We were now once more upon a flat table-top, about a hundred feet above
the plain between us and the sea, a mile and a half distant. The edge of
the table-land formed a cliff, choked from its base with huge fallen
blocks of sedimentary limestone, from the crevices of which trees grew
in great profusion, reminding one of hanging coverts upon hill-sides in
England. Descending a steep but well-trodden path between these
cottage-like masses of disjointed rock, we arrived at the prettiest
camping-ground that I had seen in Cyprus. This had formed the camp of
the Indian troops when the occupation had taken place in July, 1878, and
unfortunately in this charming spot they had suffered severely from
fever.
The sea and the town and port of Baffo lay before us, but immediately in
front of the rocky and tree-covered heights that we had descended were
great numbers of park-like trees which I had never before met with.
These were of large size, many exceeding fourteen feet in girth, with a
beautiful foliage that threw a dense shade beneath. The name of this
tree is Tremithia, and it bears a small fruit in clusters of berries
which produce oil: this is used by the inhabitants for the same purposes
as that obtained from olives. I had met with the bush in a wild state
for the first time at Lapithus, and had been attracted by the aromatic
scent of the young leaves, but I was not aware that it grew to the size
of a forest-tree.
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