Omaha daily bee., 1892-11-06

words, for the waters arc uuruflled aud
serene and so mildly tepid clustering
Boreas, who is venting his fury on those
rocks out beyond, cannot touch us in this
loveiy little rounded cove. and so we may
blsstully lie and float and laugh at the
hungry pillows which are so near and yet so
Tar. Demeter, our Youngest hopeful, takes
10 the water so that | should Judge her
ancestors to have been polvwogs Instead OF
monkeys a la Darwin. Numoer Two has
sprouted pair of fms, otherwise gourds.
They are our latest fad IN this line, aud
MAKE bathing dream. For iudolent
people who can't swim, and never will they
arc Invaluable. Just put your trust IN
kolokithia, as they call them here, and ye
shall never go to the bottom.
Hauling in the "Trata."
am perched up above in a little gem OF
cave aud across the bay the setting sun has
transformed our little hamlet, shedding
roseate light over the mountain behind IL
ana making 1t appear a white gem set in
gold Away under mo the smaller fry are
absorbed in musse hunting, and happy the
mussel that sticks tight for they know well
the art of slipping under the merciless knife.
Miltlades Is likewise below, pretending to
hsh for crabs, but keeping up a steady strain
OF talk with Miss Artemis whom he doesn't
dare approach, being in sufficient awe OF the
terrible female authoress. Our conversation
usually takes deeply classical turn and
quite natural 1t seems here. He likes to
pi'OS hlS huu SuuIu lUe anu mus In enough
Tor him until he begins spouting Homer, but
even here an fast catching up. His pride
In airing his ancient Greek though is pardon
aoie, lor he knows all the old authors by
heart and can give you anything from Socra-
ties to Pindar by the YARD.
AZ the other end of the beach they are
pulling in the trata which supplies the fish
Tor the whole village. IL is the most pic
turesque sight imaginable and probably has
not changed in the least from the mode of
Ena npn 4 n ; n
orawny fishermen are pulling on the heavy
rope aud one sees the bobbing pieces of cork
away out in the water showing how
long they must work; and one
is something that can't be hurried.
!he men are mostly III island costume, many
Iolueu olue honespun trousers gathered at
the knee, bright scarlet jackets with loose
whlte sleeves, and Greek caps, red with
heavy blue tassels. infinitely more graceful
and iaunty than the Turkish fez. Imagine
these colors coLtrasted with the deep blue of
the sea ana the sunset glow over the hills,
ana the rythmlcal united movements of the
hshers, as they sway back toward the land,
ana forward again, almost as one boGy.
50 graceful is it that the Megara girls at
Eastertide, when they flock by hundreds
from the valleys round to the great festival,
dance the trata, which is au exact imitation
OF TINS majestic, SLOW and stately move
ment-four steps forward and two back
ar l remember rightly and accompanied bv
wierd indescrlbaole chanting which accords
perfectly with the step. We Americans can
hardly comprehend the patience that keeps
them pulling for sometimes two hours, the
col OF rope on the sands growing gradually
higher until finally the net appears iu sight
ana all eyes are fixed eagerly on the silvery
wlggling mass of little prisoners, which all
told don't amount TO more than five or ten
okes (2"I pounds in an ok5). Sometimes
there are none at all, aud when they are very
lucky they catch twenty okes or more.
Fishing Net Fine rs My Lady's Veil.
The net is a work of art in itself, made of
the finest corded silk. 1 saw a brand new
one that had never been used at village up
The mountain. Tue meshes were fine as the
new wells the ladies wear now and the color
the natural gold or the silk. And, more,
saw the coccons and all the various pro-
cesses undergone in the making
mostly by hand Of course here. for
each house makes its own silk. or course
the women do all this, so that they are really
at the bottom of the fishing, and earn their
dinner quite as much as their husbands 1t
seemed quito shameful to impractical me
that this golden net must be backened with
pitch before ever 1t begin it's work. 1t
would make fairy hammock. We thought
silk rather extravagant for such use, but
they deem il the only really strong and dur
able material
There is a cneerful buzz of tongues and
rattle OF pennies as the head of hungry fam
Ines gamer III circle around the net, and
no little ''spattlng' about who shall be first
served. The law requires an even distribu
tlon OF the spoils, and so they all turn home
ward satisfied with their pewter plates full
one seldom sees any women here as IL is
thought unseemly of them to appear un the
sands. Their duty is 10 cook the fish when
the men folks bring them home. You may
be sure we came in for our share, the BOYS
purchasing them while we watched at a re-
spectacle distance. Then what larks In
gathering brush and sticks to make bed of
coal on the sand and have our good sized
fishes come out rich brown What an
edge it gave to the appetites already suffi-
clentiy whetted by theIwalkiand bath AS we
reclined on broad, sloping rock in true
Greek symposium fashion. with perhaps
much the same bill of fare as had tho an
clients, we all agreed that never had we
relshed the most lengthy table d'hote in
Athens with half the zest and whole soued
enjoyment as this informal but truly classic
shores The fish simply crumoled In
our fingers, so tender were they
and the black bread, with its own fine flavor
spread with snowy goats milk cheese Uhese
peasants don't know what butter isl. the
tiny black olives, these rather light Greek
viands helped out with our substantial DO
tato salad and hard boiled eggs, completed
and rounded out by figs. big dewy, purple
ones, aud honey-sweet preserves for more
dainty tastes, grapes Of all kinds, pears and
mind us OF home-everthing is excellent
and goes off like hot cakes. The wonder is
where Is found the capacity for it all. Still
another curious fact is that the smaller the
youngSter the more he or she can make away
with. There are toasts in the pure sweet
Andrian wine to Hellas, the worlds leader
and teacher III the oluen times, and tn
America, holding the same envable position
of acknowledged superiority In our own
country.
The inner man thus beautifully appeased.
the crownlng and finishing touch 20 our
afternoons enjoyment is the dreamy rowing
home across the bay in our roomy boat.
guided by our Herculean Doatman, ana with
Selene to shed over us her soft light and uraW
long path of shimmerng silver over the
scarcely ripping waves, for the wind mad
ceased. Our young American vlolinist,
fondling her beloved fiddle with girish
grace, and the handsome Greek fiutist made
pretty pair as they Sat in the prov and
played charmingly together the Greek ma
tlonal hymn, out own "American ana many
wierdly passionate Greek folksongs, mostly
erotika, while there was no want of voices
10 make sweetest harmony.
The opposite shore was reached all too
soon, for the sentimental young people would
nave Heated thus with song and laughter in
definitely. But that was deferred until on
other time, for the smaller members were al
ready wrapped in soft s!umber and Hercules
standing in the water tossed US Ia turn off
onto the dry sand. even 10 the tall consul,
like SO many babies. And thus happily ended