130 NO REMAINS OF THE TEMPLE OF DIANA. cient Ephesus. Being nearest to Aiasaluk, it was completely demolished, and the material transported to build the new town. In tracing it almost to the castle, we passed through continuous fields of grain that actually overtopped our heads. I shall not trouble the reader with any speculations on the ancient Temple of Diana of the Ephesians. Its site cannot now be determined, as not a trace of the wonderful structure remains in Ephesus. Its beautiful statues and unrivalled columns were transported to Byzantium, the first to adorn the Hippodrome of the capital, and the second to ornament the Cathedral of St. Sophia. Her Ephesus affords one of the most striking instances of the mutability of human affairs, and perhaps of the fulfilment of Divine predictions, that can be found in history. Her wealth, in the old pagan times, rivalled, if it did not exceed, that of any of the Grecian cities of Asia; in the arts, her name was connected with the renown of Parrhasius and Apelles; in architecture, she far outstripped all her rivals. splendid temple, which required the wealth of Asia, collected for centuries, for its creation, was the wonder of the world; and around its sacred enclosures the Persian, the Lydian, the Greek, and the Roman in turn bowed as worshippers. Nowhere in the world did the old idolatry display so much pomp and magnificence; nowhere did it press into its service with so much success the highest powers of human art. it was not only in the palmy days of Paganism that Ephesus was glorious. The visits of Paul, the preaching of Apollos, the ministry of Timothy, the faith and patience of the first converts to Christianity-these, and a thousand other recollections, make the early Chris But FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 131 tian days of Ephesus glorious in the annals of the Church. And even after the lessons of Paul and Timothy had been forgotten, and the "first love" of the Ephesian Church had waned, the city was still the seat of Christianity, and the chosen place of assembly for her bishops, her synods, and her councils. But all this glory has departed. "Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write," was the message of Christ by his servant John: "Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, unless thou repent." It was not long before the candlestick was removed. For a few centuries the Church of Ephesus was powerful; but in that period, error and superstition on the part of the people, combined with and fostered by worldly-mindedness and ambition on the part of the lordly prelates who sat in the place of Timothy, Onesimus, and John, prepared the way for its destruction. The Christian history of Ephesus may be said to have ended with the sixth century; since that period, it can hardly be said that the Church has existed there at all; and now, there is neither angel nor candlestick in the once flourishing city. From the ruins of her theatre, the scene of noble martyrdoms, from the broken columns and scattered sculpture of her temples, from the desolation of her once-peopled plain and terraced hills, a voice, audible enough to those who will listen, proclaims, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches." 132 ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS AND BRIDGES. CHAPTER XVI. EPHESUS TO PHILADELPHIA. The River Cayster.-Roads.-Ancient Roman Roads and Bridges.—A Village of Storks.-Getting a Lodging.-Ruins of ancient Fountains.—Impenetrable Hedges.-Improvement in Cultivation.-Turkomans.-Mode of making Butter.-Mode of raising the Vine.-Tyria.—A Meal in Turkish Fashion.-A ragged Regiment.-Odemes. AFTER taking some refreshment, which our servants had prepared at the coffee-shop, we departed at four o'clock in the afternoon for Philadelphia. Our route lay up the west bank of the Cayster, and we had leisure to observe the river. It was not full, but at its height is not very large, perhaps 150 or 200 feet wide; in some places sluggish and marshy, in others rapid and tumbling over rocks, as at the bridge which we crossed upon approaching Ephesus. During the first hour from Aiasaluk to the bridge we passed through cultivated fields; from the bridge for the space of two hours our way lay through dense thickets of brushwood, with here and there a patch of grain enclosed by a brush fence. Sometimes we followed a narrow muddy path, and now and then came upon an ancient Roman road, whose pavement was much broken up. Occasionally we observed on our left an ancient Roman bridge sinking into the river. From the Thames to the Euphrates, from the Cataracts of the Nile to the mountains of Caucasus, the traveller stumbles upon the magnificent memorials of the wonderful empire of the Cæsars. At dusk we arrived at a small village, containing, perhaps, threescore houses, upon whose roofs hundreds GETTING A LODGING. 133 of storks had built their nests, and were to be seen about them. The hamlet seemed, indeed, to be one vast abode for storks rather than the residence of human beings. Since the days of Homer, the storks of Cayster have obtained dominion over the swans and cranes or perhaps the old blind bard had mistaken the former for the latter in the following verses: "As feathery nations sweeping on amain, Flights of the long-necked swan and silvery crane, There is usually a stranger's room in each village where there is not a khan; but here the apartment appropriated for travellers had passed into the hands of a Greek, who had turned it into a granary. I insisted that we should be permitted to spread our pallets on the wheat, but a man who had charge of the room resisted strongly, and began to clear out a small stable for our accommodation. I stepped into it, but the piercing odour of the place and the host of vermin compelled me to retreat, and to declare my purpose of seeking admission to some Turkish house. In this dilemma, one of the servants called on the Imam of the rude little mosque, and he permitted us to lodge in a room adjoining it, where we spread our quilts on the earthen floor. Our servants, and a dozen of the hadjis that had come with us from Beyrout, reposed themselves in the open porch of the mosque. These pilgrims spread themselves over the country, and are much reverenced by the people. I met one of them alone amid the ruins of Sardis. Departing early next morning, our route lay all day up the Valley of the Cayster, having Mount Tmolus on VOL. II.-M 134 TURKOMANS.-MODE OF MAKING BUTTER. the left, and Mount Messogis on the right. The valley was perhaps from twelve to fifteen miles wide. The road, as on the day before, lay through jungles of brushwood, the pavement of the old Roman way occasionally appearing. Every few miles a fine fountain stood by the road-side, pouring its water into a richly-sculptured marble sarcophagus, into which our horses thrust their heads and drank. Sometimes the fountain was dry, the water-pipes from the mountain being either choked up or cut off. Frequently we came upon vast desolate cemeteries adorned with marbles, and overrun with vines and shrubs. Occasionally we passed patches of ploughed ground, enclosed by throwing up the rich tenacious clay into ridges, into the top of which was stuck brushwood cut from the adjoining jungle. These hedges quickly become covered with brambles, grapevines, wild pea, and a great variety of shrubs and creepers in full blossom, the whole presenting a high, thick, impenetrable wall of luxuriant vegetation. As we advanced towards Tyria, distant seven hours from Ephesus, cultivation increased; villages appeared on the opposite side of the valley at the foot of Mount Tmolus; and groups of black tents, belonging to wandering Turkomans, were seen on our right on the slopes of Mount Messogis. Their sheep and cattle roamed amid the thickets of the plain, but the camels browsed upon the tender shoots of the undergrowth which covered the steep declivity of the mountain. As we passed, a little after sunrise, near a large encampment, I observed their mode of making butter. The milk is put into a large skin prepared like a waterskin, all the extremities except the neck being closed. It is then suspended by three cords attached to the edges of the neck, and each fastened to one of three |