Good Times Bad Times Ten Years Of Godsmack

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Good Times Bad Times Ten Years Of
Godsmack

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.
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 327 during which a mixed
discourse of Greek and Italian — the Didaskalos being slenderly
furnished with the latter medium of communication — enlivened our
intercourse. Lord Byron was of course one of the subjects — the
elder of the two priests well recollecting his stay at the convent in
1809 on his way to Tepeleni. Many questions were asked to wrhich I
could not reply, and some comments were made and anecdotes told,
which slight, and perhaps unfounded in strict truth, I shall not add to
the list of crude absurdities too often tacked to the memories of
remarkable men. There is a pause in the rain, so I resolve to
descend to Ioannina, and to return hither at a more favourable
opportunity — leaving a place I had looked forward to seeing with
the greatest interest, in, (be it confessed) no satisfied humour.
Making due allowance for the bad weather, I cannot but feel
disappointed in Zitza : the surrounding scenery, though doubtless
full of varied beautv, does not seem to me sufficient to call forth
such raptures of admiration, even if selected as a spot where an
imaginative poet, reposing quietly after foregone toils and evils,
might exaggerate its charms. Hut after travelling through the
 328 JOURNALS OF daily-remarkable beauties of Albania,
the view from Zitza, to speak plainly, disappointed me. The route led
through extensive vineyards, and across the little plain on the to}) of
the hill of the monastery — the charms of which I had been so
indifferently able to appreciate, and a tiresome, stony descent of an
hour and a half in duration led to the plains of Ioannina and the lake
Lapsista. Thenceforth relentless torrents poured down, and the lake
Lapsista was only dimly seen through intervals of shifting dark cloud
— conveying a sensation of water and mountain, rather than an
ocular conviction of their presence ; and so amid rolling thunder and
flashing lightning did I gallop on, across the treeless level, till the sky
cleared suddenly, and in three hours and a half from leaving Zitza, I
saw from a slight eminence the lake of Ioannina unexpectedly
spread below me. With the keenest interest I surveyed a scene,
already familiar to me from many drawings. Apart from its
associations with modern and ancient records, the first feeling with
which I gazed on it as a picture was nearly akin to disappointment —
perhaps from the extreme
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 329 bareness of the surrounding
hills, and the too unbroken line of Mitzekeli, the great mountain
which forms one side of the landscape.* There lay the peninsula
stretching far into the dark gray water, with its mosque, its cypress
tufts, and fortress walls ; there was the city stretching far and wide
along the water's edge ; there was the fatal island, the closing scene
of the history of the once allpowerful AH. The approach to Ioannina
through its straggling suburbs of wooden houses, walls, and
gardens, Turkish burying-grounds, &c, has nothing of peculiar
interest to require description, and I was soon at the British
Consulate, where Signor Damaschino, Her Britannic Majesty's Vice
Consul in Albania, received me with those amiable manners, and
that hospitality, which dwell pleasantly in the recollection of all
Englishmen who have passed through this part of Albania during his
residence in its capital. After the khans and horrors of * I learned to
think far differently of the scenery of Ioannina afterwards.
 330 JOURNALS OF upper Albania, the spacious and clean
rooms at the Vice Consulate were delightful to repose in ; and
newspapers, letters, joined with all kinds of comfort, suddenly and
amply atoned for all by-gone toils and disagreeables. November 6.
