the holy sepulchre from the power of the Saracens, but for the
sake of plunder and robbery--may have been attracted by the fame of the
riches of these peaceful convents, and have made the differences in
their religion a pretext for sacrilege and rapacity. Thus bands of
pirates and brigands in the middle ages may have cloaked their acts of
violence under the specious excuse of devotion to the Church of Rome;
and so the Pope has acquired a bad name, and is looked upon with terror
and animosity by the inhabitants of the monasteries of Mount Athos.

Having seen what I could, I went on to the town of Cariez, if it can
properly be called such; for it is difficult to explain what it is. One
may perhaps say that what Washington is to the United States, Cariez is
to Mount Athos. A few artificers do live there who carve crosses and
ornaments in cypress-wood. The principal feature of the place is the
great church of Protaton, which is surrounded by smaller buildings and
chapels. These I saw at a distance, but did not visit, because I could
get no mules, and it was too hot to walk so far. A Turkish aga lives
here: he is sent by the Porte to collect the revenue from the monks, and
also to protect them from other Turkish visitors. He is paid and
provided with food by a kind of rate which is levied on the twenty-one
monasteries of [Greek: agion oros], and is in fact a sort of sheep-dog
to the flock of helpless monks who pasture among the trees and rocks of
the peninsula. On certain days the Agoumenoi of the monasteries and the
high officers of their communities meet at the church of Protaton for
the transaction of business and the discussion of affairs. I am sorry I
did not see this ancient house of parliament. The rooms in which these
synods or convocations are held adjoin the church. Situated at short
distances around these principal edifices are numerous small
ecclesiastical villas, such as were called cells in England before the
Reformation: these are the habitations of the venerable senators when
they come up to parliament. Some of them are beautifully situated; for
Cariez stands in a fair, open vale, half-way up the side of the
mountain, and commands a beautiful view to the north of the sea, with
the magnificent island of Samotraki looming superbly in the distance.
All around are large orchards and plantations of peach-trees and of
various other sorts of fruit-bearing trees in great abundance, and the
round hills are clothed wit