he had refused to follow the advice given him by the consuls, to defer his journey till the autumn: he departed, neglecting even to provide himself with medicine. We saw his name scratched upon one of the columns of a temple in Arcadia, near which the peasants told us he was seized with a fever, which threw him into delirium. By the uneducated, both Greeks and Mohammedans, it is imagined that after interment, the body of a Frank is conveyed by some invisible power to his native land. : The Theseum is comparatively small, but its effect is striking in shape it is similar to the Parthenon: the beautiful frieze with which it is decorated represents part of the histories of Hercules and Theseus it is inost entire of all the Athenian monuments; and long may the protecting genius of Greece defend it from the defiling touch of the Turkish mason, and the no less destructive dilapidations of European virtuosi ! WEDDING AT ATHENS. Every traveller who has visited Athens for a few days returns with a description of the weddings, burials, and christenings at which he assisted. Whether during our stay Hymen had ceased to inspire the Athenian youths, and death to strike, æquo pede, I cannot determine; but I assure you, although we remained at Athens more than a month, we witnessed no funeral, and were present at one wedding only.-The happy couple were not of the highest rank: that you should not, however, accuse my journal of being deficient in the article of matrimony, I shall add to this chapter of musty antiquity an account of one of the most extraordinary and ridiculous scenes I ever witnessed. It was on a Sunday afternoon; the heat was excessive, and we were occupied in arranging our journal; my ear was struck with the monotonous sound of a Greek tambour, and the noise of people hurrying through the street. I followed them, and after turning through two or three lanes, came to the spot whence the sound pro ceeded. Some dirty musicians, with a tambour, a fiddle, and a guitar, were dancing, playing, and singing; after them came a Greek damsel, supported by two grave matrons, and followed by a long string of dames hoary with age; she was the bride; and notwithstanding the thermometer stood at 96°, was covered with mantles and furs; her fingers' ends and joints were stained red; the lower part of her eyes were tinged with a blue colour, and her cheeks were ornamented with stars of black dye and leaf gold: a dirty urchin, walking backwards, held a mirror in such a manner that the young woman had her image constantly before her. They moved literally at a snail's pace. The people threw from their windows and doors bottles of orange water, which perfumed the air; and the crowd, loud in their expressions of joy and congratulation, augmented as we advanced, hurrying round the bride, whose brow was never bent with a frown, and whose lips were never crossed with a smile, during the ceremony. The procession stopped at the house of the bridegroom. The bride was seated in an arm chair, and placed on the right of the house door; on the opposite side was seated her husband, his hairless head uncovered; by him stood a Turkish barber, holding in his hand a circular looking-glass (similar to that with which Venus is represented), and other shaving instruments: the music continued playing, and the crowd shook the air with their shouts. Each placing a few parats on the barber's looking-glass, sprinkled with orange water the face of the bridegroom, and kissed him on the forehead and the eyes. The money thus collected was to procure a comfortable establishment for the young people. I subscribed my share, but preferred dispensing with the kisses. A Greek, an old man, whose age was a sufficient excuse for the joke, pushed me towards the bride, whom I was consequently obliged to salute amidst the loud cheers of the assembly.-How the ceremony ended I cannot tell you, as the day fell, and I returned home ere all had embraced the bridegroom. ANTIQUARIAN TRICKERY. The eager desire of tourists to obtain some relics of antiquity is so well known in Argos, that when walking the streets, you are repeatedly stopped by the natives to examine the articles they have found in the vicinity. A kaloieros, or monk, drew from his breast, with great care, what he conceived to be a precious antique; it was a Roman crucifix, broken from its cross. This recalls to my memory a similar scene, which I witnessed at Athens. A young man showed me a French halfpenny, of Louis the Fifteenth, imagining it to be a valuable medal: one of my companions inquired with pretended eagerness the price he asked for the coin the youth significantly raised the fingers of his right hand, and pronounced the words "wavte Xpóra,” (five piasters). TURKISH RECKONING OF TIME. ; "What o'clock is it?" was usually the first question I had to answer any Greek