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served in a richly ornamented case. | stone along the old Venetian bastions: The annual offerings at this shrine a stranger will hear Italian from the amount to a considerable sum, and are native gentry, Greek from the peathe property of a noble Corfiot family, sants, Arabic from the Maltese grooms to whom the church belongs. Three and gardeners, Albanian from the times a year the body of the Saint is white-kilted mountaineers of the oppocarried in solemn procession around site coast. He may see Ionian venders the esplanade, followed by the Greek haggling for how much they are to clergy and all the native authorities. receive for their wares in Greek obols, The sick are sometimes brought out bearing the Venetian lion on one side and laid where the Saint may be and Britannia with her ægis on the carried over them. St. Spiridion was other-no bad epitome of the modern bishop of a see in Cyprus, and was history of the island, and forming a one of the Fathers of the Council of curious addition to the silver records Nice in A.D. 325. After his death his which tell what Corfu was in past embalmed body was believed to have ages. The prow of a ship, a Triton wrought many miracles. Various and striking with his trident, a galley in contradictory accounts have been given full sail, the gardens of Alcinous, and of the cause and manner of its convey- a Bacchus crowned with ivy-these ance to Corfu. are some of the monetary memorials of the ancient power, commerce, and fertility of Corcyra.

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We have the authority of Thucydides for the identity of Corcyra with the Scheria or Phæacia of Homer; but it is impossible to draw a map of the Homeric island which shall coincide with the existing localities. Ulysses was brought to the island by a north wind, which would seem to mark Fano as Calypso's isle. The only stream of any consequence is that which empties itself into the sea between Manduchio and Govino, while the tradition of the peasantry points to the Fountain of Cressida, a copious spring gushing out near the sea, 4 m.

The town underwent great improvements during the period of the British protectorate, but it is still cramped and confined. The main streets have been widened, sanitary regulations have been enforced, markets have been built, an efficient police organized here (as throughout the islands), new roads and approaches have been constructed, especially the Strada Marina round the bay of Castrades, which now forms one of the most charming public promenades in Europe. Above all, a copious supply of water, of which the town was formerly destitute, has been brought in pipes from a source above Benizze-a dis- | tance of 7 m. The suburbs were S.W. of the modern town, as the spot formerly richly planted with olive and mulberry trees, but these were cut down by the French in order to clear a space before the fortifications, and their removal is supposed to have contributed in some degree to the improved salubrity; fevers, however, are still prevalent in autumn, though they are rarely of a malignant character.

The Bishop of Lincoln has remarked that Corfu is a sort of geographical mosaic to which many countries of Europe have contributed colours. The streets are Italian in their style and name; the arcades, by which some of them are flanked, might have come from Padua or Bologna; the winged Lion of St. Mark is seen marching in

where the nymph-like Nausicaë and her train of maidens received the suppliant Ulysses. She is perhaps the most interesting character in all ancient poetry; and we gladly turn from the savage feuds and massacres of the Peloponnesian war to the contemplation of the fair daughter of Alcinous.

But wherever may have been the Phæacia of Homer, there can be no doubt but that the Corcyra of Thucydides occupied the peninsula between the channel and the Lagoon, now called Lake Calichiopulo, after a noble family of Corfu; the shores of which were converted by the English into a race-course. Excavations in this direction everywhere produce sculptures,

tombs (such as that of Menecrates, drive, ride, and walk at Corfu, is to near the Strada Marina), and other what is called the One-gun Battery memorials of the past; and on a cliff (from a cannon having formerly been overhanging the sea, behind the Ca- placed there), situated above the ensino, are the remains of a small Doric trance to Lake Calichiopulo, 24 m. S. temple, with the ountain of Cardachio of the town, and commanding a charmbelow it. The view from this spot is ing prospect. In the centre of the particularly beautiful; and a visit to strait below, and crowned with a small it should by no means be omitted. It chapel of Byzantine architecture, is is about 2 m. from the town. one of the islets (for there are two com It is obvious from Thucydides (iii.petitors) which claim to be the Ship 72) that Lake Calichiopulo is the of Ulysses, in allusion to the galley of Hyllaic harbour, and the port of Ca- the Phæacians, which on her return strádes "that opposite Epirus." As from having conveyed Ulysses to Ithaca Scylax (Per. 29) mentions three ports was overtaken by the vengeance of at Corcyra, it may be presumed that Neptune, and changed into stone the present harbour was also used in within sight of the port. (Od. xiii. ancient times. Vido may have been 161.) the Ptychia of Thucydides, though that islet is identified by some antiquaries with the rock at the mouth of Lake Calichiopulo, and by others with the vast insulated crag on which the citadel is now built, and which was probably a stronghold in all ages.

