FROM THE HELLESPONT TO RHODES 115 
ly along its vineyards and plantations, and inhaling spicy odours 
wafted from cliffs and groves. The houses being all white, 
with flat roofs, presented a lively contrast to the evergreens 
which overshadowed them; seeming like little palaces in the 
midst of bowers of citron, lime, olive, and pomegranate trees* 
This chosen spot was for tnauy years the residence of an En¬ 
glishman of the name of Baimbridge, who had searched all Eu¬ 
rope for a healthy place wherein to end his days; and although 
his arm was fractured at the advanced age of seventy-four, lived 
in Scio until he was ninety-three. The captain of our vessel 
well remembered him. when he was himself only the mate of a 
merchantman, and his master’s ship was laid up in the island 
during a twelvemonth. He pointed out the house where he 
lived, and the tree beneath which he was buried; and spoke of 
his residence in Scio as the happiest remembrance of his life* 
Indeed, the praises of this favoured island are universal in the 
country; and its delights constitute the burthen of many a tale 9 
and many a song, among the modern Greeks.* Its produce is 
chiefly silk and mastic. From the abundance of the latter ar¬ 
ticle, the Turks call Chios by the name of sackees, which sig¬ 
nifies mastic.f The sale of a single ounce of this substance, be¬ 
fore the grand signior’s tributary portion of it has been collect¬ 
ed, is puuished with death. This the cady annually receives 
in great pomp, attended by music and other demonstrations of 
joy. 
The inhabitants of Chios amount to about sixty thousand, of 
C Egmont and Heyman published the best account I have seen of this island, not 
even excepting that of Tournefort; and to their travels 1 would refer the reader for 
further statistical information. To repeat what has already been so fully communi-. 
cated, would hardly be deemed justifiable. I am indebted to their work for the fol¬ 
lowing eulogy of Chios, as taken from the writings of the celebrated Neapolitan poeiy 
Parihcnius, 
“ Et me grata Chios, cum Nereus obstrepit undis 
Accipiat; noto facundos littore amicos 
Invisam; O, quime ventus felicibus oris 
Sistat, et ingenti Tellurjs protegat arcu : 
Ingenium me mite soli, me collis aprici 
Prospectus, dulcesque cavis in vallibus umbrae, 
Ac tepidae invitant aurae, solesque benigni: 
Necnon et placidi mores, et arnica .drum vis, 
pocta animos capere officiis; O, si mihi vitae, 
Ducere, quod superest, alta hie sub* pace liceret!” • 
JTavtuorum r lib. iv. p, |€8. 
f For every information concerning the mastic tree, and the use made of its gum, 
see Tournefort, tom. ii. p. 66. In Turkey, the ladies of the country amuse themselves 
fey Chewing mastic; ascribing to it, at the same time, many virtues. The Turks, how¬ 
ever, according to Egmont and Heyman, only get the refuse of the mastic; the best 
being sol d to foreign era, 
