TIiIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 3 



^containing tallow) which could not be removed in consequence 

 of their great weight. They were, therefore, obliged to cut 

 the tallow with axes and large knives, and throw it piecemeal 

 into the sea. This required hard labour, as the tallow was 

 frozen. In this operation, our Greek captain (we had also a 

 Turkish one) broke his yatagan (a. large Turkish knife); and 

 upon seeing that the water in the hold continued to increase, 

 he gave up all hope, and retired to his little cabin in despair. 

 There he fell on the knees before the image of his Havayia 

 (the Virgin), and left the vessel to the care of heaven and the 

 Turkish captain. Happily the tempest did not last long ; 

 the storm, which had come on so suddenly, left us with the 

 same rapidity. Filled with hope, the day dawned upon us, 

 when we descried the high mountains of Greece in the dis- 

 tance. The first rays of the sun, whose appearance infused 

 new life and fresh courage into our breasts, arose majestically 

 from the horizon, and beaming brightly, diffused warmth 

 through our limbs, previously benumbed with cold. With 

 the aid of the mizen-mast, and favoured t>y a gentile breeze, 

 towards the evening of the same day we approached the 

 shore, where we cast anchor. At the break of day on the 

 following morning we disembarked, and thanked heaven for 

 our deliverance. From thence we walked up about ten miles, 

 and arrived at Apollonia, a city once celebrated among the 

 Greeks, but now of little importance, and bearing the name 

 of Sissopoli, to which place the vessel was brought to be re- 

 fitted, I here found my companions, the Arnauts, who had 

 taken up their quarters in a large coffee-house, where they 

 literally roasted their frozen feet at a coal fire. Although 

 they discontinued this in consequence of my warnings, it was 

 too late ; and I afterwards learned that several of them 

 died in Constantinople of mortification. It was so hot in the 

 coffee-house that I could not stay there long, and although 

 I kept aloof from the stove, which was heated to redness, in 

 order to avoid the sudden transition from cold to heat, I 

 nevertheless caught a severe rheumatism in my feet, which tor- 

 mented me for four months during the winter ; with the ap- 

 proach of spring, however, it was radically cured. Amongst 

 5 



