During this long service, the people stand, leaning on the supports of the few seats in the church, or on a kind of crutches, provided for the purpose. No images are allowed within their churches, but they are plentifully decorated with rough and glaring paintings; the more rough and glaring these are, the higher they stand in the estimation of the worshippers. Their music is without any aid from instruments, and is chiefly a kind of chanting, but it is said to be often beautiful and touchingly plaintive, although monotonous. The vestments of the clergy are very varied in form, often of fine texture, gorgeous in colour, and ornamented with jewellery of great value. Each of these vestments has its mystic meaning and virtue, to which great importance is attached. The worship of saints, angels, and the Virgin Mary, is carried to as great an excess as it can be at Rome, and it is long since the Greek Church held, that “the Mother of God” as they term her, “was without original.” It may be said, indeed, that the Panagia, or Holy Virgin, is the peculiar deity of the Greeks, as much as ever Pallas Athene was of the ancient Athenians. Everywhere, in church, palace, or cottage, a little coarse picture intended to represent the Holy Virgin, may be seen, often with a lamp burning before it, as the object of special adoration.
Being desirous of seeing something of the festivities of the Cypriotes on their fête day, I walked out to a church about half a league from the “Marina,” and in spite of the scenery around me, could have fancied I was again witnessing one of the annual markets, I had seen as a boy in my native land. Around and about the church, booths were ranged, and peasants were wandering around, chatting and eagerly driving bargains, under an impression very prevalent amongst them, that there will not be the usual deceit and roguery so near a house of God. Bells were pealing, and horses and asses neighing and winnying, as their owners, dressed in their Sunday best, galloped about in all directions. All those of the better class who appeared on the occasion, were also mounted, the elders looking on in stately dignity, whilst the youngsters galloped hither and thither like the wind.
In such a gathering as this in Central Europe, one would, no doubt, see many more powerful men, and more blooming girls, than are to be met with under similar circumstances in Cyprus. And as I gazed at the crowds before me, I could not help again noticing the strange blending of Syrian and Grecian types, in the faces and figures, whilst the dress of most was a curious mixture of European, Grecian, and Turkish fashions. Many of the girls were remarkably beautiful, with magnificent large flashing eyes; in most cases their eyebrows were blackened, and their hair, mixed with false, was piled high on the head. Not a few, as it appeared to me, had dipped pretty deeply into pots of cosmetics, for the use and compounding of which the fair Cypriotes have long been noted. One fashion pleased me much—namely, the common use of natural flowers for decorating the head. The very poorest in the crowd wore some kind of metal ornaments, whilst the wealthier class of women displayed ear-rings, chains, and medallions of heavy gold. The Cypriote husband takes great pride in seeing his wife thus decked, not perhaps so much from sentimental reasons, as because the extent of the show demonstrates what is the depth of his cash-box, and the chances of his family in the matter of dowries. For a Cypriote to invest his earnings in land would, under the late Government, have been an act involving the utmost risk of capital.
As I returned home on this my last day in Cyprus, I could not but feel a shade of melancholy stealing over me. The evening was lovely, the air pure and clear, and the sun as it went down, tipped the purple mountains with gold, and gave a tinge of bronze to the palms and cypress trees of Larnaka, as they stood clearly defined against the evening sky.
When I reached the town, old and young were sitting before the doors of the Grecian houses, or chatting and laughing with each other in lively groups about the streets. In the Turkish quarters, on the contrary, not a living creature was visible, and every house had the appearance of being a dungeon. Yet, as I have before said, could I have looked within the high walls, I should probably have seen the entire family enjoying the fragrant coolness of their gardens.
Next day, I bade farewell to this lovely island, which still lay bound hand and foot, in the power of her negligent and cruel masters, and entirely unconscious of the great and important change that would shortly burst her bonds.
May we not trust that under British rule, her barren wastes and plains may once more speedily become fruitful fields, and her people again reap the blessings and benefits of a pure Christian Church, and a paternal Government.