713 M. STEAMERS (agents at Beirut, see p. 481; at Smyrna, p. 531; at
Constantinople, pp. 538, 539). =1.= _Messageries Maritimes_ (N.
Mediterranean Marseilles and Beirut line), from Beirut every alternate
Sat. (from Constantinople on Thurs.) viâ Rhodes, Vathy, and Smyrna to
Constantinople in 4 days (fare 205 or 140 fr.).—=2.= _Russian Steam
Navigation & Trading Co._ (see also R. 72; Syria-Egypt circular line,
coming from Alexandria) from Beirut on Thurs. night (in the reverse
direction Thurs. aft.) viâ Tripoli, Alexandretta, Mersina, Chios, and
Smyrna to Constantinople in 8½ days (fare 284 or 212 fr.; to Smyrna
198 or 148 fr.).—=3.= _Khedivial Mail Steamship Co._ (comp. also R.
72; from Alexandria and calling at Port Said) leaves Beirut every
alternate Wed. foren. (returning Sat. aft.) for Constantinople (in 7
days) viâ Tripoli, Alexandretta, Mersina, Rhodes, Chios, Smyrna,
Mytilini, the Dardanelles, and Gallipoli (fare £E 9¼ or £E 6½; see p.
431).
_Beirut_, see p. 481. The French steamers make straight out to sea in a
W. direction. Astern Lebanon remains long in sight.
About half-a-day’s steaming brings us in view of the mountains of
=Cyprus= (Turk. _Kibris_; pop. ca. 243,000), culminating in the bare
_Troodos_ (6408 ft.). Under the Phœnicians and Greeks _Kypros_, the
third-largest island in the Mediterranean (3613 sq. M.), was the seat of
the cult of Aphrodite and the scene of a peculiar civilization, the
product of Egyptian, Phœnician, and Greek influences in succession. In
the middle ages the island was governed by kings of the house of
Lusignan and was for a time the seat of the Knights of St. John
(1292–1308; see pp. 475, 469, 490). Since 1878 it has been under British
protectorate and only nominally Turkish.
Far away to the right we see the table-shaped _Capo Greco_ and the bays
of _Larnaka_ and _Limassol_. We then pass, on the S. coast of Cyprus,
the prominent peninsula of _Akrotiri_, with _Cape Gata_ (lighthouse) and
_Cape Zevgari_. Beyond _Port Paphos_ (lighthouse) we skirt the rocky W.
coast of the island.
On the coast of =Asia Minor= (Anatolia), on a clear day, we sight the
beautiful ranges of the _Lycian Taurus_ (10,500 ft.; p. xxxiii); at
night the lighthouse on the island of _Kasteloryzo_ (ancient _Megiste_),
with the seaport of _Mandraki_, is sometimes visible.
To the S.E. of Rhodes we cross one of the deepest parts of the
Mediterranean (12,683 ft.).
Nearing =Rhodes= (562 sq. M.; ca. 30,000 inhab.), the eastmost island of
the _Greek Archipelago_, we sight its S.E. coast as far as _Attáiros_
(4068 ft.; formerly _Atabyrion_) and _Cape Lartos_. The latter rises
beyond the small bay of _Lindos_, which together with Ialysos and
Kamiros, ancient Greek towns on the N. coast, and with Cnidus, Cos, and
Halicarnassus, once formed the league of the Doric Hexapolis.
The French steamers call at _Rhodes_ (Hôt. Karayannis, good; Brit.
vice-cons.), the capital of the island, picturesquely situated at its
N.E. point. Founded in 408 B. C. by the three older towns (see above) it
became famous in later Greek times for its navy and for the Colossus of
Rhodes, a bronze statue of Helios 112 ft. high, which was accounted one
of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The ruinous mediæval
*Fortifications and the Strada dei Cavalieri, with the old ‘Houses’
(places of assembly) of the different nations, recall the mediæval glory
of Rhodes under the sway of the Knights of St. John (1308–1522) after
their expulsion from Cyprus (p. 489).
We next steer through the _Ægean Sea_, where the scenery and the
historic associations are alike most attractive. We pass the _S.
Sporades_, Greek islands off the coast of ancient _Caria_ and _Lydia_,
once ruled by the Knights of St. John, and now called _Dodekanesos_
(‘twelve islands’), which enjoy autonomy under Turkish suzerainty.
Steaming to the W.N.W. we cross the inland sea of the ancient _Doris_,
between Rhodes and Cos, noted for its sponge-fishery. On our right lies
the Anatolian peninsula of the ancient _Chersonesus Rhodia_, with _Cape
Alupo_ (_Cynossema_) and the island of _Symi_ (_Syme_); to the W. rise
the precipitous and fissured island of _Telos_ (_Tilos_; 2008 ft.) and
the volcanic island of _Nisyros_ (2268 ft.), with its huge, still
smoking crater and its hot springs. To the N.W. stretch the long
outlines of _Chersonesus Cnidia_, with the ruins of _Cnidos_ and _Cape
Krio_ (_Triopium Promontorium_).
The steamer rounds the E. coast of Cos (2871 ft.; Turk. _Istankiöi_; not
one of the Dodekanesos group), once the seat of the most ancient shrine
of Æsculapius and of a famous medical school (Hippocrates), and passes
the peninsula of _Budrum_ (_Halicarnassus_). To the W. appear in
succession the islands of _Kalymnos_ (2248 ft.), _Leros_ (1086 ft.),
_Lipso_ (902 ft.; _Lepsia_), and _Arki_ (_Acrite_).
To the E. of the island of _Gaïdaronisi_ (696 ft.; _Tragia_), where
Cæsar was captured by pirates in 76 B. C., opens the _Latmian Bay_,
belonging to the ancient _Ionia_, now silted up by the deposits of the
Mæander. A little inland are the ruins of _Miletus_ and _Priene_.
The French steamers now pass through the _Straits of Samos_, between the
_Samsun Dagh_ (4150 ft.; _Mykale_) and the island of =Samos=, whose old
capital, _Samos_, now _Tigani_, with its walls of the age of Polycrates
and its new harbour (1908), is seen in the distance.
=Vathy= (Xenodochion Hegemonia tēs Samu, a good inn; pop. 9500), the new
capital of Samos, lies in the bay of Scalanova (set below), on the N.
coast. Above the narrow bay rises the distant Samsun Dagh. On the shore
stands the plain palace of the Samian princes. Since 1832 the island has
formed a Christian-Greek state under Turkey. The _Museum_, in the court
of the high school, contains antiquities from the famous shrine of Hera
and from Tigani.
The French vessels, soon after starting, offer a retrospect of _Mt.
Kerki_ (4725 ft.; _Cerceteus Mons_), the highest in Samos, and then
cross the _Bay of Scalanova_ (_Sinus Caystrius_). In the hill-country on
the mainland, to the E. of this bay, near the mouth of the _Cayster_ or
_Kaystros_, once lay the rich Ionian towns of _Ephesus_ and _Colophon_
and, to the N. of these, _Lebedus_ and _Teos_.
Passing the _Bay of Sighajik_ and _Cape Koraca_ (_Carycium
Promontorium_) we soon reach the _Straits of Chios_ (comp. p. 492).
_Smyrna_, see p. 530; voyage thence to _Constantinople_, see p. 533.