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Appendix No. 4.
CYPRUS.
Widening entrance to inner basin.
Sanitary question.
210
16. The accommodation provided by plan No. 1 would, with the aid of steam cranes and other appliances for the rapid loading and discharging of cargo, admit of a considerable traffic, either military or commercial, and would probably prove sufficient for some time to come.
17. The plan No. 2* shows the additional accommodation which would be required to supply an outer harbour of moderate size. The additional works shown are :-
(1.) A breakwater, 1,500 yards in length, constructed in an average depth of water of 10 feet. (2.) The outer harbour dredged to the extent coloured pink, to the respective depths of 26 feet and 30 feet.
The area of sheltered water in the outer harbour of a depth of 4 fathoms and upwards is 155 acres, and of 5 fathoms and upwards, 108 acres. The total area of the outer harbour is 286 acres.
I estimate the cost of these works as follows:-
Breakwater
Dredging
•
Add works already included in estimate for Plan No. 1.
Total
£
58,437
29,149
87,586
49,195
136,781
18. Plan No. 3* further shows the extent to which the harbour is capable of being enlarged should the requirements of the future ever call for such extended accommodation.
These additions consist:-
(1.) In extending the breakwater to a total length of 2,200 yards, at an additional cost of about 60,000%.
The area of the outer harbour thus inclosed is as follows:-
5 fathoms and upwards, 199 acres; 4 fathoms and upwards, 259 acres. Total area of harbour,
443 acres.
(2.) The construction of an inner basin, 30 acres in area, dredged to a depth of 26 feet, having quays 1,350 yards in length, capable of berthing twelve vessels, varying in length from 300 to 400 feet. It is proposed to utilize the material dredged in reclaiming the land coloured green on plan, having an
area of 87 acres.
19. In the event of an inner walled basin being at any future time constructed at Famagusta, it is, in my opinion, desirable that a sufficient passage between the rocks lying to the south-east of the harbour should be left open, to allow of the circulation of water within the basin, and thus preventing it from becoming a stagnant and offensive pool.
The approximate cost of this basin may be put down at about 144,000%.; and it may be con- structed in sections, from time to time, according to the requirements of the trade.
The total cost of the whole of the works shown on the enlarged plan No. 3 would thus amount to about 340,000%.
In the foregoing estimate I have not included moorings.
20. It appears to me objectionable to remove the ancient mole, now forming the protection to the inner harbour, to the extent proposed by Mr. Ormiston. I would recommend that the width of the entrance be increased to 150 feet, which would be sufficient to allow of the easy passage of vessels of the larger class, leaving the remainder of the mole to serve the purpose for which it was originally designed, viz., to shelter the inner basin from the lop brought in by northerly winds. The inner harbour thus protected will possess all the advantages of an inclosed basin or dock.
21. The removal of such portion of the old mole as may be found necessary need not be carried on by the slow and costly process of slinging the stones by divers, as proposed by Mr. Ormiston, if a dredging machine of sufficient power be provided. During the progress of the Alexandria works large quantities of stone were raised by dredging, and the dredging machine was further used to a consider- able extent in breaking up and raising the soft rock (not unlike that at Famagusta) from the bed of the harbour. By this method a great economy was effected.
22. After careful local examination, I agree in the opinion of Mr. Ormiston, that any emanation of sulphuretted hydrogen from the inner basin does not arise from sewage formerly discharged into the harbour, but is given off by decomposed seaweed. As an instance that has come within my own experience, I may mention that in cleaning out the harbour at Mex (above referred to) the effluvia from this cause was far more powerful than anything I have observed at Famagusta. I may add, however, that although a village is situated immediately to leeward of Mex Harbour, I am not aware that any consequences prejudicial to health resulted from the dredging of the harbour.
23. I would here refer to a subject having a most important bearing on the future prospects of Famagusta, ie., its sanitary state as affected by local conditions. There is no doubt (and I speak from personal experience) that in the autumn and winter following the British occupation the town and neighbourhood of Famagusta were exceptionally unhealthy. The prevalence of fever during this period was, I believe, attributed by the inhabitants mainly to the exceptionally heavy rainfall of the previous winter. Whether this was the chief cause, and to what extent the fever from which English and other European residents suffered, was aggravated by the hardships incident to the early days of the occupation, to what extent the malaria with which Famagusta is credited arises from its proximity to the undrained lower portion of the Messarian plain, or from nearer and more obvious causes, such as the stagnation produced by the high walls surrounding the town, the accumulated ruins and rubbish- heaps with which the place is encumbered, the prevalence of cess-pools, which are never emptied, and other like causes, these are subjects of inquiry of the highest importance as affecting the future of Famagusta, which require a searching investigation. From repeated local inquiries, however, I am disposed to conclude that (excepting the handful of Turks who live within the ramparts), and taking
* Not printed.
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