Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879 Part 11

From this point to Limasol the beach is low and sandy, and has always been accepted as the most favourable point for a disembarkation of troops. With historical facts before us there is small excuse for the blunder committed in landing our army of occupation, during the extreme heat of July, at Larnaca instead of Limasol. At the former port there is not a tree to throw a shade, and the miserable aspect of the surrounding country must have had a most depressing effect upon the nervous system of officers and men, while at Limasol the country is agreeable and the shady caroubs exist almost to the sea-sh.o.r.e, in numbers that would have sheltered an army of three times the force represented. I cannot conceive of more deliberate cruelty inflicted upon all grades than an unnecessary exposure to the burning summer sun of Cyprus in bell-tents, when shady trees existed in so convenient a locality as Limasol. If the root of the offence could be traced it would probably be discovered that the advice had been given by some persons interested in the possession of property at Larnaca, where rents of houses rose from nil to a fabulous amount upon the disembarkation of the troops. Altogether this military enterprise of occupation was effected with the usual British confusion and lack of arrangement.

The commissariat of course broke down, although special pains had been taken to supply the troops with luxuries that to a simple mind are inconceivable; thus COPPER WARMING-PANS in great numbers were sent out!

As the thermometer was above 100 degrees Fahr., these fiery furnaces were hardly appreciated. It is a reflection upon the want of resource exhibited by the authorities that these peculiar utensils were not sent out as regimental stew-pans, as there was a dearth of cooking-pots, and the warming-pans might have added materially to the comforts of the insides, instead of the outsides of the men, by reducing the gutta-percha-like texture of Cyprian bullocks into a savoury stew.

Another comfort thoughtfully supplied by some more than usually insane authority, who no doubt had pa.s.sed a severe compet.i.tive examination, was exhibited in countless coal-boxes of cast-iron! These curious devices were about three feet six inches long by two feet and a half deep, and the same in width. To my ideas they were only suitable for gigantic foot-pans or hip-baths, or as an aquarium for a young seal; but their real object was to contain coal for the supply of the various tents!

What is to become of our country, exclaims the British taxpayer, if this frightful waste is to continue? What traveller or explorer ever carried with him a copper warming-pan and a gigantic coal-box, weighing nearly two hundred pounds? And these useless abominations are to hamper the operations of our troops, and to wear out our sailors in the labour of the disembarkment of such disgraceful lumber! Should we unhappily in some future political annexation send a military force to Spitzbergen, we shall probably omit the warming-pans and fuel, but supply a s.h.i.+pload of refrigerators and "Family Ice Machines."

A number of these cast-iron coal-boxes had been converted into cisterns by Sir Garnet Wolseley, which surrounded the wooden Government House at Lefkosia, and were kept full of water in case of fire. So practical a general would have been the first to condemn the palpable absurdity of coal-boxes, even had coals been required; surely they could have been laid upon the bare ground by the tent side, instead of causing the inconvenience, labour, and ridicule of importing such outrageous nonsense.

When the famous military invasions of Cyprus took place in historical times there were certainly neither warming-pans nor coal-boxes, either with Richard Coeur de Lion of England in 1191, or with the Turks under Lala Mustafa in 1570.

Both these experienced warriors selected Limasol for the point of disembarkation, and landed their troops and horses upon the sandy beach in Akrotiri Bay. Richard I. was on his way to the third crusade; but his fleet having been dispersed by a storm, several vessels had been driven on the south coast of Cyprus, where, instead of receiving the hospitality usually exhibited to s.h.i.+pwrecked mariners, his people were robbed and thrown into prison at Limasol by the king, Isaac Comnenus.

One of the princ.i.p.al vessels of the fleet which conveyed Berengaria, daughter of the King of Navarre, who was the betrothed of Richard and was accompanied by his sister the Queen Dowager of Sicily, took shelter in Akrotiri Bay and anch.o.r.ed. It appears that the wily Isaac Comnenus endeavoured to persuade the ladies to land, in the hope of effecting their capture, and probably extorting a heavy ransom; but suspicion being aroused, the s.h.i.+p set sail and was shortly met by Richard's own vessel.

