Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/223

Rh for miles over the whole district between St. Stephen's hill and the eastern shore. Many of these tombs may be seen half-buried in the sand along the shore, between the suburb of St. John and the bed of a winter torrent which anciently flowed through an ample rock-cut channel to the sea. On the left side of this duct many Greek names have been cut on the scarped face of the rock. A bridge, the lower part of which is built of massive regular courses, and which appears to be Hellenic, crosses this stream, and doubtless marks the line of the ancient road leading to the city, with tombs on each side of it. A little further to the south is Symbulli, a most picturesque spot, with a fine fountain overshadowed by plane-trees. The grateful and refreshing shade of this spot, and the excellent quality of its water, make it a favourite place of resort for the Rhodiotes on their joum de fete, and it was probably not less frequented in antiquity. Near the basin into which the fountain flows, Ross noticed a fragment of an altar of white marble, nearly $1 1⁄2$ foot in diameter, on which has been a frieze of dancing figures, now nearly effaced. Symbulli is situated on the right bank of a ravine, at the point where it is crossed by an aqueduct, which was probably built by the Knights. The plane-trees are overlooked by a rocky ridge running from S.W. to N.E., which on both sides and at its north extremity is cut into steps.

Near Symbulli are a number of rock-cut tombs, one of which is locally known by the name. Tomb of the Ptolemies, for no other reason than that a coin