His Body, Originally White, Had Become Quite As Brown As That Of An Arab Of The Desert; He Possessed No Clothing Nor Property Of Any Kind, Not Even A Blanket During Winter; But He Wandered About The Mountains And Visited Monasteries And Certain Villages, Where He Obtained Food As Charity.

He would never accept money (probably from the absence of pockets), neither would he venture near Turkish villages, as

He had several times received a thrashing from the men for thus presenting himself before their women, and it is to be regretted that the Cypriotes had not followed the Turkish example, which would have quickly cured his eccentricity. He was a strong, well-built man, with good muscular development; his head was bald with the exception of a little hair upon either side, and he was interesting to a certain extent as an example of what a European can endure when totally exposed to the sun and weather. Sometimes he slept like a wild animal beneath a rock among the mountains, or in a cave, when such a luxurious retreat might offer a refuge; at other times he was received and sheltered by the priests or people. This individual's name was Christodilos, and according to my notes taken at the time, he is described as "originally a labourer of Kyrenia; parents dead: one brother and two sisters living."

CHAPTER XVI.

SOMETHING ABOUT TAXATION.

The monastery gardens of Trooditissa at the close of July exhibited the great fruit-producing power of the soil and climate at this high altitude, but at the same time they were examples of the arbitrary and vexatious system of Turkish taxation, which remains unchanged and is still enforced by the British authorities. I shall describe this in detail, and leave the question of possibility of development under such wholesale tyranny to the judgment of the public. It is difficult to conceive how any persons can expect that Europeans, especially Englishmen, will become landowners and settle in Cyprus when subjected to such unfair and irritating restrictions.

NO PRODUCE CAN BE REMOVED FROM ANY GARDEN UNTIL IT SHALL HAVE BEEN VALUED FOR TAXATION BY THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL APPOINTED FOR THAT PURPOSE, at the rate of 10 per cent. ad valorem.

At first sight this system appears incredible, but upon an examination of the details our wonder ceases at the general absence of cultivated vegetables and the propagation of superior qualities of fruits. If the object of the government were purposely to repress all horticultural enterprise, and to drive the inhabitants to the Nebuchadnezzar-like grazing upon wild herbs, the present system would assuredly accomplish the baneful end. The Cypriotes are called indolent, and are blamed by travellers for their apathy in contenting themselves with wild vegetables, when their soil is eminently adapted in the varying altitudes and climates for the production of the finest qualities of fruits and green-stuffs. I will imagine that an Englishman of any class may be placed in the following position of a cultivator, which he assuredly would be, if foolish enough to become a proprietor in Cyprus.

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