DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0259
230
MaLASSA.
[CllAl'. XIV.
bekir, there are extensive copper-mines, for which the di-
rector of the mines of Giimischkhana is obliged to furnish
annually 500 men to cut wood. I presume they return home
every year after the season for cutting is over, as this mining
district could not sustain such a constant drain. Here
again I had occasion to regret the difficulty of obtaining
real information from a Turk, who, though he makes them
with great fluency, is for ever loose and contradictory in
his statements.
At half-past twelve, after crossing the plain, we ascended
low sandstone hills in a S.W. direction, and in half an hour
reached the large straggling village of Malassa. The extent
of its gardens and the neatness of its streets showed it to
have been once a considerable place, but it was destroyed
by the Russians during the last war. The inhabitants are
chiefly Armenians, and our guides described it as a Giaour
Kieui. From hence we proceeded over sandy hills, through
which trap rocks have burst up, three miles W.S.W., until
we descended to the banks of the Tchoruk, here flowing in
a winding course from S.S.W. to N.N.E. through a well-cul-
tivated plain about a mile in width.
Ascending the narrow valley on the right bank of the
river, we passed at half-past two an enormous mass of rock
lying between the river and the road, at least forty feet high.
The following tradition was told us by the suriji respecting
it:—A village once stood near the spot, and the rock in
question was a haystack belonging to an old woman; one
day a traveller arrived on horseback, and requested food
for his hungry steed, but the old woman refused to comply
with his request, in' consequence of which, to punish her
avarice and want of hospitality, her haystack was turned
into stone. While listening to this tale, I had almost for-
gotten to look about for the real cause of the singular
occurrence, but soon perceived that the hill to the left was
capped with a thick bed of limestone, of which the block
in question had once formed a part. This limestone, dipping
W. by S. 15°, rests conformably upon marly sandstones,
MaLASSA.
[CllAl'. XIV.
bekir, there are extensive copper-mines, for which the di-
rector of the mines of Giimischkhana is obliged to furnish
annually 500 men to cut wood. I presume they return home
every year after the season for cutting is over, as this mining
district could not sustain such a constant drain. Here
again I had occasion to regret the difficulty of obtaining
real information from a Turk, who, though he makes them
with great fluency, is for ever loose and contradictory in
his statements.
At half-past twelve, after crossing the plain, we ascended
low sandstone hills in a S.W. direction, and in half an hour
reached the large straggling village of Malassa. The extent
of its gardens and the neatness of its streets showed it to
have been once a considerable place, but it was destroyed
by the Russians during the last war. The inhabitants are
chiefly Armenians, and our guides described it as a Giaour
Kieui. From hence we proceeded over sandy hills, through
which trap rocks have burst up, three miles W.S.W., until
we descended to the banks of the Tchoruk, here flowing in
a winding course from S.S.W. to N.N.E. through a well-cul-
tivated plain about a mile in width.
Ascending the narrow valley on the right bank of the
river, we passed at half-past two an enormous mass of rock
lying between the river and the road, at least forty feet high.
The following tradition was told us by the suriji respecting
it:—A village once stood near the spot, and the rock in
question was a haystack belonging to an old woman; one
day a traveller arrived on horseback, and requested food
for his hungry steed, but the old woman refused to comply
with his request, in' consequence of which, to punish her
avarice and want of hospitality, her haystack was turned
into stone. While listening to this tale, I had almost for-
gotten to look about for the real cause of the singular
occurrence, but soon perceived that the hill to the left was
capped with a thick bed of limestone, of which the block
in question had once formed a part. This limestone, dipping
W. by S. 15°, rests conformably upon marly sandstones,