Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879

can better exemplify the standard of industry and consequent prosperity than the vine, when we regard the iden

, the use of wine must have been pre-historical, and its abuse historical; the two purposes having continued to the present day. It may therefore be acknowledged that no custom has been so universal and continuous as the drinking of wine from the earliest period of human existence. The vine is a mysterious plant; it is so peculiarly sensitive that, like a musical instrument which produces harmony or discord at the hands of different performers, the produce of the same variety is affected by the soil upon which the plants are grown. Thus ten thousand young vines may be planted upon one mountain, all of the same stock; but various qualities of wine will be produced, each with a special peculiarity of flavour, according to the peculiarities of soil. The same estate, planted wit

adicated. The vines of the Cape, although of infinite variety, produce wines with a family taint which is a flavour absorbed from the soil. Any person who knows Constantia, the luscious wine of the Cape of Good Hope, will at once detect the soupcon of that flavour in every quality of wine produce

s of soils are exceedingly remarkable, and cannot fail to attract a

ea of the island is devoted to the cultivation of the grape, which is comprised chiefly within the district of Limasol. No wine is made in the Carpas district, nor to the north of the Carpasian range of ju

sh chocolate-coloured soil of metamorphous rocks. The dark red, or black astringent wines, are produced upon the white marls and cretaceous limestone. The quan

Mr. Robson, the chief of customs, the following list repr

mmanderia-

Okes 2.75 lbs

155,451 117

430,000 300

d at about 2.5

eria "

nes " "

ge: 9 Piastres to

ster

for by the superabundance of rains in 1878-1879, which caused a great quantity, but bad quality, of juice, and the wi

s impression of the actual results. If the population of Cyprus is about 200,000, the maximum wine-crop of 6,000,000 okes would only yield 30 okes, or 60 ordinary

own establishment at Cette, where they are used for mixing with other wines. It should at once be understood that no quality of Cyprus wines is suitable to the English market, as they are generally shunned even by the English r

here can be no doubt that it affects the stomach. Certain civilised persons prefer game in a state approaching to decomposition; I have seen savages who enjoy flesh when actually putrid, and above all horrors, fish when stinking! Such food would disgust the civilised man who prefers his game "high," and would perhaps kill other civilised people whose palates and stomachs have been educated to avoid impurities. In the same manner the palate must be educated for wines or other drinks. I gave an old priest a bottle of Bass's pale India ale; he could not drink half a glass

es of spirits or the sleepy, heavy, and thirst-increasing qualities of beer. If Cyprus is at some future time to become a British colony, the wine trade will be the principal source of industry, and should be developed by the government with every possible encouragement to the proprietors of vineyards. An improved quality of wine will not necessitate an additional price, but, on the contrary, the wine-growing resources of the island are so irrep

ight have enjoyed it when he thought it must have cost you 72 shillings the dozen, he will detect some unpleasant peculiarity when you may foolishly have confided to him that it only cost you 36 shillings, or, worse still, 24 shillings. He will possibly suggest to you on the following morning that "something disagreed with him during the night, but he does NOT think it was the 24 shilling wine." Here is the fault of HALF-EDUCATED p

England, without which they would be unsaleable; as to our taste, they would be empty and vapid. We must therefore

concise description will account f

uickly rot, unless it was prepared by a species of tar; thus not only is the naturally unpleasant flavour of the skin imparted to the wine, but the mixture of tar renders it completely abominable to any palate that has not been educated to receive it. Let any person conceive the result of pouring ten or twelve gallons of Chateau Lafitte into an old and dirty goat-skin thoroughly impregnated with tar, and carrying this burden upon one side of a mule, balanced by a similar skin on the other side filled with the choicest Johannisberger. This load, worth at least 70 or 80 pounds at starting, would travel for two days exposed to a br

