which separates Samos from Icaria, varies in width from 8 miles to 3 miles, and is a much frequented passage from the Dardanelles to Syria and Egypt. The island is formed by a range of mountains extending from E. to W., whence it derived its name; for Zápos was an old Greek word signifying a mountain; and the same root is seen in Samos or Same (i. e. Cephallenia), and in Samothrace (i. e. the Thracian Samos). The circumference of the island is about 80 miles; it is nearly 30 miles in length, and 8 miles in mean breadth. It was and is very fertile; and some of its products are indicated by its ancient names, Dryusa, Anthemura, Melamphyllus, and Cyparissia. According to the earliest traditions, Samos was a chief seat of the Carians and Leleges, and was afterwards colonised by Eolians from Lesbos. In the earliest historical records, however, we find Samos decidedly Ionian, and a powerful member of the Ionic confederacy. Thucydides tells us that the Samians were the first of the Greeks, after the Corinthians, who paid great attention to naval affairs. They soon acquired such power at sea that they founded colonies in Thrace, Cilicia, Crete, Italy, and Sicily. After the usual transition from an heroic monarchy, through an aristocracy, to a democracy, the island became subject to the most distinguished of the so-called tyrants, Polycrates (B.C. 532), under whom its power and splendour reached their highest pitch, and Samos would probably have become the mistress of the Egean, but for the treacherous murder of Polycrates by a Persian Satrap. (For the details of the romantic life of Polycrates see Herodotus, who relates them in his most dramatic manner.) At this period the Samians had extensive commercial relations with Egypt, and they obtained from Amasis the privilege of a separate temple at Naucratis. The Samians now became subject to the Persian empire, under which they were governed by tyrants, with a brief interval at the time of the Ionian revolt, until the battle of My cale, which restored them to freedom. They now joined the Athenian confederacy, of which they continued independent members until B.C. 440, when an opportunity arose for reducing them to entire subjection and depriving them of their fleet, which was effected by Pericles after an obstinate resistance of 9 months' duration. In the Peloponnesian war, Samos held firm to Athens till the last. Transferred to Sparta in B.C. 405 after the battle of Egospotami, it was soon restored to Athens by that of Cnidus in 394. Soon after it fell into the hands of the Persians, but it was recovered by Timotheus for Athens. In the Social war the Athenians successfully defended it against all attacks, and placed in it a body of 2000 cleruchi, B.C. 352. After the death of Alexander, Samos seems to have owed a nominal allegiance to the Græco-Syrian kingdom. After many vicissitudes of fortune, it was united by the Romans to their province of Asia in B.C. 84. Meantime it had greatly declined, and had been wasted by war and the incursions of pirates. Its prosperity was partially restored by the residence in it of Antony and Cleopatra, B.C. 32, and afterwards of Octavianus, who made it a free state. It was deprived of its freedom by Vespasian and sank into insignificance as early as the 2nd century, although its departed glory is found still recorded, under the Emperor Decius, by the inscription on its coins Expíw πρώτων Ιωνίας. Samos may be regarded as having of old constituted the centre of Ionian manners, luxury, art, and science. In very early times it had a native school of statuary, at the head of which was Rhocus, to whom tradition ascribed the invention of casting in metal. In the hands of the same school architecture flourished greatly; the Hereum, one of the most magnificent of Greek temples, was erected on the W. side of the city of Samos; and the city itself, especially under the government of Polycrates, was adorned with many other splendid works. In painting, the island produced Timanthes, and was illustrious as the birthplace of Pytha- | rally a Phanariot Greek), with the title goras, and of several famous artists, of Prince of Samos ('Hysμav Tus philosophers, poets, and historians. Záμov). The island pays a tribute to The ancient capital, also called Samos, stood on the S.E. side of the island, partly on the shore, and partly rising on the hills behind in the form of an amphitheatre. In the time of Herodotus, it was reckoned one of the finest cities of the world. Its ruins are still so considerable as to allow its plan to be traced; there are remains of its walls and towers, and of the theatre and aqueduct. The Heræum, celebrated as the chief centre of the worship of Hera among the Ionian Greeks, stood about 2 miles W. of the city. It was burnt by the Persians, but soon rebuilt, probably in the time of Polycrates. This second temple was of the Ionic order, and is spoken of by Herodotus as the largest which he knew. It