the Disdar had done us in preparing the Iman and disposing him to be civil to us who of himself was a severe and rigid man having been a Kodgias in Asia where the Mahumetans are so scrupulous that if a Christian be taken in any of their Mosques he has no way to get off but either by apostasie or death These Officers advancing with great gravity towards us attributed the cause of that light to a Miracle of their Prophet Mahomet for the Religion of the Turks runs much upon Miracles and we thought neither safe nor indeed civil to contest the truth of it The Stones being transparent one of these two things must of necessity produce that light either there must be two Lamps behind it whose light is seen through or else the two Lamps before it being placed exactly in the opposite Wall dart their rays upon those Stones which rays are reflected again as from a Looking-Glass We could discern nothing behind that might be the cause though on the sides of it according to the Turkish Mode there hung great numbers of Austriges Eggs several little Lamps without lights and several little Globes of Crystal Be it from which it will it is probably designed to perpetuate the prodigy of that Golden Lamp which was placed there by Calimachus the famous Sculptor who was the first that invented the way of piercing Stone with an Augar This Lamp was supplied with Oil but once a year though it was to keep a constant light night and day before the Statue of Minerva But the Ancients though otherwise sufficiently superstitious made no Miracle of it supposing the duration of the light proceeded from an occult property in the nature of the Wick which as they thought was made of a sort of incombustible Cotton nevertheless it burned not without smoke for to carry it off Calimachus had made a most admirable Pipe that conveyed it out at the top of the Temple At present it is quite otherwise But to settle our thoughts with an eager and decisive tone the Iman told us that the first appearance of the Miracle of the two Lamps was the very day that Sultan Mahomet II. turned that Temple into a Mosque In a word Mahomet II. is in Athens of so great reputation that they think all things extraordinary that are done either by him or for him Before these two Stones there stands a white Marble Chair formerly imployed by the Arch-Bishop but now it is the place from whence the Iman dispences his Alchoran and in each side of the Chair in the main Wall there are two Cupboards covered with two Tables of Marble in which the Christians used to put the Ornaments for their Altar One of those Cupboards has not been opened since the Christians had possession of that Church and the other being rashly and audaciously opened not many years since by a Turk there came forth so mischievous and pestilent an Air as brought the Plague into the City and was the occasion of a great Mortality This is confessed by the Turks themselves and since that time no body has had the courage to open them When we came out of the Temple at a distance of about fifty paces we saw that famous Well that is recorded as one of the Wonders in Nature and even at this day the Athenians do esteem it one of the greatest Rarities of their Country It s water is salt and of the same colour with the Sea every time the South wind blows it is mightily agitated and makes a great noise in the bottom of the Well Our Fellow-Travellers being impatiently and incessantly addicted to Natural disquisitions had not found a fairer subject for their dissertations Some were of opinion that from the Sea to the Well there was some secret and subterraneous Meatus into which the wind forcing it self made an ebullition or else the Sea was driven thereby violently up to the Well and supplied it with Salt waters Others objected that the Spring must be there and proceeding upon Hydraulick Principles concluded that the Water rising naturally no higher than the level of its Fountain could not be carried from the Sea so high as to the top of the Castle Hill but would rather have disgorged into the Pits in the lower Town where yet there is not the least semblance of any such thing But all agreed that the noise proceeded from the force of the wind dispersing the vapours which the saltness of the Water exhaled and that it was from the disposition of the Sea-banks that only a South wind could come at it In a Country proper for Experiment we should have weighed it with Rain and Sea-water examining how they would have incorporated and which of the three had fallen down to the bottom We should have tried whether Fresh-water Fish would have lived longer in it than Sea-Fish and causing both of them with a gentle fire to evaporate have seen which had left the most Salt Had it been Winter we should have tried which would have been first frozen We should have likewise observed whether the bottom of the Well had been Chalky Gravelly Turfy Rocky or Sandy and perhaps have proceeded so far in our Curiosity as to have taken some Criminal out of Prison and causing him to drink it have seen whether it would have put him into a Dysentery according to the propriety of the Sea-water From the Castle Hill we could discover all the Isles in the Gulf of Engia without the help of our Perspectives of which indeed we durst not make use to look about as we would have done because we were very near a steep place that is to this day memorable for the precipitation of a King and might well be a place of punishment to people that are over-curious It was Egeus Father of Theseus who threw himself down headlong 2905 years since having from the same place where we stood descried a far off at Sea the black Sails of that Ship which brought back from Creet his Son whom he supposed the Minotaure had devoured Plutarch gives you a particular account At a small distance upon the plain or flat of the Castle there is a small point of a Rock with nothing about it which probably was the place where Silenus disposed of himself when he came along with Bacchus into this Castle In the same Court there were formerly a hundred remarkable things to be seen and as many more in the houses that are now set apart for the entertainment of the Janizaries Upon the Plain there were several Altars dedicated to Friendship Modesty Integrity Oblivion Jupiter Vulcan Neptune and Minerva so that you may observe that in old time their Altars were not alwayes within the Precincts of their Temples Many were in the Field and uncovered which the Romans called Sub Dio. On that side where the Janizaries are lodged nothing is to be seen but ruines except the Arsenal built by Lycurgus the Son of Lycophron which Arsenal appears still very