cultivation of the vine," and trace its prog

above the sea-level, the country is green with vineyards in the middle or latter end of May; not a yard of available land is lost. When the shoots are about three feet long and have shown the embryo bunches, a number of men enter the vineyard with switches and knock off the tender ends of the runners, which in a gentler method of cultivation would be picked off with the fin

n blossom. In the best vineyards attention is given to clearing away the weeds after rain, but usually the vines are le

le, goats, mules, and every stray animal that is attracted to the fields. The owner of the vineyard accordingly gathers his crop by degrees, a little before the proper time, and the grapes are exposed upon the house-tops to ripen artificially in the sun. In this manner the quality is seriously damaged; but the natives will not acknowledge it any more than the Devonshire farmers, who leave their apples in heaps upon the ground for many weeks, rotting and wasp-eaten, before they are carried to the pound for the grinding of cider. The grapes, having been trodden by men with large boots, are pressed, and the juice of the commanderia is placed in jars capable of holding from seventy to one hundred gallons. The refuse of skins and stalks is laid upon one side to ferment for the manufacture of raki, or spirit, by distillation. The fermentation of the juice proceeds in the earthen jars, and is guided according to the ideas of the prop

many jars of a century old, which have lost the flavour by extreme age, and have become liquid-proof by the choking of the pores with the crust deposited by the wine; these ar

hs of commanderia, morocanella, and muscadine, by the kindness of Mr. Lanites, who is largely interested in the trade at Limasol. The old commanderia was sufficiently sweet to occasion a roughness in the throat, and each quality was far too luscious for English taste, but might have been agreeable to sip like Tokay, by soaking a sponge biscuit. The utterly rude method of producing native wines, which can scarcely be dignified by the term "manufacture,"

y. The growers imagine that the extra amount of tannin is preservative, without which, their wine might deteriorate during the rough treatment to which it is subjected by transport and exposure; and to their specially-educated palates this astringency is agreeable, combined with the strong flavour of tar, which completely excludes it from the consumption of Englishmen. Neither the commanderia nor any other quality of wine is subjected to the process of "fining;" when issued from the stores of the merchant, therefore, a really bright clear wine is never met with. The black wines could be considerab

foot above the ground, and two eyes are supposed to be left upon each spur. But I have watched the cultivators during the process, and observed the usual neglect; sometimes the spurs were shaved off completely, without a bud for next year's shoot, and at others too many buds were left, that would weaken and d

ut 300 gallons each were arranged in long parallel rows, all fi

ting to examine the network of obstructions and extortions to which the unfortunate wine-grower is ex

orted officially i

n 1875 did not exceed an ordinary average, and growers still complain loudly that the imposts upon wines, reckoning from the grape to the vat, are so

n, and in the meanwhile the collection of the imposts is suspended. Should the result prove to be the elaboration of a fair, reasonable, and consistent scale of duties, the revival of

r following the

ierides

which was for a short time suspended, has recommenced, and the manner in which it is conducted is still arbitrary and vexatious, while remonstrances have hithe

nsul Watki

all sorts of unreasonable regulations, and to the vexatious mode of thei

g in 1879-and although the grievances of the Cyprian wine-growers were sufficiently aggravated to call for the vigorous reports and protests of three

llent digest of all that co

d export duties, which were collected in a very harassing manner. The growers have had to pay, under the tax called `dimes,' an eighth part of the produce of grapes to the treasury; but this could not be taken in kind, so a money value was fixed yearly by the local medjlis, or fixed tribunal; but as the assessment was based on the market-price at the chief town of the district, instead of the value at the place of growth, this tax, instead of

b of the gravest character by the absorption at Constantinople of an unfair proportion of the revenue, and our government was not in a position to risk a reduction of income by such an important change in the system of taxation. The Cypriotes have nevertheless derived a collateral advantage from the change of rulers, as the extreme grievances to which the consular reports allude were aggravated by the farmers of taxes, who no longer exist. These people were extortioners of the worst

rom the first bursting of the young vines, I will now examine the system of arbitrary inter

