Tour in Cyprus in 1887. 121 



nation was Limui^ the site of old Phoenician copper-mines, 

 where a company have just commenced to sink a shaft. It 

 is close to the sea, at the liead of Chrysokkou Bay, and is a 

 two days' journey from Kikko. The monastery of Chrysorogia- 

 tissa, wdience there is a view of magnificent extent, formed 

 my halfway house, and I was again detained here, though 

 only for a day, one of my muleteers being down with fever. 



I reached Limni June 1st. My road led for the greater 

 part of the day over the white marl rocks that enter so largely 

 into the geological composition of the island, and the heat and 

 glare were intolerable. The summer in Cyprus is as trying, 

 probably, as that in any other part of the world, but chiefly 

 from the fact that there is no shade or verdure of any kind 

 on which to rest the eye. Our ride was not rendered any more 

 pleasant by the incessant attacks of an (Estrus, or some fly of 

 that nature, upon the mules. This insect docs not deposit the 

 egg upon the coat of the animal, but seeks to enter the nostril 

 for that purpose. So much are they feared by the mules that 

 the very sight of them makes them restless, and they at once 

 contract the nostril to the smallest possible size, and strive 

 by plungings and shakings of the head to keep the insect off, 

 a manoeuvre which, if constantly kept up, will in time exhaust 

 the patience of the most long-suffering rider. Almost the 

 only birds that I saw worthy of mention were the Wood 

 Pigeon and Linnet : the former, which appeared to be 

 tolerably abundant in this district, I had only twice seen 

 previously ; the Linnets, a generally distributed species, were 

 remarkable for the brightness of their colouring. 



In Mr. Williamson (one of my hosts during my stay at 

 Limni) I found a sportsman and Moufilon-hunter whose 

 knowledge of the people, animals, and birds was probably 

 more extensive than that of any other European in the island. 

 It was at this time the close season for the Moufflon ; and 

 I was unable to go out after them as I had intended, but I 

 was able to obtain some information about these animals 

 which may, I think, be accepted as reliable. They are now 

 almost entirely confined to the western side of the Troodos 

 range, and although they are said to have been seen in the 



