Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 13

Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 13

After having measured the Hall of Atreus, and having made a sketch of

the surrounding country, during which my people had managed to cook an

excellent dinner in the open air, I dined, and started about 4 P.M., and

reached Argos at 5 P.M. The ruins of the ancient city contain little

worthy of remark, and the modern one is a miserable village, seated

amongst the ruins. The rich country was not half cultivated, merely

dotted here and there with a few vineyards and olive woods. Argos is

now about a mile from the head of the Gulf of Nauplia, but it is very

probable that in former times the sea washed the walls of the ancient

city; the intervening space has been filled up by alluvial deposit, and

it is now little better than a marsh.

 

I slept at the caravanserai, and next morning started for the Temple

of Jupiter at Nemea, passing through a rich valley with vines, grain,

and olives, and the village of Agioz Georgious, near which is a convent

on a hill. These convents are not the seats of learning, for the monks

are lazy and ignorant; but they form comfortable resting-places for

travellers who pay well for their accommodation. The ruins of the Temple

of Jupiter, well described by Gell, consist only of three columns of an

indifferent style of Doric.

 

Having returned to Argos to sleep, on Sunday, May 1, I arose early. The

morning was wet and stormy, and I was detained by the muleteer demanding

extra pay for the horses, which, however, the Bey decided against him.

We accordingly started about seven, and soon after began to ascend the

Pass through the mountains, having on the left the miserable village

Lerna, seated on the swampy shore of the gulf, anciently called Hydra;

and hence was derived the Lernean hydra or monster, celebrated by Virgil.

This was no doubt nothing more than the malaria fever personified,

which prevails severely in this district. In fact, the whole of this

country had a wretched, forlorn, deserted appearance. The population was

scanty, oppressed by poverty, misery, and tyranny, their countenances

for the most part pale and haggard, expressing despair and dejection, to

extricate themselves from which appeared hopeless; whilst the surrounding

country, naturally fertile, aided by the influence of a genial climate,

only required the industry of man to make it yield the richest reward.

Nothing was done; all lay dead and desolate. Nature seemed to have done

everything for man, while man had in everything neglected nature; a not

uncommon occurrence, and one which, as far as my experience goes, has

produced more misery than almost anything else.

 

We began to ascend the Pass over a rude causeway, about eight or ten

feet wide, in many places cut up into deep gullies by the torrents; the

ascent steep, rugged, and difficult, fit only for mules and pack-horses.

The evening was fine, however, the air fresh and invigorating, and the

scenery beautiful, which raised my spirits after the melancholy caused

by the depressing influence of the sight of so much desolation. Having

got to the summit of the Pass, we had a magnificent view on both sides.

Looking back, we had the Gulf of Nauplia, with the picturesque fortress

at the entrance, the plain of Argos and its ruins, also those of Mycene

and Tiryns, backed by a rugged outline of hills; on the west the fertile

plain, with its capital Tripolitza, and the ruins of Mantinea, backed by

a bold line of hills, with the magnificent Taygetus rising 7000 feet,

flanked on both sides by the blue waters of the Mediterranean. We reached

Tripolitza just after dark, and, as usual, put up at the best Greek

house where we could find admittance; and as I had a good sumpter mule,

Demetrius soon prepared a capital supper, which I enjoyed much after a

hard-working day of nineteen hours, during which I had been fourteen

hours in the saddle. I slept soundly, notwithstanding the attacks of

numerous fleas, to which by this time I had become tolerably well

accustomed.

 

Tripolitza, although the capital of the Morea, was but a poor place, with

about 4000 inhabitants, and the Turkish garrison of about 300 men. The

Governor’s palace was merely an assemblage of some low, insignificant

buildings enclosed within a wall. The rest of the town consisted of

irregular, crooked, narrow, dirty streets, some of them hardly wide

enough for a carriage, for which, indeed, there was no need, and there

were none; with a place or square near the centre, surrounded by cafés,

where the Turks and better class of natives, such as they were, sat idly

smoking their long pipes and nargillas with that stupid indifference

and repose which characterized them, perfectly regardless of any but

themselves, and quite unconscious and indifferent to the misery around

them. There were one or two bazaars, where all the business of the place

was transacted; in these cloths, furs, shawls, leather articles, such as

saddles, bridles, &c., silks, arms, pipes, tobacco, and provisions of

all kinds, were sold, but scarcely any articles of European manufacture.

The town was surrounded by a crenellated wall, unfit for artillery, and

incapable of resistance to European troops; and there were two or three

mosques, with their minarets rising above the mass of insignificant

buildings, and a few Greek churches, the interiors of which were

decorated with rude and almost grotesque representations of saints. These

edifices, towering above the rest, had a picturesque and imposing effect

when viewed from a distance, but this vanished the moment you drew near

and entered, when little else but dirt and misery met the eye.

 

The following day after my arrival I walked about the town, amusing

myself with the little which was to be seen; and the next day I rode,

accompanied by my servant Demetrius, to the ruins of the ancient

Mantinea, formerly a city of considerable importance, and well fortified

according to the style of that period. It was surrounded by a strong

lofty stone wall, about 25 feet high, flanked at intervals by circular

turrets, and in front of each entrance there was a kind of lunette

or advanced work to protect it, so that an enemy, in endeavouring to

enter, was exposed to flank attacks from the garrison. These walls were

surrounded by a wide ditch filled with water, and the total surface

enclosed by them is considerable. The ruins within consist of the remains

of a hippodrome, theatre, and other private and public buildings,

concerning which, from their scattered and dilapidated condition, it

was difficult to define anything accurately. In the neighbourhood of

Tripolitza there are numerous kalavatha, or subterranean conduits for

carrying off the water for drainage, irrigation, and supplying the

inhabitants. The river flowing through the plain, if such it can be

called, is an insignificant stream; it is connected with the subterranean

conduits described above. The surrounding country was tolerably

cultivated, and produced corn, pulse, oil, and wine, both red and white.

This wine was made in a very rough way, and, in order to preserve it,

was mixed with a certain quantity of turpentine, which gave it a strong

bitter flavour, by no means agreeable at first; and until you become

accustomed to it, you cannot drink it with any degree of relish, but by

degrees you like it, and it is very wholesome.

 

Whilst at Tripolitza I became acquainted with the late Mr. Hodgets Foley,

afterwards M.P. for Droitwich, a very amiable, good-natured person. As

an instance of Turkish civility, Mr. Foley was taking his usual ride in

the evening, accompanied by his servant, and on his way met with a party

of the delhi, or cavalry, playing at football, a game in which they much

delighted. As they passed he civilly pulled up to get out of their way,

when two or three of them at once, without the smallest provocation,

attacked him, laid hold of his horse, and otherwise maltreated him, and

he with some difficulty extricated himself from their hands, and rode

back to Tripolitza as quickly as possible, to lay his complaint before

our Vice-Consul, who was a Greek. He made his complaint to the Governor,

who promised redress, but (Turkish fashion) never gave it. Foley’s

mistake was this, that instead of getting out of the way, he should have

ridden right into the midst of them, laying about him on both sides with

his whip as hard as possible; then they would have feared and respected

him, and have never offered him any violence.

 

After having seen all that was worthy of attention in the town and

neighbourhood, I started for Misitra, the site of the ancient Sparta,

some miles from Tripolitza, the route to which lay through the plain.

We reached Misitra, a miserable village, towards evening, and obtained

tolerable quarters in a respectable Greek house, where we were received

very kindly, and most hospitably entertained, which of course I paid for

by a handsome present. I sat down to supper with the family, consisting

of the husband, his handsome wife, daughter, and son, before a low table,

placed upon the floor; the dishes consisted of soup, a species of stewed

mutton, vegetables, and cakes and fruits. After dinner the servant came

round with a basin and ewer, and poured water over our hands, and then

presented a napkin to wipe them: we next adjourned to another room,

where coffee and pipes were served, and the daughter sung very prettily

some Greek airs, accompanied by the mandoline; and thus I passed a very

agreeable evening.

 

The following morning I rose early and proceeded to the ruins of ancient

Sparta, some miles distant. Here nothing is to be seen of this ancient

celebrated city, but some mounds, fragments of walls and buildings, the

extent and designation of which it is extremely difficult to make out.

It was in vain, therefore, to attempt more, and so I next determined to

prosecute my journey into Maina, said to be inhabited by the descendants

of the Spartans. This was considered at that time to be a journey of

considerable difficulty and danger, and, indeed, impracticable, on

account of the lawlessness of the natives, who were said to be nothing

more than a set of pirates and robbers, at war with the whole world and

each other. Lord Byron wished to go there, but was dissuaded from it,

although no person ever accused his lordship of want of courage. My

janissary advised me not to make the journey, and said that he would not

accompany me, as we should all be murdered; and added that the Turks, who

had frequently endeavoured to conquer the country both by land and by

sea, had always failed. The more they tried to dissuade me from going,

the more I was determined to do it, being stimulated also by doing that

which few persons would attempt; therefore I discharged my janissaries

and extra horses and servants, and sent them to meet me at Calamata, the

other side of the peninsula, and decided to undertake the journey with

Demetrius alone, who was well acquainted with one of the captains or

chiefs of the district of Marathonesi, and who was anxious to go himself,

and said that the difficulties had been greatly exaggerated, and that

we should get through very well. I resolved, therefore, to start on the

following morning.

 

Before proceeding farther I will endeavour to describe the country which

we were about to visit. The district of Maina is situated at the southern

extremity of the Morea; it is bounded on the north by Mount Taygetus, and

its subsidiary range of mountains, and by Cape Matapan on the south, so

that it forms a triangle, jutting out into the Mediterranean; and on the

east and west sides it is bordered by that sea, so that on all sides,

except on the north, it is surrounded by water. As to the aborigines,

it is difficult to find any well-authenticated account; it is supposed

that they at one time formed part of the Spartan republic. After the

conquest of the Greeks by the Romans, and subsequently by the Turks,

they took refuge here, and being of a warlike and restless temperament,