xercised their
calling in this region, and small towns, of which we possess only the
Greek or Grecised names--Karpasia, Aphrodision, Kerynia, Lapethos--led
there a slumbering existence. Almost in the centre of the island two
volcanic peaks, Troodes and Olympos, face each other, and rise to
a height of nearly 7000 feet, the range of mountains to which they
belong--that of Aous--forming the framework of the island. The spurs of
this range fall by a gentle gradient towards the south, and spread out
either into stony slopes favourable to the culture of the vine, or into
great maritime flats fringed with brackish lagoons. The valley which
lies on the northern side of this chain runs from sea to sea in an
almost unbroken level. A scarcely perceptible watershed divides the
valley into two basins similar to those of Syria, the larger of the
two lying opposite to the Phoenician coast. The soil consists of black
mould, as rich as that of Egypt, and renewed yearly by the overflowing
of the Pediaeos and its affluents. Thick forests occupied the interior,
promising inexhaustible resources to any naval power. Even under the
Koman emperors the Cypriotes boasted that they could build and fit out
a ship from the keel to the masthead without looking to resources beyond
those of their own island. The ash, pine, cypress, and oak flourished
on the sides of the range of Aous, while cedars grew there to a greater
height and girth than even on the Lebanon. Wheat, barley, olive trees,
vines, sweet-smelling woods for burning on the altar, medicinal plants
such as the poppy and the _ladanum_, henna for staining with a deep
orange colour the lips, eyelids, palm, nails, and fingertips of the
women, all found here a congenial habitat; while a profusion everywhere
of sweet-smelling flowers, which saturated the air with their
penetrating odours--spring violets, many-coloured anemones, the lily,
hyacinth, crocus, narcissus, and wild rose--led the Greeks to bestow
upon the island the designation of "the balmy Cyprus." Mines also
contributed their share to the riches of which the island could boast.
Iron in small quantities, alum, asbestos, agate and other precious
stones, are still to be found there, and in ancient times the
neighbourhood of Tamassos yielded copper in such quantities that the
Romans were accustomed to designate this metal by the name "Cyprium,"
and the word passed from them into all the languages of Europe. It is
not easy to determine th