23o T R A V E L S i n A S I A M I N O R .
W e rode on to Pambouk, and, while our tent was pitching,
the Janizary went to the Aga with our Firhman, and a prefent
of coffee and fugar. He was civil y received, the Aga com-
miftrating our late ill ufage, of which he- had heard, and complaining,
that the fame perfon had extorted from him an’ extravagant
ranfom for a ftray heaft ; faying,, he was. a man of a bad
character, o f an imperious temper, and, from his fuperior power,
the tyrant of that country. He demanded five okes of coffee;
and fome other claims were made for his.officers, amounting in
the whole to. ten okes, for which money was accepted. He declared
we had.no danger to apprehend by day atFamhouk, but
recommended our leaving the ruins early in the evening. We
enjoyed by. anticipation the fecurity he foretold.
O ur tent flood,on a.green dry fpot near the cliff. The view
before us was fo marvellous, that the defcription o f it, to bear
eyen a faint refemblance, ought to appear romantic. The vafl
Hope, which at a diflance we had taken for chalk, was now. beheld
with wonder, it feeming an immenfe frozen cafcade,, the.
fnrface wavy, as of water at once fixed, or in its headlong courfe
fuddenly petrified. Round about us were many high,.bare, ftony
ridges ; and clofe by our tent, one with a wide bafi's, and a
flender rill.of water, clear,, foft, and warm, running in a finall
channel'on the top. A woman was wafKing linen in it, with a
child at her back ; and beyond-were cabbins of the Turcomans,
Handing diftindF, much neater than any we had feen; each with
poultry feeding, and a fence o f reeds in front.
I t is an old obfervation, that the countfy.about the Mfeander,.
the foil being, fight and friable, and fu ll'o f falts generating inflammable
matter, was undermined by fire and water; Hfence
it abounded in hot.fprings, which, after paffing underground
froth the refervoirs, appeared'on the mountain, or were found
bubbling up in the plain or in the mud of the river : and hence
i t was fubieCt to frequent earthquakes; the nitrous vapour,
compreffed
T R A V E L S i n A S I A M I N O R . 231
comprEffed in the cavities and fublimed by heat or fermentation,
burfting its prifon with loud explofions, agitating the atmofphere,
and fhaking the earth and waters with a violence as extenfive as
deftradtive; and hence, moreover, the peftilential grottoes,
which had fhbterraneons communications with each other.,
derived their noifome effluvia-; and ferving as fmaller 'vfents -to
thefe furnaces or hollows, were regarded as apertures of hell, as
paffages for deadly fumes riling up -from the realms of Pluto.
One or more of the mountains perhaps has burned ; ahd it may
be fufpedted, that the furface of the country has'in fome places
been formed from its own bowels. In particular, it is probable,
that the hill of Laodicea was originally an eruption; for it confifts
o f dry, impalpable foil, porous, with fmail cavities, re fe raiding
the hare of a pipe; as may be feen on the fides, which
are bare. It refounded beneath our horfes’ feet. The Hones
are mofily mafies o f pebbles or o f gravel confolidated-; and
as light as pumice-flone. We had occafion to dig, and found;
the earth as hard as any cement.
T h®hot waters o f Hierapolis have produced that mart extraordinary
pbasnomenon, the cliff, which is one entire incruflation.
They were antiently renownedferithisfacies o f transformation.
It is related, they changed -fo eafily, that being conducted about
the vineyards and gardens, thechan&els becamelongfences, each
a fingle ftcme. They produced the ridges by our tent. The
road up to the mins, which appears us a. wide and high eaufey,
is a petrification; and overlooks many green fpots, Once vineyards
and gardens, feparated by partitions of the fame material.
The furface of the flat, above the cliff, is rough with flone and
with channels, branching out in various directions; a large pool
overflowing and feeding the numerous rills, fome of which
fpread over the Hope, as they defcend, and give to the white flony
bed a humid look, refembling fait or driven fnow, when melting.
This cruft, which has no tafte or fmell, being an alkaline*,
wdl. ferment with acids; and Picenini relates, that trial of it had;
been.