some other person This he insinuated to the Turk who to speak truth at that time testified the greatness of his mind he seemed not at all surpriz'd but having asserted his quality with all the modesty in the world and protested that he would have sincerely kept his Parole he exprest himself very ready to return to Malta if his Master pleased This modesty and resignation in him wrought compassion in me and by good fortune it came into my mind to speak to my Camerades of a thing which I had gathered from his Discourse This Turk had told me that he was born in a place not far from Athens in a Country to which all of us had a curiosity to go and indeed would have purchased such a Person at a dear rate if for nothing but his assistance during our residence there I acquainted our friends how useful he might be and advising them not to slip so fair an opportunity I prevailed with them to buy him It was only the hazard of so much money as his Ransom would cost which might be possibly repayd however it would not be absolutely lost seeing it would give us at least a fair pretence into that Country and afford us convenience of seeing that securely which we would otherwise have done though with more danger We propounded it to the Turk not doubting but he would gladly embrace it He finding himself returning to the Galleys and that we offering so honourably to redeem him expressed great sense of our kindness and â—esolutions of gratitude He assisted to make the bargain and to beat down the price as much as he could He had been â—ong enough in Malta to speak Italian veâ—y well We paid him Four hundred Franks â—nd the Italian return'd by himself and â—eft his Turk to make his Voyage with us The first thing that confirmed my good opiâ—ion of this Slave was the civility which â—e showed immediately to the person who â—ad told the Story of the five Slaves which had cheated him He was sensible enough that it had hindered his return with his old Master and hazarded the continuation of his slavery yet he was so far from being provoked that he came to him embraced him with both his Arms and thanked him for being instrumental in delivering him from so rigid a Master and placing him with such persons of worth We used him very civilly and I entered into a more particular friendship with him by reason of my smattering in the Turkish language which was the occasion of our frequent discourse His name was Osman Chelebi which last word is a Title of honour and given only to considerable Persons Being got up to the height of Capo-Passaro which is South-east of Sicily we descryed a Vessel that gave us an alarm We discovered by her Hull she was a Christian Frigot but she carryed the Colours oâ— Barbary which sent us immediately to our Arms and our Port-holes were opened to make room for our Canon We had noâ— sooner done that but she put up the English Colours after them the Portugal and nexâ— the Colours of Ragusa We were all this while upon the Decks no whit delighted with this kind of sport but the Frigot being as little desirous to put an end to our confusion put out new Colours still as the Colours of Genoa Holland France and Hambourg which last are very rare to be seen in the Levant Seas Not long after we observed the Standard of Savoy as great a rarity as the other and after that the Pope's with the Arms of the Family of the Rospigliosi out of which his Holiness was descended Having taken down those Colours the Frigot continued some time without any as we supposed employ'd in looking out the Colours of Algier and Venice which were hung up afterwards Thus have I given you in part an Inventory of the Goods of the Pyrats who by a new name from an old word are at this day called Capers of which sort of Cattel there is scarce one but is furnished with all sorts of Colours by which means the poor Merchant is many times deluded suffering them to come so near upon an imagination they are Friends that 't is then too late to get off and they are forced to submit We were not so taken up with these extravagant changes but we could observe the Enemy preparing all the while to attack us and indeed we had but few of our crew that were desirous of that When the Frigot came within distance of twice Canon-shot she slackned her Sails to give us notice by their Shalop that we should take down our Standard and salute them with all the Guns we had in our Vessel otherwise they would sink us to the bottom In contempt they sent this Message to us by the most inconsiderable persons among them yet one of them more rational and civil than the rest took our Captain aside and told him the Frigot was commanded by a Christian but a haughty insolent person who affected to make himself terrible and his name you shall have hereafter All his crew were drunk it being their third day of rejoicing for two Prizes which they had taken from the Turks of a considerable value Whilst we were in this suspence the Frigot gave us two Guns with Bullet and had like to have brought our Fore-Mast by the Board Their Messenger told us we might perceive with what kind of Persons we had to deal that their fingers itcht to be at us and that whilst they were under the fury of their debauch it would not be discretion in us to provoke them He told us likewise that before he came away they had prepared to burn our Sails and to that end had ram'd into their great Guns Rags of Linen steep'd in Oyl and strong-Strong-waters Our Captain called a Council and made it appear how sensible he was of and how willing to revenge so great an affront if we thought him in a condition to do it but he refer'd to our advice and was not much offended when we gave our judgments that we were in prudence to quit our selves of those desperado's though at the expence of a little Formality and to do it with as little dishonour as might be we insisted that when we struck and saluted them the Frigot should hang out either the French or English Colours But the Messenger told us it was not to be expected his power was limited and that we must strike either to the Hambourg or Ragusa Colours which were the most inconsiderable of them all and to no other and observing the Frigot working her side to us he required us peremptorily to salute the Standard of Ragusa increasing the injury by taking away the liberty of our choice even of those contemptible two but the inequality of our force made our Captain constrain himself We sent their Shallop on Board again and they causing the Banner of Ragusa to be set up we Lowr'd our Top-sails saluted them with all our great
Guns and to satiate their ambition if possible came under their Lee which is the basest and most abject Formality upon the Seas In this manner the madness of the Corsair brought us acquainted with the greatest part of the Standards belonging to the Mediterranean but his Ceremony at parting was nothing inferiour and one must have spent some time in a considerable Fleet to understand what he meant he hung out the several Flags that are used to distinguish every particular Ship according to the rank and dignity of the Officer For having set up the Spanish Standard he represented an Admiral by clapping his Colours upon the Main-Mast taking them down there he personated a Vice-Admiral by setting them up in his Misne and then the Reer-Admiral by removing it to another In short after this he made himself another Officer by hanging out a Flame at his Main-Mast and at last the Commander of a Squadron by his Cornet and with that he vanished The Italians being naturally jealous our Captain suspected there was more than ordinary in this insolence for my part I was not at all troubled to find there were people in the world that could mortifie the Vanity of Genoa since they had a new Standard of their own They have made no great advantage of it these three years past since which time they have laid aside the French nor has this whimsie been capable of restoring the authority which they had formerly in those Seas where doubtless they have been more potent than the Venetian But how remarkable soever these passages are our Physitian Boccanegra who for his divertisement kept a Journal of our Navigation after the manner of a Pilot took no notice of them in his Book where our Captain would many