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6 CvrRUS IN 1879.; 9 [CHAP in discovering and utilising springs is a proof that a scarcity of water has been a chronic difficulty in thi<^| island from remote periods, and that no important change has been occasioned by the sensational del struction of forests influencing the rainfall, &quot; &c , &c.j &c. In my opinion, the whole of the now desolates Messaria district may be rendered fruitful and per-, manently abundant by the scientific employment of J water-power which- already exists, although unseen and undeveloped. It was quite impossible to proceed to Famagousta. with the vans, and there was no object in courtingi their destruction by a desperate advance at all hazards,* as we should have in any case been obliged eventually* to renew the difficulty when retracing our route. I therefore cantered in upon my mule, with the guide who always lost his way, Hadji Christo. This marr was a great ruffian, and had laws existed for the prevention of cruelty to animals, I would have prosecuted him ; nominally he had the charge of the mule and two ponies, but he illtreated these poor animals, and the donkeys also, in a disgraceful manner. However, I had no other guide, and although I knew him' to be in partnership with some Will-o'-the-wisp, I waj obliged to follow him. It was an easy course for1 saddle-animals, as the cathedral of Famagousta formed the prominent point ; therefore a steeple-chase might have been the direct cross-country way. There was no change in the usual features of the barren landscape. W e kept upon the high ground on the right, looking down upon the dreary flat for twenty miles to our left. Occasionally we passed villages, all of which were mere copies of each other in filth and squalor. The dogs barked and snapped ineffectually at our heels as

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