CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
There is in the northern portion of the Grecian Archipelago--and, frombeing out of the usual track of vessels, little known even to the modernvoyager, and in the days of which I write still less so--a small islandcalled by the mariners of those regions the Island of Lissa, though I amnot aware under what name it appears in the English charts. In extentit is five or six miles long, and from two to three broad; its loftysides rise in most places as rocky precipices from out of the blueocean, and only on the southern side can anchorage-ground be found. Itappears, on sailing round it at a short distance off, to be a barren,inaccessible rock--a fit abode only for the wild sea-fowl which may beseen hovering round it. Its aspect, on approaching nearer, alters, andhere and there a pathway, cut in zig-zag down the rock, may bediscerned; and at one spot on the north, which appears at first to be amere crevice in the rock, to the seaman who steers boldly towards it, anopening is revealed between the lofty cliffs, so narrow that the yardsof a ship might touch either side, yet with the water so deep that oneof large tonnage may enter, and find herself in a beautiful basinsurrounded with a fringe of yellow sand--lofty rocks, of many hues,rising on every side, with a deep ravine running up into the interior,its sides also equally rugged and precipitous. Neither tree nor shrubcan be seen in this wild but picturesque spot: rock, water, sand, andsky, are the only component parts of the landscape. At the time I speakof a few small light boats were drawn up on the beach, and two crafts ofconsiderably larger size lay moored in the basin or cove. They werelong, low vessels, entirely decked over, and fitted to pull some twentyoars; they had thick stumpy masts, and long tapering yards, for lateensails, now stowed fore and aft in the boats. The sails were bent, theoars being placed along the thwarts, and they wore an air which showedthey would be ready for sea at a moment's notice.
There was somewhat a wicked look about them, at the same time they mightbelong to peaceable fishermen; for there were several nets hung up onpoles along the shore, and at times a few old men might be seen mendingthem or cleaning the boats. The chief communication between the cove orbasin I have described and the interior of the island was by a narrowpathway, which ran along near the bottom of the ravine for somedistance, and then, turning to the right with many a zig-zag, led alongthe edge of deep precipices till it reached the summit of the cliffs.At the very bottom of the ravine leaped and sparkled a bright, clearrivulet, the only stream in the island. It might be seen far up,indeed, at what might be called the head of the ravine, rushing forthfrom between two cliffs, and bounding down a fall of two or threehundred feet in a mass of glittering foam.
One of the wildest and most inaccessible spots in the island was in thatportion to the right, or east of the cove--the point of land, indeed,formed by it and the sea, and bounded on the north by the ravine. Theonly access to it from the rest of the island was from the north-east bya narrow neck of land, with the sea-cliffs on one side and those of theravine on the other.
This wild and rugged spot had been selected centuries ago, when the thenpowerful republic of Venice held sway over considerable territories inthose seas, for the erection of a stronghold; and certainly no placecould have been better adapted, by its position and nature, for defyingthe attacks of an enemy from without, or for guarding any rich argosiestaking shelter in the bay below. It was of course for the purpose ofprotecting their commerce that this rock had been seized on andfortified. It had probably also at some other period been increased andstrengthened on the land side, and occupied for less laudable objectsthan the mere protection of commerce. Whatever might have been theoriginal intention of its erection and its subsequent use, the massivetowers and turreted walls had long since been disused, and had falleninto the decay of years, unheeded and unknown, except by a few familiesof fishermen who had from generation to generation followed the sameoccupation. I call them fishermen, because such was the designationthey would have given themselves, had they been questioned on thesubject, and very properly so, for that was the occupation they andtheir fathers had followed from time immemorial--when they happened tohave no other more lucrative or interesting employment. Another changehad, however, of late years come over the ancient ruins, and though itcould not be said that they had assumed much of their pristineappearance, some of the least dilapidated portions, at all events, gavesigns of being the habitations of human beings. One tower especiallyhad been roofed in, as had a building attached to it, and smoke had beenseen to ascend from its hearth; and faces, hitherto strangers to