Chapter IX

Travelling in Greece--Hieron--Mysterious companion--Dangers of
the glen--Speculations--Inclination to brigandage--Alarm--A
virtuoso--Epidaurus--Greek servant--Fresh arrivals--On the
look-out--Mosaics--A sail--Ruins--Arcadian scene--Pastoral
happiness--Diorama--Household operations--Banquet hall--Domestic
industry--Benevolence--Marriage preparations--Scene at the cisterns.

♦ TRAVELLING IN GREECE ♦

Travelling in Greece I soon found to be a very different affair from travelling in Turkey. A small jog-trot, or rather a walk at a snail’s pace, is the usual rate of journeying throughout the Morea, at all events. Indeed, the bridle tracks, which are called roads, are so rough, that it would be impossible for any body, except a Tartar, to think of getting on at a much higher estimate of space than about three English miles an hour. The same horses are often engaged for journies of three or four days successively--no great hardship either, seeing that they seldom steal over more than twenty miles of ground in a day. The guide usually walks behind, driving the luggage horse on before him; or if he be a lazy rascal, as he most commonly is, he perches himself on the unfortunate animal’s neck, between the portmanteaus and carpet bags, as well as he can; falls asleep, sings or whistles at intervals, as his fancy suggests, neither he nor his companion in idleness appearing to have any one object in this world at heart, except the diffusion of the smallest possible quantum of exertion over the most ample measure of time.

We left Napoli at noon, and at three o’clock stopped at a fountain, where extricating from my _sac de cuisine_ a fowl, I dined. Near Ligurio I turned off from the main path to the right to visit the celebrated ruins of Hieron--ruins indeed, for, with the exception of a few remnants of the benches of the theatre, scarcely any thing remains to be seen. I have no doubt that excavation would disclose abundant memorials of antiquity in that quarter. The sacred grove itself, however, fully repays the trouble of finding it out. It is called sacred, because it was dedicated to Æsculapius, and being throughout situated in a glen, must indeed have afforded a most delightful retreat from the summer and autumnal suns, to the voluptuous inhabitants of Argos, Hermione, Epidaurus, and even of Athens, when those cities were in their “high and palmy state.”

♦ HIERON ♦

The ravine runs to a considerable distance between two lofty ranges of mountains, the declivities on each side being thickly planted by nature with every variety of tree and shrub, that could afford not only shade but beauty to the scene. These trees and shrubs descend along the shelving sides of the mountains, from the summits on either side to the very edges of a torrent which rushes through the deep vale below. The murmurs of tributary streams falling into the torrent from the neighbouring rocks--the songs of birds--the waving of branches, when the salubrious breeze awoke them from repose--the incessant sound of mineral fountains, celebrated for their efficacy in cooling the fever, or recalling the failing energies of the human frame--the proximity of magnificent temples, where the votaries seldom prayed for health in vain--and of a most splendid theatre in which the dramatic muse of Greece exhibited all her charms, were well calculated to bestow that character of sanctity upon the grove, which its appearance justifies even to this day.

♦ MYSTERIOUS COMPANION ♦

As we rode along through this glen by winding tracks which sometimes led us close by the bed of the torrent, where we seemed lost in darkness, sometimes to the higher declivities, whence we could scarcely discern the foam gleaming in the partial lights that here and there found their way to the profound abysses, we were suddenly joined by another traveller, wrapped in a cloak, whose cunning face and reserved manner by no means attracted my confidence. I must frankly confess, that I looked at first upon this apparently-accidental junction as an affair arranged between my guide and the captain of a band of brigands. As we were passing under the outer gate of Napoli I had noticed, as I thought, a mysterious communication pass between my friend and a person of somewhat military aspect, who was riding in the same direction with ourselves; but as he soon after turned away to a small inn in a field off the road, where he dismounted, I had forgotten the circumstance, until after examining the countenance of this stranger, I convinced myself that he was the same man.

Beyond the usual words of salutation, no signs of recognition escaped either of my companions. We rode on in silence. The track through this mountain forest being so narrow that we were obliged to proceed one after the other, the guide in front, I next in succession, and in the rear he whom I took to be a decided bandit. Happening to look behind me, as my horse stopped to drink from a stream that crossed our path, I detected the gentleman in the act of replacing a pistol in his belt, where the handle of an ataghan also presented a formidable state of preparation if any thing were meditated against myself, who had no arms at all--not even my umbrella, for I had lost it.

