i. 



.rhoto by £,rnest L,. Harris 



street scene at vathy, island of samos, showing the palace op the prince 



in the foreground 



nearly 2,300 years, it was united once 

 more to the parent country, Greece. As 

 one well may imagine, a little island 

 which has changed masters so many 

 times necessarily must have suffered 

 much from the strife which swept over it. 



Twice has this island been visited by 

 terrible earthquakes. The first was away 

 back in the year 17 A. D., and it was 

 only through the fostering care of the 

 Emperor Tiberius that the people were 

 able to make a fresh start. The second 

 was in 1881, when the town of Kastro 

 was practically laid waste. Mosques, 

 churches, and dwelling-houses disap- 

 peared into the bowels of the earth, en- 

 gulfing no less than 5,000 people. This 

 earthquake visited the whole island, and 

 many beautiful and historic monasteries, 

 some of which contained priceless objects 

 of art, valuable libraries, and monuments 

 of antiquity, were completely lost. 



But in spite of all these vicissitudes 

 Chios has also seen many happy days. 

 Even in the old days of the Ionian Union 

 it was celebrated on account of its com- 

 merce and industries, especially for its 

 native wine, and the manufacture of beds 



and sofas. Under Rome the island was 

 ruled as an insular province, and enjoyed 

 several hundred years of almost un- 

 broken peace and prosperity. The people 

 have always been sober and industrious, 

 and not only have they grown opulent in 

 the various fields of commerce, but many 

 have also succeeded in literature and art 

 as well. 



Chios's real troubles virtually began in 

 the Greek war of independence. Some- 

 what against the will of the people, the 

 island became involved in this struggle 

 and was visited by a massacre which 

 appalled humanity. In 1822 the Captain 

 Pasha appeared before Kastro with a 

 powerful fleet and landed an army of 

 Moslems, who slaughtered, in the space 

 of two months, no less than 30,000 

 Chians. It is also estimated that 32,000 

 were sold into slavery. 



The entire island was given over to 

 pillage, and scarcely a village, church, or 

 convent was spared the flames. While 

 it is true that the Chians, to a certain ex- 

 tent, provoked this attack, inasmuch as 

 they were the aggressors, it cannot be 

 denied, on the other hand, that their pun- 



237 



