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CYPRUS
AS I SAW IT IN 1879
by SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.S.A.,
F.R.G.S., &c.
Author of "Ismailia," "The Albert N'Yanza," "The Nile Tributaries of
Abyssinia," "Eight Years in Ceylon," "The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon."
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. ARRIVAL AT LARNACA CHAPTER II. THE GIPSY-VANS ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTIES CHAPTER III. ROUTE TO NICOSIA CHAPTER IV. THE MESSARIA CHAPTER V. START FOR THE CARPAS CHAPTER VI. CAPE ST. ANDREA CHAPTER VII. KYRENIA AND THE NORTH COAST CHAPTER VIII. ROUTE TO BAFFO CHAPTER IX. FROM BAFFO TO LIMASOL CHAPTER X. THE WINE DISTRICT OF LIMASOL CHAPTER XI. FROM LIMASOL TO THE MOUNTAINS CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF TROODITISSA CHAPTER XIII. WOODS AND FORESTS CHAPTER XIV. REMARKS ON IRRIGATION CHAPTER XV. LIFE AT THE MONASTERY OF TROODITISSA CHAPTER XVI. SOMETHING ABOUT TAXATION CHAPTER XVII. THE DISTRICT OF LIMASOL AND LANDOWNERS CHAPTER XVIII. ON POLICE, WAGES, FOOD, CLIMATE, ETC. CHAPTER XIX. POLITICAL REFLECTIONS CHAPTER XX. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION.
I do not intend to write a history of Cyprus, as authorities already exist that are well known, but were generally neglected until the British occupation rescued them from secluded bookshelves. Even had I presumed to write as a historian, the task would have been impossible, as I am at this moment excluded from the world in the precincts of the monastery of Trooditissa among the heights of ancient Olympus or modern Troodos, where books of reference are unknown, and the necessary data would be wanting. I shall recount my personal experience of this island as an independent traveller, unprejudiced by political considerations, and unfettered by the responsible position of an official. Having examined Cyprus in every district, and passed not only a few days, but winter, spring, and summer in testing the climatic and geographical peculiarities of the country, I shall describe "Cyprus as I saw it in 1879," expressing the opinions which I formed upon the spot with the results of my experience.
Although I have read many works upon this island, I have no books with me except that interesting record of the discovery of antiquities by General di Cesnola, and the invaluable compilation for the Intelligence Branch, Quartermaster-General's Department, Horse Guards, by Captain Savile, 18th Royal Irish Regiment. It is impossible to praise the latter work too highly, as every authority, whether ancient or modern, has been studied, and the information thus carefully collected has been classed under special headings and offered to the reader in a concise and graphic form which renders it perfect as a book of reference. I must express my deep appreciation of the assistance that I have derived from Captain Savile's work, as it has directed my attention to many subjects that might have escaped my observation, and it has furnished me with dates, consular reports, and other statistical information that would otherwise have been difficult to obtain. The study of M. Gaudrey's able report to the French government upon the agricultural resources and the geological features of Cyprus, before I commenced my journey, guided me materially in the interesting observations of the various formations and terrestrial phenomena. The experiences of the late British Consul, Mr. Hamilton Lang, described in his attractive volume, together with those of Von Loher, Doctors Unger and Kotschy, have afforded me an advantage in following upon footsteps through a well-examined field of discovery.
Before I enter upon a description of my personal examination of the island, it will be advisable to trace a brief outline of the geographical position of Cyprus, which caused its early importance in the history of the human race, and which has been accepted by the British government as sufficiently unchanged to warrant a military occupation in 1878, as a strategical point that dominates the eastern portion of the Mediterranean, and supplies the missing link in the chain of fortified ports from England to the shores of Egypt.
In the world's infancy oceans were unknown seas upon which the vessels of the ancients rarely ventured beyond the sight of land; without the compass the interminable blue water was a terrible wilderness full of awe and wonder. The Phoenicians, who first circumnavigated Africa by passing through the then existing canal between Suez and the Nile, coasted the whole voyage, as did in later years the famous Portuguese, Vasco di Gama, and stations were formed along the shores at convenient intervals. Hanno the Carthaginian coasted to an uncertain and contested point upon the western shores of Africa, but no ocean commercial port was known to have existed in the early days of maritime adventure. The Mediterranean offered peculiar advantages of physical geography; its great length and comparatively narrow width embraced a vast area, at the same time that it afforded special facilities for commerce in the numerous ports and islands that would form a refuge in stress of weather.
The countries which surrounded this great inland sea were rich; the climate throughout its course combined the temperate with almost tropical, according to the changes of seasons; accordingly, the productions of the earth varying upon the northern and southern coasts, were all that could be required for the necessities of the human race. In this happily situated position commerce was first cradled, and by the interchange of ideas and natural productions, artificial wants were mutually created among the various countries around the great sea margin; the supply of these new requirements and exchange of commodities established trade. With the development of commerce, wealth and prosperity increased; nations became important through the possession of superior harbours and geographical positions, and the entire maritime strength and commercial activity of the ancient world was represented by the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon were the English of to-day; the Egyptians and the Greeks were followed as the world grew older by the Venetians and Genoese, and throughout the world's history no point possessed a more constant and unchangeable attraction from its geographical position and natural advantages than the island of Cyprus, which in turn was occupied by Phoenicians, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Byzantine rulers, Saracens, Byzantine rulers again, English, Lusignans, Venetians, Turks, and once more English in 1878.
The advantages which had thus possessed a magnetic influence in attracting towards this island the leading nations of the world were in ancient days undeniable. When vessels directed their course only by well-known landmarks, or by the position of certain stars, it was highly necessary for a maritime power to occupy a continuous chain of stations, where, in case of danger from a superior force, a place of refuge would be near. Cyprus from its peculiar geographical position commanded the eastern portion of the Mediterranean. The harbour of Famagousta was only a few hours' sail, with a favourable wind, to the coast of Asia Minor. The bays of Larnaca and Limasol were roadsteads with a safe anchorage, and Paphos (Baffo) was a convenient harbour upon the south-western portion of the island, capable of protecting a considerable number of the small vessels of the period. Thus Cyprus possessed two harbours upon the south coast in addition to good roadsteads; while upon the north, Cerinea (Kyrenia) and Soli, although never large, were serviceable ports of refuge, exactly facing the coast of Caramania, plainly visible. The lofty mountains of the Carpas range which overhang these harbours command the sea view at an elevation of between three and four thousand feet, from which the approach of an enemy could be quickly signalled, while the unmistakable peaks of the rugged sky-line formed landmarks by which vessels could steer direct to the desired ports. The same advantage of descrying an enemy at a distance from the shore exists in many parts of Cyprus, owing to the position of the heights; and the rocky nature of the coast (with the exception of a few points such as Limasol, Morphu Bay, &c.), rendered the landing of a large force extremely difficult. As a strategical point, there was no more formidable position than Cyprus; it formed a common centre within immediate reach of Alexandria and all the coasts of Syria and Asia Minor. It was not only a military place d'armes, such as Malta and Gibraltar now are, dependent upon maritime superiority for the necessary provisions, but it was a country of large area, comprising about 3500 square miles, with a soil of unbounded fertility in a high state of cultivation, a population sufficiently numerous for all requirements of the island, and forests of timber that was in great request for the architect and ship-builder. In addition to these natural sources of wealth, the mineral productions were celebrated from the earliest history, and the copper of Cyprus was used by the Phoenicians in the manufacture of their celebrated bronze.
The Chittim wood of Scripture, imported to Syria from Cyprus (the ancient Chittim), was probably a species of cypress at that time composing the forests which ornamented a considerable portion of the surface. There are two varieties of cypress in the island: that which would have been celebrated grows upon the high mountains, and attains a girth of from seven to nine feet, the wood being highly aromatic, emitting a perfume resembling a mixture of sandal-wood and cedar; the other cypress is a dwarf variety that seldom exceeds twenty feet in height, with a maximum circumference of two feet; this is a totally different wood, and is intensely hard, while the former is easily worked, but durable. The derivation of the name Cyprus has been sought for from many sources; and the opinions of the authorities differ. English people may reflect that they alone spell and pronounce the word as "Cyprus." The name of the cypress-tree, which at one time clothed the mountains of this formerly verdant island, is pronounced by the inhabitants "Kypresses," which approximates closely to the various appellations of Cyprus in different languages. The Greek name is Kypros, and it is probable that as in ancient days the "chittim-wood" was so called from the fact of its export from Chittim, the same link may remain unbroken between Kypros and the tree Kypresses.
The geographical advantages which I have enumerated are sufficient to explain the series of struggles for possession to which the island has been exposed throughout its history; the tombs that have been examined, have revealed the secrets of the dead, and in the relics of Phoenicians, Persians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and the long list of foreign victors, we discover proofs of the important past, until we at length tread upon pre-historical vestiges, and become lost in a labyrinth of legends. From the researches of undoubted authorities, we know that Cyprus possessed a written character peculiarly original, and that it was occupied by a people highly civilised according to the standard of the early world at so primitive an era, that all records have disappeared, and we are left in the darkness of conjecture.
The changes in the importance of certain geographical positions, owing to the decline and fall of empires, which at one time governed the destinies of the Eastern world, have been strikingly exhibited on the shores of the Mediterranean; Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, Cyprus, had lost their significance upon modern charts, even before the New Worlds appeared, when America, Australia, and the Eastern Archipelago were introduced upon the globe. The progress of Western Europe eclipsed the Oriental Powers which hitherto represented the civilisation of mankind, and two points alone remained, which, shorn of their ancient glory, still maintained their original importance as geographical centres, that will renew those struggles for their possession which fill the bloody pages of their history—Egypt and Constantinople.
No country had been more completely excluded from the beaten paths of British travellers than the island of Cyprus, and England was startled by the sudden revelation of a mystery connected with the Treaty of Berlin, that it was to become a strategical point for a British military occupation!
On the 4th June, 1878, a "Convention of Defensive Alliance between Great Britain and Turkey" was signed, which agreed upon the following articles:-
ARTICLE I.
"If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them, shall be retained by Russia, or if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take possession of any further territories of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in Asia, as fixed by the definitive treaty of peace, England engages to join His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of Arms.
"In return, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan promises to England to introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the government, and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in those territories; and in order to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign the island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.
ARTICLE II.
"The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged, within the space of one month, or sooner if possible.
"In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
"Done at Constantinople, the fourth day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
"A.H. LAYARD.
"SAFVET."
It was eventually agreed between the contracting Powers:-
"That England will pay to the Porte whatever is the present excess of revenue over expenditure in the island; this excess to be calculated and determined by the average of the last five years."
and:—
"That if Russia restores to Turkey Kars and the other conquests made by her in Armenia during the last war, the island of Cyprus will be evacuated by England, and the Convention of the fourth June, 1878, will be at an end."
I knew nothing of Cyprus, but I felt sure that the Turks had the best of the bargain, as they would receive the usual surplus revenue from our hands, and be saved the trouble and onus of the collection; they would also be certain of a fixed annual sum, without any of those risks of droughts, famine, and locusts, to which the island is exposed, and which seriously affect the income.
Although there would only be a wildly remote chance of Russia ever relinquishing her Asiatic prey, the bare mention of the words "will be evacuated by England" was a possible contingency and risk, that would effectually exclude all British capital from investment in the island. I could not discover any possible good that could accrue to England by the terms of the Convention. If Cyprus had been presented as a "bonus" by the Porte to counterbalance the risk we should incur in a defensive alliance for the protection of Asia Minor, I could have seen an addition to our Colonial Empire of a valuable island, that would not only have been of strategical value, but such that in a few years, money and British settlers would have entirely changed its present aspect, and have created for it a new era of prosperity.
If England had purchased Cyprus, I could have understood the plain, straightforward, business-like transaction, which would have at once established confidence, both among the inhabitants, who would have become British subjects; and through the outer world, that would have acknowledged the commencement of a great future.
But, if we were actually bound in defensive alliance with Turkey in case of a war with Russia, why should we occupy Cyprus upon such one-sided and anomalous conditions, that would frustrate all hopes of commercial development, for the sake of obtaining a strategical position that would have been opened to our occupation AS AN ALLY at any moment? On the other hand, if we distrusted Turkey, and feared that she might coquet with Russia at some future period, I could see a paramount necessity for the occupation of Cyprus, and even Egypt; but we were supposed to be, and I believe were, acting in absolute and mutual good faith as the protector of Asiatic Turkey, in defensive alliance with the Sultan. In that position, should we have entered into a war with Russia, there was no necessity for the occupation and responsibility of any new position, as every port of the Ottoman dominions, even to the Golden Horn of Constantinople, would have welcomed our troops and boats with enthusiasm.
Turkey is a suspicious Power, and the British government may have had to contend with difficulties that are unknown to the criticising public; it may have been impossible to have obtained her sanction for the occupation under other conditions. The possibility of future complications that might terminate in a close alliance between the conquered and the victor, may have suggested the necessity for securing this most important strategical position without delay, upon first conditions that might subsequently receive modifications. At first sight the political situation appeared vague, but I determined to examine the physical geography of Cyprus, and to form my own opinion of its capabilities.
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879.
CHAPTER 1.
ARRIVAL AT LARNACA.
On the morning of the 4th January we sighted Cyprus at about fifty miles distance, after a smooth voyage of twenty-six hours from Alexandria. The day was favourable for an arrival, as the atmospherical condition afforded both intense lights and shadows. The sky was a cobalt blue, but upon all points of the compass local rain-clouds hovered in dark patches near the surface, and emptied themselves in heavy showers. The air was extremely clear, and as we steamed at ten knots each hour brought out in prominent relief the mountain peaks of Cyprus; Olympus was capped with clouds. Passing through a rain-cloud which for a time obscured the view, we at length emerged into bright sunshine; the mists had cleared from the mountain range, and Troodos, 6,400 feet above the sea-level, towered above all competitors.
We were now about ten miles from the shore, and the general appearance of the island suggested a recent snowfall. As the sun shone upon a bare white surface, the sterile slopes and mountain sides were utterly devoid of vegetation, and presented a sad aspect of desolation, which reminded me of the barren range on the shores of the Red Sea.
First impressions are seldom correct, but the view of Cyprus on arrival from the south was depressing, and extinguished all hopes that had been formed concerning our newly-acquired possession. This was the treasure acquired by astute diplomacy!
For about twenty miles we skirted this miserable coast, upon which not a green speck relieved the eye; at length we sighted the minaret which marked the position of Larnaca, the port or roadstead to which the mail was bound; and in the town we distinguished three or four green trees. We cast anchor about half a mile from the shore. Nine or ten vessels, including several steamers, were in the roadstead, and a number of lighters were employed in landing cargoes.
Disappointment and disgust were quickly banished by the reflection that at this season (January) there was nothing green in England: the thermometer in that dreary land would be below freezing-point, while on the deck where we stood it was 64 degrees Fahr. We were quickly in a boat steering for the landing-place.
All towns look tolerably well from the sea, especially if situated actually upon the margin of the water. The town represented a front of about a mile, less than five feet above the level of the sea, bordered by a masonry quay perpendicular to the surface, from which several wooden jetties of inferior and very recent construction served as landing-places.
The left flank of Larnaca was bounded by a small Turkish fort, absolutely useless against modern artillery upon the walls the British flag was floating. We landed upon the quay. This formed a street, the sea upon one side, faced by a row of houses. As with all Turkish possessions, decay had stamped the town: the masonry of the quay was in many places broken down, the waves had undermined certain houses, and in the holes thus washed out by the action of water were accumulations of recent filth. Nevertheless, enormous improvements had taken place since the English occupation. An engineer was already employed in repairing the quay, and large blocks of carefully faced stone (a sedimentary limestone rock of very recent formation) were being laid upon a bed of concrete to form a permanent sea-wall. The houses which lined the quay were for the most part stores, warehouses, and liquor-shops. Among these the Custom House, the Club, Post Office, and Chief Commissioner's were prominent as superior buildings. There was a peculiar character in the interior economy of nearly all houses in Larnaca; it appeared that heavy timber must have been scarce before the town was built, as the upper floor was invariably supported by stone arches of considerable magnitude, which sprang from the ground-floor level. These arches were uniform throughout the town, and the base of the arch was the actual ground, without any pillar or columnar support; so that in the absence of a powerful beam of timber, the top of the one-span arch formed a support for the joists of the floor above. In large houses numerous arches gave an imposing appearance to the architecture of the ground floors, which were generally used as warehouses. Even the wooden joists were imported poles of fir, thus proving the scarcity of natural forests. The roofs of the houses were for the most part flat, and covered with tempered clay and chopped straw for the thickness of about ten inches. Some buildings of greater pretensions were gaudy in bright red tiles, but all were alike in the general waste of rain-water, which was simply allowed to pour into the narrow streets through innumerable wooden shoots projecting about six feet beyond the eaves. These gutters would be a serious obstacle to wheeled conveyances, such as lofty waggons, which would be unable in many cases to pass beneath. The streets are paved, but being devoid of subterranean drains, a heavy shower would convert them into pools. Foot passengers are protected from such accidents by a stone footway about sixteen inches high upon either side of the narrow street. Before the English occupation these hollow lanes were merely heaps of filth, which caused great unhealthiness; they were now tolerably clean; but in most cases the pavement was full of holes that would have tested the springs and wheels of modern vehicles.
I had heard, prior to leaving England, that hotels, inns, &c., were unknown in Larnaca; I was, therefore, agreeably surprised on landing, to find a new hotel (Craddock's) which was scrupulously clean, the rooms neatly whitewashed, and everything simple and in accordance with the requirements of the country.
The miserable reports in England respecting the want of accommodation, and the unhealthiness of Cyprus, had determined me to render myself independent; I had therefore arranged a gipsy travelling-van while in London, which would, as a hut upon wheels, enable us to select a desirable resting-place in any portion of the island, where the route should be practicable for wheeled conveyances. This van was furnished with a permanent bed; shelves or wardrobe beneath; a chest of drawers; table to fall against the wall when not in use, lockers for glass and crockery, stove and chimney, and in fact it resembled a ship's cabin, nine feet six inches long, by five feet eight inches wide.
I had another excellent light four-wheeled van constructed by Messrs. Glover Brothers, of Dean Street, Soho: both these vehicles had broad and thick iron tires to the wheels, which projected 5/8 inch upon either side beyond the felloes, in order to afford a wide surface to deep soil or sandy ground without necessitating a too massive wheel.
The vans with all my effects had left London by steamer direct for Cyprus, I therefore found them, upon my arrival from Egypt, in the charge of Mr. Z. Z. Williamson, a most active agent and perfect polyglot; the latter gift being an extreme advantage in this country of Babel-like confusion of tongues.
I was now prepared to investigate Cyprus thoroughly, and to form my own opinion of its present and future value.
The day after my arrival I strolled outside the town and exercised my three spaniels which had come out direct from England. The dogs searched for game which they did not find, while I examined the general features of the country. About three-quarters of a mile from the present town or port are the remains of old Larnaca. This is a mere village, but possesses a large Greek church. The tomb of Lazarus, who is believed to have settled in Cyprus to avoid persecution after his miraculous resurrection from the grave, is to be seen in the church of St. George within the principal town.
From this point an excellent view is obtained of the adjacent country. A plain of most fertile soil extends along the sea-coast towards the east for six miles, and in breadth about four miles. The present town of Larnaca stands on the sea-board of this plain, which to the west of the port continues for about four miles, thus giving an area of some ten miles in length, forming almost a half circle of four miles in its semi-diameter; the whole is circumscribed by hills of low but increasing altitudes, all utterly barren. Through the plain are two unmistakable evidences of river-action which at some remote period had washed down from the higher ground the fertile deposit which has formed the alluvium of the valley. Within this apparently level plain is a vestige of a once higher level, the borders of which have been denuded by the continual action of running water during the rushes from the mountains in the rainy season. This water action has long ceased to exist. There can be little doubt that in the ancient days of forest-covered mountains, the rainfall of Cyprus was far greater than at present, and that important torrents swept down from the hill-sides. We see evidences of this in the rounded blocks, all water-worn, of syenite and gneiss, which are intermingled with the bits of broken pottery in the vale, alike relics of the past and proving the changes both in nature and in man since Cyprus was in the zenith of prosperity.
A level plateau about eighteen feet above the lowest level of the plain shows the original surface. The soil of the entire valley is calcareous, and is eminently adapted for the cultivation of the vine and cereals. As the rain has percolated through the ground, it has become so thoroughly impregnated with sulphate of lime that it has deposited a series of strata some six or seven feet below the surface, which form a flaky subterranean pavement. The ancients selected this shallow soil of a higher level for a burial-ground, and they burrowed beneath the stratum of stony deposit to form their tombs. One of the chief occupations of modern Cypriotes appears to be the despoiling of the dead; thus the entire sides of the plateau-face for a distance of about two miles are burrowed into thousands of holes to a depth of ten and twelve feet in search of hidden treasures. If the same amount of labour had been expended in the tillage of the surface, the result would have been far more profitable. A small proportion of the land upon the outskirts of the town was cultivated, some had been recently ploughed, while in other plots the wheat had appeared above the surface. Water is generally found at eight or nine feet below the level, but this is of an inferior description, and the town and environs are well supplied by an aqueduct which conveys the water from powerful springs about seven miles to the west of Larnaca, near Arpera. This useful work was constructed according to the will of a former pacha, who bequeathed the sum required, for a public benefit.
Large flocks of sheep were grazing in various portions of the uncultivated plain. At first sight they appeared to be only searching for food among the stones and dust, but upon close examination I found a peculiar fleshy herb something like the stone-crop which grows upon the old walls and rocks of England. This plant was exceedingly salt, and the sheep devoured it with avidity, and were in fair condition. The wool was long, but of a coarse wiry texture, and much impaired by the adherence of thistles and other prickly plants. The musical sound of distant bells denoted the arrival of a long string of camels, laden with immense bales of unpressed cotton on their way to the port of Larnaca. Each animal carried two bales, and I observed that the saddles and pads were in excellent order, the camels well fed, and strongly contrasting with the cruel carelessness of the camel owners of Egypt, whose beasts are galled into terrible sores from the want of padding in their packs. The cotton had been cleaned upon the plantation, but it would be subjected to hydraulic pressure and packed in the usual iron-bound bales for shipment, upon arrival in the stores of Larnaca.
It was impossible to resist a feeling of depression upon strolling around the environs of the town and regarding the barren aspect of the distant country. Every inch of this fertile plain should be cultivated, and numerous villages should be dotted upon the extensive surface. "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth" was a curse that appeared to have adhered to Cyprus.
It was unnecessary to seek for the chief cause of unhealthiness; this was at once apparent in the low swamps on the immediate outskirts of the town. In ancient days the shallow harbour of Cittium existed on the east side of modern Larnaca; whether from a silting of the port, or from the gradual alteration in the level of the Mediterranean, the old harbour no longer exists, but is converted into a miserable swamp, bordered by a raised beach of shingles upon the seaboard. The earth has been swept down by the rains, and the sand driven in by the sea, while man stood idly by, allowing Nature to destroy a former industry. All the original harbours of the country have suffered from the same neglect.
There was little to be seen in the neighbourhood. The site was pointed out where the troops were encamped in the tremendous heat of July in the close vicinity of the swampy ground, upon pestiferous soil, and the usual tales of commissariat blunders were recounted. Close to the borders of this unhealthy spot, but about twenty feet above the level of the lowest morass, stands the convent belonging to the Sisters of Charity, which includes a school, in addition to a hospital. Great kindness was shown by these excellent ladies to many English sufferers, and their establishment deserves a liberal support from public contributions.
I walked through the bazaar of Larnaca; this is situated at the west end of the town near the fort, close to which there is a public fountain supplied by the aqueduct to which I have already alluded. Brass taps were arranged around the covered stone reservoir, but I remarked a distressing waste of water, as a continual flow escaped from an uncontrolled shoot which poured in a large volume uselessly into the street. Within a few yards of the reservoir was a solitary old banian tree (ficus religiosa), around which a crowd of donkeys waited, laden with panniers containing large earthen jars, which in their turn were to be filled with the pure water of the Arpera springs.
Although the crowd was large, and all were busied in filling their jars and loading their respective animals, there was no jostling or quarrelling for precedence, but every individual was a pattern of patience and good humour. Mohammedans and Cypriotes thronged together in the same employment, and the orderly behaviour in the absence of police supervision formed a strong contrast to the crowds in England.
The Mosque being within a few feet of them, the Mussulmans could perform their ablutions at the threshold. Around the font, women were intermingled with a crowd of men and boys. The girls and lads were regular in features and good-looking, though dirt and torn clothing of various gaudy colours gave a picturesque, but hardly an attractive, appearance to the group. The bazaar was entered at right angles with the quay; the streets were paved with stones of irregular size, sloping from both sides towards the centre, which formed the gutter. Camels, mules, bullock-carts, and the omnipresent donkeys thronged the narrow streets, either laden with produce for the quay, or returning after having delivered their heavy loads. The donkeys were very large and were mostly dark brown, with considerable length of hair. In like manner with the camels, they were carefully protected by thick and well stuffed packs, or saddles, and were accordingly free from sores. They appeared to be exceedingly docile and intelligent, and did not require the incessant belabouring to which the ass of other countries is the victim. Large droves of these animals, each laden with three heavy squared stones for building, picked their way through the narrow streets, and seemed to know exactly the space required for their panniers, as they never collided with either carts or passengers.
The shops of the bazaar were all open, and contained the supplies usually seen in Turkish markets—vegetables, meat, and a predominance of native sweets and confectionery, in addition to stores of groceries, and of copper and brass utensils. An absence of fish proved the general indolence of the people; there is abundance in the sea, but there are few fishermen.
