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

126 HOME LIFE IN HELLASBut having once made up itsmind, Hydra tookthe lion's share of the fighting, and has the lastingglory of having produced the hero Miaoulis.Spetza? and Hydra own ships and sail them.meets asBothOnemany of the male population out of theislands as in them. There is a strong contingentin the navy, and in command of Greek steamers.All the islands are picturesque, with their whitehouses on the rocks, but Poros excelsthe othersin the superb panorama of land and sea. It isonly four hours by steamer from Pirasus, andtherefore much frequented in summer by the Athenians,whose villas dot it and peep from the olivegroves on the mainland quite close at hand. Thenaval arsenal was at Poros until 1877, an^ tnenaval school is there still. On Poros is the siteof the Temple of Poseidon, made famous fortime by the death of Demosthenes.On the opposite side of the gulf liesallSalamis,stretching across the Bay of Eleusis, close to themainland of Attica, and thrusting out a tonguewhich almost touches it near Megara. The homeof Ajax is about thirty-six square miles invery irregular in shape, and rising toextent,1330 feet atits highest point. The ferry is about five milesfrom Piraeus, soon after leaving which we passthe hill whence Xerxes is said to have watchedthe famous battle. The road commands a view ofits site, round the point of Cynosure The navalarsenal is a mile to the right of the landing-place.Notwithstanding the associations of Salamis, its