178 SUPPER SCENE WITH COLOCOTRONI. 



He then requested of me the basket for the table of his Excel- 

 lency. " Who/' said I, " is his Excellency ?" 



" What news is this !" exclaimed he ; " do you not know that his 

 Excellency, the General Colocotroni, Commander-in-Chief of the 

 armies of Peloponesus, has sat down in Castri to await the assembling 

 of the deputies?" 



" But how/' said I, " should I know all this I, who come from 

 Sicily?" 



" True," said he, " but ekiete roomee ? (Have you any rum on 

 board ?") 



" Yes ! Vera* fabrica de Jamaica." 



" Oh ! beautiful ! Let us have a bottle of it up." 



As I did not care to let it be known that I understood Greek, the 

 above conversation was carried on in a lingua Franca, an olla podrida 

 of tongues, chiefly French and Italian. The Tchaous's exclamations 

 were, however, made in his native dialect. The bottle of " roomi" 

 was brought, and after having drunk a glass of it, he smacked his 

 lips, and chuckled " Forza ! Spirito ! Panagiotaki ^Kerala," added 

 he, addressing one of his attendants ; " go to the General, and tell 

 him here is a Frank dog, whose ship is laden with salt that is whiter 

 than the ghost of the great grandfather of all the Franks. And 

 roomi, tell him vera fabrica de Jamaica! Ogligora keratopolo 

 Ide moree ! Begone ! you blockhead." 



, Panagiotaki Kerata went over the side with all the agility, and 

 something of the style of a scared monkey. The Tchaous, after 

 taking a second draught of the " spirito," distributed the rest amongst 

 his comrades. 



" Signer Capitano," said he, " his Excellency the General Com- 

 mander-in-Chief of the armies of Peloporiessus loves rum ; and, 

 moreover, it is usual when a Frank ship arrives to make a present to 

 the Megalopsekos, the great soul of the place that is, if there be 

 a great soul and likewise to his officers." 



" I will send his Excellency a dozen bottles, and you will perhaps 

 accept of three for yourself." 



" Meta khacas ! (With joy !) may you flourish for a thousand cen- 

 turies ! Have you any ^barooty any gunpowder ?" 



* The rum Vera fabrica de Jamaica, which is so much esteemed in the 

 Levant, is neither more nor less than three-Avater grog, well sweetened, and 

 sells for fourpence a bottle. I need not add that my rum was of another 

 quality. 



j- Kerata is translated by the Italians " cornuto," and by the French " cocu." 

 The epithet is, generally, when applied in anger, accompanied by holding up two 

 fingers to the forehead ; and he who makes use of it does it at the risk of his 

 life, as the Greeks, though careless of any thing that may be said of the honour 

 which is in their own keeping, are especially tenacious of any imputation on that 

 which is in the custody of their wives ; and, strange to say, whether married or 

 not, the word kerata is equally offensive. This does not prevent it being ap- 

 plied jocularly, as a term of familiarity, and its diminutive keratopolo, even of 

 endearment, being in universal use between parents and children. 



$ Barooty : the Greeks are particularly fond of fine English sporting powder, 

 which they use for priming only, as the extreme coarseness of their own unfits 

 it for such a purpose. You can make a Greek no more acceptable present than 

 an ounce or two of fine powder excepting always, money. 



