towel, etc., and brought
them back in triumph amid the plaudits of our
soldiers.
We told Ariel to call us at five o'clock the next
morning, to which he returned he would give a
good rap at thedoor, suiting the action to the word —
anything for an excuse to make a noise — and then
he departed, leaving to our infinite disgust the
little private standing rigidly within the room,
apparently with no intention of moving. The
situation began to look alarming, when all at once
our guard's idiosyncrasy of always following us
flashed across our mind, of course we would hoist
them with their own petar. Dashing out into the
dark corridor, the faithful little private at once
followed, a sharp double, and the door was shut in
S
258 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
his face. We drew those bolts and turned that key,
which was all simplicity itself, as there was nothing
into which those bolts could shoot, not a chamber
to receive that lock ; the whole arrangement was a
farce. This would never do, so, casting our eyes
round, we found a wooden bar above the door,
which nobody had pointed out to us, and this we
let down. We had secured our castle, at least so
we thought, and were congratulating ourselves
that at last we should be able to turn in, when the
door was pushed open as far as the bolt would
allow, and the devoted little soldier beckoned me
out.
Across the dark corridor we went until we came
to the top of the stairs, where a faint light came
struggling in through a half strangled window, and
there the little private turned and whispered in
tragic tones, "Your door was open, you must
turn the key — the door below turns so."
Now as I had no idea of risking my neck down
those stairs in the dark, and knew if I told him our
door would not lock, that that would be a sure
signal for bringing the whole monastery on us
again, I simply said, " Yes, all right," and having
got him on the step below me, I turned and fled
down the dark corridor, guided by the feeble light
that issued from our room. This time, by the
help of a thick pincushion belonging to Miss C,
we wedged that door tight, farther barricading
Excursions and Alarms. 259
ourselves by heaping up all the heavy cushions
that strewed the divan. After our seven hours of
railway, climbing those ladders, efforts at talking
and general excitement we felt very tired, and had
just turned into bed when the one nearest to the
door said in a stifled voice, " There is someone
trying to get in ! "
Over those cushions I crawled, and then I heard
the voice of our faithful little soldier, whisper-
ing,--
" Open, open the door.''
" It is the little private," I said, " and he wants me
to open the door."
" Whatever you do," exclaimed the other two,
" don't let that man in, we should never get him
out. Remember, his orders arc ' not to let us out
of his sight.' "
So I return, " No, no ; sleepy, good night."
Then in piteous accents came, " Open, open,
please open ! "
" No, not even were it a parting nightcap from
the attentive Superior," but this he did not under-
stand, though he did our peremptory " No, good
night ! " and we listened to his departing footsteps
going downstairs.
Now what was his mission ? Alas, we shall
never know !
At dawn, upon unfastening the shutters, I saw
the windows looked on a trellised vineyard, and
S 2
260 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
there, perched on one of the walls, was our faithful
little soldier ; I began to wonder whether he had
been on guard all night.
At 5 a.m. came a rap loud enough to arouse the
whole monastery, and we went out to look at the
view. I was anxious to see if the distant monas-
teries could be seen from the flagstaff, but, unfor-
tunately, all our eyes rested on were clouds and
clouds of rolling mist.
Ariel's snowy pocket-handkerchief had suffered
much in that encounter with the cat, and this
morning he had been making desperate attempts
at a wash with much the same result at which I
arrived at Olympia, likewise the wind was too high
to put it out to dry, so in desperation he tied it to
the flagstaff and went away and promptly forgot
it. A cry now arose of coffee, and we proceeded
to strap up our rolls ready for departure ; then the
mediaeval boy brought in coffee, Ariel taking as it
were a back seat on one of the beds. He had
been eyeing those beds more than once and, when
he thought we were not looking, had given them
tender pokes as if testing their softness. Was it
indeed the fact, as Monsieur V. had declared, that
the ordinary Greek always slept on the floor !
Under Ariel's auspices we now went to see the
large church whose arcades graced one side of the
irregular square ; this again was so dark it was im-
possible to see it properly. We passed through a
Carving at Hagios Stephanos. 261
nave or large ante-chapel before reaching the body
of the church under the dome, which was decorated
with the usual half-figure of Christ, but we did not
notice any frescoes on the walls. Three bookcases
or lecterns of wood inlaid with ivory and mother-
of-pearl stood about, and remained as specimens
of the work that used to be turned out in the
monastic workshops, one or two valueless volumes
still gracing their empty shelves. The great
feature of the church, however, was the beautiful
ikonostasis of carved wood, Russian work that had
been brought from Constantinople (?) and given to
the monastery by one of the Turkish governors, so
at least we were told. It is of a light-coloured
wood which gives it rather a modern look and
slightly detracts from its beauty, which indeed is
very great, the whole of the altar-screen being one
mass of deeply-cut flowers and fruit. 1 The Archi-
mandrite's chair was also entirely made out of this
exquisite carving, but I could not help admiring
most a kind of canopied kneeling-stool which was
a lovely specimen of this light and artistic work.
In the midst of all this delicate carving we found
that the service-books rested on rough blocks of
plain wood slightly hollowed by long use. The
pictures on the ikonostasis were considered very
precious possessions, the frames were beautiful and
1 I thought I made out birds as well ; but it was really too
dark in the early morning to see the carving clearly. — I. J. A.
262 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
the subjects much more pleasing than, usual ; but
with regard to Greek religious pictures I prefer the
ikons — you see less of the painting. Ariel said
there was carving in Kalabaka like this at Hagios
Stephanos.
Leaving the church, we crossed a little bridge
and entered the wooden corridor, which looked
very much like an old tithe-barn on piles. This
corridor runs the whole length of the cells, which
are here sixteen in number, and it is in a very
dilapidated condition, the wind whistling through
the loose sides and the ground below being visible
between the gaping planks. At one end of the
corridor a number of skins stuffed with oak leaves
were hung up to dry, and which in time would be
used as wine-skins.
