ON POLICE, FOOD, CLIMATE, &C.
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. At night
the flocks are generally herded within a circle protected by a fence of
thorny bushes; sometimes these folds are invaded by thieves during the
darkness, and a considerable number are driven off. As the locality
would be generally distant from the principal town, and the shepherd
cannot forsake his flock for several days to prosecute, the thieves
frequently escape, and this immunity encourages them to further
depredations. During my residence within the precincts of the monastery,
the fold upon the hill within a quarter of a mile of the establishment
was thus robbed, and the thieves were never discovered.
The police or zaphtiehs are generally too far from these wild localities
to be of any service, and they are at present too few for the proper
supervision of the island. A plan is I believe in contemplation to
extend this body upon a scale that will render the force efficient as a
gendarmerie, which would to a considerable degree relieve the necessity
for a permanent European military force. There can be no better soldier
than the Turk under British officers. The Christians in Cyprus have an
objection to this service, and there is no reason why a military force
to combine the duties of police should not be organised, that would be
thoroughly acclimatised, and would at the same time be maintained for
less than half the expense of English troops. There is nothing to fear
from the Turkish population in Cyprus, and they would willingly enlist
in our service, and could always be depended upon in case of necessity.
The force already organised is an admirable nucleus, and could be
rapidly increased; each man finds his own horse and receives two
shillings a day inclusive; his clothes and arms being provided by the
government. For service in the trying climate of Cyprus the Turk is
pre-eminent. I do not see any need for the presence of British troops in
this island. The fortresses are all dismantled, the natives are
peaceful, and the extremely low price of wine and spirits is terribly
adverse to the sanitary condition of the English soldier. The staunch
sobriety of the Turk, his extreme hardihood, which enables him to endure
great fatigue upon the most simple fare, and his amenity to discipline,
together with an instinctive knowledge of arms and a natural capacity
for a military profession, render him a valuable material for our
requirements in organising a defensive force in Cyprus. Should it be
determined that a certain number of British troops shall be retained,
they can be spared unnecessary exposure, and retire to the mountain
sanatorium during the summer months.
The wages of both artisans and ordinary labourers have risen
considerably since the British occupation, as might have been expected.
Skilled masons and carpenters can now command from 3 shillings 6 pence
to 5 shillings per diem, who formerly could earn a maximum of 3
shillings. Ordinary masons for building walls can even now be obtained
for 2 shillings 6 pence and 3 shillings, and agricultural labourers
receive 1 shilling. It is probable that should extensive government
improvements be undertaken, or large contracts be made by private
individuals for public works, the rate will rise from one shilling to
eighteen pence, as the demand for labour shall increase. Should schools
be established and education become general throughout the island, the
result will probably be exhibited by a corresponding advance in wages,
as individuals will estimate their value at a higher rate. At present
there is no organised system of education for the peasantry, and the few
schools are confined to Nicosia, Larnaca, Limasol, Baffo, and Morphu,
all of which are supported by original grants, voluntary contributions,
the payments of pupils, and by certain sums annually provided by the
bishops and monasteries.
The rate of wages should in all countries bear a just proportion to the
price of food, and should the habits of the Cypriotes remain unchanged,
and their diet retain its simple character, there is no reason to
anticipate a rate that would eventually exceed 10 shillings or 11
shillings a week. If we determine upon low wages, we must keep down the
price of food. The Turkish administration had peculiar municipal laws
upon this subject which are still in force in some localities, but have
been abrogated in Limasol. I have already mentioned that the price of
meat was fixed at a certain sum per oke, so that good and bad sold at
the same figure, and resulted in the inferior qualities being sent to
market, while the best never appeared. Fish, fruits, and vegetables were
rated in the same manner, and the municipal authorities ruled, and fixed
a standard price for everything; good and bad all shared alike. By this
extraordinary legislation, which to the English mind is inconceivable,
the finest cauliflowers and the most common varieties would sell exactly
at the same price; no matter what the quality of vegetables might be,
all were reduced to the same level. Fish was simply fish. The best
varieties and the most inferior were included in the same despotic law.
