Attempts to retrace James Theodore Bent's wanderings around the Cyclades are complicated by three things:

First, Bent made two trips to the Aegean, with an initial reconnoitre in March 1883 (when - from clear references in his book - he visited both Syros and Tinos) followed by his main tour between November 1883 and April 1884 (like all good Victorians he avoided the sun whenever possible!).

Second, Greece had yet to move to the modern calendar, so dating references in his text can be misleading.

Third, Bent's journey is not described in chronological order - island descriptions are often given out of sequence to the order in which they were visited.

From references in the text, Bent's wanderings would appear to have taken the form of a series of extended island hopping excursions out of Syros (at this time Syros, rather than Paros, was the hub of the local ferry system, thanks to its role as the major coaling station in the Cyclades). Each of the main 19 islands visited was described in a chapter devoted to it. The order they appear has been modified on the page below to reflect the sequence in which they were visited. In total Bent visited 22 of the Cyclades (three of the minor islands are described within other island chapters).

 

 

Bent's first leg commenced in early November 1883 with a steamer from Piraeus to Syros before taking fishing boats down the islands of the Cyclades West line. In his book he later grouped Syros with his descriptions of the Northern Cyclades islands, though it is clear from the text that it was the first port of call. Bent's itinerary was thus:

Piraeus to:
1. Syros (Chapter 13) - November
2. Serifos (Chapter 1) - Early December
3. Sifnos (Chapter 2)
4. Kimolos (Chapter 3)
5. Milos (Chapter 4)
Return to Syros.

 

Bent's second leg took in the islands of the Cyclades Central line and the smaller southern Cycladic islands. The islands don't seem to have been visited in any particular order, though his account - at the end of his Folegandros chapter - of an abortive attempt to visit Amorgos shows that his objective was to explore all the main southern islands during this trip (he doesn't seem to have considered the Lesser Cyclades (Iraklia, Koufonissia, Schinoussa and Donoussa worth the trouble!). Several smaller islands were visited as excursions from neighbouring islands (Anafi was visited mid way through the exploration of Santorini, and Antiparos and Despotiko provided an extended interlude - for archaeological excavations - in Bent's wanderings around Paros). His itinerary was thus:

Syros to:
6. Naxos (Chapter 14) - Christmas (Latin NOT Orthodox!)
7. Santorini (Chapter 6) - New Year
From Santorini visits to:
8. Kamini / Volcano Islands (described within the Santorini chapter)
9. Anafi (Chapter 5)
10. Thirasia (described within the Santorini chapter)
From Santorini on to:
11. Ios (Chapter 7)
12. Sikinos (Chapter 8)
13. Folegandros (Chapter 9)
Return to Ios and on to:
14. Paros (Chapter 15)
15. Antiparos (Chapter 16) - February
Return to Paros and then Syros.

 

Bent's final series of hops are rather more chaotic and reflect the fact that he needed to take in islands on three different lines in order to fully explore the Cyclades. This leg starts with the islands on the Cyclades North line, with a probable hop back to Syros to get connections to the northern islands on the Cyclades West line. His final hop was by steamer to distant Amorgos - the island that he'd missed on the second stage of his itinerary. This final stage was thus:

Syros to:
16. Mykonos (Chapter 10) - March
From Mykonos visit to:
17. Delos (described within the Mykonos chapter)
18. Tinos (Chapter 11)
19. Andros (Chapter 12)
20. Kythnos (Chapter 17) - March
21. Kea (Chapter 18)
Return to Syros.
Syros to:
22. Amorgos (Chapter 19) - Orthodox Easter
Return to Syros/Piraeus?