a city of the first rank,1 whose place is still to be distinguished
by the ruins of an amphitheatre and a palace, with several
arches and other remains.2 Towards the central and western
side are Balikesri (Caesarea), Boladjik (Hadrianotherae),
Ayasmend (Attea), Kydhonies (Heraclea), Mytileni (Mity-
lene), Adramit (Adramyttium) ; and, finally, near the shores
of the Gulf of Adramit are the ruins of Assos, or Assus,
which, in the wooded country near the village of Beahrahm,
present a wilderness of ruined temples, baths, theatres,
cisterns, &c.3
The remainder of Mysia contains the site of the celebrated
Ilium, whose interesting geography has been determined by
the recent survey of Lieutenant Graves, R.N., commanding
Her Majesty’s ship Beacon. Near the western shore is the
island of Tenedos, and opposite its southern extremity are the
extensive remains of Eski Stambul (Alexandria of Troas),
which not only cover the beach, but likewise spread beneath
the wooded slopes for some distance inwards, where a palace
and an aqueduct are still conspicuous.4 An undulating
country, partially cultivated, but chiefly covered with pines,
valonia, and other low wood, extends north and north-eastward
of the ruins, from whence, at the distance of about seven
miles in the latter direction, is the remarkable chain of hills
called Kara Tagh, whose north-eastern side is washed by the
Mendereh Chai, coming from the chain of Ida (Kaz Tagh) ;
whilst the narrow but abundant river of Bunarbashi has its
double springs on the western slopes, where they unite about
a mile before the river reaches the village.
Bunarbashi is generally supposed to occupy part of the
site of Priam’s capital; of which an inscription found in the
grove a little way eastward,5 part of an ancient wall at a little
distance S.S.W., a tumulus three-quarters of a mile southward,
and some other tumuli, in addition to the presumed
remains of Pergamus, are the vestiges. These occupy some
1 Strabo, lib. XIII., p. 623.
8 Fellowes’s Journal in Asia Minor, 1838, pp. 35, 36.
8 Ibid., p. 47.
4 Survey of Lieutenant Graves, 1839. 5 Ibid.
elevated ground, about which are the branches of Ida, with
their lower features; and from thence the pastoral plains of
Troy are seen spreading to the shores of the TEgean and
Hellespont. Buffaloes, wild boars, herons and other aquatic
birds feed in the numerous marshes. At Hissarjik, about
four miles westward of north from Bunarbashi, are the ruins
of New Ilium; and three miles onward, in the same direction,
is Mount Tepe, or the tumulus of Ajax, having the
supposed ruins of Rhceteum on its northern side, overlooking
the Hellespont.
The position of ancient Troy at Bfinarbashi determines the
river eastward of it to be the Simois, and that on the west
the Scamander of Homer.1 The course of the latter, after
passing the village, is nearly north-west, or almost parallel
to the Mendereh (the Simois) for about a mile and a half,
and it forms a marsh, on the eastern side of which, at some
distance onward, may be traced the remains of a bed once
carrying its waters into the Simois ; but at present the principal
stream of the Scamander makes a tortuous course of
about two miles along the western side of the marsh to
Yerkasee Keui, from whence a canal conducts nearly the
whole of the stream, by some mills, to the Mediterranean at
Beshika Bay. A small portion, however, still runs into the
Mendereh, which makes a tortuous course from thence, in
the general direction of north, to the sea at the town of
Kum Kal’eh-si. Half a mile southward of the latter place,
between the Mendereh and the sea, are the tumuli called
after Achilles and Patroclus; and a little further along
the .Egean, beyond the village of Yeni Shehr, are the ruins
of Sigeum2 and Achilleum, near the tomb of the former
hero.3 The other streams to be noticed are the Khalifatli-
Asmak or Heptaporos, and the Dumbrek-su. The former
flows through the Troad a few hundred yards eastward of
the Mendereh, and, after receiving the latter, the ancient
Thymbrius, it falls into the Hellespont by one branch near
1 Iliad, lib. V., v. 774.
8 Strabo, lib. XIII., p. 595.
3 Pliny, lib. V., c. xxx.