CHAPTER XVII.

THE TEMPLE OF VENUS.

Bishop of Baffo—View of the Ruins—Gigantic Stones—Old Temple—Curious Holes in Stones, producing Echo—Mosaics—Sacrificial Rites—The Idol Stone—Ruins of former City—View from the Temple—An Admirer of Sappho—A Turkish Farmer—Queen’s Cave—An inscribed Stone Slab—Rock-cut Tombs—Watch-tower—Dinner: Bill-of-Fare—A Turkish Housewife—Nocturnal Reflections—Worship of Venus—Holy Cloth for the Caaba—The Cone-shaped Stones—Doves of Venus—Meteoric Stones 139