g in
every church. Now, those who are conversant with the peculiar
conventional representations of the Blessed Virgin in the pictures of
the Greek church, which are all exactly alike, stiff, hard, and dry,
without any appearance of life or emotion, will agree with me that they
do not afford a very favourable idea of the grace or beauty of the fair
sex; and that there was a difference of appearance between black women,
Circassians, and those of other nations, which was, however, difficult
to describe to one who had never seen a lady of any race. He listened
with great interest while I told him that all women were not exactly
like the pictures he had seen, but I did not think it charitable to
carry on the conversation farther, although the poor monk seemed to have
a strong inclination to know more of that interesting race of beings
from whose society he had been so entirely debarred. I often thought
afterwards of the singular lot of this manly and noble-looking monk:
whether he is still a recluse, either in the monastery or in his
mountain-farm, with its little moss-grown chapel as ancient as the days
of Constantine; or whether he has gone out into the world and mingled in
its pleasures and its cares.

I arranged with the captain of a small vessel which was lying off
Xeropotamo taking in a cargo of wood, that he should give me a passage
in two or three days, when he said he should be ready to sail; and in
the mean time I purposed to explore the metropolis of Mount Athos, the
town of Cariez; and then to go to Caracalla, and remain there till the
vessel was ready.

[Illustration: CIRCASSIAN LADY.]

Accordingly, the next morning I set out, the Agoumenos supplying me with
mules. The guide did not know how far it was to Cariez, which is
situated almost in the centre of the peninsula. I found it was only
distant one hour and a half; but as I had not made arrangements to go
on, I was obliged to remain there all day. Close to the town is the
great monastery of

COUTLOUMOUSSI,

the most regular building on Mount Athos. It contains a large square
court with a cloister of stone arches all round it, out of which the
cells and chambers open, as they do in a Roman Catholic convent. The
church stands in the centre of this quadrangle, and glories in a famous
picture of the Last Judgment on the wall of the narthex, or porch,
before the door of entrance. The monastery was at this time nearly
uninhabited; but, after some trouble, I