The Cyclades; or, Life among the Insular Greeks

Preface

. The Islands of the Ægean Sea offer plenty of scope for the study of Hellenic archæology, but they are more particularly rich in the preservation of manners and customs which have survived the lapse of years ; and the result of a special study of both these points, made during two winters passed by my wife and myself amongst the islanders in their distant hamlets, and in their towns by the sea-coast, I here place before the public. The causes which have conduced to making the Cyclades a favourable field for the study of Hellenic folklore are these : First, the islands were never, like the mainland, subject to the incursions of barbarous tribes ; this fact is especially noticeable in the island of Andros, the most northern and the most accessible of the Cycladic group from the mainland by way of Eubœa.

The northern portion of this island is exclusively Albanian in speech, manners, and customs. The Greeks in the south are highly influenced by this inter mixture, which has in a measure destroyed the identity of the continental Greeks ; but here the Albanian wave has ended, there is not a trace of it in any other cf the Cyclades.

PREFACE.

. VI Secondly, the Italian influence which was dominant in the Middle Ages in the Cyclades has left traces which extend little beyond the towns on the sea-coast. The Latin rule seems to have been a mild one, but unpopular amongst the Greeks ; religious feeling between East and West ran high, and each party throughout retained their customs and their cult. At Naxos, for example, there are still existing many families of Italian origin who retain their religion ; they reside almost exclusively in the chief town. The sailors, in their dialect, have quantities of Italian words, but up in the mountains of Naxos, a few hours' distance from the town, the villages are inhabited by Greeks of the most undoubted pedigree. It is the same at Santorin, where the Italian influence was equally pronounced.

If you leave the towns and go into the villages, you find customs existing the very nature of which stamps them as Hellenic. Thirdly, during the Turkish times the Cyclades were hardly ever interfered with, and if they annually sent their tribute to the Kapitan Pasha when he anchored off Cape Drio of Paros to collect the revenues, the islanders were practically allowed self-government. It was not so with the Sporades, which are far more productive and easier of access. Chios, Lesbos, Samos and others are perfect war dens as compared with the Cyclades ; and to the smaller islands ofthe Cycladic group, such as Ios, Sikinos, Pholy gandros, some of which appear to have been uninhabited or nearly so, during the Latin rule, refugees came and settled about this time from all parts of Greece. The Cretans, the Peloponnesians, and the inhabitants of Asia

PREFACE.

. VII Minor, to escape from Turkish oppression, built walled villages up on the hills to protect themselves from pirates, and there they have maintained their customs undisturbed ever since. From these facts it will be obvious that these islands, especially the smaller ones, offer unusual facilities for the study of the manners and customs of the Greeks as they are, with a view to comparing them with those of the Greeks as they were. The mainland of Greece has been overrun by barbaric tribes : the Ionian islands have been thoroughly Italianised : Greece in Asia Minor, and the islands adjacent to the coast have been swamped in Islamism : yet the Cyclades have remained more or less as they were, thanks to their insignificance and unpro ductive soil. I did not find much literature to assist me in my researches.

Tournefort's 'Travels in the East' was a pleasant companion, adducing quaint historical facts and showing us what the islands were like at the end of the seventeenth century. Ludwig Ross, in his Insel reisen, guides the traveller to the principal points of antiquity, which were discovered fifty years ago. Ber nard Schmidt's Volksleben der Neugriechen formed an excellent basis on which to start inquiries about the manners and customs ; but as his material was chiefly culled from the Ionian islands and the mainland, I found a vast difference existing between the customs he has collected and those of the Cyclades. Von Hahn's collection of fables, Wachsmuth's work on Greek folklore, and one or two others of minor importance, I found very useful

PREFACE.

