CHARACT E)RS: 
4 
Spirat adhuc Amor 
ivuntque commiffi Calores 
/Eoliz Fidibus Puellz ! 
Nature here reigns triumphant, 
and by thewing what fhe can per- 
form alone and unaflifted, teaches 
us to defpife the weak efforts of her 
‘inadequate mimick.—The moun- 
tains, whofe rugged tops exhibit a 
pleafing interfperfion of rocks and 
of pine groves, have their green 
fides, for many ‘miles along the 
coaft, covered with olives, whofe 
lefs agreeable verdure is corrected, 
embellifhed, and brightened by a 
lively mixtufe of bays and of lau 
rels afpiring to the height of foreft 
trees, of myrtles, pomegranates, and 
of arbutes, rich at once in bloffom 
and in berry, of mulberries growing 
wild, and laden with fruit, and of 
every other tree 
_ OF nobleit kind for fight, fmell, tatte ! 
While the luxuriant vine, climb- 
ing wild and unreftrained even to 
their topmoft branches, adorns and 
enriches them with its Vivid green, 
and with its cluftering fruit. — 
Winter is here unknown.—The cli- 
mate forbids it.—The verdure is 
perpetual, and the frequency of 
evergreens gives to December the 
colour of June.—The parchirg heat 
of fummer is never felt. —'The thick 
fhade of trees, and thoufands of 
' eryftal fprings, which every where 
_arife, and form themfelves into un- 
numbered rivulets, joined to the 
refrefhing fea breeze, the conftant 
companion and corrective of noon- 
‘tide heat, qualify the burning air, 
and render the year a never-ending 
May— 
Airs, vernal airs! 
Breathing the fmell of field and grove, 
attune 
§ It 
The trembling leaves, while univerfal Pang 
Knit with the Graces, and the Hours ia 
dance, - ; : 
Leads on the eternal fprirg tame > 
No wonder then if the inhabi- 
tants, the better to enjoy thefe ya- 
rious beauties, fhould conftruét their 
houfes in the following peculiar 
manner :—each houfe is a*{quare 
tower neatly built of hewn ftone, 
fo high as to overtop the trees, and 
to command a view of the fea and 
neighbouring iflands.—The lower 
ftories are granaries and ftore- 
honfes, and the habitable apart- 
ments are all at the top, to which 
you afcend by a ftone ftair, built, 
for the moft part, on the outfide, 
and furrounding the tower, fo that 
from the apartments the trees are 
overlooked, and the whole country 
is feen, while the habitations them- 
felves, which are very numerous, 
peering above the groves, add life 
and variety to the enchanting pro- 
fpe&t, and give an air ae 
population to thefe woodlands, 
which might otherwife be fuppofed 
the region of Dryads, of Naiads, 
and of Satyrs. 
But the charms of this delightful 
fpot have fo far tranfported my. 
imagination, that I have almott 
forgotten the fubjeét of which, in 
this eflay, 1 meant to treat, and 
which-is no other than a remarka- 
ble and fingular cuftom of this 
ifland, peculiar, I believe, to itfelf, 
and, as faras I know, never yet de- 
tailed by any traveller. =, 
She women here feeni to have 
atrogated to themfelves the depart- 
ment and privileges of the men.—« 
Contrary to the ufage of all other 
countries, the eldeft daughter here 
inherits, and the fons, like daugh- 
ters every where elfe, are portioned 
off with {mall dowers, or, which is 
p2 fill 
