ARZ-ROUM TO AMASIA. 
335 
pencils of an hundred artists would not accomplish in as many years 
the task of delineating all the landscapes which this country affords. 
The inhabitants are as well adapted for the painter as their country, 
and would add a new interest to the charms of the picture. 
On reaching the eminence of Carahissar a splendid panorama opens. 
The various masses that erect themselves in an infinity of curious forms 
suggest forcibly the wild convulsion of nature which had thrown them 
in their present disorder. To the North is a large mass of mountain 
of a rude outline, and a tint which indicates the mineral below: this 
joins a stupendous chain of rock which, taking a turn to the Westward, 
is terminated by the great isolated height of Carahissar. On the ex¬ 
treme summit of this is the castle, a small fort rendered tenable by its 
position. There are houses also on the top to which a ziz-zag road 
leads. The remainder of the surface is also inlaid with walls, which, 
as seen from below, appear more ancient than the main building. The 
town of Carahissar is spread about on the declivity. At the distance 
of about two miles from the place, and at the bottom of the valley, 
formed by the steeps of the great mountains, flows a torrent from the 
N. E.: the waters of which foam through a bed of rocks and loose 
stones, and spread through the cultivation around Carahissar. We 
passed on a bridge of one arch: the bases of the arch are of stone 
built on two projecting rocks, and the superstructure is of wood. Im¬ 
mediately after passing the bridge is a fountain, and near it a garden, 
from which we got some of the finest cherries that I ever eat. From 
this spot the rock of Carahissar was singularly striking. 
Proceeding further, we entered the great tract of cultivation and gar¬ 
dens, more immediately surrounding the town, and certainly constituting 
one of the finest spots which I can recollect in Turkey, or indeed in any 
other country. Plane trees, poplars, fruit trees of every denomination 
in the thickest profusion, intermixed with corn fields, and enlivened by 
the murmuring of a thousand streams, formed the fore-ground of the 
view. We came to a second torrent which flows through the gardens 
with great precipitation and noise, and adds its waters to the first. 
