3-021-260 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

North coast of Crete, from the sea, 1869. 'Our Special Artist...had an opportunity of seeing the shores of Crete, in his passage from Brindisi to Alexandria...This end of the island is very mountainous, and seems bleak and barren. The rocks come down in steep masses into the sea, forming a rock-bound coast. It is into the bays, and concealed by the peaks, that small Greek vessels run the blockade. At points vessels have to keep a certain distance from the shore, to avoid being troubled by the cruisers known to themselves, and there is generally a Turkish war-steamer on the watch in this locality. No towns, villages, or even a house could be seen when he passed; it seemed all too wild a spot for habitation or cultivation. To the south of Cape St. John, the lower slopes of Mount Ida are more wooded, and we believe that the other extremity of the island is the fertile part of it. It is from this point and southwards that the insurgents hold their ground. It is impassable to all appearance to all except to goats...The craft in this sketch is called a Paranza, and is peculiar to the whole Adriatic - to the Italian coast as well as the eastern side'. From "Illustrated London News", 1869.