CO885-(19-20) — Page 449

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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was then practically finished, and his drawings were sent in to the office, where they were fair drawn.

4. The course proposed by Captain Grant was to have a valuation to follow on immediately after the survey and registration, but it was difficult to get the Elected Members of the Legislative Council into line on this point-Captain Grant left before it was accomplished-and in 1894 the Government abandoned the survey and registration, principally on account of there being no valuation.

5. From 1894 to 1907 nothing was done in this direction; but in 1907 a Law of which copy is attached, was passed which makes provision for a registration and valuation.

6. The Law was assented to on February 10th, 1909.

7. Under these two Legislative Acts, i.e., Ordinance V. of 1880 and Law 12 of 1907, the Government of Cyprus is at present engaged in making a cadastral survey of the island.

8. For the purposes of this memorandum it is only necessary to deal with the

survey.

9. By Section 13 (2) of the Law, the survey of the island will have to be completed in 20 years from 10th February, 1909.

10. The area of the island is 3,584 square miles, so that in order to complete it in the period given above 180 square miles should be surveyed every year.

11. The Survey was started on the 11th September, 1903, in anticipation of the Law, and with a staff of one surveyor (English) and three assistant surveyors (native) 227 square miles have been surveyed up to date. At this rate of progress

will take about four years to do what should be done in a year.

12. The procedure followed at the survey is as follows:-

(a.) The survey is made to the scale of 25 inches to the mile, all physical details, roads, rivers, water channels, &c., being shown thereon. Villages are shown on the main survey in block, and are subsequently plotted to the scale of 50 inches to the mile.

(b) Each sheet of the trigonometrical survey made by Captain Kitchener in 1882 is divided into 64 parts, 8 longitudinally, 8 latitudinally (size double elephant, 40 inches by 27 inches). Each of such parts contains 960 acres, or 1 square miles, or 2,904 Government donums of 14,400 square feet (1 donum 40/121 of one acre).

(c) The surveyor does the following:-

i. Supervises the survey party.

ii. Examines field surveys.

iii. Surveys trigonometrical lines.

iv. Lays down trigonometrical lines and plots.

v. Blocks out plan lines and trace lines.

vi. Plots out plan lines and trace lines.

vii. Prepares field traces.

viii. Performs so much of the work appertaining to his office in

the Drawing and Map Office.

(d) The assistant surveyors are engaged in surveying and plotting the

holdings.

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(e) The field clerks make the cadastral registration, and the valuers the

valuation of the holdings.

(f) A diagram is attached showing the work done by the Survey party up

to the 31st March, 1910.

13. In order to survey 180 square miles per annum, it is calculated that four such parties will be required, and as there is no supply of surveyors in the island it is difficult to recruit a staff, the alternatives being either to recruit it in England or to train a staff in the island under English instructors. In the neighbouring country, Egypt, the latter course has been followed, and it is proposed to adopt the same course in Cyprus.

14. For the present it is not desired to engage in England more than one surveyor and one assistant surveyor, and as several surveyors from England have been employed in Cyprus in work of a similar nature before, and for various reasons satisfaction has not been obtained from them, they have either left the work of

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their own accord, or the Government has been obliged to discharge them; in order that the same unsatisfactory results may not occur in the present instance, it is desired that the persons chosen for the work should be carefully selected.

15. The duties required of this surveyor and assistant surveyor are those stated in paragraph 12 (c) of this memorandum, in addition to which they will be required to train, teach, and examine Cypriot youths in survey work, so that in a short time they may become a competent body of surveyors. The present surveyor and the surveyor now asked for will be required to check each other's work. They should also have a competent knowledge of the processes of the reproduction of plans or maps.

16. For the information of the person selecting the surveyor, and of the surveyors themselves, it may be added as follows:-

17. The cultivated lands are held in small holdings between which there are no fences.

18. Except for some carob and olive trees in parts, the island may be said to be treeless.

19. There are 460 square miles of delimited state forest in the island, consist- ing mostly of brushwood in the plains and pine trees on the mountains.

20. The country is rocky, hilly, and mountainous.

21. The surveyors will have to live mostly in the villages, where the mode of living is primitive. Some parts of the island are very hot in summer; flies, mosquitoes, &c., are numerous, and the water is bad.

22. The surveyors should, if possible, have some aptitude for learning laws

and languages, and be able to ride.

23. The salary of the surveyor will be as follows:-

Salary, £175 per annum.

Subsistence, £60 per annum.

Forage he will be required to keep a horse, for which he will draw is. a day

forage allowance.

The salary of the assistant surveyor will be £150 per annum, to include every- thing except actual removal expenses from one village to another.

24. For the present the services of the surveyor and assistant surveyor will

be temporary, on a three years' contract entered into between them and the Crown Agents.

Nicosia, Cyprus,

21st April, 1910.

15247

No. 46.

CYPRUS.

F. ONGLEY,

Acting Registrar-General.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

(No. 127.)

SIR,

[Answered by No. 48.]

Downing Street, 5 August, 1910.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 93, of the 11th of May last, on the subject of the proposed increase of the Survey staff with a view to completing the valuation of properties within the period of twenty years prescribed under Law No. 12 of 1907.

2. I caused your despatch to be referred to the Colonial Survey Committee, in order that I might be assisted by their advice in considering Mr. Ongley's pro- posals, especially as regards the questions whether it was necessary to carry out so elaborate a survey as that involved in a 25-inch scale in order to comply with the requirements of the law, and whether the staff suggested was necessary or, if so, adequate.

3. The Committee were unable, on the information before them, to express a definite opinion on the subject, although it was thought that there would be some danger that such a survey might cost more than the actual value of the land; and

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• No. 45.

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