Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879 Part 2

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 thres.h.i.+ng by the harrow of sharp flints. This coa.r.s.e 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 pa.s.sed through an English thres.h.i.+ng-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 appet.i.tes 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 quant.i.ties, 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 pa.s.sed 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 s.h.i.+p 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 p.r.i.c.k, 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 anch.o.r.ed 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 bare-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 p.r.i.c.kly 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 pa.s.sed 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 p.r.i.c.kly 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 establis.h.i.+ng 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 ma.s.s 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 th.o.r.n.y 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 lat.i.tude, at which limit the rainfall is great and the vegetation changes its character. The Cypriotes of both s.e.xes wear high boots to the knees as a protection from the countless thistles, and not as an armour against snakes, as some writers have a.s.sumed. 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 pa.s.s 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 s.h.i.+lling, 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 windla.s.s above, formed of a cradle of horizontal wooden bars. The man in charge simply turns the windla.s.s 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 ca.n.a.l or aqueduct. Precisely as the mole upheaves at certain intervals the earth that it has sc.r.a.ped 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 subst.i.tute 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 ma.s.ses. 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 Ba.s.s's pale ale most refres.h.i.+ng 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.

Pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sured 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 pa.s.s on the outside of the town, and I would seek a camping-place up-stream. Instead of this I was a.s.sured that we should pa.s.s 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 impa.s.sable; 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 b.u.mped 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 pa.s.sed 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 gla.s.s 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 a.s.sisted 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 s.p.a.ce here which was crowded with women and girls, who, with feminine curiosity, had a.s.sembled 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 a.s.sembled, 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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.h.i.+vering 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 coa.r.s.e 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 a.s.sistance 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 b.u.t.tons 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 quant.i.ties 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 pa.s.sed 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s 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 coa.r.s.eness 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 const.i.tuents 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 ill.u.s.trates the eternal, and explains the first instincts of adoration which tree-wors.h.i.+p 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 circ.u.mference; 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 anch.o.r.ed 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 a.s.sured, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 circ.u.mstances 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 cla.s.ses; 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-fas.h.i.+oned 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 subst.i.tute. 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 p.r.o.nounce 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 amus.e.m.e.nt.

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 pa.s.sed 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, surpa.s.sing 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 quant.i.ty, 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.ses 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 ma.s.ses, 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 quant.i.ties. 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 quant.i.ties 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 spa.r.s.ely covered with myrtles and other evergreens. As we neared the base of the mountains, the vegetation increased, and pa.s.sing 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.