On the morning of the 20th of March, at eight o'clock, I left Nicæa, passing up the valley behind the town towards the south-east, where the hills were covered with short underwood of evergreens, but without timber; the valleys were but scantily cultivated, principally for the growth of the mulberry-tree. We gradually ascended for about twelve miles, when, almost without being aware of it, we reached the summit of a ridge of hills. As the view on approaching Nicea was calm, rich and beautiful, so was this craggy, rocky and bold. I had before seen nothing so wild and romantic in this country: before us, as we descended through a gorge in the rocks worthy of the Alps, the ranges of mountains rose into rugged points, reminding me of the scenery in Savoy. The view here was extremely grand, and perhaps rendered more so by the sublime effect attending a stormy day, the heavy clouds rolling apart, and thundering along the broken chains of mountains, many of the higher peaks being shrouded with clouds.

The ranges of mountains all yield up their rivers to the

Gallus, which bears them on to the ancient Sangarius. The strata of the limestone rocks are here much contorted, and are often perpendicular, appearing like colossal ruins; if seen foreshortened, they resemble the aiguilles of Switzerland. The town of Léfky stands near the junction with the Gallus of one of the principal rivers, which has its source in the lake by the ancient Cæsareia, while its recipient flows directly from Olympus.

Leaving Léfky at two o'clock, we again ascended a range of hills, which changed the scene by opening to our view a highly picturesque but much smaller valley, with its river, and bold and almost perpendicular range of cliffs, attainable only by the eagles, whose nests we saw on the broken crags. Around us the rocks were covered with a beautiful flower, looking like a kind of dwarf stock*. Fifteen miles brought me to this place, Vizierkhán, which I reached by half-past four, Demetrius having ridden forward with the firman to obtain accommodation, which is here afforded, as it was at Nicæa, in the house of a Greek family. At present I cannot overcome the feeling of intrusion and obligation, and therefore am not so independent as at a khan; but this mode has many advantages, and one is allowing me more time to write and draw, as I am freed from the intrusion, amusing though it be, of the Turks, and from the gossiping which they carry on with my servant whilst he is cooking. I find he is stored with thimbles, needles, and scissors; and by presents of them he makes himself very popular with the young people of the families with whom we stay, and I generally profit by eating the fruits given to him in return. He received yesterday a quince, but so large that I did not

* On showing a drawing of this plant at the Linnean Society, without naming in what country I had been rambling, I was at once told, that it was a plant peculiar to the sides of Mount Olympus, in Bithynia, and had never been heard of elsewhere, that it was the Arabis purpurea.

recognize the species; it weighed, I should think, a pound; I am to have it cooked à la Turque.

Vizierkhán has its name from an immense khan, founded for the Hággi, or pilgrimage to Mecca. On examining the stone of this building I have been much puzzled. I had seen on entering Léfky, in a wall of loose stones, one which, like the rest, was of a pale greenish colour, but contained beautiful specimens of fossil shells quite protruding from it; there were a scallop or two of different sizes, and a kind of snail or round shell, all of the same colour as the stone. I called Demetrius back to look at them, and to show him the difference between these shells and those we saw at Troy, which were themselves imbedded in lime. Thinking fossils might be common, I did not dismount from my horse. On proceeding, I found the rocks in the neighbourhood of the same colour, and thought they were of a greenish limestone, or perhaps sandstone; but I now find that the khan, the only stone building in this village, is formed of the same material, and that it is an igneous rock, not stratified, and speckled throughout with green schisty particles. comes this to contain shells? I have described the stone in the wall at Léfky to the post-guide, and he is to send it after me by the first Tartar coming.

March 21st. Quitting Vizierkhán, which we did this morning by six o'clock, we again continued our ascent amidst mountains of the same bold and craggy character, the only vegetation being shrubs, amongst which the berries of the arbor vite scented the air with their peculiar perfume. The smell reminded me of painting in oils, and my servant exclaimed, "What a strong smell of castor oil!" We at length reached a summit, which I expected would be quite sterile, but found a fine cultivated country, the sloping hills clothed with the mulberry, and the plains with corn; and this continued with little change for about twelve or fifteen miles, until we arrived at the town of Sohoót.

Here I had to wait two hours for horses; and after piling my baggage under a wide-spreading plane-tree in the open space in the town, my servant accompanied me in search of antiquities. On my suggesting the possibility of the unguarded luggage being stolen during our absence, he replied that the Turks might not steal, their religion forbade it; that the things were quite safe, and the more so from their being left exposed. During this time I was the lion of the place. One of the chief persons begged me to tell him the hour; and his watch and others, (if there were any others in the town) were doubtless regulated by mine, which I had set by guess some weeks before whilst I was watching the sun sink into the sea.

Two very anxious-looking men came to ask me to prescribe for their friend, who was sick, and wished me to go and see him; my servant assured them that I was no doctor, and advised me not to offer even simple medicines, as if the man grew worse it would be attributed to me. His case was simple, and I have no doubt I could have cured him; but I have not much compunction for not having attempted it, as his disorder had been caused by eating too much of a not very wholesome dish called Youghoot. This food is very common here, and generally liked by Europeans; it resembles lemon cream, but is made of commoner materials, namely new milk with a little rennet, turning it to a curd, which is not pressed, but eaten in the consistency of jelly; this dish is served up at all times, and with various accompaniments. Sometimes, for economy, a little of a former making is kept to leaven the new batch.

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CHAPTER V.

PHRYGIA.

A FOREST.-ONEÓENOO.-SINGULAR CAVES.-MOUNTAINS AND TABLELANDS. CURIOUS GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. -- KOOTAYA. -EXTRAORDINARY ROCKS.-EXPEDITION TO SEEK DOGANLU.-CUSTOMS OF

THE PEOPLE.-EZANI.-ITS ANTIQUITIES.-INSCRIPTIONS.-HABITS OF A PRIVATE FAMILY.-DELICACY OF THE MANNERS.-DEPARTURE FOR ALTUNTASH.-SICHANLEE.-SANDOOKLEE.-DUMBARI-OVASY.THE PLAGUE.-CATCHIBURLO0.

AFTER leaving, Sohoót, we came upon a less productive country, and the rocks, protruding through the scanty underwood, were of volcanic production, a kind of greycoloured basalt, or lava. In about an hour we entered a forest, extending for some hundreds of miles to the northeast, till it reaches the shores of the Black Sea. In crossing this part of it, we rode through woods of oak, fir, and plane, with a great variety of underwood, for about twelve miles. On the ground, among the dead leaves of the oak, sparkled the most fresh and gay-looking flowers; the commonest, which tinged the banks with a beautiful reddish lilac, was the cyclamen*; and there were the snowdrop, primrose, the beautiful dwarf hyacinth, the yellow, blue and lilac crocus, with many others.

On quitting this forest we crossed a valley, and saw at a distance of about four miles, under the cliffs or ranges of

* Cyclamen coum.