EXPEDITION TO THE LABYRINTH--DELLI YANI--THE INTERIOR--THE RETURN TO
CANDIA--LIFE THERE--REJOINS MR. NORTH--BAD WEATHER--EXPEDITION TO EGYPT
ABANDONED--SCIO--LEAVES MR. NORTH TO GO TO SMYRNA--STORMS--DANGER AND
COLD--ARRIVES AT SMYRNA.
"On the second day we started on our expedition to visit the Labyrinth.
It was delightful to get away from a place where we were little better
than State prisoners, unable to go out at all unless in form, and then
obliged to stay within the walls for fear of being taken for spies if we
went outside. When we had to pass through them to get out I saw that the
works are really very strong, with a ditch which can be flooded, and
walls thirty feet high.
At night we reached Schallous, a small village, and passed the night in
the house of an old Greek. Both he and his wife were terrified at first,
as we were in Turkish dress, and they had suffered terribly at the hands
of the Turks. He told me afterwards that his son, after an absence of
five years, had come home, and the very first night some Turks had
broken into the house, eaten and drunk all they could lay hands on, and
finally murdered the poor youth.
Next day, by Hagiospiliotissa to the convent of S. Georgio. Our
janissaries here gave us a sample of the tyranny of Turks by preparing
for us and themselves a magnificent repast, and getting drunk and
insulting the papades. Three hours more of hilly country, commanded at
intervals by fortified towers (kopia), brought us to the foot of Ida.
In ancient times, as well as now, towns of importance in these parts
were generally found by the sea, which was their source of wealth; but
the greatness of Gortyna, though so far inland, was no doubt due to the
magnificent cornlands of the rich plain of Messara. As I guess, the town
stood on a pointed hill overlooking it.
In a steep part of the hill looking towards the plain is an
inconspicuous hole in the rock, unmarked by any architectural or
structural feature. This is the entrance to the Labyrinth.[35] We had
brought a quantity of string for a clue, which we rolled on two long
sticks, then lit torches and went in. At first one enters a vestibule
out of which lead several openings. Two of the three, perhaps four, dark
entrances are blocked up, but one remains open. This we followed, and
for three mortal hours and more we groped about among intricate passages
and in spacious halls. The windings bewildered us at once, and my
compass being broken I was quite ignorant as to where I was. The
clearly intentional intricacy and apparently endless number of galleries
impressed me with a sense of horror and fascination I cannot describe.
At every ten steps one was arrested, and had to turn to right or left,
sometimes to choose one of three or four roads. What if one should lose
the clue!
A poor madman had insisted on accompanying us all the way from Candia.
He used to call me St. Michael; Douglas, St. George; and Foster, Minos.
We knew him as Delli Yani. Much against our will he persisted in
following us into the cavern, and when we stopped, going off with a boy
who had a lantern. Conceive our horror when we found suddenly that he
had disappeared. There in that awful obscurity he might wander about
till death relieved him. We sent back two men along the clue with
torches to shout for him, and listened anxiously, but the Turks were
quite unconcerned. God, they said, takes care of madmen. We went on, and
sure enough after about an hour Delli Yani turned up with the boy, who
was horribly frightened. We entered many chambers; in some were Venetian
names, such as Spinola; in another, 'Hawkins 1794,' 'Fiott' and other
Englishmen, and many names of Jews. All the _culs de sac_ were infested
with bats, which were very annoying, and rose in thousands when one of
our party fired a pistol. In one place is a spring. Here and there we
saw some lichen, and there were occasional signs of metallic substances,
but not enough to support the idea of its having been a mine. The stone
is sandy, stratified, and easily cut, the air dry, and it appears to me
that the most probable purpose of this wonderful excavation was as a
secure storehouse for corn and valuables from the attacks of robbers in
the days of Minos. The work was plainly all done with the chisel.
The passage is always eight or ten feet wide, and four, five, six,
eight, or ten feet or more high. In many places it had fallen in. The
peasants tell all sorts of stories about it. They told me that in one
place there are reeds and a pool, and that the hole goes right through
the mountain for three miles; that a sow went in and came out seven
years after with a litter of pigs; and so on.
