172 T U R 
setting it on fire, and retreated with their families to Patrass. 
This, however, being unprovided with subsistence for the 
garrison, was at first on the point of falling into the hands 
of the Greeks, and if the blockade could have been main¬ 
tained for a day or two longer, the garrison must have sub¬ 
mitted ; but it was relieved by Ussuf, Pacha of Negropont, 
who crossed over from Lepanto with a body of Roumelians, 
and scarcely meeting with any resistance, compelled the 
Greeks to fly to the mountains of Calavrita. 
At Caritena, about one hundred Turks took refuge in an 
old Venetian castle, above the town, built on a rock which 
overhangs the Alpheus. As they had no means of existence 
in this isolated spot, two thousand men were detached from 
Tripolizza to bring them off, upon which, three thousand 
Greeks under Colocotroni, who had now arrived from the 
Ionian Islands, assembled to prevent their passing. A striking 
proof was afforded on this occasion, of the little dependance 
that can be placed on irregular and untrained forces. Al¬ 
though they had collected for the purpose of fighting, yet, as 
the enemy approached, their spirits began to fail; they with¬ 
drew either singly or in small parties, until at length Coloco¬ 
troni, seeing himself almost alone, was forced to escape to 
the hills. 
But now a more valiant race, inured to arms, appeared in 
the field to aid the Christian cause. These were the Mainotes, 
the hardy mountaineers of Laconia, who, on the first symp¬ 
toms of insurrection, hastened to the scene of action with 
alacrity. The Mainotes are not less brave than skilful in the 
use of their arms, and on every occasion gave examples of 
intrepidity, which the other troops of Greece hardly dared 
to imitate. Their character is however stained with many 
vices; of these the principal is a propensity to robbery 
and plunder, without caring much whether the object of 
spoliation be a friend or foe. The Mainotes were, however, 
far from being cheap auxiliaries; for besides pillaging the 
country, and living at free quarters, some of them, who were 
employed in guarding the Isthmus of Corinth, received from 
thirty to fifty Turkish piastres a month; and no sooner had 
the moment of their stipulated service expired, than they 
abandoned the posts confided to their care; nor did they 
return until fresh remittances were sent. 
Before the middle of May, the whole Peloponnesus was 
in possession of the Greeks, except a few fortified points, 
and these furnished in general with a very scanty supply of 
ammunition and provisions. 
A new government, composed of Archons and Bishops, 
was now established at Calamata, but afterwards transferred 
to the centre of the province; and an Arcadian army had 
sat down before Tripolitza. The Greeks did not, however, 
as yet dare to approach the city, but remained perched upon 
the highest summit of Tricopha, a sharp and rocky ridge to 
the north, observing the place from a distance, and oc¬ 
casionally skirmishing with parties of the garrison. 
In the meanwhile, the Seraskier Chourshid Pacha, though 
sufficiently occupied in keeping up the blockade before the 
citadel of Yanina, into which Ali had retired ; as well as in 
protecting his communications from the Suliote bands, re¬ 
solved, nevertheless, to send whatever troops he could spare 
into Greece. Agreeable to this design, the Pacha’s Kiayah 
or Lieutenant landed at Patrass, with nearly two thousand 
Albanian cavalry, and immediately marched towards Tripo¬ 
lizza. The blockade of the Acrocorinthus was raised, upon 
which the Turkish garrison took advantage of the respite 
thus afforded, to reap the harvest of the neighbouring di¬ 
stricts then ripe, and carry it into the fortress. From Corinth, 
the infidel chief proceeded to Argos, passing through the 
intermediate defiles without the least opposition, and putting 
every Christian who fell into his hands to the sword. Argos 
was given to the flames, but a part of the armed inhabitants, 
having occupied a ruined castle, on the lofty rock above the 
town, he did not venture seriously to attack that point, and 
after exchanging some rounds of musketry with its defenders 
went on towards Napoli di Romania; opened a communi- 
K E Y. 
cation with that place, and thence directed his steps to 
Tripolizza. The Greeks, who had by this time approached 
somewhat nearer, and encamped before the city, being afraid 
to risk an action, retreated to Valdezza, on the road to 
Calamata, where, according to their favourite method, they 
entrenched themselves behind heaps of loose stones piled up 
for the occasion. 
