what had become of our other companions, when lo! all I beheld was a long lock of hair floating on the surface of the water, this revealed to me the danger of the unfortunate Bey, who had fallen into a hole, and was struggling for life. To seize his hair, and roll it tightly round my arm, was the work of an instant, and thus drawing him after me, had the satisfaction of conveying my half-drowned companion to dry land.

The Bey speedily recovered from his disagreeable submersion, but we had some little difficulty in restoring poor Hadji, who, on opening his eyes, mechanically sought for his raki bottle, and inhaling a long and copious draught, rose up and began arranging his horses to continue our journey, as if nothing had happened. The adventure passed off with a few jokes at the expense of our Mahometan Bey, with respect to the great convenience to a drowning man of the lock of hair, which Mahomet commands the faithful to leave on the head, by which the angel might waft them to Paradise. No entreaties of mine, however, could prevail upon my superstitious companions, to allow poor Ben Isaac to continue his journey with us. No, he was unlucky! doubly cursed within the space of twentyfour hours, and the third time, perhaps, would prove fatal to the whole party. It was painful to see the distress of the poor wanderer, when he saw himself left alone in the land of the Philistines.

An hour's ride, exposed to a high wind and a broiling sun, completely dried our clothes; and the smart sayings of Hadji again enlivened our route, while the songs of

Pietro and the Bey made the woods and the rocks echo and re-echo; and by the time we arrived at Ostanitza, all our disasters were completely forgotten. Archeologists contend, that the village of Ostanitza was the Castro-Phirri of Philip, which is not unlikely, for being situated on an eminence, and partly surrounded by the torrent Ostanitza, the position is very strong. We found here the ruins of several churches, and a monastery, but no remains of antiquity; Pietro, however, informed me that there was a very considerable ruin about half a league further, in an opposite direction, at the base of the Nemertska. This splendid mountain, which may be termed almost an Alp, is seen from here to great advantage; it is everywhere broken up, and intersected by ravines still filled with snow.

After half an hour's ride, we attained the summit of the vast ridge that rises above Ostanitza, and saw beneath us the pretty town of Konitza, with its castle and river, together with the rich plain of the Tcharkos, above which rose, in picturesque grandeur, the central range of the Pindus. A dense forest of noble oaks now received us within its bosom, where, in addition to being nearly suffocated for the want of air, we had to contend against an army of tormenting insects, as numerous as the sands of the sea. This continued till we came to a beautiful plateau, verdant as a lawn, where we encamped for the night, evidently a favourite halting-place with the caravan, from the remains of fires that lay scattered about, selected, no doubt, for the abundance it offered of the finest spring water and pasture grounds.

At break of day we caught and saddled our horses; Pietro, as usual, like a pious member of the Greek Church, devoutly crossed himself; while our Mahometan Bey, and Hadji Ismael, not only threw themselves on their knees, but touched the earth with their facesthat earth from which they came, and to which they must return. In this custom of the Mahometan, there is something very touching, very significant, of the abasement man ought to feel when addressing the Most High.

CHAPTER IX.

Republic of the mountaineers of Sagori-Their civil and religious institutions-Manners and customs-Elysian fieldsLocusts-Arrival at Jannina-Description of the town-Its ancient and contemporary history-The Lake of Acherusia and its island--Inhabitants of Jannina-Their sociability-Visit to the ruins at Gastritza-Supposed to be those of the temple and town of Dodona-Epirus, its ancient and modern history -Description of the country volcanoes-Earthquakes.

ON leaving the bivouac of the preceding night, our route lay through a wild uninhabited district, composed of rocky mountains, for the most part barren, or only here and there partially covered with aromatic plants, and an occasional clump of brushwood; this continued till we arrived at the basin of Sagori, with its tiny lake.

We had now entered the little republic of Sagori, consisting of a commonwealth of forty-five villages, inhabited by Christians, and under the protection of the Sultan, to whom they pay a yearly tribute. Twelve of these villages are peopled by Zinzars, and the remainder by Albanians, Greeks and Slavonians, all professing the Greek ritual; the names of the villages, as well as the mountains, rivers and rivulets, prove that

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this was originally an Illyrian settlement.

The inhabitants occupy all the high lands, included between Mount Mitchekelli and the central ridge of the Pindus, in which are several parallel valleys separated by a high ridge, called the Pleovina.

One of the most remarkable features, in the character of the inhabitants of these provinces, is their attachment to self-government, patriarchal in its form and customs; we have already alluded to this while travelling among the Slavonians, we have seen the same system carried out by the Miriditi, and now again in this mountain district. Whenever they are sufficiently strong, from combination or position, to extort this privilege from the weakened power of the Osmanli, their first object is to elect their own chiefs, and virtually establish a republic; conforming to the laws, and paying the tribute due to the Sultan, as chief of the empire. We may therefore conclude, should any political convulsion overthrow the authority of the Crescent, these provinces (if the inhabitants were left to themselves) would become divided into a number of petty governments, and confederacies of races and creeds, for which the mountainous nature of the country offers so many facilities. This, while it would pacify the country and gratify the self-love of the people, solves the difficult question of: "What is to be done with European Turkey?" and in the event of such a convulsion, those Western powers, interested in the fate of these provinces, should be prepared to countenance and support this system of federal government.

We have frequently alluded, in the course of this