ARCHIPELAGO. 



ABCHIPELAOO. 



my b had by discing 8 or 10 feet doap. Thar* is a port in Diego 

 Garcia. Th- ti.la rises frum to 7 feet, and the current generally 

 MU through UM group to tin- uorth-west. In the north-wait uf the 

 ArchipeWo U the lVn Bsuhos group : in tho osntre, crossed by 0* 

 a Ut.. UK- great Chago* Bank, and in about 7* 20' in the Ulaud of 

 Mariano*, the most southern of the group. 



4 Ainprrow urlo* A rckiptlafo, or fatmuto Itlaiuli, a group of half- 

 formed uleU in U> South Pacific Ocean, lying E. of the - 

 I.I....1. and a of the Manjuwuu, between U and 25" 8. lat, 120 

 and 160* W. long. They art exceedingly numerous, nearly all of coral 

 formation, and consist of narrow ribands of coral rook, somewhat 

 circular in shape, and inclining a lagoon, in many instances of great 

 Theae riband* rarely exceed an elevation of 10 feet above the 

 oa, and half a mile in breadth ; they all have the pandaiius, and aome 

 the cocoa-nut tree growing upon them. Tho eaitern tide is universally 

 the better formed and covered with vegetation : this ii owing to the 

 westerly current caused by the trade-wind, which deposits all floating 

 substances, among which are the seeds of trees, on the eastern i-ide . .r 

 the island. 



Bala* Rock, Eliiabotb, Pitcaim, Osnaburg, Gambler's Group, and 

 Easter laland, which is an outpost an it were of this archipelago, are high 

 compared with the other isluU, and have been raised perhaps by 

 volcanic action. Elisabeth Inland ha> attained a height of 70 or 80 

 feet, is formed of compact coral, and well covered with such stunted 

 vegetation a* may be expected from the absence of good noil. It baa 

 no lagoon ; occasional initancei occuring of amoll islands without one, 

 though rarely. Mount I lull' in the largest of the Gambier group U 

 1248 feet high. The lurf, which breaks violently over these islands on 

 all sides, ia the belt safeguard for ships ; in the night it may be heard 

 from 6 to 8 miles off, and U frequently seen by day before the island 

 itaclf, unless the island is well covered with trees. Half a mile from 

 the reef the sea U fathomless. The western sides are, as we have 

 remarked, always less perfect, and some admit of a passage for nhijw 

 into the lagoons, which become safe harbours. They all lie within 

 the range of the south-east trade- wind, but in the winter months there 

 are frequent and heavy gales from the westward. Fresh water may 

 be obtained by digging in the sandy beach. Many are inhabited 

 though evidently not by the same race. Fish, shefl-fish, cocou-nuts, 

 and hogs, are the chief articles of sustenance ; but in the hilly islands 

 there is also abundance of 'vegetable food. The Paamuto Inlands are 

 rich in pearl oysters. There is a tide-rise of from three to three and 

 a half feet, but tho surf prevent* the direction of the tide from being 

 ascertained. Plovers, ringdoves, curlews, and sandlingb, terns, tropical 

 birds, and gannets are found among them ; and the specimens of shells 

 are various and beautiful. Little is known of the inhabitants, who 

 are migratory in their habits, and somewhat given to piracy. Captain 

 Fitzroy takes their numbers, exclusive of children, to be between 

 10,000 and 30,000. The inhabitants of the more western of the Paamuto 

 Islands acknowledge a kind of sovereignty in the queen of Otaheite ; 

 but they speak a different language from the Otoheitaus. ( ' Voyage 

 of the Adventure and Beagle.' ) 



3. (irrcian Archiptlago. The island-studded sea in the north-east of 

 the Mediterranean, lying between Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece, and 

