There is a mosque entire, with its pulpit and galleries, and the gilded crescent still glittering over its dome.  Behind it is a bath, containing an entrance hall and half a dozen chambers, in which the water-pipes and stone tanks still remain.  With a little alteration, the building would make a capital Phalanstery, where the Fourierites might try their experiment without contact with Society.  There is no field for them equal to Asia Minor—­a glorious region, abounding in natural wealth, almost depopulated, and containing a great number of Phalansteries ready built.

We succeeded in getting some eggs, fowls, and milk from an old Turcoman who had charge of the village.  A man who rode by on a donkey sold us a bag of yaourt (sour milk-curds), which was delicious, notwithstanding the suspicious appearance of the bag.  It was made before the cream had been removed, and was very rich and nourishing.  The old Turcoman sat down and watched us while we ate, but would not join us, as these wandering tribes are very strict in keeping Ramazan.  When we had reached our dessert—­a plate of fine cherries—­another white-bearded and dignified gentleman visited us.  We handed him the cherries, expecting that he would take a few and politely return the dish:  but no such thing.  He coolly produced his handkerchief, emptied everything into it, and marched off.  He also did not venture to eat, although we pointed to the Taurus, on whose upper snows the last gleam of daylight was just melting away.

We arose this morning in a dark, cloudy dawn.  There was a heavy black storm hanging low in the west, and another was gathering its forces along the mountains behind us.  A cold wind blew down the valley, and long peals of thunder rolled grandly among the gorges of Taurus.  An isolated hill, crowned with a shattered crag which bore a striking resemblance to a ruined fortress, stood out black and sharp against the far, misty, sunlit peaks.  As far as the springs were yet undried, the land was covered with flowers.  In one place I saw a large square plot of the most brilliant crimson hue, burning amid the green wheat-fields, as if some Tyrian mantle had been flung there.  The long, harmonious slopes and rounded summits of the hills were covered with drifts of a beautiful purple clover, and a diminutive variety of the achillea, or yarrow, with glowing yellow blossoms.  The leaves had a pleasant aromatic odor, and filled the air with their refreshing breath, as they were crushed under the hoofs of our horses.

We had now reached the highest ridge of the hilly country along the northern base of Taurus, and saw, far and wide before us, the great central plain of Karamania.  Two isolated mountains, at forty or fifty miles distance, broke the monotony of the desert-like level:  Kara Dagh in the west, and the snow-capped summits of Hassan Dagh in the north-east.  Beyond the latter, we tried to catch a glimpse of the famous Mons Argseus, at the base of which is Kaisariyeh, the ancient Caesarea of Cappadocia.  This mountain, which is 13,000 feet high, is the loftiest peak of Asia Minor.  The clouds hung low on the horizon, and the rains were falling, veiling it from our sight.