THE PRESS ON CYPRUS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 62, 7 December 1878, Page 3

THE PRESS ON CYPRUS.

♦ It niny lie interesting to notice in oonnection with the occupation of Cyprus that the liuliim Government hits rvoocupted the hland (if Sucotm, off tho entrance of the Gulf of Ad.Mi. The British nag wns ichoisted on tlio island about six weeks ago.— -Europoan Muil. The Right Rev. Dr. Sanford, Bishop nf Uibrultur, h.i . a* arranged by tlie Foreign Ollico, the episcopal superintoc.l of ntiy eongragntlun*, churches, CyprtVV Tiie iii„li brig of in was scc'clatl; founded tlmt (he bishop tboioot might "»u[iiriv'..:.d tlu lriti.ii

c ongregati mi in Uibralta and Malta ui I on the khottM awl mi the Ukvudi uf t!t< Mediterranean Sea.- Ibid. As was expected, awing 1" the long ;,-, i' pi. go, i; ||, ~ t |,, .. v |. t: t|„ i | ,|| | has been' Miliji «t.-. 1, accounts received fruiu Cyprus are not very encouraging to intending emigrant* or visitors. It is statotl that there oruuo comfortable dwelling houses t. be found, and that th< \y houses to let are extiomely wretched outwardly and imvoi-dly, being l>uilt of sun-dried bricks. The rents asked by landlords are most exhorbitant and high. For a house which before the cession was let :it j£lo pur annum, £250 was actually demanded by the proprietor. The shopkeepers, grocers and vendors also tried

the same trick, but the authorities were on the alert, and came down upon them to prevent extortion by allowing a icasoiinble increase in the prices of their articles. No stock of goods exists in the island; straw, hav, and dried wool are scarce, but can be bought at Beyrout. Beef and mutton are comparatively cheap, for the natives seldom eat meat, they subsist chiefly on bread, olives and fruit. Carts ami camels, il seems, are easily hired at moderate prices. There is a large supply of labourers, who can be

employed at 10 piastres (Is. 3d.) per diem. The heat is stated to be terrific, a great deal hotter than in Malta. The camp of the British troops is situate five miles from the town of Larnaca. The elected members of the .Malta Council have expressed their willingness to pass any vote of money necessary for that purpose in a letter to His Excellency the Governor. His Excellency the (Jovernor iinmedintelv forwarded their letter to the Colonial Secretary. The Imperial Government are doubtless aware of the importance of repopulating Cyprus with Maltese in preference to other peoples. They would never aspire to independence as they do not form a nation, and are thoroughly content with British rule; whilst the Creeks would be constantly clamouring for I'iiion with Greece, as the lonian Islands did. [bid. The steamer Napoli, the of a line from London to Larnaca, was despatched by .Messrs Oilier ami Co., of Great St. Helen's, on August :;, with a number of passengers ami u full cargo of iniscellaueous goods. Previous to the steamer's departure from tiinveseml the passengers forwarded the following telegram : "To Her Majestv Queen Victoria, Osborne, Isle of Wi^ht.—A few loyal subjects, passengers on hoard the Napoli, being the fiist steamer sailing from the river Thames to your newly actpiired island of Cyprus, beg leave to tender their respectful homage before leaving."-—lbid. The Duke of E liubiirgh lias achieved a triumph. The disembarkation of the troops at Cyprus was conducted under his sole management. As there were 0000 men, besides horses and stores to be removed from the transports, which could not approach nearer than a mile and a hall' from the shore, the operation was one of some difficulty ; but it, was most proniptlv and efficiently performed by His Royal Highness, whose activity and energy deserved and earned the hearty commendation of the chief authorities. —lbid.

The road from tho beach to the camp is not a beautiful one. It is about three inches deep in dust, and much broken into ruts, ft skirts the inland town of Larnnea, and strikes away in a northwesterly direction gradual!) rising through a region which appears to have been once cultivated, but which is now overgrown with the inevitable thistle and by a vehemently prickly shrub. It dips down into the salt marshes, the valley of which is crossed bv the aqueduct on arches which the old Romans built. In a second hollow lies the far f I'achii Ohillick, where the overflow from the aqueduct has stimulated a profuse outburst of foliage, and in whose garden there is pleasant, cool shades under the locust trees. Here reside a little colony of peasants, and a couple of lean old Turkish women drift aimlessly and bewildered among the throng of soldiers, black and white, who in all costumes, and as regards the blacks in almost no costume at all, swarm about the little settlement, washing themselves and their clothes in the outflow from the aqueduct, and searching for stumps of old trees in the garden to supply wherewith the camp kitchens. The men of the oolony thresh out their grain in open threshing floors universal in the East, alike in Bulgaria and in Palestine. We ,hi not know whether it affords any indication of tho character of the Cypriotes that they scrupulously disobey tlie Scriptural injunction, " Thou shiiit not muzzle the ox that trcadeth out the corn;" but it is the fact that all tinbeasts employed in this work have their noses buried in n muzzle of open wicker work. Under the trees Maltese pedlars are already established with their trays of cheap rubbish, and native Cypriotes are doing a brisk trade in tho sale of fruit. There is a steepisb rise from the farm down in the hollow to the camp Oil the flat-topped ridge. As one gains tho ridge there meets him the grateful breeze blowing in from the ocean, that lies spread oul below iu a great sheet of deep blue gloss. The camp sums its back on the sea, and points to lit ist or northeast, looking down into a hollow along which the aqueduct runs. The site is well-chosen. The heat, in consequence of the bareness of it -for no trees growon the ridge—is mitigated by the brecz", which the position always ootchos whenever there is a breath nf wind, no matter (mm wind direction. The Attil-