 Crete, was called by the Greeks and Romans the ^Ggean Sea, and 

 the islands were distributed into two chief groups. Those to the 

 westward, now considered as part of Europe, weru called Cyclades, 

 from their being supposed to he in a somewhat circular form ; the 

 smaller and more southern islands along the Astatic coast obtained 

 the name of Sporadoa, or 'scattered islands.' Of the Cyclades tho 

 principal are Santorin, Annphi, Staupalia, Policandro, Sikino, Xio, 

 Amorgo, Milo, Argentiera, Siphno, Paros with the small island of 

 Antiporoa near it, . Naxia, Serpho, Syra, Rhenea, Miconi, Tin.., 

 Thermia, Zes, Jura, and Androa. Of the Sporades the principal are 

 Pisoopi, N isari, Kos, Calymna, Patmo, and N it-aria. There are also on 

 the Asiatic coast the large islands of Samoa, Scio, and Psora. Further 

 to the northward are Lemnos, Imbros, Samothraki; Teuodan, Mitilin, 

 . and the Skiathos group off the Trikeri Channel and north-east 

 of the island of Kubom. Many of these islands are of volcanic 

 formation ; others are composed almost entirely of a pure white 

 iiiurMe, of which the Parian (from Paros, where it was formerly most 



l> is often mentioned by ancient writer* They exist almost in 



MI numbers ; some are beautifully fertile and picturesque, 

 though all the smaller islands are mere msssns of rock, almost entirely 

 destitute of vegetation. The productions of the islands are wine, 

 oil, gum-mastic, raisins, figs, silk, honey, wax, olives, and various fruits, 

 especially the lemon and orange : cotton is grown in muall quantities 

 at Milo and other islands, and might be cultivated to a great extent 



remarkable for its brilliant white hue. Some of the larger 

 islands contain sulphur, alum, iron, and other minerals. An extensive 

 pong* fishery has also long been established among the Spends*, 



are noted for their fine sponges. 



All UM islands are thinly peopled, and some indeed may scarcely be 

 considered inhabited. Many of the islanders make a livelihood by 

 Ashing in their small boats; the fish caught are chiefly bream and 

 miiUct. both red and gray, which are large and well flavoured. The 

 men are a fins, hardy, and athletic race, and as their insular position 

 renders thetn nsrssssrily habituated to the sea, they are justly 

 conaidsTsd good sailors. The women are generally considered beau- 



tiful ; in no part of Greece does the character and expression observable 

 in the face of the ancient statues so decidedly show itself as in 

 these islands, especially among the Cyclades. 



All the islands are high : the mountain* have an average elevation 

 of 1600 to 1800 feet, but Mount Klin, of Milo rises to the height of 

 2088 feet above the sea. Many of the islands exhibit, in the remains 

 of antiquity yet visible, traces of their former prosperity and 

 importance. 



limate is more equal and temperate than that of the surround- 

 ing continents, the heats of summer being tempered by cool refreshing 

 sea-breecee and prevailing northerly windu ; even in the more northern 

 islands the winter is never felt with such severity as on the 

 neighbouring mainland. The north-cant or Etesian winds blow with 

 great fury, especially about the equinoxes ; the general pei 

 duration is about three days. The sirocco does ut Mow in the 

 Archipelago. In winter the navigation of these seas is an m 

 task, on account of the numerous islands and rocks, which occasion 

 sudden flaws and eddies of winds, and a short, high, confused sea. 

 A remarkable feature is the very great depth of water ; at the distance 

 of less than a mile from the shore there is generally ith 



150 to 200 fathoms of line. The Anaues rocks, 10 mil. - S.\V. , : 

 ,ui.l the Caloyeri, 30 miles W. of the south |>"iir . -o up 



almost perpendicularly, like the coral reefs of the Southern Ocean. 

 Throughout the Cyclades more especially the Dardanelles current U 

 felt, and it seta strong through the narrow channels between the islands ; 

 but to the north, along the coast of Koumelia, a counter-current sets 

 to the eastward. 