Among my letters is one from a friend asking me to accompany him
to Cairo, Mount Sinai, and Palestine, an offer not to be lightly
refused ; yet to avail myself of it, I must go hence directly to Malta
and Alexandria. But I am the more inclined to do this, by the
increasing cold of the weather, and from the small chance of making
farther progress in drawing among Albanian scenes at this late
season. 1 determine, then, if possible, to come back a second time
to Albania to " finish" Epirus, before I return in the summer of the
following year to England ; and meanwhile resolve finally to start to-
morrow for Arta and Prevyza, and so by the Ionian Isles to Malta
with all speed. Meanwhile my friend, C. M. C , between whom and
myself the monks of Athos drew
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 331 their cholera cordon, passed
through Ioannina but two days ago ; and this chance of rejoining
him at Prevyza or in quarantine — not to speak of the necessity of
timing one's departure by certain steamers — all contribute to my
decision ; thus, therefore, I arrange the final page of my tour in
Albania. The rest of the day I pass in exploring Ioannina under the
guardianship of a black Kawas of the Vice Consular household —
another Margiann. From every point the beauties of this fair spot are
innumerable, and increase by observation ; and the difficulty would
be, where to settle to draw its infinite variety of combinations with
lake and mountain. The bazaars, too, are most interesting with their
endless exhibition of wooden ware, national nicknacks and
embroidery ; but all these things I trust to see more completely on
my return to these localities next year. November 7. I started before
daylight in order to have as long a day as possible to reach Arta
before dark. A Zantiote, on his way back to the
 332 JOURNALS OT islands with horses purchased at
loannina, two of his countrymen, a messenger of the Consulate, and
Margiann, the Black, joined our party; and long before sunrise we
were far out of the city. Many a beautiful scene I left behind with
regret, for the day's work was toilsome, and sketching could not be
permitted. Beyond the long- suburban street of the capital of
Southern Albania, we crossed a wide plain, with the fine forms of the
Epirus mountains around; but the cold was bitter, and even by hard
walking it was impossible to keep warm until the sun had risen hiirh.
At about the third hour, after passing two or three khans, we began
to ascend a bare hill leading to a bleak valley equally uninteresting,
whence the road ascended again to the khan of Pende Pig&dhia, the
half-way house betwixt loannina and Arta, each of which are six or
seven hours' journey from the summit of the hill on which it stands.
Nothing could be more dull and disagreeable than the walk ; but the
view of the Piudus range from the high ground is very noble. The
khan of Five Wells is a perfect specimen of the lonely and hopeless
place of refuge in these parts : — it is a large, ruin 
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 333 ous building (though once
fortified), in an extensive court-yard. Here we were to halt for
luncheon, but while doing so, a firstclass quarrel ensued, which I
thought might have ended awkwardly. A frantic, or intoxicated
Albanian guard, insisted on seeing the inside of every article of
luggage, to which the consular officials said no — it is " Roba Ingliz
Consul." From words and gesticulations pistols were drawn, and the
wrathful Kawas was rushing at Black Margiann when he was seized
by the Bulubashi and others, and the struggles and yells ensuing are
not to be described. Giorgio extricated the Bouyourldi from the
depths of the baggage, which partly calmed the affray ; but the
confusion was immense ; and the enraged Albanian tore his long
hair and foamed in a way I never witnessed in any human creature.
From this squabble we passed to a cold collation of bread and
bottarga, and starting once more at half-past two, descended the hill
to the plains of Arta, which, with many a blue pale line of
Acharaanian hill now appeared far away ; — in another hour,
however, we had become pent up in a weary river bed, nor did we
reach the
 ;W4 JOURNALS OB plain, over gravelly paths and good
trotting ground, till the full moon rose, throwing long shadows from
scattered trees. How tedious was that hour or two after sunset! —
the long point of hill behind which Arta is placed seemed never fated
to be reached. No sensation is more disagreeable than the inability
to keep awake on horseback, and when the traveller is creeping a
mile in the hour, over a paved Turkish causeway, the wearisome
disgust is intolerable. Endless lanes and gardens seemed to environ
Arta ; and after having passed the great bridge over the Arachthus,
we wound through dark and strange places full of mud, among
masses of building black againstbright moonlight, till jaded, and
more fevered than I had been ever since I had left Saloniki, we
arrived at the house of the British consular resident agent, Signor
Boro, a Greek of Arta. I long earnestly to retire at once to sleep, but
the hiccupping flutter of a fowl in the death-agony, announces, in
spite of my entreaties, that a supper is in preparation : nevertheless,
this clean large house, these good rooms, and sofas, are most
welcome to a way-worn tourist.
