“On the hill on which it stood nothing is now visible but a vast amount of stones, plaster, and broken pottery. Even the hill itself is fast losing its form, while the rock of which it is composed is being cut away, to be shipped at Port Saïd, bringing to the merchants of Limasol a profitable return. From the great amount of _débris_ which covers the surrounding fields, for the most part untilled, Amathus, it would seem, though small in area, must have been a thickly populated city. Originally the upper part of the hill had been encircled by a wall, remains of which are now scarcely perceptible; portions, however, of another wall of a later period may especially be observed on the southern side looking towards the sea, and following the sinuous windings of the hill. I found imbedded in this wall pieces of terra-cotta jars and fragments of granite columns, which had been used as building materials. On the southern side, portions of it ran as far as the shore. It is probable that the square built ruin, at the southern end of the hill, formed a gateway, since, between the city and the sea-shore, there was, and still is, the high road to Paphos. On the crest of this hill I dug at several places, until I came to the solid rock, but failed to discover any sculptured remains of importance. I found, however, sufficient evidence to convince me that most of the building materials of what I call the Phœnician city, had been used for the construction of the later Greek buildings.” “Amathus, when subsequently inhabited by a Greek population, spread itself in a more south-easterly direction, and nearer to the sea-shore, protected by the second wall, which I spoke of, and though at the time of its destruction by King Richard of England, it was still the seat of the last Duke of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenas, it had already lost most of its splendour and importance.” “It was on the top of this hill, that M. de Vögue discovered the large stone vase which is now deposited in the museum of the Louvre. Near the same spot, there are fragments of what seems to have been a similar vase. In the immediate vicinity of the site where these vases were found, I dug up, on a former excursion, three large shafts of columns, of a hard bluish stone, resembling granite. I left them half-buried in the soil, with the intention of examining them on a future occasion; but when I returned, the columns had disappeared, having been broken up for building purposes. There are thousands of stones on the top and sides of this hill, which would equally well suit the purposes of these workmen, but it seems that they are possessed by some infatuation or evil mania for destroying whatever bears the traces of man’s handicraft. It is the more to be regretted, since among the ruins very few architectural or sculptured remains are now found.”