130 iUBTERRANEOUS WOKDERS J 
of water. At this flame, he observed, tlie sheP 
tity 
were in the liabit of cooking their food. 
This phenomenon appears to Captain Beaufort ^ jij 
existed for many ages, and he is persuaded that / 
spot to which Pliny alludes in the following pass^’a^jjiiS 
“Mount Chlraasra, near Phaselis, emits- an unc<t^-. 
flame, which burns day and night." Within a 
tance is the great mountain of Takhtalu, the naked m 
of which rises, iu an insulated peak, 7800 feet abo' jf 
level of the sea. In the month of August a few strc '• ^ 
snow were still discernible on the peak j but many ° fjt 
distant mountains of the interior were completely 
nearly a fourth down their sides. It may hence be 
that the elevation of this part of Mount Taurus i.s 
than 10,000 feet, which is equal to that of Mount j|i! 
Such a striking feature as this stupendous mountaif’^j(i' 
country inhabited by an illiterate and credulous peopl®|j 
not fail to have been the subject of numerous tale.s ^ 
ditions.' Accordingly, the Captain was informed ' 
— - iP ' X i 
peasants, that there is a perpetual flow of the puresi 
from the very apex ; and that, notwithstanding 
- . .. ^ .hetfi 
which was still lingering in the chasms, roses blew '• j.|{pr 
the year round. He was assured by the Agha of P® 
that every autumn a midnight groan is heard to 
the summit of the mountain, louder than the repoi^ 
cannon, but unaccompanied by fire or smoke._ 
fessed his ignorance of the cause ; but on being P . 
f' 1 • _ _ • . • 1.. i: _ j ii. „i 1. _ „it if 
for his opinion, gravely replied, that he believed it 
annual summons to the elect, to make the best ot 
way to Paradise. However amusing this theory 
been, it may possibly be true tliat such explosiot’^Y cf' 

place. The mountain artillery described by Captain* 
and Clarke, m their travels in North America, and 
phenomena which are said to have occurred 'd 
America, seem to lend some probability to the 
The natives have also a tradition, that, wlien 
from Egypt, he took up his abode near this 
which was therefore named Moossa-Daghy, or ths ^ 
tain of Moses. Between this stoiy, and the 
has been described above, may there not have 
i.ldS UCtll UCSl-i 1 L/V'J- iXAUJf lllCiO 1U7L 
fanciful connection ? The site of this volcanic dp^jj v 
at an inconsiderable distance from the mountain ; 
