The union Democrat. [volume] (Sonora, Calif.) 1854-1946, 1871-09-30
NUMBER IL.
a QUEER COMMUNITY
Seven Thousand Wen aaa No wou..

correspondent has discovered a comr,-
nifty. numbering at present about seve, thon-
sand souls, which has hourished for manv
centuries, though no women has ever haar
permitted or known to set foot in the countrr
Few OF the inhabitants, he says, have anv
definite idea of what woman is The whole
class of ideas and sensations ordinarily asso-
clated with the words mother, sister. wife
and sweetheart are TO them unknown, or
nearly so. while on every side are to be seen
evidences OF temperance, piety and good or
der. The home of this eccentric but happy
people Is IN the easternmost of the three pen-
insulas which project from the north coast of
the Greek Archipelago 1t was anciently call
cd Ac'e. now Monte Saucto. and is about for
ty miles IN length, and from two to nine
miles across. 1t terminates in Mt. Athos. n
conlcal mass of limestone rising abruptly to
height of six thousand five hundred feet.
Between this bold headland and the coast il
a beautiful plateau, clothed throughout with
woodland, which is gay with flowers, rich
with odors, merry with songs Of birds. and
canopied by the brightest of all blue skies.
The cultivated fields are all diversified with
groves OF oak and chestnut, while olive and
hg trees are there indigenous. To this Sc.
cret paradise the sons, but not the daughters,
OF Eve are admitted, and such has been the
custom as far back as history reaches, the
peainsular being relgiously guarded at all
points against the approach of woman, no
matter how sanity she might be. The in
mates are natives of every part of the Turk
ish Empire where the Greek language is
spoken, and are consigned to the societies
either In infancy or. in early life by their fa-
natlcal parents. The first years are spent in
tilling the land, tending the vines. helninp
IN the homework, or engaging in some hand
lcratt For three years the candidate is n
probationer then if he has proved able 70
keep the monastic vows, he receives his first
tonsure and becomesa monk. The discip-
line Is severe, ordinary church services seven
hours day. extraordinary fourteen, and
sleep i've. One hundred and ffty-ni DAYS
In the year they have one meal only day.
and at this eggs, cheese. fish, wine and oil
are forbidden. The prohibition against wo-
men extends to the sex universally. From
time immemorlal no cow, mare, goose. duck,
hen, or female of any kind, has ever been
permitted to make acquaintance with hill or
valley, farm-yard or kitchen, in the Mt.
Athos territory. In selecting meat for the
table TIE greatest care is taken to have it of
the male variety, and a BODY of soldiers il
employed by the societies to keep the sacred
shores from being desecrated by the tread of
any female whatsoever. Yet, in spite of all
these stringent regulations, the birds con-
tinue to mate, and feminine ieas and mos
quitos to rear their young to the everlasting
scandal of all the pious old bachelors on the
peninsula. There are in the converts some
good libraries, containing about fifty thou
sand volumes in all, and manuscripts seven
hundred years old are by no means uncom-
mon. Altogether these venerable male nuns
have jolly time ofit--Boston True Flag.