We now proceeded to visit the cells, Ariel going
first and putting his ear to the door to listen if
anyone were within. All the cells appeared to be
constructed on the same principle, thus : the door
in the corridor opened into a short, narrow, dark
passage which led to a room lighted by a long
loophole, the floor of which was on two levels, a
balustrade dividing the lower from the upper where
the brother slept and where his blanket was now
neatly rolled up. In the lower level all was bare
save for a shelf in the wall on which sometimes
stood a vessel for water, and a large cupboard
which, according to Ariel, who poked his nose into
The Brothers' Cells. 263
every corner, contained nothing but a piece of dry
bread. Above the door of one cell was a grand
design of red scroll-work, very like a child's first
effort, but we could not enter to see if the decora-
tion were continued within as Ariel declared some-
one was " snoring in there." The cell occupied
by the Hegoumenos had no dark passage but
opened direct on the corridor. It was slightly
lighter than the others and in one corner there
was an apology for a table, likewise he was
allowed the luxury of a Turkish washing apparatus.
His blanket was rolled up on the high level just
as in the other cells, and above his window, stuck
on to the wall, were several little pictures of
cats, some of which looked like political carica-
tures. We then and there registered a vow that
the most exquisite Christmas card of cats that
London could produce should be added to that
gallery of art. I fancy from Ariel's inexpressible
delight at so doing that he had no business to take
us into those cells. Clattering down an outside
wooden gallery, we were taken to the bell tower
where Ariel wanted us to try the bell, but as bells
are only rung in these monasteries on especially
joyful occasions or as a salute of honour, we de-
clined. Apparently Ariel considered the condi-
tions were fulfilled, for he pulled it himself, and of
course this brought out the brothers, who call each
other to prayer by the primitive method of banging
264 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
a piece of wood or striking a rod of iron. We
then visited the refectory, a large vaulted room
which would have held two long tables easily, and
which looked musty, cold, and bare, with only one
small table and two narrow benches in one corner ;
there appeared to be the remains of a fresco at the
end of the room. We hoped to see the little
chapel better by the morning light, but in this we
were disappointed. We could make out the in-
terior of the dome and some of the carving a little
clearer, but the fourth century picture was entirely
in the dark, and whilst we were groping about in
search of it we were startled by the sound of
smothered laughter, and out from behind the
pillars came our gay muleteers.
We began by regarding our guard as merely
ornamental, we soon found out its useful qualities,
and we ended by partially believing that they were
required for protection. Once outside the monas-
tery, like our escort to Tempe, they never let us
out of their sight, indeed, whilst within the walls
Ariel had followed us about everywhere. From
what we heard, the brigands were not so very far
away from the Monasteries, and certainly this wild
country would have lent itself admirably for an
attack ; troops were out in all directions trying to
hem the brigands in, and it was expected daily
that they would do some daring act. Ariel seemed
to think that something dreadful would happen if
Sketching under Difficulties. 265
one of us were out of his sight, and I had quite a
trouble to get out of the monastery to make a
sketch.
Owing to its curious position it was impossible
to obtain a satisfactory view of Hagios Stephanos
at close quarters, and it was only by walking some
way on the route to Hagia Trias that I could get
one that gave any idea of its extraordinary situa-
tion. Attended by one of the muleteers, I sat
down to sketch, well within sight of our party, who
were all grouped on the rocky platform outside
the monastery. Presently Miss C. and Edith
came sauntering up, and not appreciating the
wind, which was so cold that it brought tears to
the eyes, they strolled on and disappeared behind a
turn in the rocks. This was the signal for a tre-
mendous uproar from the platform. My muleteer
was sent after them with a flea in his ear ; Ariel,
shouting and gesticulating, came flying round the
curve, imploring them to come back ; if we had all
been on the point of being murdered he could not
have made more noise. It looked, however, as if
there might be danger in the air, for surely he would
not have made such a frightful row for nothing.
As we were about to leave, consternation seized
Ariel; we could not think what awful thing had
happened, the mediaeval boy was sent flying across
the bridge, the men stood in suspense, until the
boy's blue and white garments were once more
266 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
seen, and in his hand he bore Ariel's no longer
snowy emblem which he had left tied to the flag-
staff.
The Hegoumenos came out on the rocks to
bid us farewell, and it was with great regret that
we prepared to take our last look at a place that
had been the scene of so unique an experience.
Again and again we thanked the Hegoumenos for
all his kindness, and trusted it was only an revoir.
He thanked us for the pleasure we had given him
in coming, and echoed our an revoir, then for a
moment he tried to look serious, but it would not
do, his eyes twinkled in response to the laughter
that leapt in ours, and amid a shower of smiles
and adieux we rode away, the speechless delight
and open mouth of the mediaeval boy being the
last object to fade from our sight.
We had been told that beside the donation in
the alms-box (which a Greek said should be five
francs each, and as much more as you liked to
add), an " adequate compensation " should be
given to the butler, and we had been much
exercised in our minds as to what would be
considered adequate ; nobody seemed to know.
As we inclined between five and three drachmas
we split the difference and gave him four, and
there was no doubt from his radiant face that this
was quite adequate. I mention this as it is so
difficult to know what is the amount expected in
Adieu to the Monasteries. 267
these cases ; and if the visitor can spare more, let
that be added to the donation in the alms-box,
for these monasteries, deprived of the greater part
of their revenues, are no longer rich, Hagia Trias,
we understood, being exceptionally poor.
The animals that had been brought up for us
this morning, were, if possible, a greater scratch
lot to look at than we had had yesterday, not that
there was any fault to be found with their paces.
The saddles, or anyway the saddle that was
allotted to me, looked as if it would split up on
the slightest provocation, and the muleteer had to
hold it together whilst I scrambled on, for there
was not so much as a rope stirrup to help you up,
and the ground had more spring in it than the
very wooden knee of the faithful little soldier.
When mounted I demanded, — " Where is my
stirrup ?"
" It has been given to the other ladies," returned
that mendacious muleteer.
