صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[blocks in formation]

From Kalamata to Scala is 4 hrs. 15 min. The traveller proceeds to Palea Lutra (the Roman baths), and then leaves Paleó-kastron (Thuria) to the rt. The road crosses a bridge over the Pidhima (Aris); 40 min. afterwards it reaches a magnificent source, forming the rt. branch of the Pamisus: it continues over the plain to the foundation of a small temple, below which are a rock and fountain, the source of the Pamisus.

Scala is situated on a low ridge, which crosses from Mount Macryplagi directly towards Mount Ithome. Turning westward from this village, and crossing the river Mavrozumeno (the ancient Balyra), the traveller soon reaches Mavromati and the ruins of

Messene.

Scala to Sakona is 1 hr. 40 min. To the rt., about 10 min. from Scala, are some curious strata of rocks; a little farther to the rt. are some hills, with remains of antiquity; near this to the rt. is an insulated rock with a ch. on it, and a cave below the ch. Mount Bala bounds the plain to the rt. 25 min. afterwards are seen across the plain some ruined towers on a hill; the road crosses another stream from the rt., and proceeds northwards to Sakona across the Stenyclerian plain. Sakona. See Rte. 26.

Sakona to Mavromati is 4 hrs. See Rte. 26.

Navarino to Modon Modon to Coron Return to Navarino Navarino to Arcadia

Hrs.

3

10

2

[blocks in formation]

Another arrangement of this route and of the preceding one, is the following:

Kalamata to Coron,
Coron to Modon,
Modon to Navarino,
Navarino to Messene;
an extremely beautiful ride, and
Messene to Arcadia,

remaining at Kalamata or Nisi, and making an excursion to the objects in the plain of Messenia.

Kalamata to Nisi 3 hrs. (Rte. 26.)

Nisi to Navarino, about 30 m., occupies nearly 10 hrs. This journey is a tedious one, for the intervening plains are often completely inundated, which renders travelling at all times difficult, and often occasions a complete cessa

tion of intercourse between Nisi and

Navarino. The herbage, mixed with a profusion of white clover, is most luxuriant, and the district extremely productive.

On quitting the plains of Nisi a gradual ascent terminates in a summit, whence there is a fine view of the bays of Coron and Kalamata, the plains beneath, and the mountains of Maina and Arcadia. The Khan of Miska, about halfway between Nisi and Navarino, is the usual resting-place. The traveller fords a river on approach

ing the Khan; the banks are thickly clothed with arbutus, rhododendrons, and a variety of aromatic plants. A wide-spreading platanus contiguous to the Khan affords welcome shade.

The 3 succeeding hours are spent in travelling through a forest, in which are very fine oaks, and other valuable timber. This forest was set on fire in 1827, in different places, by Ibrahim's soldiers. Hence the track passes over an undulating plain, partly cultivated, partly covered with briars and heath, intermingled with rocks. The two last miles to Navarino are over an old Venetian pavement, which has been much neglected, and is nearly impracticable. The communications in Greece have retrograded since the heroic age: for Homer represents Telemachus as driving in a chariot in one day from Pylos to Phera (Kalamata), and thence in another day to Sparta.

tary command of the Morea. The negotiations of England, France, and Russia, for the pacification of Greece, commenced at St. Petersburg by the Protocol of April 4, 1826, and con tinued by the Treaty of July, 1827. rallied the whole of the energies of Sultan Mahmoud and the Viceroy of Egypt for one grand effort; and the joint squadrons of Constantinople and Alexandria, evading the cruisers of the Allied Powers, transported to Navarino, on the 9th September, 1827, an armada sufficient to have entirely extinguished the rebellion. Meantime, the Russian squadron from the Baltic having joined the squadrons of England and France, the three admirals sent to the Egyptian commander at Navarino, to say that they had received orders not to permit any hostile movement by sea against the Greeks, and to beg that he would not make any attempt of the kind. On the 25th of September they had an interview with Ibrahim, and an armistice was concluded extending to all the sea and land forces, lately arrived from Egypt, to continue in force till Ibrahim should receive an answer from the Porte, or from Mehemet Ali. As an answer could not be expected to arrive in less than twenty days, and as no doubts were entertained that Ibrahim would be ordered to evacuate the Morea, the French and English ships were ordered to prepare for escorting the Ottoman fleet to Alexandria or the Dardanelles.

