This place was formerly important as one of the principal mineral centres of the island, and the large accumulations of scoriae in several mounds near the coast prove that mining operations were conducted upon an extensive scale. A concession had recently been granted to a small private company for the working of copper in this neighbourhood, and should the existence of metallic wealth be proved there can be no doubt that capital will be embarked in mining enterprises, and the locality will recover its former importance. On the other hand, all mining adventures should be conducted with the greatest caution. A common error is committed by sanguine speculators in following the footsteps of the ancients, upon the supposition that because in former ages a locality was productive, it should remain in the same profitable condition. Nothing can be more erroneous; it is generally poor gleaning after the Phoenicians. The bronze of those extraordinary miners and metallurgists was renowned above all other qualities; they worked the copper-mines of Cyprus and the tin-mines of Cornwall, but the expenses of working a mine in those days bore no comparison with the outlay of modern times. Slaves were employed as a general rule: forced labour was obtainable; and the general conditions of the labour-market were utterly at variance with those of the present day. The ancient miners would seldom have abandoned their veins of ore until they were completely exhausted, and the vast heaps of scoriae which now mark the sites of their operations may be the remains of works that were deserted as worn out and unproductive. It is true that traces of copper are visible in many places throughout the metamorphous rocks, and the greenstone from Soli to Poli-ton-Krysokhus, but it remains to be proved whether the metal exists in sufficient quantities to be profitably worked. It is generally believed that zinc was formerly produced at Soli, where vestiges of ancient mining operations are to be seen upon the surface, but for many centuries the works have been abandoned. A very careful scientific examination of the island has been made by various explorers--M. Gaudry, Unger, and Kotschy: their reports are not encouraging, but at the same time it must be allowed that they were not practical miners. The work of M. Gaudry must always be accepted as a most valuable authority upon the geology, mineralogy, and general agricultural resources of Cyprus, but it will be remarked by all practical men that the explorations of the country have been superficial; no money has been expended; and is it to be supposed that the surface of the earth will spontaneously reveal the secrets of the interior?