56 RUINS. 



and retired to rest in full expectation of finding 

 temples, theatres, and a vast extent of walls in 

 the morning. 



March bill. — Under the guidance of one of 

 the villagers, we started on foot at an early hour 

 delightfully anticipating the pleasure of a dis- 

 covery. We ascended by a road winding up the 

 steep face of the mountain which rises above the 

 village. We were accompanied by several parties 

 of Turks, who were going to the Yailah to pre- 

 pare the ground for cultivating the summer crops. 

 In one hour we had reached the top of the ridge, 

 when we came in sight of the ruins, distant about 

 half a mile further to the eastward. At the first 

 glance our hopes and expectations of their im- 

 portance vanished, for we could see nothing but 

 a middle-age fortress encircling the hill before 

 us. On the rocky flat between the edge of the 

 ridge and the fortress, we passed two small 

 Christian churches in ruins, which must have 

 been deserted at the same period as the walled 

 town on the kill. In the fortress, we found only 

 the remains of two or three middle -age buildings 

 of the same date and material as the walls sur- 

 rounding them, which were built of small stones 

 with mortar. Not a fragment of any Greek 



