represents the Paphlagonian Olympus, continues, as before,
in a westerly direction to Za’faran Boll, beyond which place,
after sending the Fch-il-ler Taghi and Kara Kaya groups to the
N.N.W., it makes, under the name of Durnah Ya'ila-si, (Mount
Armenius,) a sweep south-westward; and showing the groups
of Beinder Tagh previously to its joining the Ali Tagh. The
latter is the commencement of the Bithynian Olympus, which,
like that of Paphlagonia, is chiefly of limestone, and covered
with timber; its successive groups carry the line westward
along the borders of Bithynia to the banks of the Sakariyah
or Sangarius, and from thence, under the name of the Kudje
Tagh or Demir ji range, into Mysia. This great arm is, as
will be presently seen, connected on one side by the Murad
Tagh with the Southern Taurus, whilst on the other it sends
out the celebrated branch of Ida, and other offsets, towards the
shores of the Propontis; the highest and most remarkable
being that which takes a north-west direction, along the
southern side of the Bithynian capital. Splendid oriental
planes shade the houses and walks at the foot of Mount Olympus,
and the sides of the latter present groves of large chestnut
and walnut trees, which, in ascending the mountain, are
succeeded by the oak, fir, spruce, and near its bare crest, the
juniper; this crest, at an elevation of nearly 5000 feet, overlooks
the city of Brusa and the rich mulberry plantations of
the surrounding plain. The northern side of the plain is shut
in by spurs and offset branches from the main chain, whose
sides, clothed with myrtle, broom, heath, the Valonia oak,1
and a profusion of arbutus, are reflected from numerous fresh
lakes, and the picturesque inlets of the Sea of Marmora. .
Reverting to the chains which intersect the interior. From
the north-eastern extremity of the territory, double lines of
groups take a diagonal direction, and, as they advance, partly
inclose the head valleys of the Frat, the Lycus, the Halys,
and the Melas. The more northern of the two branches forms
an acute angle with the Pontic chain as it diverges from it in
a south-westerly direction, passing along the Sheitan Dereh-si
(Devil’s Valley) and the plain of Lori to the town of Gemeri,
1 Quercus Aegilops.
probably the Gymnias of Xenophon. From thence it continues
in the same direction to Kara Hisar, previously showing,
towards the east, the elevated Almali Tagh and the high
ground near U’leh-She'ivan, with the lofty and remarkable
mountain of Gaur Tagh rising above it on the north.
The range is chiefly of limestone, bearing the barberry and
rose-bush, near the half sunken villages of the Armenian and
Kurdish population, and its sides are covered with pine forests
almost to Kara Hisar. Here, however, naked masses of red
sandstone mark the seat of the extensive alum mines of Shebb-
Khaneh, and likewise connect the mountains on the northern
side of the valley of the Yechil-Irmak (Green River) and the
plain of Akshar with those forming the limits of both to the
south. The former range, under the name of Tekeli Tagh,
sweeps westward of Kara Hisar, where, being designated
Gemi-beli (ship peak), and subsequently Koseh Tagh (Mount
Thin Beard), it bounds the wide table-land as far as a point
20 miles north of Sivas, where it separates. One branch,
called the Ak or Akajik Tagh, continues along the plain of
Kaisariyeh till it meets the north-western offsets from Arjish
Tagh, and it consists of groups of hills less or more continuous,
occasionally showing Armenian or Turkoman villages on
its wooded sides. The other and more considerable branch
has nearly a western direction, first showing the lofty and
remarkable peak called Yulduz Tagh (Star Mountain) and the
limestone chain of Chamlu Bel,1 sloping into the valley of
Tokat from a height of 5260 feet, and having, as the name
indicates, its sides covered with pine forests.2
The groups southward of the plains of Sivas and Kaisariyeh
are bolder and more numerous than those lying to the northward,
which have just been followed.
Towards the eastern side is the Kara-Bel, which, from the
point of junction with the Tekeli Tagh, skirts the table-land
of Sivas and the southern side of the plain of Kaisariyeh ; and
a little way down its slopes, southward of the former town, is
Yarbassan, which is the Yailah or winter habitation of an
1 Scydisses of Strabo, lib. XI., p. 479.
s Ainsworth’s Assyria and Babylonia, p. 288.
VOL. I. u