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captain of a merchant vessel, whose society she seldom 
enjoys, without receiving from him a severe beating 
with a stick. This unfortunate woman, who is about 
twenty years of age, generally passes her time in a state 
of solitude and widowhood. I remarked in this house 
a Mussulman servant, extremely fair and pretty, with an 
air of rusticity which gave her the appearance of a Swiss 
mountaineer. But no, it is impossible to find the re- 
mains, or the idea of the ancient Cyprian beauty among 
the Mussulmans; it is not among them that we must 
look for it. Their women are handsome without doubt, 
but we must not forget that the Turks, who are of Tar- 
tar origin, have mixed their blood with the Georgians, 
the Circassians, and the Mingrellians, introduced into 
their harems. It is among the Greeks that we must 
look for the statue of the Venus de Medicis; but how 
can we discover it since the women hide themselves 
from our view? Again, another idea; has this type ever 
existed? Does the little merit of the other Grecian 
women serve to enhance that of the Cyprian women? 
Perhaps the coquetry and dissolute manners which 
formerly reigned in the island, added to their beauty, 
heated the imagination of the painters, sculptors, and 
poets. I own, that leaving out of the question the mo- 
nastic appearance which the modern Grecian women 
have in my eye, and which is caused perhaps by the 
fear and terror that their political situation inspires, their 
round faces not sufficiently oval, and consequently with- 
out expression; their hanging breasts, and their un- 
graceful walk, give me very little idea of the beauty of 
their ancestors, which is so much extolled; if I am to 
judge by the women who passed for handsome in the 
