The population of Cyprus is about 200,000, of which number more than
three-fourths belong to the Greek Church; nevertheless the minority of
Turks completely dominated prior to the British occupation. Although the
Cypriote is, as I have described, courteous, gentle, and affectionate in
his domestic circle, he is at the same time cunning and addicted to
petty larceny, and in all your dealings with these apparently easy-going
people you must exercise the same acuteness that is so absolutely
necessary in England. There are few great crimes in proportion to the
population, nor do we ever hear of such atrocities as those classes of
murders which so frequently blacken the page of our modern history.
Homicide is more common than actual murder, and is often the result of a
sudden quarrel where knives are drawn, and a fatal stab in passion
constitutes the offence. Sheep-stealing is the prevalent crime, and is
carried on with an amount of hardihood that can only be accounted for
from the difficulty of proof. The flocks of goats, &c., roam over the
wild and uninhabited area of the high mountains and frequently stray
from the shepherd and are lost for two or three nights; by the time they
are recovered a certain number may be missing, and it is hardly possible
to discover the thief, as the animals have been driven to a great
distance. Tracking would be out of the question over the rocky surface,
where every small plot of naked soil is trodden into countless footmarks
by the innumerable goats which browse upon the mountain slopes.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 455 of 524
Words from 124188 to 124460
of 143016