Corfu is divided-for electoral purposes-into fourteen districts (Demos). Lefchimo, the southern extremity of the island, is so called from its white cliffs. All the prospects in Corfu present a union of a sea-view with a rich landscape, for the water appears everywhere interlaced with the land. The roads are excellent, and all the principal villages can be reached in a carriage; but the varied beauties of the island cannot be thoroughly appreciated except by those who have traced out on horseback some of the thousand-and-one bridle-paths which wind through the olive-groves with the freedom of mountain streams. The general absence of hedges, and of almost all show of division of property gives the landscape a unity which is very pleasing to the eye. The olives of Corfu, it must be remembered, are not the pruned and trained fruit-trees of France and Italy, but picturesque and massive forest-trees; and their pale and quivering foliage is relieved by dark groups of tall and tufted cvpresses, appearing at a little distance like the minarets of the East, or the spires of a Gothic cathedral.

The favourite and most frequented

"Swift as the swallow sweeps the liquid way,
The winged pinnace shot along the sea;
The God arrests her with a sudden stroke,
And roots her down an everlasting rock."
The other competitor for this honour
is an isolated rock off the N.W. coast
of Corfu, and which certainly at a
distance resembles much a petrified
ship in full sail. It is visible from
the pass of San Pantaleone.

In the olive groves, near the Chapel of the Ascension, on the summit of a hill, about half-way between the town and the One-gun Battery is annually celebrated on Ascension-day a most interesting Greek festa, which the traveller should stay to see, even at the expense of some inconvenience. It will afford him an excellent opportunity of witnessing the performance of the Romaika or Pyrrhic dance, and of becoming acquainted with the picturesque costumes of the peasantry.

There are three principal excursions, all over excellent carriage-roads, which will give a stranger a good general idea of the interior of Corfu.

1. To Paleocastrizza, 16 m. from the capital: as the name imports, an ancient fortress doubtless stood here formerly, on the ground now occupied by a convent of the middle ages, strongly situated on a steep rock impending over the Adriatic Sea. The beauty, quiet, and coolness of this residence are all delightful. The senbathing is excellent, and many charming excursions may be made in the

immediate vicinity, as to the ruins of the Castle of St. Angelo, a mediæval fortress in a strong and romantic position. The road from the capital to Paleocastrizza crosses the centre of the island, passing (at 5 m. from the town) the bay of Govino, used by the Venetians as the harbour for their galleys and smaller craft. On the

shore are the ruins of their arsenals, store-houses, &c. Thence the road strikes inland through a forest of venerable olives, until within two or three miles of the convent, when it is carried along the face of a hill covered with arbutus, myrtle, and evergreens of various kinds. Below a precipice falls sheer down to the Adriatic, studded with rocks and islets, and sparkling with those "countless smiles" (the movτíwv Kvμáтwv avhpiθμον γέλασμα of Æschylus), the full charm of which can be appreciated only by those who have seen southern waves flash up in a southern sun.

2. The Pass of Pantaleone (13 m. from the town) is the Simplon of Corfu, and the highest point of the road which is carried over the mountain-chain of San Salvador. It is the only carriage-road to, and commands a splendid prospect over the northern district of Corfu, the islands of Fano, Merlera, Salmatraki, and the second insulated rock which claims to be the ship of Ulysses. A favourite spot for pic-nics is under a huge oak-tree, 3 m. to the N. of the pass.

3. The Pass of Garuna (8 m.) affords a like view over the southern districts of the island; and is also very striking, though not so elevated as that of San Pantaleone.

