At Length We Descended To The Sea-Beach, And Marching Through Heavy Sand For About A Mile, We Arrived At Pyrgos, Our Halting-Place, Twelve Miles From Caravastasi.

This is one of the wildest portions of Cyprus.

There is no village, but the position is simply marked by the presence of one building above the sea-beach, which has been a depot for the spars and poles of pine that have periodically been delivered from the mountains by the torrents, when heavy rains have swollen them sufficiently to enable them to force the timber towards the sea. As the mountains upon this portion of the coast descend in many places actually to the shore, while in no places are they more than half a mile distant, the rivulets are numerous, as there is no time, or area, sufficient for their absorption by the soil. Within a hundred and fifty paces of the timber store beautiful streams of clear water issued from the ground in three different places, which converged into a brook abounding with water-cresses, and this, after passing through a small and thick jungle of tamarisk-bushes, formed a pool above the sea-beach which overflowed upon the shingle, and met the waves. We ascended the stream for a short distance, until, tempted by two or three large plane-trees, we halted for luncheon beneath their shade. The river, which occasionally flooded sufficiently to bring down heavy timber when felled among the mountains, flowed through an extremely rich but narrow valley, which extended into a glen between their precipitous slopes until it became a mere ravine. The mass of mountains in this district, which form a succession of wild and impassable steeps, is marked upon Kiepert's map as "unexplored." They were originally pine-forests, but the destruction of timber has been carried to such an excess that comparatively few trees remain. With my glass I could distinguish large trunks that lay rotting upon the ground, where they had pitched among the stems, and roots of trees that had been already felled; these had been rolled from the steep heights above, but having been caught in their descent to the torrent below by the opposing stumps, they had been abandoned, and other trees had been felled in their stead, where the inclination was more favourable for their transport.

This portion of the coast should be thoroughly explored by practical miners, as it is rich in minerals. I procured some fine specimens of pyrites of copper, which the natives mistook for silver; and should a mineralogical investigation be made by the authorities, I feel sure that the metallic wealth of Cyprus will be discovered between Caravastasi and Poli-ton-Krysokhus.

It was late before our baggage animals appeared, and when they at length arrived, Iiani's venerable camel was missing. It appeared that this worn-out old creature had been performing acrobatic feats in tumbling throughout the difficult journey, and had rolled, together with its load, down several places that had threatened its destruction.

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