Cyprus, and grafts of the best varieties should be
introduced from France and Spain; in a few years an important
improvement would result, and the superabundant oil of a propitious
season would form an article of export, instead of (as at present) being
converted into soap, as otherwise unsaleable.
Our crowd of female admirers was happily dispersed by a slight shower of
rain, and by clouds which threatened a downpour; the men remained, and a
swarthy-looking thoroughbred Turk promised to accompany me on the morrow
and show me the neighbourhood. I was informed in a mysterious whisper by
a Cypriote "that this man was a notorious robber, whose occupation was
gone since the arrival of the British;" he had formed one of a gang that
had infested the mountains, and his brother had murdered a friend of
Georgi (the van-driver), and was now in gaol at Rhodes for the capital
offence. The Turk was very intelligent, and thoroughly conversant with
the various methods of breech-loading firearms; he examined several
rifles and guns belonging to me, and at once comprehended the mechanism,
and explained it to the admiring crowd. When this individual left our
camp in the evening, the story that I had heard in outline was
corroborated by the driver Georgi, who asked me to exert my influence to
procure the hanging of the murderer now at Rhodes, as the Turkish
authorities would never execute a Turk for the murder of a Greek unless
influenced by foreign pressure. It appeared that the Cypriote had
informed against one of the gang for cattle-stealing, accordingly
several members of the fraternity picked a quarrel with him at a
drinking-shop one evening at Dali, and stabbed him fatally. My new
acquaintance, the Turk, was not present during the fray, and I could not
promise Georgi the intervention he desired.
On the following morning seven natives of Dali appeared--all
Greeks--accompanied by the ex-robber, whom I regarded as "a wicked man
who had turned away from his wickedness," with whose antecedents I had
no concern. They had brought their guns, which were at once submitted to
me for an opinion of their merits, with a vain expectation that I should
pronounce them to be "English." I was to be guided to a spot about an
hour's march distant, where partridges and hares were said to abound,
and it appeared that an impromptu shooting-party had been arranged
especially for my amusement.
I am not very fond of such sporting meetings, as the common guns of the
people, which are constantly missing fire when required to shoot, have
an awkward knack of going off when least expected; my mind was somewhat
relieved when the tactics were explained, that we (nine guns) were to
form a line of skirmishers about two hundred yards apart, commanding a
mile of country.
There is a great advantage in sport, as the search for game leads a
traveller into all kinds of places which he would otherwise leave
unseen. It is a great enjoyment to stroll over a new country accompanied
by good dogs, and combine at the same time sport and exploration.
Upon arrival at the summit of the hill range which we had passed on our
left when we had arrived at Dali, I was well repaid, and the necessity
of judging a country from a hill-top instead of from a highroad was well
exemplified. I looked down upon the highly-cultivated and fertile valley
of Lymbia, surpassing in extent the plain of Dali, and although the
successive ranges of hills and mountains were bleak and barren in their
whiteness, the intervening valleys were all occupied either by vineyards
or by fields in tillage. Even the ravines upon the steep hill-sides
which had been scored out by the rainfall of ages were artificially
arranged to catch the melted earth in its descent during heavy storms,
and to form terraces of rich alluvium.
A succession of rough walls composed of the large rocks which strewed
the surface, were built at convenient intervals across the ravines,
forming a series of dams or weirs. The soil of Cyprus is peculiar in
dissolving very quickly during a shower, and the water rolls down the
steep inclines carrying so much earth in solution, that, should its
course be checked, it deposits an important quantity, sufficient in a
few seasons to form a surface for a considerable area. The walls of the
dams are continually raised as the earth attains a higher level, and the
ground thus saved is a complete gain to the proprietor.
The few partridges were very wild, and saved my dogs the trouble of
hunting by showing themselves at a couple of hundred yards; the only
chance of shooting them depended upon stray birds passing within shot
when disturbed by the long line of guns. I only bagged one partridge and
a hare, and the rest of the party had the miserable total of two birds.
This was a fair example of the sport on the bare hill-sides of Messaria.
The new road to Mattiati was unfit for vans; I therefore rode over to
visit the camp of the 20th Regiment, eight miles distant, and after
luncheon with the officers of that regiment I accompanied their party to
Lithrodondo, the Colonel having kindly lent me a fresh horse. My aneroid
showed an increased elevation of 330 feet in the eight miles from Dali
to Mattiati. After leaving the Dali plain the road passes through the
usual hills of hard chalk, but about two miles from the entrance an
important change was exhibited in the geological structure.
