rock: 1 m. farther is the church of St. George, where is the supposed site of Kalamyde. It is on the summit of the ridge between the two valleys. The remains consist of vestiges of walls, about m. in circuit, and some foundations of buildings, the latter of which are S. of the church of St. George. We now leave the African sea, near which we have so long lingered in the examination of ancient sites, and advance northward into the interior of the island. From Vlithiás to Ergastéri we proceed by the Sphakiot village of Kakotikhi, and thence through a fine valley; and in 1 hr. from Vlithías reach Plemmelianá, one of the small villages comprised under the common name of Kántanos. This place is beautifully situated on the banks of a river, which are covered with planes, with vines twining round them to the height of 30 or 40 ft. The road continues along the bank form., and then passes through a double hedge-row of myrtles, succeeded by olive-trees. Traversing the village of Kuphalatós, we thence ascend, and from the summit of the mountain have a fine view, extending N. to Cape Spada and the whole bay of Kisamos, and S. to the African sea, including the mountains of Selino and the Grabusean promontory-in short, the whole breadth of Crete. The road descends to Lukianá, whence a slight ascent of hr. leads to Ergastéri. Thence the road passes by Epánokhorion, 50 min., and St. Irene, 1 m. farther, whence is a long ascent of an hour, from the summit of which is a view over the African and Cretan seas. E. is the plain of Omalos, and descending the N. side of the mountain, the Akrotéri, Cape Spada, and the Gulf of Khania come in view. In 3 hrs. from the summit the road arrives at Othúni, and in 1 hr. more at Láki, a considerable village. S.E. is the mountain Aliakes, S. W. Agúzi, and between the two, Papalákos. The Lákiots took a conspicuous and honourable part in the war of independence. The Sphakian frontier above Omalos is only 6 or 7 m. off, but the descent by the Xylóskalo, or ladder, is impracticable, excepting on mules habituated to the road. It will, therefore, be safer to make a further circuit, and enter Sphakia by the ordinary pass of Askifo. After a rugged descent, the traveller reaches Mesklá, and crosses the Iardanos, or Plataniá, which here, as well as nearer the shore, is shaded with planes. An ascent of an hour is required to reach Thériso, a village prettily situated. Another hour brings us to Drakóna, one of the villages classed together under the name of Kerámia. It was in a village of this district that blood was first shed in June, 1821, when the Sphakians, and as many of the Rhizites as possessed arms, raised the standard of the Cross. In Drakóna all the inhabitants are Christians; and this is the case with almost every other village of the Rhiza. Some time after leaving Drakóna, the mountain of Kendros, Mount Ida, the hills beyond Mylopótamo, and the Bay of Rhíthymnos are in view. Rhamne is 6 hrs. from Láki; 1 hr. from Rhamne is Pemónia, during the descent to which village there is a fine view of the plain of Apokorona, bounded by the Sphakian mountains and the Gulf of Armyro; Mount Ida is still in sight. 1 m. from Pemonia is Fré, and in 1 hr. after passing through the village of Dzidzifi the traveller arrives at Ipos. This village produces good wine. hr. hr. after leaving Ipos the road crosses the stream which flows from the Sphakian mountains into the Gulf of Armyro, and in another reaches the village of Prosnero, the last before the Sphakian frontier. Here is the ruined Pyrgos, or tower, of Alidhákes, a Mahommedan, who defended himself in his little castle against the Christian insurgents at the outbreak of the Greek revolution. It was unsuccessfully attacked by the Sphakians, who brought some old cannon hither from Armyro. When afterwards deserted, it was dismantled by the Christians. A steep ascent of an hour brings us to the small plain of Krápi, where the district called of which the traveller arrives, after crossing the plain. It is on a rocky elevation on the S. side of the plain, which is only partly cultivated. In Rhiza or Rhizoma ends, and Sphakia | Marianá, Gýros, Kámpos, St. Demebegins. Leaving the plain, the road trius, Kampiá, and Rhiza, at the last enters the gorge or pass which leads to Askifo. The mountains on either side are lofty and generally barren, though interspersed with ilexes. It was through this pass that the Mahom-teresting details of the manners of the medans fled in August, 1821, after a Sphakiots, and of their local dialectdisastrous conflict with the Christians a relic, doubtless, of the old Cretanin the plain of Askyfo. An ascent Doric will be found in Pashley's of 40 min. from Krápi leads to the Crete,' chaps. XXXV., xxxvi., and highest point of the ridge, whence xxxvii. a descent of 20 min. brings us to Askyfo, situated nearly 2000 ft. below the highest summits of the Sphakian mountains, and between 4000 and 5000 above the level of the sea. The hamlets round the plain, known under the common name of Askýfo, are called respectively Goni, Péra-Goní, Petres, Mudári, Kóstos, Stavrorákhi, and Karés. The number of families at Askýfo is 160, all Christians, as is the case throughout Sphakia. Askýfo may be reached in 8 hrs. from Khania, by a wild and romantic path over the mountains. The town of Sphakia on the southern coast of the island, is the winter residence of the Askyfiots. After crossing the plain of Askýfo, an ascent commences, which continues without intermission for 1 