450 report— 1879. 



This work has not been accomplished without the sacrifice of many valuable 

 lives, and the necessity of facing dangers and hardships of no common kind. The 

 zeal and devotion of the Indian surveyors are beyond all praise ; and their work 

 has been and continues to be most valuable. It must, however, be clearly under- 

 stood that a considerable portion of what has been accomplished by the Topogra- 

 phical Branch of the Department is nothing more than a first survey, rapidly 

 executed, for geographical and general administrative purposes. Hereafter more 

 rigorously accurate and complete surveys will be needed. Meanwhile there is not 

 a single official in India who does not possess maps of the portion of the country 

 included in his jurisdiction, which are suited to every present requirement. The 

 maps issued by the Surveyor-General's Department are also utilised by engineers 

 in the construction of public works, by the foresters for conservancy purposes, by 

 mining companies, planters, holders of estates, and by every branch of the civil 

 and military services for purposes too numerous to detail. 



10. Three Months in Cyprus. By Samuel Brown, M.I.G.JS. 



Having had charge of certain preliminary surveys undertaken with a view to 

 the improvement of the harbour, inland communications, and sanitary condition of 

 Cyprus, as well as the development of its material resources, the author, during 

 three months of constant travelling and camp life last winter and spring, had. oppor- 

 tunities enjoyed by few Englishmen since the occupation in July 1878, of making 

 himself acquainted with the place and people. 



After describing first impressions on approaching the southern coast, the bare 

 treeless desert-like aspect of the hills behind Larnaca, the road thence to Nicosia 

 and from Nicosia across the great Mesavoria plain to Famagosta, as they appeared 

 late in the year before the rainy season had set in, the author confesses to the dis- 

 appointment he shared with other visitors after reading the couleur de rose descrip- 

 tions during the early days of the occupation. First impressions were, however, 

 greatly modified by subsequent experience. About Christmas heavy rain fell, and 

 in a few days the aspect of the country changed. The great corn-growing plains 

 became green, and the moorlands and pastures afforded herbage for large flocks of 

 sheep and goats, while the ground was thickly studded with wild flowers, chiefly 

 narcissus, anemones, cyclamen, and two species of lily. And although the eastern 

 part of the island, including the districts of Larnaca, Nicosia, and Famagosta (i.e. 

 those parts best known to visitors) is painfully destitute of trees and shrubs, this 

 does not hold good of other parts. The park-like beauty of portions of the Litnasol 

 coast district, the secluded and exquisitely beautiful valleys of Kythrea and Lefka, 

 rival on a small scale for rich sub-tropical vegetation anything that is met with in 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean. The winter climate of the south-west coast 

 is warm and balmy, and probably is hardly surpassed by that of any fashionable 

 health resort. In artistic beauty, too, the fantastic form of the northern range, and 

 the grander masses of Troados with its romantic valleys, may well compare with 

 the scenery of any neighbouring island. 



The fruit-producing capacity of Cyprus is almost unlimited, but needs for its 

 development irrigation, better cultivation, and roads for the conveyance of produce 

 to market. A great extension of vine culture is anticipated. Last year the 

 Limasol district alone produced 1,622,500 gallons of wine, against 618,000 during 

 the preceding year, being an increase of 270 per cent. This wonderful advance is 

 accounted for chiefly by the removal of certain vexatious conditions attached to the 

 making of wine, due to the ingenuity of the Turkish tax farmer. 



The population, estimated approximately at 200,000, consists probably of about 

 three-fourths Greek Christians and one-fourth Mohammedans. No census has yet 

 been made. Both Turks and Greeks are indolent, unambitious, self-willed, and 

 obstinate ; but peaceable, domestic, and fairly honest. Life and property are pro- 

 bably not safer in any part of Her Majesty's dominions than in Cyprus. Education 

 of all classes, clergy and laity, is of the lowest standard. Good elementary secular 

 education should be provided by the State. 



In speaking of antiquities, special attention is called to the fine remains of 



