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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 240 View PDF version of this page hair ferns, enlivened the otherwise dull lanes by an exhibition of industry. The orange-trees and lemons were literally overweighted with fruit, which in some instances overpowered the foliage by a preponderance •of yellow. Lefka supplies the whole western district with lemons, in addition to the market of the capital, Lefkosia. A s usual, I observed that the fruit-trees were ridiculously crowded, thus preventing the admission of the necessary air and light. I forbear at present to describe the fruit, as none existed at this season, excepting oranges and lemons, and I wish to introduce my readers to every scene and object precisely as they Ifciet my eye in travelling through the country. The lemons are some of the best I have ever tasted, but the oranges are full of seeds, with thick skins, and although juicy and refreshing in this hot climate, they would be rejected in the English market.
A very cursory view of Lefka was sufficient to explain its agricultural importance, and to (for the hundredth time) awaken the reflection that most portions of the island might equal such exceptional prosperity, if special attention were bestowed upon the development of artificial irrigation.
On 16th April we left Caravastasi, and rode over almost the worst road, but one of the most picturesque in Cyprus. It was a succession of the steepest ups and downs through and over mountain spurs, to cut off the promontories which projected into the sea at right angles with our route. It seemed impossible that loaded animals should be able to traverse such steep and dangerous defiles, and I made up my mind that Iiani's ancient camel would terminate its career, together with that of our possessions upon its back, by rolling several hundred feet into the dark angle of some
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