Crossing This, We Steered For A Grove Of Ancient Olive-Trees,
Which I At Once Selected For A Camping-Place, On The Outskirts Of The
Town.
We were now twenty-three miles from Lapithus, and I felt sure that
our baggage animals would not arrive till nightfall.
As we sat beneath one of these grand old olive-trees alone, Iiani having
taken his mules to his home, and probably at the same time having
advertised our arrival, throngs of women and children approached to
salaam and to stare. I always travelled with binocular glasses slung
across my back, and these were admirable stare-repellers; it was only
necessary to direct them upon the curious crowd, and the most prominent
individuals acknowledged their power by first looking shy and conscious,
and then confusedly laughing and retreating to the rear.
We had arrived at 2.20 P.M., and we waited beneath the olive-trees until
8 P.M., when the advance camels at length came in after dark. It was
9.30 before the tents were pitched and the camp arranged. The great
delay had been occasioned by Iiani's old camel, which had, as I had
expected, rolled down the steep bill with its load, and having nearly
killed itself, had mortally wounded the sacred copper kettle, which
every traveller knows is one of his Penates, or household gods, to
which he clings with reverence and affection. This beautiful object had
lost its plump and well-rounded figure, and had been crushed into a
museum-shaped antiquity that would have puzzled the most experienced
archaeologist. Metal water-jugs upon which the camel had rolled had
been reduced to the shape of soup-plates, and a general destruction of
indispensable utensils had inflicted a loss more than equal to the value
of Iiani's animal.
The following morning (12th April) exhibited the extraordinary change of
climate between the northern and southern sides of the Carpas
mountain-range. The average temperature of the week had been at 7 A.M.
57.5 degrees F, 3 P.M. 66.5 degrees. At Morphu the thermometer at 7 A.M.
showed 62 degrees, and at 3 P.M. 83 degrees! It was precisely the same
on the following day.
It was a distressing contrast to the beautiful Kyrenia and the
interesting north coast to have exchanged the green trees and rippling
streams for the arid and desolate aspect of the Messaria. The town of
Morphu has no special interest; like all others, it consists of houses
constructed of sun-baked bricks of clay and broken straw, with
flat-topped roofs of the same materials. There are fruitful gardens
irrigated by water-wheels, and formerly the extremely rich sandy loam of
the valley produced madder-roots of excellent quality, which added
materially to the value of the land. This industry having been
completely eclipsed by the alizarine dye, Morphu has to depend upon silk
and cereals for its agricultural wealth. The population is composed
almost entirely of Greeks.
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