The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-08-24
CESNOL4,S TRIALS.
some Troubles the General Endured iIi
the Interest OF Science

- NpHHuAdLe were NV - ~ N'AAA~' 1
one day he saw in a bazar at Lanarka, |
Town on the southern coast where he |
lIFed, some terra-cotta heads ninety SOUP |
turea; and, having asked the salesman
where they came from, learned IhaI Vhey
had been found ON a spot ABOUT q hiie
OH. Inns very triaing circumstance leu
70 the beginning of his laDors as an eA-
Piorer Tor he Immediately went 10 the
pace, hired two or three men 70 ulg lot
hlm' ana IN two years ootalneu nearly
SIX hundred heads, statuettes ana statues
at depths varying from six inches 70 Two
Ieet. 80 much for beginning by the
death OF near relative, he soon came
into possession of ten thousand uollaI9'
He spent every dollar OF 1t, ana more
than sixty thousand dollars BESIDES, our
ing his ten years OF exploration
The difficulties that he encountered
make the story OF his triumph romantic.
First and foremost in his way was the
cOyetous, ignorant. treacherous, tanatlcaI
Turk, who rules in Cyprus Inc sultan
indeed, allowed him to dig, but the gov
ernor-general Of the island and the local
authorities were suspicious ana IauIt-
finding They bothered him with thelr
interference, and often set the moo on
his men. Little knew they OF the real
value OF his treasures, except, OF course,
what they learned from the Europeans
But their cupidity was great, ana 80 was
the cupidity Of the populace- On one
occasion, General CesnOla, asleep at MD
night in his house, was awakened by the
paving of horses in his courtyard, and
by the loud talking Of the riders. Dress
ing himself in haste he ran down stairs,
and found that his visitors were courlers
come - tell him that mob had taken
possession OF bis-4igging some distance
off, and were preventing the removal of
some sculptures which he had excavated.
While they we're telling their story, a
third courierarrived with the intelligence
that two policemen had appeared on the
scene. and Bad claimed possession of the
sculptures in the name of the sultan.
Tho genera did not wait for any more
arrivals. but, mounting a mule, gallOPed
to the spot.
1t was about halEpast one O'Clock in
the morning when he reached 1t, and the
sight that confronted him BE has not for
gotten. The people had lighted fires on
the desert plain, and were biyouacked
there. They made the night hideOu5
with theirshouts and contentious. Each
walking figure cast its shadow in the
freight: around the enCampment was
blackness OF darkness; above il a thick
and stsrless sky What should be done
with this noisy fighting crowd The
tactics OF a United States general, and
the sense Of a Solomon would not have
been out Of place. Gen. Cesnola had at
least one of these qualifications; he was
a Federal general Comprehending the
situation at once, he rode up 10 one OF
the Turkish policemen present, and
asked MIN % take charge of the mule,
reeking with foam, and 10 walk the ami
nal around slowly for its health. The
officer consented. His companion was
tacu called. and requested TO disperse the
crowd He proceeded 10 DO so and
before the throng seemed to know what
the American consul, whom they had
recognized, was about, the general had
his sculptures carefully placed upon
carts, had given them and his mule to
the care Of one Of his servants, and had
seen them safely started some distance
ON the way 10 his house He then put
himself under the care of the two
policemen, and, followed by the noisy
but almost unaccountably harmless rab-
bic proceeded to the nearest village, and
found a shelter and wooden shuttle.
Wrapping himself in a quilt, he soon
fell fast asleep.
The town of Palao-Paphos Is especially
attractive 10 the explorer. 1t gave its
name 10 the Papbian queen who was
born OF the foam. General Cesnola
thought that the ruins of castle there
might cover the site of one of the an
cieut royal palaces The ruins were
used by their owner rs stable for his
camcls and dOnkeys; bat, when the
digeings began, his man looked for gold
beneath them. He watched the diggers,
and logged the footsteps OF their chief
and, when his interference had be
come almost uncomfortable, the gen
eral promised TO give him all
the gold that was found.
As the work proceeded, and no gold
made its appearance, the old man-his
name was Osman Aga-thre2tcned one
day that, if before shutdown he got none
of the precious metal, be would put an
end 10 the operations. The men were
then torty-0ue feet below the surface,
and bad struck the foundation of what
seemed to he the very palace that they
were in search of. Something must be
done 20 appease the cupidity of the Turk.
General Cesnola happened to have in his
pocket two gold coins of the Emperor
Heraclius, which, by the way, were very
common in Cyprus; and he remembered
how the King of Naples used to DO at
P0mpeij when taking royal visitors out
to see the excavations. Reckoning to his
foreman, he slyly slipped these coins into
the man : land, giving BIN to understand
that they were 10 be buried, aud then
dug up Tor the benefit OF Osman Aga
After that the aged owner Of the place
was eager 20 have the work 90 on Is fast
as possible, and bis eyes twinkled at the
thought Of the possessions that might be
in store for him The next day, at the
depth of ffty-tw0 feet, the workmen
reached virgin soil, and soon afterward
the excavations were abandoned, the
results not having been encouraging.
The peasants OF Cyprus persistcntly
refused to work with iron spades and
with wheelbarrows, and their refusal
was one of the principal obstacles en-
countcred. Although those useful i'm
plements had been imported from Europe
.or the purpose, they left them on the
ground. The native basket, slung over
the shoulder by rope, was, in their esti-
nation, better than a patented wheel
barrow. Their hands and their knives
were preferable to spades. 1t sometimes
took these men one month to dig out
single statue, after the statue had been
reached. In any other country the
labor could have been done in two hours
The earth around these statues was, in
deed, very difficult to remove, being
mixed with clay from decomposed bricks,
and being often as hard az the figures
themselves. 1t was necessary TO bring
water and pour it on the concrete mass
a slow process, because the water was
brought gosd distance, from spring so
small and feeble that some time was re
cessary for the fllingeven Of single jar;
Ia carrying this water, the jars, encased
in wicker yoke, were put upon the PACKS
OF donkeys, ridden by men ana II Is lu-
teresting to learn from some little terra
Gotta images found at Alambra, IN W
prua, that the same method was used by
the Cypriote water-carriers three thou-
sand years ago. After wettlng the stat
ues, in order to get off the lncrqstatlon
OF clay, the men placed them IN Inc tehtS
lent by the governor general Precau-
ton the Importance Of which had been
very severely inculcated by the tact that
the sun, shining upon the statues mad
IN several instances, produced eVaPoTa
ton 50 rapid that they began to spit. Id
addition 10 the clay which surrouhde9
them, were large quantities OF trlturated
straw from the mortar of the fallen walls
OF the buildings which the combined