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8
Oct 22 1/2 after 11 A.M. in continuation
I have no objection to this storm; we shall see an Isle the more
for it & if we don't go bump ashore, we shall soon be at our
ease. As God's money will have it we have got for our
not only or friend the Venetian but a little Caichi which is before
him. Spring and I have the Cabbin to ourselves; there is better to do
upon Deck. I have just been up to take a peep: the land on
all sides I imagine would be beautiful if this storm cold but
give us leave to steer it. Our foretop sail has just been blown
to rags; but who cares? we have just given the go by to a
dangerous rock that sticks itself up right in the middle of
a very narrow part of the entrance; and are now out of all
danger. This harbour is an enormous long one; running up
the country like Portsmouth but infinitely narrower: upon an
average perhaps about the width of the Thames at Westminster
Bridge; but the Lord knows; for I am now in the Cabbin &
I am a but a bad judge of distances: We are in the want of
company: Capt. B. has already pointed out to us a French
man and a Russian. What makes the loss of a sail dangerous
at some conjunctures is that if you have no sail by
which you can give a motion to the ship in a different
direction to that of the you drown before it like a log
and must go bang against the shore or at any object
that lies in the way without the possibility of helping yourself.
we had plenty of thunder & lightening last night, some
of the flashes fell very near the ship. I was wakened by the
crash. At one time there was such a rattling upon deck I
thought it had been from hail-stones as big at least as
marbles. I was afraid I should have heard of mischief done
to the crew & upon enquiry it turned out to be more rain
without a single hail storm: the rattling was owing to the size
of the drops and the volume of the wind.
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Oct. 23 A.M. Sunday
A.M.
Clark to themselves a French
house at Smyrna has just been breakfasting with us and
from him I have picked up the following particulars. His abode
is on board the French ship now in the harbour: he lies
lain here 22 days ago, has been here ever since, and thinks to be back again some time
this week. His business is to collect Oil, the only merchantable
produce of the Island. His send it to Marseilles then to be
manufactured into Soap. Though the best in the Archipelago it
is not used for eating, though it might be were it not the Leghorn
oil as much better as it is nearer hand. This Greek must come be brought here
very cheap to make it worth while to send for it from such a
distance into an oil country. His dealings are with the Aga
who commands the Island. He farms the Revenue from the Grand
Signor for 600 purses a year. The principal branch of it is
the Tithe of the Oil which he takes up in kind. If Tithes in
England are a grievance, in Mitelin, as may be imagined they
are a much greater. In England the Farmer chooses for the
Parson: here the Parson chooses for himself. By dealing with
his great Improrietor, the Frenchman therefore if this German
Clark of his is to be believed ; skins the cream of the
best oil that is made in Greece. To the burthen of the Englaish
Farmer, these poor Greeks add that of the French Peasant: after
the choicest of their produce has thus been taken from them, they
have the amusement of carrying it themselves where to on board the
ship which carries it off. They It comes in sheep skins with
the wool in the inside: I saw a ship which I suppose was
one of them hanging up in a distended state in the Isle
of Scio By this then there must be a considerable loss: but
the loss ensues not to the Aga nor to the Merchant, but
the Farmer, for the Merchant pays for no more than the quantity
emptied from the skin into his own barrels. Whether
is part of the legally annexed to the tax or
whether
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Identifier: | JB/539/456/001"JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539. |
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1783-10-22 |
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539 |
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456 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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