not so much from its
subject matter as from the entire originality of its style and manner.

The view from the window of the room which I occupied at Iveron was one
of the finest on Mount Athos. The glorious sea, and the towers which
command the scaricatojos or landing-places of the different monasteries
along the coast, and the superb monastery of Stavroniketa like a Gothic
castle perched upon a beetling rock, with the splendid forest for a
background, formed altogether a picture totally above my powers to
describe. It almost compensated for the numberless tribes of vermin by
which the room was tenanted. In fact, the whole of the scenery on Mount
Athos is so superlatively grand and beautiful that it is useless to
attempt any description.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Monastery of Stavroniketa--The Library--Splendid MS. of St.
Chrysostom--The Monastery of Pantocratoras--Ruinous Condition of
the Library--Complete Destruction of the
Books--Disappointment--Oration to the Monks--The Great Monastery of
Vatopede--Its History--Ancient Pictures in the Church--Legend of
the Girdle of the Blessed Virgin--The Library--Wealth and Luxury of
the Monks--The Monastery of Sphigmenou--Beautiful Jewelled
Cross--The Monastery of Kiliantari--Magnificent MS. in Gold Letters
on White Vellum--The Monasteries of Zographon, Castamoneta,
Docheirou, and Xenophou--The Exiled Bishops--The Library--Very fine
MSS.--Proposals for their Purchase--Lengthened Negotiations--Their
successful Issue.

An hour's ride brought us to the monastery of

STAVRONIKETA,

which is a smaller building than Iveron, with a square tower over the
gateway. It stands on a rock overhanging the sea, against the base of
which the waves ceaselessly beat. It was to this spot that a miraculous
picture of St Nicholas, archbishop of Myra in Lycia, floated over, of
its own accord, from I do not know where; and in consequence of this
auspicious event, Jeremias, patriarch of Constantinople, founded this
monastery, of "the victory of the holy cross," about the year 1522. This
is the account given by the monks; but from the appearance and
architecture of Stavroniketa, I conceive that it is a much older
building, and that probably the patriarch Jeremias only repaired or
restored it. However that may be, the monastery is in very good order,
clean, and well kept; and I had a comfortable frugal dinner there with
some of the go