ENTRANCE TO THE BLACK SEA.       88

PLATE: BUYUDÈRÈ. (From the Giant's Grave)

Nor must the Giant's Mountain itself be passed over in silence, claiming, as it does, the notice of the traveller, nor more by its stateliness of outline, than by its romantic legend; both the one and the other being occasionally so enveloped in clouds, that it is difficult to determine the exact features of either.

This noble height is, during the summer months, a favourite resort of the Franks, who, fanned by the cool breezes from the Black Sea, and regaled by one of the finest views in nature, give pic-nic parties and dances under the shade of the trees, or in the neat wooden tenement appropriated to visitors, near the Tekiè, or Convent, which occupies its summit. The Dervishes who inhabit this mountain-hermitage derive no inconsiderable portion of their revenue from the presents tendered by their guests, and willingly show to the stranger their small but well-kept chapel, and the grave of their gigantic hero, who has given his name to the spot; and with the most devout and solemn simplicity, the narrow oblong enclosure, thickly planted with rose and jasmine-trees, called the "Giant's Grave," is then pointed out by the simple recluses. It is about fifty feet in length, guarded with the most religious care, lighted by a lamp which is constantly kept burning in one of the alcoves, and rich in propitiatory offerings of strips of cloth, and rags of every tint and texture.

The Mussulmauns affirm that the "illustrious dead" was a Dervish, whose sanctity equalled his stature; a belief which does him infinite honour, as he is said to have seated himself on the summit of the mountain, while he bathed his feet in the cool waters of Buyukdèrè. His mode of interment must, consequently, have been similar to the planting of a flag-staff, as the grave is not too long to admit the breadth of his shoulders; and this perpendicular burial can alone account for its comparatively pigmy dimensions - unless, indeed, the mountain is hallowed only by containing a mere fragment of his remains. His history, and the epoch in which he flourished, are alike unknown; but as his sanctity is undoubted, they are minor facts, unworthy of analysis.

Such is the Mahommedan tradition; that of the Christians, if quite as apocryphal, is at least more poetical.

Their legend saith, that the grave of the Jouchi-Daghi contains the bones of a huge and ferocious giant, to whom the Symplegades were thralled vassals; and who, from his station on the mountain-crest, watched the approach of every vessel that ventured to brave the billows of the Euxine. It was at his beck that the subject-islands wandered over the waters, and crushed between their rocky sides all those unwary barks which, tempted by the vision of a new El Dorado beyond the channel, sought to force the passage of the Bosphorus.