times look in curiosity but could never find any thing but by what wind we were carryed and how many fathom water On Saturday the 6. of April and 18. of our Voyage we discovered the Coasts of Greece and by ten in the morning were got within sight of the old Castle de Maina which denominates the Canton of Brazzo di Maina We were obliged to keep at a distance of two miles from the shore where we came to an Anchor in fifteen fathom water for nearer there was no ground for greater Vessels the Castle lying to the N. W. Here we understood we were not above eighteen Leagues from Misithra which is the name at present of the famous City of Sparta In a word the Greeks like the Turks measure their way by the hour and an hours distance is as much as a Footman can make in an hours time at the ordinary walk of a Horse which is near as much as a French League or three Miles in Italy The Brazzo di Maina is the Southerly part of the famous Country of the Lacedemonians inclosed betwixt two rows of Mountains that run into the Sea almost full North and South and form the Cape of Matapan called anciently Tenara so that Westward the Cape makes the Gulf of Coron formerly called the Gulf of Messena and Eastward the Gulf of Colochina called by the Antients the Laconick Gulf. The Western Coast of Greece begins at the Port of Calamata which is the most Northerly of that Country and runs on to the Cape de Matapan where the Eastern Coast commences and runs along bending insensibly towards the North till at last it ends at Port-Rapani the farthest Port in the Brazzo di Maina The Port de Calamata and the Port de Coron lie seven Leagues asunder one of them W. N. W. the other E. S. E. But the ordinary way from Calamata to Cape Matapan is S. S. E. and about Fourteen Leagues The Eastern Coast runs N. E. about ten Leagues from Cape Matapan to Pagana from Pagana to Colchina it runs Eastward about four Leagues from Colchina to the Point of Porto-Rapani where the Coast is most bending it inclines Eastward for about five Leagues together It may well be said that on the Western Coast the anchoring is not so good as on the Eastern for on the Western Coast the Ground is false and consists much in banks of Sand so that to Cruise upon that Coast at the distance of a League it is necessary to have a Greek Pilot or otherwise you must be perpetually Sounding I could describe all the Soundings did I not fear to be troublesom for I have them in my Memoires as they were given me by one of the best Pilots in that Country Calamata retains much of its old name Calamiae of which Polybius makes mention Passing from thence to the Cape de Matapan the first Village we came to is called Christo which name was given it from a miraculous Crucifix which the Grecians have erected in that place The Greeks do not use emboss'd work and therefore this Crucifix was only painted upon Wood. Christo of old was called Gerenea and was the place of the Nativity of Nestor whose prudence contributed so much to the taking of Troy From Christo the Coast leads to Chiores which is a little Chorion as the Vulgar Greek call a Village The Houses of Chiores stand scatter'd and dispers'd in a Wood full of Fountains for there are more Springs of Water in the Country of the Magnotti than in any Country of Europe besides About half a League from thence lies the small Village Cardamile which has kept its name from the time of Agamemnon it is one of the richest little Towns in the Brazzo di Maina wherefore the Greeks do not call it a Chorion but a Chora which is their word for a Town The Banks about Cardamile are famous in memory of those delicate Nymphs which came out of the Neighbouring Waters to be present at the Nuptials of Pyrrhus the Son of Achilles when he came into those parts to solemnize his Marriage with Hermione The great Village Istechia is not above three small Leagues from Cardamile upon the Coast but is not to be confounded with another large Town of the same Name not far from Thebes and eminent for the great Battel Epaminondas gained there against the Lacedemonians Our French Geographers will needs have the Castle of Maina to be the old Town of Leuctra but they are much out in their description of that Country About Canon shot from Istechia the little Rock of Pecno is to be seen about a Musket shot distance in the Sea the Ancients called it formerly Pephnos and 't was a wonder to me that they should denominate an Island from so pitiful a Rock whose top is no larger than the top of Mont-Martyr However in this Country it was that Castor and Pollux were born It was told us as a great wonder That upon the top of that Rock an infinite number of Pismires were to be seen our Virtuosi falling presently to their Philosophy and canvasing the causes of so unusual a thing the sagacious Bocca-negra demanded of a Seaman who had been there if the top of it
was not sandy and what colour the Sand was of The Seaman had no sooner told him that it was very sandy and the Sand extraordinary white but he cryed out That we need trouble our selves no farther for a reason for the whiteness of the Ants That ancient History was much to blame to have omitted so evident an Argument and for our further conviction he urged the example of the Bears and Foxes which are white in Nova Zembla and those Northern Countries by perpetual reflection of the Snow concluding at last that either quick transpiration of the little particles in the body of the Insect attract by their activity the colour of the Sand or else the colour of the Sand does of it self penetrate the substance of the Insect by means of the humidity of the place Pecno is equidistant from the Port of Istechia and the Port of Prestean which last is built upon the ruines of the Ancient Thalamae a Town never very Eminent but now most miserably poor The Greeks call it indifferently Prassia or Prestean Upon the Coast betwixt Prestean and Bytilo by the Sea side there is an excellent spring of fresh water very well known to the Corsaires It was formerly Consecrated to the Moon and not far from it was the Temple of Juno remarkable for the Oracles which by way of dream resolv'd all those who consulted it concerning future Events I know not whether any thing of this Temple be remaining as they assure us but this is certain that in the Brazzo di Maina there are the ruines and reliques of many Noble and Magnificent Buildings to be seen preserv'd as well by the valour of the Inhabitants as the barrenness of the Countrey which has taken away either the power or inclination of Forreign Nations to invade and destroy them Nor have the Turks been able hitherto to supplant them Bytilo is a large Village call'd formerly Oetilos and as out of Oetilos is form'd by corruption Bytilo so the Italian Pilots have corrupted the name of Bytilo and call'd it Vitoulo The Harbour is large and we anchor'd there at sixteen or eighteen fathom water which would make it an excellent Port were the bottom accordingly but 't is cover'd with great flints or little pebbles that hinder the anchoring and many times cut the Cables The wind that brings a Ship out of this Harbour must be S. W. and we would think should rather run it upon the Shore If there be any good Swimmers in the world or any Thieves more famous than ordinary either at Land or Sea they are at Bytilo in which respect the Greeks call that Town the Grand Algier Next to Bytilo keeping close to the Coast we came to Corotta a place little considerable