A 1UDE ACROSS THE PELOPONNESE. 197 



outwitted or thwarted in any way, they bear the 

 disappointment with an easy half-amused indiffer- 

 ence. This same easiness of temper is the cause 

 of another characteristic which the inland Greeks 

 at least share with most oriental nations. They 

 have no idea of the value of time. You order your 

 horses at six in the morning, and the drivers turn 

 up at seven or half-past, and are quite offended if 

 you venture to suggest that they are behind time ; 

 their theory being, apparently, that nothing is of 

 very much consequence, and therefore that "any 

 time will do " for most things. 



V. 



ARGOS AND MYCENAE. 



A long down-hill drive, along a good road, through 

 wild barren country, with nigged mountains frown- 

 ing upon us till it was too dark to see them, brought 

 us to Argos, at about half-past twelve. 



Our host, the doctor and ex-mayor of the town, 

 took us in the morning to see all the sights of the 

 place. Modern Argos is a very picturesque little 

 town, built mostly round a large square, which 

 boasts a cathedral and public offices of some pre- 

 tensions, not to mention a carriage - stand. The 

 shops are sheltered as in Andritzena, with wooden 

 penthouses. In the town itself, and in the suburbs, 



