CHAPTER I.

JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN ASIA MINOR, _&c._

JOURNAL

OF

A TOUR IN ASIA MINOR,

WITH

COMPARATIVE REMARKS

ON THE

ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY

OF THAT COUNTRY.

BY

WILLIAM MARTIN LEAKE,

F.R.S. &c.

_ACCOMPANIED BY A MAP._

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.

1824.

PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR,

SHOE-LANE.

PREFACE.

To the traveller who delights in tracing vestiges of Grecian art and

civilization amidst modern barbarism and desolation, and who may thus

at once illustrate history and collect valuable materials for the

geographer and the artist—there is no country that now affords so fertile

a field of discovery as Asia Minor. Unfortunately, there is no province

of the Ottoman empire more difficult to explore in detail. In European

Turkey, the effects of the Mahometan system are somewhat tempered by its

proximity to civilised Europe, by its conscious weakness, and by the

great excess of the Christian population over the Turkish: but the Turk

of Asia Minor, although he may be convinced of the danger which threatens

the whole Ottoman empire, from the change that has taken place in the

relative power of the Musulman and Christian world, since his ancestors

conquered the favoured regions of which their successors have so long

been permitted to remain in the undisturbed abuse—derives, nevertheless,

a strong feeling of confidence and security, from his being further

removed from the Christian nations which he dreads; and sensible that

European Turkey must be the first to fall before the conqueror, he feels

no restraint in the indulgence of his hatred to the Christian name,

beyond that which may arise from the dictates of his religion, or from

the native hospitality of the people of the East.

In Asia Minor, among the impediments to a traveller’s success may be

especially reckoned the deserted state of the country, which often

puts the common necessaries and conveniences of travelling out of his

reach; the continual disputes and wars among the persons in power; the

precarious authority of the government of Constantinople, which rendering

its protection ineffectual, makes the traveller’s success depend upon the

personal character of the governor of each district; and the ignorance

and the suspicious temper of the Turks, who have no idea of scientific

travelling; who cannot imagine any other motive for our visits to that

country, than a preparation for hostile invasion, or a search after

treasures among the ruins of antiquity, and whose suspicions of this

nature are of course most strong in the provinces which, like Asia

Minor, are the least frequented by us[1]. If the traveller’s prudence or

good fortune should obviate all these difficulties, and should protect

him from plague, banditti, and other perils of a semibarbarous state

of society, he has still to dread the loss of health, arising from the

combined effects of climate, fatigue, and privation; which seldom fails

to check his career before he has completed his projected tour.

Asia Minor is still in that state in which a disguised dress, an

assumption of the medical character, great patience and perseverance,

the sacrifice of all European comforts, and the concealment of pecuniary

means, are necessary to enable the traveller thoroughly to investigate

the country, when otherwise qualified for the task by literary and

scientific attainments, and by an intimate knowledge of the language and

manners of the people.

Among modern travellers, two only have yet traversed Asia Minor in

various directions for exploratory purposes; Paul Lucas in the years

1705, 1706, and 1715, and Capt. Macdonald Kinneir in the years 1813 and

1814. The rest have merely followed a single route in passing through the

country; even the travels of the two persons just named, amount only to a

description of several routes instead of one; the state of the provinces

and the mode of travelling having rendered it impossible to make any of

those excursions from the main road, without which the geography of an

unknown country cannot possibly be ascertained. It even appears from the

journal of Mr. Kinneir, that the difficulties of travelling in Asia Minor

have rather increased of late years than diminished. And hence he was

unsuccessful in all his attempts to explore particular sites interesting

to ancient history, and was unfortunate in his collection of the surest

tests of ancient geography,—inscriptions.

The principality of Tshappán-Oglu, which offered some security to the

traveller, has been broken up by his death; and that of the family

of Kara-Osmán-Oglu, the mildness and equity of whose government over

the greater part of Æolis, Ionia and Lydia, had attracted thither

great numbers of Greeks from Europe, has been put an end to by the

same impolitic jealousy of Sultan Mahmud which is undermining his own

security and threatens the destruction of his empire. There remain

only a few dispersed chieftains, most of them in a state of doubtful

allegiance to the Porte, in whose districts, by good management and

previous preparation, the traveller might perhaps be allowed to explore

the country in safety. In no other parts can he, unless with all the

requisites above stated, and a great sacrifice of time, hope to effect

more than a rapid passage along the principal roads, take a transient

view of some of the remains of antiquity, and note the distances of

places, and the general bearings of the route, together with the relative

situations of a few hills or other remarkable objects on either side of

the road.

Under such circumstances, it is obvious that the geography of Asia

Minor can only be improved by collecting and combining the information

contained in the journals of modern travellers; by which means an

approximation to a detailed map of the country may progressively be made.

It was with the view of contributing to this object that I published the

journal of two routes through the central parts of Asia Minor, in the

second volume of the Rev. R. Walpole’s Collection of Memoirs on Greece

and Asia Minor.

Having, since that publication, extended over the whole peninsula the

comparative inquiry into its ancient and modern geography, which was

there confined to the parts forming the subject of the journals, the

result has been, the map which accompanies the present volume; the

volume itself containing, together with the substance of the memoir in

Mr. Walpole’s Collection, the additional remarks suggested by the more

enlarged geographical inquiry.

As the _remarks_ have become considerably more voluminous than the

_journal_, I cannot flatter myself that the work in its present form

will possess much attraction for the general reader. It can only pretend

to contain, when accompanied by the map, all the existing information

upon Asia Minor most essential to the exploring traveller; at the same

time that it cannot fail to offer some interest to the reader of ancient

history.

The modern authorities which have served in the construction of the map

are of two kinds—the maritime, and those relating to the interior of the

country: the former derived from celestial observations, or nautical

surveys on the sea coast; the latter, from the routes of travellers. The

maritime being the most certain, and giving accuracy of position to the

two ends of some of the principal routes, and consequently in a great

degree to the entire lines—may be considered as the foundation of the

work.

The positions of Constantinople and Smyrna are assumed from the

concurrence of several good observations. The entire southern coast, from

the Gulf of Iskenderún to that of Mákri, together with several parts of

the coast between Mákri and Smyrna, has been laid down from the Survey

of Captain Beaufort, which was made in the years 1811 and 1812, by order

of the Admiralty, during the administration of Mr. Yorke; and which was

published in the year 1820, by direction of the Lords Commissioners.

The principal points and the general outline of the Pontic coast of the

peninsula have been adopted from the recently-published chart of the

Black Sea by Capt. Gauttier, of the Royal Navy of France[2]. The western

coast, from the Gulf of Elæa to the mouth of the Hellespont, has been

laid down from Truguet and Racord, officers of the French Navy, who

accompanied Count Choiseul Gouffier in his Embassy to the Porte in 1784;

and the result of whose labours is published in the second volume of M.

Choiseul’s _Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce_.

In the interior of the peninsula the latitude of some important points,

as Kesaría, Kónia, Afiom Karahissár, Kutáya, Manissa, Brusa, Isnik, have

been observed by Niebuhr, Browne, or by Messrs. Chavasse and Kinneir: the

remaining construction is nothing more than the result of a comparison

of the ancient geographers and historians with the routes of modern

travellers, and with the descriptions of two Turkish geographers, who

lived about the middle of the seventeenth century—Mustafa Ben Abdalla

Kalib Tsheleby, commonly called Hadji Khalfa, and Abubekr Ben Behrem of

Damascus. Though little is to be derived from these authors with regard

to the exact situation of towns, their evidence on the orthography

of names, and their information on the political geography, are of

considerable utility.

The elder travellers, whose routes have served in the construction of

the Map, may be confined to Tavernier, Tournefort, Paul Lucas, Otter, and

Pococke; for Bertrandon de la Brocquière, de la Mottraye, and Le Bruyn,

afford no geographical matter that is not contained in the others.

Tavernier informs us, in his introduction, that he began his travels by

a visit to England, in the reign of James the First; he died in 1685.

Although he crossed Asia Minor several times, in the way to Persia, where

his commercial speculations carried him, he has left us nothing more

than a very brief description of two caravan routes to Tokât: the one

from Constantinople, by Bóli, Tósia, and Amasía; the other from Smyrna,

by Kassabá, Allah-shehr, Afiom Karahissár, Buhwudún, and across the Salt

country to the Kizil-Ermak, which he passed at Kesre Kiupri.

Tournefort traversed Asia Minor only in one direction, from Erzrúm

by Tokát to A´ngura, from whence he passed a little to the north of

Eski-shehr, to Brusa.

Paul Lucas was sent out in the year 1704, by the same minister of Louis

XIV. who employed Tournefort on a similar expedition in the Archipelago,

the Black Sea, and Armenia. But, unfortunately for our geographical

knowledge of Asia Minor, Lucas’s qualifications were very inferior to

those of his contemporary; nor does he appear to have been well adapted,

by previous study, even for those branches of investigation to which

his attention was particularly directed by his employers; namely, the

collecting of coins and inscriptions.

