ders is mainly directed to the culture of
their vineyards, which yield the famous sultana raisins, a considerable
proportion of the arable land is left untouched, though wheat, barley
and maize are sown in some quarters, and melons and sesamum seed appear
among the exports. The Cos lettuce is well known. Fruit, especially
grapes, is exported in large quantities to Egypt, mostly in local
sailing boats. The wild olive is abundant enough, but neglected; and
cotton, though it thrives well, is grown only in small quantities. As
the principal harbour, in spite of dredging operations, is fit only for
smaller vessels, the island is not of so much commercial importance as
it would otherwise be; but since 1868 it has been regularly visited by
steamers. The only town in the island is Cos, or Stanko, at the eastern
extremity, remarkable for its fortress, founded by the knights of
Rhodes, and for the gigantic plane-tree in the public square. The
fortress preserves in its walls a number of interesting architectural
fragments. The plane-tree has a circumference of about 30 ft., and its
huge and heavy branches have to be supported by pillars; of its age
there is no certain knowledge, but the popular tradition connects it
with Hippocrates. The town is supplied by an aqueduct, about 4 m. in
length, with water from a hot chalybeate spring, which is likewise named
after the great physician of the island. The villages of Pyli and
Kephalas are interesting, the former for the Greek tomb of a certain
Charmylos, and the latter for a castle of the knights of St John and the
numerous inscriptions that prove that it occupies the site of the chief
town of the ancient deme of Isthmos. The most interesting site on the
island is the precinct of Asclepius, which was excavated in 1900-1904 on
the slope of Mount Prion, about 2 m. from the town of Cos. It consists
of three terraces, the uppermost containing a temple, a cypress grove
and porticoes; the middle, which is the earliest portion, two or three
temples, an altar, and other buildings; and the lower a kind of sacred
agora enclosed by porticoes. The precinct had been enlarged and
reconstructed at various times. The earliest buildings on the middle
terrace probably date from the 6th century B.C. The temple on the upper
terrace, with the imposing flight of steps by which it is approached,
seems to belong to the 2nd century B.C. when the whole precinct was
enlarged and reconstructed. After a destructive e