ATHENS. 
91 
and Americans. The Greek women did not seem to me at 
all remarkable for beauty. In the whole crowd of several 
hundreds, I saw but three or four passably pretty faces : and 
they owed more, perhaps, to fine suits of hair, dark eyes, and 
rich head-dresses, than to any thing really striking in their 
features. The ordinary classes of Greek women to be seen 
about the streets are about the most uncouth and miserable- 
looking beings one meets any where in this part of the world. 
I looked in vain for the Maid of Athens. She lives at the 
Piraeus, and I thought it likely she might be in the crowd. 
Perhaps I saw her; if so, however, I did not recognize her 
from Byron’s description. There was no Greek maiden pres¬ 
ent on that occasion, from whom any man of ordinary taste 
might not part without an application for the return of his 
heart. The young German girl who walked on the rope 
from the ground up to the fourth-story window of a house, 
took a much stronger hold upon my affections than any of the 
Maids of Athens. She was a beautiful little blonde, radiant 
with cheap jewelry and gauze : she waved her wand majest¬ 
ically ; smiled triumphantly ; twirled her pretty legs provok- 
ingly; and bowed to the unanimous applause of the specta¬ 
tors bewitchingly. Then there were splendid-looking fellows 
in flesh-colored hose, who came out and rode in a most ex¬ 
travagant manner upon the tight-rope; turning heels over 
head, and head over heels again; and shaking their locks 
when they bowed, in a way that must have won a great 
many hearts from the Greek maidens before they parted. 
But my business is not with rope-dancers. Hang the rope- 
dancers ! What did I care about such buffoonery ! I could 
see rope-dancers enough at home; but it was not every day 
I could see a live king and queen. 
There was a buzz in the crowd ; a suppressed hum of 
voices ; a rattling of swords and guns ; a clattering of horses’ 
hoofs; I knew by instinct that the king and queen were 
coming. By Jove ! there they came sure enough, prancing 
along gallantly on a pair of spirited steeds, side-ways, and 
front-ways, and every possible way, right up between the two 
files of soldiers, opposite to where I stood, and there they 