theisland, had appeared at its windows. The village in which most of theold inhabitants of the island resided was on the opposite side of theravine, in a spot almost as inaccessible as that on which the castlestood, but somewhat more convenient for a congregation of persons; andas it was in a manner fortified by art, in addition to what nature haddone, they never found the Turks anxious to attempt the no easy task ofdispossessing them. Although the exterior of the island was so ruggedand unprepossessing, and so destitute of verdure and cultivation, therewere spots in the interior where the orange, the citron, the pear, theapple, and the vine flourished in rich luxuriance; the sides of thehills were clothed with olive-trees, and the more even portions withfields of waving corn, amply sufficient for the simple wants of thepopulation; and though cattle might be rare, thriving herds of goatsfound herbage among the rocks, and on the narrow ledges of the ruggedcliffs. In fact, everything which the mere unsophisticated wants of mancould require, the island itself supplied, except clothing and weapons;and for the purpose of collecting these the misticoes in the cove werefound extremely useful,--no spot, indeed, could be more calculated forthe abode of peace, innocence, and rural simplicity--a complete islandArcadia; and so it would possibly have become, had the inhabitants beenless addicted to maritime adventure; but then they would have had to goabout in the state in which were our first parents, before the fall, orto have dressed in goats' skins; and at all events they would have hadno arms to defend themselves against the Turks; so that their frequentnaval expeditions might have been prompted by the excess of theirpatriotism, and would, therefore, to say no more about them, have beenmost laudable.
But the part of the island with which we are most interested is that tothe east of the bay, where the ruined castle was situated. The towerwhich I have described as having been rendered somewhat habitable, stoodin a position by which it commanded an extensive view to the southwardand eastward, as also of the bay or cove below. Yet, although placedapparently in so exposed a situation, so completely surrounded was it byrocks of the same hue as the stone of which it was constructed, that ata short distance off only, on the sea, it could in no way bedistinguished from them.
I must introduce the reader to an apartment in the upper part of thesaid tower, which possessed two windows, one looking to the south, theother into the cove.
The room presented an appearance which could not at all have beenexpected from the condition of the outside. It was furnished, not onlycompletely, but most richly and luxuriously, yet in a way which showedthat the hand of a professional artist had not been employed. The floorwas covered with a Turkey carpet of the most valuable description, andround the room, in Oriental style, were arranged couches, with thesoftest cushions, and carved with thick silks of varied patterns. Thewalls were lined with damask hangings, of a light blue, and the ceilingwas arranged in the form of a tent, composed of cottons, which hadprobably been fabricated in the looms of England. There were tables inthe room, and seats scattered about around them.
Besides the hangings on the walls, they were ornamented with pictures ofmuch value, and racks of arms, richly chased, and arranged so as to formmany fanciful devices.
The whole appearance of the apartment showed that it had been hurriedlyfitted up, with lavish disregard of expense, and with materials whichmight have been most conveniently at hand, but were not originallyintended for the purpose to which they were devoted. The arrangements,also, were such as a seaman might be supposed to have made, more,probably, than an
y other person. The room had an occupant--a young andvery beautiful girl. Her beauty was of the pensive cast. She had largeblack, gazelle eyes, a clear olive complexion--clear as purity itself,--and a figure slight and graceful, with a cast of feature of the mostclassic mould. As she sat at the window, gazing out on the blue sea,ever and anon a slight roseate tinge would appear in her soft cheek, andvanish rapidly as the thoughts which made it rise. Her costume wasrather fanciful, than either Grecian or of any other people, and thoughelegant and becoming, she appeared to have formed it from a profusesupply of costly materials placed at her disposal. It partook, however,of the character of the dress of the East, though European taste mighthave been detected in it.
She seemed very sad; for, though she held a book in her hand, with whichshe was apparently endeavouring to divert her attention from melancholythoughts, her eyes would constantly wander over the wide blue sea, theonly object visible from the window, and a pearly drop from her dark eyewould steal down her cheek, and fall unheeded on the page before her,while an unconscious sigh would burst from her heaving bosom.
