William Turner

My post today is about William Turner (1792-1867). He was a British diplomat and writer who visited Cyprus in 1815 during his tour of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. That’s right, 1815 (over 200 years ago). Turner who was only 23 years old at the time was attached to the British embassy at Constantinople. He was appointed at the Foreign Office at a young age thanks to his father’s connections. He worked there between 1812 and 1817. The notes that he made in his journal during his tour were later published (in 1820) into a three-volume set of books titled, ‘Journal of a Tour in the Levant’. Respectfully, I have taken the liberty to paraphrase and rewrite a great many sections of the text using a simpler version of English as I felt the original prose and the language used by Turner might be somewhat difficult for some readers to follow or understand. I am not an English teacher, but I hope I’ve done a decent job nonetheless. Furthermore, only a few of the drawings posted here are about Cyprus. I just thought they were all very interesting. ——————————- William Turner reached Cyprus by boat on Saturday, 11th March 1815. The vessel he was on, travelled slowly around the island past Limassol and the ancient site of Citium until it finally reached the marina of Larnaca. “At sunset, on Sunday 12th March, we anchored in the waters outside Larnaca,’ he writes. “I was delighted to see the neat appearance of the houses and the lush green vegetation and palm-trees.” As Turner stepped ashore, he meets a Turk, who can speak a little English and he is led to the house of the English consul, Antonio Vondizian about a quarter of a mile from the port. Turner discovers that Signor Vondiziano, is a native of Kefalonia and is living in Larnaca with his wife and five daughters. ‘I was given a neat room with a good bed, which was such a relief after sleeping for days (fully clothed), on the hard boards on the boat’ From the 13th to the 16th of March, Turner visits many places in Larnaca and records his observations in his journal. He explains that he prefers to write a draft copy, first in pencil before tracing over the words in ink. In one entry, he describes the streets of Larnaca as ‘unpaved, muddy and boggy’ leaving little temptation for people to walk upon them. From his window he can see a flat plain that is bordered by mountains. He meets an English merchant (married to a local woman) who escorts him around the bazaars and takes him to see a Greek church that Turner describes as ‘a heavy building of the Low Empire’ which I assume is the church of Agios Lazaros. At the marina, Turner discovers many warehouses along with a few houses and huts which are home to both Europeans and Greek merchants, porters and boatmen. The population of Cyprus, he writes has been reduced to around 70,000 due the tyranny of the Ottoman government. I was surprised to read this as I thought the population of Cyprus was greater at that time. I do know that by the time the British conducted their first census in 1881, the population had grown to almost 190,000. I’m not sure where Turner got his figures from but he also mentions that Larnaca (with 6,000 residents) and Nicosia (with approximately 15,000 residents) were the most populous places in Cyprus. The rest of the island he says was more or less deserted. Turner tells us that Cyprus produces great quantities of corn, figs, olives, oranges, lemons, dates and indeed, any fruit that grows easily in a Mediterranean climate. There are great numbers of goats, sheep, pigs and oxen all over the island and the principal export consists of cotton, wool and silk. Turner also points out that Cyprus is a very affordable place to live. For example, Signor Vondiziano, with all the expenses of the consulate, including a wife and five children, a large house, six servants, two janissaries, a carriage, horse and mule, spends only 5,000 piastres a year. To give you some sense of the exchange rate at that time; when Turner first arrived in Constantinople in 1812, he was able to exchange one English pound for 17 piastres but by the time he left in 1817, the exchange rate had jumped to 30 piastres a pound. So, I can speculate that Signor Vondiziano’s total living expenses in 1815 for his entire family and staff was somewhere between 280 and 320 English pounds. The wages of a servant are between ten and twenty piastres a month. A few years ago, there servants were earning around sixty piastres a month Turner writes. Such is the declining state of the island. The peasants of Cyprus, he writes, ‘work only for themselves and there is an abundance of land for them to cultivate. Those who cultivate the Sultan’s farms have no expenses other than food. They are also exempt from paying land-tax.’ On the morning of Friday, the 17 March, Turner and Vondiziano, (wearing a very large cocked hat and walking with a gold-headed cane) go to visit the Austrian consul who had received a report from Constantinople, that Austria and Russia, have declared war against the Porte (the Ottoman government). It’s interesting to read how Turner describes the wife of the Austrian consul ‘as a local woman who is tolerably pretty’ (whatever that means). He also goes on to say that the Greek women in Cyprus are generally old at thirty and thirty-five.’ I don’t know if he means that they look old or are considered old. Turner has made other general references in his journal regarding the women of Cyprus. ‘The island is no longer famous for the beauty’ he writes, ‘or infamous for the immodesty of its women. The Turkish women of Nicosia, I am told, are generally pretty but not to any extraordinary degree. One half of their charms is destroyed by the relaxation on the use of the bath.’ I guess after seeing how the women are fiercely guarded in Constantinople, Turner was astonished to see women in Larnaca enter a house and remove their ‘ferredjee’ and ‘yatchmak’ with such ease of any restriction. (The ferredjee is a large cloak that covers the entire body and the yatchmak is a veil that hides all the face but the eyes). Turner adds that the Turks, think that nothing but extreme restraint. can secure female virtue. They lay down the principle that a woman cannot, without a crime, let her face be seen by any man other than her husband, father, brother, uncle, and father-in-law (the four latter only at stated festivals); and that two persons of different sexes cannot be innocently alone together for a moment.’ As Turner leaves the consul’s residence he gets caught in a terrible hail storm. ‘I ran for shelter to the house of Mr. H. where I stayed and ate a meal of salt-fish and some delicious small artichokes as it was the Greek Lent and there was no meat to be had.’ The storm continues all afternoon so Turner was forced to walk back to Larnaca in the rain. He goes to visit someone called Dupont. ‘I was well received by Dupont’s mother and sister. The sister is very pretty, perhaps because she was looks like an English woman with fair hair and blue eyes. Both women are ill with the fever.’ The rainstorm in Larnaca has swirled the mud in the streets and turned it into a deep sludge that smells quite offensive. Even the floor in Dupont’s house despite being paved with large heavy stones, has water creeping through the crevices. On Saturday, 18th March, Turner walks around the streets of Larnaca taking in the sights. He later writes that Cyprus, in some places, appears more civilised than Turkey. For example, the carts drawn by oxen seem to be better constructed than those seen in other Ottoman countries. Turner is impressed that many families in Cyprus keep a calèche, (a one-horse carriage) although he is somewhat critical about the state of the roads. ‘The Cypriot race of horses are small and not strong,’ he writes, ‘and the roads are so bad, that a trip from Larnaca to the capital (Nicosia) can take between seven and eight hours and may require one change of the horse.’ Turner tells us that Larnaca, the second largest town on the island, contains around 1,000 houses, with another 700 located down by the marina. The houses in Larnaca are so spread apart that it is a three mile walk to get around the town. On Sunday, the 19th March, Turner is paid a visit by the Russian consul wearing what Turner describes as a ‘glittering embroidered coat and the largest possible cocked hat.’ The consul is accompanied by a Greek priest who is quite outspoken and candid with Turner. ‘The priest confesses to me that he does not think there is any spiritual use in the numerous fasts conducted by the Greeks. He believes they are sacred because of custom rather than because of religious motives.” The priest tells Turner that the Turks in Cyprus are much milder and less bigoted than those in other parts of Turkey. Many of them even eating pork in private and all of them are extremely sociable and friendly to the Christians.’ I liked reading that bit. On his return to the marina, Turner see a large group of female Christian pilgrims apparently on their way to Jerusalem. They are all wearing a large linen veil that covers their whole body. Interesting. Early on the morning of Monday, 20th March, Turner borrows a small grey horse, and together with a Turkish guide named Ibrahim, they go to visit the site of ancient Idalium (near Dali). Ibrahim is a janissary – an elite member of the Sultan’s infantry, who is employed by Signor Vondiziano. Along the road, they pass through the village of Aradippou which Turner estimates there are about twenty-five houses; and the village of Kochi where there are about ten houses. They also visit a small Greek church on top of a mountain with picturesque views. (Sounds like Stavrovouni). Once they arrive at their destination, Turner and Ibrahim visit the house of a peasant farmer. Turner is surprised when the peasant’s wife reaches out and shakes his hand. ‘This is not the custom of other countries,’ he writes. ‘The women in the Levant either kiss the hand of a guest or carry the hand up to their forehead.’ The peasant’s wife cooks eggs for her distinguished guests, which go down well with the bread, cheese and wine that Ibrahim has brought along with him. Turner is impressed with the Cypriot hospitality. ‘The master of this house and his family make us feel very welcome and they are so civil. At first, I thought they were Greeks but discovered later that they were in fact, Muslim.’ The farmer tells Turner that he was in Constantinople four years ago fighting against the Russians. He served in the Turkish army for six months and received 70 piastres in pay. His wife weaves cotton for a living which she sells for 3 piastres an oke. Their cottage is neat and clean and consists of only one room with mud walls and a mud floor. After dinner, the farmer offers to take Turner and Ibrahim to see the ancient ruins in the neighbourhood. They walk for two miles through rich fields full of cotton that are shaded by long rows of olive trees and watered by a small river. Along the way, the peasant complains about the tyranny of the Ottoman government and how the Pasha extracts 150 piastres annually from each villager. As they walked to the site of the ancient city, Turner notices deep pools of stagnant water everywhere. ‘This infestation is the curse of modern Cyprus,’ he tells Ibrahim. I believe that Turner is referring to malaria and the associated fevers. It will be another hundred years before the English scientist, Sir Ronald Ross, travels through Cyprus accompanied by a young Cypriot visionary named Mehmet Aziz to discover that a warm puddle of still water is the ideal breeding ground for the mosquito larvae that carry the Malaria parasite. At a quarter past three, Turner and Ibrahim decide to return to Larnaca. Turner is disappointed that he wasn’t able to find ‘a single antique at the ancient site of Idalium’. On their way home, they meet several peasants on the road driving large flocks of sheep and goats: their dress, Turner writes, consists of a white turban, white jacket and white baggy trousers. Halfway along the road, Ibrahim instructs Turner to ride through a narrow pass between two rocks to look at the tomb of a poor Greek peasant who had been found dead on the road. Apparently, he had been ill with the fever after supposedly drinking from a stagnant pool of water. As they passed through the village of Aradippou, Turner is offered a cup of delicious milk, warm from the goat. As they approach Larnaca, an incident occurs that takes Turner by surprise. “As were draw close to Larnaca, we met four Greek peasants riding on their donkeys. One of the peasants salutes us. Suddenly, Ibrahim reacts out in anger and strikes the peasant with the back of his hand. When I ask why he has struck the man, he said it was because he had not alighted from his donkey. I then discover that every Cypriot must alight from their animals when they meet a Turk of rank. Ibrahim, insists that the same respect should have been paid to me.’ On Tuesday 21st March prepares to leave Cyprus to travel to Palestine. Before he leaves he pays a visit to Mr. H. (I’m not sure who this is). “When I arrive, I find Mr H. utterly exhausted. He tells me that he had been up half the night loading wheat, which must be done secretly, owing to the severe orders of the Sultan that no corn should be exported, except to Constantinople. Mr H. tells me that the island, after supplying its own population, can furnish enough corn to load sixty or seventy vessels.” Turner then walks to the marina to look for a ship. He finds a large vessel with three masts leaving for Jaffa and climbs aboard. His short (ten-day) stay in Cyprus has come to an end.