These three excursions should by no means be omitted; others almost equally picturesque are-to Benizze (7 m.); to Pelleka (7 m.); and to the village of Santa Decca (8 m.), situated on the slope of the mountain of the Ten Saints (Ayioι Aéka), corrupted into Santa Decca), the second in height in the island. Lord Carlisle, in his 'Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters' (1854), writes as follows:-"I went over the citadel, which comprises the two peaks from which the town is

named; the view is very fine; but this and almost every view I ever saw in my life were eclipsed by those we saw in our afternoon ride on the Santa Decca road, which turns the mountain that opens the southern district of the island; the snow-capped lines of the Acroceraunian hills on the Albanian shore, the unruffled seas which gleamed through four sets of ravines, the defined outline of the twopeaked citadel, the terraces of olive and vine that climb every hill, with scattered alleys of cypress, and tufts of orange, make the whole effect most transcendent. All this you see from excellent roads, admirably engineered. Any one who wishes to condense the attractions of southern scenery, and see it all in the utmost comfort and luxury, need only come to Corfu."

The road to Lefchimo (the ancient Leucimne), the southern district of Corfu (26 m.), passes through Santa Decca. The island terminates in a white cliff, called Cavo Bianco by the Italians, a translation of Leucimne. From Cape Bianco to the Sybota Islands, close to the coast of Epirus, the southern entrance to the channel of Corfu is about 5 m. across.

The mountain of San Salvador (Istone) rises about 3000 ft. above the sea, and is the highest point in the island, forming a striking object from the town. The best way to ascend it is to cross the bay (a distance of 8 or 10 m.) in a sailing or row-boat, and land either at Karagol, or a little to the eastward of the village of Ipso, where horses or mules may be procured, and a guide to the Convent which crowns the summit. The path rises by a steep ascent through olivewoods, and then over the barren and rocky mountain side. Before reaching the small village of Signies, are passed several deep wells, round which the shepherds assemble their flocks. Here too, as at the other fountains of Greece, may generally be seen groups of the peasant women, who give an Oriental charm to the scene with their long flowing drapery, and ample folds of white linen, falling over their heads and shoulders. It is a toilsome ascent

from Signies to the Convent, which is | Albania that the really good shooting not inhabited by the Monks, except is to be had. Butrinto, Kataito, and at certain festivals. A pilgrimage is Livitazza (or rather La Vituzza at made to this shrine every year on the mouth of the river Kalamás, or the anniversary of the Transfigura- Thyamis) are the best grounds for tion (August); and the going up snipes, woodcocks, and wild-fowl of of the people to the "high place" is all kinds; and Ptelia and Paganiá a very pretty sight. The view from for deer and wild boars;-which latter the summit is magnificent. In clear are also found on the Sybota (i, e., weather the coast of Italy is just visible Swine Islands), two wooded and unabove the horizon to the N.W.; while inhabited rocks at the southern ento the E. the eye ranges along the trance of the channel. In Corfu they chain of the Acroceraunian Mountains, are now generally called Murto, from and penetrates far into the interior of an Albanian hamlet on the neighbourAlbania commanding the castle and ing shore; but they are celebrated plain of Butrinto, with its two lakes under their classical name on account and river, and several villages pictu- of the action between the Corcyræans resquely scattered over the hills. To and Corinthians fought off their shores the S., the city and whole island of in the year before the beginning of Corfu are stretched out like a map, the Peloponnesian war. There is a with Paxo and Santa Maura in the sheltered bay between the two prindistance. cipal Sybota, and another between the inner island and the mainland. The neighbouring village occupies ap

Off the N.W. coast of Corfu are her three island dependencies of Fano (Othonus), Merlera (Ericúsa), and Sal-parently the site of the place which matraki, containing altogether about 1800 inhabitants, a peaceful and industrious race, exporting annually olive-oil, honey, grapes, &c. A fine sea-cavern is of course pointed out as Calypso's Grotto by the islanders to every stranger: it is now frequented by seals and wild pigeons. Fano is visited by sportsmen chiefly in the spring, for the purpose of shooting quails, which abound there during the annual migration.

