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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 57 View PDF version of this page foundation ; the street was a series of pitfalls filled! with mud and filth, including miniature ponds ofl manure-coloured water. The surface appeared im-1 passable ; the projecting water-spouts from the lowj roofs stuck out like the gnarled boughs of trees.] Here was a pretty mess !—all because Georgi's wife] was in town. It was impossible for anything larger] than a perambulator to turn, and as the springs! yielded to the uneven ground, the van bumped against! the walls of the houses and threatened destruction. " Halt ! " was the only word, and as the drag-shoe was on the wheel, we stopped. At this moment of difficulty a priest and some old women appeared with earthen vessels smoking with burning olive leaves ; they immediately passed the smoke beneathj the nostrils of the oxen, then around the van, anc lastly ourselves. A t the same time some gooc young women threw orange-flower water over mj wife and myself from pretty glass vases with narrow! necks as a sign of welcome. The incense of the priests was supposed to avert the " evil-eye " fror the gipsy van and our party. I felt much obligee for the good intention, but I did not mind the " evil] eye " so much as the water-spouts. In my experience of travelling I never met with such kind and courteous people as the inhabitants of Cyprus. The Dali population had already blocked the narrow streets
from curiosity at our arrival, and soon understanding the cause of our dilemma, they mounted the housetops and tore off the obstructing water-spouts ; wherq these projections were too strong, they sawed them of close to the eaves. A crowd of men pushed the var from behind, and guided the oxen, while others assistée by digging up the large paving-stones that would have
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