" No, no ; that won't do ! "
" You don't want it, you have only to balance
yourself so and so," laughed this audacious indi-
vidual, suiting the action to the word. " You will
be all right. Let us start, let us start ! "
As for balancing yourself, that is all very well
so long as you look straight before you — " between
your horse's ears" is an impossibility, as these
beasts make a point of coming down hill with
268 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
their noses between their fetlocks ; but when you
are intent on the view above, below, behind, and
your animal goes swinging round a steep turn with
his nose to the ground, it feels very like shoot-
ing over its head, and nothing but a grab at the
tail can save you ; moreover, when not accustomed
to it, it is very tiring to ride for any length of time
with your legs dangling down in the air. The
rider should certainly strike for one stirrup, and
get two if she can.
Running my eye over my baggage, I noticed
that my opera glasses had disappeared, but before
I could ask for them my muleteer struck in with,
" They were not safe there, they would have fallen
out going down the hill ; " adding with a wink
ironical, " I have put them in my pocket, where
they are quite safe/'
I looked at his countenance, it was not exactly
of the cast to inspire unlimited confidence, and I
glanced at his clothes; though picturesque, I should
not have guessed that they contained a whole
pocket in them. By this move the men had the
glasses ready for use, and some of them hurried on
to get a. good stare at Tn'kkala, whilst the last I
saw was our rear-guard looking steadily through
the broad end. On arriving at the railway station
I found that they had passed into Ariel's keeping.
I fancy the most interesting way of returning to
the station would have been to have gone round
That Audacious Muleteer. 269
by Hagia Trias, but we should have had to
walk the greater part of the way, and it would
have been a tremendous struggle against the wind ;
also Ariel objected to dividing the party, so it
ended in our all returning the way we had come.
On this side of the rocks there was no wind, the
sun had come out, making it quite warm, and as we
were glissading down the old causeway I thought
I heard suppressed sniggering, so I glanced behind
and saw my gay muleteer mincing along under
my umbrella, doing the English lady, no doubt.
Caught in flagrante delicto, his face took a deeper
tinge ; was it an attempt at a blush ?
" Ah," I said, " I see you are afraid of your com-
plexion," which was not lost on my faithful little
soldier, who communicated it to the rear-guard,
who shouted it out to the advanced guard, and
that audacious muleteer had a hot five minutes.
Winding down the cuckoo valley, we soon were
among the flowering trees and shrubs, and our
escort employed themselves in bringing us flowers,
my little soldier for ever presenting me with
wonderful little bouquets tied up with black thread.
I could not imagine where he got that thread
unless he pulled it out of a dirty piece of rag he
had for cleaning his gun. Ariel was very atten-
tive in hewing down with his sword all offending
scrags that threatened to take off our hats ; these
scrags are sometimes very dangerous, during our
270 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
short experience we saw a lady receive a ghastly-
cut on her cheek from one. Among the trees and
flowers that grew here we noticed the sweet-scented
willow that had so struck us in the Vale of Tempe,
the yellow bladder nut, a dog rose with a very
large deep pink blossom, lupins, and red anemones.
As we rounded the foot of the huge rock on which
Hagios Stephanos stands Ariel and the two
privates, in true Greek fashion, rushed off over the
rocks to a spring of fresh water, which they said
was beautiful ! and a few more minutes brought
us to the station where we bid adieu to our escort
and gay muleteers.
CHAPTER XII.
Leave Kalabaka— Volo and the old cities in the neighbour-
hood — We are criticized by a Greek woman — Ther-
mopylae at sunset, and splendid view of Mount Par-
nassos— Khalkis, the Euripos, and Bay of Aulis — The
mines of Laurion — Beautiful position of the temple
on Cape Sunion — Arrive at Athens two days late, the
manager of our hotel thought we had been killed.
The station at Kalabaka was wonderfully clean,
so, as we had some time to wait, we thought we
would make tea ; the difficulty was to get water,
but the station boy, who had attached himself to
us yesterday and who had risen out of the ground
on our return, departed to a distant cafe and
returned with a tray of glasses of water, and of
course the inevitable Turkish delight, and was
much exercised in his mind to know what on earth
we could want with the former without the latter.
We had begun by giving this boy a copper when-
ever he did anything for us, a proceeding he greatly
appreciated ; he evidently calculated on making his
fortune out of us, and he looked with anything
but a pleasing eye of welcome upon Ariel, who
now swaggered in with a large cigar in his mouth,
the first-fruits no doubt of the tip he had received.
272 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
The escort is most generously provided by the
Greek Government. All the traveller has to do is
to tip the leader, who, we understood, gave a
drachma to each man, and kept the rest for him-
self.
One thing that was so exceedingly comfortable in
this Thessalian trip was that everybody appeared
perfectly satisfied with what they received. The
drivers and muleteers in the first place might ask
for more, but when the price was once settled there
was an end of it ; it remains with travellers them-
selves if this happy state is disturbed. Of course
I do not include boatmen in these remarks, they in
all countries are past praying for.
The one train to Volo in the day leaves Kala-
baka at 9.50 a.m., and the station boy, fearful
that Ariel was going to cut him out of his coppers,
seized our baggage and bolted with it into the
train as soon as it came up from Karditsa. As
promptly we were turned out by a distracted
guard, and Ariel set on that over-zealous boy, draw-
ing his sword and with wild shouts chasing him half
way back to Kalabaka, then he returned to us
smiling. Certainly there was a wildness about
Kalabaka manners that was immeasurably refresh-
ing to the jaded Britisher.
In Greece for everyone that leaves by a train
ten remain behind, so when the station began to
get unpleasantly full we were permitted to take
The Last of Meteora. 27%
our places, Ariel actually condescending to carry
some of our things, the adventurous boy who had
been hanging about outside, sneaking in and seiz-
ing the rest. The station grew fuller and fuller,
several privates who had been on leave turning up,
and to our disgust Ariel began to hold forth on
our late adventures to a choice audience, that
wretched joke of the krassi and watches being all
rehearsed, no doubt with many embellishments.
It was quite a relief when we suddenly saw the
calm face of the Hegoumenos of Hagia Trias.
