he loose jacket,
short petticoat, and coloured stockings of their grandmothers.

[Sidenote: GRAND FESTA.] There is to be a grand _festa_ this evening,
to-day being the eve of the [Greek: genethlion tou prodromou], or birth
of St. John the Baptist. There was an incessant firing of muskets and
petards; which proved that the gunpowder had not been all expended upon
King Otho. Towards night, every one lighted a large bonfire before his
house, and the favourite amusement seemed to be, who would run the
oftenest through it when the blaze was at the fiercest. Shouts of
laughter burst from the crowd, as each unlucky wight issued, scorched
and singed, from the fiery trial; while the applause was proportionate
towards those who ventured bravely, and escaped uninjured.

Many of us joined in the sport, leaping through the mass of newly
kindled flame, and, among others, I had the satisfaction of presenting
myself on the other side, _minus_ a good portion of whiskers, and with
eyelashes singed into little tufts, close to the lid.

[Sidenote: SYRA.] Syra, like many of the Greek towns, is best seen at a
distance; for it is, in reality, but an insignificant place, and there
is not a respectable street in it. The houses, too, are low and dirty;
and a disagreeable smell of dried fish and bad olives salutes one in
every quarter. However, the inhabitants appear to be wealthy and
enterprising; and at some future period it may become a large, populous,
flourishing city.

_Saturday, 6th._--We started at midnight, and in the morning were off
St. Nicolo, in the island of Tinos. The town is very pretty; and the
house of the bishop, near the church, is a very favourable specimen of
Greek domestic architecture.

[Sidenote: LADIES OF MYCONE.] After remaining here a short time, we
proceeded on our course to Mycone. Several boat-loads of the natives put
off to see the vessel; and on being received on board, they expressed
the greatest surprise and admiration at the size and beauty of the
steamer's cabin and deck. On our part, we were no less gratified with
the graceful, varied costume, worn by our island visitors; one of whom,
a female, was dressed in a most superb style; and being also exceedingly
pretty, she set off her decorations to great advantage. Dark eyelashes
overshadowed a pair of eyes, blue, soft, and beautiful as the heaven of
her native clime. A shawl of parti-coloured silk was so disposed upon
her head as to cover its upper part, an