petty chiefs pursue a wicked system of robbery, fighting, and tyranny.  Indeed, many of these chiefs have fitted out vessels as pirate ships, in order to seize and plunder any other vessels weaker than their own with which they may fall in.  There are, however, many wealthy Greek merchants; and a number of rich Jews live in various parts of Greece.  The Greek people are beautiful and graceful.  The women have fine oval faces, their eyes are large and dark, their eyebrows and hair are of deep shining black, and their complexions are mostly pale.  They are very splendid in their dresses; the costume of the men is extremely like that of the Turks.  From having been so long subject, however, to their Turkish rulers, the Greeks have become artful and cunning.

The rich ladies and nobles of Greece have fine young slaves to wait upon them, and amuse them by singing or dancing.  These slaves are bought from the Tartars, 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.