The Kiayah having assumed the chief command on enter¬ 
ing Tripolizza, he began to make predatory excursions on 
every side, for the purpose of collecting supplies, and des¬ 
troyed several Christian villages. It was in one of these ma¬ 
rauding parties, that Nikitas, the bravest and most disinter¬ 
ested of the Greek captains, acquired the high reputation for 
valour, which he has since preserved among his countrymen. 
Having halted in a small hamlet with only fifty soldiers, he 
was suddenly attacked by nearly three thousand Turks, and 
three pieces of cannon. Nikitas, undaunted by such fearful 
odds, took his measures so well, and kept up such a spirited 
fire, that, however strange it may appear, he repulsed the 
enemy with great loss. Ali Bey, second in command of 
the Turkish division, was killed by a musket ball in this 
affair. 
On the 6th of June the Greeks were attacked by the Kai- 
yah in person, at the head of all his disposeable force. The 
Ottoman cavalry, embarrassed and unable to act on narrow 
and rocky ground, were thrown into disorder by the fire of 
the Greek light infantry. The Mainotes, by a vigorous 
attack in flank, completed their defeat, and a total rout 
ensued. Two hundred infidels were slain, the remainder 
succeeded in re-entering the city, though in the utmost 
confusion, many of them having lost their arms and accou¬ 
trements. 
As the Turks did not attempt to keep the field after this 
overthrow, it merely remained for the Greeks to watch the 
fortresses. The head-quarters of the Mainotes, and of the 
Arcadians under Colocotroni, were therefore once more 
established in front of Tripolizza; while Modon, Coron, 
and Malvasia, were invested on the land side by the peasants 
of Laconia and Messinia, and some parties of Mainotes. 
Two thousand Peleponnesians and a body of Ionians formed 
the siege of Navarin, while a more numerous corps of 
Achaians, reinforced by auxiliaries from Cephalonia and 
Zante, sat down before Patrass. Napoli di Romania was 
also blocked up by the militia of Argolis, and the Acro¬ 
corinthus by the Corinthians and Sycionians. The Hy¬ 
driots and Spezziots cruised along the shore with some 
light vessels, and prevented any supplies from arriving by 
sea; and the heroic Bobolina of Spezzia undertook to 
conduct the naval blockade of Napoli di Romania, with 
seven sail of armed ships, brigs, and schooners, her own 
property, and fitted out solely at her own expence. 
While these scenes were passing in the Peleponnesus, the 
insurrection continued to gain ground in the northern parts 
of Greece, though with less vigour, and fewer striking events. 
The Romeliots generally boasted that they were better 
soldiers than the natives of the Morea, but their conduct 
during the early part of the contest canuot certainly be 
cited as a proof of superiority. In Acarnania and Etolia, 
the revolution was effected without any difficulty, there 
being no Turkish troops in these provinces, except a few at 
Lepanto. In Phocis, Attica, and Boeotia, the peasants 
assembled in arms upon the mountains, but struck no blow 
worthy of being mentioned; the Athenians and Boeotians 
were indeed regarded as the worst troops in Greece. 
About the time that the Kiayah Bey entered the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus, another detachment of Chourshid Pacha’s army 
advanced through the passes of Oeta, into Bceotia, burned 
the city of Livadia, and occupied Thebes. Omer Vrioni, 
an Albanian chief of some reputation, who had the honour 
of defeating a party of British troops near Rosetta, in the 
ill-concerted expedition of 1807, marched towards Athens, 
with seven hundred horse. The town was in possession of 
the peasants of Attica, and the few Turks it contained, shut 
up 
