DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0470
Chap, xxv ]
BUSTARDS.
437
town; and in the walls of the numerous houses, almost
entirely built of stone, as well as the neighbouring en-
closures, I found many square-hewn blocks of marble,
sepulchral monuments like that just described, and other
fragments, amongst which were several inscribed stones *
Two of them are upon handsome and well-executed monu-
ments, but have suffered much from long exposure. This
town or village appears to have been built out of the ruins
of a more ancient city. But there is no evidence of its
name, and the fragments appeared to me too numerous to
have been transported from any distant town, such as
Pcssinus, which I afterwards found at Bala Hissar, at least
twelve miles off on the other slope of Mount Dindymus.
Germa also is too distant to have supplied them.
As we were leaving this abandoned village we put up a
numerous flock of bustards of the largest species; their
colour was brown, with very long necks, the breasts white,
and white also under the wing. I was told they were not
uncommon in these vast plains; but this was the first time I
had seen them. To the east of this ruined place was a pool
with a fountain of cold water, and round it, at a distance
of fifty or sixty yards, a semicircular wall was built on the
west side. What remained was very low, and I was unable
to satisfy myself as to its purpose, for it was too extensive
and too slight for the substruction of a theatre.
Having returned to Ortou, we started for Sevri Hissar
soon after one, crossing a barren plain, and then ascending
the ridge of hills to the west, consisting of talcose and
yellow micaceous shales, with veins and masses of quartz,
interstratified with beds of crystalline limestone with an
almost vertical dip. On the western side of this ridge
the hills were less bare, and several patches of oak-cop-
pice relieved their uniformity. On reaching the valley the
road led S.W. for three or four miles at the back of the
rugged and serrated ridge of Sevri Hissar, along a stream,
which in the rainy season fills a wide torrent-bed, and
* See Appendix, Nos. 140—142.
BUSTARDS.
437
town; and in the walls of the numerous houses, almost
entirely built of stone, as well as the neighbouring en-
closures, I found many square-hewn blocks of marble,
sepulchral monuments like that just described, and other
fragments, amongst which were several inscribed stones *
Two of them are upon handsome and well-executed monu-
ments, but have suffered much from long exposure. This
town or village appears to have been built out of the ruins
of a more ancient city. But there is no evidence of its
name, and the fragments appeared to me too numerous to
have been transported from any distant town, such as
Pcssinus, which I afterwards found at Bala Hissar, at least
twelve miles off on the other slope of Mount Dindymus.
Germa also is too distant to have supplied them.
As we were leaving this abandoned village we put up a
numerous flock of bustards of the largest species; their
colour was brown, with very long necks, the breasts white,
and white also under the wing. I was told they were not
uncommon in these vast plains; but this was the first time I
had seen them. To the east of this ruined place was a pool
with a fountain of cold water, and round it, at a distance
of fifty or sixty yards, a semicircular wall was built on the
west side. What remained was very low, and I was unable
to satisfy myself as to its purpose, for it was too extensive
and too slight for the substruction of a theatre.
Having returned to Ortou, we started for Sevri Hissar
soon after one, crossing a barren plain, and then ascending
the ridge of hills to the west, consisting of talcose and
yellow micaceous shales, with veins and masses of quartz,
interstratified with beds of crystalline limestone with an
almost vertical dip. On the western side of this ridge
the hills were less bare, and several patches of oak-cop-
pice relieved their uniformity. On reaching the valley the
road led S.W. for three or four miles at the back of the
rugged and serrated ridge of Sevri Hissar, along a stream,
which in the rainy season fills a wide torrent-bed, and
* See Appendix, Nos. 140—142.