Some centuries before Christ, Milo was a flourishing Republic, but having refused its assistance to Greece, when it was invaded by the Persians, the Athenians, having defeated the Barbarians, attacked the Miliotes, and after several repulses, at last entirely overthrew them, and as a punishment, all the men who escaped the sword, were carried into Attica. But at the close of the | A. A. C. 404.| Peloponnesian war, the Athenians being subdued by the Lacedemonians, Milo was restored to its liberty. It was afterwards taken by the Romans, and has ever since shared the fate of the Eastern Empire. And for some centuries the Greeks have been slaves in a country, from which they often carried their arms into that of their present Lords.
Whatever the Turk conquers, he immediately considers as his own, whether it be land, cattle, men, women, or children, and instantly appropriates it to his use, either by sale, exchange, or possession.
But as an act of grace, the Sultan grants the Greeks a temporary emancipation from year to year, for which they pay an annual capitation tax of seven shillings each person.
At the commencement of this century the island contained seventeen churches, and eleven chapels; and the whole space from the town to the harbour, which is near two miles, was laid out in beautiful gardens. But alas! how wretchedly is it altered, three-fourths of the towns are in ruins, and the inhabitants are daily decreasing. Of the gardens scarce a vestige is left; and the baths on the water side are now only a set of small, dirty caves. Eight or ten yards from the shore the hot spring, which supplied them, is seen boiling through the salt water, and the sand is, I think, still hotter than that of Baia. But perhaps I speak from the pain my curiosity cost me being more recent in my memory.
The women, so celebrated for their beauty, are now sallow, unhealthy, and disgustingly ugly; and render themselves still more hideous by their dress, which is a kind of loose jacket, with a white cotton petticoat, that scarcely covers two thirds of their thighs, barely meeting the stocking above the knee. Their hind hair hangs down the back in a number of plaits; that on the fore part of the head is combed down each side of the face, and terminated by a small, stiff curl, which is even with the lower part of the cheek.
All the inhabitants are Greeks; for the Turks are not fond of trusting themselves in the small islands; but every summer the Captain Bashaw goes round with a squadron to keep them in subjection, and to collect the revenue.
When the Russians made themselves masters of the Archipelago, during the late war, many of the islands declared in their favour; but being abandoned at the peace, they were so severely mulcted by the Grand Signior, that our pilot tells me, they are determined to remain perfectly quiet. But as the Turks do not think them worth a garrison, and will not trust them with arms and ammunition, all those which the Russians may choose to invade, will be obliged to submit.
The two points which form the entrance of the harbour, crossing each other, render it imperceptible until you are close to it. Thus, while you are perfectly secure within it, you find great difficulty in getting out, particularly in a northerly wind. And as no trade is carried on, except a little in corn and salt, Milo would scarce ever be visited, were it not that being the first island one makes in the Archipelago, the pilots have chosen it for their residence. They live in a little town on the top of a high rock, which, from its situation and appearance, is called The Castle.
Partridges abound in this island, and are so cheap, that you may buy one for a charge of powder only. The peasants get them by standing behind a portable screen, with a small aperture in the center, in which they place the muzzle of their piece, and then draw the partridge by a call. When a sufficient number are collected, they fire among them, and generally kill from four to seven at a shot. But even this method of getting them is so expensive, from the scarcity of ammunition, that the people can never afford to shoot them, but when there are gentlemen in the island, from whom they can beg a little powder and shot.
Several of us have killed four or five in an afternoon walk, putting them up ourselves, without even the assistance of a dog.