VIII. 
304 RUINS OF TELMESSUS. 
CHAP. It is as difficult to determine how they were 
there placed, as it would be to devise means^ 
for taking them down ; of such magnitude are 
the single stones composing each Soros. Nearer 
to the shore, and in less elevated situations, 
appear other tombs, of the like nature, and of 
still larger size, which are formed of more than 
one stone ; and almost all of them, of whatso- 
ever magnitude or form, exhibit inscriptions. 
The largest of those near to the shore, situate 
in a valley between the mountains and the sea, 
is composed of five immense masses of stone ; 
four being used for the sides, and one for the 
lid or cover'. A small opening, shaped like a 
door, in the side facing the harbour, is barely 
large enough to allow a passage for the human 
body. Examining its interior by means of the 
aperture here afforded, we perceived another 
small square opening in the floor of this vast 
Soros, which seemed to communicate with an 
inferior vault. Such cavities might be observed 
in all the sepulchres of Telmessus, excepting 
those cut in the rocks ; as if the bodies of the 
dead had been placed in the lower receptacle. 
(1) The length oi ihz operculum (and of course of the 5ojw which 
it exactly covers) is ten feet ; its width, eight feet five inches ; and its 
thickness, two feet six inches. 
