'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎342] (415/905)

X an thus.
Ancient
government
of Lycia.
342 INSCRIPTIONS IN THE LYCIAN CHARACTER, [CHAP. XV.
are Sidyma, possibly Cragus, 1 and Pinara. The latter is near
the village of Minara, and exhibits a pile of ruins, comprising
numerous rock-tombs and sarcophagi, in addition to a temple
and a theatre, which are backed by the rugged peaks of Cragus,
and command a striking view of the country surrounding the
rich valley of the Xanthus. 2 Towards the lower part of this
valley are the ruins of the ancient capital, comprising a theatre,
several temples, triumphal arches, walls, and elaborate tombs'
altogether displaying the most elegant designs, with highly
finished poetical subjects in bas-relief. 3
The site of Xanthus itself is extremely romantic, portions
of the ruins being on beautiful hills; others rise perpendicularly
from the winding river, or crown the summits of rocks, whilst
a rich plain, the mountain chain of Patra and the range of
Cragus, complete the panorama 4 of the most considerable of
all the cities of Lycia. 5
The inscriptions lately found in the Lycian character are of
great importance in connexion with the early history of that
country, since they belong to a period antecedent to its occu
pation by the Greeks. Col. Leake, however, in his remarks
on the inscl-iptions, &c., found in Caria and Lycia by Messrs
Forbes and Hoskyns, observes, that we cannot safely ascribe
an earlier date to those inscriptions than the fifth century B.C.,
or about the period when Lesser Asia was subject to Darius
Hystaspes. We know that the first colonists from Greece to
Lycia settled m the valley of the Syrbes or Xanthus; but it was
not till about two centuries before the Trojan war that thev
succeeded in driving the ancient inhabitants'from the recesses
of Mount Solyma. 6 Subsequently Lycia appears to have been
governed by a kind of federation, consisting of six principal,
and 17 secondary cities; deputies were sent from each, and
the governors, magistrates, &c., were chosen from the whole
' lp° lonel Leake ' s Remarks on Mr. Hoskyns's Survey.
Mr. Hoskyns's Survey.
* Mr. Fellowes's Journal in Asia Minor, 1838 p 227
Ibid. ' 1
5 Strabo, lib. XIV., p. 666.
6 Colonel Leake's Observations on Mr. Hoskyns's Survey.