About a year ago I paid a hurried visit to the Cyclades, with the purpose of ascertaining how far they would repay a more lengthened sojourn; and having satisfied myself that no part of Greece offered a better field for examination than the islands of the Aegaean sea, this last winter I undertook to visit the Cyclades one by one—no trifling matter when we consider that there are twenty-two of them, and only two of them have anything like hotel accommodation.

The objects of interest there to be studied may be conveniently classed under four distinct heads, and every one of these interests is essentially due to the position of the islands, as the stepping-stones used in all ages before the invention of steam between Europe and Asia.