A HANDBOOK

FOR

TRAVELLERS IN GREECE.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

a. INTEREST OF GREEK TRAVEL; HINTS AND MAXIMS; MODE OF TRAVELLING, &c.

A JOURNEY in Greece is full of deep and lasting interest for a traveller of every character, except indeed for a mere idler or man of pleasure. There the politician may contemplate for himself the condition and progress of a people, of illustrious origin, and richly endowed by Nature, which, after a servitude of centuries, has again taken its place among the nations of the earth; there too alone can he form an accurate opinion on that most important question-the present state and future destinies of the Levant. The struggles of Modern Greece must command the sympathy of all thoughtful minds-if not for her own sake, yet from the effects which may be expected to result from them in the Eastern World. "We do not aspire to prophesy of the future fate of Constantinople, but when we think of all those Turkish subjects who speak the Greek language and profess the Greek religion; when we think of the link which the same religion has made between them and the Slavonic tribes below and beyond the Danube; we cannot but look upon the recovery of the Christian nationality of Greece as one of the most important of modern events, or watch the development of this young kingdom without feelings of the most anxious expectation. We cannot believe that the Mahommedan tide, which was arrested at Lepanto, will ebb back no farther than Navarino."-Quarterly Review.

Nor can the artist feel less interest than the politician in the countries which we have undertaken to describe. To quote the eloquent words of Mr. Lear" The general and most striking character of Albanian landscape is its display of objects, in themselves beautiful and interesting, and rarely to be met with in combination. You have the simple and exquisite mountainforms of Greece, so perfect in outline and proportion-the lake, the river, and the wide plain; and withal in Albania you have the charm of Oriental architecture, the picturesque mosque, the minaret, the fort, and the serai, which you have not in Modern Greece, for war and change have deprived her of them; you have that which is found not in Italy, a profusion everywhere of the most magnificent foliage, recalling the greenness of our own island-clustering plane and chesnut, growth abundant of forest oak and beech, and dark tracts of pine. You have majestic cliff-girt shores, castlecrowned heights, and gloomy fortresses; Turkish palaces glittering with gilding and paint; mountain-passes such as you encounter in the snowy regions of Switzerland; deep hays, and blue seas, with calm, bright isles resting on the horizon; meadows and grassy knolls, convents and villages, olive-clothed slopes, and snow-capped mountain peaks-and with all this Greece.

B

a crowded variety of costume and pictorial incident, such as bewilders and delights an artist at each step he takes."

But it is to the classical scholar in Greece that the greatest share of interest belongs. In the language and manners of every Greek sailor and peasant he will constantly recognize phrases and customs familiar to him in the literature of ancient Hellas; and he will revel in the contemplation of the noble relics of Hellenic architecture, while the effect of classical association is but little spoiled by the admixture of post-Hellenic remains. In Italy the memory of the Roman empire is often swallowed up in the memory of the republics of the middle ages; even the city of the Caesars is often half forgotten in the city of the Popes. But not so in Greece. We lose sight of the Venetians and the Turks, of Dandolo and Mahommed II., and behold only the ruins of Sparta and Athens, only the country of Leonidas and Pericles. For Greece has no modern history of such a character as to obscure the vividness of her classical features. A modern history she does indeed possess, various and eventful, but it has been (as was truly observed) of a destructive, not of a constructive character. It has left little behind it which can hide the immortal memorials of the greatness of Hellenic genius. At Rome the acquisition of a clear idea of the position and remains of the ancient city is, more or less, the result of study and labour; whereas, at Athens, the idea flashes at once on the mind, clear as the air of Attica, and quick and bright as the thoughts of the Athenians of old. After a rapid walk of a few hours, every well-informed traveller may carry away in his mind a picture of the city of Pericles and Plato, which will never leave him till the day of his death. It is a striking fact that, so recently as Dr. Wordsworth's visit in 1832, there was "scarcely any building at Athens in so perfect a state as the temple of Theseus."

In all parts of the country the traveller is, as it were, left alone with antiquity; and Hellas tells her own ancient history with complete distinctiveness. "In whatever district the stranger may be wandering whether cruising in shade and sunshine among the scattered Cyclades, or tracing his difficult way among the rocks and along the watercourses of the Peloponnesus, or looking up to where the Achelous comes down from the mountains of Acarnania, or riding across the Boeotian plain, with Parnassus behind him and Citharon before him-he feels that he is reading over again all the old stories of his school and college days-all the old stories, but with new and most brilliant illuminations. He feels in the atmosphere, and sees in the coasts and in the plains, and the mountains, the character of the ancient Greeks, and the national contrasts of their various tribes. Attica is still what it ever, was a country where the rock is ever labouring to protrude itself from under the thin and scanty soil, like the bones under the skin of an old and emaciated man. No one can cross over from 'hollow Lacedæmon' to the sunny climate and rich plain of Messenia, without sympathizing with the Spartans who fought so long for so rich a prize. No one can ride along the beach at Salamis, while the wind which threw the Persian ships into confusion is dashing the spray about his horse's feet, without having before his eyes the image of that sea-fight where so great a struggle was condensed into the narrow strait between the island and the shore, with Aristides and Themistocles fighting for the liberties of Greece, and Xerxes looking on from his golden throne. No one can look down from the peak of Pentelicus upon the crescent of pale level ground, which is the field of Marathon, without feeling that it is the very sanctuary where that battle ought to have been fought which decided that Greece was never to be a Persian satrapy."--Quarterly Review.

