of its vineyards. To this place, Polis, tyrant of Syracuse, and an Argive by birth, transplanted from Italy the grape which produced the Vinum Pollium, an article held in the highest estimation. In the Lipari islands, some good wines are manufactured: from the largest island of this group, about two or three thousand barrels are annually exported. Two sorts of grape, (termed Passole and Passolina) are dried; the latter is more generally known as the Corinthian grape, and affords from ten to twelve thousand barrels of wine for sale. About two thousand barrels of Malmsey wine are made in the island, and which for its excellence is much esteemed. Spirits of a good description are distilled in many of the islands of the Mediterranean. In Corsica, excellent wines are made: the white wine produced about Capo Corso is of two kinds, one resembles Xeres, so much, that large quantities are sent yearly to Germany, and sold there under that name; it is also sent to England and Leghorn, and sold as Spanish wine: there are many other fine wines produced in this island, one species of white resembling Frontignac, another kind at Furiani might pass for Syracusan, while there are some very like Tokay and Burgundy. Indeed, in few islands are to be found so many varieties of wines, or grapes producing more rich or generous liquor, and the brandy distilled there is of superior quality. Of the wines of Sardinia little is said, but there is sufficient made to enable the inhabitants to export to the north of Europe, particularly to Russia and the Netherlands; brandy is also distilled in such quantities as to afford sufficient for exportation. In the small Island of Elba, two kinds of wines are manufactured, red and white, the grapes being of superior quality; the wines are rich, strong, and wellflavoured, the Vermont and Cleatico are highly esteemed. In making them, the grapes are trodden under foot, as the inhabitants have not hitherto used the press. Brandy of great purity and excellence is distilled, and, were its value with those of the wines of this island known in England, quantities might be imported much to the advantage of the British dealers. Malta produces little or no wine, but a large portion of its revenue is derived from a low duty on spirits and wine imported, the former at 14d. per gallon, the latter, when of an inferior quality, at the same rate, but the better kind of wine pays 2d. per bottle, and the tax raised on this article amounted annually to nearly £10,000. Among the Ionian islands, that of Cephalonia is the most respectable, and its wines have been celebrated from the earliest periods, especially its red wines; and it is also noted for the goodness of its muscadine raisins and currants, from which an advantageous commerce is conducted. The native grapes are as large as plums and the wine made from them is strong and pleasant. The vine in this island is principally cultivated on stony ground; hence the wines are called "Vino di Sasso," or wines of stone, from the love of stony ground evinced by the plant. Muscadel makes a sweet wine like Constantia : this vine delights in a rich soil, but the Vino di Sasso is the best among the dry wines. Here there are a great variety of grapes, and the Marsala of Sicily is not to be compared to that of Cephalonia.* The whole produce of the Island amounts to from 30 to 35,000 casks, the half of which is red and is of a spirituous nature; the remainder consists of white wine of an agreeable taste, including 8,000 casks of muscadel, some of which is of inferior quality. From three to four thousand casks of brandy are distilled annually, which are sent to Trieste, Venice, Leghorn, England, and Russia. And from the aromatic herbs and flowers, liqueurs are prepared in two establishments erected for the purpose; honey to the amount of 80 or 90,000lbs. is collected from the bees of the Island. The island next in importance is Corfu, the wines of which, for the most part, are also red; but though sweet, they are not considered equal in body to some produced in the neighbouring islands. The best description may be obtained for 4d. or 5d. a bottle, at the capital. The wines of Zante are accounted excellent, and some of them approach to Tokay, they have the appearance of claret, but are rather sweet, and sell at from 6d. to 7d. the bottle: white wines are scarce in this island. Here are to be found the finest muscadine grapes, which are dried and exported to England and other parts of Europe. Walpole enumerates no less than forty different species of grape cultivated in this island, of which the vitis corinthiaca is the principal. The stem of the Eptakoilos, one of those species, is selected for a matrimonial crown at nuptial ceremonies, and care is taken to select a branch that has forty knots, which being a proof of the prolific qualities of the vines is so communicated to the bride.† According to Hughes, there are as many sorts of wine as grapes; some sweet like the muscat, others luscious like the Cyprus, a few slightly acid like the Rhenish, but most are dry like the Sherry. These last named wines bear the same comparative superiority in point of strength over those of the other islands as they seem to have done in ancient times; yet many ages must elapse in the civilisation Napier's Ionian Islands, 8vo. p. 263. 1833. † Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, 4to. p. 293, 4, 5, 6, 7. of the people and the cultivation of their vines, before the produce can rival that of ancient Greece, which was held in such estimation as to be dealt out in single portions at the tables of the great, like imperial Tokay at our modern banquets.* Zante is remarkable for its abundant produce of currants, the proper name of which is Corinths, from being originally cultivated about Corinth in Greece. From seven to eight thousand millions of pounds are the common annual produce. The price varies from 14s. to 18s. per cwt. The new currants always form part of the dessert at the tables of the respectable inhabitants. From the arbutus unedo, the fruit of which is eaten and esteemed a delicacy, a spirit is drawn, as also a vinegar of a bright golden colour. The annual produce of wine in Zante averages about 45,000 Venetian barrels ; and of the honey of the island, of which there is a considerable quantity collected, the greater portion is sent to Venice. The wine of Ithaca is esteemed the best in the Ionian islands; it is like port in appearance, of a sweet flavour, and, as has been remarked by a recent visiter, excellent enough to justify the taste of Penelope's suitors in draining large goblets of it to the health of their fair mistress. Here it may be noted that the modern Greeks, who are strongly attached to wine, do not follow the custom of putting a glass into the goblet for each guest; but use only a single goblet, out of which every individual drinks in turn. Captain Jones, in his travels through Sweden, relates that a similar practice is prevalent in that country.f Ithaca abounds in currants, 5,000 cwt. of which are annually exported. A small quantity of wine is also shipped from it, and reckoned amongst the best in the Ionian isles: the colour and flavour are intermediate between port and claret; and the liquor is not spoiled by impregnation with turpentine, as is commonly the case with the wines of the Grecian continent. From the island of Santa Maura the annual exports are about 1,000 barrels, and the island of Zea raises about 7,000 barrels, and ships 3 or 4,000 barrels of wine of an excellent flavour while on the island, but during the course of a voyage, it generally becomes sour and often putrid, an effect produced by the want of brandy to preserve it.