THE CILICIAN PLAIN. 41 



CHAPTEE IV. 



CILICIA. 



Cilicia, ancient and modern — Mersina, a typical seaport of the Near East — 

 Natural disadvantages as a port — The ancient harbour of Tarsus — The 

 ruins at Soli Pompeiopolis — St Paul's Institute at Tarsus — Course of 

 the Cydnus diverted by Justinian — The Dinck Tash — Fallacy of the 

 legend that it is the tomb of Sardanapalus — Relics at Tarsus — The site 

 of the ancient capital — Adana, capital of Cilicia — Description of — 

 Population of — The American mission — Turkish rule — Want of public 

 works — Instances of official corruption — The cotton industry — Climate 

 — Leave Adana — Ruined castles — A gorgeous sunset — Nature of 

 Eastern Cilicia — Across the Giaour Dagh— Excavations at Zingerli — 

 Reach Aleppo. 



The Cilician Plain consists of two distinct halves : the 

 western plain, a flat, low-lying expanse of rich stone- 

 less loam, bounded on the south by the sea, on the west 

 and north by the Taurus Mountains, and on the east 

 by the Jebel Nur, which divides it from the eastern 

 plain. The latter, known also as the Chukur Ova, is 

 likewise bounded on the north by Taurus, while on the 

 east it is shut in by the range of the Giaour Dagh, 

 known to the ancients as Amanus. The whole of the 

 eastern plain is broken by low hills, the Jebel Nur and 

 the foothills which run up to Taurus and the Giaour 

 Dagh, and is in parts marshy. Both parts can boast of 

 ancient cities and ruins which speak of an early civil- 

 isation, such as Tarsus in the western and Anazarba in 

 the eastern plain ; but the Anazarba of to-day retains 



