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THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD. In a former number of the Saturday Magazine* we have given an outline of the nature of the tournaments which used to occur in England in the "olden time." But there occasionally happened, in foreign countries, meetings between sovereigns, where tournaments on a most magnificent scale were carried on. One of the most celebrated of these is known by the name of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, alluding to the gorgeous display made at a meeting of Henry the Eighth of England, with Francis the First of France, at a particular spot in the latter country. As this meeting is characteristic of the manners of the times, we shall describe it somewhat minutely.

The occasion which led to it was this. The thrones of England, France, and Germany, were occupied by three powerful monarchs, Henry the Eighth, Francis the First, and Charles the Fifth. The two latter seemed likely soon to come to hostilities about some claims which both put forth for the kingdom of Naples; and each one was anxious to obtain the friendship of Henry the Eighth. Cardinal Wolsey was then in the zenith of his power, and each of the foreign monarchs tried to win him over to their respective interests. So far as means are left of judging, it appears that Henry was most inclined to favour Francis, while Wolsey was best disposed towards Charles. But be this as it may, after Charles had come to England to pay a friendly visit to Henry, the latter went to accept an invitation from Francis, where they were to sign a treaty of amity together.

Francis settled his court, for the occasion, at Ardres, while Henry took up his station at Guines, no great distance from the former. Francis caused some splendid buildings to be erected in and near Ardres for the reception of his distingushed guest. One of these was a wooden building in the form of an amphitheatre, with three stages of chambers and galleries one above the other, the whole covered with silk. There were also provided a number of tents and pavilions, some formed of cloth of gold, and others of gold, silver, and silken damask. On the top of the king's pavilion was a figure of St. Michael, all in gold.

Henry's camp, if it may be so called, at Guines, consisted of but one building, but it was a large and sqlendid one. It was built of wood, in the form of a puare, and covered with silk and other gorgeous materials: an open court was in the centre of the building, in which were fountains flowing with wine. A chapel was also erected there, and every convenience for receiving distinguished guests from Ardres. The meeting of the two kings was a matter of great ceremony. In order that neither one should descend too much from his dignity, it was decided that the meeting should take place midway between their two encampments. A splendid tent was erected at the appointed spot, and the ministers of the two kings, Wolsey and Robertet, met there with the papers which the two kings were to sign, respecting the treaty, &c. The monarchs came attended by splendid retinues. With Francis came the Duc de Bourbon, the Grand Admiral, some gentlemen esquires, and three hundred archers. Henry came attended by the Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk, some esquires, and four hundred archers.

The respective cavalcades advanced up to barriers erected for the purpose; here the whole of the inferior attendants remained, and the two monarchs advanced on horseback to meet each other. After a courteous greeting. they dismounted gave their horses to attendants, and walked together into the pavilion. After many farther courtesies they sat down, and * See Saturday Magazine, Vol. XIV., p. 71:

each one read the articles of agreement between them. Henry then began to speak, and said, "I | Henry, king of England;" he stopped: his ancestors had been accustomed for centuries to call themselves, with more presumption than truth, "kings of England and France;" but the indecorous effect of such a claim on the present occasion presented itself to his mind. He therefore added, "I will not continue the title in your presence, for it would be an untruth." The two kings then signed the articles, which was in fact the principal national business that they had to transact, and took leave of each other, returning to their respective suites. The two cavalcades then returned, the one to Ardres and the other to Guînes, in the same order as they came.

There

The next day messengers were sent from Henry to Francis, to arrange the manner and times of visiting each other, how that the kings should one day entertain the queens, and another day the queens entertain the kings.-how that the King of England should visit the Queen of France at Ardres, and the King of France visit the Queen of England at Guînes. were many parts of these propositions in which Henry arranged for mutual pledges for the good faith of the monarchs towards each other. These proposals surprised and somewhat hurt Francis, who had much of the spirit of chivalric honour about him. He therefore resolved to pay his brother monarch a visit in such a way as should disarm anything like suspicion.

