.210 Dr. F. H. 11. Guillcmard— Q/yj'-ws 



lierc I heard of an extraordinary cave, and rode over some 

 nine or ten miles to explore it, having previously sent 

 out men with picks and spades in readiness for digging. It 

 was a most curious place, in the channel of a subterranean 

 river which in past ages had carved for itself in the gypseous 

 rock a perfectly straight and wonderfully regular arched 

 passage, about 6 feet high by 5 broad. Up this we went for 

 about two or three hundred yards ; but the heat, and the 

 presence in numbers of a large bat, Cynonycteris collaris, 

 which flew out and extinguished our candles, eventually put 

 us to flight and we left the place without being much the 

 wiser. The few trenches I dug at various distances from the 

 entrance soon revealed the bed-rock, and as there was evi- 

 dently nothing to be expected in the way of cave-remains, 

 we took no further trouble to exi:)lore the cave. 



I saAv the flrst Roller on the 3rd April, and the Bee-eater 

 upon the following day. On the 8tli I got my first Marbled 

 Duck [Anas anfjuslirostris), a bird I had never handled in the 

 flesh before. This pretty species stays to breed, and I after- 

 wards got its nest and eggs at the Famagusta lake. About 

 the same time, too, the Demoiselle Crane made its appearance. 

 It remains a very short time, merely touching the island 

 in its passage, and in two or three weeks^ time not one is to 

 be seen. 



I had long had the intention of going to the summit of 

 Troodos in the cold season, hoping that I might possibly 

 get a Woodpecker, Crossbill, or Nuthatch ; and accordingly, 

 on the 10th April, I started in company with Mr. Heathcote 

 and a rather formidable mule-train, with the idea of pro- 

 ceeding thither by the shortest route. Our path led us over 

 the wildest parts of the mountains, and we met at one place 

 with the most miserable accommodation and equally miserable 

 weather, but in many ways it was a most interesting triji. 

 We arrived at the summit on the 16th. The change from 

 the summer of the plains was most complete. Here it was 

 winter, the ground covered Avith snow, and hardly a sign of 

 spring vegetation to be seen. The entire camp and the few 

 houses that are built in its vicinity were, of course, entirely 

 deserted, but, thanks to the kindness of Sir Henry Bulwer, 



