to our girths, and then rode among huts of the Turcomans; their large and fierce dogs barking vehemently, and worrying us. The plain now appeared as bounded with mountains. The view westward was terminated by a single, distinct, lofty range, the east end of mount Sipylus.

We approached near to the high green ridge, on which the barrows are, and going on beyond its eastern extremity, pitched our tent after three hours by a village called Bazocleu. A continual noise or hooting was made, to drive away the small birds, which lodged in the corn. We saw them changing their quarters, as soon as molested, in troops. A large dog had followed our men, who fed him, from Sart.

We were on horseback again at seven in the morning, and going north-westward for half an hour, came to the lake, which lay behind the ridge, extending westward, and was anciently called Gygæa. It is very large, and abounds in fish, its colour and taste like common pond water, with beds of sedge growing in it. We saw a few swans with cygnets, and many aquatic birds; in particular, one species resembling a gull, flying about in flocks, or lighting on the ground. These were white, but with the whole head black. The air swarmed with gnats.

Some very ancient historians had related, that this lake was made as a receptacle for the floods, which happened when the rivers were swollen. The Lydians asserted it was perennial, or never dry. The name had been changed from Gygæa to Coloe. By it was a temple of Diana, called Coloene, of great sanctity. A story is recorded as current, that on the festivals of the goddess certain baskets danc

ed. The privilege of an asylum was conferred on it by Alexander. This probably is the Sardian Diana, mentioned in an inscription copied by Mr. Peyssonnel, and containing a panegyric on her priestess. If the lake be factitious, the ridge may be regarded as an immense mound raised with the soil.

By Gygæa, which was within forty stadia, or five miles, of Sardes, is the burying place of the Lydian kings 2. The barrows are of various sizes, the smaller made perhaps for children of the younger branches of the royal family. Four or five are distinguished by their superior magnitude, and are visible as hills at a great distance. The lake, it is likely, furnished the soil. All of them are covered with green turf; and as many as I observed, in passing among them, retain their conical form without any sinking in of the top.

One of the barrows on the eminence, near the middle, and toward Sardes, is remarkably conspicuous. This has been described by Herodotus a, as beyond comparison the greatest work in Lydia; inferior only to the works of the Egyptians and Babylonians. It was the monument of Alyattes, the father of Croesus; a vast mound of earth heaped on a basement of large stones by three classes of the people; one of which was composed of girls, who were prostitutes. Alyattes died, after a long reign, in the year 562 before the Christian era. Above a century intervened, but the historian relates, that to his time five stones, (oupa, termini, or stela,) on which

* See Strabo, p. 626, 627. z Strabo, p. 627.

y Tacitus, Ann. lib. iii. cap. 63.

a

Lib. i. 92.

letters were engraved, had remained on the top, recording what each class had performed; and from the measurement it had appeared, that the greater portion was done by the girls. Strabo likewise has mentioned it as a huge mound raised on a lofty basement by the multitude of the city. The circumference was six stadia, or three quarters of a mile; the height two plethra, or two hundred feet; and the width thirteen plethra.

It was customary among the Greeks to place on barrows either the image of some animal, or stela, commonly round pillars with inscriptions. The famous barrow of the Athenians in the plain of Marathon, described by Pausanias, is an instance of the latter usage. An ancient monument in Italy by the Appian way, called, without reason, the sepulchre of the Curiatii, has the same number of termini as remained on the barrow of Alyattes; the basement, which is square, supporting five round pyramids.

The barrow of Alyattes is much taller and handsomer than any I have seen in England or elsewhere. The industry shewn in carrying earth for its elevation was probably excited by the pay which Croesus offered; for it is not likely that the sepul

b In Herodotus, περίοδος στάδια ἓξ καὶ δύο πλέθρα· τὸ δὲ εὗρός ἐστι πλέθρα τριακαίδεκα. We have supposed τὸ ὕψος wanting in the text after κai dúo τλéopa. See note on the passage.

The pyramid of Cheops in Egypt was quadrangular, each side measuring eight plethra, and its height the same. Lib. ii. cap. 124.

The pyramid of Mycerinus, his son, was much smaller, each side measuring three plethra. Cap. 134.

The pyramid by the labyrinth was likewise square, each side measuring four plethra, and its height the same. Strabo, p. 811. Diameter. R.

chres of a regal family, which possessed immense riches, should be raised by public contribution or gratuitous labour. The mould, which has been washed down, conceals the stone-work, which, it seems, was anciently visible. The apparent altitude is diminished, and the bottom rendered wider and less distinct than before. Its measurements, which we were not prepared to take, deserve to be ascertained and compared with those given by Herodotus.

The barrows contain perhaps a considerable treasure. In this it is well secured. Some time and much labour would be consumed in penetrating to the basement, and afterwards it would be difficult to force a passage through the stone-work. Many men must be employed, and in the present state of the country a large guard would be necessary for their protection. A jealousy already prevails among the people, that strangers are in quest of hidden riches. The Turcomans and the neighbouring agas would not suffer the removal of the plunder, if obtained, without molestation. The enterprise is fitter for the basha of the district, or a general of an army, than for a private adventurer. The first, whether successful or otherwise, would probably be preyed on by his master for the attempt.

The reader, it is likely, will wonder at the great number of girls which were employed in this work; and will conceive a bad opinion of the morals of the Sardians. The historian relates, it was the custom of the Lydians to permit their daughters to procure their own dowries; deviating in this from the Greek laws, which were established among them, They were an ingenious people, the inventors of

gold and silver coin, of wine-taverns, and of several games in general use. The female Lydians were much admired for the elegance of their dress, the beauty of their persons, and their wonderful performance of a grand, choral, circular dance, in honour of Bacchus d.

CHAP. LXXIX.

WE REGAIN THE ROAD TO MAGNESIA-THE WEATHER-AT DURGUTHLI-TO MOUNT SIPYLUS-OF THE CITY SIPYLUS AND SALE-TO MAGNESIA-OF NIOBE.

AFTER riding an hour by the side of the calm and noble lake, we turned to the south-west, passing by a fountain with an inscription, to recover the road from Sardes to Magnesia by mount Sipylus. We crossed the ridge, and at eleven again forded the Hermus. The stream was very wide, rapid, and turbid. We entered on the road by three barrows, ranging on the side close by each other. We stopped, after two hours more, near a green barrow, at a neat coffee-hut by Uran-lui, four hours from Sardes, Our dog, which we had named Sart, here very wisely forsook us, and, as we supposed, returned to the Turcomans, his old masters.

The mountains, when we moved from Bazocleu in the morning, were all clear, except Sipylus, which was enveloped in mist. On the way a shower or two fell, which cooled the air, and occasioned a delicious freshness and fragrancy. Now Sipylus was

d Dionysius, Пlepiny. v. 840.

e Inscript. Ant. p. 30.