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SITE OF AMELAS. 



Christian habitations, for the Greeks neither 

 encourage nor permit them to build so near. 

 The same birds, both among the storks and swal- 

 lows, are said to return each year to the old 

 nests, so that an annual fight takes place be- 

 tween the young of the past year and the parent 

 birds for its possession. The noise they make 

 during these combats, is by no means agreeable 

 or conducive to sleep, as we found by expe- 

 rience in the village of Eski Hissar, where the 

 walls of our dwelling-house were studded with 

 the nests of swallows. 



A few tombs, sarcophagi excavated in the 

 rocks, and some fragments of walls are all the 

 remains of antiquity at Eski Hissar ; though 

 the modern name denotes an ancient site. The 

 number of surrounding villages, and the prox- 

 imity of the large modern town of Almalee, 

 might, however, account for the disappearance 

 of a large amount of building materials. At the 

 last-mentioned place no ancient ruins were seen 

 either by Sir Charles Fellows, Mr. Hoskyn, 

 or by ourselves ; and the construction and site 

 of the town are evidently Turkish. Being so 

 near Eski Hissar, we are inclined to think that 

 it has derived its name and origin from the 