By assuming the medical character, he secured a good reception at several

of the provincial towns, and protection from the governors, as far as

their authority extended; but the banditti which at that period infested

every part of the country, obliged him always to travel in haste, and

often in the night; and he was not qualified to derive as much advantage

from journeys made under such circumstances as a more experienced and

more enlightened traveller might have done. He was generally careful in

noting the time employed in each stage; but the names of places are often

disfigured by his careless mode of writing. His ignorance and credulity

made him delight in repeating the absurd tales which the traveller so

often hears in these half-civilised countries; at the same time that he

omitted the insertion of many useful observations which he could not have

failed to make. In some instances he has repeated the fabulous accounts

of the natives as if he had himself witnessed them, and has thus rendered

himself liable to the suspicion of having wilfully imposed upon his

readers. There can be no doubt, however, that his itinerary, abstracted

from his narrative, is as correct as he was capable of making it. The

geographical results, when connected and compared with those of other

travellers, are a sufficient proof of this fact; and Lucas, with all

his faults, has furnished us with a greater number of routes than any

other traveller in Asia Minor. In 1705 he went from Constantinople to

Nicomedia, Nicæa, and Brusa; from Brusa to Kutaya, Eski-shehr, A´ngura,

Kir-shehr, Kesaría; from Kesaría to Nigde, Bor, Erkle, and Kónia; from

Kónia to A´ngura, Beibazár, Kíwa, Nicomedia, and Constantinople, to

which city he returned in February 1706. In the autumn of the same year,

after a long journey in Greece, he set out on a second tour in Asia Minor

from Smyrna, travelling by Sardes, to Allah-shehr, Alan-kiúi, Burdur,

Susu, and Adália; from Adália to Susu, Isbarta, Egerder, Serkiserai, and

Kónia; from Kónia to Erkle, and over Mount Taurus, by the Pylæ Ciliciæ to

A´dana, Tarsus, and thence into Syria. In a third journey in Asia Minor,

in the year 1715, Lucas went from Smyrna to Ghiuzel Hissár by Tire; from

thence by the valley of the Mæander to Denizlú; and from Denizlú by

Burdur to Isbarta, from whence he travelled the same road as before to

Kónia. He states also, but without giving any particulars of his route,

that he again visited Kesaría; and that, after having returned to to

Kónia, he once more proceeded by the Pylæ Ciliciæ to A´dana and into

Syria.

Next to Lucas, Otter is the most useful of the earlier travellers. He was

a Swede, sent to Persia by the Court of France in 1734. He crossed Asia

Minor by the way of Iznimid, Lefke, Inoghi, Eski-shehr, Ak-shehr, Kónia,

Erkle, and A´dana; and returned from Persia by the route of Amasía and

Boli. His narrative is chiefly valuable from his knowledge of the Turkish

language, and from his having previously consulted some manuscript works

in the Royal Library at Paris, especially that of Ibrahim Effendi,

who first established a Turkish press at Constantinople, and whose

information seems to accord with that of Hadji Khalfa, and of Abubekr of

Damascus.

Among our own countrymen, Pococke is the only traveller of the last

century who has published his route with sufficient precision to be of

any use to the geographer; but he has been extremely negligent in noting

bearings and distances: his narrative is very obscure and confused; and

his journey in Asia Minor is consequently of much less importance than

it might have been made by so enlightened, learned, and persevering a

traveller. In the year 1740, after visiting a great part of Ionia and

Caria, he ascended the valley of the Mæander and its branches to Ishekli

and Sandukli, from whence he crossed to Beiad, Sevrihissár, and A´ngura.

From A´ngura he crossed to the northward into the great eastern road

from Constantinople, and returned to that capital by the way of Boli and

Nicomedia.

Niebuhr traversed Asia Minor in the year 1766, on his return from India

by the way of Baghdad, Mosúl, and Aleppo. From Iskenderún he passed by

Bayas to Adana, and from thence by Erkle to Kónia, Karahissár, Kutaya,

and Brusa[3].

In the year 1797, Browne returned from the interior of Africa by the way

of Asia Minor. From Aleppo and Aintab, he traversed the range of Taurus

to Bostán, Kesaría, A´ngura, Sabanje, and Nicomedia. Mr. M. Bruce[4]

travelled the same route in 1812, and has given us a diary of names and

distances not to be found in Browne’s printed book of travels.

It was in the year 1797, also, that Olivier passed through Asia Minor,

from Celenderis by Mout, Láranda, Kónia, Ak-shehr, Afiom Karahissár,

Kutaya, Yenishehr, Nicæa, and Nicomedia.

Seetzen traversed Asia Minor from Constantinople to Smyrna, and from

Smyrna to Afiom Karahissár, Ak-shehr, Kónia, Láranda, Ibrala, and across

Mount Taurus to Karaduar (anciently Anchiale, the port of Tarsus), from

whence he passed by sea to Seleuceia, the port of Antioch, now Suadíeh.

The distances and the names of the places which he passed through,

written with great care, have been preserved; but it is feared that the

rest of his valuable manuscripts are irretrievably lost[5].

In the year 1801, Browne again traversed Asia Minor from Constantinople,

by Nicomedia, Brusa, Kutaya, Afiom Karahissár, Ak-shehr, Kónia, Erkle,

Tarsus.

Among recent travellers, Capt. M. Kinneir has furnished us with the

greatest number of routes. These are; 1. from Constantinople, by Nicæa,

Eski-shehr, Seid-el-Ghazi, and Germa, to A´ngura; from A´ngura, by Uskát,

to Kesaría; and from Kesaría, by Nigde, Ketch-hissar[6], and over Mount

Taurus, by the Pylæ Ciliciæ, to Tarsus, Adana, and Iskenderún. 2. From

Celenderis to Mout, Láranda, Kónia, Ak-shehr, Afiom Karahissár, Kutaya,

Brusa, Mudánia. 3. From Constantinople, by Nicomedia, Sabanje, Turbali,

Boli, Kastamni[7], Samsún, Tarabizún, to Erzrúm.

Mr. Kinneir was also one of the many persons who, during the late war,

crossed the northern part of Asia Minor, to or from Persia by the way of

Boli, Amasía, and Tokát.

Another road, which has been still more followed, is from Brusa or

from Mikhalitza, by Ulubad and Magnesia, to Smyrna, or in the opposite

direction: the latitudes of all the principal places on it have been

determined by Browne[8]. Of this and of several other routes in

the ancient provinces of Mysia, Lydia, Ionia, and Caria, we have

descriptions in Smith, Wheler, Spon, Chishull, Pococke, Picenini,

Chandler, and Choiseul Gouffier.

The authorities upon which our knowledge of the _ancient_ geography of

Asia Minor is chiefly founded, are the works of Strabo, Ptolemy[9],

Pliny, Stephanus Byzantinus, the curious table or map of roads called

the Peutingerian Table, the Antonine and Jerusalem Itineraries[10], the

Synecdemus of Hierocles, and the following historical narratives of some

celebrated military expeditions:—1. The Journal by Xenophon[11], of the

route of Cyrus from Sardes to Celænæ, and from thence to Iconium; and

through Lycaonia and part of Cappadocia, and over Mount Taurus to Tarsus.

2. Arrian’s history of the conquest of Asia Minor by Alexander; in which

the part more particularly worthy of the geographer’s attention is the

march from Lycia into Pamphylia and Pisidia, and thence to Gordium in

Phrygia, and to Ancyra, and through Cappadocia and the Pylæ Ciliciæ to

Tarsus[12]. 3. The history of the Roman wars in Asia by Polybius, Livy,

and Appian; especially the description by Livy of the marches of Cn.

Manlius, in Phrygia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia, and thence into Gallogræcia,

and to Ancyra[13]. 4. The march of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus, from

Constantinople to Iconium, in an expedition against the Turks, as related

by his daughter Anna Comnena.

To these may be added, with regard to the southern coast, an anonymous

Periplus, entitled, “σταδιασμὸς τῆς μεγάλης θαλάσσης,” which was

extracted from a manuscript in the Royal Library of Madrid, and published

in a volume called Regiæ Bibliothecæ Matritensis Codices Græci MSS. by

the librarian Iriarte, in the year 1769. But the best and most numerous

evidences of ancient geography are those which still exist in the country

itself, in the ruins of the ancient cities, and in the inscriptions

and other monuments which may be found there. When these remains of

antiquity shall be thoroughly explored, and the results compared with the

geographers, with the itineraries and with the passages of history just

referred to, they will probably lead to a system of Ancient Geography in

Asia Minor, much more correct than we at present possess[14]. For while

we are still ignorant of the exact position of such important points as

Gordium, Pessinus, Synnada, Celænæ, Cibyra, Sagalassus, Aspendus, Selge,

Antioch of Pisidia and Isaura, it is almost a vain attempt to form any

satisfactory system; as the several parts of it must depend so much upon

one another, and upon an accurate determination of the principal places.

After this remark, the reader will not be surprised, upon consulting the

map, to find that not only the boundaries of the provinces or districts

are indistinctly marked, but that even the names of places, both ancient

and modern, are often inserted without the usual note of exact locality.

The ancient provincial divisions are distributed according to the

description of Strabo; or, in other words, according to their usual

acceptation at the time of the establishment of the Roman Empire, when,

as they ceased to have any political use, their boundaries became, as

they had always in some degree been, extremely uncertain.

The appellations of the Turkish districts are either derived from the

principal town of each district, or from the names of those chieftains

who, together with the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, shared Asia Minor

among them, on the breaking up of the Seljukian kingdom of Iconium, at

the death of Aladin the Second, about the year 1300 of the Christian æra.

These chieftains were, Karamán, Kermián, Teke, Aidín, Sarukhán, Sassan or

Sagla, and Karasi. Múntesha, the appellation of the southwestern corner

of Asia Minor, is supposed to be a corruption of Myndesia, or the country

of Myndus; and this is the only district, therefore, the name of which

the Turks adopted from the conquered people.

All the north-eastern part of the peninsula fell to the share of Amur and

his sons, but its divisions were not distinguished by their names.

Osman, who inherited the country around Shughut from his father Ertogrul,

soon increased his territory by the country to the northward and westward

of that town, as far as the Propontis and the Black Sea. This part of

the peninsula still retains the appellation of Khodja-Ili, or the country

of Khodja, given to it in honour of Aktshe Khodja, the officer of Osman,

who effected the conquest.

