Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/216

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
174
TRAVELS AND DISCOVERIES

that they included the quarter called Neo Maras, north of the present town, and the greater part of the sandy spit beyond, for the following reasons. On this shore, as will be seen by the Admiralty chart, No. 1637, are two rows of windmills, which converge towards the point of the spit, and run nearly parallel with its shores. Between the two last windmills on the western shore, that is to say those most distant from the point of the sandy spit, is a foundation cropjiing up through the sand on the edge of the sea.

On excavating here, I traced three lines of massive foundations, apparently the base of an oblong tower. The wall nearest the sea measured 26 yards, running N.N.E. by N. Another ran at right angles to it for 29 1/2 yards, when it made a return. The opposite wall could only be traced for 15 yards. This foundation is composed of large blocks of conglomerate, 8 feet 6 inches wide. The length of the longest was 15 feet 10 inches. The depth of these blocks was 1 foot 7 1/2 inches. The foundation facing the sea had on its outer face a step 1 foot 6 inches wide. This face has been worn smooth by the action of the sea. The two foundations running at right angles, were entirely concealed beneath sand and shingle, under which, as I advanced towards the windmills, I found ancient soil, with fragments of pottery. A little to the S.W. of these foundations is a rocky ridge running out into the sea, and forming a natural breakwater. Between the windmills and the French church is a swampy hollow, which during most part of the year is covered with