After An Hour And A Half's Scramble We Turned To The Right Beneath A
Perpendicular Cliff Of Exquisite Colouring On Our Left, Combining The
Bright Red Which Denoted The Presence Of Iron, With The Dark Purple And
The Silvery Grey Of The Jura Limestone.
On our right was a deep and
precipitous ravine, sparsely covered with evergreen shrubs.
In this
spot, metamorphic rocks lay in rough and huge blocks of various shapes
and colours, and while examining these I was struck by the presence of
the rare and peculiar green marble known as verde antica. In the
immediate neighbourhood I discovered great masses of the same stone, but
minus the green base, exhibiting at the same time the characteristics of
irregular mosaic in the angular fragments of white, black, and various
coloured pieces which appeared to be artificially inlaid. These marbles,
especially the true verde antica, would be exceedingly valuable if cut
into slabs and exported, and there would be little difficulty in
constructing a feasible route for camels, which would convey with ease
large slabs secured in frames slung upon either side.
A few yards above this spot we arrived at a solitary cypress-tree, which
in density of foliage resembled a yew-tree in an English churchyard.
Close to this rare object was an aperture in the rocks upon the right
hand; a few roughly-hewn steps enabled us to descend into a narrow cave,
where water dripped from the roof, and formed a feeble stream, which was
led through crevices to a cistern some yards below. This cistern was
within a few feet of the cypress-tree, and accounted for its superior
growth, as the roots had been duly nourished. About a hundred feet above
this spot were the ruins of an ancient Greek church, that had no doubt
been associated with the holy dripping fountain, and the solitary tree
had been spared from the ruthless axes of the lime-burners through some
superstition connected with the spot. On arrival at the crumbling ruins
of the church, we dismounted from our animals, and put them in the rude
stable of the lime-burners who had located themselves among the walls of
the once religious buildings, which they had converted into huts.
Animals could go no farther; we therefore continued the ascent on foot,
to the delight of my dogs, who seemed to think it looked more like
business.
There was a large growth of the usual shrubs arbutus, mastic, and
dwarf-cypress, and the surface of the ground was so completely covered
with masses of rock that walking was most difficult. Notwithstanding the
apparent barrenness of the locality, we arrived at a tolerably even
surface of rich brown soil in a hollow near the shoulder of the
mountain; this had recently been cleared for cultivation by the
lime-burners to the extent of about two acres, and I remarked that both
pine-trees and cypresses as thick as a man's thigh had recently been
felled and burnt in spite of the government stringent regulations.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 50 of 274
Words from 25648 to 26154
of 143016