Upon hearing that his s.h.i.+pwrecked crews had been detained and imprisoned Richard immediately steered for Limasol, and, with his well-known impetuosity of character, lost no time in disembarking his troops, and shortly brought the Greek army to action under Isaac Comnenus and utterly defeated them. The Latin inhabitants of Limasol had already thrown open their gates, and Richard, after his victory, returned laden with spoils, including the imperial standard, which was eventually hung in St. Edmund's Chapel, Suffolk.

This first battle took place at Kolossi, near to Limasol. After the flush of victory an additional warlike impulse was given to his forces by the arrival of the chivalrous Guy de Lusignan, ex-king of Jerusalem, accompanied by the Princes of Antioch and Tripoli. The marriage of Richard with Berengaria took place at Limasol; she was there crowned Queen of England by the Bishops of York and Evreux. Richard, who did not prolong his honeymoon when an opportunity of fighting was at hand, immediately collected his forces, and, together with Guy de Lusignan, marched for the interior, where Isaac Comnenus had re-organised his army. Guy de Lusignan with a division of the troops marched upon Famagousta, which surrendered without resistance, while Richard attacked the Greek army under Isaac Comnenus in the plain of Messaria. Owing to the disparity of force the battle was for some time doubtful, and at length the two leaders engaged in personal encounter, resulting in the capture of Isaac Comnenus and the total discomfiture of his army. The city of Lefkosia at once threw open its gates to the victorious Richard.

The next disembarkation of troops at Limasol, on 1st July, 1570, under the Turkish general Lala Mustafa, was upon a much larger scale, as the expedition comprised 70,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 200 cannon.

With this force Lefkosia was a.s.saulted, and taken after a few weeks'

siege; and the inhabitants were subjected to inconceivable atrocities, 20,000 of both s.e.xes being mercilessly butchered during the sack which followed the capture of the town. The Turkish forces then marched upon the great stronghold of Cyprus, Famagousta. This powerful fortress was invested by land and sea, and although defended by only 7000 Venetian troops, under their gallant commandant, General Bragadino, it sustained a vigorous siege for more than ten months, until the heroic garrison was reduced by sickness and starvation. During this time an extraordinary apathy was exhibited by Venice, which should at all hazards have determined upon the relief of this important position. On 23rd January, 1571, the only effective expedition entered Famagousta with 1600 men, provisions and ammunition, with a squadron commanded by the Venetian Marc Antonius Quirini; but on the 1st August following, the provisions and ammunition having been completely expended, it became absolutely necessary to negotiate the terms of capitulation. A detailed description of this interesting siege is given in the work of Richard Knolles, The General History of the Turks, published in London in 1638.

The conditions of surrender stipulated that "The garrison should march out with five guns and the horses of the commanders, and should be conveyed to Candia in the s.h.i.+ps and at the expense of the Turks; that the inhabitants should be free to quit the town and take their property, and that those who preferred to remain should be unmolested both as regards their persons and their goods."*

(*Captain Savile's Cyprus, p. 22.)

General di Cesnola writes, page 39:--

"These conditions were eagerly accepted by the treacherous Mustafa; hostages were exchanged; Turkish vessels, as stipulated, entered the port of Famagousta, and took on board all those who wished to leave the island; nothing remained but the formality of delivering the keys of the city to the victor.

"On 5th August General Bragadino, accompanied by his lieutenants Baglioni, Martinengo, and Quirini, went to the Turkish camp, and was politely received by Mustafa. After the delivery of the keys, and when General Bragadino had risen to take leave, the vile Turk asked him for special hostages for the safe return from Candia of the Turkish vessels which were to convey him and his men thither; Bragadino refused this, as not having been stipulated in the accepted conditions of his surrender. Then Mustafa accused him of bad faith, and of having put to death fifty Turkish pilgrims after he had surrendered, which was indignantly denied by Bragadino. The pasha, becoming enraged, ordered the four Venetians to be put to death, and in a few minutes Generals Baglioni, Martinengo, and Quirini were executed in the presence of Bragadino, for whom a more terrible death was reserved.

The executioner cut off his nose and ears; three times he was made to lay his head upon the block, as if to be beheaded, then, heavily chained, was thrown into a dark dungeon, and left for nine days in that miserable condition.

