rty consisted of our consul and his two nieces, very
excellent specimens of Levantine-born people of English stock; an
Armenian gentleman, Mr. A----, and his wife; and three of our officers.
Due preparation was made by kind Mr. G---- in the way of sending hampers
of provision and wine, and in ordering horses to meet us at Aiasulouk,
the nearest station to Ephesus, and about fifty miles by rail from
Smyrna.

We were obliged to start very early in the morning, for there was only
one daily passenger-train each way on the Smyrna and Aidin Railroad. The
road was far from being remunerative to the bond- and stock-holders at
that time, and I fancy it has not been so since. There seemed, indeed,
scant reason for any passenger-train at all, for, besides our own party,
there were only two or three Zaptiehs, truculent-looking fellows, a
couple of English merchants and some rayahs.

The contrast between the bustling noise and modern associations of the
railway-train and the mediaeval-looking environs of Smyrna, through which
it threaded its way, was sufficiently striking to occupy one's thoughts
for some time after starting, especially as alongside the railway ran
for some distance the caravan-route, already filled by strings of camels
and their drivers--most picturesque objects in such a landscape. Most
of the native traders prefer that time-honored mode of transportation to
the iron horse, and a large proportion of the merchandise received at
this most important commercial centre came on the backs of camels, mules
and asses. Aidin, the southern terminus of the road on which we were
travelling, is a great depot of the figs which we have all eaten from
infancy put up in drums; and the freight of these is one of the
principal sources of revenue to the railway. That more products of the
soil are not sent in this way is rather the fault of the wretched
government than of the rayahs or agricultural laborers. They are ground
to the very earth by iniquitous taxation, and only manage to live from
hand to mouth in what should be a land of plenty.

After the railroad turns southward it follows a broad valley between two
low mountain-ridges, the western one being rather precipitous. Here and
there were ledges which were occupied by the flocks of Bedouins and of
Yourouks (a true nomad race, speaking a Turkish dialect), as well as by
their low, broad black tents, scarcely distinguishable at that
elevation. These people had encroached upon la