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the seashore, but occasionally cutting off the bends by a direct line. The plain is a dead level, as it has been entirely deposited by the floods of the Pedias river. W e rode tolerably fast, the sun being hot and the country most uninteresting ; we had left the shrubcovered surface of the Carpas with its romantic cliffs and deep valleys rich in verdure, and once more we were upon the hateful treeless plain of Messaria. During our sojourn in the Carpas district the rainfall by our gauge had been 1*28 inches, but in this unattractive region there had only been one or two faint showers, hardly sufficient to lay the dust. The crops about five inches above the ground were almost dead, and the young wheat and barley were completely withered. k About four or five miles from Famagousta we arrived at the ruins of ancient Salamis. The stringent prohibition of the British authorities against a search for antiquities in Cyprus had destroyed the interest which would otherwise have been taken by travellers 'in such explorations. A s I have before remarked, ' there are no remains to attract attention upon the surface, but all ancient works are buried far beneath, • therefore in the absence of permission to excavate, the 'practical study of the past is impossible, and it is a scaled book. Fortunately General di Cesnola has published his most interesting volume, combining 'historical sketches of ancient times with a minute 'description of the enormous collection of antiquities which rewarded his labours during ten years' research ; I so that if our government will neither explore nor per-I mit others to investigate, we have at least an invaluable fund of information collected by those whose consular li position during the Turkish rule enabled them to L

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