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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 250 View PDF version of this page on the western side we ascended a steep patii over cretaceous limestone, broken and disturbed at intervals by the protrusion of eruptive rocks. As we increased our altitude we looked down upon a picturesque view of the bay of Krysokhus, with two sails upon its blue waters beneath the dark cliffs of the western shore. The ancient Marium or Arsinoe showed no vestiges except in the modern village of Polis, which, from the distance, looked better than the reality, as the foliage of numerous trees shadowing the terrace-built houses upon either side the rich green valley, backed by the lofty range of pine-covered mountains, completed a lovely landscape.
An hour had passed, but still we ascended ; the path was as usual rugged, and we already looked down upon the sea and valley at least 2000 feet beneath. I had serious misgivings concerning the camels and their loads. General di Cesnola had examined the whole of this country in his search for antiquities, but the neighbourhood of the ancient Arsinoe, where much had been expected, was almost unproductive.
The path still rose ; until at length we arrived upon an extensive plateau about 2400 feet above the sea. The soil was chocolate-colour, and the surface was covered with large stones of the sedimentary limestone that surrounds the coast, and which forms the flattopped hills of the Messaria. In many places the natives had built these into walls around their fields, in order to clear the ground required for cultivation. W e passed several villages, all squalid and miserable, although the rich soil exhibited green crops far superior to anything we had met with in the lower country.
Extensive gardens of mulberry explained the silk
producing power of this neighbourhood, and almonds,
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