administrative tortures of his office. I have heard of cases of crockery
being unpacked upon the beach and spread out to be counted and valued
upon the loose stones of shingle!

The unfortunate European traders of Larnaca were shortly relieved of
their Custom House troubles by the total absence of imports. The native
Cypriote does not purchase at European shops; his wants are few; the
smallest piece of soap will last an indefinite period; he is frugal to
an extreme degree; and if he has desires, he curbs such temptations and
hoards his coin. Thus, as the natives did not purchase, and all
Europeans were sellers without buyers, there was no alternative but to
shut the shutters. This was a species of commercial suicide which made
Larnaca a place of departed spirits; in which unhappy state it remains
to the present hour. Even the club was closed.



CHAPTER II.

THE GIPSY-VANS ENCOUNTER DIFFICULTIES.

My gipsy-van was not of doubtful character. I had purchased it direct
from the gipsies in England, and it had been specially arranged for the
Cyprus journey by Messrs. Glover Bros. of Dean Street, Soho, London. It
had been painted and varnished with many coats both inside and out, and
nobody, unless an experienced gipsy, would have known that it was not
newly born from the maker's yard. Originally it had been constructed for
shafts, as one horse was considered sufficient upon the roads of
England, but when it arrived in Cyprus it appeared to have grown during
the voyage about two sizes larger than when it was last seen. As the