DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4719#0042
THYATIRA TO PERGAHTJS.
21
EBGAJfTS.-ns
L HISTOBY 0!
nnuB
-ALEXANDRIA!
A'lTH COLUKti.
.—ABYl
atira, werode
t-psce; then
ich cult:
: over
' distance
lb, in whict
ly before
tlu-i:
.h the excep-
before i*
I of very
ront oi them
ul range. I-
cultivated ^
the principal
Passing Kirkagatch, we kept close under the cliffs, which
were of white marble, but in places stained almost scarlet
with a kind of ochre, and in some parts yellow, the veins
or perhaps original cracks being saturated with this stain;
this is evidently the source of the varied stripes in the
marbles seen in the ruins in the neighbourhood. I should
have been disposed to think that this is also the cause of
the masses of perfectly red marble (rosso antico), which lie
about in all directions, carried down by the rivers from the
mountains; but that I have frequently seen these red blocks
themselves veined with white.
The stone-pine is extremely fine here, and the colour the
most lively yet rich green that can be imagined; in the long
spines are frequently seen tufts as large as a bird's nest;
I opened one, and found that it contained some hundreds of
full-grown caterpillars comfortably housed for the winter.
The hedges are of a small kind of arbutus and jasmine, with
myrtles, clematis, and other shrubs that I have before men-
tioned; the walnuts are magnificent, as well as the planes#,
which I have not seen growing wild in any other country.
About eight miles more, making thirty-two in all, brought
us to Soma, at three o'clock, having ridden the distance in
six hours. Since losing the traces of Acsa, I have seen no
relics of antiquity, even in the most certain haunts, the
burial-grounds, nor are any visible in this town. I was
shown into a one-arched vault, about a hundred feet long
and twenty-five wide, now used as a stable; it has three
groins or projecting arches, rising on each side from as
many marble pedestals, which I find are square, and let
two-thirds into the wall, so as to appear like pilasters. On
these are some Greek inscriptions. I have taken an im-
pression of one by placing paper over the stone, and then
rubbing the paper with a mixture of black-lead and soap.
I imagine the building to be a work of the Romans, and that
# Platanus orientalis.
21
EBGAJfTS.-ns
L HISTOBY 0!
nnuB
-ALEXANDRIA!
A'lTH COLUKti.
.—ABYl
atira, werode
t-psce; then
ich cult:
: over
' distance
lb, in whict
ly before
tlu-i:
.h the excep-
before i*
I of very
ront oi them
ul range. I-
cultivated ^
the principal
Passing Kirkagatch, we kept close under the cliffs, which
were of white marble, but in places stained almost scarlet
with a kind of ochre, and in some parts yellow, the veins
or perhaps original cracks being saturated with this stain;
this is evidently the source of the varied stripes in the
marbles seen in the ruins in the neighbourhood. I should
have been disposed to think that this is also the cause of
the masses of perfectly red marble (rosso antico), which lie
about in all directions, carried down by the rivers from the
mountains; but that I have frequently seen these red blocks
themselves veined with white.
The stone-pine is extremely fine here, and the colour the
most lively yet rich green that can be imagined; in the long
spines are frequently seen tufts as large as a bird's nest;
I opened one, and found that it contained some hundreds of
full-grown caterpillars comfortably housed for the winter.
The hedges are of a small kind of arbutus and jasmine, with
myrtles, clematis, and other shrubs that I have before men-
tioned; the walnuts are magnificent, as well as the planes#,
which I have not seen growing wild in any other country.
About eight miles more, making thirty-two in all, brought
us to Soma, at three o'clock, having ridden the distance in
six hours. Since losing the traces of Acsa, I have seen no
relics of antiquity, even in the most certain haunts, the
burial-grounds, nor are any visible in this town. I was
shown into a one-arched vault, about a hundred feet long
and twenty-five wide, now used as a stable; it has three
groins or projecting arches, rising on each side from as
many marble pedestals, which I find are square, and let
two-thirds into the wall, so as to appear like pilasters. On
these are some Greek inscriptions. I have taken an im-
pression of one by placing paper over the stone, and then
rubbing the paper with a mixture of black-lead and soap.
I imagine the building to be a work of the Romans, and that
# Platanus orientalis.