Navarino (no hotel)-called by the Greeks Neokastron (Newcastle), a place of no importance till the end of the 15th centy. was converted into a fortress by the Venetians. It is situated on a cape, projecting towards the S. end of Sphacteria, off which there is a rock, called, from the tomb of a Turkish saint, Deliklibaba. Between this rock and the fortress is the entrance to the Bay of Navarino; a noble basin, with a depth of from 12 to 20 fathoms of water. The safest anchorage is about the middle of the port, behind the low rock called Chelonáki (Xeλwváki), from its likeness to a tortoise. The northern entrance to the harbour, i. e. that between Sphacteria and Old Navarino (the ancient promontory of Corypha-N. Admiral Codrington, who had sium), is now choked up with a bar of sand, passable only in small boats. A S.W. wind brings a great swell into the harbour of Navarino. The citadel, or upper town, is on an eminence. During the war, Navarino alternately was in the hands of the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians.

Here Ibrahim Pasha landed a disciplined Egyptian army of 8000 men in May, 1825, and occupying the fortresses of Navarino, Moron, and Coron, completely recovered the mili

[ocr errors]

A week, however, had scarce elapsed, when upwards of forty sail of the Egyptian fleet came out of the harbour and steered for the

gone to Zante on the conclusion of the armistice, on hearing of this movement, made sail with his own ship, the Asia, and two smaller vessels, and getting ahead of them, resolved to oppose their entrance into the Gulf of Patras. The Egyptian commander asked permission to enter Patras; but on receiving refusal, accompanied with reproaches for his breach of faith, he returned towards the S., escorted by the English ships. On the fleet arriving (Oct. 3) between Zante and Cephalonia,

war.

Ibrahim and two other admirals joined it, with fourteen or fifteen ships of Notwithstanding their great superiority of force, the English commander bore down upon them, resolved to enforce respect to the armistice. The Ottoman fleet still proceeded southward; but taking advantage of a gale of wind and of the darkness of the night, the four admirals' ships, and some smaller vessels, ran to the Gulf of Patras. On seeing them there in the morning, the English squadron bore down on them and fired, till they made them show their colours. During the night it blew a hurricane; the English squadron was driven off, and Ibrahim, again taking advantage of the darkness, got out to sea; so that when, in the morning of the 5th, the English admiral was returning towards Patras, he saw thirty sail of the enemy's ships between Zante and Cephalonia. He forced the whole of them to return to Navarino.

On the 18th of October the three allied admirals held a conference, in which, as the most effectual mode of enforcing the armistice, they agreed to enter the Bay of Navarino, and to maintain the blockade of the Ottoman fleet. It was expected that, as Ibrahim, when at sea, did not venture to engage the English squadron alone, he would submit at once at the sight of the allied fleet.

Accordingly, on the 20th October, 1827, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the combined squadron prepared to pass the batteries, in order to anchor in the Bay of Navarino, where the Turkish ships of the line were moored in the form of a crescent, with springs on their cables, and their broadsides towards the centre; the smaller vessels were behind them. The combined fleet sailed in two columns; that on the weather side being composed of the French and English ships, the Russians forming the other or lee line. Admiral Codrington's ship, the 'Asia,' led the way, followed by the 'Genoa' and the Albion;' they passed in with great rapidity, and moored alongside of the Capitan-pasha and two other large ships. Orders had been given

