doleful cries and lamentations in concert with the widow. On that day a mess of boiled wheat, mixed up with almonds and raisins, is sent to the church, where prayers are put up for the soul of the departed. The same ceremony is observed also on the fifteenth day, on the twenty-first, and the fortieth. Then a repetition only takes place at the end of three, six, nine, and twelve months, and lastly at the expiration of three years, when the bones of the corpse are disinterred, washed carefully with wine, and, being tied up in a bag, deposited in the church for three days before they are placed in the common cemetery, at which time a solemn mass is performed, and a number of wax tapers are distributed amongst the by-standers. An entertainment also is given by the relations in proportion to their circumstances.

Observing an extraordinary number of graves in this cemetery, whereas the church is very small, I inquired the reason from Giovanni, and learned that it is the favourite place of burial with the principal families of Ioannina, with whom it is the fashion to deposit the mortal remains of their friends, out of sight, lest the mournful recollection of their loss should obtrude itself upon their minds when they go to divine worship at their own churches. The greatest part of these graves are decorated with a small stone or marble monument, in appearance like a square pilaster, surmounted by a cross; it is hollow within, having a little wooden door attached, and containing a lamp which is lighted on certain festivals, as well as on the anniversary of the deceased's birth and death: this service is undertaken by a priest who is paid for his trouble by the family.

Feb. 21.-Early this morning Antonietti came into our room, to say that all the military of Ioannina was in motion, that the vizir had just left the capital in his old German coach, escorted by a body guard of 500 palikars, whilst the hen-coops were preparing for the ladies of his harem to follow him. I immediately arose, and as soon as I was dressed, walked out into the environs of the city, where I beheld immense multitudes of Albanian troops spreading themselves over the plain, or

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EXPEDITION OF ALI AGAINST PARGA.

ascending the hills, and rushing, like ravenous wolves in search of prey, towards their place of rendezvous. Nothing could be more wildly picturesque than the appearance they made in their white fleecy capotes and national costume, strutting in a kind of martial pride as though they disdained to touch the earth with their tread. Few circumstances could have imparted greater joy to the people of Ioannina than this departure of the military, for whom they had been so long constrained to find quarters, to the utter destruction of domestic comfort, and in many instances to the ruin of morality amongst their families: the relief now experienced was like the removal of an incubus. Luckily it happened to be the cold season, or the most destructive fevers might have been the fatal consequence of this military occupation of the capital.

We dined this day with the French Consul, and from him learned what we before suspected, that the march of Ali's troops was directed towards Parga. That heroic little republic had to this time withstood all attempts of the tyrant to subdue it. He had tried every means, and had recourse to every art which he had hitherto employed with so much success: but the Parghiotes defied his threats, despised his arms, and rejected his bribes: with them a generous patriotism triumphed over every mean and selfish consideration, supported them in calamity, animated them with hope, and burned like the vestal's fire perpetually in their breasts. Every other inch of ground in Epirus was under the dominion of Ali: he had subdued and concentrated the various realms of Pashas, Agàs, or free republics, round the focus of his power, and he was indignant that this little rock should defy his efforts and preserve its independence; that the flame of liberty should burn upon this last altar in poor enslaved Greece, like a beacon to excite her sons to shake off the yoke of tyranny.

Impressed with these ideas and accurately informed as to the state of continental affairs, he had been for some time engaged in assiduous endeavours to persuade Mr. Pouqueville and General Denzelot the gover

DINNER WITH MR. POUQUEVILLE.

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nor of Corfu, to rede this fortress to him for a valuable consideration. But in this negociation he was cruelly disappointed. Those honourable men, though they well knew the preponderance of British arms, and that Parga must eventually be lost, steadily refused under any conditions to deliver up 5000 Christians to their sanguinary and atrocious enemy, or to sacrifice the lives and fortunes of those whom they had once taken under their protection, and upon whose citadel they had hoisted the standard of France. Who can reflect without horror that the British flag, which succeeded it, proved the winding-sheet of Parghiot independence?

Our conversation to-day turned naturally upon this interesting subject, and never shall I forget the exultation which that excellent man Mr. Pouqueville shewed at the very thought of Parga falling under the power of England so well able to protect it. He described the character of its inhabitants in such favourable terms as made us extremely desirous of visiting the place, and this wish eventually was gratified. In spite of the vast number of troops which Ali had now led against them, he secretly suspected that shame and defeat would be the result of his attempts, and he paid a compliment to the patriotism of Mr. Foresti which subsequent events shewed was well deserved.

