the Western Part of Asia Minor. 19 



rocks, in irregular waved beds. The strata in ascending become finer-grained and 

 more nearly horizontal, dipping 10° south. (See wood-cut, p. 11.) These appear- 

 ances may be owing to the violent disturbance and gradual subsidence of a body 

 of water, acted upon by volcanic forces. 



On approaching the Hermus from Selendi, the tufaceous beds thin out, and the 

 lacustrine limestone rests on the secondary sandstone. (PI. III. Sec. 6.) This hme- 

 stone covers an extensive tract 9n both sides of the Hermus, forming table-lands 

 about 700 feet above that river. Between the Aineh-chai and the ruins of Saittae, 

 it contains beds of tabular flint about a foot thick ; and in one place, near a local 

 outburst of basalt, a mass of hard brown sihceous rock, about 50 yards in extent, 

 was found in the midst of the limestone, taking the place of the beds of flint. 



Our attention was too much occupied with the volcanic phsenomena of this in- 

 teresting district, to search for organic remains in the tertiary limestone ; but from 

 the complete analogy of the formation to those deposits in which fresh-water shells 

 were found, we have no doubt of its lacustrine origin*. The drainage of this an- 

 cient lake has doubtless been effected by the opening of the gorge in the schistose 

 rocks near Adala, through which the Hermus flows. (Map, PL I., PI. HI,, 

 Sketch 13.) 



(/.) Basin of Sardis (lat. 38° 30', long. 27° 55'). — ^The greater part of this deposit 

 has been removed by denudation, but some low hills of limestone yet remain on the 

 south side of the Gygean Lake, and others to the east and west of Adala. A zone 

 of sand and gravel, perhaps of a different age from the limestone, extends along the 

 north flank of Mount Tmolus (PI. HI. Sec. 3), presenting a succession of broken 

 hills and ravines, which, backed by the snowy heights of Tmolus, form a scene of 

 the richest beauty. This gravelly formation is subject to rapid destruction ; and 

 the celebrated Acropohs of Sardis, which could once hold out against a Persian 

 army, is now reduced at the top to an area of a few yards square, which a short 

 lapse of time will probably diminish to a point. (Section 3.) 



(m.) Basin of Smyrna. — The lacustrine deposits near Smyrna, with their imbed- 

 ded shells and vegetables, are fully described in a paper devoted to the geology of 

 that district. (See vol. v. p. 393.) 



(n.) Lower Vale of the Maander (lat. 38°). — It is with some doubt, that we cite this 

 district in the list of lacustrine basins, as no fresh- water limestone was noticed in it; 

 and the masses of gravel and sand which skirt the south side of Mount Messogis 



* Mr. Hamilton, who, in the year 1837, succeeded in carrying his barometer across these plains, 

 found that the elevation of the highest parts agreed, within a few feet, with that of the plain of Gobek 

 and Hushak ; he also thinks, that although separated near Koola by the eastern prolongation of Mount 

 Tmolus, these two plains may be connected more to the N.E. ; their elevation above the sea varying 

 from 2000 to 2400 feet, the latter altitude being the elevation of the highest portion of the lacustrine 

 formation of Koola. 



D 2 



