DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0121
Chap, vi.]
AHADJ HISSAR.
93
juniper, dwarf ilex, and a few scattered oaks. As we ad-
vanced, however, our road led through extensive oak-cop-
pices and fir-woods. A deep valley on our left several
miles off proved to he that of the Rhyndacus, flowing
hetween perpendicular cliffs of white cretaceous limestone,
the horizontal stratification of which was very distinctly
marked; and in which Mr. Strickland discovered some
freshwater tertiary shells, and layers and nodules of flint,
resembling those found near Smyrna.
At 3h. 45m. we reached Ahadj Hissar, the wretched ap-
pearance of which induced us to listen to the recom-
mendations of the inhabitants not to stop there, but to
proceed to another village two hours farther on. Descend-
ing to the bed of the river on the east, we passed the ruins
of a castle built upon a steep and insulated rock, overhang-
ing the river and commanding the pass. Another existed a
few miles lower down, by which our road would have been
shortened, but the Agha of Adranos had desired our guides
to bring us here, in order that we might see the castle.
The course of the Rhyndacus was almost from S. to N.,
winding along the bottom of a narrow valley, in which it
is confined by hills of cretaceous limestone, of lacustrine
origin. It is therefore evident, from this and former obser-
vations on the formations through which the Rhyndacus
flows, that its valley must have represented in former times
a chain of lakes, in each of which a lacustrine formation was
deposited, which existed until the accumulation of water, or
the convulsion of an earthquake, broke down their tem-
porary barriers. The river was here called the Gieuk Su,*
and did not appear much less than at Kirmasli. After
crossing it by a wooden bridge, we ascended hills of white
limestone for nearly two miles to the small village of Haidar,
built almost entirely of wood, where we were lodged in the
travellers' Oda, a dirty hut over a stable, and the refuge of
* A very universal term applied to rivers, signifying water derived from the sky
or heaven, or atmosphere.
AHADJ HISSAR.
93
juniper, dwarf ilex, and a few scattered oaks. As we ad-
vanced, however, our road led through extensive oak-cop-
pices and fir-woods. A deep valley on our left several
miles off proved to he that of the Rhyndacus, flowing
hetween perpendicular cliffs of white cretaceous limestone,
the horizontal stratification of which was very distinctly
marked; and in which Mr. Strickland discovered some
freshwater tertiary shells, and layers and nodules of flint,
resembling those found near Smyrna.
At 3h. 45m. we reached Ahadj Hissar, the wretched ap-
pearance of which induced us to listen to the recom-
mendations of the inhabitants not to stop there, but to
proceed to another village two hours farther on. Descend-
ing to the bed of the river on the east, we passed the ruins
of a castle built upon a steep and insulated rock, overhang-
ing the river and commanding the pass. Another existed a
few miles lower down, by which our road would have been
shortened, but the Agha of Adranos had desired our guides
to bring us here, in order that we might see the castle.
The course of the Rhyndacus was almost from S. to N.,
winding along the bottom of a narrow valley, in which it
is confined by hills of cretaceous limestone, of lacustrine
origin. It is therefore evident, from this and former obser-
vations on the formations through which the Rhyndacus
flows, that its valley must have represented in former times
a chain of lakes, in each of which a lacustrine formation was
deposited, which existed until the accumulation of water, or
the convulsion of an earthquake, broke down their tem-
porary barriers. The river was here called the Gieuk Su,*
and did not appear much less than at Kirmasli. After
crossing it by a wooden bridge, we ascended hills of white
limestone for nearly two miles to the small village of Haidar,
built almost entirely of wood, where we were lodged in the
travellers' Oda, a dirty hut over a stable, and the refuge of
* A very universal term applied to rivers, signifying water derived from the sky
or heaven, or atmosphere.