Salmon and stickleback, turbot and sprat, herrings and soles, would (had
they existed) have been sold at so much a pound independent of their
qualities. The result was that if your servant went to market to buy a
fine species of fish, the seller insisted upon his taking a due
proportion of inferior trash that was hardly eatable. "All was fish that
came to the net;" little and big, good and bad, fetched the same price.
Such a system would ensure the worst of everything; what gardener would
devote his energies to producing fine varieties, if a common field
cabbage would rival his choicest specimens at the same price, but at a
minimum of labour?
It was evident that the lowest class of vegetables would represent the
garden produce, as this absurd rule was a premium for indolence, whereas
free competition, that would have assured high prices to the best
qualities, would have stimulated the cultivators in their productions.
This argument was so indisputable that the chief commissioner (Colonel
Warren, R.A.) determined at all hazards to introduce free markets into
Limasol; and although opposed to the conservative ideas of his municipal
council, he carried out his views of a healthy competition and free and
unrestricted trade, which would awaken the Cypriotes to the fact that
labour properly directed would ensure the best qualities, that would
benefit the producer by securing the best prices.
Self-evident facts in an English community may be utterly misconstrued
in Cyprus. The Cypriote has never been accustomed to unrestricted
freedom, but like his own ox in the plough, he requires a certain amount
of control, and his energies must be directed by a driver or ruler. When
the vegetables were assured of a certain fixed price per oke regulated
by the authorities, he knew that he would obtain that amount for his
produce whether good or bad; accordingly he brought his goods to market.
But, when he found that his inferior vegetables would remain unsold, or
would realise a mere trifle should a competitor's stall present a
superior show, he withdrew altogether from the market, which at length
became deserted; and the few who maintained their positions advanced
their prices to such an exorbitant degree that vegetables became a
luxury in which none could indulge but the rich. The fishermen profited
by the reform and only caught sufficient for the minimum demand, but at
the same time that they reduced their own labour and consequently the
supply of fish, they also took advantage of the new law of free trade,
and advanced their prices in extortionate proportion. Instead of the
self-evident prosperity that would benefit all classes, the sudden
liberty to which the Cypriote was unaccustomed acted diametrically
against all English expectations, and for the time ruined the market.
This was told me by Colonel Warren himself, and the failure of the
apparently wholesome reform is suggestive of the danger that may result
in the too sudden enfranchisement of those races which from a long
series of oppression are unfit for perfect liberty.
At the same time there can be no doubt that the vexatious and arbitrary
systems of taxation pursued in collecting the "dimes" has prevented the
extension of market gardens, and were this tax remitted, I cannot
imagine any more lucrative occupation than the growth of vegetables of
the best quality for the FREE markets of the principal towns.
Some encouragement is necessary in promoting exhibitions, or
horticultural shows, accompanied by substantial prizes, in various
localities; and I should not be dismayed by the failure of the first
well-meant attempt at reform in Limasol.
When I was at Limasol in May the price of cauliflowers was 2 pence the
oke (2.75 lbs). Fish was dear at 2 shillings the oke; mutton 8 pence the
oke. Beef is seldom eaten by the Cypriotes; potatoes are good, and are
usually 1 penny the lb. Flour, best, 8 pence the oke. If a sheep should
be purchased alive, and be killed for home consumption, the mutton
should not exceed 3 pence per lb. for the best quality, leaving the
skin, head, &c., as profit.
There are two varieties of sheep; the fat-tailed species supplies the
best mutton, but the wool of both is coarse, and is exported to Trieste
and Marseilles to the amount of about 400,000 lbs. annually. A large
trade in lamb skins is a necessary result of the slaughter of a
considerable proportion of lambs every winter and spring, owing to the
usual scarcity of pasturage, which limits the increase of the flocks.
