John Judson Barclay was the first American to serve in the consulate in Larnaca. In a despatch to Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, he wrote:

To the antiquarian, the ruins of the ancient Salamis, Kolossi, St George and Acamas, open a most interesting field for investigation and research where marble statues, and gold, silver and copper antique coins are constantly found, not only in these places, but everywhere in the island. To the mineralogist, the ancient mines of silver, copper, lead etc, mentioned in Virgil, present a field of speculation rarely met with….There is still a traffic carried on here in slaves, tho’ from all the information I have gathered there have not been any lately imported. There are at present three or four thousand in the island and I am informed thy are in general well treated by their masters who are principally Greeks or Turks. The price of a male is about $75 and of a female $40.