The Mum of Saturday had a strong article in favour
of con- structing, or rather reconstructing, a harbour at Pamagosta, in Cyprus. It appears that Admiral Hornby, with the six large vessels under his command, entered Fame,gosta on October 13th, and lay safely in from six to eight fathoms of water. Lines of reefs extend in such directions that if the gaps were only filled up by blocks of concrete, a perfectly land-locked harbour would be formed, with an inner channel five hundred yards wide, and with from seven fathoms of water to twelve feet. As stone is procurable in the neighbourhood, the expense would not be very great ; and the work once done, Famagosta would soon recover its ancient importance. All that is quite sound, and if Cyprus were English, application might reasonably be made to Parliament, but then it is not English. The Queen is in Cyprus only a vassal, the Sultan is Sovereign, the Turkish laws still prevail, and even our lease is dependent upon a treaty which will never be carried out. The eager haste of the Premier to seem to have got something solid induced Sir Henry Layard
to consent to terms which almost make- good government im- possible, and which are far more difficult to work under than the Gibraltar theory would have been,—namely, that Great Britain was in military occupation of the place. The explana- tion of Sir Henry Layard's acceptance of such conditions will form one of the most singular chapters in the secret history of the diplomacy of this Government, which is sure to be published some day.
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