CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY FROM KÓNIA.
_Tshumra—Kassabá—Karamán or Láranda—Ancient Cities of this Part
of the Country—Laranda, Derbe, Lystra, Ilistra—Passage over
Mount Taurus into the Valley of the Calycadnus—Mout—Passage
of another Ridge of Taurus—Sheikh-Amúr—Approach to the
Sea-coast—Gulnar or Kelénderi, ancient Colenderis—Ancient
Cities of the Interior of Tracheiotis—Olbasa
Claudiopolis—Philadelphia—Diocæsareia—Passage by Sea to
Cyprus—Tzerína—Lefkosía—Lárnaka—Return to Tzerína—Passage by Sea
to Kháradra—Cape Selenti—Aláya—Author’s Route by Sea along the
Coast to Constantinople—Journal of General Koehler from Aláya to
Shughut—Alara—Menavgát—Stavros—Adália—Bidjikli—Tshaltigshe—Búrdur—
Ketsiburlu—Dombai—Sandukli—Sitshanli—Altún Tash—Kutáya—In-óghi—
Shughut—Conclusion of the Tour._
Feb. 1.—Our journey of this day is from Kónia to Tshumra, reckoned a
six hours’ stage. We have remarked that since leaving Ak-shehr the
post-horses are of an inferior kind. They are larger and not well formed,
often broken-knee’d, and frequently falling, which seldom happened
in the first part of our journey. Those supplied from Kónia for this
day’s journey are very indifferent, and we did not get them till ten
o’clock, nor till after we had paid some high fees to the post-master and
Tatár-aga. The plain of Kónia is considered the largest in Asia Minor;
our road pursues a perfect level for upwards of twenty miles, and is in
excellent order for travelling. In such roads the journey, even with
loaded horses, may be performed in two-thirds of the computed time. A
rough kind of two-wheeled carriage, drawn by oxen or buffaloes, is used
in this plain. It runs upon trucks, ingeniously formed of six pieces of
solid wood, three in the centre, and three on the outside, the outer
joints falling opposite to the centre of the inner pieces; the whole is
kept together by an iron felloe, and by fastenings connecting the outer
pieces with the inner.
Tshumra is a small village with a scanty cultivation around it. We are
lodged in a Turk’s cottage, which consists of two apartments. The inner
(which is considerably the larger of the two) is for his horse; the other
is separated from the passage leading into the stable by two or three
steps and a low rail, and is just sufficient to contain the fireplace,
and a sofa on either side of it. This is the whole of his habitation, and
here we are just able to find room enough to lie down at night.
Feb. 2.—From Tshumra to Kassabá, nine hours over the same uninterrupted
level of the finest soil, but quite uncultivated, except in the immediate
neighbourhood of a few widely dispersed villages. It is painful to behold
such desolation in the midst of a region so highly favoured by nature.
Another characteristic of these Asiatic plains is the exactness of the
level, and the peculiarity of their extending, without any previous
slope, to the foot of the mountains, which rise from them, like lofty
islands out of the surface of the ocean. The Karamanian ridge seems to
recede as we approach it, and the snowy summits of Argæus are still seen
to the north-eastward. We passed only one small village in this day’s
route. It was called Alibey Kiúi, and was situated at one hour’s distance
short of Kassabá. We observed, however, some ruins of villages, and in
several places fragments of ancient architecture, particularly about
half way, at a bridge constructed almost entirely of such remains, which
traverses a small stream running from the mountain on our right to the
lake of Kónia. At three or four miles short of Kassabá, we are abreast of
the middle of the very lofty insulated mountain already mentioned, called
Kara-dagh. It is said to be chiefly inhabited by Greek Christians, and to
contain 1001 churches; but we afterwards learned that these 1001 churches
(Bin-bir Klissa) was a name given to the extensive ruins of an ancient
city at the foot of the mountain. Since leaving Kónia we have experienced
more civility from the inhabitants than before; a change to be ascribed
to our being now upon a less frequented route. On approaching Kassabá,
the people met us in great numbers. One person threw a pair of pigeons,
with the legs tied together, under the feet of the general’s horse;
others wrestled and danced. On arriving at our lodging they brought
us presents of water-melons, dried grapes, and other fruits. Kassabá
differs from every town we have passed through, in being built of stone
instead of sun-baked bricks. It is surrounded with a wall flanked by
redans, or angular projections, and has some handsome gates of Saracenic
architecture. It has a well supplied bazar, and seems formerly to have
been a Turkish town of more importance than it is at present. The dry
clear weather which has been so propitious to our travelling, has been
very unfavourable to agriculture. At Kassabá we are informed that there
has been neither snow nor rain for two months, and that the drought is
very distressing. Khatun-serái is four hours to the westward of Kassabá,
in a pleasant situation in the mountains.
Feb. 3.—From Kassabá to Karamán, four hours: the weather cool and
overcast; the road still passing over a plain, which towards the
mountains begins to be a little intersected with low ridges and ravines.
At one hour from Kassabá we pass on the outside of Illísera, a small
town with low walls and towers, built of mud bricks, and situated upon a
rising ground half a mile from the foot of the mountains. Between these
mountains and the Kara-dagh there is a kind of strait, which forms the
communication between the plain of Karamán and the great levels lying
eastward of Kónia. Having passed this opening, we enter the plain of
Karamán. Our course from Kónia has been more southerly than it was before
we reached that town, or upon an average S. by E. by compass. We are told
that the mountains above Illísera produce madder in great abundance,
partly used in the dyeing manufactories of Kónia, and partly sent to
Smyrna. The plain of Karamán and the foot of the surrounding mountains
are in general well cultivated; and as they present a more bounded
prospect, and are intersected with frequent streams, and varied with
swelling grounds, they are much more pleasing and picturesque than the
immense unbroken levels we have for so many days been travelling over.
Advancing towards Karamán I perceive a passage into the plains to the
N.W. round the northern end of Kara-dagh, similar to that of Illísera on
the south, so that this mountain is completely insulated. We still see to
the north-east the great snowy summits of Argæus, which is probably the
highest point of Asia Minor[125]. As we approached the town of Karamán
two horsemen met us, and conducted us to our Konák, at the house of the
Vekíl of the Bishop of Iconium, who is at the head of the Christian
community of the place. Karamán is situated at a distance of two miles
from the foot of the mountains. Its ancient Greek name, Láranda, with
the accent on the first syllable, is still in common use among the
Christians, and is even retained in the firmahns of the Porte. The
houses, in number about a thousand, are separated from one another by
gardens, and occupy a large space of ground. There are now only three or
four mosques, but I observed the ruins of several others; and the remains
of a castle show that the place was formerly of much greater importance.
It was the capital of a Turkish kingdom, which lasted from the time of
the partition of the dominions of the Seljukian monarchs of Iconium until
1486, when all Caramania was reduced to subjection by the Ottoman emperor
Bayazíd the Second. Karamán derives its name from the first and greatest
of its princes, who on the death of Sultan Aladin the Second, about the
year 1300, made himself master of Iconium, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycaonia,
and of a large portion of Phrygia and Cappadocia. His name, like those
of some other Turkish chieftains[126], who at the same time shared among
them a great part of the western provinces of the peninsula, has been
transmitted to posterity in one of the great Turkish divisions of Asia
Minor. The Ottomans upon obtaining possession of Karamán subdivided
it into Kharidj the outer and Itshili the interior country: probably
because to them who came from the north-east Itshili, which comprises the
Cilician coast and Cyprus, lay behind or within the mountains; Iconium
the former Seljukian capital became the seat of the Ottoman Pashalik; and
the decline of the town of Karamán may be dated from that period.
