However, we mean well.

I wish to say a brief word of the aspect of Ephesus.

On a high, steep hill, toward the sea, is a gray ruin of ponderous blocks

of marble, wherein, tradition says, St. Paul was imprisoned eighteen

centuries ago. From these old walls you have the finest view of the

desolate scene where once stood Ephesus, the proudest city of ancient

times, and whose Temple of Diana was so noble in design, and so exquisite

of workmanship, that it ranked high in the list of the Seven Wonders of

the World.

Behind you is the sea; in front is a level green valley, (a marsh, in

fact,) extending far away among the mountains; to the right of the front

view is the old citadel of Ayassalook, on a high hill; the ruined Mosque

of the Sultan Selim stands near it in the plain, (this is built over the

grave of St. John, and was formerly Christian Church); further toward

you is the hill of Pion, around whose front is clustered all that remains

of the ruins of Ephesus that still stand; divided from it by a narrow

valley is the long, rocky, rugged mountain of Coressus. The scene is a

pretty one, and yet desolate--for in that wide plain no man can live, and

in it is no human habitation. But for the crumbling arches and monstrous

piers and broken walls that rise from the foot of the hill of Pion, one

could not believe that in this place once stood a city whose renown is

older than tradition itself. It is incredible to reflect that things as

familiar all over the world to-day as household words, belong in the

477

The Innocents Abroad