BALKAN MOUNTAINS. 



BALKH. 



50 or 60 miles, is not mountainous, but only hilly, with many little plains 

 between the hills. Near the Danube it is quite a plain. No consider- 

 able rivers traverse it, except the Isker (the Skios of Herodotus, iv. 49 ; 

 and Oskios of Thueyd., ii. 96), which passes Sophia, and breaking 

 through the mountains east of the Kodja Balkan, crosses the hilly plain 

 of Bulgaria into the Danube, which it reaches a fe w miles east of Raho va. 



Three extensive and continuous chains branch off from the southern 

 side of the Balkan. The most eastern detaches itself from the prin- 

 cipal range at a distance of rather more than a hundred miles from 

 Cape Emineh, and running in a south-eastern direction gradually 

 approaches the shores of the Black Sea, where it forms the high and 

 rocky coast to the south of the Bay of Burgas, and terminates in 

 rocky hills on the Strait of Constantinople. It bears the name of 

 Strandjia Mountains, or Kutchuk Balkan, and though not of great 

 height is difficult to pass, being very rocky.* Near Wisa it is 

 traversed by a road already described. The Tekir-Dagh, or Tekiri 

 Mountains, may be considered as a continuation of this chain. This 

 range branches off from the Straudjia-Dagh at a distance of about 

 70 mile* west of Constantinople, and running in a south-western 

 direction, and approaching very near the Sea of Marmara, it divides 

 into two tranches, of which the northern terminates at Cape Paxi 

 north of the Bay of Saros, and the southern in the peninsula of 

 Gallipoli. This chain merely consists of hills. 



The second great range issuing southward from the Balkan branches 

 off at the sources of the Maritza, between 23 and 24 E. long., 

 and runs likewise to the south-east ; but before it reaches the shores 

 of the Archipelago it turns to the east, and in this direction running 

 nearly parallel to the sea-coast it advances to the very banks of the 

 Maritza, where it terminates opposite a branch of the Tekir-Dagh. One 

 of its lateral branches forms the Cape of Maronea. This chain rises 

 to a considerable height, and is called Despoto-Dagh : part of it is the 

 Rhodope of the ancients. 



The tract of country which lies to the west of the Strandjia and to 

 the east of the Despoto-Dagh, and has for its northern boundary the 

 Balkan and for its southern the Tekir-Dagh, is a spacious close valley 

 traversed by numerous ranges of hills, between which ranges there 

 are long and wide valleys and soma extensive plains, rich in the 

 productions of Southern Europe. This country is drained by the 

 Maritza and its tributaries, among which the Tundja and the Arda 

 are the largest. 



The most western of the three chains which branch off southward 

 from the Balkan is by far the most extensive, and must be considered 

 as a separate mountain system. It separates Albania from Macedonia 

 and Thessalia, and its most southern branches extend through the 

 northern part of Greece, terminating on the shores of the Gulf of 

 Lepanto and at Cape Colonna (Sunium of the ancients). [GREECE ; 

 MACEDONIA.] 



The country which extends between this last mountain range and 

 the Adriatic Sea from Cape Sabioncello to Cape Linguetta, compre- 

 hending Albania Proper, or the ancient Illyricum, is one of the most 

 mountainous countries in Europe. The mountains, though none 

 of their summits attain the snow-line, are high, their ascent very 

 steep, often perpendicular, and the valleys between them very 

 narrow and winding. There are no plains; and the shores them- 

 selves are everywhere high and rocky. Those valleys which lie near 

 the principal chain run parallel to it, as those in which the two 

 principal branches of the Drin descend ; but along the coast they are 

 transverse, extending east and west. The principal rivers which 

 drain this mountain region are the Drin, the Scombi, and the Vojutza. 



The extensive region which lies to the east of the same range, and 

 to the north of the Vojutza Mountains (the latter of which extend 

 from this range eastward, in about 40 N. lat., and terminate with 

 Mount Olympus), extending to the Despoto-Dagh and the great chain 

 of the Balkan, comprehends the ancient Macedonia and great part of 

 Thrace, and is only mountainous near the great ranges which inclose 

 it. The other parts though extremely uneven rise only into hills, 

 with the exception of Kastagnatz-Dagh, or Mount Pangaius, which 

 traverses nearly the middle of the country and terminates on the 

 peninsula called by the Greeks Chalcidice. Mount Athos may be 

 considered as the Bouth-eastern extremity of this chain. [ATHOS.] 



The Balkan Mountains have been always considered difficult to 

 pass, and with reason : their upper parts consist of naked granite 

 rising here and there into conical peaks, which are separated by vast 

 accumulations of rocky fragments, and in many instances by very deep 

 and narrow chasms, through which as in all high mountain passes 

 violent hurricanes frequently blow. The highest parts of the chain 

 :;n> <'!< ;u- "1" mm "lily Cur :i .-'Ji"rf, j.rri'nl in -uniinir, \vKi>u ;i. tV\y 

 alpine plants and lichens make their appearance. Below these naked 

 crags, shrubs and trees shoot up here and there, and a little lower 

 down the declivities of the mountains are covered with forests, 

 which are thickest and most continuous on the northern slope towards 

 Hervia and Bulgaria. On the southern side, on account of the greater 

 mildness of the climate, cultivation is pushed farther up the moun- 

 tain sides. The southern slope is the more rapid. On the northern 

 side the secondary rocks and soils heaped up against the granite 

 crest of the mountains form a sloping surface which gradually 

 subsides into the valley of the Lower Danube. The natural riches 

 extensive mountain system are very imperfectly known. The 



siver and gold mines worked by the ancients are not now known. Yet 

 in some parts mines of this description are worked, as at Ghiustendil, 

 not far from the sources of the Kara-Su, or Struma, in the Egrisu- 

 Dagh. In the same range farther to the west are considerable mines 

 of copper ; copper is also found in the Emineh-Dagh, near Shumla, 

 and probably in other places. Iron seems also to be abundant, and is 

 got from the Kodja Balkan near Dubnitza. In many parts there are 

 mines of lead, and in others rock-salt in great abundance. Marble is 

 abundant in the southern ranges. 



