In This Secluded Spot, Far From All Villages Or Inhabitants, We
Arranged To Encamp Upon A Flat And Inviting Plot Of Turf, Which In
Cyprus Is Rarely Met With.
Some tolerable elms and other trees formed a
dense shade in a deep and narrow portion of the glen beneath the
over-hanging cliffs, and a beautiful spring of water issued from the
rock, received in a stone cistern beneath.
An arch of masonry inclosed
the spring, which some kind person had thus carefully arranged for the
public good; this was richly clothed with maiden-hair ferns. The surplus
water, after overflowing the stone basin, formed a faint stream, which
trickled over the rocks between cliffs only a few feet apart, until it
emerged from this narrow cleft and joined the sea. I walked down this
natural alley to the beach and bathed, to the astonishment of my guide
Iiani and another Cypriote, who rushed to the top of the cliff as though
they thought I contemplated suicide; these people having a natural
horror of cold water. The name of this secluded glen was Symboli.
On the following morning we started for Polis, fourteen miles by an easy
route along the coast. The mountains upon our left were very
precipitous, and exhibited the same character of complete wilderness
which had marked them for the last two marches; the only difference
apparent was an increase in the remaining pines, which fairly clothed
their summits and ravines. The sea was perfectly calm, and for the first
time during our stay in Cyprus we observed many shoals of fish playing
upon the surface close to the beach. Two cormorants were in the bay, and
I made some fortunate shots, killing one with the rifle at upwards of
200 yards, and disabling the other at about 250. There appeared to be
more signs of game in this part of the country, as the cock francolins
were crowing in many directions throughout our route, until we arrived
at Polis, or, in full, "Poli-ton-Krysokhus."
This place was formerly important as one of the principal mineral
centres of the island, and the large accumulations of scoriae in several
mounds near the coast prove that mining operations were conducted upon
an extensive scale. A concession had recently been granted to a small
private company for the working of copper in this neighbourhood, and
should the existence of metallic wealth be proved there can be no doubt
that capital will be embarked in mining enterprises, and the locality
will recover its former importance. On the other hand, all mining
adventures should be conducted with the greatest caution. A common error
is committed by sanguine speculators in following the footsteps of the
ancients, upon the supposition that because in former ages a locality
was productive, it should remain in the same profitable condition.
Nothing can be more erroneous; it is generally poor gleaning after the
Phoenicians. The bronze of those extraordinary miners and metallurgists
was renowned above all other qualities; they worked the copper-mines of
Cyprus and the tin-mines of Cornwall, but the expenses of working a mine
in those days bore no comparison with the outlay of modern times.
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