traveller whom I met on the road this proceeds, perhaps, rather from their mode of calculating by time distance between places, than from mere curiosity. Nothing, however, pleases a Romaic peasant so much as a sight of the machinery of a watch when very small, he gazes at it with wonder. Most of the richer individuals among the Turks carry in their girdle a large watch, generally of London manufacture, enclosed in a tortoiseshell case, and fastened round their necks with a silver chain; this they show with no small pride to the Frank traveller, and a smile of content never fails to cross their frigid countenances when they hear pronounced the word "London," written on the dial; so attached are they to goods of English manufacture. The Turks reckon their hours from six in the morning to six in the evening, so that mid-day falls with them at six o'clock. This mode of reckoning time is, perhaps, in part derived from the Italians, who reckon (at least in the southern parts of Italy), from sunset to sunset, twenty-four hours. By this means they have the extreme disadvantage of starting from a variable point; and it is only by a reference to their almanack that they can set their watch so as give them twenty-four o'clock at sunset. Our mode of keeping time is known in Naples by the name of" ora di Francia," or " di Spagna.” SPARTA. The ruins of Sparta are now, like many others in Greece, distinguished only by the general denomination of "Palaio Chorio:" they are situated on the western side of the Eurotas, and are very extensive. We easily distinguished the theatre, which must have been a most magnificent edifice; we saw also the broad hill on which stood the citadel. We were shown likewise a bridge of one arch, made of large uncemented stones; it crosses the Tiasus, and, to judge from its shape, must be very ancient; it is situated near a small Greek chapel, sacred to "Agios Giorgios." Some square ruins of walls, constructed from very massy stones, are also seen in different parts. I regretted much not having a better guide. The person who conducted us, a Bardouniote, seemed completely ignorant of the place. Our questions were answered in barbarous accents, which, by their roughness at least, called to the memory the language of the Dorians. The common answer to every question is, ixeuro ego, know I? (aupw yw). The peasantry near the Eurotas are evidently much less civilised than those of the northern parts of the Morea they greet, however, the travellers, whom curiosity leads to cross their lands, with a welcome which we were told proceeded not from the lips only; the hand is placed on the heart, and the words kale erchetai áffendi mou,—" welcome, sir," are pronounced with the smile of hospitality. Some were harvesting the rice in the marshes, near the banks of the Eurotas; while on the citadel of ancient Sparta others were beat ing out the maize: for this purpose, twelve horses were fastened abreast, and driven circularly round a post, about which the ears had been scattered. GREEK MONASTERIES. A Greek monastery is inhabited by two descriptions of monks-the kaloieros and the papa. No one is admitted into either of those classes, without the consent of the whole fraternity: no member of the society can marry without forfeiting his character of monk. The kaloieros or kalogeros (for the word is of disputed orthography, some affirming that it is derived from καλὸς and ἱερὸς ; others, that it is deduced from καλός and yégwv), is of the inferior order: his duty is to clean the chapel of the building, to tend its flocks and herds, and to wait on the papas or fathers. The little community is governed by a person, the nomination of whom depends upon some rich neighbouring Greek, or the bishop; he is called the egoumenos: he must always be in priest's orders, and his duty is to assemble and take the opinion of the papas in all cases of mutual interestas the nomination of a new member, the exaction of the Pasha, or the purchase of new lands. Each monastery pays a certain tribute, according to its revenue: that of Vourkano pays yearly eighteen hundred piasters; but this does not always suffice to preserve them from the sacrilegious depredations of the Moslems. When the monastery is in the vicinity of a Turkish settlement, the fathers, if rich enough, procure a guard of some Albanian soldiers, or a Turkish Janissary. Although generally plunged in the deepest ignorance, it is not to be inferred that all the monks who inhabit these sacred buildings are entirely without the advantages of literature. The acquirements of many are such as surprise those who consider the difficulty of obtaining knowledge in this secluded land: those acquirements are, however, confined to a smattering of their own theology, a slight acquaintance with the ancient Greek or Hellenic, and a knowledge of the lives |
