SKETCHES IN GREECE AND TURKEY.
THIS is a charming volume, for it embraces both the useful and the beautiful. It is rightly named Sketches : we are favoured with outlines and a few glowing colours—details only here and there; but the effect is magnificent. The writer visited Greece with the old gusto : he had a spirit of adventure, a fine temper, a rich relish for both nature and character. It is not a book that he has written : it is, as he truly says, a collection of sketches—few, but striking, distinct, vivid, and full of meaning. In a few pages the present state of Greece is set before us as in a panorama - in fact, the last intelligence to be relied on in any form is communi- cated in this volume. The Sketches are various ; they are taken from many and distant parts ; and the figures introduced are those of the most influential personages in this distracted community. Our readers will thank us for a few features, such as will bear dis- memberment.
The first extract contains a portion of the sketch of the general state of Greece— The state of Greece at present is melancholy and wretched beyond the power of fancy to exaggerate. With the single exception of Napoli di Romania, the actual seat of Government, every town and village on the mainland—I do not speak hyperbolically—is in ruins; Atbeas, Co rind], and Tripolitsa, are almost utterly swept away. In many cities the people supply the place of their ruined habitations with temporary hovels of straw of inns! ; refusing to build more solid dwellings till they have security that their labour will not be thrown away. Others live in tents of Ole rudest construction, while many have no better shelter than the walnut or the fig-tree. Few, if any, of the chiefs are able to support their followers; and since the death of Capodistrias, the soldiers have had no pay because the Government has had no revenue. Pillage therefiwe is their only resource ; they wrest from the miserable peasants the little they 'possess ; the cultivation of the ground has in consequence nearly ceased ; and all are now reduced to the most meagre and scanty subsisteuce. .A little bread—when they are fortunate enough to procure it—an onion, a few olives, and occasionally even the softer part of the thistle, finin the daily nourishment of this impoverished and exhausted people. Add to this, that the country is at the mercy of a needy and ferocious soldiery, who exercise on the unresisting peasantry every species of outrage, licence, and rapacity. and the picture is painfully complete. I speak of nothing I have not seen. There is no temptation to exaggerate--and the condition of Greece ad- mits of no exaggeration. We are now entitled to hope that a speedy termination will be put to this terrible state of affairs. The arrival of Prince Otho is ardently desired by all parties and by every class. The Greeks look todiiin with enthusiasm as a sort of saviour, who is to bring healing under his wings—who will apply a panacea to all their sufferings and distractions. His task will be a laborious one, and must be executed with judgmeut and diligeM; but he has every encourage- ment to exertion, and every prospect of success.
A truly- Grecian abode— The traveller who visits Albania must be satisfied with, and thankful for, whatever accommodations it may please Providence to provide him withal ; and must not grumble even if occasionally he should find none at all. The first .eveninvon our landing, we were hospitably received by some Albanians who farmed a little.isolated customhouse on the shore; they assigned us our share of a small room or loft above the stable. and showed us every attention in their power. Beir g the first of their nation we had seen, their wild bet eminently handsome countenances, .their long black hair flowing down their shoulders, their large, shaggy, white capote, their voluminous kilts, or j'nstinelle, of white linen, reaching to the knees, their broad girdle, containing dagger, pistols, ramrod, and inkstand (which last must have been surprised to find itself in such company), and the ensemble of their costume and appearance, Olin ded us much nutter for interesting observation. They seemed to take equal pleasure in ex- aming our persons and accoutrements; anal after we hail mutually gratified our curiosity, we spread our mattresses in a corner, and lay down to sleep. Five of these, savages slumbered around us, though the room was somewhat diminutive for so large a number; and a lamp was left faintly burning on the table. The wind entered our dormitory between every board of the floor, anti almost every stone in the wall ;• the horses and mules kept up an incessant kicking and squealing below Us ; the moon intruded her rays through the broken tiles, which were substituted for a real roof ; and when day appeared, the light broke in upon us (to use an expression of Mr. Burke's), " not through well-contrived aper- tures and ivindows, but through gaps and chinks,—through the yawning chasms of our ruin."
