Hours	Place of Lodging
Ephesus	14	Khan.
Tyria	8	Ditto.
Supetram	7	Turcoman’s Hut.
Sardis	6	A Mill.
Aksá (Thyatira)	9	English Consular Agent.
Galembie	5	Khan.
Ghuilghuit	5	Khan.
Mandrahora	10	House of a Greek.
Su-sughir-li	10	Ditto of a Turk.
Ulubad	7	Greek Convent.
Chatalorghul	5	House of a Greek.
Brousa	6	Khan.
Moudania	6	Coffee House.

Moudania to Constantinople is a voyage of about 10 h. in a caïque and 5 h. by steamer.

The journey from Smyrna to Ephesus being rather too long for 1 day, it is better to divide it, by leaving Smyrna in the evening, and sleeping at the village of Sediköi, only 2½ hours distant. There is an additional advantage in starting late the first day, which is, to give time to the attendants to arrange the packages, an operation always attended here with much loss of time on first starting. That point once settled, each package is replaced every succeeding day in its accustomed position, and the delay of loading and unloading is then trifling.

Sediköi is a delightful village at the foot of a range of hills, where many of the consuls and merchants have their villas. Near this village, in the mountains, may be heard

“The jackals’ troop is gather’d cry
Bay from afar complainingly,
With a mix’d and mournful sound,
Like crying babe or beaten hound.”

5 hours from Sediköi the remains of Metropolis – once a considerable city – may be distinguished on a hill near the coast. They consist only of a few ruins of walls and towers, and possess little interest. 2 hours farther the road winds round some hills, and then passes close under some perpendicular rocks. It crosses the Cayster by a bridge ½ an hour before entering Ephesus. There are 3 or 4 cafinets on this route, where shade and water are to be found, but there are neither towns nor villages.

Ephesus, 14 h. See Rte. 30.

[Travellers who have not made an excursion from Smyrna to Nimfi, to see the supposed monument of Sesostris (p. 165), may visit it on their route from Ephesus to Sardis.]

The road now follows the bank of the Cayster, through a beautiful valley, rich and fertile in the extreme, but only imperfectly cultivated. The picturesque mountains by which this valley is bounded form parts of the ranges of Messogis and Tmolus. They are clothed with wood to the summits. At the entrance of the valley, near the sea, they approach within ½ m. of each other, but on advancing the valley widens to 2 or 3 m. in breadth.

Tyria, 8 hours of rather fast travelling, allowing for 1 hour’s rest at a cafinet. Tyria is a large Turkish town, situated on the acclivity of Mount Tmolus, and commanding an extensive prospect over a fine plain, bounded to the N. by Mount Tmolus. The town extends along the slope of the mountain; each house stands single, or in a garden. Numerous mosques, with their minarets and cupolas, interspersed with fine trees, unite to give Tyria an appearance of wealth and importance which it does not possess. It is supposed to occupy the site of ancient Tyrinthio, but the town and environs are destitute of any remains of antiquity. The population is almost exclusively Mahomedan.

Leaving Tyria, the traveller proceeds N.E. through extensive vineyards, each containing a platform, with a sort of watch-tower, which have been constructed for the purpose of keeping off the jackals. The road continues through the plain, crossing the Cayster several times, to

Odemes. – This town, though inferior in size to Tyria, surpasses it in commercial activity, in the size of the bazars, and the quality of the merchandise exposed to sale. It boasts of a large khan and several coffee-houses, and is well adapted for repose during the heat of the day.

Leaving Odemes, the ascent of Mount Tmolus commences, and 3 hours of laborious toil are required to reach the summit by a path hewn in the rock. Thence there is a splendid view, looking backwards over the valley and the great range of Messogis.

Supetram, 7 hours. An extensive plain, on the summit of Mount Tmolus, covered with rich verdure, where fine oaks, wide-spreading chesnuts, and luxurious walnut-trees, standing singly or in groups, give this spot the appearance of an English park. The scenery is varied by meadows, gardens, and a copious stream rushing through the centre of the plain, which flocks and herds grazing on its banks. A tribe of wandering Turcoman shepherds are the sole inhabitants of this lovely spot. They pay a certain sum of the pasture to the inhabitants of Capai, a village in the plain, who, during the great heat, usually remove to Supetram. They are primitive and hospitable, and ready to make strangers welcome to a share of whatever they possess. For 2 hours the road continues through this plain by the banks of the river. The descent to Sardis is rapid and difficult.

Sardis, 6 hours. See Rte. 30.

Leaving Sardis, the river Hermus, or Ghiediz Chai, is to be forded. The approach to the river is dangerous, on account of the marshes, and the traveller should have a guide well acquainted with the localities. The river is broad and deep. The intervening country between the Hermus, or Sarabat, and the Gygæan lake, is covered with the tumuli of the kings and people of Lydia. They are covered with turf, and preserve their conical form, varying in size according to the rank of the deceased. That of Alyattes, the father of Crœsus, remains as described by Herodotus 2200 years ago. “Lydia,” he says, “boasts of a monument of art, second only to those of the Babylonians and Egyptians. It is the sepulchre of Alyattes: the groundwork is of immense stones, and the rest of the structure is a huge mound of earth.” He goes on to state that the length of the tomb is 6 furlongs and 2 plethræ, the height 2 plethræ (200 feet), and the width 13 plethræ. The Gygæan lake is not very remarkable. Its edges are low and marshy.

