I Was Assured That, "The Few Whose
Constitution Could Hold Out For Another Six Weeks Would Recover When The
Trefoil Should Be Fit To Cut."
I daily walked over the adjoining country, and there was little
difficulty in discovering the origin of M. Mattei's water sources.
Upon
the heights behind our camp, a plateau of many miles in extent, with an
almost imperceptible inclination towards the south-east, received the
rainfall, in addition to the subterranean drainage of the hills in the
far distance. A great portion of this area was uncultivated, as the
sedimentary limestone was generally close to the surface; this was
covered with the usual prickly shrubs that some writers have misnamed
"heath," together with the highly aromatic herbs that seem to delight in
a thirsty soil; among these is a thorny species of wild thyme, that is a
favourite food for hares. In some places the soil was red, forming a
strong contrast to the white surface around, and in such spots the earth
had been already ploughed in preparation for the forthcoming season. The
large area at a higher altitude formed an example of a principle that
may be accepted as the rule throughout the island. In walking over this
extensive surface, there was occasionally a hollow, drum-like sound
beneath the feet, denoting subterranean cavities in the porous and
soluble strata beneath the harder upper stratum. It was a natural
consequence that a substratum impervious to water should form a bed at a
certain level to retain the drainage: by tapping this bed at any point,
the water would be discovered; but by piercing the surface below this
level, the hydraulic pressure would force the water into a running
stream.
This M. Mattei has accomplished, not as a new invention, but as the
application of a rule well known to the Cypriotes from ancient times;
and I repeat my argument, that, "the hereditary ability of these people
in discovering and utilising springs is a proof that a scarcity of water
has been a chronic difficulty in this island from remote periods, and
that no important change has been occasioned by the sensational
destruction of forests influencing the rainfall," &c., &c., &c. In my
opinion, the whole of the now desolate Messaria district may be rendered
fruitful and permanently abundant by the scientific employment of a
water-power which already exists, although unseen and undeveloped.
It was quite impossible to proceed to Famagousta with the vans, and
there was no object in courting their destruction by a desperate advance
at all hazards, as we should have in any case been obliged eventually to
renew the difficulty when retracing our route. I therefore cantered in
upon my mule, with the guide who always lost his way, Hadji Christo.
This man was a great ruffian, and had laws existed for the prevention of
cruelty to animals, I would have prosecuted him; nominally he had the
charge of the mule and two ponies, but he illtreated these poor animals,
and the donkeys also, in a disgraceful manner.
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