ng
soap in common use, which is so very much better than ours in England
that I wonder none has been as yet imported, a venerable monk all the
while pouring the water over my hands from a vessel resembling an
antique coffee-pot. I then dried my fingers on an embroidered towel, and
sat down with the agoumenos and another officer of the monastery before
a metal tray covered with various dainty dishes. We three sat upon
cushions on the floor, and the tray stood upon a wooden stool turned
upside down, according to the usual fashion of the country: no meat had
entered into the composition of our feast, but it was very savoury
nevertheless, and our fingers were soon in the midst of the most
tempting dishes, knives and forks being considered as useless
superfluities. When my right hand was anointed with any oleaginous
mixture, which it was very frequently indeed, if I wanted to drink, a
monk held a silver bowl to my lips and a napkin under my chin, as you
serve babies; after which I began again, until with a sigh I was obliged
to throw myself back from the tray, and holding my hands aloft, the
perforated basin and the coffee-pot made their appearance again. A cup
of piping hot coffee concluded the evening's entertainment, and I
retired to another room--the guest chamber--which opened upon a narrow
court hard by, where all my things had been arranged. A long, thin
candle was placed on a small stool in the middle of the floor, and
having winked at the long rays which darted out of it for some time, I
rolled myself into a comfortable position in the corner, and was asleep
before I had settled upon any optical theory to account for them; nor
did the dull, monotonous sound of the mallet, which, struck on a
suspended board, called the good brethren to midnight prayer, disturb
me for more than a moment.

_Nov. 10._--Just before the dawn of day I opened the shutters of the
unglazed windows of my room and surveyed the scene before me; all still
looked grey and cold, and it was only towards the east that the distant
outline of the mountains showed clear and distinct against the dark sky.
By degrees the clouds, which had slept upon the shoulders of the hills,
rose slowly and heavily, whilst the valleys gradually assumed all their
soft and radiant beauty. It seemed to me as if I should never tire of
gazing at this view. In the course of time, however, breakfast appeared,
and having rapidly despatched it, I went to look at the buildings an