The appearance of Karamán indicates poverty. The only manufactures are
some coarse cotton and woollen stuffs; but they send the produce of the
surrounding mountains, consisting chiefly of hides, wool, and acorns
used in dyeing, to the neighbouring coasts and to Smyrna. The houses
are built of sun-baked bricks, with flat roofs. The chimneys being very
wide, and much exposed to violent winds from the surrounding mountains,
have a trap-door on the top, which may be raised or lowered at pleasure,
by means of a cord, communicating through the roof into the house. The
women of Karamán when passing through the streets conceal their faces
with unusual care. In the other parts of Asia Minor a veil covering the
upper and lower parts of the face has been the utmost we have remarked,
but here I see several women with only a single eye exposed to the view
of passengers. The rest of the person is in the usual shapeless form of
Turkish drapery.
We could not find any Greek remains at Karamán, with the sole exception
of a stone in a wall near the entrance of the castle with the words
ΙΩΑΝΝΗϹ ΔΟΜΕϹΤΙΚΟϹ upon it.
The chief ancient towns near Laranda were Derbe and Lystra, whose
names have been immortalized by the sacred writer of the Acts of the
Apostles[127].—About the middle of the century preceding the birth of
Christ, Derbe was the residence of an independent chief, or robber, as
Strabo calls him[128], named Antipatrus, who possessed also Laranda.
Antipatrus having been slain by Amyntas king of Galatia, Derbe fell
into the power of the latter; who had already received Isauria from
the Romans, upon its reduction by Servilius. Amyntas conquered all
Pisidia, as far as Apollonias, near Apameia Cibotus; but having fallen
in fighting with the Homonadenses, his dominions devolved to the Romans;
who having not long afterwards succeeded also to those of Archelaus
king of Cappadocia, made a new distribution of these provinces, in
which Derbe, as we have already seen, was the western extremity of the
Cilician præfecture of Cappadocia. Strabo, from whom we learn most of
the preceding facts[129], observes in another place, that Derbe was on
the Isaurian frontier of Cappadocia[130]. But it must also have been on
the frontier of Lycaonia; for about the same time St. Luke calls both
Derbe and Lystra cities of Lycaonia. About a century afterwards, we find
that Derbe had been separated from the Cilician præfecture of Cappadocia,
and that it formed,—together with Laranda and the adjacent part of Mount
Taurus, which contained Olbasa,—a separate district called Antiochiana;
which Ptolemy places between Lycaonia and the Tyanitis[131]. From all
these circumstances, there seems no doubt that Derbe stood in the great
Lycaonian plain, not far from the Cilician Taurus, on the Cappadocian
side of Láranda; a situation precisely agreeing with that of the ruins
called the 1001 churches of Mount Kara-dagh. These ruins have never been
visited, or at least described, by any modern traveller; nor has the
route from Láranda to Erkle, near which they stand, been traversed by any
except Bertrandon de la Brocquière, in 1432, from whom we learn nothing
more than that he travelled for two days in a plain from Erkle to
Láranda. It is impossible, therefore, to say, whether there is any lake
near these ruins, which will support the conjecture that the word λιμὴν,
used by Stephanus[132] in speaking of Derbe, may be altered into λίμνη;
for without this change the word can have no meaning.
Lystra appears to have been nearer than Derbe to Iconium; for St. Paul,
leaving that city, proceeds first to Lystra, and from thence to Derbe;
and in like manner returns to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antiocheia of
Pisidia. And this seems to agree with the arrangement of Ptolemy, who
places Lystra in Isauria, and near Isaura, which seems evidently to have
occupied some part of the valley of Sidy Shehr, or Bey Shehr. Under
the Greek empire, Homonade, Isaura, and Lystra, as well as Derbe and
Laranda, were all included in the consular province of Lycaonia, and were
bishoprics of the metropolitan see of Iconium. The similarity of name
induced me at first to believe that Lystra was situated at the modern
Illísera; but we find, as well in the civil arrangement of the cities in
Hierocles as in two ecclesiastical lists in the Notitiæ Episcopatuum,
that Lystra and Ilistra were distinct places. I am inclined to think that
the vestiges of Lystra may be sought for with the greatest probability of
success at or near Wiran Khatoun or Khatoun Serai, about 30 miles to the
southward of Iconium. Nothing can more strongly show the little progress
that has hitherto been made in a knowledge of the ancient geography
of Asia Minor, than that of the cities, which the journey of St. Paul
has made so interesting to us, the site of one only (Iconium) is yet
certainly known. Perga, Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra, and Derbe, remain to
be discovered.
Feb. 4.—Such is the poverty of Karamán, that we cannot procure the
number of horses necessary for our party, and are obliged to perform the
remainder of the journey to the coast, reckoned at thirty-six hours,
with camels, instead of horses, for carrying our baggage, although
the intervening track, being almost entirely mountainous, is the kind
of country the least adapted to that animal. It requires all this day
to procure a sufficiency of camels and horses; and we are under the
necessity of deferring our departure.
Feb. 5.—The arrival of Captain Lacy from Constantinople produces a
further delay this morning, an addition to our cattle being necessary.
It was eleven o’clock before we set out from Karamán, though we rose at
two, and were ready to start at four. At the distance of two or three
miles from the town we began to ascend, and entered the mountainous
region which extends all the way to the coast, and which anciently
formed part of the division of Cilicia called Tracheiotis, or Cilicia
Tracheia. Our caravan now consists, besides saddle-horses, of thirteen
camels, one of which is laden with provisions for the rest. On account of
the difficulty of the road, their burthen is light; they carry no more
than the usual load of a horse, yet with this easy weight they do not
move quicker than two miles and a half in the hour. They step a yard at
a time, and make about seventy-five steps in a minute. The post-horses
laden with baggage in the former part of the route, moved at the rate of
three miles and a half an hour in the plains. Entering the hills, we see
rocks excavated into a great number of chambers, anciently sepulchral,
but now inhabited by peasants and shepherds. As we leave the plains the
climate changes. At four hours from Karamán, in the lower region of the
mountains, we pass a village where the snow beginning to fall heavily,
and there being no habitation beyond for the next fifteen hours, our
guides and attendants are much inclined to remain for the night; but our
delay at Karamán makes us impatient to proceed, and we advance four hours
further to a khan in the wildest part of the mountain. During the ascent,
the road presented some magnificent views of mountain-scenery. On the
left was a very lofty peaked summit, one of the highest of the range of
Taurus, probably between 6 and 7000 feet above the level of the sea. In
the lower regions of the mountain, we passed through woods consisting
chiefly of oak, ilex, arbutus, lentisk, and junipers of various species.
As we ascend, we enter the region of pines; and through the latter part
of the route do not see a living creature; though we are told that the
woods abound with deer, wild boars, bears, and wolves. The khan where
we take up our lodging for the night is deserted, and partly in ruins.