was gradually filled with works of sculpture and painting, of which it was plundered by the Romans. Nothing is left of it but traces of the foundations and a single capital and base. The modern history of Samos presents few remarkable events. It fell under the power of the Ottomans in the 16th century. The Samians were among the first to join the Greek insurrection, when they massacred or drove the Turks out of the island, which they put into a state of defence. A Senate and government were formed, and an army disciplined in the European fashion, which defeated all the efforts of the Turks to regain the island. The Christians of Asia found safety here, while the Samians made several successful expeditions to the continent, defeating and destroying the enemy wherever they met them, and returning home laden with booty and stores. The Samians thus preserved their liberty during the whole period of the war, and were grievously disappointed on finding themselves excluded by the allied Sovereigns from the new kingdom of Greece. The island is now governed on a system analogous to that pursued in the Danubian Principalities; the Sultan appointing a Governor (gene the Porte, but is otherwise virtually independent; it is beginning to resume a portion of its former prosperity. In antiquity it was celebrated for its extraordinary fertility; it was then also cultivated with the utmost care, and traces still exist of the walls which were built to form the sides of the mountains into terraces and to facilitate their culture. Samos still continues one of the most productive islands of the Ægean. It annually exports considerable quantities of corn, grapes, oil, valonia, &c. ; and its muscadel wine is much esteemed. Its mountains furnish quarries of marble and forests of timber; and its well-watered valleys, even with their present deficient culture, supply abundance of grain and fruits. The present capital of the island, called Khora (Xága, the Toum), is on its S. side, about 2 miles from the sea, on the lower extremities of a mountain, on which the ancient acropolis (called Astypalæa) was placed. Though not without some good houses, it is a miserable town, having stony, steep, unpaved, and scarcely passable streets. Bathy (Bali), on the N. side of the island, possessing a safe and deep port, from which it derives its name, is larger than Khora; but it also is a wretched place, with streets scarce a dozen feet in width, execrably paved and steep. The population of the whole island was estimated by Tournefort at 12,000. It had greatly increased at the beginning of the present century, when it was estimated at 60,000; but since the close of the Revolution there has been a good deal of emigration. Statistics of this sort are more or less guess-work throughout the East. 11. PATMOS (PATINO). Patmos, called San Giovanni di Patino by the Italian mariners of the Levant, is 20 miles S. of the W. extremity of Samos. It is a solid irregular mass of rock, bleak and barren. Its shores are indented with several good harbours, and its principal port, or scala, on the E. side, is one of the safest in all the Greek islands. Patmos is about 10 miles in length, 5 miles in breadth, and 28 miles in circumference. Its name is scarcely mentioned in history; but some traces remain of an ancient town. The island was used by the Romans as a place of banishment, and here, according to universal tradition, St. John wrote the Apocalypse, during the exile to which he was condemned, A.D. 94, by the Emperor Domitian, for preaching the Gospel. At the landing-place is a small village, comprising about 50 houses and shops. On the ridge of a mountain, overlooking the port, stands the town, which is reached by a steep and rugged ascent of half an hour. A still higher ridge is crowned by the celebrated monastery of St. John the Divine, presenting the appearance of a fortress of the middle ages. It was built by the Byzantine emperors in the twelfth century, and endowed with lands in several of the neighbouring islands. There are about 50 Caloyers at the present day. They are subject immediately to the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople, and are exempt from episcopal visitation. The church and library should be visited; the latter contains about 300 MSS. and about 1000 printed volumes. They were examined by Ross in 1841, who discovered nothing of importance, Dr. Clarke and other preceding travellers having bought or abstracted all that was valuable. The famous grotto or cavern, where St. John is said to have written the Apocalypse, is situated on the face of the hill, about half-way between the town and the port. It is covered by a chapel, where numerous lamps are kept constantly burning, and on whose walls are rudely depicted various subjects relating to the Apocalypse. The Monks point out the localities assigned by tradition as the scene where the Revelations were delivered, and some fissures in the roof are shown as those through which the apostle heard the "voice from heaven like the sound of a trumpet." The population of Patmos, amounting to 4000, is exclusively Greek. The inhabitants gain a precarious subsistence by their periodical emigrations to the continent, or to more fertile islands, where there is a demand for agricultural labour, or by transporting merchandise in their boats between the neighbouring towns. They pay an annual tribute to the Pasha of Rhodes. 