either for Antiquity or Port which is capable only of small Vessels From Bytilo to Maina is near seven hours passage and Corotta is exactly in the midst From Maina to the point of Matapan is only two hours and at the foot of this Cape lies a small Village call'd Caibares where stood formerly the little City of Cenepolis call'd otherwise Taenarium from the name of that Promontory and thus ends the Western Coast of Brazzo-di-Maina The Castle of Maina is on the same place where formerly stood the City of Messa â— not much known amongst the Ancients but for its Neighbourhood to the ruines oâ— Hyppolae and a hollow part of the Coasâ— call'd by them Thyrides or the Windows By the view of this Coast we concluded that Maina is the same that Messa was formerly and could easily collect why it waâ— call'd Thyrides for observing the Coast from our Ship we discerned several Grottos cut in it and dispos'd in such a manner that they look'd like a continued row of windows and I will tell you hereafter how they are us'd to that purpose There are three dangerous Rocks at the mouth of the Haven of Maina besides that it is otherwise very bad there being scarce water enough for a Shallop in respect oâ— the many quick-sands and sand-banks therein The Town is built round about the Port but open every where towards the Land as all the Towns of the Magnotti are and indeed it is generally so all over Greece where unless it be Constantinople and the old circumference of Andrinople there is scarce a City that has a compleat Wall about it formerly they had all very good Walls The Famous Sparta was the only Town that refused them as looking upon the Valour and Bucklers of her Inhabitants to be her best Rampart and Fortification Our Vessel having been at anchor about two hours sent her Shallop with a white flag within Canon shot of the Castle which is the formality used when Pratique or Commerce is desired with a suspected people The Inhabitants hung out likewise a white flag and a while after two or three of their Barks came on board us Our Captain had no mind we should know his Negotiations with them and to take off our curiosity of going a Shore he endeavour'd to terrifie us with stories of the frequent insolence and rudeness of those people toward strangers but Osman Chelibi assured us the contrary though there were several affirm'd that he himself would be in as much danger as any of us However our own inclinations and his confidence prevail'd and he put himself with us into one of the Boats of the Magnotti we landed about a hundred paces from some of the aforesaid Grottos out of which we quickly perceiv'd five or six lusty Fellows to come forth arm'd with Musquetons and making towards us which gave us no little alarm their faces were black as Devils but their clothes or the same colour with the ground which they chose on purpose for the more easie circumvention of passengers that is to say of one another for there are few Travellers to be seen in those Quarters These Rascals do lye flat upon their bellies about fifty paces from the Rode and appearing at that distance like so many little heaps of rubbish a man suspects nothing and is strangely surpriz'd to see them leap up suddenly and come and catch them by the coller The Magnott who conducted us had a little barrel of Brandy in his hand that we had given him he proffer'd it to these honest Fellows to drink who being much pacified thereby each of them took two hearty gulps and invited us very civilly into their Dens Osman Chelibi encouraged us to go along but we durst not trust him and for more surety sate our selves down upon the bank At first I was receiv'd but coldly with my Turkish Language which at Osman's request I distributed very freely among them I thought to have insinuated mightily thereby but they pretended not to understand me that I might conceive a better opinion of their Religion and be taken with their contempt of the Mahumetans This policy of theirs made me believe they were some of those who were to pass into Italy and when I asked them
and her nostril that if possible we might find out whether in the structure and fabrick of this fish there might not be some secret analogie with the Inwards of a man to which for want of better reason we might ascribe their kindness and strange inclination to our Sex But we discover'd that the inclination of Man was more powerful to them for the Italian Marriners would not endure that we should do them any mischief calling them the Companions of their Voyage and the faithful Sentinels who by their leaping and playing upon the Waters do give them constant notice of any tempest approaching and by this means our Experiment was lost But the sight of Tenara gave us another contemplation The passage into Hell if you will believe the Antients is there and Cerberus tyed there by Proserpine to guard it This is certain on the middle of the Mountain there is a dismal hole to be seen that was formerly consecrated to Neptune the entrance is so horrid and the depth so immense that it gave occasion to that opinion that it went down into Hell That it was by that Hercules descended Hector'd Pluto in the midst of his Estates and in defiance of him brought away his Three-headed Dog 'T is the common opinion at this day quite through the Brazzo di Maina that by this hole the Devil comes out a hunting every day in the shape of a Hound In this Mountain Tenara there was found formerly good Crystal of the Rock several sorts of Metals and some Precious Stones The Greeks say the Veins are as fruitful as ever but that the Inhabitants conceal it for fear it should invite the Turks and bring them sooner into their Country At the foot of Cape Matapan towards the N. N. E. the old Castle is to be seen from this Castle the Coast runs two Leagues N.E. as far as the Port of Colocythia called anciently the Port of Achilles There the anchoring is good but not so good as at Porto-Caglie a Haven about seven Leagues distance from the Cape To enter into the Harbour at Porto-Caglie we kept to the Southward Coast where we found sixteen Fathom water Towards the North within Pistol-shot of the Shore great care is to be had of a Rock which is the more dangerous because it lies almost just level with the water Our Anchorage here is in danger of nothing but a South-East wind The Town is large and in it one of the best Fountains in the world it was called in former days Teuthrone and was once a Colony of Athenians Here it is that the Sea makes a great Arch in the Shore to form the Gulf of Colochina heretofore called the Gulf of Laconia In this manner our Vessel sailed on to the Southward of Saint Angelo where we were to double the Point On the Shore from Porto-Caglie towards the North we found the place which was called in former times the Temple of Jupiter and two large Rivers where the Barks did frequently supply themselves with fresh water The River that lies Northward of the other retains still the quality of its water which passed among the Ancients for the most pure and delicate and least subject to corruption in all Greece The Inhabitants call it only Potamo which signifies a River but Pyrrhus called it Scyras from the name of the Island Scyros where he Imbarqued when he came into this Country to his Nuptials with Hermione Beyond the River the Coast runs into a Point upon which stands the Town of Pagana which name though it be the most commonly given it is called likewise Pago Gade Pagou