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Lxviii.] W AGES, F OOD, &C. 423 pence, as the demand for labour shall increase. Should schools be established and education become general [throughout the island, the result will probably be exhibited by a corresponding advance in wages, as individuals will estimate their value at a higher rate. At present there is no organised system of educa tion for the peasantry, and the few schools are confined to Nicosia, Larnaca, Limasol, Baffo, and Morphu, all of which are supported by original grants, voluntary contributions, the payments of pupils, and by certain sums annually provided by the bishops and monasteries. : The rate of wages should in all countries bear a just proportion to the price of food, and should the habits of the Cypriotes remain unchanged, and their diet retain its simple character, there is no reason to anticipate a rate that would eventually exceed 10s. or us. a week. If we determine upon low wages, we must keep down the price of food. The Turkish administration had peculiar municipal laws upon this subject which are still in force in some localities, but have been abrogated in Limasol. I have already mentioned that the price of meat was fixed at a certain sum per oke, so that good and bad sold at the same figure, and resulted in the inferior qualities being sent to market, while the best never appeared. Fish, fruits, and vegetables were rated in the same manner, and the municipal authorities ruled, and fixed a standard price for everything ; good and bad all shared alike. By this extraordinary legislation, which to the English mind is inconceivable, the finest cauliflowers and the most common varieties would sell exactly at the same price ; no matter what the quality of vegetables might be, all were reduced to the same

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