538 



CYPRUS. 



Cyprus, ring mid-Jay ; and all jemmies, even those of caravans, 

 ' > — -7~-"» are performed in the night. Rains are also very rare 

 in the summer season ; and long droughts banish vege- 

 tation, and attract numberless columns of grasshoppers, 

 which destroy the plants and fruits. Rivers are very 

 scarce, and, indeed, themest of them are quite dry du- 

 ring the summer months. Sudden rain swells them 

 into torrents ; and they are supplied in the spring by 

 the melting of the snow on the mountains. 

 Soil ar.tl The soil throughout the island is in general excellent. 



agriculture. In some places it is a white marly clay, said to be ex- 

 ceedingly rich, and requires only the hand of cultiva- 

 tion, and the fostering care of a liberal policy, to make 

 it yield the most abundant and luxuriant harvests. But 

 its fertile plains are condemned to barren nakedness, 

 lw the tyranny and exactions of its government. The 

 Greeks are so oppressed by their Turkish masters, 

 that they dare not even cultivate the land, as the pro- 

 duce would instantly be taken from them ; and their 

 whole object is to collect together as much grain in the 

 course of the year, as is barely sufficient to pay their 

 tax to the governor, the omission of which is often pu- 

 nished by torture or by death. Wheat and barley were 

 formerly principal articles of exportation from this 

 island ; but now scarcely sufficient is raised for the 

 subsistence of the inhabitants. Its agricultural riches, 

 however, though much neglected, and greatly reduced 

 in quantity, are yet far from being inconsiderable. 

 O'.ive tree. Olive trees were formerly very numerous in Cyprus, 

 and the great quantities of oil which they produced, is 

 attested by the immense reservoirs which still subsist 

 in the environs of Larnica. It once formed a very im- 

 portant branch of commerce, but all that is now fur- 

 nished is consumed in the island. The culture of the 

 mulberry tree is also much abandoned, though still 

 small woods of them are found in several places, and af- 

 ford nourishment to a great number of silk-worms. 

 Ei -;ad tree. The caret), or St John's bread tree, is more plentiful, 

 and the long thick pods which it produces are export- 

 ed in considerable quantities to Syria and Egypt. The 

 succulent pulp which the pod contains, is sometimes 

 used in these countries in place of sugar and honey, 

 and is often employed in preserving other fruits. The 

 cotton of Cyprus is the finest, and brings a higher 

 price than any in the Levant, or Archipelago ; but the 

 plains which were once covered with this plant, pre- 

 serve only the shadow of its former culture. The large 

 plantations of sugar canes, which were reared with 

 great success by the Venetians, and also the refining 

 houses which they had erected, Avere burnt down or 

 destroyed as soon as it fell into the hands of the 

 Turks ; and since that time, the culture of this plant 

 has not been resumed. The gardens are, in general, 

 full of all kinds of vegetables, particularly cauliflowers, 

 which are here excellent; and abound with various 

 sorts of flowers of the most brilliant lustre, and with 

 aromatic plants, which diffuse their fragrance far around. 

 "Fruits. Apricots, plumbs, melons, cucumbers, and many diffe- 

 rent varieties of the gourd or pumpkin are produced 

 in great plenty ; and orange trees, lemon trees, pome- 

 granate and ether fruit trees, form groves around many 

 of the habitations. Opium is cultivated at the foot of 

 Mount. Olympus ; and madder, coloquintida, and soda, 

 «re gathered in several parts of the island. The forests, 

 which, are very abundant in the south-western district 

 of the country, and likewise many places in the north- 

 ern region, afford very fine wood for building and 

 fores:* -planks, and also plenty of tar and pitch; and the tur- 

 pentine of Cyprus i? cqnj to any in the world. Their 



Cocoa. 



Sugar 

 does. 



chief attention, however, is given to the vine, which Cyprus, 

 grows here in such perfection, that there is perhaps no s — ^y - " - 

 place in the Avorld whei-e it yields such redundant and Wines. 

 luscious fruit ; and " the wine of this island," says Dr 

 Clarke, " is so famous all over the Levant, that in the 

 hyperbolical language of the Greeks, it is 3aid to pos- 

 sess the power of restoring youth to age, and anima- 

 tion to those who are at the point of death." The best 

 is the Commanderia, so named, because the district which 

 produces it formerly constituted a part of the great 

 commandery of the Templars and of the Knights of 

 Malta, and is comprised between Mount Olympus and 

 the towns of Limasol and Raffa. Limasol also produ- 

 ces the best Muscadine wine in Cyprus. They are 

 both white wines, and when new have a slight violet 

 tinge, which they lose by age, and then keep the co- 

 lour of Madeira. The Commanderia is so strong, that 

 it is preserved in casks, to which the air has constant- 

 ly access, and may be kept in this way for any number 

 of years. When it has , stood a year, it is supposed to 

 have passed the requisite proof, and then sells for about 

 three-pence sterling the English pint. A very ancient 

 custom prevails among the inhabitants. When a child 

 is born, they bury large vessels filled with this kind of 

 wine, which are not taken up but for the marriage fes- 

 tival of the same child. These being closely stopped, 

 and preserved secure from the impression of the air, 

 the wine is so improved, that it is considered as a great 

 delicacy. All the wines intended for exportation are 

 collected at Lamica, and kept there until they are ship- 

 ped. 



Though Cyprus be capable of the highest cultivation, . jifineralu^. 

 and may be made one of the most productive islands of gy. 

 its size in the world, it is equally remarkable for the 

 riches which it contains in its bosom. But these also 

 are rendered useless by the despotism of the govern- 

 ment, as all boring in search of mines is strictly prohi- 

 bited. Gold mines were formerly wrought in this 

 island, but they have been for ages abandoned, and the 

 places where they were found cannot now with certain- 

 ty be pointed out. Its copper was, in ancient times, 

 the finest in the world, and its rich mines furnished the 

 first blocks of that metal which were brought into use. 

 The island was even distinguished by the epithet tEro- 

 SA, Copper Island ; and the city Amathus, whose site is 

 now occupied by Limasol, was characterised by Ovid as 

 gravida melallis. These mines, however, lie neglected 

 in the bowels of the mountains which contain them, as 

 well as zinc, iron, tin, and other minerals, for which 

 Cyprus was so famous. There are numerous quarries 

 of plaster and marble in the island ; and talc is very 

 common, especially near Larnica, where it is employed 

 for white- washing houses. The high mountains con- 

 tain also emeralds, amethysts, peridots, opals, agates, 

 &c. The Cyprian jasper was esteemed by the ancients 

 as superior to the Egyptian, and is surpassed only by 

 the Scythian ; arid fragments of very fine red jasper are 

 frequently found in the bed of the river Pedieus, not 

 far from Nicotia. In the rocks is found a beautiful va- 

 riety of crystallized quartz, called by the natives Bqffa 

 diamond, because it is procured in the neighbourhood 

 of that city. Amianthus of a very superior quality is 

 also found near the same place. According to Dr Clarke, 

 it is as flexible as silk, and perfectly white ; finer and 

 more delicately fibrous than that of Sicily, Corsica, or 

 Norway ; and the Cypriots call it the cotton stone. It 

 was this mineral which the ancients used for making a 

 kind of incombustible cloth, and the principal manu- 

 facture was established in Cyprus, as the materials were 



