RUINS OF ANNI. 
175 
the houses along these narrow, but widely scattered lines, were 
divided into a variety of small apartments, which are easily traced 
in the divisions of the roofless walls. As I passed by them, 
and over the almost formless masses of yet more extensive ruins, 
I could not but think of the interesting stores of antiquity, 
which might be lying hid beneath those mighty fragments of 
columns, walls, and heaps of stones. Even a few days’ gathering 
on the surface, would furnish a traveller, (could it be attempted 
with any degree of security,) with very fine specimens of the 
most beautiful ornaments of architecture. The military power 
of the city, as far as fortifications could render it formidable, 
must have been very great; for the ravine which I mentioned 
before, as one means of defence, was additionally strengthened 
with walls, and towers of different heights. The remains of a 
noble stone bridge are yet visible over the river which flows at 
the bottom of the ravine. When the sun had quite sunk behind 
the mountains, it was no time to linger longer in such a place ; 
and, with infinite regret, I obeyed the summons of my guides, 
and took a last look of the majestic relics of Anni, lying, a vast 
solitude, on the grey and wintry plain ; for no living creature 
appeared, even as a single looker-out, from the murderous bands 
reported to infest the city. 
The monastery, which was to be our night’s lodging, stood five 
miles to the eastward; and, to that point, now a bitterly blowing 
one, we turned our faces. As we rode along, I observed low 
foundations of old walls, and other buildings, stretching to a con¬ 
siderable distance from the immediate neighbourhood of the 
city. At one part, two small churches were yet standing, of 
the same character with those in Anni; and on another spot, I 
observed a couple of prodigious-sized pedestals, supporting 
