DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0352
298
ampklussa, the city ampelos,
[chap.
could be done towards a careful examination of the site ;
I remained here all the day- An understanding, entered
into with Captain Copeland, before I left Malta, that
he would either come with his vessel, the Beacon, or
send her little tender, the Isabella schooner, to Khania,
about the first of April, made me anxious to press
onward towards that city. It was on this account that
I had crossed the narrow part of the island, between
Kavusi and Hierapetra, called the Khersonesos by
Strabo3, and had postponed, for the present, the exami-
nation of the province of Setia. It was on this account
also, that I had omitted to visit Lyttos, and the mountains
of Lasithi. Even if I had remained here long enough
to view, with sufficient attention, the site of Gortyna,
and the neighbouring cavern, still there would have
remained Phaestos, Metallon, Fair Havens, and Leben,
to visit on a future occasion : I therefore determined to
put oft' the examination of Gortyna and of its dependent
and neighbouring states, towards the African sea, till I
should have visited the Sfakian mountains and the other
western parts of the island.
At nine o'clock, then, this morning I set off from
Haghius Dheka, in spite of the rain, which continued to
fall all the way as we rode along the plain to Dibaki.
The village Ampelussa, which is between two and
three miles from Haghius Dheka, evidently derives its
name from the vine4. The Cretan wine has always been
more or less celebrated5. There was an ancient city Am-
pelos, towards the eastern extremity of the island6: and
3 Strabo, x. p. 478. fin. MtT«£u oh tov "Safiwviov nai ttJs JLeppovqaov
t) Ylpalaoi 'LcipvTo, iiirhp Trjs 0rt\aTT?/s e^KOVTa crTaoi'ois. MaNNERT,
Geographie der Griechen und Roemer, Vol. viii. p. 712. in speaking of
the situation of Praesos, rightly observes, that Strabo's Khersonesos must
denote the isthmus between Minoa Lyctiorum and Hierapytna.
4 'A/xTreXos. The name of the village is pronounced Ambelussa.
5 See on this subject, chapter xx. in this volume, and chapter xxiv. in
the next, (pp. 51—56.)
6 The promontory is found in Ptolemy. Pliny, iv. 20. mentions
the city.
ampklussa, the city ampelos,
[chap.
could be done towards a careful examination of the site ;
I remained here all the day- An understanding, entered
into with Captain Copeland, before I left Malta, that
he would either come with his vessel, the Beacon, or
send her little tender, the Isabella schooner, to Khania,
about the first of April, made me anxious to press
onward towards that city. It was on this account that
I had crossed the narrow part of the island, between
Kavusi and Hierapetra, called the Khersonesos by
Strabo3, and had postponed, for the present, the exami-
nation of the province of Setia. It was on this account
also, that I had omitted to visit Lyttos, and the mountains
of Lasithi. Even if I had remained here long enough
to view, with sufficient attention, the site of Gortyna,
and the neighbouring cavern, still there would have
remained Phaestos, Metallon, Fair Havens, and Leben,
to visit on a future occasion : I therefore determined to
put oft' the examination of Gortyna and of its dependent
and neighbouring states, towards the African sea, till I
should have visited the Sfakian mountains and the other
western parts of the island.
At nine o'clock, then, this morning I set off from
Haghius Dheka, in spite of the rain, which continued to
fall all the way as we rode along the plain to Dibaki.
The village Ampelussa, which is between two and
three miles from Haghius Dheka, evidently derives its
name from the vine4. The Cretan wine has always been
more or less celebrated5. There was an ancient city Am-
pelos, towards the eastern extremity of the island6: and
3 Strabo, x. p. 478. fin. MtT«£u oh tov "Safiwviov nai ttJs JLeppovqaov
t) Ylpalaoi 'LcipvTo, iiirhp Trjs 0rt\aTT?/s e^KOVTa crTaoi'ois. MaNNERT,
Geographie der Griechen und Roemer, Vol. viii. p. 712. in speaking of
the situation of Praesos, rightly observes, that Strabo's Khersonesos must
denote the isthmus between Minoa Lyctiorum and Hierapytna.
4 'A/xTreXos. The name of the village is pronounced Ambelussa.
5 See on this subject, chapter xx. in this volume, and chapter xxiv. in
the next, (pp. 51—56.)
6 The promontory is found in Ptolemy. Pliny, iv. 20. mentions
the city.