Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879

by Sir Samuel White Baker

Upon questioning the good monk respecting the destruction of forests upon his domain, he informed me that "during the Turkish administration he had been annually pillaged by hundreds of vessels which arrived from the neighbouring coasts of Asia Minor and of Egypt for the express purpose of cutting timber to be sold by weight as fire-wood at their various ports. He had protested in vain, there were no police, nor any means of resistance at Cape St. Andrea, therefore the numerous crews had defied him; and small presents from the owners of the vessels to the Pacha at headquarters were sufficient to ensure immunity." I asked him "why they wasted so much excellent fire-wood, and left the boughs to hamper the surface?" He replied, "that as the wood was sold by weight, the dealers preferred to cut the thick stems, as they packed closely on board the vessels, and, being green, they weighed heavy; therefore they rejected the smaller wood and left it to rot upon the ground." He declared "that on several occasions the crews had quarrelled, and that from pure spite they had set fire to the thick mass of dried boughs and lighter wood which had spread over the surface, and destroyed immense numbers of young trees." I had observed that large tracts had been burnt during the preceding year. He was delighted at the English occupation, as his property would now be protected, and in a few years the trees would attain a considerable size.

Having passed an interesting afternoon with the new ecclesiastical acquaintance, and tasted, immediately after his departure, the contents of his enormous bottle (which was as instantly presented, as a "great treat," to the servants), we lighted our big bonfires, and enjoyed the blaze like children, although the showers of red sparks threatened the destruction of the tent in the absence of Captain Shaw and the London Fire Brigade. After this temporary excitement in this utter-lack-of-incident-and-everyday-monotonous-island, the fires gradually subsided, and we all went to sleep. There is no necessity in Cyprus for sentries or night-watchers, the people are painfully good, and you are a great deal too secure when travelling. As to "revolvers!" I felt inclined to bury my pistols upon my first arrival, and to inscribe "Rest in peace" upon the tombstone. It would be just as absurd to attend church in London with revolvers in your belt as to appear with such a weapon in any part of Cyprus. Mine were carefully concealed in some mysterious corner of the gipsy-van; where they now lie hidden.

We had been two days at Cape St. Andrea, and it was necessary to right-about-face, as we could go no farther. The monk proposed to guide us to Rizo-Carpas, the capital of the Carpas district; therefore on 14th March we started.

This ride of fourteen miles was the most interesting we had made since our arrival in the island. After returning upon our old route for about nine miles, we struck off to the right (north) and ascended a steep gorge between precipitous wooded heights, where the light green foliage and the exceedingly bright red stems of numerous arbutus contrasted with the dense masses of dark greens which entirely clothed the surface. Upon arrival, about 600 feet above the sea we obtained a splendid view, as a table-topped hill of nearly equal height, with the usual steep cliff-like sides all covered with verdure, stood prominently in the foreground, and the deep valleys upon either side, abounding in rich caroub-trees and olives, led directly to the sea, about six miles distant and far below. We now crossed the watershed, and the view increased in beauty as it embraced a complete panorama, with the sea upon three sides, to the north, south, and east, with the mountains of Asia Minor in the far distance.

We arrived at Rizo-Carpas, which is situated in a gently-sloping vale about 450 feet above the sea-level, but surrounded upon all sides by superior heights, from which the coast of Caramania is distinctly visible during clear weather. The valley and slopes are highly cultivated with cereals, and plantations of mulberry-trees for the support of silkworms; numerous caroub-trees throughout the district give an agreeable and prosperous appearance. Although there is no actual town, native dwellings are dotted over the face of the country for some miles, ornamented by three churches, which present an air of civilisation and prosperity. The inhabitants were, as usual, very polite, and as Lady Baker and myself were sitting upon a rug beneath a tree which we had selected for the evening's halt, and waiting for the arrival of our camels, a crowd of women and children arrived with the ugliest and most witch-like old hag that I have ever seen. This old creature had brought fire and dried olive-leaves in a broken pot, with which she immediately fumigated us by marching round several times, and so manipulating her pot as to produce the largest volume of smoke. This custom, which is so general throughout Cyprus, is supposed to avert the evil-eye; but I imagine that it originated during a period when the plague or some other fatal epidemic was prevalent in the island, and fumigation was supposed to act as a preventative.

There is no medicinal property in the olive-leaf, but as the tree is practically undying, I attribute the use of the leaves as incense to be symbolically connected with the blessing of a long life expressed to a welcomed guest. It is one of those vestiges of tree-worship which may be traced in almost every country, both savage and civilised, and may be seen exhibited in Egypt, where the almost everlasting species of aloe is suspended above the doorway of a house as a talisman or safeguard to the family within: the idea thus expressed, "As the plant never dies, may your family last for ever." We got rid of the old hag and her smoky offering, and she became lost in the crowd which thronged around us; this was composed of the ugliest, dirtiest, shortest, and most repulsive lot of females that I ever saw: it was painful to look at them.

There was a general complaint that the silkworms had deteriorated, and that the mulberry-trees had suffered from a disease which had killed great numbers. It appeared to me that the decay of the trees was a sufficient reason for the inferiority of the silkworms. This was a serious loss to the inhabitants, as Rizo-Carpas was celebrated both for the quality and quantity of its silk-production.

From the watershed a few hundred yards behind our camp we had a good view of the northern coast below, which extended in a series of rocky bays and prominent points to the west, while the entire country from the shore to the rising ground formed a rich picture of caroub-trees and plots of cultivation. The hills upon which we stood, about 450 feet above the sea, were the continuations of the long Carpas range, where the force of the upheaval had become expended towards the east. As we looked westward the line of hills gradually heightened, until the well-known points of the compact limestone were clearly distinguished among the rugged outlines of the greater altitudes.

There was nothing of interest to induce a longer stay in Rizo-Carpas, therefore we started on the following morning upon our return journey, and after a lovely march of twenty miles, partly along an elevated plateau which commanded a view of both seas north and south, and then descending some 700 or 800 feet by a steep and interesting pass, we arrived at Lithrankomi, after passing through Gallibornu.

To my astonishment the oxen and their drivers, instead of awaiting me at Lithrankomi, were still at the latter village, and hearing that we had passed through, they came on to join us, but only arrived some hours later, at nightfall. I discharged my camels that evening, as the carts would begin their new contract on the following morning.