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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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GIOVANNI MARITI
Travels in the Island of Cyprus
page 19

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seek, or who despised, this remedy. But it is true that their virtue consists in a particular secret, for when they press the affected part, they deftly apply some powder which causes severe but momentary pain. The Tarantula of Cyprus is a spider of dark hue inclining to black, all covered with long hairs. Its bite is very dangerous, but not mortal; it never fails to cause pains accompanied by fever. That of the Galera is poisonous and mortal. This is a narrow beast, flat, about six inches long, of a yellowish hue, and furnished with a quantity of legs which it moves all together like the oars of a galley, whence it takes its name. There is also a black snake five or six feet long. This is not venomous, and may be handled without offence. It is sometimes skinned and cooked, and said to be a savoury morsel. The horses are not fleet, but in Pafo there is a breed which is renowned for the pace called chapqun, a short amble, which they can keep up for six hours running, over hills or plains, without the least inconvenience to the rider. The donkeys have the same pace, and the mules of both sexes, which are considered the finest in this part of the Levant. The oxen are small and lean ; the Greeks do not eat beef, upon the principle that the beast that tills the ground should not be used as food for man. The sheep supply the best meat. There are some magnificent ones, with a tail so large that it weighs as much as fifty pounds, and some have three and even five horns. The lambs are chiefly eaten in the summer. The flocks of goats are really beautiful on account of the remarkable cleanness of the animals, the different colours and varied spots of their coats. The greyhounds are much valued for the chase, and their speed is such that when one goes to hunt with falcons, dogs of a slower race are taken, so as not to lose one's pleasure if the hare were caught in the twinkling of an eye. The best breed is white, with long hair about the ears and tail, and a long but ι] Island and Kingdom of Cyprus 15

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