or to pronounce it more justly Cape de Pago the Ancients called it the Promontory of Diana Dictynna and the Town is built of the ruines of the old City Las its scituation is easily known by three Mountains Hama Ilion and Cuacadion formerly famous for the Trophies erected there after the Macedonian defeat as likewise for the Temples which Castor and Pollux built in that place at their return from the Conquest of the Fleece About half a League S.W. from Pagana is the little Island called Spatara and three Leagues E. N. E. oâ— Spatara lies the City of Colochina upon the firm land near the mouth of the famous River Eurothas which passes by Mysithre oâ— Lacedaemon as you please On the eighth of April in the morning as we were within sight of Pagana the winâ— began to rise and increased so fast thaâ— we grew fearful of a Storm It drove us near enough the Shore to discover the large and long Reeds which grow in the mouth of the Eurotas and they put us in mind of the Lacedemonians who made Mats of them formerly to lie upon This River is now called Bazili Potamo or the Royal River and might be made Navigable seven or eight Leagues up for there is water enough but then it is so narrow there is not room to turn and scarce for another Vessel to pass Our apprehension of ill weather made us resolve to put in at the little Isle of Spatara formerly famous by the name of Cranaz But what think you did we find in a little Creek where we put in for shelter because the anchorage was good We found two Vessels who coming the same road with us and driven with the same wind had put in there not above two hours before You will be surprized when I tell you that one of those Vessels was the Christian Corsair who had changed his Colours upon us so often and treated us so insolently The other was a Turkish Vessel laden with Janizaries for Candia that the Corsair had taken after very great resistance and it was the noise of that Combate that we had heard when we were off of Matapan Lest the Corsair should begin a new Quarel with us on point of Ceremony we Saluted him and Lowr'd our Sails We had scarce come to an anchor when by good fortune the Wind veer'd to the South and a great Rain falling the Storm ceased Our Captain sent his Shallop a shore and in it his Mate to salute the Pirate our curiosity would needs make us accompany the Mate where we found the Pirate very busie his Vessel shot through and through in several places took water in such plenty that all her Pumps though they wrought continually were not sufficient to clear her This was a manifest sign that the Turk had defended herself well but we perceived also that the Turk had been as ill treated for her Tackling was in the greatest disorder imaginable no Sails no Cables no Masts but every thing in most desperate condition and the relation we had of it was this The Sangiac or Governour of Modon had sent a Turkish Vessel with Ammunition and three hundred Janizaries to the Siege of Candy It was the misfortune of this Ship to meet our Corsair in the same height of debauchery and the same impatience of being at mischief as we left him so that without the
our Goods That our Timins for so they call â—ur five Sols pieces were decried and that we could utter nothing there now but â—eales or pieces of Eight full weight and â—hat of them too they had lessened the â—rice for having always passed there for â—hree and thirty Parats they were reduc'd â—ow to twenty seven every Parat is worth â—hree Aspers and every Asper six or seven French Deniers This being a great grieâ—ance to the Genois and contrary to their Capitulation at Constantinople in the year â—665 our Captain resolved to stay at St. George d' Arbora though the anchorâ—ng was not very good and to write to Athens to understand the truth concluding â—o go to some other Port if the Turkish Officers would not admit him upon better conditions He sent his Pinnace to Porto-Lione with a Letter to the Genoa Consul who at that time stood very tottering in his Office it being not only disposed of but almost executed by John Giraud a French-man born at Lions and formerly Consul For the French Nation in Athens This Giraud is a nimble man and understands well enough but he loves his pleasure and particularly play for there aâ—â— Gamesters at Athens as well as at othâ—â— places When he was turn'd out of thâ—â— Consulship for the French he struck in wiâ—â— some People and got himself made Coâ—sul there for the English and Dutch He â— a person that loves to make a noise and â— Parade and with his bustling got into â— young Lady of the house of the Paleologâ— and married her much to his advantagâ— for there is still a branch of that Illustrioâ—â— Family in Athens The present French Consul at Athens â— of Marseille and his name Christopher Châ—staigner a Vigorous man and one thâ—â— stands stifly for the Interest of his Couâ—trey Upon our Captains Resolution of staâ—ing at St. George d' Arbora till his Pinnaâ—â— return'd Osman Chelebi who understooâ— perfectly the humour of the Turks in thoâ—â— parts came to him and advised him â— threaten the Athenian Officers with thâ— loss of a Present which he design'd theâ—â— for his anchoring and that to let them sâ—â— how indifferent he was for coming in theâ—â— he should put off again to Sea and maâ—â— either for the Port de Raphti which liâ—â— N. E. of the Cape de Colonnes or the Islanâ— of Zea about five Leagues from the saiâ— Cape He assured us that those two Ports were the safest in all those Seas which was very true besides that in either of them a Vessel may be supplyed with Water or Bisket or Wood. Afterwards Osman Chelebi grew more open to us confessed he was married and that he was not above five or six Leagues from the place where his Wife lived adding with great circumstances of kindness that if we would hazard our selves with him he would shew us a very fine Countrey as possibly we had seen we all lik'd his proposition The Captain sent his Pinnace to Athens commanding it to meet him at the Island of Zea whither he was steering his course We took the opportunity of a little Bark bound for St. George de Arbora The Captain being informed of the place to which Osman Chelebi had tempted us told us that he would stay five dayes for us at Zea that if from thence he was invited to Athens he would give us notice by an Express but if the avarice of the Turks at Athens obliged him to pass on to Smyrna he would send our things to Baphti from whence we might easily convey them to Athens Upon â—his incouragement we habited our selves â—ike Grecians and away with the Bark that was going to Capo Colonne which is the same that the Ancients called the Promontory of Sunion It was not long before we got sight of the Columns of white Marble that are to be seen upon the point of that Coast and give it that name On the West side towards the lower parts of that Coast Nature has form'd a little Harbour where both anchoring and shelter is exceeding good For the hills of the Terra firma do cover it on every side but the South and on that side it is secur'd by the Island oâ— Garderonis of old call'd Gadalone Nevertheless there are sand-banks upon thâ— Western point and our Master had like to have run us upon them Here it was thaâ— we Landed and believed our selves first iâ— Greece for we reckon'd as nothing our debarkment at Maina 'T is not to be imagined how all of us were pleased Drelingston our English Camerade to signaliâ—â— his