212 



CORFU. 



Corfu. time of the Venetians ; and, in order to facilitate the 

 T"""'' communication with Corfu, a i"ail-way was constructed in 

 the year 1790- The situation is reputed unhealthy, from 

 the neighbourhood of stagnant marshes and salt pits. 



The town of Corfu stands on a rock projecting into 

 the sea, and, from the fortifications guarding it, is a 

 place of strength. However, it is commanded from 

 within by a height, called Mount Abraham ; but from 

 the sea it is of difficult access, the entrance to the road- 

 stead before it, being protected by two forts, situated 

 on two elevated rocks, and lined by strong batteries. 

 This island being the most important of all the Vene- 

 tian possessions during several centuries, and having 

 since been a subject of keen contest among the present 

 belligerent powers of Europe, is fortified with more 

 than ordinary care. 



About 12,000 inhabitants, half Greeks and half Ve- 

 netians, dwell in the town, to which may be added the 

 foreign troops by which the island is now occupied. 

 It contains a naval and military hospital, barracks for 

 a number of men, and powder magazines. By an ac- 

 cidental explosion of one of those in the fortifications 

 towards the earlier part of the eighteenth century, not 

 less than 2000 persons were killed and wounded ; and 

 by a similar catastrophe in 1789, 6'00 individuals lost 

 their lives, four galleys and several barks were sunk 

 in the harbour, and many houses in the town severe- 

 ly damaged. The fortresses are completely mined be- 

 low, and the roads to the gates of some of them are 

 narrow and precipitous. 



As the town was the seat of government, it contains 

 a palace for accommodating the proveditore, or gover- 

 nor-general, when the Venetians held it ; an archiepis- 

 copal palace, a cathedral, several monasteries, as also a 

 theatre for the amusement of the inhabitants. It ap- 

 pears, that it originally consisted of buildings within a 

 fortress, which guarded a village ; and now its suburbs 

 consist of two villages, Manduchio, and Castrades or 

 Castrati, whose inhabitants are of an opposite charac- 

 ter. Those of the one follow fishing or commercial 

 employments, while those of the other are prone to pi- 

 racy and assassination. Pistols and a dagger are com- 

 monly part of their costume. 



To avert the dreadful ravages of the plague, the is- 

 landers have erected a lazaretto in an eligible situation ; 

 and we are informed by an eye-witness, of the precau- 

 tions adopted to prevent the dissemination of that de- 

 structive malady. " The government having obtained 

 information, by the declaration of the lieutenant, that 

 a Venetian vessel had arrived with the plague from 

 Alexandria, of which the captain and a sailor had died 

 on the passage, dispatched a galley to intercept all 

 communication with the shore. Some days after, the 

 crew, with their whole effects, were carried to the la- 

 zaretto, where shirts impregnated with tar were sub- 

 stituted for their own clothes, and they bathed twice 

 daily in presence of the health officers. Four never- 

 theless died, whose bodies were thrown into a deep pit 

 dug by their comrades, and covered with quick-lime, 

 while every thing pertaining to them was burnt. The 

 vessel, after having been completely unloaded, was 

 sunk during twenty days, and then being weighed, no 

 person was permitted to go on board during eight days 

 longer. The crew were now embarked, and five gal- 

 ley-slaves were allowed to join them in place of those 

 deceased. They sailed for Venice under convoy of a 

 frigate, which never lost sight of them until arriving 

 at that port, where they had to undergo a new qua-: 



rantine for eighty-two days more." By such rigid pre- 

 cautions, the plague is seldom introduced into the 

 island. 



From what has before been said, it might be suppo- 

 sed, that the Corfiotes are a rude and impoverished peo- 

 ple. But it is by no means so, for a large portion of 

 them are in a state of refinement little inferior to that 

 part of the European continent on which they are de- 

 pendent, and comfortable subsistence is enjoyed by 

 most of the others. 



The mass of the public, for want of seminaries, re- 

 ceive no instruction to improve their youth ; and the 

 education of women, excepting what is slenderly be- 

 stowed in convents, is altogether neglected. Law and 

 physic were lately held in greater repute ; and those 

 who professed them, gained their knowledge at the 

 Italian universities. Learned men, however, have ap- 

 peared in the island : Collections of manuscripts have 

 been formed in the town, and likewise of antiques, and 

 other matters of curiosity. An academy for the illus- 

 tration of scientific and literary subjects, was founded 

 here in the seventeenth century; which had but a tran- 

 sient subsistence. Many of the clergy, particularly of 

 the lower orders, are in such a deplorable state of ig- 

 norance, that it is said they can scarcely write or 

 read ; and in the recitation of prayers learned by rote, 

 they will use as an invocation for rain, that which is 

 designed to implore restoration of the serenity of the 

 heavens. 



The ecclesiastical establishment is of a mixed nature, 

 being partly according to the Greek, and partly accord- 

 ing to the Roman Catholic rites. The latter were follow- 

 ed by the members of the government, and the military 

 and marine forces, under the Venetians. An archbi- 

 shop named by the senate was appointed by the pope, 

 and, on his arrival, was received with both ecclesiasti- 

 cal and military honours. In ceremonious entertain- 

 ments he was served on gold. This establishment com- 

 prises the cathedral, two churches, a chapel, and three 

 convents of the order of St Francis. 



The greater part of the population follow the Greek 

 church, at the head of which is a protopapa, or chief 

 priest, chosen by an assembly of the clergy and no- 

 blesse. He is always of a noble family, distinguished 

 from the chief priests of the other Ionian islands by the 

 title of great protopapa, and is invested with episcopal 

 powers. This place is obtained by the candidate and 

 his friends using private interest with the electors; and 

 bribes are sometimes not unsuccessfully employed on 

 the occasion. Immediately on election, the protopapa 

 gives an elegant and expensive entertainment to the 

 higher order of islanders, who do not scruple, after sa- 

 tisfying their appetite, to carry away part of the feast ; 

 pieces of money are thrown to the populace, and a tu- 

 mult of rejoicing prevails. A cathedral, several churches, 

 and some convents, both of monks and nuns, are under 

 the rule of the protopapa. He remains five years in 

 office, and then returns to the ordinary class of papas, 

 retaining nothing but some slight external decorations 

 as a badge of his former greatness. 



Among the manners of the Corfiotes, we find some 

 remarkable instances of weakness and superstition ; in- 

 deed, the most prominent features of their character 

 are vanity and credulity. One principal source of 

 the revenues of the Greek church arises from excom- 

 munications. Any individual may, on the slight- 

 est pretext, obtain the excommunication of his neigh- 

 bour, who is thenceforward utterly excluded from the. 



Corfu. 