Khodavenkiar[15], which was the surname of Murad, son of Orkhan son of

Osman, has been attached to the district of Brusa ever since Orkhan,

having conquered that country from the Greeks, confided the government of

it to his son.

Kermián-oglu, or the successor of Kermian[16], was the first of the

Turkish princes of Asia Minor who resigned a part of his dominions to

the house of Osman, and who put his family under their protection, by

the marriage of his daughter with the son of Murad, the celebrated

Bayazid. During the three subsequent reigns, those princes were generally

tributary to, but not otherwise dependent on, the Ottoman monarchs, whom

they often resisted in the field; and it was not until the family of

Isfendiar, who governed in Heracleia Pontica, Castamon, and Sinope, was

reduced by Mahomet the Second, and the kingdom of Karaman by Bayazid the

Second, in the year 1486, that the whole of Asia Minor became an Ottoman

province.

Thus much it seemed necessary to recall to the reader’s recollection, in

explanation of the Turkish provincial names in the map.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Journey from Constantinople to Kónia 1

CHAPTER II.

Illustration of the Ancient Geography of the Central Part of Asia

Minor 51

CHAPTER III.

Continuation of the Journey—From Kónia to Cyprus, Alaia, and Shughut 93

CHAPTER IV.

Of the ancient places on the road from Adalia to Shughut, including

remarks on the comparative geography of the adjacent country 144

CHAPTER V.

Of the ancient places on the southern coast of Asia Minor 171

CHAPTER VI.

Some remarks on the comparative geography of the western and

northern parts of Asia Minor 219

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

1. On the military operations of the first Crusade in Asia Minor 313

2. Another error in Xenophon’s march of Cyrus 319

3. On Cilicia and the position of Claudiopolis 319

4. On the Theatres of Telmissus and Patara 320

5. On the distinction between the Greek and Roman Theatre.

Peculiarities of the Asiatic Greek theatre. Dimensions

of the principal Greek theatres 321

6. On a Latin inscription at Stratoniceia, relating to the

prices of various commodities 329

7. On a Greek inscription at Mylasa 328

8. Two Greek inscriptions, proving the site of Tralles 339

9. Plans of the Theatre and Palæstra of Hierapolis. On the

Plutonium at the same place 340

10. A description of the antiquities of Sardes, by Mr. Cockerell 342

11. On the principal Temples of Asia Minor 346

12. On the description of the battle of Magnesia by Appian 352

[Illustration: ESSAY of a MAP of ASIA MINOR, Ancient and Modern

By W. M. Leake, 1822.

_Published as the act directs Febʸ. 1824, by John Murray Albermarle Street

London._

J. Walker sculpt.]

JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN ASIA MINOR, _&c._

CHAPTER I.

JOURNEY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO KÓNIA.

_Departure from Constantinople—Kartal—Ghebse—Kizderwént—Lake

Ascanius—Nicæa—Site of the ancient Towns between Constantinople

and Nicæa—Ruins of Nicæa—Lefke—Shughut—Eski-shehr, the

ancient Dorylæum—Seid-el-Ghazi—Doganlú, probably the ancient

Nacoleia—Kosru-Khan—Bulwudún—Isaklú—Ak-shehr—Ilgún—Ladík—Ruins of

Laodiceia—Kónia._

On the 19th of January 1800, I quitted Constantinople, on my way to

Egypt, in company with the late Brigadier General Koehler, the late

Sir Richard Fletcher, the late Archdeacon Carlyle, Arabic professor

at Cambridge, and Mr. Pink, of the corps of Royal Military Surveyors,

and Draftsmen. We were well armed, and dressed as Tatár Couriers; and

the whole party, including servants, baggage, Turkish attendants, and

postillions, formed a caravan of thirty-five horses. At this time, there

were two roads across Asia Minor, used by messengers and other persons,

travelling post between the Grand Vizier’s army, and the capital; the one

meeting the south coast at Adália, the other at Kelénderi. We deferred

deciding as to which we should follow, until we should arrive at the

point of separation.

We left Iskiodár (in Greek, Σκουτάριον, Skutári) at 11 A.M., and

travelled for four hours along the borders of the sea of Marmora, through

one of the most delightful tracts in the neighbourhood of Constantinople;

its beauty heightened by the mildness of the weather and the clearness

of the atmosphere. On our right was the tranquil expanse of the sea of

Marmora, as far as the high woody coast on the south side of Nicomedia,

surmounted by the majestic summits of the Bithynian Olympus. In the

midst of this magnificent basin were seen immediately before us the

Princes Islands, with their picturesque villages and convents, amidst

pine groves and vineyards. The road led sometimes through rich pastures,

covered with sheep, but, for the most part, through the gardens which

supply a large proportion of the vegetables consumed in the city and its

suburbs. Already the beans, and other productions of the spring, were in

a forward state. The road was in some places muddy, but in general very

good. Kartal, where we arrived at the end of four hours, is a small place

upon the edge of the gulf, in the midst of a fertile and well cultivated

district, and has a harbour for small vessels. Half an hour further is

a Greek village, which preserves unaltered the ancient name Παντίχιον,

pronounced Pandíkhi.

Jan. 20.—From Kartal to Ghebse[17] five hours, passing through Pandíkhi;

and at the end of three hours Tuzla, so called from the salt-works

belonging to it. The road winds along the side of the gulf, which, as

it narrows, presents a great variety of beautiful landscapes. The soil

affords a fine pasture, in some parts of which appear rocks of blue

and white marble, projecting above the surface; and several remains of

ancient quarries. We met a Mollah travelling in a Taktreván, lounging

upon soft cushions, smoking his Narghilé[18], and accompanied by

splendidly-dressed attendants on horseback. His baggage-horses were

loaded with mattresses and coverings for his sofas; with valises

containing his clothes; a large assortment of pipes; tables of copper;

cauldrons; saucepans; and a complete _batterie de cuisine_. Such a mode

of travelling is undoubtedly very different from that which was in use

among the Turks of Osman, and Orkhan. The articles of the Mollah’s

baggage are, probably, for the most part, of Greek origin, adopted from

the conquered nation in the same manner as the Latins borrowed the arts

of the Greeks of a better age. In fact, it is in a great degree to Greek

luxuries, with the addition of coffee and tobacco, that the present

imbecile condition of these barbarians is to be ascribed; and “Græcia

capta ferum victorem cepit” applies as well to the Turk as it once did to

the Roman; for though Grecian art in its perfection may be degraded by

a comparison with the arts of the Byzantine Greeks, yet in the scale of

civilization, the Turks did not bear a higher proportion to these than

the Romans did to the ancient Greeks.

Ghebse, called by the Greeks Gívyza[19] (Κίβυζα), is a Turkish town,

having a few Greek houses. The only remarkable object in it is a fine

mosque of white marble, surrounded by a grove of large cypresses, both

of the pointed kind and of that of which the branches are looser and

more spreading. This mosque, and some good baths, were built by Mustafá

Pasha, who was Grand Vizier to Sultán Selím the First at the time of the

conquest of Egypt. An imperfect Greek inscription was the only indication

which I observed of Ghebse being on the site of a Greek city.

Jan. 21.—From Ghebse to Kizderwént, nine hours. Our route for the

first three hours was parallel to the shore of the gulf, which here

presents, on either side, a beautiful scenery of abrupt capes and

woody promontories, with villages upon the sides of the mountains, and

corn-fields and vineyards to their very tops. The road then descends to

the water-side under the small village of Malsúm, where a long tongue

of land, projecting from the opposite shore, affords a convenient ferry

of about two miles across, to the south side of the gulf. It is called

the ferry of the Dil (tongue), and being much frequented, is well

supplied with large boats and constant attendance. The persons employed

in it are lodged in tents by the water-side. We write to our friends at

Constantinople by a huntsman of the Sultan, who is returning from the

chace loaded with pheasants, partridges, and other game, which he has

been killing for the Imperial table in the woods near the gulf. It takes

us two hours to unload, cross the ferry, and reload. We then ride three

miles along the Dil before we gain the line of coast. Leaving the town

of Ersek at no great distance on our right, we proceed up a beautiful

valley, watered by a river which joins the gulf near the Dil. This river

we cross more than twenty times; passing through the water, or over good

stone bridges. In many places the river falls in cascades over the rocks.

The sky is without a cloud; and the temperature that of England in April

or May. The ground is covered with violets, crocusses, and hyacinths.

The road being excellent, we travel nearly at the rate of four miles

and a half an hour, and complete our computed journey of nine hours in

seven. We passed a ruined castle of the lower Greek empire, with many

towers. On the slopes on either side are seen flocks of sheep and goats;

in the valley the peasants are at plough, and we meet long caravans of

camels tied together, and preceded by an ass. As we approach Kizderwént,

which is situated in a retired part of the valley, near the source of

the river which we have been following, we enter an extensive mulberry

plantation, this being one of the numerous villages in the neighbourhood

that supply Brusa with the excellent silk for which it is noted in the

commercial world. Vineyards, on the slopes of the hills around, furnish

also a tolerable wine. Kizderwént (the pass of the girls) having the

misfortune to lie upon the great road from Constantinople to Brusa,

Kutáya, and Kónia, is exposed to a thousand vexations from passengers,

notwithstanding the privileges and exemptions which have been granted

to it by the Porte. It is inhabited solely by Greeks. Upon our arrival

we found our konakjí, or Tatár courier, who has the charge of riding

forward to procure lodgings (konák), seated over a blazing fire in a neat

cottage, which formed a favourable contrast to the meanness and want of

comfort seen amidst the pretended magnificence of some of the Turkish

houses which we had seen. To judge from what we have hitherto observed,

the lower order of Christians are not in a worse condition in Asia Minor

than the same class of Turks; and if the Christians of European Turkey

have some advantages arising from the effects of the superiority of their

numbers over the Turks, those of Asia have the satisfaction of seeing

that the Turks are as much oppressed by the men in power as they are

themselves; and they have to deal with a race of Mussulmans generally

milder, more religious, and better principled than those of Europe.