12. LEROS (LERO). This small island, lying off the coast of Caria, is 6 miles long and 4 miles broad. It is irregularly formed of rocks and mountains. Its inhabitants, who came originally from Miletus, bore a bad character; and it is one of the many instances of the permanence of local usages and feelings in Greece that the people of Leros are looked upon with an evil eye by their neighbours at the present day. Besides a city of the same name the island contained a temple of Artemis, where the fabled transformation of the sisters of Meleager into guinea-fowls was said to have taken place, in memory of which guinea-fowls were kept in the court of that temple. Some remains of it are found in the walls and foundations of a church erected near the harbour Parthéni (rò Пagbiviov), a name handed down by tradition from the shrine of the Virgingoddess. This port is on the N. side of the island, and is sheltered by some barren rocks off its entrance. The modern town stands on a sloping hill on the E. side, and is crowned by a ruined castle of the middle ages. The inhabitants of Leros number about 3000, and pay tribute to the Pasha of Rhodes. They are engaged in agriculture, the carrying trade, and the sponge fishery. 13. CALYMNA (CALIMNO). Calymna lies off the coast of Caria, between Leros and Cos. It appears to have been the principal island of the group which Homer calls Calydna (II. ii. 677), comprising Leros, Telendos, and a few barren rocks in the neighbouring sea. Calymna was originally inhabited by Carians, and was afterwards colonised by Thessalian Æolians, or Dorians, under Heracleid leaders. At the time of the Trojan war it was subject to Artemisia of Halicarnassus, together with the neighbouring islands of Cos and Nisyros (Herod. vii. 99). It now is subject to Rhodes, and pays a small tribute, but otherwise enjoys selfgovernment in its local affairs. The inhabitants amount to 7000, and all live at the harbour, or in the town, which stands on an elevated platform a little less than an hour's walk from it. They are employed in the carrying trade and sponge fishery, as well as in agriculture. The island is bare and mountainous, so that the description of Ovid (de Art. Am. ii. 81)," silvis umbrosa Calymne," is no longer applicable. It produces, however, figs, wine, barley, oil, and excellent honey; for the latter it was also celebrated in antiquity ("Fecundaque melle Calymne." Ov. Met. viii. 222). With regard to the ancient towns, Pliny mentions the existence of three or four. The principal remains are now found in the valley above the harbour Linári, on the W. side of the island. The chief ruins are those of a great church τοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς Ιερουσαλήμ, built on the site of an ancient temple of Apollo. S. of the modern town there is a plain still called Argos, as in the island of Casos. 14. ASTYPALEA (STAMPALIA). Of the history of Astypalea we have hardly any account. It was originally inhabited by Carians, and afterwards colonised from Megara. In B.C. 105, as we learn from an inscription, the Romans concluded an alliance with the islanders, a distinction probably granted on account of their excellent harbours and their central position in the Ægean. Astypalea consists of two large rocky masses, united in the centre by an isthmus, which, in the narrowest part, is only 500 feet across. On the N. and S. the sea enters two deep bays between the two halves of the island; and the town, which bore the same name, stood on the western side of the southern bay. To the S. and E. of this bay lie several desert islets, to which Ovid alludes in the line, "cinctaque piscosis Astypalea vadis" (Ar. Am. ii. 82). The modern town contains about 1500 inhabitants, who are tributary to the Pasha of Rhodes. Here is a mediæval castle, which has still a stately appearance, and which commands a splendid prospect, extending in clear weather to Crete. This little town contains an extraordinary number of churches and chapels, sometimes as many as six in a row. They are built to a great extent from the ruins of the ancient temples, and in every part of the town there are seen capitals of columns and other remains. The favourite hero of the island was an athlete, named Cleomedes, who was said to have met with many romantic adventures. Hegesander related that a couple of hares having been brought into Astypalæa from Anaphe, the island became so overrun with them that the inhabitants were obliged to consult the Delphic oracle, which gave them the profound advice to hunt them down with dogs (Athen. ix.). This tale is a counterpart to the one about the brace of partridges introduced from Astypalæa into Anaphe (see Anaphe). Pliny (viii. 59) says that the muscles of Astypalea were very celebrated, and they are still taken off the coast. 