♦ DANGERS OF THE GLEN ♦

Before my animal had sated his thirst, my guide returned to the stream, where we three now met face to face, the horses being, as I believed, the only members of the party who rejoiced in the circumstance. I thought they never would have done drinking the crystal element, that bounded from the rocks above us with a mirthful unconsciousness, which at the moment was to me peculiarly enviable. I wondered within myself in what way the man at arms had resolved to attempt the accomplishment of his object; whether he meant to begin operations with his ataghan, or reserve it as his last resort; or whether he intended preluding with his pistols, and if so, in what part of my anatomical system he expected to deposit their contents. I made no doubt at all that I was in serious peril of my life; but I was also equally resolved on two things: first, not to be taken unawares, and in the next place, to become myself the assailant, the instant I perceived any movement unequivocally meant as an act of hostility. At all events, there must be a battle for it, thought I, and it was not impossible that I might succeed in pushing my antagonist, horse and rider, to the edge of a precipice, whence he might most probably find his way to the regions below.

♦ SPECULATIONS ♦

My quadruped, having sufficiently refreshed himself with the cool spring, went on. I had no objection to this change, as, if the guide immediately followed, which happened to be the case, he would interpose to some extent as a shield against any sudden attack, and possibly might receive the first bullet intended for me. Our course lay over rocks, which nevertheless were so thickly wooded that we were frequently obliged to stoop our heads in order to escape from the impending branches. At length we were compelled by the frequent recurrence of such impediments to dismount, and allow the animals to take their own way. Here then was a moral certainty that this particular route, impassable for equestrians, was selected by my guide for the special purpose of executing the conspiracy that had been planned against my person and purse! Once or twice it occurred to me that my best mode of proceeding would be to turn brigand myself, to begin by calling on the party last mentioned to produce his said purse, and to divide the spoil amongst us, according to the laws of regular highway honour; but, on second thoughts, I was contented with giving myself notice of a motion to that effect, to be discussed on a future day.

♦ INCLINATION TO BRIGANDAGE ♦

No more sunshine gilding the rocks that stood out from the bosom of the glen, it assumed every moment frowns of deeper horror, which almost made my blood run cold. We had hitherto been riding or walking on the southern side; but our horses, still without their riders, turning suddenly down to the bottom of the dark ravine, my companions ran on rapidly before me, and disappeared through the shade. Had they faltered in their purpose, or left me to warn their associates of my approach?

♦ ALARM ♦

Every body knows that the glen which we were then traversing abounds in green marble of the most beautiful description. I consequently became a virtuoso, and a collector of specimens, with which I loaded my pockets and hands, not knowing how soon I might have occasion to turn the said specimens to purposes appertaining more to the useful than the ornamental. My path was so distinctly marked over the polished marble that I could not mistake it, the more especially when I heard voices shouting below, towards which, labouring though I was under the strongest suspicions, I instinctively directed my steps. Judge of my surprise when I found four or five other equestrians drawn up at the other side of the torrent, while my guide, who was calling out to me with all his force, held my Rozinante, and bade me mount immediately. The moon, which had just risen, placed the whole party in her light, disclosing three figures fully accoutred, a woman on a mule with a baby in her arms, and an elderly-looking person wrapped in a cloak. That little pledge of peace, sleeping on her mother’s bosom, restored my feelings at once to their natural channel. I crossed the torrent joined the party, who gave me to understand that they also were bound for Epidaurus; and as my late companion was nowhere to be found, I concluded that he had deemed it imprudent to track his intended prey any farther.

♦ EPIDAURUS ♦

The clacking of several mills turned by the mountain streams, announced to me the agreeable intelligence that we were not far from our destination for the night. The tidings were soon confirmed by the barking of many dogs. A few scattered houses, with lights gleaming from them, left the matter no longer doubtful, when my guide trotting on towards the seaside, delivered me and my luggage at a house, where the only symptoms of hostelry I beheld was a fire, near which stood an old coffee-pot, and a wooden platform hard by a stone wall, by way of a divan. Alas! thought I, can this be Epidaurus?

I went out to see whether there was any vessel in the harbour bound for Ægina or the Piræus, but I could discover nothing of the kind. The water was so unruffled, that if I could have ferreted out a small boat, and prevailed on its owner to row me across the Saronic Gulf, I should have very much preferred spending the night at sea, rather than in the abominable hut to which my guide had consigned me. But there was not so much as a cock-boat to be met with any where.

