DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0348
318
WOODEN HUTS.
[Chap. xix.
S.W. the chain of mountains called Elek Dagh was most
conspicuous, while the valley of the Kara Su lay before us
to the south, beyond which were five distinct ranges of hills
rising one above the other, and all extending from east to
west. A few minutes before eight, after emerging from
the forest, we reached a small yaila, or summer village,
the wooden Imts of which are probably not very different
from those alluded to by Xenophon,* in the country of the
Mosynoeci, where I had seen similar abodes along the shores
of the Euxine. They are on the sloping side of a hill,
and consist of two floors or apartments : that which is entered
from the lower ground, and is the smallest of the two, having
a kind of shed supported by wooden pillars in front, serves
as the stable; while the other, which is entered from the
higher ground, and extends over the shed or portico, is the
dwelling.
From hence we decended to the bottom of a deep valley ,
watered by a considerable stream flowing S.E. The woods
here became thin and scanty, consisting of wild pears and
oaks, and a shrub called Kiziljik, which bears a small red
berry not unlike the jujube, but more acid, and which
is much relished by the Turks. The upper formation of
these hills is a thin-bedded micaceous sandstone, dipping
north; but lower down, consists in a great measure of
thick-bedded limestone, with the same north dip, but at a
greater angle. At nine o'clock, three miles from the yaila,
all trees and wood were fast diminishing, and a mile farther
south they had entirely disappeared, except on the banks of
the streams or in the immediate vicinity of the villages, so
that the country had assumed a burnt-up yellow lrae, form-
ing a striking contrast with the luxuriant vegetation which I
had left on the shores of the Black Sea. A few minutes after
nine, quitting the rocky valley on our left, we crossed a
remarkable ridge of conical hills, stretching S.S.E. in a
straight line one beyond the other; and after baiting our
horses near a small village celebrated for its honey, we en-
* Xen. Anab.
WOODEN HUTS.
[Chap. xix.
S.W. the chain of mountains called Elek Dagh was most
conspicuous, while the valley of the Kara Su lay before us
to the south, beyond which were five distinct ranges of hills
rising one above the other, and all extending from east to
west. A few minutes before eight, after emerging from
the forest, we reached a small yaila, or summer village,
the wooden Imts of which are probably not very different
from those alluded to by Xenophon,* in the country of the
Mosynoeci, where I had seen similar abodes along the shores
of the Euxine. They are on the sloping side of a hill,
and consist of two floors or apartments : that which is entered
from the lower ground, and is the smallest of the two, having
a kind of shed supported by wooden pillars in front, serves
as the stable; while the other, which is entered from the
higher ground, and extends over the shed or portico, is the
dwelling.
From hence we decended to the bottom of a deep valley ,
watered by a considerable stream flowing S.E. The woods
here became thin and scanty, consisting of wild pears and
oaks, and a shrub called Kiziljik, which bears a small red
berry not unlike the jujube, but more acid, and which
is much relished by the Turks. The upper formation of
these hills is a thin-bedded micaceous sandstone, dipping
north; but lower down, consists in a great measure of
thick-bedded limestone, with the same north dip, but at a
greater angle. At nine o'clock, three miles from the yaila,
all trees and wood were fast diminishing, and a mile farther
south they had entirely disappeared, except on the banks of
the streams or in the immediate vicinity of the villages, so
that the country had assumed a burnt-up yellow lrae, form-
ing a striking contrast with the luxuriant vegetation which I
had left on the shores of the Black Sea. A few minutes after
nine, quitting the rocky valley on our left, we crossed a
remarkable ridge of conical hills, stretching S.S.E. in a
straight line one beyond the other; and after baiting our
horses near a small village celebrated for its honey, we en-
* Xen. Anab.