acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

—
6 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
the water. The whole scene was a resurrection of
the past that vouched for its own accuracy, and
carried conviction. I knew beyond doubting that
just such boats, with bare-legged steersmen in easy
postures, and crews singing as they rowed, had put
out to the fishing on warm summer nights like this,
2000 years ago, when the coast was dotted with
flourishing Greek cities. The cities had gone, some
even to the name ; but the blood remained, and with
it traditions of boat-building and rigging, and custom
of the sea, and the lore of old-time fishermen.
And further, as an outward characteristic of this
wonderful coast is a curious quality of mystery. For
much the greater part of its length it is a coast of
mountains which rise steeply from the sea. Lebanon
and Amanus and the long snow-topped wall of Taurus
—so they come in order, bearing familiar names
then Mountains of Caria, and Ionia, and Ida that saw
ancient Troy, and next the Mysian Olympus, whose
snow is seen across Marmora all the way to Constantinople.
And along the Black Sea are Mountains
of Bithynia, and Paphlagonia, and Pontus, growing
ever more lofty as you pass eastward. Those ranges
which confront the Mediterranean appear more often
as violet mountains sleeping in sunlight above a sea
of amethyst ; but those of the north are blue, are
generally clothed with forest, and have a skyline
bristling with pine-trees ; and the sea before them
knows winter as well as summer, and is more
changeful in colour.
Whether mountains of north or south, however, all
have an aspect of being the jealous exterior guardians
of mystery and romance. Seen day after day rising
out of the sea ahead, and sinking into the sea astern,
they produce this impression to a degree which is
surprising. On the coasts of Greece and Italy and
Norway, or of any other mountainous land, the mountains
themselves seem to be the interior. But you
voyage round three sides of the great peninsula of Asia
Minor and feel that the interior is always walled in ;