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Sphakia – Impressions
undernourished and unwel], rivalled only by some of the colony of
superb children who congregate round the unofficial mayor of Poros (a
suburb of Heraklion), the much-loved Michael Akratos.
I noted: ‘Halfway down, while we bathe in a mountain pool, the sun
breaks through. If only I knew flowers I could compile quite a list.
Fragile rock roses in green beds, flowering yellow mullen, stink lilies,
planes with old bark peeling like shavings off a stick, larkspur, coltsfoot,
oleanders bursting with pink flames, flowering thyme, saxifrage, purple
peaflowers, daisies; olives and mulberries at Samaria; red and orangeflaming
pomegranate at Agia Roumeli and crocus-yellow prickly pear.
Other ravines slash through the mountains and join ours. Ants in
colonies. From Samaria down, many ruined crofts and walls. The
stream bubbles up, under planes and oleanders, through slate-grey,
blue and green stones and pebbles: no warmth at all. Yet the sides of
the gorge glow in russet and ochre; warm walls dotted with trees, rock-
whorls, caves, convolutions. We cross the stream by stepping stones and
logs. Agia Roumeli is a water garden of oleanders and on either side the
cliffs curve down into the Libyan sea. ’
Because the gorge is easily defended and difficult of access and,
besides, a place which few Greeks would want to visit, since it is not on
the route to anywhere important, it has always served as a refuge; to
outlaws, to communists at the end of the Civil War, and to the ibex.
This animal, of extraordinary rapidity and noble bearing, is mentioned
by everyone who has ever written about western Crete - it was mentioned
by me in the first chapter - and although I have never seen one
in its natural state, I must now say more.
Capra aegagrus, the indigenous Cretan ibex, the Cretan wild goat, the
agrimi (the common Cretan name), or simply kri-kri, has a long and
distinguished history. They used to roam all over the island even in
Tournefort’s time: ‘The wild goats mentioned by Solinus, and which
Belonius has given a print of, run up and down these mountains in
herds; the Greek call ‘em Agrimia, a name they give to all deer’ –
these mountains’ were the range near Hierapetra in the east. In
ancient times they were well known not only for speed but also for their
sagacity, being able to cure themselves of wounds through the requisite
simples. Thus Vergil, on the wounding of young Ascanius (in Conington’s
translation):
Then Venus, all a mother’s heart,
Touched by her son’s unworthy smart,
Plucks dittany, a simple rare,
From Ida’s summit brown,
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