♦ GREEK SERVANT ♦

My late companions had gone to take up their abode with some of their friends in the village, being also, as I afterwards found, like myself, on their way to Athens. They could offer me no hospitality: but they very kindly sent a Greek servant, who spoke French, to attend me--and I must do him the justice to say, that a more obliging fellow, or a more persevering candidate for what he conceived to be a vacant place in my travelling establishment, I have rarely encountered. He made capital coffee for me mixed up with eggs--bought or stole a pullet which he got boiled for me in a few minutes--brushed my clothes--cleaned my boots--and saw me safely deposited on the divan upon a clean mat, and under the cover of a very decent counterpane of his own which he had placed at my service--and then removing the lamp to the fire-place, recommending me to go forthwith to sleep, and bidding me good night, went away, assuring me that he would return early in the morning.

Mine host, who had hitherto been absent, made his appearance soon afterwards, followed by two or three other guests who had just arrived from Napoli. After a slight supper upon cold fried fish and a little garlick, these persons, who appeared to be merchants, disposed of themselves on another divan, which was prepared for their use, and I resigned myself, after the toils and apprehensions of the evening, to sleep, with a feeling of confidence which was not broken even by a dream until about seven o’clock, when I rose and bathed in the sea.

♦ ON THE LOOK-OUT ♦

The sun was already risen over Ægina, but not a sail was any where to be descried. It appeared that all the vessels belonging to Epidaurus had been detained by calms on the Athenian side of the gulf for the last three or four days, and might be kept there for another week, unless some friendly zephyrs should awake and waft them back to our shore. And then there was no small chance of the said zephyrs continuing to blow on in the same direction, so as to prevent our stirring, perhaps, for another week from the bay. Here was a delightful prospect for a man in a hurry! Oh, how I wished for one of our steamers, when looking over that tranquil sea, unruffled by a breath of air, shining like a lake of molten gold in the morning sun; the splendid highlands of the promontory of Methana on my right; Ægina, like a cloud in front; on the left, Salamis, scarcely visible even as a cloud; the Parthenon just below my horizon; I was nevertheless chained as it were to the rock on which I stood, incapable of leaving it behind me!

♦ MOSAICS ♦

I pored on the waters at my feet until I could count the very pebbles at the bottom of the sea, and even distinguish all their various colours. It was, in fact, a Mosaic ground of the most beautiful description, strewed with pieces of marble, red, blue, green, purple, yellow, snow-white, black as Indian ink, the shades of each being brought out with peculiar brightness through the crystal waves in which they were set. I have no doubt that we owe to such a picture as I then beheld, the original idea of those inlays which the pure taste of antiquity multiplied every where on the floors, the walls, the roofs, not only of the temple and the forum, the courts of justice and the theatres, but also of the most ordinary private habitations. Here was indeed,--

“A sapphire throne, inlaid with pure
Amber, and the colour of the showery arch.”

The marbles were countless which shone through the transparent element. Nature, who never ceases to attract the human eye to her operations, even when decorating the most solitary recesses of her domain, seemed to have felt a delight in scattering around her those “patens” worthy of the “floor of heaven;” as if she especially wished to present a model for those works of art which have been carried by the genius of Greece and Italy to so high a degree of perfection.

♦ A SAIL ♦

Ascending the mountain on my left, I discerned a single sail stealing closely round Ægina in order to profit of the land breezes, there being not a breath of air on the sea; but just as it grew larger on my eye, and I could perceive the canvass fluttering, the head of the vessel being, as I thought, turned towards Epidaurus, it gradually faded away again, and disappeared towards Cape Colonna! Another speck soon became apparent in the direction of Salamis, which I watched with unaverted gaze until it assumed magnitude and form as it approached the small island of Cecryphalos, where it lay for some time motionless. At length, the form became more distinct, but it was nearer to Ægina, and steering, as I apprehended, in the same course as the vessel which had just gone to the open sea. But I was happily wrong--I could perceive the waters sparkling round the boat, which indicated that the oars were at work. There would have been no necessity for such labour if this vessel were bound in the same direction as the one that had just passed, and I therefore concluded that our harbour was her destination. I was satisfied on this point by an old sailor whom I met on the beach as I returned to my _hotel_ for breakfast; and as my Greek, who was in attendance, added that the vessel would be in about noon, but could not expect a land-wind to bear her out again until night, my business was to kill the remainder of the long day in the best manner I could.

