168 ACALISSUS. 



warded by the word Acalissus, certainly the 

 name of the town. The sarcophagi here appear 

 to be of later date : the usual ornament upon 

 them is a round shield. In a cliff to the north 

 of the ruins of Acalissus are four or five plain 

 rock-tombs without inscriptions or architectural 

 ornaments. 



April 4th. — Assured of the existence of other 

 ruins, about an hour's journey beyond those we 

 visited yesterday, we proceeded to examine them, 

 guided by the Agha's son. Beyond Ghiourastan- 

 lik, we turned towards the high mountain-range 

 of Bey Dagh ; and, passing the Agha's summer 

 konak, no bad lodging for a future traveller, 

 we reached the foot of the mountains, which are 

 here extremely precipitous, and rise up from 

 the valley like great walls of rock. On a na- 

 tural terrace, projecting from the mountain-side, 

 and overgrown with trees, we found the ruined 

 city we had come to seek. A grander site 

 could scarcely have been selected. It is built 

 against a gigantic and unscaleable precipice, in 

 the clefts of which the snow lay glittering, and 

 alpine plants flowered within a few hundred 

 feet of its walls. In front, towards the distant 

 sea, lay a vast succession of forests spreading over 



