142 SAIL FOR ZANTE-VIOLENT STORM. beautiful and interesting island. On the 20th of September, the Mermaid troop-ship weighed anchor for Zante, in which by the kind intercession of Sir R. Hall*, we procured a passage that was rendered as pleasant as the very polite attentions of its commander, Capt. Dunn, could make it. We cleared the Straits of Messina with a fair breeze and contemplated for the last time that fine city in the very best point of view, spreading, as it were, its arms around its beautiful harbour, and protected by the towering heights of the Neptunian mountains: as we neared the Italian coast the Giant Etna rose to view in all his majesty, and this grand feature of the Sicilian landscape remained visible till we were at least 100 miles distant from its base. After a succession of light winds and calms for the space of three days, the irascible Neptune, upon whose element we were destined to be unfortunate, raised one of those tremendous gales called by the sailors a Borer †, which sweeping down the whole length of the Adriatic and acquiring tenfold fury from compression at the narrow mouth of the Ionian Sea, raises a swell more unpleasant, if pos sible, than the heaving of the Bay of Biscay. We could perceive its approach at a considerable distance by the dark and angry appearance of the heavens; at length a canopy of thick broken clouds overspread the sky, which, when contrasted with the surface of the ocean covered by white foam on the curling tops of the long driving waves, together with the merchant ships in convoy with all their sails flying loose in the gale, formed a picture quite sublime. I had not time to contemplate it long; for the wind soon getting complete mastery over the sea, raised its waters, as it were, from the bottom of the abyss, making our frail vessels the very sport of the elements: I therefore retired to my This excellent and meritorious officer died in command of the Canadian Lakes in 1817. The point of the compass from which this wind blows, N.N.E. will easily account for its significant appellation. 66 cot, the best place for a landsman in a storm, fully convinced that the improbus Adria" had not changed its disposition since the time when poor Horace experienced its effects. In two days the gale abated, and on the 25th of September we anchored in the roads of Zante. There the hospitable mansion of Signore Foresti, so well known to English travellers, was open to receive us. CHAPTER V. View of the City of Zante-Monte Scopo and Acroteria-Description of the Interior of the City-Description of the Island-Produce in Wine, Oil, and Currants, &c.- Revenue — Inhabitants-Venetian Government—Improvements by the British-Religion-Compendious Ancient and Modern History of the Isle-Antiquities-Tomb of Cicero-Pythagoras of Zacynthus, and his Invention of the Tripod-Harp-Dinner with the Governor of Zante-Exhibition of Rope-Dancers-Erection of a Theatre Excursion to the Pitch-Wells-Manners of the Peasantry— Dinner with the Ex-Governor-Visit to Prince Comuto Inspection of the Phigalian Marbles-Spirit of Discovery excited thereby-Account of Mr. Fiott Lee's successful Excavations in Ithaca—List of rare and valuable Articles discovered-Notice of them in the Ionian Ephemeris— Establishment of a free Press in Zante-Results that may be expected— State of the Modern Greeks-Reflections thereon-Departure for the Morea. THE city of Zante, now, as in ancient times, the only one in the island, is about a mile and a quarter in length, lying partly on the level shore and partly on some acclivities, spreading its arms like a crescent round its beautiful bay: the principal features of the scenery are softness and elegance, which appear to have been noticed by the ancient poets*, and in which Zante is not surpassed by any other city in the Ionian sea. The monotony of an undulating outline is broken by the fine heights of Monte Scopo, and of Acroteria, anciently called Psophis, Acropolis of Zacynthus†. Upon one of its Αινέω τὰν τε Κρότωνα Καλὰ πόλις ὁ Ζάκυνθος· Theocr. Id. 4. v. 32. + Pausan. Arcad. c. xxiv. INTERIOR OF THE CITY OF ZANTE. 