The entire yield of skins is absorbed by Trieste and Marseilles.
A sheep in good condition of the fat-tailed species weighs when dressed,
without the head, 16 okes, or 44 lbs. Fowls in the country can generally
be purchased for 1 shilling each, but they are double that price in the
market-towns. Turkeys fetch about 4 or 5 shillings each; pigeons 6
pence; fish is about 2 shillings the oke, or 8 pence the lb.; milk about
4 pence a quart; eggs from 24 to 30 for one shilling.
The grapes are the best fruit in Cyprus; these are really good, and in
some instances would compare favourably with the hot-house produce of
England. The best varieties can be purchased at the vineyards for less
than 1 penny the lb. The above prices prove that the expense of
necessaries is moderate, and the actual cost of existence low, but the
want of good servants is a serious disadvantage.
At some future time Cyprus will become the resort of delicate persons to
escape the winter and spring of England, as the climate of the southern
portion of the island is most enjoyable during the cool season. In the
neighbourhood of Limasol there are many excellent sites for building, in
picturesque spots within two or three miles of the town. At present
there is no adequate comfort for invalids, and the hotels are hardly
adapted for persons who are accustomed to luxury. The commencement is
attended with risk, and it would be dangerous under the existing
conditions of the island to build and furnish an hotel with grounds and
gardens sufficiently attractive for English visitors. There is no direct
communication from England, which effectually debars Cyprus from an
influx of travellers. It is necessary to land at Alexandria either from
Marseilles or Brindisi, and thence to re-ship in small and uncomfortable
steamers, which are by no means suitable for ladies or invalids. The
extra expense, and above all the trouble and delay of landing in Egypt
and again embarking, together with the cost of hotel charges at
Alexandria, are quite sufficient to deter strangers from visiting
Cyprus. The first necessary step will be the establishment of direct
communication from Marseilles and Brindisi, or from Trieste. In that
case, a commencement might be made by a small company of friends who
determine to visit Cyprus annually, and to arrange an hotel upon some
favourable site near Limasol, which they will themselves occupy, and
which can be extended according to future requirements. English people
are somewhat like sheep in following each other, and a quiet beginning
in this simple but convenient form would quickly develop, and Cyprus
would be linked with the beaten paths of tourists. The neighbourhood of
Kyrenia is the most beautiful, but during winter it is exposed to severe
north winds from the snowy mountains.
So much has been written and spoken against the climate of Cyprus that
an unprejudiced account may be acceptable. There are serious
disadvantages to those who by their official position are obliged to
remain in the low country during the summer months, where the extreme
heat must always be prejudicial to the health of Europeans. From the
middle of October to May the climate is most agreeable, but the five
intervening months should be passed at higher altitudes, which, as I
have already described, afford a variety of climates.
Neither Lady Baker nor myself or servants had any climatic ailment
throughout our journeys in every portion of the island. A horsekeeper
had fever while at Famagousta, but he was a native who had suffered
previously, and the fit was a return of chronic ague; my own people
never required a dose of medicine although we were living in tents
through winter and summer.
The water is generally wholesome, therefore dysentery and bowel
complaints are rare; CONSUMPTION IS UNKNOWN; and pulmonary affections
are uncommon. Fevers, including those of a typhoid character, and ague
from malaria, are the usual types; outbreaks of small-pox have been
reduced by general vaccination. The improvement in sanitary regulations
will no doubt diminish the occurrence of typhoid fevers, which even now
are rare considering the filth of the villages and the generally dirty
habits of the population.
