A VISIT TO THE MONASTERIES OF MOUNT ATHOS. 149 



pursued. He will be required to prognosticate the 

 future, and to give his opinion on political questions. 

 He will be required to shake hands many dozens of 

 times during the day, as it is supposed to be an 

 English custom. In fact a little druggist at Karies 

 who knew a few words in foreign languages shook 

 hands with me over twenty times a day. He was 

 sent for on every occasion when any communication 

 had to be made to the monks, on my return to the 

 capital, relative to my departure. He was called to in- 

 terpret to some Archbishops, and to the grand council, 

 and shook hands all round in honour of the English- 

 man. He shook my hand every time I entered or 

 quitted his shop, and finally again when he came to 

 supper, though I had seen him on the doorstep the 

 moment before. To such an extent will an Englishman 

 be called upon to shake hands in the East, because he 

 is supposed to be given to the practice to an equal 

 extent in his own country. He jabbered a few 

 sentences of what sounded gibberish, and then said, 

 "Je parle PAnglais, vous voyez, tres bien ; " so I 

 concluded that it must have been intended for that 

 language. I assured him that he possessed an 

 enormous talent for languages, which delighted him 

 exceedingly. 



I generally found the monks willing to submit 

 themselves to be photographed, though some wished 

 to keep crossing themselves during the operation, as 

 though to ward off some malignant influence ; on one 

 occasion two old monks the day following the deed 