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 335 NoVExMBER 8. More Albanian
obstacles : our horses are all seized and dragged from the stables by
a Turk — a nautical Turk, whose ships are at Prevyza ; he, with
many Mohammedan ' middies' require steeds to gallop over the
plains of Arta ; so he takes ours, and snaps his fingers at Giorgio,
and the Bouyourldi of the Sultan. " Bouyourldis are for land Turks,"
quoth he, " I am a water Turk." Giorgio storms, the consular agent
remonstrates, and both send to the Governor with an instant
requisition of fresh horses for a Prince of Frangistan, desirous of
going immediately to Salagora, there to embark for the country of
the Franks. Down comes the Governor, Secretaries and Muftis ; and
away go Kawasi all over the place as they did at Avldna, so that in
less than an hour three horses are in readiness. Meanwhile, I walk
with Signor Boro to the ancient walls of Arta, which are fine
examples of Hellenic architecture. Nor can any place be more
superbly situated than this ; which, with the sweeping Arachthus
below the town, and the Tzumerka range beyond the plain, forma a
magnificent
 336 JOURNALS OF picture. There is a very curious old
Greek church too ; but trusting to return to these parts of southern
Albania I gave but little time to lionizing Arta, and at eleven we were
again ready to start for Prevyza. Threading the incommodious
streets of Arta (which streets are deep gutters, or ditches, full of
mud, with a raised trottoir on each side) and once more passing the
lanes, olive-grounds, and orange gardens, and the lofty bridge over
the broad river, we came at length to the grand open plain which
stretches uninterruptedly to the gulf. No groups of mountains are
lovelier than those within sight of this part of Epirus : whether the
eye gazes at the Acharnanian heights beyond Vonizza — or at those
of Agrafa, Tzumerka, and Pindus — or whether it turns towards the
dread Suliote hills, and terrible Zalongo, the closing scene of heroism
and despair.* The latter part of the journey was by a high paved
road over a wide, marshy ground close to the gulf, and in four hours
from leaving Arta I reached the hilly peninsular eminence sheltering
a hamlet of ten or fifteen houses, known as * See Journals, May 2,
1849.
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 337 the Scala of Salagora, or port
of Arta. Here we should have embarked for Prevyza, but owing to
the wind, which is peculiarly perverse at the mouth of this gulf, the
caique which plies between the two coasts is not come, and the
khan is full. Meanwhile a Greek merchant good-naturedly gave me a
lodging in a warehouse of rice till midnight, when the bark arrived,
and taking our party on board, set sail to Prevyza. November 9, 10,
11. I pass these days at Prevyza, a place that does not possess in
itself any agreeable compensation for the vexatious detention by
contrary wind, which prevents my sailing across to the quarantine of
Sta. Maura. But the kindness and hospitality of Sidney Smith
Saunders, Esq., and all his family, would render any place an
agreeable sojourn. It is delightful, after roaming over the most
uncivilized places, to find a nook stamped with the most thoroughly
English character in one of the spots where you would least expect
it. z
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;{;{(S -'"I FINALS 01 November 12. The wind has changed,

and the sea is like glass; before sunrise I am in the Consul's cutter;
even moment brings me nearer to Leucadia; — the point of Prevyza,
with the ruins forming part of what was once All Pasha's serai,
lessens into one little bright speck on the water's edge. The snowy
ranges of Tzumerka glitter palely in the early sun-beams, and
gradually fade into hazy, cloud-like forms. And so, bidding farewell to
Albania, for the present I enter a nine da\ s' quarantine at Santa
Maura.
 J 0 U E N A L S OP A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. April 24, 1849
After two months passed most pleasantly in Greece (the winter
having been well defied in Cairo and at Mount Sinai), there are yet
six weeks on my hands, ere, after having suffered from repeated
attacks of Greek fever, it would be prudent to encounter the variable
English spring. And now, if ever, I must endeavour to complete my
tour in Albania ; I long to visit that most romantic portion of it — the
land of the Suliotes : to make careful drawings of Ioannina : to see
Meteora and Thessaly — even to the gulf of Volo — and once more
to attempt reaching the lonely Mount Athos. a 2
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340 ■"" HNAL8 "i F. L., my Greek companion, is obliged to

return to Malta, so I set out alone; but first, the judicious old Andrea
Vrindisi,* who is equally at home in the wilds of Tzamouria as in the
civilized streets of modern Sparta, and whose tongue (master of ten
languages) is not less valuable than his general skill and
arrangement of the domestic comforts of travel, is taken by me at
the usual rate of ill os. daily, for an indefinite period of service.
