Photo by HJrnest L- Harris 



A HIGHWAY SCENE ON THE ISLAND OF CHIOS 



Earthquakes are not infrequent in Chios, and as insurance against damage by them 

 houses are seldom built more than two stories high. When scattered along the country-side, 

 where they are usually surrounded by olive or pepper trees, their peculiar architecture lends 

 beauty and charm to the landscape (see text, page 238). 



Phoenicia and Miletus, the Phocseans be- 

 came great seafarers and colonizers. 

 What the former did in Rhodes, Crete, 

 and Carthage, and the latter along the 

 shores of the Black Sea, this Greco- 

 Ionian town duplicated in Corsica and on 

 the coast of southern France. 



From the headland of Kara Burun 

 (see map, page 232) the view to the south 

 is extensive. Outlined against the ho- 

 rizon may be seen the sharp peaks of 

 Nicaria and Samos, while near at hand 

 the green valleys of Chios lie spread out 

 in pleasing contrast with the blue of sea 

 and sky. 



A HEROIC ISLAND 



Chios has long been a bone of conten- 

 tion between Turk and Greek, and dur- 



ing the earlier part of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury was the scene of some of the blood- 

 iest tragedies known to history. 



As early as 700 B. C. it was one of 

 the richest and most important members 

 of the Ionian Union. It has disputed 

 with Smyrna the honor of being the 

 birthplace of Homer. When the Ionian 

 cities rebelled against the Persian yoke, 

 Chios manned and equipped 100 ships 

 and sent them to the battle of Lade. 

 This stands for something when we take 

 into consideration the fact that at that 

 time, namely, 494 B. C, the population 

 of the island numbered only 30,000 free- 

 men and 100,000 slaves. 



Chios has been, in turn, Ionian, Per- 

 sian, Athenian, Roman, Italian, Turkish ; 

 and finally, in 1913, after a separation of 



236 