Hydrophobia among dogs is very rare, and distemper among puppies is
unknown. Pigs are the general scavengers in the Cypriote villages, and
the flesh of these filthy feeders is much esteemed by the Christian
inhabitants during the winter months. In the monasteries, which, from
their great altitude among the mountains, are occasionally snowed up and
excluded from communication, a winter supply of stores is laid up during
the autumn. The pigs and the fattest goats are killed, and salted in a
most peculiar manner. Without removing a bone, the animal is split from
the neck along the abdomen throughout, and it is laid completely open
like a smoked haddock. Every joint is most carefully dislocated, even to
the shoulder-blade bones, and remains in its place. The flesh is neatly
detached from every bone, and in this form the carcase is salted, and
stretched out in the sun to dry. When prepared it resembles a shield, as
it remains perfectly flat, the back presenting a smooth surface, while
the inside represents a beautiful specimen of comparative anatomy, every
joint dislocated, but secured by the original integument to the socket,
and every bone cleanly detached, but undisturbed from its original
position. The dried body looks like a surgical preparation carefully
arranged for an explanatory lecture.
The common and low quality of food of the lower classes, and especially
of the agricultural population, must induce a want of stamina which is
unable to resist the fever in malarious districts, and this results in
chronic disease of the spleen. I have already described the general
protuberance of the abdomen among the children throughout the Messaria
and the Carpas districts, all of whom are more or less affected by
splenetic diseases. On the mountains a marked difference is observed, as
throughout the numerous villages at high altitudes the children are as
healthy as those of England, although poorly clad in the home-made
cotton-stuffs of the country.
I have already remarked the absence of flannel or other woollen material
worn next the skin; the natives prefer their own manufactures to those
of Europe, and as they grow the cotton, which is spun and woven into
cloth by their own women, there is no actual outlay of coin. Some of the
native material is very superior in strength to the machine-made stuffs
of Manchester, especially a blue stout cotton with a thin red line that
is in general request both for men and women. The only woollen stuff
that is manufactured in Cyprus is confined to Nicosia, where the dark
brown and immensely thick capotes are made for the winter wear of the
common people. A cart-driver during the halt in a winter night simply
draws the hood over his head and face, and, wrapped in his long and
impervious capote, he lays himself beneath his cart and goes to sleep.
Coarse woollen saddle-cloths and bags are also made at Nicosia. The same
locality is celebrated for manufactures of silk and gold embroidery, all
of which is performed by the hands of women, while the printing of
calicoes and the production of morocco leather are local industries
confined to the labour of men.
No country is better adapted for silk culture than Cyprus, where the
mulberry-tree grows in great luxuriance to the altitude of 5000 feet,
and the warmth and dryness of the climate is highly favourable to the
silkworm. There is no tax upon the mulberry, and should artificial
irrigation be encouraged by the government, this tree should be
generally planted throughout the Messaria and all other districts, and a
special impulse should be directed to silk development. Formerly the
production of silk was an important export to France, but of late years
it has decreased to a mere bagatelle. In the spot where I am now writing
there are numerous mulberries in a profusion of rich foliage sufficient
for the production of two pounds of silk by each tree; but they are
entirely neglected, and the same depression in the silk cultivation may
be remarked throughout the island.
The numerous wild-flowers, together with the blossoms of oranges and
lemons, are highly favourable to bees, of which there are several
varieties; but there is no export of wax, which is used within the
island for the manufacture of candles and tapers for the various
churches. The Cyprian bee-hive is a contrivance which is extremely
simple, at the same time that it possesses the great advantage of
sparing the bees when the comb is to be saved. I see no reason why this
primitive arrangement should not succeed in England, and thereby save
countless swarms from destruction.
The hive is an earthenware cylinder about three feet six inches or four
feet in length, by ten or twelve inches in diameter; this might be
represented by a common chimney-pot. One end is securely stopped by a
wad of straw, neatly made in a similar manner to the back of an archery
target. This is smeared on the outside with clay so as to exclude the
air. A similar wad is inserted at the other extremity, but this is
provided with a small aperture or entrance for the bees. In a large
apiary twenty or thirty of these rude pipes or cylinders are piled one
upon the other in the same manner that draining tiles are heaped in
England, and they are protected from the sun and rain by a shed, open
only to the front. The bees learn to recognise their several hives
without confusion, although the cylinders are exactly alike and closely
packed together.