Jan. 22.—We travel in a fine valley, continually ascending. At the end of

an hour we come suddenly upon a view of the lake Ascanius. It is about

ten miles long, and four wide; surrounded on three sides by steep woody

slopes, behind which rise the snowy summits of the Olympus range. A

forest of Ilex, and other evergreens, mixed with oaks, cover the nearer

hills; while on the left, along the head of the lake, we perceive a rich

cultivated plain, at the extremity of which, soon afterwards appears, on

the edge of the lake, the entire circuit of the ancient walls of Nicæa,

with their massy towers and gates. Nothing is more striking in this

magnificent prospect, than that clearness of atmosphere, and brilliancy

of colouring, which is so seldom seen in our northern scenery. We make

the circuit of the northern end of the lake; passing for ten miles

through the plain, and traversing plantations of olives, mulberries, and

vines: the almond-trees were already in blossom. At about two miles on

our left, we saw an ancient triangular obelisk, standing single in the

middle of the plain. It bears an inscription, which has been published

by Pococke, and which proves that the obelisk was erected in honour of

C. Cassius Philiscus. Having passed through one of the ancient gates

of Nicæa, and through the garden ground now inclosed within its walls,

we arrive at the wretched Turkish town of Isnik, distant five complete

hours, or about twenty miles, from Kizderwént.

Among the ancient places situated between Constantinople and Nicæa,

there is sufficient evidence of the situation of Scutarium[20] and

Pantichium[21], in the preservation of their ancient names. Gívyza has

generally been supposed a corruption of Libyssa, the name of a small

maritime town, celebrated as having been the burying-place of Hannibal;

but Gívyza is more probably a corruption of Dacibyza; being, when

written in Greek (Κίβυζα), no other than the ancient Δακίβυζα, with the

loss of the first syllable. The thirty-six or thirty-nine Roman miles,

moreover, placed in the itinerary, between Chalcedonia and Libyssa, will

not agree so well with the nine hours from Skutári to Gívyza, as with

the twelve hours to Malsúm; which place, therefore, I take to stand on

the site of Libyssa. Plutarch appears to confirm this supposition, for

in mentioning Libyssa[22], he speaks of a sandy place near it on the

sea-side, answering to the promontory of Dil, which, as we have seen, is

immediately below Maldysem or Malsum. Dacibyza is mentioned by several

of the historians of the Lower Empire, as a place where, by order of the

Arian Emperor Valens, eighty priests of the opposite sect were burned,

with the ship wherein they were embarked[23]. The river descending from

Kizderwént to the Dil, can be no other than the Draco, which joined the

sea at Helenopolis, a small town, so named by Constantine in honour of

his mother: for it seems evident, upon comparing Procopius with Anna

Comnena, that Helenopolis was at or near Ersek. The Dil has been formed

by the alluvial deposition of the Draco; whose impetuosity has been well

described by Procopius, as well as its winding course[24]. In riding

from the Dil to Kizderwént, I remarked that we traversed the river about

twenty times, without being aware that Procopius has made precisely

the same remark with regard to the Draco[25].—In the first crusade,

the passes of this stream were fatal to many of the followers of Peter

the Hermit; who, after having by the assistance of the Emperor Alexius

crossed the sea from Constantinople, encamped at Helenopolis. From thence

they proceeded to ravage the country around Nicæa, which city was then

in the possession of the Turks of Kilidj Arslan; and they occupied the

fortress of Xerigordus. But this place was soon retaken by the Sultan;

who slew many of the Franks, captured others, and destroyed a still

greater number by means of an ambuscade, which he stationed in the passes

of the Draco[26].

In the evening we found time to walk among the ruins of Nicæa. The

ancient walls, towers, and gates are in tolerably good preservation.

Their construction resembles that of the walls of Constantinople, with

which they are coæval. In most places they are formed of alternate

courses of Roman tiles, and of large square stones, joined by a cement

of great thickness. In some places have been inserted columns, and

other architectural fragments, the ruins of more ancient edifices. Of

the towers, those on the edge of the lake, and on either side of the

different gates, are the largest and most perfect. We remark, also,

the remains of two walls which projected from the main inclosure

into the water, and which were undoubtedly intended to exclude, when

necessary, all communication under the walls, along the edge of the

lake. Some of the towers, like those of Constantinople, have Greek

inscriptions; these have been published in the Inscriptiones Antiquæ

of Pococke. The ruins of mosques, baths, and houses, dispersed among

the gardens and corn-fields, which now occupy a great part of the space

within the Greek fortifications, show that the Turkish Isnik, though

now so inconsiderable, was once a place of importance, as indeed its

history under the early Ottomans, before they were in possession of

Constantinople, gives sufficient reason to presume. But it never was so

large as the Grecian Nicæa, and it seems to have been almost entirely

constructed of the remains of that city; the walls of the ruined mosques

and baths being full of the fragments of Greek temples and churches.

Jan. 23.—From Isnik to Lefke, six hours, and from Lefke to Vezir-Khan,

four hours. We rise at two in the morning; but as it takes near three

hours for the whole party to breakfast, pack up the baggage, and load

the horses, we are not ready till five, and have then to wait an hour

and a half for horses. We soon leave the borders of the beautiful lake

of Isnik, and proceed up a valley, which we quit after three or four

miles, and suddenly ascend to the left a hill of moderate height. Soon

losing sight of the lake, we advance along an elevated barren country,

until we enter a deep ravine formed by towering cliffs on either side,

where a great variety of luxuriant evergreens spring from among the

rocks. The ravine leads into a valley, where the same kind of scenery

receives additional beauty from the contrast which opens upon us of

a fine valley, watered by the Sakaría, a name corrupted from the

ancient Sangarius, although this river is not the main branch of the

Sangarius, but that which was anciently called Gallus[27]. Lefke, a

neat town built of sun-baked bricks, is situated in the middle of this

beautiful valley near the river, which we crossed by a handsome stone

bridge a little before we entered the town. We find the cultivation in

this valley as perfect as that of some of the most civilized parts of

Europe. The fields are separated by neat hedges and ditches. Extensive

plantations of mulberry-trees, mixed with vineyards and corn-fields,

occupy the lower grounds, while cultivated patches are seen to a great

height in the hills, which in other parts furnish a fine pasture to

sheep and goats. This delightful region exhibits a most picturesque

contrast with the unevenness and grandeur of the surrounding mountains.

We were told there had lately been an insurrection, with the design of

expelling an obnoxious Kadi, but we did not perceive the least symptom

of disturbance. We follow the valley, passing many villages on either

hand, for four hours more, to Vezir-Khan. Since leaving the gulf of

Nicomedia we have seen no marks of wheel-carriages, and we met with

scarcely any person on the road during this day’s journey, except a party

of Turkish horsemen with their dogs, in search of hares. The Turks of

this part of the country are an extremely handsome race: they have a

great variety of head-dresses, most of which are highly becoming to their

fine countenances. The women who appear abroad are invariably dressed in

the shapeless ferijé, and the veil so often described by travellers. At

Vezir-Khan we were lodged in a small mud-built house, and had to wait a

considerable time before our attendants could prevail upon the people to

kill the fowls intended for our dinner, and to send men to the river to

catch some fish. The valley around is covered with extensive plantations

of mulberry-trees, and with orchards, vineyards, and corn-fields,

inclosed with hedges; but to these signs of neatness and comfort there is

a great contrast in the misery of the houses.

Jan. 24.—From Vezir-Khan to Shughut, eight hours: the weather still

delightfully clear and mild. For the first two hours we continue to

pursue the valley, and then ascend a lofty ridge, a branch of Olympus. It

incloses on the east the valleys watered by the branches of the Sangarius

which we have passed, as the heights between Isnik and Lefke do on the

opposite side. Our road across the mountain presents some wild scenery of

broken rocks and barren downs with little or no wood, and occasionally

the view of extensive valleys on either side. At the summit of the ridge

we pass a Karakol-hané (guard-house), and at the foot of the mountain

on the east side we enter some pleasant valleys, conducting into an

open expanse of undulated ground, well cultivated with corn. It gives

a favourable idea of Asiatic husbandry; but there is little appearance

of inhabitants, only three or four small villages being in sight in the

whole of our day’s journey. The weather being dry the road is excellent;

but in seasons of rain it must be quite the reverse, on account of the

rich deep soil. At the further end of this champaign country we perceive

the town of Shughut, and upon an adjacent hill the tomb of Ali Osman,

founder of the Ottoman dynasty. Shughut was bestowed upon Ertogrul, the

father of Osman, by the Sultan of Kónia, for his services in war; and

became the capital of a small state, which included the adjacent country

as far as A´ngura on the east, and in the opposite direction all the

mountainous district lying between the valleys of the Sangarius and those

of the Hermus and Mæander. From hence Osman made himself master of Nicæa

and Prusa, and gradually of all Bithynia and Phrygia, and thus laid the

foundations of the Turkish greatness. There is another tomb of Osman

at Brúsa, the most important of the places which he conquered from the

Greeks. But the Turks of this part of Asia Minor assert that the monument

at Brúsa is a cenotaph, and that the bones of Osman were laid by the side

of those of his father Ertogrul in his native town. The tomb is built

like some of the handsomest and most ancient of the Turkish sepulchres at

Constantinople, and is situated in the midst of a grove of cypresses and

evergreen oaks.

