“Covered with their white mantles, which were embroidered with a red cross, with their black and white banner ‘Beauseant,’ they rush forward to battle in silence. They have no war-cry. As soon as the general’s trumpet sounds, they lay their lances at rest, and repeating from one of the Psalms of David ‘Lord give us the victory, not for us but for thy holy name,’ they throw themselves upon the strongest part of the enemies’ forces. They never give way! they must break through or die! Does one of the brotherhood lose heart, he is deprived of his mantle and all his knightly honours for a year, and must eat his meals from the ground, without a tablecloth, disturbed by the dogs, that he is forbidden to drive away.” The order already possessed a “commande” (as the possessions of the knights were called) in Cyprus, and important privileges were conferred upon them by King Hugo I., in the year 1210. They were allowed to acquire territory, wherever they wished, to import or export all sorts of produce, and to grind their corn without charge in the king’s mills, which were situated on the stream Kythrea, near Buffavento. They had residences and gardens in Nikosia and Limasol, where the head-quarters of the order were established, and in addition to this occupied Platanistia and Finika, in the district of Paphos, and Mamgrallu and Kolossin in the district of Limasol.
In Kolossin, a French proprietor had possession of considerable domains, all of which were bought by the king and presented to the knights. And now Kolossin became their head-quarters; here dwelt the general of the order, and here was built, during the first part of the thirteenth century, the strong castle, which during war was their fortress, and in peaceful times the place where the festivals and assemblies of the order were held. Towards the close of the Middle Ages, not fewer than forty-one districts belonged to them in Cyprus. Their knowledge of husbandry and business-like habits enabled the Knights of St. John to bring their estates into a very thriving condition. The cultivation of corn, oil, vines, sugar-cane, and cotton increased in a wonderful manner, and because wine was produced only in the one district, or because the wine of that district surpassed the rest in quality, it was called Commanderia wine, and Kolossin was regarded as the centre of the wine-growing region.
We thankfully remembered the brave knights as we sat at table and tasted the excellent wine still produced on these hills. From them likewise the islanders learned how to preserve the little birds called beccafices, by simply plucking them, and packing them in jars filled with wine. The wine soaks thoroughly into the flesh, which becomes slightly hardened, and of most delicious flavour. Great numbers of these delicate little birds are killed in Cyprus.
The export of wine might easily be made a source of great wealth to the inhabitants; as matters at present stand, the wine imported has to pay a duty of one-sixteenth of its value, but fifty times more than is now grown might be produced from the rich lands, which at present lie waste and useless.
It is a wonder how, seeing the rude manner in which the wine is made, that it is so good as it is. Very little trouble is taken with it. Goats and young donkeys wander at their own wicked will through the vineyards during the early part of the year, and feed upon the young grapes. The clusters are gathered without the slightest selection, and thrown upon the ground, where probably they may remain until soaked with rain. After lying for a week to rot, they are pressed in the roughest way; the must is poured into large earthen vessels, which are frequently put into a room where rancid oil, grain, dried leaves, fruit, and all sorts of bad smelling things are standing and hanging around. In this polluted atmosphere the must has to undergo two fermentations. Over the earthen pot that contains the wine a flat slate is laid, or a cover with a little hole in it, through which at intervals a straw is introduced and a mouthful sucked out, partly as a drink, but perhaps more properly to ascertain how the wine is getting on; it may have grown sour or it may not. Should the fermentation have proved successful, the merchants come, ready to bargain about the price. This wine is kept in casks, through which the air is allowed to pass, and after a year is considered to be in good condition. As in many neighbouring countries, it is the custom in Cyprus to buy wine when a child is born and keep it to be drunk at its marriage feast.
Commanderia is first the colour of a topaz, and then becomes deep red, finally attaining the hue of good curaçoa. Muscadine, the second quality of Cyprian wine, is very sweet and has a slight violet tinge when new, after some years it attains the thickness of syrup. Mavro, a dark red wine, is also much drunk in Cyprus; it is very dry and resembles Chateau Margaux.
CHAPTER XXIV
SOIL AND MINERAL PRODUCTS.
A glance at the map shows us that the island of Cyprus is naturally divisible into three regions, all widely differing from each other. Along the entire length of its northern division there runs a long range of low hills, close to the sea, varying in height from two to three thousand feet, composed of Jura limestone, flanked on either side by Vienna sandstone.