"Rest, weary pilgrim, rest and pray
For the kind soul of Sybil Grey,
Who built this Cross and Well."
Christian and Mahommedan, and all creeds and races, men and animals,
yield unanimously to the great want, which in a thirsty land alone will
bring the lion and the lamb to drink in the same stream. I have myself
seen in moonlight, animals of various and conflicting natures revelling
in the rest of nature's armistice, drinking in crowds at the solitary
pool; the only source of water in the desert.
The Cypriotes in their natural love of the marvellous insist upon the
mystery attached to the Kythrea springs, but they attach no importance
to the extensive subterranean water-stores of the Messaria plain, simply
because they do not see it issue from the ground: still the fact is
there, the water in vast quantities always exists, and were it tapped at
a higher level, it would flow (as it actually does in certain places),
and exhibit the same principle upon a much larger scale than the
romantic and picturesque mountain springs of Kythrea.
As we increased our altitude the scenery improved in interest: we were
no longer in barren mounds of water-washed debris, but the rich soil
among the dark grey rocks gave birth to numerous shrubs, including the
evergreen mastic, arbutus, and the dwarf cypress. Although the route was
only marked by the continual tracks of the lime-burner's mules, our
sturdy animals mounted the steep rocky ascents with comparative ease,
and skirted the deep water-worn ravines without missing a footstep.
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