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.

_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.