The Mass Of Mountains In This District, Which Form A Succession Of Wild And Impassable Steeps, Is Marked Upon Kiepert's Map As "Unexplored." They Were Originally Pine-Forests, But The Destruction Of Timber Has Been Carried To Such An Excess That Comparatively Few Trees Remain.

With my glass I could distinguish large trunks that lay rotting upon the ground, where they had pitched among

The stems, and roots of trees that had been already felled; these had been rolled from the steep heights above, but having been caught in their descent to the torrent below by the opposing stumps, they had been abandoned, and other trees had been felled in their stead, where the inclination was more favourable for their transport.

This portion of the coast should be thoroughly explored by practical miners, as it is rich in minerals. I procured some fine specimens of pyrites of copper, which the natives mistook for silver; and should a mineralogical investigation be made by the authorities, I feel sure that the metallic wealth of Cyprus will be discovered between Caravastasi and Poli-ton-Krysokhus.

It was late before our baggage animals appeared, and when they at length arrived, Iiani's venerable camel was missing. It appeared that this worn-out old creature had been performing acrobatic feats in tumbling throughout the difficult journey, and had rolled, together with its load, down several places that had threatened its destruction. It had delayed the march several hours, as it had been many times released from difficulties by unloading, reloading, and dividing the heavier portions of baggage among the other camels which received a smaller pay. At length, upon arriving upon the deep sand of the beach, about a mile distant, it had fallen down, and given up everything except the ghost.

It was a natural annoyance to the owners of the other camels that Iiani should be paid highly for a useless animal, while they had to carry its load divided among them assisted by a division of the smaller weights among the servants' riding mules. The evening was passed in grumbling: everybody was in a bad humour. It was declared impossible to pitch the tent upon the sandy beach by the pool of fresh water, as there was no holding-ground for the tent-pegs. I quickly instructed them in making faggots of tamarisk-boughs which, tied to the ropes and buried in the sand, were much more secure than pegs in the hardest soil; and the tent was at length arranged. A small species of curlew tempted its fate by visiting the fresh-water margin just before our dinner-hour; I bagged it; and as the cook was in a bad humour, I made a fire of driftwood, with which the beach was strewed, and when the glowing embers had succeeded to the flame and formed a red-hot heap, I cut two forked sticks, which, placed on either side upright in the sand, supported my bird upon a long skewer of green tamarisk-wood. A little salt, pepper, and a smear of butter occasionally, produced a result that would have beaten Christo's best attempts.

On the following morning we were all once more in good humour; the old camel had not died, but had been brought into camp late at night. It now formed the object for everybody's joke, and its owner liani was recommended to "try and sell it," or "to make it a present to a friend," or "to ride it himself;" the latter course would have been a deserved punishment. Iiani escaped further remarks by jumping upon his mule and riding ahead, and we followed our guide without delay along the deep sandy beach.

We rode for fourteen miles along cliffs bordering the sea, with the deep hollows occasioned by the natural drainage causing a continual series of ups and downs, which reminded me forcibly of the coast of South Devon between Torquay and Dawlish. The difference lay in the rocks, which were all plutonic, and in the scenery upon our left, which was a wild and confused mass of mountains, scarred by deep and dark ravines, while the more distant summits exhibited the still-existing pine-forests; these had disappeared from the slopes which faced the coast, and had afforded facilities for exportation. We halted in a deep glen between exceedingly steep hills, through which a torrent-bed had cut its course directly to the sea. In this secluded spot, far from all villages or inhabitants, we arranged to encamp upon a flat and inviting plot of turf, which in Cyprus is rarely met with. Some tolerable elms and other trees formed a dense shade in a deep and narrow portion of the glen beneath the over-hanging cliffs, and a beautiful spring of water issued from the rock, received in a stone cistern beneath. An arch of masonry inclosed the spring, which some kind person had thus carefully arranged for the public good; this was richly clothed with maiden-hair ferns. The surplus water, after overflowing the stone basin, formed a faint stream, which trickled over the rocks between cliffs only a few feet apart, until it emerged from this narrow cleft and joined the sea. I walked down this natural alley to the beach and bathed, to the astonishment of my guide Iiani and another Cypriote, who rushed to the top of the cliff as though they thought I contemplated suicide; these people having a natural horror of cold water. The name of this secluded glen was Symboli.

On the following morning we started for Polis, fourteen miles by an easy route along the coast. The mountains upon our left were very precipitous, and exhibited the same character of complete wilderness which had marked them for the last two marches; the only difference apparent was an increase in the remaining pines, which fairly clothed their summits and ravines. The sea was perfectly calm, and for the first time during our stay in Cyprus we observed many shoals of fish playing upon the surface close to the beach.

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