Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/398

344 of mediæval architecture; but here and there are the remains of Cyclopean walls. The square tower on the north-west side is partly built of large square blocks. The whole length of the castle is about 180 paces.

Monday, April 3rd.—From Myra we proceeded in a country boat to Deliktash. We embarked from a little bay; on the promontory which formed it are the ruins of a Byzantine watch-tower or lighthouse. Till sunset the wind favoured us, but, as it failed then, we lay to for the night in a beautiful little creek, this side of Cape Chelidonia. In the morning we doubled the cape and entered the Gulf of Pamphylia. At noon we passed the Bay of Adrasan, with its fine pine-covered mountains, and soon after saw Mount Chimæra with its snow-capped summit towering among the clouds. We anchored near Deliktash at 3 p.m. There are only two or three huts near the shore, inhabited by Greeks. The Yoorouk village, situated about ten minutes from the shore, consists of a few wicker tents covered with skins, and two or three huts. There is a large export of pine-wood from this place—either in planks or logs.

Wednesday, 5th.—The road to the Chimæra fire lay across the plain, over a winding stream by the Yoorouk village. Near the burial-ground, which is filled with ancient fragments, we found two sarcophagi hollowed out of the rock; one full size, the other for a child. We still passed along the plain through the most luxuriant vegetation; carub trees, and myrtle and laurel bushes abounded. In about half an hour we came to a point where the level ground is terminated by the mountains, which on one side are of limestone, on the other of serpentine. The hill sides were covered with beautiful shrubs, and there were several varieties of orchids among the wild flowers. We ascended the mountain side on the left, rather before coming to the den of the plain, and in a quarter of an hour arrived at the remains of a Byzantine chapel, to which a monastery was probably attached. Large blocks with inscriptions, which may be portions of the Temple of Vulcan, are lying about, and here issues out of the rock the Chimæra fire. The principal flame proceeds from behind an arched opening in the rock, and smaller flames dart out from crevices round the larger. A second flame issues from a little pit close by. The flame burns steadily, and was of, when we saw it, about the same volume as would issue from a moderate fireplace. It is of a dark colour, like a wood fire. The smell resembles that of a mixture of sulphuric ether, spirits of wine, and iodine. The soot