On the following morning we arrived at the capital, and were
once more hospitably received by Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley.
CHAPTER VII.
KYRENIA AND THE NORTH COAST.
The change from camp-life to the luxury of Government House, with the
charm of the society of Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley and officers of the
staff, was a most agreeable interlude in the usually monotonous journey
through Cyprus. The view from the verandah had changed, and was
certainly not charming, as the few green tints that had looked hopeful
on our former visit had turned to brown; but the house within more than
compensated for the cheerlessness of the exterior landscape. A picnic
excursion to the castle of St. Hilarion had been arranged for the 29th
instant by Colonel Greaves, C. B., chief of the staff, who kindly
included us in the invitation. This point was seldom visited, as it was
situated 3240 feet above the sea upon the sky-line of the crags above
Kyrenia, and the ride there and back covered a distance of about thirty
miles from Lefkosia. The energy of English ladies rather astonishes the
people of this country, where inertia is considered to be happiness, and
although our animals were ordered to be saddled punctually at 6 A.M. the
owner in Lefkosia was sceptical as to our actual start at so early an
hour; therefore much time was lost on the morning in question in sending
messengers vainly to and fro for the missing mule and pony; and 8 A.
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