The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-07-23
BYRoN's BoATMAN DEAD.
One of the Last Survivors of the Greek
War of Independence.

There has just died at Missolonghi
one of the very few survivors of the
Greek war of independence, says an
Athens letter to the N. y Tribune.
Indeed, he was almost the last of them,
for to have been old enough to play an
active part in that struggle man
must now be an octogenarian or more,
and veterans of 80 years are few. This
man, Chazes by name,w poor boat
man who made scanty living by fer
rying people across the largoon from
Missolonghi to Kilsova, and he pur-
sued this calling almost to the end of
his life, though he was 81 years old.
Then at the end the news of his death
was telegraphed to the king by the
prefect Of the district, and the king
ordered a noble funeral at the public
expense, and placed emblems of mourn
ing on the public building at the cap
ital. Had Chazes been statesman or
a general higher honors could scarcely
have been paid him, if indeed so high.
For in that case his death might have
been a matter purely of national inter-
est, instead of being, as it is now, an
event sending sympathetic thrill all
round the world.
The circumstance that made him
parsonage of such wide interests is
this: He was Byron's boatman. 1t is
now sixty-six years since that volcanic
genius came to Greece to burn out his
soul in one grand burst of fervor for
freedom and patriotism. The town Of
Missolonghi, where he made his head
Quarters, stands on the margin of a
wide lagoon, which doubtless endeared
the place to him by reminding him of
his favorite Venice. He had brought
with him Tita, his Venetian gondolier.
But the latter, expert as he was with
his picturesque craft on the grand
canal, was helpless on the unfamiliar
water of the Actolian lagoon, with its
frequent rocks and tangles of weeds.
The boats, too, were beyond his ken.
These curious craft, called monoxyla,
would be known in America as dug
outs" They consist each of the trunk
of chestnut or other tree, stripped of
its bark, pointed at the ends, and
followed. One is perhaps 15 feet long
and 2 feet wide, and single-bladed
paddle is the instrument of motive
power. Such boat, it is easy to see
is readily upset if managed by an in
experienced hand, but with an expert
boatman at the paddle it is not only
safe enough, but amazingly speedy.
So Byron promoted or relegated Tita
to the rank of body servant, and Sc
cured the services of native boatman.
Chazes was made that boatman, and
for months he was constantly in
Byron's service. For the poet was pas
sionately fond of the water, and not
only used it as highway of travel
whenever possible, but spent all his
spare time in cruising upon it. 1t was,
as is well known, this love of boating
that cost him his life. One day, while
riding with Count GAMBIA in the neigh
borhood of Missolonghi, he was over
taken by a heavy shower and retUxned
to the town wet through. Notwlth-
standing the remonstrances of the
count, he persisted in going to his house
by boat, although the rain was still
falling heavily. Two hours later he
was seized with fever and rheumatic
pains, which were the beginning of his
fatal illness. Whether or not man is
ever hero to his valet, Byron certain
ly was hero to his boatman. Chazes
recognized him then, not only as a
would-be redeemer of Greece, but also
as the greatest poet of the age, and
ever since was fond of talking of him,
describing him, and dwelling on his
greatness. He was not literary man,
this boatman, but he had complete
edition of Byron's works, and probably
knew the bulk of them by heart. As
he padded his boat about the lagoon
he would recite long passages from
s'Childe Harold" his face literally
glowing with ardor and his voice ring
ing like a trumpet as he rehearsed- the
stanzas which tell of the glories of his
native land.