Having Breakfasted By The Well Of Deliciously Cold Water, We Remounted, And Continued Our Route Along The Extensive Table-Land.

This was cultivated in many places, but as we advanced for two or three miles the country became exceedingly

Wild, and we entered a wood of Pinus maritima, composed of young trees of several years' growth, and older stems that had been mutilated in the disgraceful manner that characterises all Cyprian forests. There was not one perfect tree above eight years' growth; but every stem had been cut off about six feet from the top for the sake of the straight pole. Trees of fifteen years or more had been mercilessly hacked for the small amount of turpentine that such trunks would produce, and the bark had been ripped off for tanning. Great quantities of mastic bushes covered the surface between the pines, and even these exhibited the continual attacks of the woodcutter's grubbing-axe, which had torn up the roots, in addition to the stems, for the requirements of the lime-burner. The red soil is so propitious to the growth of pines that, in spite of the unremitting destruction, the ground was covered with young plants, self-sown from the fallen cones. If these young forests were protected for twelve or fourteen years, the surface would again be restored to the original woodland that once ornamented this portion of the island. Under the present conditions of Cyprus all wholesome laws and enactments are practically ridiculed by the inhabitants, as there are no foresters or keepers to enforce the orders of the government.

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