HOME ACROSS THE BORDER RANGES
August 24.--We found our camp a long distance south of the western
summit, and, after a short sleep, resumed our journey. We simply
followed a compass course to the head of that river valley along which
the Bingöl plateau breaks off on the side of the west. The general flow
of the lava over which we rode was towards north-west. We crossed the
first zone of serpentine hills through a deep valley with heights on
either side. Beyond the passage we issued upon a lower plain of lava,
where the stream of molten matter had been diverted by the serpentines,
and had circled round them, flooding down into the plain. In the
section displayed by a river cliff within the limits of this region
we observed a bed of columnar lava some twenty feet in thickness,
overlying lavas to a depth of some eighty feet. Near this point we
reached the first village, the Kurdish settlement of Bastok. It is
placed upon one of the head streams of the Aras, which we forded,
and, not long after, arrived on the banks of the main channel at the
Kurdish hamlet of Shekan. The Aras had already become a little river,
and was known to the villagers under that name. We crossed it, leaving
it to flow off into an alluvial plain, along the marginal heights of
which we rode. This is the first plain in the proper sense of the word
through which the Araxes winds. It is situated at an altitude of about
7000 feet, and may be called, from a village on its northern confines,
the plain of Altun.
We discovered a Kurdish village at the eastern foot of the hill
which had been our landmark and point of course. It bears the name
of Gugoghlan. It fronts the plain of the Aras, which, on the north
of the hill, is only separated by a low lip of ground from the basin
of the Murad. Such is the habit of these water-partings. I remained
for two days in this village, drawing and mapping on the hill. Oswald
preceded me to Erzerum. Our journey thither led us across the central
tableland, a little west of the route pursued during our outward
march. I have already dealt with the general characteristics of the
region, and shall only add a short account of any fresh features.
Gugoghlan already belongs to the district of Shushar, while the
villages on the further side of the Sheikhjik mountain are included
in that of Kighi. The western and north-western sides of the Altun
plain have been flooded by a lava which appears to have issued
from the neighbourhood of Sheikhjik and also from the heights upon
its northern margin. Our way to Erzerum took us over this sheet of
lava. In a depression between two such flows we passed an extensive
yaila, belonging to Zireki Kurds--a tribe of which the main body live
about Diarbekr, and of whom these people are a colony. North of the
yaila we commenced the ascent of that latitudinal wall of mountain
which at once forms the limit of the plain of Altun, and sends the
Araxes off towards the east.
It consists of lava overlying lacustrine deposits, and the summit is
perfectly flat. You may ride in any direction until you are stopped
by a river valley, which will be deeply cut and bordered by commanding
heights. I had for guide an old and almost toothless Kurd, whom I had
instructed, with some misgivings as to his knowledge, to lead a course
as straight as possible to Erzerum. The usual route from Gugoghlan
would be by way of Madrak, keeping to lower levels but rather longer.
But at this season of the year when elevation is of no consequence,
the snow having long since disappeared, it is just as well to follow
the most direct line, and keep as high as possible and near the
water-parting. From one side of the flat vaulting the streams will
flow westwards, and from the other towards the east. We crossed
no less than six tributaries of the Araxes. Of these the first
three converged rather closely together, and they probably compose
the stream upon which is situated the village of Khedonun. Their
valley or valleys have lofty parapets which required to be turned. I
observed that the lavas upon the hillsides had in some places cooled
in a columnar fashion. The direction of the first and most imposing
of these valleys was towards south-south-east. North of the series
the country again became flat, and the views far-reaching; we were
in fact approaching the spine of the whole block of heights. Two new
branches were crossed, both flowing into a wide depression which we
overlooked in all its extent. They were separated by a considerable
stretch of very elevated land. Their situation points to the conclusion
that they take their waters to the stream which skirts the village of
Duzyurt. Making our way from one to the other, we rode at the foot of
outcrops of lava upon our left hand. Some were circular in form. Blue
gentians are found in the grassy places, and the more northerly of the
two streams is placed at a level of no less than 9400 feet. The highest
point along our route lay some little distance further north, and may
have been some 200 feet more elevated. It may be called the pass over
this plateau region. The block of heights is separated from those of
Palandöken by a depression, which is crossed by a saddle-shaped neck of
land. On one side of this vaulting water flows to the Euphrates, and
on the other to the Araxes. The affluent to the Araxes is one of the
branches of the Madrak river. We forded it near the head of the trough.
We did not pass a single village, not even a yaila, during our ride
from the encampment of Zireki Kurds to the Palandöken ridge. The
surface of the plateau consists of a slabby lava, which probably
overlies the limestone with no great depth. The lavas appear to have
issued from approximately east-west fissures at a time when the
country had been already carved out into the main features of its
present contour. Especially remarkable, as we neared the Palandöken
line of heights, was the whiteness of their face where the rock was
exposed. The limestone, which perhaps constitutes the bulk of that
block, is probably of Eocene age. We struck a course up the slope of
those heights a little west of the more westerly of the two forts;
and we issued into the so-called crater of Palandöken-Eyerli Dagh,
where we encamped by the margin of the first northward-flowing stream.
On the following morning I made the ascent of the peak of
Palandöken. The result of my test of boiling-point on this single
occasion gives it a height of 10,690 feet. It is therefore about at the
same level as the highest points on the Bingöl ramparts on the opposite
side of the whole wide basin. Like its close neighbour on the west,
the equally bold Eyerli Dagh, it is of eruptive volcanic origin. But
the cirque between the two has probably never been a crater; it seems
more likely that its peculiar form is mainly due to the erosive action
of snow and ice. We had not time to make any careful examination of
the wide area which the cirque covers. But this view was suggested
by all the phenomena which came under our notice. [276] The basin
has been cleared out by two gorges, and the matter is deposited on
the wide detrital fan which extends some distance into the plain of
Erzerum. A patch or two of snow were still visible in the hollows;
but the peak and steep, boulder-strewn sides of Palandöken were
completely free of snow.
From Erzerum to the coast we took a fairly direct route, travelling
by the pass of the Jejen Dagh (8600 feet) to Baiburt, and thence
by the passes of the Kitowa (8040 feet) and Kazikly (8290 feet)
Daghs to the monastery of Sumelas. [277] But the great height of
the passes and the general ruggedness of the country are against the
prospects of this route as a possible avenue of constant communication
between Trebizond and the Armenian fortress. A future railway will
probably follow the devious course of the existing chaussée by way of
Gümüshkhaneh, or will strike a direct course for the seaboard, issuing
at the port of Rizeh. [278] But to the traveller who is in search of
romantic scenery one may confidently recommend the summer road which
we adopted. The passage of the first barrier will afford him a near
view of the beautiful peak of the Jejen; while the later journey lies
among the summits of the Pontic alps and among some of their wildest
glens. The last stage will introduce him to one of the most remarkable
valleys in this or any other land. He should endeavour to arrange his
visit during his return homewards, when the features of the tableland,
with their majesty of form but bareness of surface, are freshly graven
upon the mind. The contrast to that landscape which he will find in
the Vale of Meiriman is at once sudden and complete. Vegetation of
bewildering beauty takes the place of grandeur of outline; and only
the impressive scale upon which Nature has moulded her work in Asia
remains constant to the end.