336 PASHALIK OF AFIYUM KARa HISAR. [ c h a p . XV.
craters and a bed of scoriaceous lava broken into a thousand
forms, with a mixture of hills and valleys, which by Hassel-
quist have been compared to the waves, high billows, and
gulfs of a boisterous ocean suddenly converted into stone—is
not, however, without verdure, being dotted with fruit-trees ;
the vine especially flourishes; and a considerable portion of
this singular tract is well cultivated.1;) I , ; ,
The Pashalik of Afiyum Kara-hisar forms the south-eastern
limit of the preceding district, from Ishekli to Hamzah Haji,
having Koniyeh to the east, Hamid to the south-west, and Angora
to the north-east. At the western side it is separated by
a range of hills from the plains of Kutahiyah, and on the
south-east by those of Dombai, which intervene between it and
Koniyeh, but the rest consists of level tracts, such as the plains
of Sandukli and Afiyum Kara-hisar, on which opium is so
successfully cultivated as to give to the capital the name last
mentioned, signifying Opium Black Castle. This'place, probably
the ancient Metropolis,2 is nearly in the centre of the small
district to which it gives its name; and it occupies the foot
of a rocky range of hills at the entrance of a valley on the
western side of the plain. The castle is very conspicuous,
being built on a kind of rocky basaltic spar, and it commands
the north-western side of the town. The latter contains
about 6000 houses of clay and wrood, amidst which the Serai
of the Pasha and a double domed mosque are conspicuous.
In addition to the preparation of opium and some madder, the
inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of black felts.
At the south-western extremity of the Pashalik is the plain
of Sandukli, with a town of about 700 houses, under a Dereh
Bei, and towards the opposite are the A’yanliks of Eski-Kara-
hisar, and of Beiad; and more eastward the dependency of
Bolawadin, a considerable town on the borders of Angora,
Compare Hasselquist’s Voyages and Travels in the Levant, p. 33, London,
1116, and Dr. Chandler’s Travels in Asia Minor, pp. 230, 231, 241, with
ArundeU’s Discoveries, Vol. I., p. 42 to 51; and Mr. W. J. Hamilton’s
Journey, Vol. VII. Part I., p. 39; and Vol. VIII., p. 142, &c., of the Royal
Geographical Journal.
8 Leake’s Asia Minor, p. 57.