He rose early next morning, took a gentleman and a page with him, mounted a horse caparisoned as plainly as possible, and rode over to Guînes. When he arrived there he found all the places carefully guarded with archers, who were astonished to see him come so undefended. He demanded to be admitted to his brother monarch, and was immediately allowed to pass, although informed at the same time that Henry was not yet risen. Francis passed on to Henry's chamber, opened the door, and stood before him. Henry was in bed, and was astounded to see his visitor. He knew, however, how to appreciate generous confidence, although he had not himself shown it in the first instance. He said to Francis, "My brother, you have paid me a better compliment than ever one man paid to another, and have shown me the great trust which I ought to put in you: I surrender myself your prisoner from this hour, and plight my faith to you." He then took a costly necklace, worth fifteen thousand angels from his neck, and put it round the neck of Francis, requesting him to wear the token for the love of his prisoner. Francis thereupon drew forth a bracelet, worth thirty thousand angels, and fastened it round Henry's arm. Henry then rose, and Francis insisted on performing his toilet for him, saying that he would want no other valet that morning. Shortly afterwards Francis mounted his horse, and returned to Ardres.

On the road he met many of his nobles, who had come in search of him, and one of them said, “Sire, you have acted unwisely to do as you have done; and I am very glad to see you again, and give to the devil him who counselled you to the act." Francis replied that nobody had counselled him, and indeed that there was not a man in the kingdom who would so have counselled him.

If Henry had been delighted with Francis's frank demeanour, his retinue were still more so: they could hardly believe that he would have placed himself in their hands in a totally defenceless condition. On the following morning Henry determined to copy the demeanour of his brother monarch. He went

The angel was a gold coin, which, in the time of Henry the Eighth, was worth eight shillings.

over alone to Ardres, and returned, in every way, the compliment paid him by Francis.

The

When these mutual courtesies were rendered, the jousts and tournaments commenced, and continued for eight days. They were particularly splendid, and were performed both on horse and on foot. The French and English knights took with them each ten or a dozen men at arms, so that there were in the whole three hundred armed men engaged. The place where they jousted was barricaded, and the archers of eah party guarded the entrance to the enclosed lists. monarchs, nobles, and knights then encountered each other, in the approved manner of the chivalrous ages; and the old chroniclers of both countries expatiate with delight on the feats performed. Holinshed tells us,-"On the eleventh of June, the two queens of England and France came to the campe, where either saluted other right honorablie, and went into a stage for them prepared. At the houre assigned, the two kings, armed at all peeces, mounted on horsebacke, and with their companies, entered the field; the French king on a courser barbed, covered with purple sattin, broched with gold, and embrodered with corbin's fethers, round and buckled; the fether was blacke and hatched with gold: on his head-peece he bare a sleeve. All the parteners of the French kings chalenge were in like apparell, everie thing correspondent in cloath of silke embrodered. On his person were attendant on horssebacke noble persons, and on foot foure persons, all apparelled in purple sattin."

The dress of Henry and his knights are then described; but these we will pass over, in order to detail the events of the day:-" Thus with honor and noble | courage these two noble kings with their companies entered into the field, and them presented unto the queenes. After reverence doone, they rode round about the tilt, and so tooke their places appointed." The knights who were to take part in the tilting were then severally introduced to the two queens, before whom they made their reverence: they were dressed in velvet, satin, plumes, and other gorgeous materials. The French king tilted with one of the English noblemen, and "did valientlie and brake spears mightilie."

It was then Henry's turn :-"Then ran the king of England to Monsieur Grandville with great vigor; so that the speares brake in the kings hande to the vautplate all to shivers. And at the second course he gave the said Monsieur Grandville such a stroke, that the charnell of his head-peece, although the same was verie strong, was broken in such wise that he might run no more, whereby the king wanted three courses. Then ran the Duke de Vandosme, and met his counterpart right noblie, and brake speares right valientlie. The noble Duke of Suffolke charged his course, and met right valientlie his counterpart, and furnished the five courses right noblie togither like good men of armes. And when all parties of the chalenge had right valientlie furnished their courses, they ran again the two noble kings, who did so valientlie, that the beholders had great joy; after which courses the heralds cried, " Desarmée," and the trumpets sounded to lodging."

Such was one day's feats, and the other days were spent in a similar manner. In the evenings, the kings and knights went to visit the queens in their pavilion, and gaiety and splendor everywhere reigned: on one of the evenings the queen of France prepared a masque for the entertainment of her guests. But these costly festivals, which Hall, Holinshed, Fleurange, and other chroniclers describe at full length, we must pass over.

the royal visitors; and the French king (perhaps from courtesy) gave the prize to the English wrestlers. Archery then succeeded, at which Henry himself joined, and showed great skill.

