huts, partly inhabited, and
with some wheat-fields around them. We breakfasted at another well, which
furnished us with a drink that tasted like iced sea-water. Thence we rode
forth again into the heat, for the wind had fallen by this time, and the
sun shone out with great force. There was ever the same dead level, and we
rode directly towards the mountains, which, to my eyes, seemed nearly as
distant as ever. At last, there was a dark glimmer through the mirage, at
their base, and a half-hour's ride showed it to be a line of trees. In
another hour, we could distinguish a minaret or two, and finally, walls
and the stately domes of mosques. This was Konia, the ancient Iconium, one
of the most renowned cities of Asia Minor.

Chapter XX

Scenes in Konia.

Kpproach to Konia---Tomb of Hazret Mevlana--Lodgings in a Khan--An
American Luxury--A Night-Scene in Ramazan--Prayers in the
Mosque--Remains of the Ancient City--View from the Mosque--The
Interior--A Leaning Minaret--The Diverting History of the Muleteers.

"But they shook off the dust on their feet, and came unto
Iconium."--Acts, xiii. 51.

Konia (Ancient Iconium), _June_ 27, 1852.

The view of Konia from the plain is not striking until one has approached
within a mile of the suburbs, when the group of mosques, with their heavy
central domes lifted on clusters of smaller ones, and their tall, light,
glittering minarets, rising above the foliage of the gardens, against the
background of airy hills, has a very pleasing effect. We approached
through a long line of dirty suburbs, which looked still more forlorn on
account of the Ramazan. Some Turkish officials, in shabby Frank dresses,
followed us to satisfy their curiosity by talking with our _Katurjees_, or
muleteers. Outside the city walls, we passed some very large barracks for
cavalry, built by Ibrahim Pasha. On the plain north-east of the city, the
battle between him and the forces of the Sultan, resulting in the defeat
of the latter, was fought.

We next came upon two magnificent mosques, built of white limestone, with
a multitude of leaden domes and lofty minarets, adorned with galleries
rich in arabesque ornaments. Attached to one of them is the tomb, of
Hazret Mevlana, the founder of the sect of Mevlevi Dervishes, which is
reputed one of the most sacred places in the East. The tomb is surmounted
by a dome, upon which stands a tall cylindrical tower, reeded, with
channels between eac