SMYTH ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE TAURUS. 335 



find their way out through crevices into the valley below, and 

 leave the mines dry for a few weeks. 



The shafts, which belong to different individuals, are scattered 

 irregularly over a part of the mountain, which is almost level, and 

 is about fifty fathoms in diameter ; and since in all of these shafts 

 the same appearances are presented, we may be justified in con- 

 sidering the ore as forming rather an insulated .mass, than as 

 belonging either to a bed or lode. 



The pyrites varies so much in quality, that a large proportion is 

 left untouched by the miners, not repaying them for working ; the 

 generality of ore contains from 10 to 12 per cent of copper, whilst 

 the better sorts rise to 20 or 24 per cent ; and occasionally a little 

 vitreous copper, or pure sulphuret occurs, when the per centage is 

 much higher. The boundary of this mass of ore is hitherto un- 

 explored, but judging, as before, from the area occupied by the 

 mine entrances, it cannot be less than fifty fathoms in diameter ; 

 and since the ore is again met with, and even of better quality, in 

 an adit now driving from the valley of the Tigris, it appears that 

 it continues also thus far in depth, perhaps 50 or 60 fathoms. 



The workings are conducted on a miserable plan, adopted indeed 

 in all the Turkish mines, but which will soon bring the present 

 undertaking to an end, and entail difficulty on future enterprise. 

 A shaft is sunk from the surface at an angle of 45° with the 

 horizon ; and it is secured, somewhat insufficiently, by timbering, 

 and provided with rough wooden steps for ingress and egress. As 

 soon as a good portion of the ore is thus reached, the miners work 

 off in different directions, digging out in the most irregular 

 manner only that which pays them best, and leaving the rest to 

 stand or break down as accident shall determine. 



The road to Kharput or Palu ascends steeply, to the west of 

 Maden, across a ridge through which the Tigris rushes, in a 

 narrow glen many hundred feet below. The first part of the 

 acclivity, after leaving the diallage rocks, is composed of very 

 thin marly slates, easily separating into rhomboidal fragments. 

 Then follow various amygdaloidal rocks, exhibiting spicular 

 crystals of felspar in a paste, composed partly of felspar, and 

 partly of carbonate of lime, — a continuation, in short, of the 

 metamorphic rocks which generally accompany the near ap- 

 proach of the serpentines to the secondary limestones and shales. 

 The crest of the mountain is composed of powerful banks of lime- 

 stone, tilted towards the north-east, to which succeeds, about a 

 hundred feet lower down, serving as a base to the rugged cliffs 

 presented by the stratified rocks, the hornblende-porphyry which 

 we before had in conjunction with the serpentines. After this 

 steep descent, the road ascends by a very gentle rise the course of 

 a stream to the west, in a valley bounded sometimes by mountains 

 whose lower parts are porphyritic, and sometimes by limestone hills 

 inclining to the north-west. It then crosses a water-shed, and, 

 after passing a third isolated khan, enters a perfectly level plain 

 of about six miles in length and two in breadth, through which the 



