254 On the Meteorology of Oroomiah. 
Arr. XXV.—On the Meteorology of Oroomiah; by Rev. D. T. 
Sropparp.* 
Tue village of Seir, where we reside, is in the province of 
Oroomiah, in Northern Persia, in latitude 37° 28’ 18” north, and 
in approximate longitude 45° east from Greenwich. ar 
about 40 miles from the boundary of Turkey and 150 from that 
of Russia. The village is on the grassy slope of a mountain, 
which rises 2834 feet above the neighboring city of Oroomia 
and 7334 above the ocean. The side of the mountain on which 
we live faces the northeast, and is consequently somewhat bleak 
in winter. The snow also lies upon it in the spring long after it 
has disappeared from the southwestern side. 
cle the plain on three sides, while to the east lies the lake of Oroo- 
miah, studded with islands and reflecting the pure azure of an 
Italian sky. ; 
This plain is watered by three rivers of moderate size, which 
come down from the Koordish mountains, and are distributed 
by a network of small canals and water courses over its whole 
surface. Without artificial irrigation but few crops can be brought 
to maturity, although here and there wheat fields are cultivated 
on the slopes of the neighboring mountains, which are wholly 
dependent on the rains of the spring and early summer, and some- 
times yield a tolerable harvest. 
The principal productions of the plain of Oroomiah, the an-_ 
nual mean temperature of which is of course considerably above 
that of Seir, are wheat, barley, corn, millet, flax, tobacco, rice; 
cotton, castor oil, apples, pears, plums, grapes, (which are culti- 
vated in immense vineyards) cherries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, 
melons, pomegranates, almonds and the jujube. The fig, with 
care, may also be cultivated, but is often destroyed by the co 
wibter, re 
The lake of Oroomiah, the ancient Spautes, is about ninety 
miles long by thirty broad}. Its water has been thus analyzed 
by President Hitchcock : 
* From a letter to Professor D. Olmsted, dated Seir, Oroomiah, January, 8, 1855. 
+ Its elevation above the ocean is 4100 feet. 
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