and departing to Malta, Athens, Syria, Smyrna, Salonica, Constantinople, &c. The packets between Smyrna and Constantinople generally touch at Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos; and there is periodical communication by steam with others of the islands; but several of them can be visited only in sailingboats; these can be hired with ease at Syra. Let the traveller beware of engaging a captain who is not recommended by the consul or some good authority; and let him reduce his bargain to writing, or he will find that the voyage will be turned more to the convenience of is crew than to his own. In this part of the Mediterranean islands are so numerous that the navigation seems rather inland than at sea. One cluster is never lost sight of until a second rises to view; and as the seamen who traffic from port to port form numerous acquaintances at each, a trip through the Egean is, to a Greek, merely a succession of visits to old friends. A.-ISLANDS BELONGING TO GREECE. 1. SYROS OR SYRA. Here there is a British Consul. By the vicissitudes to which places, like persons, are subject, Syra, though insignificant in former history, has, owing to its central position, become of late years a great emporium. The ancient Greek city stood on the site of the present town, close to the harbour only a few fragments are left of foundations and walls. In the middle ages, the inhabitants retreated for security from pirates, &c., to the lofty hill, about a mile from the shore, on the summit of which they built the town, now called Old Syra. The island was of no importance till the war of the Revolution. Then the immigration of refugees from different parts of Greece, especially from Chios and Psara, rapidly raised it to its present flourishing condition. Pherekydes, the instructor of Pythagoras, and himself one of the earliest among Greek philosophers to maintain the immortality of the soul, was a native of Syros. The modern town, called Hermoupolis, contains upwards of 26,000 inhabitants. It is built round the harbour, on the E. side of the island. A stately lighthouse, rising on a rock in front of the harbour, a quay with numerous warehouses, and several handsome houses, built of white marble, show the mercantile importance of the place; but the streets are still narrow and crooked, though clean and well paved. Vestiges have been found of temples of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Great attention is here paid to education. There are more than 3000 scholars in the various schools. The favourite promenade in the cool of the evening is on a cliff to the N. of the town. Old Syra is seated on the hill which commands the port, and is so connected with the new town by continuous buildings, that they may be regarded as one city. This hill, from its remarkable conical form, resembles a huge sugar-loaf covered with houses. The ascent is very toilsome, up steep streets, crossed by a narrow flight of steps. On the top stands the church of St. George, from which the view is very fine; below may be seen the church of the Jesuits. Old Syra contains about 6000 inhabitants, mostly Roman Catholics, often at variance with their Greek neighbours, who regard them as aliens. Generally speaking, the Roman Catholics of the Levant are descended from Genoese and Venetian settlers of the middle ages. They have always been considered as under the protection of France; and the nationality of the Latins of Syra was the chief cause of the modern prosperity of the island, which became, during the Revolution, the refuge of numerous merchants from the distracted parts of Greece. Syra is now a great central entrepôt. The customs collected here form no small part of the Greek revenues. The traffic is chiefly in the hands of Chians, Psyrians, and Mykonians. Syra is the principal seat of Protestant missionaries for the Levant, who have schools here. The Island is 10 miles in length by 5 in breadth. The hills are chiefly formed of mica-slate. Near the sea there is marble of an inferior sort. Here, as generally in Greece, there appears to be a good deal of iron. Wine is almost the only valuable produce of Syra. Indeed, though well cultivated, it no longer deserves the praises bestowed on it by Homer Εὔβοτος, εὔμηλος, οἰνοπληθής, πολύπυρος, "Fertile in flocks, in herds, in wine, in corn." (Odyss., xv. 402.) It was in this port that at the close of the Cretan war, early in 1869, the Greek blockade-runner' Ennossis' was blockaded by Hobart Pasha. Steamers.