DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0233
204 RUSSIAN FRONTIER. [Chap. xiii.
theory of their formation ; but I cannot help observing that
the whole geology of this district of Armenia, connected
with the immediate vicinity of Mount Ararat, seemed to me
to coincide in a remarkable manner with the account of the
Sacred Historian, from which it derives a charm and interest
which is most satisfactory to the lovers of geological investi-
gations.*
At half-past nine, three miles from Maurelc, we reached
the banks of the Kars river flowing from the N.W., and
had some difficulty in fording it, as two of the baggage
horses were taken off their legs, and carried a short way
down the stream. We then ascended the table-land be-
tween the river of Kars and the Arpa Chai, into which the
former falls a mile or two below the ford, and soon saw
the latter flowing through a wide valley on our right, be-
yond which the continuation of the plateau coidd be traced
for a considerable distance, resting against higher hills.
After descending into the plain of the Arpa Chai we ad-
vanced along the Turkish frontier for two miles, until we
reached the village of Ghuraigel. Here we observed, as
in most of the villages along this frontier, a large ruined
oblong building of stone, and of peculiar construction. It
resembled something between a church and a castle, and
perhaps had served for both purposes; in one or two
villages on the Russian side we also observed similar
buildings, some of them quite insulated.
Soon after twelve we reached the heights opposite the
Russian quarantine ford of Giimri, whence, by the help of
our glasses, we distinctly saw the works which the Russians
were erecting on the heights of Giimri, though for what
purpose it would be difficult to say, as they cannot dread
an invasion on the part of Turkey. The Arpa Chai here
flows through rich and extensive meadows, on each side
of which, at a distance of rather less than a mile from
the river, the hills rise abruptly, forming the table-land
before mentioned, capped on both sides by a black volcanic
* See Appendix. Note C.
theory of their formation ; but I cannot help observing that
the whole geology of this district of Armenia, connected
with the immediate vicinity of Mount Ararat, seemed to me
to coincide in a remarkable manner with the account of the
Sacred Historian, from which it derives a charm and interest
which is most satisfactory to the lovers of geological investi-
gations.*
At half-past nine, three miles from Maurelc, we reached
the banks of the Kars river flowing from the N.W., and
had some difficulty in fording it, as two of the baggage
horses were taken off their legs, and carried a short way
down the stream. We then ascended the table-land be-
tween the river of Kars and the Arpa Chai, into which the
former falls a mile or two below the ford, and soon saw
the latter flowing through a wide valley on our right, be-
yond which the continuation of the plateau coidd be traced
for a considerable distance, resting against higher hills.
After descending into the plain of the Arpa Chai we ad-
vanced along the Turkish frontier for two miles, until we
reached the village of Ghuraigel. Here we observed, as
in most of the villages along this frontier, a large ruined
oblong building of stone, and of peculiar construction. It
resembled something between a church and a castle, and
perhaps had served for both purposes; in one or two
villages on the Russian side we also observed similar
buildings, some of them quite insulated.
Soon after twelve we reached the heights opposite the
Russian quarantine ford of Giimri, whence, by the help of
our glasses, we distinctly saw the works which the Russians
were erecting on the heights of Giimri, though for what
purpose it would be difficult to say, as they cannot dread
an invasion on the part of Turkey. The Arpa Chai here
flows through rich and extensive meadows, on each side
of which, at a distance of rather less than a mile from
the river, the hills rise abruptly, forming the table-land
before mentioned, capped on both sides by a black volcanic
* See Appendix. Note C.