THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 201, 23 September 1878, Page 4

THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.

{Murray's Handbook for Travellers.) la view of the importance attached to the new acquisition of Great Britain in the Mediterranean, we give a sketch of the Island of Cyprus from " Murray's Handbook for travellers," which will be read with interest. Cyprus is the most eastern island of the Mediterranean, and lies off the coast of Syria. It is 145 miles in length, extreme breadth 55 miles, and its minimum breadth 27 miles, having an area of 4500 square miles — about the size of Jamaica, or nearly a third less than Yorkshire, and has now a population of 200,000. It has hitherto been but little visited by travellers, owing to the erroneous statements regarding it. There is, however, no reason why travellers should not visit this island with as great impunity as any other part of the Levant. The climate varies in different parts ; the northern region is. the moat hilly and wooded, and the least fertile, and the heat in that district is tempered by the winds from the Karamanian Mountrins, which preserve the frozen snow in the highest spots during the greater part of the year. The cold is very severe in winter. In the plains in the southern districts ot Cyprus the heat of the sun is excessive, but is moderated by the sea breezes. The richest as well as the most agreeable parts of the island are in the vicinity of Cerinea and Paphos (Baffo). Larnaka, the chief seaport of the island, is about a quarter of a mile distant from tne sea ; the Consuls and most of the European inhabitants reside at a suburb on the seashores, called by the Italians the Marina, which is the chief depot of the commerce of the whole ialand. Although Larnaka is situated in what is regarded as the worst part of Cyprus, the country around being arid, this port, it is stated, has been selected solely owing to the safe anchorage of its roads. About an hour's ride from Larnaka, situated on the borders of the large Salt Lake, on the road to Citti, is a mosque in which the Turk 3 suppose to be interred the body of the wet-nurse of their prophet. Nikosia, the Capital of Cyprus, was besieged by the Turks under Muatapha in 1570, the siege lasting forty. five days, when it was taken by storm ; between the gates of Famagusta and Baftb, situate in a pretty garden, is a small mosque in which is interred the Bairactar, or standard bearer, who first planted the Turkish flag on the walls. From the summit of the minaret of this mosque the best view, it is stated, is to be had, the mulberry and palm

trees being interspersed with minarets and ancient Christian churches, now converted into mosques. The principal products of flthe island are wheat, barley, cotton, silk, madder-roots, olive oil, wine, carobs, hemp, pitch, wool, tobacco, salt, fine timber, and fruit ; there is an average yield of 1,246,000 gallons of wine and 198,000 cwt. of salt. These are stated to form fourGftbs of the entire exportation, which is at present principally to Marseilles, Leghorn, Trieste, and Coast of Syria. Nearly the entire imports consist of British goods brought from Bey rout, Constantinople, Smyrna, and the Mediterranean ports. Efforts were made in 1866 to increase the growth of cotton. .From Limasoi there is a considerable trade in the shipment of wines, and raki, made in the vicinity, to Egypt and the islands of the Archipelago ; large quantities of carobs, which grow in the neighboring forests, are shipped to Kussia and Italy. To the sportsman, Cyprus offers a wide and untrodden field. Its lull* and valleys are described as swarming with hares, partridges, fancolins, bustards, and quails ; in the winter, woodcocks, snipe, and wild duck are found in great abundance; mufflons or wild sheep, and wild boara, are to be had at Cape St. Epiphanius, the district around which, called the forest of Acama, is uninhabited. The antiquities of the island belong to three distinct epochs — Grecian, Roman, and Christian, The period of the Byzantine dukes lasted nine centuries ; and among many fine churches erected at that period is still to be seen the superb one of Macherj. There is a conjecture, for which no ground is assigned, that the monuments of that period were in a great part destroyed during the time that the island was held by Richard I. of England.