from the - west, another affluent, called the Gok su (Blue
River),
This latter river, which represents the ancient Amnias, has
for one of its tributaries the stream called the Dadah, whose
waters enter it after having fallen into the short river of Kas-
tamuni a few miles below the city of that name. The valley
of the-Gok Irmak, the Kara su of Kinneir, runs N.E. for
six miles, and then turns E.N.E., opening towards the main
river; it contains numerous villages, which are surrounded by
vineyards, gardens, and groves of poplars. At Ilik Tagh the
valley becomes so narrow as only to leave room for the water
to flow through. But after passing Boi-Abad it begins to
widen, and runs nearly east; being in this part of its course
fertile, well wooded, arid covered with villages, which are at
short distances from one another, and occasionally hidden by
lofty and precipitous promontories. The average width of
the Gok su is from half a mile to a mile; its course is characterized
by abrupt windings and long reaches between wooded
hills and rocky precipices; occasionally luxuriant vegetation
surrounds its villages, and the country exhibits a succession
of varied and beautiful landscapes.1 This river has but few
tributaries of importance, and it eventually falls into the
Kizil Irmak just where the latter overcomes an almost impenetrable
rocky barrier. It ultimately gains its own smooth
bed of alluvium, over which it flows with diminished velocity2
to the N.E., till it enters the Black Sea near the town of
Bafirah, 40 miles west of Samsun, after a course of upwards
of 700 miles. The Kizil Irmak, however, is not available
for the purposes of navigation, in consequence of the rapids
which occur in passing through the several chains of mountains,
the Kirk Delim, Kush Tagh, A1 Goz, and Ada Teppeh;
as well as from the existence of volcanic rocks in its bed at
certain places. The elevation of the Kara Bel, or Paryadres,
at the springs of the river, is 5800 feet above the Black Sea;
and that of the springs themselves, at Koch Hissar, is 4000
feet. Such is the general course of the Kizil Irmak, or
Halys, the noblest river of Hither Asia: it traverses Lower
1 Mr. Ainsworth’s MS. 3 Ibid.
Asia almost the whole way from the sea of Cyprus to the
Euxine, and was once the boundary of the kingdom of
Croesus on the east. Herodotus1 says, that the empire of
Lydia was divided from Media by the river which comes
from the Armenian mountains. It runs at first through
Cilicia; then between Matiena on the right and Phrygia on
the left; afterwards it passes the lands of the Syrians, having
Cappadocia to the right and Paphlagonia to the left. And,
according to Arrian,2 it divides the Sinopians from the
Armenians. Its name3 is derived from the salt country
through which it passes.. The Turkish name is, however,
Kizil (Red), such being the colour of the soil throughout
much of its course. Pliny call's it an immense river of Asia
Minor;4 and Strabo says that its waters are of a salt and
bitter taste ;6 which is particularly the case in the salt districts
of Sivas and Yarapason.
The country bordering on the Halys is, for the most part,
but thinly peopled, and only partially cultivated; chiefly
owing, as it is said, to the apprehension entertained that the
produce may be consumed by the hordes of Kurds who
inhabit, the mountains in summer, and descend to the plains
in winter, accompanied by their numerous flocks; but more
probably for want of a commercial outlet. Here the produc-
tions of a warm climate are found, such as melons, figs, pomegranates,
grapes, &c., as well as the dye called yellowberry.
There is, on the whole, such a fair proportion of the necessaries
of life, that the people are at their ease, notwithstanding
the forced loans exacted by the Kurds, and the other impositions
to which they are subject. Throughout a distance of
about 100 miles E.N.E., from Yuz Kat to Tokat, the country
is a succession of plains, separated by low hills. This part
is well peopled, well cultivated,7 and enjoys a moderate
1 Lib. I. c. 72; also V. c. 52.
8 Arrian, Periplus.
8 In Greek, "AXwc.—Strabo, lib. XII., p. 35. 4 Lib. VI., c. 2.
5 Lib. XII., p. 546 ; and Excerpta ex Strabone in Dodwell, p. 46.
6 Rhamnus infectorius.
7 Wherever I have been in Asia Minor, the fields were thoroughly cleaned
by weeding during the early part of the growth of the grain.