Travellers should by no means omit | brought the title into our Royal Family. the ascent of the Castle-hill of Zante, So at least it was long and generally which rises 350 feet above the sea. A asserted and believed; but the story is winding road leads to the gate, and leave discredited by Colonel Leake, who reto enter is readily granted. The Eng- marks (Peloponnesiaca, p. 212) that "an lish garrison usually consists of the unfounded opinion has long prevailed, head-quarters of a regiment of the line, and has been repeated by some of the and of a detachment of artillery. A latest travellers, that the name of the rampart, chiefly of Venetian construc- English dukedom of Clarence was detion, and nowhere very strong, surrounds rived from Clarenza. But there can be an area of 12 or 14 acres on the flat no question that Clarentia or Clarencia top of the hill, containing barracks, a was the district of Clare in Suffolk. mess-room, ordnance storehouses, &c. The title was first given, in 1362, by During the insecurity of former centu- Edward III. to his third son Lionel, ries, the residences of the principal when the latter succeeded to the estates Zantiots were in the castle; but they of Gilbert, Earl of Clare and Glouhave long since removed into the town cester." below, and their houses have been destroyed by earthquakes and military engineers. The whole eastern side of the Castle-hill-elsewhere a mass of groves, houses, and gardens, in the most picturesque confusion-has been disfigured by a vast landslip, caused some centuries back by an earthquake, and perhaps concealing from sight many a relic of antiquity. The view from the Castle is very extensive and interesting, though inferior to the prospect from the Convent which covers the neighbouring Mount Skopos, and which is also accessible on horseback. To the E. spreads the long line of the coast of Greece from Mesolonghi to Navarino, backed by the lofty mountains of Acarnania and Ætolia, of Arcadia and Messenia. On the nearest corner of the Peloponnesus, and at the distance of little more than 15 miles from Zante, is situated the ruinous mediæval fortress and village of Clarenza; and the harbour below it was the Cyllene of the ancients, the port of Elis. A little farther to the S. rises a round hill, crowned with another decayed fortress, Castel Tornese, the name again marking it as the work of one of the Latin nobles who dismembered the Byzantine empire in A.D. 1204. The French form of Clarenza is Clarence; the daughter of one of its lords married into the Hainault family; and Philippa, the heiress of that house, having espoused King Edward III. of England, The traveller can easily procure a boat at Zante to cross over to Clarenza, or any other point along the neighbouring coast, whence horses can be taken on to Patras. In winter there is excellent woodcock shooting on the way. Mount Skopos-a name corresponding to the Italian Belvedere-raises its curiously jagged summit to the height of 1300 feet above the eastern extremity of the Bay of Zante. It is possibly of volcanic origin-the extinct Vesuvius of this miniature Naples. Its ancient name was Mount Elatus, whence it would appear to have been of old covered with pines. These have now disappeared,but its numerous groves of olives, almonds, and orange-trees still entitle Zante to the Homeric and Virgilian epithets of "woody." At the distance of about 10 miles towards the N., Cephalonia rises abruptly from the sea, with its gloomy Black Mountain, the Enos of Strabo, girt with pine forests. The end of the bay opposite to Mount Skopos is formed by a line of broken and wooded cliffs, gay with villas, orchards, and vineyards, and called Akroteria (Angwrgia), a name which recalls many impressions of classical times and language. But the great admixture of Italian words in the Greek spoken by the townspeople of the lower classes in Zante, and the other Ionian capitals, is provoking to a scholar, who seeks in the modern tongue the remains of the language of his early study and veneration, and who, in the country districts, will hear from every peasant phrases which have hitherto been known to him only in the society of the learned and in the writings of antiquity. From the western ramparts of the Castle, we look down on the extensive plain, which, stretching from sea to sea, forms the most important and richest district of the island. It varies in breadth from 6 to 8 miles, and is bordered on the east, as we have seen, by Mount Skopos, the Castle-hill, and Akroteria; on the west, by a parallel range of hills, more uniform in their outline, and lining the western coast of the island. Here are scattered many small convents and villages, many of which are well worthy of a visit, from the beauty of their situations. The plain of Zante forms the principal support of the population, and is a source of