There was evidently a weight on her young heart, a grief which waswearing out the elasticity of her spirits, withering her gloriousbeauty, and making her aged before her time. Perchance she mourned theabsence of one she loved, and was wearied with anxiety for his return;perhaps the canker-worm of remorse was at work within her, for a faultcommitted and irretrievable; perhaps she was the victim of lawlessoutrage, a captive against her will; perhaps she had been severed fromall she loved on earth, and the bright hopes of life had been blastedfor ever. At last she closed her book with a smile; but it was one ofpain and bitterness at the hopelessness of her attempt to divert hermind from the contemplation of the present. A guitar, such as isgenerally used in Italy, lay on the divan near her; she took it up, andran her fingers over the strings. For a few minutes she struck aplaintive air, in consonance with her feelings, and then, almostunconsciously, she added her voice to the strain in a rich flow ofmelody. Her words, too, were sad, and the language was that of Italy.
Nina's Song.
The earth is all as lovely here, The sky as bright and fair, And flowers of every hue and shade Perfume the southern air. The sparkling sea lies at my feet, So clear, it seems a lake, And tiny waves, with snowy crest, Alone the silence break; And yet I weep from day to day For that loved home, now far away!
I almost wish 'twere not so like My loved Italian land, Its southern flowers, its gorgeous skies, Blue sea, and golden sand. For while I gaze, a whispering voice Steals sadly through my brain, And tells me, I must never hope To see that spot again. And I must weep, from day to day For that loved home, now far away!
I close my eyes, and fancy paints So vividly and clear, Each lovely spot, each well-known sound. To mem'ry ever dear; I hear again the vesper-bell, Chiming to evening prayer; While the cheerful song of the Gondolier, Floats through the balmy air. And thus I dream till dawn of day, Of that fair home, now far away!
And yet the chain which binds me hero Is dearer far to me, Than the beauties of my palace land, Girt by the glorious sea. For his dear love, I left them all, And while that love is mine, If dreary wastes were now my home, Think not I would repine. Yet still one thought, from day to day, Tells of my home, now far away!
But if his love should ever fade, Like twilight o'er this shore, And whisper'd words of tenderness, Now mine, be heard no more! Then no reproach shall meet his ear, No weeping meet his eye; I'd leave him ere he form'd the wish, And leave him but to die; For I would seek, ere close of day, Death, in that home now far away.
As she ceased, a tap was heard at the door; and she, bidding whoever waswithout to enter, a young girl appeared, and closing the door,approached her. She wore the red embroidered Greek cap, with her hairhanging in two long plaits behind, full trousers, and a silk waistcoat,reaching to the knees. Her age might have been about fourteen, and shewas very pretty, with black, flashing eyes, and a figure rather fullthan slight, and somewhat below the common height, and a countenance towhich health and spirits gave an animated expression, which would havemade features far inferior to hers appear to advantage.
She seated herself on a cushion at the feet of the young lady with anaffectionate familiarity, and looking up in her face, said, in the softtongue of modern Greece--
"Oh, do continue those sweet strains, lady. Though they made me sad, Icame up on purpose to listen to them, and to make my heart lighten thegrief of yours by sharing it with you."
"Thanks, my good Mila. You are ever kind," answered the lady; andthough she spoke Romaic, she had difficulty in expressing herself. "Ivalue your love the more that I possess that of no other."
"Your sweet temper and your sweet voice have won you more friends thanyou suppose, lady," answered the Greek girl. "My young brother woulddie for you, I know, and my old grandfather, Vlacco, has his heartsoftened towards you, I am sure."
"Does Vlacco feel pity for me? Then would he, do you think, allow us towander forth to explore this rocky island? I am weary of remaining shutup in so small a compass for so long a time."
"I will try and persuade him, lady; and if it is not contrary to hisorders I think he will allow us to go together," returned the girl."But you know, lady, since the futile attempt of Signor Paolo, yourbrother, to carry you off, you have constantly been watched."
"I know it, and therein is my misery. He knows I would not quit him ifI could; and how can a weak girl escape from this rock-bound prisonexcept--" she paused and looked at the deep blue sea which lay at theirfeet--"except it were to seek that rest which can be found, by one likeme, only beneath the calm bosom of yonder ocean."
