The Forests of Phrygia.
The Frontier of Phrygia--Ancient Quarries and Tombs--We Enter the Pine
Forests--A Guard-House--Encampments of the Turcomans--Pastoral
Scenery--A Summer Village--The Valley of the Tombs--Rock Sepulchres of
the Phrygian Kings--The Titan's Camp--The Valley of Kümbeh--A Land of
Flowers--Turcoman Hospitality--The Exiled Effendis--The Old Turcoman--A
Glimpse of Arcadia--A Landscape--Interested Friendship--The Valley of
the Pursek--Arrival at Kiutahya.
"And round us all the thicket rang
To many a flute of Arcady." Tennyson.
Kiutahya, _July_ 5, 1852.
We had now passed through the ancient provinces of Cilicia, Cappadocia,
and Lycaonia, and reached the confines of Phrygia--a rude mountain region,
which was never wholly penetrated by the light of Grecian civilization. It
is still comparatively a wilderness, pierced but by a single high-road,
and almost unvisited by travellers, yet inclosing in its depths many
curious relics of antiquity. Leaving Bolawadün in the morning, we ascended
a long, treeless mountain-slope, and in three or four hours reached the
dividing ridge---the watershed of Asia Minor, dividing the affluents of
the Mediterranean and the central lakes from the streams that flow to the
Black Sea. Looking back, Sultan Dagh, along whose base we had travelled
the previous day, lay high and blue in the background, streaked with
shining snow, and far away behind it arose a still higher peak, hoary with
the lingering winter. We descended into a grassy plain, shut in by a range
of broken mountains, covered to their summits with dark-green shrubbery,
through which the strata of marble rock gleamed like patches of snow. The
hills in front were scarred with old quarries, once worked for the
celebrated Phrygian marble. There was neither a habitation nor a human
being to be seen, and the landscape had a singularly wild, lonely, and
picturesque air.
Turning westward, we crossed a high rolling tract, and entered a valley
entirely covered with dwarf oaks and cedars. In spite of the dusty road,
the heat, and the multitude of gad-flies, the journey presented an
agreeable contrast to the great plains over which we had been travelling
for many days. The opposite side of the glen was crowned with a tall crest
of shattered rock, in which were many old Phrygian tombs. They were mostly
simple chambers, with square apertures. There were traces of many more,
the rock having been blown up or quarried down--the tombs, instead of
protecting it, only furnishing one facility the more for destruction.
After an hour's rest at a fountain, we threaded the windings of the glen
to a lower plain, quite shut in by the hills, whose ribs of marble showed
through the forests of oak, holly, cedar, and pine, which dotted them. We
were now fully entered into the hill-country, and our road passed over
heights and through hollows covered with picturesque clumps of foliage. It
resembled some of the wild western downs of America, and, but for the
Phrygian tombs, whose doorways stared at us from every rock, seemed as
little familiar with the presence of Man.
Hadji Youssuf, in stopping to arrange some of the baggage, lost his hold
of his mule, and in spite of every effort to secure her, the provoking
beast kept her liberty for the rest of the day. In vain did we head her
off, chase her, coax her, set traps for her: she was too cunning to be
taken in, and marched along at her ease, running into every field of
grain, stopping to crop the choicest bunches of grass, or walking demurely
in the caravan, allowing the hadji to come within arm's length before she
kicked up her heels and dashed away again. We had a long chase through the
clumps of oak and holly, but all to no purpose. The great green gad-flies
swarmed around us, biting myself as well as my horse. Hecatombs, crushed
by my whip, dropped dead in the dust, but the ranks were immediately
filled from some invisible reserve. The soil was no longer bare, but
entirely covered with grass and flowers. In one of the valleys I saw a
large patch of the crimson larkspur, so thick as to resemble a pool of
blood. While crossing a long, hot hill, we came upon a little arbor of
stones, covered with pine branches. It inclosed an ancient sarcophagus of
marble, nearly filled with water. Beside it stood a square cup, with a
handle, rudely hewn out of a piece of pine wood. This was a charitable
provision for travellers, and constantly supplied by the Turcomans who
lived in the vicinity.
