None of these
people have an idea respecting a succession of crops in scientific
rotation, therefore a loss is sustained by the impoverishment of the
ground, which must occasionally lie inactive to recover its fertility.
There is absolutely no provision whatever for the cattle in the shape of
root-crops or hay, but they trust entirely to the bruised barley-straw
and such seeds as the cotton and lentil. At this season the Carpas
district possessed an important advantage in the variety of wild
vegetables which afforded nourishment for man and beast; the valleys
teemed with wild artichokes and with a variety of thistles, whose
succulent stems were a favourite food for both oxen and camels.
The leaf-stems of the artichokes were peeled and eaten raw by the
inhabitants, but as these people are accustomed to consume all kinds of
uncooked vegetables and unripe fruits few civilised persons would
indulge in the Cypriote tastes. We found the artichoke stems uneatable
in a raw state, but remarkably good when peeled and stewed, with a sauce
of yolk of egg beaten up with oil, salt, pepper, and lemon-juice; they
were then quite equal to sea-kale. There is a general neglect in the
cultivation of vegetables which I cannot understand, as agriculture is
the Cypriote's vocation; it can hardly be called laziness, as they are
most industrious in their fields, and expend an immense amount of labour
in erecting stone walls to retain a small amount of soil wherever the
water-wash from a higher elevation brings with it a deposit.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173