. for suggesting remarks, and these invariably provoked a discussion whence the genuine local customs were learnt. But personal intercourse with the islanders in all grades of society, at their work and at their board, proved to us the most infallible method of understanding their life and their superstitions as they exist to-day ; and the kindly hospitality with which they received us, and the surprise they evinced at seeing for the first time amongst them an English lady, will remain for ever fixed on our memories. My first experiences were made with the assistance of a dragoman ; but, on better acquaintance with the language, I learnt to despise his services, and took as servant a native of one of the islands, who became invaluable in assisting me to discover points of folklore which without him it would have been impossible to arrive at.

J. THEODORE BENT. 13 Great Cumberland Place, W. November 18S4. I beg leave here to acknowledge the kindness of Messrs. Macmillan, who have allowed me to reprint, under a slightly enlarged form, my articles entitled, 'A Panhellenic Festival,' ' Easter Week in Amorgos,' ' The Capital ofthe Cyclades,' which appeared in their magazine, and the article which has been published by them in the Hellenic Journal respecting my excavations at Antiparos ; also that of Messrs. Chatto & Windus, for allowing me to rcpublish an article which appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine under the title of ' In Greek Waters.' PAGE I CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Seriphos

The frogs — Captain George — Danae and Perseus — Appearance of town — The little plain of Livadhi — Tombs in fields — St. Isidoros — St. Tryphon and Apollo Smintheus — Captain George's house and wife — The game of the swing — The King of Seriphos — Few antiquities in Seriphos — Start for convent of Archangel Michael and Galene — Winepresses — Process of making wine — Ceremonies at time of firstfruits — Planting of vineyards — Preparing of tools before sowing of seed — The Transfiguration basket — The convent frescoes — Galene, the old demarch and his presentiments — Stories of Nereids — Stories of old Plyntes and old Stavris — The superior of the convent tells us about the history of two lamps — Hospitality at Kalosis — Draught mills — Inscription — Magnet mines — The white tower — Difficulty in leaving Seriphos .

Chapter II

J SIPHNOS. The sponge-fishers and their Ktlixa.% — Night in the potter's shed — His bed and board — The potters of Siphnos — Their wheel — Barren spot — The centre of Siphniote life — The pigs — Captain George's riddle — Apollonia — Captain Prokos, his family and his house — The temple ofthe nymphs — Genii loci — Food to propitiate them — Hamadryads — Arabs — Nunnery of St. John the Theologian — Its origin — Western influence in Siphnos — The School of the Ploly Tomb, its foundation and results — Chrysogelos — The Kastro — X CONTENTS. PAGE Italian town — Inscriptions — Old houses and old costumes and jewellery — Ruins of Hellenic town — The mines — Herodotus on the ancient Siphniotes — At the monastery ofthe well - Pronuncia tion — Intrusive pig — Visit to Pharos — The nunnery of the Virgin of the Mountain — Kypriani— Luxuriance of vegetation -^-harbour and monk of Bathy . . . . . . . .21 Note on the Ancient Gold and Silver Mines of Siphnos . ■ . 38

Chapter III

V KIMOLOS. Volcanic nature of island — ' Terra Kimolia ' — Donkeys and their saddles--The town and our accommodation — The sacrarium — Vampires and priestly exorcisms — Other superstitions — Mrs. Gamp and the Nereids — St. Katharina's Day — Sailor struck by Telonia in the church — Recipe for love cakes — The Kimoliote costume — Visit to the old camp — Lunch at a mandra — View over the island from the old camp — Incantation lo cure headache — To cure paleness and warts — Antiquity of charms — Adieu to Captain George — Visit to the ruins at Helleniki — Mr. Brest's excavations — Daskalio — Crossing to Melos .... 41

Chapter IV

' MELOS. The sun and his mother — Winter storms — Apollonia — Melos by moonlight — Our muleteer's astrology — Refuge in a cave — Our reception at the capital — Horseshoe shape of Melos — French corsairs and prosperity of the island — The corsair Capsi — Cause of decay of Melos — The number of churches and their peculiar names — View from Acropolis — Surrounding villages — The costume — Objects of interest at Trypete — Nychia and Plaka — Exposure of delicate children — Vanis — The deserted western horn of Melos — Expedition to the Convent of the Iron St. John — Wild mastic berries Our girl botanist — Mount Prophet Elias — Numerous cairns Legend of the convent — Erinomelos and mouflon — Convent of St. Marina — Natural Turkish bath — Deserted Zephyria — Old Kromidonis and his reminiscences — Priestly curses — Pestilences and methods for checking them — Euphemisms for diseases Caves by the sea — Port of Adamantas — Church — Delay there CONTEXTS.