curiosity clamber'd along upon thoâ— hills that conducted to the Columns aâ— being impatient to be admiring their Workmanship we all follow'd and made it â— a good half League before we came aâ— them The present Greeks and the Italiaâ— Pilots perswade us that they are the râ—liques of a Magnificent Palace built there bâ— Alexander the Great But that is a mâ—stake they being the remainder of a Glâ—rious Temple built by the Athenians and Dedicated to Pallas We could observe that the Palace had been twice as long as broad and had Pillars round about it which other Temples had only in their Fronts Hereafter you may have a sight of a draught that I took upon the place which will give you the dimensions exactly Those who are skill'd in Architecture and would know the true proportions of the Dorick Order will be able to judge whether this was the work the Most Famous Architect hath so highly commended Let it not displease I beseech you that I make my self the depository of my designs and chuse to bring along with me when I return into France all the Monuments Bas-reliefs Inscriptions and Figures that I have met in Crayons of my own doing and upon this account it is that I do not here trouble you with the Description of any one of them There could not be a pleasanter prospect than we had among the Pillars the whole Archipelago was on our left hand and nothing could entertain us better than to see and consider the multitude of Isles wherewith it is furnished and our Perspective-Glasses were of great use in our view forward we saw the way which we had come on our right hand the Gulf of Engia gave us occasion to guess in what part of its shore the City of Athens was situate and then looking Northward up the Country we had a view of a good number of Cabanes and the entrance of the famous plain of Marathon where the Persians were defeated It came into Osman's head that he could discern the house where his Wife lived and that fancy redoubling his impatience he took us off from our contemplation much sooner than otherwise we should have been We made directly to the Cabanes designing to lye there that night for it grew late and to take Waggon the next Morning to convey us to Osman Chilebi's house These Cabanes were inhabited by those kind of people which are known to the Turks and
Church replied If we never drank Wine but at Mass we should never drink any for what is drank there is transubstantiated and ceasing to be Wine becomes the real blood of Christ the Son of God to which with a most Christian eagerness he added that all opinion to the contrary was damnable The throng of Turkish Officers that were about the Basha would fain have rebuked the confidence of the Father But the Basha being more moderate than all of them smiled and corrected them with this gentle answer Do you not see he is a stranger and can scarce speak the language of the Country where he is Let us be gone and take Candy and when we come back he will be better able to explain himself and had it not been for the generosity of the Basha it was not unlikely but the poor Father might have been added to the number of the Martyrs Not far from this house of the Jesuites there is another where the Calogers of Medelli are lodged when they come to Athens The Sardar's Palace is at the end of the same Street and his Seraglio over against his Palace all the Chelibi's of Athens have every one their Seraglio over against their Lodgings On the right hand towards Panagia stands the Temple of Jupiter a magnificent Structure but there having been formerly five or six Dedicated to the same God we could not inform our selves whether this were the Encyclios the Epopete or the Phratrios be it which it will it is at present a Greek Church and stands at the end of the street And this let me tell you by the by at this day the streets of Athens have no name but what they receive from some Church Mosque or Palace of some great Man The Vecchiados Capitanakis next neighbour to the Capuchins knew not the name of the street where he lived but called it my street So that we were left to our selves to distinguish the streets of Vesta the sacred Tripos or Trivet Polemion and certain others which we found mentioned in History Of all the old streets there is none that retains its old name but the Ceramicus and even that is not like to keep it long now frequently called the street of Bazar which in probability in a short time will obtain against the other and extinguish it Unless it be this street there is none of the rest either broad or streight and the crookedness and oddness of their turnings at this day answers very much to the description given of it long since by Dicaearchus the Geographer Atheniensium urbs amaena humanitatem prae se ferens at sicca tota neque aquis bene instructa neque rectè item in plateas secta ob vetustatem Athens is a pleasant City and pretends much to civility but it is dry and ill supplyed with waters nor are the streets so streight as they should be by reason of their antiquity The Suburbs that lye Eastward of Lycaeum are full of Gardens which run along as far as the Ancient Village called Amazonion from the great Battel fought there betwixt Theseus and the Amazons The Athenians set up a Pillar in the place and called it Amazonia where also those Martial Women Erected a Temple and called it Amazonian In the same place where stood the Gate of the Ancient City of Ithonia which is now in the way to Phalerum These Gardens lye likewise where formerly was that famous place for publick Assemblies called Pnyx in which there were frequent and great concourses in which many a great Orator has recommended himself to them in an excellent harangue About the Bench or Tribunal which stood in the middle of the Court there was a competent proportion of Ground called Periscaenisma for that it was roped about to keep the Multitude off from incommoding the Judges The Lithos was on the side of it being a high Stone upon which the Publick Cryer stood when he commanded silence Not far from it there was a Sun-dial and at one Corner a Temple Dedicated to the Muses On the other side stood the House where Cimon dwelt and Elpinice from whence we passed to another Quarter called Chrysa and famous as being the place where the Amazons incamped We returned into the City by the Gate which is hard by the Covent of Capuchins and to speak truth we might enter as we pleased for there was not above a pane or two of Wall standing together by the Gates of the City and they pitifull things in respect of the Ancient Gates which were very magnificent one of them it is true is tolerably well but of that hereafter As we entred into the Town on the right hand there stands a Monastery of Calogers whose Church is Governed by a particular Caloger on the other side of the street is a Cloister of Capuchins the Cloister was shut and leaving it on our left hand we passed by the house of Vecchiados Capitanakis where we saw one of his Sons but not like to be so accomplished as his Father Not far from it we were shown a little building which the Athenians called To Phanari tou Diogenis or Diogenes his Lanthorn It is used at present for the reception of Water from one of their Fountains the Ancients called it Analogaean because it was built like a Pulpit but there being a Cupola like a Lanthorn on the top the Common People called it Diogenes his Lanthorn in allusion to a capricious humour of his when to upbraid the effeminacy of those