Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/118

90 Next morning we got up very early, and started in a large party to ascend Mount Olympus, which is the highest point in the island, and according to the Admiralty chart, is 3,080 feet above the level of the sea. We were escorted by the Aga, the primates, our host, and a whole heap of attendants on foot. One man carried the Aga's umbrella to keep the sun off, another his gun, another his pipe; and the whole procession, as it wound up the steep mountain-path, reminded me of an Assyrian frieze, with a king or satrap, and all his followers in single file.

The scenery in ascending this mountain is most beautiful. We passed through endless glades of chestnuts and walnuts, the vegetation becoming gradually more scanty as we approached the summit, which is a sharp ridge of white marble. The ascent from Ayasso occupied about an hour and a half. The view from the top of Mount Olympus is very fine; half of the island, stretched out like a map at our feet, Scio and other islands in the distance, and a magnificent line of headlands and bays marking the opposite coast of Asia Minor. On a very clear day Athos can be seen from this mountain.

On our way down we stopped to breakfast in a charming sort of kiosk. It was the first time that I had ever seen a regular Oriental banquet. The lamb roasted whole by a fire in the open air, the vast plane-tree under which we reclined, with grapes hanging from every branch, the layer of aromatic herbs which formed the table-cloth under the lamb, were all refreshing novelties to senses blunted by civilization. We had knives and