Although I have read many works upon this island, I have no books with
me except that interesting record of the discovery of antiquities by
General di Cesnola, and the invaluable compilation for the Intelligence
Branch, Quartermaster-General's Department, Horse Guards, by Captain
Savile, 18th Royal Irish Regiment. It is impossible to praise the latter
work too highly, as every authority, whether ancient or modern, has been
studied, and the information thus carefully collected has been classed
under special headings and offered to the reader in a concise and
graphic form which renders it perfect as a book of reference. I must
express my deep appreciation of the assistance that I have derived from
Captain Savile's work, as it has directed my attention to many subjects
that might have escaped my observation, and it has furnished me with
dates, consular reports, and other statistical information that would
otherwise have been difficult to obtain. The study of M. Gaudrey's able
report to the French government upon the agricultural resources and the
geological features of Cyprus, before I commenced my journey, guided me
materially in the interesting observations of the various formations and
terrestrial phenomena. The experiences of the late British Consul, Mr.
Hamilton Lang, described in his attractive volume, together with those
of Von Loher, Doctors Unger and Kotschy, have afforded me an advantage
in following upon footsteps through a well-examined field of discovery.

Before I enter upon a description of my personal examination of the
island, it will be advisable to trace a brief outline of the
geographical position of Cyprus, which caused its early importance in
the history of the human race, and which has been accepted by the
British government as sufficiently unchanged to warrant a military
occupation in 1878, as a strategical point that dominates the eastern
portion of the Mediterranean, and supplies the missing link in the chain
of fortified ports from England to the shores of Egypt.