Our host informed us that the priest or chaplain of the Miriditi had been with him this morning to borrow one of his rooms, with various other accommodations, for the celebration of mass. Thus those very barbarians, after participating in the benefit of their Saviour's redemption, had gone willing instruments in a tyrant's hand to massacre without the least personal provocation, a set of Christians whose only fault was their hatred and opposition to tyranny. What a labyrinth is the human heart!

During the absence of his father, Mouchtar acted as caimacam or vice-pasha; but the pressure of public business did not seem to lessen his avidity for amusements, or interrupt him in the enjoyment of them. The divan or council, at which old Mahomet Effendi presided, met every day; but its members were mere puppets, and could do no act

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VISIT TO MOUCHTAR PASHA.

without the permission of their master: accordingly all the tatars were put in requisition and were in constant motion between the capital and Prevesa. Ali indeed sometimes contrives to throw the odium of op. pressive and disagreeable measures upon his council, though he never allows it free agency. His insatiable love of power makes him anxious that all the minutest springs of state machinery should depend upon himself: and this desire is seconded by that knowledge which he has acquired of his territories during his extensive peregrinations, and by his extraordinary memory, which enables him to remember persons and facts at a wonderful distance of time. Every one seems conscious of the power which this knowledge gives him, and when absent, his presence is still, as it were, felt: nothing can illustrate this so admirably as the expression made use of by the physician Metaxà to Dr. Holland, "that there was a cord tied round every individual in his dominions, longer or shorter, more or less fine; but every one of which cords went to him and was held in his hand*."

One day, during Ali's absence, having paid a visit to Mouchtar Pasha, as we were sitting in his saloon such violent shrieks and outcries from a female were heard beneath the window, that he ordered her to be brought up. The poor creature being introduced, ran and threw herself at his feet kissing the hem of his garment and imploring him, with the most moving lamentations, to save her daughter, a young girl only fourteen years old, whom Sechrì Effendi, one of Ali's chief secretaries, and a violent bigot, had seduced to the Mahometan faith. Can it be believed that this brute in a human shape set up a loud laugh and ordered his chaoushes to turn the poor suppliant out of his serai?

February 26.--This day a festival or fair was held in booths upon a vacant space, about a mile from the city, at the church of St. Theodore, and in honour of its patron. At about eleven o'clock A. M. we set out for the scene of action, and were passed on the road by Signore Alessiò

* Holland's Travels, p. 187.

FESTIVAL AT THE CHURCH OF ST. THEODORE.

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mounted upon a finely caparisoned white charger, and accompanied by a long train of Greek gentlemen. We found the people amusing themselves in various sports and pastimes, and the priests just ready to begin a service, which was delayed only till Alessio should arrive. At length he entered and the church was soon crowded with people, each of whom, as he came in, paid adoration to a dirty picture of the saint placed in triumph on a frame in the middle of the aisle this he kissed with great reverence, crossing him both before and after the ceremony. So much had this painting suffered from the lips of its admirers that scarcely a feature could be traced upon the canvass. The women were as usual concealed from public view by the lattice-work of the gallery. Various mummeries were now exhibited at the great altar which stands at the east end of the church before the Holy of Holies, a place venerated like the adytum of an ancient temple, through the apertures of which the priests ran in and out, like puppets in a show, dressed in their most gaudy habiliments: the Kyrie Eleeyson was sung and a few psalms chaunted, during which process boys in surplices came up to receive our contributions, swinging incense in brazen censers till the whole church was filled with smoke: this custom is observed as some say on account of its grateful odour and utility in a hot climate, or, according to others, to drive away demons and evil spirits:

Λύχνων γὰρ ὀσμὰς & φιλῶσι δαιμονες.

My friend and myself put each a dollar into the chalice, for which we received three puffs of frankincense; but Signore Alessio, who contributed a whole handful of sequins, was literally enveloped in a cloud. Other chaunts were afterwards sung in honour of different saints, and at the conclusion of each the chalice for contributions was brought round with the censer as before: these worthies however were enriched only with a few paras. So ridiculous and absurd are the mummeries of