222 



IONIAN ISLANDS. 



Ionian nually repair from Zantc to the Morca, for the purpose 

 island*. of ass i st i n p t (, e inhabitants in reaping their harvests ; 

 and as their services are paid in grain, each returns 

 with several months provision for his family. A large 

 quantity of salted fish is imported, which meets a ready 

 sale. There are likewise brought sugar, spices, drugs, 

 and dveing materials, as indigo and r.lum : woollen 

 cloths," linen, velvet, and some other articles of wearing 

 apparel. Bar-iron, nails, and lead, are all in demand. 

 Most of the imports of Cephalonia have been introdu- 

 ced through Venice and Trieste, and the Greeks trading 

 in colonial produce, are accustomed to repair to Leg- 

 horn for supplies. A considerable number of vessels 

 belong to the Ionian Isles, particularly Cephalonia and 

 Ithaca ; but their commerce has laboured under many 

 restrictions, partly resulting from political circumstan- 

 ces. Yet their position is esteemed extremely favour- 

 able for traffic. They might be formed, it is said, into 

 a common centre for the commerce of Albania, of a part 

 of Thessaly and of Macedonia, as well as of Epirus and 

 the Morea. They are situated in front of the avenues 

 of all the great communications between the interior of 

 the Ottoman empire and the western coast of Greece. 

 It has been remarked farther, that " since Venice has 

 become almost a neglected city of a continental power, 

 instead of being the capital of a trading republic, Corfu 

 may easily take its place with regard to Italy, and seize 

 on the commerce which the other nations of Europe 

 came to carry on for their own account in her ports." 

 The Ionian islands being almost in contact with Greece, 

 means might be adopted to attract the commerce of its 

 provinces. Thus new sources of wealth would be 

 opened up, and the government, as the population be- 

 came more flourishing, would be the better able to pre- 

 serve its independence. Still it must appear very 

 doubtful, how far it would be easy to realize projects 

 of such magnitude, in territories where the resources 

 are so limited. 



Inhabitants. According to a return made to the French govern- 

 ment in 1807, the population of the seven principal 

 islands constituting the Ionian republic, amounted to 

 206',000 souls. But some of them are greatly under- 

 peopled, as Corfu ; whereas the nature of others would 

 only render a greater supply of provisions necessary, 

 were the population considerably augmented. It is 

 probable that all have been peopled from the Grecian 

 continent ; and it is said that the population of one is 

 known -to have been twice renewed. There is little 

 doubt that the manners of the inhabitants were origi- 

 nally those of Greeks exclusively; but of later years, 

 and at present, they participate with those of the Ita- 

 lians; nevertheless the lower ranks have retained the 

 customs of their forefathers more conspicuously. Their 

 dress is nearly the same as on the neighbouring conti- 

 nent, and their language is Greek ; while the higher 

 ranks speak Italian, use the European costume, and 

 preserve the same style of society. The Venetians, on 

 assuming the sway of the Ionian Islands, introduced 

 their own language invo all the public acts, and it was 

 used both at the bar and in the pulpit, as well as in the 

 ordinary intercourse of life. But when this republic 

 fell under the dominion of the French, the Greek lan- 

 guage was encouraged, and superseded in a great de- 

 gree the dialect of the Venetians. We believe, that 

 two newspapers in Greek, and one in Italian, have been 

 recently printed in these islands. The education of 

 youth, along with instruction in languages, was much 

 neglected under the former rulers, and was conducted 

 usually at Venice and Padua ; but several schools are 



I.-I.mcU 



now established, and men of considerable information 

 dwell in Corfu, Ithaca, awl Zante. The. islanders in 

 general are fond of shows and exhibitions : .they even x "" "Y"" 1 

 had an Italian opera, which maintained its place not- 

 withstanding the war. But there is a great intermix- 

 ture of eastern manners to be seen ; and amidst the re- 

 strictions of sociality, the women are so strictly watch- 

 ed in some of the islands, as scarcely to be accessible by 

 their nearest relatives. 



The population of the Ionian islands is dispersed in Populatio 

 several cities, villages, r.nd hamlets. The former some- aiul lown! 

 times have the name of their respective islands, as Cor- 

 fu, a very strong place, containing about 15,000 inha- 

 bitants ; Zante, which in every thing 'resembles an 

 Italian city, containing 1 6,000 or 1 8,000 ; Santa Maura, 

 containing 6000; and Paxo, containing 4000. The 

 principal town of Cephalonia, Argostoli, has a popu- 

 lation of 5000 ; Vathi in Ithaca, of 2000 ; and Kapsali 

 in Cerigo, of 4000 souls. Strophades contains only a 

 monastery, which is a tower 90 feet square and 60 high, 

 defended by a battery of four small cannon ; and be- 

 hind the gate, which consists exclusively of plates of 

 iron, is a draw-bridge with a guard-house. This mo- 

 nastery is inhabited by about 4-0 monks, the sole popu- 

 lation of the island. Parties of pleasure resort thither 

 from Zante ; but no women are allowed to land, nor 

 are any female animals permitted to be brought on 

 shore. The dwellings of the inhabitants of the Ionian 

 islands are, for the most part, very much dispersed, and 

 few are collected together into villages. Churches, 

 chapels, and priests, are extremely numerous. Though 

 we suspect the truth may be exaggerated, Cerigo is 

 said to have 260 of the former, and 165 of the latter. 



The Ionian islands are all celebrated in the writings History ar 

 of the ancients, under the names of Corcyra, Paxus, political 

 Leucadia, Ithaca, Cephalonia, Zacynthus, and Cythera. condition. 

 Some of them were independent states, and some su- 

 bordinate to other governments. In the fictions of the 

 poets also, they are stated to have supplied their re- 

 spective quotas for the siege of Troy. After experien- 

 cing various reverses of fortune, under the authority 

 of the Greeks and Romans, these islands were sub- 

 dued by the Venetians, who had for a longtime the pre- 

 dominance of maritime power in the Mediterranean. 

 Desirous of keeping them in a state of absolute depen- 

 dence, a proveditore or proconsul was sent from Ve- 

 nice, who frequently paid more attention to his own 

 profit than the advantage of the people ; dissensions 

 were rather fomented than quelled; and civil wars at 

 last resulted from the imprudence of the governors. 

 The fall of the Venetian republic subjected the Ionian 

 islands to the French, and notwithstanding the substi- 

 tution of their democratic principles, attended by un- 

 favourable impressions, for a despotic aristocracy, they 

 were relieved from an oppressive yoke, and by the aid 

 of a strict police harmony was restored. By the war 

 between France and Turkey, the French were ex- 

 pelled in 1798, and the islands taken under the mu- 

 tual protection of Russia and the Ottoman Porte in 

 1 800, under the name of the Ionian Republic of the 

 Seven Islands. But the contending interests of these 

 two empires opposed the permanence of this arrange- 

 ment : a rivalry for pre-eminence arose among the 

 islands, anarchy was making rapid advances, and the 

 public safety endangered, when the aid of the Emperor 

 Alexander was solicited by the inhabitants. On the ar- 

 rival of his troops, the protection of the republic was 

 transferred to Russia exclusively ; a constitution was 

 framedj and an executive government appointed, 



