Cyprus, As I Saw It In 1879 By Sir Samuel White Baker





















































 -  We accordingly left this village some miles
to the south, but as we were passing through a broad cultivated plain - Page 87
Cyprus, As I Saw It In 1879 By Sir Samuel White Baker - Page 87 of 274 - First - Home

Enter page number    Previous Next

Number of Words to Display Per Page: 250 500 1000

We Accordingly Left This Village Some Miles To The South, But As We Were Passing Through A Broad Cultivated Plain, A Portion Of Which Had Recently Been Ploughed, We Observed A Crowd Of Women And Girls Who Were Engaged With Baskets In Collecting Wild Artichokes, Which The Plough Had Dislodged.

As we approached a sudden rush was made in our direction, the baskets were placed upon the ground, and a race took place over the heavy soil to see who would be the first to greet us.

We discovered that these were our friends of Volokalida, who had walked across the hills in a large party to collect wild vegetables; they seemed delighted to see us, and insisted upon shaking hands, which, as they had been grubbing in the freshly-turned ground, was rather a mouldy operation. We shook hands with about thirty members of this primitive agricultural society, and were glad to waive an adieu before the arrival of the older women in the rear, who with their heavy nailed boots were running towards us, plunging about in the deep ground in clumsy attempts at juvenile activity. A few of the young women were very pretty, but, as usual in Cyprus, their figures were ungainly, and their movements, hampered by baggy trousers and enormous high boots, were most ungraceful.

On arrival at Trichomo we pitched our tent at some distance from the dwelling in which we had fed some thousand fleas upon our former visit; and on the following morning I determined to go straight Famagousta, about twelve miles distant.

The route from Trichomo is for the most part along the seashore, but occasionally cutting off the bends by a direct line. The plain is a dead level, as it has been entirely deposited by the floods of the Pedias river. We rode tolerably fast, the sun being hot and the country most uninteresting; we had left the shrub-covered surface of the Carpas with its romantic cliffs and deep valleys rich in verdure, and once more we were upon the hateful treeless plain of Messaria. During our sojourn in the Carpas district the rainfall by our gauge had been 1.28 inches, but in this unattractive region there had only been one or two faint showers, hardly sufficient to lay the dust. The crops about five inches above the ground were almost dead, and the young wheat and barley were completely withered.

About four or five miles from Famagousta we arrived at the ruins of ancient Salamis. The stringent prohibition of the British authorities against a search for antiquities in Cyprus had destroyed the interest which would otherwise have been taken by travellers in such explorations. As I have before remarked, there are no remains to attract attention upon the surface, but all ancient works are buried far beneath, therefore in the absence of permission to excavate, the practical study of the past is impossible, and it is a sealed book. Fortunately General di Cesnola has published his most interesting volume, combining historical sketches of ancient times with a minute description of the enormous collection of antiquities which rewarded his labours during ten years' research; so that if our government will neither explore nor permit others to investigate, we have at least an invaluable fund of information collected by those whose consular position during the Turkish rule enabled them to make additions to our historical knowledge.

Enter page number   Previous Next
Page 87 of 274
Words from 44914 to 45481 of 143016


Previous 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 Next

More links: First 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 Last

Display Words Per Page: 250 500 1000

 
Africa (29)
Asia (27)
Europe (59)
North America (58)
Oceania (24)
South America (8)
 

List of Travel Books RSS Feeds

Africa Travel Books RSS Feed

Asia Travel Books RSS Feed

Europe Travel Books RSS Feed

North America Travel Books RSS Feed

Oceania Travel Books RSS Feed

South America Travel Books RSS Feed

Copyright © 2005 - 2022 Travel Books Online