The town is said to contain 900 houses, but now exhibits a wretched

appearance, chiefly in consequence of a late insurrection of the

inhabitants, a party of 300 of whom have put to death, within three

months, three different Ayáns sent here by the Porte. At present the

government of Constantinople has the upper hand, and the insurgents have

been obliged to fly to the mountains; but we find the new governor with

all his troops still on the _alerte_ to prevent the place from being

once more surprised and pillaged. Our situation is rendered still more

uncomfortable by the discovery we now make, that our travelling firmahn,

in consequence of an intrigue at Constantinople, of which we too well

know the original mover, is drawn up in such a manner as to leave it in

the power of any of the Turks to obstruct our progress; and the Ayán of

Shughut accordingly takes advantage of it to extort a present before

he will give us the smallest assistance. We are wretchedly lodged in

a ruinous apartment over a stable occupied by the Ayán’s cavalry; and

cannot prevent the soldiers from coming into the room, or from examining

our arms and baggage. There are large plantations of mulberries around

the town, and every house manufactures a considerable quantity of raw

silk.

Jan. 25.—It is nine o’clock before we can procure any horses, and then

find none to be had but some wretched animals covered with sores, and

almost skeletons. At first setting out they are hardly able to walk;

but to our surprise we find, before we have travelled many miles, that

most of them have a very easy and rapid pace; they performed a journey

of ten hours’ distance with only a few short halts, and arrived at our

konák at Eski-shehr apparently in better travelling condition than when

they set out. Our road indeed is dry and level, and the weather still

fine. Half the route was over mountains, and woody; the latter half over

an extensive plain not less than 30 miles in length and 10 in breadth,

but very thinly peopled and not above one-third cultivated. Seven or

eight miles short of Eski-shehr are some ancient Greek ruins upon a

rising ground in the plain. Amidst a great number of scattered fragments

of columns, and other remnants of architecture, we find several square

pedestals or στήλαι of a clumsy construction, with some almost-defaced

fragments of Greek inscriptions, in which we endeavoured in vain to

discover the name of the city, though the word πόλις was visible.

The ruins are called Besh-Kardash (the five brothers); the number of

pedestals standing, however, is more than five, but five is a favourite

number with the Turks: the generality of whom, having little idea of

numerical accuracy, confine themselves in common conversation to a few

numbers, which they particularly affect. These numbers are 5, 15, 40,

100, and 1001.

Eski-shehr is about the same size as Shughut, and is advantageously

situated on the root of the hills which border on the north the great

plain already mentioned. The town is divided into an upper and lower

quarter; and is traversed by a small stream, which at the foot of the

hills joins the Pursek, or ancient Thymbres. This river rises to the

south of Kutáya, passes by that city, and joins the Sangarius a few hours

to the north-east of Eski-shehr. This place is now celebrated for its

natural hot-baths: we were unable to ascertain whether it preserves any

remains of antiquity[28]; but there can be little doubt that it stands

upon the site of Dorylæum. The plain of Dorylæum is often mentioned by

the Byzantine historians as the place of assembly of the armies of the

Eastern empire in their wars against the Turks, and it is described by

Anna Comnena[29] as being the first extensive plain of Phrygia after

crossing the ridges of Mount Olympus from Nicæa, and after passing Leucæ.

As we have the strongest evidence of the position of Leucæ in the name of

the village Lefke, which is exactly the modern pronunciation of the Greek

Λεύκαι, there cannot be any doubt that the plain of Dorylæum is that

which surrounds Eski-shehr.

The site of the ancient town is not less decisively fixed at Eski-shehr.

Athenæus speaks of the hot waters of Dorylæum, and remarks that they

are very pleasant to the taste. Cinnamus mentions the hot baths, the

fertile plain, and the river of Dorylæum[30]; and the site is indicated

with equal certainty by the ancient itineraries[31]: for from Dorylæum

diverged roads, to Philadelphia; to Apameia Cibotus; to Laodiceia

Combusta, and Iconium; to Germa, and to Pessinus: a coincidence of lines

which (their remote extremities being nearly certain) will not apply to

any point but Eski-shehr, or some place in its immediate neighbourhood.

The position of Eski-shehr accords also with the Antonine and Jerusalem

itineraries, inasmuch as we observe in these tables, that the road from

Nicæa to Ancyra did not pass through Dorylæum, but to the northward of

it; and Eski-shehr is about thirty miles to the southward of a line drawn

from Isnik to A´ngura.

The Aga of Eski-shehr was formerly in the government of a town six hours

distant, the name of which we neglected to note. He had long been at

war with the governor of Eski-shehr, and at length having acquired the

preponderancy so far as to carry off all his opponent’s sheep and cattle,

he followed up his successes last year with such increased energy that

he added his rival’s head to the other spoils, and has since been in

undisturbed possession of both places, and confirmed in his authority by

the Porte.

Jan. 26.—From Eski-shehr to Seid-el-Gházi, a computed distance of nine

hours. We have a sharp wind at east. Our road for the first half of

the journey continues to cross the same wide uncultivated plains; but

towards the end they are more broken into hill and dale, and appear less

wild and desolate. Scarcely a tree is to be seen through the whole day’s

journey. Upon the edge of the plains we observe in many places sepulchral

chambers excavated in the rocks. In these, and in the fragments of

ancient architecture dispersed in different parts of the plains, we have

undoubted proofs of their ancient cultivation and populousness. At about

half way we found, near a fountain, several inscribed stones. The annexed

is the only inscription I could decypher:

ΔΗΜΑΣΚΑΙ

ΓΑΙΟΣΥΠΕΡ

ΒΟΩΝΙΔΙΩΝΠΑ

ΠΙΑΔΙ ΙΣΩΤΗ

ΡΙΕΥΧΗΝΚΑΙ

ΗΡΑΚΛΗΑΝΙΚ

ΗΤ.

It appears to be a dedication of thanks to Jupiter Papias, the Saviour,

and Hercules, the Invincible, for their care of the oxen of Demas and

Gaius.

This inscription is upon a flat slab, surmounted with a pediment, in the

middle of which is a _caput bovis_, with a festoon. Here also is a square

stele, with an ornamented cornice; on one of its sides is an obliterated

inscription, in the centre of a garland.

[Illustration: _To face Page 21._

_Inscription at a...b._

ΙΑΕϜΑϜΑΚΕΝΑΝΟΓΑϜΟΣ:ΜΙΔΑΙ:ΛΑϜΑΓΤΑΕΙ:ϜΑΝΑΚΤΕΙ:ΕΔΑΕ

_Inscription at c...d._

ΒΑΒΑ:ΜΕΜΕϜΑΙΣ:ΠΡΟΙΤΑϜΟΣ:ΚΦΙͿΑΝΑϜΕͿΟΣ:ΣΙΚΕΜΕΜΑΝ:ΕΔΑΕΣ

_G. Scharf Lithog: London. Pub: by J. Murray. Albemarle Sᵗ. 1824. Printed

by C: Hullmandel_]

The latter part of our journey is over low ridges; the road throughout

is excellent, and fit for wheel-carriages. Seid-el-Gházi is a poor

ruined village, but it bears marks of having once been a place of more

importance, even in Turkish times; upon the side of a hill which commands

the village, there is a fine mosque dedicated to the Mussulman saint from

whom the place derives its name. There are also several fragments of

architecture which fix it as the site of an ancient Greek city.

Jan. 27.—From Seid-el-Gházi to Kósru Pasha-Khany, the distance is seven

hours; but we made a détour to the right of the direct road, for the

sake of viewing some monuments of antiquity, which were reported to us

at Seid-el-Gházi. We first ascend for some distance, and pass over an

elevated stony heath, in a direction to the westward of south; we then

enter a forest of pine-trees, from many of which they had been extracting

the turpentine, by making an incision at the foot of the tree, and then

lighting a fire under it. By these means the resin descends rapidly, and

is soon collected in large quantities, but the tree is killed; and it

sometimes happens that the fire communicating destroys large tracts of

the forest. We saw several remains of these conflagrations as we passed

along. After traversing the forest for an hour, we came in sight of

a beautiful valley, situated in the midst of it. Turning to the left,

after we had descended into the valley, we found it to be a small plain,

about a mile long and a quarter of a mile broad, embosomed in the forest,

and singularly variegated with rocks, which rise perpendicularly out

of the soil, and assume the shape of ruined towers and castles. Some

of these are upwards of 150 feet in height, and one or two, entirely

detached from the rest, have been excavated into ancient catacombs, with

doors and windows, and galleries, in such a manner that it required a

near inspection to convince us that what we saw were natural rocks, and

not towers and buildings. We found the chambers within to have been

sepulchres, containing excavations for coffins, and niches for cinerary

vases. Following the course of the valley to the S.E., we came in

sight of some sepulchral chambers, excavated with more art, and having

a portico with two columns before the door, above which a range of

dentils forms a cornice. But the most remarkable of these excavations,

is that which will best be understood by the annexed sketch of it,

taken by General Koehler, while Mr. Carlyle and myself were employed

in copying two inscriptions engraved upon the face of the rock. In the

upper inscription a few letters are deficient at the beginning and end;

the lower appeared to us to be complete. The letters of the first are

larger and wider asunder than those of the second. Both are written

from left to right, but in the lower inscription the letters are written

_downwards_, along the edge of the monument, so that to place the eyes

upon the same line with the inscription, the head must be held sideways.

