52 ISLAND OF PATMOS. 
when he wrote; for, as it is observed by 
Sonnini 1 , " While the monasteries swarm with 
sluggards, the fields become deserts; and popu- 
lation is consequently diminished. Yet, in the 
neighbouring isles, Patmos is described as the 
University of the Archipelago: it is hither that 
the Greek families send their sons to be edu- 
cated, by a set of monks unable to read their 
own, or any other language. After we left the 
Monastery, we paid a visit to Mr. Antonio Gilly, 
the Prussian Consul, of whom we purchased 
Antient several Greek medals. Among: these, were a 
Medals. 
bronze medal of Eleusis, representing Ceres in 
her car, drawn by two serpents, with a sow on 
the reverse; and two beautiful gold medals of 
Lysimachus and of Philip, in as high a state of 
preservation as if they had been just issued 
from the mint. The freshness of their appearance 
might induce a suspicion of their being a modern 
fabrication, if it were not a well-known fact that 
to imitate the best coinage of Thrace and Mace- 
donia is impossible ; and therefore, in such cases, 
we may defy imposture. The present price of 
Greek medals, throughout the Levant, is gene- 
rally the same; unless they be found, as it 
(l) Travels in Greece, &c. p. 473. Lm\d. 1801. 
