596 
BORDERS OF THE LAKE. 
was pointed out to me, impressed in the rock. I remember to 
have seen a similar mark of a holy visitant at Kerefto, where our 
guide had shewn us the print of Ali’s hand. By all these ac¬ 
counts, the narrators must have good faith in the errant pro¬ 
pensities of different members of their two saints’ bodies, since 
nothing ever brought their whole persons, visibly, into this part 
of the world. After descending from the fortress to the shore, 
I put my hand into the waters of the lake, and having drawn it 
out again, a very short evaporation left it encrusted with glitter¬ 
ing saline particles, perfectly white. 
September 13th. The country around was most romantically 
intercharged with mountain and valley ; and consequently, in 
ascending one or penetrating the other, we lost or gained dif¬ 
ferent picturesque views of the lake. This morning, at half-past 
five o’clock we left the village of Goorchin Kala in a direction 
N. 60° W. and taking our course up the tortuous dry bed of a 
spring torrent, gradually ascended amongst the most arid and 
barren summits of the mountainous hills; along which, as we 
wound our way, occasional glimpses of the fine expanse of 
waters opened on our right. This high upland journey con¬ 
tinued for about an hour and half, when we suddenly diverged 
down again upon the flat plain, where we found, near to the 
lake, the village of Guljeki. At that point we altered our di¬ 
rection to S. 80° W., along a fertile valley three miles wide, and 
smiling with well-populated villages. The principal place is 
called Kara Bagh, from its thick and dark green groves of trees. 
In half an hour we passed a village named Neschiff, whence our 
road struck off north-west, by a gradual re-ascent of the moun¬ 
tains. Having marched that path, another hour found us again 
on the margin of the lake, which we had gained by a steep and 
