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
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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