When the whole entertainment was nearly at an end, Henry one evening took Francis by the collar and said, "My brother, I should like to have a wrestling-bout with you," and made one or two attempts to throw him; but Francis, who was a strong man, fairly threw him to the ground.

On the last day a grand banquet was provided, at which all the visitors on both sides were present. After which, grand mass was sung by Cardinal Wolsey, in a little chapel built for the purpose: all the French and English singers assisted in the performance. The cardinal then blessed the two kings, and heralds proclaimed peace between them, which was to be ratified by a marriage between the son of Francis and the daughter of Henry.

Holinshed gives rather a droll account of the humbler visitors to the show."During this triumph, much people of Picardie and West Flanders drew to Guînes, to see the king of England and his honor, to whom vittels of the court were given in plentie: the conduit of the gate did run wine alwaies. There were vagabonds, plowmen, labourers, and of the bragerie, wagoners and beggers, that for drunkennesse laie in routs and heaps. So great resort came thither, that knights and ladies, who were come to see the noblenesse, were faine to lie in haie and straw, and held them thereof highlie pleased."

The history of the next few years showed how hollow was the foundation on which all these pageants were built. Not only did the son and daughter of the respective monarchs not marry each other, but in the very next year, Henry the Eighth joined some of the continental powers in hostility to Francis, and wars succeeded wars with great rapidity. As a political event therefore, the "field of the cloth of gold" was of small importance; but it is valuable as furnishing illustrations of the manners and customs of the age.

THE EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF JOHN

CARTER.

In the year 1589 there was published by Henry Goltzius, a German engraver, a series of twelve heads, representing the Twelve Apostles, under each of which is a sentence of the Creed, in conformity with the well-known tradition that that compendium of the Christian faith was the joint work of those first missionaries of the Gospel; each of whom is said to have contributed a certain portion. This tradition is not of a very early date, and the story is on many accounts incredible; although the substance of that Creed may well endure the strictest scrutiny, its articles being "gathered together," according to the words of St. Austin, "from those places where they lie scattered throughout the Holy Scriptures." There is nothing remarkable in relation to this set of heads; but the circumstances under which one of the series (the head of St. John) has recently been copied, and that too in a most beautiful manner, are well worthy of attention.

reThree years ago the individual by whom the copy was executed had never so much as thought of making a drawing. Many persons will be ready to think that there is nothing very wonderful in this, for that much may be done in three years; but they will probably alter their opinion before they come to the end of our narrative.

When the tilting was over for the day, French and English wrestlers used to exhibit their prowess before

John Carter, the person of whom we are speaking,

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on the bed, almost perpendicularly before his face, and with his hair-pencil between his teeth, he can produce, by means of the motion of his neck, assisted occasionally by the lips, the most delicate and beautifully-turned strokes. He has just begun to try a new subject, the human face; and his first attempt in this way was the head of St. John, of which we have been speaking.

As far as regards his bodily state, there has been no appearance of any alteration lately; and if he should be spared for any length of time, and should pursue his present course of improvement, he may one day become no mean proficient in an art, which seems to require, as an essential qualification, that which he does not in the smallest degree possess-the free use of the hands. He lives upon a parish allowance; his weak state of health preventing any further application to his new employment than is sufficient to procure for him some few additional comforts, or, as they may be well called in his case, necessaries.

THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

ZANTE AND PAXO.

III.

WE resume our notice of the Ionian Islands with a description of ZANTE.

