Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-05-31

same exercises, the same services, and
now stands out in Europe isolated no
less in spirit than in situation. As an
aged servitor on the Mount expressed
1t TO me in curious modern Ent lish-he
had once been a sailor on the American
coast-when l asked him the reason
for some childish custom :SJVe find IL
So, zoe run IL so.
The number of visitors who reach
this curious place being very few in
deed, 1t is worth while Tor those who
have been there to tell their expert
ences. My object in going was to ex-
anime the many Illuminated manu-
scHpIs for which their libraries are
famous; for L desired, if possible, to
fnd the earlier stages of that wonder
full art, which bursts upon us In its
unapproachable perfection in the IA
nous "Book of Kells.'- But | should
Indo ed have been dull and worthless,
If 1 had not been deeply impressed
with the natural features, still more
with the religious condition Oh this
across vast chasm,- poised upon Its
cliff with the sea SEQ feet ben cath, the
great dome of the Mount in the back
ground, we felt without hesitation that
1t far exceeded anything we had ever
seen in all our travels. Who can tell
that similar catastrophes and forest
fires may not mar the beauty of the
Mount, and roo us for ever of the most
precious relics of a bygone age?+
= There are no inns or roads upon
Athos, nor is any stranger permitted to
land there, unless he be accepted as
guest of the monks. sfor this purpose
he must obtain lettsO from Greek arch
bishops, or prime ministers, or Turk
ish ambassadors, which he presents to
the governing body assembled at
karyes, who then issue a circular to
the twenty-one societies of the Mount,
recommending the visitor to their hos
pitality. From that moment he lives
free, and is received not only at the
table with the monks, but is sent by
boat or mule from each religious house
to the next
Armed with these introductions, I
was carried from Salonica by one Of
ii MS gun-Loats, and was walked up
at five in the morning with the hurried
message from The captain that l must
land at once, or be carried of to
Lemnos, for one of the usual storms
was rising, and the first glance showed
me how dangerous was the coast. We
lay close to huge wall of grew rock
rspching up to heaven, which showed
from beneath no vegetation or track of
man, till the eye caught castle,
perched Ike an eagles nest far mp the
face of The cliff Then 1 discerned
a tiny boa thouse straight beneath 1t,
with no visible harbor. or connection
with the aerial keep. Yet it wss-clearly
the entry to the other, and the sailors
brought us toa tiny quay. and little
shelter for boat where we landed, not
without difficulty and danger. was
accompanied by my sor, fresh from
Marlborough School, and by Mr..
Sampson, the missionary in charge of
the American missions in Macedonia
and Bulgaria. This excellent man,
who breaches every Sunday in Greek,
was invaluable in making inquiries ald
carrying on conversations, for which
my modern Greek was inadequate.
Each monastery has a boatmsn
monk, who lives in its penthouse; and
being now received and questioned by
this venerable person, he put his
mouth to q long tube, like trumpet,
and sang up the mountain, PeHte MOuI-
aria, five mulesl" We hardly beard
him beside us with the raging of the
wind and lasbing of the waves, and yet
after u few minutes he showed us, al
! most straight over our heads, the outer
edges of the ules coming down to
/ our assistance. AS We saw the empty
| stirrup now and then hanging in the
! all over us, We Osked nneasily whether
We were to ascend in this way; and yet
so did. II is the habit of the er-
fectly sure-footed beasts, who carry
loads along these break neck paths, to
avoid being jostled by the inner wall
OF the cliff, by walking along the outer
edge over the precipice. No doubt
/ they have ascertained, by that instinct
I which represents generations of expert
eLce, that this is the safest plan, and
no rider Is fool enough to quarrel with
a mule in such situation, but leaves
i, submisSiyely to its own course. 1t
! is, nevertheless, at first, very trying to
! the nerves, and we felt it so much that
/ twice, when passing from one monas-
terry to another, We preferred 10 go
down to the sea and attempt the Jour-
J ney in an oren boat. But the first
time we met with so heavy q swell,
that after much toiling we were fain to
! land and make the rest of the way on
! foot, sending back our baggage. The
! ST cond attempt was even more disas-
/ trous. We were laboring hard to
! round point beyond which we knew
! We should find the monastery of Xero-
! potamu, when a boat coming down the
wind warned us that squaIl was ap-
preaching. A moment later 1t was
upon us. Fortunately, we had Just
! put about the boat, and Mr.. Sampson,
/ e brave man and a good sailor. was at
the rudder. In one minute the sur
face OF the sea was not only snow-white
with foam, but there were tremendous
| waves, over which we scudded down
the wind at a terrible pace. The boat
men, with the exception of the old
monk skipper, who saw We were in
& hands, we're terrified and noisy.
! The soldiers who were with us as a
guard of honor, though landsmen, and
probably never before in such plight,
were perfectly calm and courae eous.
To our lee, about n mile off, was the
great inevitable wall of cliffs, a certain
uestrUc ction If We did not make IL our
straight run n tiny boat harbor which,
in the distance, looked hardly big
enough to hold our boat. Yet by tie
skill aud cooiness of Mr.. Sampson we
ran safely in, and were dragged on
shore by two monks who had run
down from above to help US. So we
thanked God for our escape, aud de-
teruIIed III future to risk the preci.
pices and not the squalls of Mount
Altos. Will add that, upon inquiry,
VIC found that accidents to riders are
very rare, aSd seem only to happen
through the fault OF the man. not of
tie beast.
When we had ascended to the mon
astery is, Gregory'sl, which turned
out to be almost the most remote and
| secluded of them all, we rode into a
walled court surrounded with high
ch mbers and towers, and studded
with small, but very decorated,
churches. Fhe buildings were all piled
| together in the most picturesque con-
fusion. Out OF many windows tiers of
Iaonkish heads looked down upon us
in shy wonderment, for We came with
out notice, and any stranger Is great