XI 86 PAGE — Cotton-spmmng— Greek music— Fables— The fable of the twelve months ...... Note on the Antiquities of Melos : The ruins in the vale of Klima — The finding of the Venus of Melos and the statue of Poseidon — The catacombs Si

Chapter V

■"' ANAPHI. Legend of Anaphi— Prophet Elias and the sun god— Measurement of light — Arrival at Anaphi— Night in the church— The partridges of Anaphi — Reptiles— The town and its isolation— The name of Chalaris — Handsome people— Eutimia — The costume— Old Chalaris and his antiquarian interests — No doctor and longevity —An Anaphiote cottage— Good bread— Anaphi independent of the world— The Crispi castle— The Russians— Wet morning— The rainbow and hail — The old town and remains — KaTdAv/i.a and its limekiln— An island plough — Nereids of the sea — The Lamiæ —A dance at Anaphi — The syrtos, the systa, and the moloritis — Andronico's song and dance— Visit to the convent and ancient temple of Apollo Æglites — Inscription in a ruined house .

Chapter VI

'"' SANTORIN (THERA). I. The Volcano. Description of the volcanic cluster— Mesa Bouno and Monolithos — Chasms — The earliest eruptions — Excavations on Therasia — Authorities for the eruption in 198 B.C. — The name of Thera The eruptions in 60 a.d. and 726 a.d. — That of 1457am! 1573 Father Richard's account of the terrible one in 1650 MS. accounts of eruption in 1707— Scientific observations in 1866— The prospective danger— Effect on the inhabitants — Extent of this effect— Effect on vegetable life— Superstitious dread, and story of old Laimos * I04 2. The Island of Santorin, or Thera. First impressions— The port and houses— The cliff— Expressive words — Theeparch — Phera— .St. Irene— Expedition to and ascentof the CONTENTS.

XII PAGE volcano— Roman Catholics here— Walk to Scaros, Meroviglia, and Mount Jupiter — Across the plains and vineyards — Vine growing — Cisterns and lack of water — Gonia and houses in the rock — Bothro in a chasm— Description of the houses — The damp — Our shoemaker's songs — Santoriniote wit and thriftiness — Vintage festivity — Church of Bothro — Expedition to Pyrgos and Mount Prophet Elias — The view — Sport in Santorin— Akroteri and the Greek calends — The old woman's alarm — New year festivities — Cheesecakes — The leper hospital— Black dresses of the women — Cold — Expedition to Epanomeria — Nautical customs — Roman tombs — A wedding at Santorin — Intrusion on the bride — Music — Gun-siring — The honey ceremony — Music ceremony on making the crowns — Procession to church — Religious ceremony and the dance afterwards — Other wedding customs — The proposal — Expedition to Emporion — The old church there, and ceremony of blessing the waters — Torrents of rain — Basket industry — Expedition to Therasia — Blessing of the sea — Break fast at the demarch's house — Quaint village of Agalia — Search for our drunken sailors — Symposia — The Lamia of the sea — Ideas on wind — Our sailors' fight, and dangerous passage . . 115 Note I. — On the Antiquities of Santorin : Private collections — Ruins of Eleusis — The serpent — The heroa — Perissa — Ruins on Mesa Bouno of the town of Thera — Roman remains at Kamaris . . . . . . .146 Note II. — On the Prehistoric remains at Therasia: Discoveries of houses beneath the pumice stone — Utensils found in them compared with those from Antiparos and Akroteri . 149