Ariel immediately told him where we were, and he
came and greeted us most cordially before getting
into the train. We left Kalabaka amid a shower
of kalds, Ariel's white wings waving adieu being
the last object to fade from sight. One long
lingering glance was taken of the extraordinary
rocks of Meteora, and then we were obliged to
draw up the wooden shutters to keep the carriage
anything like decently cool. At Trikkala the
Hegoumenos of Hagia Tiias got out, but he
courteously came into our carriage to say good-bye
and to give us a final blessing.
When we reached the junction of Velestino we
had to get single tickets to Volo, but not to change
trains, and here whilst standing on the outside
platform of the railway carriage, we were inter-
viewed by two railway officials, one of whom spoke
a little English, the other a little French ; and
T
274 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
who reeled off their questions in this wise : " Did
you go to the Vale of Tempe, had you an escort,
and were you frightened ? Have you been to the
Monasteries, and where did you sleep ? Hagios
Stephanos was good, but it was nothing to Hagia
Trias. Hagia Trias was the monastery you ought
to have seen."
" We have seen it, we went up."
" What ! they drew you up in the net ? "
" No, they would not let us go up in the net."
" But if you did not go up in the net how could
you see Hagia Trias, for the ladders are dangerous
and swing backwards and forwards, and we never
heard of ladies climbing them ? "
" But we did, and they pulled out and swung
just as you say."
"You climbed the ladders of Hagia Trias ! but
not the other ladies, not the tall lady who has gone
for the tickets, you did not all go up ? "
At last we convinced them that we had all been
up, and then they turned, and in a loud voice
announced to the whole station which was crowded
with men in fustanella, that " these English ladies
had been up the ladders, the ladders of Hagia
Trias," and our position was getting uncomfortably
prominent when mercifully the train moved on and
we left our admirers behind us.
On arriving at Volo the station appeared to be
more than ordinarily crammed, and to our horror
Return to Volo. 275
we found that we were the special attraction,
people coming forward and shaking hands in the
most embarrassing way. There was nothing for it
but to make a bolt, and seeing our rolls being
carried off by unknown individuals, we followed
them, and were run into a carriage and driven off
without a question. As everybody seemed to
know more about us and our wants than we did,
we silently gave ourselves into their hands, and
shortly drew up before the Hotel de France, where
the smiling proprietor congratulated us on our safe
return.
It had been our intention on coming back to
Volo, to call upon our kind hostess of three nights
ago, but we were so utterly worn out by our days
of adventure and sleepless nights, that all we could
do was to go to bed. We found the Hotel de
France perfectly satisfactory in every way. It is
situated close to the landing stage, there is a clean
and good restaurant under the roof, and the
charges are most moderate ; as an instance, a bill
for supper, bed, and breakfast, tout complet, came
to six drachmas. As far as we saw, any English
person could stay here with comfort, and the
proprietor, who spoke French, was most obliging.
The Volo that we see to-day, stretching along
the shore, is quite a modern town, and derives its
name from the little village of Volo that lies some
two miles and a half inland. From being at the
T 2
276 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
beginning of the present century simply a landing
stage for the neighbouring villages, it has become
the chief port of Thessaly, having developed with
extraordinary rapidity since the annexation.
Hardly a Turk now remains in the place, likewise,
with the exception of the large village of Lechonia
near the shore, the Moslems have all vanished
from the " four-and-twenty villages" that cluster
on the hills ; but the memory of them, we were
about to find, was still fresh in the hearts and
minds of some. Next to Larissa, Volo claims to
be the most important place from a commercial
point of view, notwithstanding dirty, thriving
Karditsa has a larger population, whilst Tn'kkala —
the beloved of our muleteers — in point of size
comes second to the capital, though as some half
of its inhabitants during the summer months are
out on the plains with their flocks and herds, it is
only in the winter months that it boasts of a
population of about ten thousand.
Mindful of our many warnings, we arranged to go
on board early to secure a cabin, but as it turned
out we need not have troubled ourselves, as we
were the only ladies on the steamer ; moreover,
although advertised to leave at noon, in point of
fact the boat did not start until a quarter to three,
the delay being caused by the number of sheep
and lambs she was taking on board ; indeed more
than half the boat was devoted to them. Edith,
One Thousand and Fifty Sheep. 277
who had declared herself tired of " rocks and
foundations," said she " could look all day long
at these sweet little darlings ; " she was delighted
to have these " pretty little honey-doves " on board,
and she rushed off to kiss their " dear little black
noses." About 8 p.m. in the evening she was
heard to remark, " There is a very extraordinary
muttony odour about this ship." The next morn-
ing she announced that " there were too many
sheep on board, they ought not to be permitted to
carry so many," and as she sighted the Piraeus she
exclaimed, " that nothing on earth would ever
make her travel again with a cargo of horrid
sheep ! "
As we waited hour after hour on deck, we
turned our back on the modern flourishing
little town of Volo, and tried to clothe those rocks
with the world-renowned towns that once had
graced them. Near the village of Volo, on a
rocky spur of Mount Pelion, Iolkos once reared
" her airy wall " whence Jason must have looked
across at what Byron calls " the first old Greek
privateer, the Argo " riding at anchor in the har-
bour of Pagasse, ere he set sail with that mighty
and aristocratic company in search of the Golden
Fleece, which all lovers of books ought to main-
tain that indeed it was a beautiful skin covered
with writings in letters of gold.
Before us, to the south west of the town of Volo,
278 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
we made out some crumbling walls running down
in the direction of the sea. This was the site of
Pagasae, the old port of the Pagasaean Gulf, which
appears to have been the outlet for all Thessaly,
and to have become very famous as the port of
the large city of Phera, known to us as Velestino.
