From The Nineteenth Century. AMONG THE LIARS. Although the names of Canea and the surrounding villages have become household words, and are now important factors in contemporary history, it is only during the last few months that they have sprung into such prominence. At the time I visited the country, about two years ago, very few people knew anything about Crete at ali, except that St. Paul suffered shipwreck there or thereabouts, and that the population were liars and otherwise undesirable acquaintances. Accounts of revolutions in the island were occasionally given in the newspapers, but they excited little interest. Canea is not an easy spot for the ordinary traveller to reach. The writer was away from England a little over a month, and during that time travelled on no less than seven different steamers and passed through thirteen custom houses. Boats run twice a week from Athens via Candia and Retimo, on uncertain days and at a very moderate speed, and this is the only way of reaching the island. My companion was one well known in the world of sport and a frequent contributor to these pages; yet with all his experience to assist us we were doomed to return empty-handed-indeed, without firing a shot. The attraction for us in the island lay in the reputed existence of the Cretan ibex (Capra ægagrus) or "agrimia" in the precipitous mountains on the south coast. We were unable to get any information with reference-to the animal except from the pages of Pliny and vague references by other travellers of less antiquity. We were unable to find that any European had ever shot them, and it was not until we landed at Candia and found the horns and hide of a young buck hanging on the back of an old "fakir" that we felt really sure of the existence of our quarry. On our arrival two days later at Canea, however, Mr. (now Sir Alfred) Biliotti, H. B. B. Consul, gave us a most encouraging account: the agrimia were said to be fairly plentiful in a certain locality and were frequently shot by shepherds; there was a mule track right across the island, and there would be no difficulty in keeping ourselves supplied with provisions. Thanks to Sir Alfred's courtesy and assistance, we were able to leave for the interior on the day following that of our arrival. Some little difficulty was experienced in clearing our baggage at the custom house, ostensibly because it was Friday and Turks could not work on that day; but the timehonored remedy of baksheesh salved the consciences of the douane, and we got our boxes and men on the road by eleven, we ourselves following three hours later, mounted on a sorry-looking trio of mules. As we passed through the high street of Canea we were struck by the number of shops which sold nothing but long yellow Wellington boots, and could not understand why this particula: industry should hold such a prominent position. After two or three days in the mountains this feeling of surprise was entirely supplanted, as we inspected our own footgear, by one of wonder that there were anything but boot shops in the country. A pair of thick new tennis shoes (the only shoes suitable to these hills) were in pieces within the week, and our servants' thick native boots were torn to ribbons. Next to the boot trade, the most flourishing industry appeared to be that of the green grocer-endless varieties of salad being exposed for sale throughout the town. A great number of skins of light-colored gennet or pinemarten were hanging in one doorway, but we never ran across the animal himself. A Frenchman, living in the town, told us that he had shot hares, quail, woodcock, snipe, and partridges; but, with the exception of a few partridges and rock-doves, we saw neither fur nor feather during our visit. Riding out of the gates of the town, we passed through the inevitable "leper farm," the poor creatures being under the care of Dr. Joannitis, a Cretan gentleman educated in England and holding a British medical diploma, who has devoted his life to the study of leprosy. He was much pleased to meet Englishmen and to have the opportunity of talking English, a luxury he only enjoys when the fleet is at Suda Bay. A rough road running between aloe hedges and olive groves led up to the valley of the Platanos River towards Lakhos, about twelve miles distant. The hillsides were studded with small villages of from fifteen to forty white houses, a small minaret or tiny church tower proclaiming the prevailing religion. They looked very bright and smiling as they nestled in the sun among their olive and orange groves, and it was only on looking higher that one saw the ridges studded at intervals with "pyrgi," or blockhouses, and could realize that this peaceful agricultural country was not always so placid, and that civil war had devastated and would again devastate this most productive district. The tracts of land on the north coast which have been thrown out of cultivation also tell their tale of Turkish tax-farming; the