As we surveyed the scene from our encampment—in which there was not a trace of snow—the eye was taken naturally to two particular points. One was a graceful cone, just at the head of the great chasm; the other consisted of a pile of lava on the eastern side of this gorge, and some little distance from its margin. It appeared to emerge from the plateau at about its highest level. It is indicated by the letter x on the plan. To reach it we were obliged in the first instance to cross the intricate ridges and troughs through which the streams find their way into the chasm. But beyond this troublesome zone stretched the undulating table surface, strewn with stones or covered with coarse grass. When we arrived at our landmark we found the pile to be loftier than we expected; indeed its summit is the best standpoint from which to overlook the country on the south and east of Bingöl. The blocks of which it is composed are derived from a lava which may be described as a basalt. They are full of magnetite, affecting the compass. This basalt is part of a stream of the same lava, which is traceable to the upstanding crags of the pile x, as a probable point of emission. Towards the west the flow does not appear to have extended for a great distance; but in the direction of south-east it has travelled further, and has produced important results. It connects the Bingöl and Khamur plateaus, being traceable as far as the foot of a conical eminence on the latter mass. The lava from the south-east rampart of Bingöl has also flowed in that direction, while towards the peak x it has described a curve of exquisite symmetry.
The view embraces that strange plateau on the west of the Khamur ridge and the blue lakes which it supports. The slope of its crinkled surface is towards the plain of Khinis, at its south-western or upper end. So far as we could judge, the mass consists in the main of limestone, capped by lava in the south. Descending from this eyrie I rode to the edge of the cliff, in order to ascertain its height. I stood at a level of 9240 feet, while that of Gumgum, a speck in the plain which stretched from the base of the cliff, is about 4800 feet. On either side, towards the chasm or towards the floor of the plain, the ground was falling away with stupendous precipices. In the trough of the abyss lay the Gumgum river, resembling several fine threads of silver.
Our return journey led us past the yaila of Mahmud beneath the wall of the south-east rampart. It occupied an ideal position, in a spacious meadow, and on the banks of the principal branch of the Gumgum river. The chief’s tent faced towards us on the opposite margin, as we rode along the left bank of the stream. The goat-hair canvas, spread with many supports over a wide area, divided up into compartments by screens of osier, had the appearance of a roof with many gables. In the shadowed recesses one observed a medley of luxurious cushions and of household utensils of every kind. Women, gaily dressed, and unveiled, although very bashful, mingled with the group of men, collected to see us pass. The chief’s son, a mere youth who had just returned from six years’ residence in a school at Galata (Constantinople), was pacing to and fro in a remote part of the meadow, a picture of the out-of-place. Round the tent of the chief, in a wide and respectful circle, were ranged the much ruder tenements of the tribesmen—mere pens of boulders with a strip of canvas overhead. The older women had the weird and witch-like expression which one sees in the faces of the Highland women in the background of a novel by Walter Scott.
Underlying the lava, and at the head of the great chasm, is placed a bed of tuff. It forms the bulk of the beautiful cone already mentioned, which has been preserved and invested with its peculiar symmetry by a capping of hard lava. In the hollows about its base yellow mullein grows in profusion, and campanula with its bell-shaped flowers. Making our way over the col which joins the cone to the plateau of our encampment, we proceeded to lead our horses up the slope. But nothing would induce our zaptieh to take his animal with him; he declared that such an act would be impious on the part of a believer, for we were treading sacred ground. Indeed, when we reached the summit, we found an enclosure of stones, protecting a human grave. It was evidently a place of pilgrimage for the district. Our attendant prostrated himself on the ground outside the boundary and took from within it a handful of dust, which he preserved. I asked him to whom he might be paying so much honour. He replied that it was the grave of Goshkar Baba, or father shoemaker. The holy man had in fact been shoemaker to the Prophet, and had therefore been buried here centuries ago. When I enquired whether he had ever done anything great during his lifetime besides making shoes, he answered, “Bashkar yok”—“No, he did nothing else.” From this eminence we could see the basalt on the face of the cliff below x, overlying streams of lava which were relatively shallow, and were inclined some 6° to south-south-west. The layers on the western side of the chasm are also thin, and slope in the same direction, with a gradient which slightly increases as they approach the edge of the cliff.
It remains to notice some of the features of the panorama which expands from the summits of Bingöl. The view comprises Palandöken, the Akh Dagh, the plain of Khinis; Khamur, with Kolibaba; Sipan, Bilejan, Nimrud. The patience even of an assiduous reader would be exhausted by the attempt to draw its full meaning from this varied scene. We may confine ourselves with more advantage to a particular segment of the circle, taking our standpoint on the western summit, Bingöl Kala ([Fig. 194]). I may mention that one day, while we were making our way in that direction from our camp on the south of the rampart, Oswald discovered, just behind the actual peak, a large stone with a cuneiform inscription. It was lying on the ground, only distinguishable by an eye like his from the adjacent blocks of lava. Over the almost obliterated characters had been incised the figure of a cross, with a circle at its upper end. This stone may have served to define a boundary, both in the times of the Vannic and of the Armenian Kings.[6]
Fig. 194. View from western summit of Bingöl or Bingöl Kala
Fig. 195. Panorama from the hill of Gugoghlan
The scene which forms the subject of my outline sketch extends from east-north-east round to west. The foreground includes the westerly horn of the main rampart, with Aghri Kala, seen in perspective, projecting into the cirque, and, just beyond that ridge, a bank of detritus, probably due to the action of the glacier. The little lakes on the right of the picture belong to the western cirque, and are seen to send streams which tend to meet in the distance, and which flow at the bottom of cañons into the plain of Khinis. Both this series and the pools in the eastern cirque drain into the eastern Bingöl Su. They are in fact the highest sources of the Murad or Eastern Euphrates, and their waters find their way to the Persian Gulf. Looking further into the landscape, we see the back of that long line of cliffs on the further side of which lies the village of Kherbesor (see p. 252). It is an important barrier in a geographical sense, for it constitutes the parting between the head-waters of the Murad and the streams which find their way to the Araxes. The outline rising on the north of these cliffs belongs to a group of limestone hills, which extend to the north-western extremity of the plain of Khinis, and to the pass of Akhviran (a, a). In the background the bold profile which looms upon the horizon represents the extension of the Palandöken heights.