Down to the time of the Romans, Pagasse was a
harbour of much importance, although the town
was practically depopulated when the city of
Demetrias was built at the beginning of the third
century B.C. It must have been here that Achilles
set sail with his intrepid Thessalians for the Trojan
war. We could fancy the strong agile natives
coming down from their fastnesses in the Pelion
range ; those old towns round Lake Boibeis (Karla)
whose ruins we had traced in the distance sent
forth their contingent, the rocks of Meteora must
have given her sons, even flowery Tempe was re-
presented. At Phera the sublime Alkestis sent
forth her son Eumelos with his matchless horses,
The old Cities on the Gulf. 279
who by-the-way would have won for him the first
prize at the chariot race in the funeral games
instituted by Achilles in honour of Patroklos, had
that famous race been run on the square. And as
some fifty years before Asklepios had set out from
here with the Argonauts, so now from " Trika's
(Trikkala) towers " came his two sons, Podateirios,
specialist on brain and nerve diseases, and Machaon,
the eminent surgeon, to minister to the Grecian
warriors whilst encamped before Troy. Indeed a
good memory might pile incident upon incident,
so intimately associated is the ground of Thessaly
with the lives of the gods and heroes of old.
More than a thousand years after the Trojan
war, the city of Demetrias was built on the east
side of the Gulf, perhaps a mile from old Iolkos,
which place together with Pagasae were despoiled
of their inhabitants to populate this new town
founded by Demetrios Poliorketes, and which
became such a favourite residence of the Macedo-
nian kings. The situation of Demetrias, over-
looking the beautiful Pagasaean Gulf and backed
by the then dense woods of Pelion, must have been
very fine ; with the farther attraction of excellent
wine and unlimited sport in the immediate neigh-
bourhood. And now those three places, Iolkos,
Pagasae, and Demetrias, so famous in myth and
history, are represented by the pushing little
town of Volo, striving hard to stretch itself out
28o Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
along the shore at the extreme head of the Gulf
of Volo.
Crowded out by the sheep, the natives swarmed
on the upper deck, and among them was a woman
clad in thick white muslin, a cloth embroidered
jacket, and with her head tied up in a yellow silk
scarf; we thought she was a Turk, but very soon
found out our mistake. At first she tried one of
our chairs, sitting on it gingerly as if she were afraid
it would come down, and she held on to it with one
hand like grim death whilst she looked through my
opera glasses. It was evident she was not accus-
tomed to sitting on chairs, and she soon gave up
the attempt and squatted down on the floor, where
she looked much happier, kindly inviting me to
follow her example, saying, —
" Cold where you are, much warmer here ; " and
she moved her sack, adding, " See, I have made a
place for you by my side."
The deck of a Greek boat, however, is not ex-
actly immaculate ; moreover, I did not wish to
miss the view, so I told her I wanted to see the
Gulf of Volo and all the beautiful towns on shore,
and she pointed out her village, Lechonia, and
told me the names of several of the four-and-
twenty villages. She then opened the sack which
contained all her worldly goods, and showed me
a loaf of bread and some pigeon's eggs, with
which she seemed very pleased, and offered me
Friendly Overtures. 281
some dry peas which she kept constantly eating ;
but thinking discretion the wisest course when on
the tramp, I did not try those peas.
This woman was very anxious to tell us her
family history, which apparently had been one full of
tragedy. All the ills and woes of her life she laid
at the door of the Turks, whom she hated with the
hatred of past servitude; her daughter was dead,
she was alone in the world, and it was all owing
to the Turks ! Here no doubt was an interesting
episode of a past rule laid out before us, and I
could only anathematize my own stupidity for not
understanding it. As I could not comfort her in
words, I gave her some chocolate, which she said
was very good, and led her thoughts in other direc-
tions. She became desperately interested in all
that we possessed, criticized our garments by touch
not by sight, and picked out the one that was
made entirely of wool ; likewise she was very much
taken by the gold shot silk lining of my cloak, and
offered to exchange her old blue cloth jacket for
it, much to the amusement of the men who
clustered round. We compared rings, and she
begged hard to try ours on, and when decked with
them flourished her hands in the face of the scoffing
men, who pleasantly told her that she was a bird
dressed out in borrowed plumes which would not
even fit her, because on most of her fingers our
rings would not go over her knuckles. At first
282 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
she seemed puzzled at this, and insisted on measur-
ing hands with me, which simply made the men
roar.
" Ah ! " she said, shaking her head at us, " you
have small hands because you ladies sit all day
with your hands folded before you so ; but I am
always washing, washing like this, and that is what
makes my hands big."
We tried to make her understand that though
we did not wash, we did other things with our
hands, but she would not believe it, evidently she
knew of no other occupation for a woman. It
ended in her exchanging a brass ring with a
dancing death-skull scratched on it — value one
half-penny — for an Egyptian ring of Miss C.'s that
took her fancy immensely ; but farther amenities
were put a stop to by the captain sending to know
if we would not prefer to come up aloft.
Here we had a splendid view of the exquisite
scenery of this beautiful coast, and caught a last
glimpse of Volo ere it faded out of sight. Passing
the island and the town of Trikeri, which our
Greek woman had assured us "had a castle and
was a beautiful place," we rounded Cape Stavro,
and now had Eubcea before us. Owing to our
calling at different stations our route was quite
changed to what it had been on our outward
voyage, and it was difficult on a fine day to
recognize the features of nature, which we had
Mount Parnassos. 283
only seen through a veil of misty rain. This
time the steamer went into the Malian Gulf, and
we were staring hard at the hills about Ther-
mopylae, which were all bathed in a lovely soft
crimson glow from the setting sun, when suddenly
we were startled to see before us a great range
of snow mountains standing out clear against
the indigo sky above. We could hardly believe
that this was Mount Parnassos, and that these
snowy peaks that looked so near were the same
that we had seen in smiling daylight across the
Gulf of Corinth. It was a scene to leave a deep
impression on the mind — Parnassos and Ther-
mopylae, names ever sacred in classic religion and
history, viewed first under the glowing colour of
the setting sun, at a stroke to be plunged into
the cold blues of silent night.
The wind was bitter, a choking mist was rising
from the sea ; so regretfully we groped our way
among the sleeping forms that covered the deck,
and retired below, to dream of a procession of
those thousand and fifty sheep solemnly walking
in at one port-hole, and going out of the other.