more inaccessible interior being the only portion of the island where agricultural produce can be grown at a profit, owing to the disinclination of the taxcollectors to visit these out-of-the-way localities! we Twelve miles from the coast the path left the river-bed and wound in a steep ascent up the hillside. As mounted this acclivity a more extended view was afforded, and we were able - to observe the ingenuity of the natives in utilizing every corner of ground, the most inaccessible-looking patches beting planted with vines or olives. We reached Lakhos, two thousand feet above the sea, long after dark, and with difficulty found the house where the cook had prepared dinner. To reach it was a feat of no small danger as the village is pitched at an inclination of about forty-five degrees; the houses standing out, one above the other, like steps. Conversation with the next-door neighbor is carried on up or down the chimney, as the case may be. The first object encountered on going out of a door is the open chimney of the house below, and it was a marvel to us why these good people did not sometimes find an unexpected addition to their meals, in the shape of a junior member of the neighbor's family who had made an involuntary descent into the pot! The house where we dined was that of the chief inhabitant. The room was a good big one, about eight feet high, clean, with "dope" walls. A large bed with clean coverlet and a hand-loom stood in one corner, the rest being bare. An interested crowd watched and discussed us with respectful attention till we finished an excellent repast; the only good one, by the way, that the cook ever prepared for us, and on the strength of which he got royally drunk and gave away all of our cigarettes and tobacco. Then the crowd closed in, and we endeavored, with the assistance of a slender Cretan vocabulary and a cast-iron English pronunciation, to interview our hosts. We met with but slight success, the only portion of the conversation worthy of note being an endeavor, on the part of the mayor, to demonstrate the habitat and habits of the agrimia by means of an orange, the cups, and the table cutlery. From this we gathered that they fed in the open and then retired to the bush, which was plentiful. This, alas! was amply demonstrated by our subsequent、 experience. After an hour or so of this very fatiguing conversation we were conducted to the spot where our tents were pitched; a most alarming walk it was, in the dark, up a very narrow path along the side of the hill. Soon after we got to bed we discovered that the mayor, in mistaken kindness, had honored us with a double sentry over our tents. These two good people chatted, smoked, stumbled about, and laughed in such a way as to banish all chance of rest, until at about midnight they and we dropped of simultaneously to sleep. Next morning we were up at cockcrow, hoping to make an early start. In this we were disappointed. The muleteers mostly had relations in the village and showed a disinclination to creasing darkness and steepness made load up and go; while the cook was further progress almost impossible and lying among the débris of his kitchen I returned. utensils in a semi-comatose state, gradually recovering from his excesses of the previous evening. His name, by the way, was Polyzoës Pikodopoulos, and it is too much to expect of any one to own such a name without having ary compensating disadvantages! The villagers were anxious to be of assistance and were most civil. These highlanders are tall, handsome, jolly fellows, looking more like Englishmen than any other race I ever saw. They were neither arrogant nor cringing, but treated us as honored guests of their own standing. It was nine o'clock before we had sobered "Poly" and collected the men, and we then rode on in front of the caravan to the elevated plain of Omalos. About five hours' steady ascent, partly over unrideable masses of rough boulders, brought us to our destination: a little cluster of shepherds' huts lying at one end of the plateau. To our disappointment these were inhabited. They are used by the shepherds in the summer while their sheep are feeding on the Omalos pastures, and in the winter snows are deserted, the flocks being taken to lower ground. The snow was only just gone, and reached down the surrounding mountain sides to within a few hundred feet of the plain. As we were now at an altitude of about four thousand, five hundred feet we were glad of the thick clothes we had taken the precaution of bringing, and even under piles of bedding and waterproof sheets suffered very much from the cold at night. In the neighborhood of Omalos there are several similar elevated plateaus having a number of streams running into them and no outlet for the water but a subterranean one. The outlet or "katavothron" of Omalos was close to our camp, and I made a short expedition into it. It was a huge cavern, the opening at the mouth being about forty