THE FRANK DOCTOR IN GREECE. 569 



find, like Noah's dove, a resting-place for our feet. At length we 

 discovered an opening between the rocks just large enough to admit 

 the boat without unshipping the oars : as we entered, it widened into 

 a small basin ; the water, though deep, was so clear that the smallest 

 pebble might be distinctly seen at the bottom. The land rose from 

 it on every side in an amphitheatre covered with rhododendron, 

 oleander, arbutus, and myrtle. It seemed as if Nature had pur- 

 posely hoarded her treasures in order to lavish them on this spot. 

 All our attempts to "thread the thicket" were, however, fruitless : pro- 

 bably no animal larger or favoured with a less penetrable hide than a 

 wild boar has ever succeeded. It was perhaps fortunate for us that 

 we did not, for on leaving the little bay we were saluted with a loud 

 shout and a volley of stones. The shout reached us, but the stones 

 fell short. They came from a party of Mainotes whom we observed 

 half way down a crag, which they were endeavouring to descend, no 

 doubt with a view to intercept our retreat. Their rage at our escape 

 seemed to be without bounds ; they brandished their naked arms, 

 stamped on the hard rock, and howled like infuriate savages. 



The Captain, who had no eye for the picturesque, and foreseeing, as 

 the wind had risen, a hard tug to reach the vessel, was a little out 

 of temper, and sadly wanted, as he said, to pepper their hides with a 

 charge of No. 1. This we would not allow, but amused ourselves 

 by firing blank cartridge at them. In a few seconds they all disap- 

 peared. The other Moreote Greeks are fond of calling the Mai- 

 notes " Godfathers," for what reason was never satisfactorily explain- 

 ed to me. The ceremony of the sponsorship is pretty nearly as 

 follows : If a Mainote meet a stranger better clad and worse armed 

 than himself, he immediately conceives so violent an affection for him, 

 that he can by no means leave him without some token whereby to 

 cherish his memory. What so good as to change clothes ? On the 

 instant it is done. If the catechumen resist, he is thrashed soundly, 

 tied to a tree and this is a Mainote baptism. 



The whole population of Maina, look upon robbery ashore or 

 afloat as a lawful calling. On high places along the coast are several 

 small towers, which serve as chapels or observatories according to cir- 

 cumstances. They are inhabited by Kalogeroi (priests). These 

 holy eremites are ever on the look out for ships, and when one ap- 

 pears they give the signal, and Cavo Malea sends forth her banditti 

 by hundreds. The pious man then strikes upon a plate of iron with 

 a large stone, for during the domination of the Turks they were 

 not allowed the use of bells, to summon the women and children to 

 pray for the success of the enterprize. All that can be said for the 

 Mainote pirates is, that they seldom, shed blood when robbing, as the 

 pirates of the Islands almost invariably do. They are given to be 

 facetious in the midst of their mischief. A friend of mine had the 

 mishap to be captured by one of these misticos of Monemvasia. A 

 clarionet, upon which instrument he played remarkably well, was 

 the only thing he felt particularly anxious to preserve, and this he 

 was allowed to do upon condition that he would play to them all 

 night. He consented, and the thieves were in ecstacies in fits ! 

 They danced, shouted, and drank, and at last, when they left the 

 M. M. No. 89. 3 T 



