carefully, I found it to be an artificial tumulus, a so-called heroic tomb; indeed, the fragments of ancient pottery, which peep out from it here and there, can leave no doubt on the point. This tumulus had never yet come under the notice of any modern traveller, but it was evidently known to Strabo,[1] who mentions here three tombs, namely, those of Achilles, Patroclus, and Antilochus; whilst until now we knew only of the two tombs attributed to the two former heroes. I shall revert to the newly discovered tumulus in the subsequent pages.
The Plain of Troy used to be covered in April and May with red and yellow flowers, as well as with deep grass; but this year, for want of moisture, there were no flowers and barely any grass at all, so that the poor people had hardly anything for their flocks to feed upon. We had not, therefore, to complain this year of being annoyed, as in former years, by the monotonous croaking of millions of frogs, for the swamps being dried up in the lower Simois valley, there were no frogs at all, except a few in the bed of the Kalifatli Asmak. The locusts appeared this year later than usual, namely, towards the end of June, when nearly all the grain had been harvested; they therefore did not do much damage.
The first flocks of cranes passed over the Plain of Troy on the 14th of March; the first storks arrived on the 17th of March. The cranes do not make their nests here; they merely stop a few hours for food, and fly on to more northerly regions.
A slight shock of earthquake occurred on the 1st of April, at 5 h. 15½ minutes P.M.
One of my first works was to bring to light all the foundations of the Hellenic or Roman edifices in the part of Hissarlik still unexcavated, and to collect the sculptured
- ↑ XIII. p. 596, Casaubon. Compare Chap. VI. p. 242.
