MOUFFLON-STALKING IN CYPRUS 343 



vineyard : the dwarf vines grow where the soil is best, 

 and quite unfenced, thus alternating irregularly with 

 arbutus, scrub, and bracken. 



From this ridge our track plunged down into a deep 

 Avooded dell, and then wound up along the edges of 

 steep ravines, till, just at dusk, we saw the feudal- 

 looking walls of the great Monastery of Our Lady of 

 Kykkou towering above us, and soon afterwards 

 received hearty welcome at its gates. This monastery, 

 which dates from the eleventh century, is one of the 

 wealthiest in the East. 



At the time we took over the administration of the 

 island it was, according to Mrs Stevenson,^ w^ho was 

 unable to prolong her stay there on account of the 

 smells of the place, very filthy. If so, all I can say 

 is, that there has been a wonderful improvement, 

 for the accommodation in the strangers' wing as at 

 present arranged is all that can be expected, the beds 

 — everything in fact — being quite as clean as can be 

 found at any ordinary Levantine hotel. The monks, 

 too, struck me as decidedly cleaner personally than 

 the average Greek priest. I must admit that previous 

 experiences had decidedly prejudiced me against the 

 2Ktpas, but the monks of Kykkou did a good deal to 

 remove my prejudices, and their welcome of us was 

 most hearty. 



In the morning they took us to see their church. 

 This is rather a bare edifice, but adorned with some 

 fine old silver lamps, mostly ornamented with ostrich 

 eo^o's — a feature common in the East, but one which 

 seems to have puzzled Mrs Stevenson considerably. 

 Their raison d'etre is, of course, to prevent mice and 

 rats climbing down to the lamps and taking the oil. 

 1 Our Home in Cyprus. Chapman & Hall, 1880. 



