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Selected and rare materials, excerpts and observations from ancient, medieval and contemporary authors, travelers and researchers about Cyprus.
 
 
 
 
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CLAUDE DELAVAL COBHAM
Exerpta Cypria
page 439

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TUR-NEH. 420 March 10. (Thermometer 66.) Τη the morning the Russian consul and his wife came to visit me in all consular glory*. He was glittering in an embroidered coat, and the largest possible cocked hat: he apologized for having been prevented by severe cold and swelled face (missione) from paying me a visit before ; and in answer I assured him, very sincerely, that I regretted his having had the trouble now. He was accompanied by the Greek priest whom I saw at his house, and whom 1 supposed to be the spiritual comforter of the family, as-Madame was very assiduous in brushing dust off his robes, Ac. This priest was to return to-day to the Archbishop at Nicosia. Ί found him by far the most eandid Greek ecclesiastic I have seen, as he confessed to me that he did not think there was any spiritual use in the numerous fasts of the Greeks, but held thein sacred rather from custom than from religious motives. He told ine that tho Turks here are much more mild, and less bigoted, than in other parts of Turkey,, many of thein in private even eating pork, and all of them being very sociable and friendly to the Christians. Äs I certainly did not coinè to Cyprus to pay or receive visits, 1 was glad, when the Russian consul was gone, that all such ceremonies are past, 1 being under no obligation to call on the French consnl, as he has shown me no civility since my arrival, and is moreover a great Buonapartist (having accompanied his idol to Egypt) and consequently, even declaredly, no great lover of the Bourbons or the English. At noon 1 went with the consul in his carrozza to dine with Mr How at the Marina, where we fared sumptuously, iu company with three Maltese captains. There are now in the road here (for there is no port) seven Maltese and five French vessels. These bring here articles of English or German manufacture (the greater part of which go to Syria) and carry back the productions of the island. The roadsted is defended, or rather pretended to be so, by a small Venetian castle, now falling to ruins ; of which the only interest is Shakspeare's having supposed it to he the post of Othello. To-day being Sunday, the consuls' flags were all flying. On onr return from the Marina we saw numbers of female Christian pilgrims from the Archipelago and Caramania, on their way to Jerusalem, who are distinguished by a large linen veil that covers their whole body. I paid a visit to-day to the Franciscan friars, offering to carry any letters for them to the Holy Ijand. I entered while they were performing service in a small neat church, where, on pretenee of its being Pahn-Suuday, the French and Austrian, the only Catholic, consuls, were stuck up in state. There is not near such a passion for full dress at Constantinople as here- the uniform if* mounted on every trivial occasion. March 20. Mr H. having been kind enough to lend me his horse, a small grey of the country, with an English saddle, at a quarter before seven I set off with Ibrahim, one of Mr V.'s janizaries, mounted on a small mule, to visit the site of the ancient Idalium, famous for the death of Adonis. It is now a small village, five leagues' (hours') distance from Larnaea, a little more than half-way between that town and Nicosia. Our road lay through an extensive plain of a dry but fruitful soil, not one-tenth part of which was cultivated, and that by a miserable wooden plough, drawn by two oxen or mnles. The plain is bordered by mountains very insignificant in height, which bore a singular appearance from their topi-being naked and of a sandy white, while their base was covered with brown moss. Along the road, which, however, was in general too stony to need or admit any care, I observed some remains of a brick pavement, probably Venetian. In an hour we eame to the village of Araeipou, consisting of abont twenty-five houses ; and we passed two others, Gotzi, containing about ten, and Loo ritz en a, about thirty houses. Near Gotzi was a mountain iu shape a complete sugar-loaf, which contained on ite peak a small Greek chnrch, of the Lower Empire (of whieh construction there are several Greek churches about the island), that had

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