ASIA MINOR. 



119 



The Imaum of the mosque and the old men of the village came to 

 smoke their pipes and converse round our fire in the evening, and on 

 our offering them some of our coffee, they became sociable and com- 

 municative. The most intelligent of our visitors was a Turk, who in 

 his youth had been a mariner, and who had visited the shores of the 

 Black Sea and of Egypt ; he had now retired to his native village, 

 where he supported himself by the manufactory of pitch and turpen- 

 tine, which are made in the extensive fir groves of Ida during a great 

 part of the year ; and in the winter he gained a livelihood by shooting 

 the game and wild beasts of the forests of Gargarus, Qripluv. He 

 expatiated on the wonders of Mount Kaz-Dag, telling us of its deep 

 caverns and grottos, its streams, fountains, and cascades, and the ex- 

 tent of the prospect from the summit. 



On informing him that the object of our journey was to reach the 

 top of the mountain, he expressed his doubts of our being able to en- 

 dure the cold and fatigue of such an undertaking at this season of the 

 year ; but finding we were resolved to make the attempt, he offered 

 to be our guide. Accordingly at a quarter before seven o'clock the 

 next morning we set out. The river Mendere had now decreased 

 to about four yards in breadth ; its course, however, was very strong 

 and rapid among loose blocks of granite. Crossing its bed, we came 

 to a ruined building, which my companion took some pains to measure. 

 It appeared to me to have been originally a church of the later Greeks. 

 It was about fifteen paces in length, and eight in breadth ; the walls 

 about four feet thick, of very rough stone and mortar ; but there were 

 no remains of columns or sculpture. Our guide called this and some 

 other ruins we came to afterwards, Klishia, an evident corruption of 

 hfc*>wmi probably this has been the resort of Greek Caloyers or her- 

 mits at some former period. 



We now began to climb the hills at the base of Kaz-Dag, and soon 

 reached the region of pines. In the course of our ascent we traversed 

 very extensive forests of lofty fir-trees, which seem to be used solely for 

 making pitch ; and we saw a number of rudely constructed furnaces 

 for boiling and thickening the turpentine. Many of these wide 