As we resolve not to unload the camels, they are seated on the outside
of the khan in a ring round the door. We break some branches from the
fir-trees, now heavily covered with snow, which grow near the khan, then
select a part of the building where the roof is still entire, and make a
fire on one of the hearths which are ranged in a line along the inside
of the wall. Here we cook some meat which we had brought with us, and
then sleep round the fire till midnight; soon after which we send off
our camels in advance, and at six o’clock (Feb. 6.) pursue our journey
to Mout, distant eleven hours.—The weather is again fine. The road lies
over the highest ridges of the mountains, where, amidst the forests of
pines, are several beautiful valleys and small plains, forming with
the surrounding rocks and woods the most beautiful scenery. In several
places we trace the footsteps of the wild animals, and observe spots
where wild boars have been rooting up the earth. The soil is fertile in
the intervals of the woods, and the climate cannot be very severe during
the greater part of the year, there being no permanent snow, now in
the middle of winter, upon any but the highest summits. There appears,
however, no trace of cultivation, though there is ample proof that these
mountains were anciently well inhabited; for we meet with scarcely a rock
remarkable for its form or position, that is not pierced with ancient
catacombs. Many of these rocks present at a small distance the exact
appearance of towers and castles. At a khan half way between our last
night’s konák and Mout, we begin to descend into the valley where this
town is situated. The khan seems to stand upon the site of an ancient
temple, or other public building, there being many fragments of ancient
architecture in its walls, and lying around it, and among the latter a
handsome Corinthian capital. Not far beyond the khan we stop to examine
a tall rock, which, partly by its natural form, and partly by the effect
of art, represents a high tower. At the foot of it is a niche with a
semicircular top, the lower part forming a coffin, cut out of the solid
rock; the lid of this sarcophagus, which is a separate stone, lies at
the foot of the rock; upon it is the figure of a lion seated in the
middle, with a boy at either end; the boy facing the lion has his foot
upon the paw of the animal. The sculpture is much defaced, and the heads
have been purposely destroyed. We find also many entire sarcophagi, with
their covers. They had all been opened; in some instances by throwing
off the covers, in others by forcing a hole through the sides. The usual
ornament is the _caput bovis_ with festoons, but some have on one side
a defaced inscription on a tablet; on either side of this are ornaments
varying on different sarcophagi. We observe on some, a garland on one
side of the tablet, and a crescent on the other; some have emblems which
seem to refer to the profession of the deceased. These, and all the other
monuments of antiquity we have met with, excepting those of Doganlú,
are evidently of the time of the Romans. Not far from the spot where we
saw these remains is the village of Máhile; not in view from our road;
it may, perhaps, have been the site of the ancient town to which the
sepulchres belonged. From hence we begin to descend through woods of oak,
beech, and other timber-trees, growing amidst an underwood of arbutus,
andrachne, ilex, lentisk, and many other of the shrubs cultivated with
so much care in our gardens. As we approach the valley, we meet with
the wild olive in considerable quantities, and at length, after a very
rugged descent, we enter the valley of Mout. The town and its dependent
territory are governed by a pasha of two tails: who in this retired and
distant situation seems to care little for the orders of the Porte, for
he laughs at our firmahn, and declares, what the desolate appearance
of the place tends to confirm, that he has not a horse or a camel to
furnish us with; but he offers us forage for our cattle, and lodging
for ourselves. The latter is a ruinous hut in the castle, where we can
procure nothing but some coarse barley-bread to add to the meat which we
brought with us. The walls of the castle are surmounted with battlements,
flanked by square towers open to the interior. In the middle is a round
tower, cased, as it were, in another circular wall, rising to half the
height of the tower, and leaving a narrow interval between them[133]. On
one side of the castle is a precipice, the foot of which is washed by a
river.
Mout stands on the site of an ancient city of considerable extent and
magnificence. No place we have yet passed preserves so many remains
of its former importance, and none exhibits so melancholy a contrast
of wretchedness in its actual condition. Among the ruined mosques and
baths, which attest its former prosperity as a Turkish town under the
Karamanian kings, a few hovels made of reeds and mud are sufficient
to shelter its present scanty population. Some of the people we saw
living under sheds, and in the caverns of the rocks. Among these Turkish
ruins and abodes of misery may be traced the plan of the ancient Greek
city. Its chief streets and temples, and other public buildings, may
be clearly distinguished, and long colonnades and porticoes, with
the lower parts of the columns in their original places. Pillars of
verd-antique, breccia, and other marbles, lie half-buried in different
parts, or support the remains of ruined mosques and houses. Most of the
inhabitants whom we saw appeared half-naked, and half-starved; and this
in a valley which promises the greatest abundance and fertility, and
which is certainly capable of supporting a large population. Its scenery
is of the greatest beauty: the variegated pastures, groves, and streams
are admirably contrasted with the majestic forms and dark forests of the
high mountains on either side. Every thing is seen that can be desired to
complete the picturesque, unless it be an expanse of water.
Feb. 7.—In leaving Mout this morning, we particularly admire the fine
effect of the castle with its round and square towers, the precipices
with the river below them, the surrounding trees, and the ancient
colonnades; and, among the most remarkable of the modern buildings,
an old Turkish mosque, with the tomb of Karamán-Oglu, its founder. On
quitting the town, we pass along the ancient road, which led through the
cemetery. Sarcophagi stand in long rows on either side; some entire and
in their original position, others thrown down and broken; the covers
of all removed, and in most instances lying beside them. The greater
part were adorned with the usual bull’s head and festoons, and had a
Greek inscription in a tablet on one side. The letters were sufficiently
preserved to indicate the date to be that of the Roman Empire. We looked
in vain for the name of the city; though, perhaps, it might have been
found, with more leisure than we could command.
The journey of this day is from Mout to Sheikh Amúr, reckoned 12 hours
for walking horses, and 18 for camels; the proportion of their movements
being nearly as two to three. We had wished to have sent off our camels
in the middle of the night, and to have followed in the morning, that we
might all have arrived at our journey’s end at the same time, but the
Pasha’s language and the wildness of the country make us think it more
advisable to keep together. Another apprehension of more real magnitude
is suggested by our Tatár, that the drivers, having been forced to go
beyond their post, would take some opportunity, unless we should send a
sufficient force along with them, of cutting off the baggage, leaving
it on the road, and perhaps plundering it, and riding away with the
horses and camels. We had risen at three in the morning, but could not
with every exertion set out from Mout before seven; from which time we
continued travelling, without halting, except occasionally for a few
minutes, till eleven at night; having during the last two hours preceded
the camels, which arrived at a little past twelve. For the first two
or three hours, the road led us along the delightful valley of Mout. A
little beyond a small village, around which are some rice-grounds, we
forded, by the help of guides belonging to the place, a deep and rapid
river, called the Kiúk-su (Sky-blue river). The river of Mout is a branch
of this stream, and joins it further down the valley. After passing over
a level for a short distance, we crossed another stream rather wider than
the former, the water of which runs perfectly clear over a bottom of
pebbles. This branch, the principal of those which form the Calycadnus,
is called the Ermenék-su, from a town of that name near its sources in
the western part of the valley, where, we are informed, considerable
remains of antiquity, similar to those of Mout, are to be seen. Others
are said to exist also lower down the valley, between Mout and Selefke.
