DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5542#0132
122
mumj1k.
[Chap, xxxvm.
mile further we reached a mill by the river side, where we
had intended halting, but no provisions being forthcoming,
either for man or beast, without sending at least two miles
for them, we proceeded to the yaila of the neighbouring
village of Mumjik. The ascent was very steep, and the
path bad for two miles, and I regretted leaving the pic-
turesque neighbourhood of the river; however, we reached
the yaila at half-past four, and found the villagers en-
camped in small huts on a flat space of ground near the
summit of the ridge, several hundred feet above the river,
and at least 2000 feet above the sea, as the barometer
stood at 27.904 inch.; the attached thermometer 69.5; de-
tached 71, at 6 p.m.
Monday, June 5.—We left Mumjik at half-past six, and
descended to the banks of the Simaul Su. The valley here
becomes gradually wider, the lofty hills recede on either
side, while to the south the ground rises gently to a low
range of wooded hills extending E. and W., in front of the
loftier chain of Demirji. This enormous talus, as it may be
called, is intersected by many deep ravines, and the ground
is strewed with pebbles and boulders of quartz, micaceous
granite, and gneiss, washed down from the hills.
We continued over this undulating country in an almost
easterly direction for above fourteen miles from Mumjik;
the soil, composed of detritus from the surrounding moun-
tains, is either cultivated for corn and opium, or covered
with oak coppice. The poppy was only now beginning to
flower, whereas at Bogaditza the peasants were collecting
the opium : this difference may be accounted for by the
difference of elevation, the barometer having fallen from
29.352 inches at Bogaditza to 27.201 at Simaul, which we
were now approaching.
At half-past nine we halted at a hut kept by a kind of
police-guard, and had a cup of coffee, the common practice
wherever the Aghas have thought it prudent to establish
these posts, and the usual means of remuneration for the
mumj1k.
[Chap, xxxvm.
mile further we reached a mill by the river side, where we
had intended halting, but no provisions being forthcoming,
either for man or beast, without sending at least two miles
for them, we proceeded to the yaila of the neighbouring
village of Mumjik. The ascent was very steep, and the
path bad for two miles, and I regretted leaving the pic-
turesque neighbourhood of the river; however, we reached
the yaila at half-past four, and found the villagers en-
camped in small huts on a flat space of ground near the
summit of the ridge, several hundred feet above the river,
and at least 2000 feet above the sea, as the barometer
stood at 27.904 inch.; the attached thermometer 69.5; de-
tached 71, at 6 p.m.
Monday, June 5.—We left Mumjik at half-past six, and
descended to the banks of the Simaul Su. The valley here
becomes gradually wider, the lofty hills recede on either
side, while to the south the ground rises gently to a low
range of wooded hills extending E. and W., in front of the
loftier chain of Demirji. This enormous talus, as it may be
called, is intersected by many deep ravines, and the ground
is strewed with pebbles and boulders of quartz, micaceous
granite, and gneiss, washed down from the hills.
We continued over this undulating country in an almost
easterly direction for above fourteen miles from Mumjik;
the soil, composed of detritus from the surrounding moun-
tains, is either cultivated for corn and opium, or covered
with oak coppice. The poppy was only now beginning to
flower, whereas at Bogaditza the peasants were collecting
the opium : this difference may be accounted for by the
difference of elevation, the barometer having fallen from
29.352 inches at Bogaditza to 27.201 at Simaul, which we
were now approaching.
At half-past nine we halted at a hut kept by a kind of
police-guard, and had a cup of coffee, the common practice
wherever the Aghas have thought it prudent to establish
these posts, and the usual means of remuneration for the