Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/110

 94 A History of Art in Sardinia and Judtea. during the three or four hottest months, life is a burden away from the sea breezes, when the inhabitants betake themselves to their ** yailas," or alpine chalets on the slopes of the lower hills, amidst verdant forests and pastures. Totally and utterly different is the natural condition of the central plateau. Though on a lower level than the uplands of Erzeroum and the snow-capped mountains of Armenia, it is of sufficient altitude to be subjected to the extreme of cold, helped, doubtless, by its utter denudation ; w^hilst any moisture that might accrue from the seas by which it is begirt, is arrested on the lower hills, and not a drop of rain falls on the plateau for months together. On the other hand, as soon as the sun has melted the last snow, the lacustrine region is transformed into vast morasses, over which spreads a white saline efflorescence. Rivers are reduced to mere threads of water, trickling in the middle of their wide stony beds, and the drought, which obtains from May to October, turns the table-land into a hard, barren, dusty waste, which, with the latitude of Sicily, has the climate of central Europe. The north winds in their passage over the crest of the Olympian range become icy cold, and resolve themselves into snow. This they take up, whirl and toss about, and finally cast in the depres- sions and clefts of the mountain side. The population of many districts of Lycaonia and Cappadocia, in order to escape the rigour of almost Siberian winters, and prevent their tenements being swept away by the violence of these northern gales, scoop out or dig caves in the hillside ; the roof alone is structural, con- sisting of wooden rafters, over which are placed layers of earth beaten down. In process of time this is undistinguishable from the surrounding turf ; hence many villages might be passed unperceived, but for the curling smoke issuing from them. It was in this way, on one occasion, whilst looking out for a night's shelter, I suddenly felt my horse giving way under me. To my utter amazement, I found myself in the middle of a village, surrounded by the startled population ; and what I had taken for terraces were, in fact, the roofs of houses, one of which had subsided under my horse's weight.^ If we appeal to reminiscences left by our visit to the country under notice, it is better to bring out the fact that Asia Minor consisted of two distinct parts — the masses of table-land w^hich ^ G. Perrot, Souvenirs d^un Voyage en Asie Mineure, pp. i6o, 176, 380.