The Calycadnus passes the ruins of Seleuceia at Selefke, and joins the
sea not far below that place. Soon after crossing the Ermenék we began to
ascend, and travelled for the rest of the day along a horse-track amidst
the forests and mountains. The oaks are not numerous, and are chiefly
confined to the lower regions, where they are intermixed with arbutus,
ilex, cornel, juniper, lentisk, &c. In the upper parts scarcely any trees
are seen but pines of different species: most of these are of a moderate
size, but some which we saw in the highest parts of the mountain were
straight, large, tall, and fit for the masts of ships of war. Great
numbers had been destroyed for the sake of the turpentine, by making an
incision near the foot of the tree and lighting a fire under it, which
has the effect of making the resin run more freely. The summits in the
centre of the ridge which we crossed yesterday are higher than any part
of this range; but these mountains are more extensive, and of a still
wilder and more rugged description. We are told, that in addition to
the wild animals found in the ridge to the north of Mout, the forests
of these mountains contain tigers, or at least an animal to which the
Turkish name of Kaplán is given. The road sometimes passed along the edge
of precipices of immense height; at other times it was a rugged path,
climbing amidst broken rocks, where there seemed hardly a footing for a
mule; and at others it was a descent upon banks and slopes so slippery
that it was difficult even on foot to avoid falling. The camels, whose
footing is so very ill formed for such roads, passed them nevertheless
without any material accident; they had no doubt been often accustomed
to carry the merchandize of the people of Karamán across the mountains
which separate that town from the coast in every direction; and it may be
mentioned as a remarkable instance of the force of habit. We met with a
very civil reception from the Aga of Sheikh-Amúr, who presented us with
part of a large wild boar which his men had killed in the woods.
This morning, (Feb. 8.) we are much gratified by the delightful situation
of the village perched upon a rocky hill, in a small hollow, surrounded
by an amphitheatre of woody mountains. We proceed from Sheikh-Amúr
to Gulnar, on the sea-side, a distance of six hours for horses. At a
short distance from Sheikh-Amúr we remark several comfortable cottages,
surrounded with patches of cultivation, and inclosures of palisades.
These detached habitations, so uncommon in Turkey, indicate a degree
of security which gives us a favourable opinion of the Caramanian
mountaineers, whom indeed we have found very hospitable and inoffensive.
The road is through the most beautiful mountain-scenery. A woody valley
between high rocks, with a rivulet of clear water trickling through it,
conducted us into a district more open and level, but at the same time
more singularly wild, than any we had yet seen; for over the whole of it
high perpendicular rocks, of the most grotesque and varied forms, stood
up among the trees, resembling the representations of rocks on Chinese
earthenware. From hence we passed along the dry bed of a torrent, which
served as a road, between high calcareous precipices, rising close to
us on either side. As we advanced, these rocks were fringed with ivy,
saxifrage, &c., and mixed with small groves of evergreens: at the
bottom, a clear stream ran along a natural groove in the rock. The
prospect soon opened upon an extensive forest of oaks upon the slope of
the mountain, through which we at length arrived at a pass between two
summits, from whence we beheld the sea with almost as much delight as the
soldiers of Xenophon, from the top of Mount Theches. The island of Cyprus
appeared in the horizon. We descended into the valley which borders the
coast, by a long and extremely steep and rugged mountain-path, often
intersected by rivulets running in ravines, shaded by plane-trees. The
valley presented a prospect very different from those we had passed. Its
meadows and cultivated fields were in all the luxuriant vegetation and
brilliant colours of an advanced spring. Among them were dispersed some
cottages, with flat roofs and open galleries, like those of the interior
country. In descending the mountain we followed the remains of an ancient
aqueduct, and, as we approached the coast, traced it again leading
towards the ruins which occupy the cape forming the bay of Celenderis.
The road through the valley led along the beds of torrents adorned with
oleander and agnus castus, and through groves of myrtle, bay, and other
shrubs, produced only in the softer climate of the coast. The ruins, the
beautiful curve of the bay, and the distant sea-view on the one side,
and on the other the rich valley, contrasted with the steep mountains
and dark woods behind, form a picture, the beauty of which was greatly
heightened by the brightness of the weather.
Gulnar is the name applied by the Turks, and Kelénderi by the Greeks,
to a harbour and surrounding district, in which, with the exception of
the dispersed cottages already mentioned, the only habitations are the
tombs and subterraneous vaults of the ancient Celenderis; several of the
latter were occupied by poor Turkish families. Our lodging was a brick
vault, with a stone pavement, which seemed once to have been a cistern; a
low arch divided it into two equal parts. The outer was without a roof,
but the inner furnished a dry and comfortable apartment. The remains of
Celenderis are of various dates, but none of them, unless it be some
sepulchres excavated in the rock, appear to be older than the early
periods of the empire of Rome; and there are some even of a late date in
that of Constantinople. The town occupied all the space adjacent to the
inner part of the bay, together with the whole of the projecting cape.
The best preserved remains of antiquity are, a square tower upon the
extremity of the cape, and a monument of white marble among the tombs;
the latter is formed of four open arches, supported upon pilasters of
the Corinthian order, of not very finished workmanship; and the whole is
surmounted with a pyramid, the apex of which has fallen. I observed some
handsome tessellated pavements among the ruins, and a great number of
sarcophagi, together with fragments of columns and wrought stones.
Celenderis, although it now preserves the remains only of a Roman town,
seems in more ancient times to have been the principal place in this
part of the country. It gave name to a region called Celenderitis, and
coined those silver tetradrachms which supply some of the earliest and
finest specimens of the numismatic art. The antiquity of the city is
proved by the tradition of its having been founded by Sandocus, son of
Phaethon[134], and like the neighbouring Nagidus, it received a colony
from the island of Samus[135]. It is situated about the centre of the
coast of Cilicia Tracheia.
As this province extended to the boundaries of Tarsus on the east, of
Coracesium on the west, and of Laranda on the north[136], it seems to
have corresponded exactly to the Turkish province of Itshili. The most
fertile and the only extensive level in Tracheiotis is the valley of
the Calycadnus, a district which was sometimes called Citis[137]. This
river, which rises to the north-west, passes by Ermenék, Sinanli, Mout,
and Selefke, and joins the sea not far below the last of these modern
places. Olbasa being the only city mentioned in the inland part of
Citis by Ptolemy[138], and Claudiopolis by Ammianus[139], it is not
improbable that Olbasa may have changed its name to Claudiopolis, when
a Roman colony was established there by the Emperor Claudius, and that
its situation may have been at Mout. The extent and description of
the remains of antiquity at that place are highly favourable to the
supposition of its being the site of a city which flourished under the
Roman Empire, at the same time that the vicinity of this part of Taurus
to the plains which contain Derbe and Laranda is in agreement with the
evidence of Ptolemy[140] as to the position of Olbasa; for he states the
district of Antiochiana to have consisted of the townships of Laranda,
Derbe, Olbasa, and a fourth town which he calls Musbanda. If the Roman
colony at Mout was entirely a new foundation, perhaps it will be found
that Olbasa was at Mahile. Philadelphia and Diocæsareia, which were also
in this part of the country, may have been the one at Ermenék, and the
other at the ruins already mentioned between Mout and Selefke.
Feb. 9.—Nothing can more strongly show the present desolation of these
fine countries, than the fact, that as we descended the hills yesterday,
towards the coast, only one vessel was visible in the vast extent of
sea then open to our view. It proved to be the boat which was to carry
us across to Cyprus, and in which we embarked this evening, having
delayed until that time, in the hope of profiting about midnight by the
land-breeze from the mountains, which seldom fails when the weather is
fair.
