Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879Baker, Samuel White, Sir
History
Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879
Baker, Samuel White, Sir
Cyprus -- Description and travel
sufficient force to follow the direction given towards the shore, while
the receivers stood in the water to capture them upon arrival.
The shops and stores along the quay-face closely resemble those of
Larnaca, but there was more activity among the people. The streets of
the bazaar were thronged with mules and donkeys bringing the produce of
the interior to the shipping centre, and the crush of animals had been
carefully modified by the arrangements instituted by Colonel Warren, who
had established a large walled court, or stable-yard, into which all
empty mules and asses were driven, instead of being allowed to block the
thoroughfare; each beast paid some trifle for this accommodation, which
added to the fund for municipal improvements.
The public offices were very inferior, that of the chief commissioner
himself being a small white-washed room, which exhibited an utter
disregard of personal comfort in the interests of government economy.
There is a curious old fort within the town which has been altered and
added to until it has become an absurdity; this would be utterly useless
as a defence, and the Turkish guns having been removed, it is now
converted into a prison; beneath the ground there are dungeons which are
no longer used.
The roadstead of Limasol is formed by the projection of the Akrotiri
peninsula, which affords protection from the west and south-west, but it
is directly exposed from the east to the south. The anchorage is safe,
with good holding-ground in ten fathoms. The peculiar shaped peninsula
of Akrotiri is about seven miles wide, and the lake in its centre, when
full, has a width of about four miles; but during the exhaustive heat of
summer it evaporates to the dimensions of a mere pool, and leaves its
deserted bed encrusted with a deposit of salt. This lake has no
connection with the sea, and its maximum depth is under three feet; the
salt is formed upon the same principle as that of the Lake of Larnaca,
and certainly not by the percolation of sea-water through the sand, as
the Limasol lake is considerably above the sea-level. There is a
lighthouse at Cape Gatta, which can be seen at a distance of fifteen
miles, as from its elevated position the lamp is 190 feet above the sea.
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-shore, in numbers that would have
sheltered an army of three times the force represented. I cannot
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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