Chapter VII

"" ios (nio). The steamer Panhellenion — Little Malta — Our new friends — Costume in Ios — The town and our house — Old costume — Mysethra — The supposed tomb of Homer — Plaketos and its cottages — Games played by muleteers — The girls and their divinations — Expedition to the old Frankish town — Marble mountain — Family church and feast day — Roman remains — The church of the Holy Theodote and the panegyris — Our evening an.usements — Various kinds of games ,5i CONTENTS. XIII PAGE

Chapter VIII. Storm-stayed At Sikinos

No harbour in the island — The fleet — Barren shore — The two villages — The Cretan refugees — Our jovial host — The Castro — Blessing the sea — The superstition about sores and linen — Bird-blindness — The northern coast — Visit to the church of Episcopi — The owner's cell, and the fare he has to give us — The storm comes on — Our hilarious host — The former demarch takes us to his garden and house — The old monastery on the top of the hill — The birth in Sikinos — Male children — Superstitions — We visit the mother, and are present at the washing and blessing ceremony — The demarch's information about births — St. Eleutherios — The virgin's hand and hair — The baptism ceremonies connected with it — The TrapdSoois— Charms — The evil eye — The fate-telling — Belief in MoTpa— The writings of the Fates — Five days' wedding festivities — The dancing — Pack-saddle dance 170 Note on the Temple of Pythian Apollo and the old Town of Sikinos 191

Chapter IX. Pholygandros

Long sail— Magnificent coast scenery— Mysterious arrival and climb to town — Our new host — Modern ideas — Power of an island demarch— Democrats and aristocrats — Politics— Excess of rivalry —The grief table and food of woe— How the old man received the prayer oil— All Saints' Day and Koaau/So*— ' Inside ' and 'Outside' — Baking day and ovens — Old ruins — Visit to the golden grotto— Southern harbour— The uses of the gourd— Stupendous coastline — Terrible climb and alarm of the demarch — Ancient cisterns inside — Form of Pholygandros — St. Eleutherios and the historical association— Pholygandriote society— Dr. Venier and his treasures — Jealousy of our hostess — Dinner party with Themistocles Mavrojenes — Our boatmen dye their sail — Our ballast increased— Difficulties of our voyage . . . CONTENTS. PAGE

Chapter X. The Death-wails Of Mykonos

Osier bulwarks and horn sail-rings — Hydriote boats — Approach to Mykonos — Appearance of town — St. Nicholas and Poseidon — Our friend Paleologus — The Monk family — Deaths — The lament su. those who die abroad — Modern ideas of death — Charon, Tartarus, Hades, Phlegethon, and Lethe reproduced — Description of Charon from lamentations — Death of young Parodos — Prayer oil — Melting of salt — Death agonies and their significance — The ma-rologista Zachara — The makramades and costume of Mykonos — Love for mœrologuz — The Marseilles merchant — The funeral — Distressing scenes at the lamentations — Zachara's songs — Refreshments and renewed grief — A second mœrologista comes in — Breaking of the jug — Funeral procession — The last kiss — Burial — Cleansing the house — The bitter table — The KdWvQa and blessed cakes — Grief renewed at intervals — Distribution of food — A second lamentation — My awkward position — The sister's grief — Mykonos itself — Few traces of antiquity — Delos the centre of attraction — Local museums — Expedition to Tourliani — Fertile homesteads — Mrs. Monk's treasures — Marousa the witch — A prescription for a love potion ...... 209 Note I. — On the Museums of Mykonos . .... 228 Note II. — The Excavations at Delos ..... 229

Chapter XI. Tenos

I. The Panhellenic Festival. Love of the panegyris — Polytheism — The Madonna of Tenos— Vast concourse of Greeks — List of miracles — Political aspect of the feast — St. Nicholas at Tenos — Discovery of miraculous picture in 1822 — Cleverly contrived plan — Debt of gratitude owed to religion — New theories on old b.ases — Voyage from Athens The crowds on board — Honey and milk — The crowds of pilgrims and their presents — Scene on the way from the pier to the church Appearance of the church — Pillais from Delos — The holy of holies — Silversmiths — Baptisms, and struggles to be god-parents —Weighing a baby and candles— A Turk's offering— Recei\ ing CONTENTS. XV PAGE 250 offerings — Cures for blindness — Night scene in church — 'Ejko'l- IL-tltns — In the vaults below — Handkerchiefs on candlestick — Cotton wool — Pilgrim wit — Scene in the town — Cleaning of the picture — Private ceremony — The procession — Departure of pilgrims — Miracles ......... 231 2.

