Smyrna [Izmir] Sun. Ap 7. Dearest Father. I found your letter last night when I returned from Nif [Kemalpasa]. I will try and go to Andrea tomorrow before I leave. It is quite true about the floods in the interior. There has not been such a winter within living memory. All the orange trees here were killed by the frost and the bridges on the railways were broken down. But they are now working over temporary bridges so I don't see why the carpets shd not come down. I am much interested about the iron and steel address. It will be very good I feel sure. You might send me a copy to Konia [Konya (Iconium)]. We had a very successful visit to Nif, the Cumberbatches and I. We drove off on Friday at 8, went across the Burnabat [Bornova] plain and over a small pass and down into a plain encircled by the beautiful snowy ridges of Sipylus and Tmolus. From the top of the pass we could see into the Hermus [Gediz] valley between Magnesia [Manisa] and Sardis. I went all up it 5 years ago. The road was awful after the pass. We stuck in the mud frequently and had to make long expeditions into the surrounding country to avoid deep water courses which broke through the road cheerfully every now and then. We had an escort of 4 mounted men with us, for Nif lies very near to the centre of the great brigand's operations; Chekerji is his name, it is on everyone's lips here. As far as I can make out he is not the least likely to be caught for he murders everyone who gives information against him, has one of the palace officials in C'ple [Istanbul (Constantinople)] in his pay and terrorises all those here on the spot. My journey won't take me into his country so you need not be anxious - not that you would be! We got to Nif soon after 12. It's classical name was Nymphaeum; it lies caught between the hills in a gorge, with a Byzantine castle climbing up the first spur of the mountains above it. The anemones were all out on the castle top and the plum trees in the plain and every hedge was full of violets, but the cherries for which it is famous had not yet come into flower and the groups of poplars, which mark every Turkish village, stood like tall grey shadows without a beginning of green. We lodged in a Greek house on the outskirts of the village, very like our lodgings in Greece only alas! we had no beds with us. We spent the afternoon seeing the sights of Nif, the castle and a Byzantine palace. There were bits of old work built into many of the houses, mostly Byzantine frieze; the fountain in the middle of the village was a sarcophagus. The storks were building on all the roofs; you saw them flying about with large bits of stick in their beaks. After tea we sat outside and saw the village people come home. Then we played dummy Bridge till dinner and then we went to bed on our landlady's quilts with all the fleas and bugs in the world. I didn't sleep much; one has to be in training for these things. Next day we rode off at 7 with an escort of 8 men (they would probably have run away if Chekerji had appeared, but he didn't fortunately). We rode up a narrow delicious gorge and in an hour and a half came to the Sesostris monument which Herodotus describes. It is carved in a niche in the face of the rock looking up the valley, about a hundred feet above the road. It is very much weather worn but you can still see the warrior with his pointed cap and pointed shoes, holding his bow in his right hand and his spear in his left and guarding the great road that led across the hills to Sardis. Bellow him a little down stream the rock is sliced away to make room for the path. The modern paved bridle road runs on the other side of the stream; I've no doubt the rock hewn track is part of the old road. At this point there is a second figure carved on a boulder. I think it was never finished, anyhow only the feet and thighs are to be seen. He too wears the pointed shoes. But whether they are Hittite or Phrygian I will leave to my betters to decide. So we rode back to Nif and then drove home to Smyrna getting in about 5. It was a very hot stuffy day, grey with a sort of scirocco blowing. I'm glad I've seen that thing; it was worth going to.
I lunch with the Edward Whittalls today and dine with the Richard Whittalls and tomorrow I go for the night to Malcajik to the Oscar van Lenneps. Your affectionate daughter Gertrude

Is Wha[?] better? I heard she was ill. And how does the rock garden look? very rocky? Yes I've seen Stank[?]. It's charming