Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 16

Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 16

we were doing all we could to force them over this precipice, but by a

merciful Providence their instinct saved us. We were sincerely grateful

for our escape, and shuddered to think how narrowly we had missed a

terrible catastrophe. We then looked for our horses, but they were

nowhere to be seen; we at once concluded that they must have been stolen

by robbers, who were said to be numerous in the neighbourhood. After

searching everywhere for about a mile round, we at last observed them

quietly feeding under a hill, and had very little difficulty in catching

and mounting them. We rode to the convent which was close by, and which

for the darkness we could not find the previous night. Here we got a

capital breakfast, and rested, and the good monks having heard our story,

congratulated us on our escape, not only from the precipice but from

the robbers. We dined here also, and rode to Athens in the cool of the

evening, where I took up my old quarters. Before leaving the convent I

went out and took a sketch of Athens, which is about four miles distant,

and the surrounding country. The view is extremely beautiful; in the

front you have Athens, with its Acropolis, rising out of the plain,

backed by the island of Ægina in the midst of the Ægean Sea, and beyond

that by the mountains of the Morea; whilst as a foreground there is Mount

Hymettus, with the convent rising out of the woods, and Pentelicus on the

right. This I think is the best view of Athens.

 

Being again settled in Athens, I set about finishing my studies of the

antiquities, and taking sketches of the neighbourhood; as the weather was

very hot, being now the middle of June, I started off one morning before

sunrise with Demetrius to take a sketch of the Isthmus of Corinth and the

surrounding scenery, and found an excellent position which commanded the

whole, near a marsh with a small lake in front. I was so absorbed in my

sketch that I did not think of the malaria, which was very fatal in that

place. The sketch occupied about three hours, and although I had taken

some breakfast in the open air, and Demetrius the same, we both felt

very ill and returned to Athens, and sent directly for the doctor, when

I found that I had the malaria fever in the form of an ague. Demetrius

was much worse, and towards night he became delirious, and remained so

for some time. I rallied in three or four days, but remained very weak.

Demetrius was confined to the house for above a fortnight. Although I

could go about, still the fever clung to me more or less, and I could do

very little. At this time, a singular person, a Mr. Scott, a friend of

Lord Byron’s, called upon me and offered every attention; he was a shy,

kind, and well-informed man, living quite shut up by himself, seldom

stirring out till dusk, when he was to be seen galloping round the walls

of Athens quite alone. There were also at Athens, Mr. Hodgetts Foley,

Mr. Beaumont, Mr. Waddington (the late) Dean of Durham, and the Rev. Mr.

Hanbury. The latter was a tall, fine-looking man, of fair complexion,

with long light brown hair hanging over his shoulders, and a long beard,

altogether a very striking figure; he was perpetually thinking of

firearms; so that it might well be said, that instead of being a man of

peace, he was a man of war.

 

I was now introduced to the Maid of Athens, so celebrated by Lord Byron;

she certainly was a handsome and elegant young woman, about twenty, with

a very pleasing manner and lively and intelligent in conversation. She

had a younger sister, a very agreeable person also, but not so handsome.

They lived with their parents, who made their house a very pleasant

resort for strangers. By this time, the beginning of July, I was a great

deal better, and was recommended to take a sea voyage for change of air.

The above-named gentlemen had hired an Hydriote brig to take a month’s

cruise amongst the islands, and I agreed to join them. We accordingly

started about the end of the first week in July, the weather still very

hot. We left the Piræus in the morning, and as there was very little wind

we were becalmed off Cape Colonna, which forms the eastern promontory of

the Gulf of Athens. Here we cast anchor, lowered a boat, and went on

shore to visit the celebrated temple.

 

As we landed we were much struck by the appearance of the beautiful ruin,

perched upon the summit of the promontory in solitary grandeur, and

overlooking the surrounding coasts and islands, altogether forming a very

imposing and charming scene.

 

Whilst in the midst of silent admiration at this beautiful temple, all

of a sudden Hanbury cried out, “There goes an old hawk,” and fired at it

immediately. This dispelled the charm, and we all burst out laughing.

Having finished our exploration, we returned on board our vessel to

dinner. A light breeze soon afterwards sprang up; we lay-to for a short

time off the island of Syra, and the following morning got under way for

Paros, a fine land-locked port, which we reached early in the day, and

landed after breakfast. We then proceeded to explore the quarries from

which the celebrated marble was extracted.

