'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.' [‎312] (381/905)

312 CITY OF SMYRNA. [CHAP. ^CIV.
Cybele, 1 and several others, give to the ruins some resemblance
to the ancient city of Agrigentum. 2 A few miles northward
is the colossal tumulus of Alyattes ; 3 and around Lake C0I06
are the tombs and tumuli of the other kings of Lydia. 4
Smyrna, although not the seat of government, is, for other
reasons, the most important place in Asia, and, with the excep
tion of Allah Shehr (Philadelphia), it is the only city of the
seven which still flourishes.
Gulf of ismir. The rugged, picturesque mountains, which for nearly 20
miles extend along the northern and southern shores of the
Gulf of Ismir, give it an European rather than an Asiatic
character ; for the capacious inlet is not by any means unlike
some of the firths in Scotland. Near the southern side of
the entrance is the fine anchorage of Oarlse (Vourla), and
at the bottom, or eastern extremity of the inlet, is the harbour
of Smyrna, which is defended by a respectable castellated
building, and affords a fine anchorage close to the wharfs.
Smyrna. The city, with its extensive groves of cypress, orange, and
fig-trees, rises amphitheatrically from the water's edge in the
form of a triangle, some of the ancient walls remaining, and
a castle on Mount Pagus constituting its apex; Turk town
forms the western, and Frank town ? with its stores, wharfs,
&c., the eastern, or opposite extremity. Plain houses, with
tiled roofs and gaudily painted balconies, some twenty mosques,
and a proportion of khans, baths, and kiosks, interspersed!
together with the prominent buildings which display the
flags, and not unfrequently the taste, of the different European
consuls, produce an effect which is at once striking and
peculiar to Smyrna. The mixture of styles of architecture
the picturesque environs of the city, and the numerous vessels
belonging to all nations which ride at anchor or stand under
sail, constitute a coup d'oeil almost rivalling that which is
presented by the splendid scenery of the Bosphorus.
The population approaches 130,000, and consists of about
1 Leake's Asia Minor, p. 265.
Journal written during an Excursion in Asia Minor in 1838, by Charles
Fellows Esq 289. . Herodotus. lib. I., c xdii.
Strabo, lib. XIII., p. 627.