After about two hours’ riding, we reached what appeared to me to be the ruins of a church, standing close to the shore, and beside these a heap of ancient hewn stones, lying ready to be shipped for Port Saïd, where they were to be employed in the construction of a new harbour. On our left rose a mountain, with fields of corn extending to a considerable distance up its slopes. My dragoman was most desirous to ride on, without my lingering to investigate the spot, and when I assured him that this mount was certainly the site of the ancient Amathus, positively asserted that not a trace of anything was to be seen. I believe the rascal was afraid he should again get more climbing than suited his indolence, for he declared in piteous accents that it would take us fully an hour to reach the summit. By this time, however, I knew the gentleman I had to deal with, and persisted in my determination to make the attempt. Our road was certainly of the steepest, but the way was short, and in about fifteen minutes we were at the top. Much did I rejoice that I had persevered in my own course, for before me lay the spot that I had sought. The mount was indeed a natural fortress of the first order, and must have afforded most secure refuse during the disturbed periods of the island’s history. On the side facing the sea, by which we had ascended, I could trace the foundations of an ancient rampart. On the other three sides, such protection had been quite unnecessary, as the rock rose sheer, and almost perpendicularly from the fruitful valley at its base. Here had once stood a large city, founded by the Phœnicians, which is still called in Hebrew, Hamath, or the fortified city. The building appears to have covered the eminence, and from thence extended to the shores of the sea. Tacitus, and other ancient writers, speak of Amathus as the oldest city in Cyprus; at the present day, it may be described as the one of which the traces have been most ruthlessly destroyed. With the exception of the shattered pieces of a gigantic vase, of which I shall speak presently, and the ruined church upon the coast, no trace is left of its former greatness. From the top of the mount to the very shores of the sea, every sign has been removed, beyond that afforded by heaps of broken stones and potsherds.