An hour's stroll was quite sufficient for one to form an opinion of Larnaca. A good roadstead and safe anchorage offer great advantages, but until some protection shall be afforded that will enable boats to land in all weathers Larnaca can never be accepted as a port. There is shoal water for a distance of about two hundred yards from the shore, which causes a violent surf even in a moderate breeze, and frequently prevents all communication with the shipping. The quay was in many places undermined by the action of the waves, and it would be necessary to create an entirely new front by sinking a foundation for a sea-wall some yards in advance of the present face. There would be no engineering difficulty in the formation of a boat-harbour, to combine by extensive pile-jetties the facility of landing in all weathers. A very cursory view of Larnaca exhibited a true picture of its miserable financial position. The numerous stores kept by Europeans were the result of a spasmodic impulse. There was no wholesome trade; those who represented the commercial element were for the most part unfortunates who had rushed to Cyprus at the first intelligence of the British occupation, strong in expectations of a golden harvest. The sudden withdrawal of the large military force left Larnaca in the condition of streets full of sellers, but denuded of buyers. The stores were supplied with the usual amount of liquors, and tins of preserved provisions; none of the imported articles were adapted for native requirements; an utter stagnation of trade was the consequence, and prices fell below the cost of home production. The preceding year had been exceptionally sickly; many of the storekeepers were suffering from the effects of fever, which, combined with the depression of spirits caused by ruined prospects, produced a condition of total collapse, from which there was only one relief—that of writing to the newspapers and abusing the Government and the island generally.
There must always be martyrs—somebody must be sacrificed—whether burnt at the stake for religious principles, or put in a bell-tent in the sun with the thermometer at 110 degrees Fahr. simply because they are British soldiers—it does not much matter—but the moment your merchants are slain upon the altar, the boiling-point is reached.
The store-keepers sat despondingly behind their counters while the hinges of their doors rusted from the absence of in-comers. It was impossible to rouse them from their state of mercantile coma, except by one word, which had a magnetic effect upon their nervous system—-"Custom House."
"I suppose you have no difficulty at the Custom House, Mr.—in this simple island?" This was invariably the red rag to the bull.
"No difficulty, Sir!—no difficulty?—it is THE difficulty—we are absolutely paralysed by the Custom House. Every box is broken open and the contents strewed upon the ground. The duty is ad valorem upon all articles, and an ignorant Turk is the valuer. This man does not know the difference between a bootjack and a lemon-squeezer: only the other day he valued wire dish-covers as `articles of head-dress,' (probably he had seen wire fencing-masks). If he is perplexed, he is obliged to refer the questionable article to the Chief Office,—this is two hundred yards from the landing place:—thus he passes half the day in running backwards and forwards with trifles of contested value to his superior, while crowds are kept waiting, and the store is piled with goods most urgently required." . . .
I immediately went to see this eccentric representative of Anglo-Turkish political-and-mercantile-combination, and found very little exaggeration in the description, except that the distance was 187 paces instead of 200 which he had to perform, whenever the character of the article was beyond the sphere of his experience. As this happened about every quarter of an hour, he could not complain of a sedentary employment. A few days after this, migratory birds arrived in Cyprus upon the inhospitable shore opposite the Custom House in the shape of two Liberal M.P's. from England,—who visited the island specially to form an honest opinion free from all political bias. Whether these gentlemen were undervalued by the eccentric official to whom I have alluded, or whether he suspected Liberals as opponents to be regarded and treated as spies, we never could determine; but utterly disregarding their innocent exterior, he subjected them to the extreme torture of the Custom House, and dived and plunged into the very bowels and bottoms of their numerous small packages, rumpling clean linen, and producing a toilettic chaos. To the honour of these members of the Opposition they never brought the question before the House upon their return to England, neither did they make it the foundation of an attack upon the Government.
An excess of zeal is not uncommon among ignorant officials newly raised to a position of authority: thus Larnaca was outdone by the Custom House representative at Limasol in vigilance and strict attention to the administrative tortures of his office. I have heard of cases of crockery being unpacked upon the beach and spread out to be counted and valued upon the loose stones of shingle!
The unfortunate European traders of Larnaca were shortly relieved of their Custom House troubles by the total absence of imports. The native Cypriote does not purchase at European shops; his wants are few; the smallest piece of soap will last an indefinite period; he is frugal to an extreme degree; and if he has desires, he curbs such temptations and hoards his coin. Thus, as the natives did not purchase, and all Europeans were sellers without buyers, there was no alternative but to shut the shutters. This was a species of commercial suicide which made Larnaca a place of departed spirits; in which unhappy state it remains to the present hour. Even the club was closed.
CHAPTER II.
THE GIPSY-VANS ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTIES.
My gipsy-van was not of doubtful character. I had purchased it direct from the gipsies in England, and it had been specially arranged for the Cyprus journey by Messrs. Glover Bros. of Dean Street, Soho, London. It had been painted and varnished with many coats both inside and out, and nobody, unless an experienced gipsy, would have known that it was not newly born from the maker's yard. Originally it had been constructed for shafts, as one horse was considered sufficient upon the roads of England, but when it arrived in Cyprus it appeared to have grown during the voyage about two sizes larger than when it was last seen. As the small animals of Larnaca passed by, where my lovely van blocked up the entire street, and forced the little creatures upon the footpath, they looked in comparison as though they had just been disembarked upon Mount Ararat from the original Noah's ark, represented by the gipsy-van! The Cypriotes are polite, therefore I heard no rude remarks. The Cypriote boys are like all other boys, therefore they climbed to the top of the van, and endeavoured by escalade to enter the windows. On one occasion I captured HALF A BOY (the posterior half) who was hanging with legs dangling out of the window, his "forlorn-hope" or advance half vainly endeavouring to obtain a resting-place upon vacuity within (as the fall slab-table was down). I had no stick; but the toes of his boots had imprinted first impressions upon the faultless varnish. What became of that young Cypriote was never known.
Even in Cyprus there are municipal laws, and now that the English are there they are enforced; therefore my huge van could not remain like a wad in a gun-barrel, and entirely block the street. A London policeman would have desired it to "move on" but—this was the real grievance that I had against Larnaca—the van COULD NOT "MOVE ON," owing to its extreme height, which interfered with the wooden water-spouts from the low roofs of the flat-topped houses. This was a case of "real distress." My van represented civilisation: the water-spouts represented barbarism. If a London omnibus crowded with outside passengers had attempted to drive through Larnaca, both driver and passengers would have been swept into I have not the slightest notion where; and my van was two feet higher than an omnibus!
I determined that I would avoid all inferior thoroughfares, and that the van should pass down Wolseley Street, drawn by a number of men who would be superior in intelligence to the Cypriote mules and be careful in turning the corners.
I did not see the start, as a person with an "excess of zeal" had started it with a crowd of madmen without orders, and I was only a late spectator some hours after its arrival opposite Craddock's Hotel. It rather resembled a ship that had been in bad weather and in collision with a few steamers. How many water-spouts it had carried away I never heard. The fore-axle was broken, as it appeared that in rounding a corner it had been dragged by main force upon the curbstone about sixteen inches high, from which it had bumped violently down. It had then been backed against a water-spout, which had gone completely through what sailors would term the "stern." One shutter was split in two pieces, and one window smashed. Altogether, what with bruises, scratches, broken axle, and other damages, my van looked ten years older since the morning.
Fortunately among the Europeans who had flocked to Cyprus since the British occupation was a French blacksmith, whose forge was only a few yards from Craddock's Hotel, where my wrecked vessel blocked the way. I had a new fore axle-tree made, and strengthened the hinder axle. I also fitted a bullock-pole, instead of shafts, for a pair of oxen; the springs I bound up with iron wire shrunk on while red-hot. I took out the stove, as it was not necessary, and its absence increased the space; and I inserted a ventilator in the roof in place of the chimney. When repaired, the van looked as good as new, and was much stronger, and well adapted for rough travel. The only thing it now wanted was a ROAD!
The highways of Cyprus were mere mule-tracks. The only legitimate road in existence was of most recent construction, which represented the new birth of British enterprise, from Larnaca to the capital, Nicosia (or Lefkosia), about twenty-eight miles. The regrettable paucity of stone-hammers rendered it impossible to prepare the metal, therefore huge rounded blocks, bigger than a man's head, had been thrown down for a foundation, upon which some roughly broken and a quantity of unbroken smaller stones had been spread.
Of course there was only one method of travelling upon this route with the gipsy-van: this was to avoid it altogether, but to keep upon the natural soil on the side of the newly-made level.
My second van was most satisfactory, and was light in proportion to its strength and capacity. This was arranged specially for luggage, and was entirely closed by doors at either end, which were secured by bolts and locks. Above the luggage, and about two feet six inches below the roof, a sliding deck formed of movable planks afforded a comfortable sleeping-berth for a servant. In the front a projecting roof sheltered the driving seat, which was wide enough to accommodate four persons. I had fitted a pole instead of shafts, as public opinion decided against mules, and it was agreed that oxen were steadier and more powerful for draught purposes. After a careful selection, I obtained two pairs of very beautiful animals, quite equal in size to ordinary English oxen, for which I paid twelve shillings per diem, including the drivers and all expenses of fodder. I also engaged the necessary riding mules, as the vans were not intended for personal travelling, but merely for luggage and for a home at night. Our servants consisted of Amarn (my Abyssinian, who had been with me eight years, since he was a a boy of nine years old in Africa), a Greek cook named Christo, who had served in a similar capacity upon numerous steamers, and a young man named Georgi, of about twenty-one, who was to be made into a servant. This young fellow had appeared one day suddenly, and solicited employment, while we were staying at Craddock's Hotel; he was short, thickset, and possessed a head of hair that would have raised the envy of Absalom: in dense tangle it would have defied a mane-comb. Georgi had a pleasant expression of countenance which did not harmonise with his exterior, as his clothes were in a ragged and filthy condition, his shoes were in tatters, and trodden down at the heel to a degree that resembled boats in the act of capsizing; these exposed the remnants of socks, through the gaps of which the skin of his feet was exhibited in anything but flesh-colour. It is dangerous to pick up a "waif and stray," as such objects of philanthropy frequently disappear at the same time as the forks and spoons. In reply to my questions, I discovered that Georgi was in fact the "prodigal son;" he had not been leading the fast life of that historical character, but he had left his home in Mersine (on the coast of Asia Minor) owing to an unfortunate disagreement with his father. In such domestic estrangements, rightly or wrongly, the fathers generally have the best of the situation, and Georgi, having left a comfortable home (his father being what is called "well to do"), had taken ship, and, like many others, had steered for Cyprus, where he arrived unknown, and quickly experienced the desolation of an utter stranger in a foreign town. Georgi became hungry; whether he had sold his good clothes to provide for the coats of his stomach I cannot say, but the rags in which he first appeared to me were utterly unsaleable, and few people would have ventured upon an engagement with so disreputable a person. However, I liked his face; he could speak Turkish and Arabic fluently: Greek was his mother-tongue, and he had a smattering of French. I sent for the tailor, and had him measured for a suit of clothes to match those of Amarn—a tunic, waistcoat, knickerbockers, and gaiters of navy-blue serge. In a few days Georgi was transformed into a respectable-looking servant, with his hair cut.
We left Larnaca on the 29th of January. A native two-wheeled cart conveyed the tents and superabundant baggage. The oxen made no difficulty, and the gipsy-van rolled easily along. An enterprising photographer, having posted himself in a certain position near the highway, suddenly stopped our party, and subsequently produced a facsimile, although my dogs, who were in movement, came out with phantom-like shadows. These useful companions were three spaniels —"Merry," "Wise," and "Shot;" the latter had a broken foreleg through an accident in the previous year, but he was an excellent retriever, and could work slowly. The others were younger dogs, whose characters were well represented by their names; the first was an untiring, determined animal, and Wise was a steady hunter that would face the worst thorns, and was a good retriever.
This party was now in movement, and I intended to make a preliminary detour from the Nicosia route to visit the springs of Arpera, about eight miles distant, which supply the town of Larnaca.
In every country where I have travelled I have observed a human weakness among the population on the question of "game;" there is a universal tendency to exaggeration; but the locality of superabundance is always distant from the narrator. As you proceed the game recedes; and you are informed that "at about two days' march you will find even more than you require." Upon arrival at the wished-for spot you are told that "formerly there was a large quantity, but that times and seasons have changed; that about three marches in your front will bring you to a hunter's paradise," &c. As Cyprus was an island of only 140 miles in length, there would be a limit to these boundless descriptions; but I had already heard enough to assure me that the usual want of veracity upon this subject was present in the accounts I had received. The newspaper correspondents had just contributed ridiculous reports to their several employers. Because the market of Larnaca was well supplied with woodcocks, red-legged partridges, and hares, at low prices, these overworked gentlemen of the pen rushed to a conclusion that the island teemed with game: forgetful of the fact that every Cypriote has a gun, and that numbers were shooting for the consumption of the few. Larnaca was the common centre towards which all gravitated. As the rate of wages was only one shilling a day, it may be imagined that sport afforded an equally remunerative employment, and game was forwarded from all distances to be hawked about the public thoroughfares. The fact is, that game is very scarce throughout Cyprus, and the books that have been written upon this country are certainly not the productions of sportsmen.
I had read in no mean authority that "the surface of the ground was covered with heather"—positively there is no such plant in Cyprus as heath or heather. As we passed the outskirts of Larnaca, we were introduced to the misery of the plain of Messaria; the so-called heather is a low thorny bush about twelve inches high, which at a distance has some resemblance to the plant in question. Brown is the prevailing colour in this portion of the island, and the aspect was not cheerful as we slowly marched along the native track or highway towards Arpera, carefully avoiding the new government macadamised road.
It is a melancholy neighbourhood. A few graves that had been robbed were open, forming pitfalls for the unwary; other yawning holes had discovered ancient tombs by the soakage of a recent heavy shower, which had washed in the roof and exposed the cavity. We passed a small mosque where there is the tomb of a saint many feet below the level of the surface, and we shortly came in view of the salt lake about a mile and three-quarters from the town of Larnaca. We halted about two miles from the town upon the high ground to admire the aqueduct which crosses the valley from the village of Cheflik Pacha. This is a very important work. The masonry is about thirty-six feet above the lowest portion of the valley, which it spans in thirty-two arches, covering a distance of about four hundred and twenty yards from height to height. The water flows in an open canal of cement along the surface, but upon the ground level it is protected by a covering of stone and lime, until it reaches the town of Larnaca. A stream of fresh water flows through the valley beneath the arches of the aqueduct, at a right angle, and is artificially separated from the salt lake below by means of a dyke of earth which conducts it direct to the sea. This was rendered necessary by the floods of the rainy seasons, which carried so large a volume of fresh water into the lake as to resist the power of evaporation during the summer months. The salt lakes of Larnaca are several miles in extent, and are computed by the late British consul, Mr. Watkins, to possess a productive power of 20,000,000 okes (2 3/4 lbs.) per annum. M. Gaudry, in his clever work upon Cyprus, attributes the formation of salt to the fact of the sea-water percolating through the sand, and thus filling the lake;—this theory is disputed, and I incline to the native belief, "that the salt lies within the soil, and is taken into solution by the water, which deposits the same amount upon the dry surface when exhausted by evaporation." In support of this opinion, I adduce a proof in the fact of the small freshwater stream which flows from the higher ground through the arches of the aqueduct, depositing salt as its surface contracts during the dry season.
A strong efflorescence of true chloride of sodium is left upon the sides of its bed and upon the bottom as the water becomes exhausted; this must be the salt which the fresh water has robbed from the soil of the valley through which it flows. In many portions of Cyprus I have observed, a few days after a heavy shower, a considerable amount of salt upon the surface. I know many instances of fresh-water lakes being divided from the sea by only a few yards of sandy beach, and I do not accept as fact that salt water percolates through the sand and forms the salt of Larnaca lake. The salt lakes of Ceylon, in the south district of Hambantotte, are immensely productive, and they have no communication with the sea, but are in a similar position to those of Cyprus at Larnaca and Limasol—near the sea, but depending for their water-supply upon natural springs and rain. There can be no doubt that the springs are salt, and the rain-water dissolves the salt that is naturally contained within the soil. M. Gaudry observed a portion of the plain near Trichomo covered with an efflorescence of soda, which by analysis yielded about two-thirds of sulphate of soda, with a large proportion of sulphate of magnesia and other salts. Many wells in Cyprus are salt, or brackish. The lowest ground of the marshy plain near Famagousta contains salt to a degree sufficient to destroy the young cereals, should rain not be abundant; and during the drought of this year (1879), they were the first to perish, although in a damp locality.
Salt is a government monopoly in Cyprus, and is one of the most important sources of revenue. In the reign of the Lusignan dynasty, and from a much earlier date, the produce of the salt lakes formed one of the chief articles of export, and arrangements were made for regulating the amount of water to ensure the requisite evaporation. At the present time considerable uncertainty attends the collection of salt, as a violent rainfall floods the lakes and weakens the solution. There can be no doubt that a few years' experience and attention will enable the authorities to improve upon the present arrangement, and that not only will the annual supply be assured, but the foreign demand will be extended.
We passed the valley beyond the aqueduct and, ascending the steep incline upon the opposite side, followed the rutty native track parallel with the water-course; we halted for the first night opposite the village of Cheflik Pacha. This is an unhealthy place, as it lies in a valley where a mill is turned by a stream from the aqueduct and the surplus water forms a marsh after irrigating in a careless manner some fields and gardens. Lemon and orange-trees of the largest size were crowded with fruit, and exhibited in the midst of a treeless and desolate country the great necessity, WATER, and the productive powers of the soil when regularly supplied.
I was careful not to descend into the irrigated bottom, therefore we had halted on the highest point, a quarter of a mile distant. It is impossible to be too careful in the selection of a camping-ground; the effect of fever-germs may be the result of one night's bivouac in an unhealthy locality; and a new country is frequently stamped as pestilential from the utter carelessness of the traveller or officer in command of troops.
As a general rule the immediate neighbourhood of water should be avoided. A clear stream is a tempting object, and the difficulty of carrying water for the supply of troops is important; but it is less than the necessity of carrying the sick. If once the fever of malaria attacks an individual he becomes unfitted for his work; the blood is poisoned, and he is the victim of renewed attacks which baffle medical skill and lead to other serious complications. Avoid the first attack. This may generally be effected by the careful selection of the camping-ground. Never halt in a bottom, but always on a height. Throughout my journey in Cyprus neither ourselves nor servants suffered from any ailment, although we visited every portion of the country, and I attribute this immunity from fever mainly to the care in our selection of halting-places.
The first necessity in the evening halt was fire. This is one of the troubles of central Cyprus—there is no fuel. The two vans and the native cart were in a line—the bell-tent was quickly pitched for the servants, who now for the first time experienced the comfort of an arrangement I had made when in England. I had seven deal battens, each seven feet long, four inches deep, by two and a half inches broad. These were laid upon the ground twelve inches apart; seven planks, each one foot wide, were placed across the battens to form an impromptu floor. Upon this platform was laid a non-conductor of simply doubled hair-felt, sewed into a thin mattress of light canvas. There was very little trouble in this arrangement; the men were kept well off the ground, and the hair-felt not only preserved their bodily heat from escaping, but it prevented the damp of the earth from ascending. This mattress was ten feet long, therefore it could be rolled up to form a bolster at one end; and, during a hot sun, it was intended for a cover to the roof of the gipsy van.
The first day's start is always in the afternoon, and the march is short. We had only made three miles, and it was nearly dark when we halted. The absence of fuel necessitates the great trouble of carrying a supply of charcoal, and it destroys the pleasure of the cheerful night-fires that usually enliven the bivouac in wild countries. The plants and herbs that grow in Cyprus are all prickly; thus groping in the dark for the first inflammable material to produce the fire-foundation is unpleasant. There is a highly aromatic but very prickly species of wild thyme: this is always sought for, and at all times responds to the match.
The first night is always novel, in spite of old experiences. We pricked our hands in raking up thorny plants, but a useful implement, which combined the broad hoe on one side with a light pick on the other, lessened our labour, and we produced a blaze; this was bright but transient, as the fuel was unsubstantial. The dinner was quickly warmed, as it consisted of tins of preserved meats; and, climbing up the ladder, the gipsy van presented such a picture of luxury that if the world were girded by a good road instead of a useless equator I should like to be perpetually circum-vanning it.
On the following morning the thermometer marked 40 degrees. The natives were early at work, ploughing land that was to remain fallow until the following season. The oxen were sleek and in good condition, and not inferior in weight to the well-known red animals of North Devon. Although the native plough is of the unchanged and primitive pattern that is illustrated on the walls of Egyptian temples, it is well adapted for the work required in the rough and stony ground of Cyprus. I was surprised to see the depth which these exceedingly light implements attained, with apparent ease to the pair of oxen; this was not less than eight inches, and the furrows were regular, but not turned completely over. The ploughshare is not adapted for cutting the roots of weeds by means of a flat surface and a sharp edge, but the rounded top of the native iron passes beneath the soil and breaks it up like the wave produced by the ram-bow of a vessel. The plough, when complete, does not exceed forty pounds in weight, and it is conveniently carried, together with the labourer, upon the same donkey, when travelling from a distance to the morning's work. European settlers in Cyprus should be cautious before superseding the native plough by the massive European pattern; there are certain soils where the powerful iron plough, or even the double implement, might be worked with advantage, but as a general rule I should advise an agriculturist to wait patiently at the commencement of his operations, and to gain practical experience of the country before he expends capital in the purchase of European inventions. There can be no doubt that by degrees important improvements may be introduced that will benefit the Cypriote farmer, although it will be long before his primitive method will be abandoned. The great difficulty in Cyprus consists in reducing the soil to a fine surface; huge lumps of tenacious earth are turned up by the plough, which, under the baking influence of the sun, become as hard as sun-dried bricks. The native method of crushing is exceedingly rude and ineffective. A heavy plank about sixteen feet long and three inches thick, furnished with two rings, is dragged by oxen over the surface; which generally remains in so rough a state that walking over the field is most laborious. There are many stone columns lying useless among the heaps of ruins so common in Cyprus, that would form excellent rollers, but the idea of such an implement has never entered the Cypriote head. The plough, smoothing-plank, and the ancient threshing-harrow, composed of two broad planks inlaid with sharp flint stones, are the only farm machinery of the cultivator. As in the days of Abraham the oxen drew this same pattern of harrow over the corn, and reduced the straw to a coarse chaff mingled with the grain, so also the treatment in Cyprus remains to the present day. The result is a mixture of dirt and sand which is only partially rejected by the equally primitive method of winnowing.
Mr. Hamilton Lang gives an amusing description of the strictly conservative principles of the Cyprian oxen, which have always been fed upon the straw broken by the process described in threshing by the harrow of sharp flints. This coarse chaff, mixed with cotton-seed, lentils, or barley, is eaten by all animals with avidity, and the bullocks positively refused Mr. Lang's new food, which was the same straw passed through an English threshing-machine and cut fine by a modern chaff-cutter. This fact is a warning to those who would introduce too sudden reforms among men and animals in a newly-acquired country; but if Mr. Hamilton Lang had sprinkled salt over his chaff I think the refractory appetites of the oxen might have been overcome. A pair of oxen are supposed to plough one "donum" daily of fifty paces square, or about half an acre.
Having watched the various teams, and conversed with the ploughmen by the medium of the cook Christo, who spoke English and was an intelligent interpreter, I ordered the vans to move on while I walked over the country with the dogs. There was no game except a wild-duck which I shot in the thick weeds of a neighbouring swamp. Larks were in great quantities, and for want of larger birds I shot enough for a pilaff, and secured a breakfast. The route, which could be hardly called a road, had been worn by the wheels of native carts. These were narrower than our vans, and one of our wheels was generally upon a higher level, threatening on some occasions to overturn. The country around us was desolate in its aridity. We passed through the ruins of an ancient city over which the plough had triumphed, and literally not one stone was left upon another. A few stone columns of a rough description, some of which were broken, were lying in various directions, and I noticed a lower millstone formed of an exceedingly hard conglomerate rock; these pieces were too heavy to move without great exertions, therefore they had remained in situ.
After a short march of three miles we arrived at the steep banks of the river a mile above the village of Arpera. The bed of this river was about forty feet below the level of the country, and here our first real difficulty commenced in descending a rugged and precipitous track, which at first sight appeared destructive to any springs. The gipsy-van was conducted by the owner of the fine pair of bullocks; but this fellow (Theodoris) was an obstinate and utterly reckless character, and instead of obeying orders to go steadily with the drag on the wheels, he put his animals into a gallop down the steep descent, with the intention of gaining sufficient momentum to cross the sandy bottom and to ascend the other side. If the original gipsy proprietor could have seen his van leaping and tossing like a ship in a heavy sea, with the frantic driver shouting and yelling at his bullocks while he accelerated their gallop by a sharp application of the needle-pointed driving prick, he would have considered it the last moment of his movable home. I did the same; but, to my astonishment, the vehicle, after bounding madly about, simply turned the insane driver head over heels into the river's bed, and the bullocks found themselves anchored in the sand on the opposite side. Glover Brothers' blue van was driven by a fine fellow, Georgi, who was of a steady disposition; and this very handy and well constructed carriage made nothing of the difficulty. Georgi was a handsome and exceedingly powerful man, upwards of six feet high, of a most amiable disposition, who always tried to do his best; but the truth must be told, he was stupid: he became a slave to the superior intellect of the hare-brained rascal of the gipsy-van. Why amiable people should so frequently be stupid I cannot conceive: perhaps a few are sharp; but Georgi, poor fellow, had all in bone and muscle, and not in brain.
