The House Occupied By The Chief Commissioner Is Large And Well Constructed, The Staircase And Landing Airy And Capacious, With An Entrance-Hall Open At The Extreme End And Well Arranged For The Burning Climate During Summer.

All houses are paved with slabs of gypsum, which abound in many parts of the island, and are sold at a remarkably low price, as the blocks laminate, and are divided into sheets of the required thickness with a minimum of labour.

The Turkish Pacha (Rifat) still remained at Lefkosia, as he was responsible for the transfer of various movable property to Constantinople. The interesting Venetian cannon of bronze that were utterly valueless as modern weapons had been conveyed away both from Lefkosia and Famagousta. One of these was a double octagon, or sixteen-sided, and would have been a valuable specimen in the collection at the Tower of London. Many of the curious old Venetian cannon had recently been burst into fragments with dynamite, to save the trouble of moving the heavy guns entire.

There can be little doubt that the prime object in selecting a central position for the capital of Cyprus was a regard for safety from any sudden attack; but upon any other grounds I cannot conceive a greater absurdity. The capital should be Limasol, which will become the Liverpool of Cyprus. Lefkosia is completely out of the commercial route; it is valueless as a military position, and it offers no climatic advantage, but, on the contrary, it is frightfully hot in the summer months, and is secluded from the more active portions of the island. It IS, simply because it WAS; but it should remain as a vestige of the past, and no longer represent the capital. *

(The census of Nicosia, taken on 31st January, 1879, represents the population as follows:--

No. of houses:-- 2,463

Population by sex:--

Males above 15 . . . . . . . . 3,773 Males under 15 . . . . . . . . 1,900 Females above 14 . . . . . . . 3,718 Females under 14 . . . . . . . 1,806 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,197

Population by religion:--

English . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Greek Church. . . . . . . . . . 5,251 Catholics . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Mohammedans . . . . . . . . . . 5,628 Armenians . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Jews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,197 )

There is no position throughout the plain of Messaria adapted for a permanent government establishment as head-quarters. The depressing effect of that horrible landscape, embracing the extensive area from Trichomo and Famagousta to Larnaca, Lefkosia, and Morphu, is most demoralising, and few Europeans would be able to resist the deleterious climate of summer, and the general heart-sinking that results in a nervous despondency when the dreary and treeless plain is ever present to the view. There is no reason why officials should be condemned to the purgatory of such a station when Cyprus possesses superior positions where the great business of the future will be conducted. The new road already completed from Larnaca to Lefkosia must be carried on to Morphu, and thus connect the north and south extremities of the plain; Kyrenia, sixteen miles distant, must be connected with Lefkosia; branches must then be extended to Kythrea and to Famagousta; and subsequently, from the latter town a direct road must be continued parallel with the south coast to Larnaca.

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