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, M GIPSY-VANS ENCOUNTKK DIFFICULTÉS. 27 road instead of a useless equator I should like to be perpetually circum-vanning it. On the following morning the thermometer marked 400. The natives were early at work, ploughing land that was to remain fallow until the following season. The oxen were sleek and in good condition, and not inferior in weight to the well-known red animals of North Devon. Although the native plough is of the unchanged and primitive pattern that is illustrated on the walls of Egyptian temples, it is well adapted for the work required in the rough and stony ground of Cyprus. I was surprised to see the depth which these exceedingly light implements attained, with apparent ease to the pair of oxen ; this was not less than eight inches, and the furrows were regular, but not turned completely over. The ploughshare is not adapted for cutting the roots of weeds by means of a flat surface and a sharp edge, but the rounded top of the native iron passes beneath the soil and breaks it up like the wave produced by the ram-bow of a vessel. The plough, when complete, does not exceed forty pounds in weight, and it is conveniently carried, together with the labourer, upon the same donkey, when travelling from a distance to the morning's work. European settlers in Cyprus should be cautious before superseding the native plough by the massive European pattern ; there are certain soils where the powerful iron plough, or even the double implement, might be worked with advantage, but as a general rule I should advise an agriculturist to wait patiently at the commencement of his operations, and to gain practical experience of the country before he expends capital in the purchase of European inventions. There can be no doubt that by degrees important improvements

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