GREECE AXD MOXTEXEGRO 



30^ 



hemorrhage." Indeed, in some villages 

 in the Peloponnesus there remain scarcely 

 enough men to fill the offices. 



In one sense, however, the emigration 

 has been of benefit to the country, for 

 large sums of money are sent back each 

 year, especially from America, to the 

 families who remain behind, and to this 

 may be traced the gradual appreciation 

 in the Greek paper currency, which, as 

 against a depreciation of some 40 per 

 cent, is now, and has been for several 

 years, at par or better. 



I remember that my bankers, in 191 1, 

 were able to buy Xapoleons at 99 and 

 a fraction in Greek money, and it was at 

 this time that the wife of one of my 

 colleagues complained that, owing to the 

 high price of the drachma, she felt un- 

 able to keep an automobile. 



Country life in Greece remains in many 

 of its aspects as it has been for ages. 

 Within two hours" drive of Athens I have 

 seen peasants plowing with a crooked 

 stick exactly as they did, I imagine, in 

 the days of Homer. The shepherd boys 

 of today manage their flocks with a crook 

 that bears the lines of that carried by 

 Corydon. And in Thessaly one sees the 

 solid-wheeled cart which has come down 

 without substantial change from the days 

 of Jason. The distaft' remains as the 

 chief instrument in preparing the wool 

 for the hand-looms, and is rarely absent 

 from the busy fingers of the older dames ; 

 and the women gather at the fountains 

 for their washing as did X'^ausicaa and 

 her maids did on that day when Odysseus 

 came to port. 



THE GREEK I.IVES IN THE OPEN 



In a land of much sunshine, as Greece 

 is, life is followed much in the open. 

 The oven is almost invariably to be found 

 in the courtyard, and it is heated with 

 dried twigs, almost the only fuel of the 

 country, which are brought in huge piles 

 upon the backs of the patient little don- 

 keys, who vie with the goats in being the 

 most useful members of the household. 



Market day, of course, brings all the 

 community together, and is generally an 

 occasion of much gaiety, while the feast- 

 days, which are numerous, are literally 

 observed. On these occasions there is 



always dancing, the most famous to be 

 seen at Megara during the feast of Easter 

 week. ]\Iegara prides itself upon being a 

 pure Hellenic community in the midst of 

 the Albanian strain, which predominates 

 in Attica, and its Easter dancing was 

 once a famous marriage mart. It no 

 longer serves this purpose, because, as the 

 maidens sigh, so many men have gone ofif 

 to America. 



At Megara the native costume appears 

 at its best. It is rarely seen anywhere 

 nowadays, and has almost wholly' disap- 

 peared from the cities. Rut for the 

 Evzones, or household troo])s. the fusta- 

 nella would be as rare a sight in Athens 

 as the classic garb, which is worn only 

 by Americans. 



The church plays a large part in Greek 

 affairs, and rightly ; for it was the church 

 which kept the national spirit alive dur- 

 ing the long night of Turkish rule. It 

 was from the famous monastery at Kala- 

 vrita, that the Archbishop Germanus un- 

 furled the flag of rebellion in the war 

 for independence, and this famous shrine 

 has been more lightly dealt with than the 

 most of the monastic establishments, 

 which have now come under strict gov- 

 ernmental supervision. Another favored 

 monastic group is that at Meteora, in 

 Thessaly, where the quaint buildings, 

 perched upon their needles of rock, af- 

 ford a fascinating risk to the venture- 

 some visitor. 



THE ORACLE AT DELPHI SPEAKS AGAIN 



It is not yet easy to go about in Greece. 

 The railroad lines are meager, the roads 

 are not good, and the hotels leave much 

 to be desired. The most accessible of 

 all the great centers of classic life is 

 Delphi, a fitting shrine for an oracle, with 

 its massive cliffs and majestic hills. 

 Here the French have brought to light 

 the ancient city with its treasures, its 

 wonderful Castalian spring, its theater, 

 and its sacred way. 



That it still retains its oracular powers 

 I can testify; for when I was last there, 

 about a year ago. my Dutch colleague 

 stood upon the spot where I'aedeker told 

 us the tripod and the priestess had sat. 

 "Who will be the next President of the 

 United States"? I asked, and the oracle 

 said solemnly: "The best man will win." 



