Cyprus, As I Saw It In 1879 By Sir Samuel White Baker





















































 -  Long before the arrival of our
baggage animals we had visitors; Captain Wauchope, the chief
commissioner of the district, and - Page 140
Cyprus, As I Saw It In 1879 By Sir Samuel White Baker - Page 140 of 274 - First - Home

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Long Before The Arrival Of Our Baggage Animals We Had Visitors; Captain Wauchope, The Chief Commissioner Of The District, And Several Officers In Official Positions, Were Kind Enough To Call.

An old man and his wife, the proprietors of the onions, who lived close by, brought us some rush-

Bottomed chairs with much civility; and as the day wore on a long string of visitors appeared, including the Bishop and some of the native officials; and we were of course surrounded with the usual throng of women and children: these were cleaner and better looking than those we had hitherto encountered.

The camels did not appear until late in the evening, as they had descended the steep pass from the table-land of Arodes with much difficulty, and liani's "antique" had again fallen, repeatedly, and necessitated a division of his load, which already had been reduced to that of a donkey.

When the sun rose on the following morning I walked into Ktima by a good path, that led through the rocks along the base of the cliff until it ascended gradually to the town. Although the cyclamens were past their bloom, their variegated leaves ornamented the white stones as they emerged like bouquets from the crevices of fallen rock. There was little of interest in the town, which hardly repaid a walk: it left the same depressing feeling that I had so often experienced in our journey through Cyprus: "The past had been great, and the present was nothing."

The little insignificant harbour exhibited a few small craft of about twenty tons. There was a small fort and a British flag; there were also the ruins of ancient Paphos; but there was nothing to denote progress or commercial activity. In the afternoon Captain Wauchope was kind enough to accompany us over the ruins. As I have before explained, there is nothing of interest upon the surface of ancient cities throughout Cyprus. Anything worth having has been appropriated many ages since by those who understood its value, and beyond a few fallen columns and blocks of squared stone there is literally nothing to attract attention. Even General di Cesnola excavated in vain upon the site of ancient Paphos, which from its great antiquity promised an abundant harvest. There were two fine monoliths, the bases of which, resting upon a foundation of squared stones, appeared as though they had formed the entrance to a temple; these were pillars of grey granite (foreign to Cyprus) about twenty-seven feet high and three feet two inches in diameter.

There were stony mounds in many directions, and fallen pillars and columns of granite and of coarse grey and whitish marble; but beyond these ordinary vestiges there was nothing of peculiar interest. As there is no authority equal to General di Cesnola upon the antiquities of Cyprus, I trust he will excuse me for inserting the following interesting extract from his work, upon The Great Centre of the Worship of Venus:--

"Although this spot [Paphos] was the scene of great religious events, and was otherwise important in the island, yet neither are there more than a very few ruins existing above ground, nor have the explorations I have directed there at different times succeeded in bringing to light anything of interest.

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