Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/302

252 Captain Parker kindly conveyed me also as far as Calyninos, as I was anxious to explore the Greek cemetery there, with a view to excavation.

Here I took leave of my kind friend Lord Carlisle, and saw with regretful eyes the "Firebrand" get under weigh, leaving me suddenly bereft of all the pleasant associations of the last few days, and somewhat unnerved by their amenities for the rough life which, I knew, was in store for me. When I was landed in the harbour in the early morning, I remained like a waif thrown up on the sandy beach, seated on my carpet bag, and plunged in a reverie about home, from which I was roused by an Ionian, who very kindly came to offer me hospitality in his house.

In every island in the Archipelago there are stray Ionians; wherever there are Ionians there is litigation; and litigation is sure to come, sooner or later, within the action of the Consul. It is for these reasons that Consuls can so easily make their way in the most inhospitable villages of the Levant, where unprotected travellers might be left to starve.

I passed several days at Calymnos, examining the Greek cemetery at a place called Damos, and am about to report the result of my researches to Lord Stratford, who is so kind as to undertake to ask the Porte for a firman, if I think the ground at Calymnos sufficiently promising to make an excavation worth while.

I asked the Calymniotes what they thought, hoped, or feared in the present crisis, and they appeared to think that they were very well off at present, and