Kizil-Irmak, and it spreads its affluents over a large portion
of the territory lying immediately westward of the latter
river. The western and principal arm appears to have two
sources in Lycaonia, which, after uniting near Sevri-Hisar,
takes a N.N.E. course through the wide and flat plain1 in
which it meets the eastern branch. The latter is formed by
several streams, one of which, the Angora su, has two
branches, viz. the Tahanli Chai and Chibuk su, both of
which rise to the eastward, and unite below, or a little
westward of that place. And in a wild and rocky valley, at
some distance in the latter direction, the trunk is joined by
the Tcher su, which comes from the Murtah Ovah-si, nearly
25 miles north of the city,2 and flows through a similar
country.
After a tortuous course of about 20 miles W. S. W. through
a country of gypsum, the trunk formed by the Angora river
and the Tcher su, enters into defiles of granite, and then
falls into the Sakariyah, or western arm. The course of
the ancient Sangarius is now westward till it receives the
Kutahiyah branch, or Thimbres, about 30 miles N.E. of this
place; soon afterwards it winds northward through Bithynia
to the shores of the Black Sea, about 30 miles short of which
it has a width of 372 feet.3
The tributaries of the great Mendereh water a considerable
tract towards the south-western portion of the peninsula.
The most remarkable of these is the ancient Mseander, which
has two sources in Phrygia. The eastern, or Marsyas, the
Catarractes4 of Herodotus, issues from a small lake; and,
after r u n n i n g north-westward through the town of Deenare,
at the foot of Mount Celsense, it is joined by the western, or
MEeander;5 and then flows W.N.W. till it receives the San-
d nkli Chai from the N.E. The trunk, called by the Turks
1 Mr. W. J. Hamilton’s Journey, p. 56.
a Mr. Ainsworth’s Journey from Angora : Vol. X. Part III p. 218, of the
Royal Geographical Journal.
3 Ibid., p. 219. 4 Lib. VII. c. xxvi.
5 Ibid.; also Discoveries in Asia Minor, by the Rev. F. V. J . Arundell,
Vol. I., pp. 230, 231; and Leake’s Asia Minor, p. 158 and following.
Buyuk Mendereh, after running for a time to the S.W. and
W., receives the Banas Chai' and Kopli su, both of which
come from the N.E. After flowing for some time in the
previous, or south-westerly direction, the river is joined on
„its southern side by the Tchoruk su, or Lycus, which is
formed by numerous tributaries, such as the Ak su, the Gul
Bunar su, &c. The Mseander now inclines a little more
westward, and is increased by the Kara su (Mosynus), the
Arpah su, the Cheena Chai (Marsyas), and many inferior
tributaries, as it makes a tortuous course between Lydia and
Caria, till it enters the Mediterranean nearly opposite
Patmos.
On the south-western side of the peninsula are the copious
streams watering the plains of Cilicia, two of which" have
their most distant sources in the Anti-Taurus, northward of
A1 Bostan, and subsequently traverse the whole width of the
Taurus from north to south in a remarkable manner : again,
farther west, the high ground north of Golek Boghaz
separates the western branch of the ancient Sarus from the
principal source of a third stream, the river of Tarsus.
The latter is the celebrated Cydnus, which, under the
name of the Mezarluk Chai, has its rise in the heart of the
great chain, and on the southern slope of the elevated ground
in question; from whence it flows by Golek Boghaz, winding
S.S. eastward through the pass, and along the plain in the
same general direction, receiving in this part of its course,
but more particularly on the western side, several affluents
coming from the southern slopes of the Taurus. A short
distance from Tarsus the Cydnus breaks over, and partly
through a ledge of brecciated rocks, with a fall of about 18
feet, resembling that of Schaifhausen in miniature; it is,
however, more picturesque, since it forms several wooded
islands as it approaches the town. A little southward of
the city it receives a considerable feeder from the north, and
taking nearly the direction of the latter, the trunk has a
south-westerly course through the alluvial plain to the shores
of the Mediterranean.