Perhaps the best way of entering Albania from Patras would be by
crossing to Missolonghij and thence, by a journey of three or four
days' length, to Vonizza and Prevyza ; but the desire to see some
persons in Korfu who will not be there on my return, as well as the
choice which, when the traveller is once in that island, is open to
him, as to the part of the opposite coast he will first explore, these
determine me on relinquishing my design of passing through
Acharnania; and I have embarked in the Austrian steamer ' Elleno,"
which luckily arrives * Andrea Vrindisi, of Patras : an excellent guide
and dragoman in every respect, and worthy of high
recommendation.
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 34 1 and starts on the very day
after the conclusion of my Greek journey with L. For the third time I
watch the high Mount Voidhia, now glittering in a snowy mantle, and
contemplate the exquisite forms of the Peloponnesian and
Acharnanian hills ; then, as evening gradually covers the cloudless
sky with duskier tints, Ithaca succeeds, and lastly Leucadia's ""rock
of woe," starlit and solemn, sleeps on the bosom of the calm sea.
April 25. " Morn dawns, and with it stern Albania's hills, Dark Suli's
rocks, and Pindus' inland peak :" and no lines of mountain more
beautiful — none more teeming with romance and interest — can be
gazed on by traveller, be he painter or poet. Fast advancing through
that lovely channel, we soon reach the long-descried citadel of Korfii,
and delight in again welcoming scenes, than which the world has
few more charming. During the four succeeding days time went by
very pleasantly in the Government palace, where the kindness of the
Lord High Commissioner and his family added one more to my many
pleasant recollections of Korfii. But on the
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342 JOURNALS OF 30th, Lord Seaton offering to take me as

far as Prevyza, on his way to Santa Maura, I decided to recommence
my Albanian researches from that point, and joined the party in the
Government steamer. We were off PreVyza at four p.m., when I once
more set foot in Epirus, Signor Damaschino, the Vice-consul at
loannina, and my acquaintance of last year, his wife, and her brother
Yiani, were also of the Albanian-hound party, and we were all soon
heartil\ welcomed at the Consulate b\ Mr. Saunders and his ever-
hospitable family. May 1. To-day Andrea being employed in procuring
little necessaries for the journey — I devote to visiting and making
drawings of Nicdpolis, which I had hastily glanced at when passing
through Prevyza last year. The ruins of this city, founded by
Augustus after the battle of Actium, lie not above three miles from
Prevyza,* and the walk thither i> very pleasant, through plantations
of olive-trees. Si Leaki , Holland, Hughi
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 343 The scattered remains of
Palaio-Kastro (so the peasants call the site of Nicopolis) occupy a
large space of ground ; and although there are here and there
masses of brickwork, which forcibly recall to my memory those on
the Campagna of Rome, yet the principal charm of the scene
consists in its wild loneliness, and its command of noble views over
the Ionian sea as well as of the Gulf of Arta and the mountains of
Agrafa. My principal object was to obtain correct drawings from the
great theatre, as well as from the Stadium and the lesser theatre ;
but at this season of the year I found many impediments which in
the late autumn of 1848 had not presented themselves. Vegetation
had shot up in the early spring to so great a size and luxuriance,
that a choice of position was difficult to find among gigantic
asphodel four or five feet high — foxgloves of prodigious size, briars
and thistles of obstinate dignity. Nor was the passing from one point
of the ruins to another, through the fields of beans and Indian-corn
which cover the cultivated portions of the soil, a light task; there
were snakes too in great numbers and size, so that when the sun's
heat became powerful, I found the operation of exploring the whole
of the Augustan city too nearly allied with
 344 JOURNALS OF risk of fever-fits to prolong it. Great as
was the destruction of Nicopolis by All Pasha", who carried off vast
portions of it for the construction of his palace at Prevyza, there is
yet abundance of picturesque beauty in what remains ; and the view
from the upper seats of the great theatre, looking across the Gulf of
Ambracia to the hills of Acharnania and Leueadia, is one of the most
noble of prospects. Returning to Prevyza at noon, I sketched for the
remainder of the day in the outskirts of the town. A student of
landscape might well employ himself in this corner of Epirus for a
summer : it abounds with pretty bits of foreground and peeps of the
beautiful mountain forms around. But in itself, this frontier-town of
Albania contains little interest. The great palace of All Pasha exists