It was 5 a.m. when we awoke, and we seemed
to be stopping in a bay, we had been told that we
should pass through the straits about 5.30, so
thought we had plenty of time ; but keeping one
eye on the port-hole, suddenly, to our horror, we
saw it obscured by what looked like a wall, and it
284 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
dawned upon us that we were in the Euripos
already, and going through the narrow channel at
Khalkis. Before I could spring up to the port-
hole we were clear, and, looking back, it appeared
as if we had just come through a short but wide
lock ; it was curious, but a decided come down
from the towering rocks and aerial bridge that had
been described to us by a patriotic Greek.
Baedeker says that, prior to 41 1 B.C., the Euripos
at this point was wide enough to allow of a free
passage for the ships of that day, but that the
Eubceans partly filled it up in order to throw a
fortified bridge across the straits, and so prevent
the Athenian war ships from cutting them off
from Boeotia. Eubcea, which was then a garden of
fruits, was very necessary to Athens ; but although
the Eubceans succeeded in shaking oft" the Athenian
yoke, they generally allied themselves with them,
and only lost their independence with the rest of
Greece to Philip II. of Macedon, at the fatal battle
of Chaeronea, B.C. 338. After centuries of subjec-
tion at the hands of the" Macedonians, the Romans,
the Venetians, and the Turks, Euboea once more
became free when incorporated in the new king-
dom of Greece in 1830.
From the time the straits were narrowed a
wooden bridge is said to have always connected
the island with the mainland, and the present
descendant of these many bridges is a composite
The Straits of Khalkis. 285
one, half stone, half wood, and it is the latter
which swings back ; but as the channel was kept
open the short time we stopped at Khalkis, we
were disappointed in seeing how the swing-bridge
looked when in position. In point of fact there
are two channels, an impracticable one which is
spanned by the stone bridge, and the practicable
one crossed by the wooden bridge ; the ends of
both these bridges appearing to rest on a rocky
-I ' i ' - ; : '• ■' <te
bastion that divided the two channels. We were
told that when the tides were -fractious it was
through this narrow strait that the sea tore ; the
current being so dangerous that even these big
coasting-steamers dare not attempt the passage.
The reason for the vagaries of the Euripos have
never been satisfactorily explained, and it is said
that there is no calculating upon them ; be that as
it may, we understood that our present captain
was very lucky in always hitting the Euripos at a
happy moment, and that .the knowing ones liked
to make a voyage with him.
286 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Our boat amused itself by letting off steam the
whole time we remained at Khalkis, so that our
view was greatly clouded, but what we did see
conveyed an impression of extreme quaintness.
We seemed to be in a little oval basin, the
bridges shutting in one end, a rocky promontory
almost closing the other. Looking back, on the
left, rising up from the stone bridge, was an old
Turkish fortress guarding the entrance to the
mainland, no doubt on the site of the ancient
Greek fort built for the same purpose. On the
right was the interesting-looking town of Khalkis,
with its picturesque castellated Venetian walls
and towers running for some way along the shore,
and here as well as on the rocky bastion in the
middle of the bridge the Venetians have left their
lion of St. Mark.
Leaving Khalkis we hugged the Boeotian shore,
going so close in that it looked as if we must run
aground, but this was owing, I suppose, to the
fluctuating currents of this strange channel. Still
skirting the coast, we passed round another pro-
montory and entered the bay of Aulis, so interesting
to the Homeric student as the meeting place of
the ships ere they started for Troy ; and some-
where up among those low hills the attempted
sacrifice of Iphigeneia must have taken place.
Though the water appeared perfectly calm, we were
told that the whole of this passage was one of
Tears, Sobs, and Turks. 287
great difficulty. Two men were kept at the wheel,
and the captain never moved from his perch above.
It was not until we had passed between a low-
lying tongue of land and some rocks on which was
a tower fast crumbling to pieces, that we were
assured that we had come through the Euripos
without a hitch, and as a proof that the dangerous
passage was over, the captain came down from his
perch to say good morning.
The poor Greek woman who had slept on deck
all night, came up to us shivering in her white
gown, which looked horribly out of place this cold
morning, and with her face hardly visible among
the folds of her yellow scarf; it appears that if the
natives only tie up their heads well they do not take
cold. Miss C, taking compassion on her, gave her
a present, upon which she burst into a torrent of
tears. At first we were afraid that her amour
propre had been offended, but soon we found it
was all her daughter and the Turks ; what however
with tears, sobs, and Turks, there was no making
out what she wanted. Happily smiles very soon
succeeded to tears in her case.
On this boat there was an immense variety of
costume, but as the men spent the greater part of
the day asleep, rolled up in their blankets, there
was not much opportunity of studying it ; the
shepherds all wore the fustanella, and there was
one enormous man, a regular Henry VIII., who
288 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
must have had twenty yards at the very least in
his petticoat. They did not seem to trouble them-
selves much about the sheep, who according to
their general folly were lying on the top of each
other in some places, and leaving bare boards in
others. Whilst looking across at the sheep in the
fore-deck Miss C. said, " There is a man down
below who has been staring up at us for a long
time ; I think he is trying to catch your eye."
I looked down, and who should I see but a
private, who had been Ariel's most attentive
listener at Kalabaka station, and who had travelled
to Volo in the same train as we had. He at once
saluted ; of course we shouted down our greetings
and he sent up his kalds, and so delighted was he
with this shouting acquaintance that he called
together his brothers-in-arms, until there was a
group of blue-coated men, staring at the English
ladies who had been up the skalas of Hagia
Trias ! This was passable, but then if that
wretched private did not begin to repeat that un-
fortunate joke of the wine affecting the watches,
and we knew that by this time to-morrow it would
be known in every barrack in Athens, with what
addenda the gods only know ! Thus had it
followed us from Hagios Stephanos, and I sank
down on my chair and dejectedly murmured,
" Be sure your sin will find you out."
