110 



M E T E L I N. 



Mcielin, shelter in it when adverse winds oppose their access to 

 the Gulf of Smyrna. 



The face of Metelin is mountainous: one chain of 

 hills traverses the island in a longitudinal direction, 

 and is intersected by another. Volcanic and calcare- 

 ous productions abound. Granitic rocks on each side 

 of the two channels, dividing it from the continent, 

 are cemented by a calcareous substance; and among 

 the petrifactions which occur at Port Sigri, the west- 

 ern extremity, are entire trunks of trees. Some parts of 

 the surface of the earth are covered with a hard shin- 

 ing stony incrustation. 



Climate. The climate is very fine ; it rarely freezes during 



winter, and the summer heats are tempered by breezes 

 from the sea. The island nevertheless is exposed to 

 sudden storms from the Asiatic mountains, and to- 

 wards the south coast it is insalubrious. Great mor- 

 tality prevails in certain seasons ; and whole villages are 

 said to be occupied by leprous persons. Hippocrates 

 celebrates the beneficial effects of the Lesbian climate 

 on the body, and Demetrius Phalerius conceives that 

 it invigorates the mind. 



Produc- The ground is clothed with perpetual verdure, and 



tions. the most luxuriant vegetation : almost all the moun- 

 tains are well wooded, and exhibit a great variety of 

 plants. Vineyards hang on the declivities of the hills, 

 for the soil is friendly to the vine ; and extensive plan- 

 tations of olives afford an abundant produce. The an- 

 cients celebrated the quality of the Lesbian wine, but 

 at present it is both rare and inferior, partly from the 

 unskilfulness of the inhabitants, and partly because the 

 grapes are converted to raisins, and also employed by 

 the Greeks for making brandy. Neither the grain nor 

 live stock are in sufficient quantity for home consump- 

 tion. Horace speaks of Lesbian flour whiter than 

 snow ; and wool was formerly an article of export. 

 The chief products, natural and artificial, of the pre- 

 sent day, are about 50,000 or 60,000 quintals of olive 

 oil yearly, most of which is carried to Constantinople; 

 wood for shipbuilding, and pitch extracted from pines, 

 for the same purpose. Nothing but pine is said to be 

 used in the construction of the vessels, which are very 

 light, and last ten or twelve years. Pococke mentions 

 a manufacture of stuffs made of silk and flax, at a place 

 called Peribole. 



Trade. Considerable trade was carried on with France for- 



merly : the French had a consul, and the English a 

 vice-consul: but the former seems to have been with- 

 drawn when it was ascertained that the oil of the 

 Morea and of Candia could be obtained at a cheaper 

 rate. 



Inhabi- It is computed that Metelin contains about 40,000 



unts. inhabitants, consisting of Turks and Greeks in equal 

 proportions, and a few Jewish families. The women 

 are very handsome, with fine large expressive eyes 

 and a beautiful complexion, which, however, they dis- 

 figure wjth paint ; and they shave off part of the eye- 

 brow, replacing it by an artificial one, connecting the 

 remainder with the hair at each temple. The ancient 

 Lesbian females are said to have had a public competi- 

 tion for the palm of beauty, which was adjudged by 

 young men in the fane of Juno. But such contests do 

 not seera to have been favourable to morals, as the 

 people were considered dissolute: and a traveller of 

 the last century remarks, that " the women have no 

 better character for their chastity, nor the men for 

 their sobriety, than in former times." In manners the 

 modern females are rather masculine; they do not 

 ; hun the gaze of strangers ; they enjoy an uncommon 



portion of liberty, and even assume a paramount autho- Metelin. 

 rity in all domestic arrangements. *^Y~~"' 



Until lately, a remarkable deviation from the com- 

 mon customs of mankind prevailed regarding the law 

 of succession here. The eldest daughter inherited the 

 whole fortune of the family, while all the other chil- 

 dren, male and female, were left entirely destitute. 

 If there were only two daughters, the younger ob- 

 tained no succession ; and when the elder married, she 

 remained in a state of subservience to her, wearing 

 a particular habit, and attending her as a domes- 

 tic. If the family consisted of more than two, this 

 became the lot of the immediate younger daugh- 

 ter always, as her immediate elder sister married. 

 Farther, it appears that the whole family possessions 

 were transferred to the eldest daughter on her mar- 

 riage, whereby she and her husband were kept in af- 

 fluence, and her parents were reduced to an indigent 

 condition, " and we ourselves," says the Earl of Char- 

 lemont, " have frequently been shewn the eldest daugh- 

 ter parading through the town in the greatest splen- 

 dour, while her mother and sister followed her as ser- 

 vants, and made a melancholy part of the attendant 

 train." Something similar may be traced among va- 

 rious ancient countries ; and there are some even now 

 where the birth of a son deprives the father of his pub- 

 lic functions. In Metelin, a modification of the usage 

 alluded to has been recently effected by the interven- 

 tion of the Patriarch of Constantinople, together with 

 the bishops and clergy of the island. Certain rights of 

 primogeniture are preserved, by which the eldest 

 daughter receives a third of the inheritance, the second 

 a third of what remains, and the younger successively 

 a third of the residue. Thus the immediate younger 

 daughter, whatever be the number of the family, al- 

 ways receives a third of the remainder, after those be. 

 fore her have drawn their proportion. 



The principal town, which is called Metelin or Cas- Towns, 

 tro, is situated on the east coast, where two harbours Metelin. 

 are formed by a mole of ancient construction. It is 

 protected by a castle about three quarters of a mile in 

 compass, consisting of two divisions of lofty embattled 

 walls, each having its own governor and garrison, and 

 these fortifications are defended by five or six hundred 

 janizaries, most of whom are domesticated there. The 

 population of the town amounts to two or three thou- 

 sand Turks, three or four thousand Greeks, and thirty 

 or forty Jewish families. It is a Bishop's See. Mete- 

 lin covers part of the ground occupied by the ancient 

 city. Molivo stands on the north coast, on the site of Molivo. 

 the ancient Methymnee, extending up the side of a hill, 

 crowned by a spacious castle. It is about a mile in cir- 

 cuit, and contains about two or three thousand Turkish 

 and Greek inhabitants ; the latter have three churches 

 and a bishop. The natives of this place are said 1 to be 

 distinguished as of old by a taste for music. Besides 

 these, which are the principal places of the island, there 

 are several villages, such as Petra, Akerona, Eresso, 

 chiefly of small extent. Petra, or Porto Petra, on the p etra 

 west coast, is so named, from a high rock in the centre, 

 which is accessible only from the north, and is surround- 

 ed on the top by a wall, whether the most valuable pro- 

 perty is deposited by the inhabitants when alarmed for 

 the depredations of Corsairs. At Akerona, on the north Akerona. 

 of Port Caloni, there is a desolate monastery, dedicated 

 to St. John the Baptist. Eresso stands a little to the p, rcs sc. 

 south of Cape Sigri in the neighbourhood of Ruins, de- 

 noting the situation of the ancient city of the same name. 

 The houses in Metelin are constructed after a peculiar 



