368 MR. E. T. GiJNTHER ON THE 



Seir. — The cTiief locality in the hills at which collections were 

 made was near the small village o£ Seir, 5-6 mile^ W.S. W. of Urmi. 

 It is situated at a height of some 1460 feet {Tioftus) above the level 

 of the lake, on the eastern slopes of the Seir Dagli. Here a gravel, 

 conglomerate and sandstone bill rises to a 1' eight of 7260 feet 

 above sea-level ; its strata dip to the east and overlie the lime- 

 stone of the plain of Mergawar. From Seir there is a fine view 

 over the wide cultivated plain of Urmi to the deep blue lake, in- 

 terrupted only by the triple-crested Bezau Daghi and the conical 

 hill of Superghan; and when the mountains on the further side 

 of the lake are covered with snow, the prospect must be indeed 

 superb. Here, as it were on the dividing-line between the rich 

 cultivation of the plain of Urmi and the barren wildness of the 

 Xurdish. hills, the Christian Missionaries seek the healthful 

 fresh mountain air when the noisome summer heats of the city 

 become unendurable, and exchange an artificial environment for 

 a natural one. 



The hillsides have been dissected by the rain-water torrents, 

 and many a section has been laid open for geologists. The 

 uncompacted sands and gravels which intervene between the 

 more coherent conglomerates and sandstones are rapidly removed 

 by the spring torrents, and the compacter rocks fall away and 

 litter the stream-beds with great boulders which may measure a 

 score of feet square and half as many through. 



The pebbles in the conglomerates, consisting of both igneous 

 and calcareous rocks, have not as a rule been very thoroughly 

 rounded, and therefore appear to be of a fluviatile rather than of 

 a sea-worn origin. I was quite unable to discover any organic 

 remains coeval with the conglomerates; but many of the pebbles 

 are of older, fossiliferous formations. Especially abundant were 

 limestone fragments containing three or four species of corals, 

 wh-ile others with shells were occasionally met with. The 

 igneous rocks consisted of granites and felsites, 



8eir Vegetation. — In August the vegetation covering the hillsides 

 above the village of Seir was burnt to a duU yellow hue by the 

 summer drought. It was always a subject of wonderment to me 

 liow flocks and herds pasturing on such barren-looking slopes 

 could manage to pick up a living. Earlier in the year the hillsides 

 are green and gay with white and pink crocuses and irises ; but 

 in August the most conspicuous plants were large blue thistles, 

 dwarf yellow hollyhocks, yellow-green euphorbias, not unlike our 



