174 RUINS. 



incredulity passed between them on being told 

 that we had found none, and that money was 

 not an object of our search. As the evening 

 waxed late, and some five or six pipes had been 

 smoked, our host dropped a few hints that he 

 knew of ruins on the mountain above us. After 

 some persuasion he was prevailed upon to be 

 my guide to them on the following day, but 

 only on condition that half the money I found 

 was to be his. This I readily agreed to ; and 

 the poor fellow started on his journey the next 

 morning with every hope of returning a richer 

 man than when he left. 



" April 6th. — The modern name of our new 

 ruins is Sorahajik. We were two hours in reach- 

 ing them. They are situated on the summit of 

 a high ridge, a skirt of the mountain that ex- 

 tends from one of the peaks of Solymi, called 

 Baraket Dagh, dividing the Nioni valley of the 

 Allagheer Tchy from a lesser one which joins 

 it on the east. The ruins overlook this branch, 

 and face the range of Mount Taktalu over Pha- 

 selis. But there is a wide gap or pass lying 

 between the snowy summits of the latter and 

 the still higher and bolder summits of Baraket 

 Dagh. This gap is called Kosarasee, over which, 



