CHAPTER XXV. ISLAND O F TENOS. In the early part of autumn, 1839, we left the port of the Piræus, and touching at the island of Syra, and the city of Smyrna, went up the Dardanels to the capital of the Sultans, and from thence to the city of Salonica, where circumstances obliged us to remain through the whole of the winter. On the 10th of May, we left the harbour of the lastmentioned city on board the Minerva, a Greek guletta, and the morning after, we found ourselves on the waters of the Thermaic Gulf, with Mount Olympus and Mount Athos to the right and left. The majestic forms of the one, and the lofty peaks of the other, were partly veiled by the morning mists, and as the eye dwelt now upon the one, and then upon the other, our imaginations roved at will, now among the monasteries and the hermitages of Mount Athos, and now among the celestial abodes of gods and of heroes. Mount Athos is still the terrestrial abode of saints and of monks; but the only gods of Mount Olympus at present are the brave klefts, whose daring exploits are worthy a Homer. Their habits and virtues are not unlike the habits and the virtues of those celestial banditti who figure so largely in the pages of Homer; and but for the want of a great poet, they would not live and die unsung. Despite the tyranny of the Turks, and the intrigues of the Allied Powers, they have managed to exercise their sway over land and sea; and notwithstanding the many changes, Mount Olympus, from the days of Jove, the father of gods, worse than klefts, to the times of Captain Deamandis, the mildest manner'd man "That ever scuttled ship, or cut a throat,” has ever been the abode of spirits, who would rather steal than buy, and who would rather die like freemen than live like slaves. Since 1821, and more especially since 1826, the Capitanata in these regions have been broken up, and Mount Olympus is not now what it was twenty years ago. Like his despised rival, Kissavos, his wild glens and precipitous sides have been trodden down and run over by the Turks; but despite the combined efforts of the Greek and Turkish governments against the klefts and the pirates, there are at this very moment more sinners on Mount Olympus than penitents on Mount Athos, and the waters of the neighbouring seas are still infested with pirates. At the time we left the city of Salonica, a number of piratical mysticoes had made their appearance in the waters of the gulf; and though we were preceded by an Austrian man-of-war, it was not without some doubt as to the propriety of our course; for though Captain Basdekis, the chief of the corsairs, was a friend of ours, we would rather see him in our parlour at Athens than meet him on the open seas of the Thermaic Gulf. Fortunately for us, Canaris, the admiral of Greece, happened to be cruising in these parts, and we were thus enabled to follow our course down the gulf, and through the Sporades without the pleasure of meeting any acquaintances. We sailed along the eastern coast of Eubœa, passed by the Cape, and through the straits of Cavo Doro, and on the morning of the third day after leaving the capital of Macedon, we found ourselves among "the isles of Greece, Where grew the arts of war and peace, The islands of Greece, though generally sterile, and at first sight even repulsive to the unaccustomed eye, are not without their beauties. Their graceful outlines and picturesque villages are seen through the transparent atmosphere, and appear to float not. only in the waters that are beneath, but in the heavens that spread above them. The mild seas and the soft islands, present at all times of the day a beautiful sight; but never so beautiful as when the "god of gladness" gilds the trembling seas, and throws his purple mantle over land and rock. It is then he makes a heaven of the earth he is leaving. While in the port of Tenos, where we passed the first portion of our quarantine, the island of Delos lay so near us as to seem within reach, and we spent much of our time in admiring her mild beauties. Her marble temples had mouldered into dust, and her gods had deserted her altars, but Delos was still as soft and as lovely as when she first floated above the waters of the blue Ægian. After thirteen days of quarantine in one of the best lazarettos in Greece, we settled for the summer in the principal town of the island, which, besides being one of the few places that escaped the miseries of the last war, has also the advantage of a healthy and beautiful situation. Many of the houses at St. Nicholas are large, well-built, and provided with the comforts and the conveniences of civilization. The inhabitants, too, though far from being educated, are nevertheless humanized to a remarkable degree, and are not only polite, but friendly to strangers. The women of this place, and indeed of the whole island, are noted for their beauty, and they are so fond of their charms, that their saloons and rooms are crowded with mirrors. They want nothing but education, refinement of mind, and feeling, to make them as interesting as they are beautiful. At present, as in former times, the people of this place are given to commercial pursuits, and had they been situated more favourably, they might have become as wealthy as they are thrifty and enterprising; but nature has denied them a safe harbour, and the commercial pre-eminence they enjoyed previous to the revolution has, since that event, transferred itself to Syra. The people of the town and the island, however, are fruitful in inventions, and a singular circumstance bids fair to make their Tenos a new Delos. In the early part of the revolution, and at a time when the island was crowded with visitors and. fugitives from every part of Greece, a nun was informed in her dreams that in a certain place was hidden an image of the Virgin. This important piece of information being conveyed to the authorities, the excavations commenced, and after some trouble, they found amid the ruins of an ancient Greek temple, the very image which was seen by the pious nun. The report respecting the dream, and the success which had attended the excavations, spread over the island, and over the rest of Greece like wild fire. The people, and especially the enthusiasts of the land, flocked to the spot in crowds; and before the year was over, a spacious and well-proportioned church rose on one of the loveliest spots in the island! Ever since the discovery of the image, and the miracles that followed, the sick, the blind, and the lame, have flocked hither for relief; and the clean waters of the copious fountain, the light and elastic |