One Saturday night, in May, 1836, he had been drinking at the ale-house with seven or eight other young men, as much inclined for mischief as himself, when one of them proposed that the whole party should go up to the plantations of Osgood Hanbury, Esq., of Holfield Grange, to rob the rooks' nests. In this reprehensible employment they were engaged until near one o'clock on Sunday morning, when Carter, having climbed to the top of a fir-tree, attempted to reach another, which, in the darkness of the night, appeared to be within his reach; he jumped, missed his hold, and fell to the ground. Happily for him [We were desirous of presenting our readers with an engraving the branches broke his fall, or he would, in all profrom Carter's copy of the old print, but found it impossible to convey, by means of stereotype plates and the steam-press, any bability, have been killed on the spot; the height of correct idea of the elaborate and minute execution, and the sinthe tree being not less than forty feet. His com-gularly soft and beautiful effect of his camel-hair pencil drawing.] panions carried him home in a state of insensibility, and apparently dying, to his wife, who had gone to bed ill, and, as usual, in no small anxiety about her unsteady husband. Hearing the noise below, and thinking that he had come home in liquor, she came down, and, as may be easily imagined, was overcome by the spectacle which presented itself. He was lying on a hurdle, and one of his companions was sitting by his side; the others having left him. Everything was done for him that could be done; but it was late on Sunday afternoon before he recovered his senses; and then his first thought was that he should certainly die, and should have to render up his account to his offended Maker, with all his sins upon his head. A week of intense pain, without a moment's sleep, served to increase his alarm; but by degrees his bodily sufferings were mitigated, and there appeared to be some reason to think that his life might be spared, at all events for a time. As the inflammation and swelling subsided, it became evident that he had sustained some injury in the spine, which had entirely deprived him of the use of his limbs, and, indeed, of every muscle of his body, and of all sensation, below the collar-bone. For twelve months he lay motionless upon his bed; but the time was not lost; for, by the blessing of God upon the endeavours of the worthy and benevolent clergyman of the parish, aided by some excellent neighbours, and a supply of good books, he was brought to a sense of the sinfulness of his former life, and to an earnest, and, as is hoped, effectual inquiry after the means of pardon and salvation, through repentance, faith, and renewed obedience. He is now a devout attendant at church, and at the holy communion, whenever the weather is such as to allow of his being drawn thither on a sort of couch upon which he is moved.

About a year after the accident, his wife saw, and borrowed for him, a little book which gave an account of a young woman, who, having lost the use of her hands, amused herself by drawing with her mouth: he determined to try to do the same. At first he copied butterflies in water-colours; but soon adopted a better style. His kind patrons, the family of Mr. Hanbury, supplied him with BEWICK'S Birds, and other engravings of the same description; and he soon learned to sketch them very accurately with a camel's-hair brush and Indian ink. Inclined towards the right side, with his paper and copy fixed to his drawing desk, which is placed in a convenient position

Zante is an island situated about ten miles distant from Cephalonia, and fifteen miles from the nearest point of the Morea. It is about twenty-four miles long, and about twelve miles broad. Its shape is that of an irregular oval, indented with a deep bay at its south-east extremity. The western coast of Zante exhibits a range of limestone hills, forming steep cliffs to the sea; while the eastern coast is opposite the Morea, and contains a harbour, within which is situated the town of Zante. There is a pier, on which a landing is effected by those who visit the town; and this pier is often a scene of the bustle which distinguishes a port at which traders arrive from various countries. "It was crowded," says Dr. Holland, "with an assemblage of people, singular in their intermixture and appearance. In one spot was seen a group of Zantiotes, uniting the Venetian with the Greek in their external costume and manner; and in another place a body of soldiers of the Greek regiment, their dress at this time little altered from its national character, and their aspect as little fashioned into the military mould of European troops. In other parts of the area, the red-faced English soldier curiously contrasted with the natives of the country in the feature and expression of his countenance, as well as in his military dress; and, in addition to these, Corsican and Calabrian soldiers, sailors from various parts of the Mediterranean, and a few Greek merchants, habited in the fashion of continental Greece. This singular national mixture is found in many of the Mediterranean ports."

The circumference of the island is sixty miles, the greater part consisting of an extensive plain, stretching from north to south, and about six or eight miles broad, and bounded both on the east and west by hills. There are two bays, one on the east, and the other on the south, and the least distance of the island from the mainland of Greece is about twelve miles. The great plain of Zante, enclosed between the hills, is the principal source of support to the inhabitants, from the fertility which distinguishes it. Looking down upon this plain from any of the

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surrounding eminences, it has the aspect of one continued vineyard, with a few intervals of land occupied in tillage or pasturage. Numerous villages and country houses are scattered over the plain, surrounded by gardens, or by groves of olive, orange, and other fruit-trees. The sides of the hills, which form its boundary, present everywhere mingled scenery of wood and cultivation, diversified with deep valleys which afford an infinite variety of surface. The hills, which rise to ten or twelve hundred feet high, present a limit to the plain, which harmonizes well with the other parts of the scenery.

