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CHAPTER XX.

PATARA.-COINS.-PASSAGE OF MOUNTAINS.-DISCOVERY OF THE ANTOMBS.—KASTELORIZO, THE

CIENT PHELLUS.-ANTIPHELLUS.-ITS

ANCIENT MEGISTE. JEWELS AND COSTUME OF THE PEASANTRY.CASSABAR. ANCIENT TRABALA ?-SINGULAR GORGE IN THE MOUNTAINS.-MYRA. TOMBS.

April 21st. This morning we rode down the plain to Patara, which place I have before visited. I again sought the points of the greatest interest-its very perfect theatre, the arched entrance to the city, and clusters of palm-trees; and, owing to the drier state of the swamp, I was enabled to visit a beautiful small temple about the centre of the ruined city: its doorway, within a portico in antis, is in high preservation, as well as its walls; the doorway is of beautiful Greek workmanship, ornamented in the Corinthian style, and in fine proportion and scale; the height is about twenty-four feet. I have sought in vain among the numerous funeral inscriptions for any trace of Lycian characters. I copied the inscription in the Greek language from the wall of the theatre, which is cut in large well-formed letters, over the eastern entrance of the proscenium.

In a wood to the east of the city is a solitary instance of a Lycian architectural tomb cut in the rock in the Elizabethan form; but upon the panel of the door are three illcut figures, representing a man, his wife, and a child; they

are but a few inches high, and have under them a Greek inscription.

The number of coins and common gems of rude cutting that are found here is quite unaccountable. I obtained above thirty coins from a man who said he often brought home a hundred in a day when he was ploughing, and that, if I liked, he would go and find some. One of our men picked up two in crossing a field as he drove in the horses; they appear to be of all dates, but I hope some may be curious, having the Lycian characters upon them. I am delighted to recognize again in one the figure of Bellerophon, similar to the bas-relief in the tomb at Tlos: this is highly interesting, as being found in the valley of the Xanthus. The copper coins of early date found in Lycia are generally extremely small; the Roman and Byzantine are much larger, and consequently more easily seen in the fields. I have obtained several very curious coins, found in the valley of the Xanthus, all having a singular device, a triquetra intermixed with the Lycian characters; on the reverse is generally a lion, in various attitudes: the finest silver ones have the skin of a lion's head only. These coins, although not obtained from Xanthus itself, I am inclined to believe were of that chief city, or perhaps of the country generally at a very early period. I have the coins of most of the other cities, bearing the name of Lycia and the emblems of Apollo, the lyre, or bow and quiver, together with the initials of the particular city to which they respectively belong; their reverse has a beautiful head of the god.

Before leaving the valley of the Xanthus, I must refer to the remaining marked illustrations of its early legends. History tells us that this country was originally peopled from Crete, by a colony which settled here under Sarpedon the son of Europa. Lycus, being afterwards driven from Athens, joined Sarpedon, and from him this portion of the country was called Lycia. The customs of the mother-country are

said to have been retained by the colonists. I find in the coins of Crete alone a parallel in size and workmanship to those of Lycia: on seeing coins from Candia, I at first sight claimed them as Lycian. The bull's horns are found as the crest of the ancient inhabitants, and the bull contending with lions is the most common subject of the bas-reliefs. May this not have reference to the family of Europa contending with the wild animals of this country? The lion is seen everywhere throughout the valley of the Xanthus; every bas-relief, tomb, seat or coin, shows the figure or limbs of this animal. Lions still live in its mountains, the goat is found at the top, while the serpent infests the base of the Cragus, illustrating the imaginary monster of its early fables*. The name of Sarpedon is found upon the monuments, and the conquests of Bellerophon remain stamped upon the rocks and coins. Patara, whose name implies the seat of an oracle, stands at the entrance of a valley: the inscriptions and emblems here are all in honour of Apollo, and the coins of the whole district show his ascendancy. I doubt not that many other points of high interest would occur to the classic scholar, but these must be observed by all travellers.