considerable wealth to the island. In these parts John Bull is almost looked upon as an animal that must eat plumpuddings or die:-"We pray daily," once remarked a fair Zantiot to an English traveller, "that your country men may never lose this taste, for then we should indeed be ruined." The entire plain has the appearance of an almost continuous vineyard of that dwarf grape (Vitis Corinthiaca) so well known in England under the name of Zante currants-a corruption of the French term raisins de Corinthe, this fruit having been earliest and most extensively cultivated near Corinth. There are a few intervals of corn and pasture-land; but the island is supplied by importation with the larger portion of its grain and cattle. Besides currants, Zante also exports a small quantity of oil and wine. The olive-trees are pruned and cultivated regularly; and therefore, though not so picturesque, are at least more uniformly productive than those of Corfu. The white wine called Verdea is better than the best Marsala, and nearly approaches in flavour to Madeira. Zante and Cephalonia enjoyed an almost complete monopoly of the currant trade during the war of Independence in Greece, when the vineyards on the mainland were laid waste by the contending armies. But they have been replanted since the return of peace, and are rapidly increasing along the whole coast from Patras to Corinth. Hence the fruit trade of the Ionian Islands is now very much depressed in comparison with its state 25 years ago, and the prices have sunk to nearly one-third of their former amount. The Zante is especially delightful in spring, when the fragrance of the flowering vineyards, orange-trees, and gardens floats for miles over the surrounding sea. The vintage takes place in August and early in September; and the aspect of the plain is then very rich and beautiful, with the ripe fruit deliciously cooling to the taste, and in clusters, half grape, half currant, glowing purplered among the russet foliage. It will not be inappropriate to conclude this account of the island with a short sketch of the mode of cultivating its staple produce. The currant-vine requires careful pruning and dressing during the winter and spring. vintage is a very interesting and important period to the Zantiot; and the rich proprietors then take up their abode in their country villas to superintend the crop, on which they principally depend. Every vineyard is carefully protected by an armed watchman, for whom a sort of guard-house is constructed of interlaced branches of trees, covered with leaves or thatch, and sometimes elevated on poles. When the fruit is fully ripe, it is gathered and spread out for three weeks to dry on levelled areas prepared for this purpose on every estate. Much depends upon the process of drying; a shower of rain will often diminish by one-half the value of the crop, and a second ruin it altogether. When dried by the sun and air, the currants are transported to the city, and stored up in magazines called Seraglie, whence they are shipped for exportation-chiefly to England. Sir Charles Napier gives an amusing and instructive account of the frauds often practised on the peasants by the Sera- | the present day. In the middle ages glianti, as the proprietors of these it was called the "Lantern of the Archimagazines are called. (See Napier's pelago." Herodotus informs us that Colonies, &c., chap. 46.) The Strophades (in Italian Strivali) are dependent on Zante, and situated in the Ionian Sea about 40 miles to the south of it. They are two low, barren islets, the larger of which is rather more than 3 miles in circumference, and is inhabited only by about 30 Greek monks, who dwell in a Convent, the foundation of which is ascribed to one of the Byzantine Emperors. These islets were celebrated in antiquity as the fabled abode of the Harpies. (See Virg. Æn., iii. 209.) 7. CYTHERA (CERIGO). Cerigo, the Italian appellation of Cythera, is conjectured by Colonel Leake to be a softened form of Tzerigo, the name, probably, of a Slavonian chieftain, who may have seized this island at the period when the neighbouring Peloponnesus was overrun by those barbarians. In remote antiquity it was called Porphyris, from a shell-fish, producing the red Tyrian dye, being found on its shores, or, according to other authorities, from the existence of porphyry among its rocks. The name of Cythera is, however, at least as old as the time of Homer. This island is celebrated in mythology as having received Venus when she arose from the ocean. It was to that goddess what Delos was to Latona, and was fabled to be her favourite abode. Pausanias (Lacon. 