411 



SAMOS. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



: ^ 



, aige from Ljnauder, and were coin- 



w to submit to Spartan principle* of government Alter Uui 

 EM** Athenian*. UnedaHnonians, and Persians became mooesaively 



iui -*-" A tur forming part of th. Egyptian, Macedonian, 



aadBrruui empire*, it wai finally made tubject to Home, B.O. 84. 

 , WM afterward, the residence of Marcus Antouius and Cleo- 

 B.C. 8S, and of Augustus, who gave its inhabitant* a titular 

 m. It w* reduced by Vespasian to the form of a province. 

 The SamUn. made great progres* in the artt after their commercial 

 unatelVm with Egypt. In oulpture, casting in bronxe, architecture, 

 P^Hiwr and hip-building, they were eminent The coins of Samoa 

 an TOTT numerous and worth; of attention. The earliest autonomous 

 coins bear the head of a lion or of a bull ; a winged wild boar or a 

 prow of a ship are common reverie*. Juno, with her attributes, and 

 Neptune, Vuloan, and Minerva, are deities represented upon the 

 imperial coin.; the usual reverse is the archaic figure of Juno, which 

 leseiiililia very much that of Diana on the coins of Ephesus. Pytha- 

 goras, who was a native of Samos, is also represented in a sitting 

 attitude on th* imperial coins, touching a globe placed on a column 

 with his hand. Other types are Meleoger attacking the boar, the river 

 Parthenius personified. Nemesis, Ac. 



Sane* was taken and plundered by the Arabs in the 8th century, and 

 recovered by the emperor Leo in the 13th. It subsequently fell into 

 the hands of the Venetians, and afterwards of the Genoese ; and upon 

 the taking of Constantinople (1458), was ravaged by Mahomet II. 

 Selim granted permission to colonise the island, as the population 

 had been much reduced by frequent piratical invasions. It has con- 

 tinued ever since under the dominion of the Turks. In recent times 

 the mln. joined the Greek revolution, but were unable to free 

 themselves from the Turkish yoke. 



The greatest length of the island is from west to east, and the 

 circumference is about 80 miles. It is separated from the continent 

 of Asia by a strait called the Little Boghaz, about six miles long, 

 nowhere more than three mile* in breadth, and full of small islands. 

 Through the island in a direction from east to west runs a high lime- 

 stone mountain called Ampelus by Strabo, which is a continuation of 

 the promontory of Trogilium, and terminates at its western extremity 

 with the height of Kerkis, the Mons Cercetius of the ancients, the 

 loftiest point in the island. The mountain sides are covered with 

 pine woods, vineyards, or olive-grounds. The valleys of the island 

 are fertile, and yield abundance of wheat. Marble, iron, silver, lead, 

 and emery are among the mineral products. 



Immediately opposite to Cape Santa Maria, between the rivers 

 Metelenous and luibrasius, is the port of Tigani, the ancient harbour 

 of the city of Samos, which has an artificial mole built across it from 

 north to south, Herodotus speaks of an immense mole in this 

 harbour, which he considers one of the three works most worthy of 

 mention in the island. A little inland at the distance of about five 

 miles from Cape Santa Maria is the site of the ancient town of 

 Samoa, It was situated partly on fiat ground, and partly on the 

 south side of Mount Ampelus; the walls, of which there are still 

 remains, are cased with white marble, and have square towers. At 

 about 60 paces interval they inclose a quadrangular space; within 

 tin-in are the ruins of a theatre with the seats, built on the side of a 

 hill. To the west of the city, towards the Imbracius, are the remains 

 of an aqueduct, which does not seem to be the one mentioned by 

 Herodotus (iii. 60), which was carried through a mountain, and was 

 one of the three works which he considered most worthy of admira- 

 tion at Samoa. Of the great temple of Juno, said by Herodotus to 

 have been the largest he had seen, and famous for its archaic statue 

 of Juno, which is represented on the coins of the island, hardly any- 

 thing remains except a capital and base. (Tournefort ; Leake, ' Asia 

 Minor'). Opposite the old city, about a mile to the west of it, is the 

 modern town of Cora or Khora (\upa), tho largest in the island, 

 containing, in Pococke's time, about 12 small churches and 250 houses. 

 On the south side of the city is a large plain called Megalooampus, 

 which has become a stagnant marsh. To the west of Cora is the 

 river Imbrasiu*. on which is the small village of Mily. At the mouth 

 of this river the land jut* out to the south, terminating in Cape 

 Colonna, opposite to the small island of Samopoula. To the west of 

 this promontory is the village of Marathrocampos, about 40 miles 

 distant from Patmos. Three mile* from this village, opposite to the 

 island of Nicaria, and distant from it about 12 miles, is a hermitage 

 called at George's, with a grotto near it, on the top of Mount Kerkis, 

 called Panagia Phaiv-romena. The summit of this mountain is 

 covered with snow all tbe year round, and has a lake at the top. 



Five miles from Marathrocampos towards the north is the village of 

 Castaiiy. Proceeding along the coast in a north-east direction we 

 Carlovaam, the tnurt considerable town in the island after 

 Cora. The port is a bad one, being much exposed to the north wind. 

 Tbrw miles to the east of this town is Kami, a village, 10 miles from 

 which, in a deep bay, is Vathi, a town with a good harbour capable 

 of holding a large fleet There is a small harbour 4 miles to the 

 north-out, the mouth of which is well protected by little islands. 

 On the east aide of the island is another port 



The soil of Samos is very fertile, and produces very good wine, 

 though this was not the case formerly, according to the testimony ol 

 the ancient*. The muscat grape is much cultivated. There IB good 



timber on the hills, which have quarries of white marble in abundance. 

