30

PLAIN OF TROY.

plain of Troy and the entrance to the Dardanelles. Luckily, I had with me a tracing of Sir William Gell's map, the exactness of which enabled me to point out to my companions the principal points of interest. The plain is extremely rich and fertile, and, altogether, had quite an English air. A considerable quantity of timber is scattered about very picturesquely, and numerous herds of goats and cattle grazing added to the beauty of the scene. The ground was enamelled with the bright colours of millions of anemones; and storks, small tortoises, and browncoloured snakes were seen in vast numbers in all directions.

Sunday, 21st. The wind blew so hard today, and there was such a swell on the beach, that it was impossible to land. A French government cutter passed us from Constantinople, with despatches for the French admiral. The captain came on board, and reported that the Russian force was receiving daily accessions; that Lord Ponsonby's arrival was anxiously expected; and that peace had been concluded between Ibrahim and the Porte.

Monday, 22d.-Started this morning, with the doctor, the master, and the tutor for Troy. We ascended Æsachus's tomb, and proceeded thence across undulating hills, covered with

SOURCES OF THE SCAMANDER.

31

stunted oaks and brambles, varied occasionally by large tracts of cultivation, towards the sources of the Scamander, indicated by the grove of willows and poplars around them. Passing a large swamp, where there were innumerable storks and waterfowl, we at last arrived at the famous spring, called the Cold Spring, in Gell's map. It lies under a hill, and is surrounded by oak, willow, fig, and poplar trees, having brambles and wild vines hanging from them in festoons. Here, the clear water of the golden Xanthus flowing among the reeds, and over the ochre-coloured stones, tempts the thirsty passerby with its cool and refreshing appearance.

We sat down on a green mound, between the largest of the two springs, and tried the temperature of them all. There are three principal sources rising out of the base of the rock, which is a limestone breccia; the fragments imbedded being limestone and reddish sandstone, which communicates to the water its golden hue. The temperature of the air was 55%, and that of the springs, No. 1, 64°; 2, 65°; 3, 65°.*

*About 170 yards distant from the warm springs of the Scamander, towards the west, the cold sources are found, throwing out a considerable quantity of water from many openings in the rock. It has been discovered, by the help of a thermometer, which was thrust into a fissure as

32

TOMBS OF HECTOR AND PARIS.

Thence we proceeded to the source called the Hot Springs; the only difference in the actual temperature being one degree, but on immersing the hand there is a sensible warmth. These are also under a grove of trees, situated near the village of Bounarbashi.* We ascended the tombs of Hector and Paris, which command a

far as the arm would permit it to go, that this spring is equally warm with the former. The pool, however, which contains the water being of so considerable a size as to suffer it immediately to acquire the temperature of the atmosphere, it must undoubtedly have appeared cold before the invention of an instrument for ascertaining the real degree of heat. It would, therefore, have been thought cold in the days of Homer; and the poet is not incorrect who describes places and things as they appear to the generality of mankind. Several other sources contribute to swell this division of the stream of the Scamander before its junction with the rivulets which proceeds from the warm springs." Sir W. Gell's Topography of Troy, p. 76.

"The women of Bounarbashi yet frequent the spring, as their predecessors, the Trojan virgins, did before the invasion by the Greeks. The convenience afforded by the blocks of marble and granite to the women of the country, who always beat their linen on stones or boards during the time they are washing, added to the sensible warmth of the water, has, in all probability, continued the practice of resorting to this spring in preference to any other. The Count de Choiseul Gouffier was informed by the Aga of Bounarbashi, that the water threw up a very perceptible steam in the winter; and later experiments, made with the thermometer, prove beyond doubt that this is a warm source.”— Ibid.

fine view of the Simois in its entire course, from the point where it issues from the mountains, to its junction with the Hellespont. There were no antiquities, besides a remnant of a granite column, neither did we observe any inhabitants, except an old man and a few children; but myriads of storks covered the fields in every direction. Returning to the Scamander, we lunched at its sources; and then reclining on a beautiful piece of turf, under the shade of a wide spreading oak, we enjoyed our pipes until the declining sun warned us to bend our course towards the ship.

Tuesday, 23d.-We sailed this morning, as the wind proved fair for entering the Dardanelles. In passing close to the Segean promontory, which is covered with windmills, the view of the Asiatic fort and the town, with the tombs of Achilles and Patroclus, and, further on, that of

Ajax, opened upon us.* The castles appeared well fortified on the side exposed to the sea,

* There, on the green and village cotted hill, is (Flank'd by the Hellespont, and by the sea,) Entombed the bravest of the brave - Achilles, — They say so-(Bryant says the contrary); And further downward, tall and towering still, is The tumulus- of whom? Heaven knows: 't may be Patroclus, Ajax, or Protesilaus,

All heroes, who, if living still, would slay us.

D

34

PASSAGE OF THE DARDANELles.

their enormous guns lying on a level with the surface of the water; but, landward, they are defenceless. The shores of the channel are by no means so lofty as I was prepared to find them, and of their much vaunted beauty I saw nothing, saving now and then a green and cultivated valley, which are indeed "few, and far between." The cliffs appeared to be composed of a coarse and soft sandstone, nearly white, resembling chalk at a distance. We came to anchor a few miles above the castles, with the consolation that the north wind, now set in, might perhaps continue to blow for weeks. Contrary to our expectations, however, the breeze having veered to the southward in the course of the day, we weighed, and advanced a short distance up the channel; but the wind again dying away, the current bore us back, and we anchored in our former position.

There are now seventy of the crew on the sick list, including the first and third lieutenant, the master, and several of the youngsters, all like myself, suffering from the influenza. The sailors have christened it the Dardanelles fever; and the men who are well, swear the others sham illness, in order to escape the working through the Hellespont. Should the captain get impatient and resolve to beat up, there will