SMYRNA. 



SOCIETY ISLANDS. 



694 



continued in possession of it until the year 1364. InH02 it wag taken 

 by Tamerlane, and suffered very severely. The conqueror erected 

 within its walls a tower constructed of stones and of the heads of his 

 enemies. Soon after it came under the dominion of the Turks, under 

 whom it has always been the most flourishing city of the Levant, not- 

 withstanding that it has frequently been visited by earthquakes, fires, 

 and the plague. One of the most destructive conflagrations that ever 

 occurred in Smyrna took place on the night of July 28, 1841, whereby 

 above 12,000 houses, many bazaars, mosques, and other public 

 buildings, were destroyed. 



Smyrna, the most important city of Asia Minor, and the centre of 

 the Levant -trade, rises in the form of au amphitheatre from the sea, and 

 upon the hill above it (called Mount Pagus) there is an old castle which 

 forms the citadel ; over one of the gates there is a head which eithi r 

 represents Apollo or an Amazon, and over auother a Roman eagle. It 

 stands in 38 25' N. lat., 27 9' R long., about 210 miles S.S.W. from 

 Constantinople, at the bottom of a capacious bay, which has excellent 

 anchorage, and is so deep that large ships come close to the wharfs. 

 The bay extends into the city, and its margin is lined with quays, on 

 which there are handsome stone houses, so that the city, with its 

 domes and minarets, has a fine appearance on approaching it from the 

 bay ; but a great part of the interior, and especially that part which 

 is built on the side of the hill, consists of low wooden houses, and 

 the streets are ill-pa ve<1, narrow, crooked, and dirty. The inhabitants 

 are probably about 180,000, of whom about 80,000 are Turks, 4,0,000 

 Greeks, 15,000 Jews, 10,000 Armenians, and about 5000 Franks. The 

 Franks reside in Smyrna for purposes of commerce, and occupy, for 

 the most part, the best quarter of the city near the bay. The 

 Armenian quarter is on the lower slope of the hill, the upper part and 

 western side are occupied by the Turki-h part of the population. The 

 Jews are confined to two small nooks between the Turks and 

 Armenians. Except in the Prankish quarter the houses are chiefly 

 built of wood, and only one story high. The town extends nearly 

 two miles round the bay. The warehouses on the marina, or quiys, 

 are whitewashed. The port is frequented by ships from all nations, 

 freighted with valuable cargoes both outward and inward. The chief 

 import* are, coffee, sugar, indigo, tiu, iron, lead, cotton-goods, and 

 cotton-twist, rum and brandy, spices, cochineal, and a variety of 

 other articles. The principal exports are, silk, opium, drags and 

 gums, galls, cotton-wool, valonia, fruit, figs and raisins. Besides 

 then exports there are various kinds of skins, goats' woo], olive oil, 

 wax, and a variety of other articles. The Turkish government has 

 imposed hardly any restrictions on commerce; the duties are few and 

 light. Most European states have consuls at Smyrna. 



Coin of Smyrna. Actual rizc. 



The city and its territory are governed by a paohn. There are 

 larce well aired barracks near the shore inclosed by an iron palisade. 

 A Briti-h military hospital was established here in 1 855. On the castle 

 hill are some remains of ancient Smyrna, consisting of fragment* of 

 ancient columns which are used in the construction of graves in the 

 large Turkish cemetery ; portion) of the old walls built into the walls 

 of the cistle, which stands on the site of the acropolis on the summit 

 of Mount I'agus ; some relies of a temple within the inclosnre of the 

 eastle ; the sUdiara, in which St Polycarp suffered martyrdom, and 

 which is formed in the side of the hill ; and numerous columns, busts, 

 cornices, and other architectural fragments, built into the walls of 

 the Turkish town. Within the castle inclo.iure are the ruins of a 

 mosque, which is said to have been the primitive church of Smyrna. 

 At some distance to the south of the city runs the Meles, which is 

 connected with the memory of Homer, and which is crossed by an 

 aqueduct. The mosques of Smyrna are open to Christians ; from the 

 ceiling of the principal mosque* are snxpended by brass chains a vast 

 number of lamps, ostrich eggs, and honetail*. The caravan bridge 

 over the Meles, over which, especially in the fruit season, strings of 

 camels are constantly passing, is a point of great attraction with both 

 Turks and Christians, and many coffee-houses are built along the 

 banks of the immortal river. The neighbourhood of Smyrna is 

 beautiful and fertile, but unsafe, owing to the prevalence of brigandage. 

 Htrollers are frequently carried off to the hills and detained till they 

 re ransomed by their friend*. About 5 miles east of the city, on 

 the road to Senlis, at a place called Nimfi, is a gigantic human figure 

 sculptured in relief, on a panel cut into the flat surfnce of the rock. 

 This seem* to be the memorial of Sesostri*, described by Herodotus 

 (ii. 108). A journal is published in Smyrna in the French language. 



OIOO. DIY. VOL. IT. 



Steamers and failing-vessels ply to Constantinople, Marseille, Malta, 

 and the chief ports of the Mediterranean. 



SNAITH. [YORKSHIRE.] 



SNAKE ISLAND. [ANGUiLLi.l 



SNKEK. [FRIESLAND.] 



SNEINTON. [NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.! 