The greater part of the island seems to be composed of calcareous rocks, while gypsum appears on various parts of the surface, forming many projecting points: near a village in the centre of the island it appears in low, round eminences, bare of vegetation, and presenting a singular aspect, from the partial lustre of the exposed surface. But no part of the mineral formation of Zante is so remarkable as the pitch wells, which are situated about ten miles from the town, and which have been celebrated since the time of Herodotus. A small tract of marshy land, stretching down to the sea, and surrounded on other sides by low eminences of limestone, or a bituminous shale, is the immediate locality of the springs: they are found in three or four different places of the morass, appearing like small pools, the sides and bottoms of which are thickly lined with petroleum in a viscid state, and by agitation easily raised in large flakes to the surface. The most remarkable of these pools is one which is circular in form, about fifty feet in circumference, and a few feet in depth, in which the petroleum has accumulated to a considerable quantity. The water of the spring, which is doubtless the means of conveying the mineral upwards to the surface, forms a small stream from the pool, sensibly impregnated with bituminous matter, which it partially deposits as it flows through the morass: the other pools are of similar character. The petroleum is generally collected once in the year, and the average quantity obtained from the springs is said to be about a hundred barrels: it is chiefly used for the caulking of vessels. The pitch is collected by drawing it from the pools on a bough of myrtle, or other shrub, attached to a pole, precisely in the same way

as the classical writer describes it to have been done two thousand years ago.

The island is very subjec to earthquakes, two or three often occurring in one month; and in the summer of 1811, for thirty or forty successive days, several shocks were felt each day. Fissures in the castle wall and the principal buildings bear evidence of the frequency of these visitations. They are generally preceded by a peculiar heaviness and sulphureous character in the atmosphere, and are followed by showers of rain.

We must now briefly notice the town and its inhabitants. The town of Zante stretches along the eastern shore for about a mile and a half, but is nowhere so much as half a mile in breadth. The buildings are chiefly in the Italian style, and the interior of the town everywhere shows great neatness. The streets are generally narrow; the houses in the principal streets (which are usually of stone) four or five stories in height. Many churches appear in different parts of the town and its environs; a few of them having steeples, the remainder with the elevated façade, which is seen in the catholic churches in Sicily and Spain. There is an aspect of dulness given to the streets by the close-barred lattices which cover most of the windows, projecting forwards in such a manner as to form a sort of triangular box, through the bars of which a female figure may now and then be seen by those passing below. The principal street runs parallel to the shore, and is lined with piazzas and shops.

The castle stands on a hill 350 feet high: it was built by the Venetians, and is very large, including, besides barracks and store-houses, many detached private buildings, with gardens annexed to them. Since Zante came into the possession of the English, much labour has been bestowed both upon the castle and the fortification.

The inhabitants of Zante form a sort of intermediate link between the Greeks and the Italians; for while the proximity of the island to Greece, and its early union with it, have tended to give it a Grecian character, the long dominion of the Venetians over these islands, and their constant commercial intercourse with them, have tended to impart Italian manners to the Zantiotes. Mr. Dodwell says that the state of

society is rather on a low footing in the island. The nobility, chiefly counts of Venetian creation, though not inferior to that of the principal towns in Sicily, yet in general are men of little refinement, and in their modes of life scarcely equal to the middle classes of English society.

The Zantiotes profess the religion of the Greek Church, and adhere rigidly to it; and though the Catholic worship is tolerated, and there is a Catholic establishment in the island, the two parties do not seem to have very friendly feelings towards each other. In the spring of the year the Zantiotes celebrate the festival of All Saints: a large proportion of the population assemble among the olive groves near the town, where they amuse themselves with dancing, music, feasting, &c.

Female society is said by Dr. Holland to be hardly found at Zante, in the sense in which we are accustomed to use the term. The ancient usages of the country still confine the women, in great measure, to their own houses, and equally limit their education to the most trifling and common-place attainments.

But the English have had possession of Zante several years since the period when Dr. Holland visited it, and we may now reasonably expect that many improvements have followed the ameliorating effect of constant intercourse with a highly civilized and enlightened nation. Religion, commerce, and the presence of educated persons rarely fail to impart a humanizing and elevating feature to the society of a place previously occupying a humble position in those respects. The population of Zante is about 20,000 males, and 18,000 females. About 9000 of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture.

Рахо.

This island, the smallest of the septinsular group, is situated between Corfu and Santa Maura, from the former of which it is distant only seven miles. It is twelve miles in circumference, and contains an area of about twenty-seven square miles: it is of an oval shape, and composed of a single mountain, which probably at one period formed part of Corfu. Port Gai affords good anchorage for a few vessels; but there is an inner harbour, formed by an island, almost in contact with the other, having a circular battery commanding the town, which is scattered in an irregular manner on the beach.