, ~. | ~. i m, the ri [hi of ''l- lino, iSnil, the tOlsfe andtn»?ht Tl amp ootumoudant and ueliiig brigadier Is the

enioi ,-.!..-.--I, Cdoui [ Maedoniul of tlta 71-1. The Hnmhay l.am.-.-s understand 'camping well; th,.. v has,, their Indian appliances, in the -Imp- of largo and i doable touts, draught bullocks carrying the grateful museik or water skin, piu- ■ dahs. carpets and so forth, convenieucojj j suited to the climate which tho white i regiments do not enjoy. The black troopers commence operations by stripping to the dhutie, and the hotter it is the better they seem to like it. Their horses are picquotted securely in the horse lines, tho wiry little animals neighing ami straining to get at each other with unbroken and nmpienehahlo ardour for a quarrel. An old cavalry man may have some title to compliment Colonel Blair on the stump of horse; which his troopers ride, and which could have been got together only by great, care and discrimination. Il is a mixed regiment of ' Waters" or Austia'ian hois «,country breds and Arabs. The horses run Biiinfl —-perhaps the average is 14 hands or an inch over—but they are lough, wiry, and well coupled, hard as nails, and capable of carrying fair weights with great endurance. —l)a ily Xc w s. It is always gratifying to draw attention to the career of Australians in the service of their Queen and country. Referring to the staff appointments made fc\ si! timet \\ ■!. '\ ai assuming tin. Government of tho newly acquired island of Cyprus, the Whitehall Review says: -—"The military appointment which lias given most satisfaction is that of Liout.Col. Baker Uussel, C.8., as Military S rctary. It was Colonel Rtlssel who nised and commanded " Russell's Itcgimonl " on the Gold Coast. In the l.'lth Hussars great disappointment will be felt, for there have long been hopes expressed among the officers of that gallant regiment that Baker llussell would eventually assume command, and there will he fears now lest his re-appointment to the staff may interfere with his regimental advancement." Colonel llussell is the second son of tie-late Captain William Russell of llavcnsworth, Hunter River, and is a native of Sydney.—S. JL Herald. • 'yprus is a name now-a-days in everybody's mouth, and mind too. ' Some enterprising person is going to establish a monster hotel. A hotel ! Why a dozen hotels at least might with advantage he run up. The (iladst Press still continues to call the island a pestilential swamp; the Conservative papers maintain that it is an earthly paradise. The energetic firm of Truefit, hairdressers, ~f Bond-street, haw already established an aiienev in Cyprus, and a few days ago Mr. 'True-fit received a telegram from his representative there, saving that he had just shaved and cut the hair of the lirst l'higlishman who had landed on the island, llappv barber ! —Sail Francisco Chronicle. 11 istory repeats itself in events : ficl ion works by the same process. Shakespeare sent to" Cyprus Othello the man who boasted of descent '• from men of 1 loyal seige " in Africa, and was the trusted general of Venice. We send to Cyprus a general in Sir Garnet Wolselv, who has conquered Africans and destroyed the capital of Ash.-mt.ee. Shakespeare made the Duke 0 f Venice say, " The Turk with most mighty preparation, makes for Cyprus ;" but even in those days the Turks had acquired credit for subtlety, and were suspected of a feint attack upon lihodos. Thev steered iii due course for Rhodes, hut'the I Ink.-held to his opinion of '• the importance of Cyprus to the Turk ": " We must not think the Turk is so unskilful To leave thai latest which concerns him first; Neglecting an attempt of ease and gain To make audwago a danger profitless.'' Shakespeare, who wrote for all time, accurately gauged the Turkish character, for the Turk of our day has 'not left that latest which concerns him lii-t." but providently assures himself of adefensive alliance with England hehuv he surrenders Cyprus.- European Mail. The Premier's novels are frequently supposed to give mi insight into the noble lord's system of policy. Another illustration in support of that, view is furnished by the recent annexation of Cyprus. Writing in " Tancred," thirty years ago, the present Prime Minister wrote as follows : "The English want ('yprus. and they will take it as a compensation;" and again. "Thev will not do the business of the Turk for nothing." Ibid. As long ago as the summer of 183U a gentlemrn who bad I n sent by the British Ambassador at Constantinople en amission to the Island of Cyprus was wait: 1 upon soon ifter hi arriv\! in th island by some of the inhabitants, who presented him with a small cask of the native wine, which is known as "Cominanderia." This cask of wine was proved by documentary and other evidence to be 300 years old, and it was said that no other Cyprus uine of the same age was in existence. It would probably have boon impossible to find an amateur willing to pay the price whioll an expert would have fixed as its value, This valuable wine the British agent was asked to forward to England, there "to be laid at the leet of Her Majesty." with a bumble prayer from the owners "that Queen \ ictoria would deign to accept this tribute of lesnect from the inhabittints of an inland that had once been under the sway of one of the most glorious of llrr Majesty's predecessors oil tho throne of England --iiuinolv Richard ('iiuir de Lion." The British agent told tlm owners of the wine that it was an established ndo that th- Qu never roll •'*■■ hut that Jie would forward tha-wina to an equonyol Her Majesty with a letter explaining t! e poeu-