SNETTISHAM. [NORFOLK.] 



SNOWDON. [CAERNARVONSHIRE.] 



SOCIETY ISLANDS, the name given by Captain Cook in honour 

 of the Royal Society of London, to a cluster of islands iu the South 

 Pacific Ocean. They consist of two groups of islands, about 70 miles 

 apart, of which the most easterly group, including Tahiti or Otaheite, 

 is called the Georgian Islands. The following are the names 

 of the Society Islands. The names are giveu according to the ortho- 

 graphy introduced by the first missionaries, and used by the press 

 now established among the people : Meatia, Tahiti (Otaheite), Eimeo, 

 Maiaoiti, or Charles Sander's Island, Tetuaroa, Huahine, Raiatea, 

 Tahaa, Borabora, Mauarua, Tuba, Lord Howe's Island, and Scilly 

 Island. 



The first five are those called the Georgian Islands, and the rest the 

 Society Islands, when the two groups are distinguished. The list ia 

 exclusive of several islets which surround or are interspersed amon" 

 these. The entire cluster extends from 16 10' (Mauarua) to 17" 53' 

 a lat (Meatia), and from 148 9' 45" (Meatia) to *65" 24' 45" W. long. 

 (Scilly Island). 



Otaheite, or more properly Tahiti, the largest of the islands, is 

 about 35 miles long, and more than 130 miles in circumference. It 

 consists of two peninsulas, of unequal extent, united by a low isthmus, 

 somewhat more than 3 miles wide. The north-western and larger 

 peninsula is called Opureoue or Tahiti-nue (Great Tahiti), and the 

 south-eastern Tiarrabooa, or Tahiti iti (Little Tahiti). The surface is 

 estimated to be about 430 square miles. The most remarkable of 

 the anchorages on the const, within the coral reef which surrounds 

 the island, are, Mattaway Bay, near the north eastern extremity ; 

 Soanoa Harbour, 4 miles westward of Mattaway ; and Papiete, 

 towards the north-western extremity of the island, which is now 

 most frequented by European vessels aud by American whalers. Tim 

 interior of both peninsulas is occupied with mountain masses, which 

 terminate in high and sharp peaks. The most elevated of these 

 peak*, called Opureone, rises to between 7000 and 8000 fret above 

 the sea-level; it is nearly in the centre of the larger peninsula. Some 

 of the summit* of the smaller peninsula arc nearly as high. Except 

 these peaks, the whole island, especially the lower hills, is covered 

 with thick woods. The valleys are watered by fine streams, on the 

 banks of which, as well as on the shores of the sea, are built the 

 dwellings of the inhabitant*. Lava, basalt, and pumice-stone, occur 

 in several places. 



The climate is very mild, the difference of temperature in the 

 winter and summer months being inconsiderable. It is also very 

 healthy, except during the rainy season. The bread-fruit trees and 

 cocoa-palms are regularly planted, aud batata*, yams, taro, and 

 bananas are cultivated with care ; the eugar-cane, which is of excellent 

 quality, tobacco, and some other tropical plants are also cultivated. 

 Cotton and indigo are cultivated to some extent, principally by Euro- 

 peans. Arrow-root is exported in considerable quantities. Cloth ia 

 made, as in other islands of the Pacific, of the inner bark of the 

 bread-fruit tree, the paper mulberry-tree, and the hibiscus ; of the last 

 also ropes are made. Oil is extracted from the cocoa-nut. Forest* 

 cover all the mountains of Tiarrabooa, and the southern declivities of 

 those of Opureone. Some vessels have been built of the timber. 



Otaheite was discovered in 1606, by the Spaniard Quiros, and called 

 Sagittaria; Captain Wallis, who visited the island in 1767, called it 

 King George's Island ; and Bougainville, who visited it in the follow- 

 ing year, named it Nouvelle Cythere, Cook, who visited it between 

 1769-78 several times, gave it the native name. He estimated the 

 population at 200,000. After having been visited by several other 

 navigators, missionaries were sent there to convert the islanders, in 

 1797. They found the natives friendly to strangers and devoid of 

 treachery ; but the tribes wore continually at war with each other, 

 ami infanticide and human sacrifices were practised. The missionaries 

 laboured without success till 1816, when the king of the island, 

 Pomaree II., embraced Christianity, and introduced it among the 

 native*. After his death (1821) during the minority of his son, the 

 missionaries acquired influence, and by their advice a constitution was 

 formed, and written laws were mode (1825) ; but neither the consti- 

 tution nor the laws appear to have been much attended to. Tho 

 introduction of Christianity has effected the abolition of infanticide, 

 of human sacrifices, and other immoral practices. The government 

 is despotic, in the hands of the sovereign, who has absolute power 

 in respect of landed property ; each chief in his own district has a 

 like arbitrary power over the land. The natives belong to the Malay 

 race, aud have made some progress iu civilisation. 



All the islands are mountainous in the interior, and have a border 

 from one to four miles wide, of rich level land, extending from the 

 base of the high land to the sea ; and although the outline of each 

 has some peculiarity distinguishing it from the rest, in their general 

 appearance they resemble each other. Tetuaroa, Tubai, Lord Howe's, 

 and the Scilly islands however form exceptions, as they are low coral 



2<J 



