496 
sion is frequently made with the 
piece of money called para, worth 
above a farthing. It is very seldom, 
indeed, that payment does not imme- 
diately follow this procedure. For, 
though the primates have no armed 
force to second the execution of their 
orders, they are generally respected 
and obeyed. Sometimes, when it is 
necessary to use more than ordinary 
rigour, the inhabitants become irri- 
tated, and proceed to open revolt. ‘lo 
escape their resentment the primates 
flee or conceal themselves till the po- 
pular fury has subsided. I have seve- 
ral times witnessed scenes of this kind ; 
when the insurrection is announced by 
the sound of the bell, repeated from 
village to village; so that the alarm is 
soon spread over the whole island, and 
every one holds himself in readiness to 
rise. ‘Io punish these insurgents the 
Turkish government is at length com- 
pelled to employ a vaivode, a kind of 
farmer-general, who, by advancing the 
moiety of the tribute, acquires the 
right of levying it, or rather of unmer- 
cifully rack-renting the wretched inha- 
bitants. He generally resides at Kam- 
bos, a village in the centre of the 
island. He is accompanied on these 
occasions by a number of Turks, to 
assist him in inspecting the harvest of 
the peasants ; one of these persons has 
sometimes the office of inspector over 
two or three villages. Woe to the 
islander who may dare to withhold the 
least portion of his produce, or who 
should take any means to prevent his 
cattle from being collected upon his 
ground; he would be condemned to 
penalties and punishment as rigid as 
if he had disposed of the property of 
others. It is then the islander feels 
that he has a hard master, whose ava- 
rice renders him relentless, and who 
will lose no opportunity that presents 
itself to profit by it. It is unnecessary 
to remark how terrible the Turkish 
government is in its wrath, especially 
when it sends this thirsty bloodsucker, 
or harpy, to execute its vengeance. 
The primates, when they resume their 
functions, generally behave with ex- 
treme caution; but they have always 
their deputy at Constantinople, who 
sometimes advances a part of the tri- 
bute, and afterwards settles their 
accounts with the administration of 
the island. 
Tinos has never been subject to any 
custom-house duties. When an inha- 
bitant wishes to leave the place, he 
2 
On the Actual Stale of the Greek Islands. 
[July 1, 
receives a ticket, which is a certificate 
of his country ; and with this kind of 
passport he may go to any part of 
‘Turkey, without the ordinary exemp- 
tion trom capitation, called karatch, 
and to which all the rest of the 
Grand Seignor’s subjects are liable: 
this costs 13s. 4d. to persons who 
wear the long Asiatic habits, and 
6s. 8d. to those who dress like Eu- 
ropeans. 
The isle of Tinos, like most of those 
of the Archipelago, presents an uniform 
aspect towards thesea. Atadistance 
we can only distinguisha mass of naked 
barren rocks; but upon a nearer ap- 
proach we perceive upon these heights 
a great number of villages, which can- 
not but excite our admiration of the 
industry of the inhabitants, who by 
their exertions have fertilized the rude 
soil of their mountains, the declivities 
of which are raised and parted off by 
dwarf walls, formed of stones, and 
communicating to the whole the air of 
a quincunx. 
Tinos is about sixty miles is cireum- 
ference, and contains two large towns 
and about sixty-six villages. It is 
naturally divided into what is called 
the Apanomeri or upper part, or the 
Katomeri or lower; the latter is the 
most fertile, both from the nature of 
the soil and the abundance of water 
supplied by the rivers Lazaro or 
Perastra, and Griza or Aghapi, so 
called from the villages through which 
they pass. These two rivers, inun- 
dating the country, form the marshes 
of Levadhea, which, being cultivated, 
produce grain, flax, melons, gourds, 
pumpkins, &c. Each proprietor digs 
a ditch round his ground here, to re- 
tain the humidity in summer, and to 
prevent the inroads of cattle; others 
have small huts, in which it is ne- 
cessary to remain to watch their pro- 
perty, often pillaged by the inhabi- 
tants of the upper part of the island, 
and the banditti of the isle of Andros, 
who make frequent incursions. 
San Nicolo, situate on the western 
side of the isle, belongs neither to the 
Katomeri nor the Apanomeri, being 
precisely upon the line of demarka- 
tion, as well as i/ Borgo, or the town. 
San Nicolo is not only the principal 
place for commerce, but also the resi- 
dence of the Greek archbishop, the 
proestoti, the epitrope, the consuls, and 
merchants. The Latin church here 
is dedicated to St. Nicholas: The 
Greek church, the Metropolitan, is 
very 
