Puslapio vaizdai
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the room, is spread a rug, or thick "comfortable," for the guests of honor. The shepherds, muleteers, and other passing guests lie, wrapt in their cloaks, on the ground near the fire. Other khans have a room in which the travellers can lie by themselves, on the floor.

When a khan is not available, the traveller is driven to seek the shelter of a private house. In the best dwelling of a hamlet a room, or part of a room, may be assigned to him. At khans and at ordinary private houses he must not expect to find furniture, and forks are often lacking. A small table and two or three rude stools may be brought in. In one neat house we were conducted to an upper room which was absolutely void of furniture and decoration. A matting was brought in and laid upon the floor, and a rug spread above that. Cushions were laid around the edge,

Distant View of Athens, from near Colonus.

and a table six inches high placed in

the centre.

We journeyed once for three days without finding a washbasin. When the traveller asks for water to wash, a wooden, barrel-shaped pitcher is brought. I remember my delight, years ago, in a wellordered and hospitable home in Thebes, as we came into the parlor in the morning, when a trim serving-maid stepped forward with basin and silver pitcher, to pour water for our ablutions, in true Homeric fashion.

At the noonday halt, cold roast lamb and salad, with bread, cheese, and wine, may be found at some khans. More

frequently the bread and cheese, with a hard-boiled egg or two, will form the repast. Sometimes one may lunch with the shepherds; I enjoyed no food in Peloponnesus more than a bowl of bread and warm sheep's milk, high on the hills, at the temple of Apollo at Bassæ, on the western borders of Arcadia. Our bowls and spoons had been carved by the shepherds themselves in their idle moments.

A pleasant trip in Central Greece is from Athens to Thebes, by way of Eleusis, in a single day; thence to Lebadea (the seat of an ancient oracle of Trophonius) and Chæronea (where Philip of Macedon conquered the independent Greeks), and across to Delphi at the foot of Parnassus. The round journey can be made easily in a week, with side excursions here and there. Thessaly and Thermopyla are now visited easily by means of the coasting steamers.

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The railways of Greece are a welcome convenience, and as yet they do not tear the landscape, like some of ours in the White Mountains. They are of narrow gauge, laid with iron bands instead of wooden ties, running up hill and down; when the grade would be too steep they make long detours to avoid deep cuts or high embankments. Only the road from Corinth to Megara is cut out of the

rock or built up out of the sea; and this may easily be forgiven, since the view from it, upon and across the Saronic Gulf, to the islands and Peloponnesus, is one of the most charming in Greece. The trains run slowly and quietly. The cars are partly on the American pattern, partly on that of the continental railways. They have three. "classes," but most allow a passage within the cars from one end of the train to the other. Some compartments are large, with seats along the side. The railway is still a marvel to the people, who gather at the station to watch the trains, often with the priest (pappás) at their head. The novelty was still at

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The Acropolis from the Southwest-The Palace on the Extreme Right.

tractive to the officials two years ago. Four men at Corinth busied themselves with my valise, weighed it, made out a receipt in duplicate, made entry in a book, and pasted the label (check). The fee was two cents. They were too busy with this process to allow my baggage to undergo a custom-house examination. At Mycenae the station agent, who was also baggage-master and switchman, had his unused pencils, pens, and blotters in the neatest order, and was a proud and happy man as he blew his horn to give notice of the approach of the train, and raised his lantern as a signal to the engineer.

tricity. The cost was estimated at seven million dollars. This canal will save vessels from Trieste or Brindisi to Athens or Constantinople about two hundred miles; it will save ships from Gibraltar about seventy-five miles. It has been dug largely by Italians, Turks, and Montenegrins. Few Greeks have been employed; they do not take kindly to such work.

The canal carries out a plan that was cherished by many of the ancients; it actually follows the course which was surveyed by order of the Emperor Nero. No one knows how it will affect the prosperity of the modern town of Corinth,

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In October, 1887, Greece had four hundred miles of railway in operation (with other important lines chartered) and four thousand miles of telegraph wire. The United States has more than three hundred times as many miles of railway, and more than one hundred times as many miles of telegraph. Greece had, in 1885, 215 post-offices, about one-ninth as many as Indiana, with the same population.

