In Cyprus the growers
seldom purchase potash, but they dip their grapes in a ley produced from
the ashes of certain woods.
The vineyards at this season are swarming with a species of beccaficos,
and the population are busy in catching these delicious birds with
sticks smeared with bird-lime. It is a species of finch, a little larger
than the chaffinch, the plumage a brownish grey; when plucked the body
is much larger than the common beccaficos, but resembles it in
extraordinary fatness and delicacy of flavour. The natives preserve them
by boiling in commanderia wine, and they are highly appreciated. These
must be added to the migratory birds of Cyprus.
The acorns are nearly ripe, and I am assured by the monks that even
these insignificant productions pay a tax of 6d. per kilo (about 32
lbs.), and the crop is valued accordingly by the special authority.
There are three varieties of large timber oaks in addition to the ilex
and the prickly holly-leaved oak. The acorns of the ilex and holly-
leaved species are small, but those of the three superior species vary
in size, all being much larger than those of England, while one variety
measures nearly three inches in length. This is used as food, with no
other preparation than simple roasting, and is considered to be superior
to chestnuts. The Ancient Britons used the acorn as an article of food,
and probably it was ground into flour after the bitter principle had
been extracted by soaking in running water, in the same manner that many
varieties of wild yams are treated by the natives in Africa.
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