THE CEIMEA. 



443 



times facilitated communication between the northern steppe and the south coast; 

 hence this is one of the vital points of the peninsula.* 



On both sides of the range, and at its two extremities, igneous rocks have 

 cropped out. They were formerly supposed to be serpentines of great age, but 

 chemical analysis has shown that they are recent basalts, and of this material is 

 composed Cape St. George, at the south-west extremity of the peninsula. The 

 subterranean action felt from time to time on both sides of the Strait of Yeni- 

 Kaleh occurs precisely on the common axis of the Crimean and Caucasus ranges. 



Fig. 234.— ChatÎh Dagh and Neighkouuing Yaïlas. 

 Pcaie 1 : 355,000. 



52" 



32''I3 



C of p. 



>Vft 'g »3MJ I , 'T' J \ -^ ' 



j-^-^'^ç^2F^rnrr 



v\\% 







Depth undLr 



27 fathoms. 



27 Fathoms 

 and beyond. 



Thermal and naphtha springs, and mud volcanoes like the Sicilian maccahhe, 

 still occur here and there in the hilly district about Kertch ; but vast argillaceous 

 beds of igneous origin show that these mud volcanoes were formerly far more 

 active than at present. Those of Bulganak, some 4 miles north of Kertch, 

 are still the most violent, and whenever the state of the mud allows them to be 

 approached, vapour bubbles may be seen projecting the ooze several inches 

 above the craters. According to the greater or less fluidity of the substances 



* Chief summits of the Crimean range, according to Parrot and Engelliardt :— Chatir Dogh, 5,450 

 feet; Babugan Yaila, 5,430 feet; Aï Vassilem, 5,340 feet. 



