Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879

a quarter of a mile distant, to the mountain-top about 1500 or 2000 feet above us; th

l colour of a bright lemon yellow in close conjunction with red of various shades. Upon crossing numerous fields of barley, which

through the marls and calcareous sedimentary limestone of the coast and had produced very curious examples of metamorphous rocks, where the marls and limestone had been in

an ochreous yellow and bright red. I had never met with anything like this singular example of igneous action upon marls. In the neighbourhood there were considerable masses of the same clinker-like material exhibiting a honeycombed appearance, that would have been well adapted for millstones. The natives informed me that all the millstones of the northern coast were imported from Athens. I had heard while at Kythrea that the stones for the very numerous mills of that neighbourhood were supplied from Alexandretta, and that none of native origin were employed. There can be no doubt that some of the specimens I examined of this material combined the requirements of extreme hardness, porosity, and sharpness of interior edges around the hone

of the owner of the chair. It was a rough dwelling, but I was kindly welcomed, and cheese, bread, and curds were quickly arranged before me, together with a gourd-shell of clear cold water, from the spring which issued from the rocks in the gorge about fifty feet below the house. To the disappointment of my host I was obliged to decline all his offerings, except a draught of cold water, as I had breakfasted before leaving the camp. The Turk now showed me his gun, which he explained was of little use, as he could not afford a game licence, but he offered to show me a spot where hares were abundant. The shooting-season was long since closed, therefore partridges and francolins were sacred, but I should have had no scruples in bagging a hare for a stew. My guide conducted me over very lik

and shaded with the elm, ash, maple, and innumerable fruit-trees. Mills, turned by water, the masonry of the aqueducts being ornamented with the graceful maiden-hair ferns, enlivened the otherwise dull lanes by an exhibition of industry. The orange-trees and lemons were literally overweighted with fruit, which in some instances overpowered the foliage by a preponderance of yellow. Lefka supplies the whole western district with lemons, in addition to the market of the capital, Lefkosia. As usual, I observed that the fruit-tr

he hundredth time) awaken the reflection that most portions of the island might equal such except

loaded animals should be able to traverse such steep and dangerous defiles, and I made up my mind that Iiani's ancient camel would terminate its career, together with that of our possessions upon its back, by rolling several hundred feet into the dark angle of some precipitous ravine. Even Iiani kept awake, and

peculiarity exhibited to perfection the geological formation. We had entered upon trap rocks and the greenstone, all of which showed traces of copper. Notwithstanding the wild and dangerous route, every available plot of ground was cultivated, although no villages were perceptible. The peasants carried their light ploughs upon donkeys from

reams of clear water issued from the ground in three different places, which converged into a brook abounding with water-cresses, and this, after passing through a small and thick jungle of tamarisk-bushes, formed a pool above the sea-beach which overflowed upon the shingle, and met the waves. We ascended the stream for a short distance, until, tempted by two or three large plane-trees, we halted for luncheon beneath their shade. The river, which occasionally flooded sufficiently to bring down heavy timber when felled among the mountains, flowed through an extremely rich but narrow valley, which extended into a glen between their precipitous slopes until it became a mere ravine. The mass of moun

specimens of pyrites of copper, which the natives mistook for silver; and should a mineralogical investigation be made by t

lt journey, and had rolled, together with its load, down several places that had threatened its destruction. It had delayed the march several hours, as it had been many times released from difficulties by unloading, reloading, and di

r, as there was no holding-ground for the tent-pegs. I quickly instructed them in making faggots of tamarisk-boughs which, tied to the ropes and buried in the sand, were much more secure than pegs in the hardest soil; and the tent was at length arranged. A small species of curlew tempted its fate by visiting the fresh-water margin just before our dinner-hour; I bagged it; and as the cook was in a bad hum

verybody's joke, and its owner liani was recommended to "try and sell it," or "to make it a present to a friend," or "to ride it himself;" the latter course would have

xportation. We halted in a deep glen between exceedingly steep hills, through which a torrent-bed had cut its course directly to the sea. In this secluded spot, far from all villages or inhabitants, we arranged to encamp upon a flat and inviting plot of turf, which in Cyprus is rarely met with. Some tolerable elms and other trees formed a dense shade in a deep and narrow portion of the glen beneath the over-hanging cliffs, and a beautiful spring of water issued from the rock, received in a stone cistern beneath. An arch of masonry inclosed the spring, which some kind person had thu

e in the remaining pines, which fairly clothed their summits and ravines. The sea was perfectly calm, and for the first time during our stay in Cyprus we observed many shoals of fish playing upon the surface close to the beach. Two cormorants were in the bay, and I made some fortunate shots, k

teps of the ancients, upon the supposition that because in former ages a locality was productive, it should remain in the same profitable condition. Nothing can be more erroneous; it is generally poor gleaning after the Phoenicians. The bronze of those extraordinary miners and metallurgists was renowned above all other qualities; they worked the copper-mines of Cyprus and the tin-mines of Cornwall, but the expenses of working a mine in those days bore no comparison with the outlay of modern times. Slaves were employed as a general rule: forced labour was obtainable; and the general conditions of the labour-market were utterly at variance with those of the present day. The ancient

not practical miners. The work of M. Gaudry must always be accepted as a most valuable authority upon the geology, mineralogy, and general agricultural resources of Cyprus, but it will be remarked by all pr

erms of the Convention with the Porte the island is as completely denuded of money as the summits of the cretaceous hills have been denuded of soil by the destructive agency of weather. It is painful to an English traveller, whose life may have been passed in practical development, to survey the country as it now

ent." The capitalist will ask one simple question, "Is Cyprus a portion of the British Empire upon which I ca

