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—
KHAVSA 31
fitted stones, one supposed, had seen the legions, and
Byzantine lancers, and Georgian mercenaries of the
Empire of Trebizond, and then, most picturesque of
all, the Seljuk cavalry. And now, as I passed, across
them rode a figure who represented the Osmanlis
a shabby blue zaptieh with slung rifle, mounted on
a grey with sweeping tail. And I wondered who
next these wise old stones would see as rulers.
From this point a long, hot, dusty road descended
gently with many windings to the small town of
Khavsa, which faced me from its sunburnt hillside
for more than two hours. A parched, uninteresting
country lay on either side,—treeless, with little cultivation
and few villages. But under slanting sunlight
the mountains stood in delicate blues and purples,
with pink on the snow, and hollows and swellings
carried subtle variations of light and shade ; and a
brilliant atmosphere seemed to varnish all distant
features. By this time, also, we had overtaken the
general body of south -going traffic, and peasants
carrying their purchases were returning slowly from
market. Amid these scenes I went down into Khavsa
for the night uncomplaining, despite heat and dust
and a dull country.
Khavsa is a watering-place whose reputation extends
far over Anatolia. Its fame for medicinal baths goes
back to Boman times ; and now as then many come
to take the waters, but more especially to bathe in
them.
Baths, and large rambling khans, and a few eatinghouses—
better, perhaps, than the average— are all
the attractions that Khavsa can show its visitors at
the present day. For the rest it is dirty and insignificant
: geese and fowls and dogs wander at large
in its streets ; there is scarcely a green tree in sight,
—the town concerns itself entirely with elementals.
Yet it seems to have been, at one time, a place with
pretensions. I saw fragments of marble columns,
and friezes, and tiles, also a small bronze vessel, like
an amphora, that had been unearthed here ; and