 Jiunos was formerly celebrated for its pottery. Game abounds in 

 the island. The inhabitants, about 30,000 in number, are nearly all 

 Greeks. Samos is the see of an archbishop, who is also bishop of 

 Icaria. 



SAMOTHRA'CE (Semmdrel), a small island in the JKge&n Sea, 

 opposite the mouth of tho Hebrus in Thrace. According to Herodo- 

 tus (ii 51) Samothrace was originally inhabited by the Pelosgiaun, 

 from whom the inhabitants learnt the religious mysteries of the Cabin, 

 or Corybantes, for the celebration of which they were famous. 



In Homer the island is usually called Samos (' II.,' xxiv. 78, 753), or 

 the Thracian Samos (' IL,' xiii. 12), and was said, according to some 

 accounts, to have derived its name from a colony from the island of 

 Samoa on the coast of Asia Minor, who settled there (Paus., vii. 4, s. 3 ; 

 Strabo, x., p. 457); but Strabo, who did not believe this account, 

 derived its name from samos, which meant a height, or from the 

 Saii, whom he supposed to be the ancient inhabitants of the country. 

 Other accounts state that it was originally called Dardania, and that 

 Dardanus, the founder of Troy, passed over from this island to Asia 

 Minor. (Strabo, vii., p. 331.) 



The Samothracians joined the army of Xerxes when he invaded 

 Greece, and one of their ships distinguished itself at the battle of 

 Salamis. (Herod., viii. 90.) In the time of Pliny it was a free state. 



Samothrace, according to Pliny, was 32 miles in circumference. It 

 contains a very high mountain, called Saoce by Pliny, from which 

 Homer saya that Troy could be seen. It is above 5000 feet high. 

 The island has an area of about 30 square miles, with a population of 

 about 2000. (' II.,' xiii. 12.) 

 SAMPFORD. [ESSEX.] 

 SAMPOO, RIVER [BiRMA.] 

 SAMPRE. [CASHMERE.] 

 SAN ANTONIO. [CAPE VERD ISLANDS.] 

 SAN BARTOLOMEO. [MEXICO.] 

 SAN BLAS. [MEXICO.] 

 SAN CARLOS. [BRAZIL.] 

 SAN CHRISTOVAL. [CANARIES.] 

 SAN-DEMETRIO. [ABRUZZO.] 

 SAN FELIPE DE ACONCAGUA. [ACONCAGUA.] 

 SAN FILIPO D'ARGIRO. [CATANIA.] 

 SAN FRANCESCO. [BRAZIL.] 



SAN FRANCISCO, a city, port of entry, and the capital of Sau 

 Francisco county, State of California, United States of North 

 America ; ia situated on a narrow neck of land forming the southern 

 side of the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and between that bay and 

 the Pacific Ocean, in 37 47' N. lat., 122 26' W. long. The popula- 

 tion, which was only 150 in 1845, was omitted from the Census of 

 the United States in 1850 ; but in 1852 it was, according to the State 

 Census, 34,776, of whom only 5245 were femalea. The government 

 of the city is vested in a mayor, recorder, aldermen, county assessors, 

 street commissioners, &c. 



The sudden rise of the present city of San Francisco, is perhaps 

 the most remarkable on record. But the place ia not devoid of 

 interest in other respects, being one of the earliest settlements of the 

 old Spaniards for the charitable purpose of converting the Indians to 

 Christianity. Their fort, or stronghold, called the Presidio, was fixed 

 near the entrance of the bay, on the southern shore, about half a mile 

 inland. It was a square inclosure, the sides of which were about 

 300 yarda in length, surrounded by a mud wall about 15 feet high, 

 pierced for musketry. Against the inner sides of the walls were the 

 dwellings of the settlers, the centre being left clear for exercise and 

 military evolutions. The walls are now in ruins. From this primary 

 settlement, which was termed the Mission Dolores, emanated the five 

 following missions, which were established in various parts of the 

 adjacent country under the protection of the Presidio : San Francisco, 

 founded in 1776 ; Santa Clara, 1777 ; Sau Josd, 1797 ; San Francisco 

 Solano,1823; San Rafael, 1827. 



The town, which arose in connection with the mission of Sau 

 Francisco, was called Yerba Buena, or Good Herb, from a plant used 

 as a beverage, and also as a medicine, which grew abundantly in the 

 vicinity. From its foundation the mission continued in a very 

 nourishing condition till about 1831, when in the political disturbances 

 which distracted Mexico, the Indians were driven away from Yerba 

 Buena, and the settlement soon fell to .ruin. In 1839 the site was 

 regularly laid out as a town, which however, six years later, as already 

 mentioned, only contained 150 inhabitants. But about this time it 

 began to attract the attention of adventurers from the United States, 

 and soon became in effect an American settlement, though still 

 nominally belonging to Mexico : it was not formally ceded to the 

 United States till 1848. A local government was established, similar 

 to that which prevails in the towns of the United States ; an American 

 school was founded, and in January, 1847, an 'ordinance' was issued 

 by the town council directing that the name of the town should hence- 

 forth be San Francisco, instead of Yerba Buena. Towards the end of 

 1847 the first discovery of gold was made, and soon after San Francisco, 

 the port of California, experienced the most extraordinary influx of 

 adventurers ever heard of, accompanied by an unparalleled rise in the 

 cost of provisions and the value of property. The remarkable scenes 

 which were subsequently witnessed in the town, or city as it had now 