ite information no capitalist will embark in any enterprise in Cyprus, which may be ultimat

undeveloped until some satisfactory change shall be effecte

cupied by numerous houses and narrow lanes, while the rich soil of the low ground, irrigated by the water of the river withdrawn by artificial channels, exhibited splendid crops of wheat and barley. Groves of very a

sperse the crowd that daily pestered us; any lady that in future may travel through Cyprus should have a portmanteau full of such simple fireworks. It was in vain to explain that the people were a nuisance if too near: when driven to a moderate distance, they would advance shyly, by degrees; two or three children would come forward and sit down a few paces in front of the main body; after a few m

p path over cretaceous limestone, broken and disturbed at intervals by the protrusion of eruptive rocks. As we increased our altitude we looked down upon a picturesque view of the bay of Krysokhus, with two sails upon its blue waters beneath the dark cliffs of the western shore. The ancient Marium or Arsino

00 feet beneath. I had serious misgivings concerning the camels and their loads. General di Cesnola had examined the whole of this coun

h village of Arodes, from which we looked down upon the sea and the small rocky island opposite Cape Drepano, on the western coast, almost beneath our feet. This portion of Cyprus is eminently adapted for the cultivation of fruit-trees, as the climate and soil combine many advantages. The elevation and peculiar geographical position attract moisture, while the lower ground upon the east is parched with drought. The evaporation from the sea below condenses upon the cooler heights immediately above and creates refreshing mists and light rain, which accounted for the superiority of the crops compared with any that I had seen elsewhere. Shortly after halting at Arodes we experienced these atmospherical changes. The thermometer at Polis had been 57 degrees at 7 A. M., and it was only 56 degrees at 3 P.M. at this altitude of 2400 feet. Although the sky had been clear, mists began to ascend

u for about five miles to the verge which formed the table-land, from which margin

ar cliffs was cretaceous limestone, but the scaly slopes of a hill upon our left, about a mile and a half distant, fo

nt of the rainy season. There was no water except in small pools that had been scraped in the sand for the benefit of the travelling animals. Having watered our mules and r

the various fields. This arrangement had been effected by erecting a temporary dam in the river's bed far among the mountains, and thus leading the stream into the conduit for many miles. Small brooks intersected our path along the coast, and in several places I remarked the ruins of ancient aqueducts. . . . There was nothing of peculiar interest upon this route; the land inclined upwards from the sea for six or seven miles to the foot of

tal of the district, Ktima, is situated. It is a large town, and as we rode through the bazaar the narrow street was almo

e migratory birds landed upon strange shores. We accordingly rode through the considerable town of Ktima amidst the barking and snapping of innumer

limestone, from the crevices of which trees grew in great profusion, reminding one of hanging coverts upon hill-sides in England. Descending a steep but well-trodden path between these cottage-like masses of disjointed rock, we arrive

ition; these were caught in large reservoirs of masonry from twenty to thirty feet square and six feet deep, from the bottom of which the water could be liberated for the purposes of irrigation. We selected a position upon a terrace beneath a number of these splendid tremithias, which afforded a shade during all hours of the day. The little stream rippled just below, passing by the roots of the trees that sheltered us, and watered a rich and dark green plot of about two acres of-neither roses, nor violets, but something far better, which at once delighted our cook Christo-onions! According to his practical ideas the Garden of Eden would have been a mere wilderness in the absence of a bed of onions; but at length we had entered upon Paradise; this WAS a charming place! For some distance beyond this captivat

the table-land of Arodes with much difficulty, and liani's "antique" had again fallen, repeated

cyclamens were past their bloom, their variegated leaves ornamented the white stones as they emerged like bouquets from the crevices of fallen rock. There was little of interest in the t

re is nothing of interest upon the surface of ancient cities throughout Cyprus. Anything worth having has been appropriated many ages since by those who understood its value, and beyond a few fallen columns and blocks of squared stone there is literally nothing to attract attention. Even General di Cesnola excavated in vain upon the site of ancien

e ordinary vestiges there was nothing of peculiar interest. As there is no authority equal to General di Cesnola upon the antiquities of Cyp

e was rebuilt was by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented; but as nothing is said of the rebuilding of the city it is supposed that it was left in ruins; probably therefore during the long period that Cyprus was under the Roman and the Byzantine rule a great deal of the decorative and architectural material of Paphos was transported to the other city called Nea-Paphos, and used for its embellishment. In the Acts of the Apostles it is spoken of as the o

ription, from the temple of Paphos," which would suggest from their appearance that gout

still standing, defying time and the stone-cutter, though badly chipped by the latter. One of the wall-stones measured fifteen feet ten inches in length, by seven feet eleven i

avating its whole length, was690 feet long. The length of the west side I could only trace as far as 272 feet, its continuance being hiddenbeneath the houses of Kouklia. The length of the other two sides I was unable to ascertain for similarreasons. The walls of the temple itself, made of the kind of stone previously mentioned, but not in such huge blocks, I was able to trace correctly, bydint of patience; and though very little is seen above ground, yet, strange to say, the four corner-stonesare still standing. The no

ounter, nevertheless the difference can be of some inches only. The corner-stone of the north-west side has a hole in it thirteen inches in diameter; a similar hole also exists in the south-west corner of the outer wall. A

d stone, he can produce a clear and fine echo of a phrase o

titude; as in sacred groves a tree might have been made to speak by the simple contrivance of a man concealed within the hollow stem, which to outward appearance w

re may be left to the imagination; why she is represented by the exceedingly plain women of modern Cyprus surpasses the imagination. Perhaps the immorality connected with the ancient