570 THE FRANK DOCTOR IN GREECE. 



ressel, carried him ashore, where they kept him for several days, 

 using him very well except that they made him play from morning 

 to night and again from night till morning. At last they restored 

 him all his property and sent him in one of their own boats up to 

 Napoli. 



After a hard row of two hours, we reached the ship and anchored 

 the same evening before Napoli. On the following morning I bade 

 adieu to the good ship Tiber, and went ashore to offer my services to 

 the Greek Government. The sittings of this august body were then 

 held in a ruin, which might have served well enough for a rendez- 

 vous to Dirk Hatteraick and the gipsies. The only sign of authority 

 about the place, was a sentinel, who opposed my entrance by placing 

 his musquet transversely across the doorway. I told him I had an 

 errand to his masters, and he let me pass. On entering, I found the 

 ground floor occupied by a number of horses and several Arab 

 grooms, whose knowledge and skill in horse-craft had redeemed 

 their lives from the ataghan of the ruthless rapacious Greeks. A 

 ruinous flight of steps, not of Parian or Pentilican marble, but of 

 crumbling red brick, led through a hole in the ceiling into the upper 

 apartments. Here I was again stopped by a sentry, but, on explain- 

 ing my business, was passed, without announcement or ceremony of 

 any kind, into the presence of the Hellene chiefs. John Koletti was 

 then president ; he had been the favoured physician of Ali Pacha of 

 Janina in the height of his power. The other members present 

 were, Manouli Tombazi, Adam Ducas, and Count Metaxa, an Ionian 

 nobleman. The furniture of the room consisted of one small table, 

 one stool, and one chest the treasury, which I afterwards discovered 

 to contain fourteen piastres in bad money. The windows were with- 

 out sashes, nor was there so much as a piece of carpet on the dais on 

 which the members sat. I thought the rigidity of their economy 

 might have been relaxed a little without any great violation of patri- 

 otic principle. 



I advanced to the President, and knowing that the Greeks are fond 

 of a little oratory, I made a long speech, in which I set forth the 

 length of the voyage I had undertaken, my enthusiastic ardour in the 

 cause of Greek independence, my detestation of tyrants in general, 

 and of Turkish tyrants in particular, and finally proposed to accom- 

 pany some one of their expeditions in the capacity of surgeon. Ko- 

 letti in return said, that all the English he had ever seen did honour 

 to their nation, and that he and his confreres were always happy to 

 see gentlemen of talent on their classic land, more especially those of 

 my profession. He then requested me to sit, and sent for a pipe and 

 a cup of coffee, which I smoked and drank and then took my leave. 



The streets of Napoli are like those of all eastern towns, narrow, 

 ill-built, and dirty, " d Vautrtmce." Every time a strong southerly 

 wind blows up the gulph, the water rises over the level plain 

 of Argos for miles, and no means being taken to facilitate its 

 escape, it becomes stagnant, and generates a malaria, fatal in its 

 effects, especially to strangers that is, under the treatment of the 

 native doctors as the plague itself. In the centre of Napoli is a 

 large square, one side of which is formed by the palace of the Vene- 



