XI. A Six Weeks' Botanical Tour in the Levant. By GEORGE MAW, F.L.S., &c.

Leaving London on the 27th of March, and travelling via Mount Cenis and Brindisi, I was, on the morning of the 31st, for the first time, within sight of Turkey and Greece, steaming towards the Albanian coast, formed of grey bare hills, rising roundly and steeply from the shore without the intervention of distinct cliffs.

The general trend of these hills, as on the Dalmatian coast further north, is parallel with the sea-board, and the long rounded ridges are deeply intersected with lateral ravines running down to the coast, and backed up with higher snow-covered ridges, over which the summits of the Pindus range are also seen.

Corfu.

To the south the pretty Ionian Archipelago forms the boundary; we soon pass the isle of Farno, and approach the graceful outline of Corfu, with its luxuriant foreground of olive and ilex groves, and masses of tall dark cypresses, backed up by the picturesque mountain range of St Salvador rising to a height of 3000 feet, which crosses the south of Corfu at right angles to the main chain, bending in the north-eastern extremity of the crescent-shaped island to within a mile and a half of the Albanian coast at the Straits of Butrinto, where a beautiful land-locked channel is entered, and the city of Corfu reached soon after mid-day. In addition to the east and west St Salvador range, in the north of the island, a long sinuous broken ridge traverses and forms a sort of north and south backbone to the narrow southern extremity. These ranges are for the most part treeless, and rise out of a dense sea of olives, which, intermixed with vineyards, mainly covers the undulating lower ground.

During the three days I spent at Corfu I visited several parts of the southern ridge, including Santa Deka, the highest point in the south of the island, Garuna, and Paleka, all reached by excellent roads, made during the British protectorate, winding through luxuriant olive groves and vineyards.

Bulbous plants form an important item in the flora of Corfu. Crocus Boryi, out of flower, was extremely abundant on all the higher ground I visited, accompanied by several species of Romulea, but I cannot ascertain that any other species of crocus occurs on the island, and I think that some errror must have crept into Dean Herbert's notes in the "Botanical Register," where he states that seven species, some of them vernal, are indigenous. The four species, cancellatus, Boryianus, hadriaticus, and sativus (?), known to grow in the neighbouring islands of Santa Maura, Cephalonia, and Zante, are autumn flowering.

Narcissi were abundant, but out of flower. The prevailing species seemed to be allied to papyraceus, but I failed to identify N. corcyrensis, figured by Herbert in his Amaryllidacea, which is special to the island. I also found Iris tuberosa, and on the flanks of Santa Deka another elegant species, with narrow grassy leaves and pale blue flowers; several species of Muscari, a Belvallia, Hyacinthus orientalis, one or two Colchicums, Ornithogalum exscapum, and a number of orchids. Amongst the other prevalent plants were Phlomis fruticosa, Anemone stellata, Geranium pyrenaicum, and a very conspicuous Saponaria, allied to S. calabrica, but with larger flowers. Lithospermum purpureo - cœruleum and several other conspicuous Boraginaceous plants.

The little island gives evidence of extreme fertility; a part of the land is possessed and worked by small proprietors, and a portion is massed in larger estates, which are sublet at a rent regulated by an annual assessment of the crop valuation. The main crop of the island is the olive : common red wine is also extensively produced. The process of baring the roots of the vine in the winter, and heaping up the soil between the rows is generally practised for the purpose of applying manure, and also for retaining the rainfall. Flax is here and there grown; vegetables, especially leeks, grown in the neighbourhood of the city, were exceptionally fine; and magnificent oranges are produced in the sheltered valleys. There are very few cattle in the island, due to the absence of low-lying meadow-land; but small long-woolled sheep and goats are extensively pastured on the hills; horses are almost exclusively used for draught purposes. The working population are industrious and

prosperous; and Easter Sunday, the great festal day of Corfu, when nearly half the population of the island was assembled in the city, afforded me an opportunity of observing the singular gala costumes of the peasantry, each clau having a special dress,-those from the north of the St Salvador range differing from the southern half of the island. Easter Sunday was also the feast of Saint Spiridion, one of the Nicene Council, whose mummified body was carried in grand ecclesiastical procession to bless the crops. of the season. The scene from the window of the house of one of the landed proprietors of the island, whose tenants in full gala costume were assembled to see the proceedings, was more gorgeous than it is possible to describe. The sumptuous ecclesiastical procession of sixty priests, with military attendants, surrounded by a dense sea of human beings, like a highly-coloured mosaic, bowing, kneeling, crossing, and rising in unison, formed a strange contrast to the quiet, every-day life of the islanders working in their olive grounds and vineyards. As at Oporto, almost the entire savings of the women are said to be invested in gold ornaments, and all but the very poorest were decked out in sumptuous array. A black velvet jacket covered with gold embroidery.worth about ten pounds, a shirt of magenta and blue watered silk, the hair bound up in thick bands with scarlet ribbons, and turned round the head like a turban, surrounded by a gigantic wreath of tawdry artificial flowers, from which a lace or muslin fall covers the shoulders, and the whole costume finished off with a multitude of gold ornaments on the hands, feet, chest, ears, and every available part of the dress.

