Having Breakfasted By The Well Of Deliciously Cold Water, We Remounted,
And Continued Our Route Along The Extensive Table-Land.
This was
cultivated in many places, but as we advanced for two or three miles the
country became exceedingly
Wild, and we entered a wood of Pinus
maritima, composed of young trees of several years' growth, and older
stems that had been mutilated in the disgraceful manner that
characterises all Cyprian forests. There was not one perfect tree above
eight years' growth; but every stem had been cut off about six feet from
the top for the sake of the straight pole. Trees of fifteen years or
more had been mercilessly hacked for the small amount of turpentine that
such trunks would produce, and the bark had been ripped off for tanning.
Great quantities of mastic bushes covered the surface between the pines,
and even these exhibited the continual attacks of the woodcutter's
grubbing-axe, which had torn up the roots, in addition to the stems, for
the requirements of the lime-burner. The red soil is so propitious to
the growth of pines that, in spite of the unremitting destruction, the
ground was covered with young plants, self-sown from the fallen cones.
If these young forests were protected for twelve or fourteen years, the
surface would again be restored to the original woodland that once
ornamented this portion of the island. Under the present conditions of
Cyprus all wholesome laws and enactments are practically ridiculed by
the inhabitants, as there are no foresters or keepers to enforce the
orders of the government.
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