on tlie banks of the river of that name,' and probably near
the spot called the Baths of Diana; there are not now, however,
any traces of the site : the aqueducts in that neighbourhood
belong to a much later period.
The climate of Smyrna is healthy, and the city is situated
in a fine country: its chief disadvantages are exposure to
earthquakes, the plague, and fires; which last, owing to the
number of Wooden houses, are very destructive.
The government of Kara-si touches that of Saru-khan,
from whence it extends northward, along the coast of iEolis,
till it joins that of Bighah, and again eastward, to the borders
of Khodavendi-kar, a little beyond Balikesri (Caesarea), the
chief town. Near its northern extremity it has the river,
which, after a short course, falls into the Gulf of Adrar
myttium; and, at its southern limits, the Bergama-su, or
Caicus, which has a western course from Kirkagatsh, where
the trunk is formed by the junction of several branches
coming from the interior towards the north and east.
The Demirji range bisects this district from east to west,
and then, skirting the Gulf of Adramyttium, it runs northward
into Mysia. Some few valleys, such as the Kemereh, are
highly cultivated and beautiful;2 but, for the most part, the
country is without villages and covered with plane-trees,
olives, and pines, with an underwood of laurel, arbutus, vine,
clematis, woodbine, and myrtle.3 The shores of the island
of Mitylene, however, are still richer; and its capital occupies
the slope of a peninsula at the water’s edge, above and on
each side of which are seen a succession of rich valleys, with
villages and kiosks peeping through wooded slopes and rich
underwood. The kiosks, for the sake of coolness, are of a
peculiar construction, being either a kind of turret raised on
four posts above the ground, or a wooden building surmounting
a square stone tower, beyond which it projects on every
side. In addition to the island of Mitylene, Kara-si contains
the Sanjaks of Balikesri, Adramyti, Sandarli, and Ayasmund.
1 Herodotus, Life of Homeric, ii. Strabo, lib. XIV., p. 646.
8 Fellowes’s Journal, 1838, p. 40.
8 Ibid., p. 42.
Bighah, the next A’yanlik, occupies the north-western
extremity of the peninsula, having Kara-si on the south,
Khodavendi-kar on the east, the Sea of Marmora on the
north, the Dardanelles and the Mediterranean on the northwest
and west. It is intersected by the Kaz Tagh (Mount
Ida), an offset from Mount Olympus, which runs north-west,
having inferior groups to the eastward and westward; and it
is watered by several remarkable streams, springing from the
slopes of this range. On the eastern side are the rivers
JEsepus, Granicus, and Rhodius. JThe first, under the name
of the Boklu, or Sataldere, takes an eastern course from the
foot of Mount Ida, and afterwards flows northward to the
shores of Marmora, west of Cyzicus. The second, also called
Ostrola, has two sources' in the same quarter ; its estuary is
a few miles westward of the Boklu-su ; and the third, or
Madem Tschaldar, flows from the northern slopes of Mount
Ida to the Dardanelles, at the town of Charna^-Kal’eh-si.
On the western side of the Kaz Tagh the Ghuimbruck-su
has its springs near Saliklar, from whence it winds westward
by the temple of the same name; after passing near Ilium
Novum, it turns northward, and terminates in the Dardanelles.
The interior of Bighah presents an undulating surface,
covered with olives, plane-trees, walnuts, &c., besides an
underwood of laurel, myrtle, arbutus, and an abundance of
the valonia oak. In addition to the pashalik of the Dardanelles,
this A’yanlik contains the towns of Kapouda-keui,
Buharbashi, and Bighah, the seat of the local government | it
includes the pashalik of the Dardanelles, and, together with
the preceding district of Kara-si, it very nearly represents the
Mysia of the ancients. The sites still to be traced in the
northern part of the country are Antaki (Cyzicus), Kara-
buga (Priapus), Lampsaki (Lampsaeus),3 and Pergamos, once
1 The western appears to be the Granicus; and, according to Demetrius,
the eastern may be the Rhesus (Rhoeste).—Strabo, lib. XII., p. 602. Herod.,
lib. XII., c. xvii.
8 Once Arctonnesus.—Pliny, lib. V., c. xxxii.
8 Formerly called Pityusa, from its numerous pines. Ibid.