"On the tenth day, by order of Mustafa, Bragadino was brought out of prison and made to carry earth for the repair of the fortifications during several hours, after which, more dead than alive, the heroic soldier was tied to a stake, and, in the presence of the ferocious Mustafa, was flayed alive. His skin, stuffed with hay, was sent with the heads of the other three Venetians as presents to the Sultan."

The two most important conquests of Cyprus have thus commenced from the port of Limasol, which is destined to become of primary importance as the great commercial representative town of this now poor island.

We remained sixteen days at Limasol, during which time we had the pleasure of the society of Colonel and Mrs. Warren and their young family, which we thoroughly appreciated after the exile from civilised life and ladies since we had quitted Kyrenia and Lefkosia. The leading officials and some Greek merchants of the town were good enough to call frequently, and kindly afforded much information; at the same time they did not conceal their disappointment at the terms of the occupation, which, by draining the island of its revenue, completely paralysed the good intentions of the English government; the best resolutions being valueless unless supported by the necessary capital.

Although I received every politeness from the inhabitants, who appeared to think I had some official mission, it was not difficult to trace a general tone of complaint and dissatisfaction, which was perfectly natural under the existing regime. Although nothing could exceed the pains taken by Sir Garnet Wolseley and all his officials to introduce reforms for the general welfare of the people, the task was simply impossible where various interests were conflicting, and no HYBRID government could at once destroy existing abuses and at the same time establish laws suitable to all cla.s.ses. This general reform required an independent administration, untrammelled by mongrel relations with the Turk, and equally free from the vexatious labyrinths of English jurisprudence. I do not wish to catalogue the long list of grievances which have been entrusted to my unwilling ears, but there are some which are so utterly destructive to the interests of the country and the government, that I have no hesitation in describing them.

The great trade of Limasol is wine, as the district exhibits the industry first encouraged by the Venetians; this, as the great money-producing cultivation, opposed to Mussulman prejudices, has been burdened with extortionate taxation and restrictions, which have not yet been relieved by the British administration.

CHAPTER X.

THE WINE DISTRICT OF LIMASOL.

In the fifteenth century the Cyprian vines were selected for the now celebrated vineyards of Madeira; nothing can better exemplify the standard of industry and consequent prosperity than the vine, when we regard the identical plant in the hands of the Portuguese and in its original home in Cyprus under the Turkish administration. The first historical notice of the vine occurs when Noah, stranded upon Mount Ararat, took advantage, upon the first subsidence of the waters, to plant a vineyard; and, according to the curt biblical description, it grew, produced, and the wine intoxicated the proprietor, all within a few days. It may not have occurred to the wine trade that this biblical fact proves that the consumption of wine had been among the first a.s.sumed necessities of the human race; if Noah's first impulse upon landing suggested the cultivation of the vine, he was restoring to the world a plant that had been considered so absolutely important that he must have provided himself with either buds or cuttings in great quant.i.ties when he selected his animals for the Ark BEFORE the Deluge.

If this is true, the use of wine must have been pre-historical, and its abuse historical; the two purposes having continued to the present day.

It may therefore be acknowledged that no custom has been so universal and continuous as the drinking of wine from the earliest period of human existence. The vine is a mysterious plant; it is so peculiarly sensitive that, like a musical instrument which produces harmony or discord at the hands of different performers, the produce of the same variety is affected by the soil upon which the plants are grown. Thus ten thousand young vines may be planted upon one mountain, all of the same stock; but various qualities of wine will be produced, each with a special peculiarity of flavour, according to the peculiarities of soil. The same estate, planted with the same vines, may produce high cla.s.s wines and others that would hardly command a market, if the soil varies according to the degrees of certain localities. It would now be impossible to produce Madeira wine in Cyprus, although the plants might be imported and cultivated with the greatest attention. When the vines were s.h.i.+pped from Cyprus and planted in Madeira during the rule of the Venetians, it must not be supposed that those vines had ever produced wine of the well-known Madeira flavour and quality; that flavour was the result of some peculiarity in the soil of the new country to which the vines had been transplanted, and there can be little doubt that the rich and extremely luscious variety known in Cyprus as "Commanderia" was the parent vine of the Madeira vineyards.

