Feb. 23, 1857.] IN ASIA MINOR. 305 



was very mountainous ; and the probability was that the river must flow at a 

 considerably higher level than the Sabanja. Between the lake and the Gulf of 

 Nicomedia there was no great difference of level. The country also being a 

 mountainous one was not likely to offer any of those facilities for navigation 

 which it Appeared the Turks contemplated at a former period, and which was 

 one of the reasons why they objected to give any sanction to the undertaking. 

 The other lake mentioned by General Jochmus he was not acquainted with. 

 The lake Apollonia certainly had a communication with the Sea of Marmora, 

 but from what he saw in the neighbourhood of the town of Apollonia, he should 

 not have imagined there was anything like the number of vessels mentioned 

 by General Jochmus. It might be so. The country, particularly to the 

 northward, was very fertile ; vineyards and silk abound ; and the trade with 

 Constantinople was very considerable. There could be no doubt that the 

 opening out of this system of canals between Sabanja and Sakaria would very 

 materially facilitate commercial transactions from the Sea of Marmora to the 

 Black Sea. 



3. On the Geography of the Sea of Azov, the Putrid Sea, and the adjacent 

 Coasts, with Remarks on their Commercial Future, By Capt. Sherard 



OSBORN, R.N., C.B., F.R.G.S. [AhstrO/it J] 



Among the hydrographical features of the Sea of Azov, the author 

 alluded to the configuration of its bottom, which, at the greatest 

 depth, seldom exceeding 40 feet, forms a flat in the centre of the 

 basin, extending about 55 miles east and west, and 35 miles north 

 and south. Between this flat and the coast the bottom slopes for 

 the most part gradually, the inclination being generally one foot in 

 a mile between the depths of 30 and 40 feet, and rather more abruptly 

 in shallower water. The regularity of this slope is, however, occa- 

 sionally interrupted by banks, adjacent to some of the remarkable 

 sandy spits which, characterise the coasts of this sea. The Obitochna 

 Banks, S.E. of the spit bearing that name, are attributed to volcanic 

 action, the effects of which in this sea were distinctly exhibited in 

 the occurrence of a submarine eruption in Temriuk Bay, in 1799, 

 described by Pallas. Volcanic phenomena in various forms also 

 occur on the peninsulas of Kertch and Taman. The only rock 

 known to exist within the whole extent of this sea was discovered 

 near the north coast, eastward of Berdiansk, and has been called 

 after H.M.S. Vesuvius. 



The sandy spits are constantly extending, and present a steep 

 face, rising out of deep water, against the current from the east ; 

 while towards the west they form shoals which are always in- 

 creasing. These spits are inhabited by fishermen employed by 

 wealthy companies, and wild fowl abound on them. The constant 

 extension of the spits appears to be accompanied by a general 

 diminution of depth, which is said to have amounted to 6 feet in 

 127 years. This result is hastened by the discharge of ballast from 



