Great
kindness was shown by these excellent ladies to many English sufferers,
and their establishment deserves a liberal support from public
contributions.
I walked through the bazaar of Larnaca; this is situated at the west end
of the town near the fort, close to which there is a public fountain
supplied by the aqueduct to which I have already alluded. Brass taps
were arranged around the covered stone reservoir, but I remarked a
distressing waste of water, as a continual flow escaped from an
uncontrolled shoot which poured in a large volume uselessly into the
street. Within a few yards of the reservoir was a solitary old banian
tree (ficus religiosa), around which a crowd of donkeys waited, laden
with panniers containing large earthen jars, which in their turn were to
be filled with the pure water of the Arpera springs.
Although the crowd was large, and all were busied in filling their jars
and loading their respective animals, there was no jostling or
quarrelling for precedence, but every individual was a pattern of
patience and good humour. Mohammedans and Cypriotes thronged together in
the same employment, and the orderly behaviour in the absence of police
supervision formed a strong contrast to the crowds in England.
The Mosque being within a few feet of them, the Mussulmans could perform
their ablutions at the threshold.
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