145 eminences stands the modern citadel, like a mural crown: this fortress has been considerably enlarged and repaired by the British engineers. Though the interior of the city presents but little beauty to attract the attention of a traveller who has lately quitted the magnificence of Italy or Sicily, yet if he come from an opposite quarter of the compass, he will probably be struck with its comparative neatness and regularity. It has one principal street, which follows the winding of the bay, with a good piazza, or square, in which it is the custom of the inhabitants to walk during the cool of the evening: it contains sixty-two churches, five chapels, two convents of monks and two of nuns, besides a large general hospital, erected by the Venetians, near the church of Santa Maria, an hospital for foundlings, a large public granary, an arsenal, a lazaretto, a barrack, and a public prison: the number of its inhabitants is computed at about 12,000, which is about twofifths of the population of the whole island: in ancient times probably both were much more populous than at present; for we learn from Herodotus, that it planted colonies very early in Crete; whilst Strabo informs us that the Spanish city of Saguntum, so celebrated for its heroic defence against Hannibal, derived its origin from Zacynthus*. The whole circumference of the island is seventy miles, its extreme length being twenty-one, and its greatest breadth eighteen. It is divided into two districts, containing sixty-one villages and hamlets, many of which are charmingly disposed in the retreating folds of mountain ridges, where the myrtle and the vine grow in wild luxuriance, and ancient olives still form a feature of the "woody Zacynthust." (Nemerosa Zacynthus). * Vide Herod. 1. iii. § 59. Strab. in Hisp. lib. iii. Liv. 1. xxi. c. 7. + Its climate is temperate: the heat of summer is cooled by refreshing zephyrs, and in the winter snow is scarcely ever known to remain upon the ground. Its western side is mountainous, and on the south and south-east is a fine plain, which teems with the produce of luxuriant vineyards: the soil is not remarkable for its fertility, though Pliny says it formerly was: yet I should rather accuse Pliny of an error, than suppose the land to have changed its nature: from this cause arises the superior industry and activity of its inhabitants. 146 PRODUCE OF THE ISLAND. "Welcome, Zacynthus, welcome are thy shades, And mild the beams that on thy mountains play*." The chief produce of Zante consists in wine, oil, and currants. The first of these commodities is highly esteemed throughout Greece. No less than forty different sorts of it are made, some of which are sweet like the Muscat; others luscious like the Cyprus; a few are slightly acid like the Rhenish; but most are dry like the Sherry: these last mentioned wines bear the same comparative superiority in point of strength over those of the other islands as they seem to have done in ancient timest: yet many ages must elapse in the civilization of the people and the cultivation of their vines, before the produce shall rival that of ancient Greece, which was held in such estimation as to be dealt out in single portions at the tables of the great, like imperial Tokay at our modern banquets‡. The annual produce of wine in Zante averages about 45,000 Venetian barrels. The oil is delicious in quality, though inconsiderable in quantity, and is nearly all consumed by the inhabitants. The currants of Zante form the principal article of exportation; the weight of about 80,000 cwts. being sent annually to England, Holland, Sweden, Germany, and Venice, though the first mentioned country consumes more than all the rest together. The delicate plant which produces this fruit (Vitis Corinthiaca) rises to the height of about three or four feet, being very thick in branches and leaves, the latter of which are much smaller than those of the common vine: it is subject to great injury from insects when it begins to shoot, from early frosts * Wright's Horæ Ionicæ, p. 36. + Χαριέςατος δ' δινος ἐις παλαίωσιν ὁ Κερκυρᾶιος· ὁ δὲ Ζακύνθιος και ὁ Λευκάδιος διὰ τὸ γύψον λαβειν kài kepaλǹv ådɩkov Athenæi. Deipn. lib. i. c. 25. "Tanta vero vino Græco gratia erat, ut singulæ portiones in convictu darentur."—" L. Lucullus puer apud patrem nunquam lautum convivium vidit in quo plus semel Græcum vinum daretur." Plin. N. H. lib. xiv. 16, 17. |