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αίΑΓ. win.] POLICE, W AGES, F OOD, &C 421 "and it is hardly possible to discover the thief, as the animals have been driven to a great distance. Tracking =Wuld be out of the question over the rocky surface, i where every small plot of naked soil is trodden into countless footmarks by the innumerable goats which browse upon the mountain slopes. A t night the flocks pre generally herded within a circle protected by a ; fence of thorny bushes ; sometimes these folds are [invaded by thieves during the darkness, and a considerable number are driven off. A s the locality would I be generally distant from the principal town, and the shepherd cannot forsake his flock for several days to prosecute, the thieves frequently escape, and this immunity encourages them to further depredations. During my residence within the precincts of the monastery, the fold upon the hill within a quarter of a mile of the establishment was thus robbed, and the thieves were never discovered. The police or zaphtiehs are generally too far from these wild localities to be of any service, and they are at present too few for the proper supervision of the island. A plan is I believe in contemplation to extend this body upon a scale that will render the force efficient as a gendarmerie, which would to a considerable degree relieve the necessity for a permanent (European military force. There can be no better soldier than the Turk under British officers. The Christians in Cyprus have an objection to this -service, and there is no reason why a military force to combine the duties of police should not be organised, that would be thoroughly acclimatised, and would at the same time be maintained for less than half the expense of English troops. There is nothing to fear from the Turkish population in Cyprus, and they would

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