The last two hours of our journey that day were through a glorious forest
of pines. The road lay in a winding glen, green and grassy, and covered to
the summits on both sides with beautiful pine trees, intermixed with
cedar. The air had the true northern aroma, and was more grateful than
wine. Every turn of the glen disclosed a charming woodland view. It was a
wild valley of the northern hills, filled with the burning lustre of a
summer sun, and canopied by the brilliant blue of a summer sky. There were
signs of the woodman's axe, and the charred embers of forest camp-fires. I
thought of the lovely _cañadas_ in the pine forests behind Monterey, and
could really have imagined myself there. Towards evening we reached a
solitary guard-house, on the edge of the forest. The glen here opened a
little, and a stone fountain of delicious water furnished all that we
wanted for a camping-place. The house was inhabited by three soldiers;
sturdy, good-humored fellows, who immediately spread a mat in the shade
for us and made us some excellent coffee. A Turcoman encampment in the
neighborhood supplied us with milk and eggs.
The guardsmen were good Mussulmans, and took us for the same. One of them
asked me to let him know when the sun was down, and I prolonged his fast
until it was quite dark, when I gave him permission to eat. They all had
tolerable stallions for their service, and seemed to live pleasantly
enough, in their wild way. The fat, stumpy corporal, with his enormously
broad pantaloons and automaton legs, went down to the fountain with his
musket, and after taking a rest and sighting full five minutes, fired at a
dove without hitting it. He afterwards joined us in a social pipe, and we
sat on a carpet at the door of the guard-house, watching the splendid
moonrise through the pine boughs. When the pipes had burned out I went to
bed, and slept a long, sweet sleep until dawn.
We knew that the tombs of the Phrygian Kings could not be far off, and, on
making inquiries of the corporal, found that he knew the place. It was not
four hours distant, by a by-road and as it would be impossible to reach
it without a guide, he would give us one of his men, in consideration of a
fee of twenty piastres. The difficulty was evident, in a hilly, wooded
country like this, traversed by a labyrinth of valleys and ravines, and so
we accepted the soldier. As we were about leaving, an old Turcoman, whose
beard was dyed a bright red, came up, saying that he knew Mr. H. was a
physician, and could cure him of his deafness. The morning air was sweet
with the breath of cedar and pine, and we rode on through the woods and
over the open turfy glades, in high spirits. We were in the heart of a
mountainous country, clothed with evergreen forests, except some open
upland tracts, which showed a thick green turf, dotted all over with
park-like clumps, and single great trees. The pines were noble trunks,
often sixty to eighty feet high, and with boughs disposed in all possible
picturesqueness of form. The cedar frequently showed a solid white bole,
three feet in diameter.
We took a winding footpath, often a mere track, striking across the hills
in a northern direction. Everywhere we met the Turks of the plain, who are
now encamped in the mountains, to tend their flocks through the summer
months. Herds of sheep and goats were scattered over the green
pasture-slopes, and the idle herd-boys basked in the morning sun, playing
lively airs on a reed flute, resembling the Arabic _zumarra_. Here and
there was a woodman, busy at a recently felled tree, and we met several of
the creaking carts of the country, hauling logs. All that we saw had a
pleasant rural air, a smack of primitive and unsophisticated life. From
the higher ridges over which we passed, we could see, far to the east and
west, other ranges of pine-covered mountains, and in the distance the
cloudy lines of loftier chains. The trunks of the pines were nearly all
charred, and many of the smaller trees dead, from the fires which, later
in the year, rage in these forests.
After four hours of varied and most inspiring travel, we reached a
district covered for the most part with oak woods--a more open though
still mountainous region. There was a summer village of Turks scattered
over the nearest slope--probably fifty houses in all, almost perfect
counterparts of Western log-cabins. They were built of pine logs, laid
crosswise, and covered with rough boards. These, as we were told, were the
dwellings of the people who inhabit the village of Khosref Pasha Khan
during the winter. Great numbers of sheep and goats were browsing over the
hills or lying around the doors of the houses. The latter were beautiful
creatures, with heavy, curved horns, and long, white, silky hair, that
entirely hid their eyes. We stopped at a house for water, which the man
brought out in a little cask. He at first proposed giving us _yaourt_, and
his wife suggested _kaïmak_ (sweet curds), which we agreed to take, but it
proved to be only boiled milk.
Leaving the village, we took a path leading westward, mounted a long hill,
and again entered the pine forests. Before long, we came to a well-built
country-house, somewhat resembling a Swiss cottage. It was two stories
high, and there was an upper balcony, with cushioned divans, overlooking a
thriving garden-patch and some fruit-trees. Three or four men were weeding
in the garden, and the owner came up and welcomed us. A fountain of
ice-cold water gushed into a stone trough at the door, making a tempting
spot for our breakfast, but we were bent on reaching the tombs. There were
convenient out-houses for fowls, sheep, and cattle. The herds were out,
grazing along the edges of the forest, and we heard the shrill, joyous
melodies of the flutes blown by the herd-boys.
