XXV.
Athens, December 7, 1841.
I have just returned from my tour, after an absence of seven days, during which time we were favored with delightful weather, but our journey was attended with all the fatigue and want of comfort appertaining to travelling on horseback in the interior of Greece. But we were more than fully compensated with the incidents of travel and the remarkable objects of antiquity and curiosity presented to our view. I must first inform you that there are only six or eight carriage roads in Greece, and those only for a short distance. All travel is performed on mules or horses, and all manner of burdens carried in the same manner. In the interior hotels are almost unknown, there being but few guests to encourage them, as during the desolating wars with the Turks almost all the towns and cities were laid waste, and the Greeks sought refuge in the mountains.
The first object of my missionary companion and myself was to procure a Greek servant, a supply of provisions, with bed and bedding, when we started for the Piræus, a distance of five miles, in search of a boat to carry us to Epidaurus, upon the Gulf of Salamis, where our land travel commenced. On arriving, at five o’clock in the afternoon, we were fortunate in finding a caique ready for departure. There is an immense number of these vessels employed along the coast; they are from twenty to thirty feet in length, the only shelter being in the hold, the flooring of which is pebble-stones. The passengers numbered about twenty, who were stretched upon the deck, or on the gravelly floor, with nothing but a Greek coat, or a blanket under them, my companion among the group. By special favor I had the cabin to myself, for the reason that there was only room for one person. It was a small partition astern, with a board floor, say three feet broad, and scarcely long enough to lie at full length. Here I spread my bed and passed a tolerable night. The next morning we passed the island of Egina, and at noon arrived at Epidaurus, a place which formerly sent eight hundred fighting men to battle, now a miserable village of eighty inhabitants. But the town has recently acquired a celebrity from having given its name to the Greek constitution, adopted by the Greek Congress of Deputies from all parts of the nation, on the 15th of January, 1832.
We procured horses and a guide for Nauplia, making a detour of two hours to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Yero. Part of the road was through a fertile plain, producing tobacco and corn; then passing through a romantic defile by the side of a rocky hill, with a mountain torrent tumbling beneath. The path in some places is a mere shelf, only broad enough for one to pass, with a steep precipice above and below; while in others it winds through beautiful shrubbery where the myrtle and arbutus joined over our heads in festoons, and scarcely permitted the horse and rider to pass. The most remarkable remains of antiquity in this sequestered region are the ruins of a theatre. It was of white marble, and thirty-two rows of seats still appear above ground. The orchestra was ninety feet long, and the theatre, when entire, three hundred and seventy feet in diameter, and capable of containing twelve thousand spectators. There are also remains of several temples.
Night overtook us at Lygouno, where we found a Khan to spread our beds, and fire to cook our provisions. The next morning we made Nauplia, a distance of five hours (which is the only mode of reckoning in Greece, not being able to calculate by miles, as the roads are mostly paths winding in different directions). The city, with a population of nine thousand, was once the seat of government, and is a commercial place, with a magnificent harbor. It is strongly fortified. The fortress of the Palamedi, on the summit of a lofty and precipitous rock, seven hundred and twenty feet above the sea, is almost inaccessible, and has been called the Gibraltar of Greece. The view of the country and the Gulf of Nauplia from the summit is beautiful. I noticed many brass cannons of 1650, 1662, with the Venetian stamp, the lion of St. Mark. There are cisterns hewn in the top of the rock, large enough to hold rain water to supply the garrison three years. In visiting one of the Greek churches here, we were shown the spot where Capo d’Istria, the governor of Greece, was assassinated when leaving the church. We remained here one day, and proceeded for Argos, seven miles from Nauplia, an ancient city, which contains some antiquities—a ruined Acropolis upon the summit of a rocky hill. In 1825 the modern town was entirely destroyed by the Turks, but is partly rebuilt. The plains are productive with good cultivation, but the manner of cultivation in this country is quite primitive.
On our way to Argos we turned aside to visit the ancient city of Tiryns, built thirteen hundred and seventy-nine years before Christ. The Cyclopean walls of the fortress, which was one-third of a mile in circumference, are immense, and in remarkable preservation; some are twenty-five feet thick. The city was destroyed four hundred and sixty-six years before Christ, and it is most remarkable that some of the galleries, in the form of a Gothic arch, still exist, almost perfect. It was the birthplace and frequently the residence of Hercules. The Lernean lake, not far distant, is the spot celebrated for being the place where Hercules destroyed the Lernean hydra.
