DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0319
290 ACkOPOLIS OF AMISUS. [Chap. xvil.
Mahometans. The best among them have no feeling of
honour or of courage; and having lost their ferocity, reli-
gious pride and bigotry constitute the only moral feeling they
possess, and they arc by turns tyrants and slaves; tyrannical
to those below them, and offensively servile to their supe-
riors. The Yeuzbashi, or captain, who tyrannizes over the
privates, will consider it an honour to be allowed to fill his
colonel's pipe, or execute any menial office for him ; and I
had myself many opportunities of witnessing in my own
Tatar instances of the same overbearing conduct and mean
servility.
Tuesday, July 19.—I started early with a Greek guide
to visit the ruins of Amisus, Eski Samsun as they are
called by the Turks, on a promontory about a mile and a
half N.N.W. from Samsun. On the eastern side of this
promontory, called Kailou Bournou, is a low sandy marsh,
on which stands a modern fort. This was once part of
the harbour of Amisus, but the greater portion of it is now
converted into gardens. From its N.E. extremity the pier
which defended the ancient harbour may be distinctly traced,
running out about 300 yards to the S.E., but chiefly under
water. It consists of large blocks of a volcanic conglome-
rate, some of which measure nineteen feet by six or eight,
and two feet in thickness; whilst a little farther north
another wall extends E.N.E. to a natural reef of rocks.
Ascending the northern face of the promontory, I entered
a small cave, the mouth of which appears to have been once
defended by a strong wall, and within is a spring of excel-
lent water. A few Greek letters are rudely carved on the
roof near the entrance, now scarcely legible. The Greeks
call the place ri m-nyr*. Looking down from the cliff I saw
many large shoals of fish called xiipaXai amongst the rocks,
but my guide complained that they could not catch them !
On the summit of the hill, where once stood the Acropolis,
are many remains of walls of rubble and mortar, and the
whole ground is strewed with fragments of Roman tiles and
pottery. Near the north end is a large cistern, stuccoed
Mahometans. The best among them have no feeling of
honour or of courage; and having lost their ferocity, reli-
gious pride and bigotry constitute the only moral feeling they
possess, and they arc by turns tyrants and slaves; tyrannical
to those below them, and offensively servile to their supe-
riors. The Yeuzbashi, or captain, who tyrannizes over the
privates, will consider it an honour to be allowed to fill his
colonel's pipe, or execute any menial office for him ; and I
had myself many opportunities of witnessing in my own
Tatar instances of the same overbearing conduct and mean
servility.
Tuesday, July 19.—I started early with a Greek guide
to visit the ruins of Amisus, Eski Samsun as they are
called by the Turks, on a promontory about a mile and a
half N.N.W. from Samsun. On the eastern side of this
promontory, called Kailou Bournou, is a low sandy marsh,
on which stands a modern fort. This was once part of
the harbour of Amisus, but the greater portion of it is now
converted into gardens. From its N.E. extremity the pier
which defended the ancient harbour may be distinctly traced,
running out about 300 yards to the S.E., but chiefly under
water. It consists of large blocks of a volcanic conglome-
rate, some of which measure nineteen feet by six or eight,
and two feet in thickness; whilst a little farther north
another wall extends E.N.E. to a natural reef of rocks.
Ascending the northern face of the promontory, I entered
a small cave, the mouth of which appears to have been once
defended by a strong wall, and within is a spring of excel-
lent water. A few Greek letters are rudely carved on the
roof near the entrance, now scarcely legible. The Greeks
call the place ri m-nyr*. Looking down from the cliff I saw
many large shoals of fish called xiipaXai amongst the rocks,
but my guide complained that they could not catch them !
On the summit of the hill, where once stood the Acropolis,
are many remains of walls of rubble and mortar, and the
whole ground is strewed with fragments of Roman tiles and
pottery. Near the north end is a large cistern, stuccoed