-On SUNDAYS there call at Syra an Egyptian steamer arriving from Alexandria, and going the same day, by Scio and Smyrna, to Constantinople; an Egyptian steamer from Smyrna for Alexandria; and another | interrupted lately (1871). Every ten Egyptian steamer from Volo, which days a British steamer (Burns and leaves also for Volo again; an Austrian MacIver's, Bibby's, or Pappayanis') Lloyd's steamer arriving from Piræus, arrives from Liverpool, and goes on to and going to Piræus again the same Constantinople; but very rarely does day; an Austrian Lloyd's steamer a British steamer leave direct for from Constantinople, and leaving for England. Those that call on their Corfu and Trieste on the same day; outward voyage, touch at Smyrna on another Austrian Lloyd's steamer from the voyage home; and in order to Smyrna, also for Trieste by the Ionian get to England or Malta, one is obliged Islands, Brindisi, and Ancona; and to go to Smyrna, there to find a vessel an Austrian Lloyd's steamer leaves going homewards. for Canea in Crete. On WEDNESDAYS an Austrian Lloyd's steamer arrives from Piræus, and goes back on the same day; an Austrian Lloyd's steamer arrives from Trieste by Corfu, and leaves for Constantinople; another Austrian Lloyd's steamer arrives from Trieste by Italy and the Ionian Islands, and leaves for Scio and Smyrna; and the Austrian Lloyd's steamer from Canea returns to Syra. A Greek steamer leaves Syra for Piræus; and every other Wednesday a Greek steamer leaves Syra for Naxos, Paros, Nio, and Santorin, which returns on the next day, Thursday, touching at the same places. On THURSDAY a Greek steamer leaves Syra for Seriphos, Siphnos, and Melos, and returns on the next day, Friday. ON FRIDAY a Greek steamer arrives from Piræus. Thereis an English Protestant Church at Syra; divine service being held every Sunday at 10.30 a.m., excepting in June, July, and August, when there is no congregation, people having for the most part, gone to the interior of the island, where they pass the summer, the men only coming into town daily on week-days for business. The chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Hildner, has, for very many years, given his services gratis. Generally the congregation is not large; but occasionally, when passengers by the steamer arrive who are aware there is a Protestant church, the church cannot contain all who would attend. It is kept up by subscriptions, chiefly of the Protestant residents, and also of those who take an interest in it. There is likewise a British burial-ground. There are many medical men in Syra: those recommended are Doctors Battaro, father and son, Doctors Paresa Greek steamer kiva, Vitalli, and Zallani; they all On SATURDAY leaves Syra for Piræus. On SUNDAY a Greek steamer leaves for Sinos, touching at Mikonos and Andros, alternately, every other Sunday, and returning to Syra on the same day. The Greek steamers are far behind the others, both in comfort and in regularity. A French Messageries steamer arrives every Thursday from Smyrna, and goes on to Marseilles; and every Saturday one arrives from Marseilles, and goes on to Smyrna; but these French boats have been frequently speak French and Italian, but not English. The chemists' shops furnish all medicines required. of the Greek National Bank-is of no use to travellers. They can, however, get their bills cashed by any respectable merchant to whom they may be recommended. Should, however, the traveller not be known, or have no letter of credit or recommendation, unless his consul will back his bill he will not be able to get it cashed. Hotels.-The chief hotels are the Hôtel d'Angleterre, de Toutes les Nations, and d'Amerique, and are recommended in the order given. French and Italian are spoken in each of them, but not English. Passports.-Travellers are seldom troubled about their passports on arrival at Syra; but on arrival from Syra in some other country, unless their passports be already vised, they will find they should have had them vised by their consul at Syra, or by their minister at Athens. Consuls. The foreign consuls at Syra are the Austrian, the Belgian, the British, the Danish, the French, the North German, the Italian (vice), the Ottoman (Con. Gen.), the Russian, and the United States of America (consular agent). Besides wines, Syra produces great quantities of vegetables, which are sent to Athens and Constantinople, especially in the early season when these places as yet have them not. The two chief Greek churches in Syra are the Matamaphoris, which is the cathedral, and the church of St. Nicolas; there is also a Roman Catholic church in Hermoupolis. There is a theatre in which Italian operas are given, and also modern Greek pieces; there are two casinos for the merchants: but the most necessary establishment-namely, a good prison-is wanting; not so much for inhabitants of Syra, as for the criminals who are sent from Athens, &c., to be tried and punished. Brigandage does not and cannot exist in Syra or any of the islands. The inhabitants of Syra are all commercial people, and, therefore, inclined to order. Occasionally, bad characters from Smyrna and Constantinople signalize their presence by some robbery of a shop, or by pocketpicking; but they are soon discovered and disposed of. The natives of Syra are extremely afraid of diseases and of the plague, cholera, and small-pox, and vessels and passengers are refused pratique on very slight suspicion. The Lazaretto, however, and the quarantine establishment at Delos are far, very far, to say the best, from being on a proper footing; and woe to the unfortunate traveller who is condemned to perform