Ernest Arthur Gardner and Maximilian Otto Bismarck Caspari

“ In 1881 Chios was visited by a very severe earthquake in which over 5600 persons lost their lives and more than half the villages were seriously damaged. The island has now recovered its prosperity. There is a harbour at Castro, and steam flour-mills, foundries and tanneries have been established. Rich antimony and calamine mines are worked by a French undertaking, and good marble is quarried by an Italian company. ”

“ The only town in the island is Cos, or Stanko, at the eastern extremity, remarkable for its fortress, founded by the knights of Rhodes, and for the gigantic plane-tree in the public square. The fortress preserves in its walls a number of interesting architectural fragments. The plane-tree has a circumference of about 30 ft., and its huge and heavy branches have to be supported by pillars; of its age there is no certain knowledge, but the popular tradition connects it with Hippocrates. ”

“ In 389 most of the island was recovered for the Athenians by Thrasybulus; in 377 it joined the Second Delian League, and remained throughout a loyal member, although in the second half of the century the dominant democracy was for a while supplanted by a tyranny. In 334 Lesbos served as a base for the Persian admiral Memnon against Alexander the Great. During the Third Macedonian war the Lesbians sided with Perseus against Rome; similarly in 88 they became eager allies of Mithradates VI. of Pontus, and Mytilene stood a protracted siege on his behalf. ”

“ During the Byzantine age the island, which now assumes the name of Mytilene, continued to flourish. In 1091 it fell for a while into the hands of the Seljuks, and in the following century was repeatedly occupied by the Venetians. In 1224 it was recovered by the Byzantine emperors, who in 1354 gave it as a dowry to the Genoese family Gattilusio. After prospering under their administration Mytilene passed in 1462 under Turkish control, and has since had an uneventful history. The present population is about 130,000 of whom 13,000 are Turks and Moslems and 117,000 Greeks. ”

“ Single olive trees of first quality yield sometimes as much as 2 gallons of oil, and this with little trouble or expense beyond the collecting and pressing of the fallen fruit. The trees grow unrestrained, and some are not less than three hundred years old. The vineyards are laboured by the broad heart-shaped hoe. The vintage begins on the festival of Santa Croce, or the 26th of September (O.S.) . None of the Corfu wines is much exported. The capital is the only city or town of much extent in the island ”

“ The precinct had been enlarged and reconstructed at various times. The earliest buildings on the middle terrace probably date from the 6th century B.C. The temple on the upper terrace, with the imposing flight of steps by which it is approached, seems to belong to the 2nd century B.C. when the whole precinct was enlarged and reconstructed. After a destructive earthquake, the whole appears to have been rebuilt by Xenophon, the physician and poisoner of the emperor Claudius. ”

“ As the attention of the islanders is mainly directed to the culture of their vineyards, which yield the famous sultana raisins, a considerable proportion of the arable land is left untouched, though wheat, barley and maize are sown in some quarters, and melons and sesamum seed appear among the exports. ”

“ The wild olive is abundant enough, but neglected; and cotton, though it thrives well, is grown only in small quantities. As the principal harbour, in spite of dredging operations, is fit only for smaller vessels, the island is not of so much commercial importance as it would otherwise be ”

“ The circular tomb of Menecrates, with its well-known inscription, is on the Bay of Castrades. Under the hill of Ascension are the remains of a temple, popularly called of Neptune, a very simple Doric structure, which still in its mutilated state presents some peculiarities of architecture. ”

“ The Lesbians readily submitted to Persia after the fall of Croesus of Lydia, and although hatred of their tyrant Coës, a Persian protégé, drove them to take part in the Ionic revolt (499–493) , they made little use of their large navy and displayed poor spirit at the decisive battle of Lade. ”

“ His successor in the fourth generation, Hector, united the island to the Ionian confederacy (Pausan. vii. 4) , though Strabo (xiv. p. 633) implies an actual conquest by Ionian settlers. The regal government was at a later time exchanged for an oligarchy or a democracy. The names of two tyrants, Amphiclus and Polytecnus, are mentioned. The products of the island were largely exported on the ships of Miletus, with which city Chios formed a close mercantile alliance in opposition to the rival league of Phocaea and Samos. ”

“ In 1864 it was, with the other Ionian Islands, ceded to the kingdom of Greece, in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants. The island has again become an important point of call and has a considerable trade in olive oil; under a more careful system of tillage the value of its agricultural products might be largely increased.
Corfu contains very few and unimportant remains of antiquity. The site of the ancient city of Corcyra (Κέρκυρα) is well ascertained, about 11/2 m. ”