♦ RUINS ♦

Having already made acquaintance with the northern part of the shore, I bent my steps through some osier-marshes, and ascended a bold hill on the south, overlooking the sea, where I found myself in the midst of a vast pile of ruins, the greater part of which, however, was buried beneath masses of wall thrown down, long rank grass, weeds, and brambles. This must have been the site of the magnificent temple of Æsculapius, to which Epidaurus owes its celebrity in ancient history. The stones used in the foundations appeared to me to be nearly as large as those which form the walls of Tiryntha, with this difference, that the former are cut in regular squares, and are connected with each other by means of cement. They are much corroded by the winds and rains of many winters, but their artificial forms are manifest.

♦ ARCADIAN SCENE ♦

From these ruins I wandered along the rough rocks, until, climbing higher and higher, I reached the summit of a mountain, to the south of which the shore is suddenly withdrawn to a considerable distance in a western direction, and in a horse-shoe form, but no longer rocky--the entire theatre rising gently from the water’s edge to a considerable height, which shut out all the world behind, being clothed with the richest verdure. It was an Arcadian scene. Sheep were browsing on the green declivities, attended by shepherdesses. Two or three remarkably neat cottages were in the valley, and near them groves of the olive-tree. The hill-sides exhibited clusters of flowers, from which a fragrance came on the undulations of the atmosphere. Two or three brooks rambled down towards the sea, shining like veins of liquid silver; and by one of these a group of maidens was actively engaged in washing linen, which they spread on the shrubs or the grass to dry. The shepherdesses, as usual, were occupied with their distaff and spindle; a boy tending some goats was playing on a reed a wild song which I could not hear sufficiently to give any idea of; and some of the maidens at the stream, while their linen was drying, sang, or ran about, or bathed their feet, or combed their hair, which they afterwards tied up carefully, little thinking all the time that an Englishman was noting down their “simple annals,” haply for the amusement of his own country-women.

♦ PASTORAL HAPPINESS ♦

Here was a secluded, pastoral little world in itself, inhabited by a few fishermen, who, with all the male members of their families, were probably pursuing their labours higher up the gulf, while the females, in their own way equally industrious, presented a picture of perfect happiness--to them the more perfect, because they were unconscious of being observed. I flattered myself that this fair scene had witnessed none of the horrors of the late revolution--that it was even exempted from the common lot of Turkish oppression, and that, like the rescued Pompeii, it appeared exactly the same to me as it might have appeared to Homer in those days of his early inspirations, when he gathered from nature herself, and from actual acquaintance with the men and manners of his time, those inexhaustible materials which he afterwards embodied in his divine poetry.

♦ DIORAMA ♦

Around and beneath me were some of the very promontories and islands which Nestor, and Agamemnon, and Menelaus, are supposed to have visited or observed--the seas upon which they sailed, and above me the same cloudless skies which they admired. The veil of ancient years seemed drawn back from this spot; it was a diorama through which I beheld the age of Ulysses, when the occupations of the prince or the princess scarcely differed from those of the goatherd or shepherdess as now pictured before me. Throughout Argolis, where I then stood, as well as Laconia, Messenia, Arcadia, Elis, and Achaia, and as far as Ithaca, which lay behind me, the manners of the princes and the people of those early days were marked by a beautiful simplicity, of which I was at that moment strongly reminded.

♦ HOUSEHOLD OCCUPATIONS ♦

When the morning came, the chieftain vested himself, girded on his tunic, flung his mantle over his shoulders, braced on his sandals, and after a substantial repast on cold roast meat and wine, he walked forth to the council. By his side hung his falchion, to the sheath of which was attached also his knife, or dirk. In his hand he grasped a lance, and his steps were sometimes attended by one or two favourite hounds. If he were unmarried, a discreet woman, selected for her diligence and virtue, his own nurse perhaps, or a female reared from her childhood in the family, at the same early hour set in motion all the household operations for the day. Where there was a princess, though she was aided by some such confidential woman, as the economist of her family, she generally directed these proceedings herself; the wives of the age being of a remarkably domestic turn of character, their whole care being to render their homes decent, to increase their husband’s store, and to provide well for all their children. Their menial establishments seldom consisted of less than fifty females. But as almost every article of apparel was prepared, from the rough material to the finest woof, at home, and as every royal mansion was thrown wide open to all strangers, and was the scene of perpetual festivities for the nobles of the realm, it can scarcely be supposed that this number of female servants was at all excessive.

The oldest of these had the care of the bed-chambers, and upon them also devolved the labour (and no slight labour it was) of grinding wheat in a hand-mill, and baking cakes for the consumption of the day. Some of the more active damsels were dispatched with pitchers in their hands to the public fountain, to fetch water for various culinary purposes, but more especially for warm baths, which were in general used every day. Meantime the others were not idle: some, sprinkling the palace floor swept it; some arranged the purple covers of the couches in the banquet hall; some cleansed the tables with sponges, and polished them, while others rinsed and brightened the silver tankards and drinking cups. Such were their morning labours, according to the ordinary routine.

