Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/284

234 mountain brook runs even in the heat of smnmer. Here may be seen, in the same landscape, the orange-tree and palm-tree above the village, and higher up the mountains the stone-pine. There is a small castle of the Knights here, with the arms of Bmeri d'Amboise, quarterly with those of the Order.

The mountain Agios Elias is 2,620 feet in height according to the chart. On its north-east side is a little chapel, dedicated to the saint, containing no ancient remains, but commanding a picturesque view, with Syme in the distance. The ground at the base of the mountain on this side is furrowed and channelled in every direction by water-courses and landshps.

I was suprised to find this lonely chapel full of mural paintings; and on inquiring by whom they were executed, was told by one John of Syme. At the present day jioor architects and painters educated in Greek monasteries pass from island to island for the purpose of constructing or beautifying the churches. Such itinerant artists remind one of the Freemasons of Europe in the Middle Ages.

Half an hour from Salakko, on the road to Embona, is a place called Kappi, where the cultivated arable land terminates at the foot of Mount Elias. Here is a sarcophagus hewn out of the native rock, 8 feet by 4 feet 6 inches, the sides 1 foot 3 inches, the ends 7 inches in thickness. At the two ends the sarcophagus stands on steps cut out of the native rock. It has been broken open at the ends.

At a distance of an hour and a half from Salakko, on the same road, is a place called Specs. Here is a fountain with some large square blocks, evidently