406 



NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY 



that before (liis rise, salt banks had gradually accumulated on the 

 shore of the lake, which were permanent from year to 3'ear. All 

 the natives whom I have consulted, do not agree on this subject." 



Mr. Perkins adds in a postscript, that having consulted a bish- 

 op on these points, who lives on the shore of the lake, and whose 

 testimony is unimpeachable, he has " no doubt but that such salt 

 banks did exist on tlie shore, now covered with the increased 

 waters of the lalce. This bishop also stated of his own accord, 

 that the surface of those salt banks was usually covered with a 

 layer of sand, and that in penetrating into them you would pass 

 through alternate layers of salt, and of sand or earth." 



The bishop here referred to was Mar Yohannan, now in this 

 country : and he still repeats the above statements, and adds an- 

 other of importance. He says, that near his place of residence 

 (Gavalan) there is a small pond, covering perhaps an acre, sep- 

 arated from the lake by a narrow and low sand-ridge, which has 

 a permanent deposit of salt upon its bottom. Dr. Daubeny states 

 this to be the case with lake Elton, and several other lakes in the 

 vicinity of the Caspian Sea. 



Upon the whole, the question, as to the permanent deposits of 

 salt in lake Oroomiah, demands still further examination, al- 

 though I doubt not that many respectable and honest natives can 

 be found who live on its shores, and who believe that formerly 

 such deposits were permanently formed. 



The same may be said of another tradition, which prevails 

 extensively among the inhabitants on the shores of this lake, and 

 is even entered upon the public records of some of the villages, 

 especially around its northern extremity. It is stated, that, six- 

 teen or eighteen years ago, the waters of the lake suddenly dis- 

 appeared, and left the bottom bare for a gi-eat distance, and that 

 some young men, who followed the retiring waters, came at 

 length to a great chasm. The waters, it is said, soon rose again 

 to their accustomed level. Now this is not an impossible phe- 

 nomenon, in a region so subject to earthquakes. But the diffi- 

 culty is, that many natives seem to know nothing about it, among 

 whom is Mar Yohannan. It is merely possible, but perhaps not 

 probable, that such an occurrence might have happened at one 



