118 Dr. F. H. H. Guillemard — Ornithological 



a trudge of two or three miles. He measured 9 feet 5 inches 

 from tip to tip_, and was so heavy and unmanageable that, 

 finding I could not drag him back to my mule, I reluctantly 

 left him^ after cutting off the head and feet. 



There was nothing to keep me at Morpliou except a marsh, 

 or what was described to me as one, in its neighbourhood. 

 The drought had had its effect upon it, however, and I found 

 it like a pond, little else but dry land and water nearly 

 reaching my waist. Numbers of Pratincoles were hawking 

 over it, and now and again dropping on the shingle of the 

 neighbouring beach to rest. I was glad to do the same, for a 

 slight touch of African fever from which I was suffering 

 rendered me incapable of much exertion under such a pow- 

 erful sun. From what I saw I judged that the marsh, from 

 an ornithologist's point of view, was comparatively deserted. 



I had planned my route to the southern and western parts 

 of the island via Lefka and the much be-praised Maratassa 

 valley, and started on May 23rd. The former place is 

 charmingly bowered in mulberry and other fruit-trees and 

 abounds in Nightingales, I saw here for the first time a 

 beautiful little lizard, which in appearance reminded me of 

 a Charr, the belly being bright pink and the sides orna- 

 mented with well-marked blue spots, probably a brilliantly 

 coloured variety of Lacerta muralis. The Maratassa valley 

 is disappointing, but the beautiful stream of clear water that 

 rushes down between its abrupt sides atones for much in 

 such an arid land as Cyprus. It can hardly be called a 

 gorge, yet it is not a valley. Great quantities of grapes are 

 grown here, often in apparently inaccessible places, and it is 

 said that lives are sometimes lost in gathering them and in 

 tilling the land. 



In the second night after leaving Morphou I camped at 

 Kalopanagiotissa, a village bisected by the stream, and 

 reminding me strongly of others I had seen in Japan in 

 similar localities, even down to the black colour of the huts, 

 and the necessary vehemence of the conversations carried on 

 across the water. Just below the village the stream passes 

 between almost inaccessible cliffs, a fact brought unpleasantly 