g to the rateable value of the land, which is divided into th

es the donum (abou

0 piastres

ax upon these valuations

mself at the government office at Limasol, many miles from his estate, to petition for the attendance of the official valuer, called t

rowers) interests, and he accompanies the government official during his examination of the vineyards. After a certain amount of haggling and discussion, an approximate weight of gr

nd other superior varieti

r grapes pay 16

eason, being sometimes more or less than the figures given. The crop is generally ripe towards the end

hed, the proprietor may gather his crop, and press it for wine. The rows of

miles distant, to petition for the government official to measure the contents

grower, and occasions an expense f

amination of the quality of the district produce must be completed, and, an aver

nt vexatious delays and expensive journeys, entailing loss of time f

antity that he wishes to convey. After this trouble and delay he returns to his home with the official permit to remove to a specified place (generally Limasol)

long journey over steep mountain rocky paths to Limasol, where he will sell his load to

h; thus absorbing the vile smells of the primitive but secure package. The owner is well aware that the value of his wine will depend upon the flavour

d he drives his laden and tired mules to the yard. Here he finds some hundreds of mules and their proprietors in a similar position to himself; however, there is no help for it, and they m

present his teskeri, or permit, for removal from his village to Limasol of a specified quantity of wine, and his load must weigh that prescribed weight upon delivery. His sc

t once a week,-generally twice). The unfortunate vine-grower, after waiting patiently in despair, discovers that he must wait still longer. At length, after vexations and delays, he draws a sample of wine into a gourd-shell from his skins, and hands it to the merchant; who, having made a wry fac

kes of spirit for every ten loads (1280 okes) of wine. This pays a tax of eight paras the oke, which,

ty free for his own consumption; and when his jars are measured to determine the

to calculate the actual cost of his wine, as the loss of time, expense of journeys, and uncertainty of the amount of delays are entirely beyond his control.

s, would be about half an English acre; and this area is calculated to

90 piastres the load, wholesale price; therefore one donum will

produce the natives

str

penses of cu

hing, weeding, &

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

market . . . . . .

es, including malli

_

105 13

of the producer of only 30 piast

been considered; neither the wear and tear of implements, jars, loss by accidents of sea

n difficult to stand; and these positions, although peculiarly adapted for the cultivation of the vine by reason of the soil, would be absolutely worthless for other uses. The vine requires little water after the young grapes have formed, and the burning sun-light which is favourable for their development would destroy all cereals upon those steep inclinations, where a casual shower, instead of soaking into the earth and nourishing the

tion he has escaped the extra extortion of the tax-farmer, he is still the slave of petty vexations and delays, which stra

ble to the requirements of the country; and as there are no branch roads in communication, the people are hardly benefited, as they cannot reach the main artery with wheeled conveyances. The military road from Limasol might as well be a railway without any branch traffic, as it is entirely independent of other roads: thus, should carts be established to convey the wine of the district to Limasol, they must be loaded by mules that will bring the produce from th

no more either in labour or in plant to produce a good wine than to continue your present rude method of production. You may double the value of your wine by an improv

-skins. So long as the mule-paths are our only routes we must adhere to the skins, which we a

s the present savage country remains roadless. It is the first duty of the government to open the entire wine di

e of the "Forty Thieves" would be used as water-tanks, and the wine would ripen in casks of several hundred gallons, and be racked off by taps at successive intervals when clear. The first deposit of tannin and fixed albumen would remain at the bottom of No. 1 vat, the second deposit after racking in No. 2; and the wine which is now an astringent, cloudy, and muddy mixture of i

ve us free to send our wine wherever we choose, without the abominable vexations and delays caused by the present arbitrary system; let the tax per donum include every charge for which we shall be liable: we shall then know at once the limit of our liability." I cannot see any practical difficulty in such an arrangement; a highway rate might be an extra when the roads should

ded to an important degree will share the fate of a commercial and agricultural depression which has resulted from the vague conditions of t