"Oh, lady, let not such dreadful thoughts enter into your mind!"exclaimed the young Greek, looking up at her with a face in which pityblended with alarm. "Come, we will wander forth, as you wish it, farinto the country; the change of scene, the fresh air, and exercise willcheer your spirits, and I am sure my grandfather will not deny ourrequest to be allowed a little freedom."
A silk scarf and such boots as the Turkish women wear when they ventureabroad, completed the Italian lady's walking costume, and following theyoung Greek, they descended from her lofty tower. The flight of thesteps which led to the ground was steep and narrow, and were the samewhich had been used in former days, repaired in places where the stoneshad given way, bywood work slightly run up. This, a few strokes of anaxe would serve to destroy, and the summit of the tower would beimmediately rendered inaccessible. The story immediately beneath theone inhabited by the lady was fitted up as a residence, though with muchless attention to comfort and elegance. There were several couches forsleeping, and a few seats and tables; but in the corners of the roomfurthest from the windows were piled up in one, chests and bales ofgoods, silks, cottons, and woollen cloths; in another, a collection ofarms, muskets, and cutlasses, and boarding-pikes. There were a fewsmall brass guns, some mounted on carriages and others on swivels, suchas are carried on the gunnels of ships, or on the bows of boats; andthere were shot and cases which looked as if they contained powder.Indeed, there was altogether a large collection of valuable goods, andarms and ammunition sufficient to protect, it if the men were found touse them. In the recesses for the windows, which were very narrow, werefitted platforms, which were evidently intended to place thegun-carriages on, as there were ring-bolts to which to make breechingsfast, in order to prevent their running too far back at the recoil. Thewindows, as in the story above, looked down on the harbour, and seaward,but there was another on the land side which commanded a view of thenarrow neck of land which led to the platform on which the castle stood.The lower part of the tower was much in the same state in which it hadbeen left centuries before. The first story, as it were, haddisappeared, so that there was an empty space for what may be called theheight of two stories; and, as there were no windows of any description,it appeared dark and dreary in the extreme. A steep path led round itseveral times till
it reached the gateway, which looked towards the seaand the most inaccessible part of the cliff. Any person, on enteringthis lower division, would not have supposed, from what he couldobserve, that the upper part would have afforded so great a contrast bythe richness and luxury displayed there. On a more minute examination,however, of the basement floor, it would have been discovered that astage had been raised from the earth, on which were placed a number oflarge jars of wine, casks of olives, cases of figs, and sacks of cornand other grain, indeed, provision sufficient to support a body of menfor a considerable time. There were also some heavier guns than thoseseen above, and spars, and cordage, and other munitions for fitting outa ship.
The bottom of the flight of steps by which the two young girls haddescended led to the side of this chamber farthest from the door, andthey had some little difficulty, after leaving the bright light reigningthrough the upper regions, in finding their way across it. The Greekthen, with her little hand, struck the door as hard as she was able, tocall the attention of some one without to open it; but the noise shemade was insufficient for the purpose. At last she was obliged to trythe effect of her voice.
"It is I, your grandchild, Mila. Open the door, I say; open the door,Vlacco!" she exclaimed; but no one answered to her call. "So he thoughtI was going to remain some time with you, lady, and I verily believe hehas gone off his post. Now, if we could but have managed to get thedoors open, we might have gone out without his leave, and when he comesback, he would find the birds flown."
"It is useless wishing that," said the Italian. "The door is toostrongly fastened, and it shows me that I am a prisoner, and no longertrusted; let us return up-stairs."
The Greek girl thought a little, as if unwilling to give up theirobject.
"We will do as you propose, lady," she said at last; "but we will notlet him know that we came down, and are aware that he leaves his post;so, another day he may not fasten the gate, and we may get out, andwander where we like, without asking his leave."
They were about returning, when little Mila exclaimed--
"Stay, I think I hear him coming, and we won't tell him we have beenwaiting; but, after he has been here a little, I will ask to be letout."
They waited accordingly for some time, during which some person washeard moving slowly about outside, when little Mila again exclaimed, asloud as she could call, "Vlacco, Vlacco! let me out, I say, grandfather;you have bolted the door, as if a storm was blowing to burst it open."
