The road from Kaisariyeh to Mount Argæus passes by a Greek convent 10 m. E.S.E. from Kaisariyeh, about 1000 ft. above the plain. Thence it proceeds round the eastern side of Argæus: the mountain on this side does not rise at once from the plain, as on the other side, but is connected by rugged hills with several lower ranges of mountains, which stretch away far to the E.

Everek-köi, 8 h.

Here commences the ascent of Mount Argæus, an excursion which will occupy 2 days. The mountain rises up almost to a single peak, from a broad and extended base, consisting entirely of volcanic rocks. Its sloping sides are studded with numerous cones and craters. At the foot of the mountain is a little cultivation, but its general aspect is peculiarly barren and rugged, and the black and cindery nature of the rocks gives it a wild inhospitable aspect. The ascent cannot be accomplished well in one day; the traveller therefore must halt for the night under the rocks. There is considerable danger sometimes in ascending the cone, when the sun has thawed the surface of the sloping sides, large masses of rock frequently becoming detached, and rolling down the sides with great violence. The summit consists of a very narrow ridge, the highest point of which is nearly the point of junction of 2 large craters, both of which are broken down on the N. side. The height of the mountain is 13,100 ft. above the sea. The traveler descends by Gerameh, a village near the edge of the plain, where are Byzantine remains of several churches, tombs, columns, &c. From Everek-köi we cross a marshy plain to

Kara-hissar, 8 hr. (See Rte. 44) W. of this town are some ruins called Soanli Dereh, where there is a very remarkable valley, whose almost perpendicular sides are, for nearly 2 m., excavated into a great number of chambers, grottoes, houses, tombs, and chapels, of the Byzantine age. It most probably occupies the site of Soandus.

Misli, 5 hr. – a small village of Greeks, subject to the bishop of Nigdeh, and quite independent of the Turkish authorities. In lieu of paying taxes to the government, they formerly worked the lead of Maden Dagh, about 6 h. off. They now pay contributions to the mines instead of working them. These Greeks never leave their village, and are never allowed to marry outside of it.

Nigdeh, 5 h. (See Rte. 44.) On a river 5 m. above Nigdeh is a place called Eski Andaval, or Old Andaval, where there are only the remains of a ch. dedicated to st. Constantine. There is a modern village of Andaval, 2 m. from Nigdeh.

Bor, 12 m. S.S.W. on the same river as Nigdeh.

Kiz-hissar, or Kilis-hissar, 2 m., the site of Tyana, the Dana of Xenophon, the chief town, under Archelaus and the Romans, of one of the prefectures of Cappadocia, and, under the Byzantine emperors, the capital of the second Cappadocia, and the see of a metropolitain. The town is built on a small rising mound in the middle of the plain, agreeing with the description of Strabo, who says that Tyana was built on the mound of Semiramis. An aqueduct extending for several miles over the plain conveyed water to the summit of the hill. This aqueduct is of greyish white limestone, supported on lofty but light and elegant arches. The massive foundations of several large edifices are seen in different parts of the town; and one handsome marble column still stands erect. All these buildings, which are evidently Roman, are ascribed by natives to Nimrod. Great quantities of saltpetre are manufactured here, the surrounding country being impregnated with nitre. A very singular lake in the plain, 2 m. S. of the town, answers to the description of the fountain of Asmabæus, sacred to Jupiter. This lake is about 30 or 40 ft. in diameter. The water, which is turbid and brackish, appears to be boiling up all over, but particularly in the centre, where a violent jet rises, nearly 1½ ft. in diameter, with considerable noise. Notwithstanding this, the lake never overflows; nor does any stream issue from it, though the ground round it is perfectly flat. There is a slight smell of sulphuretted hydrogen gas round it, and it is probable that the jet in the centre of the pool is partly caused by the escape of a large quantity of gas.

Eregli, 12 h. – supposed to be the ancient Archalla – is agreeably situated among gardens full of fruit and forest trees. Hence the traveller proceeds by the ruins of Bin-bir-Kilisseh, or Karadagh, to Karaman. We find in the plain a large swampy lake, whence a stream flows S., and escapes through a Katabathron at the foot of the cliffs of the Karadagh. Near the lake is a Turcoman settlement, called Ak-ghieul. The winter-residence of these people is 8 h. S. Some remarkable hot springs rise in the plain 5 m. N. of Eregli. The road to karadagh passes by the ruins of 2 ancient towns, one of which is marked by numerous tombs excavated in the rock, the other by broken columns and ancient blocks built into the walls of cottages.

Karadagh. – The ruins of Bin-bir-Kilisseh are very interesting and extensive; but with the exception of some large tombs and sarcophagi, resembling those at Hierapolis, appear to belong to the early ages of Christianity. They consist chiefly of the remains of Byzantine churches of great antiquity, built of the red and grey porphyritic, trachyte of the neighbouring hills. It seems almost probably that these are the ruins of Lystra, an episcopal see under the Byzantine emperors, which accords with the existence of so many churches; whereas Derbe, which has been hitherto supposed to be here, is not even mentioned by the ecclesiastical writers.

Karaman (Laranda), situated about 2 m. from the foot of the mountains. Its appearance now indicates poverty. The houses, in number about 1000, are separated by gardens. It possesses only 3 or 4 mosques; but the ruins of several others, and the remains of a castle, show that it was once a place of importance. The only manufactures are coarse cotton and woollen stuffs; but they send hides, wool, and acorns used in dyeing, to the neighbourhood of Smyrna. It is called Laranda by the Greeks. It was the capital of a Turkish kingdom, which lasted from the time of the partition of the dominions of the Seljukian monarchs of Iconium until 1486, when all Karamania was reduced to subjection by the Ottoman emperor Bajazet II. Karaman derives its name from the first and greatest of its princes, who, on the death of Sultan Aladin II., about the year 1300, made himself master of Iconium, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycaonia, and a large portion of Phrygia and Cappadocia. The Ottomans, upon obtaining possession of Karaman, subdivided it into Kharidj the counter, and Itshili the interior country; probably because to them, who came from the N.E., Itshili, which comprises the Cilician coast and Cyprus, lay behind or within the mountains; Iconium, the former Seljukian capital, became the seat of the Ottoman pashalik; and the decline of the town of Karaman may be dated from that period.

The chief ancient towns near Laranda were Derbe and Lystra, whose names have been immortalised by the sacred writer of the Acts of the Apostles. They were situated at the foot of the Karadagh, Lystra being S., and Derbe S.E. from Iconium. Their sites are uncertain.

Devli is probably the site of Derbe, which, we learn from Hierocles, was called Delbia, whence the change to Devli is most simple. About the middle of the first century B.C. Derbe was the residence of an independent chief, or robber, as Strabo calls him, named Antipater, who possessed also Laranda. Antipater having been slain by Amyntas king of Galatia, Derbe fell into the power of the latter, who had already received Isauria from the Romans, upon its reduction by Servilius. Amyntas conquered al Pisidia, as far as Apollonia, near Apamea Cibotus; but having fallen in fighting with the Homonadeuses, his dominions devolved to the Romans; who, having not long afterwards succeeded also to those of Archelaus king of Cappadocia, made a new distribution of these provinces, in which Derbe was the western extremity of the Cilician præfecture of Cappadocia.