C A N I A. 





;. cannot, or dare not, appreciate the blessings and 

 v - advantages which nature has so liberally scattered 

 around him. Oppressed by his tyrannical masters 

 exposed to insult, to outrage, and even to ro l 

 from every janizary, he feels no inclination to in- 

 .se, by laoour, a produce which he would soon 

 have the mortification of seeing pass into the hands 

 of those whom he has so much reason to hate. In- 

 dustry, of consequence, is almost extinct iti the Greek 

 villages subject to the Turkish agas. The fields 

 which their forefathers cultivated and adorned, when 

 under the mild government of the Venetians, are now 

 running to waste. The soil is washed away by the 

 rains ; the olive-tree is allowed to perish, and the 

 vine to disappear ; and this unfortunate and degraded 

 people do not think of repairing the damages which 

 time has already occasioned, or of preventing future 

 desolations. It is only the calls of hunger, or the 

 payment of their taxes, that can incite them to the 

 least exertion ; and they sow their lands, and gather 

 their olives, with the cheerless prospect, that a part 

 of the produce must be devoted to their oppressors. 

 The least appearance of wealth, or even of comfort, 

 will immediately draw upon them new enactions ; and 

 they are compelled carefully to conceal whatever is 

 not absolutely necessary for their daily subsistence. 

 Their very clothes must have the appearance of po- 

 verty ; and when those are renewed, they must be 

 of the coarsest stuff, and plainest colours, otherwise 

 they would run the risk of being deprived of them 

 by the Turks. In the Turkish villages, agriculture 

 and industry are equally neglected, though from ve- 

 ry different causes. Most of the Turks in this island 

 are enrolled among the janizaries ; and though they 

 may improve their property, without the dread of 

 being despoiled of its produce, yet they prefer ra- 

 ther to depend upon their pay, and the extortions 

 which, upon every opportunity, they wring from the 

 industry of the Greeks. The only spot where cul- 

 tivation is practised with any success, is on the moun- 

 tains of Sphachia, which are inhabited by a hardy 

 race, who, though oppressed with the same yoke as 

 their brethren in the plains, have still preserved the 

 energy of independence. Habituated to a simple 

 and industrious life, the Sphachiot is a shepherd, a 

 farmer, and an artisan. He requires no foreign sup- 

 plies. He manufactures with his own hands the uten- 

 sils and implements which he employs, and subsists 

 upon the produce of his land, and of his flocks, en- 

 joying, without molestation, the fruits of his labour. 

 This people, from the first subjugation of the islands 

 by the Romans, have disdained to mix with the na- 

 tions that have successively occupied their country. 

 Bred to the use of the bow from their youth, they 

 are excellent soldiers ; but bearing a mortal hatred 

 to their present masters, several of them disgrace 

 their courage and their skill, by robbing and murder- 

 ing such Turkish travellers as they can waylay upon 

 their mountains. 



Were- the least encouragement given to agriculture 

 in this island, and were its advantagesof soil and climate 

 in any degree appreciated by the Turks, it would 



soon become the granary of the surrounding nations/ 

 But every species of improvement is here so disgra- ' 

 ced and persecuted, and indolence and effeminacy 

 have so destroyed all spirit of emulation and exer- 

 tion, that the inhabitants of this fertile region are 

 compelled to draw from other lands the means of 

 their subsistence. Public granaries are erected near 

 eome of the principal towns, for containing the com 

 which is annually imported from Volo, Salonica, the 

 Morea, Syria, and Egypt. The few places that are 

 under cultivation, notwithstanding the deficiency of 

 proper culture, produce most luxuriant crops. Wheat 

 is sown after a single ploughing, and they content 

 themselves with scattering the barley on the stubble, 

 and then going over it with the plough. Whole 

 fields are sown with lupins, which is a very common 

 food with the Candians ; but many useful plants, 

 for which no soil or climate is more propitious than 

 that of Candia, are almost completely neglected. 

 The mulberry tree, which thrives wonderfully in this 

 island, is very scarce ; and most of their silk is- 

 brought from Syria. Flax is tolerably plentiful, but 

 not sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants ; and 

 they draw their cotton from Smyrna, and the envi- 

 rons of Ephesus. Sesamum occupies some spots in 

 the plains ; but instead of extracting oil from its 

 seed, the inhabitants use it only for mixing with their 

 bread, to give it more flavour. Olive trees, how- 

 ever, grow here in great plenty ; and their fruit is 

 the chief article, both of the industry and commerce 

 of the Candians. The annual produce of oil in this 

 island, in a good season, is estimated at 200,000 

 milleroles, or 13,200,000 pints, Paris measure. 



The ancients asserted, that this happy region, the 

 birth place of Jupiter, was freed, by the indulgence 

 of the gods, from every noxious animal. It is true, 

 no quadrupeds of a ferocious temper belong to the 

 island. Lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and foxes, are 

 here unknown. The wild goat is the only inhabi- 

 tant of the forest and the lofty mountains, and have 

 nothing to fear but the ball of the hunter. Sheep 

 overspread the hills and the plains, and graze in se- 

 curity, undisturbed by their ravenous enemies. Birds 

 of prey, however, are to be found here, and also 

 some venomous reptiles. Pliny *, indeed, mentions 

 the tarantula as an inhabitant of Crete ; and Belon 

 enumerates three species of serpents which were 

 known here, the ophis, the ochendra, and the<?/>A/o- 

 ti {. The tarantula is a kind of spider, about eight 

 or ten inches in length, with a scaly skin. Its sting 

 is mortal, and it generally lodges, during winter, in a 

 deep hole, formed in the declivity of small hillocks ; 

 but, in the summer, it keeps in the air, and spins its 

 web. M. Sonnini mentions another species of spider, 

 equally dangerous with the tarantula, which is of the 

 same size, but lives constantly in subterraneous re* 

 treats. 



Among their domestic animals are, the horse, 

 which is of the Barbary breed, but is much neglect- 

 ed, and ill-used, and has greatly degenerated, both in 

 form and beauty, from the original stock. They are, 

 however, strong and nice footed, and traverse, with 



Nat. Hist. lib. viii. cap. 58. 



fc Belon Ofr'cnv lions dr pl'uicvrs tinguli.rttfi etchiati memorable trouvces en Greet, o 



