316 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



In the month of November they are delicious, as they have 

 fattened upon walnuts, sweet chestnuts, and a great variety of wild 

 fruits. 



During the Crimean War, when the cavalry went into winter 

 quarters at Scutari, I was living with the officers of the 12th 

 Lancers ; I started off upon a trip to Sabanja, about 24 miles 

 beyond the town of Ismid. 



This is a curious and picturesque vestige of the ancient city of 

 Nicomedia, situated at the extreme end of the Gulf of Ismid, about 

 ten hours' voyage by steamer from Constantinople. The town 

 occupies the entire face of a lofty hill from the base to the summit, 

 and the red-tiled roofs and quaint colouring of the houses, inter- 

 spersed with occasional tall cypress trees, give a peculiar theatrical 

 appearance, resembling a scene upon the stage. The blue water of 

 the gulf affords a highly artistic foreground, as this arm of the Sea 

 of Marmora washes the quays at the base, while opposite the town, 

 on the other side of the gulf, a chain of mountains walls in the 

 shore, and forms a continuation of a mountain range inland. A 

 small river flows through the valley ; this is an affluent from the 

 Lake of Sabanja, a fine sheet of water about 9 miles distant, which 

 receives the drainage of the mountains upon either side. This lake 

 is about 12 miles in length, and 3 or 4 miles across at the widest 

 part. 



I found very little change when I made a subsequent visit in 

 1860. The road from Ismid to Sabanja was the usual example of 

 Turkish administration ; it had been commenced at some remote 

 period, with grand intentions of a continuous line of pavement ; 

 this had evidently been entrusted to a multitude of various con- 

 tractors, some of whom had succeeded, while others had failed. 

 The latter were the most numerous, therefore a route of 24 miles, 

 through forest, running at the foot of the mountain range, was 

 diversified by a succession of surprises ; a tolerable piece of stone- 

 paved highway suddenly ceasing, and a depth of mud of two feet 

 receiving the traveller's floundering horse, without the slightest 

 warning. As the route skirted the forest-covered hills, the drain- 

 age towards the lake a few miles distant on the east had scored the 

 surface into numerous channels ; these were partially bridged, but 

 wherever the stones had become dislodged, the bridge remained 

 impassable, as no authority expended money upon such trifles as 

 repairs. It was dreadful to witness such a picture of neglect, 

 where a most lovely and fertile country, within a few miles of a 

 secure harbour, was completely paralysed through the absence of 

 all-important roads. 



