DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0467
434
THE SANGARIUS.
[Ciup. xxv.
On reaching the plain, which was covered with thick beds
of diluvial gravel, I found in the deep bed of a torrent many
fragments of fossils washed out of the rocks above; they
were chiefly Ostrea, and a large conical shell, a species of
Turritella, mixed with pebbles of chalk, limestone, and basalt
imbedded in sand, but I could not find them in situ. Cross-
ing this undulating and deserted plain in a W. by S. direc-
tion for nearly six miles, we reached at a quarter after ten
the banks of the Sakaria or Sangarius, here a deep but nar-
row stream, winding lazily along the eastern edge of a marshy
plain, covered with reeds, and stretching away far towards
the north. Its general direction through these plains was
from S.S.W. to N.N.E.; but our knowledge of its sources and
the greater part of its course is still very imperfect: from
what I saw of it on this occasion, and afterwards, when to
the south of Sevri Hissar, it is clear that no true idea can
be formed of it from the maps hitherto published.
The extensive pastures on the banks of this river were
formerly a portion of the district in which the Turcoman
tribes who wandered towards the west after the overthrow
of the Sultans of Iconium established themselves under
Othman, until they pushed their conquests beyond the passes
of Olympus, and obtained possession of the town of Brusa.
After traversing the plain obliquely for nearly two miles
in a S.W. direction, we halted for a cup of coffee near a
guard-hut, after which we crossed the river, and ascended
the chalky hills, which form the western boundary of the
plain • the stratification of these hills, containing large
masses of saccharine gypsum or selenite, is perfectly hori-
zontal. The guards here told me that there was no direct
communication across the Haimaneh, that there were no
villages, and that the country was only inhabited by Kurds.
They added that all the traffic between Angora and Koniah
passes through Sevri Hissar and Bolawadun. The sources
of the Sakaria were stated to be twelve hours distant from
Sevri Hissar, where it flows at once a considerable river
from copious springs.
THE SANGARIUS.
[Ciup. xxv.
On reaching the plain, which was covered with thick beds
of diluvial gravel, I found in the deep bed of a torrent many
fragments of fossils washed out of the rocks above; they
were chiefly Ostrea, and a large conical shell, a species of
Turritella, mixed with pebbles of chalk, limestone, and basalt
imbedded in sand, but I could not find them in situ. Cross-
ing this undulating and deserted plain in a W. by S. direc-
tion for nearly six miles, we reached at a quarter after ten
the banks of the Sakaria or Sangarius, here a deep but nar-
row stream, winding lazily along the eastern edge of a marshy
plain, covered with reeds, and stretching away far towards
the north. Its general direction through these plains was
from S.S.W. to N.N.E.; but our knowledge of its sources and
the greater part of its course is still very imperfect: from
what I saw of it on this occasion, and afterwards, when to
the south of Sevri Hissar, it is clear that no true idea can
be formed of it from the maps hitherto published.
The extensive pastures on the banks of this river were
formerly a portion of the district in which the Turcoman
tribes who wandered towards the west after the overthrow
of the Sultans of Iconium established themselves under
Othman, until they pushed their conquests beyond the passes
of Olympus, and obtained possession of the town of Brusa.
After traversing the plain obliquely for nearly two miles
in a S.W. direction, we halted for a cup of coffee near a
guard-hut, after which we crossed the river, and ascended
the chalky hills, which form the western boundary of the
plain • the stratification of these hills, containing large
masses of saccharine gypsum or selenite, is perfectly hori-
zontal. The guards here told me that there was no direct
communication across the Haimaneh, that there were no
villages, and that the country was only inhabited by Kurds.
They added that all the traffic between Angora and Koniah
passes through Sevri Hissar and Bolawadun. The sources
of the Sakaria were stated to be twelve hours distant from
Sevri Hissar, where it flows at once a considerable river
from copious springs.