102 
A CRUSADE IN THE EAST. 
no disgrace to be a robber in Greece ; indeed, it is looked 
upon as a token of a daring and chivalrous spirit. The old 
gentleman carried on his operations by land and sea, much 
after the fashion of Conrad. Falling in love with the daugh¬ 
ter of a rich Greek merchant in one of the neighboring islands, 
he contrived to get her on board one of his feluccas, and carry 
her off to his own island, and secrete her in his rendezvous in 
the mountains. Of course she was moved by this extreme 
devotion and became his Medora; but unlike Medora she 
bore him a son, and that son was Evangelides. During the 
massacre of the Greeks by the Turks in 1822, they were both 
slain; and Evangelides was left an orphan. He was taken 
to the United States in some American ship, where his his¬ 
tory excited much interest, and he was educated at one of 
the first colleges of Massachusetts. After fifteen years of 
collegiate life, he returned to Syra, where he established a 
school for the education of Greek children ; and soon after, 
finding his business prosperous, he got married to a lady of 
Syra. He now has a flourishing institution, filled with pupils 
from nearly every port in the Levant, is well off, and holds 
the position of Vice Consul of the United States. 
Hermopolis, the sea-port town of Syra, is the principal 
commercial depot of Greece. Within the past ten years it has 
acquired considerable importance as a stopping-place for the 
various lines of steamers bound to and from the Levant; and 
its trade and population have enjoyed a proportionate increase. 
The harbor is safe and convenient; the situation of the island 
central, and the inhabitants generally enterprising and intel¬ 
ligent, for this part of the world. One of the first things that 
strikes the attention of the traveler is the romantic position 
of the town, especially the Catholic portion of it back on the 
hill, which rises in the form of an immense pyramid. All 
around the environs, are seen innumerable windmills ; the 
houses along the wharves are remarkable for their fanciful 
shapes and gay coloring. The population of the entire island 
is about twenty-five thousand. 
To the classical tourist the fountain of the Nymphse, back of 
the town, is the most interesting relic of antiquity. I walked 
