570 Mr. J. A. Bucknill o?z the 



extensive and constitutes the main watershed of the island, 

 is, on the whole, well wooded with Pinus pinaster, Pinus 

 laricio, Juniperus fcetidissima, Quercus alnifolia, Arbutus 

 andrachne, and other trees, and rises to a height of no less 

 than 6406 feet above sea-level. The northern range, although 

 extending in all a distance of some hundred miles (the 

 eastern forty-five of which constitnte a thin promontory), is 

 narrow, reaches only 3135 feet at its highest point, is not so 

 well stocked with trees, and is generally of less importance. 



The southern mountains are known as the Troodos and 

 the northern as the Kyrenia, though the long eastern horn of 

 the latter is termed " the Karpas." The plain, which is 

 called the Mesaoria, extends right across the island, and is 

 some sixty miles long and from ten to twenty broad. 



Of the whole area of the island about seven hundred 

 square miles are forest lands (a good deal, however, of which 

 is mere scrub or but sparsely dotted with trees and bushes), 

 about seventeen hundred are under cultivation, about seven 

 hundred are composed of rocky ground incapable of culti- 

 vation, and the I'cmaining four hundred ai-e uncultivated. 

 The island is fertile and displays the usual features of 

 agriculture common on those shores of the Mediterranean to 

 which it lies adjacent; barley, wheat, oats, caroubs, grapes, 

 olives, cotton, sesame, aniseed, linseed, hemp, beans, vege- 

 tables, and fruits (such as oranges, lemons, melons, pome- 

 granates, and nectarines) are cultivated extensively. 



The climate is not unhealthy; the winter is wet and cold, 

 the summer dry and hot; the highest portions of the southern 

 mountains are covered with snow from about mid-November 

 till mid-April ; the heat in July, August, and September in 

 the plains is very great, but in the high mountains the 

 summer months are cool and can be pleasantly enjoyed. 



The riA'ers are, with the exception of a few small perpetual 

 streams, mountain-torrents, in flood after heavy rain and dry 

 during the hot weather. There are large salt-lakes near 

 Liraassol and Larnaca, and two extensive freshwater reser- 

 voirs, recently constructed, in the Famagusta district, all of 

 which are very favourite resorts of migi'atory water-birds. 



