Such were my involuntary reflections as we dropped anchor in the roads of Larnaka on April 21st, 1877. This entrance to the island displays an expansive bay, the yellow sands of which are bordered by an extensive plain, broken by bare and rocky hills, and in the blue distance backed by a chain of mountains. A landscape was before me, in which the towns, gardens, and buildings constituted only minor accessories. Larnaka appeared as a mere speck on the bosom of the open country. The haven contains about fifty houses, built in the centre of the curve of the bay, and above them wave the variegated flags of the different consulates, surmounted by pointed minarets and a new belfry. The town of Larnaka itself lies far behind, and is separated by wide fields from the haven. Thanks to the kindness of the German consul, a friendly welcome awaited me at the landing-place, where I found a dragoman ready to conduct me to my destination. Before leaving the haven, however, I inspected its streets, which presented an animated appearance. Artisans plied their trades in all directions, and dirt reigned supreme. The rows of houses interspersed with stately mansions, churches, and gardens, filled with waving palms, constitute its principal attractions; all else is strictly Oriental, namely, its filth, rags, and miserable huts of wood and clay. In the Catholic church, we found a solitary monk, who showed us some fine carvings. The pictures upon the partition which separates the altar from the rest of the church are diligently kissed by the worshippers. I could not but approve this custom, if only from the fact that a law of the church required that no one should salute the sacred pictures without previously washing his face. This ceremony takes place once a week, so that, happily, the gold and silver covered panels are not distinguished by a black circle in the spots where they are kissed. With the exception of an occasional block of marble built into the walls of a house, or a sarcophagus, utilised as a receptacle for water, I saw nothing to recall the ancient power of the busy crowds that once animated this spot. Their tombs, excavated in the stratum of chalk, which lies below the surface, were once filled with marble sarcophagi, which century by century have been dragged out and employed for building purposes. Hence the revolting name given to this town, for Larnaka, literally interpreted, means simply a coffin. Others, however, assert that the name is derived from the fact that the houses were built upon the site of an ancient graveyard.