DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9841#0099
80 RAKI. AN ALBANIAN. [c.HAP.
along a slope running gradually down to the sea, which
is distant only about a mile. The mountains are covered
hereabouts with heath, which is now in flower, and wild
strawberry trees3. The fruit of this shrub is gathered
in September and October for making raki: I am also
assured that it is pleasant to the taste; which is cer-
tainly more than can be said of the spirit extracted from
it. In the silk districts, mulberries, which the Greek
believes to be unwholesome and can hardly be persuaded
to taste, are either given to pigs or converted into a
raki, perhaps the most execrable of all the preparations
that bear the name. We pass the hamlet of Keramuti4,
and, a few minutes after nine, arrive at Amygdhalo-
kephali5: our road continues to be in the same direc-
tion, and, after passing the villages of Makeriana" and
Vavuliana", we arrive, at half past ten, at Kunone8.
We had overtaken a Christian peasant of this place a
mile before arriving at it, and I, as usual, immediately
began to talk with him, and continued doing so till
we arrived at the village. As we approached it I saw
an Arnaut, whom, in Crete, one can at once recognize
by his dress, so different from the Cretan costume, as
well as by the musket slung over his shoulder and the
pistols hanging in his girdle. I observed to the Greek,
"So you have got some Arnauts in your village; how
many are there ?" He made no reply. I repeated my
question, and the poor fellow, evidently in great alarm,
drew close to my horse, and answered me in a very low
voice. Now the Albanian was at least three hundred
paces from us, and the Greek's conduct is only indica-
tive of the system which prevails here. No doubt
people will be cautious of using their tongues in a
country where an indiscretion in speech may cause a
man to lose his head. Yet after all the raya walks
3 The arbutus, which, like most other plants and trees, has preserved
its ancient name, Kofiapos.
4 Kepafiovi-L. 5 'AflvySaXoKctpdXl. 8 NaKepiavd.
7 Haf3ou\tavd. K Kouyoi'tj.
along a slope running gradually down to the sea, which
is distant only about a mile. The mountains are covered
hereabouts with heath, which is now in flower, and wild
strawberry trees3. The fruit of this shrub is gathered
in September and October for making raki: I am also
assured that it is pleasant to the taste; which is cer-
tainly more than can be said of the spirit extracted from
it. In the silk districts, mulberries, which the Greek
believes to be unwholesome and can hardly be persuaded
to taste, are either given to pigs or converted into a
raki, perhaps the most execrable of all the preparations
that bear the name. We pass the hamlet of Keramuti4,
and, a few minutes after nine, arrive at Amygdhalo-
kephali5: our road continues to be in the same direc-
tion, and, after passing the villages of Makeriana" and
Vavuliana", we arrive, at half past ten, at Kunone8.
We had overtaken a Christian peasant of this place a
mile before arriving at it, and I, as usual, immediately
began to talk with him, and continued doing so till
we arrived at the village. As we approached it I saw
an Arnaut, whom, in Crete, one can at once recognize
by his dress, so different from the Cretan costume, as
well as by the musket slung over his shoulder and the
pistols hanging in his girdle. I observed to the Greek,
"So you have got some Arnauts in your village; how
many are there ?" He made no reply. I repeated my
question, and the poor fellow, evidently in great alarm,
drew close to my horse, and answered me in a very low
voice. Now the Albanian was at least three hundred
paces from us, and the Greek's conduct is only indica-
tive of the system which prevails here. No doubt
people will be cautious of using their tongues in a
country where an indiscretion in speech may cause a
man to lose his head. Yet after all the raya walks
3 The arbutus, which, like most other plants and trees, has preserved
its ancient name, Kofiapos.
4 Kepafiovi-L. 5 'AflvySaXoKctpdXl. 8 NaKepiavd.
7 Haf3ou\tavd. K Kouyoi'tj.