584 W. J. Hamilton^ Esq., on the » 



neral notice of the geology of the country, because, not having traversed it in 

 many directions, it is impossible for me to define exactly the limits of the dif- 

 ferent formations. 1 intend, also, to confine myself to a mere description of 

 the facts really witnessed, leaving to others the task of drawing conclusions 

 respecting the geological epochs, during which the events may be supposed 

 to have taken place. 



I shall therefore describe, first, the country from the foot of Hassan Dagh, 

 situated a few miles S.S.E. of Akserai, to the Salt Lake of Toozla or Kodj- 

 hissar, as it is called in the country, a distance of about forty miles in a N.W. 

 direction ; and, secondly, the country from the Salt Lake eastward to Caesarea, 

 and the remarkable mountain of ArgaBUS, or Erjish Dagh, a distance of about 

 108 miles. 



Description of Hassan Dagh and the country between that mountain and 



Kodj-hissar. 



The town of Akserai is situated in Lat. 38° 19' N., and a little to the east- 

 ward of the 34° of East Long., and near the eastern extremity of a wide, 

 flat valley, which extends from Hassan Dagh to the Salt Lake. On the south, 

 this valley is bounded by low undulating hills, formed of the horizontal cal- 

 careous lacustrine deposit, which occurs so extensively in the central part of 

 Asia Minor, and which stretching away to tiie west, are gradually lost in the 

 great plain, having an almost imperceptible dip towards the same point. The 

 hills on the northern side of the valley, at the foot of which Akserai is situ- 

 ated, consist of alternating beds of red and yellow sandstone, conglomerate, 

 sand, and marl. The pebbles contained in the conglomerate are chiefly green- 

 stone, trap-rock, quartz, sandstone, and limestone. The strata dip slightly to 

 the S.W., and are much worn into sharp ridges, narrow peaks, and deep 

 ravines. To the east and north-east they are capped with a remarkable, hori- 

 zontal rock, which I shah presently describe*. 



Hassan Dagh is a peaked mountain, rising almost directly from the eastern 

 termination of the great horizontal calcareous plain which stretches past 

 Akserai to the south. Its height I estimated to be upwards of 8000 feet above 

 the sea. When I was there (July 10th) much snow still lay in the ravines near 

 the summit on the northern side. The mountain consists entirely of trachyte, 

 and trachytic, and porphyritic conglomerates. (PI. XLVHL, Section 4.). 

 Several volcanic cones, composed partly of trachytic conglomerate, and partly 

 of scoriaceous matter, rise near its foot on the S.S.W. side, stretching away 



* The range of the barometer during nearly five days that I was at, or in the neighbourhood of 

 Akserai, was from 26"475 to 26'575, — my other barometer, registered at Smyrna, varying 

 during the same period from 29-910 to 30*000 inches. 



