<$r.pnes. 
205 
! ness superior to every other, excepting the real diamond. The 
ancient mines of Cyprus, now entirely neglected, appear to 
have been situated toward the Paphiau extremity of the isl¬ 
and; for if the natives exhibit any mineral substance remarka¬ 
ble for its beauty, ut r iity, or hardness, they name it, by way 
of eminence, “ a Baffa stone.” Amianthus of a very superior 
quality is found near Baffa, # as flexible as silk, and perfectly 
white; finer, and more delicately fibrous, than that of Sicily, 
Corsica, or Norway. The Cypriots call this mineral “ the 
cotton stone ” 
Early on the morning of June the eighth, having procured 
an order for mules and asses, and a finnan to author¬ 
ise the expedition, we left the Ceres, and set out for Nico- 
tia, the Leucusia or Leucosia of the Greeks, and present cap¬ 
ital of Cyprus We Were detained at Larneca until the even- 
ing, by the hospitality of the English consul, Signor Peris- 
iiani, who had prepared a large party of ladies and other in¬ 
habitants, all eager to represent to us the danger of travelling 
during the day; and to gratify very reasonable curiosity— 
for a sight of strangers, and for news from Egypt. Among the 
party was the English consul from fieryttis, from whom I ob¬ 
tained a silver tetradrachm of Tyre, in the highest state of 
f See Drummond’s Travels, p. 157. Mariti mentions a village called Amianthus , as 
still existing in Cyprus, in his time; and adds, that it “ was a considerable town ia 
the time of the Romans. The neighbouring country’’says he; “ produced the stone 
asbestos, used for making a kind of incombustible cloth, in. which the bodies of empe¬ 
rors were burned.” (Mariti’s Trav. vol. i. p. 177 ) Tim-village is mentioned by 
Dapper, (Isles de l’Archipel. p 5 2 ) as marking the spot where the stone amianthus 
was found in abundance, and manufactured, by being mixed with flax, spun and then, 
wove, for the incombustible cloth of the ancients. The process is given by Dios - 
-corides. (Lib. v. c. 46.) Dapper says the village took its name from the mineral; 
and that it was once a place of great renown, on account of the cloth and thread there 
manufactured of amianthus 
It is often supposed, that the art of manufacturing an incombustible cloth, by means 
ofamianthus, is not possessed by the moderns; but the inhabitants of a certain dis¬ 
trict in Siberia are in the practice of preparing thread by mixing flax wit h this sub¬ 
stance, and then spinning it After weaving with this thread, the cloth is.exposed t® 
the action of fire, which consumes the flax, and leaves an incombustible web. This, 
according to Dios corifles, (as .above cited,) was the method used by the ancients. 
The principal manufacture of amianthine cloih existed in this island, the mineral 
being found here in abundance and perfection. The art of making it was also formerly 
known in India. If we might rely upon the mineralogy of the ancients, real diamonds 
were once found in Cyprus; hut Pliny’s observations concerning them, (Hist. Nat, 
lib. xxxvii.c.4.) although he describes the Cypriandiamond as “ efficacissimus in me- 
dicind ,” prove they were nothing more than the sor.t of quartz before mentioned. 
THe aetites, or eagle stone, which they superstitiously esteemed on account of the aid 
it was supposed to render to women in labour, is still valued by the ignorant inhabit¬ 
ants for this, its imaginary virtue. Pliny considered the jasper of Cyprus as ranking 
next in perfection to that of Scythia; and crystal , he says, was turned up by the 
plough. The other minerals of the island were, emerald (a name they gave to any 
greenish transparent stone), agate , opal, sapphire, lazulite (which they called lapis cya- 
ncus), mica, or Muscovy glass, alum, nitre,.sulphur, gypsum, and great abundance of salt. 
The latter was chiefly collected from the environs of Citium, where the salt marshes 
J 2 dw are. 
T 
