NEGROPONT

NEGROPONT, anciently Euboea, an island of the Archipelago, stretching along the eastern coast of Achaia or Livadia, from which it is separated by a narrow channel called the Euripus. This strait is so

narrow, that the island is joined to the continent by a Negropont. bridge thrown over it; and here, it is thought, there was formerly an isthmus. The irregularity of the tides in the Euripus hath from the remotest antiquity been very remarkable, and this irregularity is found to be connected with the age of the moon. From the three last days of the old moon to the eighth day of the new moon, and from the 14th to the 20th day inclusive, they are regular; but on the other days they are irregular, flowing 12, 13, or 14 times in the space of 24 hours, and ebbing as often. The island is 90 miles long and 25 broad in the widest part; and produces corn, oil, fruit, and cattle, in great abundance. The only place in the island worth notice is the capital, which is also called Negropont; and which is walled, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants; but the Christians are said to be much more numerous than the Turks. The captain bashaw, or admiral of Turkey, who is also governor of the city, the island, and the adjacent continent of Greece, resides here; and the harbour, which is very safe and spacious, is seldom without a fleet of galleys, ready to be put to sea against the pirates and the Maltese. A part of the bridge between the city and the coast of Greece, consists of a drawbridge no longer than just to let a galley pass through.