DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5542#0015
6
EltYTHRJE.
[Chap. xxxi.
skv- At length we anchored in the capacious harbour of
Erythrai, landlocked by promontories and islands, amidst
which we were enabled to find our way by the help of an ex-
cellent chart, for which we were indebted to Captain Graves,
commanding the "Beacon," then surveying the coast of
Ionia and Caria. It was a quiet and sequestered spot; and
the gentle breeze, the wild mountain scenery around us,
the rich verdure without a trace of cultivation, and the few
cattle grazing on the hills to mark the existence of man, in-
spired feelings not uncongenial to the place. After casting
anchor in the narrow channel we landed on some of the is-
lands, and found a variety of bulbous plants growing amidst
the crevices and interstices of the rocks.* Soon after our re-
turn some Greeks came off in great alarm to see who and
what we were, as we had omitted to show our colours as we
entered. They stated that a short time before a vessel had
come in, plundered the neighbouring villages, and carried
off their property and cattle, and seemed anxious to find
out whether we were likely to treat them in the same way.
We remained here a whole week, most agreeably spent in
exploring the neighbourhood and ruins of the ancient Ery-
thrae, still called Bitri by the Greeks and Turks. It is situ-
ated in a small alluvial plain at the mouth of the river Aleus,
some of the sources of which are in the town itself. The city
faces the west, and the whole extent of the Hellenic walls may
be distinctly traced, from their commencement near the har-
bour at the southern extremity of the town, to the northern
point, where they terminate on a lofty rock of trachyte. The
plain on which the city stood is skirted by two spurs from the
limestone mountains on the east. The wall, carried irregu-
larly along these hills, is connected by a stronger portion which
stretches across the plain about a mile from the shore, and
is defended by a greater number of towers than the rest.
Everywhere, however, the walls are well built in the isodo-
* Tlic geology of this part of the coast, as well as of those places on the coast
of Caria which we visited, and of the Island of Rhodes, have been described in
a Memoir on the Geology of Asia Minor, published in the "Transactions of the
Geological Society,'' vol. vi. p. 1.
EltYTHRJE.
[Chap. xxxi.
skv- At length we anchored in the capacious harbour of
Erythrai, landlocked by promontories and islands, amidst
which we were enabled to find our way by the help of an ex-
cellent chart, for which we were indebted to Captain Graves,
commanding the "Beacon," then surveying the coast of
Ionia and Caria. It was a quiet and sequestered spot; and
the gentle breeze, the wild mountain scenery around us,
the rich verdure without a trace of cultivation, and the few
cattle grazing on the hills to mark the existence of man, in-
spired feelings not uncongenial to the place. After casting
anchor in the narrow channel we landed on some of the is-
lands, and found a variety of bulbous plants growing amidst
the crevices and interstices of the rocks.* Soon after our re-
turn some Greeks came off in great alarm to see who and
what we were, as we had omitted to show our colours as we
entered. They stated that a short time before a vessel had
come in, plundered the neighbouring villages, and carried
off their property and cattle, and seemed anxious to find
out whether we were likely to treat them in the same way.
We remained here a whole week, most agreeably spent in
exploring the neighbourhood and ruins of the ancient Ery-
thrae, still called Bitri by the Greeks and Turks. It is situ-
ated in a small alluvial plain at the mouth of the river Aleus,
some of the sources of which are in the town itself. The city
faces the west, and the whole extent of the Hellenic walls may
be distinctly traced, from their commencement near the har-
bour at the southern extremity of the town, to the northern
point, where they terminate on a lofty rock of trachyte. The
plain on which the city stood is skirted by two spurs from the
limestone mountains on the east. The wall, carried irregu-
larly along these hills, is connected by a stronger portion which
stretches across the plain about a mile from the shore, and
is defended by a greater number of towers than the rest.
Everywhere, however, the walls are well built in the isodo-
* Tlic geology of this part of the coast, as well as of those places on the coast
of Caria which we visited, and of the Island of Rhodes, have been described in
a Memoir on the Geology of Asia Minor, published in the "Transactions of the
Geological Society,'' vol. vi. p. 1.