feet in diameter, completely lined with ferns. I penetrated about a hundred yards into the interior, but the in As soon as the baggage came up and we had had some food we started to spy out the land and get some idea of the lie of the country, with a view to making plans for the following day. The direction I went in was evidently not that in which the ibex lay, as we saw no signs of them either on or below the snow. My companion on his side saw two lots with the glass, in what looked practicable country, so next morning we went off together in the direction where he had seen them. A three-mile walk brought us to a sinall dismantled "Martello" tower commanding an abrupt descent into a deep gorge. Looking over the edge it seemed impossible that a path should be able to find its way down such a precipice to the torrent roaring along the bottom some two thousand feet below us. Not three years ago this path, which is known as the "Xiloskala" or "Wooden Stair-case," was absolutely impracticable for mules, and it is only since the Turkish government spent a lot of money in restoring it, that the connection in this portion, of the island has been re-established between the north and south coasts. The gorge into which the Xiloskala descends is about ten miles in length, with a right-angled bend in it, at which point the path is situated. It is in no place more than a mile in width at the top, and seldom less than two thousand feet deep. The mountains on each side tower to an altitude of from six thousand to eight thousand feet. The views in all parts are magnificent and can be compared to nothing but the Yosemite Valley, though of course on a smaller scale vertically. The sides of the gorge are of limestone, the bare rock alternating with tracts of rough scrub and coniferous trees. Along the bottom grow some splendid cypresses, the trunks being about six feet in diameter. Half-way down the path we stopped and spied for an hour or more, during which time we saw no ibex but noticed three men lying under a rock on the opposite face. When they saw us, they filled the valley with their shouts and came clattering after us. To our annoyance they were only the precursors of several more parties of sportsmen (for such they were) who turned up from every direction. Whether these people were out for their own amusement or whether they had come out to kill the agrimia for us, it is impossible to say. I myself lean to the latter opinion, and believe that they imagined they were doing us a civility and that the demise of ibex was the surest way to our hearts. In any case the ground was now thoroughly disturbed, and there was help for it but to organize a drive, the last refuge of the destitute sportsman. We accordingly sent the natives round to drive a face of the hill and climbed up to a point where we made sure the ibex would pass. us. no Thinking we had plenty of time we were quietly lunching when there was a sudden clatter of stones and I saw three ibex trotting towards I threw myself on to my rifle, loaded and drew a bead on the leader, which was by this time not eighty yards away, standing looking at us. I then roticed that this was a female followed by two young, so refrained from firing in the hopes that a buck might not be far off. No further beast appeared, however, and after a few moments' examination of us the three ibex turned up the hill with a bark from the mother and disappeared. Whether I was right in sparing her Had I may be open to discussion. fired, we should have had something to show for our trip, as this was the only time either of us got within shot of a goat during the whole time. As against that, the gain of self-respect in upholding, under trying circumstances, the principle of never shooting females more than compensates, to my mind, for the disappointment at returning trophyless. We waited an other hour in the sleet and cold with out any further event. Then we saw a thin pillar of smoke curling up through the trees in the valley some two miles away, and through the glass recognized our beaters sitting round a fire warming themselves! With feelings too deep for words we retraced our steps to camp. For several successive days we tramped the hills without seeing a single agrimia. The climbing looked easy, but it was not until we had been taken in a few times by the crumbling away of an apparently secure hold that one realized the necessity for extreme caution. The frost had got behind the projecting lumps of friable limestone, and they needed but a touch to send them clattering to the depths below, as a warning of what would be one's fate in the event of a false move. We now considered that a change of quarters might bring with it a change of luck, especially as it would throw more country open to us. So the declsion was come to that camp should be moved to a little church in the bottom of the valley, called San Nikolaus. My companion having accordingly started off while I was packing, sent back a note, when he had gone a mile, asking me to discharge the cook. As he was an unscrupulous ruffian and dangerous was far from a in his cups, this pleasant job. He took it well, though, and was, I fancy, glad to get back to the coast, being rather frightened of the local brigands. The matter having ended satisfactorily, no quarrel resulted from the cowardly desertion to which I had been subjected! We were glad to get away from Omalos, and it was pleasanter to eat under the shelter of one of the glorious cypresses than in a mud hut tenanted by a dozen natives and a couple of horses which were liable at any moment to take a fancy to one's food or to step in a cup. We took no tents down the Xiloskala, being short of horses, Poly having previously taken on himself to send most of them back to Lakhos. The camp was in a beautiful spot twenty yards from the stream, which provided excellent water and a bathing pool, besides lulling us to sleep when we rolled up in our blankets un we der the trees. The little church close lost to sight. On one occasion by was visited. A most humble place thought that we had really circumof worship, the only adornment being vented a buck that had been skipping three small willow-pattern plates let along an apparently impassable face into the plaster over the doorway. It of rock to a bush in the middle of it, is only used on certain occasions, and where he lay down. We posted ourwe never discovered any parson at- selves so that escape for him seemed tached to it, but it was scrupulously impossible, and sent the men round. clean, and might hold twenty people They drove the ground carefully, with crowding. eventually reaching a spot immediately above his lair and hurling down rocks from the top. He, however, showed no signs of life, and the only result of the manœuvre was to nearly frighten one of the party out of his seven senses. He had taken up a position straight below the ibex, and the stones hurled down by the beaters gathered other stones in their course, and by the time they reached my friend had formed small avalanches which hurtled over his head, and it was only by flattening himself against the rock that he avoided instant annihilation. Our present camp lay well within the limits of the Sphakia district. The Sphakiotes are a splendid race, and have often fought for and always preserved their liberty. They are tall, fair-haired, cheerful ruffians, in face very like the typical Eastern counties man-by nature, brigands and fighting men. Every man carries a rifle of sorts and is always prepared to render a good account of himself with it. Crossing the bottom of the valley at intervals are sangars, bearing witness to the fighting that took place here against the Turks in 1820. About this time I attached to my personal staff an individual called Vassili, said to be a mighty hunter. He may have been only unlucky during these days, but his method of circumventing the ibex in no way commended itself to me. It was as follows: He would start off to walk at top speed up and down hill, talking volubly but incomprehensibly at the top of his voice. Having walked me off my legs, he would leave me to rest on a mamelon and start off alone to some distant peak, occasionally pausing to fire a random shot down a gorge or into a patch of bushes. At the top of the hill he would light a fire, presumably to show that he had been there, and then stalk off to another hilltop and repeat the operation. If this is the universal method, it would fully account for the agrimia still existing in such a limited area. Although we were often able to hear the goats clattering along the rocks, evidently in full view, we were never able to pick them up with the glass. Their color is identically that of the rocks, and the ground is so broken that the moment they lie down they are After this last disappointment we decided to abandon the pursuit and to leave for home after an expedition down the valley. The lower portion of the valley is even more majestic than the upper; the walls of rock close in till they form a canyon not more than a hundred yards wide. This runs right down to the sea where lies the little village of Rumeli. The mouth of the valley is just opposite to the island of Gavdo, well known to all who have travelled by the P. and O. The south coast has no harbors, only open roadsteads with bad anchorage, and the fishing industry is nil. Turning our backs on the valley, we again faced the Xiloskala and reached Omalos in the evening, to find that some one, presumably the discharged cook, had broken open different articles of baggage and helped himself to various useful trifles and food. The men left behind denied any knowledge of the theft, but it was difficult to reconcile their statements with the fact that on our unexpected entry into the hut they were discovered in the act of eating “Sardines de luxe.” Next morning we had great difficulty in getting started, what with refrac |