Passing: Eretria with its extensive ruins at the
Pass Marathon. 289
foot of Mount Olympos (3848 feet) in Euboea, we
called at the village of Aliveri, and then steered
between little islands and the mainland for
Laurion. To our right Pentelicus reared his
marble head above the other mountains ; from his
summit we had seen how he looked down on
historic Marathon, but the plain was now hidden
from our view by the projecting peninsula of
Kynosoura. It seemed an interminable time
before we rounded that promontory, and were able
to look back at the red earth which marked the
battlefield of Marathon, and the mound which we
supposed was that raised over the graves of the
Athenian heroes. The view now became less in-
teresting, and as we had been gazing at the beauti-
ful scenery for upwards of five hours, we thought
this a good opportunity to pack up and refresh the
inner man ; it is in long stretches like this, where
you do not want to miss an inch of the landscape
that dry chocolate comes in so useful. Some
people maintain that chocolate is more sustaining
than wine and bread ; I did not find it so, although
I grant it is much nicer, but in this matter, as in all
cases of food, what suits one person is poison to
another ; each individual must suit himself or her-
self.
We steamed into the port of Laurion, where
among many small craft was a large English vessel
bearing the curiously clipped name of Goldsbro.
U
290 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Laurion is a regular mining village, as ugly as any-
English one ; still we were glad to see that Greece
did possess one thriving mining district, and
although the mines are chiefly worked by French
companies, the miners we understood were Greeks
of a kind. Lead is the principal product of to-day.
but in early times they were worked for silver, and
proved a very valuable possession to the Athen-
ians. So early as the time of Pausanius (second
century A.D.) these mines had fallen into disuse,
and it is only in the middle of this century that
they have again risen into importance. Many of
the old workings are still left in their original state,
and must be very interesting to those who take an
interest in the ways and works of the ancient
Greeks.
These mines seem to be one of the fetishes before
which the regulation tourist considers himself
bound to bow, though from the very little satisfac-
tion that he appeared to get out of them, I could
not help thinking that he would have done better
had he taken a seat with that lady who, upon see-
ing her party being conducted up the Acropolis at
Athens, exclaimed, "Well, if you are going up
there, I shall just sit down and wait.'''
Virtuous resolve of an excellent woman ; only
think what her friends and companions were
spared !
At Laurion bad sailors often land and return
Cape Sunion. 291
by rail to Athens in order to escape the proverbial
rough passage round Cape Sunion. Three times
we were destined to double this cape, both night
passages were exceedingly rough, but to-day the
sea was perfectly smooth and all passengers
remained on board. Owing to the raggedness of
the coast line we saw the temple before the cliff
on which it stands, and from this point the spark-
ling white columns appeared to be poised in air as
if ready to take flight, and we thanked the gods
that we had been permitted first to see it from the
sea. Crowning the perpendicular cliffs of Cape
Sunion the situation is simply magnificent ; it was
meet that here in ancient times a temple should
have been erected to the guardian of the sea, but
Poseidon had to give way to the great Athene ;
beaten on the Acropolis, he was not even allowed
to watch over his own waters, and so the re-
christened Temple of Athene stands a pathetic
spectacle of the subservience of religion and of
U 2
292 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
reason to political considerations. The temple is
built of marble, and eleven columns and a bit of
wall are still in position ; it is sad to think that
since the end of the seventeenth century eight
columns have fallen. Standing as it does on the
summit of a perpendicular cliff, the temple appears
to take a new form with every turn of the vessel,
and a rapid panorama of exquisite pictures was
reeled off before the eye had time to separate
them j but from every point the magnificence of
the situation was impressed upon the beholder,
our only regret was that it vanished from sight so
soon.
Of course on rounding Sunion we looked out
for the Acropolis, but we looked in vain, in point
of fact it was full two hours before we saw it.
Perhaps in ancient days the point of Athene's
spear might have been caught between the moun-
tains from some particular spot, anyway Athens
is now completely blocked out from view first by
the Hymettos range and then by Lykabettos ;
and to be strictly honest, Athens does not show up
well when approached by sea from Sunion. The
view, however, was not dependent on Athens. We
had left the rocky Island of St. George behind us,
Hydrea and the dim outline of the Argolic penin-
sula had faded out of sight, on the right Pentelicus
was ever turning a new face to us. The long,
graceful form of ALgina with its distinguishing
That " Silver Chien." 293
peak was on our left, whilst Salamis lay ahead,
backed by the distant light blue hills near Corinth
and Kithaeron's pointed top. In this voyage and
in our sail from Nauplia to Athens we gained a
very good idea of what a tour among the islands
must be like, indeed when speaking to some who
had been on that trip we were amused to find
that we had seen the places which they especially
mentioned as the most beautiful.
In spite of the beauty of the view we were very
glad when the steamer anchored in the Piraeus,
and our comfortable hotel became a factor in the
immediate prospect. The captain and the mate,
whom we had found most courteous throughout
the voyage, amused us very much by asking if
we would not return to Volo soon ? But we
thought that one journey with a thousand and
fifty muttons on board might last for a lifetime.
At our hotel we were received with the news
that friends were waiting to see us, that others had
been inquiring every day to know if anything
had been heard of us ; whilst the unanimous
opinion seemed to be that we must have come
utterly to grief.
"You know," exclaimed the manager, "you
are two days later than you said, and I thought
you had been killed by the bry-gans ! " evidently
that " silver chien " had been hanging heavy on
his soul.
294 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece
One word on this trip. I should not wish
anyone to be led astray by what I have said into
thinking that they could do as we had done
without discomfort. On this point the warnings
we had received were true, comfort did not come
into the category at all ; we were not disappointed,
for we did not expect it. With regard to boats, we
were exceptionally fortunate both in going out and
coming back ; in one we had the large ladies'
cabin practically to ourselves, in the other we were
first put into a miserable narrow hole among the
men's quarters, but immediately transferred into a
state apartment which we had all to ourselves, and
could not have been more comfortable in any boat.
