Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-08-30
GREEK BRfGANDs.
A Chapter of Personal History
The London Atkenoalnl sars;

e comes to grief at last, in spite Of tempo
rary successes and of the local terrol
e and submission which the reputation O
II few ruthless acts may create. But tht
f reflection that the captOrs viii probably
e come to the galloWs at last is poor con.
ISOLATION to those who, like Mr. MOens in
= italy, and NJ. Sottiropoulos In Greece,
/ have lived for many weary weeks 10
present misery, aud With death be-
3 fore their eyes, conscious that the
majesty of government was not only
4 powerless to-reseue them, but was actu=
ally working heart and soul to prevent
the delivery Of the ransom. asr q
Mr. Sottiropoulos, respectable land
owner of the Morea, who lived by the
produce of his small estate, which pro-
duee, consisting principally Of currants
asd other fruits, he and his family in
person helped to gather in, was neyerthe-
less a member Of the House of Assem-
bly,, and as far as we can see, a gentle
man of rather moderate means when
compared with the millionaires Of West
ern Europe. 1t is the custom, he writes,
for the landowners in Greece to reside
upon their estates during the summer
and autumn, in order taat they may be
| able to superintend the gathering and
| drying Of the fruits. On his little estate
Agrile, on the western coast of the Pc
loponnesus, between Kyparissia and Phi
liatras, in the month of june, after his |
parliamentary duties were over, Mr.. Sot- /
tiropoulos was living with his family, oc-
cupied in collecting the fruits. The ex-
tent Of the property was almost ludi-
crously small, according to our English /
notions but it must be remembered /
that in parts of Greece where the land is
really good, the produce in a given space
is more valuable than it would be in our
northern latitude. A cargo of excellent
dried currants may spring out of a very
small plot of land, and may bring to the
diligent Arcadian a solid return in west
ern gold. Even looking at the estate in
question in this way, it certainly was
rather small for by the statistics and
comparison of land measures given in the
early part of the book, we cannot make
out that it consisted of more than about
thirty six acres. 1t had, however, the ad-
vantage of being near the harbor of ;
Agrile, which afforded an easy exit for
its produce; and when we are told that /,
it was pre-eminent for its fertility, and
might be expet ted in time to produce {
100000 pounds of currants, 1000 okes
Of sultana raisins, and from 10 600 to I
1900 okes of wine; and, moreover. that
t took about thirty laborers to gather c
n its harvest, we may perhaps value it
lpproximatel ly at from $4,000 to $4,000 q
sterling. n
The proprietor of this little estate was ;
eized by brigands in the midst of his u
pleasant labor, and was obliged to pay q
rom first to last 10000 drachmas, or P
:25O0, before he could obtain his re- ?
ease. As member of the House of II
assembly, he was no doubt looked upon a.
y the half-wise, half-ignorant robbers u
s heavy swell, a gentleman of aris- II
ocratic position, to whom it would be q, y
lmost an insult to propose small sum = :
y way of ransom. Mr.. Sottiropoulos, .
elieving that the sum demanded was
reater than the whole value of his prop
rty, took q different view Of the case, '"
ut was unable to convince his amiable al
lptors of the correctness of his esti NJ
Iate. q
In reading through this narrative, we ii
'e pretty well what are the views and NJ
rineiples of Greek brigands, and we re
erceive tolerably close affinity be- IA
Veen these and their brethren Of the w
-alian peninsula. We find the same III
ollow pretense of political motives, the CO
me genuine thirst after money, the WI
lme determination to keep up the pres OF
ge of the profession by suffering no 70 70
lptlVe to escape alive without ransom. n, Il,
4 the picture drawn by Mr.. Sottiropou- -
IS, as in that given by Mr.. Moens, all IN
'mantic taneies of picturesque life dis ti'
'pear In moment, and the reality of I'D
-igandage presents itself as compound III
falsehoOd, ignorance, selfshness and pa
TT The Greek, however, seems to be az
lperior to his italian brother in GOOD en-
lture, and there is eomical pathos in en-
Ie farewell interview of the deputy VII
ith his captors, who kissed him and Ir'
ished hm all sorts of happiness. ap- ou
lrently in sincerity at the moment, je'
Ough they had nearly wrung his life ee
1t with hardships, and had told him ga
llly during his captivity that their rules III
ould compel them to slay him if the Pr
nsom did not come. The usual threat th
these amiable creatures seems to be, co
at if the ransom is not forthcoming, We
ey will send the eaptive's head home an an
his relations g to be made into a pie. - sti u
ais pleasant phrase occurs in the fol- oI
wing letter, written to Madame Sotti- Pc
poulos, which affords so graphic a pie cr'
re of the particular kind of pressure 70 V.
lieh is brought to bear upon the rela- on c
Tes and friends of captives that we .!
ed not make any apology for giving na' n,'
in full sec
ppTGAND'S 7 r,1TrD