Times he took a Lanthorn at Mid-day and pretended he was looking for a Man Julius Pollux speaking of this Analogaean would perswade us it was Erected by Diogenes but I cannot think he intended the Philosopher who was not Architect enough to repair his own Tub when broken by the Tumult for the Athenians were fain to supply him so that probably Plutarchs Opinion is the best that it was set up by Diogenes a Governour of the Macedonian Garrisons in Attica who drove the Athenians out of Pyreum Munichia Salamis and the Castle of Sunion From thence we passed by the house of the French Consul which stands at the corner of a Market-place with the Dining-room jetting out into the street and supported by Pillars There is a fair Fountain in the Wall and under the Fountain a large watering-place There is a Story told very confidently at the Consuls house but laught at by most of the Athenians They perswaded us that every night the Fairies came into the Consuls Stables dressed his Horses gave them many and terrible blows with their whips and when they had done led them out to water to a Fountain that is within his Court. A little above the French Consuls House towards the street called the Bazar we saw the second great Mosque of that City It was anciently the Temple of Venus Vrania built by Egeus and repaired by Adrian It was famous for the Statue of Venus done by Phidias Vulcans Temple called at present the Catholicon
the Bazar from another great Market-place which the Ancients called simply Agora but touching upon the two Streets of Colonos and Colytos the two ends of it were called by their Names There is an excellent Statue to be seen in it it is called Agoraeus much like the Statue of the same Mercury before the Poecile At present this Agora is called the Cadi's Place because he has a House there himself and his Seraglio looks out upon it Over against this Place stands the Catholicon which the Christians call their Caâ—hedral or Archiepiscopal Church It is â—ot much greater than the Church of St. Innocents in Paris The Caloger Damaskinos is one of its principal Dignitaries being Grand Vicar to the Archbishop Tradition tells us that this Catholicon was a Temple dedicated to Vulcan and the same that was consecrated promiscuously to Vulcan and Minerva Minerva had a Statue in it with blew Eyes of the same colour with the Waves of the Sea because as Plutarch affirms she was thought to be Neptune's Daughter St. Austin tells us of a Child exposed in this Temple and of a Dragon that hugg'd and defended it Plato says that the Souldiers listed in Athens for their Wars had their Quarter in this place In a direct line from the Catholicon over against the Cadi's Place stands the Phylaki or publick Prison The Temple of Venus Vrania stands behind the Phylaki and is turned into a Mosque It was no little satisfaction to us to find the scituation of all these Buildings exactly to the description we met withal in the old Athenian Orators for you must not imagine thaâ— only their Historians make mention of them As we never went to see any quarter of the Town till we had considered and studied it very well in our Chamber it was methought very pleasant to hear us as soon â—â— we came near any place to tell one another This is such a Temple this such a Building and this such a Ruine and our great satisfaction was to hit generally right The Colytos is a quarter below the Cadi's place and stands towards the South Plato and that great Misanthropos Timon were born in it Eschines the Oratour contemporary with Demosthenes lived in it You may see in Plutarch the ingenious answer of Demosthenes when he accused Demades the Orator for having been taken in Adultery in the Colytos Tertullian has a considerable observation of this place he tells us that Children do sooner learn to speak there than any where else and Philostrates affirms that they are generally born handsomer and more beautiful there for which reason they are called the delights of Greece I astonished the Inhabitants when I told them these things but as to the beauty of their Children Experience does at this day confirm the testimony of the Ancients And thus I have brought you through a quarter of which Pausanias has not mentioned a word no more than of that of Melita which came so near the Colytos that there was nothing but a Pillar that distinguished them It was the Nymph Melita one of Hercules his Mistresses that gave that name to that place in which there was a Temple consecrated to Hercules and an excellent Statue of him done by the famous Gelidas who was Phidias his Master Besides that there were likewise three other Temples one dedicated to Diana sirnamed Aristobulâ— and built by Themistocles another to Heros Melanippos the Son of Theseus and the third to Heros Eurysaces the son of Ajax from which Eurysaces Alcibiades was descended Finding in this quarter several Greek Churches and particularly two Covents of Calogers or Religious of the Order of St. Basilia we were very inquisitive whether none of them were built upon the ruines of some of these Temples but tradition failed us and we could not have that satisfaction which we found in other places where examining the Cornishes and Chapters and Frizes betwixt the Pillars we found sometimes Eagles sometimes Thunderbolts as the symbols of Jupiter sometimes Serpents and Clubs as the symbols of Hercules Harps of Apollo and so of the rest but here we could find nothing oâ— them However we were assured that there was the Palace of Themistocles that Epicurus and Photion had their Houses there and History tells us of a great Building there where those persons assembled who prepared any thing for the Stage The other ancient quarter called Colonos is near the Melita and divided only by a large Portico called Macra Stoa because composed of five others joined together In this Colonos it was that anciently the old Artificers and such people lived as wrought for the publick for which reason it was likewise called Misthiâ—s but without the Town there was another Colonos called Hippios which the Translators of Pausanias call Equestre juâ—um it is below Zenon's School and Eastward of the Academy from thence we directed our walk towards Mount Pentelicus and by the way We passed by an ancient Gate they called Pilae Hippades or the Horse Gate because in that Colonos Hippios there were store of Horses to be lett On the right hand we left the ruines of a magnificent Aquaeduct begun of old by Adrian and â—inished by his successor Antoninus Pius This Aquaeduct served for conveyance of water from the Didascalion to Adrian's Palace In the way from hence to Raphti not far from this Aquaeduct on the right hand we saw the place where stood the ancient Gate of Acharnae and more to the South the Gate of Melita which they called Pylae Melitides beyond which Gate lay the Faubourg of Coela where were the Tombs of Cimon and Thucydides The Colonos Hippios seemed a very pleasant place to us Pausanias only names it without any mention of four remarkable Temples to be seen there one of Venus another of Neptune a third of Prometheus and fourth of the Eumenides or infernal Furies In this last it was that Oedipus took Sanctuary when full of remorse for his Parricide and incestuous Marriage he betook himself thither implore the mercy of the Athenians who received him with their natural hospitality At the foot of the Mount Pentelicus we found an old reservatory of waters that were conveyed by the Aquaeduct to the Palace of Adrian We found a Spring there whose waters were very pleasant and of â— more than ordinary freshness they called it Brisis or Vrisis for they pronounce â— both ways the Mount Pentelicus they calâ— To Vouni tou Agion Georgiou but they pronounce Ahyou for Agyou and Hyoriou foâ— Georgiou We ascended the Mountain but slowly because our Physician entertained us as we went along with a discourse upon the several Simples and Plants which grew there in great excellence We saw also the Quarries out of which was taken a great part of the Marble imployed in adorning the City of old Upon any great Rain the fall of Water from this Mountain was very great and searching for the Chanel of the Torrent called Cycloborus we found three or
