Boats Lay A
Few Yards Off The Shore, And Were Loaded By Men Who Walked Shoulder-
Deep With The Packages Upon Their Heads.
I saw lighters discharging
planks and baulks of timber, by shooting them into the sea with
sufficient force to follow the direction given towards the shore, while
the receivers stood in the water to capture them upon arrival.
The shops and stores along the quay-face closely resemble those of
Larnaca, but there was more activity among the people. The streets of
the bazaar were thronged with mules and donkeys bringing the produce of
the interior to the shipping centre, and the crush of animals had been
carefully modified by the arrangements instituted by Colonel Warren, who
had established a large walled court, or stable-yard, into which all
empty mules and asses were driven, instead of being allowed to block the
thoroughfare; each beast paid some trifle for this accommodation, which
added to the fund for municipal improvements.
The public offices were very inferior, that of the chief commissioner
himself being a small white-washed room, which exhibited an utter
disregard of personal comfort in the interests of government economy.
There is a curious old fort within the town which has been altered and
added to until it has become an absurdity; this would be utterly useless
as a defence, and the Turkish guns having been removed, it is now
converted into a prison; beneath the ground there are dungeons which are
no longer used.
The roadstead of Limasol is formed by the projection of the Akrotiri
peninsula, which affords protection from the west and south-west, but it
is directly exposed from the east to the south.
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