335 
country, and whom I thought so in a certain de- 
gree. 
The next day, Friday, 25th April, I went to visit 
Ieroschipos Aphroditis, or the sacred garden of Venus. 
It is a plain upon the sea coast, which may be about 
two miles long, and slopes gradually towards the sea 
shore. The upper part is surrounded by a perpendicu- 
lar height of horizontal layers of calcareous rock, which 
forms the prevailing feature of the country, and gives 
the appearance of a cavern to the garden; for on what- 
ever side you enter, you must descend a ravine; and 
when the wind blows strongly (which it did when I 
was there) upon the high land, it is perfectly serene in 
the garden. At different parts in the rock several 
streams of pure and limpid water gush out, and it may 
be perceived that there were many others formerly in 
various places. As the water comes from above, it may 
have been easily distributed in different parts of the gar- 
den on account of its descent. The rocky heights form 
several windings, which diversify the picture, and faci- 
litate the division of the garden into several compart- 
ments, in which there are several grottoes or habitations, 
hewn out of the rock. 
The principal descent appears to me to have been a 
sort of staircase also hewn; it exists at the side of the 
present village, the vault of which is fallen in, and 
leaves the passage incumbered with ruins, which con- 
firm me in my opinion that the garden was entered by 
a grotto, similar to that I have mentioned. Perhaps the 
candidate was detained here to undergo his probation, 
or to participate in the mysteries of initiation; in this 
case, when he was restored to light in the garden, he 
