Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/259

Rh his own land, and forced to labour on in a cycle of primitive agricultural operations as in a treadmill, never accumulates that surplus of profits by which in the richer and more fertile islands trading and seafaring aspirations are fostered and developed. The amphibious race, half mariner, half agriculturist, who spend the summer in trading or piratical ventures, and the winter in desultory agriculture, or in lounging about the cafes of the Greek seaports, form only a very small part of the population in the villages of Rhodes.

This simple and contracted mode of existence has its advantages and disadvantages. The Rhodian peasant can seldom rend or write; and I was assured that, even if the villages could afford to maintain schools, few parents would be willing to give up their children's services long enough to enable them to learn anything. There is, too, an almost total deficiency of medical art, except in the town of Rhodes; whereas, in richer communities like Mytilene, schools are very generally to be found in the Aallages, and here and there a doctor with an European diploma.

On the other hand, the Rhodian peasant has many excellent qualities, which, as he advances in civilization, will, perhaps, deteriorate. I have generally found them industrious, thrifty, gentle, and obliging in their intercourse both with strangers and with one another, and far more truthful and honest than any Greeks I have ever had to deal with. Travelling is considered safe in every part of the island; and though outlaws are to be seen sometimes in the