I Did The Same;
But, To My Astonishment, The Vehicle, After Bounding Madly About, Simply
Turned The Insane Driver Head
Over heels into the river's bed, and the
bullocks found themselves anchored in the sand on the opposite side.
Glover
Brothers' blue van was driven by a fine fellow, Georgi, who was
of a steady disposition; and this very handy and well constructed
carriage made nothing of the difficulty. Georgi was a handsome and
exceedingly powerful man, upwards of six feet high, of a most amiable
disposition, who always tried to do his best; but the truth must be
told, he was stupid: he became a slave to the superior intellect of the
bare-brained rascal of the gipsy-van. Why amiable people should so
frequently be stupid I cannot conceive: perhaps a few are sharp; but
Georgi, poor fellow, had all in bone and muscle, and not in brain.
There is great advantage in travelling with more than one vehicle, as in
any difficulty the numerous animals can be harnessed together and their
combined power will drag a single cart or carriage through any obstacle.
Thus one by one the vans were tugged up the steep bank on the opposite
side, and after a drag across ploughed fields for nearly a mile we
halted on the edge of a cliff and camped exactly above the river.
Although the bed was dry below this point, we found a faint stream of
clear water above our position, which was subsequently absorbed by the
sand. The cliffs were not perpendicular, but were broken into steep
declivities from successive landslips: the sides were covered with the
usual prickly plants, but the edges of the stream were thickly bushed
with oleanders which afforded excellent covert for game.
In travelling through Cyprus there is a depressing aspect in the general
decay and ruin of former works. I strolled with my dogs for some miles
along the river banks, and examined the strong masonry remains of many
old water-mills. I found a well-constructed aqueduct of wonderfully hard
cement at the bottom of a cliff close to the present bed of the river:
this must at a former period have passed below the bed, and the
deepening of the stream has exposed and washed away the ancient work.
There was no game beyond a few wild red-legged partridges, although the
appearance of the country had raised my expectations.
On the following morning I rambled with the dogs for many hours over the
range of hills which bounds the plain upon the north, and from which the
river issues. These are completely denuded of soil, and present a
glaring surface of hardened chalk, in the crevices of which the usual
prickly plants can alone exist. Some of the hill-tops exposed a smooth
natural pavement where the rain had washed away all soluble portions and
left the bare foundation cracked in small divisions as though
artificially inlaid. Now and then a wretched specimen of the Pinus
Maritima, about six feet high, was to be seen vainly endeavouring to
find nourishment in the clefts of the barren rocks. I do not believe the
tales of forests having formerly existed upon the greater portion of
Cyprus: it would certainly be impossible for any species of tree to
thrive upon the extensive range of hills near Arpera, which are
absolutely valueless.
In many places the surface glistened with ice-like sheets of gypsum,
which cropped out of the cold white marls and produced a wintry
appearance that increased the desolation. I walked for some hours over
successive ranges of the same hopeless character. Great numbers of hawks
and several varieties of eagles were hunting above the hill-tops, and
sufficiently explained the scarcity of game. The red-legged partridges
found little protection in the scant cover afforded by the withered
plants, and I saw one captured and carried off by an eagle, who was
immediately chased by two others of the same species, in the vain hope
that he would give up his prize; he soared high in air with the
partridge hanging from his claws. On the same day I saw another capture,
and there can be little doubt that the partridge forms the usual food of
these large birds of prey. The British government has already protected
the game by establishing a close season and by a tax upon all guns; but
there will be little benefit from the new law unless a reward shall be
offered for the destruction of the birds of prey which swarm in every
portion of the island--eagles, falcons, kites, hawks, ravens, crows, and
last, but in cunning and destructive propensity not the least, the
"magpies." These birds exist in such numbers that unless steps are taken
to destroy them it will be hopeless to expect any increase of game. When
a magpie wakes in the early morning his first thought is mischief, and
during the breeding season there is no bird who makes egg-hunting so
especially his occupation. Upon the treeless plains of Cyprus every nest
is at his mercy.
From the base of the barren hill-range a fertile plain slopes towards
the sea for a width of about four miles, having received the soil that
has been washed from the denuded heights. This rich surface is
cultivated with cereals, but there are considerable portions which are
covered with a dense mass of thistles, as the land is allowed to rest
for a couple of years after having been exhausted by several crops
without manuring. On the lowlands of Cyprus nearly every plant or bush
is armed with thorns. I have generally observed that a thorny vegetation
is a proof of a burning climate with a slight rainfall. In the scorching
districts of the Soudan there is hardly a tree without thorns to the
tenth degree of north latitude, at which limit the rainfall is great and
the vegetation changes its character. The Cypriotes of both sexes wear
high boots to the knees as a protection from the countless thistles, and
not as an armour against snakes, as some writers have assumed.
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