In the low
country the heat is excessive, and even at the altitude of Trooditissa
the average, since the 1st of the month, had been at 7 A.M. 70.7
degrees--3 P.M. 77.3 degrees.
The birds that had sung so cheerfully upon our arrival had become
silent. There was a general absence of the feathered tribe, but
occasionally a considerable number of hoopoes and jays had appeared for
a few days, and had again departed, as though changing their migrations,
and resting for a time upon the cool mountains.
I frequently rambled among the highest summits with my dogs, but there
was a distressing and unaccountable absence of game; in addition to
which there was no scent, as the barren rocks were heated in the sun
like bricks taken from the kiln. The under-growth up to 4500 feet
afforded both food and covert for hares, but they were very scarce. A
peculiar species of dwarf prickly broom covers the ground in some
places, and the young shoots are eagerly devoured by goats; this spreads
horizontally, and grows in such dense masses about one foot from the
surface that it will support the weight of a man.
When grubbed up by the root it forms an impervious mat about three or
four feet in diameter, and supplies an excellent door to the entrance of
a garden, to prevent the incursions of goats or fowls. The Berberris
grew in large quantities, which, together with the foliage of the dwarf
ilex, is the goat's favourite food. Not far from the village of
Prodomos, upon the neighbouring heights, I found, for the first time in
Cyprus, the juniper, which appeared to be kept low by the constant
grazing of the numerous herds.
The walking over the mountains is most fatiguing, and utterly
destructive to boots, owing to the interminable masses of sharp rocks
and stones of all sizes, which quite destroy the pleasure of a
lengthened stroll. The views from the various elevated ridges are
exceedingly beautiful, and exhibit the numerous villages surrounded by
vineyards snugly clustered in obscure dells among the mountains at great
elevations above the sea. Prodomos is about 4300 feet above the level,
and can be easily distinguished by the foliage of numerous spreading
walnut-trees and the large amount of cultivation by which it is
surrounded.
There was no difficulty in gaining the highest point of the island from
our camp, as a zigzag rocky path led to the top of a ridge about 600
feet directly above the monastery, which ascended with varying
inclinations to the summit of Troodos, about 2100 feet above
Trooditissa; by the maps 6590 feet above the sea, but hardly so much by
recent measurement.