There is great advantage in travelling with more than one vehicle, as in any difficulty the numerous animals can be harnessed together and their combined power will drag a single cart or carriage through any obstacle. Thus one by one the vans were tugged up the steep bank on the opposite side, and after a drag across ploughed fields for nearly a mile we halted on the edge of a cliff and camped exactly above the river. Although the bed was dry below this point, we found a faint stream of clear water above our position, which was subsequently absorbed by the sand. The cliffs were not perpendicular, but were broken into steep declivities from successive landslips: the sides were covered with the usual prickly plants, but the edges of the stream were thickly bushed with oleanders which afforded excellent covert for game.
In travelling through Cyprus there is a depressing aspect in the general decay and ruin of former works. I strolled with my dogs for some miles along the river banks, and examined the strong masonry remains of many old water-mills. I found a well-constructed aqueduct of wonderfully hard cement at the bottom of a cliff close to the present bed of the river: this must at a former period have passed below the bed, and the deepening of the stream has exposed and washed away the ancient work. There was no game beyond a few wild red-legged partridges, although the appearance of the country had raised my expectations.
On the following morning I rambled with the dogs for many hours over the range of hills which bounds the plain upon the north, and from which the river issues. These are completely denuded of soil, and present a glaring surface of hardened chalk, in the crevices of which the usual prickly plants can alone exist. Some of the hill-tops exposed a smooth natural pavement where the rain had washed away all soluble portions and left the bare foundation cracked in small divisions as though artificially inlaid. Now and then a wretched specimen of the Pinus Maritima, about six feet high, was to be seen vainly endeavouring to find nourishment in the clefts of the barren rocks. I do not believe the tales of forests having formerly existed upon the greater portion of Cyprus: it would certainly be impossible for any species of tree to thrive upon the extensive range of hills near Arpera, which are absolutely valueless.
In many places the surface glistened with ice-like sheets of gypsum, which cropped out of the cold white marls and produced a wintry appearance that increased the desolation. I walked for some hours over successive ranges of the same hopeless character. Great numbers of hawks and several varieties of eagles were hunting above the hill-tops, and sufficiently explained the scarcity of game. The red-legged partridges found little protection in the scant cover afforded by the withered plants, and I saw one captured and carried off by an eagle, who was immediately chased by two others of the same species, in the vain hope that he would give up his prize; he soared high in air with the partridge hanging from his claws. On the same day I saw another capture, and there can be little doubt that the partridge forms the usual food of these large birds of prey. The British government has already protected the game by establishing a close season and by a tax upon all guns; but there will be little benefit from the new law unless a reward shall be offered for the destruction of the birds of prey which swarm in every portion of the island—eagles, falcons, kites, hawks, ravens, crows, and last, but in cunning and destructive propensity not the least, the "magpies." These birds exist in such numbers that unless steps are taken to destroy them it will be hopeless to expect any increase of game. When a magpie wakes in the early morning his first thought is mischief, and during the breeding season there is no bird who makes egg-hunting so especially his occupation. Upon the treeless plains of Cyprus every nest is at his mercy.
From the base of the barren hill-range a fertile plain slopes towards the sea for a width of about four miles, having received the soil that has been washed from the denuded heights. This rich surface is cultivated with cereals, but there are considerable portions which are covered with a dense mass of thistles, as the land is allowed to rest for a couple of years after having been exhausted by several crops without manuring. On the lowlands of Cyprus nearly every plant or bush is armed with thorns. I have generally observed that a thorny vegetation is a proof of a burning climate with a slight rainfall. In the scorching districts of the Soudan there is hardly a tree without thorns to the tenth degree of north latitude, at which limit the rainfall is great and the vegetation changes its character. The Cypriotes of both sexes wear high boots to the knees as a protection from the countless thistles, and not as an armour against snakes, as some writers have assumed. These boots are peculiar in their construction; the soles are about an inch in thickness, formed of several layers of leather, which are fastened together by large-headed nails from beneath; these are directed in an oblique line, so as to pass through the edge of the upper leather and secure it to the sole exactly as the shoe of a horse is fitted to the hoof. The nails are long and thin, and are riveted by turning the points round and hammering them like a coil upon the leather; the heads of these nails are nearly as large as a shilling, and the boots are exceedingly clumsy; but they increase the height of the wearer by a full inch.
My amiable driver of the blue van, Georgi, accompanied me in my walk, and fired several useless shots at wild partridges. We now arrived at the spot where the water is led by a subterranean aqueduct to Larnaca. This principle is so original, and has from such remote times been adopted in this arid island, that it merits a detailed description. The ancient vestiges of similar works in every portion of Cyprus prove that in all ages the rainfall must have been uncertain, and that no important change has taken place in the meteorological condition of the country.
In a search for water-springs the Cypriote is most intelligent, and the talent appears to be hereditary. If a well is successful at an elevation that will enable the water to command lower levels at a distance, it may be easily understood that the supply of one well representing a unit must be limited. The Cypriote well-sinker works upon a principle of simple multiplication. If one well produces a certain flow, ten wells will multiply the volume, if connected by a subterranean tunnel, and provided the supply of water in the spring is unlimited.
It appears that Cyprus exhibits an anomaly in the peculiarity of a small rainfall but great subterranean water-power; some stratum that is impervious retains the water at depths varying according to local conditions. The well-sinker commences by boring, or rather digging, a circular hole two feet six inches in diameter. The soil of Cyprus is so tenacious that the walls of the shaft require no artificial support; this much facilitates the work, and the labourer, armed with a very short-handled pick, patiently hacks his vertical way, and sends up the earth by means of a basket and rope, drawn by a primitive but effective windlass above, formed of a cradle of horizontal wooden bars. The man in charge simply turns the windlass without a handle, by clutching each successive bar, which, acting as a revolving lever, winds up the rope with the weight attached.
The rapidity of the well-sinking naturally depends upon the quality of the soil; if rock is to be cut through, it is worked with a mason's axe and the cold chisel. Fortunately the geological formation is principally sedimentary limestone, which offers no great resistance. At length the water is reached. The well is now left open for a few days that an opinion may be formed of the power; if favourable, another precisely similar well is sunk at a distance of fifteen or sixteen yards in the direction towards the point required by the future aqueduct. The spring being satisfactory, the work proceeds with vigour. We will accept the first well as forty feet in depth; if the surface of the earth were an exact level, the next well would be an equal depth; but as the water retains its natural level, the vertical measurement of each shaft will depend upon the formation of the upper ground. The object of the well-sinker is to create a chain of wells united by a subterranean tunnel, in order to multiply the power of a unit and to obtain the entire supply of water; he therefore sinks perhaps ten or twenty wells to the same level, and he cuts a narrow tunnel from one to the other, thus connecting his shafts at the water-line, so as to form a canal or aqueduct. Precisely as the mole upheaves at certain intervals the earth that it has scraped from its gallery, the well-sinker clears his tunnel by sending up the contents through the vertical shafts fifteen yards apart, around the mouth of which a funnel-shaped mound is formed by the debris.
These preliminary walls being completed and the water-volume tested, the neighbourhood is examined with the hope of discovering other springs that may upon the same principle be conducted towards the main line of the proposed aqueduct. It is not uncommon to find several chains of wells converging from different localities to the desired water-head, and as these are at higher levels, a considerable hydraulic power is obtained, sufficient in many instances not only to fill the tunnels, but to force the water to a greater elevation if required.
The water-head being thoroughly established, the sinking of a chain of wells proceeds, and the tunnels are arranged at a given inclination to conduct the water to the destined spot. This may be many miles distant, necessitating many hundred wells, which may comprise great superficial changes; hills that are bored through necessitate deep shafts, and valleys must be spanned by aqueducts of masonry. In this manner the water is conducted from the springs of Arpera near the spot where the river issues from the narrow valley among the hills, and supplies Larnaca, about eight miles distant from the first head. The British authorities propose to substitute iron pipes for the present aqueduct; but it is to be hoped that the new scheme will be an independent and additional work, that will in no way interfere with the important gift of Cheflik Pacha, which has existed for nearly two centuries, and which, if kept in repair, will supply the necessary volume.
CHAPTER III.
ROUTE TO NICOSIA.
Having proved that any further progress west was quite impracticable by vans, I returned to the new main road from Larnaca, and carefully avoiding it, we kept upon the natural surface by the side drain, and travelled towards Dali, the ancient Idalium.
The thermometer at 8 A.M. showed 37 degrees, and the wind was keen. The road lay through a most desolate country of chalk hills completely barren, diversified occasionally by the ice-like crystals of gypsum cropping out in huge masses. In one of the most dreary spots that can be imagined the eye was relieved by a little flat-topped hut on the right hand, which exhibited a sign, "The Dewdrop Inn." The name was hardly appropriate, as the earth appeared as though neither dew nor rain had blessed the surface; but I believe that whisky was represented by the "Dewdrop," and that the word was intended to imply an invitation, "Do-drop-in." Of course we dropped in, being about an hour in advance of our vans, and I found the landlord most obliging, and a bottle of Bass's pale ale most refreshing in this horrible-looking desert of chalk and thistles that had become a quasi-British colony. This unfortunate man and one or two partners were among those deluded victims who had sacrificed themselves to the impulse of our first occupation, upon the principle that "the early bird gets the worm." Instead of getting on, the partners went off, and left the representative of the "Dewdrop" in a physical state of weakness from attacks of fever, and the good industrious man with little hope of a golden future.
Passing on after a conversation with our landlord, which did not cheer me so much as the pale ale, we continued through the same desolate country for about two miles, and then turned off on the left hand towards Dali. We passed through a narrow valley of several hundred acres planted in vineyards, and we counted four olive-trees, the first green objects or signs of trees that we had seen since Larnaca! We then continued through white barren hills for another two miles, and descended a steep hill, halting for the night upon hard flat gypsum rock opposite a village named "Lauranchina," above the dry bed of a torrent, twelve miles from Larnaca.
On the following morning, after a slight shower, we started for Dali. The narrow valleys were more or less cultivated with vines, and about three miles from the halting-place we entered the fertile plain of Dali. This is about six miles long, by one in width, highly cultivated, with the river flowing through the midst. As far as we could see in a direct line groves of olives, vineyards, and ploughed land, diversified by villages, exhibited the power of water in converting sterility into wealth.
I always make a rule that the halting-place shall be at a considerable distance from a village or town for sanitary reasons, as the environs are generally unclean. All travellers are well aware that their servants and general entourage delight in towns or villages, as they discover friends, or make acquaintances, and relieve the tedium of the journey; therefore an antagonistic influence invariably exists upon the question of a camping-ground. It is accordingly most difficult to believe the statements of your interpreter: he may have old friends in a town to which you believe him to be a stranger; he may have the remains of an old love, and a wish to meet again; or he may have a still more powerful attraction in the remembrance of an agreeable cafe where he can refresh himself with liquor, revel in cigarettes, and play at dominoes. It is therefore necessary to be upon your guard when approaching a town, which should be looked upon as the enemy's camp.
My amiable bullock-driver, the big Georgi, had always assured me that "game abounded in the immediate neighbourhood of Dali;" of course I knew that the happy hunting-ground contained some special interest for himself. Upon arrival on the outskirts I ordered the vans to pass on the outside of the town, and I would seek a camping-place up-stream. Instead of this I was assured that we should pass through the town, and find a lovely grove of olive-trees by the river-side, the perfection of a halting-place. For the first time I now discovered that Georgi's wife and family lived in Dali, and that he was not such a fool as he looked.
In a few minutes we were descending a lane so narrow that the gipsy van only cleared the walls of the houses on either side by three or four inches. This lane had been paved centuries ago with stones of all sizes, from a moderate grindstone to that of a football. When people had wished to build a new house, they had taken up a few stones to make a foundation; the street was a series of pitfalls filled with mud and filth, including miniature ponds of manure-coloured water. The surface appeared impassable; the projecting water-spouts from the low roofs stuck out like the gnarled boughs of trees. Here was a pretty mess!—all because Georgi's wife was in town. It was impossible for anything larger than a perambulator to turn, and as the springs yielded to the uneven ground, the van bumped against the walls of the houses and threatened destruction. "Halt!" was the only word, and as the drag-shoe was on the wheel, we stopped. At this moment of difficulty a priest and some old women appeared with earthen vessels smoking with burning olive leaves; they immediately passed the smoke beneath the nostrils of the oxen, then around the van, and lastly ourselves. At the same time some good young women threw orange-flower water over my wife and myself from pretty glass vases with narrow necks as a sign of welcome. The incense of the priests was supposed to avert the "evil-eye" from the gipsy van and our party. I felt much obliged for the good intention, but I did not mind the "evil eye" so much as the water-spouts. In my experience of travelling I never met with such kind and courteous people as the inhabitants of Cyprus. The Dali population had already blocked the narrow streets from curiosity at our arrival, and soon understanding the cause of our dilemma, they mounted the housetops and tore off the obstructing water-spouts; where these projections were too strong, they sawed them off close to the eaves. A crowd of men pushed the van from behind, and guided the oxen, while others assisted by digging up the large paving-stones that would have tilted it against the house-walls. In this manner we arrived without serious accident upon the bank of the river which ran through the town. There was an open space here which was crowded with women and girls, who, with feminine curiosity, had assembled to see the English lady. Among these was the prettiest young woman I have seen in Cyprus, with a child in her arms. Her large blue eyes and perfect Grecian features were enhanced by a sweet gentle expression of countenance. She seemed more than others delighted at our arrival. This was Georgi's wife!—and I at once forgave him for deceiving us and yielding to the natural attraction of his home.
We were not quite out of our difficulty. Several hundred people had assembled, and all spoke at once, raising their voices in the hope that we should understand their Greek better than if spoken in a moderate tone: (why people will speak loud if you do not know their language I cannot understand:) but as we were utterly ignorant of their meaning we were not confused by their differences of opinion respecting our direction. It ended in our crossing the stony bed of the river, through which a reduced stream only a few inches deep flowed in the centre, and having with difficulty gained the opposite bank a hundred yards distant, we soon arrived in a sort of natural eel-trap formed by a narrow avenue of gigantic olive-trees, the branches of which effectually barred our progress and prevented the vans from turning.
A temporary loss of temper was a natural consequence, and having ridden in advance for about half a mile, I returned and ordered a retreat. We took the bullocks out, and by hand backed the wheels, until by shovels and picks we could clear a space for turning. We then re-crossed the river, and disregarding all native advice, struck into the country, and halted near a small grove of olives close to the new English road to the military station "Mattiati."
It was the 4th of February, and the temperature in the morning and evening was too cold (43 degrees) for pleasant camping. In spite of a chilly wind, crowds of women and children surrounded our vans and sat for hours indulging their curiosity, and shivering in light clothes of home-made cotton-stuffs. The children were generally pretty, and some of the younger women were good-looking; but there was a total neglect of personal appearance which is a striking characteristic of the Cypriote females. In most countries, whether savage or civilised, the women yield to a natural instinct, and to a certain extent adorn their persons and endeavour to render themselves attractive; but in Cyprus there is a distressing absence of the wholesome vanity that should induce attention to dress and cleanliness. The inelegance of costume gives an unpleasant peculiarity to their figures—the whole crowd of girls and women looked as though they were about to become mothers. The coarse and roughly-tanned, uncared-for high boots with huge hobnails were overlapped by great baggy trousers. Above these were a considerable number of petticoats loosely hanging and tied carelessly at the waist, which was totally unsupported by any such assistance as stays. A sort of short jacket that was of no particular cut, and possessed the advantage of fitting any variety of size or figure, completed the attire. The buttons that should have confined the dress in front were generally absent, and the ladies were not bashful at their loss, but exposed their bosoms without any consciousness of indelicacy. There was no peculiarity in the arrangement of the hair, but each head was tied up in a cloth, either white or some gaudy colour, which, once gay, had been sobered in its hues by dirt. In spite of this neglected exterior, the women had remarkably good manners; they seldom approached my wife without presenting, with a graceful gesture, some wild flowers, or a little bunch of sweet herbs, which they had purposely gathered, and we were quickly made rich in quantities of double narcissus, marigolds, and rosemary. Upon our arrival at a town or village the girls and boys would frequently run to their gardens and provide themselves with either a single flower, or rosemary, with which they would await us in the street and offer them as we passed by. Throughout Cyprus we have received similar well-meant attention, and the simplicity and delicacy of the offering contrasts in an anomalous manner with the dirty habits and appearance of the people. Even Georgi's pretty wife was untidy about the hair, although she was in her best attire; and a close inspection of all women and girls showed that their throats and breasts were literally covered with ancient and modern fleabites. Their dwellings are extremely filthy, and swarm with vermin, as the fowls, goats, or even a cow or two, generally increase the domestic party. It is well known that Paphos in Cyprus was the supposed birthplace of Venus, and that the island was at one time celebrated for the beauty of women and immorality: the change has been radical, as I believe no women are more chaste, and at the same time less attractive, than the Cypriotes of the present time. They are generally short and thickset; they are hardly treated by the men, as they perform most of the rough work in cultivation of the ground, and, from the extreme coarseness of their hands, they can seldom be idle; the men, on the contrary, are usually good-looking, and are far more attentive to their personal appearance.
Dali was an interesting spot to any agriculturist. The soil was exceedingly rich, as it had been formed, like all valleys in Cyprus, by the alluvium washed down from the surrounding hills; these were from three to six hundred feet above the level of the plain, and were composed of the usual hard species of chalk and gypsum; thus the deposit from their denudation by rains supplied the chief constituents for the growth of vines and cereals.
There is a depressing absence of all recent improvements in journeying through Cyprus; even at Dali, where the water from the river was used for irrigation, and large farms in the occupation of the wealthy landowner, M. Richard Mattei, were successfully cultivated, I could not help remarking the total neglect of tree-planting. The ancient olive-groves still exist by the river's side, and, could they speak, those grand old trees would be historians of the glorious days of Cyprus; but there are no recent plantations, and the natives explained the cause in the usual manner by attributing all wretchedness and popular apathy to the oppression of the Turkish rule. This wholesale accusation must be received with caution; there can be no doubt of the pre-existing misrule, but at the same time it is impossible to travel through Cyprus without the painful conviction that the modern Cypriote is a reckless tree-destroyer, and that destruction is more natural to his character than the propagation of timber. There is no reason for the neglect of olive-planting, but I observed an absence of such cultivation which must have prevailed during several centuries, even during the Venetian rule. It is difficult to determine the age of an olive-tree, which is almost imperishable; it is one of those remarkable examples of vegetation that illustrates the eternal, and explains the first instincts of adoration which tree-worship exhibited in the distant past. I spent some hours with the olive trees of Dali; they were grand old specimens of the everlasting. One healthy trunk in full vigour measured twenty-nine feet in circumference; another, twenty-eight feet two inches. Very many were upwards of twenty feet by my measuring-tape; and had I accepted the hollow or split trees, there were some that would have exceeded forty feet. There can be little doubt, that these olives throve at the period when Idalium was the great city in Cyprus; they may have exceeded two thousand years in age, but any surmise would be the wildest conjecture. It may not be generally known that the olive, which is of slow growth and a wood of exceeding hardness, remains always a dwarf tree; a tall olive is unknown, and it somewhat resembles a pollard ilex. When by extreme age the tree has become hollow it possesses the peculiar power of reproduction, not by throwing up root-shoots, but by splitting the old hollowed trunk into separate divisions, which by degrees attain an individuality, and eventually thrive as new and independent trees, forming a group or "family-tree," nourished by the same root which anchored the original ancestor.
The gnarled, weird appearance of these ancient groves of such gigantic dimensions contrasted sadly with the treeless expanse beyond, and proved that Cyprus had for very many centuries been the victim of neglect. The olive is indigenous to the island, and the low scrub jungles of Baffo, the Carpas district, and other portions abound with the wild species, which can be rendered fruitful by grafting. In selecting trees for the extension of forests, there is a common-sense rule to guide us by observing those varieties which are indigenous to the country; these can be obtained at the lowest cost, and their success is almost assured, as no time need be lost from the day of their removal to the new plantation. Such trees as are rendered fruitful by grafting offer peculiar advantages, as the stocks already exist upon which superior varieties may be connected. The principal food of the Cypriotes consists of olives, beans, bread, and onions; they seldom eat what we should call "cooked food;" whether this is owing to the scarcity of fuel, or whether it is natural in this climate to avoid flesh, I cannot determine: some say the people are too poor, and cannot afford mutton at twopence a pound, while at the same time they will not kill the oxen that are required for purposes of draught; they refuse the milk of cows, and only use that of sheep or goats. The fact remains that the country people seldom eat butcher's meat, but subsist upon olives, oil, bread, cheese, and vegetables.
Under these circumstances it would be natural to suppose that the accepted articles of consumption would be highly cultivated and superior in quality; but the reverse is the fact. The olive-oil is so inferior that foreign oil is imported from France for the use of the upper classes; the olives are of a poor description, and, as a rule, few vegetables are cultivated except in the immediate vicinity of town markets, the agricultural population or country people being too careless to excel in horticulture, and depending mainly upon the wild vegetables which the soil produces in abundance. If the people are too inert to improve the qualities and to extend the cultivation of vegetables, it is easy to comprehend their neglect of the tree-planting so necessary to the climatic requirements of this island.
The oil-press is similar to the old-fashioned cider-mill of England. The fruit, having been dried in the sun, is placed in a circular trough in which the stone wheel revolves, driven by a mule and pole. When sufficiently crushed, and reduced to a paste, it is divided into basketfuls; these are subjected to pressure by the common vertical screw, and the oil is expressed, but is not clarified. It is generally rancid and unfit for European consumption. In travelling through Cyprus the medicine-chest may dispense with castor-oil, as the olive-oil of the country is a good substitute. By the government report, the yield of oil in 1877 was estimated at 250,000 okes (of 2 3/4 lbs.) valued at about nine piastres per oke, but during the same year foreign olive-oil to the value of 1,706 pounds sterling was imported. There can be little doubt that special attention should be bestowed upon the improvement of the olive cultivation in Cyprus, and grafts of the best varieties should be introduced from France and Spain; in a few years an important improvement would result, and the superabundant oil of a propitious season would form an article of export, instead of (as at present) being converted into soap, as otherwise unsaleable.
Our crowd of female admirers was happily dispersed by a slight shower of rain, and by clouds which threatened a downpour; the men remained, and a swarthy-looking thoroughbred Turk promised to accompany me on the morrow and show me the neighbourhood. I was informed in a mysterious whisper by a Cypriote "that this man was a notorious robber, whose occupation was gone since the arrival of the British;" he had formed one of a gang that had infested the mountains, and his brother had murdered a friend of Georgi (the van-driver), and was now in gaol at Rhodes for the capital offence. The Turk was very intelligent, and thoroughly conversant with the various methods of breech-loading firearms; he examined several rifles and guns belonging to me, and at once comprehended the mechanism, and explained it to the admiring crowd. When this individual left our camp in the evening, the story that I had heard in outline was corroborated by the driver Georgi, who asked me to exert my influence to procure the hanging of the murderer now at Rhodes, as the Turkish authorities would never execute a Turk for the murder of a Greek unless influenced by foreign pressure. It appeared that the Cypriote had informed against one of the gang for cattle-stealing, accordingly several members of the fraternity picked a quarrel with him at a drinking-shop one evening at Dali, and stabbed him fatally. My new acquaintance, the Turk, was not present during the fray, and I could not promise Georgi the intervention he desired.
On the following morning seven natives of Dali appeared—all Greeks—accompanied by the ex-robber, whom I regarded as "a wicked man who had turned away from his wickedness," with whose antecedents I had no concern. They had brought their guns, which were at once submitted to me for an opinion of their merits, with a vain expectation that I should pronounce them to be "English." I was to be guided to a spot about an hour's march distant, where partridges and hares were said to abound, and it appeared that an impromptu shooting-party had been arranged especially for my amusement.
I am not very fond of such sporting meetings, as the common guns of the people, which are constantly missing fire when required to shoot, have an awkward knack of going off when least expected; my mind was somewhat relieved when the tactics were explained, that we (nine guns) were to form a line of skirmishers about two hundred yards apart, commanding a mile of country.
There is a great advantage in sport, as the search for game leads a traveller into all kinds of places which he would otherwise leave unseen. It is a great enjoyment to stroll over a new country accompanied by good dogs, and combine at the same time sport and exploration.
Upon arrival at the summit of the hill range which we had passed on our left when we had arrived at Dali, I was well repaid, and the necessity of judging a country from a hill-top instead of from a highroad was well exemplified. I looked down upon the highly-cultivated and fertile valley of Lymbia, surpassing in extent the plain of Dali, and although the successive ranges of hills and mountains were bleak and barren in their whiteness, the intervening valleys were all occupied either by vineyards or by fields in tillage. Even the ravines upon the steep hill-sides which had been scored out by the rainfall of ages were artificially arranged to catch the melted earth in its descent during heavy storms, and to form terraces of rich alluvium.
A succession of rough walls composed of the large rocks which strewed the surface, were built at convenient intervals across the ravines, forming a series of dams or weirs. The soil of Cyprus is peculiar in dissolving very quickly during a shower, and the water rolls down the steep inclines carrying so much earth in solution, that, should its course be checked, it deposits an important quantity, sufficient in a few seasons to form a surface for a considerable area. The walls of the dams are continually raised as the earth attains a higher level, and the ground thus saved is a complete gain to the proprietor.
The few partridges were very wild, and saved my dogs the trouble of hunting by showing themselves at a couple of hundred yards; the only chance of shooting them depended upon stray birds passing within shot when disturbed by the long line of guns. I only bagged one partridge and a hare, and the rest of the party had the miserable total of two birds. This was a fair example of the sport on the bare hill-sides of Messaria.