Feb. 10.—The land-breeze carries us half across the channel, and then
leaves us to be tossed all day by the swell in a calm.
Feb. 11.—We land this forenoon at Tzerína, called by the Italians
Cerina, and by the Turks Ghirne. It is a small town with a Venetian
fortification, and a bad port on the northern coast of Cyprus; it is
reckoned by the Greek sailors to be eighty miles from Kelénderi, but is
probably less than sixty English. The town is situated amidst plantations
of oranges, lemons, olives, dates, and other fruit-trees; and all the
uncultivated parts of the plains around are covered with bay, myrtle,
and lentisk. On the west side of the town are extensive quarries, among
which are some catacombs, the only remains of the ancient Ceryneia. The
harbour, bad and small as it is, must, upon a coast very deficient in
maritime shelter, have always ensured to the position a certain degree
of importance. The natural formation of the eastern part of the north
side of Cyprus is very singular: it consists of a high rugged ridge
of steep rocks, running in a straight line from east to west, which
descend abruptly on the south side into the great plain of Lefkosía,
and terminate to the north in a narrow plain bordering the coast. Upon
several of the rocky summits of the ridge are castles which seem almost
inaccessible. The slope and maritime plain at the foot of the rocks, on
the north, possess the finest soil and climate, with a plentiful supply
of water; it is one of the most beautiful and best cultivated districts I
have seen in Turkey.
Feb. 12.—Finding it impossible to procure horses in time to enable us
to reach the gates of Lefkosía before sunset, at which time they are
shut, we are under the necessity of remaining at Tzerína to-day. I
visit a large ruined monastery, in a delightful situation, not far to
the eastward of Tzerína, at no great distance from the sea. It contains
the remains of a handsome Gothic chapel and hall, and bears a great
resemblance to the ruins of an English abbey[141].
Feb. 13.—From Tzerína to Lefkosía, six hours. At the back of Tzerína the
road passes through a natural opening in the great wall of rock I have
already described, and descends into the extensive plain of Lefkosía.
This is in some places rocky and barren, and is little cultivated even
where the soil is good. Like most of the plains of Greece, it is marshy
in the winter and spring, and unhealthy in the summer. On the west and
south are the mountains which occupy all that part of the island, and
the slopes of which produce the wines exported in so large a quantity
from Cyprus to all the neighbouring coasts. In the centre of the plain is
Lefkosía (Λευκοσία), called Nicosia by the Italians, the capital of the
island and of the province of Itshili, of which Cyprus is considered a
part, though the government is now always administered, like that of the
other Greek islands, by a deputy of the Capudán Pasha. The ramparts of
the Venetian fortifications of Lefkosía exist in tolerable preservation;
but the ditch is filled up, and there is no appearance of there ever
having been a covert way. There are thirteen bastions: the ramparts are
lofty and solid, with orillons and retired flanks. In the town is a large
church converted into a mosque, and still bearing, like the great mosque
at Constantinople, the Greek name of St. Sophia: it is said to have been
built by Justinian; but this may be doubted, as Procopius, in his work
on the edifices of that emperor, makes no mention of it; and its Gothic
style seems rather to mark it for the work of one of the Frank kings of
Cyprus. The flat roofs, trellised windows, and light balconies of the
better order of houses, situated as they are in the midst of gardens of
oranges and lemons, give, together with the fortifications, a respectable
and picturesque appearance to Lefkosía at a little distance, but, upon
entering it, the narrow dirty streets, and miserable habitations of the
lower classes, make a very different impression upon the traveller;
and the sickly countenances of the inhabitants sufficiently show the
unhealthiness of the climate. At Lefkosía we were very hospitably
entertained by an Armenian merchant, of the name of Sarkís, who is an
English baratli, and under that protection has amassed a considerable
property, and lives in splendour: he and his relations seem to occupy all
the principal offices of the island held by Christians, such as those of
interpreter and banker to the Motsellim, or deputy of the Capudán Pasha,
of collector of the contributions of the Christians, of head of the
Christian community, &c.
Feb. 14.—From Lefkosía to Lárnaka, eight hours. The first half of the
distance was a continuation of the same plain as before; the remainder
lay over rugged hills of soft limestone, among which we cross some long
ridges of selenite. At Lárnaka we found Sir Sidney Smith with his small
squadron: he had just signed a treaty for the evacuation of Egypt by the
French.
Feb. 15.—We pass the day on board the Tigre, where we find General Junot,
afterwards Duke of Abrantes, and Madame Junot and General Dupuy: the
latter, next to Kleber, the senior general of the army of Egypt. They
were taken by the Theseus, Captain Styles, in attempting to escape from
Alexandria.
The town of Lárnaka stands at the distance of a mile from the shore,
and has a quarter on the sea-side, called Ἀλικαίς by the Greeks, and
Marina by the Italians. In the intermediate space are many foundations
of ancient walls, and other remains, among the gardens and inclosures.
The stones are removed for building materials as quickly as they are
discovered; but the great extent of these vestiges, and the numerous
antiquities which at different times have been found here[142], seem to
leave little doubt that here stood Citium, the most ancient and important
city in this part of Cyprus.
March 2.—After having remained several days at Lárnaka and Lefkosía, we
arrive to-day at Tzerína, on our return to Constantinople. The purity of
the air on the north coast of Cyprus is very sensibly perceived, after
leaving the interior plains and the unhealthy situation of Lárnaka. The
Turkish troops are already arriving in large bodies, on their way home,
in the faith that the war of Egypt is concluded.
We set sail at eight this morning, in a three-masted covered vessel,
with latine sails, for Adália. A halo round the moon last night, and a
turbid atmosphere this morning, portend a change of weather. At two or
three miles from the port, the land-wind which carried us out, falls and
leaves us becalmed, but a breeze soon springs up from the eastward, and
we steer N. by W. Having come in sight of the coast, we soon perceive the
point of Anamúr, five or six leagues to leeward of us. As we approach the
shore, the wind coming from the westward, and freshening, we are unable
to weather Cape Selenti, and are obliged to make for a small cove, called
Kalándra by the Turks, and Kháradra (its ancient name) by the Greeks.
Here we are sheltered under the lee of a high cape, and by the help of
six cables, three attached to the anchors, and three to the shore, we
ride out a most tempestuous night of wind, rain, and thunder.
March 8.—At ten this forenoon, the weather having become serene, we land
and spend the day at some huts on the sea-shore, belonging to a village
on the hills which we do not see. Here the coast, retiring from the cape
under which we were sheltered last night, forms a small bay; around it is
a fertile valley; at the head of which a _torrent_, making its way from
high mountains[143], between lofty precipices, seems to have given to
this place its Greek name of Kháradra. The retired valley, with the bold
coast, and the woods and precipices at the back, is extremely beautiful.
The only remains of antiquity are part of a mole, just below the huts
on the sea-shore. On the side of the torrent, a mile up the valley, is
a deserted building, which has every appearance of Venetian or Genoese
construction. Kháradra is reckoned by our boatmen ninety miles from
Tzerína, twenty or thirty from Cape Selenti, and sixty from Aláya. It has
been already remarked that they reckon eighty from Kelénderi to Tzerína.
