DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0365
Chap, xx.]
LADIK.
335
were the predecessors of the now flourishing oaks. This
apparently spontaneous succession of vegetable life, by
which a first growth of trees, when cut down, is succeeded
by trees and plants of a different kind, has been frequently
observed in the forests of North America.
Emerging from these woods, where we a second time lost
our Way, we crossed an open corn country sloping gently
towards the north, beyond which we again found ourselves
in a wooded district. Our direction was generally E.S.E.,
along an excellent road through flourishing woods of oak
and fir, interspersed with wild pear and cherry trees, as we
gradually approached the centre of a mountainous district,
which forms the western limit of the Iris and its tributaries
below Amasia. These mountain-chains were covered with
forests of fir, in many of which however the axe and the
resin-burner had committed great devastation. At half-
past nine we had entered a small plain, which appeared to
have been once an extensive lake, surrounded by wooded hills,
which on the right rose into lofty mountains, and from which
we descended by a stony road into the plain of Ladik, ex-
tending ten miles from E. to W., and varying from two to
three in breadth. Its western extremity contains many
natural clumps of fine wood in the midst of rich pastures,
which, with the surrounding wooded hills, afford every
variety of picturesque and park-like scenery. A ride of
nearly two miles along the plain in a S.E. direction brought
Us to Ladik, or Iladik, a small and miserable place, but
called a town, because it possesses a royal mosque with two
minarets. It is situated at the foot of the low hills which
form the southern boundary of the plain, behind which
Mother and a loftier range rises towards Amasia, called
Ale Dagh. The hills immediately behind the town extend
from E. by N. to W. by S., and consist of almost vertical
beds of semi-crystalline black and white marble, resting
uPon thick-bedded hard brown sandstone, breaking into
Aomboidal masses. They are traversed by numerous deep
ravines, but my search for organic remains was unsuccessful.
LADIK.
335
were the predecessors of the now flourishing oaks. This
apparently spontaneous succession of vegetable life, by
which a first growth of trees, when cut down, is succeeded
by trees and plants of a different kind, has been frequently
observed in the forests of North America.
Emerging from these woods, where we a second time lost
our Way, we crossed an open corn country sloping gently
towards the north, beyond which we again found ourselves
in a wooded district. Our direction was generally E.S.E.,
along an excellent road through flourishing woods of oak
and fir, interspersed with wild pear and cherry trees, as we
gradually approached the centre of a mountainous district,
which forms the western limit of the Iris and its tributaries
below Amasia. These mountain-chains were covered with
forests of fir, in many of which however the axe and the
resin-burner had committed great devastation. At half-
past nine we had entered a small plain, which appeared to
have been once an extensive lake, surrounded by wooded hills,
which on the right rose into lofty mountains, and from which
we descended by a stony road into the plain of Ladik, ex-
tending ten miles from E. to W., and varying from two to
three in breadth. Its western extremity contains many
natural clumps of fine wood in the midst of rich pastures,
which, with the surrounding wooded hills, afford every
variety of picturesque and park-like scenery. A ride of
nearly two miles along the plain in a S.E. direction brought
Us to Ladik, or Iladik, a small and miserable place, but
called a town, because it possesses a royal mosque with two
minarets. It is situated at the foot of the low hills which
form the southern boundary of the plain, behind which
Mother and a loftier range rises towards Amasia, called
Ale Dagh. The hills immediately behind the town extend
from E. by N. to W. by S., and consist of almost vertical
beds of semi-crystalline black and white marble, resting
uPon thick-bedded hard brown sandstone, breaking into
Aomboidal masses. They are traversed by numerous deep
ravines, but my search for organic remains was unsuccessful.