Marmora is a large Greek village, 5 hours from Sardis. It contains a burial-ground, in which fragments of columns and other vestiges of antiquity suffice to prove that it is the site of an ancient town.

Aksá (Thyatira), 9 hours. See Rte 29. The road still lies through the plain. 2 hours from Aksá, on the side of one of the mountains, may be observed some sepulchral chambers in the rock. The road passes by several cemeteries, without either towns or villages.

Galembie, 5 hours, – a large Turkish village. Between Galembie and Ghuilghuit a high mountain is crossed by a stony path.

Ghuilghuit, 5 hours, a large village in the plain. The road again enters the mountainous region. 2 hours from Ghuilghuit are the ruins of a large edifice near a burial-ground, and surrounded by trees. It is said that this was constructed by 12 dervishes, who established themselves here. They were all young men, renowned for their sanctity and virtue, and remarkable for their great learning, their profound wisdom, and the austerity of their lives. They were said to have wrought divers miracles. Amongst the extraordinary powers they were supposed to possess was that of curing sterility. As sterility is considered in Turkey not only a disgrace, but the greatest curse that can befal a woman, a multitude of fair pilgrims flocked to them from all parts of the empire. The dervishes taught them to recite verses from the Koran, and to repeat prayers. They gave them charms, administered powders to them, and bound them by an oath never to divulge the persons to whom they had recourse in order to accomplish their object. They kept them in the convent, and only dismissed them when the charms had worked their effect, or when the case became hopeless, which was of exceedingly rare occurrence. Ths went on for a few years, till one perfidious dame forfeited her oath, and betrayed to her husband the secrets she sworn to preserve. Her information aroused his jealousy; he went to the pasha and related the circumstances. Several ladies who had visited the convent were summoned, and unwillingly corroborated the facts. The pasha marched with an army, seized the 12 dervishes, hung them on the great walnut-tree near the convent, and destroyed the building. After this discovery, many a husband who supposed himself injured caused his unhappy wife to be tied in a sack and thrown into the sea; others had their wives buried alive. However, to this day the country people disbelieve the ladies’ story, and hold the memory of the dervishes in high veneration, regarding them as saints and martyrs. They are frequently seen praying on their graves.

Leaving the mountains, the road passes over a great plain, partially cultivated to

Mandrahora, 10 hours.

2 hours from Mandrahora, a colony of field-mice have established themselves on the side of a hill, in which they have burrowed holes resembling those in a rabbit-warren. They have so entirely destroyed the grass, that the fields are quite bare; they are rather larger than house-mice, of a dark brown colour, and without tails.

Su-sughir-li, 10 hours. A large village on the banks of a wide river of the same name. A journey over an immense marshy plain brings the traveller to

Ulubad, or Lupathron (anciently Lopadium), 7 hours. This town was once large, and surrounded by strong walls with towers, which are still standing, although in ruins, and only serve to afford shelter to bats, owls, and storks. The few houses that exist are in a similar condition, the greatest part of the space within the walls being occupied by gardens and vineyards. There are also the ruins of a large Byzantine fortress. With the exception of 2 Turkish families, the inhabitants are Greeks, and they look pallid and miserable. The unhealthy position of the town is the cause of the misery and poverty apparent here. It is situated on the banks of a large river, having a lake on one side, out of which the river flows, and a marsh on the other. The usual lodging-place for travellers is a large Greek convent, which is fast falling into decay. 3 monks are all that now remain of a numerous community. Neither these monks nor the Greeks of the town understand their own language, although the service is performed in it. The Greeks of Anatolia make use of Greek letters in writing the Turkish language.

The river of Ulubad (the ancient Rhyndacus) is crossed by a frail wooden bridge, which seems to totter with every step of the horses. The road then lies through a fine plain along the banks of the beautiful lake Apollonia, which is bounded on the S. by picturesque mountains, and thickly dotted with islands, on which there is a large town.

Chatalorghul, 5 hours. A neat village. There is a fine view of Olympus the whole way between the last 2 places. Chatalorghul is solely inhabited by Greek farmers, and extensive husbandry in all its branches is carried on in the neighbourhood.