BALKASH, a lake of Central Asia, lies between 44 and 46 N. lat., 

 74 and 77 E. long., in the country of the Zungares, and is situated 

 in the east of Independent Tartary, but partly also in the Chinese 

 province o Thian-shan Pelu and government of Hi. 



The extent of this lake is not known. The caravans going from 

 the banks of the Irtish to Tashkend and Kashgar travel for many 

 days together on its shores. Its length from north-east to south-west 

 is probably about 150 miles. Its greatest breadth is about 70 miles. 



On the east and on the west the lake is inclosed by mountains, 

 which terminate not far from its shores. Those on the east separate 

 it from the Lake of Alak-kul, and those on the west and south-west 

 from that of Issi-kul : both ranges are called Ala-tau, though they 

 are divided from one another by the lake and the wide valley of the 

 Ili River. On the north and north-west of it extends a steppe many 

 hundred miles in length, which from the nation that inhabits it is 

 called the Steppe of the Kirghiz Kazak, or Western Kirghiz, and con- 

 tinues to the northern parts of the Lake of Aral and the Caspian Sea. It 

 seems to descend by a very gentle slope to the west, as the course of all 

 its rivers proves. On the south and south-east of the lake opens the wide 

 and extensive valley of the Ili, which was about a century ago the prin- 

 cipal seat of the independent and powerful Zungares, from whom this 

 country was called Zungaria. Their whole nation was nearly annihi- 

 lated by the Chinese, who since that time have settled other nations 

 there Turks, Mongols, Mantchus, and Chinese ; and have introduced 

 agriculture. The hordes of the Turgut, who in 1771 left the banks 

 of the Volga and the Russian empire, likwise received from the 

 Chinese the countries to the south of the Lake of Balkash. The 

 river Ili, which traverses this valley in all its length, has according 

 to the Chinese geography a course of upwards of 240 miles : it 

 empties itself into the southern extremity of the lake, which has 

 no outlet though it receives besides the Ili the water of several other 

 rivers on the north and east, of which one or two run perhaps a 

 hundred miles and upwards. (Humboldt ; Hitter's Asia.) 



BALKH, a town in the kingdom of Bokhara, about 25 miles south 

 from the Oxus, and 1800 feet above the sea, stands in 36 48' N. lat., 

 67 18' E. long., on a gentle declivity sloping towards the river. 

 The remains of its former structures cover a space of about 

 20 miles in circuit ; they consist of fallen mosques and decayed 

 tombs, which have been built of suudried bricks : there are no ruins 

 prior to the age of Mohammedanism. 



By the inhabitants of the surrounding countries Balkh is called 

 ' Mother of Cities,' and is said to have been built by Kyamoors, the 

 founder of the Persian monarchy. After the conquest of Alexander 

 the Great it flourished under the name of Zariaspa, or Bactra (Strabo, 

 p. 516), with a dynasty of Grecian kings. In the 3rd century of the 

 Christian era Artaxerxes the Persian had his authority acknowledged 

 in a great assembly held at Balkh. It continued subject to the Persian 

 empire, and to be the residence of the head of the Magi, till the followers 

 of Zoroaster were overthrown by the conquests of the Kalifs. Its 

 inhabitants were butchered in cold blood by Genghis Khan ; Timur 

 who took Balkh attached it to his empire. It formed the government 

 of Aurungzebe in his youth, and was at last invaded by the great 

 Nadir. On the establishment of the Dooranee monarchy after his 

 death, it fell into the hands of the Afghans; and about 1820 it was 

 seized by the king of Bokhara : the population does not amount to 

 2000 persons, who are chiefly natives of Cabul, and the remnant of the 

 Kara noukur, a description of militia established here by the Afghans : 

 there are also a few Arabs. The Usbek chief of Kunduz, who pos- 

 sessed the city prior to its falling into the hands of the Bokharees, 

 marched off a great portion of its population. 



The circuit of Balkh appears to have contained numerous gardens, 

 which increased its size without adding to its population ; and from 

 the frail material of which the buildings are constructed it does not 

 appear that it ever was a substantial city. There are three large 

 colleges of handsome structure, now in a state of decay. A mud wall 

 surrounds the present town ; outside of which are ruins on every 

 side, to the extent of about two miles. The citadel, or 'ark,' on the 

 northern side, has been constructed in a more solid style, yet it is a 

 place of no strength. There is a stone of white marble in it which 

 is pointed out as the throne of Kyamoors, or Cyrus. 



The river of Balkh, Adirsiah or Dakash (the ancient Bactrus), 

 which gave name to the city and province, rises in the mountains of 

 the Hindu-Koosh, and enters the plain of Turkistan about six miles 

 south of Balkh. According to Quintus Curtius (vii. 4) it formerly 

 washed the walls of the town, or according to Strabo, ran through it ; 

 but this is not the case at present, for at the point where it leaves 

 the mountains it is distributed with great labour over the wholo 

 district by numerous canals, and conducted to the city and also to 

 Mazar and Akhchu on each side of it. Akhc'hu is about 50 mile* 



