I knew that the town had been sacked on this occasion, but was not prepared to find such a complete picture of desolation.  The place is surrounded with a substantial wall, with two gateways, on the north and south.  A bazaar, covered with a lofty vaulted roof of stone, runs directly through from gate to gate; and there was still a smell of spices in the air, on entering.  The massive shops on either hand, with their open doors, invited possession, and might readily be made habitable again.  The great iron gates leading from the bazaar into the khans and courts, still swing on their rusty hinges.  We rode into the court of the mosque, which is surrounded with a light and elegant corridor, supported by pillars.  The grass has as yet but partially invaded the marble pavement, and a stone drinking-trough still stands in the centre.  I urged my horse up the steps and into the door of the mosque.  It is in the form of a Greek cross, with a dome in the centre, resting on four very elegant pointed arches.  There is an elaborately gilded and painted gallery of wood over the entrance, and the pulpit opposite is as well preserved as if the mollah had just left it.  Out of the mosque we passed into a second court, and then over a narrow bridge into the fortress.  The moat is perfect, and the walls as complete as if just erected.  Only the bottom is dry, and now covered with a thicket of wild pomegranate trees.  The heavy iron doors of the fortress swung half open, as we entered unchallenged.  The interior is almost entire, and some of the cannon still lie buried in the springing grass.  The plan of the little town, which appears to have been all built at one time, is most admirable.  The walls of circuit, including the fortress, cannot be more than 300 yards square, and yet none of the characteristics of a large Oriental city are omitted.

Leaving Baias, we travelled northward, over a waste, though fertile plain.  The mountains on our right made a grand appearance, with their feet mantled in myrtle, and their tops plumed with pine.  They rise from the sea with a long, bold sweep, but each peak falls off in a precipice on the opposite side, as if the chain were the barrier of the world and there was nothing but space beyond.  In the afternoon we left the plain for a belt of glorious garden land, made by streams that came down from the mountains.  We entered a lane embowered in pomegranate, white rose, clematis, and other flowering vines and shrubs, and overarched by superb plane, lime, and beech trees, chained together with giant grape vines.  On either side were fields of ripe wheat and barley, mulberry orchards and groves of fruit trees, under the shade of which the Turkish families sat or slept during the hot hours of the day.  Birds sang in the boughs, and the gurgling of water made a cool undertone to their music.  Out of fairyland where shall I see again such lovely bowers?  We were glad when the soldiers announced that it was necessary to encamp there; as we should find no other habitations for more than twenty miles.