At a depth of from 8 to 10 meters (26 to 33 feet), I have found numerous fragments of a substance, about 2¾ inches broad and 1¾ thick, which is on the inside as hard as stone and of a resinous colour, and on the outside it has a brilliant gloss, which has evidently been produced artificially. It has clearly been poured into a mould when in a liquid state, for it is channelled on all four sides. Doubtless in the continuation of my excavations I shall obtain an explanation of how these pieces (the length of which I do not yet know, as I have hitherto only met with fragments) were made, and what they were used for.[99]
The numerous house-walls, the ruins of which I have daily to remove, are, at the depth of from 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet), all built of ordinary unhewn stones joined with clay; and from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) they are made of unburnt bricks, dried only in the sun. The foundations and the door-cills of these brick houses, however, consist of large stones, such as we have not met with since 2 meters (6½ feet) below the surface.
Lastly, as regards the inclination of the walls of my great cutting, the nature of the débris allowed me only in three places, each of about 49 feet in length, to make it at an angle of 85 degrees; in all other places it is at an angle of 67½ degrees. In order to make this more clear, I may add that my walls of 33 feet high at an angle of 85 degrees deviate only about 25½ inches, but those of 67½ degrees deviate about 8½ feet from the perpendicular.
It would give me much pleasure if, in my next communication, I could report some very interesting discovery.
November 21st.—The heavy rainfall of yesterday and the day before, which continued till this morning, rendered it impossible to dispatch this report before the evening; for I am here living in a wilderness at eight hours’ distance from the nearest post-office, that is, from the Dardanelles. I hope that the ground will have become sufficiently dry by to-morrow morning for me to proceed with my work. I intend, at all events, to continue the excavations till the appearance of winter, and then to begin again in April.
The constant warm damp weather produces a very malignant fever, and my services as a doctor are daily sought. Fortunately, I have a large stock of quinine by me, and can thus help everyone. But as I do not understand anything about medicine I should, no doubt, make great mistakes. Fortunately, however, I remember that once when I was at the point of death with a fever contracted in the marshes of Nicaragua, the excellent German physician, Tellkampf of New York, saved my life by a dose of 64 grains of quinine. Hence I give a similar quantity here, but only in one dose when the case is a very bad one; the quantity I generally give is four doses of 16 grains. I am also daily called upon not only to cure wounded men, but camels, donkeys, and horses. I have hitherto been successful in all cases by using tincture of arnica. I have also, thus far, cured all the fever patients who have applied for my help. Not one of them, however, has ever come to thank me; indeed, gratitude does not appear to be one of the virtues of the present Trojans.
CHAPTER V.
Interruptions from Rain—Last works of the season, 1871—The supposed ruins of Troy reached—Great blocks of stone—Engineering contrivances—Excavations at the “Village of the Ilians:” no traces of habitation, and none of hot springs—Results of the excavations thus far—Review of the objects found at various depths—Structure of the lowest houses yet reached—Difficulties of the excavations—The object aimed at—Growth of the Hill of Hissarlik.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, November 24th, 1871.
SINCE my last report, of the 18th and 21st instant, I have had three days’ work in spite of the continual wet weather; but unfortunately I find myself now compelled to cease the excavations for the winter, intending to begin again on the 1st of April, 1872. It is not likely that winter will set in before the middle of December, and I should gladly have continued my work till then, in spite of the rain, especially as I now most firmly believe that I am already among the ruins of Troy. Since the day before yesterday, I find on the whole extent of my excavations scarcely anything but large stones—sometimes hewn, sometimes unhewn—and some of them are enormous blocks. This morning, for instance, I worked for three hours with 65 workmen in removing a single threshold by means of ropes and rollers.