DISTRICT OF TKOA5. 
67 
After having passed the ford, we galloped up to the agha's 
mansion at Bonarbashy, the name of which place, literally trans¬ 
lated, signifies 6 The head of the springs. 1 * Immediately on my 
arrival, I hastened to them, keeping a thermometer exposed 
and pendent the whole way, as the sun was then setting, and a 
avourable opportunity offered for an accurate investigation of 
their temperature. Some peasants who conducted me, related 
the tradition concerning the supposed heat and cold of the differ¬ 
ent sources; one only being, as they said, a hot spring. I desired 
to examine that first, and for this purpose was taken to a place 
about half a mile from the agha’s house ; to the most distant of 
the several springs; for in fact there are many, bursting from 
different crevices, through a stratum of breccia , or pudding- 
stone, covered by a superincumbent layer of limestone. From 
the number of the springs, the Turks call the place Kirk Geuse , 
or 4 Forty Eyes. 1 I then asked the peasants if this was the hot 
spring, as it evidently was not the same described by Mons. 
Chevalier. They replied, that its greatest heat might be ob¬ 
served during winter, and therefore that it must be now' hot.f 
It was a shallow pool of water, formed by the united product 
of many small streams, issuing from several cavities in the rock 
I have mentioned. This pool was quite overshadowed by 
some distant hills, behind which the sun was then setting; it was 
therefore a proper time for ascertaining the temperature, both 
of the air and the water. A north wind had prevailed during 
the day, but the sky had been more than usually serene, and 
without a cloud: not a breath of air was then stirring. I first 
tried the water with my hand ; it felt warm, and even the rock 
near and above the surface of the water was sensibly affected by 
heat. I then had recourse to my thermometer ; it was graduated 
according to the scale of Celsius; but I shall give the result 
according to the corresponding elevation of Fahrenheit; being 
more adapted to common observation in England. When ex¬ 
posed to the external air, the mercury stood at 48° ; or sixteen 
degrees above the freezing point. I then placed it in one of 
the crevices whence the water issued, so as to immerse both the 
tube and scale: in two minutes, the mercury rose to 62°, and 
there remained. I then tried the same experiment in all the 
other crevices, and found the heat of the water the same, although 
* Places are named in Wales exactly after the same manner; as, Pen tre fynnyn 
'The, head of tke three springs.' 
f Almost the only winter the Turks had in 1801 was during the month of March, 
The peasants believe the heat to be greater at that season of the year, merely because 
the external air is colder. The temperature of the water is always the same. 
