The island
belongs at this moment to the Sultan, and the English are simply tenants
under stipulated conditions. Before Cyprus could belong to Greece it
must be severed from the Ottoman Empire, and should England be
sufficiently wayward to again present herself to the world as the
spoiled child of fortune, and deliver over her new acquisition according
to the well-remembered precedent of Corfu, the monetary value of all
property in Cyprus would descend to zero, and the "Cypriote Fraternity,"
if householders or landowners, would raise the Greek standard over
shattered fortunes.
The total of population within the entire district of Limasol in 1879
represented 23,530, comprising 12,159 males and 11,371 females, of all
ages.
The following list is the official enumeration of animals and trees
within the same province:--
ANIMALS.
Cattle. Mules. Horses. Donkeys. Pigs. Goats. Sheep.
6,006 1,812 1,129 4,026 2,138 19,896 11,790
TREES.
Caroubs. Olives. Walnuts.
267,779 114,413 957
Natural pine and Cyprus forests, with oak, &c., not counted.
VINEYARDS.
Cultivated land. Uncultivated land.
40,642 donums. 114,650 donums. 21,180 donums.
According to this official statistical representation the cultivated
land would be in proportion to the population about five donums, or two
and a half acres, per individual.
The question of ownership of lands will eventually perplex the
government to a greater extent than many persons would imagine, and the
difficulty attending the verification of titles will increase with every
year's delay.
Before the British occupation, land was of little value, and an extreme
looseness existed in the description of boundaries and landmarks. In the
absence of fences the Cypriote can generally encroach upon any land
adjoining his limit, should it belong to the state. Every season he can
drive his plough a few paces further into his neighbour's holding,
unless prevented, until by degrees he succeeds in acquiring a
considerable accession. The state is the sufferer to an enormous extent
by many years of systematic invasion. Forest land has been felled and
cleared by burning, and the original site is now occupied by vineyards.
The bribery and corruption that pervaded all classes of officials prior
to the British occupation enabled an individual to silence the local
authority, while he in many instances more than doubled his legal
holding. The absence of defined boundaries has facilitated these
encroachments. According to an official report this difficulty is dwelt
upon most forcibly as requiring immediate investigation. The vague
definition in title-deeds, which simply mentions the number of donums,
affords no means of proving an unjust extension; such terms are used as
"the woods bounded by a hill," or "the woods bounded by uncultivated
land," and this indefinite form of expression leaves a margin of
frontier that is practically without limit, unless the invader may be
stopped by arriving within a yard of his nearest neighbour.
