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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 42

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a quarter of a mile distant. It is impossible to be too careful in the selection of a camping-ground ; the effect of fever-germs may be the result of one night's bivouac in an unhealthy locality ; and a new country is frequently stamped as pestilential from the utter carelessness of the traveller or officer in command of troops. A s a general rule the immediate neighbourhood of water should be avoided. A clear stream is a tempting object, and the difficulty of carrying water for the supply of troops is important ; but it is less than the necessity of carrying the sick. If once the fever of malaria attacks an individual he becomes unfitted for his work ; the blood is poisoned, and he .is the victim of renewed attacks which baffle medical skill and lead to other serious complications. Avoid the first attack. This may generally be effected by the careful selection of the camping-ground. Never halt in a bottom, but always on a height. Throughout my journey in Cyprus neither ourselves nor servants suffered from any ailment, although we visited every portion of the country, and I attribute this immunity from fever mainly to the care in our selection of halting-places. Th e first necessity in the evening halt was fire. This is one of the troubles of central Cyprus—there is no fuel. The two vans and the native cart were in a line—the bell-tent was quickly pitched for the servants, who now for the first time experienced the comfort of an arrangement I had made when in England. I had seven deal battens, each seven feet long, four inches deep, by two and a half inches broad. These were laid upon the ground twelve inches apart ; seven planks, each one foot wide, were placed across

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