JITTA RAVh\E. 87 



steep, in places nearly perpendicular. The horizontal 

 beds on both sides appear to correspond exactly ; half- 

 way down there is a well-marked terrace, evidently 

 formed by the same bed, on both sides of the river. The 

 bedding is very distinct. 



It is to be regretted that all those geologists who dis- 

 believe in the power of running water, and appeal to 

 such Dei ex machind as marine action and waves of 

 translation, cannot see a few such marks of the handi- 

 work of rain and rivers as are shown in these gorges. 

 There is not the slightest possibility, so far as I can see, 

 of explaining their origin by any other force than that 

 of the streams flowing in them. Any faulting or dis- 

 location of the rocks is out of the question, there is no 

 evidence of glacier action at any past time, and even the 

 most fervent apostle of marine denudation would scarcely 

 credit it with the formation of a Titanic trench three- 

 quarters of a mile deep and very little more in breadth. 



At the bottom of the ravine ran a beautifully clear 

 stream in a pebbly bed. Some of our party pushed on 

 to the Dalanta plateau ; I remained for the night with 

 Captain Roddy in the valley. The temperature at the 

 bottom, only 6,000 feet above the sea, was a most 

 agreeable change from that of the bleak plateau. On 

 the following morning, having the loan not only of a 

 pony but of a saddle also, I considered myself fairly 

 equipped once more, and started for Dalanta. The 

 ascent, like the descent of the previous day, was by the 

 road which King Theodore had constructed for the trans- 

 port of his artillery to Magdala, a broad path, at least 



