34 RUINS OF SIDE. 



to Sid£, but saw its huge theatre towering above 

 the flat promontory at least six miles off, and I 

 had to ride along a burning beach exposed to the 

 sun. When I arrived I was so knocked up that, 

 on reaching the theatre itself, before I attempted 

 to make my way through the interminable bushes 

 which almost prevented one entering it, I lay 

 down in a shady place and slept for two hours, 

 till the muleteer woke me. I then made the 

 attempt, and certainly do confess I think Beau- 

 fort on this point has extolled it too much. He 

 confesses, I think, that he did not see Myra, 

 but he saw Patara, which is infinitely more 

 perfect than this. If Fellows, however, is more 

 right in his appreciation of the theatre, he is 

 completely out respecting the walls of the 

 town. There are plenty of magnificent walls, 

 of admirable ancient structure, surrounding the 

 inland part of the town. In short, Beaufort's 

 description of this part of the coast seems 

 to me to* be very correct. I was so anxious 

 to get back, from some sort of presentiment, 

 that I could not even sleep there (at Sid6). 

 I hurried from the ruins to the well, a little to 

 the west of them, and, perhaps rashly, went into 

 the sea when my dinner was dressing. I ordered 