The Island Itself. Differenceof scene a year later — The town of St. Nicholas — Antiquities — The dovecotes — Exoburgo — The view — Strength of position — History — The cowsheds — Loutrk — Miss Leeves' establishment — Carved fanlights — Clean Monday — Visit to a nunnery — The hours — The lady superior — The nuns' cells — Constitution of nunnery — Fasting — The charnel house — Hill villages — Festivities — Dancing on roof — The carnival dance — Teniote mules — Kardiane — The winds — Kvp Bope'as — Hysternia — Pyrgos and its marble — Charms

Chapter XII. Andros

I. Eastern Andros. Picturesqueness and fertility — The eparch — An Andriote luxury — Lemon and mulberry trees — Quaint custom — The old town — Fertility of the pjgin — Lenten fasting — Pig-killing — Old church at Messaria — The paradise-of Menites — Lofty towers — The archons and their family pride — Customs— Temple of Dionysos — Andriote jams — Monastery of Panachrantos — The austere superior — Night there — Our frugal meal — Damp cell — Early mass — The church — Silver treasures — Miserable journey to Korthl — Aedonia — Night in a tower — Demarch Kaires — Theophilos Kaires and his orphanage — The vale of Korthl — No traces of antiquity on the eastern side 269 2. Western Andros and its Antiquities. Difference between Western and Eastern Andros — Greeks and Albanians — Gyaros — Site of the old town — Our quarters there — <p\ars — Ruins — Legend ot two towers — Girls and the olive twigs — Albanians — Mpatzi — Fishing boats — Shellfish — Attack of fever — Gavrion — The north winds and threshing floors — The character of the inhabitants — Expedition to Phello — Marble quarry — The tower of St. Peter — Monastery of Hagia — Comfortable quarters — CONTENTS.

PAGE The Bishop of Stavropolis and his book — The sacred source — Was this the temple of Dionysos ? — Age of monastery — The library — Interesting MSS. — Katakoilos and our strangehost — The mother in-law and her superstitions — Andriote hospitality — Lamyra, and how we were entertained there ...... 2S6 Note on the Round Hellenic Tower of Andros . . 30 1

Chapter XIII. Syra, The Capital Of The Cyclades

Cause of its growth — Appearance of Hermoupolis — Barren rocks — Homer's description — How accounted for — Life and colouring in Syra harbour — Gay appearance of the quay — The fish market — Hotels — Roman Catholics have made Syra — French protection — Greek freedom produces a new era — The Chiote refugees settle at Tenos and eventually at Syra — ' Hermoupolis founded — Islanders weak-minded in revolt — Colonisation of Syra — Neutrality, but supplies of money sent — The first two-storied house — Christening of Hermoupolis— Church parliaments — Pirates disturb commerce — Growth of Hermoupolis — Why Greece has not answered expectations — Description of town — Visit to the university and the archbishop — The newspaper Pherecydes — Traditions — The theatre — The west end — Roads and carriages — Visit to Delle Grazie — Two ancient cities — Merchants' gardens — Feasts of Dionysos — Upper Syra, convent, and view — Sentimental young lady — Expedition — Rough mule-track — An old Æian — Legend about old age— Homer's lines— Herdsmen — Goat-bells — Some strange words — Grammata Bay and the old rock inscriptions — Chryse and Talanta ....... 304