From Corfu I proceeded up the Gulf of Corinth, touching at the little island of Paxo, and at Cephalonia, and Zante. The aspect of these islands is treeless compared with Corfu, though there is a rich belt of cultivated ground round the sea-board, and the upper region of the rounded mass of Cephalonia, rising to a lieight of over 5000 feet, is relieved by dark patches of forest of Pinus cephalonica.

Patras.

The entrance to the Gulf of Patras, surrounded by the Ionian Archipelago, is most striking. The town of Patras

lies immediately at the foot of a fine mountain ridge between six and seven thousand feet high, and as the gulf narrows, ranges of distant mountains, including Parnassus and Helicon, form a noble boundary to the beautiful scene. Patras is the metropolis of the currant vine, and through the kindness of Mr Wood, Her Majesty's Consul, I was enabled to obtain a good deal of information respecting its history and culture. As this has formed the subject of a separate paper, I need not here refer to it at length. The currant vine is not intrinsically different from many small varieties of black grapes, and the diminished size of the berry is merely correlative with the absence of seed, which, moreover, is not a constant character, as grapes containing seeds occasionally appear in the bunches, and the tendency to reversion to a seed-bearing grape is very marked in some localities. An attempt to introduce the currant culture into the neighbourhood of Leghorn was frustrated by its gradual reversion in three or four years to a seed-bearing grape. This will perhaps explain the limited range of its cultivation, which is confined to the north and north-west coast of the Morea and the southern Ionian islands of Zante and Cephalonia; a few are also grown in Santa Maura, but none in Corfu, which is within sight, though the grape vine flourishes there luxuriantly. In 1876 the Morea produced 71,000 tons, and the Ionian islands 15,500 tons. The area of cultivation is limited to the coast range from the sea-level to a height of three or four hundred feet. The vines at Patras are planted in rows about 6 feet apart, and are trained to single standards 3 feet high, which ultimately become self-supporting; the annual fruit-bearing shoots radiate from it, and require no training except an occasional prop. The harvest commences about the 25th of July, and lasts about three or four weeks. The fruit was formerly dried on the ground, but the cleaner method is now being adopted of placing the bunches in large wooden trays, which saves much expense in handling, and enables the fruit in wet weather to be quickly gathered up and placed under shelter. The drying usually occupies ten or twelve days, the berries commencing to separate from the bunches in six or seven days. The stalks are cleaned from the berries by winnowing. The weight of produce varies

considerably, in some places ranging from 900 to 1200 lbs. per acre, and occasionally in favoured localities reaches as much as from 25 to 35 cwts. of dried fruit.

Corinth and Athens,

From Patras I proceeded up the Gulf of Corinth to Corinth, thence across the isthmus to Kalamaki. Pinus halepensis was abundant on the surrounding hills; a very handsome red poppy, with large central black blotches, and Lagurus ovatus were observed by the roadside, and Urtica pilulifera on the sandy shore. From Kalamaki a small steamer, passing between the islands of Ægina and Salamis, brought me in four hours to the busy port of the Piræus, within a short drive of Athens, which I reached soon after mid-day. Here I had the advantage of becoming acquainted with Professor Orphanides, whose little botanical garden was replete with interest. He possesses one of the finest collections in existence of orange and lemon trees, including between 70 and 80 varieties, also a fine series of the bulbous plants of Greece. The Athens Botanical Garden is unsatisfactory as regards its general order and aspect, and appears starved for want of funds. The collection of Greek bulbs is, however, very complete; they are mostly grown in pots. There is also a fine series of trees and shrubs, which, however, might have been easily arranged with a better intention to picturesque effect. Biota orientalis, Pinus halepensis, Cupressus pyramidalis, C. horizontalis, C. Tournefortii, Schinus molle, and very large poplars, are its only main features. Very little forethought seems to have been exercised in the arrangement of the general collection as regards ultimate size and grouping. It includes Crataegus japonica, Juniperus attica, a very pretty species with the habit of Picea pinsapo; Casuarina quadrivalvis, Ephædra distachya, Gleditschia triacanthos, and G. ferox, Anthyllis Barba-Jovis, a curious small shrub; Ebenus cretica, Photinia arbutifolia, and P. serrulata, the latter a very striking plant, with white cymes of flowers and bright crimson leaves; Maclura aurantiaca, a singular spiny tree, allied to the Mulberry, with large warty fruit as big as an orange; Cocculus laurifolius, Ulmus suberosa, and U. excelsa; Melianthus minor, with scarlet and