310 
the chiefs seized upon him, loaded him with gold, and 
he went away without doing any thing. This admin- 
istration of imposts produces immense gains to the 
chiefs, and the peopje suffer in silence for fear of being 
worst off. 
The Greeks pay a tribute to the government of 
500,000 piastres per annum to provide for 4,000 Turk- 
ish soldiers, but this number is never complete. The 
grand seignior deducts again between two and three 
hundred thousand piastres, for the dues upon cotton and 
other productions. This sum, joined to those which 
the governor-general and private persons exact, may 
make the total of imposts amount to 1,000,000 of pi- 
astres; which the Greeks in Cyprus pay to the Turks; 
but the bishops and the other chiefs of the nation, draw 
also much from them. 
The Greeks are as jealous as the Turks; they keep 
their wives in such retired places, that it is impossible 
to get to see them. Those whom I met in the streets 
were covered, and wrapped up in a white cloth, in the 
manner of the Turkish women; and those who went 
with their faces uncovered were either old or ugly. 
Their costume is not devoid of grace, but a sort of 
bonnet in the form of a cone which they wore upon 
their heads, displeased me extremely. Among the men 
I saw some remarkably well formed, and in general they 
all have colour. Persons of fortune always wear long 
clothes like the Turks, from whom they distinguish 
themselves by a blue turban; but some wear other co- 
lours, and even white, without the Turks objecting to 
it. I remarked that every body, even the shepherds, the 
day labourers, and poorest people, were always cleanly 
dressed. 
