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 PeasantryDinner 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 expectedState 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 Zacynthust. 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 times†: 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 xài Kepain, ao recuv° 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. PRODUCE OF THE ISLAND. 147 in the spring, and from heavy rains at the time of flowering. Its fruit, when ripe, is of the size of our largest red currant, of a rich purple colour, hanging in long and beautiful clusters: its luscious flavour is agreeably tempered with a slight acidity, which renders it a very favourite article in the dessert. This vine requires a very peculiar soil and situation for its arrival at perfection: the first ought to be dry and flinty with a sufficient mixture of light clay or loam; the second should be near the sea and sheltered from the violence of the wind:-hence it will flourish only on the north or north-west coasts of the Morea, and the islands of Zante, Cephalonia and Ithaca: its culture has been attempted at Santa Maura and the other Ionian Islands, but without success. The vine begins to bear well in its seventh year, and will last near a century if proper care and attention be paid to manure it and add fresh soil whenever it begins to shew exhaustion. The grape ripens in the end of July, but the vintage does not commence till the end of August; the clusters when gathered are conveyed away in baskets, and laid upon a smooth floor formed by a fine mastic cement which prevents earthy particles from mingling with the grapes: on this floor they are carefully spread and turned every day if the weather should prove very rainy, the hopes of the cultivator are totally destroyed: if it be fine (and it rarely happens otherwise) the fruit becomes dry in ten or twelve days; it is then cleared from external substances, and deposited in warehouses, where it emits that viscous fluid which coagulates it so closely, that a pickaxe is sometimes required to separate the mass, before it can be put into casks for exportation. Oranges, lemons, and citrons also are exported from Zante; silk and cotton are cultivated there: its honey is excellent, and vegetables most abundant in all seasons: there are salt-works on the island which produce 40,000 barrels annually; but this is not sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants and the pickling of their olives. In exchange for its exports it has hitherto received the chief return in specie; probably there will be soon a greater demand for colonial produce and manufac |