158 
CHAP. 
IV. 
' ' 
Antient 
Vallum . 
Remark- 
ableMoun- 
tain. 
FROM CAFFA, 
As we left Siam Crim to proceed towards 
Karasubazar, we passed another vallum, still 
very entire : and judging of it from its length, 
it must have been once a boundary of great 
importance. Hence, crossing continual steppes, 
and always over a flat country, with a view of 
the mountains towards the south, we came to 
Karasubazar' . Before we reached this place, a 
very remarkable mountain appeared upon our 
right hand, being quite flat at the summit, and 
surrounded by precipices so perpendicular, 
with such even surfaces, that it seemed like a 
work of art, as if it were intended for a prodi- 
gious fortress. Upon the top of this mountain 
the Tahlars assembled in council during the 
last rebellion against their Khan-, this extra- 
ordinary spot being considered by them as an 
appointed place of rendezvous in every crisis*. 
The situation is well suited for such a meeting:; 
and a most sublime subject might have been 
afforded for the pencil of a Salvator, or a 
Mortimer, when the rebel chiefs of Tahtary, 
(1) The distinctions of black and white water seem to constitute many 
of the appellations of rivers and lakes in all Mohammedan countries. Kara 
Su Bazar signifies nothing more than the Black- Water Market ; the 
name of a river, called Kara Su, or Black Water, being joined to baxar , 
the common word for market. 
(2) According to Pallas, it is called ulkkaya, or the White Mount, by 
the Tahtars ; and Shirinskaya Gora by the Russians, alluding to the uso 
made of it by the nobles of Shirinshy. Travels, vol. II. p. 252, 
