Cyprus, as I Saw it in 1879 | Page 6

the inhabitants "Kypresses," which approximates closely to the various
appellations of Cyprus in different languages. The Greek name is
Kypros, and it is probable that as in ancient days the "chittim-wood"
was so called from the fact of its export from Chittim, the same link
may remain unbroken between Kypros and the tree Kypresses.
The geographical advantages which I have enumerated are sufficient to
explain the series of struggles for possession to which the island has
been exposed throughout its history; the tombs that have been
examined, have revealed the secrets of the dead, and in the relics of
Phoenicians, Persians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and the long list of foreign
victors, we discover proofs of the important past, until we at length

tread upon pre-historical vestiges, and become lost in a labyrinth of
legends. From the researches of undoubted authorities, we know that
Cyprus possessed a written character peculiarly original, and that it was
occupied by a people highly civilised according to the standard of the
early world at so primitive an era, that all records have disappeared,
and we are left in the darkness of conjecture.
The changes in the importance of certain geographical positions, owing
to the decline and fall of empires, which at one time governed the
destinies of the Eastern world, have been strikingly exhibited on the
shores of the Mediterranean; Tyre, Sidon, Carthage, Cyprus, had lost
their significance upon modern charts, even before the New Worlds
appeared, when America, Australia, and the Eastern Archipelago were
introduced upon the globe. The progress of Western Europe eclipsed
the Oriental Powers which hitherto represented the civilisation of
mankind, and two points alone remained, which, shorn of their ancient
glory, still maintained their original importance as geographical centres,
that will renew those struggles for their possession which fill the
bloody pages of their history--Egypt and Constantinople.
No country had been more completely excluded from the beaten paths
of British travellers than the island of Cyprus, and England was startled
by the sudden revelation of a mystery connected with the Treaty of
Berlin, that it was to become a strategical point for a British military
occupation!
On the 4th June, 1878, a "Convention of Defensive Alliance between
Great Britain and Turkey" was signed, which agreed upon the
following articles:-
ARTICLE I.
"If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, or any of them, shall be retained by Russia,
or if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take
possession of any further territories of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan
in Asia, as fixed by the definitive treaty of peace, England engages to
join His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of
Arms.

"In return, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan promises to England to
introduce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two
Powers, into the government, and for the protection of the Christian
and other subjects of the Porte in those territories; and in order to
enable England to make necessary provision for executing her
engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign
the island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.
ARTICLE II.
"The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof
shall be exchanged, within the space of one month, or sooner if
possible.
"In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the
same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
"Done at Constantinople, the fourth day of June, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
"A.H. LAYARD.
"SAFVET."
It was eventually agreed between the contracting Powers:-
"That England will pay to the Porte whatever is the present excess of
revenue over expenditure in the island; this excess to be calculated and
determined by the average of the last five years."
and:--
"That if Russia restores to Turkey Kars and the other conquests made
by her in Armenia during the last war, the island of Cyprus will be
evacuated by England, and the Convention of the fourth June, 1878,
will be at an end."
I knew nothing of Cyprus, but I felt sure that the Turks had the best of
the bargain, as they would receive the usual surplus revenue from our

hands, and be saved the trouble and onus of the collection; they would
also be certain of a fixed annual sum, without any of those risks of
droughts, famine, and locusts, to which the island is exposed, and
which seriously affect the income.
Although there would only be a wildly remote chance of Russia ever
relinquishing her Asiatic prey, the bare mention of the words "will be
evacuated by England" was a possible contingency and risk, that would
effectually exclude all British capital from investment in the island. I
could not discover any possible good that could accrue to England by
the terms of the