It is well known that the costly experiments of a century at the Cape of Good Hope have verified the fact that the vine is the slave of certain conditions of soil, which impart to this extremely delicate and sensitive plant a special flavour that is incorporated with the wine, and can never be eradicated. The vines of the Cape, although of infinite variety, produce wines with a family taint which is a flavour absorbed from the soil. Any person who knows Constantia, the luscious wine of the Cape of Good Hope, will at once detect the soupcon of that flavour in every quality of wine produced in the colony. It may therefore be accepted that the flavour of wines depends upon the soil; thus it would be impossible for a vine-grower to succeed simply by planting well- known superior varieties of vines, unless he has had practical experience of the locality to be converted into vineyards.

This fact is thoroughly exhibited in Cyprus, where the peculiarities of soils are exceedingly remarkable, and cannot fail to attract attention, each of these qualities of earth producing a special wine.

If a planter establishes a vineyard he will naturally select a certain variety of vine, and a corresponding situation that will ensure a marketable quant.i.ty of wine; thus in Cyprus a comparatively small area of the island is devoted to the cultivation of the grape, which is comprised chiefly within the district of Limasol. No wine is made in the Carpas district, nor to the north of the Carpasian range of jura.s.sic limestone; there are no vineyards of importance in the western district; or yet in the plain of Messaria, except upon the western border, in the neighbourhood of Dali, towards the Makhaeras mountain.

Although there are many varieties of Cyprus wines, there is one prevailing rule: the white commanderia, a luscious high-flavoured wine, is grown upon the reddish chocolate-coloured soil of metamorphous rocks.

The dark red, or black astringent wines, are produced upon the white marls and cretaceous limestone. The quant.i.ty produced is large, and the dark wines can be purchased retail in the villages for one penny the quart bottle!--and in my opinion are very dear at the money.

According to the official returns kindly supplied to me by Mr. Robson, the chief of customs, the following list represents the declared duty-paid production from 1877 to 1879.

Spirits-- Commanderia-- Black Wines-- Okes 2.75 lbs. Okes 2.75 lbs. Okes 2.75 lbs.

1877-1878. . 155,451 117,000 2,500,000 1878-1879. . 430,000 300,000 6,000,000

Spirit is valued at about 2.5 Piastres the Oke Commanderia " " 2 " " "

Black Wines " " 1.25 " " "

The rate of exchange: 9 Piastres to 1 s.h.i.+lling = 180 per pound sterling.

It will be observed that an immense difference is represented in the yield of the two years. This is to be accounted for by the superabundance of rains in 1878-1879, which caused a great quant.i.ty, but bad quality, of juice, and the wine of this vintage is so inferior that a large proportion is turning to vinegar, and can be used for no other purpose.

The habit of calculating by low quant.i.ties, as "okes," as the French reckon in "francs," is at first sight perplexing to the English mind, and conveys an erroneous impression of the actual results. If the population of Cyprus is about 200,000, the maximum wine-crop of 6,000,000 okes would only yield 30 okes, or 60 ordinary wine-bottles, to each person during the year. The local consumption is exceedingly small, which can only be accounted for by the general poverty of the population.

The exports are directed princ.i.p.ally to the various ports of the Levant, Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, in addition to Trieste, and parts of Southern Italy. Some of the dark wines are s.h.i.+pped to Ma.r.s.eilles, for the well-known establishment at Cette, where they are used for mixing with other wines. It should at once be understood that no quality of Cyprus wines is suitable to the English market, as they are generally shunned even by the English residing in the island, where their extreme cheapness might tempt people into the bad taste of consuming them. At the same time, these wines are well appreciated by the native population, especially the dark astringent qualities.

The difficulty of introducing a new wine is well known to English wine-merchants, and the mysteries of the trade would somewhat astonish the innocent would-be connoisseur. There can be no doubt that the palate must be educated to enjoy fine dry wines, precisely as the ear must be instructed before it can appreciate cla.s.sical music. There is a harmony in the senses of hearing, smell, and taste which is the result of civilised life; this may be right or wrong physically, as the nerves become more delicate and sensitive, which may affect the brain more or less directly. There can be no doubt that it affects the stomach.

