HISTORY ETHNOGRAPHY NATURE WINE-MAKING SITE MAP
Selected and rare materials, excerpts and observations from ancient, medieval and contemporary authors, travelers and researchers about Cyprus.
 
 
 
 
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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 387

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range under 150 yards, in the Abrahamic light of "a ram caught in a thicket " that had been placed in my way for the purpose of affording me a specimen. On arrival at the top of the ridge above the monastery the view was superb. W e looked down a couple of thousand feet into deep and narrow valleys rich in vineyards ; the mountains rose in dark masses upon the western side, covered with pine forests, which at this distance did not exhibit the mutilations of the axe. A t this early hour the sea was blue and clear, as the sun had not yet heated the air and produced the usual haze which destroys the distant views : and the tops of the lower mountains above Omodos and Chilani appeared almost close beneath upon the south, their vine-covered surface producing a rich contrast to the glaring white marls that were cleared for next year's planting. The top of Troodos was not visible, as we continued the ascent along the ridge, with the great depths of ravines and pine-covered steeps upon either side, but several imposing heights in front, and upon the right, seemed to closely rival the true highest point. As we ascended, the surface vegetation became scanty ; the rocks in many places had been thickly clothed with the common fern growing in dense masses from the soil among the interstices ; the white cistus and the purple variety had formed a gummy bed of plants which, together with several aromatic herbs, emitted a peculiar perfume in the cool morning airi These now gave place to the hardy berberris which grew in thick prickly bushes at long intervals, leaving a bare surface of rocks between them devoid of vegetation. There was little of geological interest ; gneis

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