The movement in favour of organised research in Cyprus which, originating in the latter part of the summer of 1887, led before the end of the year to the formation of a Fund directed by a Committee comprising all those who are most prominent in supporting the study of Classical Archaeology in this country, has been set forth already in circulars and reports, and needs only a brief allusion here in order to explain the causes and conditions of our subsequent work at Old Paphos and other sites in the winter and spring of this year. In the early mouths of 1887, Dr. F. H. H. Guillemard, the well-known traveller and ornithologist, spent a considerable time in Cyprus, and in the less known parts of the island saw and heard so much of continual discoveries, legitimate and illegitimate, that, on his return to England, he lost no time in pressing the desirability of sending an expedition on many who were interested in matters archaeological, with the result that the University of Cambridge took into consideration the question of making a grant from the Worts Travelling Bachelor's Fund for that purpose. The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies was also sounded, and many circumstances conspired to induce their favourable consideration for such a proposal. Besides the valuable information communicated by Dr. Guillemard, it was known that the High Commissioner of Cyprus had resolved for sufficient reasons, which need not be detailed here, to discountenance in future all private exploration in the island, but at the same time had declared his willingness to help any work organised and conducted by a recognised scientific body: it resulted therefore that, unless such bodies undertook the task, no one would attempt to solve the many problems connected with the island for some years to come.
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