View PDF version of this page

CHAPTER XVIII. ON POLICE, FOOD, CLIMATE, &C . T HE population of Cyprus is about 200,000, of \vhich number more than three-fourths belong to the Greekj Church ; nevertheless the minority of Turks completely! dominated prior to the British occupation. Although the Cypriote is, as I have described, courteous, gentle, and affectionate in his domestic circle, he is at the same time cunning and addicted to petty larceny, and in all your! dealings with these apparently easy-going people youi must exercise the same acuteness that is so absolutely necessary in England. There are few great crimes in proportion to the population, nor do we ever hear of such atrocities as those classes of murders which so frequently blacken the page of our modern history. Homicide is more common than actual murder, and is often the result of a sudden quarrel where knives are drawn, and a fatal stab in passion constitutes the offence.' Sheep-stealing is the prevalent crime, and is carried on with an amount of hardihood that can only be accounted for from the difficulty of proof. The flocks of goats, &c , roam over the wild and uninhabited area of the high mountains and frequently stray from the shepherd and are lost for two or three nights ; by the time they are recovered a certain number may be missing,

View PDF version of this page