594 



Laurent's Tour through Greece, Turkey and Italy. 



some relic to cany back to their countiy : 

 this rage for destroy hig lias been carried 

 so for, that the elegant Ionic capitals, 

 whicli I before mentioned, have nearly 

 disappeared and not one of the Caryat ides 

 now stands entire. Tlie last time I visit- 

 ed the citadel, when taking a farewell 

 view of the Paudroseon and the Hall 

 of Erectheus, I was much displeased 

 at seeing an English traveller, an 

 oflBcer of the navy, (for such his uni- 

 form bespoke him to be.) standing 

 upon the base of one of the Carj^atides, 

 clinging with his left arm round the 

 column, while his right hand, provided 

 with a hard and heavy pebble, was en- 

 deavouring to knock off the only re- 

 maining nose of those six beautifully 

 sculptured statues. I exerted my elo- 

 quence in vain to preserve this monu- 

 ment of art. 



ANTIQUARIAN RAGE. 



The eager desire of tourists to obtain 

 some relicsof antiquity is so well known 

 inArgos,that wlicn walking the streets, 

 you are repeatedly stopped by the natives 

 to examine the articles they have found 

 in the vicinity. A kaloieros, or monk, 

 drew from his breast, with great care, 

 what he conceived to be a precious an- 

 tique; it was a Roman crucifix, broken 

 from its cross. This recalls to my 

 memory a similar scene, which I wit- 

 nessed at Athens. A young man shewed 

 me a French half-penny, of Louis the 

 Fifteenth, imagining it (o be a valuable 

 medal ; one of my companions inquired 

 with pretended eagerness, the price he 

 asked for the coin ; the youth signifi- 

 cantly raised the fingers of his right 

 hand, and pronounced the words, we'vri 

 Xgoo-a," (five piasters.) 



ST. PAUIi. 



As St. Paul remained at Corinth 

 some time, you may readily conclude 

 that a relic of this holy man must still 

 be shewn. While we were examining 

 the Pireuian chambers, a young Greek 

 lad oftered to conduct us to the grotto 

 of Paul, (Spelia tou agiou Paulou ;) we 

 followed him by a craggy path to the 

 foot of the walls of the citadel. A na- 

 tural cave is seen, where the saint is 

 said to have dwelt during part of his 

 stay at Corinth. A seat in the stone is 

 pointed out also, as having served him 

 for a bed ; and a small rock, perhaps 

 once covered with earth, is said to Iiave 

 furnished him with his humble fare. 

 On this spot a small chapel has been 

 erected ; it is greatly venerated by the 

 Greeks of Corinth, who, once a year, 

 make a procession hither from the 



town, with as much pomp as the »?»• 

 treme poverty of the church will allow» 



TURKISH RECKONING OP TIME. 



" What o'clock is it ?" was usually 

 the first questioa I had to answer any 

 Greek traveller whom I met on the 

 road ; this procecnls, perhaps, rather 

 from their mode of calculating by time 

 distance between places, than from 

 mere curiosity; nothing, however, 

 pleases a Romaic peasant so much, as a 

 sight of the machinery of a wdtcii; 

 when very small, he gazes at it witb 

 wondei'. Most of the richer indivi- 

 duals among the Turks, cany in their 

 girdle a large watch, generally of Lon- 

 don manufacture, inclosed in a tortoise- 

 shell case, and fastened round their 

 necks with a silver chain ; this they 

 shew with no small pride to the Frank 

 traveller, and a smile of content never 

 fails to cross their frigid countenances 

 when they hear pronounced the word 

 " London," written on the dial ; so 

 attached are they to goods of English 

 manufacture. The Turks reckon their 

 hoiirs from six in the morning to six 

 in the evening, so that mid-day falls 

 with them at six o'clock. This mode 

 of reckoning time is, perhaps, in part 

 derived from (he Italians, who reckon, 

 (at least in the southern parts of Italy,) 

 from sunset to sunset, twenty-four 

 hours ; by this means they have the 

 extreme disadvantage of starting from 

 a variable point ; and it is only by a 

 reference to their almanack that they 

 can set their watch so as to give them 

 twenty-four o'clock at sun-set. Our • 

 mode of keeping time is known in 

 Naples by the name of " ora di Fran- ' 

 cia,'''' or " di Spagna.'''' 



SPARTA. 



The ruins of Sparta are now, like 

 many others in Greece, distinguishexl 

 only by the general denomination of 

 " Palaio Chorio ;'' they are situated on • 

 the western side of the ■ Eurotas, and 

 are very extensive. We easily dis- 

 tinguished the theatre, which must 

 have been a most magnificent edifice ; 

 we saw also the broad hill on which 

 stood the citadel. We were shewn 

 likewise a bridge of one arch, made of 

 large uncemented stones ; it crosses the 

 Tiasus, and to judge from its shape, 

 must be very ancient ; it is situated 

 near a small Greek chapel, sacred to 

 '• Agios Giorgios." Some square ruins • 

 of walls, constructed from very massy 

 stones, are also set^n in different parts. 



I regretted much not having a better 

 guide ; the person who conducted us, a ■ 

 Bardouniote. 



