MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



469 



the building, near the gate of which 

 we were then standing : it was old 

 and ruinous : there was no lamp in 

 the court-yard, and only a faint 

 light glimmering in one of the 

 windows. 



Mistaking my silence and asto- 

 nishment, he pulled out his watch, 

 and, placing it in my hand, en- 

 treated me to give him some mo- 

 ney. As I had no disposition to 

 become a pawnbroker, I returned 

 it with some expressions of sur- 

 prise, and took out my purse with 

 the intention of giving it to him, 

 for it only contained two or three 

 small pieces. But here all the so- 

 lemnity of the adventure termin- 

 ated. He snatched it out of my 

 hand, and, emptying the contents 

 into his own, returned it; and 

 wishing me a good night, ran into 

 the gateway. 



The Idriots. 

 From the same. 



Idra, as far as my recollection 

 serves, was not of any consequence 

 in the brilliant periods of Grecian 

 history. The present city origin- 

 ated in a small colony of boatmen 

 belonging to the Morea, who took 

 refuge herefrom the tyranny of the 

 Turks. About forty years ago they 

 had multiplied to a considerable 

 number ; their little village began 

 to assume the appearance of a 

 town, and they had vessels that 

 went as far as Constantinople. 



In their mercantile transactions, 

 the Idriots acquired the reputation 

 of greater integrity than the other 

 Greeks, as well as of being the 

 most intrepid navigators in the 

 Archipelago; and they were, of 

 course, regularly preferred. Their 



honesty and industry obtained its 

 reward. When the French revo- 

 lution broke out, they had seve- 

 ral large ships, which they loaded 

 with grain, and sent to France, 

 during the scarcity which prevailed 

 at the beginning of the late war. 

 The profit arising from these voy- 

 ages enabled them to increase the 

 number of their shipping; and 

 they now possess eighty ships, of 

 more than two hundred and fifty 

 tons, besides several hundreds of 

 smaller vessels and wherries. They 

 have two or three ships, not infe- 

 rior in strength and size to fri- 

 gates. At Malta and Messina, I 

 was told that the number of the 

 Idriot shipping was much greater ; 

 but this was a mistake, arising 

 from considering vessels belonging 

 to the islands of Specii, Paros, My- 

 coni, and Ipsera, as Idriots. These 

 islands resemble Idra in their insti- 

 tutions ; and the inhabitants pos- 

 sess the same character for com- 

 mercial activity. 



In paying their sailors, Idra and 

 its sister islands have a peculiar 

 custom. The whole amount of 

 the freight is considered as a com- 

 mon stock from which the charges 

 of victualling the ship are deducted. 

 The remainder is then divided into 

 two equal parts ; one is allotted to 

 the crew, and equally shared among 

 them, without reference to age or 

 rank. The other part is appropri- 

 ated to the ship and the captain. 



The capital of the cargo is a trust 

 given to the captain and the crew 

 on certain fixed conditions. For all 

 voyages to the Levant, a profit of 

 twenty per cent on their respec- 

 tive shares, is allowed to the con- 

 tributors of the capital, and the 

 same in voyages which do not ex- 

 tend to the westward beyond Malta 

 and Sicily; but in voyages to 



France 