Thucydides calls "the continental Sybota," and where the Corinthians erected a trophy after the sea-fight, while the Corcyræans, who equally claimed the victory, set up their trophy at the "insular Sybota" (Thucyd. i. 54): "whence,' Colonel Leake, "it would seem that there were villages of that name on either side of the inner strait or harbour."

says

The places above mentioned are all Some account of the shooting at on the Epirot or Albanian coast of Corfu is required in this work, as so the channel of Corfu. Near Santi many Englishmen now visit the island Quaranta, outside the N. channel, and every winter in search of it. The about 18 m. from the harbour, there season lasts from November to March, is also carital woodcock, wildfowl, as but December and January are the well as deer and wild-boar shooting. best months. Snipes and wild-fowl Further N., in the Acroceraunian are found in considerable numbers dur-Mountains, above Port Palermo and ing the winter in the Val di Roppa, a marshy valley 7 m. inland from the town. Woodcocks are also killed in all parts of the island, and are generally sold in the market for a few pence each. Hares are scarce, owing, partly, to the number of foxes and jackals. Santa Maura is the only one of the Ionian Islands where wolves are still found.

But it is on the opposite coast of

the town of Chimara, chamois may be shot in summer, when the snows have melted. S. of Corfu there is excellent shooting (cocks, snipes, &c.), at Port Phanári, on the banks of the Acheron, and on the shores of the Gulf of Arta.

Before 1856 the whole of the Turkish Empire was always held by the Christian Powers in that state which the Health-Offices of the Levant call con

centuries at Butrinto. In one of them resides a petty Turkish officer, with some dozen ragged Albanian soldiers. This outpost of Islam is separated by a channel, only 9 m. in breadth from Corfu.

2. PAXOS (PAXO).

tumacy (contumacia)-that is to say, | plain of Troy is a poetical invention all intercourse with its coast was sub- of Virgil, and as visionary as the ject to a quarantine of greater or less likeness of Monmouth and Macedon. duration according to its reputed sani- Buthrotum had become a Roman tary condition for the time being. colony as early as the time of Strabo; This restriction never ceased entirely, and fragments of the Roman walls still owing to the former neglect of strict exist mixed with remains both of later quarantine regulations by the Turks and of Hellenic masonry, showing that -a consequence of their ideas of the city always occupied the same fatalism. In ordinary times, however, site. Two ruinous castles are the all persons from Corfu who secured only relics of the station maintained the escort of a guardiano, or Health-by the Venetians during so many Officer, answerable for their not coming into contact with the natives, or with any " susceptible" substance, were allowed to disembark in Albania and range at liberty in the open country. Except in periods of contagious diseases, even this restriction has now been removed. Thus in winter shooting-parties constantly cross over; and there is a great charm in the wildness and variety of the sport and This little island (divided into two scenery. There is, as a general rule, districts) which is hardly mentioned little danger in these excursions. The by the ancient writers, seems to have shepherds occasionally fallen in with always followed the fortunes of its sometimes make urgent entreaties for powerful neighbour Corcyra, from the barúti, or gunpowder-a present most southern extremity of which it is acceptable to them; and stories are only about 8 m. distant. Though told of cases where petitions for such less than 5 m. in length and 2 in favours have been presented after the breadth, and containing a population fashion of the beggar in Gil Blas,' of 3582 souls, Paxo formed one of with the cap in one hand and the the "United States" composing the musket in the other. Ionian confederacy. A subaltern's deSportsmen, before committing them-tachment from the Corfu garrison was selves to the care of the Turkish authorities in Albania, should consult the English Consul at Corfu, and should be guided as to their conduct by his advice. There may be times when it would be imprudent on their part to go far into the interior.

The beautiful scenery of the Lake of Butrinto is well worthy of a visit. It is connected with the bay (the Pelodes Limen, or Muddy Harbour of Strabo and Ptolemy) by a river about 3 m. long, and can be reached in a boat from Corfu without disembarking, and in less than 3 hrs. The ruins of Buthrotum occupy a rocky hill at the southern extremity of the lake. It is said to have been founded by Helenus, the son of Priam; but the resemblance of the features of the sur

rounding country to those of the

quartered here. The island is oval in shape, and mountainous; its soil being so stony and so destitute of moisture, that the inhabitants are sometimes obliged to depend for their supply of water on rain kept in tanks, or even to procure it from the neighbouring continent. The oil of Paxo is highly esteemed; and the island produces little else than olives, almonds, and vines, the quantity of corn raised being altogether insignificant. The capital, or rather principal village, consists of a cluster of houses at Port Gaio, on the E. side opposite Albania. The harbour is curiously formed by a small rocky islet, crowned with a fort, and sheltering a little creek which may be entered at both extremities.

Immediately S. of Paxo, and separated from it by a narrow channel,

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