Having no occupation but archaeological research and photography, I
decided to make a series of expeditions into the mountain district,
and to begin with a visit to the famous strongholds of Sphakia. The
pasha protested, but as I had a right to go where I pleased, I paid no
attention to his protests, and he then went to the other extreme,
and offered to provide me with horses, which offer I unfortunately
accepted. The horse I rode and the groom the pasha sent with him were
equally vicious. The man, when we saddled up the first day out, put
the saddle on so loosely that as we mounted the first steep rocky
slope the saddle slipped over the horse's tail, carrying me with it,
and the horse walked over me, breaking a rib and bruising me severely,
and then tried to kick my brains out. I remounted and kept on, but
that night the pain of the broken rib was such, and the fever so high,
that I was obliged to give up the journey and go back to Canea. I
found that the pasha had anticipated a disaster, and heard of it with
great satisfaction.

As soon as restored, I set out on a trip to the central district of
Retimo, then perfectly tranquil, the agitation in Sphakia, which
preceded the great insurrection, having already begun, and making
my venturing there imprudent. I was anxious to see something of the
provincial government of the island, as, in Canea, where the foreign
consuls resided, there was always the slight check of publicity on the
arbitrariness of the official, though what we saw did not indicate a
very effective one. I had a dragoman in Retimo, a well-to-do merchant,
who served for the honor and protection the post gave him, and his
house was mine _pro tem_., and over it, during my stay, floated the
flag of the consulate. We made an excursion across the island to the
convent of Preveli, situated in one of the most beautiful valleys
in the island, sheltered on the north, east, and west by hills, and