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
The walk was enjoyable; we had made
fourteen miles from Trichomo, and upon reaching the perfectly flat
tableland which formed the summit of the hills I had a splendid sea-view
extending for many miles along the coast. The first object that
attracted my attention was a large steamer stranded in a cove about a
mile distant. She looked perfectly snug, but as only her lower masts
were standing, and funnel gone, there could be no doubt of her
misadventure. My binocular glass quickly showed that a portion of her
bulwarks was carried away, and as no chain was visible to an anchor, she
was in fact a wreck. As I made my way through the thick bushes Merry
presently opened upon a scent, and Wise running in among the rocks,
flushed a fine francolin partridge, which I shot. I then got a quail and
a hare, and had no other chances, although the appearance of the country
would have suggested an abundance of game. Upon nearing the seashore I
saw that extensive sand-dunes had invaded the heights for many hundred
yards, completely choking the vegetation and forming clumps or mounds of
sand, topped by tufts of the shrubs that lay buried deep beneath. I
walked along the fatiguing ground until I reached the shore exactly
opposite the abandoned wreck, which lay within a cove, into which she
had evidently been run for security.
My dogs found several hares among the clumps upon the sand-dunes, which
gave them some exercise and amusement, but I did not obtain a shot.
Upon my arrival at the camping-place I found my wife surrounded by a
large crowd of women and children beneath a shady tree, all of whom had
brought presents of eggs and bouquets of wild flowers. It was difficult
to persuade these good simple people that we did not require presents as
an etiquette of introduction; they would insist upon placing their
little offerings upon the ground, and leaving them if we declined to
accept them. The principal wild flowers were cyclamen, narcissus, and
anemone. The cyclamen completely covered the ground throughout all the
low woods and thickets. I could only find two varieties, the snow-white,
with claret-coloured centre, and the rose-colour; but the blossoms were
quite equal in size to those usually grown in our glass-houses in
England. We had passed through several hundred acres of open ground that
were as white from the abundance of narcissus as an English meadow might
be yellow from the presence of buttercups.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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