In the evening, a visit to our consular agent enabled me to observe the domestic economy of the Cyprians, in a Greek house of some pretensions. The agent himself is a young man of polished address and very engaging manners, the mistress of the house charmingly beautiful. There was also a lady whose bright and sparkling eyes gleamed with intelligence and persevering energy. Her family belonged to the oldest nobility of the island, and yet had not been resident there for more than a century and a half. Under Turkish rule families do not easily attain to nobility or distinction. It may also be remarked that of late years the higher Turkish officials, who came from Constantinople, were seldom people of such refined manners as their predecessors. How can it be otherwise, seeing that money is now the only key whereby admission to office can be obtained? Even the multitude of green-turbaned descendants of the Prophet, are quickly disappearing. In China they manage better. After the imperial family, ranks that of Kung-fu-tso (Confucius), and there are about ten thousand living descendants of the sage—but it is only the real lineal head of the family, the Prince Kung, who is benefited by the renown of his ancestry. In Turkey, on the contrary, the canker-worm has been long devouring the whole ancestral tree, root and branch. The curse of the country is, that dignity and work are thought to be incompatible with each other, and the descendants of the Prophet consider themselves too illustrious to do anything. About ten o’clock we sat down to table, and our first glass was dedicated to our country’s noble flag, which waved above the roof of the house. At this time, however, there were few Germans in Limasol, and during the whole year but two or three German vessels had cast anchor in the roadstead. I am, however, pretty well convinced that a good trade might be established here, even if the cargoes consisted entirely of wine. The conversation turned principally on the population and revenue, and I succeeded in making a few additions to my knowledge concerning the statistics of the country. As regards the population of Cyprus, I was told that the Turks numbered about 200,000, and Greeks 100,000. An European observer, who was long a resident here, reckoned 100,000 Greeks, 40,000 Turks, and 1000 Maronites and Roman Catholics; most probably, however, if we estimate the total at 150,000, of whom about a third are Turks, we should not be far from the truth. Equally at variance with each other were the accounts that I received concerning the revenue, although my questions were only put to persons who, _ex officio_, were able at least to give approximate information. The revenue derived from the customs and taxes, was estimated by one at thirty-five millions of piastres, by another at thirty millions, and by a third at twenty-four millions; the figures set down in the following Table are, however, probably nearer the mark: