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.
 
 
 
 
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SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER
CYPRUS AS I SAW IT IN 1879
page 165

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made a considerable détour necessary ; they were no dry, with the exception of two or three holes full ο muddy water, which were unconnected with any perl ceptible channel. A long stone causeway proved thai occasionally the hardened mud upon which we roda would become a lake, but from the numerous tracks ol animals the earth was preferred to the uneven andl slippery pavement of the artificial road. The enorl mous quantity of mud brought down by the Pediaa during its fitful inundations had completely obliterateci all signs of an ordinary river-bed, and the deposit hacl produced a surface that was scored in numerous place! by the rush of water, without in any way suggesting that we were in the neighbourhood of the largest river in Cyprus. The width of this muddy swamp wa about two miles, and terminated by a shallow lake upon our left. W e were now within a mile and a quarter oJ Famagousta, and the ground began to rise. It struck me that an eminence upon our right was superior to the height of the city walls, and I rode up to examine thè position. There was no doubt that it commanded the lower portion of the fortress, and that a direct shells fire could be plunged into the rear of the guns which protect the entrance of the harbour. In the even! of modifications being introduced when restoring the defensive works of Famagousta, it would be necessarj to erect a powerful detached fort upon this position which would be an immense addition to the defences of the city, as it would enfilade the approaches upon two sides. The walls of Famagousta are most imposing ; the! are constructed of carefully-squared stone joined wit! cement of such extreme hardness that the weathe has had no destructive effect. The perimeter of til

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