118 



ASIA MINOR. 



ings we had been following so many days. About five or six miles 

 from Bairamitche we crossed the river, which our guides still occasion- 

 ally called the Scamander ; it was here about fifty or sixty paces wide. 

 We saw some ruins of ancient buildings, and passed two small vil- 

 lages, both of which our guides called Ghiour Keui. Here the 

 stream began to decrease rapidly in breadth, and when we forded it 

 again, we found it not more than twenty-five paces broad. The val- 

 ley here was so green, the shade so refreshing, the water dashing 

 among masses of granite, so clear that we were induced to alight. 

 The beauty of the scenery around us was very striking ; the lofty and 

 well wooded hills on each side prevented any glare of light, so that the 

 outline of each object was defined with clearness. The forests, vine- 

 yards, pastures, cottages, and flocks, were blended into the most 

 beautiful harmony of colouring ; while the towering Mount Gargarus 

 closed in the valley, and showed in the distant horizon its snowy top, re- 

 flecting a burnished light, with groves of dark pine-trees on its sides. 



At a quaiter past four in the afternoon, we reached Evjilah, or the 

 village of hunters ; it lies at the foot of Kaz-Dag. Here our recep- 

 tion was most rude and inhospitable ; neither Aga nor peasant seemed 

 disposed to receive us within their doors ; and the only place of 

 accommodation they offered to us was a ruined and uninhabited cot- 

 tage of mud. On showing our firman and bouyurdee, and hinting that 

 on our return to those who granted them, we should give an account 

 of the treatment we had experienced, the Aga condescended to exert 

 his authority, and ordered lodging to be prepared for us in the cottage 

 of a peasant. In addition to some coarse cakes we were only able to 

 procure a hare, which had been brought in from the forests of Ida by 

 one of the villagers who had been hunting there. A large fire was 

 made for us, as the weather was piercingly cold ; and long pieces of 

 pine-tree, saturated with turpentine, were lighted instead of lamps or 

 candles. The inhabitants, though Turks, called these torches Aad'ia, 

 a word* slightly corrupted from the ancient term. 



* A«8«5, ligna arboris pini vel piceae. D'Orville, Cbarit. ii. 489. 