hr. Descending by a very bad path, we follow its windings along the S. side of this great chain of the White Mountains, and not very far from their summits: about 1 hr. the road improves, and the African sea and the island of Gozo are in sight. Trees grow on all these mountains, except on the summits of the highest ranges. In hr. the road passes a fountain of beautiful water, shaded by a fig-tree. This spot is 2 m. N.N.W. of the village of Muri. An hour hence the road leaves the valley it had followed for some time, when the islet of Gozo and the projecting point of Mesará, are in view. Looking back, both Pselorítes (Ida) and Kendros are in sight. From this point the road, which is very bad, descends along the sides of the mountains 4 m. to the plain of Anópolis. The villages known by the common name of Anopolis are Limnæa, Skala, An ascent of a few minutes up the rocky elevation, at the foot of which is the village of Rhiza, brings the traveller to the site of an ancient city, whence there is a view, along the southern coast, as far as the point of Mesará. Franko Castello, the scene of Hadji Mikhali's fatal contest and death,* is 12 m. off. Just by the castle is the whitewashed church of the Panaghia, a very distinct object. Below us, 2 m. off, is the port of Lutron, and its little village, the winter residence of the Anópolitans. It is the port of the Sphakiots; and is probably the Port Phoenix of antiquity. The ruins may be those of Phoenix. The whole circumference of the rocky elevation occupied by the ancient city is 1 m. The chief remains are to the W., where a considerable piece of wall still exists. Its length is about 300 paces, and its width about 6 ft. The height varies from 5 to 11 ft., and the chisel has nowhere been used on the stones. Among the ruins are many cisterns. The Turkish force, during the war, captured at Muri a mother and her infant, whom she carried in her arms. She was beautiful enough to be an object of contention among those who laid claim to the spoil, and while her captors were quarrelling who should possess her, she went out, with her child in her arms, to one of the large open wells near the village, and, plunging into it, escaped the horror: of slavery. Mr. Pashley has recorde this anecdote as one of the many which he heard related as characteristic of *See below, p. 397. the Greek revolution. Similar was the conduct of the Suliot women, who threw themselves from their cliffs rather than be seized by the Moslems. Leaving Rhiza, and crossing the plain in a westerly direction, we reach the hamlet of St. Demetrius. Thence the road crosses the low ridge which bounds the plain of Anópolis on this side, and reaches, in hr., the brink of a chasm running S. of the village of Arádena. The path winds along each side of this nearly perpendicular cleft, of several hundred feet in depth. At every 10 or 12 paces the path changes its course. These turns are the only very dangerous points. A similar ascent leads to the opposite summit of the chasm. The descent and the subsequent ascent on the opposite side to the village of Arádena occupies 25 min. A few slight remains of antiquity indicate Arádena or its immediate neighbourhood, as the site of the ancient Cretan city of the same name. m. W. of the modern village there have been discovered some tombs. After leaving Arádena, the village of Livadianá is 1 m. to the left, and W. of the chasm which was crossed before reaching Arádena: soon after, changing its course, the road approaches nearer the shore, and in about 1 hr.'s time Selino-Kastelli is visible. The path lies over rugged rocks. In these parts of the island the traveller should perhaps, substitute a mule for a horse. A zigzag road now winds down the face of a rocky and almost perpendicular precipice, at the bottom of which one is still at a considerable elevation above the sea; the descent continues, and, though less steep, still by a zigzag path, and at length reaches the sea-shore. 1 m. due W. is the church of St. Paul, close to which a stream of water rushes out of the beach, and flows into the sea. Another fountain in the island is named from St. Paul, who is said to have used the water to baptize his converts. It is near Hierapetra, "where they say St. Paul preached there is a large chapel, having 12 pillars all cut out of the rock, which was done by the Christians in the night time. Close by is a foun : tain where they say he used to baptize, and it is now called St. Paul's fountain; the water thereof is very good to cure such as have sore eyes." "The Cretan tradition relates that St. Paul freed the island from wild beasts and noxious animals. The ship conveying the Apostle to Crete was forced by an adverse wind to run to the S. of the island from Cnidus, a promontory at the S.W. of Asia Minor. "We sailed under," (i.e. under the shelter or lee of) "Crete, over against Salmone" (which is the eastern extremity of the island); “and, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called the Fair Havens" (a name which it still retains). As it was already autumn, the season had arrived when it was considered unsafe, in those days of timid navigation, to attempt voyages in the open sea. It became then a matter of serious consideration whether they should remain at Fair Havens for the winter, or seek some safer and more sheltered harbour. St. Paul's advice was very strongly given that they should remain where they were; it was founded on long experience of "perils in the sea" (2 Cor. xi. 