When the comb is fully developed and the honey should be secured, it is
only necessary to open a hole in the back, by removing the wad, and to
blow smoke through the aperture; the bees escape uninjured from their
ordinary entrance. The operator, whose head and face are protected with
the necessary veil, and his hands with gloves, now cuts out the honey
required, leaving a certain quantity as food for the bees, who will
return to their hive when re-adjusted.
When a swarm is captured, the bees are placed in an earthenware cylinder
which has been rubbed in the inside with a mixture of honey and wine.
The shed is a very important portion of the apiary, as it adds
materially to the comfort of the bees by protecting them from the
extremes of weather.
Although the cold of the winter seldom attains freezing-point, it is
sufficiently uncomfortable when accompanied by rain, and all creatures
that are expected to thrive require protection. The climate varies in
different localities, but the following meteorological data, that were
carefully registered by myself, accompanied by those kindly furnished me
by Colonel White, 1st Royal Scots, when chief commissioner of Lefkosia,
will afford a dependable basis for any medical opinion.
Thermometer
in degrees F.
Months. Inches Mean Mean Max. Min.
Rainfall 8 AM 3 PM
February, in the plain of Messaria . . 0.80 46 57 68 37
March, in the Carpas district and ditto 1.71 49 60 68 45
April, in the Kyrenia district, the
maximum at Morphu . . . . . . . . . . nil. 57 68 83 47
At 7 AM
May, in Limasol to 11th inst do. . . . ditto. 64 78 84 76
do. Trooditissa, 4,340 ft. to 31st
from 12th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.30 56.5 62 73 42
June, Trooditissa . . . . . . . . . . 1.13 66 71.6 78 54
July, do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.13 77.6 78 84 65
The fall of 1.13 inch of rain in June took place in one hour and a half,
and none of the rain which fell at the mountain range extended to the
low country. It will be seen that from 1st February to the end of May
only 2.51 inches fell throughout the central and eastern divisions, and
very little that was measured in the Carpas district reached the
Messaria. There was a fall of about 1.70 inch in January at Larnaca
which I had no opportunity of measuring, but inclusive of this quantity
the total rainfall from 1st January to the end of summer would not have
exceeded 4.21 inches in the lower country.
The month of July is shown to be the highest temperature at Trooditissa,
but although the maximum of 84 and the mean at 3 P.M. of 78 degrees may
appear high at the elevation of 4340 feet above the sea level, the
extreme lightness and purity of the air so far modified the heat that it
was never oppressive. The thermometer was suspended five feet from the
ground against the trunk of the shady walnut-tree four feet from the
tent wall, into which spot the sun never entered.
The water that issued from the rock by a stone spout beneath the arch
showed a temperature of 55 degrees and never varied throughout the
months of June, July, and August. When the thermometer was above 80
degrees this water fresh from the spout appeared icy cold in comparison.
Colonel White's observations at Lefkosia (Nicosia) for the month of July
exhibit an extremely high range, the mean at 9 A.M. = 84.5 Fahr.
degrees, and the mean at 9 P.M. = 83 degrees Fahr.; while the daily
maximum attains the serious degree of a mean = 108.7 degrees Fahr., the
highest point registered being 115 degrees Fahr. in the shade.
Such a temperature will destroy the health of Europeans, and the
locality is not suitable for headquarters. The governor of the island
might possibly escape to the mountain sanatorium, but the other
officials will sicken in their various overheated offices.
The following is Colonel White's original register:-
METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER AT NICOSIA.
442 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
Instruments:--Casella's maximum, minimum, and ordinary thermometers;
Negretti and Zambra's large-size aneroid barometer ; 29 feet above
ground, all under deep verandah, shaded from the sun, exposed to coolest
wind, and 5 feet above the roof of the house. The readings taken
carefully.
H. G. WHITE, Lieut.-Colonel Royal Scots,
Commissioner, Nicosia.
4th August, 1879