April 22nd, Bazeeryiancooe. This bay was by the ancient Greeks called Phonicus, probably from its palm-trees; by the modern Greeks Kalamaki, which means "reed bay;" but from the precipitous and arid rocks, rising from a sea far too deep even for anchorage, reeds never could have grown here. On the coast of Patara, which is round the point to the westward, and is distinctly divided from this

* The vignette on the title-page is drawn from an ancient Greek terracotta, representing a chimæra. This extremely interesting relic is the property of Thomas Burgon, Esq., who has kindly allowed me to copy it as an illustration.

"A lion she before in mane and throat,

Behind a dragon, in the midst a goat."-HESIOD.

bay by a bold promontory, both reeds and palm-trees are found in abundance. Travelling for nearly four hours. through Fornas, and leaving the Scala or little village of Kalamaki below us in the bay, we kept our elevated route to Bazeeryiancooe, or merchant's village, which is situated upon a point of rock commanding a fine view, and is an excellent site from which to make a map of this varied coast. The small islands of Xenagoræ near the coast break the monotony of a boundless expanse of sea. The huts are here all built of stones, piled up and lined with mud. The situation is so much exposed to the frequent eddies of wind from the mountains, that it would render the common hut, characteristic of the more sheltered country, unsafe.

April 24th.—From this village we continued our ascent of the mountain for two hours through bold craggy ravines, until we arrived at the village of Kedekleh, which would have been a far better division of our journey than halting so soon as Bazeeryiancooe. Continuing still occasional ascents, we traversed the picturesque heights of this mountainrange, cultivated with small patches of corn, which, as well as the whole vegetation, was fully a month later than in the district we had left in the morning, and the country again assumed the appearance almost of winter. Arriving at the village of Saaret, where our horses required rest, we occupied an hour or two in ascending the mountain which forms the opposite or northern side of this narrow valley, appearing to divide the country from east to west. Our inducement for making this excursion was the number of tombs cut in its rocks, and the Cyclopean walls blended with its craggy top. We were not disappointed: a city has once stood upon its summit, and walls, gateways, and tombs, all bespeak the work of the early Greeks; this is borne out also by the form of the letters in the numerous Greek inscriptions, too much effaced by the exposed situation to be deciphered. I have no doubt that this was the ancient Phellus. In four more

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hours we had passed the high and wild range of mountains forming the southern coast at the back of the ancient Antiphellus on its summit we encountered a most violent hailstorm, and I never experienced more bitter cold in the depth. of winter: large hailstones covered the ground some inches in depth. The awfully grand effect of these storms can scarcely be imagined: the cracking thunder was echoed instantly by the surrounding crags, and then rolled into distant ranges with almost a continuous murmur; the lightning played upon the clouds, which appeared to hover capriciously over fated islands in the expanse of ocean before us, while the sun shone brilliantly on others. The grandeur of such storms is seldom witnessed in the calmer climates of the continent of Europe.

April 25th.—I have been now two days at Antiphellus, and have had more time to devote to the examination of its remains than on my last rapid journey. The inscriptions upon the tombs are so much corroded by time and sea air, that many of them are illegible. One or two I admired for their simplicity, and from others gathered the name of the place. I find no bilingual inscriptions with the Lycian; all are Greek that I have seen, excepting one upon the sarcophagus, which was so distinguished by its beauty of proportion and form, as well as situation, that I sketched it on my last journey. This stately monument has a long Lycian inscription; I was prevented copying the whole by the fractures in many of the deeply-cut letters, but have selected from it many perfect words, separated by the usual stops, and these may assist in restoring the knowledge of the language.

The sphinx represented throughout this country is the eastern, and not that seen in the Egyptian sculptures. The little theatre here is quite perfect, with the exception of its proscenium, which has entirely disappeared: the seats are preserved, and clear to the bottom. The absence of shrubs,

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