266 Mr. C. G. Danfonl on the 



deresi (Valley of Hell). The only path to the bottom leads 

 by sharp zigzags down to a small mill. The aneroid gave 

 the depth of the descent as nearly 2000 feet. The scenery of 

 the valley itself is beautiful ; and it is probably with reference 

 to the return ascent that it has received its name. The change 

 of temperature on reaching the river was great. Above was 

 winter and snow, below warm spring, with butterflies {Gone- 

 pteryx rhamni, var. farinosa) flitting aboiit, and primroses, 

 violets, and snowdrops in full bloom. The stream is about the 

 size of a good Scotch burn, and in some places tumbles wildly 

 about among large boulders, and in others forms long gravelly 

 runs and deep rock-shadowed pools. The water is very clear 

 and of a greenish colour. It absolutely swarms with trout 

 {Salmo fario, var. ausoni), called by the natives ' Pulu baluk ' 

 (spotted fish) . They are very good-shaped fish, running about 

 three to the pound, and are of a most unsophisticated nature, 

 taking freely any fly oftered to them. A mile below the mill 

 the stream enters an impassable gorge and emerges into the 

 Pambuk deresi. Here the trout are much less numerous, 

 no doubt owing to the presence of numbers of mountain- 

 barbel or ' Jonuz ' [Capoeta syriaca). Birds are scarce in this 

 region. A few Water-ouzels hurry up and down; troops of 

 Long-tailed Tits disport themselves in the tops of the plane 

 trees, whose green-grey stems are here, contrary to their 

 ordinary habit of growth, tall and slim. Add to the above 

 birds some common Tits, Hedge- Sparrows, Thrushes, a soli- 

 tary Kingfisher or Sandpiper [Totanus ochropus), with a few 

 Wild Ducks, and the winter ornithological resources of the 

 place may be regarded as nearly exhausted. 



The country about Zebil between the ravine and the moun- 

 tains is irregular, and made up of low hills, chiefly formed of 

 conglomerate and limestone. Fossils, especially oysters and 

 echinoderms, are abundant. Deep earthy gullies intersect 

 the ground between the small flats, which are, for the most 

 part, cultivated. Tracts of heath and brushwood aftbrd 

 shelter to numerous Hares [Lepus syriacus), Partridges, and 

 a sprinkling of Woodcocks. Most of the large game inhabit 

 the lower and warmer districts. The natives of the Zebil arc 



