HISTORY ETHNOGRAPHY NATURE WINE-MAKING SITE MAP
Selected and rare materials, excerpts and observations from ancient, medieval and contemporary authors, travelers and researchers about Cyprus.
 
 
 
 
uses Google technology and indexes only and selectively internet - libraries having books with free public access
 
  Previous Next  

SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 58

View PDF version of this page

tilted it against the house-walls. In this manner we arrived without serious accident upon the bank of the river which ra'n through the town. There was an open space here which was crowded with women and girls, who, with feminine curiosity, had assembled to see the English lady. Among these was the prettiest young woman I have seen in Cyprus, with a child in her arms. Her large blue eyes and perfect Grecian features were enhanced by a sweet gentle expression of countenance. She seemed more than others delighted at our arrival. This was Georgi's wife !—and I at once forgave him for deceiving us and yielding to the natural attraction of his home. W e were not quite out of our difficulty. Several hundred people had assembled, and all spoke at once, raising their voices in the hope that we should understand, their Greek better than if spoken in a moderate tone : (why people will speak loud if you do not know their language I cannot understand :) but as we \vere utterly ignorant of their meaning we were not confused by their differences of opinion respecting our direction. It ended in our crossing the stony bed of the river, through which a reduced stream only a few inches deep flowed in the centre, and having with difficulty gained the opposite bank a hundred yards distant, we soon arrived in a sort of natural eel-trap formed by a narrow avenue of gigantic olive-trees, the branches of which effectually barred our progress and prevented the vans from turning. A temporary loss of temper was a natural con sequence, and having ridden in advance for about half a mile, I returned and ordered a retreat. W e took the bullocks out, and by hand backed the wheels, until by shovels and picks we could clear a space for

View PDF version of this page


  Previous First Next