We slept at Hagios Deka, left it at dawn and rode close to the foot of
Ida through a very rich country, and in spite of waiting an hour on the
road, reached Candia in seven hours and a half. It was evident that for
purposes of his own our janissary had taken us something like fifteen
hours out of our way in coming, and we had a serious dispute with him in
consequence. Our hurrying back was of no use. There was no prospect of
our getting away.
_Candia._--We have plenty of time on our hands and can only employ it in
the worst possible way by the assistance of the agas, who in the name
of dullness come and pass away their ennui in our company. To crown our
bliss, imagine us sleeping, feeding, and sitting all in one room,
without the possibility of finding a hole to hide our heads alone in.
What was to me perhaps the worst affliction of all, was that to
entertain our guests we had to have music, wearing on unceasingly in
melancholy monotony. Our situation, in fact, was getting to be very
trying.
We had a visit from our friend Alilah Agas, who begged us to send for
music, which was brought. Then he wished the girls of the house
(Jewesses) to come up and dance, and had we not been there no doubt he
would have compelled them to come. As it was, we discountenanced it, and
he gave it up. But he is a Turk; which is as good as to say utterly
unprincipled. He told me himself that in raising recruits in Anatolia
for the Bey of Tunis, he gave them three hundred piastres apiece, and
set it down as six hundred. That dishonesty and bestiality go hand in
hand with ignorance is well seen among the Turks. Moreover they lack the
civilising influence of women in their society. As soon as their
affected gravity is laid aside, they betray the vilest indecency of
feeling. One cannot give instances, but the fact was painfully brought
home to us.
At last, on the 24th December, a note came from Mr. North to say that he
was at Dia, the island across the bay. We replied begging him to stay
where he was, for that if he came to Candia he would certainly be
delayed. At the same time we sent to the pasha, begging to have the gate
of the port opened in case Mr. North came. The gate, however, was never
opened. Happily he did not come, and the dragoman we had sent with our
message had to sleep at a cafané outside the gate, and we lowered dinner
down to him with a piece of string over the walls. For a wonder we were
left alone for this evening, and Douglas and I walked about in our
little [Greek: peribolê] by moonlight, and thought of home and happy
Christmas parties there and our dismal Christmas out here. Amongst other
subjects we talked of the divine Mrs. Siddons. I trust you never omit my
love and duty to her, and my request that she will not forget her
devoted admirer during his wanderings. You have never told me whether
she intends ever to go on the stage again.[36]
We went to pay a farewell visit to the pasha. We found him sitting in
the same state as before--in full dress, with his diamond-hilted dagger
in his girdle and several magnificently rich snuff-boxes on the couch
beside him. Our conversation, made up of his questions and our answers,
lasted half an hour. He said he had seen a drawing of the Labyrinth
which I had done, and that it was very beautiful. What was the age of
the Labyrinth? the name of the king who made it? the age of the world?
&c. &c. Our answers were taken down, and our names. Finally he said our
visit was agreeable to him, and bade us cordially farewell.
Then walking down to the port we took two boats for ourselves and our
baggage, and urging the boatmen to hurry, in our eagerness not to miss a
chance of sailing that evening if the wind allowed it, we reached Dia in
two hours; and there was Mr. North very pleased to see us. We now
watched the wind for a chance of getting out of port, but it shifted
unsteadily from point to point, and there we remained twelve days. My
occupations were to wander about over the desert island, draw, and read
a great deal. It was dull, no doubt, but nothing to the active boredom
of society in Candia. Mr. North had several excellent cases of books,
and I fell upon Gibbon, and became entirely absorbed in it.
At last the wind changed, the captain set all hands to work, and we got
out of port, but lay outside rolling the whole day in a dead calm.
Towards evening the wind came strong from the south, and our captain,
always afraid to beat against it, let it drive us with it to the north,
so that in the night we passed Nio, and in the morning found ourselves
among the Cyclades between Paro and Siphanto, into the latter of which
the captain begged leave to put, for he said the weather looked dirty.
