CHAPTER XI.

DERBE. KARAMAN.

Rock Cemetery—Brilliant Colouring of the Plain—Treacherous Climate—Excavating the Sarcophagus—Serpek on the Site of Ancient Derbe—Derivation of the Name Devleh—Tradition of Villagers—Our Hostess’s Butter—Storehouses of the Natives—Wages—Sterling Character of the Osmanlis—Climate in Winter—Wolves—How the Peasants pass the Winter—Happy Condition before the Famine—Laziness of the Men—Inscriptions—Volcanic Cones—Discovery of the Sarcophagus—Dimensions—It had been broken into before—Its Contents—Description of the Sarcophagus—Brilliant Colouring of the Mountain Ranges—A Wilderness—The Tomb of Hadji Ahmed—Great Marsh—Clearness of the Air—Sidevre—Inhospitality of its People—A Keurdt—The Yeni Khan—A Hospitable Friend, and his History—The Merchants of Kaisariyeh—Appearance of Karaman—Climate—Former Importance of the Place—Mosques—Valideh Tekkesi—Khatounieh—Beautiful Gateway—No Remains of Ancient Laranda—Courtesy and Kindness of the People of Karaman 270-300