The military bands play every
Sunday from five to six. The King rides or drives with his Queen to
this place to show himself to the people. This time he came in an
open carriage with four horses, and stopped to hear several pieces
of music. He was in Greek costume; the Queen wore an ordinary
French dress.
The Greek or rather Albanian costume is one of the handsomest there
is. The men wear full frocks, made of white perkal, which reach
from the hips to the knees, buskins from the knee to the feet, and
shoes generally of red leather. A close-fitting vest of coloured
silk without arms, over a silk shirt, and over this another close-
fitting spencer of fine red, blue, or brown cloth, which is fastened
only at the waist by a few buttons or a narrow band, and lays open
at the top. The sleeves of the spencer are slit up, and are either
left loose or slightly held together by some cords round the wrists;
the collar of the shirt is a little turned over. The vest and
spencer are tastily ornamented with cords, tassels, spangles and
buttons of gold, silver or silk, according to the means of the
wearer. The material, colour and ornament of the Zaruchi correspond
with those of the spencer and vest. A dagger is generally worn in
the girdle, together with a pair of pistols. The head-dress is a
red fez, with a blue tassel.
The Greek dress is, as far as I saw, less worn by the women, and
even then much of its originality is lost. The principal part of
the dress consists of a French garment, which is open at the breast,
over this a close spencer is drawn on, which is also open, and the
sleeves wide and rather shorter than those of the gown. The front
edges of the gown and spencer are trimmed with gold lace. The women
and girls wear on their head a very small fez, which is bound round
with rose or other coloured crape.
24th October. I left Athens by the small steamer Baron Kubeck,
seventy-horse power, and went as far as Calamachi (twenty-eight
miles). Here I had to leave the ship and cross the Isthmus, three
English miles broad. At Lutrachi we went on board another vessel.
During the passage to Calamachi, which lasts only a few hours, the
little town of Megara is seen upon a barren hill.
Nothing is more unpleasant in travelling than changing the
conveyance, especially when it is a good one, and you can only lose
by doing so. We were in this situation. Herr Leitenberg was one of
the best and most attentive of all captains that I had ever met with
in my travels, and we were all sorry to have to leave him and his
ship.
