Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/248

198 destitute of cultivation, with very few villages. On our right we saw Mount Atabyron, which on this side appears a bleak and naked mass, treeless, except at its base. On our left was Mesanagros.$87$ Near Apolakkia, at the distance of a quarter of an hour from the village, are the remains of a church called Agia Irene, which had just been dug up. Among the ruins were several columns and slabs of white marble, which appeared to be Byzantine of the 11th or 12th century. On one of the slabs I found a long inscription very legible. It contains a decree of the people of Netteia, which doubtless must have been a city in Rhodes, though I can find no trace of it elsewhere. The inscription also mentions a religious society called Euthahdæ, and several other curious particulars. I tried to buy this marble, and had completed the purchase with the , or primate; but alas! I was thwarted by the priest of the village, who forbade the bargain; so I went away sorrowing, and on my return to Rhodes, addressed myself to the Archbishop, who promises to get me the stone in consideration of a small sum to be paid as a present to the church.

There is a castle at Apolakkia very roughly built, in the walls of which is an escutcheon of the Knights of Rhodes; but the masonry appears rather Turkish than Christian. Tobacco, cotton, and corn are grown here. From this place we went along the shore northward, through a barren country to Monolithos, distant two hours. About halfway we passed a vast landslip stretching down to the shore: from this spot to Monolithos we remarked many