We now reached a ridge, whence we looked down through the forest upon a
long valley, nearly half a mile wide, and bordered on the opposite side by
ranges of broken sandstone crags. This was the place we sought--the Valley
of the Phrygian Tombs. Already we could distinguish the hewn faces of the
rocks, and the dark apertures to the chambers within. The bottom of the
valley was a bed of glorious grass, blazoned with flowers, and redolent of
all vernal smells. Several peasants, finding it too hot to mow, had thrown
their scythes along the swarths, and were lying in the shade of an oak. We
rode over the new-cut hay, up the opposite side, and dismounted at the
face of the crags. As we approached them, the number of chambers hewn in
the rock, the doors and niches now open to the day, surmounted by
shattered spires and turrets, gave the whole mass the appearance of a
grand fortress in ruins. The crags, which are of a very soft, reddish-gray
sandstone, rise a hundred and fifty feet from their base, and their
summits are worn by the weather into the most remarkable forms.
The principal monument is a broad, projecting cliff, one side of which has
been cut so as to resemble the façade of a temple. The sculptured part is
about sixty feet high by sixty in breadth, and represents a solid wall
with two pilasters at the ends, upholding an architrave and pediment,
which is surmounted by two large volutes. The whole face of the wall is
covered with ornaments resembling panel-work, not in regular squares, but
a labyrinth of intricate designs. In the centre, at the bottom, is a
shallow square recess, surrounded by an elegant, though plain moulding,
but there is no appearance of an entrance to the sepulchral chamber, which
may be hidden in the heart of the rock. There is an inscription in Greek
running up one side, but it is of a later date than the work itself. On
one of the tombs there is an inscription: "To King Midas." These relics
are supposed to date from the period of the Gordian Dynasty, about seven
centuries before Christ.
A little in front of a headland, formed by the summit walls of two meeting
valleys, rises a mass of rocks one hundred feet high, cut into sepulchral
chambers, story above story, with the traces of steps between them,
leading to others still higher. The whole rock, which may be a hundred and
fifty feet long by fifty feet broad, has been scooped out, leaving but
narrow partitions to separate the chambers of the dead. These chambers are
all plain, but some are of very elegant proportions, with arched or
pyramidal roofs, and arched recesses at the sides, containing sarcophagi
hewn in the solid stone. There are also many niches for cinerary urns. The
principal tomb had a portico, supported by columns, but the front is now
entirely hurled down, and only the elegant panelling and stone joists of
the ceiling remain. The entire hill was a succession of tombs. There is
not a rock which does not bear traces of them. I might have counted
several hundred within a stone's throw. The position of these curious
remains in a lonely valley, shut in on all sides by dark, pine-covered
mountains---two of which are crowned with a natural acropolis of rock,
resembling a fortress--increases the interest with which they inspire the
beholder. The valley on the western side, with its bed of ripe wheat in
the bottom, its tall walls, towers, and pinnacles of rock, and its distant
vista of mountain and forest, is the most picturesque in Phrygia.
The Turcoman reapers, who came up to see us and talk with us, said that
there were the remains of walls on the summit of the principal acropolis
opposite us, and that, further up the valley, there was a chamber with two
columns in front. Mr. Harrison and I saddled and rode off, passing along a
wall of fantastic rock-turrets, at the base of which was a natural column,
about ten feet high, and five in diameter, almost perfectly round, and
upholding an immense rock, shaped like a cocked hat. In crossing the
meadow we saw a Turk sitting in the sun beside a spring, and busily
engaged in knitting a stocking. After a ride of two miles we found the
chamber, hewn like the façade of a temple in an isolated rock, overlooking
two valleys of wild meadow-land. The pediment and cornice were simple and
beautiful, but the columns had been broken away. The chambers were
perfectly plain, but the panel-work on the ceiling of the portico was
entire.
After passing three hours in examining these tombs, we took the track
which our guide pointed out as the road to Kiutahya. We rode two hours
through the forest, and came out upon a wooded height, overlooking a
grand, open valley, rich in grain-fields and pasture land. While I was
contemplating this lovely view, the road turned a corner of the ridge, and
lo! before me there appeared (as I thought), above the tops of the pines,
high up on the mountain side, a line of enormous tents. Those snow-white
cones, uprearing their sharp spires, and spreading out their broad
bases--what could they be but an encampment of monster tents? Yet no; they
were pinnacles of white rock--perfect cones, from thirty to one hundred
feet in height, twelve in all, and ranged side by side along the edge of
the cliff, with the precision of a military camp. They were snow-white,
perfectly smooth and full, and their bases touched. What made the
spectacle more singular, there was no other appearance of the same rock on
the mountain. All around them was the dark-green of the pines, out of
which they rose like drifted horns of unbroken snow. I named this singular
phenomenon--which seems to have escaped the notice of travellers--The
Titan's Camp.