The riven that empty themselves into the Archipelago are more 

 deserving of notice from their classical associations than from their 

 magnitude or commercial importance; indeed the south-western 

 shores offer no river navigable even for small boats. On the coasts of 

 Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace, however, the IVneus, the Axius, the 

 Stryuion, snd the Hebrug, admit the larger class of kaiks, though in 

 all of them the mouths are much obstructed by shoals and deltas of 

 low islands. On the Asiatic shore the Hermus and Squander are the, 

 chief rivers. The coasts around the JSgean are deeply indented with 

 gulfs of considerable length, the principal of which are Naujilia, 

 /Egina, Egripos, Trikeri Channel, Saloniki, Kossandhra, Monte 

 Contessa, Saros, Adramytti, Smyrna, Seala Nova, Mandaliyeh, and Hu- 

 drun or Kos. Some of these are separated from each other by remarkable 

 peninsulas, especially those of Pallene, Sit honia, and Athoa, which last 

 is perhaps the boldest promontory in the world : the steep and almost 

 inaccessible sides of the mountain descend abruptly into an uufath .m 

 able sea. [ ATHOS.] Among the chief mountains in or near the .tgean 

 may be noticed Delphi in Eubcca, the mountains bordering on the 

 coast of Thessaly, Athos, and Elias in the island of Milo. 



On the division of tho Roman empire tho island)) formed a portion 

 of the eastern dominion, and continued BO till the year 1185, when 

 the Venetians captured Andros, Lesbos, Samoa, and Scio, in revenge 

 for an attempted aggression of the emperor Alexius on the territories 

 of the republic. In 1207 an edict was issued at Venice, authorising 

 the nobles to equip armaments for tho reduction of portions of the 

 empire. Several of the islands were thus taken possession of as 

 private estates by the victorious adventurers; the most celebrated 

 among whom was Marco Sauuto, who in the same year made himself 

 master of the island of Naxos, and took the title of Duke of Naxos. 

 Having added to his conquest tho islands of Paros, Antiparos, Santorin, 

 i. Argentiera, Milo, Siphno, and Policandro, he asserted his 

 indi pvndeuce of Venice, and assumed the more oomprehensivi 

 of iliiku of the Aielii|xjlago. 



M of the other islands were occasionally recaptured by tho 

 Greeks; but those above named continued uninterruptedlj under 

 the same family for nearly three centuries, until Naxos fell int.. the 

 hands of Barbarossa, who, after sacking the inland, allowed 



1. ili U reigning duke, to retain his dominions on condition 

 of becoming a vassal to the Porte. Barbaroaan |. hindered the other 

 islands which Mill remained appanages . In 



1566, Jomex < first and last duke, having bocoii" 



in the SI-M.H Towers, a governor was appointed by the sultan, 

 and nil tho islands then became united under the dominion of 

 Solyinan. 



lu 1086, Morosini again laid some of the islands under temporary 

 eoiitrilnitioii to Venice, th.mi/li they were never agai 1 from 



-..111:111 dominions. The islands were however entirely freed 

 from Uie, Turkii.li presence by the expeditions of the Knights of Malta, 

 : taking frequent descents, carried away into slavery all the 

 Mussulman residents, so that the Port-- withdrew itx governor and 

 officers, leaving the Knights in a manner independent and masters of 

 the land, subject only t<. a tril.iite levied as land mid capitation taxes. 

 I-'.-: tl.i- purposs the capitan pasha, to whose pashalik most of the 

 islands belonged, used to make on annual tour with the fleet in 

 foros as to keep the knights in awe, and secure the speedy collection 

 of the taxes. 



government taxes of Candia, Cyprus, Kos, Inibros, L- 

 Mitilin, Tenedos, and Thasos, were set apar' '>" 



family ; Nicaria and .Samoa for the mufti; Audros, Tin. 

 and Sji-a, tr '.-t her officers of the divan. In 1770, the Russians 

 masters of some of tha Cyclades, which they evacuated by 



