280 VEGETATION IN SPRING. 



in the southern part of Lycia, and present the 

 grandest scenery. In spring the plains and val- 

 leys lying among these ridges, exhibit remarka- 

 ble and somewhat anomalous differences in the 

 state of their vegetation; those placed highest 

 and beneath the loftiest mountains are more 

 forward and more fertile than such as are compa- 

 ratively low-lying, and surrounded by hills of small 

 elevation. The people of the country accounted 

 for this by saying that the high snow-topped 

 mountains protected the valleys below them 

 from the cold winds, and thus preserved an 

 equable temperature ; whereas, in the plains not 

 so protected, the winter blasts from the north- 

 east swept with unchecked violence, and im- 

 peded vegetation. 



The plain of Almalee, though surrounded by 

 snow for nearly half the year, is, notwithstand- 

 ing, one of the most fertile of the upland valleys. 

 Several of the villages upon it, especially those 

 at the northern part, are inhabited all the year 

 round. On arriving at Eski Hissar, we were 

 struck with the difference in the climate and 

 vegetation between the Almalee plains, and those 

 on the other side of the mountain we had just 

 crossed. The vine, which is not cultivated in 



