I Cannot
Conceive Of More Deliberate Cruelty Inflicted Upon All Grades Than An
Unnecessary Exposure To The Burning Summer Sun Of Cyprus In Bell-Tents,
When Shady Trees Existed In So Convenient A Locality As Limasol.
If the
root of the offence could be traced it would probably be discovered that
the advice had been given by some persons interested in the possession
of property at Larnaca, where rents of houses rose from nil to a
fabulous amount upon the disembarkation of the troops.
Altogether this
military enterprise of occupation was effected with the usual British
confusion and lack of arrangement.
The commissariat of course broke down, although special pains had been
taken to supply the troops with luxuries that to a simple mind are
inconceivable; thus COPPER WARMING-PANS in great numbers were sent out!
As the thermometer was above 100 degrees Fahr., these fiery furnaces
were hardly appreciated. It is a reflection upon the want of resource
exhibited by the authorities that these peculiar utensils were not sent
out as regimental stew-pans, as there was a dearth of cooking-pots, and
the warming-pans might have added materially to the comforts of the
insides, instead of the outsides of the men, by reducing the
gutta-percha-like texture of Cyprian bullocks into a savoury stew.
Another comfort thoughtfully supplied by some more than usually insane
authority, who no doubt had passed a severe competitive examination, was
exhibited in countless coal-boxes of cast-iron! These curious devices
were about three feet six inches long by two feet and a half deep, and
the same in width. To my ideas they were only suitable for gigantic
foot-pans or hip-baths, or as an aquarium for a young seal; but their
real object was to contain coal for the supply of the various tents!
What is to become of our country, exclaims the British taxpayer, if this
frightful waste is to continue? What traveller or explorer ever carried
with him a copper warming-pan and a gigantic coal-box, weighing nearly
two hundred pounds? And these useless abominations are to hamper the
operations of our troops, and to wear out our sailors in the labour of
the disembarkment of such disgraceful lumber! Should we unhappily in
some future political annexation send a military force to Spitzbergen,
we shall probably omit the warming-pans and fuel, but supply a shipload
of refrigerators and "Family Ice Machines."
A number of these cast-iron coal-boxes had been converted into cisterns
by Sir Garnet Wolseley, which surrounded the wooden Government House at
Lefkosia, and were kept full of water in case of fire. So practical a
general would have been the first to condemn the palpable absurdity of
coal-boxes, even had coals been required; surely they could have been
laid upon the bare ground by the tent side, instead of causing the
inconvenience, labour, and ridicule of importing such outrageous
nonsense.
When the famous military invasions of Cyprus took place in historical
times there were certainly neither warming-pans nor coal-boxes, either
with Richard Coeur de Lion of England in 1191, or with the Turks under
Lala Mustafa in 1570.
Both these experienced warriors selected Limasol for the point of
disembarkation, and landed their troops and horses upon the sandy beach
in Akrotiri Bay. Richard I. was on his way to the third crusade; but his
fleet having been dispersed by a storm, several vessels had been driven
on the south coast of Cyprus, where, instead of receiving the
hospitality usually exhibited to shipwrecked mariners, his people were
robbed and thrown into prison at Limasol by the king, Isaac Comnenus.
One of the principal vessels of the fleet which conveyed Berengaria,
daughter of the King of Navarre, who was the betrothed of Richard and
was accompanied by his sister the Queen Dowager of Sicily, took shelter
in Akrotiri Bay and anchored. It appears that the wily Isaac Comnenus
endeavoured to persuade the ladies to land, in the hope of effecting
their capture, and probably extorting a heavy ransom; but suspicion
being aroused, the ship set sail and was shortly met by Richard's own
vessel.
Upon hearing that his shipwrecked crews had been detained and imprisoned
Richard immediately steered for Limasol, and, with his well-known
impetuosity of character, lost no time in disembarking his troops, and
shortly brought the Greek army to action under Isaac Comnenus and
utterly defeated them. The Latin inhabitants of Limasol had already
thrown open their gates, and Richard, after his victory, returned laden
with spoils, including the imperial standard, which was eventually hung
in St. Edmund's Chapel, Suffolk.
This first battle took place at Kolossi, near to Limasol. After the
flush of victory an additional warlike impulse was given to his forces
by the arrival of the chivalrous Guy de Lusignan, ex-king of Jerusalem,
accompanied by the Princes of Antioch and Tripoli. The marriage of
Richard with Berengaria took place at Limasol; she was there crowned
Queen of England by the Bishops of York and Evreux. Richard, who did not
prolong his honeymoon when an opportunity of fighting was at hand,
immediately collected his forces, and, together with Guy de Lusignan,
marched for the interior, where Isaac Comnenus had re-organised his
army. Guy de Lusignan with a division of the troops marched upon
Famagousta, which surrendered without resistance, while Richard attacked
the Greek army under Isaac Comnenus in the plain of Messaria. Owing to
the disparity of force the battle was for some time doubtful, and at
length the two leaders engaged in personal encounter, resulting in the
capture of Isaac Comnenus and the total discomfiture of his army. The
city of Lefkosia at once threw open its gates to the victorious Richard.
The next disembarkation of troops at Limasol, on 1st July, 1570, under
the Turkish general Lala Mustafa, was upon a much larger scale, as the
expedition comprised 70,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 200 cannon.
With this force Lefkosia was assaulted, and taken after a few weeks'
siege; and the inhabitants were subjected to inconceivable atrocities,
20,000 of both sexes being mercilessly butchered during the sack which
followed the capture of the town.
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