LOFTUS TURKO-PERSIAN FRONTIER. 319 



of the lake upon the town in 1838 and 1839 ; and that the inhabit- 

 ants were driven out during the two years following ; the foundations 

 of the houses gave way, and fresh water failed them. 



At the time of my visit the water reached up to the very base of 

 the town and castle walls on the west and east sides, and within ten 

 paces of the large mosque on the south side, beyond which Messrs. 

 Brant and Glascott had encamped. There was, however, undoubted 

 evidence of its having been much higher, for within the walls in 

 various places were large pools of stagnant water ; the ground in 

 several parts was saturated with salt and overgrown with saline 

 plants. The quantity of land gained by the lake is enormous. 

 Before the rise a person could walk from Ardish to Madghawank, 

 the next spur to the west ; but the lake has since extended upwards 

 of a mile to the north up the embouchure of the Ardish Cha'i ; thus 

 cutting off from the latter pretty village its supply of fresh water, 

 and, as at Ardish, causing the desertion of its inhabitants. 



A like fate befell many other villages along the shores. Iskella, a 

 small fishing village, a mile and a half from Van, is now half de- 

 serted. The islands in the Lake, on the authority of the Armenian 

 Bishop at Chijis Monastery, were in a similar manner gained upon 

 by the rise of water. If this be the case, the phsenomenon cannot be 

 accounted for by an elevation of the bottom of the Lake ; because 

 the islands would be elevated, and not depressed. 



An old man of eighty-five (Ismail Bey) told me he had heard his 

 father say that a similar rise had occurred about 140 years previously, 

 when the inhabitants were in like manner compelled to evacuate 

 Ardish, which continued an island for forty years, after which the 

 water gradually retired. Ismail Bey himself can just remember the 

 people returning and rebuilding their dilapidated houses. 



There is a tradition that the Lake of Van now covers what was 

 formerly a spacious plain, studded with villages and gardens, — that 

 the Bend i Mahi Sii and the two streams of Ardish met and formed 

 one large river about midway between Ardish and Bitlis, — that a 

 short way below their junction there was a large bridge (which is 

 now sometimes seen at the bottom of the Lake by the boatmen), — 

 that at some distance below the bridge the river suddenly disappeared 

 through a large hole, near which was a powerful salt-spring, — that 

 by some sudden convulsion the hole became closed, and the accu- 

 mulated streams, having no outlet, gradually formed the Lake of 

 Van. Ismail Bey failed to show how, as the streams are all fresh, 

 the water of the Lake is salt. The tradition, however, is a curious 

 one, and I give it as such. 



Similar oscillations in the levels of lakes have been observed in 

 America and other portions of the world ; but I am not aware of 

 any on so great a scale, and where the effects have been so felt by 

 the natives on the shore. 



The rise of the Lake of Van is probably due to some change 

 of climate for a succession of years, such as the fall of a greater 

 quantity of snow in the mountains, or a deficiency in the usual 

 evaporation. This is undoubtedly the most reasonable explanation ; 



