Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/350

 334 HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. high plains themselves are allied to those of Cabalia, of Cibyra- tides, and of Southern Pisidia, which they continue with hardly any change of level, whilst on the Mediterranean side they are reached by long steep ascents and passes closed during the winter months. Lycia, on the contrary, is well timbered throughout, so that it offers little opportunity for the raising of corn. The lower slopes are covered with green patches of maple and fine oaks (Quercus cegilops and towards the bottom of the valley torrents disappear FlG. 245. Plateau of Elmalu. After the Nouvelle Geographic of Elisee Reclus. under, the wide-spreading branches of planes which form a perfect arcade over them, and, as you follow the trend of the coast, high up in the flank of precipitous cliffs, out of every fissure in the rock are pines, which look as if suspended in mid air. Farther inland they appear in great clustering groups. And higher up still, in the vicinity of snow are met trees of a different kind, such as delight in cold dark zones of firs and the yet gloomier cedar. Thus it will be seen that forests, which in many other parts of Asia have been utterly destroyed, here have battled with success against the neglect and waste of centuries. One of the distinguishing features of Lycia, is the marked con-