232 



CYPRUS. 



Syria, and feels the violent winds and dry- 

 ness of Cilicia ; but these are partly compen- 

 sated for by the refreshing sea-breezes and the 

 night dews. The northern parts are often 

 made uncomfortable by the cold winds from 

 Mount Taurus, and the summits of the Olym- 

 pian range are generally covered with snow 

 till late in the season. The year may be rough- 

 ly divided into the rainy and the dry seasons. 

 The rain begins to fall about the middle of 

 October, and continues till the end of January, 

 when it is less abundant for a few weeks, un- 

 til another rain sets in about the middle of 

 March, which lasts till April. The spring 

 months are delightful, with their pleasant 

 temperature, refreshing dews, and luxuriant 

 vegetation. The summer months are hot and 

 dry, but are tempered by the sea-breezes. 

 These cease in September, and the country 

 endures about six weeks of torrid heat, in 

 which everything is dried up, and all vegeta- 

 tion is withered. These scorching heats and 

 the parching winds that accompany them are 

 the scourges of the country, and often pro- 

 duce scarcity after the summer has been a 

 season of promise. 



Several excellent ports existed in ancient 

 times and in the middle ages, but they have 

 been neglected and allowed to be filled up ; and 

 the island has not now a single good harbor 

 fit for the uses of modern commerce. The most 

 famous ancient ports were Oitium and Salamis. 

 The port of Citium is now represented by Lar- 

 naka, which is in its immediate neighborhood, 

 and is regarded as the principal port of the 

 island. According to Mr. R. Stuart Poole, this 

 port has a roadstead frequented by the little 

 trading craft of the Levant, which sometimes 

 fail to land a boat's crew over the bar, and at 

 other times are blown out to sea by a change 

 of wind. The ancient harbor of Salamis was 

 supplanted in the middle ages by that of Fama- 

 gusta, a few miles south of it, which became 

 under the Lusignans and the Venetians one of 

 the most famous ports and fortresses of the 

 East. It is said to be better worth the labor 

 of restoration than the harbor of Oitium or 

 Larnaka, and has been spoken of as probably 

 destined to be the future port of the island. 

 The city is now inhabited by about two hun- 

 dred Turks, and contains many ruins of cathe- 

 drals as evidences of its former splendor ; and 

 massive walls still standing indicate how stupen- 

 dous its fortifications once were. Limasal, near 

 the southeastern point of the island, is a place 

 of considerable business activity, having, ac- 

 cording to Von Loher, about 6,000 inhabitants, 

 and is the port whence most of the wine is 

 shipped. Cerynia, on the northern coast, was 

 formerly a port and fortress of considerable 

 importance. Nicosia, the capital, is a town of 

 about 12,000 inhabitants, picturesquely situ- 

 ated in the interior of the island. With its 

 minarets and gardens it presents a beautiful 

 appearance from a distance, but is ruinous and 

 squalid within. 



All writers on Cyprus describe it as having 

 extraordinary capacities for agricultural pro- 

 duction. The soil is soft and easily tilled, and 

 still produces abundantly in favorable seasons, 

 although it has never been manured. Von 

 Loher, who traveled over the whole island in 

 April, 1877, speaks repeatedly of the variety 

 and luxuriance of the vegetation and the rich- 

 ness of the flowers which he saw growing in 

 different parts, and says that nearly every va- 

 riety of fruit will ripen there in a wild state. 

 A review of the crops that are or have been 

 raised on its soil shows that it is adapted to 

 the culture of nearly all the products of the 

 temperate and southern climates. It was for- 

 merly famous for its wines, and is said to have 

 furnished the first vines to Madeira. Its Corn- 

 manderia wine had a distinguished reputation 

 a few centuries ago, and is still in good repute. 

 Wines are one of the leading articles of export, 

 and the trade is increasing. The fruit of the 

 carob-tree ( Ceratonia siliqua), commonly called 

 locust beans, is largely exported to Russia and 

 England. The wild olive-tree grows abundant- 

 ly, but the production of good olives and olive- 

 oil is insignificant. An excellent quality of 

 cotton is raised, and the production of this 

 staple was greatly stimulated during the Ameri- 

 can civil war. The American variety was in- 

 troduced, and might have been cultivated suc- 

 cessfully but for the mismanagement of the 

 Turkish officers, under whose regulations the 

 crop was lost while the cultivators were wait- 

 ing for them to collect the taxes upon it. Since 

 the close of the American war, the production 

 of cotton has declined till it has become very 

 small. Tobacco of excellent quality is grown ; 

 but its production, too, has fallen off, until it 

 is very small. The mountains were formerly 

 covered with pine-trees, and they still exist in 

 a sufficient number to promote a considerable 

 industry in the manufacture of turpentine. In 

 the valleys grow oak, orange, fig, walnut, and 

 a great variety of other trees. Other products 

 are silk of fine qualities, wheat, barley, maize, 

 oats, millet, sumach, madder, mulberries, apri- 

 cots, almonds, cherries, melons, pumpkins, 

 gherkins, roses, and flowers in great variety 

 and profusion. Agriculture formerly suffered 

 greatly from the locusts, whose operations were 

 very destructive in nearly every season ; but, 

 by the exercise of unusual energy on the part 

 of the pashas, and the combined efforts of the 

 people, this nuisance has been nearly extermi- 

 nated. The production of salt, which is ob- 

 tained in large quantities from the lakes near 

 Larnaka, Las been a government monopoly. 

 Extensive mines of copper were profitably 

 worked in ancient times. The asbestus of the 

 neighborhood of Paphos has been used in both 

 ancient and modern times in the manufacture 

 of incombustible cloth; and amber and cop- 

 peras are found near Larnaka. Other metals 

 and minerals, including some of the precious 

 metals and stones, liave been found, among 

 which are a kind of crystal called the diamonds 



