74 DI CESNOLAS DISCOVERIES AT CURIUM. 



passage, and required several daj^s before it could be explored. In this 

 room every object found is of bronze, copper, and iron, and forms by itself 

 a very interesting and valuable collection. There are many candelabra, 

 some seven feet high, others less than a foot ; lamps, mirrors, tiups, bowls, 

 vases, etc., etc. ; bull's heads, birds, statuettes, etc. 



" When I finished the thorough exploration of these four rooms I had the 

 earth replaced inside, the ground above leveled as before (these being the 

 conditions imposed upon me by the owners of the ground and by the im- 

 perial firman), and then I prepared to return to Larnaca with all my 

 treasures. 



" During the month in which my diggers were employed in removing the 

 earth from the four rooms, I continued to explore superficially the ruins of 

 Curium.. 



" North of this mosaic pavement, some fifteen minutes' walk, and outside 

 the city walls, there are the ruins of a hippodrome, the walls of which are 

 yet standing ; at some places the height is yet twenty-two feet, while at others 

 is scarcely six feet. The following diagram shows the form of the hippo- 

 drome (except that the closed end is rounded) : 



A A 



A, B, Sides of the hippodrome. C, End of the liippodrome. D, Axis of the figure. E, Gateways. F, 

 Starting place of the horses and chariots. 



" The entrance was facing the city ; there are no more traces of the stalls 

 for the chariots, and probably never existed, as I did not find any founda- 

 tions there. No architectural remains or fragments of statues were discov- 

 ered among the debris, which now fill the area inside. 



" The whole length of the hippodrome is 1,296 English feet, measuring 

 eighty-four feet in width. The three gateways measure alike eight feet in 

 width. Compared to that of Olympia, this hippodrome was insignificant, 

 its size being scarcely one-fourth of the former. 



" Beyond the hipjoodrome, in a northwestern direction, at twenty min- 

 utes' distance, are the ruins of the temple of ' Apollo Hylates,' which I ex- 

 plored last year, and mentioned in my report. Near these ruins there is a 

 promontory from which, Strabro says, the ancient priests used to throw into 

 the sea those who touched the altar of Apollo with their hands. I visited 

 it, and I am convinced that the victim was instantaneously killed. 



" The entire collection consists of the following objects : 



Pieces. 



■Silarble sarcophagus, with colossal head 1 



Stone sarcophagus, full of sculptures 1 