 

These quarries are situated near the top of a hill, about a mile distant

from the port, with a steep broken road for an approach. The ancients,

instead of opening out a good face, so that the quarries might be

worked to any extent with advantage, excavated caverns in the side of

the hill, and having arrived at the good sound rock, cut it out by

wedges and picks in such masses as they required, so that the inside

of the quarry presented a long gallery from whence the stone had been

taken, worked in a very regular manner in steps one above the other,

without any appearance of waste; in fact, the rock is so solid that when

worked by pick and wedge no blasting is necessary; indeed, if blasting

were adopted, it would entail considerable waste. At the same time, it

appeared to me that if the solid rock was bared from the surface and a

good length of face opened out, the pick-and-wedge system might be worked

to almost any extent, with much greater advantage; and if inclined

planes with railways were made to the port, and a proper embarking jetty,

with cranes, carried out into deep water, so as to enable large vessels

to come alongside at all times to receive their cargoes, this fine marble

might be quarried and exported at a very moderate cost, infinitely below

the price now charged for Carrara marble. As the Parian marble is of a

beautiful white cream-colour, almost free from veins, and of an even,

close texture, the sale would be immense and yield an excellent profit;

and considering the enormous price of fine marble adapted for sculpture,

amounting to one and two guineas and upwards per foot cube, according

to the size of the block and fineness of the quality, it is astonishing

that the value of these quarries has not been recognized before, and that

capital has not been forthcoming to work them. The harbour is spacious,

with ample depth, and well protected against all winds.

 

The following day we devoted to the examination of the celebrated

stalactite caverns of Antiparos, a small island on the north-west of

Paros, and only separated from it by a narrow strait. We accordingly

went there after breakfast, and being accompanied by a sufficient number

of guides with torches and wax lights, commenced the exploration. We

entered by a lofty arch, and after proceeding some distance came to a

magnificent chamber, from the roof of which depended the most magnificent

stalactites, many of them eight and ten feet long, reflecting the light

of our torches like so many diamonds. From this hall issued several

galleries, some of which had not then been explored; we pursued our way

through all which had been investigated, and returned, after a fatiguing

walk, to the surface. This island, like that of Paros, is composed of

fine, close marble, which might be developed in the same manner with

considerable profit. We next set sail for Naxos; and here the whole

party started in a native open boat to visit some ruins, which turned

out to be not in the least worth seeing. We were first becalmed for

many hours, and on our return were overtaken by a violent storm, and

only escaped, as the entire coast was one wall of almost perpendicular

rock, by one of the sailors accidentally remembering the vicinity of a

small creek, into which the captain, a brave and skilful man, managed to

steer us through the breakers. We ultimately returned to Naxos, after an

absence of thirty-nine hours, by far the greater part of which we passed

without food, as the ruins being only eight miles from Naxos, it was

considered a mere morning’s sail. The day after our return we invited

the English Consul, a Greek, and several of the principal inhabitants to

dinner, and had a jovial party, for the Greeks like good cheer, and are

certainly not water drinkers. The wine of Naxos, of which a considerable

quantity is made, both for home and foreign consumption, is excellent; it

is chiefly white wine, resembling a good deal brown sherry, and if well

made is equally good. Besides wine they export Velança bark, wool, figs,

currants, and other articles.

 

Having nothing further to see, we set sail from Naxos, with a lively

and lasting recollection of our visit to the _celebrated_ antiquities,

and then steered for Scio, the ancient Chios, passing amongst numerous

islands, many of them very beautiful; some were covered with woods and

verdure to the water’s edge, others consisted of bold barren rocks rising

perpendicularly from the water to a great height, and terminating in

lofty peaks. The scene was ever changing, and we enjoyed views of wood,

water, plain, and mountain, combined in the most charming manner, and of

endless variety.

 

It was amusing also to see how well the Greek sailors managed our ship.

At this time of the year strong northerly winds prevail during the day,

against which we had to heat. In tacking about and manœuvring the vessel

they showed considerable skill and activity.

 

Mitylene, where we next arrived, is a poor little place, surrounded by

steep, lofty hills covered with wood almost to their summits. There is

some trade of wine and oil, and wood and bark. I was much amused by a

fight between my man Demetrius and a Turk who insulted him; fortunately

they had neither firearms nor knives, but they used their hands in the

most clumsy manner possible, and after a little time I parted them before

they had done any mischief.

 

We spent about three days in the island, which is well worthy of a visit

on account of its rich and beautiful scenery, and then returned to Scio,

where our party separated.

 

I took lodgings, and rested a few days, for I was still very weak, and

liable to attacks occasionally from the malaria fever. I had several

enjoyable rides about this island. A ridge of lofty hills, extending from

north to south, added greatly to the picturesqueness of the scenery. The

soil is extremely rich and fertile, and a large quantity of excellent

wine, besides oil, silk, fruits, grain, wood, &c., is produced. A

great trade is carried on with different parts of the Mediterranean,

particularly Constantinople and Smyrna. Perhaps, with the exception

of Sicily, it is the richest island in the Mediterranean, and has a

great number of wealthy merchants and proprietors. The port, which is

formed by a small creek, defended by two stone piers, contained numerous

vessels, some of considerable size, and bearing the flags of most

European nations. The town was better and more substantially built than

any I had hitherto seen, and there were some good bazaars, rich with the

wares of the East and with European articles. The square in the centre

was surrounded by handsome cafés and houses, and also one or two large

mosques and Greek churches. The island was governed by a Turkish officer