‡ The island of Crete, now called Candia, is described with enthusiasm by travellers, for the mildness of its climate, the fragrance of the air, the fertility of the soil, and the picturesque beauty of its * Vide Hughes' Travels. Travels in Norway, Sweden, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 70. scenery. This was once the centre of arts, commerce, and politen ess it also contained above 100 populous cities: here, too, surrounded by vineyards, is the immortalized Mount Ida, and the extraordinary labyrinth of the famed Minotaur. Savary, when at the monastery of Mount Ida, visited the cellar in which Tournefort had reckoned 100 casks of wine, but he found only 40 barrels of a large description. It is customary for the superior, at the end of each vintage, to descend into this cellar and bless the new wines. The following is the form of the benediction used on the occasion :-" O Lord God, who lovedst men, look down on this wine, and on those who shall drink it. Bless our casks as thou didst bless the well of Jacob, the pool of Siloam, and the drink of thy Holy Apostles. O Lord, who didst condescend to be present at the wedding of Cana, where by changing water into wine thou manifestedst thy glory to thy disciples, send now thy holy Spirit on this wine, and bless it in thy name. Amen.”* A similar practice is observed in Russia, with regard to apples, before they are eaten. As soon as they are known to be ripe, the high priest solemnly blesses them in the most public manner, thus making it a regular religious ceremony.† This custom is, perhaps, borrowed from the Jewish practice alluded to in Exodus xxii. 29. Pliny informs us that the Romans never tasted of the new corn and wine till the priests had offered the first fruits to the gods; and Horace accounts those persons wicked who sent presents of the first fruits to the rich before the gods had been thus honoured. The wines of Candia are said to be generally of a fiery quality, to intoxicate quickly, and to be injurious to the nervous system. In Cyprus, wine forms a considerable branch of trade, and is of a superior quality. It may be obtained for about three pence a bottle. The Greeks carry it to market in leathern bags, which give it an unpleasant flavour, a circumstance adverted to in other places. Some of the Cyprian wines have a pitchy smell, owing to the vessels which contain them being half sunk in the ground, and pitched over to prevent the earth from attracting the wine. The old superior wines are deer, but the ordinary sorts are cheap and abundant. Limasol produces the finest muscadine wine of Cyprus, some of which has the consistence of oil, and may be kept to a great age. The muscat wine is a perfect liqueur, but it cannot be purchased for less than a dollar and a half the okka.§ The Commendaria wine, so called as being Savary's Letters on Greece, vol. i. p. 267. † Johnson's Travels through part of the Russian Empire and Poland, 4to. p. 312. Bramson's Letters, vol. i. p. 312. § An okka or oke is 3lbs. 2oz. the produce of a domain belonging to the knights of Malta, is held in the greatest estimation amongst the natives. The muscadine is a rich dessert wine; the Commendaria is a sweet wine improving in delicacy and flavour in proportion to its age. Perhaps there is no country on earth which yields such abundance of luscious fruit. The juice of the Cyprian grape resembles a concentrated essence. The wine of this island is famous all over the Levant, so that in the hyperbolical language of the Greeks, it is said to possess the power of restoring youth to age and animation to those who are at the point of death. Cyprian wine, however, is not much relished by Englishmen on account of its sweetness which renders it repugnant to their taste. Though a powerful aperient, it sometimes disorders the bowels even after being kept a number of years. When bottled for 10 or 12 years, it more resembles Tokay than any other wine, but the Cyprians prefer keeping it in casks, where, although exposed to the air, it will keep for any number of years. After having thus withstood the vicissitudes of the season for a single year, it is supposed to have passed the requisite proof and it then sells for three Turkish piasters the gooze or about 21 pints for five shillings, and afterwards the price augments in proportion to the length of time it has been kept. Commendaria of 40 years' standing in cask is considered a balm, and is preserved on account of its supposed restorative and healing quality for the sick and dying. The casks are never filled, and the bung is merely covered with a bit of sheet lead, which is almost daily removed to let customers taste it. Upon these occasions a hollow cane or reed is immersed in the liquor, and by suction a specimen is brought up and poured into a glass. Both the Commendaria and Muscad are white wines; when quite new they have a slight violet tinge which age soon removes; afterwards they retain the colour of Madeira. Cyprus produces red wines also; but they are little esteemed and used only as weak liquors for the table. It seems to be want of attention that prevents the red wine being rendered as famous as the white as it possesses all the requisites to make it excellent. The flowers of the smilax aspara, called in Cyprus Zulobatos, which are extremely fragrant,are immersed in wine to give it a grateful odour.* Cyprus and Candia, when under the government of the Venetians, supplied the greater part of Europe with wines: Candia alone is said to have exported upwards of two hundred thousand jars of malmsey annually. Lately, the yearly produce was equal to 40,000 jars, or 10,000 barrels, Italian measure. Each of these jars holds about five bottles of Florence measure. Venetians carry off a great deal of it, and some is sent to France, Dr. Clarke's Travels in Greece, &c. vol. 4. p. 18, 19, 20. The |