that no gun should be fired if the example was not set by the Turks. When the ships had all entered the harbour, the Dartmouth' sent a boat to one of the Turkish fireships which were near the mouth of the port. The Turks fired with musketry on the boat, and killed the lieutenant and several of the crew. This was returned from the Dartmouth' and 'La Sirène,' the flag-ship of Rear-Admiral De Rigny. Admiral Codrington's pilot was then sent on board the Turkish admiral, but was shot in the boat; and at the same time cannon-shot was fired at 'La Sirène' by one of the Turkish ships, which was instantly returned, and the battle soon became general. The conflict lasted with great fury for four hours, and terminated in the destruction of nearly the entire Turkish fleet. As each ship became disabled, her crew set fire to her, and dreadful explosions every moment threatened destruction to the ships of the allies. Of eighty-one ships of war, of which the Turkish fleet consisted, there remained but one frigate and fifteen smaller vessels in a state to be again able to put to sea. The 'Asia,'' Genoa, and 'Albion,' were very much damaged, and the loss of life in the allied fleet was considerable.

After the victory, one of the captive Turkish captains was sent to Ibrahim and the other chiefs, to assure them that if a single musket or cannonshot should be fired on any ship or boat belonging to the allied powers, they would immediately destroy all the remaining vessels and the forts of Navarino; and, moreover, consider such an act as a declaration of war on the part of the Porte against the three allied powers; but if the Turkish chiefs acknowledged their fault in committing the aggression, and hoisted a white flag on their forts, they were willing to resume the terms of good understanding which had been interrupted. The answer returned was, of course, peaceful.

The battle of Navarino ended, in effect, the war in Greece. The intelligence of it was received with exultation in France and Russia; but the

English ministry at that time were doubtful what to say to it, and their successors in office hesitated not to express their disapprobation of the "untoward event." Though the fact cannot be proved, yet it seems probable, that this wavering conduct of the British Government hardened Sultan Mahmoud in his obstinacy, and led him to reject all the efforts of Russia for a pacific adjustment of the differences between them, for he still secretly believed that the other powers would come forward to save him at the last hour.

name was changed into Navarino by the habit of using the accusative, and prefixing the final v of the article to the substantive: is Tòv Aßapivov became στον Αβαρῖνον, whence στὸ Ναβα pivo.

There are numerous similar examples in the modern names of places in Greece. Mr. Clark (Peloponnesus,' p. 224) remarks that so, vice versâ, vápent is corrupted into apon; and that so from the old English a nedder comes the modern English an adder.

the young Telemachus came, with reverential awe, to inquire of his father's fate from Nestor, his father's old companion in arms. Here the Goddess of Wisdom, in her disguise, rejoiced in the piety of the young Pisistratus, Nestor's son, who had requested her to make libations to Neptune, "for that all men stood in need of the gods" (Od., iii. 48)

There can be no hesitation in identifying the old Navarino, and the Navarino was, at the close of the plain now partly occupied by a lagoon war, ceded by the Egyptians to the beneath it, with the site of the sandy French, who repaired the fortifications. Pylos,- the "well-built city" of It consists now of about 200 well- Nestor. It is a good local habitation built stone houses, and about 100 for the beautiful representations in wooden habitations, principally ca- the Odyssey of the manners and feelbarets and inferior shops, on and nearings of the heroic times exhibited when the shore, about 200 yards from the fort. The remains of Navarino Vecchio, the ancient Pylos, on a lofty promontory at the northern extremity of the bay, consist of a fort or castle of mean construction, covering the summit of a hill, sloping sharply to the S., but falling in abrupt precipices to the N. and E. In the northern face of the hill is a large natural cavern, which is mentioned by Pausanias. The town was built on the southern declivity, and was surrounded with a wall, which, allowing for the natural irregularities of the soil, represented a triangle, with a castle at the apex, a form observed in many of the ancient cities of Greece. The ascent is steep, and is rendered more difficult by the loose stones and broken tiles which are the only vestiges of the habitations. The medieval walls on the summit served as a fortress during the war; and here the gallant Count Santa Rosa, a Piedmontese refugee, was killed on the 25th August, 1825. His tomb, and that of young Lucien Bonaparte, who also fell in the Greek War of Independence, are shown on the island of Sphacteria. It is to be observed that Navarino Vecchio was called by the Byzantine writers Παλαιὸς ̓Αβαρίνος, probably after some Frank noble of the middle ages. The

The after history of Pylos presents at least two strange contrasts with this scene. In B.C. 425 Athens here triumphed over her rival Sparta, and 2252 years afterwards she was again raised to be the first city of Greece, in consequence of a battle fought on the same waters.