Chapter XIV. Naxos

I. An Historical Sketch. Importance of Naxos — Difference between town and mountain life Greek influence on Venice — Latin line of dukes — Our authorities — Rancour between Greek and Latin — Marco Sanudo's conquest — Duke Spezzabunda — The Crispi family — Constant struggles in CONTENTS. XVII the islands — Turkish inroads — Duke John's dilemma — Duke James, the last of the Crispis — The great Jew Joseph — Coronelli and Turkish agas — The Latin nobility — Jealousies — The Latins of the upper town ......... 329 2. The Town of Naxia. Difficulty of getting a lodging — Our house and host — Christmas Eve — Island Tb TlaAdri — Remains of the temple — View over Naxia — The harbour — St. Dionysius and Dionysos — St. Demetrius and Demeter — Place names — Arrival of the steamer — The cyclone — Our miseries — Idleness of Naxiotes — Paying visits — The bishop explains sacerdotal robes — The mariner's love song-J— Greek Christmas — We surprise the nuns of St. Chrysostom . . . 336 3.

In the Mountains of Naxos. Difficulties ofthe road — The soil washed down — The wine of Dionysos — Richness of plain — A lovely villa — Three villages of Potamia — We halt at Mesopotamia — Luxuriance of country — Dreary reception — Our palace — Ancient fortress — Legends connected with it — Hidden treasure — We quarrel with the Potamiotes — The vale of Trajaia — Our jovial host Gabalas — Beneath our bed — Churches at Chalki — Gabalas' riddle — Philoti, our tower and food — The kindly priest — Robbers, and the old woman's pig — Ill-natured legend — A wine syphon — Lovely day — Ascent of Mount Zia — The cave and altar of Jupiter — The binding oath — AevyaAeov — The tower ofthe winter torrent — Apeiranthos — Evil appearance of people — Our friendly host — Cretan origin — Their dialect and dress — The lyre — Cold mountain ride — The dancing place ofthe winds — Komiak£ — We make ourselves at home — Wretched village — Kalkagari — Their attributes — Colossal statue of Apollo — The marble hill — Unfinished statues — A death and its cause — The funeral and the wailing — The obolos for Charon — Belief in Charon — Convent of Phaneromene — Monkish prudery — The narthex — Papa Andreas and his daughter — Gaiety at Engarrais — The tirla dance — Dance of the Kalkagari — Games — n<Va — ' Barrels ' — Cock-fighting — Packsaddle — The ' bee ' — Old dress — A regma — Tripodes and the remains near it — Gabalas' lamb — The shoemaker of Leonides 344 a CONTENTS. XVIII

Chapter XV. Paros

PAGE The abundance of marble and ancient remains — Paros a centre of commerce in all ages — Paroikia — Unhealthy marsh — Names of churches— The drunken St. George— St. Nicholas' Eve— A Bovo-ovklov and a song — Insular wit — The men and candle-grease — We share our meal — King Otho's dilemma — The Church of the Hundred Gates — The narthex, the chapels, the sanctuary, and circular apse — The marble baldacchino — St. Theoctistas' footstep and spindle — Musical challenge — Sarcophagi — Necropolis of Paros — Amongst the ruins of Paroikia — The temple of Demeter and Miltiades — Houses of the Crispis and Veniers — The tramway — The Belgian marble company — The lychnites — Beehives — The quarries — The shafts — Signs of ancient work — King Otho's visit — The bas-relief — Leukis — The church — Orange and lemon groves — Superstition about wells and arpiyXat — More about Kalkagari — An entertaining evening and generous host — Across the mountains — The abyss — Kypedos and the mediæval fortress — The church and its decaying decorations — Graves — Marmora and temple of Marpessa — Naoussa and its harbour .... 372

