made a prifoner. Subjects of the empire are conducted to the public prifons, and Europeans to the palace of their conful. When they have committed no other crime, they are discharged, on paying a small acknowledgment to the guard.

In the city of Larnic, or rather in the whole kingdom of Cyprus, there are people belonging to fix Europeans nations: French, English, Tufcans, Neopolitans, Venetians, and Ragufans. Each have their respective conful, except the Tufcans: Thefe are under the protection of the English conful, who is honoured even with the title of Viceconful of Tufcany. There are here alfo Imperialifts, Danes, Swifs, Dutch, and Genoefe. But as all these have long ceafed to carry on commerce by themselves, they entrust their commiffions to correfpondents, whom they have amongst the other nations established in this ifland.

In the neighbourhood of the city there is a multitude of cisterns, covered with a viscous kind of cement, impenetrable to oil, which were formerly, as is said, vast reservoirs for containing that liquid. This cement is a mixture of a marine falt, lime, and boiling oil. If this be true, the plains of Cyprus must formerly have been covered with olive

trees.

At the diftance of about an hundred paces from Larnic, towards the weft, there is an eftate belonging to Mr. Pory, originally from France, who has refided on this ifland many years. On this ef tate a fubterranean grotto was discovered, in which nothing was found but fome small idols, and lamps of baked earth. I imagine that this place was formerly a warehouse where articles of that kind were fold. The Turkish government has forbid, under the most rigorous punifhment, all fubterranean researches; and Mr. Pory, fearing that he could not gratify the wifhes of the curious with impuni

ty,

ty, has fhut up this magazine; so that it is now difficult even for the inhabitants to difcover the place where it was.

In the year 1766, Mr. Zambelli, a Venetian merchant, in digging a foundation for a house which he was going to build on an elevated fituation towards the northern part of Larnic, difcovered fome tombs of foft marble, without any inscription, and capable of containing a body at full length. In fome of them were several skulls; and around them were placed vafes of baked earth, filled with bones, fo fmall that they appeared to be those of birds.

The discovery of Mr. Zambelli foon attracted the attention of this fuperftitious government. The Turks pretended that he had disturbed the repose of the Mahometans buried in that place; and this fault, however involuntary, was in their eyes a capital crime; but when they were told that, as these tombs were very ancient, they could not be those of the Turks; and that the bodies, befides, were not depofited in them according to their ceremonies, they began to be a little easier. Avarice, without doubt, was the caufe of this interruption, for which a respect to the dead only ferved as a pretence.

In the neighbourhood of Larnic there is ftill to be feen a fmall mofque, which the Mahometans call Arab, and the Greeks Saint Arab. Both of them have great confidence in its patron; the former confidering him as their dervife, and the lat ter as their faint. The Turks venerate this mosque, which they say was erected by that Arab; and the Greeks are zealous vifitors of a tomb, or subterranean grotto, in which they pretend that the body of their holy hermit was long depofited.

The dervifes, as well as the fantons and the abdales, are a kind of Turkifh monks. Their

drefs

drefs confifts of a robe of coarse woollen ftuff, of different colours, which leaves the breaft uncovered; over this they have a cloak of the fame, but much finer, and of a white colour; and on their heads a cap of white felt, in fhape refembling a fugar-loaf. The lower part of it rises up, and is folded back in the form of a turban. They have no linen; but this does not prevent them from being extremely neat and clean. Their external appearance is very decent; and they behave with great politeness and affability. Thefe agreeable qualities are, however, effaced by an infamous taste, to which they abandon themfelves without the leaft reserve: their hypocritical mildnefs tends only to debauch youth, and enables them to gratify a paffion which is contrary to nature.

One Mola Sonchiur is faid to have been their founder. They occupy different convents, and perform fervice in feveral mofques. They preach twice a week; and both the men and women who are their auditors mix together, which is never the cafe in other places of religious worship; but the community of the dervifes is feparated from the reft of the believers by a baluftrade. The orator opens his difcourfe by a paffage from the Koran, and thunders forth against vices which he himself is not at great trouble to avoid. When the fermon is ended, they all fing a hymn, accompanied with the found of various pipes. The fuperior afterwards commences a dance, in which all the reft join, and which they execute in the following manner: They firft walk flowly round the mofque, one after the other: but by and by they accelerate their steps; and turn their bodies round with fo much precipitation, that the eye can scarcely follow them. When the ball is over, thefe pious mountebanks kneel down, and remain for fome time in that pofture, with every external appear

ance

ance of the most fervid devotion. The fuperior then rises up, the dervises follow his example, and, having renewed their whirling round, continue the fame farce for an hour and a half longer.

Some ill-informed travellers have confounded the fantons with the dervises; but they differ from each other both in their way of life, and in their manner of praying. The fantons, whofe founder was Hazret Meulana, drefs, it is true, like the dervises; but they are far from being fo neat and clean. Their whole exterior appearance difplays the utmost misery; and I have feen fome of them who were almost completely naked: their features are disgusting; they are of a flovenly dif pofition; and their behaviour is clownish and uncivil. Such beings are really a disgrace to human nature. They begin their religious ceremonies, which confift in whirling round in a ridiculous manner, and in making violent contortions, at three in the morning. Thefe ceremonies are accompanied by cries which degenerate into frightful bellowing. They beat a kind of cymbal, or rather drum; calling out, with all their might, Allahu, which fignifies the great God. At length they drop down on the pavement, half dead with fatigue; their mouths become covered with foam; and the ftupid Mahometans then believe that these fantons are converfing with God and their prophet. When they recover from this, crifis, thefe monkifh impoftors eat with the women and young people. There is no excess to which these wretches will not abandon themfelves. The greater part of their houses are in Natolia; but they are not every where held in the fame estimation.

There are here also another fect, called the Abdales; who are pious vagabonds, difperfed throughout all Asia, and have no fixed place of refidence. They wander about from one town to another,

and

and ftop wherever they find best entertainment. In their manners and cuftoms they have a great refemblance to the fantons; but they are diftinguifhed by one fingularity, which is, the great intereft that the women take in every thing relating to them. No fooner has an abdale arrived in any town, than they all honour him with their vifits; they make frequent affignations with him, without the leaft fcruple; and fome of them even do not blush to fubmit to his defires in the middle of the streets, and in other public places, while a fimple cloak conceals from view thefe fuperftitious orgies. One may well wonder how fuch monftrous abufes can be tolerated: they are indeed profcribed in Syria, but they are very frequent at Cairo.

The country around Larnic is not the moft agreeable in the ifland, for the foil is extremely dry. The fun falls almoft perpendicularly on thefe parched fields; and while the fatigued traveller breathes a fcorching air, he in vain fearches for fome grove, the fhade of which may afford him a fhelter, and recruit his exhaufted strength. There are no trees in this place but the mulberry, and a few palms fcattered here and there on the plains. A great many caufes concur to render the neighbourhood of this country barren: there is no water, and the ground abounds in flints and stones. It however produces a good deal of barley: and, if the fields are dry, the orchards in return are rich and fruitful, they are remarkably pleasant, and are watered by fmall canals formed in the earth. The gardens are equally beautiful, and abound with all kinds of flowers: the citron and the orange tree thrive in them wonderfully.

CHAP.