The rock which has been shaped into this singular monument rises to a

height of upwards of one hundred feet above the plain; and at the back,

and on one of the sides, remains in its natural state. The ornamented

part is about sixty feet square, surmounted by a kind of pediment, above

which are two volutes. The figures cut upon the rock are no where more

than an inch deep below the surface, except towards the bottom, where the

excavation is much deeper, and resembles an altar. It is not impossible,

however, that it may conceal the entrance into the sepulchral chamber,

where lie the remains of the person in whose honour this magnificent

monument was formed; for in some other parts of Asia Minor, especially

at Telmissus, we have examples of the wonderful ingenuity with which the

ancients sometimes defended the entrance into their tombs. There can be

little doubt that the monument was sepulchral; the crypts and catacombs

in the excavated rocks around it prove that the valley was set apart for

such purposes, to which its singularly retired position and romantic

scenery, amidst these extensive forests, rendered it peculiarly well

adapted.

The valley bears the name of Doganlú, from a neighbouring village which

we did not see, but where, according to the information we received, are

remains of an ancient fortification, called by the Turks Pismésh Kálesi.

I am inclined to think they mark the site of Nacoleia[32], named by

Strabo among the cities of Phrygia Epictetus, together with Cotyaeium,

Dorylæum, and Midaeium; the first of which places (now Kutáya) is within

twenty geographical miles, in direct distance, to the north-westward of

Doganlú; the second, Dorylæum (Eski-shehr), is at nearly that distance

to the north of Doganlú; and Midaium was to the north-eastward, distant

about 35 G. M. direct. But a still closer argument, in favour of this

situation of Nacoleia, is derived from a comparison of the several routes

leading from Dorylæum, as stated in the ancient itineraries, with their

directions on the map. These roads are five in number; and though little

reliance can be placed upon the distances between the several places, the

order of names furnishes evidence that cannot be very erroneous, and the

positions of the places at the extremity of each route are known with

tolerable accuracy. The first of the roads, as they are arranged in the

subjoined note[33], led by Midaium to Pessinus; the second by Archelaium

to Germa, now Yerma; the third conducted south-eastward to Synnada,

Philomelium, and Laodiceia Combusta (now Yorgán Ladík); the fourth by

Nacoleia and Eumenia to Apameia Cibotus; and the fifth south-westward, by

Cotyaium to Philadelphia (Allah-Shehr). Now, although the site neither

of Apameia Cibotus, Synnada, nor Pessinus, has yet been explored, their

situations are very nearly certain. Apameia was at the source of the

Mæander, and bore a little westward of south from Eski-shehr. Nacoleia,

therefore, bore in about that direction from Dorylæum; it lay between the

roads conducting from that city to Synnada and Laodiceia, and to Cotyaium

and Philadelphia; and it was the first town which occurred on the road to

Apameia: all which circumstances accurately accord with the position of

Doganlú in respect of Eski-shehr.

On first beholding the great sculptured rock of the valley of Doganlú,

and on remarking the little resemblance which it bears to the works of

the Greeks, our idea was, that it might have been formed by the ancient

Persians, when in possession of this country; and that the lower part,

resembling an altar, might have had some reference to their worship of

fire; but, upon further reflection, there appeared several objections

to such a supposition. In the first place, none of the great monuments

of the Persians are likely to be found at so great a distance from

Susa and Persepolis, in a part of the country of which they had only

a temporary possession, and which could never have been considered by

them otherwise than as a conquered foreign country, of doubtful tenure.

Secondly, the style of ornament does not exactly resemble any known

monument of the ancient Persians; and, thirdly, the characters of the

inscriptions, which have every appearance of being coeval with the rest

of the work, bear so close a resemblance to the letters of the Greek

alphabet, in their earliest form, that the most reasonable conjecture

seems to be that this monument is the work of the ancient Phrygians,

who, like the Ionians[34], Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor, who

were in a state of independence before the Persian conquest, made use

of an alphabet differing slightly from the Greek, and derived from the

same oriental original. While the form of the characters, as well as the

vertical ranges of points for noting the separation of the words, bear a

marked resemblance to the archaic Greek: on the other hand, some of the

words agree with the semibarbarous style of the sculptured ornaments of

this monument, in indicating that the inscriptions are not in pure Greek.

Both in the resemblance and dissimilitude, therefore, they accord with

what we should expect of the dialect of the Phrygians, whose connexion

with Greece is evident from many parts of their early history; at the

same time, that the distinction between the two nations is strongly

marked by Herodotus, who gives to the Phrygians the appellation of

barbarians.

It is further remarkable that the sculpture of the monument of Doganlú,

though unlike any thing of Greek workmanship, is very much in the same

style as the elaborate ornaments (equally remote from Grecian taste)

which covered the half columns formerly standing on either side of the

door of the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenæ[35], a building said to have

been erected by the Cyclopes, who were supposed to have been artisans

from Asia[36].

Upon comparing the alphabet of the monument of Doganlú with the archaic

Greek, and with the Etruscan, it is observable that there is no greater

difference between the three than might be expected in distant and

long-separated branches of the same family. It may be remarked, however,

that the Greek alphabet, and that of Doganlú, resemble each other much

more than they resemble the Etruscan, as well in the form of the letters,

as in the important circumstance of their being written from left to

right, instead of from right to left, as the Etruscan always continued to

be[37].

It may seem a vain attempt to endeavour to explain inscriptions, written

in a language or dialect of which we have no other remains; yet as the

characters are themselves a proof that there was a great resemblance

between this dialect and the Greek, it is not impossible that some light

may be thrown upon ancient history by the monument of Doganlú, if other

inscriptions in the same dialect should hereafter be discovered. Upon

this subject one or two remarks occur which may not be unimportant.

It has already been observed, that the lower inscription beginning ΒΑΒΑ

is complete, and it may be assumed that the upper, though incomplete

at either end, has lost but a few letters. This seems evident, as well

from its occupying the whole length of a sort of outer pediment, as

from its concluding word, which wants only one letter of being the

same as the concluding word of the lower inscription. This concluding

word is very remarkable; written in Greek it is ΕΔΑΕ, or ΕΔΑΕΣ. Now

ἔδαε from δαίω, to divide or cut with a sharp instrument, is precisely

such a Greek word as one might have expected to find in a very ancient

_Greek_ inscription upon a monument, all the apparent merit of which

is the cutting of squares, lozenges, and other regular figures, upon

the smoothed surface of a rock. In examining the other words, we find

further resemblances of the Greek. The 2d, 3d, and 4th words of the

lower inscription, and the first word of the upper inscription (if it

be a single word), all seem to end in sigma, and three of them in ος,

thus rendering it not improbable that the words 1, 2, 3, 4, of the lower

inscription, contained the name and title of the person who engraved that

inscription; that the fifth word Σικεμεμαν may have indicated some such

distinction, as the place from whence he came; and that the long word,

No. 1. of the upper inscription, was the name of the person who placed

that inscription. But the most remarkable words of all are the second

and fourth of the upper inscription, which, written in Greek, are ΜΙΔΑΙ

ϜΑΝΑΚΤΕΙ, “to King Midas;” and which furnish an immediate presumption

that the monument was erected in honour of one of the Kings of Phrygia

of the Midaian family. The situation of the place is no less favourable

to this supposition than the construction of the monument, the tenor of

the inscription, and the form of the letters; for it cannot be doubted

that the valley in which the monument stands is precisely in the heart of

the country which formed the ancient kingdom of Phrygia. Strabo remarks,

that the royal families of Gordius and Midas possessed the countries

adjacent to the river Sangarius, on the banks of which stood the cities

of Midaeium and Gordium[38]. We learn from Pausanias[39] that Ancyra

was founded by Midas, and that in his time there was a fountain in that

city, called the fountain of Midas; and both these authors concur in the

testimony[40] that a tribe of Gauls, in seizing the country adjacent to

Ancyra and Pessinus, occupied a part of the ancient dominions of the

Gordian dynasty. The fertile valleys of the Sangarius, and its branches,

seem, therefore, to have formed the central part of the dominions of the

kings of Phrygia. According to this supposition, the date of the monument

of Doganlú is between the years 740 and 570 before the Christian æra;

for that such was nearly the period of the Gordian dynasty appears from

Herodotus[41], who informs us that Midas, son of Gordius, was the first

of the Barbarians who sent offerings to Delphi, and that his offerings

were earlier than those of Gyges, king of Lydia, who began his reign

B.C. 715. Phrygia lost its independence, when all the country to the

west of the Halys was subdued by Crœsus, king of Lydia, in or about the

year 572 B.C. A few years afterwards Atys, son of Crœsus, was killed

accidentally by Adrastus, who was of the royal family of Phrygia, and son

of the Gordius who had been rendered tributary to Crœsus. As this Gordius

was son of a Midas[42], and the first Midas was son of a Gordius, it is

probable that several of the intermediate monarchs of the dynasty, during

the two centuries of their independence, bore the same names.

The distinguishing appellation of the particular Midas to whom the

monument was dedicated, seems to be contained in the word of the upper

inscription, which occurs between Μίδᾳ and ἄνακτι[43]; but as we possess

no details of the history of independent Phrygia, it is impossible to

determine to what period in the two centuries the monument of Doganlú

is to be ascribed. In regard to the word ΒΑΒΑ, which begins the lower

inscription, it was probably the highest title of honour at that period.

Papas, or Papias, derived from ΠΑΠΑ, nearly the same word as ΒΑΒΑ, and

meaning _father_, was a common epithet of Jupiter in this part of Asia

Minor at a subsequent period. The dedication to Jupiter Papias, mentioned

in a preceding page, was copied from a marble found at no great distance

from Doganlú: and we are informed by an ancient author, that Papas was

the name of the Bithynian Jupiter[44]. In another part of the country

we find the title applied, by a natural descent, to the magistrate of a

city[45]; and it was a common name among the Etruscans, the kinsmen of

the Phrygians[46].