no more — it is utterly destroyed — and the whole place has an air
of melancholy desolation, increased possibly by one's knowledge of
its past history and evil destiny. * May 2. It is eight a.m. before the
horses and " roba" are ready, and Andrea gives the signal for start 
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 345 ing. He has ordered three
horses to Ioannina, but it is understood that I am to go thither as I
please — bound to no particular route, or time of arrival. Travelling
on Turkish horses has led me to adopt one improvement, namely,
take with me a pair of stirrups and a strap to hang them by. These I
have purchased in Patras, and they are gilt ; whereon, as I leave the
town, I hear an old Greek woman remark : " This milordos is the son
of a king : even his stirrups are of gold !" We go through the olive
woods as far nearly as Nicdpolis, and then, turning to the left, reach
the sea, following a route by its bright blue waves at the foot of low
sandy cliffs clothed and fringed with rich fern. In three hours after
starting we turned inland towards the hills of Zalongo, but rain, long
threatening, prevented any sketching, though the scenery became
more interesting at every step. All nature was of the freshest green,
and the luxuriant oakwoods, deep dells of brushwood, gentle lawns,
and vales dotted with flowering thorn, formed pleasant rural
landscapes on every side. At half-past one we reached the village of
Kamarina, which stands high up on the hill.
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3 1(1 J0UENAL8 OF and is a straggling hamlet of white-

washed houses and reed-built cabins, placed in gardens of fruit-
trees, or shaded by great forest timber, growing at the foot of
overhanging rocks clothed with trailing, wild vino. At three or four, in
a pause between showers, I attempted to reach the rock of Ziilongo,
immediately above the village. This was the scene of one of those
terrible tragedies so frequent during the Suliote war with All. At its
summit twenty-two women of Suli took refuge after the capture of
their rock by the Mohammedan-, and with their children awaited the
issue of a desperate combat between their husbands and brothers,
and the soldiers of the Vizir of Ioannina. Their cause was lost ; but
as the enemy scaled the rock to take the women prisoners, they
dashed all their children on the crags below, and joining their hands,
while they sung the songs of their own dear land, they advanced
nearer and nearer to the cd^e of the precipice, when from the brink
a victim precipitated herself into the deep below at each recurring
round of the dance, until all were destroyed. When the foe arrived at
the summit, the heroic Suliotes were beyond his reach. But this is
only one of many such acts
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 347 which, during the Suliote war,
furnished some of the most extraordinary instances on record of the
love of liberty.* I wished much to see the actual scene of these
events, as well as to visit the remains of Cassope,f on the summit of
the hill; but to my great vexation, such violent rain fell, that I could
not even reach the rock of Zalongo, and returning to the cottage, at
Kamarina, I was obliged to content myself by drawing at intervals
from the door of the cottage, in which Andrea had arranged my
night's lodgings. It was one of those large and long rooms, usual in
Greek villages, and forming the home of a whole family, which sate
at the farther end, while I occupied my own allotted portion of clay
floor. The inhabitants of Kamarina are all Greek Christians, and
indeed throughout the south of Epirus there are very few
Mohammedans ; the women of the house have a mournful air ; and
well may they, for many of the elders among them can still * Leake,
North. Greece, I. 245, 519; in Hughes, II. 184, the number of
women is stated at nearly 100. The rock of Zalongo is famous also
for other combats between t lie Suliotes and the soldiers of the Vizir.
f Lcakc.
 348 JOURNALS 01 remember the terrors of those evil days,
in the Hist years of the present century. Outside this cottage of
Kamarma all is delightful, so quiet is the foreground near at hand, so
fair the prospect far below ; the long point of Nieopolis and Prevyza,
the broad bright Gulf of Arta, the scene of the battle of Actium ; and
the clear hills of Greece and Sta. Maura, all spread like a map at my
feet. It seems a spot marked out for peace and tranquillity, nor can I
remember a village more deliciously placed as a summer's retreat ;
the rain has made the herbs and spring flowers around full of fresh
odour, and multitudes of nightingales are singing on all sides. May 3.
I am off by half-past five. The morning is bright, and the
nightingales, who have warbled all i light long, are as melodious as
ever. In spite of my regret at not having been able to see Zalongo or
Cassope, I shall remember the green hill of Kamarma with pleasure.