The new road to Mattiati was unfit for vans; I therefore rode over to visit the camp of the 20th Regiment, eight miles distant, and after luncheon with the officers of that regiment I accompanied their party to Lithrodondo, the Colonel having kindly lent me a fresh horse. My aneroid showed an increased elevation of 330 feet in the eight miles from Dali to Mattiati. After leaving the Dali plain the road passes through the usual hills of hard chalk, but about two miles from the entrance an important change was exhibited in the geological structure. Eruptive rocks had burst through the chalk, producing interesting metamorphic phenomena. The hills no longer fatigued the eye by the desolate glare, but the earth was a rich brown diversified with patches of bright chocolate colour.
The greenstone cropped out through the surface in large masses, accompanied by a peculiar dun-stone precisely similar to that of Knowles Hill in South Devon. In a cutting through a hill-side by the government new road veins of bright yellow ochre were exposed, also red ochre in considerable quantities. I took samples of the yellow, which appeared to be of a good quality; but I believe the commercial value is too insignificant to support the charges of land-transport and the subsequent freight from Larnaca.
Mattiati is about 1300 feet above the sea-level. The troops were camped in wooden huts on low hills about forty feet above a flat valley, where olive-trees throve in considerable numbers. I should not have selected Mattiati as a sanitary station; the plain showed evident signs of bad drainage, and the rich deep soil would become a swamp after heavy rains. Upon the low hills within a mile of the station were vast quantities of scoriae or slag from ancient smelting-furnaces, and the remains of broken pottery, mingled with stones that had been used in building, proved that important mining operations had been carried on in former ages.
From Mattiati to Lithrodondo the country is broken and little cultivated; there was no longer a sign of cretaceous rock, but the bold range of mountains rose before us crowned by Makheras, 4730 feet, apparently close above us, dark in plutonic rocks and sparsely covered with myrtles and other evergreens. As we neared the base of the mountains, the vegetation increased, and passing the dirty village of Lithrodondo, we entered upon a succession of hills divided by numerous small torrent-beds, the steep banks of which were thickly fringed with oleanders, mastic, myrtles, and other shrubs, which formed an inspiriting change from the weary treeless country we had left behind. Beyond Lithrodondo are extensive vineyards; but it was late, and I was obliged to turn back towards Dali, fifteen miles distant.
Wherever I had been since my departure from Larnaca the natives had complained of the effects of fever to which they are subjected during the summer months; but they were unanimous in declaring that "the general sickness of the last year was exceptional, and that the fevers were not of a dangerous nature." It is well known that upon our first occupation of the island in July, 1878, all troops, both English and Indian, suffered to a degree that would have rendered them unfit for active service. It is true that the actual mortality was not excessive; but the strength of an army must be reckoned by the EFFECTIVE force, and not by numbers. There can be no doubt that, owing to a season declared by the inhabitants to be exceptionally unhealthy, and the unfortunate necessity for a military occupation during the extreme heat of July and August, the troops being overworked, badly fed, and unprotected from the sun, the newly-acquired island was stamped with a pestilential character, and Cyprus became a byeword as a fever-smitten failure. I shall give my personal experiences, untinged by any prejudice. The natural features of the country produced a sad impression upon my first arrival in a scene where the depressing influence of a barren aspect must to a certain extent affect the nervous system; but a careful examination of the entire surface of the island subsequently modified my first impressions, with results which these pages will describe.
There was no object in prolonging my visit to Dali; the tombs of ancient Idalium had already been ransacked by the consuls of various nations; and had I felt disposed to disturb the repose of the dead, nominally in the interests of science, but at the same time to turn an honest penny by the sale of their remains, I should have been unable to follow the example of the burrowing antiquarians who had preceded me; a prohibition having been placed upon all such enterprises by the English government.
It is supposed that Idalium is one of the largest and richest treasuries of the dead in Cyprus. For several centuries the tombs had been excavated and pillaged in the hopes of discovering objects of value. The first robbers were those who were simply influenced by the gold and other precious ornaments which were accompaniments of the corpse; the modern despoilers were resurrectionists who worked with the object of supplying any museums that would purchase the funeral spoil.
It is a curious contradiction in our ideas of propriety, which are measured apparently by uncertain intervals of time, that we regard as felonious a man who disinters a body and steals a ring from the fingers of the corpse a few days after burial in an English churchyard, but we honour and admire an individual who upon a wholesale scale digs up old cemeteries and scatters the bones of ancient kings and queens, princes, priests, and warriors, and having collected the jewellery, arms, and objects of vanity that were buried with them, neglects the once honoured bones, but sells the gold and pottery to the highest bidder. Sentiment is measured and weighed by periods, and as grief is mitigated by time, so also is our respect for the dead, even until we barter their ashes for gold as an honourable transaction.
The most important object of antiquity that has been recently discovered by excavations at Dali is the statue of Sargon, king of Assyria, 707 B.C., to whom the Cypriote kings paid tribute. This was sent to the Berlin Museum by Mr. Hamilton Lang, and is described in his interesting work upon Cyprus during the term of several years' consulship.
The ruins of ancient cities offer no attraction to the traveller in this island, as nothing is to be seen upon the surface except disjointed stones and a few fallen columns of the commonest description. The destruction has been complete, and if we wish to make discoveries, it is necessary to excavate to a considerable depth; but as all such explorations are prohibited, the subject remains fruitless. General di Cesnola, whose work upon the antiquities of Cyprus must remain unrivalled, describes the tombs as from forty to fifty-five feet beneath the present surface, and even those great depths had not secured them from disturbance, as many that he opened had already been ransacked by former explorers.
On the 7th of February the thermometer at eight A.M. was only 40 degrees. The oxen were put into their yokes, and after a discussion concerning the best route to Lefkosia, it was agreed that Georgi should be the responsible guide, as he was a native of the country.
When travelling on horseback through the district of Messaria there is no difficulty of roads, provided you know the country thoroughly, as you may canter, in the absence of enclosures, in any direction you may please; but the Cypriotes have an awkward habit of leading their watercourses straight through any route that may exist for wheeled conveyances, and you suddenly arrive at a deep ditch and high bank, which block the thoroughfare. Georgi had assured us that no difficulty would delay us between Dali and the high road from Larnaca to Lefkosia, which we should intersect about half-way between the two termini. Instead of this, after travelling for a couple of miles along a good hardened track, we arrived at a series of trenches which effectually stopped all progress. Each van had a pickaxe and shovel, therefore we all set to work in rapid relief of each other to level the obstructions, and by this hard exercise the thermometer appeared to rise quickly from the low temperature of the morning. The oxen were good, and by dint of our united exertions in heaving the wheels and pushing behind, we dragged the vans through the soft ground that had filled the ditches, and then slowly travelled across ploughed fields and alternate plains of a hard surface covered with abominable thistles.
We passed on our left a large farm that exhibited a wonderful contrast to the general barrenness of the country. The fields were green with young wheat and barley, and numerous sakyeeahs or cattle-wheels for raising water supplied the means of unfailing irrigation. I believe this property belonged to Mr. Mattei, and there could be no stronger example of the power that should be developed throughout this island to render it independent of precarious seasons. It is a simple question of a first outlay that is absolutely necessary to ensure the crops. Throughout the barren plain of Messaria water exists in unfailing quantity within a few yards of the parched surface—thus at the same time that the crops are perishing from the want of rain, the roots are actually within a few feet of the desired supply. The cattle-wheels of Cyprus are very inferior to the sakyeeah of Egypt, but are arranged upon a similar principle, by a chain of earthenware pots or jars upon a rope and wheel, which, revolving above a deep cistern, ascend from the depth below, and deliver the water into a trough or reservoir upon the surface. From the general reservoir small watercourses conduct the stream to any spot desired. This is the most ancient system of artificial irrigation by machinery, and it is better adapted for the requirements of this country than any expensive European inventions. As I shall devote a chapter specially to the all-important question of irrigation, I shall postpone further remarks upon the cattle-wheel; but the farm in question which formed a solitary green oasis in the vast expanse of withered surface was a sufficient example of the necessity, and of the fruitful result of this simple and inexpensive method. It is a mere question of outlay, and the government must assist the cultivators by loans for the special erection of water-wheels. But of this more hereafter.
At about six miles from Dali we struck the road between Larnaca and Lefkosia (or Nicosia). The newly-established mail-coach with four horses passed us, with only one passenger. We met it again on the following day, with a solitary unit; and it appeared that the four horses on many occasions had no other weight behind them than the driver and the letters. With this instance of inertia before their eyes, certain lunatics (or WISE CONTRACTORS) suggested the necessity of a railway for twenty-eight miles to connect the two capitals! The mail had an ephemeral existence, and after running fruitlessly to and fro for a few months, it withdrew altogether, leaving an abundant space in Cyprus for my two vans, without the slightest chance of a collision upon the new highway, as there were no other carriages on the roads, excepting the few native two-wheeled carts.
We halted five miles from Lefkosia, where a new stone bridge was in process of construction and was nearly completed. We had already passed a long and extremely narrow Turkish bridge across the river about four miles in our rear. By pacing I made the new bridge twenty-nine feet, the same width as the road, and I could not help thinking that a much less expensive commencement would have been sufficient to meet the requirements of the country. In Cyprus the rainfall is generally slight and the earth is tenacious, and in dry weather exceedingly hard; if half the width of the road had been carefully metalled in the first instance, a great expense would have been saved at a time when the island was sadly in want of money; the natural surface of the firm soil would have been preferred by all vehicles except during rain, when they would have adopted the metalled parallel way. It is easy to criticise after the event, and there can be no doubt that upon our first occupation of the island a much greater traffic was expected, and the road between the two capitals was arranged accordingly. We halted for the night at the new stone bridge, which, as usual in Cyprus, spanned a channel perfectly devoid of water. On the following morning we marched to Lefkosia, and passing to the left of the walled town, we reached the newly-erected Government House, about a mile and a half distant, where we received a kind and hospitable welcome from the High Commissioner, Sir Garnet, and Lady Wolseley.
The position of the new Government House was well chosen. The character of the dreary plain of Messaria is the same throughout; flat table-topped hills of sedimentary calcareous limestone, abounding with fossil shells, represent the ancient sea-bottom, which has been upheaved. The surface of these table-heights is hard for a depth of about six feet, forming an upper stratum of rock which can be used for building; beneath this are marls and friable cretaceous stone, which during rains are washed away. The continual process of undermining by the decay of the lower strata has caused periodical disruption of the hard upper stratum, which has fallen off in huge blocks and rolled down the rough inclines that form the sides. As the water during heavy rains percolates through the crevices of the upper stratum, it dissolves the softer material beneath, and oozing through the steep inclination, carries large quantities in solution to the lower level and deposits this fertilising marl upon the plain below. In this manner the low ground of the rich but dreary Messaria has been formed through the decay and denudation of the higher levels, and the process will continue until the present table-topped hills shall be entirely washed away. The stone of the upper surface, which forms a hard crust to the friable strata beneath, is in many places merely the roof of caverns which have been hollowed out by the action of water as described.
The Government House was erected upon one of these flat-topped hills in a direct line about 1900 yards from the nearest portion of Lefkosia. It was a wooden construction forming three sides of a quadrangle. The quarters for the military staff were wooden huts, and the line of heights thus occupied could not fail to attract the eye of a soldier as a splendid strategical position, completely commanding Lefkosia and the surrounding country. From this point an admirable view was presented upon all sides. The river Pedias (the largest in Cyprus), when it possessed water, would flow for about 270 degrees of a circle around the base of the position, the sides of the hill rising abruptly from the stream. The dry shingly bed was about 120 yards in width, and although destitute of water at this point, sufficient was obtained some miles higher up the river to irrigate a portion of the magnificent plain which bordered either side. Sir Garnet Wolseley was endeavouring to put a new face on the treeless surface, and had already planted several acres of the Eucalyptus globulus and other varieties on the lower ground, while date-palms of full growth had been conveyed bodily to the natural terrace around the Government House and carefully transplanted into pits. This change was a considerable relief to the eye, and the trees, if well supplied with water, will in a few years create a grove where all was barrenness.
The view from each portion of the terrace is exceedingly interesting, as it commands a panorama for a distance of nearly thirty miles. On the north is the range of mountains, about twelve miles distant, which form the backbone of Cyprus, and run from east to west, attaining the height of 3400 feet. This is a peculiar geological feature in the island, as it is the only instance of compact (or jurassic) limestone. Through my powerful astronomical telescope I could plainly distinguish every rock, and the Castle of Buffavento upon the summit of the perpendicular crags afforded an interesting object, although invisible to the naked eye. The south and east presented a miserable aspect in the brown desert-like plain of Messaria, broken by the numerous flat-topped hills to which I have already alluded. On the west the important mountain-range which includes Troodos bounded the view by the snow-capped heights of the ancient Mount Olympus, between which several chains of lower hills formed a dark base of plutonic rocks, which contrasted with the painful glare of the immediate foreground. The highest points of this range are Troodos, 6590 feet, Adelphe, 5380 feet, Makhera, 4730 feet. These are the measurements as they appear upon the maps; but the recent survey by the Royal Engineers has reduced the height of Troodos by 250 feet. A green patch at the foot of the Carpas range denoted the position of Kythrea, about twelve miles distant east, watered by the extraordinary spring which has rendered it famous both in ancient and modern times; and almost at our feet, or a mile in a direct line, the fortified capital, Lefkosia, presented the usual picturesque appearance of a Turkish town. A combination of date-palms, green orange-gardens, minarets, mosques, houses quaint in their irregularity and colouring, and the grand old Venetian Cathedral, St. Sophia, towering above all other buildings, were enclosed within the high masonry walls and bastions, comprising a circuit of three statute miles.
The position of Lefkosia has been badly chosen, as it lies in the flat, and must always have been exposed to a plunging fire from an enemy posted upon the heights. It was fortified in the time of Constantine the Great, but in 1570 the Venetians demolished the old works and constructed the present elaborate fortifications. Although the walls are in several places crumbling into ruins, they are still imposing in appearance, and present a clean front of masonry flanked by eleven bastions, and entered by three gates, those of Baffo, Famagousta, and Kyrenia. The original ditch can be traced in various places, but the counterscarp and glacis have been destroyed; therefore the soil has washed in during the rainy seasons, and to an unpractised eye has obliterated all traces of the former important work. On the other hand, the disappearance of the glacis renders the height of the walls still more imposing, as they rise for thirty or forty feet abruptly from the level base, and at a distance maintain the appearance of good condition.
It is difficult to imagine the reason which induced the Venetians to reproduce Lefkosia after they had demolished the original fortifications; but it is probable that they had already erected the cathedral before the expected Turkish invasion rendered the improved defences necessary. Although in the early days of artillery shell-fire was unknown, both the Turks and Venetians possessed guns of heavy calibre far exceeding any that were used in Great Britain until recent years. The marble shot which are still to be seen in Famagousta are the same which served in the defence of that fortress in 1571. These are nearly eleven inches in diameter, while in the fort of Kyrenia the stone shot are still existing, nineteen inches in diameter, composed of an exceedingly hard and heavy metamorphic rock. The long bronze guns which threw the smaller stone shot of from six to eleven inches, would command a far more extensive range than the interval of the heights which dominate Lefkosia; and even should battering have been ineffective at that distance against walls of masonry, the plunging fire would have destroyed the town and rendered it untenable.
Traces are still visible of the Turkish approaches when the town was successfully carried by storm on the 9th of September, 1570, after a siege of only forty-five days. The short duration of the attack compared to the length of time required in the siege of Famagousta, which at length succumbed to famine, and not to direct assaults, is a proof of the faulty strategical position of the fortress of Lefkosia.
Most Turkish towns are supplied with water by aqueducts from a considerable distance, which would naturally be cut by an enemy as the first operation. The water is brought to Lefkosia from the hills at some miles' distance, and is of excellent quality; but the wells of the town must be contaminated by sewage, as there is no means of effective drainage upon the dead level of the town, unless the original ditch is turned into a pestilential cesspool. The filth of centuries must have been imbibed by the soil, and during the process of infiltration must in successive rainy seasons have found its way to the wells. In case of invasion, Lefkosia could never have resisted a prolonged siege, as in the absence of the aqueduct a garrison would quickly have succumbed to disease when dependent for a water-supply upon the wells alone. When the Turks captured the city by assault, the population far exceeded that of the present time (16,000), and the greater portion were massacred during several days of sack and pillage. Some thousands of girls and boys were transported to Constantinople. Richard I. of England occupied Lefkosia without resistance, after his victory over Isaac Comnenus.
Although experienced in the illusion of Turkish towns, I was more than disappointed when I visited the interior of Lefkosia. The new Chief Commissioner, Colonel Biddulph, R.A., C.B., had already improved certain streets, and the eye was immediately attracted to points which bore the unmistakable stamp of a British occupation; but nothing can be effected in the arrangement of such a town without an unlimited purse and a despotic power. It is almost as hopeless as London in the incongruity of architecture, and the individual indulgence of independent taste, which absolutely dismays a stranger. The beautiful Gothic cathedral of the Venetians has been converted into a mosque by the conquerors, and two exceedingly lofty and thin minarets have added an absurd embellishment, resembling two gigantic candles capped by extinguishers, as though the altar-tapers had been taken for the models. The neighbouring church of St. Nicholas has been converted into a granary. In all Turkish towns the bazaars are the most interesting portion, as they illustrate the commercial and agricultural industries of the country. Those of Lefkosia formed a labyrinth of the usual narrow streets, and resembled each other so closely that it was difficult to find the way. The preparation of leather from the first process of tanning is exhibited on an extensive scale, which does not add to the natural sweetness of the air. Native manufactures for which the town is celebrated, that are more agreeable, may be purchased at a moderate price in the shape of silk stuffs; and a variety of mule-harness, pack-saddles, and the capacious double bags of hair and wool that, slung across the animal, are almost indispensable to the traveller. There were a few shops devoted to European articles which were hardly adapted to the country, and were expensive in a ridiculous degree. The narrow streets were muddy from the recent rain, and the temperature was at 55 degrees, but the inhabitants were sitting at the various cafes in the open air smoking and drinking their steaming coffee as though in summer. From natural politeness they invariably rose as we passed by, and at one place I was immediately furnished with a string that I might measure a large vine-stem which during summer must afford a dense shade. I found the main stem of this unusual specimen was twenty-two inches in circumference.
The only agreeable walk in Lefkosia is the circuit of the ramparts, as the high elevation admits of fresh air and an extensive view. From this we looked down upon numerous gardens well irrigated by the surplus water of the aqueduct, and the remarkably healthy orange and lemon trees were crowded with their loads of ripe fruit. There are many good and roomy houses in the town, each furnished with a considerable garden, but as they are surrounded with high walls, it is difficult to form an opinion of their actual dimensions. The house occupied by the Chief Commissioner is large and well constructed, the staircase and landing airy and capacious, with an entrance-hall open at the extreme end and well arranged for the burning climate during summer. All houses are paved with slabs of gypsum, which abound in many parts of the island, and are sold at a remarkably low price, as the blocks laminate, and are divided into sheets of the required thickness with a minimum of labour.
The Turkish Pacha (Rifat) still remained at Lefkosia, as he was responsible for the transfer of various movable property to Constantinople. The interesting Venetian cannon of bronze that were utterly valueless as modern weapons had been conveyed away both from Lefkosia and Famagousta. One of these was a double octagon, or sixteen-sided, and would have been a valuable specimen in the collection at the Tower of London. Many of the curious old Venetian cannon had recently been burst into fragments with dynamite, to save the trouble of moving the heavy guns entire.
There can be little doubt that the prime object in selecting a central position for the capital of Cyprus was a regard for safety from any sudden attack; but upon any other grounds I cannot conceive a greater absurdity. The capital should be Limasol, which will become the Liverpool of Cyprus. Lefkosia is completely out of the commercial route; it is valueless as a military position, and it offers no climatic advantage, but, on the contrary, it is frightfully hot in the summer months, and is secluded from the more active portions of the island. It IS, simply because it WAS; but it should remain as a vestige of the past, and no longer represent the capital. *
(The census of Nicosia, taken on 31st January, 1879, represents the population as follows:—
No. of houses:— 2,463
Population by sex:—
Males above 15 . . . . . . . . 3,773
Males under 15 . . . . . . . . 1,900
Females above 14 . . . . . . . 3,718
Females under 14 . . . . . . . 1,806
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,197
Population by religion:—
English . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Greek Church. . . . . . . . . . 5,251
Catholics . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Mohammedans . . . . . . . . . . 5,628
Armenians . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Jews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,197 )
There is no position throughout the plain of Messaria adapted for a permanent government establishment as head-quarters. The depressing effect of that horrible landscape, embracing the extensive area from Trichomo and Famagousta to Larnaca, Lefkosia, and Morphu, is most demoralising, and few Europeans would be able to resist the deleterious climate of summer, and the general heart-sinking that results in a nervous despondency when the dreary and treeless plain is ever present to the view. There is no reason why officials should be condemned to the purgatory of such a station when Cyprus possesses superior positions where the great business of the future will be conducted. The new road already completed from Larnaca to Lefkosia must be carried on to Morphu, and thus connect the north and south extremities of the plain; Kyrenia, sixteen miles distant, must be connected with Lefkosia; branches must then be extended to Kythrea and to Famagousta; and subsequently, from the latter town a direct road must be continued parallel with the south coast to Larnaca. Such roads may be constructed for about 350 pounds per mile at the low rate of labour in Cyprus, considering the presence of stone throughout the district, and their completion will open the entire plain of Messaria to wheeled communication with four ports, to north and south.
CHAPTER IV.
THE MESSARIA.
Having passed a week with our kind hosts, Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley, at Government House, which formed a most agreeable contrast to the friendless life that we had been leading, the vans once more started en route for Kythrea, Famagousta, and the Carpas district. I had hired a good, sure-footed pony for my wife and a powerful mule for myself, and, having given the vans a start of several hours, we followed in the afternoon.
The treeless expanse of the Messaria produces nothing but cereals and cotton; teams of oxen were at work in all directions ploughing, and otherwise preparing the thistle-covered surface, and the atmosphere was so delusively clear that Kythrea, twelve miles distant, appeared close to us. Upon these boundless flats an object may be seen as distinctly as though upon the water, and we soon descried in the far distance a dark spot, which the binocular glass, if at sea, would have pronounced to be the stern of a vessel that had lost her masts, keeping the same course as ourselves; this was the gipsy-van, which should have already arrived at Kythrea, where I had expected to have found the camp arranged, dinner cooked, and everything ready for our reception. Something had happened, as the other van was not in sight.
It was impossible to dignify the route by the name of a "road," as it presented an uneven surface and occasionally branched into several independent tracks, which re-united after an eccentric course of a few hundred yards; these were caused by droves of mules which in wet weather had endeavoured to select a better line than the deeply-trodden mud in the central road. Fortunately the surface was now hard, and we cantered on, fully expecting some disaster to at least one of our vehicles. Upon our arrival we found a crowd of people yelling and shouting their utmost, while they were engaged in company with four oxen harnessed in dragging and pushing the blue van up a new road which they had scarped out of the precipitous bank of a river about forty feet deep; this accounted for only one van being in sight, as the other was in the dry bed of the river. These good people had been working for several hours in making a road where none existed; and assured me that the large bridge over the Pedias was unsafe for so great a weight, and therefore it was advisable to cross at the present spot. The banks consisted of the alluvium of ages free from stones, therefore it was easy to cut an incline; but as many tons of earth had been removed, the operation had required much labour, and many hands had collected from the adjacent villages upon seeing the dilemma.
The blue van was in the middle of the crowd; the oxen answered to the inspiriting shouts, and more especially to the ceaseless pricks of the driving sticks, and presently it was dragged safely to the level of the opposite bank. A few alterations in the new road were necessary for the larger gipsy-van, and taking the drag-shoe off the blue van, we were thus enabled to secure both the hind-wheels for the steep descent. By careful management, after one or two narrow escapes from capsising, we succeeded in landing the Noah's Ark safely by its fellow, amidst the cheers of the good-natured crowd.
The delay had been great, and the evening was drawing near: we were about seven miles from the upper portion of Kythrea, where we had proposed to camp, and the route was partly across country, to avoid layers of natural rock which in successive ridges made it impossible for the vans to keep the track. Several deep watercourses intervened, which required the spade and pickaxe, and it was quite dark when we were obliged to halt about a mile from Kythrea.
On the following morning Mr. Kitchener, Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers, called at our camp, and was kind enough to pilot us to the celebrated springs about three miles above the village. This able and energetic officer was engaged, together with Mr. Hippersly of the same corps, in making the trigonometrical survey of the island, and they were quartered in a comfortable house on the outskirts of the town. With this excellent guide, who could explain every inch of the surrounding country, we started upon a most interesting ride. The entire neighbourhood was green with abundant crops of cereals, some of which at this early season were eighteen inches high. The effect of irrigation could be traced for several miles into the plain and along the base of the mountain range, until by degrees the green became more faint, and gradually but surely merged into the dead brown which denoted barrenness, where the water-power was expended by absorption.
It was impossible to form any idea of the extent of Kythrea from the outside view. A succession of large villages with fields highly cultivated covered the surface at the base of the mountains, but the true Kythrea was partially concealed by the curious ravine through which the water of the springs is conducted by aqueducts until it reaches the lower ground. For a distance of three miles this ravine is occupied by houses and gardens, all of which are supplied by the stream, which turns thirty-two water-mills in its course. The water-wheels in Cyprus are horizontal turbines, and I have only met with one over-shot wheel in the island; this is on the estate of M. Mattei at Kuklia.