The harbour of Siphanto, which is called Pharo, is rather exposed to
the south, but is otherwise good. There is the usual chapel to the
Panagia at the entrance.
I had caught such a violent cold and fever from sleeping on deck the
night before that I was forced to go to bed and stop there for the next
two days, so that I was prevented from going ashore and visiting the
town with North and Foster. It lies about one hour off on the hill, the
houses scattered and looking from a distance like the broken remains of
a wall. Above is a castle, apparently of the time of the Dukes of the
Archipelago. Foster found nothing there of interest except numbers of
pretty girls, some of whom were so pressing that he found it difficult
to get away alone. The fact is the men of the island, being mostly
sailors, are away at sea, and the ladies, being left in a majority, make
the love which in other countries is made to them. The costume, a
Venetian bodice and high bonnet, with very short petticoats, is pretty
and peculiar. There are no Turks in the island, but some Turkish sailors
lying in the port took offence at the fine clothes of North and Douglas,
saying we were Romaics, and had no right to ridicule their Faith by
wearing their sacred dress. They even threatened to give stronger proofs
of their displeasure than by mere words.
However, next morning we were towed out of port; but being becalmed all
day outside, Mr. North, who had been stirred by the remonstrances of
the Turks just mentioned, sent in a boat, and got a wig, a pair of shoes
and breeches for his own wear.
Next day we were still lying becalmed among the Cyclades, but the next a
light breeze sprang up and carried us northwards through the passage
towards Scio; for Mr. North, tired of our delays, having lost all
confidence in our captain, and frightened at the violence of the winds,
had finished by making up his mind to give up the voyage to Egypt; and
this caprice, by which all our time and immense expenses were wasted,
necessarily involved us all. I must say I was bitterly disappointed. But
luck was against us; we could not afford to make the journey alone, and
I had to make the best of it. It took us two days to get to Scio.
A steady wind carried us gently on from Mykoni, and we seemed to enter a
large lake: on one side were the mountains of Anatolia; on the other,
the left, the Isle of Scio, richly cultivated and populous. The whole
coast is covered with the so-called mastic villages. The mastic plant,
which is cultivated mainly on the east side--the side we were looking
at--of the island, is a high evergreen. It is gathered much as resin is
from firs, and the annual crop is about 6,000 okes, all of which goes to
Constantinople. Besides mastic, the island produces a vast quantity of
fruit, which also goes to the capital. The population is very large,
almost entirely Greek. Compared to the wretched Cretans, they are very
independent, both men and women. The latter paint extravagantly and wear
an ugly costume; but I must say that on a _festa_, such as the day after
our arrival, being the 13th of January and New Year's Day in Greece, the
crowds of them dressed in their best, sitting on either side of the
street, looked as brilliant as banks of flowers.
Before leaving we went to see the chief curiosity of the island--viz.
Homer's School. It lies northwards, along the shore, about an hour's
ride. You arrive first at a fall of a small stream into the sea, and a
little above is a singular hanging rock, the top cut smooth into a
circular floor about 20 feet across. In the centre an altar is left, on
which are carved in bas-relief, on three sides, greyhounds, and on the
fourth--the front--something resembling the head and breast of a sphinx.
It looks south-east. The situation is exceedingly pretty, but why it
should be called Homer's School I cannot conceive. It was more probably
an altar to some deity whose shrine was near--possibly the deity of the
beautiful spring below.
There is in Scio an agreeable polyglot society of merchants of all
nations living together in harmony. One may find an English family where
English is the only language not spoken, the men perhaps speaking a
little badly, and the women going to church on Sunday and not
understanding a word. As Mr. North intends to remain here and Douglas
is starting homewards by way of St. Petersburg, Foster and I took leave
of them and sailed for Smyrna in the evening.
