Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/360

 344 HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. were solely guided by the whim of the moment or chance meetings. 1 Whatever path we take, then, we shall reach the same result ; the Lycians of the classic age were the remnant of a people that figured in that primitive Asia Minor which, from the Amanus to the ^Egean, was under the ascendency of the Hittites, of their arms and culture. It is possible that many of their tribes were swept away, amidst the stir of populations and the bloody strifes con- sequent upon it ; but some, we cannot say when, found shelter in the narrow strip of land that goes by their name, amidst the depths of lofty mountains where they could be easily isolated, and where they peacefully dwelt for centuries ; whilst it is not unlikely that in the present occupiers of the soil we have their descendants. Most travellers who have visited the country think they recognize the sons of the ancient owners of the soil in the inhabitants of the upper valleys of Lycia, and that they are Turks only in name. 2 They base their opinion upon the nobility of types of the popula- tion, their dress, and the persistency of certain usages which bear the stamp of remote antiquity. They were converted to Islamism towards the end of the Middle Ages, so as to retain possession of their homesteads, precisely as many Greeks have done, whether in Pontus, Crete, Bosnia, or Albania. But none the less, the blood that flows in their veins, according to these same authorities, is not different from that which pulsated in those of the companions of Glaucus and Sarpedon. Invaders, as a rule, show no great predilection to establish themselves among the hills ; for, besides being already occupied, they have very few attractions to new- comers, who would not feel safe among them, and would, more- over, find life exceedingly hard. Hence it is that the popula- tions of mountain regions neither change nor are renewed with the same facility as on the tableland and the plains. When the first Lycian tribes crossed Taurus, following the beds of the torrents that descend from its heights on their way south- ward, it was on the banks of the Xanthus that they settled. For 1 CURTIUS, Hisl. Grcec,, torn. i. p. 96, n. r. 2 This is the view of Dr. von Luschan, Benndorfs companion during a journey to Lycia, a succinct exposition of which will be found in a paper under the heading, " Anthropologische Studien," in Reisen, torn. ii. chap. iii. In it are found curious details respecting the very peculiar manners of the Taktadshi group, " plank- makers ; " a people whose sole avocation, as their name implies, consists in the preparation of timber.