SAMOS, a Greek island on the shore of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by a very narrow and crooked channel called the Little Boghaz, near to which are the ruins of Ephesus and the celebrated Cape Mycale. It is celebrated as the birthplace of Pythagoras, and was the most powerful and important of the Ionian Islands, distinguished by the number and skill of its seamen, who, 566 years before the Christian era, navigated the Mediterranean to the pillars of Hercules, and are said to have ascended the river Guadalquivir in Spain. Some degree of independence was maintained until the reign of the Emperor Vespasian, about the year 70. Up to that time it had been celebrated for being a great school of statuary, and for preparing bronze images, in which art Rhoekos, and his two sons Theodoros and Telekles, were distinguished masters. In the middle ages the island was successively governed by Arabs, Venetians, Genoese, and Turks, and continued a portion of the empire of the latter till the recent Grecian revolution broke out. The islanders on that occasion took part with their countrymen as soon as the news reached them of the execution of their patriarch. Fortifications were erected towards the channel of the Boghaz, which rendered an invasion from the continent of Anatolia too hazardous for[7:19:633] the Turks to attempt. Under the command of the archbishop, ten thousand men were instantly armed and formed into regiments, bearing the cross as their standard. Three vessels were equipped as ships of war, and well manned with the best of seamen, who carried on predatory excursions with great success on the neighbouring continental shores. The conduct of the Sameotes produced unbounded rage in the Turkish government, and a powerful fleet and a numerous body of armed men were collected to insure the subjugation in 1821; but it failed, principally owing to the Greek fleet having been posted in the channel between Cape Mycale, where the Turkish land force was assembled. In that contracted spot the heavy Turkish ships could not approach, and the active and brave Greek seamen attacked the crowded transports, some of which were sunk, and others of them burned by fire-ships. The Capitan Pasha withdrew with his fleet, followed by the Greeks with their fire-ships; and the land-forces returned as they could along the shore to Constantinople.

Though repulsed and disgraced, the Turks, having captured and desolated Scio, and the island of Ispara, near to Samos, resolved on another attempt on that island in the year 1824. It was arranged that the Turkish force should be joined by the fleet of the pasha of Egypt. When the junction was effected, the Turks sent a flag of truce, offering an amnesty and proposing to treat; but the Sameotes, warned by the atrocities committed at the Isle of Scio in spite of a treaty, resolved to defend their possessions, or to dedicate their lives to its defence. The females, and the children, with their provisions, were removed to the mountains, and the men stood armed on the shore. The Turks had placed their ships in the narrowest part of the Boghaz, where they formed a kind of bridge for the troops to pass over. Upon the bridge or line of shipping the small vessels of the Greeks opened a most destructive fire, some were sunk and others burned, while the larger ships of the Turks, drawing too much water, remained in a state of total inactivity. A retreat was commenced, at which time another Greek fleet, under Miaulis, reached the scene of contest. The unwieldy and ponderous ships of the Turks could not withstand the attacks of this new enemy, whose ships, from being small, and the men agile, gave them a great superiority. The Turks were driven out to sea, where, by means of their enemy’s fire-ships, they lost one man-of-war of fifty-four guns, and a corvette, brig, and several gun-boats of the Egyptian fleet After this attack the Sameotes were unmolested, and are now in alliance with the kingdom of Greece.

The island is twenty-seven miles in length, being of an irregular shape, and very various breadth. Tl>e chief town is Vathi, in latitude 37° 46' and longitude 26° 58'. The island is represented by those who have visited it to have contained from 50,000 to 60,000 inhabitants, living in comfort, industry, and abundance, and all of them Greek Christians. The only town is Vathi, built on the descent of some mountains, sloping down to the port, and tolerably well built, but with narrow streets. The port, is beautiful, being the segment of a long oval, stretching inland towards the south-east, covered with trees, and well cultivated. It is protected from all winds but the south-west. The most important production is the rich Muscato wine, known in Europe by the name of Malmsey. A great quantity of raisins are furnished for exportation, as well as much oil. In the preparation of the latter much pains are taken, and it equals that from Lucca. Though the apprehension of the horrors exhibited at Scio by the Turks caused many families to fly, yet some of them have returned, and the prosperity of the island is returning.