We were carried gently along between Scio and the mainland till we
reached the north end of the passage. There we fell in with a storm. The
wind rose very strong; all around us grew fearfully black, and close to
us fell a waterspout. Hereupon the man at the helm sunk terrified on his
knees and made a large cross in the air with his hand. But our old pilot
ordered him to look to the helm, for that he would save us from the
danger. Drawing out a knife with a black handle (a very important point,
I understand), he with it made also a cross in the air, and then stuck
it into the deck and pronounced the words: [Greek: En archê ên ho
logos], &c. ('In the beginning was the Word.') Whereupon, or very
shortly after, the waterspout did disperse and our pious Greek took to
himself all the credit for having saved us from a considerable danger.
Our next fright was that we should hardly be able to clear Cape Boronu,
the point of the Gulf of Smyrna, but we did just manage to do that also.
The wind changed about several times, till presently it came down in a
heavy gale from the north and continued to increase, till all was
confusion and terror on board. And indeed we were in a very awkward
plight; for our ship was a very bad sailer and we were on a lee shore
with a wind she could make no head against. Besides, the rain and the
hail prevented our seeing anything. The captain completely lost his
head, trembled with fear, and began reproaching us for persuading him to
leave Scio. The only man who kept his presence of mind was the pious old
pilot. He knew of a port near by, where we might possibly gain shelter,
and by his great skill we succeeded in arriving there; but it was neck
or nothing. The smallest mismanagement and we should have been dashed on
the rocks. As it was, we as near as possible ran on to them, owing to
the anchor being let down too late; for the ship, in swinging round,
drove towards them with appalling violence. The captain fell on his
knees, and we all expected the ship to be dashed to pieces. She actually
swung up to within three yards of the rocks, and there the anchor held
us. We all drew a deep breath and thanked our stars. It had been a very
near thing.
For days the wind was still against us, and piercingly cold. We stayed
where we were. I was thankful to have Pope's 'Homer' with me as a
consolation.
Our vessel is managed on the system in use at Hydra, Syra, Spezzia, &c,
viz. that half the profits of a voyage go to the captain or proprietor,
and the other half to the crew. Sometimes the members of the crew have
also shares in the venture, and so are doubly interested; sometimes the
captain is sole proprietor and supercargo. The system ensures a brisk
co-operation, as everyone is interested in the success of the venture.
On the 20th we were still in the same place, the wind still blowing from
the N.N.E.--a Greco Levante, as it is called--and the cold as bitter as
ever it is in England. Snow fell and froze on the deck. The sea, which
was warmer than the air, gave off a mist which rose from it in a thick
steam.
One of the sailors told me of some antiquities inland, and I tried to
get to them; but first of all it was difficult to persuade the crew to
turn out to put me ashore. They complained of the cold, and would not
leave the cabin, where they were crouching over the fire. Once on shore
I found everything frozen--ice rather thick--and when I got up to the
town I found the antiquities were about three hours off, and nobody
could give me any clear account of them; so I had to give it up and
return to Pope's 'Homer' and the cabin.
We lay here in all eight days--till the 22nd--shivering in a filthy
cabin among the sailors, utterly idle and half starved. At last on that
day we were able to move to the island of Vourlac, where we added two
more days of wretchedness to our account; and then, when we had consumed
every particle of food except our salt fish, we found a boat to carry us
to Smyrna. The captain of the ship would not stir. The weather was
still very rough, and the wretched coward waited another eight days
before he ventured up.
No one who has not experienced it, can have an idea of the horrors of a
storm in a Greek brig. The sailors, out of all discipline or order, run
about all over the ship in the most frantic attitudes of dismay, with
their bushy heads of hair flying in all directions, and scream contrary
orders to each other. Then the boldest, even if he be but the cabin boy,
takes the command, abuses the captain and encourages the rest by his
orders and example. All is in confusion, and if one escapes shipwreck it
is more by good luck than by good management."
FOOTNOTES:
[35] Recent excavations by Messrs. Evans and Hogarth throw quite a
different light on the true nature of the Labyrinth.
[36] Mrs. Siddons (1755-1831) formally retired from the stage in 1812,
but continued to appear occasionally until many years later.