THE BAGHDAD RAILWAY. 



tunnels compass the descent of the 3400 feet to the 

 Cilician plain. In the course of this descent of the 

 Taurus it will not, as popularly supposed, pass through 

 the famous Cilician Gates, but will follow the course 

 of a small river, the Tchakid Su, east of the pass, 

 and thence debouch on to the plain. Crossing the 

 level expanse of Cilicia by Adana — already connected 

 with the sea by the Mersina-Tarsus- Adana line, forty 

 miles in length — it will encounter the only other great 

 physical obstacle which will be met with, in the shape 

 of the Giaour Dagh. This range will be crossed either 

 by the Arslani Bell above Bagche, necessitating an 

 ascent of upwards of 3000 feet, or by the ridge above 

 the village of Hassan Beyli to the south of Bagche. 

 Personally I crossed by the latter, and it appeared to 

 me that a tunnel might be made here at no very great 

 cost, considerably lessening the ascent, and the descent 

 to the valley of the Kara Su on the far side. Having 

 reached the valley of the Kara Su, a remarkable stretch 

 of ground extending practically from Marash in the 

 north to Antioch in the south, part marsh, part culti- 

 vation, and part woodland, it will turn south to the 

 extremity of the Kurt Dagh, and rounding the latter, 

 reach Killis, a small town situated at the foot of the 

 mountains. Between the valley of the Kara Su and 

 the Euphrates, which will be crossed about 20 kilo- 

 metres south of Birejik, the low ridges which enclose 

 the basins of the Afrin, the Kowaik, and the Sajur 

 intervene ; but these are of no great height, and will 

 offer little resistance to the engineers. From the 

 Euphrates, which will require a considerable bridge, 

 the line might almost have been drawn with a ruler 

 to the Tigris at Mossul, passing only the insignificant 

 villages of Harran, Ras-el-Ain, and Nissibin on the 

 way. From Mossul to Baghdad the right bank of the 



