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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 80 View PDF version of this page sioncr, Colonel Biddulph, R.A. , C.B., had already improved certain streets, and the eye was immediately attracted to points which bore the unmistakable stamp of a British occupation ; but nothing can be effected in the arrangement of such a town without an unlimited purse and a despotic power. It is almost as hopeless as London in the incongruity of architecture, and the individual indulgence of independent taste, which absolutely dismays a stranger. The beautiful Gothic cathedral of the Venetians has been converted into • mosque by the conquerors, and two exceedingly lofty and thin minarets have added an absurd embellishment, resembling two gigantic candles capped by extinguishers, as though the altar-tapers had been taken for the models. The neighbouring church of St. Nicholas has been converted into a granary. In all Turkish towns the bazaars are the most interesting portion, as they illustrate the commercial and agricultural industries of the country. Those of Lefkosia formed a labyrinth of the usual narrow streets, and resembled each other so closely that it was difficult to find the way. The preparation of leather from the first process of tanning is exhibited on an extensive scale, which does not add to the natural sweetness of the air. Native manufactures for which the town is celebrated, that are more agreeable, may be purchased at a moderate price in the shape of silk stuffs ; and a variety of mule-harness, pack-saddles, and the capacious double bags of hair and wool that, slung across the animal, are almost indispensable to the traveller. .There were a few shops devoted to European articles which were hardly adapted to the country, and were expensive in a ridiculous degree. The nanxnv streets
;were muddy from the recent rain, and the temperature
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