I descend through woodland glades, with views of the Gulf of Arta
ever before me, and the peaks of its fine mountains are wrapped in
rolling
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 349 mist. Lower down, towards
the plain, the route winds among groups of oak and walnut trees,
and below them are shepherds with their flocks. In about two or
three hours we reach Luro, a scattered collection of huts, with one
or two better houses at the foot of the hills, and following the track
at their base, shortly arrive at clear springs, and a quiet secluded
lake, fringed with luxuriant foliage, and resounding with the notes of
the nightingale and the cuckoo. All the country hereabouts
resembles the most beautiful park or woodland scenery in England,
excepting that the variety of underwood is greater, and the creepers
and flowering shrubs are such as we have not. The tall white stems
of the ash and plane shooting out of dark masses of oak foliage, and
reflected in the clear water below, form charming pictures. In the
midst of this delightful bosky region, at an hour's distance from Luro,
stands Kanza, a hamlet of a few very poor thatched huts ; and from
hence, keeping always through a thick and shady wood, which skirts
the base of the hills, the route passes onward, till it emerges (after
two hours' ride from Kanza) on to an elevated
 350 lul 1{X ^s of pasture land, opposite the Castle of
Rogus;* and here I halt for mid-da) rest. This fortress, standing OH
an ancient site, forms a part of one of those beautiful Greek scenes
which a painter is never tired of contemplating. Rising on its mound
above the thick woods, which here embellish the plain, it is the key
of the landscape ; the wraters of a clear fountain are surrounded by
large flocks of goats reposing. The clumps of hanging plane and
spreading oak, vary the marshy plain, extending to the shores of the
Gulf; while the distant blue mountain> rise beyond, and the rock of
Zalongo shuts in the northern end of the prospect. All these form so
many parts, each beautiful in itself, that combine to make a
composition, to which I regretted not hems: able to devote more
time. After a short repose, I pursued my journey across the plain in
the direction of Arta, where I intend to pass the night. We soon
cross the Liiro, on a narrow bridge, and so unstable as to allow of
but one horse passing it at a time, and then we follow the track
across the wide level. * Rojxus — ancient Charadra. Leake. The
stream of Luro (Charadrus) runs below the walls.
 I A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 351 During this morning's ride I
have seen upwards of twenty large vultures • but now, the
ornithological denizens of this wide tract of marshy ground are
storks, which are walking about in great numbers, and their nests
are built on the roofs of the houses, clustered here and there in the
more cultivated part of the district. Snakes and tortoises also were
frequent during the morning, concerning which last animals Andrea
volunteers some scientific intelligence, assuring: me that in Greece it
is a well-known fact that they hatch their eggs by the heat of their
eyes, by looking fixedly at them, until the small tortoises are
matured, and break the shell. We arrived at Arta* about four. The
group formed by castle, and town, and mosques, half encircled by
the broad sweeping Arachthus, and the fine range of Djumerka,
struck me as even more beautiful than I had thought it on my visit
here last November. The house of the Consular agent, Signor Boro is
now, as then, hospitably open. * Lcakc, I. 102.