quarantine at either place. The climate of Syra is unexceptionbeing unknown, snow falling once or ally HEALTHY, extreme cold or frost twice in three or four years and melting immediately. In summer it is occasionally very sultry when there is no wind; and in the lower part of the town, which is all built and paved with crystalline limestone, it is then disagreeably hot, and when the wind is from the S. or S.W. everybody feels however, is from the N., and, with ocuncomfortable. The prevailing wind, casional' lulls, or changes to the S., blows throughout the summer, and keeps the air cool, especially in the more elevated parts of the town. It rarely rains, except in the winter; and the springs of the town being insufficient for supplying water, it is collected from the roofs and terraces in the cisterns, of which every house has one. This water is used for drinking by the inhabitants, who prefer it, and very soft and good it is. The spacious harbour, now deserted, of Maria della Grazia lies on the S.W. side of the island. The old Fountain, at which the nymphs of the island were wont to assemble, still remains, as of old, the rendezvous of love, and gallantry, and gossipping. It is near the town, and the limpid water, issuing from the rock, is always in great request. Tradition tells us that the pilgrims of old, on their way to Delos, resorted hither for purification. The spot is still an object of some religious respect, 2. DELOS. In passing from Syra to Delos, the traveller leaves the busy scenes of commercial enterprise for silent and solemn recollections of the past. At Syra all the interest of the island is of modern date; that of Delos belongs to hoar antiquity. The birthplace of Apollo and of Artemis, the sanctuary of the Egean, the political centre of the Greek Islands, the holy isle, to which the eyes of every Greek turned with instinctive veneration.-Delos, which boasted an oracle second in sanctity to that of Delphi alone, and a magnificent temple of Apollo, raised by the common contribution of the Greek states, is now a desert and uninhabited rock, with scarcely one picturesque ruin to recall the image of its greatness. Nor is this desolation the work of Time so much as of men's hands. The Persians revered the majesty of the Sun-God, and profaned not his sanctuary; but later barbarians have been less scrupulous. Delos in ancient times was frequently designated as Ortygia, a name indicating its abounding in quails, and applied also to Ephesus and to a part of Syracuse, either for this reason, or because they also were distinguished by the especial worship of the children of Leto. That goddess, according to the legend, founded, perhaps, on some tradition of volcanic eruptions, seeking refuge from the jealousy of Hera, found none, save on the little rock of Delos, at that time one of those floating islands so familiar to the lively fancy of the ancient Greeks. Apollo afterwards in grati tude fixed it and made it fast for ever. So Virgil sings (En., iii. 74)— "Sacra mari colitur medio gratissima tellus Possibly this tradition is connected with the ominous significance attached to the occurrence of an earthquake at Delos. Herodotus (vi. 98) quotes an Oracle of Apollo Κινήσω καὶ Δῆλον, ἀκίνητόν περ ἐούσαν. Delos, unshaken isle, shall then be shaken. Thucidides also (ii. 8) alludes to the same presage of evil before the Peloponnesian war. A similar impression of approaching trouble prevailed among the modern Greeks in regard to the earthquakes immediately before the outbreak of the Revolution. The present state of Delos almost verifies another prediction, viz., that it should become adnλòs, or invisible; for it is now the lowest and most insignificant of the Ægean isles. It is curious to remark, in illustration of the universal reverence paid to Delos throughout Greece, that, although Apollo was especially the tutelary god of the Dorians, nevertheless Athens, the chief representative of the Ionian Race, and the hereditary antagonist of the Dorians, was among the foremost in acknowledging the religious pre-eminence of this island. Homer (Hymn in Apoll.) speaks of Delos as the great gathering-place of the "Ionians with their long flowing robes" for the worship of Apollo. Delos was to the other isles of Greece as Iona to the Cyclades of North Britain. To the games and dances, always associated with religious celebrations by the bright and festive spirit of the ancient Greeks, "The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle" was wont to come, and charm the crowding listeners with his divine lays. These games died away in time, but were revived in after ages by the their characteristic political sagacity, Athenians, who were well aware, with of the importance of maintaining a close connection with the religious capital of the Egean. Pisistratus, wishing to purify the Temple from the unholy vicinity of dead bodies, removed them to another part of the island (Herod., i. 64). During the great Peloponnesian war, B.C. 426, his countrymen followed his example by moving them quite away to the neigh |