Father is living Mahomet was alwayes in the Arms of the fair Odaliques and she who caressed him most be would be sure to be withal They would make him talk a thousand smart things sometimes against one sometimes against another as quarrels arose among them and their jealousie would seldom suffer them to be long without with this custom of praâ—ing freely among the Women the Boy got a habit of speaking sharp things Ibrahim being one day walking in the Garden of the Seraglio caused two of those Mutes called Bizchami to dance before him those Bizchami must be Negro's and Eunuchs or they cannot be admitted into that private apartment It is a custom when the Sultan has been pleased with any divertisement to present those who entertained him and all persons at that time about the Sultan do constantly do it Ibrahim the Keslar-Agasi and the Odaliques presented the Mutes immediately which being neglected by the young Prince though to that purpose one of the Odaliques had thrust some pieces of Gold into his hand Ibrahim was angry and turning to him demanded why he did not present the Mutes as other people had done because said the young Prince very briskly I am not so much a fool as other people the sharpness of his answer put Ibrahim into a passion in the heat of which forgetting the Ring upon his finger he struck him with his hand so hard upon his face that his Diamond cut the skin and left a scar that is to be seen at this day The Keslar-Agasi carried away the Child immediately with the blood running about his face and roaring as loud as if he had been killed The passion of the Emperour being over and he much troubled at what he had done ran after the Child and in such hast that not minding where he went he tumbled into a Fountain that was in his way which accident doubling the confusion the Odaliques that were thronging after the Child came back and pulled the Sultan out of the water The Sultan Mahomet is of a tender and delicate complexion but he manages it very ill The Malecontents who are very numerous in that Country call him in derision the Hunts-man or Aviegi He takes great delight in the noise of Canon and has them often shot off only for his entertainment He shoots very well both with the Bow and the Musket He is very couragious and extreamly desirous to be in person with his Army whatever the Christians publish to the contrary imagining that his great affection to hunting and his propensity to the pleasures of Women makes him apprehensive of the hazards of War Would his Council have permitted it he had been long since in Candia such was his zeal to be in the Army that he threatned oftentimes to steal to them in disguise and when being a hunting he was at any time lost and failed to return at his accustomed hours the whole Court was afraid he had given them the slip But besides that his being in the field would have eclipsed the Glory of the Vizer and rendered him of less importance to his affairs the absence of the Sultan and the dangers to which he would have been exposed would have enhaunced the courage of the Malecontents and such who having been instrumental in the murther of his Father were afraid of his revenge and did ardently desire his death The Turks will tell you wonders of his Wit But every Nation cryes up the vivacity of their Prince This is most certain he had for his Tutor a person called Vani Effendi one that passes for so worthy and so learned a Man that if any one pretends to extraordinary Judgement or Sagacity in any thing the Turks by way of Irony will tell him Yes you are wiser and understand more than Vani Effendi Among all the Brothers of the Sultan the Peoples eyes are fixt most strongly upon Soliman whose Mother being dead has procured him the compassion of the Army more than any of the rest and by consequence exposed him more to the jealousie of the Sultan who had like to have stabbed him with his dagger at Adrianople in the year 1666. some months before the Grand Vizer went for Candia where he has continued ever since The particulars you shall have hereafter Since that accident the Janizaries have taken a greater care of the lives of Soliman and his Brothers and by an action as couragious as prudent have put them under the tuition of the Sultaness Validè the Mother of Mahomet but with caution that she be responsible for them though they do well understand that she would sacrifice them all to the interest of the Sultan And indeed nothing can be more strange than to see the Sheep committed to the custody of the Wolf This Sultaness is a Lady of great Magnanimity and Spirit In the beginning of her Sons Reign she caused the old Validè widow to Achmet to be strangled That old Lady was an ambitious Woman who to keep her self in the Supreme Conduct of Affairs fomented the division betwixt the Spahi and the Janizaries who were the death of her Son Ibrahim The Sultan Mahomet has had two Sons besides Daughters his eldest Son died and was a Child of great hopes The Mother of the young Prince is dead also and much lamented by all the Officers of the Seraglio for her extraordinary bounty She was exceedingly beautiful but her Countrey and Extraction were never known she was taken and brought away by the Tartars when she was but four years old and in a short time sold to a Bassa who designed her immediately for the pleasures of the Emperour and brought her up accordingly 'T is true the Tartars are obliged by express order from the Grand Signior to keâ—â— an exact Register of what Slaves they take either of one Sex or the other of their age their names and their Country thereby to justifie that they have brought away none of the Grand Signiors Subjects which before that Order they did frequently do These Tories bring to Constantinople sometimes thirty sometimes forty of these poor Girles all of an age but of different Countries being arrived there their first business is to renounce their Christianity and take upon them the Mahumetan Religion after which the Tartar gives in his Register and receives his discharge from the Cadi But their Register is not regarded when they are gone and by consequence the Countrey Pedigree and all other circumstances of their Slaves quickly forgotten so as it is but seldom known from whence their great beauties come By consent of all Travellers there is no Countrey in the World produces so fine Women as Circassia a Countrey in Asia upon the Mer major betwixt the lesser Tartars and Gourgiston It is death for a Christian to buy a Circassian Slave the Turks reserving them for themselves but when they are brought into the Seraglio and grow eminent for their Beauty their friends will quickly find out the place of their Nativity and