Close by this magnificent relic of Phrygian art is a very large

sepulchral chamber with a portico, of two columns, excavated out of the

same reddish sandstone of which the great monument and other rocks are

formed. The columns have a plain plinth at the top, and are surmounted

by a row of dentils along the architrave. They are of a tapering form,

which, together with the general proportions of the work, give it an

appearance of the Doric order, although, in fact, it contains none of

the distinctive attributes of that order. It is an exact resemblance

of the ordinary cottages of the peasants, which are square frames of

wood-work, having a portico supported by two posts made broader at either

end. The sepulchral chambers differ only in having their parts more

accurately finished; the dentils correspond to the ends of the beams,

supporting the flat roof of the cottage.

I cannot quit the subject of this interesting valley without expressing

a wish that future travellers, who may cross Asia Minor by the routes

of Eski-shehr or Kutáya, will employ a day or two in a more complete

examination of it than circumstances allowed to us; as it is far from

improbable that some inaccuracy or omission may have occurred in our copy

of the inscriptions, from the singularity of the characters, the great

height of one of the inscriptions above the ground, and the short time

that was allowed us for transcribing and revising them.

After leaving the great sculptured rock, we followed the valley for a

short distance, and then passed through a wild woody country, having met

scarcely any traces of habitations till we reached our konák, at the

little village which receives its appellation from the Khan built there

by a Pasha of the name of Kosru; and where we arrived at five in the

evening, having, according to our calculation, made a circuit of nine

or ten miles more than the direct distance from Seid-el-Gházi. We had a

sharp shower of hail as we galloped through the wood, but the weather

soon cleared again.

Jan. 28.—From Kosru Khan to Bulwudún, twelve hours. We rose at two in

the morning: the baggage set off at five, ourselves at six. The road

lay through several small woody valleys, and towards the latter part

of our journey across a ridge of hills, with a fine soil, containing a

few cultivated patches of ground, but for the most part overgrown with

brushwood; at intervals we saw a few flocks of sheep and goats, and in

one place a large herd of horned cattle. We saw many sepulchral chambers

excavated in the rocks, some of which were ornamented on the exterior;

others were plain. In several parts of our route, also, were appearances

of extensive quarries, from some of which was probably extracted the

celebrated Phrygian marble, called Synnadicus, or Docimitis, from the

places where it was found.

This marble was so much esteemed that it was carried to Italy[47]; and

such was the force of fashion or prejudice, that Hadrian placed columns

of it in his new buildings at Athens[48], where the surrounding mountains

abound in the finest marble. At about ten miles from Bulwudún we came

in sight of that town with a lake beyond it: to the southward was the

high range of mountains called Sultán-dagh, and parallel to it, on the

northern side of the plain of Bulwudún, the Emír-dagh.

From hence we descended by a long slope to Bulwudún, which is situated in

the plain. It is a place of considerable size, but consists chiefly of

miserable cottages. There are many remains of antiquity lying about the

streets, and around the town, but they appeared to be chiefly of the time

of the Constantinopolitan empire. At Bulwudún we had to make choice of

two roads to the coast; one leading to Satalía, the other, by Kónia and

Karaman, to Kelénderi. We prefer the latter on account of the uncertainty

of the long passage by sea from Satalía to Cyprus at this season of the

year; and we are informed that all the Grand Vizier’s Tatárs now take the

Kónia road.

Jan. 29.—From Bulwudún to Ak-shehr, eleven hours. For the first two

hours the road traversed the plain which lies between Bulwudún and the

foot of Sultán-dagh; towards the latter a long causeway traverses a

marshy tract, through the middle of which runs a considerable stream.

This river comes from the plains and open country, which extend on our

right as far as Afiom Karahissár, and joins the lake which occupies the

central and lowest part of the plain lying between the parallel ranges

of Sultán-dagh and Emír-dagh. Our road continues in a S.E. direction

along the foot of Sultán-dagh; it is perfectly level, and, owing to the

dry weather, in excellent condition. On our left were the lake and plains

already mentioned. The ground was every where covered with frost, and

the hills on either side of the valley with snow; but these appearances

of winter vanished as the day advanced, and from noon till three P.M.

the sun was warmer than we found agreeable; our faces being exposed to

it by that most inconvenient head-dress, the Tatar Kalpak. Our Surigis

(postillions) wore a singular kind of cloak of white camels’ hair felt,

half an inch thick, and so stiff that the cloak stands without support

when set upright upon the ground. There are neither sleeves nor hood;

but only holes to pass the hands through, and projections like wings

upon the shoulders for the purpose of turning off the rain. It is of the

manufacture of the country. At the end of six hours we passed through

Saakle or Isaklú, a large village surrounded with gardens and orchards,

in the midst of a small region well watered by streams from Sultán-dagh,

and better cultivated than any place we have seen since we left the

vicinity of Isnik and Lefke. Yet the Aga of Isaklú is said to be in a

state of rebellion; and this is not the first instance we have seen of

places in such a state being more flourishing than others; whence we

cannot but suspect that there is a connexion in this empire between the

prosperity of a district and the ability of its chieftain to resist the

orders of the Porte. This is nothing more than the natural consequence

of their well-known policy of making frequent changes of provincial

governors, who, purchasing their governments at a high price, are obliged

to practise every kind of extortion to reimburse themselves, and secure

some profit at the expiration of their command. It seems that the Aga

of Isaklú, having a greater share of prudence and talents than usually

falls to the lot of a Turk in office, has so strengthened himself that

the Porte does not think his reduction worth the exertion that would be

required to effect it, and is, therefore, contented with the moderate

revenue which we are told he regularly remits to Constantinople. In the

mean time he has become so personally interested in the prosperity of the

place, that he finds it more to his advantage to govern it well than to

enrich himself rapidly by the oppressive system of the other provincial

governors. The territory of Isaklú contains several dependent villages to

which fertility is ensured by the streams descending from Sultán-dagh.

We here observe a greater quantity and variety of fruit-trees than in

any place in Asia Minor we have yet seen. Their species are the same as

those which grow in the middle latitudes of Europe, as apples, pears,

walnuts, quinces, peaches, grapes; no figs, olives, or mulberries[49].

The climate, therefore, though now so mild, and exposed undoubtedly to

excessive heat in summer, is not warmer upon the whole than the interior

of Greece and Italy.

We follow the level grounds at the foot of Sultán-dagh until we come in

sight of Ak-shehr (white city), a large town, situated, like Isaklú, on

the foot of the mountains, and furnished with the same natural advantages

of a fertile soil, and a plentiful supply of water. It is surrounded with

many pleasant gardens, but in other respects exhibits the usual Turkish

characteristics of extensive burying-grounds, narrow dirty streets,

and ruined mosques and houses. At a small distance from the western

entrance of the town we pass the sepulchre of Nureddin Hoja, a Turkish

saint, whose tomb is the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage. It is a stone

monument of the usual form, surrounded by an open colonnade supporting

a roof; the columns have been taken from some ancient Greek building.

The burying-ground is full of remains of Greek architecture converted

into Turkish tomb-stones, and furnishes ample proof of Ak-shehr having

been the position of a Greek city of considerable importance. The only

apartment our Konakjí could procure for us at Ak-shehr was a ruinous

chamber in the Menzil-hané (post-house); and the Aga sending insolent

messages in return to our remonstrances, we resolve, though at the end of

a long day’s journey, upon setting out immediately for the next stage.

While the horses are preparing, we eat our _kebáb_ in the burying-ground,

and take shelter from the cold of the evening in the tent of some

camel-drivers, who were enjoying their pipes and coffee over a fire.

On our arrival, we had observed the people fortifying their town, by

erecting one of the simplest gates that was ever constructed for defence.

It consisted of four uprights of fir, supporting a platform covered with

reeds, in front of which was a breastwork of mud-bricks with a row of

loop-holes. These gates and a low mud-wall are the usual fortifications

of the smaller Asiatic towns. In one place we saw the gates standing

alone without any wall to connect them.

The lake of Ak-shehr is not close to the town as D’Anville has marked it

on his map; but at a distance of six or eight miles: it communicates by

a stream with that of Bulwudún, and after a season of rain, when these

lakes are very much increased in size, they form a continued piece of

water, thirty or forty miles in length. It is probable that D’Anville

was equally mistaken in placing Antioch of Pisidia at Ak-shehr: for if

Sultán-dagh is the Phrygia Paroreia of Strabo, as there is reason to

believe, Antioch should, according to the same authority, be on the

south side of that ridge; whereas Ak-shehr is on the north.

At six in the evening we set out from Ak-shehr, and at one in the morning

of January 30 arrived at Arkut-khan. Our pace was much slower than by

day. The road lay over the same open level country as before, and towards

the latter part of the route, over some undulations of ground, which

separate the waters running into the lake of Ak-shehr from those which

flow into the lake of Ilgún. The weather was frosty and clear, but very

dark after eleven o’clock, when the moon set. Several of our party then

became so oppressed by sleep as to find it difficult to save themselves

from falling from the horses. After two or three hours’ repose at

Arkut-khan, we pursued our route for three hours to Ilgún, a large but

wretched village, containing some scattered fragments of antiquity, where

we procured some eggs and kaimak (boiled cream) for breakfast, and then

continued our route to Ladík. From near Ak-shehr, the loftier summits of

the range of Sultán-dagh begin to recede from our direction towards the

south; and our route has continued through the same wide uncultivated

champaign, intersected by a few ridges, and by torrents running from

the Sultán-dagh to the lakes in the plain. At two hours is a more

considerable stream, crossed by a bridge, and discharging itself into the

lake of Ilgún. Six hours beyond Ilgún we pass through the large village

of Kadún-kiúi, or Kanun-haná, said to consist of 1000 houses; and three

hours further we come to Yorgan-Ladík, or Ladik-el-Tchaus, another large

place, famous throughout Asia Minor for its manufacture of carpets; and

advantageously situated in a well-watered district, among some low hills

to the northward of which lies a very extensive plain.