Vonitza, and the residence of General PISA, a Neapolitan exile, who has greatly distinguished himself in fighting the battles of the Greeks7— This town, which now consists of a few straw hovels and a dilapidated fortress, is situated in the recess of a small and beautiful bay, richly wooded, and with one or two picturesque lakes in its vicinity. The fortress, which, though in a ruinous condition, is highly important from its situation, was at this time com:. inanded by General Pisa, a noble Neapolitan exile, who, immediately on our landing, sent dOwn to welcome us, and to request that we would visit him in the fort. We gladly accepted the invitation ;- for, as we cast our eyes upon the straw huts around us, in search of a night's lodging, we saw not one into which an English beggar would have wished to enter. We wound slowly up the commanding elevation on which the fort is situated; and as we entered its decaying walls, a part of the garrison, which liad been dis- ciplined in the European style, presented arms, and their officer conducted us up falling staircase of loose stones to the head-quarters of the general. These con- sisted of a single room, with a roof, but no ceiling, two windows, but no glass, a fire-hearth, but no chimney, for the smoke curled in slow volumes along the roof till it made its exit by the door. The only furniture which adorned the room consisted of a deal table and two wooden benches ; and in one corner were couple of boards, which, With a deer-skin and a blanket, composed the gene- ral's bed. Here he had been stationed for three years; subsisting, equally with his soldiers, on the scantiest necessaries of life,--ahnost destitute of pecuniary means. and the munitions of war,—subject to constant attacks from the Roumeliote party,—his health ruined and his spirit broken under the united in- fluence of malaria, hardship, and anxiety,—and repeatedly soliciting his recall, but unable to obtain from a needy and selfish Government the slightest compli- ance with his wishes.
A Greek chieftain— The HydriOtes are remarkably good sailors, and this boat was the best manned I have seen. The men were all dressed in their island costume, which is simple and becoming. A waistcoat andjacket of olive-coloured cloth, neatly em- broidered round Ills edge, a broad voluminous sash or shawl fa' stened round the waist, short full trousers of cotton stuff, generally blue or brown, white stockings always clean, and European shoes, constitute their attire. The whole is surmounted by the L•cl woollen cap, which is the unvarying head-dress of all ranks in Greece.
As we reached the Chriteau de Roumelie, General Giavella, the generalissimo of western Greece under the Capodistrian Government, walked down to the shore with all his officers and attendants to welcome us. His reception was in the highest degree polite and cordial, and a scene of more rude magnificence than his party and encampment presented, I have seldom beheld. Every one was dressed in the full Albanian costume except the general himself, who was splendidly attired in a sort of mixed fashion between the Greek and Turkish. He was also the only unarmed man of the party, the others all wearing the silver- mounted yataghan and pistols of the country. The army Was encamped in the adjoining fields, and the general's quarters consisted of a small but of wood, constructed, like all the Grecian dwellings, for a merely temporary purpose, and as usual totally unfinished. Hither he conducted us when the first greetings were over.
Giavella is one of the most interesting characters which have been elicited by the excitement of the revolution. A Suliote by birth, and son to the brave hero and heroine who so long defended their mountain strongholds against the celebrated Albanese tyrant, he inherits the indomitable spirit and uncalcidating bravery of his country and his parents. He is now about forty years of age, low in stature, but remarkably well made • his black hair flows down upon his shoulders after the manner of his tribe, and his dark eye and handsome features have an habitual expression of gaiety and liveliness which is very pleasing, min- gled with a something which bespeaks great occasional excitability. Brave to excess, noble, kind-hearted, and indefatigable, he has always been one of the most influential and important leaders in the Greek cause, and is a general fa- vourfte with his countrymen: a7yea those most opposed to him in politics, have heard speak of him with teadt:rness and respect.
Modern Corinth stands forett.'ost in the list of bygone nOto- rieties— My companion and I landed, and pursued on." way to Corinth over fields and marshes whitened with the bones and skulls of the horses arid men who had fallen in the reVOlUtiOnary war. I never belied a more desolate and gloomy spectacle than the town presented on our first arrhod. We trod for many bun- tired yards over an undistinguishable heap of ruins, Tiere and there ennobled by an ancient capital or the fragment of a granite column, intermingled with the meaner remains of yesterday. When we entered the interior . of the town, the scene was nearly similar ; there was no where any sign of human existence; here and there a wet and solitary dog prowled about the deserted streets,. and was in no way disturbed at our approach; the houses were all barrierulocri, and the wooden windows closely shut ; and the rain was drizzling down as daikly and despairingly as on a November Sunday in London. We thought we had arrived at some city of the dead. At length three men, armed to the teeth, put their heads out era window as we passed, and asked our business. We replied that we were Ensslisli officers, bearing despatches for the resident at Napoli, and wished to be conducted to the governor ; at the same time inquiring the meaning of the total desolation winch reigned around us. They informed us that the lloumeliotes, with Grivas at their head, had the previous day crossed the isthmus, where they had beers met by the troops of Capodistrias,—that after two hours' fighting, in which, as'it appeared, little damage had been done, the latter had been totally defeates3,-s- . that the Romneliotes had pUrsued them into Corinth, and, between the two, tyre town had been completely sacked ; that all the inhabitants had. fled into the citadel with as many of their effects as they could carry away; and, finally, that the Roumeliotes had marched upon Argos and taken it, and would imme- diately proceed to invest Nauplia. . We requested our informants to conduct us to the governor, who, with the rest of the Corinthians, was in the Acrocorinthos. Nye toiled up this vast and precipitous rock, without any leisure to' admire the grandeur of its situation, or the singularity of its form. We found it, as we ex- pected, ill-garrisoned, and worse fortified, and crowded to excess ;—women and girls, old men and infants, cattle, poultry, firewood, and articles of clothing, scattered about in all directions; the whole forming a scene of most pictureque confusion. After a short delay, we were conducted to the governor,' a fine, manly, dignified Greek gentleman of the first water. We made known our wants to him, and requested horses to convey our baggage from the boat, and carry us to Napoli di Romania. • He stated the difficulties by Which lie was sur- rounded, but said he would endeavour to supply us on the morrow, if we wished to continue our journey, but that the road would be very unsafe. He advised us strongly to remain in the citadel all night, and not think of returning to our bark, as, from the extremely unsettled state of the neighbourhood, we ran great risk iu venturing down after sunset. But we had left our despatches on board— the Acropolis looked any thing but inviting—we were very wet and uncom- fortable—and resolved to encounter the risk.
