TO THE PLAIN OF TROY-® 
43 
and which is situated on the eastern side of the embouchure of 
the Mender , the eye of the spectator is attracted by an object 
predominating over every other, from the singularity of its 
form, as well as the peculiarity of its situation, so admirably 
contrived to overlook that station, and ail the low coast 
near the mouth of the river. It is a conical mound, ri¬ 
sing upon a line of elevated territory, which appears behind 
the bay and the mouth of the river. It has therefore been 
pointed out as the tomb ofYEsyetes, and is now called IJdjek 
Tape. If I had never heard or read a single syllable con¬ 
cerning the war of Troy, or the works of Homer, it would 
have been impossible not to notice the remarkable appearance 
presented by this tumulus; so peculiarly placed as a post of 
observation, commanding all approach to the harbour and the 
river.* I afterward observed, that it afforded a survey of all 
the Trojan plain ; and that, from whatsoever spot it was re¬ 
garded, this cone, as a beacon, was the most conspicuous object 
in the view. 
After these few observations, concluding this short chapter, 
the reader is, perhaps, better prepared for the inquiry which 
may now be introduced. Notwithstanding the numerous re* 
marks which have appeared upon the subject, it is my wish to 
assure him, that our local knowledge of the country is still ve¬ 
ry imperfect; that the survey carried on by travellers lias al¬ 
ways, unfortunately, been confined to the western side of the 
river; that my researches will add but little to his stock of 
information; but that, while much remains to be done, it is 
“ The difficulty of disposing exactly the Grecian camp is very great. This is 
owing to the changes on the coast, and the accretion of soil mentioned by Strabo, 
which, however, the stream of the Hellespont will prevent being augmented. If, as 
Herodotus asserts, the country about Troy was once a bay of the sea, (lib. ii. c. 10.) 
the difficulties of determining the precise extent and form of coast are considerable. 
In examining the country at the embouchure of the Meander, where the soil has in¬ 
creased to the distance of six miles since the days of Strabo, I was struck with the 
difficulty of determining the direction of the coast, as it was to be seen in the days of 
Darius, and Alexander ; in the time of Strabo, and Pliny; and the Emperor Manuel, 
who encamped there in 866. Yet this difficulty does not lead me to doubt the events, 
that took place there and at Miletus, anymore than I should doubt the encampment 
of theGreeks at Troy, because I could not arrange it in agreement with the present 
face of the coast. 
“ The situation of the Grecian camp by a mars^t, has been objected to. But what 
is the fact? Homer says, the illness and disease, which destroyed the Greeks, were 
inflicted by Apollo (the Sun). They were, without doubt, the same with the putrid 
exhalations which now arise from marshes on each side of the river; and which bring, 
with them fevers to the present inhabitants of the coast, when the N. N. E. wind 
blows in summer, and the South in the beginning of autumn. 
“ It is to be regretted, that the Empresi Eudocia is so concise in what she says a- 
bout Troy, and the plain which she visited in the eleventh century. She says, “ the 
foundation stones of the city are not left;” but, as she adds in an expression from the 
Gospels, b tcopaxura fjuii,apTupriJ«v, she was able probably to give some particular 
which would have been now interesting. S.ee FiHoison Jnec. Gv<tc. tom, i.” 
Walpole's MS, Journal, 
