Vicksburg weekly herald., 1877-12-28
The BeauGy OF Cretnn VVomeu

UGLY HOMES OUTSIDE MADE PLEASANT
INSIDE BY MODEL MOTHERS AND
WIVES.
London Tlmes.l
KHALEPA, CRETE, Oc,. ia Cretan
villisge is a strange looking place. All
the dwellings are alike In ugliness, OBJ.
long in form, with walls of rough
stone, and fat roofs, destitute of para.
pets and chimneys. One or two arches
are thrown across the length Of the cot
tsges 10 support the root, which con.
sists Of tenacious clay few inches
deep, late on pieces Of bark, and rolled
hat-let antiQuaIies shudder-with the
drums of marble columns. In Asky.
pho the heavy snow storms which oc.
cur there make Il unsafe TO carry up
the buildings higher than one story.
and they certainly have a most misera-
bic exterior.
But the comfort within doors depends
at Askypho, as everywhere else, not on
the architect, but on the lady of the
house, and the wives Of Sphakia rank
high among their sex. They are con.
spicuous for their beauty. Their dark
eyes are large and lastroup, their fea-
lures are dellcately chiseled, and wav.
Ing tresses fall In profusion from be.
meath their modest Eerchiefs. Their
carriage Is graceful as the does.
But, though possessed Of uncommon
personal charms, their attention is by
no means confined 10 the toilet. Every
thing which their homes contain is the
work of their own hands. The cloth
of the husbands jacket and iez OF the
wool of the sheep he tends is dyed,
spun and woven by the hands of his
faithful wife. She it is who makes his
garments from the cotton plant which
grows before the door; the bright
scarf that binds his waist is from The
silkworn which feeds upon his null
berry trees the mats and tapestries
whose bright designs, taken from the
pattern book OF tradition alone, give
his home cheerful air, are the work
OF her industrious loom, and many
more objects that am incompetent to
enumerAte are due TO her uItiriug
labors.
1t was these same Sphakian women
who only ten years ago were, with
their helpless children, hunted from
mountain 10 mountain, outraged and
murdered. In the cottage Of my
guide, though the owner was by no
means a chief among his people, the
table-cloth, the napkins, the sheets, all
Of them homemade, were bordered
with Cretan lace the pillow.case was
a,single piece Of the same rich material :
the counlerpane was so gorgeous with
many colors that did not refrain from
expressing my admiration of its
"Yes," said my host, "my wife is of a
very good family, and knows the old.
fashioned ways OF weaving which her
mother taught her."
} The cottage itself consisted OF O
moderate-sized room, with gallery foI
sleeping in, and two very small ones
Of which the larger was the kitchen
. The walls were not even whitewashed
, and the floor was Of mud, yet the spiri
that reigned there rcconciled one Il
all. dined with great zest Oft Euglisl
plates, which are priced there az much
as Japanese crockery is In England, bu
9 without wine, not drop Of which wa
to be found in any of tho seven vii
s lages-a signhcsnt fact. The wifi
waited on US, for coniugal respect i
strictly enforced, while even suspected
infdelity Is punished with death. Iii
}, easy to believe how such q people hiatt
u and despise any one, be ne caimakau
or DO be "milordi, ," who attempts to in
4 lroducc the vices of Western Enron
: into their mountain retreats.