Among the most important public works in Greece is the canal through the Isthmus of Corinth, of which General Türr is the De Lesseps. It was begun in 1882, and was to be completed this year, 1888, but it will not be finished for several years yet. It has the same breadth and depth as the Suez Canal, and is about four miles long. The deepest cut is 250 feet. It passes through solid rock, and its sides are as yet left almost vertical. It is to be lighted by elec

Acropolis from the Theseum.

which lies several miles away. Far more ships will pass through the gulf, but most will make only a short halt. Corinth is now a railroad centre; the roads from Athens, from Patras on the west, and from Nauplia on the southeast, meet there, but without change of cargo. The advantages of the situation of Corinth, under all circumstances, are very great: it has the sea on both east and

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an earthquake thirty years ago. New Corinth was built near the western shore, and is a barren, uninteresting town. Another important public work is the draining of the Stymphalian Lake in Arcadia, and part of Lake Copaïs in Boeotia. Both of these are connected with the sea by underground channels, which were kept open by the ancients, but which have become clogged. The opening of these passages will make available for tillage a large amount of most fertile land, and remove a fruitful source of malaria from the surrounding country. The drainage of Lake Stymphalus is to be made useful further in the irrigation of the thirsty Argive plain.

The most important trade of Greece is with England. The American trade is insignificant. A cargo of American agricultural implements was a losing venture; but American kerosene oil and sewing-machines are used, and in a little Arcadian shop I saw shelves full of Chicago canned meats and California fruits.

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The Greeks are the most frugal and temperate people of Europe. Gluttony and drunkenness are rare vices among them. Their diet is such as it was two thousand years ago. They eat little meat; barley bread, goats' cheese, or black dried olives, and wine make up a bountiful repast. Bread and wine, or bread and leeks, form many a man's dinner. Our agoyiatis munched raw beans with evident relish, as his luncheon. Maize is cultivated in some parts of the country, and is imported from

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a government monopoly, and is very brown. Olive-oil serves as butter, cream, lard, and suet. The food is generally too oily for an American. Honey is of ten used (as in ancient times) instead of sugar. Sweet milk is little used, but many preparations of curds are common; curds and sugar (yaürti) are made into a toothsome dish. There are many varieties of Greek wine, but almost all are strong and fiery, and are tempered with water when they are drunk. Wine costs only a trifle (about eight cents per quart of excellent quality), but is seldom taken in excess. That used in the country is generally treated with rosin, partly to preserve it, partly as being healthy, partly because the Greeks have become accustomed to it and like it so. Masticha, an anisette liqueur, is a favorite drink. Tea is not used. Coffee is never mixed with milk, but is served black, prepared with the fine grounds. Drinking water is scarce; the lack of it is a discomfort in travelling; the guide-book advises quenching thirst with coffee, soup, and wine! The water at Argos, on a plain, is abominable; but no city in Europe, except Rome and some Swiss towns, is so well watered as Thebes,

mountains. The bread is much like the black bread of Germany. It is generally baked in public ovens, though sometimes the out-door ovens are to be seen near the houses. Meat is expensive. Most of the beef is imported from the Black Sea. Lamb is the ordinary meat, especially in the season immediately following Lent. Goats' flesh is also used. To the modern as to the ancient Greek, meat is not food, but a relish. Servants often receive from their employers no food but bread and olives.

But the Greeks are not without their dainties. Rice is much used with meat gravy, making an excellent pilaff. Chopped meat is rolled into croquettes, wrapped in young vine leaves, and fried. The best olives are much richer and higher flavored than those sold in America. Rich sweetmeats are prepared from quinces and from other fruit. The offer of some sweetmeats is often among the first attentions paid to a guest. A delightful drink is made from the milk of the green almond. The roseflavored lukumi is hardly equalled by any of our confectionery. In this connection, perhaps, I should mention the Greek tobacco, which is cheap and mild,

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