The road through the open country which we have passed has been wide,

well beaten, fit for any carriage, and, owing to the late dry weather,

in an excellent state. We continue to enjoy a sky without a cloud: there

is generally a slight breeze from the east in the day: in the afternoon

the sun is hot; and at night the sky is perfectly calm and clear, with

a sharp frost, which in the shaded places generally continues to a late

hour in the afternoon.

The plains between Arkut-Khan and Ladík are traversed by several low

stony ridges, and by streams running towards the lake of Ilgún. The

country is bare and open; not a tree or inclosure was to be seen, nor

any appearance of cultivation, except in small patches around a few

widely-scattered villages. The country to our right forms the district

of Dogan-hissár, a town belonging to the Sanjak of Ak-shehr. To the left

is seen the continuation of the series of long narrow lakes which begin

near Bulwudún: they receive the torrents running from the surrounding

mountains, and are greatly enlarged in winter, but in summer are

entirely dried up.

Jan. 31.—From Ladík to Kónia nine hours; the road excellent, and weather

very fine; the sun even scorching, and much too glaring for our exposed

eyes. At Ladík we saw more numerous fragments of ancient architecture

and sculpture than at any other place upon our route. Inscribed marbles,

altars, columns, capitals, frizes, cornices, were dispersed throughout

the streets and among the houses and burying-grounds; the remains of

Laodiceia κατακεκαυμένη, anciently the most considerable city in this

part of the country. At less than an hour’s distance from the town, on

the way to Konia, we met with a still greater number of remains of the

same kind, and copied one or two sepulchral inscriptions of the date

of the Roman empire. The following fragment appears to be part of an

imprecation against any person who should violate the tomb upon which it

is inscribed.

ΤΟΝ ΒΩΜΟΝ ΑΔΙΚΗϹΕΙ

Η ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΝ ΤΑΦ

ΟΝ ΤΙ ΟΡΦΑΝΑ ΤΕΚΝΑ ΛΙΠΟΙ

........................

ΤΟΝ ΧΗΡΟΝ ΒΙΟΝ ΟΙΚΟΝ Ε

ΡΗΜΟΝ

Soon after we had quitted this spot, we entered upon a ridge branching

eastward from the great mountains on our right, and forming the northern

boundary of the plain of Kónia. On the descent from this ridge we came

in sight of the vast plain around that city, and of the lake which

occupies the middle of it, and we saw the city with its mosques and

ancient walls, still at the distance of 12 or 14 miles from us. To

the north-east nothing appeared to interrupt the vast expanse but two

very lofty summits covered with snow, at a great distance. They can

be no other than the summits of Mount Argæus above Kesaría, and are,

consequently, near 150 miles distant from us, in a direct line. To the

south-east the same plains extend as far as the mountains of Karaman,

which to the south-west of the plains are connected with the mountains of

Khatun-serái, on the other side of which lies Bey-shehr and the country

of the ancient Isaurians; and these bending westward in the neighbourhood

of Kónia form a continuous range with the ridge of Sultán-dagh, of which

we have been following the direction ever since we left Bulwudún. At

the south-east extremity of the plains beyond Kónia we are much struck

with the appearance of a remarkable insulated mountain, called Kara-dagh

(black mountain), rising to a great height, covered at the top with snow,

and appearing like a lofty island in the midst of the sea. It is about

sixty miles distant, and beyond it are seen some of the summits of the

Karaman range, which cannot be less than ninety miles from us; yet it

is surprising with what distinctness the form of the ground and of the

woods is seen in this clear atmosphere. As far as I have observed, the

air is much more transparent in a fine winter’s day in this climate than

it is in summer, when, notwithstanding the breeze of wind which blows,

there is generally a haze in the horizon, caused probably by the constant

stream of vapour which rises from the earth. The situation of the town of

Karaman is pointed out to us exactly in the line of our route, a little

to the right of Mount Kara-dagh. After descending into the plain we move

rapidly over a road made for wheel-carriages; the first we have met with

since we left the neighbourhood of Skutári.

At Kónia we are comfortably accommodated in the house of a Christian

belonging to the Greek church, but who is ignorant of the language,

which is not even used in the church-service: they have the four Gospels

and the Prayers printed in Turkish. At the head of the Greek community

is a Metropolitan bishop, who has several dependent churches in the

adjacent towns. As it is now the moon Ramazan, when the Turks neither

take nourishment nor receive visits till after sunset, we are obliged

to defer our visit to the Governor of Kónia till the evening. He is a

Pasha of three tails, but inferior in rank to the Governor of Kutáya,

who has the title of Anadol-Beglerbeg, or Anadol-Valesi, and who has the

chief command of all the Anatolian troops when they join the Imperial

camp. Our visit, as usual among the Turks, was first to the Kiaya, or

Deputy, and afterwards to the Pasha. The entrance into the court of the

Serai was striking; portable fires of pine-wood placed in a grating fixed

upon a pole, and stuck into the ground, were burning in every part of

the court-yard; a long line of horses stood ready saddled; attendants in

their gala-clothes were seen moving about in all directions, and trains

of servants, with covered dishes in their hands, showed that the night

of a Turkish fast is a feast. The building had little in unison with

these appearances of gaiety and magnificence, being a low shabby wooden

edifice, with ruinous galleries and half-broken window frames; but it

stands upon the site of the palace of the ancient sultans of Iconium,

and contains some few remains of massy and elegant Arabic architecture,

of an early date. The inside of the building seemed not much better than

the exterior, with the exception of the Pasha’s audience-chamber, which

was splendidly furnished with carpets and sofas, and filled with a great

number of attendants in costly dresses. The Pasha, as well as his deputy

in the previous visit, received us with haughtiness and formality, though

with civility. The Pasha promised to send forward to Karaman for horses

to be ready to carry us to the coast, and to give us a travelling order

for konáks upon the road. After passing through the usual ceremony of

coffee, sweetmeats, sherbet, and perfumes, which in a Turkish visit

of ceremony are well known to follow in the order here mentioned, we

return to our lodging. Nothing can exceed the greediness of the Pasha’s

attendants for Bakshish. Some accompany us home with mashallahs (the

torches above mentioned), and others with silver wands. Soon after our

return to our lodgings we are visited by a set of the Pasha’s musicians,

who seem very well to understand that after our fatigues we shall be glad

to purchase their absence at a handsome price; but no sooner are they

gone than another set make their appearance; the Kahwejí, the Tutunjí,

and a long train of Tchokadars; and these being succeeded by people of

the town, who come simply to gratify their curiosity, it is not till a

late hour that we are at liberty to retire to rest.

The circumference of the walls of Kónia is between two and three miles,

beyond which are suburbs not much less populous than the town itself.

The walls strong and lofty, and flanked with square towers, which at

the gates are built close together, are of the time of the Seljukian

kings, who seem to have taken considerable pains to exhibit the Greek

inscriptions, and the remains of architecture and sculpture belonging to

the ancient Iconium, which they made use of in building their walls. We

perceived a great number of Greek altars, inscribed stones, columns, and

other fragments inserted into the fabric, which is still in tolerable

preservation throughout the whole extent. None of the Greek remains that

I saw seemed to be of a very remote period, even of the Roman Empire.

We observed in several places Greek crosses, and figures of lions, of a

rude sculpture; and on all the conspicuous parts of the walls and towers,

Arabic inscriptions, apparently of a very early date. The town, suburbs,

and gardens around are plentifully supplied with water from streams,

which flow from some hills to the westward, and which to the north-east

join a lake varying in size according to the season of the year. We are

informed that in the winter and after the melting of the snows upon the

surrounding mountains, the lake is swollen with immense inundations,

which spread over the great plains to the eastward for near fifty miles.

At present there is not the least appearance of any such inundation,

the usual autumnal rains having failed, and the whole country labouring

under a severe drought. The gardens of Kónia abound with the same variety

of fruit-trees which we remarked in those of Isaklú and Ak-shehr; and

the country around supplies grain and flax in great abundance. In the

town carpets are manufactured, and they tan and dye blue and yellow

leather. Cotton, wool, hides, and a few of the other raw materials which

enrich the superior industry and skill of the manufacturers of Europe,

are sent to Smyrna by the caravans. The low situation of the town and

the vicinity of the lake seem not to promise much for the salubrity of

Kónia; but we heard no complaint on this head; and as it has in all

ages been well inhabited, these apparent disadvantages are probably

corrected by the dryness of the soil, and the free action of the winds

over the surrounding levels. The most remarkable building in Kónia is

the tomb of a saint, highly revered throughout Turkey, called Hazret

Mevlana, the founder of the Mevlevi Dervishes. His sepulchre, which is

the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage, is surmounted by a dome, standing

upon a cylindrical tower of a bright green colour. The city, like all

those renowned for superior sanctity, abounds with Dervishes, who meet

the passenger at every turning of the streets, and demand paras with

the greatest clamour and insolence. Some of them pretend to be idiots,

and are hence considered as entitled to peculiar respect, or at least

indulgence. The bazars and houses have little to recommend them to notice.