DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5542#0131
Chap, xxxvm.]
PICTURESQUE SCENERY.
121
too hot to taste near the source; lower down I could perceive
no peculiar taste or smell in it. The rock whence the
spring issues, and which is a green porphyrinic trachyte,
in some places much decomposed, presents an additional
instance of the supposed connexion between thermal springs
and rocks of igneous origin.
On rejoining the high road near the mills we ascended
the right bank of the Simaul Su, the valley becoming more
rocky and narrower, and the hills on our right more thickly
wooded. For two miles in an E.S.E. direction the scenery
was very wild and picturesque ; and the river, overshadowed
by magnificent plane-trees, was winding far below us between
steep and lofty hills, wooded to their highest summits. In
this pass I procured some of the tuberous roots of the
Arum dracunculus, growing on the edge of a landslip,
where I could get at its deep and well-protected roots.* As
we advanced the road became steep and narrow, and the
projecting rocks made it difficult for the baggage horses to
pass; but the scenery was very fine, while many wooded
valleys and deep ravines penetrated right and left into the
recesses of the mountains. Four miles from the hot springs
our course became more easterly, over a stony plain along
the banks of the river, lined with an avenue of plane-
trees, whose spreading branches almost overshadowed the
stream. This continued for several miles, until, leavine: the
river still on our right, we crossed the stony plain, out of
the apparently barren soil of which grew some of the finest
and largest plane-trees I had met with. Eighteen miles
from Singerli we crossed a considerable tributary of the
river, winding down a well-cultivated valley from the
north. Half a mile further we crossed the Macestus itself
by a long wooden bridge, so slight and slenderly built, that
it vibrated with the weight of a single horse. About a
* Since my return to England, some of these roots have flowered well in a
garden at Chelsea. One was exhibited in the Horticultural Society's room in
Regent-street in June, 1838, and was much admired.
PICTURESQUE SCENERY.
121
too hot to taste near the source; lower down I could perceive
no peculiar taste or smell in it. The rock whence the
spring issues, and which is a green porphyrinic trachyte,
in some places much decomposed, presents an additional
instance of the supposed connexion between thermal springs
and rocks of igneous origin.
On rejoining the high road near the mills we ascended
the right bank of the Simaul Su, the valley becoming more
rocky and narrower, and the hills on our right more thickly
wooded. For two miles in an E.S.E. direction the scenery
was very wild and picturesque ; and the river, overshadowed
by magnificent plane-trees, was winding far below us between
steep and lofty hills, wooded to their highest summits. In
this pass I procured some of the tuberous roots of the
Arum dracunculus, growing on the edge of a landslip,
where I could get at its deep and well-protected roots.* As
we advanced the road became steep and narrow, and the
projecting rocks made it difficult for the baggage horses to
pass; but the scenery was very fine, while many wooded
valleys and deep ravines penetrated right and left into the
recesses of the mountains. Four miles from the hot springs
our course became more easterly, over a stony plain along
the banks of the river, lined with an avenue of plane-
trees, whose spreading branches almost overshadowed the
stream. This continued for several miles, until, leavine: the
river still on our right, we crossed the stony plain, out of
the apparently barren soil of which grew some of the finest
and largest plane-trees I had met with. Eighteen miles
from Singerli we crossed a considerable tributary of the
river, winding down a well-cultivated valley from the
north. Half a mile further we crossed the Macestus itself
by a long wooden bridge, so slight and slenderly built, that
it vibrated with the weight of a single horse. About a
* Since my return to England, some of these roots have flowered well in a
garden at Chelsea. One was exhibited in the Horticultural Society's room in
Regent-street in June, 1838, and was much admired.