In another hour we reached a fountain near the village of Kümbeh, and
pitched our tents for the night. The village, which is half a mile in
length, is built upon a singular crag, which shoots up abruptly from the
centre of the valley, rising at one extremity to a height of more than a
hundred feet. It was entirely deserted, the inhabitants having all gone
off to the mountains with their herds. The solitary muezzin, who cried the
_mughreb_ at the close of the fast, and lighted the lamps on his minaret,
went through with his work in most unclerical haste, now that there was no
one to notice him. We sent Achmet, the _katurgee_, to the mountain camp of
the villagers, to procure a supply of fowls and barley.
We rose very early yesterday morning, shivering in the cold air of the
mountains, and just as the sun, bursting through the pines, looked down
the little hollow where our tents were pitched, set the caravan in motion.
The ride down the valley was charming. The land was naturally rich and
highly cultivated, which made its desertion the more singular. Leagues of
wheat, rye and poppies spread around us, left for the summer warmth to do
its silent work. The dew sparkled on the fields as we rode through them,
and the splendor of the flowers in blossom was equal to that of the plains
of Palestine. There were purple, white and scarlet poppies; the rich
crimson larkspur; the red anemone; the golden daisy; the pink convolvulus;
and a host of smaller blooms, so intensely bright and dazzling in their
hues, that the meadows were richer than a pavement of precious jewels. To
look towards the sun, over a field of scarlet poppies, was like looking on
a bed of live coals; the light, striking through the petals, made them
burn as with an inward fire. Out of this wilderness of gorgeous color,
rose the tall spires of a larger plant, covered with great yellow flowers,
while here and there the snowy blossoms of a clump of hawthorn sweetened
the morning air.
A short distance beyond Kümbeh, we passed another group of ancient tombs,
one of which was of curious design. An isolated rock, thirty feet in
height by twenty in diameter, was cut so as to resemble a triangular
tower, with the apex bevelled. A chamber, containing a sarcophagus, was
hewn out of the interior. The entrance was ornamented with double columns
in bas-relief, and a pediment. There was another arched chamber, cut
directly through the base of the triangle, with a niche on each side,
hollowed out at the bottom so as to form a sarcophagus.
Leaving these, the last of the Phrygian tombs, we struck across the valley
and ascended a high range of hills, covered with pine, to an upland,
wooded region. Here we found a summer village of log cabins, scattered
over a grassy slope. The people regarded us with some curiosity, and the
women hastily concealed their faces. Mr. H. rode up to a large new house,
and peeped in between the logs. There were several women inside, who
started up in great confusion and threw over their heads whatever article
was most convenient. An old man, with a long white beard, neatly dressed
in a green jacket and shawl turban, came out and welcomed us. I asked for
_kaïmak_, which he promised, and immediately brought out a carpet and
spread it on the ground. Then followed a large basin of kaïmak, with
wooden spoons, three loaves of bread, and a plate of cheese. We seated
ourselves on the carpet, and delved in with the spoons, while the old man
retired lest his appetite should be provoked. The milk was excellent, nor
were the bread and cheese to be despised.
While we were eating, the Khowagee, or schoolmaster of the community, a
genteel little man in a round white turban, came op to inquire of François
who we were. "That effendi in the blue dress," said he, "is the Bey, is he
not?" "Yes," said F. "And the other, with the striped shirt and white
turban, is a writer?" [Here he was not far wrong.] "But how is it that the
effendis do not speak Turkish?" he persisted. "Because," said François,
"their fathers were exiled by Sultan Mahmoud when they were small
children. They have grown up in Aleppo like Arabs, and have not yet
learned Turkish; but God grant that the Sultan may not turn his face away
from them, and that they may regain the rank their fathers once had in
Stamboul." "God grant it!" replied the Khowagee, greatly interested in the
story. By this time we had eaten our full share of the kaïmak, which was
finished by François and the katurgees. The old man now came up, mounted
on a dun mare, stating that he was bound for Kiutahya, and was delighted
with the prospect of travelling in such good company, I gave one of his
young children some money, as the kaïmak was tendered out of pure
hospitality, and so we rode off.