Comparing these computed distances with the real distances on the map, it
appears that the Greek mile is about two-thirds of the geographical. As
the word μίλι was borrowed from the Latin, the measure must originally
have been the same as the Roman mile, though it is now shorter. It is,
however, merely a computed and not a measured distance, and I could never
obtain from the Greeks any accurate definition of it.
March 9.—We sail this forenoon at ten with a fair breeze, which in two
hours brings us abreast of Cape Selenti. Here the wind slackens, and
becomes variable, and sometimes contrary with frequent showers and calms,
so that we do not arrive at Aláya till eight in the evening. During the
first half of the distance from Cape Selenti, we sail under high cliffs
and headlands, beyond which are some very lofty mountains covered with
snow. Further on, the mountains retire more inland, and leave upon the
coast a fertile plain, which increases in breadth as we approach Aláya.
March 10.—This town is situated upon a rocky hill, jutting into the
sea from the outer or westernmost angle of the plain. It resembles
Gibraltar, the hill being naturally fortified on one side (the western)
by perpendicular cliffs of vast height, and falling in the opposite
direction by a very steep slope to the sea. The whole face of the hill
is surrounded by high solid walls[144] and towers, but the lower part
only is occupied by the town, which is about a mile in circumference. The
ground upon which it stands is in some parts so steep that the houses
rise above one another in terraces, so that the flat roofs of one row of
houses serve for a street to those above them. To the eastward of the
town there is an anchorage for large ships, and small vessels are drawn
up on the beach. In the middle of the sea-front are some large vaulted
structures, on a level with the water’s edge, intended for sheltering
galleys; and constructed, perhaps, by the Genoese. They now serve for
building the vessels, called by the Turks Ghirlanghitsh (swallow), which
are generally formed with three masts and a bolt-sprit, all bearing
triangular sails. Of these and other vessels nearly resembling them, of
from twenty to sixty tons burthen, there are several belonging to Aláya.
The place is said to have taken its name from its founder Alah-ed-din,
son of Kai-kosru, who was surnamed Kaikobad, and who was the tenth of
the Seljukian dynasty, and the founder of the Iconian race. It seems to
have become the principal maritime fortress and naval arsenal of these
sovereigns, and of their successors the princes of Karamán. In the old
maps Aláya is called Castel Ubaldo, which may possibly have been the
name given to it by the Venetians or Genoese, when in possession of
this and other strong holds upon the Caramanian coast, but there is no
recollection of the name in this country at present. In the year 1471
the Prince of Karamán, then engaged in a struggle for independence with
Mahomet the Second, was put in possession of Aláya, and several other
places, by the Venetians, who were then in alliance with him as well as
with Usum Kassan King of Persia against the Ottoman Emperor[145]. From
the town, the beach runs eastward, and thence forms a long sweep to the
south-east to Cape Selenti, which is seen from Aláya. The level coast
extends about half that distance, and ends in an angle, where some trees
are seen round a village, at which I was informed there are remains of an
ancient city. There are other ruins said to be of great extent at a few
hours to the northward of Aláya.
I was detained at Aláya by illness; and while General Koehler, with his
two remaining companions, (Mr. Carlyle having left them in Cyprus,)
pursued their journey overland to Constantinople, I proceeded thither
by sea, visiting the most remarkable places on the coast, as well as
the adjacent islands of Rhodus, Cos, Patmus, Samus, Chius, Lesbus,
and Tenedus. Of those places which I visited on the coast, and which
deserve to be more thoroughly described than they have yet been, the
most remarkable are, 1. The ruins of a large city, with a noble theatre,
at Kákava, in a fine harbour, formed by a range of rocky islands. 2.
The island called Καστελόρυζον by the Greeks, and Castel Rosso by
the Italians. It is a flourishing little Greek town, carrying on a
considerable commerce of timber and charcoal with Egypt. In a plain
in the interior of the island, I found the remains of some ancient
buildings, of Hellenic construction. The importance of the situation
must at all times have attracted inhabitants. 3. Antiphellus, on the
main land, opposite to Castel Rosso. Here I found a small theatre nearly
complete, the remains of several public buildings and private houses,
together with catacombs, and a great number of sarcophagi, some of which
are very large and magnificent. The greater part have inscriptions,
few of which are legible. In two or three, however, I read the name
of the city Antiphellus. 4. Telmissus, at Méi, the port of Mákri, at
the bottom of the gulf anciently called Glaucus. The theatre, and the
porticoes and sepulchral chambers, excavated in the rocks at this place,
are some of the most remarkable remains of antiquity in Asia Minor.
5. The ruins of Assus, at Behrém or Beriám Kalesi, opposite to Mólivo
(the ancient Methymna), in Mytilene. The ruins are extremely curious.
There is a theatre in very perfect preservation; and the remains of
several temples lying in confused heaps upon the ground; an inscription
upon an architrave belonging to one of these buildings shows that it
was dedicated to Augustus; but some figures in low relief on another
architrave, appear to be in a much more ancient style of art, and they
are sculptured upon the hard granite of mount Ida, which forms the
materials of several of the buildings[146]. On the western side of the
city the remains of the walls and towers, with a gate, are in complete
preservation; and without the walls is seen the cemetery, with numerous
sarcophagi still standing in their places, and an ancient causeway
leading through them to the gate. Some of these sarcophagi are of
gigantic dimensions. The whole gives, perhaps, the most perfect idea of a
Greek city that any where exists.
I shall now subjoin a brief itinerary of the route of General Koehler
and his party from Aláya to Shughut, where he fell into the same road by
which we came from Constantinople in January.
March 11.—From Aláya to A´lara, eight computed or caravan hours. The
road leads along the sea-shore, sometimes just above the sea-beach,
upon high woody banks, connected on the right with the great range of
mountains which lies parallel to the coast; at others, across narrow
fertile valleys, included between branches of the same mountains. There
are one or two fine harbours formed by islands and projecting capes; but
the coast for the most part is rocky and without shelter, and after such
a westerly gale as occurred last night, is exposed to a tremendous surf.
The equinoctial monsoon occurs very regularly upon these coasts, and
the Greek sailors think themselves sufficiently prudent if they remain
in port during the first fortnight of March, old style. A´lara is two
or three miles from the sea, in a valley inclosed between woody hills,
and situated amidst gardens and corn-fields, with neat fences. Near the
village is a remarkable conical hill, with the ruins of a strong castle
upon it in good preservation. It is said by the natives to have been
built by the Sultan Alah-ed-din, of Iconium.
March 12.—From A´lara to Hadji-Ali Kiúi, eight hours. The road proceeded
at a distance of three or four miles from the sea, crossing several
fertile and well-cultivated valleys, and passing some neat villages
pleasantly situated. The valleys are watered by streams coming from a
range of lofty mountains, appearing at a great distance on the right. The
largest of these rivers was a little beyond the fortified hill of A´lara,
and was traversed by a wooden bridge sixty feet in length. Another large
river occurred about three hours further. On the west side of the gulf,
a little to the left of the direction of the route, appeared another
range of mountains[147], still more lofty than those on the right, and so
distant that nothing but their outline was visible. No remains of Grecian
antiquity were seen by the travellers either this day or yesterday.
March 13.—From Hadji-Ali Kiúi to Menavgát, four hours: weather rainy.