Certain civilised persons prefer game in a state approaching to decomposition; I have seen savages who enjoy flesh when actually putrid, and above all horrors, fish when stinking! Such food would disgust the civilised man who prefers his game "high," and would perhaps kill other civilised people whose palates and stomachs have been educated to avoid impurities. In the same manner the palate must be educated for wines or other drinks. I gave an old priest a bottle of Ba.s.s's pale India ale; he could not drink half a gla.s.sful but rejected it as picro (bitter); the same old man enjoyed his penny-a-bottle black Cyprus wine, reeking of tar and half-rotten goat-skins, in which it had been brought to market--a stuff that I could not have swallowed! It must therefore be borne in mind when judging of Cyprian wines, that "English taste does not govern the world." Although the British market would be closed to the coa.r.s.e and ill-made wines of Cyprus, there are other markets which accept them gladly, and would absorb them to a high degree, were they improved by superior cultivation and manufacture.

At the same time that the produce of Cyprus is now a unsuitable to the English market, there is no reason why it should be excluded at a future time, when scientific culture shall have enhanced the quality. It should be remembered that the poorer cla.s.ses of Great Britain would be immensely benefited by a beverage that should be within their reach in price, and at the same time be sufficiently invigorating without the direct intoxicating properties of spirits or the sleepy, heavy, and thirst-increasing qualities of beer. If Cyprus is at some future time to become a British colony, the wine trade will be the princ.i.p.al source of industry, and should be developed by the government with every possible encouragement to the proprietors of vineyards. An improved quality of wine will not necessitate an additional price, but, on the contrary, the wine-growing resources of the island are so irrepressible that they have withstood the oppression of the past and present, and when relieved of this incubus, not only should the quality improve, but the price should be reduced. In this case, should the Cyprian produce be favoured by a nominal import duty in England, the wine will be within the reach of the poorer cla.s.ses, and may ameliorate that crying evil of our country, "intoxication," by weaning the spirit-drinker to a more wholesome drink.

It must never be supposed by the most sanguine that Cyprian wines will be fas.h.i.+onable among the upper cla.s.ses in England. I do not think they will ever surpa.s.s Marsala or many of the Cape wines. English people, as a rule, object to cheap wines, or at least they are reserved concerning the price, should cheap wine be upon their table. It is a dangerous thing to mention the cost of any wine, even to your nearest friend; although he might have enjoyed it when he thought it must have cost you 72 s.h.i.+llings the dozen, he will detect some unpleasant peculiarity when you may foolishly have confided to him that it only cost you 36 s.h.i.+llings, or, worse still, 24 s.h.i.+llings. He will possibly suggest to you on the following morning that "something disagreed with him during the night, but he does NOT think it was the 24 s.h.i.+lling wine." Here is the fault of HALF-EDUCATED palates; they expect too much, and are guided by fancies. The same person might be beguiled into the belief that the 24 s.h.i.+lling wine was very superior if he had been deceived by an a.s.surance that it cost 72 s.h.i.+llings. There are really very few amateurs who could value unknown wines by the test of their own palates; but the chilly climate of England is adverse to light wines, and necessitates a full body, with considerable strength.

The sherries are always fortified by an addition of between 30 to 40 per cent. of alcohol before they are s.h.i.+pped to England, without which they would be unsaleable; as to our taste, they would be empty and vapid. We must therefore make a considerable allowance when judging of Cyprus wines in their present extremely rude and uncultivated position.

Nothing is added, and the following concise description will account for their disagreeable peculiarities.

There are no roads in Cyprus in the mountainous wine-producing districts, therefore all agricultural products must be conveyed upon the backs of mules up and down the steepest and most dangerous rocky tracks, apparently more fitted for goats than other animals. A mule will travel in this rough country with a load of 250 lbs. This serious difficulty of transport will account for the rude and ancient method of conveying wine in goat-skins. "No man will put new wine into old bottles," referred to this system of employing skins instead of casks, or other receptacles that could be cleaned and rendered tasteless. The goat-skin would quickly rot, unless it was prepared by a species of tar; thus not only is the naturally unpleasant flavour of the skin imparted to the wine, but the mixture of tar renders it completely abominable to any palate that has not been educated to receive it. Let any person conceive the result of pouring ten or twelve gallons of Chateau Lafitte into an old and dirty goat-skin thoroughly impregnated with tar, and carrying this burden upon one side of a mule, balanced by a similar skin on the other side filled with the choicest Johannisberger. This load, worth at least 70 or 80 pounds at starting, would travel for two days exposed to a broiling sun, and would lie for several days before it would be turned into the vat of the merchant at Limasol. By that time, according to civilised taste, it would be perfectly valueless and undrinkable; if the best wines in the world can be thus destroyed by a savage means of transport, what must the effect be upon such inferior qualities as the crude produce of Cyprus? Common sense will suggest that the first step towards improvement will be the completion of roads throughout the wine districts, that will enable the two-wheeled native carts to convey the wine in barrels direct from the growers to the merchants' stores at Limasol.