When these occupations were over they proceeded to a large apartment in the interior of the mansion, and in the upper part of it, where they received from the princess herself, or her housekeeper, their tasks for the remainder of the day. These were portions of fine wool, dyed purple, to be spun, or woven into garments for the prince and his sons; of coarse plain wool for the clothing of the swine-herds, shepherds, goat-herds, wood-men, and other male servants belonging to the family, and of flax to be converted into linen for the females. Here they plied their several labours.

♦ DOMESTIC INDUSTRY ♦

The princess usually sat with them, and occupied herself with some light piece of fancy work--a veil of lace--a purple mantle which she embroidered with gold, and decorated with golden clasps; or a frame of tapestry, on which she wrought the representation of a battle-scene, or boar-hunt, in which some of her ancestors had won renown. If she had a daughter she kept her by her side, forming her delicate fingers to the loom and spindle, and imbuing her mind the while with the notions of a pure morality wholly independent of the religion of the times. The royal mother and daughter were scarcely distinguished from the busy crowd around them, save that their garments were a little finer, their gowns more costly, and their hair gathered in brighter folds. The wool also which they used, was of a superior tint, was kept in a silver work-basket, or wound on a golden distaff. Near them, when the season required it, burned a fire of cypress and cedar, which diffused a grateful fragrance and warmth over the whole chamber.

♦ MARRIAGE PREPARATIONS ♦

Sometimes these employments were exchanged by the princesses for works of benevolence. If the mother were a virtuous and sensible woman, she was often applied to by her neighbours, to compose disputes and domestic differences. The virgin was most probably famous, as the daughters of kings at that time generally were, for her knowledge of simples, and felt delight in administering to all that came to her from near and distant places, such medicinal relief as her skill and stock afforded.

To the young princess also belonged the care of the garments, not only those which she herself and her mother wore, but also those which were stored up for her brothers and royal father, and for presents to the friends of her future bridegroom, as well as for the outfit of her own future household. Upon her diligent attention in this department of her duties, depended much of her reputation at home and abroad.

As often, too, as it was necessary, she rose from her fragrant couch as soon as the morning dawned, and, assisted by her hand-maids, she collected all the soiled garments together. Then came a scene not unlike that which I had just witnessed. Cisterns for washing were at the river side, at some distance from the public roads; a sumpter-carriage was got ready, to which a pair of mules was yoked, and in it was deposited the parcel of clothes. The royal mother meanwhile, not unmindful of her duties, stored the box of the vehicle with cold viands, to which she added a goat-skin full of delicious wine, for the princess and her maids. She gave her also a golden cruet of oil, with which they were to anoint themselves after bathing in the limpid stream.

♦ SCENE AT THE CISTERNS ♦

All things being prepared, the princess mounted the car, took the whip and reins in her hands, and drove off to the cisterns. Her maids followed immediately on foot, and a joyous clamour rose amongst them, as they considered this a day of recreation. When they arrived at the cisterns (which, in their most improved form, were constructed of marble, in that part of the bank of a river where the water was deep enough, without partaking of the flowing course of the current) they stopped, and releasing the mules from the car, turned them away to browze. The maids then untied the parcel, and each taking an equal quantity of the clothes, they went into the water, scoured them well with their hands, and footed them on large stones or flags polished by use. When the process of purification was completed, they spread the humid vestments on the cleanest part of the pebbly shore to dry. They then all plunged into the stream and bathed, after which they anointed their fair limbs with oil, and having resumed their light attire, sat down in a circle on the green margin of the flood, and enjoyed the viands and wine with which they were provided. The repast being finished, they rose, loosed the fillets that bound their moist hair, and permitting it to float in the breeze, they dispersed over the glade, and exercised themselves by throwing a ball from one to the other. The princess cheered the scene with the melody of her voice, and as they bounded on the grass, and laughed, and sung, and shouted in their innocent mirth; they, like those now before me, might be taken for so many nymphs of the neighbouring stream, who loved to animate the sweet solitude of the place by their gay and immortal presence. Thus they wantoned till the sun restored the garments to their usual lustre, when they folded them neatly, and arranged them in the car. The princess resumed her office of muleteer, returned to the palace, and resigned her charge to her brothers, who courteously met her and relieved her from further trouble.