and long droughts banish vegetation, and attract numberless columns of
locusts, which destroy the plants and fruits.

[Illustration: CYPRUS.]

The soil, though very fertile, is rarely cultivated, the Greeks being so
oppressed by their Turkish masters that they dare not cultivate the rich
plains which surround them, as the produce would be taken from them; and
their whole object is to collect together during the year as much grain
as is barely sufficient to pay their tax to the Governor, the omission
of which is often punished by torture or even by death.

The carob, or St. John's bread-tree, is plentiful; and the long thick
pods which it produces are exported in considerable quantities to Syria
and Egypt. The succulent pulp which the pod contains is sometimes
employed in those countries instead of sugar and honey, and is often
used in preserving other fruits. The vine grows here perhaps in greater
perfection than in any other part of the world, and the wine of the
island is celebrated all over the Levant.

* * * * *




THE RATTLESNAKE.


[Illustration: Letter T.]