The
appearance was peculiar, as the cliffs of brown sandstone were crusted
for a depth of about eight or ten feet by the white rock abounding with
fossil shells, while the substratum of hard sand was perfectly devoid of
all traces of organic matter. The upheaval of a sea-bottom was clearly
demonstrated. As the sandstone had decayed, vast fragments of the
surface rock had broken down when undermined and had fallen to the base
of the steep inclines, from the interstices of which a dense growth of
evergreens produced an agreeable harmony of colouring, combining various
shades of green with brown cliffs and white masses of disjointed
limestone. The deep blue of the sea was a beautiful addition to this
wild scenery, and after threading our way sometimes between narrow
gorges, at other places along sequestered glens which exhibited young
crops of cereals and cultivated olive-trees, we at length arrived at a
halting-place upon the seashore, where a well of excellent water about
ten feet from the surface had been sunk upon the sea-beach within fifty
yards of the waves.
This was the best camping-ground we had had in Cyprus; for the first
time we stood upon real turf, green with recent showers, and firmly
rooted upon a rich sandy loam. A cultivated valley lay a few hundred
yards beyond us, completely walled in by high hills covered with wild
olives, arbutus, and dwarf-cypress, and fronted by the sea.
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