who steal them from Russia, Circassia, or
Georgia, and are taken great care of, being taught to embroider, sing,
dance, and deport themselves with elegance and grace. Their masters or
mistresses scarcely ever sell them, but when they are tired of them,
either give them to a friend, or set them free. When they do sell
them, it is as a punishment for some crime, or for being useless.

There are numerous brigands, or thieves, in Greece, who are divided
into bands, and rob with the utmost impunity. They manage to hide
themselves very artfully in the roads where they expect to meet
travellers, doubling their bodies up behind stones and bushes, or else
lying flat on their faces on the ground, when they suddenly all start
up and surround any unfortunate individual who may happen to pass that
way. There are also honest, industrious people in Greece; and among
them are the guides, men who show strangers over the curious portions
of the cities for a trifling sum of money; and there are the cabmen of
Athens, who are usually very intelligent and well-informed; there are
a number of cabs in Athens.

The Greek houses have only one story; but there are generally large
gardens, carefully tended, attached to them. The climate is generally
mild, but not so much so as formerly, on account of the cutting down
of the forests. The spring and autumn are delightful; but the summer
is too hot, and the winter is almost a succession of storm and rain.
The earth is extremely fertile, and produces corn, wine, and fruits,
besides the honey and figs you like so much. The people manufacture
silks and cottons, and export quantities of small raisins, which grow
very luxuriantly in and about the city of Corinth. Corinth is one of
the most charming places that you can fancy to yourself, and is
surrounded by beautiful views and the remains of ancient temples,
columns, and statues; groves of fine olive trees border the city, and
the waters of two bays meet near the entrance. The ruins of the
ancient temples and buildings in Athens, the capital of Greece, are
still to be seen; but so little do the ignorant and foolish people,
who have lived in the city in modern times, value these great works,
that they have for hundreds of years used the greater part of the
splendid marbles to build their houses, which are only ordinary and
common-looking.

[Illustration]

The inhabitants of Bavaria and Belgium have sent almost numberless
articles of industry to the E