 352 journals as May 4. At early morn I was finishing my
drawing began six months ago. Few places in Albania are more
magnificent in aspect and situation than Arta ; and to an antiquarian
its attractions are still greater than to the artist. Nothing can exceed
the venerable grandeur of its picturesque Hellenic walls, and from
the site of its ancient Acropolis, the panoramic splendour of the view
is majestic in the highest degree. Before nine, I left Arta for the
second time, and it was long before we escaped from its narrow,
muddy streets, and endless suburban lanes ; these, however, were
less disagreeable now than heretofore, on account of the odoriferous
orange trees, all in full bloom. Arta is surrounded by gardens, and in
a great degree supplies the markets of Ioannina with fruit and
vegetables. We pursued the paved post-track to Ioannina for nearly
two hours ; and as the pace over those causeways is of the slowest,
I am on the look-out for incidents of all kinds, and find sufficient
amusement in watching the birds which haunt these plains ; there
are jays and storks, and vultures, in greater numbers than
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 353 I had supposed ever
congregated together. Even the unobservant Andrea was struck by
discovering, on a nearer approach, that multitude of what we
thought sheep, were in fact vultures ; and on our asking some
peasants as to the cause of their being so numerous, they said, that
owing to a disease among the lambs, greater quantities of birds of
prey had collected in the plains than "the oldest inhabitant could
recollect." A constant stream of these harpies was passing from the
low grounds to the rocks above the plain ; and they soared so
closely above our heads, that I could perfectly well distinguish their
repulsive physiognomies. I counted one hundred and sixty of them
at one spot, and must confess that they make a very grand
appearance when soaring and wheeling with outstretched wino-s
and necks. All the ground in this marshy part of the plain was
covered with the most brilliant yellow iris in full bloom. On leaving
the Ioannina road, we held on our course westward, and crossed the
plain to the village of Strivina river on the banks of the Luro, which
we followed for more than an hour. The scenery of this part of
Epirus is not unlike that of the Brathay near Ambleside, but the
closely-wooded sides of the hills are here A A
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354 JOURNAL- ul and there enlivened by a Greek scattered

hamlet, giving its own character to the scene. Higher up the stream
the trees are of a larger size, and fringe the lower hills beautifully ;
and when, at one p. m. we reached Pasheenas bridge, I thought 1
had never seen a more romantic bit of English-like scenery. It is
delightful to rest below the tine old oaks and planes in this spot,
whence as far as the eye can reach thick foliage gladdens the sight.
Crossing the Charadrus, we started once more at two, and in one
hour — the route always leading through glades and wild woodland
— came to the little Lake Zero, which I had been strongly
recommended by Mr. Saunders not to omit seeing. And, in truth, it is
well worth a visit, not that it has any character peculiar to Epirus or
Greece (for it is more like Nemi than any lake I am acquainted with),
but on account of the surpassing beauty of its deep and quiet
waters, from whose clear surface bold red rocks rise on all sides,
hung with thickest ilex, and surmounted by dense woods of oak
which extend to the very summit of the hills above. There was
barely time to make two sketches of Lago Zero, ere the sinking sun
warned me onward, and another hour brought us to the vale of
Lelovo, a village which
 A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 355 is built on the western side of
the hills enclosing the glen ; the other, as I entered the hamlet,
became gloriously bright in the last rays of sunset, all the detail of
rock and tree chan^ino: from red and purple, and cold grey, until
finally lighted up by the bright full moon. A very comfortable lodging
was obtained at the top of the village of Lelovo, in a house which,
like all in these parts, stands alone in a court-yard, and is well
arrayed with galleries and stairs. Its tenants were a Greek priest
(Lelovo is a Christian community), and a very old nun; they allowed
me to occupy for the night, one of their rooms, a clean and good
one. The scenery through which I have passed to-day and yesterday
has greatly delighted me ; it is rare in Greece to find such rich
foliage combined with distant lines of landscape, and this, indeed, is
a beauty peculiar to the southern parts of Epirus ; towards Ioannina,
and to the north of it, such clothing of vale and mountain is not
frequent. May 5. At sunrise the vale of Lelovo is full of mist, and
resounding with the lowing of invisible A A 2
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:tr>i; jnrn\ \i> oi cows, on hearing which domestic sound, I

thought, of course, there would be no milk, but for a wonder, there
was. How enjoyable was the walk through the meadows a^ we left
the village on our route to Suli. The song of birds, the fresh breeze,
and all those charms of early morning which to the experienced
sojourner in southern lands, mark the best hours of the day ! We
halted but once at a shepherd^ capanna, for a bowl of fresh milk,
ere we began a severe ascent, which in two hours brought us to
Kragna, a little village among noble old oaks, whence the views
extended over the gulf of Arta with the Tzumerka and loannina hills.
But the people of Kragna were cross-grained and disobliging, and no
offers would induce them to furnish us with another horse (that
which carried the baggage not being a very strong one), nor would
they shew ii- the road to Zermi, on the way to Suli, except for a
minute's walk beyond their village. About eight we left it, and passed
from dell to dell, by very difficult paths, steep, narrow and rocky,
with no little fear of losing the way in places where the track was
quite obliterated by torrents. We steered well however, and finally
leaving the thick oak woods, arrived at