Again They Smiled, Courteously Salaamed, And Vacated The
Path For Us, Little Knowing What My Inward Thoughts Had Been.
Of course
I smiled, salaamed as courteously in return, and forgave them at once;
and we proceeded on our
Way condemning Turkish rule, the impecuniosity
of our own government, the miserable conditions of our present
occupation, which rendered Cyprus neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, and
thus by degrees I lashed myself into the worst possible frame of mind,
until . . . we overtook another throng of polite donkeys and their
proprietors, who salaamed and got out of our way. Upon suddenly emerging
from the forest upon the edge of a steep slope, we looked down upon the
barren sand-coloured plain of Messaria. Our guide Iiani, who had been
asleep and awake for at least eight miles, suddenly burst out into a
ditty, and explained that a village in the plain below was Morphu, the
home of his wife and family.
Even from this elevated point of view Morphu looked a long way off. The
sleepy Iiani was sufficiently wide awake to steer for his wife, and we
had made a long march already. I doubted the possibility of the loaded
camels ascending the steep slope, which had severely tried our mules,
and I felt sure that liani's old camel would either knock up or tumble
down with his load, should he attempt the ascent. It was of no use to
reflect, and as Morphu lay before us in the now barren and sun-smitten
plain, we touched our animals with the spur and pressed on.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 237 of 524
Words from 64512 to 64774
of 143016
