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Excursions from the city are very easy, with the help of the railroads. The suburbs are rapidly growing in importance and attractiveness. The trip to Sunium (Cape Colonna) and back is an easy day's jaunt; a longer day is needed for the drive to Marathon and return. Eleusis may be visited in an afternoon; Salamis is easily reached from the Piræus. By taking an early train, the traveller can climb to the top of Pentelicus and see most of Central Greece spread before him -having the plain of Attica below him on one side, and the plain of Marathon on the other; following with his eye most of the strait of the Euripus, seeing Euboea and the Cyclades Islands, Boeotia, Attica, Peloponnesus, Mounts Parnassus and Helicon and Cyllene-and yet return to Athens in time for luncheon.

Life in Athens begins early in the morning. The milkmen cry gala before sunrise. At six o'clock on a May morn

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national dress, although it was originally Albanian. In the country the rustic dress is more picturesque. The homemade garments of coarse cloth, of goatskins and sheepskins are attractive to the eye, even when ragged and stained. Capuchin cloaks are commonly worn by the men in cool weather, the hood being drawn over the head in a storm. These serve as mantles by day and blankets by night.

The women in the country are dressed very simply on ordinary occasions, but are perhaps more extravagant in dress for special occasions than in anything else. Hats and bonnets are almost unknown except in towns; ladies often wear a long veil-like wrap, or the fez, of

A Musician.

which the red is very becoming as it lies on their dark hair; women of the lower classes often bind a kerchief about the head. A face-cloth may conceal the lower part of the face from strangers.

Women are still kept in half-oriental seclusion. They have a retired gallery in the churches. They may perform

hard labor in the fields, but they do not go freely upon the streets. Peasant girls shrink from going out to service, and much domestic work is done by boys. Greek women of the lower classes are seldom beautiful; if they ever have beauty as girls, they lose it under the hardships of their life. They carry heavy burdens.

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Greek Maiden.

Near Eleusis I met a dozen young women carrying kegs of water, each crouching under the load. The lads, on the other hand, are tall, straight, and dignified. Their dress is often much like that of their sisters, and more than once I exclaimed at the beauty of a maiden who proved to be a shepherd lad.

The Greek ladies of Athens incline to a full habit, and most would appear to better advantage in the more flowing robes of the country dress than in the close-fitting Parisian costume.

Travel in Greece has never been so comfortable and easy as now. At the close of the Greek war for independence, not much more than half a century ago, hardly a wheeled vehicle or a mile of road passable for wagons remained in the country. The Turks had destroyed the roads and the bridges. One of the first plans of the new government was for the construction of roads; but the work went on very slowly. One of the wittiest bits in About's extravaganza, “The King of the Mountains," is the charge made by the brigand chief for "repairs on the road to Thebes, which had become impassable, and on which we no longer found travellers to arrest!" Highways in Greece are very expensive; they are said to cost, on the average, $3,000 per mile. But they are often very rough, and poorly macadamized. The pieces of broken stone are so large that driv

ers avoid them. Public conveyances are few. An omnibus runs between Athens and Thebes, and another between Thebes and Lebadea; but these lumbering vehicles run (if that is a correct term to apply) by night, in order to avoid the heat of the day. Thus the traveller has no view of the country to console him for the many discomforts of the ride. Another omnibus conveys passengers from Argos to Tripolitza, but spends thirteen hours in going thirty miles.

A definite course of travel in Peloponnesus has been fixed by custom during the last few years, but many detours are possible. The first part of the journey from Athens can be taken by railroad. I had the honor of buying the first ticket ever sold to Mycenæ. Leaving Athens at half-past seven o'clock in the morning, our train reached Eleusis an hour later, and Megara (where we stopped ten minutes for refreshments!) at half-past nine, and Corinth soon after eleven. Leaving Corinth at noon, we stopped at Nemea at two P.M., and half an hour later at Mycenæ. We spent the afternoon among the ruins, and took an evening train to Nauplia, an hour's ride further on. Nauplia [p. 62] forms a convenient centre for two or three days' excursions. It was the first capital of the Greek kingdom. It still retains some remnants of dignity, and possesses an endurable inn.

From Nauplia the traveller drives part of the way, and walks the rest, to the sanctuary and theatre of Epidaurus. This theatre was designed by one of the most famous of the sculptors of Greece, Polycletus, and is preserved in its original form (though without the stage building), with round orchestra. The railroad train from Nauplia carries the traveller conveniently to Argos, where the ancient citadel, Larissa, rises 1,000 feet above the level plain. On the eastern side of this hill are the remains of the seats of the old theatre, famous now as the meeting place of one of the early National Assemblies, in 1829. Argos itself has little of interest to show. The houses are mostly low, of rough stone

daubed with mud. In the business part of the town the shops throw open their wooden shutters, and the customer stands in the street to make his purchase. I was there one Saturday morning when the country people came to town with their produce. The marketplace was crowded with a motley throng. Lambs and kids, eggs and cheese, and loads of

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In Holiday Dress.

