ANCIENT TOWER. 141 



five or six black tents scattered over a few cul- 

 tivated patches near a lofty tower rising above 

 the thicket of underwood that clothes the side 

 of the mountain. As it promised to be a ruin 

 of some interest, we halted to visit it, but al- 

 though not five hundred yards distant, we were 

 nearly twenty minntes in reaching it, having to 

 force our way through the entwined limbs and 

 branches of arbutus, and other shrubs, covering 

 the ground. The tower is nearly square, and ex- 

 ceedingly well constructed with rectangular blocks 

 of limestone. It contained three stories : in 

 the front of the uppermost are a doorway and 

 window, still perfect ; but in the lower, there are 

 only narrow apertures for the admission of light. 

 Near the tower we saw a single sarcophagus. 

 We could find no inscription to give any infor- 

 mation of its name or history ; but our time 

 did not permit of our examining many yards be- 

 yond the walls. At about a mile beyond 

 the tower, the road begins to ascend through 

 a steep ravine or watercourse ; its bed is 

 filled with loose fragments of limestone that 

 give way at every step. To save the horses from 

 falling, we were frequently obliged to push them 

 from behind or support them by putting our 



