I Much Regretted That We Were Unprovided With Candles; One Of The
Turks Lighted A Match, But It Only Served To Increase The Uncertainty Of
The Surrounding Darkness.
This must be a similar cave-refuge to that we had passed about four
miles distant when on our way from Lithrankomi to Gallibornu, and it
deserves a minute investigation.
As I could see nothing beyond about
thirty feet from the window, owing to the darkness, I cannot give any
account of the actual dimensions, which may be much inferior to the
unlimited descriptions of my informants. Upon my return to camp I had
the benefit of my interpreter, and the story was repeated that no one
knew the extent of the excavations, either of these galleries or those
we had passed during our journey. I have never seen a very large natural
cave in Cyprus, although the caverns beneath the superficial stratum of
sedimentary rock are so general. The presence of these hollows, and the
soft nature of the calcareous stone, has suggested artificial caves to
the ancients, both for tombs and for places of refuge. Before the
invention of gunpowder it would have been impossible to reduce a fort
such as I have described, except by starvation. A mine sunk vertically
from above would in the present day destroy the subterranean stronghold
at the first explosion.
It rained more or less every day during our stay at Gallibornu, and
thunder rolled heavily in the neighbourhood; but in the narrow valley
between lofty hills the sky view was so limited that it was impossible
to judge of the impending weather.
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