At last the bolt was withdrawn, and the door opening, an old Greek, withwhite locks escaping from under his red cap, and a thick, greymoustache, stood before them. He had a rough, weatherbeatencountenance, and dark eyes, deeply sunk in his head, with a very sternexpression. His appearance was altogether forbidding, and hiscountenance was one which it would make any person very uncomfortable tolook at, who knew that his life depended on the amount of mercy and pityto be found in his bosom. He must have been a powerful, active man inhis youth; but a weight of years had sadly pulled down his strength, andpalsied his once unfaltering hand.
"What a noise you make, little one. You seem to be in a great hurry toget out of the gilded cage," he exclaimed, not seeing the Italian whostood in the shade. When, however, she stepped forward, he altered histone, which became as courteous as his gruff nature would allow."Pardon, lady," he said, "I was not aware of your presence. What is ityou wish?"
"Why, we wish to wander forth, and explore the island, grandfather,"answered the young girl, speaking for the Italian, who had difficultyboth in comprehending old Vlacco's way of speaking, and in answering himin Romaic. "Now, I will not hear any excuses; I am going with the lady,who is ill, and will pine to death if she is kept shut up in this way;and, if you do not think we are able to take care of ourselves, you cancome too. It is a pity we have not got wings, and then you might clipthem as they do those of the wild sea-fowl, to prevent their flyingaway."
The old Greek offered a number of objections to the project; amongothers, that if anything happened to the lady, his life would pay theforfeit; but they were all overruled by his grandchild, who laughed athis fears, and at length she and the Italian set out on theirexpedition. They took the way along the neck of land of which I havespoken, among rocks which towered up in many fantastic shapes, without asign of vegetation on their weatherworn summits, and overlookingprecipices which descended many hundred feet of perpendicular heightinto the sea below. At last they emerged from this wilder tract, anddescending a gentle slope covered with many a sweet-scented shrub, onwhich the bees delight to rest, they looked down into the centre of theisland. Here a scene of a nature totally different to what they hadleft met their view. Every spot of ground was cultivated to the utmostextent. Below their feet was an orange grove, the trees of which wereladen with the ripening fruit; the side of a neighbouring hill wascovered with vines wide spreading along trellises gracefully arranged.Several orchards of apple and pear trees were seen in the distance.Beyond were fields of Indian corn waving in the breeze, and on thehigher ground millet and barley were seen growing.
"We may boast, lady, that our island is not altogether the barren rockthose might suppose who have looked forth only from the windows of thecastle," said Mila. "And from yonder hill to the north let us enjoy theview over the whole of it, if you will venture so far."
The Italian expressed her readiness to go there; for though, as shesaid, she had before visited it, a long time since then had passed away.
As the two young girls passed through the fields, several husbandmen,employed in them, gazed at them with a somewhat furious look; but theyall knew the granddaughter of old Vlacco, and quickly concluded who hercompanion was. The view from the summit of the hill, which was thehighest part of the island, extended, as Mila had said, not only overthe whole of the island, but embraced a wide circle of the surroundingsea, and of many a neighbouring isle and islet, which appeared in everydirection, rising from the bosom of the deep, some with their outlinesclear and defined, others of various shades of blue, the most distantseeming like faint clouds floating in the horizon. They had enjoyed forsome time, from this rocky post, the breeze which in that elevatedposition came cool and refreshing, when the quick eye of little Miladiscerned a white sail, a mere speck, upon the blue sea. It skimmedrapidly along, and approached the island. They watched the vessel withbreathless attention.
"She has two masts; she is a brig of some size," cried the island girl,who was well accustomed to distinguish the different rigs of vessels.
"It is, it must be his bark," exclaimed the Italian. "Oh! let us hurryto meet him, or he may come and find me absent."
"The brig cannot arrive till long after we shall reach the tower,"answered the Greek girl, following, however, the wishes of hercompanion.
On reaching the tower they saw the shores of the bay below crowded withpeople, all bustle and animation, in expectation of the approachingsail; but neither of the girls could determine, from the great distanceat which she still was, whether she were indeed the looked-for brig or astranger.