Right and left, right and left, went the short and sharp zigzags,
the path covered with rolling stones and loose rocks, which clattered
under the feet of the tired mules and rolled down the steep inclines.
The sound of the stream below became fainter, and the narrow angle of
the deep cleft grew darker, as we ascended. We looked down upon the
rounded tops of various trees, including the rich verdure of planes,
which skirted the banks of the hidden stream, and we entered upon pines
rising from an under-growth of beautiful evergreens, including the
fragrant tremithia, the light green foliage of the arbutus, with its
bright red bark contrasting strongly with the dark shade of the dense
and bushy ilex. The mastic was there, and as we increased our altitude
the Pinus laricio and Pinus maritima varied the woods by their tall
spars, beneath which a perfect garden of flowers almost covered the
surface of the earth; these included the white and purple cistus, dog-
roses, honeysuckle, and several varieties unknown to me. Among the
ornamental dwarfs were a quantity of the Sumach, which is an article of
export from Cyprus for the use of the tanner and dyer.
The view became very beautiful as we ascended, until at length, after a
couple of miles of the steepest zigzags, we turned a corner of the rocks
and looked down the great depth at our right, below the path, upon the
long white thread of a waterfall, which for some hundred feet of a
severe incline, broken by occasional plunges, issues from the rocky
cleft, and forms the river in the ravine below.
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