124 RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY, [CHAP. which, if one could but be surrounded by some of the ordinary comforts of European life, would be a delightful refuge from the tumult and anxieties of the world: a fitting spot wherein, Ducere sollicitae jucunda oblivia vitae. After passing the river which flows along this valley of Kontokynéghi, I ascend the ridge which separates it from that of Pelekánas, and soon cross the road by which we had traversed the ridge on our way from Pelekánas to Sélino-kastéli: a few minutes more and I arrive at a church of Hághios Antónios, after passing which I notice several tombs hewn out of the solid rock, a never-failing indication that an ancient site exists somewhere near. About a mile from the church of Hághios Antónios I arrive at another of Hághios Gheorghios and also at the ancient site of which I am in search. It is situated on the summit of the ridge between the two valleys: on the western and southwestern sides of the city the walls may be traced for three or four hundred paces: on the east I could only observe them for about one hundred paces, while on the south the ridge narrows, and the wall, adapting itself to the natural features of the hill, has not a length of more than fifteen or twenty paces. The whole seeming circuit of these walls cannot much exceed half a mile: still, possibly, the city might extend further to the north. Foundations of the walls of buildings are seen to the south of the church of Hághios Gheorghios. Of the walls which remain the style is ancient though the construction is not very massive: the chisel has not been used for any of the stones: the sizes of most of them are pretty nearly the same, and they are all polygonal. The thickness of the wall is about four feet. I suppose these to be remains of Kalamyde, of which the Coast-describer says that it was to the west 2 2 ANONYMI STADIASM. in Geogr. Graec. Min. Tom. II. p. 496. See also above, p. 86. Sin-they 125 of Lissos, and thirty stades distant from Kriu-metopon. I know of no other city mentioned in any ancient writer, which we should be authorized to place here; and the site agrees perfectly with what we learn of Kalamyde from the author in question, who alone has recorded the name of this city. I returned to Vlithiás by half-past ten. Some days ago, while I was washing, I asked Captain Maniás to reach me a piece of soap, which was lying near him. He placed it at some distance from me, and told me that no motive could ever induce him to put it directly into my hands. The superstition, that when one person so gives soap to another, it will wash away their friendship, is generally diffused in Greece and Turkey3. I could not but notice Maniás's politeness, when, addressing our Mohammedan host at Vlithiás, he spoke of "those animals which have bristles on their backs," and carefully avoided even the name of the unclean pig. In a similar manner a Greek will apologize to any one before whom he may mention a Jew1. 3 Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE, Travels in Albania, Vol. I. p. 33. observes, "The captain would not give the soap into my hands, though I was sitting close to him, but put it on the ground within an inch of me.-I found that in Turkey there is a very prevalent superstition against giving soap into another's hands: they think it will wash away love." 4 This observation is made by HARTLEY, Researches in Greece and the Levant, p. 206. "It is impossible to give an adequate idea of the contempt in which the Jews are held by the Greeks. The style in which they sometimes speak of them may, in part, illustrate this assertion. When the Greeks have to mention swine, and some other objects which they deem particularly offensive, they usually introduce the expression, μè ovμπáðelav, begging your pardon, as a duty of politeness to the persons present. A similar mode of speaking is often adopted, when there is occasion to introduce the mention of a Jew:-'I was walking along the street, and I met, begging your pardon, a Jew!'" VOL. II. SONG ON THE A RUMELIOTE SONG ON THE DEATH FISCAL INNOVATIONS OF MEHMET-ALI-PASHA. OF KHADJI-MIKHALI. May 1, continned. Not a breath WE set out from Vlithiás at noon. of air was stirring either yesterday or to-day, so that the heat is very considerable. About one o'clock, on entering the straggling village of Kakotíkhi, I was struck with such an apparition of female beauty, as, when once seen, can never be forgotten. This Cretan XXXII.] SFAKIAN WOMEN. 127 maiden's features were certainly more heavenly than I had ever seen in any "mortal mixture of earth's mould." She professed ignorance on the subject of my inquiries, and at the same time drew her veil half over her face. So strange an event as her being addressed by a European traveller at once called up The embarrassed look of shy distress And maidenly shamefacedness. Very few moments elapsed before several other more matronly persons approached, and, in a few minutes, all the female population of the village was congregated around us. Their language at once told me that they were all from Sfakiá, and I learnt that they come down here during the winter to gather olives, and that they have been so employed for five or six months. They, however, return to their mountain-village Hághio Yánni to celebrate Easter Sunday, a day on which all Greeks think it almost a sin not to be at their homes. I observed to some of them, that the olive-trees, which vary greatly in size in different parts of Crete, are very fine in Sélino: the most talkative old dame of the group, whose tongue scarcely rests for an instant during my stay with them, and whose language, like that of all her companions, was uniformly characterized by the most strongly marked peculiarities of her native dialect, replied, "Yes, yes! and the oil too is excellent, and abounds in the whole district of Sélino, little as we have of it in Sfakiá1." It is natural that the women, who dwell so much at home, and associate so little with any one except the inhabitants of their respective villages, should preserve more purely than the men the idiomatic peculiarities of their native mountains. One of the women began by observing, "You are only two men, and therefore we dont fear you, for we are many." Had we, the travellers, been a more numerous party, or had 1 The oil, λάδι, was called ῥάδι, and was said to be καρό (καλό). 128 A BEAUTIFUL SFAKIAN MAID. [CHAP. they been fewer, it is plain that the beautiful young girl whom I had first addressed, a native of the Sfakian village of Hághios Ioánnes or Yánni, would have run away, and the others would not have ventured to come out of their houses. The men, who are seldom found at home except early in the morning and towards evening, were all busied in the fields or were gone to the city. On leaving this singular group, with whom I staid some time, I confess I "cast a longing lingering look behind" on her whose features, once seen, could hardly ever be forgotten: Cose appariscon nello suo aspetto In three quarters of an hour, continuing to follow the course of this fine valley, we arrive at Plemmelianá, one of the small villages which are comprised under the common name of Kántanos. This place is on the western bank of the river, both sides of which are thickly covered with fine platanes: we see vines twining round them, as in other parts of the island, to a height of thirty or forty feet. I remain here to have all our steeds shod: I had despatched Maniás before us this morning with my own horse; and now the same operation was performed on the mules. There are but few villages in which one can find a blacksmith, and if a horse or mule happens to lose a shoe, the traveller in Crete will, in all probability, be obliged to continue his journey for two or three days, before he finds the means of replacing it. We leave this village at twenty minutes past three, and follow the river, with its platanes, to which I see that ivy attaches itself still more closely than the vines, for about half a mile, when we pass, for a few minutes, |