Most visitors to Missolonghi at the time of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) were hard pressed to find something nice to say about the place. Edward John Trelawny, who accompanied Lord Byron to Greece, called this town “the most dismal swamp”, a “mudbank” surrounded by “shallow slimy sea-water”. He believed that rice or vines would grow on this “crust of a volcano” but this was no consolation when compared to the “circle of stagnant pools which might be called the belt of death”. Byron, who was often irritated by Trelawny, was in total agreement on this point. He foresaw his entire party dying in this “mud basket”.