This
Rich Front Was Backed By The Wall Of Dark Limestone Cliffs Two Miles
Distant, 3000 Feet Elevation, With The
Castles of Buffavento and St.
Hilarion perched left and right on the giddy summits of the highest
crags, which in
The clear atmosphere apparently overhung our position.
We then breakfasted, took leave of our hospitable host, and rode back to
Lefkosia to inquire into the cause of the delay.
On arrival we found a string of mules just starting, as the camels that
had been engaged yesterday had never appeared. I sent off the servants
and animals, with orders to pitch the tent upon the site of the old camp
of the 42nd Highlanders, within a mile of Kyrenia; we then once more
encroached upon the kindness of Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley for the
night. On the following morning we rode to Kyrenia, sixteen miles, and
found tents pitched in a delightful situation, and the camp swept and
arranged in perfect order. There could not have been a better site for a
military camp, as the ground was firm and sloped gradually towards the
sea, above which the elevation may have been about 120 feet. The
beautiful caroub-trees afforded a dense shade for individual tents and
for unlimited numbers of men. The ground had been well drained, and
every care had been taken to ensure the health of the troops; but in
spite of all sanitary arrangements they had suffered severely from
fever, by which, although only four had actually succumbed, and now lay
in the lonely little cemetery close to our tents, the regiment had been
demoralised, and was withdrawn from this lonely position completely
fever-smitten. I made close inquiries among the natives, and all agreed
that the past year, having been unusually wet, had been exceptionally
unhealthy, and the inhabitants had suffered almost to the same degree as
the Europeans. It was painfully clear that when the rainfall was
sufficiently plentiful to produce abundant harvests it at the same time
ensured a crop of fevers.
We remained ten days in our Kyrenia camp, and we were both sorry to
leave, as the neighbourhood is exceedingly beautiful and full of
interest; there is certainly no portion of Cyprus that can equal it in
the picturesque, or in the extreme richness of genuine forest-trees and
foliage.
The town is small and most irregular: an old Turkish graveyard forms a
boundary upon the outskirts opposite the fort, precisely similar in
position to that of Famagousta. Within 300 paces of this point are the
principal houses, mostly well built of stone and surrounded by
high-walled gardens fruitful in oranges, lemons, almonds, apricots,
figs, and the fruits commonly known throughout the island. The houses
are generally one story above the ground-floor, with a wide balcony that
forms an open face to the first-floor of five or six arches, which
support the roof upon that side. This is a convenient plan for the
climate, as it admits fresh air to all the rooms which open into the
balcony; in fact it is an open landing to the staircase. A few
date-palms ornament the gardens, the presence of these graceful trees
being a sure sign of the preponderance of Turks in the population.
The fort of Kyrenia is a great curiosity, as it forms a portion of the
harbour, being situated like the nose in a pair of spectacles, the
basins being the eyes right and left. The actual defences are intact,
although the inner accommodation for barracks, magazines, &c., &c.,
require great repairs and alteration. The walls are of solid squared
masonry, the stones jointed with the usual imperishable cement, and rise
to the great perpendicular height of upwards of seventy feet sheer from
the bottom of the fosse. There is only one entrance, by a narrow bridge
upon arches, across the extremely wide and deep ditch, terminating near
the gateway by a drawbridge, which admits an entry in the face of the
immense wall, with portcullis and iron-bound hinged gate. The ramparts
overlooking the town and harbour on the west face are 147 yards in
length, exclusive of the tower, and the embrasures of solid masonry
measured at the angle are generally twenty-four feet in thickness. The
fort is nearly square, and is flanked at each corner by a circular tower
which would completely enfilade the ditch by several tiers of guns. This
powerful fortress is washed by the sea upon two sides (the north and
east), and the foundations upon the native rock are protected from the
action of the waves by reefs and huge fragments of natural detached
masses which characterise this portion of the coast. As I stood upon the
parapet facing north I obtained an admirable view of the original
harbours to my left and right, and although they could never have
admitted large vessels, I was struck by the great importance of this
sole place of refuge upon the northern coast of Cyprus, which in former
times had suggested such a formidable arrangement for defence. The fort
was constructed by the Venetians, but there are fallen masses of much
older works that now lie at the foot of the sea-face, and add to the
natural reefs in defending the foundations from the breaking water.
The style of this fortress suggests a date anterior to Famagousta, as it
is devoid of cavaliers and depends for its defence upon the simple
flanking fire of the four towers and the great height and thickness of
the walls. It is supplied with fresh water by an aqueduct, and is
provided with immense reservoirs of masonry to contain a sufficient
quantity during a prolonged siege, when the outer aqueduct might be
destroyed by the enemy. There are extensive subterranean caves and
dungeons, but these have not yet been explored. Above this fine old
specimen of Venetian fortifications, upon the high platform of the tower
facing the harbour, was a flag-staff, upon which a small bundle of rags
fluttered in the strong wind, as though they, had been arranged to
frighten the jackdaws from building within the crevices of masonry.
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