We rose very early yesterday morning, shivering in the cold air of the mountains, and just as the sun, bursting through the pines, looked down the little hollow where our tents were pitched, set the caravan in motion.  The ride down the valley was charming.  The land was naturally rich and highly cultivated, which made its desertion the more singular.  Leagues of wheat, rye and poppies spread around us, left for the summer warmth to do its silent work.  The dew sparkled on the fields as we rode through them, and the splendor of the flowers in blossom was equal to that of the plains of Palestine.  There were purple, white and scarlet poppies; the rich crimson larkspur; the red anemone; the golden daisy; the pink convolvulus; and a host of smaller blooms, so intensely bright and dazzling in their hues, that the meadows were richer than a pavement of precious jewels.  To look towards the sun, over a field of scarlet poppies, was like looking on a bed of live coals; the light, striking through the petals, made them burn as with an inward fire.  Out of this wilderness of gorgeous color, rose the tall spires of a larger plant, covered with great yellow flowers, while here and there the snowy blossoms of a clump of hawthorn sweetened the morning air.

A short distance beyond Kuembeh, we passed another group of ancient tombs, one of which was of curious design.  An isolated rock, thirty feet in height by twenty in diameter, was cut so as to resemble a triangular tower, with the apex bevelled.  A chamber, containing a sarcophagus, was hewn out of the interior.  The entrance was ornamented with double columns in bas-relief, and a pediment.  There was another arched chamber, cut directly through the base of the triangle, with a niche on each side, hollowed out at the bottom so as to form a sarcophagus.

Leaving these, the last of the Phrygian tombs, we struck across the valley and ascended a high range of hills, covered with pine, to an upland, wooded region.  Here we found a summer village of log cabins, scattered over a grassy slope.  The people regarded us with some curiosity, and the women hastily concealed their faces.  Mr. H. rode up to a large new house, and peeped in between the logs.  There were several women inside, who started up in great confusion and threw over their heads whatever article was most convenient.  An old man, with a long white beard, neatly dressed in a green jacket and shawl turban, came out and welcomed us.  I asked for kaimak, which he promised, and immediately brought out a carpet and spread it on the ground.  Then followed a large basin of kaimak, with wooden spoons, three loaves of bread, and a plate of cheese.  We seated ourselves on the carpet, and delved in with the spoons, while the old man retired lest his appetite should be provoked.  The milk was excellent, nor were the bread and cheese to be despised.