The range of mountains exactly above the village exhibits a peculiar example of the effect of water-wash for about two hundred feet from the base. From the heights at Government House, twelve miles distant, I had observed through the telescope a curious succession of conical heaps resembling volcanic mounds of hardened mud; these rose one above the other along the base of the hills like miniature mountain-ranges. Even when near Kythrea I could not understand the formation, until we found ourselves riding through the steep ravine which holds the watercourse and ascending by a narrow path among the countless hills that I have described. Both sides of the gorge, and also the deep bottom, are occupied by houses with fruitful gardens, rich in mulberry, orange, lemon, apricots, olives, forming groves of trees that in summer must be delightful. Sometimes after clambering up steep and stony paths which had originally been paved we entered into villages, the roofs of the houses BELOW us upon our left, and the doors of others upon our right, so close to the narrow path as scarcely to admit the passage of a loaded mule. The water rushed along the bottom in a rapid stream, plunging from the adit below one turbine to a temporary freedom in a natural channel, from which it was quickly captured and led into an aqueduct of masonry to another mill at a lower level. All the inhabitants had turned out to see an English lady, and the usual welcome was exhibited by sprinkling us with rose and orange-flower water as we passed; the omnipresent dogs yelled and barked with their usual threatening demonstrations at the heels of our animals, and some from the low roofs of the houses were unpleasantly close to our heads. We were now among the conical mounds, along the steep sides of which a path of about twelve inches width appeared to invite destruction, as the loose crumbling material rolled down the deep incline beneath the hoofs of the sure-footed horses and mules. These creatures had a disagreeable habit of choosing the extreme edge of the narrow ledge, instead of hugging the safer side; and although no great precipice existed, the fall of thirty feet into the rocky stream below would have been quite as effectual as a greater depth in breaking necks and limbs. We again entered a village, where a large plane-tree formed the centre of a small open space, faced on either side by a cafe; the situation being attractive during summer from the dense shade afforded by the spreading branches. There were many people sitting in the open shed, who as usual rose and made their salutations as we passed. The path became worse as we proceeded, and we at length emerged from the long string of contracted villages and skirted the precipitous sides of the ravine, which formed one of the innumerable gorges between the conical mounds of marls and alluvium that had been washed from a higher level and worn into heaps by the action of rain upon the unstable surface.
About a mile beyond all villages we skirted the stream along a steep bank, from which point we looked down upon the roofs of houses more than a hundred feet below, and we at length halted and dismounted at a rocky termination of the gorge, from whence issued suddenly the celebrated spring of Kythrea.
The mountains rose abruptly upon either side, and a dry ravine above the rocks upon which we stood exhibited the natural channel by which in heavy rains the surface-water would be conducted to the lower stream-bed. A rough arch of masonry and a tunnel in the rock for about forty feet formed the embouchure, from which the water issued into a carefully constructed stone aqueduct, which led directly to the first mill of the Kythrea series, about a hundred and twenty yards distant. The temperature was considerably warmer than the air, but I had no thermometer to mark the difference.
The aqueduct would have carried at least one-third more than the present volume, which was about twenty-six inches deep, and three feet in width. The water was beautifully clear and the current rapid, but I had no means of measuring the velocity.
The stone-work of the aqueduct, always moist from the percolation, must form a charming exhibition of maidenhair ferns during summer-time, as the crevices were all occupied by plants, whose leaves, even at this season (February), were several inches in length.
We strolled up the dry ravine above the spring, and ascended the hill to an extensive plateau, upon which grew two or three caroub-trees; here was a sudden change; the soil was red, and we entered the compact grey limestone (jurassic) which forms the Carpas range. On the extreme verge of the plateau of red soil we had an admirable example of the formation of the conical mounds of earth, two or three of which already existed, while others were in process of development from the melting-away of the soil during heavy rains. As the surface dissolved under the action of rainfall, it flouted down the steep inclinations, until a base was formed, at the expense of the upper area; by degrees gullies were created in the rear, and these would rapidly become deeper under the action of running water, until they reached the lower level of the base. A circle thus formed, an apex would be the natural result of the denudation and decay of the upper surface which would produce a cone. A sudden shower compelled us to take refuge beneath a caroub-tree whose dense foliage saved us from a thorough soaking. The ground having become slippery, we returned upon our narrow and soapy route with some caution, but the careful animals who were well accustomed to these dangerous paths carried us safely to our camp.
It is extraordinary that the water-power of Cyprus has of late years been so neglected by the authorities, as the island must from ancient times have mainly depended upon its springs in the absence of dependable seasons. Kythrea is an example of the importance that was attached to a stream of running water, as the town was established by the Athenians, and in former ages an aqueduct of masonry extended for twenty-five miles to Salamis; in the neighbourhood of which ruins of the old work are still existing. If the seasons of Cyprus have undergone a change since the forests have been destroyed, I can see no reason for the innumerable vestiges of ancient water-works throughout the country. Wherever an important spring existed, there was a settlement of corresponding extent and value, which suggests that the rainfall was even then as uncertain as at the present day. Every spring became a centre of attraction. The ruins of the ancient Kythrea have been partially excavated by the indefatigable General di Cesnola, but with unimportant results, as the ground is under artificial irrigation, and is in the highest cultivation, therefore it cannot be disturbed.
The chief industry of modern times which adds to the importance of Kythrea, is the production of silk, from the great abundance of mulberry-trees which supply the necessary food for the silkworms; but it has suffered to a considerable degree, in common with most silk-growing districts in Cyprus, by the want of foresight of the producers; these people have within the last few years sold the seed in such extravagant quantities to the traders of Beyrout as to leave the island with a short supply. The result of this sacrifice for the sake of ready money is a serious reduction in the general produce, and in many portions of the island the mulberry-trees are flourishing without a silkworm to feed upon them. The thirty-two flour-mills of Kythrea are worked by a fall of 400 feet between the head-water of the spring to the base of the lowest mill at the foot of the mountains. It appeared to me that much water is wasted by an absence of scientific control. A series of reservoirs would store the excess during the hours when the mills are idle (similar to the mill-ponds in England), but as there is no municipal law upon this important subject, the all-important stream is much neglected. There is a general demand for grinding-power throughout Cyprus; the corn is brought from great distances to the mills of Kythrea at a considerable expense of transport; I have met droves of mules laden with wheat and barley on their way from Larnaca, to which distant spot they would again return when their loads should have been reduced to flour. In the face of this difficulty a general want of energy and of the necessary capital is exhibited by the total neglect of wind-power, in a country where a steady breeze is the rule, with few exceptions. Throughout the great plain of Messaria windmills would be invaluable, both for grinding purposes and for raising water; nothing would be more simple than the combination of the wind-vane with the cattle-pump; but this great and almost omnipresent power is absolutely ignored.
On our return to camp in the evening, I resolved to have a quiet day with my dogs on the following morning, when I could stroll at my leisure over the mountains, and enjoy myself thoroughly according to my own tastes, sometimes obtaining a shot at game, and observing every object in nature.
It was 15th February, and with a native guide and interpreter who spoke Arabic, which was my medium of dialogue, I started to cross the mountain-range upon the east of the well-known five-knuckled-top named "Pentadactylon." At the expense of repetition I cannot help extracting from my diary the exact words of description rough from the first impulse: "The base of this range is an extraordinary example of the action of rainfall in melting and washing down into conical mounds several hundred feet high, what was originally a high level of continuous but alternating strata of marls and alluvium that had descended from the higher mountains. These vast masses are in a chaotic confusion of separate heaps, which at a distance resemble volcanic cones. We rode up precipitous paths edging upon deep chasms between these conical hills, and emerged upon metamorphous rocks and shale mingled in curious irregularity. The strata of shale were in some instances nearly vertical, proving the disturbance that had been occasioned by a subsequent upheaval. About 200 feet above this formation we entered upon the dark grey jurassic limestone, and the soil became a rich red like that of South Devon. The rock scenery was very imposing as we increased our altitude and arrived upon plateaux of considerable extent. There can be no doubt that these natural terrace-like surfaces and various hollows accumulate the rainfall of a great area, and that some vast subterranean caverns in the limestone form natural reservoirs, which supply the celebrated springs of Kythrea throughout the year."
I believe these few words contain the real secret of the springs, which have been, and still are, considered to have a mysterious origin. Some people indulge in the theory that the water is forced by hydraulic pressure at the superior altitude of Caramania in Asia Minor, and passing by a subterranean conduit far beneath the bottom of the intervening channel, it ascends at the peculiar rock-mouth of Kythrea. This is simple nonsense, and can only be accepted by those who adore the unreal, instead of the guide, "common-sense." The actual volume of the outflow at Kythrea has never been calculated, although the problem is most simple; but a cursory examination is sufficient to explain the origin of the supply which a certain superficial mountain area collects and stores during the rainy seasons: to yield gradually through some small aperture or leak in a grand subterranean reservoir.
In all countries where water is scarce, unfailing springs are objects of veneration, and are clothed not only with undying verdure, but with a continuous growth of legends: from the day when Moses smote the rock in the wilderness, and the stream gushed forth to the thirsty Israelites, to the present hour, water, which is man's first necessity, will in drought-smitten countries be hailed with more than usual reverence. The devout Mussulman sinks a well and erects a fountain for the public good, and his friends bury his body in the neighbourhood of his last act.
"Rest, weary pilgrim, rest and pray
For the kind soul of Sybil Grey,
Who built this Cross and Well."
Christian and Mahommedan, and all creeds and races, men and animals, yield unanimously to the great want, which in a thirsty land alone will bring the lion and the lamb to drink in the same stream. I have myself seen in moonlight, animals of various and conflicting natures revelling in the rest of nature's armistice, drinking in crowds at the solitary pool; the only source of water in the desert.
The Cypriotes in their natural love of the marvellous insist upon the mystery attached to the Kythrea springs, but they attach no importance to the extensive subterranean water-stores of the Messaria plain, simply because they do not see it issue from the ground: still the fact is there, the water in vast quantities always exists, and were it tapped at a higher level, it would flow (as it actually does in certain places), and exhibit the same principle upon a much larger scale than the romantic and picturesque mountain springs of Kythrea.
As we increased our altitude the scenery improved in interest: we were no longer in barren mounds of water-washed debris, but the rich soil among the dark grey rocks gave birth to numerous shrubs, including the evergreen mastic, arbutus, and the dwarf cypress. Although the route was only marked by the continual tracks of the lime-burner's mules, our sturdy animals mounted the steep rocky ascents with comparative ease, and skirted the deep water-worn ravines without missing a footstep. Heaps of rough crumbling rocks resembling cairns attracted my attention on all sides; these were the rude lime-kilns, and at an elevation of about a thousand feet above Kythrea we came upon the families of lime-burners who for several generations have resided in these heights, either in caves, or rude huts, according to the conditions of the locality. Women and girls were hard at work with strong grubbing-axes, digging out the roots of brushwood from among the rocks and making them into faggots, as fuel for burning the grey limestone. The work was most laborious, and I was struck by the great thickness of the roots of comparatively small shrubs. Upon regarding the surface, no bushes appeared sufficiently substantial for the use of fuel, but in fact a they had for centuries been cut and hacked to a degree that reduced them superficially to mere saplings, while the ancient roots had increased in size. The great piles of limestone were only partially reduced to lime by the rough method and the scant fuel employed, but I admired the industry of these poor people, who were working like the Israelites for Pharaoh, "making bricks without straw." Some of the girls were pretty, but in figure they were mere rag-dolls in locomotion.
The lime was conveyed by donkeys to the lower country, and we presently arrived at a snow-white heap lying in the centre of the path;—it was explained, that, during the heavy shower of yesterday, a donkey was carrying his usual burthen of quick-lime, when he was overtaken by the rain, which slaked the load, and it was necessary to immediately abandon it, to save the animal from burning.
After an hour and a half's scramble we turned to the right beneath a perpendicular cliff of exquisite colouring on our left, combining the bright red which denoted the presence of iron, with the dark purple and the silvery grey of the Jura limestone. On our right was a deep and precipitous ravine, sparsely covered with evergreen shrubs. In this spot, metamorphic rocks lay in rough and huge blocks of various shapes and colours, and while examining these I was struck by the presence of the rare and peculiar green marble known as verde antica. In the immediate neighbourhood I discovered great masses of the same stone, but minus the green base, exhibiting at the same time the characteristics of irregular mosaic in the angular fragments of white, black, and various coloured pieces which appeared to be artificially inlaid. These marbles, especially the true verde antica, would be exceedingly valuable if cut into slabs and exported, and there would be little difficulty in constructing a feasible route for camels, which would convey with ease large slabs secured in frames slung upon either side.
A few yards above this spot we arrived at a solitary cypress-tree, which in density of foliage resembled a yew-tree in an English churchyard. Close to this rare object was an aperture in the rocks upon the right hand; a few roughly-hewn steps enabled us to descend into a narrow cave, where water dripped from the roof, and formed a feeble stream, which was led through crevices to a cistern some yards below. This cistern was within a few feet of the cypress-tree, and accounted for its superior growth, as the roots had been duly nourished. About a hundred feet above this spot were the ruins of an ancient Greek church, that had no doubt been associated with the holy dripping fountain, and the solitary tree had been spared from the ruthless axes of the lime-burners through some superstition connected with the spot. On arrival at the crumbling ruins of the church, we dismounted from our animals, and put them in the rude stable of the lime-burners who had located themselves among the walls of the once religious buildings, which they had converted into huts. Animals could go no farther; we therefore continued the ascent on foot, to the delight of my dogs, who seemed to think it looked more like business.
There was a large growth of the usual shrubs arbutus, mastic, and dwarf-cypress, and the surface of the ground was so completely covered with masses of rock that walking was most difficult. Notwithstanding the apparent barrenness of the locality, we arrived at a tolerably even surface of rich brown soil in a hollow near the shoulder of the mountain; this had recently been cleared for cultivation by the lime-burners to the extent of about two acres, and I remarked that both pine-trees and cypresses as thick as a man's thigh had recently been felled and burnt in spite of the government stringent regulations. In these out-of-the-way localities the natives can laugh at laws and special enactments.
Upon arrival at the crest of the mountain, which formed a shoulder for a peak of silvery rocks, about 100 feet above me, my aneroid showed 1830 feet above Kythrea. From this point the view was superb, and extended north and south from sea to sea. There was an extraordinary contrast upon these two divisions formed by the wall-like Carpas range upon which we stood: to the south all was brown and desolate excepting the few miles of green belonging to Kythrea beneath our feet. The town of Lefkosia stood out in bold relief, the cathedral and even the fortress walls affording distinct outlines in the clear atmosphere; the salt-lakes of Larnaca showed plainly in the distance, backed by the blue sea, and the mountain of Santa Croce with the monastery upon its summit was a well-known landmark. This side of the mountain range was not inviting, and if it had been exhibited before the occupation there can be little doubt of an unfavourable impression. We turned "right-about-face" to the north. This was indeed a wonderful change of aspect! We looked down from the picturesque and precipitous wall of mountains which stretched far away to the east and west; the sides were covered with evergreens, through which the bold crags protruded in rugged points; the dark indentures upon the steep slopes marked deep ravines in which streams of water now rippled, while all on the south were stony and exhausted. The strip of land between the sea and the northern base of the Carpas range was hardly three miles wide; this was covered with well-rounded caroub-trees, whose dark green foliage gave a rich appearance to the shore, broken by countless rocky bays and coves, filled with the cobalt waters of the Mediterranean. This was a lovely scene; I could not believe that I was in Cyprus—that whitey-brown-paper-coloured, desert, smitten, God-forsaken isle! Upon the left, about eight miles distant, lay the town and important port of Kyrenia, with an apparently very little harbour, the houses surrounded by gardens, and ornamented by date-palms backed by a perfect forest of caroub-trees which extended for some miles. On the extreme summit of the crags upon our left, overlooking Kyrenia and forming an unmistakable landmark for all sailors, was the castle of Buffavento, cutting the blue sky-line 3240 feet above the sea. Exactly opposite, at about sixty miles distance, were the snow-capped mountains of Caramania, which in the transparent atmosphere seemed to be within a day's long march. Far, far away along the north-eastern shore, and also towards the west, all was lovely: I could only regret that all vessels and strangers must arrive in the unfortunate ports of the Messaria, instead of gaining such favourable first impressions as would be induced by the lovely picture of Cyprus from the north.
While I had been admiring the view, my dogs had been hunting the dense bushes to very little purpose, and although we scrambled for more than two hours over the mountain, we only moved ten or twelve red-legged partridges, which rose upwards of a hundred yards in front of the gun; it was quite impossible to obtain a shot. With an empty bag, but with a new impression of the country since my view of the landscape in the north, I turned homewards, and reached camp late in the afternoon, my spaniels having no doubt a low opinion of Cyprus sport, and of the unfair advantages taken by the ever-running red-legged partridges.
On 16th February a painful conviction was established that Cyprus was unfitted for wheeled carriages and springs. Although the plain appeared flat and without natural obstacles, the ground had been completely traversed by deep trenches for the purpose of checking and conducting surface water to the fields in the event of a heavy shower. Our course should have been directly across the plain to intersect the road from Lefkosia to Famagousta, but a glance at the intervening country showed the impossibility of moving the vans through the miles of green crops which were nourished by innumerable watercourses, each of which must be levelled before we could advance. It was therefore necessary to retrace our steps to within a mile and a half of Lefkosia, to the point where the main route branched to Famagousta. This was a great waste of time, but there was no other way of avoiding the difficulty. Accordingly we started, and after a few miles we cut across country to the high road, while the vans slowly crawled along the uneven way until they reached the turning-point. We halted at a very desolate spot, where sheep were housed in large numbers. Several spacious pens were surrounded with thorns, reminding me of the cattle zareebas of Africa, and a small flat-topped building, built of stone and mud, formed the usual accommodation for man and beast. A well of clear but brackish water supplied this rude establishment, which was surrounded by a boundless extent of undulating ground, more or less cultivated with cereals, which, although only a few inches above the surface, looked weak and perishing.
The vans did not arrive until late; in the meanwhile we had sat outside the building in the cold air, fearing to venture beneath the roof, owing to the swarms of fleas which are sure to be "at home" in all the miserable dwellings of this island. At length the gipsy-van, which had been in sight for a full hour, drew up on the flat surface in front of the shepherd's hut, and real comfort was at once at hand. Although the space within was limited, the furniture was so carefully arranged that we had plenty of room to move about. The fall-slab table was usually down, and was only required for writing; the chest of drawers was American walnut: a good solid and well-seasoned wood, which did not provoke the temper like English furniture by the drawers sticking when in the act of opening, and leaving you in a hopeless position with a detached handle in either hand. This good American chest was only three feet two inches high, therefore it formed a convenient toilette-table beneath a window, which, curtained with muslin and crimson cloth, had an exceedingly snug appearance; and a cushioned seat upon either side upon the lid of a locker combined comfort with convenience. We had a tiny little movable camp-table that could be adjusted in two minutes, and would dine two persons, provided that no carving was performed, and that the dishes were handed round. The bed was athwart-ship at the far end beneath the stern-window, but at such a height from the floor that several broad shelves beneath contained gun-cases, ammunition, clothes, boots, tins of preserved provisions, and in fact everything that, although necessary, was to be kept out of sight. The only mistake in the arrangements was a very large and gorgeous open-brass-work Egyptian lantern, with glass of various colours and outlandish patterns in Arabesque. In the evening we formed an irregular light-house, as two ordinary carriage-lamps were fixed above and on either side the entrance door, while the gorgeous many-coloured lantern swung from the roof inside, and flashed red, green, and yellow signals in wild confusion. I knew this piece of finery would not last long, as it would insist upon running against everybody's head, its large size bringing it into constant collision; but it looked well, and ornamented the van. As it burnt several candles the lantern became hot, which somewhat warmed the cabin, and was a welcome increase of temperature, for although the floor was protected by oil-cloth, upon which were double layers of Scinde rugs, the extreme thinness of the walls made it unpleasantly cold with the thermometer outside at 40 degrees. The servants were saved an immense amount of trouble by the presence of the gipsy-van, which at the time they hardly appreciated; they had no tent-pitching upon the halt, neither unpacking of boxes, nor arranging of beds, nor any of the usual work connected with a daily camp. It is impossible for the inexperienced to appreciate the comfort of such a vehicle where the roads are practicable, especially in bad weather, when you are perfectly certain that your home is weather-proof and your bed dry. Those who have experienced the misery of a halt in pouring rain, when everybody and everything has been sodden to the bone, when the ground is slush that will not hold a tent-peg; the night dark; the fuel will not burn; the matches expend themselves in vain phosphoric flashes, but will not ignite; the water that has run down your neck has formed reservoirs within your boots; the servants are reduced to the inactivity of sponges; and—the tents MUST be pitched. The heavy soaked canvas that can hardly flap in the strong wind is at length spread over the cold soft ground; the camp-beds, though wet as tripe, MUST be arranged; and down go the iron legs, sinking to an unknown depth into the sodden soil!
Oh, misery, misery! happily unknown to those who stay at home. All this may be avoided in a country where practicable routes exist by travelling with a gipsy-van. Of course you do not personally travel within your van: it simply forms a movable home that accompanies you upon the march, and is always there when required, while you ride independently upon your animal. We live and learn: and I have from experience modified my ideas of a gipsy-van; for a roadless country such as Cyprus practically is—I should have NO SPRINGS. If you are obliged to travel bodily within your vehicle, there can be no doubt that springs relieve the spine, and various indescribable portions of your anatomy; but if your simple "but upon wheels" is to be dragged along, over, and through all kinds of obstacles, there can be no use whatever in springs, which by their elasticity allow your vehicle to sway from side to side, and to seriously threaten the centre of gravity, when in a dangerous place, by oscillation. The cap-waggon of South Africa will go anywhere. The two-wheeled cart of Cyprus is a wonderfully simple affair that may be dragged up or down the side of a mountain by a couple of oxen; the high wheels and light but strong body surmounting all obstacles; these carts do not carry more than twelve or fourteen hundredweight, but in an expedition I should much prefer them to the heavy waggons of South Africa, which, with three thousand pounds, require ten or twelve oxen. The heavier weight in a difficulty of soft ground, or in crossing a river, would be serious, but if the vehicles are numerous, and the weight distributed accordingly, it stands to sense that an enormous advantage is secured by the presence of ten oxen in five light carts, all of which can be applied to drag a single cart out of a serious dilemma, instead of remaining hopelessly fixed in soft mud, anchored by a weight of a ton and a half, as in the case of an African baggage-waggon. High and broad wheels are the first necessity, with a compound axle of wood and iron, the unequal elasticity of which relieves the shock.
I invariably found that during the day I hated my van, and in the evening I blessed it. It certainly delayed us on the march, and as we rode some miles in advance we noted the obstacles that would cause a stoppage, and generally halted to assist when the "tortoise" should arrive. All this was of course annoying in a country where a horse would have cantered cheerily along and have accomplished forty miles a day; but, on the other hand, the van was never intended for grande vitesse; neither is express travelling the proper method of obtaining an accurate knowledge of a new country. Thus we crawled along, making twelve or thirteen miles per diem through a most uninteresting country, the usual scene of treeless waste, but dotted over with extensive villages of mud-built houses, and the inevitable white arched-roof Greek churches.
The only incidents that occurred in this land of apathy were occasioned by our guide, who generally lost his way, and spent some hours in finding the vans at the halting-place in the evening; this was not improving to the temper, and of course I laid the blame upon Cyprus generally, and abused the island almost to the superlative degree adopted by the "newspaper correspondents."
The 17th February was a day of considerable bodily exercise, as we arrived at a series of watercourses as deep and broad as military trenches for sapping up to a fortress. We had no sooner levelled an embankment, and with great difficulty dragged the vans across, than we encountered a new and similar obstruction. At length we arrived within half a mile of the large village Arshia, which, being well irrigated, opposed a perfect network of barriers in the shape of artificial water-channels. The oxen became disheartened, and the pair which drew the blue van driven by our favourite Georgi determined to strike work just as he was applying the sharp driving prick to their posteriors in ascending a steep bank, through which we had cut a passage from the deep water-course beneath. Instead of keeping a straight course, these pig-headed bullocks made a sharp turn to the right up the incline. Down went one upon its knees in rage and despair! while round went the other in an opposite direction: crash went the pole in two pieces! and the blue van, having vainly endeavoured to right itself like a lady about to faint when no one is at hand to save her, tottered for a moment, and turned over with a crash that betokened general destruction. My Abyssinian lad, Amarn, was only just in time to escape, as he had been endeavouring to support the van on the impending side when it suddenly capsised, and he would have been flattened like a black-edged mourning envelope had he not actively sprung out of the way.
All hands set about righting the ship—which was upon her beam-ends, and the wheels uppermost. The first thing necessary was to discharge cargo; this we quickly effected, as there were doors in front and behind, and the numerous packages were soon piled upon the wayside. No sooner was the van empty, than my dogs, who had been watching the operation in bewilderment, jumped in, and no inducement would persuade them to quit the comfortable vehicle, which they supposed had been specially cleared for their convenience; the doors were accordingly shut, and they were locked up. We now passed ropes beneath the van, and secured the ends to the bottom of the wheels, which rested upon the ground; the other ends were thrown over the cap-roof and manned, while the rest of the party endeavoured to raise the van bodily. All working together, we righted it immediately, the astonished dogs were liberated, and we soon replaced the contents. I sent a messenger to Arshia to purchase if possible a piece of wood sufficiently long to form a pole, and in the meantime I employed my tools and myself in splicing the broken pole sufficiently to enable us to creep a little nearer to the village, as we were far from water.