The harbour of Navarino is shut in by the island of Sphacteria or Sphagia," famous for the signal defeat which the Spartans here sustained from the Athenians in the Peloponnesian war. The military operations and exploits of Brasidas on the one side, and of Cleon and Demosthenes on the other, are familiar to the reader of ancient history. A visit to Sphacteria will enable the traveller to verify the graphic accuracy of the local descriptions of Thucydides. The well near the centre of the island where the

i.e. Slaughter-house.

Spartans were surprised by the Athenians, and the craggy eminence at the northern extremity, to which they retired before their final surrender, are both easily recognizable. The island is now inhabited only by hares and red-legged partridges; and the wood which once covered it has never grown up since it was burned down by the Athenians. There was some hard fighting here again during the Greek Revolution; and the history of Sphacteria recalls the etymology of the name. The island, which is 3 m. in length, has been separated, towards its southern extremity, into three or four parts by the violence of the waves, so that, in calm weather, boats may pass from the open sea into the port by means of the channels so formed. On one of the detached rocks is the tomb of the Turkish santon before mentioned. Sphacteria is said to be the scene of Lord Byron's 'Corsair,' and was long famous as a resort of pirates.

From Navarino is a direct road to Messene; but the distance is upwards of 12 hrs. by the shortest way.

There are traces of the carriageroad which formerly led from Neokastron to Modon and Coron, and was originally a Venetian pavement.

The French laid out a line of road as far as Modou, but it is now in ruins. It extends for of an hr. along the base of Mount St. Nicholas, leaving it and other hills to the rt., between it and the sea. The environs of Modon are desolate in the extreme; the vineyards and gardens mentioned by travellers were destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][ocr errors]

fied with walls of Venetian construction, and defended by a fosse, over which the French built a bridge. It is described as having been a place of importance, but it was taken and retaken during the war, and was once almost entirely burnt down.

The Lion of St. Mark is still seen on the walls; and within the gate, on the old Venetian piazza, the French made a place-d'armes, which served as a promenade and an exercising ground. All now is silent and desolate.

Here is the only remaining object of antiquity-the shafts of an old granite column, 3 ft. in diameter, and 12 ft. high, with a barbarous base and capital, which seem to have been added by the Venetians.

At the S. extremity of the town is an old lighthouse, and beneath it an ancient wall, enclosing a port for small craft. The great harbour for ships of war is formed by the island of Sapienza, m. distant from Modon, from which it seems to have been separated by an earthquake. This island, once the resort of pirates, is uncultivated and uninhabited. At the foot of the hills behind Modon are the remains of an ancient city, supposed to be Mothone, consisting of some fragments of marble and broken columns, with the traces of an acropolis. They are 2 m. from the gate of the fortress.

From Modon to Coron is about 15 m., or 5 hrs.' ride; the intervening country is very uninteresting. The road, passing over barren hills, leads to a small inlet of the sea, opposite the island of Cabrera; it then crosses the mountain, whose S. extremity is Cape Gallo, and one hour before reaching the town enters a cultivated plain. This country was once well wooded, but the timber has been destroyed or cut down.

Coron has been supposed to occupy the site of Corone, founded by Epaminondas on the site of Epea, an erro neous supposition, as it does not agree with the position of that city as described by Pausanias. The village of Petalhidi, 15 m. higher up, is built

« السابقةمتابعة »