The Barrels When Full
Were Slightly Inferior In Weight To Their Displacement Of Sea-Water;
They Accordingly Floated Almost Level With The Surface, And Were Formed
Into A Chain Of Two Casks Abreast And About Fifty Yards In Length.
Thus
arranged, they were towed by boats until alongside the vessel, when they
were easily hoisted up on board.
As boats could not lie against the
perpendicular wall of the quay except during a perfect calm, there was
considerable trouble in carrying on the commerce of the port according
to modern requirements; but the inventions of necessity had simplified
many difficulties at the expense of increased manual labour. Boats lay a
few yards off the shore, and were loaded by men who walked shoulder-
deep with the packages upon their heads. I saw lighters discharging
planks and baulks of timber, by shooting them into the sea with
sufficient force to follow the direction given towards the shore, while
the receivers stood in the water to capture them upon arrival.
The shops and stores along the quay-face closely resemble those of
Larnaca, but there was more activity among the people. The streets of
the bazaar were thronged with mules and donkeys bringing the produce of
the interior to the shipping centre, and the crush of animals had been
carefully modified by the arrangements instituted by Colonel Warren, who
had established a large walled court, or stable-yard, into which all
empty mules and asses were driven, instead of being allowed to block the
thoroughfare; each beast paid some trifle for this accommodation, which
added to the fund for municipal improvements.
The public offices were very inferior, that of the chief commissioner
himself being a small white-washed room, which exhibited an utter
disregard of personal comfort in the interests of government economy.
There is a curious old fort within the town which has been altered and
added to until it has become an absurdity; this would be utterly useless
as a defence, and the Turkish guns having been removed, it is now
converted into a prison; beneath the ground there are dungeons which are
no longer used.
The roadstead of Limasol is formed by the projection of the Akrotiri
peninsula, which affords protection from the west and south-west, but it
is directly exposed from the east to the south. The anchorage is safe,
with good holding-ground in ten fathoms. The peculiar shaped peninsula
of Akrotiri is about seven miles wide, and the lake in its centre, when
full, has a width of about four miles; but during the exhaustive heat of
summer it evaporates to the dimensions of a mere pool, and leaves its
deserted bed encrusted with a deposit of salt. This lake has no
connection with the sea, and its maximum depth is under three feet; the
salt is formed upon the same principle as that of the Lake of Larnaca,
and certainly not by the percolation of sea-water through the sand, as
the Limasol lake is considerably above the sea-level.
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