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CHAP. XXXIII.

AIASALUCK-THE EVENING-REMAINS-THE CASTLE-THE MOSQUE THE AQUEDUCT-AN ANCIENT BRIDGE.

AIASALUCK is a small village, inhabited by a few Turkish families, standing chiefly on the south side of the castle-hill, among thickets of tamarisk and ruins. It was dusk when we alighted, lamenting the silence and complete humiliation, as we conceived, of Ephesus. The caravansera, to which we had been directed, was exceedingly mean and wretched. A marble coffin, freed from the human dust, served as a water-trough to a well in the front. Some figures holding Roman ensigns have been carved on it; and, as we learn from the inscription, it once contained the bodies of a captain of a trireme, named the Griffin, together with his wife. Close by, some tall camels, just arrived, stood pensive; or, with their knees tied, to prevent their rising from the ground, mildly waited the removal of their burdens.

The caravansera being full, we were distressed for a place to lodge in, but after some time a Turk offered us a shed by his cottage, open to the southeast, the roof and sides black with smoke. Some martens had made their nests against the rafters; and we were told, their visits were deemed to portend good, and that the Turks wished them to frequent their apartments, leaving a passage for their admission. Our horses were disposed among the walls and rubbish, with their saddles on; and a mat was spread for us on the ground. We sate here, in

m See Hesselius, Append. ad Gudium.

the air, while supper was preparing; when sudden-, ly fires began to blaze up among the bushes, and we saw the villagers collected about them in savage groups, or passing to and fro with lighted brands for torches. The flames, with the stars and a pale moon, afforded us a dim prospect of ruin and desolation. A shrill owl, named Cucuvaia from its note, with a night-hawk, flitted near us; and a jackal cried mournfully, as if forsaken by his companions, on the mountain.

We retired early in the evening to our shed, not without some sensations of melancholy, which were renewed at the dawn of day. We had then a distinct view of a solemn and most forlorn spot; a neglected castle, a grand mosque, and a broken aqueduct, with mean cottages, and ruinous buildings interspersed among wild thickets, and spreading to a considerable extent. Many of the scattered structures are square, with domes, and have been baths. Some gravestones occurred, finely painted and gilded, and fairly embossed, as the Turkish manner is, with characters in relievo. But the castle, the mosque, and the aqueduct, are alone sufficient evidences, as well of the former greatness of the place, as of its importance.

The castle is a large and barbarous edifice, the wall built with square towers. You ascend to it over heaps of stones intermixed with scraps of marble. An outwork, which secured the approach, consisted of two lateral walls from the body of the fortress, with a gateway. This faces the sea, and is supported on each side by a huge and awkward buttress, constructed chiefly with the seats of a theatre or stadium, many of them marked with

Greek letters. Several fragments of inscriptions" are inserted in it, or lie near. Over the arch are four pieces of ancient sculpture. The two in the middle are in alto-relievo, of most exquisite workmanship, and evidently parts of the same design; one, representing, it seems, the death of Patroclus; the other, plainly the bringing of his body to Achilles. The third exhibits a corpse, it is likely that of Hector, with women lamenting; is in basso-relievo, not so wide, and, besides, differs so much, that it can be considered as connected with the former only in having a reference to the Iliad. These were carefully drawn by Mr. Pars; and two of them, the first and last, may be seen, engraved by Bartolozzi, in Mr. Wood's Essay on Homer. The fourth is carved with boys and vine-branches, is narrower, and much injured. Within the castle are a few huts, an old mosque, and a great deal of rubbish. If you move a stone here, it is a chance but you find a scorpion under it.

The grand mosque is situated beneath the castle, westward. The side next the foot of the hill is of stone; the remainder, of veined marble, polished. The two domes are covered with lead, and each is adorned with the Mahometan crescent. In front is a court, in which was a large fountain to supply the devout mussulman with water, for the purifications required by his law. The broken columns are remains of a portico. The three entrances of the court, the doorways of the mosque, and many of the window-cases have mouldings in the Saracenic style, with sentences, as we supposed, from the Ko

n See Hesselius.

• See Tournefort.

ran, in Arabic characters, handsomely cut. The windows have wooden frames, and are latticed with wire. The inside is mean, except the kiblé, or portion toward Mecca, which is ornamented with carving, painting, and gilding. The minaret is fallen. We found a long Greek inscription P, nearly effaced, in the wall of the side next to Gallesus. The fabric was raised with old materials. The large granite columns which sustain the roof, and the marbles, are spoils from ancient Ephesus.

The aqueduct, on the opposite side of the castlehill, reaches from the foot quite across the plain, eastward to mount Pactyas. The piers are square and tall, and many in number, with arches of brick. They are constructed chiefly with inscribed pedestals; on one of which is the name of Atticus Herodes, whose statue it has supported. We copied or collated several, but found none which have not been published. The minute diligence of earlier collectors had been extended to the unimportant fragments, and even single words within reach, from the first to the forty-fifth pier 9. The marbles yet untouched would furnish a copious and curious harvest, if accessible. The downfall of some may be expected continually, from the tottering condition of the fabric; and time and earthquakes will supply the want of ladders, for which the traveller wishes in vain at a place, where, if a tall man, he may almost overlook the houses. The water was conveyed in earthen pipes, and, it has been surmised, was that of a famous spring named Halitæa. It is now intercepted, no moisture trickling from the extremity

P See Pococke, Insc. p. 19. n. 15.

9 See Hesselius.

of the duct on the mountain. The ruin abounds in snakes. We saw a very long one twisting between the stones, which are not accurately joined; and the peasants with us attacked and killed it. We likewise disturbed many chameleons and lizards, which were basking in the sun. We were in danger near the village from large fierce dogs, which the boys encouraged to worry and to attack us.

In the way from Aiasalúck to Guzel-hissar or Magnesia by the Mæander, about four or five miles distant, is a narrow woody valley, with a stream, over which is an ancient bridge of three arches. Two long lines, one in Latin, the other in Greek, are inscribed on it, and inform us, it was dedicated to the Ephesian Diana, the emperor Cæsar Augustus, Tiberius Cæsar his son, and to the people of Ephesus; and also that Pollio, a Roman, erected it at his own expense. This fabric has been deformed by a subsequent addition; the three arches now sustaining six, intended to convey a current of water across the valley, probably to the aqueduct of Aiasalúck.

CHAP. XXXIV.

AIASALUCK NOT EPHESUS-TAMERLANE AT AIASALUCKHISTORY OF THE TWO PLACES CONFOUNDED-ORIGIN OF AIASALUCK-THUNDER-STORM-A FLOOD.

AIASALUCK has had an affinity with Ephesus similar to that of Sevri-hissar with Teos. We found no theatre, nor stadium, nor temple. The whole was patchwork, composed of marbles and fragments

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