We will now commence at the beginning, "the cultivation of the vine,"

and trace its progress until the wine is ready for the consumer.

As I have already described, the commanderia and the black wines are produced by the two different qualities of soils, but there is no difference in the alt.i.tudes. The new British road from Limasol to Platraes, thirty miles, cuts directly through the princ.i.p.al vine districts of the country. From the deep valley and roaring torrent, up to the mountain-tops exceeding 4000 feet above the sea-level, the country is green with vineyards in the middle or latter end of May; not a yard of available land is lost. When the shoots are about three feet long and have shown the embryo bunches, a number of men enter the vineyard with switches and knock off the tender ends of the runners, which in a gentler method of cultivation would be picked off with the finger and thumb-nail. Sometimes goats are turned in to nibble off the shoots in order to save labour, and at the same time to feed the animals; they of course damage the vines, but the Cypriote thinks the system pays. The young vines are never staked and tied as in Europe, but are allowed to take their chance, and the heavy bunches in many instances rest upon the dusty ground.

There is seldom rain after May, but a few showers are favourable at this particular season when the young bunches are in blossom. In the best vineyards attention is given to clearing away the weeds after rain, but usually the vines are left to nature after the grapes have formed, as the hot sun and drying wind are sufficient to keep down adverse vegetation.

The grapes ripen towards the middle or end of August. The commanderia grapes are collected and spread upon the flat mud-plastered roofs of the native houses, and are exposed for several days, until they show symptoms of shrivelling in the skin, and the stalks have partially dried: they are then pressed. By this time many of the grapes that have been bruised by this rough treatment have fermented, and the dust and dirt of the house-top, together with flies and other insects, have adhered to the impure heap. It has been imagined by some travellers that the grapes are purposely dried before pressing; on the other hand, I have been a.s.sured by the inhabitants that their only reason for heaping and exposing their crop upon the house-tops is the danger of leaving it to ripen in the vineyard. None of the plots are fenced, and before the grapes are sufficiently ripe for pressing they are stolen in large quant.i.ties, or destroyed by cattle, goats, mules, and every stray animal that is attracted to the fields. The owner of the vineyard accordingly gathers his crop by degrees, a little before the proper time, and the grapes are exposed upon the house-tops to ripen artificially in the sun.

In this manner the quality is seriously damaged; but the natives will not acknowledge it any more than the Devons.h.i.+re farmers, who leave their apples in heaps upon the ground for many weeks, rotting and wasp-eaten, before they are carried to the pound for the grinding of cider. The grapes, having been trodden by men with large boots, are pressed, and the juice of the commanderia is placed in jars capable of holding from seventy to one hundred gallons. The refuse of skins and stalks is laid upon one side to ferment for the manufacture of raki, or spirit, by distillation. The fermentation of the juice proceeds in the earthen jars, and is guided according to the ideas of the proprietor; when he considers that it has continued to a degree sufficient for the strength and quality of the wine, it is checked by the addition of powdered gypsum. Here is one of the patent errors of the manufacture of commanderia as a wine suitable to English tastes. The grape-juice is naturally so rich in saccharine, that it is luscious and vapid to an excess; this superabundant amount of sugar would be converted into alcohol in the natural process of fermentation if unchecked, and by the chemical change the wine would gain in strength and lose in sweetness.

Should this process be adopted, the result would no longer represent the wine now accepted as commanderia, which finds a ready market in the Levant, owing to its peculiar sweetness and rich flavour, although disagreeable to Europeans; there would accordingly be a risk attending such experiments, which the grower would consider unnecessary, as he already commands the sale.