At Argos, there were no accommodations to be had, and we were thrown upon the hospitality of an English gentleman, a friend of my compagnon de voyage. We were informed here that it would not be safe to travel without a guard across the country, as two travellers had recently been robbed. We accordingly applied to the authorities, and procured a mounted horseman, armed to the teeth with musket, sword, and pistols. Altogether, our party presented a novel appearance. Our guard in full regimentals, our guide in Greek costume, running or walking beside the horses, making a distance of thirty or forty miles a day without fatigue, but singing gaily even till night approached; our servant, with the Hydriote costume, which differs from the Albanian—the pantaloons being not unlike a great sack secured to the waist, and below the knees of a blue color—with his red sash and cap, mounted on a pack-horse carrying supplies and bedding, with our horses in advance; altogether we formed a novel and formidable appearance. There is a law in Greece prohibiting the carrying of fire-arms without license. We met several suspicious characters with pistols and muskets, in the mountain passes, who were interrogated by our guide, and compelled to produce their permits; but it is not difficult to obtain a permit, under pretence of protecting the flocks of sheep and goats. On the route to Corinth, we passed through a wild and mountainous country, sometimes winding along a narrow path on the brink of a precipice, and then again following the course of a ravine. We visited the ancient city of Mycenæ, built by Perseus one thousand three hundred years before Christ. It was built on a rugged height, situated in a recess between two commanding mountains, of the range which bounds the Argolic plain. The entire circuit of the citadel still exists, and is very large. The gate of the lions is quite perfect; upon it are represented two lions, standing upon their hind legs, on either side of a pillar, or altar, on which they rest their fore paws. The tomb of Agamemnon is still perfect, as it was, perhaps, when the city was destroyed, four hundred and sixty-six years before Christ. The entrance is twenty feet broad; the diameter of the dome is forty-seven feet, and the height fifty feet. In the middle of the great doorway the holes for the bolts and hinges of the door are observed. We visited, also, the ancient city of Nemæa, which has only three columns standing of the temple of Jupiter, some remains of the Nemæan theatre, and in the vicinity, several caves, supposed to be those of the Nemæan lion. It was situated on a beautiful plain; and where once existed a large population, now nothing is heard but the cry of the shepherd, or the barking of his dog.
In some sections of the country, we would travel many miles without discovering a habitation of any kind, occasionally meeting a solitary Greek, with his heavily laden mule or donkey, going to market; or, perhaps, upon the mountain’s ridge, would find a regular encampment of itinerant shepherds, with their flocks of goats and sheep. It was an amusing and novel sight, to see these people emigrating to another section of the country, or taking up their winter quarters in the valleys. I observed several of these parties, composed of three or four families together. They not only have considerable flocks, but raise horses for sale. On making a move, their tents are lashed on pack-saddles, with all their supplies of clothing, cooking utensils, &c. The small children are lashed upon the backs of the horses in the same manner, while the girls and boys, in their picturesque costumes, are leading and driving the horses and colts, sometimes to the number of seventy or eighty. The men are employed in driving the flocks of sheep and goats, while the women are driving the horses which carry different kinds of poultry on their backs, and, at the same time, are engaged in spinning cotton with a portable distaff, which they carry in one hand, and twist the thread upon a spool with the other, with great dexterity.
On arriving at Corinth, situated on the gulf of Lepanto, we visited the remaining antiquities of that city, which once ranked first among the states of Greece. During the last revolution it was reduced to ashes. It is now being rebuilt, but in a very different manner. Seven Doric columns of a temple still exist, amidst modern desolation. There are also the remains of an amphitheatre, and excavated in the rock, at one end, is seen a subterranean entrance for the wild beasts and gladiators. In this city St. Paul resided and wrote his Epistles to the Corinthians. Back of the city rises a mountain, upon the summit of which, one thousand eight hundred feet high, stands an immense fortress, considered the strongest in Greece, next to Nauplia. A steep ascent, winding through rocks, leads up to the gate, which requires an hour’s walk, and where one of the most magnificent views imaginable is to be seen, comprising six of the most celebrated states of ancient Greece.
On leaving Corinth, we crossed the Isthmus and struck Cenchrea, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as the spot whence St. Paul departed for Syria. We arrived at Megara the same night, and our guide conducted us to the only house of entertainment in the town, which contains a population of one thousand persons. But this modern village is in a ruinous state. We found the landlord had only one room, and that was occupied. Accordingly, our gend’arme conducted us to the house of the Demarch, or mayor of the town, where we had an opportunity of partaking of Greek hospitalities, which is not unusual for strangers to accept in the interior. Suffice it to say, we were made very comfortable, and felt ourselves under many obligations for comforts that money could not procure.
Soon after leaving Megara we dispensed with the services of our gend’arme, as we struck upon the road to Eleusis, which is considerably frequented. In passing along the coast of the Saronic Gulf we had the island of Salamis in full view, half a mile distant, where three hundred and eighty Greek ships defeated two thousand ships of Xerxes. At Eleusis are many antiquities about the modern town, and the piece of ground is here pointed out where, according to tradition, the first corn was sown.
On the way to Athens may be seen the old causeway, called Via Sacra, along which the ancient processions moved to that city. During our last day’s march we found the sun’s rays rather oppressive, and I was rejoiced when we entered the olive groves of the academy, which afforded a fine shade in our approach to Athens.