acalla, and take up my abode there until I could hire a vessel, or
make some other arrangements for my return to Constantinople.
Satisfactory as this arrangement was, I nevertheless resolved to make
sure of what I had already got, so I packed them up carefully in the
great saddlebags, to my extreme delight. The agoumenos kindly furnished
me with fresh mules, and in the afternoon I proceeded to the monastery
of

PHILOTHEO,

which is only an hour's ride from Caracalla, and stands in a little
field surrounded by the forest. It is distant from the sea about four
miles, and is protected, like all the others, by a high stone wall
surrounding the whole of the building. The church is curious and
interesting; it is ornamented with representations of saints, and holy
men in fresco, upon the walls of the interior and in the porch. I could
not make out when it was built, but probably before the twelfth century.
Arsenius, Philotheus, and Dionysius were the founders, but who they were
did not appear. The monastery was repaired, and the refectory enlarged
and painted, in the year 1492, by Leontius, [Greek: o basileus] [Greek:
Kachetiou], and his son Alexander. I was shown the reliquaries, but they
were not remarkable. The monks said they had no library; and there being
nothing of interest in the monastery, I determined to go on. Indeed the
expression of the faces of some of these monks was so unprepossessing,
and their manners so rude, although not absolutely uncivil, that I did
not feel any particular inclination to remain amongst them, so leaving a
small donation for the church, I mounted my mule and proceeded on my
journey.

In half an hour I came to a beautiful waterfall in a rocky glen
embosomed in trees and odoriferous shrubs, the rocks being of white
marble, and the flowers such as we cherish in greenhouses in England. I
do not know that I ever saw a more charmingly romantic spot. Another
hour brought us to the great monastery of

IVERON, or IBERON,

(the Georgian, or Iberian, Monastery.)

This monastic establishment is of great size. It is larger than St.
Laura, and might almost be denominated a small fortified town, so
numerous are the buildings and courts which are contained within its
encircling wall. It is situated near the sea, and in its general form is
nearly square, with four or five square towers projecting from the
walls. On each of the four sides there are rooms for above two hundred
monks. I did not learn p