Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-05-12


mote from Athens and from Troy.
Twelve hours by steamer from Corfu brings us
to Argostoi the chief port and town Of Cephalo-
mia. Hadria was rough on that morning, and,
like the apostle we were for some hours driven |
up and down in way more impressive than con-
genial. It was pleasure TO reach solid ground |
again, and we were glad to find any decent con-
veyance across to the eastern shore. This island
is very mountainous, and the surface rough with |
thicky strewn stones, but in the lower parts the
olive thrives and vineyards are frequent. The
chief export is the dried currant grape,-a fruit
raised as well on the other islands around and on
the shores of the Peloponnese and transported to
England and America aud sold under the name of
English currants At sunset we are on the very
height OF the mountain ridge. The western sky
is bedecked with brilliant hues, and the sea be-
low seems to be calming itself for a nights e.
pose. The way ahead is on the brink of a gorge
which few, even in Switzerland, can rival in Wild
ness but, thanks to the English who made the
only good roads which these islands have, and
thanks to the moon which shed friendly light
upon us, we felt tolerably secure. Under other
circumstances and, possibly, with clearer light,
the break-neck speed of our horses might have
made the descent almost frightful. 1t was eight
o'clock in the evening when we reached the little
fishing hamlet OF Samos The best lodging was
in the guest-room adjoining little store, and it
was fortunate that we had with us some mate
rails for our supper and breakfast The little shop
was good subject for the brush of an artist. Put
five shelves on the side of low ROOM cover the
topmost with water-jars, the next with table
cookery of which no two pieces are alike, the third
with bottles of wine and arrack, the fourth with
Irvine, coarse cotton cloth and sacking, the fifth
with nails, candles and macaroni then place
underneath cask each Of soap, salt and herrings,
and you have the picture of the merchants sales
room and of his principal wares. sailor neigh
Dor had been to New York, could speak little
English and was quite servceabe in commune
eating with his less lettered townsmen. The four
and twenty suitors of Penelope were residents of
this region and he, no doubt, was a lineal de-
scendent of one or more Of them. He showed us
the remains Of the city Of his ancestors on the
mountain slope above the bay and led us TO the
fountain Of fresh water that gushes up some
inches high on the margin Of the waves. With
him we bargained for transport across the bay
which separates Cephalonia from Ithaca The
wind served us but brief time and the two oars
men made slow work with numbering craft.
But there was rare compensation for the delay, in
that we we're in the midst Of the finest scenery
among the isles Of Greece Santa Maura on the
north and the crest of Zante on the south COM
pleted the quadrangle, in the center of which we
were beating and lacking with every gust that
gave promise of help. So could we afford to wait
and watch the purple ridges and classic peaks to
the utmost limit Of our time. At length after
five hours for our course OF seven miles, we
moored in the harbor OF Aetos, almost under
meath the massive Cyclopean walls which are des-
gnated as the foundations of the castle of Ulysses
This side OF Ithaca does not seem now IN have
much attraction for permanent residents, or else
the heir of the hero of the Trojan war likes not
many neighbors, for only two dwellings are in
sight, one on the shore and one on the summit
near the castle. From the former issued an old
man with garb OF sackcloth and with matted
hair, who suited the general description of
Rip Van Wrinkle after his long sleep We
called him Ulysses, and the gray-hared matron
who shortly appeared with the donkeys Pencil
ope. She made the beasts ready for our
further journey and her lord became our guide for
the three miles that lay between his home and
Bathy, the capital of this poetic realm Thus
were we introduced to the kingdom Of Ulysses.
Ithaca is long and narrow island, measuring
seventeen miles by four In breadth. Cicero says
that Ulysses loved his country, "not because it
was broad, but because 1t was his own" Its sur
face is mostly rugged and sterile, but levels and
terraces on the east and south bear oliveorchards
and vineyards, and groves of almond and orange
trees. bold, broken limestone range OF high
hills runs nearly its whole length, but its height
eliminates in the peak of Anoge to which Virgil
gives the epithet of drdud sdris. more beauti-
full harbor than that of Bathy can hardly be i'm
agined. winding channel links it so secretly
with the sea that from no point OF the bay itself
is the ocean visible, and the town is built in a
semicircle round the harbor. Here by the sea