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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 21

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were for the most part flat, and covered with tempered 1 clay and chopped straw for the thickness of about ten 1 inches. Some buildings of greater pretensions were gaudy in bright red tiles, but all were alike in the • general waste of rain-water, which was simply allowed : to pour into the narrow streets through innumerablewooden shoots projecting about six feet beyond the eaves. These gutters would be a serious obstacle to wheeled conveyances, such as lofty waggons, which 1 would be unable in many cases to pass beneath. The streets are paved, but being devoid of subterranean drains, a heavy shower would convert them into pools. Foot passengers are protected from such accidents by a stone footway about sixteen inches high upon either side of the narrow street. Before the English occupation these hollow lanes were merely heaps of filth, which caused great unhealthiness ; they were now tolerably clean ; but in most cases the pavement was full of holes that would have tested the springs and wheels of modern vehicles. I had heard, prior to leaving England, that hotels, inns, &c , were unknown in Larnaca ; I was, therefore, agreeably surprised on landing, to find a new hotel (Craddock's) which was scrupulously clean, the rooms neatly whitewashed, and everything simple and in accordance with the requirements of the country. The miserable reports in England respecting the want of accommodation, and the unhealthiness of Cyprus, had determined me to render myself indepen dent ; I had therefore arranged a gipsy travelling-van while in London, which would, as a hut upon wheels,, enable us to select a desirable resting-place in any por tion of the island, where the route should be practicable for wheeled conveyances. This van was furnished

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