33) has recorded the magnificence of her shrine in Cythera. Some slight remains of antiquity are still pointed out, but without any certainty as to the situation of this temple. In historical times Cythera was generally a dependency of the Spartans, who classed its inhabitants with the Perioci, and sent thither yearly a magistrate, named Cytherodices, to administer justice. The possession of the island was held to be of great importance in the days of timid navigation; and so it would be again, did it possess a harbour fit to afford security to the vessels of Greece. Demaratus recommended Xerxes to occupy Cythera with a fleet during the Persian war, quoting the opinion of Chilon, the Lacedæmonian Sage, who had declared that it would be a great benefit to Sparta if this island were sunk in the sea. These apprehensions were realized during the Peloponnesian war, when Cythera was conquered by the Athenians under Nicias; and the Spartans were greatly annoyed by the hostile garrison so near their coast. The island was surrendered to its former possessors at the peace of B.C. 421. In after ages its fortunes have been similar to those of the other Ionian isles. The principal town also bore of old the name of Cythera, and was situated, as we gather from Thucydides and Pausanias, on the side facing Cape Malea, at the distance of about 10 stadia from the sea. The chief harbour was called Scandea, and is probably identical with that of St. Nicholas, on the E. coast, where the best anchorage is now found, or with the port of Kapsáli. The port of Phoenicus, mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. iv. 8), answers possibly to the roadstead of Aulémona. The name Phoenicus was obviously derived from that Phoenician colony which (Herod. i. 105) imported into Cythera the worship of the Syrian Venus, by the Greeks surnamed Urania. The whole circuit of Cerigo being very deficient in harbours, there is no point on the coast at which it is so probable that the Phoenicians should have landed as in the sheltered creek of Aulémona, which may itself be an ancient term (ávanμwv, from avλós, in allusion to its long narrow form, bordered by steep rocks). And the appearance of some ruins at Paleopolis, about 3 miles inland, is equally in agreement with the conjecture of remote antiquity. The length of Cerigo, from N. to S., is 20 miles; the greatest breadth 12 miles. The surface of the island is rocky, mountainous, and mostly uncultivated; but some parts of it produce F corn, wine, and olive oil. The honey favourable years, is exported. The port of Cerigo is particularly esteemed. is bad, and open to the N. The small Numbers of the peasants resort annu- islet, named Porri by the Italians, lying ally to Greece and Asia Minor to work to the N. of Cerigotto, is called Praat the harvest, returning home with the sonísi by the Greeks. fruits of their labour. They still deserve the character of industry and frugality assigned by Heraclides Ponticus to the natives of Cythera. In fact the character of the people is a necessary consequence of the rocky soil on which they dwell. The shores are abrupt; the neighbouring sea is much disturbed by currents; and severe storms are frequent. The chief town, or rather village, Kapsáli, near the S. extremity of the island. It stands on a narrow ridge 500 yards in length, terminating at the S.E. end in a precipitous rock, crowned with a medieval castle, which is accessible only on the side towards the town by a steep and winding path, but is commanded by a conical height at the opposite end of the ridge. The English garrison consists of a subaltern's detachment, which is usually relieved every six months. It is, of course, a very solitary station. There is excellent quail-shooting in spring and autumn, The principal curiosities of Cerigo are two natural caverns; one in the seacliff at the termination of the wild, and, in some places, beautiful glen of Mylopotamos, deriving its name from the stream flowing through it, which is made to work several small corn-mills. The other is known as the cave of Sta. Sophia, from the dedication of a chapel at its mouth, and is situated in a valley about two hours' ride from Kapsáli. Both caverns possess some stalactites of singular beauty, and are well worthy of a visit. The little island to the S.E. of Cerigo, called Cerigotto by the Italians, is now known as Liús to its inhabitants, though its ancient name was Ægilia, as we learn from Pliny (Hist. Nat. iv. 12). It is a dependency of Cerigo, and is situated nearly midway between that island and Crete, being about 20 miles from either. It contains 40 families, and produces good wheat, of which a portion, in Full information concerning the claim to the islands of Cervi and Sapienza, advanced by England on behalf of the Ionian government, will be found in a pamphlet, published by Colonel Leake, under the above title, in 1850. That first-rate authority considers the preponderance of right to be on the side of the kingdom of Greece, which still, as the English claim has never been enforced, retains