We Had Caused Serious
Inconvenience To An Unknown Quantity Of Animals, All Of Whom Had To Be
Turned Out, Except The Poultry.
What a good thing is dinner!
The neat
tiny table was spread and the candles lighted; the dishes were simple
but excellent; we were thoroughly comfortable in this rude dwelling;
but--it might have been fancy--I thought something tickled my legs.
There was no mistake, something did actually not only tickle, but bite.
Something? It was everything and everybody in the shape of fleas! The
hut was hopping with countless swarms of these detestable vermin, from
which in our impregnable van we had hitherto been free, owing to its
great height from the ground. Whether the unusual sweeping of the floor
had created a temporary aberration of intellect or stupefaction among
these crowds, I cannot determine, but whatever the nervous shock might
have been that had caused a short suspension of activity, they had now
completely recovered, and I shall never forget the night passed in
Trichomo. It was the first and the last venture upon native hospitality
throughout our sojourn in Cyprus, and we in future adhered either to the
tent or the gipsy-van.
On the following morning we started at 8.30. The sky was overcast, and
in any country but this we should have expected rain. We had now fairly
emerged upon a district entirely different from the hateful Messaria,
which has given Cyprus an unfortunate reputation. We were quickly among
thickets of scrub and low brushwood which should have teemed with game.
My spaniels delighted in the change, and worked the bush thoroughly as
we proceeded along the route, occasionally flushing two or three
red-legged partridges.
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