Note 41 — Chapter IV · [41] THE TROAD

[Since this chapter was written the labours of Schliemann and Dorpfeld have excavated Hissarlik, commonly considered to be the site of Troy, though some prefer to identify the city of the Iliad with the ruins of Bunar Bashi, farther inland. Hissarlik is a huge mound, in a singularly desolate plain about an hour’s ride from Kum Kale, at the entrance of the Dardanelles, and is said to be composed of the ruins of no less than eight or nine cities placed one on the top of the other. Of the older layers the best preserved are the second and sixth cities. There are no statues, inscriptions, or other indications, so that the structure of this pile of dead towns is excessively difficult to understand, and only becomes intelligible when explained by someone thoroughly acquainted with the course of the excavations; for in order to reach the lower layers it has naturally been necessary to displace the upper ones. The general character of the scene is still excellently described by Byron’s lines in Don Juan, Cant. iv.: