4822:] 
During summer, most people sleep 
with their windows open, and some 
even on the tops.of the houses, with- 
out any other precaution except that 
of covering the head. 
In almost all the villages the 
churches are richly decorated, and 
most of the inhabitants go there to 
hear mass, before they commence 
their daily labours; besides these, 
there are small chapels in the en- 
virons of the villages, in which lamps 
are kept burning during the whole of 
Saturday. Mass is performed in these 
chapels only once a year; but they are 
mostly used as resting-places, during 
the processions from one village to 
another. 
St. John’s Eve is always a fes- 
tival, when every housekeeper makes 
a large bonfire of vine-stalks, in his 
fore-court or balcony. Over this fire 
every one of the family is expected to 
jump three times, exclaiming, “‘ Here 
I leave my sins and my fleas.” Even 
the women perform this ceremony, 
with children in their arms; and this 
curious exclamation is generally re- 
peated by the younger branches of the 
family during two or three days after. 
This féte concludes with eating roasted 
heads of garlick and bread, the only 
indulgence allowed on St. John’s Eve, 
which is considered as a kind of fast, 
in honour of the saint; but in the eve- 
ning the young girls go round to all 
the houses with a vessel half filled with 
water, into which every one throws a 
token or pledge. On St. John’s Day 
they all meet again, and a child is se- 
lected to draw the prizes or forfeits, 
when some act of penance is imposed 
upon each of the winvers. The game 
is called Clydonas. 
The young men frequently serenade 
their mistresses, when the songs sung 
under their windows are accompanied 
by the lute or guitar. In the con- 
eluding couplet the lover always en- 
deayours to introduce his name. If 
known to the father, he is frequently 
invited in, with his friends, though his 
passion may not be approved. Some- 
times it happens that a young girl is 
carried off, when, as her own consent 
is supposed to be obtained, that of 
her father soon follows. After an 
adventure of this kind, no person ex- 
cepting the lover would marry a young 
woman who had thus eloped. 
No women can rival the wives of 
Tinos in industry. They sometimes 
assist their husbands in agriculture ; 
Actual State of the Greek Islands. 
221 
generally rising early. Their first duty 
is to go to mass; on their return they 
dress the children, give them their 
breakfast, and then dispatch them te 
school, with their provision, for the 
whole day. Dinner is not only pre- 
pared, but taken to the husband, whem 
at work out of doors. It is also the 
business of the wife to look after the 
pigs, and collect green herbs for their 
food, and that of the goats; to look 
after the garden; carry the barley to 
the mill; feed the silk-worms, &c.; 
and, in her hours of leisure, to spin 
flax, silk, or cotton. On the Monday 
she washes the linen out of doors; and 
on Friday and Saturday bakes bread 
for the consumption of the following 
week. In all these labours, it is to be 
understood that the young girls assist 
as far as may be in their power; and, 
from such examples of activity, order, 
and economy, they generally become 
excellent housewives. 
As the women are exclusively 
charged with the care of the silk- 
worms, they are obliged to climb the 
mulberry trees to gather the leaves: 
these trees are lofty, and accidents 
frequently occur which prove fatal. 
On Sundays almost every family 
makes a party to go into the neigh- 
bouring villages, to visit their friends, 
or the néwly-mairied couples; and 
sometimes to keep some Saint’s day, 
or to attend those festivals called 
paneghiria, always succeeded by dan- 
cing, and other sports. Devotion is 
the pretext, but the principal motive is 
the desire of seeing and being seen, 
particularly among the young people ; 
but the islanders in general differ con- 
siderably from several others in the 
Archipelago, in their love of society, 
and the cheerfulness of their manners. 
It may be also observed, that, unlike the 
other islands, no handmills are used in 
Tinos for grinding corn, by whicha 
great loss of time is sustained. On 
the contrary, almost all the hills here 
are crowned with windmills, built of 
stone, in the form of round towers. 
From the ill-constructed wood-work, 
and the length of the sails, which give 
too much scope to the wind, it is no 
uncommon thing, during a hurricane, 
to see the dome, the mill, and its sails, 
all carried away together ; which, be- 
sides the damage it occasions, fre- 
quently proves fatal to those in the 
mill at the time. 
The islanders in general agree in 
ascribing very extensive power to the 
devil. 