There are about eleven thousand acres of the soil in cultivation for olives, to produce oil; indeed the island, from the nature of its soil, is chiefly calculated for the growth of the olive. The olive flowers in April, and the fruit is ripe in October: it is not plucked when ripe, but is allowed to fall on the bare ground, a process which often lasts till April. The trees are neither regularly pruned, nor trenched, and they are thickly planted. It is said that the produce of the olive-trees, thus thickly planted, brings more money to the proprietor, than if they were thinned, and the ground they occupy otherwise cultivated.

The machines employed in the manufacture or pressure of the oil are, according to Mr. Martin, of the rudest construction. The olives are pressed under a perpendicular stone wheel, which revolves in a large-sized horizontal stone, of a circular form, somewhat hollowed in the centre. A horse or mule sets the machinery in motion, and a peasant runs before, and shovels the olives under the approaching wheel, the action of which is necessarily confined to a limited space, while its power is very insignificant. The bruised mass is then transferred to a bag made of rushes or mat, which is subjected to a heavy pressure: this pressure is increased by means of a screw, worked by two men at irregular intervals; for the labour is so

violent, that they cannot possibly continue long at it. They slip two strong bars, after the manner of a capstan, and then with a shout, or simultaneous cry, they urge them forward by a simultaneous movement, the effect of which is marked by a quantity of oil oozing through the mat, and falling into a hole cut in the ground for its reception. After the interval of forty or fifty seconds, the labourers dart forward again with similar violence, and with a bodily effort which must strain their whole frame. The quantity of oil that two expert labourers can express in a day is estimated at ten or twelve jars, of rather more than three gallons each. Mr. Martin in a note observes:—“ Sir Edward Baynes informs me that he is now, (September, 1835,) sending out to Corfu a steam-engine, with hydraulic presses, for the squeezing of the olives, and with four pair of stones attached, for the grinding of corn. Such an effort to set a good example to the islanders is highly praiseworthy; the more so as Sir Edward is expending 40007 in carrying the meritorious project into effect, without any expectation of profit."

This may be a fitting occasion on which to say a few words respecting the culture of the other staple production of the islands,-currants. Currants are the fruit of a small vine of delicate nature, the cultivation of which requires much care. Six or seven years elapse, after a plantation has been made, before it yields a crop. In the beginning of October, the earth about the roots of the plant is loosened, and gathered up in small heaps, away from the vine, which is pruned in March; after which the ground is again laid down smooth around the plant, which grows low, and is supported by sticks. The crops are liable to injury in spring, from the blight called the "brina,” and rainy weather at the harvest-season produces great mischief. The currants are gathered towards September, and, after being carefully picked, are thrown singly upon a stone-floor, exposed to the sun in the open air. The drying process occupies a fort night, if the weather is not favourable. A heavy shower or thunderstorm (no unfrequent occurrence at that season), not only interrupts it, but sometimes causes fermentation: the fruit is, in that case, fit only to be given to animals. Should it escape these risks, it is deposited in magazines called "seraglie," until purchased. The "seragliente," or warehouse-keeper, delivers to the depositor a paper acknowledging the receipt of the quantity delivered, which passes currently in exchange from hand to hand till the time of export. Under the old Venetian government, the liberty of traffic in this produce was exceedingly restricted. In Zante five persons, chosen out of the council of nobles, assembled in presence of the proveditore, regulated what should be the price; and those who wished to purchase were under the necessity of declaring to the government the quantity they desired. This system was abolished when the islands came under British rule; but parliament, in 1829, laid the enormous duty of 44s. 4d. per cwt. on their importation into England,—that is, five times the price of the currants at the island. Since then we believe the duties have been lightened.

Paro is so small an island that we need not dwell in detail respecting it, reserving our space for Cepha lonia, Santa Maura, &c. We will merely say that the inhabitants are rather above 5000 in number, of whom about 250 are engaged in agriculture, 200 in manufactures, and 100 in commerce.

To the southward, or rather south-east of Paxo, is a still smaller island, called Antipaxo, chiefly inhabited by fishermen. While the Venetians held sway, this island was a notorious retreat for pirates, who levied severe contributions on all who fell within their power.

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