Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/86

 ;o HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. vast tracts which as yet have yielded no monuments of ancient date, on to the uplands where the various races which first peopled Asia Minor maintained their customs, traditions, and cults against the encroaching genius of Hellas. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PHRYGIA PROPER. It is doubtful whether Asia Minor, rich throughout in beautiful sites and grand scenery, can offer a corner which in picturesque- ness will compare with that which may be seen on the western side of the Sangarius, in the neighbourhood of Pessinus, where Strabo informs us (XII. v. 3) that in his day the inhabitants still preserved the memory of their kings. The region in which the relics connected with these old chiefs are found lies about two days' journey to the south-east of Koutahia, a place generally chosen as the starting-point of their journey by travellers. Leaving the town, the way leads across a white dusty plain, but sundown brings you to the low hills, with clustering pines, in advance of the mountains. Here a valley is entered, and a gentle though continuous ascent brings you to the village of Kumbet, the second station after Koutahia, situated 150 m. above the latter. 1 The tedium of the journey is tempered by the beauty of the landscape, which improves with every hour ; the country is finely undulated, the hill-tops well timbered, and pines, the great tree of this district, are so artistically grouped along the slopes where, despite a general dearth of water, great herds find an abundance of grass down to June as to suggest English scenery. The luruk tribe, amidst which we found nightly shelter, owned no fewer than a thousand heads of horned cattle. In summer these semi-nomadic shepherds camp out in egg-shaped tents made of felt, or in shanties built of unsquared timber. The framing is put together without clamps or pins ; the beams for the walls are laid side by side as close as possible, and made to project and overlap each other at the four corners. To keep them in place the under beams are mortised to about half their thickness. The roof consists likewise of a rude frame of unsquared beams, horizontally placed at some distance from each 1 M. E. Guillaume, who was my travelling companion on the occasion, gives the following barometric measurement : Koutahia, 920 m. above sea level ; Kumbet, 1060 m.