Crossed the large river of Menavgát at one hour short of the town, which
is situated in the midst of fields and gardens, in a fertile district,
watered by many rivulets. The surrounding valleys are well cultivated
and inhabited. Distant mountains appear to the north and east; and to
the N.W. is the steep range which rises from that side of the gulf, and
extends from Cape Khelidóni to Adália. The price of a sheep at Menavgát
is eight piastres, equal to twelve shillings sterling; four fowls for a
piastre.
March 14.—Detained at Menavgát for want of horses.
March 15.—From Menavgát to Dashashéhr, six hours. These two days were
frosty, and perfectly clear. The road passes at the same distance from
the sea as before, but winds for the most part through deserted valleys,
where the rich soil, and the rains which had lately fallen, had made
the road very muddy. There was seen abundance of the cattle which is
brought for pasture in the winter and spring from the mountainous
districts of the interior; at intervals are several villages, with a
scanty cultivation around them. Dashashéhr is situated upon some rocky
hills, commanding a view of the sea; and the cottages have gardens,
and orchards, and plantations of vines and fig-trees attached to them.
The great range of mountains is seen at a distance of twenty or thirty
miles to the northward. The whole of this part of Pamphylia seems to be
a succession of fine valleys, separated by ridges branching from the
mountains, and each watered by a stream of greater or less magnitude.
March 16.—From Dashashéhr to Stavros, six hours, through a vast plain of
the richest pasture, in which were great numbers of oxen and sheep. At
the end of two or three hours was a large river, crossed by a bridge
built upon the ruins of a magnificent ancient bridge, one arch of which,
still standing, forms a part of the modern work. Several other smaller
streams were passed in the course of the day. In the last half of the
road the late rains had inundated the plains in several places. The
villages are numerous, and the population consists entirely of Turks, who
are hospitable and inoffensive.
March 17.—From Stavros to Adália, six hours. The first half over the same
kind of road, inundated in many places. At the end of two hours a large
and rapid stream was passed by a ferry, a little beyond which, appeared
on the left the ruins called by the Turks Eski-Kálesi, where are great
remains of walls and vaulted buildings. The road passes from thence
over a more elevated level, with a dry soil, nearly as far as the walls
of Adália, at one hour short of which it crosses a very deep and rapid
stream[148], dividing itself into several branches, from which there
are artificial derivations for irrigating the gardens and cultivated
fields around Adália. Besides the two principal streams just mentioned,
the road from Stávros crossed several smaller, particularly one between
those two, the banks of which are thickly sheltered with trees, and where
is a solid ancient bridge, its summit level with the banks. Adália is
a large and populous town, which, though governed only by a Motsellim,
is considered as one of the best governments in Anatolia, the district
being large and fertile, and the maritime commerce extensive. The town
is situated around a circular port; behind it, on a height, is a castle,
built with battlements and square towers. In the suburbs, the houses are
dispersed amidst orange groves and gardens, and thus occupy a large space
of ground. Granite columns, and a great variety of fragments of ancient
sculpture, found about the place, attest its former importance as a Greek
city. Among other remains are those of an aqueduct, extending the whole
length of the suburbs, but now quite ruined and overgrown with bushes.
These different objects, with the sea, and the stupendous ridge of rugged
mountains on the west side of the gulf, render the place extremely
picturesque.
March 18.—Halt at Adália.
March 19.—From Adália to Bidjikli, seven hours, due north. The road
passes over a region of rugged rocks, intersected with hollows full of
water. No cultivation was in sight; to the left the same kind of ground
seemed to extend as far as the ridge of rocky mountains, which borders
the west side of the gulf, and to the right as far as the Dudén, or river
of Adália.
March 20.—From Bidjikli to Karabunár Kiúi, nine hours: the first two
hours over the same rugged plain not far from the river. The two great
ranges on the west and north of the plains of Adália now approach each
other, and at length are only divided by the passes, through which the
river finds its way. The road, however, leaves this gorge to the right,
and ascends the mountain by a paved winding causeway, a work of great
labour and ingenuity. At the foot of it, in the plain, are the ruins
of a castle, and of many towers and gateways of elegant architecture,
with cornices, capitals, and fluted columns lying upon the ground.
Sarcophagi, with their covers beside them, are seen in great numbers,
as well in the plain as for a considerable distance up the side of the
hill. Some of them were of large size, many with inscriptions. At the
top of this formidable pass, which was anciently commanded by the city,
standing at the foot of it, the road enters an elevated level surrounded
with mountains, and proceeds along a winding valley amidst rocks and
precipices, some of which, being quite detached and perpendicular, appear
at a distance like castles and towers. The konák this evening was a
tchiftlik (farm and country-house) of the Motsellim of Adália, situated
near three small villages on the banks of a rivulet, in a pure air and
most romantic situation. The usual spring weather of these climates has
now prevailed for some days; showers, often accompanied with thunder,
occur in the afternoon and in the early part of the night, and during the
remainder of the day the sky is perfectly clear and serene.
March 21.—From Karabunár Kiúi to Tsháltigtshi Kiúi, five hours and a
half. One hour from the place of departure is a khan, formed out of
the remains of an old building, upon which are angels sculptured on
either side of a large arched gate. It appears to have been a church
of the earliest ages of Christianity. The route continues through
valleys of the same description as that of Karabunár Kiúi, level and
surrounded by barren rocks and mountains. A neighbouring town called
Butshuklu, is said to contain a thousand houses, and has the reputation
of refusing quarters to strangers, especially to couriers and persons
travelling under the orders of the Porte. This district, however, as has
already been remarked in regard to other places having the character of
rebellious, exhibits several marks of superior industry, and a better
kind of public economy; good roads and bridges are seen, and large clean
pieces of wheat surrounded with ditches or fences. In the mountain not
far from Butshuklu there are said to be ruins of ancient buildings with
columns, and sculptured and inscribed stones. A hill which bounds the
district of Butshuklu to the north limits the command of the Motsellim of
Adália. At the foot of this hill is a khan, which appears to have been
constructed from the ruins of some large ancient building; fragments of
architecture, and ruins of walls, are seen on every side of it. The hill
is rugged and extensive, and has on the north side a level much lower
than all those lying between it and Adália. A river flows through this
plain, and there are many villages, among which is that of Tsháltigtshi.
The people appeared simple and hospitable, and welcomed the travellers
by presents of fruit and flowers, which they threw down at their feet,
and then departed without saying a word. The villages are surrounded
with fruit-trees, but no oranges, nor lemons, nor olives are seen among
them; and the season here is a month or six weeks behind that of Adália.
Wheel-carriages are used: the wheels being either solid trucks formed of
one piece of wood, or of three pieces joined together, and shod with an
iron plate turned up at the edges, and thus fixed on without any nails.
They had also iron axles, and a box for them to turn in, exhibiting a
neatness of workmanship seldom seen in Turkey.
