MOUNT ATHOS. 



207 



rather as a mark of honour than of precaution against robbers ; as 

 caravans of well-armed Albanian and Bulgarian pilgrims were 

 traversing the mountain in almost every direction from convent to 

 convent. In an hour and a half's ride, we reached the monastery 

 of Pantocratoras, built on a rock at the bottom of a small bay. 

 After the noise and bustle of the preceding seven days, we were 

 much pleased with the retreat afforded us by this convent. The 

 caloyers are about forty in number; the few books which they 

 possess are kept in the church, but among them there is not one 

 historical or classical volume, either printed or in manuscript. 

 They have a few copies of different parts of the sacred writings ; 

 one in the hand-writing of the Emperor Alexius Commenus their 

 founder, who is buried here, containing the four Gospels, and 

 another of older date, beginning with the book of Genesis, and 

 ending with Ruth. 



This convent has some lands near Salonica, and others in the 

 island of Thasos. As we were taking leave of the Hegoumenos at 

 the door of his church, we saw a most ferocious band approaching, 

 firing their muskets and pistols, and shouting most riotously. They 

 were all well-mounted, and had come from the mountains of the 

 Balkan, the Thracian Haemus, on a pilgrimage to the holy peninsula, 

 a distance of fourteen conacks, averaged at twelve hours each. We 

 staid to see their devotions, which did not seem to be less fervent 

 on account of their ignorance of the language in which the masses 

 were said. I observed a number of sequins and other gold coins 

 among the offerings made by them to the church ; an account of 

 which the Epitropos entered in a book, as well as the number of 

 masses to be said, and the names of the persons recommended by 

 these pious travellers. 



The orangeries and the groves of myrtles planted around the 

 convent are rilled with nightingales, which continued to sing in- 

 cessantly, by day as well as by night, almost preventing our sleep. 

 We left the monastery after breakfast, and went in the boat of the 

 convent to Stavroniketa, a distance of about two miles and a half. 