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dry shrubs to be used as fuel, were the most important articles brought from the country, while gay kerchiefs for the women's heads, and thread and needles, were exposed to attract buyers.

Tiryns, with the most famous ancient walls of Greece, is about half-way between Argos and Nauplia. The railway

station is just across the road from the ruins.

If the traveller desires to see more of Peloponnesus than this glimpse of Argolis, three courses are open to him. He can take a dragoman, who will provide tent, beds, and provisions; in this case he will have more comfort, but will have to pay a larger sum, and will see less of the life of the people. This was the customary mode of travel for foreigners in Greece, as in Palestine, a few years ago. If the traveller has strength of body and a fair acquaintance with the modern language, and is indifferent to creature comforts, he can see the country and the people to the best advantage by shouldering his knapsack and setting out by himself, trusting to his Bädeker's Guide, his Pausanias, and the courteous hospitality of the people.

Most travellers now prefer a middle
They hire an agoyiatis (mule-

course.

Mount Lycabettus, behind Athens.

teer), who charges a fixed sum per day for himself and his beast, and undertakes to be both guide and assistant. The German archæologists have trained one of these men to unite many of the most valuable qualities of dragoman and agoyiatis. This Angelis Cosmopulos, who was one of the overseers in the excavations at Olympia, has been over the principal routes of Peloponnesus many times. Only once did I know him to be perplexed as to the right path, although the ways were devious and guide-posts

are unknown. Angelis knows well where the best accommodations can be found; and where he foresees a barren country, he makes provision of the most necessary stores; but he does not fully comprehend as yet the cravings of an American body. He is trusty and strong, quick as a flash at an emergency; he is handsome, withal;-an ideal William Tell. His face is as thoughtful as if he had more learning. His assistant, Athanasius, was a mercurial little fellow, who was continually showing his beautiful white teeth, which contrasted well with his black whiskers. The horses were not worthy of the men. Their only, but redeeming, virtue was that they were sure-footed. They climbed over rocks like cats, and had excellent judgment as to the best paths. But they bit and kicked everyone (except their riders) who came near them. Horses and dogs are ill-trained in Greece. We were some

what helpless when seated upon these horses. Our saddles were the Greek pack-saddle, which does not fit the human figure. A loop of rope served as one stirrup; a rope halter was our only bridle. The steeds did not recognize the authority of their riders; they accepted orders only from their masters, who trudged along behind. Our pace was gentle, which afforded us the better opportunity to enjoy the country. But occasionally a fit of zeal would seize our agoyiatis, who would steal up without warning and lash my horse, which unfortunately was accustomed to the last place in the line. My beast naturally tried to press past the other horses, and a conflict arose which seemed to be most fierce and vicious when we were on a specially rough or precipitous part of the path. A favorite amusement of one guide was to wind his whip-lash around the hind legs of my horse; this did not increase his speed, but stimulated him to persevere in his habit of standing on his forelegs.

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The trip in Peloponnesus may be made in ten days or two weeks, visiting Sparta, Kalamáta on the Messenian Gulf, Navarino (the ancient Pylus), the temple of Apollo at Bassæ, and Olympia. The return to Athens may be made through Arcadia, including a visit to the Styx; or a coasting steamer can be taken from the harbor of Pyrgos, near Olympia; or a carriage may be hired from Pyrgos to Patras, on the Corinthian Gulf, whence the railroad leads direct to Athens.

The journey involves many discomforts and inconveniences, but it affords such a constant succession of new experiences and ever-changing scenery, that even a traveller without archæological tastes and special knowledge of the classics must enjoy it. The material question, "Where shall we sleep?" is generally answered by the advice of the guide-book or the agoyiatis. In the towns a xenodochion, or inn, may be found. This is often extremely primitive. The Hotel d'Europe, at Laurium, had three rooms for guests. These were

stuffy and dusty. The bed linen certainly had not been ironed, and the suspicion arose that it had not been washed. The host was himself the cook as well as porter. But these were sumptuous accommodations as compared with what is found in many places. The best hotel in Sparta had but one washbowl for its guests, and that was only as large as a good sized soup plate. The street is the ordinary slop jar. Towels are scanty and thin. The traveller needs Persian powder to protect him from vermin. He is served by unkempt boys.

But in the country no inns are to be found. The khan is the ordinary place of shelter. These differ greatly. In the rude form, the khan has one large room. In the middle is no floor but the earth. There the fire is built. The smoke finds its way out as best it may, without the guidance of a chimney. The windows have no glass, of course, but wooden shutters. Across one end of the room is built a platform on which lie barrels of wine and a very few other stores. On a similar platform, at the other end of

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