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
sky-line 3240 feet above the sea. Exactly opposite, at about sixty miles
distance, were the snow-capped mountains of Caramania, which in the
transparent atmosphere seemed to be within a day's long march. Far, far
away along the north-eastern shore, and also towards the west, all was
lovely: I could only regret that all vessels and strangers must arrive
in the unfortunate ports of the Messaria, instead of gaining such
favourable first impressions as would be induced by the lovely picture
of Cyprus from the north.
While I had been admiring the view, my dogs had been hunting the dense
bushes to very little purpose, and although we scrambled for more than
two hours over the mountain, we only moved ten or twelve red-legged
partridges, which rose upwards of a hundred yards in front of the gun;
it was quite impossible to obtain a shot. With an empty bag, but with a
new impression of the country since my view of the landscape in the
north, I turned homewards, and reached camp late in the afternoon, my
spaniels having no doubt a low opinion of Cyprus sport, and of the
unfair advantages taken by the ever-running red-legged partridges.
On 16th February a painful conviction was established that Cyprus was
unfitted for wheeled carriages and springs. Although the plain appeared
flat and without natural obstacles, the ground had been completely
traversed by deep trenches for the purpose of checking and conducting
surface water to the fields in the event of a heavy shower. Our course
should have been directly across the plain to intersect the road from
Lefkosia to Famagousta, but a glance at the intervening country showed
the impossibility of moving the vans through the miles of green crops
which were nourished by innumerable watercourses, each of which must be
levelled before we could advance. It was therefore necessary to retrace
our steps to within a mile and a half of Lefkosia, to the point where
the main route branched to Famagousta. This was a great waste of time,
but there was no other way of avoiding the difficulty. Accordingly we
started, and after a few miles we cut across country to the high road,
while the vans slowly crawled along the uneven way until they reached
the turning-point. We halted at a very desolate spot, where sheep were
housed in large numbers. Several spacious pens were surrounded with
thorns, reminding me of the cattle zareebas of Africa, and a small
flat-topped building, built of stone and mud, formed the usual
accommodation for man and beast. A well of clear but brackish water
supplied this rude establishment, which was surrounded by a boundless
extent of undulating ground, more or less cultivated with cereals,
which, although only a few inches above the surface, looked weak and
perishing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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