specially suffered from the conflagration that destroyed the city, are
rapidly crumbling away, and will probably have quite disappeared in a
few years. However, the flags of stone on the northwestern half of the
road, which have been less exposed to the heat, may still last many
centuries.

"In this day, closing the excavations at Ilium forever, I can not but
fervently thank God for His great mercy, in that, notwithstanding the
terrible danger to which we have been exposed owing to the continual
hurricanes, during the last three years' gigantic excavations, no
misfortune has happened, no one has been killed, and no one has been
seriously hurt.

"In my last report I did not state the exact number of springs in
front of the Ilium. I have now visited all the springs myself, and
measured their distance from my excavations, and I can give the
following account of them. The first spring, which is situated
directly below the ruins of the ancient town-wall, is exactly 399
yards from my excavations; its water has a temperature of 60.8 deg.
Fahrenheit. It is enclosed to a height of six and-one-half feet by a
wall of large stones joined with cement, nine and one-quarter feet in
breadth, and in front of it there are two stone troughs for watering
cattle. The second spring, which is likewise still below the ruins of
the ancient town-wall, is exactly 793 yards distant from my
excavations. It has a similar enclosure of large stones, seven feet
high and five feet broad, and has the same temperature. But it is out
of repair, and the water no longer runs through the stone pipe in the
enclosure, but along the ground before it reaches the pipe. The double
spring spoken of in my last report is exactly 1,033 yards from my
excavations. It consists of two distinct springs, which run out
through two stone pipes lying beside each other in the enclosure
composed of large stones joined with earth, which rises to a height of
seven feet and is twenty-three feet broad; its temperature is 62.6 deg.
Fahrenheit. In front of these two springs there are six stone troughs,
which are placed in such a manner that the superfluous water always
runs from the first trough through all the others. It is extremely
probable that these are the two springs mentioned by Homer, beside
which Hector was killed.

"'They (Hector and Achilles) in flight and pursuit,
They by the watch-tower, and beneath the wall
Where stood the wind-beat fig-tree, raced amain