112 



ASIA MINOR. 



the incidents of the Iliad, by reducing the distance between the 

 citadel of Troy and the naval camp of the Greeks. 



The master of the Tchiflick where we purposed to lodge, was so 

 unhospitable and churlish in his manners that we left his house, and 

 took up our abode in the cottage of an acquaintance of our guides. 

 Here in the evening we were entertained with a rustic concert and 

 dancing ; one of the performers played on a kind of small violin, 

 not held to the shoulders, but supported on the knee. Another of 

 the company played on a small guitar or lute, the body of which was 

 simply the shell of a land-tortoise, an animal very common on the 

 neighbouring hills. Having mentioned the use of the Testudo, we 

 may here state two other circumstances, which in this part of our 

 tour reminded us of more ancient times. The car or little waggon 

 in use on the Troad has its wheels formed of solid blocks ; and bears 

 in its general appearance a striking resemblance to the chariots of 

 Homer's heroes, as they are represented on ancient bas-reliefs, 

 engraved gems, and Greek or Etruscan vases. The construction of 

 the Turkish ships which are employed in the trade of the Black-sea, 

 and parts of the Archipelago, also preserve some ancient peculiarities. 

 The curved shape of the vessel from the poop to the prow, the lofty 

 towering station of the pilot, the black and dusky sides of the vessel, 

 the red-painted holes through which the hawsers or cables pass, 

 the daubing and greasing the bottom and keel with tallow, are con- 

 tinued from remote times. The epithets v.oiXy, ^s?,ocivcy, Kopw)g, y\a<pvpvi y 

 fu\T07rct$y)oq are as applicable to a Turkish Beyadeb. as they could have 

 been to a Greek galley. 



The Scamandrian plain in its extreme length from Yenicher to 

 Atche Keui appears to be about ten miles ; its mean breadth about 

 five miles. It is cultivated, and said to be fertile in its whole extent, 

 except in the neighbourhood of En Tepe, (Rhceteum,) where the 

 ground is boggy, making about a fifth of the whole plain. The 

 produce is from seven to ten of the seed-corn. The property here 

 is vested in Hadim Oglou of the Dardanelles ; the Sultan's tribute 

 from the cultivator or tenant is farmed, and collected so oppressively 



