STRUCTURE OF THE YAILAHS. 165 



tain mass of the Lycian Taurus, the peaks of which 

 are above seven thousand feet high. This walls 

 off the great mountain table-land of Asia Minor. 

 The eastern boundary of the Xanthus valley 

 is the great mountain mass of Massicytus, com- 

 posed of Ak dagh, ten thousand feet high ; Soo- 

 soos dagh, between eight and nine thousand feet ; 

 and some lesser summits, walling in a series of 

 mountain plains or " yailahs," (that is, cool sum- 

 mer retreats,) as they are called by the inhabit- 

 ants. These yailahs are more or less basin- 

 shaped valleys of various extent, and have 

 no outlets for the streams which water them. 

 The rivers pour into caverns among the preci- 

 pitous cliffs which form their sides. The yailahs 

 are well cultivated, and are the summer resorts of 

 the Turks and Urooks. They vary in elevation 

 from two to six thousand feet. From their 

 forms, and the manner in which they are walled 

 in by the scaglia, the strata of that rock usually 

 dipping from their centres, they may be regarded 

 as valleys of elevation. The probable epoch of 

 their origin will be seen hereafter. The valleys 

 of Arycanda and Karditch are bounded by the 

 two great mountain masses of Bay dagh, and of 

 Taktalu ; the latter being the ancient Mount 



