,907.] AND CONTRACTION OF THE EARTH. 277 



men'ts frequently occur, but are seldom recorded, because so much 

 less obvious than sudden changes of level. In this way we may ex- 

 plain the changes of level at the Troad, Ephesus, the Peireus and 

 other places mentioned by Strabo. 



In the " Face of the Earth" (Vol. II., pp. 450-451), Professor 

 Suess discusses the supposed changes in the level of the coast road 

 on the Climax mountains in Pamphylia; and quotes Luschan, who 

 says that '' the sandy ground at the foot of these steep cliffs, which 

 formerly offered a practicable road, is now (January, 1885) cov- 

 ered by the sea to a depth of four metres." 



Here is Strabo's detailed description of this road as it was in 

 the time of Alexander: 



" About Phaselis, near the sea, are narrow passes through which Alex- 

 ander conducted his army. There is a mountain called Climax. It over- 

 hangs the sea of Pamphylia, leaving a narrow road along the coast, which 

 in calm weather is not covered with water, and travelers can pass along 

 it, but when the sea is rough, it is in a great measure hidden by the waves. 

 The pass over the mountains is circuitous and steep, but in fair weather 

 persons travel on the road along the shore. Alexander came there when 

 there was a storm, and, trusting generally to fortune, set out before the 

 sea had receded, and the soldiers marched during the whole day up to the 

 middle of the body in water." (Strabo's "Geography," Bohn's transl.. Vol. 

 III., p. 48.) 



When one reads this clear and definite account, can there be 

 any doubt of a subsidence since Strabo's time? In the campaigns 

 of Alexander the soldiers did not march through more than one 

 metre of water even during a storm ; now the water is four metres 

 deep, and if we could conceive the tallest of Alexander's soldiers 

 raised to double height, by one standing on another's head, even the 

 tipper one could not keep his head above water. A subsidence 

 therefore is undeniable, for a road would never have been thought 

 of in four metres of water. It cannot be explained by a settlement 

 of the road bed, which is mainly of stone, and gravel, covered with 

 a thin layer of sand deposited by the waves; nor by the shaking 

 down of the base during an earthquake, for such subsidences would 

 be very small, and probably unequal at different points. It can 

 liave resulted only from the uniform sinking of the coast by at 

 least three metres. This then is a well authenticated case of sub- 

 sidence within the historical period. 