It was nearly dark by the time I had completed my work, and the bullocks were once more fastened to the van. In this way we approached within a quarter of a mile of the village and halted for the night. I made a capital pole from the stem of a young fir-tree which I procured from the natives, and lashed it securely to the rough but strong splinter-bar of dwarf-cypress.
On the following morning at daybreak I made a few alterations in the work of the preceding night, and having thoroughly secured the new pole, we started for Kuklia, about thirteen miles distant. After passing a few more watercourses, we arrived at the best ground we had seen in Cyprus, and the vans travelled with ease at upwards of three miles an hour. Throughout this march I observed that the water in the various wells and open pits was hardly five feet from the surface, although the country was suffering from an absence of rain. Notwithstanding this natural advantage, there were only two farms upon which the cattle-wheels were used for purposes of irrigation, which proves the lack of enterprise and capital throughout this miserable district.
There were many important villages upon the higher ground, which overlooked the lower plain through which the river Pedias was supposed to flow. These heights were about a hundred and fifty feet above the lower level, and continued to increase their elevation for many miles, until they formed the horizon on the south-west and west. The soil was extremely fertile, but as usual covered with stones, the debris of decayed limestone of the post-tertiary period, such as is found throughout the Messaria. The flat valley below was about thirteen miles across due north, and was bounded by the Carpas range, which extended to the east beyond telescopic view. In our front was a cheering scene, towards which we hastened with all speed; as sailors rush on deck at the first cry of "Land ahead!" we hurried forward at the unusual sight, "Green trees!" Groves of tall cypress, poplars, and other varieties, springing from a base of exquisite verdure, formed a rare and unmistakable landmark. This was Kuklia, our halting-place, the property of Monsieur Richard Mattei.
Upon arrival at the village we selected a pretty spot upon elevated ground which overlooked the entire country, and from which we could faintly distinguish Famagousta, twelve miles distant. Upon our right, within a hundred and twenty yards, was an aqueduct of masonry supported upon arches, which conveyed a powerful stream to turn a large overshot water-wheel in the valley immediately below. The surplus water, after having worked the mill, was used for the irrigation of extensive cotton-grounds, beyond which it flowed into the marshes and formed a swamp. On the opposite side of this narrow valley were heights and undulating ground, corresponding to those upon which we stood—all treeless and cold; while upon our right, close to the aqueduct, was the bright green of high cultivation, and groves of tall trees which towered above gardens of oranges and lemons now bending beneath the burden of yellow fruit. The village was disappointing, as the houses were of a low order and much neglected; the lanes were occupied by the usual filth and noisy dogs; but the agreeable view of bright green fields and real thriving trees was a delightful change, and exhibited a picture of what Cyprus might become when developed by capital and enterprise. While the camp was being arranged I took my gun and strolled with the dogs into the narrow valley below the mill. The waterwheel was at work, and the people were engaged in cleaning cotton, as the machinery was adapted for both purposes of grinding corn or of ginning cotton when required. There were plenty of snipe in the marshes below the cotton-fields, for which rushes, low bushes of tamarisk and other shrubs, afforded excellent cover. I quickly bagged two couple and my first Francolin partridge, and was just in time, before dark, to assist the dinner.
At sunrise on the following morning the view was interesting, as the sea glittered brightly to the south, while the bold rocks and wall-like sides of the Carpas mountains stood out in sharply-defined edges and varying colours on the north. To the east we looked over the broadest portion of a dead flat created by the deposit from inundations of the eccentric river Pedias, which, although dry at the present time, periodically floods the country and converts the valley into an extensive lake. It was about twenty miles across this broad flat to the important town of Trichomo, and the ruins of Salamis were discernible with the telescope about midway, close to the seashore.
There was an extent of several miles of marsh around the heights of Kuklia, in some portions of which cotton was cultivated in considerable quantities, but I was surprised at the inferiority of the quality, and at the apparent weakness of the plants where the water-supply was plentiful. On closer examination I observed great carelessness in the absence of drainage; the plants were allowed to perish in stagnant water, which soured the land. Upon a longer acquaintance with M. Mattei's farm, I found the same fault generally. Many portions of valuable land were chilled and rendered fruitless by too much water, which remained in the ground for want of the most simple drains. I shot plenty of snipe in the fields of barley, although they were not supposed to be under irrigation. M. Mattei is well known as the largest landed proprietor in Cyprus, and the representative of agricultural progress; but his bailiff at Kuklia could hardly have expected a prize at an exhibition, although every facility exists for creating a perfect model-farm. The springs which supply the water-power were discovered in three different positions about three miles distant. The usual chains of wells (already described) were sunk, and at a convenient spot they converged into a single line, until a lower level introduced the channel to the surface. The water was then received into a stone aqueduct, and led with great judgment in a half circle beneath the higher ground which was occupied by the village, at a level which not only enabled it to command the extensive flats beneath, but eventually passed beyond the village, and turned an overshot wheel of more than twenty feet diameter. This great work was at the sole expense of the proprietor. After a considerable outlay and perfect success in the engineering, it is to be regretted that greater care is not bestowed upon the land; although the gardens contain a mass of fruit-trees, large groves of figs, and relieve the eye by their cheerful aspect, only enough has been attained to exhibit the great power that exists for producing a still greater abundance under proper administration.
Having examined the neighbourhood thoroughly, I changed the position of our camp and halted a mile and a half up the aqueduct on the higher side of the village, at a point where the water first issued from its subterranean channel into the conduit of masonry and cement. We thus secured a supply in its original purity, before it should be contaminated by any washing of clothes in passing through the village in an open channel, which from its convenience offered an irresistible invitation. Such a tempting stream, running through a canal upon a broad wall of masonry open to all comers would, in any European country, have been the natural resort of boys, who would have revelled in the freedom of nakedness and the delight of bathing in forbidden waters; but in Cyprus I have never once seen a person washing himself in public. This is not from any sense of indecent exposure, but from their absolute dislike to the operation. I had subsequently in my service a remarkably fine man who was always carefully dressed, and in fact was quite a dandy in exterior, but during the hot weather when he on one occasion saw my Abyssinian Amarn swimming in the sea, he declared that, "rather than bathe, he would prefer to cut his throat."
I had arranged the camp close to a hawthorn-tree, which was already green in its first spring leaves, and had formed blossom-buds that would open in a few days. There were a considerable number of the same species scattered in the vicinity, but they had been defaced by the mutilations usual throughout Cyprus. If a man requires a stick or a piece of wood for any purpose, he hacks unsparingly at the first tree; whether it belongs to him or to another proprietor. The ground sloped gradually to the lowest level of the hollow about four hundred yards distant, all of which was in cultivation; the broad-beans were in blossom, and a species of trefoil was already eight or nine inches high (22nd February); this was in anticipation of a lack of natural pasturage.
It was pitiable to see the wretched condition of the cattle throughout this district; the absence of rain had prevented the growth of the usual herbaceous plants, and the animals were forced to seek unnatural food produced in the stagnant swamps; these were full of skeletons and carcasses of oxen, that afforded bones of contention for the numerous village dogs who acted as scavengers. When the droves of oxen returned from pasture every evening, many were in a state of weakness that scarcely allowed them step by step to ascend the rising ground; all were reduced to mere skin and bones, and it would have been a mercy to have put them out of their misery. I was assured that, "the few whose constitution could hold out for another six weeks would recover when the trefoil should be fit to cut."
I daily walked over the adjoining country, and there was little difficulty in discovering the origin of M. Mattei's water sources. Upon the heights behind our camp, a plateau of many miles in extent, with an almost imperceptible inclination towards the south-east, received the rainfall, in addition to the subterranean drainage of the hills in the far distance. A great portion of this area was uncultivated, as the sedimentary limestone was generally close to the surface; this was covered with the usual prickly shrubs that some writers have misnamed "heath," together with the highly aromatic herbs that seem to delight in a thirsty soil; among these is a thorny species of wild thyme, that is a favourite food for hares. In some places the soil was red, forming a strong contrast to the white surface around, and in such spots the earth had been already ploughed in preparation for the forthcoming season. The large area at a higher altitude formed an example of a principle that may be accepted as the rule throughout the island. In walking over this extensive surface, there was occasionally a hollow, drum-like sound beneath the feet, denoting subterranean cavities in the porous and soluble strata beneath the harder upper stratum. It was a natural consequence that a substratum impervious to water should form a bed at a certain level to retain the drainage: by tapping this bed at any point, the water would be discovered; but by piercing the surface below this level, the hydraulic pressure would force the water into a running stream.
This M. Mattei has accomplished, not as a new invention, but as the application of a rule well known to the Cypriotes from ancient times; and I repeat my argument, that, "the hereditary ability of these people in discovering and utilising springs is a proof that a scarcity of water has been a chronic difficulty in this island from remote periods, and that no important change has been occasioned by the sensational destruction of forests influencing the rainfall," &c., &c., &c. In my opinion, the whole of the now desolate Messaria district may be rendered fruitful and permanently abundant by the scientific employment of a water-power which already exists, although unseen and undeveloped.
It was quite impossible to proceed to Famagousta with the vans, and there was no object in courting their destruction by a desperate advance at all hazards, as we should have in any case been obliged eventually to renew the difficulty when retracing our route. I therefore cantered in upon my mule, with the guide who always lost his way, Hadji Christo. This man was a great ruffian, and had laws existed for the prevention of cruelty to animals, I would have prosecuted him; nominally he had the charge of the mule and two ponies, but he illtreated these poor animals, and the donkeys also, in a disgraceful manner. However, I had no other guide, and although I knew him to be in partnership with some Will-o'-the-wisp, I was obliged to follow him. It was an easy course for saddle-animals, as the cathedral of Famagousta formed the prominent point; therefore a steeple-chase might have been the direct cross-country way. There was no change in the usual features of the barren landscape. We kept upon the high ground on the right, looking down upon the dreary flat for twenty miles to our left. Occasionally we passed villages, all of which were mere copies of each other in filth and squalor. The dogs barked and snapped ineffectually at our heels as we cantered through; the civil and ever-courteous people turned out and salaamed; and we quickly accomplished the twelve miles and approached the walls of Famagousta. Nothing that I saw in Cyprus has impressed me so much as the site of this powerful fortress and once important city. I lunched with Captain Inglis, who as chief commissioner of the district, most kindly received me, and I rode home afterwards; my guide, Hadji Christo, in spite of my assurances that he had mistaken the route, persisted that there were many, and not one; and after plunging into muddy marshes instead of keeping to the high ground, we were completely lost near sundown, when I happily extricated myself from the difficulty by insisting upon his riding behind and leaving me alone to find the track. We arrived at nightfall, after making eighteen miles out of twelve—a profitable enterprise hardly appreciated by our tired animals. Famagousta is too important for a cursory description; I shall therefore reserve it for a future chapter, when on our return from the Carpas district we pass some days in its immediate neighbourhood.
CHAPTER V.
START FOR THE CARPAS.
I determined to leave my two vans in charge of the head-man of Kuklia, as the drivers declared it would be impossible to proceed into the roadless Carpas with any wheeled conveyance heavier than the native two-wheeled cart. They had accordingly entered into a contract to supply me with vehicles which the man of ability Theodori assured me could travel to the extreme eastern limit of the island, Cape St. Andrea, "as he had been there himself, and knew the way." Georgi, who knew nothing of this portion of the country, believed all that Theodori said, and did his bidding. Having lightened the loads by leaving all that was not absolutely necessary safely locked within the vans, we started on 1st March with camels, in addition to two native carts, taking the route direct east, across the extensive flat which at this time was dry and hard. There was nothing of interest in the day's march; the travelling was easy along the hardened level surface; we had a clear view of the cathedral and higher forts of Famagousta, and we passed near the ruins of Salamis, easily distinguishing the solitary pillars that had supported the ancient aqueduct which led the water from distant Kythrea.
Although everything was thoroughly dried up, it was easy to imagine the effect of an inundation of the Pedias river, which had formed this delta of alluvium, precisely as the Nile on a more extensive scale has produced the Delta of Egypt. There were a few wretched villages upon the flat, which were necessarily on the poorest scale, as they existed at the mercy of a sudden inundation. The unhealthiness of this locality must be extreme during wet weather, as it is only suitable to the constitutions of frogs and ducks. Upon arrival at higher ground on the opposite side of the plain I looked back upon the agueish area over which we had passed, and I had little doubt of the great engineering necessity that must be the first step to a sanitary reform in this pestilential neighbourhood.
As the river Pedias is a mere wayward torrent that NEVER flows as a permanent stream, but only comes down in impulsive rushes from the mountains during heavy rains, it has no power to cleanse its original bed, such as would result from a constant and clear current; but, on the contrary, the heavy floods from the upper country, being the result of a sudden rainfall, are surcharged with earth washed down from the higher ground and thickly held in solution. This vast mass of soil, which adds a corresponding weight to each gallon of water, is carried forward according to the velocity of the stream, and is ready to deposit upon the instant that the propelling power shall be withdrawn. So long as the river is confined between narrow banks, the high rate of the current is sufficient to force forward the thickened and heavy fluid; but the instant that the banks are over-topped and the river expands over an increased area, the rapidity is reduced, and the water, no longer able to contain the earth in solution, deposits alluvium, and produces a delta, which must necessarily increase upon every future inundation. The result must end either in forming a bar at the mouth of the river, or (as in the Pedias) in THE TOTAL SILTING OF THE EMBOUCHURE, which extinguishes all traces of a broad channel, but leaves a series of deep marshes scored by innumerable ditches, to be in their turn filled with mud when the next flood shall extend over the wide surface and increase the deposit.
This is the position of the Pedias, and until improved I cannot foresee a good sanitary prospect for Famagousta, which is situated on the borders of the swamp. There can be only one engineering method of preventing the silt, by confining the river between artificial banks, within a channel sufficiently narrow to ensure a current whose velocity would carry the heavy fluid directly into the sea. Even should this be accomplished, and the river be securely banked, the deposit of mud will then take place within the sea, and will assuredly form a bar; which will probably affect by silt the neighbouring harbour of Famagousta in the same manner that the ancient port of Salamis has been completely obliterated. In any case the engineering difficulty will be costly and uncertain; but if Famagousta is to be restored to its former importance as a first-rate harbour, arsenal, and military station, the management of the Pedias river must be seriously considered.
We arrived at Trichomo at about 3 P.M. The town is built upon the sides and summit of high ground within a mile of the sea. The sight of a narrow iron chimney emitting puffs of steam showed that some progress was exhibited by the presence of an engine—this was employed in working cotton-gins.
The houses were the usual sun-baked bricks of clay and chopped straw, and although the town was large, there was no building of sufficient importance to attract attention. We rode through the streets determined as usual to avoid the smells of a close proximity and to seek a camping-place some distance upon the opposite side. After passing through the town and descending a hill, we then ascended a steep slope which opened upon a wild country of rocky ground covered with the usual prickly plants and scrub cypress, which had evidently been cut for fuel until it had become mere brushwood. There was a square mud hut on the left hand standing in an extensive orchard of fruit-trees watered by a cattle-wheel, and as this was the last habitation within view, we halted, and awaited the arrival of the carts and camels. From the summit of the hill, about two hundred yards beyond this spot, the view was exceedingly good; the sea lay about half a mile distant, with several houses and gardens near the shore. The town was in our rear, and to the east was a fine extent of wild country covered with bush and dwarf-cypress, which formed a marked contrast to the naked surface we had left behind. The rugged wall of the Carpas range was now only ten miles distant on our left, and continued parallel to our route. . . . . It was late when the carts arrived, and we now missed the usual luxury of the gipsy-van. I determined to save the servants the trouble of erecting our tent, therefore for the first time in Cyprus we occupied the native dwelling. This was a square hut built of stone and mud, with the usual hard mud roof. From its large size it was evident that animals shared the room with the proprietors. An old man and a corresponding old woman gave us a welcome, and immediately commenced sweeping out the floor for our accommodation; this might have been thirty feet by eighteen in width. After a cloud of dust had risen, and by degrees subsided, we took possession; the carts and camels arrived; beds had to be unpacked and set up, and the servants began to reflect upon the advantages of the van which saved them the present trouble. It was already dusk, but the beds were made, and Christo the cook (who was a capital fellow for speed in preparing a dinner) was enveloped in savoury steam, when the usual inmates of the hut quietly invaded us. Cocks and hens marched in, and went to roost upon some sticks within a corner; two or three dogs arrived, evidently with the intention of staying through the night; a donkey at length walked composedly through the entrance door and steered for his accustomed corner. We had caused serious inconvenience to an unknown quantity of animals, all of whom had to be turned out, except the poultry. What a good thing is dinner! The neat tiny table was spread and the candles lighted; the dishes were simple but excellent; we were thoroughly comfortable in this rude dwelling; but—it might have been fancy—I thought something tickled my legs. There was no mistake, something did actually not only tickle, but bite. Something? It was everything and everybody in the shape of fleas! The hut was hopping with countless swarms of these detestable vermin, from which in our impregnable van we had hitherto been free, owing to its great height from the ground. Whether the unusual sweeping of the floor had created a temporary aberration of intellect or stupefaction among these crowds, I cannot determine, but whatever the nervous shock might have been that had caused a short suspension of activity, they had now completely recovered, and I shall never forget the night passed in Trichomo. It was the first and the last venture upon native hospitality throughout our sojourn in Cyprus, and we in future adhered either to the tent or the gipsy-van.
On the following morning we started at 8.30. The sky was overcast, and in any country but this we should have expected rain. We had now fairly emerged upon a district entirely different from the hateful Messaria, which has given Cyprus an unfortunate reputation. We were quickly among thickets of scrub and low brushwood which should have teemed with game. My spaniels delighted in the change, and worked the bush thoroughly as we proceeded along the route, occasionally flushing two or three red-legged partridges. Passing over the higher ground with the sea in view upon our right, we descended after a march of about three miles to the shore, where the path skirted the sea along broken rocks, against which in bad weather the waves would dash with sufficient violence to bar the road. The white cliffs and hill-tops to our left were covered with dwarf-cypress, and formed a lovely foreground above the sea, perfectly calm beneath. The ride was apparently short, although we had been in the saddle three hours, as the eye had been gratified by a constant change of scenery;—from rocks washed by the blue water to hills covered with a dense foliage of evergreens, and deep sequestered valleys, with occasional gaps in the range of heights through which glimpses of the sea in rocky coves burst suddenly into view. Some of these inlets were exceedingly picturesque, as reefs extended from the shore, overhanging cliffs having from time to time fallen in huge crags and formed natural breakwaters to the beach. These narrow gaps between the hills were generally occupied by a streamlet in the centre, which had cut its way far below the level of the ground, the steep banks of which were fringed with oleanders, myrtles, mastic, and other evergreens, down to within a few yards of the breaking waves. Nothing could be prettier, and upon arrival within sight of Volokalida, about a mile and a half distant in the extreme end of a narrow valley, I directed my wife to a camping-place near the village, beneath some large and prominent caroub-trees, while I dismounted, and with my delighted dogs commenced a ramble over the low woods which covered the sides and hill-tops to our right and left. The walk was enjoyable; we had made fourteen miles from Trichomo, and upon reaching the perfectly flat tableland which formed the summit of the hills I had a splendid sea-view extending for many miles along the coast. The first object that attracted my attention was a large steamer stranded in a cove about a mile distant. She looked perfectly snug, but as only her lower masts were standing, and funnel gone, there could be no doubt of her misadventure. My binocular glass quickly showed that a portion of her bulwarks was carried away, and as no chain was visible to an anchor, she was in fact a wreck. As I made my way through the thick bushes Merry presently opened upon a scent, and Wise running in among the rocks, flushed a fine francolin partridge, which I shot. I then got a quail and a hare, and had no other chances, although the appearance of the country would have suggested an abundance of game. Upon nearing the seashore I saw that extensive sand-dunes had invaded the heights for many hundred yards, completely choking the vegetation and forming clumps or mounds of sand, topped by tufts of the shrubs that lay buried deep beneath. I walked along the fatiguing ground until I reached the shore exactly opposite the abandoned wreck, which lay within a cove, into which she had evidently been run for security.
My dogs found several hares among the clumps upon the sand-dunes, which gave them some exercise and amusement, but I did not obtain a shot.
Upon my arrival at the camping-place I found my wife surrounded by a large crowd of women and children beneath a shady tree, all of whom had brought presents of eggs and bouquets of wild flowers. It was difficult to persuade these good simple people that we did not require presents as an etiquette of introduction; they would insist upon placing their little offerings upon the ground, and leaving them if we declined to accept them. The principal wild flowers were cyclamen, narcissus, and anemone. The cyclamen completely covered the ground throughout all the low woods and thickets. I could only find two varieties, the snow-white, with claret-coloured centre, and the rose-colour; but the blossoms were quite equal in size to those usually grown in our glass-houses in England. We had passed through several hundred acres of open ground that were as white from the abundance of narcissus as an English meadow might be yellow from the presence of buttercups.
Our camp was pitched upon a small level plateau of rock, in the centre of which was a well, cut completely through the stone from top to bottom. It appeared to be about twenty-five feet deep, but was devoid of water and contained a considerable amount of rubbish. The people assured me that a dead Greek lay beneath, as a few years ago some Turks had killed one of their people and thrown him into the well; they had concealed the body by stones and rubbish, and no further steps had been taken in the matter. As a large crowd of children of both sexes were sitting round us doing nothing but stare, I set them to work to clear the surface ground from loose stones and to sweep the plateau clean with boughs from the wild cypress. When this was finished I gave them a scramble for several handfuls of copper coins upon the cleared area, to impress them pleasantly upon their work of cleanliness; this new game became very popular, and might be introduced by the British government with a certainty of gaining the admiration of the Cypriotes, especially during the collection of taxes; the latter being an Anglo-Turkish game which is not yet sufficiently appreciated.
The women were of the same type that we had seen in other districts, but they appeared sickly, and many of the children were extremely delicate. There was the usual protuberance of the abdomen to which I have before alluded; and I found upon examination of the children that an enlargement of the spleen was a chronic complaint. This is due to repeated attacks of ague. I drew the attention of the people to the so general mistake in this island of selecting a site for their villages in the most unhealthy localities. We were now camped upon a height about eighty feet above the valley, which resembled a basin beneath our feet; the village was on the lower level of this basin, and as near the level of the sea as possible. In heavy rains the valley became a temporary swamp, and it seemed unaccountable that human beings endowed with common sense should have selected the low ground instead of the immediate heights. The explanation was "that as the village was built of mud-bricks, the houses had been erected as near as possible to the source of the material, MUD!" to avoid the difficulty of carriage in the absence of carts.
The people were as usual dressed in cotton stuffs of home manufacture, and were ignorant of such a material as flannel; the children were only half-clad, and shivering; their food was generally raw, comprising olives, oil, onions, and wild vegetables, such as artichokes, wild mustard, and a variety of trash that in England would only be regarded as "weeds." There were some pretty intelligent little girls and boys; some of these were chewing mastic gum, a white leathery substance which they gathered from incisions in the bark of this common shrub. My wife found fault with the neglect of cleanliness, as their teeth, although even, were totally uncared for. On the following morning they all assembled and exhibited a show of nice white teeth, as they had followed her advice and cleaned them with wood-ashes and their forefingers, in lieu of a toothbrush. We saw these children again a month afterwards upon our return, and they ran across the fields to meet us, at once opening their mouths to show that they had not forgotten the lesson, and that their teeth were properly attended to. I pitied all these poor people: they are downtrodden and miserable in mind and body. Instead of squeezing them for taxes they should be supported and encouraged by government assistance in every manner possible. Centuries of oppression and neglect in addition to a deceptive climate have rendered them the mere slaves of circumstances, but they exhibit a patience and stolid endurance which is beyond all praise; and when Cyprus shall belong absolutely to Great Britain, so that the Cypriotes shall feel that they are British subjects, they will become the most amenable and contented people in the Empire.
The usual difficulty exists in passing through this island which is felt by most English travellers in wild countries. The sick invariably assemble, believing that your medical knowledge will produce miraculous cures; and the lame, halt, and blind besiege you even cripples from their birth are brought by their hopeful mothers to receive something from your medicine-chest that will restore them to strength. It was in vain that I explained to these afflicted people that spleen-disease required a long course of medicine, and could not be cured in a day. It was equally in vain that I assured them that raw vegetables were unwholesome for children, and that sea-bathing was invigorating to the system: they hated bathing; so did the children; and they liked raw vegetables. I was obliged to give them some trifle which could neither do harm nor good; and they went away contented.
I now discovered from the head-men of the village the cause of the wreck which was lying in the bay. An Austrian steamer was conveying 1200 Circassians from Constantinople to some port on the coast of Asia Minor, when the wild horde of emigrants mutinied and threatened to murder the chief officers. The captain accordingly ran the vessel ashore upon this coast, having ordered the engineer to blow up the boilers.
A great number of the mutineers perished in the attempt to land, but the captain and officers were hospitably received by the people of Volokalida and forwarded to Famagousta. The vessel was pierced amidships by a rock that had completely impaled her, otherwise she might have been saved and repaired.
We left this village on March 4th, a heavy but welcome shower on the preceding day having laid the dust and freshened the vegetation. The route lay through a hilly and rocky country covered with the usual evergreens. We quickly lost our way and arrived at a complete cul-de-sac in the corner of a narrow swampy valley. Retracing our steps we met two men mounted on donkeys, who with extreme civility turned from their own direction and became our guides. We passed over a hill of solid crystallised gypsum, which sparkled in the sun like glass, and after a march of about ten miles through a lovely country we ascended to the plateau of Lithrankomi and halted at the monastery. The priest was an agreeable, well-mannered man, and as rain had begun to fall he insisted upon our accepting his invitation to await the arrival of our luggage under his roof. We visited his curious old church, which is sadly out of repair, and the mosaic, of a coarse description, which covered an arched ceiling, has mostly disappeared.