Having experienced the food in a Greek steamer
when we had our dragoman to superintend it, we
did not so much as look at what was provided
either going or returning. Perhaps it was a mis-
take not to have tested it, but meals always came
on just when the scenery was particularly interest-
ing, moreover we were told by a young Greek that
" the food was beastly," which we could easily
imagine, as there came up from the kitchen so
powerful an odour that for a space even the
"bouquet de mouton " was drowned. The bread,
however, was all right, not in the least mouldy,
and the oranges good, but we had to pay three-
pence a piece for the latter. Had the vessel been
crowded with Greek ladies and children, and had
Remarks on this Trip. 295
it been detained a day by the fickle Euripos, our
experience would have been very different, and
that boat no doubt would have become a veritable
inferno ; as it was, those thousand and fifty sheep
at such close quarters almost made Liebig and
bread impossible. We lived on the memory of our
laughable experiences and our mind was satisfied,
although our body called aloud for recognition.
No doubt if we had taken a dragoman with us
things would have been arranged to have approxi-
mated more closely to our English idea, but then
we should not have had one quarter of the
amusement which we managed to get out of this
trip. We should not have had so many natives
claiming our acquaintance, the Hegoumenos
of Hagios Stephanos would never have so
unbent ! we should have missed Ariel's quaint
way of waiting on us ; besides, we had accomplished
our object, which was to show the hollowness of
the assertion that it was impossible for ladies to
make this trip alone. We flattered ourselves that
we had proved that any woman — who did not
mind roughing it, and would take the chance of
upsetting her digestion — could accomplish this
journey with ease, and if she had a laugh in her,
derive a great deal of amusement from it ; more-
over the whole trip only cost us about 5/. each.
At the time we went Greek boats alone were
running between Athens and Yolo. Although
296 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Messrs. Gaze could not book us for these steamers,
they gave us the time of their leaving the Pirseus, and
told us we could take our tickets on board, which
saved us a journey to the Company's offices. On
arriving at Volo we found it safest to ascertain
there the exact hours the steamers started, and the
day or days they did not intend to run ; armed
with this knowledge and a time-table, the traveller
can plan out his tour at pleasure. As the time of
starting the boats did not appear to be permanent,
it is useless to give the information we collected on
this point, but as we had found it so very difficult in
Athens to get an exact idea as to the actual time
this trip took, perhaps the accompanying outline
of our tour may be useful to the future traveller.
Thursday. Left Piraeus at 7 p.m., slept on
board.
Friday. Arrived at Volo 7 p.m., slept at Volo.
Saturday. Left Volo 7.30 a.m., Larissa 10.22
a.m., looked at town.
Sunday. Started for Vale of Tempe 6 a.m.,
returned 7.15 p.m.
Monday. Left Larissa 8.2 a.m., Kalabaka, 2.48
p.m., visited Hagia Trias, and slept at Hagios
Stephanos.
Tuesday. Left Kalabaka 9.50a.m., Volo 4 p.m.,
slept at Volo.
Wednesday. Left Volo at 2.45 p.m., slept on
board.
HOW TO SEE TEMPE. 297
Thursday. Arrived at Piraeus 5 p.m.
A day can be saved in two ways. If only a
short excursion is made to the Vale of Tempe, a
carriage can be ordered to be ready at the Larissa
station, and in that way only one night need be
passed at Larissa. This however appears to be a
decided mistake, as the most interesting part of the
Vale cannot possibly be seen ; indeed I should
strongly urge anyone who was really interested in
the Vale to allow fourteen hours for the trip ; or,
better still, pass a night at the large Khan close to
the entrance of Tempe. Without however cutting
short the Vale of Tempe expedition, a night at
Volo can be saved by reversing our route and
going first to Kalabaka and the Monasteries, as
the 8.2 a.m. train from Larissa arrives at Volo 10.13
in time for the boat. Again I would advise anyone
coming so far to give another day at the Monas-
teries, so as to be able to go and see the Great
Meteora and Hagios Barlaam ; even if they were
not ascended, their extraordinary situation must
be well worth seeing, besides in the journey to and
fro, most interesting peeps must be obtained of
the curious rocks, and of the unique position of
Hagia Trias.
CONCLUSION.
From our experience of Greece we came to the
conclusion that we could have come through the
Peloponnesus perfectly well by ourselves, taking a
native guide from place to place. Thus, when we
were at Andritssena, only one day's ride across
country would have brought us to Megalopolis
(the special preserve of the British Archaeological
School) where we could have dispensed with the
further services of a guide, as we were told that from
that place we could drive in six or seven hours to
Tripolitza, and there rail to Athens, the Corinth
and Sparta line having been carried southwards
as far as Tripolitza. Of course food and lodging
would have been the difficulty, and it would have
been absolutely necessary to have taken some
provisions with us, also we should have tried very
hard to have got the loan of a sheet.
I do not for one moment recommend this way
of seeing Greece; it is much better to take a drago-
man and have things comfortable, to be able to
set up your tent where you will, and have leisure
to poke into any corner that takes your fancy. I
The Courteous Greek. 299
only mean that as far as we could make out it was
a perfectly practical way, and one that any
individual could take did he or she wish to
economize.
As for danger, there appears to be none ; the
excitement in the spring of 1892 was quite abnor-
mal, and no doubt the country has now settled
down into its usual state of peacefulness and
security. Personally, we can bear the highest
testimony to the courtesy and kindness of all
those with whom we came in contact, from the
shock-headed Leonidos of Olympia, to Madame
Sophie Tricoupis, the intellectual sister of the
present Prime Minister, who, although occupied
with a room full of politicians, yet found time to
receive us with that cordiality and charm for
which she is so justly renowned.
This remarkable woman is said never to go out,
her doors are thrown open from ten in the morn-
ing to ten at night, and the world comes to her,
from the king to the shepherd. The room in
which she received us was a beautiful bower of
india-rubber trees, palms, and roses, the offerings,
we were told, of her many admirers and friends.
In Greece all the places of interest and treasures
of art are thrown open in the most generous way
to the public. Nevertheless, I think a few money-
boxes in various museums would enable many
foreigners to contribute to the Archaeological
300 Two Roving Englishwomen in Greece.
Society, who are wishful to give, but cannot afford
large sums.
Another agreeable feature which struck us very
much was the absence of that official fussiness
which, in some continental countries, would be
so intolerable were it not so absolutely absurd.
THE END.
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