Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/35

Rh After waiting at Vostitza till the Austrian steamer was due, finding that it did not arrive, we took a Greek guide and horses, and rode along the coast to Corinth: this occupied two days. The scenery was extremely wild and beautiful. Along the coast there is a high mountain-range, sometimes overhanging the sea, sometimes leaving a narrow strip of alluvial shore, covered with arbutus and other shrubs. The road is not what would be called a road in England; it is either a sheep-track or a goat-track, according to the nature of the country it traverses; sometimes winding along the precipitous edge of the high cliffs, sometimes disappearing in the brushwood and shingle below. Bridges there are none, and rivers can only be crossed when in a fordable state: fortunately they are not very deep. Along these wild tracks the little Greek horses clatter in a long file, always following one behind another; they are very sure-footed, rather mulish in temper, but sometimes indulge in a wonderful gallop, ventre à terre. Being shod with shoes which cover nearly the entire foot, they bear being rattled along rough ground better than English horses.

After the first day's journey we made our first acquaintance with a Greek khan. This primitive hostel may be described as a large bare apartment occupying the whole interior of the house, which has no second story. The roof is supported by an arch of masonry, thrown across the house from wall to wall. In one corner is the fire; the smoke finds its way through a hole in the roof.