15. Cos (STANCO). Cos is one of the most renowned of that beautiful chain of islands which covers the western shore of Asia Minor. Among its earlier names were Meropis and Nymphæa. It appears from an inscription mentioned by Ross that it was called Lango in the time of the Knights of Rhodes. It is situated nearly opposite the gulf of Halicarnassus, and is separated by a narrow strait from Cnidus and the Triopian Promontory. The Turkish name of Halicarnassus is Budrum, and some fragments of marbles discovered there were procured by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe for the British Museum. Cos is about 23 miles in length from N.E. to S.W.; modern capital stands picturesquely on and about 65 in circuit. The principal the site of the ancient city. An uncity, bearing the name of the island, and which has continued to our own times, was near the N.E. extremity of the island. The relation of Cos to the neighbouring coast and islands is vividly illustrated by such voyages as those which are described in Livy, xxxvii. 16; Lucan, viii. 244-250: and, above all, in the Acts of the Apostles, xx. xxi. Tradition connects the earliest Greek inhabitants of Cos with a migration from Epidaurus; and the common worship of Esculapius seems to have maintained a link between the two down to a late period. In Homer we find the people of the island fighting against the Carians (Il., ii. 677, 867). As we approach the period of distinct history, the city of Cos appears as a member of the Dorian Pentapolis, whose sanctuary was on the Triopian Promontory (Herod., i. 144). Under the Athenian rule it had no walls, and it was first fortified by Alcibiades at the close of the Peloponnesian war (Thucyd., viii., 108). In subsequent times it shared the general fate of the neighbouring coasts and islands. The Emperor Claudius bestowed upon it the privileges of a free state, and Antoninus Pius rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by an earthquake (Paus., viii. 43). The ancient constitution of the island seems to have been monarchical, and traces of its continuance are observed in an inscription as late as the time of Vespasian. It was illustrious as the birthplace of the painter Apelles, and the physician Hippocrates. An interesting inscription associates it with Herod the Tetrarch, whose father had conferred many favours on Cos, as we learn from Josephus. Besides Cos there were other ancient towns in the island, of which the chief were Halisarna and Astypalea; there are remains of both on the S.E. coast. The present mixed population of Greeks and Turks amounts to about 8000; the latter being congregated in the town, while the former are dispersed in villages through the country. The healthy lagoon to the N. marks the position of the ancient harbour. Close to it is the Turkish castle, chiefly erected by the Knights of Rhodes; in its walls are some elaborate sculptures, which may perhaps have belonged to the temple of Esculapius. This sanctuary was anciently the object of greatest interest in the island. A school of physicians was attached to it; and its great collection of votive models made it almost a museum of anatomy and pathology. Cos is generally mountainous, especially on the S. and W.; but there is a large tract of level and fruitful ground towards the N. and E. The island still gives proof of the natural productiveness so celebrated of old, and supplies corn, silk, and wines. Fruit-trees everywhere abound; and the vicinity of the town is embellished by luxuriant groves of orange, lemon, pomegranate, fig, and other trees of the Levant. The island was known in the old world for its ointment and purple dye, but especially for its wines; and the light transparent dresses called "Cox vestes." For full information concerning Cos and its relation to the opposite coast, the Admiralty Charts should be consulted. No traveller should visit the Egean Sea without them. 16. NISYROS (NISYRO). This small island, situated off the promontory of Caria called Triopium, is of a round form, 80 stadia in circuit, and composed of rocky hills, the highest being 2271 feet high. Its volcanic nature gave rise to the fable respecting its origin, that Poseidon tore it off the neighbouring island of Cos to hurl it upon the giant Polybotes. It was celebrated of old for its warm springs, wine, and mill-stones. Its capital, of the same name, stood on the N.W. extremity of the island, where considerable ruins of its Acropolis remain. Its first inhabitants are said to have been Carians; but already in the heroic age it had received a Dorian population, |