29 April 1787: Dr J. Sibthorp, the editor of the Flora Greca, and founder of a professorship of Rural Economy at Oxford, visited Cyprus with his friends Dr Hume and Mr Brown to study the flora and fauna of the island.
At seven we left Limesol ; having travelled two hours in a plain, we passed a little rivulet; the country was covered with Cistus and Mastic; among these we heard the frequent call of the Francoline. Having crossed the rivulet, we entered into a wild mountainous country, and stopped to dine at a Turkish fountain, five hours from Limesol. After dinner we soon entered into a more cultivated district : the sides of the hills were planted with vineyards; little brooks watered the vales below, which were sown with corn, yet green. The mountains of Troados covered with the Pinus pinea stretched themselves out, and terminated the vale. I observed the Styrax tree frequent in the hedges, and the Anagyris foetida in the outskirts of the villages. At sunset we arrived at the convent of the Holy Cross: this is regarded as the second monastery in the island, and was probably more flourishing under the pious care of Maria Theresa. It is situated in a Greek village, where we observed an appearance of greater affluence than in most of those we had yet seen. Mountains are indeed generally the last retreats of liberty.
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