Home life in Hellas, Greece and the Greeks - eBooks4Greeks.gr

86 HOME LIFE IN HELLASfrom that island ; some were from Psara, and othersfrom Crete. They went first to Tenos and werebadly received. They tried Zea and were turnedaway. Then they came to Syra, inhabited by afew Latins under French protection, a crag andlittle more, and they made it what it is, thewealthiest and most cultured island in the JEgean ;Tenos and Zea, through their churlishness ortimidity, lost more than they knew. Syra is amonument to Greek vitality, and it is noteworthythat it was created by Greeks of Asia. Hermoupoliswith its 18,700 inhabitants has no water.All has to be brought from afar, yet its streets arekept clean and well watered. It is characteristicthat Syra, arid and scant of irrigation, suppliesAthens with early vegetables. The town runs upthe steep slope, a white heap of houses very conspicuousand striking from the sea. The oldLatin town is at the top, with its old church of St.George, which has a rival now in a large Greekchurch. But the little church of the Transfigurationdown by the shore is dearer to the Syriotesthan their big cathedral. It was built before theybuilt their first two-storeyed house, and in its navein 1825 Luke Ralli—a name well known in Englandand in India—first named the new settlementHermoupolis.Within sight of bright and busy Syra is Gyaros,its antithesis. The smallest of the Cyclades, it hastwo wells and four inhabitants. There are smallerislands to which shepherds resort at certain seasons