ROCK MONUMENTS. 



285 



May 16th. — Before leaving Eski Hissar, we 

 were induced to ascend the mountain east of it, 

 to examine a cave reported to contain sculpture 

 and inscriptions. After ascending for an hour we 

 reached the base of a cliff, in the side of which, 

 about sixty feet above, was the cave. It proved 

 to be only a few feet square ; and the walls were 

 painted with figures of the saints still in good 

 preservation. Here had evidently been the re- 

 treat of some early Christian anchorite, whence, 

 whilst himself secluded among savage and 

 almost inaccessible rocks, he overlooked with 

 scorn or pity the busy villages and fertile valleys 

 which lay spread out far below his airy ha- 

 bitation. 



