HENRY HOLLAND (PART C)
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On December 12 we took advantage from a change of the wind and we left our port – but this was only to change our good fortune. Just having left the cape which forms the southern part of Skopelos, when the wind became vice-versa, it was stronger, forcing us to find a shelter in a small bay of Skopelos, named Panormos.
We stayed here for two days. We started complaining for the delay, believing, not unreasonably, that the captain was too careful and timid, a character which was not unusual for Greek sailors of archipelago. Anyway, we did not expect that he, who had sailed to Cape Town and had been worked for years under the Spanish Government in the coasts of Chile and Peru. The fact that he was the owner of the vessel, could probably give the explanation of this cautiousness…
The weather was still cold. The temperature was 3 to 4 grades C and the wind blew from north-west. Due to the fact that we were suffering on the vessel, we landed and the sailors made a big fire in a cave below the rocks. The entrance could not be seen easily, while inside there were traces, probable from pirates or other sailors. The faces of the Greek sailors and of our Tartar Souleyman, sitting around the fire, could be the theme for a picture.
The island of Skopelos, as its name shows, is high and rough. Its perimeter is more than 30 miles. It is bigger than Chiliodromi but is looks like it and has similar form. It seems that the two islands have been cut gradually or after a sudden geological change. In the middle of the channel between them there is a rock called St. Elias, a very rough and high rock in the sea, which has the same limestone structure with the other islands of the area.
There are two towns on Skopelos. The larger one is in the eastern side and has more than 1.000 houses and 12 Greek churches. The other one is named Glossa and is built on a rough hill in the west side. The people on the island are exclusively Greek and is under the government of Kapoudan Passa, grand admiral of Turkey. This naval administration is much more lenient than those of continental districts. This is due mainly to the difficulty of reaching islands, a fact that, as I noticed in other places too, determines the comparative freedom of a town or territory.
The administration of most islands of archipelago has been granted to Greeks. The irregularity in collecting taxes is the only way which shows the power of the Gate in small islands. Most areas on Skopelos is not cultivated, but there are fields close to the town which produce wheat, grapes, olives and other fruits.
