The
natural consequence ensued, that only inferior meat was introduced, to
the exclusion of all other. The supply of fish was extremely irregular,
and they were generally small and dear. Upon some occasions we purchased
good red mullet, also a larger fish of the bass species; but there were
only a few fishermen, who required an opposition to induce activity and
moderate prices. Their nets were made of exceedingly fine twine, and the
smallness of the mesh denoted a scarcity of the larger species of fish.
A number of Maltese settlers were arriving, to whom lands had been
granted by the government in the neighbourhood of Limasol; this
excellent arrangement will have the effect of infusing a new spirit
among the people by the introduction of fresh blood, and the well-known
fishermen of Malta will of themselves be a boon to the large towns,
where a regular demand may be depended upon at a reasonable price.
There was nothing to induce a longer stay at Limasol, and I resolved
upon Trooditissa monastery as the position for a mountain residence
during the summer months. Upon Kiepert's map, which is the best I have
seen of Cyprus, this point was placed among the angles in the various
crests and ridges of the Troodos mountain, and was marked by measurement
as 4340 feet above the sea-level.