The very mode of travelling will be felt by many to be an additional charm. Throughout Greece and European Turkey journeys are made only on horseback. "This is not a recreation suited to all men, and is trying even to those who are vigorous and indifferent to luxuries and comforts; yet there is none of that languor and feverishness that so generally result from travelling on wheels, but in their stead invigorated health, braced nerves, and elevated spirits. You are in immediate contact with Nature. Every circumstance of scenery and climate becomes of interest and value, and the minutest incident of country or of local habits cannot escape observation. A burning sun may sometimes exhaust, or a summer-storm may drench you, but what can be more exhilarating than the sight of the lengthened troop of variegated and gay costumes dashing at full speed along-what more picturesque than to watch their career over upland or dale, or along the waving line of the landscape-bursting away on a dewy morn, or racing 'home' on a rosy eve?

"You are constantly in the full enjoyment of the open air of a heavenly climate; its lightness passes to the spirits-its serenity sinks into the mind. You are prepared to be satisfied with little, to support the bad without repining, to enjoy the good as a gain, and to be pleased with all things. You are fit for work, and glad of rest; you are, above all things, ready for your food, which is always savoury when it can be got, and never unseasonable when forthcoming. But here it will be seen that no small portion of the pleasures of Eastern travel arises from sheer hardship and privation, which increase so much our real enjoyments, by endowing us with a frame of mind and body at once to enjoy and to endure. It is also from such contingencies alone that those amongst us who have not to labour for their daily bread can obtain an insight into the real happiness enjoyed three times a-day by the whole mass of mankind who labour for their bread and hunger for their meals."— Urquhart.

It will not be amiss in this place to say something on the subject of robbers, of whom most travellers in the East hear so much, but see so little. In Greece particularly, there are few instances on record of foreigners having been attacked when travelling with one of the regular Athenian couriers. It is the interest of these men to ascertain if the roads are safe, or, as the modern Greek phrase is, clean (Tασтpikol dpóμoi); to avoid dangerous localities altogether, or to procure from the authorities a sufficient escort, which is generally granted without difficulty. The fact is, that nowa-days in the Levant, a Frank (the generic name for the natives of western lands) runs very little risk from open violence. An Oriental travels with his whole fortune in his girdle; for, as yet, he has no substitute for the circular notes of English bankers; and his arms and dress are generally so costly, that he is worth shooting, even if he should happen to be of the same way of thinking in politics and religion as the gentleman who shoots him. Mr. Curzon has remarked, with great humour, that there is also another reason why Franks are seldom molested in the East::-" Every Arab or Albanian knows that, if a Frank has a gun in his hand, there are two probabilities, amounting almost to certainties, with respect to that weapon -one, that it is loaded; and the other that, if the trigger is pulled, there is a considerable chance of its going off. Now, these are circumstances which apply in a much slighter degree to the magazine of small arms which he carries about his own person. But, beyond all this, when a Frank is shot, there is such a disturbance made about it! Consuls write letters; Pashás are stirred up; guards, chavasses, and tâtars gallop like mad about the country, and fire pistols in the air, and live at free quarters in the vil

lages; the murderer is sought for everywhere, and he, or some one else, is hanged to please the consul; in addition to which the population are beaten with thick sticks ad libitum. All this is extremely disagreeable, and therefore we are seldom shot at, the practice being too dearly paid for."

b. ROUTES FROM ENGLAND TO GREECE.

N.B. The days of sailing, &c., given in the following lists, or elsewhere throughout these pages, are those fixed at the present time (March, 1853). But as changes are frequently made in the arrangements of the different steam-companies, reference should be made, before starting, to the Continental Guide of Bradshaw, which is published monthly.

Many travellers visit Greece on their return from the East, in which case they will probably first land at Syra, that great centre of the steam navigation of the Levant, and from whence there is frequent communication with Athens, Salonica, Constantinople, Smyrna, Syria, and Egypt.

The main routes from England to Greece direct are as follows:

I. By the Peninsular and Oriental Company's Steamers from England to Malta by Gibraltar.

The steamers of this Company leave Southampton for Malta on the 4th, 20th, and 29th of every month, at 1 P.M. When these dates fall on a Sunday, the hour of departure is at 9 A.M. Fares to Malta-first-class, 201.; second-class, 127. A first-class passage out and home, within four months, 357.; second-class ditto, 217. (For a description of Malta, see Handbook for Egypt.)

II. Across France to Marseilles, and thence to Malta by the English or French Steamers.

Another and more expeditious route than the above is to cross France to Marseilles. The railroads are finished from Boulogne to Châlons-sur-Saône, whence river-steamers convey passengers by Lyons to Avignon, whence there is again a railroad to Marseilles. From this port there is very frequent communication with Malta in both French and English steamers. (See Bradshaw.)

III. From Malta to Greece by the English or French Steamers.

Arrived at Malta by Rte. 1 or 2, the traveller has the choice of proceeding onwards by

(1.) Her Majesty's mail steam-packets, which leave Malta, for Greece and the Ionian Isles, on the 12th and 31st of every month, and call at Zante, Patras, Cephalonia, and Corfu; returning from Corfu by the same route, after a stay there of two or three days.

(2.) The French Government steamers, which leave Malta on the 5th, 15th, and 25th of every month, for Athens, Syra, Smyrna, and Constantinople; also, once a-month, by Rostand's French steamers, or by English screw-steamers (likewise monthly), reaching Athens in 60 hours.

IV. By the Austrian Lloyd's Steamers from Trieste.

The cheapest, quickest, and most agreeable route from England to the Ionian Islands and Greece is unquestionably that by railroad from Ostend to Trieste, through Cologne, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna; and then proceeding from Trieste to Athens, in the Austrian Lloyd's steamers, by the Adriatic and Gulf of Corinth. The journey from London to Athens by this route can easily be accomplished in 10 days, and for about 201, (first