March 22.—From Tcháltigtshi to Burdur, seven hours and a half; for the
first two hours along the valley; then up a high steep mountain, not a
mere rock, like the others which the travellers had passed, but having
trees, and a soil fit for any vegetation. They passed an insulated
valley, where was a rivulet which disappeared in a cavity at the foot
of a mountain. The weather was very cold, and four inches of snow lay
upon the ground at no great distance above them. After a narrow craggy
pass, they entered an open country, which, unlike the level valleys to
the southward, was diversified with undulations and slopes. At two hours
short of Burdur, they came into a valley full of rocks, thrown about
in the wildest manner: some of these were of a kind which looked like
bundles of rushes, incrusted with cement, and petrified into a solid
mass: in some places the scene around had the appearance of a succession
of enormous sand-pits. They passed several water-mills, and saw nothing
of the town or lake of Burdur until they were close upon it. The houses
are flat-roofed; the town is large, and comparatively well paved, and
there is some appearance of wealth and industry in the streets. Tanning
and dyeing of leather, weaving and bleaching of linen, seemed to be
the chief occupations. Streams of clear water flow through most of the
streets. The country around produces good butter. The salt lake of
Burdur begins at a very short distance from the town, and stretches to
the N. and N.W., forming a beautiful picture with its winding shores,
its shrubby or bare and rocky capes, and the cultivated lands, numerous
villages, and woody hills around it.
March 23.—Detained at Burdur by a violent southerly gale and heavy rain.
March 24.—From Burdur to Ketsiburlu, six hours. The road along the
edge of the lake having been rendered difficult by the rains, they
took another nearer the hills. They passed a good deal of arable land,
and many villages with abundance of fruit-trees and vineyards. The
walnut-trees grow to a great size: on the 22nd they had seen poplars also
of not less than six and eight feet in diameter.
March 25.—From Ketsiburlu to Dombai-óvasi (the valley of Dombai) five
hours: the wind north: a sharp frost, and the hills around covered with
snow: the road very good, leading at first through rocky hills, but
afterwards through a rich valley, where are many villages; Dombai is the
chief and one of the largest. Here they received much civility from the
Motsellim, whose design in it was to get their interest at the Porte in
his endeavours to obtain the Pashalik of Isbárta, a considerable town at
no great distance to the eastward. At Dombai they were told of the ruins
of an ancient town very near, with the remains of columns, inscribed
stones, and statues.
March 26.—From Dombai to Sandukli on the river Méndere, the distance
seven hours, through a fine country variegated with gentle undulations,
but bare of wood, except upon the mountains, which are at no great
distance on either side. There were several small villages and a good
deal of arable land, but the season was still six weeks behind that of
the coast: the cold severe with much snow.
March 27.—From Sandukli to Sitshanli, seven hours: a north wind, with ice
an inch thick: the road was for the most part hilly and stony, but in
some places there were villages and cultivated lands. Sitshanli is in a
fertile valley, with many villages around.
March 28.—From Sitshanli to Altún-Tash, nine hours: the country is of
an undulated form with little wood. They observed several villages, and
in many places scattered fragments of ancient buildings, but in no one
spot any thing that indicated the site of a large town. At Altún-Tash the
snow was lying on the ground. The place takes its name (signifying golden
stone) from some rocks of a yellow colour in the neighbourhood. It stands
on the left bank of the river Pursek, the ancient Thymbrius, or Thymbres,
a branch of the Sangarius. Here were 200 horsemen of the Pasha of Kutáya,
who had been reducing a rebellious chieftain, and were in the act of
driving away his flocks.
March 29.—From Altún-Tash to Kutáya, nine hours: at first over a swampy
plain, which had been inundated by the rains and the melting of the
snow upon the hills, then across the Pursek, which between this place
and Kutáya forms an S: a high mountain, at the foot of which Kutáya is
situated, filling up the northern part of the S. After crossing the
Pursek at Altún-Tash, they passed over gentle hills and a pleasant
country. Nearly midway were a fountain, the ruins of a mosque, and an
ancient Greek church. A good gravel road led in a winding direction
through a delightful scene of lawns of the finest herbage, adorned with
detached trees and clumps of evergreen, disposed in a manner which art
could not have improved. From hence, after passing a tract of wild
cliffs and rocks, which formed a remarkable contrast to the former, they
descended a steep hill to the Pursek, here a very deep and rapid river.
Having crossed it by a bridge, and ascended a part of the mountain of
Kutáya, they proceeded along a dangerous path on the edge of an immense
precipice: the mountain, with its snow-topped summit, rising to a
great height on the left, and on the right the Pursek taking a large
sweep round the base of the mountain. Thus they made almost half the
circuit of it before they arrived at Kutáya. This is a large town with
an ancient castle, which stands upon a projecting point of the hill
rising above the town. Being the usual residence of the Beglerbeg of
Anatolia, Kutáya may in some measure be considered the capital of the
province, though much inferior in size to Smyrna, Tokát, and A´ngura. The
Pasha being absent with the army in Syria, the place was governed by a
Motsellim, who furnished the travellers with a tchaous to accompany them
to Constantinople, and orders for horses and other necessaries. Ancient
coins and gems may be collected in the bazars of Kutáya in considerable
numbers.
March 30.—Halt at Kutáya.
March 31.—From Kutáya to In-óghi, twelve hours: the weather fine, and the
road for the most part good. They soon crossed the Pursek, and passed at
first over a flat swampy road, inundated by floods from the mountains;
they then ascended a hill, upon the top of which the rocks appeared to
be of a hard and handsome kind of breccia. Thus they proceeded nearly
half the day’s journey: the scenery sometimes very dreary and barren;
at others grand and picturesque; but the country no where cultivated.
They then descended a steep slope to the Pursek, which they now crossed
for the second time since they had left Kutáya, and proceeded for some
distance along its left bank with high steep cliffs on each side;
among these, and along the river, grow a variety of trees and shrubs,
particularly evergreens. In one part conical and sharp-pointed rocks
arise to a great height, resembling in some places the spires and
ornamented sides of Gothic churches. Here the ancients had excavated
crypts, niches, and sepulchral chambers with doors and windows. After
the pass the valley opens into fine meadows, with the river winding
through the middle. Soon afterwards the road quits this valley and
turns to the right up another, watered by a small branch of the same
river; the route then passes through a tract of country where it winds
amidst clumps of evergreens beautifully disposed by nature upon a fine
turf, with hills, valleys, and lawns, as in an English park. Here they
met a company of Turks coursing with their greyhounds, who made them a
present of a hare. They then crossed a ridge, the absolute height of
which (though apparently inconsiderable, when compared with the adjacent
valleys) was indicated by large patches of snow lying upon the ground.
The country consists of fine pasture-lands, mixed with good timber-trees.
On a long descent from this place they looked down upon an extensive and
well cultivated plain, and at the foot of the descent they arrived at
In-óghi, a large village situated on the edge of the plains under the
vast precipices of a mountain of bare rock, excavated naturally into
caverns, and artificially into sepulchral chambers. Some of those in the
upper part of the heights are the abode of eagles, which are seen soaring
around them in great numbers. One enormous cavern is shut up in front by
a wall with battlements and towers, and seems once to have served as a
sort of citadel to the town.
April 1.—From In-óghi to Shughut, five hours: the weather very clear. The
road passes over pleasant hills and dales, where appears a considerable
degree of cultivation. The country is interspersed with fine oaks and
beeches, and in one place there is a large forest. Some symptoms of
spring have begun to appear, but the season is not yet so forward as
it was upon the south coast in the beginning of February. Not a tree
has begun to bud: the corn is but just above the ground; and primroses,
violets, and crocuses, are the only flowers to be seen. At Shughut the
appearance was more wintry than when we passed in January; and the broad
summit of Olympus was capped with snow to a much greater extent.