DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0055
Chap, n.] VOYAGE TO PATRAS.
ave also obtained of very fine quality: I procured one for
sixpence which in England would have cost ten shillings.
Ithaca, like Cephalonia and Corfu, appeared to consist
entirely of white and red scaglia limestone, occasionally
interstratified with hands of calcareous marls.
Tuesday, Oct. G.—We left Ithaca at 10 a.m. in a large
caicpuc, which we had engaged to take us to Patras. The
weather was sultry, without a breath of wind, and we were
not long at sea before we were followed by a shoal of dol-
phins, whose vivid colours, as they turned over in the water
and reflected the raj s of the sun, were extremely beautiful.
Our captain, like all his countrymen, was a politician, and
talked very learnedly upon the state of Greece, and parti-
cularly dwelt on its scanty population. The whole of
Greece, he said, contained only 700,000 inhabitants, of
which there were about 400,000 in the Morea; while the land
was rich, and capable of supporting ten millions. From
what I afterwards learned, I believe he was right in the main
points of his information, though his views of the capabili-
ties of his country were extravagant; it is certainly true
that the tyrannical government of the Turks, and the casu-
alties of war, have almost annihilated the population in
many places. As the breeze got up we passed between the
island of Oxia and the main land, formed by the point of
one of the Eehinades, but now connected with the shore
by the alluvium brought down by the Acheliius. Our
sleeping accommodations, as we sailed up the Gulf of Patras,
were not the best, having nothing but a bed of pebble ballast
to lie down upon in the hold, which swarmed with cock-
roaches of an enormous size.
Wednesday, Oct. 7.—We awoke to a bright sunrise over
the summits of the mountains of Greece, with the castles of
the Morea and Lepanto at a distance, beyond which was the
double top of Mount Parnassus. Soon after eight we landed
at Patras without difficulty, the guardiano whom we had
brought from Ithaca preserving a space round us, our lug-
gage, and the boatmen, until the landing was completed,
ave also obtained of very fine quality: I procured one for
sixpence which in England would have cost ten shillings.
Ithaca, like Cephalonia and Corfu, appeared to consist
entirely of white and red scaglia limestone, occasionally
interstratified with hands of calcareous marls.
Tuesday, Oct. G.—We left Ithaca at 10 a.m. in a large
caicpuc, which we had engaged to take us to Patras. The
weather was sultry, without a breath of wind, and we were
not long at sea before we were followed by a shoal of dol-
phins, whose vivid colours, as they turned over in the water
and reflected the raj s of the sun, were extremely beautiful.
Our captain, like all his countrymen, was a politician, and
talked very learnedly upon the state of Greece, and parti-
cularly dwelt on its scanty population. The whole of
Greece, he said, contained only 700,000 inhabitants, of
which there were about 400,000 in the Morea; while the land
was rich, and capable of supporting ten millions. From
what I afterwards learned, I believe he was right in the main
points of his information, though his views of the capabili-
ties of his country were extravagant; it is certainly true
that the tyrannical government of the Turks, and the casu-
alties of war, have almost annihilated the population in
many places. As the breeze got up we passed between the
island of Oxia and the main land, formed by the point of
one of the Eehinades, but now connected with the shore
by the alluvium brought down by the Acheliius. Our
sleeping accommodations, as we sailed up the Gulf of Patras,
were not the best, having nothing but a bed of pebble ballast
to lie down upon in the hold, which swarmed with cock-
roaches of an enormous size.
Wednesday, Oct. 7.—We awoke to a bright sunrise over
the summits of the mountains of Greece, with the castles of
the Morea and Lepanto at a distance, beyond which was the
double top of Mount Parnassus. Soon after eight we landed
at Patras without difficulty, the guardiano whom we had
brought from Ithaca preserving a space round us, our lug-
gage, and the boatmen, until the landing was completed,