DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0443
410
TRAP ROCKS.—BARSEIC DERE.
[Chap, xxiii.
after crossing undulating hills for three miles found the
ground covered with boulders and angular fragments of
trap ; a little farther on, as we approached a village called
Boycuk, the hills consisted entirely of trap and greenstone,
and the village on our right was built upon a conical mass
of the same rock. This outburst of trap, which, as I after-
wards discovered, extended considerably to the west, was
the principal, if not the solo cause of the disturbance of the
red sandstone formation, by which it had been tilted into its
present vertical position. A mile farther we passed the
village of Selami Kieui, and at a quarter before ten reached
the summit of a lofty ridge, whence we could trace the
course of the Halys eight or nine miles off by the deep
depression in the waterworn and furrowed hills, although
the river itself was not visible. The red sandstone again
appeared to the N.W., apparently beyond the trap rocks
which had burst up through the midst of that formation.
From these hills we descended by a narrow ridge of quartz
rock, and then along a winding valley for several miles, until
at eleven a.m. we entered a large plain, which we crossed
obliquely in a W.N.W. direction. Hero we were again
on the red sandstone formation, dipping as I had expected
west by north at an angle of 45°; but as we advanced the
angle of inclination became considerably less. At twenty-
five minutes after eleven we entered another and larger
valley, which wo ascended for three miles in a W. by S.
direction, until at a quarter after twelve we reached the sum-
mit of a high range of hills, extending from N.E. to S.W.,
and consisting of red sandstone and conglomerate. From
thence we descended rapidly by the wild and romantic ravine
of Barsek Dere, the steep sides of which were clothed with
wood for several miles. A few years ago this road was in-
fested by bands of robbers, who were the more dangerous
on account of the numerous windings of the glen: the
general direction of our route was N.W. As we advanced
the stratification became vertical, and after passing some
beds of nummulitic limestone, apparently underlying the red
TRAP ROCKS.—BARSEIC DERE.
[Chap, xxiii.
after crossing undulating hills for three miles found the
ground covered with boulders and angular fragments of
trap ; a little farther on, as we approached a village called
Boycuk, the hills consisted entirely of trap and greenstone,
and the village on our right was built upon a conical mass
of the same rock. This outburst of trap, which, as I after-
wards discovered, extended considerably to the west, was
the principal, if not the solo cause of the disturbance of the
red sandstone formation, by which it had been tilted into its
present vertical position. A mile farther we passed the
village of Selami Kieui, and at a quarter before ten reached
the summit of a lofty ridge, whence we could trace the
course of the Halys eight or nine miles off by the deep
depression in the waterworn and furrowed hills, although
the river itself was not visible. The red sandstone again
appeared to the N.W., apparently beyond the trap rocks
which had burst up through the midst of that formation.
From these hills we descended by a narrow ridge of quartz
rock, and then along a winding valley for several miles, until
at eleven a.m. we entered a large plain, which we crossed
obliquely in a W.N.W. direction. Hero we were again
on the red sandstone formation, dipping as I had expected
west by north at an angle of 45°; but as we advanced the
angle of inclination became considerably less. At twenty-
five minutes after eleven we entered another and larger
valley, which wo ascended for three miles in a W. by S.
direction, until at a quarter after twelve we reached the sum-
mit of a high range of hills, extending from N.E. to S.W.,
and consisting of red sandstone and conglomerate. From
thence we descended rapidly by the wild and romantic ravine
of Barsek Dere, the steep sides of which were clothed with
wood for several miles. A few years ago this road was in-
fested by bands of robbers, who were the more dangerous
on account of the numerous windings of the glen: the
general direction of our route was N.W. As we advanced
the stratification became vertical, and after passing some
beds of nummulitic limestone, apparently underlying the red