possession of the disputed territory; so far at least as any power can be said to hold two rugged and barren islets, inhabited only by a few shepherds. The whole question turns on the point whether or not Cervi and Sapienza belonged to Venice previously to 1797; for the treaties constituting the Septinsular republic assign to it only the ex-Venetian islands. Sapienza (one of the ancient Enussæ) as commanding the harbour of Methone in Messenia, and Cervi as commanding the bay of Vatika, are both, however, of some maritime importance; and especially the latter, owing to the difficulty and danger which now, as of old, so often attends the circumnavigation of Cape Malea. Cervi, or Stag Island (Exapovno), was anciently a promontory of Laconia, named Onugnathus, and is now separated from the mainland only by a shallow strait of about 400 yards across, where the sea has gained upon the shore. Ships are often wind-bound here for weeks together, whence arose the proverbial expression of the ancient Greeks, "After doubling Cape Malea forget your native country." (Cf. Strabo viii., Herod. iv. 179, Thucyd. iv. 53, &c.) Cervi is distant about 5 miles from the northern extremity of Cerigo. The bay of Vatika (BoTina) is so called from a corruption of the name of the ancient Laconian town of Box, of which some remains may still be seen near its shore. The whole district was called in the Doric dialect Boarinά; and this name has been shortened into Barina. KINGDOM OF GREECE. SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. 1. Historical Sketch and actual Condition, &c.-2. Climate, Soil, &c.3. Packets.-4. Money.-5. Shops, Servants, &c.-6. Inns and Accommodation for Travellers.-7. Skeleton Tours. 1. HISTORICAL SKETCH AND ACTUAL CONDITION, &c. Historical Sketch.-The historical outline has already (GENERAL INTRODUCTION, 7.) been carried down to the formal recognition by the Ottoman Porte of the independence of Greece, in the treaty of Adrianople in 1829. The emancipated state was at that time under the government of Count John Capo d'Istria of Corfu (see above, page 31), who had been elected for seven years president or governor of Greece (Kußspvnτns Tns Exados), at the National Congress, held at Trozen in April, 1827. Its limits were finally, after much discussion, fixed by the three Protecting Powers, England, France, and Russia, nearly at those of what had been anciently Hellas Proper; that is, they included the Peloponnesus, the Cyclades, some of the Sporades, the island of Euboea, and so much of Northern Greece as lies S. of a line drawn, partly along the chain of Othrys, from the Ambracian Gulf (Gulf of Arta) to the Pagasaan Gulf (Gulf of Volo): consequently the modern Hellas, or Greece, though less extensive than the country once so called, comprises the territories of the most celebrated and interesting of the Grecian states. As Cicero has said (pro Flacco, § 27), Hæc cuncta Græcia, quæ famâ, quæ gloriâ, quæ doctrinâ, quæ plurimis artibus, quæ etiam imperio et bellica laude floruit, parvum quemdam locum Europa tenet, semperque tenuit. The limits of the new state having been defined, the next subject to be settled was the proper form of government. Count Capo d'Istria was invested with powers essentially monarchical; and experience has shown that no other polity is adapted to the genius and taste of the modern Greek nation. Unfortunately, however, the Greeks themselves were never formally consulted in the matter, and the consequence was that they threw many obstacles in the way of an adjustment of differences. When the allies set to work to find a permanent Sovereign for Greece, several conditions tended to limit the number of candidates for this honour. It was determined that the person elected should belong to a Royal House; and in this manner Capo d'Istria was set aside. From the mutual jealousies of England, France, and Russia, and for other reasons, Prince Paul of Wirtemberg, one of the princes of Baden, and several others, were successively rejected; at length the allies offered the new crown to Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg (afterwards King of the Belgians), who, after some hesitation, finally declined it, alleging as his motives the unwillingness of the Greeks to receive him, and their dissatisfaction at the confined boundaries assigned to them. The truth appears to be that Count Capo d'Istria repaid the slight which had been put upon him and the rest of the Greeks, in not consulting them in the negotiation, by exaggerating to Prince Leopold the difficulties which awaited him. At the same time the president gained his point in the prolongation of his own tenure of office for a period apparently indefinite. By his delay in summoning a National Assembly Capo d'Istria occasioned general discontent, and there were several insurrections against his authority. |