Fish was simply fish. The best
varieties and the most inferior were included in the same despotic law.
Salmon and stickleback, turbot and sprat, herrings and soles, would (had
they existed) have been sold at so much a pound independent of their
qualities. The result was that if your servant went to market to buy a
fine species of fish, the seller insisted upon his taking a due
proportion of inferior trash that was hardly eatable. "All was fish that
came to the net;" little and big, good and bad, fetched the same price.
Such a system would ensure the worst of everything; what gardener would
devote his energies to producing fine varieties, if a common field
cabbage would rival his choicest specimens at the same price, but at a
minimum of labour?
It was evident that the lowest class of vegetables would represent the
garden produce, as this absurd rule was a premium for indolence, whereas
free competition, that would have assured high prices to the best
qualities, would have stimulated the cultivators in their productions.
This argument was so indisputable that the chief commissioner (Colonel
Warren, R.A.) determined at all hazards to introduce free markets into
Limasol; and although opposed to the conservative ideas of his municipal
council, he carried out his views of a healthy competition and free and
unrestricted trade, which would awaken the Cypriotes to the fact that
labour properly directed would ensure the best qualities, that would
benefit the producer by securing the best prices.
Self-evident facts in an English community may be utterly misconstrued
in Cyprus. The Cypriote has never been accustomed to unrestricted
freedom, but like his own ox in the plough, he requires a certain amount
of control, and his energies must be directed by a driver or ruler. When
the vegetables were assured of a certain fixed price per oke regulated
by the authorities, he knew that he would obtain that amount for his
produce whether good or bad; accordingly he brought his goods to market.
But, when he found that his inferior vegetables would remain unsold, or
would realise a mere trifle should a competitor's stall present a
superior show, he withdrew altogether from the market, which at length
became deserted; and the few who maintained their positions advanced
their prices to such an exorbitant degree that vegetables became a
luxury in which none could indulge but the rich. The fishermen profited
by the reform and only caught sufficient for the minimum demand, but at
the same time that they reduced their own labour and consequently the
supply of fish, they also took advantage of the new law of free trade,
and advanced their prices in extortionate proportion. Instead of the
self-evident prosperity that would benefit all classes, the sudden
liberty to which the Cypriote was unaccustomed acted diametrically
against all English expectations, and for the time ruined the market.
This was told me by Colonel Warren himself, and the failure of the
apparently wholesome reform is suggestive of the danger that may result
in the too sudden enfranchisement of those races which from a long
series of oppression are unfit for perfect liberty.
At the same time there can be no doubt that the vexatious and arbitrary
systems of taxation pursued in collecting the "dimes" has prevented the
extension of market gardens, and were this tax remitted, I cannot
imagine any more lucrative occupation than the growth of vegetables of
the best quality for the FREE markets of the principal towns.
Some encouragement is necessary in promoting exhibitions, or
horticultural shows, accompanied by substantial prizes, in various
localities; and I should not be dismayed by the failure of the first
well-meant attempt at reform in Limasol.
When I was at Limasol in May the price of cauliflowers was 2 pence the
oke (2.75 lbs). Fish was dear at 2 shillings the oke; mutton 8 pence the
oke. Beef is seldom eaten by the Cypriotes; potatoes are good, and are
usually 1 penny the lb. Flour, best, 8 pence the oke. If a sheep should
be purchased alive, and be killed for home consumption, the mutton
should not exceed 3 pence per lb. for the best quality, leaving the
skin, head, &c., as profit.
There are two varieties of sheep; the fat-tailed species supplies the
best mutton, but the wool of both is coarse, and is exported to Trieste
and Marseilles to the amount of about 400,000 lbs. annually. A large
trade in lamb skins is a necessary result of the slaughter of a
considerable proportion of lambs every winter and spring, owing to the
usual scarcity of pasturage, which limits the increase of the flocks.
The entire yield of skins is absorbed by Trieste and Marseilles.
A sheep in good condition of the fat-tailed species weighs when dressed,
without the head, 16 okes, or 44 lbs. Fowls in the country can generally
be purchased for 1 shilling each, but they are double that price in the
market-towns. Turkeys fetch about 4 or 5 shillings each; pigeons 6
pence; fish is about 2 shillings the oke, or 8 pence the lb.; milk about
4 pence a quart; eggs from 24 to 30 for one shilling.
The grapes are the best fruit in Cyprus; these are really good, and in
some instances would compare favourably with the hot-house produce of
England. The best varieties can be purchased at the vineyards for less
than 1 penny the lb. The above prices prove that the expense of
necessaries is moderate, and the actual cost of existence low, but the
want of good servants is a serious disadvantage.