A specimen of the condition of a Greek town in 1832— Our first care on landing had bt,:o to negotiate for horses to convey ourselves and our baggage to Nauplia. We were quietly eating our breakfast, in expeeta- tion of their arrival, when a messenger came in breathless haste to announce that a party of irregular soldiers, or Albanese, as they are generally called, was coming down to pillage the place. We immediately reshipped all our baggage, and, having prepared our arms, awaited the arrival of these formidable brigands. In the mean time, the news had spread the utmost terror and confusion through all the inhabitants of Epidaurus. The women and children crowded around us, weeping, screaming, wringing their hands, exhibiting in every gesture the most abject despair, and imploring us, with more than Irish volubility, to take them on board our caique, which was the only vessel in the harbour. Sonic of them looked like demoniac, in the frenzy of their terror. To comply with their de= wand was of course impossible, for our boat was a very small one, and we might be obliged to have recourse to it for our own safety. We told them, however, that if they wished to put any of their 'valuables on board, we would take them under our protection. Accordingly, the men brought their arms, pistols, pus.; kets, and yataghans, and in such quantities, that we could not help asking why they did not retain them, and use them for their own defence, instead of sub- mitting to be pillaged and abused by% a body of ruffians, who .probably were not equal to themselves in numerical amount? "We dare not resist," they replied ; "we might drive them away to-day, but they would return to-morrow with greater force, and our fate would he worse than ever." We said all we could to rouse them to a vigorous resistance, but our persuasions were unavailing ; their spirit seemed completely broken h'y a long course of suffering and oppres- sion ; they had been scourged and trodden into passive abjectness. The Albanese soon appeared. They were, as I had conjectured, a straggling party, without pay, and withbut leader, and subsisting entirely on pillage. The whole of Greece is overrun with similar bands. A more squalid, ferocious, ruffian-looking set of men I never beheld. They were filthy in the extreme; their dress was torn and ragged, and their countenances denoted long-endured famine and hardships. They all carried two enormous pistols and a yataghan in their belts, and a long gun over their shoulders. They saw at once that they had no resistance to encounter, so set about their errand vigorously, seizing every thing in the way of fond or ammunition they could lay their hands on. The people, subdued to the cowardice of silent indignation, stood quietly by, watch- ing the seizure of their stores without venturing even a remonstrance. I was equally disgusted with the dastardly endurance of the one party, and the brutal oppression of the other. The brigands, after rifling every house, except the one in which we had established ourselves, began to feast upon their spoils. They were soon intoxicated, and their brutality then became unbridled. Their con- duct was that of utter barbarians. They insulted all the women who had been foolish enough to remain in the village,, and the men did not dare to interfere. r could bear the scene no longer, and strolled away towards one of the remoter houses, when a loud scream arrested my attention, and a young woman, with a babe in her arms, rushed out of the door, pufsued Ly one of the Albanese. My indignation had before wanted but little to make it overflow ; so, looking this way and that way, like Moses when he slew the Egyptian, I rushed after the inebriated ruffian, and brought him to the ground by a blow with the but-end of my carbine. de fell with great violence, and lay for some minutes insensible. I took his pistols and yataghan, and threw them into a marsh close by, and then went up to the pour woman, who was terrified to death, and led her to a thicket of thorn trees, where she was not likely to be discovered. Here we remained till nightfall, when we ventured from our hiding-places, and found that the Albanese had retired, and were probably gone to repeat the same scene at some other village. The next morning we procured three horses for our baggage, and proceeded to Nauplia on foot, passing two other bands of brigands on our way, with one of whom we narrowly escaped a fatal quarrel. These blood-hounds swarm in every part of Greece and till they are utterly extirpated there will be neither security nor peace. It is to be hoped that this will be one of the.first measures of the new government.
The assassin of Count CAPO ASTRIAS- George Mayromichaelis was the second son of Pietro Bey, and, though not a military man, had served his country with equal devotion to her cause and credit
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