Hence the road passes over a magnificent plain, cultivated with care and industry, and abounding in noble forest-trees, which increase in numbers and magnitude as we approach

Brousa, or Prusa, 6 hours. There is an excellent Hotel kept by a German, where every comfort of European innkeeping may be found, and the charges are moderate. It is called the Hôtel de l'Olympe. This city, long the capital of the kings of Bithynia, derives its name from Prusias, the protector of Hannibal, one of its early kings, who reigned 200 years B.C. Under the Roman dominion we hear little of Brousa, though it was always famous for its baths, and admired for the beauty of its situation. It was the residence of the governors of the province, one of whom was Pliny. It was finally wrested from the feeble hands of the Greek emperors by Orchan, the son of Othman, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty. He adorned it with a mosque, a college, and a hospital. It was seized by Timour after the battle of Augora, rebuilt by Mahomed II., and became the usual residence of the princes of the house of Othman, till Amurath removed the seat of government to Adrianople. It is now the chief place of the Eyalet of Khudavendkiar, which comprises Southern Bithynia and the interior of Mysia, and of which Brousa forms a sandyak. The pop. at the last census, when a special officer of the Porte made it in 1852, was 73,000, of whom 11,000 are Armenians and 6000 Greeks. There are now very few Jews at Brousa. The town is built at the S.W. end of a magnificent valley, 20 m. long, and from 3 to 5 broad. The houses occupy the face of the mountain, commanding a fine view of the plain; they are built chiefly of wood, like those of Constantinople, many of them with glass windows. Between June 1801 and June 1802, a dreadful fire destroyed one-half of the city, the style of building rendering fires peculiarly destructive here. The streets of the town are in some places so narrow, that a person might leap from one house into the opposite one; but the greatest cleanliness prevails. The castle stands on a perpendicular rock in the centre of the town; its walls are of great solidity. The chief ornaments of Brousa are its mosques, said to amount to no fewer than 365, in one of which called Daoud Monasteri, is shown the tomb of celebrated Orchan, son of Othman, who conquered Brousa in 1326. The Baths are handsome structures, containing a number of apartments, and supplied with both hot and cold springs; some are chalybeate, others are sulphureous. The Kalputcha Hammam, situated nearly 1½ m. from the gate leading to the N.W., is a very spacious and commodious one. The spring is slightly sulphureous; the heat about 180° Fahrenheit. Here is a circular pool, not less than 25 ft. in diameter, paved with marble and lined with coloured tiles, the water about 4½ ft. deep, in which the youth of Brousa divert themselves with swimming. This apartment is surmounted by a lofty cupola. There are 2 other apartments, in the centre of each of which is a sumptuous marble fountain, yielding a stream of pure cold water for drinking. Near this superb bath is a similar building for the females. The khans and colleges of Brousa are numerous and respectable. The bezestans and bazars are extensive, and filled with silk and cotton stuffs manufactured here for exportation.

The coup-d’œil presented by the verdant plain and city of Brousa, with its domes and minarets, contrasted with the cliffs and snowy summits of Olympus glittering through the woods, rising majestically behind the city, is at once in the highest degree picturesque and impressive. “In point of rural beauty indeed,” says Mr. Kinneir, “as well as of magnificence of scenery, diversified by fruitful fields and delighted solitudes, the environs of this city are seldom perhaps to be equalled, and not to be surpassed.” The silk manufactured at Brousa is much esteemed in the East, and greatly admired in Europe. The quantity of silk produced in the envirous, and its cultivation and manufacture, is said to afford employment for 30,000 people.

The ascent of Olympus from Brousa may be performed with ease, unless the weather should happen to be unfavourable. The toil is amply repaid by the magnificence of the view from the summit. The traveller may hire horses at Brousa for this excursion, at the usual rate, which is 25 piastres a day, or 15 piastres for half a day, all over the country. After 4 or 5 hours of riding there remains an ascent of about an hour to be made on foot. The best time to commence the ascent is in the afternoon. The traveller should sleep near the summit, in order to reach the highest point at sunrise, when he may return to Brousa by noon. If it is too cloudy to reach the summit, it is worth while to go up to a rocky point two-thirds of the way for the sake of extensive and beautiful view.

From Brousa the road leads through a beautiful and level plain to

Moudania, 6 hours. A large straggling Greek village, extending along the shore, the environs of which are beautiful and highly cultivated. This is the place of embarkation for Constantinople. The customary price for a boat to Constantinople is 100 piastres; but as there is sometimes a scarcity of kayiks here, the Greeks take advantage of this circumstance to raise their price accordingly.

A Turkish Steamer now runs between Constantinople and Moudania in 5 hours. It leaves Constantinople every Saturday morning, and returns from Moudania on Monday evening, arriving at Constantinople early on Tuesday morning. The prices are – 1st class, 80 piastres; 2nd, or deck, 40 piastres. The voyage may be performed in 10 hours with oars, should there be no wind; but with a light favourable breeze it may be done in 6. As the kayik is a long narrow boat, very slight, and unable to make any way against the wind, the length of the voyage is very uncertain, and whenever the wind is at all contrary the boatmen run into the nearest creek and wait till it becomes favourable.

The Princes’ Islands lie in the direct route, and should be visited by the traveller. They are beautiful spots, studded with villas belonging to the rich inhabitants of Constantinople, who reside there during the hot summer months and sea-bathing season. Prote is not much frequented, Chalki more, and Prinkipo is an especial favourite with them. A steamer leaves Constantinople for these islands every afternoon and returns in the morning. There are several hotels at Prinkipo, of which that kept by Giacomo is the best. The monasteries are well worth visiting, especially one on Chalki, which is now an ecclesiastical seminary. It was built by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II., called the Bulgarian-killer, who himself ended his life in it doing penance for his cruelty. The Naval School on the same island is well organized. (See Sect. I. p.123.)