240 FROiM THE HELLESPONT 
CHAP, considerable quantity and beauty, and a kind of 
VII. . ' . 
^- ' green earth, resembling verdegris', of which 
we were not able to procure a specimen, 
called " Earth of Scio' by the TurJis. The 
pavement of the church of Neamomj, a convent, 
two hours distant from the town, consists of 
marble and jasper, with inlaid work of other 
curious stones, dug from quarries in the island. 
Several Greek manuscripts were preserved in the 
library of this convent, when Egmont and 
Hey man visited the place-. The antient medals 
of Chios, even the silver, are obtained without 
difficulty in various parts of the Levant; and 
perhaps with more facility than upon the island 
itself^ Its inhabitants antiently possessed a 
reputation for virtue, still said to be maintained 
among them. According to Plutarch*, there was 
no instance of adultery in Chios, during the 
space of seven hundred years. 
Straits of Having cleared the Chian, or Enithrcran 
Straits, we sailed along the Ionian coast for the 
channel separating the stupendous heights of 
Samos from the lower land of Icaria. This 
(1) Egmont and Heyman's Travels, p. 237. 
(2) Ibid. p. 249. 
(3) They all have reference to the CMun wine, which still maintains 
its pristine celebrity ; and represent, in front, a sphinx, with a bunch 
of grapes; for the reverse, an amphora, with other symbols of the 
island's fertility. 
(4) Plut. de Virt. Mulierum. 
