which the true value of merchandize can be ascertained) are so entirely speculative, and besides, are conducted in a manner so wholly determined upon by the wayward fancies and wishes of the crew, that they belong to Enterprise, rather than to industry, and are very far indeed from tending to deaden any freshness of character.
The vessels in which war and piracy were carried on during the years of the Greek Revolution, became merchantmen at the end of the war—but the tactics of the Greeks, as naval warriors, were so exceedingly cautious, and their habits, as commercial mariners, are so wild, that the change has been more slight than you might imagine. The first care of Greeks (Greek Rayahs) when they undertake a shipping enterprise, is to procure for their vessel the protection of some European Power; this is easily managed by a little intriguing with the Dragoman of one of the Embassies at Constantinople, and the craft soon glories in the ensign of Russia, or the dazzling Tricolor, or the Union Jack; thus, to the great delight of her crew, she enters upon the ocean world with a flaring lie at her peak, but the appearance of the vessel does no discredit to the borrowed flag; she is frailer, perhaps, than the rest of her sex, but she does not look the worse for this in harbor; she is gracefully built, and smartly rigged; she always carries guns, and in short, gives good promise of mischief and speed.
The privileges attached to the vessel and her crew, by virtue of the borrowed flag, are so great as to imply a degree of liberty, greater than that which is enjoyed by individuals in our more strictly civilized countries, so that there is no pretence for saying that the development of the true character belonging to Greek mariners is prevented by the dominion of the Ottomans; they are free, too, from the power of the great capitalist whose imperial sway is more withering than despotism itself, to the enterprises of humble venturers. The capital employed is supplied by those whose labor is to render it productive; the crew receive no wages, but have all a share in the venture, and in general, I believe, they are the owners of the whole freight; they choose a Captain to whom they entrust just power enough to keep the vessel on her course in fine weather, but not quite
