Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/402

348 From Petra we went to Telonia, passing on our way through the village Skalochori. In the first part of our route we traversed a barren and mountainous country with little vegetation. In the latter part were rocks of strange fantastic forms, mostly composed of pudding-stone.

The village of Telonia is well situated on the slope of a rocky mountain overlooking a fertile valley, where are the country houses of the rich inhabitants peeping out among the valonea oaks. It contains about 500 families.

Two hours north of the village is a ruined church dedicated to St. George, which I visited to find an inscription, which, after all, did not exist. The country through which we passed was rich and beautiful. The slopes of the hills were covered with corn, and in the valleys were well-cultivted gardens. At a place called Refikia, about ten minutes from the church of St. George, but nearer the sea, is a watercourse, which appears of ancient workmanship.

The next day we left Telonia at 6.30 a.m., and arrived at Batousa at 8. At a short distance from Telonia we came to two lofty rocks which rose as gates in the centre of the ravine, and seemed to shut out this part of the island from the other. We passed through, and soon entered a beautiful valley, at the end of which is Batousa, chiefly remarkable for a fine modern church. The columns in the interior had all belonged to some ancient building. In this part of the country the small ponies for which Mytilene is celebrated arc bred. From Batousa we went to Kalloni by the Ereso road, arriving at the village of Acherona at noon.

In the afternoon I visited a bridge built across the river Prines, which flows through the plain of Kalloni to the gulf. The bridge is about two hours distant from Acherona. It consists of a single arch thrown across the stream; the width of the arch is nearly 40 feet. The arch is formed of blocks of rough sandstone, which are carefully fitted together without cement. The lower blocks are cut in the rustic style. The workmanship is evidently Roman, of perhaps about the same date as the aqueduct at Morea. The bridge has been restored in modern times; the arch is all that remains of the ancient structure.

Near the bridge is the little chapel of St. Therapon, a medical saint. The country people, when ill, come here with a priest, and remain one or two days. The priest performs a mass, and the