This was the most agreeable position that I had seen in Cyprus. A very extensive plateau about 400 feet above the sea formed a natural terrace for seven or eight miles, backed by the equally flat hill-tops which rose only half a mile behind the monastery. These were covered with the Pinus Maritima, none of which exceeded twenty feet in height, and resembled a thriving young plantation in England. From the flat pine-covered tableland I had a very beautiful view of the sea on either side this narrow portion of the island, and of the richly-wooded slopes both north and south, cut by deep and dark water-riven gorges, with white cliffs which descended to the shore. Villages and snow-white churches lay beneath in all directions, and the crops had a far more favourable appearance than those of the Messaria, as this portion of the country had experienced a superior rainfall.
It is much to be regretted that the total absence of roads excludes this district from general communication. We were struck by the fantastic scenery of deep ravines, rocks covered with evergreens of varying colours, and handsome caroub-trees which would have ornamented an English park; mulberry-trees were very numerous, but at this season they were barren of leaves; the only want lay in the absence of oranges and lemons, which the priest assured me would not thrive in this locality. For the last two months I had cordially detested Cyprus, but I was now converted to a belief that some portions of the country were thoroughly enjoyable, provided that a traveller could be contented with rough fare and be accustomed to the happy independence of a camp-life with a good tent and hardy servants. The temperature was a little too low for out-door existence, as it averaged 48 degrees at 7 A.M. and 54 degrees at 3 P.M., which is the hottest hour of the day; but we were all well, and free from colds; the servants had plenty of warm blankets, and the false floor that I had arranged added greatly to their comfort when camping upon the sodden ground.
I had become convinced that "the man of ability" Theodori had deceived me, and that it would be impossible for the two-wheeled carts, or any other conveyance, to travel through this country. Our last two marches had proved that not only would the delay be serious, but the luggage would be destroyed by the extreme jolting over rocks and ruts, which had already injured several of our boxes and broken some useful articles. Every package seemed to assume an individual vitality and to attack its neighbour; the sharp-cornered metal boxes endeavoured to tunnel through the cases of wine and liquors, which in retaliation bumped against and bruised their antagonists, and a few marches had already caused more mischief than a twelvemonth's journey by camels. The priest assured me that it would be madness to attempt a march beyond Gallibornu, about eleven miles in advance, and that he doubted the possibility of the carts reaching that point, which certainly had never been visited by any wheeled conveyances. The honest, strong, but unintelligent driver Georgi was innocent, and he was at the time as ignorant as myself that the true object of the "man of ability" Theodori was to deal in cattle, which was his reason for persisting in accompanying me into the Carpas country and declaring that the route was practicable for carts. We left Lithrankomi on 5th March after a shower which made the earth slippery and the dangerous portions of the route rather exciting for the carts. The first two or three miles lay along the level terrace commanding a splendid view of the sea about four miles distant. We passed through several villages, and the crops looked well. At length we emerged upon a wild portion of the plateau which resembled a park, the surface being green and diversified by ornamental clumps of evergreens; upon our left was the cliff-like higher terrace which formed the table-top from which the usual huge blocks had been detached and fallen like inverted cottages to the lower level. The view on our right was exceedingly interesting, as we had now arrived upon the extreme verge of the terrace, which broke down suddenly into a horseshoe-shaped amphitheatre, the steep sides covered with bushes and trees, to the bottom of a valley some 300 feet below, which drained through a narrow and richly-wooded gorge into the neighbouring sea.
This scooping-out of the country was due to the action of water, and the same process was gradually wearing away the upper plateaux, which by absorbing rain became undermined as it percolated through and dissolved the marly substratum. The foundation of the rock surface being softened by the water, oozed in the form of mud, and was washed down the steep declivities, followed by the breaking-down of the unsupported upper stratum. This district was an admirable illustration of the decay and denudation of surface which has produced the plain of Messaria, to which I have already alluded, but as no sufficient area exists at a lower level the deposit of soil is carried to the sea. We now arrived at a dangerous pass that defied all attempts to descend by carts. A succession of zigzags at an inclination of about one foot in two and a half led down the soil of a cliff into a succession of exceedingly narrow valleys about three hundred feet below. In many places this narrow path had been washed away by the same natural process that was gradually reducing the upper level, and in the sharp angles of the zigzags there were awkward gaps with only a few inches of slippery soil rendered soapy by the morning's rain, a slip of the original path having crumbled down the precipice below. The animals were wonderfully careful, and although a nervous person might have shuddered at some awkward points, both mule and ponies were thoroughly self-confident and safely carried us to the bottom. But the carts? These were making a circuit of some miles across country in the endeavour to discover a practicable route.
Although the way was difficult, it was the more agreeable as the scenery was extremely picturesque. The narrow valleys were without exception cultivated, which formed a striking contrast to the exceedingly wild heights by which they were surrounded, and I remarked that not a yard of available land was neglected, but that small and precipitous hollows were banked by rough stone walls, to retain the soil that would otherwise be washed away, and to form terraces of insignificant extent for the sake of cultivation. Our animals could amble at five or six miles an hour along these narrow bottoms, which made up for the delay in descending the bad places. My dogs were in the best spirits, as they had moved a considerable number of partridges during this morning's march, and they heard the peculiar loud "chuck-a-chuck, chuck-a-chuck," of the red-legs in all directions. As we advanced the hills increased in height, and we passed through a valley, bordered on the right by abrupt cliffs, forming a wall-like summit to the exceedingly steep slope beneath, which had been created by the debris from the wasting face of rock. This flat-topped height may have been about 500 feet above the valley, and the white cliff, which was quite perpendicular from the summit for about one hundred feet to the commencement of the steep green slope beneath, was in one place artificially scarped, and had been cut perfectly smooth like the wall of a stone building. In the centre of this smooth face we could plainly distinguish a square-cut entrance, to which an exceedingly narrow ledge cut in the rock formed a most dangerous approach, more adapted for wild cats than for human occupants. I halted to examine this with a good glass, and I could perceive that the greatest care had been taken in the formation of a smooth perpendicular front, and that the narrow ledge which formed the approach was a natural feature that had been artificially improved. There were several similar lines observable at unequal distances nearly parallel with each other: these were the natural limits of overlying strata in the sedimentary rock, which, as the general surface had fallen through decay, still preserved their character, and formed ledges. My guide assured us that the entire cliff was honey-combed by internal galleries, which had been constructed by the ancients as a place of refuge that would contain several thousand persons, and that a well existed in the interior, which from a great depth supplied the water. I have never seen a notice of this work in any book upon Cyprus, and I regret that I had no opportunity of making a close examination of the artificial cave, which, from the accounts I received, remains in a perfect state to the present moment.
It was a wild route to Gallibornu, through a succession of small valleys separated by wooded heights, and bounded by hills, either bare in white cliffs, or with steep slopes thickly covered with evergreens. We passed a few miserable villages, one of which was solely inhabited by gipsies, who came out to meet us clad in rags and extremely filthy, but the faces of the women were good-looking. We crossed numerous watercourses in the narrow bottoms between the hills; their steep banks were fringed with bushes which formed likely spots for woodcocks, but my dogs found nothing upon the route except a few partridges and francolin, although, as usual, they hunted throughout the march. After crossing a series of steep hills, and observing a marked contrast in the habits of the people, who constructed their dwellings upon the heights instead of in the unhealthy glens, we arrived in the closely pent-in valley that forms the approach to Gallibornu. This village is of considerable extent, and is inhabited exclusively by Turks. We entered the valley through a narrow gap between the hills, which on our left formed perpendicular cliffs, with the usual steep slopes of debris near the base. The upper cliffs, about 400 feet above the lower level, were marked with numerous parallel ledges and were full of blue-rock pigeons, which built their nests in the clefts and crevices; the summits of these heights were the table-tops which characterise this formation.
It was difficult to select a camping-place, as the valley would become mud in the event of heavy rains. We had experienced daily showers since we left Volokalida, and the lower grounds were damp; I disliked the immediate neighbourhood of a village, and the only available spot was rather dangerous, as it was situated upon a flattish knoll, so near the base of the cliff that enormous blocks of stone many tons in weight lay in all directions, which had fallen from the impending heights. I examined these, and found some that were comparatively recent; I had also observed upon our entrance to the valley that a great portion of the cliff face had lately fallen, forming an avalanche of rocks that would have destroyed a village: this my guide informed me was the result of last year's excessive rain. I examined the heights above us with my glass, and observed some crags that Polyphemus would have delighted to hurl upon Acis when courting his Galatea; but as no Cyclops existed in this classical island I determined to risk the chances of a rock-displacement and to pitch the tent upon a flat surface among the fallen blocks. As a rule such localities should be avoided. It is impossible to calculate the probable downfall of a crag, which, having formed a portion of the cliff, has been undermined by the breaking away of lower rocks, and, overhanging the perpendicular, may be secure during dry weather, but may become dislodged in heavy rain, when the cement-like surroundings are dissolved: the serious vibration caused by thunder might in such conditions produce an avalanche. We dug a deep trench round the tents, as the weather looked overcast and stormy.
The village of Gallibornu was about half a mile beyond our camp at the extreme end of the valley, but situated on the heights. The people were extremely civil, and it would be difficult to determine the maximum degree of courtesy between the Turks and Greeks of Cyprus. I strolled with my dogs up the steep hill-sides, and the Turks, seeing that I was fond of shooting, promised to accompany me on the following morning to some happy hunting-ground, which, from my Cyprian experience, I believed was mythical.
On waking the next day I found the Turks, true to their promise, already assembled by the servants' tent, and eight men were awaiting me with their guns. They had a sporting dog to assist them, which they described as "very useful for following a wounded hare; only it was necessary to be quick in securing it, otherwise the dog would eat it before your arrival."
I advised them to leave this "useful dog" behind, as hostilities might be declared by my three English spaniels in the event of his swallowing a wounded hare. This being agreed to, we all started, and, crossing the valley, entered a gorge upon the other side. We now ascended naked hills of pure crystallised gypsum; the strata were vertical, and the perfectly transparent laminae were packed together like small sheets of glass only a few inches in width. It was easy to walk up the steep slopes of this material without slipping, as the exterior edges, having been exposed to the weather, had become rough, and were exactly like coarse glass placed edgeways. We spread out into a line of skirmishers extending up the hills upon both sides of the gorge, and quickly arrived in very likely ground covered with dwarf-cypress. Here the dogs immediately flushed partridges, and a Turk having wounded one, a considerable delay took place in searching for it at the bottom of a deep wooded hollow, but to no purpose. We now arrived at lovely ground within a mile of the sea, forming a long succession of undulations, covered, more or less, with the usual evergreen brushwood as far as the eye could reach. This uneven surface, broken by many watercourses, was about eighty feet above the water-level, and descended in steep rocky ledges to within a few hundred yards of the sea, where the lower ground was flat and alternated in open glades and thick masses of mastic scrub; the beach being edged by drift sand-dunes covered by the dense jungle of various matted bushes.
There was a fair amount of game in this locality, and had the Turks shot well we should have made a tolerable bag; but they did not keep a good line, and many birds went back without being shot at, while others were missed, and altogether the shooting was extremely wild. The sun was hot by the time we had concluded our beat; I had shot five brace and one hare, including some francolins; and the rest of the party had collectively bagged three brace. It was late in the season for shooting, but the birds were not all paired, and I have no doubt that in the month of September this portion of the island would afford fair sport, although no great bags could be expected. I was surprised at the absence of woodcocks; throughout my rambles in Cyprus I had only seen one, although they were cheap in the market of Larnaca. The fact is that every bird shot by the natives is sent straight for sale; therefore an immense area is hunted for the small supply required by the Europeans in the principal towns. Upon our return homewards we passed through a considerable space occupied by ancient ruins. Among the masses of stones and broken pottery were two stone sarcophagi, which appeared to have been converted into drinking-troughs for cattle. As with all the ruins of Cyprus, nothing of interest exists upon the surface, and the tombs having been for many centuries excavated and despoiled, it is probable that the sarcophagi had been brought to light by treasure-seekers many years ago.
As we approached Gallibornu by a mountain path the Turks assured me that we should find good drinking-water; we were all thirsty, including the dogs, who had drunk nothing for some hours. At length, at a considerable elevation between two hills, we reached a spring, and I was shown a well where the water was only a few feet from the surface. The Turks now pointed to the perpendicular face of a cliff and desired me to follow them; at the same time I could not understand their attempted explanations either by word or pantomime. We kept on an extremely narrow path which skirted the steep side of the slope, and presently arrived at a ledge about sixteen inches wide upon the perpendicular face of the cliff, which descended sheer for a considerable depth beneath. I was requested to leave my gun against a rock and to follow. It was all very well for these people, who knew exactly where they were going, but I had not the slightest idea of my destination, unless it should be the bottom of the cliff, which appeared to me most probable, if I, who was many inches broader in the shoulders than my guides, should be expected to join in the game of "follow the leader" upon a narrow ledge against the face of the rock which afforded no hold whatever. I was not so fond of climbing as I had been thirty years ago, and to my infinite disgust the ledge, which was already horribly small, became narrower as we proceeded. There was a nasty projecting corner to turn, and at this point I saw my guides look down below, and I fancied they were speculating upon the depth. Instead of this, the leader began to descend the perpendicular face by small ladder-like steps hewn in the rock, and in this manner gained another ledge not quite six feet below. We all reached this precarious shelf, and the guide, having turned, continued for some twenty or thirty yards in an exactly contrary direction to the ledge above us, by which we had just arrived; we were thus retracing our steps upon a similar ledge at a lower level. Suddenly the leader stopped, and stooping low, crept into a square aperture that had been carefully cut out of the rock face to form an entrance. This passage inclined slightly inwards, and after a few paces forward, with the body curved in the uncomfortable form of a capital C, we arrived in a spacious gallery cut into a succession of arches, the centre of which was six feet high. A small window, about three feet by two, was cut through the rock to admit light and air, from which I could with a rifle have completely commanded the glen below and the approach to the left. There was no ledge beneath the window, but simply the sheer precipice of the smooth cliff, and there was no other approach to this extraordinary place of refuge except that by which we had arrived. The gallery was neatly cut, and extended for an unknown distance: several other galleries, arched in the same manner and of the same size, branched off at right angles with that we had entered. I was led to a well, which was represented as being deep, and I was informed that the hill was perforated with similar galleries, all of which communicated with each other. I much regretted that we were unprovided with candles; one of the Turks lighted a match, but it only served to increase the uncertainty of the surrounding darkness.
This must be a similar cave-refuge to that we had passed about four miles distant when on our way from Lithrankomi to Gallibornu, and it deserves a minute investigation. As I could see nothing beyond about thirty feet from the window, owing to the darkness, I cannot give any account of the actual dimensions, which may be much inferior to the unlimited descriptions of my informants. Upon my return to camp I had the benefit of my interpreter, and the story was repeated that no one knew the extent of the excavations, either of these galleries or those we had passed during our journey. I have never seen a very large natural cave in Cyprus, although the caverns beneath the superficial stratum of sedimentary rock are so general. The presence of these hollows, and the soft nature of the calcareous stone, has suggested artificial caves to the ancients, both for tombs and for places of refuge. Before the invention of gunpowder it would have been impossible to reduce a fort such as I have described, except by starvation. A mine sunk vertically from above would in the present day destroy the subterranean stronghold at the first explosion.
It rained more or less every day during our stay at Gallibornu, and thunder rolled heavily in the neighbourhood; but in the narrow valley between lofty hills the sky view was so limited that it was impossible to judge of the impending weather. The earth was too slippery for camels, which I had engaged with an excellent Turk, who for some years had been a zaphtieh, therefore it was necessary to wait patiently until the surface should become dry. I amused myself with wandering over the hills with my dogs, examining the rocks, and shooting sufficient game for our own use. I could generally bag enough for my lad to carry home conveniently over this rugged country, and a hare or two in addition to partridges were more appreciated when stewed than when carried up the precipitous hills. I never tasted any game so delicious as the Cyprian hares; they are not quite so red or curly as the European species, but the flesh is exceedingly rich, and possesses a peculiarly gamey flavour, owing to the aromatic food upon which they live. It is difficult to obtain a shot in the thick coverts of mastic bush, and without dogs I do not think I should have shot one, as they were generally in dense thickets upon the mountain sides, through which beaters could have hardly moved.
The high cliffs above us formed an excellent example of an old sea-bottom, showing—the various strata of sedimentary deposits at different periods. I made a collection of fossil shells, which were in great numbers but in limited variety, and chiefly bivalves.
Although the village of Gallibornu was more important in size than many we had passed, there was a total lack of supplies. It was impossible to purchase bread, and we were obliged to send messengers to considerable distances to procure flour, which we subsequently employed a woman to bake. The people generally were very poor throughout the country, and the cultivated area appeared insufficient for the support of the population. Every yard of land was ploughed, but the entire valley of Gallibornu was fallowed, and did not possess one blade of corn, as the soil required rest after the yield of the previous season. None of these people have an idea respecting a succession of crops in scientific rotation, therefore a loss is sustained by the impoverishment of the ground, which must occasionally lie inactive to recover its fertility. There is absolutely no provision whatever for the cattle in the shape of root-crops or hay, but they trust entirely to the bruised barley-straw and such seeds as the cotton and lentil. At this season the Carpas district possessed an important advantage in the variety of wild vegetables which afforded nourishment for man and beast; the valleys teemed with wild artichokes and with a variety of thistles, whose succulent stems were a favourite food for both oxen and camels.
The leaf-stems of the artichokes were peeled and eaten raw by the inhabitants, but as these people are accustomed to consume all kinds of uncooked vegetables and unripe fruits few civilised persons would indulge in the Cypriote tastes. We found the artichoke stems uneatable in a raw state, but remarkably good when peeled and stewed, with a sauce of yolk of egg beaten up with oil, salt, pepper, and lemon-juice; they were then quite equal to sea-kale. There is a general neglect in the cultivation of vegetables which I cannot understand, as agriculture is the Cypriote's vocation; it can hardly be called laziness, as they are most industrious in their fields, and expend an immense amount of labour in erecting stone walls to retain a small amount of soil wherever the water-wash from a higher elevation brings with it a deposit. The insignificant terraces thus formed by earth caught in its descent while in solution appear disproportioned to the labour of their construction, and the laborious system would suggest an extreme scarcity of land suitable for agricultural operations. I believe this to be the case, and that a serious mistake has been made in assuming that the Crown possesses large areas of land that may eventually become of great value. There are government lands, doubtless, of considerable extent, but I question their agricultural importance, and whenever the ordnance-map of the island shall be completed a wild confusion will be discovered in the discrepancy of title-deeds with the amount of land in possession of the owners. I have, whilst shooting in the wild tracts of scrub-covered hills and mountains, frequently emerged upon clearings of considerable extent, where the natives have captured a fertile plot and cleared it for cultivation, far away from the eyes of all authorities.
I believe that squatting has been carried on for many years, as during the Turkish administration a trifling annual present would have closed the eyes of the never-too-zealous official who by such an oversight could annually improve his pay. Land suitable for cultivation cannot possibly be in excess of the demand, when plots of only a few yards square are carefully formed by the erection of stone walls to retain the torrent-collected soil.
We were pestered with beggars throughout this district, and even the blind saw their opportunity; their number was distressing, and they could not account in any way for the prevalence of ophthalmia. Some endeavoured to explain the cause by referring it to the bright reflection from the sea, to which they were so frequently exposed; I assured them that sailors were seldom blind, and they proved the rule. Dirty habits, dwellings unwashed, heaps of filth lying around their houses and rotting in their streets, all of which during the hot dry summer is converted into poisonous dust, and, driven by the wind, fills the eyes, which are seldom cleansed—these are the natural causes which result in ophthalmia.
The new camels were ready, and with six of these animals we left Gallibornu and felt relieved to have parted with the carts, as for several marches they had caused great delay and inconvenience. Although Theodori had deceived me by agreeing to conduct us direct to Cape St. Andrea I did not like to discharge the thick-headed but innocent Georgi, therefore I offered to pay them a certain sum which they themselves named, per day, for the keep of their oxen, provided they should return with their empty carts to Lithrankomi (one march) and await my return there; after which, we would resume the original contract, and their oxen would once more draw the vans from their station at Kuklia.
This was an extra expense, as the camels were now engaged in lieu of carts, notwithstanding that I should have to pay for the oxen; on the other hand, these animals were beautiful specimens of their kind, and were thoroughly accustomed to the gipsy-van, therefore it was advisable to retain them. The two owners were delighted with the arrangement, and we started for Cape St. Andrea, while they were to return to Lithrankomi.
The country was now thoroughly enjoyable; the recent daily showers had freshened all vegetation, and the earth was a carpet of wild flowers, including scarlet ranunculus, poppies, a very pretty dwarf yellow cistus resembling bunches of primroses, cyclamen, narcissus, anemones—purple, white, and a peculiarly bright yellow variety.
The route from Gallibornu was extremely wild and picturesque, combining hills, glens, and occasional short glimpses of the sea between the gorges which cleft the precipitous range upon our right. The rounded and sparkling tops of gypsum hills were common for the first few miles; emerging from these, we threaded a ravine, and arrived upon the sea beach, and continued for a considerable distance upon the margin of the shore; the animals scrambling over fallen rocks and alternately struggling through the deep sand and banks of sea-weed piled by a recent gale. We now entered upon the first pure sandstone that I had seen; this was a coffee-brown, and formed the substratum of the usual sedimentary limestone which capped the surface of the hill-tops. The appearance was peculiar, as the cliffs of brown sandstone were crusted for a depth of about eight or ten feet by the white rock abounding with fossil shells, while the substratum of hard sand was perfectly devoid of all traces of organic matter. The upheaval of a sea-bottom was clearly demonstrated. As the sandstone had decayed, vast fragments of the surface rock had broken down when undermined and had fallen to the base of the steep inclines, from the interstices of which a dense growth of evergreens produced an agreeable harmony of colouring, combining various shades of green with brown cliffs and white masses of disjointed limestone. The deep blue of the sea was a beautiful addition to this wild scenery, and after threading our way sometimes between narrow gorges, at other places along sequestered glens which exhibited young crops of cereals and cultivated olive-trees, we at length arrived at a halting-place upon the seashore, where a well of excellent water about ten feet from the surface had been sunk upon the sea-beach within fifty yards of the waves.
This was the best camping-ground we had had in Cyprus; for the first time we stood upon real turf, green with recent showers, and firmly rooted upon a rich sandy loam. A cultivated valley lay a few hundred yards beyond us, completely walled in by high hills covered with wild olives, arbutus, and dwarf-cypress, and fronted by the sea. Some fine specimens of the broad-headed and shady caroub-trees gave a park-like appearance to the valley, through which a running stream entered from a ravine among the hills, and, winding through deep banks covered with myrtles and oleanders, expended itself upon the shingly beach in the centre of the bay. This sheltered cove, about 300 yards across the chord of the arc, formed rather more than a semicircle by the natural formation of the coast, and was further improved by a long reef of hard sandstone, which extended from either point like an artificial breakwater.
At first sight the little bay was a tempting refuge, but upon closer examination I observed ominous dark patches in the clear water, which betokened dangerous reefs, and other light green portions that denoted sandy shallows. The cove is useful for the native small craft, but would be unsuitable to vessels of more than seven feet draught of water. I had observed that francolins were more numerous since we had arrived upon the sandstone formation, and the cock birds were calling in all directions; the locality was so inviting that we felt inclined to remain for a few days in such a delightful spot; but the season was too far advanced for shooting, and I therefore confined myself to killing only what was absolutely necessary for our food, and I invariably selected the cock-birds of francolins. I do not think these birds pair like the partridge, but I believe the cock is polygamous, like the pheasant, as I generally found that several hens were in his neighbourhood. It is a beautiful game bird, the male possessing a striking plumage of deep black and rich brown, with a dark ring round the neck. It is quite a different variety to the mottle-breasted species that I have met with in Mauritius, Ceylon, and the double-spur francolin that I have shot in Africa. It is considerably larger than the common partridge, but not quite so heavy as the red-legged birds of Cyprus, although when flying it appears superior. The flesh is white and exceedingly delicate, and it is to be regretted that so valuable a game bird is not introduced into England. I generally found the francolin in the low scrub, although I have often shot it either in the cultivated fields or in the wild prickly low plants upon the open ground which have been misnamed heather. The habits of this bird have nothing in common with those of the red-legged partridge, as it is never found upon the bare rocky hill-sides, which are the general resort of the latter annoying species, and although the scrub bush may contain both, there is a marked difference in their character. The red-leg is a determined runner, and therefore a bad game bird for the shooter, as it will run ahead when first disturbed and rise far beyond shot range, instead of squatting like the grey partridge and permitting a sporting shot. The francolin is never found upon the bare hill-sides, neither is it a runner in the open, although it will occasionally trouble the dogs in the bush by refusing to rise until they have followed it for some distance, precisely as pheasants will run in covert until halted by the "stops" or by a net. I am not sure of the power of resistance to cold possessed by the francolins, as they are seldom met with upon the higher mountains in Cyprus, but are generally found upon the inferior altitudes and low grounds: still the hazel-huhn of Austria is a species of francolin which resists the intense cold of a central-European winter.
