have been so engaged all along; but with heavy effort, and under
the express direction of a professional master of the ceremonies. The
Adalian jester was a tall ugly fellow, who had considerable power of
comic expression in his face, but whose forte lay in a cap of fantastic
device. It was made of the skin of some animal, whose genus I will not
venture to guess; and had been contrived in such fashion that the tail
hung over the top, and whisked about at the caprice of the wearer. This
was a never-failing source of amusement to the performer himself, as
well as to the native bystanders. As he bobbed his head up and down, and
ran after this tail, the people burst into peals of laughter. They were
quite taken up with the exhibition, except when they stole a moment now
and then for a peep to see how the Frank visitors were amused with their
wit. Besides this, the jester had a number of practical jokes, such as
coming quietly along-side of some unsuspecting person, and catching hold
of his leg, barking loudly the while, so as to make him think that some
dog had bitten him. But this part of the performance was decidedly
coarse, and did not improve our idea of the civilisation of the place. A
good deal of sketching was going on in the course of this day; and the
visages of some of these musicians, and especially of the jester, and of
a blind old choragus, have been handed down to the posterity of our
affectionate friends. We had a visit this day of a gentler kind. A Greek
lady, the owner of considerable landed property in the place, came with
her youthful daughter to interchange civilities with us. She was a
plain, almost ugly old woman; but, like nine out of ten of all women
extant, was of kind and _feminine_ disposition. Moreover, like the rest
of the ladies, she was very fond of talking; but, on this particular
occasion, unhappily could speak no single word that would convey meaning
to us. Still it was not to be expected that she could hold her tongue;
so she squatted down by us, and talked, perhaps all the faster because
she had the conversation all to herself. Her daughter was a young lady,
whom by appearance in England, you would call somewhere in her teens;
but, hereaway they are so precocious that one is constantly deceived in
guessing their age. She would have been pretty if she had been clean;
and was abundantly and expensively ornamented. Sometimes we hear it
figuratively said of a domestic coquette, that she carries a