26). "Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phoenice, and there to winter which is an haven of Crete, and lieth towards the southwest and north-west." Messrs Conybeare and Howson (Life and Epistles of St. Paul,' chap. xxiii.) consider that "there cannot be a doubt, both from the notices in ancient writers, and the continuance of ancient names upon the spot, that Phoenix (or Phoenice) is to be identified with the modern Lutron. This is a harbour which is sheltered from the winds above mentioned; and, without entering fully into the discussions which have arisen upon this subject, we give it as our opinion that the difficulty is to be explained simply Randolph's 'State of Candia' (1687). by remembering that sailors speak | length of the way through which one of everything from their own point of must pass in the middle of the stream view, and that such a harbour does is 60 paces, and for 100 farther one 'look'-from the water towards the is more in than out of the water, land which encloses it-in the direction having to cross the torrent several of S.W. and N.W. times. 20 minutes farther the rocks again contract, so as to become nearly perpendicular, and in a few minutes we reach a spot called the Turk's Pass, from a Mahommedan having been killed there during the attempted invasion of Sphakia in 1770. In 20 minutes more we reach a cluster of plane-trees, and a source called Kephalovrýsis, which supplies the river with great part of its water. The contortions of the rocks near this spot show how violent must have been the operation of the causes which threw them into their present shapes. On approaching Samaria, cypresses are seen in great numbers on the mountain sides. "Sailing, therefore, with a gentle southern breeze from the Fair Havens, the sailors hoped to reach Port Phoenix, or Lutron; but the ship was suddenly caught by the Euroclydon (probably the Gregale, or hurricane from the N.E., still so dreaded in the Levant), and driven first "under a certain island which is called Clauda" (the modern | Gozo), and thence across the open sea towards Melita or Malta." The traveller will rejoice in elucidating the journeys and voyages of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. Leaving the spring and chapel of St. Paul, we follow the shore, and in hr. reach the entrance of the valley of St. Rumeli and Samaria. On each side of the glen are bold hanging mountains with a river rushing between them over its rocky bed. 1 m. up the glen is the village of St. Rumeli. The villagers say that the mountains by which they are surrouuded are the best fortresses in Crete, and the only place within which the Turks never penetrated during the war between 1821 and 1830. The site of Tarrha, interesting as one of the earliest localities of the Apollo worship, is on the shore at the entrance of the glen of St. Rumeli, but very slight vestiges of antiquity remain there. At a place called Trypeté, between St. Rumeli and Súia, are some traces of antiquity, marking the site of Pakilassos. Leaving the village of St. Ruméli, to explore the glen as far as Samaría, the path is so narrow in some parts where it winds round abrupt pricipices, that no horse could pass along it; in the first hr. the river is crossed five or six times, and then the traveller arrives at a striking pass, commonly called the Gates (Пóрrais). The width of this chasm is about 10 feet at the ground, and widens to about 30 feet, or at the most 40, at the top. The 1 hour above Samaría are some ruins, called by the natives "the last refuge of the ancient Hellenes," but discovered by Mr. Pashley to have no claim to the title of Hellenic remains, being the vestiges of a medieval fort. The magnificence of the scenery, however, amply repays one for the labour of the ascent. 3 miles from Samaría, at the foot of the White Mountains, is the monastery of St. Nicholas, surrounded by the largest cypresses in Crete. It lies N.W., in the direction of the Xyloskalo. These cypresses are still regarded with a sort of superstitious veneration by the mountaineers of Sphakia. The wild goat is frequently found in this part of the island. It is neither the ibex nor the chamois of the Alps, but the real wild goat (aypíniov, Capra ægagrus), the supposed origin of all our domestic varieties. From Samaría the traveller had better retrace his steps to St. Rumeli, and thence along the shore to Lutron. Here he may hire a boat, and proceed along the southern coast to the fort and village of Sphakia, or to Franko Kastello. This latter dilapidated Venetian fortress was held for some time in 1828 by the Greek insurgents under Hadji Mikhali, a native of Epirus, who, after carrying on a Guerilla warfare from it with great valour and success, at length perished in its final assault and capture by the Turks. From Franko-Kastello the traveller may cross the island in a northerly direction, at one of its narrowest parts, and reach in the plain of Apokorona the road from Rhithymnos to Khania, (see Excursion 1), and so regain the latter city, after having thoroughly explored the western districts of Crete. The six excursions, of which an outline has been traced in the preceding pages, will carry the traveller through the most interesting and beautiful portions of the island. Few men will leave Crete without sharing in the regret so well expressed by Mr. Pashley, the most able and acomplished of its illustrators, and without feeling that they are indeed leaving "A land whose azure mountain-tops are seats |