Ita . ircwuUaneeaof the ease. I'm- pre. ■eiil was senl hy an Austrian Lloyd's Kteaimr to Alexandria, ami ill.-re trans- ! fcrred to a Peninsular ami Oriental Couimnv's steamer bound for Southampton, aid in duo co«no of time the English agent weeiwd a lottos from sir U. ISPhippa, dated Balmoral September 2t>, 1850, tram which it appeared that Her Majesty hail been graciously phrased to accept the gift,—lbid. Until a regular British postal service be organised between Cyprus ami Brin•lisi, letters, &c., may be Bent by the Steamers of the Austrian Lloyd from Trieste, which reach Larnaka on alternate Tuesdays, via Rhodes and Beyrout, The postage is 2'd., not exceeding half-an-ounce for letters, and Id. on newspapers not over four ounces. The Austrian Lloyd's steamers leave Trieste every Saturday afternoon, hut the island and coasting steamers used only to go once a fortnight to Larnaka. —Ibid. And to all this has to be added the charge which the home military authorities have laid upon Sir Garnet to he extremely careful of the troops with whom he is entrusted. The latter charge is not likely to he the least part of the Administrator's cares at first. It is satisfactory to find that the danger of actual famine which has been hinted at is not pressing. There are it, seems, four hundred thousand sheep and goats in Cyprus, and there i< a good deal of eating in four hundred thousand goats and sheep. But, considering the total absence of barracks, and the presence, in part at least of the island, of very dubious sanitary conditions Sir Garnet will have plenty to do in looking after his respectable little army. < Certainly few persons can have had larger, more varied, or more onerous iluties imposed upon them. If modern English had been ancient Greece, and we had been colonising t 'yprus, Sir Garnet would have been furnished by the prominent philosopher" of the day "with a neatly-designed code of laws lor his guidance. It would be invidious to pitch upon any single person its our prominent philosopher of today, but whoever he may be', lie would be"n bold man if he undertook to give advice on all the points we have mentioned. Possibly Sir Garnet Wolseley's experience and common sense will stand him in better stead than could a manual by Plat ■ Zaleeus. Assuredly, it' lie does all the things which bis ( mission tells him to do, and does them satisfactorily, he ought, to be ill roiplcst among the nations of the world as mi instructor in economy. When he has recorganised the institutions of Cyprus and multiplied its revenue and populations ami rebuilt its towns and re-dredged its harbours and re-discoverud the famous copper mines, the locality of which noboilv seems to know, and re-planted the extinct forests with eucalyptus trees to get rid of the malaria of marshes, and lias gem-rally restored the island of Venus to to its old beauty and prosperity, he will have done a great, work truly. But a great work is a great opportunity ; and in this sense, ut least, few ] pie have ever had a greater opportunity than the Administrator of Cyprus.—Daily News.

The man who, after a prolonged residence in Nikosia, can find bis way through its tortuous thoroughfares to any given destination deserves a medal from the Geographical Society. The place is a maze, and a maze without a plan the lenses are all so like each other in their patchwork dilapidation, in their balcony over-hanging the folding doors, in their heaps of earth up against the walls, in their closcly.latticed windows ; in their dinginess ; the streets are all so alike in their dogs, in their gutter running along tl outre, which, however is not a sewer, but :i conduit of clear water that conveys irrigation to the gardens by duets made under the houses ; in their' loafers f-zz-d men anil sallow bright-eyed women lean ing against the walls or sitting oil chairs ill their doorways, in the half naked babies in thill' casual luaps of rubla hj m th: lr treacherous holes, and ill their smells. Boston Bulletin.