Henry Fanshawe Tozer

“ Owing to the depth of the water there is no anchorage, and vessels have to be moored to the shore, except at one point in the neighbourhood of the modern town, where there is a slight rim of shallow bottom. The cliffs of Santorin and Therasia are marked in horizontal bands by black lava, white porous tufa, and other volcanic strata, some parts of which are coloured dark red. The modern town of Thera (or Phera, as it is more commonly pronounced) is built at the edge of these, overlooking the middle of the bay at a height of 900 ft. ”

“ The rivers of Euboea are few in number and scanty in volume. In the north-eastern portion the Budorus flows into the Aegean, being formed by two streams which unite their waters in a small plain, and were perhaps the Cereus and Neleus concerning which the story was told that sheep drinking the water of the one became white, of the other black. On the north coast, near Histiaea, is the Callas; and on the western side the Lelantus, near Chalcis, flowing through the plain of the same name. ”

“ The history of Thessaly is closely connected with its geography. The fertility of the land offered a temptation to invaders, and was thus the primary cause of the early migrations. It was this motive which first induced the Thessalians to leave their home in Epirus and descend into this district, and from this movement arose the expulsion of the Boeotians from Arne, and their settlement in the country subsequently called Boeotia ”

“ The southern part was occupied by the Dryopes, part of which tribe, after having been expelled from their original seats in the south of Thessaly by the Dorians, migrated to this island, and established themselves in the three cities of Karystos, Dystos and Styra. The population of Euboea at the present day is made up of elements not less various, for many of the Greek inhabitants seem to have immigrated, partly from the mainland, and partly from other islands ”

“ In accordance with the provisions of the Berlin treaty, Thessaly was ceded to the Greeks by the Porte in 1881, and became a portion of the Hellenic kingdom. Since that time the prosperity of the province has greatly increased. The port of Volo, which is almost the only outlet of the trade of the whole district, has become an important town of 23,000 inhabitants, and daily communication by steamers now exists between it and Athens. The interior of the country has also been opened up by means of railways. ”

“ The cliffs rise perpendicularly from the bay, in some places to the height of 1000 ft.; but towards the open sea, both in Santorin and Therasia, the ground slopes gradually away, and has been converted into broad level terraces, everywhere covered with tufaceous agglomerate, which, though bare and ashen, produces the famous Santorin wine. Towards the south-east rises the limestone peak of Mount Elias, the highest point of the island (1910 ft.) ”

“ On the north side of Thessaly there was an important pass from Petra in Pieria bv the western side of Olympus, debouching on the plain northward of Larissa; it was by this that Xerxes entered, and we learn from Herodotus (vii. 173) that, when the Greeks discovered the existence of this passage, they gave up all thoughts of defending Tempe. On the side of Epirus the main line of communication passed over that part of Pindus which was called Mount Lacmon, and descended the upper valley of the Peneius to Aeginium in the north-west angle of Thessaly. ”

“ The Turkish inhabitants were settled in the larger towns, and here and there in the country districts, the most important colony being those called Koniarates, who were brought from Konia in Asia Minor shortly before the taking of Constantinople, and planted under the south-west angle of Olympus. The Greeks, however, form the vast majority of the population, so much so that, even while the country belonged to the Ottomans, Greek was employed as the official language. ”

“ The forests are extensive and fine, and are now superintended by government officials, called δασοφύλακες, in spite or with the connivance of whom the timber is being rapidly destroyed—partly from the merciless way in which it is cut by the proprietors, partly from its being burnt by the shepherds, for the sake of the rich grass that springs up after such conflagrations, and partly owing to the goats, whose bite kills all the young growths. ”

“ The next largest plain was that of Histiaea, and at the present day this and the neighbourhood of the Budorus (Aḥmet-Aga) are the two best cultivated parts of Euboea, owing to the exertions of foreign colonists. The mountains afford excellent pasturage for sheep and cattle, which were reared in great quantities in ancient times, and seem to have given the island its name ”

“ It was in consequence of the aid which the people of Miletus lent to the Eretrians on this occasion that Eretria sent five ships to aid the Ionians in their revolt against the Persians (see Ionia) ; and owing to this, that city was the first place in Greece proper to be attacked by Datis and Artaphernes in 490 B.C. It was utterly ruined on that occasion, and its inhabitants were transported to Persia. ”

“ Numerous rock-carvings and inscriptions have been discovered, as well as statues and vases of various periods. Near the western foot of Mount Elias is the temple of Thea Basileia, which, though very small, is perfect throughout even to the roof. ”

“ The plains, also, were suited to the breeding of horses, and consequently the force in which the Thessalian nation was strong was cavalry, a kind of troops which has usually been associated with oligarchy. ”