Suited for the
responsible position he now occupies, but all will remember with due
appreciation the vigorous administration of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who was
selected for the command of Cyprus in the difficult period of the first
British occupation.
THE END.
APPENDIX.
METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER THROUGHOUT JOURNEYS IN CYPRUS.
FROM 1ST FEBRUARY TO 21ST AUGUST, 1879.
It will be remarked that August at Trooditissa is considerably lower in
temperature than July.
The following data, from 1st to 17th August, kindly supplied me by
Lieut.-Colonel White, Chief Commissioner of Lefkosia, will exhibit the
difference between that station, 442 feet above the sea level, and
Trooditissa Monastery, 4,340 feet.
The following official estimate of revenue and expenditure must be
accepted as only approximate. As the taxes are at present collected by
dimes, or tenths, the amount must depend upon the agricultural
prosperity of the island, which is liable to considerable fluctuations,
and during the present year of semi-famine will result in a serious
diminution. There will probably be a sensible decrease in the Customs
receipts, as the import of European goods has been checked by the
collapse of many European traders who had arrived in Cyprus at the first
announcement of the British occupation, and discovered that their goods
were unsuited to the requirements of the extremely poor and frugal
population. The greater portion of the English traders have already
retired from the island; the Greek merchants who have been long
established are satisfied with small profits, and their expenses are
upon a proportionate scale, which renders British competition quite
impossible. The Cypriotes decline to purchase from the English stores,
as they are ignorant of the language, and the goods are ill-adapted to
their wants. The first rush of commercial activity due to the political
movement in 1878 has subsided, and the trade will be represented chiefly
by the agricultural exports from the island until some more favourable
conditions of our occupation may induce a new impulse, and capitalists
may venture upon investments in Cyprus.
The mines of umber near Larnaca have been let, and it is by no means
improbable that an extension may in a few years be apparent in
enterprises of this description. Copper mines near Khrysokhus are being
opened, but the preliminary operations can afford no clue to the value
of the result. The umber is shipped exclusively to Holland for the
manufacture of paint, and the produce of Cyprus is considered to be the
finest quality. Although asbestos is reported to exist of a remarkably
long fibre and soft texture, I have never met with it except in the
coarse form which is common in many portions of the island, especially
on the Troodos range, where the base of this stone is a shining greenish
substance of a horny texture, which gradually terminates in bristles of
asbestos.