Only one march remained to the extreme eastern limit of Cyprus, Cape St. Andrea, distant fourteen miles. The country was exactly similar to that which we had recently passed through, and although alike, it could hardly be called monotonous, as the eye was never fatigued. The few inhabitants were poor to the last degree; the dwellings were mere hovels. We passed deep holes in the ground, the sides of which were baked by fire, so as to resemble earthen jars about ten feet deep and seven in diameter, with a small aperture; these were subterranean granaries, the sure sign of insecurity before the British occupation. The flat-topped hovels had the usual roofs of clay and chopped straw, and projected two or three feet as eaves beyond the walls, which were of stone and mud, exhibiting the crudest examples of masonry. The projecting eaves were curiously arranged by hooks of cypress, like single-fluked anchors laid horizontally, which retained beams, upon which the mud and straw were laid; the heavy weight of the earthen roof upon the long shanks of these anchors prevented the eaves from overbalancing. Enormous heaps of manure and filth were deposited opposite the entrance of each dwelling, and in the Christian villages the most absurd pigs ran in and out of the hovels, or slept by the front door, as though they were the actual proprietors. These creatures were all heads and legs, and closely resembled the black and white representative of the race well known to every child in the Noah's Ark.
It was rather disheartening to approach the extremity of the island, and upon entering a long narrow valley our guide assured us that although no apparent exit existed, we should ascend a precipitous path and immediately see the point of Cape St. Andrea. The valley narrowed to a point without any visible path. A few low hills covered with bush were backed by cliff-like heights of about 300 feet also clothed by evergreens. Upon our right, just below the steep ascent, were sand-dunes and the sea. We now observed the narrow streak of white upon the hillside, amidst the green which marked the path. We had left the brown sandstone, and once again were upon the white calcareous rock. Our animals could barely ascend the steep incline, and several times we halted them to rest; at length we reached the summit, the flat rocky table above the valley. The view was indeed lovely; we looked down upon the white monastery of Cape St. Andrea, two miles distant, and upon the thin eastern point of Cyprus about the same distance beyond, stretching like a finger from a hand into the blue sea: the elevation from the high point upon which we stood gradually inclining downwards to the end of all things. A short distance from the cape were two or three small rocky islands and reefs protruding from the sea, as though the force of the original upheaval had originated from the west, and had expended itself at the extreme east, where the heights above the sea-level had gradually diminished until the continuation became disjointed, and the island terminated in a sharp point, broken into dislocated vertebrae which formed islets and reefs, the last hardly appearing above the waves. This ended Cyprus on the east. The lofty coast of Asia Minor was distinctly visible.
CHAPTER VI.
CAPE ST. ANDREA.
The promontory of Cape St. Andrea at the broadest portion is about five miles, and from this base to the extreme end is nearly the same distance. The whole surface is rocky, but the interstices contain a rich soil, and at one time it was covered with valuable timber. There is no portion of the island that presents a more deplorable picture of wholesale destruction of forests, as every tree has been ruthlessly cut down, and the present surface is a dense mass of shrubs and young cypress, which if spared for fifteen years will again restore this extremity of Cyprus to prosperity. I examined the entire promontory, and ascended the rocky heights, about 500 feet above the sea upon the north side. It was with extreme difficulty that I could break my way through the dense underwood, which was about seven or eight feet high, as it was in many places more than knee-deep in refuse boughs, which had been lopped and abandoned when the larger trees had been felled. The largest stumps of these departed stems were not more than from nine to twelve inches in diameter: these were the dwarf-cypress, which would seldom attain a greater height than twenty feet at maturity.
Fine caroubs had shared the fate of all others, and many of the old stumps proved the large size of this valuable tree, which, as both fruit-producing and shade-giving, should be sacred in the usually parched island of Cyprus. At an elevation of about 350 feet above the sea a spring of water issues from the ground and nourishes a small valley of red soil, which slopes downwards towards the monastery, two miles distant. The shrubs were vividly green, and formed so dense a crest that several partridges which I shot remained sticking in the bushes as they fell. I never saw such myrtles as those which occupied the ravines, through which it was quite impossible to force a way. The principal young trees were Pinus maritima, dwarf-cypress, mastic, caroub, arbutus, myrtle, and wild olive. The name Cupressus horizontalis has been given to the dwarf-cypress, but in my opinion it is not descriptive of the tree: a cypress of this species, if uninjured, will grow perfectly straight in the central stem for a height of twenty feet without spreading horizontally. It is probable that the misnomer has been bestowed in ignorance of the fact that an uninjured tree is seldom met with, and that nearly every cypress has been mutilated for the sake of the strong tough leader, which, with one branch attached, will form the one-fluked anchor required for the roofs of native dwellings already described. In the absence of its leader the tree extends laterally, and becomes a Cupressus horizontalis. The wood of this species is extremely dense and hard, and when cut it emits a resinous and aromatic scent; it is of an oily nature, and extremely inflammable. The grain is so close that, when dry, it somewhat resembles lignum vitae (though of lighter colour), and would form a valuable material for the turner. There are two varieties of cypress in this island; the second has been erroneously called a "cedar" by some travellers, and by others "juniper." This tree is generally met with, at altitudes varying from three to six thousand feet, upon the Troodos range; it seldom exceeds a height of thirty feet, but attains a girth of six or even seven. The wood is by no means hard, and possesses a powerful fragrance, closely resembling that of cedar (or of cedar and sandal-wood combined), which may have given rise to the error named. It splits with facility, and the peculiar grain and brownish-red colour, combined with the aroma, would render it valuable for the cabinet-maker in constructing the insides of drawers, as insects are believed to dislike the smell. The foliage of this species exactly resembles that of the Cupressus horizontalis. The cedar may possibly have existed at a former period and have been destroyed, but I should be inclined to doubt the theory, as it would surely have been succeeded by a younger growth from the cones, that must have rooted in the ground like all those conifers which still would flourish were they spared by the Cypriote's axe. The native name for the cypress is Kypreses, which closely resembles the name of the island according to their pronunciation Kypris. The chittim-wood of Scripture, which was so much esteemed, may have been the highly aromatic cypress to which I have alluded.
After a ramble of many hours down to the monastery upon the rocky shore, along the point, and then returning through the woods over the highest portions of the promontory, I reached our camp, which commanded a view of the entire southern coast with its innumerable rocky coves far beyond telescopic distance. From this elevation I could distinguish with my glass the wreck of the stranded steamer in the bay at Volokalida. We were camped on the verge of the height that we had ascended by the precipitous path from the lower valley. As the country was a mass of dry fire-wood we collected a large quantity, and piled two heaps, one for the camel-owners and the servants, and another before the door of our own tent to make a cheerful blaze at night, which is a luxury of the bivouac seldom to be enjoyed in other portions of this island. While we were thus engaged an arrival took place, and several people suddenly appeared upon the summit of the pass within a few yards of our tent. An old woman formed one of the party, and a handsome but rather dirty-looking priest led the way on a remarkably powerful mule. Upon seeing us he very courteously dismounted, and I at once invited him to the tent. It appeared that this was the actual head of the monastery and the lord of all the promontory who was thus unexpectedly introduced. Cigarettes, coffee, and a little good cognac quickly cheered the good and dusty priest (who had travelled that day from some place beyond Rizo-Carpas), and we established a mutual confidence that induced him to give me all the information of his neighbourhood.
I had observed hundreds of cattle, goats, sheep, and many horses, donkeys, &c., wandering about the shrub-covered surface during my walk, and I was now informed that all these animals were the property of the monastery. These tame creatures are the objects described in some books upon Cyprus as "the wild oxen and horses of the Carpas district, the descendants of original domestic animals"! The monastery of Cape St. Andrea forms an exception to all others in being perfectly independent, and beyond all control of bishops. This wild country, far from all roads, and forming the storm-washed extreme limit of the island, was considerately out of the way of news, and the monk was absolutely ignorant of everything that was taking place in the great outer world. He had heard that such mischievous things as newspapers existed, but he had never seen one, neither had that ubiquitous animal the newspaper-correspondent ever been met with in the evergreen jungles of Cape St. Andrea. His monastery was his world, and the poor inhabitants who occupied the few miserable huts within sight of his church were his vassals. Although the bell of the monastery tolled and tinkled at the required hours, he informed me that "nobody ever attended the service, as the people were always engaged in looking after their animals." During the conversation a sudden idea appeared to have flashed upon him, and starting from his seat, he went quickly to his mule, and making a dive into the large and well-filled saddle-bags, he extracted an enormous wine-bottle that contained about a gallon; this he triumphantly brought to us and insisted upon our acceptance. It was in vain that we declined the offering; the priest was obdurate, and he placed the bottle against the entrance of the tent, which, if any one should have unexpectedly arrived, would have presented a most convivial appearance.
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.
I rose early on the next day, as we had a long march of twenty-two miles before us to Trichomo; but as the oxen had been resting for many days, and I had been paying highly for their food while they had been doing nothing, I knew they must be in first-rate condition, and in spite of bad roads they would accomplish the distance. There was always a difficulty in inducing the carters to start early, but this morning there was a greater delay than usual, and I myself went to superintend the loading of the carts. I could hardly believe my eyes! In Georgi's cart the oxen had been yoked. There was a black creature about half a foot shorter than its fellow, and composed of skin and bones. The horns of this animal were antiquities: a drawn appearance about the head and face, and deeply sunken eyes, denoted extreme age. The fellow ox I recognised after some time as our old friend in reduced circumstances; it had been going through a course of wild artichokes and prickly thistles since I had seen it last, which had brought it into racing condition by the loss of at least a hundredweight of flesh; the poor beast looked starved. Georgi had accordingly saved the whole of the allowance I had paid for food of the best quality, which he had pocketed while his animal was turned out to graze. "Where are my oxen?" I inquired of the conscious Georgi; who wisely remained silent. I now turned to Theodori's team, and I at once perceived that he also had exchanged one of the superb oxen which I had hired, and upon which I had depended for drawing the gipsy-van; but the new purchase was a very beautiful animal, although inferior in height to its companion, which had much fallen off in condition, having been fed upon the same unnutritious food. I had been regularly done, as the animals for which I had paid highly had not only been neglected, but had been exchanged.
I very quickly explained to the proprietors that they had no right whatever to exchange the oxen which I had engaged, and for which I was paying in my absence, therefore I should refuse to accept them, as the contract was broken; and I immediately ordered the camels to be loaded with the contents of the carts. Fortunately the discharged animals were grazing within a few yards of our camp.
My servants now explained that Georgi the thick-headed had been done by his dear friend and companion Theodori, "the man of ability," who had accompanied me into the Carpas with the sole intention of cattle-dealing. It appeared that after my departure from Gallibornu, Theodori had suggested to his friend that a saving might be effected in the keep of four animals by reducing them to two, and he advised that they should at once sell each one ox, and arrange to purchase new animals by the time that I should return; they would by this method pocket half the sum which I had agreed to pay daily for four oxen during my absence at Cape St. Andrea. They subsequently came to the conclusion that their remaining oxen should live upon their wits and thistles, instead of causing an expense in the purchase of cotton-seed, lentils, and tibbin (broken barley-straw). Theodori informed Georgi that he knew of two beautiful animals that might be obtained by the exchange of two of their oxen with a small sum of money in addition, and he would arrange the matter if Georgi would part with the dark cream-coloured ox with black points (his best). Of course the innocent-minded, broad-shouldered, herculean Georgi knew that his friend would protect his interests, and he left the matter in his hands. The unmitigated rascal Theodori knew that the beautiful fat red ox that he wished to purchase was some years younger than the old well-trained oxen which formed his pair, and therefore it would be more valuable; he accordingly agreed to give one of his oxen and one of Georgi's FOR A PAIR from the proprietor of the fat red animal, who consented to the exchange, receiving the two fine animals which I had hired and, giving the valuable young red ox together with the miserable old creature that I had seen that morning in the yoke. This worn-out old skeleton was to be Georgi's share of the bargain! I told Georgi that my dogs would not eat the animal if it should die, as it was too thin. My servants burst out laughing when Christo the cook translated the account of the transaction. The shameless scoundrel Theodori, who was present, SMILED at the relation of his shrewdness; and the big Georgi burst out crying like a child at the loss of his fine ox, the duplicity of his friend, and the want of sympathy of the bystanders, who made a joke of his misfortune. I was very sorry for poor Georgi, as he was really an excellent fellow; he had been only foolish in trusting to the honour of his friend, like some good people who apply for assistance to Lord Penzance; however, there was no help for it, and he departed crying bitterly.
My servants were fond of the man, and their hearts began to soften after they had enjoyed the first hearty laugh at Georgi's expense, and Christo, who was always the factotum, shortly came with a suggestion, that, "If I would write an order for the immediate return of Georgi's bullock, on the plea that as I had hired the animal no one had a right to exchange it until the expiration of my contract," there would be no difficulty, as "the purchaser would be afraid to retain the animal upon seeing Georgi armed with a written paper." "But," I said, "what is the use of my writing in English, which no one can understand?" Christo assured me that it would have a better effect if nobody could read the contents, as Georgi could then say anything he pleased. I wrote an order for the return of the ox as belonging temporarily to me by contract, and Georgi having wiped his eyes, immediately set off on foot towards Gallibornu, full of confidence and hope.
Theodori declared that it would be impossible for his oxen to reach Trichomo in one day; I therefore loaded the camels, and advised him to await Georgi's return; should they re-appear at Kuklia, where the vans were lying, I would re-engage them as far as Lefkosia, and in the meantime I would pay them for the daily keep of their animals, who were to be well fed, and to discontinue the course of wild artichokes and thistles.
We took a different route upon leaving Lithrankomi, by keeping upon the high plateau instead of the lower valleys through which we had arrived on our way from Volokalida. We accordingly left this village some miles to the south, but as we were passing through a broad cultivated plain, a portion of which had recently been ploughed, we observed a crowd of women and girls who were engaged with baskets in collecting wild artichokes, which the plough had dislodged. As we approached a sudden rush was made in our direction, the baskets were placed upon the ground, and a race took place over the heavy soil to see who would be the first to greet us. We discovered that these were our friends of Volokalida, who had walked across the hills in a large party to collect wild vegetables; they seemed delighted to see us, and insisted upon shaking hands, which, as they had been grubbing in the freshly-turned ground, was rather a mouldy operation. We shook hands with about thirty members of this primitive agricultural society, and were glad to waive an adieu before the arrival of the older women in the rear, who with their heavy nailed boots were running towards us, plunging about in the deep ground in clumsy attempts at juvenile activity. A few of the young women were very pretty, but, as usual in Cyprus, their figures were ungainly, and their movements, hampered by baggy trousers and enormous high boots, were most ungraceful.
On arrival at Trichomo we pitched our tent at some distance from the dwelling in which we had fed some thousand fleas upon our former visit; and on the following morning I determined to go straight Famagousta, about twelve miles distant.
The route from Trichomo is for the most part along the seashore, but occasionally cutting off the bends by a direct line. The plain is a dead level, as it has been entirely deposited by the floods of the Pedias river. We rode tolerably fast, the sun being hot and the country most uninteresting; we had left the shrub-covered surface of the Carpas with its romantic cliffs and deep valleys rich in verdure, and once more we were upon the hateful treeless plain of Messaria. During our sojourn in the Carpas district the rainfall by our gauge had been 1.28 inches, but in this unattractive region there had only been one or two faint showers, hardly sufficient to lay the dust. The crops about five inches above the ground were almost dead, and the young wheat and barley were completely withered.
About four or five miles from Famagousta we arrived at the ruins of ancient Salamis. The stringent prohibition of the British authorities against a search for antiquities in Cyprus had destroyed the interest which would otherwise have been taken by travellers in such explorations. As I have before remarked, there are no remains to attract attention upon the surface, but all ancient works are buried far beneath, therefore in the absence of permission to excavate, the practical study of the past is impossible, and it is a sealed book. Fortunately General di Cesnola has published his most interesting volume, combining historical sketches of ancient times with a minute description of the enormous collection of antiquities which rewarded his labours during ten years' research; so that if our government will neither explore nor permit others to investigate, we have at least an invaluable fund of information collected by those whose consular position during the Turkish rule enabled them to make additions to our historical knowledge. Mr. Hamilton Lang has also published his experiences of a long residence in the island, during which his successful excavations brought to light valuable relics of the past which explain more forcibly than the leaves of a book the manners, customs, and incidents among the various races which have made up Cyprian history. General di Cesnola, after quoting the legend which connects the origin of Salamis with the arrival of a colony of Greeks under Teucer (the son of Telamon, king of the island of Salamis) from the Trojan expedition, continues, "Of the history of Salamis almost nothing is known till we come to the time of the Persian wars; but from that time down to the reign of the Ptolemies it was by far the most conspicuous and flourishing of the towns of Cyprus." "Onesius seized the government of Salamis from his brother, Gorgus, and set up an obstinate resistance to the Persian oppression under which the island was labouring, about 500 B.C. In the end he was defeated by a Persian army and fell in battle, and it was about this time, if not in consequence of this defeat, that the dynasty of Teucer was, for a period, removed from the government of Salamis. As to the length of this period there is great obscurity. It seems, however, to be certain that with the help of the Persians a Tyrian named Abdemon had seized the throne, and not only paid tribute to Persia, but endeavoured to extend the Persian power over the rest of the island. To Salamis itself he invited Phoenician immigrants, and introduced Asiatic tastes and habits." Following upon this usurpation came the revolt and the restoration of the Teucer dynasty, under Evagoras, B.C. 374, and eventually upon the partition of the empire of Alexander the Great it fell to the lot of Antigonus, after the severe contests between Demetrius and Menelaus.
Like all ancient sea-ports of importance, Salamis was the object of continual attacks, and by degrees its prosperity declined. In addition to the damage and loss by sieges, it was seriously affected by an earthquake, and a portion disappeared beneath the sea. The sand has submerged a large area of the ruins which face the sea, but General di Cesnola was able to trace the ancient wall for a distance of 6850 feet. It is quite possible that the earthquake may have altered the conditions of the harbour, which in former days was of considerable importance. It has now entirely changed, and the bay near the shore is extremely shallow, although good anchorage exists in the roadstead in ten to sixteen fathoms.
The high masonry piers which had supported the arches of the ancient aqueduct from Kythrea looked like spectres of past greatness among the silent ruins, made doubly desolate by the miserable aspect of the withered plain around them. A short distance from these is the church of St. Barnabas, raised upon the site where it is believed that the body of the Saint was discovered, together with the Gospel of St. Matthew. How the Saint and the Gospel had been preserved in the damp soil of that neighbourhood must be left to the imagination.
Passing through the ruins of the old town with the line of the wall distinctly visible upon the sea front, we shortly arrived at the spot where the river Pedias should have an exit to the sea. No sign of a river-bed existed, but a long series of swamps, composed chiefly of bare mud, would during wet weather have made a considerable detour necessary; they were now dry, with the exception of two or three holes full of muddy water, which were unconnected with any perceptible channel. A long stone causeway proved that occasionally the hardened mud upon which we rode would become a lake, but from the numerous tracks of animals the earth was preferred to the uneven and slippery pavement of the artificial road. The enormous quantity of mud brought down by the Pedias during its fitful inundations had completely obliterated all signs of an ordinary river-bed, and the deposit had produced a surface that was scored in numerous places by the rush of water, without in any way suggesting that we were in the neighbourhood of the largest river in Cyprus. The width of this muddy swamp was about two miles, and terminated by a shallow lake upon our left. We were now within a mile and a quarter of Famagousta, and the ground began to rise. It struck me that an eminence upon our right was superior to the height of the city walls, and I rode up to examine the position. There was no doubt that it commanded the lower portion of the fortress, and that a direct shell- fire could be plunged into the rear of the guns which protect the entrance of the harbour. In the event of modifications being introduced when restoring the defensive works of Famagousta, it would be necessary to erect a powerful detached fort upon this position, which would be an immense addition to the defences of the city, as it would enfilade the approaches upon two sides.
The walls of Famagousta are most imposing; they are constructed of carefully-squared stone joined with cement of such extreme hardness that the weather has had no destructive effect. The perimeter of the fortress is about 4000 yards; the shape is nearly a parallelogram. The fosse varies in depth and width, but the minimum of the former is twenty-five feet, and of the width eighty feet, but in some places it exceeds one hundred and forty. This formidable ditch is cut out of the solid rock, which is the usual calcareous sedimentary limestone, and the stone thus obtained has been used in the construction of the walls. The rock foundation would render all mining operations extremely difficult. The fire from the ramparts is increased by cavaliers of great size and strength, capable of mounting numerous heavy guns at a superior altitude. The only entrance from the land side is at the south-west corner; this is exceedingly striking, as the fosse is about 140 feet wide, the scarp and counter-scarp almost perpendicular, being cut from the original rock.
A narrow stone bridge upon arches spans this peculiar ditch, the communication depending upon a double drawbridge and portcullis. Immediately facing the entrance outside the fortress is an old Turkish churchyard, through and above which the closed masonry aqueduct is conducted into the town. Following the course of the aqueduct along a straight line of sandy heights which somewhat resemble a massive railway embankment, we arrived at a mosque in which is the venerated tomb of the Turkish soldier who first planted the flag upon the walls of Famagousta when captured, in 1571, from the Venetians. This tomb is in a small chamber within the building and is covered with green silk, embroidered; but as the city was never taken by assault, and capitulated upon honourable terms after a protracted defence, the fact of establishing the Turkish flag upon the walls after their evacuation by the garrison would hardly have entitled the standard-bearer to a Victoria Cross; however he may have otherwise distinguished himself, which entailed post-mortem honours, perhaps by skinning alive the gallant Venetian commandant Bragadino, whose skin, stuffed with straw, was taken in triumph to Constantinople hanging at the yard-arm of the victorious general's ship.
Quitting the mosque, we continued along the aqueduct, always upon the same sandy heights, which gradually increased, until we arrived at a position about 200 yards from a windmill. This formed a prominent object at the back of the large village of Varoschia, situated upon the slope beneath facing the sea, about a quarter of a mile distant. I selected the highest position for a camp; this was close to the aqueduct and about 600 yards from the entrance of the fortress. I counted the embrasures of six guns that could have been brought to bear exactly upon our tent, but at the same time I remarked that we commanded the lower portion of the fortress, and could fire into the rear of the batteries upon the sea-wall within the water-gate at a most destructive range. This position would require a detached fort with a line of works along the heights flanked by a small fort at the extremity. Three detached forts upon as many points which now exist would render Famagousta impregnable, should the present works be repaired, and improved by some slight modifications.
I had been through the fortifications upon a former occasion, when I had the advantage of Captain Inglis the chief commissioner's guidance, but they are so extensive and of such exceeding interest that many days might be expended in a study of the details.
Upon entering the fortress by the drawbridge we passed through the arched and dark way beneath the ramparts, and emerged into a narrow street, which was swept and free from the usual impurities of a Turkish town, thus exhibiting proofs of a British occupation. A perfect labyrinth of narrow lanes, bordered by most inferior dwellings, confused a stranger, but with the assistance of a guide I reached the residence of the chief commissioner and the various officers attached to the establishment. Beyond this all modern buildings ceased, and Famagousta was presented as it must have appeared after the sack and utter destruction by the Turks in 1571. It looked as though a town had been shattered and utterly destroyed by an earth-quake, whose terrible tremblings had shaken every house to its foundation, and left nothing but shapeless heaps of squared stones. O Turk! insatiable in destruction, who breaks down, but never restores, what a picture of desolation was here! Three centuries had passed away since by treachery the place was won, and from that hour the neglected harbour had silted up and ceased to be; the stones of palaces rested where they fell; the filth of ages sweltered among these blood-sodden ruins; and the proverb seemed fulfilled, "The grass never grows on the foot-print of the Turk." I never saw so fearful an example of ruin.
Although the town was in this hideous state, the fortifications were in very tolerable repair, and had guns been mounted an enemy would quickly have acknowledged their formidable importance. Time appeared to be almost harmless in attacks against these vast piles of solid masonry. The parapets in the angles of the embrasures were twenty-five and twenty-seven feet in thickness. From these we looked down forty-five and fifty feet into the ditch beneath. As we walked round the ramparts and various bastions we remarked the enormous strength of the commanding cavaliers to which I alluded from the outside appearance of the forts. There were also vast subterranean works, store-houses, magazines, cannon-foundries, and all the appliances of a first-class fortified town and arsenal; but these were of course empty, and with the exception of a small chamber near the water-gate, which contained a number of rusty helmets and breastplates, there was no object of interest beyond the actual plan of the defences.
The water-gate was approached by a winding entrance beneath a powerful circular bastion from an extremely narrow quay, from which the remains of a once powerful mote projected about 120 yards into the sea and commanded the inner harbour. This was now a mere line of loose and disjointed stones. A citadel that is separated from the main fortress by a wet ditch which communicates with the sea by an adit beneath the wall commands the harbour on the east side. This ditch is as usual scarped from the rock, and otherwise of solid masonry; should the fortress have been successfully carried by assault on the land side, a vigorous defence might have been maintained in this independent citadel until either reinforcements should arrive by sea, or an escape might be effected to friendly vessels.
It is commonly asserted that Famagousta under the Lusignans and Venetians "counted its churches by hundreds and its palatial mansions by thousands." It would certainly have been impossible that they could have existed within the present area, as a large extent must have been required for barrack accommodation for the garrison, parade-grounds, &c. There are ruins of several fine churches with the frescoes still visible upon the walls. The Cathedral of St. Nicholas is a beautiful object in the Gothic style. Although dismantled and converted into a mosque by the Turks, the roof is in good repair, and its magnificent proportions remain, but they are marred by the stopping of the windows with rough stones and mortar. The total length of the cathedral is 172 feet 6.5 inches. Length of apse (included in above) 30 feet 9 inches; breadth of apse 32 feet 3 inches; breadth of cathedral 74 feet 1 inch; circumference of pillars 15 feet 3 inches, there being 12 pillars in all.