CHANGES OF LEVEL. 



189 



beach remains the same, and the incautious 

 boatman, unaware of his danger, may destroy his 

 craft, by running it up against these deceptive 

 shingles. 



In places, great accumulations of sand are 

 changing the character of the line of coast. 

 Thus the port of the ancient city of Patara has 

 been closed up, and totally destroyed by sand, 

 and most of the ruins of the city, with part of 

 the neighbouring pine-forest, completely buried. 



These changes are probably connected with 

 the changes of level which are continually going 

 on along this coast. Sir Charles Fellows has 

 noticed the indications of oscillations of level, 

 exhibited by a large sarcophagus which stands in 

 the water in the bay of Macri, the site of the 

 ancient city of Termessus. This sarcophagus, 

 which must have originally been erected on 

 dry land, is bored by marine animals to a third 

 of its height, indicating that the ground on 

 which it stands has been depressed below water, 

 considerably more than it is at present, and that 

 it is now probably in progress of rising. 



Many such instances are seen among the 

 ruined cities by the shore. Caunus, which was 

 a seaport town in the time of Strabo, is now 



