DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0076
THE IONIAN ISLES 59
Who are you, and whence do you come; from what
land and city? On what ship did you come, and
how did sailors bring you here? Whom do they call
themselves? " And then was added, we can suppose,
with a knowing wink, or a figurative poke in the rib:
" For I don't imagine that you came on foot! " Cer-
tainly one would have to roll back the sea or walk
on the water to get to Ithaca on foot. We did
not make the attempt. The other questions are as
likely to be put to a stranger in Ithaca to-day as they
were then. Inquisitiveness is an hereditary Greek
trait.
Cephalonia is separated from Ithaca, as Homer
informs us, by a strait which is from eight to ten
miles wide. There is no steamer plying between
the islands. We had therefore, as already said,
crossed to the east side of Cephalonia, and hired a
small sloop to take us over. The breeze was light,
for which some of our party were grateful. But the
men bent to their oars just as they did in the old
days. There is nothing older in the way of naviga-
tion than an ash breeze, unless it be one of pine or
poplar. A warm sun beamed upon us. There was
no danger of collision. Ours was the only boat vis-
ible in this long strait. We had an unobstructed
view of the west side of Ithaca. No just idea of the
shape of the island can be had from that side; but
we got an excellent view of the three hills or moun-
tains which raise their backs and, with a long, flowing
outline, cut a small m in the air. There is Aetos. It
is only 650 feet high, but it counts for more than that
when seen from the level of the sea. There is Neritos,
only 2,600 feet high, but looming up still higher as
Who are you, and whence do you come; from what
land and city? On what ship did you come, and
how did sailors bring you here? Whom do they call
themselves? " And then was added, we can suppose,
with a knowing wink, or a figurative poke in the rib:
" For I don't imagine that you came on foot! " Cer-
tainly one would have to roll back the sea or walk
on the water to get to Ithaca on foot. We did
not make the attempt. The other questions are as
likely to be put to a stranger in Ithaca to-day as they
were then. Inquisitiveness is an hereditary Greek
trait.
Cephalonia is separated from Ithaca, as Homer
informs us, by a strait which is from eight to ten
miles wide. There is no steamer plying between
the islands. We had therefore, as already said,
crossed to the east side of Cephalonia, and hired a
small sloop to take us over. The breeze was light,
for which some of our party were grateful. But the
men bent to their oars just as they did in the old
days. There is nothing older in the way of naviga-
tion than an ash breeze, unless it be one of pine or
poplar. A warm sun beamed upon us. There was
no danger of collision. Ours was the only boat vis-
ible in this long strait. We had an unobstructed
view of the west side of Ithaca. No just idea of the
shape of the island can be had from that side; but
we got an excellent view of the three hills or moun-
tains which raise their backs and, with a long, flowing
outline, cut a small m in the air. There is Aetos. It
is only 650 feet high, but it counts for more than that
when seen from the level of the sea. There is Neritos,
only 2,600 feet high, but looming up still higher as