Our new companion was armed to the teeth, having a long gun with a heavy
wooden stock and nondescript lock, and a sword of excellent metal. It was,
in fact, a weapon of the old Greek empire, and the cross was still
enamelled in gold at the root of the blade, in spite of all his efforts to
scratch it out. He was something of a _fakeer_, having made a pilgrimage
to Mecca and Jerusalem. He was very inquisitive, plying François with
questions about the government. The latter answered that we were not
connected with the government, but the old fellow shrewdly hinted that he
knew better--we were persons of rank, travelling incognito. He was very
attentive to us, offering us water at every fountain, although he believed
us to be good Mussulmans. We found him of some service as a guide,
shortening our road by taking by-paths through the woods.
For several hours we traversed a beautifully wooded region of hills.
Graceful clumps of pine shaded the grassy knolls, where the sheep and
silky-haired goats were basking at rest, and the air was filled with a
warm, summer smell, blown from the banks of golden broom. Now and then,
from the thickets of laurel and arbutus, a shrill shepherd's reed piped
some joyous woodland melody. Was it a Faun, astray among the hills? Green
dells, open to the sunshine, and beautiful as dreams of Arcady, divided
the groves of pine. The sky overhead was pure and cloudless, clasping the
landscape with its belt of peace and silence. Oh, that delightful region,
haunted by all the bright spirits of the immortal Grecian Song! Chased
away from the rest of the earth, here they have found a home--here
secret altars remain to them from the times that are departed!
Out of these woods, we passed into a lonely plain, inclosed by piny hills
that brightened in the thin, pure ether. In the distance were some
shepherds' tents, and musical goat-bells tinkled along the edges of the
woods. From the crest of a lofty ridge beyond this plain, we looked back
over the wild solitudes wherein we had been travelling for two days--long
ranges of dark hills, fading away behind each other, with a perspective
that hinted of the hidden gulfs between. From the western slope, a still
more extensive prospect opened before us. Over ridges covered with forests
of oak and pine, we saw the valley of the Pursek, the ancient Thymbrius,
stretching far away to the misty line of Keshish Dagh, The mountains
behind Kintahya loomed up high and grand, making a fine feature in the
middle distance. We caught but fleeting glimpses of the view through the
trees; and then, plunging into the forest again, descended to a cultivated
slope, whereon there was a little village, now deserted. The graveyard
beside it was shaded with large cedar-trees, and near it there was a
fountain of excellent water. "Here," said the old man, "you can wash and
pray, and then rest awhile under the trees." François excused us by saying
that, while on a journey, we always bathed before praying; but, not to
slight his faith entirely, I washed my hands and face before sitting down
to our scanty breakfast of bread and water.
Our path now led down through long, winding glens, over grown with oaks,
from which the wild yellow honeysuckles fell in a shower of blossoms. As
we drew near the valley, the old man began to hint that his presence had
been of great service to us, and deserved recompense. "God knows," said
he to François, "in what corner of the mountains you might now be, if I
had not accompanied you." "Oh," replied François, "there are always plenty
of people among the woods, who would have been equally as kind as yourself
in showing us the way." He then spoke of the robbers in the neighborhood,
and pointed out some graves by the road-side, as those of persons who had
been murdered. "But," he added, "everybody in these parts knows me, and
whoever is in company with me is always safe." The Greek assured him that
we always depended on ourselves for our safety. Defeated on these tacks,
he boldly affirmed that his services were worthy of payment. "But," said
François "you told us at the village that you had business in Kiutahya,
and would be glad to join us for the sake of having company on the road."
"Well, then," rejoined the old fellow, making a last effort, "I leave the
matter to your politeness." "Certainly," replied the imperturbable
dragoman, "we could not be so impolite as to offer money to a man of your
wealth and station; we could not insult you by giving you alms." The old
Turcoman thereupon gave a shrug and a grunt, made a sullen good-by
salutation, and left us.
It was nearly six o'clock when we reached the Pursek. There was no sign of
the city, but we could barely discern an old fortress on the lofty cliff
which commands the town. A long stone bridge crossed the river, which here
separates into half a dozen channels. The waters are swift and clear, and
wind away in devious mazes through the broad green meadows. We hurried on,
thinking we saw minarets in the distance, but they proved to be poplars.
The sun sank lower and lower, and finally went down before there was any
token of our being in the vicinity of the city. Soon, however, a line of
tiled roofs appeared along the slope of a hill on our left, and turning
its base, we saw the city before us, filling the mouth of a deep valley or
gorge, which opened from the mountains.
But the horses are saddled, and François tells me it is time to put up my
pen. We are off, over the mountains, to the Greek city of OEzani, in
the valley of the Rhyndacus.