Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/604

Rh 570 E E T E rugged and lofty promontories, of which the north-west extremity is the headland now called Cape Bnsa, the ancient Corycus, and the south-west angle is formed by Cape Krio, the Kriu Metopon of ancient geographers. East of Cape Busa the lofty mountain headland of Cape Spada projects more than twelve miles from the general coast-line ; and again, beyond Canea, the mountainous peninsula called Akrotiri bounds the Bay of Sudha, which constitutes a naturally sheltered harbour of sufficient size to afford pro tection to all the fleets of Europe. The north coast is again deeply indented, in the eastern portion of the island, by the Gulf of Mirabella, beyond which the coast runs out far to the north-east, ending in the narrow and rocky promontory of Cape Sidaro, the Sammonium of the ancients. The south coast is less broken and irregular, and contains few good harbours, the mountains in many parts rising almost like a wall directly from the sea. There is, how ever, one small but well -sheltered bay, about five miles east of Cape Littinos, still called Kaloi Limenes, or &quot; the Fair Havens,&quot; under which name it is mentioned in the voyage of St Paul. Islands. The islands which are found around the coasts of Crete are for the most part mere rocks, unworthy notice. The largest is that of Gavdo, the ancient Clauda, which is also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, and (probably on that account) became in the Middle Ages the see of a bishop, though it is only about five miles long by three in breadth, and contains at the present day only about seventy families. The small island of Dia, now called Standia, which lies about eight miles north of the city of Candia, has a good port, and in consequence bore an important part during the memorable siege of that city. The isolated rock of Grabusa, off the north-west angle of the island, has obtained celebrity from its having been converted by the Venetians into a fortress, long reputed impregnable, which did not fall into the hands of the Turks until long after the capture of Candia. For the same reason it became a stronghold of the Greeks during the war of independence, and at that period afforded shelter to a considerable population. Vegetation. Though so large a part of Crete is occupied by mountains, the rest of the island is of great fertility, and there can be no doubt that, under a better system of government, it would become one of the richest and most productive islands in the Mediterranean. The forests which once covered the mountains have indeed for the most part disappeared, but the cypress still grows wild m the higher regions, while the lower hills are covered with olive woods. Oranges and lemons also abound, and are of excellent quality, so as to furnish almost the whole supply of continental Greece and Constantinople. Chestnut woods, as in Greece itself, are local and exceptional ; the same is the case with the valonia oak ; while in some districts the carob tree is so abundant as to form an important article of consumption. Pears, apples, quinces, mulberries, and other fruit-trees flourish in abundance, as well as vines, though the Cretan wines no longer enjoy the reputatian which they possessed in the time of the Venetians. Tobacco and cotton succeed well in the plains and low grounds, though not at present cultivated to any great extent. Animals. Of the wild animals of Crete, the only one that deserves special notice is the wild goat, which is still found in considerable numbers on the higher summits of Mount Ida and the White Mountains. It is the same species (Capra a&amp;gt;gagrus) which is found in the Caucasus and Mount Taurus, and is distinct from the ibex or bouquetin of the Alps. Crete enjoys the same immunity which is possessed by several other large islands from the presence of serpents of all kinds, a privilege ascribed by popular belief to the intercession of Titus, the companion of St Paul, who according to tradition was the first bishop of the island, and became in consequence its patron saint, previous to its conquest by the Venetians. Wolves also are not found in the island, though so common in Greece and Asia Minor. History. The earliest history of Crete, like that of most parts of continental Greece, is to so~great an extent mixed up with mythology and fable as to render it impossible to arrive at any clear conclusions concerning it. The Cretans themselves claimed for their island to be the birthplace of Zeus, as well as the parent of alHhe other divinities usually worshipped in Greece as the Olympian deities. But passing from this region of pure mythology to the semi- mythic or heroic age, we find almost all the early legends and traditions of the island grouped around the name of Minos, one of those personages of the earliest Greek history of whom it is impossible to say whether any element of truth underlies the mass of mythical and poetical fable by which it has been surrounded. According to the received tradition, Minos was a king of Cnossus in Crete, who was a son of Zeus, and enjoyed through life the privilege of habitual intercourse with his divine father. It was from this source that he derived the wisdom which enabled him to give to the Cretans the excellent system of laws and governments that earned for him the reputation of being the greatest legislator of antiquity. At the same time he was reported to have been the first monarch who established a naval power, and acquired what was termed by the Greeks the Thalassoh-aty, or dominion of the sea. Whatever truth there may have been in this last tradi tion (which was received as an undoubted fact both by Thucydides and by Aristotle), it is certain that when we first hear of the Cretans, in the Homeric poems, they appear as a seafaring race, and apparently the only Greek people who at that early period attempted to compete with the Phoenicians as bold and adventurous navigators. The position of their island was moreover such as to give them great natural facilities for the command of the yEgean and the surrounding islands, as well as for communication with Phoenicia and Egypt. Even at the earliest period when we have any informa tion concerning it, the population of Crete was of a very mixed character, and we are told in the Odyssey (xix. 175) that besides the Eteocretes, who, as their name imports, must have been the original inhabitants, the island contained Achreans, Pelasgians, Dorians, and Cydoniana. Subsequently the Dorian element became greatly strength ened by fresh immigrations from the Peloponnesus, and during the historical period all. the principal cities of the island were either Dorian colonies, or had adopted the Dorian dialect and institutions. It is certain that afc a very early period the Cretan cities were celebrated for their laws and system of government,, the origin of which was of course attributed to Minos, but which had much in common with those of the other Dorian states, as well as Avith those of Lycurgus at Sparta, which were, indeed, according to one tradition, copied in great measure from those already existing in Crete. 1 It is certain that whatever merits the Cretan laws may have possessed for the internal regulation of the dif- 1 Ai Long the features common to the two -were the syssitia, or public tables, at which all the citizens dined in common. Indeed, the Cretan system, like that of Sparta, appears to have aimed at training up the young, and controlling them, as well as the citizens of more mature age, in all their habits and relations of life. The supreme governing authority was vested in magistrates called Cosmi, answering in some measure to the Spartan Ephori, but there was nothing corre sponding to the two kings at Sparta. These Cretan institutions were much extolled by some writers of antiquity, but receive only qualified praise from the judicious criticisms of Aristotle (Polit. ii. 10),