The Salt Lakes Of Larnaca Are Several Miles In
Extent, And Are Computed By The Late British Consul, Mr. Watkins, To
Possess A Productive Power Of 20,000,000 Okes (2 3/4 Lbs.) Per Annum.
M.
Gaudry, in his clever work upon Cyprus, attributes the formation of salt
to the fact of the sea-
Water percolating through the sand, and thus
filling the lake;--this theory is disputed, and I incline to the native
belief, "that the salt lies within the soil, and is taken into solution
by the water, which deposits the same amount upon the dry surface when
exhausted by evaporation." In support of this opinion, I adduce a proof
in the fact of the small freshwater stream which flows from the higher
ground through the arches of the aqueduct, depositing salt as its
surface contracts during the dry season.
A strong efflorescence of true chloride of sodium is left upon the sides
of its bed and upon the bottom as the water becomes exhausted; this must
be the salt which the fresh water has robbed from the soil of the valley
through which it flows. In many portions of Cyprus I have observed, a
few days after a heavy shower, a considerable amount of salt upon the
surface. I know many instances of fresh-water lakes being divided from
the sea by only a few yards of sandy beach, and I do not accept as fact
that salt water percolates through the sand and forms the salt of
Larnaca lake.
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