This Useful Work Was Constructed According
To The Will Of A Former Pacha, Who Bequeathed The Sum Required, For A
Public Benefit.
Large flocks of sheep were grazing in various portions of the
uncultivated plain.
At first sight they appeared to be only searching
for food among the stones and dust, but upon close examination I found a
peculiar fleshy herb something like the stone-crop which grows upon the
old walls and rocks of England. This plant was exceedingly salt, and the
sheep devoured it with avidity, and were in fair condition. The wool was
long, but of a coarse wiry texture, and much impaired by the adherence
of thistles and other prickly plants. The musical sound of distant bells
denoted the arrival of a long string of camels, laden with immense bales
of unpressed cotton on their way to the port of Larnaca. Each animal
carried two bales, and I observed that the saddles and pads were in
excellent order, the camels well fed, and strongly contrasting with the
cruel carelessness of the camel owners of Egypt, whose beasts are galled
into terrible sores from the want of padding in their packs. The cotton
had been cleaned upon the plantation, but it would be subjected to
hydraulic pressure and packed in the usual iron-bound bales for
shipment, upon arrival in the stores of Larnaca.
It was impossible to resist a feeling of depression upon strolling
around the environs of the town and regarding the barren aspect of the
distant country. Every inch of this fertile plain should be cultivated,
and numerous villages should be dotted upon the extensive surface.
"Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth" was a curse that
appeared to have adhered to Cyprus.
It was unnecessary to seek for the chief cause of unhealthiness; this
was at once apparent in the low swamps on the immediate outskirts of the
town. In ancient days the shallow harbour of Cittium existed on the east
side of modern Larnaca; whether from a silting of the port, or from the
gradual alteration in the level of the Mediterranean, the old harbour no
longer exists, but is converted into a miserable swamp, bordered by a
raised beach of shingles upon the seaboard. The earth has been swept
down by the rains, and the sand driven in by the sea, while man stood
idly by, allowing Nature to destroy a former industry. All the original
harbours of the country have suffered from the same neglect.
There was little to be seen in the neighbourhood. The site was pointed
out where the troops were encamped in the tremendous heat of July in the
close vicinity of the swampy ground, upon pestiferous soil, and the
usual tales of commissariat blunders were recounted. Close to the
borders of this unhealthy spot, but about twenty feet above the level of
the lowest morass, stands the convent belonging to the Sisters of
Charity, which includes a school, in addition to a hospital. Great
kindness was shown by these excellent ladies to many English sufferers,
and their establishment deserves a liberal support from public
contributions.
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