St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-10-06
A Week in the Troad.
BN &. A. SAVAGE.
continued from last meek.l

| ''"''H"" from ttSI WPfh,
we hade our readers good-bye last
week hN the ruined city of Arabian.
IL WAS near night when we arrived at
the little Turkish town of Boun,rh,sbi
ana we felt that We were trcadium ou
classic ground. The great question may
never ot settled, but large number of
the scientific men who have asked
themselves abi Tr0ja fuit. and have
made Investigations on the subiert
have decided that it must have been ON
the heights just back of Bounnrbashi.
Ii Is Wretched Turkish village that
now stands on the spot. remalkohlc
principally Tor It's Storks. The Turks
ii"ld them III great veneration, and con
slider 1t remarkably good omen if one
VIII hulld ITS nest on their roof or Chin
neN top. The village of Bounarbashi
Is highly favored, for suppose that ON
the 40 houses there ale 80 storks. and
the great long legged fellows stand ON
thell chimney nests on n summer even
Ih%, and clattcr their bills until one i'm
AGNES that the whole army of In.
Greeks with their brazcu armor is
coming.
1t was Saturday night. Jones did not
want t" stay there that night. and had
he known that our principles did not
allow us To travel on Sunday. he would
have looked Sourer than he did. There
WAS no place for bis horses he said. and
II" grain. suppose the poor fellow
told the truth, tor he had to turn his
horses out 10 grass, and stay ont him
self all light to watch them lest hey b,.
stolen. He wanted to ride on some two
miles further to the farm OF Mr.. Cal
vert. and We afterwards Iued the daN
We did not follow his advice. but We
knew that Mr.. G. WAS not at home. and
did NOT know aS il would be quite the
thing to 90 and quarter ourselves. five
men aud five horses ON his servants over
Sunday. So Jones had To consent. and
We pitched our tent at Bounarba>hi for
the night
here are two questions OF vital in
tcrt>t and Importance to the student of
Homer. and the ancient classics. They
ale. l>t Where was ancient Troy? I'd
Was it anNw here! | have placed
them III this apparently illogical order,
lt.t If j. Il, Il,
they ASSUME in the mind of the one
who investigates the subject He goes
/" he place which for 200 Years has
been called the plain of Troy. expect
ing at once To decide the question where
the famous city stood. and he comes
away with his mind troubled with the
question, did the old city exist at all ?
1t Is Il sad thing to find that the rock
I" which one has anchored his faith
of whatever kind has broken from its
foundation and is drifting away. Poca-
hont;i> and William Tell were once as
real characters to me as the apostle
Paul and the lovely sister OF Lazarus.
and have not yet recovered from the.
shock that my mind received when |
first heard doubts thrown upon THEN
reality. | once believed in Troy as
filmly as in Jerusalem. The story of its
sad fate WAS my first introduction to
the ancient classics, and to il pinned
my classical faith. 1t is not then IA
pleasant thing To have Il donht thrown
upon the reality of its existence. cN-
ccpt in the imagination of the past.
premise " hat have to say of Troy
itself 10y thus suggesting the possibility,
not because ! fully believe that such
WAS the casc, but because am con
WINGED that it may he, and because of
the difficulties that present themselves
III trying to identify the places dccrihcd
by Homer. | may here say however,
that after careful examination of the
ground, am convinced that there il
no place in the TrOad that will fulfill all
the requirements of the Had. Nor
would it he probable that such IL PLACE
could he found A poet of the present
day. with nothing but local traditions
to rely upon for intormalion, would not
he likely to describe very accurately
events that took place during the reign
Of Queen Elizabeth, but this is precisely
what is demanded of Homer by those
who regard the minutiT of the Had, |
as record of facts. Surprising, then.
that the Had is founded upon facts,
viz, that there was Il city of Troy, and
that it was destroyed by an invasion of
Greeks, we come to the question, where
WAS it \ certain writer, | do not re-
member who, has placed it in Egypt.
Others have supposed it To have been on
I he site where aftcrwarwaIdS WAS built |
Troas. but with these few |
every one has supposed ii |
to have been Somewh here on the plateau
which runs along the east side of the |
Trojan plain.
located it at Il place which was called |
Ilium, built 10y IA Greek colony. some
three or four miles from the Hellespont. |
1t WAS here that Ner1cs stopped |
aud offered sacrifices just before he
crossed into Europe by IL bridge of
boats over the Iiellcspont. Here, too,
Alexander the Great found Il village
hearing the name of llium. to which he
granted large immunities, offering sac