DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5542#0140
130
SELENDI.
[Chap, xxxviii.
of nearly 2000 feet. Starting again soon after three we fol-
lowed the course of the stream by an easy road as far as
Selendi, where we arrived in three hours, our course chang-
ing gradually to the west. During these three hours our
descent was only 200 feet, the barometer at Selendi stand-
ing at 28.336 in. The micaceous sandstone again appeared
in the bottom of the ravine, underlying, at a much greater
inclination to the south, the volcanic and tufaceous beds.
Since crossing the Demiiji mountains we have seen very
little vegetation ; the deep glens have generally some cop-
pice and underwood, but the mountain sides are invariably
barren, and present a very different appearance from the
luxuriant woods, which from the base to the summit cover
the northern flanks.
It has been generally supposed by modern writers that
Selendi is on the banks of the Hermus;* this is an error,
the Aineh Chai on which it stands is an inconsiderable
stream, particularly at this season of the year, and falls
into the Hermus twenty miles lower down. It is supposed
to represent the ancient Silandus, a town mentioned in the
acts of the council of Chalcedon as an episcopal see of
Lydia, and known also from its coins; I was therefore
disappointed at not finding any vestiges of antiquity. It
is a very small place, not containing above a hundred mud-
built houses, with flat terrace-roofs, which even at a short
distance cannot be distinguished from the surrounding
parched and arid soil.
Thursday, June 8.—Selendi to Koula, eight hours.
Starting early we descended the banks of the Aineh Chai
for about seven miles in a W.S.W. direction, crossing and
recrossing the shallow stream several times ; the peasants
were just beginning to cut their corn, the first I had seen
cut this year ; the opium was already collected. The hills
to the south having a northern exposure were generally
well wooded, whilst those on the opposite side, which were
bare of wood, produced excellent crops of corn. Six miles
* Cramer, Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 435.
SELENDI.
[Chap, xxxviii.
of nearly 2000 feet. Starting again soon after three we fol-
lowed the course of the stream by an easy road as far as
Selendi, where we arrived in three hours, our course chang-
ing gradually to the west. During these three hours our
descent was only 200 feet, the barometer at Selendi stand-
ing at 28.336 in. The micaceous sandstone again appeared
in the bottom of the ravine, underlying, at a much greater
inclination to the south, the volcanic and tufaceous beds.
Since crossing the Demiiji mountains we have seen very
little vegetation ; the deep glens have generally some cop-
pice and underwood, but the mountain sides are invariably
barren, and present a very different appearance from the
luxuriant woods, which from the base to the summit cover
the northern flanks.
It has been generally supposed by modern writers that
Selendi is on the banks of the Hermus;* this is an error,
the Aineh Chai on which it stands is an inconsiderable
stream, particularly at this season of the year, and falls
into the Hermus twenty miles lower down. It is supposed
to represent the ancient Silandus, a town mentioned in the
acts of the council of Chalcedon as an episcopal see of
Lydia, and known also from its coins; I was therefore
disappointed at not finding any vestiges of antiquity. It
is a very small place, not containing above a hundred mud-
built houses, with flat terrace-roofs, which even at a short
distance cannot be distinguished from the surrounding
parched and arid soil.
Thursday, June 8.—Selendi to Koula, eight hours.
Starting early we descended the banks of the Aineh Chai
for about seven miles in a W.S.W. direction, crossing and
recrossing the shallow stream several times ; the peasants
were just beginning to cut their corn, the first I had seen
cut this year ; the opium was already collected. The hills
to the south having a northern exposure were generally
well wooded, whilst those on the opposite side, which were
bare of wood, produced excellent crops of corn. Six miles
* Cramer, Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 435.