Chapter XVI. Antiparos

I. The Island and the Grotto. An island without a history — The contempt ofthe Pariotes — The crows and the swans — The pirates' haunts — A lucky windfall — The wretched town — The priest — The old wizards and their divinations — Dancing and song — Idleness — Visit to the grotto — Appearance of mouth — Traces of antiquity — Perils of the way — The illumination and effect — Popular dread — Curious belief — The hall — Resemblance to a church — M. de Nointel's Christmas mass — His retinue — Their names — King Otho again — The ascent — Our offering to St. John 394 Note on the Prehistoric Remains of Antipai os : Excavation and discoveries — Difficulty of assigning date — Argument from analogy of remains at Santorin . . , CONTENTS. XIX PAGE 411 42S 2. Zeppo' s Story. Fishing in Greek waters — Zeppo's appearance — Explanation of locality — Despotiko and Strongylo — Octopus-fishing— Zeppo begins his story — Andronico's mandra and the church — Zeppo's night therein — We fish with dynamite — Zeppo and the robbers — We have our lunch — What they did with Zeppo — We find some seals — Zeppo on Strongylo line-fishing — The scaros and its gallantry — Tunny-fishing — The sequel of the story from Mrs. Zeppo .

Chapter XVII. Kythnos

(THERMlA). Bay of Hagia Eirene — A departure and a return — The cafe at the port — The hot baths of Thermii — The new building — Messaria — The Jew — Costumes — Wretched town — Its origin — Vicissitudes of a one-citied island — The Frankish town— Legends about it — The Cretan colonists — The Virgin of Athens — HtWa — The 1st of March — The swallow festival — Customs on May 1 — Good Friday — New Year's Eve — Charms — The plague of Loutso — Former fertility — Children's ailments and novel cures — Fevers and consumption — Religious ideas — Serpents in houses — The wine and the cheese of Kythnos — Cheese Sunday — Bryocastro — Suggestion as to name — The washerwoman — The old town — The Dragon's House — Roman days — The false Nero — Broukolakes — Curious reservoir — Frankish fortress — A shepherd's hut — Sllakka — Its position — The demarch receives us — The cave — Ideas concerning it — Veiling the face — A cowardly captain — March and its fickleness

Chapter XVIII. Keos

(ZEA). Harbour — Connection with the world — Barba Manthos — Interview with the Custom House officer — The acom trade — Oaks in Keos — Koressia — The good road — The Chora of Keos and its view — Our quarters — Curious aspect of town — The lion of Keos — Outlying hamlets — The farmer's bundle — Ceremony on September 1 — Granaries in the ground — St. Anarguris and the sacrifice on July 1 — Expedition to Karthaia — The mist — Cliffs and Nereids — Food placed for them — St. Artemidos and children — The oak cure — The position of Karthaia — The remains — Keote wine — Ruins of CONTENTS. XX PAGE 488 ancient villages — Expedition to Poiessa — Convent and tower of riagia Marina — King Otho's depredation — Description of tower — An interesting old man — Ghost of Manetas — The evil eye — Whitewash crosses — Valley of Karadra — The ruins of Ioulis — Thrift of Keotes — Convulsions of nature — The miltos mines and harbour of Otzia — Adieu to Keos 44& Note on ihe Ruins of Four Ancient Cities of Keos : I. Koressia — 2. Ioulis — 3. Karthaia — 4. Poiessa .... 465

Chapter XIX. Amorgos

1. During Easter Week. Remoteness — The Easter feast — The steamer dangerous to old customs — The lower town — Climb to the upper — Big rock — View over island — Offerings in the church — Costume — The tourlos — The cafe — Mad Spiro — The demarch — Papa Demetrios — Good Friday — St. Lazarus' song— The convent of Chozobiotissa — Extraordinary position — Danger from rocks — The silver eikons — Their appearance— Easter morning — Meeting the eikons — Conveying them to the town — Monday's expedition up Mount Elias — Visit to St. George Balsamitis — The prophetic source — When popular — The church of the oracle — Papa Anatolios opens the oracle for me — Tells me my fate, and expounds the theory by which he regulates his answers — The origin of the oracle — The eikons and the procession come— Kera Maria's incantations — The eikons at the harbour — Papa Manoulas' house— Blessing the ships — Easter Sunday — Farewell to the eikons — The dance .... 469 2.