ies that the whole company would likewise honor his roof.
None of the ladies felt inclined to do so, and perhaps it was just as
well for their repose that they did not; for, clean as the rooms of the
convent were, and white as was the linen, there were discomforts which,
though infinitely small, were infinitely numerous, and, by the law of
majorities, our tormentors turned us out of bed to pass the night in the
open air,--a change always safe, and even delightful at this season, in
Crete.

The Greek convent is a true hostel; no one is refused admission and
hospitality,--no restrictions on the gentler sex make it impossible for
real parties of pleasure to visit its beautiful valley,--no Pharisaic
rigidity of self-denial makes it imperative to refuse visitors good
cheer, though the community observe their long and trying fasts with a
severity which puts to shame abstinence in Catholic countries. (The
Greek fasts two hundred and forty-six days out of three hundred and
sixty-five, and most of this time not even fish is allowed, while part
of the time oil, milk, and shell-fish are also forbidden.) And the
welcome is no mere show of kindliness; the longer you stay at the
convent, the better the monks are pleased, and staying longer than you
intended is the highest compliment you can pay them. What change a
larger acquaintance with the world will produce, of course I cannot say,
or how much the spirit of hospitality will diminish by an increase of
the calls on it; but now no English country-house makes you more at home
than a Cretan convent.

In the morning, the _pateras_ guided us to a peak, near the northeastern
point of the Akroteri, whence we could overlook, not only the peninsula
and Suda Bay, but the Apokorona, the coast from Cape Spada to Cape
Stavros, the Rhiza as far as the mountains of Kisamos, Mount Ida, and
the mountains of Sphakia, Lampe, and even, in the dim distance,
Lassithe. Included in the field of view were the sites of seven of the
Cretan cities of _early_ days, not counting Minoa and Canea, hidden from
view. On the north, we had the Greek islands Cerigotto, Cerigo, Milo,
Santorini, and others less prominent. It was my intention to return by
the shore of Suda Bay, in order to visit Minoa, but the badness of the
roads, and the utter want of interest in the intermediate distance,
determined me to visit that part of the Akroteri by boat at a later
period.

Returning to the convent, we had not long to wait f